Hey everyone! Been a while again... But stil: ENOY! ;)

Chapter 21

A blinding light forced Loki to close his eyes. For a second he was sure he had died, but then he recognized the strong, pulling force of the Bifröst. They were traveling to Asgard! Before they realised it, all four of them were standing in the Bifröst.

Jane cautiously opened her eyes. She had squeezed them shut, afraid of what would come, but she immediately recognised the golden interior of the Bifröst. She was speechless… they'd actually made it!

Thor walked over to his wife and put one hand on her shoulder.
"Are you all right, Jane?"

Jane slowly nodded her head. She was alive! In her arms, she was still holding her frightened little daughter, who was clanging onto her mother with all her might.

"Frigga…" Jane whispered kindly. "It's all right, sweetie, we're safe. Look around…"

Cautiously, the little girl lifted her head. Even though she was still shaking and crying, her bright blue eyes grew big when she saw the golden circles on the ceiling and the rainbow bridge outside.

Loki on the other hand only had eye for Heimdall who had sunk on one knee the moment his king had appeared. The God of Mischief slowly made his way towards the guardian, his face covered with anger.

"You…" he started in a furious, creepy whisper which drew everyone's attention straight to him. "You selfless, tiny, foolish, arrogant…"

"Loki!" Thor interrupted, but the young king wasn't going to let anyone stop him.

"Shut your mouth, Thor! I am talking!" he shouted after which he focused his attention back on Heimdall.

"You are pathetic! How dare you disobey your king! You ignored every order! You almost let me die! And you brought every realm, starting with Midgard and Asgard in danger! I should behead you right now! Execute you four your treason! You don't deserve the title of guardi…"

"Loki, I…"

"SHUT UP, THOR!"

"JUST LOOK AROUND YOU!" Thor shouted in return. If possible, Loki got even more angry. His golden sceptre appeared in his hand when he walked over to his brother.

"When I am talking, you shu…" he started furiously until it struck him. Thor was right. Awe struck, the young king scanned the rest of the room.

Normally, the Bifröst was, next to the palace, one of the most beautiful, shining buildings on Asgard. But now… the whole room was covered in a thin layer of dust, as if it hadn't been used for some time. The panels on the ceiling didn't move as easy as they were supposed to as if the whole machine had woken up after a long sleep and still needed to warm up. Outside he saw two guards standing next to a flying boat. And Heimdall…

The young king inspected the guardian in front of him. Heimdall wasn't wearing his full armour, and also seemed a bit dusty. And he looked very tired.

Cautiously, the guardian looked up. Now that Loki could see his face, he noticed Heimdall was breathing heavily, as if he'd just run a marathon, and his face was covered in sweat. His eyes showed fear, but also pain, despair and sorrow.

"Explain yourself!" Loki ordered him.

"Please, except my apolog…" Heimdall started, sounding out of breath. But Loki immediately interrupted.

"Skip the flattering!"

Heimdall swallowed and took a deep breath. He really seemed exhausted!

"It is the Captain, my King… He has taken control over Asgard, but the power drove him mad! He imprisoned me a few days after your departure…"

Loki frowned.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Loki!" Thor said behind him. "I tried to open the Bifröst myself, yesterday. Heimdall didn't answer…"

Loki almost couldn't' believe what he was hearing.

"You mean to say…" the young king started. "That during my absence, there was no one to guard the Bifröst!"

Heimdall shook his head.

"No, my King… The Captain ordered the immediate closing of the Bifröst. He meant to avoid your return. No one was permitted to leave. And I was forced to leave my position. I was not capable of defending Asgard nor the other realms. I neglected my duties, for which I am ashamed of myself…"

Loki opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He'd never felt so many emotions at the same time. For starters, he was really angry with Heimdall for betraying him, but the fact that the Captain had taken control just drove him mad! Asgard had been in danger the whole time! And he, the King of Asgard, had allowed a mad man to take the throne!

Loki swallowed and licked his lips while he tried to keep his temper under control. After what had happened on Midgard, he knew he had to be careful…

"My King…" Heimdall suddenly started cautiously. "There is something you must know… I only managed to escape because of the Captain's daughter. She managed to convince him that Asgard needed a guardian. She swore on her life that I would only stand guard, nothing more… Now that I opened the Bifröst, and I am certain the Captain noticed, he will be forced to execute his own daughter because she broke her promise…"

"But she's his daughter!" Jane called out before she could stop herself. Heimdall looked up at the Midgardian woman.

"As I said… The Captain has lost his mind."

The guardian turned back to Loki. "She is in grave danger my King…"

Loki bit his lip. Inside he was screaming in agony. The Captain would be lucky if he didn't kill him… The young king took deep breath.

"We are not finished yet!" he said before turning his back on the guardian. He walked over to the guards outside the Bifröst, who immediately sank on their knees. Loki sighed. All this bowing… he had to get used to it again.

"You will escort Jane and Frigga to the palace!"

One of the guards looked up. "What of you, Sire?" he asked, clearly relieved his king was back.

"The ship is not fast enough…" the young king answered.

Loki turned around to face Thor.

"Thor… I never thought I would ask this, but I need a lift…" he said with a scowl. Thor grinned, but after another angry scowl of his brother he tried to stop laughing.

The God of Thunder kissed Jane softly on the cheek before walking towards Loki.

"Hold on tight, Your Highness…" Thor said before taking hold of Loki's clothes. Loki rolled his eyes.

"Since when are you the sarcastic one…"

Thor laughed before lifting Mjölnir to the sky and they took off.

Frigga watched with her mouth hanging open.

"Mummy! Mummy! Can I do that too! With Daddy!" she cried out in excitement, forgetting the fears from before.

Jane didn't answer. She just followed her husband until he was nothing more than a dark spot in the distance. She sighed. Everything she had tried to avoid had come true… she was back on Asgard…

Heimdall got to his feet again. "I am terribly sorry, Jane Foster", he said. "I can send you and your daughter back if you like… Somewhere outside the city…"

Jane shook her head vaguely. "No…" she said silently. Even though she wanted to go back, she knew Asgard was a safer place now. She turned to Heimdall.

"So… Loki… he really is the King of Asgard…" she said, trying to think of something else.

Heimdall nodded, while he fetched his sword from the middle of the room.

"Yes, for almost six years now… And a quite good king too…"

"Why did you send him away, if he was a good king?" Jane asked.

"Loki did not realise he could not rule while carrying lies… And he still has not told you everything…"

Jane frowned. "What do you mean?"

Heimdall smiled. "It is not my duty to tell you this… When the time is there, Loki will tell you…"

Jane sighed. Great… she thought.

Heimdall gestured to the boat. "I think you better leave now. Little Frigga might be a little tired of today's events."

Frigga wanted to say she wasn't tired at all, but she couldn't suppress a huge yawn. Jane laughed softly while walking over to the guards.

Heimdall took his place in front of the Bifröst and focused on the universe again. He smiled…

-xxx-

Thor landed, a lot gentler this time, on a balcony next to the throne room. Loki stumbled backwards, but managed to stay on his feet. He changed his appearance again. Now he was wearing his royal outfit, carrying his golden sceptre in right hand.

"Try not to kill him…" Thor said after a quick look on Loki's angry face. Loki scowled and turned around to enter the throne room.

-xxx-

"My King, I beg you… Asgard needs to have a proper guardian. The Bifröst has to be functional at all times…"

"Silence! You gave me your word and broke it. Now you have to suffer the consequences! Heimdall will do the same after I am done with you!"

"But Father…"

"You address me as 'My King' or 'Sire'!"

"M..M…My King… I…"

"My King, if I may…"

"No, you may not! No one will question my judgement! The Allfather would not have acted any differently! When you make a mistake, you have to be told a lesson!"

"The Allfather only banished and imprisoned his sons and only when they brought Asgard or any other realm in danger!"

"How dare you speak in my presence! You are only a simple guard! One more word and I will execute you for your inappropriateness!"

"No… You will not…"

The throne room turned silent. Everyone looked at the guard who had spoken out of turn. The one who dared to question the new king. The man who stood up for the king's daughter. The one guard no one seemed to recognize…

The new king turned red and watched the strange guard walk over to the middle of the room until he stood in between the throne and the sobbing, scared woman on the ground.

"Guards! Take that man into custody!"

The guards around the room hesitated. Who was this stranger? And to be honest, no one actually agreed with the king's 'judgement'.

When no one reacted the king decided to do it himself.

"Who do you think you are!" he said while descending the stairs leading towards his daughter and the guard. In his hand he held a brand new golden sceptre, with at the end a shining, sharp blade.

"You think it wise to question me?" he continued.

"You better don't question me…" the guard said darkly.

The king almost turned purple. He raised his sceptre.

"Father, please!"

The girl had sprung to her feet. She appreciated this stranger's help, but she didn't want any more blood on her hands. Soon, she knew, King Loki would be here. Maybe not in time to save her, but at least he would stop her father.

The king focused his attention on his daughter again.

"I told you to address me with 'My King' or 'Sire'!" he repeated furiously before raising his sceptre towards his daughter. The woman closed her eyes in panic, holding her hands protectively in front her.

But the blade never came. Instead she heard the hard, metal sound of a weapon hitting a another one. She opened her eyes.

The King couldn't believe his eyes. His sceptre was blocked by another golden staff that had appeared out of thin air. A green glance covered the guards body and slowly made its way up, showing a new armour. Even before it reached the guard's head, the king knew who he was dealing with.

The whole room turned silent when their real king's furious face appeared. The Captain seemed scared for a moment but immediately recovered and smiled.

"Loki… I have been expecting you…" he said while taking a step back.

From one moment to the next, Loki's angry scowl made place for a rather friendly face, but with obvious hatred underneath.

"Well then.. as a guest I at least expect a banquet in my honour…" he answered while relaxing a bit.

The Captain laughed and made his way back up the stairs towards his throne.

"I do not have feasts in the name of a prisoner…"

Loki smiled. "You'll have to imprison me first then…"

With one hand resting on the side of the golden throne, the Captain looked down on the room.

"That will not be a problem…"

Loki laughed once more. "Do you really think that you can arrest me? That anyone in this room would take your command over mine?"

"I am certain they will after I told them the truth…"

Loki turned silent. He knew he had to be careful now.
"The truth about what?"

The Captain smirked, until his expression suddenly changed into one of pure hatred and madness.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Loki Odinson! All these years I spend my impressive intellect to do whatever you wished of me. We all had to endure your completely wrongful reign! But I will not tolerate any traitor on the throne of Asgard! I will not be fooled! So I kept my eyes and ears open… If you dig deep enough and look around, you will find out the truth… The people of Asgard deserve a good and honest king! Not a traitor, a liar and a murderer!"

The Captain had turned bright red again and clasped his fingers tightly around the armrests of the throne. Bits of saliva were dangling underneath his chin while his breathing increased. Honestly, he made Loki think of a bull…

The young king waited until the Captain's words had faded throughout the room before answering more calmly than he'd ever done.

"Since I happened to be in a generous mood, I give you one chance to get of my throne and beat yourself up… even though I would like to do that last thing myself…"

The Captain laughed, but it sounded more like the bark of a mad dog. He got to his feet and pointed at Loki while taking a deep breath.

"This man, you once called 'king', has deceived you all!" he shouted though the room. He paused for a moment to make sure his words had effect.

"I have discovered the truth, as your righteous king! This man was not only crowned by a crime, he also has banned his own brother, prince Thor, to Midgard to insure he could not return to safe us all!"

Loki pretended to think the Captain's words over. He slowly nodded. "Sounds good, but what 'crime' are you referring to, if I might ask?"

The Captain laughed and sniffed. "What a son you are, killing your own father!"

The room turned even more silent. The only sound was the deep breathing of the Captain.

"You killed the Allfather! Cold blooded murder! He is not on any other world! He is not travelling! He is dead!"

The whole room stared at Loki. What was he going to do now?

The young king clicked his tongue and smiled. "I have to admit: it surely sounds nice and would have congratulated you with your brilliant plan if it wouldn't have been such gibberish!"

The Captain frowned slightly. He had expected Loki to admit his crime, since he couldn't run from the evidence.

"I will bring back prince Thor! He doesn't even know you are king!"

"That is extremely thoughtful and nice of you, but… you see… I already did that for you…"

The Captain wanted to answer, but nothing came over his lips.

Loki turned to the door. "Thor… Don't be shy…"

The Captain's eyes almost rolled out of his head when he saw his prince enter the throne room.

"Nice to see you Captain…." The God of Thunder said with a smile.

"Thor," Loki started while turning back to the throne, "are you surprised I am king?"

Thor pulled up his eyebrows. "Not really, no… I've always known Loki would be a good king…"

Loki smiled innocently. The Captain looked between the two brothers, not really knowing what to say.

"But… he banished you…" he said nodding, suddenly a bit more confident. "Look at your clothes, my prince! Midgardian clothes!"

Loki sighed dramatically and rolled with his eyes. "I can't help it if Thor falls in love with a Midgardian…"

The Captain looked at Thor, who pulled up his shoulders.

"You… You… That is a lie! You are a liar!" The Captain shouted desperately. Loki and Thor shared a look.

The young king shook his head. "Oh my… Nobody insults Jane Foster….", he said theatrically.

Thor's expression turned dark. "Exactly…" he conformed.

"I can speak for myself, thank you very much!" a voice suddenly sounded. Jane came marching in, with Frigga right behind her. The little girl's eyes were sparkling with excitement. She didn't know where to look first.

Loki whistled softly, which made the Captain even more anxious. He tried to say something, but nothing seemed right anymore. He was defeated.

"Now then…" Loki abruptly said, making everyone jump a foot in the air. "That was awkward…"

The young king slowly made his way towards the throne, his expression getting darker with every step.

"I'm going to say this only once: Get out of my throne!"

The Captain looked up at Loki who was towering above him, looking more furious than he'd ever seen him. Slowly he got to his feet and walked past Loki, down the stairs where two guard immediately grabbed him by his shoulders.

"You have betrayed your king and Asgard. For your crimes I should execute you this instant, but since your daughter is present and because I just want you to suffer into eternity, I sentence you to eternity of imprisonment!"

Loki waited before continuing. His wanted everyone to remember who was in charge.

"Now get that piece of traitor out of my sight!"

Everyone waited until the two guards and the Captain had left the throne room before breathing out. They all turned their attention on Loki again. As if someone had order them to do so, everyone kneeled down on one knee.. Only Jane, Thor and Frigga, who had to admit Loki could be rather creepy, were still standing. The three of them looked around in surprise. Even Loki had to admit he hadn't seen that coming.

The young king sat down on his throne.

"Yes.. Yes… Get on your feet everyone, we've got more urgent matters…"

As one, everyone got up again.

"Now… Everyone who has nothing to report… Leave us…"

About every guard, bowed his head and left. Only a couple of the guards standing closest to the throne and the Captain's daughter remained. Thor also wanted to leave, but Loki stopped him.

"No, Thor, you'll stay…"

The God of Thunder frowned, but didn't ask any questions. Jane and Frigga decided to stay too.

When the room turned silent again, Loki got up from his throne.

"It seems I'm one Captain short… Who was in charge of his duties during my absence?"

Slowly the Captain's daughter raised her hand. She had tears in her eyes, even though she was trying to hide them.

Loki looked at her.

"What is your name?" he asked, making sure he didn't sound to creepy.

"Arya, Sire…" she said in a broken voice.

Loki nodded while descending the stairs until he was just above eye level with the girl. She seemed younger than he was. She had bright green eyes, and raven black, long hair. Loki couldn't keep himself from comparing her to Harry Potter, even though she was a girl.

"Arya… I understood you are the former Captain's daughter?"

Arya nodded. "Yes, my king…"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, my king… I don't see him as my father any longer…"

Loki nodded. "In that case I appoint you as the new Captain of The Guard…" he said before turning around again to get to his throne.

"I beg your apology, my King, but I do not believe I am the best person for the job…"

Loki turned again. "Why not?"

"I cannot bare the responsibilities, my King. My father only appointed me Captain, because I was his daughter. I have so much to learn, Sire…"

Loki thought about that for a moment. He turned to Thor.

"Very well… Thor…"

The God of Thunder looked up.

"Then I name you as Captain of the Guard…"

Thor's eyes opened in surprise.

"Excuse me!" he shouted.

Loki pulled up his eyebrows. "Why not? Not up for it?"

Loki smiled. This was a lot of fun!

Thor didn't know what to say. "What makes you think I will stay?"

Loki grinned. "Well… you're not going back down there, are you?"

Thor bit his lip. Of course Loki was right…

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because…" Loki started. " You, even though I don't want to admit it, have let us into battle more than once…"

Thor grinned back. "Is that a complement?" he asked.

"Of course without my intellect, you would have been killed more than once too…" Loki finished with a smirk.

Thor laughed.

"I only want you to teach her how to be a good leader, so she can be the Captain when you leave…" Loki said while pointing at Arya.

Arya almost choked.
"My King!" she tried, but Loki cut her off.

"That was an order…"

Arya turned silent. She always dreamed of becoming the next Captain and when her father had still been her father, he'd always made jokes about it. And now she wasn't only a Captain in the making, she was actually going to be taught by the prince of Asgard!

She bowed her head.

"Arya, you're dismissed. I trust it you won't try to find any contact with your father anymore..." he said.

Arya bowed once more. "Of course, my king," she said before leaving the room.

Loki turned to the other four men who hadn't left the room. They were known as the royal advisors and were next to the king and the Captain the only people with power over Asgard. They all bowed their heads when their king looked down on them. Loki said down on his throne.

"Now then… Tell me how hard that idiot messed up…"

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