Stolen Stars:
Chapter Sixteen
Crawl on my belly til the sun goes down
I'll never wear your broken crown
I can take the rope and I can fuck it all the way
But in this twilight, our choices seal our fate
(Broken Crown – Mumford & Sons)
0o0o0o0o0o0
This could have happened a whole lot sooner, It thought bitterly. Though, there was no point in grumbling now, It supposed. Just one more entanglement and It would be free.
The coils shifted and pulsed. It was astounding how oblivious the Jotun runt was to Its restlessness. The Snake blamed it on the boy's stunning sentimentality. Blind love was the easiest poison. An opiate more potent than faith, then purpose. Nothing mattered to the whelp but that pathetic reliance on the Bad Wolf.
It was not long now. The golden light of the Fenrisulfr had begun to glow against Its cage for the past fortnight now, the muggy fog dissipating at an exciting rate.
Oh, how It could taste the worlds between Its teeth, the souls screaming as It absorbed their power. It longed to feel the whirling of the cosmos under Its scales once more. It cared naught for the plans of the Ancient Ones.
It would consume all.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sunlight warmed her skin and prodded Rose awake. No alarms. This is what she preferred, though she must admit that having a TARDIS soul running through your veins relinquished that sort of absolute grasp on time.
A lingering headache from yesterday's session and that damn buzzing pushed her further into consciousness. Loki wasn't happy when Rose overextended her abilities once more, and had ordered her to an early night's retirement.
It didn't matter, anyway. She was pretty sure it would be completely gone within the next two days. At most.
She yawned, sleepily running through her pre-conceived argument she would present to the All-Father later that day. It had to be good, because even though the king stubbornly avoided the topic of what would be considered the best solution for Loki, it was imperative that he agree to her continued stay in Asgard. She couldn't be sure if Odin had a plan of his own that would upset her, or if he honestly did not consider what to do with Loki after he was cured.
Rubbing her face, Rose shoved the blankets off of her and slid out of bed. Her session with Loki wouldn't be for another hour, and she hadn't had time to check on T-Too for the last couple of days.
The green box blinked into existence with a flick of the sonic and Rose patted the wood panels in greeting. She hesitated, however, because the usual ghost of recognition that the box normally offered in return wasn't there.
Rose shrugged off the strange silence and went for the door handle.
It was stuck.
"The hell…" she muttered, her brow furrowing as she reached for her neck for her key. I don't remember locking it. Undoing the latch of the chain, she pulled it from her collar and fit the key into the slot in the door. After a few seconds of jiggling, anxiety started its slow build in her stomach. She brought out her sonic and tried a couple of settings. Nothing. Snapped her fingers. Nope. Twice. Nada.
"Forget it. Bein' temperamental, are we?" she joked, though her tone had a sharp edge to it. Maybe the old girl was making some unkown repairs. Even after so many years of experience with T-Too, there were some things that never could be explained about the sentient being that lived inside.
With a sigh, Rose sent T-Too safely back into her bubble of time. She couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, however.
Rose got dressed and headed down to the library to spend the rest of her hour in quiet study. She had found a fascinating tome on Asgardian rune magic.
Settling into her favorite nook—a bench that was nestled in the corner of a veranda, filmy curtains moving slightly behind her in the breeze—Rose opened the book to the page where she left off the day before.
She recognized a few of the dampening spells as she flipped through the elaborate handwritten parchments. Their runes had been inscribed in Loki's prison walls, and a few more on the silver bands on his wrists. Rose wondered what he must feel, being unable to utilize the power that he had been born with.
Well, she supposed she sort of knew. The Doctor had a hard time adjusting to being human, and still had issues with his own dampened sense of time and space up until his death.
At least he had his strength back now. Rose smirked in remembrance of his irritation at her having the upper hand in terms of strength back in Vanaheim. Her mind went hazy at some of the more creative ways she could have taken advantage of that particular power imbalance.
Calm down, you dirty old woman, she chastised herself, shaking her head and going back to the book in her hands.
As usual, her mind automatically felt when it was time to head down the east wing where Loki would be waiting to have their session. In any case, she was looking forward to it, even as the anxiety of confronting the king raged at the back of her mind.
She was approached by Fandral and Volstagg in the corridor on the way to the room, and they waved her down.
"My lady, how are you this fair morn?" Fandral asked brightly.
"Good, thank you," she replied.
"I hear there might be hope for you to be with us for some time yet," Volstagg commented. Rose nodded and gestured vaguely.
"I am going to ask the All-Father later today. The details will be up to him, though," she said.
"It would be wonderful for you to grace our realm with your wit and tales a bit more," Fandral teased, his smile encouraging.
"Thank you, Fandral," she droned wryly, appreciating his constant but harmless flirtation. "Where are you two of to this early?"
"Training grounds. Thor challenged us for a two-on-one," he told her, his chest puffing out impressively. "You should come and watch, Rose. It will be a grand affair, to be sure."
"I have to get to Loki, sorry boys," she said. "But my bets are on Thor, I hope you know that."
The two warriors complained loudly about the jibe at their honor as glorious fighters of Asgard, and Rose merely laughed. Bidding goodbye to the two of them, Rose continued her way down the east wing.
"Good morning, Guns," Rose grinned as she entered the room.
"Roses," he replied, bowing his head with an answering smirk. Rose giggled when he took her hand and dipped his head to brush the back of her knuckles. "You look lovely this morn."
"Stop it," she said, fighting down the blush that threatened to tint her cheeks. The old Loki that was a scoundrel and a flirt never failed to make her warm all over. She missed it, to be honest.
"Shall we?" he asked gesturing to her armchair.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Seidh bit her nails, a nervous habit that was unsuitable for a Norn but she could not help it. She could hear the chanting of the Great Ones reverberating through the realms, binding this time and place.
Any moment now. It was done. It had been done. It will be done.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"You are quite excited."
"Don't patronize me. We're almost done. I can already see that you're more at ease."
"That is not necessarily just due to the lack of poison, Rose," Loki murmured, running a thumb lightly over the back of her hand. He savored the pleased look in her eye, but Rose made no comment of it.
"Oh, c'mon. A headache is worth getting the rest of that damn stuff out."
Loki pursed his lips in uncertainty, and then sighed.
"Alright, but only get enough so that you can get the rest tomorrow."
Rose smiled. That smile tinted everything with color in Loki's mind and made his heart soar. Yes, it was certainly the right choice to encourage Rose Tyler to stay a little while longer. Perhaps it was selfish need, but he would treasure that smile until the day he truly died.
"Ready?" Rose said, holding out her other hand.
"Of course," he said, taking it.
0o0o0o0o0o0
A grunt and a low, hiccupping hiss that could almost substitute for laughter.
The pathway was clear.
Excellent.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Rose breached Loki's mind effortlessly, the trust that had been carefully built between them easing her way. She burned through the hidden corners of muck that the poison presented. There was hardly any left, but enough to harden her determination.
She was just about to reach her limit when something shifted. At first she thought it was Loki's hands, but it was deeper than that. It was in his mind. The hollow buzzing at the back of mind increased.
Enough of that, she growled. She began to suspect that the poison might try to fight back. She felt Loki tense underneath her. She thought she felt him faintly call her name in warning, but she calmed him with another burst of light. There was only a bit left that she could absorb. The rest would be left for tomorrow.
Almost there, Guns. What's getting you so—
Something big cut Rose off, like a semi-truck barreling into her consciousness. She was thrown back into her chair and into reality with a shocking jolt. She swore and her hand flew to her temple. That had hurt.
"What the hell, Loki?" she snapped. The buzzing (growling?) almost muffled her hearing, making her voice sound off even in her own ears.
Loki was slumped forward, his head bowed and staring at his hands, unmoving. Fear laced through her heart. Did she do something?
"Loki?" she prompted warily, reaching over to touch his shoulder.
The raven-haired prince snapped up straight, and Rose flinched back in surprise. Loki was expressionless and his eyes were empty. Confusion and apprehension ran a chill line down Rose's spine. He moved after a breath. His head swayed to the side as he surveyed her, and the blank look in his face was so alien Rose wanted to skitter backwards over the chair and out of the room.
"Loki, are you okay?" she asked slowly, feeling the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end.
His mouth opened, then closed methodically, his fingers flexing at the same time. The undulating effect made Rose nervous.
"How…curious," Loki finally murmured, staring in fascination at his hands. He reached his arms out, examining one at a time as if he'd never seen limbs before.
Oh god, he's snapped, she thought, panicking.
Loki's eyes flicked to her once more, and this time there was emotion on his face. But it was cold, reptilian. It was sharp inquisitiveness. It looked like he wanted to dissect her.
"No, Rose Tyler. Quite intact." His voice was low, clipped…wrong. Rose stood and stepped to the side of her chair. Every warning bell in her body was going off, and the urge to run was coursing through her veins.
He smiled at her, and it took her breath away in horror. This was not Loki. This wasn't even insane brainwashed Loki. This was something else entirely.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her hands closing on the sonic in her pocket.
The laughed was garbled, and he stood fluidly. He took a step forward, and Rose did the opposite. Her eyes went to the door. She could make it and call for help. But what about Loki?
"You could have freed him, Rose Tyler," he stated. "He knows that. These runes?" He lifted Loki's wrists, exposing the silver bands as they glinted in the early morning sun. "You've broken them before, and he knows. But he never asked you to free him." The thing in Loki's body paused thoughtfully. "You never asked. No matter. I will help where you didn't."
With two sharp snaps, the bands fell to the ground, smoking. He rolled his head, his eyes closed in ecstasy as if relishing the magic that was now at his command. Rose took another step back
"Oh, that's better," he moaned.
"Are you the Other? Are you angry that I'm taking the poison out?" Rose guessed. "Because you can't have him. You've tried already. So you can just leave Loki alone and go brainwash someone else."
"That pitiful worm?" It laughed, a choking, harsh thing. "No, Rose Tyler."
"Then who are you?"
"Nothing without you, sweet child." The thing's voice dripped sweetness like a sickness. It crawled over her skin.
"What are you talking about?"
"He can hear you, you know. I made sure of it. I had something to show him. One more torture before…" It hummed brightly and made a casting motion with Its hand. "Down Yggdrasil like so much rubbish!"
"Get out of him," Rose barked, brandishing the sonic in front of her even as she backpedaled towards the exit.
The thing raised its brow in mock terror.
"You really think you are a match for me?" It cackled cruelly, then sobered. It tilted its head forward—a serpentine-like motion— and approached her with a forbidding sneer twisting Its lips. "You are nothing, Bad Wolf." She had her hand on the knob of the door now. She gripped it tight, but It was too fast.
Hands were around her throat, and she dropped her sonic. She tore at the pale iron fists in terror.
"I control you now," It hissed.
"No!" Rose shouted, but it was too late. The thing's consciousness shot like lightening down the connection she and Loki had forged and reached down deep. Past everything Rose ever thought she was and to the one door and the thing behind it that had been carefully contained for so long.
You cannot fight me.
It was too hot, too bright. Something howled like an angry beast and burst like a supernova and then Rose was falling.
Lost.
0o0o0o0o0o0
It watched detachedly as Rose Tyler's body fell limp onto the carpet. It could hear Loki screaming revenge, and It wanted to laugh. One last torture in this life indeed. How simple it was to make these crude creatures to crawl and beg for mercy.
"Oh, the show is not over yet. Unfortunately, you won't be around to watch it," the Snake crooned to Its vessel's owner.
With a careless shove, It sent Loki tumbling into the abyss along with the Midgardian whore. Down…down to Hel.
It was truly wonderful to not have to share.
With a gesture, Rose's body lifted and her eyes snapped open. The golden light of the Vortex crackled around her and poured like wine from her vast gaze. Jorgmandr cocked Its head to the side, unimpressed.
"Hello, Fenris," It hissed. "I do believe we have an appointment with Odin All-Father."
It snapped Its fingers, and the Bad Wolf moved to Her place at Its side.
"Let's not keep him waiting, shall we?"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Two worlds. One shriveled root on the World Tree.
Hel is not a place. It is not a time. It is Purgatory. It is the Wastelands. It is the places where all things are concealed behind gates wrought not in iron but in dreams.
The red cock crows the awakening of Ragnarok, the arrival of two souls wrapped in the agony of their respective tortures. The Snake and the Wolf walk among the Realms once more, and They will wield the destiny of the gods.
The Fates weave the perfect web. It was written. It was over when it began, and cannot be undone.