Kat was happy with the progress she was making. Odin was giving her less stink-eyes, but he was usually still grumpy whenever he saw her. However, she had made plenty of friends with the other Asgardians.

It was later in the evening, and Kat wanted to talk with Loki for a bit. {Hey, where are you?} 

There wasn't a response. That was odd. It was like he didn't even get the message.

{Loki?}  Kat tried again, being more careful in case she had messed up before.

There still wasn't a response. Kat set down the scroll she was holding.

"Katha?" Sif asked.

{Loki?} Kat put more magic through. Still no response.

"Katha, what is it?" Sif asked, placing a hand on Kat's shoulder.

"Something's wrong." Kat said. "I can't contact Loki."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes. This has never happened before." Kat said.

"I'll find Thor, we'll look for him." Sif said, and took off.

Kat passed the library on her way to Loki's room, and didn't find him there. She tried scanning for his magic as she ran down the halls, but still couldn't locate him. She didn't sense his magic in his room, but something made her open the door just in case.

He was lying on his bed. In an instant, Kat was beside him, and placed a hand on his forehead. His skin was hot to the touch. It was Loki in front of her, but his mind wasn't there. A hint of a darker magic was, though.

{Mother!} Kat cried out.

{Katha? What is wrong?}  Frigga's alarmed voice replied.

{Loki! Something's wrong! I- I- I don't- I don't know,} Kat couldn't explain any better in her panic.

Frigga soon entered Loki's chambers, Odin close behind. Odin looked confused as Frigga joined Kat, after all, Loki didn't look injured.

"His mind is gone." Frigga said. "Someone's taken him."

"What?" Odin and Kat growled.

"His mind is being held hostage. Who would have the power to do that?" Frigga said, and Kat knew there to be a rage in her tone.

Odin scowled. Kat turned back to Loki, and then after a moment she blurted. "The Mad Titan."

Odin's eye snapped to Katha. "Where did you learn that name?"

"Loki told me. The oracle gave us another prophecy before we came here. The Mad Titan was mentioned in it, and not in a good way." Kat swallowed back bile.

Odin took a few strides and placed his palm against Loki's forehead. He retracted his hand with a growl. "It's not his magic, but I would recognize that taint anywhere."

"We have to get him back." Kat stated.

"You can't come." Frigga said.

"What? Why not?" Kat demanded.

"The spell in your mind. They will recognize his magic." Frigga said.

A growl ripped from her throat. She leapt to her feet and paced angrily, before opening a cupboard where she had learned Loki hid his liquor. She found the bottle of nectar he had stashed for her. 

Falling into a criss-crossed position, she set the bottle down in front of her and entered her mindspace.

"What is she doing? Meditation won't help Loki." Odin hissed.

Frigga held a hand to his chest, and stared at Katha as her face contorted in pain.

"What is she doing?"

Frigga whispered. "Katha is tearing apart Loki's spell on her mind. The one that keeps her sane."

~~~~~~

Kat stood in an isle. Ahead of her, was a beautiful curtain of green magic, glittering like liquid jewels. She marched forward, and her eyes glowed as she reached for the magic, grasping it in her hands. And she pulled.

She pulled and tore. Every rip felt like a needle prick in her brain. But Loki had woven his spell so thoroughly, and it didn't tear easy. So she set it ablaze with sea-colored flame. Her haladies slashed through wildly.

She was panting by the time green hued ash settled on the pristine white floor around her. The curtain was gone. Kat pushed her hands forward, and the multitude of shelves moved as her hands did, leaving a divide between the memories made by Percy, and those made by Katha. Then she jerked her hands upwards, and a wall shot out of the ground between her and those memories.

~~~~~~

Kat's eyes snapped open, panting heavily, gasping for breath. With a shaking hand, she reached forward and grabbed the bottle. But she was shaking too much to uncork it.

Frigga's hands took it from her, and handed it back to her uncorked. Chugging it down, the pounding in her head eased, as did the shaking. Frigga helped her stand.

"I did it." Kat said. "I did it. Let's go."

Frigga nodded, and had Kat sit on the bed. She turned to her husband. "Watch over us. Thor and Sif are on their way."

Odin gave a nod.

Frigga took her own seat on the bed, between the two. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'll guide us to him, but we must be careful of magic while we are there. They could easily use our magic against us."

Kat's hard gaze didn't waver. Frigga and Kat shared a look, and then their bodies hit the bed as their minds were relocated.

Odin began his vigil, worriedly watching over them.

~~~~~~

It was cold. The ground was like ash and sand, the air grey and lifeless. Kat looked to Frigga for instruction. She saw the queen wearing armor. No skirts today, it would seem. Kat pointed to her own chest to ask if she should use magic to wear hers.

Frigga gave a miniscule nod. In the blink of an eye, Katha was wearing her armor, without the coat. They began sneaking around, past these ugly aliens, toward the largest structure of rock.

It felt like years before they made it. And there, they saw Loki, hanging chained up. Kat lurched forward, but Frigga held her back. A silent snarl seemed affixed to Katha's face as her eyes stormed.

"We can't get him out of here while they are all looking." Frigga whispered.

"I'll distract them." Kat whispered.

Frigga's eyes widened. "That would be incredibly reckless-"

"I don't care."

Frigga's eyes flitted about the aliens.

"We don't have a different choice. I don't know how to take Loki's mind back." Kat said. "Our best option is for me to distract them while you jailbreak Loki and get him home. Then, if it's still possible, you can come back for me."

Frigga sighed silently, and gave a single, grave nod. She pressed a kiss to Katha's temple. "Be careful."

Kat couldn't answer her, couldn't make any promises. She looked to the other side of the open room, and teleported to a spot behind cover. She took a deep breath, and let her eyes begin to glow.

Then she began to fling magic at the aliens. She made quite a few of them explode, and just generally caused a ruckus. Then she jumped into the open, and made herself the target.

By the time she saw that both Frigga and Loki were gone, she was in too deep to get a moment to even teleport away without getting an injury. With a roar, she tapped into her divine form for a moment, and the aliens around her vaporized.

Panting, she tried to catch her breath while the remaining few aliens shrieked. She dispatched them much quicker once the swarm was smaller.

"My, who do we have here?" A voice filled the room.

Kat turned around, covered in dark blood.

"An Asgardian?" The voice came from a tall man, his skin the shade of ill grapes. "No, you're much more than that aren't you?"

"You're the Mad Titan." Kat said.

"I've never been particularly fond of that name."

"You're smaller than I thought you'd be." Kat commented.

He narrowed his eyes.

"So, you the guy who mindcontrolled my friend?" 

"You mean the failure of a frost giant?"

Kat snarled.

"Oh. So you do have some fight left in you. But let me tell you something, little girl. You've been abandoned." Thanos said.

"And you've been stalling." Kat replied, ducking a weapon's blast.

She was so, so tired. She shouldn't have been fighting at all so soon after she brutally tore apart the spell. She was growing clumsier with each passing second.

A large hand wrapped around her throat, and lifted her into the air, feet kicking helplessly in a subconscious search for ground. Wild eyes flicked around, before locking onto those who were threatening her. Kat's hands grappled against the wrist that was suffocating her.

"This... Violence. Rage. I could use a weapon like you." He said.

She beat against his forearm.

"We could make the universe a better place."

Her muddled mind resummoned her haladies, and she hacked at what she could reach.

After she cut into his inner arm by his elbow, he let out a cry of pain and caught ahold of her wrists with his other hand. "You seem like a good person. We could end so much suffering."

She kicked at his chest. Black spots entered her vision as her lungs screamed.

"Just think; all the suffering and pain, it would simply vanish."

'By causing how much more?' She would have replied if she could. She was too tired. But what other option did she have? She let her divine form show through again. The hands holding her captive released her as their owner cried out in pain.

She fell to the floor, in the blood and gore, gasping for air. Kat heard a roar of rage, before it abruptly gave in to a new bout of pain. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and the world was gone.

~~~~~~

Odin watched as Loki's chest heaved, suddenly taking in a breath. His wife's eyes snapped open.

"Mother!" Thor exclaimed.

Frigga set her fingertips against Loki's temple, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" Thor demanded. "Why aren't they waking up?"

"Loki is back, but he endured... Katha had to stay behind to distract them." Frigga said. "I have to go back for her."

"Frigga-!" Odin exclaimed.

"Odin!" Frigga returned. "I could not have saved Loki without her. All I need to do to bring her back is to get close enough. I'm bringing her back to us, Odin."

And her eyes closed again.

Again they waited. 

The next movement was when Frigga opened her eyes, at the same time as Katha coughed, gold splatting against her lips, and dripping from her nose.

Sif was quick to join Katha's side. "What happened?"

"She took on the Mad Titan alone." Frigga said. "Hurry. We need to get them to the Healer's wing."

Thor took Loki into his arms without hesitation, and Sif did the same for Kat. Frigga leaned heavily against Odin as they rushed to the Healer's wing. Alarmed guards flanked them on the trip.

Had Kat been awake, she would have recognized one of the guards to be Jay. They were a laid back warrior, with short blond hair and blue eyes. Jay was always an interesting conversation.

Inside the Healer's wing, Frigga spoke quickly to the two healers present. Elwin was a woman in a dark red dress. Akara had a darker complexion with grey eyes and wore her hair in dreadlocks.

~~~~~~

"She's not mortal." Sif said quietly next to Thor.

"No."

"And you knew."

"She came here in hopes of forging an alliance."

"Between?"

"Us and the Romans, the Greeks too."

"She's Roman?"

"Sif, it's alright."

~~~~~~

Sunlight fell on his face, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Good morning." Frigga said softly.

"Mother." Loki blinked. "I... What happened?"

"The Mad Titan took you away."

"Yes, I know that." Loki scowled.

"And then we saved you." Frigga added.

"We?"

He followed his mother's gaze, and saw that another bed had been brought in to the room. On it, curled up and asleep, was Kat.

"She's asleep." Loki said.

"But she's alright." Frigga replied. 

Loki nodded. Then his eyes widened and he sat upright. "The spell-"

Frigga set her hand on his shoulder. 

"-It's gone-"

"She took it down." Frigga said.

"-I have to fix it-"

"Loki." Frigga said firmly.

He turned his terrified eyes to her.

"She took down the spell." Frigga said gently.

"What?"

"She removed your spell on her mind."

"Why? Why would she do that?"

"So she could help me save you." Frigga smiled softly.

Loki's jaw slacked, and he gaped. He looked over at Katha, and stared as his thoughts swam.

She had done something incredibly dangerous to herself, to save him. The risk she had taken... She chose to save him when she no longer needed him. Tears pricked at his eyes.

And then his gaze landed on her throat, where a purple bruise was fading. "How did she get that?"

"How about we let the others in so I only have to tell this story once?" Frigga suggested.

Loki acquiesced with a nod. Frigga stood and left the room. After a few moments, she entered with three Asgardians who were trying to be quiet.

Kat twitched, and jerked awake. Her hand flew to her throat while a haladie formed in the other.

"It's alright." Frigga said.

"Loki!" Kat gasped, and the haladie vanished as she tossed the blanket off her. She stood and pitched forward, just barely able to catch her balance. "You're okay."

"More-so than you, it would seem." Loki replied.

Then she hugged him. He returned the embrace, but he wished they weren't in the same room with people who judged him.

"Sit down." Frigga said, and they all sat. Kat just made Loki scooch over so she could sit beside him.

"Last night, Kat sent me a telepathic message, saying that Loki was in danger. We realized that Loki's mind had been taken. Katha chose to break a spell in her mind in order to join me in rescuing Loki. When we found Loki, we realized that we couldn't just retrieve him without notice. Katha volunteered herself to distract the enemy and draw their fire. She gave me the time and cover to bring Loki home.

"When I was able to return to her, she was facing the Mad Titan alone. She was able to escape his grasp by using one of the abilites of her people." Loki, and the others' gaze fell to the bruise at Katha's throat. "She granted me enough time to get closer, but not close enough. I stabbed him, and used those extra seconds to get to Katha."

"You stabbed him?" Thor asked.

"I did." Frigga nodded.

Odin looked upon his wife in pride. Thor, however, was wearing a horrified and scandalized expression, looking between his mother and brother. Seeing his brother's expression, Loki gained a smug look of his own.

A/N

Make sure you read chapter 28, as these were posted on the same day!

How was that?

This chapter's guests:

@HAILSHIELDbitch 'Jay'

@Royruy 'Elwin'

@Thornspear 'Akara'