Sacrifice | Loki

Sorrow

A shudder wracked my spine as my feet hit the dark sands of the dead planet. The only comfort was the typical smirk that Loki sent my way, but even that did not quite reach his eyes. I returned it with a soft smile which quickly faded as we walked up the hill after formulating our plan. Loki would pretend to switch alliances, as he so often did, in order to get us close. We would wait until Malekith attempted to draw the Aether from Jane before Thor would to destroy it.

"Loki," I called out quietly, lunging forward to grab his still confined hand.

My heart dropped as the god turned to face me, eyes as bright as ever.

"This isn't going to work," I warned under my breath.

"Don't you trust me?" he questioned playfully before turning to allow Thor to unshackle him.

It was then that Loki's mind prodded my own, which allowed his presence immediately.

'If anything happens, I will create an illusion that will ensure our safety.'

With that, his mind disconnected from my own and he plunged a dagger into Thor's stomach before sending him tumbling down the hill towards the group of awaiting elves. Plastering a maniacal grin onto my face was all too easy, as the lack of an escape for me in particular was enough to send me into a genuine mad frenzy. My scimitars slid from their sheaths with ease as I followed Loki carefully after throwing Jane down after her lover.

"I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I'm here to bring you a gift!" Loki announced, holding Jane up with a knife to her throat and a crazed look in his eyes.

The elves watched the two of us suspiciously as their leader questioned Loki, who played the part so well I began to question him myself. In the meantime, I stood beside Thor with a foot resting on his back and his severed hand laying on the sand nearby. My blade rested against his neck, but I was careful not to pierce the thick skin.

"What is it you wish for in return then, whore?" Malekith called to me.

His words elicited an angry twitch from Loki, but it thankfully went unnoticed as everyone's attention turned to me.

"Life. Odin wishes me dead, and if I allow him to continue he will always be a threat," I responded nonchalantly, putting more weight on Thor as I spoke.

"Very well," Malekith said slowly, his words signalling Loki to throw Jane towards him roughly.

Thor continued to keen over his wounds while staring helplessly at the sight of the red haired woman floating in the air. My blades began to feel lighter in my grasp as I prepared to unleash my distress upon the elves. Even if we would not keep the Aether from their grasp, it was likely we would kill many of the soldiers while their leader left.

"Now!" Thor shouted, his hand returning with the help of Loki's magic and reaching for his hammer.

The god quickly unleashed a stream of lightning into the floating particles of the Aether, as I leapt in Loki's direction to stand beside him.

"Loki," I started carefully, "I love you."

Before anything else could be said, the Aether broke split into even smaller pieces and sent all of us to the ground. To my dismay but not to my surprise, by the time we were on our feet again the Aether was running through the elven veins of Malekith.

Loki drew his daggers as I lunged for the dark elves who had begun to advance on us, my scimitars slicing through their flesh with no resistance. Normally I would twirl through my enemies with the grace of a dancer, but my rage forced me to merely hack at the elves until their bodies littered the sand which turned the dark color of their blood.

"Anna," Loki barked, beckoning me over to him as Thor was thrown into yet another mountain by the Kursed.

Malekith had already escaped, leaving us to deal with his minion.

"Plan?" I questioned softly, my tone contradicting my savage appearance.

"We help Thor," he said regrettably, his tone laced with slight venom.

I nodded and took his hand into my own for only a moment for reassurance before hurrying down the plains. Loki strode calmly a few yards behind me and watched as I plunged my blade into the monster's back.

"Anna, don't!"

Loki's screams were a moment too late, and the monster plunged a knife into my stomach just as I teleported a few feet away.

"Damn," I hissed, ripping off a strip of my shirt to hold over the wound.

My heart lurched just as Loki reached and triggered a grenade on the Kursed's belt, going unnoticed by all but me as the Kursed turned to face him. Before I could even shout, the god was run through with my scimitar which was still lodged in the monster's back. No sound left my lips as my blood ran cold, and my body moved of its own accord to bring me on top of the god's body as the Kursed imploded. As soon as the threat was gone, I rolled off of Loki and hurriedly put pressure on the gaping hole in his chest.

"Loki, please," I choked out, tearing my shirt nearly in half to get enough cloth to soak up the blood that left his chest, most of it submitting to gravity and staining the sand from the other end of the wound.

Thor crawled to sit beside me as I held the pressure against Loki's chest, and took his hand into my own shakily. I could not bring myself to speak as the two shared a few words, but a sob escaped my tightened throat as Loki's skin began to turn a sickly grey.

"I love you too Anna," the god gasped out, using the last of his energy to give my hand a gentle squeeze before allowing his eyes to slide shut.

An inhuman cry escaped my lips as I collapsed onto his body, my own wracked with violent tremors. Thor grieved beside me as the sand whipped up around us, as though responding to our anguish. My throat constricted and my vision grew too blurry to be of any use so I allowed my eyes to close. As time went on I willed myself to sink into the sand and become part of the planet forever rather than feel such heartbreak. It was not long after that I felt a hand rest on my back.

"We have to go," Thor said, his voice raspy and quiet in contrast to his usual booming tone.

"No," I said quietly, opening my eyes to turn back and glance at him painfully.

"No," I repeated, "Not yet. I need to stay for a while. Get Jane home."

For once, the god obeyed without protest. My heart ached as I watched him and his Midgardian walk through the sand and out of sight. Carefully, I removed my hand from Loki's now limp grip and sat back in the sand. My blood slowly stained the ground around us and even mingled with that of the fallen Asgardian. The tears slipped from my eyes silently now as I slowly lowered myself onto the ground beside him and slid my hand back into his in the hopes of succumbing to the wound in my stomach. It would be a slow death, but eventually the blood loss would take me. I could not even manage to muster the energy to plunge my own scimitar into my heart to quicken the process.

"Anastasia."

Loki's familiar voice reached my ears, but my eyes would not open.

'Already hearing things. That's a new record' I thought to myself.

A hand sliding into my loose grip tore me back into reality and sent me shooting up into a sitting position. My sore eyes opened slowly to take in the sight before me.

"You bastard!" I shouted, but despite my anger I could not help but place my cleaner hand on his cheek shakily.

"Such harsh words Anna," he chided, gently wrapping one arm around my waist to help me to my feet.

The god's tone was playful, but when his eyes fell upon my broken form his demeanor changed and a rare combination of words left his lips.

"I'm sorry darling," he sighed, keeping his grip on me loose as I buried my face into his chest.

I responded by tightening my grip on him and pulling his body against my own. The action was met with slight resistance which made me bury my face deeper.

"You're hurt," he explained, attempted to carefully loosen my grip and relax me.

"Just hold me," I whispered.