I changed after Natasha left and crashed on my bed mere minutes afterward. Everything about what just happened had wiped every ounce of energy of my mortal body away.
I was asleep in seconds, trying to ignore the horrible, throbbing pain in my heart and side. When I fell asleep, I began to dream.
I woke up, but I wasn't in my bed. I was in a large room, all white, almost blinding. The light hurt my eyes. I realized that my arms were spread like a bird, and my legs were spread, too, making my body almost appear to be a big X. I saw that my arms and legs were chained to a large vertical stone slab in the center of the room. And I was tired. So, so tired.
I also heard a muffled scream, as if someone was holding back a shout by clenching their teeth.
The last thing I felt was a horrible, throbbing pain in my back. It felt like my flesh was being burned away. It smelled like my flesh was being burned away.
Suddenly, the chains broke away and I fell forward onto the floor. The pain in my back vanished, as did the room around me.
I was no longer lying on the floor either. No. I was sitting on a metal table, and the white-eyed creatures were surrounding me.
I felt the blinding pain from the black sword spreading through my body. This wasn't a dream, I realized. It was a memory.
I continued to yell in pain, watching as every vein in my body became a dark black color, spreading up my chest and my neck, spreading onto my face before they slowly faded away. The pain, though, did not go away.
I was having a hard time breathing normally. Alright, Loki, I told myself, suck it up. This isn't that bad. But it was. It was horrible. It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. I was wheezing, struggling to get a good breath. The main creature, the blonde one wearing all black clothing, grabbed my hair and twisted my head to look at him.
"We as a whole need your help, Loki Laufeyson." He indicated all of the dozens of creatures surrounding the room. The way he said my name was just creepy. I shuddered. "We need you to retrieve something for us. Something your friends stole from us." Friends? What friends? I was trying to let his words distract me from the pain. "Tony Stark took our pendant many years ago. Our source of power and strength. Our Havbølger. We want it back. Now." I wanted to tell him that Tony Stark was far from my friend, but I had no strength left.
"Havbølger?" I recognized the word. I translated in my head. Ocean waves. Everything came flooding to me in one second. The black sword, glowing. It couldn't be. Hemmelighetsverden. The sword of secrets. So that was why the creature said the sword would keep me from telling others what had happened to me tonight.
The sword, I knew, was enchanted with ancient magic. It was enchanted by touch, and belonged to the demons of Hel and death. It prevented victims from telling any secrets that must be kept confidential. I wanted to slap myself. What had I gotten myself into?
"You recognize it?" The creature asked. "You recognize the name?"
I felt myself nod. It was a necklace, of sorts, I knew this. Havbølger, specifically, was for the demons of the sea. There were demons in every realm, and they resided all throughout each realm. The demons were not meant to be created, and were extremely dangerous, wishing death upon all of the nine realms. The creatures typically kept hidden so not to be destroyed by gods. The pendants, such as Havbølger, were the life and power sources of the demons. If all of the pendants for each of the demons came together, the destruction of the nine realms would be instant.
Each group of demons possessed a pendant representing their realm. These demons, the demons of Midgard and the oceans, had Havbølger, ocean waves.
"Good." The demon said. "Retrieve it for us. Or...there will be great suffering. For you. For your friends and family. For everyone." His voice was threatening. I felt a sudden stab of pain in my abdomen, where the black sword, Hemmelighetsverden, had just stabbed me. I groaned and the creature nodded. The demons surrounding me grabbed my arms at his silent command, and lifted me up. The jerky movements made my vision become sharp around the edges. I blacked out after a minute.
I woke up gasping in pain. I had sat up, and I quickly, tenderly touched my side. The wound was no longer black, and it was not staining the fresh bandage. It was quickly healing. I felt myself relax slightly, but my racing heart and breathing did not slow.
I glanced toward the window on my left and saw that it was dark outside. I had slept the day away. Still not completely relaxed, I stood and made my way to the bathroom. There, I washed my face off with cold water. That wasn't nearly enough, though. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head before unwrapping the bandage around my waist.
I started the shower and got in without waiting for it to heat up. I preferred cold water. I always have.
I let the water soak my body and calm was tense muscles. It felt good. I felt myself relax slowly. Finally, comfortable, I turned the water off and got dressed in my room.
After that, I walked into the hallway and proceeded to the kitchen. I noticed that Natasha's room was shut tight. She was obviously already asleep. I almost felt a twinge of regret at that. I wanted to thank her for her help, and let her know that she was not the reason for my absence during the day. At the same time, my dream had vividly reminded me of my assigned task. How could I feel the need to retrieve Havbølger, but also feel a burning desire to see and talk to Natasha at the same time? I had split loyalties. Like always.
Was I a coward for everything I had been doing the past month? A coward for not telling Natasha about everything that had happened to me since I fell from Asgard? A coward for wanting to retrieve Havbølger, just to save my own life? But at the same time, was I truly trying to protect myself if Havbølger could result in world destruction? But, I decided that it was such a small chance that every other group of demons would have their pendants, and would band together to actually destroy the nine realms. Most of the demons had lost their pendants many centuries ago.
The creatures were so rare and dangerous. I never thought that I would face them, and I can't believe that I had.
Stressed, I ran my fingers through my wet hair. I wasn't tired, and Natasha wasn't awake to talk to. I had not idea what to do. I was becoming stir crazy.
I began to pace around the floor. Glancing up at the time. I was beginning to get used to Midgardian times. It was 11:45 PM, which meant it was almost the beginning of tomorrow.
Suddenly, the door to Natasha's room opened. She looked annoyed, and was rubbing the sleep out her eyes. She was wearing a thin, white nightgown and shivered in the cold house.
"What are you doing up?" She asked me.
"I could ask you the same question." I said, and felt my face heat up as I said it. Why wouldn't she be up? I was making so much noise with my relentless pacing. My silver tongue was tied at the moment, I guess.
"You woke me up." She said, stating the obvious. She sounded annoyed but curious. "So what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry..." I said. "I slept the day away and now I'm no longer tired. There's nothing to do."
There was always something to do at night in Asgard, I thought, sadly. Stroll in the gardens, read books in the library, study, walk through the castle, practice magic. I really missed my magic. I missed my lessons with Frigga, three times a week. We had been so close, and I had thrown that all away.
I expected Natasha to be annoyed with me, and tell me to go back to bed so she could sleep, but instead, to my surprise, she sighed, blinking the rest of the sleep from her eyes and asked, "so what do you want to do?"
I furrowed my eyebrows, slightly confused for a second. "Um...I-I don't know."
"We can take a walk?" She suggested, and I felt elated for a second.
"It's a little late for that." I countered, but excited at the prospect nonetheless.
"It's a little late to be awake but look at us." Natasha replied, and I couldn't help but grin. She smiled too. "Let me go get my coat."
I nodded, letting her go to her room and grab her coat while I pulled on my shoes. She emerged from her room and followed suit, putting her shoes on after me. We emerged into the frosty air.
The guards were back, and standing post. They watched as we left the house, but surprisingly, did not question us.
I was snowing. I could tell Natasha was cold, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. I hadn't brought a coat of my own. I didn't need one.
We had traveled quite a way after a while, in silence. I felt quite relaxed, but Natasha looked very tired and cold and slightly miserable.
We slowed down after a while, and then stopped. "Are you alright?" I asked her. She was shivering, and I couldn't blame her.
She nodded and smiled up at me.
I quickly took in her features as she smiled. She was gorgeous, I couldn't deny it, and she was even prettier when she smiled. She had a light dusting of snow in her hair, and the white background made her red lips seem full and beautiful.
"Good." I said quietly. "We can head back. Thank you...for this."
"You're welcome." She responded. I liked her company, but I hated having to drag her out here like this, in the cold, just so I could relieve my restlessness.
I hated being a prisoner. But the only way out of that was to tell her everything. I was too much of a coward to do that, though. She walked right next to me on the way back, probably trying to absorb some of my body heat. We broke apart as we came in view of the house, though.
We entered the house and Natasha immediately shivered and started to rub her hands together, absorbing the heat of the house.
"Thank you. Really. Thank you. I needed this." I repeated once we were inside and our shoes were off.
"Anytime." She said, and, hesitantly, wrapped her arms around me. Shocked by the hug, I froze for a second, not really sure what to do. After a second pause, I wrapped my arms around her as well and she sank into my embrace before we pulled apart.
Her face was bright red, and I'm sure mine was too.
"Good night." She said, before turning for her room.
I didn't respond. I stared after her, shocked, and oddly gleeful by her gesture. Even more awake than I was before, I sat on the couch, contemplating reading a book. I thought for so long, though, that the night was gone before I actually picked it up.
It was 6:00 AM when I finally started to read.