- Chapter 53 -
"Are you sure we should leave James with them? They can be difficult," Loki fretted. She stood in the medical lab, in front of a meter high by meter wide metal cube. The top of the cube was inscribed with circle of flowing script. At the center of the circle was a small hole. Behind the cube a section of the wall was opened revealing a space wide enough to fit the cube and roughly twice as tall. The cube itself sat on a pair of small rails set into the floor that ran into the open space in the wall.
"They're fine. You know how much they like being read to," Tony reassured her. He walked past her over to the workbench by the wall.
"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about him. If they decide to be the manipulative little tyrants we both know they are then he's going to be in there all night," Loki turned and said to him, hands on her hips.
He almost laughed at the thought that his sons stood any chance against his older brother. "No, he'll be fine. They only get manipulative with their grandfather, but he decided to spoil them first. So, whose fault is that?" Tony smiled. Frey thought he'd be cute and give the boys wooden swords and shields with little suits of leather armor. "Gifts befitting my grandsons," Frey said. Tony almost immediately regretted letting the kids have them when the triplets started adventuring in Frey's main hall and set a wall on fire. The twin boys refused to let Frey out of their sight for the rest of that trip. Not that Tony could say they weren't Princes of Midgard. All his children were royalty. Loki's heritage and his own vast wealth and success gave his children a better position than much of the remaining royalty on Earth. He just wasn't sure they needed the fancy armor. Although he had to admit that the boys loved it and sometimes refused to take it off. He hoped his boys would understand when they would eventually have to give it up because they were outgrowing it. He wasn't sure it was going to be a problem. Frey would almost certainly get them new armor since he loved it when the boys started another adventure. When he noticed Loki frowning at him he laughed and said, "Oh come on. It was funny when he had to do that meet and greet with those dark elves with a toddler in each arm."
She gave him a very small smile. "Yes, it was lovely how my young sons were looking down their noses at the Svartalfr envoy. So charming. We're lucky that the Master of the Clans of Svartalfheim is Uncle Frey's cousin. That sort of blatant disrespect can cause a serious incident."
.-.-.-.
Taking note of that, Thor wondered about his family relations now. If they were his uncle's cousin, then they were his mother's cousin as well. Am I part dark elf? How did I not know that? Why wouldn't they have told me that, and that there are still dark elves? Thor looked suspiciously at his parents. This was something else that there was no reason he could see for it to have been withheld from him.
Agmundr? Odin's eye widened at that. How many people have been conspiring to keep this from Asgard? He was only slightly irritated that Agmundr hadn't obeyed Svartalfheim's treaties with Asgard. The Svartalfr were infamously isolationist. If it didn't creep into their caves and tunnels, they didn't care. Rarely did any of them care enough to venture forth from the networks of tunnels.
With a small but sharp inhalation of breath, Frigga's eyes narrow slightly at the thought of Agmundr lying to her about this. She was going to have words with her cousin. Agmundr should've told her both that her son was still alive and that she had grandchildren as soon as he knew. It irritated her to know that he was keeping things from her as well. She couldn't imagine why he would. They'd always been close. She didn't write to him as often as she wrote to Frey, but she still tried to write once a month. It was a rare year when she didn't have a week to spend visiting him. His children were lovely. Despite being Agmundr's cousin, all his children still called her aunt. All Frigga could think of was that Frey asked him not to say anything. Why he agreed to that request was the irritating mystery. It was another mystery connected to her son. There were too many of those already.
A smile touched Frey's lips as he remembered that trip. Agmundr hadn't sent the normal envoy but sent the deputy envoy Syr Pyrit instead. He and the deputy envoy never did get along well. There was always a temptation to introduce Pyrit to Brotna Brandr and let the two of them work it out. Frey couldn't have been prouder of his grandsons as they looked disdainfully down their noses at the fool. The looks on Hunter and Forrest's faces satisfied him so thoroughly that he wasn't even upset when Erik, Bjorn and Aren set his main hall alight. Loki was mortified with the boys' actions. He just laughed. His grandsons were having a fine adventure, so he didn't mind extinguishing a few fires. He was saddened when Loki told them all to stop. It wasn't fair in Frey's opinion.
.-.-.-.
"It was funny, you were giggling too," Tony pointed at her.
Sighing, Loki shook her head. "Maybe it was a little amusing." She motioned with her thumb and forefinger just an inch apart, "A very small amount of amusement. What the triplets did that visit was mortifying." She was still embarrassed over how eagerly Erik knocked a standing lamp into one of the tapestries to slay the monster in it. That would've been manageable, but he just kept doing it once Frey started turning the flames into showers of toys, bubbles, and illusions of miniature monsters for the boys to fight. She had to draw a line once the showers of candies began. Honestly, her uncle's indulgence of her children's 'adventuring' was more distressing at times then her children's misbehavior. It was only because they were all so happy that she allowed it as often as she did.
"Uh huh, say whatever you want to now, but you were giggling too," Tony pulled out the chair he had at the small workbench. He turned it around, so he could sit facing Loki.
"So, explain this to me," he motioned to the large smooth metal cube sitting by the wall.
"The runes I've inscribed on it will create the kibisis. The kibisis is a vessel powerful enough to contain items of extraordinary magical might. It can be made of any item, so long as that item has been properly runed," Loki turned to the cube and pointed.
With his elbows resting on his knees, Tony leaned forward. He loved Loki's teacher voice. It was the voice that opened the universe for him.
.-.-.-.
As Thor listened to Loki speak he quickly recognized that tone of voice. It was the tone Loki used when he tried to explain their lessons. He almost never let Loki finish speaking. "We have enough to learn from our tutors, I don't want to listen to you as well," Thor remembered complaining when Loki tried to tutor him with his lessons. What a fool I've been.
.-.-.-.
"It's not in the books," Loki frowned at him, "sorry, tomes. It's not in the tomes you gave me," Tony said.
"No, it's not Asgardian taught magecraft. It's Olympian," Loki explained. She made a mental note to start finding tomes of Olympian magics for him. They had some fabulous spells for playing tricks on people. Turning someone's hair into snakes while they were sleeping was her favorite. There were so many different variations of that spell, it was just wonderful. A little smile crossed her face as she remembered Frey quietly slipping her tomes with Olympian magics in them. He would probably be willing to find tomes for Tony as well. She hoped he might be willing to teach Anthony as he taught her.
Tony considered that, "So this thing is a mixed discipline deal?"
"Exactly. Asgardian, Olympian, fae, Essence Magics and Transmuted Harmonics. The kibisis is the Olympian part," Loki pulled something small and golden out of her pocket. She held it up for him to look it. It was a small golden spike with a flattened circular head that had tiny Transmutation Spell runes etched into the surface of it. "This is the Asgardian part. It's a reginnaglar. It acts as a focal point for the spell."
.-.-.-.
The Greek gods and fairies are real? It was an uneasy thought. Director Fury's eye widened some. The implications were far reaching. It seemed like there was so much more to the world than he knew about. It felt for a moment like he and SHIELD were stumbling blindly about. He didn't like that. What else don't we know about?
As Natasha looked over at him, Clint looked over at. "Fairies?" he mouthed silently. She shook her head slightly and looked back at the screen. His little girls had lots of fairy themed toys. Somehow, he didn't think that real fairies were anything like those.
How did you meet anyone from Olympus? Frigga frowned slightly at that. She'd never let either of her children associate with any reprobates or degenerates let alone the likes of those outcasts. She just couldn't imagine how Loki met any of them.
.-.-.-.
"It looks like a golden golf tee," Tony said. He closed enough business deals on the greens to know what that was. Even though he didn't like golf, it was still something he'd forced himself to learn.
"Yes, well this golf tee is going to hold almost all of my seidr." Loki grimaced a little at that.
"Loki, are you sure this is safe? You're pregnant," Tony sat up.
"Do you think I would do anything that might harm the baby?" Loki chided him.
A guilty flush warmed Tony's face at that, "No, I'm just worried is all. The babies consume so much seidr. Even a little miscalculation could be really, really bad. I think having Frey around for this would be a better idea." Rhodey was already there, as was the nimp. Adding Frey to that would make him feel better.
Walking over to him, Loki nudged his knees apart so that she could stand between his legs. She gave him a hug and placed a kiss on the top of his head. Then she turned his face up to hers. "That's why the rose tank is going to be so important. I'm going to have to spend more time in it every day until the spell is complete. I'm also not going to have the Spell of Pathways or the Enchantment of Elsewhere. I won't be able to see, and I won't be able to leave the house. Which is why you asked James to come over, remember? Extra protection," she said. It wasn't a bad idea in her opinion. Her husband's brother-in-arms was quite talented and thoughtful. Loki didn't hide the nervousness she felt, "I don't think Frey needs to know about this. It might unnerve him needlessly."
.-.-.-.
I am your Elder. Frey's eyes narrowed as he looked at Loki. It is my duty to protect you.He pursed his lips and tried not to be disappointed. He wasn't disappointed in Loki, nor was he surprised. He was only tempted to be disappointed in himself for not having made it clear to Loki that she was meant to be protected by him. I can at least remind her that I've been to war and don't 'unnerve' so easily.
Each of the three monarchs decided them and there that they were going to ask Loki about the Spell of Pathways, as well as the Enchantment of Elsewhere. For as educated as each of them was none of them had ever heard of those spells. Frigga and Frey both came to the swift conclusion that they needed to be taught them to possibly prevent Loki from hiding future illnesses. Odin was only a moment behind them. Frey wanted to know how she did it, to ask Loki how. Frigga planned a quick trip to the Library of Gladheim. It had whole sections of obscure magics. In a moment of consideration, she wondered if she could somehow contact Lady Audhumbla. The great red doors never moved. If they truly were the entrance to Lady Audhumbla's home then she might be able to contact the Lady herself. Speaking with her would be most useful. Frigga hoped that Lady Audhumbla might be willing to speak with her. She wanted to thank the elder Queen for her care of Loki. Then she hoped to be able to learn what all she might have taught Loki. It was a similar plan to what Odin himself thought of. He wondered what kind of unknown magic they were, if perhaps Lady Audhumbla or Lord Ginnungagap taught them to Loki. He needed to know how his son going blind was hidden so thoroughly.
.-.-.-.
When she looked down to see Tony giving her a chiding look she shrugged, "Besides, I don't want him to know what a freak I am." Loki ran her fingers through his hair. "You, James, Amma, Afi Gin and Afi Gorynych are the only ones I share that with." And our son.
"Babe, he's family. He's not going to care. With everything you two have done, I'm surprised you kept that from him," Tony reminded her gently. He wasn't surprised by how much she liked to hide from people. If anything, he was one of the few people who understood it perfectly. His brothers did too. That didn't mean he agreed with her doing it. "Besides, he didn't care when you took off the mask and showed him how beautiful you look in blue. He never cared about that. He won't care about this either."
.-.-.-.
With a calm expression on his face, Frey clamped his seidr down tight. The ache spiraled through his chest again. A bitter anger colored his thoughts. Freak. It was such an ugly word. This was the second time he'd heard her say it. The second time was even less palatable than the first. That she would call herself that was enough to displease him, but that she thought that he would think it of her was more than enough to anger him outright. We will have words on this, my dear. I will not have you call yourself something so crass ever again. He set that aside as one of the many things he was going to have to speak with her on once he'd returned home. Her words were troublesome for more reasons that just being offensive. Does that mean that she knows how rare a condition it is? Or does it mean that she doesn't know? He bristled again at the thought that it might cause him to be upset with her. Frey could hear the grief slipping out from behind his beloved sister's composure. She was upset that Loki would say something so ugly as well.
Instantly Frigga frowned at the word 'freak'. You aren't a freak, why would you say such a thing? It only added to the grief she felt that her child would make such a nasty remark about himself. Much like the terrible injuries that Loki had sustained yet seemed indifferent to, this was also displeasing. Her son didn't seem to have much regard for himself. It was never wise to hold oneself in the utmost esteem, but this was equally unhealthy. Frigga wanted to be able to pull him aside and speak with him on this. Making it around Stark was the problem. Somehow Frey did it and she was going to need to know how. It also hurt to see Loki being convinced to share something else with Frey that he had no intention of sharing with her. She couldn't be angry with Frey about that anymore. She was starting to be ashamed of herself that she had been at all.
A small and sad smile came to her lips as she thought about her brother with her children. Frigga knew how many different meetings, banquets, and events that Frey let Loki come along to while he was visiting his uncle. She was always grateful that Frey allowed Loki to come along when he didn't truly belong at many of those functions. As Lord of Vanaheim, Frey didn't have the time to play nursemaid to her sons. He always devoted as much time as he could manage. Frigga knew how tedious those events could be. She wished that Thor were more willing to go. It would do him good. He's devoted much of his life to my son, and I said such terrible things to him. The shame floating around her mind regarding what she'd failed to see of her son moved towards her actions regarding her brother. Frigga was going to have to apologize to Frey for it.
.-.-.-.
"I know. I know I should show him," Loki chuckled. She knew that Tony still didn't understand what an enormous thing it was, what she was able to do. While she hadn't meant for James to find out, he didn't care. He surprised her when he not only didn't call her a freak but was genuinely impressed by it. That cemented her respect of her husband's brother-in-arms. "I'm just nervous about his reaction."
"Why don't you tell him next time we go to visit? I mean, you're going to be telling him about your eyes, so why not do it then. Just make it one big, 'Surprise!' It'll be great," Tony suggested. He smiled up at her. The fewer secrets he had to look after the better.
Loki looked away for a moment. Perhaps it was time to share this secret. Frey was family, and after everything they'd done together, Loki knew that he loved her. She knew that he wouldn't turn from her over this. There was still a large amount of nervousness involved in sharing it. "Yes, perhaps it is time," she said quietly. She wondered if she could distract him from the spell she was going to use to regrow her eyes by showing him what else she was able to do. The magic she was using wasn't magic he could have. It was only because she had no other choice that she was teaching it to Tony.
.-.-.-.
Loki's seeming willingness to share this with him slightly mitigated Frey's anger with her. He was grateful to Anthony for it but was still determined to never have her refer to herself in such low terms again. Even so, it would be a more civil conversation if she were willing to share with him. We have much to discuss, my dear. He frowned at her, thoughts turning nearly venomous for a moment. You are not a freak!
.-.-.-.
Nuzzling his face against her belly, Tony thought about how it wouldn't be flat for much longer. "You'll start showing soon," he whispered. He was always inordinately pleased when he thought about her carrying one of his babies. Mine! All mine!
A smile touched Loki's face and she placed another kiss on his head. She turned and walked over to the cube. The reginnaglar fit down into the hole in the center perfectly. "There. The container, and the focal point. Now for the Essence Magics. This is the heart of the spell." Loki uncurled a small about of seidr to compose a Conjuration Spell. The spell released to conjure a small silver knife that fell into her hand. "What is Essence Magics?" she asked him.
"There's raw seidr produced by anything living, white seidr," Tony answered. "It's the only type of naturally produced seidr that anyone can use. Essence Magics takes that seidr and bends it to the mage's will. It's also the only type of seidr that can be drawn from a source other than yourself without a grim talisman. Any mage can use white seidr from any source because all white seidr is the same." Tony was very happy to learn how to use this type of seidr. It explained so many other things and gave him control of those things in a way he didn't have before. Ultimately, it gave his fires new paths to burn along as well as new understanding of older paths.
"Excellent. Where it is easiest to find a stable source of this seidr?" Loki smiled proudly.
"Yourself," Tony answered again.
"Excellent. What is the easiest way to harvest this seidr from yourself and still survive to use it?" Loki asked.
"From your blood. Come on Loki, give me something hard," Tony smiled as he spoke.
Loki pricked her left pointer finger then was finished with the knife. The seidr composing it broke down and curled it back into her core. She looked at Tony to remind him, "Don't be alarmed by the siphoning process." Her gaze went back to the reginnaglar before she squeezed a drop of blood onto the top of it. The normally red blood looked slightly pink from the white seidr glowing in it. As it hit the top of the reginnaglar the reaction was immediate. The spell uncurled her seidr from her core to draw it out along her skin. It began to bead up like drops of emerald sweat. The droplets ran together into increasingly larger beads. They flowed off of her skin like water, pouring down into an invisible sphere hanging above the reginnaglar. It took several minutes for the sphere to fill. When it was done a globe of shimmering emerald liquid hung pristinely above the reginnaglar. Loki stumbled back from it and caught her balance. The siphoning left a slight dizziness in its wake. That slight dizziness turned into an indistinct ache in her chest.
.-.-.-.
As Frey watched his beloved niece tutor his nephew-by-law and he was disturbed by what he saw. It was Blood Magics. Loki was teaching Anthony Blood Magics. Those magics were forbidden for an exceptional reason, Loki. His eyes narrowed again as he thought, This does not unnerve me. It irritates me.
There's magic in every living thing? Director Fury paid close attention to that. Is there magic in me? He looked down at his hands but had a hard time believing that there was magic in them, in him. It did provide a possible explanation for how Colonel Rhodes could be taught to use magic. It was another very interesting piece of information. Another something he was going to have to investigate.
As a Master Mage, Frigga was deeply disturbed by what she was seeing. Loki wasn't just teaching Blood Magics. He was using them. Those magics were forbidden since before the end of the Second Era. The Lords of the Realms at the time banned them after the end of the Blood Wars. What they were capable of was both disgusting and unnatural. It was an abomination of a magical discipline. She wanted to know why Loki would be using something so foul. She also wanted to know where Loki might have learned that. There was no one who taught it since the discipline itself was destroyed because of the horrors it made possible. This definitely wouldn't have been found in the Library of Gladheim. What fiend polluted your thoughts with this abomination?
It is Blood Magics! Odin wasn't sure which was more dreadful. To see Loki using Blood Magics, or to see his son teaching that forbidden magic to the beast Stark. Both were dreadful for a variety of reasons. Mainly, he didn't want Loki so near to such a corrupting influence. The very nature of Blood Magics were too intimate to not fall prey to corruption. For a beast like Stark, which Odin intensely wanted him to not be, to be exposed to this corrupting influence was a danger that paralleled the Infinity Gauntlet. A dark and corrupted beast would destroy everything in its path simply because it could. Loki, you know better than this. Why would you do this?
.-.-.-.
In less than a second Tony was out of his chair and behind her. "Hey, are you, ok?" He wrapped his arms around her.
Loki looked back up at him, "The siphoning took a bit out of me. I'm fine, truly I am." The dizziness was already worn off. It was worrisome to have so little seidr left in her core. Little beads of cold sweat were already popping up on her skin. She smiled at him anyway. "Go sit down, this next part is complex. I don't want you too close it when it goes off."
"Are you sure you're ok?" Tony asked, reluctant to let go just yet.
"I'm well." Loki smiled, "Jarvis, warm up the tank please."
"The tank is already in stand-by mode, Madam," Jarvis replied quietly.
"Thank you, my dear." He was always so attentive. "Everything will be fine, Love. Stop worrying," Loki said.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Tony said as her let her go, then went to go sit back down.
Loki turned back to the seidr globe. "I'm going to ignite the seidr next. I'll be using blue seidr to ignite it. The ignited seidr will power the spell."
"Wouldn't purple seidr be more efficient for ignition?" Tony asked. "It has a higher ignition potential."
"Purple seidr runs against your seidr unless your seidr is purple naturally. It would twist the spell backwards which would mean that the eyes would be formed inside out," Loki explained.
"Ok, makes sense. Why not yellow then, it still has a higher ignition potential than blue and runs with your seidr not against," Tony asked.
"Yellow seidr infuses. It takes a tremendous amount of pressure to ignite it, so it only has a higher ignition potential in certain circumstances. The eyes would be formed properly but I'd be unable to use them because they wouldn't match my unchanged green seidr," Loki explained again. "I don't have much seidr left. Not enough to ignite the quantity of seidr this spell requires. Blue seidr won't infuse or interfere, and the harmonics will allow me to use just a small amount of seidr to ignite all of it. It has to be blue."
"But blue has such a low ignition potential," Tony protested.
"That's why I'm using Transmuted Harmonics instead of normal Harmonic Magics. They increase the ignition potential of the seidr four times over which provides the spark to light the fire I need. Now stop arguing with me," Loki said without any irritation. She loved that Tony understood most of what she was doing and was trying to assist her. She was overflowing with love for him.
When she stepped a few steps back from the cube and put her hands out to her sides, palms down, Tony noticed the happy look on Loki's face. She always got that look on her face when they talked about magic. He was tempted to argue some more just to see that look last a little longer. It had to fade since Loki had to concentrate.
