The dark and empty realm was the perfect place for creatures as evil as they. The ground was cold and had a strange texture like sand but not as soft and smooth. The sky was clouded, shielding it from the light of the sun, the sun that they oh so cherished on Asgard.
The task was simple. Go to Svartalfheim, look for Malekith's body, make sure he's dead then search the rest of the realm for anything else that may be of importance.
The first part was completed merely seconds ago when they arrived in the ruins of the war fought hard against the elves.
"Fandral, you and Volstagg investigate that mess of Midgardian items, I'll go over to the ship wreckage in search of the body." Sif hoped that Thor would be correct about the placement of it and that he was not just exaggerating.
"Why do you get to look for the body?" Fandral asked but in an almost whining matter, making her have to bite back a smile. This was a serious mission and if he was still alive it wouldn't be smart to lose their seriousness. She decided.
"Did you want to?" She questioned, lifting an eyebrow into a sarcastic expression.
"Carry on." He replied as they began walking towards the smashed transportation devices.
Sif ran with her sword in hand to the demolished ship, ready for even the sneakiest of attacks.
Her eyes skimmed over the bent pieces of metal and sparking wires as she searched for any sign of a limp figure. She found none.
"Where are you?" She whispered to the air around her as she searched through the pile of scraps.
After looking through metal for at least thirty minutes, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It didn't belong in the landscape and it reflected what little light there was off in her direction.
Sif spun to stare at it and determined to find out what it was, sped to its side. Laying on the ground was a single piece of worn, golden metal, smelted by the finest of blacksmiths. Engraved with brilliant designs in some places.
She bent down and grabbed it, her fingers rubbing over the metal slowly and carefully. Her gaze narrowed as she studied it intensely, searching for an answer to her question.
Her heart dropped into her stomach as the realization came to her.
This was a part of Loki's armor. It was one of the many pieces of metal that rested on the front of his tunic. Was this really all that remained of him? Where was his body? Thor hadn't taken it with him.. Why would he, he went to Midgard to save it once again, there was no opportunity to carry around a dead body. She thought absent mindedly.
"Lady Sif, we didn't find anything of significance.. Any sign of the body?" Volstagg shouted across the landscape as they approached her from behind.
Her entire body shook with fear and she quickly stuffed the piece of his armor into hers, hiding it from their sight.
"Sif? How do you fair?" He asked as they both noticed her visible shake from his speech.
"Why did you tremble?"
She turned around to meet their worried gazes and accompanied them with a wary smile.
"Just on edge is all." She assured but she could tell they weren't convinced.
Sif, Fandral and Volstagg continued searching the rubble but found nothing else, not even the body of Malekith.
"Where do you suppose he's gone?" Fandral asked as they walked to the site of the bifrost.
"Into hiding somewhere, I suppose." She concluded as they called for Heimdall.
----:::----
"Enter!" The deep and raspy voice of Odin called to her from the throne room.
The guards that stood on either side of the doors both opened them in unison, clearing the path to the All Father.
Sif walked in a fast manner towards the throne and stopped just short of the stairs. She slowly got on one knee with her hand closed into a fist and over her heart.
"What is the news on Svartalfheim?" He asked but in a demanding matter, not showing the tiniest bit of kindness.
Her jaw visibly clenched and unclenched before she responded, causing Odin to give her the faintest of smirks.
"There was no sign of the body and we found nothing of importance." Her conscience kicked her in the gut when she remembered what she wasn't telling him, that she had found a part of Loki's battle armor. She winced slightly.
"Nothing at all.." He pondered over her words, obviously aware she wasn't telling the full truth. "Very well." He turned slightly to grab a basket of fruits and began picking through them until he found one to his liking. He picked it up, inserted part into his mouth and swang his legs over the armrest of the royal chair, one arm carelessly hanging over the side.
Sif's brow furrowed as she stared in suspicion at the king of Asgard who was now acting very strange.
"I will give you two days time to prepare to travel to Vanaheim to settle a small disput between the citizens and their government. You may take a small team of warriors with you if you please and from this day forward you will be in charge of the affairs between Asgard and the other realms." He stated nonchalantly, as he held the stem of a cherry in between his fingers, avoiding her cutting stare.
Her eyes narrowed at his childishness. Since when does he play with his food and swing his legs over the throne leg.
"Yes, Allfather." She said through gritted teeth as he turned his head to look at her. She got off her knee and stomped like any child would but without all the noise, creating swift movements.
----:::----
Sif was sat neatly on a beautifully carved, wooden chair as she ate her well deserved bowl of mushroom soup peacefully in the dark, empty room.
Her eyes moved around freely, insuring that she was the only one present. As soon as it was confirmed she pulled the golden piece of metal from it's hiding place and began to twirl it in her fingers as she stared, lost in a cloud of thoughts.
The same questions flooded her mind once again. How could only this part of his armor remain? Why wasn't the body there? What could of happened to it?
The metal didn't even appear to have gotten dented or bent up, besides being worn from battle, it was in perfect condition.
Her spoon dived for another scoop of mushrooms when her eyes widened in shock. Her breathing hitched and her body began trembling in fear as the full realization hit her like a sword in the stomach.
Loki was alive and he was freely walking the realms, he could be anywhere by now!
Sif stood immediately and felt a wave of anger consume what little fear she felt earlier. She picked up her soup, threw it at the wall and let out a blood curdling scream.
Guards came racing into the dining hall, at her side in seconds, ready for whatever came out of her mouth next.
"Go wake the All-Father, we must meet urgently!" She yelled at them, chest heaving in and out in an angry rage.
They did as told, not putting a second thought to it.
----:::----
"Why have you called me at this late hour?" He demanded grumpily as he massaged his eye with one of his hands.
"I have important information!" She said with a hint of fear.
He removed his hand from his eye to study her more vividly this time, taking in her expression and the unsteady breaths being taken in and out of her lungs.
"Go on.." He urged as he sat down on the throne, awaiting her next response.
"I found something. On Svartalfheim. Something that I should have told you about. I didn't know what to think or do with it so.. I kept it to myself but now I see that is no longer an option as I have discovered a truth that I'm sure you won't find very pleasing." Sif paused to take in his expression and found it harboring little emotion. "When I was searching for Malekith, I saw something on the vast landscape, it was a decent sized piece of golden metal, unharmed. It was a piece of Loki's armor. A part missing from the front of his tunic." She slowly pulled it from her leathers and held it in the air, watching his expression go from blank to fearful. "It is all that remains of him. I didn't think much on or about it until I was eating in the dining hall. It donned on me.. That there was no way just one piece of his armor could remain on that entire realm, not ripped from him but in perfect condition as if it had been placed nicely on the ground." She stated as her anger slowly began to die with the increasing silence in the room.
Sif watched as he slowly stood from his seated position and gave a malicious grin. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched the facade of Odin disappear to reveal an amused prince with raven black hair and blueish green eyes.
She rose from her kneeling position in response and her hand flew to the hilt of her sword but her fingers were accompanied by nothing but air.
"Where is the All-Father!" She yelled at him through bared teeth as her eyes searched for a weapon of some sort.
Loki's low laugh echoed through the empty room as he slowly made his way down the stairs. "I assure you, Lady Sif, that he is in good hands." The glint in his eyes told her he was lying.
"Where is the All-Father, Liesmith!" She shouted once again, using a jab to get him to spout answers.
He flashed her a malevolent smirk as he reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped less than a foot from her.
"You're clever, I'll give you that. Nothing more, nothing less." He practically sang as he stared into her brown eyes. His gaze lowered down to her lips, she followed his eyes and looked back up to him. His figure leaned ever closer until his thin lips reached her ear. "Too bad I'll have to kill you." Her vision snapped down just in time to see his small dagger being pulled from his leathers. His hand thrusted forwards, towards the pit of her stomach but her hands flew to the sides of the knife, keeping it in place with two flat palms, careful not to cut herself. She twisted the weapon from his grasp and threw it towards the wooden doors that would mark her only exit. It landed in the center of the two, slipping past the wood and through the crack until the handle halted the rest of it from going.
He threw the first punch, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it, causing him to loose his footing. He rose from the expensive flooring with a slightly unnerving smile that sent shivers down her spine, he looked like he had truly gone mad, all those times they had spent together when they were younger, venturing the wilderness and splashing each other with water in the nearby rivers had truly gone. They had lost that childlike innocence the day Odin had planned Thor's coronation.
"Loki!" She half pleaded, half threatened as he wiped imaginary blood from his mouth, creeping ever closer to her.
He laughed dangerously low as his grin widened at her failed attempt to talk to him. "My apologies.. am I.. frightening you?" His silken voice asked as he now stood just inches from her once more.
"What happened to you to turn you.. so cold!" She screamed in his face, hoping that somehow, by some miracle, the guards would come to her rescue.
"I enjoy our little talks. I really do! But I'm afraid that this one must be cut short." He purred as he stared into her eyes, twisting his head to the side to study them from a different angle.
Loki's reaction was quicker than a snake's, before she could respond with a witty reply he had grabbed her wrists and begun squeezing them.
"Oh Sif, I wish I could let you go.. But you know that I can't do that!" He whispered to her in the same velvety voice that always aroused its victims.. It used to work on her until after 'the incident'.
Sif focused her gaze beyond him, over his shoulder, a scheme to get him to turn around so she could use her self defense skills to break his grasp.
His eyes narrowed at her undivided attention turned toward something behind him. She even widened her eyes for a dramatized effect.
Loki finally turned his head to peer at what she was staring intently at and was met with nothing. Her hands spun to face palms up, she grabbed his wrists, adjusted her grip on them and flipped him over her head, landing him not so gently on the hard ground.
Her first instinct was to reach for her sword but instead of filling her fingers with the air of where it should have been, she turned on her heel and ran. She ran through the halls until she spotted a guard sleepily watching a room.
Sif stopped in front of him and slapped him on the face, temporarily knocking him unconscious. She searched his clothing for weapons of sorts and was greeted by a double bladed dagger, she took it and his palace issued sword.
Her running continued as she looked back into the shadows, spotting a black mass moving at a rapid pace towards her. She could of sworn she heard it snarl as she turned her head back to the road in front of her with a weapon in hand.
Sif decided against going to the stables to retrieve a horse, by the time she mounted he'd already be upon her. So she ran and she ran and she ran until she reached the bifrost where Heimdall stood waiting patiently for her slow arrival.
"Heimdall! Take me to Midgard! I must warn Thor!" She stated urgently, not bothering to hide her emotions of the moment. Her head kept turning to look behind for signs of the demented man, every few seconds, it seemed.
"If he asks where you have gone, I will tell him. It is my sworn duty to protect this realm, Odin or not. I will not risk it's safety because of a small quarrel inside the palace walls." He stated plainly as he watched some thing behind her.
Sif slowly turned to follow his gaze and was met by the sight of a large group of guards riding on their horses with a mission on mind.
"Come, you must go now. If the 'king' closes off the bifrost I will have no choice but to obey him." Heimdall ushered her further into the golden dome as he opened the swirling blend of lights.