Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel-characters!
AN: A day late, but Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the feasts. I bring a gift of my own in the form of a new chapter. I hope it will be enjoyed. Let me know what you think!
~ Fields of Blood ~
Chapter 12
~ 0 ~
A few days earlier.
~ 0 ~
"You're not going to let me go," Loki said with a voice filled with apathy. It had been more a statement than a question. "So what are you going to do with me? I have nothing to offer you."
Arta gazed directly into his cautious, green eyes. "It is all right, Loki," he said, "for now, I just want to talk."
Loki frowned. Nothing made sense anymore. "Talk?"
"You see," Arta said with a charismatic smile on his face, "I do still need your help because I have a plan and you are an important part of it."
Loki wasn't sure whether or not he should reply. He simply knew he didn't like the way this conversation was heading in. Then again, he didn't have any control over this situation. He should simply be glad that his back was hurting as much anymore.
"Many years ago," Arta began to explain, "your father and I were good friends. We laughed together, we fought together and we both loved the same woman together."
"My mother," Loki said. He hadn't actually meant to say out loud, but that realization had easily slipped from his tongue. Arta reacted with a broadening of his smile.
"Exactly," the older man said, "your mother was a very beautiful and intelligent woman. She still is. Back then, both Odin and I courted her."
Loki was beginning to wonder what all that information had to do with Arta's plan, but this time he didn't voice his thought. He decided he would simply sit there and listen to the man's tale. After all, he had to grudgingly admit that it was rather interesting. This was a part of his parents' history that he had never heard before.
"In the end Frigga chose Odin to be her husband," Arta sighed, his gaze momentarily falling to his folded hands. In the moment, he appeared like a regretful, old man. "I was left with a broken heart, but I am not a weak man. I am not pathetic. I decided that Asgard needed a beautiful and strong queen like your mother. Only…she stayed in my head and after a while, I began to think that she had only chosen Odin because she wanted to be a queen."
That Loki couldn't believe. His mother took pride in her work and she had always said that being a queen allowed her to help those in need. But if she had to give up her crown to save someone she loved, she would do it in a heartbeat.
"I began to plot against Odin who was king at that point," Arta continued. His gaze found Loki's eyes again and he held them steadily. "I was still a close friend of your father at that time so no one had any idea of my plans. I thought that if I would depose Odin and become king myself, that Frigga would want to be with me."
Again, a ridiculous idea. Loki was starting to think Arta had lost his mind. Everyone in Asgard knew Frigga loved her husband dearly, just like everyone knew Odin loved his wife. Their marriage was a long one, but it was still going strong. It was partially because both Odin and Frigga made sure each of them had enough freedom.
"A battle followed," Arta carried on, "and it lasted for days. I had a few followers, you see, and they gladly followed me to war. In the end, however, I was no match for Odin and his army easily defeated my few men. I thought for sure he was going to kill me, but much to everyone's surprise, he didn't. He simply banished me."
That didn't sound like Odin at all, but then again, these events had taken place decades ago. Loki was sure his father was no longer that man.
"But I always consider myself a stubborn man." Something in Arta's smile changed and Loki couldn't quite put his finger on it. Perhaps his smile turned a bit smug and there might lay more determination in his eyes. "I vowed to myself that one day, I would be king. Over time I forgot about your mother. I knew she had given Odin an heir and I began to believe that she really did love him. But there was something inside of me… Once you have known a thirst for power, you can never shake it off again."
Loki listened intently to every detail of the story. He hoped he would hear something that might help him in the future, but he doubted it.
"For years now, I have been gathering an army. A proper army and finally the time has come to put my plan into motion and you, Loki, will help me achieve my goal. You will help me seize the throne. Finally I will be king and Frigga will be queen."
It didn't sound like Arta had forgotten about Frigga and Loki could hear in Arta's voice that he still longer for his mother. But if Arta truly believed he could achieve this, if he truly believed Loki would help him in this, then he was madder than Loki had originally thought him to be.
"I won't help you," Loki spoke. He wished he had sounded a bit stronger at that moment.
"Oh, but you will," Arta countered viciously. His smile vanished and his eyes grew a shade darker. They betrayed insanity and Loki didn't like one bit of it. "You will help me get into the palace at night, Loki, while everyone lies sleeping. They won't know what hit them and the throne will be mine. Do you know why I know you'll help me?"
Loki grew strangely cautious now. He shook his head.
Arta's right hand came to rest on Loki's shoulder while his left one found its way towards his back. Loki had no idea what was happening, but he knew he should brace himself. Suddenly, Arta pressed his nails into the cuts on Loki's back.
"Aaargh!" Loki cried out in agony.
"Those wounds might have been numbed by the ointment," Arta said icily as he buried his nails even deeper, "but the effects will soon wear off. It is just a matter of hours before fire will consume your flesh again and after a while, it will consume your entire body. Do you know why?"
Loki had no strength or breath left to reply. He whimpered like a small child and dropped his head. He didn't want Arta to see the tears forming in his eyes.
"I have poisoned you, Loki," Arta answered his own question. Finally he withdrew his hand. "While I was cleaning your wounds, I actually poisoned you."
Loki let out a shaking breath. He thought he was going to be sick. He just landed from one nightmare into another and he wanted it to stop. By the Gods, he wanted it to end! He had done nothing in his life to deserve this, had he?
"I alone hold the cure," Arta said with a soft voice again, "and if you do not receive it within time, then not only will fire consume your body, you will die a slow and painful death as well."
Loki bit down on his lower lip. He might be crying, but he doesn't want to break down into sobs. This was mortifying enough.
"So you will help me and my army into the palace or I am afraid you'll have sealed your fate."
"Yes," Loki said without really wanted to. He just…really doesn't want to die. Is that so bad? Isn't that natural? Logical? "Yes, I will help you."
"Good boy," Arta said with newfound warmth in his eyes, "and of course I do not need to remind you not to tell a soul about this. If my men and I are lured into trap, you won't receive the cure either. But I'm sure you had figured that out on your own. I'm sure you know not to disappoint me."
Loki nodded with fresh tears in his eyes. "I know."
~ 0 ~
Present time.
~ 0 ~
"I win, Odin," Arta said viciously.
Thor didn't know what he could do to stop this madness. At his right was his father, forced to kneel before a madman and before him lay his brother who looked like he was currently living in his own personal hell. Thor wanted to go towards him, but the savages were keeping him in place. He wanted to tell Loki that he would help him.
"You will never succeed," Odin calmly replied to Arta.
"I'll just have to prove you wrong then, won't I?" Arta countered angrily. He grabbed Loki and forced him to stand. For a few long seconds, Loki dangerously wobbled to one side, but Arta kept a firm grip on him. "Look at him, Odin, look at your son. This is your fault after all."
Thor watched Loki cringe away from Arta's touch.
"But in a certain point of view," Arta continued before anyone could respond, "you helped me, Odin. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had so much time with Loki. I wouldn't have been able to break him like I did. Then again, he was an easy victim."
With pain in his heart, Thor watched Loki close his eyes. Guilt was clearly written all over Loki's pale face and again Thor wished he could do something to help him. Before he could say anything, however, Thor heard the voice of his father.
"It's all right, Loki," Odin said with a soft and loving voice. Thor had never seen such a sensitive side to his father. "It's all right, son, you did nothing wrong."
Loki's eyes snapped open and the guilt was replaced by confusion.
Arta roared with irritation. "Be silent, Odin."
Odin wasn't someone that took orders from anyone, however. "Do you hear me, Loki?" He asked. "This isn't your fault. You only did what you had to do. Everything will be all right."
"Shut his mouth!" Arta shrieked at his men.
A savage instantly knocked a fist into Odin's side and Thor shouted in anger.
However, it was Loki's voice that was loudest. "Father!"
Arta threw Loki aside and into the hands of two savages. "Get him out of here," he ordered, "and those two-" He motioned towards Odin and Thor, "-lock them away. I don't have time for this."
No matter how hard Thor fought, he couldn't prevent the savages from grabbing his arms and dragging him away. The last thing he saw before someone knocked him out – probably because he was struggling too much – was Loki being dragged away at the other end of the chamber and Thor had no idea what else Arta had in mind for his brother.
Then darkness swallowed him.