Hello guys! I've just got back from Ireland and missed you all! It was such a magical trip! Those landscapes, that sea… I'm still speechless! This journey really inspired me a lot and gave me new ideas and perspectives… well, let's see where they will lead me… in the meantime, enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think of it. I'm open to all sort of suggestions!
xx
L.
CHAPTER 6
The night was silent and moonless. A layer of hoarfrost covered the grass and the leaves and a cold wind shook the leafy branches of the trees.
Next to a little glaring fire, Loki was breathing quietly, his legs crossed and his eyes focused on the horizon. In front of him, the lake murmured smoothly, rippled by the late- autumn gust.
He knew those woods like anyone else and even though he hadn't planned to end up there, maybe unconsciously, he had felt somewhat shielded by those trees, which had mutely stored his childhood memories in their roots and trunks for ages and in that moment, that seemed to him the rightest place to hide, to be safe and to find a new way to deceive Death once again.
All of a sudden, a feeble moan came out of Lisa' semi-parted lips and her marble- white face twitched for a little while.
He immediately stood up and rushed to her. His pupils careful to catch even the slightest detail. Her whole body was shaking with shivers and her skin was frozen.
"It's all lright, it' alright." Loki whispered, soothingly caressing her forehead.
Then, with no hesitation, he took his cape off and laid it over her, so that no cold air could seep under it.
"I'm here". He added in a low voice, holding her hand tight.
For a few instants, Loki stayed beside her, his fingers clung to hers, without moving or speaking. Afterwards, when the flare of the flames began to grow dim, he stepped again close to the dying fire and sat ahead of it, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm.
He shuddered and embraced himself, clenching his teeth, then closed his eyes and let his mind drift away, back to those times in Asgard, when everything was easier and his biggest concern was looking as strong and fast as Thor was, to impress and amuse his friends, during the feasts and the games they used to play together.
~•~•~•~
Thor sniffed noisily and crossed his arms on his chest. His eyes watery and swollen.
"Leave me alone!" He snarled, glimpsing the frame of his younger brother on the threshold of his bedroom.
Loki though, ignored completely his words, entered the room and sat on the bed, near him, pretending not to notice the tears trailing down on his brother's cheeks.
Then, he took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on his hands, focusing on his fingers.
He spread them, swirled them and finally, closed them into fists and waited.
In the meantime, still by his side, Thor had stopped weeping, whilst his neck had slowly stretched out beyond his brother's shoulder.
When Loki re-opened his fists, Thor nearly fell off the bed and his sea- blue pupils widened in awe and excitement.
"Do it again!" He cried out. "Please, please, please!"
Loki raised both his eyebrows and let a slight giggle come out.
"Ok, ok." He eventually yielded when Thor began to shake him vehemently.
As soon as his fingers moved, fluorescent sparkles of silver and green light shot out from his palms, like comets tails and danced slenderly in the air, lightening up the room, under Loki's skilful command.
Afterwards, with a quick gesture, he clamped his hands again and right as they had appeared, the sparkles vanished in an instant.
"What about a stroll on Midgard?" Loki proposed at once.
Thor blinked, still quite astonished and both sides of his mouth suddenly lowered. His expression hardened.
"Thanks, but I don't feel like going." He stated flatly.
"You don't?" Loki replied pretty surprised.
Thor shook his head resolutely.
Loki narrowed his eyes and gave him a sideways look
. For a handful of seconds, he turned pensive then, when he got what was going on, his face soothed and he came closer to his brother.
"You can't. Can you?" He whispered, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Thor's silence confirmed his suspects.
Loki heaved a sigh and started walking up and down the chamber.
"Ok, Father forbid it- he began after a short pause - but... He doesn't necessarily have to know it." He concluded with a sly smirk. "Do you know what I mean?"
Thor furrowed his forehead and swiped a finger over his lips.
"Mmh.." He murmured thoughtfully, "honestly I don't, brother. How could we pretend to be here while we're somewhere else?" He asked slightly confused.
Loki lifted the right corner of his mouth. "Watch this" he said and stepped back.
With his eyes closed, he exhaled to gather his energy then arched his back and pushed his arms forward. In that exact moment, a perfect projection of himself and Thor materialised right in front of him as if their souls had been split in different parts.
"W-what is it?" Thor stammered gaping at Loki in bewilderment.
"It's us!" Loki replied with satisfaction.
Thor moved some shy steps ahead and approached the two figures, clumsily reaching his hand out to touch them.
"It's unbelievable." He added below his breath.
Loki shrugged. "It's just magic" he minimised but Thor was looking at him completely blown away by his ability.
"Did Mother teach this to you?" Thor asked
"Yes." Loki answered with a demure smile.
" Wow! She can be really proud of you!" Thor praised him.
A broader smile run through Loki's lips and he blushed.
"Let's go now" he urged, changing the subject." It will soon get dark."
Thor run to the door and turned to his brother.
"Are you sure nobody will notice?" He asked, a bit concerned.
Loki nodded and took him by the hand.
"Trust me, brother". He said.
And so did Thor.
~•~•~•~
"Believe me! The gauntlet does no longer exist!" Tony Stark protested. I saw it collapse under the power of the stones!"
"What you saw is irrelevant!" Natasha Romanoff retorted sharply. "As far as we know, the stones are still with Thanos and He will soon-
"Not all of them, my dear". A voice behind them cut in.
They all suddenly turned around and once identified the source of that voice, they gave each other shocked looks, uncapable of uttering a single word.
Steve Rogers was the first one who managed to speak again.
"Welcome back Doctor!" He exclaimed hugging Strange warmly. "It's good to have you here again."
"You saw him die too, Stark, didn't you?" He added with bitter sarcasm. "Very reliable". He muttered trough his teeth.
"We all saw him vanish, Steve." Natasha interjected
"Yes, I'm afraid this time Mr. Stark is right, Captain." Strange apologised.
"That mad titan tried to rub me out but it really needs much more than this to get rid of me." He joked.
"Banner! By the way! He then said, greeting him with a handshake, "how about your anger- management issues?"
"Almost solved, Doctor." Bruce answered with a crocked smile.
"Ok, that's enough!" Tony snapped roughly, at once, slamming both palms on the table. It's getting ridiculous, rather, YOU all are getting ridiculous." He hissed, pointing his forefinger against the others.
"Pardon?" Steve shot back, vexed.
Tony lowered his head and gave out a breathless, incredulous chuckle.
For a moment, he stared blankly at the floor then, his eyes raised up and he turned serious again.
"Half the population out there has disappeared. Just... gone... I mean, in a second, including this men here." He said, hinting at Strange. "He turned into ash right in front of me." He paused and took a deep breath. "Now, he came up, out of nowhere, in his very flesh and bones and yet, you act like a ragtag group of silly teenagers at a freaking high- school get-together dinner!"
"Yes, you're right again, Tony." Strange replied calmly. I know I owe you more than one explanation and I definitely will. But not now. There are still things I have to figure out." He firmly stated.
"As for the stones instead, he went on, not all of them are with Thanos. An old friend of ours has recently found one or better still, he took it back."
"Loki." Natasha guessed with disappointment.
"Exactly." Strange confirmed. "Clever as usual, Agent Romanoff."
"What are his intentions?" She inquired.
"Let's find him and make him tell us" Steve proposed with blazing eyes.
His hands clenched in fists and finally, after a long time, he felt the fire of a new challenge arising in his chest. Now, he was ready to fight again.
~•~•~•~
The growl grew longer and closer in the semi-darkness of the twilight.
Thor crouched down into the blueberry bushes and held his breath, petrified.
The mist made his vision blurred. A wave of terror overwhelmed him and his whole body began to shiver violently.
"I must be brave, I must be brave, as mother told me." He kept saying to himself, while big hot tears tumbled over his face.
Then, the amber irises of the wolf found him and for a long instant, his heart set frozen.
The animal took some steps back, gnashed its teeth and poised ready to pounce on his prey.
"Take this, you filthy beast!"
Loki's piercing voice suddenly echoed throughout the trees and a deep yelp rose.
"Run, brother! Quick!"
Thor wiggled out trying to set free of the thorns but the more he moved, the more he got caught.
"I can't!" He cried. "I'm stuck!"
Loki's eyes flickered around for a few moments, considering every option.
"Ok, don't move, I'll come and get you out!" He eventually yelled back.
He rushed to his brother and with his bare hands, he jostled trough the thorny bushes.
"No, please, you'll get wounded!" Thor begged him.
"Eir will fix this." Loki reassured him.
He grabbed his brother's arm and plucked at it until the branches broke and Thor could finally come out. He clumsily took some steps forward but as he moved, he misbalanced and fell over.
"It bit me", he explained with a suffering voice, "I think it's serious."
Loki lowered his eyes and winced. His guts constricted.
The cloth of Thor's trousers was ripped and a bad gash on his left calf was pulsing and oozing blood.
He sucked in a deep breath and tightened his jaws.
"Let me have a look." He softly said. "Maybe I can do something."
Thor limped to the closest tree and sat down, easing his shoulders. Loki went down on his knees and sat on his heels, in front of his brother.
"I'm not sure but I think this will hurt." He warned him.
"Not more than it is already hurting." Thor replied with an encouraging smile.
"Alright" Loki nodded. He spread his hands open, over the wound and focused his eyes on it.
His wrists and fingers trembled but for several minutes, nothing happened. Then, suddenly a bright green flare emanated from his palms and slowly reached Thor's injured leg.
The muscle spasmed violently and Thor gritted his teeth in pain without uttering a word. Loki swallowed hard, his eyes turned watery but didn't stop the magic.
"Hold on, Thor." He muttered. "One more minute, I promise."
And when the skin turned smooth again and the cut vanished he finally relaxed his hands and let himself go against the trunk, exhausted. His face pale and his forehead soaking with sweat.
"I'm sorry." He whispered after a long silence. "I shouldn't have brought you here. I've been stupid and irresponsible." He admitted with no excuses.
"Father was right, this place is dangerous and we're still too young to come here without him."
Both backs of his hands were covered with scratches and yet no trace of pain could be seen on Loki's face. Regret and weariness whereas, were quite evident.
"Don't blame yourself, brother" Thor said, trying to comfort him.
"You just wanted to make me happy"
"Yes, and I almost killed you," He countered scornfully
"Actually, that wolf almost killed me, not you "Thor joked but all he got in return was a pointed glance from his younger brother.
Thor made a pause, snapped his lips and tried again.
"Ok, true, we risked our lives today. But you, Loki, you saved me and healed me. This means that as long as we're together, nothing can hurt us because we'll always be stronger." He concluded. Then, before his brother could give him any reply, he approached him and hold him tight in a wordless hug full of pride and gratitude.