A/N: Yey new chap. I have been thinking on publishing on wednesdays as well so I can wrap up this story faster. Almost done btw. Hope you like it.
It had finally happened. After so much heartache and constant hard work, it was done. The city had been rebuilt entirely. It had taken seven long years of persistence but the results had been amazing. The school had been set up properly, a wing of the palace had been turned into a public hospital, the stone giants were restored, the buildings had been fixed, a library was opened and both flora and fauna had increased their presence in the city. Furthermore, the citizens seemed to be very happy with all the arrangements as well. There was no person that would starve or suffer from illness and the children were growing stronger than before.
In short, the Princesses were really happy with the outcome of this whole project. They held hands as they looked from one of the palace's balconies at what they had helped restore.
"It will not be long now Kiki", Eydís told her big sister. "They shall summon us soon".
"Are you sure little star?", Kida asked a bit doubtful. Eydís nodded with a smile, still unable to tear her sight from the city. It was definitely different from Asgard but it was beautiful on its own way. She liked different.
Kida looked at her sister. Within almost a decade, they had grown so fond of each other. They had spent much of Eydís' time in Atlantis together sharing stories and making memories together. Kida had wished for nothing but to make her little sister happy, comfortable and proud so she had silently agreed to listen to every word of admiration this girl had for her brothers, parents, friends and homeland.
At first it had been painful, Kida even found herself jealous of the people in her sister's stories but she grew used to it when she noticed the gleam of joy in Eydís' eyes as she retold some anecdote. Not only that, Kida had also been very aware of her little sister's constant correspondence towards the Kraft widow and the Bakers, specially the younger one. Atlantis' future Queen had noticed the kind smiles with which Eydís read each and everyone of the letters she received and that feeling only increased when, apparently, the boy began to write by his own hand. Eydís was doing more than the imposible to live up to the expectations of many but that was only another trait that Kida admired from her sister.
With all the workload, it was a miracle that Eydís had been able to keep up with all her studies relatively well and what really helped her sleep at night was the thought that, should anything happen to their Tabtop or her, Eydís would be a more than capable Queen. She worried though that the young Princess would have a mental breakdown but she knew that Eydís would manage. People in Atlantis adored her and would undoubtedly help her. Now it was finally time to see what all the fuss about Asgard was.
As Eydís had predicted, the next morning King Kashekim and his family received Prince Loki in the throne room.
"Good morning Your Majesty, Princess Kida, Prince Milo", he bowed and added with a small smile, "Sister".
Eydís smiled too and ran to his arms. It didn't matter that they were in the throne room, there was no one to judge them but the guards and they had grown used to their Princess' love displays towards the asgardians.
"Good morning Loki", she answered looking up from his chest. She let go but remained by his side.
"I have come here to bring the news. The Realm Eternal will be honored to have the atlantean royal family as its guests. Would you accompany me come noon to part from this earth and into my…", he made a pause, looked at his sister who was still by his side, embraced her with his left arm and corrected, "our homeland?"
King Kashekim and his eldest daughter shared a small, sad smile. They had heard this kind of corrections before but it still hurt them to realize that the younger member of their family had not been with them for so long that, to her, homeland meant Asgard. It would definitely take a lot of time to get used to this.
"It will be my pleasure", the King said.
"In that case I shall wait till the hour comes by…"
"My door", Eydís interrupted as she held tightly part of Loki's green cape. All the people in the room suddenly looked at her, "I am almost ready to leave. I need only to change my garments and do my hair. Please brother, wait outside my door and I shall take you anywhere you would like to visit until the time comes". There was a small pleading tone in her voice that Loki had never really been able to deny anything to. This was no exception and he agreed with a nod.
Eydís became very excited, took Loki's hand on hers and waited till the King gave them leave before she (almost) dragged him to her room. As instructed, her brother waited outside ten or fifteen minutes before he saw his sister come out of the room in a very elegant dress. He took a minute to take the whole sight of her.
The lower part of her dress consisted of a trumpet, asymmetrical skirt that revealed her ankles (from behind) and half of her crus was exposed as well (from the front). Her waist was highlighted by the union of the top and the skirt. The upper part was halter strap styled with a small cleavage allowing a good view of her collarbones and a peak of her breasts over which her crystal rested. The gown was golden, much like the dresses their mother wore to formal occasions and it accentuated his sister's womanly curves very well but without losing the elegance. She had some golden bracelets on both wrists and her hair was up on a very asgardian fashion with small golden pins holding her silver curls. All that added to the little makeup she was wearing made her look indescribably beautiful.
Loki allowed his eyes to roam over Eydís. She had surely grown up to be a very attractive maiden. It delighted him that there was no obvious prospects trying to get his sister's favor, he wasn't sure how he would handle it but he doubted it would be good for the men. Besides, that would mean that she would most probably forget about him and Loki, though he wouldn't say it out loud, was dead scared of that idea. Only having been apart this past few years had been tortuous.
The worst had definitely been the beginning. Those first six months after the initial expedition, had been almost the death of him. He had been silently furious with his little sister. After all, she had promised to be always there for him. At that moment, when she learned about Kida, Eydís had left him down to his own luck in the Realm Eternal. He understood that Eydís was not entirely enjoying all the new responsibilities she had acquired but he had sometimes wished that there was no one else he had to share her with.
As the third in line (fourth when Balder lived) to the throne, Eydís had so much more freedom than Thor or even himself. True, being the only female she had had special lessons but still, she had a lot of time for herself. Time that she usually spent with him. Being the Princess of two realms was a completely different thing. Specially when one of those realms had been hidden and decaying for millennia. The reconstruction of the buildings and the re-establishment of the culture on its own accord would be very much to handle alone. If one added that to the constant meetings with the council it was a lot of work. Loki had noticed that fact after the celebrations in Atlantis were over.
At that time, Loki wished to help but he had been barely able to talk to her, his sister became a ghost to him. In an attempt to get Eydís' attention he began taking care of her garden. In the few weeks that the Princess had been gone, some of the flowers began to die due to the lack of water. Having the adventure end as it did, Loki took it upon himself to take care of both his garden and his sister's for she had barely had time to even sleep properly, let alone tend to her flowers. He had thought that having the garden properly looked after would make the Princess very happy and would even allow him a couple of minutes to speak to her like they used to do.
It had taken him about a week to make the place presentable and then, he had worked for a few months to bring it to its former glory. When he finished he was very satisfied, he was sure that his sister would highly enjoy the view so he went looking for her. He walked into the palace and stopped, trying to deduce where Eydís was.
His first thought was the Council room but there were no meetings there that he knew of. Next he thought of, was her room, but it was very unlikely that she was there considering the hour (barely even noon). He considered looking in the stables, the library and the training grounds but he discarded every place for the simple reason that she seemed unable to find time to spare and go to any of those places. The only other place he could think of was… the Bifrost. Either because she was leaving, arriving or, sometimes, something in between, it was the safest bet for sure. Thus, Loki walked quickly to the stables, fetched his horse and rode to Heimdall's chamber.
All the way there, he planned out the whole scenario time and again. The Prince thought that the best course of action would be leading his sister back to the garden under the premise of a very urgent matter. Something dramatic verging on the point of cataclysmic without making her worry too much. He could use Thor as an excuse or even Lady Sif but he was sure that the latter wouldn't like the idea of being a pawn of his schemes. Therefore, he thought of their mother, which was, in reality, the perfect choice.
Yes, yes, maybe that their mother had been looking for her because she wished to give the young Princess something important. If Eydís asked why in the gardens he could simply reply that it was because the Queen had to urgently tend her Jade Vines. This flowers being incredibly hard to grow and needing so many different spells to stay alive were the ideal justification for his plan. Loki would take Eydís' hand to guide her through the quickest route to their mother's garden having to go through the Princess' patch to get there.
The younger sister was going to be so impressed and happy when she saw all the new flowers blooming, blue, white, pink, red, orange of so many different shades and shapes. Just the way she liked it. Eydís would be so thankful that she would strongly embrace him, smiling at the sight. She would look him in the eye and she would forget everything else for a while. She would sit on the marble bench by his side and they would talk and laugh like they always did. Things would be back to normal.
In Loki's mind everything was perfect. Every little detail from the color of Eydís' cheeks to the topics they would talk about, he had already visualized it all. So it came as a great surprise when the Prince dismounted his horse, went into the chamber and found Eydís smiling widely, her eyes slightly watery.
"Is everything alright little star?", Loki was confused.
"At long last brother", she turned to see him, the smile never failing, "little Samuel has finally been born on this day".
The Prince was very confused. He blinked.
"Do excuse my ignorance. Who?"
"Did I not mention it?", her eyes grew in surprise.
Loki was silently waiting for an answer.
"Alice Kraft had a sister. Debbie is her name and she was with child. When first I met her back in October she was already way ahead of the five months. Alice confided in me that her sister wished to call her newborn Gavin but that she liked the name Samuel better. I went to the Kraft family's house to deliver this message in person and Debbie seemed to agree with Alice's last request. She had her child today and Debbie named him as his sister wanted him to be named", Eydís ran forward to embrace Loki. "I am so happy brother. All of this sudden reinstatement as Second Princess in Atlantis and all the terribly boring Council meetings have made me want to think of abdicating a title already but now, I feel as if there is a light around so much dullness. Something to hold on to. Can you imagine? A whole new life. Do you not think of it as beautiful?"
For a moment the Prince was unsure of what to say or do. He didn't even know how to feel until the worst combination of emotions took hold of him. Anger came to him in hot waves added to the disappointment and a sudden feeling of betrayal. While his head pounded, his hands prickled, unable to return the embrace or even touch her. His mouth tightened.
"Brother?", she glanced upwards. Those irresistible doe eyes of hers, not blue any longer but dark brown, a few shades from black. Those eyes that transmitted so much whenever she wanted them to and right now they showed so much confusion. Her grip became weaker and Loki took that as his chance to escape her arms. His plans and hard work, all for nought. Without saying a word, he left.
"Loki?!", he heard his sister scream as he mounted and left in haste.
For two weeks straight he avoided Eydís almost completely, unable to even look at her. He was afraid that the moment he did so all those terribly possessive feelings would come back. Why would that loathly, baseborn, dandiprat babe be more important to her than her family? Than him? Why would it make her feel better and not a good talk in the garden? Wasn't he enough? The mere thought of the questions made him angry, therefore he kept his distance.
That is till Eydís had had enough. She had been worried sick that she had offended her brother with her comment and took it upon herself to fix the problem. Eydís followed her brother to the gardens after dinner. Sneaking as she had been taught by the greatest trickster Asgard had ever seen. Still, her nerves made her a bit sloppy and it was evident that he noticed her long before he stopped at the entrance of her garden.
"Loki?", her voice almost a plea, "I need to ask you something".
Her brother didn't even turn around.
"What are you afraid of Loki? That this child might take your place? I swear to you brother, that is not the case", she had assured him, her voice almost cracking at the end. "Please brother, I beg you, do not shut me out". For the first time, Eydís was unsure that her beloved Loki would receive kindly a hug so she remained where she was, head low and a knot in her throat, his back to her. For the first time she was afraid that Loki would deny her the physical contact that their relationship had always had.
Suddenly, the Prince turned around and embraced her. It was a hug full of shame and guilt for him but also a very possessive one. He had surprised himself jealous of a baby and he had hurt one of the few people in Asgard that loved him deeply and even looked up to him. He had been ungrateful and childish. Worse, he had doubted his sister.
As Eydís clasped tightly onto Loki's arms, a few tears escaped her eyes. They both realised that they were standing before a fork and that the course of action the Princess chose would change things. Now there was something they couldn't share with each other. Now there was someone else in between, an outsider, and Loki hated it. They feared that, the moment they broke the embrace, a decision would be made.
They took their time and, a bit unwillingly, they finally let go. A moment later, the god of mischief had been able to show his sister what he had done with the garden and she had been very impressed and happy, just like he knew she would. She had also asked him if he could look after the patch for a while. At least until Atlantis was fully restored.
"Things will be easier after that", she had promised and he could only hope.
She had promised him, thus, he had waited patiently. Or at least as patiently as he could. Eydís had never mentioned that baby again and he had never asked but deep down he knew that the correspondence was constant. He also knew that she had established a direct line of transportation between her chambers in Atlantis and an (unofficially) permanently appointed bedroom in one of Preston Whitmore's mansions in a city called Washington D.C. Loki was also well aware of the money she sent and the favors she called in for the family of that Alice Kraft so they could live peacefully in that small town of theirs, specially that boy.
Through those seven years of reconstruction, he had internally accepted the fact that he was, indeed, jealous of the boy. The last thing he wanted was to share his little sister with someone else but he wouldn't mention it to anyone and had tried to keep their sibling relationship as close to what it was before as he could. He didn't want to make Eydís choose and he didn't want to push her away either. Now, standing right in front of him was his little sister in the perfect combination of atlantean and asgardian garments.
"You look beautiful", he said softly. She blushed a little but smiled.
"Thank you brother. Sukhakari and myself worked hard to design the whole line. We thought it best for political reasons", she paused. "So, do tell me, where do you wish to go?"
"How about you decide where you want to take me?"
"Hmmm…", she thought a moment and then made up her mind. "I know where".
"In that case", he offered his arm gallantly. "My Princess".
Eydís giggled at his mocking tone and simply took it. She had learned many secrets in that palace, perhaps not all of them but enough to take them both through a series of corridors that lead to the lowest part of the building, the whole path without windows to give away too much.
Their walk was silent but comfortable until they came up to a door. Eydís opened it and Loki was astounded by the huge garden that came to his view. More than a garden it was a park with rows and rows of flowers. Most of which he knew and had even planted in his own garden. Some he recognized as plants and flowers from his sister's garden and some more were totally unknown to him. He was completely agaped by the shapes and colors of the whole view.
"It was hard to come up with this", Eydís said after a minute of pure contemplation. The look on her brother's face had been worth every hour of investigation and work. "I had to make a thorough investigation about possible negative consequences of flora insertion in this city. I made a test group to find out about any possible allergies or crossed contamination that could occur, the impact on the fauna and many other variables. This is the result. What do you think of it?", she asked a bit worried.
"I think this is a magnificent blend", he paused and looked at her, "like you".
Eydís laughed heartedly. "I am no blend. Not yet I fear".
"Yes, you are"
His sister looked at him happily. They missed this interaction. The next few hours, the younger royal explained the basic information about some of the foreign plants to her brother, she took him to the school (where he made a few mental notes to include an astrology class in the future) and finally to the murals. Most were on public display, re-telling Atlantis history, but there were some more private that only few had access to so Eydís took Loki there.
They were so lost in conversation that they almost missed their rendezvous with the atlantean royalty. Thankfully, Eydís had the caution to ask Sheshkala to take her luggage to the pier beforehand so they didn't have to go to the palace anymore. As they were arriving, so were the atlanteans.
"I guess we are all in time", the King smiled.
"I am sorry Tabtop. It was my fault for not checking the time constantly but we are ready".
"There is nothing to worry about, we are all here. Let us part", the King continued.
They went on the fish all the way to The Gate.
"Heimdall, let us pass", Loki commanded as he looked to the sky. For the briefest instant, the atlanteans were surprised but then, from the sky down came a great whirlwind of light that embraced them all. Kida had barely time to breath when Eydís took her hand and, suddenly, she was shooting through the sky. Everything became a blur as the rainbow surrounded their bodies. The heir to the throne of Atlantis managed to look at her little sister who simply smiled.
As abrupt as it had begun, it suddenly stopped. Kida found herself about to fall on her face, lucky for her, Mika was holding her hand and that stabilized her. She looked back and noticed her father and husband would have met the same fate had Prince Loki not been holding them. After checking on her Tabtop and Milo, Kida studied her surroundings. They were in a golden chamber where a sole man stood. This man was as tall as Thor (if Kida's memory was any good, and it was), had dark skin and a pair of eyes as golden as the armor he wore.
"Welcome Your Majesties", his voice a loud boom in the silence of the confined chamber, "to Asgard", he bowed his head.
"Sister, Tabtop, Milo, this is Heimdall. He can see and hear all and, above all, he is a our Gatekeeper". Eydís introduced.
"Greetings great Heimdall, I would like to get better acquainted with you another time if possible", King Kashekim said.
"I would like that very much Your Majesty", Heimdall answered politely.
Eydís waved him farewell and they all walked out of the chamber. The atlanteans' jaws almost dropped when they saw the city. They were mesmerized by the richness of the golden colors as well as the browns and silvers. The buildings made of something completely foreign to them as well as the flying machines that could be clearly discerned thanks to the beautiful sky. This, along with the Asbru Bridge were the things that captivated them the most, specially Kida. True, she had seen the stars in the past but she was only a little girl and those memories were vague. Here, nonetheless, the sky was new and the sensation that the bridge caused to her feet was simply exquisite.
When they got to the other side, there was a carriage waiting for them, the coachman opened the door for them. Kida had never seen horses before and was highly impressed by the beasts. She would have to ask a lot about them to her sister. The carriage was made of pure gold and had gems embedded on the top borderline. It had no bonnet so they could see the city with no problem. They encountered very few people on the way to the castle, which Kida thought strange but had an idea of what was about to happen. The excitement made her tremble a little but it never took her smile away.
"We are about to arrive", Loki said unexpectedly. "If you would be so kind as to allow me to go down first. Then I would ask Princess Kida and Prince Milo to go down together and, last, but not least, Your Majesty with Eydís. That way we will make evident all of our ranks. I know it is a bit too much, but people here highly value this kind of traditions and protocols".
"There is nothing to be sorry about. I fully understand that my family and me are merely guests here so please, feel free to instruct us properly", The King responded.
Loki gave him a side smile and a nod. The anticipation almost cutting like a knife.
A minute later, the company crossed a large archway and then the screams started. Standing ovations, golden confetti, flower petals, roars of excitement, the atlanteans and Milo had a very swift moment to absorb it all. These people had been waiting for them and they were received in one of the warmest ways possible (according to asgardian custom). The King was truly grateful of being alive to see that day.
He was also thankful when he realized he would not have to walk up all the stairway. Apparently, there was a second entrance, equally big and magnificent but with no stairs. That relieved his heart and aching bones. He had to admit that the potions from Asgard's head healer had helped a lot but he just knew and accepted that he was way too old for this grand entrances.
The carriage stopped. Loki opened the door and came down, putting up his hand to aid Princess Kida to come down. She waited. Next came Milo and both of them began walking behind the asgardian Prince. The chauffeur lent a hand to Eydís and both helped the old Kashekim to follow suit. The Princess waited for her tabtop, as instructed, and they began walking all the way to the throne where Eydís knew that her parents and blond brother would be.
Through the long walk, they encountered so much cheer and happy faces. Eydís finally allowed herself to feel at home again. She was used to this kind of treatment not the shady, gossiping and alienation that had been going on during the first year and a half of reconstruction. That is until asgardians actually began going down to Atlantis, telling great stories when they came back. Only then did understanding began to dawn on the Realm Eternal, or, at least, on most of it.
There were still a few opposing the income, but they were such a minority that no one really cared about them. Nevertheless, Loki had deployed a very efficient system to keep them monitored reporting to Odin alone. Still, that day was pure excitement. As King Kashekim approached the throne, there was only a feeling of thrill, a smile fixed on his face.
Odin, Frigg and Thor were indeed waiting for the other royals. The monarch having his wife at his left and Thor on his right side. Loki reached his place at Thor's right waiting for everyone else to catch up. Once both families met, Odin stretched the old King's forearm while the Queen squeezed Kida's and, Thor, Milo's. Loki held his sister's hand on his for a moment before placing a small kiss on it.
The greatest ovation of the day was heard, almost deafening everyone. Asgard understood what this meant. Neither grand speeches had to be spoken nor elaborated oaths needed to be recited. It was obvious. This was the acceptance, the ultimate fusion of the cultures and a vow to remain allies for as long as they existed. This was the key, the atlanteans lacked before, to enter Asgard.