Contest of Champions

16

The balcony becomes my refuge when I find sleep eludes me once again, later that night, and I stand on a ledge overlooking the rest of the balcony, letting the wind ripple through my hair and sway my tunics. The perspiration that had begun to plague me in the stuffy confines of my chambers is wicked away by the wind.

There's no organization to my thoughts tonight. Veers, Gamora, Hela, the events of yesterday, the planned schedule for tomorrow – they all flow through my head in illogical forms, only lending more confusion to me. But to think logically through all of this would take more energy than I have right now, so I don't.

"Can't sleep?"

Sif's voice startles me, but I don't react, simply turn to face her. Her loose hair blows into her face as she moves to stand beside me. For a moment, she stares at the view down below before looking at me.

"Both of us won't make it."

"I am aware of that," I respond, wondering where she's going with this.

"I want to make a pact."

I furrow my brow. "You want an alliance?"

Sif pauses, looking like she's on the verge of shaking her head. "Not exactly," she says finally. "Just an agreement that we won't be responsible for each other's deaths."

"Why do you want an agreement like that?"

Sif looks at me, brushing her hair from her face. "I don't want to be responsible for the death of my friend's brother."

"So you're doing this because of Thor?" I ask to clarify.

"What if I am?" she challenges, sensing my reluctance. "What if I am? Your brother is watching two friends and his brother go up against each other in the Contest, knowing that only one has a chance of making it out. I don't want to have your blood, or Hogun's, on my hands. But I want to know that you feel the same."

I consider this for a moment. I have several choices to choose from. I could agree and not kill her; I could agree and kill her anyway; or I could not agree. I really only had a problem with the first option.

"Well?" she says, her eyes hard and questioning. She doubts me, I know that.

"Fine," I tell her.

Sif doesn't seem too satisfied with my response. "I need more than that."

"What do you want, Sif?" I snap. "A signed document stating that Loki Odinson won't kill the Lady Sif? This is the Contest of Champions. You can't just make deals like that."

"So you won't agree," she states.

I don't answer her. "You conniving, craven, pathetic worm!" Sif spits, turning to walk away. Annoyed, she drops these words over her shoulder: "When will you learn, Loki?"

The door slides softly closed before her as I turn and jump from the ledge down onto the main part of the balcony. I stand looking out over Titan for a few more minutes before I decide to go back to my room. This bad habit of losing sleep will not benefit me in the Contest.

My rest is fitful, and I am half grateful and half irritated when dawn comes. I leave my room, dressed in a black tunic, and enter the dining room, stopping abruptly at the sight of the lounging figure of my sister, leisurely enjoying a cup of Midgardian coffee.

"Good morning, Loki," she greets, beckoning for me to join her. Warily, I take a seat on the other side of the table, almost across from her but not quite. I sit rigidly, ready to escape should there be a need. But she doesn't say anything else, just looks back to the door to welcome Sif and instruct her to take a seat.

"Are you ready to go back and face the other contenders?" she asks us as we each take a plate of breakfast.

Sif and I both nod, each refusing to look directly at the other. Hela notices, smiles, and continues. "Make the most of your training time. Just because you're Asgardian doesn't mean you have any sort of edge on the rest of the competition. So branch out. Learn new things. And you can choose to embrace the image created for you yesterday, or you can choose something new. Just a warning: choosing something new means invalidating your entrance. That's not such a good decision."

Valkyrie walks in then and Hela takes a sip from her coffee. "Valkyrie, any advice for Loki and Sif?"

Valkyrie looks at us and shrugs as Thor strides in, saying, "Just remember, you represent Asgard and are two of the bravest warriors I know."

Hela rolls her eyes and raises her hand, going to shoo us from the table. But just as we stand up, Thor frowns and says, "I'm not done. Training is for you to see the other contenders in action and to get a feel for their skills and their trustworthiness. Use it wisely." Then he frowned at the drink at his seat. "What is this?"

"Tea," Hela tells him.

"Oh, no," Thor says dismissively. "I don't drink tea."

"What would you like to drink?" Hela asks with another roll of her eyes.

"Not tea," Thor states firmly.

"Go," Valkyrie says to us. "Jane will take you down."

"And watch out for Cletus Kasady," Hela calls. "He seems to already have a taste for blood."

Sif and I leave the room as Hela laughs behind us. I cast my eyes over at her and see her tenseness, her annoyance emanating towards me, and I realize that she's merely angry that I wouldn't agree with her. She doesn't fear me.

I feel insulted until I realize that my best days always happen on the mountainside, with Gamora. Sif doesn't see me as a threat because she doesn't believe I hold much to threaten her with.

Well. She'll learn to see differently before this Contest is through.