Beneath A Moonless Sky: A Thor Fanfic

Epilogue

There was a chill in the atmosphere as the tromp of black boots echoed throughout the cold vacuum of space. Anxiety was nestled in the very fiber of the air, and though the trespasser held himself with a crisp arrogance, there were none in the galaxy who did not fear his host. Not even Odin, Allfather as he was, dared challenge the Titan's tyranny, and as Asgard's king stood before the sickeningly familiar throne, his dark blue eyes bore holes into the ground.

Loki could hear Thanos turn in his chair to face him, though Loki dare not avert his gaze to the face of the monster standing before him. His insides felt hollow, and his heart was pounding in his ears. Loki had not feared a creature this greatly in all his life, and he knelt respectfully at the Titan's feet. "You've come a long way to die, Asgardian."

"I come only to return what belongs to you, and a beg for asylum in exchange."

The dark laugh that floated towards the god rattled his bones, and he fought every urge he had to flee. He had to remain strong for his family, he had to remember why he was doing this. "Your conceit suits you ill. You come into my home and attempt to bargain with my property?"

"I mean you no offense, but without what I now hold in my possession you hold no authority over this world. I can give you what you seek; I ask only that in the massacre that follows you allow my wife and child to live. Kill me, for my shortcomings, for my failure, if you must. But Lanie and Edith live, that is the deal."

Loki braved a peak at Thanos, whose violet face was as mangled and dreadful as he remembered. The Titan's bright, glowing cyan eyes were menacing, and the tremor of his snarl shook the throne room to its core. "No authority? Child, you would not have come if my very existence did not demand authority. You know what is coming, Loki, son of Laufey, bastard of Jotunheim. That is why you grovel, why you twist your fear into courage as you slink back into my good graces. You know I will stop at nothing to gain what I seek, and all I see before me is a coward of a father whose heart bleeds for a little girl that he cannot protect."

Loki did not dare breathe. He bit his lips until they oozed crimson, a pit of self-hatred settling into his stomach as Thanos spoke. He knew he wasn't wrong, and there was nothing in all nine realms as humiliating. He had risked everything, coming here, knowing good and well that he may not ever return. He had been Asgard's king for a long six months, and he had started his reign by attempting to negotiate peace between realms by pulling Asgard's troops out of otherworldly affairs. This included a treaty with Earth, where in so doing he had convinced Rogers that both the scepter and Tesseract would find a safer home with The Collector, some long ways away from both Asgard and Midgard respectively. And here he was, betraying the Avengers, his brother, his home...his love.

Thanos simmered in his anger for several moments while he pondered, tilting his head at the god in slight pity. It was a truly deplorable sight, this dull creature. So much untapped potential, wasted in sentiment. He thought of his own little one, his Gamora, and he pitied him even further. If nothing else was left human inside the Titan, it was his love for his daughter, and that was perhaps as much empathy as he was capable of. The monster sighed. "Give me the stones, Laufey's son, and see yourself home to your child. This is my only mercy. I cannot promise you her guaranteed safety in my cleanse of half all life in the universe, only that I will not raise my hand to her nor your wife myself, physically."

That was enough for Loki, who pulled the Tesseract from his cape with a shaky hand. He held it outstretched in his left, offering the scepter with his right, and he screwed his eyes shut tightly as Thanos slowly stood and approached him. Thanos snatched both greedily, a wide smile stretching across his hideous features. He crumbled the Tesseract in his hand like it was bread, placing the space stone delicately inside the gauntlet. He then proceeded to snap the top off the scepter, the staff's handle clattering to the floor as the Titan's beefy fingers pried the mind stone from its confines. "You have paid your debt. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."

Loki didn't need to be told twice. He bowed gracefully, turning on his hill on trembling legs as he attempted to strut confidently from Thano's line of vision. He could feel his nemesis's eyes on him for a long moment as he walked, and as the being opened his mouth to speak, Loki halted dead in his tracks. "Oh, and Loki," Thanos drawled, addressing him by first name in a low warning growl. An evil smirk twisted at the corner of his lips as he watched the god sweat, knowing he had the entirety of Asgard right where he wanted it. "Betray me, and I will offer you your daughter's head on a pike. Am I understood?"

Loki swallowed hard. "Y-yes, Sir."

Thanos's brutish chuckle ricocheted in the silence, every hair on Loki's body standing on end. "Give your wife my regards."