WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY STORY, PARADISE LOST, THEN PLEASE GO TO MY PROFILE AND READ IT BEFORE YOU READ THIS. THIS FIC IS A SEQUEL.
Disclaimer: If you read something in this fic that Marvel already had dibs on, then I claim nothing on it. I only claim this story and the plot.
"What do you think it's going to be?" Jane asked.
"Hm?" Loki looked up from one of the books he had been writing in to see his wife was leaning against one of the pillars that was inside of the library and looked out the window while rubbing on what she called a, "baby bump". Today she was wearing a long light pink - nearly white, strapless dress that fell to the ground. Her waved out autumn brown hair hung loosely with a white butterfly pin holding up one side of her hair to help keep it out of her face. Jane looked as beautiful as always.
"The baby," She turned and smiled at him. "I think it's going to be a girl."
He snorted. "I hardly believe that."
Jane raised her eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"
"Because he is my child."
"Oh yes, I can see your logic now." Jane mumbled sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.
Loki smirked and closed the book that was in front of him and went to place it back on one of the shelves that stood behind his desk. He knew that he would have a son, because since when did the Prince's of Asgard ever have a daughter as their first born?
Except he wasn't an Aesir. He was of Jotun blood.
He choose to ignore that fact as it seemed that it was rare for the royal bloodline in Jotunheim to bare females also. He did his research. But he would keep letting his beloved think that she was carrying a little girl. After all, he would love to gloat over his personal victory when it came time for her to give birth.
Loki placed his arm around Jane's shoulders and walked her over to the set of steps, that led to other sections of the library, and sat her down gently on one of the steps while he sat behind her. His knees stuck up on either side of her as he bent forward to wrap his arms around her and placed his hands on her stomach and rested his chin on top of her head.
"Then tell me my beloved princess," He placed a light peck on top of her head before returning to rest his chin again. "If the child is a female, what name have you picked out for her?"
"I get to choose a name?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "It's your child as well."
"Well yes…"
"You already had a name chosen, no doubt." His mouth twitched into a small smirk as he could practically hear the blush on her face.
"Yes, but I don't know if you'll like it."
"Let's hear it."
Jane nodded. "…Helena."
"Helena?" Loki asked with honest curiosity.
"It means light." She answered.
Loki smiled then. He knew what Jane was hinting at with the name then. Jane was the light that had brought him out of the darkness he was once in, and a little girl that they both shared would forever keep that light on. "Not bad." He shrugged. Not wanting to admit that it was a very clever and perfect name if it were to be a girl. Their next child, if it were to be a girl, would have that name.
"Besides, it'll give Thor the pleasure of calling her 'Hela'. I actually like it for a nickname anyways." She added and then grinned. "And since she's your daughter, there's no doubt that she'll have your mischievous traits and be a little hellion herself."
Loki threw his head back and laughed.
He felt her elbow nudge him in the ribs when she spoke up again. "I'm sure that you've thought of a name if it's a boy - which it won't be."
He snorted but decided to ignore the last part of her statement. Since in the end, he'll show her that he was right all along. "Fenrir."
"Fenrir?"
"Mhm." Loki hummed and closed his eyes and thought. The name meant wolf but he hadn't really picked the name for it's meaning, since that was what women liked to do. He had chosen the name merely because he was very fond of it. The fact that the name meant 'wolf' wasn't so bad either.
"Fenrir Lokison…I like it. It has a nice ring to it." He could hear the smile in Jane's voice. "I'll keep that in mind if we have a boy after this one."
Loki had the most stubborn wife in existence. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her of course.
Loki's eyes cracked open and he realized that he had awoken from his peaceful slumber. He didn't have dreams anymore. Whenever he slept, his subconscious would have him revisit his most cherished memories instead of dreams - it was like his subconscious enjoyed his heartache.
It had been nearly a month since he had lost his wife at the hands of some low-life assassin. The pain hadn't gotten any better and neither did his moods. Everyday he would keep with his duties as the King's adviser but Loki never talked unless his voice was necessary. People would try to make conversation with him but he would always answer them with a one or two word sentence, or a shrug before leaving their presence. Sometimes, whenever he was absolutely alone, he would suddenly burst in a fit of rage and tear apart whatever room he was in. After the anger would leave him, he would usually repair the damage out of respect for his family.
However, his chambers had still been in the same condition as they had been since the day he lost Jane.
Loki squeezed his eyes shut in attempt to ward off the thoughts. Not this early in the morning Loki.
He raised himself into a sitting position and opened his eyes. He flinched as he was met with bright sunlight that had barged its way into his chambers through one of the windows that weren't covered by the drapes. He preferred his room to always be shrouded until his mother had made such a fuss that he needed some sunlight in his room, so he allowed a window to remain uncovered to keep her satisfied.
Frigg was always worried about his well being. Everyone was, but his mother was the one that made it clear the most. He couldn't blame her or the rest of his family and friends, but the more he saw the pity in each of their eyes the more it made him sick and furious. He would've been much happier if they all would've just left him alone.
Why didn't they understand that whenever they looked upon him with pity, it would only intensify his grief?
Of course they wouldn't understand. If they knew how it felt maybe they'd stop with their pitying. He thought bitterly.
Loki glanced to his left to see that there was nothing but empty space beside him on the bed and his face softened. He could never wish such pain amongst any of his friends or family.
He got up out of the bed and with a snap of his fingers, the bed was made and his everyday attire covered his body. Ignoring the broken mess that the room was of still, he crossed it almost hurriedly and stepped out onto the balcony to observe Asgard and all of it's magnificent glory.
This was Jane's favorite place to view the scenery. Because from the balcony, the city could be seen as well as the Asbru bridge and the vast sea that he knew now carried her ashes.
Loki's attention turned from the sea and back to the city. He stared it down with hatred - almost tempted to destroy it all because he knew that somewhere within that city held the bastard that killed his Jane. He also knew that there were people in the city that were keeping the assassin hidden from the authorities.
An intensive investigation had begun just right after Jane's body had been discovered. The culprit needed to be found before the day was over or else their chances at finding him or her would begin to slim. The clear choice to go to was Heimdall, but the gate guardian hadn't been looking after Jane during the time of her assassination, his gaze had been somewhere else and it had infuriated Loki. The dark skinned man should've been watching out for the princess. He knew her schedule and her routes, and he felt that it would be safe to look away from a very pregnant and alone princess for just a minute?
A part of Loki wanted to believe that perhaps Heimdall had been involved, but he knew that was only a fools wish. It wasn't that he didn't like Heimdall, it was that Loki wanted a name and he wanted it more than anything. Deep down, Loki knew that Heimdall wasn't to blame for anything that had happened. As much as the guardian felt bad that he hadn't watched the incident at the time, it was very well obvious that he wasn't her babysitter.
As day after day passed, Loki was becoming more restless but he didn't give up hope. No one was allowed to leave Asgard besides the King himself until the assassin was found. Everything was on lockdown. So he knew that whoever's hands were stained with Jane's blood, was close.
Loki was glad that the investigation was getting some progress done. Over the last few weeks, five different people were discovered to be involved in the conspiracy but they were unimportant to him. He demanded that each of them be put to death in an agonizing way. The only person that he wanted to see face to face was the person that wielded the dagger. Loki had made it clear that he was to be the judge, juror, and executioner for the poor soul.
That was his one and only condition for the entire investigation and trials.
Of course with every other person that had gone to trial so far, he had made sure that he was present with both the sentencing and the executions. He certainly made sure that his face was the last thing that each of them saw before their lives finally ended after the slow and agonizing torture they had endured. Loki held no pity for any of them.
Loki's face held a soft, yet hurt look to it as he looked far past the Asbru bridge and into the cosmos beyond. He had so much fury and darkness building up inside of him that it was becoming harder and harder to contain it - he wanted to release it all. He could almost feel it all swirling maliciously deep inside of him.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply before letting it out easily. "Jane…"
You helped me rid of my darkness. How can I possibly do it now with you gone?
Loki felt a breeze glide past and envelop him with warmth. He breathed in through his nose once more and could've sworn that he smelt a hint of peaches - the very scent that Jane loved to carry on her with fragrances. And then, he felt his bitter thoughts fade with each passing minute.
He opened his eyes and a single tear fell down his face.
He missed her.
-Flashback-
Loki rested against the headboard of the bed and sitting in his lap, leaning back against him was his wife. His arms were encircled around her bare chest and her tiny hands clutched at his forearms weakly. Both of them were a little sweaty still from their making love only moments ago, but by now their breaths had finally caught back up to them.
Jane's head was resting on his chest and she turned to the side so she could hear his loud and steady heartbeat. Listening to his heartbeat always helped put her to sleep. His wife once confided in him how she could never fall asleep unless he was in bed with her - she needed to hear his steady beat to help her fall into a peaceful slumber.
"I love you." Loki murmured.
He heard Jane mumble something sleepily that resembled to an 'I love you too'.
He smiled and shook her with the arms that were around her. "Don't tell me that you're already falling asleep."
"You wore me out."
"From what I recall, I was the one that did all of the work."
"That was your choice."
Loki chuckled and readjusted himself in his sitting position and sat her up straighter. He heard her let out a tiny moan of annoyance and he knew that she wanted to sleep. He sighed in defeat and realized that there was going to be no pillow talk tonight, but he was okay with that. Just because she had eaten one of the Golden Apples of Idunn didn't mean that she still wasn't as weak and fragile as the other Midgardians. Jane didn't have the stamina like those of the Aesir, especially not like Loki's since he did train his physical and magical skills just about every other day.
He brushed away a lock of hair from her face and he just observed her. Loki lifted one of his hands to trace a small and delicate scar that was on her nose. It wasn't prominent, barely visible to the naked eye. But he could see it. Jane had a few scars similar to the one of her nose on her hands, she had told him that were from building her equipment back on Midgard and accidents happened every now and again. Her skin was always flawless to him still, as the scars were miniscule.
Jane's eyes were closed and her lips were parted slightly as she breathed in an out. She hadn't fallen asleep yet, and was still aware of him and what he was doing, but he knew she was on her way to her own personal dreamland.
Loki bent his head down and placed a lingering kiss on her temple before he began to sing softly to her:
Quietly while you were asleep,
The moon and I were talking.
I asked that she'd always keep you protected.
She promised you her light,
That you so gracefully carry.
You bring your light and shine like morning.
And the wind pulls the clouds across the moon.
Your light fills the darkest room.
And I can see the miracle,
That keeps us from falling.
She promised all the sweetest gifts,
That only the heaven's could bestow.
You bring your light and shine like morning.
And as you so gracefully give
Her light as long as you live.
I'll always remember this moment.
Loki listened to Jane's steady breathing and knew that she had finally fallen asleep. He placed another kiss on top of her head, placed his other arm back around her protectively, and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the headboard. Before sleep overtook him as well, he whispered:
I'll always remember this moment.
-End of Flashback-
"My prince!"
Loki turned around to see that a guard was kneeling behind him by a few paces with his head bent down in respect. He arched a brow in question at this action. It was of the late hours of the morning and he was on his way to the training grounds to meet with his brother and the Warriors Three to spar.
"Rise." He ordered and looked at him with a straight face as the guard stood respectfully before him. "What is it?"
"I have an important message from King Thor Odinson himself, sire."
Loki rolled his eyes and bit back the urge to send the guard flying. It was very annoying with how formal the guards were. It was twice as annoying when they took the longest amounts of time to rely a simple message. "I don't see why it's so urgent, I was just on my way to go meet him."
He turned around, about to dismiss the guard when the man spoke with urgency. "He says that the one responsible for the assassination of Princess Jane has been captured."
Loki froze.
He whipped around and grabbed the guard by the front of his armor and growled, "Where is he?"
The guard swallowed nervously. "In the dungeons, sire."
With a snap of his fingers, Loki disappeared in a whiff of smoke.
The large doors that separated the lower levels of the dungeons from the main stairway up into the palace were slammed open with harshness as Loki waltzed through them with an air of electrifying anger surrounding him.
Thor stood in the middle of the dungeons corridor and watched his brother storm through, casting guards to either side of the corridor that were in his way with a simple wave of his hands. Although he felt sorry for the guards that were most likely going to have a couple of broken bones here and there, he knew better than to tell his brother to calm himself.
In fact, Thor actually thought that Loki was acting calmer than he anticipated him to be.
When Loki finally walked up to him, Thor could see his green eyes were flickering with pent up anger that he knew that had been locked away deep inside of the man for longer than it should've been.
"Which room?" Loki hissed as he glared passed the cells in the direction of where the interrogation rooms were.
Thor took in a deep breath. "Before I let you in, you do know what I'm doing is against the law as the man should have a trial. The council will have my head for allowing it, but I will not deny you this opportunity my brother."
Loki didn't respond. The blonde God didn't even think that his younger brother even cared for what he was saying.
Thor sighed. "The last one on the left." He placed a piece of cloth into Loki's hand, both of them already knew what was wrapped inside of it.
Loki moved around him swiftly but Thor stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not taking sides brother, but I just want you to know that before you go in there, think if it's what Jane would've wanted for whatever you're planning. I only want you to come out of there with a clear conscious."
Then, he could see the first smile that he'd seen on Loki's face for the first time since before his sister-in-law had been killed. Only that it was a sad smile.
Loki didn't look at Thor as he spoke, it appeared that he was staring off at something that wasn't in the corridor with them. "Jane may not approve of what I plan to do if she were here, but I also know that she'd understand."
With that, Thor dropped his hand and watched after his brother walk down the corridor and disappear into the room at the very end.
With a light 'click', Loki had shut and locked the door behind him as he entered the room. Instead of looking directly at the man that he knew was in there with him, he choose to survey the room with a bored look. The room was fifteen by fifteen in size and all of the walls were a dark gray, almost black colored stone with the floor to match. Loki could spot several blood stains that were splattered on the walls and floor from previous "interrogations". His eyes finally roamed over a figure that sat up straight in a chair, with arms bound behind it.
"Ah, I was wondering when they would send you my way." A rough voice broke through the silence.
With a snap of his fingers, a single torch was lit on one of the walls and the room was illuminated with torchlight. Loki could now properly see the man.
His muscles and size almost matched Thor's, he was bald but had a thick black goatee growing on his face with sideburns. His skin was the same dark color as Heimdall's, and his face and arms were laced in badly healed scars and burns. The man wore nothing more than a prisoners uniform that was a tan colored tunic with matching pants, and he wore no shoes.
Loki's nose crinkled. Judging by the smell, it was as if the man hadn't bathed in weeks.
Was this the last thing that Jane saw? His thoughts whispered.
"I suppose that you want to know my name?" The man asked.
"I have no interest in your identity whatsoever." Loki answered. He was pleased to see the man's face twist with irritation. "What I really want to know is how you managed to get into the palace undetected."
The dark skinned man scuffed. "Your guards are flawed. All it took was to pay off one of them that believed in the cause and a simple cloaking spell and I was in. You already executed him of course, you should've known that part already. Though I must admit that it took me a while to find her in this place but when I found her - it was all so easy. I honestly didn't believe the guard when he told me that she walked alone but she actually was." He laughed. "So stupid of the royalty to think that they'll always be safe inside of these walls."
"Why did you do it?" Loki questioned, standing directly in front of him.
"I thought that you were more intelligent than that my prince." He sneered. "I believe that you know the reason anyway."
"Humor me."
"I don't really care that your guards arrested the others that believed in the same cause as I did. We saved the purity of the royal family and have kept the other realms from laughing at us Aesir." He paused. "We tolerated that you, our prince, wanted to marry the Midgardian but after her pregnancy had been announced - we couldn't stand by any further." He glared up at Loki in disgust. "The idea that our Prince wanted to mate with that thing was disgusting. A spawn of that her would've forever tainted the royal blood."
Loki yanked the man up from the chair and held him up by the collar of his shirt and breathed in his face. "That thing was my wife you pathetic excuse for an Aesir."
"Believe me my prince, I took pride out of watching the life drain from her eyes! Taking the one thing that you loved from this realm. You deserved punishment for your crimes that All-Father Odin had failed to do!"
Loki slammed him against the wall and heard the sound of his head cracking back into the stone roughly.
"She was innocent!" Loki snarled.
"She was garbage that didn't belong in the purity of our realm!" The assassin bit back.
Loki released him and stepped back two paces and took in a deep breath to calm himself. He couldn't lose his patience now. Not yet. He then snapped his fingers and the ropes that once bounded the mans arms fell to the ground, and he looked back at him with suspicion and confusion.
He grinned maliciously. "Don't think that I just released you. I would just rather enjoy this without those getting in my way."
"Tell me," Loki continued as he pulled a bundle of red cloth from behind him. "do you remember this?" He opened the bundle that Thor had given to him before he entered the room for it to reveal a dagger with serpent carvings on it's handle. There were dried up stains on the blade from blood.
Jane's blood.
It had been found in one of the bushes in the courtyard where Jane had been assassinated after her body had been moved.
The dark skinned assassin remained silent as he stared at the dagger warily that Loki was now holding.
"Surely you remember this finely crafted piece of work?" Loki mused as he observed the blade in his hand, pushing down the urge to want to break down as he could see the blood of his deceased wife. But he couldn't show weakness to the monster in the room.
The man didn't answer."
"No?" Loki raised an eyebrow in mocking curiosity. He ran his fingers over the blade and the blood had disappeared and the dagger looked as if it were brand new once more. That was only going to be momentarily.
In a blink of an eye, the assassin's hands were thrown up together above his head on the wall and he released a bellow of pain as Loki drove the dagger threw both hands so deep that the bottom of the hilt was pressed tightly against the man's palm.
"How about now?" Loki seethed.
"I'll see that my trial gets overturned by this brutality! Despite my crimes I still have my rights as an Aesir!" He answered while spitting in the God of Mischief's face.
Loki backhanded the man so hard that his face turned sideways and after wiping his face, he brought his face up to the man's ear and hissed, "You lost all of your rights the very second you rose the dagger that's stuck between your hands against my wife!"
"I am your judge, your jury, and your executioner!" He added with a blow to the man's stomach. The man coughed blood and it spattered over Loki's chest. He didn't care though. The more blood, the better. "And I think the King will try his best to not punish me as I carry out your execution." He snarled sarcastically.
"I knew that you weren't the good prince that the rest of the Aesir made you out to be." The wounded man chuckled darkly. "Torturing a man without giving him a fighting chance."
Something inside of Loki snapped.
His hand clamped down on the man's throat and gave it a powerful squeeze. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make it painful.
"Chance!" He shouted. "Where was Jane's chance when you stabbed her countless times, huh?" All of the rage that he had buried inside of him for so long was coming out ten fold and he didn't even bother to hold it back any longer. "Where was my unborn child's chance?"
"WHERE WAS THEIR CHANCE?" Loki's fist smashed into the man's jaw and he heard the jaw snap along with a few teeth breaking off the gums. He didn't stop. Especially not as his mind began to flood with mental images of memories.
Jane's smile.
Loki flattened the man's nose.
The feeling of her thick autumn brown hair between his fingers.
He heard the man take in a breath of air painfully as another blow came.
Her long, sweet kisses.
His fist met with an eye socket.
When she would sneak up on him and pounce onto his back with a poorly attempted battle cry that was followed by their combined laughter.
Loki felt ribs breaking underneath his hand.
Playing 'chase' after Jane as she ran away with his helmet through the halls.
The ribs were shattered by now.
Two naked bodies being pressed together in perfect synchronization, entangled in bed sheets.
His fist actually went through the chest.
He lead her in a dance underneath the stars on the shoreline of the sea.
Another blow.
Feeling the baby kick inside Jane's stomach.
And another.
Hearing her voice say, "I love you Loki".
After Loki left the dungeons he had gone to bathe and then burn the clothes that had been stained with crimson. After changing into different attire, he had walked down into his gardens and sat down on the only bench that was in the area. His arms were outstretched on the back of it and he wasn't looking at anything in particular.
In honesty, Loki felt as if a large and heavy weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
He felt at peace.
Of course, there was still one matter to still be settled. But he waited patiently for it.
When Loki had cleared from the dungeons, he didn't give another thought to those responsible for Jane's assassination any further. All of them had been taken care of and he didn't give a damn what was decided with whatever was left of the bodies. He assumed they might've been tossed into one of the feeding bins for some of the beasts that were locked up in a different area of the palace.
Loki surveyed his garden and was pleased to see that all of the flowers, the trees, and the shrubs were just as alive and beautiful as they had always been. It pleased him more because the last time that he had been in here, he was with his wife. And he didn't feel that he deserved to be in here until the justice for her murder had been completely dealt with.
He looked out of the corner of his eyes to see a maiden dressed in a simple white gown that covered her from her neck all the way to her feet with a matching white cap. It was the uniform for the nurses in the palace.
She came to stand in front of him and give him a curtsey and Loki straightened himself. "I understand that you were one of the nurses that tended to my wife during the pregnancy?"
"Yes, my prince." She answered with a nod. "I looked after Lady Jane every day since we had first discovered that she was with child."
"I want you to know that I very much appreciate all that you did for her madam." He spoke. "But that isn't the reason why I called you hear, the real reason why I called you here is because-"
"You want to know what the gender was of your child?" The nurse interrupted. She was about to apologize for her rudeness but Loki silenced her with a wave of a hand and then gestured for her to continue.
"Lady Jane was pregnant with a little girl."
"A girl?"
"Yes, sire."
He dismissed the maiden and leaned back against the bench once more.
Minutes passed before a coherent thought formed in his mind.
A little girl…Loki mused. A little Hela…
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Loki smiled a true smile as he stared up at the cosmos that were high above Asgard.
Loki swore that he could hear Jane laughing at him from beyond.
A/N: Well, at least I made this fic into an "almost-happy" ending? What do you think? I personally think that I left it off good because I have a vivid image in my head of Jane doing a victory dance and being all like, "In yo face!" Hahaha. Too be honest, I wasn't even going to write this sequel but I received a lot of messages asking me to and I decided, "Why not?" Haha. Since in the last fic there was nothing said about Jane's killer and he had to get what was coming to him. I hope that I did okay and that this can stay Rated T. I've read Teen rated books that had worse graphic descriptions so I think I'm good. I apologize for any errors that you may have spotted! I don't have a beta and I'm lazy as always, haha.
By the way, the song that Loki sings in this fic isn't owned by me. The song is called, "The Sweetest Gift" by Ewan McGregor. It's truly beautiful (he has the voice of an angel) you should listen to it!
I hope to have my next Lokane fic up soon! In the meantime, go check out Alydia Rackham's fic, Fallen Star, and the sequel, Brother Avengers! They are EXCELLENT Lokane fics. Also, Shipperwolf's, Guardian Saga :)
Have a wonderful day!