(LOKI)

Her screams were a waking nightmare that wouldn't end. She called my name amongst the faint clatter of metal meeting metal, though I imagined with the size of her short sword, my darling wouldn't be able to avoid being burned. A girl on fire, not unlike when I'd once come to her rescue.

Only now I was impotent and tortured by her pain.

"Do you hear your woman fighting?" Pluto asked, pouring his rancid breath over me when he knelt at my side. "How long do you think she'll last before she gives up and leaps?"

I clenched my eyes shut, though they quivered and let in light through my pained tears. Through my sniffing, the biting anger of my words was somewhat lost. "Whatever sadistic plans you have for me next...get them over with."

He chuckled, though the rumble of his timbre made it feel like the whole realm vibrated. "Your shield is down. Soon the people outside will call for assistance. The gatekeeper of this world will deal with you."

"Coward. Leaving me for Heimdall because you cannot finish it yourself."

"What was that?" He pressed his forefinger into the crux of my broken left shoulder.

I bellowed under his weight and the splitting sear that radiated up my neck and made my head pound. Time slowed to a crawl with every moment that further spread the pain, his pressure cracking the bone once more. My limp body couldn't fight him.

He simpered with pleasure for my suffering. "Foolish boy. Her begging will follow you into the afterlife. You deserve whatever is coming to you." With that, he spat a yellow wad of mucus beside my face, leaving me to feel dangerously close to retching over the stench of sour fish and fetid waste.

I held my breath as long as possible, commanding my head to turn the opposite direction to get away. It barely budged. All I could do was pray my heart would eventually beat so fast, it would stop entirely, freeing me. Yet even that would be a gift; one I hadn't earned.

Pluto stood with a murmuring laugh and left my sight. His footsteps shook the ground until he left the hall entirely. His sudden absence called into question everything about our arrangement—did he need me to bring him to Asgard at all? When had I announced to the universe how orphaned and betrayed I felt, to the point that strangers could use it as fuel to recruit me against myself?

He was right, of course. I'd done it on my own. Thor and Odin, both gone—and if not dead, surely beyond bargaining with. My few accomplices, destroyed. And Ginny. Precious Ginny.

Again, she screamed from far away, "Loki!"

Think. Think! Though I might as well have been buried. My infirmed left side kept me frozen to the stone floor; at least Pluto hadn't piled the debris from the ceiling on top of me the way he had to Thor. My toes came to life with mild tingles, so I wouldn't be paralyzed forever, but it was still too long to hope she'd fight the creature off alone.

A flash of red burst through my mind. The vision—the last message of the river—became distressingly obvious. I wanted to think of another option, but time wouldn't allow it. Hrinmeer was already at Ginny's side. I needed an extinguisher and loyalty but had no choice but to settle for furious storms and sibling obligation.

"Thor?" I said, not able to project too much. "For gods' sake, please be alive."

He didn't move, but I couldn't imagine after all I'd seen him through that the strike did anything more than knock him unconscious.

I stretched the fingers on my right hand as far as they would reach to grasp a bit of stone. My aim was poor, but it was my only chance. "Thor," I called again, tossing the rock to hit his distorted leg.

He recoiled, groaning beneath the rubble.

Yes. "Thank Valhalla. Brother—"

My celebration was cut short by another one of Sigyn's shrieks. It forced me to yell to move him faster. "Get up."

"Lo, please! Help me!"

I coughed to clear my throat of panic once more. "Get up. Up!"

Thor sighed, coming to with every moment, and the stones on either side of him cracked and tumbled as he shifted. His strong right hand, bloody and covered in dust, burst through the pile just as Mjolnir flew to meet it.

I squinted, trying to protect myself from the whir of ash and stone. The tingling in my feet worked its way up my legs, making them uncomfortably warm. Unfortunately, my body's growing awareness of itself included the injured shoulder, and I wasn't sure how I'd even stand without assistance.

He squeezed a grunt from his lungs when he stood, using Mjolnir to brace himself against the floor as he rose on one leg. Without hesitation, Thor snapped his lower leg bone into place, though he did so with a grimace. A few breaths, then he shifted to meet my eyes.

My jaw hung open. He'd matured past the young boy I played with long again—the one who fussed if he didn't get his way. This man commanded respect by his strength. Even without magic, he repaired himself like a machine.

And that machine was unforgiving. Thor took two steps and lifted me off the ground the same way Pluto did, only from the front instead of the back. He lifted me above him by my neck while I choked and weakly swatted at his hands. It was almost too familiar; too close to our last reunion in Odin's foyer.

"Thor...Thor, please...please—"

"Where's Pluto? What have you done?"

I gagged, clenching my eyes closed, though I prayed he'd give me a moment to explain.

Thor bellowed into my face, hitting me with hot, vengeful breath that smelled like metal and battle and anger. "Where is he, Loki? Where?"

"G-gone," I squeaked. "He's gone. Left."

He dropped me and knelt at my side, warning me by spraying light sparks from Mjolnir. "I don't believe you."

"It's true," I coughed, still barely able to sit up. "He g-got what he wanted. Help, please."

"You are beyond help, Loki," he said, shaking his head. "What options do I have left for you?"

I panted quickly, unable to fill my lungs enough for comfort, though my words needed to come out even faster. "This is our chance, Thor. Same place, same stakes, same choices."

His eyes narrowed. "What riddle is this?"

"No. No riddle. Enough. I've had enough." I intended to give a solid rationale, but her cries made me panic. "She's in the tower. Hurry!"

"You think I'm a fool?" He brought a thick cloud through the pillars from outside to suffocate me. "She's nothing but bait. Pluto's up there waiting to push me off, isn't he?"

"No," I said, weeping at the prospect of his disbelief.

"Admit it. She was your accomplice then, and now she's—"

"My wife." I sobbed, lifting my left hand with my right since it wouldn't move otherwise and presented my ring. "Pluto's broken me. I'm too weak to save her. I need you. She needs you. Please."

"You're joking." Thor's sarcastic smirk poorly hid his incredulity, though the clouds faded a bit.

"I've no time for that. We were b-bound in Vanaheim. With Mother's crown. With Uncle Freyr. She's the only soul in Yggdrasil who's ever truly loved me." I sniffed and clutched the plait behind my ear, though it was still too short to pull it forward as I wished. "Even when you found me out...I surrendered to keep her safe, as you surrendered for your son. Isn't there only one motive that could make us both do such a thing?"

He searched my face for the lies that, at any other time, would've been present. Wasting more time.

I pleaded through my eyes, knowing he'd use my every word against me. Yet without her, I had nothing to lose. "She is my great love."

"Loki, help!"

My heart nearly stopped with her latest outburst. Now that I could turn my head a bit, I yelled back so she wouldn't be alone. "Ginny, hold on!"

Thor fought with himself, driven by the healthy conscience that I lacked. "If I help her, what then?"

"It stops now. Right now." I nodded quickly as I spoke, though it was more a tremor than a gesture of good will. "We'll leave and not return. I promised her."

He shook his head slowly but tensed at another one of her screams.

"Don't let her suffer." I couldn't hold back any more of the tears and embarrassed myself all over. "I've already done enough."

Thor stood and puffed his chest. He glanced down the hall toward Odin's still motionless body. "Tend to Father. If he lives, I might just convince him not to hunt you." With that, he bounded for the tower stairs, announcing his presence with a holler that grew ever quieter.

Yet beneath it was a sound that I had heard before. The end of all I'd learned from the greatest magic of all Yggdrasil. The warning that I'd purposely ignored until it was too late.

"Ginny," I whispered, tugging on my plait, "I'm sorry I'm not worthy of you. I never was." Part of me wanted to rip it from my head and disappear so if she did live, she'd be free of me and know our bond was broken. Yet even death wouldn't relieve my guilt—I'd just have to answer to different judges once my body expired.

If she lived.

How could I proceed without her presence? What would I say to Freyr? To Grid? To mother's glaring star above, which hid beneath a cast of clouds—yet I could feel it even now. Sigyn was my spine, keeping me upright. She was my conscience, softening my words. She beat within the center of my chest, beside my heart if not within it, forcing me to stay alive when all of Yggdrasil bore down. My wife. My love. A part of me I could not live without.

Thor and Hrinmeer battled together with crashes against the bell. Sigyn didn't call for me again, though I prayed her voice would rise above the abuse I gave myself inside.

I shook my head to banish the mere thought of her demise, though it did nothing to stay the fear. I leveraged that pain against my injury and crawled with one arm to the nearest pillar to pull myself up. Pluto's temporary paralysis was fading enough to let me stand without support, but if Heimdall was on his way, I couldn't risk him arriving without at least the semblance of giving Odin help. Step by slow step, nearly dragging my weak feet, I approached the pile of maroon and graphite armor.

What can I do for him? I worried he was already beyond my skills and Thor would crush me in a fit of grief. Before I tried to turn him over to assess the damage, I glanced over where my sorcerers cowered before the battle.

Their burned figures on the floor grasped one another. They died in fear.

Like I did when acting as Asgard's king, I knelt beside the men—albeit with a heavy wobble—to thank them for their loyalty and service to my cause. For my ignorance, I couldn't offer anything but tears. "Good folk who die in battle will be honored above all in Valhalla. May you feast upon eternity's joy and protect those you love in the Ragnarok." I kissed my palm and held it over their bodies, not daring to touch them for fear they would disintegrate.

I switched back to Odin, reminded by Thor's grunting from upstairs that if I had even an ounce of strength with which to help, I couldn't waste it.

Odin' face was hidden against the floor, but the mound of his armor shifted with shallow breaths. I rolled him to his back by pulling his right bicep, surprised at the heft of his limp form. Unconscious as I suspected, but there was a distinct lift of relief to know he was alive. However Pluto damaged Odin beyond his chest plate, I couldn't tell, so I had to rely on whatever magic he possessed until real healers arrived. Waking him would've been foolish for both of us, so I left him where he was and contemplated how Sigyn and I would escape.

Hidden behind a pillar by the other sorcerers was the sack Sigyn packed before we left the city. I took it with delicate hands. The weight inside was all we had—whatever she thought we'd need to start our life together. Tokens of our binding. The cape. Pebbles of foundation that were merely held together by canvas and a leather belt. My responsibility to save. As I swung it on my right shoulder, my sense of duty to her lit anew, as did the strength in my legs. I stood once more.

I needed Thor to destroy the monster—but I wasn't useless. Pluto's venomous touch waned quickly. I limped toward the bell tower stairs, close to falling forward with my lurching. Must move faster. It pulled further away, shrinking in my vision.

Yet in my determination, I hadn't noticed the quiet.

Too quiet.

My pounding head gave way to oppressive silence. The commotion from the bell tower...extinguished, leaving a chasm of dread in its wake.

"Ginny?" I yelled, not sure if I wanted to hear her in any kind of pain like before. "Thor?"

A commotion of new guards marched up the stairs to the judgment hall behind me. Time was running short.

I lost focus on anything that wasn't the entrance to the tower. It might as well have been framed in cotton. In the small amount of light pouring down from the open bell platform, it was evident how Hrinmeer's heat melted the candles on the walls, dripping white and charred wax over the stone. No wicks remained. The acrid smell of burning hair beckoned me higher.

"I'm coming, Ginny." Each step felt like a mountain to my heavy feet. "I promised." I kept my face pointed up, half expecting to see a ball of flame waiting to devour me at the top. Pluto was certainly right about one thing: I deserved whatever was coming for me.

One more.

Another.

Keep going.

I need you.