#whd

The next week was a non-stop schedule of training my sword skill, practicing my ability to become invisible under duress, and strengthening my endurance. As soon as I thought I had one skill perfected, Val would come along and hit me with something new, and it felt like I hd to start all over again.

The day before my fight was to take place, Val let me rest. “You’ll need all the energy you can have for tomorrow.” She said, popping the top from what must have been her thousandth drink.

“What are you trying to forget?” I asked quietly, “What happened to you to make you want to stay in this place?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She muttered back, “And if you want to live to see tomorrow, you’ll stop talking about it too.”

“Sorry I asked.” I said, trying to see more of the tattoo that was on her forearm. Her bracer covered most of it, the vaguely geometric pattern hidden by the leather.

“What about you?” She asked, gesturing to me with a fresh bottle. “What caused you to get so lost that you ended up here?”

“A long story.” I said, “I met a couple Asgardians when they came to earth, Thor and Loki. There was a long, complicated problem on earth, and I ended up following them back to Asgard. We eventually stopped a Dark Elf from destroying the universe, I lived in Asgard afterwards. Thor returned, looking for Odin. We went back to earth, Hela was released, and when we were trying to get back to Asgard via the Bifrost, she ripped me out of my… companion’s arms and threw me away.”

“You even know the princes.” Val scoffed, offering me a bottle. “Sounds like you’ve had an eventful week.”

I refused, “I just hope that Thor and Loki are alright.” I said, running a hand through my hair. “Without them there to protect it, Asgard must have already fallen to her grasp.”

“Time will tell.” Val said, “If she has won, she will doubtless find her way here eventually.”

I spent the day in Val’s home, wary of how many shelves full of liquor she had. She never seemed inebriated, but I rarely saw her without a bottle in her hands. I wished that I had remembered more of what I had read during my time in Asgard, as Val’s arm tattoo seemed vaguely familiar. I would be able to discern more if I had studied more earnestly.

My rest that night was fitful, my nerves and anxiety getting the best of me. The following morning, Val helped me to tie up my hair securely before we went to the arena. She had tied it up similarly to her own, keeping it away from my face and off my neck as much as possible.

We made a silent trip to the arena, my stomach too upset to eat any food. I sat quietly, playing with my hands, wishing Loki was there with me. He would doubtless have something witty to say, something kind to settle my nerves. A part of me longed to go back in time, to kiss him once more, to memorize the feeling of his arms around mine. My heart ached, and my eyes brimmed with tears. Even if I survived this match, it was unlikely that I would ever escape this place, much less see him again.

When we arrived at the arena, I slipped my armor on over my clothing in grim silence. I followed Val to my entrance gate, the dull roar of the crowd easily audible through the thick steel door.

“Remember, don’t let them see you at all if it’s at all possible.” Val said as I was waiting to be announced. “Your chance is staying hidden well enough to outlast him.”

I nodded, steeling myself, gripping my shortsword. The Grandmaster’s voice boomed through the stadium, the crowd cheering at the top of their lungs.

“Everyone, give it up for the Green Dagger!!” the Grandmaster said, and the crowd roared as his fighter was released into the arena.

“And competing for the first time in the arena,” announced the Grandmaster, my gate slowly opening so I could walk into the arena, “The beautiful Miss Fortune!”

The crowd roared, their cries dying down when they couldn’t see me step out. The arena was enormous, larger than any football field I had ever seen. I could see imprisoned fighters watching from grates in the sides of the arena wall, trying to find me. I kept walking forwards, towards the figure at the opposite end of the arena. I slowly drew my sword, keeping as quiet as possible to take my enemy by surprise. He had turned his back, looking behind him for any sign of me. His cape shielded his body from my view, and a small amount of black hair poked out from under a helmet on his head. I was almost within striking distance when he turned around, and I dropped my sword, my world freezing.

Loki stood before me, his knives held up defensively until he saw me. There was nothing but deafening silence from the crowd as Loki wrapped me up in his arms and held me as tightly as he could. He buried his face in my neck, his breath warm against my bare skin.

“I feared you dead.” Loki said, his voice broken and breathy. “When you were thrown from the Bifrost, I hardly had time to think before I was thrown as well, and I-”

I cut him off with my lips, tears streaming as I held him close, weaving my fingers through his hair. I was so happy to see him again, to know that he was safe, to hold him close, that I forgot all about Sakaar for a blissful moment. My tears dried and I smiled, gasping a laugh at the sheer luck that I had. The Grandmaster was right, I was indeed fortunate.

My moment of heaven didn’t last long, however, as another gate opened back up, releasing strange robots with electricity sparking off of their arms. The Grandmaster announced their entrance, covering for the “mistake” of announcing us as rivals, when he “Intended to say we were a team”. The crowd roared, and I looked to Loki.

“I’ll talk with you soon.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” he replied, touching my face, his voice low and laden with emotion.

He picked up his daggers as I grabbed my shortsword, turning to face our enemies together as a united force. Loki multiplied himself, one projection for every robot. I vanished, running around to place myself behind the machines. We dispatched the mechanical adversaries, each of them falling easily beneath our blades.

I finished off what I thought was the last one, becoming visible once more with a heavy sigh. I heard Loki shout out my name, and I turned around, my chest met with a burst of electricity. I collapsed, twitching as I fell to the ground. My veins felt on fire, and I lost my vision in a blinding flash of white. My vision slowly returned, everything in slow motion.

Loki knelt over me, his hands running over my midriff, trying to find any sign of injury. It took me a moment to realize that he was using magic to repair the damage that the electricity had done in direct contact with my skin. He was trying to speak with me, but I couldn’t hear anything save the ringing in my ears. I stared blankly at him, his expression panicked and fearful. He tried to tell me something, his eyes begging me to understand, before being grabbed and pulled away by guards. I was picked up, and carried out.

They dragged me past Val, her expression disapproving as she shook her head. Dropping me at her feet, the guards left us alone.

“I take it you know him?” she said, kneeling to help me up to my feet.