"Lillith." The voice was urgent which jarred against the dreamlike state that I was settled in. "We have precious little time." Rough hands, so unlike the ones which gripped me earlier, were on my shoulders. I blinked peering up at the stranger in my bed.
Thor let out a grunt as the strangeness of the moment hit me and my leg ended up slamming into his stomach. He didn't move but he did let out a soft exhale laced with pain.
"Hello to you too." He grumbled sitting back.
"Thor!" I was on him instantly hugging him. "I'm so sorry." He chuckled patting my back before sitting me back on the bed.
"We have very little time." He said seriously. I tried to follow my memories back to find the last thing that I remembered. Loki had helped me eat, even eating himself, before I had gotten too tired and drifted off next to him. "Father has acted unreasonably in his grief. You need to change."
I pushed myself up and off the bed already seeing a new set of clothing set out for me. I froze when I realized what it was. "What did he do?" I asked carefully.
"You change, I'll talk." Thor offered turning his back on me. I walked to the clothing as if they might bite me. Armor. Real armor much like the type that Sif wore only in a slightly different configuration and colors. It seemed to be laid out according to what I put on first so I grabbed the deep blue underdress and with a deep breath I started to take my clothing off.
"Father will not listen to reason and instead of listening to our plan has tried to lock Jane in her room. If either of you stay here Asgard will be attacked again."
I pulled the underdress on and realized with a jolt that it only hung just above my knees. The next item I pulled on were a strange cool-feeling pair of leggings which at least made me feel a little better about everything being covered. The next item was a smaller dress made completely from silvered chainmail. Wasn't chainmail supposed to be super heavy? I tugged it on letting it settle was a musical jingle over my body the cool of it hitting me through the blue fabric. It wasn't too heavy I realized with a small smile. It must have been made lighter for me. It hung just above the blue dress creating an interesting layered effect. Next came a breastplate that strongly resembled Sif's fighting gear, but where hers was all red and silver this one was blue and silver with tiny threads of green swirling through the entire ensemble. Even the metal in small tapering strips swirled up it's chest.
"Umm...I don't know how to strap this on…" I muttered looking at the various buckles. Thor turned from his spot on the bed and smiled at me.
"That I can help with." Thor said moving to my side. Contrary to how rough his hands were he was extremely gentle and thorough while helping me buckle in, showing me exactly how to do it until I had a decent understanding of the various straps. He moved to help me put on layered shoulder guards and then strapped a bracer to my bare wrist. This one was gently padded, nothing like the bracer Odin had forced on me. Thor held another bracer and frowned before going to stuff it into my backpack that looked fuller than before.
"Your boots are there." He said with a small grunt as he tried to move the contents of the bag around to accommodate for the newest addition. I followed his hasty hand wave to see a pair of armored boots. Even before reaching them I could feel the enchantment woven into its metal and leather. I grabbed them and went to sit on the bed. Garrett was still curled around my ankle and I sighed softly reaching out and calling him to me. He uncurled sliding into my hand. Curiosity brushed against my mind over my new outfit. I smirked slightly feeling only a little stiff in the layers of metal. Asgardian smiths must be incredibly talented to give me so much freedom in so much metal. Garrett pulled his way up my arm, across my shoulder, and went to loop himself around my neck. He opened his mouth to catch hold of his tail and then went rock still once more. I didn't realize he could be a necklace.
I pushed my feet into the boots trying to ignore the strange feeling of them going all the way to my kneecaps. As soon as I had the boot on it began to move on its own settling more snugly against my legs becoming almost unnoticeable once it was done. The second did the same as the first.
"Here," Thor said handing me my blade. "There should be a place to clip your sheathe here." He said tapping a small place on my side. Sure enough the sheathe hooked to my armor holding the sword at my side easily. He handed me my backpack and I blinked at him.
"Thor, why do I need this?"
There was a distant look to his eyes for a moment. "The moment Father trapped Jane here I knew I had to get her out. Imprisonment is no way to live. I should have felt the same for you the moment he kept you here." Guilt, I realized, the distant look of guilt. I bit my lip reaching out to touch his arm.
"It's not your fault. I've been okay. I don't really have anything to go back to anyway."
"You deserve to be on earth again." Thor said resolutely. There was a power in his voice that reminded me of thunder rolling in the distance. I slid the backpack onto my back over the various pieces of metal. "You're going home."
It felt like someone had hit me in the solar plexus. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go back to earth. I wasn't sure I even had a place on earth. I could use magic. My family was either indifferent or dead. I knew I had lost any scholarships I had going to college. I didn't want to be alone.
There was a soft flutter of wings and I felt a slight weight hit my shoulder. Lillith would not be alone. I blinked and looked to Huginn confused.
"What do you mean?" Huginn fluttered his wings preening a small bit. He had decided to go with me. I gaped at the bird.
"Absolutely not. You belong here!"
"My dear," Another set of wings and another weight dropping onto the opposite shoulder. "We happen to belong wherever we wish." Muninn said smoothly.
"You always stay with Odin."
"Odin," Muninn mused, "has been ignoring our warnings." Perhaps one day the birds would return to him, when Lillith herself returned to Asgard. The last time she would return to Asgard. There was a strange tingling happening as the two sat on her shoulders. "You understand the feeling of being alone." Muninn was watching me closely. "Ripped away from Midgard. Trapped by Asgard. Infiltrated by the Aether." Betrayed. Abandoned. Lost then found again.
A ringing was starting in my head. Huginn apologized. Not many had both Muninn and Huginn on their shoulders at the same time. It could be disorienting.
"It's fine." I muttered to him running a finger over his head. "Huginn I understand. But you?" I glanced to Muninn.
"Where he goes I go." Muninn said softly. "We choose to go with you. That's all there is to it."
"Lillith, there is not much time. Loki has already gone to get Jane." Thor held out his hand, blue eyes locking on me. I took one more look around the room.
"Your necklace." Muninn said in that eerily human way of his. "Check the nightstand Loki left it there." Just as he said the sapphire necklace was on the small table near my bed. I grabbed it and clipped it on letting it hang just below Garrett.
"Okay, I think I'm ready." I lied to Thor taking his outstretched hand. Just like that we were dashing down the hallways the jingle of my chainmail, the soft scrape of our armor, and our footfalls were the only thing I could hear.
Thor held out a hand sliding both of us to a stop at an intersection. I stared at him for a moment confused. There they are. My gaze was drawn down a nearby hallway where Jane was quickly walking flanked by Sif and Loki. It was really Loki this time too. No disguises. The moment his eyes fell upon me his step faltered slightly.
"Lady Lillith!" Sif was suddenly there blocking my view of Loki. Guarding me from him almost. "I apologize for his presence. Thor was insistent." She muttered taking me under her arm and turning me away from him. "Your armor fits you well I hope." She tugged at it slightly making it sit a different way on my frame. "Your maids gave me your measurements." Sif's eyes went to the birds on my shoulders but otherwise said nothing about it.
Runa and Bera. My heart instantly ached. I didn't even get to say goodbye.
"You look well." Loki said in a sly voice. I glanced up at him and felt myself shudder. I could still remember the feeling of his magic teasing me. His teeth on my skin. His hand so softly running along my side.
"You will not speak to her." Sif snapped at him a venom in her voice that I had not heard before. I went to correct her. To let her know but Loki met my eyes and I fell silent. He smiled a cruel cold mimicry of his real smile that I felt my stomach drop.
"And why is that?" I hated it. Absolutely hated his voice. It was just like when I had first found him, first found my magic. Trapped. Sif looked like she wanted to kill him and I found myself tugging her arm guiding her away from him.
"Monsters like him deserve no attention from us beyond what is needed." I told her sending a glare toward Loki. His smile only grew. Amused with our venom, and yet there it was again that slight spark in his eyes when I lied for him. He even leaned slightly toward me before catching himself. Instead he brushed past the two of us looking to Thor.
"Brother."
"Lass!" A jolly voice echoed behind us and I turned just in time for Volstagg to crush me into a hug. He sat me down and looked me over thoroughly once. "That about does it." He said smiling. "You look ready." Volstagg knocked slightly against my armor, but I couldn't feel it much. "And you've got your boys." He nodded toward the two birds on my shoulders.
In the space it had taken Volstagg to look me over and speak to me I realized that Sif had a blade aimed toward Loki's throat. He was grinning at the action the predator rising to the surface.
"Sif." I said it softly, but she jerked her blade away and stalked toward me trying to hide the malice in her face. "It's going to be okay. What's the plan?"
"I'm holding off the guards that are about to show up." She said unsheathing her blade. "You all are going to run now."
"Lillith," Thor called already hurrying Jane along at a much slower pace that we had run. Just how fast was I now? Loki automatically fell into step beside me and I heard a low growl from Volstagg at the action. I ignored them both when I saw the line of men waiting for us in the throne room. It had been a while since I had set foot here. It was the same as before beside the fact that the throne was now destroyed and a good amount of the pillars of the room were destroyed. In the middle of the chaos sat a dead ship like some kind of rotting corpse. I hated it. Even now my throat closed up slightly making my next breaths come out as a small hiss. I reached for my blade only to have Volstagg's hand catch mine.
"This is my part, Lady." He met my eyes. "Take care of yourself out there. I hope to see you again under better circumstances." He added before he suddenly charged forward. Tears threatened my vision, but Loki's hand was there pushing me forward toward a large ship that had crashed into the throne room.
We rushed into the ship, Thor pushing Jane toward me with a small nod before going to the controls. Outside I could hear the rancorous laughter of Volstagg as he fought off the guards. Lights suddenly flared around us as Thor made a small sound of triumph. I held onto Jane keeping my footing steady for her.
"Nice to see you." She breathed with a small smile. I smiled back happy to see color had begun to return to her cheeks.
"Nice to see you too." I added feeling the Aether shift in my chest at the sudden rumbling underneath us. The ship had powered on. From the screen in front of Thor I could see that we were rising into the air. I held Jane a bit more securely feeling the weight of the small ascent in my legs. A sudden jolt almost had the both of us knocked to the side as Thor slammed into an intact pillar as he attempted to turn around. My stomach dropped as I wondered if the room would come down around our ears.
"I think you missed a column." Loki said cheekily.
That was followed by a frustrated, "Shut up," from Thor. The engines revved and suddenly they blasted us forward slamming through the front facade of the castle. I grit my teeth fighting to keep both Jane and myself up.
"Look, why don't you let me take over I'm clearly the better pilot." Loki reasoned calmly as we were hurtling through Asgard narrowly missing bridges and the ground itself.
"Is that right?" Thor asked just as calmly. I suddenly wondered just how much trouble I was in putting my fate into the hands of the two brothers. "Well out of the two of us which one can actually fly?" He asked smugly.
There were strange electric booming sounds and suddenly the ship launched into a dive. I forced myself calm even as my feet began to lose purchase. Weight suddenly came back and Jane's knees gave out landing her on the floor. I helped sit her against the wall figuring that being seated actually wasn't such a bad idea for her.
There were more popping sounds and then a sudden jolt. I glared at Thor.
"Not a word." He told Loki quickly.
"You need to learn how to drive better." I hissed at him. The smile he threw me felt eerily like the ones he had been throwing Loki. Like one sibling to another.
"Now they're following us." Loki sounded concerned looking to me slightly. Another round of popping and the ship jerking harshly started the first true bloom of fear to curl through me. "Now they're firing at us." Loki said with a bit more force. He kept glancing back to me his eyes going wide at my expression.
I tried to rein myself in focusing on breathing.
"Yes thank you for the commentary, Loki. It's not at all distracting." Thor ground out.
Another harsh shake but I tried my best to ignore it. Garrett shifted slightly on my neck as did the Aether in my chest. I couldn't let it explode in here. It would kill us all. I bit my lip and tasted blood.
"Well done, you've just decapitated your grandfather." Loki's voice felt further away. I closed my eyes trying to focus on keeping the Aether contained. Keeping myself calm.
"You know? This is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea." Sarcastic and beginning to get angry. He must be able to feel my panic I realized dimly. "Let's steal the biggest most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that." Loki had started to pace slightly the predatory grace coming back full strength. "Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so that everyone can see us." He paused in front of the open door. "It's brilliant Thor. It's truly brilliant!"
Thor suddenly burst into movement and slammed Loki backwards and out the open door.
Everything stopped.
My body moved before I did unsheathing my blade with practiced ease. Thor's eyes met mine and whatever he saw made him stop. He held his hands up in surrender.
"You must trust me." He said softly. For a moment I thought I was going to try and kill him. Jane touched my free hand lightly holding onto my fingertips. A small reassurance. Her faith in Thor absolute. I sheathed my blade. As he moved past me to grab Jane I spoke.
"If you hurt him there will be hell to pay." My voice didn't sound like my own. I should trust him. I glanced to Huginn almost forgetting that the birds were still there.
"Yes, hello." Muninn said in a chipper voice. "I suppose we'll need to hang on." Correct.
"Yeah." I confirmed listening to Huginn. He was my first friend. The first one who truly tried to help me. I could trust him.
"Do as I do." Thor said Jane already in his arms. He slowly took a step off into the abyss, and I shakily followed suit. There was a moment where there was nothing but wind. The world stripped away into a bright shrieking void. Brace for impact. I readied myself and felt my feet hit hard on a surface. Thanks to Huginn I had actually kept balance instead of crumbling to the ground.
"My lady!" Fandral called winking slightly at me. He was steering what looked like a small ship. Ahead of us the bloated corpse of a ship exploded as the Asgardians behind it blew it away. Fandral steered the ship away from the course of the now-exploded ship looking to where Loki lie sprawled on his back.
"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful Loki." Fandral quipped sending a dazzling smile my way. He got up reminding me vaguely of a cat who did something stupid then tries to brush it off as if it had never happened.
"You lied to me." Loki told Thor as he sat Jane down at the back of the ship. He smirked slightly a faint smile gracing his face. "I'm impressed."
"Glad you're pleased." Thor responded. "Now if you will do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."
"Secret pathway?" I asked suddenly realizing how little I knew of what was going on. Anger began to bloom in full. Loki simply took the helm from Fandral a manic light filling his eyes as he took control. He let out a little breath and the ship began to pick up speed. He veered toward a mountain range letting the bottom tip of the ship dip down into the water below sending up a fine spray of mist over us all. Loki's gaze for a moment fell upon me, taking me in fully before refocusing on what was ahead. There were a few soft pops and Loki easily made the craft dance out of the way of the enemy fire. One blast coming so close to me that the splash hit my feet. I began to shiver not quite knowing why. Loki shifted the boat skyward the engines whining with the sudden ascent.
"Fandral." Thor ordered. The man in question sighed.
"Right." He said quickly taking a rope and attaching it to the side of the boat. His eyes met mine as he pulled it taunt. A slow sensual smile curving his lips. "For Asgard." He nodded slightly toward me before suddenly jumping from the side.
"Why do all Asgardians feel the need to jump from perfectly working aircraft?" I hissed. The rope snapped taunt, then just as quickly it went back loose.
"You should know." Thor said amused. I glanced back just to see Fandral easily take out the third guard. He did a small salute to Thor before we shifted course heading straight for an outcropping of mountain.
"Loki?" Thor called as Loki increased the speed. The behemoth of stone grew before us and I felt my knees begin to give out.
"If it were easy," Loki said with a calm I wished I could have, "everyone would do it." I glanced back at him suddenly seeing him as a much younger boy. I could see him trying to find every secret that Asgard had to offer. None of the betrayal. Muninn lightly touched the side of my head and I could see him. A little black-haired green-eyed boy with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Are you mad?"
"Possibly." Loki grinned shattering the image of the young boy. He had so much darkness now. That mad look in his eye. His smile was more of a baring of teeth than an expression of joy. Thor hunkered down over Jane and I found myself alone in the middle of the boat as a wall of rock raced closer. I turned away from Loki fully facing what could kill me. What could kill all of us.
My body relaxed. I let my fear go accepting what I should have accepted from the beginning. When I first saw him. Loki breathed out then in, like he could actually breathe freely for the first time since the beginning of our mad dash. The boat steadied and sped even faster. Dark rock was right in front of us. It swallowed us whole. Sudden rock walls were around us silvery streaks sparking against the sides of the boat. Something grew and grew and then when I thought I could take no more of the magical pressure….
A familiar black landscape sprawled before us the ship losing altitude for a moment and slamming into the loose black rocks below. They sprayed all around us a few stinging my skin as they bounced away.
"I know this place." I muttered quietly to myself. The world of my dreams. Of my nightmares. A place I had fought so many times to escape. The Dark World.
"Tada."