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Chapter 30

Loki paced around the crackling fire in the common room. Outside the sun had set and night had fallen over Asgard. Everything seemed more peaceful that ever, but Loki knew that was far from the truth. Absolutely no one was sleeping peacefully, without worries or a hungry stomach.

A loud growl reminded Loki that he was famished too, but he had so much on his mind that he just couldn't spend time on eating, let alone thinking about eating.

Suddenly two people walked through the door. Loki turned on his heels and faced Thor and Jane who'd just entered. He noticed they were walking a little bit further from each other than usual. Probably because of their previous 'fight'.

"Finally!" he said with a sigh.

"I though you wanted to meet in the throne room…" Thor answered. Loki smiled shortly and walked over to one of the couches around the fire. He said down and gestured for both parents to do the same.

"I don't spend my days on that throne, Thor… that would be an awful waist of life…"

Thor grinned, while sitting down too, when he remembered Loki saying that in the past many, many times. It had become his usual answer to everything boring that occured. That would be an awful waist of life!

"Why did you want to speak with us?" Thor asked when Jane had taken a seat in a chair next to him instead of choosing the free spot on the same couch as her husband. Loki was sitting in a chair on the other side of the fire.

"As if you didn't already guess that…" the young king answered with a smile.

Jane and Thor looked at each other for a moment.

"We don't want Frigga to practise… magic…" Jane eventually said.

Loki nodded understandingly, but it was obvious he disagreed anyway.

"That's a shame…" he responded. "Because I would love to help her develop her skills…"

Thor tried to read Loki's words, to find a hidden meaning, but it seemed his brother meant every word he said.

"Look…" the young king continued when both parents turned silent. "What Frigga did is something I don't understand. But what I do know is that that was pure, real and potentially powerful magic! Whether you like it or not, Frigga is already practising magic! It's literally in her blood! What she did yesterday was…"

Loki's mouth was opening and closing in an attempt to find the right word to describe Frigga's magic.

"It was just… fantastic, wonderful… magical!"

Again Thor tried to find a trace of irony in Loki's voice, but his brother's shimmering eyes and wide smile gave away his upmost interest and excitement about the situation.

Jane shook her head. Magic was something she didn't understand. And even though she'd always thought about it as science she still had to discover, she didn't like the fact that her daughter was already practising it.

"How do we know you won't teach her… bad… stuff…" she said hesitatingly.

Thor and Loki looked at her with a questioning look on their faces.

"You know…." Jane tried to explain while making awkward gestures to her husband. Thor should understand what she was trying to say, right?

"Things… things like what you do… used to do…"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Things I used to do…" he slowly repeated.

Jane sighed, not really knowing if Loki was getting angry or not.

"Oh, come on!" she cried out. "It's not like you were mister perfect during your visit on Earth! You might have destroyed a city!"

Jane listened to her own voice fading through the halls of the palace. She'd gone too far and she knew it, but actually she didn't care. This was about HER daughter! The worried mother swallowed and watched Loki, expecting an angry tirade about how she was supposed to respect him, but the young king stayed quiet.

Loki was obviously taken aback by Jane's sudden outburst and in any other circumstances he would have done exactly what Jane was expecting, but he didn't. He finally understood what she was trying to insinuate.

A short laugh filled the room. Jane jumped in her seat. Loki was laughing?! She looked at her husband, but even Thor couldn't hide his smile.

"What?" Jane asked irritated. Thor shook his head and smiled. For a second he glared at Loki, sending him a silent message.

The young king nodded and cleared his throat.

"Let me get this straight…." Loki started with a grin still playing on his lips. "You think I use magic to hurt people, to do – as you put it so nicely – bad stuff?"

Jane frowned. "Well… yes…." she said silently, but she already started to doubt her fears.

Loki smiled once more. "Of all people, I would expect a scientist to be more critical…"

Jane frowned. She didn't like it when people criticized her!

"Well excuse me!" she exclaimed.

Loki obviously enjoyed Jane's ignorance. He set back and playfully lifted his hands as if he wanted to say: don't blame me….

Thor sighed and rolled his eyes. Oh, how Loki loved to be the smart guy!

"What Loki is trying to say…" The God of Thunder started sarcastically while throwing an angry glare at his brother, "is that you can't use magic to do evil. You can't hurt anyone with it."

Jane looked at her husband. A slight blush appeared on her cheek. "Oh…" she stuttered feeling pretty embarrassed.

"Well actually," Loki interrupted, drawing the attention back to him, " that's not entirely true. You can use magic for bad purposes, but that's not exactly… healthy."

"Healthy?" Jane repeated thinking Loki was trying to be funny.

"Yes…" Thor answered. "Literally not healthy…"

Jane watched her husband, wondering if he was being serious. Could magic be … not healthy?

"When you use magic to hurt, or even kill people, it turns against you." Thor continued. "It consumes you and you go…. bananas!"

"Well… that a rather light way to put it…." Loki interrupted. Jane turned back to him. She didn't really see how Loki was helping his case by telling her this.

"How can magic turn you crazy?" the worried mother asked, not able to hide the fear in her voice. "You mean like… not being able to control it anymore?"

"I mean like… magic takes over!" Loki answered. A dark shimmering filled his eyes.

Jane shook her head. She wasn't following.

Loki licked his lips and thought about how his mother once explained the dangers of magic to him.
"You need to stop think about magic as something exceptional. It's not just broomsticks and funny hats, unnecessary long beards and funky Latin. Magic is a force... it's all around us! It's in the air like oxygen and you can feel it as much as the sun on your skin. It's always been there! Everywhere! Practising magic is only learning how to use it, how to extract it. It's the same as learning how to breath."

"But if it's just like 'oxygen', if it's everywhere, then how can it harm us?" Jane asked. Beneath her fear she could feel the scientist awake. An almost uncontrollable curiosity took hold of her. Finally Loki was telling her how magic worked!

"Magic is an ancient force. It's been around since the beginning of space and time and will probably remain until the end of the universe. Unlike oxygen or sunlight, it isn't produced. It's not because you use magic, it disappears. In other words… this", Loki opened the palm of his hand. A blazing ball of pure, green light appeared and shone even brighter than the fire. "This is older than you can imagine! It has seen the birth of the universe itself!"

Jane looked at the ball of light as if she'd just invented the cure for cancer. She was speechless!

Just as quick as it had appeared, the ball was gone again. Jane blinked in surprise and watched Loki again, eager to hear more. The young king smiled. He'd just realised he'd found someone who shared the same interest in magic as he did. Thor had never understood the importance of magic and the fact that it was ancient. "So what" he always used to say after another attempt of Loki to explain the infinity of magic "so it's older than grandpa… great! Now help me with winning from Sif!"

Both Loki and Jane were so caught up in there conversation, neither was aware of Thor's nervous scowl.

The young king continued. "Magic is a force of nature. Therefore, if you use it, you have to respect nature. You can't decide about someone's fate. After all, in way you're just 'borrowing' the magic's power."

"So you're saying that magic has some kind of… conscience?" Jane asked. Loki seemed to hesitate.

"You could say that… but the truth is: we don't fully understand how magic works. It's just there and if it weren't, we probably wouldn't be here either… "

"But if you use magic for bad purposes it turns against you?"

"In fact it's nature who turns against you…" Loki explained. "When you… let's say.. kill someone with magic… you brake the laws of nature. First of all, you get addicted to power, you won't be satisfied until you use it to destroy, hurt and kill. Secondly, it takes over your mind and literary consumes you. What's left is an unscrupulous shell."

Jane let Loki's words find a place in her head. Suddenly an idea burst to the surface. Loki's description…

"You know…" she cautiously started after a short period of silence. "Don't get me wrong, but that sound an awful lot like the workings of the Tesseract…"

Loki shivered and scowled shortly, but he quickly relaxed.

"That's because the Tesseract is exactly that… magic! Of the purest most concentrated sort! Magic forced inside a small box… What do you think that does to magic?"

Jane turned silent. "Errr… I suspect it to be incredibly strong?"

Loki nodded. "And that's a serious understatement. The Tesseract and the Aether too, are what we call, Infinity Stones. Where do you think that name came from?"

Jane nodded and smiled. She was starting to get the picture. "Infinity… Magic is infinite!"

Loki nodded again. "Infinite and powerful! Especially in concentrated form. We barely know anything about the Infinity Stones, but we believe them to be the source of magic itself! We believe they were created at the Beginning of Everything and brought magic to the universe. Just like magic, they're indestructible! And in the wrong hands, dangerous!"

Jane nodded. Pieces were starting to find their place in her head.

"Is that what happened to the dark elves? The cursed ones I mean. They used these stones and turned themselves into… well whatever they became…."

Loki smiled and nodded. "Exactly! Once, the dark elves owned the Aether. Just as the Chitauri they used it to 'load' their weapons. When the dark elves crushed those stones, powered by the Aether, the concentrated magic found their way inside their body's and consumed them, leaving nothing but…"

"An unscrupulous shell!" Jane finished. Loki nodded with smile. He loved it when people showed interest in his knowledge, not that he would admit that…

Jane smiled. She'd totally forgotten about her previous fears. She turned to Thor, who quickly hid his concerned expression.

"Why did you never tell me all that?" Jane asked with a slightly angry tone in her voice. Thor smiled sheepishly, but it was Loki who answered the question.

"I don't think Thor even remembers the lesson's Frigga has given us about magic…" he said. the young king couldn't fully hide his disgust for Thor's lack of respect towards magic and especially towards their mother.

Jane looked at her husband is disbelief, but Loki quickly continued. Now was his chance!

"Anyway, my point being: I have never used magic for bad things and I never will. Think about it, Jane! And if you don't believe me, ask Thor. Please believe me: I would only help Frigga controlling it. Nothing more!"

Jane's enthusiasm disappeared. Had this been trick? Was Loki just trying to get her on his side. Was anything of what he'd said true? Probably she realised because Thor also seemed to know that magic couldn't be used for bad thing…

Suddenly another idea came to Jane's mind. She frowned and put an serious expression on her face. One of those creepy expression only mother mastered and that made you pee your pants.

"But you blew up my house! That could have hurt, not to mention, kill us!" she reminded the young king. In thoughts she also added: and you killed Coulson, but she wisely decided not to mention that.

Instead of admitting his defeat, as Jane expected, Loki smiled once more.

"I admire your observation skills, Jane, but think again. Was it really my magic that hurt you?"

Jane turned silent again.

"During my subtle redesign of your apartment, I only created a blast of energy. If you would have been hurt, it would have been by the couch, or the splinters flying around, but not by my magic. I only set the rest in motion. Trust me when I say that you'll never see an illusion of mine kill or hurt someone. Those will just be distractions in battle if necessary…"

Jane thought about that. She had to admit Loki was right… A weird feeling took hold of her stomach, a mixture of fear, but also the urge to comply. Jane looked over to Thor. They were both still not fully convinced.

Loki looked from one parent to the other. He was almost there!

"Please…" he said, almost pleading. "I also kind of promised Frigga I would…"

Jane bit her lip. She shared another look with Thor and knew that he was leaving the choice to her. He was obviously trying to avoid another disagreement.

After what seemed like ages, Jane'd finally made up her mind.

"Could we… Well... You think we could sleep on it…" she cautiously asked.

Loki clenched his teeth, but forced a smile on his face. He knew Jane wouldn't change her mind any more, this was the closest he would get for tonight.

"Sure… take your time…" he forced himself to say.

Jane smiled uneasily. She realised Loki was only pretending.

Not really knowing what to do next, Jane got to her feet and waited for Thor and Loki to do the same, but the young king stayed put.

Thor glanced at Jane to warn her not say anything else.

"We'll see you in the morning then…" The God of Thunder said. Loki didn't answer, so Thor just turned around and left, taking Jane with him.

Once they'd left the room, Loki let go of his breath. He'd been so close! The young king closed his eyes and let his head rest on the back of his chair. He was tired again, and so hungry!

-xxx-

Jane and Thor walked through the now empty halls of the palace. They didn't say much, afraid to say something wrong. All the way, Thor became more and more anxious.

Jane opened the front door, walked inside and immediately made her way towards Frigga's room. Carefully she opened the door on a crack. Inside she saw Arya, the temporary babysit, sitting next to Frigga's bed. She was singing an Asgardian lullaby, her voice beautiful and clear, but silent and soft. Her hand resting on Frigga's head, her finger softly stroking her golden locks.

When she noticed the door opening, she put a finger on her lips and smiled. The lullaby came to an end and Arya silently got up and walked on her toes towards the door.

After closing Frigga's bedroom door again, Arya turned around and smiled tiredly.

"She couldn't sleep…" she explained in a whisper. "She thought something was wrong…"

Jane smiled softly.

Arya frowned. "Is something wrong?" she carefully asked. Jane shook her head a little too quickly and put a hand on Arya's shoulder to guide her towards the door.

"Not at all! Thank you for coming…"

Arya frowned, but decided not to question Jane, the princess of Asgard. She turned to both parents, bowed, said "Goodnight, my prince, my lady" and left.

Jane sighed. She was close to tears. She was exhausted and really didn't know what to do.

Thor on the other hand grew too nervous to wait any longer. He followed Jane, who was walking to their own bedroom, and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Jane turned around.

Thor cleared his throat and his wife immediately realised something was up.

"Jane," Thor started silently. "There something I need to tell you…"

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