The next day, Astrid was finally let out of the Healing Ward. Eir told her to keep it easy and rest and she would be fine. As she was heading back towards her chambers, she saw Loki slink away into the shadows of another hall. His pace was quick and he kept glancing back over his shoulder, as if looking to see if anyone had seen him.
Astrid changed her direction and followed him, keeping far away, but close enough to see where he was going. Loki was heading towards the Weapons Vault. She wondered what he was doing there, and why he had to sneak.
He slipped inside and by the time Astrid quietly slid the doors open, he was at the far end, facing the relic from Jotunheim. The Casket of Ancient Winters. The source of power of Jotunheim.
He was holding it in the air, but froze when he heard the thud of the doors closing behind Astrid.
Astrid walked down the steps, favoring her injured side a bit. She glanced down at the place where the bodies of the guards had laid only days before. A shudder ran through her body and she forced the image away, turning towards her brother again.
"Loki, what are you doing?" She asked with curiosity, coming closer to him.
He didn't answer her, though she noticed how tense his body had become.
"Loki?" Astrid tried again, taking another step forward. Loki did not move a muscle.
"Stop!" A booming voice sounded from behind them and Astrid spun around to see her father standing at the top of the stairs.
Only when he heard his father's voice did Loki finally move. He set the relic back down on its stand and turned around slowly to face their father.
Astrid gasped and she felt all the air rush out of her lungs, as if she had had a hard blow to the stomach. All of her limbs froze and she could do nothing but stare at her brother. The man who currently, looked nothing like him.
His skin was a shade of pale blue and his normally greenish blue eyes were now red. Blood red. He had patterns covering his face, causing ridges in his normally smooth skin. This was not her brother. It couldn't be. It was another one of his tricks. It had to be.
Loki eyes landed on Odin, completely ignoring Astrid. The look on his face was one that she had never seen before.
"What am I?" He asked, his tone emotionless.
"You're my son." Odin answered calmly.
"What more than that?" Loki spit out, his skin shifting back to its normal color.
Astrid watched the shift and she slowly backed away, until she was at the bottom of the steps, but Loki did not seem to pay her any attention. She wanted to speak up, ask what was going on, but her mouth would not form the words, no matter how much she tried.
"The casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day was it?" Loki said, walking towards them slowly, and then stopping when he stood right in front of them, his eyes fixed on Odin.
Astrid looked at her father. Clearly he knew something that she didn't. He knew what this was about.
Odin paused, glancing down at the floor before meeting Loki's eyes and replied. "No. In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple, and I found a baby. Small for a giant's offspring. Abandoned and suffering, left to die." Odin looked away. "Laufey's son."
Astrid stared at her father in shock. He couldn't be saying what she though he was saying. One glance in Loki's direction showed that he was just as surprised as she was.
"Laufey's son…." Loki repeated to himself, finally tearing his gaze away from Odin as he thought over his response. Questioning it. Trying to convince himself it was a lie. A trick. But the nagging voice in his head said otherwise.
"Yes…" Odin confirmed his suspicions.
Loki met his eyes again. "Why? You were knee-deep in Jotun blood. Why would you take me?" Loki asked in disbelief.
"You were an innocent child."
"No. You took me for a purpose. What was it?" Loki said, his anger and pain beginning to show as he desperately asked for answers that he needed.
Odin was silent.
"Tell me!" Loki shouted and Astrid could see how he was breaking inside, needing to know the truth. Astrid watched in pain, as a tear slipped down his cheek, but Odin didn't seem to notice.
"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day, bring about an alliance, bring about a permanent peace, through you."
"What?" Loki whispered, disbelief marring his features.
Odin glanced at the ground. "But those plans no longer matter."
Loki's face twisted into one of betrayal. "So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?" Loki asked Odin, the betrayal cutting deep. The secret that he was not really an Odinson. Not the brother of Thor and Astrid.
"Why do you twist my words?" Odin sighed, almost in annoyance.
"You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?" Astrid silently wondered the same thing. Why had they not been told? Had Odin ever planned on telling them one day or was this a secret that he would have taken to the grave?
"You're my son. I only wanted to protect you from the truth." Odin spoke softly, the love for his son showing in his words, but Loki didn't seem to hear it. All he saw was the lie.
"What because I-I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night? Like you told Thor and Astrid how bad Frost Giants were and I was one all along?! You let them believe that I was one of them! You let them believe a lie! You let us believe that they were monsters," Loki said, his voice cracking.
"No…"Odin said softly, but knowing it would do no good.
"You know it all makes sense now," Loki took a few steps forward. "why you favored Thor all these years," Loki began stalking up the steps. "because no matter how much you claimed to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the Throne of Asgard." Loki's voice went from pain, to anger. He was spitting the words out by the time he finished. Astrid watched helplessly, wishing she could somehow take away his pain.
Odin abruptly sat down on the stairs and reached out towards Loki as he came toward them, but Loki was too busy drowning in his own anger, that he didn't seem to care.
Odin suddenly went unconscious on the stairs, and Astrid rushed to his side. "Father?" she called out, placing her hand on his shoulder and tried shaking him away, to no avail.
The anger in Loki seemed to slip away and all that was left was the sadness. He reached out hesitantly and placed his hand on Odin's. At this moment, Loki looked like a broken son gazing down at his father, whom he still loved.
"Guards!" He shouted. "Guards please help!" The doors opened, and two guards rushed to Odin's side. Loki and Astrid stepped away. They gently picked him up and carried him away to the healers.
Astrid watched the guards take her father away and she saw Loki turn towards her. She glanced at him and saw the tears slip down his face. She had never seen him look so completely broken as he did now.
He took a step towards her. "Astrid…. Please-," But he broke off when Astrid took a step back, away from him. She couldn't explain why she did it. Her body moved on its own accord, and as soon as she did it, she knew it was the wrong thing to do.
In that moment, he looked even more broken as his sister backed away from him. He sucked in a sharp breath, trying to keep the sobs inside his chest.
"Loki…." Astrid tried, taking a step towards him, reaching out to place her hand on his arm.
As soon as she brushed his arm, he ripped it away from her and backed away, trying to mask his emotions as he abruptly turned and quickly left the room, leaving Astrid standing there in shock for a moment before she ran after him.
She slammed the doors open and was greeted with the brightly lit hallways of the palace, but Loki was nowhere to be found. When he wanted to get away from them, he had his ways to do it.
Astrid's shoulders slumped in defeat as she leaned back against the wall, letting her head fall back on it as she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of all that had been revealed.
But one thought stood out among the rest. If Odin had lied to them about Loki's heritage, what else Odin had lied to them about?
So here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed!