Chapter Fifteen: Gone
"Loki? Loki, where are you?" Sigyn called. She had noticed that Loki wasn't in his room when it was time to open the portal again. She had assumed he went for a walk, but he was nowhere in sight. Sigyn sped-walked through the Asgardian section. Surely, he couldn't have gone far. They couldn't open the portal without him, but she had been searching for nearly an hour with no luck. It wasn't like him to just up and disappear. He had no energy left; he couldn't teleport.
"Loki?" Sigyn called again. Where was he?
Fenris jogged over to Sigyn. They were both in the palace's garden.
"Did you find him?" Sigyn asked.
"No. I asked other people if they saw him, but nobody has," Fenris said.
"It's not like him to leave us. Maybe something happened to him," Sigyn suggested.
"I don't know, maybe…" Fenris was cut off by Jormungandr's shout. The two ran up the castle's steps to join the green-haired boy.
"I found something," Jormungandr explained. He set off into the castle, Fenris and Sigyn following close behind.
Jormungandr led the way to the bedroom that Sigyn and Loki shared. He pointed to the bathroom. "In there, on the wall. Was that there before?" he asked.
Sigyn turned the light on in the bathroom. She looked down and saw a strange symbol glowing orange on the wall.
"What in the name of Asgard?" Sigyn paused. "What is that? That wasn't there before!"
"It looks like it appeared recently," Fenris pointed out.
"I've never seen a symbol like that before," Sigyn said.
"It looks like it was burned into the wall," Jormungandr observed. "It's orange, too." Jormungandr looked at his younger brother.
Fenris threw up his hands in protest. "Alright, just because I like the color orange," Fenris gestured to his orange sweatshirt, "it doesn't mean I did this. Besides, I don't burn things. I'm part Bilgesnipe. If anything, it would be frozen on there, not burned."
"Nobody is accusing you of anything," Sigyn said.
"He is." Fenris pointed too Jormungandr.
"Hey, I'm just making an observation!" Jormungandr said defensively.
"Alright you two. Knock it off," Sigyn scolded. "Do you know anyone who might recognize this symbol?"
"Hela would. Dad would. But, oh, that's right! Hela is stuck in an Infinity Stone, Dad is missing, and Sleipnir doesn't have enough strength to open the portal by himself!" Jormungandr pointed out sarcastically.
Sigyn sighed. "We will have to figure out a way to get Hela back. At this point, we can't spend all of our time looking for Loki. Our main priority is to get Hela and the victims back safely. I'll see if I can send out some reapers to search for Loki. You two go help Sleipnir find a way to open that portal without him self-combusting," Sigyn ordered.
Jormungandr and Fenris nodded and took off. Sigyn remained to stare at the symbol. It looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she saw it. She could feel evil radiating off of it. Suddenly, images started rushing through her mind. Her eyes turned electric blue, and she saw…
...Loki falling through the void, tears streaming down his face…
...Thanos towering over a kneeling Loki. Loki was held by chains. He was crying as Thanos touched a specter holding the Mind Stone to Loki's chest. Loki's eyes turned black for a second and then turned to an electric blue. Loki tied shaking his head, but the effect still lasted…
...Loki collapsing as a painful headache seared through his skull. Clint Barton rushed in to help him up, but Loki passed out…
...Thor and Loki fighting on the top of Tony Stark's building. Aliens flew past, shooting random buildings. Screams echoed through New York City. Thor had Loki held down, telling him to look around him. Loki's eyes briefly turned back his usual green as he realized the damage he had caused. His eyes turned back to blue, and he stabbed Thor in the side with his dagger…
...Loki locked up in Asgard's dungeon, sulking…
...Loki was pinned under a pile of rubble as Asgard burned around him. He tried to push the beams up, but a wave of heat knocked him unconscious. Asgard exploded, leaving Loki floating out in space. A blue light enveloped Loki and teleported him off…
...Thanos choked Loki to death as Thor watched with horror…
...Loki staring at the mirror in this very bathroom. His eyes were wide with shock and fear. An orange light surrounded Loki, taking him away. All that was left was a strange symbol burned into the wall…
...Loki was tied up, unconscious, in an area that resembled a throne room. Thanos grinned down from his spot on a chair. The broken gauntlet was still on Thanos' left hand. Yellow light hovered around Loki's head. Loki twitched, but didn't wake up…
Sigyn gasped as her eyes returned to their usual violet hue. She stumbled and fell down. She clutched at her head, trying to understand what she just saw.
"Oh, Loki!" Sigyn cried. She suddenly knew where he was. She knew what the symbol was. And she knew that Loki didn't have long before Thanos hurt him.
Sigyn pulled herself to her feet. She quickly changed into her Asgardian armour. Silver metal covered her chest and back. The design swirled down to her thigh-length skirt. Gray pants protected her legs. She ran a hand through her light brown hair, the strands twisting themselves into one thick braid. Long, purple sleeves covered her arms. Her silver arm gauntlets were etched with swirling Asgardian designs. She tucked a sword into its scabbard and attached her violet cape. She laced up her boots and took off running to the throne room.
Fenris, Jormungandr, Sleipnir, and Pietro Maximoff were already there. They looked up in shock as the Asgardian healer strode into the room wearing full Asgardian armour.
"What's going on?" Sleipnir asked.
"I know where Loki is," Sigyn said. "Get changed. We leave in five minutes."
Fenris stood up. "Whoah. Slow down. Where is Dad?"
Sigyn took a deep breath. "He's on Titan."