Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or any of the characters (just in case you thought so)^^
Sorry guys... after seeing IW I'm an emotional mess and this is taking even longer now as I just don't feel capable of writing anything... But well the show must go on, mustn't it? So here now at least some small progress...
Loki thought he had mastered the virtue of patience. But how wrong he'd been in that assumption.
He noticed it now: his growing impatience, while waiting in his cell, completely alone except for the fallen prisoners and Dark Elves littering the prison floor. The Asgardian soldiers and guards had been taken upstairs hours ago.
Three hours ago to be exact and still no word had reached him from either Eir or his mother. Nor Thor or Odin, though he wouldn't have expected them to deign him a visit or the curtsey of informing him about the state of Asgard and their well-being anyway...
And he had got this nagging feeling – almost as soon as Thor had left him to go and get Frigga – that something had happened or was wrong... But he wrote it down to his general worry due to the lack of any kind of message reaching him...
He was left to wonder: Had Jane been able to warn Frigga in time? Had they been able to escape the Kurse? Had Thor intercepted it before it could do any harm and had he been able to protect Frigga and Jane? What about Odin? Was he still alive? Where any of them still alive? What had happened up there in the palace?
While he had been left down here... uselessly waiting... instead of being out there, fighting with them, helping them with his magic and daggers...
The guards that had ventured down here to retrieve the fallen soldiers had only offered him veiled glances and refused to answer his questions. Nor had they released him – which had been a foolish hope to begin with.
He could therefore only assume that Odin and Thor were still alive, and fret and hope that the same applied to Frigga, Eir and Jane and the majority of Asgard.
They seemed to have driven back the Dark Elves enough so as to retrieve all the dead, and probably were preparing and conducting the funerals right now... which should have been a relief to him because if Frigga or Thor or even Odin had died then he would have been allowed to join the funeral...
That was custom for all Asgardians and everyone's inherent right... They surely wouldn't trample on that... Thinking back on all the law cases he had studied, back when Thor and him had been taught how to sentence criminals and what rights each Asgardian citizen held, this had been one of the fundamental rules:
Each Asgardian was permitted to be present at any kind of special occasion or unforeseen happening, concerning their immediate family if they so chose, which included weddings, visiting sickbeds, childbirth, anniversaries and funerals... And no Asgardian had ever been denied that right... not even prisoners...
But... he wasn't Asgardian... he was Jotun. The cursed word. The bane of his existence. Would Odin be so heartless? Would he deny him this one, simple reprieve if the time came?
He was to be in here for life which meant his mother would reach Valhalla before he ever would (if he was even still allowed entrance into its sacred halls...)
So, would he be allowed to attend her funeral? He didn't know what he would do if he was barred from it... Truth was, he wouldn't put it past Odin – if the past year and this whole prison sentence was any indication...
Loki was shocked that he hadn't realized it before: Odin's punishment had not just felt unjust and harsh because Loki had foolishly expected his alleged father to still feel some kernel of love for him and be lenient, but because Odin hadn't judged him as an Asgardian... but as a Jotun... a foreigner... and the old enemy at that...
So much for Frigga's reassurances that Odin still loved him... One should rather doubt whether the old man is even capable of love at all...
Loki groaned and told the Tesseract to shut up... even though he found himself agreeing with it more and more... at least where Odin was concerned... It seemed Loki had really just been a means to an end to Odin and now being a broken pawn on his chessboard Odin could just as easily discard him... He hadn't been disappointed and angry with Loki because of what he'd done, but because his carefully laid and constructed plans had been thwarted by Loki's actions...
I told you so from the start but you wouldn't listen...
The Tesseract chimed in. Loki frowned. The Tesseract really hadn't troubled him this much for quite a while, which had constituted to him almost believing to be fully recovered and free of it... but, well, ever since the Aether's arrival the barriers between it and him seemed to have been shattered again and Loki really had to struggle...
And still, he noted, that until now it hadn't gotten into any frenzy. Instead it had stayed oddly quiet and had rather withdrawn itself... Which either meant that it was content for now and the Aether was still save and in Asgard's possession, meaning Jane was alive, too...
Or it could mean the exact opposite... that the Aether had found a new master and the Tesseract was now just biding its time...
By the Norns!
All these conflicting thoughts... this uncertainty and worry… It was eating him up bit by bit... He couldn't stand it!
Loki decided that it was no good to work himself into a frenzy either and so he slid down onto the ground and grabbed for one of the books that were lying on the floor. He needed a distraction, he needed something to do and he needed to get himself back under control and stay patient... They would send note soon... Everything was fine...
…
He had been staring at the same page for almost an hour – unblinking and unseeing, his thoughts still churning and whirling inside of him haphazardly, when he noticed someone stepping up to the window of his cell right next to him. Finally!
For a second he thought it was Thor come with news and maybe, finally, here to meet him and talk.
But no, the Asgardian was to small and gangly to be even comparable to his brother. It was only one of the guards. Swallowing his disappointment and anger, Loki slightly inclined his head towards him to hear the news or message.
It took an eternity for the information to sink in and register. He managed to nod and indicate for the guard to take his leave.
How he was even able to do that was beyond him. There was this big black void opening up inside of him and he feared that just one tiny movement, even taking one small breath would tip him over the edge and let it swallow him whole.
It took another second to decide that he was beyond caring. So he stood up and welcomed it. Letting his magic rush out of him without control. Something you should under no circumstances do. Especially not in a cell as this, which was magic-proof.
His outburst shook the whole cell and his magic ricochetted of the walls hitting everything in his path, not just throwing his furniture around but also shattering most of it. He didn't feel the splinters and shards beneath his feet and the ones that in flight had scratched his face and ripped his tunic.
He felt utterly numb and empty as he fell to the ground amidst the newest destruction he had caused... and screamed.
Then am I not your mother.
No your not.
Their last exchange... Heated words spoken in anger and frustration and while struggling to be himself...
His mother...
She was his mother and she would always be his mother! He wanted to tell her this. To take back his words, his outburst! To tell her he loved her and was so grateful for everything she'd done for him, for helping him and believing in him and despite every despicable thing he'd done still not abandoning him, for still harbouring that kernel of hope for him, for being his anchor, for keeping him sane...
And now he would never be able to say all of this to her. Because she was dead. Frigga was dead. His mother was dead.
And they hadn't told him. They hadn't let him attend the funeral. They hadn't let him say goodbye and offer his prayers as was Asgardian custom. Odin and Thor had not even bothered to deliver the news themselves but had send a lowly guard to inform him in two simple sentences about what had occurred...
The Dark Elves infiltrated the royal chambers. Queen Frigga has been killed.
Two small sentences. A handful of words. With the power to confirm his darkest suspicions and shatter his whole world anew.
It was his fault. He had set the Kurse on the trail towards the royal chambers.
Yes, he had been vague and "the stairs on the left" had only been a small hint as towards the general directions which hadn't necessarily had to lead to the royal chambers... but if he hadn't bargained with Fate and tried to trick his way out of his cell, the Kurse might never have found the chambers as soon as it did and Thor might have been there in time...
Thor...
This dumb fool! Of course he would head straight into a fight and brawl to throw his hammer around, smash sculls and show his muscles and thunderous powers even when the whole thing screamed diversion...
If he had gone with Frigga and Jane instead of heading down here, they would have been safe. Their mother would still be alive... Why hadn't he gone with them?
It was, again, something Loki could not for the life of him understand, especially because Thor's beloved Jane had been at risk, too...
And that brought him to Jane... she was the core problem... She had got the Aether here in the first place, which then had attracted the Dark Elves...
Why did this tiny, insignificant, stupid mortal have to be so annoyingly bright and curious and stumble upon one of the most deadliest weapons and entities in the whole of existence? And why had it been her that his oaf of a brother had had to fall for?
And to think that she was supposed to be his second half... Why her? Why now? Why the Aether?
And why had Odin not immediately acted and thrown her out? Why had he not taken the Aether? He certainly knew what it was... and extracting it was a minor nuisance if you didn't particularly care about hurting or possibly killing the host – a human at that... Hel! Odin could even have asked him to do it – Yes, in fact, Loki was more than eager to do just that right now...
Thankfully for that little mortal, he was stuck in this cell and couldn't harm her...
This stupid cell... which had also prevented him from fighting the Dark Elves and protecting Frigga in the first place... And now he had come full circle and returned to laying the blame on himself again and loathing himself even more than he already did...
He could have saved her... He should have been there to protect her... But he had been here... His actions... his stupid decisions... his delusions... his failures... his stupidity and hubris and who he was... what he was... it all had let to this...
He thought he knew what the worst possible pain felt like... thought he had already experienced it during his time with Thanos and the Dark Order and the Chitauri master... even though the latter had promised him that he'd wish for something as sweet as pain should he fail in retrieving the Tesseract, which he hadn't been able to imagine as the torture had already been excruciating...
But this grief, this ache deep inside of him – he thought it might actually be the worst he'd ever felt. It was gutting him, ripping him apart, opening that void inside of him, granting the Tesseract easy access.
Just like after his fall... He had been so devastated and hurt and despaired then, next to the obvious injuries from his fall that it had been an easy thing for Thanos to brainwash him, first with the Sceptre, then through torture and finally by letting him wield the Tesseract...
He knew he should try to fight back, to close the void, to get a grip. But he just couldn't. And he just didn't care...
The following moments and hours flowed into one and another for Jane. She was unresponsive, uncomprehending, numb – clearly in shock and denial – and full of self-loathing...
She should have gone through that door sooner. She should have fought against the Aether's control harder. She should have warned Frigga in time and she should have been there to help.
She should have been the one to die. It was all her fault.
She shouldn't even have been here on Asgard... She should have been back on earth. On this stupid date. Trying to make it work for once and get her life back together, trying to forget Thor and stop hoping for his return.
No. Instead, she had been stupid enough to wander off into that warehouse at the first sign of something not-earthern. Thinking that it could be Thor or lead to him. Sparking that foolish hope again.
And her damn curiosity, that had eventually led to her being claimed by the Aether. And her – thing – or whatever this was between her and Thor – had caused the Aether to end up in Asgard and lead the Dark Elves here...
And her cowardice and selfishness that had stopped her from going out there and fight, but save her own ass instead...
The Aether might have stopped her, yes, but she was sure she could have evaded its control again and hadn't had to agree to the bargain...
So now, kind and beautiful and selfless Frigga, who had tried to keep Jane save, who had fought valiantly, had paid the price instead...
It should have been her... stupid, selfish coward... Jane felt herself ever-deeper spiralling down this treacherous path of blame and loathing and pain and doubt... the Aether staying silent and hidden in the back of her mind. Which should have made her suspicious but Jane couldn't bring herself to care.
Thor was too occupied with his own grief and dealing with the aftermath of the dark Elves' attack, too, to notice her inner struggles or try to reassure her that it wasn't her fault.
Jane couldn't stand being in the chamber anymore, so she slipped into the adjacent small room where she had hidden in before, unnoticed by Thor and Odin and the guards.
A meagre human, a human not worth any attention. For once she was glad about their ostracising behaviour. – She would let Odin grieve alone and Thor do what he had to and try to stay well out of everyone's way in the process.
As Odin was not responding to Thor or any of the surviving guards and just sitting there cradling Frigga's body, it fell to him now to see to the damage caused and assess the number of dead guards and Asgardians and how to proceed now and to make sure the Dark Elves were gone and wouldn't attack anytime soon.
And honestly – she didn't deserve Thor's reassurances and comfort anyway. How could she even expect him to notice her and ask about her feelings? How selfish was she? He just lost his mother! And Odin lost his wife. All because of her... She didn't deserve any of his attention nor love after this...
And he had bigger things to deal with now. More important things than her well-being or state of mind. Jane was inconsequential and the reason for all this mess...
Jane sat down on the windowsill and buried her head in her hands. Taking deep breaths, trying to process everything that had happened in the not even seven hours that had passed since her catastrophic date and Darcy taking her to Greenwich...
Oh she missed Darcy... Darcy would know how to cheer her up, how to go on from here, how to make light of a dark situation like this... And Jane would really like to know what Darcy would make of all this in the first place...
And surely she was worried sick by now as to what had happened to Jane in that warehouse and what that power surge had been... She hoped Darcy was smart enough to try and find Eric and contact him. Jane herself hadn't heard from him since a short while after New York...
He hadn't been the same when Jane went to see him in the hospital. His hair had gone from light blonde to grey in some places, his face had looked pale and gaunt and he had lost considerable weight... but that was just the outward change. Inside of him she could swear that something fundamental had been broken or at least been strained more than it should have.
Erik would be fine one moment and the next he would be either in a daze he wouldn't snap out of for a long time or start mumbling and going on about crazy theories and scientific or more often ludicrous ideas and concepts that even to Jane more often than not didn't make any sense.
She had wanted to help Erik and find out how to reverse the Sceptres effect or what working on the Tesseract had done to him, but he had refused and nothing Jane did or said had helped... And then Shield had told her they would take care of him and offered Jane a job in London and selfish Jane couldn't refuse, and left Erik to his own devices in the care of S.H.I.E.L.D which she had sworn not to trust...
And she had only called and checked in on Erik once in a while... Last time she had checked he had come to the U.K. too to work on some new project, which Jane had considered to be an improvement of his mental state. Actually, she had even planned on visiting him during one of the following days... which now would not be happening... So that left Darcy to contact him...
Her eyes snapped to the basin. But – no – it wouldn't work that way... She didn't even know how she had made it work before in the first place. And with her luck she would see Loki again and not Darcy or Erik...
Loki...
She still wasn't sure what to make of him... Thinking about Erik and his current state, about the thousands of people he killed or got killed in New York, the damage he'd caused, she could not help but hate him from the bottom of her heart...
And now remembering that short moment when she'd seen his projection and how he'd talked to the horrid creature, she had to assume that he had somehow caused this, too. That he'd helped the creature and thus aided it in killing Frigga... It would certainly alleviate some of her guilt and self-loathing...
But there had been this short moment just before he'd noticed her when he'd looked so worried and terrified and despairing... and human that she couldn't be sure that he hadn't been scheming for their benefit. He hadn't known she was there so why would he fake being so thoroughly shaken?
And when he called her name, he definitely had tried to tell her something or warn her. She had been stupid then, to not get closer to the basin again to hear what he had to say...
No, instead, acting like a freaking coward and scaredy-pants, she had stumbled away from him although he was just a projection...
He might have been imprisoned for life by Odin which could have made him despise Odin and Asgard enough to go behind their backs and ensorcel a foe into letting him out of his cell... But wasn't Frigga his mother, too? Would he really be so vindictive? So cruel and evil?
Honestly? If she hadn't seen his face in that short second she would have not put it past him. She had seen the footage of New York and heard Fury's report and noticed Erik's whole demeanour and the way he averted his eyes and went rigid whenever Loki's name was brought up. It was enough to show her that he was a maniac.
But what if he was not? Or hadn't always been that way at least? What if something had happened to make him do it?
She remembered the Aether's reasoning with the guard about the injustice of his imprisonment as from an Asgardian point of view and she had to admit that she still couldn't understand why Odin's punishment had been so harsh... It couldn't have been about his actions on earth – at least not solely...
And there was her damn curiosity again...
She wanted to know what had happened to him to make him do such horrible things – if something had even happened. And she wanted to hear Loki's reasoning and justification. In fact, she had wanted to confront him from the moment she had heard about him being on earth and the happenings in New York.
A part of her even had to admit that she had been slightly more eager to interrogate Loki and give him hell for what he'd done than about the prospect of seeing Thor again... She had wanted to see the person that had sent the destroyer into her lovely home town, that had almost killed Thor – his own brother! – and the person that then went on to try and subjugate earth by leading an alien army to it to wipe out everyone that stood in his way...
But as Thor had immediately taken him back to Asgard she hadn't gotten the chance to interrogate him and much less S.H.I.E.L.D, who even if they had would not have given her any answers...
But now she was in close proximity to the source. She could confront him and ask him.
Jane stood up and went to the basin putting her hands on it like she had done before.
But nothing happened. Jane cursed and went a full circle around it, touching it from every angle, crouching down to maybe find some hidden button (which of course was completely stupid as it was so obviously not working like any technology down on earth...). It had to be working with some very advanced scientific mechanisms. No – she would not call it magic...
She was just about to lean over the basin and sink her head into it like Harry Potter using the Pensive, but just at that moment Thor called her name from the door. She whirled around to face him, colour rising on her cheeks unbidden.
"Jane!", Thor didn't comment on it, but took two mighty steps towards her before crushing her into a hug, "I am so sorry for leaving you for so long! By the Norns, for even leaving you in the first place... I should have stayed with you and..."
His voice broke and Jane wrestled free of his tight hug to cup his huge face in her small hands, his puppy eyes sad and forlorn: "Don't... don't blame yourself! You couldn't have known... If someone is to blame then it's me... I brought the Aether here... and now Frigga... I am so sorry Thor!"
Tears welled up in her eyes – finally after her previous numbness, but at the completely wrong time, she shouldn't be the one doing the crying... So she quickly blinked them away and hugged Thor again. He didn't say anything, but hugged her back and absently stroked her head.
After what felt like an eternity of quietly grieving together Thor cleared his throat: "The funeral is to take place in a short while... We should head down to Mimir's Well... All the fallen will be released first into the Iving and from there they will flow on to Valhalla... Odin will lead the procession and I am to stand by his side... And... I would like you to accompany me..."
She nodded into his chest: "Yes... of course I will come with you! I want to pay my respects to the dead as well..."
She felt Thor breathe in and nod: "But you have to understand... My father... Odin... he didn't want you there... I am going against one of his orders again in bringing you... Are you up to that?"
He drew back to study her face and Jane nodded, sending him a reassuring, if also sad and slightly terrified, smile: "I want to be there for you! And I want to say goodbye to Frigga, too... I can keep in the back if you'd like...?"
Thor managed a small smile: "Jane, you are a truly kind and considerate. I thank you!" – and with this he kissed her forehead and then stepped next to her and put his hand on the small of her back – "Shall we, Ms. Foster?"
Jane could only nod, as she felt a huge lump in her throat and didn't trust her voice.
The funeral was in all its serenity and sorrowfulness an utterly mesmerizing and beautiful thing to behold and so different from any funeral on earth. Though the situation and everything surrounding it was devastating she couldn't help but stare at the burning pyres floating away and then over the edge of Asgard – only Frigga's turning into stardust – and the thousands of white orbs being released into the night sky...
Jane would not forget that experience soon. She didn't even care about Odin staring daggers at her, his face so grief-stricken, that she endured it – deservedly so.
...
Afterwards Thor dropped her off at his chambers, while he had to take care of some more things, including a war council with Odin about how to proceed from here on forth.
Meanwhile Jane was finally given some food. She had completely forgotten about hunger or thirst, running on pure adrenaline for hours but seeing the plates of bread, cheese and an assortment of fruit made her stomach instantly rumble and her mouth water.
She immediately dug into the food like a ravenous beast. She was too famished to bother eating civilly and there was no one there to watch her anyway as the guards where stationed outside of her door and the servant that had brought her food had vanished as soon as she's set down the tray.
Jane had finished half of the small loaf of bread in no time and was just about to bite into one of the juicy and delicious looking apples when a horrible pain suddenly and out of nowhere ripped through her abdomen and clenched her heart. Jane thought she might die just then and there because that pain... it was the worst agony, it was tearing at her soul...
Her ears were ringing, her head screaming. For a second she thought it was her own, but she felt incapable of screaming, while biting down on her lips, only silent tears streaming down her cheeks, her breathing laboured, as she was lying there on the ground in fetal position.
Vaguely she noticed one of the guards coming into the room and immediately turning on his heels to hopefully fetch someone. She hoped he made haste because Jane didn't know how much longer she could bear up against the pain.
Hurt. Grief. Anger. Betrayal. Guilt. Blame. Self-loathing.
The Unjustness. The Pain. Agony.
It's time.
And just like that the pain began to ebb away. Eir had arrived now, too, and was immediately upon her, checking her forehead and her pulse, and then she moved her hand along her whole body in a scanning motion. Jane didn't dare move in case it caused the pain to flare up again, but whatever Eir did it send warmth coursing through her whole body.
Jane managed to even out her breathing and Eir helped her sit up, all the while frowning at her, which scrunched her whole face: "I don't know what just happened to you... It is... strange... there is nothing physically wrong with you... it was purely mental from what last remnants I could detect..."
Jane now frowned as well. So what Eir was telling her is, that she had just imagined this excruciating pain? But it had felt so real... it had felt as if someone had stabbed her and then ripped her to shreds... which she didn't want to imagine nor feel like ever again...
"And what you were feeling... it felt like... grief..." Eir mused, her mind seemed to be far away, until she focused on Jane again and looked at her for several seconds.
Then her eyes widened and she suddenly jumped up: "Please excuse me." And just like that she was off and gone again leaving Jane sitting on the floor, still shaken and utterly confused.
Grief? That had been grief? If, then she had never felt it to that extent...
She tried to remember the feeling she had got after receiving the news that her parents had died in a car crash, when Erik, being his father's closest friend and colleague, had taken her into his arms and wept with her.
She tried to remember the emptiness insider of her at the funeral and the months afterwards, hell, even now she sometimes still woke up crying for them. But that grief... it was laughable in the face of what she had just experienced...
And why would she feel it in the first place? Why in such an intense way? And why now? Yes, she was sad and angry and blamed herself for Frigga's death, but she had barely known her. Her parents had a much closer emotional value to her.
And if for some reason she was greatly effected by all the past hours' happenings then why hadn't she broken down like this at the funeral where she would have had all the reason to?
Maybe it was just her brain being unable to process everything and that had been its way of dealing with it to sort of reset her or cool down... It was the only thing that made sense...
My dear... it wasn't your grief...
Oh, no... it was still there... the Aether back again... She had honestly almost forgotten that it had ever been there...
You're not getting rid of me that easily... I just gave you the curtsey of processing everything on your own... You can thank me later... – it told her, sighing deeply.
Remember. When I told you my siblings were more into taking host bodies than me? And that the Tesseract and I are linked? Well, much like I am bonded with you right now, the Tesseract has found a host, too, and our connection it also seems to effect our hosts the closer we are to each other...
Great... so I'm now feeling everything this other host feels? Any other side effects I need to know abaout?
Well, given that I can communicate with the Tesseract it doesn't seem such a far off guess that potentially the two of you could, too. This emotional exchange seems to be indication enough...
Ok, who is this mystery host? I guess he's here on Asgard, too?
As a matter of fact he is. You will meet him soon enough. But before I divulge any more details, need I remind you of our little bargain again? I really need you to get the Tesseract!
And how the hell am I supposed to do that? Guards are stationed outside my door, I am in god-knows-what part of the palace and after what happened they will probably guard the area where it's stored extra carefully...
Actually, given that so many soldiers were killed and Odin is planning on letting the Dark Elves return and fight them here, the remaining soldiers are busy preparing for battle and recruiting any Asgardian they can. Plus, I can make sure you know where to go and get there safely...
I am not going to let you control me again – that was part of the bargain! And I ant to know exactly what will happen when you fuse with the Tesseract...
Go over to that balcony over there and I will show you... what Malekith wants to do when he gets his filthy hands on me... and then you can tell me whether any other alternative wouldn't be better than it...
Jane for once did as she was told and stepped up on the balcony. The last rays of sunshine where slowly slipping beneath the horizon, the sky still light blue because of the second sun still standing high enough to indicate it was day. It was a beautiful play of colours.
But then everything was suddenly plunged into a crimson horror. The sky bled, both suns were eclipsed and the trees and flowers down below in the palace gardens were whithering and dying away. Where befor Asgardians had walked and hustled around now only corpses remained, sucked dry of any life. She saw darkness erupt, swallowing first planets, then whole galaxies and lastly the universe as a whole into unending darkness.
Just as soon as the vision had struck her, it cleared away and everything returned to normal. But the image, the coldness and emptiness, the dread would probably stay with her for forever. Jane shuddered and felt sick to her stomach. She had to admit that she couldn't see how anything could be worse than what she had just seen...
See... Uniting me with the Tesseract is the only way...to stop this...
Jane really wanted to believe that...
"Jane Foster! You need to come with us!", a deep, rough voice suddenly sounded from behind her and an Asgardian soldier faced her, spear in hand, looking stern.
Next thing she new she was escorted from Thor's chambers down several stairs and corridors into a small chamber with only a small cot, chair, and vanity table in it. It was not the same room that Frigga had first brought her, too, but for a small room it was still rather grand.
And even though all her attempts at asking what was going on, why they had brought her here and why she was to stay here only met deaf ears, she wasn't stupid and knew it probably were Odin's orders and she was to be some kind of prisoner... if not bait...
The guard left her without another glance, closing the door behind him with a rather loud bang, and Jane only caught a short glimpse of the two guards that were standing guard on either side of it.
With a long sigh Jane let herself slump down onto the cot. She knew she would most likely not get out of here soon and could only wait for Thor to get wind of this and come to her. She refused to believe that he had anything to do with this...
Better get some rest... I've drained you quite a bit today and tomorrow you will need your strength...
What is that supposed to mean? What is going to happen? The Dark Elves will be back won't they?
Get some rest... Matters will resolve themself soon...
Has anyone ever told you that you're not really reassuring? Nor helping one to relax and rest?
The Aether chuckled and Jane couldn't believe that she was actually joking around with it... She must really be exhausted to the point of being delirious... Jane couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from lifting slightly before she sank back against the pillows, eyes closed and drifted off to sleep only a handful of seconds later...
Meanwhile Loki got a visitor down in his lone prison cell. Most of the prisoners had been killed during the prison break and the few that remained alive were locked away at the other end of the prison. No guards were stationed anywhere near his cell so he was quite alone, which had suited him just fine until now...
"How are you feeling?" Eir asked, concern and sadness marring her features.
Loki hadn't bothered casting an illusion for her so she saw the state of his cell, the state of him, which should have pretty much answered her question...
"I'm glad you survived. They probably need all the healers they can get up there... So why are you down here? No one else bothered..." and by no one else she knew Loki meant Odin and Thor specifically.
Eir stepped closer to the magic shield: "I am so sorry Loki... I wanted to come sooner... but I thought they would tell you... I honestly didn't believe they would keep it from you and deny you the right to attend the funeral... when you weren't there I thought it was of your own choosing..."
Loki gave a mirthless chuckle: "Quite clever of Odin... manifesting the image of the heartless trickster who couldn't even be bothered to attend his own moth... her funeral... Thor probably didn't even notice... or maybe he really doesn't care..."
"I doubt that very much, my prince... They are both in grief... that makes people irrational and... forgetful... it was all very sudden... very rushed but we all fear another attack soon, so don't blame them too much..."
"Spoken like a true diplomat, Eir, why did you not become a council member? A pity..." Loki tried to change the topic, to think of anything else, to keep distracted...
Eir sighed: "I am better at healing. That is my true calling. Actually, I just had the weirdest healing call... It is also what made me realize that they had not informed you... You remember that mortal that was with Thor and that I examined while you made use of the empathy link?"
Loki wanted to deny having noticed her and tell Eir that he didn't care and didn't want to know what mortal frailness had ailed her, but the Tesseract was jittery and he couldn't ignore his own rising curiosity...
Especially when Eir said: "Well, she just broke down. Experiencing some really horrible pain. But it was only in her mind. I didn't find anything wrong with her well-being, it had just been in her head... and it was oddly similar to what I shortly perceived through our link... It was subtle but there, I sensed that you must be hurting... What you felt was so acute that I actually got a whiff of it... But the mortal? She seemed to actually feel it..."
Loki stared at Eir at what she was implying. What this meant. He and the mortal... they actually shared an empathy link, too. But not an ordinary one like him and Eir... no this was the real deal. Extremely rare, extremely unique and extremely dangerous...
"I don't know how this is possible or what is going on here with that weird thing inside her and you showing up with the Tesseract all those months ago... but I am not stupid, I know this is somehow connected... And Frigga she wanted to tell me something before the attack... I think she knew something, too..."
"If you want me to enlighten you then I am terribly sorry, Eir, but I can't help you..." Loki told her and shrugged – the picture of nonchalance.
Eir huffed: "Suit yourself..." – then remembering her place she amended – "Can I at least do something for you? Anything? Shall I heal those cuts? Have they brought you any food yet?"
Loki sighed: "Stop fussing... Just go, will you?"
"Don't... don't shut yourself off again! Please... Talk to me!", Eir insisted, in that moment reminding him so much of Frigga that he had to suck in a breath to keep the tears in and the pain at bay.
"Just go..." he whispered and turned away from her to stare at the wall.
Eir, knowing that this was a battle of minds she would not win, turned away to make him think she was about to go, but then she quickly stepped through the magic shield and knelt down next to him: "I will go, but not before I've healed those cuts..."
Loki frowned up at her but didn't fight her when she healed the cuts on his arms and cheeks. After she'd finished she remained crouching next to him a bit longer, before shaking her head, getting up and leaving his cell again (as it was only warded against him). She was halfway down the corridor when she turned around one last time.
"I remember you as a boy running around these palace halls, chasing Thor, you two fighting at least once daily, and then at the end of the day both of you sitting on my healing cot to get the cuts and bruises healed, all the while laughing and smiling at each other as if nothing had ever happened...
I hope that things will go back to that once this – whatever it is – has passed... Both of you have grown to such formidable man – don't let that and your brotherly bond be broken by whatever you know is going on... whatever is brewing... and has been brewing ever since you vanished..."
And with this she left the dungeons. Loki didn't stop the tears from falling this time. Oh Eir, if things were only that easy...
The next chapter is definitely, definitely, definitely gonna contain Lokane (well at least Loki - Jane) interaction! Finally! I know you've been waitig (me, too^^ xD ) so bear with me for a few more... I won't say weeks (you'll probably hunt me down with pickaxes) but as Uni is steadily progressing I can't promise anything dearies ^^
At this point I would also like to thank everyone that has been reviewing my chapters so far, THANK YOU! Your the best! I really appreciate it! Hugs and love to all of you (the silent, non-reviewing readers included, too, of course)! 3 3
See you later alligators! :)