Puzzle Of A Chosen Trickster

Are You Kidding?!

(Narrator POV)
The Avengers pulled out of the visions with a gasp. Thor looked close to tears by now. Steve and Tony were both feeling rather sad. Lastly, Natasha was letting tiny cracks of sadness pass through her mask of calm.

"He is not coming back." Thor broke the silence with a sound not unlike a whimper. Everyone's heads whipped to him.

"What do you mean?" Natasha inquired with furrowed brows. Thor took a moment before answering.

"Loki's not coming back. He has no magic down there and even if Surtur weakened Hela, she's strongest in Helheim." He murmured to them.

"Loki doesn't need magic." Tony pointed out with annoyance beginning to drip into his tone.

"You overestimate him." Thor said with  some regained composure. He seemed sad, but otherwise fairly calm.

"Even if we are, he died so that he'd have the insurance of already being dead. If she wins, he can try again." Steve stated, making a very good point.

"Like a video game." Tony said and he couldn't help but wonder if Loki had some level of understanding about video-games like he seemed to about other pop culture. Unlike his brother.

"He'll be in an endless loop because he cannot beat her." Thor sounded more annoyed now and a pinch was forming between his brows.

"Have some faith in your brother." Natasha said with all the confidence in the world.

"I have in the past and it has only failed me." Thor had really calmed down over the years and his temper was much more under control, but he still had a bit of rage seeping into his voice.

"I'd like to point out that you've failed him too!" Tony jumped to defend the God of Chaos.

"Tony..." Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. Deep breaths, Cap, deep breaths.

"What?! It's true! Loki has had faith in Thor and been let down over and over. He keeps having faith in you though! No matter what, he has always believed in you." Tony began the sentence yelling, but ended up almost growling at the end.

"How do know all of this?!" Thor snapped and took a step closer. Steve used his free hand to place on his shoulder and keep him back without even opening his eyes.

"I opened that puzzle. I felt it all. I told you guys about the whispers, but I left out a little detail. I got to see a slideshow of his whole life. It was all too fast, but I got the gist." Tony didn't understand why he had to keep arguing in the God's defense. Maybe it was because he was the only one here (besides Natasha probably) who understood what being tortured does to you. He could understand why Loki helped with the invasion, and he shouldn't be blamed for that.

"You think you know him better than I?!" Thor yelled. Natasha also put a hand on him, but otherwise stayed back in order to just observe them.

"It isn't that hard, buddy!" Tony snapped and moved to take a step closer as well.

"Both of you stop it! We are not going to make bets on if he gets out! What we are going to do is watch the rest of the memories." Steve shouted after he threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Fine by me." Tony sighed and flung himself back into the desk chair, drained.

"Do not get your hopes up for his return." Thor grumbled and moved to lean against the back of the couch.

"Man, if he doesn't punch you in the face when he gets back, I will." Tony mumbled and slowly closed his eyes for what felt like the first time in days.

It was silent for a moment while the entire group processed the events of the last five minutes.

"I am surrounded by children." Natasha concluded with a nod of her head and a small frown in place.

Another short pause before the Captain changed the subject.

"So, what exactly does Loki have to do? Like in detail." Steve asked and leaned against the kitchen doorframe.

"Well, I do not know everything he plans to do, but to resurrect he will have to defeat Hela, collect a resurrection artifact, use it, and then dive into some soul waters. Normally people cannot come back from Helheim, but since he died in sacrifice he should be in Valhalla. I sense some form of trickery." Thor explained.

"I'm sorry, but doesn't that sound a bit like the Hercules Disney movie? The whole river of souls thing?" Tony asked after a second.

"I have no clue what you are speaking of, Friend Stark." Thor chuckled a bit. It was quiet, but still a chuckle.

"We seriously need to get you up to date in Earth's pop culture, Rapunzel." Tony told the God who simply nodded. Once again Tony wondered if Loki knew anything more about pop culture than the heroes and villains of DC comics.

There was another pause until the subject was changed once more, this time by Natasha.

"I wish we could talk to Loki." She almost whispered to the group of men in the room.

"Same." Steve sighed out in agreement.
There was a pause where Tony seemed to be thinking something over before he finally spoke.

"Maybe after we finish the memories that are currently in there, I could try to figure something out." Tony shrugged. He doubted it because he really didn't know much about magic and this was a creation of magic, not science.

"That would be marvelous!" Thor grinned widely and his voice seemed to be gaining back its thunderous boom.

"Not making any promises, Point Break." Was Tony's slightly delayed answer. He really didn't want to get the God's hopes up.

"How many memories are left?" Steve put out there.

"No clue, but there are probably only a few since he didn't die all that long ago. He'll probably be adding more since we can assume he isn't done yet." Tony claimed.

"Why can we assume that he is not finished?" Thor asked with the furrow back in his eyebrows.

"Because he'd be back by now if he was done." Tony smirked in the blonde's direction.

"I told you not to get your hopes up. He may not return." Thor sighed with mild irritation, but his lips twitched in what would have been a hesitant smile. Tony really reminded him of Loki sometimes.

There was a moment where Tony seemed to think over Thor's words before shaking his head with a small grin.

"He'll be back. I know he will."

A/N The action scenes start next chapter! I'm excited and I hope you like it!

They aren't really action scenes, but they are definitely more than dialogue.

Keep reading and enjoy!