It's a little bit shorter this one, but I'll still hope you'll ENJOY it!

:)

Chapter 47

Loki opened his eyes. He expected to see nothing.. or maybe something… anything at all… or nothing at all… Whatever the afterlife looked like.

Strangely enough he saw dirt. That wasn't particularly mind blowing, but what was quit unexpected was the fact that he could also see his own dirty, in blood covered clothes. Loki blinked confusedly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Death, fire, sweat… If this was the afterlife it smelled quite the same as Storborg. The only thing he did enjoy was the fact that any kind of exhaustion had disappeared. In fact, Loki felt extraordinary strong and awake. He felt without a worry in the world. At least nothing he couldn't handle. The young king opened his eyes again and took another look at his feet. Nothing weird about those. So he looked a bit further.

That's when Loki agreed that he'd gone completely bonkers. Apparently the young king was sitting on the same spot he'd closed his eyes on, only now he was kneeling down on his right knee while his other foot patiently waited for further instructions. His left hand was keeping his balance on the ground while the other…

Loki blinked and looked again.

His right hand was closed around the handle of the Mighty Mjölnir.

The hammer peacefully rested on the ground, waiting to be lifted again, but Loki had no intentions of lifting it whatsoever. The young king stared in awe, not fully grasping the reality of what was and had happened.

-xxx-

(ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS EARLIER)

Arya cut and sliced. Her own sweat and blood was dripping in her eyes. Her heart was beating at its maximum, her muscles were screaming. It would only take seconds before she would receive the fatal blow.

The young Captain sliced through another illusion which instantly dissolved and revealed the sight of Loki standing a few steps further. Arya caught his eye and smiled softly. Her king closed his eyes and Arya felt any courage she had left vanish from her being.

Loki was giving up… Not that she blamed him. They were losing.

Arya screamed and cut one last time. She would just closed her eyes and wait. Death would come fast, she was certain of that. Maybe she would see her friends again.

But that never happened. A strong, warm breeze blew over the battlefield and made Arya almost loose balance. She looked back at her king and was surprised to see that the wind was blowing in his direction. What occurred next, happened so fast that Arya didn't know where to look first.

The young Captain instinctively searched eye contact with Thor, whom might have known what Loki was up to. The God of Thunder was staring at his brother as well when his trusty hammer suddenly was ripped from his grip and flew to the centre of the circle. Thor looked up, confused and speechless, following the Mighty Mjölnir with his eyes just like his friends.

Arya watched in amazement while the wind increased in speed. Her eyes locked on Loki who seemed to be in some kind of trance when he suddenly leaped forward, caught Mjölnir in mid-air and touched back down. With an loud roar the ground split open in every direction possible, immediately followed by a blast of pure white light.

Arya closed her eyes and lifted her arms protectively in front of her face, waiting for the blast to hit, but the energy went straight through her body. The sorcerers on the other hand were blown backwards, flew through the air for a couple of meters before hitting the ground rather painfully. Every single illusions dropped instantaneously. Arya opened her eyes and blinked away the colourful spots which were blocking her view. Her eyes searched for he friends who were all standing, slightly stunned, looking at the centre of the circle. Arya followed their gaze and watched while the dust slowly disappeared.

-xxx-

Loki swallowed. His lips were dry, as was his throat. In general he was rather thirsty. The dust around him cleared and the young king could feel his friends staring at him. He didn't hear any fighting… No screams, no weapons, not even that annoying, torturous sorcerer in his mind. In fact Loki was quite certain the link was broken. Again his eyes locked on the hammer in his hand. Carefully, the young king moved his muscles. All the pain had disappeared. Slowly, Loki lifted his head while he tried to get up again. Surprisingly Mjölnir didn't pull him down, but was easily lifted. The young king looked at his hand.

He. Was. Holding. Mjölnir. Why was he holding Mjölnir!

Loki slowly lifted the hammer and let it circle in his palm. It was extraordinary light and perfectly balanced. Loki could understand why Thor admired it so badly.

The young king looked up and scanned his surroundings. Only his friends were standing around him. Every single one, especially Thor, was staring at him in utter disbelief and surprise. Loki grinned at his brother and stretched his fingers. He was crackling with energy, only he'd never felt this kind of energy on his skin. In felt so pure. So light… It wasn't like his magic at all, but it was damn powerful.

Loki looked up from his hands. Whatever had happened, he had a job to finish first. His eyes found what he was looking for. A couple of meters in front of him lay the motionless body of the seventh sorcerer. Cautiously, he walked closer, feeling the energy rage through his body with every step he took.

Slowly, the young king kneeled at the Dark Elf's side. The seventh sorcerer seemed paralysed. His eyes were filled with absolute fear.

"You… you… how… you're a monster!" he spit out in a loud whisper. Loki smirked and held up the Mighty Mjölnir.

"Oh no, I am not… I just have the right toys!"

If possible, the Dark Elf grew even more anxious. "What will you do now?" he asked.

Loki scowled and put Mjölnir down. "I will give you what you deserve…" he said darkly before getting on his feet again. With one move of his hand, his golden sceptre appeared in his hands.

Loki cast a look on his friends who nodded and made their way to their respective sorcerers before drawing their weapons as well.

Loki licked his dry lips. "I hereby sentence you to death for your crimes against Asgard and the nine realms!"

The seventh sorcerer grew even paler. "My lord, I beg you! There is so much we can teach you!"

Loki lifted his sceptre with the blade facing down. "There is nothing I can learn from scum like you!" he hissed darkly before thrusting the sceptre down. The seventh sorcerer's scream drowned in the screams of his followers until a deep silence fell over the battlefield.

Loki lifted his sceptre, turned it around and put it back down. The Dark Elf at his feet stared up at the grey sky, seeing nothing but his own darkness. The young king turned his back and looked down at Mjölnir. He spread out his fingers. The hammer immediately flew back in his hand. Loki smiled.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. The young king looked up and found his friends standing around him in a big circle, every single face covered in surprise but also respect. Only Thor didn't seem able to decide which emotion fitted best with the situation. His bright blue eyes, almost popping out of his head, were locked on his trusty hammer in Loki's hand.

Loki grinned widely.

"Please, brother!" he called out. "Keep your toys with you!"

Loki playfully threw Mjölnir towards his stunned brother. Thor caught it without problem. The God of Thunder watched his hammer in amazement, then looked up at his brother and cast him a questioning look. Yet all Loki did was grin wider than ever before.

"I told you it didn't suit me, Thor!" he said. The God of Thunder smiled shortly, but couldn't hide his embarrassment. Loki turned to the others. Just at that moment the Bifröst hit the ground to their right. At least five dozen warriors appeared. Loki sighed…

Timing… he thought. Nevertheless, he turned back to his friends.

"Take The Seven and make sure they are buried in the foulest place you can think of!" Loki nodded to Hogun, knowing that he was agreeing with him on this one. The Vanaheimer nodded, bowed shortly and walked away.

"The rest of you, go to the villagers. Take the wounded first and bring them to Asgard. The others may come as well if they want to. Asgard will be their home until Storborg is rebuild. Take the death as well. They too will have a heroes funeral."

Sif and Volstagg nodded and left the group.

Loki turned to Fandral and gestured to the approaching Asgardian warriors.

"Tell those latecomers where they can help and send a couple of them to the other villages." Fandral smiled and nodded.

He turned around to leave, but hesitated. The golden warrior turned back and grinned widely.

"Loki," he said, "that what you just did… that was pretty amazing!"

Loki smiled back and watched Fandral walk away.

"Captain…" he continued. "You better go back to Asgard, you…"

Arya looked up and only just managed to catch her king when he unexpectedly fell backwards. Thor snapped from his trance and helped her hold up Loki's limp body.

"What the…" he said.

Arya smiled shortly. "I think it's better if we take him to the healers."

Thor nodded and lifted his brother's body in his arms.

"Never listens!" he muttered while making his way the spot where the Bifröst had hit. "Never listens!"

Arya laughed shortly.

"Maybe it's better if he doesn't…" she answered.

Thor shook his head. "He's going to get himself killed one of these days!"

"Now that would be ironical!" Arya answered just before the Bifröst took the three of them back to Asgard.

-xxx-

What the…

Tiredly Loki opened his eyes. Steadily, his view adjusted itself to his new surroundings.

Gold… was all his mind could come up with.

The young king took a deep breath. No stench…

He listened. Nothing.

Loki closed his eyes and tried to recall what had happened. He had been in Storborg, that was certain. He had …

With a start, Loki opened his eyes once more and lifted his right hand as if he expected Mjölnir to be there.

Mjölnir…

Confusedly the young king tried to get up since he'd discovered he was lying on his back. His view changed.

Sheets…

The young king licked his lips.

Thirsty…

Loki growled and closed his eyes once more. His head wasn't working as fast as he would like it to.

Arya… his thoughts drifted away and fixed on his Captain. He had been talking to Arya… And then…

Loki hit his forehead.

Yes! What then! What happened next?

He couldn't remember. Loki opened his eyes and scanned the room he was in.

Familiar furniture, gold, familiar sheets, gold, clean, gold, balcony, …

The young king waited for his mind to comprehend his observations.

My chambers… yep, my chambers!

Loki smiled. Finally! he thought.

But how did he get in his chambers? Loki decided took seek his answers elsewhere. Clumsily he pushed his blankets away and got up from his giant bed.

The young king moaned. His whole body was aching. More stiff than ever before, the young king made his way to the door.

With a huge yawn he left his chambers. Still a little bit drowsy, the young king made his way through the hallways towards the throne room, until someone suddenly bust into him at an incredible speed. Loki stumbled back and was ready to shout something at the moron who dared to run into him, when he recognized the golden locks of his niece.

The little girl almost tripped, but managed to stay on her feet. She looked up, holding her hand in front of her face.

"Ouch!" she peeped from behind her closed fingers.

"Frigga?" Loki said I surprised. Frigga lowered her hand. A brilliant smile appeared on her face.

"Loki!" she sheered before throwing her arms around her stunned uncle.

...

"Frigga! Sweetie, careful! You're going to run into some…"

Jane appeared around the corner, immediately followed by Thor.

"Loki…" Jane finished her sentence in surprise.

"You're awake!" Frigga shouted in amazement.

Loki looked down. "A… Awake?" he asked.

Thor, who had been rather silent, smiled and took a few steps forwards.

"Look who's back to the land of the living!" he joked while hitting his brother on the shoulder. Loki almost lost control over his legs.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, rubbing over his shoulder.

Jane and Thor shared a look. "You've been sleeping quite long, Loki!" Thor eventually explained.

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes. "I told you, Thor. It's called a coma!"

Loki's eyes grew big. "A coma?" he asked in surprise. He'd read about those in the past. "How long was I out?"

"About two months…" Thor answered. "Maybe we should…"

"Two months!" Loki shouted. "How's that possible?"

Jane sighed once more. "Loki! Thor and Arya brought you back from Vanaheim. You'd drained yourself: physically and mentally!"

Loki frowned. "What's that supposed to mean!" he shouted.

Thor smiled. "You did some epic stuff down there… You simply took yourself too far!"

Loki shook his head. "But.. I.. I felt…"

Jane smiled warmly and searched for eye contact. At times like this her mother-instincts took over.

"Loki!" she said kindly. "Don't worry about it. You saved everyone! And Asgard has been in good hands. Arya's doing amazing!"

"Definitely!" Thor added. "You almost blinded Heimdall in the process!"

A big grin grew on Loki's face. Thor grinned back and Jane sighed.

Frigga impatiently watched her parents. All she wanted was to hug Loki for the rest of the day. When her uncle had come back from Vanaheim, covered in blood and dirt, unconscious and - according to some of the healers - only moments away from death, she'd completely broken down. Although Loki's wounds had healed pretty fast, the young king remained asleep. That's when Jane came up with her coma-theory. Yet the healers refused to agree with her since a coma had never occurred with gods before. The closest they got was the Allfather's Odinsleep. Nevertheless, Loki was sleeping and whatever the reason was, all they could do was wait until the young king would wake again.

"Maybe we should take you the healers first… "Thor suggested.

Loki wanted to sigh, but was saved by his niece.

"No, no! Not to the healers!" she shouted. The little girl turned back to Loki and grabbed his hand. "You have to see Arya first! She really missed you!" she called out excitedly while pulling Loki towards the throne room.

The young king smiled and blinked confusedly.

"Frigga!" Jane shouted. "Not so fast! Give Loki the time to change first!"

The young king looked down. He was still wearing his sleeping clothes. Loki smiled thankfully and quickly changed his appearance. Frigga's eyes grew big, as every time she saw Loki preform magic.

"Can you teach me that! Can you teach me magic now?" she shouted. Loki wanted to answer when he caught the dark glares of Thor and Jane in the corner of his eye. He'd almost forgotten they knew about what he had done to Odin. The young king cursed under his breath. He'd really wanted to teach Frigga, but now that he couldn't use his "I don't use Dark Magic"-excuse anymore, things had changed. It would take time before he could gain their trust again.

Loki smiled shortly. Why not start gaining trust now…

The young king kneeled down and lifted his hand in front of Frigga's glowing face. He closed his fingers and smiled mysteriously.

"Lesson number one: try to catch the magic butterfly!" Loki blew over his hand (not that it was necessary, it just gave a nice touch) and opened his fingers again. In the palm of his hand sat a sparkling, almost transparent green butterfly. It unfolded its enormous wings and flew off. Frigga's eyes grew big while she enthusiastically ran after the butterfly, eagerly jumping to catch it.

Loki smiled and got back to his feet. "Some epic stuff, you said?" he asked nonchalantly. Thor ripped his eyes form his jumping daughter and turned back to Loki. The young king grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes…" Thor answered shortly.

Loki smiled. "Mjölnir, was it? Right?"

Thor's eyes turned dark while embarrassment coloured his cheeks.

"I think your memory is incorrect!"

Loki shook his head. "Nah… I'm pretty sure I took Mjölnir from you. Must have been a relieve!"

Thor sighed. "I lend it to you…"

"Admit it, Thor! I was worthy!" Loki answered with a smile.

"No, you weren't!"

"Yes I was! I was worthy!"

"Absolutely not!"

Jane smiled and sighed while the three of them slowly made their way towards the throne room. This was going to stick…

-xxx-

"… Thank you, Lord Gunnar. Make sure the Vanaheimers have everything they need. Asgard will…"

Silence fell when the doors of the throne room opened. Arya looked up from her spot next to the throne. A big smile of relieve appeared on her face when she recognized her king walking inside.

"My king!" she said in relieve. Everyone in the room kneeled or bowed.

Loki smiled and searched for eye contact with his Captain.

"You've done well, Arya. For that I am thankful!"

Arya smiled back and bowed before descending the stairs.

"It was my pleasure." she answered when she reached Loki.

The young king nodded and walked up the stairs to his throne. He sat down and looked around.

"I know you're probably all very happy to see me again! But let's skip the kisses and the flowers and get to business." he announced.

Arya smiled and sighed in relieve. How happy she was to be back were she belonged. Luckily for her, Asgard had not had any threads during Loki's absence. Nevertheless she was happy to call herself Captain again.

Lord Gunnar cleared his throat. "We were just discussing the progress of the rebuilding of Storborg. The other villages have been build up again. Storborg has some delays because of a certain type of stone which the Dwarfs are unwillingly to deliver."

Loki sighed and rubbed his eyes. He suddenly had the great desire to go the healers after all.

"Then offer them a deal. You know how much the Dwarfs like to show off their craftsmanship. Offer them fame and they give you the stone in return."

Lord Gunnar smiled shortly. "Yes of course, sire. However, this particular stone is quite valuable. What could possibly offer them enough fame to hand it over?"

Loki thought about that. The Dwarfs had always been hard negotiators. They didn't desire gold or precious stones since they dug those up at a daily base. Yet they desired fame. Asgard had ordered many valuable items in the past such as weapons and armour. Odin's, Loki's, Sif's and Loki's armour had all come from the mines of the Dwarfs, just like Odin's sceptre. Those gifts had been for the highest families of Asgard. Gaining more fame was as good as impossible and now asking for a replacement would be an insult of their craftsmanship.

Loki looked around the room. His eyes locked on Arya for a moment. He could always ask for a bow. Without question, it would be the best of weapons, yet Arya was only the Captain.

His eyes searched further until he found little Frigga sitting in the corner of the room, next to her mother. To Loki's surprise the girl had actually succeeded in catching the butterfly and she was now showing it to her mother in the palm of her hand. Loki smiled. He had the most perfect idea.

"Ask them to make an armour!" he announced. The room fell quiet.

Lord Gunnar seemed to hesitate. "For whom, sire?" he asked.

Loki's eyes sparkled.

"For princess Frigga! It's about time she had her own armour. Nothing big and not necessarily ready for battle, but something worth her title of Princess of Asgard. Something that suits her perfectly and that grows with her!"

All eyes turned on Frigga, who had looked up when she'd heard her name. Her eyes, first filled with surprise, shone with excitement. Jane obviously wanted to object, but her daughter's cheerful face made her shut up.

"After all…" Loki continued with a smile. "If I remember correctly, it's almost her birthday…"

If possible, Frigga grew even more excited. She couldn't believe Loki had remembered that. The young king smiled. Once again, he'd gotten one more step closer.

Lord Gunnar ripped his eyes from the excited child. "I believe that will do! Yet, I am quite sure they'll want some sort of proof of her existence… The Dwarfs are rather incredulous."

Loki smiled. "Then I suppose family Foster has a little sightseeing holiday planned."

Frigga was jumping up and down by now. "Mommy, Mommy, were going to the Dwarfs! I'm going to see real dwarfs!"

Jane nodded vaguely. She wasn't really following anymore. She threw a questioning look on her husband, but Thor seemed rather pleased with himself.

Lord Gunnar nodded and wrote something down on the piece of parchment in his hands.

"That's all I had to report, sire!" he declared. Loki nodded.

"One more thing!" the young king said just before everyone wanted to leave. "On the sixth of September, one week from now, there will be a banquet in honour of Princess Frigga's fifth birthday!"

"Sixth!" Frigga interrupted while holding up six fingers, obviously proud now that her second thumb could join.

Loki faked his surprise, making Thor roll his eyes, and smiled.

"My apologies, Frigga, of course! Sixth Birthday! Your practically a lady!"

The little princess smiled widely and blushed.

Loki grinned and got up from his throne. Everyone in the room bowed and left. When the last person had left through the doors and Loki had made it down the stairs, Frigga ripped herself from her mother's grip and rushed towards her uncle who was already waiting with open arms.

"Thank you, Loki!" Frigga peeped through her tears of happiness. Loki lifted the girl in his arms and hugged her back.

"Will there be many people?" Frigga asked while Loki walked out the throne room with Thor and Jane in his wake.

"Of course!" Loki answered to his enthusiastic niece. "As many as you'll like. Whoever you want!"

Frigga bit her lip in excitement. "Can Arya come?" she asked.

Loki smiled and nodded. "Of course, she wouldn't want to miss it for the world!"

"And you…" the little girl asked. For a second all excitement faded from her face. Loki had been quite busy, so it wouldn't be a big surprise if he wouldn't make it.

Loki grinned mysteriously. "I'll have to, I'm afraid. Otherwise Thor would eat all the cake!"

Frigga laughed through her tears and hugged her uncle tightly. She was more than ready for her first birthday surrounded by her friends!

So there you go! I hope you liked it!

Just for the record: in a couple of days I'm going on a short holiday... So I wont be writing then. I'll see if I can write something before I leave ;)

Please let me know what you think!

Rumple x