Sorry it took me longer to update, but there was a lot going on in this chapter. And in case I don't update again before Christmas ( I probably won't), I want to wish you all have good time with your families and/or friends.

Thank you for reviewing and following my story 3

Chapter X

It was Pepper Pots who turned out to be their saviour. Stark's fiancée joined them in the compound once Rhodey got stuck in delivery chain of his orders and called for help. No one wanted to impose on her, but Pepper just shrugged and said it was good to see familiar faces around. She liked Thor well enough and though she was far less pleased to meet Loki, it didn't stop her from helping Asgard. She asked for details of the most pressing needs and once Loki and Bruce provided her with a list, she was on the phone in an instant. Watching her go from one call to another and argue calmly but persistently, Loki could easily tell why Stark had her running his business. Though she was as grim and upset as the rest of them, she would not be brushed off and kept digging until she was satisfied.

By the next morning first lorry came carrying clothes and blankets, as well as the most needed cleaning and sanitary products. Stark Industries supported humanitarian missions on regular basis, so Pepper was able to contact directly people who could provide her with necessary goods at short notice. Warm clothes were particularly desired, for Asgard had been much warmer and on Midgard spring was coming slowly, with the days still cool and rainy. Products for the smallest children were just as handy, though the remaining healers had to estimate daily portions of Midgardian milk to provide necessary nourishment for the few infants left without their mothers.

Thor and Loki moved to sleep with the rest of their people, both to be closer and to give the Avengers some privacy. It worked both ways, and though Loki did not point it out to his brother, he made sure there were no spying devices in any rooms arranged for sleeping quarters. Judging by the annoyed look Natasha gave him the next time they met, he was thorough. After that, he saw the Avengers more often in the Asgardian part, one of them always staying around and helping. Unnerving as it was, it was still better than the idea of being watched and spied.

But all in all, after the first few days of constant reorganising and rearranging their temporary living situation, the Asgardians managed to work out some resemblance of controlled chaos. They had been divided into smaller groups and relocated to different parts of the compound to ensure they would have enough bathrooms for each unit. It made communication more tiring with all of them scattered around the building, but daily living became more bearable.

From among all of the remaining Avengers, Bruce was almost a constant addition to the Asgardians. Having spent two years on Sakaar as Hulk, he was having trouble adjusting back and the strife between his friends during his absence clearly left him standing out even more than usual. He had some experience with working in extreme conditions and used this knowledge to aid Thor in basic organisation. Where Steve Rogers or Natasha Romanoff were visible and noticeable, Bruce Banner just did his job and bothered anyone either when he had results to present or when he needed assistance.

When it turned out the people representing smaller units kept approaching either Thor or Loki, or sometimes both of them, at almost every hour of night and day, Thor decided to have daily meetings with all twelve of them at certain hour. This way both Odinsons got the information in a condensed, more organised way and they didn't have to address similar problems several times. Bruce called them a crisis team and the name stuck before they knew it. Either one of the Avengers or Pepper were usually present as well, since they were later responsible for organising any required goods.

It was after one of those meetings when Thor stopped Steve before he could leave and asked. "Is there a place where we could hold a feast for all my people?"

"I'm sorry, what?" The captain looked taken aback, as if Thor spoke out of turn.

"A funeral feast," Loki offered in explanation, because he didn't like the mixture of raw emotions that was suddenly plain on his brother's face. They hadn't discussed it earlier, but that seemed the most obvious reason. And even if it wasn't, Loki was sure this intention was one captain Rogers was going to accept.

"We didn't get a chance to see our dead to Valhalla," Thor said thickly, his gaze carefully avoiding anyone. "Neither those who died by Hela's hand or perished in Ragnarok, nor those Thanos murdered."

"Oh."

"The living need some closure," Loki picked where Thor trailed off and went on smoothly, though he too could feel dead weight settling in his stomach. "It should be done our way, as much as we can do so here. And part of it is gathering together. With so many left entirely alone, it would be harsh to gather in smaller groups. It's one thing to share the lodgings. Another is to share grief. We should let all the people be together."

"Yes. I'm sorry, it didn't occur to me." Was that actual sympathy Loki saw in Steve's eyes? At least for once the captain wasn't looking at him as if a part of him expected Loki to plot something.

"And the dead deserve to be properly set on their way," Thor added, having mostly composed himself. "We don't... We don't have the bodies, but we can at least set a funeral pyre in their memory and..."

"Alright. Let's see what can be done." Steve nodded. "There should be enough space for all of you somewhere."

"Thor? You going to see to that?" Loki asked, hoping he would get an affirmative answer. He was sick of anything that involved moving furniture and rearranging rooms.

Thankfully, Thor nodded. "Yeah, we've got it. See if we have anyone capable of building a boat and send them to me," he told the rest of the team and left with the captain.

Loki looked around the representatives ready to follow their king. "Before you go, I need one more thing," he stopped them. "Find any magic users we still have. I don't care if they know just basics, or if they aren't trained at all. If they've ever showed any inclination towards magic, I want to know."

"The healers too?" asked Saldís. She was responsible for their pitiful medical wing and joined the meeting to discuss the relocation of her recovering patients to the already existing units.

"Of course," Loki replied sincerely. He already knew almost no one from the palace made it alive, so he was counting mostly on village witches and untrained individuals with magical potential. The two healers were most likely to be the best trained among the people, aside from him. "Send everyone you find to meet me here at eight tomorrow morning."

xxx

Finding people capable of preparing a symbolic boat for the dead turned out to be easier than both brothers assumed. Once the idea spread around, the people kept coming and offering their assistance. They seemed eager to get involved and work together on just about anything. Once all the necessary tasks were appointed, many of those willing to help were left with nothing particular to do, except taking care of everyday duties.

In longer term, such idleness was bound to cause trouble. Loki had an idea how to solve that, at least partly, but he needed help. Luckily for him, the Valkyrie picked a habit of spending some of her free time within the Avengers' quarters, where she would go with Bruce Banner. Loki assumed it had a lot to do with various alcohols available there. As it was, drinks were not on their supply lists.

"You're still here."

Brunnhilde arched an eyebrow and looked at Loki as if she saw a particularly ugly bug. "And you are still annoying. Your point?"

"Charming," Loki smiled and took a seat. He snatched the bottle the Valkyrie was emptying and poured himself a glass, ignoring her murderous glare. "My point is that we should keep the people occupied." Organising the funeral did provide occupation to some of them, but now that the lodgings were settled, many people were left idle.

"I'm doing pretty good job keeping myself occupied," Brunnhilde snorted and put her bottle away from Loki's range. "Well? Go on. What does it have to do with me?"

"I was thinking more of physical exercise rather than addling your brain," Loki smirked. "But to the point. People have little to do and we have almost no warriors left alive. It would do good to morale to at least attempt to recreate our ranks," he winced. There was no way they could even pretend to restore Asgard's might, but it didn't mean they shouldn't try. "The compound has enough space outside to create training grounds for us. Thor will be thrilled."

"And why wouldn't you do that?"

"Because I couldn't possibly compete with your reputation as a Valkyrie," Loki raised his glass in a mock salute. "I'm serious. Three fourth of our people are women and children, but I saw some of those women fight on the Bifrost bridge, though they were not trained. They will all be desperate to protect what's left of us. We cannot depend on the three of us only."

"And how do you think our hosts will react to us trying to train and arm civilians?" Brunnhilde's question came as a pleasant surprise. Loki didn't expect her to think of that.

"Here comes another reason why I shouldn't be the one doing the training. They might think I'm preparing an army to overthrow Thor," Loki laughed and rolled his eyes. "Besides," he smiled wickedly. "I'll be training sorcerers and that should keep the Avengers occupied enough."

"Does Thor know about this?" Brunnhilde eyed him over the bottle. She didn't say no, though, so Loki counted that a win already.

"The overthrowing?" he shot back and grinned, then gulped the rest of his drink. "Of course not. But I bet he will love the chance to spar with you, so I am more than willing to leave you all the fun."

"Only if I get to wipe that smirk off your face sometimes.," Brunnhilde grinned back. She made a gesture as if she wanted to toss the empty bottle over her shoulder, then thought better of it and placed it back on the table. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Needless to say, Thor was elated to hear the news. Before Loki was done telling him what he and Brunnhilde came up with, he was already asking Natasha for the place they could use as training ground. Soon Loki had all three of them off his head for the rest of the day, which gave him much desired peace and time for his own arrangements.

xxx

As the last rays of sun slowly faded into the night, they all gathered on the plain grounds before the compound. Not a single person was left behind and they all made a chaotic crowd clad in Asgardian and Midgardian clothes, many of the mixed since the evening was cold. The sky was clear and the moon and stars shone brightly, the light of Asgard among them.

The Avengers were present too, but they stood aside with Rocket, willing to pay their respects but not to interfere. They all too lost people they knew and loved and perhaps it was a closure for them as well, foreign as it might seem.

The sons of Odin stood before the crowd, facing the river like the rest. Thor turned around to look at his people, then his friends and finally at his brother, and his voice rang clear as that of a king when he spoke.

"People and warriors of Asgard, friends and kin, neighbours and partners, I bid you all take your place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn but rejoice for those that have died the glorious death."

A lone boat was waiting for them at the edge of the river. The wood was fresh, the carvings made by magic and not by hand, since no one from them was skilled enough. The pyre inside was set high and generously covered with petrol captain Rogers provided, yet there were no treasures for the dead to carry on their way to Valhalla. On Asgard, such a boat would have carried someone insignificant, someone unable to afford taking the goods. But Asgard and its glory were gone, and all that was left was a bunch of beggars, so good word and thought was all they could give the dead. It was a farewell to both their fallen kin and their lost home.

At Thor's sign men and women standing the closest pushed the boat down to the water, and the river shook it gently before carrying it slowly down the stream.

Thor raised his bow and with a flick of Loki's wrist, the arrow he placed on the string was set aflame. In the surrounding silence the string let loose cut clear in the evening air, and the ball of light followed the boat. The pyre was caught aflame and soon the whole boat was blazing and cracking, a lone flare of light in the darkness, sinking deeper and deeper, as if under the weight of all the souls she carried to the halls of Valhalla.

The first voices repeating Thor's words stood out in the heavy silence, but soon the murmur of whispered, uttered and sobbed farewells spread all over the people and could be heard around. There was no edge of the river for the boat to disappear beneath, but the flames did not die until the last piece of wood went underwater.

Thor stood there, in front of the people, silent, but as he finally spoke, his voice boomed over the crowd. "Let our dead join all the mighty warriors who had fallen before them, let them feast and celebrate in the halls of Valhalla. And for all of us who remain among the living, let this night be the time to commemorate them and drink for their memory."

No one moved.

Heart racing in his chest, Loki stepped forth and raised his hands. A ball of bright light formed above his palms, just like the lights they would have set at home. It rose slowly towards the sky and suddenly there were more of them forming among the people, first from Saldís, then from a few others. Closing his eyes, Loki focused on projecting more of the lights. Even he could not manage creating a thousand of them, or thousands for thousands of their dead, but the joined effort of all those capable of creating such a simple illusion was good enough. When he dared open his eyes, he saw his brother glancing around in amazement, his voice clearly stuck in his throat.

The lights went high before they slowly faded, and only when the last one of them was gone, did the people move.

"That was magical," Natasha muttered as the sons of Odin joined the Avengers. The way she gazed on the river suggested her thoughts were still somewhere far away.

"It was magic," Thor answered seriously and turned to his brother. "Thank you. I didn't dare hope for..."

Loki just nodded back and followed the rest inside. The hangar they picked for all to gather was nothing like Odin's great hall, but it was spacious enough. They brought there as many tables they could and set them together in long rows, each carrying food and beverages. Plastic cups and paper plates, along with various Midgardian snacks would not let anyone forget where they were, but here and there an Asgardian touch could be found. There were plates piled with sweet cookies that had always been popular on many occasions and could have been bought at almost every street of Asgard. It had taken forever to bake so many, but the effort was worth it and besides the task had kept several children occupied for a few days. Here and there simple Asgardian dishes could be found, those that could have been prepared with ingredients easily available in the compound.

The only obvious thing they did not have was alcohol. They had discussed the matter quite thoroughly once Thor had brought it up and decided against providing drinks except some mead for a symbolic toast in memory of the dead. While it seemed like a perfect occasion for all the remaining Asgardians to get helplessly drunk and mourn, it would have also been an unnecessary waste of funds they could use in better ways. Indebting themselves with the Avengers, or more specifically Stark Industries, was bad enough. Besides, it would have taken a lot of Midgardian alcohol for the Asgardians to get truly drunk.

So here they were, trying Midgardian snacks and sipping juice from plastic cups once Thor was done with his toast for the dead. Many people wandered idly among the tables. They didn't have so many chairs, so opted for letting the people spread in the hall the way they preferred.

"Valhalla, right?" Captain Rogers asked. "That's the place you believe your dead go to?"

"We don't believe it," Thor corrected him. "We know it for sure."

"Could you tell us more?" Bruce came over, a plate with an Asgardian cookie in hand. "I'd love to hear about it."

"I am no storyteller," Thor shook his head, "but Sjóvarr promised a tale. I think he's about to start."

Indeed, Sjóvarr gathered all the children in one of the corners. He was an old man of slender figure and white hair neatly braided at the back of his head. Unlike so many of the survivors, he chose to wear his homeland clothes for the occasion. He had once been an actor quite popular in the capital theatre, but he had rarely played in the past few years, his age slowly getting the better of him. Loki had been surprised he had managed to make it among the refugees. He hoped Sjóvarr would be able to recreate some of the plays from his memory.

At first there were almost no adults save for the Avengers. But once Sjóvarr began to spin his tale, more and more people joined in. The story was popular, but now it was also one of the few links to their lost homeland. Loki waited for more to gather before he joined in the show.

Delighted and bewildered gasps could be heard among the youngest listeners as suddenly the warriors of old Sjóvarr spoke of sprang to life between them and the wall. The figures wearing characteristic Einherjar helmets danced in fight with shadowy foes, Valhalla looming over them.

Loki saw the Avengers look around until they spotted him standing behind the children. He grinned, looking smug. He wasn't in the mood for storytelling, but it didn't mean he couldn't weave illusions to support Sjóvarr. He doubted he was going to have many opportunities to simply show off, with nothing but amusement in mind. While he hadn't asked the storyteller in advance what he was going to talk about, he doubted Sjóvarr intended to make any drastic changes in their well-known tales.

Once the story was over, the walls surrounding illusory Valhalla disappeared and the last mighty warriors dissolved in thin air, leaving the children disappointed and asking for more. Someone from the magic users who had helped Loki with the lights sat among them and offered to amuse them with her own creations. They were much less sophisticated than Loki's illusions, but he withdrew and settled for watching the lady whose name he couldn't remember.

Thor encircled the hall, stopping here and there to exchange a few words, then returned to Loki and handed him a cup with this ridiculously sweet drink the Midgardians seemed to be so fond of. They stood there, together, and listened to the chatter around them, when lady Bóthildr approached them. She seemed tensed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but..."

"You're not. What is the matter?" Thor asked politely.

"Actually, I wished to speak with the Prince," Bóthildr looked at Loki, and when he motioned her to speak, she went on. "Inga left the feast, she's outside. I tried to talk her into coming back, but she's pretty upset. I didn't want to make a scene, but she shouldn't be there alone. I thought, perhaps... She does take seriously everything you tell her to do, so maybe..."

"I'll go," Loki nodded and set his cup aside; the drink was awful. He shot a glance to the Valkyrie nearby, half expecting her to smirk or comment on his willingness to deal with this particular child, but Brunnhilde didn't even turn to him.

He slipped past the Avengers listening to someone who picked another old song and left the gathering. It was odd to walk through the compound completely alone, and once the song faded in the background, the silence became heavy and uncomfortable. There should be no silence on the day the dead were set on their journey to Valhalla.

The sobbing came first. Loki went outside and found Inga sitting on the stairs. She was wearing the same dress he had first seen her in, now looking a bit grotesque with white trainers and colourful hoodie that was too Midgardian for Loki's taste.

"No one should be alone on a night like this," he said quietly, but still the girl jerked and looked around.

Seeing the prince, Inga wiped her eyes and desperately tried to compose herself, but before she could scramble on her feet, Loki sat on the step next to her. The memory still stung, that nightmarish night when Asgard set the queen for her last journey and all he witnessed was the deafening silence of his confinement.

"I've never been to a funeral before," Inga muttered without looking up.

"It is the best we could do here." Loki opened his palm and a small boat, no larger than his hand, appeared over it. It was floating lazily a few inches above his hand, before the imaginary wind blew into the small sail and the boat fell beyond the edge of the world made by Loki's palm. "Who did you bid farewell?"

"Mum," she whispered. "Those demon soldiers got her, my uncle took me then," swallowing z lump, Inga dragged her knees to her chest. "He stayed behind on the ship." More tears ran down her cheeks.

"What about your father?"

"He was a soldier." Inga choked on a sob and hugged her legs, hiding her face completely.

Loki cringed. He shouldn't have asked. "I'm sorry."

"I want to go home," the girl whispered so softly Loki barely heard her.

"I know. We can't." It felt cruel to say so, but offering empty platitudes made little sense. "We are going to figure out a new home," Loki told her instead and looked towards the river, now hardly visible behind the buildings and hidden under the trees. He wondered whether it could be heard up by the compound when the wind was strong or when the water level was higher. Listening to the silence of the night, he picked some kind of distant mutter, like one of those sky jets Midgardians used as means of transportation. Loki looked up, but the glass canopy over his head obscured his view.

What he saw once he stood and stepped from under the awning was not a plane, though. It was a spaceship far more advanced than Midgardian technology, with something glowing beneath. And it was heading right towards the compound.

"Damn," he cursed, his body tensing. A knife almost appeared in his hand before he caught himself and slid it back. Knives would do little against a ship, should it be hostile.

Inga jumped on her feet. "What now? What's-," the girl hitched. She stared at the approaching vessel, her eyes wide in horror. Her whole frame started shaking so badly Loki could hear her teeth tattering.

"Hey!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and stilled the trembling. He needed to warn the others, not deal with a panicking child. "Inga. It's alright, we will find out who that is. Just- come with me." They needed to move, now. Whoever was coming, Loki was the last person that should be first spotted by the newcomers. Seeing how the girl was still frozen and unresponsive, Loki swept her in his arms and rushed towards the nearest entrance.