Christie's silvery grey eyes flew open and she leapt up out of bed. She shoved on a long white house robe and a pair of slippers before skidding out of her quarters, the dagger she kept under her pillow clutched firmly in her hand. She followed the piercing screams and eventually arrived at the room furthest across the hall - the palace library. All the serving girls were stood huddled outside the doors weeping together. The colour was completely drained from their tear stained cheeks. They were being barred from entering the room by a number of guards, but once they saw Christie they automatically let her through, bowing their heads in what she soon realised would be condolences.
Because once she saw what they were all crying over, her eyes grew wide and immediately glossed over with tears.
She was convinced that nothing on that planet even mattered anymore, because laying lifelessly in Odin's arms was Frigga, the woman who had always cared so passionately for her ever since she landed there. Christie was so stunned, that the noise of the maids wailing outside and the new dreaded sound of the alarm bell ringing through the walls had completely faded out. In fact, she couldn't hear anything anymore. Her vision grew scarily cloudy due to the tears threatening to spill out of her eyelids, but she was still desperately darting her eyes around the scene in attempt to make sense of what had happened. Then her eyes quickly fell on Thor, who was violently flinging his Mjonlir after the invaders at the window with a heart wrenching roar; Jane cowering in a corner with a pale and tearful face; then Jennie, who was in another far corner of the room curled up into a ball and sobbing painfully into her bony knees.
Christie took three shaky breaths in an attempt to pull herself together; but on the third breath she burst into tears.
Tears. Hot, thick salty tears.
Tears for Frigga, tears for the Odinson boys, delayed tears that she had swallowed for years, tears of rage from when Delilah and Renesme had abandoned her on Earth, tears of relief from when she saw Loki again in the glass prison on the Helicarrier, tears of pain when she thought of his reaction to his mother's death.
It hurt.
…
The funeral was set to take place that same evening as per Asgardian tradition - and it was beautiful.
Christie stood one level behind Thor and Odin. The fact that she was even permitted to do so was nothing short of an honour to her. She watched on as the beautifully decorated coffin was carried in by the sorrowful looking guards, and she almost felt her heart jump into her throat. It was bizarre, because out of all the times that she had experienced death, never once had she experienced a funeral.
She was wearing a long black dress instead of her usual white one, and her silver-white hair was totally straight and curtaining her face. Jennie stood one place behind Christie amongst the other heads of the palace, and beside her would've been Renesme and Delilah had they been there. It was a beautiful atmosphere - so sad yet so peaceful. Christie had been given the honour of firing the first flamed arrow into the sky, due to her improved status of Head of Warriors. So she stepped forward as Frigga's coffin gently glided across the water, lifted the bow into the air and, with one unsteady breath, fired the arrow so that the coffin caught fire. She covered her mouth to stifle her sobs as the rest of the arrows followed suit and Frigga's burning coffin gently lifted into the air before falling over the large waterfall, gone for all eternity. Thor noticed Christie's distress and put a comforting strong arm around her, holding her in a one armed brotherly hug.
Christie finally allowed herself to stop biting back her tears and let them all run free for the second time that day. She buried her face into Thor's chest as Frigga turned into a bright white star, joining the rest of them in the galaxies' skies.
….
A few hours after the funeral, Thor had decided to go and see Christie in her quarters again. She was still shaken from the two uncontrollable breakdowns she'd experienced earlier - but at the same time, she felt somewhat empty.
She almost felt as if she was…floating.
"Thor, I know you've come to see me for something other than to talk about your mother. You've got that look of determination in your eyes again," Christie mumbled as she let him in and went to sit down on her bed. Thor let out a scoff and shook his head, shutting the door behind him.
"I never once imagined I'd be burying her so soon," he admitted quietly. Christie ran her tongue over her teeth and nodded.
"I should've been there before the attack," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm beginning to think that I do a genuinely crap job around this palace-"
"You missed it. I missed it. We all missed it," Thor interrupted her coldly. "The Dark Elves came for what is within Jane. And what is within Jane is on Asgard because I brought it here. It's my fault above anyone else's." Christie shuffled in her seat uncomfortably at his admission. She couldn't deny the fact that Thor had brought the dangerous dark thing onto their doorstep - but she still couldn't shake what Madame Herja had told her about Loki.
Was he really the brother to blame?
"Thor-"
"How is Jennie?" Thor suddenly asked. Christie blinked at him.
"She's…uh, she's not doing too well," she mumbled slowly. "None of the serving girls are. Apparently, some of them are already refusing to even get out of bed - but grief will do that to you. It paralyses you-"
"Yet you're up and about," Thor pointed out.
"Not my first rodeo, Thor," Christie sniffed as she buried her face into her palms.
"But my mother was your friend - not a target or a…spy…partner," Thor mused, still not understanding. "You don't have to always appear so strong. It's alright for you to not be alright, Annerled-"
"Just call me Christie," Christie waved him off. Hearing that name reminded her so much of Frigga that it felt like a wound to her heart with each mention of it.
"How do you think the girls on Midgard will take it? Delilah and Renesme?" Thor asked quietly. Christie's eyes widened with worry as she remembered that she'd eventually have to break the news to them too.
"Awfully, I expect. She was a wonderful woman. I had…so many questions for her. So many things I wanted to thank her for, and ask her about…and now she's gone. I…" she trailed off, feeling her words get all choked up.
"I know," was all Thor muttered thickly, also staring at the floor. There was a small grieving silence between them before Thor spoke again. "I just spoke to Heimdall, Sif and the Warriors Three about moving Jane off Asgard and destroying what is within her. Clearly keeping her here is a hazard."
"I'm glad you know," Christie scoffed back lightly. She cocked her head to the side. "How are you gonna do it? Isn't the Bifrost shut?"
"It is indeed. But allegedly there are other paths off Asgard and…w-well, Loki is our ticket out," Thor winced awkwardly as Christie's face fell.
"Oh, f*ck."
"I'm not going to force you to come with me. I understand it's still a bit tender after Mother's death, and I'd hate for you to jump straight into a mission," Thor assured her hurriedly. "You've done enough for us-"
"I want to go back to Earth, Thor. I feel empty if she's not here - it's time to return home," Christie nodded, causing him to nod again in understanding. "But I'm not done here yet. The one thing she wanted me to do was look out for Loki. He knows something that's crucial for all that's set out to happen, both here and on my planet. Even if I haven't processed her death…I want to honour her wishes before returning home." She stood up and took a shaky breath in as Thor took an uncertain step back.
"So…you want to come with us?" he asked in genuine surprise.
"Last mission before going home? Sure thing. I'm not done with Loki till I finally get my answers."
…
Christie was prepared to face Loki this time. It had come to the point where she was shameless with him, now that she'd gotten over the shock of seeing him the day before. And, since they were mentally reconnected, he was prepared for her too. He could sense her far before she had even stepped foot in front of his cell.
They were both prepared - until Christie saw his untidy, miserable disposition. He was pressed up against a wall and his feet were bleeding. His belongings were either upturned or smashed into pieces - and his eyes looked hollow and rimmed red.
He was completely done for.
"What do you want?" he croaked out unenthusiastically once he saw her. The sight of him so grief-stricken shattered Christie's already hardening heart.
"Oh god, Loki," Christie whispered, lifting a slightly trembling hand to her mouth. His vulnerability made her feel slightly sick.
"Oh, cut the pity from your lips, Annerledes," Loki hissed, his clammy head still lolling against the wall. Christie gulped and continued to shake her head, whilst Loki spoke up again. "She d-didn't die alone, did she?" he murmured softly. As soon as the words left his mouth, Christie felt her heart begin to ache.
"No," was all she mumbled back uncomfortably. "No, she was in your father's arms."
"So then…yes, she died alone," Loki scoffed under his breath.
"Oh, don't do this. Your father adored the woman," Christie frowned, keeping her voice as calm and non-patronising as possible. But from the way Loki rolled his eyes, it was clear he couldn't care less. "Look, that's not even what I'm here for-"
"Then what are you here for?" Loki sniffed reluctantly. He didn't look like he was up for anything at that moment.
"Yesterday, you said you didn't make any further deals with darkness, Loki. And I know you told Frigga the same thing, but…did you mean that?" Christie asked him, finally looking at him directly.
"Would you believe me either way?" Loki shot back.
"Loki, please. Drop the sarky sh*t - it's important," Christie practically pleaded. "Asgard's future is dependant on it-"
"I don't see how that's my concern," Loki muttered.
"My world's future is also dependant on it," Christie marched on.
"Again - that's not my issue."
"My future is dependant on it, you bastard!" Christie finally snapped, thudding her hand against the glass. "Do you care that little about me that you'd let me suffer? If you're working for someone, if you're working for the Dark Elves then just bloody well say something!" Loki clenched his jaw and waited for a good few moments before shaking his head.
"I have no further deals with anyone. I've been enclosed here, with no contact with anyone other than Mother. I wouldn't…I wouldn't put you in harm's way, despite supposedly being the monster you've convinced yourself that I am," he told her coldly, also looking her dead in the eye. Christie tried not to melt or crumble under his intense gaze, but it was getting harder with every word he spoke.
"I've convinced myself?" she hissed in disbelief. "Right! So you trying to get total domination over Earth and shoving a spear through the man I saw as my father weren't symptoms of a monster? Fair enough!"
"That's not fair. You know that wasn't me," Loki growled.
"No, I don't know a damn thing anymore," Christie mumbled back - just as Thor suddenly swept onto the scene and Loki's eyes darkened even more.
"Have you received the information you needed?" Thor asked Christie quietly.
"He's insistent that this wasn't down to him," Christie sniffed back.
"Now what do you want?" Loki grunted, causing them both to look up at him again. "Look at that! It's like a reunion I never asked for!"
"I'm here to offer you vengeance on those that did this to our mother," Thor explained calmly, expecting his little brother to jump on the request. But Loki simply let out a fed up laugh and turned his head away. Christie wasn't even in the mood at this point.
"Alright, forget it. There's gotta be others involved in the Darkness on Asgard that can tell us how to get off," Christie whispered, tugging on Thor's arm as if to say 'let's go' - but when Loki saw their interaction, his entire demeanour hardened even more. Those two touching, referring to conversations that he obviously wasn't in - he hated everything about it.
The jealousy was here.
"Seriously, brother? You could've chosen anyone from this wretched land yet you had to choose the one woman I was in love with?" he snapped directly at Thor, leaning further forward.
"Oh Loki, would you REST? Jane's on Asgard - I am not interested in your woman and she's only ever had eyes for you, as much as none of us understood it," Thor scoffed back, becoming increasingly agitated by his brother's childish and unnecessarily spiteful attitude. Christie let out a wry laugh and stared Loki straight in his eyes so stiffly that he had to look away.
He was trying so hard to hold it all together, but he felt as if she was staring right through him.
"Loki, are you purposely trying to start sh*t? Because there's nothing for you to be angry at. I haven't fallen in love with anyone else - in fact, I haven't even tried," she muttered to him, still not looking away.
"Ah! Yes, that explains why it took you all that time to come and see me again!" Loki mocked, lifting his index finger in the air as if he had just come to a brilliant conclusion. Christie felt something inside of her tick.
"No, Loki. I'm not like you. I don't just move on from someone I supposedly loved so deeply with no or any form of regret," Christie shot back, her hurt quickly morphing into anger. Thor sighed to himself and briefly wandered away to give them some space. "You acted like I no longer existed from the second you regained control over your own body! So please remind me of what I was meant to do?"
"Come to visit?" Loki suggested bluntly.
"Odin forbade it and you never requested me," Christie dismissed flippantly. "Next?"
"Snuck in somehow?" Loki persisted.
"Oh Loki - you of all people should know that it's really not that easy, otherwise I don't doubt you'd be out yourself!" Christie hissed, her hands slowly creeping to her forehead as she began to feel herself get frustrated.
"You did it just yesterday!"
"I had to! Madame Herja told me you could be the cause of my own downfall," Christie muttered. "Why the hell else would I be there?!"
"Oh. So when it's your life, you seemed to sneak in here just fine!" Loki exclaimed in annoyance. His body language was changing again - he was getting stiffer and the hostility had returned.
"My life, my planet's life, Asgard's life! So yeah, I did sneak in! And just look at how that turned out?" Christie scoffed.
"Mother did it day in and day out," Loki sneered, finally hitting it home. Christie fell silent and turned away from him, clenching her teeth to force herself to drop it. Thor had heard the same spiteful words and quickly returned to them both before they could really explode.
"Look, the point is Christie's with us now," he interrupted them both, fed up of the bickering. "Time is of the essence and there is very little of it left - so Loki, if you want to spend the rest of your days in here, that is more than fine with us. We'll get this done with or without you, brother." Loki drank Thor's words before he turned to Christie again, not quite finished with her yet. They were both so angry at each other for reasons unbeknownst from both sides. But Christie knew that Loki's involvement in moving Jane from Asgard was imperative, so she also knew that it was time to choose a different tactic. Being an assassin meant that she had to be able to adapt and luckily, it was a skill that she still held without many issues.
"I was ready to give up everything for you, Loki," she whispered sadly. "I loved you. I did."
That felt strange to say.
Emotions are meant to be controlled, emotions are meant to be controlled, emotions are meant to be controlled, emotions are meant to be-
"Likewise," were Loki's only gentle words back.
He couldn't even look up at her anymore.
"I…I know that you're still the same person in there. The person that I could talk to, the person that loved to play tricks, the person that would hold me at night when nobody else would. Yeah, you've created this nasty layer of nonchalance and bitterness, but beneath that is the real you, Loki, I know it is. Please. I wouldn't ask for your compliance if it wasn't important." Loki looked genuinely touched for a split second - until Thor interrupted.
"See, that sweet ray of hope from your girlfriend won't cover you today. Betray me, and I will kill you," Thor cut in abruptly.
"As will I - without hesitation this time," Christie suddenly agreed.
An amused smirk fell on Loki's face as he leant forward.
"When do we start?"
...
WE HAVE ABOUT THREE CHAPTERS LEFT. TEARS.