Chapter Text
Loki ran.
Ignoring the pain and exhausting that wracked through his body, not to mention the now, fully broken ankle, he ran through the throne room, only pausing for a second to take in the red mural in the ceiling. Just from that second, he knew something deeper ran through the roots of Asgard. Hela most certainly told Thor, he would have to ask Thor about what it meant.
If Loki was alive till then, of course.
The dark prince remembered that the hall from the Throne room led to the royal chambers. If you continued down the stairs from there, it led to the Vault. Keeping those directions in mind, Loki sprinted through the halls he remembered vividly from his childhood. He knew every detail, every crack in the wall, all the hiding spots in this Palace.
Loki paused in front of his old chambers. He didn't have time for this, but there was something he needed to get before this place burned down.
Loki put his hand on the metal lock that closed his old chambers and watched as the heavy metal fell to the ground. Rushing in, Loki reached in the drawer beside his bed open and pulled out a few old journals. In the guise of Odin, Loki had made many journals to keep track of the Infinity Stones. He knew they wouldn't be safe in the King's chamber so, he had stashed them in a place nobody ever even thought of going to.
That place being Loki's Chamber.
Grabbing the journals, Loki put them in his dimensional pocket and went out of the door, but not before he took one last look at the place that he had spent most of his childhood.
His eyes landed on the bed. The dark green bed sheets looked almost black with the dust on them, showcasing how unused they have been. He remembered the nights he spent with Thor there, how when his brother couldn't control his powers came crying to him. Loki always comforted him and would let Thor in his bed to help him sleep.
Loki remembered how his mother would comfort him when he was ill or had a nightmare. A wave of memories flooded him but, he pushed them down. Now was not the time.
The furniture was all covered in dust from the years it had been out of use. The last time Loki was in his room was the evening before Thor's coronation. That felt like ages ago now. Taking in a deep breath, he closed the doors to his room and continued down the hall.
He passed Thor's chambers quickly and walked towards the next hall to his left. The King's and Queen's chambers were there and, the staircase to the Vault was at the end of the hallway.
Loki drank in the sight of the Palace as he continued down the hall. He would never see this place again. Just that thought made it hard for him to breathe. Loki opened the Queen's chamber and walked inside.
He hadn't been in here in a while too.
Loki knew this Palace like the back of his hand. His mother's room wasn't any different. Loki had spent so much time here in his youth. No servant had even dared to move a single thing from his mother's room. It may be all covered in dust now, but Loki knew the story behind each of the things and artifacts in this room. He felt horrible that he was going to light it up on fire.
Loki opened the drawer to his mother's dresser, pulling out the two silk cloths that were tied together. One red and one green. Their mother had weaved them for Loki and Thor when they were children. Loki grabbed the silk cloths and put them in his pocket.
Sentiment.
He had already wasted at least five minutes.
Stupid.
Loki drank in the Queen's room in one second just for final memory. The paintings his mother had made, the bed he would sneak into as a child when he couldn't sleep, the bay window where Loki and Thor would sit on as Frigga told them stories or taught them for their classes.
This was the last time he would see all this before it burned to the ground, along with all the memories made here.
But it had to be done.
Loki ran down the hall and skipped stairs as he ran down to the Vault. He grabbed Surtur's crown and walked towards the internal flames, trying his hardest not to think about the things he had found out from Odin in this room.
Loki stopped, however, as he reached the Tesseract. The blue glow intensified as he stepped closer to it, its song getting louder and louder until his hand was holding the cube.
It both haunted and fascinated him. The power this small object had was unfathomable. Loki couldn't leave it here. If he did, it would just be for Thanos to get it. The Tesseract wouldn't blow up like the rest of Asgard, it would survive and would float across space until someone else gets their hands on it. That someone being Thanos.
It was safer with him, he knew what it could do and the power it held.
Loki may be leading himself to doom, but he couldn't make it any easier for Thanos. Never.
Without a second viewpoint, Loki vanished it to his dimensional pocket and walked towards the Eternal Flame, another thing he was fascinated by as a child.
Throwing the crown in the fire, he spread his hands. This was it.
No turning back now.
Loki would be the reason Surtur awakens. He would be the reason everything would be nothing more than ash and fire. He would be the reason the Asgardians that couldn't escape would die.
Loki had a lot of red in his ledger. This would add so much more to it.
And he could never wipe it out.
There was no other way. No, that was incorrect, there were many ways, but he didn't have time.
This had to be done, and if he was the one to do it, he would have to take the fall alongside it.
So he did.
"With the Eternal Flame, you are reborn."
"You took everyone from me!"
Brunnhilde swiped her Dragonfang across Hela's side as the Valkyrie yelled loudly, her scream full of emotion of all that was gone and lost.
Her sisters.
Her family.
Gone.
Gone because of Hela.
Hela laughed as she flung a blade at the dark-haired female warrior, watching as it lodged into her shoulder. Hela kicked Brunnhilde in the stomach sending her farther down the bridge.
" They were in my way, just like you!" Brunnhilde shook her head as she got up. Hela's voice echoed loudly to her. It didn't matter, her battle sisters were gone, and there was nothing she could do. She would never be able to defeat Hela, but she could hurt her and make sure Loki had enough time to release Surtur.
She could do this. For her sisters.
Brunnhilde caught sight of Thor, who was back on his feet, fighting with Hela, both exchanging blows where ever they could get them. It didn't take a genius to see that even Thor was no match for Hela.
She stood steady on her feet and reached down to pick up her fallen Dragonfang. Brunnhilde held the sword in her hand, wincing slightly, as she moved her shoulder. Her shoulder was bleeding underneath her armor and, she was pretty sure if she didn't tend to it soon, she would pass out from blood loss.
The sword felt heavy in her hand, which only illustrated how tired she was. This battle had been going on for quite a while. Brunnhilde felt as though all the energy had been wrung out of her.
Still, she moved forward and broke into a run. Brunnhilde jumped up high, her sword aiming for Hela.
Thor moved to the side slightly as he saw her coming at Hela.
Hela, oblivious to Brunnhilde, grunted in pain as a sword stabbed her right in between her shoulders. Hela fell a few feet in front of Thor and growled animistically, as she rolled to a stop.
"You're going to regret that!" Thor quickly joined Brunnhilde, knowing they couldn't beat her together, but it was better than fighting her alone. Brunnhilde scowled and dodged the blade thrown at her, Thor followed her lead and sidestepped the blade's Hela shot at him.
His luck ran thin, and a blade managed to swipe his arm, successfully cutting the flesh open on his bicep. Thor noticed Hela do the same to Brunnhilde and get a blow to her leg. Brunnhilde fell to the floor in pain, clutching the wounded leg with a groan.
They had been going at this for a while. Why Loki was taking so long, Thor didn't know.
Brunnhilde tried to get up but fell back to the ground with a hiss. Thor ran to her side and slid her arm on his shoulder, bending down to even their height. Hela grinned widely at the display, no doubt thinking about how easily she was going to win.
Before he could do anything, smoke began rising through the Palace, and in the next second, the Palace erupted in flames.
Thor would be lying if he said the sight didn't want to make him cry. His home was being burned down.
Hela noticed the explosion and looked back at the Palace in complete horror and confusion, Brunnhilde wearing the same expression.
Surtur emerged from the fire with his sword raised high, the flames grew higher as they spread all over Asgard. The Hulk joined Brunnhilde and Thor, coming to stand right behind them.
Thor assumed that Hulk had finished off the wolf. Thor only wondered if the wolf was that strong that he held off the Hulk for the entirety of the battle.
Hela's face contorted into a rage as she ran towards the blazing fire monster. It seemed that recklessness ran in the family. How quaint.
Thor took this moment to turn around and lead Brunnhilde to the Statesman, taking notice of how she was shaking under her weight. He motioned for Hulk to follow but was answered with an angry shake of the Hulk's head.
"Big monster!" Hulk pointed to Surtur, making Thor sigh, if his hands were free, he would consider face-palming or punching himself and then knock some sense in Hulk. Honestly, all three, in that specific order.
"No! Don't smash Hulk! We have to get Brunnhilde, your friend, some help!" He emphasized 'friend' as he spoke over Surtur's roars and Hela's screams of frustration. Hulk spent a few seconds, seemingly having an inner turmoil. With a loud and exaggerated sigh, Hulk stomped down the bridge towards the hovering Statesman.
Thor followed the Hulk, at this point, he was practically holding Brunhilde's whole weight.
"Where is he?" Brunnhilde asked as she cast her eyes back towards the burning Palace. Thor followed her gaze and swallowed tightly.
"I'm not sure." Thor barely managed to cast his eyes away from the burning Realm, and back to the Statesman. Korg brought the ship lower so Thor could help Brunnhilde and himself on the ship. Heimdall greeted them with a silent nod. Korg began moving away from Asgard to get out of the fire's distance as the remaining Asgardians watched in pained silence as their home and people burned.
Hela raised herself towards Surtur and used large blades to dig themselves into Surtur. It did no damage, but she did manage to anger Surtur more. He roared before he held his sword high with the tip pointing to the ground.
Everyone on the ship knew what was going to happen next, forcing themselves to look as Surtur inserted his sword into Asgard's core. The whole Realm was engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds, leaving trails of nothing but ash.
The Statesman shook from the impact even though it was far away from Asgard. Mothers and fathers held onto their children as the Realm burned, Thor held onto Brunnhilde as a few tears escaped from them both. Heimdall stood tall but, even from a distance, anyone could tell that he was dealing with this no better than the rest.
Hela was gone.
Asgard was gone.
And Loki may be gone.
What now?
The scar that Hela had graciously left him was a horrible sight.
Thor had put on a patch for his eye after Brunnhilde had cleaned it for him. Thor had to force her to clean up her wound before she cleaned his, to which she had answered with 'The eye looks ugly. If I have to look at your face, you have to get that cleaned. Now, sit the fuck down, so I can fix it.'
He could tell she was just anxious and needed to get her mind off everything and needed to keep herself distracted. Thor wished he could too, but damn, it was hard.
Asgard was nothing more than ash now. Thor would never be able to get the image of the Palace up in flames out of his head. His home was gone, all the years he spent in Asgard were nothing but a bunch of memories now.
The days he spent in the training field, the times he used to feast in the Great Hall with his friends, the moments he spent with his father as he told him stories about Asgard. How his mother used to lead him to the Garden when he was sad or upset and, she would sing to him to make him feel better. How Thor used to go to the stables and feed the horses with Loki, both would somehow end up on horses back with no saddle to see who was the better horseback rider. Thor would get upset when Loki would win, Loki would laugh and call him an oaf before heading inside the Palace for dinner.
He had nothing to remind him of anything anymore. He had nothing. Thor should have been the one to release Surtur, if he did, Loki would be safe, and he would be the one to burn up in flames.
Thor knew in the back of his head, that if Loki did survive, there was no way that he would be here.
Loki would leave.
Just the thought of that felt bitter. Thor was still the one to blame though, he let his younger brother unleash a fire monster with low chances to escape and survive. The younger brother he had sworn to protect. Thor was a horrible brother. He had lost everything. His father, mother, Asgard, and now Loki.
Tears prickled in his eye but, he kept them at bay. Thor took off the cap from the small bottle of what could be alcohol and drowned it in one gulp. The sting from the alcohol made it a little easier to clear his head.
"Alcohol isn't the solution to overthinking, brother." Thor swallowed tightly and turned around slowly. Loki stood there, a smirk dancing across his lips. Loki didn't look injured in any way, but Thor knew Loki well enough to not judge by looks anymore.
Loki may just be an illusion to say goodbye for the final time. Thor tried not to think about that.
"It suits you." Loki pointed with his chin to the silver eyepatch. Thor turned back to the mirror and looked at his reflection, the eyepatch gleaming brightly under the harsh light.
"Maybe your so bad after all, brother." Loki's eyebrows furrowed, his mouth parted slightly in surprise. He controlled himself after a second and then met his gaze in the mirror.
"Maybe not." Thor wanted nothing more than to have his brother in his arms at that moment right there and then, but he knew Loki wasn't here. He would never be. Loki had an opportunity to leave and never be found, away from everyone. He wouldn't lose that for anyone. If Loki was just an illusion, Thor wanted him to leave. He didn't need the fake reassurance that Loki was here. He'd rather get over it all at once.
"You know, if you were here, I might even give you a hug." He flipped the bottled cap in his hand and aimed it at Loki, knowing full well that Loki wouldn't catch it.
He did.
Thor's eyes widened a fraction as Loki's smirk widened. The silver cap rested in Loki's hand as Loki brought his arm back down.
"I'm here." Thor didn't need any more than that. Thor had his arms wrapped around Loki the next second, catching Loki off-guard for a second. He was sure Loki would throw him off soon but, much to his surprise, Loki threw the bottle cap to the table behind him before he wrapped his arms around Thor.
Thor missed Loki so much, but Loki was here. He was here, and Thor wasn't alone anymore.
Thor buried his face in the crook of his brother's neck as tears finally came free from his eye, and before he knew it, he began weeping like a child, as Loki held him close, with one hand he ran his fingers through Thor's hair and with the other held him up. Thor was sure that if he wasn't, Thor would be on the floor.
He hiccuped as he crouched down to the floor, not letting Loki go. Thor was sure if he did, Loki would fade away. Loki adjusted on the floor to sit down properly and continued running his hand through Thor's hair to calm him down.
"Please, please don't go." Thor felt Loki swallow soundly. Thor felt as if Loki would just leave, telling him he can't give up his life for Thor. Just that thought made Thor hug Loki tighter and bury his face in Loki's neck again. Loki's armor and tunic were wet from Thor's tears, but Loki didn't even seem to mind.
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere brother, I promise." Loki promised after a good minute, Thor nodded as he sniffed quietly. He didn't let Loki go and, his brother continued to calm him down. There was a long list of times when Thor had sought the comfort of Loki in the past years, mostly before his coronation. But now, he needed Loki more than ever.
He was being selfish, Thor knew that. He just wouldn't, no, couldn't, let Loki go.
He was scared.
Even though Thor had never told anyone, Loki made him feel safe. Sometimes, it truly felt as if he was the younger brother.
The promise Loki made, made him feel better. He still had his brother.
He didn't lose everything yet.
Thor felt Loki shift and reach in his pocket, Thor moved a little to let him get whatever he needed. They had been in the same position for Norns know how long. Thor didn't let Loki go and Loki didn't as much shift, to sit more comfortably. Until now, of course.
Rubbing a hand over his tear-stained face, Thor watched Loki pull out a silky green cloth that was tied with an identical red one.
Thor's eyebrows furrowed as he watched Loki undo the tie. Thor moved back and sat cross-legged, watching as Loki fumbled with the two cloths.
He remembered seeing those somewhere, but where? Loki finished and passed him the red one. Thor looked at Loki, confused as he took the cloth from his brother's hands. Loki didn't reply but nodded to the cloth in his hands.
Thor looked down at the red silk cloth and read the cursive embroidery in gold.
"Every moment overflows with power," He read aloud, his face changed to a confused one before his eyes widened. He looked at Loki's cloth which read...
"66 thousand miles an hour. " Loki finished, holding up his green silk cloth with the words embroidered in a shiny black. "I got them from mothers chambers," Loki explained as he ran a hand through his dark, short hair and Norns, Thor couldn't take in the short hair no matter how many times he saw his brother. "I remembered we put them there before your coronation, I figured we could use a...souvenir "
Their mother had made this for them. Thor smiled as he held the cloth with both hands. It was a souvenir now since Asgard wasn't in existence anymore. Well, more like a remembrance of what once was.
"Thank you." Loki gave him a warm smile that Thor had longed to see for so long. It wasn't a grin or a smirk, It was real. He returned it. "Tie it." He gave Loki the cloth and, Loki folded it so it looked like a strip with the written embroidery on the front. Thor held out his right hand as Loki place the strip of cloth around his wrist then flipped his hand to tie it underneath.
Thor did the same to Loki next, at the same time he finished, the door opened.
"We need to discuss what we're going to do now-" Brunnhilde paused and looked at both of them sitting on the floor, with the cloths wrapped around their wrists. Her eyes landed on Loki and her face contorted from surprise to furious all in one second. "You asshole!" Brunnhilde walked to Loki and began kicking his sitting frame. "You just have to be a dramatic piece of shit, don't you?!"
"Most people don't greet each other their boot, you rabid animal!" She ignored Loki and continued kicking him. She let out a frustrated yell and moved in to strangle Loki when Thor came in between them both and pushed them apart.
"Okay! How about we all calm down!" Thor grabbed Brunnhilde by her waist and dragged her away from Loki, who was close to tackling Brunnhilde himself if Thor was to go by the look on his brother's face. Brunnhilde shook him off and moved to stand away from both of them. "So, he's alive, and he survived. That's pretty much all you needed to catch up on."
Brunnhilde looked from Thor to Loki and then back at Thor. She took in the red rimming around Thor's eyes and the most likely tear stains on Loki's armor. Deciding to not question it further, Brunnhilde let out a scoff and pointed at Loki.
"How the hell did you get out of there?" The angry pitch to her voice wasn't completely gone but was fading away, so that was a good sign.
"The Commodore," Loki answered. " I barely managed to get it out of the fire, but as you can see, I am perfectly fine." She shook her head and looked at him, head to toe.
"There is no way you got out scot-free. Surtur's flames had spread over the Palace in seconds. You wouldn't have made it out without a scratch." Loki pursed his lips, causing concern to rile up in Thor.
"Brother?" Loki let out a sigh and shrugged, getting up from the floor.
"I may have burned my arm, but that's it. I managed to get out of the Palace in time, there's a hallway that leads straight to the back where the Commodore was, so I went from there." Thor and Brunnhilde both looked over Loki and tried finding any burn, but there was nothing. Loki noticed them staring and let out a grunt as green light shimmered over his hand up to his elbow.
His hand was burned on the outer side with the flesh a dark pink tint that ran in patterns across his skin continuing under his sleeve. Thor winced and, Brunnhilde grimaced.
"It's not that bad really, it should heal in soon enough." Ideally, Brunnhilde wondered why Loki's other scars didn't vanish or heal. She refrained from asking, not knowing if she would like the answer.
"Not bad? Loki, you were just burned by flames from a huge fire beast. That doesn't come under that category of ' not that bad.' " Loki waved Thor off before he walked towards the door.
"We have to let the Asgardians know what our next step is." Thor and Brunnhilde followed him out, both not commenting on how Loki was favoring one leg over the other or how he put the illusion of his flawless skin back on his arm and made his leg appear as if he was not limping. "I have to ask, what is our next step?" Thor's brows furrowed as he pursed his lips. Brunnhilde rolled her eyes at the silence that came after for a full minute. "Oh, a great plan indeed," Loki remarked as he shook his head.
"You better come up with something quickly, your Majesty. Your subjects await you." Both Brunnhilde and Loki gave him an encouraging look and walked through the crowds to the front where the lone chair stood.
Loki and Brunnhilde stood to the left with the Hulk, Heimdall, Korg, and Miek stood to the right.
Taking in a deep breath, Thor took a step out from the doorframe.
All heads turned to him in an instant and moved to clear a path. Thor couldn't help but take in the small amount of Asgardians that were in the hall. It was nothing compared to the high numbers of Asgard's population. Thor's body began to feel heavier just at that thought.
Every Asgardian in the room was littered in grime and ash. That was only their appearances, Thor could see the weariness and sadness in each of the Asgardian's eyes. He just hoped he would be able to do enough to make that go away.
Thor walked through the crowd and continued the path to the 'throne'. He reached the seat and sat down, facing his people.
"I give you, our new King. Thor!" Heimdall announced as every single Asgardian dropped to one knee with an arm across their chest and a fist to their heart.
Heimdall followed their lead first and then Korg and Miek, picking up on the action. Brunnhilde followed next, showing Hulk how to kneel properly.
Thor gave Loki a playful look, causing his brother to give an exasperated roll of his eyes and drop to one knee with his fist to his heart.
"I am not bowing my head," Loki whispered. Thor chuckled at that and cleared his throat a second after.
"Rise!" His voice echoed through the hall as everyone stood back up. "I know times have been rough. I know not how we can come back from all of this. What I do know is that we will have to work together. None of us can get through this alone. If any of you need anything, you're free to ask anyone here on the upper deck."
Thor didn't even know what he was supposed to say. He had made up half of the stuff on the spot. The good thing was that everyone understood, so that was a plus.
"Where are we to go, my King?" Thor looked to Heimdall and then turned the throne to the front where the huge glass window stood, showcasing the endless stars in the pitch black, in front of them.
Another thing Thor didn't think about, where do the last few thousand Asgardians go? The first place that came to mind was Earth. His friends were there, and they would be more than willing to help with the remains of Asgard. They would have to find a place for Asgard to settle in one of the countries on Midgard. He guessed he could figure that out later.
Thor looked at his brother, who gave him a knowing nod. Loki usually always knew what Thor was thinking. It was downright creepy but also comforting. Giving his brother and friends a nod, he turned back out to the vast sea of stars.
"Midgard."