Contest of Champions

26

The elevator doors open on our floor and we spill out into the living area. As soon as the doors close, everyone starts speaking at once, the words pouring out like a flood.

"I thought those interviews went well...."

"Does anyone have another bottle close at hand? I'm out...."

"What did that girl mean, she feels like she knows my brother...?"

"Well, it'd be easy to recognize him, his hair's so stupid...."

"Excellent performance, Loki. The magic worked quite well...."

"Of course it worked!" That is me.

"How in Helheim would a Kree know an Asgardian....?"

"That's a Hela interesting question, Sif...."

A slap interrupts the last speaker and Ned stumbles forward from the force of my sister's hand.

"It's not like Loki is muscly or anything. Thor, on the other hand...."

"Ouch." Me again.

"I feel like this is all pointless conversation...."

"How about we stop?" Hela's voice cuts through the chatter and we all fall silent. "The interviews have been concluded. Now, the only thing that matters is waking up tomorrow and getting through the Contest. Go get out of your ridiculous outfits and prepare for dinner."

As everyone disperses, Hela grasps my wrist before I can leave. "Not you."

"What?" I protest, jerking away from her.

"You need to talk to me," she insists, holding my wrist fast. "Come with me."

And out of curiosity, I do. She heads into a small private room and shuts the door after I walk through.

"You can imagine my...astonishment, let us say, when District 8's female contender, Veers of Starforce, admitted feeling a connection to you."

I just tilt my head and raise an eyebrow.

"Care to enlighten me, brother?"

"I would," I say. "But I don't know the source of the connection she feels. I simply can't explain it if I know nothing about it."

Hela smirks. "Well done, Loki! You lie with nary a twitch of the face or a slip of the tongue. But you can't lie to me. Not yet. So out with it. Why does she feel like she knows you?"

I don't answer, merely return my sister's intense stare with narrowed eyes.

"Brother." She pauses for a moment, her voice serious. "I can't help you if you don't trust me."

"Why should I trust you?" I ask quietly. "You have given me no reason to trust you."

"I'm your sister."

"That doesn't mean anything when it comes to trust."

Hela smiles. "You have learned a lot, Loki. Good. It'll help you, in the end. But tell me. How does she know you? I'm serious. Tell me, and I will be able to help you in the arena."

"And if I don't?" I ask. "You won't help me?"

Hela meets my gaze and holds it, her eyes deadly serious. "Brother, there is so much more out there than a simple arena. If you want to see it, I need this information."

"And now you're threatening me," I state.

"Are you going to tell me, brother?"

I'm silent, for a moment, and then I find myself speaking. "I saw her, once. In passing, merely a glance. That is all. I swear."

Hela places her hand on my shoulder, gently. "Thank you, brother. You can go."

I turn.

"Despite the fact that you are still withholding information from me."

I stop, shoot a look back over my shoulder. Hela lifts an eyebrow at me and flicks her fingers at me in a "go away" motion. So I open the door and step out, risking one more look back to see Hela standing in the middle of the room, seeming lost in thought.

Heading to my room, I change out of my golden armor into a black tunic and go to the dining room for dinner. Everyone else is already there, including Hela. I take a seat and eat my food as the others discuss the interviews. No one seems to want to mention that there is a large possibility that Sif and I will be dead by this time tomorrow, or that there is no way all of us will ever eat a meal together again.

The recap of the interviews only shows me an Asgardian who wields magic quite well and a Kree who can't put her finger on why she remembers someone.

"Love at first sight, perhaps?"

Luis' words ring loudly in my ears.

"Love at first sight?"

I see a close up of Veers' threatening expression that still manages to have a playful aura to it.

"Love?"

I'm lost in thought when Jane's voice startles me out of my reverie. "Loki?" she says, in a soft tone that implies this isn't the first time she's called my name in the past minute or so. She touches my shoulder, gently. "Loki, the recap is over."

I look at the screen and find that it is black. Standing, I look at Hela, Valkyrie, and Thor, who are positioned between the common room and the corridor leading to the bedchambers. Sif is talking to them right now, softly, and then Thor embraces her. Sif hugs him back, briefly, and then stalks from the room, her head held high.

I step towards the mentors, suddenly uncertain. Jane stops me, turns me towards her. "Loki," she says, offering a smile. "I have faith in you. You are going to do great tomorrow." And unexpectedly, she embraces me.

Awkwardly, I return her hug, finding strange comfort in the embrace. I feel almost guilty. I've always been aloof to Jane, always acted like I was better than her. And yet she still has treated me with kindness.

Jane releases me, smiles, and watches as I make my way towards the three Asgardians. Thor steps forward. "Loki, I have confidence in you," he says. "Tomorrow, you will make Father and Mother proud."

Father will never be proud. Not unless I do something so fantastic it can somehow place me beside you.

I look at Thor and laugh. "We will see about that, brother."

Thor furrows his brow and claps his hand around the back of my neck, not in a threatening gesture, but in a brotherly one. "You win this," he says, his voice low and serious. "You win this Contest and you come home, brother."

"It's not that simple," I tell him, and I turn away. Valkyrie is next, and she sort of cocks her head at me.

"Remember, kid," she says, pointing the neck of her half-full bottle at me. "That arena's going to be bloody. You're gonna have to fight. And you might need to make some friends."

I narrow my eyes as Hela steps into Valkyrie's place as she wanders off. We're the only two left in the room as Thor and Jane trail after Valkyrie.

"Tomorrow I'm in the arena," I say.

Hela nods.

"You're my mentor," I say. "Do you want to offer suggestions on how I should win?"

"How do you think you should win?" Hela asks, her gaze impassive.

"I'm good with knives," I tell her. "Daggers." I pause, then gather my confidence. "Like you. I can win the way –"

"No," Hela cuts me off. "Brother, I am the goddess of death. What are you the god of again?"

And just like that, she sweeps out of the room, leaving me alone and with an undeniably sinking feeling.