The events in this chapter are synced with events in the movie Thor: Dark World
Kagome was uncomfortable, and her discomfort multiplied by the second as she watched Thor approach her with a pretty woman who held no divinity in her aura at all.
In fact, she possessed an aura she'd never thought she'd ever feel again.
A human aura, though there was something else lurking below the surface.
'Fuck. He brought his human girlfriend here?!'
She stood rooted to her spot, trying not to scowl, trying to appear neutral, but she didn't want to make nice with Thor yet.
"Kagome, I would like to introduce you to Jane Foster. Jane, this is my sister, Kagome."
"Hi, it's so nice to meet you."
Kagome eyed her and tried to get a better feel of the darkness she could feel swimming around inside her, but she could tell she was now making Jane uncomfortable with her silence.
"Charmed. Thor what's-"
"You know, I didn't understand why you and your brother look so different but now I get it. She has your blue eyes, but Loki's black hair. Now I can tell you're all siblings."
Irritation flared and though she knew it was unfair, and she'd no doubt feel guilty later, she turned a flat, unamused glare on the human woman on Thor's arm.
"Loki is not my brother. Thor what's wrong with her? Why is she oozing darkness?"
"She came in contact with the Aether, I was hoping you might try to get it out? Our healers were unable. Father says it's dangerous to leave it too long."
She focused again, looking past Jane's aura and examining the power intruding in her body. Odin was right, this foreign substance was eating away at her, and if it wasn't removed soon, it would destroy her.
"I can try."
She led them to one of the balconies nearby, one far enough away from the others milling around to feign some privacy. Thor and Jane whispered behind her, and she tried not to let her irritation grow.
"I didn't mean to upset her. Has she disowned your brother?"
"She's not mad at you, she's mad at me. Loki is not her brother he's... he's her husband."
"She's your sister-in-law! Oh my god, this is so embarrassing."
"Really, pay it no mind. Like I said, she's angry with me and now I'm asking a favor. She's really very-"
"I can hear you talking about me." They both snapped their mouths closed and continued to follow her to the balcony. Kagome sat with Jane on a stone bench and placed her hand agaisnt her forehead.
"I don't know if this will hurt, I also don't know if this will work, but please know I mean you no harm. Alright?"
After a moment of gathering up her courage, Jane nodded, trust and hope shining in her eyes. Kagome felt a molecule of respect blossom for her, and she closed her eyes and began channeling her reiki into the woman's skin and through her body. The darkness, or Aether or whatever Thor had called it, writhed around inside her, taking her life force for energy, using her body as a shield, and it jerked and shrieked away from Kagome's intruding light. She pushed onward, suffusing the girl with more of her power, wrapping it around the angry red glow of the Aether, attempting to purify it. It held fast, refused to move. Something about it was constant and would not be shaken so easily. She might be able to sway it, but Jane was a normal human woman with no natural power of her own, and she feared that pumping anymore power inside her, especially powers that were so diametrically opposed, would break her body apart faster than just leaving the Aether behind. She could place a barrier around it though, containing it and preventing its spread for a little longer.
She came back to herself and smiled sympathetically at Jane who clutched Thor's hand and panted, sweat trickling down around the pained look on her face.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't remove it without doing considerable damage to her. But I did put a barrier around it. It'll halt its spread, at least for a while longer."
"That is much better than we had at the start. Thank you, sister."
She placed her hand on Jane's shoulder and attempted to make some amends.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Kagome. It's very nice to meet you. Welcome to Asgard, I hope you enjoy your stay. Maybe I'll see you around again."
With a brief wave, she hurried away to leave them alone, not wanting to be around them but also knowing they'd want to be alone.
Her heart twisted then, spotting Sif leaning against a pillar some ways away, watching with a wistfulness that seemed at odds with her normal firey strength. She regretted neglecting their friendship these last two years, but they'd had centuries before, so she decided to make up for lost time.
Her friend needed her, her own angst could wait.
She caught her eye and held her gaze, approaching with a sympathetic smile.
"Hey Sif. You doin' alright?"
The proud warrior straightened her spine and firmed her resolve, and Kagome felt like she was looking into the past.
"Of course. My duty is always to serve him."
With a sigh, Kagome grabbed Sif's hand and led her to a different balcony, one far away from the one Jane and Thor were using.
"I'm so so sorry I've let our friendship stall while I've been... dealing with everything."
She tried to look as contrite as she felt, and though Sif looked a little shocked, ready to let her pride speak again and ensure everything was as it should be, her warrior friend's expression soon melted into relief, and she tugged her forward into a hug.
"I'm sorry I didn't know how to help you."
With laugh-sobs and stray tears they reconnected, and another piece of Kagome's heart grew a little lighter.
"Listen, feel free to tell me to buzz off but... I can tell you're hurting and... I hate it. I know how it feels to love someone who keeps turning to someone else and it's... it's brutal, Sif, there's no other way to say it. We can't help how we feel about anyone, just know I understand you, okay?"
Sif looked away and stared off into the direction Thor and Jane were nuzzling up in the sun shine, melancholy twisting around her and making her eyes shine. Kagome gave her fingers a comforting squeeze.
"I have tried to subtly make my feelings known and he evaded them. He is always kind, of course but, I am still only a fellow warrior. I am content with that."
"Well you are strong, capable, smart, badass, gorgeous. And how many dumb men live on this rock? You just gotta go sift through them."
Happily giggling like a couple of high school girls, the pair of them shook off worries and allowed old bonds to restrengthen. Then Sif turned serious again, and Kagome gulped, certain she was about to be on the chopping block.
"Thor says you are angry with him. He told me of the secret he was forced to keep from you. Kagome I'm so sorry. I'm angry with Loki and the choices he's made, but you should never have been left in the dark about his life."
"Thank you." She replied with a choked whisper, validation for her hurt feelings making them sting less. "Odin won't let me see him. I've tried and tried every day since I learned he was back but Odin has guards from here all the way to the dungeons ordered to keep me out specifically."
"He did what?!"
"I just want to see him, that's all. When he fell from the bifrost... he was so... he wasn't himself Sif! That whole awful time, he was breaking and I... I just need to make sure he's okay now."
A rebellious little streak bloomed in Sif's heart at the stress and heartache on her best girlfriend's face. Her position as a warrior in service to the royal family, no matter how friendly they all were, had stayed her tongue from expressing how much it meant to have another female warrior to relate to, one who was free with affection and emotion. If she couldn't speak it, maybe she could show it.
"Come with me, I'll get you inside."
"How? Do you know a secret way in?"
"Secret knowledge and hidden passages are Loki's territory. I have a more straightforward plan."
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"When you said your plan was straightforward I didn't think you meant punching the guards straight in the face." Kagome said wryly, rolling her eyes at Sif's proud smirk.
"It worked, so you will not complain. Now, we won't have long before they start waking. Next time we'll bring something to make them sleep longer. But for now you'll have time to say hello."
"Thank you Sif, this means so much to me."
The doors to the dungeons opened, and Kagome stepped inside, following the feel of Loki's aura right up to the force field acting as prison bars. She could easily see through the yellow energies crisscrossing in front of her, working to keep their prisoner contained, and Loki's slumbering visage, peaceful and soft and void of any strain or strife, took her back to happier times when all that lay between them was love.
"Psst, Loki."
His green eyes snapped open and slanted her way, widening when he caught sight of her.
He jumped up from the bed he'd been lying on and hurried over, kneeling, getting as close as possible.
"Kagome?"
Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, relief rushing so quickly through her it made her head spin.
"Oh Loki... I'm so glad you're alive. Look at you, your hair is longer! Gods I've missed you."
"Shhh, don't cry my darling, not for me. I don't deserve your tears."
"Oh stop it. You don't know what I saw! I didn't just see you fall from the bifrost, I watched you fall apart for days beforehand. You were sick. I was so worried. I've been so worried. I wanted to come sooner but Odin has the guards ordered to keep me out. he has so many of them stationed in every direction I could take to come here."
"How did you manage..."
She pointed toward the door, and he followed her gesture to find Sif peeking in. She gave a little wave and his face softened into a small, grateful smile.
"Thank you Sif."
"Of course. I'll be keeping watch, be ready to go at a moment's notice Kagome, I don't know how long the guards will stay unconscious."
She slipped away and Kagome giggled.
"She punched all the guards out to get me here."
"It lacks a certain finesse, but I approve. Kagome... did they tell you why I've been imprisoned?"
"Yes. The last time I willingly spoke to any of them on my own accord, I demanded all the answers they'd kept from me."
"And still you come to me?"
She rolled her eyes and huffed, waving him off, reducing him to shock.
"Oh please. If you know someone who's lived as long as we have and remained a saint through it all, please introduce me, I love meeting mythical creatures."
She'd left him speechless, she could tell, and she once again felt frustrated for all the double standards he'd had to endure throughout his life. Thor got to redeem himself, Loki was now stuck in a jail cell forever.
"There's something... else. Something lingering. I can see it. Have you been keeping secrets Loki?"
A wall went up and she saw it instantly. It raised her hackles, put her on edge. He'd never put a wall between them.
"Everyone has the pertinent information. Nothing else matters. I seek no one's absolution."
"It matters to me. If there's something bothering you, then it matters to me. I'm on your side."
He smiled that sweet, soft smile, full of all of his love and devotion, one that had only ever been for her, and a few more pieces of her heart clicked back into place.
"Kagome, we must go. They are stirring."
With urgency she pressed closer, needing to be near as possible.
"She's going to help me come back. I don't give a damn about your dad and his stupid orders, I'll see you again. And if you think of any hair-brained schemes to bust out of here, you had better take me with you, got it?"
The glitter of mischief sparked back to life in him, brightening his smile, his aura, him.
"I wouldn't dream of leaving my lady behind."
One last lingering look, a whispered declaration of love, and then Kagome slipped back through the dungeon entrance, heart lighter than it had been in ages.