Ragnarök (CANCELLED)

Fickle Allies

Loki

The breeze ruffles my hair and carries the scent of freshly baked bread and the fluffy pink stuff called 'cotton candy'. The vendors below dole out the cotton candy to the droves of tourists flocking the streets. They buy their cheap souvenirs and snap meaningless pictures of a twisted mess of metal. The mortals don't question the "Closed for maintenance" sign. Their eyes skim over the dark thunderheads, the jagged shapes outlined by the power of the Tesseract.

Oh, to be innocent, ignorant in this world. Unknowing of the darkness seeping in and slowly corrupting.

I was once the same. Back when my lineage was a secret and the world seemed more a heaven than a hell. When I was good and only harmless pranks concerned me. Even living in Thor's shadow was not such a bad thing, Mother was always there. Mother-

Dead, because of me. If she were alive, she'd be so disappointed. Yet forgiving. But how much can a person go through before they stop forgiving? Is it possible for forgiveness to have an expiry date like a can on a shelf?

Her face drifts across my vision unannounced. The girl in black with eyes blazing and sword slashing. Raven, a bird and a shade of black. Agile and a walking shadow. Raven, what a fitting name.

Powerful, but not a candidate for my army. Her love and loyalty to the nine realms is strong. Nothing I could say or do, can change that.

She'll die, as Thor dies, as all the Avengers will die. When March 29th is upon us, I will take over Midgard and I will make them watch their precious word burn to the core. Only then will I kill them and revenge will be mine.

I smile at the thought. Nothing or no one will get in my way this time.

"My King?"

"Yes, Lorelei?"

She appears to my left leaning against the railing. "We have Asgardians and Fire Giants stationed alike around the house, when Raven's brother arrives, we'll take him"

"Not too close? I don't want Thor or Raven noticing. Flames are quite conspicuous you know"

She smiles showing all her pearly whites, "You have nothing to fear my King. Ours are dressed in Midgardian attire and the Fire Giants are hiding in empty houses. Aether- quite an odd name, don't you think?"

"Named after a dark source of infinite power, his parents must have had a screw lose"

Lorelei nods, "Aether won't get within 100 ft of the place before we are upon him. Will you oversee them?"

"No, I'll stay here. I trust you to command in my stead, Enchantress" It's a gracious compliment and she soaks up the praise.

Beaming, she says, "I thank you my King, I shall not fail you"

She curtsies deeply and gives me a smile through her lustrous hair.

Lorelei, the picture of beauty. More beautiful than- wait. Where did that come from? Those weren't my thoughts.

I give her a sly smile and she walks back into the building. Once she's out of my sight I clench my fists tightly on the railing. The metal warps under my fingers and splits sending chunks of metal to the ground.

That little traitor! Trying to sweet talk me into bending to me wishes. Not that that was unexpected, I did choose her for her gifts.

Lorelei, the picture of beauty, what a joke!

But think of those piercing green eyes, ruby red lips- Stop! - soft, cream skin- Ahh!

I shake my head so fiercely the world spins and I grab onto what's left of the railing for support.

This isn't good. Two women disturbing my thoughts in a day. One an enemy, one an ally. At least leaving Lorelei in charge of finding Aether would keep her away and make her unable to charm me. Raven, on the other hand, is a bridge I'll cross when I get there.

I walk inside to the small restaurant and take a seat at a table facing inside. The fire giants sharpen their and mill around in some groups. Their getting impatient, longing for a fight.

Surtur breaks through his small army and takes the seat opposite mine. All his flames are extinguished leaving a charcoal like body. A wreath of molten gold crowns his head. His sword, black iron from the pits of Muspelheim lies across his lap. He gives me a murderous look.

"My army is getting restless. They, as much as a I, want a war and I will not be mislead by your quick tongue and false promises, Jotun scum-"

Well that's a little uncalled for. His sword must be a mile up his arse.

I jump up and fling the table across the room. It rotates through the air with a whoosh! to crash through a window. The glass shatters. Surtur brandishes his sword, I wield my sceptre and every head in the run turns our way.

I turn my sceptre horizontally as Surtur's sword slashes an arch through the air. I catch the attack and feel the blow vibrate down my arm. Spinning the sceptre I knock his sword from his hand and then sweep his feet out from under him. He thuds to the floor.

Our armies are quick to choose sides. Flames ignite and weapons are drawn. Surtur steps forward as a cold tendril of air flows through the room, he freezes.

Ice spreads in sheets along the windows and across the ceiling. The fire giants shift uneasily. The temperature plummets and my breath comes out in a puff of white. Fires start to putter out. Is the casket acting up?

"What are you playing at?" Surtur snarls. Sparks fly from the corners of his eyes alight with fury. The wall of ice comes up as he strikes. His sword cracks against the frozen surface rebounding. The unexpected jolt sends him toppling backwards into his brethren. They fall to the floor in a tangled mess of flailing and burning limbs.

I chuckle lightly.

"Do you like my work?" Lorelei appears at my side.

The corners of my mouth stretch up. "I couldn't have done it better myself" I say taking her hand in mine. I lift her hand up to my face and brush my lips against her skin. I smile showing hints of my pearly whites as little blotches of pink appear on each of Lorelei's cheeks. She gives her own dazzling smile, it melts the heart of every Asgardian in the room. My own stays frozen.

It burns me inside to have to be so nice to someone I'm quickly starting to hate. Lorelei is my right hand, the Enchantress. Her rank is higher than anyone else's excluding myself. Her powers are suppose to be used to my advantage not her own. With Amora's powers she's an even bigger threat. Persuasion and Ice. Against each the fire giants, great! But using her powers to make herself my Queen, not going to happen.

I glance around the room. The Asgardians are unsure, many keep looking toward the exit. The fire giants depend too heavily on their King who, at the moment is making a complete fool of himself. Lorelei is no longer a person I can have faith in. The only person who seems to be completely on my side is Freya.

In four days time it won't matter. I won't need any of them. I'll have a real army, an army that will help me conquer the Nine Realms and deposit me on an even bigger throne. No one will ever try to cross me again.

Surtur untangles himself and gets to his feet. His anger sparks like firecrackers. "I won't forget this frost giant!" He threatens.

"Neither will I" I say coldly. The threat isn't just targeted at him.