"Archbishop Pietro Leonardo Gentry, servant of Christ, this is my adopted brother: Prince Loki Odinson of Asgard and Laufeyson of Jotunheim, called the God of Lies, Mischief, Chaos, and Fire, and premier Sorcerer of the Nine Realms. Brother, this is Archbishop Pietro Leonardo Gentry, a Father and High Priest in the faith embraced by Captain Rogers..."
"Prince Thor, please," the old man held up a hand. "I appreciate the honor you give my office, but the formalities should really be saved for another time. I am deeply honored to meet you both. My brothers and I have long suspected such beings existed, but having no proof could only speculate. I wish the occasion were more joyous! Let us take such joy in each other while the time is short, and may your revelation bring joy and relief to the rest of the inhabitants of the Earth, knowing that we are not alone in the Universe, after all! Princes Thor and Loki, I bid you welcome," the old man bowed stiffly, "to the Earth. May you find Grace and Peace during your stay here, and may the Blessing of my Lord rest on you both."
The Archbishop extended his aged hands to Thor, gripping his hands firmly. "Prince Thor of Asgard: welcome," the old man said simply.
"Thank you, your Grace," Thor said. He was deeply touched by the old man's demeanor. It was a radical change from the priests of Asgard. Where the Aesir priests were cold and austere, this old man seemed deeply warm and affectionate, even humble. It showed in the way he carried himself, in the wrinkle of his smile and the light in his eyes.
Before he could stop the old man, the Archbishop released Thor's hands and extended the same gesture to Loki. "Prince Loki of Asgard and Jotunheim: welcome!" he exclaimed, and grabbed the cold blue hands of the Frost Giant.
"NO!" Thor shouted, reaching to stop the embrace, but he stopped short.
The Archbishop's hands had not frozen. Instead, where his flesh touched Loki's, Loki's turned white, shifting back to his preferred Aesir color. Loki tried to pull away, but the old man gripped him harder and tugged him close. The sharp blue eyes met the surprised red ones.
"You're in pain, aren't you, my son?" the old priest murmured.
"Yes," said Loki quietly, meeting the old man's eyes.
"I sense a great burden, and guilt, and...other things. If you wish, we may discuss this another time, when we have privacy. Perhaps you may find healing while you are here with us," he murmured. The Archbishop released Loki's hands, and they shifted back to blue.
"For now, let that suffice," said the Archbishop, raising his voice again. "I shall, of course, call my elder brothers in the faith as soon as possible, for they will want to share in this joy, as will His Holiness, the Pope. Now, may I ask why I was called here? I assume it was not just to meet these foreign dignitaries, important though that is."
Thor nodded. "We bear grave news, your Grace. There is a being who threatens the continued existence of your realm and its people: a Titan given to madness, whose name is Thanos."
"We believe he has chosen to target your planet specifically because of the claims of your religion," Loki explained, his fingers twitching reflexively. "Your faith claims to have conquered Death, and Thanos worships Death."
"Ah, I see," said the old priest. "This sounds like an extensive briefing. Can someone find an old man a chair? I find standing for long periods very tiring, nowadays."
Chairs and an office table were produced, and the Archbishop sat down, as did Thor, Loki, Fury, Rogers, and Stark. Tony Stark sidled up to the old priest before sitting.
"So, you and the rest of your cohorts have 'always suspected' there could be other sentient races out there, huh? I thought you were supposed to leave lying to the politicians?" he said softly, but with some sharpness.
The Archbishop met Tony's eyes with a gaze like steel. "Boy, I serve the Author of Life, not Stupidity," he said sharply. "Don't confuse the ranting of ignorant and cruel men with official doctrine. Putting 'in Jesus name' on the end of a statement does not create orthodoxy; any more than referring to Darwin creates good science. To answer your question: Yes, we have been prepared for this for some time." The old man sat down. "Now, if we can get started?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Pepper placed a hand on Sauer's arm as she exited the side bedroom. "Are you ok?"
The young woman nodded, but still frowned at Pepper's face. "I understand 'ok', so I think you're asking me if I am alright, but... Am I speaking English, or are you? What's happened to me?"
Sif stepped forward. "Lady Sauer, you are currently speaking my language: the All-Tongue of Asgard," she said briskly. "All who hear you will hear what you say in their own language, and you, in turn, will understand those of us who speak such. The princes have determined that you were somehow gifted with Tongues during your sojourn with Thanos, though the gift was incomplete. You speak in the language of the perceived ancestry of the first person you see when you open your eyes. However, the gift of Tongues is incomplete without Interpretation, and you cannot interpret. You must, therefore, be careful of blinking for some time."
"The All-Tongue? But how..."
"The mechanism of the magic involved can only be explained by a skilled sorcerer, and then only if he knows exactly what magic transpired at the time of the gifting," Lady Sif grated. "Just be careful who you look at if you must close your eyes, and then open them. Can you follow such simple instructions?"
Pepper flushed angrily. "Now just a minute!"
Sauer touched her friend on the arm. "Pepper, it's ok, really. Do we have any apple juice? My stomach finally settled down, and I'm really thirsty."
Pepper Potts gave her young friend a look, and nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She held up a finger and indicated a place on a nearby chair. "Wait here."
Sauer watched as her boss's heels clicked across the floor, and waited until she was out of earshot, before turning back to Sif. "Alright, spill. What the hell is the matter with you?"
Sif raised her chin. "Spill? Spill what? I don't know what you mean, Lady Sauer."
"The hell you don't." She glared at the taller warrior. "You've been treating me like shit since you appeared in the Tower, and I've done nothing to you. What the hell is your problem?"
Sif scowled down at the centuries-younger woman. Did she really owe this...child...any explanation? Wasn't her foolishness already apparent? She thought about it for a moment, frowned as she began speaking, and sat down.
"Lady Sauer..."
"Please call me Anne. It is a nickname given me by Agent Barton, and I will soon legally adopt it."
"You do not use the name given you by your father?" Sif looked surprised.
"No. It is awkward and archaic, and has brought me a great deal of mistreatment while growing up. My father chose it as a joke, not realizing how cruel other children would be with someone in their midst who was...odd. I don't use it except for legal documents. Those who know me call me Sauer, but even that can be turned into a joke, since it rhymes with 'sour', meaning 'bad taste'," the young secretary explained.
"Ah," Sif closed her eyes, "I always wondered why you had such an odd-sounding name. Anne, then. What do you know of our people, especially the princes Thor and Loki? I know many tales of their exploits are told here on Midgard, though how that can be is a mystery to me."
"Not much," Anne admitted. "I never developed a taste for mythology, though I had to read some of it in school. My interests lay mostly in engineering and metallurgy."
Sif looked surprised. "That explains a great deal. I always assumed Loki's reputation was well known."
Anne shrugged. "I know he is Thor's adopted brother and a member of the royal family. I know he is exceptionally intelligent and ambitious. He is well-mannered and very observant. In battle, he is particularly ferocious, but I believe that is the norm for anyone raised in Asgard, particularly royalty. He is also gifted with magic; he showed me some at my desk."
Sif nodded. "All true. Like most royals, he also has many titles: God of Lies, Mischief, Chaos, and Fire; Silvertongue..."
"What do his titles have to...Oh, wait. I remember about the Silvertongue thing. It means 'Expert deceiver' or 'Master Manipulator', or something like that. But Prince Loki can't lie now, and you know it! He can't so much as write a fib; he's bound by some kind of magic to prevent it!"
"That doesn't mean you should trust him..."
"And all this doesn't explain your hostility to me...oh." Comprehension dawned on Sauer's young face. "You're supposedly concerned for my welfare, like Sir Fandral before he..." she shivered.
Sif reached out to the younger woman. "He didn't mean to hurt you," she said gently.
"Bullshit," Sauer snapped. "He was pissed off that I gave normal civility to the Dark Prince, and offended when I called him on his passive aggressiveness. Supposedly he was concerned for my virtue, but that is a joke, especially from Fandral." Sif gave Sauer a questioning look, and Anne shot back one of annoyance. "Loki is royalty; such men have standards I could never hope to meet. Fandral the Womanizer was vicious and mean, and for an emotional agenda of his own with Prince Loki."
"Anne," Sif began, but the young woman held up a hand.
"Let me finish. I don't know what happened in the other realms after Thor and Loki left. I was dismissed from S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately after the Battle of Manhattan, and I'm not privy to their intel. Here...in Manhattan...we've been focusing on cleaning up and getting on with life." She frowned again. "That day when I met Prince Loki: it was brief. I was covered in blood and could hardly speak, and he was in some sort of glass cell. Still, within 1 minute of seeing me he knew I was a woman, and he treated me with courtesy and respect. That's more than I have received from the males of my own planet, or from Sir Fandral, or from Prince Thor, for that matter, and he has held me in his arms."
Sif stared, amazed. "Thor ?"
"Don't assume too much. It was an hour after meeting Prince Loki, and I had been thrown aside by the Hulk," Sauer explained. "If Thor hadn't caught me, I would be dead. But feeling me as he did, he still called me a boy. He did the same thing when he arrived this morning, remember? I don't know about Asgard, but here that's either rude or unobservant."
Sif nodded. "It is the same in Asgard: a crass insult if done on purpose, a sign of carelessness if done otherwise. I have seen wars rekindled for such a slight."
Sauer's eyes narrowed curiously. "How long have you known their Majesties?"
Sif shrugged. "Since childhood: easily 700 years. I was born in the royal castle in Asgard. Prince Tyr-the God of War-is my father."
"And your mother?"
"She who bore me left the castle soon after and now is dead. I never knew her."
"I'm sorry. My mother was killed when I was two. I don't remember her much either." She frowned. "But we digress. You really don't trust Loki now, do you?"
"I do not," Sif said, stiffening up again.
"Did you ever?"
Sif looked thoughtful. "Yes," she finally admitted, "there was a time when I did. We were all friends, for a long time. Loki even saved Fandral's life just three or four years ago, when we followed Thor into Jotunheim. He still owes him the debt."
Sauer straightened up. "Wow. That explains a lot."
"What do you mean?"
Sauer pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking. "Loki told me-a few minutes ago-that he is a Frost Giant."
"Yes, what of it?"
"He expected me to be afraid of him. He said something about being the monster under the bed in Asgard," she explained.
Sif nodded. "Such tales are told widely. The Frost Giants are much hated in Asgard."
"Yet you were all friends with one for several centuries, and Fandral owes his life to one..."
"We didn't know that at the time!" Sif protested.
"Guaranteed Loki didn't either. Given the choice, he always appears as an Aesir. Ever wonder why?"
Sif fumed, silently. "He had to have known at some point..."
"I know he knows now, but when he found out is crucial. Loki was raised to hate and fear Frost Giants, the same as you and Fandral, but he is one. So, effectively, he was raised to hate and fear himself."
"He deserves it..." Sif muttered darkly.
"Why?" Sauer demanded. "You just admitted he was a good friend and companion for centuries and that Fandral owes him a life-debt. He was a Frost Giant during that whole time, but guaranteed he didn't know it. How was he in bed, by the way?"
"Loki? He was...ah...ahem." Sif stammered and snapped her mouth shut. "That is a private matter."
"Busted. I thought as much. Fandral hates owing a life-debt to the Boogeyman, and you," Sauer pointed a finger at the Goddess of War, "screwed him."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Bishop Gentry frowned, staring at the table. "We have a problem, then," he said gravely.
"Obviously," Tony snorted, but was silenced by a sharp elbow from Natasha.
"What do you mean, Your Grace?" Thor asked politely. He knew the old man grasped the situation; there seemed to be something else bothering the old man.
"While our Lord did indeed defeat Death with his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, we have never claimed that our immortality was physical. It is not. The people of Earth still die, whether they are Christians or not," the old man explained.
"So how does your faith claim to have defeated Death?" Hogun asked pointedly.
"The defeat is on a different level, friend Hogun," Bishop Gentry explained. "Before the Sacrifice, people could expect nothing but total annihilation after death: body, soul, and spirit would be completely destroyed. Of course there were many religions across the globe," he waved a dismissing hand at the protest rising on several lips, "and I am not speaking of their mythos. I speak regarding my own theology. Humans could expect nothing but absolute Death without the intervention of the Christ. Now that that has happened, we have another option: eternal life in Heaven with the Father, and eventually, the entire universe re-made without sin, pain, or death in the mix."
Thor was flabbergasted. "Your religion means to move humanity to Asgard? My Father will have aught to say about that!"
"That is not what he said, Thor," Loki cut in. "The Bishop said that the Christian population would be moved to another realm, called Heaven, and then the physical universe we are in now will be remade, without the possibility of sin and death in that re-making. He never mentioned Asgard." Loki turned to the Bishop. "Do I understand correctly?"
The old man nodded. "Well enough."
"So, what is the problem? Your Christ still claims to have conquered Death, though in the long-term and not the short-term," Loki asked impatiently.
"Our faith does not personify Death," Bishop Gentry explained. "Death is an experience that will be done away with, not a person that has been conquered, and certainly not a woman. This Thanos is misinformed if he thinks we have insulted his Lady."
Loki rubbed the back of his neck. "I highly doubt that explanation will placate him, Arch-Bishop," he said dryly. "Thanos' reason for targeting the Earth may simply be an excuse. He has been doing this for several millennia, you see: killing entire planets and sucking their souls dry to slake his thirst."
The Bishop's eyes opened wide. "He drinks souls?"
"Yes. Innocents are his personal favorite," Loki said dryly.
The Arch-Bishop contemplated that for a moment. "It sounds like he is in league with the Devil itself," he said, shaking his head. "Next you will tell me he possesses people, too."
Steve cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well..."
"We have two survivors of such possession with us now, Bishop," Thor confirmed. He waved to the blond swordsman that scowled across the table: "my friend and longtime companion, Fandral the Dashing, Swordmaster of Asgard," then pointed across the room, to where Miss Sauer still sat with Lady Sif, "and yonder maid: the Man of Iron's messenger girl, Miss Sauer. Mayhap one of them can shed some light on the inner workings of Thanos' mind, since each one was recently there."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"But..." Sif began.
"And now you hate him because not only is he an ex-lover, he's the wrong species, one you were taught to hate," Sauer pointed out.
"What exactly is your point?" Sif finally demanded.
"My point?" Anne Sauer raised her eyebrows. "I don't have the history with Loki that you do. My experiences with Prince Loki are different from yours, and can be counted in hours, not centuries. It is unfair of any of you to expect me to act like you."
"He attacked your people," Sif protested. "Does that count for nothing?"
"He also helped defend us from the Dark Elf Malekith. Does that count for nothing?" Sauer retorted. "Or don't you believe in redemption?"
"I believe in the prophecies," Sif spat out. "Loki will bring about the destruction of Asgard and the death of the Gods. He is to bring Ragnarok!"
"You really don't believe he has a choice in that, do you?" It was Anne's turn to be puzzled. "What ever happened to free will, choices, and consequences?"
"Such does not exist on Asgard." Sif shook her head firmly. "We each have our own destiny, revealed by prophecy. Thor's is to rule when the All-Father abdicates; mine is to rule by his side. Odin All-Father will fall in battle to the Great Wolf, and Thor to the Midgard Serpent. Our son will rule what is left of Asgard when Ragnarok is done. Loki's portion is to bring Ragnarok: destruction and death on those who loved him most!"
Anne shook her head. "That may be centuries away. Can you please focus on the task at hand? We have an intergalactic nut-job to kill before he tears my planet apart!"
Sif grimaced. "T'is easier said than done, Lady Anne. We still do not know how to accomplish this feat."
"We can't, but there is somebody else on the planet that can," Ann said excitedly. "We just have to get Thanos away from his army..."
Sif raised an eyebrow. "Be that all?" she asked wryly.
"Oh, right," Anne said, crestfallen. "Easier said than done. Ummm. Why not grab his girlfriend and bring her to the planet? He won't attack it if she's here, will he?"
Sif scowled as if in pain. "Do you have...how do humans say it...her address?"
"Um...no. I just know what she looks like." Sif gave Anne Sauer an incredulous look, and the girl shrugged. "Thanos has this shrine set up to her on his bridge, with a full-scale likeness of his wonder-woman as the centerpiece. If we get a sketch artist in here, I can give you a good description...maybe it's somebody you or any of the other Aesir already know!"
Sif threw her head back in exasperation and groaned. "You should have been in on the briefing, Lady Sauer. Thanos' intended is not a real woman. He worships Death."
"Oh. Which one?"
Sif's head snapped back up again. "I beg your pardon?"
TBC