Epilogue

"Loki."

He woke to that familiar voice and for a moment forgot that he was in a prison cell. He reached out and patted the bed beside him, expecting to feel his wife's sleeping form. Instead, he only groped at empty air. Was he going mad already? That happened sooner than expected.

"Loki. Wake up."

No, that was no ghost, no specter from his mind meant to haunt him. It was Sigyn's voice. He pushed himself up out of bed. The lights were dimmed—at least the All-Father was kind enough not to keep the lights on the whole time—but he could make out Sigyn's form at the other end of the barrier.

"What are you doing here?" She was a fool. If she had been caught down here without an escort…

"I had to see you."

He snarled, his concern for her breaking his composure. "What was so important you risked coming down here?"

"I'm having nightmares."

Rage bubbled up inside him as he stepped forward. "Are you a child?" he hissed. "Running to daddy because you had a bad dream?" And what kind of nightmares could she possibly be having? He had fallen through space to land at his benefactor's feet, and dreamed of his terrible laughter and vicious, too bright smile. He dreamed of that monstrous Hulk smashing him over and over. He dreamed of Jotunheim and Laufey. He dreamed of something, anything, happening to her. What kinds of nightmares could she possibly have compared to his?

She straightened, meeting his gaze, and Loki could see both anger and real fear there. "It was my dreams that told me you were alive. When I say these dreams are in the same vein, I mean it."

That didn't change the fact that she risked her life to come down here. "And sending a book wouldn't have sufficed?"

"They are getting worse, and more frequent. Something is going to happen."

"That's vague." His sarcasm and anger died when her fear did not. He thought it was a trick of the barrier, but she was shaking. "What do you dream of?"

She put her hand to the barrier and Loki put his hand to hers. "I see Vanaheim burning; I can smell the smoke and feel the heat on my face. I hear the screams of people I know and don't know, and I see deaths of those I love. There is always fire and death like the world itself has been split open. And now when I wake I taste dirt and ashes and blood." Dark circles ringed her eyes; these dreams must have kept her awake all night. There was real, raw fear in her eyes. "Right now I want nothing more than to be in that cell with you." And if he'd had the power to do so he would have let her.

"Do you still have the bowl?" She nodded. "Has it shown you anything?"

"Just the same thing it's shown for days: the water turns dark as ink whenever I use it."

"I can't protect you, Sigyn. Not while I'm in here." The All-Father's command, a concession that kept her alive, could in an ironic twist of fate put her further in harm's way. "But whatever is coming, it can't hurt us here. Of all the Nine Realms, Asgard is the safest."

"Loki." Her voice was so quiet he would have missed it if not for the silence in the dungeon. "Tonight it was Asgard I saw burning."

"These are just dreams, Sigyn,' he said, trying to sound soothing for the both of them. "Nothing may come to pass. But to be safe…" She was trembling, and he cursed the barrier for keeping him from giving her any sort of comfort. "You must be more diligent about remaining out of sight. If something really is coming, you do not need to be in its path. For any reason." He put emphasis on that last sentence. If something happened to her… "Promise me you'll do that."

"I promise, Loki." Her voice was almost meek. She looked as though she was weighed down with sheer exhaustion. Little cuts marred her fingertips where she had used her blood over and over again for the bowl. She should be resting, not chasing shadows.

"You should go." He said softly. "Before someone notices that you're gone." He paused. "Drink some wine before you sleep; it might help keep you from dreaming."

She nodded again, lingering for just a moment longer before slipping away. The shadows enveloped her, and Loki felt better about her making back to her room unnoticed.

Be safe, my foolish girl…

What she brought him was troubling. In his imprisonment, he had wondered how Sigyn, of all people, was able to find him before even the All-Father could. She'd spoken of dreams and the bowl then, too, but he'd doubted her. It would have made more sense for her to have overheard Thor talking about how he was going to get his brother back, and just beat them in finding him. But the look of fear and exhaustion on her face was too deeply etched in his mind for him to doubt her now.

He glanced towards the stack of books in the corner of his cell. Some had once held a note from her, others did not. Loki picked up one and started flipping through it. Perhaps the answer to what Sigyn was seeing was in one of these books.

Seated on the floor and with an empty wine glass beside her (it had been drained at least three times), Sigyn stared at the empty bowl in her lap. For days it had shown her nothing but inky darkness. That vial of Jane's blood would have been helpful here, but she'd lost that back on Midgard, along with most of her other meager possessions she'd brought. The archivists had been angry that she'd lost a few of their books, and was only allowed back in because Thor promised to bring them back next time he was on Earth.

Not that she'd been able to find much to help her there, anyway.

There was a saying about insanity and repetition Sigyn couldn't quite remember, but she was reminded of it as she filled the bowl with water and pricked her finger again. The droplets of her blood turned their usual color: a red so dark it looked to be black. When it spun, the bowl spun languidly, as a planet would in orbit. All the same as before.

Except this time, thin cracks that glowed with an orange-red hue spread out like veins. The black between them took on a shiny, dark grey quality, and rippled as though it were moving. The bowl itself gave off heat, and there was the faint smell of smoke in her room. Thinking one of her candles had caught something on fire, her concentration broke. The bowl stopped moving and settled into her hands; the water becoming clear once more.

Her heart was racing. Sigyn put the bowl down and drew her lets to her chest, burying her face in her knees. This would drive her mad, if she wasn't already heading there now. She couldn't keep doing this. The Einherjar were watching her every move, and surely reporting back to the All-Father. If she went mad, who knows what would be done to her.

She could already hear what the All-Father would say. Loki has infected her with his madness. Their marriage is to be dissolved and she is to be locked away where they can never find each other. Or…she is to be executed. Put down like a rabid animal.

Loki was right; she needed to be more careful. If these dreams were true, she couldn't afford to be this preoccupied with a cryptic bowl that gave her no answers and only worry.

She would rest, she decided, for days if needed. Then, she would return to the shadows of court. If the bowl would not tell her anything, court gossip would.

Outside her window, Sigyn could see the new observatory was nearly finished. Asgard would be connected to the Nine Realms again.

And the Nine realms to it, with whatever that may bring.

Note:

Well, this is it. The final chapter. I wanted to thank all of you who've read and enjoyed this story, and who've been patient with the long updates between chapters.

I will most likely be writing the sequel after Thor: The Dark World comes out. School means my writing time will be sparse, but I will definitely keep working on this series.

Again, thank you all! :)