"Rock on, ancient woman

Follow those who pale in your shadow

Rulers make bad lovers

You better put your kingdom up for sale"

~ 'Gold Dust Woman' by FleetwoodMac

As the swirling vacuum of space pulled Anja down, she closed her eyes. Amora was long gone, dead as far as Anja knew, from the last bit of magic Anja had been able to muster as the two fell. It was too simple, really, letting go in every sense of the word of the hardships that had fallen on her in the past years. It was so simple to drift through space, letting it take her worries… and for a moment, she was certain she could see what Loki had seen when he fell.

Wind tore at her hair, dark curls now loose and wild as she tumbled downwards…

No. What was she doing? She was alive… far from being dead, in fact. She could have sworn that when she had been on the Bifrost her heart was about to give out. Now it only felt stronger, beating against her chest loudly, quickly… but healthy…

Instead, her mind was what felt like it was shattered.

She opened her eyes again, honing in on the energy that was brewing deep in her gut. It was not of the darkness, but it was not of the light either. In fact, if she had to describe it, she would have said it was a mixture of the two, the strongest of both forming within her. She had a reason to live. She had many. Loki… her children… Selena… Andrew… all names and faces that were slowly fading to nothing as she spiraled onward, being blocked out by the energy within her.

And then her mind became as barren as the pits of space that she was looking down into, all memories of her past life slipping away on beams of light that she could not catch as something strong took hold of her and pulled her from her fall.

*o*O*o*

Loki inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. It had been two weeks since Anja had died, two weeks that he had spent cooped up in his chambers, curtains drawn tight against the harsh light of day. The pain in his heart was too much, too intense.

He closed his eyes, thinking back to what he could have done differently, how much better he could have been to her… His little skylark…

Selena had been beside herself when Loki had returned without Anja. He should have been able to save her, should have tried harder, should have known what to do! Even now, he blamed himself and Selena's reaction to the loss of her little sister still rang out in his head…

Fandral had not been there, in fact, Loki had only been the only person in the living room by the time he had come to her house to speak with her a few days after. It had not surprised him in the slightest to find Little Andrew opening the door to greet him, alive and well because of his Aunt's sacrifice.

"This is your fault!" Selena had said with tears in her eyes, actually beating Loki's chest with her fists. It was weak, however, not enough to harm him. He was so numb inside at that point though, he doubted that Selena could have hurt him even with a long sword. It was because of this numbness that he had not cried in front of the blonde, and no doubt she had seen it as him not caring. "You brought this on her. You…" A loud sob ripped from Selena's chest as she sank down to the floor.

Loki had closed his eyes, willing himself to be strong as he bent down to wrap a hand around Selena's upper arm and helped her to one of the couches by the fire.

"I loved your sister, My Lady," he whispered hoarsely. "More than anything."

Selena looked into the flames of the fire, trying to wipe tears from her eyes. She would not meet his gaze. "I loved her too," Selena had replied, voice surprisingly steady after the display Loki had just seen from her. "They told me she battled Amora."

Loki nodded, looking down as he sat on the couch opposite from her. "She saved Andrew." Selena bit her lip, nodding. The tears were falling slower, but it was the quiet acceptance that had made Loki feel so uneasy.

"And yet you could not save her," Selena whispered.

Loki had closed his eyes at that, inhaling sharply as her words had cut like a knife.

"No. I couldn't."

There had been so many scenarios that he had played through his mind as to how differently he could have handled things. He could have been stronger, resisted the dark magic Anja had used on him… He could have run a little faster, tried a little harder… Every night he would lie in bed wide awake, going through the scenarios in his head until the refuge of sleep could take him. Even sleep was not always peaceful. Nightmares had become quite common with him.

He stood up at that, gliding over to the window. It was evening now, and he cringed as he peeked out of the curtain at the moon that had appeared. Moonlight always reminded him of her eyes…

He placed a hand to his forehead, covering his eyes as something akin to a sob wracked his body suddenly. He should have been able to save her, should have been able to grab her in time. Gods, he would have followed her down into that forsaken pit if he knew she was not lost already. Agitatedly, he raked his fingers through his greasy hair. Even the water of a bath had been too much for him at times… She had loved the water, after all.

"My Prince?"

He sniffled a bit as he looked up from his place by the window, turning to the nursemaid that had come in to speak with him.

"What?" he said a bit too sharply. The nursemaid winced, and he knew his eyes were just as sharp as the words that had flown from his lips. Loki did not feel the least bit of remorse. He hadn't when Anja had been alive and he sure as Hel didn't feel any now.

"Your children are in need of you. Prince Aric wishes to say goodnight and I am about to put Princess Leena down."

Loki's nostrils flared, but he nodded as he pushed past the old woman and made it down the hall to the nursery.

Inside, Aric and Leena were sharing the room. Aric was sitting on the bed, little hands folded neatly as he peeked out the window and up at the stars. His head snapped around when Loki entered, emerald blending with emerald as he looked at his father briefly… and looked back out the window once more.

"Aric," Loki said quietly, walking into the room and avoiding the silver gaze of his daughter that was in the lap of the other nursemaid.

Aric kept his gaze on the night sky as Loki came closer to him. "Mommy is out there," Aric whispered. Loki sat down on the foot of the bed, brow crinkling as he listened to his son.

Loki's heart physically hurt to hear Aric talk like that. "No, Son. Mother… mother…" he trailed off, following Aric's gaze to look up at the night sky. All that looked back at him was the sparse smattering of stars along the inky expanse. "Mother has gone away."

Aric tilted his head, pursing his lips like Anja used to when she had been thinking about something. "No… Father, mommy is out there… somewhere…" Loki closed his eyes briefly before reaching for Aric and letting the child climb into his arms. Aric rested his head in the crook of Loki's neck, taking in deep breaths. "I'm going to see mommy again," Aric whispered. "She'll be okay… I can…" A yawn interrupted Aric's thoughts as he nestled a bit more into Loki's grip. "I can feel it."

Loki looked over at Leena briefly. His daughter's eyes were closed now as she drifted to sleep in the nursemaid's arms. He wanted to believe his son, that Anja would return to them, but for now, he simply held the boy closer and prepared himself for the long, hard days that were before him.

She had come looking for him when he had fallen after all. Perhaps one day when the children were old enough, he would return the favor.

*o*O*o*

"We have lost The Enchantress, My Lord."

The voice of The Other echoed throughout the deep hollows of space as the creature bowed low to a figure atop a great stone throne. He bent his head lower as the figure turned to face him.

"Yes," Thanos' voice was gravelly as he spoke, looking back at his minion's pathetic form. "I am aware." The Other bowed even lower as his king answered. Thanos turned to look fully at the creature before him, stone-like jaw set firmly. "Her undoing was merely premature," Thanos said quietly. "We have a new weapon, a much more… worthy weapon."

"My Lord?" The Other inquired, eyes set firmly on the ground as Thanos descended the steps.

"A little bird landed here earlier today," Thanos said softly, motioning for The Other to rise and follow him into the stone of the mountain. There was a small room, one that Thanos must have had constructed without The Other's knowledge. "I have her contained for the time being."

The Other sucked in a breath, a foul odor accompanying the following exhale from beneath the golden decoration that covered his mouth under a purple hood. The room consisted of a single stone slab in the center of it, a figure wreathed in shadow laying on it. A small smile stretched across Thanos' lips as he allowed his minion to realize who it was.

"The traitor's lover," The Other hissed under his breath.

Thanos nodded. "I had intended to save The Enchantress, but by the time my powers reached her she was gone."

"My Lord-"

"It is of little consequence. I would not have let her live another sunrise. Her information was what I wanted. She was too dangerous, too free. But this one…" Thanos said, motioning to the dark head of curls on the table. "I have insured a worthy servant to our cause with power beyond reckoning."

"She will not serve willingly," The Other said quietly, bowing his head low as a sign of his lesser rank to the Titan.

"No," Thanos said quietly. "But this one is different. I have used her darkness against her. She will be under my control. Her memories of her past life have been locked away and she will serve me." What better way to gain revenge on the traitor prince than to turn his own wife against him? Her death would have been enough had things turned out that way… but this was so much sweeter.

"My Lord?" The Other said quietly.

Thanos walked around the table, looking down at the woman's face. "She will be of use. Will you not, Sorceress?"

At Thanos' last statement, Anja of Vanaheim's eyes snapped open, and her once silver gaze glowed bright blue in the dim light of the cave.

AN: And that is that, guys! I hate to leave it hanging like this for the next few months, but this is exactly how I wanted to end it. I know how annoying cliff hangers are and I apologize, but this is how I wanted it to end. If you have any questions, drop me a pm or something. I'll respond as best I can. : )

Since this one is finished, I will be working on the smaller stories I have going of these two periodically, so Loja won't be completely gone!

Next Story will be inspired by "Stranger in a Strange Land" by 30 secs to mars as well as "Your Star" by Evanescence. I have not worked out a title yet, but I'll put it on my profile when I think of one.

Thank you all so much for your support on this. You make writing fun!

-Sirius

MayFairy: I hope you liked it! And I apologize for making you wait… I hate it myself, to be honest. Thanks for being such a great reviewer :D

I-de-BadBad-Wolf: I know, I hated myself for writing that last part, but I had had the idea for a while and wanted to get it out. Nope, Anja's not dead. ;) Thanks for reviewing! :D

Pandora6373: Really?! I love it when kids talk like that. :3 I'm just a softie for babies in general though…Thanks for reviewing!

Loki'sdreamer: Well, she is back… maybe just not in the way a happy ending would be. Thanks for reviewing!

Noukinav018: Yeah, there will be more of Selena and Andrew in the next story. I wanted the epilogue to focus moreso on Loki and Anja and the kids…

Morbidly-funny: Thank you for your review. I am very sorry it had to go down like this, but I'm glad you liked it all the same!

Guest1: Thank you for your review! And I promise it will get better in the next installment. :/

Skywalker: thanks for your review! I know, I want to give them a happy ending too. I am determined to make it happen next story though, so don't fret! Thanks for reviewing all the time. Makes me happy to hear my readers' thoughts!