A few notes on this: Wasn't entirely where I was planning to go, but I re-read the beginning and realized I need to fix the continuity, so. Sorry. I literally flipped a few coins to decide the outcome, because I'm a bit of a coward with figuring out who to kill. One even landed sideways propped against my backpack. I'm more indecisive than Chidi Anagonye.
X
Loki felt good.
The lack of pain could only mean that he'd died and found his way to wherever it was he was going. Somewhere nice, apparently. The split second he'd opened his eyes before slamming them shut again looked bright gold.
Breathing had to be by habit. He couldn't actually be alive. Not after something like that.
The snoring beside him took a few minutes to be recognized for what it was. Thor, sleeping. Was he dead, too? At least they would be together, but Thor wasn't supposed to die, ever.
That Loki's hand poking him in the ribcage -he lacked a dagger for his immediate reaction- yielded a few half-conscious whines that led to some questions about his initial assumption.
Someone else was in the room.
That realization hit out of nowhere. Had he picked that up from Frigga? She'd always known who was in the room-
Climbing out of bed brought with it jabs of lingering pain. Alive, then. So be it. It was what it was. He probably needed time to heal on his own.
For a moment, he thought it was his own dead body lying on the floor.
One touch on her shoulder to roll her over brought with it the spark of life. Absurdly, she felt more like Frigga than anything else.
"Who are you?"
The woman rolls to her feet, breathing hard. Her eyes take a moment to focus on him.
"I'm Hela. I'm your sister."
The lie was blatant, but he decided against calling her out on it in favor of checking on his daughter. No change.
"Do you- is there anything you can do for her?" His voice was barely above a whisper, driven by some unfounded hope.
"Bring her and come with me."
X
Thor awoke utterly alone. A quick glance revealed even Loki's daughter was gone.
Hela had once wanted to grab Loki -Sylvie- and just vanish completely. Perhaps she had done that. If she could fix the baby, Loki would love her forever.
"Heimdall? Can you see any of them?"
Asgard's gatekeeper responded with a few brief glimpses of three generations of ill-conceived Asgardians slipping through one of Loki's portals with no signs of distress. That would have to be enough. They would find a way to contact him when they wished.
X
Outside the picture window, the suns set in a blaze of gold and red.
Jane had a few questions.
"Do you have seasons every time you orbit both planets, or just the one? Actually, do you even have seasons? If we have a kid, will they be Asgardian? Can we even have a kid? Hey, if I'm really an Aesir now, does that mean I'm a goddess of something?"
"Goddess of curiosity, maybe."
"How does that work, anyway? Do you just vote on a new god of whatever when the old one dies?"
"There are aspects to the universe that require a host. If the host for one dies, a new one is conceived in short order. Then there are some where it is not required, but one shows up every now and then. It's rare, but not unheard-of, for an adult to gain powers. As for children, well..."
"There's one way to find out?"
"Yep. That."
X
The two had at last worked themselves to sleep when the commotion woke them. Specifically, running feet could be heard throughout the palace and a servant pounding at the door.
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Something is happening to everyone-"
Thor donned a robe with a speed Jane realized probably meant this wasn't the first time. Never mind. He'd had a lot longer and it wasn't her first time, either.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know. But people are falling to pieces all over the place and I can't find my family and everything is chaos-"
Something clicked on. Thor turned to Jane, already knowing what had happened.
"Jane, what did they do with the Aether?"
Jane blinked, trying to think. "They had it in a box and put it in the Vault, I think. Could someone have gotten to it?"
"It's not just the Aether." Dawning comprehension darkened Thor's features. "The Tesseract and that scepter were in there, too."
"Oh."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess someone found the other three. They must have broken in while Odin and I were lost in the memories. That's the only way this makes sense. Loki mentioned it once, I think, wiping out half of all life. Maybe I should ask him-"
Thor broke off as he realized there was no way of knowing if his brother had even survived. Jane made a half-hearted attempt to cheer him up.
"Midgard, we have a problem."
X
Jane and Sif, newly appointed as envoys, arrived at Stark Tower. A scattering of Avengers and someone called the Ancient One dissected every scrap of information they had, and reached the inevitable conclusion. Someone, somehow, had gathered all six Infinity Stones, and used them to disintegrate half of all life.
Regrettably, they'd never pushed Loki for straightforward answers as to who exactly it had been, or where. Thor claimed he'd meant to ask later, but later never came and with everything Loki had been through, those were not memories to call up lightly.
A few suggestions that Loki may have used the chaos to hide his escape were met with dismissal. His daughter had been spotted a few times, revived and grown a few years within minutes and roaming the empty lands of Helheim. Thor intended to check on her as soon as things stabilized. He couldn't fathom Loki abandoning her for anything less than returning to Asgard. Unless, of course, he'd had no choice.
Hela was a complete mystery, as ever. Nothing had been seen of her. Thor assumed she'd lived long enough to revive the baby, but then what?
The only resolution achieved was to stay in touch, and keep an eye out for any sign of Infinity Stones. Everyone would come back, somehow, they all insisted, but they needed the Stones for that. It had a certain logic. Unfortunately, said Stones remained missing.
X
Royal weddings were typically a grand affair -Asgardians rarely did anything any way but spectacularly- but considering the number of families halved or obliterated by recent events, it seemed inappropriate. What were the odds that both Thor and Jane had survived?
Blessed by the Norns they may have been, and certainly that sense increased with the proof positive, as Jane called it, that they could indeed have children. Thor tried to be grateful for everything they had, but somewhere in the back of his head he couldn't help but wondering if, given the choice, he would have traded everything just to get Loki back.
On the balance, he was relieved he did not have the choice.
Legal documents were drawn up and certified, and that was all. Thor had once had some hope of a spectacular wedding and everyone to celebrate, much like the coronation that never was, but he'd lost all taste for it. Perhaps later, once everyone vanished had returned.
He was beginning to doubt such a day would ever come.
X
With Jane acclimated to life on Asgard and serving as regent, Thor Bifrosted to Helheim. He couldn't stay for long, that was obvious. His life force was tangibly draining away with every moment.
The child appeared before him in an instant. She looked more like Hela than anything else, black hair and pale skin, but something reminded him of Loki. Grand entrances and demanding attention.
"Oh, hello."
"It's Hel." After a moment of confusion on his part, he realized that was her way of introducing herself. Loki must have named her after his mother.
"I'm Thor. I'm your uncle."
Hel nodded. "Mother mentioned you. He wanted to go back home after a while, so we said goodbye. But he didn't make it back. A lot of people vanished."
Mother had to be Loki. No stranger, on the balance, than the fact that Hel was his niece and great-niece, or that Hela was both mother and sister to them both, in a way. Most crushing was the confirmation that Loki was gone in all forms.
"What about Hela? Was she here? I think you're named after her."
"She brought me back, but not completely. I have to stay here. But look!"
Hel reached into thin air and grabbed a hand. A little boy appeared out of nowhere and she pulled him into a rough hug.
"This is my brother. We have a lot of little friends we have to look after. All the lost children."
The first one Loki lost. Baldr. Hela's older siblings. Worlds upon worlds of children lost to misfortunes of biology or happenstance or parental rejection. And now, thanks to Loki and unwitting assistance from Chitauri and Dark Elves, they had a mother. Big sister? Guardian? Whatever she was supposed to be, a mix of three different races, had nowhere to belong anyway. Perhaps this was for the best.
There was no time left. Thor departed with a hug and a reminder that she could call Heimdall if she needed help, ever, with anything.
X
Jane's time came during the midsummer festival. Things were going well, and Asgard needed something to celebrate.
The healers insisted someone assist the birth, and neither Thor nor Jane objected. All things considered, it would be good to have a witness. Thor himself did not attend. He doubted he could force himself to watch. Centuries of battle, of glorious death and maiming and everything else supposedly sentient creatures could do to each other when they put their minds to it and he still couldn't watch a child be born. Too many images of it going wrong bounced around his head, ready to knock him out at a moment's notice.
Thor had told Jane little of the memories. Hela he could not avoid, and something of her powers. Hel, she thought a pleasant addition to the universe. Her own concept of an afterlife was a bit nebulous, Midgard's wide range of faiths meeting her respect for science and its failure to measure anything past death. Loki, she'd liked during their brief acquaintance.
If either of his wayward siblings ever returned, Thor managed some optimism for what their lives together could be like. They could serve as regent in turns if he and Jane wanted to go somewhere nice or if Midgard were invaded again. Loki could go back to spending years at a time in the library. Hela he could see becoming a healer, or a priest, or whatever she wanted. Both of them would doubtless corrupt his and Jane's child whenever they weren't around, which was perfectly normal.
As if the thought summoned her, one of the Healers approached with a smile on her face.
"Jane and your son will see you now."
X
Arkyn, they called him. There were no obvious powers. Those would come later, if they did.
The happy toddler greeted the entirety of Asgard at his formal presentation with happy shouts and waves and attempts at walking. He learned everything by doing, always doing things. It took a small army of attendants to keep him occupied and not actively flinging himself from the Bifrost. On the balance, he couldn't have been all that different from either parent as a child.
Life moved on for everyone in the circle of skirmishes and victories and a small incident on Midgard. Something to do with multiverses. That was beyond Thor's understanding.
Occasionally he visited Midgard and even brought the family once or twice. Metal Man had his own wife and daughter, growing so much faster than his own. The sparks that light the fires that make their world go around burn up so quickly.
Jane finding the Aether had given him a proper wife at the expense of his mother, his brother, and half of the universe. At least she wouldn't burn out her lifespan at both ends before he could blink twice.
Mother. Loki. A sister who'd raised him yet he barely knew. His father immediately after the loss of all respect for him. And yet, he was expected to shun friendship with mortals because they died too soon. It made no sense.
X
Arkyn turned five on a glorious summer day, as was entirely appropriate. Enough time had passed that Asgard could properly celebrate.
Midgard had made fewer laps around its sun, and at odd times. That was one thing Thor couldn't quite pin down. Loki would have been better at calculating that sort of thing. Mix the two together and Midgardians get maybe a fiftieth of the summers that Thor could hope for.
But today was Asgard, and feasting, and celebrating his son's unsteady steps and half-formed words. Jane tried to keep him on her lap long enough to feed him, but it was a fruitless endeavor. Nor was food much of a motivator when he could grab food off the serving plates or be handed one by just about anyone in the hall.
Thor knew for a fact that he had been no different at that age.
He was mulling over how best to broach the subject of another child to Jane when a commotion broke through the general clamour. A new arrival?
Hope didn't sprout, as such, but it put out roots, and a tiny shoot began to push its way slowly towards the sun.
For a wild moment, he dared to hope that the figure was Loki. But no, of course not. His sister, and he knows at once she will never claim to be his mother, has finally seen fit to return.
X
The crowd quiets almost instantly, as if holding its collective breath. Hela looks up at him, ready for a fight if it comes to that.
Does anyone recognize her, remember her? The princess who left quietly for a life of her own has at last returned. A few of the older ones can place her.
Eternity or heartbeats pass while Thor and Hela lock eyes. Then Hela drops to one knee, right hand clasped to her chest.
"My king."
Thor softens, reaches his hands out, and pulls her to her feet. The tension is broken.
Only then does anyone notice the small child hiding underneath Hela's cape.
X
"His name is Bjorn."
The sun had dipped below the horizon for a single hour. Twilight blanketed Asgard in a soft embrace. Thor, Jane, Hela, and the two children had retired to a private dining room to talk things over. Oblivious to the adults' conversation,
"After Loki and I got his daughter settled, we found some wayfarer's house on Vanaheim and had a nice long conversation about everything. Or a lot of things."
Hela took a sip of whatever she'd decided to drink, as if to stall for time.
"He said I felt like his mother. The woman who raised him, that is. That feels right, but why can't I remember any of it?"
Thor shrugged. "I think you packed away all your memories when you went to raise us. That part of you died at the hands of a Dark Elf. I suppose you'll probably never get those memories back. But that's fine. We'll make new ones."
"But I am your sister. That's what everyone knows. That's what you should call me."
Perhaps that is enough.
Bjorn climbs up into Hela's lap and falls asleep in her arms almost instantly. Thor asks no questions, but something of his curiosity must be obvious or else purely the reasonable assumption, all things considered.
"Loki and I noticed we'd each lost two children, in a way. We even noticed that none of the children came about through our own intentions. So, and I don't remember who as we were fairly drunk at the time, we made some sort of a pact. We each find a way to make a baby happen, then raise them together. There was some idea of returning to Asgard, but only when we were ready."
"So, Bjorn's father-"
Hela shrugged. "I suppose there is one, but the odds are, he's vanished with everyone else. I woke up alone, again, and realized I couldn't feel Loki anymore, and then that I could feel Bjorn. Well, he didn't have a name yet. Then people were running around screaming about people disintegrating, so I just ran. I haven't seen Loki since."
Silence reigned until the sun rose again, bathing the world with warm light.
If only Loki would come back, Thor thought his life would be absolutely perfect.