15 – The Warlock's Eye – May 16, 2012
Loki disguised both of them as guards using his handy glamor. It was an odd sensation looking down at herself and seeing a burly guard wearing heavy armor but feeling just like herself. With her heightened senses, she was aware of every approaching person and tensed every time they passed someone, but no one seemed to suspect anything. She hadn't realized she'd been showing her nerves so much until Loki chuckled next to her.
"What?" she asked, glaring at him.
"You look like a frightened child the way you're jumping around like that. You're going to get us caught." Aspen bit back a retort.
"Of course I'm frightened, just look at what we're about to do."
"Have you forgotten the time you fought me, took my scepter and then called me a child and threw it on the ground?"
Aspen flushed. "That was different."
"You're not going to lose your nerve, are you?"
"Of course not."
"Good because you're on your own for awhile. I'm going to go cause the distraction. You keep heading toward the treasure chamber. Report for duty. I'll join you as soon as I can. Don't wait for me though. We'll have limited time. Make sure you're the only guard that stays."
"Is that likely?" Aspen asked. "What if another guard offers to stay behind?"
"Then get rid of him."
"Kill him? Why is killing always your solution?" Aspen hissed at him.
Loki rolled his eyes. "You can always knock him out," he said. "Just don't get caught."
"Easy for you to say. You're the one with the magic."
Loki lifted an eyebrow. "And you're the one with the highly developed brain."
"Which is slowly killing me." A flicker of pain passed over his eyes, and Aspen knew she hadn't mistaken it this time. "Don't get caught either," she said as they reached the end of the hall and went in opposite directions.
"Don't worry. I never make the same mistake twice." Then he was gone, and Aspen was alone. For a moment she wished that he could have stayed with her or that Steve or Clint was there. She realized how much she'd come to depend on them, especially Steve. She used to work alone. Heck, she hadn't even wanted to work with Clint at first because she worked better alone, but she realized now that she worked better with someone. It was nice to know that if something went wrong, there would be someone there to help.
She stopped short when she came to the hallway that led to Odin's treasure chamber. She could see the huge doors up ahead and the guards standing sentinel. She wasn't sure when exactly the guards were going to be replaced but, as she looked on, several more guards appeared for duty. She strode forward before she had the chance to second-guess herself and joined them. As the first guards began to move away, an alarm went off from somewhere below their feet.
"The prisoners!" one of the guards said. Most of them moved off at once. Two hovered by the doors to the treasure chamber.
"Go, I'll guard," Aspen said in a low voice.
"I'll stay with you. They might try to make for the vault," one guard said while the other headed toward the dungeons.
Aspen bit back her frustration. The man was only trying to do his job after all. She tried to figure out how to get him to leave. "I'll be fine here. They might need your help," she tried again. The guard glanced at her.
"It is my duty to guard Odin's treasure chamber," he said. "Two guards at minimum must keep watch before the doors to his vault. You know that."
Shouting could now be heard from down below. Aspen knew she was wasting precious time. "You seem nervous," the other guard said. He was now glancing at her suspiciously and warning bells went off in her head. He was onto her. She could see the accusation in his eyes without her mental abilities telling her of his change in mood.
"I'm new," she said weakly.
"New guards do not stand watch over the royal vault. Who are you?" He lifted his spear and pointed it at her.
"I really wish it hadn't come to this." Aspen swung her arm up to grab the spear while pivoting, forcing the guard's arm at an awkward angle until he released the spear. Then she thrust him against the wall and knocked him over the head. He slumped to the floor. She allowed herself a second to gawk at what she had just done. "Sorry," she told him. There was nowhere to drag the body, but she knew it was dangerous leaving him out in the open – practically a flashing sign that said 'someone is breaking into the vault, quick, stop them!' but she wasn't seeing any other options. Instead she turned to the doors of the treasure chamber. They were locked of course, but Loki had managed to snag a key. Aspen now inserted that, leaping back as the doors mechanically clicked open. She entered the room, walking down a long flight of steps and to a walkway made from a golden sort of stone. The doors rumbled shut behind her, and she felt suddenly trapped. She saw that on both sides of the walls there were alcoves cut into the stone where a different object rested. The first was a golden gauntlet with a white glowing light in the back and knuckles. Her mind analyzed the gauntlet, and she found that she understood what it was. The Infinity Gauntlet gave its wearer infinite power over reality through the use of the infinity stones that lay embedded in the metal although right now there were none in it. What Peter Stewart wouldn't give to have that.
On the other side rested a huge hunk of stone that looked like some sort of ancient tablet. She found she could read the markings on it though she'd never seen that ancient text before. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized what it was. The writing was actually a formula that would give a person superior abilities. It was very similar to the Superhero Serum. She kept walking. A glowing orb that reminded her of Tony Stark's reactor only a few times bigger in a stand on her left. It pulsed a little as she neared it. She realized that it could tell that magic was being used. Loki's illusion still disguised her, and the orb seemed to know this. Across from it was goblet of fire. It didn't seem all that extraordinary at first sight, but she realized that it was no ordinary fire. The flames never went out but burned on eternally. If nothing could put it out, she could see how dangerous it could be in the wrong hands.
Up ahead a grated door shed light onto a blue glowing box. Aspen felt drawn to it. She wondered what it was trapped inside of it and why it was on a pedestal at the end of the room rather than hidden away in an alcove. Before her mind could analyze it, she stopped. Something to her right pulled her even more. It was a familiar sort of sensation, and she knew what it was before she'd turned around.
The Tesseract lay glowing on a pedestal to her right. The cosmic cube seemed to swirl with power, but she knew better than to reach out and touch it. She thought of all the destruction it had caused – all the destruction Loki had caused with it. Her mind could analyze the bits of unknown element in it now in a way that her equipment never could. She found she didn't want that knowledge. She turned away, her eyes settling on the last alcove and the last object.
The eye was glowing and white, framed by a lid of gold. It was huge. She'd been expecting a small trinket, but this was big enough to cradle with both arms. It looked heavy too. Her mind calculated the weight. She turned to look at the doors, aware for the first time that Loki should have been there already. She couldn't hear the alarm from within the chamber, so she had no idea what was going on. The thick walls blocked out all other noises.
She turned back to the casket at the back of the room, walking forward without really realizing what she was doing. It was filled with magic; she could see that now, and the frosty air that resonated off of it sent goose bumps up her arms. Somehow she knew that touching it could kill her, but she got closer, her eyes drawn to the swirling magic within.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Loki's voice. The demi-god stood a few paces behind her. Now he strode forward and placed himself between Aspen and the casket. "The Casket of Ancient Winters can only be handled by Frost Giants," he told her.
"Can you touch it?" she asked curiously. She'd seen him transform a few times though not completely. It gave her chills thinking about the red that crept into his eyes and the bluish skin that replaced his normally pale skin.
Loki stiffened, but gave her a curt nod. "We don't have time for this," he said. "The guards are working on finding the escaped prisoners, but they'll realize something is wrong in here soon. The unconscious guard you left outside the doors was a dead giveaway."
"I didn't know where to put him," Aspen said sheepishly.
"Well I dragged him in here. It's better than the corridor." He took Aspen's arm and pulled her over to the Eye. "Now once you have this, you'll have a limited amount of time to get out of Asgard. You need to find the same portal you came in through. Can you remember where it was?" Aspen nodded. "The All-Father will realize the Eye is gone. I'd give you five minutes before he comes looking for it."
"I thought you said you could replace it with an illusion."
"An illusion that he can see through."
"I'll get out before he knows."
Loki's next words surprised her though they shouldn't have. "I'm coming with you."
"Wait, what? To Earth? I don't think that's such a good idea."
"You need me, and I'm going straight back to the dungeons if I stay here," he told her, crossing his arms and standing right in front of the Eye. "I helped you after all."
"You're clever enough to figure out how to stay out of the dungeons," Aspen told you. "I am not taking you back with me. Remember what happened last time you were on Earth? Death and destruction ringing any bells?"
"You think that I would destroy your world after you helped me escape the dungeons?" he asked, blue eyes cold.
"Why should your actions change?" she asked. "You keep telling me not to trust you. Well, this is me using my better judgment. What would you even do on Earth? Start a 'bad guys anonymous' group?"
"Without the Tesseract, I have nothing."
"That's not true," Aspen argued. "You have your powers. And the Tesseract is right there. What's stopping you from taking it?"
"Self-discipline. You." That surprised her. She studied him for a moment.
"Fighting you before didn't go well for me," she told him flatly.
He looked almost ashamed for a moment. "I'm not going to take it," he told her. "Making off with one of Odin's treasures is a feat in and of itself. Taking two would just be impractical."
"Fine. But you still can't come back to New York with me." She tried to move around him, but he grabbed her shoulders.
"I never said I wanted to go back to New York," he said.
"The answer is still no. What would happen if the Avengers found out I just let you back into the world you almost destroyed? I'd be kicked out of SHIELD and probably shunned for the rest of my life. We'd have to runaway to some foreign country and live like outlaws."
"I'm not asking for your permission," Loki told her, a familiar glint in his eyes. "Do you really think you could stop me?"
Aspen considered for a moment. "Maybe. But I don't want to fight you, Loki. Didn't we fight enough before?" she asked wearily. She slumped under his grip.
Loki's hostile expression faded as quickly as it had appeared. "Let's just focus on getting the Eye before Odin's guards come swarming." He let go of her shoulders and turned, suddenly appearing as Odin again. He grasped the Eye and pulled it from its pedestal. An illusion appeared in its place that looked quite convincing. "Time to go," he said. Aspen followed as he led her back down the hall and up the stairs. She took one last look at the Tesseract as they passed, and it glinted at her as if reminding her of the power it held.
Loki hesitated at the unconscious guard. "I should kill him. He'll raise the alarm when he wakes up."
"You're not going to kill him," Aspen said, placing herself between Loki and the guard.
"Why not?"
"Because he's a person!" Aspen said exasperatedly. "He probably has a family."
Loki sighed. "If he ruins this plan, I'm blaming you."
Aspen rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just don't kill him."
"You take the fun out of everything," Loki told her. Aspen glared at him. "Oh, alright." He left the unconscious guard.
The corridors were empty still, and Loki led her down a complicated sequence of corridors until they reached an outside door. The night was bright under the moonlight, and Aspen found that it hurt her eyes as she looked up at it.
Loki had disguised himself as a guard again, giving illusion to the Eye so that it appeared to be a bundle of swords. They could hear a commotion somewhere behind them. "Keep walking," Loki told her. "Don't act suspicious."
"I'm walking next to Asgard's most wanted criminal – whom I let out – after just having stolen something from Odin's treasure chamber. How do you suggest I not act suspicious?"
Loki chuckled. "Always so tense," he told her. "And defensive. No wonder you and the soldier get along."
Aspen took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Truth be told the pain in her head was pounding so heavily that she could hardly concentrate on walking. It was like every new ability and bit of information was throbbing in her brain. She wanted to shut it off. She stumbled, and Loki glanced back at her with a frown.
"Are you in pain?" he asked. Aspen wanted to deny it, but it must have been written on her face because his frown deepened. "I will make him pay," he said, his tone dangerous. For a moment Aspen was tempted to let him come back. She had a feeling he wouldn't be so easily overcome by Stewart. Then a thought crossed her mind.
"If you come back with me, what's to stop you from using the Eye?" Aspen asked.
A pained look crossed Loki's face. "I have no reason to use it, and I would never use it against you. I have a feeling you'd find a way of keeping me in line." She must not have looked convinced because he continued on. "Right now you're the only good thing I have, so I'm not going to put our…friendship…at jeopardy."
"How do I know you're not trying to manipulate me?" Aspen asked with narrowed eyes.
"Is it so hard to believe that I just want to be friends?" Loki asked. "Everyone else either hates me or wants me dead. Besides, we shook on it."
"I'm envisioning this conversation with Fury. 'Oh, Loki and I shook on it. I had no idea he'd come back and try to take over the world again because I thought our friendship was strong enough to overcome his power-hungry tendencies.' Yeah. I'd get fired. And possibly publicly flogged."
Loki wasn't amused, but they had reached the base of the statue where Aspen had come out of the portal and didn't get a chance to respond.
"Here we are," Aspen said, looking up at that statue. It looked much taller now that she had to climb back up it. Her whole body was aching in a way that would make it difficult to climb.
"Something tells me our plan isn't going as smoothly as we'd hoped," Loki said from behind her.
"What makes you say that?" Aspen asked.
"Turn around."
Aspen turned and saw a row of guards running straight toward them. "There!" one of them shouted, and Aspen recognized the guard she had knocked unconscious.
"Told you," Loki said. Aspen sent him a glare.
"Not helpful. Get the Eye up there. I'll hold them off."
Loki lifted an eyebrow. "You think I'm just going to leave you down here alone? What kind of friend would do that?" He shoved the Eye into Aspen's arms. "Tie that in your cloak and start climbing. I'll hold them off." Before Aspen had a chance to argue, Loki ran forward to meet the guards, managing to acquire a staff. Aspen quickly tied the Eye into her cloak, slinging it around her shoulder. It weighed her down as she began her climb, and she could feel her energy waning. Her mind told her that she was quickly losing strength, but she kept climbing. Finally she reached the top, hefting the Eye up over the top of the statue's base. She looked back down.
Loki was still fighting, and a number of unconscious guards lay strewn around him, but he was still outnumbered. It crossed her mind that she could just leave him, but as soon as she thought it, she pushed the thought from her head and began her descent again. When she landed next to Loki, he looked at her for a moment, surprised.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Helping you," she said, taking a staff from an unconscious guard and standing at Loki's side as the remaining guards closed in. "That's what friends do, right?" She struck out as one of the guards attacked, meeting his own staff with a clang. Her energy flagged, but she fought on, struck by the irony of the situation as Loki fought by her side. She found that her mind would predict the moves of each guard making fighting much easier. They had just brought down the last guard when a fresh wave appeared on the other end of the bridge. She was feeling so weak by now, and a trickle of something warm ran down her lip. She wiped away blood. It smeared across the back of her hand, and Loki glanced down at it, frowning.
"You can't keep this up," he said. "You won't be able to climb to the top again."
"Maybe there's another solution." Aspen focused on the guards. She was so close to making it back, so close to saving Steve. If she were to be captured then she'd never make it back. He would die waiting for her, and she would die unable to save him. The anger built up until finally she let out a scream just before the guards reached them. A sort of energy pulsed out from her, sending the guards flying backwards. Several toppled off the bridge and landed in the water. The rest fell unconscious to the ground. She fell to her knees.
Loki stared around them, wide-eyed. "How did you do that?" he asked. Then he noticed her face. "Your nose is bleeding." She could feel the blood running down her face, but didn't have the energy to wipe it away. "We need to get you out of here." The next thing she knew, Loki had pulled Aspen into his arms and started climbing, gripping her to him with one hand and gripping the stone with the other. She had no idea how he made it to the top. She was barely conscious.
"Almost there," Loki told her.
"Loki!" a clear voice rang out down below, and Aspen peered over the edge to see a familiar face looking up at them. She'd never seen him in person, only through Loki's illusions, but there was no mistaking Odin. "Loki, come down from there. Your tricks will not free you from your judgment."
"Get through the portal," Loki told Aspen, setting her down. Aspen crawled forward, but Odin's voice stopped her.
"Come down Loki, or I shall force you down."
"You cannot force me to do anything," Loki spat.
"You've stolen something of mine, and I want it back," Odin said. "I do not wish to harm you. I am offering you a chance to return it."
"And then what? Life in the dungeons? No sunlight, no freedom?"
"You chose that life, Loki, when you invaded Midgard and killed hundreds of humans."
"And yet you raised me to believe that I would one day rule," Loki returned spitefully.
"You are not fit to rule. You proved that through your actions."
Loki took a step toward the portal. Aspen saw Odin bring up his staff and a blue light shot forward, hitting the base of the statue. The stone around them began to crumble and Aspen barely managed to grab on before the stone below her feet fell. Loki hardly managed to find a hold. He pulled himself back up, stumbling as part of the statue gave way underfoot. He fell against her, and she steadied him, hands on his shoulders. He looked down at her, blue eyes keen and for a moment she was back in her apartment before he had betrayed her, the night that he had kissed her. The mixed emotions she felt confused her. She felt a stab of guilt when she realized in that moment that she was thinking about their kiss but with him standing so close, she couldn't help but think of it.
"Get through the portal," he told Aspen. "Get the Eye and go."
"What about you?" she asked, pushing aside her thoughts.
"I'll be fine." He smiled at her. "You know me." He turned away from her, and she watched as he turned to face Odin. Then the portal tugged at her, and she lost her footing, falling backwards. Loki disappeared from sight, and everything swirled all around her until she was sick and dizzy. Just before she reached the other end, she lost consciousness and everything around her turned to black.