Author's Note: Alright guys...a short one, but I hope the dialogue makes up for it. Took me a long time to write it.
I got a review regarding the fact that Lindsey Stirling is on my playlist. So she is once again for this chapter. As I wrote this, I listened to the youtube video "Crystallize": Lindsey Stirling jams with blind piano prodigy Kuha'o Case. An absolute MUST listen to. The violinist is the violin-rock dancer, of a calibre that has never been seen before. And Kuha'o Case is this AMAZING piano prodigy, who has a mild form of autism and has been blind since birth. Please listen to it and prepare to be inspired! Around the second half of this chapter I listened to "Lights" by Lindsey Stirling. Search in youtube "Lights Lindsey Stirling" and it should be the first result. Sorry I'm advertising them, but I'm just so in love with Lindsey's violin music!
Alright. Diving right in.
"Miss Foster," the French concierge greets her at the Marriott. "High Lord Loki requests your presence in his suite at seven thirty tonight for dinner."
"Requests?" Jane asks incredulously. "What's the real wording he used."
He looks surprised at her hostility. "No, madam, that's the wording he used. He actually made a point to say, 'If she is not feeling well, she should know it is in no way an obligation.'"
Jane shakes her head in confusion before thanking the concierge. What is Loki playing at?
She left her parents' home around four thirty, five-ish. She had wandered to the Paris library to find what she could on Norse mythology, but there was nothing new to be discovered.
However, her research did awaken a question in her—Who is, or was, Sigyn? Was she even real? And less importantly, where does Loki's children—the wolf Fenrisulfr, the serpent Jormungandr, and the horse Sleipnir fit into this equation? But even though her interest is piqued regarding the mythological children, she's more interested in Sigyn and her role in the universe.
In the end, Jane decided to join Loki, even though not three hours earlier she had watched him slaughter a man in front of international television. But she figured if she wanted to get closer to him, close enough to obtain his secrets and seek out his weakest points, she needed every opportunity with him that she could take.
She knocks quietly on the suite, and a soft, "Enter," is heard from the other side. She does so, at first not seeing Loki at all. Then she realizes he's on the balcony, still dressed in his battle armor, the one that makes him look so menacingly inhuman and cruel. She swallows; it's easier to speak with him when he's in a suit, but in his battle armor…the one that states his power, his status, and his race—
She tamps down her thoughts and walks forward to stand by him at the railing. He seems as though he's standing a good seven feet tall, even though she knows from SHIELD's calculations that he's six foot two. She gazes out over the dying light of the sun, illuminating the city with its rays, turning the buildings to flame. She feels him turn to look at her.
"So, Jane?" He asks. "What did you think of my performance?"
"Which one," she retorts, still not looking at him. "The one at my home, or the murder and senseless killing of that man?"
"Don't humanize him," Loki snaps at her. "He was a trained assassin, sent to kill me. He was a soldier, and he understands the risks of war."
"How can I not humanize him?" Jane asks, finally turning to look at Loki. The golden helmet looked like fire in the sunset, and his high cheekbones were even more accented in the lighting. His blue eyes were unreadable. "After all, he is a human. Which you so often seem fond of reminding me."
He stares at her before lifting off his iconic helmet and setting it down on a glass table beside them on the balcony.
"Your family is interesting," he says, changing the conversation. He walks back into the suite, beckoning her to follow him. As she does she, he makes a sweeping motion with his hand and the doors and blinds close shut on the balcony.
"You had no right to walk in on us like that," she says tightly. "No right to disturb us."
"You forget, my lady, that I own this part of the world now. No where is off limits. I am privy to every event within my domain."
"No there," Jane answers. "Not in the sanctuary of my own home. And threatening my brother like that-"
"After he insulted my mother!"
Jane stops short and stares at Loki, whose eyes are flashing red-literally, his green gaze is giving way to red sclera. She doesn't want to antagonize him. "So..." Jane begins slowly, "you admit, then...the goddess Frigga is your mother."
Loki snaps his head back, surprised that she had caught in him that trap. Then he calms down and changes the subject.
"Oh, Jane? Do me a favor, will you?" he says suddenly, his voice suave. "I left my helmet on the balcony. Please get it for me."
She's dumbfounded by his actions. She can't get a proper read on him tonight, but she follows her mother's instructions to listen to him and fetches his helmet. As she lifts it, she feels an undercurrent of power travel through her body. It's heavy, maybe seven pounds, and she runs a hand up one of the horns. It's topped with a wicked point, and even just pressing the pad of her finger to it gently she can feel the pain it would give if someone were stabbed with it.
She brings it back into Loki's suite.
He smiles gently at her as she sets it on the dining room table in the suite. "You have questions, Jane," he says, as if starting an entirely new conversation. "No doubt from your studies at the Paris library." He doesn't care to elaborate how he knows this. "I'll let you ask them in time, my lady, but I have questions first." He unstraps the metal plates on his forearm, then lifts the metal sash from over his head. He removes his outer armor of leather and drapes it over an armchair, leaving him in just his tunic. His pale arms show, and even though he doesn't have Thor's physique, Jane can still see strong muscle rippling under the skin. He rolls his shoulders back, cracking his neck, then walks to Jane. As he does so, his clothes change; he's back in a suit, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone, but the garments he already removed are vanishing as well.
"Sit," he tells her. "You had lunch about seven, eight hours ago. You must be hungry." He seems determined on forgetting his misstep of admitting that he still regards Frigga as his mother, and if so...then he must also, to a degree, regard Odin as his father and Thor as his brother.
She glares at him for reminding her of how he interrupted her family reunion.
"So, Loki?" she asks, using his given name again. He glances up, surprised that she would use his name. But he doesn't correct her. He quirks an eyebrow. "What do you think of my family, whom you so kindly interrupted and rudely threatened?"
Loki gazes at her serenely as food appears in front of them: salmon Caesar salad, and a glass of sparkling water for her and red wine for Loki.
"Your brother seems rather reckless and foolish," he says, taking a sip of wine, continuing on as though their previous conversation did not happen. "Rather like my own. You should warn him not to cross me again. He might not live, and I would hate to make his pretty little wife a widow and his beautiful daughter an orphan."
"You wouldn't," Jane says quietly. "I would never speak with you ever again. I would find some way to take my own life."
"I don't doubt that," Loki says. "But you forget something—I am in complete control of your life and death. I decide when you live and I decide when that life ends." He leans forward. "You forget, I am your Lord and God."
Jane smiles back, laughing quietly.
He leans back in his chair. "Am I missing something?"
Jane nods, taking a bite of her salad. "Have you ever read the Bible?"
Loki rolls his eyes. "Of course I have. And before you say anything more, Jane—there are secrets and threads between universes and the gods, and powers even above myself and Odin, that even you, with all your knowledge of the universe could understand. I know more of your Bible, more of the fabric of miracles than you, or your human scholars could ever know."
She stills. "What are you talking about?" she whispers. "that you have met God?"
Loki stares at her. "I told you," he finally says. "There are secrets and threads between the universes and planes of the cosmos that you could not comprehend. But I might be inclined to tell you a story," he adds, a light in his eyes. "A story that would blow you away so completely that you, with all your experience with the extraordinary, might not believe."
"A story?" Jane whispers. "Of…of what?"
Loki looks up to the skylight, where the first stars are showing. "A story of those threads I mentioned. A story of secrets not meant to be known to anyone but Odin AllFather, Jupiter JoveSky, Ahura Mazda…among others."
"So it's all true?" Jane asks, forgetting her previous anger. "Zeus…and Jupiter... all those gods…Vishnu… all of them are real?"
Loki pauses in his dinner to look at her. "Eat," he orders. "And I might be inclined to tell you some fairy tales."
Jane obediently lowers her head, thrumming with excitement, all anger and fury directed at Loki forgotten at the idea of learning new secrets of the gods.
Loki looks at her with hooded eyes, smirking to himself, pleased that he has her exactly where he wants her—intrigued by him, by all he has to offer.
For the next three days she is civil to him, and him to her. She doesn't visit her family for fear of antagonizing Loki more than need be, but she does call them every day.
He tells her "stories," as he calls it. "Fairytales," he assures her, "that I can't confirm or deny the truth of." It reminds her of SHIELD agents.
He tells her about space, and the fact that it stretches on forever. There are veils of cosmic dust, however, that make illusions or shields and prevent human telescopes from viewing beyond that point. He discusses the nature of the gods-that there are more than just Asgard, Earth, and the World Tree solar system. There are multiple other dimensions that can be accessed through a cut in the fabric of space. You just need a knife to make that cut.
He talks about the fauna found on Asgard. Of the great Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse gifted to Odin. Of bilge snipes, great animals that sound like a cross between a rhino and an elk. Of the regalis thrummer, a species of some sort of blue and green exotic bird. Of harkness luna, a wolf-like animal with wings and two tails. Of fire phoenixes, which surprisingly actually exist-however, they only live in Asgard. Their counterpart, ice phoenixes, reside in Jotunheim. Jane had asked if a species of phoenix lives in Earth-he looked surprised at her, and answered, "Of course. Midgard is home to the Forest Phoenix. I believe you call them Quetzal."
Jane thinks back to her one three-credit college class on ornithology. Quetzal. That green bird of the Central and South Americas.
She wonders if magic did exist on Earth before Thor.
On the fourth night Loki leads Jane to the rooftop of the Paris Marriott, which was flourishing with gardens. He makes her lie next to him as they gaze into the stars.
It would almost be romantic if Jane hadn't reminded herself that Loki was responsible for killing thousands of people.
"Tell me, please," she asks softly. "A story of…of the gods."
Loki takes her wrist across his lap, tracing the veins across her wrist and forearms.
"You know of the Norse Gods," Loki begins slowly. "Of Odin, Thor, Frigga, Sif and myself. What do you know of the Greek Gods?"
"Not much," Jane admits. "After…your brother came to Earth…I dedicated myself to researching as much as I could of the Norse ones. I didn't care for the Greek ones or Roman ones."
"The Greek gods are real," he says. "But not in the way you think. For example," he pauses here, thinking. "What am I the god of in classical Norse mythology?"
"Mischief...chaos...?"
"Yes," he affirms. "And what are my unique attributes?"
Jane furrows her brow. "You aren't actually an Asgardian by blood...you're a Jotun..."
"What does that imply, then?" For once, he doesn't seem angry that his Jotun heritage was brought up.
"You're a shapeshifter."
"Correct. So, then, if Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos, discord, mischief and strife... Does that sound familiar?"
"You," Jane breathes, turning her face away from the stars and to face him.
"Yes," he answers. "Likewise, Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, storms and strength. What Greek deity is that equitable to?"
"Zeus?"
"Yes," he affirms again. "Many of the Greek gods and Norse ones overlap. It just so happens that the mortals worshiped us differently and called us by different names. Rather like the way your culture has two religions—Islam and Christianity—that worship Allah or God, but what few people know is that they are really the same deity."
"So…what about the others, then?" she asks, still transfixed on this subject. "Like Athena, or Apollo—do they really exist?"
"Athena does," Loki answers. "And she's real Olympian. She's not an Æsir. She's the highest ranking Greek deity currently still in existence. As for Apollo, he died a few hundred years ago when he engaged in a war…" he pauses. "I cannot tell you much beyond that."
Jane doesn't ask for more information. Something else piqued her interest. "Apollo died?" she asks, trying not to quiver with excitement. "Gods can die?" If Apollo, famed Greek god of the sun, can die…surely that also means Loki, god of mischief is very mortal as well!
He turns to face her, taking her face in his hands, tilting her head to the side.
"Not very easily, but yes," he murmurs, lowering his mouth to her throat again. She forces herself to relax and not fight him. "For example," he says softly, and then suddenly moves sinuously like a snake against her. She yelps as she finds herself pinned beneath him, one hand holding a wrist to the grass, the other one firmly pressed against her throat. She brings the hand he isn't holding to clasp his wrist over her throat, panicking and trying to remove it.
"Relax," he murmurs. "Breathe." He moves over her, straddling her completely. With his leg he forces her knees down.
She listens to him, stopping struggling and breathing, realizing that he's not completely cut off her airways.
"What are you doing?" she whispers, swallowing heavily as she stretches her head back, trying to escape his grasp.
"You asked me if gods can be killed," he answers her quietly. "To answer, yes, we can. But not as easy as you, little mortal, can be killed. For example," and here he flexes his hand against her throat. "I can kill you in a moment by just stopping your breath. I would watch indifferently as your pupils go to pinpricks, as you choke for air, for relief. A god, such as myself," and here he leans back, letting go of her throat and hand but still straddling her stomach. "cannot be killed by such means."
She shakes her head, trying to still her panicked thoughts. "You know," she says slowly, lethally. "You really don't need to assert your dominance with such physical displays." She puts her hands on his chest and pushes at him. "I already know you can kill me."
He shakes his head, laughing quietly as he gets off her and pulls her to her feet with him. "And yet you still fight me, little mortal," he answers, starlight gleaming in his eyes. "Why not surrender?" he asks, leaning into her. "You know it would bring complete relief. You wouldn't have to worry about anything. I would take care of you. I would reward you and your family for their loyalty to me. Thor would no longer be in anguish, not knowing if you were happy or not. I would make you happy, pet…"
As entranced as she was by his words, his calling her pet made her flare. "Don't call me that!" she hisses, breaking eye contact with his venomous green gaze. "I'm not your pet, I never will be!"
"And why not?" he asks, grasping her upper arm to force her to look at him. "I should think you would like being my pet…" and here he fixes her again with that gaze. "I would care for you and please you in any way you wanted to. I would have a collar fashioned of only Asgardian gold and Jotunheim rubies to match your beautiful hair and eyes. I would play with you often, and you would never want for anything. You would sleep by my side. You would have anything on this realm you so desired…I would be a good master. All who saw you would be envious of the life you would live. You would be privy to all the secrets of the gods…I could take you across worlds and realms, show you all the stars and planets you've spent your life studying."
He takes both her hands and pulls her across the gardened rooftop, closer to the edge. Mindlessly, she follows him, entranced by his lilting voice, his strangely beautiful and angelic face, the deep emerald eyes reflecting the starlight.
"You could reign as my queen, Miss Foster," he says softly against the backdrop of the Parisian lights.
And here, in the city known by mortals as the city of love, he pulled her close to him. His arm on her waist, steeling her against him. His other hand threads through her hair as he tilts her head back, and brings his face close to hers. She can feel his heartbeat through the thin fabric of his dress shirt.
It was a secret of the gods he forfeited to her when he presses his lips to hers. A secret of Asgardian emerald starlight and Midgardian alabaster stone... a secret woven from lies and truth.
Author's Note: Quetzals are beautiful birds. I encourage you to look them up on Google images. All I have written up to is Chapter V, so I'm going to update once I accumulate 80 total reviews, which means 32 additional reviews to what I already have. Thanks so much for all the kind reviews!