SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 34: Masquerade
Sometime during their breakfast, Loki had opened the drapes and permitted the midday sun to pour in and dispel the earlier shadows. Both the room and the prince appeared all the more disheveled in the exposing light. He gave a cursory grimace as he took in the state of his belongings. He had refused any housekeepers entry to his room after his first week in Birnin Zana and his lodgings would remain as they currently were until he chose to right them.
"I rather wish I had reminded myself of my lack of magic before I took out my wrath on my chambers. It is less convenient to right everything by hand," he observed to Jane.
Jane snorted a laugh. "Poor little prince! To have to actually clean up after yourself is a true hardship."
Rather than growing irritated at her barb, he grinned. "Nearly as difficult as lacing my boots myself. I haven't experienced such deprivation since I was a child. I have considered conquering Wakanda myself, more than once, simply to avoid such strenuous labors in future."
With a roll of her eyes, Jane leaned back against the couch and placed her empty mug onto the breakfast tray. Loki finished his slice of papaya and began replacing his used utensils onto the tray, in preparation to leave it outside his door for the passing servants. He held up a spoon into the light, as if using it as a mirror, and then he glanced over at Jane.
"Princess Shuri sent you," he stated, rather than asked, suspecting Jane would not have considered bringing him breakfast herself without the princess' interference.
"Her father called her to a meeting this morning. She wanted to make sure you were not alone."
He nodded and his face took on a bemused warmth. "I sometimes wonder how life in Asgard would have been different if we had a princess in our midst. With one such as Shuri, I cannot help but think the state of our royal family would have been much improved. Just imagining one such as Shuri waiting upon the All-Father... or Thor... after a temper is rather delightful. My mother especially would have benefited. She had her hands full trying to keep peace in the House of Odin."
"I wonder what it would have been like if your estranged older sister had been there with you," Jane said.
"Aye. From all I have heard about Odin's firstborn, I doubt she would have proved as pacifying as Princess Shuri." He gave a wry laugh and placed the spoon on the tray. "With Thor known as the 'Bringer of War,' it is of little surprise that the House of Odin would spawn a daughter known as the 'Bringer of Death.' Upon further reflection, I might consider myself fortunate to call myself the adopted sibling."
"I suppose 'Bringer of Chaos' is a step above War and Death," Jane said.
"You see? I cannot understand why more do not embrace my gifts with the benevolence I bestow them! The Aesir would not agree with you. They see War as a show of strength and honor and Death as a boon to the diligent warrior. It is living in Chaos that they fear – when life is beyond their control and they cannot achieve their desired ends by their own might and will. Yet, you do not agree."
Jane shook her head.
"I wonder if it is all Midgard or only certain polities that would agree with you? The good Dr. Njeri was kind enough to point out that in the local tales of these peoples, it is the deceptive and mischievous Jackal who is revered over the strong, brash, and easily fooled Lion. 'Cleverness always victors over brute strength,' she said. I find that sentiment to be most reassuring."
"Shuri would approve."
"Aye. She does at that. She is more to be feared than any Lion."
Jane laughed. "You and Shuri are so very much alike. You have realized that, haven't you?"
Loki clicked his tongue in chiding and shook his head. "Woe to all Wakanda if that be the case."
"Not if Wakanda is smart enough to recognize a good thing when they see it. Yeah, she could tear this country apart with her bare hands, if she wanted, but she could also be what holds it all together, if she wanted."
By Jane's earnest expression, Loki knew she was not only speaking of Shuri. With all that had passed between them in the last few days, he felt even more exposed than he had standing before her in Jotun-blue skin. Their eyes locked and he felt as if she had turned him to stone with the heat of her gaze. He could not look away, even if he wanted to, and an undercurrent of electricity hummed through the room as if Mjolnir were summoning a storm around them. For a moment, he felt he could believe her, that her words, her unwavering faith, could transmute his wavering resolve into unbreakable uru. He felt all the more overcome by the desire to draw closer, to run his hand along her cheek, to have the refining fire of her eyes uncover each and every of his secrets and burn away all that remained of his lingering dross.
The spell was broken when Jane turned away first, her cheeks visibly flushed and her eyes dropping immediately to her hands.
"So, we still have three more to go, right?" she asked, forcing them back to their more comfortable camaraderie and diligently avoiding a return to the haze of tension.
"Aye, speaking of overturning the order of the cosmos...," he said, forcibly leaning back and infusing both his tone and posture with a façade of dispassionate disinterest. "I will need to travel beyond Midgard soon to search out the others."
"You don't think they are on Earth," she observed.
He shook his head. "One Infinity Stone on such a realm as this was precarious. Three was courting disaster. I doubt the All-Father would permit three such relics even on Asgard at one time."
"I'm guessing you are gonna need your interstellar taxi cab up soon, then."
"Indeed."
"Shuri and I will do what we can."
She stood to leave and was about to take the breakfast tray out with her when he caught her hand in his. He placed a fervent kiss on her knuckles and did not release her once he pulled away.
"Jane, I cannot adequately explain my gratitude...," he began, but then trailed off hopelessly, hoping she knew he meant for more than simply her work or the breakfast, but for so many more reasons than even his silver tongue could put into words.
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and bestowed a warm smile on him.
"When are you leaving?" she asked.
"Are you my nursemaid that I must share my locations with you before making my movements?" he asked, forcing levity to break through the obstinately returning tension.
She rolled her eyes. "No. I just… wanted to know what to expect... how long before you would be back to test the Casket with us, you know?"
"Why, Lady Jane, does this mean you admit that you will miss my company... and eagerly away my return? Would you still deny it, even now?"
She huffed and refused to answer.
"Do not fret. You will not miss me long and then I will return for you to deny having ever missed me," he said. He had yet to release her hand and he allowed his fingers to intertwine with hers. Then he swung their clasped hands like a pair of children in a schoolyard.
"Oh, you go away," she said with a blush creeping across her cheeks as she tried to extricate her fingers from his. He grinned and brought her hand up for a second kiss before relinquishing the appendage.
"Is that what you really wish for?" he said, watching as she began to chuckle and refused to answer him again. "You know, it is hardly fair. You are able to see through all my illusions but refuse to grant me the same liberties. I must rely on my skills of discernment alone."
"As if I am that difficult to read."
He grinned. "Would it please you if I feigned difficulty and claimed you are a perpetual enigma?"
"No, because I'd know you are lying."
"Ah, there are some moments I do not envy you. There are some pretenses, some deceptions, some beautiful lies, which are far more palatable than any number of unpleasant truths," he said.
She watched him warily for a moment, her penetrating blue eyes reading both the falsehoods and the truths beneath his statement, but she failed to comment further. Then, she picked up the breakfast tray and moved to open the door.
"Goodbye, Loki," she said, and then she was gone.
ooooo
"We had the means to control time itself…right here in Wakanda?" T'Chaka exclaimed. His typically calm and collected composure momentarily melted into dismay. He leaned heavily against his desk and his mind roiled with all the ways this scenario could have ended…badly.
Shuri lifted both her eyebrows with an affirmative, "Mmmmm."
T'Challa clicked his tongue in dismay. Okoye and Zuri shared equally disturbed glances with each other from their seats across the council chamber.
"Actual manipulation of time… what that could have accomplished if fallen into the wrong hands… or even the right ones!" T'Chaka mused.
"I do not understand. How did this 'prophet' breach our defenses? How can we be sure it will not occur for a second time?" Okoye asked.
"I do not know," Shuri answered. "Mr. Ruinda was most upset. He could not retrieve any trace of opening the box other than the day it was created by one of his under clerks. There is no video record, no trace of tampering with the box itself – either inside or outside- and none of the defenses of the post office itself were breached. The mgeni says the parcel contained traces of magic, but none which Zuri is capable of tracing."
Zuri nodded gravely. "In recent generations of Wakanda, more emphasis has been placed on the development on the overt manipulation of the natural world through technology. I am afraid some of past generation's attunement to the means of influencing the unseen world of the supernatural has been neglected. I may be highly trained as priest, but I am no sorcerer."
Okoye slammed her spear against the floor and cursed once in her mother tongue. "How is Wakanda expected to handle such invasions? We have spent centuries perfecting our isolation to avoid being the crossroads for other peoples' conflicts. How is it that we escape the 'Scramble for Africa' only to be overrun by space colonizers wielding weapons of near infinite power? I do not believe our treaty with Gulu covers such circumstances. I say we send the mgeni on his way and he can take all his magic and his alien rocks far, far from here."
"He will leave soon on his own," Shuri stated. She did not look up from her clasped hands in her lap as she spoke. "He has brought back another alien power source which we believe will make it possible for him to leave Earth and go seek the rest of the Stones elsewhere."
"A power source? Meaning another potential weapon?" Okoye said, even more displeased.
Shuri failed to answer, which was answer enough.
"The sooner he leaves, the better," Okoye grumbled. "Him and all his alien power sources."
"General… has it come to your attention that this conflict may have reached us – with or without the mgeni's interference?" Shuri said in a spark of temper. "It was not the mgeni who chose Wakanda."
"That is what I do not like," T'Challa said. "Who is this prophet? Can we expect trouble from this prophet in future?"
"Let us say the prophet chose not to intervene and send the mgeni or the Time Stone here," Shuri mused. "What then?"
"We would be at peace and not putting the life of our princess in constant danger," Okoye said.
"Kati, but for how long? General, three Stones were on Earth at one point in time. Three."
"Far from Wakanda… and it would have stayed that way if someone had not invaded our borders and planted a potentially dangerous weapon right within the very heart of Birnin Zana!" Okoye shouted. Her painted brows drew heavily together in her anger and she clung to her spear so tightly that each of the muscles of her forearm shook. "Is Wakanda to be the blood sacrifice for the rest of Earth? Is it our people who must pay the cost for conflicts we did not start? Already, we house three super-human wageni that we did not invite into our borders. At least two of those we know for a fact have a history of mental instability, violence, and questionable allegiances. The third, well, I question her wisdom solely for the company she keeps and her own willingness to meddle with forces she does not understand and cannot control. None of these wageni have planted their hearts in Wakanda. We are convenient. They are exploiting us and I say we put an end to it before anything else occurs."
"Already, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Chile, and Turkey have settled enough that we have withdrawn our emissaries," T'Chaka said. His voice was as calming in the tense atmosphere of the room as a cool rain after the midday heat and Okoye immediately unclenched her hand and sat back in her chair. "It will not be more than a month or two before another dozen or so countries follow. The mgeni's orchestrations to the damaged countries have been both apt and just, even if some of his methods were questionable. I hear your concerns, General. They are valid and I have shared each of them, and more, but I do not believe we can so easily stop a stampede of wildebeests once it has begun."
"Shuri, are there any more of these 'Infinity Stones' on Earth?" T'Challa asked, turning to face his sister.
"We did not know the Time Stone was here until it appeared in the Post Office. If we wait long enough, perhaps they will pop up in Mama W'Kabi's goat shed or buried in a grave under the ancient mounds. Kati, the paka may spit another one on my lap after breakfast. Who can tell?" Shuri's tone was not one of humor but sarcasm. At her father's chiding click and shake of his head, Shuri calmed and restrained herself from further commentary. She immediately apologized to her elders for her outburst and hung her head.
"It is a concern that whoever is sent to seek these Stones may know one was in Wakanda… and may not know of its destruction. We must see to our defenses further in case it would entail an invasion like the one New York received," T'Challa continued. "And, Shuri, I know you spend much time with the wageni, but please remember. They are dangerous. Your first priority is to Wakanda… and our Pillars."
Shuri nodded once, though by the tightness of her jaw, it was obvious she did not like it.
ooooooo
The flurries of the first autumn snow settled on the ruined remains of the skyscraper Loki sat upon. While the outskirts of New York encroached ever further into the scarred city with life and newness, the heart of the city remained an echo of the battle, even fifteen months later. It would take generations and not years for this land to truly heal. Loki could still feel the dark magic festering in the land and waters, poisoning the organic creatures within and causing invisible sicknesses which would only be recognized years later. The repercussions of the Battle of New York would be felt in the blood and genes of all who dwelt here for generations, long after the cityscape was rebuilt and the rubble removed.
Loki paced on his perch with the Kree transponder in hand and the Flerkin trailing him in the snow. His last three conversations had born little fruit other than initial communications. This one he hoped to be more promising. He was disappointed.
"What do you mean you don't have it?" Loki shouted at the transmission. The Collector's grainy and translucent image flickered from the device. Taneleer Tivan's slightly off kilter manner and compulsion to surround himself with his ever-growing collection had always unsettled Loki. In all the times he had been forced to attend dealings in Knowhere, he couldn't dispel the feeling that he needed to change his clothes or wipe his mind after stepping foot in the cluttered space filled with relics both living and dead.
As much as he disliked the man, Loki reluctantly sought him out again and again for his usefulness. None knew the Collector's age, though whispers circulated it was because he was without a beginning. His knowledge of the universe was unparalleled and if someone sought to find a hard-to-find object, the Collector was the best source of information. Now in the projected image, the Collector moved as if automated by robotic parts instead of flesh. He smacked his lips together and twiddled his fingers in mock patience as he took in the Asgardian prince's ire.
"You are not the only one in pursuit of this relic, your Majesty. Thanos also seeks it."
"This I know. What of it?" Loki hissed.
"Thanos has no shortage of servants, oh Prince. Ronan the Accuser and his army of Sakaaran soldiers attacked Knowhere even as I sought to acquire the object for you. My broker contacted me from Xandar to inform me that not one but two Ravager clans had been in pursuit of the Orb and only one proved successful. The broker informed me that after a great battle on Xandar, the Orb is now in the custody of Nova Corps and hidden in their vault."
"I thought you said Yondu Odonta was reliable?" Loki hissed.
"Yondo's protégée has proved less easily bought and persuaded, my liege."
Loki grumbled under his breath before reminding himself to maintain his self-control. "I am grateful for the information, Collector. You will receive your compensation from the next emissary of Asgard who visits Knowhere."
He switched off the transponder even as the Collector gave another profuse bow and a grin that did not dispel Loki's suspicions. While knowledgeable and well-connected, he did not put it past the Collector to double or triple cross him in his search for the Infinity Stones. Still, he had proved useful at least in gathering information.
"Fine. I will fetch it myself," he said to himself as he put the transponder away.
At least Loki had a starting point for the next Stone…and with Jane and Shuri's work with what Jane called the "interstellar taxicab", he had the means to reach Xandar, hopefully before Thanos. The thought that he could possibly cross paths with the Mad Titan in his search left him ill-at-ease, especially with the knowledge that Thanos' feelings towards Loki would not have improved with the destruction of three Infinity Stones. Without a more tolerable plan, this one must do.
Ooooooooo
Loki sought an audience with the Wakandan royals three days later upon his return to Wakanda. T'Chaka sat behind his massive ebony desk with his wrinkled brow pursed in thought as Loki entered the king's private office adjoining the council chamber. T'Challa stood beside a tall window, his gaze transfixed on the minarets towering over a distant edge of Birnin Zana. Shuri sat in a chair across from her father and she watched Loki with an unreadable expression on her face.
"How long will you be away?" T'Chaka asked after Loki shared his intended journey to Xandar.
"I know not," Loki said. He sat tall in a carved acacia chair and met the king's gaze with his own. "I am unsure of what conditions I will find there. The planet is far outside the jurisdiction of Asgard and the Nine. Attempting to pilfer an Infinity Stone guarded in one of the most formidable fortresses on this side of the Milky Way is not a task to be overconfident in."
"You do not wish for companionship or assistance?" T'Chaka asked.
"Indeed, I have come to ask for assistance, though not in my journey," he said.
"Then in what?"
"In the affairs on Midgard. It has not escaped my attention that Wakandan emissaries are well-positioned in each of the polities that were thrust into instability following the Fall. It is a strange coincidence how they so fortuitously appeared in each and every location within a few weeks of my arrival in Wakanda. However, they have proven their usefulness in the potential for disorder that follow the destruction of the Mind Stone's spell, so I will not pry into their origins. Their concerted efforts have maintained the rebuilding efforts admirably."
T'Chaka did not answer directly. He clasped his hands together on his desk and nodded in silence.
"My request," Loki continued, "is for their continuance in their leadership roles in each of the locations they oversee. In my absence, the rebuilding of Midgard must continue. While I am loathe to abandon my duties, if Thanos retrieves the Stone first, he will have no qualms to use the Stone to the detriment of many."
T'Chaka nodded.
"My final request," Loki continued and he turned to face the princess instead of the king. "Is to ensure Goose does not follow me."
Shuri raised both eyebrows in reply. Loki knew she could manage the Flerkin and keep the beast from shadowing his steps across the universe. While the Flerkin had proved its worth as an admirable battle companion, he could not be sure the effects of Ice Casket travel on any not of Jotunheim. In addition, he wished for none to face the Mad Titan if it could at all be helped. While it left him vulnerable as a solitary warrior was not as well protected, he felt it to be for the best.
"Has my soldier requested asylum within your borders?" he asked.
"He has. He is learning to farm down by the lake," T'Chaka said.
"To farm?" Loki replied with a slight scoff. "He is an admirable fighter. In addition to training with the Dora Milaje, the Lady Jane should also seek him out for his assistance in her training as a shield maiden."
"You believe a fight is coming," T'Challa observed. He turned from the window and paced the room to stand beside where his sister sat.
"Three Infinity Stones remain. I know the location of one. No realm will be safe until all three have been vanquished. Even then, as long as Thanos remains, he will not rest until he has accomplished his purpose."
"Our forces will also double their training and drills in preparation," T'Chaka answered solemnly. "Will you seek the assistance of Asgard?"
Loki fell pensive as he considered the question. He could not avoid how the thought of facing his people and his parents sent a lightning bolt of dread through his gut, but in his quest for the Infinity Stones, Asgard could be of much use. He sighed and rubbed his temples with his long fingers.
"Perhaps," he said. He did not add his condition. If I survive Xandar.
oooooo
Nick Fury was in a terrible mood. It was bad enough that his toast was burnt in the morning and that his favorite socks had a hole in the left big toe. It went downhill from there. One of his agents misplaced a rather vital (and incriminating) document in a public coffee shop and another forgot to check in for a rendezvous and nearly caused an international incident in Italy.
Now, Nick flipped through the series of statements gathered during the strange investigation into Alexander Pierce, not to mention the host of other former agents and government officials who had exhibited suspicious behavior. For months, there had been reports of slightly strange decisions and off-kilter responses, until one day, a few months back, some kind of light switch turned on and the whole lot of them were blathering about 'mind control' and 'Asgardian gods' and being forced to be useful and helpful against their wills. While the most nefarious deeds they had been forced to commit mainly revolved around undermining Hydra's plots and supporting the rebuilding efforts in the countries which had been destabilized, their allegations were more than unsettling. Overall, it pointed to a conclusion that Nick didn't like.
He thought he'd seen Thor fairly regularly, but none of the reports mentioned the fair-haired Thunderer. No, more ominously, nearly all mentioned the slippery younger brother, the mysterious would-be conqueror of Earth who Fury thought was dead. Even worse, a few statements mentioned this so-called 'God of Mischief' shifted forms in front of them and wore a face not his own during some of their dealings. While Nick grumbled to himself as he admitted the fruit of the Asgardian's work was doubtlessly beneficial to the planet, and the blathering confessions of the minions of Pierce hardly painted their own motives in a positive light, he still didn't like it.
To make matters worse, he received an unexpected visitor in the middle of a debrief call. He despised unexpected visitors on the best of days... and this was far, far from the best of days.
"You might want to talk to this one," Agent Jones said over the intercom.
"Fine. Send him in. Hill, we'll finish in a moment."
When the door to Fury's office opened, a tall, muscular man with braided hair falling across his forehead entered with a confident stride. The man wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt studded with glinting metal decorations. He gave Fury and Hill a self-assured once-over before seating himself in one of the office chairs across from Fury. He looked as cool as a cucumber and like he was ready to make himself at home in Fury's office and Fury didn't like it.
"Who the hell are you and why are you in my face?" Fury said as he narrowed his one eye at the visitor in obvious irritation. The man took long to answer, but out of an obvious desire to sow tension and not out of nervousness.
"I know who was behind the Fall and who is trying to conquer the planet," the man finally said with a cocky half-smile.
"And who might that be?" Fury asked. He leaned forward on his desk to glare at the young man. The man remained nonplussed and instead took a paperweight off of Fury's desk to toss into the air. He gave a wide grin that lit up his dark eyes as he saw Fury's expression darken in irritation. Fury grabbed the paperweight and placed it carefully back on the desk. The man leaned forward to speak, as if about to impart a great secret.
"Each and every single conquered country received a mysterious ambassador from a single country… a country that refuses even your intelligence operatives intel into their operations or their technology. I have it on good authority that they have confirmed connections with hostile alien forces who have also sought to rule Earth. They are harboring the would-be ruler of earth as we speak. They wish to use the events of this year to conquer the rest of the world and bring it under their leadership," the man said. He pulled out a series of documents in a folder that he plopped on the desk in front of Fury.
Fury opened the folder and gave each document a cursory glance before staring at the man again.
"Who are you?"
"Eric Stevens, former Navy Seal and CIA Joint Special Operations Command ghost unit, sir. Sometimes referred to as 'Killmonger.' I can tell you everything you need to know about Wakanda."
Author's note: The Collector, the Orb, and the Ravagers all refer to the events of Guardians of the Galaxy 1. Yeah, I don't own that one either. ;)
In many East African folktales, the weaker, cleverer animals defeat the larger, stronger ones. Thus, Jackal, Rabbit, and Monkey always prevail over Leopard, Shark, and Lion. Brute strength is always trumped by cleverness and deceit.