Infinity | Loki [Book Three]

Chapter Three

As we walked through the doors of the throne room, I was filled with a sense of urgency. Loki, on the other hand, had gone deathly pale and silent as the grave.

"Thanos is here and we are doing nothing!" I said. "Why have the people not been informed? Why are we not preparing for war?"

"We don't know that Thanos is here for battle," one of the advisors said.

"Even if that were true, we should still prepare for any outcome." Rage and fear were coursing through my veins like a blazing fire. "He will slaughter us and our people just as he did to the people of Xandar."

"I remind you that the people of Asgard are not your people," the advisor said. "Nor is it your place--"

"Enough," Thor said. "You are both right, although Mayhem has done enough for Asgard's sake that she might as well be one of us."

"You're saying that I'm right, so why isn't anything being done?" I asked. "Thanos is up there preparing to murder us where we stand here arguing and no one is doing anything to try and fight back!"

"Thanos may not be readying for war," Thor said, much too calm for the circumstances.

"You forget that I can see more than you," I said coldly. "If you don't believe someone who isn't one of you, then go ask Heimdall. He is seeing the exact same thing." I strode out of the room without being dismissed.

"May!" Loki called as he ran down the hallway after me. "Mayhem!"

"That's the thing," I said, deciding to be angry with everything all at once. "See, Mayhem is what I am. D-84 is who Hydra made me. So who am I, really?"

"That is the stupidest question I have ever heard," he said. "Who you are has absolutely nothing to do with your name."

"That's easy for you to say. You're either worshipped or feared by almost everyone. Your name is more well-known on Midgard than Odin's." I turned away and kept walking.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to steal the Tesseract."

"That's madness," Loki said, then paused. "How can I help?"

"Two guards on each side of the door. Do you have the authority to dismiss them?"

"No, but I can get us inside if that's good enough."

I nodded and stepped behind him, creating an illusion of invisibility as I did.

Maybe it was just that we were about to commit what would be considered a felony on Midgard, but the vast hallways seemed overly empty, filled only with ghostly echoes. We passed not a single soul in the walk to the vault. The only sound was our heartbeats, which quickened with every step.

It wasn't until we were in front of the doors to the vault that I sensed something wrong. I noticed the sense of wrongness even before Loki's sharp intake of breath brought my attention to the four incapacitated guards lying in front of the barely-open vault door.

"Loki..." I whispered as I became visible.

"Someone's here," he said, a knife appearing in each of his hands.

I, too, armed myself as he nudged the door open with the toe of his boot and peeked around the edge.

"I don't see anyone." Loki opened the door the rest of the way.

It had seemed, in that moment, that whatever had dealt with the guards had simply left before getting far into the vault. Looking back, that was a stupid assumption. A very, very stupid assumption.

We crept around the pedestals that held objects of power with our knives at the ready. Not a single telltale footprint in the dust or shadow on the wall was to be seen. Every pedestal was full, nothing out of place.

"It's still here," Loki said. "The Tesseract--"

An ear-splitting, screeching howl cut through his words at the name of the Cube. Along with the sound came a grotesque, barely-humanoid creature that launched itself, at us or the Tesseract I do not know.

Much to my surprise, Loki froze. The dagger slipped from his shaking hand as he stared wide-eyed at the monster aiming to kill. On instinct alone the knife flew from my hand, sinking deep into the thing's skull. Dark blood splattered in every direction as the creature fell to the ground.

Loki was still frozen in place. The closer I got to him the more I could see the quick, shallow breathing, the shudders that shook him from head to toe, and the pure fear showing on his face.

"Hey," I said, forcing him to look at me. "It's dead. It's gone. There aren't any more of them."

"I know," he whispered, although it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than agree with me.

"You're okay. I'm okay. Everyone is fine."

After a few more minutes of this, Loki calmed down enough to explain that the monster was one of the Chitari, the army of Thanos.

"I thought the Chitari were destroyed," I said.

"One clan of them was," Loki said, tripping over his own words. "This is from another, not the one--the one I... he controlled."

"What did he do to you?" I asked quietly. When he didn't answer, I asked a different question: "Why would anyone do this to someone?"

"Because he is a monster." His voice cracked. "He is a monster that turns everyone around him into monsters. And if he fails to change someone, that person goes through so many terrible things that death... death becomes a gift, and not one that is given often. That is what monsters like him do."

"We'll kill him," I said, confidently enough for both of us. "Just don't go and get yourself killed, okay?"

Loki nodded and picked up his dagger, tucking it into his belt. "I'm going to inform Thor of this new development. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'll be around if you need me."

He smiled. It was a small smile, but it was enough. Enough to give me hope that maybe, even if the worst happened, the two of us would get through this.