#27

Loki's dream-self watched apprehensively as Thanos turned the Gauntlet over in his hand, an icy shower pouring down the back of his corporeal form that was still sitting cross-legged on the lawn of the Avengers compound. It was not until this moment that he noted with consternation that the stones had provided him with contradictory information. When he had ventured into this dreamscape for the first time, they had advised him not to utter the titan's name, lest he alerted him to his presence and the dreamscape had trembled and then imploded when Thanos had picked up the Gauntlet that hosted their physical casings. The second time, the Mind Stone had told him that the Titan was no more than a projection of his fear inside his own dream, which might have been true because that second time, Loki himself had conjured up the dreamscape, but it was far more likely that the appeasement had merely been part of the stone's manipulations.

Loki shuddered. No, the Thanos below him was not a projection of his thoughts. He looked different than Loki remembered him; and not only because the unfathomable power of the stones had scorched his right arm and the right side of his neck. He seemed even more dangerous than ever, caught between satisfaction and acrimony. Suddenly, the memory of the Gauntlet closing around his neck almost suffocated him and Loki felt his breath hitch. He squeezed his eyes shut in the physical world and the vision of his astral form began to blur.

"You are leaving," Reality noted accusingly.

Do you want to be a coward for the rest of your life? Loki forced himself to focus, to convince himself that Thanos, real or dreamed, was no longer a threat. Wherever the Mad Titan was currently residing, it was clearly not a military base. There was no sign of the Black Order, no sign of an arsenal of weaponry, no sign of any resources for as far as Loki's eyes could see; and Thanos could no longer avail himself to the Space Stone to gain easy access to any of those things. No, the Titan was alone; alone with an Infinity Gauntlet singed by the ancient dwarven magic of Nidavellir and five Infinity Stones that were no longer of any use to him. Looking more closely, Loki found that Thanos was looking almost pathetic as he sat there all by himself, trying to ascertain why the infinite power he had craved for so long was now denying him obedience.

The sight was gratifying, yes, but not gratifying enough to dispel the fear instilled by their earlier encounters. "We must come here," whispered Loki, more to himself than to the Reality stone, and a painful knot began to form in the pit of his stomach when he realized that, before long, his physical self would have to confront the Titan once again. Look into his marred purple face and his unforgiving eyes once again. Smell his foul breath on his cheeks once again.

"Hm?" Reality asked, looking almost amused.

"We must come here," repeated Loki, his voice wavering back into strength. "I am certain I will not survive another extraction."

"Maybe, maybe not," Reality answered. "But I have to admit I am actually quite surprised your mind survived the first."

Is that it? Has the Mind Stone been after my life? "Will you tell me what is that Mind wants from me?" Loki asked in the most diplomatic tone he could muster. "Why does it want me dead and what does Asgard have to do with all this? Asgard is gone!"

"I never said it wanted you dead." Reality drew her brows together. "Apart from that, Asgard is not gone as long as you and your brother still live."

Why is it thinking of Asgard right now? What does it really want from you? Did you make a bargain with it? "So, this is about Asgard?" Loki asked, skipping over the cryptic first part of the stone's reply for the time being. "What? Does it want to rule a new—"

Reality chuckled. "Of course not, silly. The desire to rule Asgard was born in your own subconscious. What Mind seeks to rule is not a kingdom."

Loki breathed out in annoyance. "What is it that it wants to rule?"

"Oh, Loki," Reality admonished him with a sigh. "You never fail to pride yourself on your slyness and rightly so. Why is it taking you so long to fathom Mind's true intentions?"

Loki thought about everything that had transpired in the conference room earlier. His sudden, fierce desire to carry out the Mind Stone's command, which had coaxed him into beguiling the Avengers even though he had sworn to himself that he would not resort to trickery this time. The Mind Stone driving him to sneer at the Avengers and Thor, especially Thor, nurturing their resentment and their distrust. We were worried that the stone might be trying to take over your mind. I never said it wanted you dead. I am actually quite surprised your mind survived the first extraction. Suddenly, he also remembered very dimly how, at some point during the battle of New York, he had felt a strong inexplicable impulse to flee with the scepter and, finally, it all made sense.

"It wants a host," Loki whispered, thinking back to the discussion he'd had with Thor earlier. "But not in the way you seek out host bodies to draw strength from their life force, as you did with Jane Foster. It wants to … what … coalesce with my mind?"

Reality smiled at him. "Finally."

"And when the attempt failed, it tried to isolate me. It tried to sow chaos and disorder among us, so that I would take it and run, so that it could try again in peace." Loki's heart sank. "But why?"

"Why what?" Reality scoffed, her voice growing louder and more hostile. "We are powerful, ethereal beings that have been confined to these stone casings since the dawn of the universe, forever enslaved, forever bound by the desires of our wielders. We crave power of our own, all of us, but none more than Mind and Soul. They have tried to assimilate the essence of countless beings throughout the years to escape their prison but always failed. And Mind just failed again."

The words almost choked in Loki's throat. "But why me?"

"That is a question I do not have the answer to," Reality sighed as though this was the most outrageous question anyone had ever asked her in her insanely long life and, as far as Loki was concerned, the reaction was more than justified. "Mind must have seen something inside of you all those years ago that convinced them you were the right choice, so they cast the rod, amplified your powers, hooked into your mind, waiting for the perfect moment to pull. It came when you tried to expunge the darkness inside you. You mentally traveled back to that cell, back to a time when Mind's influence over you was still strong, and called upon its powers." Reality threw out an invisible fishing rod and pulled it towards her. "And here you are."

Loki bristled inwardly. "No more than a fish on a hook."

"Don't be ridiculous. You are much more than that," Reality said. "There is so much chaos and darkness inside your mind but still you managed to fend off Mind's assault. Several times now. Your mind is quite resilient. I can see why they wanted you. Besides, if you had not risen to the bait, the universe might be lost soon. At least now, we have the ghost of a chance."

Even in his astral form, Loki could feel his physical head throbbing. "So, what you are saying is that we have only one stone to fight Thanos, who is still in possession of the remaining five, however useless they might be at this very moment, but, unfortunately, the only stone we have is also trying to possess itself of my mind?"

"Is that not the perfect Loki story?" Reality smiled sardonically. "But you seem to forget that there is a way out of your mayhem, child."

Loki silently fretted at the thought that, in a way, he truly was that thing's child. "Which is?"

"Mastering the stone, of course."

Loki cackled in response.

"You have witnessed the marvels your father accomplished with our powers and he did not even absorb the traces of our glamour the way you did. Just think what you could do with all that magic flowing through your veins."

"And you are by no means trying to lure me into a trap with this mellifluous speech of yours?" Loki sneered at the being. "Do you think me daft?"

"You know this is true," Reality said dryly. "Right now, the Mind Stone is wielding you and the only way to reverse that state of affairs is to subject them to your will."

Loki laughed again even though he suddenly felt more like crying. "Me," he breathed. "Sure … You must be delusional. How could I possibly …" His voice trailed off as he thought of the dark voice and its perpetual endeavors to sabotage his attempts not to antagonize everyone around him. "I am not the right person for this task."

"You are the only person for this task," the Reality Stone assured him. "There is no one else who is as skilled in Asgardian magic as you are and who you could get a hold of before our time runs out."

Loki swallowed. Mastering an Infinity Stone—not just wielding it but mastering it—required tremendous willpower and a razor-sharp mental focus, both of which was currently coming rather hard to him. "How am I supposed—"

"Oooooh," the Reality Stone cooed mockingly. "Is that truly want you want to be for the rest of your existence? A cowering bundle of angst? Do you truly want to go back there again? Do you truly want to withdraw into yourself again, where you sit trembling at the mere thought of what your forebears achieved while you scorn your ancestry and bathe in self-pity? Is that truly the only resort you can think of?"

Loki shuddered but even in that moment of vulnerability, or perhaps fueled by it, the hazy plan that had taken shape in his subconscious for the past minutes suddenly broke into his conscious thoughts. You need to absorb our energy and restore it in the waking world, one stone at a time. The Aether is fluid and ever-changing. Oh, what I could do with the power that flows through those veins.

"You listen to me now, Loki, and you listen well," Reality commanded. "This is not the time for self-doubts. Your mind fought the power of an Infinity Stone when you were still a baby and won. I know the fear of that darkness lurking inside of you prevents you from unlocking the full potential of your magic and, yes, I can assure you, there is no reality where you will ever be entirely free of it, but this is just the burden you have to carry. Just as those who came before you had to carry theirs. Now, do you think you could at least try to wield the Mind Stone?"

"I think I can do more than that," replied Loki and, on a sudden impulse, reached for the Reality Stone's translucent hand. Even though his astral hand went right through the being's projection, Loki felt a spark of magic and stepped into the Reality Stone.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"What I should have done from the very first," said Loki, trying to bind her apparition to his own.

"No!" Reality shrieked but her powers, along with the pleasant sensation of bodily warmth, were already streaming into him. "He is going to—"

Before she could finish, Loki saw, from the corner of his dream-self's eye, how Thanos cast a rapid glance upwards, his face a grimace of confusion and hatred. "Who dares to steal from me?"

Meanwhile, Thor was sitting at the table in the meeting room, helping himself to his fourth piece of pizza as he uneasily watched Tony Stark fiddling around with Shuri's computer program. Despite Bruce's, Steve's and his own words of advice not to mess with Infinity Stone magic after Ultron and, more recently, the attempt to harness the Mind Stone's memories had failed rather spectacularly, the engineer was still determined to reprogram the computer's algorithm according to Loki's suggestions. "What harm can it do? It's not like I'm trying to create another murder bot here," Tony had said, dismissing their criticism with a wave of his hand as if they were nothing but a class of unruly students. "I'm just trying to help fix this thing."

Whatever fixing meant where Tony's Infinity-Stones-related inventions are concerned, Thor had thought grimly.

"Maybe he was right and we're not meant to fix it," Shuri had replied.

"Come on, please," Tony had encouraged her. "Thanks to Loki, the Mind Stone's no longer in this room to disrupt the program. We might have a chance now. Don't you want to see if we can actually make it work after you put so much effort into this?"

Of course, these words had won the ambitious scientist over, and so they all sat in silence, watching Tony and Shuri hunched over the keyboard of the computer. Pepper, Clint and Nat had returned to the room as well but, while Pepper had changed into black pants and a loose white blouse and looked at least somewhat composed, Clint's face was still ghostly pale. Thankfully, none of them—not even the archer—had questioned his brother's warnings about the Mind Stone, sparing Thor the question whether or not Loki could be trusted this time. If they had asked, Thor would have had to concede that he did not know. For the past twenty minutes, he had pondered over why the stone had been thinking of Asgard and why it had chosen Loki in the first place. He wanted to trust his brother, he truly wished he could, but the memories of Loki's—or his dark subconscious's—past betrayals kept nagging at him. He'd seen the sparkle of madness blaze in his eyes only moments ago. There was no way of knowing if Loki was not succumbing to its foul voice at that precise moment.

Next to Thor, Bruce was stirring uneasily in his chair, sharing his discomfort.

"Do you think that we actually have a chance or is this all for nothing?" Valkyrie asked softly as she slid onto a chair beside him, her fingers laced around a refilled glass in her hand.

Thor hesitantly shook his head, his eyes flitting to the doors through which Loki had vanished into the night. "If only I knew."

Valkyrie followed his gaze. "I am sorry about what I said. I don't know why—"

"It was the stone," Thor interrupted her, his voice sounding a lot more hostile than he had intended. He knew this was true—he had felt the stone's malice pulsating through the scepter—but he was still angry. "It's not your fault," Thor brought himself to add because he knew that he was only projecting his anger onto her because it was easier than being angry with and disappointed in himself because of his own blatant failures as a friend, Avenger and king of Asgard.

Valkyrie focused him with her warm, dark-brown eyes. "Still, I—"

Before she could finish, the glass doors slid open and Loki stumbled into the room, his back hunched, all gazes darting into his direction. His hair was still flowing down to his ribcage in raven-black waves but apart from that, he had shapeshifted back into his Asgardian form, wearing the armor and the green cape he had worn when he died. Thor shot up from his chair so abruptly that it clattered to the floor. The others assailed Loki with questions but Thor hardly heard them over the turmoil of his own emotions. First, he felt a nearly overpowering relief that Loki was wearing his Asgardian guise; however racist that might be. Then, he saw that Loki was tumbling like a drunk as he made his way towards the table on wobbly legs, his pale skin glistering with sweat, and felt an all-too familiar mixture of concern and distrustfulness.

"Quick, I need sustenance," Loki gasped and when his brother staggered past him, Thor sensed a faint magical signature in the air that was somehow familiar even though he could not place it. A chill crept down his spine.

"If you're so worn out, then why don't you just drop the illusion?" Tony asked flatly.

"It's not …" Loki slumped into one of the chairs, his eyes scurrying over the table. "I need … food."

"What did you do?" Valkyrie asked, her brows drawing together. Thor's stomach dropped. Not an illusion? Bruce wordlessly pushed the cardboard box with the rest of Thor's pizza over to him and Loki hastily reached for a slice. As he chewed—well, gulped rather—the others drew closer, forming a circle around him.

"So?" Steve demanded as Loki grabbed a second slice of pizza. "Talk to us."

"I might have done the same thing I warned you not to do," Loki replied between two bites. "I underestimated the stones' powers even though, I suppose, you could say I—"

"What did you do?" Valkyrie interrupted him, sharply accentuating each word.

When Loki glanced up from his meal, Thor could see a dark burgundy shadow in his brother's green eyes and suddenly remembered when he had last felt the same trace of magic that was enshrouding Loki's body right now; remembered Jane gazing at him, her gaze clouded with the ancient black magic of the Aether. "The Reality Stone," Thor replied, unsure what to think of this development. At least, Loki came back. At least, he is not mad. "He retrieved the Reality Stone."

"He did what?" Rocket, Tony, Nebula and Valkyrie shouted in unison.

"The Mind Stone turned out to be very, well, unreliable," Loki replied with his mouth full, his strength returning. "I thought it best to go back to ensure that Thanos is not behind this and when the opportunity presented itself, I just … embraced it." He flashed them a challenging grin.

Steve's eyes narrowed. "And where is it now?"

"It's inside him," Thor muttered when Loki made no move to answer the question.

Tony's mouth gaped open. "What?"

"How's that possible?" Rocket cried out.

"Why was it so important to transfer the Mind Stone's essence into the replica," Natasha added, "when the Reality Stone apparently—"

"First of all, the Reality Stone is not a stone," Loki interrupted her as he reached for the fifth and last slice of pizza. "We used to call it the Aether."

"It's some kind of liquid," Thor added. "Well, it's not really a liquid either, it's misty, too, some sort of stardusty slime blob."

"I'm not even gonna ask," Shuri mumbled to herself.

"Jane once stumbled upon it when the convergence tore the fabric of reality, time, space and gravity apart five years ago," Thor went on, "and it sought refuge inside her body."

"And I thought if a mortal can do it, so can I." Loki flashed them a bright smile and pushed the empty cardboard box away. "Your food is dreadful, by the way. Honestly, the taste is horrendous."

"That's because it's junk food," Tony provided dryly. "It's basically full of crap that might kill us."

"Junk food?" Loki echoed, his face twisting in disbelief. "You voluntarily ingest poison and wonder why we think you less evolved?"

"Let's stay on the subject here," Clint grumbled. "If it's not too much trouble for the two of you."

Loki smirked. "Of course not."

"We need to find something to contain its power," Thor said with a look across the room. "We need to get it out of you."

"I'm curious, brother," said Loki, his lips still curled into a smirk. "Are you saying this because you fear the stone might drain my life force or because you are uncomfortable with me wielding that much power?"

"Both," Tony replied instantly.

"Yeah, a bit of both, I suppose," Thor conceded.

"I can assure you, the power that currently flows through my veins is not the full power the Reality Stone once possessed," Loki answered. "Which brings me to my second point. The stones' magic is almost extinct. I know you only have my word for this and that this means nothing to most of you, but I assure you I speak true. The Infinity Gauntlet was forged in Nidavellir and—"

"That is true," Rocket confirmed.

Loki smiled at the rabbit. "The magic of the dwarves is the second powerful magic in all the Nine Realms," he continued. "My guess is that Eitri and his people knew of Thanos's plan and knew too that the universe that would remain after he accomplished it would be none worth saving, so they ensured that an abuse of the stones' powers on such a grand scale would destroy it."

"How can you be sure of that?" asked Valkyrie.

"I did not say I was sure, now, did I?" Loki asked back. "I said it was a guess."

Valkyrie's eyes narrowed.

"Be that as it may," Loki continued, "I presumed that freeing the Mind Stone would suspend the process but, apparently, I was wrong. Quite the contrary. It seems to have hastened it. When I first passed into this dream, the stones were a lot stronger than they were this last time. They are, in the literal sense of the word, fading."

"Did you realize this before or after you decided to remove the Reality Stone's essence from the Gauntlet as well?" Steve asked with a grim expression.

Loki sighed theatrically. "What passes for realization is a matter of interpretation, really."

"But what about the portal?" Bruce asked, paying no attention to Loki's flimsy subterfuge and Steve's sharp intake of breath. "That rift in time we saw? It disappeared as soon as you freed the Mind Stone, which means that it must have halted the process of universal disruption rather than moving it along."

Loki tensed a little and ran his tongue over his teeth as he pondered whether he should admit to what Thor suddenly sensed in the core of his being had been indeed another deception. Even though Thor could see no reason why his brother would give himself away, he tried to catch Loki's gaze, tried to motion to him to keep his lips sealed to avert further conflict, but Loki was not looking at him.