"Ta-da", Loki said as we passed through the portal. I looked around at the barren land. Everything seemed to be in tones of gray and brown, there was nothing that gave any indication of life on the planet. The temperature was a fair bit colder than on Asgard and the wind whipped violently around us. I could feel the dark energy within me thrumming just beneath the surface, as if being here had made it come to life.
"This is the Dark World?"
"Yes", Loki answered, "Fits the description nicely doesn't it?" I took a seat beside him at the back of the ship where he was steering the small craft.
"Are you alright?" I asked him softly. He gave a small nod, but I could see the pain in his eyes. At the front of the ship, Thor placed a blanket around Jane, who was still unconscious.
"I'm sorry about your mother", I said to him, only loud enough for him to hear me though. "I know how much she meant to you." He turned his attention towards me finally, giving me his full attention.
"Is it true?" He asked, his words a whisper. "Am I to be a father?"
My heart raced at his words, so he did know. It must have been his mother. I nodded. He sucked in his breath sharply, as if I had just knocked the air from his lungs. I could almost see the thoughts racing through his head, as his expression darkened. I grabbed his hands, but he yanked them from my grasp.
"I'm not meant to be a father." His words were like ice slicing through me. He looked away from me, refusing to meet my gaze.
"I thought you loved me?" I hated how pathetic the words sounded, but it was too late to take them back.
"I do."
"Then I need you to do this with me."
"How can I be a father when my own was such a terrible one to me?"
"We can do it together. I know you're scared, but I am too."
An icy expression crossed his face, "I am not scared", he hissed. I backed away from him and he abruptly stood, going to the front of the ship where Thor stood. My eyes stung as I blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill over. I wiped my eyes, my expression hardening as I pushed my feelings down. Since when did I cry anyway, I was going soft. I couldn't stay mad at him though, it was a lot to take in, even for me. He would come around; he just needed some time. I clenched my fists when black energy pulsed along my fingers, pushing it back down.
"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins", Loki said. He was standing by Thor, looking towards Jane. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes, if only he knew.
"It would consume you", Thor said, taking a seat.
"She's holding up alright", he paused, "For now."
"She's strong in ways you'd never even know."
"Say goodbye."
"Not this day."
"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing." Loki stood up. "It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you." I studied him closely. To me it didn't seem as if he was talking about Thor anymore, but himself. Like his mother had said, he was so perceptive about everyone else.
"And will that satisfy you?"
"Satisfaction is not in my nature."
"Surrender is not in mine."
"The son of Odin..."
"No. Not just of Odin." Thor stood up. "You think you alone were loved of mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."
"Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?"
"What help were you in your cell?"
"Who put me there?" Loki yelled, "Who put me there?!"
"You know damn well! You know damn well who!" Thor shoved Loki into the side of the ship. "She wouldn't want us to fight."
"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked."
Thor chuckled, "I wish I could trust you." He released Loki and moved towards the front of the ship.
"Trust my rage." Loki came back to the back of the ship, sitting beside me to take over steering once again. He didn't even look in my direction, staring straight ahead of him, a forlorn expression in his eyes.
Thor gently shook Jane and spoke softly to her, "Jane." I looked at her to see her rise from her spot at the front of the ship and peer into the distance.
"Malekith", she said. I looked to where she was looking to see a large ship in the distance, similar to the one that we had hijacked earlier. Loki's eyes flicked over to me, his brow furrowing. He suddenly cupped my face, pulling me close to where he was staring directly into his eyes. I saw the rage in the emerald depths of his eyes.
"What have you done?" I blinked at him, raising a brow in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your eyes. They are black." I glanced over at Jane, who was looking in my direction. Loki saw this and as I turned my gaze back to him, his eyes narrowed in anger. He released my face, grabbing the collar of my tunic tightly as he stood, pulling me up with him.
"Brother", Thor said, coming up to Loki and placing his hand on his arm, "Let her go." Loki ignored him.
"What have you done?!" he snarled loudly. "Don't you realize how dangerous that was?! How could you be so reckless?!" My vision turned red as black energy crackled to life on my skin. A black-red pulse emitted from my hands, without warning, sending Thor and Loki sprawling to the floor of the craft. I stumbled backwards from the blast, falling clumsily on the floor. I looked at my hands in fear. I hadn't even felt the blast coming, much less controlled it.
"It's protecting her", Jane said softly.
"No", Thor said, glancing at Loki, "It's protecting itself."
"I'm sorry", I muttered. "I was only trying to help. Jane looked so sick."
"I thank you, dear sister, but you still should not have risked exposing yourself to something so dangerous", Thor said as he stood and helped Loki up. Loki came over to me, his eyes were still angry, but nothing in comparison to what they were before. He helped me up before turning his attention to directing the craft again.
"Are you mad?" It was a dumb question that I already knew the answer to, but I asked it nonetheless.
"Yes", he said it in a clipped tone, that meant he wasn't going to speak anymore about it. He had an unreadable expression on his face and I couldn't tell what he was thinking about.
Loki steered us to a hill overlooking a large amount of flat, dead land, and we got off of the ship. The wind whipped around us violently, blowing my white hair into my face. We approached the edge of the hillside and looked over. A group of soldiers including the beast and Malekith himself had exited their craft and were headed in our direction.
"Alright", Thor said, "Are you ready?"
"I am", Loki stated bluntly. He and Thor both stood from their crouched positions and stepped closer to the slope of the hill. He looked over at Thor, "You know, this plan of yours is going to get us killed."
"Yes, possibly." Loki held out his shackled hands to Thor who looked at them hesitantly.
"You still don't trust me, brother?"
"Would you?" Thor grasped the shackles and unlocked them, tossing them to the side.
"No, I wouldn't." He conjured a dagger from thin air in a green flash and stabbed Thor in his side, throwing him down the slope in the process.
"Thor!" Jane called out, "No!" Loki jumped over the edge of the hill, sliding down the slope after Thor. I quickly overcame the shock that had jolted through me as I processed what had happened.
"Loki!" I screamed, "Stop!" Both Jane and I went running down the hillside, of course I was ahead of her, towards Loki and Thor. Thor was lying on the ground, trying to pick himself up as Loki approached with his dagger.
"You really think I care about Frigga? About any of you?" I felt a jolt of pain go through my chest and I stopped in my tracks; he couldn't have meant that. His voice sounded so cold, so unlike himself. Loki sent a kick to Thor's face, sending him sprawling onto the ground again.
"All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!" Thor stretched an arm out for his hammer, but Loki grasped his arm and in one swift motion, sliced off his wrist. Jane reached Thor, throwing herself onto the ground beside him as he clutched his arm in agony. I ran up to Loki, but he grabbed my roughly, lifting me with ease. I struggled in his grip, but he pressed me to him with an unwavering grip.
"Malekith", he called out, "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift." He suddenly tossed me down in the dirt at the dark elf's feet. "I ask only one thing in return: a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn." The large creature that had killed Frigga spoke to Malekith in a language I couldn't understand. I looked up at Loki, betrayal and confusion evident in my face. I had no idea what the hell was going on anymore.
Malekith approached Thor, "Look at me." He kicked him over onto his back. Raising his hand, I was raised into the air. I felt the dark energy seeping from me, and I began to feel the control over my own blue energy return. The dark red tinge of my vision disappeared completely. With a flick of his wrist, Malekith released me and I fell to the ground roughly. The red and black mass of energy stayed airborne, fluctuating in the air, constantly moving.
"Loki! Now!" Thor called out. Loki let out a blast of magic and Thor's hand materialized, and his hammer flew into his hand. Loki covered my body with his own just as Thor shot a bolt of lightning at the Aether. It exploded into dust and particles, emitting a wave of energy that knocked us flat to the ground. I stood shakily and I noticed that the particles were rising into the air and towards Malekith, who absorbed the Aether. As he absorbed the last of it, he cast a black-eyed look at his men before turning and leaving, with the beast following closely behind him.
Thor began to follow after Malekith, hitting soldiers that were in his way with his hammer. The beast turned around towards Thor, took a device from his belt, activated it, and threw it towards Loki and I. Before I had time to react he shoved me onto the ground as it opened into a black hole of some sort and started to pull him in. Panic shot through me, but Thor flew in from the side, knocking Loki from the pull of the device and onto the ground at my feet. We helped each other up and Loki wordlessly conjured a set of daggers for me. I gripped the handles tightly, admiring the balance of the blades. It had been a long time since I used knives, but I had been very good with them at one point in time.
Malekith had already boarded his ship and it was starting to take off. Thor started swinging his hammer in circles and then took off flying towards the ship. I winced as he collided with the beast and went careening to the side, landing somewhere on the dirt. Even though he was Asgardian, it couldn't have felt too pleasant. The ship took off, turning invisible as it rose into the air.
Several elves surrounded Loki and I, and I turned my attention from Thor to the creatures. We both held our daggers at the ready as they advanced on us. One of the elves lunged at him and he blocked its hit and sliced it with his dagger. I ducked as one of them swung at me and then kicked their legs out from under them, stabbing down into their chest with one of my daggers. An onslaught of elves came at Loki and me, and we stood in the center of it all, fighting back-to-back. We swirled around one another all the while dodging and delivering attacks. It was if our minds had become one and we knew exactly what the other would do as we performed our deadly dance. We had never fought like this before, and there was something exhilarating about fighting side by side with him, witnessing his power that he wielded with deadly precision.
When the last of them was dead, Loki hurried over to where Thor was still fighting the monster, with me following not far behind. Thor was on the ground, the beast above him, punching Thor with all it's might. As it was about to deliver its killing blow, Loki shoved a long spear through its chest from behind. The creature paused, then turned to look at Loki. Then suddenly it grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward, the spear going completely through his torso.
"Nooo!" I screamed at almost the exact time Thor did. I was running towards them before my mind could even realize that I was moving. Blue energy blazed to life in full force around my body much like the flames of a fire. The beast shoved Loki off of the spear and he fell roughly to the ground.
The creature started advancing towards him when he said, "See you in hell, monster." The device at his waist started beeping and in an explosion of fire and sparks, the creature was sucked into nothingness. I reached Loki as Thor did and I fell on my knees next to him. I put one of my arms beneath his head to support it and I cupped his face with my other hand, stroking his cheek gingerly.
"No, no, no", I whispered. Thor knelt on the other side of Loki and grasped his hand. His skin had started turning gray and he was having difficulties breathing.
"Oh, you fool. You didn't listen", Thor said.
"I know", Loki whispered, "I'm a fool, I'm a fool."
"Stay with us, okay?" My voice was breaking, but I couldn't help it.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I felt tears running down my face.
"It's okay", Thor said, a reassuring smile on his face, "It's alright. I'll tell father what you did here today."
He looked up at me, his emerald green eyes dull and empty, "I didn't do it for him."
"Don't leave me", I whispered, "Please. Stay with us. We need you."
"I love you", he said quietly.
"I love you too", I gasped out through the tears. Then his eyes closed and he didn't move again. Sobs and convulsions shook my body as I cried and let out a yell of anguish. Blue energy crackled dangerously around me, my blue eyes felt like they were practically on fire. The energy expelled from me in a giant wave and then came back to me as if I had just sucked it all back up. I quietly held Loki close to me and cried. Thor placed a hand on my shoulder, grieving with me.
He didn't say anything. A long stretch of silence followed and Thor finally stood. "We need to stop Malekith", he said.
"I won't leave him here, not in this forsaken place."
"Jane and I are going. I will return for you."
I nodded, "Good luck." He smiled at me, and then he and Jane left. I gingerly laid Loki down on the ground and scooted back from him, drawing my knees up close. I felt numb. Blue energy flared around me as I let out a loud scream. A beam of energy shot upwards from me and suddenly the landscape around me vanished.