Earth-717: Thor Vol 1
Chapter 2: Revival
The entire banquet hall was filled with the thunderous applause of hundreds of Asgardians when Thor walked into the room. The fervour that pervaded the massive hall was almost indescribable. Wearing his silver and gold lined battle armour, his flowing crimson cape and his glistening, winged helmet, he was as regal a sight as none other save for the All-Father himself.
Holding his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, high above his head, Thor was the spitting image of a prince of the realm, destined to be a king as beloved as any in the history of Asgard. Certainly none who would gaze upon him would challenge that he was indeed the one and only 'God of Thunder', and one of the mightiest warriors in the cosmos.
He was accompanied by a troop of the realm's finest warriors, with the Lady Sif standing at his right hand side. She was wearing her trademark battle dress, coloured silver and dull pink, which she had received as a gift from the Valkyries when she earned the title of 'God of War'. She was holding her sword in her right hand, and her shield in her left.
Odin and Frigga stood at the centre of the hall, both ready to receive the return of their son. Odin now had a gold piece covering his right eye socket. His parents held out their arms, and Thor rushed into them, seizing both of them with an enthusiastic embrace. Frigga was nearly winded by the amount of force Thor exerted, but then leaned into her son's shoulder, happy to have him home. Sif stood next to them, smiling upon seeing the family reunion before her.
Thor took a step back, and Odin held his royal sceptre into the air.
"And now, to celebrate the return of my son, Asgard's prince, from yet another successful and glorious campaign, we feast! For Asgard!"
"For Asgard!" chanted the entire room.
For the next several hours, everyone partook in a joyous celebratory feast. Merriment and good will were shared by all, and the wonderful food and company created a serene moment that would be cherished for quite some time. Thor and Sif sat together, laughing and telling exalting tales of their most recent battles.
As the two warriors shared a drink, Odin and Frigga, who were sitting at the head of the table, looked upon them with satisfaction and delight. Odin leaned towards her, and she instinctively turned her ear to him.
"'Tis good to see him so engrossed by another who suits him well," said Odin.
"'Tis a good match," replied Frigga. "I had long hoped she would prove holder of his heart. She would make a fine companion for a new king. Headstrong, yes, but also compassionate and fair. She will be a wonderful All-Mother."
"She will. Soon, but in good time."
Heimdall walked up to and joined Thor and Sif, with Sif keenly embracing her brother as he arrived. He sat down and started eating the freshly cooked pheasant before him, with Sif leaning her elbow against his shoulder. Thor looked at the siblings with warmth before he felt a premonition in the back of his mind. Turning his head, he looked to the back entrance of the hall.
There stood Loki, peering from around the corner, with only half of his body visible. The two brothers shared a brief glance, with Thor frowning. Loki blinked and looked down, only to turn away and recede behind the corner, never to join the festivities. Thor thought about going after him, but Sif interrupted his thoughts by insisting that they share another drink.
Thor indulged Sif, but he did so with less zeal than he did before.
With Asgard's children being sent off the bed, a tranquil night settled on the golden realm. However, despite the calm and soothing nature of the gentle, nightly breeze, Thor's mind was not at ease. He stood on a balcony of the palace that overlooked the great city, with both of his hands pressed against the marble railing. Two lit braziers were placed at either corner of the railing.
Looking upwards, Thor's eyes settled on the library tower, with its great observatory perched on the top. So focused was his contemplation that he did not hear or notice Sif approaching him from behind. She held her hands together in front of her, watching him for a few silent moments. She then walked up to and stood at his side, placing both of her forearms on the railing.
"Do not think I did not notice your change of disposition at the celebration," said Sif.
Thor gave a weak laugh.
"Was I that obvious?"
"No, but I know you better than anyone. Thor, we've been best friends since we were children. How many adventures have we shared? How many times have we stood at each other's sides on the eve of battle? I know when your mind is not at peace."
Thor exhaled and looked up at the observatory again. Sif followed his gaze to the same point.
"Your brother?"
Thor nodded.
"He was there," Thor said. "At the feast. He . . . . was standing apart, and . . . . then he left."
"You have not spoken to him of recent?"
"Nay, not for many months. He rarely descends from the observatory."
Sif blinked and looked down, trying to think of what to say. When she failed to think of something in time, Thor continued to speak.
"He is free to walk anywhere in Asgard, but still he almost always remains on his own, as if he were still a prisoner. I feel that since we learned of his true origins, he does not feel entitled to be amongst his people."
"He may be free to walk in Asgard, but he is not one of us," said Sif. "Not anymore. Not since he betrayed the realm."
Thor looked at her with a slightly perturbed glare. Sif immediately regretted her words.
"Yes, he committed terrible crimes, but he paid for them in full. A century and a half in the dungeons, and he accepted it without any retort. He has made recompense, and so in my eyes should not be treated as criminal any longer. Despite everything . . . . he's still my brother."
Sif sighed and looked to the side, unsure of how to proceed. Thor shook his head.
"And still . . . . I know not what to say to him. He has suffered so much, lost so much. I wish I knew how I could make up for all of that. Regardless of our conflicts in the past . . . . I owe him that much."
Thor then turned to the side and walked away from the balcony. Sif held out her hand as if to try and stop him, but then withdrew it. For a long while, Sif stood on the balcony, staring up at the observatory.
Earlier that day, she was as happy as she had ever been. Now, she just felt empty and alone.
His legs propped up against the wall, Loki laid on the cushioned reading bench as he voraciously consumed another volume. He was in the library, which had numerous walls and shelves lined from top to bottom with hundreds of thousands of books on every conceivable subject in the known universe. For him, this was the place he most ever felt at home.
Flipping the page, he was then distracted by a woman walking into the room. Her aura of mystic power was just as captivating as her unimaginable beauty, which was complimented by a lithe, perfectly proportioned figure. Her supple, blooming breasts immediately drew attention, and her emerald eyes and ruby lips only added to her visual appeal.
Golden hair with nary an imperfection adorned her head, and she wore a stylized green dress that made her instantly recognizable. An ornate headpiece of the same colour completed her look. Her sensuality infected the air around her; a sultry field of emanation that all felt in her presence. To look at her was to know loveliness like no other.
Placing his book on the cushion next to him, Loki smirked at her.
"Amora the Enchantress."
Amora placed her hands on her hips, returning Loki's grin.
"Truly, you have earned the title of 'God of Beauty', my dear."
Amora snorted in response, folding her arms. Loki slinked out of his seat, standing before her. He then started to pace around her, his hands held together in front of him.
"Your compliments fall on displeased ears, Loki. I saw your brother at the banquet today, and as always, he was too enamoured with the good Lady Sif to notice the beauty you so inform me of."
"Poetically tragic, is it not?" asked Loki. "The one man in the world who seems immune to your charms is the one you most desire. I wonder . . . ."
Loki pulled himself close to Amora, holding her from behind with both arms, one on her stomach and his other reaching for her thigh. She responded by throwing her arms back and massaging his neck with her right arm and his hip with her left. He then placed his mouth right beside her ear, ready to whisper into it.
"Is Thor's ambivalence towards you the reason for your insatiable lust?"
Loki allowed himself to inhale her aroma as he waited for an answer.
"Not ambivalence," she replied. "Rejection. You can see it in his eyes, in the way his body moves . . . . the way he turns to her whenever she is near. The way his gaze falls upon her form, the same as hers falls on his . . . . with any other man, they would not be able to look upon another that way when I am near, but with him, I feel as invisible as a tear drop in a rainstorm."
Amora groaned to herself. Loki chuckled.
"I can feel your vexation, your unchecked rage. It's delicious."
"You would think so."
Loki then let go of Amora, and she turned around to face him.
"Luckily for you, the time has finally come for us to feed that rage with the vengeance we both so crave."
Loki then gestured for Amora to follow him. He walked over to a door at the back of the library, and opened it to reveal his own personal well that he had placed in the observatory. Shutting the door behind them, Loki then stepped towards the water. Amora glanced at the well and then back at her companion.
"You found him?"
"He was supposed to be untraceable, but when you spend over a century as a prisoner, you have much time to search."
Weaving his hands in the same way his mother once showed him, green energy strands then formed between Loki's fingers. He threw out his arms over the well, and the strands landed in the water. Once they pooled, they created an image of a massive black orb within a dank, darkened cavern. Amora studied it intensely, amazed that they had finally tracked down their goal.
"Can you get us there?" asked Loki.
Amora smirked at the question. Putting her arms down, pale green mist quickly enveloped the two of them. She then threw her arms up, and in an instant, they vanished.
Amora's portal opened next to the massive black orb, and the two Asgardians stepped out of it. Their feet now firmly on the cavern floor, they looked up at the orb before them. They wordlessly approached it, finding a square opening. They then entered the orb, and were both taken aback and riveted by what they found.
The inside of the orb was a massive tomb. Most of the orb was hollow, with the inside composed of a single, spherical room. At the centre was a black altar, upon which a humanoid figure was encased within a charred, stone casket. Both of the figure's arms were crossed over the front, each wrist shackled by chains to the floor. The head was hung down.
All around the figure were about a hundred more humanoids, all frozen within stone slabs. The back of the room was covered by a gargantuan bestial form, also covered in stone. A small pillar, only about a metre tall, was mounted in front of the altar. A small orb was placed on top, with half of its volume sunk into a depression that made up the top part of the pillar.
Loki rubbed his hands together with glee as he looked upon the scene before him.
"Finally."
Amora found herself transfixed by the figure on the altar.
"That . . . . is Malekith?"
"Indeed," answered Loki. "Cursed to a fate of half-death for all eternity . . . . unless someone removes his shackles."
Amora reached out with her left hand, but Loki gently slapped it back down.
"Ah, ah. Not that way."
Loki then pointed towards the orb on top of the pillar. They both looked at it, and saw that the orb was made of translucent crystal. Within the orb was a reddish, glowing liquid that writhed and flowed within its confinement.
"The Aether," said Amora.
"Malekith's ultimate weapon," said Loki. "One of the Infinity Gems."
Amora raised an eyebrow.
"It does not look like a gem."
"Each one has a different form. They do not look alike at all. The Aether, however, is special, because while the others are all some kind of stone, this one exists as a fluid. Thus, it must be contained within a vessel . . . . hence the orb."
Loki then looked up at Malekith.
"Now, Malekith the Accursed . . . . you have slumbered long enough."
Loki reached for the orb.
"Time to awaken."
Seizing the orb, Loki pulled it from the pillar, and a loud cracking noise was heard. The pillar receded into the floor. Holding the orb in his hand, he then looked at Amora.
"We need to send the Aether somewhere where Thor will find it . . . . somewhere where no one will interfere . . . . and where Malekith will pursue. You know of where I speak."
Amora grinned at Loki's words, and she used her hands to create a portal. The portal showed a view from space of a blue and green planet. Loki tossed the orb through the portal, and Amora closed it. The two then looked back at Malekith, whose casket had started to crack and break apart. The stone slabs holding the other humanoids did the same.
"I think it best we take our leave," said Loki.
Amora quickly generated another portal, this one leading back to the observatory. The two hastened through it before it sealed. Once they were gone, thousands of shards of rock began falling from the ceiling as the entire room rumbled. Malekith's arms then pulled up one at a time, snapping the chains holding them in place.
With a fearsome howl, Malekith's casket exploded, and the resulting shockwave shattered much of the altar and the other slabs. Numerous Dark Elves, including one with horns that stood nearly three metres tall, broke out of their tombs. The bestial form in the back was also freed, revealing a colossal, black dragon, with a body fifty metres in length.
The dragon roared into the air, and the sheer volume of its cry broke apart all of the stone within and outside of the giant orb, revealing that it was a black and silver mechanical construction, with several glowing red markings on the outer shell. Malekith then looked down at himself, revelling in the sensation of finally being free.
He was a majestic figure, wearing his ceremonial red and grey battle garb, consisting mainly of a long coat that stretched down to his knees. Thin, ghostly hair draped his head to his neck. However, his most striking feature was that the skin on the left side of his body had been turned to iron, with the lines of his bones glowing blue beneath the metal. The same blue glowed in his eyes. Looking down at his hands, Malekith knew his time had come.
"At long last, so ends the undying age of my betrayal."