Consequences

21

Brynja waited for word of Loki from Angrboda but heard nothing. She went to Freyja seeking help and found Sunny in the Witching Rooms, tears in her eyes.

Brynja knew something was terribly wrong, "Tell me. What's happened?"

Sunny spoke slowly, "Thanos has promised not to touch us. Angrboda is dead. So is The Other. She fought well. Loki is trapped, though, caught in the deal he made for Midgard, unable to deliver what he promised. He will not be coming home."

Brynja sank to the bench beside her daughter, "All this and he's still gone." Her heart was heavy, "Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"No. Not even Freyja. I did everything I could to protect them both and still failed."

"How did she die?"

"She killed The Other as he killed her. Neither could have survived."

"Then you did not fail. Angrboda saw the only way to end him and chose her opportunity. Loki cannot undo the deal he made so long ago. He has to live with the consequences of his actions. We will wait and watch and if there is anything we can do, we will step in. Until then, he guaranteed our safety, correct?"

"Yes."

Brynja sighed as she began to cry, "Then we wait. We wait for our opportune moment."

Sunny held onto her mother, her tears thick, "And what if it never comes? What if we never get him back?"

"Then we remember the love and we hold tight to those memories. We don't have any other option, Sunny."

Katja entered, wondering why she had not seen her sister in so long; she froze as she saw their tears, "I take it the news isn't good."

Brynja answered, "No. Angrboda is dead, killed while killing The Other. Thanos will not return Loki if he cannot deliver the treasures he seeks."

Katja dropped down on to the bench and curled up next to Brynja, her knees tucked to her chest, "So what happens to him now? What will Thanos do to him?"

Sunny replied softly, "Torture him to the limits that he can without killing him. Thanos sees this as an experiment in death."

"And we can't stop him?"

"No." Sunny whispered. Soon both girls were crying on their mother's shoulders. Brynja knew she had to tell her son, too, that his father was not coming home and had no idea how to tell the small child what was happening. For a few minutes, though, she simply held her daughters and cried with them.