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Loki embraced the nothingness of death as Thanos squeezed and twisted the life out of him. He knew this would happen, had expected it. He could still hear Thor’s muffled shout even as his limp, dead body fell with a dull thump. He could see Thor crawl to his cooling body. He grimaced at the sight of his own dead, suffocated face. He really could’ve gone in a better way, but everything was going according to plan. I’m prepared for this. He was whisked away as the ship fell apart with the devastation of the Power Stone. Loki found himself looking at the grand halls of Valhalla, a surprise. The grand golden gates opened for him and his mother walked out.
“I did not expect you so soon my son,” Frigga said sadly, as she embraced him.
“I do not plan to stay long, Mother,” Loki reassured as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.
Frigga smiled and pulled back.
“Of course you don't. What scheme are you playing now?” Frigga questioned.
“Thanos’ downfall,” Loki answered.
“And what of Thor?” Frigga inquired.
“Thor will be able to do his part whether he realizes he’s doing it. He doesn't need me. He never has.” Loki replied.
Frigga gave Loki a sad smile, the same one she gave him before she died when he had lashed out at her in his cell.
“That is not true, Loki. You still fail to see that there is no Thor without you, and no you without Thor.” Frigga said.
Loki had no response, he simply looked at his mother. Saying nothing of how Loki always thought of Thor’s vow. I’ll slay them all.
“I know you don’t believe me, but it is true nonetheless. Now come inside, join us.” Frigga says as she turns to lead Loki inside.
“I can’t, Mother. I have to do my part.” Loki says mournfully.
His mother spins around, surprised hidden but still there.
“No, Loki. Stay.” She insisted.
“I cannot. I don’t deserve Valhalla anyway. I am Jotun, and after everything I’ve done...” Loki trailed.
Frigga knew her son could not be persuaded when his mind had already been made up. She could tell Loki had a plan, a purpose, and he would see it through. She smiled and sighed heavily, knowing too well how Loki operated.
“Very well, dear. Go help your brother. I shall inform your father and friends you have some unfinished business.” She smiled.
Loki gave a soft smile and took a step to tightly hug his mother, she returned it with more force. Reluctantly, they let go of each other.
“Until next time, Mother.” He said fondly.
“Until next time, my son.” She replied gently.
With that they turned from each other, resisting the urge to turn and look at the other. Once Loki heard the gates close behind him, he took a deep, shaky breath. Time to get to work. He materialized on Midgard, watched as the Time Stone was taken, and the Mind Stone targeted. He couldn't intervene at all regardless of how much he desperately wanted to. He could, for some reason, boost the power of the red woman, Wanda. He wasn't sure if she noticed though. He sat beside Thor, watching him mourn for Asgard, for his brother, it tore at Loki to see his brother in such a state, but Loki had a job to do. It wasn't that long until Thanos sacrificed his favored daughter, Gamora, for the Soul Stone. Loki actually liked Gamora and Nebula, they met briefly when Thanos was ‘persuading’ Loki to march on Midgard. He could see parallels between them and him and Thor, but finally, his part came. The Soul Stone gave Thanos an unseen, phantom army. However, this army would attack the souls of others, not the body. Only souls could combat them, and that was what Loki intended on doing. He would protect the Avengers and the new heroes. If their souls fell, so would they. It surprised Loki when Thanos didn't use the stone’s abilities right away, then it clicked. Thanos couldn't balance the power of each stone at once, and the Soul Stone requires constant use in order to have the phantom army. Loki grinned. That meant that Thanos would only use the stone when he felt cornered. With Loki battling the phantoms, the heroes could potentially defeat Thanos if he was feeling cornered. It was perfect and likely. The only way Thanos could have the phantom army would be to have someone connected to his life force and be a soul like Loki was. Not only did that require a lot of energy, but only a few people have the skill to create such a bond, much less withstand it for a while. Loki knew he would be able to, the Sorcerer Supreme might be able too, but other than that no one else in this fight could. Of course, that was when Loki was proven wrong. Hela appeared before Thanos in the water, telling him of what she could do for him in return for the restoration of Asgard with her as it’s queen. Of course, if I were her I would do that too. Thanos agreed after a moment of contemplation and he and Hela created the bond. Loki knew he couldn't do anything against the two of them. The moment it connected, phantom soldiers rose from the ground to kneel before Hela and Thanos. Loki watched as more and more lines of the phantom soldiers rose to her command. As soon as Hela gave them the motion to stand, they turned to Loki, raising their weapons.
“Well, Little Brother, are you just going to stand there?” Hela sneered.
Loki summoned twin blades, connected by a chain, and went into a defensive stance.
“No, Sister, I’m ready when you are,” Loki replied.
The first line charged him, Loki sliced through each of them, gracefully dodging as he went. Once the line was down, Loki looked at Hela.
“Not going to join in the fight?” Loki taunted.
“And have the army fall, should you defeat me?” Hela replied.
“Well, I do suppose you are much weaker with Asgard being nothing but space dust, a pity.” Loki said.
Hela commanded all lines to attack at once. Loki, knowing he wouldn't be able to take down that many without magic, swiped at the air with his right twin blade. Fire erupted from the slice and spread across the field. The fire was green and wild, burning the very souls of the soldiers to nothing. Hela stared at the burnt crisps of her soldiers, impressed.
“You've learned how to manipulate the eternal flame.” She turned her attention to him, “I must admit I am impressed, but there are far more soldiers than you can possibly hope to defeat.” Hela bragged.
Loki grinned.
“All I have to do is strike you down, Hela. I don't have to defeat all of them.” He smirked.
The next breath of a moment, Loki was behind Hela, knife deep in her lower back, angled up. The armor directly over her heart was too thick and firm to pierce through, he had to make do. It wasn't good enough. Hela did let out a yelp of pain but quickly jerked away from Loki. She struck out at Loki, he blocked it with ease.
“My, my, how weak you are without Asgard!” Loki grinned.
She sneered at him and commanded her soldiers to attack in groups as she backed away. Loki continued on with slicing through his enemies, aided by magic. Loki and Hela fought for days, a continuous stream of combat with a few insults thrown at each other accented by attempts on the others life at their own hands. Loki was glad souls didn't feel exhaustion, otherwise, he would've been killed a long time ago. Loki desperately wanted to check up on Thor but knew he couldn't. If he looked away, he would fall, and he could not fall. If he was defeated, the heroes’ souls would be vulnerable, and Thanos would win. Suddenly, Hela teleported away, along with her army. Loki went to cut through a phantom, but it was whisked away. He looked around and noticed the absence of his foe across the waters of the stone plain.
“Damn, it's starting.” He muttered to himself.
He focused on Thor, found him on Midgard, and materialized in front of him. Before Loki was a battlefield, the Bifrost marks charred onto a desert plain. Thor had somehow managed to correctly wield Stormbreaker, Loki was very proud. He had had a foresight vision shortly before Thanos attacked their ship days ago. His vision showed this moment, Loki standing on the Bifrost marks, turning his head and seeing Thor locked in glorious battle. Lightning striking out from his brother as he changed the battlefield in the favor of Midgard. Loki smiled proudly, even though no one could see him. Hela was just materializing on the field, Thanos coming out of a portal behind her. Loki watched the battle begin to play out but was soon preoccupied with Hela. She went straight for Thor, a mistake. Loki charged her, he would not let her get to Thor. He tackled her to the side, pinning her under him, hands on her wrists and legs at her sides. Loki released his glamour and let the icy skin touch Hela’s sides and wrist. Hela summoned a small black spike up from the ground, it struck Loki deep in his side. Jerking back, Hela kicked him in the chest, knocking him off of her. Phantom soldiers began to pile on Loki, pushing him to the ground. With a growl and a yell, Loki sent out a pulse of energy, disintegrating the soldiers.
“You will not touch any of their souls.” Loki snarled.
With that he summoned Laevateinn, the blade glowed with energy, fueled by Loki’s soul. Hela commanded more soldiers to rise to her aid, countless phantoms stood against Loki. He smirked, she played right into his hands. It would still take a few minutes to prepare the spell. He raised his arm to the ready, welcoming the challenge. He didn't notice the heroes watching him and Hela. Thanos had spread the Soul Stone’s influence to them in a lapse of control. They could see his battle, but he didn’t notice, too focused on Hela. Loki slashed and sliced through the lines, muttering the incantation at the same time. He attacked and dodged with grace, clearing out the army. During the fight, he had extended Laevateinn to be a bladed staff. He whirled and lunged his way through Hela’s undead army. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the soldiers closing in on the Widow. The next moment he was between them shoving Laevateinn into its chest. It screeched and faded away, Loki noticed the Widow flinch but ignored it. Loki finished his spell and dropped to the ground. He raised his index and middle finger to his lips then down to the ground. A golden barrier briefly flashed up around his and Hela before becoming transparent. Hela let out a noise of frustration as Loki paced in front of the barrier, spinning his staff dangerously.
“No matter, the shield will disappear when I kill you.” She growled.
“You're much too weak, Sister Dearest.” He laughed.
He placed the dull side of Laevateinn on the sandy ground, a womanly face appeared above Laevateinn’s guard and blade.
“Laevateinn, scream!” Loki ordered.
The face opened its mouth. The souls Hela was manipulating were sucked into the blade and turned into energy, screeching and clawing at the air. Loki laughed as he brought the glowing blade down, tip pointing at a surprised Hela.
“Black magic?!” She exclaimed.
“It's over now.” He said.
Loki released all the energy from Laevateinn in a singular blast. It slammed into Hela straight on, her soul form cracked and chipped until she was nothing. Loki fell to his knees, one problem with Laevateinn was that it was a black magic weapon. It was fueled on the users' soul or souls the user collects. He sent it back into the interdimensional cache he had. Loki raised a hand to Thanos.
Thanos stood, the Black Order surrounding him, the bodies of the Outriders bloodied and dead scattered around him. The Soul and Space Stone sang to Loki. He grinned as he felt the connection between him and Stones had remained.
“You are an arrogant fool if you think the Stones will bow to you. The Soul Stone will not, it will always choose a soul over a living being. The Space Stone and I have been talking, an equal exchange of knowledge and skill, you have only taken.” Loki growled as he used his seidr to pull the stones from the gauntlet.
With no small amount of effort and energy, Loki managed to wrestle the Soul and Space Stones from Thanos’ control and into Loki’s awaiting palm. It gave the Avengers an opening they needed. One by one the Black Order fell in the defense of a shocked Thanos until Thanos was the only one left. Loki was pleased to see Thor was the one to deal the finishing blow. With Stormbreaker, the Mad Titan’s head was separated from his shoulders.
“I told you you would pay for that,” Thor growled as the swung Stormbreaker.
Loki gave a soft smile. Thanos was defeated and killed as he should have been. So why did Loki feel so sad? It clicked then that it was because Thor was alive and he was not. They had no more time left together, forever separated until Thor died. Loki’s vision was a bit blurry as he turned to return to the gates of Valhalla.
“...Brother?” Thor said from behind Loki.
Loki twisted his head to look at Thor over his shoulder, eyes wide. Loki could say nothing, words caught in the lump in his throat.
“You...you knew, didn’t you? You knew of the threat posed by the Soul Stone, so you died.” Thor replied.
Loki stared at Thor.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you? Ragnarok, your attack on Midgard, you knew it all had to happen. You...you purposely failed the invasion.” Thor said as it all dawned on him at once.
Loki said nothing, only gave Thor a watery smile as he faded away to the Gate of Valhalla.
“Ready to join us?” Frigga gently questioned.
Loki looked at his mother and broke into tears.
“Oh Loki,” Frigga murmured softly.
She stepped forward and embraced Loki, letting him cry into her shoulder as they stood outside Valhalla, together.