Chapter Three — Riddles and Ragnarok

A/N: You get to meet someone in this chapter that I'm very excited about. The chapter starts off from Loki's perspective and after the double page break, switches to the newest main character, Hillevi, and after a second double page break, the chapter wraps up from Ilmr's perspective.

To my guest reviewer, Winter: I'm so glad you're enjoying it and the characters – there are a LOT more where that came from in this story!

And the shout-out I meant to have in Chapter One but forgot because of how long that Author's Note was: RM Kox, you are an excellent human and have been hugely helpful and supportive!

Lyrics in this chapter are from The Offspring's "Half-Truism".

If we don't make it alive
Well it's a hell of a good day to die
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

Given what Inghard had told them of their enemy, the three arrived in Vanaheim just after dawn. Loki had not set foot in the realm in decades. Centuries, even, and certainly never in the kingdom Ilmr hailed from.

Fires smoldered: the remnants of camps and the burning of trees that had been halted before too many were lost. In the distance by the newly-burned tree line was a pile of dark and light forms, some in armor, all covered in blood.

"It seems our enemy has returned in my absence. Alfheim is sending a contingency, if they are not already here." Inghard proceeded toward the palace as he spoke.

"How many, and why did you not mention this to me previously?" Ilmr seemed to ignore the sights before her as if they were unchanged from when she last laid eyes on them.

"Nearly five hundred."

"That is not even a quarter of their forces. Does Alfheim care so little for the loss of one of its daughters, or are you a particularly useless negotiator?"

Silence seemed to be the only answer Ilmr would receive. She did not voice her displeasure until they reached the palace and she began barking orders to Inghard who, with jaw set, obeyed.

He had never seen the halls of her father and though far different than those of Asgard, it was nonetheless spacious. What were likely wide, airy windows in peaceful times were shuttered panels, intricately carved and painted.

The halls appeared to be as old as those of Odin's, though there were a variety of places in which, rather unexpectedly, the wood looked new-carved or freshly-painted: repairs made after the battle in the palace half a year ago.

And, much like Asgard, the palace had a meandering, winding way about it that was intended to discombobulate. Fortunately, it would only take him a matter of days to learn the lay of the grounds.

There were many interior courtyards, he discovered, the only open windows looking out onto these protected grounds. While the flora in Vanaheim and Asgard looked similar, there were plenty of species that differed between the two not just by sight, but by function. He knew many from his studies, but there was such a variety in what he saw just passing a handful of courtyards, there were far more than he could name.

Ilmr first brought them to the armory and though she had not been present in her father's halls in several years, not one soldier appeared surprised to see her or question her demands and inquiries.

A dissatisfied smirk adorned her face after a report on the inventory and the state of disorganization in which her brother left the armory she clearly considered hers.

Loki labored under no illusion that the elves present were ignorant of the All-Speak, and yet Ilmr spoke in her native language when she gave her orders. With just a few short words to two elves in particular, the armory began to hum with activity and the space was reorganized to her specifications and orders were sent to the smithee.

Loki twitched a finger discreetly. "Coursing rabbits, are you?"

An amused expression flitted across Ilmr's face. "If there are enemies in this house, I would have them flushed out all the sooner. My brother is too trusting. Let them think you do not understand our language; I would see who would try to use it against you."

He merely nodded, and dropped his enchantment.

It was only once she was satisfied that her changes were well under way that they ascended the wide, richly colored wooden stairs once more. Though the walls and ceiling were beautifully carved and kept wood, the floors, every tenth meter, had a large marble stone set in them.

The halls of his childhood, while breathtaking in their own right, were far different, and Loki was reminded again of the appreciation he had for elven craft.

It was midafternoon when Loki found himself approaching Calder with Ilmr, her hand resting in the crook of his elbow.

Her eldest remaining brother sat stock-still and straight on his throne in robes of purple and silver. His hair, rather unlike Ilmr or Inghard, was mousy brown and fell just past his shoulders. His bearing, while strong in it's own right, was not the noble grace of the elves and for it, was less intimidating that those of his siblings who took after their mother's side more than their father's.

"Calder." Ilmr spoke as she rose from genuflecting.

"Ilmr." He turned his gaze on Loki. "Prince Loki."

It had been a long time since anyone had used his title.

"Inghard has spoken with you?"

Calder nodded, his expression guarded. "He has. You ask for much."

"Do I? In a handful of months not only has this mysterious enemy slain your King and Queen, but your greatest warrior. To say nothing of the Commander who sought me out, at your behest, to return because without me you would all perish."

Calder's jaw worked. It seemed, of Egil's children, the business of getting under the skin of others was Ilmr's domain.

"Your requests will be honored if the results are favorable."

Ilmr raised her chin slightly. "Spoken as the true son of your father."

Before she could fully turn herself and Loki to go, Calder halted them. "There is something more, Sister." He held a folded parchment to her. It was not new, given the state of it. "Part of Njordr's will. He left something to you."

She received it expressionless but as she read it, and then clearly at least once more, the furrow in her brow deepened. Ilmr held the paper to Loki. He took it with haste and found himself reading it twice over to ensure he was not mistaking what was written.

In the event that I perish in battle, I hereby declare my sister, Ilmr Egildottier, guardian to my heir.

Loki kept his features masked, but gave Ilmr a meaningful look as he handed the parchment back to her.

It was then she looked to Calder. "Yet another important note that your brother forgot to mention."

Calder smiled cruelly at that. "Had you known of Alfheim's aid or Hillevi, you would not have come."

Ilmr did no more than nod once. Loki wondered at the rage she likely contained. "And what will I do with a child while I'm absent at war?"

"That is your decision, now. She resides in Njordr's quarters, in the East Hall."

"Her mother?"

"Dead in childbirth."

Loki saw Ilmr raise an eyebrow at this.

"Strange. What complications were there?"

At her question, Calder's cruel smile finally dropped. An unsettled, uneasy look came over him. When he spoke, it was nearly a whisper. "None. She was perfectly healthy. She birthed the child and died almost immediately."

Ilmr nodded, taking only a few minutes to look her brother over before turning to Loki. "Let us visit our new charge."

The child was small, no more than five years of age, with strawberry blonde hair. A nursemaid watched over her, but made a quiet exit at Ilmr and Loki's approach. Though Ilmr did not know this servant, she apparently knew Ilmr.

"Hillevi." Ilmr pitched her voice lower, but not so low as to mimic the tone that she knew Loki was so fond of.

Before her name had been spoken, the girl made no motion to indicate she knew they were there. Upon hearing her name, the girl's head snapped in their direction, dark eyes taking in her visitors.

"You are Ilmr." Her voice was small, but utterly sure.

"Yes."

"You will look after me now."

Ilmr hesitated. "So it would seem."

Loki's hand was at her shoulder. With one finger out of Hillevi's line of sight, he made a circular motion before speaking. "She is observant, and confident."

Ilmr nodded, watching Hillevi's eyes narrow as she tried to discern why she could not hear her aunt's companion's voice, even as his lips moved next to Ilmr's ear. Loki would not reveal his skills to this child. Not yet.

"Think, Ilmr. We are here to battle Death herself. Her first act was to kill her mother. If we train her properly, we can use her to our own ends."

Ilmr turned what likely would have been a wide smile into a kind, soft smile, as though Loki had talked sense into his hard-hearted wife. A twitch of his finger, again out of Hillevi's sight, and the enchantment was expanded to include the girl now.

"Hillevi, I...do not know what will happen now. I am here because your uncles need me to lead the kingdom's forces against this enemy."

"The one that killed my father." There was no waiver in her small voice.

"Yes."

"Did he teach you to fight?"

"No. Our eldest brother did, long ago. I was no older than you, when I began to learn." Ilmr continued to prove her value to Loki. If the girl was taught to fight by both she and Loki, she would be a force to reckon with.

Ilmr had been right to think that her words would put the girl's mind into motion. Hillevi picked up her eyebrows. "I would like to learn."

"I could teach you."

"Do you have the elf-gift, too?"

"How do you use it?" Ilmr turned the question back on this girl; acknowledging that she did not possess it would earn her no trust.

At that question, the girl seemed unsure of herself for the first time. "They don't know."

Loki crouched. "What do you mean?"

Hillevi flicked her eyes to Loki and back to Ilmr. "Who is he?"

"My husband. Loki."

"Why couldn't I hear him?"

At that, Loki smiled wide. "Answer me, and I will show you."

Hillevi regarded him then, her unusually dark eyes analyzing. "I mean, no one knows what I can do. It's not like Father's, or either of my other aunts. I can't do one thing."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You can do many?"

The girl nodded.

With a widening grin and a twitch of his fingers, a small green light appeared in Loki's hand. "Then I believe I can also be helpful."

Hillevi's eyes widened, if only briefly. "Can you teach me that?"

"I can teach you how to use whatever it is you are capable of."

The girl nodded. She clearly had received from her new guardians what her father, aunts, and uncles would not give her, and so was willing to agree to much in order to receive the skills she so desired.

Loki extended a hand. "We have yet to see our chambers, however I believe the King knew of this arrangement and has seen to it that we have appropriate space for you in our quarters. Would you care to join us? We would be able to begin training immediately. And," he leaned closer to the girl before whispering, "your other aunts and uncles will not know and so will not be able to stop you from learning what you wish that they have thus far denied you."

Hillevi took his hand.

...

The quarters of Ilmr and Loki were large - as large as those she and her father had inhabited, though she had not been allowed to live in them, after his death and had been moved to a much smaller space. She knew her new guardians had arrived when she was hastily bathed, dressed in finer clothes than she had been allowed to wear in some time, and brought back to her father's chambers without reason.

Upon entering, there was an airy antechamber with space for the trappings of armor and outer vestments. Several meters in the space widened on both sides and became a large sitting room with a wall of windows and a long balcony on one side the looked out over one of the many the courtyards enclosed on all sides by the palace.

The opposite wall housed a large fireplace with a slightly raised, slate hearth and stone cladding. Opposite the entry to the antechamber, a curved, carved archway, leading presumably to the bed and bathing chambers, was flanked on either side by rows of bookshelves.

The fireplace was host to several deep settees and lounges, while near to one end of the windows, closest to the antechamber, was a desk where Hillevi assumed she would find either Ilmr or Loki ensconced on many an occasion. At the other end of the wall of windows sat a sizable table with half a dozen chairs.

At a nod from her aunt, Hillevi wandered further and discovered a hallway that branched off into four shorter ones, housing three bedchambers and a bathing room.

The largest bedchamber, off to the left, she assumed would belong to Ilmr and Loki. It had one wall which continued the windows from the sitting room, these too opening onto a balcony, more bookshelves on the opposite, a large, inviting-looking bed and two large armoires. Even then, there was more than ample space for any other furniture or belongings they might have had.

The middle chamber was likely the smallest, though even then it was larger than her current bedchamber was. It had two floor-to-ceiling windows and a large skylight. A sizable bed, a smaller version of the desk from the sitting room and a small set of bookshelves on either side of the door completed the furniture.

The bathing room was next, which was as large as the second bedroom, with a slate floor and a deep tub likely able to hold several people. A vanity with an ornately framed, oval mirror sat on one wall while a large, square window covered over discreetly by a deep purple, flowing drape sat on the other. Hillevi had the impression of taking many long baths to make up for those she missed in the months between her father's death and her aunt's arrival.

The last bedchamber, off on the right, was larger than the second, but not quite as large as the first. It had half a dozen windows that stretched almost to the ceiling from the floor and had a smaller version of the balcony the first bedroom had, overlooking another, smaller interior courtyard. Another desk surrounded by bookshelves, a settee, a deep armoire and, blessedly, another large, comfortable-looking bed completed the space.

Hillevi hoped this last room would be designated as hers, but knew better than to ask; such questions, she had learned, earned her the opposite of her desires.

"What do you think?"

She did not know how he did it; as more than half elven, she should have been able to hear Loki coming up behind her. She imagined he used some aspect of his abilities to conceal his steps. She could hear Ilmr approaching from down the hall.

"They are sizable and well-appointed."

Loki nodded, looking over as Ilmr appeared in the doorway.

"This room will be yours, if you wish it." Her aunt folded her arms across her chest as she spoke, more an air of ease than sternness in her posture.

Hillevi hesitated only a moment. They had promised to teach her both to hone her elf-gift and teach her the art of war. "Yes."

Ilmr nodded. "Then we will send for a servant shortly and have your affects moved into this chamber before nightfall."

"You are tutored at a rate beyond your years." Loki walked the room easily, inspecting it as he did.

Hillevi felt an indignant thrill rush through her but suppressed it her best. "Yes. I am."

Loki smiled, reading easily into her ill-concealed tone. "Good. I will speak with your tutor on the morrow and have lessons incorporate teachings from other realms. I would imagine much of your study has been focused on Vanaheim alone and the wider history of the Nine Realms."

Hillevi nodded slowly, irate at his correct assumption but unable to deny the lure of knowledge she hadn't expected to gain until she was old enough to seek it out herself.

"Yes."

"Then we will be changing that." He regarded her for a moment and Hillevi had the sensation that she was being read as easily as a book no matter how she tried to hide. "Are you bored, Hillevi?"

Again, she hesitated. "My tutor does not feel it necessary to teach me too far beyond what I am currently learning until I have grown older."

Loki tsked and glanced to Ilmr, who nodded. "Then we shall be having words with your tutor." He looked back down to her, a mischievous smile curving his lips and dimpling one cheek. "You will learn at your own pace. The insolence of your tutor will no longer be tolerated. Intelligence may not be a trait they value, but they will learn to."

Hillevi merely nodded and did her best to contain an eager grin.

...

Ilmr found herself spending much of her time until dusk in her new chambers with Loki and her brother's daughter. Who, she supposed since his death, was her daughter.

Hillevi was fascinated with Loki's abilities and what it meant for her own skills. Though not the sole outcast of the family as Loki had been, she was nonetheless the outsider in that she was the only one, to use her phrasing, who couldn't do "one thing" but many. She had also procured a promise from Ilmr that she would receive practice weapons fit for a child her size.

Hillevi, for all her fascination and glee at the prospect of minders who would finally teach her the things she wished to be taught, was a rather canny girl.

There was something about this girl that was unsettling. Perhaps it was her father's death, but she was very still and quiet, even in her delight. She was confidant and discerning and, much to Ilmr's satisfaction, disliked being spoken to as though she were as young as she was.

Loki spoke true: this girl they could use to their advantage. Ilmr's siblings had already set themselves up to be foolish in Hillevi's eyes.

Under the guise of preparing for battle, Ilmr spoke with Loki within an enchanted dressing chamber to keep Hillevi's ears from their conversation.

"How are you so sure that she will help us turn the tide?" It was good to don her Vanarian armor again. It made her feel so much more herself than she had been in years. She was in far better practice than she had been in a long time, having been able to practice in Stark's tower, but Ilmr held no illusions that she was as swift and sure on the field as she had been before the Mad Titan took her. It would return to her, she knew. She only hoped it would return before it cost her her life.

Loki gave her a mischievous, knowing smile. "I believe it to be another of Death's riddles."

"Oh?"

"Thanos could not have her no matter how much destruction and death he wrought because he himself did not die. So too do I think this to be another riddle."

"And Hillevi is the key?"

"Yes. Hillevi plucked life from her mother's womb. She carries it with her."

Ilmr nodded. "How can you be so sure?"

"You have seen as much as I know: there is balance in everything. Since I fell into the abyss the balance has been upset. With Hillevi, we can wipe clean the slate and begin again."

"Ragnarok."

Loki nodded. "Even so."

Ilmr could not halt the expression she felt pass over her features. "Jotuns were one thing. This is something else entirely."

Loki turned from buckling his armor and placed himself in front of her, stilling her own final preparations. "Yes. But it may not be what you think it is. I have told you –and you have seen- the fool Odin was. He hears prophecy and thinks it fact, immutable; that his interpretation is the only one, the correct one. He has often been wrong though he has always been loathe to admit it. I am right, in this."

Ilmr nodded. It was enough. It would have to be; there was no way in which they could turn back. If he were wrong, they would not live to bear the consequences. If he was right, they might, if they could last long enough for Hillevi to learn all she would likely need to.

"Then we will begin training her on the morrow. We will trade off shifts; one sleeping while the other trains her before we return to the field."

Loki nodded. "I will take the first shift with her, I am most interested to see what she can do."

Ilmr nodded, buckling her sword in place across her back, giving him a small smile as she did so. "Perfect. Shall we go forth and shame my family, then? They seem to think the only way to remain alive in this is to retreat. Shall we prove to them otherwise?"

A slightly manic grin alit on Loki's face. "Please."