Chapter Four

The doors to the weaponry room flew open with a loud 'bang' and a flustered Ellie appeared, panting slightly. Her eyes glinted with excitement and as soon as she caught sight of the person she was looking for, Ellie burst off into a sprint.

"Loki! I've managed to master the illusion spell! Finally!" exclaimed Ellie proudly as she ran towards the display of daggers where Loki was situated at. As soon as she reached him, she started rattling off about the events that occurred prior to this.

In the midst of her excitement, Ellie had not noticed that Loki was not alone. Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three were gathered nearby when their ears perked up at the sound of a feminine voice calling out to Loki and they wondered who that was. Loki was not known for having any friends besides them – if they were even considered as such, much less a female one.

With their curiosity piqued, the five of them walked over to where Loki was at and were pleasantly surprised to see him in a tight embrace with a dark haired female. They were unable to see her face as her back was facing them but her presence alone made their jaws drop. At a loss for words, Fandral actually slapped himself to see if he was dreaming because there was absolutely no way that Loki, the God of Mischief and self-proclaimed loner was hugging another female besides his mother. No possible way at all. At least, not until that moment.

Loki was the first to pull away from their embrace and a huge scowl broke out on his face when he noticed the presence of Thor and his annoying friends whilst Ellie, who felt the tension rise within the room, whipped around to see the cause of Loki's mood change.

She was startled by the group of intimidating looking Aesirs right in front of her. She observed that they were obviously warriors based on their huge armours and she nearly peed in her pants when she saw how huge and muscular one of them was. He had blonde locks and the most prominent thing about him was his red cape.

Then, Ellie's eyes flickered over to the weapon his was holding in his hand– which was a hammer, and a small gasp escaped her mouth as realisation struck. He was Thor. Loki's brother.

Scanning over the rest of the warriors, Ellie began to match the names and descriptions Loki had given her to their individual faces. Volstagg was probably the rotund looking man, Fandral was no doubt the blonde one, Hogun – the Asian and of course, Sif – the dark haired female there.

A deep blush rose over her cheeks as she wondered how long all of them had been standing there. Had they witnessed her entire exchange with Loki? She hoped not, because she was always very open with Loki and their interactions daily would have bordered on improper to strangers because they were rather affectionate as friends.

At the thought of Loki, she looked at him from the corner of her eye, wondering what he was feeling about the entire situation. His face was passive and minutes of complete silence passed as Thor and the others scrutinized the two of them, most likely wondering who Ellie was.

Sif noticed the girl standing beside Loki place her hand on the small of his back and what astounded her was the fact that Loki seemed to relax slightly at her touch. It was evident that they both cared deeply for each other because the brunette showed no signs of fear whenever she gazed at Loki, which was rare – because his bad reputation preceded him and often had people quivering at the mere sight of him.

"Brother! You did not tell us that you had been courting anyone!" exclaimed Thor boisterously, breaking the deafening silence.

"Yeah who knew that Loki even had it in him?" commented Fandral as well as he eyed Ellie from head to toe. She was only the second Aesir female he had ever met with dark hair, Sif being the first as her hair colour was a repercussion of Loki's mischief rather than a natural trait and he wondered if she was of two races because her eyes were about the same size as Hoguns.

Noticing Fandral's wandering gaze, Loki felt his stomach drop and pure, unadulterated anger course through his veins. However, he reined his fury in and turned to address Thor instead, "First of all, I am not courting her. The reason you do not know of her existence is because you are the most dim-witted person I know."

Slightly calmer with the urge to send a dagger through Fandral's heart slightly suppressed, Loki spoke coldly, "And Fandral, I am sure the young maiden does not appreciate you staring at her like she is nothing more than a common whore."

"Loki!" gasped Ellie gently, astonished.

He did not respond but it was obvious that he heard her as his eyes flickered over to her for a split second before resuming its original stare on Fandral. The idea of someone else liking Ellie did not sit well with him, especially if it was someone like Frandral. And with Thor present, Loki was even more on edge as he felt like Thor was going to steal her from him, like he did with everything else. It was extremely frustrating for him to remain calm when all he could think of was ways to drag Ellie far away from their presence.

"My apologies, fair maiden. Your looks seem not to be of complete Aesir origings and I was simply trying to distinguish if perhaps, that was true. It was not in my intention to make you feel uncomfortable," said Fandral sincerely.

"Yes, which realm do you hail from, Lady Ellie?" asked Hogun, who had not spoken yet, curiously. He wondered if she was Vanir as she looked partly of Asian descent.

Ellie waved Fandral's apology off with a gentle smile. "It is alright. I am sure it was unintentional."

"Like I believe him," muttered Loki under his breath, earning him a roll of Ellie's eyes at his petulant behaviour before she looked to Hogun to reply his question.

"I am of Asgard," said Ellie, pausing shortly before she amended her statement, "Well, partly."

"What do you mean?"

"My father is Aesir but my mother is Midgardian. I have always lived on Asgard but I have been to Midgard numerous times and am well educated in both sides of my heritage," explained Ellie.

"A half Midgardian!" exclaimed Sif. "I thought that it is forbidden for any Aesir to have fleeting relationships with Mortals?"

Ellie shook her head slightly, "The law does not condone fleeting relations with Mortals but it is alright for them to be joined in matrimony. The relationship my parents had was real, not some fling."

"Forgive us if we have upset you in any way, Lady Ellie," apologised Hogun when he noticed how emotional she was getting. "But you must understand that it is uncommon for Midgardians to have relationships with Aesirs, and even rarer for them to be serious and made immortal."

Flashing them a shaky smile which did not reach her eyes, Ellie attempted to recompose herself after she waved off his apology. The mention of her mother stirred up some unpleasant memories and she felt her heart clench tightly like it was about to fall apart. Ellie placed her hand around her midsection like it was her only lifeline and drew in long even breaths consecutively to calm herself down.

Deep concern for Ellie overtook Loki when he noticed her glazed eyes and sore attempt to remain unaffected by the mentioning of her mother. He knew that they were all treading on dangerous waters as it seemed as though the slightest thing could cause her to fall apart.

Wrapping one arm around her waist, Loki whispered, "Are you alright?"

Ellie took in another shaky breath, nodded her head, feeling slightly better and gave him a weak smile. However, the calm was short lived as Thor had to open his big mouth once more. "Yes, your mother sounds extraordinary! Would we ever have the pleasure of meeting her?"

Despite knowing that Thor did not know about her mother's death, Ellie could not hold the tears back anymore. Mortified, upset and unable to take the questions anymore, Ellie did the only thing she knew at times like this.

She ran.

When Loki finally registered Ellie's exit a second later, he cursed under his breath because she was no longer anywhere in sight. Throwing Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three the darkest and dirtiest glare he'd ever mustered, Loki teleported out of the room and endeavoured to search for Ellie.

The process was draining and arduous as every place that Loki visited in hopes to find Ellie would turn out to be in vain. By nightfall, he had combed through two thirds of the palace and was exhausted. Ellie was like him very much, if she did not want to be found, all traces of her would cease to exist. Deciding that she would come to him when she was ready, Loki retired to his quarters, defeated.

However, when he entered his chambers, Loki was startled by an extremely dishevelled looking Ellie curled up on his bed. Relieved but slightly cautious, he moved to sit at the edge of his bed next to her.

She glanced up at him with droopy eyelids and a tear stained face and smiled softly, "I've been waiting for you."

"And I've been looking for you," replied Loki gently. He rested his palm on her rosy cheek, wiping the remnants of dried tears off her face.

"I'm sorry," murmured Ellie. "I didn't mean to be such a baby and cry at the mere mention of my mother."

Loki felt his he heart clench upon seeing the guilt on Ellie's face. It was as though she truly blamed herself for running away. She acted like it was wrong of her to be upset over her mother's death and he wanted to beat Thor up even more now. Ellie's pure and selfless nature touched him immensely and he wanted nothing more than to protect her from everything tainted in this world. If Thor and his bunch of frivolous friends did anything else to upset her, he would not hold back. Loki's feelings towards Ellie grew stronger with each passing day and as he gazed upon her beautiful face, he knew that he was a goner.

"Shh…there is absolutely nothing wrong with being upset, you have nothing to apologise for," crooned Loki softly as he noticed her struggling to stay awake. He continued, "You should get some rest, we can talk tomorrow morning."

Knowing that Loki was right, Ellie succumbed to her senses and closed her eyes. However, before she was completely knocked out, she mumbled, "Thank you. Love you, Loki."

A huge smile graced his features at her words right before he came to the conclusion that she probably meant it in terms of friendship. Sadness overwhelmed him at that revelation and he wondered why he was so affected by the thought of merely having a platonic relationship with Ellie. Was he falling for her?

The concept of love was so foreign to him but as he leaned down to place a brief kiss on Ellie's forehead, he knew that it was the only explanation. He was falling in love with her. Would she feel the same? Loki wondered, uncertain.

Only time would tell, he decided.

Even though she was extremely unkempt with her hair sticking out in all directions and a blotchy tear stained face, Ellie was still the most beautiful woman to Loki and he vowed to do everything in his power to make her the happiest person in the world.

Author's note

Hey guys Hope you guys liked the chapter and thanks for reading! Hopefully it gave you more insight on Ellie's parentage. We'll get to see Loki and Ellie's relationship develop more in the next chapter!

Please do leave some feedback cause I'd really love to hear what all of you think and what events you want me to put in the story!

Till next time!

-Gabby