The Art of Lore: Chapter 3: Through the Dark Forest Ride
Author: starhawk2005
Fandom: Marvel's Avengers
Date: Jan 2016
Pairing: Loki/ Jane (Lokane)
Rating: Adult (18+).
Summary: Loki and Jane visit the first Realm on their to-do list, Alfheim.
Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all, except for the occasional OC.
I'll never get tired of this. Ever, Jane marvels as she rockets through space encircled in Loki's arms.
She wishes she could hit some kind of button and pause the ride now and then, just so she could examine more closely all the heavenly bodies speeding by. Patience, she advises herself. I'm already going to be seeing nine new worlds on this trip. Don't get greedy!
It's just after this thought that she first notices the planet. It's far off at first, but as the seconds tick by it gets larger, and before long it fills most of the space in front of them.
She's pretty sure this has got to be Alfheim. Even through the rushing rainbow lights Jane can catch glimpses of the silvery forests and the gigantic mountain range she spied before in Loki's illusion, everything getting progressively larger as they hurtle towards the planet.
The light around them changes, shading from prisms of every colour imaginable into a light so pure and white that it blinds her, and her feet make contact with a hard surface, jolting her as the wind of their passage dies.
Without Loki's arms around her she almost certainly would have fallen over, but that doesn't bother her. She laughs exuberantly, clutching at Loki's leather sleeves as she works to catch her breath. "That is never going to get old."
He smirks down at her, only releasing his grip once he's sure she can stand on her own. "I am glad you are enjoying yourself thus far. Welcome to Alfheim, Jane Foster of Midgard." He motions towards the trees that ring them in.
They're standing in a clearing surrounded by golden-skinned trees so tall that Jane has to crane her head until she feels the back of her skull touch her neck, to see the canopy.
The grass around Jane's feet is the same silver hue as the leaves on the trees, and incredibly soft when Jane bends wonderingly to touch the blades. Giving in to the urge to wander, she meanders over to the closest tree to touch the spiraling ridges in the bark, the texture of it unlike any tree she's ever felt on Earth. When she looks up she can see sprays of tiny sky-blue flowers hiding among the silver foliage.
Behind her Loki seats himself on a flat rock in the center of the clearing, lounging patiently as Jane stops to take a breath of the sweetly-scented air (the perfume seems to be coming mostly from the grasses), and to listen to the tinkling whisper of the leaves.
After a minute or so she turns to Loki. "Are there no birds?" Granted, she shouldn't expect that all the nine planets would have the same kinds of animals that Earth has, and yet…it seems strangely quiet without birdsong.
"On Alfheim? Of a sort, but they live…elsewhere. Let me show you." He rises and takes her by the hand, leading Jane off to a side that she hasn't explored yet.
There's a trail there, lined with flat, gold-toned rocks. It slopes gently downwards, and after walking for about five minutes the trees around them open up into an even larger clearing.
Jane stops dead in wonder, as over the tops of the trees she can now see one of the huge mountains. It certainly dwarfs anything she's ever seen on Earth, although admittedly she hasn't seen that many mountains in person. But this Alfheim geographical feature seems even more enormous than the massive mountain range she's seen in Asgard, so she's duly impressed.
As they resume walking Loki guides her forward, and she notices for the first time the immense pond in the very center of the clearing. The path they're standing on leads to and circles around it, the stones becoming gradually larger the closer they get to the pool's edge.
She and Loki follow the path, seating themselves on the wide rim of the pond, and what Jane she sees in the pale green water leaves her speechless for long seconds.
OK, that gives new meaning to the word 'waterfowl'. She turns to Loki. "OK, not what I expected, that's for sure!" He smiles broadly as he conjures small bits of bread to lure the water's residents. He's clearly gleaning a lot of enjoyment from her reactions.
Jane eagerly studies the strange creatures as they approach in droves. They certainly fly a lot like Earth birds, pushing themselves through the water with body parts that closely resemble bird wings. And though Jane is no expert, these animals seem to be covered with both scales and stiff feathers. They certainly are colourful, much like their Earth counterparts. Jane's favourite has sapphire-blue scales/feathers on its head, a breast of deep green, and 'wings' of gold that shade into silver across its back and long, curling tail.
"I guess they don't sing?" she inquires. They are blowing bubbles in the water as Jane watches but if that's a form of communication of any kind, she has no clue.
"After a fashion," Loki replies, scattering another handful of bread chunks. "The sounds are not dissimilar to the sounds your Midgardian whales make, if several orders of magnitude quieter. But they typically only emit such noises during their mating season, which is not for some months yet. The light elves normally keep and breed them for their colours."
At the reminder, Jane raises her eyes from the water to examine the clearing. The patterned regularity of the path and the stones around the pond suggest intelligent beings constructed them, but- "Where are they? The light elves, I mean."
"The light elves ceased living on the Realm's surface many centuries ago. They prefer to allow the plant and animal life of this world to live unmolested as much as possible, barring a few places that they deem sacred. Or which they maintain to give themselves a haven when they require respite from the travails of daily life."
"So, this place is like a temple? Or a vacation spot?"
"The latter," he confirms as Jane returns her gaze to the fantastical creatures in the pond.
It also reminds Jane that she's a tourist here, and therefore…Ooops!
"I need to take some pictures, or Darcy and Erik will kill me. Can I have my camera, please?" It only takes a graceful motion of Loki's hand, and Jane's SLR and video cameras appear in her lap.
She takes a little movie of the bird-fish creatures, as well as the view of the mountains and the trees that ring the clearing. Then she snaps at least thirty photos. Through it all Loki waits, following her movements with his eyes as he swirls the pool water with long fingers, the bird-fish swimming over to investigate.
As Jane ambles around the clearing she wonders whether she'll be able to share any information about this trip with anyone beyond her two closest friends. Tony? Probably; he'll badger her to death otherwise. Maybe Steve, Bruce, and Phil too, if they're interested. But this is all old hat to Thor, Jane's sure, and she also has trouble believing Agents Romanoff and Barton will care at all. Nick Fury? Doubtful. And speaking of Phil and Fury, what about, say, sharing all this with the larger scientific community?
Yeah, good luck with that. SHIELD hasn't exactly been eager to share all the details about Thor and Asgard (let alone Thanos and the Chitauri!) with the world. I won't hold my breath. She gets the very definite impression SHIELD will not want anything about her honeymoon (heck, even her marriage to a certain 'god') going public in any way; they've been working way too hard to keep anything 'alien' out of the public eye for as long as they could. They couldn't hide what happened in New York, but they sure tried their best, Jane thinks sourly. The secrecy around the construction of her own portal alone had demonstrated in spades just how far SHIELD would go to hide those things it deemed too 'risky'.
Doing her best to shake off these glum thoughts, she finally returns to the pond and Loki rolls to his feet, dusting crumbs from his hands and disappearing her cameras with more hand-motions. "Are you ready to meet the light elves, my love?"
"Absolutely," Jane says, though both excitement and nerves roil her belly at the thought. She's always been more comfortable with natural phenomena than with people. Now that she's on a strange planet, about to meet people (aliens!) with a culture likely to be totally new to her….well, the potential for making a huge gaffe is just that much greater.
Loki looks her up and down, brow furrowed in thought. "The two of us shall be very conspicuous in any case, but perhaps you will allow me to conceal your Midgardian clothing in illusion? I know that you are often made uncomfortable by the stares of others, and such clothing will surely incite curiosity."
He knows me too well. Jane nods her agreement.
She feels something then, a light prickling sensation on her skin, and she looks down to see herself now covered shoulders-to-toes in a robe of dark green and black, embroidered with gold. Loki's colours, of course.
"That tickled," she remarks, more to herself than anything else, but Loki tilts his head pensively.
"This is not the first time you have 'felt' magic, have you?"
Jane shakes her head. Although she's not sure it counts, she remembers the shimmering haze she'd witnessed behind her trailer the day Loki and Thor had fought over her, and how she'd managed to pierce the veil of Loki's cloaking spell after a lot of mental effort on her part.
And then there'd been the ominous tingle she'd felt right before The Other had wrenched her up straight into the air, kidnapping her. She can't repress a shudder, and Loki steps forward to take her hand, his brow creased in concern. "It's nothing," she claims before he can ask, "Just a bad memory."
"Then let us replace it with a better one," he suggests as he takes her hand and guides it to the crook of his elbow. Jane expects him to teleport them away, but in place of that he leads her around and past the pond, to the exact opposite side of the clearing from where they first entered.
The largest square yet of golden stone is set into the ground at the edge of the clearing, sunken slightly into the earth, and inlaid in the middle of the slab is a large disc of metal. It's etched with filigreed symbols which remind Jane very strongly of the mark the Asgardian Bifröst burns into the ground every time it touches down somewhere.
She bends to studies the symbols more closely. "This is the Light Elvish version of the Rainbow Bridge," Loki explains behind her. "They prefer not to damage the soil each time the end of the Bridge contacts the earth, and so they set permanent anchors for it instead. You will always find such in locations on Alfheim that the light elves visit regularly." Dutifully, Jane asks for her camera back so she can snap a picture or two (no doubt SHIELD will be curious, and maybe she can think about doing something similar with her own portal at some point in the future).
"Shall we?" he inquires. Her camera vanishes once more as he takes her arm and ushers her onto the disc.
Jane frowns at the faint itch that blooms immediately on the soles of her feet, even through the thick soles of her sneakers-which-Loki-has-given-the-appearance-of-boots. He blinks down at her. "You do sense the power, don't you?" he murmurs, giving her another searching look.
Before Jane can ask why this fact is so interesting to him, she feels something like a gentle push to the middle of her back, and everything around them swirls noiselessly into silver light.
A breath later colours form in front of her eyes again, bleeding and blurring together as she feels a mild impact against her chest. She recoils but they've already stopped moving, and a second later everything comes into focus. Her mouth falls open inelegantly before she can help herself.
They're in a huge room, much like the observatory on Asgard. The ceiling is a curving dome of massive windows, and through it Jane sees clear blue skies, with a sun blazing directly overhead that's not so much different than the Earth's. Though it's quite a bit larger, and the colour of the sunlight seems subtly different in a way that makes Jane itch to pull out her spectral analyzer. Could the Alfheim sun be a Class O or B star? I'll check into that later, she promises herself.
She and Loki are currently standing on a high dais, and beneath their feet is a disc which is identical to the one she just saw on the forest floor. But it's not the only one in the room; Jane can see at least ten other raised platforms, all of which have the same disc set into them. I guess this is a 'transporter room', or something like that.
Loki guides Jane carefully down the stairs to the floor, Jane trying to do that at the same time as she is examining the twisting patterns etched into each step, the floor, the low walls that ring the room…it's very reminiscent of Asgard, though the predominant shade is silver rather than gold.
Her husband clears his throat to get her attention, and Jane notices for the first time that they aren't alone. It takes a great deal of effort for Jane to keep her jaw from dropping again as she lays eyes on a light elf for the first time. Or rather, six of them.
The pointed ears she certainly expected. The deep-set, bright yellow eyes a lot less. But really, the rest is just-
"Prince Loki of Asgard," one of the elves steps forward from the group to greet them, long iridescent robes swirling around him as he bows his head and crosses his forearms over his chest. "We have not seen you for many ells. Welcome back to Alfheim. And may I presume this is your lady wife, the one we have heard so much about?" He executes the same movement towards her and Jane can only assume this is the light elvish equivalent of bowing.
'Heard so much about?' Oh, no. Here it comes.
Loki inclines his head haughtily in a way that makes her want to elbow him in the side. "You presume correctly, Oree'an rin Ky'sol. May I present my wife, Jane Foster of Midgard. The Deathkiller." He adds the last two words with relish, now Jane does elbow him in the side though it barely moves him.
"Stop that," she mutters crossly out the side of her mouth. But the elf who addressed them is grinning with delight as he moves to stand in front of Jane, crossing his hands and bowing his head again, if possible more deeply than before. Jane is mortified to discover that yes, she is blushing.
"You honour us with your presence, Princess Jane of Midgard. I shall inform the Queen of your arrival presently. I know she is most eager to hear the tale of the Abomination's defeat. My Prince, perhaps you would care to show your wife around the city as we prepare your rooms?"
"Certainly. Be assured that my esteemed wife hungers to see the many wonders of Cerrat." Loki winks at Jane.
The man – Oree'an, Loki called him – grins broadly, genuflects again, and strides purposefully away. The other elves execute the same bow and disperse, the sunlight gleaming off their faces and hair.
Their ink-black faces and hair.
Loki tugs lightly at Jane's arm, urging her in the direction Oree'an just left. There's a low hum behind them just before they exit, and Jane glances back to see one of the other discs operating, a mass of rainbow light blooming above it before the light unfolds like a fan to reveal two light elves. Jane has just enough time to witness them descending the steps and joyously greeting the elves that await, before the room's filigreed double doors swish shut behind her.
Jane has to hurry to keep up with Loki's long stride. "OK, I need you to explain something to me. I thought you said these were the light elves."
A hint of a smirk hovers on his lips. "I did, and they are."
"Um, OK, I…don't get it. They're dark. And I mean, really dark. Like, 'center-of-a-black-hole black' dark." Jane drops her voice as three elves appear at the other end of the corridor they are moving through. The elves bow their heads and cross their arms in respect as she and Loki pass them, though they're also trying too obviously not to stare at her and Loki.
The walls of the hallway are made up of some kind of filmy substance, so Jane can't see anything through them. There is a thin strip of clear glass running along the ceiling of the hall, like a skylight, allowing warm sunlight to pour in.
"OK, I'll bite – where's the 'light' part, exactly?" Jane persists after a few steps, getting impatient now.
"Oh, there are several ancient tales about that, and it will take some time to describe them. I shall do so later this evening, I promise you."
Jane nods unwillingly, though a moment later she forgets her irritation with him as Loki guides her through a doorway to her right, and into another room. The walls are made of nothing but clear glass from floor to ceiling, and the view steals the air from Jane's lungs. She walks on unsteady feet to the nearest section of windows, looking out for a long second, then she turns to Loki in awe. "Why didn't you tell me?"
When he'd said the elves had left the planet's surface, she hadn't really thought through what that might mean. Certainly Jane would never have imagined anything like this.
"And spoil this delectable moment of surprise, my Jane? Hardly." He saunters next to her to take in the view himself. If Jane tries to look down, all she can see is clouds; the fluffy white masses are clinging to the outside walls, just below the windows they're looking out of. But about two or three yards out the clouds fade away, and past their thinning edges Jane can clearly see the ground…far beneath them. The silver forests and mountains look unbelievably tiny from here.
"Is th-" she stammers, takes a deep breath, and tries again, "Are we are in a flying city?"
"Essentially," Loki replies nonchalantly. He's obviously been here enough times that he's immune to the miracle of all this. At the same time, he's just as obviously enjoying renewing his acquaintance with the place through Jane's amazed eyes. "Though 'floating' would be the most accurate descriptor. All of Alfheim's people and their domesticated animals have lived in cloud-cities for centuries, as I alluded to earlier. This particular city, Cerrat, is the largest but there are forty-six others, varying in size from populations of thousands, down to several hundred."
"It's so beautiful," Jane breathes, crossing to the opposite window-wall to take in the view on that side. Again, she remembers just in time to ask Loki for her cameras. Darcy's going to flip when she sees all this!
"I think I need my backpack back," she observes a few minutes later, starting to feel bad about having to pester Loki every five seconds, or so it seems, to conjure her equipment for her.
After a moment's thought Loki pulls a small leather satchel from the air, and Jane thanks him as she puts the cameras away. I'll get a shot or three of the 'transporter room' later, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from Erik, she reminds herself.
"What's the propulsion system for the city?" she asks Loki curiously. "I mean, I don't feel the floor vibrating, or hear engines or anything like that." While flying in the Helicarrier had been far quieter than being inside a commercial jetliner, it had still been possible to feel and hear a slight vibration if you stopped still and listened, but Jane hasn't noticed anything like that since arriving in Cerrat.
"Magic," Loki states simply, as if it should be obvious, and Jane can't stop a roll of her eyes.
"Uh-huh. You know, one of these days you're going to have to try to explain this whole 'magic' thing to me. How it all works, I mean."
His reply is postponed by the appearance of Oree'an in the doorway. "Prince Loki, Princess Jane. The Queen has requested your presence."
Loki nods regally in answer. "Of course." He takes Jane's hand and they follow after the elf down the same corridor as before. It quickly opens out into an enclosed area that might actually be large enough to hold all of the town of Puente Antiguo, as far as Jane can guess. The dome of clear glass (or whatever passes for glass here) that makes up the ceiling is larger than any such structure Jane knows of on Earth.
They follow Oree'an along streets paved with smooth tiles of grey, passing large spaces filled with fountains of crystal, tall gold-trunked trees, and landscaped swaths of flowers in a dizzying array of colours.
A stream of clear water rushes alongside the path they're following, though it meanders away every now and then into one of the garden spaces.
They also pass some areas where structures are grouped together. One particularly large grouping that they pass, set in a ring, looks like a farmer's market of some sort, and other areas are obviously places where merchants are selling goods. Jane sees what appears to be weapons, potions, crystalline jewelry, and even one stall that's selling what Jane assumes are musical instruments.
The structures themselves look odd to Jane, though Loki hurries her along after Oree'an before she can take a better look to confirm what she thinks she's seen. If I didn't know better, I'd say they look like they are made up of tree trunks and branches which have chosen – or were forced somehow? – to grow into tables, and also into decorative archways and signs over each merchant's booth, but… that's not possible. Isn't it?
It's a strange kind of torture for Jane: as their little party passes, groups of light elves stop, genuflect, and then try not to stare after them, murmuring to each other in excited tones.
Jane's pretty sure her blushing is only just beginning for the day.
As if all this attention wasn't awkward enough for an introvert like Jane, there's also the strange and wonderful things she keeps glimpsing, and that she wants desperately to stop and examine more closely. Not just the tree-tables and the towering fountains of shimmering crystal, but also the public garden that seems to be in the very middle of this enclosed space, filled with at least thirty statues carved out of rainbow-hued blocks of crystal.
Then there's the series of tall doors in the wall of the dome off to their left, which open out into… Jane can only describe it as some kind of giant balcony-cum-pasture. It's a fenced-in sea of grass the size of a football field with clouds clinging to the periphery, though in some places the clouds thin enough that Jane can see, beyond the ring of fences, how the sides of the pasture end in a sheer drop. Like a cliff's edge.
But that's nothing compared to the animals running through the swaying grasses, some of them galloping free, a few being ridden or led by light elves.
My God, those are…no wait, really? Well, ok, not exactly, but-
There seem to be unicorns – unicorns! – frolicking in the long grasses, except they have two horns instead of one. And some of them have wings like bats.
They appear to come in every colour Earth horses do, plus a few colours Jane's never seen on a human animal, like the one off in the far corner of the field with a coat of iridescent blue, and wings and horns of dark grey.
They're outside, she realizes a beat later. There's no dome protecting them from the elements. How are they able to breathe out there?
The obvious answer comes to her almost immediately: Magic, I'll bet.
She really really needs Loki to try to explain this whole magic thing to her, and soon.
Jane also really really wants to stop and take in all of these wonders properly (and take more pictures!), but every time she tries Loki keeps urging her along.
He smirks at her latest growl of frustration. "Patience, wife," he murmurs for her ears only. "Rest assured that we will spend many days in this fair city. Much time will remain to slake your voracious curiosity, after we have performed our diplomatic duties."
Jane stifles her aggravated sigh and lets herself be led along, as more and more elves stop what they are doing and stare after them. As a people, they're generally taller and more heavily muscled than Jane had expected….frankly, she'd expected them to be pale, slender, willowy beings who lived in trees and sang silly songs…Tolkien got it so wrong, she thinks with amusement.
They finally reach the opposite edge of the dome, passing over the stream one last time by walking across a bridge of decoratively twisted metal, and then into an enclosed walkway made entirely of glass, except for the grey stone tiles beneath their feet.
Through the glass walls, Jane sees what can only be Alfheim's Palace. While it's not nearly as imposing as the one at Asgard, it's still very impressive to Jane.
Much like the Asbru Bridge of Asgard, the walkway they are on stretches off quite some distance in front of them, leading directly to the imposing building. It looks like hundreds and hundreds of shimmering, milky crystalline spires of various sizes, all of them stuck together in a way that looks almost organic, as if the building was not constructed, but grown. For all Jane knows, it was grown.
As they get closer, countless balconies and open archways in the spires come into view, many of them populated. Again she has to wonder how the elves can comfortably linger outside in what surely has to be a thin, very cold atmosphere up here.
The walkway they're on begins to gradually slope downward, and Jane's legs are aching by the time they reach the end. I am so out of shape, she groans to herself. She really needs to take more of those dance-aerobics classes with Darcy.
And maybe weight-lifting. And, you know, kick-boxing or something, just so I can make some tiny attempt to live up to this whole 'Deathkiller' thing.
They pass through two folding glass doors, and Jane blinks to find herself standing out in the open air. It's actually warm (if humid) and Jane has no trouble at all breathing. Magic again, she'd guess.
Her little party of three is now standing in what appears to be a large circular courtyard, smack dab in front of the towering spires of the Palace. Rank upon rank of elves clad in gleaming silver armour block their path, until their leader genuflects with a smile, and the ranks open in a tightly choreographed maneuver to allow them to pass.
More elves stand in a straight line in front of tall crystal doors in the Palace, but as Oree'an leads her and Loki forward, they too bow their heads and cross their arms. Then they step aside, all except the four elves who push on the doors to swing them open. Jane catches a brief glimpse of etched drawings on those doors, which seem to depict some kind of battle between the elves and some enemy she can't identify, before they are whisked through and into the huge, airy open space beyond.
This Hall is perhaps slightly less awe-inspiring to Jane than it once might have been; she's become fairly well acquainted with these kinds of things after all her time in Asgard.
Still, the crystal pillars, carved into spirals which mimic the Alfheim trees, stretch nearly six stories up to the ceiling of the Hall, and both that ceiling and the tops of the spires have been carved to resemble a forest canopy. Jane is suitably enthralled by the scale and the workmanship.
Equally tall, long bands of sheer gossamer fabric hang along the sides of the Hall, all of them dyed in different, if pale, colours. Each has a different intricate symbol embroidered into it; at a guess, Jane would bet each represents a different group or tribe of elves.
Despite the grandeur, however, it soon becomes obvious to Jane that the elven Queen stands on much less ceremony than Odin. While the Hall is large (if not quite as large as the Asgardian Greater Hall), and many elves stand guard along the sides of the room, the throne is a surprisingly simple affair of dark wood. The vines and flowers carved into it are only slightly gilded, and the cushion on it is patterned in gold and silver, but those are the only ostentatious touches. In addition, instead of being raised on a dais, the throne sits in the middle of the floor, on the same level as everyone milling around.
It makes Odin, with his colossal gold throne set on top of a ridiculously tall dais, seem arrogant and needlessly self-important by comparison. I think I like these Light Elves!
The occupant of the throne rises to her feet as they approach. "Prince Loki," The Queen greets them. Her gown is also simple, pale gold in colour and with not much in the way of decoration or jewels. Her ebony hair, which is long enough to brush the floor, is plaited into a single braid, and a thin circlet of gold wraps around her brow. It too is relatively plain, bearing only a small blue stone in the center which is surrounded by miniscule leaves and flowers sculpted into the metal, in echo of the throne behind her.
She doesn't bow her head or cross her arms over her chest, but she does smile fondly and extend a hand to Loki as she waves Oree'an away. Grinning, he takes it and elegantly kisses the back. Next to the throne is a smaller, even plainer seat, and a male elf rises from it to stand next to the Queen. His clothes are even less elaborate than the Queen's; a tunic and pants of light silver-grey, though a simple, unadorned circlet of silver crosses his forehead as well.
"Your Majesty, may I present my wife, Jane Foster of Midgard?" Loki inquires, placing a hand on the small of Jane's back to push her slightly forward. "Jane, this is Ar'tora ren Cy'rrn, Queen of Alfheim."
Jane smiles shyly and clumsily drops into a curtsey. "Your Majesty."
The Queen's smile widens, though her yellow eyes are kind. Jane notices for the first time that the pupils of light elves are not round like those of humans and Asgardians, but shaped more like rectangles. "Is that how Midgardians greet their royalty? Fascinating. Allow me to present my Consort, Do'ran rin Xe'ryn." The man next to her smiles and genuflects, laugh lines creasing his face.
"Ah, the Deathkiller," he observes in a surprisingly deep voice. "Forgive my impertinence, Princess Jane, but given all the tales concerning your defeat of the Abomination, I had expected you to be, perhaps….taller."
Jane blinks in confusion. "You- you heard about that?" she stammers. OK, so that guy Oree'an had known, so she probably should have seen this coming. But somehow she'd never expected that the royalty of another world would know or care at all about someone so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, like one Jane Foster-
The Queen laughs kindly. "You must be new to the Asgardian Court. I am afraid you will find, Jane Foster of Midgard, that the only thing that travels faster between Realms than the Bifröst, is gossip."
Jane can't help an undignified snort in answer. "Yeah, word travels fast on Earth too. I guess elves and humans aren't so different in that way." From the corner of her eye Jane is aware of Loki smirking at their exchange.
The Queen turns her attention to Loki. "Speaking of gossip, how fare the Father and Mother of All, Prince?"
The smirk drops from Loki's face immediately, and Jane feels instantly sorry for him. Even here on their honeymoon, it seems Loki can never fully escape Odin's shadow.
His voice is a study in blandness as he answers: "As well as can be expected, my Queen. It has been many centuries since Asgard was attacked with such…vigour. The All-Father was not prepared for the might of Thanos' armies." Jane knows all too well what Loki doesn't say: Odin chose not to prepare.
Loki tried to warn him, but Odin chose instead to throw Loki in jail.
"Not since the wars with Svartalfheim or Jotunheim, by all accounts," the Queen agrees, nodding.
"And your Bifröst is yet to be rebuilt?" asks Do'ran, his curiosity evident.
"We are some months from its completion, yes. It is based on ancient magics and knowledge that few in Asgard possess any longer."
"Would that we could aid Asgard in that task, but as you know the magics of Alfheim and Asgard differ too greatly in that regard," the Queen remarks somberly.
Loki inclines his head again in full-on diplomatic mode. "That is a sentiment that we of Asgard most appreciate, my Queen. The All-Father has always been pleased to count the light elves as friends."
"Alfheim is one of the few Realms which has never gone to war with Asgard," the Queen explains to Jane. "And I note that Midgard is the other. That is an additional detail that our two Realms have in common, Jane Foster. It is therefore strange to me that our peoples have remained so separate over the eons. I cannot recall the last time a human set foot in one of our cities."
"Perhaps that is soon to change, my Queen," Loki suggests. "My wife has been laboring for many long years to build a Bifröst on Midgard. Before long you may well be welcoming many visitors from that Realm." The look he turns on Jane as he says this is brimming with enough pride to make her cheeks turn embarrassingly hot. Stop that, she wants to hiss at him.
She settles for an eye-roll.
"I was unaware that Midgard was anywhere near ready in that regard," the Queen informs them, an eager light in her eyes. "Clearly I was misinformed and therefore I must hear more about the matter. As well as the full tale of your battle against the Abomination. Gossip can sustain for a time, but it is usually embellished far beyond the true happenings of the original event. I thus often find myself craving the details from the actual source. And now that I have that, I intend to take full advantage. The two of you simply must dine with us this evening."
It's an order (though polite) and not a request, but Loki still treats it as one. "Of course. The Deathkiller and I would be honoured." He flicks a quick grin at Jane and the colour deepening in her cheeks.
I'm going to kill him, Jane decides. Seriously.
Arrangements have been made for them to stay at the Palace for as long as they are in Cerrat, and their suite of rooms is just as grand – and insanely large and ostentatious – as Loki's chambers in Asgard, even if the décor is very different.
The walls are crystal, not stone, though Jane is relieved to discover they are also opaque, just like the Palace's exterior walls. She's not anywhere near as much of an exhibitionist as Loki is!
The golden bed which dominates the main room is just as huge as she expected. Each corner of the bed has a post with spirals carved into it, as well as exquisitely realistic shoots and tiny blue flowers 'sprouting' here and there. They look just like the Alfheim trees, and the same motif carries over every piece of furniture that Jane sees here; all the furniture legs have the same spirals, leaves and flowers, and even the flat surfaces of the tables, chairs and desks are subtly grooved as if someone took the bark off one or more of the trees, laid it out flat, and then sanded it down.
Then she reaches to touch one of the tiny sculpted flowers, and gets her next surprise. Petal-softness registers against her fingertips. "Whoa, these leaves and flowers are real? The furniture is…alive?" She turns stunned eyes on Loki.
"Essentially," he replies, sitting on one of the chairs to shrug off his surcoat. "Originally they were trees taken from the forests below and coaxed to grow into the required shapes, so that the Elves need not cause the plants pain by cutting the wood." He stretches out his legs, crossing them at the ankle. "But now the Elves cultivate them in special gardens in their cloud-cities, and the trees are so inured to what is required that the Elves no longer need to use magic to direct their growth."
"But…" Jane stares at Loki, then looks down at the chair her hand is resting on. "These are living things. Don't they need sun, and watering? They don't seem to have a root system." By way of illustration she tries to move the chair, and it glides smoothly across the crystalline flooring.
"Servants water the furniture once a week," Loki tells her, but the hint of a smirk on his lips and the gleam in his eye makes her think he's putting her on.
She gives him a hard look to let him know she wasn't born yesterday – it's probably magic keeping the furniture alive, it has to be - but she's too enthralled by it all to maintain a grumpy mood.
Still, she wonders how he can be so blasé about everything. "I know this whole 'magic' thing is no big deal to you, Loki, but still…how can you not find this all completely amazing?"
"Oh I did at one point, when I was a child and viewing these marvels for the first time," he admits, his expression pensive. "Perhaps that is the one drawback of being a mage myself; matters that seem miraculous to some, are of little note to me. Even though the magics of Alfheim are not easily grasped by those not born to them, their principles are not unfamiliar to one such as me. Given enough time and practice – and knowledge of the proper spells – I could perform many of the same feats."
Jane shakes her head slightly. "If – when – I ever figure out the secrets of the universe, I hope I never fall prey to that. I mean, that I don't ever start to see all this as commonplace."
"Somehow I feel that is an unlikely scenario for you, my love. And while we are speaking of wonders, allow me to reveal another to you." He stands and reaches for her hand.
Along one wall of the bedroom there hangs a set of iridescent curtains, rippling slowly as if in a breeze that Jane can't feel. Loki leads her towards and then, without skipping a beat, through them as though they aren't there. A tingling sensation on her skin draws a gasp out of her when they breach the curtains.
She blinks and they are standing on a large terrace, spanned by a graceful arch of filigreed railing, the floor beneath their feet made of the same crystal as the bedroom floor.
The view is utterly breathtaking.
"Oh. My. God. I need my-" Before she finishes the sentence Loki has already conjured the satchel with her cameras from where she dropped it on the bed. He leans on his elbows on the railing, the black strands of his hair blown gently around his face by the mild wind as Jane snaps more pictures.
She tries her best to capture how the clouds at the base of the back of the Palace, forty stories below them, thin and fade about twenty yards out, allowing the magnificent sprawl of forests and mountains below them to come into view. Not to mention the breathtaking sunset that is happening: the sun is now more than halfway below the horizon, painting sky and clouds in soft pastel colours.
But even those are nothing compared to the gigantic moon looming in the left-hand side of the sky. It's the same white colour as Earth's moon, but it's so close to Alfheim that it is larger by a third than the sun itself.
"The tides on Alfheim must be insane," Jane muses out loud, scrabbling in the satchel for her dog-eared notepad. "I wonder what kind of gravitational forces it exerts. Mind you, is it a giant moon, or is it actually a small moon that's just in really really close orbit? If it's close, I'll bet that causes a lot of seismic activity on Alfheim." She pauses in her scribbling, squinting up at the planetary body. "Wait, is it a moon? If it's big enough it could have an atmosphere, and..."
She rambles on, though Loki smiles indulgently and patiently answers all of Jane's rapid-fire questions as best he can. Only seconds later, it seems, a servant arrives to inform them that their meal with the Queen will begin within an hour.
Jane takes several pictures of the room and its unique furniture while her cameras are still out, before she races to get ready for their audience with the Queen. The dress Loki conjures for her is gold in colour, with hundreds of tiny emeralds worked into the embroidery on the bodice. The emerald-studded collar necklace he fastens around her throat himself just puts it over the top.
She gulps nervously, remembering the Alfheim Queen's relatively plain clothing, but if this is what Loki thinks is appropriate it's probably better not to argue. Like it or not Jane is a representative of sorts for Earth (and as Loki's wife, probably for Asgard as well), and with her utter lack of experience in the ways of diplomacy, she's got to rely on his judgment.
Loki himself has chosen to wear primarily black. The black leather pants and boots are still there (aren't they nearly always, with him?) but he's changed into a short tunic made of a black velvety fabric. Bracers of gold inlaid with emeralds, to match Jane's outfit, decorate his wrists.
Cursing under her breath she tries to tame her hair into an Asgardian-worthy style, but he urges her instead to put it into single simple braid. "It is the fashion here."
"You look…wow," Jane tells him. "And have I told you just how much I love your hair lately? Whatever Frigga says, don't you dare cut it. It's a good look for you." He's been letting it grow, and the loose ringlets are currently long enough to hang just past the tops of his shoulders.
He sweeps the strands back, a little self-consciously it seems to Jane, but he smirks at her all the same when she gives in to the need to go over and wind her fingers into the inky mass.
She drowns happily in the hot press of his lips on hers, but just when her hands start to slide hungrily up his back he pulls back slightly, murmuring reluctantly against her lips: "Time enough for that later, my love. For now the Queen and her Consort await us."
Jane tries her best to quell her anxiety as she and Loki follow after yet another attendant in the soft grey robes that seem to be the uniform of the Palace servants.
C'mon Jane, you've been around Asgardian royalty more than a few times. How much different can this be? But even as she attempts to convince herself, she knows that this is a horse of a completely different colour. She'd met Odin and Frigga for the first time under very informal and stressful circumstances, so nobody could have criticized her for not knowing protocol. In addition, she'd already suspected that Frigga would be on her side no matter what (and that Odin would be a write-off no matter what). In many of the other situations, Thor had also been there to help ease any awkwardness Jane had felt.
But here she has no friends other than Loki, no sympathetic in-laws, and these elves are just so…different. Say what you will about Asgardians, but take away the god-like brawn and the 'magic', and they aren't so different in their behaviour and appearance from us humans.
It does relieve her slightly to discover that their dinner with the Queen is very nearly just that; instead of a Hall crowded to the brim with elves, it's just her and Loki, the Queen and her consort, and four other couples who the Queen introduces to her as the members of her Council of Matrons. This society is a matriarchy! Jane realizes then in admiration. Too bad that's not 'a thing' back home.
Despite the size of the dinner party, there's virtually enough food to feed an entire Hall of Asgardians, and it's just as elegant and grand as Jane might have expected; the plates are of a heavy gold-toned wood that subtly shimmers in the light of the torches and the massive fireplace on one side of the room, and all the glasses and utensils are of the most expertly faceted crystal. In an alcove on the other side of the room sits a group of musicians playing soft music on bizarrely wonderful instruments. One elf holds what looks like a guitar, though it has eight strings, while another is playing what looks like flute that's been split in half, although one part of the flute is off to the side, and the other extends in front of the musician much like a recorder from Earth. Then there's the instrument which looks like a cello with three strings, but the body of the instrument is spherical.
Jane is less taken aback by the food. The slab of meatiness under a ruby-red sauce turns out to be a type of fungus, and the knobby things next to it are obviously some kind of potato, but the fact that light elves are apparently vegetarian doesn't shock her at all. Any race of beings who have gone to all the trouble of living in a floating city to avoid leaving a 'footprint' on the planet, is probably not going to be all that keen on killing animals for food.
The conversation flows easily during dinner (Thank God for Loki's silver tongue), but Jane remains on edge. The Queen's attention is focused more on Jane than on Loki or indeed anyone else at the table. It's as nerve-wracking as being the center of attention in a Hall full of people.
Will I ever get used to this? she grumbles to herself as she clutches Loki's hand under the table, her fingers and palm damp with sweat. He squeezes her hand reassuringly from time-to-time and smiles at her though it doesn't help that much.
Then comes the moment of truth, "So," the Queen declares as the servants clear away the dessert dishes – a delicious green and spongy mousse made from a local plant – and make another pass to fill their crystal goblets with a sweet-smelling fermented beverage. "I can contain my curiosity no longer. Please tell me the tale of Thanos' defeat. And spare absolutely no detail." She leans forward impatiently in her chair.
Oh crap, she's looking at me. Jane turns a pleading gaze on Loki, silently begging him. He's a better story-teller than her, right?
But he only smirks slightly and inclines his head courteously in her direction. Bastard.
Jane sighs inwardly. Of course he enjoys watching her squirm- Oh crap.
Where does she begin, and how much do they know about Loki here? Do they know about the thorny issue of his Frost Giant heritage, and how Thanos had revealed it during the last battle? Can I get away without mentioning the Frost Giant thing at all, assuming they don't already know? If they don't know, I'm not sure it's my place to tell them.
If they do know, would they be more sympathetic than the Asgardians are? She just doesn't have enough variables to solve this equation. And the Queen is waiting!
Luckily at that moment the obvious occurs to her and Jane inhales in relief. "Just so I don't bore you, maybe you should let me know first what you've already heard? I don't know how far back I should start."
"We know little enough," the Queen replies, but she's smiling in a pleasant way. Then she tells a very different tale from what Jane has come to know as the truth. That after centuries of peace the Jotuns had breached Odin's Vault during Thor's attempted coronation, and that a young and brash Thor had led a party of Asgardian warriors into Jotunheim in retaliation, against Odin's express orders.
That Odin had sent Thor in mortal form to Earth to learn wisdom, and then Odin had fallen into the Sleep and Loki had assumed the throne.
The Queen pauses, her expression more somber now. "The new King came up with a novel plan to secure his Realm against attack by the Jotuns. His goal was to destroy their home using the power of the Bifröst. But this power proved too difficult to control, and the Asbru Bridge broke, casting the new King and the Bifröst into the Void between the Realms." The Queen's eyes shift to Loki. "And he was believed dead."
Throughout the Queen's tale Loki sits still in his chair, his face unreadable. Is this the official tale that Asgard has been feeding the other Realms?
"I have never understood how you could have done something so rash," one of the younger Matrons interrupts then, her tone strident. She had been introduced as Be'lanu ren Sor'a, Jane remembers.
"Be'lanu!" The Queen interjects, her brows coming together. "That is hardly the way to speak to guests-"
"No, you are right, Matron," Loki agrees amiably, though maybe it's only Jane who notices the annoyance in the depths of his eyes. "Rash it does seem to me now as well, though at the time I only thought to defend Asgard against what seemed like an insurmountable threat. And to protect the other Realms as well, given I judged it likely that should the Jotuns have defeated Asgard, they would then decide to turn their attention to conquering other, more…peaceful Realms."
Jane's not sure if Loki intends the last remark as a veiled warning, but the Queen apparently is on Loki's side, if her next remark is anything to go by: "A fair prediction, my Prince. We all know how often the Jotuns have gone to war in the past." The Queen shoots a look at the Matron. "As you know all too well, Be'lanu, Queens and Kings are not infallible. That is why I have the Council, is it not?"
"Would that we had a similar Council on Asgard," Loki adds silkily, and Jane can tell he's fallen back into perfect diplomatic mode. "Perhaps I would have made a different decision. Alas, that has never been the custom on Asgard. My- the All-Father has tended to rely, if he does at all, merely on the counsel of Frigga and sometimes, when the mood strikes, on that of myself and Thor." Loki shrugs gracefully.
"We can discuss such affairs of state at another time, if there is much desire to do so," The Queen cuts in, sending another warning look to Be'lanu when it looks like the other woman is about to speak again. "For now, if it pleases you Prince Loki, let us return to the matter at hand. I am keen to learn what transpired after your fall into the Void, because it is from that point that the gossip and half-truths begin."
If only you knew, Jane thinks, still mystified about the backstory the Queen had related to them. I'll definitely have to ask Loki about that later.
"I did not die, clearly," Loki points out, his expression darkening, "Instead, I ran afoul of Thanos' slaves. Sometimes I think that death would have been far preferable." He falls silent for a second, lids lowered as he thinks over his next words. "In time I was brought before Thanos and subjected to his unique methods of…persuasion. I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that in the end I felt I had little choice but to agree to his plans to attack Midgard to gain the Tesseract. Though all along, I was hatching my own plans." A familiar smirk hovers on his lips again.
He continues for a few more minutes, filling the Queen and Council in briefly on the Avengers and the Battle of New York. Just as Jane is starting to think she might be in the clear he turns to her with an expectant smile, gesturing for her to take over. Oh great. He must've read my mind. She glares at him but he only leans back in his chair, steepling his hands and nodding at her, glee dancing in the depths of his eyes. "I have stolen enough of Jane's thunder, and I shall let her take over the tale now."
The attention of everyone at the table immediately centers on Jane, and she feels that damned blush starting again. I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him. she decides.
Feedback and reviews are always appreciated, and help me keep up my motivation to continue this fic.
