And you know heroes aren't meant to survive

Chapter 13

Hey so you know the Percy and Loki duel I hinted at last chapter? Well here it is! So this chapter is like a month after chapter 12 which means Percy has that much more training from Bucky. I really like this chapter and I hope you guys do too.
I am so glad to get this up tonight cos Imma be busy this whole weekend. I'm a Muslim (and proud!) and tomorrow is a holiday we call Eid which is to celebrate the end of our month of fasting. It's tons of fun and totally awesome. So for any other Muslims out there who might be reading this, I hope you have an awesome Eid!
Ok so by this point I'm probably rambling but little fun fact: in the myths, Laufey is Loki's MOM not his dad. His dad is someone else. I was looking up what Loki was capable of when I came across this wonderful piece of info. Way to go Marvel. Way to go. Oh and you guys should listen to Breaking Benjamin's 'Hollow'. Totally awesome song and I think it describes Loki of movie one pretty well. Oh well, on to the chapter! Update: it wasn't Hollow (but some other song I can't remember the name of) but this is still an awesome song.

Loki grinned as he grabbed his daggers. Percy had finally agreed to the duel after weeks of Bucky training him, and he couldn't wait. It had been far too long since he had last sparred against someone who could match him blow for blow. This was going to be fun.
All powers were allowed, and any weapons. Loki didn't really bother with too much armour, though. It would just slow him down. And the norns knew how he hated anything that could hold him back.
He noticed Percy also wore minimal armour, armed with only Anaklusmos and a retractable shield. Smart, considering he was going up against the god of mischief and chaos. He would need speed and agility over the protection of armour. The son of Posiedon was often considered dumb due to speaking without thinking more often than not, but when it concerned battle, his insight and ideas were valued as much as any child of Athena's was for strategy. It was also a nice change to go up against an opponent who did not rely solely on brute strength, unlike certain others coughThorcough.
The first five minutes they warmed up, learning the other's style. Loki struck first, hard and fast with his daggers, attacking Percy's defenses. Percy retaliated and soon the clang of metal was the only sound that could be heard, their hands a blur as they fought.
Finally Loki knocked Riptide out of Percy's hands, raising his dagger to rest on Pecy's collarbone.
"I guess this one goes to me." He grinned. Percy grinned back, before kneeing him in the gut and forming a dagger of ice and slashing upwards, barely giving Loki enough time to move back. "Or not."
He sent a ball of green fire at Percy who smirked and called up a mini hurricane throwing Loki back a bit.
And here was the fun part.
Loki's grin didn't fade even as he faded from view and formed various illusions of himself that surrounded Percy who blinked in surprise at the sudden change in tactics and stopped the hurricane. Well, it wasn't as if Loki was known for being predictable.
Percy sent random spikes of ice at each of the figures, unsurprised as they faded into nothing. Only question was, where the hell was Loki?
Turning around after feeling a disturbance in the air, he saw Loki materialising behind him staff at the ready and a ball of green fire in his hand. Crap. Raising his hands and forming a crude shield of water, he just barely deflected Loki's attack. And because fire wasn't enough, Loki sent bursts of energy at him. Well, two could play at that game.
He created a mini earthquake, throwing Loki off balance and sent a dozen shards of ice at him along with some water balls for good measure, thoroughly dousing the god. Loki had anticipated the ice but not the water and was soaked, the ever present grin still visible as he retaliated with another energy blast. This continued for a bit until Loki, seemingly bored, sent an ice blast at Percy. To say the demigod was confused was an understatement. He wasn't the only one. Loki had never displayed his jotunn side so blatantly and no one knew if he had even accepted that part of himself yet.
The grin fell from Loki's face for the first time since their fight began, replaced with a scowl. He renewed his attack with blasts of energy and fire so strong Percy could barely keep up with, even with his shield taking the brunt of the attack. He would probably have to ask Tyson to fix it again. Great.
The fight finished soon after, Loki almost blasting Percy's shield to bits and nearly knocking out the demigod with the sheer force of his attack.
The god of chaos gave a small, slightly apologetic smile to Percy after helping him up before dissappearing. The others, who had finally stopped gawking, came out from behind the protective glass Tony had installed a week ago. Evidently he felt that if two powerful beings were going to 'nuke it out', whether on friendly terms or otherwise, they all needed to witness it. Also he didn't want the rest of the gym destroyed.
"Is it just me or was Loki holding back on us during the invasion?" Steve asked a confused look on his face.
"My brother is very powerful in his own way. Not like an Asgardian is, in pure physical strength, but powerful nonetheless." Thor spoke gravely.
Tony interjected at this point after fistbumping Percy. "Are none of you gonna talk about how awesome the kid was? We can debate the many ways of how and when Rock of the ages could have killed us later. This is the longest anyone has ever held up aginst Loki. I'm getting pizza to celebrate."
"I want cheese." Percy spoke up immediately. Clint voted for pepperoni which was immediately vetoed by Natasha.
An hour later a very confused pizza boy showed up with 17 different pizzas.
~line break~
Percy found Loki on the rooftop that night. The god was quiet, seemingly lost in the skyline. He had never seen the New York skyline from such a height but he had to admit, it looked pretty awesome at night.
"Pretty epic duel today. I mean, obviously you won, but I had fun. We should do it again sometime so I don't lose as epically as I did today."
Loki jumped at the sound of Percy's voice, having been fully immersed in his thoughts until Percy drew him out quite suddenly. Regaining his composure quickly, he replied with a smirk. "Such less faith in yourself Jackson?"
Percy scoffed. "Says the guy with thousands of years of training to the one with barely a month."
The grin didn't leave Loki's face as he turned to face Percy. "Well, what can I say? I did have high hopes for one who bested Ares at the age of 12."
Percy shook his head, a smile lighting up his face. "First off, that was more swordfighting than magic. Second, you know what, I'm not even going to ask how you know about that. Honestly is all your godly gossip about us demigods?"
"Not all. Well, most is." Loki admitted. "Don't tell any of the gods I've been giving away their secrets, but demigod tales are far more interesting then godly exploits which are both overdone and repeated so often I could probably recite most word for word." Seeing Percy's raised eyebrow and slightly disbelieving look, he emphasized the last few words. "No, seriously, we love telling over embelished tales of our own accomplishments. I'm Norse remember? Nothing is better than 'dying a glorious death in the midst of battle.'" He looked thoughtful for a moment before amending his statement. "Well, except for living and telling the stories of how we 'bested our foes' in said battle. If a friend died during warfare, stories are told of his or her utter bravery to face death with a smile on their faces, embracing it. Oh and the fact that they are probably already partying in the halls of Valhalla. I have heard a million different variants of the same boring story, I should hope I would be allowed a different, more interesting one."
"So your next source of entertainment is us?" Percy questioned, an unreadable expression on his face.
Loki shrugged. "I suppose, yes. I'd apologize, but you appear to be used to the gods' disregard for their heroes. Also I never liked using others as entertainment or otherwise." His tone darkened at the end, barely concealed rage in his words. "I know with what I did when I first came to Midgard this may seem contradictory, but no matter what they think, no one should ever be manipulated to be a pawn in some god's games."
"Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. But then again, I'm usually the preferred pawn so my opinion could be considered biased."
Loki clenched his fist, anger clear on his face, accompanied by a self depracating smile. "Well, you're not the only source of amusement there is. You know I am not of Asgard? My birth right is that of Jotunheim, realm of the frost giants. Otherwise regarded as monsters."
Percy nodded slowly when Loki paused, unsure where this was leading but definitely surprised at learning about Loki's true heritage. "I grew up taught to fear my own kind, then taught to kill them. My own brother swore to hunt them down like Odin has done.
"And then I learnt that I was the very thing I had been told to hate. I was the monster parents told their children about at night. Taken as a child to, what? Bring peace between two warring nations? Yes, because that makes so much sense. Teach your son to hate something and then tell him he is the very thing he was raised to hate! Thank you Odin, for your great wisdom and foresight! It is such an honor to be told that I am little more than just another relic and a pawn for your use."
Loki spoke bitterly and Percy could tell that he was just about done with his adoptive father. He couldn't blame the god, Odin sounded just about as amazing as Zeus when the god of the skies was throwing a tantrum. Which is to say, absolutely awful.
Percy looked at god beside him who was shaking with barely suppressed anger.
"The only thing that makes you a monster is you." He spoke softly but with an edge to his voice, unwilling to trigger something within the god beside him and have Loki go on a rampage, but also needing to get his point accross. "Not Odin, not your heritage and not other people. No one gets to say who you are."
"And how would you know?" Loki asked after a moment's silence, his anger cooling. Not fading, exactly, but hidden beneath a calm exterior.
"Because I have lived my whole life, short though it may be compared to yours, being judged for things out of my control. In school I was the freak with ADHD and dyslexia who got kicked out of every school I went to. At Camp, I've been their leader because I'm the prophecied Son of Posiedon. Someone who cannot break, cannot lose hope and has to somehow win against impossible odds. I've been through wars, gained and lost friends and survived Tartarus itself. You think I let my past define me? My heritage? I love my dad, but he has almost no part in who I am today.
"The first thing you learn when you're a demigod is that your future is already foretold in some prophecy. Well I say screw fate, you are in control of your destiny. Not anyone else. It's a little thing called free will, think about it some time."