Chapter Text
Thor tugged on the chain, making Loki stumble a bit. Loki glared at him in retaliation, and Thor just smirked, continuing to tug him along. It was satisfying, yet he found it hadn't made him happy.
The Avengers were there as well, surrounding the area, should Loki escape and try to take over the world again. Thor turned and held out the other end of the transportation device to Loki. But before he could grasp it, there was a noise, much like two wooden poles smacking into each other, and a moment later, a thin, vertical line of yellow appeared. It spread outwards and became an oval, and a Jotun stepped through. Loki made a noise through the gag on him and Thor nearly dropped the Tesseract.
The giant's scarlet eyes landed on Loki and narrowed. Ze walked forwards and Loki stepped back. Thor let go of the chain, and grabbed Mjolnir from his belt. "Stay back!" He snarled.
The Jotun ignored him. Instead, ze looked at Loki and said "Greetings."
Loki's eyes widened and he glanced at Thor before looking back at the creature.
"I am Byleist," the Jotun continued. "The prince and adviser of Jotunheim. We-" Ze stopped there and frowned at Loki. "I get the feeling your eyes were green when I saw you last."
"They are green," Thor snarled. "Don't you touch him."
"They are blue," Byleist pointed out. Ze frowned again and waved a hand at Thor, freezing him into a block of ice. Byleister walked towards Loki, who stumbled backwards. The Avengers moved into action, Clint shooting an arrow at them, Natasha shooting, and Steve throwing his shield. All of them hit an invisible barrier.
Byleist picked up the chain connected to Loki, and said "Stop moving, I'm not going to do anything to you yet."
Ze pulled Loki towards zim and grabbed his arm. Loki struggled, trying to get away, but Byleist's grip was firm. The frost giant turned and waved a hand at Thor, making the ice melt to his neck.
"Loki!" Thor shouted, and Byleist turned back to Loki. He was blue now, his eyes red. However, there was an odd ring of color, like an iris, around the pupil. Almost a purple color, but darker.
"As I suspected," Byleist murmured. Ze sighed and pulled a bottle out of nowhere. "Lay down, please."
When Loki showed no sign of complying, Byleist rolled zir eyes and placed the bottle between zir teeth, placing the other hand on Loki's head. Loki immediately went limp, and Byleister maneuvered him on the ground. Ze then straightened and walked over to where Thor was still frozen.
"Quiet and listen; Loki's life may depend on it," ze snapped. "Loki is currently infected with a parasite. It's quite common on Jotunheim, it likes dark, freezing places. It's easy to get rid of once you know it's there, but it's rare that the person who's hosting the parasite knows it's there. Usually we can tell because Jotnar eyes are usually all red, but with the virus, the iris turns a dark color.
"The parasite causes increased negative emotions, and takes a role on the physical state. It sort of taps into a person's seidr, which is why it latched onto Loki. I'm assuming it's been there for about a year or so, which isn't unheard of, but it's not healthy. I'm going to take it out, but I need you to hold him down. After the parasite is removed, he needs to come to Jotunheim. Our healers can monitor his recovery."
"A parasite?" Thor frowned.
"Yes," Byleist replied, nodding. "We call them ordeks."
"And how can I believe this?" Thor said, glaring. "I've never heard of this before."
Byleist snorted, crossing zir arms. "Of course not," ze said. "They occupy cold dark places, like Nidavellir, Svartalfheim, and Jotunheim. And probably Niflheim and Ginnungagap as well."
"The Void?" Thor said, going quiet.
"Yes," Byleist said. "Are you going to help, or are you not?"
Thor swallowed. "I will help."
Byleist waved a hand and the ice melted. Ze turned and walked back to where Loki lay, and knelt, picking up the bottle and opening it, shaking it until a brown ball of something fell into zir hand. Thor knelt on the other side and said "What must I do?"
"First, take that damn muzzle off," Byleist said. "Then make sure he can't stand up, and can't use his hands."
Thor put Mjolnir on Loki's chest, then took his hands and moved to kneel by his head. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, removing the muzzle.
Byleist scoffed. "I have done this procedure many times before, even those as young and small as Loki. As I have said, this is a common parasite."
Thor nodded and Byleist said "Before I start, Loki will get into a violent state. He may scream, cry, struggle. You must do nothing unless I say. You understand? Swear to it."
Thor swallowed and nodded again. "You've my word."
"Then let us begin." Byleist opened Loki's mouth and crumbled the brown ball into it. Loki's eyes snapped open and tried to move his head away. Byleist held his jaw open and still, continuing as Loki began to struggle, making noises.
As soon as the ball was in, Byleist closed his mouth and covered it with zir hand. Loki made a sort of whining noise and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to struggle away.
"Swallow it," Byleist said. Loki made a noise of protest, and ze sighed, pinching Loki's nose shut. Loki struggled harder and Thor bit his cheek to stay quiet. It remained that way for a moment, Byleist covering Loki'a mouth and nose with one hand, and stroking his throat with the other.
After what seemed to be an eternity to Thor, Loki swallowed. Byleist released his nose, but continued to keep his mouth shut, stroking his throat. Loki made choking noises and Thor said "Stop, stop! He's-"
"A trickster," Byleist replied. "He is not choking, just faking so I'll stop." To Loki, ze said "It won't work. Just swallow it."
Loki swallowed again. A moment later, he began to thrash more, screaming under Byleist's hand, his eyes squeezed shut. He thrashed his legs and when his eyes opened, they were blue, completely blue, pupil small as a pinprick.
"Here we go," Byleist murmured, and a blackish goo started to leak from his eyes and nose. Byleist took zir hand off Loki's mouth and he squeezed his eyes shut, panting. Only seconds later, Loki screamed again, and a black smoke came from his mouth, evaporating into the air.
Loki fell limp, and Byleist said "You can take the hammer off his chest now."
Thor released Loki's hands and did so. Byleist turned Loki onto his side and began to murmured a spell, rubbing circles into his back in a soothing sort of way. Loki coughed, then gagged, then sat up and vomited on the pavement, a small black thing wriggling on the ground.
"And there it is," Byleist murmured, and took out a small, empty bottle from somewhere. Ze pushed the small creature into it, and corked the bottle. Ze handed it to Thor and said "Take a look."
Thor had Loki cradled in his arms, unconscious, black goo still dripping from his mouth. Byleiste sighed and took Loki from him and put him back on the ground, on his side. "There may be more coming up," ze told Thor. "Better to keep his airway clear."
Thor nodded and accepted the little bottle, peering inside. It was a beetle-like creature, two bright blue eyes set on its head, it was scuttling around the bottle in a panic. It looked about the size of a walnut.
"It is so... big," he said, surprised.
"For one of those, it's small," Byleiste replied. "The ones that come out of ygmis are usually much smaller than that because we catch them quicker. But I've seen them twice that size coming out of a regular sized Jotun." Thor gave him the bottle back, and it vanished somewhere.
"Why not kill it?" Thor asked.
"In case of complications, the healers need it. Once Loki has recovered, we will destroy it," Byleist said. "Come now, we must go to Jotunheim. Aesir healers will not know how to help him recover."
Thor nodded and stood. Loki gagged again and more black goo came up from his stomach. He opened his eyes briefly, and Thor saw the brilliant green in them. How had he missed that Loki's eyes had changed?
Byleist scooped Loki up, much like a child, and waved a hand, opening a portal. Thor turned to the Avengers and waved, smiling. "Farewell, my friends." He picked up the Tesseract and went through behind Byleist.