Everyone in the city was at the feast, celebrating the victory against the Chitari army.

Which, technically, they couldn't have won if Elixir hadn't kindly stepped in and helped them ungrateful bunch of savage- (you get the idea).

Even though being escorted through the palace wasn't the worst thing Elixir expected, he would rather be in chains than the #*& collar around his neck. When he was released, the guards insisted that they were ordered to keep the collar on him whenever he should leave his cell. It kept his power (and breathing apparently) under restraints. The warrior three eyed the thing in disapproval, but alas, they couldn't trust Elixir completely and didn't say anything in protest. Elixir couldn't blame them.

Fandral knocked on Loki's door, once, twice. And when there was no reply, he pushed the door open.

The bedroom was empty, but a bookshelf was definitely out of place, and a corridor led out next to it through the wall. The group closed the door behind them and filed down the tunnel. Elixir suddenly felt a wave of chilly air and familiarity overcome him. The room was carpeted with white. On one side of the freezing room was a curious gold frame with the scene of a frozen landscape and a dark sky.

Jotunheim.

'Thor was definitely here.' Sif said as she straightened some of the toy figures on the shelf. 'Loki would never put his things like this.'

'They went through this frame thingy!' Fandral was leaning through the gold frame, his voice partially lost in the wind. 'The footprints are still fresh!'

'Shouldn't we get help?' Volstagg shivered.

'No, it might make things worse.' Hugon said and, with great caution, stepped over the frame, lost his balance, toppled over and fell into the snow.

Elixir stepped forward as well, but Sif blocked him.

'What makes you think you are also coming?' Her eyes narrowed.

'You expect me to wait here?' Elixir growled.

'You will only drag us behind.'

'You weren't on the bridge, were you? If it wasn't for this wretched-' Elixir clawed exasperatedly at the collar. 'Get it off for me.'

'We won't remove it until I am sure you are on my side.'

'How do I prove it then?' Elixir challenged

'If anyone on my side is harmed under your arms,' Sif unsheathed a dagger and lifted Elixir's chin up with its point. 'I will not let you go easily.'

'Deal.'

Sif trailed the dagger down his throat and to the keyhole in the collar. With a flick, Elixir was released. The numb feeling in his body instantly vanished.

'Come on!' Volstagg shouted from where he stood on a hill on the other side. 'We should have haste and hurry!'

OOO

Clint stared at the opposite wall of the air duct. With Thor, Hela, Elixir and Chitari gone from the face of Earth, there was nothing the group could do but wait in Stark Tower. Some of them such as Peter and Tony were so bored they started dealing with drug busts and other stuff (or, things-that-are-just-not-their-business). Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, police and the like sent in mountains of complaints. And it wasn't once or twice, but five times already that Joker sent a pie bomb with a hate note attached to their doorstep.

He wondered what Elixir was planning. Did he follow Hela and Thor, or did he choose otherwise? Clint had never met another figure that might level in complexity with Natasha (and Steve's cat, but he would never admit it to anyone). He hated it when people are unpredictable. Unpredictable people do unpredictable things.

The transmitters sent a static noise through once more. Irritated, Clint shut it off.

Tony was probably drunk again.

OOO

Natasha strolled through the streets pondering on the recent events when suddenly someone dragged her into a dark alley and she went blind. She flailed around trying to get a feel what was actually happening, but a second later she was bound and trapped in a closed space. She pressed her intercom against the floor and whispered:

'Anyone on? I suspect I am being kidnapped.'

She waited, but no one answered.

'Guys?'

OOO

'Can you feel the love tonight~~~' Tony sang very drunkenly, tossing his earpiece into the toilet.

OOO

'Bruce, do you have another one of those intercoms? I think I lost mine somewhere.'

'Ask Tony.'

'He's currently intoxicated.'

'Then I guess you will just have to wait with me, Steve. I lost mine somewhere, too.'

OOO

Peter just got water into his eyes from his wet hair. He tried to grope his way back to the bathroom to get a towel but instead crashed into the open door with a loud bang. With his head spinning, he crashed onto the bed and decided to stay there.

OOO

Kitty loved to play 'Steal the Shinny Things', especially the ones the humans put in their ears. They are small, easy to take and make funny noises at random intervals. He kicked the last one under the fridge and quickly left the kitchen.

Maybe he would get to show Elixir one day his collection.

OOO

Natasha eventually gave up and silently prayed it was just a bunch of good-for-nothing idiots who would later hope like hell they never did this to her.

OOO

Thor never really had a good look at the civilian life at Jotunheim. But now, gazing at the stretch of still ruins that led up to the palace, it was hard to imagine everything prosperous and wonderful as Loki had once described in his letters.

Hela didn't look like she's in a hurry. She wandered around place to place and stared at what used to a city, now an abandoned battlefield. Thor simply followed like an obedient puppy, and was polite enough to not question her curious behavior.

OOO

Hela saw many deaths. Too many, and very recent. The scenes replayed in front of her eyes like memories, except she had never seen anything so horrible before. The thousands of Jotun warriors mowed down mercilessly by the Chitari fires. Entire families trying to run from the battle, only to be surrounded and exterminated like pests. The thick smell of blood in the air made her sick.

The massacres of millions of lives as tribute to her by a stupid Titan.

She wanted to walk away from the scenes, to flee from the horrors, but she knew she would have to keep on heading in the palace's direction. Loki still needs help.

Why did Loki have to fall in Thanos' hands? Why did she never have a choice?

And why did Loki have to fall in Thanos' hands again?

If Thanos never threatened her with Loki's life, maybe she would remain as the dignified Queen of the Dead, and not forced to 'be nice'.

'Be nice'? More like 'I will try my best to tolerate your existence and not to feed you to Ceberus'.

To Hela's relief, as they approached the palace, the death scenes gradually faded.

'Hela, do you have a plan?'

She jerked around and suddenly remembered that her uncle exists.

'No.'

'I suppose,' Thor did not have his hammer in his hand, which Hela took as a good thing. 'We should split up and find Loki. The palace is not an fast place to navigate.'

Hela nodded. That sounded better that zapping the palace in half and killing everyone and then digging Loki from the rubble-

'Yes, of course.' She quickly said before Thor changes his mind. 'Shall I search the top floors and you search the bottom?'

Thor nodded.

'And watch out for illusions and traps. Thanos is bound to place these around the palace.' Hela reminded him. He didn't look (or behave, yet) as pig-headed as Loki described, but she couldn't take chances.

'I will be careful.' He nodded.

They reached the looming ice doors. Elegant designs were engraved on its surface, but now they were dotted with gashes, holes, and broken protection rune. Red droplets stained the ice. Everything could have looked perfectly normal if it weren't for those.

Hela gave them a push, and the doors swung open silently up to an empty hall. The two waited for something to jump out at them, but nothing did. What if it's a trap? Hela thought frantically. But Thor strolled inside, and Hela had no choice but to follow.

The doors swung closed behind them.

OOO

'Stop!'

Elixir sighed and slowed to a halt. The others struggled through the storm like fish on land, while he was like a fish returned to the water, happy, 'free', familiar with his surroundings. This is the place closest to what he considered 'home'… At least after he was freed from his slavery as a collectible pet.

'If we are this slow we would never reach the palace.' He grumbled.

'You had it easy without armour.' Sif seethed. True, some Asgardian armour were made to be light, but it weighs you down more that t-shirt and jeans.

'Even without your armour, I doubt you will be able to move any faster.' Elixir crossed his arms.

'I am hungry.' Volstagg grumbled.

'Save your breath.' Hogun breathed.

Fandral caught up with him.

'How much longer is the journey?'

'Not far. I can see the palace already.'

'You can?' Fandral squinted through the showers of snowflakes.

'I can. You can't.'

'How can we be sure you are not leading us into a trap?' Sif said suddenly. The others also stopped to consider.

'Why will I?' Elixir frowned.

'Why won't you?'

The calm snowfall suddenly turned into a slamming ice storm, like someone turned the dial from 'beautiful Christmas night' to '100% Artic blizzard'. Shards of ice felt like needles on the skin. Elixir knew they couldn't continue anymore until the storm settles.

And he knew the exact place to go for a rest.

'We will wait until the storm stops.' He shouted at Fandral, who was only an arm's reach away, but still looked at him in confusion.

Elixir sighed, pulled on his arm, and pointed in another direction, different from the one they were heading just then. He put his arms over his head to represent a roof.

Fandral seemed to understand and tugged on his friends. Sif looked skeptical at Elixir's sudden change of mind, and tried to protest, but her voice was lost in the roaring wind.

They turned and pressed on in the direction of the Hunting House.

OOO

Light made her eyes water.

Then came the alien chit-chat.

Natasha was startled to find herself in a corner of what seemed to be the interior of a spaceship. Chitari soldiers walked around talking or showing off weapons, not showing her a bit of attention.

She attempted to crawl away, but a low hiss from behind stopped her.

'There's nowhere for you to go.' Came the whispery voice.

Natasha whirled around and came face to face with a hideous hooded figure. She gasped out loud and scrambled back.

The man chuckled softly.

'Why am I here?' Natasha demanded. The Chitari nearby gathered.

'You are held ransom.' The man said, as if it was obvious.

'For what?'

'Nothing special. It is definitely what you humans don't need, but it seems like humans are stubborn, and we are only giving a gentle, push.'

'For what?' Natasha repeated.

'You will see.' The man turned and raised his weathered hand. A hologram clicked to life, and on there were the horrified faces of Steve, Tony, Peter, and Clint. Vision walked absent mindedly across in the background.

'You see, I had not lied.' The hooded man pulled Natasha up to her feet and put his arm around her. Natasha felt sick in the stomach. 'Your dear comrade is indeed in my hands.'

On the screen Clint shouted out something, but there was no sound. The man sneered.

'Her life, or the Tesseract and the Chitari Scepter!' He ordered. 'You have a week to decide. Good day.'

The hologram froze when Clint lunged at them, and then vanished.

OOO

Elixir entered the den last, and conjured up a wall of ice behind him to block the storm out.

'I thought I went deaf!' Volstagg shuddered and leaned his axe against a wall.

'What is this place?' Hogun asked.

'The Hunting House. Or Hunting Cave, whatever you call it. It's where Loki and I stayed most often.'

'There is actually wildlife to hunt for here in this bleak ice land?' Sif asked as she cautiously stroked a trophy hanging on the wall.

'Yes. As we always bring our prey here to clean. Well, only us. That is a pair of ice elk's antlers we hung up last time-' Elixir stopped himself. The memory wasn't exactly pretty.

The others didn't notice and continued to admire the display with great interest. Elixir made himself work on starting a fire in the fire pit. He lit his fingers up and touched the enchanted block of stone. It burst into flames so suddenly that the others yelped and whirled around. Their shocked faces lit up in an orange glow. Bizarre shadows trailed the walls. The muffled growl of the storm outside the cave subsided even more. The trophies on the walls looked menacing and alive.

Elixir sat down in front of the pit on the hard ground, and after hesitating, the others followed his example.

'The storm will probably go on until tomorrow morning, so we should rest for tonight.' Elixir said.

'I will keep watch first.' Sif said. 'All of you rest.'

Elixir pulled out some furs and blankets from a storage chest. Everyone made their beds and lay down. He wrapped himself tight in his own hunting cloak that Loki made. It was no ordinary cloak, but one that can protect the wearer in their environment to a certain degree, using a series of complicated enchantments.

He listened out for the storm outside, the fire crackling, and the snoring from the others. Loki was working on achieving full invisibility with enchantments alone before #%^ went down. When Elixir asked him the purpose of it, since magic folk like them do not need them, but Loki only smiled secretively and buried his nose back in the rolls of parchment.

He was just about to close his eyes when Sif shook him awake. One single thought came into his mind.

Liar.

OOO

'What-' He started, but Sif quickly shushed him and pulled him away from the others and closer to the entrance. Coldness radiated off the ice wall, making her face, hands, and feet numb.

'When we arrive at the palace, you will stay outside and be the lookout.'

'Why?'

'Because you have better eyes than us.'

'Or is it you don't want me to get Chitari and Jotuns on you?'

Sif looked blank at the remark, making Elixir laugh, and then in turn making Sif punch him in the stomach.

'Ah!'

'Shh!'

'I was just kidding! But that was what you were suspecting, wasn't it?'

'You read minds?'

'Yes?'

'What else can you do?'

'Um, a bit of magic, I guess.' He answered with a shrug.

She should have known from his dragon freak show and the collar, but the thought didn't register completely. Sif took one whole step away from him. She tasted enough from Loki to know what magic wielders are capable of.

'You have no reason to worry about me.' Elixir crossed his arms. 'I despise the Chitari and Thanos as much as you do.'

'And the Ice Giants?'

'They are allies, not possible enemies.'

'Why should I trust you when you are a possible enemy?'

'Well I am not! If I do anything wrong you will slay me won't you?'

Sif had forgotten about the promise. She didn't plan on holding it in the first place.

'I suppose.'

'Then what's to worry? I just want to help Loki, nothing else. I hold no ill intent.'

'Loki isn't exactly one to be noble.'

'No, he's not, but he does things for a reason.'

'So isn't he still to blame?'

'For what… ah.'

'I won't easily forget what he has done, and neither will Asgard.'

Elixir took some time contemplating on it before he opened his mouth again.

'But maybe that is needed is not forget…' His eyes seemed to glow. Sif blinked, and the glow was gone. 'It's forgiveness-'

Elixir froze.

She froze, too.

But it was already too late.

The ice wall was smashed apart.

Ahhhh how long has it been? Ages! This chapter has actually been written a long while ago, along with several others, but I just didn't have the heart to continue. But IM BACK. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO HAVE SHOWN YOUR SUPPORT SO FAR. YOUR LOVE IS MUCH APPRECIATED. w IM STILL NOT SURE HOW OFTEN I WILL UPDATE BUT I GUESS IT DEPENDS ON WHEN I WANT TO PROCRASTINATE THE MOST. Anyway Kitty has something really important to say:

Kitty: I like shiny things.

Me: …That's it?

Kitty: What else do you want me to say?

Tony: Gimme ma intercoms back you hell-spawn little-

Kitty: Oh right did we have a disclaimer? HERE'S THE DISCLAIMER! ALL CHARACTERS AND STUFF BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS AND CREATERS. WE OWE LIKE 0.0001%.

Me: Or pretty much nothing.

Kitty: tru.

Tony: Wait you talk? Cap your cat talks.

Kitty: Meow? Meow? Meow meow?

Tony: Like I said, little #^!%.