Sparkles of Light and Darkness
“Who’s your friend?”
Thor’s voice echoed in Loki’s ears.
Groaning, the black-haired man forced the called friend away from his body, grasping for air and stood up. The birds chirping around them made him come to senses, knowing that he was not in New York anymore.
A female’s whimper made his head turn to the girl lying next to his shoes, long golden locks splattered around the grass, some on her face, hiding her red lips. Maeve. Loki furrowed his eyebrows. It was only then that he could notice that she was wearing a white flowy dress with imprints of different sized cherries, making her look much younger than he anticipated, almost child-like. She spat the hair out of her mouth as she sat up.
So graceful…thought Loki, smirking at the scene.
“I could ask the same to you, brother.” Loki turned away from the girl. “I’ve been thrown into mortal’s zoo and apparently won a pet.” His spat word by word, his lips emphasizing the ‘p’ in ‘pet’. “So, I think I am the one who’s in the rightful place to ask, who is yourfriend.”
Thor gazed behind Loki. “Our Father must be here.”
Loki opened his mouth to talk, but was quickly interrupted by a familiar but still new voice. “Um… excuse me…”
Both brothers looked down at Maeve, who was still on her sitting position on the grass, messy hair and dress risen, showing a bit of skin above her knees.
“I… uh…. Where am I?” her voice was quiet, but firm. “I don’t understand what-“
It was Loki’s turn to interrupt, his voice carrying his annoyance. “Neither do I, Lady Maeve. But we never actually do get a clean reality now, do we?”
Thor sticked his hand out to her, which she hesitantly accepted, allowing him to help her up.
“Excuse my brother.” His deep voice entered her ears, making her look up at him. “My name is Thor Odinson.” She watched as he bent down as he kissed the palm of her small hand. “And the grumpy old man is my brother Loki.” Maeve didn’t hesitate to replace her gaze on Thor to Loki’s face, instantly admiring his features. She was so confused.
“I’m sorry, I must be dreaming.” She chuckled, releasing her hand from Thor’s grasp, and nervously wiping it on her dress.
“Probably” Loki spoke “probably not” he looked around. “We just have to find a way to return you to you owner.”
Maeve made an unpleasant face, not liking the way Loki spoke to her. “I seriously must be dreaming. You’re not real. You’re mad”
Loki smirked. “Then you must be mad as well, if your mind is capable of dreaming of someone like me.”
She didn’t know how to reply. Maybe he was right. Nothing made sense. She hadn’t slept well that night, nightmares taking over her head just as usual. She had tossed around in her bed in hope that her mind allowed her to rest. But as the time passed and she remained awoke, the sound of the morning New York traffic distracted her even more. Not even a book could make her eyes want to close. Maeve had decided to go to the coffee shop in order to get some coffee, since she knew she could not go through the day with a pounding head and a tired face. She was now purely convinced that she had fallen asleep on the table at the café and all the this was a dream. The robbery, the guns, Loki… Her heart started pounding on her chest. A dream. If that was the case, she must still be in the café at that moment, sleeping. A brief chill of hope ran through her body. She just had to wake up.
“Here is what we are going to do.” Thor spoke, breaking whatever spell she was under. “We are going to find our father and then we will take you back to wherever you want to go.”
Maeve tried to pinch her own skin in an attempt to wake up. This action made Loki snort and an involuntary blush climbed in through her features. Clearly if this was a dream, she was not ready to wake up, which meant that she had to accept whatever weird adventure this was.
However, not waiting for a response from her, Thor and Loki proceed to walking, making her snap to her senses, and run to catch up with them. Reality or not, she was not comfortable to be left alone. They wandered in silence, making Maeve question what exactly they were looking for. She recalled Thor mention their father, but as she looked around at their surroundings, she still didn’t know what to make of this chaotic dream.
A strange sight made her stop in her tracks. A white-haired man stood with his back to them, staring into the unknown of the blue sky. He seemed to be glowing in light and curiosity blossomed in her chest. The brothers did not miss the same gaze, knowing very well that was the man they were looking for.
And suddenly Loki was a bundle of anxiety, stopping in the middle of the forest, feeling the grass slide under his shoes. His father. He didn’t know what to say or even think. The last encounters with the man hadn’t been exactly pleasant. The look of his Father on his judgement day flashed through his eyes, and it was like he could physically feel the metal of the chains that surrounded his body. He was not sure whether it was him carrying the chains or the other way around. A pain crossed his chest, regret flashing him a smirk.
Thor was the first one to approach Odin, joining him in the abyss. Loki observed.
“Look at this place.” His voice was quiet and calm, making the sound of the waves crashing seem like a lullaby. Loki took a deep breath. “Father, it’s us.” Loki heard the pain in Thor’s voice.
Feeling himself under the curious stare of Maeve, he decided to walk up to the two men he was called family.
“My sons.” The words made Loki finally look at Odin’s face, his heart getting smaller. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I know” Thor replied while Loki remained silent. “And we’ve come to take you home.”
Odin smiled briefly. “Home, yes. Your mother” Loki’s chest was starting to ache. “She calls me.”
At this, Thor squinted his eyes at the other God. “Loki, lift your magic.”
Loki shook his head at his demand. It wasn’t him. Odin chuckled.
“Took me quite a while to break free from your spell. Frigga would’ve been proud.” A silence. “Come sit with him, I don’t have much time.”
Odin turned back, walking to a rock. His sons followed him carefully, like they were afraid that a small wrong step would break him. Thor held out his hand to help Odin sit, while Loki refrained himself.
“I know we failed you, but we can make this right.” Thor spoke almost in a whisper.
“No” Odin replied “I failed you. It is upon us. The end of the Universe as we know it. Asgard will fall.”
“What do you mean, Father? No, we will protect Asgard, together. We can do it together.” Thor’s desperate words made Loki uncomfortable.
Odin shook his head. “No we won’t. I’m on a different path now. This you must face alone.” The wind whispered in their ears. “I love you, my sons.”
Loki’s heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth to talk, but something held him back. Odin raised a finger, pointing at the sky. Thor and Loki followed his indication, eyes landing on the endless blue sky. Another abyss.
“Remember this place. Home.”
As they stared at the sky, small sparkles lit it up, making their way up to join the clouds, leaving the two brothers alone. They stood there in silence, watching the light disappear with the wind and into thin air. They remained silent. The waves were calm.
And then, Thor’s next words cut him like a million swords. “This is all your fault!”
Loki swallowed. “Thor- I-“
But Thor was quick to interrupt, anger breaking through his voice. “First, Mother. Now Father. And then Asgard?” he approached Loki step by step, making the younger God step back with him. He lifted his hands in defense, attempting to show his brother that he was not going to turn against him as well.
“Who do you think you are?” Thor questioned.
Loki didn’t respond at first, letting the silence creep through their ears. Suddenly the waves were no longer calming, but carried anger with them, screaming with each crash against the shore. Loki looked back, realizing he was walking towards the abyss, where he would fall straight into the ocean’s mouth.
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Thor’s voice came in a load cracking roar, and he instantly rose his arm to sky, opening his hand. Loki feared his brother for the first time, watching as the veins in Thor’s arm popped out of his skin, threatening to break out. The sound of metal echoed in space, and Thor’s hammer flew with determination to his owner’s hand.
“Thor, please, I-“ No matter how Loki pleaded, he knew his brother too well, not surprised when the heavy metal came flying in his direction. Loki jumped to the side, his body glowing as his green and gold armored wrapped itself around him. Thor did not hesitate in throwing his hammer at Loki one more time, just for it to be avoided.
“Come on, brother, lets talk this through.” Loki tried, green light flashing in his hands as he prepared to defend himself. Thor ran to him, ignoring his attempts.
Maeve watched as the two brothers fought, dangerously amazed by the magic show that was being thrown in front of her eyes. It almost seemed beautiful, the way their bodies moved, the way their skin turned red in anger, the way flashes of light gleamed in the gray sky, every time Thor’s hammer collided with Loki’s magic hands.
“Thor! Stop!” Loki screamed, defending himself from another hit of the hammer, starting to feel weaker. “This is madness!”
At his words, Thor groaned and threw the hammer to ground, making thunder flash in the air. The waves got more and more furious, now able to fly up the abyss and crash in the surface, splashing the grass they stepped.
“Madness is thinking the world of you!” Thor exclaimed “Madness is trusting you even after you make hell break lose! You only know how to cause pain! Thant’s what you do, you make people’s life miserable, you enjoy hurting people, I see it in your eyes. You enjoy making people suffer!” Loki blinked at the God of Thunder’s words, body feeling number each second that passed. Falling in the waves didn’t seem so bad after all.
“You know what, Loki?”
Loki stared.
“You really are a monster! A monster that should be banned from all the nine realms!”
With this scream, Thor hit his hammer hard on the ground, making everything go suddenly quiet. Loki heard a faint female scream, but his ears appeared to be blocking any sound. He felt the ground beneath him escape his feet, his body floating in the air. And just like that, he was thrown into the unknown.