Loki paced back and forth. He snapped his fingers, clicked his tongue, scratched his head, anything to keep himself calm and collected.
What a turn of events indeed.
Certainly, Ase was a woman exceeding all expectations, but not in this manner. He wanted to scream her name so desperately when he saw her flying over the fighting ground, like a lost angel running for her life. But he didn't, for the Grandmaster would further suspect his intentions in Sakaar. He could only watch her being almost crushed by the Hulk, and then stopping the battle altogether. Only then did he realise that all the unexpected events were planned by herself, though it worried him whether she had been harmed after she was taken in by the Grandmaster?
He needed to search for her, be the Grandmaster's eyes were ever-watchful. He had so many questions. Did she fight Hela? Was she hurt? How had her desperation brought her to Sakaar and volunteering herself to fight for that twisted man?
Why was he suddenly so anxious for her now?
A knock came from the door. Loki froze. Had he been found out?
He readied his knife, carefully sneaking towards it. He needed a plan to escape, if he could make it past the numerous men, that was.
"Come in," he said nervously. The door creaked open and Loki's heart jumped faster. He was ready to stab his opponent until he saw the familiar oak eyes staring back at him.
"Loki," Ase breathed. Loki released his iron-clad grasp around his knives and rushed to embrace Ase. The sense of relieve he had was washing off his bones, like a river streaming past him.
"I don't know if I should be glad you're alive," Loki chuckled. Ase squeezed him tighter, more to remind him how worried she had been. They remained still for a long moment—three years were a long time for them, who were not given any chance to reconcile with each other. Three years which they had spent keeping silent about their true desires in favour of keeping peace and order. Such were their flaws—two beings too preoccupied with what was right and not what they felt right. He now remembered how warm it was to touch her, like standing beside a gentle hearth in winter. "I knew you'd be alive," Loki whispered.
Ase nodded, realising the importance of time, and decided to break off from him. Quietly she closed the doors behind them, and took a deep breath. "Thor and Bruce have escaped. They are searching for the quinjet," Ase explained slowly. "But considering Earth's technology, the quinjet won't suffice for us to fly through the wormholes."
Loki folded his arms and carefully listened to her plans. "We need to steal one of the Grandmaster's ship."
"You're saying we," Loki commented. Something sparked in Ase's conscience.
"Yes, us," Ase reiterated. "I am not going to leave without you, Loki."
Loki shook his head solemnly. "You don't understand... I can't return to Asgard after all that's happened. This place is perfect for me, don't you see? I don't have to live under the scrutiny of people anymore, and here they don't judge me for my mischiefs."
He would be lying to himself—ironically—if he denied that he did not feel guilty of his actions several years ago. Without Ase, perhaps he would still be the cynical maniac who regarded nothing of someone's life. But Ase had transformed him into at least a decent man, who had a normalcy to differentiate right and wrong. Unfortunately, it was only her who deemed him as so. Hundreds and thousands of people in Asgard would still look at him as if he was a devil, of whom he was. He had never said it out a loud but he hated when people looked down upon him. He hated when everyone merely saw his faults and not his spare amount of rights. He hated when he was always deemed a trickster when all he did was the same magic other sorcerers performed.
He hated Asgard.
"I didn't say you need to."
She had said that with a stutter, but her voice was firm. Loki flinched when he heard her words. He questioned the truth of her words, for perhaps she had managed to lie so well after befriending him, but she showed no signs of deception. Ase smiled softly and took his hand. "I firmly believed what you said back in Svartalfheim, and I still do now. This is a wrong time to say this but… I really meant what I said back there as well. I love you, okay? If you don't have a place to return to, then let me be one from now on." As she said so, her cheeks flushed deep red and she turned her face away.
He could not muster any words. For the first time in his life, the Silver Tongue was left with no reply. He felt dazed. He felt vulnerable, yet strong. Doubtful, yet wrapped in conviction.
"After this is over, will you come with me?" Ase asked firmly. "We can go wherever we want to. I don't care. As long as you're with me." Again stuttering—clearly she was not used to this kind of talk. But there was no deception laced in her words, only sincerity. She was offering to share her life, her misadventures with him, who could only bring misfortune everywhere he went. At least that was what he was thinking, but he wouldn't want to think otherwise.
His skin tingled, like needles were piercing him. There it was again, the inexplicable feeling wrenching his gut whenever he thought of her. But as enigmatic as it was, he had no other answer for her.
"Yes."
Another knock came from the door. Ase jolted in alarm. "Is it Thor?" Loki asked.
"No," Ase snapped, releasing his hand. The reality rushed back in, unfolding the brief invaluable moment they had had just before. Loki pointed towards the bed when he saw she was attempting to perform an illusion spell.
"They can see you," Loki mouthed. Ase was swallowed in bafflement, but she obediently followed his instructions and slipped herself below the bed. Loki tossed something to her hand before he straightened his back and faced the door. Ase reached for the object and saw that it was another communicator. The door blasted open.
It was the Grandmaster's right-hand woman. "Your adoptive brother has escaped," she reported. "Your presence is required, Lackey."
Ase covered her mouth, suppressing her amusement. Loki wanted to raise the finger behind his back, but decided that it was too crude for him. "I see. I will be there at once," he said calmly.
"You'll follow me, now," the woman corrected sternly. Loki maintained his composure and nodded. He didn't look back as he tailed the woman back to the Grandmaster, his hand rubbing the communicator in his pocket. His steps resounded with purpose. He had never been a man who changed his plans in the last minute, but everything had changed since Ase crashed into his life. He had intended to stay in Sakaar, evading all of his past actions. But now, he would be ready to leave the place anytime she wanted to.
oOo
She waited. She was used to patience. She would wait for his return.
After five minutes, she gave up.
She rose from her hiding place, though she did not contact Loki immediately for the fear that he was facing the Grandmaster. Curiously, she searched Loki's room, hoping for any clues or maps scattered nearby which would help her escape. Nothing. For a man who was constantly scheming for glory, his room was surprisingly pristine, devoid of any interests. She glanced down at the communicator. Somehow he had trusted her this despite knowing he would not be able to speak to her soon. Why?
There were infinitely many things she did not know about Loki—how his mind worked, how he could survive gruesome battles without using any bombastic spells, how he could easily persuade people to trust him. But one thing she knew for sure: she, by instinct, could tell what his intention was, and what he believed in her.
And that instinct told her to barge through the door and wreak havoc inside the Grandmaster's home itself.
This is supposed to be a stealth mission, Ase muttered herself as she kicked open the door, shocking the guards outside. She glowered at them before pouncing at their bodies, nailing them to the concrete floor. Without hesitation, she placed her staff on one of the guard's neck. "Tell me the direction of the Grandmaster's best ship?"
The guard whimpered and pointed towards the left wing of the building. Ase beamed before knocking both guards out. She disliked this method of brute escapade, but Loki seemed to suggest that this was the best method he had in mind. Her actions instantly alerted the nearby guards. She understood his true intention now.
"Buy enough time," Ase whispered to herself, rubbing her hands together. "For me and himself." Ase wrapped her hands together and felt her hands burning from the flames building up from her skin. At the end of the hallway, the guards appeared, armed with guns similar to that of the scavengers. Hesitantly, Ase aimed at the guards and unleashed her ball of fire. The blazing sphere blasted the guards, scattering them across the floor. Not enough to buy them time.
She clasped her hands once more, summoning the same ball of fire, but this time she aimed at one of the guns. A billowing explosion hurled all nearby across the hallway. A certainly unexpected inferno was born from it, crackling the air like firecrackers. "Oops," Ase muttered as the guards panicked away. Never had she been good in fire spells, but currently it was actually working in her favour. Pulling herself up, she ran away from the catastrophe, finally given time to properly breath and search the hallways. As she sprinted past the guards, she mustered an illusion around herself, making her figure appear like one of the guards. She doubted that this illusion would be fool proof, considering Loki had warned her not to use one, but in the midst of chaos everything would look passable.
"What the hell is happening here? Since when has my luck been this bad?" the Grandmaster protested from his chambers. Ase rolled her eyes and moved on, changing directions innumerable times with every curves and twists of the corridor.
Suddenly Loki's communicator buzzed to life. Ase skittered to a halt and wrenched it out from her pocket. The hologram flickered vaguely for almost half a minute, as if it was dying down.
"What are you doing?" a woman's voice echoed instead.
"Wait, don't touch that—" That one was certainly Loki's voice.
"Who knows if you are informing the Grandmaster, eh?" the woman said again. Ase shook the device as hardly as she could and finally it willingly revealed the face of her callers. It was Brunnhilde.
"Why do you have Loki's phone?" Ase asked. Loki peered from behind Brunnhilde, who was shell-shocked from seeing her.
"You know this woman?" Loki asked.
"She helped me a bit," Ase admitted. She scrutinised Loki's condition. Somehow, he found himself shackled in chains, and Ase glared at Brunnhilde for this.
"He tried to stab me," Brunnhilde defended.
"Because I presumed you wanted to harm to us," Loki argued. "Ase, please don't trust this woman. She's a mad one."
Being lost inside the Grandmaster's mansion certainly did not give her the most painful headache. She was tempted to start another fire just to ease her dizziness. She was sure Loki was willing to help them escape, but what had occurred to cause him to clash with the Valkyrie. One eye closed, and this was the result. And she had no grudge against Brunnhilde, for they had just met, but she could tell that she was outright reckless and full of herself—just like she had been. These two certainly did not get along. "Look. All of us are on the same side, so could you release him and could you stop trying to kill random people you meet?" Ase explained.
Brunnhilde glanced at Loki, who pouted his tongue at her. "By the by, have you found the ship yet?"
Ase grimly shook her head. "Of course you won't. Not in this bloody maze," Brunnhilde remarked. "Tell you what, since you're quite good in creating distractions, I have a better job for you to do." Brunnhilde flashed a map from her bracers, detailing the inner structure of the buildings and the stadium. Ase leaned forward curiously. "Go to the holding area at the basement of the stadium. There you'll find the Grandmaster's contenders—slaves ready to start a revolution. Get some guns there and throw them at the guy called Korg. We'll meet again once you're done."
"Are you saying you're helping us in this fight?" Ase asked, seeking for conviction. Brunnhilde looked away, hesitating.
"I've had enough of that hag sticking her nose to places she don't belong to," Brunnhilde confessed. "I see you guys have a better chance to defeat her. Might as well die for trying to kill her twice."
Brunnhilde was certainly still consumed in her grief and anger, the darkness of her eyes still lingering there. It would be difficult to forget deaths, Ase had learnt. However, she was heartened that this woman was willing to help them, even though her motivations were solely for ending her life meaningfully rather than continuing it.
"Alright," Ase agreed. "I'll see you in a minute."
The building trembled as another explosion shook its foundations. Ase staggered back, gripping the wall. It appears that the explosions were not finished with destroying the building yet.
Ase pushed herself and sprinted towards the stadium, ignoring the shouts from guards demanding that she return to her post. "Hey you, where are you going?"
It appears I assumed wrongly.
The guard marched towards her. "We're told to put out the fire, aren't we?"
"I was told we're about to start a revolution," Ase chirped.
"What—"
A resounding crack followed. The guard slumped to the floor, groaning in agony. Huffing, Ase continued her chase with time, navigating around the endless corridors until she reached the stadium. More guards awaited her, and so she dropped her pretence and took out her staff. Swiftly, she knocked each and every one of her enemies down, moving fluidly like a river among rooted rocks. Deftly, she took the key from her last opponent, and pranced towards the door.
She showed up her head in the holding room, noticing that instead of a square it was shaped as a spiral. Her nerves tingled when she detected magic in the walls. She found the prisoners right at the corner of her eye. One of them was a giant made of rocks, resembling a Jotun but with friendlier features. "I'm looking for Korg," Ase said.
"Who's asking?" Korg said. "I mean, I know you're asking. It's just that maybe another person is asking. Who are you again?"
"My name is Ase," she introduced, casting several guns to Korg and his friends. She took the remote control for their paralysers and turned them off. Instantly a look of relief embellished their faces. "I heard you are starting a revolution?" she continued, bemused.
Korg glanced at his weapon and reloaded it. "The revolution has begun!" he declared. The prisoners cried in unison. Carefully Ase stepped away from the door, and the prisoners immediately streamed out of their cage, and disappeared into the hallway. It was not a second after that she heard screams from the Grandmaster's unfortunate henchmen. She winced.
Now that she was finished, she could call her friends once more.
"A breach in the Basement 3 hangar. All available personnel to proceed immediately."
"Well, now we know where it is," Ase whispered to herself. She had never favoured such disastrous plans. Rather, she would prefer a well-thought plan which would be executed without attracting attention or amplifying casualties. But she reconsidered her current comrades, then their enemies, and realised that it would have been impossible for them to leave the place untouched.
Ase's senses tensed. She skittered to a halt, and unknowingly found herself into the Grandmaster's chambers. There the Grandmaster stood, grinning eerily as around him the disaster continued to ransack his own dwelling. Ase shivered and tightened her grip around her staff. Impossible. I follow the exact path shown on the map. I shouldn't have ended up here.
"Your mind sure is not that easy to read," the Grandmaster spoke, his voice laced with an indescribable glee—one which defeated Loki's mischievous tone. Ase narrowed her eyes, raising her defences as she carefully sled her feet across the floor. "In fact, I couldn't get into your mind until just now. It seems all the hustle and bustle has weakened your defences a bit, correct?"
Ase detected a slight shift in his tone, as if a darker being was taking him over subtly. "I didn't know you are a mind reader, sir," Ase replied calmly. In fact, she didn't know anything about him. Loki certainly felt wary whenever he spoke of his name. Was he powerful? But his physique wasn't showing any signs of strength or training. Unless…
She realised it too late. An invisible force tackled her to the floor, pinning her down with the weight of the moment. Heaving, Ase tried to resist the downward pressure, only to find that she was merely hurting herself. She glanced at her opponent. Behind his gentle façade lay a strength so powerful that she could literally see blue fog emanating from his body. "You're a sorcerer…" Ase muttered.
The Grandmaster stepped forward and knelt in front of her. "Hmm. That word I don't use. I am not an Aesir after all," he said while lifted Ase's chin. "No wonder you look familiar. You must be Rhea's daughter from the rumours."
Her eyes slowly widened. "You know my mother?" she grunted. The Grandmaster let out a small chuckle and patted her cheeks. His face darkened then, a demon threatening to show itself. Trembling, Ase pondered deeply. This power could belong to no random person, for the powers of the mind were rare to find.
"Of course, I do. How do you think your mother became so strong?" the Grandmaster said. It took her awhile to register his words. "When she was young she came to Sakaar, thrown into the garbage dump, and literally crawled to me so she could become stronger. Of course I helped her, being the benevolent man I am, and in return she gave me many things after she became a sorceress. Weapons, devices, and even blueprints for impenetrable cages."
So that's how he built the prison holding the contenders, Ase fleetingly thought. Somehow, his powers were not only oppressing her physically, but mentally as well. She could not tap into the inter-dimensional powers in her condition. She turned her mind upside down to think of solutions out of her damned problem, while still processing her mother's connection with this insane mind.
"But then, she became the Head Sorceress, and she stopped sending me tributes," the Grandmaster continued sharply. "She thought she's strong enough to rebel against me. Of course, I couldn't touch her either with Asgard's defence and all… But in the end, she got what she deserved."
Something snapped in Ase. Her mind stopped working and she lifted her head. Was this man saying that Rhea's death was expected? Was this man being grateful that she was killed so mercilessly, just because she had failed to send him stupid gifts? Was this man treating living beings as if they were toys?
Ase impulsively grabbed his leg and glared at him. "You son of a bitch."
"Ohoh, look what we have here," the Grandmaster chirped. "Another rebel. Like mother like daughter."
"No. Like both father and mother," Ase hissed. It happened in a flash, but not fast enough for the Grandmaster to miss the pain. Ice bloomed from his feet and encased his entire left leg in ice. He screamed, staggering backwards and blasting Ase towards the window. The glass shattered into pieces. Ase sled across the floor and half her body was thrown into the air. But her hand grabbed the edge of the glass and, dangling dangerously, Ase finally gained full control of her mind.
Swinging her body upwards, she returned back to the solid ground and without delay she sprinted to her enemy. The Grandmaster tried to block her path with a force field. Ase halted mid-way, fighting her way through his barrier. The frost branching from her feet was stopped by the barrier too.
Ase drew her staff. With a strong heave she broke the invisible barrier with her own force, the impact echoing back to the Grandmaster. Her rage was now stronger than the Grandmaster's capabilities. She would not forgive anyone who insulted her mother. No matter how flawed she had been as a parent, she was the greatest sorceress. And this man didn't deserve to call himself her master.
"You have made a lot of people suffer," Ase said as she strolled to the Grandmaster, who was trembling when he saw his mistake. He had thought Rhea weaker than him, and she was. But this woman was different. Rhea's reunion with the Jotun had not created a monster. It had created a demon. Ase's hands clawed around the Grandmaster. Lifting him up, he looked into her eyes, and saw both beings reflected back. "I won't kill you. Those people deserve the honours."
Oh shit.
Ase froze his body enough so that he would not move as she conducted her last move. With a battle cry, Ase threw the Grandmaster off his building to the chaotic streets below. His helpless scream echoed across the city, and Ase watched in satisfaction after discarding her enemy. By far, she admitted, this enemy was the most annoying one.
"There goes our opportunity to negotiate with the Collector," Ase sighed. Her pocket vibrated.
"Ase, where are you?" Loki asked.
"I am in the Grandmaster's chambers," Ase informed. Dozens of planes split the air, engaged in a deadly chase among the buildings. "Wait, are you in that plane?" she guessed, pointing to the smaller plane being hunted by the larger ones.
"Of course not!" Loki replied, as if he was being accused. Ase raised her brows. Thrumming below her was another far bigger airship, perhaps capable of carrying hundreds of people. She staggered back and laughed when she caught Loki standing on the ship. In his hand was his horned helmet, something she truthfully missed from back in the old days. He had been the villain then, a nasty trickster who wanted nothing but glory and powerful.
But here, as he grinned back at her, sincere wrinkles forming around his eyes, she knew that man was quite gone. "Hello there," Ase greeted. She leapt forward towards the ship and grasped Loki's extended hand. How long had it been since he left the room? It seemed like an eternity.
"What happened?" Loki asked, peering over her shoulder to study the curious destruction of the Grandmaster's chambers. And just before, he saw the Grandmaster falling aimlessly from the top of the building. Ase gazed emptily into the sky, not answering his question immediately.
"I had a clash with the Grandmaster," she whispered slowly. "And I just realise how little I know of my mother."
Loki held her hand tighter. He felt her guilt resonating with him as well, even worse. He had known his mother for thousands of years, her truthfulness and sincerity, yet he still chose to abandon her in the last moment. If only history could be rewritten—where Ase had stayed in Asgard, where he had not fallen after discovering his heritage, where Odin had not hidden the truth from all of them—perhaps they would lead happier lives.
"Lackey!" someone called. Ase was snapped from her trance and turned around. The ex-prisoners waved their hands at her.
"Why are they with us?" Ase inquired to Loki.
"We are here to repay your debt," Korg answered instead. "And also escape from this damned place. So count us in. Might as well put our skills for a good use once in a while."
What a strange band of fighters they were bringing with them. A hopeful sight indeed, and it heartened her spirit slightly. "Where is Thor?" asked Ase then. Loki frowned deeply.
"He says that as that he bears the responsibility for all of this," Loki explained. "He will face Hela alone. Always the foolish one."
That certainly was a bad news, particularly because Thor no longer had Mjolnir in his possession. Yet, she had seen his true powers manifesting in the Contest of Champions. It was unseen before, but she firmly believed—if her senses then were not deceiving her—that his powers were further amplified without his hammer. "He will not die, I am sure of it," she assured him. Loki scoffed.
"Good choice of words," Loki said. "And our task is to evacuate the people and protect them."
Loki affirmed his gaze on her. "This time, I am going to be fighting by your side. And you will not deny my request."
She widened her eyes, startled by the sudden change in his personality, for in that moment he seemed far different from the outcast he was known to be. The affirmation in his visage, showcased the side which had long been suppressed by society's expectations. The spirit of a leader, a warrior, far above the spirit of a trickster. His true spirit.
Ase silently nodded and Loki solemnly looked away, as if he was seeing something she couldn't.
"Thank you," Ase whispered. Loki looked at her in bemusement. She did not further elaborate, preferring to wait until after this battle was won.
A/N: Hey guys! I am back with a reinvigorated energy and faith in the future. The holidays have given me a well-deserved rest and time to reflect on my past failures, reconnect with my family, and picking up the pace in general. These few weeks I've been busy with Chinese New Year, results announcement, and new school registrations, so I've not spared a chance to post or write anything. In view of that, thank you for those who have patiently waited and read this fic, which have been stalled many times like usual. I love you guys so much and your encouragement always drive me forward!
As of posting this fic (8 Feb 2020), the Coronavirus epidemic has worsened in Singapore and many parts of the world. Please take care and be vigilant, as we have not discovered the specifics of this disease and its transmission. Pray and support each other. I will pray for you guys too!