Loki and Sigyn, His Glorious Purpose

Chapter Sixty-Three

THOR'S POINT OF VIEW
Asgard is not a place, it's a people. I had to remind myself this, over and over again in the hours following Ragnarok. Hard as I tried, I couldn't bear my own decisions. Seeing Asgard go up in flames was a thing worth grieving, but I had to stay strong. For all that I had done, the least I could do for my people was maintain my courage.

I hardly knew if any of the decisions I made were correct but I chose not to dwell, after all, there was nothing I could do now. The only true regret I had was concerning Hela. My niece, Hela, that is. Last I knew, her parents had practically been sent on a death mission to revive Surtur and miraculously make it back onto the Ark all within a swift fifteen minutes. Between all the chaos of the past twenty-four hours, I hardly knew whether or not she had been orphaned. Despite all my brother had failed to do, I prayed that he and Sigyn had made it back alive. But, I had my doubts. Sigyn was already injured when they departed and even with Loki's flaw, I knew he would never leave her behind. I had an aching suspicion something had gone wrong. But, Hela, after all that she had witnessed, deserved at the very least to have her parents.

In my chamber, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself. I was barely wounded but one scar still remained. My eye. It was a difficult sight to bear as I barely was able to recognize myself at this point. My hair was short and ragged, I was adorned in foreign armor, and now I could only see myself through one eye. It was shocking but I knew I was a lucky man, all things considered.

From the mirror, I saw Loki standing behind me.

He smirked lightly as he said, "The eye patch suits you, brother."

I turned to face him, chuckling lightly. Surely this was an illusion. I wondered what he possibly had to say. Was he here to gloat from afar? Perhaps he was expecting praise for doing the bare minimum regarding the survival of saving our society.

"Perhaps you're not so bad after all, brother," I said, smiling lightly at the man before me.

"Maybe not," he replied.

"I'm sure people would beg to differ though," I argued as I picked up a soap dish, "Sigyn included. Perhaps if you were here, I would be able to properly tell you how royally you've screwed up. But alas, you're no more than an illusion."

Flipping the dish in my hand, I quickly hurled it right at the illusion, half expecting it to break the illusion and half hopping it would shatter on his face. But to my surprise, neither happened. Loki simply caught the dish and sneered.

"I'm here brother."

I chuckled, "Forgive me, I thought you may have been back on Sakaar. I must say, I'm surprised you're here."

"Why?" Loki pressed as he walked towards me, flipping the dish in his hand. His eyes were narrowed and his head was tilted as he waited for a response. I could tell he was trying to trap me into saying something I shouldn't.

"I thought you died," I admitted, "Again. Is Sigyn alright?"

"Don't concern yourself about her," he snapped.

I only rolled my eyes, "How do I rephrase this without damaging your massive ego. Oh yes, is your daughter halfway to being orphaned? Does that suit you better?"

"Sigyn is fine," he said curtly, "Now if you would just listen to me."

I laughed lightly as I looked him over. Sigyn was clearly not fine. His clothes were completely stained with blood, his hair was ragged, and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. And by the look on his face, I could tell he had gotten nowhere with making up with Sigyn.

I was somewhat glad to see him in such disarray. It meant that Sigyn had not taken him back with open arms. Loki truly had to be a lucky man if Sigyn were to ever forgive him. Heimdall had told me everything that had happened to her whilst on Sakaar. Thankfully, he spared me details but form what he did disclose-Sigyn had gone through hell. Heimdall had explained that she had been mercilessly assaulted and had been forced to flee the palace alongside Hela. Between all that had happened to her, I found it surprising Sigyn could bear to have him in her presence especially since she had been informed of Loki's shenanigans on Sakaar. Served him right, Loki didn't deserve the hero's welcome he so craved. Not after the stunts he had pulled.

"I'm not listening to a word you say before you tell me the truth about Sigyn," I said, "I deserve to know whether or not my niece has a capable parent left."

Loki gritted his teeth, refusing to meet my eyes as he finally admitted, "She's alive."

I raised my eyebrow, prompting him to continue, "She was shot multiple times in crossfire and then impaled by an arrow. She's been going in and out of consciousness."

"There's the truth," I said, chuckling lightly, "Now what are you so desperate to say to me, brother?"

"Do you really think it's wise to go back to earth?" he asked.

"Sure! They love me there," I said, smiling teasingly at Loki. He grumbled lightly, obviously not in the mood for amusement.

"Let me rephrase that," He said, "Do you think it's wise to bring me back to earth?"

"Probably not," I affirmed, patting him on the shoulder, "But midgardians aren't the people you should be worrying about, brother."

"Don't start," he groaned, turning away from me.

"You should be focused on your wife and child," I chided, "Or have you decided domesticity isn't your cup of tea? Please let me know as your girls would of course become my responsibility."

Swiftly, Loki threw the soap dish back at me. I quickly stepped out of the way, letting it shatter behind me.

"Are you this violent with them?" I asked, "I'm marveling at how you ever convinced Sigyn to marry you in the first place with the way you're behaving."

"This is not what I'm here to talk about," he sneered, "If I wanted to be lectured I would have gone any one of my eight in-laws."

"I don't think you're understanding, Loki. I don't care about what you came here to talk about," I replied, "You made the choice to come back, to be with your people, to be with your family. You have to suffer the consequences now. What did you expect?"

"Forgive me, but I didn't expect to have everyone hate me when I returned," he said, "I was adored before you came around. I ruled asgard for five years, and they loved me. Now, everyone hates me. Including my wife."

"Loki, they didn't love you. If they did they wouldn't turn their back on you this easily," I said as I poured us both glasses of wine, "My bet is that they feared you. The only reason they appeared to adore you is because they adored Sigyn. You've committed atrocities against our people, they didn't just forgive you when you gained the throne."

I sighed, handing him the glass of mead, "Brother. I didn't take anything from you. I didn't take your throne or your happiness, or even your family. Everything that pains you right now. isn't my fault. It's yours."

Loki began to protest before quickly shutting his mouth. He rubbed his face before sitting down with a sigh. He looked truly defeated. His anger melted away and I was left with nothing but a man, lost and afraid of himself. I sat beside him.

"What do I do?" he said quietly, finally meeting my gaze. His eyes were filled with worry. Something seemed to click as he seemed almost disgusted with himself.

I took a swig of mead, and took a deep breath.

"Where do I begin?"