Loki took a deep breath before entering the throne room. Odin was always disappointed in him no matter what he did. He finally signaled for the guards to open the doors. As the doors open, he walked into the empty room. Frigga was sitting at the right of the throne on which his father sat. The wise old man watched him as he entered the room. "Son. What brings you here?" His mother asked warmly. "I have come to talk to Father about a small incident involving the Dark Elf Terezah."
"I have heard about this." Odin spoke up. "She gave an oath to not cause trouble while here. She attacked a royal guard, breaking this oath. Have you come to defend her?" Odin asked with a scrutinizing eye.
"I have." Loki said carefully. He did not want to anger his father. "She did not attack the guard without a reason. She was protecting a citizen who was assaulted by the guard." Loki said, watching his father, waiting for his judgment.
"Is this the truth?" Odin asked. "Do you know for certain this is true?" Odin asked.
"I know it is true." Loki said respectfully, but with boldness.
Odin sighed. "Do you trust this dark elf?" He asked.
She had saved his life. "I trust her with my life which she has already saved once." Loki replied.
Loki's heart pounded as his father searched his eyes. Odin remained silent for a minute before speaking. "If she acted in defense only, I will not punish her." Loki felt relieved. "But…" He heard his father speak and his heart sunk again. "If she acted at all offensively, she will be sent to the dungeon as punishment." Loki thought about this. She had acted in defense of the old lady. He did not believe she had acted offensively at all.
"There can be no lies told in this situation." Odin said. Loki felt hurt a little that his father didn't trust him.
"I swear she acted only out of defense." Loki replied. He watched as Odin thought this over. He watched the wise old man's solemn face.
"I will not punish her then, if it never happens again." Odin said. Loki sighed in relief.
He bowed to his father and left the throne room, feeling his father's eye study him as he left. He walked down the hall, feeling slightly proud that he was able to convince his father of Terezah's innocence in her actions. A court session would not be held and she would not be sent to the dungeons. He walked towards her room to tell her the news.
"Lokitty! I've been searching everywhere for you! Where have you been?" He heard Freya asked him.
"I was talking to my Father." Loki responded to Freya.
"I thought you were with that rat. She slammed the door in my face!" Freya huffed.
Loki held back a grin. "What do you need?" Loki asked her.
"I heard about the competition thing Prince Thor and his friends came up with. I just came to wish you luck." Freya smiled up at him.
"Thanks. I have to go talk to Terezah." Loki said and continued walking to her room.
"You can't go near her! She attacked a royal guard. I heard from the guard himself!" She said hurriedly.
"She was defending a citizen. The guard pulled a sword on an old lady and Terezah saved her." Loki said. He was almost to her room.
"Is that what the rat told you?!" Freya asked angrily. "Do you really believe that?!"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Loki said. He stopped walking when Freya stepped in front of him and blocked him from going anywhere.
"Lokitty! You can't trust her! She is evil. She is polluting your mind!"
Loki sighed. "She has saved my life from assassins, cared for me when I was poisoned, and she hasn't killed you yet. I owe her my life!" Loki spat.
"What if she's the one behind all these things to make herself look better?" Freya asked angrily.
"She's not." Loki said. He pushed past her and continued walking. He saw her door.
"Just… be careful! Don't trust the rat!" Freya said and turned down a different hall. Loki rolled his eyes. He knocked on Terezah's door and waited. When she didn't open the door he tried the handle. It was locked. He muttered a spell and the lock to the door clicked. He went into her room and she wasn't there. Her bag sat on her bed still. He went over and opened the bag. Inside was a bunch of weapons and supplies, probably for the competition. He was surprised at how much was in the bag and yet it didn't look full from the outside. Must be magic.
"You know… it isn't polite to break into my room and look through my stuff." He jumped as he heard Terezah's voice behind him.
"I was looking for you…" Loki said quickly, turning away from the bag that sat on her bed. He watched as the dark elf neared him. She snatched the bag from behind him and closed the flap to the opening.
"What did your father say?" She asked him, setting the bag on the trunk by her bed.
"You won't be punished." Loki said and watched as she looked relieved.
"Thanks." She said. Loki decided to play with her.
"Is that all I deserve for what I've done for you? A simple word?" Loki asked with a wicked grin.
Terezah rolled her eyes. "How about, 'I've saved your life once and done a lot of other stuff for you so this is one favor you can do for me to try and make it even.'" She said with a growing grin.
"That's a bit long. You would've been sentenced to the dungeons, so it counts as two favors."
"Fine." She said. "It counts as two favors…"
"Come on… is a 'thanks' all I get?" Loki asked again.
Terezah thought about this and he was absolutely shocked as she wrapped her arms around his waist, and embraced him. "Thank you." She said and pulled away. She grinned and left the room, grabbing the bag on her way out. "I'm off to get a couple more things. Bye!" She said as she shut the door behind her and left him standing alone in the room.
He hadn't been expecting her to hug him. He had expected some playful banter. He snapped out of his daze. He still had to get ready for the competition tomorrow, and he still had to tell Sif that Terezah was going to be able to attend.
He left her room and walked around the palace until he found Sif. "The conflict has been settled and Terezah will be able to attend." He said to Sif.
"Awesome!" Sif beamed.
He didn't have anything else to say to her, so he turned to leave. "You won't be able to use your magic in the competition." He heard Sif say to him. He turned back around to face her.
"Why not?!" He asked angrily.
"This is a no-special-abilities competition. Thor can't use his hammer and you can't use your magic." Sif said with a smug grin.
"Why was this never mentioned to me before?" Loki asked irritated.
"I assumed Terezah would have told you. She gave you your bag with the list and maps of the courses… right?" Sif asked.
"Yes."
"Good… well, I have to find Thor and the Warriors Three. Have fun!" She said and walked off in a different direction. Loki was beginning to think this was revenge for all he had ever done to them. None of them were smart enough to give them the idea of coming up with this though… someone had to have told them to do this. He shrugged it off. There was no way he could know for certain who gave them the idea.
He went back to his chambers and started packing the bag, according to the things on the list. Since Terezah was the "game manager" she would probably search through their bags to make sure they didn't bring anything extra. He decided he didn't want to face her wrath, so he only packed what was on the list. His two weapons were Terezah's black dagger he kept with him and a sword. He wasn't very good with swords, but what else could he bring? He wasn't good with any weapons and still hadn't hit the center of a target while throwing daggers.
After he was done packing, he put the bag on his desk and pulled out a book. He sat on a chair by his fireplace and read. He lost track of time, his eyes glued to his book. He turned page after page, promising himself he would stop reading after another chapter. That chapter never came as he kept telling himself this after each chapter he read. Finally, he forced himself to stop reading and put down the book. He stood up from his chair and stretched. He walked out onto his balcony.
He watched the star-filled sky. He must have been reading for hours. A cool breeze tossed his hair around. He looked down at the sparring fields and watched Terezah practicing her archery. Then, he remembered the assassins had gotten in through his balcony. He looked down over the edge and searched for any ways they could have climbed the smooth, golden surface of the palace wall. He then saw two long tears than ran down the wall. He studied them, leaning over the side of the balcony, trying to get the best look at them as he could. He couldn't see them well, so he decided to go outside to look at them. He left his room and went outside. He walked over the sparring fields and looked up at his balcony. He studied the tears that ran down the wall. They stopped a few feet before they hit the ground.
"What are you doing?" He heard Terezah behind him ask. He turned around to look at her. She was sweating and held a bow in his hand.
"I am trying to figure out how those tears got there." Loki responded, pointing to the two tears that ran down the wall.
"Yeah… I may have had something to do with that…" Terezah said.
Loki looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "Explain then."
"When the assassins took you, I ran into your room and you were gone. I cast a spell that would make the assassin's footprints glow and they lead off the side of the balcony and into the forest. I had no time to go around so I jumped off you balcony and used my daggers to slow my fall… sorry…" She said.
"You jumped from all the way up there?!" Loki asked in surprise. His balcony was almost two hundred feet up!
"Yes. I've jumped form higher distances and landed on the ground without slowing myself down. If you know how to fall properly, then you can get away with minimal damage…" She explained.
He looked back up at his balcony. "Wow… you must have been in a hurry to have jumped off my balcony…" Loki muttered.
"A group of assassins abducted you. Of course I was in a hurry!" She replied.
"You're going to teach me some of your tricks, right?" He asked hopefully. Some of her stunts were amazing.
"Don't count on it. Besides throwing daggers." she replied in a bland tone. Loki chuckled at this. She was so secretive about her abilities. He shrugged. "I'm going to go back to my chambers." He said and turned around, and started walking back to the nearest entrance.
"I'll come with you. I'm done for tonight." She said and walked with him back to his chambers. It had been a while since he had eaten. "I'm going to the dining halls. You hungry?" He asked her.
"I already ate dinner. I'm still enjoying my day off, so go without me. Make sure you pour your own drink so you aren't poisoned or something." She said with a grin and started walking towards her room. Loki watched as she disappeared behind the bend until he started walking towards the dining halls. He did as she told him and poured his own drink. After he ate, he started to get tired. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day with the competition starting and everything so he needed to get some sleep.
As he laid down, he thought about what had happened today. So much could happen in the space of a day. He drifted off to sleep, thinking about what would be taking place tomorrow.
Loki felt a pillow hit his face. Another. Another. "What do you want?!" He asked Terezah who hit him in the face with the pillow again.
"Time to get up! Time to start the competitions! Time for me to hunt… manage you guys!" Terezah said excitedly. Loki opened his eyes, just in time to be hit in the face with the pillow again.
"Would you stop that?!" He asked her. He was answered by another hit in the face with the pillow. Terezah was laughing wholeheartedly. He quickly pulled the pillow out from under his head and threw it at her. It hit her in the face and she started laughing so hard she almost fell onto the floor.
She threw the pillow at him, but he caught it and threw it back at her. It hit her in the face, which made her laugh even harder. "What's so funny?" He asked irritated
"I…I…." She tried to say something but she kept on laughing. She started rasping for breath and her face started turning a darker grey. She was laughing so hard at this point that she fell onto his bed. He brought another pillow that sat on his bed down on her face. She kept laughing. She started taking deep breaths and finally she quieted herself down. He watched her as she sat up from laying on his bed and looked at him.
"What…." She hit him in the face with another pillow and started laughing again.
"What is so funny?!" He demanded.
"Your… face… was… priceless!" She said between laughs. Loki rolled his eyes. She tried to hit him again but he yanked the pillow out of her grasp, which wasn't that difficult since she was laughing so hard. After about five minutes, she finally stopped laughing.
"Sorry." She said grinning while wiping tears from her eyes. "I couldn't help it. Anyways, It's time to get up. We're leaving for Vanaheim in an hour. Better get ready. We're meeting out in the sparring fields." She said and stood up from his bed. Then out of nowhere, another pillow hit his face. She started laughing again. Her soft laugh had a melodious ring to it.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." She said and headed for the door. Loki threw a pillow at her when she had her back turned, but she whipped around, grabbing the pillow right before it hit her and flung it back at him, hitting him in the face. She started laughing at the surprised look on his face before finally walking out into the hall, still laughing. She was impossible.
He bathed and got dressed into his armor. He walked out into the hall and saw Terezah waiting for him. She was dressed in all black, but was wearing a brown cloak with her bag slung over her shoulder. "Took you long enough." She said. She smirked and tried not to laugh.
"It really wasn't that funny." Loki said coolly.
"You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" She said and started laughing again. He didn't know how she found it so funny. He rolled his eyes and walked down the hall. She was laughing the whole way. She was still laughing when they met up with the others in the sparring field. They all had a bag the same size as his and looked at him puzzled as Terezah continued laughing. "What is so funny Lady Terezah?" Thor asked.
This made Terezah laugh harder to the point where she was struggling to breathe. "It's not that funny!" Loki snapped.
She calmed down a minute later and looked back at Loki, trying not to crack up. "I'm past it now." She said and her face turned solemn. She was probably the most confusing lady he had ever met.
"Okay, so these are the only rations you will be receiving. The rest of your food you will have to hunt, so I suggest saving these for Muspelheim and Niflheim." Terezah instructed, handing them each a small sack. Loki opened his and looked into it. There were three small loaves of bread. "I have already assigned you into teams. Volstagg, you will be with Sif. Fandral, you will be with Thor. Hogun, you will be with Loki."
Loki looked over at Hogun, who didn't return the look. He looked back at Terezah as she continued. "You all have three maps that have the courses in them. Does anyone not have them?" She asked. They all had them. "I decided what is cheating and what isn't. If I think you are cheating, you will find yourself asleep for two hours, leaving you behind the others. Cheating is: using weapons against other teams, setting traps for other teams, or stealing food or supplies from other teams. Understand?" They all nodded.
"Good. Loki, no magic. Thor, no hammer." She said and looked at each brother. "I will be one of your toughest challenges in this competition. I will not do anything too deadly, but beware." She said this with an evil grin, and Loki felt chills sent down his back. "Heimdall has agreed to transport us. Remember his rules. If you put Asgard in danger, he will not open the Bifrost to you. I doubt that will happen though. Any questions?" She gave them two seconds before saying, "Good! Let's go to Vanaheim."
They all mounted their horses and rode to the Bifrost. They all gathered in front of the place where the portal would open. Heimdall spoke, "I will honor my oath to protect this realm as its gatekeeper. If your return threatens the safety of Asgard, the Bifrost will remain closed to you." With this, Heimdall slammed the swords down and the seven of them were pulled into the portal, zipped off to the forests of Vanaheim.
Attention! Important News Flash: Eek! Okay... I am in the middle of writing Chapter 11 and I just hit writers block! It feels as if all my creativity just ran away. So, any ideas on what you guys want to see in the upcoming chapters would be great! Seriously... I'll consider ANY suggestions! Please!