A/N: All rights remain with Rick Riordan and Stan Lee and Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks and Marvel...I think I covered it.

Alright guys. I'm so terribly, terribly sorry about the lack of updates. This story is probably the hardest story for me to write because of all the different fandom involvements, but just know that this story is far too fun for me to abandon. So just because I don't update doesn't mean that I've forgotten this story. Quite the contrary, I am just trying to figure out plots. So if I run into plot holes, don't blame me. When I first wrote this story, I never actually fully plotted it, so now that is what is happening. I hope y'all can forgive me.

Oh, and on concerns of that previous chapter-let's all just be creative and pretend Percy understood some of what was going on (^.^') An internet hug for anyone who gets the 'creative' reference.

There Be Demi-gods

By: iamCAMBRIA

Introduction: Norse deities have been known to be more protective of their children than other mythological gods. Especially if their children are in constant need.

Chapter 8: I'll do What it Takes

The thunder still lingered in the air, frizzing and popping through the atmosphere like lightning. Loki forced his eyes open and looked up, seeing that Thor was standing right in front of him. The burly god was using Mjolnir as a shield, a barrier of lightning created to form a cage, keeping out the miasma that Odin had left behind. Loki let out a shaking breath, so it had really happened then.

Hiccup had been taken.

The only signs left, besides Thor struggling out of pure exhaustion to keep his lightning barrier up, were the roaring dragons in the sea, and the slowly but assuredly crumbling island which they were standing on.

"Is it safe?" A voice murmured quietly.

Loki looked down, realizing that Astrid was still safely encircled in his arms. Letting go, he swiftly back away from the child. The girl didn't stand up, she only looked down at the ground. Her bangs shadowed her face, blocking her eyes from the view of the Aesir.

"Thor, allow me." Loki mumbled.

Numbly raising his hand, a green light gleamed about his fingertips, replacing the lightning barrier with a shimmering force field. It would indefinitely cleanse the evil aura, so they could leave in safety. Thor knelt to one knee, his chest heaving in fatigue.

"Could you not have done that from the start, brother?"

Loki's hand clenched, the green light disappearing. "And miss the opportunity to see you strain yourself in a way I have not seen since our childhood? Never."

"It seems that you have changed your attitude very little, Loki." Thor gasped, his left hand flying to his side.

Astrid stared at the two, her eyes hazy. "So…you two really are gods then?"

Loki looked at her with soft green eyes. "No, not gods—Astrid."

"But…it's not possible." She murmured, her baby blue eyes closing a bit. "It's not possible you're here…"

The raven-haired man had only her trailing sentence as a warning before she slouched over. Quick as a wick, he lurched forward and caught her. Her skin was warm against his hands, and he knew that wasn't a side-effect from him being a Jotunn. She groaned softly, her blonde eyelashes fluttering, before she went limp in his arms. It took very little effort for the Trickster to pick up her motionless body.

"Do you have any strength left Thor, or are you currently a useless meatbag?"

The blonde male snorted. "I think your gratitude is in order, Loki. I did just save you and the girl."

"Yet you failed to save my son." Loki growled.

"I failed no more than you did."

The Aesir's facial features darkened and a shadow seemed to loom over his eyes. The pale hands clutched the young girl's frame tighter, as if she would disappear if he wasn't holding her for dear life—hers or his was debatable. He left out a shaky breath before glaring at his so-called brother.

"I was not the one who brought a possessed father to this place."

Thor sounded like he was about to choke.

Loki did not wait for him to answer. Pursing his chapped lips together, he let out a high pitched whistle. With a flourish of sprinkling water droplets, and the sound of crashing waves, Stormfly flew up out of the water, abandoning her vigil with Toothless. The pale-blue Nadder hovered up to the edge of the isle where Loki precariously placed the unconscious shield maiden atop the dragon's back. Stormfly squawked her reassurances to the Trickster. Loki nodded his thanks before beginning to scale down the long leg of the island.

Toothless garbled something to him, from where the sloshing water was slowly tiring the dragon.

"Just hold on a bit longer Toothless, I'm coming." Loki appeased, watching his steps carefully as he jumped from hand hold to hand hold.

The Night Fury roared snappily.

"Yes, yes, I understand perfectly the full gravity of the situation, you over grown fire lizard. Now do shut up so I can concentrate." Loki gripped, his hand slipping on one of his holds.

The dragon burbled in a mouth full of seawater.

"Haha, take that you ingrate." The Aesire jeered, jumping down to the base of the island. "Now…how do I get to you without getting wet?"

In response to that, Toothless flared up his wings, spraying the raven-haired with the salty sea foam.

"You ingrate!" The Trickster shouted, spitting out the stinging water.

The black dragon was only able to enjoy his victory for but a short moment. After one leering hum, his head ducked under the water and it didn't bob back up. Bubbles surfaced and Loki found himself immediately diving into the water after the dragon.

The water was as frigid as it looked, and Loki could practically feel his skin turning blue. But it didn't matter now. When he found his son—because he would—Hiccup would kill him if he allowed the last Night Fury to die. Not to mention that he owed Toothless quite a bit for keeping Hiccup alive from the constant troublemaking he caused.

Like father, like son. Valka used to croon.

The dragon which was quickly sinking let out a roar, releasing a mouthful of bubbles. The leather-clad Trickster reached out, his hand catching on the side of the leather saddle on the dragon's back. Working against the pressure of the water, Loki seated himself on the dragon's back, clicking the prosthetic fin into the correct position. It took his mind less than a second to figure out Hiccup's complicated contraption. Silly Hiccup, always making things complicated.

I'll have to 'chew him out' for it when I return him to his home. He decided determinedly, allowing the dragon to take over.

The freezing water rushed past his clothes and hair, stinging his already chilled skin. It was starting to really affect his other form. Delicate little traces of ice began to swirl cautiously over his skin like paint to a canvas.

Hurry, Toothless.

The dragon seemed to sense the Asgardian's anxiety and forced his wings to flap harder from within the under water. With one last hurtling blast, Toothless wings broke the water, and he and Loki swooshed out of the icy barrier. The air hit their lungs like a brick wall, and effect of immediately, the raven-head's skin began to mellow out to its prior pale-tan color.

Loki parted his lips and took in the air. He grimaced. This was the feeling that Hiccup always got from his flights. The boy always came home raving about how the air smelled and felt. The way it seemed to slide down the throat like fresh glacier water. The boy had not been lacking in his description. For a moment, the Aesir almost envied his son.

"Loki!"

Toothless flew back up to the isle where Thor was waiting haggardly.

"Thor." Loki greeted evenly.

Thor tilted his head curiously. "What of the flaxen haired shield maiden? She still sleeps."

The raven-haired one sighed, his form shimmering until it returned to the burly frame of Stoick the Vast. "Remember where you had found me? That big house? Go there, and I will meet you there. I will return Astrid to her house, and you and I will find my son."

He turned to the azure Deadly Nadder. "Stormfly, follow Toothless and I, we will escort you and your rider to your home."

With that, he switched Toothless' tailfin and the dragon sailed forward with a great burst of speed. Stormfly followed with the simplest of ease. Astrid had trained her well for keeping up with the midnight colored dragon. Thor looked like a kicked puppy, left behind by its owner, before thrusting Mjlonir up and following.

The ride there felt like ages. And it gave a worried father's mind far too much time to mull over the fate of his son. What on earth did Odin want with Hiccup in the first place? True, the Allfather did not like Loki as a Jotunn, but he had always loved him as the Aesir self. Never had they quarreled as long as the Trickster was disguised as an Asgardian. So why now did the Allfather wish to pick a fight with Loki and his heritage, taking his rage out on an innocent child who had known nothing of his parentage's history.

The only explanation was possession. Odin's anger at Loki's running away almost thirty five years ago must've invited whatever forlorn spirit had wanted power. But it would've had to have been an already-powerful ghoul to have easily taken Odin's mind and body.

Or perhaps not all of his mind, but left some of it—the hating part. Loki thought, gripping the handle bars tighter. Damn that Odin for holding a grudge. Could he not live with the fact that I was living a relatively happy life?

Berk neared in sight, and he tapped Toothless' side. "Make sure to land near Astrid's house. I want her parents to know that she is safe."

The dragon flicked his ears and snorted, as if to say she's unconscious and you call that fine?

"Just remain quiet and fly."

Toothless landed with a thud not long after.

Loki jumped off and gestured toward their house on a hill. "Go home and meet my oaf of a brother. I'll be there shortly."

Toothless grumbled but limped off towards the said hill. Loki made a mental note to check up on the dragon's legs before leaving to wherever they were going. It would be awful if Toothless couldn't walk. Being that there was no way in Helheim that the dragon would allow Loki to ride it the whole time.

With a click of his tongue, he beckoned Stormfly to follow him. The dragon did so with extreme obedience. He supposed it had to do with his status as both Aesir and Hiccup's father. Ever since the end of the war, the dragons have had a certain amount of great respect for him.

"W-w-what?" A voice murmured. "Where am…where am I?"

Loki sighed. "Astrid, yer awake lass."

She gazed up at him. "I…Stoick?"

"Yes?"

"No…you're…you're supposed to be Loki." She mumbled.

He sighed, this would not be easy. "No, I'm not Loki, lass. Ye took a nasty knock ta the head."

"No…Hiccup…I got pushed out of the way." Astrid grumbled trying to move from Stormfly.

"Not so fast."

"I'll do what I want."

"Astrid—"

"I know I'm not crazy. I remember all of it. Hiccup, Odin, you. So you might as well drop the act."

Loki tilted his head up. "And if I were Loki?"

"Then you'd better take me wherever the Hel you're going to find Hiccup."

That made him chuckle.

"What?"

"Now I know why Hiccup likes you so much."

She crossed her arms and jumped down from the dragon. "I won't get in the way, you know that. My parents won't care 'cause they know every time Hiccup goes missing, so do I. So, what's it going to be, Loki?"

Loki grinned. "I think you're far smarter than you let on, come quickly then."

With that, the Aesir disguised as Stoick turned on heel and marched quickly from their current direction. Astrid followed quickly after saying something to Stormfly. The dragon stalked the other direction towards her house. The Trickster was positive it was going to reassure Astrid's parents that she would be with Hiccup.

They must trust my son greatly to allow their daughter to go with Hiccup all the time.

Of course the shield maiden's parents were Vikings. So that helped in the mindset. War loving brutes the lot of them were. It was like a village full of Thors. It took them no time at all at their current fast pace. Loki almost broke the door down, reverting to his previous form. Astrid sucked in her breath, but basically he ignored her.

Thor was sitting in a chair dozing off, and nearly tumbled from his nap when Loki made his rude entrance.

"Get up you big oaf, we are going to find my son!"

Thor looked groggily at Astrid. "Why is the shield maiden here?"

"Because I'll do whatever it takes to get Hiccup back." She snapped.

Loki grinned. "As will I."

Toothless smiled an affirmative burble.

Thor scratched his head, clueless. "So…how do we find your son?"

"By using a tracking spell. Which I already have." The Trickster snorted.

"So you've found Hiccup?" Astrid asked hopefully.

Loki's smile faltered. "Not exactly."

Raising his hands, green light once more erupted from their tips. Without any warning, the background and room around them lurched incredibly. The room span, and span. The occupants—save Loki—were all jostled into each other, falling into one big pile of Asgardian, Night Fury, and Viking mess. Slowly the image began to melt away like a water washed painting and was replaced with a rather new scene.

Slowly tall metal images began to replace the warm, cozy common area. Loud noises unlike dragons bombarded the air, and the all too familiar smell of smoke clog their nostrils. Thor coughed at the sudden change and Astrid wanted to panic at the unfamiliar sight of wherever they were.

Loki gave a maniacal grin. "You said you'd do whatever it took. So, I took us to the future."

"So…Hiccup is…in the future?" She swallowed.

"Yes."

"And do you know where my nephew is, brother? Such as the exact village he's been taken to?" Thor asked warily, looking at the people who eyed him with bewildered looks.

Loki's smug smirk fell a bit, but the same crazy look remained in his eyes. "Well…not per se."

"Fantastic." Astrid muttered.

Toothless gave an annoyed burble.

A/N: Hope the extra length of this chapter made up for the lack of updates. Thanks so much for being patient with me guys! See y'all the next update, love ya! Toodles!

please R&R!