Sorry for this chapter being so late, I had trouble with my beta readers!
FANFICTION
THE RISE OF LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF
CHAPTER X : Paradisiac Hell
[Loki is sent spying on Jotunheim to find out the truth about the threat of war against the Mountain Giants. Teaming up with a seiðr user, Eisa, she tells him something is following him since his arrival in Jotunheim. They use the Crossway and a magical item that can guide them in the Crossway to reach Utgard but they are attacked by a creature.]
If he was as brave and foolish as Thor, he would stay there and fight. But he wasn't Thor on the level of his so called bravery that Loki just considered the most imbecilic decisions his brother ever took.
"Run…" He breathed suddenly, taking her hand and suddenly pulling her behind him to run as fast as they could.
They heard a hissing sound behind them but couldn't figure out if it was the predator after them or another kind of creature that had joined the first. They ran for their lives, their way now only lit by the Golden Thread, all torches gone from the gigantic cave they were crossing.
Their hands were entwined firmly, not wishing to let go of one another in the almost complete darkness. Eisa threw a look over her shoulder then heard Loki's breathless scream of alert. He froze, trying to stop her but in her rush, she ran into him and with another gasp from the god, she realized too late what he had tried to prevent. They fell into nothingness.
They both opened their lips to scream in terror before hitting the ground, just a meter down from where they were standing a second ago. Loki growled loudly when he received Eisa's weight on him and she rolled off of him as soon as she realized they weren't diving to their death.
Silence fell on them for a moment before they heard running steps coming from where the beast should be. They turned around, Loki lifted up the orb to light at least a little what was about to jump on them and they prepared for a fight.
Then they saw the red eyes and stopped breathing, only to have very confused expressions on their faces when the red eyed creature stepped into the golden light and meowed.
Loki and Eisa stared with mouth wide opened the little kitten whose eyes had shone red in the darkness before it had decided to follow them, hissing and growling but the sounds reverberated by the rocks had made it sound so much more impressive. The kitten probably was on the top of a rock when he spotted them – which is why he had seemed bigger.
"What?" Loki spitted, not knowing if he should be relieved or ashamed for running away from a kitten.
The little animal blinked and tilted its head on a side at his voice then meowed another time, its tail swinging happily.
"The kitten must have been attracted by the luminescent magical ball of thread." Eisa said very seriously before grinning at her silly joke.
Loki rolled his eyes, clenching his jaw in annoyance while the young girl got back up on her feet and approached the kitten. She held out her hand and the animal ran happily towards her, rubbing its little head and closing its eyes in bliss.
"Don't approach that thing!" He exclaimed when she ignored him completely and stroked the soft fur, "It's in the Crossway, it must be some sort of evil creature! It didn't land here for its soft fur and purring!" He hissed, throwing a hard glare at Eisa.
"But look at that adorable fur ball..!" She exclaimed, while the kitten meowed happily, asking for more stroking.
"Stay away! It could be dangerous!" He exclaimed, glancing suspiciously at the purring kitten.
She stared at him then leaned forward, a scared and panicked expression on her face. Her lips trembled before she spoke up, making Loki nervous and waiting with anxiousness for what she had to say…
"Run…" She breathed, imitating the Prince earlier.
She busted out laughing, keeping the kitten next to her while he glared at her and clenched his jaw and fists.
"You looked so scared! Of a kitten!" She exclaimed, laughing louder than his pride accepted.
"I thought it was..! You saw it like me! And you were the one who freaked out first!" He replied, pointing an accusative finger at her.
"But you ran!" She riposted, still grinning and obviously trying not to laugh.
"I thought it was— all right! Just drop it!" He ordered but she only chuckled and laughed another time.
He opened his lips to yell something that would have most probably made his mother pale but was cut when the kitten suddenly decided to jump down the platform and ran the other way.
"Wait!" Eisa called, staring at the running silhouette of the little animal running away from her.
"Let it go." He said with a shrug.
But, as usual, she didn't listen to him and ran after the kitten.
"Wait! Eisa! Wait!" He exclaimed, following her with an exasperated sigh and a lot of growling. "I swear that if you get lost I am not losing my time looking for you!" He hissed, more to himself than anyone.
"Loki! Hurry up!" She exclaimed, a few steps ahead.
They ran after the kitten – or more likely, Eisa ran after the kitten and Loki was forced to follow. But at some point, the animal disappeared from their view and they slowed down, blinking at the other end of the tunnel.
"Is it me or.. it's getting lighter?" She asked hesitantly.
Without another word, realizing there was light, they accelerated and almost ran to the other side of the tunnel. They stepped into the light and froze, blinded by the sudden sun above their heads. They moaned and hid their sensible eyes with their hands, waiting to be accustomed to daylight once again.
"Did we arrive in Utgard? Already?" Eisa asked, after blinking and looking around.
They looked, their vision still uneasy. Then their mouths dropped.
"Definitely not Utgard…" Loki finally murmured, not quite believing his eyes.
They stared at the high green grass moving from the fresh breeze, some trees scattered here and there, but mostly, the wild animals living. Most of the animals were eating grass or leaves from the trees and they were mostly unknown for the two Asgardians, but they definitely weren't dangerous or threatening in any way.
Much further, in the distance, there were mountains and what caught their eyes was the huge hull of a ship in the middle of the grass. Even from this distance, they could see that it had been there for centuries, if not more and now in a very bad state…
"Look!" Eisa exclaimed, pointing at a tree.
At first, Loki didn't know what to look at considering the weird animal with a gigantic neck eating leaves in the tree but then, he noticed in the shadow of the tree and between bushes the little kitten running towards other kittens and what was probably its mother. But what struck them was that the 'cat' was much bigger, looking closer to a tiger and had gigantic teeth on either side of its jaws.
"A saber tooth tiger." Loki said, blinking. "I thought those were extinct everywhere but in Alfheim…"
"Are we in Alfheim?" She asked, brows furrowed.
"Not at all, Alfheim has blue leaved trees with lavender trunks, and the grass is milky white and the sky purple and—"
"Got it. Definitely not Alfheim." She said, glancing at the blue sky and green grass. "There isn't any star in the sky…"
Loki glanced up and frowned before looking back at the hull of the gigantic ship.
"No way…" He breathed.
"I thought the Sphere was supposed to guide us to Utgard, where are we?" She asked, looking displeased and uncomfortable.
"It can't be Midgard but… whatever this place is, that might be another world…" He murmured, an amazed smile slowly tugging at his lips.
She stared at him with wide eyes before opening trembling lips:
"Another world? I thought there were.. nine worlds?" She asked in disbelief.
"Nine worlds known. It doesn't mean there isn't another one hidden somewhere!" He exclaimed. "If the Crossway opens everywhere, then it can open to places we have never even thought of before!"
"Or maybe it's just an illusion."
Loki flinched then glanced at Eisa who kept looking around suspiciously.
"The seiðr," she simply said, sounding tense.
The god frowned then focused and felt it, the seiðr in everything around them. The trees, the sun, the sky, the animals… Of course, every living being has a certain amount of seiðr, but they are never made entirely of seiðr.
"If it's an illusion, there must be a trap," he said coldly.
They turned around to go back to where they come from but there wasn't any dark cave anymore. There was only an infinite meadow of grass and trees surrounded by mountains in circle. They turned on themselves, trying to find an exit or anything but there was absolutely nothing but a peaceful landscape of animals living all together.
"I.. shouldn't have followed the kitten, after all…" Eisa murmured nervously, glancing back at Loki who glared at her.
"I'm not going to say that I was right; but I wasn't wrong," he grumbled while she bit her lower lip anxiously, "Remember that the next time you don't listen to me!" He growled while they tried to find an exit from this poisonous Eden.
A few minutes later, after trying desperately to find back the exit, they started to walk. The use of their own hands, the magic or even throwing objects around in the hope of seeing it hit a wall didn't work. They were trapped in some parallel world with only illusions surrounding them.
"I'm sorry!" Eisa exclaimed, almost running behind Loki who kept his fists clenched and his long legs trailing ahead.
"You already said so." He replied coldly.
"Look, I know I should have listened to you! B-but…"
"I told you everything was dangerous in the Crossway! But you didn't listen! And now! We're trapped here!" He exclaimed, turning around so suddenly she stopped just in time before running into him.
They stared at each other, his pale green eyes furious while her bright emerald ones were filled with guilt. She lowered her gaze and he was surprised she did so – usually, she kept staring at him until he wanted to strangle her. Strangely, it felt weird that she wouldn't fight back and he blinked, disturbed by the uneasiness he felt at seeing her so submissive.
He finally sighed, his breath fanning over the top of her head. She looked back up and he put a hand through his black hair, running his fingers through it.
"Don't look like that. It doesn't fit your personality…" He said, sounding softer than she thought he would.
After a hesitation, she finally smiled lightly.
"What do you know of my personality? We barely know each other."
He saw the look of challenge in her eyes, slowly taking over the guilt and he couldn't help but chuckle, looking at her with the same look in his own gaze.
"I just know. There are things you cannot hide from me…" He murmured, his voice dropping lightly.
Her eyes gleamed happily and she chuckled before grinning widely:
"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me and a lot I don't know about you, Your Highness…"
She took a step forward, so that her breasts would brush his torso and despite the clothes between them, Loki had a hard time not growling. Knowing perfectly the effect she had on him, she smirked, her eyes a tempting green.
"But… I would love if you tried to get to know me… That would be.."
Her voice trailed off before she licked her lower lip, her rosy mouth so inviting Loki had to clench his fists to not suddenly grab her hair and kiss her.
"Interesting…" She finished with sparkling eyes.
She chuckled mischievously and stepped away, letting the Prince finally breath as she turned around and kept walking towards the hull – the only thing that wasn't the exact same around them. He needed a moment to calm down his excited heart and smirked broadly before following her.
"So…" She started, sounding hesitant and breaking the silence between them, "You're not angry at me?" She asked softly.
She blinked up at him and for a moment, he wanted to scream that he could never be angry when she was batting her eyelashes at him like that. But then, he remembered his mission and the situation they were in and he frowned. They both stopped and he looked down at her, anger shining in his eyes once again.
"I still am. There is no way I won't be angry at you for driving us into this place." He said with a hard voice.
He took a few steps to reach her, his arm brushing against her arm and shoulder, his icy green eyes diving into her bright emerald ones. He smiled sweetly, his expression calm and soft while his voice was filled with emotions none of them could quite understand.
"Lady Eisa, I'm afraid I'll need to punish you." He murmured.
She stopped breathing but before she could find anything to say, he grabbed the back of her head by the hair and pulled her backwards. She screamed at the sudden move but her cry turned into a shocked gasp when he bit her harshly, the pale skin of her neck already turning red and purple. He let her go, holding her while she wavered at the emotions and blood rushing to her cheeks. He smirked, highly satisfied by his little effect while she tried to glare at him, but she was blushing too much for that.
"I-is this the only punishment you can think of? You are showing way too much mercy, my Prince…" She whispered, her voice trembling more than she wanted to.
He showed a fake look of surprise and tilted his head on a side, licking his lower lip before answering:
"Punishment? That was just a taste of what I am planning for you, dear Lady Eisa. Do not think me so merciful that I would let you forget your mistakes…"
"You are more sinful than I am…" She murmured back.
He grinned, a joyful gleam shining in his eyes:
"Indeed I am." He said while she couldn't help but smirk back.
He finally let her go and they went back to their walk even if they kept glancing at each other, partly mischievous, partly playful, mostly tempted without admitting it, even to themselves. They were both too proud to admit that the other was slowly invading their thoughts and minds without reprieve.
"You never answered me." She suddenly said.
He frowned lightly, showing his lack of understanding while she spoke up again:
"You never answered me when I asked you if your father ever saw you so bright." She said with a gentle smile.
Loki's lips opened and closed, not knowing what to say and, unable to stare back at her bright green eyes, he focused on his goal straight ahead: the ship hull.
"I doubt he ever even considered the possibility." He said, hard.
Eisa stared at him in silence before opening her lips again:
"Why don't you talk?" She asked curiously, her brows furrowed lightly.
"Why would I talk?" He responded with a little shrug.
"It could do you good, to trust people." She said lightly.
He snorted before looking back at her, his expression disdainful.
"Why would I want that? I'm a Prince of Asgard."
"But, how do you want people to trust you otherwise?" She asked, blinking.
He froze and stared at her, mouth opening lightly before closing and he frowned.
"What do you mean? I don't need such a thing, I am—"
"A Prince of Asgard, yes. I noticed. But you are a living being too, with feelings and emotions. Wanting someone's trust is important, and.. considering how little you trust others, I guess you never had much trust from anyone before…" She murmured, looking away thoughtfully, "You are probably thinking 'why would I trust someone who doesn't trust me?' but.. this is the kind of things that has to go in both ways. You can't earn someone's trust if you don't have faith in that person as well."
He didn't say a thing but she continued, smiling lightly:
"Why don't you trust me? Talk about you!"
"There isn't much to say about me." He said, his voice colder than he thought it would be.
He blinked at his own voice, shocked to feel a hard feeling invading his heart. But he ignored it, like every time it appeared.
"Then talk about your friends and your family!"
He remained silent for so long that she would he hasn't heard before finally answering, voice still icy.
"You know my family."
She stared at him, silently observing him to understand how he thought before finally speaking up again.
"I know how they appear to be: a wise King, a kind Queen, a brave Heir… And a second Prince lost in the shadow of his brother…" She murmured, looking at him sadly.
Loki's steps slowed but he didn't stop, only swallowed despite himself. She continued, her voice resonating in his head while the beating of his own heart sounded hollow in his entire body, pulsing a cold blood in his veins. Cold by the anger slowly bubbling inside of him, of jealousy of always being in his brother's shadow to the point that any commoner would notice it, of fear. For feeling so lost and afraid. And for being jealous…
It's not right… I shouldn't feel this way, I shouldn't think that… He thought to himself, taking in deep breath to calm his heart.
"You're wrong…" He breathed, but he couldn't hear himself.
She didn't either and continued, too artless to be aware of the trouble and emotions clashing within the god at her sides.
"But how are they really? I don't want to know about the King, the Queen or the Princes. I want to know about the father, the mother and the brothers. This is so much more interesting, to know about your family and your relationships with them rather than the perfect family picture that you appear to be to everyone in the Nine Realms."
She looked back at him with a sweet smile:
"Don't you think so? That it's more interesting to know the real you rather than the mask you show us all…"
Loki's steps slowed down even more before he frowned and stopped, looking at a point in emptiness without really seeing anything.
"The real.. me?" He repeated hesitantly.
He stared at her and she stopped too. She frowned, not understanding his trouble.
"Yes, the real you." She repeated with a little nod.
"I'm a Prince of Asgard…" He said, looking straight into her eyes.
But even to himself, it sounded like a lie. As if he was trying to convince himself he was one. For the first time in his life, he felt.. like he didn't belong to Asgard at all, as if he wasn't who he pretended to be…
And that scared him more than anything else in the Nine Realms. His thoughts turned towards his mother, his brother and his father, a sudden panic rising in his throat. He wanted to yell, he wanted to cry, he missed them all and he wanted to be a little child once again, going to his mother for reassurance and comfort after a nightmare…
"Loki…" Eisa murmured, attracting his attention back to her, "You are so much more than that…" She whispered.
She smiled at him so genuinely and honestly that he felt his heartbeat increase. But unlike the cold beats of panic he felt moments ago, this time it was warm and reassuring. Not the same kind of reassurance his mother gave him when he was a child and he was scared of the Jotunns stories he heard about. It was a reassurance that made him want for more, he was craving for the warmth Eisa just gave his heart and the peace she just brought to him. Something even his mother never managed to do…
He stared at her, astonished to feel so many intense emotions in so little time but when his light green eyes met hers, so beautiful and powerful, he casted aside all of those feelings of loss, panic and fear. He wasn't alone, he was with Eisa (no matter how annoying she could be) and he felt warmer by her side – even if he couldn't explain those strange feelings and sensations…
Realizing he had remained silent, Loki coughed awkwardly before glancing at her once again.
"Y-you think?" He asked hesitantly, sounding almost fragile and breakable.
She seemed to finally understand his state of mind and smiled sweetly, reaching out her hand to rub it against his arm, as comforting as she could be.
"I think that I am impatient to get to know the real you a little more…" She said confidently.
Once again, the mad beatings of his hear sent waves of warmth and he smiled, almost chuckling and pretty sure he looked like a fool.
"Come on, we should keep going before the sabre-toothed tigers get hungry!" She exclaimed, starting to walk once again towards the hull.
He smiled and they kept on walking under the paradisiac sun. Even if everything around them was an illusion, at least, Loki knew that if he looked at Eisa, he would see something true. Something that was neither a lie nor an illusion.
They finally arrived towards the hull that seemed even bigger than from afar. When Loki took out the Sphere from his pocket, it started to shine and react. After entering this fake paradise, the Golden Thread had started to stop emitting any wisp of light that were usually guiding them in the Crossway. Loki had put it back in his pocket but now, it was reacting again.
"We might be close to the exit," he said, taking a step forward.
"Wait!" She exclaimed, suddenly grabbing his sleeve.
His eyes glanced down at the hand around his wrist but didn't say anything, only looked back at her face when she spoke up:
"If this whole place is an illusion, it might be a trap. Even the exit! We might be in danger if something awaits us on the other side – or whatever.. side there could possibly be…" She said hesitantly.
"The Sphere protects us, look, it's working again. It means we're going back to the Crossway and to our way to Utgard." He said.
"But what if—"
"Eisa," he said, cutting her so she would look at him, "You are safe with me. I promised you I would bring you back to Asgard safe and sound, you remember? And I will. I might be a liar, but I always keep my promises…" He said before taking her hand and squeezing it, as reassuring as he could be, "We stay together and we'll be fine…" He murmured with a little confident smile.
She stared at him for a long moment before mirroring his smile, flushing lightly at her own words:
"You said 'we'…" She whispered.
He froze, his heart missing a beat. He opened his lips to say something but his throat was suddenly dry… He blinked and forced himself to find a proper answer.
"We're in this together, aren't we?" He asked.
But she smiled lightly, knowing exactly that his "we" sounded different than before.
"We're in this together." She repeated, squeezing his hand and giving a tiny nod.
He nodded back and they turned towards the hull, following the golden wisps of the Sphere to be guided. They walked straight towards the wooden hull and hesitated when the wisps wanted them to walk right into the wood. Eisa advanced her free hand towards the wood but instead of touching it, a green shimmer shone, proving that it was just an illusion. They glanced at each other before taking a step towards the passage hidden by the hull illusion.
As soon as they stepped in, they lost their footing with a yelp. They weren't on the ground anymore, but they weren't falling into the void. They fell on their butts and started to slide at high speed down a slope. Their entwined hands only squeezed each other more strongly. The only light came from the Golden Sphere and they could see they were in some sort of gut made of black rock. The passage grew more and more sharp by the minutes as they slid down, increasing their speed.
Eisa glanced at Loki but couldn't see his face well considering the speed at which they were falling and the lack of light, but suddenly he gasped, his eyes widening. She followed his gaze and stopped breathing.
Right in front of them, the gut was separating into two different ways with a huge sharp rock in the middle. Loki tried to use his feet to slow down but he growled and stopped, only getting hurt.
"Eisa!" He called.
He threw her the Sphere and she managed to catch it right in time. Her heartbeat only increased in panic when his hand let go of hers but she then saw the green light of his seiðr illuminating his hands and face. He threw a spell at the rocks and guts in front of them, but she didn't have time to try to have a look that they suddenly turned, taking the turn on the left.
"Loki!" She screamed to cover the wind that was hitting their faces as they kept on accelerating.
"Your hand!" He shouted, reaching for her.
But then, the rock on which they were sliding disappeared and they realized with a cold fear that they were dropping right towards a huge cavern. They saw high walls about a hundred meters down of them. But the main problem was that they were falling right towards them, without a way to catch themselves on anything. They shouted as they fell towards their most probable death.
So, no big monster hunting them down. Just an illusion — just like pretty much everything else! :P
The hull and the paradisiac place are references to the myth of Noah and the flooding. And for Nilfheim, we don't see it in the MCU so I imagined how it could be. Considering it's the World of Light Elves, I thought it to be pretty and light and all~
NEXT CHAPTER: MIRRORS OF THE PAST
Yours Truly,
May