AN: Ok, so, first off, this chapter was TOUGH for us to write, as, we wanted to get back to the hurt/comfort roots of this story, and, what better way than for Sif to make one bad decision that would drastically change everything for her, and for Harry and Loki too. We said, somewhere and to someone, I forget who and where, that, we were setting Sif up to be a villain during the events of Thor, we hope this makes it clear 'why' that is. Also, if you cry, tears of joy, tears of sadness, or both during reading this chapter, then we consider our goal for this chapter, achieved. Also, we HIGHLY recommend you listen to the music for the moments we chose them for, and think about the message of the music videos, or the music itself, or both as you read, after all, we chose those songs, for a reason :) Now for a word from Oracle.
Oracle: Just like Ogremen said this was hard to write, but we felt that there wasn't enough hurt/comfort in the story and just had to fix that. Also after this chapter we will be jumping right into Hogwarts time with 11 year old Harry. So to make it clear, we are moving away from Sif and focusing on what happens in the books. Naturally there will be differences between canon and what we do, but that's because we have to take into account the changes that have been made thanks to Loki and Harry. So to those of you who feel that Sif bashing is getting old, this is going to be the last time it's a major thing. There will still be a little of it in the background but the main focus will be Hogwarts and what happens there for a while. So enjoy the change of things. I think that covers it for me. On to the review/comment mentions!
Ogremen: Actually, something I want to add, before anyone questions why Harry would take Sif's word that she was authorised to train him, please, think back on your childhoods, when there were moments of uncertainty, and you had a choice, disobey and possible get in trouble, or trust an authority figure, even though you have a gut feeling that it might be wrong to do as they say. Many of us have probably had such moments, and there will always be those who went with one side, and other who went with the other, Harry, in his naivety, decided to trust Sif, and, well, as you're going to read, it did not turn out pretty, but, Harry will be all the more wiser, and the more cautious, for it. Remember folks, he IS only 5 at the moment, ok? :)
Review Response!
From
To raigalcc, Oh when they twins meet the twins, you just know there will be chaos. Even Loki's going to be like 'They've formed a new monster. Why did the Norns allow this?' lol. As for the Red vs Blue quote you asked about, we don't know what you mean. We've not seen it and thus if there is one there, then it was pure chance.
To wildtrance, Ogre: I told you it would be emotional, I hope you can see, as bad as things get for Harry, they get even better than before in the end! ^^
To jeanette9a, well yeah she can leave the bed but her room will still stink of dung for a long time, and she will have no clue as to where it is coming from. The bed will not stop stinking just because she leaves it, and add to that how the hot weather will make it smell worse, you just know she doesn't get much sleep because she's too busy trying to find where the smell is coming from. Until she flips the bed and sees the stain from the dung in the bed she can't stop it.
To njferrell, we hope that this chapter and Sif's punishment are to your liking.
To Althalus57, Oh Sif gets it bad in this one. Not how you pictured it, but we're sure you will approve. As for Ari, Runa, Jarl, and Godiva going to Hogwarts with Harry...well you'll just have to wait till the next chapter to find out lol ;p
To Pikachu79, You'll see just what happens to Sif in this chapter. And we're sure you'll like it.
To Geno07P, if you are still reading this story then I will remind you of the message I sent you. This is the last chapter that features Sif as the villain/Sif bashing, (Ogre: well, till the events of Thor). There might still be some in the back ground from time to time but it will not be main story stuff. We are moving away from it now.
To FANactic Writer, Close enough. She doesn't walk away from this one like she did when she tried to shut down the ball.
To dysall75, YEP! We wanted to bring in some comic relief yet have them still be useful to the family. So we took those two, made them Vanir as well as members of Frigga's private guard.
To serenityselena, enjoy this chapter and how she gets punished. :D
To Slytherin's Pimp, The songs might not have been catchy but you must remember that we limited ourselves to the 90s because that's the time period the story is currently set in. So we have to use music from that time. But before long we will have access to more current stuff.
To sarahpotter42, thank you! We are trying to spark a rebellion amongst the younger generation of Asgard towards the older generation. Glad you approve.
To randomplotbunny, well here you go. The chapter you have been waiting for. Please enjoy it.
And now for those on AO3:
To Fenrix_Shadowbane, It won't go well for her at all, as you will see as you read. And it's alright if you don't remember those songs. Many don't remember 90s music all that well.
To RonnieDeVille, Ogre: Your only as old as you feel, and if you can still party and have fun, then you should be glad to feel so young :P Oracle: You aren't the only one that gives themselves a headache trying to picture that moment. It's going to be explosive! lol
To Sam, Yay! We got you dancing to the music. That makes us so happy. Sif's punishment will be one hell of a slap to the face and we hope you like it as much as we do.
And now, ON WITH THE CHAPTER, AND THE TEARS! TwT
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~Last Time on Loki's Family!~
That night, all of the couples who had taken part in the ball/dances, which had been ended shortly after Thor's impromptu dance, were finding themselves still energised by the Waltz music, and the dance music, and the energy and lively vibe the dance had brought to Asgard, which the people would later discover, was something they had been dearly lacking. Anyway, old couples found new love for their other half, and new couples found something to remember their finding one another fondly with. Needless to say, Asgard would see a mighty boom in its near future that hadn't been seen in centuries, if not millennia. Even Odin and Frigga would not be immune to this boom, not that Frigga would mind of course.
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~And now!~
To say that the people of Asgard were sore when they woke the next morning would be an understatement, especially the ones who had gone home from the ball earlier. However, one thing that most of those who had attended the ball could say was, they had, indeed, had fun. The women on the other hand, were already thinking of ways they could improve Asgard, or become warriors like the great Lady Sif.
By midday, most knew that Harry had had some hand in the Ball happening, winning him the hearts and respect of many of the people of Asgard.
Sif, however, was already planning on how to get her revenge on Freya, with Harry being her means to do it too. She just had to make sure that anyone that could get in the way was busy. Loki and Freya were still sleeping off the ball, and their drinks, what they did have at least, and so wouldn't be in the way for a while. Fandral and Volstagg were also busy that day so they were not a problem. The only ones that could get in her way were Harry's friends, Hogun, Thor, and Odin and Frigga.
Thor and Hogun were easy to distract though. All she had to do was tell them that she received word that a beast had been tearing up a forest and with Volstagg and Fandral busy, it fell to both Thor and Hogun, as she had to stay and make sure the beast did not reach the city. Thor fell for it right away, Hogun however had given her a look that said he knew better, but went with Thor anyway. From the way Thor acted, Sif could tell he had been informed of the 'dance' he had done, and thus wanted to get away from the city for a while, that was perfectly fine by her. Now all she had to do was get the king and queen busy, as well as remove Harry's friends from her path, and she would be able to strike.
Sif couldn't believe her luck; the Allfather has a great deal of work to do in the court of Asgard. Queen Frigga however was proving more difficult to keep busy. As she would see through Sif easily, as well as any tricks Sif could use to get her out of the way. However, just as Sif was starting to think of ways around Frigga, she learned that the queen had gone to the palace library and was seen pulling many books from the shelves. That normally meant that the queen was going to spend her whole day reading, which meant that she would be busy for the rest of the day unless something 'big' happened to get her attention.
So, that left Harry's friends, the orphans that no one wants. It still angered her that such low class, unworthy citizens of Asgard, had been made the students of one of Asgard's princes. Sure, it was Loki that became their teacher, but it still wasn't right! With them being orphans, she could not convince them to go visit family as none of them had any. How does one get rid of those brats, when there is little she could use to get rid of them. Spotting Amora, the Enchantress Sif saw her chance to strike.
"What do you want?" Amora asked Sif cautiously as she saw the female warrior approach, she was still bitter about not being able to go with Thor to the ball, and thus wasn't in the mood to deal with Sif on any level.
"You want to show Thor that you are the better choice for him?" Sif questioned, she didn't really want to help Amora with winning Thor, but for right now, getting revenge on Freya was all that mattered to her. "As you know, both Loki and Freya are asleep. Thus their students are not learning anything right now. Why not take over teaching them for part of the day? Thor might take that as a sign that you are a good choice for a bride."
Amora raised her brows in thought at that. She'd not thought about doing something like that before, and it did sound like a good idea to her. However, did she really want to have to deal with brats for part of the day? However, if it would mean Thor would notice her more, and pay attention to her, then maybe it would be worth putting up with it. Letting out a weary sigh, Amora rolled her eyes at what she was about to do. "Well, those children shouldn't be slacking in their studies. I guess I better take up their lessons for today."
"Not Harry though, I have a lesson with him, though it is a surprise for the Allfather and our queen!" Sif told her urgently, hoping she buys the lie.
"Fine, whatever, one less child to worry about," Amora thought for a moment, "I saw Loki's students near the gardens, Harry wasn't among them though. Best I go get them and start teaching them!" Amora then left to find Harry's friends.
Sif smirked as Amora left, "I know where Harry is. Just keep those brats away while I take care of Harry..." Sif spoke to herself as she turned and headed for the training grounds, stopping a guard and telling him to inform Harry that he is to show up on the training grounds for his new lesson.
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Harry was confused as he made his way to training grounds, he had been told by a guard that Sif wanted him to meet her on the training yards of the palace. He found this odd, as Loki and Freya had told him to stay away from Sif, but, the guard had told him that Sif had been given authorization from Odin to begin his weapon training. And since he couldn't find Freya or Loki, or even any of the others, he, grudgingly, and with a deep sense of foreboding, made his way through the palace to the training yard. What Harry didn't know though, was two things, one, Mudflap was following Harry while Skids watched Harry's friends, and the other was that Sif had reserved all the palace training fields so that there would be no witnesses to her beati-er, 'training secession', with Harry.
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~10 minutes later~
As Harry made his way onto the training field, his sense of foreboding only grew the closer he got to Sif. Sif promptly tossed him what appeared to be a basic, simple, Asgardian long sword. In truth, it was a badly repaired long sword; after all, Sif didn't want him to be able to hurt her if he did get a lucky shot in at her.
~10 Minutes later~
Harry was breathing heavy as Sif stood over him, holding a sword at the ready. "You need to be better with a sword, you're in Asgard now, you should know how to properly wield a weapon!" she commanded angrily, though inside she was smirking, already this boy was covered in bruises, this would surely get Freya angry, and thus cause her to do something that would get her caught as she tried to retaliate against Sif.
Harry struggled to get up and pick up the sword that had dropped from his hand when Sif had ploughed him into the ground with her Asgardian strength and centuries of skill. "Don't...you think...your being...a bit...rough on me...for a training spar, Sif?" he asked as he gasped for breath.
Sif glared at him now for trying to complain, at least in her eyes he was. "Quiet your tongue, other children your age are able to last at least three times as long as you have in my training lessons!" she said, lying to Harry about her hosting training lessons.
Just to drive her point home, Sif then proceeded to force Harry to defend himself, putting strain on Harry's body as he literally forced his body to try and keep up with the advanced speed that Sif was purposely using against Harry. Every time Harry got nicked and had his blood drawn by a new scratch and a new wound appear on his body, Harry grew angrier and angrier. As Sif plowed Harry into the ground once more, this time face first with her foot on Harry's head to keep him down, Sif decided to taunt Harry. "Odin must be ashamed to have a warrior in training such as you walk his halls, learning the coward's skills of magic!" she spat.
Harry had dropped the sword when Sif knocked him over and she put her foot on his head, he wrapped his hands around her ankle to try to force her off him. "He was the one to name me Loki's student. And I know he won't stand for it when he learns what you're doing, cause there is no way he gave you permission to do this. You lied to the guard, to me, didn't you?" Harry spat. He'd heard people call Loki a coward for using magic, but Harry couldn't see how that could be, how magic makes someone a coward. The people of Asgard trusted magic to help heal their wounds, it was part of what kept out enemies that would destroy Asgard, Asgard's queen was among the most powerful magic users from what Harry had heard. And yet only Loki is labelled a coward for it. It didn't make sense and it only served to make him angrier, to make him hate Sif more than he had before.
Sif smirked, "You are a blight on Asgard, you should never have been brought here, your very presence changes things, you and Freya are perverting Asgard from what it should be, into something that it must not be, now take your punishment!" she said as she then brought the training blade she was using, and that had a slight edge, on Harry's back with the flat of the blade, causing it to smack against his back, much like Vernon's belt use to.
As soon as Harry felt the pain from the blade smacking his back with such force, something inside him snapped, it was primal, ancient, and cold, so very, very cold. Suddenly clouds of magic sprung from Harry and began to form a vortex of energy around Harry. What neither Sif, nor Harry knew however was that this 'awakening' of sorts, was the power that Harry was prophesized to know not, along with Voldemort. And this awakening was felt by every seer, fortune teller, and person able to sense time, space, and prophecy in the universe. Frigga, being in the palace library, felt it first, and screamed from the power that was released by the vortex, and the possible futures that were opened as a result of this awakening, while other possible futures died in a blaze of proverbial hell fire and shite. On Earth, both the sorcerer supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange, and the Professor Trelawney of Hogwarts, cried out in pain as possible futures were born and others died, and the prophecy that she had unknowingly given five years earlier was altered, not in its wording, but its possible future. The Norn's were scared as they screamed in pain and horror as one particular thread of prophecy began to shake and vibrate violently.
As the vortex finally died down, a changed Harry was revealed, where once there lay a child with pink slowly tanning skin, now, was skin that was patches of pale blue, and pink/tanned pink, the different colours were in patches all over his body randomly. One of his eyes kept flickering between a ruby red and his normal green, as the skin around the one eye flickered between pale blue and its previously normal colour. In Harry's free hand, the one not holding the Asgardian training blade, was a very, very small ice dagger, in fact it was so small it almost looked like a kitchen knife in ice form.
Sif, having regained herself from the release of energy from Harry, was shocked, nay, horrified, that such a thing had been in the palace under their noses. It was obvious to her that Harry was part Jotunn! "Y-you are a JOTUNN?" she screamed in anger that Loki and Freya must have known and still protected Harry despite him being part an enemy of Asgard.
Harry was scared by Sif's outburst; she had just called him a Jotunn, which was when he saw his arms and the patches of pale blue skin. He freaked out, naturally, "AHH!" he screamed, "What happened to me?" he shouted in horror.
Sif laughed, it was a cruel laugh, "You don't even know what you are?" she then turned cruel, "You have no place in Asgard, leave, tis only a matter of time till you cause damage to your friends and loved ones!" she said cruelly, "Or, I could kill you and put you out of your misery," she offered, "To use some of those words that Freya is fond of," she then said, "You are pathetic, Loki and Freya will be ashamed to know that they have a frost giant for student!" she said cruelly with a cruel smile.
~Song start: Johnny Cash: Hurt - Official Music Video~
Harry was unable to cope with Sif's words, in fact, her words triggered memories of his time with the Dursleys, and combined with his new appearance, well, it caused him to relapse all the healing that Loki, Freya, Frigga, and Harry's friends had helped him do to get over what the Dursleys put him through. Letting out an agonised scream from the memories of the abuse that began to flood his mind, Harry took off running, running out of the grounds and through the palace, he didn't know where he was running to, but he felt he needed to get away. Sif's words had hurt Harry deeply, and as Harry ran, he began to cry, his mind and inner demons beginning to question if his friends and grandfather would still care about a 'monster' like him. 'How could they?' he thought, "If I am Jotunn, then I am the monster that mothers tell their children of at night!" he continued to think to himself. He wouldn't realise it till about ten minutes after he arrived, but Harry ended up in the old tunnels in the slums that his friends use to live in, before they had been allowed to move into the palace.
Back at the training fields, Sif was smirking up a storm, now that Harry had revealed himself to be a monster, she would need to tell Odin so that the little beast could be locked up. As Sif went to find Odin, Mudflap rushed off to find Frigga and Freya, they would need to know about this incident.
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As Harry sat in the darkness of the tunnels, he began to cry as his inner demons began to make him question his friends, his relationships with his grandfather and great grandmother, and everyone else he knew. He began to wonder if the Dursleys were right and if he really was a freak that deserved to die. He continued to sob, alone, and in the darkness he found comfort with what he felt was his only true friend now.
~Song End~
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~Song start: Far Cry 3 - Falling Into a Dream (Soundtrack OST)~
Mudflap raced through the palace halls trying to reach the library, barely caring if he almost crashed into anyone, ignoring the angry shouts at him to behave like a proper guard. He had to get to the queen and tell her about all of this. Tell her about what Sif had done and more importantly, what Harry had revealed himself to be. Frigga needed to be told before the Allfather, so that she might figure out what to say and do about this.
Frigga was still getting over the shock of fate changing so violently when the doors of the library opened violently and Mudflap rushed in, he glanced around the room before spotting her, then he ran over to her.
"Wha-" Was all she was able to get out.
"My queen it's bad! Sif tricked Harry into sparring with her, but made sure he would fail. She did it to try to punish Freya, but some bad stuff went down and now Harry's run off and Sif's gone to tell the king that Harry's a Jotunn!" Mudflap explained urgently while trying hard to keep his voice down.
Frigga's eyes were wide at that. She had wanted Loki to find out about what he truly is, but this was horrible. Harry was a child and something like this could ruin his future in Asgard forever. Knowing her husband wouldn't know what to say or do about this Frigga stood. "Find Loki, Harry's friends, and Freya, tell them that Harry is missing and that they must find him. He must be so scared right now!" She said sadly.
"Right away my queen!" Mudflap then ran from the room to carry out his orders.
"Damn you Sif! Why can you not simply let this hatred of Freya go?" Frigga sighed in frustration. "Harry, please be safe!" She then left the library in hopes of speaking to her husband before Sif could reach him. Good thing she knows all the shortcuts and hidden passages in the palace.
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Mudflap rushed first to Loki's wing of the palace, and immediately began to bang on Loki's door.
It took a moment, but soon Loki almost ripped the door off its hinges in annoyance. "What?!" He demanded before seeing it was one of his mother's guards. "What do you want that cannot wait?" He growled.
"Harry's run away after Sif pushed him too hard!" Mudflap told him plainly.
"Wha?!" Loki was hoping this was just some tasteless joke, but he knew it wasn't.
"Sif tricked him into thinking she had the king's permission to train him and used the time she had to beat him, some things happened and now he's run off. The queen's gone to speak to the king before Sif gets to him, and I'm to get everyone close to Harry together," Mudflap explained.
"What's with all the noise?! I'm trying to sleep over here!" Freya snapped as she came out of her room.
"Sif's made Harry run away," Loki told her, quickly using his magic to dress himself.
"The 'bitch queen' did what!?" Freya shouted, her clothes quickly appearing on her, though she really wanted to summon armor and show Sif just who the better warrior truly is. However Harry was more important than getting revenge on Sif for hurting Harry.
"Question it later Freya, we must find Harry!" Loki would personally rip Sif apart the first chance he gets. He then pushed past Mudflap and, with Freya close behind him, took off down the hall to find Harry.
Mudflap however headed for the gardens, knowing that Amora wouldn't want to go too far to teach the kids, and who knows, maybe he could even convince Amora to help find Harry.
~Song end~
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"What you doing here fool? You're supposed to be watching Harry!" Skids questioned his brother as Mudflap ran past him, with Skids jogging after him to catch up.
"What are the 'failures' doing here?" Ari taunted with a smile when he saw the twins running up to them.
"Save it for another time, Harry's run off!" Mudflap told them.
"Why would he run from his lesson?" Amora asked, she was bored with trying to teach these kids, and wondered just why she'd agreed to this in the first place.
"Because Sif lied, she claimed she had permission to train him but she just wanted to beat him!" Mudflap told her bluntly.
Amora's eyes widened at that, she'd been tricked, by Sif of all people, into helping her get Harry alone. And Thor liked Harry a great deal, Amora knew that when Thor learned that she helped Sif with this, it wouldn't matter if she was willingly helping or not. This would only serve to make Thor hate her and that was not what she wanted.
"What are we standing around here for?! We have to find Harry!" Runa shouted.
"But where would he go? If he didn't run back to the palace, where could he have gone?" Godiva questioned concernedly.
The group thought on it for a moment before Jarl turned and started walking away.
"Jarl? Where you going? Damn it, what's he thinking?" Ari questioned before he, Runa, and Godiva ran to catch up with him.
"Should we follow them?" Skids asked Mudflap.
"What would they know? They are children, go start looking for the missing boy already!" Amora ordered before leaving to search on her own. She would have to start looking herself, at least to try to make it look better for her in Thor's eyes.
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Frigga had managed to reach her husband before Sif, something she was very grateful for.
"Frigga? What's wrong?" Odin questioned in surprize when he saw her running towards him. The throne room was empty at that moment, as he was taking a short break from the dealings of court.
"It is Harry, Sif tricked him into sparring with her, and when she pushed him too far his Jotunn heritage awoke," Frigga told him.
"What!?" This was bad, it would take nothing for word of Harry's Jotunn side to spread and when it did all of the work put towards making the people of Asgard accept Harry, would be undone. And Loki, once Loki learns of this, it would prove difficult to keep his own heritage hidden for much longer.
"What will you do now husband? For you know what will happen as a result of this!" Frigga was hoping that he would do the right thing, rather than the easy thing. That Odin would stop hiding the truth from Loki sooner, rather than later.
"There must be some way to explain this without revealing Loki," Odin said.
Frigga sighed, she should've seen this coming, should've known that he would try to avoid what he knows he should do. "Loki is no child anymore, we should tell him the truth, at the very least!"
"He is not ready for it!" Odin dismissed, not seeing the anger on his wife's face because of his choice. "Now then, what to do about Sif and what she's learned?"
"We cannot hide Harry's Jotunn heritage, not with the shock Harry must be feeling right now because of it!" Frigga told him with a heavy sigh. "Perhaps we can explain this by saying one of his parents was half Jotunn half mortal while the other was the same but half Asgardian." She suggested, wanting to make this as painless as possible a decision for Odin.
"Yes, yes that could work. One of his parents was born from the violation of a mortal by a Jotunn..." Odin nodded.
Frigga went to protest, but the doors to the throne room burst open at that moment and Sif ran in.
"My king and queen, I bring troubling news about the Midgardian child, Harry."
Frigga could see the barely contained smirk on Sif's face. Frigga wanted to show her anger towards her, but schooled her features to be emotionless instead.
"What is it Lady Sif?" Odin questioned, acting like he didn't know what she was there for.
"The child is a Jotunn, he changed right before my eyes! He is now loose on Asgard, who knows what harm he may bring down upon the people!" Sif answered in concern, clearly trying to make Harry sound worse than he really was.
"And just how is it you came to learn this? Given that you were forbidden from going near Loki's students?" Frigga questioned angrily.
Sif clearly hadn't thought it through on how to explain why she was near Harry in the first place, as she was clearly struggling to come up with something. "Does this truly matter at this point? There is a Jotunn running free in Asgard!" she tried to protest.
"We must find him before someone else does," Odin whispered to Frigga.
"I have my most trusted people looking, alongside Loki, Freya, and Harry's friends. They will find him and make sure he is safe!" Frigga informed her husband. "For now, let us keep Sif here, they will bring Harry here when the time is right!"
Odin nodded to her and turned back to Sif, "Your queen asked you a question, and given the rumors regarding your dislike for Loki, one could question if your claim is true, or merely something created to try to harm him."
Sif looked outraged at that, this was just like what happened at the ball. "My king, my feelings for Loki have nothing to do with this!" she argued.
"Then explain how you saw him change, when you were forbidden from going near him!" Odin ordered.
Sif looked away, knowing she would have to explain herself. However, given what she learned, she figured that maybe they would forgive her for it. After all, she did unmask a threat to their kingdom, "I lied to the boy and claimed that you gave me permission to train him. He changed before my eyes when I pushed him during our spar!" she admitted.
Frigga narrowed her eyes, knowing that it was less a spar and more a beating. "It seems to me like you provoked Harry then!" she pointed out acidly.
"My queen, it was only a matter of time before he showed his true colors. Now that we know the truth, we can stop him before he truly harms Asgard!" Sif argued, trying to get them to see that she was only acting in Asgard's best interests, though, she was taken aback by the aggressive tone in the voice of the queen, someone who was usually quite friendly to everyone.
"From what I can see, only one person has shown their so called 'true colors'," Frigga commented.
"We shall see if what you say is true once Harry is found and brought before us," Odin wanted to say more to her on it, however that would have to do for now, Sif would pay soon enough after all.
Sif grumbled under her breath in anger, realising she would be punished, but she hoped that Harry would be punished worse than her, seeing as he was a frost giant, or part frost giant at least.
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~Song Start: Damien Rice - 9 Crimes~
Harry was crying in the tunnels, his inner demons, taking the forms of the Dursleys, mostly Vernon and Petunia, telling Harry how he was a freak of nature, that his mother was a whore. That he had no true friends and they were just using him for their own gain.
The inner demon that looked like Dudley smirked in his mind's eye, "They will turn on you freak, it's only a matter of time!" it sneered. The Petunia inner demon scowled, "You should die, Asgard would celebrate your passing, leave these decent folk be, and be rid of your presence!" she shouted.
"You deserve to have your freakishness beaten out of you, even if you die in the process!" the Vernon look alike said, grinning maliciously.
"Please, stop!" Harry begged, barely able see past his tears, they didn't stop though, they just got worse. He grabbed his legs and pulled them as close to him as he could as he buried his head in his legs.
~Song end~
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
"Jarl where are you going?" Ari questioned for the fifth time as he and the others followed Jarl through the streets. They had no idea just where Jarl was going and they were all really worried for Harry, and wanting to get to searching for Harry.
Jarl still said nothing, he just turned down an alleyway they all knew well.
Godiva thought for a moment before then she realised just what Jarl was doing. "You're right Jarl, that would be the best place for him to hide!" She commented in realisation.
"Um, what? Best place for who to hide?" Ari asked in confusion.
"A place out of sight of the rest of Asgard, where people wouldn't think to look or even bother looking in, it's the perfect place for Harry to run to when he doesn't want to be found!" Godiva answered like it should have been obvious.
Ari frowned before it clicked, "The slums, of course! Jarl you're a genius!"
"Let's get going then!" Runa said before running past Jarl, Ari and Godiva right behind her.
"Took them long enough," Jarl huffed, though he was smiling, glad that they had finally figured out what he had thought of first. "Though, I don't think Harry will be ready to see us," Jarl said, he had a feeling that whatever Sif had done to Harry, it would make things hard for them to fix. But he knew they wouldn't give up on Harry. Harry was the first friend any of them had outside the slums, and each other, after all.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
As Harry slipped further and further into the depression caused by his inner demons, and the change he underwent earlier, and the things that Sif had said earlier, he suddenly heard the sounds of people coming. "No, not now, please!" Harry begged as his inner demons told him it was an angry mob coming to finish him off. Little did he know, since he had his head in his knees, but his magic was responding to his emotional state, and was whipping around him in a whirlwind throwing objects around and reminding Harry, by sounds, that destruction would be Harry's friend, no matter how much he didn't want it to be.
~Outside the tunnel~
Harry's friends stood staring at the wall of whirlwind magic keeping them from where they knew he was. They were keeping their distance for now, so as not to get hit by anything thrown their way.
"He must be really upset to have such a strong magical reaction like this," Godiva pointed out worriedly.
"How are we going to get near him then?" Runa asked in concern, looking to Ari for possible ideas.
"If there was a tall building nearby, one of us could drop in from above, but there aren't," Ari sighed sadly.
"Dropping in from above could scare him more and make this worse Ari. We have to find another way!" Godiva warned. She didn't want to make things worse for Harry.
"Well, I don't know what else we can do. We're not really trained for this," Ari sighed in defeat.
Godiva took a few steps forward carefully. "Harry? Harry can you hear me? It's Godiva!" She called, "Please Harry, please answer me," she begged.
The whirlwind seemed to get stronger at that, making Jarl pull Godiva back as a piece of a wall that had been ripped away landed where she had just been standing.
"We have to get through to him!" Godiva said, not shaken by her near brush with death.
"Harry, its Runa. Mudflap told us what Sif did to you. Let's go tell the king and queen so they can make her pay for hurting you!" Runa called, hoping she could reach him.
Again the whirlwind got stronger than before, confusing them. It looked like Harry was trying to keep them out, but why would he do that?
"Harry we're not leaving until either you come out or you answer us! You can make that shield of yours as strong as you want, but we're staying right here!" Ari called, "We need to know you're okay!"
"Please Harry, we're worried about you!" Runa called.
"Harry we don't care what about happened, or what Sif tells everyone that happened. We're your friends, and nothing will change that!" Godiva called.
Jarl took a step forward, "Harry, everyone else looked at us like filth because of our families and lack of families. But you, you welcomed us into your life, got us welcomed into your home, and trusted us with who you are. Do you really think we're going to abandon you because you put up a wall between us, or for any reason?" Jarl shook his head, "Like it or not Harry, you're stuck with us for the rest of your life!"
As they spoke, the wall seemed to lessen in strength then intensify before lessening and repeating, becoming more frequent the longer they spoke.
Harry, meanwhile, was being tortured by his inner demons, telling him that his friend's words were lies, while at the same time, he was remembering all the fun he had had with his friends, the pranks they pulled with Freya's help, and that one prank that they pulled on that group of guards that one time as a group prank. Then, suddenly his memory would go back to some of the times that Dudley and his gang would get a few kids to pretend to be Harry's friends just so they could make him doubt people wanting to be his friends.
~Song start: Skillet - "Not Gonna Die"~
Runa sighed, and looked to the others, "That's it, I'm going in!" she told them, as she looked at the wall of magic that was fluctuating in strength. Taking a breath, and knowing that she won't get through this without a few injuries, Runa ran at the wall of magic, getting hit with small rocks that were kicked up. She managed to dodge the bigger stuff, and soon she was at the wall and forcing her way through it, holding back a cry of pain for fear of scaring Harry and thus making it worse.
"Runa!" Ari shouted after her, not believing that she was that crazy. The things being thrown could easily crush them. Ari was certain in his mind that he wouldn't be able to avoid any of them, and if he couldn't avoid them, then what chance did Runa have?
Godiva gasped when Runa shot towards Harry. She was afraid that Runa would get hurt or killed. If that happened, not only could they lose a friend, but Harry would never be able to forgive himself for being the cause of it.
While Jarl admired Runa's courage and willingness to put herself on the line for a friend, he'd wished he'd been able to stop her, knowing that she had to be in pain from both the things she'd been hit with, as well as by the magic of the wall itself. He could only hope that she made it through this intact.
Runa, after struggling a bit, finally made it through the barrier and could see Harry, scared, and crouching and holding himself, shaking as he cried his tears.
~Song End~
Runa, looking at Harry, rushed to his side without opposition as she was now in the 'eye of the storm' with Harry.
Now that she was close to him and could clearly see him, Runa could see the patches of pale blue that dotted his visible skin. A color that could only mean one thing, she now understood just why it was that had Harry acted like this. He was the child of a Jotunn, or at least, someone who had Jotunn blood in their family. By that right, he was an enemy of Asgard, a monster in the eyes of Asgardians. To many, it wouldn't matter that he had never done anything wrong, they would hate him and want him dead just because of his blood. Shaking her head, Runa knelt before Harry and gently touched a patch of pink skin on his arm, seeing him flinch at the contact.
~Song start: Nickelback - Savin' Me~
"Harry," she began softly, "This doesn't change anything for us. Ari, Jarl, Godiva, and myself, we don't care what you are. We never have, even if all of Asgard turns against you, we won't! If Asgard calls you an enemy, then we'll be enemies of Asgard as well. They want you dead, well good luck to them cause they will have to get through all of us." Runa told him. "And you know Loki won't turn against you. You're the son of the daughter he thought he had lost! You're his family, and I know he will fight for you! The queen and Freya will also fight for you as well! I promise you Harry, you won't be alone in this!" she finished pleadingly.
Harry slowly looked up, his eyes red and puffy from crying, well, in the case of his one eye that was flickering back and forth like the skin surrounding it; it was going from a puffy red, to a puffy white and back again. "I-I'm a freak, Runa!" he stuttered tearfully, hiccupping from the effort of trying to talk as he continued to cry in sadness, "I'm...I'm a f-frost g-giant, I'm a-a monster!" he stuttered out with a sob.
"No you're not Harry! Sif's a monster, but you? No. You could never be a monster Harry!" Runa told him with a shake of her head, "No matter what anyone says, you aren't a monster. None of us are the bad things people call us," she argued, trying to convince him.
Harry screamed and clutched his head, as the inner demons tried to force him to submit to them, "LEAVE ME ALONE, I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY!" he shouted as he cried. The inner demons had had a strong hold on him for as long as he could remember, and they had only grown stronger over the years, it was only this last year that they had finally begun to loose strength.
Runa took hold of Harry's arms, being mindful of the patches of pale blue that might burn her if she touched them, "Harry block them out! They are part of your past and you left that behind a long time ago! They can't do anything to you, and even if they could, WE won't let them. Listen to me Harry, you can be happy and you will be, but only if you forget what happened in the past and let us stand with you! Then again Harry, even if you push us away, even if you run away from us, we'll still be there for you. We'll always be by your side and we'll always fight for you. So what do you say Harry? Are you going to let them win? Or are you going to have that happy life that you deserve?"
Harry sniffled a bit as he tried to stem his tears, "B-but I-I'm a f-fre-freak, R-Runa!" he sobbed, he wanted to believe her, oh how he wanted to, but, it was just so hard, the Dursleys were what he had known for his entire life so far, it was like throwing away everything that he had ever known for a happy, but uncertain possibility, he wasn't sure if he could take that jump.
~Song end, Song start: 'Omnimon Born by Udi Harpaz', if you search that on YouTube, you should see a video that is 2 minutes and 1 second long, that's the one you want to listen to!~
"And Jarl's the son of a murderer with no honor. Ari's the son of a thief, and thieves have no honor. No one knows who Godiva's parents were. And I'm the daughter of a Valkyrie that no one wants cause they don't know how my mother died and my father was never named. None of us were wanted by anyone Harry. We may as well have been freaks to Asgard! Then you showed up, and made us feel like we belong. Do you really think that being a freak matters to us? Do you really think it'll matter to Loki? Most people look down on him just for being himself! He won't care what people think you are, to him there's only one F word that you'll be, and that's family! As for us? Well, you might as well be family to us!" Runa told him with a small smile, "So you've got a little blue coloring to your skin, big fucking deal! You're the best guy I've ever known!" she exclaimed.
Harry sniffled, in his mind's eye, the inner demons that had taken the forms of the Dursleys began to look around in obvious fear, as, slowly, the forms of Loki, Freya, Frigga, Hogun, Mudflap, Skids, Jarl and Ari, Runa, and of course Sirius, began to surround them menacingly. And while they were surrounding the 'Demon Dursleys', they began to radiate light into the darkness of Harry's mind, filling him with all the joyous moments they had had together as groups, the pranks they pulled, the fun they had telling jokes, playing games, and getting to know one another, there was also the magical lessons they had had and which had sometimes ended in being barrels of laughter. And Harry smiled, it was slow, and weak, but he finally smiled at Runa, and, slowly, began to uncurl his body as he let go of his knees. Around them the storm of magic began to slow and fade slowly, lessening in intensity as the inner demons were diminished.
"Now that's the Harry we know and love!" Runa cheered before hugging him, not caring if she got burnt by the patches of pale blue. Though she quickly noticed with surprize, that the patches of pale blue didn't hurt her, they just felt cool against her skin. "Now then," She pulled herself away, "Get up and come with me, everyone's worried sick about you!" She took Harry's hand and dragged him to his feet.
~Song end, Song start: What I've Done (Official Video) - Linkin Park~
As Harry took Runa's hand, he wiped his eyes of the tears with the other hand, as he realised that, Runa and the others really were his friends, and that they would never turn their backs on him. He smiled, this time more strongly as he said, "T-thanks Runa," he said shakily, "I-I guess there is a r-reason we l-look to you for the p-plans when we pull p-pranks!" he managed to get out with strangled hiccups as he really had been crying heavily before now.
"Oh come on, you know you boys would be lost without me," Runa chuckled, "Now come on, let's join the others and get to the throne room. Loki's most likely going spare with worry, as well as likely there already with Freya, trying to defend you from Sif's accusations and the queen and king can only hold her off for so long!" Runa knew that it would only be a matter of time before Sif would try to gather people to hunt Harry down, even if the king does not approve of it. They had to hurry and get to the throne room and show that Harry was still the same kid he'd been before the reveal.
Harry, smiling more now, nodded his head as Runa led him over to the others and they made their way out of the slums.
~Song End~
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~Meanwhile, with Loki~
Loki was angry, no, scratch that, he was furious, wait, no, no, that was wrong, he was livid? He couldn't make up his mind on how angry he was currently with Sif and what she had pulled. She had targeted his grandson, sure she didn't know he was Loki's grandson, but still, she pushed him to his breaking point, left him who knows how badly hurt, forced him to run away to who knows where, and now she dares stand there and claim that Harry is part Jotunn, and thus an enemy of Asgard!? Loki's head was a whirl of ways to make her suffer for what she had done, and what she was trying to do. If Harry did not turn up soon, alive and safe, there would be nothing in the nine realms that could save Sif from his wrath. Then again, even if Harry turns up soon, Loki swore, no matter what sentence she got from his father, he would deal out his own punishment for her, regardless of what might happen to him as a result.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
~Meanwhile, back with Harry and his friends~
As Harry and his friends exited the slums, and made their way back into the city surrounding Asgard, people slowly looked out their windows, and saw Harry's altered look, while they recognised Harry's friends, they didn't recognise him though. Slowly, the adults and children began to exit their houses and gather around Harry and his friends. When the adults noticed the patches of Harry's blue skin however, they scowled, and began to mutter under their breath as they grew angry. Harry began to cower and hide behind his friends' backs in fear.
"Get out of our way!" Jarl growled, balling his fists.
"Our friend needs to get to the throne room to speak with the king and face the accusations of Sif!" Ari told the crowd.
"Please stand aside and let us pass in peace." Godiva asked politely, though ready to fight if need be.
The adults scowled, "That child is Jotunn, and we should end it now, before it can perform evil acts against the king and our lands!"
~Song Start: Skillet - "Feel Invincible"~
"Are you out of your minds?!" Runa snapped, "You hate Harry cause of his heritage? Fine, that's your opinion. But Harry IS a good person. He's done nothing to hurt anyone since he first came here. So tell me, which do you judge a person on, their heritage, or their actions? Cause if it's the former then how 'honorable' are you really?" Runa demanded.
The adults paused, unsure how to react, the more traditional ones wanted to end the boy still, and began to voice their opinions. "The boy is Jotunn, he still needs to die, child or not, he is an enemy of Asgard!" one of their braver numbers spoke.
One of the children then raced out, soon followed by more and more, along with some of the adults, as they then began to stand up to the traditionalists. "Ever since Harry arrived, there have been changes to Asgard, yes this is true, but, are they necessarily bad changes?" one of the children asked. Another child stood forward, "Before Harry's arrival, I never knew what it was to truly have fun just dancing, if that's a bad thing, then I am an enemy of Asgard too!" they said proudly before more and more of the children began to raise their voices in agreement, along with many of the adults who were growing in number, while the traditionalists were shrinking in numbers.
"If anyone gets to decide his fate, it is the Allfather!" Eir spoke up as she pushed her way past the traditionalists. She had been in the market looking for some things when she spotted the crowd. "Or do you believe yourselves above your king?"
Immediately, the crowd murmured, despite their differing views of Harry's new appearance, they could agree that Odin was the only one who could truly render a just verdict of Harry's place in Asgard now.
Eir turned to Harry and his friends, "Now then, go right to the throne room and speak with the king. No dallying you hear?"
Harry nodded, "We will," He was glad to know that Eir was in his side.
"Come on Harry, let's go," Godiva said with a smile.
Harry and his friends took off out of the crowd and raced to the palace, not willing to let anyone get in their way this time around. Jarl was even running a head of them to serve as a blockade runner for anyone that tries to stop them.
~Song End~
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
When Harry and his friends entered the throne room, Sif glared at them darkly while Loki was wide eyed in shock and horror that Sif had been speaking the truth about Harry after all.
Harry was scared, very scared. He had no idea what was going to happen to him now, but he was sure that his friends would be there for him. He could face this so long as he had them at his side.
"How dare you bring that 'thing' in here!" Sif snapped at Harry's friends.
Ari went to respond to that but Loki beat him to it.
"Sif, I strongly advise you shut your mouth! You have said more than enough!" Loki growled at her.
Harry slightly hid himself behind Jarl, though he hoped his family would still protect him and love him, despite this he was still scared that what Sif said would come true.
"Where did you find him?" Frigga asked Harry's friends.
"He ran to the slums and hid there. He was so upset and scared by what happened that his magic created a powerful wall around him. We were lucky to get through to him!" Runa answered.
"Harry, why did you run to the slums? Why did you not come find me?" Loki asked he was a little hurt that Harry hadn't thought to go to him when this happened.
Harry sniffled, trying not to start crying again, "Sif told me that I was a monster, that I was going to hurt the people I loved and that everyone would want me dead. I was scared that she was right..." He answered, slightly muffled as he pressed his face against Jarl's back.
Loki could understand that. Learning that you're a Jotunn was something he couldn't imagine would feel good. He couldn't imagine how Harry must feel right now.
"I spoke only the truth!" Sif spat, "He is a threat that was hidden amongst us. And those who knew about this should be punished for hiding him!" Sif glared at Loki and Freya, mostly at Freya, believing they had known all along about this.
"Then it is my husband and myself you wish to see punished," Frigga said, taking Sif by surprise.
"What?" Sif asked in shock.
~Song start: Nickelback - If Everyone Cared~
"We knew what the boy was for some time now. Eir informed us of his Jotunn blood and, after some time we came to learn how it is he, a child of Midgard, came to be such," Odin began. "One of his parents was the child of a lover of an Asgardian warrior, while the other was born from the rape of a young woman by a Jotunn. It seems they both lived far longer than any on Midgard, and produced a child with one another. That child is Harry, that is why he has Jotunn blood in his veins," he finished.
Frigga could barely look at her husband; she was so angry that he had stuck with that idea for explaining this. "We decided that, because he also has Asgardian blood, as well as the blood of a mortal, that he would be given a chance to prove himself, to show that he is no threat. And, as far as we have seen, he has done just that."
Sif opened and closed her mouth in shock as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard. "You knew? And you let this...BOY remain?! The Jotunn are our enemies!" Sif shouted in outrage.
"Oh shut the fuck up Sif!" Godiva shouted angrily, making Sif glare at her. "You're in enough trouble for what you did to Harry. You really want to be punished for questioning your king as well?"
"Yeah that's right! You lied and said you had permission from the king to train Harry, just so you could beat him, then you told him all that crap about him being a monster and that everyone was going to kill him!" Ari added angrily.
"If anyone in Asgard is a monster Sif, it's you!" Runa growled angrily.
"Filthy urchins like yourself have no right speaking to their betters like that!" Sif snapped at them in anger.
"Then perhaps, Lady Sif, you should learn what it means to be lower class. Wouldn't that be a fitting punishment?" Freya questioned with a smirk.
Sif paled at the thought of losing her rank and title.
"Am I to understand then, that Harry will be allowed to remain in Asgard, as my student?" Loki questioned his parents with concern.
"He shall remain in your care Loki, as his teacher," Odin nodded.
That was good news for Loki. Though, he still wondered just where the Jotunn side of Harry had come from. Had his daughter's husband really been part Jotunn after all? Or perhaps Alba had Jotunn in her and just never knew, never awoken that side of her. Regardless of that, Harry was still family, and Loki would never let anyone take him from him like they had with his other children.
Then Odin turned his one eye on Sif, "As for you Sif, as much as I hate to admit it, you have abused your station to beat a child, regardless of whatever reasons you had for doing it, you beat a child, and treated him like a monster based solely on his heritage," Odin said, "As such, you are here by stripped of your noble status, and will become just another member of the Asgard forces until such time as you prove we can trust you again!" he commanded, "From now on, you will be addressed as Sif warrior of Asgard, no longer will you be Lady Sif!" he commanded, he then paused, "As you have proven that you would abuse your authority to beat a child, your engagement to Thor, is hereby annulled, if I have my way, you will never be wed to Thor, not now, not ever!" Odin said angrily, once, he had thought her worthy of his son's hand, to be his queen, but, to beat a child as petty revenge against another, it was just, unspeakable.
Sif couldn't believe it, she had done what anyone else would've in her place and yet, she was the only one to be punished?! She'd lost her status as a noble, all because of this mixed breed Jotunn brat?! As well as her engagement to Thor too! What was she going to say to Thor and the others when they learned of this? What will Asgard think of her when they hear this? Everything she had worked for was almost completely lost by this. This was horrible, how could she face Thor after this? She couldn't think of what to do, because she was in too much shock.
Loki walked over to Harry and knelt next to him. "This has all been a terrible shock," He commented as he ran his fingers through Harry's hair, making him look at him. "Come now, let's go back to our wing. I dare say we've already missed lunch."
Harry gave Loki a small smile, happy to see that nothing seemed to have changed between them so far like he had feared it would. "I'm sorry I ran..." Harry whispered sadly, looking down at his feet.
"I understand Harry. You were scared and upset, I have run and hid from people many times as a child when I was scared and upset too," Loki assured him with a smile. "Now come along, all of you. We can still have lunch if we hurry!" Loki stood and took hold of Harry's hand before guiding the kids out of the room.
Freya walked over to Sif with a smirk, "Well now, I did warn you many years ago that you would, one day, lose that title you were so proud of because of you acting like you were above everyone else, I just never thought it would be when I was here. And to lose your engagement to Thor for this too?" Freya shook her head with a smile, "Thank you for that," Freya chuckled, "Oh, how I can't wait for Thor to return from wherever it is you sent him off to. I bet you lied to him as well. That should prove fun to watch..." She then turned and followed Loki and the kids out.
Sif hadn't thought about that before, when Thor returns and hears that not only did she hurt Harry and reveal him to be a Jotunn, but she lied to him to get him out of the way. And to lose her engagement? She would never be able to recover from this.
~Out in the hall on the way to Loki's wing~
"You're really okay with...this?" Harry asked, pointing to the patches of pale blue on his body.
Loki stopped and turned to him, "Harry, while I don't know how it is that Jotunn blood got into you, where in our family it got in, but that does not matter to me. All that matters is that you are the son of my daughter, and thus my grandchild. All that matters is that you are family, and I will continue to care and love you no matter what!" Loki then took a closer look at the patches of pale blue. "Though now that I look closely, I dare say that your Jotunn heritage is very weak, your mortal and Asgardian heritage is clearly stronger."
"That's good...right?" Harry asked uncertainty.
Loki smiled, "Yes Harry, it means that there is only a little bit of Jotunn in you, which should help in swaying Asgard into accepting you," Loki replied with a smile.
Harry wasn't as sure, but at least Loki was still okay with him. And his family weren't abandoning him either. He still had his family and friends. Everything else didn't matter, so long as he had them. He smiled as he remembered how his friends had appeared to drive away the 'Dursley Demons', he had felt their strength when they appeared.
~Song end~
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
Hogun the Grim was more Grim than usual, when he returned to Asgard from the wild goose chase that Sif had sent him and Thor on. When she had sent them off after some imaginary beast, he had had a gut feeling, that she was up to something, but had thought it would be no more than trying to best Loki in a way that would lead to her being humiliated...again. However he hadn't expected to return home, and find that she had beaten Harry in an attempt to get back at Freya. Nor that she would try to turn all of Asgard against Harry, something that seemed to have failed. Learning that Harry is part Jotunn was a shock to him, however it paled when compared to what Sif had done. Hogun felt that she was properly punished for it. Being stripped of her noble status, along with losing her engagement to Thor, and any possible future chance at engagement to him, not to mention the shame of that would stay with her forever.
Thor, to say the least, had not been seen since learning of Sif's actions. He'd gotten very mad and stormed off, though where to was anyone's guess, though those that know Thor were sure that they could find the trail of destruction that would lead right to him, and whatever he was currently destroying. Not that anyone wanted to find him at this time. The level of rage Thor must be feeling towards Sif for her actions would likely mean that anyone to cross his path would be hurt just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Volstagg was angry with Sif as well. The thought that she would beat a child just to get back at someone, was something that he had not thought her capable of. And to think that she was still claiming to be justified in her actions was just sickening.
Fandral however, didn't seem to understand just what the problem was. Sif had found a Jotunn hidden among them and yet, not only was the Jotunn allowed to stay, but Sif was being punished harshly for it. However he knew not to voice this too much. Lest he come to be viewed as a supporter of Sif and thus lose his own standing in Asgard amongst the people who, once, had viewed Sif as a staple of the forces, and now, as a dishonorable warrior. He would accept Thor and them being mad at him for a little while, but that was it. And so he kept his distance from Thor, Hogun, and Volstagg for the time being.
Sirius was wondering if he could get away with the unforgivable curses while in Asgard. Then again, even if he couldn't, he was very tempted to use them anyway on Sif for what she'd done to his godchild, and the things she'd said to Harry. Sirius didn't care what the people of Asgard say, he felt that she got off too lightly. He would speak with Freya later about doing more to punish Sif, maybe some...'near'...deadly pranks. But for now Sirius would send curses at her when her back is turned and no one was paying attention, and he knew exactly which one to start with...
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
The next day a mighty scream would awaken every soul in Asgard's palace, and the surrounding noble homes. The scream was one of earth shattering horror, blood curdling terror, and blood thirsty bloody murder. Still somewhat jumpy from the day before last, Harry needless to say, had run from his room and gone straight for Loki's room to cower in his grandpa's arms.
Loki knew that scream well, from all the times he and Freya had caused it, though this time, he wasn't part of the cause, which left only Freya and Sirius as the cause. Both options were just as amusing though. "Don't worry Harry, I'll keep you safe!" Loki assured him before pulling Harry into his lap and wrapping his arms around him.
Twenty minutes later Sif, now hairless, was storming into Loki's room with a weapon in hand, "Are you Happy now Loki?" she demanded, "Bad enough you altered my hair, but now you remove it entirely too!" she shouted, frightening Harry further.
Loki held back his laughter at her now bald head. "I assure you Sif; I had nothing to do with this. I have not left this room since last night, after putting Harry here to bed. Though I can imagine who may have done it," Loki smirked, "I will admit to approving to this though." When he saw Sif did not believe him, Loki glared at her. "If it had been me, I assure you that your hair would have fallen out in public. Now leave before I inform the Allfather that you burst into my room with a weapon drawn to threaten both myself and Harry!" Loki made sure to tighten his hold on Harry, just in case she still tried to do something.
Sif glared, "Mark my words, Loki, you will pay for this insult, you and that half breed bastard!" Sif exclaimed before leaving the room, still fuming over the loss of her hair.
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Odin sighed as he waited for Loki, Harry, his friends, and Freya to arrive. Apparently, a gathering of the small folk of Asgard, and a few nobles, had deigned to request a meeting with Harry in the Allfather's presence today.
When Loki entered the throne room and saw everyone that was gathered, he pushed Harry behind him, keeping himself between everyone else and Harry. He could also feel Harry's friends moving closer to Harry as well as Freya channeling a small bit of magic into her hand, so as to be ready for the first person who tries something.
Seeing Loki and Harry had finally arrived, Odin cleared his throat, "Now that Prince Loki and his students have arrived, I believe you had something you wished to say to them?" he told the leader of the group.
The leader nodded and stepped forward, he bowed to Harry and Loki, surprizing both of them. "Prince Loki, apprentice Harry," the man began, "My name is Siguror," he said, "Me and my compatriots wish to let you and Harry know, that, we highly enjoyed the ball that Harry and Lady Freya set up, and because you allowed everyone to enjoy it, you have won the support of the people, while there are those who would be unfriendly to you, those of us who genuinely enjoyed the ball, will always support you from now on!" he said, as he, and those behind him, bowed to Harry, Loki, Freya and Harry's friends.
Loki wasn't sure what to say. No, it wasn't that he didn't know what to say. It was more a matter of him being unable to speak. These people before him had just said, in front of their king that they would always support him and his grandchild, even against the rest of Asgard. These people, who had once looked down on him and mocked him with the rest of Asgard, were now willing to stand with him, he couldn't believe it. This was too good to be true. This meant that Harry had people outside of his family and friends that would welcome him, regardless of the blood that flows in his veins. Loki was overwhelmed with emotions right now.
Siguror smiled, "We know that Harry has recently been revealed to have Jotunn blood, but, if he was really evil, why would he have helped plan such a fun ball for everyone in Asgard?" he smiled again as he paused, "As such, despite his heritage, we will support you, and will defend him and you against those like the former Lady Sif, who will go on and on about your wrongs, but never the good things you have done," he finished, as he bowed once more, followed by his compatriots.
Loki struggled to get is mouth working again, but when he could speak he returned Siguror's smile with one of his own. "Thank you, it warms my heart to hear you say such things as well as know that my student has been accepted by all of you regardless of what he is." Loki was amazed he hadn't let slip his real relationship towards Harry in that moment, as he was still getting over the shock of Siguror's words. "You have our gratitude for this." Inwardly, Loki made a vow that, so long as the people supported Harry, he would do his best, to what was good for Asgard, rather than himself, like he used to. As he made this decision, the tapestry of fate in Frigga's room altered, and every seer, prophet, and fortune teller in the universe suddenly came down with a severe headache, including Frigga, one that caused them to groan in pain before passing out from the pain of the change to a future no longer being possible, at least, not as the Norns had predicted it would happen anyway.
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While Odin and Loki were meeting with Siguror in the throne room, Thor, Volstagg, and Hogun were having a secret meeting in Thor's room.
"So Thor, besides being glad to see you back to yourself, I am wondering just why you called us here?" Volstagg questioned after making himself comfortable in a chair. He did not miss that Fandral wasn't there, and naturally he had expected Sif to be nowhere in sight.
"Has something more happened with Sif?" Hogun questioned in a sigh of annoyance from where he stood. Ever since that moment of Sif's misguided actions, she had been learning not to act rashly like she used to.
Thor sighed, "Please do not speak her name now. I am struggling to contain myself as it is," He then shook his head, "This has to do with Harry," he replied.
That got the attention of both men as they moved closer to Thor.
"Has something more happened to the poor boy?" Volstagg asked concernedly, he liked Harry a lot, he was a good kid and everything that Harry did seemed to be fun and make people smile. He would hate to see any more hardships fall upon Harry.
"No, it is more something I believe you should both know about him. Something I trust you will both keep from the rest of Asgard until the time is right," Thor explained.
"You have our word," Hogun told Thor, to which Volstagg nodded his agreement.
Thor gave a nod of thanks before taking a breath, "Harry is not a student of Loki's," Thor began before he backtracked a bit, "What I mean is, my brother is teaching him, this is true, however that is not all Harry is to Loki," Thor sighed to himself and decided to go for it, "Harry is my brother's grandson."
Volstagg's eyes widen greatly at that in surprize. He had noticed that Harry and Loki looked alike, but had brushed it off as nothing more than coincidence. But here was Thor telling them that Harry was related to him.
Hogun was also surprised by this news; however, he found it made a lot of sense. He'd noticed that Loki was more defensive of the boy then any teacher should be, and there was also the closeness of the royal family towards Harry. And then there was Freya taking such a strong interest in Harry. She had been Loki's teacher and as such it would make sense that she would want to teach those related to Loki.
"My brother fell in love with a mortal and together they had a daughter. He had thought that daughter had died with his wife on Midgard. However she in fact lived and came to have Harry. Mother and father have decided that, to protect Harry, we would claim him to be Loki's student. I trust you will help keep this secret?" Thor was having second thoughts now that he'd said it, but it wasn't like he could take it back now.
"Loki, a grandfather..." Volstagg shook his head in amused wonderment. "It explains so much about those two." He smiled to Thor, "You have my word that none shall hear of this from me!"
"I have no wish to see Harry harmed. And there are many in Asgard who would go after him if they learned he is related to Loki. I shall keep this secret and take it to my grave!" Hogun promised with a smile.
Thor smiled at his friends, glad that he had chosen the right two to share this with.
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While Thor was having his meeting with his friends, well, two of them, and Loki was meeting with Odin, and Frigga was in the library again, before she passed out of course. Sif and Fandral were having a secret meeting of their own.
"We know what he is now Fandral," Sif began, "If the rest of Asgard refuses to keep an eye on him, then we will, we will keep an eye out for what actions that...that thing...does while it grows," she said, "Agreed?" she asked, looking at Fandral.
Fandral shook his head. "Sif given what has happened to you already, do you truly believe it wise to do that? After all, you have already lost your title as a noble. If you give the Allfather reason, or even Loki for that matter, you could end up banished from Asgard!" He pointed out to her. After all, it would be a shame for Asgard to loose such a warrior as her, not to mention a beauty such as her. Though, with that bald head right now, it was hard to think her beautiful.
Sif grumbled in annoyance, "All I am asking for, is for you to agree to help me watch him, Fandral, if we see something suspicious, we will try and look into it," she said, "Agreed?" she tried again.
Fandral raised his hands, "As you wish Sif. I am merely making sure you understand the risk if you get caught doing something the Allfather won't approve of. I will help you with this though," he finally agreed.
Sif glowered, ever since the ball, she had had to have Frigga apply a wind charm to her room due to a mysterious odor, and no matter where she looked, she could not find the source, but, she was sure that Loki and Freya were behind it, possibly Harry too.
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AN: Well, we hope you cried, higher power that be knows we did, both tears of sadness, and tears of joy. We hope you loved the music choices. We also hope you see why Sif will be a villain now, she is arrogant, self-righteous, and certain in her beliefs of what is right and wrong for Asgard. It will be HER fault that Loki enacts his plan to destroy Jotunnheim during the events of Thor...we just haven't worked out specifics yet though... ;P
Anyway, time for Oracle to put in her word!
Oracle: I am glad we got that finished. It was hard to write as we had to try to put ourselves in Harry's shoes and it wasn't very pleasant. And now that it's done, we can get to the fun stuff, Harry's schooling at Hogwarts, and eventually the events of Thor, thus leading to the events of Avengers and so on. We will try to get through all the books, but it will take time as we have changed so much from canon with the things that Loki has done, and so we must take those changes into account. For example, Draco will be different due to him being raised by his mother after Amelia's investigation leads to his father being arrested. Which, given that Draco is also 5 during this time, it will have a big impact towards how he acts at school and what not. So many changes to take into account and we have to go through them and work out just what we can use at that time. But for now, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and we hope we can bring you the next chapter soon. Love you guys and girls lots! :D
And remember, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THE CHAPTER IN YOUR REVIEWS, when you do, it can sometimes give us ideas of what we might do! ^w^