Beneath A Moonless Sky: A Thor Fanfic

Family Ties

There was a gloom settling into the abyssal unknown, the roots of Yggdrasil. There were many such passageways between one realm and the next, though no celestial line of voyage was as direct as the Bifrost. With the bridge shattered, however, and no guarantee that were it functional he'd be able to use it (damn Heimdall for all he was worth), Loki's demeanor darkened with a slight scowl.

He was down one infinity stone, having already lost the Tesseract in his failed attempt at conquering the realm he so violently looked on. He narrowed his dark sapphire eyes slowly, contemplating the amount of magic necessary to breech Midgard's atmosphere. He'd done it before, sure, but that was Asgard. That was his home. He was unsure how much it would drain of him, how long it would take to recuperate.

The god could not afford to be too slow in his taking of Earth. He no longer had the element of surprise, being known far and wide after the Battle of New York. He would have to blend in, and that would require a certain amount of shapeshifting talent that he may or may not possess if not at full capacity. But what choice had he who would be arrested the moment he lay foot in Asgard? He who had no other home save for the frosty wasteland he loathed more than he loathed himself? No, Midgard was his only shot at claiming his rightful place as king, and he knew that.

What was done was done. Loki's magic exploded from his body, an excruciating blast of energy breaking through the realms barrier. His scream was blood curdling, the over exertion wreaking havoc on his insides as his vision blurred and very soul was nearly torn from his body. There was a whirr of color, a flash bright enough to blind even Heimdall's all seeing eye, and then suddenly...there was an eerie stillness as the new surroundings settled in around him.

He knew not where he was, only that it was cold enough to see the shaky breaths being forced painfully from his lungs. He glanced around, eyes attempting to focus on what looked like a large city building before his legs gave out on him. He collapsed, hearing nothing but the faint sound of a female voice before he was immersed in blackest unconsciousness.

The woman, whose concerned voice had rung in Loki's ears, peered down at his limp body as it breathed shallowly on the snowy and damp sidewalk. She tucked a strand of long curly brown hair behind her ear and bent down to examine the body. She pressed a slender finger to the base of Loki's neck, checking for pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief to find one, albeit faint.

"Emily!" She shouted over her shoulder, looking frantically from the god to the building behind her. Her best friend was a waitress at the family restaurant off to the left of the street, and Loki had fainted close enough to the establishments double doors that anyone inside could have heard her panicked cries. It was late in the evening, around closing time, and therefore easy for Emily to rush from the dining room out into the night air, startled at the sound of her friend's shouts.

"Lanie? What the hell is going on out here? Are you okay?" When her friend didn't answer, Emily peered around Lanie's body, molten grey eyes widening as she realized that there was a man in need of medical attention laying unresponsive on the hard concrete.

"O-Oh my God...I'll call 911!" Emily's trembling hands clamored for her Android, struggling to type in her passcode as she heard a roar of protest bellow out from behind her.

"STOP!"

Emily dropped her phone, startled, breath knocked clean out of her as she very slowly turned on her heels. There was an incredibly large man standing adjacent to the restaurants open doors, long blonde hair pulled into a half braid, and an expression written in his eyes that made her fear for her life.