A/N: Oh god. Oh god. I am so sorry. I've been so busy with schoolwork that I've had no time to write, and even if I did, my computer's been acting up so I wouldn't have been able to upload anything. This school year is going to be busy for me, but I'll try my best to update as often as I can. There shouldn't be any waits like this crazy one. If you've stuck with this story all this time, then thank you. It really means a lot. Well, here you go. Months late, but it's here... Hope you enjoy.

Loki stood on the Bifrost site with Sigyn, Thor and the warriors. He had not said a word to them since the day before, and he did not plan to make conversation with them in Muspelheim. Get in, get the Gem, get out. No detours, no shortcuts; they would stay to the routes Loki had planned out, and they would avoid battle at all costs. Any Fire Giants in their way would be dealt with swiftly and silently.

He glanced briefly at the others, ensuring that they were all within the circle, before raising his head to the sky. "Heimdall, to Muspelheim."

And then they were flying.

When Thor felt the ground beneath his feet once more, he immediately grasped Mjolnir and braced himself. Loki would be furious.

The night before, he had sent a message to Heimdall, telling the Gatekeeper that, when Loki called for them to be taken to Muspelheim, they were to be sent straight to Helheim instead. Against Loki's plans. His brother's obsession with obtaining the Time Gem would no doubt leave him less than impressed with Thor's actions.

Sure enough, in the darkness of Helheim, Thor could already see green magic crackling around his brother's hands.

"Thor. What did you do?" Loki asked, his voice quiet and deadly, a simmering, barely controlled rage simmering beneath the surface.

"Brother, we have the location of the Gem here. Let us go quickly," Thor said, refusing to answer Loki.

The God of Mischief stalked over to him, a predatory look to his walk. "Did my words mean nothing to you? We need the Time Gem, you oaf! If Thanos gets his hands on it, it's all over!"

"If we go to Muspelheim and you get hurt there may be no way of bringing you back! I will not lose you again, Loki," Thor growled.

"My life does not matter if Thanos wins," Loki hissed. He was close now, barely a foot away. He leveled a venomous glare at Thor. His voice was soft, but there was a razor-like edge to it. "Don't youunderstand? He will come for me first. None of it matters if he gets the Time Gem."

Thor's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of Loki in the hands of the Mad Titan, but he quelled his rage and raised his head stubbornly. He would not be swayed. "We are here now, and so we may as well retrieve the Soul Gem. We know the route-"

Loki scoffed and shook his head, his lip curled slightly in disdain. "I know the route, you idiot." He seemed to search Thor's face for something for a moment, but then he shook his head once more and turned away, beginning to walk. "Follow me. Don't get yourselves killed."

And so they set off through Helheim. As determined as Thor was to retrieve the Soul Gem, he could not help but replay Loki's words in his head over and over.

'He will come for me first.'

(Be that as it may, I will not let him hurt you again.)

Sigyn despised Helheim. The air was stale, the ground dry and dusty, and a thick, dark fog covered the land. Every now and again, flashe of light would illuminate the fog, and Sigyn could make out one or two silhouettes of humanoid figures. There was an icy wind that bit into even her skin, and screams echoed around the landscape. In this barren wasteland, nothing grew. It was rocky in some places, flat in others. The fog made it difficult to navigate, but Hela's instructions were clear.

She, a Light Elf, did not belong in such a dark, morbid place.

They were on a path- which was really just a worn-down stretch of dirt- that led off into the mist. Loki began walking, and the group quickly followed. No one wanted to be left behind in this place.

Sigyn could feel Loki's rage and unease at being here. He had travelled here in the past, and every time he refused to tell Sigyn of his experiences in Helheim. Now, she thought grimly, she would find out for herself what makes this Realm so infamous.

It did not take long.

There was a mournful cry from the path ahead, and everyone, sans Loki, hesitated. Sigyn's ex-husband merely continued his pace, forcing the others to follow. But as they went through the mist, and the cry grew louder, one of those brief flashes of light outlined a shape standing just off the path.

"Why? Why?" The voice lamented over and over and over and Sigyn wished it would just stop.

"No..." Volstagg breathed beside her. "No!"

The shape became clearer, and Sigyn saw that it was a small girl, with rust coloured hair and forlorn features that would once have been beautifully youthful. Sigyn recognised her from her past travels to Asgard. It was Volstagg's youngest daughter.

But why was she in Helheim? Unless... And then Sigyn understood why Loki never spoke of his past visits to the Realm of the Dishonoured Dead.

Volstagg went to the girl, but before his foot could step off the path, Loki was there, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back.

"She isn't real," Loki says sternly, glaring at the young girl. "The fog plays tricks on you. It will try to divert you from the path." Then, to the child, he ordered, "Begone!"

The girl's small, terrified features morphed into something quite unsettling: a glare of pure contempt, directed at Loki. But then the child was gone, having melted into the fog like water.

Sigyn dreaded what she would find in the fog.

Sif carefully walked beside Sigyn. She kept a close eye on Loki, having noticed how out of character he was acting. He was usually so secretive, so... safe in the way that he planned things out. But his plan was practically suicidal. No, it was suicidal. And Sif wished she could go back in time to change how she had acted towards him.

It had simply never struck her how much he had suffered.

Now, his entire posture screamed weariness, and his features nearly always bore a frown. When he smiled, it was not sincere. When he laughed, the sound was hollow. When he looked at her and the Warriors Three... Sif did not recognise those green eyes. She barely knew the man that she was following through Helheim.

They had been walking for over an hour, and each horror the mist brought was worse than the last. Everyone but Loki, it seemed, had been targeted.

Moving slightly closer to Sigyn, Sif asked, "Why does the fog not haunt him? It has done so for everyone else."

Sigyn was grim faced, something which did not suit her, when she answered, "He has been here before. Many times." She looked at Sif. "The fog does not haunt him because it fears him."

Loki kept his features carefully composed. They were close to the hall where the Soul Gem was kept, but the whispering voices of the fog swirled around him, always.

"The Liar has returned."

"The King of Nothing."

"Loki Liesmith, almost one of us already."

"How long now before your soul perishes?"

He clenched his jaw, ignoring them as best he could. At least it did not outright take the form of someone he knew. Loki was not sure he would be able to remain impassive in face of that.

Another ominous flash of light illuminated the tall, looming figure of the hall. It would take them under five minutes to arrive. Then Loki would have to face the evil of Helheim.

Loki walked up to the large, ebony doors. There were engravings of battles, rituals and spells carved in ancient runes all over the dark wood. Loki reverently stroked a hand over the surface of the wood. Just how it was when he last saw it. Only, then, the times were different, and Loki did not have any knowledge of what was inside, nor the power to access it.

"Loki, how do we get inside?" Thor asked.

Loki scowled, though Thor couldn't see it from where he stood with the others. "You don't. Only I can go in."

"Loki-"

"The wards will try to kill anyone who tries to enter, and I am the only one with the means to survive."

"Why?" Hogun asked, suspicion evident in his tone.

Loki spun to face the warrior. "Because I am currently a vessel for a great deal of the Tesseract and the Mind Gem's power."

But they were no longer looking at him. Rather, they had their hands on their weapons and were staring at something behind him. Loki straightened. He did not have to look to know what it was.

"Loki, it's been such a long time," came the smooth voice.

Loki turned, a hateful sneer on his features as he came face to face with a mockery of Sigyn. The fog had taken her form, but there were certain aspects of a Light Elf that something as impure as Helheim could not replicate. Her eyes were dull, her white hair slightly grey, and there was a distinct lack of an elven glow about her. This was not his ex-wife.

"Let me in," Loki demanded.

"And why would I want to do that?" The fog asked, moving to walk around him. She circled him like a predator would its prey. "Rumour has it that a certain Mad Titan is going to destroy the universe with the Infinity Gauntlet. Why would I want to miss out on that?"

Loki grinned, turning to face her. "Because you know what I'll do to you if you don't let me inside this hall."

"Oh, is that a promise?"

"Are you willing to find out?"

She pursed her lips, then turned with a flip of her hair and walked towards the others. "Tell me, Silvertongue, do your companions know what you did on your travels to this realm?"

"Of course," he lied. "I don't have any reason to keep my victory and your shame a secret, do I?"

She looked at him over her shoulder and laughed. The cruel sound made Sigyn shift slightly, and Loki saw her grip on her bow tighten. He hoped she didn't try to attack the fog. No need to provoke it.

"I think you're lying," she said.

"And why is that?"

"Because your darling wife doesn't seem to have any idea what you mean."

(Damn.) "I've been to this realm many times-"

"And every time you have had a reason for it. Well, this time, you will not be getting your way."

Loki laughed, though it sounded more like a cackle even to his own ears. "I always get me way."

She smirked. "Well then, if they already know, why don't we discuss your little trips to my home?"

Loki was silent.

"Yes? No? Unless, of course, they don't know what you did, and you don't want them finding out?" She regarded him for a moment, then laughed again. "Oh, it's so much fun when the living think they can meddle in the affairs of the dead."

"Just let me inside."

She smiled, but there was nothing pleasant about it. "Very well. I'll let you inside. If you let me tell your friends about what happened here, and you have to go through me to get inside."

Loki looked around at the suspicious and confused faces of his companions. They would ask later on anyway, so it made sense to get it out of the way. "Deal."

She grinned. "Wonderful. Well, where to begin... I suppose you all know of darling little Hela that was banished to Niflheim? Unfortunately for her, the guards that were taking her there had other ideas. They believed she was a monster, and so they brought her here. Punishment, I suppose, for being half- or, rather, fully- Jotun. Loki? Care to continue?"

With a glare at her, Loki went on. "When I found out what they had done, I killed them in their sleep. I then came here to look for Hela. It took me years, but I found her here, seeking refuge in the hall that would not let her inside. I tried to take her away, but the souls would not allow me. So I conquered the realm. My magic was not what it is now, but it was enough that, in my rage, I could destroy the whole place had I wanted to. I conquered, and I took Hela away to Niflheim. Her time amongst the dead made it almost impossible for her to survive in any of the Living Realms, and so I was forced to leave her there. The fog you see is the fallout of my magical exertion, mixed with the anger and the hate of the souls I obliterated," Loki finished. He didn't wait to see their faces, so he turned away.

The disgusting creature was now standing in front of the doors, a smug smile on her face. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Shut up and open the doors," Loki seethed.

The woman didn't move, but the doors opened smoothly without a single creak. The she held out her arms. "Alright. Let's see how strong you really are, shall we?"

Loki steeled himself before taking a step towards her.

"Oh, and if any of your companions try to follow you in, I'll break their necks."

Loki didn't stop moving even as she said that. In less than a few seconds, he walked straight through her, and she dissipated in a swirl of mist. He took the first step inside, however, and he suddenly felt as though someone was clawing at his heart.

He involuntarily cried out, falling to his hands and knees. Still holding himself up with one hand, he used the other to claw at his chest as he gasped.

"Loki!" Thor's voice boomed, and Loki's skull felt as though it would split in two.

"No!" Sigyn.

What was happening?

(How did I get on the floor?)

(I was speaking, then walking, then there was pain- pain- pain-)

(Get the Soul Gem.)

With a great gasp and a groan, Loki pushed himself to his feet and stumbled forwards. He saw the pedestal upon which a glowing orb was situated, but he made it about halfway before the pain intensified. Once again, Loki was on his knees.

(Kneel before me!)

(They may kneel to you, runt, but you will always kneel to me.)

(No-)

(I am your master.)

(No. Not anymore.)

(Get-)

(The-)

(Gem.)

Loki got to his feet again. It took him a moment to gather his bearings, but then he was staggering forward. He was almost there when the pain grew even more unbearable. He doubled over, wrapping his arms around himself. Still hunched, he took another step. And another. And another.

Loki's knees gave out, and he crashed to the floor. And something else. Through his blurred vision, Loki could just about make out that he was partially leaning against the pedestal.

Wearily, he lifted a hand to try and reach for the Soul Gem, but once again, the pain doubled. Then tripled.

Darkness clouded Loki's view of the world.

(You will serve me, Jotun.)

(No- no- no!)

(Fail me, and you will be punished.)

(Please- No-)

(You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!)

(No more- Please- No more-)

He could hear someone calling his name, but it was like an echo of a person that was too far away. Loki could hear the sound, but not the words.

(Is this how it will end?)

(I die, then Thanos will come, and the whole universe will die.)

(Is this it?)

(No. This cannot be it.)

(This is not the end.)

(This is not where my tale ends.)

Loki forced his eyes open. The excruciating pain was still there, but a fire of determination burnt within him. Loki used the pedestal to pull himself up. His bones may have felt like they were being crushed and being healed and shattering and healing and snapping and healing over and over and over again, but Loki had dealt with that before. That and worse. So Loki took the Soul Gem and deposited it in a dimensional pocket with the others for safe keeping, then he staggered towards the exit, gasping, not really seeing where he was going. He didn't even realise he was out until he felt strong arms around him. The pan was fading, but Loki was exhausted.

He felt his body go limp, but he could barely muster the energy to stand upright. There was only one thought on his mind, and it made him laugh slightly.

(My end may be coming soon, but I decide when it is time.)

(The Norns can take a running jump into the Void, see how they like it.)