OH MY FUDGEBALLS! Sorry that it's been forever and a half since I've last updated. I've had scholarship stuff and yet another advanced placement course put upon myself. I had originally planned on updating ALL of my fictions but unfortunately my plans got changed. I had family come and see me as an early graduation present and as great as it was to see them…No writing could be done. I then had to deal with the last stretch of the year, graduation and enrollment into college. A little while back I watched THOR: THE DARK WORLD twice in one week. It was epic! Luckily for you, my lovelies, this meant I got renewed passion to continue this fic! Please remember commentary and reviews are what I feed upon! READ ON, MY DEARS AND ENJOY!

Chapter Seven

Never Trust the God of Lies

Fingers steepled, head bowed, heart breaking… That was his current state. Loki had to squeeze his eyes shut as he planned what he had to do. He could already imagine the look on her face when he told her. How could he do that to her, hurt her when he knew that she trusted him completely? "Because I love her and she deserves better," he whispered, his throat closing on him, threatening to choke him as he spoke.

He was no good for her. She needed a man that she could be with openly, not someone she had to sneak around with because of what would be said about them. Freya never complained to him about the fact their dates were always secret and that they had to lie about everything they had together. No, Freya would never tell him that she was unhappy…But he could see it in her eyes. She longed to share their love in public, show him to her friends. Poor, naïve Freya… He was no shining warrior like their brother. He could fight but he was not impressive when he did so. He relied on his tricks, his wit and in their society those things were just not as highly valued as the ability to beat someone with a hammer.

Loki could not stand what would be said about her. Though accepted generally, it was frowned upon to have relations with your siblings. He could only imagine how it would tear at her heart when she felt Thor's disgust or saw the disappointment in their mother's eyes. If he were the only one who had to bear the shame then he would gladly take it. He wouldn't though, and he could not let her get hurt because of him. It was the hardest decision he ever made in his life but he knew, ultimately, that it was the right one. He was her first love and he had confidence she would move on and find happiness. Happiness would never find his heart in the form of love ever again but he would be okay with that so long as she was happy.

Freya knew nothing of his plans, knew nothing of the of the pain she was soon to receive, knew nothing of the pain it would ultimately cause him. At this time Freya, in all her naïveté, only knew she was a young goddess, not quite in full knowledge and command of her gifts and that she was in love with the man she called her brother. From the first moment they had kissed, however, she had thrown that out the window. He was no longer Loki, her second elder brother; he was Loki, the love of her life.

She enjoyed toying with men who sought after her (sometimes for sex alone, sometimes for her status as marrying her meant they married into the royal family and were put in line for the throne, or sometimes for love. Occasionally it was a combination of all the above.), using it as a source of amusement. She would string them along; make them feel as though they had a chance before tactfully breaking their hearts and crushing their dreams. She had not been in a battle so long that watching the light die out of their eyes there was the only way she got a taste of anything that quenched her need. Blood thirst, no matter how passive or delicate any of them appeared, seemed to run in the royal family.

Pushing these thoughts aside, Freya's eyes lit up as saw Loki, her entire being seeming to glow in a subtle show of her happiness to see him. As she crossed to him she didn't fail to recognize the slump of his shoulders, the weight he seemed to have upon him. In front of their family, Loki never showed how much he let things get to him or how much he hurt sometimes. He even got to the point where not even Mother knew… But Freya knew, she always knew. Ever so gently, Freya placed her hands on either side of his face to lift it before she placed her lips over his. "What troubles you so, my darling love?" She never removed her lips from his.

Loki steeled himself as he frantically tried to memorize this last kiss he shared with her. He was the God of Mischief- the God of Lies. He would sell this to her. He would break her heart so savagely that she would be repulsed by the very sight of him. Yes, it would be better this way, would be better she move on… Be better that his selfish heart be alone.

"Freya, please, remove your lips from mine," Loki pushed her back gently. He swallowed imperceptibly, gathering himself easily. He watched her confused reactions and continued on, "It is best we break this off, Freya. It was a silly little fling at best."

"Break it off? Silly little fling?" Freya asked him, pain clouding her eyes, "Loki, how can you say that? No, I refuse to believe this! You swore you love me! I gave you my innocence!" Freya insisted, tears welling up in her eyes. She reached for his hand only to watch as he drew away and looked to the corridor.

"Yes," Loki told her, silently working to fabricate an illusion. He needed to create a figure that was the opposite of her in order to further prove his lie. He finished his work, "A fling. You wanted love and I wanted sex. It was convenient, really." He turned his head sideways to smirk at her, trying not to focus on the tears in her eyes. "You've often preached that your silly love is the strongest force…yet I have tricked you, oh Goddess- no, Patroness of Love. Let this be your lesson to never trust anyone, especially the God of Lies."

Freya looked at him, whispering brokenly, "But… you loved me…"

"No. I loved your body." He turned to face her now, "You should move on, Freya. I already have," with the cue given, the woman strode from the shadows. She had russet waves framing her face and bright green eyes. Her gown was tight on her and the neckline showed a majority of her voluptuous breasts. She smiled perfectly as she took Loki's hand- a feeling similar to holding a cloud for him. His heart wept as he saw the tears spill down her face and he knew this was the final breaking point for her. It's for her own good, he reminded himself. As he started past her with the fake woman, Loki paused. "Oh, and Freya… I would suggest not telling anyone about any of this. How would it look if Asgard's princess was…tainted?" He smirked before striding out. He had barely rounded the corner before he heard the rustle of fabric and the soft sobs- telltale signs that his beautiful, broken Freya had fallen to her knees and wept. He swallowed hard and dismissed his illusion, barely making it to his room before he likewise fell to pieces.

Loki continued to stare at the not-so-dead Freya as Thor climbed aboard with his Midgardian. He did not move until his name was called and he snapped out of the trance he was in, striding into the ship, head held high, still shackled. He almost reached her when she turned on her heel, directing a question to Thor, denying Loki any attention.

"By any chance at all, does anyone know how to, oh I don't know, fly this thing?"

The next few moments were occupied by escaping, learning how to fly the foreign craft and berating Thor- a favorite of his. With each little snide comment it was painfully obvious that beneath the "changed" Thor hadn't really changed. He could see through the chinks in his armor, see the rash, impetuous man he had always been. Why, when this was done, Loki believed he would have fun watching Asgard rot beneath Thor's clumsy touch.

Still, his eyes and mind kept wandering back to the blonde crouched beside the now incapacitated Jane. He frowned heavily, feeling the little golden locket he had given her and discovered at the scene of her death burning his skin. "This…this is madness…" he murmured to himself. Then he delivered his next biting remark, "Well done. You've just decapitated your grandfather."

"He was my grandfather, too," Freya murmured to herself, not realizing he had heard her. Still, hearing her voice once more made him shaky.

Fortunately he was saved embarrassment as a smaller ship fired upon them, jarring their ship. He took this moment to let slip a little of his vehement, "You know this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest most obvious ship in the universe and escape, flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!" He didn't have any time to react as he was shoved out of the ship, suddenly, plummeting through the sky. His eyes were wide as he flailed about, his scream lost in his throat. He kept his eyes open, refusing to be falling in the dark again.

Thor nodded to Freya who stepped backwards then, falling through the sky gracefully. She closed her eyes, taking serenity in the fall, wondering what death would feel like should she happen to miss the craft and plummet further. Surely it would be better than a life entirely devoid of feeling, waking every morning to find you could no longer cry because all emotions had been exhausted centuries ago…

Loki landed on the craft, flat on his back. He coughed quietly, listening as Fandral (the little weasely quim) made his smug remark, "I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki." No sooner than the blonde warrior looked to the side did Loki look up in time to see Freya land over him. She was close, not touching him as she balanced on her hands and knees over him. Their eyes met and terse silence was filled while both remembered the last time they had been in a position similar to this.

"Loki! Oh! Oh! Loki! M-More! Yes! I'm almost there! Loki!" Her face was twisted with pleasure as she neared completion, her lips parted as she moaned so beautifully for him.

"Freya, that's it…a little more…gods yes! You're perfect, my dear! That's it, let yourself fall over the edge, praise me, let your voice sing the pleasure that I alone can give you, whether with my silvertongue or-"

His eyes widened and he grasped her waist before he suddenly rolled them, moving them out of the way of Thor's bulk and less than steady landing. He stared down at her a moment longer before moving away quickly. His hands burned where they touched her. She was really there. Slowly, looking to the both of them, he sat up, "You lied to me. I'm impressed." He smirked a little.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway," Thor spoke, impatient. It was not lost on anyone how Loki's smirk grew into a fully fledged smile, likely a mad one at that… But he was their only hope. While Fandrall dealt with the guards, Thor and Freya watched as Loki steered the ship toward the mountains. After a moment it became clear he was going to drive them straight into the rocks.

"Loki!" Thor shouted.

"If it were easy everyone would do it," Loki brushed him off, preparing for the sensation of being transported into a different realm.

"Are you mad?" Freya snapped, swallowing as she watched the crevice near. She watched as his gaze slid to hers, narrowing some before he returned it to the pathway.

"Possibly." Thor clung to Jane as he braced himself for what was surely going to be a messy death. He squinted his eyes while he stroked Jane's skin gently. Trust, he had to trust the man he had once called brother. He glanced to his sister who seemed to be having similar thoughts. She just closed her eyes as she prepared herself for impact… but it never came.

"Tada." They skidded over the air while Loki controlled the ship, his hair blown back some. He paid little attention to the trio while he brooded over his thoughts and steered the ship toward where certain death lay. It wasn't until he looked back he could no longer hold his contemptuous comments back. "What I could do with the power that flows through those veins."

Thor looked at him with simmering anger, "It would consume you."

Loki saw this as his chance for amusement, exploit his weakness for the woman. That's all love was, a prayer for children, a weakness. "She's holding up alright, for now."

Thor refused to let his anger be drawn forward. Instead he firmly spoke, "She's strong in ways you'd never even know." His brother had never known love. He had always refused it, pushed those who offered it to him away. He did not know how strong his Jane was but Thor knew. He knew it from day one.

Loki wanted to strangle him, slay him for saying such slander. He did know strength… He glanced to the woman he once worshiped and wondered. Perhaps Thor was right. He did not know the strength the barbaric buffoon spoke of. "Say goodbye." He told him. This would be his act of mercy. He would tell Thor to say goodbye, to tell him to make peace now because this would only end up destroying him in the end. Deep down, Loki did care for Thor… But he would not admit this- not to anyone, even himself. No, he thought he did this to see Thor in anguish alone now, to see his decay sooner.

" Not this day."

Loki scoffed, "This day, the next, a hundred years is nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you." He caught himself from saying more, watching from the corner of his eye as Freya tensed up.

Thor growled, "And will that satisfy you?"

Loki merely smirked, "Satisfaction is not in my nature."

Thor countered, his temper threatening to surface, "Surrender not in mine."

Loki turned then, jumping upon the chance to belittle him. "The son of Odin…"

Thor snapped then, "No, not just of Odin! You think you alone who loved mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust!"

"Thor," Freya spoke quietly, making her way to her feet, ignored by both men.

Loki looked at him then, rage smoldering in his eyes. How dare he? Frigga was the only one who believed in him! The only one who did not see him as the weaker son, the misfit, the mistake. "Trust. Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die!"

Thor stepped closer, shouting, " What help were you in your cell?"

Loki stepped forward to meet him, "Who put me there? Who put me there?!"

"Thor! Loki!" Freya shouted, her hand on her sword as she crossed to the two. Neither saw her as they were intent on their squabble.

Thor raised his fist to strike, "You know damn well! You know damn well!"

The blow never came as the sword was thrust between the two, Freya looking at the pair with anger. "Enough. What would she think if she saw you both now? Is this what you want her to see from Valhalla?"

Thor reluctantly calmed himself, lowering his fist. "You're right. She wouldn't want us to fight." He watched as Freya placed the blade back in its scabbard.

Loki looked between the two of them, "Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked." This lead to a small smile shared between the previously fighting brothers.

Thor then sighed, looking at Loki with tired eyes, "I wish I could trust you." He turned his back to Loki then, looking to go comfort Jane. He sat down, stroking her head tenderly as he stared at the wasteland of Svartalfheim.

Loki almost whispered, "Trust my rage."

"What good would that do us?" Freya muttered, moving to sit once more. She was weary already, wishing for a deep sleep- something to take away the horrors she has seen and the pain she felt. To sleep; perchance to dream- ay, that's the rub. She shook her head. The fact that Will had quoted her in one of his dramas-

"What was that? It is in my experience that the dead don't speak," Loki growled, turning his rage upon her. The woman he once loved. The one who had tricked him, made him think that he had forced her to kill himself, the one whose locket he wore around his neck still. She was the reason he had spiraled into madness, the reason he chose to listen to that blasted casket! Had it not been for her his fate would have been different!

"Do not try to turn this onto me, Loki. I had a good reason for what I did," Freya spoke tersely, her eyes narrowed as she straightened up once more. She would not let him see how he had destroyed her. No, she would stand tall, protect what little dignity she had.

"Oh what good reason is that? Hm?" Loki laughed quietly, shaking his head. "Asgard ran out of soldiers for you to lay with-"

"Loki!"

"-Go ahead. Explain why you faked your death and let your family grieve. At least when I tortured people I was not excessively cruel. I did not let them mourn me as a hero when in all reality I was a coward-"

"Enough! I did it because it would have been far better than to let my family see me waste away and die from heartbreak and let that be my memory! It was better to lie once than lie continually to them about their son. Unlike you, Loki, I have a heart." Freya spat, her fists clenched.

"What do you mean? What is going on?" Thor asked, watching as his younger siblings raged at each other. He sensed something was irreparably wrong between the two but was too caught up in saving Jane- and the nine realms- to worry about their fight until now.

Freya looked to Thor, knowing exactly what she would do. Her hope to retain her honor had perished the moment she had returned to Asgard. She swallowed and spoke, "I arranged the scene to look like I had died so that I could escape to Midgard. Because I love you, Thor, my brother, I will no longer keep the truth at bay… I left because after an extensive affair, Loki betrayed me and broke my heart. Rather than let everyone see how low I had fallen, I chose to die with a warrior's honor and to protect our family's honor." She watched their faces.

"You and Loki were together?" Thor asked incredulously.

"My, you really are quite dense, Thor. That was what she just said. Though, what she left out was apparently in her time in Midgard she was sure to tell about all the times she slept with others besides me. Goddess of Whores is what she ought to be called-"

"At least I didn't have to fake anything with them," Freya snarled.

"You defiled your own sister!"

"Apparently she wasn't even really my sister, but yes," Loki growled the last part. No, he hadn't ever defiled her! He made love to her, worshipped her, gave her his heart and soul! He sacrificed his happiness with her to save her dignity- only to discover in passing years that on Midgard tales of her many exploits were made known. She had even slept with dwarves for a necklace. At that thought he reached up with his shackled hands and ripped her locket off, throwing it at her feet, "In time, I came to find out she was never even really worth my love."

Freya stared at the locket before she lunged for him, her hands wrapping around his throat as she screeched, tears falling fast and furiously, "Liar! You never loved me! You said so yourself! You only used me for my body!" She ignored as Thor came over, trying to rip her off of Loki. She wanted him to feel the pain she had felt, her devastation, her misery, the lack of will to go on! Finally, Thor succeeded in pulling her off of him, watching as Loki sat up, rubbing his throat, his face full of confusion. Thor turned her away from him, shielding her as he rubbed her back, letting her sob against him.

"There, now… Easy… What has been done is done and we must continue forward," Thor murmured quietly.

Loki stared after her still, blinking. She seriously believed he had never loved her? After everything he had just told her? The way he still looked at her? He shook his head. She slept with many and he had an illusion take place as his conspirator. How could she be that torn when she had obviously never loved him to begin with? As much as he wanted to hold her, to tell her the truth and soothe her soul, he could not bring himself to. Her lies far surpassed his own.

For awhile no one said anything, each collecting themselves in the aftermath left by the past's demons. Finally it came time for the three to plan what was going to be done. "We must get the Aether out of her and destroy it," Thor told them.

"How?" Freya asked.

"We trick Malekief. After the Aether is destroyed we take out all the Elves. It should be relatively easy," Thor told her.

"You have forgotten that neither of us have exactly been in a battle for awhile. And there is three of us- excluding your Midgardian because she would be useless in a fight. We don't exactly have the upper hand," Loki told him.

"No, but we have rage and if we focus it we will win. We need only to destroy Malekief then the rest of the Elves should fall."

"Fine, but how exactly do we distract him?" Freya asked.

Loki looked at her, "Offer him the woman- the Aether. Of course neither you nor Thor would go through with that so we must make it seem like I have betrayed you both. If Thor is unable to use Mjolnir and you are wounded then Malekief will believe us." He told her.

"Why would he believe you?" Thor asked.

"I have been scorned and imprisoned by a kingdom I once ruled, however brief. I am angry and bitter- if I ask only to watch as it crumbles then how could he not?" Loki asked them.

"Fine, then that only leaves what happens in battle. Someone must protect Jane and-"

"I'll do it."

"What about watching our backs-"

"I'll do it," Freya said again.

"Freya, you will surely perish if you choose to keep yourself in harm like that. Rethink your choices, please." Thor spoke, seeing for the first time how broken the woman before him was. How could she want to so willingly put herself in danger?

"There is nothing left for me and I have no honor if I live. It would be better to die as a warrior to chase some of my shame away and end my suffering than to live in pain and ultimately resort to a different demise." Freya told him, smiling sadly. She was oblivious to Loki's growing horror, his thundering heart and the tears that stung at his eyes. She had no idea that as she spoke she was giving him his worst nightmare on a silver platter.

Freya took another breath and spoke, "So, if it be death that is the fate for one of us, let it be mine."