Chapter 20
Morning came and everyone was woken up by Bella, Janis and Yanis. Thor growled at the three maids as he shielded a sleepy Loki from their sight. They ignored him, set out a small tray with tea, a bottle of medicine and set about preparing the bath for Loki and then leaving the room. Loki grumbled as he sat up, shoving Thor off the bed so he could reach for the tea. Thor pouted at Loki, who only seemed to have eyes for his tea, the medicine and the bath. Once the Jotun was in the tub, after taking the painkillers and finishing his tea, Thor came in to help him wash his hair.
"Not awake this morning, love?"
"No..." Loki moaned, looking like he wanted to crawl back into bed, but knew he could not be lazy. "But we have much work to do... Lady Frigga?"
"As I said last night, she and the rest of the Clutch are preparing for war with Odin. Sif and the the Warriors remained with them. They have more than enough warriors to at least hold out." Thor spoke as he combed the tangled mess of hair, being gentle and careful.
"I swear the Norns hate us right now..." Loki grumbled, sitting up to begin washing his body while his lover finished tending his hair. "First the attack on my home, mother shortening her life to save both father and herself from Malekith's hands, then the 'Stones' popping up on Midgard and the mes with both Ultron and the Chitauri Invasion. Now the war with Odin and the final, or so I am hoping, battle with Malekith. All that remains is the 'Aether'. I cannot help but curious as to where the real Infinity Stones are hidden..."
"If you haven't figured it out yet, my dearest, then you will not figure it out until it is possibly too late." Ryilia's voice startled them.
"Mother!" Loki gasped.
"My lady..." Thor bowed his head.
"Please, call me Mama Rye!" She chirped. "After all you and Loki finally mated, though it was a rush job and not formal, but hey! Sex is sex and by Jotun law, you are married! And by my tribe's standards, you are intended to marry, you are only married in my tribe if Loki is preggers, but I am glad you did not impregnate him just yet."
"How did-"
"Being able to see the Then, Now and Near are a pain in the ass, you know that? I saw everything." She grumbled. "It's weird seeing your parents have sex and it's equally as horrifying when its your kid! No... it's more disturbing because I keep flashing back to when you were a tiny little baby!" She began to sob then, but then she sniffed and stopped. "Sorry, Chaos and Emotions don't mix too well, we fluctuate too often to really settle on a single emotion... Ah, your father's going to be in bed for the day. He's well, just not able to stand..."
Thor sniffed the air and his eyes went wide, blushing and paling at the same time. The sudden draining and flushing of his lover's face didn't go unnoticed by Loki and he gaped.
"Mother!" Loki slapped hands to his ears, singing to drown her out.
"Well, glad he takes after me more than I care to admit... When you two are done, we are having breakfast in the family room." She turned on heel and was about to leave when she looked over her shoulder. "Oh and Thor?"
"Mama Rye?"
"Next time do not attack my staff when you suddenly appear. They were only doing their jobs, protecting this place." She stated.
"They are not dead."
"No, but you left me shorthanded and well... I'm very peculiar about how my home is run..." She left then as Loki sighed and climbed to his feet, standing wet and naked as he had the previous night.
"Let's hurry, mother's going to be in a mood." Loki stated as Thor helped him out of the tub and after grabbing a towel, began to dry his beloved. Loki wrapped the cloth around his body and headed towards his closet to get dressed as Thor cleaned himself off.
Loki tossed him clean clothes and he quickly got dressed as well before they headed out of the room and down the hall, Loki's Jotun flesh melting back into his Midgardian form. The others were sitting down eating when the walked in and Tony grinned.
"So you took out almost the whole staff! Nice one!" He laughed. "Though I think Mrs. Nubia is more pissed at you incapacitating her PA, Evergreen."
"I will apologize to them all-"
"Don't worry about it." Ryilia stated, walking into the room with a tray full of tea and coffee. "I'm over it, Glade's alright, just bruised and his ego is a bit battered. The others are more scared shitless than really hurt... that is a very powerful and frightening curse you are under, young Aesir."
"I've been trying to figure out how to break it, but nothing seems to be a proper solution." Loki stated.
"Hmm, I'm afraid the only way this curse can be broken is with Love, Loki. Unconditional love. For both Man and Beast." His mother told him. "You love Thor, but do you love the Beast?"
"I'm not bothered or disturbed by it and I do have affection for it, but I do not love it, at least not yet." Loki admitted.
"Wait... curse!?" Steve asked.
"When Thor gets Cranky." Loki stated.
"When were you going to tell us?!" Tony fussed.
"It was not of importance." Vision supplied. "Thor has exceptional control of the Beast from what I can see and Ms. Lewis as well as Loki have hinted at it more than enough. Loki is obviously someone or something that keeps Thor anchored to humanity."
"I'm also his biggest trigger, especially seeing as we joined the night previous." Loki stated.
"I am not hearing this! Laalalalalala!" Ryilia cried out, hands over her ears as she sang loudly., eyes shut tight.
"... It's actually funny when you look at it..." Bruce murmured as Wanda giggled. Pietro smirked into his coffee.
"Alright, so while Mrs. Nubia is in denial, what are we going to do? We now have better understanding of what is going on, we know that the Aether that Dark Elves are after is a fake, the real Infinity Stones are still very well hidden." Steve began the brain storming session.
Loki fingered his bracelet, thinking as Thor set about serving them breakfast, he liked catering to his mate, sue him.
"Mother, when Bor defeated the Elves when did it happen and what did he do with the Aether?"
"It's not in the Vaults of Asgard, that is for sure. Bor may have been a prick, but he had much more sense and a level enough head to know not to keep something like the Aether near the rest of those relics." Ryilia suddenly spoke up, no longer singing or ignoring them. "When it happened... it was during the Convergence The Convergence is when all the Realms align. Much like when all nine planets- fuck everyone who says Pluto is no longer a Planet- line up once every 500 years. The Convergence happens every 5,000 years, give or take a few centuries and a decade or two."
"Huh... you know this how?" Bucky drawled
"..." Ryilia's deadpanned stare made Bucky twitchy. "Your grandmother use to call you Barney."
Everyone gaped as Bucky looked like he shat a brick.
"Now then, unlike the Planets aligning -I swear I'm going to kill that man who keeps predicting the end of the world and causing mass panic- where nothing happens other than the off chance of both a Solar and a Lunar eclipse happening, a shift in tides and all the crazies running around. The Realms when they converge, it has very random effects on Midgard, or Earth... whatever! Look here." Ryilia hissed in annoyance before another of her tomes flew in and enlarged it self to show a very detailed drawing of Yggdrasil, the Life Tree or the Gods' Tree as some cultures called it.
"Alright at the very top of the tree is Asgard, at the very bottom is Svartalfheim. At the very ends of Yggdrasil's roots, this realm is the furthest from the light and Ruled by the Dark Elves. Above them is Niffleheim and Hel, or as many call the two Realms, Helheim. The land of the Dishonorable Dead and ruled by Hel. It's an icy and fog ridden realm, cast almost always in darkness. This realm is entangled within the roots of Yggdrasil."
She pointed out the two realms on the tree before moving to the double rings that floated just below Midgard, which was the very center of the tree forming the trunk. The two rings were considered the 'ground' from which Yggdrasil grew from.
"Here is Jotunheim, the inner ring and the Realm belonging to the Giants, though because we lost the Casket, it has become the land of Frost Giants. The outer ring and our Twin is Muspelheim, the home of Fire Giants and Demons. Midgard is the trunk of the tree and this here? This third 'ring' is the World Snake or Jörmungandr. Many believe he is an actual snake that protects us from the other Realms and thus making it so we are unaware of the events out side of our own stupidity. Others think he is the Ocean Currents that weave their way around the whole planet. And a few think he's the Asteroid Belt."
Everyone snickered at the unimpressed look on Ryilia's face at some of the stupidity of humans.
"I can tell you that the first opinion is very close to what Jörmungandr actually does and is. Now then at the lowest branches of Yggdrasil is Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves. Above them near the middle of the branches is Alfheim, the Realm of the Light Elves, above them is is Vanaheim, nearly towards the top of the tree. And finally is Asgard at the very top of the tree. And in some paintings or drawings you see a star, this star is the doorway to Valhalla, the final resting place for the Honorable Dead, be they human or otherwise."
They were amazed at the detailing of the drawing and understood the structure of the Realms a bit better.
"I remember this lesson." Loki suddenly spoke up, standing up and pointing to Jörmungandr. "During the Convergence, Jörmungandr goes to sleep for the length of the event."
"Right, it's pretty short, only a few days long give or take a few hours. And while he is sleeping, strange phenomenon happen world wide, but most don't notice it. Humans are truly kept ignorant of all that happens out side of their Realm. Ignorance is Bliss." She shrugged.
"You told me that once the Realms are perfectly aligned, the realms above and below Midgard cause a sort of magnetic pull. The Telluric lei lines blur into those of the realms and even the Natural Paths warp and mesh." Loki added. "Like in one place gravity is distorted to allow things to float or make it seem as something or someone has super strength. Things can vanish and reappear in different spots or vanish permanently. Even weird and chaotic weather changes."
"Right." She nodded her head, smiling with pride.
"So we need to keep our eyes out for these events?" Pietro asked.
"I've been looking around and it seems some of these occurrences that Mr. Loki has listed while not publicly reported to local authorities or new medias, have occurred... Mr. Stark?"
Tony set down a small nearly flat circular disk on the table which opened up into a holovid and Vision accessed a few Blogs and a couple of YouTube clips showing kids and teens standing in seemingly random spots. The first clip had a boy jump from a tall building, his friends close, but not no where near to catch him. Ryilia nearly panicked only to see the boy stop falling halfway to the ground and then he seemed to swim through the air before flipping and landing safely on his feet.
Another clip was with the kids standing in random places, one girl picked up a bottle of soda and dropped it off the top of the stairs, but it vanished a foot down and came flying out of a wall, right passed her friend and up through the floor to vanish into the air again only to drop down at the middle of the stairs and into the hands of another friend.
"Well fuck..." Ryilia groaned, quickly counting on her fingers and muttering in what sounded like AllSpeak before she let out a cry and scrubbed her hands in her hair. "Fuck me sideways! The Convergence has started and with the weakening of the Realms' Barriers... Shit! I am fucking stupid! Hanni!" She ran out of the room, yelling for someone.
"Uhh... I am noticing that your mom's not exactly all there..." Tony began, slowly circling a finger by his temple in the seemingly universal sign of someone being crazy. "But what's got her goat this time?"
"Mother doesn't own goats anymore, she lost most of them to goat eating demons." Loki stated.
…
Wait...
He was being serious!?
"Why is your mom spazzing?" Tony tried again.
"Oh... I see now... To be honest I do not know, but I get the feeling we are about to have some light shed on this topic." Loki mused, watching his mom walk in with a man in a fine suit, he was holding one of the really old and very delicate tomes in his hands as his mother was yelling down her cellphone at someone.
"WELL GET ME THE DAMN PRIME MINISTER THEN! Shit just fucked up and you know I hate it when shit fucks up!" She bellowed at last before she hung up and threw the phone at the wall, smiling in pleasure when it shattered, but then she pulled out another phone, messed with it a bit and then slipped it into the clip on her hip. "Now then..."
Loki finished his food, grabbing the other tome to leaf through it while his mother skimmed the other one. He noticed that everything was handwritten and drawn, the styles changing every now and again, stories and myths were recorded, dates and events too. And then he saw something that made him sit up more.
"Mother..." He called.
"You have something, darling?" She turned to look over his shoulder as Thor did the same, but the runes and handwriting was not something he could read.
"During the last Convergence what happened, you explained what it was, but not what happened..." He pointed out. "Because this looks like a very detailed recording of what happened during a Convergence."
"Ah, right, well as you know Malekith stole the 'Stones' from Chaos and Death, but lost all but one during his escape. The one he kept, the 'Aether', he used it to bend reality to make his will real and what he wanted was eternal darkness for all, to rule over all. Bor and the Einherjar came and with light from both the Valkyries and the Light Elves, banished the darkness from Svartalfheim and a massive war was fought. And as you know Bor won, the devastation was irreparable and the Dark Elves locked themselves away until they could find the Aether again. And now with the Convergence happening-"
"The Barriers are weakening. We know." Bucky cut in.
"Yes, but the Dark Elves are awake, meaning they can sense the Aether, and the closer to the full Convergence we get, the stronger the chance they have to find it. And if Bor hid it away during the last one it would have to be here, on Midgard and if I'm right, mother, it's in a dimension pocket."
"Right, one that only a Keeper or a God could open normally out side of the Convergence. There is no telling where it is and who might unwittingly might stumble-"
Everyone jumped when a cellphone began ringing rather annoyingly before Thor answered his phone and frowned at Darcy's rather panicked screeching and rambling.
"What do you mean Lady Jane is missing?!" He demanded.
Loki took the phone and walked away to calm Darcy down and to get the details from her as Thor growled, one of the Clutch was missing and possible in danger, he didn't like that and the Beast was just as pissed. Ryilia turned to Hanni, the blond man set the Tome down and was on a tablet clicking away as she pulled up her phone and began calling a few people and shooting off rapid fire orders.
"If she runs things this well, why hasn't she taken over the world?" Steve wondered.
"Because I did that already and was bored within a week." She stated, covering the mouth of the phone before turning her attention back to the call.
"She rules an entire race of people, I'm sure she has enough on her plate being a Queen." Bruce reminded them.
"She is also a very rich woman who has far reaching connections. She must nurture them well if they obey her commands, regardless if she yells or not." Wanda hummed.
"Vision, please pull up the YouTube video that was up loaded within the last three days with the Convergence phenomenon happening?" Loki asked. "Preferably in Europe..."
He did as asked and they holovid appeared and as they watched they saw Darcy, a young man and Jane with a group of children watching as a bottle of some kind of juice loop fell until one of the kids caught it. He paused the video and began to look through satellite imaging to try and find where they could possibly be.
"Here." They watched as the satellite imaging zoomed in on what looked like an abandoned freight yard and factory.
"Alright... Thor." Loki called his lover to his side.
"Wait Loki!" Ryilia called, tossing him two cylinders. "Take those, and try not to hurt anyone unless it's an Elf... even the Light ones need a beat down every now and again. Also, I have a jet on standby already. Be careful."
"We will mother." Loki smirked as he and the others quickly went to get ready and left...
Darcy was freaking out! In the last day or two, she only got to hang out with Loki long enough for him and the Avengers to settle into Nubia's frigging palace, that was not a chateau lady! And then she had requested to be taken to the airport because she had been getting rather worrying emails from Selvig, who had gone a little cuckoo after the whole Chitauri incident. She didn't even tell the others she was going and really things don't have gotten worse, until they did.
Okay, she wasn't all that freaked out, but whatever, there was some freaky shit that even she wasn't cool with, especially when her boss suddenly disappears! She sent the children home so they wouldn't get in trouble before she made a call to Thor. Thor and Loki assured her they were coming to help find Jane and they would be there in a few short hours. However while she was on the phone with them, her assistant, Ian Boothby, called the police. Now she was being questioned, trying not to strangle the taller boy and wanting to call Thor again. And it was raining in merry old England and she was cold dammit!
"... Look I am telling you one minute she was next to me and the next she was just gone! Instead of standing here, go look for-"
"Darcy?" Jane's voice could be heard as she slowly walked toward them.
"Jane!? Where the hell did you go?! You've been missing for hours!" She cried out, running over to her and was instantly aware that the rain no longer fell on her when she got within 15 feet of Jane. The Policeman walked over to them, Ian moving behind them nervously.
"Dr. Foster?" He asked her.
"Yes, may I help you?" She asked.
"Are you alright? Where did you go, you have been missing over over 8 hours. And is that car yours?" He pointed to a tiny little red thing that barely fit her let alone Darcy and Ian with their things. "And the equipment as well?"
"Yes, they do, but-"
"You do realize this is a restricted area and you are now under arrest, correct?"
"What?!" The three of them cried out.
Before they could react or really move, the Officer grabbed Jane's arm and the second he did, something dark and ominous pulsed out of her, sending a shockwave through the air and knocking everyone down.
Jane was dizzy and had momentarily blacked out. Darcy slowly sat up, reaching for her glasses and blinked when a hand was offered to help her onto her feet. Taking it, she got up and looked to see Loki smiling softly at her.
"Hello Darcy." He smiled.
"Loki!" She hugged him tightly, "It's been days! Are you better, what about those nasty roach things, did they hurt you!?"
"No, I'm alright. Thor?" Loki turned to his lover, who was cautiously tending to Jane.
"She's weak, but she's alright for now." Thor assured him, sniffing her and even tracing her body with enough electricity to power an ultrasound machine. "However there is something in her."
"What!?" Jane gasped.
"Shit..." Tony grunted, Friday running scans and he was seeing the readouts on his visor. "Whatever it is, it's slowly draining her, her vitals are not where they should be for a woman in good health and at her age."
"We need to get her back to the Tower to run tests-" Bruce began.
"I'm sorry Dr. Banner but there's nothing you can do for her... We're going to need Lady Frigga's helps..." Loki sighed.
"What about your mother?" Steve asked.
"Wait, you found your mom!?" Darcy gasped.
"Yes, the Lady Nubia is actually the Mother of Loki." Thor told her.
"Whoa... wait... she lied to us!" Darcy gasped.
"Actually she did not. But that's for later... Lord Stark, please give the report to mother... We will be back as soon as we can. Heimdall, we need to return!" Loki called up to the heavens and in a moment the BiFrost was opened.
"Oh hell no, we are coming with you!" Tony stated.
"I will go back and tell Mrs. Nubia." Bruce offered, nervous to travel through the beam of light
"We're coming too." Steve and Bucky nodded.
"Vision."
"I will keep an eye on the Twins and the others, Mr. Stark. Please take care and be careful." Vision assured.
"I'm coming too!" Darcy stated, she wanted to see Sif again! Ian tagged along because he wasn't sure if he could decline going.
Once everyone got in the center of the light, they were gone. The Police blinked in confusion as they looked around them.
"Excuse me, this is a restricted area-"
"We are with Mrs. Nubia's company." Bruce stated and the man paled and quickly began apologizing, informing them that they would remain close by if they needed anything but to continue doing whatever it was the woman wanted them to do. The officer walked away as the others grumbled and chattered to each other. "Looks like a memory spell..."
"I did not detect anything... Perhaps it something to do with the light?" Wanda asked.
Pietro's cell began chiming and he answered it only to hear Ryilia's smug voice tell him, "Heimdall made it so those who are not in the know do not remember what happened moments prior to the BiFrost opening and leaving them momentarily stunned to allow one to implant a suggestion or an idea. Very handy that. Otherwise humans would have freaked out long ago from the constant visits of others to the Realm of Midgard."
"Okay that is freaky how she does that." Pietro stated, when he realized she hung up on them.
"Let's see what we can find and get Dr. Foster's things back to Lady Nubia and perhaps locate Dr. Selvig." Bruce suggested...
Jane and Darcy were in awe of the swirling lights around them. Tony's visor was littered in displays, Friday chattering as fast as a three year old on sugar in her excitement of the new findings. Steve and Bucky held still, afraid that they would end up somewhere strange if they moved. Loki and Thor were unbothered by bridge as in those few short moments, they were suddenly stepping out into the Hub. Heimdall was just removing the sword from the central dial and walked down the dais to look over the humans.
"Greetings, Midgardians. I am Heimdall, Gate Keeper of the Asgard, Son of the Nine Mothers." He greeted. "Thor, Loki, it pleases me that you are well."
"Thank you, Heimdall." Thor smiled.
"Godfather, you look very amused." Loki noted, seeing how Heimdall's eyes looked at him and yet through him.
"Yes, you mother is planning a few rather humorous, but unfortunate surprises for a few Midgardians and the Dark Elves." He stated calmly.
"Oh boy..." Steve groaned.
Loki giggled, his own mind wandering with all the possibilities. After a moment, he seemed to control himself as he waved his hand to the humans.
"We will not have an issue bringing the Mortals here?" he asked.
"Normally I would not have answered your call, however there is something wrong with the young lady and I have not been overly fond of the King since he hurt the Queen." Heimdall drawled out lowly, his powerful voice rumbling within the golden building. "Be quick, now. It seems that the King has taken notice."
Loki and Thor nodded and guided the humans out of the Hub, a few horses were waiting for them already, Loki smiled back at his Godfather who quirked a smirk before his face fell back into its usual look of indifference. Thor climbed one horse with Jane before him and Darcy behind him as Loki climbed another, Tony was still in his Iron Man suit so he would be flying with them. Steve and Bucky climbed the last horse and soon they were racing down the Bridge, quickly ducking off the main road and taking the hidden paths through the forests to get back to Lilithorn.
Night was nearly upon them when they road into the village, the late evening market was winding up, but still a busy place. As soon as they road in, the villagers all cheered and rushed to greet them, a few running off to inform the Queen and Lady Jalan of their return. Loki climbed off his horse as the women all cooed and fluttered about him. It seemed that seeing his mother had really done him some wonders. The people gasped at the red man who was flying over their heads. Steve and Bucky were awed at, for they were smaller, but very handsome. Darcy grinned as a few people offered her fruits and jewels, but Thor's low growl made them back off.
A sudden roar filled the air and the people scattered like roaches, back to their homes. A series of doors slamming and locks clicking being the only sound before the great flapping of wings met their ears and in a moment a large golden dragon dropped before them. On its head was a golden woman, she slipped from her perch as the dragon began to morph into a human woman. The humans blushed as they realized the Dragon turned woman was naked save for liquid gold that seemed to dance about her body, always covering her private areas, but also threatening to reveal them.
"Mother, Mother Jalan..." Thor smiled, slipping from his own horse, helping the two women down as Frigga walked to him quickly and pulled him into her embrace.
"Welcome home, my love!" She grinned. "I thought you would be gone longer from your last visit..."
"Things had changed." Loki stated.
"Loki!" She cooed, pulling him into her embrace as well, playing with his longer hair and awing at how bright and clear his aura was now.
"I found Mother and she's as insane as ever." Loki smiled brightly.
"Very good, Civip Kethend..." Jalan purred, walking up to them, pulling Loki to her and draping herself over him. "Now you need to smell like the Clutch..."
Thor rolled his eyes as Jalan rubbed herself over Loki, who let her.
"Mother, Mother Jalan, these are the newest additions to our Clutch." Thor stated, his tone leaving no room for argument, not that Frigga would have, but Jalan might have. "The Ladies, Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster. Lord Anthony Stark, Lord Steven Rogers and Lord James Buchanan Barnes." He indicated each person in turn and they all gave bows or curtsies to the two women. "There are more, however they opted not make the journey and we did not wish to linger."
"Yes, that is understandable. Heimdall has kindly informed us of all that has been happening. Come let us get home so you may explain all that is happening now." Frigga smiled and Jalan jumped into the air, transforming back into her natural form, the demoness flying off to hunt enough meat for tonight's dinner. As soon as they arrived at the Mansion that was the home of their Clutch, Thor and Loki were tackled by the others, hugged and scolded, some demanding stories and the like.
It was a chaotic whirlwind of activity for the next hour or two as dinner was prepared and cooked, rooms for their guests made up and finally as they sat in the yard, around the large fires slowly roasting boar meat, Thor told them of his and Loki's time on Midgard, spinning the tale with all the flare and pomp of a seasoned storyteller. Loki smiled as the few children in the clutch cuddled to him, asking if he was scared or hurt at all. Loki assured them that he was well and that his enemies suffered much more than he had. Tony and Bucky were very entertained by stories while Steve tried to censor the blonde God, but a Mother told him to stop, that the children have seen Jalan eat people and burn them to husks on a near daily basis.
Jalan just shrugged and stated that while she frowns upon eating humans normally, she made an except every now and again because the human had either a) killed one of her children, b) tried to steal from her hordes, or c) attempted to take her Golden Mate. Frigga had also told him that she's killed her fair share of people before the children, all to defend them. Sif's mother chipped in by stating that of all the things they have seen so young, Thor was by far the worst. Loki only chuckled because Thor has only ever shown himself to Darcy and Jane
"Thor, it is nearly time." Loki told him and the blonde looked to the east where the sun's last few dying rays were winking out.
Thor sighed, finishing his mead and walking toward the forest.
"Wait... Where's he going?" Steve wondered.
"He, much like me, has been forcing himself to remain in our least threatening forms." Loki shrugged. "Alright everyone inside, we all know the routine!"
The children whined, but the tired yawning and sleepy rubbing of eyes betrayed them, the mothers and fathers herded their little ones into the mansion, bidding a good evening to the Queens of their Clutch. Sif wrapped her arm around Darcy as Frigga directed the guards to quickly take their posts. Hogun chuckled as he pulled out his knife, checking the edge before they all heard a loud and monstrous roar fill the air. Jane yelped and Loki chuckled.
"Come." Frigga ordered, turning and walking into the building, the others have no other choice but to follow her.
Loki was the lest to enter the building, standing just on the threshold as Jalan stood behind him, seeming to examine him from head to toe before she smiled and left him be. She was very proud of her son, his chosen mate was excellent in power, beauty and breeding. He was also a very kind and patient man, though she sensed a darkness that did not bode well for his enemies, this pleased her greatly. Loki smiled when in the darkness, just at the edge of the forest, he saw a pair of icy blue on red eyes looking at him. He whispered a few words to the Beast, smiling when white fangs appeared in a menacing smile before the Beast ran off...
Steve couldn't really sleep. It was too quiet, Bucky's snores not withstanding. He wasn't use to such soft things and even more so the large room. Opulence didn't suit him, his shoulder training should have helped him fall asleep anywhere, anywhen, but not this time. Slowly rolling out of bed, smiling at Bucky's blue eye that popped open to glare balefully at him.
"Sorry, can't sleep..." he whispered.
"I can tire you out..."
"We are in someone else's house!" Steve gasped out, blushing furiously.
Bucky chuckled as she pushed himself up and rolled out of bed. The pair left the room only to blink seeing Tony standing in the hall, the Iron Man suit beside him talking with Friday.
"Ok, so you can't sleep either? This place is too quiet and the air's too tense." Tony grumped.
"You should all be in bed." Frigga's voice suddenly spoke, startling them. She snapped her fingers and four orbs of fire danced about her, dimly lighting the hall.
"Sorry, but its..."
"Come along then..." she ordered softly, walking passed them and down the hall.
They followed her as she went down the stairs, but stopped on the bottom step to see Loki walking out of the mudroom, Thor's Mudroom.
"Loki?"
"Yes?" He asked her, smiling as he stopped, blinking when he saw the others. "He's getting cleaned up, he brought me another boar... it looks like I will be cooking breakfast."
Frigga perked up at that, she very much enjoyed Loki's cooking, but then she frowned again.
"The air is tense."
"Thor spotted some people out side of the territory, Odin's People. They haven't set foot on our land, but Thor's not stupid enough to step out of it either." Loki stated.
"Tsk, he is trying my patience!" She hissed, but startled when Thor walked out of the mudroom, damp and shirtless, he bared his fangs at her, the red surrounding the blue of his eyes getting brighter. "Hush! I was not hissing at Loki!"
"Ignore him..." Loki sighed, walking into the sitting room as Thor hurried after him. "Come on, I hate shouting to speaking."
The four walked into the living room to see Jane and Darcy settled on a nest, Loki sitting by them but Thor was gone. In his place was a massive creature. The three humans gasped because they couldn't tell if it was a lion, bear or even a wolf, rows of razor sharp fangs filled a mouth that could eat a quarter of a man in a single bite, large paws with long deadly talons. A forked tongue lulled out of the side of its mouth while those same dual colored eyes looked at them, but after a moment, the creature moved.
"Don't move, don't panic." Loki stated, seeing the three tense. "The Beast needs to imprint you as much as Thor has to confirm you are Clutch, only the Clutch is safe from him."
"He has not done this before now?" Frigga's asked when the Beast murmured, butting her belly with billowing snuffles, nuzzling his dame before moving to poke at the three men behind her, he knocked over the Iron Man suit in annoyance when he realized when there was no one inside of it.
"Humans tended to attack first ask questions later." Loki stated. "If not they faint from the fear alone."
She chuckled in understanding, giggling even more when Bucky yelped as the Beast knocked him down, laying on his chest.
"Aww, he wants cuddles!" Darcy giggled, getting up to sit next to the Beast's large head, draping herself on his neck, digging her fingers into thick fur and give him a good scratching.
"Is.. is this what you've been hinting at!?" Steve finally squeaked out.
"Is this what you were avoiding happening?" Tony wondered.
"Yes and yes. Thor has been like this since he was a babe, he's actually very much in control, however he does not always wish to be in control. Our time of Midgard forced him to remain in his human form, least he be attacked or captured. It is very rare for him to lose control and if you do not believe me, you may ask Lady Frigga herself, however, my lady, we have another matter to discuss."
"It's about the young woman, she's infected with something powerful." Frigga nodded sagely.
"Yes, the Aether." Loki stated.
Everyone gasped.
"So we got the damn thing these people keep attacking us for?"
"Yes. Four of the stones are destroyed already, the fifth has been entrusted with Vision and the last is now possessing Dr. Foster." Loki summed up for Frigga.
"You cannot extract it from her?" she wondered.
"Not without knowing what might happen to the Lady Jane." Loki stated.
"Well I should call for Lady Eir come morn." She murmured. "Do you feel sick at all?"
"No... a little faint and tired, but otherwise I'm alright." Jane admitted. "This thing doesn't really do anything unless you touch me."
"Even then it only reacts if it senses a possible threat to the host and thus itself, even if it is killing the Host." Loki stated.
"What?!" Steve gasped.
"So how long until Dr. Foster's life is in danger?" Bucky asked, from where he was laying down, Thor content to use him as a human sized teddy bear.
"It's in danger now, it's slow going, but how slow is not something I can measure. We need a Soul Board to determine how much time we have, but if I had to take a shot in the dark, my guess is a week, give or take a day." Loki huffed out as Thor seemed to have enough of Bucky and went and grabbed Tony, his broad and sandpaper like tongue grooming the genius' short hair.
Tony shivered with each pass of the tongue, but otherwise said nothing or ignored Thor.
"He does this a lot doesn't he?" He asked.
"Mostly to the children." Loki giggled.
"See even the Beast thinks you're a child." Steve grinned as he helped Bucky up.
"Don't mock him because you're the last one he's going to bond with and you better hope he doesn't decide you need a bath too." Darcy giggled.
"The Lady Eir, is she not within the Palace?" Loki asked for confirmation.
"Yes she is. She and Idun both are still in the Palace, not by choice mind you." Frigga sighed.
"Alright so it's a matter of sneaking into the Palace..." Tony said.
"Not that simple." Darcy began. "Think about it, all the legends and Myths says that Thor and Loki grew up as brothers raised in Asgard's Golden Palace, but Loki isn't even adopted by Frigga, if anything he'll marry into the family via Thor. Thor himself while often spoken of as a Berserker, isn't wholly human! And we're in a Mansion on the edge of Asgard, the Palace is at the very heart of Asgard. I take it that you and Odin didn't get along?"
"Believe me, young Darcy, I loved my husband, loved him so much I was blinded. Ignored the signs of his unfaithfulness until it cost my Thor." She sighed. Thor whined, dropping Tony to go lay his massive head on his mother's lap as she petted his brow, smiling. "Jalan, the Demoness, had come to the palace to seek revenge against Odin for he killed one her children, a child he helped create it would seem. She didn't kill Thor, but she cursed him made him into a demon like her... this is the result."
They looked at the massive creature who was contently being petted, not at all bothered by anything being said.
"Every night he turns into this, the mind of a beast and uncontrollable, but as Thor grew, he learned to change at will, to curb his urges and habits. Jalan greatly disapproves of any of her children eating human flesh, but every now and gain will allow it. Thor's east his fair share of his fellow Men." She grinned cruelly then.
"He ate nearly an entire battalion of Dark Elves to save me." Loki chirped, a blush filling his cheeks. "At the time I was so scared I fainted, but after I recovered and learned what he did... well if Thor had been born Jotun, I'd have to fight every other Jotun to keep him to myself."
Frigga giggled.
"Okay, you are warped." Tony stated.
Steve yelped when Thor turned and pulled him into his side, curling around him, sniffing and nuzzling as the blonde struggled a moment before reluctantly relaxing in his hold.
"Why am I the one to get the tongue bath and Super Soldiers 1 and 2 get the cuddles of death?" Tony grumped.
"Because the Beast sees you as a Hatchling." Jalan stated, walking into the room. "This is not an insult, without that suit..." she pointed to Friday who had moved the suit into the room with them. "You are much more vulnerable, however the Children of the Clutch are not weak, they know how to fight and they will kill if they need to do so. You are a Child to him and he will protect you as fiercely as he does the others. The other two are seen as capable Betas, but he would not go out of his way to protect them."
"Oh... ouch..." Tony winced picturing a very unpleasant image. "Alright, so I'm a Child of the Clutch... huh, Pep always said I never seemed to grow up."
"Lady Pepper, is quite right, you may be an adult to your people, but mentally and emotionally you are still childish." Loki smiled. "I am as well."
"We noticed, I thought your dad snapped your neck a moment there!" Tony huffed.
"Jotun bones are thicker, heavier and stronger than an Aesir, it takes a great amount of force and strength to fracture a bone let alone break one." Loki told him. "The worse I felt was a mild case of whiplash, my head suddenly jarring like that only gave me a crink in the neck."
Thor released Steve and went to cuddle Loki, sniffing and purring, as Loki smiled and kissed his ear, making it twitch and Thor huff annoyed.
"Back on topic." Frigga smiled, "how do you get anything done?"
"Masters of Multitasking." Loki and Tony chimed together, give her twin bright smiles.
"I see." She nodded slowly.
"Since the Einherjar are sitting out side of our boarders, I can only assume that we will have a visit from Odin and soon." Loki sighed, huffing in annoyance. "His last few visits haven't been pleasant and I am pretty sure he will demand things we cannot give him."
"Indeed." Frigga sighed.
"Let Odin One-Eye try it..." Jalan growled out.
"You know, teasing the AllFather is not wise." Ryilia's voice startled everyone before an astral image of her appeared in the room. Loki smiled as Thor gave a rough bark of greeting.
"Mother!" Loki smiled. "How- what?"
"Astral." She smiled. "I wanted to tell you that you all need to be careful, Malekith has finally made his move and depending on what you do, Loki it could cost us a key player or two if the wrong moves are made."
"Lady Rhyg!?" Frigga gasped, quickly bowing low, as lowly as a servant to the woman.
"Frigga! It's been so long, you look as lovely as ever! And stop that! Seriously, I have told you time again, you don't have to bow to me, you dick of a husband does!" Ryilia giggled. "And you said my real name, not cool, love!"
"Forgive me..."
"I'm not mad!" Rhyg sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked around the room before looking at Jane. "Hmm, poor thing, you have the Aether in you, don't you? Well looks like we have to make a suicide play. Loki, don't fight what happens in the next three days, let it happen and keep your eyes open for the next play, we need to draw Malekith away from Asgard, take the Paths to Svartalfheim and let him extract the Aether from Jane, it will save her life, but it will also allow him the power to take over all."
"I don't understand-" Tony began but Frigga gasped.
"I see... I see..." She stated as she grabbed a hand held loom and began weaving, In moments she was done and after cutting it from the loom, it vanished as Rhyg smiled.
"Thank you for this. All of you rest. Tony, Steve, Bucky, I've got everyone already ready in Europe. I told Heimdall to be ready to pull you back to Earth and with the others. Because almost all Universe ending battles need to be fought on the one fucking realm where people are afraid of their own shadows..." She groaned and grumbled before frowning and hissing something. Outside a yelp was heard and Thor jumped up snarling in anger, moving off to deal with the threat. "Don't eat him whole! Bite off an arm!"
Loki rolled his eyes as a scream was heard and Thor's howl fading into the distance as he chased the poor fool.
"Alright, well good night, I have a few more people to set up and screw over. And please no one fell guilty for killing the old dick! I beg you, someone kill him!" With that Rhyg melted away.
"Your mom's blood thirsty."
"Like mother, like son." Loki shrugged, she just gave him the green light to cause a political revolution like Hel was he passing this up. "Alright bed, we need to look somewhat rested tomorrow..."
With that everyone left, Loki, Darcy and Jane cuddled up on the next in the sitting room, waiting for Thor to come back...