A/N: So, I got really excited that I got to the part that I wanted to write that I ended up writing two parts that have become two separate chapters. At first, I wasn't certain which part should go first, but I finally decided how to arrange the story and I hope it's threading together quite well in your minds as you read this. Welcome to the good parts! At least, that's what I like to think. Keep on reading. :)
Chapter Seven
It had all occurred too quickly to register into Freyja's mind. As their eyes remained fixated out towards the darkness before them, they eventually heard several thumps behind them to find three Jotuns standing over them. Growling as they slowly approached the three Asgardians, the Jotuns were clearly here for detrimental reasons. Without a word, Thor and Freyja exchanged a smirk as they rushed up to the Jotuns with Heimdall in the lead.
With a slash, Heimdall immediately brought his Jotun down, who had fallen forward after being cut in the leg. Without hesitation, Heimdall showed no mercy as his blade sliced through the Jotun's chest before he kicked it aside off the rainbow bridge. As for Thor, he had knocked his Jotun several times over with Mjolnir, yet they showed no signs of withdrawing as they continuously rose and rushed towards Thor. Though the Jotun accomplished nothing as Thor rose and landed behind the Jotun, he sent them flying off the broken edge of the bridge as they fell into the dark abyss. While Freyja was smaller than those accompanying her, all the years she spent training were evident as she slashed away at the Jotun, giving them no time to counter her attack. She thrashed against them madly until she kicked them onto their back, quickly stabbing her sword into their shoulder to force them to remain where they laid.
"Try anything and it will be your death." She murmured, her boot residing heavily upon their chest.
"Death will surely follow whether I speak or not." The Jotun murmured, their voice barely audible.
Ignoring their statement, she merely stared down at them madly. "Who sent you here?"
The Jotun immediately began to laugh hysterically, which came out with fits of coughs. "Your traitor Loki has sent us. We have the Bifrost."
"No." She gasped as her eyes widened, forcing all her body weight onto her foot. "You lie... YOU LIE!" She shrieked, but the Jotun merely continued to laugh. With a grunt, Freyja removed her sword from the Jotun's shoulder and kicked at them until they fell into the eternal darkness below.
As Freyja panted out of exhaustion, the three of them stood in silence. She sniffed and furiously wiped at the tears falling from her eyes. The possibility that Loki alive was good, but to think that Loki would caused Asgard such chaos was unthinkable. Unfortunately, it was not a surprise because of the events that had followed up to this very moment.
"Freyja." Thor joined her side, placing a consoling hand upon her shoulder. "It may be a lie." Though as Freyja glanced back up at him, he could tell she could see right through his own lie. Thor merely lowered his head and glanced at Heimdall, his sight fixated out across the rainbow bridge.
"There are more in the Capital." Heimdall stated. It was no question, it was a definite fact.
"We must head back." Thor stated.
"I will remain here." Heimdall replied, which was followed by no protest. As the gatekeeper of Asgard, it was only obvious the two young Asgardians would leave him where he was.
With a mere nod, the two looked back and began to walk down the rainbow bridge. At first, Thor considered carrying Freyja as he propelled off with Mjolnir, but with her current mental state, he found it would be best to just head off the bridge by foot. Though even before they could make it halfway, they found Odin, Einarr, and Frey all approaching them by horseback.
"Father?" Thor questioned, exchanging a concerned look with Odin.
He slipped off his horse and sighed. "The rest of the warriors are slaying the remaining Jotuns in the Capital as we speak."
"What brought you here?" Freyja asked.
"Frey notified me of your presence at the bridge. I was concerned when we discovered Jotuns wandering the Capital, so my immediate response was to find you." Einarr replied.
Freyja rolled her eyes. "Father, you know very well I can handle a Frost Giant."
Einarr merely chuckled and gave his daughter a re-assuring pat upon the head. She sighed and turned away, not really pleased with her father's response.
"Father, did you find any motive?" Thor asked, changing the subject quickly.
"Well, it appears they are not here for the Casket." Odin responded.
"We did not give them much time to speak." Einarr replied grimly.
"Though I have." Freyja admitted, her head hanging sadly as she stared down at her boots.
"Freyja?" Einarr looked at her with concern, joining her side. "What did they say? What did they tell you, Freyja?"
Freyja pursed her lips, letting out a deep sigh before she raised her head to meet their eyes. "The Bifrost has landed in Jotunheim. Loki has allowed the Jotuns acess and brought them here."
"Impossible." Frey breathed.
"Obviously not!" Freyja exclaimed, almost too bitterly. "All-Father, is it possible to access the Bifrost without the key?"
"It was once believed that it was not." Odin frowned. "Though it seems we are proven otherwise."
"This means the Bifrost is fine, right?" Frey asked curiously.
"It is assumed so, but it isn't strong enough to maintain a proper connection between the realms." Odin replied, furrowing his brow. "Now what was the situation here?"
"Three Jotuns." Thor replied.
"The Jotuns in the Capital are few in number." Einarr stated. "There will be more in due time."
"Then it is best we gather up the warriors of Asgard, don't you believe so, Einarr?" Odin questioned, glancing at him.
Einarr nodded. "Frey, Freyja, are you prepared to join us?"
"This was what we were trained for, father." Frey replied, glancing back at his sister with concern.
"If they must so viciously threaten our home, then to their deaths is where they will go." Freyja replied, still bitter from the Jotun's words that echoed through her mind.
Noticing Freyja's grip upon her sword had tighted, Frey reached out and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. "Freyja."
"I'm fine." She snapped, pulling her arm away from her brother's grasp. She returned her sword into it's holster, folding her arms as she gazed out towards the other end of the Bifrost.
"The Bifrost bridge is regenerating in due time." Odin pointed out. "If we must, we may enter war once again."
"No." Freyja replied sternly, almost too reluctantly as she was speaking against the King of Asgard. "If Loki is still alive, I may have a chance to stop this."
"What?" Einarr exclaimed, looking at his daughter as if she was insane. "Are you mad, girl? You will be torn apart! You would not last a moment in Jotunheim! I know what I'm talking about, I had experienced the turmoils of war, Freyja, and I will not-"
"Unless I go out there myself," Freyja retorted, interrupting her father as her body was overwhelmed with all the fury that was pumping through her veins. "I won't know if Loki is alive or not."
"That is no concern of our's." Odin replied resentfully.
"Father." Thor frowned.
"Thor, you know very well it isn't." Odin muttered.
"All-Father, I do not mean to be rude, but if we send our warriors, we will only fall and that's what Loki would want to see. By our own demise, Loki would want us to succumb to his rule as the Jotuns continue attacking. We need no casualties for this is a problem brewed from Loki's own personal demons." Her eyes narrowed directly to Odin. "Leave this to me. Let me talk to him. No fighting, no war. A gentle approach, if you please. Loki is merely a lost soul, if you will just-"
"No." Odin's voice roared in response, causing everybody to grow stiff except Freyja who looked on with the same fiery gaze.
"All-Father, please!" Freyja refused to back down. "If all else fails, then you are free to declare war upon the Jotuns and your son."
"He is not my son." Odin retorted madly. "I will not have this sort of discussion with you."
"Father, if I may, I will escort her to Jotunheim myself." Thor replied, smiling weakly at Freyja. "We will attempt to talk Loki out of whatever he could be planning, but if we are to fail, then you must send the warriors of Asgard at all cost."
Odin fixated his stare heavily upon his son and the young warrior, causing Einarr and Frey to look on in anticipation. "So be it, but not without precautions. The attacks may become more frequent, so you must remain here for the duration of those. It will only be by my regard as to when I send you to Jotunheim to find Loki's true intentions."
"Thank you, All-Father." Freyja replied quietly with a bow.
"All-Father, if you will please, I will accompany them." Frey added, joining his sister's side as he gave a quick bow.
"Frey?" Freyja looked at him disapprovingly.
"Sister, you are risking your life. I will not stand by if you are walking to your death. If I must, I will only join you." Frey admitted, giving his sister a side-glance.
"Fine." Odin waved his hand as he returned upon his horse. "I must return to the Capital. Thor, come."
Thor glanced back at his friends and gave them a weak smile, giving them a quick pat upon their shoulders. "Nice seeing you again... Frey, Freyja."
"You too, Thor." Frey said, giving him a pat upon the arm in return.
As soon as Odin and Thor made their departure, Einarr and his children hitched upon their horses and began to ride back home. Finding their home slightly damaged, Freyja was the first to rush inside to find her mother and her younger sister, Eira sitting in the back room where Frey's room resided. She quickly swept her younger sister into her arms as she sat by her mother who pulled her into a hug.
"It is a relief to see you well, Freyja." Ingrid, Freyja's mother, said as she gently squeezed her arms around her daughter. "I had feared only the worst."
"Mother, you know Father has trained me well." She muttered, forcing herself not to roll her eyes in front of her mother. She was just finding it ridiculous that her own parents still didn't trust her fighting skills well enough to allow her survival. "Eira, did you protect, Mother?"
Eira, who was now thirteen years of age, had become involved with Einarr's desire to raise a family of warriors. Though young, father had been training her with a small sword that he had kept from his own youth, which she kept holstered around her waist just like her older siblings. She merely flashed a smile up at her older sister and nodded. "Did you kill any Frost Giants?"
"Yes." Freyja smiled softly. "Speaking of," She turned to glance at Frey who was sitting at a chair across from them. "Frey, did you kill any yourself?"
Frey frowned, flicking his sword out and waving it towards his sister. "If you must know, I've killed five."
"He didn't run away?" Freyja questioned with surprise as she turned to look at her father who stood at the doorway of the room.
Frey huffed. "I did not."
"I can confirm so." Einarr smiled. "Freyja, you can no longer underestimate your brother."
"Father, if I remember clearly, his fear for Frost Giants is genuine." She smirked.
"All right, the first two I ran away from!" He admitted, throwing a hand into the air. "I was outnumbered, but I killed them before they could even lay a hand upon me."
"Please don't allow your fear to take over when we arrive in Jotunheim." Freyja advised.
Ingrid gave Einarr a reproachful look. "Einarr, what is this she speaks of?"
"She intends to talk to Loki. It appears he may have survive the fall." Einarr replied. "Though I am hoping Odin will forget your plea and leave you here with us."
"As if it's any safer here, Father." She muttered. "I refuse to stand down when I may have a chance to stop Loki."
"With mere words?" Einarr frowned.
"Father, we were Loki's friends!" She exclaimed. "No, we still are!"
"And friendship can easily be forgotten in war." Einarr retorted sharply.
"It wouldn't hurt to try!"
"You foolish girl..."
"You always said I was." She smirked, shaking her head. "Regardless of what you say, father, I stand by my plan."
"As do I." Frey added, still waving his sword about in the air.
"Frey, put that away." Ingrid advised. "Eira is in the room."
Frey sighed, lowering his sword into his holster and leaned forward, his arms resting upon his knees. "Father, I hate to admit it, but I must side with Freyja. Loki is merely acting out as a child. Thor and myself will stand by if things get ugly, but Freyja may be the comfort Loki will need."
"He was rejected by his own father." She added with a frown. "He just needs a friend."
Einarr stared down at his children, still frowning. "I refuse to think this plan of your's will work. It is ever so simple, but if you think it is for the best..."
"Father, I normally have the best judgment possible." Freyja assured him with a smile. "Please trust me. I am completely capable of handling this and if all fails, you know what will happen."
Einarr sighed. "Then by some bizarre chance, let's hope your plan works, Freyja."
"Yes, let's." Ingrid added, glancing down at her daughter. "Oh, I still wish you took a liking to a regular maiden's life."
Freyja chuckled. "You know it was never meant to be, mother..."
