SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 43: The Valknut
In the dismal red haze of Vormir's perpetual aurora, Loki blinked again, his thoughts tumbling noisily around in his head like marbles in a metal cup. He automatically followed after the flowing cape as it turned and led him out of the undisturbed waters. Their three sets of footsteps echoed as loudly as a cymbal in a cemetery against the soaking silence of the isolated shores.
The being who looked like Thor (but could not possibly be Thor) halted his forward motion by the edge of the waters and sat down upon the black-sanded beach. Jane followed his example, her eyes wide and her movements as indecisive and muddled as Loki's thoughts.
"Lady Jane, I am pleased to see you again. How fares Midgard?" the being asked with a warm smile.
"Well enough, considering everything," she answered.
"You have accompanied my brother, then?"
"Yes," she said as color rose to paint her cheeks and she bit her upper lip self-consciously.
"I see. I am glad of it," he said. "And how comes Mjolnir into your possession?"
"It liked me," she answered simply. "So, I kept it. Here, I guess it's yours again." She handed the hammer towards him, but he refused to take it.
"I am grateful for your generosity, my Lady, but it passed onto you upon my death. Now, in my rebirth, I will gather to myself a new weapon."
This only made Loki doubt the identity of the being further. He narrowed his eyes and did not dare look away, watching for the flicker of an illusion, a misplaced expression, a move to attack. Jane replaced Mjolnir in her backpack and her blue eyes glowed strangely as she considered him again.
"You are different," she mused.
"I cannot deny it. One cannot pass through death and return unscathed by its venom. I see all through the filter of my past life, my death, and the glories that await me in Valhalla upon my return. There is naught that compares and all I have seen since I departed these lands gives me new eyes now that I have returned."
Then, Thor's great hands caught Jane's face and turned her from side-to-side so he could regard her more carefully. "I am not the only one who has changed," he stated. "You are not as I remember you."
"Yeah. I guess I've changed a lot, too," she answered. She let her strange eyes fall to meet Loki, full of questions. He shook his head, trying to communicate that he held no more answers than she did.
"So, uh, Thor, I think I'm confused. You were dead, right?" Jane asked.
"Aye."
"Now you aren't."
Thor chuckled softly. "Nay, Lady Jane. Now I live again, as surely as you do. It was not long ago you very nearly joined me in Valhalla."
"How can you know that?"
"I saw you."
At Loki's incredulous expression, Jane placed a gentle hand on his forehead. "He is telling the truth," she said, her face earnest and wondering. Loki sent out a tendril of magic to enfold the being, seeking out any illusions or spellwork or warps in reality that could explain what his other senses failed to comprehend. It did not aid his understanding and his confusion only grew. There was a greater magic emanating from the being than even what his previously powerful brother had possessed and this made Loki even more suspicious. How could this be Thor? It was not possible, yet Jane said he spoke truth. Perhaps the interloper knew of charms to deceive Jane's gift… but how would he even know of Jane's gift?
Loki stared off onto the surface of the waters which no wind rippled and no current rustled. It was as stale and lifeless as the air and the unmoving sun. Not a single bird sang. No insect hummed. No fish splashed. Not a single sprout of green marred the pristine emptiness. He shuddered and his desire to flee from this place nearly overwhelmed him.
"What now?" Jane asked, as if reading his mind. "Do we return to Asgard without the Stone?"
Before Loki could answer, Thor spoke up. "We wait here," he said, with so much assurance that Jane didn't bother questioning him further. Instead, she brought out her water bottle and nibbled on some nuts and fruit she carried in her backpack.
"We cannot remain here," Loki argued. He stood up and paced the black-sanded beach with his hands behind his back. "This place will swallow us up or put us to sleep or drive us mad if we stay as we are here."
"It will not be long," Thor answered.
"Until what? What is it that we wait for?" Loki asked.
"I cannot tell you until it is done."
Loki snorted in irritation and continued pacing. He felt he must be trapped in a dream which at any moment would reveal itself to be a nightmare and he couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that crawled along his spine like a serpent.
"If you are who you say that you are, then what words did you last speak to me?"
"Before or after you stabbed me in the side with a knife?" Thor asked.
"I do not believe you managed to do much other than shout and groan after that," Loki answered under an arched brow.
"Aye. Tis true enough. Preceding the feel of your blade in my side, I believe I asked you to stop your madness and allow us to join forces to stop the Chitauri, together. You said it was, 'sentiment.' Will that retelling suffice or have I remembered it poorly?"
Loki grit his teeth, but did not answer. It was a rather good answer, even he had to admit, but he still could not accept it. He did not have time to question the interloper further for at that moment, their barrier of oppressive silence was shattered by the sound of wings. The jarring soundwaves of caws wrapped around the travelers, rousing them from to their feet.
"It is done," Thor said as he watched the birds approach. Two giant black ravens alighted on either of his shoulders. In the beak of one, a violet glowing stone shone brightly against its dark plumage. The bird dropped the stone into Thor's waiting hands and gave another loud cry. Its companion answered with its own call. A wave of energy rippled out from the stone like a tremor that causes a tsunami and Loki gasped and nearly doubled over when it rushed over him.
"It cannot be," Loki said. He anchored his feet more firmly to withstand the unexpected weight of power emanating from Thor's hand. "It must be an Infinity Gem, but I cannot believe it."
"It is indeed the Stone which you sought, the last of but two of the Singularities," Thor answered grimly. "This one has been bought by a heavy price."
"But I refused to pay it," Loki said.
"Aye, and it was wise of you to do so. If you had paid such a ransom for her, you would have proved yourself an unworthy guardian and the Stone's power would have been bound. Now, the Stone herself is free to influence the universe as she wishes. The price to obtain this has been paid for by another who gave of his own life instead."
Loki's heart filled with heavy lead and he almost could not ask it. "Who? Who has paid the price?"
The ravens gave a mournful song and flapped their dark wings. Loki knew the answer before Thor spoke it aloud.
"Hail, the new King of Asgard," Thor whispered sadly as he knelt onto the sand and gave Loki the homage due only to the king. "And Father awaits us in Valhalla."
Loki remained frozen in place, his mind reeling. It could not be. It must be another trick, another ruse, another lie. Thor rose and slipped the Stone into Loki's fingers. It burned so fiercely that Loki immediately dropped it into the sand.
"Jane, destroy it. Quickly," Loki said in a rush of panicked words. "Let us be done with it."
Jane moved to retrieve Mjolnir but Thor held her arm.
"Nay, Lady Jane, Brother. This one cannot be destroyed."
"Its fellows are no more. Surely, this one will follow their paths into oblivion," Loki answered.
"Aye. A man may wield the other Stones and bend them to his will. He may twist and corrupt Power or Time or Reality or Space or Mind, but Soul stands apart from her sisters for what man has the power to create or destroy a soul?" Thor answered.
Loki faltered. Thor's statement was so eerily reminiscent of something Odin had said in their last meeting that Loki wondered if this was not the All-Father disguised as Thor.
"Come. We have tarried long enough in this sacred space. It is time we depart," Thor stated, paying no heed to Loki's turmoil.
Jane placed one hand on Thor's arm to keep him from continuing on. "Thor. Wait. I think we need a moment to catch up. This is all kinda a lot to take in."
He nodded, but his eyebrows furrowed. The anxious way he glanced about and shifted on his feet was so very familiar, so very Thor, that Loki would have laughed, if he could have caught enough breath. Odin's ravens circled overhead, their cries disturbing the oppressive silence. The Stone at his feet continued to pulse and glow. He waved a hand over the Stone causing it to vanish into his storage. Even from there, he could feel its weight crushing in on him and calling to him. This was no mere relic. This was a source of nearly unlimited potential and its tendrils soaked into his own magic, both sapping him and enlivening him at the same time. With a gasp, he collapsed into the sand and let his head fall between his legs.
"Are you ok?" Jane asked. She knelt into the sand before him and lifted his chin so she could see into his face. He tried to nod, but he knew it would be a lie… and he could not lie to her. So, he did not answer at all. He simply let her look into his eyes and he did not bother hiding or turning away. He did not know what she saw there, but it was enough for her to take his face in her hands and lean her forehead against his.
"Can you still feel the Stone?" he asked.
"Yeah. She's really strong."
"You have met her already, have you not?" Thor asked. "Was it not she who called you back after the Mind Stone was destroyed?"
Jane released Loki and let her hands fall onto her knees. She considered this for a time before she slowly nodded. "She was there. There were so many voices, but I recognize her… she's the reason I came back to life? I had wondered."
"Aye."
"Why?"
Thor shrugged. "I am no soothsayer."
"Can you manage her?" Jane asked Loki.
He gave a single, terse nod. "This Stone is not like the others… she… is very opinionated."
"She is telling you what to do?"
"Not exactly. How can I explain it? The other Stones, they were harnessed and their power was directed by a particular channel. This one, well, she is entirely free. It is as the difference between a tamed steed used to bit and bridle and one entirely wild who will not heed any but her own nature. She wishes to be used, but I dare not for fear she would entirely overrun me."
"Here is not the place," Thor said, glancing around him uneasily again. "To where shall we go, brother?"
Loki barely contained his surprise at Thor's deferment to his judgement. He paced back and forth for a moment, pondering where else to go. Everything about Vormir made him feel as unsettled as if he were inhabiting a vivid dream instead of waking life. It made him wonder again if it were not all a creation of his unconscious mind or another cruel creation of the lingering effects of the scepter.
If, as Thor said, Odin had paid the price for the Soul Stone with his own life, that meant the All-Father had followed them to Vormir. If the All-Father was now dead, then that meant…
That meant his firstborn daughter was now freed of her imprisonment on Helheim… and she would be coming directly to Asgard. Loki needed to think and he could not do that in the stifling air of Vormir. He knew of one place which, without fail, gave him solace and the space he needed to think clearly. He withdrew the Casket of Ancient Winters, held it before him, and let the glacial light of its power wash over them.
Oooooo
It was the sound of traffic and the smell of wet concrete which first met them. As their eyes adjusted to the twilight of a rainy evening, the dim streetlights of a Midgardian city bathed them in a soft glow. Around them, scaffolds grew around once-destroyed buildings, slowly extending their shadows onto the streets below them. People were still scarce in this part of the city, though a few street vendors and construction workers lingered around the building sites and walked up and down the street.
Loki motioned for Jane and Thor to follow him through a gate. This led to a garden path and a greenhouse.
"Mrs. Johnson's garden?" Jane asked, a half-smile tugging at her lips.
"There is enough magic in this greenhouse to shield us from wandering eyes and over eager ears," Loki said. "And while there are those in Midgard who could feel the emergence of the Soul Stone here, their response will be much slower than it would be on other realms."
"Aren't you worried that Mrs. Johnson will accost you with tea and cookies?"
Loki chuckled. "She would prove a formidable opponent and would fell us all with a single frosted sweet. No, she is away for a time. When I last spoke with her, she had taken her young charges on a holiday in a warmer clime. I promised her I would look after the well-being of her garden in her absence. I am merely fulfilling my promise."
Jane shook her head and laughed. "Of course, you are."
Loki had half expected Thor to vanish once they left Vormir, as if his apparition was bound to the watery haze of that thick, silent place. Yet Thor remained with them. His golden hair was damp with the evening rain and Loki could feel the warmth exuding from his form, standing so close to Loki's own, teasing his senses into believing the fantastic to be reality.
Thor's eyes roved over the many plants warring for sunlight and space in the verdant greenhouse. He paused when he came to a familiar rose and his large fingers traced the delicate petals of a full bloom. "This is an Asgardian flower. It is mother's favorite. You planted it here?"
Loki nodded once.
"She would like that."
Thor glanced overhead and beyond the greenhouse to the growing buildings and fragments of city beneath. Thor turned to face Loki then, no hint of mirth on his face.
"I know this place. This is New York. This is where I last drew breath and raised Mjolnir against my enemies. If my memories do not deceive me, we are not far from the Man of Iron's palace."
Loki did not miss Thor's choice of words. At that time, he was truly Thor's enemy, for the brothers had been fighting on opposing sides of the battle. At the remembrance of finding that bundle of torn and bloodied scarlet cape in the wreckage, still clasped around its master's neck, Loki turned away. He suddenly regretted his impulsive choice of refuge and his blood felt hot within his veins.
As if sensing Loki's turmoil, a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder.
"I thank you, Brother, for granting me an honorable burial. No matter how we fought or the manner of my end, that my final rites were performed by your hand meant more to me than I can say."
At the memory of that lone rowboat, weighted down by the flames enfolding an Asgardian prince's cloaked body, Loki faltered. A hitched sob broke through Loki's shoulders, and he tried to tear himself away from his brother's hand.
"How can you know that? It is not possible. I was alone. None save Heimdall's sight could have seen me."
"The magic in Valhalla is deeper and stronger than on these branches of Yggdrasil. It knows no boundaries of time or space. It simply is, ever present and transcendent, transforming all it touches from finite into the infinite. I could see you clearer there than ever I did here and for the first time, I could hear you, truly hear you."
"When I spoke to you… all those nights… after," Loki began.
"I heard you. Every time."
Loki could not restrain the tears that began to pour down his cheeks and he turned away, ashamed of his show of sentimentality, but unable to stem the tide. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, fighting against the words which threatened to burst forth from the dam he had long kept them stored behind. The hope that welled up in his chest was stronger than a battering ram.
"You are alive? Truly, Brother, is this you?"
"Yes, Loki."
When Loki found himself caught in his brother's embrace, enfolded in the strong, earthy scent that was so uniquely Thor, he gave up fighting and let his head rest against his brother's shoulder.
"Forgive me, brother. Forgive me. For so many things, but most of all for your death. My idle words and spiteful action were fueled by anger and jealousy, but I swear to you I did not truly wish for your death."
"Mine were little better. For the wounds I inflicted on your heart, the careless words I spoke, the ways I forced you behind me instead of letting you stand in your rightful place beside me, I failed you more times than can be counted. I could scarcely withhold my own forgiveness when I am in such debt to yours."
"Grievances cannot follow into Valhalla. You were forgiven the moment I suspected I could no longer speak the words to you in the Land of the Living."
They stood as they were for a time, Thor's arms firmly clinging to his brother's shoulders and his head resting on Loki's. It was as if a deep and lingering darkness was being seeped from within Loki's chest, like poison being sucked from a wound. He could almost feel the lingering scars from Thanos' intrusions into his mind healing over and receding. It was then that he caught the quiet words enveloping him and the tears trailing down Thor's own cheeks.
"What are you doing?" Loki asked, pulling away in surprise.
"Your soul is still bound," Thor said. "The lies you believed allowed your former master to wield the Mind Stone upon you like chains and manacles. I am breaking those chains so you may be truly freed."
"What magic is this?" Loki asked, uneasy by Thor's use of a magic he had never wielded before.
"Loki, I no longer wield Mjolnir or the power of the storm. Those are gifts lost to my past life. In exchange, the Soul Stone granted me a new power and the ability to wield it. Now, quiet yourself so we may leech this poison that remains in your heart and the chains that remain in your mind."
Reluctantly, Loki complied. Like the warmth of spring which thaws a winter snow, Loki felt the ice in his veins and the bitterness of his soul recede and begin to drip and drop and dribble away. It began as a steady trickle of carefully cherished untruths that grew to a cascade of turbulent, frigid lies. So many memories, rewritten and reinterpreted through a haze of anger slowly crystallized, absent of the former sting. He was able to grasp them again, claim them as his own, and no longer shy away from the poison he used to drink from their twisted shadows. The accumulated detritus of an insurmountable number of festering wounds coagulated into the fierce, burning light overflowing from his soul and driving out all the phantoms of pain which remained.
Loki inhaled so deeply he felt his lungs had never taken in air before. He closed his eyes once before letting them open. He could not remember feeling so truly light and unbound, ever in his life.
"Walk in freedom, Brother, and no more in the shadows of the past," Thor stated and Loki knew, from the tips of his toes to the depths of his heart, that it was so.
Loki finally remembered Jane and he saw her, sitting on a wicker chair across the greenhouse, diligently avoiding both brothers and trying to remain hidden in the shadows cast by the broken building nearby. Loki motioned for Thor to take the crooked stool across from her and Loki took the chair beside. He stared out across the garden, the splashes of color and growth which dared to grow, despite the spell of death which had been cast over this land, and his eyes travelled upwards to where the city itself defied its own destruction and sought to reach upwards into the heavens again.
Loki stood so he could pace the small aisle of the greenhouse, his cape fluttering around his ankles behind him as he walked. He paused when he came to the red and yellow bloom of his canna lily's sister, still as bright and dauntless as ever. Carefully, he plucked the stem and twirled the flower in his fingers, his thoughts far away from the roots of the lily. Then, with a wave of his hand, he secured the scarlet bloom to the right side of his chest armor.
"Well, we have one Infinity Stone on our side… and two sons of Odin. I believe there is a Goddess of Death and a Mad Titan who will not be pleased."