"The King looks tired."
"Can you blame him?"
"No."
"I saw him the other day, in that hallway near section C3. He was alone, looking out at the stars. I couldn't see his face, but his breathing was hard."
"We have all lost much."
"Yes."
"We haven't been able to pinpoint the source of the interference. It hasn't caused any major issues, but it would be good to locate the source and shut off whatever is causing it." Trikertik drew his clawed finger through the air, sending the central hologram into a lazy spin.
Thor nodded, making a note on his tablet. "I will assign someone to locate the signal. Is there anything else?" He glanced around the conference table, clearly hoping there wasn't.
"Ah," Lulu raised her webbed hand, catching Thor's attention. "Our engineers have been unable to locate the spare power cells Prince Loki obtained on Vertex."
"Is that so?" Thor asked, turning to his brother. Loki was slouched on Thor's blind side where he was able to make mocking expressions as The King talked.
"Yes, I am aware of the situation," Loki said, studying his nails. They were getting a bit long. "Not to worry, I believe I know where they were misplaced, somewhere in the lower holds. I'll be fetching them tonight."
If all went well, he'd have a couple fully charged cells come morning. With the Jötunn brat acting as a funnel, he should be able to turn all of his focus on reigniting the ship's spent fusion cells.
"That's good," Lulu said. "I'll have Trikertik help you bring them up."
"Don't bother." He waved a hand. "I'd rather not risk you losing them again. Or have them dropped down a trash chute or some other such thing."
The Sakaaran representative chuffed at Loki's casual dismissal, her neck frills turning an irritated orange.
"Be nice," his brother muttered, low enough the rest of the table would not hear. Loki kicked his ankle. Thor kicked back.
"Well then," Kvathi said, swiping his hand across the conference table's interface inset. The hologram at the room's center collapsed into neat little folders which were summarily dismissed. "I believe that concludes today's meeting. Unless there's anything else-" he began to stand, clearly expecting no response, but Valkyrie raised her hand.
"Loki made one of the Jötnar cry."
Loki spread his hands, confused and irritated by the accusation. "What?"
"The young one, Juri. I heard you talking to her last night. Didn't hear what you said but I'm pretty sure she cried."
"Who cares?"
The members of Thor's council were standing about the meeting room, most halfway to the door. None of them looked terribly keen to stay and hear whatever childish gibbing Valkyrie was preparing to engage in. Thor dismissed them with a tired wave.
"What is this about?" Thor asked, leaning on a fist. He didn't look any happier to stay.
"What I said. I'd been visiting with Hulk-"
"Drinking, more like," Loki drawled.
"And on my way back I heard them. Loki buggered off before I got there, but Juri ran by like the hounds of Hel were on her tail."
"It- She-" Loki corrected with no small amount of contempt. "-was poking about the elevators. I told her to scurry on back to her mother before someone less patient came by and took her head."
"Dick."
"Wench."
Thor groaned. "Loki, please don't threaten the Jötnar."
" 'Twasn't a threat," he said. "Are you so naive to think our warriors wouldn't jump at the chance to slay the beasts? If she wanders out of bounds she puts herself andher mother in danger."
It was true, even if Loki's concern wasn't.
Valkyrie saw his slithering words for what they were. "Yeah, I'm sure that'd just tear you up inside."
"Well, they are my guests, as you were so kind to point out last week." He sent her a smile that couldn't be construed as sincere even by his brain-dead brother.
And he didn't care to conceal his vitriol. He was certain Valkyrie knew the brat was sneaking off to the floors above, and she hadn't said anything about it. He wouldn't be surprised if she were encouraging it just to get under Loki's skin.
Thor stood, stretching his spine with a grimace. Sitting through meeting after meeting was wearing on him. Loki was surprised Thor had been managing as well as he had. He hadn't brained a single person in the months since being crowned king, though he often looked as if he'd like to.
"You are right, Loki, that it is best they do not give our warriors reason to pick a fight. But I still ask you to be kinder with your warnings."
Loki wasn't sure if he should be pleased Thor was heading his advice or annoyed by the reprimand. He chose the later.
"They're not hurting anyone," Valkyrie said, swiveling in her chair as Thor passed.
"Yes, but I have been fielding requests for their execution since they arrived." And at that, Thor threw his brother an irritated glance. Loki returned his attention to his nails. "Though I will see justice done if any of our people harm them, I would rather avoid conflict if possible."
"This is bullshit," Valkyrie spat, stomping to her feet. She pushed passed Thor and out of the meeting room.
Thor sighed, one hand on his hip and the other running through his shorn locks.
"My job would be a lot easier in this if you were not riling the citizens' fear, Brother." He did not look at Loki as he spoke.
"Would it?"
"Yes."
"Hm."
Thor sighed, pacing back through the room and to the bank of windows at the other end.
"Do you know, I have not slept more than five hours in a night since we left?"
Loki had not known, but he was not surprised. He had not been sleeping well either.
"Everyday it's something new. The Aquatic Sakaarans need more water. Sigfield's son is sick from bad rations. The hull on the upper port-side is leaking atmosphere. Luthr and the Vagrison brothers have declared a blood duel. Miek has started a gambling ring on the third floor. It's never ending. And you-" He turned, flinging an angry hand Loki's way. "Telling stories of slaying Jötnar. Reminding veterans of those they lost in the war. Whispering 'concerns' into parents ears so they might fear for their children. Why?"
"I do believe we've discussed this already."
At length. Many times. Was Thor deaf as well as braindead?
"Yes, but why? What do you hope to gain?"
"Gain? Some piece of mind, perhaps? Keeping such pets about is a dangerous game." Loki shrugged. "But I can see you are unswayed and my efforts wasted. Fear not, I'll keep these musings to myself henceforth." At least, for as long as he had use of the Jötunn youth.
Thor looked as if he was chewing something tough and unpleasant as he stared his brother down.
"What?" Loki asked.
"I think there is more you are not saying."
"Oh?" Loki drawled. He kept his expression unconcerned. "Do tell."
"I think..." Thor sighed, Loki was getting tired of all the sighing, and crossed his arms. "I think you fear them, though not for what they may do. No, I believe you fear that our people will see you in them. You would rather they disappear and, with them, all thoughts of your true nature."
Oh, how wise Thor must feel right now. How grand and kingly. Loki ran his tongue along the edges of his teeth, feeling the need to bite something, with words if nothing else. "And what is that 'true nature,' Thor?"
"Your Jötunn nature."
"And what is the nature of a Jötunn?"
Thor, seeing where this was going, set his jaw.
"What is it?"
"Loki..."
"What is it, Thor?"
Thor shook his head, refusing to answer, but the word hung thick between them.
Monstrous.
Thor sighed yet again, letting his hands fall loose at his sides. "I have duties to attend to. I imagine you do as well."
Loki leaned back in his seat, mouth a thin line as Thor left. The quiet hum of machinery filled the conference room in his absence.
Monsters. Useful monsters, but monsters nonetheless. He would use them, and then discard them, as one did with such beasts.
It was their rightful place.
He waited until after midnight to head to the lower hold. Those few people still awake lounged about, playing card games or trading gossip over weak tea. There would be no one working the engine rooms so late, no one carting goods from storage to the meal hall.
A chill traveled up his spine as he stepped from the lift. There was no need to heat this level, the Beast was unaffected by the cold and the Giants certainly didn't mind. It was darker down here, too. With no workers walking the halls, the overheads had been turned off for the night. Only the safety lights lining the walkways and the dim glow of control panels lit the way.
Loki sniffed and straightened his leathers, picking his way to the main cargo bay. He saw no sign of the younger Jötunn in the halls, but a shadow moved when he entered the loading bay. She sat by the double doors to The Hulk's lair, leaning against the jam, but stood as he approached, blue skin pale in the dim hold.
Loki stopped some paces away, eying the slight gap between the doors. "Is your… mother awake?"
"Yes." She kept her voice low, just loud enough to be heard over the ever-present hum of distant engines. Like this, as a Jötunn, her voice was deeper and lacking in inflection. Hard to believe this creature was female.
"Hm, very well. Turn about," he said, twirling a finger.
The Jötunn blinked then did as instructed, though she kept her eyes on him as long as she could, straining her neck and turning to face him again quickly.
"All right," Loki said, "now repeat after me:
"Wealth is a comfort to every man,
"yet every man must divide it mightily,
"If he wishes to have the measurer's mercy."
"Why?" The Jötunn's brow crinkled slightly.
"Why must he divide it or why must you repeat after me?"
"The latter."
"Because I need to learn the cadence of your voice, otherwise I will be unable to recreate it accurately. Now, repeat after me: Wealth is a comfort to every man."
"Wealth is a comfort to every man..."
Loki lead the Jötunn through the rune poem one stanza at a time until he felt he had the feel of her speech. He then asked her how she addressed her mother (Oma. Or 'My Dame,' if I'm in trouble.) as well as where and how she typically slept (Beside my dame. On my side, I suppose.)
"Hm, well, you're a youth, aren't you? You'll be throwing a tantrum and sleeping on the other side of the bay tonight."
Before the Giant could ask what he meant, Loki drew power from his core, weaving it into a replica of the Jötunn. The simulacrum stood in an easy slouch, a contrast to the original's stiff shock. The Jötunn reached out a hand, fingers passing through the illusion's arm with a crackle of light.
"Stop it," Loki reprimanded and the Jötunn drew her hand back as if stung.
He studied the copy, adjusting details to better match the living being beside it, then infused it with a simple will. It turned, slipping through the doors and into the hold beyond. It would sit by itself, sulking and expelling teenage angst at anyone who tried to speak with it.
The girl watched her double through the doors, eyes wide.
"How do you do that?" She whispered.
"Magic. Now change forms and follow me."
She scowled at him (Loki made note of the expression, sending an adjustment to the simulacrum before it wandered out of range) and began to shift. Halfway through Loki realized she was shifting only her form and not her clothes and hastily turned his gaze.
Did the Jötnar have no sense of decency?
When she was finished (and dressed) he lead them through the ship towards the engine rooms. The path they took was largely abandoned, but there were a couple Sakaarans whispering in an alcove along one hallway. They waved at him as he passed and he returned with a quick smile. The changeling hurried at his heels, sneaking glances back at the aliens.
"Do you know them?"
"I'm their leader," he answered with an amused cock of his head.
"Not Thor?"
"I recruited the Sakaarans and obtained this ship. Thor's here by my leave."
That was mostly true. Ostensibly, Loki was in charge of the Sakaaran passengers. In practice, he let them alone and only intervened when necessary. Or when bored. Thor did give them more orders than Loki himself, though most of those orders went ignored.
"I heard something about the Battle Of Asgard," the girl said, "From Brunnhilde and Hulk. Though Hulk's telling is a little confusing."
"Mm, well, he spent most of it swimming."
"It was King Thor's sister, wasn't it? Who attacked?"
Loki nodded.
"Why?"
Loki shrugged. "She was a death-crazed maniac with a grudge."
"But she was his sister."
"Well, Thor has a way of enticing murderous thoughts," he growled. They'd come to the engine rooms and Loki keyed into the passcode for the doors. They slid open, spilling wet heat into the corridor. He waved the girl in, but she simply stood, staring at him.
"What?"
"Murderous thoughts?"
"Yes."
"Have you had these 'murderous thoughts?'"
"A little. Now come."
"What do you mean 'a little?'" Her voice squeaked on the question. "Aren't you blood-brothers?"
"Technically, we never took that oath. And in any case, most of Thor's friends have made attempts on his life. He invites it."
Also mostly true. Volstagg had never made any attempts, and the others had never taken it as far as Loki, but Sif had certainly come close.
"You try to kill your king?!"
"He was a prince at the time, and stop looking so shocked. He survived, didn't he? Now," Loki pointed through the open door, brows raised in exasperation. "Go."
The child stepped through, taking the clanging stairs slowly. She clearly felt uncomfortable having her back to him, but was doing an admirable job keeping her gaze ahead.
Loki had to duck steaming pipework on the descent and his leathers grew uncomfortably warm in the heated air. The girl was sweating, the hair of her temples growing slick, the back of her blue dress growing dark with damp. He suspected the heat was worse for her, having little experience outside Jotenheim's climate.
The central generator was a great column in the middle of the room, lined with glowing power cells and a mosaic of buttons, switches, and lights. Loki lead them along the catwalk and down more stairs to the bottom floor where the used cells sat stacked in haphazard piles. He grabbed one up, tossing the disk in his hand.
"Have you any experience channeling foreign energies?"
She stood awkwardly, staring at him with a stupid expression.
He huffed in irritation. "That is, harnessing power from something outside yourself to use for your-"
"Of course," she interrupted. "How else would I make ice?"
Ah, yes, that would fit the description, wouldn't it? The Jötnar drew heat into themselves for warmth and, as a side effect, were able to create and manipulate ice. Loki didn't care for the brat's tone, though.
"This will be considerably more complicated than making a little slush," he sneered. He held up the spent power cell. "You see this? These fuel the ship. Without them, there is no thrust, no light, and no life support. I have a power source capable of recharging them, but it is exceedingly volatile. This power source draws from the weft and weave of space itself, the tensions between dimensions and the pull of planets and stars upon the fabric of reality. Quite simply, it takes the weight of the universe and converts it into pure energy.
"Even with my centuries of training, this Source is too much for me to wield alone. That's where you come in."
Loki tossed her the spent cell, frowning as she fumbled to catch it.
"I need you to help me funnel its power into these fuel cells. If we pour too much in at once, the cell will overload, rendering it useless."
"What happens when it overloads?" She asked, eyeing the cell like it might explode."
"It might explode."
She held the cell further from her body.
"Or it might just smoke and melt and cause an unpleasant stink. Either way, we're out a receptacle and no closer to our goal." Loki clapped his hands and brought them down to point at the girl. "So don't screw it up. Let's get started."
He had her stand back as he arranged their workspace. He summoned his ritual mat, already lined with runes and sigils, and cleaned a space on the floor to place it. The mat's runes sparked with static, the residual energies from his previous sessions with The Cube. He placed an assortment of powdered metals and glass in their appropriate nodes, materials to conduct and dampen as appropriate, then beckoned the girl over and to lay the cell in the mat's center. He knelt opposite her.
"Right, hold your hands here- No, no! Don't move, you must maintain the proper distance from the receptacle below. Yes. Now, I will summon the power source. You will feed its energies to me, little by little, holding back as much of it as you can. Better to do this too slowly than too fast."
The girl nodded, biting her lower lip.
"All right. On three. One, two-"
He summoned the Tesseract forth, setting it to hover above the girl's hands.
"Do you have it?" he asked. She nodded again, squinting against it's cold light. Loki took his hands away and she gasped as the full power of the Tesseract drove into her palms.
"Good, now hold-"
But the energy was too much for the whelp and she yank her hands away with a squeal. Loki dove forward, snatching The Cube before it could impact the power cell. It flared in his grasp, it's energies digging their way into his flesh and singeing it from the inside out, and he shoved it back into his dimensional pocket with a howl.
"Dammit, girl!" He shouted, wringing his hands. The wild power had snapped up his forearms, surging along the ley lines beneath his skin, heating them like electrified wires.
"Sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't hold it!" She had her own arms clasped against her belly, her eyes squeezed shut and leaking.
He yelled, surging to his feet and kicking the fuel cell into the central generator where it bounced and, luckily, did not explode. He ran his tingling hands through his hair, breathing through his teeth, until he could stand to look at the little brat.
"We will try again."
"I don't think I can do it. I'm sorry, it's too much. It's like holding fire."
"It's perfectly possible to hold fire if you put your feeble mind to it!"
The girl shook her head, not in denial, but out of hopelessness. "I-I know. But I've never been all that skilled at Thermoturgy. Perhaps my dame. Zhe knows how to wield fire-"
"This isn't fire! This is seiðr of the highest order. Can your dame bend the cosmos to her will?"
"Of course not-"
"Then she is of no use to me!"
"But I can't either!"
"Then you're useless too!" He shouted down at her hunched form.
What use was the Jötunn brat if she couldn't so much as hold the bloody thing, let alone temper its flow? He may as well ask for Thor's inelegant aid, to spew the Tesseract's energy about like a high pressure hose and hope some of it landed where he needed.
A deep breath, then another. He forced his himself to calm.
No. The girl was unskilled but not without talent. She was capable of shifting, which required a great deal of knowledge of one's own body and magics. And he'd seen her weave basic illusions, which required skill in energy manipulations. She was a novice and couldn't have been more than six hundred years old. What's more, she'd had no instruction in Ás or Elf magics, only the backwards knowledge of the Jötnar. He shouldn't be surprised she'd failed. It would have been a shock had she not.
This would take longer than he'd hoped.
"What training have you had?" He asked, forcing away the bite in his tone. "Clearly you've had some, to change your shape as you do."
The girl sniffed, still clutching herself as she knelt on the floor. "My Omama taught me. Zhe was a shifter, too. And my Oma teaches me Thermoturgy, but I'm not as good at it."
"And what of illusions? I've seen you do some things with light."
She shrugged. "That was the first I tried it."
He sighed. "So that's it? A bit of shifting and heat magic?"
"I- I know a couple spells to find things, or track animals. And I can make a plant grow better over a season."
"There are many ways to do those things. What schools of magic do you utilize?"
She gave a helpless shrug. The Jötunn beasts must not approach magic instruction with much organization.
"All right, then tell me, what does it feel like to grow a plant?"
"It feels…" she thought for a moment, clearly unnerved by his earlier outburst. "It feels like touching it. On the inside. Like the plant is made of little rivers and I'm redirecting them to flow better. I have to be careful though, because it's easy to break them and then the plant will wilt or die." She glanced up at him, judging his response. Her shoulders loosened at his calm expression and thoughtful nod.
"Good. Yes, I would say that falls under the purview of healing magic."
Loki began to pace. He didn't have much experience as an instructor. Mostly he'd been a student or a peer, discussing magic with those as skilled or more so than himself. When he began to outpace his tutors in Asgard, his mother had sent him to Alfheim for more in depth instruction. When he'd outpaced the other students he had been paired with the brightest amongst the institute for personal instruction by the dean. He'd never before had reason to slow his thoughts or theories for lesser minds.
He'd never had a lesser mind interested in listening.
He tapped a finger against his lips, thinking. "Imagine those rivers infuse all of creation, for they do. In different flavors, in different colors and intensities, but always present. Even the empty air holds currents of power." He reached out, feeling along the currents and giving a little tap to one. It lit up like a spiderweb throughout the room, thicker about himself and the girl, around the humming engine, the wires in the walls, and softening to a loose lattice work elsewhere. "Magic is the manipulation of these currents. One can manipulate the body to grow strong or fall ill. One can manipulate the heat and water in the air to create rain or snow. One can bend light into phantasms. Redirect gravity to make an object lighter or heavier. You might even follow a current to where it slips beyond the senses and use it to find paths outside the world you know."
Loki pulled forth the Tesseract once more. It's energy stung his hands and arms like lemon juice on paper cuts but, being prepared for it this time, he was able to keep The Cube's magics in check.
"This artifact does just that. It is a knotwork of currents flowing through the higher dimensions. A junction of roads, if you will, leading to every corner of the cosmos. The flow of energy through it from infinite origins and destinations creates a nigh limitless source of power.
"But, as you have noticed," he said, with a pointed look at her cradled arms, "such power is difficult to control. One cannot simply dip into it as you would a stream. You must siphon from it with the respect you'd show flooded rapids."
The girl was listening, interested, but still nervous. Good.
"Something it would seem you are unprepared for." He sent The Cube away one more time. "Well, then. This was a waste of time."
Loki snapped his fingers and the ceremony mat rolled itself up and disappeared with a 'thwap,' taking the spell components with it. They'd stay suspended in time until he had use for them.
"W-wait!" The girl said, standing into an awkward hunch over her injured hands. "I can try again. I-I just wasn't ready."
"No, you weren't and you aren't," he agreed, starting for the stairs. He heard her following, the tinny sound of her footsteps hurrying behind.
"I can do it. Please, let me try again."
He chanced a glance over his shoulder as they climbed. Her eyes were wide and she was making a concentrated effort to hold her arms by her sides in a casual manner, ignoring the aching they must feel. She was afraid, afraid to be of no use in a ship of Asgard. Good.
"You need practice," he said, stepping from the engine room into the blessedly cool hallway beyond. The bone deep hum of the engine grew fainter as they made their way back to the main cargo bays. "I will give you three days. You will spend those days harnessing the ambient currents, holding them, and redirecting them. Do you think you can manage that?"
"Yes." She said it with a conviction he was sure she didn't feel.
"Good. Hold the energies for as long as you can, then release them slowly. This will hone your control and precision, as well as your stamina." He paused as they came to the loading bay. They could see the faint glow spilling from The Hulk's quarters on the other side of the hull. The girl's Giant mother would be within, as would the doppelganger he'd conjured earlier. Though it was unlikely the older Jötunn would hear, Loki lowered his voice anyway. "Are my instructions clear?"
The girl matched his volume when she answered, though some irritation crept into her voice. "Yes. My Dame has me do similar with Thermoturgy."
"Ah," Loki held up a finger. "An important distinction; this is most definitely not simple Jötunn ice magic. If you approach it the same, by drawing the energy into yourself, you will char your organs from the inside out." He let that image sink in then added, "if you're lucky."
He could tell she wanted to know what would happen if she weren't lucky, but held her tongue. She glared at him with a clenched jaw and furrowed brow.
"Now then, any questions?"
"No."
"Excellent!"
Loki waved his hand and the girl's doppelganger appeared at the hanger's door. A deep voice spoke from inside as Loki and his lacky crossed the bay to meet it. The simulacrum wore a sour expression as it called over it's shoulder, "I just want some air," before it slumped outside the door jam.
The changeling girl stripped off her blue dress (Loki averted his gaze, again. Perhaps their next lesson would be on decency.) then shifted into her Jötunn form and donned the brown and yellow kilt. When she was done, Loki dismissed the doppelganger with a flick of his wrist.
"Right," he said. "Three days. I expect you to be an uncontested master of the art by then."
The Jötunn rolled her eyes but didn't argue.
