"My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel."
–George R. R. Martin
Freyja propped her right leg on the couch to get a better angle at which to heal the energy burns. Knowing she would have to save her strength, she called on the energy of the Tesseract, which was safely around her neck once more, to help her. The Avengers and Nick Fury sat around Tony's living room, all looking at her for answers. Fury's stare, in particular, was practically tangible and she felt as though his gaze was almost burning her.
"I suppose I owe you an explanation," she sighed.
"Now you owe me an explanation?" Fury asked skeptically. "You owed me an explanation the second you arrived. Now you owe me a goddamned solution. What the hell was that thing and what does it want?"
"His name is Thanos," she told him, wincing at his tone. "He's of a race known as the Eternals, an offshoot of humans who once held a colony on Saturn's moon, Titan. You would not find it now, as he nearly wiped it out of existence. He's obsessed with Death and the Tesseract. For some reason, he believes it will allow him to win her favor, quite possibly by using it to further his destruction."
"Death is a woman?" Tony asked.
Freyja shook her head, "She is an Entity, a physical embodiment of an idea, and is therefore neither man nor woman. However, she does present herself most often in female form.
"Thanos is in love with her – or he believes himself to be. However, he cannot get to the Tesseract, nor the information he seeks, without first finding me. I thought he would not come to Earth, as he knows my empathy for Midgard would never allow me to put you in danger. I was mistaken. Something must be happening, something which is making him desperate, and it is not just his loss during the attack he forced Loki to make against you last year…"
"How do you know all of this?" Bruce asked.
"Because I knew him as a child."
Everyone stared at her, each face plastered with a different emotion. She could practically hear the blood vessel in Fury's head burst, however. He looked as though he might strangle her. Despite his glare, Freyja felt relief wash through her as the magic binding her didn't keep the words from being said.
"My people found him abandoned on an asteroid, alone and covered in blood, and we thought he had been the victim. He seemed so kind to us. We never realized how manipulative he was, how he used our compassion in order to get closer to the Tesseract. Then he met me. I was living proof of his hypotheses, and so he became reckless.
"He ran experiments on himself, taking in miniscule amounts of the Tesseract's energy into his own body, in his pursuit for Death. Hundreds died at his hands until we cast him out of the Nine Realms. But I'll never forget how he looked at me. How he thought I was the answer to all of his questions."
"Why did you not tell us this?" Thor asked.
"All of Vanaheim took an oath of silence regarding Thanos," she explained. "We could not speak of him to outsiders unless doing so was absolutely necessary."
"What makes it any more necessary now than it was before?" Fury demanded.
"He is threatening the lives of every person on this planet. By doing so, he made it necessary for you to know of him."
"So where is he?" Natasha asked.
"Likely rallying an army," Freyja explained.
"You don't know?" Tony asked. "I thought you could see the future."
"The future isn't set in stone. It can be changed just as quickly as you can your mind. Thanos knows as much, and so will make the future as indecipherable as he can. I can, for once, see nothing of the future. All I know is that he will know that I am here."
"We need to evacuate the city," Natasha pointed out. "At least this time we have a little bit of time to prepare."
Freyja nodded as she got to her feet, "Do what you can. I have a few favors to call in."
"Favors?"
"I have friends from other races, other pantheons, whom I met during my exile. They would come to my aid if asked."
"You're bringing more gods here?" Clint asked incredulously.
"This threat is my fault and so I will do what I can to end it."
"Can your 'friends' be trusted?" Fury asked.
"Of course," she said, her answer quick and without hesitation. "Is that alright with you?"
"We can use any help offered. But I'm not putting up with any wise-ass gods. If any of them pull something I don't like, you're sending them straight back."
"Agreed," she said and, with a nod, she walked out onto the balcony outside the glass walls.
Tony turned to Thor who looked anxious at the conversation, "I'm guessing you had no clue she knew other gods."
"I was not even aware that others like us existed. It seems the Vanir have known such since the beginning of time."
"I'll leave this in your more than capable hands," Fury said as he got up. "It seems I've got an evacuation to orchestrate."
"You're just going to leave us with over a dozen superhuman people who could act exactly like Loki?" Clint exclaimed, looking shaken at the idea.
"I'm sure you all can handle a few more extraterrestrials," Fury answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."
And with that, he walked into the elevator and closed the doors behind him.
"Any ideas what half of these gods are going to be like?" Bruce asked Thor.
Thor shook his head, hand instinctively grasping the handle of Mjolnir. If these friends of Freyja's were anything like his own people, they would all be in deeper trouble than before. To break the heavy silence that had fallen over the room, Steve murmured something about preparing, and the Avengers separated to suit up.
When they returned, Freyja was closing the portal she had created with the Tesseract. There were already men and women, dressed in historical garb ranging from Roman tunics and baltea to ornately decorated lungi, in the room. With the thought that these were the beings they would be fighting alongside, the Avengers did their best to introduce themselves as Freyja remained outside with another of the gods.
Hermes, a tall, slight man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, had leaned against the glass wall while she finished closing the portal. He looked exactly the same as when she had left: golden blonde curls, twinkling blue-grey eyes, and a crooked grin that made him look as if he was up to something.
"It's been a long time, Athena," he said, embracing her as she approached him.
"Athena," she laughed as they walked inside. "It has been a longtime since anyone has called me that."
"With this crowd, I would wager you'll hear many of your old names."
Freyja took a minute to nod in agreement as she took in the entire scene before her. It was strange to see so many of her old friends together in one room. She was halfway surprised the building hadn't collapsed yet, given how many of the immortals didn't get along. Even Poseidon and Zeus, who were usually in foul moods around each other, were talking in a civilized manner.
"Excuse me!" she called over the noise. "I hate to interrupt, but we only have a limited amount of time to come up with a strategy against our enemy. If you would all gather around the table…"
Everyone found a spot to either sit or stand around the coffee table that Freyja was temporarily enlarging with magic. She then created a scale model of the city, the glass of the table rising up to form the skyscrapers, and little metal pieces to resemble each of them.
"Our enemy is Thanos," she announced, conjuring a small metal bust of the Eternal. "But he will bring an army, which will be your main concern. I will confront Thanos myself. One of you will help Dr. Banner guard the Tesseract, as moving it will only draw him to populated areas. Artemis, Clint, Zeus, Thor, and Hermes will take the skies, monitoring anything that flies. Ares, would you care to do the honors?"
He grinned, taking one of the metal statues from her, as he immediately began to bark out battle plans. She smiled as she watched everyone give input, adding to the strategies so that they could cover every base. It was while she was watching them that a flash of movement outside caught her eye. She turned, eyes widening as she recognized the familiar figure.
Perched on the glass sides of the walkway, as if gravity didn't affect him and he couldn't actually fall, was a tall man with slate-colored skin. His long white hair hung past his shoulders, his pointed face twisted into a wistful smile, white-grey eyes shining in muted happiness. He wore a mix of grey leather and dragon scale chainmale. It was a face she would never forget, a face that she immediately registered as a very good friend. As she walked out to meet him, he inclined his head respectively, and she followed the suit.
"Princess Freyja of the Vanir," he said softly in his strange accent. "It is good to see you again. You are looking well. Gotten a little older, haven't you?"
"Erland," she sighed, pulling him into a hug. "It is good to see you once more. But I must ask: how did you know come here, old friend?"
"I had the nagging suspicion that you needed my aid and simply followed your energy trail to find you here. Don't tell me that thuggish brute has it out for you again."
"I'm afraid so."
He raised a thin eyebrow, "You're not going to run this time?"
"No," she answered. "I allowed my fear to drag this out for too long. I'm going to face Thanos and end this at last."
He leapt down from the rail, placing a hand on the pommel of his sword, "Then I shall fight by your side."
"I am already in your debt," she protested. "You owe me nothing."
"Freyja, it is the day of prophecy. I would not leave you to face it alone."
"I had thought I had changed fate, that I had stopped Renascentia from becoming a reality."
"Had you thought that, you would have faced the Overmaster long before now."
Though his words were not unkind, she flinched at them all the same. It was true. She had only run from Thanos for so long, allowed him to rule over her every move, because she was afraid that she truly hadn't made a difference. But she would not allow her fear to justify her inaction any longer.
"You're right," she told him. "But it's time I stopped fighting my fate."
"Then I will fight by your side, 'til the seams of reality unfold at my feet."
She smiled at his confidence, "Then we had better go inside and help plan."
They both drew stares as they walked into the building. The immortals stiffened as they saw Erland, each recognizing the eerie ambiance his aura gave off. He simply radiated of something else, something beyond the boundaries of logic, but none of them said a word. She knew that if she trusted him, they would trust her judgement.
"Everyone," she said quickly, hoping to extinguish any doubt. "This is Erland, a very old friend and ally of mine. He is willing to aid us in any way he can."
He walked closer to the coffee table with the city model, examining the pieces scattered across the streets, "Interesting game of chess you have here. But I have an easy play that ensures your success."
He picked up the piece that resembled Freyja and placed it in front of the Thanos piece, "Checkmate!"
She stifled a laugh as everyone gave him a funny look. The faces that met his actions were worth watching, even if she didn't think he had a clue as to what he was doing. As the others seemed to regather their wits, she created a piece to resemble him and placed it in his hand.
"I choose?" he asked. "Alright, I believe you have a chink in your armor here."
She nodded as he placed his piece in an otherwise deserted area, "You're right. Ares, I do believe you're losing your touch."
"I haven't been in a good war since Troy!" he exclaimed in his defense. "Occasional lapses in judgment are possible, Athena."
"Forgive me for my thoughtlessness. I did not think to consider this. Has everything been decided?"
Murmurs of consent echoed through the room.
"Good," she answered, allowing her armor to form around her. "We had better prepare. Pray all goes well today, for the alternative is unacceptable."
Freyja kneeled on a bird-shaped ledge on a tower she didn't know the name of. What had Tony called it? The Crystal Building? No, that wasn't quite right. She couldn't remember and, she thought with a shake of her head, she shouldn't even be worrying about such a trivial thing. Why was she worrying about such meaningless thoughts?
Her eyes narrowed as she came to her conclusion: something was wrong. It had been a little under three hours since she had stood in the penthouse of the Avengers Tower. She may have greatly wounded Thanos, but he had always been quick to recuperate. He should have been upon them long before now. She pushed the button of the mic she had been given, along with everyone else, and suppressed a sigh.
"Clint, do you see anything?"
"Not from this angle," he replied.
"Zeus? Horus? Arawn? Hermes? Anything?"
"Nothing on this end," Horus grunted.
"Same as here," Hermes muttered.
"Nay," Arawn sighed.
"Not so much as a shadow out of place," Zeus said last.
"Something's not right," she murmured. "Thor, Ares, any ideas on this one."
"Something is very wrong," Ares growled. "We're worse than sitting ducks here."
"Do you hear that?" Quetzalcoatl said suddenly, making all of the others go quiet.
It was then that she heard it. The noise was soft and barely there, the faintest of clicking sounds, but it wasn't quite the same as the sound of something approaching. Then it multiplied, the clicking echoing off the glass and steel buildings to create an almost humming sound. Something moved behind her and she turned just in time.
Freyja was engulfed in a tangle of claws, fangs, and scales. It was disorientating, to feel the creatures that attacked her and yet her vision couldn't focus in the pandemonium long enough for her to make out exactly what the insectoid creatures looked like. She screamed out an incantation, blowing the creatures back with a sphere of energy. Transparent wings, fanged jaws, and triangular heads greeted her as she got a better look.
"They're Brood," she shouted, knocking two arrows at once as she began to pick them off. "Watch for the stingers. Their poison will only paralyze but, if you intake too much, they'll kill you."
"Crispy-fried space ants," she heard Tony mutter. "Always a party when Asgard visits."
"A conversation for a better time," she said, using magic to slow her descent as she leapt off the side of the building. "Thor, how are you holding up?"
A laugh was his only reply.
"Anyone's aid would be helpful," Andraste snarled suddenly.
"I'm on my way," Freyja replied. "Has anyone spotted Thanos yet?"
Everyone answered with the same reply, no one had seen the Eternal yet. A flicker of worry went through her as she thought of the Tesseract.
"Vishnu, I trust the Tesseract is secure."
"Have a little faith, Maya," the blue-skinned god replied.
"How many aliases do you have?" Clint asked suddenly.
"I'm not entirely certain," she answered honestly.
"You're worse than Natasha."
"Is it my fault your people create a new name for me every time I visit?"
"Too much talk, people," Natasha said, cutting off several different conversations. "We need to keep these lines as free as possible."
As Freyja levitated towards the street, shooting as many Brood from the skies as she could, she wondered where Thanos was hiding. It was unlike him to cower from a fight. She refused to check the future, as it would distract her from the fight, and so she continued searching from above. Occasionally one of the winged beasts would take flight and she would drive an arrow through its eye as it approached.
"Freyja!" Hermes yelled over the noise.
She turned to look at him, his eyes wide in fear as he rushed towards her in his winged sandals and helmet. It was far too late when she realized the fear in his eyes was not related to himself. A spear of pure energy sliced across her torso, causing her to lose her concentration and spiral back to Earth.
She managed to right herself just before she hit the ground, but she might as well have done nothing. As soon as her feet touched the ground, a shock wave of Thanos's familiar black aura knocked her through a glass wall. The shards trembled around her as she tried to stand again, threatening to break into even smaller pieces in result of her proximity. A purple hand closed around her neck, lifting her off the floor.
"Found him," she breathed, her fingernails digging into the skin of his hand.
He chuckled softly as his fist tightened, cutting off any more of her words, "I see you've brought a few friends. Fortunately, I brought a few of my own."
Freyja gasped as his grip tightened. Spots danced in front of her eyes, her lungs screaming for air, as she felt the bruises beneath his fingers begin to form. Her body ached from her fall, but still she struggled against him.
"I once sought to give this planet away as a prize. It was useless and weak, but I see now that its people are strong-willed. They will be the first to burn, as a message to the worlds that I am coming. The only question that truly matters is what I shall do with you."
He tossed her away from him, sending her crashing through a few more glass walls. It took every ounce of her strength to push herself off the floor. She scrambled around for her bow, desperately praying it was near, but could find nothing.
"You have always been so very important, Freyja," he said, taking his time as he stepped through the mess. "I thought, at first, it was simply because of the secrets you protected. I never realized you were so much more. It pains me to think I did not recognize you before."
"Then allow me to ease your suffering," she snarled, ignoring his rambling.
She charged him, a bolt of energy in her hand, and took a swipe at his face. He managed to dodge enough for her to miss her target, but she still managed to open a wound above his cheek. He snarled and retaliated with a blow to her head which sent her flying like a rag doll once more.
He was too physically strong for her. And although she was the gifted one in magic and mind, it would do her little good if the Eternal broke her neck. She was left with evasion. As he walked closer, taking immense pleasure in drawing out the time, she turned and ran into a room full of Roman-style pillars.
Using as little energy as she could, Freyja conjured mirrors in between each pillar to create a labyrinth of reflections. Thanos stopped as he came to her illusion, anger flaring in his blue eyes, and his gaze flicked over the reflections restlessly. She smiled at him before cloaking herself in a spell that reflected light waves around her, rendering her invisible to the eye.
"What are you playing at, Princess? You know you can do nothing but stall for time."
"I have but one question for you before I introduce you to defeat," she said, her voice echoing through the hall. "What did you hope to gain from using Loki? If you wanted leverage, you would have kept him in your grasp. And your folly lost you the mind stone – do not act surprised that I know. I would recognize the Soul Gems anywhere. So how was manipulating Loki a necessity?"
"It is true, I did not need the Earth or his assistance in gaining it. However, I had a theory which needed testing."
"You should have known that I was too far to know of your bargaining chip."
"Your prince was never a bargaining chip. I already have a much more compelling one for you," he said, pulling something small out of his pocket.
It was a ring. A ring in the shape of a thick golden dragon that curled around the wearer's finger. Dark sapphires winked where the dragon's eyes would be. She knew this ring, had seen it almost every day of her life, and would have recognized it anywhere.
She cried out in rage, launching herself at the warlord. His eyes widened in surprise but he could do nothing as she pulled her aura close around her and slammed into him with the force of a battering ram. Silver tendrils wrapped around him as she ripped the ring from his hand.
"Where is he?" she growled through clenched teeth, allowing her aura to pulse through him like electricity. "What have you done with Freyr?"
He laughed through the pain, not saying a word.
"Where is my brother?"
"I had a feeling you would react in a similar way. How convenient it must be to know that there is still a male heir to the throne."
"There is no throne for an heir to take. You made certain of that."
When he didn't answer, she made the tendrils around him tighten.
"Do not play games with me. Where is my brother?"
He pushed past her aura with a snarl and flipped her over suddenly, pinning her to the floor, "You shall be reunited with him soon enough. And you can watch the worlds fall together."
"Never!" she hissed, bringing her knee up.
She managed to hit him in the stomach and he loosened his grip. As they rolled, each one trying to gain the upper hand over the other, Thanos pulled out a curved knife and thrust it into her side. She clenched her jaw in pain, conjuring a knife of her own. She managed to drive the blade into his thigh, earning her a howl of pain, and she jumped back as he let her go.
Before he could get up, she ran to him and kicked hard at his face. She heard a satisfying crack before part of his jaw went slack. He leapt to his feet, hitting her in the left shoulder. Her clavicle snapped under the blow, causing fire to lance up and down her arm and chest. Holding her shoulder awkwardly, she managed to land a jab to his chest and another kick to his jaw.
At his hesitation, she vaulted up and kicked him squarely in the chest. He fell back, the added strength of her aura allowing her to match his, and he hit one of the pillars hard. She didn't waste a second as she raced towards him and broke his uninjured leg with magic. Forming a sword out of her aura, she raised it above her head to strike.
"You can't do it," he slurred. "You may bring yourself to fight, but you will not kill me. You will banish me, just as your people did, and I will return stronger than before."
"Death is too kind for your crimes."
"Spare me your conscience. You are weak. Just like the rest."
Her eyes snapped open as she sensed, rather than heard or saw, his movement. She spun around, knocking the knife out of his hand and pushing him into the pillar once more. The chains of her aura that formed around him this time were stronger than before. She stood back when she finished, watching the struggling Eternal.
"I have decided your punishment."
She began to chant in the language of her people, using an incantation she never thought she would need. It was an old spell, one which none of her people knew the origin of, but also one of the few forms of dark magic. A reflection spell of sorts, making the victim suffer the same pain the caster had. She had nearly two and a half millennia of suffering and now she was forcing it on him.
Thanos's pupils dilated as it began to run its course, horror reflecting in his now black eyes. He screamed out wordlessly as he felt all of her loss, her grief, and her guilt. He felt the pain of his victims, the ones who had died while he chased her. She steeled her nerves as the fear and anguish became clear in his cry. He struggled to escape, to break free of the bonds, but the chains held fast.
His tremors caused the building to shake, cracks laced their way through the ceiling, pillars and walls. She prayed silently that the skyscraper would hold. Her energy was already draining from the strength of the spell and the pain of her wounds. She had nothing to spare to keep the building standing. She continued on with her incantation, giving all her energy to end the one man sought to destroy everything in existence.
He gave one final jerk as she finished, the light gone from his eyes. His face was frozen in a mask of horror, the black never receding to reveal blue, but she could not seem to feel any pity for the warlord. Her fatigue was too much, blood leaving her wounds in equal amounts as her strength. She leaned against the pillar in attempt to stay up.
It shifted under her weight, the cracks widening. She looked up in shock as the building gave one shudder before collapsing on top of her. As the rubble tumbled down, she gave into the darkness. Death was welcome at this point and she fell silently into its cold embrace, thinking only of the fact that they had killed each other in the end.
Across the city, Thor looked around the empty streets as the ethereal screeches stopped. It had been a bloody battle and definitely a strange one, even by his standards. Never before had he seen the creatures Freyja had called Brood. They had, however, been much easier to defeat once Tony, Clint, and Zeus had blown through their wings.
"Is that all of them?" a weary Steve said through the earpiece.
Everyone seemed to be mostly alright, if tired and battered, and all of the beasts had been slain. They would all have bruises and scrapes afterwards.
"Has anyone heard from Freyja?" Thor asked suddenly.
Silence was the only answer he received. It finally dawned on everyone that she had practically disappeared during the battle. Thor opened his mouth to address Hermes, who he knew had been the last of them to see her, but stopped as the ground shook. He turned around to face a falling tower, the cement and steel crumbling down like a castle mad of sand. His eyes widened in shock as he watched it collapse. A telltale wave of energy spread on the wind from the building, making him nauseous.
"Was that…?" Steve began, but he couldn't seem to finish.
Swinging Mjolnir around his head, Thor was lifted into the sky. He flew as quickly as he could towards the wreckage. Nothing was left but a large pile of rubble and glass, dust in the air obscuring any detail he might see, and any evidence of anyone was buried beneath the ruin.
"Freyja!" he called, landing on a large cement chunk.
He scanned the mess, hoping for some sign of life, but could find none. Had she and Thanos destroyed each other? Even if she had managed to kill Thanos, he knew enough about the Vanir to know that she wouldn't have survived the building collapsing on top of her. Her people were too physically fragile. It was a sickening thought, and it made his heart break all over to think that he had lost his friend again.
What would everyone else do if she was gone? How could he return to Asgard, admitting to the few Vanir left alive that their princess had been alive, only to say he had witnessed her true death? Grief washed over him, combining with a sense of overwhelming failure, and he slammed Mjolnir into one of the cement fragments beside him.
As he watched the lump fly yards away, Thor's eye caught the slightest movement among the rubble. Racing towards the faint motion, Thor hopped over bent beams, broken rocks, and shards of glass. He could just make out thin fingers breaching a faint silvery net – an auric shield, he realized with a sense of relief – in an attempt to push the wreckage away. He dropped Mjolnir and helped to push pieces of the broken skyscraper away.
"Freyja," he shouted happily, grabbing her arm to pull her from the pile.
She was alright. Bloodied, bruised, broken, and exhausted, but she was alive. Her hair was silvery-grey, a sign of overexertion in magic, and her blue eyes were bloodshot. A look of relief passed over her face as she saw Thor.
"Well, that was easier than I expected," she sighed, then threw her arms out wide. "Piece of cake."
Her eyes rolled back into her head at that moment and Thor barely had enough time to catch her. He picked her up, walking away from the debris. Her blood was dripping across his breastplate. Her wounds looked mostly superficial, but he would only be certain if someone took a look at them when they returned.
"Thor?" she groaned softly.
"Yes?"
"Does your offer of letting me return to Asgard still stand?"
"Of course."
She nodded, "I think I'll take you up on that. I'll even buy you a drink when we arrive."
He chuckled, "I think we'll need more than a drink after this one.
She smiled weakly, but her amusement did reach her eyes, and he knew things would be alright after all.