I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY ITS BEEN LIKE FIVE WEEKS SINCE I UPDATED! BUT I HAVE REASONS!
Hey, so, it's been a while.
Firstly, fight scenes are so difficult to write.
Secondly, I started writing a goddamn D&D campaign for my friends so that takes up a large percentage of my time each week.
Thirdly, I have had the most stress and anxiety-filled month of the year, October has been fucking horrendous for me except for that ONE day last week where I met Tom Hiddleston and got my photo taken with him. Absolute dreamboat, that man.
Fourthly, I can't remember what I was going to write here but I'm pretty sure there was another valid reason for the delay, I just can't remember it.


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Forty-Nine: A Stab in the Heart

Loki didn't know exactly what to expect, but the sight of Amelia locked in a cage at the base of the throne steps, and his children sitting rigid in the lap of a Jotun woman was not it. Seeing his family in such discomfort and fear caused his blood to boil, but he kept his cool within the illusion he presented to the hall as he entered, with Thor pretending to be injured thanks to the aid of his magic.

It was difficult to stand by in silence and just watch the scene play out rather than make any sort of dash to grab Amelia and his kids. He could already tell from the way things were laid out, and the way this white-haired Jotun king spoke, that he would have to take him down before rescuing his family. He didn't need to communicate this with Thor, as his brother was astute enough to realise this as well.

The children looked fearful, their terrified faces magnifying tenfold at the sight of Thor, seemingly beaten on the icy ground. Loki willed them to see through the illusion, to understand that there was no way the Asgardian king would let himself be knocked out by a Jotun, but sadly they did not see through it.

He eyed the Jotun who appeared to have the highest level of authority, the so-called king, as he peered over Thor curiously. The illusion he created showed only a neutral look in his gaze, but inwardly, beyond the fabrication, he pinned the Jotun king with a murderous glower, promising death for what he had done.

Loki almost blew his cover when his daughter jumped out of the Jotun woman's lap and rushed forward; barely containing his body's need to lurch forward when the second male Jotun swiped her up and placed her in Amelia's cage. Loki stared him down when he grabbed Kari as an afterthought and added him to the cage too.

The Jotun must have known something was amiss. Loki could see it in his gaze.

His attention was held by this Jotun who had placed his children with their mother behind the confines of the steel bars. He saw how this frost giant in particular looked shockingly like himself when he was in his Jotun form, and he wilfully ignored it, forcing himself to think about what was more important in that moment - dealing with the king.

And with that, when the white-haired Jotun came unknowingly close to the trap Loki and Thor had set out for him, the brothers launched their co-op assault, catching the frost giant off guard. With impressive strength, Thor toppled the jotun with a sweep of his legs, and Loki took the wheel with an enormous magic-powered projectile that was formidable enough to send the giant crashing through the back stone wall of the room.

The Jotnar dotted about the celebration hall erupted in screams, instantly rushing for any available exit as the mountain seemed to shake from the force of Loki's rage-fuelled attack; the Jotun woman in one of the thrones jumped up and screeched the king's name, "Helblindi!" but did not dare step any closer.

Spear-wielding guards began to advance slowly, pointy tips aimed at Loki and Thor from afar, but the Jotun king roared for them to halt as he climbed out of the rubble he'd found himself in. His ruby eyes pinned Loki, giving him a once-over like he was sizing him up, and his mouth twitched in a way that suggested he was disgruntled and embarrassed that he had fallen for the trick.

"Loki Odinson," Helblindi hissed, speaking the name as if it was the most contemptible words he could ever speak, and Loki's eyes narrowed at the way the Jotun king referred to him with an odd edge of familiarity, despite the fact they had never met before. "I've been wanting to meet you for a while."

Loki stared blankly, "I don't know you, nor do I care to know you. Return my wife and children to me and I might allow you to live."

It was a blatant lie, he would never allow this son of a bitch to survive.

Helblindi let out a hateful chuckle, suddenly amused as if he knew something that Loki did not. "Come now, Loki, is that any way to talk to your dear long-lost brothers?" One hand indicated himself, the other indicated the Jotun standing beside Amelia's cage, "Byleistr and I have waited a very long time to meet you."

Loki saw Thor freeze in his peripheral about the same moment he himself went rigid. His eyes flickered between Byleistr and Helblindi, shocked at the revelation. He had biological siblings in Jotunheim? The thought had never once occurred to him despite the plausibility of it, but he hated the idea at once. He would never call either one of these Jotuns his brother.

"I don't give a shit. I won't ask again; return my family to me at once." Loki spat, letting his disgust and fury be known.

Helblindi scoffed. "What a heartwarming reunion this is turning out to be," his words were flooded with sarcasm as he stepped forward, peering between Thor and Loki, "well, it seems there's only one way things are going to go here. But two against one? That doesn't exactly sound fair, does it? Mukildir, release Steinnbjorn from his cell!"


Amelia clutched her children tightly as she knelt on the floor of her cage; she boxed them in against her chest and tried to keep them from peering over at what would soon be a rather lethal fight. She didn't want her children to witness a battle like this first hand, regardless of the outcome, so she whispered for them to avert their eyes and inwardly cursed when they outright ignored her in favour of keeping their eyes pinned to their father.

She supposed she couldn't blame them.

Across the room, a Jotun guard rushed to the rocky wall and pulled a lever, revealing a room built into the side of the mountain that opened up slowly. All eyes were drawn to what was hidden within, which presented itself first with the sound of heavy breathing. A gruff snorting sound followed, and Amelia's eyes widened as a beast-like creature emerged. It looked like a giant polar bear with shards of ice protruding from its back like quills. Its eyes were glowing white and it looked positively monstrous.

"It's the beast," Kari whispered, and it took Amelia a moment to remember the games Loki had been playing with them before they were taken here.

"Shh. It's okay," Amelia responded gently when Aster's face scrunched up tearfully in fear.

Thor called Stormbreaker to his hand and squared up to the beast, widening his stance and showing that a creepy ice polar bear wasn't the scariest thing in the room, "I'll deal with this, brother," he assured Loki.

Steinnbjorn growled, setting its sights on the God of Thunder, and narrowed its chilling gaze; it roared and then it charged with such speed that Amelia almost got whiplash. It appeared Thor hadn't accounted that the beast could be lightning fast, because it rammed him and, frighteningly enough, tackled Thor right over the ledge of the mountain.

Amelia felt her chest tighten for a few moments, but hearing Thor's distant shouts and the sound of low, rumbling thunder that followed was comforting, because it was undeniable proof that the God of Thunder was still going strong, facing off against the huge beast, most likely on an outcropping somewhere below the ledge.

Still, with Thor distracted, that left only Loki to face the Jotun king, and Amelia was not convinced that Helblindi planned to play fair despite his earlier comment about equal opponents.

Helblindi raised his hand to stop the Jotun guards that stepped closer with their spears, "Do not interfere, I'll kill him myself." The sound of arrogant pride in his voice actually brought Amelia some relief; if Helblindi overestimated his own ability to take down Loki, it would only come back to haunt him. Loki was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

"You'll regret not asking for help eventually," Loki declared, ice cold in his delivery, and he took to a bracing stance, summoning his blades to his hands.

The laugh the Jotun king expelled was sickening to Amelia, but Loki appeared entirely unintimidated; it was frustrating not knowing where Helblindi stood in comparison to Loki on the power scale because her stomach was doing flips of anxiety fearing that the enemy could pose a threat against her husband. It stood to reason that the king of a realm would be powerful, right? What if Loki was just putting on a brave front before Amelia and the kids and he truly didn't know if he would come out on top?

"You're all bark and no bite. You look truly pitiful in your Asgardian disguise, such a pale, tiny thing," Helblindi taunted, "why don't you show us your real form?" At that moment, the white-haired Jotun grabbed the sheath attached to the armour at his hip and pulled out a sword; Amelia had been so preoccupied with everything that she hadn't even noticed the weapon, and again her heart jumped in her chest.

She silently reasoned with herself. So what if Helblindi had a sword? Loki had daggers. Two of them. And he was incredibly proficient with them, that was better than a sword, right? Some shiny sword was no match for the God of Mischief.

Helblindi's deep chuckle rippled through the air again, and with a swift movement, he thrust the blade into the sky, and at once it was bathed in orange flames.

The sword was on fucking fire.

Loki did nothing but tilt his head back to peer at the sword raised high, and Amelia didn't know if she was imagining the flicker of apprehension in his gaze or if he actually appeared concerned at the development. Fire was a frost giant's worst enemy. Amelia knew that. Loki knew that.

Amelia gulped. She was scared.

Another scream from Thor pierced the air, along with a stray bolt of lightning streaking through the sky and striking something out of sight, and the answering wail of that polar bear-esque beast followed.

Helblindi launched into the offense, relentless with his blazing weapon.


Thor dove aside as the huge beast, Steinnbjorn, charged his way again. He was a bit scraped up from the tumble he had taken a short while ago from the rim of the mountain above; thankfully he'd landed on a wide verge partway down, but his skin was splotchy red from ice burns. He'd had to ditch the cloak for the convenience of the fight, but the piercing temperatures were affecting him. For once, he was envious of Loki's ability to remain unaffected by extreme cold.

Luckily, Thor knew one surefire away to warm up.

As the beast prepared itself for another charge, Thor called his axe to his hand and raised it high, summoning dark clouds above. "You think you scare me, foul beast?" Thor heckled, "It's hard to believe, but I've fought creatures that are even more ugly than you, and ones that smell twice as bad!"

Incidentally, Steinnbjorn did not take kindly to being insulted, and the beast roared its displeasure before charging once again. Predictable.

A bolt of lightning appeared in a flash, supercharging Thor's weapon, and he ran at the beast head on, clashing with it's ice-plated head in an explosion of electricity and the tumultuous sound of metal striking the beast's resilient natural armour.

The noise that erupted from the beast's mouth was twice as loud as before and pierced Thor's eardrums in a most unpleasant way; the God of Thunder was shocked that his attack had not killed the beast in one blow. For Steinnbjorn's body to have been robust enough not to shatter on impact with Stormbreaker was truly miraculous.

Thor leapt back to avoid being swiped by the beast's jagged claws, but misjudged how close the edge of the cliff was, and wobbled in an undignified manner on the very verge of the sheer drop for just a fleeting moment. He peered down over his shoulder and eyed what would be a fall to certain death if he happened to lose his balance, and that was all it took for Thor to realise the best way to defeat this beast.

Steinnbjorn did not appear overly smart. It just seemed to be a rage-fuelled brainless predator that believed itself to be top of the food chain. This was going to be easier than Thor thought, all he needed to do was insult the beast and jump aside when it charged him again.

"Hey!" Thor called, a smug smirk on his face, "I take back what I said earlier, you are the ugliest beast I've ever fought. You have a face not even a mother could love!"

Steinnbjorn, predictably, did not take kindly to the insult. However, unpredictably, he did not immediately charge. The beast let out another ear-splitting screech, but it wasn't just any regular scream, it was more intense than the last and seemed to have purpose. Thor dropped his weapon on reflex, clamping his hands against his ears to try and blot out the noise that felt as though it was scrambling his brain.

It was paralysing, and his head continued to feel like it was going through a blender even after the crippling noise stopped. The need to squash his own head with his hands continued as a persistent ringing replaced the beast's cry, and when Thor opened his eyes, he realised it was too late to react.

The beast was already rushing at him. A fierce pain spread through his leg and he was falling off the cliff alongside the beast; Thor expelled a grunt of pain, realising as he fell that his leg was caught between Stiennbjorn's sharp teeth and the ground was approaching. He forced himself to recover despite his discomfort and the ringing in his ears and called his axe swiftly to hand, this time aiming for the beast's vulnerable eyes.

He swung the axe, landed the hit, and his leg was freed with Steinnbjorn's final roar. Thor grasped the opportunity to swing his axe and aim for the skies, the frigid wind zipping past him and biting at his face as he ascended with the help of his weapon, landing safely on the ledge he had just fallen from.

Steinnbjorn fell to the depths below, landing hard and causing the ground around him to shake and cave in on itself, eating the beast up and leaving silence in its wake.

Thor let out a sigh of relief followed by a groan of pain. His leg bled steadily from the puncture wounds thanks to Stiennbjorn's teeth, but he had no time to sit and wrap the injuries properly, so he tore a strip from his cape and tied it around his leg like a makeshift tourniquet - he would have it examined suitably when he returned to Asgard with Loki, Amelia and the kids all safe.

With that, Thor trekked back up the mountain, limping slightly as he went. It wasn't too difficult to blot out the pain while adrenaline pumped through him, reminding him that his family was in danger and he could not yet rest. He dragged himself up the slope that led to the grand hall, and passed by Jotun civilians as he did.

They stared at him, shrinking back as he headed for his destination, and he ignored their fearful gazes until he saw a mother cradling her crying child, holding the young girl close to her chest protectively. Thor paused in step, staring back at them; they all looked so afraid of him and Thor did not know why. He wasn't going to hurt them. They weren't the ones threatening his family, only those responsible for the kidnapping of his niece and nephew would be paying the price.

He climbed the last stretch of the slope and re-entered the hall, eyes snapping to Loki and Helblindi who were in the middle of an intense looking skirmish, trading and avoiding blows; Thor narrowed his mismatched eyes at Helblindi, watching the fight ensue - the Jotun king may have been powerful, but Loki was faster, evading swipes and stabs from the flaming sword in Helblindi's hand with expertise. Loki used his blades strategically to catch and divert Helblindi's weapon if it ever came too close to him.

Loki was doing fine. He had everything covered.

Thor turned his attention instead to the thrones where Byleistr was guarding the cage Amelia and the kids were trapped in, and figured his smartest course of action would be to take out the second frost giant and get Amelia, Aster and Kari back. If he could manage to get them off-world and back to Earth via the Bifrost, he could come back and ensure the battle was won without having to worry about the safety of Amelia and the kids.

He straightened up, hiding the fact he was in pain, and moved through the room with purpose; there was a specific moment in which Helblindi noticed Thor approaching past Loki's head and barked out a quick order.

"Byleistr! Take care of the Asgardian!"

Byleistr's neutral gaze turned to Helblindi, then to Thor, and then finally to Amelia before he appeared to do as he was told, stepping forward to put himself between Thor and the cage; he took a defensive stance and flexed his fingers which seemed to crackle with magical energy, giving off a distinctly yellowish-gold hue. So, the second brother was a magic user.

Across the room, Loki took his eyes off Helblindi for a fraction of a second to assess his brother's state, and observed that Thor was standing awkwardly and had a strip wrapped tightly around his leg, indicating the presence of an injury. In that precise moment, Helblindi faked Loki out from his peripheral, bringing down the flaming sword only to stop short when Loki moved to defend. Instead, the Jotun king punched Loki square in the face, sending him hurtling to the hard ground, discombobulated from the unexpected impact while his brain felt like it was vibrating within his skull.

Helblindi swiped down and picked Loki up by the neck, holding him tightly as he lifted him to be eye-level. The Jotun king laughed at his minor victory after catching Loki off-guard, and appeared further amused when the icy contact of his bare hand against Loki's skin caused the pale white to recede and make way for blue.

Forced into his Jotun form, Loki hissed in the face of Helblindi's chuckling, and summoned one of his dropped daggers back to hand, slicing at the wrist that was holding him without hesitation.

Helblindi bellowed and clutched his wrist, and Loki took the opportunity to put some space between them.

"Fool," Loki sneered in contempt.

"Really, brother? You're the one who took your eyes off of me," the Jotun king riposted.

"I'm not your fucking brother," Loki viciously denied the familial link; it wasn't a matter of whether it was true or not, he would never call either of these frost giants his brother.

"Oh but you look just like your twin, now that you're in your real form," Helblindi baited, "except you're a lot smaller than him. My, my, what did they feed you on Asgard to make you grow so little?"

With superior speed, Loki dived forwards, eluding Helblindi's retorting sword jab, and slipped right through the gap between the Jotun king's legs, slashing both the giant's shins as he did so.

"I'd rather not be a large, disgusting clod of a creature like you. And unlike you, I don't have to compensate for anything," Loki snapped as he righted himself and put distance between himself and his opponent.

Shots. Fired.


On the other side of the room, Byleistr faced Thor and spoke with a warning tone, "You should probably back off and just let this play out."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Thor sneered, glaring up at the giant with dubiety. With that, he adjusted the hold on his axe and then threw it with all his might towards Byleistr, but the Jotun dodged it with surprising nimbleness.

Amelia let out a shocked yelp as the axe sliced through the metal of the cage roughly two feet above her head, destroying the lock mechanism as it did so before embedding in the stone wall behind the cage. She wasn't entirely sure whether Thor had done it on purpose and he was hinting at her to relocate somewhere away from the chaos or if it had been completely unintentional; either way she figured it probably would be safer to find somewhere to hide until the Asgardians dealt with the foes.

Thor recalled the axe to his hand as he and Byleistr collided in combat, and Amelia took a moment to assess the room. Her children had been quiet and still for the majority of the fight so far, tucked under her arms securely where they seemed intent on remaining; she believed they were probably afraid of being taken away from her again. But at the same time, they were fearful that harm would come to their father; Amelia had seen the way they both stiffened when Helblindi had picked Loki up by the neck, but the God of Mischief appeared to be holding his own. Amelia didn't expect anything less from her husband.

Thor and Byleistr had begun to tussle; it was obvious Thor was injured and it was causing him to slow down, which explained why Byleistr was evading Thor's strikes with relative ease. The frost giant's hands sparked electric yellow when he caught the sharp end of Stormbreaker between two palms; the display seemed to frustrate Thor to no end and his desire to beat Byleistr down appeared to grow twofold.

Amelia peered up, her eyes landing on Hefring, who had jumped out of her throne when Thor's axe flew through the air towards them; she was half hiding behind the large chair, watching Loki and Helblindi fight with a grimace on her face. Good, the Jotun woman was distracted and Amelia could see that the door to the side of the thrones was slightly ajar, meaning all she and the kids had to do was sneak past and then they could slip into a much safer hiding place.

"Listen to me," Amelia whispered quietly to them, hoping they could hear her over the shouts and crashes across the room, "we're going to sneak over to that door, you see it? If we can make it through there, we'll be safe. You two think you can do this with me?"

"No," Aster protested, "I don't wanna leave daddy out here." The girl was chewing skittishly on her fingertips and Amelia sighed, shaking her head gently.

"Daddy will be fine, but only if we get out of here. He's vulnerable while we're here, do you understand? He and uncle Thor are holding back against their will because if they fight with their full power, something bad might happen to us," Amelia explained, eyes flickering to Hefring to ensure the Jotun woman was still distracted, "Helblindi could order the guards or Hefring to hurt us at any moment if he starts to lose the fight, that's why daddy is having to hold back." Amelia was astute enough to tell that Loki wasn't fighting at his full potential, and she had an inkling it was because they were there, in danger, and he didn't want to take any chances. This wasn't Amelia's first rodeo, she knew how these things typically went, and she'd watched enough superhero movies to back up her assumption.

Aster looked up, tearful red eyes shimmering with upset. It was clear she understood, but she still didn't look like she wanted to go.

Kari reached over, gently enclosing his hand around Aster's wrist, holding it comfortingly. He didn't say anything, but he gave his sister a look that seemed to calm her exponentially, and Amelia was so thankful in that moment that her children were completely in tune with each other's emotions.

"You're both so brave," Amelia told them gently, "Let's all be brave so that daddy and Uncle Thor can finish this up and get us home, okay?"

Upon receiving affirming nods from her children, Amelia lightly pressed on the cage door, which slowly creaked open; the noise of the creak was disguised under the racket of battle noises emanating from across the hall, and Amelia held onto her kids hands, ducking slightly as she moved out of the cage alongside Aster and Kari, who hugged her side while they slipped around the back of the thrones, hoping to pass by without any notice.

The first few steps went well, but Amelia panicked and sped up a little the closer they got to their destination, and Hefring noticed them moving just a little too quickly in her peripheral vision.

"You!" Hefring snapped, "Get back here! Get back here with my children!"

Amelia spun round, pushing her kids back behind her and summoned her magical energy to her palm, creating a magic projectile like Loki had taught her. She launched it at the Jotun woman, but Amelia wasn't powerful enough to do substantial damage; all she succeeded in doing was cause a few mild grazes and increased the rage from the giant a whole lot more.

Hefring let out a wordless shout and rushed forward; Amelia screamed as she was picked up off the floor and tossed backwards against the wall with force. She thudded hard against the stone and heard something snap as she hit the ground, immediately crying out as awful pain assaulted her left arm. Hefring stamped towards her, and Amelia's eyes grew wide as she feared the woman might actually kill her, but then a small voice drew the attention of them both.

"Hey!" It was Kari's voice.

Amelia turned her head in horror to find that Aster and Kari were about to slip through the ajar door and they were baiting Hefring to follow them, to lure her away from Amelia.

"No!" Amelia protested, scrambling back against the wall to try and push herself back up to her feet without the use of one arm, but Hefring laughed in her face and started walking purposefully to catch the runaway kids. Aster and Kari slipped out of sight, followed a few moments later by Hefring, who pulled the door shut, despite Amelia's desperate objections.

And then she heard a familiar, "Psst, mama."

Amelia froze and then spun her head round. Kari and Aster knelt, crouched behind the side of one of the thrones; Amelia blinked, looked back to the door, and then back to her children. "Wha…?" She mumbled, "How?"

Kari pointed at his sister, "She did it, mama!"

Then it occurred to her. Aster's illusion magic, it had to be. Loki had spoken about how he and Aster had worked on improving her illusory magic during their little training sessions, she must have finally gotten the hang of how to create a perfect enough clone - or at least perfect enough to fool the Jotun. And not just one, but two. Aster had created an illusion of both herself and her brother, that was no easy feat.

She had tricked Hefring with illusion magic and sent the giant on a wild goose chase. Loki would be so proud.

Amelia swallowed tightly, the adrenaline of the moment slowly running dry, and she winced at the pain in her arm. Something was definitely broken, or fractured at the very least. Despite the pain, she managed to shift across the cold stone floor towards the kids' hiding place.

"Well done, baby," she whispered, stroking Aster's hair with her uninjured hand, "you did so good." She tried to hide her pain, knowing it would only worry the kids, but they were nothing if not perceptive.

"Are you hurt, mama?" Aster whispered.

"I'm fine, my darling," Amelia assured her, forcing a smile, "that was really clever, what you did." Aster looked at the way her mother was cradling her left arm, and lifted her hands to attempt to administer a little healing magic, but it didn't work. She'd spent her magical energy on making those clones just right.

"It's okay," Amelia affirmed when Aster's lip began to wobble, "Don't worry about me, okay?" The girl nodded reluctantly and then put her arms around her mama's neck, being mindful of her pained arm, and Amelia hugged her back.

Kari peered around the side of the throne, looking back at the ensuing fight. Amelia prayed Loki would put an end to all this soon.


Helblindi was starting to have doubts, that much was clear from what Loki could observe in his expression. The gradual increase of tension and frustration in the frost giant's glare was wholly evident that the king had not expected Loki to be so agile and to have such strength or magical prowess.

Loki could imagine Helblindi likely looked upon him with the same miscalculation of worth that his biological father did; they were fools for underestimating just how powerful a so-called runt could be.

"Seems you're beginning to tire," Loki stated, knowing the taunt would set Helblindi's fury ablaze. And it did; the frost giant's pissed expression said it all. Helblindi knew Loki was stronger than he was, and Loki predicted that mocking him would push him into an even sloppier state of battle where he would end up making a mistake, at which point he could ensure the frost giant would perish.

Helblindi scowled as he caught his breath, and the brief lull in the fight allowed Loki to ponder on his next move; he was very fond of the idea of plunging his dagger into the Jotun king's eye. In any other situation, he would probably take pleasure in drawing this kill out, but he wanted to just get this over with so he could take his family home.

The Jotun king's expression turned into a punchable smirk, and he gazed over his shoulder at the thrones, drawing Loki's attention towards it as well. Loki noticed for the first time that Amelia and the children were no longer in the cage, but had somehow escaped and were now perched behind one of the thrones, peering out to watch the fight unfold.

"It's a shame you couldn't have just turned and walked the other way, brother," Helblindi spoke in a drawling voice, keeping his gaze worryingly on Loki's family. Choosing to ignore the way Helblindi referred to him as his 'brother', Loki snapped to demand his attention.

"Hey, you keep your ugly gaze on me."

Helblindi turned back at the gibe, but his disgustingly creepy smile still remained. And then, without any warning, Helblindi reared back and tossed an icy magical projectile directly at Amelia and the children.

With hardly a moment to react, Loki lurched forwards, a frantic shriek escaping him; he saw Amelia throw her hand forward in an attempt to grab Kari, who was closest to the oncoming attack, but she was too slow.

The collision erupted with a flare of green light, and Loki froze, feeling his heart shatter for a brief second before he realised the projectile had not hit its target. Almost faster than Loki could perceive, a pale green, translucent dome appeared, surrounding Amelia, Kari and Aster; the blast of ice magic struck the dome, which retained its shape for only a fleeting moment before flickering out of existence, and Kari was thrown back against his mother's chest. The boy was physically stunned and appeared bewildered, but much like his mother and sister, he was unharmed.

Loki's racing heart calmed to an acceptable rhythm, and he realised he had seen that type of magic before. Last year, when he was training Aster and Kari to hone and control their magic abilities, Kari had performed an unusual piece of magic that Loki had never been able to identify, despite how he had read his way through Asgard's library.

But this. This was it. Kari had used that magic again, and if Loki's suspicions were correct, it appeared to be some sort of magic absorption barrier. Kari had saved himself, his sister and his mother's lives with a well-timed burst of untrained magic; the sheer probability of it occurring just at the right moment was incredibly low, and Loki thanked the fates that they had survived the attack.

Words could not describe the level of wrath emanating from Loki in waves. He felt hot and angry, it was truly a miracle his rage had not melted the entire realm at this stage; if Helblindi had thought there was even a miniscule chance he would come out of this fight alive, he was beginning to see now how implausible that notion was.

Loki was going to finish him. When he charged the Jotun king this time, he did so with an ear-splitting battle cry.


Thor had seen Helblindi's attack occur just in his peripheral vision, and now his mind was swimming at the realisation of just how close he was to losing his niece, nephew and sister-in-law at that moment. He could hear Loki practically losing his mind across the room as he assaulted the Jotun king with everything he had, and he was close to unleashing the same level of chaos on Byleistr out of pure frustration.

The Jotun wasn't even fighting back. Byleistr was just jumping back and forth as he evaded each and every punch Thor threw, each and every swing of his axe. Thor considered calling upon lightning again, but ultimately decided against it - with Amelia and the kids in the same room, it was too much of a risk. He didn't want to become overzealous and accidentally bring the entire hall down.

"What's your problem?" Thor hissed, taking a brief moment to study his opponent rather than throw another mindless strike.

Byleistr remained cautious, as if he expected another attack at any moment, but tilted his head curiously at the question.

"My problem?" The Jotun responded.

"You're avoiding my attacks but you aren't launching any of your own, what kind of strategy is this?" It left Thor puzzled, what exactly was his enemy hoping to achieve by not fighting back?

Byleistr frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly before his red eyes flickered briefly to Helblindi and Loki's intense skirmish. Then he sighed, speaking in a much quieter voice, "I do not wish to fight you, Thor Odinson."

Thor's eyebrows lifted as he stared at the frost giant.

Byleistr's defensive stance slowly slackened till he was standing normally, "I do not want the same things as my brother. Fighting with you is a mistake," Byleistr glanced towards the children, "What Helblindi has done is a mistake, but he's too prideful to see it."

Thor frowned. Hesitant, he leaned his weight on his uninjured leg, giving it a little relief; he wasn't so sure he could trust Byleistr, so he remained very much on edge. The frost giant was supposedly the biological twin of Loki, and if any of Loki's mischief had trickled into Byleistr, then it would be foolish to blindly trust what the Jotun was saying.

Then again, his tone sounded… candid.

"Elaborate," said Thor, hoping to get a little insight as to what Byleistr meant exactly.

The Jotun turned, giving Thor his full attention. "My brother is sick and sadistic, he cares not one bit for the people of this realm, nor its current state of decay. He is unfit to be a king, and the events of the last twenty-four hours reflect that. He is reckless, seeks out conflict, and refuses to make choices for the betterment of Jotunheim."

Thor was surprised, to say the least. "Are you saying you wish to overthrow him?"

Byleistr's eyes flickered to Helblindi, "This realm deserves a king who will actually make an effort to save it. For too long, the kings of Jotunheim have been obsessed with power and made choices based on greed and personal desire rather than doing what is right. My realm needs help, Thor."

"You want our help?" Thor asked, suddenly irate at what was being asked, "Your men kidnap my niece and nephew, and you want our help?"

"Please understand that I had no choice but to play along and allow my brother to think I was complaisant in his schemes. I have done what I can to ensure no serious harm came to the children, nor their mother. While my brother is king, I have no authority over the guardsmen. But that could change, in the event of my brother's… untimely demise," Byleistr was beyond speaking suggestively; he was straight up implying his brother needed to die, and Thor readily agreed. "Listen to what I'm saying. If Loki takes out Helblindi, the throne will fall to me, and I will not hesitate to return the children to you, this I promise."

"How do I know you won't betray us? How do I know you aren't just after the throne so you can be twice as much a dictator as your brother?" Thor pressed. As much as he wanted to go along with Byleistr's story, Thor had been tricked one too many times by his own brother, and did not find himself willing to trust this Jotun so easily.

Byleistr sighed, "I cannot prove my motivations are pure. I am asking you to trust me. If you kill me here and now, there will never be peace between our realms. Another ruthless king will rise up and take the lives of innocents in a pointless war, just because of this stupid feud between Jotunheim and Asgard. I implore you, Thor."

Thor's forehead was marred with wrinkles while he frowned, deliberating on whether the Jotun's story was true or not. He had seen Byleistr place the children with Amelia in the cage earlier, and at the time he hadn't assumed it was an attempt to protect them from the imminent fight, but now it was seeming much more likely. And it was true that Byleistr hadn't thrown a single punch or magic projectile his way since they'd started fighting. The evidence suggested Byleistr was telling the truth, but still, Thor was doubtful of the Jotun's intent.

And then Thor remembered the look on the face of the Jotun child when she had seen him hobbling back up the mountain. The Jotun people feared him; it wasn't the kind of sentiment Thor wanted to invoke in innocents. Perhaps in accepting Byleistr's proposal, they could create a better future between Jotuns and Asgardians, and settle an enmity that had been present for far too long.

Thor sighed. He prayed to the gods he wouldn't regret this choice.

"Alright. So what now?"

Byleistr grew visibly relieved, "It won't be long now… Helblindi may be strong, but I can tell my twin brother is stronger, and smarter."


Amelia clutched Kari tightly to her chest with her uninjured arm; trying desperately not to hyperventilate after seeing her son almost get hit head on with a potentially lethal blast, she was shaking, terrified of what could have happened if her son hadn't managed to somehow avert the blast.

Kari groaned, whimpering slightly in discomfort as he held his head, "Mama… my head hurts," his voice was quiet and laced with pain. Amelia stroked her hand through Kari's hair.

"Shh, it'll be okay. Just… relax. You'll be okay." Amelia told the boy; it looked like the only side effect of the attack was the resulting headache that came from using a lot of untrained magical energy to protect against the assault. The relief in Amelia was abundant, but they weren't out of the woods yet - there was nothing stopping Helblindi from getting another shot like that in again, and this time they may not be so lucky. Loki had to finish this now.

"Aster, stay close to me," Amelia ordered. If she had the use of her other arm, she'd pull the girl closer without hesitation; Aster did as she was asked, crouching where her mother was knelt and checking on her brother.

In the corner of her eye, Amelia spotted Thor and Byleistr approaching, and her eyes widened in uncertainty as she pondered why they had ceased fighting each other, but that unsureness was quickly overpowered by the solace that Thor was now present and able to ensure no harm came to Aster or Kari. Unlike Amelia, Thor actually had the power to keep them safe.

"Thor," Amelia murmured, a majority of her fear alleviated, and then she decided to throw in an edge of humour for her own sanity, "we've had a bit of a bad day."

Thor limped over and leaned down, "You're safe now," and his words left no room for doubt. He placed a reassuring hand on Amelia's shoulder, and she winced slightly as it jogged the pain in her arm. "Are you alright?" Thor pressed, frowning at the way she was cradling her arm.

Amelia let out a sigh, reflecting on the fact that she could've been a whole lot worse if things had gone differently, "Yes, I'm… I'm okay. I think my arm is broken."

Thor's gaze hardened, "Who did this?" He took Kari and Aster into his arms and Amelia allowed it, knowing they were much safer in his care.

Amelia shook her head, "Um- Hefring? The Jotun woman. I don't know where she went, but if it wasn't for Aster, she probably would've hurt me way more." She gave her daughter a proud, thankful look.

Thor turned to glare over his shoulder at Byleistr in silence.

Byleistr accurately identified what Thor was communicating, "Hefring will be dealt with, I assure you," he quietly stated, before looking back to the fight between Helblindi and Loki.

Loki was ruthless. The cuts all over Helblindi's body where Loki's daggers had made contact could be seen, and the large giant had slowed considerably. He kept tripping up, his sword swipes missing by a longshot, and it was beginning to look pretty clear who was coming out on top in this battle.

But still, Loki's growing conviction left him positive that he'd already won, and that kind of overconfidence near the end of a long brawl was the kind that came back to bite you in the ass; despite the Asgardian prince clearly having the upper hand, he too had grown to tire, and it was the self-assurance in his own abilities that may have made him a little bit careless in the few final moments.

The flaming sword clashed head on with the two daggers, and both opponents glowered at each other, red eyes burning into red eyes. That wasn't the only thing that was burning though, Loki could feel the heat of Helblindi's blade emanating against his face as both of them tested their strength, pushing forward.

Loki knew he was better. He was physically superior to this frost giant in every category, except maybe height, but height clearly wasn't relevant when it did not dictate power. The Jotun may have been double his size, but Loki was twice as strong, and that made all the difference.

"Ready to die?" Loki hissed.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you that," the Jotun king retorted. Rather than force all his strength into the forward push like Loki, Helblindi changed the angle of his sword, taking the resulting lacerations to his arms from Loki's daggers, and pressed the flat edge of the metal to Loki's forearm, burning his blue skin unexpectedly.

Loki howled at the searing pain, involuntarily dropping a dagger. He was further caught off guard when Helblindi sweeped a leg below him and knocked him off balance, sending him to the ground on his back.

Helblindi seized his opportunity, and with thoughtless speed, he brought the tip of the flaming sword down, right through the centre of Loki's chest.

Loki's body gave a final brief flounder, his wide eyes staring up at the ceiling, before he fell limp and motionless.

A choked noise escaped Amelia as she witnessed this, she wanted to scream but it was as though she couldn't make a noise; her throat seemed to spasm and refused to let her swallow, and she felt distantly like she was suffocating.

In a panic, Thor made the move to place the kids down so he could intervene, but Byleistr grabbed his arm and held him tightly in place, his red eyes staring plainly ahead as Helblindi finished off his brother. In the back of Thor's mind, amidst the pain and heartbreak of seeing what had just occurred, an uncontrollable anger began to brew for allowing himself to fall for what must have been a planned betrayal on Byleistr's part.

Aster could not bear to watch; she averted her gaze and pressed her face into Thor's shoulder while her hands gripped his cape so tightly. Kari launched into a fit of hysterics, crying loud with laboured breaths.

Helblindi eyed Loki's corpse, smiling smugly at the outcome of their combat. "What a shame. For a moment there, you almost had me." With that, he took a step back and turned, motioning Loki's lifeless body with one hand as if to say 'ta-da!'

"Would you look at that? Looks like the better man won," Helblindi continued to taunt, looking upon the stricken faces of Thor, Amelia and the children. And he laughed.

He advanced, moving steadily towards them. His posture was relaxed after the tense fight, and he looked far too gleeful after taking a life. Amelia didn't draw her eyes away from Loki's body, still pinned to the ground with the fiery sword, until Helblindi's hulking form obscured him, forcing her to lift her tearful gaze up at the victor.

Thor's teeth were gritted together, and he looked upon the Jotun king with an expression that was both tortured and promising of vengeance. If it wasn't for the fact the kids were still in his arms, he would've thrown himself at Helblindi in a fit of boundless rage. He would've already been deep into beating the Jotun down into nothing.

"Well then… where were we?" Helblindi inquired with malice. "Oh yes, the celebrations!" He peered down at the distraught children, "Looks like I'm your father now, you miserable little brats."

As the last word left the Jotun king's lips, the sound of grating metal sounded, and it took everyone present a couple of seconds to realise the flaming sword was now protruding from the centre of Helblindi's chest. Amelia performed a double-take, her mouth hanging open as she was filled with immeasurable hope.

The sword retracted back into the Jotun king's body, and with a shocked expression fastly approaching expiration, Helblindi fell backwards, dead, revealing Loki behind him, stepping aside as the frost giant plummeted down the hard steps. Loki's eyes followed the corpse as it rolled to the bottom of the stair, before he turned to Thor and the kids, dropping the sword down at his feet.

The blade extinguished as it clattered to the floor, and Loki quickly took Kari and Aster from his stunned brother, anticipating the way they practically strangled him as they threw their arms around his neck in an impossibly tight hold.

"Da-daddy?" Aster stammered, blinking through blurry eyes; Kari was astounded into silence, much like Thor, but rather than ponder how it was possibly their father to be alive and holding onto them when he was just stabbed through the heart not a minute prior, they simply accepted it with all the gratitude their bodies contained.

Thor expelled a heaving sigh, noticing that Byleistr had released his arm from its clinched grip, and turned back to gape at the frost giant. Did that son of a bitch know Loki was fine the whole time? More importantly, how was Loki fine this whole time? He was very much hoping somebody would explain what had just happened, because Thor wasn't sure he could just blindly accept his brother cheating death again without some sort of elucidation.

Loki knelt down next to Amelia, placing the kids down despite their reluctance to let go of his neck, and he reached out and brushed away the hair that was stuck to her cheek with dampness from her tears.

"You're hurt?" Loki asked, his voice gentle, when he spotted the bruised state of her arm.

Amelia wasn't sure if she could form words to respond. The heartbreak of what she thought she had witnessed was still ebbing away and she was sure if she tried to speak, it would simply erupt from her mouth in the form of a sob. Instead, she lifted her hand and pressed it to Loki's chest, precisely where she had seen the sword pierce his body.

Loki glanced down at her hand and then smiled, giving Amelia a soft look.

"It was just an illusion, love."


Hehehe. So originally I was just gonna end it after the sentence describing the sword going through Loki's chest, but then I remembered somebody had pointed out that I seem to leave every single chapter on a shocking cliffhanger, so I decided to go easy on y'all this time. xD

I hope you're not all too mad that this chapter took so long to come out. I would appreciate it so much if you left a comment - writing fanfiction when you have so much going on in your life is difficult but I still manage, and I do it all for you! And like also if you have any questions about me meeting Tom, I'd be happy to share that little experience xD