"Soul Keeper." Loki came to a stop, breathing heavily. The teleportation came at a great magical cost, only the supreme sorcerers could hope to find this place. "I have come to bargain."
An ominous silence greeted them. Tom looked left and right, then back at Loki. He had only seen this place in Loki's memories, and the latter had only ever read about it. None of the stories could do this place justice; the aura was charged with tremendous power.
"Loki Odinson." A booming voice shook the crystal pillars and stalactites, which lit up one after the other, bathing them in dim light. This wasn't a cave - it was a throne room, after all. Tom held Nathaniel tighter to his chest.
"Your never ending dance with death and life amazes me."
"My dance hopefully comes to an end tonight."
"Foreboding words."
The Soul Keeper looked nothing like the books described. Not a cloaked, somber man with a sickle. No hounds, no monsters at the foot of his throne. No tortured faces covering a cave's irregular walls. This was entirely different.
The stalactites and stalagmites consolidated an elegant throne room, illuminating it in all sorts of colors - both known and unknown. Tom was right to proceed with caution - not too far from their feet, the crystal ground seemingly ended into a pool of clear water. A slight unrest danced over the surface, reflecting the light to the walls in all sorts of shapes. Tom felt himself grow sleepier upon looking closely, and snapped his gaze away, focusing on the Soul Keeper.
A figure tall as a Frost Giant, of a graceful shape, cloaked in white garment. Equally white hair framed a timeless face; he had no age.
"You have given my soul free at the request of my mother Frigga, Queen of Asgard. She gave you Odin. If not for her, I would not be here now."
"And I bitterly regret her untimely death." A hint of sadness washed over his expression, giving away what he would never admit - his great power came with great responsibility, which condemned him to an existence of loneliness. His attention shifted to Tom.
"Is that fear I sense in you, shadow?"
Tom kept his face hard as stone. This man wasn't a monster, but he was in no way to be underestimated. He gulped, warning his voice not to fail him, as he raised his chin toward the throne. "It's been a very long day."
Indeed it was. They all painted an appalling picture; Loki, covered in blood with the face of a mad man; in his arms the tormented corpse of Caroline, pale as death and equally soaked in blood with a hideous gash marring her throat and a disfigured torso; Tom, with blood-shot, swollen eyes, cradling a baby a little too anxious and too tight.
"Please forgive me, you must know, your kind has always sparked a certain... interest in me."
Tom stared up to him. What did he expect for a reply? This was in no way a compliment, it was drenched in cynicism. Tom wasn't in the mood for witty banter. This day extracted a heavy toll.
"Resistant, and yet so vulnerable. Truly the unification of human and immortal life. A perverse idea."
"I didn't get to choose."
"No, of course you didn't. Your soul twin however... " His unsettling eyes, constantly changing in colour, wandered lazily back to Loki, and the tribute in his arms. The Soul Keeper rose. "You have come to me with a gift, haven't you?"
"I am not here for Frigga. She saw with more than eyes and knew. She would not want me to ask this of you."
"Then why are you really here, Odinson?"
"Caroline Irene Adlers."
"Ahh. One of my most precious additions."
Loki's breath hitched, his heart stuttered. She shouldn't be of value to him. His turbulent eyes said it all - he knew all too well what she was, and what she meant.
"I offer my immortal life in exchange for hers." He announced.
"Your worthless life, Son of Odin, could not possibly be price enough. You have done your misdeeds, boy, and I see you suffering for the millennia to come a far more just punishment."
"Then take mine."
"A shadow in exchange for a shadow... You have come all this way to mock me?"
Tom threw an indignant look toward the tall throne, forgetting himself for a brief moment. He stepped forward, raising his voice. "I don't understand, why do you hate our kind so much? What could we have done to deserve this resentment?"
"Your existence alone is a cruelty." The echo of his voluminous voice clashed against the walls, disengaging crystal dust to rain down.
"You think you're the first to try and fuse mortal with immortal life? Gods long before you have taken mortals, by force or free will, creating children who defy our universal order. Some died an agonizing death before being born, some became abhorrent monsters. There is no legitimacy for your kind."
They had angered him, rage raved inside those all-seeing eyes. For the first time in a long history, the Soul Keeper rose from the majestic crystal chair, descending toward them, floating over the glistening stairs. His gaze unmatched in intensity and purpose burnt into Tom's. Every step sent a wave of tension through them.
"Every time a shadow is born, the gods toss a coin. It's either death or madness."
He came to a halt in front of Loki, tall and majestic with all his glory and power. "I have taken the burden of erasing all memory of shadows as to not further inspire insatiable, dissident gods. Gods as you, Loki."
If Loki was afraid, he didn't show. Perhaps it was the finality of it all, gifting a strange feeling of safety. The Soul Keeper could very well refuse them, and in that case, there was nothing Loki could do anymore. He stepped forward as well.
"I could not have possibly known after you have wiped out all records of shadows."
Closer. He stood but inches away from him, sheer power oozing from his body in a terrifying aura that erected the hairs on Loki's neck. "You knew it is forbidden, and that is enough."
"Only my son was created by conception, whose future I have already seen. He will not be mad. Tom was created unintentionally. Caroline - " He hesitated, closed his eyes for a split second. This would not be in his favour, but it had to be revealed. "I failed to immortalize her. None of them have gone mad. Forgive my saying so, your records are incomplete."
"Disrespectful wretch, you stand before me shamelessly in full admission of your misdeeds. You dare ask for a bargain?"
"Yes." Loki answered definitively. "What would please you, Soul Keeper?"
His eyes wandered, almost maliciously, over Caroline, Loki, and finally Tom - sticking to the bundle against his chest.
They saw it simultaneously. "No!"
"What better justice could the universe give you, Loki, than to strip away from you what you hold so dear."
"It already has." Loki grimaced, letting the pain mar his features. "He's but an innocent child!"
"There would not be pain. He would fall asleep, peaceful and loved. You would never see him again."
"I beg you!" Loki dropped to his knees with a shameful thud echoing through the hall. All inhibition had left, he didn't care. The dignified Prince of Asgard, once tall with all his pride, to the feet of the man who held their future in his hand. Tom averted his gaze, seeing the proudest man he ever knew like that burnt in him.
"Ask for anything, anything! But spare my son's life. I beg you!"
"I don't desire much, you must know." The Soul Keeper purred, in a stern and yet mischievous manner. Loki asked for an enormous favor, and it would cost him dearly.
"You desire justice, you said so yourself. Then judge over me. Have me die a thousand deaths if you desire so, but do not harm my child."
Another silence, filled with an importance one could cut through. It was the culmination of their unparalleled journey, either way coming to an end. Their last wish was a choice - one would die or remain dead, so much could not be changed, but it could be a choice, and that was worth so much.
The Soul Keeper's face didn't reveal his thoughts. The bright part of his eyes swallowed his irides, turning his eyes all white briefly. He read Loki's soul.
"You love him." Astonishment resonated in his voluminous voice.
"With all I have."
"And you would sacrifice yourself in exchange for your child and its mother?"
"Whatever it takes."
"If I asked for your head right now, in front of your newborn?"
"Then swing the axe now, for I am already in the perfect position."
The Soul Keeper stared down at him, daring Loki to lower his gaze. His unyielding, smaragdine orbs counted a different story than his kneeling figure. He wouldn't yield, every word was true. Loki's candor proved him wrong, which both surprised and infuriated him. Truth and selflessness - the God of Mischief and Lies, out of all people.
"No, that wouldn't be right. You have lived longer than other gods your age, through skills and knowledge you have acquired, you have lived like no other. You have mastered the bright and dark sides of magic, the art of healing. Killing you, it would be a waste. Despite your troubling nature."
He turned away purposefully, wandered over to where crystal kissed water. He breathed in, the hall answering reverently, sighing in response. The Soul Keeper had made his decision.
"So be it, Asgardian. You get to live, all of you. Your punishment however, is mine to choose."
"I humbly accept your most gracious offer."
Loki, already on his knees, lowered Caroline's cool body to the crystal ground. He stroked over her front, her hairline, sensing that it was not too late yet. A smile formed on his face, becoming more and more peaceful. He had received a bargain, and he was thankful. He had, for the first time in his life, made something right.
Caroline and their son would live, he had made it all right. This vibrant feeling, hot and fulfilling, expanded in his core. The last of all the hatred, the pain, the urge to do harm - it concentrated in one last tear, falling to the ground and shattering for good. He felt a hundred pounds lighter, closer to serenity than ever. As he withdrew his hand from Caroline, it was warm.
Loki rose, not risking another glance at her. It weighed down heavy on his bruised heart not to, but he couldn't risk it. He didn't trust himself. Everything inside him yearned for her, to have her look at him one last time with her warm, human eyes. No, he must let her go. In two steps heavy with meaning, he stood before Tom.
Loki bent down to the restless child, kissing his front. Nathaniel was fidgeting and kicking in Tom's arms. "Blood of my blood." He breathed against his soft forehead, inhaling the lovely scent of his newborn child.
"You must love him as your own. From this day, until the end of your days. Will you do that for me?"
His agonized eyes betrayed Loki. Despite being the most convicted he ever was with a decision, it was the hardest thing he did in a thousand years. It had to, or it wouldn't be price enough. He tried hard to stabilize his voice, but Tom knew him too well.
"Loki." Tears had gathered in Tom's eyes as well - he would show him openly. The masks had been laid down and there was nothing left to hide. "I promise."
Loki turned away, he couldn't bare more of this farewell. Lighter than ever, his legs carried him towards the water. His face bore a peaceful, yet melancholic expression. Nathaniel cried out suddenly, breaking Tom out of his own rigidity. He was a magical creature after all, sensing a lot more than one would trust him to. He sensed the impeding loss of his father, unwillingly charging the air all around.
The Soul Keeper raised his right arm slowly, graciously. The water stirred, the unrest sweeping stronger over the surface. A white, smoke-like substance emerged, swirling around and over to where Loki had placed Caroline. Their eyes widened as they witnessed the miracle, a soul gifting life to a hollow body.
At the same time, a handful of clear water soared into the air, crystalized into a small bowl. Loki received it wistfully, knowing all too well what would be asked of him. The liquid glistened inside the bowl, his reflection in it distorted by the fall of his own tear.
"Drink."
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. Loki glanced briefly at Caroline's body. Her chest rose and fell with slow, deep breaths. The Soul Keeper had fulfilled his promise, only his sacrifice remained. He brought the bowl to his lips.
"Wait!" The air finally broke through Tom's vocal cords, his throat was swollen with anguish and all the words he wanted to say but couldn't. This day had extracted a heavy toll. "Thank you!"
"No." Loki turned slightly, throwing him a last smile over his shoulder. "Thank you."
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Inspiration for this chapter
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