"'Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some of them love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most are toxic to our being simply because their needs and way of existing in the world force us to compromise ourselves and our happiness. They aren't inherently bad people, but they aren't the right people for us. And as hard as it is, we have to let them go. Life is hard enough without being around people who bring you down, and as much as you care, you can't destroy yourself for the sake of someone else. You have to make your wellbeing a priority. Whether that means breaking up with someone you care about, loving a family member from a distance, letting go of a friend, or removing yourself from a situation that feels painful — you have every right to leave and create a safer space for yourself,'" Jane read aloud.
Darcy burped.
"Who wrote that?" Loki asked. He was lying on his bed and Jane was sitting next to him. Darcy was sprawled on Thor's lap and the two were squished in a loveseat munching on leftovers from the feast. As usual, they all stayed away from the other Asgardians and were hanging out in Loki's room, which much to Loki's dismay, had turned into their official clubhouse.
"Daniell Koepke. It was a quote I found on Darcy's phone and I wrote in my journal god knows when," Jane mused.
"Those are wise words. Are you sure they were on Darcy's phone? It seems unlikely." Loki added.
"Hey, I'm right here."
Loki craned his neck to see the sight of Darcy consuming all the food in the table in front of them, looking like the messiest baby with food dripping from her chin and his brother, Thor, gazing at her lovingly.
It was strange for Loki to watch Thor's love for Darcy grow. Women had always been very generous with their attention to Thor, yet he had never settled. He was more experienced than Loki, that was for sure, but Thor had never been in love. And to watch the man Loki had known all his life fall for Darcy so hard was baffling.
Everyone thought that Loki was the one who had changed the most, but it was really Thor who had suffered a drastic shift in personality. The overly enthusiastic, friendly god had turned into a reclusive and shy man to the people of Asgard. Thor had become humble and wise. He was no longer the reckless prince, exploiting his royal title to create mayhem. He gave up fighting, claiming that battles should be avoided and that murder was a sin. Thor's childhood mates were soon put off by his sudden diplomatic behavior and were quick to let him go. Thor was a boy turned into a man.
Who would make a perfect king.
After Odin had tried his aggressive attempt to force the crown upon Thor's head, the four friends had ultimately stopped leaving Loki's room. Thor had set up a makeshift and brought his own clutter from his room into Loki's. After the initial horror Loki felt at having Darcy and Thor once again cut short his time with Jane, he decided that it was for the best.
Odin had given Thor a proposition. If Thor agreed to be king, he could have Darcy as his wife, granted that Darcy became immortal through the means of the Forbidden Fruit which would grant her immortality. Thor would also marry another woman, such a Sif, to be the queen of Asgard since Odin did not deem Darcy as fit for any throne.
After politely stating that he was against polygamy, Thor begged the All-Father for the second option. The only other choice Thor and Loki would have to give up their immortality and be exiled from Asgard to live as mortals at Midgard.
Odin knew Midgard was not a safe option for any of them, especially if Thor and Loki became mortals, unable to protect Darcy and Jane. At this point Darcy foreshadowed that they all be killed if SHIELD ever found them and it was too risky.
But they had no other choice.
The King had given them a month to decide.
For Thor, the decision was final that day.
He could give up the throne. He could give up his hammer, all of his powers. But he could never imagine giving up Darcy.
Loki ripped Jane's journal out of her hand and silenced her complaint with his lips. Jane sighed into the kiss and she wrapped herself around Loki's frame.
They kissed like there was no world waiting to kill them and no responsibilities waiting outside Loki's door.
Until someone flung a grape at them.
"Get a room," Darcy yelled and Thor laughed, flinging another grape across the room.
Loki groaned as Jane moved away, blushing madly at forgetting, once again, that there was someone else in the room.
"As far as I know, we are in my room. Perhaps it's you two who should leave," Loki glared at the grinning self-proclaimed grape-throwing ninjas.
Thor put on an innocent face. "Why Brother? We have done nothing wrong."
Loki frowned at his brother who then sprung another grape at Loki's serious expression and Darcy and Thor burst out laughing.
Jane sat up, smiling sadly. Loki sat up too, noticing the gloom on Jane's face. He gently held her face in his palm, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
The nostalgia hit them both like a bitter reminder of their cheerful past and their miserable tomorrow.
"What's the matter love?" Loki asked, though he felt he already knew.
Jane sighed heavily, closing her eyes to keep Loki from seeing the water in them. She wanted to cry and wallow but there just wasn't time anymore.
"Ironic isn't it? Before we couldn't be together forever because you're immortal and I'm not. Now we'll both be mortal yet we still can't be together," she complained softly.
Loki pulled her into his lap and rocked her back in forth, trying to make her comfortable. As each day past, Jane was losing more and more hope and Loki couldn't stand watching Jane frantically try to seize everyday now that she knew she had a limited number. She had started recalling all her memories, reading her journals and diaries, giving oral memoirs of the books she had read to Loki and anyone who wanted to listen.
"This sucks," Darcy whined to Thor.
Thor looked ashamed.
"Thor, you know I love you. But I can't let this go on. You gotta be king. We can't die."
"But Darcy, I cannot be without you. And I cannot have Sif as my wife."
"I'll be there, even on your wedding day with Sif. I'll even dance and drink the pumpkin juice. Heck, I'll even take a dance with the bride! But c'mon, life's too precious. We can't just die because your dad is an asshole," Darcy stated, matter-of-factly.
"Darcy we have been over this a multitude of times now. I cannot live like that. I prefer death rather than to have to live a life pretending to be something I am not."
They had had this argument an innumerable amount of times, but it always ended the same way. The main point was that Thor didn't want to be the king of Asgard.
Darcy pouted. "Jane, why don't you have some quote on '101 Ways to Get out of becoming a King'?"
Jane smirked. "If only it was that easy," she said wistfully.
"Perhaps it can be…," Loki started.
Jane threw him a questioning glance.
"We don't have to go about this the diplomatic way. We can always cheat our way out," Loki suggested.
Thor looked up, interested.
Darcy got up from Thor's lap and walked over to Loki's bed, sitting next to him, leaning in, stage whispering, "I'm all ears."
"Brother, if you have a suggestion, do share it!" Thor pleaded.
"Alright, but it's just a possible plan I've been thinking of lately. It's hard to fool Odin, but if we can fool him long enough then perhaps we can find a way out of this mess."
Thor got on the bed and Darcy bounced up and down in excitement.
"What's the plan?" Jane asked, hope finally shining in her eyes.
"The All-Father said that if Thor agrees to be king, we can make Darcy immortal. He mentioned allowing her to take a bite from the Forbidden Fruit. There are versions of this fruit all over the realm. When I was in Jötunn, trying to know a little about my birth, I heard that the jötnar talk about the Forbidden Fruit in the possession of them after centuries of searching. I don't think Midgard could possess the fruit, but since we know Jötunn does, we can acquire the fruit there. Jane and Darcy can take a bite and then we can run away to Midgard and deal with the SHIELD army there, as immortals. Jane, Darcy, despite what mortals seem to think, they can't destroy us. We can be tortured and imprisoned but that is unlikely. If we can overcome SHIELD, we can rest in Midgard for possibly the rest of eternity, perhaps contribute to their science and help mortals live better lives. Regardless of what we do, it's a worthy cause," Loki said.
Darcy clapped her hands and pumped a fist into the air, "To Ju-whatever-that-place-is-called we go!"
Thor pulled her fist down and frowned at Loki. "It's not an easy task, you make it sound simple."
"Brother I am aware of the dangers of the journey. But we must try."
"Don't you think Father will try to stop us? There is no way he'll allow us to leave."
"But he doesn't have to know about it," Jane suggested.
Thor and Loki shifted their gaze to hers, urging Jane to go on.
"Well, if Thor falsely agrees to become King, he can pick a date like a year from now. In the meantime we can gain some of Odin's trust and then ask him if Darcy and I can accompany you two on a trip to whatever safe place you can think of. We'll go there to make Heimdall think we're safe and then from there we'll head to Jötunn. To ensure that Heimdall wouldn't see us there, Loki and I can derive up some invisibility potion, cause you know I have been reading a bit about those, and we can take that and be out of sight and just disappear. Your family wouldn't know to look in Jötunn for us right away so we'll have some time there and then we can quickly go back to earth where Heimdall can't see us anyway. It's fool proof really, if we act a bit. Plus it's the safest way if we want to avoid getting restricted by your father's army. We just have to keep it a secret. But I think it's worth all the risk. Like Daniell Koepke said in that quote, sometimes we just have to look out for ourselves, even if it's hard. But Thor, your parents at this point to serve as toxic people. They love you and care about you but you have the right and should make your decisions. You're centuries old, I think that's enough to be able to reject the crown and still live," Jane finished.
The other three gaped at her.
Darcy whistled. "When did you get so good at planning conspiracies?" she asked Jane.
"Since I've been hanging around the God of Mischief and the future Goddess of Feminism," Jane winked at Darcy who gave a grand bow.
"You know I always saw myself as a goddess. 'Bout time we make that official."
A/N: I got a shot and my entire arm and hand has been sore for two days. It's annoying because it hurts to type but I felt worse not writing so I apologize for the delay in updating. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. You know, to me it's like if you have magical powers, you have to use them to the max so I never understand why supernatural fictional characters can't escape from practically anything. Anyways, thanks for reading, leave a review if you have any questions, comments, and/ concerns and I would be delighted to help.
Thank you to Margaritasc, Lady-Sesshoumaru12, alexma, JPElles, Hollarious969, JigokuShoujosRevenge, megumisakura, EABrandon, JaninaM8, odinsdatter9, and Princess PrettyPants. You all are so beautiful, thank you for your support.
Stay tuned :)