- Chapter 71 -

"That concludes this file. The next file is from January 4, 2023. The original file corrupted. Only a small segment was able to be recovered," McCorrmick. He moved quickly to start the next file, hoping that if he moved faster they wouldn't have a chance to interrupt. Getting this done quickly was what he considered to be his best option.

.-.-.-.

"I'm tired of talking about it, Tony! It stays as is. There's no need to fix what isn't broken," Loki said forcefully. Water from the watering can sloshed out onto the floor around her feet. She glared at the water then uncurled her seidr to collect the spilled water back into the watering can. Her seidr curled back quickly. The last of her experimental saplings needed to be watered. The topsoil in its container bed was too dry even for Muspelheim. That wouldn't do. Loki moved to fix it. There were seven large round containers made of reinforced concrete. Six of them stood empty. The bed at the end held a single two-foot tall tree in it. The soil in the bed was dry black sand with powdery red stone, crumbly dirt, small chunks of volcanic glass and porous rock. The roots of the small tree spread out in the thick circle around the base of the trunk. The trunk itself was thick, with knotted bark winding up its length. Twisting in between the knots of the bark were veins of shimmering crimson. From the roots to the tips of the branches these veins shimmered in the dark brown bark. The branches stretched out to hang over the trunk in a wide circle. Deep green oblong leaves sprouted from the branches. The container held the apple tree of Muspelheim.

All her other trees were adapted and ready for transplanting. Loki smiled as she thought forward to the summertime. That was when they were going to gift her Uncle Frey with Vanaheim's trees. Vanaheim would be the first of the Elder Realms to receive the trees. It pleased her that Tony was eager to give the saplings to Frey. He didn't want to wait until Muspelheim's trees were done.

.-.-.-.

"Husband, do my eyes deceive me? Is that one of Idunn's trees?" Frigga asked quietly. It looked different than what she remembered from her one visit to Idunn's Orchard. The bark and leaves were darker and the veins of syrupy seidr flowing through it were crimson instead of golden. Despite the coloring, it still looked remarkably similar to what she knew.

"It is," Odin replied. The difference in coloring couldn't hide what he was seeing. The veins of syrupy seidr made it obvious what it was. You're full of surprises, Loki. While it was treason to even visit the orchard without an invitation from Idunn and an escort from one of the Tenders of the Orchard, he had no intention of holding that crime against Loki. Idunn might be upset, but he would handle that. Truly, he was curious to see what Loki might be doing with the little tree. It seemed just a little different from the trees in Idunn's Orchard. The soil in the container was also different from what he remembered in the Orchard. It reminded him of the soil of Muspelheim. What are you doing with that, Loki? How did you get it?

Frey smirked a little as he looked over the little tree. It was growing from soil that was very clearly from Muspelheim. The coloration of the tree reminded him of some of the fire apple trees that grew on that realm. For all that it appeared, it was one of Idunn's trees made for Muspelheim. He hadn't thought such a thing was possible. Loki would have to unravel the supposedly impenetrable magic of the trees themselves. It was a magic that only Idunn herself was said to know. Frey couldn't think of where Loki might have learned them. It made him intensely curious. What else have you been up to, my dear?

.-.-.-.

The irritated engineer stood by the door of his wife's lab. Tony watched while she moved to water her last miniature apple tree. A heavy sigh was threatening to break lose. "Loki, if nothing was wrong then I could understand. That's not the case. It's making you sick!"

"It's working the same as it has for centuries. There's nothing wrong," she said over her shoulder. When the soil was moistened enough she took the watering can back to the deep sink on the wall by her workbench. A pair of enchanted shears was waiting on the end of her workbench. She snatched them up and grabbed the bucket for clippings that was by the leg of the workbench.

"Nothing's wrong? Vicious nausea, dizziness, constant pain that spikes into debilitating migraines? That's not nothing, Loki!" Tony shouted. He took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to get into a yelling match with Loki. Even if he won, he still didn't win.

Agitation led Loki to not bother turning around. Pruning her tree was more important than an argument that wasn't going to be resolved. The little tree never had dead leaves. It did have extra branches that were trying to grow and had to be trimmed back. Her work was always more important than a few headaches. If the mighty gift to her beloved for all he'd done was to be completed, then these trees had to be completed. More than just memories, she thought again. These trees were an integral part of her Great Work. They would help to lay the foundation of the ninth kingdom; the Kingdom of Midgard. It was her King of Machine's land. It, and he through it, would change the whole of the Nine Realms. Loki smiled as she looked over her last experimental tree. The Muspelheim tree was growing nicely. It was a long time in coming. With another week of solid growth and no spotting on the leaves or peeling in the bark Loki could be confident that they were well and truly adapted to the harsh volcanic soil of Muspelheim. Afterwards she could start growing saplings for transplant. Damn troublemakers, finally behaving, she thought as she trimmed out the excess branches.

Suddenly Loki's world tilted as pain spiked up from the back of her skull. A shocked cry wrenched out of her throat. The enchanted shears and bucket both dropped from her hands as she stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Tony's strong arms were around her around her before she hit the ground. Both her hands covered face as he cradled her close.

His knees hit the floor next to Loki and Tony pulled her close. His seidr flared out to encompass Loki before he even thought about it. He pulled her hands away from her face and rocked her gently. His seidr forged into a Regenerative Weave that he laid directly against her skull. For a moment, Tony could feel Loki's elevated blood pressure and shrieking nerves through his weave. The weave quickly lowered her blood pressure and cut off the nausea before it could begin. It calmed the pain spiking through her skull. The pain was flowing directly from the few remaining functional nerves in her inert eyes to her spine and back again. The Enchantment of Elsewhere swiftly hid the nerve dullness in most of the other nerves in her eyes as the pain began dying away.

"Shh, we're ok, it's ok, I'm here," he whispered to Loki. She was resting limply against his chest. Shallow breaths interspersed with occasional deep ones were the only motions she made. The pain receded as her blood pressure lowered. Tony waited to speak until he was certain that she was better. "Babe, this is what I'm talking about. It's happening more frequently. Something is wrong. Can we please just take a look?'

Loki enjoyed the pain relief from the Regenerative Weave for a moment longer before she pulled away from Tony. She didn't take the hand he offered her when she stood. "There's nothing to look at. I know I can't take the spell apart without losing my sight. I won't risk that without a good cause. I've dealt with headaches and dizziness for more than three centuries. This is nothing new. I can see you. I can see the children. I can attend to my work. It's enough for me. Please stop arguing with me about it. I'm not going to change my mind." The headaches wouldn't be a problem for much longer. They didn't worry her.

"Loki, I ..." Tony started.

.-.-.-.

The screen displayed another, 'End of Reconstruction' message. McCorrmick closed the message down. "That concludes this file. The next file is also reconstructed," he said. Please pay attention this time, he thought.

While Frey had a passing curiosity about what Loki might be doing with one of Idunn's trees in Muspelheim's soil, he was more grateful that Anthony was able to get Loki to relent about healing herself. Having her healed was what he wanted, even if it did come at the expense of using Blood Magics. He was grateful that Anthony didn't use their bargain, that he worked to convince Loki it was for her own wellbeing. Frey planned to speak with Loki about the tree when he saw her next. He smiled as he thought over the long list of things he needed to speak with her about. The smile faded as he remembered that he would need to tell her about this before he could speak with her on anything. He looked away from the screen briefly and grimaced.

It was almost as displeasing to Frigga to watch Loki arguing in favor of something that harmed him as it was watching him using Blood Magics to correct the problem. In this one instance she was willing to side with Stark. Having Loki healed and not in pain was the most desirable outcome. This was also confusing. Stark attacked Loki in a despicable fashion, but here he was arguing for Loki's health. Frigga didn't understand his motivations. He appeared sincere, but he also abused. A little huff slipped from her lips. At least Loki's eyes are healed. There is that if nothing else.

As little as Odin liked seeing Loki using Blood Magics, he was glad that his son was at least healed. He still wanted to make sure that his son never went near such foul magics again, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Powerlessness and he hadn't come face to face in many centuries. He liked it as little now as he did when he was a boy.

After a brief pause McCorrmick brought up the next file in the list. "This file is from December 1, 2022."