Torchlight poured in through the bars of the cell. A lone guard stood just outside the door, gazing at the only occupant huddled in the corner. He, Sven, was never one to care much for the prisoners, but the boy behind the bars was different. The boy was well known by all guards who had shifts in the dungeons, so well known in fact, that they had all lent money to buy the plaque over the cell. The gleaming bronze was engraved with one name: Loki.

He smiled slightly, remembering the day. It was the tenth anniversary of his arrival in the realm, a day that the boy often spent sulking about. Not that the kid would admit he did that, but he never had to. It was the one day that he was not up to his usual mischief and they could just relax. That time was different than before though, the little trickster had not been seen at all that morning and well into the evening.

By the time that he finally turned up it was past dinner for most people. To this day he still would not tell anyone where he went or what he was doing, not that many even asked. The order for his arrest was given immediately, because he had escaped. Again. As he always did. And as usual it was Sven who had offered to take him to his cell. Loki put up little fight and even chatted aimlessly to him about whatever he could think of.

Usually Sven would not even bother to listen, but he figured he should listen this time. Perhaps the kid would slip up and mention where he had been all day. He should have known better. Loki never slipped up. Instead he went on and on about these strange monsters he had heard of from a mysterious friend. If one inquired more about this "friend" the boy would dance around the subject.

"Oh, just someone I knew a long time ago." He would say with a sincere smile. After that he would ignore what ever else he was asked on the subject. All anyone knew was that it was a man named Trigg, and that he was rather close to this friend.

Loki was rather surprised to find a few of the guards who had shifts in the dungeons standing by the cell, maybe even scared. Of course he would not admit to that either. They had all shared a laugh at the kids expense, a fact that still upset him, no matter what he claimed. He asked why they were all gathered there. They all looked to Sven, who simply pointed above the cell.

There sat a simple, bronze plaque bolted above the entrance. The boy had just stared at it until Sven cleared his throat to speak. "You practically live in this cell, no matter how you look at it, it is as if it was meant to be yours." When he gestured to the plaque, the boy's gaze followed. He simply stared at it without saying a word. "We all believe that we will be seeing you here more often, so we made this your official cell." He explained, waving a hand at the other five guards.

The boy had glanced around him and ducked his head. Sven had worried that he was upset, but then he started laughing. At first it was unnerving, at least to the other guards, then he looked back up with a cocky smirk. "Only if you can keep up with me. I mean, most of you are starting to get pretty old!"

"Yes, we are aware of that." Sven said, as he shoved the kid towards the cell, knowing that the others wore their own confident smirks as te registered the challenge. "But that has not stopped us before, has it?" As confident as he sounded, he was sure the kid knew he was bluffing, not that he was that old. He was only eighteen after all, so he should still have good while to keep up with the boy. he removed the restraints from Loki's wrist and shoved him farther into the cell. "I will see you in the morning, behave for Egil and Brant."

Loki only scoffed in response, walking away from the bars to the pile of books he had in the corner. It was the only way to keep him quiet. "...I'll do what I want." He replied, sitting down with a book in hand. One by one they all began to walk back down the hall, and only Sven heard the quiet thank you he muttered when he thought he was alone. As if an afterthought he added a mumbled, "...but, you didn't have to..."

"Consider it a 'thank you' for keeping us on our toes." Sven said, shrugging his shoulders and supressing a chuckle when he heard the book hit the floor. Ignoring Loki as he tried to complain, he added, "We would all get soft without you stirring up trouble, you know. So you are actually doing us a favor." Loki did not respond after that, so he had left him alone.

Now he stared into the cell at the kid, who was not so much a kid anymore, having recently turned seventeen. He could be older, or younger even. No one was sure of his real age, not even Loki himself, or so he claims. Shaking his head, Sven reminded himself that now was not the time to be thinking of that. He had come to check on the boy.

According to Brant, who was on duty two nights ago as well as that morning, Loki had been asleep since two nights ago. Brant had even taken the time to check with the others on duty, they had all said the same thing, that Loki ad not woken during their shifts. That left Sven with two possible options, that Loki had escaped and left an illusion behind or something was very wrong with him. Sometimes he thought that he was the only one in Asgard who would care if he dropped dead.

He opened the door quietly, and closed it behind him. Just in case the boy was only pretending to be ill, if he was even still there. Holding the torch in hand over Loki's still body, Sven felt slighty uneasy. Unsure of what to do, he knelt down by the boy's side and glanced at him, trying to find any visible wounds. Finding anything proved difficult though, seeing as he had wrapped himself in the dark brown cloak he always wore, but being so close he could now see that Loki was shivering slightly.

Heaving a sigh, the man grabbed his shoulder and rolled the boy over. Now he could see Loki's face, obviously asleep, but looking as though he were trapped in some horrifying nightmare. His eyes, normally a dark, almost black, shade of green were screwed shut in what looked like pain. Sven weighed his options, let Loki wake on his own or wake him and suffer the consequences later.

Sighing, he reached out, placing his hand on the boy's shouder again. Almost immediately the boy sat upright, the hood of his cloak falling back to reveal the tangled, dark red hair that always had a slight curl to it. For a brief moment, the guard thought he saw a dark bruise wrapped around Loki's neck, but the image was gone so quickly he brushed it off as his imagination.

Cautiously, Sven tried to comfort him, only to have him jerk away at his touch. Wide green eyes glazed over in fear and watched him as Loki tried to calm himself. He brought his hand to his throat, the glazed look in his slowly fading. Since the trickster was making no move, Sven spoke up.

"Loki...are you feeling well?" He asked, hoping a familiar voice would help drag him from whatever terror held him captive. Opening his mouth, Loki tried to respond, only to find that he could not. Instead, the young god nodded. Frowning, Sven tried to pry something out of him. "I find it hard to believe you...what with the sorry state you are in." He waved a hand at Loki to exaggerate his point, but the movement startled the other.

Shuffling back until he was pressed against the wall, Loki curled up, bringing his knees to his chest and pulling the hood over his head again. With a sigh, Sven stood up and moved to kneel in front of the trickster. He snapped his fingers in front of Loki's face, and, to his relief, he managed to get his attention. There was still a dazed look in his eyes, but he was definitely focused on the guard before him.

"...who...?" Sven almost jumped at the quiet voice, and it took him a moment to realize it was Loki's. Did he not recognize him? There was no way the kid could not recognize him, was there? Before he could start questioning Loki, the boy asked,"...where? Am I in Asgard? Is that you, Sven?"

"Yes. You are indeed in Asgard and I am Sven." He replied, making sure he actually used the names of himself and the realm. To his surprise, Loki relaxed immediately. He went from sitting curled against the wall to sitting with his legs crossed and his head tilted a little to the right.

"How did I get here?" He inquired a little louder than before. The boy absentmindedly twirled a lock of his hair around his finger and added, "Did you wake me up? I hope not, because that's just rude."

Sven felt an overwhelming desire to slap the boy. After all, Loki was acting as if nothing was wrong, as if the past few moments of terror he was trapped in had not happened. But the key word here was 'acting', which the trickster was very good at. Even so, one could still see that he was affected by what ever he had dreamed of. He was tense and his eyes darted around the room, specifically watching the shadows on the walls.

"...You were found unconscious on the path leading to the city from the forest. A patrol atop the wall had seen you collapse suddenly and sent someone to retrieve you. You were placed here as punishment for resisting a previous attempt to arrest you for escaping before you had served the full sentence you received for setting fire to the kitchen." The guard explained as he watched for a reaction. All Loki did was nod as he grinned, obviously proud of the chaos he had caused.

"As for your other question...I did wake you, but only because you were experiencing a rather horrible nightmare. I must wonder what was so frigh-"

"Oh, thanks I guess. Well, that's all I needed to know. I think I might go back to sleep, sooo..." Loki interrupted him, waving his hand dismissively towards the cell door. When Sven made no attempt to leave, he sighed and layed down, rolling over so his back faced the guard. The guard finally got the hint when Loki pulled his cloak over his shoulder and wrapped himself in it.

Standing slowly, Sven sighed. He could could get nothing from the boy, as usual. It would make no difference if he stayed and tried to press for information. Loki was far too stubborn to give in, and there was no reason to force the answers from him.

Once Sven's footsteps faded, Loki sat up. He crept to the cell door and reached into his fur-lined boots, pulling out a lock pick. It only took a second to pik the lock on the cell, even though they kept changing it, he had been picking locks for ages and had no issues with it. Carefully pushing it open, he stepped out.

'It must be night,' he thought as he closed the cell door behind him slowly. 'Everyone else is asleep.' His brow crease and a frown found it's way to his lips. 'This is it...our last chance...' Casting a quick illusion over his cell, he started towards the stairwell. Heard the voices of the guards on duty, and peered around the corner. Both had their helmets off, sitting at a small table with their backs facing him.

They seemed to be deep in a conversation, but Loki ignored it, focusing instead on the exit in front of him. He kept to the back wall, sneaking along it as he listened to the guards. Luckily they did not notice him, and he was able to creep up the stairs unseen. Once he reached the landing, he sprinted off, not caring about who might see.

~~(0)~~

A/N: Please feel free to say anything about any of the chapters! I know I could use the criticism.

2: Chapter 2

After running through the halls with his only goal being to avoid getting caught, Loki found himself walking down a hall he knew ended with a balcony. He found that he hardly remembered running up any stairs, but then again, his mind was on other things. As with all the other times this incident happened, he found himself disoriented, swaying a bit now that had spent most of his energy on running.

Although most would think he had only exhausted himself, he knew that was not the case. No, the exhaustion, the dizziness, and the nausea, as well as the feeling he had of not being in his own body, were all normal when forced through time. It had happened to him so much, one would think he would be used to it.

Loki shook his head, stopping to lean against a wall at the dizziness the simple action caused. 'I doubt any one could get used to this...' he thought. 'Having your soul ripped from your body...being forced back in time into an older version of yourself...it hurts everytime and they do nothing but make us do it again if we fail.' He grit his teeth angrily. They had no right to force him, force the others, or any one else for that matter, to relive a nightmare. Not when they had the power to stop it themselves.

"...It's not fair. It's sick...sadistic. They could stop all of this. They have that power." He muttered quietly to himself, shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind. Pushing off of the wall, he continued to walk to the balcony, missing the quiet footsteps behind him. All he could think of was how he couldn't wait to leap from that balcony and fly away for a while. Though he would prefer to be a bird, a bat made the most sense, seeing as it was late at night.

Once he reached his destination, he stood still, feeling the cool air breeze by him. He took a deep breath and went up to the stone wall separating him from a drop the would surely kill him. Carefully, he climbed onto the low wall, it only came up to his waist so he had no problem getting up. He crouched, ready to jump off of the wall, when something yanked him down roughly.

Loki felt his back slam into the ground. Gasping, he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself off the ground. Before he could even get to his knees someone grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. "Hey!" He shouted, craning his neck to try to see his assailant, who remained behind him, just out of view. He tried to pull free, only to have his arm twisted painfully behind his back and a dagger at his throat.

The person behind him started walking away from the balcony, forcing him to follow. Loki obeyed, terrified yet curious. Curious because, after all the times he had been forced to repeat Their mission, he had never been in his current situation. He had always escaped. Terrified because he was still recovering from the reset and it's lovely parting gifts, and how he didn't know who the person was or where they were going.

He was not in control of the situation like he normally would be, and that meant he could not control the outcome. Too many unwanted scenarios flashed through his mind, mostly of a gruesome death. 'Thank you Mecha,' he thought sarcastically, 'for all of those lectures on Midgardian torture techniques and how to properly dispose of a body...'

He was not sure how far they actually walked, but it could not have been nearly as long as it felt. They stopped infront of a door that was slightly opened. His attacker pulled the blade away to push the door open. Who ever it was paused and, Loki assumed, looked down both ends of the hall they stood in before shoving him into the dark room. He stumbled a bit, but managed to keep his balance, even with the new wave of nausea and dizziness.

Once the world stopped spinning a little, he was able to make out a familiar figure infront of him. Confused he looked over his shoulder to see yet another familiar form closing the door behind them. "...Thor?" He questioned, trying to see the other better in the darkness. Turning back to the other, he tilted his head. "Sif? What are you two doing?"

Sif simply glared at him, so he turned to Thor for an explaination. The other seemed to be angry as well, but why? 'This never happened before...why do they look so angry?' Loki wondered. As his eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness of the room, he saw that it was definitely Thor and Sif and they were definitely mad about something, but he quickly averted his gaze. Even though they were standing in front of him, alive, all he could see was the mangled bodies he had unwillingly left behind during the reset.

"...Hey...what's the matter guys? You...you don't look too happy to see me...so I'll just go an-" Loki said hesitantly, inching closer to Thor. He hoped he would be able to weasle out of the door and get away with out getting caught. To his surprise, Thor shoved him back and pointed to what Loki now recognized as a bed.

"Sit." The taller man commanded harshly in a tone that Loki honestly never thought he would hear from the thunder god. The trickster simply stared at Thor, regretting it the moment he did. The longer he tried to keep eye contact with the other, the more vivid the image of his mangle corpse became. The bloody ground and shredded clothes, the light slowly leaving his eyes.

Breaking eye contact, he did as he was told, sitting carefully at the edge of the bed. Loki was sure he had turned white as a sheet, but hopefully the darkness of the room hid that from them. He stayed silent as he fought the urge to vomit. It was hard because there was too much emotion swirling around inside him, but he was determined not to act on any of them. Taking a deep breath he asked, "What do you want?"

Sif was the one to respond, saying, "We want to know what you have done to us." Confused, Loki looked up at her, almost immediately feeling ill again. But he made himself look. After all, this was Sif, alive. Her bright golden hair only came down to her shoulders, still not back to it's former length from that time he cut it.

"What do you mean? I haven't done anything to you two recently...that I can remember," he argued, looking away from Sif when he found that he could not get her death from his mind. It seemed that his response only made her more angry with him.

"You did nothing that you can remember?! Then for what reason have we been sharing similar dreams!" She yelled, stepping closer and leaning forward a bit. Instinctively, Loki shuffled back to keep some distance between them, stopping once he realized what he had done.

Puzzled, Sif backed away, but Loki stayed were he was. She noticed that he had crawled towards the bed's center, leaning on one arm for support with the other held defensively in front of him. He had ducked his head, dark red hair hiding his face. Looking back at Thor, she knew she was not imagining Loki's unusual reaction.

Thor walked to stand by Sif, the two staring down at him until he lifted his head to look at them again. He was not looking directly at them though, more like over their shoulders. He did not seem to want to talk, so Thor spoke up, hoping to clear up Sif's angry outburst.

"What Sif meant was, we have been having these strange dreams. They were not so bad until three nights ago, when we simply started to dream of terrible monsters and frightening acts of cruelty." He stated, nodding his head to Loki and adding, "You were there. I recall you having been heavily injured."

Loki bit his lip. 'It's not possible...only the survivors should be able to remember...' It took a moment for him to force himself to meet their eyes. "I didn't cast any spell on you like you seem to think I did. So just...just stop...I don't want to hear it." He heard his voice crack, and regreted even trying to speak.

Thor and Sif looked at each other for a brief moment, before turning back to Loki. He knew what they were planning, and he knew he would hate it, but he hardly had enough energy to use a simple spell. He could not transport himself to somewhere that was not that dark room.

Before Loki could think of a way out, Thor spoke again. "I remember, rather vividly, the streets of Asgard covered in blood. Everyone was trying to fend off the shadow beasts that had invaded the city, but we could barely hold off the first wave." Loki shook his head, eyes wide, but Thor continued, "The second wave came from inside the city, creatures pouring out of the shadows."

"Stop it."

"The third wave was the bloodiest. Monsters came from peoples shadows, catching them off guard and tearing them to pieces. You were there, on the back of one of those beasts, the black wolf. You said we would die if we stayed, we trusted you enough to go with you, to Midgard." Loki grit his teeth together, trying to keep silent.

Seeing this, Sif chimed in, "We made friends on Midgard, you had been rather friendly with a cat boy. We all followed you to different realms, unknown to Asgard. But the shadows followed. They killed the ones called 'angels' ripped them apart. They had silver blood, right? I recall seeing it everywhere, on the ground and staining our clothes."

"Don't..." Images of their winged companions flashed through his mind. Their life and their gruesome deaths.

"Then there was that girl with blue hair." Sif continued, ignoring him. "The tall, dark boy tried to protect her, but the monsters tore his throat out. In a rage, she attacked the one who seemed to be controlling them. He shoved his hand through her chest, and ripped her heart out."

"The girl with fiery hair died as well-decapitation, courtesy of the shadow man." Thor added. "And those children she was trying to sheild, they were beat to death with her severed head." The more they spoke, the more Loki felt like he would be sick. He knew they did not understand, it would sound insane even to him if he had not lived it. Even now he could recall every gruesome detail of the murders, down to the man's fanged grin.

"I-I know," he whispered, grabbing one hand with the other to stop the shaking.

"He kept killing us until there were only six of us. Thor and I, the cat boy and his purple haired sister, the wolf , and you. He slaugthered the siblings, and went to attack you, but the wolf protected you. It was split clean in two." Sif stated, reciting what she only assumed was a dream calmly.

"Sh-shut...up..." Loki tried to shout, but instead choked out the words. He doubled over, holding his stomach.

"And then, he turned to us." Thor started,"He ignored you until you tried to harm him. At a wave of his hand, monsters sprung from your shadow and dug their claws and fangs into you."

"He made sure you would not be able to free yourself. And he came at us. I had seen Thor fall with a dagger in his chest."

"It did not kill me immediately, I lived long enough to see Sif die and the monster approach you. He simply snapped her neck, and when he turn back to you, I could see that he hated you. I recall seeing him summon a new blade. He held you by your throat and he said something to you. I wonder, die he stab you to death or did he strangle you? The last thing I can recall is how frightened you were as he spoke."

"Please...stop..." He whined, curling into a ball. "I'm sorry...you guys weren't supposed to die like that. I tried to keep you safe...I really did...I swear. I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry...you don't even know..." Taking a deep breath, Loki tried to calm down.

"...What do you mean?" Thor asked hesitantly, reaching out to the other. Loki only curled in on himself tighter and muttering apologies to them.

"Loki? Those were not just tricks...were they?" Sif asked, as the possibility of the dreams being real sunk in. She could not stop the shiver that ran down her spine. If they were real, then that would mean Loki had been he last one alive.

She looked at Thor, who seemed to reach the same conclusion she did. Sif left the room first, followed closely by Thor. They simply walked in silence for a few moments, before Thor spoke up.

"Could it be true? Those horrorific dreams..." He sighed, shaking his head. A few, short, dirty blonde hairs fell in his face, but he brushed them away. "Loki was acting like some of the men I have seen return from battle. Particularly the ones who have lost a large part of their parties."

"Perhaps we should try speaking to him again tomorrow. He seemed rather shaken. If only we had considered whether they were truely memories or not, Loki would not have had to relive those memories so soon." Sif said. Thor nodded along, a frown marring his face.

"We must let him rest, we can question him in the morn." He stated, earning a nod of approval. As he and Sif parted ways, he shouted after her, "Lock your door and light your room."

3: Chapter 3

Morning came and both Thor and Sif stood in front of the door to the room they left Loki in. Neither knew for sure that he would still be there, but Thor had convinced her to check with him. He had said that he doubted Loki would bother leaving, what with how ill he had looked. She met his eyes and nodded reassuringly. This time, they would be more careful when they spoke to him.

Thor pushed the door open, holding it for her. Hesitantly, she entered. The first thing she noticed was how all the windows had been shut and candles still burned brightly all around the room. Loki was still on the bed, but he wasn't curled up like he had been when they left him. Now he was on his stomach, with one arm bent under his head and the other hanging limply over the edge of the bed.

When he heard them enter he looked up at them, blinking once before he let his head fall back down. Thor was the one who walked to the bed and sat beside Loki, awkwardly patting his shoulder to try to comfort him. Instead of following the thunder god, Sif went to open the windows and let in more light. She turned around to see how uneasy her companion was.

She could not blame him of course, neither of them were sure how to approach Loki. He was not acting like he normally would, he was far too...depressing. That was the only word Sif could think of to describe him, but it was a word that she never thought would fit him. For the longest time she had always known him as the annoying trickster, the one with no worries, the laziest man in all of Asgard.

Loki seemed to be doing everything in his power to ignore them, so she climbed up with the other two and sat by him, opposite of Thor. "Loki, please sit up." She said, tugging on his sleeve. The trickster simply pulled his arm away from her, laying on it so she would not get to it. "Loki, this is not funny. We came to apologize for last night, the least you could do is pretend to care."

At this, he turned his head to peek up at her. Slowly he lifted his head, and asked, "Why?" She could not help but notice that he had trouble keeping eye contact with her. It was hard to get used to, the change in his behavior literally happened over night. This was Loki, but not their Loki.

Sif was not sure how to respond, but luckily she did not have to. Thor spoke up instead, saying,"Yes, we regret what we said to you. It was wrong to make you relive those awful memories...however, we know nothing about our enemy..." He trailed off, knowing Loki would understand what he was asking him, but not wanting to say it.

"...You couldn't have known it was real. It sounds insane even to me, and I remember it all." The trickster said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He only seemed to make it worse though. Sighing, he pushed himself onto his knees. He glanced at the others briefly, before staring at the ground. "The first time we met, he said he had many titles. The Contractor, Puppeteer, Shadow King, but his personal favorite was the Dark God."

Thor and Sif sat quietly, waiting for him to continue. "He said I could call him Tamos. That he came from a war torn world, and was looking for the power to save it. I was curious about him, what with how strange he looked and the tales he would tell. And his magic was unlike any I'd ever seen. And at some point, he did seem to start hating me."

"How did you meet him exactly?" Sif asked cautiously, leaning forward a bit. She saw Thor shoot her a warning glare. He did not seem to want her to push too hard. Of course she knew why, they did not want Loki to shut them out again, like he had the previous night.

"...The...the wolf that he killed...from your dreams. He was from Tamos' world and...he was Tamos' most loyal servant. He was the only one of the monsters with a free will, trusted enough to do as he pleased. I met him first. He saved me from a pack of those monsters. I called him Fenrir. He lead me to Tamos."

"You said he had strange magic?" Thor asked, watching Loki nod slowly. "How so?"

"It was two types of magic, but he seemed to be able to do anything with it. Binding magic and influencing. He carried these scrolls with him and he would try to trick people into signing them. If you did, you were signing your very life away. He tried to get me to do that, but I didn't trust him much. He could create those monsters by binding the souls he collected to the shadows."

"Influence is just what it sounds like. He could force his will onto others and make them obey him, but it seems to need time before it works properly. We had all started calling it 'Corruption', because it seemed to fit better." He stopped talking and looked at each of them.

It took a little for the information to sink in, but once it did Thor asked, "By we, you mean us and the others from our dreams?" Loki nodded slowly again.

"Could you tell us about our future friends?" Sif asked, curiously. "I personally would like to know who the purple-haired girl often surrounded by men was. She was quiet daring from what I recall, having insulted me when we first met and later kissing me?" She felt oddly satisfied when Loki smiled at her description of the girl, even though Thor was staring at her in disbelief.

"I do not remember that happening." The thunder god stated. He looked like he was trying to find the memory Sif had mentioned.

"You were not there when it happened Thor." She explained before turning back to Loki.

"That was Mecha. She was what modern Midgardians would call a 'polyamorous bisexual'. It means she can love more than one person and is attracted to both men and women. At least I believe that's right, they could explain it better than I could. The men that hung around her were her partners, Dick and Lee." He explained.

"And the angels?" Thor asked.

"...The girl was called Glitch, she's a warrior. She had black wings, which were apparently unusual for them. The one with the tri-colored wings, silver, gold, and brown, he was Scarecrow, but they called him Crow. And last was Pedro, green wings, he's their medic. He really loved Glitch you know. We were on good terms with them, but they liked to keep to themselves." Loki stated, hands starting to shake a bit. "Anyone else you want to know about?"

He watched Thor glance at Sif, but only for a moment before he had to look away. Thor patted his arm carefully, and Sif said, "Yes...but I doubt you can handle telling us more at the moment. Am I correct?" The trickster simply nodded, feeling nauseous again. Even though he tried to keep the descriptions short, it still brought up the memories he would rather forget.

As if an after thought, Thor asked, "When was the last time you ate?" Loki only shrugged, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face.

"Two weeks?" He stated, head tilted as he twirled a curl around his finger. He could feel them staring at him, but it took a moment before he understood. "You mean since I've been here?" They nodded and he just shrugged again. "Three days, but I was unconscious for two of those. At least, that's what I was told."

Sif sighed and slid off of the bed. As she walked to the door, she said, "I will go and find you something to eat then." She glanced back for a second, catching Loki's questioning gaze. "If you do not eat, you will not have the energy to fight when the time comes." That said, she left, not bothering to wait for a response.

The two remaining gods sat in silence for a little while. Thor simply watching the other pick at a small tear in his pants. Quickly growing bored, he looked out of the open windows behind him. The sun was high in the sky and lit the room very well. There was nothing too interesting in it aside from a small dresser and a coulpe of bookshelves, if he did not count the bed.

"Loki, I should go for a while. It looks to be noon and I am sure some one is wondering where I might be." He stated, watching Loki look up at him. Much to Thor's surprise, he looked rather frightened by the idea.

"...You'll come right back though, right?" He asked, anxiously wringng his hands. Thor could only nod at the moment, knowing that he would probably never understand Loki's fears. He was not sure how long he would be gone for, but it seemed wrong to say that.

"As soon as I can." Thor stated reassuringly. He stood up and looked down at Loki. "While I am gone, I will see if I could get a pardon for you. You will have to stay with me for some time though, if I succeed." He could not help but feel a bit relieved when Loki relaxed a bit.

Rolling his eyes, Loki could not help but say, "And what adventure am I being forced into this time? Isn't that the only reason you would do that for me?" Thor shook his head, that sounded more like the Loki he knew. He could not help but ruffle the trickster's hair as he laughed.

"If I do not return soon, then Sif will. Try not to let yourself get arrested before then." He joked. Thor left after that, making sure the door was shut properly. That left Loki all alone, but at least his mood was some what better than before. There as a small smile on his face, he was happy and with good reason. He hadn't expected them to believe him, but they did seem to be trying to understand the situation. It was more than he could have hoped for.

"And you believe that bull?" A wispy voice said from behind him. Loki tensed, unable to surpress the fear he felt at the hands resting on his shoulders. He turned his head just enough to confirm his fears and leapt off of the bed. The moment his feet hit the floor, he spun around to face them. Instead of an enemy though, he only saw an empty bed.

Confused, he glanced around the room and reached for the dagger he normally kept hidden in his boot, only to find it missing. '...where?! Sven didn't take it while I was...no...he never did it before...' Loki thought, alarmed as he knelt to check his other boot. The last thing he wanted was to be alone, unarmed, and unable to use magic with one of Tamos' minions.

"Looking for something?" Loki shot up to his feet and turned around, coming face to face with a shadowy image of himself. He let out a startled yelp and backed away, falling back onto the bed when he ran into it. Pushing himself up again, he glanced at the shade. It wore the same exact outfit he always wore, from the poorly mended green tunic to the dark brown cloak. The only difference was that it was all black, with pale golden eyes.

The cloak it wore seemed to flicker like some kind dark fire and Loki watched as it tossed the familiar blade up into the air. The shade caught it and shot a fanged grin at him. "...Kiryl..." He hadn't meant to say it's name, especially when it's grin widened, if that was even possible.

"You remember me! Ain't that sweet!" Kiryl cooed sweetly, tilting his head as he played with the dagger in hand. He took a step closer and continued, "Then ya must remember my lord Tamos, eh Doll? He'll be so pleased to keep this game of his goin'." The shade kept walking closer to Loki.

Panicked, the young god scrambled backwards in a desperate attempt to escape, but Kiryl lunged forward and grabbed his ankle with his free hand. Loki tried to kick the shade's arm but his foot simply passed through it. If anything, he had only managed to upset it.

The shade climbed onto the bed, kneeling on Loki's legs to keep him down. He leaned forward, placing one hand on Loki's chest and the other holding the dagger over his stomach. In a quiet growl, he said, "See this dagger? This means I'm in charge here. Get it Doll? I can do whatever I want, and you can't do jack about it." When he did not get an immediate response, Kiryl put pressure on the blade. "Got it?"

Loki nodded, not ready to be gutted by the shade. Pleased by this, Kiryl pulled the blade back and tapped his captive's head with it's flat edge. "Good, good. Maybe when my lord comes, you'll be this...submissive for him! He'd like that ya know, you're his favorite toy by far. But enough with the chitchat doll, I'm here on business. And not the usual torment."

Leaning down again, Kiryl opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Loki punched him with what strength he could muster. It was enough to catch the shade off guard and send it sprawling to the side. Loki was glad that Kiryl was too distracted with him to realize he had taken a more solid form. The dagger had slid off the bed and clattered to the floor, so Loki tried to get to it first.

Before he could reach it though, the shade caught him, pulling him back by his hair. Loki clawed at Kiryl's hand, but that only seemed to make him more furious than he already was. The shade threw Loki down and pounced once he was on his back. He pinned the trickster's hands above his head and pulled a fist back. "Ya done fightin' yet Doll?" The shade asked.

Feeling brave, Loki glared and spat in the shade's face. Almost immediately after, Kiryl brought his raised fist slamming into Loki's gut. The trickster let out a strangled cry, his body trying to curl up, but unable to with the shade in the way. He couldn't breathe right, it hurt and all he could do was lay still and gasp for breath. Kiryl seemed to be set on making even breathing hard now.

The shade let go of his wrists and opted for laying on top of Loki now, one arm tucked under his head and the other patting his head in a mocking display of affection. It was harder to breathe with the extra weight and Kiryl knew that. "Ya know...you ain't much fun ta play with post-reset. I bet I could do anythin' I wanted to ya, and there'd be nuthin' you could do ta stop me...but where's the fun in that?"

"Anyways, that ain't why I'm here now. I'm here ta let ya know that Lord Tamos ain't playin' around this time. See?" The shade held his hand up and summoned three silver stained feathers, one black, one brown, and one green. Loki stared at them, trying to make his arms work so he could take them and see if they were real, but he found he couldn't move. "Hmm? Havin' problems Doll? Here." He set the feathers down beside Loki's head and grinned.

"I'll be back once we've wrecked 'Midgard'. I'll be sure to bring ya your precious Trigg's coat, and maybe even baby Kitty's tail if I can. Bye-bye!" With that, Kiryl disappeared, waving goodbye. Once the weight was gone, Loki curled into a ball. It hurt to move, but eased some of the pain once he was settled. The feathers caught his attention again and he stared at them for what felt like forever. Not even a day had passed and everything was already going wrong.

4: Chapter 4

Sif wandered through Asgard's palace, now though, she thought that 'palace' was an overstatement. Compared to the places from her dreams, Asgard looked rather dull. She was glad to be so familiar with the place though, since she could dwell on her thoughts without getting lost. As she walked, she found herself comparing the halls of Asgard to the other, unknown realms she dreamed of.

It lacked the natural beauty of the village built in the massive jungle tree, or the colorful city of scorpian people from the first unknown realm they had seen. There was not the unnatural beauty of the frozen citidel of the shattered world or the grand design of the dragon's empire. And It most definitely could not compete with the massive ruins of the world she had died on. Even in their dilapidated state, one could tell they were amazing works of art.

But then, Asgard was familiar, it was comforting, at least to her. It was a promise of safety only...they left because it was in no way safe once that monster arrived. If Loki was to be trusted, then they would have to leave. They could not save Asgard if they died before they started.

It was hard to imagine that Asgard could possibly fall to one man, even if he could summon an army of monstrosities at will. After all, they were supposed to be gods, their combined powers should be enough to end this foe. But that was not the case, according to Loki. Sif wondered just how powerful this enemy really was.

Then there was Loki himself. He knew. He knew what had happened, so he knew how to stop this. Or he should. The way he spoke made her wonder if this was their second chance or some other, unknown number. Have they done this more than twice? If so, she wondered how much Loki remembered from the previous times.

As she thought about it, she questioned how he could have sent himself back to this time and place. If what Thor had told her of his dreams before he truely died, Loki could not have been the one to send himself back. She shuddered to think anyone could be as brutal as the monster they were up against. Thor had said he almost seemed to have gone berserk, except his actions were far too precise.

Sif was glad she had died before the man turned his wrath on the trickster, but she also felt guilty for not knowing. Frowning, she stopped and turned to the door beside her. It lead to a storage room connected to the kitchens, and there would be a good bit of food. She figured she would grab a couple of apples and leave.

She was pretty sure Loki liked apples, she had seen him fall from the trees on more than one occasion while trying to reach the ones near the top. Of course, Loki would eat anything she brought. She hoped he would at least. He did not seem to keen on the idea of eating. If he would not eat, she resolved, she would make him.

Quietly she pushed the door open, and slipped in. She could hear the noise from the other room, but ignored it. Sif made sure to be quick about it, rushing over to one apple filled crate and taking two of them. She glanced at the kitchen entrance to be sure no one was going to come in and crept to the door. Once she reached it, she opened it and slipped out again.

She hurried back the way she came once she was back in the hall. Leaving Loki alone seemed like a terrible idea. Sure Thor was there, but he was not the kind of person who could sit still for very long.

Walking back to Loki, Thor wondered what to tell him. He was not sure if he should bring up his meeting with Heimdallr, seeing as the news he had was not good, but important in the current situation. He had encountered the older god, who he learned had called for an emergency council. Apparently though, he had decided to leave once he had said his part and warned him to leave the attendees be.

Knowing what he had learned from Loki, Thor could not help but follow the other and pester him for information. Though Heimdallr had been reluctant, he relented once Thor had pointed out that, as a son of Odin, he would eventually find out. It was a cheap card to play, but it did the trick.

"I had decided to see what was happening on Midgard, as it had been far too long since I last ensured they did not need us. I had checked many places only to see the realm blackened by fire and dark beasts roaming about." He had shook his head sadly and fixed his helmet before adding, "Not too long after, I was unable to see anything no matter how hard I tried. It is most troubling news."

Nodding his head, Thor wondered what exactly was going to happen, if his future friends had possibly survived. "Is that all?" He asked, adding, "Or was there more to this attack?" The other hesitated before he nodded.

"The attack seemed to be personal. It's commanding officer manipulated a group of mortals to murder a rather specific group of families...but his target seemed to be one man in particular." As Heimdallr said that, Thor knew what had happened. At least, he thought he did. The attacker would be the monster; Tamos, as Loki had called him. He felt an odd sense of loss at the thought of their future friends having died, though he hardly remembered them.

Heimdallr seemed to mistake his anger at the monster for something else, since he simply patted his shoulder. Though, he was not always the best at reading others emotions, Thor could still see that there was something else. "Is there anything more that troubles you?"

Casting a sideways glance at the other, Heimdallr shook his head. "...Nothing of importance. I am simply trying to figure out who, or what could be so powerful to cause so much destruction in so little time." Heimdallr was quick to leave after that, refusing to acknowledge any more of Thor's questions. He had persistently, but had gotten impatient with the lack of response and stormed off the way he had come.

As he rounded a corner, he could see Sif ahead of him and he quickened his pace to catch up. He could ask her whether to tell Loki what he learned or not. Catching up, he grinned, "Sif, I see you found something for Loki already!" She looked at him and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes after nodding. Thor was a bit surprised at how quiet she was, normally she would have some kind of response. Smile faltering, he added, "I have heard something from Heimdallr. It is rather important, yet I am not sure if I should tell Loki..."

That seemed to catch her attention. Sif stared at him curiously and asked, "How important?" She was caught off guard by how fast his demeanor changed.

He dropped the strained smile, leaning a little closer to her with his lips pressed in a thin line and his brow creased. It seemed like he was hesitating, since he seemed rather uneasy about what ever it was. Sif was no fool, she knew almost immediately that this had to do with what Loki had told them. "Heimdallr had turned his gaze to Midgard, only to find it had been scorched by something, and he had said there were dark creatures lurking about." Thor recited, stopping when Sif did.

She did not want to believe it, but looking in his eyes, she knew it was true. Of course it was, Thor would never lie about such a serious matter. "Did he mention any survivors? Did...did our future friends...are they alright?" She asked, although she knew the answer already. It was no surprise then, when her companion shook his head. That did not stop her from getting angry though.

"Heimdallr said the monster had made specific people his targets. Specific families."

She missed his sympathetic look as she turned her head away to hide the tears forming. Even though they had yet to actually meet in this time, she remembered them from the last time they met. Loki bringing them to Asgard with him, and the perverted Mecha that insulted the size of her breasts in such a casual way, one would think she was talking about the weather. Being introduced to the other Midgardian girls and spending time with them as they showed her around the modern Midgardian city.

Though she would not admit it, she had been looking forward to meeting them again. Ever since Loki had said her dreams were memories. Thor must have been upset as well, although she knew him well enough to know he was more angry about what happened. She recalled him and the Midgardian boys. How they would challenge each other, and how Loki would enthusiastically show him the Midgardian technology he knew how to use. How Mecha's brother would follow behind him and correct him or show them how it actually worked.

And Loki, he was such good friends with Mecha's brother, Jay was his name, she was sure, and their cousin Anaguma. He would follow Jay around and marvel at what ever project the other was currently working on, and ask what the different tools were for. And then there was Anaguma, would try to teach him about modern magic and in turn, Loki would try to help him master his own. She remembered how they made a great team, Thor had done better with the angel boys, Crow and Pedro, and she worked well with the other girls, particularly Mecha and the one called Artemis.

It took a moment to realize she knew their names when she had not been able to remember before, but she could not bring herself to care about it. Why would it matter when they were dead? She wanted to punch someone, specifically Loki. Not because he had done anything wrong, she simply wanted to hit someone who she knew would react. Of course, she knew she would not be able to hurt him as he was now. Later, maybe, but not now.

Thor caught up and attempted to comfort her as they walked, patting her shoulder gently. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked up. "Do not tell Loki. Not yet. While I have no doubts he will realize we are hiding something, we should not tell him yet."

"I will try, though you know I do not like to keep secrets like these..."

"I know."

Loki slowly uncurled and pushed himself up into a sitting position. After what felt like an eternity, the pain from Kiryl's blow had faded to a dull ache. At first he had thought that he might have ruptured something, but aside from that annoying ache, he felt alright. Tired, but alright. He was worried about the shade being in Asgard though. Kiryl was the only shade Loki had ever seen that had a human form, the others were either animals or nightmarish monsters that almost seemed to be nothing but limbs and tails and wings mashed into some kind of monster.

Of all the shades though, Kiryl was the most frightening because they looked the same. It was simply unnerving that Tamos had made a shade in his Loki's image, and he wondered why. The only other humanoid shades were Niya and Tamlyr, who seemed to act as Tamos' protectors. They were terrifying to face in battle as both were relentless, and as shades, they did not get tired. The perfect offense and defense, the army any ruler would kill to have, but of course Tamos got it by killing.

Loki sighed, crawling over to the edge of the bed to get his dagger, though it was not there. At first, he feared Kiryl had returned and took it again, but he saw it sitting on the dresser nearest the bed. Slowly getting to his feet, Loki went to retrieve his weapon. To his surprise, he found a familiar necklace sitting beside it. The little stone eagle tied securely on a twine rope was just sitting there innocently. Loki brought his hand to his chest where it usually sat and found it missing. He was sure he had been wearing it though, he never took it off.

He tried to return the dagger to it's place in his boot, but instead he held onto it, then slipped the necklace over his head. Climbing back onto the bed, he sat as far away from the silver stained feathers as he could. Loki fiddled with the blade in his hands carefully as he waited for either Thor or Sif to return. He hoped it would be Thor though, because he really did not want Sif to force food on him when he was not sure he could even stomach it. With his newest injury, he doubted it would be easy to eat. It would probably hurt to try.

Setting the blade in his lap, he leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. Loki sat motionless and stared at the door, waiting for someone to come in. He was more occupied with keeping his thoughts in line and not worrying about the what ifs than watching the door, so wen it creaked open, he sat straight up. The sudden movement irritated his injury and he almost instantly doubled over, clutching at his stomach.

He could hear someone hurry over to him, and felt the hands on his shoulders pull him back up. In front of him was Thor, staring down with worry written all across his face. Behind him stood Sif, who checked the hallway before shutting the door. Thor sat down beside him carefully, and Loki saw Sif's gaze drawn to the feathers on the bed. "Loki, Are you alright?" Thor asked. Loki nodded, not really wanting to worry them.

"Fine...just hungry." He lied, the words coming easily. Sometimes he had to remind himself he was supposed to be a liar god, because it always surprised him how easy it was to do. Lying was second nature. Although Thor seemed skeptical, he did not ask anymore questions. Sif on the other hand, decided to speak up.

"Where did those feathers come from?" She asked, looking at Loki curiously. Loki just stared back. "Loki, are those the angel's feathers?" He still did not respond, so she asked another question. "Is that their blood? Answer me Loki." Sif glared at him, and set the apples she had been carrying on the bed.

Thor's grip on his shoulder tightened as he said, "Answer her, please. We need to know." Still they got no response from the trickster, he only stared at them as if he had not understood what they were asking.

"Did you guys go blind or something? I swear, I can't leave either of you alone or you end up hurting yourselves. The answer is right there." Loki said sarcastically, pointing in the general direction of the feathers. He could see Sif's ears turn red from embarrassment and hear Thor trying his best to suppress a snicker. It made him feel a bit more relaxed to have them acting less serious.

Angrily she growled, bending down a bit to meet Loki's eyes. "Listen here you flea-bitten runt, if you were not recovering from what ever sent you back, I would gladly punch that innocent look off of your face." It was an empty threat of course, as always. Well, almost always. There were a few times she had actually followed through with her threats, but she told herself he actually deserved it.

Loki grinned up at her and opened his mouth to retort, but Thor cut him of, saying, "Do not antagonize her Loki. And Sif, leave him be. We need you alive for now."

"And once you are done with me?" The trickster asked innocently.

"She may do with you as she pleases."

Sif nodded her head, "That sounds like a decent plan."

Leaning forward, Loki was ready to argue when Thor interrupted again. "On another note, I was unable to get you a pardon. Heimdallr said to note bother father as he is rather busy at the moment. And do not ask what he is busy with, I do not know." He quickly added that last part when he saw Loki's curious expression. "Not to mention tha it seems to be getting rather late. Were we gone for that long Sif?" He asked as he looked out the open window, a bit confused.

"It would seem so. You should rest more Loki. If you are feeling well enough tomorrow, we may be able to go and explore the woods with you. perhaps we will find some kind of clues there." She stated, carefully moving the feathers from the bed and setting them on a nearby table.

"Clues to what Sif?"

"Any shadows lingering around. Possibly their whereabouts. You could even show us where the monster usually appears." Sighing, Loki obeyed. He was too tired to actually argue with Sif. When Thor stood up, Loki flipped the sheets so the blood stains were on the other end of the bed and not near him. Unlike the past to nights, he curled up under the covers and faced away from the windows.

"Could you close those?" He asked, watching Thor as he went to do as he was asked. The trickster was just making sure that he would close them all. It was no defense against Tamos' shades since they came from the shadows, but it made him feel a bit safer. As he watched them walk to the door, he called out again. "Stay."

Thor and Sif both exchanged questioning glances before they turned back around. "Why?" Thor asked, head tilted curiously.

"...My candles all burnt out...and I hardly slept last night anyway." The little trickster muttered, quietly. "I guess I got used to having someone else with me..."

Sif grinned at this. In a tone of false curiosity she asked, "Do you mean Jay? Mecha's brother?" She regretted it though, because Loki seemed to get depressed by the name.

"I didn't tell you Jay's name before..."

"We know," Thor said, trying to fix the situation. "We have been remembering what we could not before." Seemingly satisfied, Loki nodded. He sat up and patted the spot next to him .

"You don't have to stay all night. Just until I'm asleep, okay?" He offered, though he would honestly prefer they stayed all night. Kiryl's appearance had made him a bit anxious. The shade had a nasty habit of getting way too close for comfort and would usually end up causing some kind of injury before he left, even unintentionally. The injuries he could deal with, it was the personal space issued that bothered him. He was a higher ranked shade and therefore displayed some of his master's traits. He had Tamos thoughts, memories, and emotions, but they were supposed to be extremely toned down.

It was that fact that scared him most about the monster man, if Kiryl acted like a mellow version of Tamos, then...he shook his head a bit to clear his mind. He would rather not think about it. It was easier to calm down when he noticed that Thor and Sif had taken seats beside him while he was lost in thought. He laid down again and waited to fall asleep while the other two sat there. None of them caught the angry golden eyes watching from the shadows.

 

5: Chapter 5

It was early morning when they set out, Thor and Sif agreeing to meet Loki in the woods so the guards would not try to arrest him as they left. As they had left to fetch their horses, the trickster wondered over to the window. He waited for the door to click shut and their footsteps to fade away as he looked out at the city. Once they were gone, he turned away from the window to face the shade leaning against the wall beside him.

"Back already? I doubt they'd all go down so easily." He spat at the other. Kiryl's eyes narrowed as he leveled an unusually harsh glare at Loki. Surprised, Loki found himself speechless. He had known Kiryl for quite a long time now. Even though he was the enemy, Kiryl was always relatively friendly if he was not acting on orders from Tamos.

"Figured that one out real fast doll, they're a tough bunch. 'Course we're tougher, it's only a matter of time. Sooner or later they'll all fall down." Kiryl stated, glancing out the window. Loki waited for him to continue, but it seemed like he had nothing more to say. When Loki tried to speak, Kiryl said, "Please join us doll. It'd be in yer best interests if ya did. Ya got no idea what's comin'. I ain't aloud ta say, but I'll tell ya it won't be pretty. Just trust me."

Now he was definately confused, Kiryl was obviously angry, yet he hadn't lashed out at him like he usually would. "Why do you keep asking me after every reset? You know my answer. I'd never team up with that psycopathic murderer. He's insane, why do you guys even follow him?" Loki snapped, annoyed by the question. When he realized what he said, he flinched, expecting Kiryl to jump to his lord's defense.

Instead, Kiryl looked back at him, meeting his eyes. "My lord's a good man, all good men do terrible things for the greater good. He'll make a great replacement fer the Great Ones doll, so stop fightin' fer them an' fight fer us. Ya already know ya won't win."

"I don't fight for them, they're amoral, sadistic bastards, but Tamos wouldn't be much better. In fact, he'd probably be worse." Yet again he braced himself for Kiryl's wrath, only it didn't come. It was strange, this whole reset had been strange from the start, but Kiryl never acted like this before. It felt almost like he was begging, even though he spoke in a demanding tone. Should he push his luck? It must be running pretty thin by now, but if he could just figure out something, anything, that could help them win, it would be worth it. "I'd ask what your plans are, but it's not like you could tell me, Fenrir was the only free one after all."

Glaring, Kiryl spoke, "That's a lie doll, I'm free too. I'm just more loyal than that mangy mutt ever was!" Before he could stop himself, Loki laughed. He quickly covered his mouth, but it kept coming. He took deep breaths to try to calm down a bit.

"Loyalty is nothing to people like him. He'd kill you without a second thought! What makes you think that he won't?" Loki stated, having a hard time believing what he was being told. If Kiryl really was free like Fenrir was, then he should be able to see what kind of monster his beloved 'lord' was. The shade held his ground though, huffing angrily and blowing a piece of hair from his eyes.

" 'cause he cares 'bout me. I know he does, and I know my place, unlike some people...and wolves." The shade snapped angrily, arms crossed defensively. "He valued my skills enough to give me this body and place me at a higher rank than the others, aside from Lady Niya and Lord Tamlyr. Tammy don't count, cause he ain't a shade."

Loki stared, having trouble believing what he was hearing. "Are you even listening to yourself? You 'know your place'? Don't you realize how messed up that sounds?" The shade waved his hand dismissively, obviously trying to ignore the comment. Now Loki was skeptical about Kiryl really being free and just too scared to disobey, but he was not about to dismiss the possibility all together. Tamos' wrath could be a terrifying thing, he knew that after having experienced it many times, what with being the obvious target. "...Kiryl, why am I Tamos' target?" He asked the shade, who only tilted his head.

"If ya haven't figured it out yet, yer not gunna. Honestly disappointed here doll, I thought ya was s'pposed ta be a sharp one." Kiryl stated, a fanged grin creeping across his face. "Well, I could give ya a hint though." Loki stared at him expectantly so he added, "My lord don't like people takin' his toys doll."

"Oh, that helps a lot. Thank you." The trickster said, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the window. He got one foot on the ledge before the shade spoke again. heaving a sigh Loki listened. He debated throwing himself out the window right then and there -he'd be fine, he had regained enough energy to turn into a small bird- but decided he'd see what the other had to say first. If it took too long, he figured he would just jump.

Kiryl's grin disappeared as he said, "Try not ta piss him off too much...I don't wanna have ta kill ya doll." The second Kiryl stopped speaking, Loki flew out the window. He let himself fall for a bit before turning into a sparrow, barely hearing Kiryl's words. It was too hard to believe. The shade sounded a bit anxious, maybe even concerned, which was very contradictory with his usual behavior. Loki tried not to think too much about it, after all, it's easier to fight someone when you think of them as the bad guy.

He knew Loki knew he was following him. There was a distinct feel to his own limited magic that separated it from his lord's. Loki knew how to find them like that, he could literally feel their magic. At least, that's what Tamos said. He was never too sure, not having the patience to sit through the boring lectures he was so used too. Though they did help him learn to look as if he was listening, Tamos had very little patience lately and it was best not to provoke him. The man's temper was worse than ever before, but the shades all associated that with their current situation.

Kiryl followed in the shadows, hiding behind a tree as Loki landed by his friends. Both were on the backs of their horses, Thor having a reddish brown mare and Sif's being a light brown, with a white diamond on it's forehead, also a mare. Loki transformed as he came down, landing in a crouch in front of them. He stood up and brushed himself off. "So who do I get to ride with?"

The two shared a knowing look before turning back to Loki. "We thought that you could walk." Sif stated in the most serious tone she could muster. She simply nodded when he asked if she was serious. Kiryl watched her trying to keep a straight face when Loki turned to complain to Thor. He could feel a weight form in his chest that he was unable to identify.

"Well I suppose you may ride with me." Thor told him. Loki nodded and walked to the side. He put his hands on the saddle, a thoughtful look crossed his face and he took a step back. Thor tilted his head a bit and asked, "What is it Loki?"

The trickster had a skeptical look on his face as he said, "You're going to move when I try to get on, aren't you?" Thor barked out a laugh and shook his head, patting the open space behind him. Cautiously Loki went to climb on, one foot in the stirrup when the horse trotted forward. He yelped and fell, getting dragged a few feet with his foot still caught. the other two were hysterical with laughter when he hauled himself off of the ground.

Their laughter quieted down as Loki glared at them, Thor saying, "Sorry, my hand slipped...come on." He held out his hand, but Loki pushed it away and climbed on. Watching the group bothered the shade, he wanted to make the others aware of his presence and maybe make fun of Loki too, but he knew better. They would probably kill him. He watched the horses trot away, heading in the direction Loki pointed to. He wanted to follow them, but someone grabbed his shoulder before he could follow.

Whipping around he came face to face with a pair of golden eyes with slit pupils, so much like Tamos' he thought it was his lord. He took a step back and stared up at the other shade, who was at least a good foot taller than himself. "L-lord Tamlyr...I, uh, I was..." He stuttered, trying to stop shaking. He was silenced as the higher ranked shade held up his hand.

Tamlyr was an intimidating sight, down right frightening even, depending on who you asked. He had a humanoid body from the waist up and a pair of wolfish ears. The lower half of his body resembled the legs of a wolf. Unlike himself, Tamlyr actually had color to him. His skin was still a solid black, but it had more of a solid look to it. He wore a ragged, gold cloak that was spattered with dark patches and a crimson tunic with a black sash to keep it tied shut. The other's massive hands ended in impossibly sharp claws and his mouth full of viciously sharp fangs. Kiryl recalled the day he learned about the fangs, it was hard to forget when the other had nearly ripped his throat out. He had every reason to stay on his lord's good side after that.

"Ah, little shade. I do not recall seeing you during our fight against my dear boy's enemies. Were you here? Avoiding the battle?" Kiryl stuttered and tried to find he proper words, but he found he wasn't able to. Tamlyr gazed down at him impassively, adding, "You were only supposed to bring the news of the angels downfall, I pray to Destia that you let nothing slip of our plans during your stay here."

"W-well...about that. Ya see...I, er, may...MAY...have mentioned targeting the humans...b-but that's it...I swear. A-and that was an accident...I-I just got all hyped an..." He trailed off and stared at his feet, scuffing his shoes on the ground. The rumbling growl he heard was all the proof he needed to hear to know he was in trouble. Clasping his hands together to stop their shaking, he sighed. No point in arguing. "M-my apologies s-sir, I made a...a mistake..."

"Hhn...It was not your place to tell and while I would enjoy reminding you of that, it is not my place." Tamlyr stated, grabbing Kiryl's arm. His claws dug into the smaller shade's skin, but he either did not notice or care."Tamos will decide what to do with you."

Eyes wide, he stared up at Tamlyr. "Please don't tell! He'll kill me!"

Tamlyr scoffed at him, shaking his head. "He has not killed you yet, as I would have expected with all your blunders. I believe you will make it out alive." When Kiryl tried to argue, he added, "He loves playing with you Kiryl. You are his favorite shade, much like the trickster is his favored enemy. But I am sure he has told you this before." Kiryl nodded slightly and tried to pry his arm free from the other's grasp. Before he could free himself, Tamlyr had tossed him over his shoulder and disappeared with the struggling shade.

6: Chapter 6

The three young Asgardians rode through the forest in an awkward silence, broken only by the occasional directions from Loki. They had slowed to a trot so as not to exhaust their rides. The forest around them somehow managed to look the same no matter how long they walked, though Loki assured the other two that there was no illusion. That was just how the forest was. After spotting a tree that Sif was sure they had passed before, she asked, "Are you certain we have not been this way before?"

Loki nodded, "Yes, I'm absolutely sure." He looked at her for a moment, then to their surroundings. It was familiar to him, but only because he had seen it all so many time before. "I know exactly where we are." Thor puled back on the reigns and his horse stopped. Sif followed suit and they both stared at Loki. "What?" The trickster asked, confused on why they stopped. They had to keep moving, there was too much at stake, but not enough time to act. He knew that Tamos would show up soon, maybe even that day. He always appeared three or four days after each reset.

"It seems to us that we have been riding in circles. Have we not passed these trees before?" Thor asked, pointing to a cluster of pine saplings and a fallen log with one end roughly carved to look like a wolf's head. Again, the trickster nodded.

"I put that there on purpose. You know, to throw people off my trail when I escape prison. It's fine though, I know the differences well enough." He explained in a tone that made it seem like the answer should have been obvious. Pointing to the right he added, "That's were we want to go. I met Fenrir there, I'll show you that because Tamos usually appears much farther away." Nodding they began to ride off in the direction Loki indicated.

In an attempt to prevent the awkward silence from returning, Thor said, "Ah, Loki, do you remember the last time we rode together?" Confused, Loki tilted his head before realizing that Thor could not see his face. He glanced to Sif to see her looking just as confused as he was.

"...What?" He asked, adding, "If you mean like this, then no. I remember nothing even remotely close to this ever happening." Loki gestured to himself and Thor to exaggerate his point, receiving a laugh instead of an answer. He sighed, deciding to try to ignore the other.

Sif, though, seemed interested by the comment, if her curious stare was anything to go by. "Would you mind elaborating?" She asked him. He did not answer her, but she saw how his smile grew as he thought. When he turned to look at her, he had wore a coy grin.

"Come now, we both have stories we have not shared. Perhaps I could tell you what I am talking about if you share the tale of Mecha's kiss? I must admit, I have been very curious about how that had even happened." He said, as if it was the first thing she should have thought of. Sif simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You know, I was wondering about that too. I mean, you never struck me as the type to be interested in girls. The people of Asgard don't exactly like that sort of thing." Loki chimed in, leaning over to push Sif playfully. She responded by shoving him back and almost knocking the trickster off of Thor's horse. "Hey! Careful! I'd like to stay on the horse, if you don't mind."

The warrior girl huffed, and in a haughty tone, said, "I do mind, it would be fun to see you trying to keep up with us without a horse." Before Loki could protest, she started her story. "Anyway, there is not really much to tell. We were backed into a corner and we thought we would die. She had looked at me and asked if I had any last requests. I said no, but I asked her the same question and she responded by kissing me."

The boys both stared at her as if waiting for her to continue. When she realized that, she simply shrugged. "That is all that happened. Nothing more." She shook her head and, added, "I swear, men are worse with gossip than women." She was glad that they had the decency to act ashamed. Well, sort of. Thor was trying to pretend he did not hear her while Loki just looked pleased with himself. "Now then, I believe it is your turn to share your tale."

"Ah yes, it was rather amusing." Thor stated, seemingly focused on telling Sif his story. "It has been a while since this happened though. I had been trying to aid the guards in capturing Loki again. It took a while to track him down, but when we found him he was acting rather...er...odd. It did not take long to find out that he was drunk."

"I don't remember ever being drunk around you. Well, maybe a little bit, but I don't remember this time you're talking about." Loki stated.

Rolling his eyes, Thor continued, "You were...oh, what was that word the Midgardians used?"

"Don't bother trying to think of one. There are way too many." The trickster stated.

"Then to put it simply, you smelled as though you had just bathed in alcohol." Sif offered helpfully, glad to see Thor nod his approval at her description.

"Wait, was this what happened before that time I woke up drunk in my cell?" He asked. Thor did not answer him, instead trying to continue with the story only for Sif to interrupt.

"Aside from his smell, how could you tell he was drunk?"

Heaving a sigh, Thor said, "He attempted to woo a tree." Sif shorted and Loki gave him the most apologetic look he could muster.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"You are not truly sorry, are you?" Sif asked.

"I'm really not. I'm sorry that I'm not sorry Thor."

"Apology accepted, now may I continue?" The irritated thunder god huffed. The other two quietly stared at him. "Thank you. As I was saying, I found Loki making a rather pitiful attempt to climb into the saddle of a horse, which he had stolen from the guard who usually arrests him."

"Right...Sven was going on about that..." Loki stated, laughing nervously as he trailed off under Thor's glare.

"It took you a long while, but eventually you managed it. I rode alongside you since you were practically falling off. You insisted that you were fine, until you actually fell off. I offered you a ride but you refused at first. You told me ' Go away Thor, I know how to horse' before vomiting. Then you looked rather confused and said, 'I didn't eat any carrots'. Afterwards you seemed to forget about the stolen horse and requested a ride from me."

Sif laughed so hard she almost fell off of her own horse. Loki though was not sure what to say about the incident. A part of him wanted to deny it but logically, it was very possible. He could not remember what happened that night and it was just a stupid thing to argue about anyway. So instead of arguing, he settled for shrugging his shoulders.

As the conversation ended, silence settled over them, only this time it was much more comfortable. "You'll want to go left here." He stated, pointing over Thor's shoulder.

"Well this was pointless!" Sif yelled, balling her fists in her golden hair. They had been searching the clearing he showed them to for a while, and by now, Loki was the only one still bothering to check everywhere he could think of. She was ready to leave now, but Loki insisted that they stay while he continued his search.

"Sif is right Loki. If we have not found anything yet, we will not find anything soon." Thor called across the clearing while he patted Sif's shoulder to calm her. She let go of her hair and instead crossed her arms over her chest. At first the trickster did not respond, but eventually turned to face them. Looking down at them from atop the boulder he had climbed, he frowned.

"But there has to be something! It's definitely like Tamos to leave clues. He treats this whole thing like it's some sort of game." Loki said, jumping off of the boulder and landing on his feet. He sighed and looked around the clearing one last time before walking over to the others. "I was sure we'd find something like you said we might Sif." He blew a few strands of hair out of his eyes and stared at his feet.

"It is fine Loki, I was the one who suggested it after all." Sif told him, hoping it would make him feel a bit better. That was one of the things she hated most about the trickster, he had such an innocent looking face that people actually felt bad for him even if they did nothing wrong. It was one of the countless reasons she really wanted to punch him. "Well, we should start on our way back, otherwise we will be stuck here in the dark."

Loki nodded and followed them back to the horses. As Loki suggested, they left them tied outside the clearing, closer to the path, jus in case Fenrir showed up. A wolf as big as Fenrir was would definitely frighten the horses. Even though the wolf was not there, something still must have scared them. The horses were neighing and stomping the ground and tossing their heads about to try to get free.

Thor and Sif ran ahead, but slowed once they got closer so as not to spook the animals anymore. They calmed down a bit with their riders near by, but they still shuffled around anxiously. Loki hung back, watching them calm their rides when he saw it. The flash of black behind a tree. At first he thought it was Kiryl, but it was too tall. He felt his heart skip a beat and was sure the color had left his face. Was it Tamos? He could not tell from where he was standing, but at the very least it was One of the other shades. Before he could figure it out, the shade flashed him a grin and disappeared.

Thor turned around only to see a pale Loki staring off into the forest. "...Loki?" When he got no response, he walked over and grabbed the trickster's shoulders, shaking him slightly. Loki blinked and stared up at the taller man. Now that he had Loki's attention, he asked, "What is it? Did you see something?" After a moment of silence, Loki shook his head and ducked under Thor's arms.

"It's nothing, just my imagination." He stated, hurrying to Thor's horse and climbing on. He stared at the others expectantly, waiting for them to get the hint. Thor sighed and climbed on in front of Loki once his horse was untied and Sif followed suit. As they rode back along the way they came, a demonic looking bird alighted on a branch above them, a white scrap of parchment paper held tightly in it's beak. It had one goal and if it was caught with the note...that would not happen.

Everything hurt, that's all he could think about. It hurt to move. There were reasons that the shades did not disobey, it was a well known fact among them that their master did not even need to touch them to hurt them. So when Tamos had actually, physically attacked him, he knew he really messed up. It felt like his body was on fire. He closed his eyes, hoping to maybe slip into even a restless sleep. That was just wishful thinking though, he knew it would not happen. Shades had no need for sleep.

The words his master had said before he left him to suffer alone replayed in his mind. "When'll ya stop bein' so stubborn love? Ya aughtta know better by now. Such a disappointment." The words kept repeating and he wanted to cry, but if Tamos saw he'd probably be in more trouble. Of course, he did not blame his master. It was his fault, he should have been at that battle. He knew it was selfish to run away like he had, he deserved every bit of his master's anger.

A caw sounded from somewhere in the room, and he could hear he flapping of many wings, followed by more cawing. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt something cool and wet on his forehead. Bringing his hand up slowly and wincing at the sharp jolt that flew through his body, he pressed down on the wet rag. Standing by his head was a monstrous looking crow, with a single, reptilian eye and a long, scaly, rat-like tail. He smiled up at the strange bird. " 'Ey bro...wassup? How'd the battle thing go?" He asked.

There was a chorus of caws from the other crow demons around him and he felt his head spinning. "C'mon, one at a time guys. I can't understand ya when ya'll talk at once." Kiryl heard the ruffling of feathers as some of them shifted in the darkness. The one by his head cawed again. And he felt a sinking feeling in his chest. "Oh...who...who was it?" He asked, dreading the answer. A different bird cawed from across the room. Once it registered, he had to fight back the tears again.

"...Sh-shia...she didn't...no..." He tried not to cry, he really did. The tears just started falling and when he tried to stop them, they only came harder and harder. It hurt so much the crying only increasing the pain in his body, particularly his chest, and he faintly wondered if his ribs were broken. He was sobbing uncontrollably and he knew he should stop, but how could he not? Shia was the mother crow, who welcomed him to her clan when he was first created. Shia protected him from the other clans and helped him adjust to his knew life. Shia was a good woman, she did not deserve to die.

Choking back another sob, he said, "I-I'm so...so s-s-sor-ry...I'm sorry...I...I should have been there...I should've...It shoulda been me...I'm sorry...I was scared...I-I jus' don't like the fightin'...I..." A chorus of crows resounded, only they were softer this time, and he could feel the breeze made when they all fluttered to sit by his side. They all cawed or cooed softly, trying to reassure their distraught brother. Kiryl closed his eyes again, giving up on trying to stop crying. It was not working so what was the point. The monstrous birds nuzzled him if they could, and kept cooing at him until he had finished crying.

He had finally relaxed when he heard the door open, but he didn't even try to move, he was far too tired. He heard the disapproving grunt and the familiar footsteps approaching. He simply stayed still and kept his eyes shut. Much to his relief, they passed by and he did not have to worry about seeing his master just yet. He was not ready to face what ever else the other might have in store for him if he was still angry and he definitely did not want to deal with his lord's 'affections'. He swore the man was extremely bipolar, after all, no one could flip through emotions like that, right?

He would rather not dwell on those thoughts, he never did. It was too much to consider that he might be pretending, acting like he was unstable to get what he wanted. But no. He knew his lord was a decent man, Tamlyr and Niya said so. It had to be true, why would they lie about it when they knew him best? Kiryl knew he would never, and he was sure they would never either.

He stopped himself there, not wanting to think about that anymore. Instead he turned to the crow that brought him the rag, saying, "Brith, ya know that book a mine? The one mi' lord gave me?" the crow nodded and he continued, "Well, in the back there's a note fer doll, can ya please take it to 'im? It's important." Nodding again, the crow fluttered to find the book. Kiryl heard the sound of a page getting ripped out and added, "Whatever happens, don't get caught." With one last nod, the crow flew away, leaving Kiryl in the dark room, surrounded by his clansmen.

7: Chapter 7

"What was that?"

The question was from Sif, who had stopped her horse and was looking around the area. Noticing this, Thor stopped as well. The boys looked as well, but neither saw anything. They looked to her curiously for an answer, but she only shrugged. Something was out there and they just couldn't see it. If it was a shadow, they would be in trouble soon. The sun was setting quickly and they were no where near Asgard's famous wall. They could see it, but they were still a way away from it. At the moment, they were surrounded by large fields of wheat. No one was around, all having gone to settle in for the night.

"What do you see Sif?" Loki asked anxiously, glancing around the area again. A cold wind picked up and he shivered, tugging the hood of his cloak over his head. Sif rubbed her arm lightly and tried to ignore the chill as she met his eyes.

"Nothing, though I thought I heard something."

Thor spoke up then saying, "Let us hope it is nothing more than a few stray dogs. We have more important things to worry about now." He nodded towards the sunset and flicked the reigns, his horse trotting forward again. Sif followed suit and they continued on their way in silence. Everyone of them straining their sense to see or hear something in the approaching darkness. The only sound they could hear though, was the clopping of the horses hooves against the ground.

Another breeze went by, blasting the three with cold air. Loki leaned against Thor's back and wrapped his arms around the larger man. Shivering violently, he said, "Why's it so cold? It's still mid-summer. It's not supposed to be this cold." He sighed, and hid his face as the wind picked up again. "How long til we get back?"

"It will be dark before we return." Sif sighed, shaking her head. "So perhaps we should find somewhere to stay the night? I highly doubt anyone would simply turn us away." She looked to the boys, receiving a nod of agreement from Thor and nothing from Loki. "Loki?" This time he hummed at her.

"Should we find somewhere to stay?" Loki suggested, though it was a bit muffled. "I highly doubt that anyone would turn Thor away."

Sif rolled her eyes and said, "Most likely they will make you sleep outside. Perhaps in a barn." Loki shrugged.

"It's happened before, like in winter. Caves get too cold then so I sleep in barns or stables if I'm hiding from the guards." For a moment no one said anything. Sif was simply staring at him.

"People make you sleep outside? In winter?"

"They don't want me causing trouble."

"Well tha-" She didn't get to finish because Thor interrupted.

"Ah! Look! I see someone!" Thor exclaimed, pointing at a figure on horseback ahead of them. Loki peeked over his shoulder just as the stranger noticed them. They stared and waved at them, beckoning them over. "Who do you think that is?" Thor asked as they rode over, taking their time in case he was not friendly.

"...It looks like...Sven?" Loki said, squinting at the man. "He's probably out looking for me. I don't think he lives far from here, so maybe he'll let us stay the night?"

They nodded in agreement, but Thor asked, "Are you sure?" Loki leaned a little farther forward to see if he could see better.

"I can see you Loki!" The figured called out. "Do not try to hide!" Loki laughed nervously and ducked behind Thor.

"Yeah...that's Sven." Sif tilted her head in surprise.

Turning to Loki she asked, "Can he truly see you from that far?" She received a nod from him.

Sven rode up to them, the usual bored look on his face. He let out a sigh and shook his head, light brown hair falling in his eyes before leveling a glare at the trio. It was so strange to see the man without his helmet on, or his other armor for that matter. All he carried on his person was a sword and dagger. He wore a simple, brown shirt with a leather vest over top of it. "Has he been with you two this whole time?"

"Yes." Thor stated with a nod, shifting uneasily. To his surprise the man let out a relieved sigh.

"Good, good." He said. Smiling slightly, he looked at Loki. "I was worried. You did not look well when I last saw you. I thought you wouldn't try to escape so soon after waking. You looked rather ill then...though you look much better now."

"...Thanks?" Loki said, though it sounded more like a question. "Uh...can we stay at your place tonight? It's getting dark and it's really cold." Sven looked between the three of them and nodded.

"This way, though we should hurry. Wolves tend to come out around now and though we may be able to handle them, we may be trampled by our horses first." He flicked the reigns and the horse trotted on, the others following quickly.

By the time they reached the small cottage, it was dark. They were still a ways away from reaching the city, but at least they had a place to stay for the night. They stopped and got off of their horses, Sven taking the reigns of their rides and nodding towards the door. "Go on in. Dagny is there with Refr and Heidi. I will be in shortly."

"Thank you..." Loki muttered. Sven glanced at him curiously, but he didn't notice since he was already heading inside. When the door shut behind him Sven turned to Thor and Sif.

"Has he been well? Last I saw of him, he seemed rather ill and confused. He had a terrible nightmare and could not recognize me or his cell at first." Sven questioned them, his worry for their friend obvious. Neither was sure what to say though, but if they did not respond, he would only be more anxious.

Thor sighed and said, "I found him the night he escaped, stumbling through the halls as if drunk and clutching at his head. Though he was lethargic for the next day he was recovering quickly. I think he will be fine for now."

"He does not seem to want to eat anything, though that may be because he still does not feel well." Sif added. Both were hoping he would accept their answers and leave it be. Thankfully, he nodded, though he did seem a little skeptical. They waited for him to turn around before going into the house.

The first thing that they noticed was that Loki was no where around. Only a young woman with dark brown hair and eyes to match was near the entrance. She sat in a chair by the open fire pit in the floor, sharpening a large blade in her lap. There was a small pile of other knives and daggers in a basket, sitting on top of a pile of clothes.

It did not seem like she noticed them and Sif took the opportunity to observe them. She was obviously strong, with well defined features, but still looked a little chubby. The dress she wore was shorter than what most women in the city wore, only coming down to her knees and her long hair was braided.

She looked up at them and smiled. "Hello! You must be Loki's friends! He is upstairs with Refr right now, so go on! We already ate, but if you are hungry, feel free to help yourselves." She told them, waving to the stairs farther back.

"Thank you lady Dagny." Thor said, walking past her to the stairs. Sif followed behind him peering through a couple of doorways to try and learn the house's layout. Just as they started climbing the stairs, Dagny called out to them.

"Did my Sven take your horses?"

"Yes...He did." Sif stated with a nod. "Why do you ask? Is there some kind of problem with that?"

"Ah, no. I was only wondering why he has yet to come in. Our stables are rather small, as we only have two horses, but I suppose it will be fine. It is only for tonight." She said, although the last bit seemed more to herself. Then she turned back to her work.

"Thor...you go on up. I want to talk to her for a little." Sif said. At first Thor looked confused, but then he nodded. She knew he knew what she was up to. They never even knew about these people before. Not this time or the last.

All they knew was Sven was close to Loki. Usually being the one to find him when he escaped from prison and always the one to take him back to the cell. They hadn't known he knew the man's family too.

"Alright." He said, continuing his climb. The warrior girl turned around and went back down stairs. She sat herself on the floor beside the woman's chair. Surprised, Dagny looked down at her.

"Oh...did you need something?" Sif shook her head.

"I was simply wondering how you knew Loki is all." She stated. The woman laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "What?"

"Ah...nothing, nothing. You looked so serious, even though it is such a simple question." Her giggles subsided and she sighed. "I've known him about as long as I've known Sven. When we married, I saw him more often. He would seek us out if he needed a place to stay, though it took him a while to understand we would not make him sleep in the stables."

"I know how people see him, but I never understood how they could say such cruel things without knowing him. I've seen people walk by him whilst he lay injured on the road once. I still have no idea how that happened." Dagny grit her teeth, fist clenched tightly around the hilt of the sharpened blade as she set it aside.

Sif stared at her for a moment, then said, "I've known people tend to dislike him for his tricks, but that seems a bit excessive."

The woman picked up a new blade and ran a finger along the edge before she started sharpening it. "You did not seem to think it to excessive when they sewed his mouth shut over a misunderstanding."

"...W-wha...I...He started it! There was no reason for him to cut my hair of like that." Sif exclaimed, tripping over her words. "And he should not have tricked those dwarves like he did. He should have played them as he was told to."

Tilting her head, Dagny glanced at the younger girl. "How does one pay for something when they have no money?" She asked and focused on her work again. "Loki came to us late that same night, begging for money. We gave what we could, and I've never asked where he found the rest. I am not sure if it wasn't enough or if the dwarves had lied, but I would trust him over a dwarf."

"They had no reason to lie though." Sif stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Perhaps they thought the could win some favor in the court if they made Loki the villain. The other realms are well aware of his reputation." The woman placed the finished blade down and went for another. Sif held one up and she took it. "Personally, I believe they were being greedy. They were paid, but you know how everyone says dwarves love their gold and jewels."

Sif nodded. "Still it could have been worse. They did want to kill him you know." Dagny hummed, but she could not tell if it was in agreement or not.

"I suppose. But then, who remembered Loki after his punishment? He disappeared for almost a month before Sven and his friends who guard the dungeons found him. He was starving to death when they did, you know."

"I did not know." The girl stated, obviously surprised by that fact.

"Now you do." She said. "I was the one to care for him until he recovered. I thought he would be angry at everyone, but he just let it go. It was rather surprising, since he tends to repay those who do him harm." Sif did not miss the glare sent her way, but said nothing.

"When I asked he said he should have known better. Rambled on about next time he'd be more careful. There was a time when he seemed to be delirious and he had said something about changing fate? He asked me what I would do if I knew my life would end unfavorably after years of suffering."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I would do my best to stop it. Even if it made no difference, perhaps I could prolong the inevitable. But he was not even aware of anything at the time, so I never thought much of it."

Sif sat uncomfortably, before picking up a blade. Pulling an extra sharpening stone out of the basket, she began scrapping it along the blades edge. She had a lot to think over. Dagny had been wrong in saying no one seemed to remember him. Asgard was well aware of Loki's habit of revenge and many had been fearful that it would be the most destructive yet. But it never came, and they had been able to relax.

Thor had been the one of her friends to suggest a search party, but in the end, they had decided to let him return on his own. It was more convenient that way. Loki always came back, so why look for him?

Now though, she was regretting that decision. He could have died and they just ignored his disappearance. She did not want to think of what would have happened to him if those guards had not found him then. She was glad though, that there was a simple trial for his escape than a funeral.

It was easy to find Loki, all he had to do was follow the sound of the voices. Loki was sitting on a small bed with two children on each side. One was a girl with light brown hair and grey eyes. The other was a boy about the same age, though his hair was darker and shorter than his sister's. His eyes were a warm brown color. Both him and his sister had a similar doe-eyed look to the trickster between them.

He cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him. Right away, the kids moved in front of Loki and stared at him. "It's fine. That's just Thor. He's a...friend." Loki told them. The two looked between the older boys and settled down. "Well? Introduce yourselves! I won't always be around to do it for you."

"...I'm Refr." The boy said, pointing to himself.

"And...I'm Heidi." The girl added, grabbing Loki's arm.

"I am Thor."

Loki nodded to them and said. "Alright, now you have to go to bed like you promised." He told them. Right away they started to beg, but the trickster shushed them and added, "Don't make me go get your mother. I'm sure she doesn't even know you're still up. I wonder if she'll be mad..." He trailed off, pretending he did not see the horror, and stood up.

"Wah! But you said-"

"You can't do that!"

"Why you so mean?!"

"We jus wanna stay up like Loki."

"And you said you would go to sleep if I told you a story. And I did. Now go to bed before your mother comes up." The children groaned but complied. Refr hopped off of the bed while his sister settled in the other. Thor watched curiously from the doorway as Loki tucked in Heidi and helped Refr climb into his bed. The boy stubbornly refused to be tucked in like his sister though, so Loki let him be.

As he walked to the door Refr called after him. "Play tomorrow?" Loki nodded.

"Until we have to leave." He said. There were two quiet 'yays' before they let him leave. He slipped around Thor, who followed him through the upper level to another room on the opposite end of the house. It was by far the smallest room Thor had seen by far. In fact it looked like the room used to be for storage, but there was a bed in one corner, a desk in another corner, and shelves hung on all of the walls. It was incredibly small and cramped.

For a moment, he was confused, but then he realized what it was for. "...Is this your room, Loki?" He only received a nod as Loki lit up an oil lamp on the desk. With the light, one could see how small it actually was.

The bed was only big enough for one person, probably to save space. There was barely any room between it and either wall. The desk chair was in the way too, one could easily trip over it. Everything just looked so small to him, like it was made for someone much younger than the trickster. He reminded himself that it probably was. He had no idea how long Loki had known this family, it could have been made when he was much younger.

"If you want, you can have the bed. I think you an Sif could both fit if you lay on your side..." He offered.

"But where will you sleep?" Thor asked. Loki only shrugged.

"On the floor? Not sure. Maybe I'll go sleep by the fire pit."

"There is no need for that." Loki jumped, tripping over the chair and slamming into someone. He had expected Thor, but instead he saw Sven smirking down at him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. As I said, you needn't sleep on the floor tonight. We added a new room so if you want, you may stay there tonight." Sven told him, helping him stead himself again. Loki muttered a thank you and stepped back.

"If it's bigger, let them have it." He said, nodding to Thor. Sven' s gaze flickered between the two for a moment before he nodded. He turned away and beckoned for Thor to follow.

"I will fetch the lady once you've settled in." The man stated, leading the way to the other room. Once they were gone, Loki settled into his bed, sighing. He could hear someone go downstairs and two people come up. A few minutes later, one more person came up and they split up to their rooms. He kicked off his boots and pulled the covers up to his shoulders.

He closed his eyes and began to drift off when he heard the ruffle of feathers and felt the air shift as something landed near his head. The fear started rising and he was tempted to play dead, but he shoved those thoughts aside and opened his eyes.

Right in front of him was a monstrous crow, but what caught his attention was the white paper in its mouth. Carefully, he reached out and grabbed it. Once he touched it, the bird let go and flew away. Now curious, he sat up, leaning closer to the lamp' s light. It was a hastily scrawled message, and there were a few red smudges on it.

The message read:

Doll,

I know ya don' trust me, but ya gotta. Ya don' know e'erythin'.

He's comin'. 3 days.

Be careful, he's got no limits now.

I'm sorry, so sorry!

I can't be the bad guy no more.

But...I don' wanna die...

Try not ta die either, kay?

Kiryl

Turning the page over in case there was more, Loki could feel the panic rising. Tamos would be there in three days. What was he planning? What would he do? 'What can I do?!' He thought. He stared at the back of the page, feeling his stomach twisting in knots. The back was stained in blood and watermarks, tears, he realized.

Written over and over in an increasingly frantic scribble were the words, HELP ME.

He crumpled the paper up and threw it across the small room, watching it fall between the desk and the wall. He sat upright and backed up against the wall. He brought his legs to his chest, huddling into a ball.

There was an overwhelming guilt as it sunk in that Kiryl was not the enemy. He was a shade, yeah, but he did not want to fight. All the times Kiryl had lashed out at him flashed through his mind. The Midgardians had said once that people who hurt and don't know how to deal with it safely would lash out. It was like a cry for help. And he had been ignoring it for so long.

Kiryl had been so friendly when they first met. It wasn't really an act like he had thought, was it? The shade lived with that monster. If Tamos could be so cruel to strangers, how cruel could he be to his subordinates? Did he threaten Kiryl? Hit him? Torture even? He wouldn't put it past the man.

The thoughts swirling around in his head made him dizzy, made his head hurt and stomach twist painfully. He uncurled quickly and leaned over the foot of the bed, retching loudly. It felt like he was coughing up his insides, but nothing came up. He hadn't eaten anything in a while so there was nothing to throw up.

Once it stopped, he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and layed back down, hoping it would help settle his stomach. He was glad no one seemed to hear him, but at the same time, he wanted some one to comfort him. It took forever to fall asleep again, but when he finally did, it was restless.

8: Chapter 8

"Things seem to be escalating rather quickly, right love?" The words drifted down from the shadowed throne, making the young shade flinch. Still he did his best not to bolt, instead standing straight and nodding his agreement. The man seated on the throne did not seem to like the silence at all, though he spoke gently. " s' aight love. I'm not mad no more. Talk to me, I wanna hear the cute little voice a yours."

Kiryl hesitated, shaking his head. Sure the man was calm now, but his temper could flare at any minute. So he kept his hands clenched tightly together behind his back and stared anxiously up at his Lord. The man was surrounded by the shadows that flitted around the throne, obscuring his image.

Still, he was sure the man was leaning against the arm of the throne, hand propping his head up and legs dangling over the other arm. It was his usual position and Kiryl liked it better than when he sat upright. Less serious. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the man sigh. Staring up at the shadows, he heard the man shift and the quiet clicking of claws against stone. The shadows receded with a wave of his hand and he huffed, putting one hand on his hip.

Instinctively, Kiryl took a step back, toying with the end of his shirt. He did not take his eyes off of the other though. The man was quite the odd sight, his skin as black as the shade's own. He had red warpaint around his eyes and a gold cloak pulled over his white hair and buttoned around sky blue horns. The cloak was tattered and stained, hiding the red dragonfly wings underneath. His legs looked like the legs of a wolf and had claws just as sharp as his nails. He wore a skin tight body suit the color of his skin, aside from the curved blue lines running down his legs and the yellow, eight pointed star on his chest.

In one word; ridiculous. Of course he would never say that to his lord's face though, he liked his life enough to not want to die. Kiryl flinched when a clawed hand pet his head, backing away quickly. Realizing what he did, he hurried to apologize. "S-s-sorry! 'm sorry...lord Tamos...Don't..."

Tamos waved his hand dismissively, as if nothing had happened. "It's cool, love. I don't mind a bit, 'specially since I get ta see that look on your cute little face." He stated, leaning forward as he added, "Terror suits you. Now..." He gestured for the shade to come closer. "Come." Kiryl hesitated, how could he not? But the second he saw the fanged smile falter, he did as he was told. Everything would be fine if obeyed. He would be able to leave sooner.

He walked up to the man, barely coming up to his shoulders when he stood right in front of him, eyes fixed on the ground. A hand roughly jerked his face up and the next thing he knew, he was staring into a pair of bright yellow eyes, a bit sunken, but not obvious from a distance. "Up here Kai." He growled, "I want you to stop this right now. We are headin' out now and I ain't gonna deal with this kinda attitude. I know I can't stop ya from doin' somethin' stupid, but if you behave well enough...well...I guess I won't hafta be so rough with the next punishment. We all know it'll happen anyhow, so ain't no point lyin' to ya. Try ta listen. Understood?"

When Kiryl did not respond right away, Tamos tightened his grip. "Understood?" Scared, Kiryl nodded as best he could. The man loosened his grip and changed from the harsh actions to, almost gently, holding his face. "A'ight then...but I expect you to keep yer word this time. Even if it's fun ta see you all tied up~...I'd rather not hafta hurt you again. You ready?" The small shade nodded apprehensively. "Good. Then let's go." Kiryl squeezed his eyes shut when the taller man softly kissed his forehead, it felt wrong, almost mocking. The next thing he knew, they were engulfed in the darkness.

Loki shot up, hands clamped over his mouth to silence a scream. His hands shook uncontrollably as he lowered them, one hand on his chest and the other on his stomach. He took deep, shaky, breaths to try and calm down, eyes fixed on the wall across from him. Over and over he told himself that he was fine. It was a dream. He was alive, in one piece, safe in Sven' s home and not dying on the dirty ground in some other world. "Right, right...it's alright."

Sighing, he laid back down and closed his eyes. Loki was not sure how long he laid there, but eventually he heard someone else getting up. The first person up was either Sven or Dagny, though he would guess it was Dagny. She was always an early riser. Surprisingly, it was Sven. The other man stood in he doorway, staring at him and he found he could only stare back. If he hadn't been so used to the older man's quirks, he might have been a little uncomfortable. He had seen men bigger and stronger than himself shy away from the guard's emotionless stare.

As quietly as he could, Sven slid the chair up to the foot of the bed and sat down. He didn't say anything, of course he didn't though. The guard usually never said more than was necessary to say, one of many reasons why he was disliked. As far as Loki knew, only his family and the other usual guards in the dungeons knew how he really was. He watched Sven struggle for words, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to form words.

Sven sighed and hid his face in his hands. Loki waited patiently, knowing that Sven was always a little slow when he had just woken up. Finally the man looked up, saying, "No...never mind. I thought perhaps you were the one who made that noise outside, as you have done before. Perhaps it was an animal."

For a moment Loki was quiet, taking a moment to understand. "...A noise? Animal? I...I didn't hear anything..."

"Hn...yes, it was a quiet scratching sound below the window." He stated, shrugging. " 'Twas probably a wolf...perhaps I should go and get rid of it. It would not be good if it spooked the horses or ate our chickens." The last part was muttered more to himself as he stood up and turned to leave, but it frightened Loki nonetheless. As he watched Sven push the chair back to it's place and, just before he could leave, he was stopped by Loki's hand catching the edge of his shirt. Sighing again, he turned around, expression turning from it usual bored look to one of worry.

Loki had turned unusually pale and he was shaking. His breaths coming in quiet gasps as he tried to maintain some form of self control. One hand clung to the edge of the bed so tightly that his knuckles turned white and the other one held onto his shirt tightly. He looked absolutely terrified of something. "Loki...what is the matter? You look as though you might be ill..." The trickster only shook his head. "Please tell me, what is wrong?" Again his only response was to shake his head and stare with wide eyes.

Sven pried Loki's hand from his shirt, but the trickster only latched onto his hand instead. It made him a bit nervous to see such odd behavior. Not to mention how...cold his hands were, pale too, and still shaking, but his face flushed as he tried to regain control. "Loki...let go." He demanded, but only received a quiet whine. Staring in confusion, Sven tried to think about what was wrong with the boy. "...oh, I see...is this one of your panic attacks?" He watched the boy nod slowly, almost fearfully. "...I suppose it would be fine to let it go...I know those birds can fend for themselves..."

Loki sighed in relief, though he was not sure it was a real panic attack. He was just scared. He was sure that the sound was caused by one of Tamos' shades. If Sven went out there, he would...he...might be...killed. It was a thought he hated, but it happened many times before and he could not bare letting Sven down like that. 'It would be wrong. He's done more for me than anyone else...' Loki clambered backwards as Sven climbed onto the bed, giving him room to sit. The man knelt on the bed, using one hand for support while he reached out with the other, keeping it where the trickster could see.

"Is it alright if I touch you?" Sven asked, voice softer than before. Hesitantly Loki nodded, sitting stiffly as Sven rested a hand on his shoulder. Slowly the man pulled him closer, gently wrapping his arms around the boy who flinched at his touch. "No need to fear me...I will not harm you." He stayed still, waiting patiently for Loki to calm himself. It took a few moments but eventually the trickster relaxed and leaned in, breathing calmly again yet still shivering. Sven knew Loki would not talk so he began to talk for him.

"I recall when you were little. Always at my heels after you wandered up to the palace. Mother thought it was the cutest thing she had ever seen, to this day she will not let me live it down." Glancing down he made sure the other was calm before he continued. "But then, you had disappeared. I searched everywhere for you, but you were nowhere to be found. Then one day, Heimdallr left and came back with you. You never said much about what happened while you were gone, but you kept talking about a man named Trigg..."

Shifting a little, Loki sighed. "uh-huh..."

"Tired again?"

"Hmm..." The trickster muttered, "...if I sleep, you'll go outside..."

"Why do you not want me to go outside?" Sven asked, "You have been quite adamant about it since I told you."

"...Well, what if there's more than one wolf? Don't they travel in packs? What if there's too many?!" He panicked, trying to convince the man to stay put. He was sure that the 'wolves' were part of Tamos' army. If so...they knew he knew Sven. They would kill him.

Sven looked thoughtful for a moment, then pushed the boy away from him. He kept his hands on his shoulder though. "I will make you a deal. I will stay inside if you will lay back and try to sleep again. I will stay in that chair until you fall asleep." And Loki thought about it. Sven might just leave when he was asleep, but then again, he was a man of his word. Besides, he was still tired.

"...deal." He said simply, waiting for Sven to climb off of the bed and pull up the chair. Once the man was settled, he laid back again and curled into a ball. Sven crossed his arms and rested his head, but Loki knew he would not sleep. Not until he did. There was a reason why Sven rarely was assigned anything other than guard shifts. He knew how to see without looking.

He was not sure how long he laid there, but just as he was dozing off, he heard it. Something scratching the side of the house just below his small window. Slowly he pushed himself up, glancing at Sven. He had fallen asleep on the chair and his fingers twitched a little. Loki climbed off of the bed and crept around the sleeping man as quietly as he could. Once he was out in the hall, he hurried down the stairs and to the door, only stopping to pull the dagger out of his boot.

The first thing he noticed as the door creaked open was that it was dawn. The sun's light slowly lit up the world and he could a few birds around. It was too peaceful though, too still, and far too cold. He crept along the house until he reached the area beneath his room. Nothing to show something had been there, except for the long gauges on the wall and the ground. The marks were far too big to belong to the normal wolves that attacked them, and he knew those marks. "...F-Fenris...?" he muttered under his breath, staring in disbelief. "...no...no he's...he's on our side...unless Tamos did something to him."

Spinning around, he surveyed the field behind him. He expected the massive wolf to leap from the tall grasses and attack with his razor sharp claws and fangs. Pressing his back to the house, he made his way over to under Sven's window. There were marks there too, but less than under his. It was frightening to think that he may have to fight the wolf he had come to adore many times over, and more so at the thought of those claws ripping through his friends like cloth.

He was snapped from the thoughts when he heard someone coming up behind him. Tightening his grip on the dagger, he was spun around and slashed it at them, fully intent on killing them. The person caught his wrist though, and he glanced up, seeing Sven's face staring blankly down at him. All he could do was stare in shock as the blade was pried from his fingers and he was pulled closer in a hug. '...What...? But I almost killed him. I...almost killed...Sven.' Loki blinked when he realized that he really had almost murder the man. The one person who took care of him.

Loki attempted to shove the man away, but he only squeezed him tighter. "Never do this again." Sven stated, speaking in an even tone. It was obviously a command and it only made the trickster feel more guilty about what he had almost done.

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...I thought-" Loki started, but Sven went on as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"What if it had still been out here? You could have died Loki. Do not be so stupid next time and wake me first."

"...huh? You...you're not mad that I almost..." The trickster trailed off and glanced down at his boots as Sven let go of him, both hands still holding Loki in place.

Sven shook him slightly and Loki looked up, meeting his eyes. "I cannot blame you. It is obvious that some kind of monster has passed through, and attempted to get inside. You were only defending yourself. There is no need to blame yourself, I know you only do it because so many others do. It is unhealthy and self destructive, and you must learn to stop. I believe we have had this discussion before. I am wrong in not announcing myself to you first."

"Right, sorry. I understand."

Slinging an arm around Loki's shoulder, the older man led him around the cottage to the nearest entrance. Once inside, he had the trickster sit at a small table and took a seat across from him. "Dagny was just waking up when I came outside, so she should be down soon. Once she finishes making whatever she has planned for you and your friends I will go wake the others. Afterwards I will escort you all back to the city."

Loki nodded, and Sven set his dagger on the table, sliding it across to him. The man stretched his arms up and blinked, crossing them behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. "I truly hope that whatever it is that is bothering you so much is resolved soon. I want to see my happy trickster brother back."

He glanced at the man and mutter to himself, "I do too..."