Chapter 8: Complexity

~ß~ Katirya ~ß~

Delighted that they had agreed to stay for dinner, Taneleer quickly arranged for a meal to be prepared. "While we are waiting, would you care to see some of my Collection?" he asked them politely.

The Collection was rumored to be one of the most exotic and extensive in the Universe. Katirya's eyes lit up at the opportunity, excited to be permitted to see some of these creatures. "Yes, please."

"I shall show you my most treasured pieces. I keep them near me, of course. I have at least, eight planets, or is it nine now?" He shrugged, "Not that it matters, but they are filled with my Collection." Taneleer led the way, pausing before one room. "This is the room that houses the most unique items."

Katirya and Loki followed him into the room. Lights snapped on the instant they entered. Various displays were ranged about the room, including weapons, gadgets, and other sundry items. Along the back wall, cages could be seen containing living creatures; some were darkened while others had various types of lighting for them.

Taneleer started with one display case, pointing out a rather innocuous object. The small, roundish object was glowing green in color. "This is one of my favorite weapons. It looks more like a toy than a weapon, does it not?"

"It looks like one I played with as a child. It is a weapon?" Loki commented.

"Indeed. A very dangerous one, too." Taneleer looked fondly at the ball. "It is made to resemble a toy that is common among the Vanir, thus why you recall playing with one like it. The only difference is that if you touch it, it releases a poisonous gas, killing everything on an entire planet."

Katirya stepped away from the display. "An entire planet? Just one of those would do it? Who created such a weapon?"

"The Mulakhavi, they are gone now; and they did not survive," Taneleer said sadly. "Their rivals did not trust them, so they destroyed the entire race. Such a waste, as they were truly genius at creating weaponry."

"Interesting," Loki said. "Is the thing safe in there?"

"Oh yes, I have a containment field surrounding it." Taneleer assured them. "But I am sure you would rather see some of the animals of their planet. They are truly exceptional."

"Who were their rivals?" Katirya asked.

Taneleer looked at Loki for a moment before finally answering, "The Frost Giants. They were not nice, until Odin finally took them in hand, taking their power away."

Loki lifted one eyebrow as he listened to the response.

Taneleer quickly added, "I do not include you, of course, in the transgressions of your ancestors. And you cannot claim to be entirely a Frost Giant."

"Thank you for your assurances," Loki smiled politely.

"Oh!" Katirya exclaimed, having moved to the cages in the back. "What are these?"

Inside the cage were creatures that resembled earthworms; only each one wore what looked like a tiny red and blue sweater.

"Ah, they are adorable, are they not?" Taneleer moved to view the cage.

Loki joined them, staring down at the creatures. "They are rather interesting. These are from the home planet of the Mulakhavi? They almost look like the worms one finds on Earth."

"Yes, they are called Lombards as they do sing if you listen closely. They are similar to the Earth species; only these have the strange armor. It permits them to bore through rocks…" Taneleer paused, "or bones. They are dangerous as well. The Mulakhavi bred them and would release them into enemy camps. They could destroy an entire army in one night."

"These Mulakhavi do not sound like nice people," Katirya commented as she moved on to look into another small cage. "Did they make any friendly animals, for pets perhaps?"

"Oh, indeed they did." Taneleer steered them towards a slightly larger cage. This clear-sided cage rested on the ground, with walls about two feet in height. "These were their pets. Blattea consilium Lepus, or you might call it a hare, at least I think that is what it is called on Earth. Asgard, of course, has nothing like it."

The violet rabbit-like creatures stared up at them with their green eyes, their tiny blue noses twitching. One hopped closer to the edge of the container.

Katirya laughed. "They are absolutely adorable. May I pet one?"

"Certainly!" Taneleer reached into the cage, scooping one up and handing it to her.

"Oh, it is so sweet. We need a few of these back home." Katirya looked at Loki.

"I do not think you would like them. They have excessive reproduction tendencies. You start with just two, and if you are not careful, you end up with several thousand in less than a month." Taneleer explained. "I keep a strict eye on them to keep the population under control."

"I think we shall pass on getting a few for pets. Hopefully, the dogs will suffice?" Loki took the bunny out of Katirya's hands, placing it back in the cage.

The girl who had greeted them entered the room. She walked purposefully up to Taneleer, bowing low before speaking. "Dinner is ready."

"Ah, thank you, Thedra." Taneleer smiled benevolently upon the child. "She is such a dear. Her mother was a human, but her father… ah, her father is unique. I hope she inherits some of his physical traits. She is starting to exhibit a few of them."

"Oh," Katirya looked at Thedra. "She appears normal."

"Show them, dear," Taneleer commanded.

Thedra smiled, and reached behind her, she pulled a long, furry tail out of her skirt. "My father was a Hafchât."

"Hafchât?" Loki asked. "I do not believe I have heard of them."

"Her father has the most gorgeous tail I have ever seen on a specimen. They are half human, half cat." Taneleer explained. "Now, shall we go dine? If we have time before you must leave, we can continue our tour."

They followed Thedra to the dining room, where a large table had been set.

Taneleer sat at the head of the table, with Loki and Katirya sitting on either side of him. "This is so lovely. I never thought I would be having dinner with the King of Asgard and his wife, who also happens to be my daughter."

Katirya laughed lightly, "The pathway here has been interesting, to say the least."

Her thoughts turned inward as she realized she felt closer to this eccentric man than she ever had with the man who had claimed to be her father. Althanas had never truly felt real to her. She noted the concern on her husband's face; he was clearly worried about his brother. She wished she could do something, but until they had a clue where he was being held, there was nothing they could do.

"Loki?" she spoke softly.

Loki looked up, a wan smile on his face.

"They will contact us. You know that. It is not Thor they want. We both know that," She spoke reassuringly, wishing she were seated next to him rather than across.

"True, it is just… " Loki clenched his fists in frustration.

Taneleer looked curiously at Loki. "Your frustration, it is probably what he desires. He wants you not to think your actions through. You must be very careful before doing anything. Thanos is a dangerous enemy. He is one of the reasons I have created this wondrous collection."

"Wise advice, I just hope I can adhere to it when the time comes up," Loki admitted.

"We will win. I know it," Katirya insisted.

Their conversation switched to more mundane issues. Katirya, having her father bring up his collection, ventured to ask him about it. "You indicated that you started this collection because of Thanos?"

"Not exactly him, but someone like him. It could be him," Taneleer looked happy at that thought. "Or someone else. But I have always feared some fool with too much power and too little intelligence would wipe out all life in the universe. So I started collecting species. If they were successful, I would be able to repopulate the universe from my collection."

"A noble cause," Loki tried to sound confident about it, but the skepticism in his voice was evident as Taneleer quickly picked it up.

"You doubt me, as do many. But I do not worry what others think of me. I collect. If it should happen that I am correct, then others will believe me," Taneleer decreed. "If not, then I shall simply have the most impressive collection in the Universe."

Katirya saw a large aquarium set up along one side of the dining room. Several purple fish were swimming merrily around. As she looked closer, she realized they were not truly fish; they looked more like dragons, and instead of fins, and they had what looked like wings. They sported orange horns on top of their heads.

Taneleer followed her gaze, and grinned. "Adorable, are they not? Water dragons I call them. And if the do breathe fire; however, the water quenches it rather quickly." As if to prove his point, two of the water dragons faced off against each other, opening their little mouths and emitting tiny streams of fire. The fires swirled through the water, bubbling up to the surface with a pop.

Katirya suddenly looked up, as if listening to something outside of the room. "We need to leave. I am sorry, father, but we must return to Asgard at once. I do promise to return as soon as we settle this issue with Thanos."

Taneleer stared at her a moment, then nodded. "Yes, you must leave."

"What is it?" Loki asked.

"Althanas. I saw him for a moment. We need to go back. I think I know where he is."

•∂• Darcy •∂•

Walking towards the library, Sif encountered Magda and a group of servants from the kitchens carrying several trays laden with food. "Let me guess, Volstagg?"

Magda grinned, "Aye. The man does have an appetite."

"Does that man ever think of anything other than food?" Sif laughed as she joined them. "But, it is almost time for dinner, so I suppose he was thinking ahead."

They reached the library and entered. The main room was empty, but voices could be heard coming from a back room. Magda and the servants began setting out the food on one of the tables as Sif headed to find the others.

She walked into the room, staring at the mess. "Did you guys do this?"

"Uh, no," Darcy replied, "I was just, like, saying how nice it would be if there was a list somewhere of where the Stones were. And we heard this crash. We came in here to find the place like this, with this one book out on the table. And," she brandished the list above her head, "THIS was inside it!"

"Next time, maybe you should wish for Thor and Jane to return safely," Sean said. "Where is the Reality Stone, the one that I was watching over?"

"I've got them all right here, why?" Greiwaldt held up the pouch that Katirya had given him before she'd left.

Sean looked at his brother, "It seems a bit odd, but when Darcy wished for something, she got it. I just wonder if it is picking up on her for some reason."

"ME?" Darcy looked startled. "Why would it pick up on me, and like grant my wishes? Of course, that sounds kinda neat."

Sean laughed. "It just might have. Most people have some powers, including humans, although I noted that most had no clue. There are some who can read minds, and do some magic. Nothing advanced, mind you, but it is probable that you have some hidden powers, Darcy."

"Wow!" Darcy stared at her hands, as if that might be the source of it. "I never knew."

"Well, all the same, let me see that list." Sif held her hand out for it. Darcy handed it over, and Sif scanned it quickly. "I wonder who wrote this?"

"It looks like my mother's, Frigga's, handwriting," Loki's voice came from the open doorway. All heads turned at once.

"Loki! You're back!" Darcy shouted.

"Yes, I am. No need to shout about it." Loki said quietly. He moved over to take the list from Sif's hand, looking down at it. "Yes, this is indeed Frigga's handwriting. And dinner is ready. I am guessing Volstagg ordered it?"

"Um, where's Katirya?" Sif asked, noticing the queen was not with Loki.

Loki stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "She remained with her father for a short visit."

Sean and Greiwaldt exchanged an odd look; then both stared at Loki.

"Where is Kyrath?" Loki asked, glancing around the room.

"She is right…" Fandral's voice trailed off as he looked around the room, not seeing Katirya's sister.

"Did she even come up here with us?" Hogun asked.

"I don't remember seeing her, but where else would she go?" Darcy added.

"I'll bet she is looking through Katirya's things," Loki said with a sigh. "I shall head up to our rooms to check. Why don't you folks eat, I'll be right back."

Not needing to be asked twice when it came to eating, Volstagg headed into the main room and began to fill a plate. "Looks grand, Magda!"

"Yes, it does," Darcy agreed as the wonderful smells wafted into her nostrils.

Sean looked at his brother. "Something is wrong. That wasn't like Loki. I sensed something off about him, did you?"

"Aye, for a brief second, I thought it was Althanas," Greiwaldt replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But that cannot be."

"Yes, it can," Katirya entered the room, with Loki right behind her. "Where did he go? And where is my sister?"

Darcy looked up, surprised to see Katirya and Loki. "Loki? Kiri? Wait… I'm, like, totally confused. Loki, you just said Kiri stayed with her father, and you went to go find Kyrath in your rooms. You said…"

"Our rooms?" Loki grabbed Katirya's hand, pulling her behind him as he raced out of the room.

"Wait!" Sean ran after them, followed closely by the others in the room.

Loki stopped dead when he entered their rooms, which had been ransacked.

"Kyrath!" Katirya shouted, looking up at the ceiling. "They are gone by now. What could she have been looking for?"

"These?" Greiwaldt held out the pouch with the Stones.

Katirya accepted the pouch. She took out the Aether from the small pouch she wore, dropping it in with the others. "We now have five of them." She looked around the rooms at the mess. "I was planning on doing a little bit of redecoration, but not quite this extreme."

Loki laughed. "Yes, we do need to make a few changes, don't we?"

"Just a few, but we do have time." Katirya laughed cryptically. "Time; that is the Stone we are searching for now. I wonder…" she paused a moment, thinking. "Do you think Thanos has it?"

"OH!" Darcy shouted. "The list! We found a list, in a book in the library. It gave the location for all the Stones. We can now find the sixth one."

"A list?" Loki looked at her suspiciously. "Who wrote this list?"

"You said… or, the other you said your mother, Frigga, wrote the list." Darcy was looking at her hands once more. "Only, I don't know where I put the list." She started checking her pockets, finding nothing.

"Loki took it, or not Loki, but the one who looked like Loki," Sif answered.

"Damn! I don't remember what it said for that sixth Stone. It was a longish word, like… jousterhold, or something like that," Darcy struggled to remember what it said.

"Jotunheim, perhaps?" Loki asked.

"Might have," Darcy answered. "No, wait! The Tesseract was there. The Time Stone is in Hel."

"Hel? And the Tesseract was in Jotunheim?" Katirya considered this information. "That cannot be correct."

"No, it cannot, as the Tesseract was on Earth. We know that for a fact," Loki tried to look innocent, not quite succeeding. "And it was brought back here. I do not believe it was ever in Jotunheim. Odin would never have left a Stone of power with the Frost Giants, especially not after battling them and taking away their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters."

"Yes, the Casket," Volstagg looked at Loki. "What ever happened to that?"

Loki shrugged. "I do not know. When I fell into the vortex, I dropped it."

"You dropped it?" Katirya looked at him curiously.

"Well, I was falling into the vortex, and I honestly did not expect anyone to pluck me out of that, so what was the use of keeping it?" Loki replied.

"I wonder if Thanos has it now?" Katirya mused. "It would make sense if he did. Since he 'found' you, he could have found it as well. I do not know what good it is to him, unless he is working with the Frost Giants. We need to find Thanos."

"So the list was a fake list?" Darcy returned the topic back to the list they had found. "Were they the ones who dumped all the books in the library? Was it the same person who made this mess?" She gestured around the rooms.

"Most likely my sister," Katirya said.

"And the last place we are going to look for a Stone is Hel. My guess… Thanos created a list, hoping we'd believe it, and go to Hel to try to retrieve the Stone. Unless…" Loki's voice trailed off.

"Thanos IS in Hel!" Katirya finished.

"Is this Hel anything like our Hell?" Darcy asked skeptically.

"No, Hel, or Helheim, is not like what your people call Hell. It is a simple resting place for the dead," Fandral answered her.

~∫ Thor ∫~

Thor could hear voices again, outside his prison. He still did not know where he was. Frustrated, he ran at the door, ramming it as hard as he could. It did not budge, and he slid to the floor, his shoulder screaming in pain at the abuse.

"Really," Thanos opened the door, staring down at Thor, "you cannot escape. Things are in motion. I anticipate your brother's arrival any time now."

Kyrath appeared behind him. "Oh, my. Can I have him when you are done?"

Thanos rolled his eyes. "You are such a fool. Be gone, before I do to you what I did to her!" He pointed towards where Jane sat.

Kyrath slunk away, glaring at Thanos as she did.

Thor's gaze went to Jane. She was sitting in a chair, staring forward as if seeing nothing. Her back was stiff, and her arms hung limply at her sides. "What have you done to her? She did nothing to you. Send her back!"

Thanos threw his head back and roared with laughter. "Nothing? She has done nothing? She is not without guilt."

"So Kyrath is part of this too?" Thor asked. "What are your plans for her?"

"She is useless, really. She has provided some information, but we had to bring her back here. She started snooping around Asgard, even though she was told not to." Thanos replied. "Oh, and just to show you how worried your brother is about you; he and his whore went to visit the Collector for dinner. Reconnecting with her real father. At least, she thinks he is her real father. Not that it matters. She will be my bride soon."

Author's Note: I have to thank one of my faithful readers for making the suggestion that they would like to "see" some of the Collection of Taneleer. The original of this chapter did not include it, so a quick rewrite was needed. Many thanks to my friends and beta for their ideas and proofing. I especially wish to thank one friend for allowing me to use her earthworms. I also thank the many, glorious purple plot bunnies that spring up daily, and hope you enjoy finding them included in this chapter as well.