Ragnarök (CANCELLED)

The Bifrost

Lorelei

The sky is full of dark thunderheads. Forks of lightning zig-zag through the clouds sending yellow flashes and great booms. Loki glances upwards every couple of seconds with uneasiness. Is this storm courtesy of Ragnarök or the anger of Thor?

We walk along the kaleidoscope road of the rainbow bridge. Our party of frost giants and Asgardians lie heavily concealed in one of Loki's illusions. We can see each other but to everyone else we're just a small group of guards doing daily rounds of the entrance to Asgard. Loki and Surtur lead walking side by side and keeping a fair distance from one another. Being allies sure hasn't done away the centuries of distrust between Asgard and Muspelheim.

Freya and I take up the rear watching for any funny business. My attention shifts to Loki. Only Freya and I know that he's keeping the Tesseract on his person. Kept in a dark box lined with iridium threaded cloth, Loki keeps it inside his robes. His hand occasionally brushes by the spot. He's discreet, no one else seems to notice.

Freya carries a cumbersome load of cloth wrapped weapons and one black iron shrouded box. There's no latch or any indentation to suggest an opening. Whatever it is, it must be either incredibly important or incredibly dangerous. Perhaps both.

My curiosity gets the better of me, I tap Freya on the shoulder. "So, what's in the box?" I ask casually.

Freya leans toward me, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Why, yes" I reply leaning in.

"Cool, so can I" She laughs and her eyes flash an unnatural shade of blue. I blink. Am I imagining things? I glance away and look back. Freya's eyes are back to a stormy grey. It must have been a reflection from the rainbow bridge.

I catch up to her. "Really, what's in the box?" I repeat letting the persuasion leak into my words.

"There's no need for that Lorelei" she laughs, "I was just playing" Freya slows down and I follow suit. We draw away from the group until we're out of earshot.

"So..." I urge.

"I'll give you a hint" she says with a glint in her eyes, "It's something cold"

"No way" I whisper and then smile, "The casket" Loki really does think of everything. In case the fire giants terminate our alliance or step out of line, we have a pretty amazing backup plan. "Why didn't Loki tell me?"

"Surtur is watching his and your every move. His majesty couldn't tell you without alerting the fire giants of the casket. Can you imagine what would happen if they found out?"

"We'd have a war on our hands before Ragnarök even began"

"Exactly, that's why the casket is kept in here" Freya says tapping the box, "And why you didn't hear about the casket till now, although I was dying to tell you"

I smile. Freya sounds so much like a giddy teenager. "Why'd you join Loki's army?"

"A lifetime ago, before my years in the dungeons, I had five siblings. We were all very powerful and I, as the first born was the most powerful and influential. I lived like a queen until everything was taken away from me by my little sister. She was the youngest out of all of us, supposedly the weakest until her true colours showed. Being in King Loki's army is a chance at getting my power back"

"You talk of her in the past, is she dead now?"

"No, I just don't regard her as my sister anymore" The same unnatural blue shines dangerously in her eyes. Freya's story reminds me all too much of Amora, but at least she's dead.

"May I ask you a question?" says Freya. I nod. "Are you and Loki, a couple?"

"No, no. We work together, that's all"

"Well maybe you should change that"

"And why should I do that?"

"Honey, please. If you want power, absolute power. You need to become his Queen" Freya walks off leaving me to my own thoughts. Queen Lorelei, the idea unleashes a warm and fuzzy feeling inside of me. Charming Loki shouldn't be too hard, a few smiles and some persuasion go a long way.

Our group makes it to the end of the rainbow bridge and to the Entrance of the Bifrost. The only person inside will be Heimdall.

Loki, Surtur, two fire giants and I enter the golden dome. The stars glitter on the walls and great, gold gears crank slowly spinning the dome this way and that. Heimdall stands on his podium with his back to us. "Can it be that not too long ago we were in another situation quite like this, how the time flies. Only this time you brought warmer company" Heimdall says addressing Loki.

"And this time you won't be frozen in a block of ice" Loki replies. Heimdall turns and catches a blast from Loki's sceptre to the chest. He flies backwards through the air like a ragdoll to crash onto the floor. Heimdall doesn't stir.

Loki chuckles and wears one of his signature smiles. He turns to me, "Next stop, Midgard!"

I smile too. Enchantress today, Queen tomorrow.