The Trickster: Ragnarok
by: Shadow Chaser
Story:
Chapter 21
It did feel like a thousand bilgesnipes had trampled through his head, but Thor pushed the pain away from his mind, staring down at Gungnir which was on his hands. Mjolnir hung from his belt, seemingly a mournful weight, but a grateful hum in the back of his mind. He never knew what his weapon felt like until the moments in which he had struggled against wielding it – its weight heavier and heavier as it seemingly soured a note until he could not lift it anymore in battle against his friends. Even though his body and mind struggled to obey the heavy handed command that puppeteer him to attack his friends, the very small part of his mind that had constantly rebelled against Baldr's commands rejoiced that he could no longer lift Mjolnir.
He had waited for the blow to come, the one that would send him to Valhalla and oblivion – but it had not come and instead, the blow that had been dealt freed him from the infernal control of the Infinity Stone Baldr wielded. But the cost...Thor had been appalled the moment Loki drew away the glamour that had been keeping his true visage hidden behind a placid facade. The cost... He tightened his grip on Gungnir, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he forced himself to breathe in and out in an effort to not give into the despair he felt. He would not use Mjolnir until he felt he was worthy again, and he knew it would be a long time before he felt worthy.
The soft caw of Huugin followed by the feeling of a hard beak pressing against his ear made him open his eyes again and he absently extended a hand out. The raven promptly flew to it and stared at him with beady black eyes. Huugin tilted his head a little, but Thor could not read what the raven's body language was saying, his head still hurting and Gungnir's weight still too fresh in his mind. Huugin suddenly hopped to his right as Muunin flew from his other shoulder and landed next to his brother. The other raven stared at him, its gaze simple and plain. With the two ravens next to each other, Thor was able to easily read their countenance, even in their animal forms. Huugin had sympathy to his plight, but Muunin – the raven did not indicate sympathy and a faint wistful smile appeared on Thor's lips. Muunin was so like Loki that he knew the two got along well whenever they were sent to summon them to the Allfather's audiences.
It was not lost on him – no matter Loki's needling words regarding his obliviousness to certain situations – what his brother had done. His time under Baldr's control gave him a clarity that he never wanted to experience again, but also made him more acutely aware of what had been sacrificed to get to this point. He had not known that his mother had died in the assault on Asgard and to find out before Baldr had forced him to fight Loki – it had made him push hard against the control the sceptre had over his countenance; and forced Baldr to concentrate on expending the necessary mental acuity to suppress his free will.
But the true cost...his brother had sacrificed so much to get him back – had risked death by defying his geas with Thanos to the point where he looked almost like he had on the Bifrost three years ago. Thor squeezed Gungnir again; he would not let such a thing happen and Loki would not face this battle alone. He would save his brother before he made another, in his opinion, foolish move against Thanos. He retracted his arm and the ravens flew into the air, flapping their wings above him as he turned, not to face his friends, but to the shapeshifting healer he had cleaved a mortal wound against during the battle.
Thor took a few steps towards Jormungandr's prone body, noting the trail of thick black ichor that glistened on the obsidian glass surface, mingling with the red trails of blood as the young man laid on the ground. The healer had shifted back to his human form, but the wound still left its ugly mark, bisecting from naval to the middle of his chest. He looked so pale and Thor would have thought him dead had it not been for the obvious green glow of healing that was faintly across the man's body as well as the fact that the gash was slowly sealing itself up, weeping occasional blood, but sealing itself nonetheless. He could see the dagger that Loki had constantly threatened him, and had stabbed him during their brief fight, resting near Jormungandr. It was obvious that Loki had left it for the young mage's care and keep as he knew his brother would never part with one of his favorite weapons.
"Will he survive?" he asked, sensing the the cold presence Hel near him as she took a single step forward.
"He was given what he needed. It is up to him to finish the rest," Hel replied as the ravens circled around Jormungandr's body. To his surprise, Huugin landed near the prone man's body and absently lifted a wing as if to nudge something in place. Just as suddenly Huugin flapped and took off into the air, resuming his circle around them once more.
"There was a time when I would have said that my brother should not have spared a single drop of his magick when faced with a battle he cannot avoid, but it is a statement full of ignorance and fear," he murmured as he felt Hel's cold presence draw closer.
"You would have been right, Crown Prince," Hel replied, her voice a simple monotone. Gone was the derision and anger he knew he had heard in her tone earlier, especially compared to her regular monotone. He had never known Hel to even speak or raise her voice differently, having quite a different view of the world and the universe itself from her place as the Queen of Helheim.
"My brother asked you to do something," he stated, looking at her. She had not changed much since he had last seen her two years ago during the sentencing. However, he did notice that her curls had started to turn from their normal light pink to a dark black, its current state half jet black, half pink. It seemed to be slowly turning all black as well as becoming more angular and sharp.
"A punishment rescinded is a request given freely," Hel replied and Thor frowned a little.
He realized that whatever punishment had been handed down during her sentencing two years ago had been lifted by Loki during his brief regency as the Allfather. As much as he considered it a bad idea, especially with Hel's unpredictable nature, he knew that Loki would not have done it without asking for a favor in return. It was his brother's way, especially with someone who claimed to be part of his coterie – and if he was not mistaken by Baldr's endless rambling, a part of Odin's coterie. He nodded and turned to face his friends.
"Thank you," he stated sincerely, "for what you have done. I am truly sorry for my actions-"
"Thor, they weren't yours, it's that stupid sceptre," Barton fiddled with his bow, "you don't get the right to apologize."
"Nonetheless, I feel I must," Thor knew that Barton had felt guilty after what he had done to bring down the Helicarrier when he had been under Loki's spell. It felt the same, being under Baldr's control, a heavy hand on his presence, smothering him from within. He looked at his friends, noting how hard they had fought and his first thought was to leave them behind for what he was going to do, but pushed that thought aside. It was a very Loki thought, and he was not his brother.
"I ask you now, if I may borrow your strength and your friendship once more to help me take Asgard back," he said quietly, drawing himself up, "I have no right to ask since you have returned me to my own mind at great cost." He nodded towards where Captain Rogers was clearly showing the remnants of a horrific stab wound that had been inflicted upon him by Sleipnir. No one had gotten out of the battle unscathed, all battered and bruised in varying states. He took another deep breath, "I ask you, as my coterie, my friends."
"No," Stark suddenly spoke up, stepping forward with his armored hands raised, "no, no, no. Thor you've got this all wrong."
Thor stared at his friend, wondering what had come over him.
"See, it's not you asking us, it's us demanding that you take us," the faceplate to his armor lifted up, revealing the man underneath with a very predatory smile akin to Loki's. "We're in it for the long haul, buddy. And it certainly isn't for Loki, if not for the shit that's happened here. See, I'm going because I just want undead lady over there to make note of this moment and rub it in Baldr's face when she sees him for judgment or whatever later on. The guy was bragging about how he was going to conquer Asgard and it was his, blah, blah, blah – I just want him to see his plan fall even more, even when he's dead. You can do that, right, Hel?"
Thor glanced over to see that Hel's hair had slowly resolved itself to an intricate headgear that he had only seen once and it was from a memory shared with him by Baldr during the previous coterie's days. Her hair was sharp, jagged, angular and terrifying to look at. Gone were the pink curls and in place was a blackness that could have sucked in the souls of the damned itself.
"Tony, there's usually a payment," Barton muttered none too loudly.
"Okay, payment, I can do that," Stark continued, "how about, um, the plain truth instead of, you know..." He waved his fingers absently in the air. "That hair thing you've been doing, is freaking me out. It's really freaky and scary and is it like a battle dress or something-"
"Tony, now would be a good time to shut up," Romanov punched Stark in his armor and he quieted for a second before turning back to Thor.
"So, um, yeah, we're demanding you take us."
Thor could only smile as the others nodded, even the very quiet Sergeant Barnes that he sympathized with. Though he could see that there was some improvement on James Barnes' countenance when close to Rogers, something seemed to still haunt the man and Thor knew that the path to healing would be a long one for him. "Thank you, my friends," he said before turning to Hel. "Lady Hel, I do not know of your agreement with my brother for freeing you from your punishment, but I wish to know if you would be able to take us to Asgard? And if so, what can I do in my capacity as regent-King to pay for such a favor?"
"The favor was already given to you by my Prince, Crown Prince," Hel replied, absently smoothing out a wrinkle on her dress. It sent an unexpected gale of seemingly silent howls across the vast obsidian glass plain. Thor resisted the urge to twitch at the feeling, but the others were not so lucky and grimaced as the unseen wind blew past them. "I will take you and your friends through the shadows of Yggdrasil to Asgard. However, I warn you that the Dark Elves have laid waste to Asgard itself and their leader, Malekith possesses an Infinity Stone."
"Um, hey guys..." Dr. Banner spoke up, his voice quiet and a little worried and Thor turned to see the doctor holding the Chitauri sceptre that had plagued them since Loki had received it from Thanos.
He had opened his mouth to tell the doctor to release the weapon when he noticed that the blue encrusted jewel that normally sat on its crown was missing. In fact, without it, it just looked like a very ordinary glaive, albeit, one that was still coated in recent blood.
"Did Loki-" Rogers started faintly, but did not finish his thought.
"Hel?" Thor turned to the Queen of Helheim who merely shrugged.
"I know not what my Prince's thoughts are, Crown Prince," she replied and Thor had a feeling that she did know, but was not inclined to tell him. He turned back and stared silently at emptied weapon, a little more than disturbed at the implication that Loki had not taken the whole weapon, but instead, had taken the Infinity Stone on it, the Mind Gem, instead. As far as he knew and again, from Baldr's ramblings when he had been laying his traps, only true-born magisters, not those who had studied the magickal arts for so long and called themselves magister, but those who were of blood were able to hold an Infinity Stone without being consumed by it.
It was why there was an Infinity Gauntlet in the vaults of Asgard, and why it was grafted on weapons made from Nidhogg's scales. As far as anyone knew, all true-born magisters had died, the last of them after Asgard had finished conquering the Jotuns.
"Faendral and Hogun were last seen defending the Vaults with the Allfather. We can use their help and the other Einhenjar if they have survived," Sif spoke up, and he knew that she had been having the same thoughts he had. The Allfather must have been guarding the Vaults because of the Infinity Gauntlet and the Tesseract, which was why he was last seen there.
Thor was glad to see that she had escaped the carnage that had befallen Asgard, as he did not know if he could stand to hear news of her capture or even the thought of losing her. He had not even had time to properly mourn his mother's death. He looked up to the ravens circling overhead and lifted a hand up towards the sky. Huugin dropped down and landed on his outstretched fingers before hopping off of it and popped into his human form in the blink of an eye.
"My King," the raven bowed his head a little.
"Will you espy if the prisoners are kept separate from the Allfather or are they in the prisoners underneath the palace?" Thor asked.
There was a flicker of change in the Huugin's expression before he opened his mouth, "The prisoners were taken underneath the palace-"
The raven unexpectedly coughed. Thor was not the only one to stare at what had come out of the raven's mouth with the cough. Blood. Even Huugin seemed shocked as he absently wiped his lip and stared at the smear of blood on his hand. "O-Odin..."
Thor forced himself to remain calm as he gripped Gungnir tighter in his hand. Somehow, Thanos or perhaps Malekith had discovered that Odin had been been using the ravens to communicate and had retaliated. Otherwise, there was no other explanation to why Huugin had suddenly coughed up blood.
He looked up at Hel, his gaze hard and serious. "Hel, take us to the dungeons, we need to go now-" He did not finish his sentence as he saw the familiar thin blue line of the drawn shadows of Yggdrasil materialize and the sudden feeling of wrong that seemingly writhed around him before with another blink of his eyes, he found the black obsidian sea of molten glass replaced by the cool burnished golden hues of the dungeons and the rank smell of unwashed prisoners. There was not even a single haunting whisper that usually heralded the drawing of Yggdrasil's shadows.
Thor found himself standing face to face with a Dark Elf that seemed to be equally surprised to see him there. A quick assessment of his surroundings told him that his friends had also arrived, but that there were several other Dark Elves that guarded those that survived the initial battle and had been imprisoned here. He could feel the sense of wrongness fading away as he lifted Gungir up and gave the Dark Elf a mirthless smile. "Greetings," he stated in a falsely cheerful voice before firing a golden blast that tore through the Dark Elf.
The prison erupted into chaos.
IwillnotfailIwillnotfailIwillnotfailIamtheTricksterGodIamLoki
The throne room looked almost untouched save for the clear signs of battle – scorch marks, jagged slashes of swords that missed or hit their target. The most obvious thing that did not belong there was Thanos, sitting on the burnished throne that was usually occupied by the Allfather. Odin Allfather himself was standing nearby, hands bound, looking uninjured except for the fact that his armor bore several burnt marks. Heimdall, bound next to him, fared worse, the Guardian bearing a wicked looking jagged cut that ran down one side of his face, that could have blinded him in one eye except his both golden eyes were open and staring defiantly at Thanos on the throne. He surmised that Heimdall had been healed as Eir also stood nearby, though the chief healer looked unharmed.
Loki was a little glad to see that she was relatively unharmed as he did not know what he would have done if someone laid a hand on her. Erikur the Archmage was nearby as was a couple of other courtiers, but all of them were bound and it seemed like they had been forced to stand for the last few days since Asgard had been conquered. He heard the sound of weapons being drawn behind him and knew that his sudden arrival had startled the Dark Elves that had been guarding the throne room door.
However, Thanos lifted a finger and the weapons were sheathed as Loki turned and sealed the rip that he had drawn into the shadows of Yggdrasil. The whispers quieted and he threw a sardonic smile at the guards, noting that there were only eight of them. They did not respond to his smile and stared straight ahead like automatons.
"You certainly took your time, my pet," Thanos spoke up, his voice echoing across the cavernous throne room. From his vantage point, Loki could see the distinct cuboid shape of something near Thanos' side. The Tesseract.
Loki turned back and walked slowly towards Thanos. The wounds he had suffered battling Thor, then protecting himself from Sleipnir's geas attack, and finally trading blows with Baldr threatened his concentration, but he pushed the pain aside. It was inconsequential to this very moment. It would heal, and the minor healing spell he had cast dulled some of the pain. Instead, he spread his senses out for any Dark Elf that might have been hidden in the shadows. He was particularly wary of the one called Malekith, who had attacked him with the unnatural red jagged shards of the Aether, the Reality Stone.
"You would know," he retorted, languidly taking his time. Though there was nothing to prevent any of Thanos' captive audience from saying anything, Loki was glad that none of them dared to speak up. However, he did note that Eir, of all of them, had a deep frown on her face – more than likely a reaction to his bloodied visage courtesy of his resistance to the geas.
It certainly hurt, the black stitching on his lips, constantly pulling and bleeding into his mouth from his words. It felt as new as the day he had committed to the geas with Thanos and its consequences. But Loki pushed the pain aside, pain was negligible and unimportant to what he needed to do – what he had to do. The stitching of his lips was the most visible of the punishment he had been enduring and glamouring since he felt Thanos escape the Tesseract prison, ripples of agony crawling up and down his spine, spreading from his hands to his feet. It was like stepping on shards of glass, each step that once felled him on the Bifrost, made him stumble and nearly die, but now, Loki resolutely ignored it. It was unimportant.
"Come now, my pet," Thanos chided, "you had every opportunity to leave the pitiful band, leave your unworthy brother, and be by my side."
"And yet you would not leave the Chitauri sceptre in the hands of one who had failed you so long ago, Thanos," he shot back and knew he had struck true with his words as Thanos stiffened a little, glaring at him before a wide smile graced his monstrous features.
"Do you seek forgiveness with your slaying of Baldr Borson?" Thanos asked before gesturing with a hand towards Odin, "or was it something you wished to present to Odin Allfather? He was very foolish for not believing you-"
"Yes he was," Loki arched a look at Odin who only stared back with an unreadable expression on his face, "taken in by Sleipnir. He should have known better. Twas a pity that his actions resulted in my mother's death."
"Lady Frigga-"
"Heimdall, you know it to be true," Loki cut Heimdall off as he stopped at the base of the steps that led up to the throne and glared at the Guardian. "If you had espied Thor, or even if you espied what Sleipnir had done to release the Aether, none of this would have happened. You, Odin, even Eir were too complacent, too forgiving to see the snake in your garden that was Sleipnir."
He turned back to Thanos, "You're welcome, Thanos."
The Mad Titan's eyes narrowed, "I have not given you thanks, pet."
"But you should be thanking me; for getting rid of Baldr and Sleipnir. That is one less son you have and one less sycophant you must deal with," Loki replied as he kept his senses spread out. He could not see or sense any sign of Malekith, but he could feel the hum of power somewhere in the room due to what he was holding. He absently wiped parts of his chin, mindful of the stitches, and glanced down at the blood that dripped from it.
"So you have," Thanos sat back, his fingers tapping the arm of the throne, "then I ask you this, pet-"
Loki finally sensed the hum of power consolidate behind him and out of the corner of his eyes, saw the Dark Elf named Malekith step out from the shadows of one of the pillars. The Elf's eyes were a blood red, having absorbed the Aether into his very being. His face was a pale visage of veins and decay, another sign that the Infinity Stone was consuming the Dark Elf's life force. But Loki had a feeling that the Dark Elf did not care – so great was his revenge against Asgard that he was willing to sacrifice his life if it meant wielding one of the objects created from time immemorial. He let part of his senses engulf the Dark Elf, hoping to anticipate what was to happen.
"-where is the sceptre and the Gauntlet," Thanos finished, staring at him with his icy blue eyes.
Loki felt the slight tug of pain and pressed his lips thinly together. This close to Thanos, he could certainly feel the pull of the geas and knew that resistance to what was negotiated would be harder. Still, he managed to smile, though he swallowed a mouthful of the coppery tang of blood before replying, "The sceptre is on Midgard-"
The pain eased every so slightly as he answered with the truth.
"-The Gauntlet, also on Midgard-"
The pain became a thin razor, not sharp, but hovering there as the geas sensed his half-truth. He could see the flares of surprise on Odin and Heimdall's faces as they realized that the Gauntlet that they had tried to protect in the Vault was not there. A bitter well of disappointment flared in him as he thought about how complacently idiotic they were – to not even notice the illusion he had cast when he had first stolen the Gauntlet from the Vaults after Thanos had battled his way to the Helicarrier and taken him. It had been a very real Gauntlet that he had based his tessellation illusion on, except he had kept it for himself in the aftermath and Odin had not even bothered to verify its authenticity when it had supposedly been placed back into the Vaults.
Thanos' eyes narrowed, having sense the half-truth, but before he could do anything, he suddenly lashed out and Loki turned to see Odin grimacing, blood pouring from a split lip.
"You lie," Thanos did not even deign Odin another look as Loki met his glare straight on.
"Yes," he replied just as the doors to the throne room opened.
"Lord Malekith!" the Dark Elf messenger shouted from the door, "we are under attack by Thor and a group of Midgardians! They have breached the prison levels!"
Loki smiled inwardly. Odin must have been telling one of the ravens where the prisoners were located and Thanos caught wind of it. However, it was too late as the motions of his plan were firmly in place. All that was left to do was to see it to its end. He extended his senses further out and subtly started to weave what he needed to finally rid himself of Thanos once and for all.
"Deal with it," Thanos ordered with a blithe wave of his meaty hand.
Loki could see Malekith glare at Thanos, but did as he was ordered and walked away, the door closing moments later. As soon as the doors to the throne room closed, Thanos glared at him, rising from his seat and stared down, his icy blue eyes blazing with fury. "Where, is it, pet," he all but roared.
"On Midgard-"
"YOU LIE!" Loki knew that Thanos was fast, but even he was not prepared by how fast the Mad Titan moved, suddenly charging down the stairs from the throne itself and he barely managed to lift a hand to protect his neck from being ruthlessly crushed as the Mad Titan grabbed him by the throat and all but hauled him into the nearest pillar.
Stars exploded across his vision and he saw spots of black appear before the bone-crushing force of Thanos' hand pressed down upon his windpipe. He choked, blood pouring from his lips and dripping down his chin as he felt the razor sharp pain of the geas stab deep into him. He dared not look at the others, knowing that they were merely there as an audience for Thanos to showcase his power and command. Instead, he drew in the barest sliver of breath as Thanos slammed him again into the pillar, sending spidery cracks all over the place.
"Do not lie," the Mad Titan demanded and it echoed across the geas bond they had, making Loki writhe in agony as he felt it dig into his mind, into his very soul. It clawed and tore at him, a singular pain that would have crushed him- It had crushed him-
"I own you Trickster God," the Mad Titan growled, his breath hot against his face, spittle mingling with the blood and flecks of cuts that poured down his face.
Loki could only hoarsely laugh, choking as he drew in precious slivers of breath as he struggled and tried to push against the Mad Titan's hold on his throat. He could feel his fingers slowly bend, almost to their breaking point as Thanos tightened his grip every so slightly. "T-That," he managed to choke out, "may be t-true...M-Mad...T-Titan...but I-I own...you t-too."
Icy blue eyes narrowed, and Loki gasped, hearing the creak of bones in his own ears, his air supply rapidly getting cut off. "You were s-supp-osed to g-give m-me an army t-that would c-con-q-quer Midgard," he tried to draw in a breath, but there was none, "That a-army f-failed."
He felt an unusual pulse run through his very core and saw the Mad Titan's eyes widen in both surprise and pain. The intense pressure on his throat and hand suddenly lessened and Thanos retracted his hand and stumbled back a step, as if burned. Loki nearly fell forward and managed to catch himself. At the same time Thanos grunted and he looked up to see the hand that had been gripping his throat suddenly show wicked jagged looking slashes. Purple-red blood poured forth from the deep wounds and Loki's eyes narrowed, but he dared not look around as he knew where the slashes had come from. The idiot...
He pushed himself up, rubbing his throat a little as he cast a minor healing spell around it to dull the pain and knit the fracture bones together. "You are the only one who has not fulfilled their bargain."
Thanos roared, his fury and anger at his words evident, but before he could take another step towards him again, the throne room doors opened. Both turned to stare at Thor as he lumbered in, Mjolnir gripped tightly in his hand. The smell of ozone and electrical discharge from Mjolnir was evident as he pointed the hammer straight at Thanos. "Thanos! You will release my father and brother-"
Thanos waved his hand and Loki was nearly thrown back by the wave of power that emanated from the wordless spell. He glanced back to see Thor frozen in riposte, near the base of the throne room, around the same spot that Malekith had appeared from behind the shadows of the pillars. Thor's hammer was extended, a righteous anger on his face. It was eerily the same exact pose that Thor had adopted when they had first battled Thanos on the Bifrost. Loki turned back to see the Mad Titan bare his teeth and glower at him.
"I hope you watch Allfather, as I crush your son and your foolish adopted son, that whelp of a Jotun whose bloodline should have died long ago in the race of conquers," the Mad Titan sneered, all the while keep his gaze firm on Loki. "I am not the only one who has not kept to the bargain-" he started to address him, but Loki shook his head.
"You have the Tesseract, Thanos," he gestured towards the cuboid shape that was in a pouch of sorts on Thanos' belt. "The geas contract was fulfilled, though I expect not in the way you wished it to be. But I was able to deliver it to you." Loki had several geas contracts fulfilled in his lifetime, the most recent ones were with SHIELD Director Nicholas J. Fury, but even then, he knew he would not feel anything, the geas contract with Thanos corrupted and twisted beyond belief. Still, he held out a sliver of hope for the moment.
And it passed just as quickly as Thanos seemed to have awaited that moment and when it did not come, started to laugh. The Mad Titan's laughter grew louder before he smile maliciously at him. "You, are nothing more than a fool who think he is the Trickster God."
Loki tensed one hand tingling with the spell for fireballs, the other ready to reach down to draw out his dagger, same one had stabbed Thor with during their brief fight. He knew Thanos was going to attack, the question was where and from what direction-
The sudden gurgling sound that echoed across the cavernous throne room made him turn, his eyes widening in shock as he saw that Thanos had used the Tesseract to instantly transport himself in less than a blink of an eye to behind Thor. Heimdall's sword, Hovud, gutted Thor from behind, stabbing straight through his brother's heart. Thor's eyes were a mask of pain and blood poured down the corners of his lips as Loki could only stare helplessly at the fatal wound. Thanos' smile was malevolent and sinister, taunting him with his inability to stop him.
Loki realized that he had freed himself from the geas, but the cost was what was most precious to him...Thor.
And in that fateful moment, Thanos had his victory.
While Mjolnir was Thor's primary and favored weapon, he had also trained in a multitude of weaponry and so wielding Gungnir was not unfamiliar. He spun it in his hands, mimicking what his teachers had taught him, and sliced through the armor of one Dark Elf before blasting another one square in the chest. Both fell to the ground, dead as he kicked another to the side who was taken down by Sif's flashing blades. Near him, he heard Volstagg's laughter, and Faendral's cries of victory as they too felled their opponents. Only Hogun was silent, but Thor was well versed in the other man's blades which whispered death. His three friends had been the first freed from the prisons, courtesy of Hel's mirror reflective magick that brought down the barriers.
The Queen of Helheim was currently languidly walking down the main path of the dungeons, her hand seemingly gliding over the barrier magick of the prisons themselves, shattering them with the barest of ease. Thor had noted that only a few of the Dark Elves had dared to confront her and they had been instantly turned to ash with a single lone finger pointed at them. Even he had to admit that she exuded a terrifying wash of power, and had wondered if she was not his ally, would she had conquered Asgard as a whole. She certainly seemed to have displayed the power, but Thor was glad that in this moment, Hel fought for them – or rather, she fought for Loki.
He twisted Gungnir in his hand and reversed his grip, knocking a Dark Elf that had been trying to run up to him from behind where the creature was felled by an expert gunshot shot from Romanov. The injuries he had received from Loki and his friends as he had fought them pulled and hurt, but he pushed the pain aside.
The ravens had disappeared as soon as they had arrived at the dungeons, but Thor supposed that they were eager to return to Odin's service now that Gungnir was in the same place as their master. The ravens were bound to serve Odin and by extension Gungnir, but he had surmised that if Gungnir was separated from Odin, they were bound to the staff itself. Their disappearance proved his theory true.
But he did not mind their absence as he felt that they would more than likely try to free Odin or provide assistance to Loki if need be. His brother was an idiot of the highest order who thought he needed to fight every single battle alone. Thor secretly hoped that the ravens would disrupt whatever foolhardy plan his brother had in place in his confrontation with Thanos and remind his idiot brother that he had allies and friends. That what he had done for him was not in vain.
He cut through several more Dark Elves, blast one or two with Gungnir's innate power as he and the rest of his friends went deeper into the dungeons. " Einhenjar!" he called out to those freed from their prisons, "to me!"
Thor kicked a Dark Elf square in the chest as it tried to skewer him and the Elf fell back where it was brought down by Captain Rogers' shield and Sergeant Barnes' powerful metal arm. Near him, Sam Wilson used his wings to shield the return fire from the Dark Elves that had ranged weaponry and Stark was blasting away at the distant targets. The Hulk roared his defiance as he ran head long into the Dark Elves, using their corpses as battering rams and hammers against the living ones. Thor felt Gungnir hum in his hand and fired off a long blast, sweeping it across the expanse of the prison's hallways as it cut through stone, metal, and barriers.
He moved forward the Einhenjar gathering around him, picking up discarded weaponry or wielding makeshift ones as they continued forward. Thor could feel his blood singing with battle, the righteouness of re-taking Asgard fresh on his mind, fueling each step towards the throne room. It was a slow and steady advance, but Thor could see the stairs that led up to the palace and charged up, firing Gungnir and blasting a hole through it. He pushed through with a roar of victory on his lips and immediately slashed at the nearest Dark Elf guard, cleaving the female elf in half.
Her dying screams were cut off by Sif swiftly decapitating the head as they rounded the corner. "Einhejar, spread out and clear the palace of the filth of the Dark Elves!" he called out, gesturing with a hand, "Volstagg, Hogun, you're in charge of them!"
"As ordered," his friends replied and he watched the two of them take a majority of the Einhenjar to sweep out the remnants of the Dark Elves.
He was mildly surprised that their leader had not shown up yet. From what he gathered by Baldr's memories extracted from Sleipnir through their shared geas, Malekith had used the Aether to debilitate and ruin Asgard's remaining defenses after the intial wave had been disabled by Sleipnir. The fact that Malekith had not come out yet made Thor worry that the Dark Elf leader was more than likely in the throne room, which meant that Loki was facing off against two who wielded the Infinity Stone.
He was worried that Loki, even though he supposedly possessed the Mind Gem – considering that it was missing from the crown of the Chitauri sceptre, would not be able to handle two opponents who had possession of two of the most powerful Infinity Stones. Thor fired off another long blast from Gungnir, raking it through several waves of Dark Elves as the rest were felled by both bullets from Romanov and arrows from Barton.
"I'm out!" Barton suddenly called out.
"Here!" one of the Einhenjar who had followed them called back and Thor nodded his approval at the man who threw Barton a pack of arrows from one of the nearby statues. Arrows had long fell out of fashion for weaponry as they preferred bladed weapons sorts, but they were still considered practical and thus many of the statues that were scattered across the throne room contained weapons.
It was one of the very few things that was not taken into consideration for most of the assassination attempts on the royal household. Thor remembered the one thing that Frigga had shot an assassin who had tried to kidnap him when he was a very young boy with a bow and arrow that had seemingly been molded to a statue depicting ethereal beauty. He saw the others who had no weaponry and had been fighting with their bare hands reach out and strip the statues of their weapons as they slowly advance towards the throne room.
"Show them no mercy unless they surrender!" he called out as he saw the Einhenjar surge ahead and take down many of the Dark Elves that were seemingly caught off guard. Still, their leader did not show. Thor advanced forward and was soon at the throne room doors.
"Go! We'll deal with the others!" Sif called out and Thor threw the doors open to the throne room.
What greeted him was a sight he knew would be forever seared into his mind. Loki was holding the Mind Gem in all of its raw unchecked power.
Thanos had his victory.
But he did not know he had his defeat.
The gurgling sounds of a choking cough filled the air of silent throne room as the two bound through geas stared at each other. Despair seemingly hung in the air as did the taste of absolute victory and malevolent intent. Between the two silent combatants, did the bloody life of Thor ebb away, when just as suddenly Thanos pulled Hovud out of Thor's body and Loki watched as the body, drained of its blood crashed to the ground. Blue, nearly lifeless eyes stared up at him. They seemingly pleaded with him, but he could not feel a single thing for such blue eyes.
Instead, he looked plainly at Thanos. "Have you struck true, Mad Titan?" he asked.
The victoriously smug smile on the Mad Titan's face became stilted and Loki finally allowed his own smug one to appear on his lips. He lifted his chin and stared imperiously at Thanos before he drew away the first of many layers he had carefully laid down since he had killed Baldr, even before he had arrived in the throne room. The mortally wounded visage of Thor kneeling on the ground dissolved to reveal that it was not Thor that had been stabbed, but rather Malekith. Right where 'Thor' had supposedly been halted by Thanos' magick. He had entrapped Malekith's mind as soon as he had arrived.
The blood pouring from the Dark Elf leader's wound was just that, but also of the glistening red-black liquid that was the Aether. The liquid-like Infinity Stone was draining not into a puddle around Malekith, but rather towards one of the pillars. Loki caught Thanos' icy blue eyes and his smile widened a little as he drew away another layer of illusion he had cast, revealing Huugin in his human form with an elongated modular container that had been in the Vaults. The raven had not bother looking up, but instead, one hand was on the ground, the spellwork of scrying drawing the Aether towards the containment module.
"Your thought of containing those who had known of the Infinity Stones and how to call to it failed when you forgotten that Odin's coterie had contained two others who became his familiars. Your arrogance overlook those who blended into the shadows and background of the Court," he said as he drew away yet another layer.
The image of Odin and the others bound dissolved to reveal that they had been recently freed of their bonds. Muunin stood in his human form with his black short swords drawn in front of Odin, an imperious look on his face.
Loki's smile grew wider as he saw rage suffuse Thanos' purple skin. He waved a hand in the air and drew away yet another layer. This one showed that the eight Dark Elves that had been guarding the throne room with their throats slit from ear to ear. "The Lord of Swords' handiwork, Thanos," he gestured back towards Muunin who upon second glance, had blades were thoroughly coated in blood. They dripped with deliberate precision onto the floor of the throne room.
Thanos roared at him before turning and throwing Heimdall's sword at Huugin in a last ditch attempt to take the Reality Stone for himself. But even before the sword could skewer the human-formed raven Muunin popped into existence, blades flashing as he protected his brother. Hovud was deflected, clattering to the ground as Thanos roared again.
"You see," Loki started as the throne room doors opened once more, but this time they stayed open as Thor, the Avengers, and Hela stepped through. Beyond them, Loki saw the Einhenjar, Sif, Hogun, Faendral, and Volstagg fighting the remnants of the Dark Elf army. Most of the Dark Elves were surrendering as they did not have the power of Malekith and the Realty Stone guiding them anymore. Surprise had been on the ancient creatures' side when they had attacked Asgard, surprise and the lowered defenses. Now, they had nothing and Loki did not care if they were all slaughtered or captured.
He drew away the last layer of illusion spellwork he had – the one upon himself. Gone were the remnants of the black stitches that defined his resistance and punishment of the geas, but his lips still felt tender from its recent release. The geas had been fulfilled once he had spelled out the stipulations of the contract. But it had only been fulfilled just so and it was not the only thing that was revealed with the release of his spellwork.
He could see himself reflected in Thanos' icy blue eyes that widened fractionally in surprise. So that was what happened when one gripped an Infinity Stone without any buffers towards the power. Loki studied himself in the reflection of Thanos' eyes as his wounds glowed bright yellow, reflecting the power of the Mind Gem coursing through his body, consuming what it could. His eyes were a dark golden color as he stared at Thanos. His left hand gripped the stone tightly in his fist, its bright golden yellow glow visible even enclosed in his fingers. He knew it should have hurt, but it did not as he kept the Infinity Gem fed with the reservoirs of his own power and that of his blood. Loki reached up towards his chest with his free hand and drew out the completed geas, still a crackling electric black ball of wrong, a testament to the twisted nature of his geas contract.
"You see," he started again, letting the power of the Infinity Gem color his voice as he stared at Thanos with a simple look, "what I wish you to see, Mad Titan. Nothing more, nothing less."
Thanos roared again, anger evident as he glanced back towards Thor and the others slowly advancing forward, their weapons primed and ready. Gungnir led the charge, Thor holding it with the intent of his place as regent-King of Asgard. The Mad Titan threw his hand out towards them, a wave of magick cascading a deadly intent- But was suddenly nullified like shattering glass as Hel stepped forward and lifted her hand. The magick crumpled against her mirrored spell, dissipating it harmlessly over the others. Loki saw Thanos look at him again, and in that split second that their eyes met, the icy blue eyes of the Mad Titan narrowed-
Loki suddenly found himself staring down at the tip of Heimdall's blade protruding from the middle of his chest. It oddly did not hurt as much as he thought it would, but that thought became extraneous as he heard Thanos rumble above him, victory evident in his tone.
"For all of your brilliance and trickery, you cannot defeat what is not there in your illusions," there was something different about Thanos' voice and Loki did not need to turn around to know that Thanos had used the Tesseract's power to teleport behind him and was essentially holding it without any protective barrier or weaponry.
In less than a blink of an eye, Thanos must have picked Hovud fro where it fell and stab him before he could react. Loki choked as he tasted the familiar coppery sensation of blood in his mouth. He could feel the literal void of power behind him, the two Infinity Stones reacting so close to one another, siphoning the life of their users as they threatened to overwhelm their mortal beings.
"I did not see that coming," he admitted, before with a snap of his fingers, the illusion dissolved for the final time.
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The twisted corrupted portal of Yggdrasil sang with the power of the Infinity Stones. It had been opened by the sickening power of a geas, an electric blue-black line of wrong that crossed the souls of those who used it. There were no whispers, no fear, nothing but the rage, anger, indignation, fury, and absolute power behind the intent. He appeared behind Thanos, ensnaring him with its power. It was as if a second Loki stepped through the portal he created, as the first one slowly dissolved away like an after image, golden flakes of power that was part of the Mind Gem.
Loki thrust the glaive that was made from the Casket of Ancient Winters through Thanos' chest, right where his heart was and fired a blast of the icy Jotun magister powers of ancient yore into the wound. He could see the ice travel through each of Thanos' veins, freezing his blood as it raced its deadly power through the Mad Titan, sealing him in place as the innate power of the Casket reacted to both its creators – the Mind Gem and the Space Gem that was once the Tesseract.
"But neither did you see that coming, Mad Titan," he finished as he pulled the blade out of Thanos body and watched it fall to the ground, shattering to a thousand frozen pieces. Loki watched with dispassionate eyes as the pieces rolled down the stairs of the throne room where one stopped by the foot of a robed being that had suddenly appeared.
He looked up to see that everyone else had stopped, Hel keeping them back with an arm held away from her body. Even the Allfather had stopped from where he had been approaching from behind, recognizing the robed being. The robed being in question was a very familiar sight as Loki smiled faintly.
"Hello, Death," he greeted, "come to collect your lover?"
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There was a time when Thor would not have admitted that he had never really believed that Loki was familiar with Death, nor that Hel's supposed mother was actual Death. But this was not the time as he stared at the robed figure that had suddenly appeared without warning after Thanos' frozen body shattered into a thousand pieces. He wanted nothing more than to cower, to hide, to never want to see literal Death so close to him, yet he forced himself to do none of that. He instead, embraced the astonishment that was his brother talking to Death as if she, he, it were an old friend. It kept him grounded, rooted instead of letting the fear consume him.
"Yes," the one word reply from the mouth of Death carried like a whisper above them, but Thor shuddered to hear it. A skeletal hand reached out and drew away the hood, revealing what looked like the most startling and hauntingly beautiful feminine being in the world.
Her, there was no other way he could call Death 'it' anymore, not with her features. Her feature were of an ethereal quality and Thor thought he saw perhaps a hint of Frigga, Sif, even Jane in her face. But it kept shifting every so slightly, as if it was alive in some way. That in of itself contradicted everything Thor knew as he furrowed his brow, staring at her as his mind tried to make sense of what it was seeing. He understood why now there were stories of beings going mad after seeing Death. It was a mental effort on his part to not react or think too hard about Death's ever changing features. How Loki had ever not gone mad added to his growing astonishment – his brother had a hardier mental fortitude than he had ever given him credit for – especially for what he had just done to Thanos.
Loki suddenly extended his hand out, the one holding the Mind Gem and Thor watched as the unnatural golden-yellow glow that had seemingly consumed his brother slowly die until on the small gem glowed in his brother's outstretched palm. He knew the lore behind the Infinity Stones, every single Asgardian knew of the Infinity Stones and how no one except for those who had the bloodlines or created the Stones themselves could wield one without Nidhogg's scales or some form of protective container. His brother somehow mitigated the destructive power of an Infinity Stone by sheer force of will. He did not know how, but it had not been the same for Thanos when he had wielded the Tesseract bare handed. Thor had seen the Mad Titan's skin slowly peel away, almost as if its power was cooking him alive from within. Thanos had been in clear pain when desperation had overridden caution and forced him to use the Tesseract against Loki.
Death's withered skeletal hand reached out and plucked the gem from Loki's hand. This time, Thor could not keep the shudder from his body at the unseen power that seemingly rippled through the air. The ripples stopped as a familiar looking blue enclosure sprang up from Death's hand around the Mind Gem. She set the enclosed gem on the ground before kneeling and touched a finger on one of the frozen parts of Thanos and seemingly drew out a thin blue threaded line. To Thor, it looked eerily similar to whenever Loki had drawn at the shadows of Yggdrasil.
The thin threads quickly consolidated themselves into an equally familiar cuboid form of the Tesseract. The Tesseract was set down next to the enclosed Mind Gem and Thor could not help but stare at the two Infinity Stones resting near Death's feet. There was power in those two stones and it was easy to imagine what it must have been like to feel the power even if there was no one to wield it. No wonder good men had gotten drunk on such heady feeling. The Infinity Stone were exceptionally dangerous – and if he did not believe it back when he had learned the stories about them, he certainly believed them now.
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He almost missed the moment where Death reached out to Thanos' shattered corpse once more before it dissolved away. However, unlike the ghostly spectral image of Baldr and Slepinir, there was nothing left to mark where the Mad Titan had fallen.
"A few centuries perhaps?" Loki asked and Thor could almost hear the familiar lilting disdain in his brother's voice as he asked the question.
Death only tilted her head, neither an agreement nor disagreement with Loki's question. It too him a moment to realize that his brother had asked that Thanos, however now in Death's literal embrace, would not be released or even revived until several centuries later. Did that mean that Thanos was not truly dead? Could he not be killed? Moreover, the realization of where his brother's question had come from dawned on him – Loki had made a bargain with Death.
And it had been when he had first died in his arms on the Bifrost that fateful day three years ago.
"W-What..." Thor found that his throat was dry before he forced himself to whet it and spoke up again, taking a small step forward, "what is the price, L-Loki?" His brother may have claimed to have known Death before all that had happened, but it could have been more lies and falsehoods his brother was known to spin. However, he most certainly knew that Loki knew Death in the moments that he had actually died before Helblindi revived him with the Casket of Ancient Winters.
Loki turned to face him and Thor felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at the very real wound that his brother had received from Thanos. Or was it the same wound from three years before, he could not tell. Blood dripped down the gold-green cloths of his tunic and overcoat. A neatly jagged stab wound through the middle of his chest courtesy of either Hovud or Thanos' dagger. Whatever it was, there was no glamour, no illusion, nothing...
And in that moment another horrifying realization dawned on Thor – the price his brother paid to deliver Thanos to Death. For all that Thanos claimed to love Death and shower her with the corpses of his slain enemies, he had not thought of what Death really wanted, was Thanos himself. A bargain must have been struck in the minutes that Loki had truly died and all that had happened since then, everything in the last three years, had been for this very moment. It did not matter about Loki's geas, nor the coterie, nor Thanos' escape or the destruction of Asgard and the heralding of Ragnarok – all of it was for Loki to deliver Thanos to Mistress Death.
And the price was his brother's life.
Furious anger filled Thor as he turned and glared at Death. "Has my brother not given enough?!" he asked, thumping Gungnir down onto the ground. It sent a shower of power spreading like ripples upon the water through the throne room, but he did not care. "Must he now pay with it for his life?!"
"It is a fair bargain, Crown Prince Thor Odinson," it was not Death that answered, but rather Hel who stepped in between him and Death. She looked imperious with her headdress the shape of razor sharp angular branches of sorts. However, he could see that the headdress was slowly losing its form, her hair turning from it's black form slowly into colors that might have been its light pink curls, but it was still too soon to tell.
"It is not-"
"It was a life only thus with a bargain made in understanding of Death itself," Hel cut him off ruthlessly. She abruptly turned and bowed her head towards Loki, "My Prince, your choice precedes your reputation as always. It was an option not considered."
"But an option, nonetheless," Loki replied. For a moment Thor saw the ruler that his brother could have, perhaps should have, become. One who could easily wield Gungnir and bring about a new golden age of Asgard; one that straddled the lines of both conquerors and peacekeepers. Gungnir suddenly felt so heavy in his hands – and Thor felt he was unworthy. But that moment was gone as he watched Loki bow his head towards Death. There was nothing else for his brother, not with Death standing in front of him – in the literal and figurative sense.
"If I may, Death, one last request?" his brother asked.
"Yes," her agreement chilled the air once more and Thor felt tears spring to the corner of his eyes. This was not the way he wished to say his farewells to his brother. Not like this, not after what Loki had done to bring him back from Baldr's hold on his mind. Not after everything they had been through. This was not-
Thor's thoughts abruptly halted as he saw the barest hint of mirth appear in Loki's expression. "Catch me, if you can," Loki's expression resolved itself into a familiar one of mischievous dark humor before he suddenly pulled at the thin electric-black line that he had appeared from to stab Thanos in the back and drew it around himself.
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Loki had literally escaped from Death's grip. In front of Death itself. The portal was soon sealed as the whispered singing and horrifying feeling slowly ebbing away, but Thor could only stare at the point where his brother had made good on his escape. He had forgotten that the portal Loki had used to trick and defeat Thanos had been left open all this time. It was only the childish giggle from Hel, of all beings, snapped him out of his shocked funk to see that she had reverted completely back to her normal form with light pink curls, glasses perched on her nose, and her formless dress emitting the howls of the damned.
"You were a very good teacher to the Trickster God, mother," Hel laughed lightly and Thor looked up to see, for what he supposed was the very first time, Death with a smile on her face.
"Yes."
Author's Notes:
It was never my intention to do a grand finale gigantic battle between Loki and Thanos. I had the latter half of the confrontation planned long ago during the first initial drafts of Atonement. I always thought that the battle between Thanos and Loki was always one of trickery and deceit and involved small fast chess-like moves that ultimately would triumph over each other. Thor was the one to whom all battles were grand, even when he was fighting one-on-one and so since the focus of this story was on Loki, I decided to have a lot of the big battle scenes be offscreen moments of awesome, keeping the focus small, intimate and very personal.
Also, Hel's headdress – yes, I ripped that from the trailer. Cate Blanchett looked awesome. My version of Hel still has the pink curls and glasses though, from the Japanese anime version.