A/N: I know I said the story would be with the movies by this point, but I was mistaken. It's going to be next chapter, I promise. I was so caught up in the writing that I calculated it wrong. I am posting very quickly, but am afraid of leading people on with the idea that it will always be this way. I do not plan for my updates to be nearly as spaced as my Dramione fic was so don't fret too much. At the same time, updates won't always be every few days or even weeks. What I can promise is monthly at the latest, and as the story progresses, most likely bi-weekly. Anyway, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy and please review! It really does help with the writing. Motivation kicks up like no other, believe me! I should have the next chapter here at least within the week.

Chapter Four : The Cave

"And the price," Loki asked, knowing it was going to be tremendous. Something that wasn't as cheap as gold, treasures, or the like. He knew it was going to be something priceless. But since it was only going to effect himself, he was willing to pay.

"Your immortality," the robed being said in a voice neither male nor female.

Loki's insides froze and he was only dimly aware that his breathing had stopped. He felt himself lean against the cave wall and maybe even slide down it a few inches.

'My immortality,' he thought. 'May as well ask for my brains to be scrambled and organs harvested like those Midgardian ancients who thought they could come back after death.'

The comparison didn't wholly make sense to even Loki, but he figured there was some type of reasoning in there that he couldn't quite put together at the moment. His future was basically being taken from him, after all, and he excused his lapse of cleverness to shock.

Then he realized why he had made the comparison. If he had any hope whatsoever of saving Thor and Asgard from whatever was afflicting them without it costing a great deal to himself, it was gone once the being in front of him spoke the cost of possible success. There was no hope at all of a long end to his life where he could live in satisfaction that he had done right by something. Sort of like the Egyptians, his actions had some type of merit, or at least a form of planning, behind it but would not benefit him personally very much. Well, saving Thor was a personal gain, he knew.

Loki looked away from the robed creature after a time, contemplating for a few moments more what he was about to give up. He briefly wondered why he bothered hesitating when he knew he would agree. He wanted to curse his brother's love for him as much as he secretly cherished it.

"Sentiment," he whispered to himself, feeling the corners of his lips quirk up. He should've known it would be the end of him.

"How many years will I live if I give this up," he asked, searching the darkness under the cowl of the being's robe. Just because he knew he would agree didn't mean that this being had to know. Not before Loki knew what he could gain, at least.

But then again, wouldn't it know he would agree since he could see what was going to happen? If that were the case, Loki was only going through motions. 'Oh, well,' he concluded. 'The results in the end should be the same.'

"Approximately five-hundred years," the disembodied voice answered.

Loki nodded to himself. Not so bad. Certainly not as short as human life spans, but also nowhere near immortality.

"Am I correct in assuming nothing I do will extend my life," he asked, thinking about Idun's apples and ambrosia. He wasn't born mortal, after all. There was a possibility it would work.

"There are ways to extend your life for a decade or two, but near the end of your life-span you will age and nothing you do can stop your eventual death," the voice answered.

Loki felt himself smile, but it contained no humor or positive feeling to it at all. It was an outward sign of resignation.

"At least I'll still be relatively young until the very end," Loki mused aloud, seeing whatever good side there was to the situation. Even though the best part of the deal was a bit morbid. Who wanted to die young?

"Whether the changes you plan to make works or not is up to you, Asgardian," the voice spoke. "Your choices will either aid or hinder you on this journey. I wish you luck."

Loki's head whipped up, caught by the address. He knew this being would know he was a Frost Giant and not the biological son of Odin. To use such an identifier…But he was raised as an Asgardian, he supposed.

"Thanks for the goodwill," Loki said, choosing to ignore the name he was called. "You seem to know how this will end even though you can neither help directly nor change anything yourself."

"I see and know almost all within time."

"And it is not the same as interfering, I know," Loki finished. The keeper of Time was hard to locate and had cost him something else before he got to this very point. But that was neither here nor there. His goal remained the same.

"I thought they said you were generous," Loki let slip, bringing his hand to his mouth at the lapse in his usual self-control. He blamed his racked nerves. Thor and Asgard were dying as he spoke.

The being only chuckled, leaving Loki a little confused at the pulsation in the room from the creature's mirth.

"You will have your immortality when I send you back in time," it said, making Loki's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Loki thought he would have had to have been extra careful when he went back to try to change what was happening. Mortals were known to be fragile creatures. But even as a mortal he would be stronger than an average human. He was still a Frost Giant and would have his magic as well.

"How do you know I won't just keep my immortality instead of giving it up," he asked slyly; he wasn't the god of mischief for nothing. If he could find a way out of the deal with a leg up, he would try his hardest to attain it.

"You have changed more than you know within a small amount of time," the being said. "What you wish to accomplish can only come about at the price of your immortality."

"I see," Loki responded. The time keeper was generous indeed. He had no fee due to the keeper. His price had to be paid if he wanted to be successful. "Ingenious."

"I suppose you cannot tell me how my brother and all of Asgard came about the dilemma of slowly dying," he wondered, pushing for all the answers he could get before he left. His brother and the rest of Asgard were withering away.

The gods and goddesses of the realm were getting older at an alarming pace. Where his brother's once indestructible body showed no signs of ill health not that long ago his head now contained only grey hair, and his body was losing muscle mass and shaking with brittle bones. The rest of Asgard's citizens fared about the same.

"Something in the water," Loki joked, knowing he did not find the least joy in seeing his brother waste away. He felt his weak attempt at a smile cast down as he recalled the look of pure felicity on his brother's face when Loki appeared at his bedside.

'Just because I called you 'brother,'' Loki thought.

Loki shook his head. His brother was like a Midgardian puppy. They always loved you no matter what you did. It was not the first time Loki knew he took Thor's love for granted.

His brutal and selfish actions towards Midgard and Thor himself alone made him beyond salvation. Not to mention his assistance of that Dark elf that took their mother's life. Piled on top of even that were the numerous deaths, destruction, and all the lies. The Stone had its influence, sure, but he could not excuse himself either.

'And all for my stupid quest for power,' he thought, 'and my ridiculous need for validation.'

"The water would be the place of origin, I suppose," the creature said.

Loki's eyes went wide.

"What," he sputtered, "What can I do to stop it? How can I save them? How can I save Thor? You know how this came about!"

Though Loki entertained revenge against Asgardians while fleeing, he didn't want it to happen like this. They were weak and held no challenge. Besides, he wasn't the one who did this to them in the first place. No satisfaction could be had by such a downfall.

His brother, too, needed to gain his former glory. If his dreams were anything to go by, he wouldn't be able to handle losing Thor.

"It came about," the creature said, "as a very intolerable abuse against myself and an even worse desecration towards Time itself."

The fabric of the room shook, making Loki wary and a bit nervous. This being was not one to cross.

"Though I see everything, there are choices that lead towards other paths which are open for a certain amount of time," the being explained. "I am but the keeper of time and cannot interfere with a corruption towards myself or time directly."

"How can I be of assistance," Loki asked, catching the wording of the being's sentence.

The being stretched out what appeared to be a hand, though Loki could only see black mass.

Loki stretched out his own hand under it. A small vial of liquid fell onto his palm. It contained what looked to be blood, red as if freshly spilt, mixed with a black substance Loki could only guess at, and grains of what looked to be sand.

"Though I see what was, is, and what will be," the being said, pulling back its hand, "I still have hope and faith. I believe choices can alter what has happened if one is worthy of the chance."

"I suppose time isn't as fixed as I believed it to be," Loki responded, truly wondering at the creature before him. It was unusual indeed for a creature of time, no less, to have faith and hope even when they knew exactly what was going to happen. Or, Loki corrected himself, almost exactly.

"Remember," the being said, raising its arms into the air, "your choices matter more than you think they do. Count around four months before the time reaches near the moment you fled from Asgard, if your choices carry you that far. You need to take the potion in the vial only then. Not before, even when you think you will perish from anguish. It is the only way that will help with saving Asgard. And yourself."

Loki felt complete dread at the ominous statement, but also knew their meeting was at and end. He didn't need to ask the creature what was in store for him. He would be in pain, and a great deal of it. 'What joy,' he thought dryly.

As the being drew out sand from the cave's interior, mixing it with dark matter Loki could only guess at, he could feel his blood pump at his rising anxiety. He truly hoped this would work.

He had no idea when the being would place him back in time. It could be when he was just a boy, or even just a few months ago before all chaos fell upon Asgard. Solely depending on the time he was going to be placed in, Loki would have to work fast, or perhaps even slow, to be successful. The damn creature didn't offer an answer or even a hint when Loki had asked when he would be put.

"Do not hesitate where you feel insecure," the creature said, raising its arms still higher. "You have a great deal of strength and love both towards and in you. Do not waste this chance."

If Loki were not so preoccupied with trying not to be overwhelmed with the very real happening of being sent back through time and space, he would have been slightly insulted at the insecurity comment. He knew it was true, but he didn't have to like it.

Before any more thoughts came to mind, Loki saw the creature's raised dark mass that he took for its arms swing down swiftly. Loki only saw a flash of blinding white light before he found himself staring at Thor's face. His youthful face. The cold registered next. They were in Jotunheim. Where everything had first started to go wrong.