Home | Loki [Book Two]

Chapter One

"You have no right to rule us!" the Jotun shouted.

"I have every right," Loki said. 

"You were cast out by--"

"It is my birthright!" he said as the creature began to disintegrate before him. "I was born to rule this realm, whether Laufey wanted me to or not. Your petty complaints will do nothing to stop my destiny." Loki settled back in his new throne with a small chuckle as the Jotun completely disappeared. "Anyone else?"

The crowd of Jotuns in front of him stood afraid and fuming at this abrupt change of rule, but none wanted to die the same way the other had. 

"I didn't think so," the now-blue Asgardian said. 

As the giants began to leave, Loki left an illusion of himself behind while he teleported to Asgard.

"You finally claimed the throne?" Heimdall asked from the side.

"I should have long ago."

"Midgard's group of heroes is no longer searching for you."

"I have no intention of returning to Midgard," Loki said with a scowl.

"You once wished to rule them."

"The mortals are not worth my precious time." 

Heimdall was silent for a time. "Frigga is--"

"Disappointed, I know," Loki interrupted. "I do not need you to remind me of it."

"Not disappointed. Sorrowful that you have returned to your old destructive ways."

"I am not destructive. I am uniting the realms in a way that my father never could." Loki disappeared again, reappearing in another, darker realm. Svartalfheim.

He sat down inside one of the many small caves that littered the planet's surface and covered his face with his hands. It had been nearly nine months since Delta had faded away in his arms. The loss had turned him toward taking all the realms for his own under the guise of "peace" that would surely follow with him as the ruler. Svartalfheim had easily become a home base with no population to defend it. Vanaheim had assumed that Odin sent him for a sort of trial run for the throne and Nidavellir had thought the same. Muspelheim had been in the middle of a sort of civil war in which Loki had emerged as a leader of both warring armies and Alfheim had been too peaceful to argue with a new ruler. 

With two-thirds of the realms under his control, Loki journeyed into Nifleheim, or Hel, the realm of the undead. It was a dark and dreary place that he had never traveled to, rather preferring to stay away from undead beings and read about them from afar. Loki had read that the realm was ruled by Hela, the goddess of death and that she was cursed to live in Nifleheim forever.

When Loki arrived in the realm, he didn't find a mighty goddess seated on a throne. Instead, the throne was shattered; what was left had become a jagged seat surrounded by the remains of the undead army. 

"Laufeyson," a new voice said. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I know you?" he asked. "Surely you are not Hela. Or what's left of her."

The woman scowled, making her darkened features darker. "I am a shadow of Hela."

"You were killed?"

"Obviously. A celestial or something walked in and killed me and took the throne while they were at it."

"Where did they go?" Loki asked.

"Your brother's precious Midgard, last I heard. Kill 'em for me, won't you?"

"That is my plan." He turned to leave. "One more thing. The person who killed you, they weren't Asgardian, were they?"

"Not by a long shot."

Loki nodded and disappeared from Hel.

It was all too familiar: the buildings, the people, the sounds. It all brought back too many memories, but Loki was determined to kill the celestial who had taken the throne he so wanted.

Loki found his old cell phone and dialed an old number that he hoped still worked. 

"Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?" 

"Kathy?" Loki asked. 

"Oh, hey," she said. "Are you back in New York?"

"I need a favor. An Asgardian is on the run in Midgard. You learned to track people down, right?"

"You want me to find him?"

"Yes."

"'Course. I'll call you back if I find anything."

"Good." He hung up and sat down in the old, rebuilt coffee shop. There were memories, sure, but good ones. Happier times and some of the best days of Loki's life had happened there. 

Not long after, his phone rang. 

"Did you find anything?" he answered. 

"Yeah."

Loki teleported to the computer lab where Kathy was working. "What?"

"Well," she started, "the only even remotely Asgardian person I found was an old lady who lives in Pennsylvania. Is this who you're looking for?"

"No. She's a Vanir who wanted to move to Midgard. Harmless unless faced with battle."

"Oh. Well, sorry." Her phone in her pocket rang. "What, Tony?"

"Have you seen X today?" the billionaire asked. 

"No, I haven't seen your ex."

"Not-- nevermind. X, the new guy."

"Oh! Right. I haven't."

"He disappeared again."

Kathy sighed. "Again? I'll look."

"Thanks." Stark hung up.

"Who's X?" Loki asked. 

"He's some guy that just showed up the other day," Kathy answered as she typed on her computer. "Not sure who or what he is. He walked in the front door and just took a room without asking, so I guess he's an Avenger now?"

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. I've never heard him speak or seen his face." She opened a photo on her computer. "This was the best shot I could get, but pictures aren't really his thing, apparently." The picture showed a shadowy figure with completely black clothing and some sort of hood shielding their face from view. 

"You said this person showed up a few days ago?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you don't know anything about them?"

"Not really."

"Thank you for your assistance," Loki said. "Do not tell Thor about the runaway." He disappeared.