The moment Loki crossed the great body of water, he shifted back into his human form immediately, stumbling slightly in the after effects of the spell, unused to shape-shifting after going so long without using that particular spell. He shook his head, retrieving his staff from his pocket to steady himself. He could feel the traces of the land's magic lingering in the air, leaving a disgusting taste in his mouth. Loki moved quietly, enshrouding himself in his magic and illusions even though there were no signs of anyone around him – he didn't want to take the chance and pay for it. After all, he had grown up learning to be cautious, unlike his oaf of a brother who always charged into battle headfirst, leaving Loki to cover his back for him.

He walked slowly, keeping an eye out for any signs of the draugar*. He had only been on Niflheim once before, but Hela – when she had calmed down enough not to breathe fire on him – had warned him about the section of Niflheim where the draugar inhabited. Their 'home' was filled with dark magic, magic which sustained them and was a whole different kind of horror from the illusory magic that had ensnared him before Hela had saved him. Not even the wolves of Niflheim dared to cross into their territory, their beastly instincts driving them away from the undead. He sighed, of all the places for Percy to actually wander into...

Then again, Loki mused, he could have been attempting to get away from the wolves and ended up across the river as a result, since the wolves would never dare to cross the waters of the murky river, not even for a special soul. But Percy could cross it. With his powers over water – Loki paused, frowning slightly, did his powers still work? He sighed, there was no point thinking about that now, if the boy didn't have his powers then he would have to protect the two of them from the horrors of the realm and convince Percy to come with him. Loki slapped a hand to his face, of all the things... he thought, annoyance surging through him. How was he supposed to convince Percy when he wasn't even allowed to tell him his name?

A low hissing sound filtered through his thoughts and the god ducked down behind a stray tree, the trunk big enough to shield him from view – not that his magic wasn't enough, but he had always been overly cautious. His hand rested on the staff that lay on the ground beside him, also hidden from view. Loki peered around the tree, scanning the landscape for signs of the creature that made the noise. He waited with bated breath as another hiss echoed across the plain, the pitch slightly different this time. He narrowed his eyes as two draugr shifted into view, their forms hunched over as they shuffled across the plain, their jaws hanging open and their faces a myriad of claw marks and rotten flesh. Loki wrinkled his nose, the smell wafting towards him filling him with disgust, but he remained where he was, observing the corpses quietly.

They chattered and chittered in a way reminiscent of the chitauri, making Loki cringe at first, but their 'speech' was accompanied by the occasional moan that punctuated their speech. Loki had absolutely no clue as to what they were saying, or if they were even capable of intelligent speech, but he knew that if there were two right here, it meant that more were gathered elsewhere. He racked his brain for more facts on the draugr, but for once, his extensive knowledge was failing him. As they were the undead, and animated by magic, it wasn't surprising that Asgard had little to no knowledge of them. Add in the fact that they were supposedly dead as well...

One thing sprang into his mind, that despite the condition of their body, they were extremely fast.

That thought entered his head a split second before he leapt out of the way, a double-bladed axe splitting the tree he had been hiding behind. The good news was that he had avoided certain decapitation and a permanent stay in the realm. The bad news? He now had the undivided attention of all three draugr.

Loki sighed internally, Percy's luck must be rubbing off on him, he never had this much trouble when he was being stealthy before. That, and they should not have been able to track his location when he was concealed by his magic. He slid into a crouch, holding his staff at a slight angle in front of him, the sharpened end of the staff in clear view. The draugar hissed but remained where they were, stooped over in a deceptively helpless manner, but Loki knew that they were far from helpless. The weapons in their hands were more than enough proof of that.

He narrowed his eyes at them, gathering his magic but not moving either, both parties unwilling to break the tension. His mind went into overdrive as he analyzed his opponents. He knew that they were fast, unnaturally so for a reanimated body, and though he was no easy pickings – despite what his brother and all the other warriors of Asgard thought – he could admit that he had not sensed the draugr until its weapon was flung towards him. That, and he didn't know what they were capable of, nor what their weaknesses were – if they even had any, but he wasn't going to let that bring him down. After all, it wasn't his first time going into battle with an opponent who's weakness he didn't know.

The moment he shifted his foot, he threw himself backwards instinctively, and not a moment too soon as three weapons slammed into the ground where he had been a fraction of a second later. He spun the staff and slammed the end of it into the draugr's gut, the weapon sinking into soft flesh like a knife through butter. He didn't show his surprise however, knowing that such a lull would cost him. He used his momentum and thrust the staff deeper through the corpse, ducking under an axe – when did that thing even retrieve it? – and spinning around, the staff slicing through the draugr's side from the inside and catching the other corpse, sending it flying as the staff's body smacked it away. Loki ducked and twirled the staff above him, slamming the head of the staff into the draugr he nearly cut in half while the end of the staff cut into the axe-wielding draugr's neck.

All three corpses stumbled away, sporting several cuts that should have been fatal. 'Should have been' being the keyword because even as Loki backtracked, holding his staff out defensively, the slashes on the draugr's bodies stitched itself back up. His eyes widened in shock even as he filed the information away in his mind. The god bared his teeth, twirling the staff in his hands, feeling his magic build up within him. The draugr he had hit in the side got back up first, bruises healing faster than the cuts he had dealt to its brethren. It leapt at him, a shrill cry emerging from its throat, jagged sword in its hands and Loki brought up his sword, his knees bending slightly to absorb the force of its sword against his staff. He snarled and pushed upwards, throwing the draugr off balance, sweeping his staff – the front end – against the draugr's throat. In the same second, a bolt of energy shot from his staff and burned a hole in the draugr's throat, the corpse gurgling and stumbling backwards.

He would have pressed his advantage then, but the time it took for him to disarm his opponent had been more than enough for the other two draugr to get up on their feet. He ducked and weaved through the attacks, but he noticed that the one with a burnt throat wasn't healing as fast as before. Loki narrowed his eyes, what he used was a mere bolt of energy, but if he used actual fire instead...

He switched from defense to offense, there was no point in trying to figure out their attack patterns since they didn't have enough of a mind of their own to follow any particular style, lunging forward as he brought down his staff in an overhead arc, slamming it against the draugr's sword. He pushed the corpse back then ducked, the axe missing his head by millimeters. He repeated his movement and slammed the butt end of the staff into the gut of the draugr, but this time, he yanked it out almost immediately and gripped it by its neck, slamming it to the ground, his hand igniting in fire. Loki backtracked, the draugr screaming and writhing on the ground as the fire consumed its whole body. Instead of standing there observing his triumph, he quickly moved from his position, knowing that standing still would only make him a more obvious target.

Loki, knowing that fire was the key to defeating them, went in for close range, even though a staff wasn't the best weapon of choice for close range fighting. He spun on his heel and kicked a draugr in the jaw, sending it flying away from him, in the same movement, he fired another blast in the direction of the other remaining draugr, burning its arm, the skin blistering and peeling. He locked his fingers together, forming a 'v' shape with his left hand, striking the throat of the draugr coming up behind him. It faltered – predictably – and he took the opportunity to mutter a spell and set the corpse on fire. It went down much like the first one, and he conjured a dagger, liquid flame coating its blade and drew the metal across the last draugr's throat, the flames spreading outwards from the wound.

Loki stood there, watching dispassionately as the three bodies burned to ashes before him. He sheathed his dagger, lowering his staff and letting his magic settle within him. Something in the corner of his eye shined, and he turned, his staff coming up to defend himself but he knew that it would be too slow. His eyes widened –

Something slammed into his side and knocked him out of the way, the god landing harshly on the ground. He twisted his body, bringing his dagger up only to stop short at the sight of wide, oceanic green eyes. Loki's breath caught in his throat, his entire body frozen in shock. "Per –" he croaked, slamming his mouth shut as Hela's conditions came into mind. Those green eyes narrowed in confusion before a weight lifted from Loki's body, a shriek emerging from the fourth draugr as the boy cut through it. Loki lay where he was, blinking rapidly. He launched himself to his feet the next moment, getting in between Percy and the draugr. He snarled, smacking the corpse away with his staff, a stream of fire emerging from the tip of his staff. It hit the draugr in the chest and burned it, and Loki, not wanting to risk the presence of any more draugr, grabbed Percy's hand and ran.

They ran until the trees blended into rocks, and further still, Loki taking every chance he could to put more distance between their attackers and them. Draugar were drawn to each other, four of them dead would draw more to the site like sharks to blood. He had searched for the water, retracing the steps he took, but whether it was by his own fault or the magic of the realm, the large water body was nowhere to be found. It was only because he found himself suddenly yanked backwards that Loki stopped running. He glared at Percy – who looked so, so alive that it hurt – who glared right back at him. "What do you think you are doing?" Loki hissed, "They will find us if we do not stay ahead of them!"

Percy glared back unflinchingly, "Well what are you doing? Dragging me all over the place?"

Loki scowled, "I am trying to save your life you stupid boy! Why else would I be here in the first place?" he said indignantly, gesturing to the entire realm of the dead.

Percy rolled his eyes and shrugged, "I don't know, maybe you're some crazy old man who wants to eat me for dinner. Or maybe you decided you like the sights here. How should I know? I don't even know who the hell you are!" he fired back.

Loki felt as though someone had punched him in the gut, the air sucked out of him. "You – you don't know who I am?"

Percy shifted, his stance relaxing minutely but still defensive, "No," he said slowly, "Should I?"

"You –" Loki hesitated, then shook his head, "No, no you shouldn't." he squared his shoulders, opening his mouth to continue when –

"You're such a liar."

Loki blinked, "What?"

Percy stared at him, his green eyes piercing, "I knew you didn't I? Before – before all this."

Loki shook his head, remembering his daughter's warning, but again, Percy cut in before he could speak up, "Cut the crap, I can see it in your eyes, you knew – know – me, and I'm guessing that I knew who you were too. Is that why you're here?" Percy asked quietly.

Loki could have laughed. Even now, with no memories of him, Percy still retained the annoying ability to look right through him. He licked his lips slightly, debating internally what he should say. On one hand, he was not allowed to tell Percy who he was, but on the other... Hela never said that Percy couldn't guess himself.

It was with that last thought that Loki found himself nodding and saying, "Yes, I – I knew who you were when you were alive. And yes, that is one of the reasons why I'm here. To right a wrong."

Percy cocked his head to one side, scrutinizing the man standing opposite him. His mind told him not to trust anyone, but his instincts told him that this man was trustworthy. "Right a wrong? What, did you kill me or something?"

Loki flinched and looked away, he would never forget and never forgive himself for watching Percy die at the hands of his former student.

"You didn't, did you?"

Loki sighed, "I might as well have." He replied, unsure of what else to say.

He turned back when he heard the other boy laugh, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Did he think it was a joke?

Percy, reading his expression correctly, replied, "I don't believe you." He held up a hand to stall any protests from the god, "I mean, I don't believe that you killed me. Killers don't usually come and find their victims in the afterlife you know. Besides," he smiled, "you don't look like a killer."

Loki could only shake his head at Percy's naïveté, "Never judge a book by its cover." He murmured.

Percy strode forward, closing the distance between the two of them, extending a hand, "Nice to meet you, what's your name?"

Loki grasped his hand – a solid, warm hand – and smiled back tentatively, the stone in his chest loosening slightly, "Loki."

"I don't suppose you can tell me my name right?"

Loki shook his head, "There are some things I am not allowed to say, this is one of them."

"Well..." Percy sighed, "I can't just go with no name, not if we want to have a decent conversation."

"We already are having a decent conversation." Loki pointed out. When he only received Percy's glare, he smirked, loopholes were the one thing he was good at exploiting. "We should find a shelter first, then I will tell you a story. Of a great hero who descended from the king of the gods."

"So..." Percy drawled, leaning against the cold stone, his arms crossed over his chest as he leveled an unimpressed look at Loki, his eyebrows raised in skepticism. "What exactly, was the point of the whole story?"

Loki frowned, "Must there be a point to every story?" he retorted defensively, "Perhaps I just decided to regale to you a tale of heroism for the sake of it."

Percy nodded patronizingly, "Uh-huh, and this has nothing to do at all with the fact that you keep mentioning the name 'Perseus' as though it's the only thing that matters...?"

Loki scowled, "That, is the name of the hero of the story, I only meant to emphasize his name such that you do not end up forgetting his name."

"Right..." Percy said, squinting at him, "...You're using a really roundabout way to tell me that that's my name, aren't you."

Loki stared at him impassively for a moment, marveling at the speed at which the boy picked it up, then shrugged carelessly, "Now, why would I do that? I was explicitly told not to inform you of anything of your past life."

Percy just rolled his eyes, turning the name over in his head. 'Perseus' seemed like a nice name, if a tad too long. He shrugged, it didn't really matter to him either way, he thought, huddling further into the rock. They had managed to find a shelter, though the word shelter was subjective. It was more of a random placement of rocks that just happened to form a slight overhang for them to hide underneath it. Even so, the two of them chose a corner to themselves, sitting as far away as possible from each other. Percy's gut told him to trust this man, and he did – to a certain extent, but he couldn't help but be skeptical of the reasons this man was here for. No one came down to the realm of the dead for a trivial reason like righting a wrong, even if said wrong had gotten him killed. But it wasn't as though he could simply outright ask said man about his motives, Loki was more liable to clam up than speak freely – it just seemed like the sort of man he was.

So that left only one thing for him to do – find out what his motives were. Percy sighed, the thing about having no recollection of his life – former life – was that there were things he didn't know about that he should have known. Case in point, the so called story that Loki was telling him off earlier. He felt that he should have known that particular story, not just know, but have it recorded in his heart or something. He knew that he could trust Loki – and as he said before, he did, to a certain extent – but he couldn't place more than the instinctual trust in him. Even now, there was a reason he sat opposite the god with his back firmly against the cold, wet rock behind him.

He didn't believe – didn't want to believe – that Loki meant him harm, but only a fool would trust a stranger blindly. But he's not exactly a stranger now is he?, a voice whispered in his head. He shook away those whispers; they had grown since the first day he woke up – how long ago had that been? – but he always tried his best to ignore them. It wasn't exactly real voices, more like a feeling in the back of his head that sometimes made its opinion known. Percy just sighed and studiously ignored the nagging voice in his head that sounded as conflicted as he felt. A quiet voice in the back was telling him that hearing voices was not exactly normal, but then again, he was in a realm full of dead people yet he didn't find that he seemed dead, or the fact that he had barely seen any other 'dead' people around.

Only wolves and –

"What were those things anyway?"

Loki looked up, the lull in the conversation making the both of them sit in silence. He had been wondering about the ease with which Percy had accepted his story and his reasoning for being here. Granted, it wasn't exactly a story since most of it was true... But it wasn't as though he could tell the boy that he was a demigod from earth and he had to come back from the dead because they needed to fulfill a prophecy. Right, Loki grimaced slightly, like that was going to go over well. He sighed, damn Hela for making such conditions. He couldn't very well go against them though, no doubt she was watching, and if he broke any of the conditions she had imposed... Well, it was a sure way to get Hela to remove Percy forever. It seemed that his skills as the Silvertongue would have to be employed here.

Loki tilted his head, "They are known to us as draugar, corpses that were animated by a powerful sorcerer or necromancer. They have no free will nor any intelligent mind as they are, for all purposes, dead."

Percy frowned, "Then how did they move so fast if they were dead? Cause that doesn't seem like typical dead people behaviour. And how did they find you? Or me?"

Loki narrowed his eyes in thought, "Not much is known about draugar, and hardly anyone has ever encountered a draugr, or if they had, they never recorded it. However, if I would hazard a guess... I would say that as a living person, I would naturally stand out amongst the dead. Draugar are essentially corpses so they would be drawn to life forms. As for their speed," the god shrugged, "the information eludes me."

"In other words, you don't know." Percy summed up, grinning at the offended expression on Loki's face. "Y'know... If they can find us, why are we still sitting here?"

Loki blinked, a smirk growing on his face, it felt weird to view Percy as a stranger, but that was who this man in front of him was. He wasn't his Percy, yet it was endearing to see some traits that never left the boy, not even in death. And Loki tried not to think of that particular incident in detail, because even with the proof right in front of him, he still couldn't rid his mind of the way Percy had laid there on the sacrificial table. It was a good thing that he hadn't actually slept since the incident. Loki sighed, he didn't remember doing this much introspection before he met Percy, it had to be something he'd gleaned from the boy. "Well, that was for us to get acquainted, as well as to figure out our bearings so that we might find our way out."

"Right, so the former is done, and...have you gotten any progress on the latter?"

Loki shot the demigod a bland look, "What makes you think that I should be the one to figure out where we are?"

"Well clearly it's because you even know that there's a way out when all I did was run like hell away from those wolves. Speaking of, I wonder why I haven't heard any of them so far, they aren't usually that far behind me..."

"It's because you are in the homeland of the draugar you dimwit. The wolves of Niflheim are not going to cross the border. Not even for a prey."

"Wait... There's a border? How come I never knew? And seriously? Animated corpses have a homeland?"

An exasperated sigh. "Foolish boy. The border, a giant expanse of water? Does that bring forth any memories or is your brain muddled by seaweed?"

Percy flinched minutely, the thought of brain and seaweed sending waves of pain through him, but he fixed a smile on his face, "Giant water body. Right. I think I passed by that on my way here."

Loki rolled his eyes, "That is the way out we are looking for. Boy."

"So if we get pass that so called border we're out of this place?"

"... I get the distant feeling that we are referring to different things. If by 'this place' you mean the homeland of the draugar then yes. But we will not be able to get out of Niflheim that easily."

"... Damn. And here I was hoping for an easy pass out of this wasteland. Speaking of, why do you even want to get me out anyway?"

Loki looked at Percy, his green eyes shining with curiosity. "I already told you, it is to –"

"Right a wrong yeah, I heard," Percy interrupted, "but that isn't what I'm talking about. People don't just come down to where dead people live for no reason."

"That is not 'no reason' –"

"I get it! I do!" Percy cut in, throwing his hands up, "I'm asking you why! Why would you want to do this? Why would you risk your life just because you made a mistake? Yeah I get that it was a particular bad mistake and all, but it doesn't justify the reason why you would risk your life just for that! You could have just said sorry and moved on, no one would have blamed you if it wasn't your fault right? So why? Why would you come down for a person who doesn't even remember his own name?" Percy finished his rant, panting for breath as he stared, fists clenched, into shocked emerald eyes.

Loki looked up at Percy in shock, then down in shame. He hadn't thought of how Percy might have felt, too caught up in his own elation at finding the boy and moving forward in his quest to realize how disorienting it was for Percy. To wake up in a hostile environment with no memories of how he got here, being chased right from the start by a pack of wolves, having to run constantly to avoid certain death or mauling or ending up as dinner, escaping one foe only to exchange it for a more sinister one. And to top it off, meeting a stranger who knew all about who you were but was unwilling to tell you anything.

Loki lowered his eyes, murmuring, "I am sorry." He sighed, "I – you ask why I came here for, I cannot tell you that. You ask why I would risk my life for this, I can only tell you that you are more than worth it."

Percy bit his lip, he hadn't meant to rant at Loki, but with his lack of memory and how obviously Loki knew about him, he wanted - no, needed to know more. "Were we – were we together? In that way? Before I – before this?"

Loki stiffened, thrown off track by the question. "I –" he hesitated, should he tell the truth? He needed Percy to come with him, and if that was the end result he wanted, he would need to convince Percy that he could be trusted. But lying to the boy like that... He studied Percy's face, faint traces of hope lining his face and he made his decision. "I – I suppose that is one way you could call us."

Percy's eyes widened, he wondered now if that was the reason why he trusted this man so quickly at first, not questioning his motives until he had time to think about it. He wanted to press for answers though, he wanted to know more about him, about them, but he saw how uncomfortable that made Loki and he held himself in check despite the burning curiosity in his chest. "Right, er, so, how are we getting out? Of Nee-film- hime?"

"Niflheim," Loki corrected absently, "and theoretically I can cast a spell that would bring us to another realm."

"Theroetically?" Percy parroted.

Loki nodded, "Yes, theoretically, because... Because you would have to trust me completely."

Percy paused, wondering if Loki was a mind reader, but before he could answer, he ducked forward instinctively, a glowing shield over his head as a blade whistled through the air and struck the rock behind him.