~Ten Months Later~
"It's time," Yardaff said. He held Loki's helmet in his hands - all that was left of his brother. This was all for him. For Loki.
"It is," Krunagh agreed. His voice was deep and rough, even for a Frost Giant. "It's time to give the All-Father one last chance to admit to his wrongdoing."
"I hope he does," Yardaff said. "It would be a shame, to have to go to war - for so many more innocents to lose their lives because of him."
"The All-Father may be a fierce warrior, but he does not seek war," Krunagh said. "I am…uncertain, of how he may respond to our request."
"If you cannot be certain, there is no one who can," Yardaff said; "not many of our people remain who lived and fought in the old days of war." He paused, then added, "I am glad to have you join me in this; my last exchange with the All-Father was…far from diplomatic."
"As I served your father in the great war long ago, so too shall I serve you, My Lord," Krunagh said.
"I thank you, friend of my father," Yardaff said formally, setting his brother's helmet down on the frozen stone. "Let's go."
The young, inexperienced prince, backed by the old, battle-scarred general, stepped into the gate between Asgard and Jotunheim. Just before they left, however, a call rang out across the frozen wasteland.
"Stop!"
Just as she had when Yardaff had first agreed to rule side-by-side with Loki, Enchessa intervened at the last possible moment, sprinting to the gate faster than should be possible through her skill with ice magic.
"My Lady," Yardaff greeted her respectfully.
Enchessa joined the two male Frost Giants at the gate site without pretense. "I will join you, My Lord," she told Yardaff firmly. "I wish to see these monsters that parents tell their children stories about at night with my own eyes."
"My Lady, there is no need-" Yardaff began.
"I will come!" Enchessa said, in a tone that left no room for argument.
Yardaff sighed and gave her the traditional Jotun gesture of respect. "As you wish, My Lady," he said.
She returned the gesture, and the three Frost Giants left for Asgard.
~o~
The three Jotun ambassadors, for lack of a better term, came to Asgard just outside the armory. As had been his experience last time, Yardaff immediately felt the call of the Ice Casket.
"Do you feel that?" he asked the other two.
"The Ice Casket," Enchessa said softly.
"Remember, we are not here to reclaim it," Yardaff said to her; "not yet."
Before Enchessa could respond, two guards burst through the doors, weapons at the ready.
Yardaff held up a hand. "We have not come to fight," he told them. "We would speak with the All-Father, and with your king - speak, nothing more."
"Though if we were here to fight you, you would stand no chance, as you are outnumbered, not to mention powerless compared with us," Enchessa added mockingly.
"My Lady, please," Yardaff begged, turning to her; "behave yourself. We've come to resolve this diplomatically - there is no need for threats or condescension."
"I do not fear these creatures," Enchessa sneered. "Look at them! Small, weak, ugly little-"
"Silence," Yardaff commanded. He turned back to the two guards. "We come in peace, and would speak with your king and the All-Father," he told them. "Please grant us an audience with them, if you can."
The two Asgardians looked very unsure of themselves. Three powerful Frost Giants - one of them female - asking to speak with Odin and Thor? If the two of them together were outnumbered, one would stand no chance, so they couldn't separate; still, the king did need to be notified…
"I swear to you, in the name of my late father, King Laufey, that we have only come to speak with your king and his father," Yardaff said, sensing their hesitance. "We do not seek to harm any of your race during this visit, nor have we come to take back our sacred relic. You need not fear what we might do if you turn your backs - you have my word, as prince of Jotunheim."
"Perhaps you could simply lead us to the All-Father and his son now?" suggested Krunagh. "We will follow you, if you would to take us to them, or if you wish to take us someplace where you would be less fearful of us."
Yardaff nodded in agreement. Enchessa was still and silent.
The two guards looked at each other. One of them nodded to the other, and they turned back to the three Jotuns.
"As you say, Frost Giant," said the one who had nodded. The two guards marched up to the Jotun trio, then stood aside. "We will bring you elsewhere."
"Are we to be taken there at spearpoint?" asked Enchessa.
Yardaff smiled and stepped forward. Krunagh followed him, and Enchessa joined them after a moment's hesitation. As he passed the guards, Yardaff told them, "I advise that you not provoke the Lady Enchessa; I have little control over her."
"You have no control over me, My Lord," Enchessa said contemptuously.
The two Asgardians gave no response to this, and the three Frost Giants were indeed led forward at spearpoint.
~o~
After several minutes of messengers running back and forth and Asgardian soldiers gathering to keep an eye on the three ambassadors, Yardaff, Krunagh, and Enchessa came to stand before Thor and Odin, as well as Heimdall, Lady Sif, the Warriors Three, and several dozen nameless soldiers.
"Why have you returned here?" Odin asked Yardaff.
Yardaff bared his teeth. "I told you I would avenge my brother, no matter the cost," he told Odin. "In coming here today, I aim to do so with as little cost to our realms as possible."
"You come with accompaniment," Odin noted.
"All-Father," Krunagh said, stepping forward. "It has been many centuries since I last saw you. That day, you were slaying my brethren, and still had two eyes."
"Who are you?" Odin asked.
"I am Krunagh," Krunagh answered. "I served as general under King Laufey, and so too shall I serve as general in the upcoming war, should it come."
"All-Father, what you have done is an atrocity for which you must pay with your life," Yardaff said. "However, there is no need for others-"
"What 'atrocity' do you speak of?" Odin asked.
Yardaff noticed that Thor was silent during all of this; he glanced at the son of Odin, and saw that he apparently could not face the Jotun ambassadors.
"What you have done to my brother, crown prince of Jotunheim - what you have reduced him to - is something for which you can never be forgiven," Yardaff answered Odin.
"I saved Loki's life," Odin said scornfully. "Your father would have left him to die."
"What sort of beasts do you take us for, All-Father?" Enchessa snarled, stepping forward.
"What you say is untrue, though it may well have been an honest mistake," Yardaff said, gesturing for Enchessa to back off. "My brother was small and helpless; had any of your warriors found him - or so my father feared - you would have annihilated him. He was left abandoned in our temple so that he would be out of harm's way."
"He was suffering!" Odin retorted.
"Better suffering than dead!" Enchessa snapped.
"And who are you?" Odin asked Enchessa.
"This is Lady Enchessa, the finest spellcaster to have ever graced our realm," Yardaff answered for her.
"'Lady'?" Thor exclaimed, looking up. His eyes widened when he saw Enchessa.
Enchessa smiled wickedly. "Loki, too, was surprised to meet me," she said. "The All-Father would have you believe…what? That Frost Giants are monsters spawned from some cold, dark pit, with no purpose but to harm others?" She shook her head contemptuously, turning on Odin. "All-Father, you shame yourself time and again," she said coldly. "I do not see how you could possibly wrong our race and realm further."
"Had you raised Loki well - with love, as your son - then your mistake would have been forgivable," Yardaff said, getting back to the reason he had come. "However, your treatment of him was inexcusable. You must pay with your life for what you have done."
"You told our guards you had come in peace!" Thor said, stepping forward, his grip on Mjolnir tightening.
"We have, in this instance," Yardaff told him. He turned back to Odin. "You see, All-Father, to go to war is not what any of us desire. It would mean many lives lost, on both sides…and all because of you. We would not have it this way. You are the only one who need suffer - we hold no grudge against the rest of your kind."
"So why have you come?" Odin asked.
"We have come in the hopes that you might show some small amount of decency for once and surrender yourself to us, with no need for further bloodshed," Enchessa answered. "You alone are the one who must be punished."
"Please, All-Father," Krunagh said, "spare your people the atrocities of war. Whether you feel remorse for what you did to Loki or not, there is no need for innocent lives to be sacrificed."
"I do not fear you," Odin declared, "nor do I have any reason to regret my treatment of Loki. You ask that I allow you to execute me? I will not!"
"So be it," Yardaff said. He turned to Thor. "And what say you, son of Odin?" he asked. "As king of Asgard, it is within your power to surrender him to us, is it not?"
"You would have me send my father to die?" Thor asked angrily.
"Do you still call Loki your brother?" Yardaff countered softly.
Thor was silent for a moment, then declared, "I will stand by my father."
"So be it, then," Yardaff said. "As we cannot resolve this matter relatively peacefully, war is the only answer." He glared at Odin. "So long as you still breathe, All-Father, we will show this realm no mercy," he told him. "We will kill all who stand between you and us, so that we may slay you and avenge my brother, my family, and all of our kind. There can be no other outcome."
"My brother would not wish for this," Thor told the Jotuns.
"How dare you call him your brother?" Yardaff snarled, turning on him again. "You would defend the one who ruined him, the one who reduced him to less than nothing - you've no right to call him your family!"
"He would not wish for this!" Thor repeated, raising his voice. "I've been watching him since he left your realm for Earth, and he is content with his life as it now stands! He would not have our two races destroy one another on his behalf! Just a short time ago, he-!"
"Enough!" Yardaff roared. "The last time I saw my brother - from this very room - he was shouting helplessly to a foreign sky!"
"Witnessing that caused me as much pain as it caused you," Thor told Yardaff, "but he is no longer angry to the point of wishing ill of either of our realms. He would not wish for this."
"Regardless of whether or not it's still what he wishes, this is about a great deal more than his own suffering," Enchessa said icily. "The All-Father has shamed, not only Loki Silvertongue, but the entire royal family of our realm, and all of our race. Even if Loki were to forgive him, we would not. The All-Father's crime has wounded all of us." Her eyes narrowed. "And soon, it will wound all of you, as well," she added cruelly. "Anyone who dares attempt to protect the All-Father will perish, as shall he…and, because you have declared your stance in this matter, so shall you, son of Odin."
"We will see," Thor said.
Yardaff nodded. "Farewell for now, then," he said, and turned to go.
"What makes you think you will be allowed to simply walk away?" Odin asked dangerously.
Yardaff stopped. "This was an attempt at diplomacy, and we would leave as peacefully as we came, for now," he replied, not looking back.
"And if that answer is not enough for you, All-Father," Enchessa added, "what about…this?"
Yardaff looked at her, just in time to see her turn to one of the nameless Asgardian soldiers and slash her hand through the air in a wide arc. Her movement left behind a razor-thin blade of ice that, instead of falling to the floor and shattering, flew forward through the air; the Asgardian she had turned on barely had time to blink before the blade cleaved him neatly in two.
The other Asgardians gave a collective gasp of shock as the soldier's remains fell to the floor with two sickening thuds.
"What say you to that, All-Father?" Enchessa sneered at Odin. "Allow us to leave, and the rest of you will be spared for now. You are unprepared, after all, or so it would seem; the battle will not begin just yet. You will have some time…if you let us go."
Thor looked quickly between Enchessa and Odin, clearly trying to weigh the consequences of fighting versus letting the Jotuns walk away.
"Leave," he finally commanded. "Now. Begone!"
The three Frost Giants walked away without another word. The Asgardians appeared too stunned to make any move to stop them, so they returned to the gate undisturbed. It wasn't until they had returned to Jotunheim that Yardaff said to Enchessa, "I had no idea you were so violent, My Lady."
Enchessa laughed coldly. "As I told you, I have long thirsted for Asgardian blood," she said. She paused, then added with relish, "And I will have much more once the war has truly begun."
"When shall our armies attack?" Krunagh asked Yardaff. "At dawn?"
Yardaff was about to answer yes, when a golden gleam in the low light caught his eye. He looked, and saw Loki's helmet, exactly where he'd placed it. All of this was for Loki…
"No," he replied, "not just yet." He turned back to Krunagh. "Tell me, Krunagh," he said, "how was it that our kind travelled between the realms in the old days of war?"
"There are passages between all the realms," Krunagh answered; "once, we were free to use them."
"Do you recall where any of them are?" Yardaff asked.
Unfortunately, Krunagh shook his head. "Their locations shift at times, and it has been too long since we were allowed to use them," he answered; "your father was the last of our kind with the ability to find them."
"Not the last," Yardaff muttered. He turned to Enchessa. "My Lady, I would ask a favor of you," he said to her.
"What favor?" she asked.
"Through his skill with magic, my brother was able to locate the secret gates between the realms," Yardaff said; "I ask that you please do the same. Please, find the gate to Earth through which my brother left us."
"You would have him join us in this battle?" Enchessa asked.
"I would," Yardaff confirmed.
"It took him over a year to find that gate," Enchessa said. "Our realm is vast; if you wait for me to find him, it may delay the war for days, weeks, even months."
"As this is all on his behalf, he has the right to join us," Yardaff said firmly. "It matters not how long the war is delayed, as the Asgardians cannot leave their realm."
"True," Enchessa said hesitantly.
"The Asgardians will still be there for you to slay when your task is done," Yardaff pointed out. He smiled and added, "I swear to you, you will have all the Asgardian blood you crave; but for now, please find the gate to Earth."
"Would you like me to retrieve your brother?" Enchessa asked.
"Nay," Yardaff replied; "I would rather speak with him myself."
Enchessa met Yardaff's eyes wordlessly for a minute. Yardaff returned her gaze.
"I shan't be long," she said at last, and she turned and sprinted away.
Yardaff and Krunagh watched her go.
"She is certainly Skadi's daughter, through and through," Krunagh said in an odd tone of voice.
"Indeed she is," Yardaff agreed; "just as beautiful, and with intellect and magical proficiency surpassing all who came before."
"It is a shame her mother perished when half of Jotunheim was destroyed by your brother," Krunagh said.
"No," Yardaff said firmly, turning to Krunagh. "My brother was not to blame for his actions. It was the All-Father, and the All-Father alone, who caused this."
Krunagh nodded to him, conceding, then turned back in the direction Enchessa had gone. "Do you truly believe the Lady Enchessa would make a suitable queen of Jotunheim?" he asked Yardaff; there was something strange about his tone.
Yardaff chuckled. "Not queen," he replied; "goddess of Jotunheim.
Krunagh sighed.
"I am thankful that my father did not choose Skadi for his mate," Yardaff went on. "I still fail to comprehend why he did not, though."
"I know why," Krunagh said softly.
Yardaff turned back to him.
"It was because your father understood that, as king of Jotunheim, his own wishes and desires had to come second to the good of our realm, and the well-being of our people," Krunagh told Yardaff.
"I don't understand," Yardaff said, confused.
Krunagh sighed again. "You are young, son of my friend," he said; "far younger than your father was when he took the throne. You've much to learn still." He paused, then added, "I pray you learn what you must before it is too late."
The general's words only served to confuse Yardaff further. It wouldn't be until after weeks of thinking things over that he would understand.
~X~
The very same night, completely oblivious to all that was transpiring on his behalf, Loki lay awake, pondering what his life had become.
He had once hated that he had been forced to live among mortals. Now…things were different. On Asgard, he had been treated as inferior, passed over and downtrodden, for reasons he hadn't understood; in Jotunheim, he had been hailed as the long-lost crown prince of the realm, treated with almost godlike reverence. As he reflected on it now, he realized that neither of those things were what he wanted; all he wanted was to belong - to be treated as an equal, worthy but not worshipped. And on Earth…
He smiled. Here on Earth, he had finally found that place, where he belonged.
Not on Earth alone, though, he thought; were it not for Darcy, I would have no place here, either…
Darcy…She was so much more clever than most people would give her credit for - possibly far more so than she would give herself credit for. He couldn't talk circles around her, as he so easily could with everyone else he had ever met. Indeed, sometimes she managed to talk circles around him, which was no easy feat.
No one had ever spoken to him as she did - not as though he was superior to her, even despite his powers, but not as though he was inferior to her, either. She wasn't afraid to tell him about himself - both his merits and his faults. She wasn't afraid of him at all. She corrected his sentences constantly, no matter how irritated he was, and the few times he'd made the mistake of threatening her to try to make her stop, she'd corrected his sentences and told him all the reasons he should be ashamed of himself. Incredibly, she had the power to make him feel ashamed…
It crossed Loki's mind that he should hate her. But he didn't. No…he respected her, that she was bold and clever enough to keep him in line. And…and in the end, she was on his side, no matter what he might do or say. She had done so much for him…
What was it about mortals that made them so…so…so different? It did indeed seem that they had something that Asgardians lacked - something even Frost Giants lacked. Asgard and Jotunheim housed two completely opposite societies, but mortals had something they both lacked, something…more.
Suddenly, Loki realized something: He wanted to truly belong on Earth, among mortals. He didn't want to be Asgardian or Jotun - he wanted to be a man…a mortal.
He was surprised at himself for thinking such a thing. Being mortal would mean no more magic, less than a century left to live, all the shortcomings of a mortal body…
And yet…
Magic had never done him any good, in terms of helping him find a place or making him happy. The shortcomings of a mortal body would be insignificant, as he no longer needed the resilience of Asgardians or Jotuns. As for not living very long…
Well, I would not be able to stay here if I lived several more millennia, he thought. Humans would notice. I would not belong. I would be a freak and an outcast, and before long Darcy would not be there to-
He stopped. Darcy? Why would her not being there make a difference? He wouldn't visibly age during her lifetime, so he'd be a freak and an outcast long before she was gone…
His thoughts came full circle, and he realized what the real problem with living thousands of years would be: Earth wasn't where he belonged, per se - where he belonged was with Darcy. Not even with her and Erik and Jane - Erik ignored him for the most part, and while Jane spoke to him occasionally, the closest things they'd had to actual conversations involved her research on the workings of the universe; since he didn't know how to tell her what he knew in words she could understand, though, those exchanges didn't last long. No…the only place he truly belonged was with Darcy.
She was the only one who had ever treated him as an equal, the only one who'd ever been able to match his silver tongue, the only one who'd ever sided with him no matter what…When she died, he would be alone again…
…unless he died with her.
I want to be mortal, Loki thought. I want to be mortal…for Darcy.
And once again, Loki felt the cruelty of his fate. He wasn't mortal. He couldn't be mortal. Nothing could change that…
…could it?
Odin made Thor mortal, Loki remembered. How did he do it? He thought for a minute. He took everything that made Thor more than mortal and put all of it in Mjolnir - probably through the manipulation of forces I'm too young to sense…but then again, I am a master of magic; as a pure Asgardian, Odin doesn't have the same capacity for magic that I do. Perhaps I could…
It was worth a try. Anything was worth a try…for Darcy.
He sat up. It made sense that everything that made him more than mortal would have to go somewhere - it was part of his essence, part of his soul, and as such couldn't simply be erased. He had nothing like Mjolnir, though - nothing that symbolized who he had been on Asgard. Nothing, except…
He chuckled. It was far from Mjolnir, but why not? He'd been reduced to embarrassing simplicity in other ways - it was fitting. Besides, it was all he had left of his old life…
He got out of his small, out-of-the-way bed. He was fully dressed - he always slept in his clothes, if only as a force of habit. He then reached under his bed - the only place he'd been able to think of, all that time ago, where he would never have to see them again - and retrieved his old clothes, from his former life on Asgard. He still wasn't quite sure why he'd kept them, but now, he was glad he had.
He looked at the bundle. A lot of dust had accumulated on the metal and fabric. Everything was in that bundle - everything from his cape to his boots. Everything except his helmet, which he had left behind in Jotunheim. He had expected to feel some amount of nostalgia upon seeing that bundle, but he didn't. Not one day when he'd worn those clothes had he been happy - he missed nothing about his old life. There was nothing to feel nostalgic about. Still, they would suffice.
The seal that locked Thor's powers in Mjolnir was conditional, Loki remembered. That won't do for me - if I can manage to rid myself of my powers, I will never wish to have them back. If I seal my powers in these, it won't do to have them anywhere nearby; the further they are from me, the better.
That is, if I can make myself mortal, and if I can seal away everything that makes me more than human - in anything…
He stood up, refusing to give himself time for second thoughts. Instead, he tried to think of someplace he could go to become mortal - someplace he would never return to, where he could safely leave all of his superhuman qualities without running the risk of being able to regain them.
He smiled as the perfect place occurred to him: the old Bifrost site, where Asgardians had once had the power to come to Earth, but no longer. It was perfect - it was far, it was significant, and it was something else that was part of everything he wanted to leave behind him forever. True, the gate to Jotunheim was also something he wanted to leave behind, but it was closer - possibly too close. A few miles wasn't very far…
No reason to delay, Loki told himself, and he turned to leave. He walked quietly, so as not to risk waking the others - it was one of those increasingly frequent nights when Jane didn't stay up late doing her research, so no one had to know he was going-
"Loki?"
He didn't get five steps away from the building before he heard her voice.
He looked back. There she was, standing just inside the lab, looking at him. She was dressed in just a sweatshirt, baggy pants, and socks, but she had her glasses on.
Darcy.
She smiled. "What are you doing up?" she asked him.
Loki smiled back and raised an eyebrow at her. "I should be asking you the same question," he pointed out.
"You woke me up," Darcy answered.
Loki chuckled. "You still think you can lie to me," he said mockingly; she might be able to talk circles around him when it came to the truth, but as a liar she was completely transparent.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I wasn't asleep," she admitted. "I did hear you, though, which is why I got up."
He chuckled again. "Remember, you have to find some way to believe what you're saying," he reminded her. "Given the circumstances, that should have been easy in this case."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "Your turn. What are you doing?"
Loki hesitated. He didn't want to tell her just yet, in case it couldn't be done.
"Are you leaving now?" she asked softly.
"No," he replied. "No, I'm not." He sighed. "There is…something I need to do," he told her.
"What?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I'd rather not say just yet," Loki answered.
"In human?" she prompted.
Normally, he would have rolled his eyes, but tonight, he smiled. "I'll tell you later," he corrected himself.
"Very good," she said, smiling. "So…where are you going?"
"Again, I…will tell you when I get back," he replied, catching himself.
She shook her head. "Loki…"
He smiled at her again. "Fear not; I shan't be very long," he assured her.
She raised her eyebrows at him again. "In human?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Don't worry, Darcy, I'll be back before too long," he corrected. She opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly added, "I know you were expecting me to say 'I'll be back soon', but I will be a while. Just…hopefully not too long."
Darcy closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I know you don't have to sleep as much as us mere mortals do, so go ahead and do whatever it is you're doing. Just be back by morning, alright?"
He smiled, not only at the irony of her using the words 'mere mortals', but also at the cynical way she said them. "I will," he promised.
"Okay," she said again. "I trust you."
He nodded and turned back around.
"You're the only one who ever has," he said, too softly for her to hear, as he walked away.
~o~
The town still wasn't completely silent, since it wasn't terribly late, but Loki felt comfortable enough walking through the streets, if only just. He hadn't interacted with the common people at all since he'd arrived on Earth - he'd stayed entirely with Darcy, Jane, and Erik - and he was still far from confident in his ability to speak human. He was also a bit worried that he might stand out as a new face, but the few people he passed didn't seem to notice. Of course, going all the way through the town was the most direct path to the old Bifrost site, so it was all but inevitable that he'd run into someone at some point…
"Hey, buddy! Where you goin'?"
Loki was just a few steps away from the open desert when the truck pulled over and started rolling along beside him. He took a minute to translate what the man had said, and another minute to figure out how to word his response. Then, he looked over at whoever had spoken. What he saw was a man he guessed to be somewhat younger than Erik (though he couldn't be entirely sure), very large and uncouth-looking.
Loki stopped and answered, "Oh, uh, I was just going into the desert to do something. Something happened out there a little over two years ago, and I need to get to where it happened." The words felt strange and crude coming out of his mouth.
"What, you mean that satellite crash fifty miles from here?" the man asked incredulously.
It took Loki a minute to understand and reply. "Oh, no, not that," he answered; "something else, a bit closer."
"Oh, you mean that killer robot?" The man laughed very boorishly. "Yeah, that was one crazy day, lemme tell ya." He laughed again.
Loki managed to bury his disgust (and guilt) and smile. "I'm sure it was," he said. "Now, I need to get going-"
"What, you're plannin' on walkin' all that way?" The man laughed again, this time at Loki.
People laugh here, Loki reminded himself firmly. Don't take offense… "Why…is that funny?" he asked, catching himself just in time (he had been about to say 'Why does that amuse you?').
"Because that's still a few dozen miles from here!" the man laughed. "You're gonna be walkin' a loooong time!"
Loki shook his head dismissively. "It was well within sight of this town," he said; "it can't be too far."
The man shook his head and got ahold of himself. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked.
"No," Loki replied.
"Well, I got news for you, buddy: That out there's a desert," the man told him. "Flat, too. Several dozen miles are 'well within sight of this town'."
"How long would it take me to walk there and back?" Loki asked, suddenly remembering that he would have to judge distance by mortal standards.
"Buddy, you prob'ly won't get back to this spot until this time tomorrow night," the man replied.
Loki closed his eyes. Damn, he thought; Darcy told me to be back by tomorrow morning…but I can't not go out there! I have to do this…
"Why don't you drive out there?" the man asked.
Loki quickly opened his eyes again. "Oh, uh, I don't know how to drive," he answered.
The man raised his eyebrows. "Well then, you must not be as old as you look," he commented.
Loki suppressed a laugh. "No, I'm not," he replied - which was technically true. It wasn't entirely his fault if the man assumed he was younger than he looked, as opposed to many centuries older…
"Well, I'll tell you what," the man said: "If you really need to get out there and back tonight, I'll give you a lift."
Loki thought for a minute. If, as he guessed, 'I'll give you a lift' meant that the man was offering to drive him there and back…Loki knew that humans were generally untrustworthy, but if this one tried to do him harm, he would quickly overpower the mortal fool…unless he was able to make himself mortal, in which case he'd be essentially helpless.
Should he prove trustworthy enough to take me all the way to the Bifrost site, he ought to be trustworthy enough to bring me back, Loki decided; and if I can become mortal, it will not be until after I get there, so I'll be safe either way.
He smiled. "That's very kind of you," he said, accidentally relapsing into slightly more formal words, "but you…probably have better things to do." He caught himself before too much harm was done.
"Nah, not really," the man replied. "Just out for a drive, at the moment - not really goin' anywhere." He smiled at Loki. "Come on, get in," he said.
Loki hesitated for a carefully calculated moment, then smiled. "Thank you," he said. He clutched his bundle against himself with one arm and used his other to open the door, climb into the passenger's seat of the truck, and shut the door behind him. He could easily have done it all with magic, but he had to appear normal.
"What's that you're carrying?" the man asked.
"Oh, this?" Loki looked down at his bundle. "It's…something very important to me," he said softly.
"Uh-huh," the man mused, starting the vehicle up again and driving out of the town. "What's it for?"
"Like I said, there's…something I need to do," Loki answered carefully. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Okay," the man said with a shrug. He paused for a second, then said, "You know, there's nothin' left out there now, so I'm not sure how you were plannin' on findin'-"
"I know where it is," Loki said. "I can find it."
The man chuckled. "What, you got some star charts memorized or somethin'?" he asked.
Loki laughed, knowing the human would misinterpret it. "Yes," he said, nodding, "something like that." Which, again, was technically true.
There was silence for a minute.
"Oh, I'm Mike, by the way," the man said suddenly.
Loki smiled. "It's nice to meet you," he said.
"Yeah, you too," Mike replied. He paused, obviously expecting Loki to introduce himself in reply. When he didn't, Mike asked, "So what's your name, buddy?"
Loki smiled. No reason I can't have a little fun. "Most of my friends call me Loki," he answered.
"Loki?" Mike repeated, laughing again. "You mean as in Loki the Trickster, the Norse God of Mischief?"
Loki chuckled. "Yes," he replied. "For some reason, people seem to think it suits me."
"Oh, well, guess I'd better be careful of you, huh?" Mike joked.
He laughed. Loki laughed with him, albeit for completely different reasons, and said nothing more.
When they finished laughing, Mike said, "You know, you've got a funny accent."
Loki fought to maintain his composure. "I do?" he asked, trying not to sound worried.
"Yep," Mike replied, nodding. "You're definitely no redneck, that's for sure - you must be from pretty far away."
Loki made a mental note to ask Darcy what the word 'redneck' meant. "Yes," he replied, chuckling; "very, very far away."
"Hmm…" Mike said ponderously. They drove in silence for a minute, then Mike asked, "So how'd you know about what happened out here two years ago? Were you here back then?"
"Oh, no," Loki replied, "I wasn't, but, uh, someone very close to me was." Again, technically not a lie.
"And he told you about it?" Mike pressed.
Loki nodded. "He did," he said, and it was sort of true, if at a stretch. "He was, um…very involved…in the matter."
"You mean your friend had something to do with what happened?" Mike asked.
"Sort of," Loki replied, thankful that Mike didn't read too much in his inability to fully translate his statement into mortal speak. "He…yes, he did. Sort of." He shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it," he told Mike.
"Alright," Mike said slowly.
"Were you here when it happened?" Loki asked curiously.
"Sure was," Mike replied. "I was out there at the satellite crash for most of the party. Stayed long enough to see the Feds take over, too." He chuckled. "I remember afterwards, some guy overheard me talkin' about it at the diner and immediately asked where it was. When I told him, he strolled right outta there like he was gonna storm the place all on his own."
Thor, Loki thought; it couldn't possibly have been anyone else. For some reason, that made him feel a bit nostalgic. He didn't miss his life on Asgard, nor did he miss his life in Jotunheim, but for some reason, he did miss his brother…
Loki pushed the matter aside and turned his focus on what was in front of them. They had been driving for several minutes, but the Bifrost site was still much further away than the town. He berated himself silently for not thinking of distance in terms of mortals - clearly, a few dozen miles was a long way for humans. And if all goes as planned, it will soon be a long way for me as well, he thought. What would I have done had I made it all the way out there on my own, not realizing it would take hours to return? I'm fortunate that this man came by… He chuckled inwardly. Perhaps fate has decided to stop being so cruel to me.
He pushed that unlikely thought aside as well and waited, watching to see when they were there. It was almost half an hour before he finally said to Mike, "Stop; that's close enough."
"Right here?" Mike asked. "How can you tell?"
Loki gave him a sly smile. "Star charts, remember?" he said mockingly.
Mike laughed again as Loki got out, and Loki couldn't help but reflect that, for such a lowly and uncouth human, Mike certainly seemed to enjoy laughing. There is still a great deal I don't know about humans, Loki thought; Darcy can only tell me so much. Is this person's manner perhaps part of some aspect of human culture? Perhaps that has something to do with what in the nine realms a 'redneck' is…
Again, he pushed the matter aside - he had more important things to focus on. He'd had Mike stop about a quarter of a mile away from the actual site, as he couldn't let the mortal see what he was going to do. He gave just walking like a mortal a try, and it took him a few minutes to get there; still, not too long.
He looked to the sky as he found the center of the site - the pattern on the ground that had appeared when the Bifrost was used all that time ago had vanished completely, so there was nothing for him to go by except his ability to sense what was beyond the stars.
Finally, he was there.
The vestigial powers of the Bifrost were still vaguely present. It wasn't enough for Loki to be able to make use of it - not even here at the apex - but it was enough that he could just barely make out Asgard from where he stood.
He sighed and sank to his knees, still looking at Asgard. The sight of it brought back memories - painful memories, yes, but also a few less-painful ones…
Had he ever been happy on Asgard? It had mostly been Odin who had hurt him, and Thor's offenses had been completely unintentional. And his mother…She loved me, Loki remembered. She treated me and Thor as equals…
He sighed again. Then, suddenly, one memory, from just before his banishment, bloomed forth in his mind:
"Loki, this is madness!"
"Is it madness? Is it? IS IT?"
He chuckled.
"Yes, brother, it was madness," he admitted aloud; "I was simply too mad to see it, at the time." He set his bundle down beside him, still facing Asgard. "Still, I believe it was for the best," he went on; "it has been for me, at the very least. I pray it has been the same for everyone." Except Father, he added silently to himself; but he'd left the past behind him, and didn't feel like raving against the All-Father anymore. The bitterness remained, but the rage was gone.
He turned his attention to the ground, and there, in the center of the old Bifrost site, he started to dig.
He dug with his hands, deciding to start getting used to mortality now, just in case it was possible. While the sand wasn't too difficult to dig in, he quickly realized it would be some time before he managed to dig a hole big enough for what he was going to bury. And I still have the resilience of an Asgardian, he thought. If I were mortal, I most likely would be unable to do this…
Then again, what do I know of mortal strength?
Very much aware that the human was probably watching him, Loki was careful not to use magic. He dug for a full five minutes before he was satisfied. Then he dusted off his hands, picked up his bundle again, and carefully set it in the hole. So long as it stays buried, no one will be able to gain whatever powers I might be able to seal in this, he thought.
He lightly put his hands on the top of the bundle and closed his eyes. This was far unlike anything he'd ever done before, and he wasn't even quite sure what he was supposed to do.
Magic wasn't something that could be fully explained in words. Even as a master of magic, while Loki sort of understood how it worked, he himself wasn't entirely sure why. Magic was simply something he did - that was all it could be, really. All he knew for sure was that there were forces everywhere, forces that couldn't be manipulated through machines or any physical movement; only through sensing them and manipulating them through sheer willpower could they ever be used. It took centuries of experiencing and observing the universe before anyone could sense these forces - though Loki wasn't entirely sure why that was, either.
His small amount of understanding wasn't enough for what he wanted to do now. He needed to work magic on himself - something he had never done. He had never used magic on an actual person directly. Yes, he'd fought people with magic, but that was still a matter of manipulating surrounding forces, willing them to turn against whomever he was fighting.
I can't do this, Loki thought. I don't know enough…
But I must do it. For myself. For the sake of having a life here.
For Darcy.
Loki focused his magic. The forces in the universe were something he was constantly aware of, just as he was aware of his hands - they were simply there. There was slightly more potential magic here than usual, due to the remnants of the Bifrost, but none of the energies around him seemed to be what he needed; they didn't interact with him naturally as much as they would have to for what he wanted to do.
How had Odin done it? He had made Thor mortal with little more visible effort than it cost Loki to summon his shadow-sprites…
His shadow-sprites. How did he make them, anyway? His own body had to be at least part of the spell, as they were all mirror images of him, but…all he was ever aware of doing was combining-
Loki almost laughed at himself. Could it really be that simple? he thought. If so, it's even more simple than what I normally do…!
He sat up slightly, putting a bit of space between his hands and his old clothes and allowing energy to flow through the space. Do the same thing, only, instead of channeling your image, channel your essence, he told himself…
The only problem was, he had no idea how to do that. What essence? He had to have an image of it before he could channel it…
He thought about how it felt when his essence as a Frost Giant surfaced - how it felt as though ice that was buried in his marrow started to spread through his flesh. That ice was always there; he just didn't feel it most of the time. He couldn't feel it now…but it was there, and it had to go. He couldn't be part Frost Giant if he wanted to be mortal…but…but the ice…
…It was always there.
The ice in the core of his soul was also something that was simply there, like his hands. Loki felt it now, and before he could second-guess himself, he tried to make it flow the same way he manipulated other forces - through his arms and hands, out into the space between his hands and old clothes, and into the metal and fabric that would hold it.
And it worked. Loki felt the icy energy draining out through his hands with surprising speed. Within a minute, it was done.
Suddenly, the air around Loki felt noticeably warmer. He looked down at himself to make sure he was still in humanoid form - since he was a Frost Giant underneath everything, he wasn't quite sure of the potential repercussions of getting rid of that part of him. His worries were groundless - he was still himself, on the outside.
He looked at the bundle in the hole. Clouds of vapor were coming off it. Curious, Loki touched part of the fabric. It felt impossibly cold - but not painfully so, as the cold energy started to reabsorb into him immediately. Loki quickly forced it back and pulled his hand away.
It crossed his mind then that, now that he had this new understanding of magic, he would be more powerful than ever. He could experiment with this, learn exactly what magic was and how it worked, learn to do anything. He could do so many new and different things - he could become the most powerful spellcaster in the nine realms…!
Darcy.
No. Magic was of no use to him on Earth, and now that he'd found a place where he belonged, he wasn't going to leave. He had to give it all up. For Darcy.
He held out his hands again, not needing to close his eyes this time. The next thing that had to go was the longevity and resilience characteristic of an Asgardian. He couldn't get rid of all of his essence as an Asgardian, since that was the only thing that gave him form now, but the part that made him significantly more than human had to go.
He thought about how he would have been able to walk all the way out here without even getting winded, and how his fingertips and nails were smooth and unscratched even though he'd dug with them in the sand for five minutes. Both of those things, he knew, marked him as inhuman. He only needed to look at his hands to see…
He felt something, and acted on it instinctively. This time, he was actually able to watch as the energy flowed out of him through his hands and mixed with the forces that were everywhere in the universe, then into his old Asgardian clothes. Again, it happened within a minute. Then, all that was left was his ability to use magic.
Suddenly, his senses overloaded. The forces that surrounded him, instead of being something he was passively aware of, suddenly assaulted him. Strands of concentrated energy, almost separate from the continuous flow that permeated everything, surrounded him like so many lasers - some of them even went through his body - and all of them hurt him. The slightest movement caused him to brush against others, and every slight touch zapped him like a bolt of electricity. On top of that, the flow of energy around him felt like it was going to blow him away, like a burning leaf in the wind - except the wind couldn't put the fire out. It was too much!
He gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, determined not to cry out with pain, and steadied his hands. He didn't have to force it this time - there was nothing he wanted more in the entire universe than to make it stop, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP…!
And suddenly, it stopped.
Once the aftereffects of the pain subsided, Loki's first cohesive thought was, Strange that a mortal body would be more sensitive than that of an Asgardian or Jotun…
His second cohesive thought was, Am I still alive?
With his eyes closed, he felt like he didn't even exist. Everything around him felt empty and lifeless. He tried to inhale, just to see if he could, and he felt air enter his lungs…but it was cold, dead, empty air.
He opened his eyes.
He was still sitting in the desert, beside the hole that held his sealed powers. He looked down at himself, and saw that he was still there. But all around him…there was nothingness. He couldn't sense the forces that surrounded him. He knew they were still there - they had to be - but he couldn't feel them.
He looked up at the sky again. His view of Asgard was gone, and all he saw was stars in an empty, black sky.
He had been able to sense the forces that permeated the universe for as far back as he could remember. Now that he couldn't, he felt as though he were dead. The vast, empty space around him made him feel like an insect - small and powerless and utterly insignificant.
Which meant…
He looked down into the hole he'd dug in the sand.
His old clothes still gave off clouds of vapor, but now they also hummed with power. In them, he could see something similar to the forces he was now blind to everywhere else. How he could even see that much, he wasn't sure - possibly because it had once been part of him.
But no longer, he thought, and he smiled. I did it! For all intents and purposes, I'm human now! I am nothing but a man! He looked around again. Although how mortals manage to live like this, I've not a clue.
Oh well. It no longer matters.
Still smiling, he started filling the hole in with the sand he'd dug out. The sand seemed to resist him more than before, and he was painfully aware of each grain as it dug into his skin. It seemed that a mortal body was more sensitive to everything…not to mention, it was significantly weaker. Still, those were small prices for Loki to pay in order for him to truly belong somewhere; and besides, surely he would get used to it.
Finally, there was a mound of sand where the hole had been. His powers were sealed away and deep in the ground - he would never have them back.
He stood up, glanced at the sky one more time, then turned his back and walked away.
~o~
Mike was still waiting by his truck when Loki came back.
"What was all that about?" he asked.
"I was just…saying goodbye," Loki answered, finding that his mind was still as sharp as it had been. "I'm done now. Would you please take me back?"
"Sure," Mike said, and he got back in his truck.
Loki climbed in again. It took more effort than he was used to using, but he was careful not to let it show. Mike didn't seem to notice anything unusual, so either Loki was still good at hiding things or this human was completely oblivious.
"This human"… Loki smiled at himself inwardly. As though he's any different from me, now…
He turned to Mike, suddenly realizing something. "Please," he said, "don't tell anyone about this…and please don't dig that up. Let it all rest in peace."
"'Rest in peace'?" Mike asked, starting up his truck again. "What, was someone dead in that bundle?"
Loki chuckled softly. "Yes," he replied; and again, he technically wasn't lying.
"You gonna come back out here and set up a cross or somethin'?" Mike asked.
"No," Loki replied. "No, it's perfect the way it is. It's…what he would have wanted." He thought of something else and added, "He was the one I told you about, who was involved in what happened two years ago."
"Oh," Mike said, turning the truck around so they could go back to town. "Were you and he close?"
Loki couldn't fully suppress his smile. "Yes," he answered; "very." He sighed. "Part of me misses him…but in the end, I'm glad it's finally over."
"What's over?" Mike asked.
Loki took a moment to silently berate himself for saying too much. "It's complicated," he finally answered. "I'm just…glad he can finally rest in peace."
And again, technically, it wasn't a lie.
~o~
Loki told Mike to stop at the same place he'd been picked up.
"You plannin' on stayin' here a little while longer, or are you goin' back to wherever you're from?" Mike asked him as he got out of the truck.
"I, um…I'm going to stick around here for a little while," Loki answered. "I can get to where I'm staying from here, though. Thank you for giving me a ride - I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't."
"You'd prolly've fried in the desert," Mike said, laughing again in his strange, crude way.
Loki smiled, even though he just barely understood what Mike had said. "Probably," he acknowledged. "Thank you very much."
"Any time," Mike said affably. "Guess I'll see you around…" He chuckled. "…Loki."
Loki chuckled too and watched Mike drive away. When the truck was out of sight, Loki thought about the strange, uncouth man. Even though he was far from sophisticated, he was still happy, and he was able to laugh at the smallest things. Loki had never known anyone to find so much amusement in the little things…
He looked around again, and the unfamiliar sense of emptiness in the air weighed down on him heavily.
Humans are forced to live like this all their lives, Loki thought. They no longer know that there's anything more; perhaps they never did. Everything is on a larger scale for them, because they mostly only know small things.
And yet, they're happy. They're oblivious to what's all around them, yet they find happiness somehow. They may even be happier than any Asgardian or Jotun…
Loki chuckled to himself and started walking back to Jane's lab. All his life, he'd tried to become more powerful, thinking that that was the meaning of his life - and everyone around him had thought the same way. But here, powerless and insignificant, mortals were perfectly happy.
And now, so was he.
~o~
Darcy sat in a chair in the dark, empty lab, waiting for Loki. It had been more than an hour and a half since he'd left, and she was starting to worry.
It wasn't so much that she was worried about what he might do (not that she was completely oblivious to the fact that most people wouldn't trust him, and for good reason); she was more worried about what someone else might do. He hadn't gone out since he'd come to Earth, and he wasn't very good at talking normal; besides which, Thor hadn't been very good at blending in, and since Loki was his brother, Darcy worried. Sure, he'd been learning stuff for ten months, and sure, he wasn't a show-off like Thor, but still…People didn't react well to people who didn't fit in…
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice he'd come back until he spoke.
"Darcy?" Loki asked softly.
She stood up quickly. "Oh, good, you're back!" she said.
He smiled at her. "Have you been staying up all this time, only to wait for me?" he asked.
Darcy felt her face get hot. "No," she said defensively.
He chuckled. "I'm sorry, but that was truly pathetic," he told her. "Anyone could have seen through that." The offensiveness of his words was offset by his strangely kind smile.
"Yeah, well…" She fumbled a moment for a comeback. When she couldn't find one, she just said, "Yeah, I was waiting for you. You said you'd tell me where you were going when you came back, and I didn't want to wake up to some surprise disaster in the morning."
"I thought you trusted me," he said slyly, raising an eyebrow at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Why do you always have to one-up me?" she asked, annoyed.
He blinked. "I don't," he said, apparently surprised. "In fact, more often than not, you are the one who 'one-up's me."
It was Darcy's turn to blink. "I do?" she asked.
"Quite frequently," Loki replied. He smiled again. "You're the only person I've ever met who has been able to do that," he told her.
Darcy was confused. Was he trying to give her a compliment?
She shook her head slightly and shrugged. "So, where have you been?" she asked, changing the subject without any attempt at subtlety.
"The old Bifrost site," he answered without hesitation.
"The old Bifrost site?" she repeated. "You mean where Thor and that big robot thing came from?"
"The Destroyer," he corrected, "and yes, the place where they arrived."
"You walked all the way there and back in less than two hours?" she asked disbelievingly.
He chuckled. "No," he replied, "though I initially meant to. No, a good samaritan gave me a ride."
Darcy's eyes widened. There was so much potential for disaster in that scenario…
Loki chuckled again, taking a step towards her. "Fear not," he said; "he meant no harm, and I was able to imitate human speech enough that I caused little suspicion. He only said I had a 'funny accent'." He paused for a second. "'Funny' in such context means 'strange', yes?" he asked.
"Yeah," she confirmed.
"Which reminds me," he added: "What is a 'redneck'?"
"Oh that's, uh, like a hick," she replied.
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Uh…hillbilly?" she tried.
He raised his eyebrow a bit higher.
Darcy sighed. "This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" she said resignedly.
"Most likely, based on the fact that none of your synonyms mean anything to me whatsoever," Loki replied.
Darcy couldn't help but chuckle at his overlong sentence. "Okay, pop quiz," she said: "What is the shortest possible way to say what you just said?"
He smiled. "'Probably'," he answered.
"Why don't you just say that?" she asked him, smiling back.
He shrugged. "What's that mortal saying?" he asked in reply. "'Old habits die hard'?"
She laughed. "Alright, I'll give you that," she conceded. She paused, then asked, "So what were you doing out in the desert?"
"Putting the past behind me," he replied.
"Still?" Darcy asked. "I thought you'd already done that!"
"For the most part, I had," Loki said. "Tonight, I…put it to rest, once and for all."
"And you had to go all the way out to the Bifrost site to do that because…?" she pressed.
He looked at her silently for a moment. Then, he took another step towards her and sighed.
"Darcy, I…cannot thank you enough, for all that you've done for me," he told her, a bit hesitantly. "You've stood by me, trusted me, taught me what I need to know in order to survive here…all still for no reason I can fathom. I've done nothing to earn this…but thanks to you, I…I have a place in this universe. I've felt more at home here than I ever did on Asgard or in Jotunheim. And…I wished to truly belong here, to no longer be more than human-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Darcy interrupted, "slow down. You want to be human?"
Loki chuckled, and it was then that Darcy noticed how he seemed especially happy. "Darcy, I cannot truly be human," he told her; "my memories alone prevent that. But I recalled how Odin made Thor mortal, and I…thought that perhaps I could do the same to myself."
"And did you?" Darcy asked, her mind reeling.
Loki's smile widened into a grin. "I did," he said. "For all intents and purposes, I am only a man now. I am as weak as a man, I'll die in a few decades, and unfortunately, I will no longer be able to amuse you with my magic. My apologies," he added, inclining his head.
"Wh…?" Darcy shook her head, speechless. It didn't make any sense! Why would he give up his godlike powers to be human? Why would anyone want to do that?
Loki smiled wryly at her distress. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"Why would you do that?" Darcy finally blurted out.
"To belong here," Loki answered.
"But you look human, or human enough!" Darcy protested. "Sure you wouldn't age, but you could always, like, change your name and move or something every few years - and with your magic, you could totally reinvent yourself after-"
She stopped when she registered the fact that Loki was laughing at her.
After a moment, his laughing fit subsided, and he smiled at her. "I think you misunderstand me, Darcy," he said.
Darcy blinked. "Huh?" she asked.
Loki hesitated again. "My place…is not simply here, in this realm," he said; "I'd actually feel much less at home here than I did in Jotunheim…were it not for you."
"Me?" Darcy repeated stupidly. Her brain suddenly felt like it had stopped working…
"Yes," Loki replied with a nod. "My place is not in this realm, Darcy; my place in the universe…is with you. Only with you."
Darcy couldn't think, much less speak. Even in the faint moonlight, Loki looked like a prince out of a fairy tale, and what he was saying on top of that was just…too good to be true. She had to be dreaming.
Loki's smile faded. "I cannot change the fact that you are mortal, Darcy," he said softly, "but the day you die, I'll be alone again. You are the only person who has ever trusted me, the only one who's ever been able to match my silver tongue, the only one who's ever stood by me no matter what…" He shook his head. "You're all I have. Perhaps I could find something more if I searched, but…I have no wish to do so. My place is with you. I wished to make myself mortal so that I would not be forced to spend several millennia living without you. I…could not live without you. So I went to the old Bifrost site, dug a hole, and there I buried my powers with my old clothes. I will never again be anything but mortal."
It took a minute, but finally, one thought managed to form in Darcy's stupefied mind:
If this is a dream, might as well go for broke.
So, just as impulsively as Jane had with Thor, Darcy walked forward, closing the gap between her and Loki, and kissed him.
He kissed her back.
They weren't using each other. This was real. The meaning was real, and the feelings were real. This was the beginnings of love.
When they broke apart, Loki smiled at her again.
"And don't worry," he said; "unlike my brother, I'm not going anywhere."
She laughed, and they kissed again, harder.
What neither of them could possibly know was that, at precisely the same moment that their lips met, an Asgardian soldier died by the hand of a Frost Giant for the first time in many centuries.
~o~
Time went on.
Loki and Darcy came closer and closer to each other.
Enchessa came closer and closer to finding Loki.
And the universe came closer and closer to the potentially catastrophic event that would change three of its nine realms forever…