strangers ───── a loki fanfiction.
⚘ written by leila . . . 2025
chapter one

     Blood seeped through the grass that painted the soil of Vanaheim, carving its way into the core of the planet. From a body in the field came choked breaths, its fingertips clawing at the blades of foreign grass in an attempt to reach for something further. But all that lied ahead was more of nothing. It was an almost perfect scene.

     Because Meya Freyrsdottir was dwindling into nothing, much like the plains that rolled for miles. A patch of crimson on her leather armor proved so. And it burned. It burned almost as much as it had when she fled the ship.

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     There was so much fire. It was all she could see from where she was chained up on the rescue ship. If she were human, the emitted smoke would have been enough to flood her lungs and kill her then.

     There was talking, coming from a bass-filled voice, but the flames were far too loud to hear over. Meya clung to the wall, her head spiraling from the attack. All that surrounded her in her corner of the ship was deathly silence. Not a single soul took a breath. Because they could not.

     She painfully lowered her gaze to the floor, her eyes met with the piled bodies of her people – every remaining Asgardian. She would have let out a scream if she could, but her body was far too exhausted. She had extinguished her abilities in the heat of defending the ship and laid restless against the metal, blood trickling down from the crown of her head and towards her chin.

     A dark-haired man stood near the bow of the ship, surrounded by the titan’s men. Loki was left practically unscathed, save the gash on his right temple. Through Meya’s half-lidded eyes, all that was visible on his figure was the indigo armour she had tailored for him during his stay in the Asgardian prison. Its usual shine was diminished by grime and blood, instead of his signature leather polish that he claimed made him look like a king.

     “I know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right… yet to fail, nonetheless.” The Mad Titan spoke as his gaze lingered upon the large window at the front of the ship before his massive hand came down upon Thor’s skull.

     Meya’s body involuntarily flinched as the God of Thunder became held under Thanos’s grasp. Her brown eyes widened and she struggled to yell out, “He didn't do anything!” The chain that bound her to the wall jangled as she moved in Thor’s defense. Thanos paused his speech to veer his attention to the thousand year old girl sat between mounds of bodies.

     “The Tesseract… or his head.” The Titan lowered his voice as his fingers curled around Thor’s skull. From her chains, a small crackle of energy flowed through the metal, but not enough to break away. Meya let out an exasperated huff as her palms hit the ground. She wouldn't let anyone else die.

     “He isn't yours to take and neither is the Tess-” Her voice stopped short as a blue light emitted from the mass of Thanos’s henchmen. Loki stepped out from the center, the infinity stone raised with one hand.

     Meya’s eyes fell on the god, her chapped lips parting in unwavering disappointment. She should have known he would not be able to say goodbye to the one thing he held power over. “No…” She whispered beneath the sound of the growing flames.

     With a subtle shift of his jaw, his lips hushed a low apology before his eyes settled on her debilitated state. The edges of his brows twitched as her face crinkled in pain. Not because of the blood running down her cheek or for the bodies with faces she once knew, but because of him.

     "You really are the worst, brother…" Thor strained as the veins in his forehead came up to the surface, the pressure of Thanos's hand crushing down on him. A splutter of thick, dark blood spilled from his lower lip as his jaw hung loosely in failure. This was it. This was the beginning of ruin — not just for Asgard, not just for him, his brother, and for Meya. But it was the beginning of the end for all nine realms.

     As Thanos crushed the blue infinity stone in his free palm and began to insert the Space Stone into the golden gauntlet attached to it, all sense of hope left Meya's frail body. The seconds after Thanos added to his collection seemed fleeting until familiar hands worked at the cold cuffs around her brazen wrists. She choked on a lump of air as Loki shielded her with his body and hastily fiddled with the metal restraints.

     She wanted to yell at him. To tell him he was an idiot. To scream at him for turning his back to Thanos. "I'm going to get you out of this." He mumbled urgently with wishful thinking. "We're not going to die here. Not yet, darling." Her view of him blurred as pained tears escaped her half-lidded eyes. This wasn't going to end the way he wanted — no, needed it to.

     Her chest heaved up and down, and again, as he freed her hands. As the smoke-filled air swam around her wrists, she eagerly reached up to embrace him tightly — as if she was crushing every bone in his immortal body. Her fingertips dug an inch into the shoulders of his armor, the need to have him as close as possible washing over her. Gods, she just wanted more time.

     As her sweat-beaded nose brushed against the nape of his blood-stained neck, she heard an excruciatingly loud snap from behind Loki. Meya slowly lifted her head from his body to look over his shoulder at the scene.

     Thor laid limp on the ship's floor, his skull mangled in the aftermath of Thanos's punishment. In the god's uncovered eye, the light of the fire shone back at her. A blood-curdling scream roared out of her lungs at the sight, causing Loki to spin on his knees to assess the horror.

     His icy eyes glazed over his younger brother's body with a sense of bewilderment. Thor was supposed to be the strong one, the hero. And there he laid, the blood in his veins settling into a state of death. It took every bit of strength in him to resist killing Thanos then and there. An odd feeling flooded his bones, as if he had to — as if he had, in some other twisted reality. But, with a sudden movement of his body, Loki fell beside Meya, the sound of his armor clashing against the floor. His eyes couldn't tear away from Thor.

     In his display of vanquishment, Meya placed her palms against the cool metal of the ship's floor, her fingertips grazing Loki's hip bone as she began to stand. With one hand, she clutched her side with a wince of pain. Blood bubbled around the edges of her wound as she covered it. But even the throbbing failed to cease her sudden vigor. Her lip curled around her slightly stained teeth as she took a heavy, struggled step towards the Mad Titan.

     As the sole of her boot hit the floor, Loki snapped his eyes up to her leaving figure. He muscled his torso up just enough to be able to stretch his hand out towards her arm. "Meya, what are you doing-?" His thin, dark brows creased together in disbelief at her stupidity. Not even he would approach Thanos with such vitality.

     The hand that he searched for slowly lifted high enough to be parallel with her chest, her knuckles  twitching as she stammered energy out of her. Loki's narrow lips parted in realization.

     She was fighting back.

     Or at least she was trying. Blue-green sparks danced around her index and middle finger, attempting to catch.

     Thanos's broad back deliberately turned to face the two sole survivors of the attack. His mouth curved up into a devilish smirk at the girl's feeble attempt to retaliate. "You gods never learn, do you?" His voice quipped with indifference.

     It only took him a few long strides before he towered over the brunette goddess, her eyes shaking with apprehension. His large hand seized hers, crushing her knuckles backwards. Meya let out an agonized yelp, her knees buckling at the intensity of his violence. His other hand wrapped around her slender throat.

     She felt that at any moment, she'd be next. All those years redeeming herself to be worthy of love, of friendship, of life, would be gone along with Thor — the man she'd considered her own brother since Loki's first 'death'.

     The pain was unbearable. And she was giving up, lest her desire for a life outside of war. In that moment, as each bone in her right hand and neck cracked with fervor, all she wanted was to say goodbye. To utter a final declaration of love.

     Meya's eyes flickered shut in slow acceptance. "I love you, Lo-"

     Thanos must have dropped his hand, because her heart was still beating. But she could have sworn she heard one final break.

     With utter resistance, she opened her eyes.

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     Meya gasped for air as the blades of grass poked at her face. The escape pod behind her rang with unfamiliar sounds, emitting the only sound for miles surrounding her until a warbling noise sounded from in front of her crawling body.

     Her brown eyes shifted up to see an orange portal form in the field and three people in padded uniforms exited from it. Meya's head tilted and her lips twisted into a plunging frown. "Please…" She spat into the grass. "Please, just let me die."

     They each carried wands of some sort that buzzed with light. One marched towards her, stopping as his foot landed just inches from her low head.

     "On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline." His tongue clicked, with memorization seeped into each word.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

first chapter done!! i may have sobbed like 6 separate times while writing this, but i promise you this is the worst it gets for now. all will be well soon 🙏🏼

thank you so much for taking the time to read! votes and comments are much appreciated, i love you all so much xx

strangers ───── a loki fanfiction.
⚘ written by leila . . . 2025
chapter one

words . . . 1771.
written . . . 8.1.25.
published . . . 8.2.25