So... It's been a while. I'm so sorry, but I've been struggling with a bit of a writer's block :(.

Anyway, I hope you'll ENYOJ it!

Chapter 70

Loki marched out the hospital wing, ignoring the "you should take things more slowly, my lord" – warnings form the healers. Arya quickly found herself running after him.

"They placed your belongings in a secure vault…," she said while struggling to keep up with Loki's big steps.

"Near the weapons vault?" Loki asked.

"No, " Arya immediately answered. "It's in the Bifröst, Odin only trusted Heimdall to keep you away. At least, that's what I heard."

Loki nodded. He allowed his legs to guide him through the halls of the palace, towards the stables to fetch his horse, but after turning around the first corner, he almost ran straight into none other than the Gate Keeper himself.

"Heimdall!" Loki exclaimed. "I need to…"

"Open the vault containing your research on portals?" Heimdall interrupted. Loki fell silent for a couple seconds, but then quickly nodded.

"Did anyone visit the vault, my lord?" Arya asked. Heimdall nodded.

"Plenty of guards, Odin, the lords… Guards checked every two days if everything is still present. The inside of the vault itself is invisible even to me. I placed that enchantment myself. I do not wish to see or gain knowledge of what is inside. As far as I know, nothing was reported missing so far. Yet perhaps our traitor has managed to slip passed my gaze."

A trace of sadness and guilt shot over the Guardian's face.

"Perhaps Loki needs to check if everything is as it should be," Arya proposed. Heimdall frowned.

"Loki's agreement with the Allfather has not been liquidated."

"I know…," Arya said with a sigh. "But only he will be able to tell if his research has been stolen!"

"Or touched…," Loki added. Arya raised her eyebrows, but Loki only smiled.

"When you live with an oaf of a brother like mine, and a bunch of no good friends who take every chance to ridicule my interest in matters beyond pathetic sword swinging, you learn to protect your belongings in every way you can."

Arya couldn't help to be impressed. Both of them turned back to Heimdall and waited. The Guardian sighed.

"All right…," he said, before turning around, leading both Loki and Arya to the entrance of the palace where a flying vessel was waiting for them. Just before Arya stepped aboard, the voice of a young guard cut through the air.

"My lady Arya, Captain! The king and lords request your presence in the throne room."

Arya sighed. "Right… The Elves…," she said with a sigh. Loki grinned, enjoying the free time he was granted for now. Showing his face on a meeting with the Elves perhaps wasn't a very good idea either way. "Good luck, say high from me!" he joked before climbing aboard the vessel. Arya rolled her eyes and took a step back.

"I hope you'll find something!" she shouted over the zooming sound of the vessel taking off. Loki playfully saluted towards the Captain, before they soared off towards the golden globe of the Bifröst. Once they'd arrived and entered the Bifröst, Loki patiently waited for Heimdall to turn the walls of the Bifröst until a small door appeared to their right. Heimdall opened it and gestured to Loki to follow him inside. The two men quickly walked down the stairs while the Bifröst slowly settled itself back to its original state, closing the door behind them. Only when they'd reached the bottom of the stairs and Heimdall was leading Loki through a small golden corridor, did the guardian speak again. "There are two guards guarding the vault at all times. They will escort you inside. I shall wait here for your return."

Loki nodded when they came to a halt in front of a big silver door, engraved with ancient runes. Only when Loki attempted to translate a few, he noticed that they were constantly changing. Loki raised his eyebrows in awe. It was a shielding enchantment. Only the touch of the one who cast it, would open the vault. An outsider could only try to read the runes before they disappeared. One failed attempt to open the vault - and it was as good as impossible to read the ancients runes out loud - would immediately result in a total lock down of the Bifröst and the whole of Asgard would be informed within seconds. So in a way, giving a thief "a possibility" to open the vault, was the best alarm mechanism. Heimdall repeated his orders to the guards waiting for them at the doors and told them to keep a watchful eye on everything Loki touched. Finally he put his hand on the cold surface of the door. With a dull crackling noise the silver door seemed to separate itself from the golden wall, like a rock breaking out of a massive formation. Heimdall gave Loki a last warning glare before he pushed the door open.

"You are only to see your own belongings! Touch something else and you will be considered a threat to Asgard!"

Loki nodded, but couldn't help feeling curious. He'd never been allowed in this vault before as no one ever was, even the king. Even his mother had always warned him never to enter. Of course that hadn't stopped him from trying to find a way in anyway, but whatever he tried… noting ever worked. What knowledge, what power, would be hidden inside? But Loki forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. One mistake now, could ruin everything. Perhaps another day…

Slowly Loki followed the two guards inside. He was pretty sure the pair could be considered quite … undereducated. Only one with know-how on magic would have profit with the insides of the vault. The guards quietly walked to the back of the vault, which turned out to be a lot bigger than Loki initially already thought. It was packed with books, cases, sealed jars, scrolls, weapons and more, all covered in years and years of dust. Loki let his eyes wonder over the walls and wondered why the Jotun casket had never been placed inside. Odin probably wanted to keep it as a war trophy, a reminder to anyone important enough to enter the weapons vault, on how he, Odin Allfather, had defeated the Frost Giants and brought peace to the realms. The guards came to a halt and stepped aside, showing Loki his belongings which had been stacked, rather clumsily in a far corner. Bottles, scrolls, books, books and books. Loki quickly scanned the stack of items, until he stumbled across the book he'd been looking for. He stepped forward and carefully pulled a relatively smaller book from a stack. It was a notebook, bound together in leather, yellow and wrinkled at the corners from the many years of use and study. Loki gently turned the book in his hands, scanning the cover inch by inch. Carefully he let his hand hover over the leather binding. A dim green light covered the book when suddenly yellowish patterns appeared. The imprint of a hand slowly took form on the dark cover. Loki felt his insides squeeze together and scowled.

"Did anyone open this book when my belongings were transferred here?" he asked in a harsh tone. The guards shared a short glance and then shook their heads.

"We moved everything ourselves, my lord. Lord Argus watched us do it. We read nothing, my lord!"

Loki scanned their faces for traces of lies, but they seemed to be telling the truth. But that of course meant that someone else had touched his research… while it was already inside. Loki doubted anyone on Asgard, besides himself, was capable of getting passed Heimdall's gaze. Except of course, if Heimdall hadn't been looking because nothing was out of the ordinary. The only people allowed inside the vault at the time were the guards and that was only to be able to check it's collection every now and then.

"Did anyone, besides you, enter this vault?" Loki asked. The two guards shook their heads, until one of them suddenly fell quiet.

"Only the two of us and those new guys!"

Loki's eyes grew big. "New guys?" he asked with a creepy tone to his voice. "What did they…"

"They said lord Atlas had send them to check the vault!" one of the guards quickly said, in a final attempt to save his neck from Loki's anger. Loki fell quiet while a sickening thought shot through his head. Could Lord Atlas be the traitor? Or perhaps Argus? It was beyond clear both brothers didn't like Loki. But would they truly bring this much danger upon the realm, just to get back at Loki? And what was their plan? Obviously Loki was not a suspect for now, otherwise Odin would have imprisoned him on the spot. Were they waiting for something? Loki frowned. Lost in thoughts he scanned the cover of his research again. Markings like these would only show if whoever had touched it actually read it for a "dangerous" amount of time. Loki figured all he could do for now was check his facts. To run in the throne room, accusing the two lords of treason would not help his case, let alone make them nor Odin, nor anyone else cooperate. However, he would have to confront them somehow… Right now everyone was busy with the Elves and there was no doubt The Frost Giants would threaten with war pretty soon. Loki put his book back, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be allowed to take it with him.

"There're things I must do!" he said darkly while retracing his steps towards the door of the vault. The guards followed him outside.

While they closed the door, Loki turned towards Heimdall. "Did lord Atlas and his brother act strangely lately?" he carefully asked. Heimdall frowned.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, I belief. Do you think they have something to do with this?"

Loki scowled. "I don't know...," he said while turning on his heals to climb up the stairs and return to the vessel waiting outside.

The rest of the day, Loki set in his chambers, overthinking his findings. Although he wanted to belief the Lords, or at least one of them, were the traitors, there were just too many gaps in the theory. Loki also couldn't come up with any kind of possible plan they might have had. What were they aiming for? Loki wasn't under suspicion for the happenings on Alfheim and Odin was still on the throne. Thor, being the heir, was still alive and his family was all right. Perhaps things hadn't turned out the way they'd planned? When night fell, Loki left his chambers and headed towards the private quarters of the Lords. He stood in front of Altas's door and weighted his options. He didn't have much to go on to put the blame on Atlas. Just when he'd decided to try and find more clues, the loud ringing noise of Asgard's emergency alarm bells rang through the halls. The door in front of Loki opened. Lord Atlas almost ran straight into his visitor.

"Loki!" the Lord shouted. Loki sighed, but decided he might as well as his questions now, but before he could say anything, Lord Atlas ran passed him.

"I have no time!" he shouted over his shoulder. "The city is under attack!"

Loki rolled his eyes. Yes, no kidding! he thought while racing after the lord.

"My lord Atlas, I just need to ask you something!" he shouted over the deafening noise of the alarm. The halls were filled with guards by now. Maids, servants and inhabitants of the palace were guided to the dungeons of the palace, in the hope of finding some safety there if the battle were to reach the palace.

"Are you out of your mind!" Lord Atlas shouted back. "I have no time for you nonsense, Loki!"

Loki bit his tongue in anger. "Nor do I have time for yours!" he yelled while grabbing onto Atlas's arm before dragging him towards the wall.

"Someone went into the Bifröst vault and read through my research on portals!" Loki said harshly. Their faces were only inches apart, but Lord Atlas didn't seem impressed. "Are you suggesting I would betray my own king! Betray the realms! Why should I even belief a word you say!"

Loki scowled. "If the circumstances allowed it, I happily show you my proof, but they clearly don't! I'm afraid you'll just have to take my word for it!"

"I'd never touch any of your so called research!" Lord Atlas spit back.

"The guards guarding the vault told me about some new recruits who entered the vault on your command!" Loki shouted.

Lord Atlas's eye brows shout in the air. "I never gave such an order!" he exclaimed. "If I wanted to be in the vault, I'd go myself!"

Loki frowned. He scanned Lord's Atlas's features, in search for hidden lies, but the lord seemed genuine. However, so had the guards… Loki softened his grip on the Lord in front of him. "Then it has to be the new recruits themselves…," Loki mumbled. Lord Atlas on the other hand seemed to have lost his patience. He shook Loki off and took a step to the side. His eyes shone with fury.

"The Allfather will hear about this!" he spit in Loki's face.

But Loki wasn't listening anymore. His mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour to figure out who the guards could have been. He felt as if he knew, as if the answer was right in front of him, resting on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't reach it. He turned back to Lord Atlas to ask if he might have a clue, but the Lord wasn't there anymore. Loki blinked confusedly and looked around him. The sounds of terror crashed over him once more when he was dragged back to reality. Lord Atlas was running at the end of the hallway, making his way towards the throne room where he was expected. Loki cursed under his breath. If Lord Atlas told the Allfather what had happened, he be doomed once more. So Loki quickly ran in pursuit.

"My lord!" he shouted over the deafening noise around him, but he rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat when his eye fell on one of the many reasons the alarm had gone off. Loki felt his inside freeze when his eyes crossed the dark ruby stare of a towering Frost Giants at the end of the hall.

How did they get into the palace? Loki thought in utter panic. But his mind answered his question almost right away. Portals… He'd know better than most how easy it could be to smuggle in some unwanted visitors. The Frost Giant was soon joined by three of his kind. They looked absolutely furious, but when they identified Loki, their eyes shone with a murderous delight. A group of eight guards launched themselves at the threat. It was enough for both Loki and Lord Atlas to take another route towards the throne room. Running faster than ever, the duo raced further. Loki slowly started gaining ground. Just when he was able to reach out for the sprinting Lord's shoulder in an attempt to stop him, a sudden loud, cracking sound filled the hallway. Loki barely got the chance to register the ice that crept along the walls, destroying everything that came up their path.

"Get down!" he shouted while grabbing Lord Atlas before throwing him aside away from the danger. He only just managed to duck behind a corner to prevent being crushed under a falling column. With a thundering crash part of the hallway they'd just wanted to enter was blasted to smithereens, blasting a tidal wave of dust and stones over the two men. When the dust finally settled Loki came to his feet, coughing and blinking furiously. It took him a while to uncover Atlas form the debris. The lord was fine, but his face was pale with terror. Loki dragged him back on his feet and started running again, pulling a paralyzed lord behind him. With his memory as his guide, Loki sprinted through the halls, taking one turn after the next, trying to find a way towards the throne room. He turned a corner and suddenly froze in his footsteps when he spotted a small group of Frost Giants at the end of the hall way. They were separated by a pile of debris, but that didn't necessarily make Loki feel much safer. He quickly traced his steps back until both he and Lord Atlas were leaning against the wall around the corner, breathing heavily.

"How…," Lord Atlas said in a high whisper. While throwing an accusing glare on the man next to him.

"It wasn't me!" Loki hissed back. "The last portal I used to get Frost Giants into the palace was destroyed by Odin afterwards. How would I even have contacted them? You've been watching me like a hawk! And besides, why would I even want to contact them?"

Atlas let Loki's words sink in before realising he had to be right.

"Then who…," he started, but Loki rolled his eyes.

"Whoever read my research obviously!" he bit back.

"How are we going to get to the throne room?" the Lord asked, but Loki wasn't listening anymore. His mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour in the hopes of coming up with a plan. He could try to blast the Frost Giants away, but that would perhaps make the rest of the hallway collapse as well. Loki's eyes darted over the walls when another idea suddenly took shape.

Water…

Loki smiled while he turned around kneeled down and slowly let his hand hover over the floor. Carefully he allowed thin waves of Energy to leave his fingertips, finding their way through the cold stone tiles. Loki knew that Asgard's water supply existed of an endless labyrinth of tubes, running underneath the floor too every room in the palace. His energy swirled and bounced until Loki had a rough idea where most of the water lines were situated in the hallway in front of them.

"What are you doing?" Lord Atlas whispered. But Loki simply put one finger over his lips and smiled mischievously. If his plan were to work, he'd only have a few seconds.

Loki concentrated until an identical copy of himself stood in front of him. Loki smiled at himself and guided the illusion around the corner. Suddenly the low grunting sounds of the Frost Giants disappeared.

"The Murderer!" one of them shouted. Loki took a deep breath and forced and enormous blast of magic through the ground, around the corner, making the stone surface crack in its path. At the same time the Frost Giants attacked. A crackling blast thundered down the hallway, followed by an ice cold gust of wind. Loki held his breath and with his heart beating in his throat, he carefully peeked around the corner. Lord Atlas followed his lead. The two me couldn't belief their eyes at the sight of the hall in front of them. The floor was covered in a thick blueish layer of bumpy ice with sharp shards of ice cutting their way upwards like daggers. But the real sight was the group of startled Frost Giants, their ruby eyes spread open in surprise when they found themselves completely wrapped in a solid layer of clear ice, freezing them on the spot.

"I'm really glad that worked…," Loki whispered to himself, but he couldn't hide a touch of pride in his voice. Lord Atlas only nodded while the sound of marching soldiers echoed behind them.

"It won't take them that long to get free!" Loki said when a group of five guards came to a halt next to them. He turned to Lord Atlas. "We have to go, now!"

Without another word, Loki grabbed the startled Lord and pulled him into the hallway, carefully making his way over the slippery surface. Once they had solid ground underneath their feet again, Loki started running with Lord Atlas in his wake. They had to make it to the throne room. Fast!

Not that long, I know, but hopefully my inspiration has somewhat returned and I'l be able to upload as soon as possible. Again, I'm so sorry to make you wait so long. Please don't hate me...

Please let me know what you think!

Have a wonderful day, evening, night, whatever...

Rumple x