Percy found Loki standing intimidatingly over Matthias, who had a look of pure terror on his face, shifting backwards to put some space between himself and the crazed god. Percy sighed, he was only several minutes behind the god, how in the world did this happen?

"Children," he drawled, getting their attention, "Stop playing, let's go."

As intended, his insult drew indignant scowls on both of their faces, but he just smirked, his eyes hard. He tilted his head, Loki, who was watching sneered once, then gestured for them to huddle closer to him. Matthias just remained on the floor, shaking his head.

"W-w-where are we going?" The shaking boy asked.

Loki just gave him a baleful look, while Percy gave Loki a warning glance. He turned to Matthias and softened his features, "We're going to meet the avengers. Now come on, let's not dally," he smirked at the god, "Otherwise someone might decide to leave us behind."

Loki, who heard the exchange, took it as his cue to stretch a hand out, the scowl on his face a clear sign of his annoyance at being delegated a messenger's job.

Percy shot a glare at him, you offered the ride, deal with it.

Loki glared back; I agreed to transport one, not two.

Percy rolled his eyes, it's not that much of a difference.

Loki scowled; I do not need to be tainted anymore by mortals.

Percy just turned his death glare on the trickster god, who huffed and barked at the third person in the destroyed room, "Hurry up mortal filth. You are wasting my time."

Matthias, who was looking between them confusedly during their silent conversation, jumped up and quickly scuttled over to the both of them. Percy grabbed Loki's hand, while Matthias grabbed onto Percy's, not wanting to have contact with the thoroughly annoyed god, which suited Loki just fine. Percy sighed; I'm dealing with a bunch of kids.

With a tug, the three of them disappeared from the tower.

The moment they reached the mansion, the avengers all swarmed them. With an ease that came with years of practice, Loki detached himself from the mob and headed back into his own room. He had no wish to mingle around with the mortals any longer than necessary. It was torturous enough to be in their presence. He wanted to take the opportunity, while the mortals had forgotten about his bonds, to examine them thoroughly. He knew he could not leave, but it did not mean that he could not take this opportunity to weaken his bonds. He didn't have the chance to do so earlier when everything went to hell.

Loki scowled, he also needed to meditate, it was unsettling, how the Other had managed to enter his mind so easily, and he needed to find out why and how. He lightly touched his ear, noting that there had been no lingering damage. He surmised that it must have been the close proximity of the blast that had rendered him temporarily deaf.

As he rounded the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. His external features didn't waver, but he cursed inwardly. There was no chance of him being able to examine his bonds now.

He inclined his head, "And what can I do for my dear brother today?" he mocked.

Thor, who was leaning against the wall outside Loki's room, gave no indication that he was upset by Loki's customary greeting; instead, he just turned stormy blue eyes on his brother. Loki was immediately on guard, he knew how much his brother hated when he scorned him, and it was a personal game for Loki to see how fast his brother took to transit from passive to enraged. A game that never failed to bring Loki any certain amount amusement. Now, seeing his brother's lack of reaction made him wary. An impassively angry Thor was infinitely more dangerous than a raging one.

"Loki." Thor said.

The god in question inclined his head, "Is my name the only thing you can say?"

"Why?" the thunder god questioned.

Loki raised his eyebrow and smirked, ignoring the tightening sensation in his chest, "Why what? You have to be more specific brother mine, or did you think that I was a mind reader as well?"

Thor just continued staring at him, his blue eyes unreadable, "Why did you save me?"

Loki blinked, thrown aback by the question. He laughed, "Why, did you not want to be saved? I was not aware that you were suicidal, if I did, I would have left you there."

Thor frowned, taking a step forward, glaring at his brother, "This is no time for games and riddles Loki. Why?"

Loki sneered, stepping backwards, "Why should you care? Perhaps I have my own agenda in my mind. My own nefarious plans as you would tell your friends."

Thor's eyes widened, and for a moment there, Loki saw that he believed him, believed that Loki had the mind to betray them. A part of him scoffed at his brother's foolishness, no schemer in the right mind would reveal their plan, however small, to anyone. He promptly ignored the way something died in him at his brother's casual rejection of him. But then, the thunder god shook his head and pressed forward, his bright blue eyes pleading yet full of doubt, "No. that cannot be it, Loki please, why?"

Loki snarled at him, "Why does it matter? You would not believe me anyway!"

"That is not true brother!"

"Do not call me brother. I can see the doubt in your eyes, golden prince." He spat, green eyes sharp and piercing, "You would only disregard my word as lies. Like you always have. There is no point in me speaking when you would all draw your own assumptions anyway. You call me the liesmith, but you and your ilk are the ones who take my words and spit them back into my face."

The two brothers faced each other in the hallway, the air heavy with tension. Loki breathed heavily, while Thor just stared at him, sadness in his eyes. "Why do you twist my words so brother? You have changed so much. I do not even recognize you now."

Loki stared incredulously at him, then threw his head back and laughed. He continued laughing hysterically, even when Thor frowned in anger and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him hard, demanding to know what happened.

Loki just laughed and laughed and laughed. "You should see yourself Thor." He said between hysterics, "This," he hissed, "is what I am. This is what I have always been; you just naively think that everything can go back to normal. That you can wipe the slate clean and turn back time. I am not the same as I was in the past, neither are you, I am not the brother you think I am, and I am not one of your creations!."

Thor gritted his teeth in anger, he was trying, he truly was, but his brother was not letting him in. "Can you not see that I am trying my best Loki? I have already apologized, what more do you want from me?"

Loki just started laughing again, leaning his head backwards against the wall. He stared straight into his brother's eyes, "You truly think that a simple word will suffice?" he hissed, "You truly think that just because you uttered an apology that you have no idea what for, everything will return to normal?" he barked a laugh, "How utterly naive, you have been hanging around your precious little mortals for far too long." He sneered, shoving Thor away from him.

The thunder god just looked at him in surprise; Loki stalked down the hallway, turning to face him, the lighting above the trickster casting a menacing shadow on his face, "What do I want from you? I want you to suffer. I want you to suffer as I did. I want you to experience everything that I went through. I want you to understand how it feels like to be scorned and mocked every single day of your life. I want you to know how it feels like to haveeverything you love be torn away from you. I want you to feel how it feels like to burn in hell." He snarled, resisting the burning sensation behind his eyes. He would not shed any tears here, not in front of anyone, and not in front of this man in particular.

Thor looked at him sadly, "You know there was no choice Loki, it was an order from Father-"

"THERE WAS ALWAYS A CHOICE!" Loki shouted, "What gave the Allfather the right to condemn them like that? What gave him the right to decide what they were? Who gave him the right to decide who lived or died?"

"Loki," Thor tried, raising his hands in a placating manner, wanting his brother to calm down, "they were monsters-"

It had the opposite effect, Loki rounded on him and slammed him against the wall, his green eyes bright and filled with hate and anger, "Do not, ever, call them monsters." He shoved Thor again for good measure, and staring straight into his eyes, "You Asgardians are the true monsters."

He whirled around and went into his room, slamming the door behind him. Thor stood alone in the hallway, feeling annoyed, frustrated and guilty for reasons he did not know. He slammed a fist into the wall, cracks forming from where his fist met the concrete.

"You know, I don't think Tony is going to appreciate that."

Thor turned and saw Percy standing at the other end of the hallway. The boy raised his eyebrow at the spider-cracks in the wall, unconsciously mirroring Loki's expression earlier. He cocked his head to one side, ocean green eyes not betraying anything, "Everything alright?"

Thor nodded vaguely, while Percy frowned. It was unlike the other god to be anything less than cheerful or loud. he stopped the god before he could leave, looking at him straight in the eye. "Look, Thor," he said, watching the god raise his head to him, "Just, just remember, there are three sides to every story. Yours, his" Percy nodded in the direction of Loki's room, "and the truth. Alright?"

Thor, not really understanding, nodded anyway, and giving Loki's room final glance, he walked past Percy, who moved aside to give him space to walk. He observed the slumped shoulders of the god, and his melancholic demeanor. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he and Loki had had a fight, even if he didn't have SHIELD training, but about what, Percy didn't know. He had heard some of the conversation, but without any context, it made no sense. The advice he gave Thor was neutral enough though, he hoped that the god understood its meaning before he severed the relationship between him and his brother for good. He looked at Loki's door, and knocked on it.

"If you value your life, you will disappear from there now."

Percy raised his eyebrow, "Wow," he commented, "That's quite a threat."

Inside the room, Loki scowled at the sarcastic tone in Percy's voice. He knew that he was the one who had asked to speak with him, but he could not bring himself to entertain anyone right now. He kept quiet, hoping that if he did so, Percy would take the hint and leave.

After a while of silence, Loki heard a sigh, and footsteps shuffling, he sneered silently, they are all the same, and they leave eventually. No one wants to deal with Loki Liesmith afterall.

"I'll be waiting by the cliff side* at midnight. If you still want to talk that is."

Loki blinked in shock as the words registered in his mind. He turned to look at the door, confusion thrumming through him. He read the double meaning in his sentence easily, being hailed as the wordsmith, he had a way with words that no one else had, but he could not understand why. Outside, Percy waited for a few seconds, then moved to find his room, assuming that the god had heard him and hoping that he had understood the double meaning but that he was just blatantly ignoring him.

Loki listened as Percy shuffled outside for a few more moments then walked away, his footsteps fading away. He frowned, not knowing why he felt the wave of anger and hurt within him subside just a little bit.

Slightly before midnight

Percy walked to the edge of the house, mansion actually, looking down at the sheer drop, the waves crashing against the base of the cliff rhythmically. He gazed out at the expanse of the ocean, feeling comforted by the close proximity of the ocean. Despite being without most of his powers for the better part of three years, he had still retained some control over water and its various forms, and he thought that that was more than enough of a reminder of his past life. He hadn't known how much he missed feeling the ocean until now. Not just sitting by the ocean side and hearing the waves, but the intimate connection that he'd had with the ocean that was dampened when his powers had been suppressed. He breathed in the salty scent of the water, feeling completely at peace. With a soft instruction to JARVIS to not alarm anyone, he threw himself off the cliff.

The water enveloped him like a lover's embrace, wrapping around him as he dove into the ocean. It didn't let him crash against the rocks at the base of the cliff, and brought him down deeper into the ocean, to the base of the sea. His feet landed lightly on the seabed, the feeling of the gritty sediments beneath his feet causing him to open his eyes. He let go of his the breath he held in on instinct, breathing in again as though he was on land instead of underwater. He looked up, seeing the underbellies of the waves crashing against each other above him, the water illuminated lightly by the light of Artemis' power. He smiled lightly, just standing at the bottom of the ocean, letting marine creatures swim past him as he reacquainted himself with the ocean.

He grinned lightly to himself as the marine creatures noticed him and swarmed around him, their excited voices running through his head as they tried to climb over one another in their haste to see the son of Poseidon. He just smirked and waved them all away, answering their questions patiently and deflecting others that he didn't want to answer.

It wasn't until a particular white seabass swam up to him and said, my lord, there is someone on the edge of the cliff! That he remembered that he was supposed to meet Loki there.

He cursed under his breath, propelling himself with his powers towards the base of the cliff. He turned back and pointed to the fishes still staring at him, "Don't repeat what I said you hear me?"

He swam to the surface, breaking through the water. He saw Loki getting up to leave and shouted, "Hey! Wait!"

At midnight, Loki threw caution to the wind and walked to the cliff behind the mansion, thoughts running through his head. He didn't think about his earlier conversation with his brother, knowing that it would only ignite anger in him, and he did not want that to come up while he was speaking with Percy-he stopped short, frowning, where did that thought come from?

He shook his head, he wanted to know why the other raven haired boy seemed different. While the mortals could not tell, Loki recognized that Percy had become more powerful, even through one of their mortal screens, that was obvious, but he did not know why or how. The most logical guess would be that the Greeks had blessed him, but the trickster god did not understand why they thought that now was a good time to bless him. If they had wanted to do so, they would have - should have - done it years before.

Another thing that puzzled him was that Percy was working in SHIELD when Loki came back to Midgard the second time, although he clearly wasn't when he came to Midgard the first time. It may have been a voluntary choice on the other boy's part, but Loki didn't believe it. He was a hero, he did not need to work for the mortals who had no clue as to what the boy had done for them and their world, and he could easily remain with the gods where his deeds would be heralded and praised.

There were many things about Percy that puzzled Loki. For starters, he did not look like one who was a heralded hero, for another, he did not act as though he had a life full of friends and people who loved him. And there, Loki resented him for that. He had friends who would die for him, who had died for him, and he had a whole life that was perfect, something which Loki wanted, but he never got.

The god scowled, he both hated and liked being around the other, he hated it because it made him contemplate about things he'd rather leave alone, but he also liked it because Percy was unbiased. He didn't treat him like others did, he didn't scorn when he saw his true appearance, nor, like the incident this morning, the boy did not assume that he had attacked the other mortal, instead, he judged correctly that the other was shocked by the appearance of Midgard's most hated enemy.

He shook his head, stepping into the cool night air. The sound of waves crashing far below drifted up to his ears and he sat down at the edge, keeping an eye out for the hero.

Minutes passed, and soon enough, it was well past midnight and there was still no sign of Percy. Loki scowled, annoyed and undeniably hurt that he had been tricked into coming here and left to wait like a fool. He got up and was about to leave when he heard vague sounds of shouting.

The god, with his advanced hearing, caught the sound as it drifted upwards and looked around for a moment, before looking over the edge. His eyes widened when he saw Percy bobbing up and down in the water, the boy's bright grin startling him for a moment. He didn't think that he'd ever seen the other smile that much before.

"Do you want to stay up there or do you want to come down?" Percy shouted.

Loki just continued staring, "I-What?"

Percy laughed, "Never mind then I'll come up." he grinned and crouched, jumping up with a boost from the water as he landed on the cliff side beside the god of mischief.

Loki just stared at him, bewildered. "You-"

Percy scratched his head lightly, slightly embarrassed, "Yeah, look, sorry about that, I guess I lost track of time while I was under., that happens sometimes if I'm too overwhelmed. There were a lot of fish though. So it took some time to answer all their questions."

Loki just looked at him uncomprehendingly. He gave him a weird look, "You were, talking to the fish?"

Percy tilted his head and smirked, "Yeah I was. Fish like to talk a lot apparently. They get all excited when a son of Poseidon drops by them."

Loki just blinked at him, "Alright..."

Percy looked at him, "You ready to talk now?"

The other averted his eyes, staring out at the endless ocean. "I assumed you were not going to turn up."

Percy looked at him, "Oh shit, look, I really am sorry about that, I wasn't trying to trick you, I swear."

The trickster god still didn't look at him, but he muttered, "I believe you."

Percy hummed and sat down, leaning back on his hands, staring up at the full moon in the sky, imagining Artemis in her carriage with her deer pulling the carriage along while she did her rounds. "Can I ask you a question?"

Beside him, Loki tensed, but nodded.

Still looking at the moon, he asked softly, "Why did you save me?"

Loki jerked slightly in surprise, looking at Percy, who had just unknowingly repeated the same question that Thor had asked earlier that day.

Percy just continued staring at the dark sky, eyes seeking out the constellations that he knew, "I mean, you said in your own flowery way that you owed me a debt, and I still have no idea what you mean, because I've tried searching my mind and I can't think of anytime that I've met you before, let alone done something that would allow you to owe me a debt."

Loki just stared at the boy, did he truly not know what he did? Or was he pretending to be oblivious?

Percy, sensing his stare, looked at him from the corner of his eye, "So?"

"Why do you want to know?" Loki asked, wary of the answer that he would get.

Percy shrugged, "Why not? I find it a little awkward that I did something without knowing to. And bam! I suddenly have you owing me a debt. How does that work anyway?"

Loki gave him an appraising glance, "You seem different."

"Must be the ocean, I usually am more relaxed after I've taken a dive."

"What happened?"

"Hey!" Percy said indignantly, "I asked first! I'll answer your question later. You answer mine first."

Loki rolled his eyes, copying the boy's position, slinging an arm over his knee; he looked at the waves in the distance, imagining the slight silhouette of a serpent amongst the water. "Do you truly not know?" he murmured.

Percy raised an eyebrow, "If I did, I wouldn't be asking would I?"

Loki remained silent for a while longer, surprised when Percy didn't rush him into answering his question. He threw caution to the wind and said, "You saved my son."

Percy blinked several times, his jaw dropping in surprise, "Whoa - wait - what?"

Loki scowled, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

Percy shook his head, "No, no its not that, just," he squinted at the god, "You have a son?"

Loki looked at him, slightly surprised, "That is all you have to say?"

"What else am I supposed to say? Oh, it was your son I saved? Can I have a hall full of gold for my efforts now?" Percy said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Loki looked away, it was what he had been thinking actually, but he decided not to comment, instead, explaining to Percy who was it that he had saved that night.

"You saved my son from the wrath of Zeus, from being destroyed where he stood, figuratively speaking, because he is a sea creature."

"Wait, your son is Bessie? Because if so, then I am so so sorry for naming him that, I swear I didn't know he was your son-"

Loki cut in, "What are you rambling about? Who is this Bessie?"

Percy looked at him, "Uh, a sea-cow, the Ophiotaurus, if I got the name right."

Loki just gave him another weird stare, "Does he look anything like me? No that is not my son."

Percy blinked in relief, "Oh well, great then! So who is it actually?"

Loki rolled his eyes at the demigod's antics, "I believe you fought alongside him before. In the second war that you fought against the primordial."

"Wait you know about the war against Gaia?"

Loki glared at him until Percy said, "Right, sorry, no interrupting." He mimed, zipping his mouth shut, locking it and throwing away the key.

Loki sighed exasperatedly at the other's antics and turned back to the ocean, "My son, the world serpent, whom you requested help from in your war against the primordial of the earth. He aided you in your battle against the primordial of the seas, and when you were called to Olympus after the battle, Zeus declared that he was too powerful to be left alone in the ocean. He was not Greek, nor Roman, nor did he hold any ties to this world that would assure them of his loyalty. But you interceded, and you countered that the serpent had done nothing but help you in your battles even though like Zeus said, he had no ties to them and therefore, no obligations."

Percy nodded, remembering now that gigantic serpent that he had found and requested for help from, sacrificing the armor he was given in order to obtain help. The presence of that serpent had helped turn the tide almost immediately as the Kraken that Pontus had released was well outmatched by the bigger and more agile sea creature. He also remembered the ensuing shouting match he had with the king of the gods, which in hindsight, wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but he had been so drawn out and so tired by the battle that he had just snapped.

Percy looked down, "Look, it was the right thing to do, anyone else would have done it as well-"

"No. They would not have." The god cut in, "They would not have dared to go against the king of the gods like you did. They would not have risked their life for one they did not know." Loki looked away, "It is one thing if the subject in question was humanoid in nature, another if it was in the form of a creature."

Percy began to feel uncomfortable with the emphasis that the god was placing on this event, he didn't feel as though it warranted any debt of some sort, but apparently, to the god, it was serious enough. He decided not to comment further, lest he offend the god., like he was so liable to. Instead, he asked, "What is his name?"

Loki whipped his head around and stared at him in shock, he hadn't heard that question in so many centuries and no one except his mother had ever asked him about his children's names before, and he looked at the boy in front of him in a new light, finally understanding why so many liked him.

"Jormungandr." He said softly, "His name is Jormungandr."

Percy tried the name, "Your-moon-gun?"

Loki huffed indignantly, but there was no real spite in his tone as he corrected Percy, "No, Yor-mun-gand."

Percy tried again, and Loki just chuckled at his botched attempt at pronouncing his son's name. The raven haired boy just smacked the god in the side, causing the god to laugh even more. "It's not funny!" he cried indignantly, "It's like some weird language that I've never heard of before."

Loki smirked, "It is Old Norse. And you do not see me tripping over Greek."

Percy rolled his eyes, "You're a god, you can probably just, I don't know, download the entire language into your brain or something."

Loki smirked, "Not possible, even for gods. Though, our memory is commendable."

Percy groaned, flopping onto the ground, "Commendable he says." He grumbled, "So, do you have other children? Or is Jormungandr the only one?"

Loki tilted his head, the boy never ceased to surprise him, "I have five other. Perhaps I shall tell you about them another time."

Percy's eyes widened in shock, "Woah, five others? You have six children?"

Loki smirked, "Yes I do. Four of them came from me; the other two came from my wife."

Percy stared at him incredulously as the words registered in his brain. Loki just continued smirking at the obviously flustered boy, "Wait, when you say 'came from you', you mean...?"

Loki nodded, "I gave birth to them."

Percy's jaw just dropped to the ground again. He shook his head, "What the Hades?"

Loki just laughed out loud, a clear musical laugh that cut through the night air. Percy jolted, he realized that he had never heard the other truly laugh before. A thought came to him, how many others have ever heard him really laugh before?

(From the second floor, a shadow stood at the window, the sounds of laughter drifting upwards. He clenched his fists as he heard the god laugh so freely, not knowing why he was so upset that he wasn't the one to have caused it.)

Percy just grinned, "So what happened to your wife?"

The smile dropped off Loki's face, and his eyes gained a melancholic look, "She died." He said simply.

"Oh." Percy replied, bowing his head slightly, guilty for bringing up such memories.

"Hey I have a question."

Loki sighed, "When do you not?"

Percy slugged him in the shoulder, "Shut up you. And anyway, how come your son is on Earth? I mean, Midgard? Shouldn't he be on Asgard?"

Loki hissed, startling his companion, "No," he growled, clenching his fists, "he was never welcomed n that realm. He was cast out by Odin because of his looks."

Percy swallowed, it seemed that even until now, he had the uncanny ability to talk about people's most sore subjects. "I'm sorry." He said, truly regretful that he'd brought up such a painful topic for the god.

Loki eyed him for awhile, then deflated, "You did not know, I cannot blame you for asking. Though, you are the first to ask."

"Really?"

Loki nodded, "Only one other ever thought to be concerned about my children, but she was encouraged by everyone else to cease her unnecessary concern for monsters."

Percy sighed and looked away, apparently the 'golden realm' wasn't as golden as people thought, if even racism and bias existed there. "So what did you want to know?" Percy said, changing the subject.

Loki looked at him, really looked, and seeing him lying on the ground, with his unruly hair spread about his head and his green eyes glittering with amusement, Loki was struck by how young he looked.

He said, "What happened? With you I mean. You seem different from the first time I met you. And I do not mean that you are a half-blood and hence seem different."

Percy kept silent, licking his lips almost nervously. He sat up, crossing his legs as he looked down the edge of the cliff. "First of all," he said quietly, "Don't call me half-blood. I'm not one."

Loki's brows furrowed in confusion, "What do you-?"

Percy looked at him, staring straight into his eyes, "I mean it. Don't call me a half-blood, I'm not one. I've never been one."

He smiled self-deprecatingly at the god, who was staring at him uncomprehendngly, a hint of sadness in his stormy green eyes, "I'm a mortal, through and through."