Chapter 53: Old Remedies New Encounters

After a night of unrestful sleep that mostly saw Stark pacing back and forth ricocheting banter off Hogun in a manner no one had ever seen either do before, the group gathered again now neither divided as 'The Avengers' or 'The Warriors Three and Lady Sif' so much as simply a team of heroes ready to defend the universe and save one, young mortal. The morning meal was hardly touched by anyone except Thor and Jane who seemed to have made more than amends and were now clinging to each other prompting a roll of the eyes from nearly all the other heroes save Banner and Barton every few moments. Frigga joined them a moment later and informed them that her magic had located a general area of where Loki and Darcy (and Sleipnir whom she mentioned with a smirk while emphasizing Odin's irritation of having his prized stallion gone) were likely hiding. Not more than a moment after that, Odin stormed in and slammed Gungnir to the ground, nodding his head in turn to each of the heroes in an odd display of respect, but placing his hand over his chest in respect of his son specifically while giving a disapproving glance to the mortal at his side with his good eye. Jane returned the gaze with a spiteful, broad grin, and wrapping her lithe arms more tightly around Thor's musculature, prompting a growl from the old Asgardian as he took a seat at the head of the table.

"Your brother still has The Othala captive?" Odin asked.

"She has a name, sir, and she's not a captive," Captain Rogers corrected firmly. Personally, he was tired of the pomp and pretense of this realm and, as much as he treasured and respected diversity, found this 'advanced' civilization to be more backwards than the deepest parts of Mississippi. "She seems to think that she is just as much on a mission to save your son as we are to save her, like she has some sort of special gift that can help him overcome his unsavory urges."

"I doubt that even if her beliefs are present that such a thing could be true. Loki was born a trickster, a shape-shifter, and he will never be anything less than a living lie," Odin said. No one but Frigga could detect the sorrow in his voice masked by the disdain. If he disowned him then he no longer had to grieve over the boy's actions or painfully cling to hope that he would return to them a good and noble son with every right to the throne that Thor had. It was Thor that then stood sternly and angrily, glaring at his father. Odin stood in reply. "You have proof at this very moment to the opposite?"

"He risked his life to enter Malekith's halls, an enemy that you and grandfather created without necessity, all to save a mortal," Thor replied.

"To save her powers, not her life," Odin corrected. Thor felt stymied and remained silent. To be truthful, part of him had feared and felt that Loki was simply acting out of a need to have Darcy's powers at his side and not at all about having Darcy herself. Odin sighed and stood, gripping his staff. "The Othala is now aware of the first part of her powers, her gifts. She bears the entirety of the blue gem, the very gem that Malekith lacked to complete the powers he had stolen from others, but I do not believe a simple dark elf is the greatest of enemies we will face. I have felt something more fierce . . . more foul approaching."

"Are you sure you didn't walk by a mirror too early in the morning?" Stark asked with an agitated raise of one brow. Odin ignored him and kept his gaze on Thor.

Odin sighed heavily and sat down sadly. "It is time you knew the truth," he said to Thor without looking him in the eye. Frigga turned her head away and closed her eyes sadly, fighting away tears. Jane perked up at this, though still looked quite worried about the confession to follow. "In the first ages, the Dark Elves came long before the other races and were venerable rulers over them as well as healers and sorcerers, though never united by one king, never organized as a civilization. Four millennia into their reign, my father, King Bor, decided that our organization skills and propensity far outdid their legacy and challenged them to a fight for superiority; why this was done I shall never know, but the elves sent forth as many champions as they could in the form of diplomats to remind Asgard that even they had received aide from the elves in the past. My father would not listen to their words and cut them down like dry wheat, slaying all the ambassadors and claiming what he believed was victory." Here, Odin rubbed his head and, for the first time in such a public place, showed a face weathered and contorted with disgust for his ancestry and shame. "The Dark Elves, feeling humiliated, retreated from all other realms to Svartalfheim, thinking that if Asgard would treat them so then no other realm would see them as good and noble creatures. They focused their efforts on trying to build a civilization more grand than the Aesir and they practically succeeded with thanks to a young, new sorcerer of great power named Malekith. I do not know where his family came from or how he rose to power, but he divided his kingdom into four equal regions with the enormous capital city serving as the center of hope and culture for their people as well as the forgery and halls of magical items and runes. The Dark Elves and dwarves had for years worked side by side beneath the surfaces of Svartalfheim and Nidavell fashioning incredible magical gems, objects, and runes of power. When my father sensed this power growing and exceeding his own . . ."

Before Odin could finish, his voice beginning to tremble, Frigga reached out her hand and grasped her husband's tightly, finishing his words. "Bor sent in hordes of soldiers as Malekith sought to a distress call from Alfyse, Queen of the East and Eastern Spires who had reported a great and devastating drought consuming their land," Frigga explained. A few tears rolled down her cheeks and Jane realized that Frigga had kept these secrets out of respect for her husband and that it had plagued her for many, many years. She sniffed and straightened herself. "But Bor was more than selfish and saw the wealth, wonder, and above all the wonderful family that Malekith had acquired in his kingship. Without thought for life or love, he slew Malekith's three sons; two grown and one very, very young, and then his wife as well, leaving a trap to capture and destroy the soul of the last living child. From what was told, the trap worked, and Bor made off with nearly every gem that Malekith had acquired, but left the relics behind. Upon hearing of this, Laufey, the King of Jotunheim, saw an opportunity and also attacked just as Malekith was returning to the capital and slew many elves as he stole all but three of the relics and runes for himself."

"How has this been in your history and you haven't like gone into a rebellious phase and left, gotten a tattoo, coloured your hair purple, and disowned your family through hard rock ballads?" Stark asked, looking at Thor in confusion. Thor simply stared at his father and mother in horror. Stark noticed this and frowned. "So you guys are just full of dirty little secrets and you've even been keeping them from your own sons."

"Tyr discovered it and left straight away. Balder was too young to . . ." Frigga began, trailing off sadly.

Odin cleared his throat. "Malekith watched as I watched my father die in battle against the Jotuns in one bloody row, He approached me not long after and offered his alliance in court if I would return to him what was rightfully his. The Odinforce was not nearly as powerful then as it is now, and so I made an apprehensive deal with him. But he grew impatient and then demanded the gems and relics and runes be returned to him from our vault. I refused, and Malekith swore to see the destruction of Bor's line at all costs." Odin sighed and stood once more. "Still too determined to allow himself to die, Malekith sought to retrieve the stones through a different source."

"The Othalas, or whatever they are," Jane realized aloud. Odin looked at her with a slight twinge of enjoyment. "They would 'borrow' the gems and absorb and build on their powers."

"Not to mention stealing relics that weren't gems at all," Fandral added, taking a drink from his chalice. "And that was, after all, his first and only concern when he learned how practically impossible it would be to resurrect the ones he loved."

"So he tried to replace them; he didn't go after adults with all this knowledge, he told us, he took orphans whose parents had been burned as witches or killed for having their powers in the hopes that they would've inherited them as well as the ability to go back and steal the artifacts," Barton added quickly. "Apparently he got most of the powers of the gems back without the gems and the magical items, too; but the other 'Light Elves' and the elves on earth were afraid that these humans were too powerful and Malekith was too cruel to keep them or keep conducting his adoptions and extractions . . . poor things probably didn't live past puberty when they stopped being 'cute'.

"Useful is a better and more appropriate word," Thor interjected. He turned back to his father. So you sided with Alfheim and Midgard's elves to try and stop him?"

"The last resort was banishment and putting the capital magically behind Asgard's shadow. I hadn't expected the city to collapse so and for such devastation during the rift," Odin muttered. "But I knew that Malekith would escape and his recourse would be to reclaim his city with what once had its artifacts and gems . . . I had hoped he would be powerless."

"It sounds like everything just makes him stronger and you people keep giving him reasons to be ticked off at every little thing," Stark said as he stood and looked back and forth at father and son. "Is there anything that can bring this guy down at all? Because I'm even pretty sure a nuke would just make him sparkle like a tweenage vampire and give him even more angst."

"Liquid iron," a new and familiar voice said, practically out of breath. "I need wine and liquid iron."

The group turned in shock to see Loki as he dismounted Sleipnir. Odin remained standing where he was, not sure if moving forward on impulse was a good idea. Frigga smiled brightly and turned to the others. "Well? Does anyone have it?"

"Look, pal, from what I'm gathering you want to put the liquid iron in the wine and trust me, that's not going to work. It's scalding hot and it really makes no sense," Stark said, turning to Loki with a casual glance. "Now pouring it over him might be fun."

"You'd stop his magic in his veins," Natasha suddenly interjected. She turned and looked at Loki in stern sobriety. "You don't want liquid iron meant for construction, you want a supplement. It'll destroy his chances of using magic internally; iron and other metals like it stop faerie magic entirely."

"That re-states my plan of action, but it doesn't answer my question," Loki replied annoyedly. "I need liquid iron!"

"Geritol," Captain Rogers interjected, also standing. Oddly, and this seemed especially odd to Banner, Volstagg, and Sif, no one was trying to apprehend him or demand to know of Darcy's location. Stark and Natasha turned towards Rogers with a universal look of disgust. "Hey, it tastes like blood from an old tin can, but the stuff is the most powerful iron supplement on earth. It's used for severe anemia and the elderly."

"And you want to put that kind of gag-fest in a bottle of wine thinking he'll drink it?" Stark asked with a disdainful chuckle. "He'd puke all over you, then use magic to thrash you, and then what would you do?"

"The wine will relax his senses and stomach, you fool, an then I pump him so full of whatever it is you mentioned that he can barely lift his head," Loki said proudly. Sleipnir grunted and turned back towards the exit, signaling that he didn't think they had much time. "Where might I acquire this?"

The group turned to Rogers who frowned. "Look, just because I've been asleep long enough to make me an old man doesn't mean I walk around with bottles of vitamin tonic and Postum, alright?" he quipped back angrily. Loki smirked at this as the others frowned a little. Rogers turned to Loki and sighed heavily. "I can't condone stealing; but if you want a whole lot you'll have to go back to earth and get as much as you can."

Loki grinned and leapt back onto his son/steed with a wink. "I shall return victorious over the best that Svartalfheim can offer with Darcy Lewis in tow," he replied beaming. "Right after I make a stop at Midgard and secure every bottle of that liquid I can find. He'll be retching and unable to heal himself from it for years; brilliant! Thank you, Captain!"

As the trickster once again bounded off speedily on the horse, the group watched in stunned silence before turning to one another for a signal as to how to react. Stark sighed and rubbed his head muttering that this was not the kind of week he had planned and that this was likely some kind of Jaeger-Vodka bomb in celebration of what had happened in New York and he needed to just snap out of the dream. Rogers frowned and put his head in one hand. "Great," he muttered. "Now I've given him an even more fatal weapon to use against some other helpless race of creatures."

"I wouldn't call Dark Elves helpless; you saw Malekith firsthand," Thor corrected. He smirked. "And it is rather amusing to think of what kind of reaction might ensue if the old monster was forced to drink hordes of iron himself."

(*)

Darcy sat silently and dejected in the holding area on the ship as Malekith gathered his other men and prepared to leave. One of the soldiers came and bowed to him, saying something softly in their tongue. Malekith scowled and sighed, speaking back sternly to the underling and sending him away. He turned and noted Darcy as she continued to stay unmoving and unmoved emotionally. He sighed and gently moved towards her, placing both hands on her shoulders. Her wrists were in digital manacles and a rope of light bound her ankles and knees though they were drawn up to her chest. Pity filled him once more and he leaned down, stroking her dark, swirling hair and pulling it away from one ear so she could hear him speaking very softly and comfortingly.

"Now, now, my dear Darcy Lewis. There's no reason at all to let your spirits fall into poor humor on this account. After all, your powers will be given to a proper user who will use them to their fullest extent," he soothed, gently stroking the side of her face as he spoke. "Besides, I have assured you that you will feel no pain nor any unpleasantness ever again. You will remain at my side, my favorite lovely trinket and not a terrible protective device like my hounds. You shall want for no food, the very finest, or water, the very best and clearest."

"He's coming back for me," Darcy whispered emotionlessly. "He promised; he wouldn't let me get hurt by anyone . . ." she turned and stared harshly at the elf, "No one, not even you for a moment."

"You poor sweet child," Malekith said smoothly, stroking her chin as she slightly pulled away, but didn't prevent his touch entirely. His presence wasn't entirely unpleasant and she had to admit that part of her was still a little 'elfmazed' by him, but she was fighting it as hard as she could to keep from letting him have hold of her. Malekith shook his head and softly stroked her hair once more before gently kissing her crown and striding away, leaving her alone to her thoughts and false hopes. As he left the Harrow, he met with another soldier who bowed low and seemed oddly distressed. "What is it?" he asked in confusion.

"Sire, it seems like two of the pilots are . . ." the soldier began, hesitating with his words. Malekith snarled and looked at the soldier angrily. "Well, they appear to be inebriated, sir."

"Impossible," Maleith said sternly. He moved a few steps past the soldier towards the nearest ship. "All pilots are given an elixir of focused energy. Inebriation would be next to impossible to achieve."

"See for yourself, sire," the soldier said, still sounding uneasy. Malekith turned and frowned at the soldier more firmly, able to tell from the tone of his voice that the soldier was truly worried about his master's reaction. The door to the ship opened and Malekith entered, gazing around, noticing the two bodies of the bodies slumped over their stations and a large flask near them. The soldier behind Malekith smirked silently as his eyes flashed their natural green. The trickster remained calm, but with an uneasy feigned veneer. Malekith didn't sense this in the least and began ranting at the two. He snarled and began shouting at them in their native tongue which, while Loki understood most of it, was sure he was also sure these were phrases his mother had forbidden at all costs. As Maleith reached down to one of the pilots and grabbed his shoulder, his heart sank. The armor was empty. The elf's heart began to race as suddenly the armor slipped off the seat into nothingness as Malekith felt a set of cold hands from behind push him harshly into one of the pilot's seats. Loki grinned brightly, stifling a giggle of pure delight as he fastened every strong restraint belt meant to keep the pilots safe while in stasis on long journeys, around the elf until he couldn't move much in any direction and began to scream for his men. Loki sighed and grabbed the flask, forcing it over the elf's lips and into pouring the fluid into his throat. Malekith gagged at the awful flavor, recognizing what it might've been, retching at the thought of swallowing the concoction and writhing under the fear of what this substance would do to his magical gifts and skills. He managed a cough and to squirm to the left. Loki grinned and then outright chuckled as he pushed the bottle's lip more deeply into the elf's, cupping his hand around his mouth so that no drop could be lost, "Don't fight it, you naughty little boy. Drink it down, all of it."

In his mind, Malekith screamed incessantly at both Loki and the soldiers that weren't at all hearing this. His mind began to spin and strange pain filled his head as he found himself unable to keep down the iron and wine concoction. Malekith glanced to the side and saw the form of the eight-legged Sleipnir out of the corner of his eye and growled even louder. Sleipnir whinnied in triumph as Malekith screamed and screamed unheard as Loki forced the last of the liquid into his mouth. As he released the flask, but before the elf could call out, Loki slapped the same muzzle that had been cruelly placed on him over the dark elf's mouth. This prompted even more loud growling and attempted shrieking. Loki smiled and patted the side of the elf's shoulder. "Now, let's get to work finding the best way to handle all the naughty things you've done to me and Darcy, shall we?" Once again, Sleipnir whinnied in triumph and excitement. Darcy's keen hearing caught the sound and she smiled, sighing deeply and now waiting for Loki to come and undo the bindings.

"I knew you couldn't stay away," she said with a smirk. "Whether you want to admit or not, you really are in love with me."