(((I wanted a little bit of fluff from the side characters before we dive head-first back into the action and fighting. It will be a few more chapters down the line, but Darcy will have to come clean sooner or later and Loki will have to admit that he was w-w-w-wrong!)))
Chapter 21: By the River at Midnight
Sif clung tightly to Fandral, sobbing uncontrollably as the four warriors gathered under the cloak of night at the edge of Asgard proper. The night sky's reflection glistened in the river that led out to the sea, a place the friends thought fitting as a place to say a last goodbye. Fandral held his friend as best he could while stifling tears of his own. Despite the news that one of the princes was dead, Odin had not only refused to declare a state of mourning, but had forbidden any of those who had befriended him to have time to mourn either. Though most of the citizens in the palace itself had been irritated by Loki at some time or another, no one could stay angry at him for very long and certainly no one thought that this order was fitting. Whispers about the unfettered and dangerous wrath of the king began to appear in the most secret of places. In the meantime, the warriors three and Sif had been forced to remember their fallen friend at the edge of the city and in the dead of night, assured by Heimdall that he would not report it to the king. Volstagg had been sure that he had seen one tear in the gatekeeper's eye when speaking to them, but perhaps it had been a reflection of his own. True, Loki had been a jealous and hostile ruler, but even those who had witnessed the betrayal toward Thor didn't think that he was deserving of death. After all, they each owed him their lives in turn from numerous adventures.
Fandral shook his head as Sif grew a little more quiet and still. He turned to his two fellow warriors and frowned. "Someone should say something," he remarked.
"What should we say?" Volstagg asked. He agreed, but he couldn't actually think of anything to say aloud right now.
"We should not be here," Hogun said softly. Sif began sobbing once more at this and Fandral glared at his grim companion. "He is not dead."
"Would you stop saying that?" Fandral hissed. Hogun turned to him, his unwavering expression holding an undertone of scorn. "We all know the All Father's command and we all know that Loki didn't deserve to be executed."
"I don't think that's much in honoring his memory," Volstagg added. The other two turned and glared at their companion, anger surging through all three aimed at one another rather than the real deserving recipients. The All Father had been acting strangely and Loki's actions had been strange as well, but trying to decide what it was that had prompted this was maddening. In fact, the four were all very surprised that Frigga had managed to stave off collapsing in a heap for this long with Thor's banishment, the All Father's odd wrath and Odinsleep, and Loki's exaggerated mischief. Volstagg hesitated a moment, thinking about the adventure the group had shared in Helheim where Loki had first discovered a skill in transforming into other creatures. When a mud-beast had attacked, he had been separated from the group and fell to his knees sure that he would die. Volstagg could still remember the amazing display of the trickster instantly morphing into a rabbit and darting back toward his friends. It had shocked him and frightened him so much that it took nearly a full day to get him back to normal. It had been most amusing to watch the mud-beast try and chase after the trickster, running right into the side of a mountain in the process and dying instantly. Volstagg still remembered trying to corner the frightened trickster as they set about returning home. "I'll say this; he may not have had courage, but he did have a good way out of any situation . . . for all of us."
"He never once spoke about himself in public, never flaunted his own deeds," Fandral added. "Aside from sending a monster to prevent Thor's return and possibly kill us in the process, I believe Loki was every bit the hero he always wanted to be."
"There has never been a more cunning and skillful warrior in the service of Asgard," Hogun added solemnly.
While he still refused to believe that a sorcerer could be killed that easily, he realized it best to appease the sorrow of his friends for the time being. If and when Loki was ready to return he would do so and trying to make the others believe in it was useless. He raised his fist over his heart, saluting the heavens in a gesture common among the funerals held for deserving warriors. Volstagg did the same, sighing heavily and shaking his head. Sif released Fandral, allowing him to do the same and stepping in front of the three, grasping the dagger she had taken from his belt. The three watched as she raised the dagger up to the hair pulled into a bundle on top of her head. Tears streamed down either side of her face as she looked up into the sky, scanning the stars in the hopes that just maybe Hogun's denial was truth. A few seconds passed and she frowned, realizing that if Hogun had been right, then surely it would have been proven by now. She couldn't see Loki allowing his father to have made such a decree without challenging it. She gripped the dagger and, with one harsh swipe, cut away the stream of hair. Fandral and Volstagg watched in bewilderment as she grasped the hair in one hand and knelt at the river leading out and into the sea.
"I will not say now what I should have said to you in life," she said staring down at the locks of dark hair. As part of a lover's quarrel, Loki had shaved Sif's head, depriving her of the golden tresses that were common among the rest of the citizens of Asgard. When he had appeared, hearing her cries and lamenting, he had immediately offered to replace it with magic from the sun itself. At the time, Sif had felt closest to him and instead asked for hair from the night sky's magic, dark like his own. She grasped its softness one last time and then set it into the water, willing it to follow the reflection of the magic that had forged it. "Farewell, Loki."
Hogun moved to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. She rose silently and nodded to him. The group slowly made their way back to the palace. There seemed to be some sort of commotion in the servants. The four soon discovered that Frigga had awakened and that Heimdall had sent word to the king that Thor was returning home . . . with a human companion. The three men had exchanged uncomfortable glances. It was difficult enough to deal with the news of Loki's death amongst themselves, but to think of Thor returning to the news along with the command forbidding any mourning was less than unpleasant. As strange and exaggerated as the All Father's wrath had been, Thor's temper was more frightful when thoroughly provoked. Volstagg shook his head and turned to the rest of his friends.
"Come on, no doubt the queen will not be strong enough to be the only voice of reason," he said. The others nodded and followed after him. Sif walked more calmly and proudly, hoping that someone would ask her about the severed hair. Fandral felt uneasy about the decision and feared the reaction of the king to this defiance. Volstagg thought about the quarrel that would ensue when Thor returned and how Frigga would no doubt be the only thing to keep peace in the kingdom during it. Hogun continued to recount what he had been saying to the others. Loki was not dead and while he might not be able to convince the others at the moment of this, he was sure that Thor would agree with him. That alone would be enough to assuage any hostility in the royal household, at least until retrieving the trickster and setting everything to right with everyone present.