"It's over, Lorelei. Surrender."

"I've bested you before," Lorelei replied to Sif's command.

"You will not do so again. Unlike you I don't repeat the same mistakes."

"No, you make new ones," Lorelei sneered as Sif lunged at Lorelei with her sword.

Each woman skillfully deflected the blows of the other's sword with her own as they battled over the forested ground.

"Would you care to hear the last words of your dear Haldor before I ran him through? Even in his final moments he was completely devoted to me," Lorelei taunted Sif as they battled, "Poor Sif, never to have what your heart most desires, while I can have any man I choose."

"They are but slaves."

"Is that not what love is? You become a slave to them or to the idea of them, as you yourself have been for so long," Lorelei said scornfully, "You and my sister have much in common."

"I take that as a compliment," Sif said, landing a kick to Lorelei's midsection, sending her hurtling against a tree, Lorelei recovering just as Sif rushed at her, dodging her.

"It is a compliment to be compared to my pitiful, pathetic sister who spent her life pining for one so insignificant and worthless? At least you have better taste. I never understood how the same loins who brought forth one such as Thor could also create such a sorry excuse for a prince. It was no surprise to me to learn of his true heritage. When I take the throne, Asgard will again be ruled by an Asgardian."

"What are you talking about?" Sif asked, as the two women circled each other.

"You do not yet know before who...or what...you now bend your knee, whose orders, like a dog, you follow?"

*************************************

The battle commenced among the trees as those Fury had brought together along with the troops he had sent in that had arrived to back them were joined by Asgard's warriors, Thor in disbelief as he witnessed Loki at the head of Asgard's army, rushing to his side to join him amid the fighting.

"Brother! What are you doing here?" Thor asked as the battle raged, both Thor and Loki downing foes rushing upon them, Loki with his daggers, Thor with Stormbreaker.

"You thought I was going let a dead man have all the glory?" Loki answered as he felled another attacker.

"If you were to fall--" Thor began.

"I believe my queen brought you here to ensure that doesn't happen," Loki said as he and Thor each dispatched another masked soldier in white, both brothers observing the frenzy of the oncoming soldiers.

"They fight like Berserkers!" exclaimed Thor as he swung Stormbreaker, taking down more attackers.

"They are," Loki said, recalling that along with the Tesseract, Lorelei had also gained possession of the Berserker Staff from Randolph.

Deciding that he needed a more formidable weapon than his daggers, Loki stowed them away, producing Mjolnir in his hand, quickly sending it flying into the oncoming throng, catching it as it returned to him.

"Give it a bit more of a twist on the release. I'll show you," Thor said, holding Stormbreaker out to Loki and reaching for Mjolnir. Loki taking Stormbreaker, eyeing Thor as he handed Mjolnir over, "Like this..." said Thor as he hurled Mjolnir into the ranks of the oncoming army, the hammer cutting a swath through them, "It's all in the wrist."

Loki reached out, intercepting Mjolnir upon its return, as he handed Stormbreaker back to Thor.

"All you had to do was ask," Loki said knowing full well Thor's motivation was far more nostalgia for Mjolnir, the chance to wield it once again, than giving Loki instruction.

As the battle continued to rage, Loki and Thor repeatedly sent their respective weapons at their opponents, more filling the gaps that were left by those slain. Loki, taking stock of the situation, saw the bodies of fallen Asgardians and S.H.I.E.L.D. troops littering the field, the members of the team of which he was a part continuing to battle among the living and the dead. Banner's beast roared as Lorelei's soldiers assailed him, hanging from his massive arms as he flung them off and away from him, Stark using every weapon in his suit's arsenal. Barton, who had long since used his last arrow had taken up a rifle from a slain soldier.

A blue bolt of energy shot from the front line of the oncoming enemy, followed by another farther down the line, striking an Asgardian and a S.H.I.E.L.D fighter, both instantly disintegrating, leaving nothing behind. Loki and Thor, horrified, witnessed another blast of blue that had the same effect on a line of Asgardian warriors not far from their position.

"What the hell was that?!" Barton exclaimed in awe of what he had just seen.

"They've harnessed the Tesseract's power to make weapons," Loki explained.

"We can't fight that! We're barely holding our own against them now!" Barton replied.

"The time has come," Loki said aloud more to himself than to Thor or Barton.

Loki moved forward just as the others on his side of the fray began to fall back.

"Loki! Are you mad?!" Thor cried.

Mjolnir disappeared from Loki's grip as he held out both hands, the Casket of Ancient Winters materializing in them. The hue of Loki's skin began to change to match its sapphire glow. A blast like the wind of a winter storm erupted from the Casket, the enemy combatants before Loki within its range finding themselves frozen in place like statues, encased in ice.

*************************************

"You lie!" Sif exclaimed in response to Lorelei's revelation of Loki's origin, moving in on Lorelei for another attack.

"You've always known he was different. Will you allow a frost giant to sit on Asgard's throne? The time has come for us to rise up. Too long have men held power. How much harder did you have to fight to prove yourself? Before Frigga, before Thor, Odin had a daughter. He banished her to Hel, locked her away, erased her from our history, her only crime that she dared have the ambition to claim her birthright and to rule! He would introduce the rejected son of Laufey, our enemy, into our midst, perpetrate a fraud, set him on the throne but not his own flesh and blood!"

Sif stood shocked and bewildered upon hearing Lorelei's words.

"I refused to submit to any man. I ruled them! It struck such fear into Odin that he locked me away as well. He is the one that should have been locked away! Haldor was a fool. He would not have made you happy. Throw off the shackles they have placed on you and free yourself. Join me...I will place you at the head of my army. We women must stick together..."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"We certainly must," Frigga's voice said from behind Lorelei, "For my son!" Frigga exclaimed as she ran Lorelei through with her sword before withdrawing it.

Lorelei's mouth gaped, her eyes wide with shock as she stood frozen in place, her sword dropping from her hand to the forest floor. Frigga stepped back, her and Sif's eyes meeting, an unspoken message passing between them.

Sif closed the distance between herself and Lorelei, swinging her sword, detaching Lorelei's head from her body, sending it flying against a nearby tree. Lorelei's decapitated body slumped to the ground like a heavy sack.

Sif spat on Lorelei's headless corpse, staring down at it in silence as she realized it was over. Lorelei, as she had fantasized about for centuries, lay dead at her feet. Sif looked up at Frigga, struggling to hold back her emotions and maintain her warrior stoicism, the endeavor taking every ounce of her strength, her body slightly quivering as if she were straining every muscle with the effort. It had taken her much time after her emotional display following Thor's death to overcome the shame she had felt at losing her usual tough as nails composure, especially in front of Loki, and she had vowed no matter what the circumstance to never allow such a thing to happen again. Even Haldor's death had not led her to such a public exhibition of her sorrow.

Frigga had no such compulsion, allowing her tears to flow freely.

"It is not a weakness. It's a strength," Frigga counseled Sif, her words breaking down Sif's defenses, Sif bursting into sobs as Frigga held her arms out, Sif dropping her sword and rushing into them.

*************************************

Asgard's remaining warriors and S.H.I.E.L.D. troops surged ahead like a wave, attacking the frozen masked soldiers before them and the few that had been left unfrozen as Loki stood holding the Casket in his hands.

"This must bring back memories," Stark teased Rogers, "Hold on to your tights, Cap," Stark said grabbing hold of Rogers and lifting off.

It had taken some time for Sif to traverse the forest. Warriors hacked and slashed at the frozen soldiers of what had once been Lorelei's army as she approached Loki. Her pace slowed as she viewed Loki still holding the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hands.

""It's true…" Sif said in disbelief.

Loki turned his head, looking to her with eyes as red as Lorelei's blood she had spilled.

"It was only after Thor's death I learned this was not all my father brought back with him upon his return from Jotunheim. I must accept myself for who and what I am. I hope you will find it within yourself to do the same," Loki said, looking back over the field as the battle reached its conclusion, the Casket vanishing from his hands, Loki returning to his Asgardian form.

"Lorelei is dead. It's over," Sif informed Loki, not disclosing to him Frigga's part in the sorceress' demise, she having asked Sif not to do so, the second time she had been asked by a queen to keep a secret from her king.

"Not yet," Loki said peering past the warriors in the direction of the stronghold.

*************************************

"Ready? On three...one-" Stark said before throwing Rogers at the tall, gothic window, Rogers quickly moving his shield up in front of him.

Rogers landed on his feet on the stone floor of the workshop/lab, quickly straightening, finding himself face to face with a roomful of masked men. He sent his shield flying, bouncing off each of them before returning to him. Stark landed beside Roger, both men scanning the room for any sign of the Tesseract.

"They must have it hidden somewhere." Rogers said.

"You think?" Stark replied sarcastically, "While we're here…" he said to Rogers as he examined the computer monitors, setting a device down in front of them, "Jarvis...I want it all…while you're at it look for an energy signature identical to what was powering that shield."

"One level down. I'm unable to locate an access, though on the wall to your left, I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current," Jarvis answered.

"Wish Jarvis would have been around when I was a kid. Would have made finding where mom hid my Christmas presents a lot easier. Guess there wasn't a point in trying to sneak a peek back in your day. You got a penny and a tin cup."

"I'm not that old," Rogers replied.

Stark neared the area of the wall Jarvis had indicated, Rogers trailing behind him, keeping watch behind them. Stark placed his hands flat on the stone wall.

"Open sesame...says me!" Stark said, the wall moving back, revealing the landing of a stairway, both men entering and beginning to descend it.

"Gentlemen…" Strucker greeted them, standing beside a table upon which the Tesseract sat on a pedestal, aiming a large barreled chrome plated rifle in their direction.

Stark quickly lifted off from the stairway, Rogers hurling his shield as Strucker fired the weapon, Rogers diving from the stairway, narrowly avoiding its beam. As the blue streak of energy hit the stone steps where Rogers had stood, those struck by it disintegrated leaving a gap in the stairway. The shield knocked the weapon from Strucker's hands at the same time that Stark hit him with a blast from his palms. Strucker flying back from the table to sprawl on the floor where he lay motionless. Rogers swiftly climbed to his feet, collecting his shield and rushed to the table, retrieving the Tesseract.

"The cat's back in the bag," Rogers said, notifying the others through their earpieces.

Stark landed near Strucker who lay on his back, Rogers walking up behind him, both looking down at the fallen man as Strucker bit down on something in his mouth.

"Hail Hydra…." Strucker said before his body began to convulse.

*************************************

Loki entered the vault beneath the palace on Asgard. Traversing past the various relics, he reached the empty pedestal. Holding his hands out, he materialized the Casket of Ancient Winters reverting to his Jotun form as he held it. Placing it back on the pedestal and removing his hands from it, he regained his Asgardian appearance. Turning from it he made his way past other relics to another empty pedestal. Holding out one hand, the Tesseract appeared within it.

Loki stared at the relic, knowing from his visions what was contained within it and all it was to have led to had events not been altered. He recalled what Rogers had told him of his experiences with it before he went into the ice after he had handed it over to Loki, disobeying the order to return it to the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki knew it could not remain on Asgard just as Rogers had known it could not remain on Earth. Turning his back on it, he walked away.

*************************************

It had been days since Verda had been placed in a bed in an unoccupied chamber near that of her and Loki's own. Odin, as he had assured Loki he would, continued to sit vigil as Loki had attended to his duties as Asgard's king, returning to her side whenever he had a free moment, which he found were few. There was one task however that superseded his responsibilities, at least in Loki's estimation, and he had only just returned from completing it. Odin raised his head from the book in his hands as Loki entered the bedchamber carrying a small, flat box.

"There's been no change?" Loki asked, likely for the hundredth time over the previous days.

"Do not lose hope," Odin answered, looking from Verda to Loki and the despair evident in his expression as he came to stand by the bed.

"You have never rested so long."

"She drained herself almost to the point of death. Both your mother and myself would have done the same for your brother but we are no longer young. It would have cost us our lives and changed nothing," Odin replied, his voice heavy with sadness and guilt.

Loki sat on the edge of the bed, opening the box. Within lay Verda's necklace, the clasp and the damage from the dagger repaired, the gold polished and shining as it had when he had first laid eyes upon it. Removing it and setting the box aside, he leaned over Verda, placing it around her neck and straightening it before putting his lips to her forehead. Rising and retrieving the empty box he looked down upon her once more before leaving Odin to continue the vigil.

*************************************

Loki's double lay on his bunk in the dungeon, tossing a silver cup into the air and catching it. A table holding various books sat in the middle of the cell, a chair nearby. Hearing footsteps that he knew did not belong to an einherjar, Loki caught the cup once more before lowering his hand that held it, sitting up to see Asgard's king approach.

"Has she awakened?" Loki's double asked hopefully.

"Not yet."

"I told her to leave me, to let me die."

"As did I. I've learned when she's determined to do a thing nothing and no one will dissuade her."

"She's not so different from ourselves," Loki's other replied, "What of me? Am I to be brought before you in chains?"

"I would spare you that indignity," Loki, the king, answered, recalling his vision of his audience with his father after his defeat in Midgard.

"So I'm to be left here to rot? Will you have father render me mortal, exile me to Midgard...or am I for the axe?"

"You believe I would put to death one she was willing to give her life to preserve?"

"My-our mother...I wish to speak with her."

"I'll inform her of your request," Loki said, turning away.

"Tell me...what would have become of me had my future not been altered?" Loki's other asked, Loki turning back to face him.

"It doesn't matter. All will now be different for both of us."