CHAPTER 10

It felt as though the storm would go on for an eternity. Eira couldn't hold the barrier much longer in which caused her stress. It was difficult for her to breathe, function, and even think logically. Being alone in a storm was not foreign to her. However, sitting beside a corpse for more than just a few minutes was. She wasn't exactly sure how to react or what emotions she should have. Sadness? Relief? Remorse? What would she tell Odin when she goes back to Asgard? The more Eira questioned the possibilities, the more daunting her situation came to be. After all, she did commit treason.

She didn't know the laws or customs of Asgard, but she knew that committing such a crime would be punishable. Remembering the prisons, Eira hoped that she wouldn't end up there. She would go fucking bonkers!

CRACK. SNAP. CRACK. CRACK.

The barrier began to crack. It won't be long, now. Eira hoped the storm would die down soon. Loki's lifeless body felt non-existent. She nearly forgot the corpse that lied next to her - cold and blue, just like her. Staring down at Loki, she remembered the first time she saw a dead body. It was the old woman who took care of her from when she was an infant until she was six years old. It was so long ago, she couldn't remember her name, only that she called the old woman Auntie. Auntie was very active for her age. She was very young when she married a man significantly older than her. After ten years of marriage, Auntie learned she was unable to bear children, and so her husband left her. After forty years of solitude, Auntie prayed to Odin, Frigga, and Freyja of a child to love and raise as her own. Then one night, during a brutal blizzard, the gods answered her prayers.

Auntie stirred awake after an enormous blast from the sky hit near her small abode. Worried that lightning was the cause, she went outside to witness the damages. Despite the violent howling of the wind, she heard the faint sound of a cry. After a few minutes of searching, Auntie found a baby inside a basket. Wrapped around the baby's wrist was a necklace. She proclaimed Eira to be a miracle. However, not many thought so.

When she traveled to Scotland and founded the church, Eira thought she found her new family. It didn't take long before they found out about her powers and turned against her. They locked her in her room, starved her, beat her, and justified it as washing away her sins and the devil out of her. The last night she was there, before the fire, one of the nuns grabbed her while she was sleeping and dragged her outside to a pyre. The horrible memories of the crowd, their voices yelling and chanting prayers in Latin broke through the dam she built over the years. The frozen bodies, lying or standing around - all of them sharing the same look, fear. She groaned in frustration.

The storm finally died down. As the barrier dissolved, Eira noticed a figure in the distance. Her heart thudded against her chest. Once she was able to identify it was an Asgardian, her heart felt as though it would burst from her throat. Bile rushed up to her chest. When the male Asgardian stood in front of her, his kind smile relaxed her.

"Hello, my lady," he dramatically bowed. "My name is Einherjar. Odin has sent me to escort you back to Asgard."

"Am I going to the prisons?"

He cocked his head to the side. "The prisons? Why would you think such a thing?"

Eira stood up. Einherjar towered over her, intimidating except for his smile. She looked up at him. "I committed treason against Asgard."

Much to her surprise, the guard laughed. "You also helped Thor save Asgard and the nine realms. A debt is owed to you, Lady Eira."

So she wasn't to be imprisoned after all. As her shoulders relaxed, Eira let out a long sigh. "Would you help me hold onto him," she gestured to Loki, "when we go through the Bifrost?"

"Leave him," he said sternly. "Skurge! Open the Bifrost!"

"No! Wait, we can't just leave him."

"We can and we will. There is no sense in letting Odin see the corpse of his son. Now, hold on tight, my lady."

"You once said there would never be a wiser King than me. You were wrong. The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new King in return?" Odin said as he sat on the throne.

"My life," Thor answered. "Father, I cannot be King of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice, it changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great King."

"Is this my son I hear, or the woman he loves?"

"When you speak do I never hear Mother's voice? This is not for Jane, Father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now forbid me to see her or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing."

Odin sighed. "One son who wanted the throne too much, another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?"

"Loki died with honor, I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?"

Odin nodded his head. Thor held up Mjolnir to offer it back to Odin.

"It belongs to you if you are worthy of it."

"I shall try to be," said Thor. "Promise me that Eira will be happy here."

"Lady Eira will be treated like a queen. As for you, my son - I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune."

"I know."

As Thor turned to leave, Odin continued. "If I were proud of the man my son had become, even that I could not say. It would speak only from my heart. Go, my son."

Thor smiled and thanked his father.

"Oh, no," Odin transformed into Loki after his brother left. "Thank you."