Chapter 43: Blood Magic
A/N Tordenhode means 'Thunderhead', obviously a slight against a certain Thunder god
See the note at the bottom of the page!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower….
Sauer's eyes went completely black.
"No, no, NO!" Stark shouted. He clawed at the AED until Banner took the unit from him.
"Tony…TONY!" Banner gave his friend a sharp slap on the arm. "Stop panicking and get more towels. We need to dry him and the floor. Pepper, call the clinic, and see if they have an epi pen. JARVIS, inform emergency services of Mr. Hogun's condition, and request medical transport. Sauer…"
"I'm on it," Pepper said, stabbing at her cell phone.
"Your efforts are futile," Sauer said flatly. "His spirit is gone."
"We can call him back," Banner insisted. "That was the original plan, remember?"
"That's right," Stark said, calming a little. "But he doesn't have the treaty on him," he fussed.
"It matters not, friend Stark," Thor shook his head. "Bryn does not escort your friend to Hela, but to Valhalla. He drinks ale now with my father, Odin."
"Happy is getting wasted with your old man? Well, that's just peachy," Tony snarled. "Twenty-five years as a chauffeur, and he never once got lost. Let a woman drive one time…" Stark ducked just in time to miss Pepper's purse.
"You call him back from Valhalla?" 'Sauer' puzzled at Dr. Banner, who nodded without looking up.
"That's right," he mused as he worked. He rambled on about the plan they had concocted as he worked. "…cold, shock his heart again and…" the doctor finally looked up at Sauer's coal-black eyes, "who are you?"
"Call me Speaker," she answered, her voice sounding…odd. She stood up, her exposed skin starting to glisten. "Time," she said, looking down at Dr. Banner, Stark, and Potts. "You need Time, and Cold. What needs to be Cold?"
"His entire body," Banner said, sitting back on his heels. "He needs to be quick-cooled to just above freezing."
"Ice bath in the jacuzzi again?" Stark suggested.
"Loki is not here," Thor protested. He turned to Sauer, whose demeanor had changed. "Who are you, and what do you mean here?" He scowled. "Thanos?" he growled.
Speaker snorted. "Were I Thanos, you would already be dead, Champion." She turned back to the trio surrounding Happy's body. "I can help, but I need a few things."
"What do you need?" Pepper asked briskly.
Sauer/Speaker looked around. "Stone, wind, spark, ice…Those," she pointed to marble benches lining the windows, "bring them here. Which way is north?"
"They're 500 lbs each!" Stark protested.
Volstagg shrugged, ambled over, and lifted a bench as if it was cardboard. "Where do you need this?"
Hogun and Sif gave the sorceress odd looks, but helped. Four benches were aligned slightly off the perfect north/south axis, lined with cotton towels, and then Happy's body was laid, gently, on top.
"Shouldn't he face east?" Pepper fussed.
"Only if you want him to stay dead," Speaker quipped.
"What else?"
"Wind, spark, ice..." Speaker shuddered a bit, "the Hostess mentions 'air conditioning'? I need as much winter wind as possible pointed in this direction."
"JARVIS," Tony called out.
"I am re-adjusting the fans now, sir. Desired temperature?"
"As cold as you can make it," Speaker replied. "I will handle the rest. I need a spark…"
Bruce held up the AED. "How about this?"
Sauer/Speaker nodded. "T'will serve, but shall be ruined. Water mist…" she looked up. "That spigot, and only that one, can you manage it?"
"JARVIS?" Tony called.
"Realignment is somewhat difficult, sir. May I suggest you cover valuable electronics?"
"I need an hourglass…"
Tony ripped the Patek Philippe off his wrist and handed it over. "We left the Stone Age behind a while back."
"Blood and passion."
"Pardon me?" Banner gave Stark an incredulous look.
Speaker nodded. "Indeed, your blood is poisoned against this seidr. Art pardoned. I require," she pulled the Aesir knife from her belt, "his."
She pointed the blade at Tony Stark.
"HOLD!" shouted Thor. "Can'st not do blood magic! Tis neither thy house nor thy holding, and tis the wrong season entirely!"
"Aes and their stupid rules," she fumed. "Two mages for parents, and you ne'er studied sorcery," Speaker snapped. "I'll not tell thee how to lift Mjolnier; tell me not how to manipulate seidr!" she turned back to Stark. "Would you save your friend? I need your blood and your voice. What say you?"
Tony Stark set his jaw.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Asgard's Healing Halls…
Loki took two more steps, materializing inside the Aesir Healing Halls.
"EIRE!" He bellowed. "Human female: puncture wound upper gastric, possible lung collapse! She loses more blood than she can create!"
"I'm not deaf, your majesty," the healer said crisply. "Put her on yonder bed, so I may tend…Odin's Beard! What have you been eating? Fandral, be you hurt?"
The swordsman did not answer. He crouched next to Charity and stroked her face, murmuring assurances. "Stay with me, Fandralwyfe," he begged.
"They're married?" Eire gasped. "Is Ragnarok come? When did that happen?"
"Ten minutes ago," Loki said dryly. "Can you help the bride?"
"Perhaps," she said crisply. "Get Fandral out of the way. I need space to work, platelet tincture…" she rambled. She sounded an alarm, and aides came running. "Get him out, please, your majesty."
Loki nodded and approached Fandral. The man ignored him until he took him-ungently-by the arm and removed him from the surgery.
"Eire needs space to work," he snapped. "You must wash before approaching your wife again, delicate as she is. If you would help her, do as I say."
Fandral complied numbly, as Loki stripped him of his wedding armor, showered him off, and garbed him in a simple white tunic. A syringe appeared in Loki's hand, and Fandral blinked with surprise. He grabbed the giant blue wrist.
"What are you doing now, trickster?" He rasped.
"Blood magic," Loki snapped. "What does it look like? Now give me your arm."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower
"He's in Valhalla? How does he get from there to Helheim?" Banner squinted at Thor.
"He does not," Thor insisted. "The All-Father's judgement is immutable. Mr. Hogun will not emerge from Valhalla until Ragnarok."
"We had a plan," Tony insisted. "Happy was going to petition Queen Hela to join us against Thanos…
"His sacrifice warranted a place at the All-Father's Table," Thor said angrily. "Do not speak of such honor as if t'were an inconvenience!"
"Tony," Pepper said gently, and the men twitched at her voice. "Guys…Happy never gets lost. Turned around, maybe, but never lost." She sat still, next to Happy's body, and brushed his hair away from his face. "He'll find a way."
"Thanks, Pepper," Stark said gently. He took the knife from Speaker/Sauer.
"How much do you need?"
"24 drops," she nodded to Stark.
"Clock fashion?" he guessed. "Should it align with the compass, or his head?"
She nodded. "Compass. Your seidr instincts are good, Sir Stark."
"Why not use your own blood, witch?" Thor challenged.
She glared up at the fuming prince.
"Obviously, Tordenhode, I have none to give! Now stand aside, and interfere not! Find a public house, and make ale disappear!" she snapped.
Steam began to rise from Thor's body again, and clouds gathered outside the tower. Banner jumped in front of Thor and placed his hands on the prince's chest. His eyes were just…tinged…green…
"Thor, no," he pleaded. "Leave her alone…she's trying to help."
Thor caught the ever-greening eyes of Banner and nodded. "She works grave danger," he cautioned. "This seidr is not to be taken lightly. Your friend could be gravely injured…"
"Happy is dead," Banner corrected. "We can fix injuries. We may start his heart again, but we need to give him time to finish the job, and we need to hurry," Banner insisted. "The longer he stays warm and dead, the harder it will be to reverse the damage!" He turned to Speaker/Sauer. "Do it."
Diana sidled up to Sauer's form, even as it began to change color. "Why not use your hostess' blood? He was her champion, after all. They are close enough aligned," she murmured.
"Too powerful," Speaker murmured back, "take the roof off the building, start a blizzard…"
"Consecrated Maiden?" Diana's eyes widened.
"More or less."
"More more, or more less?"
"Sadly more. Can you keep the others away?"
Diana nodded. "Aye, and make a barrier, besides." She shook out her lasso, snaking it around Speaker/Sauer, Happy Hogun, and Tony Stark. "Hear all! Mind the golden barrier! Step not beyond it except at the word of She-Who-Speaks!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Asgard's Healing Halls…
Loki drew a gallon of blood from Fandral, until the swordsman paled. One blue hand kept the groom from rising.
"Sit still," Loki commanded. He handed one vial of blood to an aide. "Type this against the girl in surgery," he commanded.
"Yes, my lord."
He handed the gallon ball to another aide. "Centrifuge, and save all."
"Yes, my lord."
He motioned to a third. "Bring this man a gallon each of sweet cider and sweet wine. See that he drinks all. Do not allow him to rise until he does. Sit on him if you must!"
"No courtesans for me," Fandral protested weakly. "Mmm a married man now." He scowled at the jug of cider the healer's aide brought. "Wazzis? Mother's milk?"
"Drink," the Healer's Aide said sternly, "or I'll shove it up your arse. You need fluids!"
Fandral's eyes widened. "Yes, ma'am."
The aide looked at the palace rogue. "Art truly wed now?"
He nodded in-between gulps.
"Get used to saying that," she said crisply, then set another flagon beside him. "Keep drinking."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Stark Tower
Diana's lasso glowed oddly in the trashed wedding hall. It circled Horace Hogun's body, bare-chested and supine on towel-padded granite, 24 red splotches of blood, and Speaker/Sauer.
Thor paced nervously, flipping Mjolnier one-handed, until a glare from Diana bade him cease. Sif paced as well, until she bumped into Volstagg, who pulled her away from the glowing circle.
"Pray if you wish, Lady Sif," the giant red-head murmured, "e'en as Hogun the Grim does for his name-sake, but do not chance crossing the barrier."
Sif glanced across the room. Hogun the Grim indeed sat on a spare granite bench, his head bowed and eyes closed. She snorted.
"How can that help?"
Volstagg raised a shaggy brow.
"How can that hurt?"
"Listen well, all of you," Speaker began.
Humans and Aesir alike looked up at her. Pepper and Tony stood on the other side of the circle, while Dr. Banner kept watch at Happy's head, safely outside the glowing circle.
Speaker/Sauer was still changing. Her hair now hung down her back, black instead of brown, and her body seemed to have…enlarged. Her skin had softened from its usual ruddy appearance to a glistening ivory. The ruined bloody skirt had been chopped away, to prevent contamination, and the wound on her leg was freshly taped. She stood, garbed in pink satin rags, and raised her hands.
"Who owns this house? Speak now!"
"Pepper does," Tony asserted.
The red-head looked at him, shocked. "What? Since when?"
He looked sheepish. "I wanted to surprise you."
Speaker's hands shook. "Let the owner of the house speak! Who owns this house?" she demanded.
"I do!" Pepper said, "But why…"
"Do you consent to this working? Aye or Nay?"
"Yes! I mean, Aye, I do!" Pepper's voice shook a bit, but Speaker nodded at her.
"Who claims this man?" Speaker motioned to Horace Hogun's body with her left hand.
"I do!" Tony shouted.
"Is he your blood?"
"No. He…" Tony faltered. "He's my…my chauffeur, my bodyguard, my…"
"Friend," Pepper said, grabbing the faltering billionaire by the hand. "He's our friend."
"And mine," Dr. Banner chimed in.
"Mine, too!" shouted one of the medics from across the room.
"My name-bearer," called Hogun from across the room. "And proud to say it!"
Multiple voices chimed in, including Thor's, claiming Horace Hogun as a friend, until Speaker smiled.
"It is well." She raised her right hand. "Mind the barrier, all. Let none cross it!"
"For how long?" Tony shouted.
"You will know when," Speaker asserted. She lifted her left hand over Happy's body, and raised her right straight up, then tilted her head back.
"STONE!"
The improvised dais shivered and levitated.
"AIR!"
A strong blast of frigid air swirled around the room, its center the dead man and the possessed secretary.
"WATER!"
The sprinkler above her began to spray, forming a mist curtain. Speaker twisted her hand, and part of the spray formed a large, quivering human heart above Happy.
"BLOOD!"
Red fluid began to creep up the water-curtain, which did not puddle on the floor. Instead, the mist seemed to thicken and turn pink around the dead man and the secretary.
"TIME!"
Tony Stark's watch levitated, then pulled apart, its components circling the water heart. The AED levitated as well, pads surrounding the water-heart, the box facing Speaker/Sauer. She took a deep breath.
"Ice and stone, blood and bone, spark and wind around us blown. Passion speaking! Time seeking! Till the spirit finds its home…"
The AED shivered and came to life.
"TESTING. DO NOT TOUCH PATIENT," it said.
Pepper grabbed Tony's arm and closed her eyes.
"SHOCK RECOMMENDED," said the AED.
"SPARK!" cried Speaker, and jabbed the red button on the AED.
There was a very bright flash. Humans yelled and covered their eyes.
"Holy shit," muttered Tony.
"What the hell did we just do?" asked Banner.
Outside of the golden lasso, the room seemed perfectly normal, albeit trashed.
Inside the circle…
Speaker/Sauer stood frozen within a column of pink slush, arms lifted/outstretched over Happy Hogun's frozen body.
Bruce released a shuddering breath. "What now?" He glanced around at Thor, who scowled back at him, and Diana, who gave him a reflexive smile.
"We wait," the Themyscarian said.
"Hmmf," Stark said, staring across the column of slush.
"What?" Asked Pepper.
"She really is frigid, isn't she?"
Pepper's handbag connected.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Asgard's Healing Halls…
Loki carried the blood elements to surgery himself, and handed them to Eire.
"Chances?" he murmured.
Eire's answer was a scowl and a thinning of her lips. A slight plink sounded as a metal fragment hit a dish.
"I know not yet. Abide a while, we must."
"I can close, my lady," one of the aides murmured.
"Scan for more damage first," Eire ordered her crew.
Eire eventually left the patient's side, as Fandral's own platelets were slowly introduced into the human woman's bloodstream. "Prince Loki," she said sternly.
"Lady Eire?"
She walked straight up to the 13-foot-tall blue giant and stabbed him in the chest with her finger.
"I don't care how much political swing you have, what seidr you wield, or how big you get. Call my craft 'blood magic' one more time…" she began sternly.
"Never piss off the woman who sews you up," Odin's words rang from his boyhood and Loki nodded.
"It shan't happen again, Lady Eire," he said somberly. "I apologize."
"Good."
"The bride?"
Eire sighed. "I know not. Humans are so frail. We can but wait."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A/N. Let the audience speak! Does Charity Fandralwyfe live, or die?
Speak now, or forever hold your peace!