Shards (A Percy Jackson and Avengers Crossover)

The Return Of Reindeer Games

Thor Odinson stalked through the mighty halls of Asgard, a man—or Asgardian, for that matter—on a mission. Young Perseus (or Percy as he preferred to be called) was in dire need of help.

Currently, he was unconscious in a Midgardian contraption called a tank. According to friend Banner, it was what domesticated fish were held in. Why mortals wanted animals that just swam in circles as pets was beyond him.

Midgardians were strange that way.

Stark had designed the tank for him after Percy had become a god. The Man of Iron had been quite annoyed that teenagers seemed to keep passing out in his building. He had foreseen another incident with Percy and had decided to get a head start on it.

Though, Thor thought, it likely had to do more with Stark's sulking after he was told he couldn't build Percy a suit of armor than anything else. The genius had even used sea water in it, instead of regular water, after Thor claimed that the salt water might help Percy more.

It had already been a few days when Thor had left Midgard, and the young god had not been getting any better. On the contrary, he had appeared to be getting worse. Nico had even tried force-feeding Percy the food of the Greek gods, but without much avail.

Thor was no scientist, but he even he knew that something was amiss with the young man. According to Banner, Percy's brain activity was erratic, and his energy levels were severely depleted. Something—or someone—seemed to be sucking all his energy away. In fact, if Percy had not been surrounded by his element, he might have already faded.

He knew of only one person who may be able to help young Perseus.

Loki.

His brother was powerful. Thor was well aware of how strong Loki's seiðr was, even if the storm god did not often acknowledge it.

While Frigga's seiðr was just as strong, if not stronger in its own right, his mother was not as well-versed as Loki in the intricacies of the mind.

Thor stepped into the dungeons, nodding at the two guards stationed in the doorway. His booted footsteps echoed throughout the long room. Prisoners banged against their cages, growling and shouting incomprehensible words.

The prince ignored the other cages and their occupants, instead striding over to the cage holding the fallen prince of Asgard. He stopped in front of the partially transparent enclosure, silently watching the black-haired man peruse a book.

"Brother," Thor greeted affably.

"Thor," Loki replied, not even glancing up from his book. He didn't bother corrected the oaf, either.

A beat of silence.

Thor sighed. "Will you not even acknowledge me, brother?"

Loki slowly gazed up from his tome, a bored look on his face. "I believe I acknowledged you when I said, 'Thor.'"

Thor reigned in his frustrations. His brother knew exactly what buttons to push, easily riling him up with only a few words. He was aware that Loki's façade was just that: a façade.

No matter how bored or uninterested Loki was acting about this conversation, Loki was, in fact, quite invested in it. Except for his weekly visits from Mother, Loki had no companionship, save for the monsters pounding against the other cells.

Loki laughed at Thor's face. "You've barely been here a minute, and yet you already wish to leave. How... predictable." He cocked his head in amusement.

Thor blew out a breath, deciding to ignore the god of mischief's provoking words. "I need your help, Loki."

Loki laid his book aside and sat up a little. "Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow.