Hello! I hope all of you are doing well! The next chapter after this one is a LONG chapter and I am getting near the end of it I hope. :) Your reviews are blessings!
Special mentions for this chapter:
breannakyle520
Silvermane1
Anne (guest)
elephantlover123
GlitterQueen2019
THANK YOU!
"Mother?" Thor asked in absolute disbelief.
The woman smiled, but she did not attempt to walk forward. And he was glad. He'd finally learned that he couldn't always trust what he saw.
"Yes, Thor." Frigga said this with confidence, but also deep affection "Thanos did his best to weaken the borders between the realms. But, in doing so, he also weakened the walls between the living and dead. I have come from Valhalla. And we are preparing to assist Anaheim."
Valder and Svleiva exchanged a brief glance, but returned their paranoid gazes back to her. The queen in particular looked uncertain and scared.
"If this is truly you, I apologize for the distrust. But in all of my life, I have never known this to be possible." Odin said, staying in his place just the same as she.
Frigga nodded and looked at him with all the adoration and amusement of a wife.
"Don't worry, I did not imagine that I'd be well received. At least, not until you'd confronted Thanos personally. But now that you see the threat that has been growing in our ignorance, I felt I could make an appearance. Valder, Svleiva, Hena, if you would, one of you can verify that I am who I say."
"That's going to require a lot more than something I can do from this distance." Valder replied, making it clear that it would be him approaching her and not either of the women standing next to him.
"I understand. I don't think you want me to come there, but you are free to come to me." Frigga held out both hands plainly to show that she held nothing in them "I have no weapon and I will not perform any magic. You would be able to sense it if I did."
Valder stared at her with a hint of wariness still, but then he did step forward. He put one eye on Asgard's king, trying to gather the opinion in his expression.
"Very well. From your thoughts here, you seem genuine. Otherwise, I would not consider doing this."
"I would not either, if I were in your position." Frigga assured him.
Thor stared in anticipation as the king of Anaheim began to walk over. The man showed little caution, almost as if he had already made up his mind before he approached her.
"You are much less trusting than you used to be, Thor." Frigga said, noticing his uneasiness with a smile "But perhaps this is for your betterment."
Immediately forgetting he was even supposed to be wary of her, Thor lifted his chin indignantly. Odin would have smiled if not for their urgent situation.
Valder took Frigga's outstretched hand and waited patiently as he scrutinized her mind. He searched for intentions, random memories, and feelings for the people around her. Anything that could mean she was more foe than friend.
But it did not take long. He released her with a dip of his head.
"I don't know if there is any possible way this is deception. Welcome, Frigga. I can safely speak for everyone when I say your presence is a relief."
Thor looked at his father, then back at his mother. All the grief from her death was in his eyes, but he also looked inexplicably happy.
"Mind if I come forward now that I've been vouched for?" Frigga asked with a hint of a laugh.
Odin went forward himself and the two of them met in an embrace halfway through.
The Anaheimien royal family waited patiently as the king and queen reunited for the first time since her death. It was the tenderest of moments and they could finally see the complete adoration and love Odin had for his wife. When they did separate, Frigga looked on Thor with a loving eye.
"You look older than I even remember." she said, taking the chance to hug her oldest son.
The Warriors and mortal Avengers showed up just as he took his mother in his arms, but they froze the moment they entered. Fandral, Volstagg, Sif, and Hogun all stared in shock before dropping to one knee in respect to their lost queen.
"Your majesty." Volstagg said in awe. He was the first to rise from his position and walk over. He looked as though he stared at a ghost "How is this possible?"
Frigga smiled at the eternally devoted soldier.
"Thanos' interference made it possible for me to return to this life for a short time. He opened the way to Valhalla briefly, but we held it open longer." she turned to Valder and Svleiva "I'm sorry about the distress we caused your realm. We were sending our spirits to and from Valhalla through your boundaries. We were not a threat, but we appeared as one. It was the only way we were able to test how many we could get into the world of the living."
"They were spirits of Valhalla?" Svleiva said in relief "That takes a great deal of the burden away. We believed Thanos was surveying our land. He would have already had an advantage."
"No, certainly not." Frigga replied "Valhalla sent me to represent them because I am the most recently deceased, but still well known inhabitant of the realm."
"Was it truly you whom Mazi saw then?" Hena asked with a wide gaze.
The queen nodded with a loving look.
"Yes, dear one. That was me. She was never in harm's way."
"But why couldn't we observe you like she did?" Thor asked in confusion.
"Mazi has a certain...veracity that made it easier for her to view me. That, and she was the only nonmortal child there. I allowed her to see me so that she could commune my gestures to the rest of you." Frigga pointedly examined the group that had just entered, head moving ever so slightly. She now had a question for them.
"Mazi is in the pasture." Svleiva said, looking over at her husband with wide eyes. Valder did a double take before turning to Adden behind them.
"Mazi and the other children are in the pastures." he said, relaying the same words to them quickly "And I suspect the battle will be upon us soon. Find them and bring them here. Take a few other men with you in case there is trouble along the way."
Adden nodded swiftly and left the palace to follow his orders. Svleiva watched him with pure anxiety in her eyes. Then, her gaze rose up again as the sky noticeably darkened again. More alarms began sounding, but this time from all across the realm.
"Get the commons evacuated." Valder said, backing up towards his other men "And have the soldiers line up in battle formation."
"Valhalla will send forces here to help. It is difficult to send them, especially since the borders have begun to solidify once again, but we intend to do it anyway." Frigga said "We will get as many across the border as we can. Unfortunately, it will take time."
"Would you be able to get to Asgard?" Thor asked this with intense hope.
Frigga shook her head, ruining the brief excitment the God gave everyone.
"It is very difficult to travel between the realms. Even for us. We only have so much power. This is the last world I will be able to come to unless the walls between us weaken again. We have to save enough strength for all of us to return to Valhalla when this is over. We harnessed energy from Thanos' actions, but I had to use that to go to Midgard and to his realm as well." she looked behind her as guards came running in the entrance of the palace.
Odin turned to the Warriors "Follow their men. We'll use our own strategies alongside theirs."
They nodded immediately as the king switched his attention to the mortals.
"Not all of you are equipped to fight beings of this degree. You can decide whether you engage these invaders or not."
"Personally, I think we have some avenging to do." Tony responded, but the king barely acknowledged that before he turned back to his wife.
"Mother..." Thor said faintly, a question clearly wanting to be asked. He glanced down with a grieved face. Frigga did the same, knowing exactly what he was struggling to bring up.
Odin approached her gently and took her hand. Hena watched with pressed lips and had to look away, despite continuing to listen.
"You came for him. Why isn't he here?" Frigga asked. Her forlorn expression suggested she knew the answer already.
"Thanos attacked us when we were leaving. He took Loki." Odin replied, with the solemn sorrow he showed only to his wife "And sent him to Jotunheim as punishment for what he did to help the others."
Frigga blinked without meeting his gaze. Then her head tilted to the side ever so slightly as she forced herself to hold back any emotion.
"And did they kill him?"
"They may not have, but I doubt that they would have intervened to save his life." Odin responded, holding her hand tighter still.
"It is still murder." Frigga's eyes opened fiercely for a moment "Whether they killed him intentionally or by lack of interference."
"Have you seen him?" Thor asked with a slight hesitance.
Frigga let her anger fade with a resigned and sad exhale.
"I have not been back to Valhalla since Thanos took you to his realm. It takes too much of the energy we must conserve. Otherwise we would not have enough power to bring anyone here. I have not see Loki."
"But you were there. In the chamber on Thanos' planet." Thor continued.
"Yes. I could not intervene at the time." Frigga replied with a press of her lips and close of her eyes, showing the regret and guilt she was hiding. Then it changed to an expression of determination "But I could be there for him during it, so I was."
"We intend make Thanos answer to that." Odin responded "And you can return to Loki and tell him so."
"That cannot make up for his life cut so short." Frigga said quietly "Or the agony he suffered before his death."
Hena's mouth trembled, but she looked up sharply as the alarm in the palace rang. She wiped her face with a quick intake of breath and walked past the Asgardians, her newly sharped blade held tightly in her hand.
I nearly uploaded part of the next chapter here hahaha. ;) Please leave a review if you have a moment to spare!
Also, if anyone has any recommendations for stories, please let me know! If you are a writer yourself and think I would enjoy your story, please let me know! I am always open to new stories :)))