Loki and the Kindergarteners Save the World (ONC 2023)

goats mourn, and the rainbow bridge is near

The next time Will woke up, he smelled smoke. Everything was dark, the sky starless and empty. He stared at the sky for the longest time, wondering what had happened. He felt like he'd been hit by a bus. Not a bus, no. A giant snake, however, yes.

"It's about time you woke up," a familiar voice sighed. "I almost believe that you did all of this on purpose to resolve your responsibilities."

Will pressed a hand against his forehead. His head pulsed. He had to be dreaming. There was no way Loki would just reappear. Not after fleeing like the coward he was.

A head surrounded by a halo of fiery golden hair loomed over him. Scarred lips were turned up in a smug expression.

"What are you doing here?" Will croaked. "You bastard."

Loki pouted. "Well, that's rude. I stitched your wound, treated the infection, and this is how you thank me?"

"Maybe if you didn't almost kill me in the first place," Will groaned. Then he gasped and pushed himself onto his elbows. "Where are the children? What did you do with them?"

Loki pressed his hands against Will's shoulders. "Calm yourself. You almost died, and I will not restitch you for a third time. The children are fine. They're sleeping."

And so they were. They were piled on the chariot, using each other for warmth. Loki had moved Will closer to the chariot, away from the carcass of Jormungandr and the fallen Thor. A fire burned, the only light in the area, the warm glow barely penetrating the endless night around them.

"My monstrosity of a son ate the sun and moon," Loki explained, "the entire world is shrouded in darkness."

"It's eerie," Will muttered. Loki shot him a sympathetic look but said nothing. "Is this what you wanted? For everything to end like this?"

Loki shrugged. He stared at the fire, the light from the flames sharpening all his features. "It was the only path for me to take. Either that or spend eternity tortured and watching my wife bear the punishment. Would you do the same to relieve Ben of his suffering?"

"I wouldn't," Will remarked, though the words fooled neither. "Do you have water?"

Loki nodded and pulled a leathery pouch off his person. Then he lifted Will's head and pressed the bag to the teacher's lips. "Here."

"Is it actually water?"

"As much as I would love to drink myself into oblivion, yes, this is water."

The second the cool liquid touched Will's lips, his thirst was unimaginable. The water soothed the desert in his throat and eased the clench in his stomach. He reached for the water, but Loki pried the container away. He eased Will back, allowing his head to rest on the trickster's legs. "Slow down. You'll drown yourself, and that'll reflect poorly on me."

If Will had the energy, he would have protested. Loki wasn't the softest pillow, but it was better than nothing. They sat like that for a long while, Loki staring into the fire, Will staring at the empty sky. He couldn't help it. Seeing the sky like the vast unknown in space was terrifying. The air was limp and frosty, and without a wind, the sounds of the battle were muted and far away. Without the sun to warm Asgard, it felt like winter was approaching. The world was dying, and Will and his class witnessed it live.

The kindergarten class had to make it to the Bifrost. Should they fail and the giants make it across the bridge, Will feared Earth would wind up the same.

"The Aesir have always distrusted me. Perhaps it's because I'm a jotun parading around with the gods," Loki said after a few minutes. Will blinked and turned his attention to the thoughtful slant of the trickster's jaw.