Astrid slid on the simple, yet elegant, black dress. She stared at herself in the mirror, taking in her ragged appearance. A few days had passed since her mother's death and her conversation with Loki, as the entirety of Asgard prepared for their Queen's final goodbye. The bags under her eyes showed how much sleep she got, and her normally bright eyes looked dull. The maids had done a wonderful job with her hair, but she missed her mother doing her hair for important events. Not having her there to style her hair was just another one of the many instances where there was a gap where her mother should be.
With a quiet sigh, she pulled out one of her mother's necklaces and fastened it around her neck. The beautiful stones shimmered in the light, but it did little to brighten up her mood. Her hand closed around the necklace and she squeezed it tightly as tears started to brim in her eyes. Trying not to ruin the hard work that the maids had done, Astrid dropped her hand and cleared her throat, turning away from her reflection.
As soon as she had left her room, there were people sending her sympathetic looks. Most were from the maids, while others were from some other nobles of Asgard. Everyone wore dark colors in mourning. A few people gave her their condolences, and Astrid gave them a tight smile and nod in return.
As she made her way to the prisons, the guards in front of the doors glanced up as she approached. She gave them curt nods and they moved aside to let her through.
"I'm very sorry for your loss, Your Highness," one of the guards said softly.
Astrid looked at the man and saw his own grief in his eyes. Everyone loved her mother. They were all grieving. She smiled sadly and gave a quiet, "Thank you," before heading into the prisons.
She walked past the many cells, containing many monsters that she despised. One of the newer monsters was standing by the barrier and waited until she passed before speaking up. "Hey! Miss Princess!" Astrid flinched at that word. She hated when people called her princess. Despite her better judgement, she paused and inclined her head slightly towards his.
"I heard the Queen is dead." Astrid said nothing to confirm nor deny the answer.
Her silence was answer enough, though. He smiled. "Finally! That woman deserved to die! You all do! It's a pity it wasn't me, though. I would've loved to see the look fade away in her eyes as I drained the life out of her," he smirked. "But I guess I can wait until it's you in my hands, draining your life away as your father and brothers watch. Oh, what a sight that would be!" he laughed loudly, the others in his cells chuckling in amusement.
Astrid showed no reaction to his words, simply staring at him. In the next moment, she was right in front of his cell, hand twisting as a light purple swirl encased her hand. She moved faster than lightning. In the next moment, the creature was wrapped with a purple mist, before he was pulled closer to the barrier, and closer to Astrid's face, which was filled with a calm sort of rage.
His eyes quickly shifted from satisfied to filled with fear as Astrid clenched her hand and the mist around him tightened, causing him to grunt. She pulled him as close to the barrier as she could without smashing his face into it. She lowered her head to be eye level with him, watching in satisfaction as his eyes filled with pure terror.
"If you ever mention my mother again, I will not hesitate. If you even think about her ever again, I will kill you painfully and slowly until you beg me to end your pathetic little life. She was so much more than you will ever be. She was much more than any of you! Watch your mouth next time. Or you won't have a tongue to speak with," Astrid spoke calmly, watching with a small smirk as he tried to struggle away from her. She spoke calmly, but her eyes were churning with the severity of her words. He knew that she meant every single one of them.
With a quick flick of her wrist, she slammed him against the barrier, hard, and let go. She stepped back and watched as his body slumped to the ground. Astrid looked up at the other prisoners that shared a cell with him and met their gazes.
"Would anyone else like to say something?" she asked meeting their gazes evenly, daring them to say anything. They all shook their heads and bowed their heads, refusing to meet her glare.
"Good. Make sure you keep it that way." Astrid said with a small smile before continuing to walk towards Loki's cell. As she continued her way down the corridor, the other prisoners would not even meet her gaze, all bowing their heads away from her fiery eyes as she passed. No one said a word.
Loki's cell was not much farther, and when she finally reached it, she saw him watching her with prideful eyes and the corners of his mouth slightly turned upwards.
"You took care of him, didn't you?" He asked with a chuckle.
Astrid shrugged. "He was not even worthy to mention her." Loki's eyes gleamed and he gave her a small smile.
Astrid gave him a small smile in return, before speaking about what she came here for. "It's time."
Loki's smile vanished and he nodded solemnly. "You look so much like her. She would be proud to see how strong you are," Loki said softly.
Astrid looked away, the tears gathering again. "I hope so," she said softly. Then she remembered his actions on her behalf. She looked up at him again as she said, "Thank you, Loki."
He looked at her, surprised, a slight tilt to his head.
"For what you said to father." She clarified.
Loki looked down and nodded slowly. "He had no right to make you go through that. Even if he is the Allfather." Astrid gave her brother a small smile of gratitude. Loki returned the smile and Astrid felt as if nothing had ever gone between them. In this moment, everything was fine.
A movement to her right caused her to glance over and she saw Loki standing right beside her. She let out a yelp and jumped away, her heart pounding in her chest.
Both Loki's laughed joyfully. "And you said you knew me." Both Loki's said at the same time with a playful smile.
Astrid placed her hand over her heart. "Don't do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack!" The Loki's laughed again.
A guard walked over towards her, but when he saw Loki standing beside her, his sword was drawn immediately.
Astrid jumped forward to explain. "Wait! It's okay! It's just an illusion! He's still inside." She gestured to the Loki still in the cell.
The guard glanced back and forth between the Loki in his cell and the Loki beside her, before he suddenly thrust his spear into the illusion's chest, causing the illusion to disappear.
The guard nodded, satisfied. "Alright."
"Did you not trust me?" Astrid almost shouted.
"I trust you ma'am. I don't trust him." He glanced at Loki inside the cell, who looked pissed. Astrid sighed in frustration, but understood what he meant. "I wanted to report that the ceremony is about to start."
She nodded slowly. "Thank you." The guard bowed and walked away.
Astrid turned back to face Loki inside his cell and saw the annoyance on his face. "Now I have to make another illusion because of him!" Loki snorted.
Astrid smirked. "Aww is it too hard for the Great Loki to make another copy? Oh, you poor thing." She taunted, playfully.
Loki rolled his eyes, but made another copy. Astrid noticed the ghost of a smile on his lips, though he tried to hide it from her.
Astrid looked at the copied Loki. "Make sure you stay by me. Not everyone knows about this. They will know it is alright if I'm with you."
"Because they will automatically trust me because I'm with you!" he said, disbelievingly.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
She started to walk away from his cell, and the copy followed. As they walked out, Astrid looked at his prison clothes. "You might want to change." Loki looked at her, then at his clothes, and Astrid watched as Loki's golden armor fading into being. Astrid nodded slowly, before continuing.
They walked out into the late evening. There was no light left in the sky, and the stars were appearing in the sky. Astrid stopped suddenly, not feeling ready to face saying goodbye to her mother. Loki, noticing that she was no longer at his side, paused and turned to look back at her. "Astrid?"
Her shoulders began to shake as the weight of what was happening was settling in. "I'm not ready Loki… I'm not ready to say goodbye," she whimpered out softly, tears gathering in her eyes once again.
Loki came and stood in front of her, forcing Astrid to look up to meet his eyes. "We never will be ready…." He said softly, his own eyes filled with grief. "We will never be ready to say goodbye to someone we love…" Astrid nodded slowly, and gathered up her courage, before starting to walk again, with Loki walking by her side.
They met Thor, Jane, and Odin at the canal that held a single boat. A boat that held a body. Odin glared at Loki, while Thor just stared at his brother. Odin turned his glare towards Astrid. "This is a horrible idea."
Astrid suddenly felt angry. "She was his mother too! He deserves to be here as much as any one of us! It is what mother would have wanted!" She almost screamed at him, her voice rising as the anger flooded her body. Odin narrowed his eyes, but Astrid just turned away and walked towards the boat.
She saw her mother's body lying on the boat. She looked so peaceful, as if she was simply sleeping. Astrid's eyes teared up again. Even in death, her mother still looked beautiful. Loki came up behind her and stared down at the body of his mother. She wondered what he was thinking.
Everything was silent for a few moments before someone shouted, "It's Loki!" There were screams, and Loki looked up, alarmed, as people started to flee from the area around them. People began running away from them quickly.
Astrid shouted above the screams. "It's alright! It's not Loki! It's an illusion! He's still in his cell." The people paused their frenzy, but still looked at Loki with fear and caution.
"He came to see the ceremony." She explained as people started to whisper amongst themselves.
A voice rose above the whispers. "He doesn't belong here! He never loved her at all!"
Astrid whipped her head around to look at Loki, whose eyes flashed with hurt, before quickly turning to blazing rage, spitting out at the man who had spoken, "You are very lucky that I am not really here. Otherwise, I would kill you with one flick of my hand."
"Loki." Astrid whispered in warning as the man's eyes turned fearful. He turned to look at her, his eyes calming, before he turned away from everyone and walked away. Astrid glared back at the man, who had the audacity to look ashamed, before following her brother. People continued to whisper, but the ceremony must go on. A few people pushed the boat with their mother lightly, and it started to float down the canal, to the open water.
Astrid followed Loki up a hill, which overlooked the water. Odin, Jane, and Thor were already there. Jane stood by Thor, then Odin in the middle, Astrid after that, then Loki at the end. They all watched in silence, along with the rest of Asgard, as the boat carrying her mother, was floating away from them forever. Astrid's breathing became more ragged as their mother moved farther away from them.
Then, a guard lit an arrow on fire and aimed towards the water. He sent the arrow flying and they all watched as it surged through the air, and landed on the boat, engulfing it into flames within seconds.
Astrid felt tears begin flood her eyes, blurring her vision. Hundreds of boats floated in the water, all following Frigga. More arrows flew through the air and then they all lit. It looked like the water was on fire.
Frigga's boat was slowly reaching the end of the water, before it would fall into an abyss below. As it reached the end, it suspended in the air for a moment. Odin tapped his staff, and thousands of little lights rose from the boat and into the stars, before the boat found gravity again, and fell out of their sight. They watched the lights travel into the stars, away from them forever. Astrid felt a few tears slip down her face, as the lights faded from her view.
They all held white orbs filled with light. She held one for Loki, since he could not hold or touch anything. They all let go and watched as they floated up into the air, rising higher and higher.
As their orbs were released, everyone on Asgard let go of their as well. Astrid watched as the sky was soon filled with glowing orbs from the people of Asgard, all honoring the life of Frigga. It was truly beautiful. She hoped her mother was watching and thought it was beautiful as well.
She watched the orbs floating up high into the sky, as the people started to drift away. Thor and Jane were the first to leave. Then, Odin glared at them both, before leaving as well, leaving only Loki and Astrid behind. They stayed there for a long time, long after the orbs faded and became nothing.
During this time, they both were remembering their mother. Memories flooded through their minds. Astrid finally shook the haze away from her mind. It was very late.
She glanced over at Loki, who was gazing out at nothing. He closed his eyes, and she saw a tear fall down his cheek, before his illusion faded away, leaving Astrid alone.