(LOKI)
I wrapped my hand snugly around Sigyn's, pulling her forward through the portal, using every iota of recovered energy to propel us into the next realm. Few sorcerers knew how to manipulate the thinning boundaries that separated Asgard from the rest of Yggdrasil, but Mother taught me well. Not even Thor and all his might could navigate them without me.
The texture of the rock we walked on changed to one more rough and dry. Even the air changed, from musty and humid to clear, though it made us both sneeze. The spinning light surrounding us faded to nothing. Our cavern in the cliffside became a tight corridor with little more than an ominous purple glow at the end.
Sigyn's face was hidden in the darkness, yet the tremble in her voice echoed her fear. "Loki, it's narrowing again—"
"Release me. I'll ensure it's safe."
She was hesitant in her obedience, taking longer to let go than she should've, but I squeezed her hand to give a little bit of reassurance. "Be careful," she said.
With my left arm still firmly against my chest in the sling, I hugged the wall until I could identify what lay on the other side of the opening. The cave tapered with a suffocating ceiling, and I feared the exit would be too small to crawl through.
"Do you think it lets out over another cliff?"
"No, it wouldn't be this dark if that were the case. Wherever this gateway is, it must be fairly well hidden—likely because of the perilous Asgardian side." I hummed, shaking the wall before me. "It's deliberately blocked to keep others out. Nothing but a pile of boulders."
"You're far too weak to move them. Let me." Sigyn squeezed past and got to work pushing the rocks outward, starting at the top. They cracked and tumbled on the other side. The lack of other sounds meant we wouldn't be met with people waiting for us to emerge—a meager stroke of luck, but one I was grateful for.
As much as I couldn't help Sigyn free us from the darkness, I also had no capacity to fight. She was right about me. Pure adrenaline helped me wake from the serpent's poison to find her, but it was fading fast. My body sizzled and shook as waves of fever ravaged me. Each stream of light that she let in hurt my eyes. I reflexively covered them with my free hand, careful not to touch the delicate skin that was still raw. Would I ever be able to show my face again? Ever be able to feel something as sweet as a kiss across my nose without the sting to remind me of my failure?
She grunted, panting away as she worked, never faltering despite however she was injured, too. "Almost there. You're right, it's only a field outside. Where have you taken us?"
"Should be Vanaheim," I said, only uncertain because of my delirium.
The world turned around me in quick circles, and I startled, falling into the wall with my left shoulder. I cried out in pain—almost a relief since it took my attention away from the burns.
"Easy now," Sigyn said, kneeling beside me. "Let me see you in the light."
"No. Please don't look at me like this." I hid behind my hand again.
She touched my left arm, tenderly stroking over the crude sling from her skirt. "I'm sorry if I couldn't reset this properly. It snapped into place when I pulled the arm straight, so I assumed it would be enough."
"It might be, but we can't know how it will heal until it does so." I hissed, inadvertently pulling on the bad joint when I shifted my seat.
"Perhaps that's a blessing in disguise, then. Pain means healing, remember? You'll get through this, as you have everything else." She moved her hand to my thigh, lightly squeezing to distract me. "I'm here for whatever you need."
But I can offer you nothing. My body was sapped of all tears, or I would've wept. "I fear it's getting worse. My eyes are burning and my heart's beating too fast. Something inside..."—I took as deep of a breath as I could, but my lungs were already filled with cotton—"...I can't explain it. This doesn't feel like healing. It's agony."
Sigyn sniffled, which only made the sinking in my gut worse. "What can I do for you now? Right now. Anything."
I had no clear answer, at least, none that I wanted to say. It was too painful to admit how much I wanted to close my eyes and not awaken—be released from everything and everyone who ever hurt me. Yet I couldn't say that to Sigyn, who risked all the comforts in life for me only to end up exiled from her home and with barely a hope that I might return her affections.
How could I, when now I was reduced to the monster Odin always knew I was?
"Loki, be it this minute or the next, we'll need to get moving. You need help I cannot provide."
Help for what? Delaying the inevitable?
Sigyn wouldn't let up. "Your face doesn't frighten me. Take your hand down."
"It's...it's so bright."
"Gods—no wonder." She shuffled next to me, ripping more of her clothing. "Turn for me a little."
"Haven't you sacrificed enough for me?"
"I would rather be naked for all realms to see than watch you suffer. I'll tie it as gently as possible." With that, Sigyn wrapped even more of her torn skirt around my head to shield my eyes. It wasn't completely opaque which allowed me to see without pain, and she was equally protected from my grisly appearance.
"Thank you," I said, unsure what to make of the rumble in my chest. Did she usually stir some kind of warmth within me, or was this something else?
Sigyn stood again and put all her weight against the final boulder, huffing through a final push. When it fell away, more light poured in and blinded me anew.
She took my right hand firmly. "Stand up. The longer you're exposed to it, the better it will feel."
Even with my eyes closed and the blindfold on, I couldn't get comfortable, so I had no choice but to trust the way she pulled me along. One step, now another—careful of the left edge. The gravel poked through the makeshift shoes in a few places, making me unsteady.
"Mind the drop," she said, letting me lean against her while I found my footing.
This ground was soft. Wet. Then a gift of fresh air. Gravity changed, too—I felt lighter, like it wouldn't take much effort to leap up and fly.
"A bit further and you can lie down again, alright?"
Songbirds flitted about, chirping in unfamiliar tunes that spoke of joy and magic and complete ignorance to the dangers of Yggdrasil. Surely none of them had ever passed through the tunnel from whence we appeared. One buzzed too close to my ear and I flinched, hurting my shoulder again. When we entered a cast of shade, I braved the light to open my eyes.
A great tree towered over us. Its presence alone was magnificent—yet from behind the black fabric, the leaves which should've been vibrant and lively were muted. It was as if the whole universe was ruined just like I was.
The expansive field all around was surrounded by forest, and we were on the very edge. While the giant above us was thicker than any on Asgard, it wasn't even the largest one in view.
"I've never seen anything quite like this," Sigyn said, gingerly placing her hand against the bark as if she was afraid that it would swallow her. "Vanaheim, you say?"
"Yes. Mother's home. I haven't been here in an age—believe it or not, this is the common tree here. There are some that feed into the planet itself and its life force, called Vidar. I'm sure we'd know it if we saw one since they bear—" Dizziness overtook me again, forcing me to sit against the trunk and rest.
"Bear what? Go on." She joined me on the ground.
"Fruit. Some kind of fruit. Legend has it, they hold all the magic that flows through the rest of Yggdrasil. Forgive me...I'm not well enough to recite all my years of education about foreign fauna."
"But I thought Asgard was—"
"Asgard is one home for the gods, but not the only one. The Vanir are equally as powerful as Aesir. Odin married Frigga to bring the realms together after the great war."
Sigyn furrowed her brow. "And this is the safest place for us to be? Or was it simply the only place we could go? If these people are Asgardian allies, what's to stop them from reporting our presence back to Odin and starting this process all over again?"
I closed my eyes, ready to submit to my body's exhaustion again. "Only option."
"So you trust the healers here?" She shook my right shoulder, trying to keep me awake, but her voice was far away. "Where do we go? Please wake up. Please."
The blood coursing through me vibrated. Even with my eyes closed, I saw static and snow. The world rocked me to sleep. My consciousness faltered, but the pain didn't weaken. Fire surrounded me in a way I couldn't invent if I tried. I bathed in it. It ate me inside and spat me out again.
"Loki...wake up..."