Ella walked besides Thor side back to the Throne Room, well aware that they were going to have a confrontation with their father. Ella had to side with Thor on this issue, however. Her father had Jane Foster imprisoned and was waiting for Malekith to return so that he could defeat him then. There was only one problem Thor foresaw. He did not know how Asgard would defend itself. It was already ruined and damaged. If Malekith came back then he would lay waste to it.
"You have taken Jane as your prisoner," Thor snapped as soon as they saw Odin conversing with his guard. He waved his hand at them, dismissing them as Thor and Ella stood across from him.
"I have no wish to fight with either of you. Too much of that has happened recently and I do not wish to see it happen any further," Odin said, looking between his two children as he walked down the steps.
"And we do not wish to fight," Thor responded. "However, I need to find Malekith."
"Yet we are the ones who have possession of the Aether. Malekith will come to us."
"And lay ruin to all of Asgard," Ella interjected as Odin walked by them and they followed him. "We heard what you just said. The shields are broken. There is no way to get them working again anytime soon. Malekith will strike now because he knows we are weak."
"These creatures that are coming are weak."
"Not that weak," Ella said as Odin continued walking and she stood still with Thor. "They killed mother. She was…she was skilled in combat better than half of your guard."
"Ella is right," Thor continued. "I can take Jane to the Dark World and make sure Malekith comes nowhere near Asgard. Once he pulls the Aether from her then it will be exposed. I can destroy him and it."
Odin turned back around then, his staff hitting the floor and echoing through the ruined room as he looked back to Thor. "And if you fail then you risk this weapon falling into Malekith's hands."
"But that risk is far greater if we just sit here," Ella responded. "We did not know he was coming the last time. Who is to say we will know when he returns?"
Odin nodded. "If and when he comes then they will fall to us."
"And how many of ours will fall to them?"
"As many as required!" Odin snapped loudly and the two siblings went silent for a moment before Odin winced in pain and looked to the ground, clearly slightly injured. "We will fight…until the final breath…and the final drop of blood."
"This madness," Ella said with a shake of her head. "You are risking everyone in Asgard. Malekith will destroy us."
"No," Odin said with a chuckle, "because I will be the one to win."
Ella knew that her father wanted vengeance. He probably wanted vengeance as much as anyone else for what had happened to Frigga. Yet she doubted that this was the way to go about it. He couldn't act in such a manner and she knew it. As Odin left, Ella bit down on her lip and looked to Thor, her brow arching as he nodded.
Offering her his arm, she took hold of it and they walked in the opposite direction to Odin, coming outside and seeing the guard training beneath them. It was a moment before Thor decided to speak, his voice low and intense as he spoke to his sister.
"I need to take Jane."
"I suspected as much," Ella said to him. "I want to help."
Thor's lips quirked. "Father will be angry, Ella."
"When is he not with me?" she wondered from her brother.
"Good point," he responded to her. "What I need is to make sure that my plan works, Ella. I need Heimdall, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three…but there is one more person who I need."
"Who?" Ella wondered and Thor looked to her as she released her arm from his grip and leant back against the stone wall. Looking to Thor as he arched a brow, she knew exactly who he was talking about. Her brows rose on her forehead as she folded her arms over her chest. "You want me to talk to him?"
"If anyone is going to persuade him then it will be you," he informed his sister. "He…I do not trust him, Ella. I do not trust him not to betray me, but I know that he would not betray you."
"I would not be certain of that," Ella said to him. "If we are to give him an option to leave the cell then who is to say he will want to return?"
"No one," Thor said, "but I think he is more likely to listen to you than to me."
"What am I offering him in exchange for his help?" Ella wondered. "Loki will need some incentive. You know that as well as I do."
"Tell him that he can have vengeance…for mother."
…
Wandering down to the cell, Ella kept her cloak tight on her body, her hood hiding her face as her magic concealed her to get past the guard. She knew that the plan was no underway. Lady Sif was going to be the one who broke Jane out of the room she was being held in while the two of the Warriors Three would help them escape in a ship crashed by Malekith. Of course, all of this plan would be fruitless without Loki's help. She knew that.
As she dropped her concealment outside of Loki's cell, she saw him there. He was sat on the floor, his legs stretched in front of him and everything destroyed in the cell. His eyes were closed but he slowly opened them as soon as he felt the presence of someone suddenly appear. He had no time to use his magic to hide the image, but as soon as he saw it was Ella, he didn't bother.
"I should have stayed with you longer," she said, looking at the sight of his cell.
Loki shook his head as she walked around the cell and towards the wall, looking at Loki through the glimmering yellow shield as she leant against the same wall as him. Pulling her hood from her face, she turned her head to the side and watched him for a moment.
"You couldn't have stayed," Loki said in a whisper. "Odin would have found out."
"I don't really care about that," Ella said to him. "I would have stayed."
"I know," Loki responded, managing a small smile at hearing her. "What are you doing here, Ella?"
"We need your help," Ella said to him.
Loki chuckled. He threw his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. "Thor needs my help," he clarified. "But he sent you down here to talk to me, did he not? Did he think that you could be more persuasive?"
"Probably," Ella muttered, "so will you listen to me?"
"You have piqued my interest," Loki responded, turning to look back to her.
"Jane still has the Aether inside of her," Ella informed him. "We need to get her off of Asgard before Malekith comes back, but there is only one person who knows how to do that…one person who knows a secret way out of here."
Loki looked to her for a second before pointing to his chest. "Oh, you mean me?" he asked her with a sarcastic smirk and she rolled her eyes. "And you want me to show you how to leave Asgard undetected."
"If possible," Ella said to him with a nod of her head. "In return you can come with us and have revenge on Malekith for what happened…for mother…"
"He's desperate." Loki muttered and slowly pushed himself to his feet as Ella looked to him. "He must know that."
"He knows it," Ella said. "He loves Jane, Loki, and he loves Asgard. He wants them both to be safe, but he needs your help. Please, just consider it. Mother…we loved her dearly…we all did…and I want to go with him to stop Malekith for mother. I had hoped that you would feel the same way."
"You are not coming," Loki said to her with a scoff.
Ella rolled her eyes at hearing him, dropping her hands to her hips. "Loki, I do not need you to tell me what I should and should not be doing. You are in a cell. I am not."
"And you are still my sister," Loki said.
"I can protect myself, Loki," Ella said to him. "I am coming so do not try to persuade me otherwise."
"And has Thor agreed to do this?"
"No one gets a say," Ella said. "So do you agree? You will help us?"
"If it gets me out of this cell for a day or two, I have nothing else pressing to keep me here."
"Good," Ella said. "Then get ready because we are leaving now."
…
Wandering down the corridors with Loki by her side, Ella finally saw Thor in the distance. He was stood alone, a plain grey cloak over his shoulders as his hair tumbled down the back of it. He spotted his brother and sister approaching them. Loki was walking one step behind Ella, looking around to make sure no one noticed them.
"Brother," he finally hissed when they stood opposite Thor. "Tell me, how difficult is this for you?"
"Enough," Thor demanded from Loki. "I am not here to listen to you taunt me."
"Both of you," Ella complained, "don't argue. We need to go."
They both fell into step besides each other, moving down the corridors. Ella looked around as Thor kept his eyes on Loki, not entirely trusting him as he spoke in a hushed voice.
"This is so unlike you, Thor," Loki said to Thor, continuing to taunt him as Ella rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just fight your way out? You prefer a good fight over anything else."
"Keep talking and I might just do that."
"Fine, so be it," Loki said and then after a second he transformed into a prison guard with his magic. "Is this better? I'm not even here."
"Much," Thor responded.
"Still, we could change things up." Loki said and Ella did scoff then as he returned to normal and Thor transformed to look like the Lady Sif. She placed a hand to her mouth as she stifled the laugh that was threatening to escape her as Thor looked down to his new appearance. "You look gorgeous, brother."
"I can still kill you in this form," Thor responded.
"Fine," Loki said, "what about one of your new friends? You seem to like them a lot."
Loki changed again then and Ella almost froze as soon as she saw who he had changed into her. She stood in her steps as Loki turned on his heel, looking down at the red, white and blue suit he was wearing. Ella chewed down on her lip as he remained in the form of Captain America and continued taunting Thor. She shook her head after a moment, trying to get the image of Steve from her brain as she wandered forwards and Thor pushed Loki against a column, tiring of his games.
Ella stood behind him as a group of guards passed by them. They waited until they had passed as Loki urged Thor to give him some kind of weapon. Ella kept her eyes on the guard as they passed while Thor put Loki into handcuffs instead of giving him his daggers.
"I thought you liked tricks," Thor smirked and Ella rolled her eyes as they waited for Jane to be brought to them by Sif.
"Do tell me you have no intention of bringing Ella on this mission," Loki said to Thor and Ella rolled her eyes as the three siblings stood in the hallway waiting for Jane.
"I am here," Ella complained. "And do you think that I am going to stay here and face father's wrath alone? I am coming with you."
"No," Thor said with haste. "Ella, Loki is right. It is far too dangerous."
"For the love of the Allfather," Ella hissed at them. "Do you realise that I have spent the past months training to fight and training to use magic? I may not be as strong as you," she looked to Thor, "or as talented as you," she looked to Loki, "but I know how to defend myself. Besides, I deserve vengeance as much as you do on Malekith for what he did to mother so I am coming. Now, do I have to stand here and argue with both of you or just make you realise that I am, indeed, coming?"
Both of them remained silent for a moment before Thor spoke.
"You are not to engage in battle," he said to her. "You are to stay with Jane. She will need your protection should we be unable to protect her."
"Fine," Ella said.
"I do not like it," Loki muttered and Ella rolled her eyes.
"I do not care," she muttered back.
Before they could engage in anymore argument, they saw Sif and Jane walking towards them. Thor removed his cloak from his body and tossed it to the side, preparing to go as Jane looked to Loki, pointing to him as she looked to Thor.
"Is that him?" she demanded.
"I'm Loki," Loki spoke. "I suspect you might have heard of me."
Before anyone could move, Jane slapped Loki across the face, the noise echoing through the room as she scowled at him. "That was for New York," she snapped.
Loki's head remained turned to the side as he smirked. "I like her," he declared to Thor.
"I suspect the feeling is not mutual," Ella said. "Come on, we need to go."
Thor looked to Sif who simply nodded, promising to hold off the approaching guard. The four of them rushed off, Thor taking hold of Jane by the hand while Ella followed. She looked back, wondering where Loki was as she saw his chin at the end of Sif's blade. She smirked softly, waiting for her brother to catch them up.
"I suspect she threatened you," Ella said as Loki fell into step besides her.
"Who knew that Thor's life meant so much to them?" Loki responded.
As they came to the hall where the ship had crashed, Volstagg stood in front of it.
"I will give you as much time as possible," Volstagg said as Thor quickly embraced him and moved onto the ship, Jane offering him a shy smile and nod as she followed.
Ella merely nodded her head before she heard Volstagg stop Loki by the chest, his hand landing there as he glared to him.
"If you even think of betraying him-"
"-You'll kill me?" Loki interrupted, his brow arched. "You will have to get in line."
Ella smirked despite herself and made her ascent onto the ship, looking around at the control panel. Thor was pressing buttons, but nothing seemed to be making much noise. Ella went to stand besides him, looking down as Loki stood back.
"I thought you knew how to fly this?" he said to Thor.
"No, I asked how hard could it be," Thor responded.
"Perhaps if you actually try to read the buttons instead of hitting them then that might help?" Ella said, her voice terse as she realised they were slowly running out of time as she peered down to the buttons, trying to work out their inscriptions.
"We have no time for reading," Thor said, still pressing buttons.
"Just press them and stop hitting them," Loki urged from Thor.
"I am pressing them," he said with a snap.
"No, you are hitting them," Ella responded.
"And we're running out of time," Loki declared as he looked through the screen and saw the palace guard arriving.
Ella gave up and began pressing the buttons along with Thor until the lights came on. She stepped back, jumping slightly as the ship came to life and Thor let out a small chuckle. He pressed more buttons and soon enough the ship came to life and took off, flying out of the hall and into the sky of Asgard.
Thor took most of the building with him, causing both Ella and Loki to wince as they flew out of Asgard. It took them no time at all before they were moving through the sky and then they heard a muffled groan. Turning their heads over their shoulders, they saw Jane collapsed on the floor.
"Jane," Thor called out to her as Ella went to kneel by her side, her hand moving to her neck to check her pulse.
"It would be a shame if she died before all the fun began," Loki commented and Ella rolled her eyes.
"She's stable," Ella commented. "How much further do we have to go?"
"Not far," Thor declared.
"And where are we going?" Loki demanded. "We are being shot at left, right and centre. We have the biggest and most obvious ship in the entirety of Asgard. We are not getting out of this."
It was then when Thor pushed Loki out of the side of the ship, hearing his screams. Moving to Jane, Thor picked her up with no effort before glancing to his sister. She nodded to him and jumped out first, landing on her feet in the ship beneath them. Thor was a second behind her, holding tightly to Jane before letting her rest on the floor.
"You actually have a plan," Loki said as he pushed himself to his feet, struggling to move because of the handcuffs. "I confess that I am actually impressed."
"Takes a lot," Ella said and Thor gave her an appreciative grin while Fandral continued steering the ship.
"Fandral, I thank you for your help," Thor said with a nod of his head and Fandral chuckled.
"For Asgard," he confirmed before leaping from the back of the ship onto the one that was following them.
Ella remained silent as Thor turned to Loki. "Take us to this secret hiding place," he urged.
"With pleasure," Loki said, hurtling over the water and towards the cliff.
Ella's eyes widened and she wondered where he was going, her mind struggling to comprehend what was happening. She began to move closer to Loki, grabbing hold of his arm as he aimed straight at the cliff.
"Have you gone mad?" she demanded from him.
"It is impossible, surely?" Thor roared over the noise of the ship and the wind whipping past them.
"Possibly to the first question and no to the second," Loki said.
But both Thor and Ella screamed as they hurtled through the gap in the cliff, Loki chuckling at their screams as they moved through worlds and he went back to the last time he had done this. Last time he had been in exile. This time he was running towards something. He was running towards revenge.