Loki stood there alone, his heart pounding in his chest. The turkey was still in the oven and the rice was still boiling on the stove. If he went in there after them, he might not come out. He did know what to do.
"Mother, I am desperately in need of your guidance." Loki said to the empty room. Seconds ticked by without an answer.
"Hail Mary full of grace…." Loki turned on his heel and left the room as he recited every prayer he knew. He went to the kitchen and turned off the stove and oven. Then he went down to the basement to grab the orb cradle just in case he needed it for some reason. He grabbed his rosary and he clutched the alabaster amulet hanging about his neck. Come what may he would get his friends out of there.
He ran back up the stairs and into the yellow room and stood before the mirror. It was solid again.
"I know damn well I don't need to be asleep to get in there. So let me in." Loki sneered at his reflection. It smiled back. The whole mirror glowed with a bright white light and Loki stepped forth into the unknown.
Once on the other side Loki was greeted by a ghastly scene. A giant toad creature, at least 12 feet high and just as wide filled half the room on one side. Its green-brown slimy skin made an unpleasant sound whenever the toad shifted or moved even a little. Its giant red glowing eyes and huge gaping mouth were horrific. Located directly in front of the creature was a table. Pepper, Daniel, and Emily were all sitting at it and what they were doing screamed of insanity.
"Mmm. Loki! Come join us! These taste awesome!" Emily said around a mouth full of gold coins. Her mouth was bleeding from broken teeth. Pepper's and Daniel's were too. There was another table in the room and laid out on top of it was Mr. Stark. Bound to the four corners of the table by his arms and legs, Mr. Stark just laid there staring at the ceiling. He looked pale, almost dead.
"Welcome to my Kingdom." Loki looked to the far side of the room. There, sitting upon a golden throne of gilded human bones was a man who looked very similar to the man in the painting downstairs. To his left stood a dark woman that Loki had only seen twice in his dreams; Mwanawa.
"Leslie Maywood." Loki said. Mwanawa's face was blank and expressionless as she watched Loki enter deeper into the room.
"So you're the skinny Nancy that has evaded my pets." Maywood said. He looked skeletal as though he'd been kept alive for far too long. His pale sickly skin did not intimidate or inspire fear. His blue eyes, so like Thor's were sunken in and his golden hair had lost its luster long ago. He looked like a parody of a King, pathetic, almost childish. He even had a crown on his head that looked like something that came from Chucky Cheese. However, Loki's gaze diverted to Mwanawa. Something about her standing there beside the throne, looking poised and powerful got his attention. Their eyes met and Loki knew who was really in charge in this place.
The black dog came padding up and sat beside her and she reached down to pet its head. It licked her hand lovingly and leaned into her leg. Mwanawa pulled out the orb and placed it into her "King's" hand. Maywood gave a drunken smile and began singing a happy tune, his mind now far afield. "You must not like me very much." Loki said to her. Her eyes narrowed.
"You are smarter than most and more observant Mr. Laufeyson. But you do not know everything. There are truths that have been hidden from you. Would you like to know who killed your parents?" Dread curled in Loki's gut. He couldn't trust anything this woman showed him. She wanted him to react.
"I have a feeling you're going to tell me whether I want to hear it or not."
"Like I said, you're smart." A cloud formed above their heads and in the mist Loki watched the image take shape. It was the train platform scene from the VHS security tape. Only this was clear, detailed, and closer. He saw his mother and father looking happy, healthy, and very much in love. They were holding hands and talking about something.
"The numbers don't make any sense Frigga. I'm almost certain it's a Ponzi scheme."
"But the division you're talking about is headed up by Tony." Frigga said.
"I know. I don't know what to do dear heart. He's my best friend, but if I don't come forward now, I'll get caught up in the scandal when it eventually goes public. At some point he'll get caught. I'm amazed it didn't happen already."
"You're a very loyal man sweetheart. You defend those you love with everything you have, but he is forcing you to choose between him and your family. If you are implicated we lose everything, and you have a moral obligation to your investors." Frigga said. The hooded man appeared, leaning against the subway wall a dozen feet behind them. For the first time Loki got a good look at his face.
It was Mr. Stark.
"No." Loki felt the unwanted tears welling up as he watched what he knew was coming next. Tony pulled the strings of the hoodie tighter around his face to better obscure it. A train approached and the vibrating of the train tracks filled Loki's ears. Tony lunged forward running at full speed and pushed his parents in front of the train.
Odin's stunned look of betrayal and recognition only lasted a millisecond as he twisted his body to protect Frigga and both were smeared on the ground below.
"It's a lie. It's not true!" Loki yelled out. He looked around him. The purple horse was near him, off to his left. Loki nearly vomited at the sight of it when he saw that it had Victoria's face. Standing next to it was a disgusting boar creature. It looked like Mr. Williams.
"Oh God! Mr. Williams." Loki stifled a sob. A fat snake like worm creature slithered around Loki's foot and he jumped back horrified by the grotesque fusion of animal and Mr. Mullens. It reared up like a cobra about to strike and hissed at Loki through human teeth before wiggling off to join the others. Loki noticed the three albino children hiding behind Mwanawa's skirts, their eyes no longer red.
A heavy wooden door opened and the lust demon came in, dragging a great hammer behind it. The hammer looked as little more than a cinderblock on the end of a big gnarly wooden handle. Behind the hammer was the bear. It stood on its hind legs, looking predatory and formative. It roared when it looked at Loki.
"This man murdered your parents Mr. Laufeyson. He and his family profited from their deaths all while petting you on the head and telling you that they cared about you." Mwanawa said. The lust demon stood before Loki and lifted up the hammer. Loki took a step back expecting it to strike him, but it stretched the hammer out to him in offering. Loki stared at the creature for a moment and when it snarled at him Loki jumped and took the thing from it. The lust demon then took up its position with the other creatures.
The great toad behind the Starks made a loud croaking sound. Loki turned and saw that Pepper was blue. Her belly was so swollen with gold coins that her dress had ripped from the strain. She looked nine months pregnant. The great toad's tongue whipped out and wrapped its sticky tongue around her, chair and all, lifted her corpse up into the air and swallowed her body whole. Daniel and Emily did not look to be far behind.
Loki looked at his friend. He understood now what was going on. Daddy was cutting her off because the money was all gone, not because of her bad grades. Her fight with her mother in the kitchen back on Thanksgiving had probably been about him. No doubt the Starks wanted her to hustle some money out of him and she'd said no. She's pushed him away because she didn't want to take advantage of him.
He looked at Daniel and he wondered how much the guy knew. He'd been working with Tony at the firm for a few months now. He had to have learned something. His gaze then returned to Tony, strapped down on the table.
"You. You murdered my parents. You son of a bitch! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Loki screamed. "You held my hand at their funerals! You hugged me and told me that they'd catch the guy. You pretended to care about me when all you were doing was spying on me to see if the investigation was getting anywhere. You kept yourself in the loop with the police by becoming my guardian and the police had no reason to suspect! You evil bastard! You deserve this…this…this HELL!" Loki walked round the table to the end where Mr. Stark's head was located, gripping the hammer like a baseball player getting ready to go to bat.
He could feel all the creatures behind him watching him. He felt the hot breath of the bear behind him. Rage coursed through Loki as he looked down at the pale dying face of the man that killed his father, killed his mother.
"You son of a bitch you took everything from me. I hate you. Of all the things I dreamed I would do to you…things I fantasized about doing to you if I got the chance…" Loki lifted up the hammer, lifted it high. He gritted his teeth and SLAMMED the hammer down. It landed next to Tony's head, missing it entirely.
"I forgive you." Loki whispered. "For my soul…for my heart I forgive you. For my sake not yours I forgive you. I forgive your wife. I forgive your children, and I forgive myself for letting this pain torment me for so long. I forgive you and commend your punishment to the hands of God, who shall judge you as only He can."
"NOOOOO!" Mwanawa yelled. The bear behind him roared and swatted Loki to the ground. He dropped the hammer, not that it mattered. The great toad whipped its tongue out again and plucked Tony's body off the table. His bones, muscles, and ligaments all snapped and his hands and feet were left behind, still tied to the table as the monster swallowed him up. His screams filled the room until he was gone.
"If you won't kill him to avenge your parents then you will kill his children to save the one you love!" She screeched.
Thor appeared, materializing out of thin air. He was bound and gagged and so very afraid.
"You will either kill your friends or we will kill your love." She said.
"Bullshit."
"What?"
"I said no you deaf stupid bitch! You're breaking the rules. I passed your fucking test. You can't entrap me now and turn me into one of your little pets. It doesn't work that way! Now you will tell me under what authority you have managed to keep Thor trapped here. He obviously didn't fall for any of your temptations either or he would look like them!" Loki pointed at the creatures huddled together on the side.
"I need your soul to set one of the other children free. The seven children of my village including my own son are still enslaved to this…this power hungry fiend." She gestured to Maywood. "He doesn't care who he has under his thumb so long as he has someone under his thumb. My babies were innocents when they were enslaved to him! These people deserve to live in this damnation." She pointed at the semi-human animal creatures.
"But why Thor? Hmm? Is it because he's Maywood's great grandson? Why do you keep him here? He's done nothing wrong!"
"For the exact reason you stated, because he is the last of Maywood's line. Keeping him here pleases me." She said.
"He could leave if he figuref out how. You've kept his mind muddled like you keep his muddled, but I have a feeling your tricks won't work on me."
"No, they haven't." She sneered. A light shown down on Loki then and it was coming from a source Loki had long forgotten. The stained glass window and the end of the secret hallway appeared. Like before the heavenly scene depicted in the glass brought Loki comfort. The way out was always close by.
"Long is the way and narrow is the path that lead up to righteousness and few there be that find it." Loki said, mostly to himself. A form materialized in the stream of light coming from the window. The outline of hair and shoulders came first, followed by the torso and legs. The face filled in and Loki looked upon his mother for the first time in over five years.
"Mother."
"Loki sweetheart. The answer to the children's salvation is the same as it was for yours. No one need substitute for their place in order for them to leave. Come to me children and forgive. Forgive the man that enslaved you and leave this all behind."
"NO! Shut up! Shut up!" Mwanawa cried. The children and the creatures all looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
It was the lust demon that made the first move. It approached Frigga and Loki jumped in front of her to block it. But he felt the gentle pressure of her hand upon his arm.
"It's alright son. Step aside." She said. The lust demon knelt before her and transformed into a little girl. She looked up at Loki with big eyes.
"I'm sorry I tried to hurt you." She said, timid and small. Loki's breath caught and he knelt down to talk to the little girl at eye level.
"It's alright. I forgive you. Do you forgive Mr. Maywood for what happened to you?"
"Yes. Can I go home now?" She asked.
"Yes you can sweetheart. You see that bright light behind me? I want you to walk into it and don't look back okay?" Frigga said.
"Will the others come too?" She asked.
"That is up to them." Frigga said.
"No! No! Stop!" Mwanawa yelled. But the other creatures moved toward the light, each transforming into children and adults. Each seeking their place in a proper afterlife. The bear turned into a little boy.
"What's your name?" Loki asked him.
"I was never given one. They killed me the day I was born." He said.
"Walk towards the light little one." Frigga instructed. He ran towards it and disappeared. The boar creature was up next and it transformed into Mr. Williams.
"Well Loki, if not for you I'd been trapped here for God knows how long. See you…later. Much later I hope. Eat a giant turkey leg for me." He said and waddled into the light. Mr. Mullens came next, then Victoria, both looking worried about having to meet their maker. Still, the promise of the white light looked far better than their current surroundings and they took the leap. The toad creature shrunk down, down, down until it turned into a little girl. She skipped up to Loki and smiled.
"I'm not sorry I ate them. They were bad people."
"Young lady, you'll have to atone for that." Frigga scolded.
"I know, but I forgive Mr. Maywood. I'm tired of being mad at him all the time." She said and then skipped off into the light. The ones that came next brought Loki to his knees. In all the commotion he failed to notice that Emily and Daniel had died. Like Pepper their bellies were distended from eating gold coins.
"Emily no. Not you too." Loki sobbed.
"I don't know if I can forgive myself for what my family did to you and yours Loki. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know." She cried.
"I didn't know either man. I'm sorry." Daniel said behind her. Loki fell into a fit of tears.
"You didn't deserve this. You didn't have to die!"
"I might not have killed your parents Loki but I certainly benefitted from it, and I, I was willing to lie to you, to get you to pay for my schooling. I am very much like my parents, and I need to atone for that." She said. Daniel nodded his agreement behind her. They held each other's hands and walked into the light.
All that remained was Mwanawa, Maywood, and the green-eyed dog. The dog leapt up from his spot and barked before transforming into a boy.
"No! Don't leave me!" Mwanawa cried, reaching out for him. The boy looked back at his mother.
"I'm tired mommy. I want to go home. I don't like it here."
"Please don't leave me baby!"
"I'm not. You can come too." The boy said with a small voice. "Please mommy. Come with me." His mother sobbed. She wanted to follow him but forgiveness was something beyond her grasp. Loki walked up to her.
"I know how you feel. Believe me I know. But haven't you suffered enough? Heaven is waiting for you. Walk away from this darkness. You deserve peace." He said to her.
"I can't! How did you do it? How did you forgive that man for murdering the people you love?"
"The energy it takes to hate someone is exhausting. At some point you have to put your faith in God that he will punish those that deserve it."
"I don't know if I can." She sobbed.
"You can. I know you can. Look at him. This is it for him. His power is now gone. His slaves have escaped their master. He has no power now, except over you. Don't let him rule you anymore." Loki said. They looked up at Maywood who was still staring into the orb and singing softly to himself.
"A better world awaits you. Let the devil have him." Loki said. Mwanawa sobbed hard but nodded her head. Her hot tears streamed down her face as Loki guided her towards his mother. She took the woman into her arms.
"A mother will do anything to protect her child from harm, even walking through hell with him." Frigga said to her. "Say the words dear heart, and mean them."
Mwanawa turned round to face Lord Leslie Maywood one last time and spoke the words to free her soul, "I forgive you."
The two women and the boy faded away and the orb in Maywood's hand glowed red hot. The seal on the top cracked open and the lid came off. Loki ran for Thor, who was still bound and gagged upon the floor. The world around them was crumbling. Loki grabbed a knife from off one of the tables and cut the ropes around Thor's legs and then his wrists. Thor pulled the cloth out of his mouth.
"You're still here." Loki said.
"We won't be if we don't get the hell out of here."
"Follow me." Loki and Thor ran towards the mirror as the walls came down and crushed Lord Maywood on his gilded throne, his body turning to dust. Loki took hold of Thor's hand as he leapt through the mirror.
The two men landed on the floor on the other side, in the yellow room. The mirror glowed with a bright light like an explosion and then all was quiet. The two men looked up at the mirror expecting to see that it was broken, but it wasn't. It looked as though nothing had happened. The men stared at each other.
A long moment passed where they breathed silently. Loki reached out to touch the dog tags dangling around Thor's neck. His hand then went to feel the firm flesh of Thor's chest and the beat of the heart within it.
"You're alive."
"I told you I was." The men embraced, feeling real touch for the first time.
Up next is some decompression time for Loki and Thor. Some Q&A between the two and some sexy time. If you have any unresolved questions you'd like Loki to ask Thor, now is the time.