There is still war
Thor growled, his face just inches away from Laufey’s as they faced, their weapons scraping against each other. The sound was a screeching scream in the middle of their fight and they both used as much strength as they could to find a chance to annihilate the other.
Laufey had his teeth grit as he pushed against the silly prince, but since Thor was already on his back lying on the ocean floor he had nowhere to go. He increased his power, propelling him lower so he could slice Thor's neck from his shoulders and savour in the blood that would pour out.
Thor winced as a few sharp rocks cut into his back, piercing the skin. The king, despite his age, was insanely strong and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to win this fight at all.
He took a deep breath and tilted the spear a little so Laufey’s blade began to slide down the metal and jam into the earth so Thor was able to slip out from under him. Laufey let out a grunt at the impact and lifted the blade to attack again.
Thor gained some ground and used the length of the spear to lunge at Laufey and finally he managed to hit the man. He sliced Laufey’s shoulder as the other merman tried to block his attack.
The King hissed at Thor grabbing his shoulder and placing his palm over the cut, watching his blood float upwards in a slim wisp “you cannot win this Odinson.” Thor narrowed his eyes and sized him up, people liked to call him a little slow or even stupid, compared to Loki but there was one thing he always excelled at.
Fighting.
He was and never would be a genius but no one ever had an easy win against him.
Thor tightened his grip on the spear and waited for his chance. Laufey lashed out with a huge swing, that Thor anticipated.
He dropped down under the attack to dodge it and moved upwards and bashed Laufey on the forehead with the blunt side of the spear throwing him back in almost a comedic way. The prince spun the spear around and raised it over his head, ready to strike, ready to end it all when a shout and a loud hiss sounded through the water.
“Stop!”
Thor spun around and stared as almost everyone with wide eyes and open mouth at the giant snake that loomed over all of them. Jormungandr’s mouth was open, the large teeth looked sharp and dangerous as they glinted in the dim light.
Laufey got up and growled but he didn’t dare to say or do anything else. The fighting had stopped and everyone looked at the second prince, waiting for his next move.
Loki swallowed and his hand never left Jor’s head as he looked down at the people. He knew that Peter was somewhere behind him but Laufey wished his friend was right next to him. He felt like he needed the support.
“This war needs to end! There is no victory when there is blood, only death!”
A few of the mermen seemed to agree, to his surprise on both sides, but an angry laugh from Laufey took their attention.
“No victory? Boy victory is written in the blood of the losers, you are nothing but a silly child. You know nothing, now chose a side and fight like a man, or run, hide and cry like a child.”
Loki glared at Laufey but thankfully no one started fighting again. They all were waiting for Loki to act and the pressure was just crushing him.
The prince thought about his next move.
Yes he could chose a side and the side would surely win thanks to Jor but he didn’t want to, he didn’t want to slaughter a race for petty reasons, he wasn’t Thor after all.
He wanted peace with as little losses as possible, “Sire it saddens me that these are the only options you see. Well I see a third option.”
Laufey scoffed, “oh do you?”
Loki nodded and casually flipped his tail a smile playing his lips, “sure, I could just order my snake to eat you and Byleist so I can take your throne. It would be an easy and satisfying solution.”
Laufey narrowed his eyes and from somewhere Loki heard an angry shout of protest. He assumed that it came from his half-brother.
Laufey stared at him obviously trying to decipher if he was bluffing or would actually go through with his threat. Loki wasn’t so sure either but he stared back at his Sire, forcing his face to stay calm and indifferent.
The field was quiet as if the entire ocean was waiting to take a breath.
The sword shot through the water as Laufey threw it. Loki’s eyes were wide and he was too shocked and surprised to do much.
“Loki!”
A body collided with his and he was thrown out of the way as the sword pierced Odin’s tail. Loki let out a scream as he saw his father getting hurt and Jormungandr obviously had enough of this shit as he hissed and swallowed Laufey down, crushing his body as he did so.
More shouts erupted from around them and while most of the Jotuns retreated, Byleist charged forward but was met by an angry Thor. Loki on the other hand joined the guards, rushing to Odin’s side.
The old King bled an awful lot and he wouldn’t survive without measurements. A medic rushed over and Loki shared a long look with his father and to his surprise he didn’t see any regret in his eyes, only love and…pride?
Loki stared at him as Odin was carried off and the only thing that brought him back to reality was the scaled head that nudged his arm. The prince turned and saw that his snake was looking at him curiously.
“Yes you did well,” he scratched his head and the long tongue darted out, tickling his chest. Loki chuckled at that.
“Jor you are the best, now go back and digest that awful man in peace.”
He was almost sure he saw the snake wink at him as it slid away uncaring of the remaining mermen around him.
“You will pay for that!”
Loki frowned and turned to look down on his brothers. It was actually kind of funny; Thor was holding Byleist in a headlock while the prince spun around trying to buck him off.
In the end it was Peter to knock the Jotun out. The boy swam up to the struggling princes and hit the back of Byleist’s head with a stick.
He went lax in Thor’s arms and Thor gave him to a few guards to secure, but not before slapping his face with his tail. After that Thor nodded at Loki and swam off to see how their father was doing and Loki was left with Peter.
“Are you alright Peter?”
The merman nodded, “I am but I need to find Tony I haven’t seen him since we arrived.” Loki sighed but nodded, he just couldn’t win against the human. He had to find out his secret.
Peter gave him a smile showing that he understood his reaction and spun around to make his way to the battlefield but froze in place. Loki looked past him and also froze.
Angie was swimming towards them holding Tony in her arms.
“I think you lost this.”
Peter shot forward and cradled his human, no not human anymore, in his arms. Tony had a tail. A real fishtail with bright red scales and golden fins that looked so delicate that Peter feared he would hurt them by just looking at them.
“How is that possible?” Loki asked and Peter shrugged staring at his lover in disbelieve.
Both mermen looked at Angie she crossed her arms in front of her chest, “don’t ask me I went to look for him and when I found him he was tearing the last of his armour off but he was already like this.”
Peter looked down on Tony’s face. He was passed out and Peter could feel him, the transformation had been incredible exhausting when it had happened the first time to him too.
Loki studied the tail with interest and shared a look with Peter, “we should take him to the palace and have a healer look at him.” Peter nodded and they made their way back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The aftermath of a battle is always a terrible thing and no one likes to do that kind of cleaning up. People have to be taken care of and bodies needed to be disposed of, it was shitty work.
The royals and Peter luckily didn’t have to deal with that kind of thing as they were in the palace, taking care of their own.
Odin survived his injury but he would probably never swim well again. Frigga was still glad she had her husband back as well as both of her sons and her future daughter-in-law.
Things had worked out surprisingly well all things considered; the only thing that was not good was Tony. Peter hadn’t moved from his side since they found him and no one tried to make him.
They had given him a bed in the private royal healing wing and Peter stayed with him, watching and guarding him.
But Tony didn’t stir.
He was like dead but he was breathing and his heart was beating and with every day that passed Peter grew more and more desperate. He remembered all the bad things that Bruce had said about the Formula and what could happen when used without being tested properly.
The healers weren’t much help either, they had given him some minerals to rub on his skin and tail in hopes he would absorb them and it would aid his healing. So far it has done nothing but Peter still hoped for the best.
Peter held his hand and slowly stroked it, he came to the conclusion that he had to take Tony back so Bruce would help him but he still hesitated.
The journey to the surface was long and he didn’t know if it would make things worse or not. He sighed heavily and bit his lip.
Feeling tears in his eyes he leaned down and kissed Tony’s lips before he sat up again and rubbed his eyes. He needed to get Tony help and he would only receive it at the surface. It was their only chance.
With a sigh he opened his eyes and looked down on his lover.
His breath hitched.
“Hey underoos.”
Peter’s lip quivered and he let out a sob, hugging Tony tightly.
“I thought you would die!” he wailed and Tony wrapped his arms around him.
“I won’t lie, I thought so too darling.”
They held each other tightly until Peter was able to pull back, “so, w-what happened?” Tony sighed and told him about his fight with Byleist and the Serum he carried the entire time.
Peter listened with wide eyes, “so this was your plan B?” Tony chuckled and let his hands roam up and down his tail.
“Kind of, I know how strong you are Peter and when Loki told us how strong the Jotun are I knew that I had to take measurements. My suit is the best tech currently in the world, I know this because I made it, but would have been still too risky to come down here without anything else.”
The human flapped his tail a few times experimentally, it was rather weird but also very interesting, “If I hadn’t I would have drowned. The only thing I didn’t know was if the mechanism containing the Formula would work this deep down.”
Peter frowned, “oh so that was why we got so delayed on our way down.” Tony smiled and shrugged; his lover sighed and sat on the bed next to him wrapping his arms around Tony’s middle.
“I don’t know what to think of all that but I am glad you are alright and you are beautiful.”
Tony chuckled, “am I not always?” Peter snorted and kissed his cheek, “you are but now you look like most beautiful goldfish in all of the seven seas.”
Tony smiled and pulled him to sit in his lap, “is that so, well now I am the most gorgeous being on land and down the sea, after you of course.”
Peter giggled and kissed Tony properly. The older man kissed him back and sighed, “I am so glad you are unharmed Peter, I was scared the entire time that something might happen to you. All I wanted to do was to grab you and take you as far away as possible.”
Peter sighed and looked at him. He rested his forehead against Tony’s and smiled at him, “I love you Tony.” The former human smiled, “I love you too Peter.”
Suddenly Peter began to laugh and Tony looked at him confused.
“What are you laughing about?”
Peter grinned at him, “oh dear I just thought about what Pepper will say when she sees you.” Tony visibly paled and Peter laughed even harder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loki smiled at Angie as he held her hands. The mermaid looked slightly annoyed, or at least she pretended to be as she hid her smile.
Odin tied a ribbon around their hands, “so from now on their lives shall be one, he is hers and she is his.”
The crowd cheered and Loki was sure he saw a faint blush on Angie’s cheek. He wanted to point it out but he feared his now wife would throw a rock at him.
However to his surprise it was Angie who spoke first, “aren’t you supposed to kiss me?” Loki shrugged, “well it isn’t mandatory around here. Why? Do you want me to?”
Now the mermaid now visibly blushed and looked away, “no, of course not.” Loki chuckled and grabbed her chin to pull her into a kiss. It was a bold move and he was sure she would make him pay later but just for seeing the surprised look on her face was worth it.
The people watching cheered and clapped and Frigga winked at her son as he parted from his mermaid. The two were a sweet couple and even though they may not love each other as much as Odin and Frigga, they were really fond of their spouses.
It was a nice scene and everyone was happy, Asgard and Jotunheim were finally united through a bond and even though Byleist was now officially King, everyone knew that he didn’t hold any power.
After the battle he had lost a lot of support from his people and they knew Loki was the one with the real power. Besides many of them respected Loki for he was the one who controlled the giant snake.
During his stay most of them had also learned what a bright and kind young man he was and though the Jotun were hard people they seemed to appreciate the change. Maybe he would one day be truly able to win them over completely.
Loki and Angrboda planned to leave Asgard to go to Jotunheim and rule it, with Byleist pretending to be King of course. They would leave soon after the wedding to get settled in.
Loki didn’t look forward to leave his home and family, but he wouldn’t skip on his duty. Besides Thor was about to ascent the throne of Asgard and he wanted to be away before Thor could drop all his duties on him again
The couple waved at the people, well Loki waved Angie just looked indifferent, but he couldn’t stop glancing at her. Today her long black hair was braided artfully into a complicated style which suited her surprisingly well.
His mother, god knows how, convinced her to wear something else than the used old vest she liked so much and so she now wore something the human called a freaking golden poncho, like Frigga.
She looked good in it and he was surprise he himself admitted that. He glanced at Peter who looked beautiful as always.
Loki feared that he would never really get over him but he would try. Maybe in a few years they would finally have forgotten all of this and be like they had before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony watched from a distance sitting on a rock as his tail gently rocked in the current. It had taken him some time to adapt to his new body and he was still a little confused by it.
Peter was a great help and together they learned to handle the new situation. Currently Tony stayed with Peter but he would return home after the wedding. He wanted to be examined by Bruce and he was also weighing his options.
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay a merman but he would decide that later, now it was more important to get examined in case his state was unstable.
Tony watched Loki wave at the people and they cheered for him, then he quickly hugged Peter who was his best man next to Thor and the two of them exchanged a few words before Peter laughed and hugged him again.
Tony smiled and ran a hand over his tail. The feeling of the scales was still foreign to him but he kind of liked it. His tail was powerful and he liked swimming with it a lot though he was barely able to keep up with Peter.
He also had a hard time to control his new strength. He wasn’t as strong as the other mermen but he was stronger than he had ever been as a human. So it actually happened when he tried to crack open a clam he crushed it completely.
That made eating a little complicated once in a while but he managed better now. Peter was always helping him after all.
The former human tilted his head and grinned at Peter, “hey Pete well did the Prince ask you to steal him away from his bride?” Peter snorted and sat down on the rock next to Tony, “you are jealous.”
Tony rolled his eyes and took Peter’s hand, “no I am not.”
Peter grinned at him, “yes you are Tony.” He squeezed his hand and they shared a warm look.
“You are going to leave soon?”
Tony looked way, “I am not leaving Peter I am…just on a little trip home.” Peter rested his head on Tony’s shoulder, “you are leaving, you will get yourself turned back and we will be separated again.”
Tony kissed his head, “you don’t know that Peter, maybe I cannot be turned back, maybe I want to stay here with you.” Peter gave him a look, “no you don’t.” Tony sighed and pointed at his necklace, “hey I accepted this, remember?”
Peter looked at him with fondness, “I could never forget Tony.”
They stayed like this for some time before Tony chuckled. Peter frowned and looked at him, “what is so funny?” Tony shook his head, “I think it is just weird that I hoped the next wedding I attend would be my own.”
Peter stared at him, “did you just? Do you mean it?” Tony smile and took his hand, “did you ever hear me say something I didn’t mean?”
Peter looked at their hands.
One strong, calloused and big.
The other pale, thin and delicate.
They didn’t seem to fit together.
He looked up again meeting Tony’s brown eyes. They were filled with all the love a man could have for his chosen one and all his doubt melted away.
Peter pulled Tony into a kiss; he wrapped his arms around his neck while strong arms wrapped themselves around his middle, pulling him up against that strong chest.
“Yes, Tony. I want to marry you.”
Tony chuckled and kissed his nose, “I never had a doubt.”
Peter laughed, “really? Is that why your hands are shaking so much?” Tony grimaced but couldn’t hold the smile, “I am just freezing.”
Peter laughed and shook his head, “I love you Tony.”
“I love you more Peter.”