When War and Lies Collide

The Brothers

A few hours later, Thor arrived in the Throne Room.  Loki, Odin, and the thunder god were to discuss this plan of Loki's, as it was too crazy for even Odin to fully wrap his head around.  They needed another opinion.

The plan was to be top secret, and only on need to know basis.  Meaning, the only people who were granted permission to know were literally standing in the room.  The plan's entire rate of success lay in the three men's hands- and that was it.  There would be no second chances.

There was plenty of perfecting to do, especially since the Asgardians still didn't know what kind of soldiers Thanos would be leading.  It could be the Chitauri and Leviathans again, but Loki almost doubted it.  Loki was betting that The Other and Thanos would want to pack in a little surprise, just to throw them more off than they already were.

Thor cast his brother a worried glance, uncomfortable with the idea.  "I don't know how you're going to do it, Loki, but Asgard will honor you if you succeed."  He said, although there wasn't much joy in his tone.

They had all agreed to the plan, and they all knew what they had to do to make it work.

"Well, let us get started, shall we?"  Loki urged, finally breaking the silence.  Odin nodded, watching as Thor and Loki left the Throne Room.  The king definitely had a new respect for the trickster.

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Thor had lead Loki to the training arena, both of them needing to brush up on their skills.  Loki needed to work on his hand to hand combat and concentrate on how long he could hold an illusion.  Thor admitted to having to expand his fighting moves, and so they found themselves surrounded by other warriors- none of which were Sif.

Loki flung a dull dagger at his opponent, it clanging against the warrior's shield.  Although, when the warrior tried to charge him, he didn't realize that it wasn't 'Loki' he was charging at, but an illusion.  The prince was behind him with an arm outstretched to keep up the magic, watching as he ran straight through the magical image and almost lost his balance.  Loki had timed it perfectly, and the trickster's short dagger was on the warrior's throat in seconds.  Loki won the match.

He released his opponent to run back into the mob that was a training session, elbowing past a warrior on his way in.  Thor chucked Mjolnir and had it hit another warrior, the poor thing flying into the nearest wall.

Training didn't slow down for hours, and by the time it was over, the sun was down.  Loki shook with exhaustion and sweat poured from every inch of skin on him, scrapes and bruises covering his body.  His arms were sore and he felt a black eye coming, and was just thankful the bruise wouldn't last too long.

"You did well today, brother."  Thor said, walking up behind Loki and patting his back.  It might've been due to Loki's exhausted state, but he hadn't even noticed Thor behind him.  

"Thank you, Thor."  Loki replied, his tone still a little breathless.

"I'll see you bright and early, then.  I believe Sif is located in camp thirty four if you would like to speak with her."  Thor said, knowing Loki might want to check on her.

And he did.  He really did.  But, he couldn't let Sif know he would be active in battle.  With a pang of sadness, the prince accepted the fact that visiting Sif wouldn't be an option.  She would know what he was up to just by a glance.  "Thank you, Thor.  I appreciate that, though I am quite exhausted.  I believe I will visit her tomorrow morning before training."  Loki lied, Thor nodding with a smile.

"Tomorrow, then."  Thor replied, Loki waving a farewell in response before beginning his trek towards home.

When he did finally get home, he didn't even bother to change his clothes.  His whole body screamed at him for his over exertion, Loki dreading how it would feel in the morning.  He was sure his muscles would seize up on him if he didn't stop moving.

The beaten down prince flopped onto the bed, not even attempting to crawl under the blankets.  He fell asleep quickly, his face pressed into Sif's pillow; her scent a lingering comfort.  It was the faint smell of her strawberry hair that sent him off to his dreams, which weren't pleasant for long.  Throughout the night, he tossed and turned; any mumbling that came from his mouth being mutters of 'help' and 'no'.  Sif shared quite the similar sleep experience in the camps.

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The next morning, Loki was up before the sun was- again.  His muscles ached as he assumed they would, and a hot shower wasn't even enough to ease the tension in his shoulders.  He didn't even bother to comb through his hair until after strapping on his leather armor; then adding the metal plates afterwards.

Just as the sun began to inch up past the horizon; Loki left his home and headed towards the arena.  In store for him was an equally brutal day of beating and getting beaten, the practice only ending when a warrior could no longer stand on his legs.  Thor was there again and was fighting alongside his brother, Loki even perfecting a Thor illusion to assist his sibling.  

They made an amazing team, back to back they fought.  Thor had the most strength of the two, but Loki had the brains of the bunch.  After just a few minutes of fighting someone and becoming quickly accustomed to their fighting style, he was able to accurately predict their next motion.  Loki could disarm them before they even processed what they were to do next, Loki able memorize the patterns of their muscle memory.

He was able to defeat more opponents than he had yesterday, and by the time they had break, he was feeling much more upbeat.

"I'll admit it, I am impressed."  Thor said after taking a swig from a large jug full of water.  The two brothers sat next to each other on a bench as they caught their breath.

Loki rose his eyebrows, but had a smirk on his lips.  "As you should be."  He chuckled, leaning his head back and taking a drink from his own mug.

Thor bellowed a laugh with him, although it faded rather quickly.  His smile was replaced with a small frown, the blonde looking down at the dusty ground and the small specks of blood that scattered it.  "I still cannot fathom how you think this plan is a good idea."  He said quietly, eyes flicking back to his brother's.

"It is what I must do.  I made a mistake, and now I will clean it up.  It's simple, Thor."  Loki replied, the thought of what he was to do sending a shiver up his spine.  "Even an oaf such as yourself should be able to see that."  He teased with a familiar trickster grin, although the smile didn't reach his eyes.  He was afraid, and with good reason to be.

Thor frowned, looking back down at the ground.  "Well, we best continue our practice."  Thor said, a hint of glumness in his tone as he set down his hardened clay jug.

Loki did the same, watching as Thor lifted Mjolnir and left his side, Loki following with a blade in his hand.  The only plus side Loki could think of during these long days was the fact that the pain distracted him from any homesick thoughts of Sif.

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Hello, everyone!  That's the chapter!  ^u^ I loved writing the two brothers in there, even though it was a little bit on the sad side lol.

Anyways, I would love it if you voted for the chapter and left a comment down below!! :D  Add the story to your libraries if you want to stay up to date with updates! 

Thank you all for sticking with this story, I truly am thankful for all of your feedback and nice things that you have said to me.

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