A Lie for a Sword

The Desir were summoned to Hela's court. Loki ordered them to watch Hela's borders just as he promised. When they were dispatched Hela turned to Leah.

"Show him the way. And make certain he doesn't do anything particularly stupid."

Leah nodded and Hela left the court the way she had come, barely sparing Loki a glance before disappearing into her swirling portal. There was a palpable silence after she left. Loki shifted on his feet under Leah's narrowed gaze.

"Shall we get going?" he asked casually. Leah descended the steps tensely. "And where exactly are we going?" Loki wanted to know as she glided past him. He turned to follow her, jogging a little to catch up.

"To Limbo," Leah informed him shortly.

"Limbo, huh." Loki muttered assuming that's where Surtur was with the Twilight Sword. They walked in silence north of the fortress, opposite the direction he had come and deeper into Hela's realm. They ventured into a dead forest, burned into twisted, agonized shapes and covered in ash. Nothing moved. Nothing seemed to be alive anywhere. Ikol wasn't even wafting through the trees. A shiver ran up Loki's spine, his unease bothering him. "Are we going to walk there?" Loki inquired once they cleared the trees.

"We're already here," Leah informed him dryly. Loki furrowed his brow and looked ahead of them, confused. There was nothing but a ledge to a cliff side with a perilous drop. When Loki peered over the edge to try and make out the bottom, there was nothing to see but a thick white fog.

"Step back from there and follow me before I give into the urge to push you off." Loki jumped back, not putting it past her to actually shove him off. He complied by following after her, frowning. Just around the bend was a narrow pathway suspended over the ledge like a broken bridge to nowhere. Leah strode up to the base of the path and waved her hand. Darkness swirled at the end of it. It slowly took the shape of a yawning door, beyond, Loki could only make out the faint glow of fire.

Leah stepped onto the bridge leading to nowhere and walked up to the door shaped in darkness. Loki ran to intercept her, grabbing her shoulder to draw her back.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" He quickly removed his hand from her shoulder before she could relieve him of his fingers. "You aren't coming with me are you?"

Leah lifted a skeptical brow at him. "Lady Hela told me to see you through until your task was finished," she reminded him.

Loki stared back at her with the same skeptical expression. "Until we get the sword or until I save Thor?"

Leah hesitated, her expression wavering momentarily. "Let us just get the sword," she answered uncertainly.

"Well then," Loki replied, just as uncertainly. "After you."

Leah stepped through, followed momentarily by Loki. He spared a quick glance behind him. He didn't see Ikol anywhere and wondered where that dumb bird had gone off to. They emerged onto a ledge that looked over the realm of Limbo. It was a land consumed in flames. He felt as if he were back in Mephisto's Hell except the feel of hostility was far more palpable. Fortresses of stone stood in ruins framed in those flames. If he looked close enough, he thought he could see figures crawling among the ruins.

"Demons," Leah said answering his unasked question. "Limbo is an Other World home to demons. Surtur was exiled here. We'll find him where the demons are not." Leah turned to her right and began descending the narrow steps Loki hadn't noticed before.

"Why do you think that?" Loki wanted to know. He really didn't feel like wandering aimlessly around a demon realm looking for Surtur.

"Because he eats them."

Loki shuttered to a stop mid step.

"Please tell me you obtained a sense of humor in the last two minutes."

Leah continued walking down the steps, unphased. "It's how he survives here. I'm sure a little godling like you would be a welcome change to his menu."

Loki continued following Leah at a slower pace deciding that the sooner they get out of this place, the better.

For the most part Limbo was barren, but not as barren as Hela's realm. There was the occasional glimpse of something skittering about in the scorched trees backlit by distant flames. They had to have been being followed.

A distant roar caught Loki off guard though it didn't seem to phase Leah. She must have been here before. She probably had a summer home down here somewhere.

"What was that?" he asked, trying not to sound as frightened as he was.

"Who do you think?" she said over her shoulder. Surtur. They were getting close. "Not having second thoughts are you?" Leah asked not even hiding her amusement. "We can always go back," she offered cruelly.

Loki stopped, staring out into the woodland wasteland before them knowing Surtur was out there somewhere. He wasn't afraid of Surtur he realized. He was afraid of himself and what he was going to do in order to save Thor and Asgard. The only family and home he'd ever known. He knew he was only pretending, using what people knew of his past self in order to get what he needed. But wasn't that just what the other Loki wanted? Where was the line between who he was and who he was trying to be?

"I had no memory before Thor," Loki surprised himself by saying. It must have surprised Leah too, for she said nothing. "When he found me, it was like waking up from a nightmare." He looked at Leah, something bordering on desperation brightening this eyes. "I don't want to go back to nightmares. No matter what I have to do."

Leah shifted her eyes away uncomfortably.

"Before Hela," she said roughly, "it was like I didn't exist. I know nothing but her," she paused to glare at Loki, but it was empty of the hostility he was used to. "I don't want to imagine what that would be like to have that taken away."

They stood there in that gods-forsaken place, reevaluating one another and finding a common ground. It was strange for both of them, not knowing much in the way of friends, but finding the idea far less repulsive than they thought.

"Let's get this sword so we can get out of here," Leah said abruptly turning and walking ahead.

"I couldn't agree more," Loki muttered, smiling.

That smile quickly faded however when he saw what they were walking into.

It was a giant wall of flame. Within, the fire demon Surtur. He was uglier than Loki had imagined. Big horns, skin redder than the worst sunburn, and eyes yellow as the sun. He was cloaked in flames so it was hard to tell Surtur's shape. His tail whipped around as she smashed into a wall of rock with this fist.

Animal screams echoed over his laughter. When he retracted his fist from the stones, several demons squirmed in his grasp. Loki closed his eyes and looked away before he could see Surtur devour them.

"Here is your chance," Leah said from behind him.

"What?" he spluttered. "You expect me to reason with that?" However when he turned around, Leah shoved him, exposing him to the eye of the demon. Loki stumbled to his feet and waved up awkwardly. "Hello Surtur."

"WHAT'S THIS?" Surtur rumbled turning jauntily to peer down at Loki. "LOKI LAUFEYSON. AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably. It never did sit well with him that he had died and been brought back by his former self. "Apparently," Loki focused on his task of retrieving the Twilight Sword. He wished he would have come up with a plan before Leah shoved him out there. Now he had to improvise. "I've come here to offer you a way out of your exile."

The fire demon laughed. It shook the ground under Loki's feet. "YOU ARE NOT THE LOKI I REMEMBER. I DIDN'T TRUST HIM, SO WHAT MAKES YOU BELIEVE I'M GOING TO TRUST YOU?"

"Because I need something you have and I am in a position to offer you freedom from your prison. Unless you like feasting on demons..."

Surtur narrowed his yellow eyes. "WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?"

Loki met his gaze. "I need the Twilight Sword."

"YOU ASK MUCH. I WILL NOT PART WITH SUCH POWER."

"Power you can't even use," Loki reminded him. "Not here. If you lend me the sword, I will free you in Asgard. I know that's what you desire."

Surtur frowned, considering this. "WHAT USE WILL THE SWORD BE TO YOU?"

"A threat upon the Nine Worlds I wish to eliminate."

"YOU WOULD EXCHANGE ONE THREAT FOR ANOTHER?"

"Whether that threat be you or the Serpent is up to you. While we sit here arguing, the Serpent gains more control over Midgard. And your chances of escape wither away with it."

Loki knew that was the truth, and it irked him that he was right. The longer he stood here talking to this big dumb beast, the harder it would be to save them all.

Surtur was begrudgingly silent. "I DO NOT TRUST YOU," he admitted. "BUT I DO NOT TRUST ANY. YOU MAY HAVE THE SWORD UPON YOUR LIFE YOU WILL DELIVER ME TO ASGARD."

A smirk pulled at Loki's lip. "Deal."

Finally, the sword was his and the only cost was a lie.