Chapter 6: Disquiet

£• Loki •£•

Loki's first look was to Heimdall. "Thor? Can you find him?"

Heimdall shook his head, "No, he disappeared when Jane showed up… with the other."

"Who was the other?" Loki's eyes widened, knowing who it was, but still needing to hear it.

"Thanos."

Loki bowed his head, closing his eyes.

'You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!'

He heard the words as they echoed in his mind. He had hoped that Stark's destruction of the Chitauri would have ended it, but he knew it hadn't. Thanos wanted his revenge.

"Where did they go? Where could they go?" Katirya stepped up to the window of the universe, seeking any sign of where they might be. "Can Thanos hide all three? He still has Jane with him. What of Hadriath or Althanas?"

Heimdall shook his head. "Gone."

Sif joined Katirya. "We have to find him… and Jane."

"It's me he wants, he will contact us eventually." Loki finally spoke.

"You?" Katirya looked at Loki, shocked at this revelation. She moved to stand in front of him.

"Yes, me. For my failure on Earth. He was the one that provided me with the scepter, sent the Chitauri. He expected…" Loki paused, "I don't know what he expected, to be quite honest. I simply took what he offered: the opportunity to be a king. It sounded good at the time."

"Loki, he manipulated you. He knew your state of mind, and took advantage of you. If you failed, it is his fault!" Katirya grabbed his shoulders, pulling herself close to him. "It's me he wants."

"Or both of us," Loki pulled her into his arms, hugging her closely. "What a pair we make, both wanted by the same creature."

Katirya sighed. "And the Stones, he already has the gauntlet."

"It's always all about you, isn't it, Katirya?" Kyrath whined.

Katirya pulled out of Loki's arms to face her sister. "I do not understand you. I don't know you."

"Well, whose fault is that? You and Mom decided to hide out in the country. Don't go blaming me," Kyrath replied, a sulky tone to her voice. She crossed her arms in front of her. "So, are we all going to just stand here and wait for someone to jump out and say 'here I am', or what?"

"She is right, unfortunately," Sif spoke up. "We cannot just wait here. Do you think the sixth Stone might be of help? Or is there anyway we can use the Stones we already have?"

"Kiri?" Loki looked at his wife.

Katirya took the pouch containing the stones off her belt. She took them out, setting them down on a table. She stared at them for several minutes before finally speaking. "They can be used, but they will not aid in finding Thor. If Thanos desires to remain hidden, he will. If I had all six… or just used the Tesseract…" she glanced at Greiwaldt. "Can I do that? Use it to its fullest potential? That would allow me to be everywhere."

Greiwaldt considered her question, walking over to pick up the Tesseract. "Yes, it would allow that, but I think if we had the Aether you would stand a better chance. It would increase this stone's power."

"The Aether. My father possesses it, correct?" Katirya asked Sif.

Sif nodded. "Yes, we saw it when we visited him. It is still safely within his collection."

"It sounds like a visit to The Collector is in order then," Loki grimaced, not overly excited at going there. He had heard the reviews from Sif and Volstagg. "Heimdall, can you find his exact location?"

Heimdall nodded. "Do you wish to leave at once?"

"Time is of the essence. My brother's life is at stake." Loki spoke with urgency. "I do not think all of us need to go though; AND I think we need to leave these here," he pointed to the Stones. "Taneleer might be tempted to add them to his collection."

"Agreed," Katirya nodded, glancing around at the rather large group, "but I think we need to keep the group small."

"I have no desire to visit our father right now," Greiwaldt piped up immediately.

"Nor I!" Sean added. "We can stay here, watch the Stones."

Katirya laughed grimly, "So, do I even want to meet him?"

"I think you need to, Kiri. He is your father, and it might help our pleas to get the Aether. If he knows you are able to control it, he will be more apt to give it to you." Loki spoke softly, looking at Katirya beseechingly. His desire to rescue his brother was foremost in his mind, making the Stones almost seem irrelevant. He knew at some point that they did need to collect all six in order to defeat Thanos.

"Your father? Who is this guy? Do I know him?" Kyrath said sarcastically. "And how do you know he is your father? For all you know, Thanos is your father! Wouldn't that be just sweet, he wants to marry you, you know."

Katirya closed her eyes at that thought. "Really? Kyrath, why don't you just go back to Cartherion? You can't do any more damage than you already have done."

"No way! I'm in this till the end. I know what you are after." Kyrath spat back.

"So, what is it I am after?" Katirya asked.

"Power. You want to rule it all, don't you? Cartherion wasn't big enough. So you trotted on over here to Asgard; figured you could get Odin to marry you off to his son. And guess what? You did! So now you are Queen of Asgard. But that isn't enough, is it? You are after all those Stones so you can rule everything." Kyrath's tirade was delivered in spiteful tones, her resentment toward her sister evident.

"I was just as happy living in the country," Katirya shot back. "I didn't ask for this!"

"Well, you got it. I don't think it's fair. I'm the elder; I should have been taught all the tricks you learned."

"But you don't have the powers she does," Greiwaldt intervened. "It is as simple as that. Her father is not Althanas, like yours. You probably have more powers than you are aware of, being that he is Thanos' brother, but without the training, you have never realized them."

"See! It's just not fair!" Kyrath shouted.

"I think you will need to remain here," Loki finally spoke up. "We do not need you to start arguing while we are trying to negotiate with Taneleer."

"I'm going, or else!" Kyrath stomped her feet, balling her fists at her side. "You cannot stop me!"

"I can, and will!" Loki stared at her, a commanding tone to his voice.

"Fine! Go without me!" Kyrath ran towards the Stones, reaching out to grab them.

Before she could touch them, Katirya swept them up, putting them back in the pouch. "Sorry, but you cannot have these."

"See! She just wants the Stones!" Kyrath shrieked, starting to pummel Katirya with her fists. Heimdall grabbed her, pulling her off her sister.

"She's beginning to sound like Jane," Loki commented, arching one eyebrow. "Could she have some of the Aether too?"

Katirya sighed, tugging her skirts to rearrange them after her sister's attack. "No, I doubt it." She handed the pouch with the Stones to Greiwaldt. "Keep them far away from her."

Loki wrapped his arm around Katirya's waist as he headed towards the portal. "Heimdall?"

~∫ Thor ∫~

Thor sat in the darkness, unable to move. All he could do was think. He tried to think of what Loki might do. He knew his brother would try to rescue him, so what could he do to be prepared?

The door of his cell opened, and Jane entered carrying a tray of food. "You must eat," she spoke in a toneless voice.

What had Thanos done to her, he wondered.

"I cannot. I am unable to move," Thor pointed out.

"I am to feed you." Jane sat down on the ground next to him and selected a piece of meat. She tore it into a smaller piece then held it in front of his mouth.

Thor considered the intimacy of the action, knowing that in another world, another place, he would have happily accepted the morsel of food she offered. But here? In these conditions? He refused to open his mouth.

"Come, you must eat." Jane's voice was so monotone.

"No, I choose not to." Thor realized he could move his head slightly. He turned it away from the morsel she was offering. The fact that he could make that minor movement surprised him. He attempted to shrug his shoulders, discovering a small amount of movement in them. Was the magic wearing off?

"No, I am just diminishing it slightly," Thanos spoke from the open door. "You cannot go anywhere, so it is safe to allow you some freedoms. Go ahead and eat. You need to keep up your strength."

"I would touch none of your food. Who knows what you have tainted it with! I shall starve!" Thor bellowed back, moving to stand up.

Jane stood up, picking up the tray of food she had brought in. "Shall I leave it?" Her question was directed at Thanos.

"No. He desires to starve, so we shall let him. It will not be long now anyway. Go, child. Leave us," Thanos directed her.

"What have you done to her?" Thor asked as soon as Jane had left the room. He was standing upright now, slowly moving his arms in circles as the feeling came back to his muscles.

"Nothing much. She is only a human; her life is but a blink of ours. Her loss is for a good cause." Thanos spoke nonchalantly as he relegated Jane's life to nothing.

"She is a person! YOU have no right!" Thor roared back at Thanos.

"She would have been dead in, what, forty or fifty years? And you will live a thousand more at the very least - unless someone kills you, of course. What were you planning to do? Marry her, and have children?" Thanos laughed. "And then what? Find a new bride to raise your pitiful brood?"

"That matters not. You have no right to do that to her. How did you, anyway?" Thor asked, trying to get some information that he might use if he was rescued.

"The Aether. Malekith did not extract all of it. Clumsy of him, really," Thanos explained. "And then there were the bits and pieces leftover when you tried to destroy it. I simply added them to her collection. Powerful stuff," he smirked at Thor.

"So you have been controlling her all along?" Thor asked, knowing Katirya had proposed this possible theory. How had she known, he wondered.

"Oh yes, human minds are so weak," Thanos gloated. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do. I need to get a message to your stupid brother. He is so malleable; I enjoyed working with him before. I shall enjoy torturing him even more."

~ß~ Katirya ~ß~

Katirya stared at the strange building in front of her. Sif and Volstagg had warned them about the strange collection they would find inside. Sif had been most insistent that they avoid looking too closely in the cages.

Loki knocked on the door.

A child answered the knock, staring up at them. "Who are you, and what do you want?" she asked in a singsong voice.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I have traveled here from Asgard with my wife, Katirya. We desire to visit with Taneleer Tivan."

"Oh," the little girl responded. "One moment, I shall see if he is accepting visitors."

The door closed.

Loki and Katirya exchanged a look.

"Accepting visitors?" Katirya rolled her eyes. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

The door opened before Loki could reply.

"He will see you. Follow me." The girl led them into the building.

They followed her for several minutes before she finally stopped, indicating a room they were to go in to. "He will be here shortly. You may wait in there."

The large room was filled with the cages that Sif had mentioned. Katirya looked around, despite Sif's warning. She wanted to know a bit about her father, but as she looked, she realized that it was a mistake. She ought to have listened to Sif. Blinking as she tried to erase the sight of the creature she had just seen.

"Welcome, Asgardians! I am most pleased to be visited yet again by visitors from Asgard. And this time it is the King and Queen!" Taneleer's voice came from behind them.

They turned to discover he was bowing low.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" As Taneleer rose, he stared hard at Katirya.

Katirya wondered, should she just say 'Hi dad? I'm your long lost daughter? Remember that fling you had with Beythran?'

"You are my daughter, are you not?" Taneleer cocked his head to one side. His question saved her from having to ask.

"Yes, I am. My mother was…"

"Beythran, I remember it well," Taneleer smiled, a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "Welcome. Why have you come to visit? It must be most important, for I doubt that Beythran told you of me. How did you discover this?"

"My brothers," Katirya answered. "Or rather, my half-brothers. Greiwaldt and Sean."

"Sean?" Taneleer looked confused. "I do not recall a Sean, and I have kept track of all my children, even if they do not keep track of me." He suddenly stared at the ceiling for a minute. "Perhaps you mean Sigdurn?" He returned his focus back on the couple.

Katirya shrugged, "Possibly. He has gone by the name Sean for many years; he adopted the name while he stayed on Earth, guarding…" she paused, uncertain if she ought to bring up the Stones so quickly in their meeting.

"The Stone," Taneleer finished her sentence.

Taneleer turned his attention to Loki, "So you have become King?"

Loki nodded, "Yes, my brother chose to not accept the throne."

"A difficult decision. To rule Asgard carries many burdens," Taneleer said vaguely, not expounding on his statement. "And you have married my daughter. A good choice; however, Thor would have been the better match for her."

"Thor?" Katirya looked startled at that. "Why is that?"

"His mother was more powerful, although due to her connections to Earth, it explains his focus on the mortal." Taneleer lifted his eyebrows as he brought up the topic of Jane Foster. "She is not worth his time; you would have been a better mate. But Loki, he is indeed, a respectable match. Much better than the one your mother's husband had planned."

"You knew of this?" Katirya was surprised. Taneleer did not look like he kept up with anything, much less marriages.

"I know more than you think, my child." Taneleer smiled as he tented his fingers together.

"What do you mean 'her connections to Earth'? I was unaware that Frigga had any connections to Earth," Loki spoke up, curious to know more about the woman who had raised him.

"Oh, Frigga is not his real mother, nor was she yours, as you are now aware." Taneleer clasped his hands together, raising them up to his face.

"Yes, but I do not know who my mother is. Laufey's wife, Farbauti, was also a Frost Giant, and I am clearly not the son of two Frost Giants." Loki's hands swept up his body as evidence that he was not a pure Frost Giant, looking nothing like one.

"Actually, she was your mother. You get your looks from your father," Taneleer explained. "Odin was your father."

"Odin?!" Loki practically shouted the name. "That cannot be!"

"Oh, yes. Odin is your father, as well as Thor's. Your mother was Laufey's wife, Farbauti, while Thor's mother was Jord."

"Jord?" Katirya could not place the name.

"That was the name she used when she mated with Odin. She is more commonly known as Gaea, the Goddess of Earth. As I said, it rather explains Thor's fascination with the mortal, Jane Foster."

"So, you are saying that Thor and I are truly brothers? And that Laufey is not my real father?" Loki felt a sense of relief with both thoughts.

"Correct, your mother, your mother, Farbauti, mated with Odin to try to forge a peace with the Jotunn. It did not work, obviously. Frigga raised both of you as her sons, though she never bore any of her own children. Such a shame, as she is a great mother. I am almost tempted, since Odin is gone…" Taneleer's voice trailed off.

"Frigga died, father," Katirya spoke quietly, finding it easy to call him father for some bizarre reason. He was odd, but he felt more like her father than Althanas ever had.

"Oh?" Taneleer looked at her oddly, and then abruptly changed the subject. "The Aether, that is why you are here, correct? Do you have the others?"

Katirya glanced at Loki, who nodded. "Yes, but not with me, and we are still missing one. Greiwaldt is keeping the five we have safe."

"What?" Taneleer looked upset. "Did you not trust me? But no, you did not know me then. You would trust me now, right?"

Katirya simply nodded, uncertain if she actually would.

"Come along. Let us go to retrieve it. I trust Greiwaldt has explained everything." He led the way out of the room and down one hallway. Pausing by one door, he peered inside. "Not this one… nor that," he continued, pointing to another. "And I can tell you where the final stone is."

"Greiwaldt did teach me much, but nothing of the Stones. I thought that Thanos was the one who created them." Katirya talked as they continued walking.

"Yes, yes, he did. Silly man…, thinking to control the universe. The Elders simply would not allow it. At least, I don't think we would. I haven't spoken to many of them for centuries. I really should go see them. Maybe one day, I have so much to do here." He paused at another doorway. "This one I think."