#33

Thor jolted into a sitting position and supported his body with his elbows, his vision still blurry with exhaustion. The first thing that registered with him when the dizziness behind his eyes began to slowly subside was that the Midgardian air remained, at least for now, untouched by the vicious magic he had sensed on Hélgidomur. The next thing he realized was that his hectically devised precautionary measure had seemingly worked, for he was half-sitting, half-lying on the floe he had chopped off the ice plateau his brother had created. His gaze flitted to Loki, who had apparently donned the Infinity Gauntlet during their voyage on the Bifrost and was now wearing it on his right hand. Even if the prospect of his little brother wielding the same power that had condemned so many innocent beings to death stirred up unwanted feelings of doubt and distrust in his stomach, it also gave Thor a brief moment of satisfaction. Unfortunately, it did not last very long, for, as he had predicted, all the water Loki had summoned came roaring after them in angry splashes.

"Loki!" shouted Thor, even though the roar of his brother's name was more of a reflex rather than an actual directive.

"On it," Loki replied so faintly that, for a fraction of a second, Thor was unsure whether his brother had actually spoken but then Loki raised the Infinity Gauntlet skywards and the Time Stone started flickering in the faintest sheen of green, slowing down the water cascading down on the Avengers lawn. Yet with the stone's powers almost depleted, Loki's presumable attempt to halt the water entirely came to naught and so Thor watched in suspense as the water and several Chitauri corpses inside it dripped from the opening of the Rainbow Bridge in slow motion. Their grimaces, Thor noted with both satisfaction and unease, were still articulating the horror they had felt upon their sudden deaths.

"Why is it not closing," Loki murmured in a voice slurred with fatigue, his eyelids flickering with exhaustion.

It was only then that Thor remembered that Heimdall was no more and that he was in command of the Bifrost now; that he was the one who had to close it. He willed the Stormbreaker to do so but Loki was already raising his ungloved hand into the air in a slow, clumsy movement even though he still lay on his back. The last spark of his Jotun magic froze the waterfall descending upon them into pillars of ice while the glimmering light of the Rainbow Bridge was slowly fading from the sky.

Loki moaned softly and then his eyes closed. Thor scrambled over to him, shook his shoulders and shouted his brother's name but Loki gave no response.

From somewhere behind him, he heard a breathless "fuck" from Valkyrie. Thor swung around and saw how she heaved herself up and crawled over to the others, who, except for Nebula and Steve, were all lying unconscious on the lawn, their limbs eerily sprawled out in all directions.

Thor gulped as long forgotten words broke through the door of his conscious mind with the force of a battling ram. You are a Destroyer, Odinson. See where your power leads. They see you leading us to Hel. We are all dead. Can you not see?

All the Realms be fucking damned, he thought again before he scrambled to his feet to help the friends he had so recklessly put in danger, the faint light of the first sunrays filtering through the black of the night.

Worlds away, the Goddess of Death was sitting on her accursed throne in her accursed cold, stonewalled kingdom, which was hidden deep in the merciless icescape of Niflheim. She had her fingers closed around the black gem, the sight of which had so delightfully dismayed Thor when he had broken into her domain to bargain for the life of that maniacal giant he called brother, and could feel it pulsating against her skin. It was brimming with magical energy and Hela knew that it was crying out in voiceless agony. To whom, however, she was not entirely certain.

Thor had been foolish enough to assume that she knew nothing of the stone's significance and Hela cackled at the recollection. What a simpleton he was, the God of Thunder, with his foolish grin and that near blinding spark of credulity in his eyes. He knew nothing of either Odin's schemes or the ferocity that had burned inside the Allfather's chest until he had finally met his doom on the coast where the descendants of his worshippers had once dwelled. Thor would have tried to wrench the stone from her if his naïve endeavor to bring back the one person who had brought him nothing but sorrow for the past years had not distracted him.

She snorted once more. Thor was reckless and impulsive. He had obliterated the Realm Eternal without hesitation, singing the magical branches of Yggdrasil and dispersing the Odinforce across the universe, without pausing to think that he would challenge the most grueling creatures that resided among the stars to battle by burning Asgard to the ground.

As if aware of her thoughts, the gem's pulsation increased, and Hela could feel its magic against her skin, could feel it electrifying her like miniature lightning blasts.

Thor had believed that the destruction of Asgard was all there was to Ragnarok but Hela knew more. Hela knew that the gem she was holding in her hands at this very moment was what Odin had kept sealed deep within Asgard for eons because it would cause Ragnarok. It went without saying that Thor, being the trustful imbecile that he was, had been blissfully unaware of the danger still lurking inside of Asgard when he had wreaked havoc upon the Golden City so mindlessly, releasing the destructive energy locked inside this gem from its prison in the process. That she had found it in the midst of the inferno unleashed by the Lord of Fire was a miracle in itself. She had seized the gem just before the fires of Muspelheim had engulfed her and severely torched her body—the body that had, finally, been breathing air again after eons of captivity—until she had seen no choice but to return to the realm of the dead vanquished and weak.

"What about him?" Steve asked with a downward glance at Loki. He, Thor and Valkyrie had carried the unconscious Avengers to bed one by one after Nebula, too, had succumbed to the physical and emotional strain the past hours had put on even her resilient, technologically enhanced body. They had also called for Wong to chant healing spells and try to find out what had the Soul Stone had done to Tony's mind and if the vicious magic tearing through the air on Hélgidomur earlier was indeed Nemesis coming to reclaim Infinity Stones and what that might mean for their quest to undo the Snap and save the universe from the damage Thanos had inflicted upon it. Yet, even though the sorcerer had immediately answered their call, walking through a portal right onto the Avengers lawn, their requests had been met with reluctance. As Loki had tried to tell them in his typically overbearing fashion earlier, there apparently were limits to the magic that the Masters of the Mystic Arts could wield. Healing spells, Wong had told them almost apologetically, were nothing they could administer easily and the magic of the Soul Stone was the most feared across the galaxy. "No one," he had declared solemnly, "should try to tap rashly into its essence."

"Don't you think this constitutes sort of an emergency?" Valkyrie had asked carefully, but not without a trace of the same Asgardian arrogance in her voice that had resonated with Loki's words earlier that night. Thor shuddered with the realization that it was precisely this arrogance that had prevented Asgard from truly protecting the mortal world as it had once sworn.

"The Masters of the Mystic Arts were taught not to tamper with natural law," Wong replied briskly, "but to defend it. This is how we have kept this planet safe until ..." His voice trailed off as his gaze flitted to Loki, then to the Infinity Gauntlet on his brother's right hand and ultimately to Thor.

"Until we came along," said Thor, his heart still heavy with the recollection of his father's harsh and unforgiving proclamation of his unworthiness all those years ago. "Yeah, I get it."

"Your interference is what caused of all this. If you had not chosen to come to Earth—"

"I never chose to come to Earth," Thor interrupted the sorcerer sourly. "I was banished. If my father had not—"

"Okay, that's enough," Valkyrie cut in. "We are long past the point at which recriminations might have still gotten us anywhere." She fixed the magician with her intense hazel eyes. "What can you do, then? Can't you at least try to heal them?"

"Or maybe try to remove the remaining stones from the gauntlet?" Steve added.

Wong sighed heavily and remained silent for a few breaths before he assured them with visible, almost palpable, reluctance at the prospect of having to tap into the powers of creation that he would try. He carefully removed the Infinity Gauntlet from Loki's wrist, his brows furrowing when he touched Loki's Jotun skin even though his lips remained sealed. Wong then cast a spell and a blanket consisting of glimmering, orange mandalas materialized around Loki, pulsating with Eldritch magic.

"What are you doing?" asked Thor.

"That is a magical shield that is going to protect him against cosmological interference," the sorcerer replied before he strode towards the Avengers compound with Eitri's mighty forging tucked under his arm, Valkyrie and Steve in tow.

When Steve came back outside, the time that had passed had allowed the sun to break through the darkness of the night and cast a soft glow on the lawn that belied the horrors they had witnessed and those that, undoubtedly, still awaited them. Thor was sitting on the ice next to his brother, who was still lying unconscious on the ice in full armor, regaining his strength in that sort of post-magic-wielding slumber Valkyrie had earlier compared to the Odinsleep.

"What about Loki?" Steve repeated quietly.

"It's probably for the best if he stays out here," Thor mumbled absentmindedly. "The ice will sustain him better than the temperatures inside the compound. At least, that's what I think. I don't …" His voice trailed off as his thoughts started to drift, leaving him with no hope that he could catch any of them. A heavy silence crept over them, the only sound a couple of birds chirping somewhere in the distance.

"Any news?" Thor asked in a broken voice when the other man made no move to speak.

"Wong created the same barrier around them to shield them from any magical influence," Steve replied with a nod towards Loki. "But if that is enough to …" His voice trailed off.

"How is he?" Thor whispered, his soul crushing under the weight of the misery he and Loki had unleashed upon Tony and all the other innocent Midgardians in the wake of their mindless struggle for their father's appreciation.

Steve gave an awkward shrug. "He is still unconscious. We can't …" He glanced at Loki. "Wong can't tell."

Thor followed the other man's eyes, his gaze fixing onto his brother's sharp cheekbones that were painfully visible under the thin layer of his blue skin.

"I meant what I said earlier," said Steve, his eyes still on Loki. "Even though his methods were reckless and he's certainly still more than a little crazy, I really think he was trying to help us out there."

Thor felt his lips break into a tiny, exhausted smile. "He was, yes. Thank you, Steve."

Steve tried to smile back but it died on his lips. "Do you think he can help us figure this out, too?"

"I don't know," Thor answered truthfully. "I have … I don't know everything he can do with his magic. I never really … cared."

Steve nodded and even though he did not speak, his pinched expression spoke volumes about the conclusions he was drawing. Loki knew exactly who he was and what he wanted when he attacked our planet, Thor remembered the other man's words. He might have been under the influence of that scepter but he attacked us because he wanted revenge on you, because he hates you. Or are you going to deny that now?

"Look, I know I could have prevented all of this if I hadn't—"

"We all made mistakes, Thor," Steve interrupted him but he was no longer looking at Loki. The captain had directed his gaze inwardly, focusing a distant, or not so distant, past that remained out of Thor's reach. The Thundergod had not been there when the Avengers had broken their bond of fellowship but he had come to know what had transpired and he could see now that Steve was still blaming himself that he and Tony had stood divided during the titan's attack.

"And neither of us will fix them by brooding," Thor mumbled. He looked up at Steve, forcing a sympathetic smile onto his lips. "You should really get some rest."

"So should you," said Steve.

"I will," Thor replied even though he knew that he would not.

Fretting at her defeat, Hela had told herself that, at least, the gem was now safe in Niflheim. It had been crackling faintly ever since she had taken it with her but the energy emitting from the stone had been no cause for concern. Quite, the contrary. It had brought her Loki and his deliciously agonizing delusions, which had fueled her depleted strength after Surtur's fires had drained her almost entirely, and she had allowed herself to think that she would be able to keep the stone locked inside her kingdom to impede Ragnarok for many eons to come.

Until the Thundergod had made his entrance.

Hela had not believed Thor for one second when he had promised her Loki's return to the kingdom of the dead at his own hands but she had been willing to let him try whatever it was her dimwitted half-brother had planned to do. In fact, she had been looking forward in childish glee to the moment when she would rise from her lair, confront him with his bargain and then claim Thor's soul and that of one of the pathetic mortals he called friends after he had failed to take his deviant little brother's life in time. She had gone near dizzy with excitement at the mere thought of carrying both of Odin's son's souls back to Niflheim to feast on their conflicted emotions for one another forevermore. At least, she had looked forward to this for the past two days.

Now that she could feel the gem's magic desperately reaching out to some unknown force, crackling ever more fiercely inside her palm, Hela would not stand idly by as her useless half-brother continued what he had started, bringing the destruction of all creation down upon them all. She rose from her throne, summoning all her strength until small flashes of green and black exploded from her fingertips with a soft crackle. Moving her hand in a circular motion, she created a magical ring, its edges pulsating with the dark colors of her glamor.

Steve nodded with one last unreadable glance at Loki before he turned away and strode towards the glass doors leading into the Avengers facility. Thor propped up his legs and looped his arms around his knees in order to ponder his next moves regarding Nemesis, Hela and that accursed seventh stone when he sensed Valkyrie tiptoe towards him. He heaved an involuntary sigh before he looked up at her. She was standing on the lawn in a loosely fitting white shirt and tight black trousers, her long brown curls framing her flawless face, her fingers curled around a newly filled glass of Tony Stark's whiskey. Bathed in the fresh sunlight of the inappropriately beautiful morning, she looked like the almost-goddess that she was. She smiled at him but he could see that it was not reaching her eyes.

"We are done," Thor decided before the appreciation of her beauty could distract him from the anger he felt at the recollection of how she had so easily unleashed her fury upon Loki on Hélgidomur once more even after his brother had done everything in his might to kill Thanos and put an end to their collective nightmare.

"That seems a little rash, don't you think?" Valkyrie asked carefully as she slid down beside him.

Thor laughed tonelessly. "No, I don't think so." He drew a deep breath before he asked the only question that truly mattered to him at this moment. "How could I ever be with someone who hates my brother so much?"

Valkyrie exhaled audibly, her eyes landing on Loki's sleeping frame. "You're really going to make this about him?"

"What did he ever do to you, Brunnhilde?" Thor asked, consciously opting for the name she had decided she would no longer go by and drawing a gleeful pleasure from her subtle recoil. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"He's a giant, Thor."

"Yeah, I know," he replied sullenly.

"No, you don't! Don't think I can see how you try your very best to ignore it most of the time," Valkyrie snapped and the truth of her words cut right through him. "And if you do acknowledge it, you turn a blind eye to his nature because you are such a trusting fool. Giants are born from chaos, Thor. They're bound to deceit and destruc—"

"Let me stop you right there, okay?" Thor grunted, anger rising inside his chest. "I know you hate Odin with a norndamned passion and I suppose you have every right to but are you truly not aware that it was his tales that instilled in you the judgment you pass on to Loki right now?"

Valkyrie's eyes narrowed but she said nothing.

"It was my father's tales that made all the Asgardians believe that the Jotuns were monsters!" Thor shouted, feeling anger at both her and himself for still feeling so at unease in the presence of Loki's Jotun form. "We grew up with the belief that they were lesser beings but, if I have learned anything on this planet, it is this: That is racist. You are a racist. No one should think themselves above someone else based upon appearance or race."

"Racist," Valkyrie repeated. She huffed a laugh, brought her glass to her lips and took a long drink. "You forget something there, Thor. You might have grown up with nothing but tales. I have grown up battling the giants. I have seen what they are capable of. I have seen them slay countless Asgardians in cold blood. I have seen them pursue—"

"That was long before Loki was even born! He was not involved in any of the battles you currently recall. He never marched upon Asgard. Not to mention that Asgard did the very same thing the Jotuns did!" Thor roared. "Odin did the very same thing. We are not above them, none of us! Loki is not less trustworthy than you are simply because he is a giant!" He drew a deep breath, trying in vain to control his fury. "And how can you even think about condemning him for his actions when you gave allegiance to a tyrant and helped him enslave people he later murdered for sport? You are a Valkyrie, for the sake of all the Realms!"

She startled and her mouth gaped open.

"And since you clearly aren't a giant, what actual excuse do you have for your transgressions against Asgardian morality, huh?" Thor snapped, relishing in her consternation even though he did not want to and did not understood why exactly he was taking all his frustration and anger out on her.

Valkyrie hissed a sharp laugh as she shot to her feet. "At least I didn't sleep with that tyrant!"

Now, it was Thor's turn to startle. He had asked himself what had happened between the Grandmaster and his brother as soon as he had caught onto the lustful gaze in the Elder's eye. "Wh-what do you mean?" he stammered, unsure if he could handle the answer.

Valkyrie sneered at him. "You know exactly what I mean but you are so far up your brother's ass that you—"

"What?" Thor asked when she stopped mid-sentence, her facial muscles straining.

Valkyrie gulped and he was just about to ask her again what was wrong when he suddenly sensed the faint trace of magic in the air. He searched for her gaze and clearly saw the truth in her eyes even before she spoke a single word, her voice taking on a nervous edge.

"Hela."