Ninth Installment: The Damned
For the first time since coming to this world, Skaði could leave Loki to explore her surroundings. She knew he would be safe with Tony, the human was the only being in existence who loved Loki as much as she did.
This world was vastly different from Asgard and Midgard in a few key ways. First, its civilizations numbered fewer. She could sense the presence of only three big cities. The one nearest them was actually the smallest. Second, it was bigger than Midgard and more of its surface was covered in desert. Third and finally, the life energies felt different. In the Nine Realms, everything had a tie to Yggdrasil, so everything vaguely felt like that golden energy.
Here, the flow of energy was wilder. More free, less restricted. It quite suited her.
Coming here had certainly presented challenges. Trying to acclimate to new energies had been very difficult for Loki, damaged as he was. It was one of many reasons she'd done what she always did. She went looking for a vessel. Being a formless entity was useless.
The child was lost. Abandoned, most like. The Aether had felt no remorse in entering the small person to have a body. The girl had instantly died, and the Aether did what she'd never done before. She replaced a life-force with her own. Before, that never would have occurred to her, because she had no cognizant thought to do so. Thanks to Loki, now she did.
The body did have some physical restrictions. Skaði herself was endlessly strong, but if she wasn't careful she could destroy this body. She knew the form pleased Loki, so she didn't want to have to replace it. And she'd grown rather fond of it. She liked making small clothes for it, dressing herself up like a pretty little doll with freakish eyes.
Laughing to herself, she cast about for some prey. She quickly found a young, fat deer. A few seconds later it was dead at her feet. Tony would enjoy having venison for breakfast. Unlike Loki, he was not a particular eater and liked just about any meat. She'd already fed him rabbit, squirrel, and even snake. Perhaps if she made a delicately seasoned stew, she could convince Loki to have some. He was still too thin.
She felt them approaching long before she heard or even saw them. Five men. Unconcerned but curious, she dragged her catch along behind her at a slow-enough pace they would catch up to her. By the time they reached her, the sun peeked over the horizon in dawn's first true light.
As they neared and finally saw her, one of them exclaimed in the language she could not understand. Pausing, she looked up at them. All five of them were armed with weapons that looked similar to the rifles humans carried on Midgard. The shape was a little different and the barrels weren't quite as long, and they were powered by those blue orbs.
Raising an eyebrow, Skaði didn't try to let them know she couldn't understand them. Instead, as they got nearer and another called out, she sensed for their intent. They were surprised to find such a young girl all alone in the forest so far from the city. They wanted to help her if they could. Deeper. She searched deeper.
Why are you carrying weapons? What do you intend to do with them? There's nothing out here except wild animals.
And my beloved.
A flash. An image. A group of men and women who worked in a building. A government building. People in charge of something. Monitors and equipment meant to measure levels of energy in the city. And something entering the city that made the monitors flare bright gold.
Skaði felt fury rise up inside her, hot and powerfully bright. Her vision swirled with the colors black and red and she dropped the leg of her carcass. You came here looking for my beloved. Instead, you're going to find your end.
From the palms of her hands oozed liquid black. In the time it took the first man to blink, he was down. Choking on Aether. Skaði watched, a grin spreading across her lips. The other four men let out cries of horror or outrage or something else she didn't care to define. The rifles let out a sort of high-pitched whine when they discharged.
Prepared for it, Skaði batted the blue pulses of energy away. Then wished she had a crystal to capture and store the energy. Loki could surely find a use for it. Ah well. They kept firing, beginning to back away from her with horror in their eyes as she advanced, her grin frozen in place now, her delight a terrible thing to see.
When she raised her hands, they finally abandoned the attack and turned to run. Oh, no. You can't flee. That's not fair. That's against the rules. Two more fell before her, and she tore the one of the remaining two to shreds. Then she hesitated as she watched the fifth and final man run.
You, I'll let live. Loki might want to question you. Her grin widened. All right, I don't mind another hunt. Provide me with a better challenge than the deer.
o0o 0o0 o0o
For once, Tony woke with a pleasantly numb mind. Normally the cogs started spinning at once, ready to attack the new day. This numbness followed sex, and he smiled to think about last night. Thank you for that, babe. I think I needed it. Gratifying as it was to hear Loki say he wanted Tony to stay, it was even more gratifying to hear the god say he still desired his lover.
It meant that when he was recovered physically and mentally from his ordeal, the physical aspect of their relationship could resume. Frankly, he'd had only enough of a taste of Loki to know it wasn't enough. Not nearly. In fact, he was pretty sure it would never be enough.
Shifting so he could envelope Loki in a proper embrace, he ran his hands up and down Loki's arms. The golden, glowing lines beneath his skin were strangely beautiful to look at, no denying that. He only wished they represented something else. He continued caressing smooth, ivory pale skin.
"You awake, babe?" he murmured, turning his head to press his lips between Loki's closed eyes.
"Mm," came the low, soft response.
Chuckling through his nose, Tony didn't remove his lips from Loki's forehead. "It never occurred to me to ask, but how did Skaði get herself a form? I wouldn't have thought she could do that."
"Perceptive." Muffled. Barely audible.
After another twenty seconds or so, Tony pulled back a little to look down at his sleepy lover. "If that was your answer, I'm telling you now that ain't gonna cut it."
Pale lips curved up in a hint of a smile. "You won't like the answer."
"How do you know?" Tony quipped.
"I know you."
Feathering kisses over Loki's closed eyelids, Tony gently squeezed his arms. "C'mon, babe. Tell me. Or I'll come up with more cute nicknames for you."
A faint snort. "You will anyway."
"Probably. How d'ya like kitten?"
Finally, one emerald green eye opened a slit, delivering a rather venomous glare. "Enough to permanently turn your hair pink."
Tony swallowed and subsided. Best not poke that sleeping dragon. "Okay, okay. No more nicknames." For now. He may revisit 'kitten' later. "Tell me how Skaði did it."
A quiet sigh as Loki's eye slid shut. "Very well, but I did warn you. She found a convenient vessel and entered it."
Tony digested that with a frown. "So . . . she found a little girl and entered it? What happened to the girl?"
"She died, of course."
Delivered without an iota of compassion. Tony felt his gut clench. "So Skaði killed a kid."
A breath of a chuckle. "She's killed many, many more than one child, Stark."
"And that's somehow supposed to excuse it?" Tony demanded.
"You take exception?" Loki said, his voice caught between amusement and irritation. He pushed himself up on one elbow to look down at Tony. "She is quite possibly the oldest force of destruction in the Nine Realms." A slow smirk teased his lips. "You may take it up with her if you wish, and if it is your desire she should give up her murdering ways you should know something. She just killed four people."
"What!"
"Yes. I'm not certain her reasons, she was rather unspecific. But she did say she'll be arriving shortly."
"What the fuck," Tony growled, gently gripping Loki's arms and lifting enough he could sit up. "Way to remind me she's not a kid."
Loki rolled onto his side, his smirk growing. "You certainly have picked an odd time to develop a moral compunction against killing."
Tony gave him a crooked grin. "Don't say that like I've always been fine with it before."
The god rose from the bed, slow and graceful. Still not moving without pain. "We should prepare to meet her. She'll be here in an hour."
Tony leaped up and followed Loki into the small bathing room off the bedroom. There was no plumbing in here, but Skaði had built a big bucket and two stools. Tony plastered himself to Loki's back. "Let me wash you?"
"All right," Loki said.
Nearly causing Tony to swallow his tongue. "What? Really? I thought for sure you'd say no."
"Then take advantage of my good mood before I change my mind," Loki suggested, a devious glint in his eye.
Not about to wait around to be asked twice, Tony quickly removed both their tunics and set them aside. Skaði always made sure the water in the tub was warm and clean, so Tony dipped a clean rag inside and put his hands all over Loki.
"Yanno," he said quietly, leaning forward and lightly kissing along the taut junction of neck and shoulder, "these markings really are beautiful. I just wish they'd come from something else . . ."
Loki twisted a little to look at him. A surprisingly gentle smile was on his lips. "You are a sentimental fool." He softly kissed Tony.
"So you've said."
Despite his yearning for his lover's body, Tony did nothing more than what he'd been allowed. Presently, they both dressed and Loki led the way to the porch. Skaði was just walking into the clearing dragging what looked like a wood sled. Tony saw a deer carcass. And a man. As soon as she saw them, that cute little-girl face broke into a grin.
"Tony! Loki! I brought some breakfast. I wanted to have it cooked and ready to eat by the time you got up, but then I had some unexpected game."
Tony almost cringed. The man had weird blisters all over every inch of visible skin. They were oozing blood.
Loki just chuckled. "Did he provide you with any sport, dearest?"
"Hardly," she scoffed. "The deer at least was faster."
"What'd you bring him here for?" Tony demanded, trying not to sound like a disapproving father. A very disapproving father.
Skaði's eyes went cold, dead black. "I found him and four others in the forest. With guns. They had only you on their minds, Loki. I don't know why. I killed the others and brought this one for questioning."
The man chose that moment to wake up, and he immediately started screaming something. He flopped to the side, seemingly in an attempt to get up and flee. He only managed to roll off the sled and crawl a little.
Loki snorted. "A rude thing to say about her," he said in a mild tone.
"Is he complaining about how I killed the others? I wasn't trying for torture, I was just in a hurry. Should I apologize?"
Given the general lack of contrition about her still-grinning face, Tony didn't think her intent would get across. Loki seemed to concur.
"No need for that, dearest." He looked to the man, now, and his expression was calm. "Wicked child though she may be, she isn't prone to unreasonable fits of violence." His lips quirked as he amended, "Any longer. What could you have done to provoke her?"
The man, visibly shaking, pointed a finger at Skaði and spat out some more words.
Loki sighed. "True, but I ask again. What did you do to provoke her?"
"What'd he say?" Tony asked.
His lover flashed him a tiny grin. "That our darling girl is insane."
Skaði cackled.
The man jabbered some more, and clearly Loki reached the end of his patience. "If you will not answer me, I will let her finish what she clearly began."
That threat shut the man up, and he swallowed noisily. When he spoke again, Tony needed no translation to understand the plea to keep Skaði away from him. He talked for several long moments, and the good humor evaporated from Loki's countenance.
"Indeed," he said after the man fell silent. "And what were you planning to do with this knowledge?"
Some more yammering. A lot of stuttering, if Tony was any judge.
Loki's eyes narrowed, though whether in anger or mere contemplation Tony couldn't say. "I see."
"What?" Tony finally demanded. It was bullshit only being able to hear one side of a conversation.
Loki folded his arms. "It seems the energy manufacturers in Vign have some equipment that monitors energy levels constantly for any aberrations or unexpected events. When I entered the city, I lit up like the Fourth of July."
Tony's lips twitched. "Nailed twenty-first century language, babe. So they could tell you have magic inside you."
"Yes," Loki confirmed. "A rare occurrence on this world, it would seem. These poor, unfortunate men volunteered to track me down and . . . persuade me to come to the city."
That was precisely when Tony didn't give a shit what Skaði did to them. He turned his back on the man and headed back toward the cabin. "Have at 'im, princess."
He didn't need to look at Skaði to know the Aether was grinning like the Devil itself.