"Ghost King?" Tony laughed, after they had arrived home, "Why did you pick that? You're not exactly the royal type."
Nico scowled, "I am the Ghost King, Stark. I didn't just make that up. That's one of my titles in the Underworld."
Tony blinked, before asking, "There's a king of ghosts? And you're him?" He thought about it for a second, "Now I really don't want to die."
Nico's scowl deepened. Stark was really pissing him off today. He thought the name worked. It was the only title he actually didn't mind being called. It was much better than being called Zombie Dude...
Nico turned to Thor. Something the Frost Giant had said to Thor was bothering him.
"Thor, this 'Treasonous Prince' the giant spoke off, it's Loki, isn't it?" Thor's expression became depressed as he thought of his brother, who was currently being held prisoner in Asgard. He knew that Loki deserved the punishment, but he could not help but think that if only he had been a better brother, Loki would not have been corrupted by evil.
"Yes, it is Loki. For those of you who don't know, my brother is not related to me by blood. His real father is, or rather, was, Laufey, King of Jotunheim. Loki killed him in his bid to become king. If any of the Frost Giants had not thought him a traitor for being a child of Asgard, they most certainly despise him now."
Steve rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Do you think maybe Loki knows who this 'Her' is? He is a Frost Giant, maybe he knows what they might be planning."
The depressed look on Thor's face immediately transformed to one of anger.
"My brother is NOT a Frost Giant! Though you may think otherwise, I do not believe him to be truly evil. I have known Loki my whole life. We were raised together... We have fought together... And now we have fought each other. The good person I know Loki to be is still in there. If only I had succeeded in helping him..."
Steve winced in sympathy. "It wasn't your fault, Thor. Loki made his own choices, and the fact that even now you are still trying to help him just proves to us that you are a good person." Thor smiled faintly at the Captain in gratitude.
Nico cleared his throat loudly. "As touching as this scene is, we've got more important things to discuss. If there's a chance Loki might know something, we have to question him. Thor, will you take me to Asgard?"
Thor glared at Nico, "Why would I bring a Greek to my home? If I must take anyone, it should be one of my team mates that I trust. I do not trust you, son of death. Why should I bring you?"
Nico raised an eyebrow, "'Cause in the only member of this team who won't try to smash Loki's face when I see him, maybe?" The other Avengers nodded at this. None of them were big fans of Loki. What he had done to Coulson could never be forgiven.
Thor seemed to realise this as well. "Perhaps you are right. That is an evil Loki is guilty of that I cannot ignore. The Son of Coul was my friend also."
"Okay then, how do we get there? That Bifröst thing the giant was talking about?" Nico asked. He hoped it would be like shadow-travel, for the sake of his stomach.
Thor nodded, "We will need to locate an area of flat ground out in the open so that Heimdall can locate us."
"Consider it done." Nico turned to the other Avengers. It was obvious they didn't much like the idea of asking Loki for help, but desperate times, and all that. "Tell Fury where we've gone, will you?"
Tony looked affronted, "No way! You tell him! He's going to be really angry. You're on your own, pal."
Nico rolled his eyes. Fury had nothing on Persephone. If he could survive her, he could survive anything. Godsdamn dandelions...
He grabbed Thor's arm, and shadow-travelled them to one of the fields near where Camp was 'hidden'. Luckily, even with the Mist gone, it was hard to find, but if it hadn't been for SHIELD covering up for them, they would have undoubtedly been discovered by other mortals.
After Thor had steadied himself from the abrupt shadow-travel, he looked straight into Nico's eyes. "I may not like you, Hades son, but I will advise you not to do anything drastic whilst we are in Asgard. We have long memories, and there are none with fond memories of our war. You would do well to remember that." Nico nodded grouchily, and Thor turned his attention to the sky.
"Heimdall, open the Bifröst!" he yelled dramatically at the sky. Nico had only enough time to raise an eyebrow before they were sucked into rainbow tunnel. Less than a minute later, they were spat out into a dome shaped bronze coloured room. Though he managed to remain on his feet, Nico was shaken. He shuddered in disgust. Rainbows...
Before them stood a man in gold armour with golden eyes. 'Heimdall' nodded his head slightly. "Odinson," he said, his deep voice reverberating through the room. His gaze then fell on Nico. "Prince of the Underworld." Nico's eyes widened but he nodded back. Though scary, the guy was really awesome. "You have come to question Loki Laufeyson. I would advise you to make haste. The Greek would do well to remain unnoticed."
Thor nodded in understanding. "I had thought as much. Do not worry, we will only visit my brother and then leave immediately." Thor and Nico quickly walked past. There was no point in delaying.
An hour had passed before they finally reached the dungeons. Thor had had to use all is knowledge of the layout of the palace, and his authority over the guards to smuggle Nico in. Though they may have a treaty now, there was much bitterness between the two races, and neither Thor nor Nico wished to be responsible for the continuation of the Pantheon war.
After Thor had dismissed the guards standing outside the cell, they entered. It was a small room, and it contained only one chair, on which Loki sat. He looked terrible, his armour scratched, and his hair dishevelled, yet he still managed to be intimidating.
"My dear Thor," Loki said, grinning widely, "Welcome to my humble abode. Would you care for a drink? I know I would." He didn't so much as glance in Nico's direction.
Thor scowled at his brothers words. "You have brought this on yourself, brother. Perhaps if you had not succumbed to your lust for power, you would not be in this situation." Loki's grin transformed into a snarl.
"I am not your brother, Odinson," he spat venomously, and his eyes flashed with rage, "I am not even Asgardian. I was to be King! And you stole that from me."
"It was not yours in the first place, brother!" Thor yelled angrily, "The mortals are not things for you to own, and until you understand that, you will know no happiness." Loki curled his lip in disgust.
"You really are an idiot, bro-Thor," he corrected hastily. "You assume I want to be happy."
Thor was about to retort when Nico spoke up, "We're actually here to ask you a couple of things. You don't mind, do you?"
Loki faltered for a second. Would he mind?
"Who are you, mortal?" he asked curiously. He had not noticed the young man enter, he only had only noticed the buffoon known as Thor.
"Not mortal so much," Nico said, "Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." Loki raised an eyebrow at this. A Greek? He had always suspected they were still alive, but he had never said anything. He had thought the war pointless anyway.
"Very well, son of Hades, ask what you will. Perhaps I will even answer." Loki didn't know why he had practically agreed to answer the boy's questions. Perhaps it was the feeling of meeting a kindred spirit. One who had known pain and betrayal as intimately as Loki himself.
Thor was rather shocked at this turn of events. Loki co-operating? Thor was confused to say the least.
"Do you know anything about an alliance between the Frost Giants, and a women addressed to as 'Her' on earth?" Nico asked.
Loki's lip curled again. "And I would know about this because I am a Frost Giant, yes? All of us must somehow know everything that is going on. Of course," Loki said sarcastically. This demigod was just like the others.
"Actually, I mostly wanted to ask you 'cause you seemed like the kind of person that would know about this kind of thing. And I wanted to see what all the hype was about... Actually, you don't seem that bad to me."
Loki gaped at him. Didn't seem that bad? He had tried to take over the boy's planet! Nico shrugged, guessing what Loki was thinking. "The bad guy from the last war we demigods had, Luke, turned out to be a good guy in the end. He had a shitty life, and it drove him to evil, but in the end, he sacrificed himself to save his family. You kind of remind me of him, and from what I heard, your life was kinda shitty too. Your dad's an asshole."
At this Thor interrupted. "My father is not an 'asshole' as you say! He is a wise and caring king, and he-"
"Dude, your dad kidnaps babies. That's fucked up." This comment caused Loki to laugh. The Allfather being insulted by a child. He had not been so amused in centuries.
Nico turned back to Loki, "Anyway, I know how you feel. My father favoured my sister over me for much of my childhood. He always told me she was better than me, and that he would rather I was her than myself."
"And you proved him wrong, yes?" Loki asked.
Nico winced. "No, she... died. When I was ten. I loved her a lot, even if my dad did like her better."
Loki felt guilty almost immediately. Wait, since when did he, Loki, feel guilty over a pathetic mortal's plight? They were sheep, their lives were meaningless, they were meant to be ruled... weren't they?
Such a short conversation with this Greek, and Loki was questioning everything he had come to believe since his discovery of his true heritage. For the first time in many years, Loki began to consider his actions.
Thor watched all of this with wide eyes. He could see the change in Loki already. Seen what this Greek had managed to achieve so easily, when he could not even get Loki to admit their familial ties.
"I do not know of an alliance, son of Hades, but I know for a fact that the Chitauri did discover a being of great power before they invaded Midgard. They were not opposed by it, so they chose to ignore it. I believe this being to be the one you seek. It was female I think, though I am not positive," Loki said softly.
Nico grinned at him, "Thanks anyway. Your information is most helpful" He looked at Thor, who still looked shocked from the sight of his brother having a civilised conversation with another being. "What will become of Loki?"
Thor cleared his throat before speaking. "I believe that a suitable punishment is being created for him. His attack on Midgard was not deemed overly important by much of Asgard, as we have not had many dealings with your world in many years. Even thought he almost caused a war with the Frost Giants as well, Loki is a Prince, one who is known for his tricks. They do not see Loki as much of a threat to Asgard, and so I doubt they will do anything worse than imprisoning him for a few hundred years."
Loki frowned at the 'anything worse' part. Being locked up in a tiny cell didn't sound like much fun to him.
Nico frowned thoughtfully, "Perhaps, Loki could serve his punishment by helping defend Earth from this new threat that seems to be rising. I'd sure appreciate another powerful Asgardian warrior defending the world." Thor considered these words.
"My father will like it, but I doubt the Avengers would appreciate Loki working with them. We will have to convince them that he is there to help."
Nico smirked, "I already have a plan for that."
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Do I get any say in this? I don't want to defend those stupid mortals, they took my staff."
Both Nico and Thor ignored him. "Son of Hades, you will stay with my brother. I will request this punishment of my father. I will return in less than an hour, wait here till then." With that, he swept from the room, his long cape billowing dramatically.
Nico exchanged a look with Loki. "His cape is really stupid," Nico muttered. Loki nodded in agreement. His cape was way cooler.
When Thor returned with the news of Odin's approval, and with a pair of gauntlets, and after he fastened them to Loki's forearms, they headed back to Heimdall. The gauntlets suppressed Loki's powers, and they could only be removed by Thor. Nico figured he would be able to remove them if he really wanted to, but he'd rather wait until there was an emergency. He might accidently end up blowing them up.
On their way back to the Bifröst, the passed a cloaked Asgardian who was returning from his own journey across the stars. As he passed, he knocked into Nico. Nico glared but did nothing, Thor had asked him not to draw attention to himself. Before he could move on, however, the cloaked man grabbed his arm. The others continued, unaware of his predicament.
"Greek filth," the cloaked man hissed, disgust in his voice, "She will destroy your gods. They are nothing compared to Her, and your gods will regret the day they ever thought to defy Her. You will all die, and we will laugh at your downfall." With that, he released Nico's arm, and disappeared into a cloud of mist. Nico snarled at thin air, before hurrying to catch up with the others.
Whoever this 'mysterious lady' was seemed to have made alliances everywhere. First the monsters, then the Frost Giants, now an Asgardian? Nico's stomach clenched with worry. He would tell the others when they got back to earth.
The Avenger's reactions to the return of Loki far exceeded Nico's expectations. From the moment they appeared in Tony's living room, all hell broke loose. Tony had all the Towers security weapons trained on him, Steve had grabbed Tony's trusty killer lamp of the table, Clint and Natasha had pulled out guns, and Bruce had stood up, preparing himself to transform if things got hairy.
Thor stepped forward hurriedly. "Friends!" he bellowed, "Do not attack. My brother is here to help us fight this new evil."
"We don't need his help," hissed Clint, his gun aimed on Loki's heart, "He killed Phil!"
Nico stepped forward too, "So if Coulson was alive, you'd consider accepting his help?"
Tony scoffed, "Sure, if Coulson came back from the dead, I'm sure we all wouldn't mind."
Nico grinned darkly. "Good," he said, before raising his voice. "Alecto! Come here a second!"
The shadows on the corner of the room rippled before a large, leathery, winged shape burst out.
"You summoned me, my Lord Prince," she said respectfully. The Avengers had all re-aimed their weapons at the new threat.
"What the heck is that, Nico?" Steve asked in horror.
"Her name is Alecto, and she's one of the three Furies. Put down your weapons before she decides to teach you a lesson."
"Detention!" Alecto cackled menacingly, "The horrid children need to be punished!" Nico sighed. She really needed to stop impersonating teachers. It had ruined school for him for life.
"Alecto, am I able to return the dead to life?" he asked her.
Alecto gazed at him thoughtfully. "I would think so. As Prince of the Underworld, you have dominion over much of death. However, if you wish to take the soul, you will have to go get it yourself, and convince it to come back. No easy feat, and if it is the soul I think it is, he has achieved a hero's death. He will need plenty of convincing to give up his peace."
Nico gave her his thanks before dismissing her, and she disappeared back into the shadows. Nico returned his attention to his fellow Avengers.
"You're a Prince?" Tony asked incredulously, "And you can bring people back from the dead?"
"Seems so," Nico shrugged. "If I bring Coulson back, will you guys agree to accept Loki's help? He's actually pretty cool."
The Avengers exchanged glances. As much as they hated Loki, they missed Coulson. They came to a decision.
"If you actually manage to bring Coulson back, then we'll work with him. Otherwise we shoot him in the head," Natasha said. Loki rolled his eyes at this, but did not say anything. He would rather his brain stay in his skull.
Nico smirked victoriously, until she continued, "But only if you agree to one more thing."
Nico scowled, but motioned for her to continue. He could already tell he wasn't going to like this.
"We're coming with you."
Nico face palmed. He didn't like it.
I'll try update again tomorrow, thanks for reading. Review and whatnot.