SUP GUYS!

So, I'd like to thank you all for being so patient in waiting for this update. It's been long overdue, I know. I'd also like to point out that I will still be redoing those first five chapters because...they were bad. Like really bad. I am quite sorry. But I think you'll like what I have in mind and you should like what I have in store for you right now. Reviews let me know how well you liked the chapter and I'd appreciate it if you left one. Without further ado...

Chapter Eight

Sacrifice

"So, if it be death that is the fate for one of us, let it be mine." Freyja's words were heavy, weighing deeply on the three of them. It was the greatest sacrifice she could make to help the plan, to keep them all safe at the expense of her own life…

Loki could not allow it.

To say fear beat out anger temporarily to cause his already pale skin to lose what tiny bit of color it had would be an understatement. His shriveled dark heart was beating fast as he couldn't help but to see the beautiful warrior laying on the black sand, her blood making it stick and clump while a faint trickle ran from her mouth. She would no longer breathe, no longer look at him with disgust and hatred, no longer be. Loki couldn't stand the thought of it. As much as he loathed her for whoring herself out after he tried to give her a better life, to act as though his time with her meant nothing as she hopped from man to man, even he would not be able to lie about his feelings for her. He still loved her, the harlot, but he would not see her dead. He reasoned that it was for his own selfish reasons he would see her live- he had suffered enough pain and misery lately, and would likely suffer more in the expanse of his life time, after all, he was promised his reward for helping Thor: eternity to rot in that horrid cell. And this Loki could endure, after all, he was a bit of a masochist and if he truly wanted he could escape that thing and kill Thor to take back what had been his. That would be easy, but also extremely boring. No, he would not live the pain that had rivaled that of the Chitauri mind control, he would not live through her death once more. One of his greatest weaknesses if not the greatest, her death would leave him a shell of his now insane self, no where close to the prince he had once been.

Thor's eyes softened with anguish, but he nodded all the same. Slowly his great arms encircled his little sister, his lips coming to brush on her forehead. "I wish it did not have to come to this, Freyja, but I will not deny you your honor. Your sacrifice befits your position, little sister." He felt his eyes water some as he spoke in a lower tone. "Mother would be proud of you, how grown you have become. She will be able to tell you herself soon enough." He didn't see the grown woman his sister had become, rather, the little girl that had ran after him, dragging a wooden sword much too big for her, her hair frizzy in its braids and her gap toothed grin directed at him.

"Are you mad?" Loki asked, horrified that Thor would let her go through with this. He had thought his imbecilic brain would have the capacity to understand what she was suggesting and stop her. Apparently he had placed too much faith in the ape. "Thor, you cannot honestly be letting her go through with this. She is going to let herself be slaughtered and this does not bother you?" A faint glimpse of his former self shone through as he tried to reason with him.

"What other choice do we have, Loki? Freyja makes a good point and she is a wise and skilled warrior. And this will be the highest honor we can give her, you know that. In death she will take her place to guide other warriors fallen souls to Valhalla. We may not want her to go, but we must allow her." Thor sighed, looking to his sister then to Jane who was beginning to stir slowly.

Loki felt pure unadulterated rage at Thor's logic. Freyja was young! She could do more good alive with a long life than dead in her prime. He closed his eyes as he turned away, beginning to think. He did not pay them attention as they sought to tend to Jane. The more he had began to think the more his two selves conflicted. He felt the control of his anger, his hate filled, Other twisted self give away to allow the part of him who felt remorse, guilt and all other petty emotions take over. That was the side who was more clever, the side who had a better chance to save Freyja. He was not entirely a good being, either, but he did have the capacity to still be great if he would not allow his jealousy or need for approval to take over. He would devise a plan so that his Freyja would live.

"And you're really going to sacrifice yourself for a woman who turned out to be no more than a common whore? For, what was it again? Ah, yes, love! You're pathetic," the vision of his tortured self spat at Loki, a feral snarl on his pale, split lips.

"Could you possibly shut your mouth for a few precious millennia so I can think and be in peace? This is all your fault to begin with!" Loki hissed back to his other self, his eyes narrowed. He watched as he disappeared, but not without a malicious grin first. I'll just take my seat right here where I can whisper into your ear until you give up and let me back in charge. Loki cringed then looked up as Thor spoke now, Jane pulled into his side as he spoke to Freyja.

"Freyja, Sister, I do have a few questions I would like you to answer me before you can no longer do so. How did you leave Asgard, how did you fake your own death and what did you do on Midgard before you came back?" He stared at her now, his face serious as he regarded her. Loki couldn't help but to give back some begrudging respect to him- in his changed ways, Thor did seem a bit smarter, though times were still few and far between. He might suspect that Thor actually did have a brain. It just had to be the size of a walnut.

"For my death, it was easier than you'd suspect. It was that reason that it haunted me what I had done. Kill a stag, slit veins for smaller splatters, most of the blood came from the slit throat, smear its blood around to make it seem like I fought and struggled. Claw marks came from my dagger, locks of my hair I had cut off. Then I drug the stag off, which looked like my own body had been dragged, until I could place it where I knew scavengers would eat it. Afterwards I went to Heimdal to have him send me to Midgard. I knew I could blend in best there and he knew that, too. I made him swear to tell no soul, living or otherwise, King or not." Freyja looked to the side to watch the expanse of black sand banks, "When I made it there it was in a time they worshiped us like gods. I appeared in a flash of light from the sky and they fell to their knees." She played with the edge of the craft, obviously uncomfortable. "I did nothing to stop their praises, after all, I was better than them. Dishonored, homeless, and on the run, I was still better than them, a Goddess. Even as pathetic as I was, I was still arrogant enough to believe myself their better. And I realized that would get me found. So, while I stayed with them, I told stories about us, our home…

I spoke of the war in which Father had freed them from the Frost Giants, and I spoke of you, Thor. I told them of your conquests. And I spoke of Loki, his clever wit and charm," she didn't look at him as he looked sharply at her. "And I told them who I was. I told them of my gifts and they made me out to be the greatest, the most profound, and patroness of my ability to match two souls or to tell them how to seduce another." She smiled bitterly. "I used that to my ability. I deserved pain, punishment of some source, but these humans would be unfit to touch me… So I did it myself. I told them false stories about my exploits, told them I was great enough to seduce a swarm of dwarves all for a necklace I fancied, and numerous other men. I told them this and while they praised me and spread word of my conquests, I took a wounded satisfaction. It would destroy my carefully guarded reputation, something I viewed as an important part of who I was. I was no longer, Freyja, I was the Valkyrie Whore."

Loki felt a stab in his heart as he watched her followed by a wave of relief. Those stories had been fabricated to tarnish her reputation as a way of punishing herself. He wanted to sob then- his beautiful, darling Freyja had done all of this because she felt guilt at trying to leave behind the life he had wrecked for her.

"Of course, I also administered physical punishment to myself as well, but that came later. Just stab wounds and cuts from my blade," Freyja shrugged as though stabbing her side was a normal thing to do. She ignored the looks Jane, Thor and Loki gave her.

"Why would you do these things?" Thor asked quietly, shuddering at the thought of his sister stabbing herself and bleeding out in some primitive Midgardian squalor.

"I may have left to try to leave behind the pain and fear of failure, Thor, but it still followed me to Midgard and I felt a need to deal out more pain for the pain I left behind. If I had stayed in Midgard, my honor would be stripped from me, so in Midgard, I ruined my reputation in order to live out the punishment of it all without tarnishing my family." Freyja sighed as she stood, looking towards the horizon. "I believe we are nearing, aren't we, Jane?"

Jane nodded, "It's stirring." She was uncomfortable and she didn't know if it was from being in the same boat as a lunatic, from hearing the suicidal and masochistic rambling from her boyfriend's sister, or because the Aether was trying to draw her towards the creepy evil elf-guy.

Loki slowly landed the craft and looked to them, "After you." He felt a stirring in his heart and swallowed hard as he watched them climb off the craft, his eyes focused on Freyja. He wanted to speak with her, to try to do something. He knew his plan now, knew what he wanted to do, but he wanted to speak with her, just one last time before everything changed. Perhaps it was because he was softer, he was the one in control, not his twisted other self, and he wanted to persuade her to forgive him, at least just a little bit. He walked alongside her on the outside of the group. She and Thor were on either side of Jane, protecting her. Now was the chance. "Freyja," He placed his hand on her arm, watching as she turned her head, everyone stopping now. Thor spoke to Jane to reassure her and now Loki would have his chance to speak to Freyja and tell her the words he so badly wanted her to hear. "Freyja, I must confess something, and I need to now since we have so little time. No matter what, I am proud of you, though I'm sure it means little to you to hear that. And I want you to know," he paused as he spotted Malekith and knew it would only be a few precious moments until they would be on them. There would be no time for him to tell her that he loved her… "I'm sorry." He took his dagger and plunged it through her stomach, causing her to gasp as he pulled her closer shoving it all the way through. He threw down her body before he moved to Thor, stabbing him in the side. He flung him down the hill alongside Freyja, "Trust me now, brother? I wouldn't!"

"Thor! No!" Jane scrambled towards Thor, frantic despite Malekith advancing towards them.

"Do you really think I cared about Frigga? About anybody? Honestly? All I ever wanted was you and Odin, dead at my feet!" Loki snarled. He watched as Thor tried to summon Mjolnir, that damned hammer, his wound hindering him considerably. He acted quickly to stop that, his repressed anger making it easy to cut off the hand of the man he had once called brother. He watched as the blonde beast lay in pain, clutching at his limb, the woman holding her middle as she struggled to breathe and snatched up the Midgardian woman. He turned then, "Malekith! I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift!" He threw Jane to Malekith, watching in satisfaction as she landed at his feet. "I ask only one thing in return- a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!" He smiled in satisfaction as the grotesque monster from the dungeon turned to Malekith.

"He is an enemy of Asgard. He was a prisoner in their dungeons," Kurse's distorted voice assured his leader. This seemed to be enough to sate the dark elf as he was so close to his goal now that he could almost taste it.

"Look at me," Malekith ordered, his foot nudging Thor onto his back. He then regarded both the missing appendage and the dying warrior woman. He smiled, "You would have been better off dying the first time, wench." He then raised one arm, lifting Jane into the air so he could remove the Aether. He could feel its hum as he drew it towards him, his eyes focused as the red liquid like substance began to leave Jane. He smiled as he thought of the destruction he would wreak. As soon as it was completely drawn from the woman's body, she dropped to the ground.

"Loki! Now!" Thor shouted. He watched as his hand was returned to him and knew Freyja was healed as well. Both she and Loki went to shield Jane as he struck the Aether with Mjolnir, watching as it shattered. He smiled slightly until he saw that it came back together and a chill went down his spine. Their plan failed. He watched as the Aether was drawn into Malekith and anger filled him.

Loki's eyes widened as he saw Malekith draw in the Aether. His mind began to work in overdrive as he started to try to come up with an idea, but he kept being drawn back to the fact they had handed over a weapon capable of destroying the universe to the creature who wanted to do just that. He looked up as a grenade was thrown towards them and he shoved the women far to the side of him, keeping them from the range of the grenade. A black hole opened as the bomb detonated, sucking him up towards it. He braced himself, only to feel a brick wall hit him. Ah, Thor could be so useful sometimes. As the black hole closed, the group stood, prepared to face an army of elves with only three fighters. He swore as he was drawn into a fight, using his blades to ward off elves. He glanced to see Freyja using her spear to impale some, to crush their heads in or to use it as a pole to swing from so she could deliver death blows with well placed, neck snapping kicks. Still, she was outnumbered. He dispatched the elves he dealt with before he moved to help her, noting she was growing tired. She was sorely out of practice but still, she held her own. Loki lifted his head as he heard Thor's grunts and the sound of grinding rocks and crushing bones. Kurse was pummeling him into the ground, even knocking Mjolnir away as he continued to berate Thor.

Freyja took off towards the match, intent on removing the creature's attention from her brother. She leapt and grabbed onto the horn like structures on its head, swinging it away from Thor using her weight as momentum. She had to hop off as it came at her now. She held up her spear but he grasped it and tossed it aside. "What's the matter, creature? Afraid?" She knew it was stupid to taunt it, that she would be dead if she continued. But wasn't that the point? She wasn't afraid of her death, not anymore. She had lived long without feeling and what little she did feel went beyond anger and sadness. This would restore her image in their eyes and she would be a part of saving the universe. She prepared herself, her blood humming with a surge of adrenaline, her muscles tense as she led it from Thor. "I'll enjoy killing you myself, you monster!" She was well-braced, but the fist to her face still surprised her. She was knocked backwards, landing on the black sand as it loomed near her, likely ready to burn her alive. She looked up, blood from her split lip smeared on her chin. She growled up at it, ready for her fate.

But fate, as it turned out, had other plans.

A large blade protruded from the creature's chest, taking both it and Freyja by surprise. She looked to see Loki at the end of the blade and she blinked in confusion. He had saved her… She smiled some, meeting his eyes. "Loki…"

Freyja's smile warmed a long forgotten part of Loki's frozen heart, letting him smile back as he met her eyes. He had did it, he had saved her! "Freyja, I-" he watched as the mutated elf turned towards him, unperturbed by the normally fatal wound.

He didn't have a chance to run before the creature grabbed him by his biceps and pulled him forward, piercing him through.