"So, do you always do royal Prince-like stuff like today?" Kaisa asked Thor teasingly. She finished with the scrolls and put them back where they belonged, arranging them in chronological order. Putting away all the dusty parchment had been dull and time consuming, but she had enjoyed it anyway. It was the first real Queenly duty she was given. Thor made a face at her as he heaved a heavy crate of unfinished scrolls back onto the shelf, obviously tired of royal chores.
"I prefer not to." he panted, rubbing his hands together. "Tis a tedious job that the All-Father passes down to me. He has better things to do in his time."
"Well I thought it was interesting." Kaisa chirped, grinning at him. A loose strand of brown hair fell over her face, plastering to her sweaty cheek. Thor gave her a suspicious glance.
"I think you're as big a liar as Loki." he said, a pout on the verge of his lips as walked down the small steps. Kaisa couldn't help but laugh as she finished up, her cheeks flushed from all the work. Thor returned her laugh with a grin of his own, but as he turned from her, he felt it drop from his face.
He had a nagging feeling in his gut that he couldn't get rid of, no matter how many times he had thought of an excuse. There was something about Takumi's behavior that troubled him deeply. From what Kaisa had said, Takumi was a young, vibrant young woman who didn't take no for an answer. The woman that Thor had talked to in the gardens was completely different; reserved, emotionless, and empty.
Not only that, ever since the Vanir sisters had arrived to Asgard, he had noticed a significant change in Loki. Of course, he knew that his brother was against the marriage all together, but he hadn't expected such a dark turn. As he watched Loki the first day the sister's had come in, he could see a shadow of darkness come across Loki's face. And even more disturbing- he even thought he saw a flicker of blue in his emerald eyes.
Could the Tesseract still be influencing him? Thor bit his lip in worry. After the stint in the dungeons and the entire ordeal with the Avengers all those years ago should've beat the Tesseract's power out of him, rendering him back to his normal (to Loki standards, anyway) mischievous self. But he knew that Loki still harbored ill feelings towards him and the rest of Asgard.
That would never change.
And now, Takumi Vanir was in the path of all that rage. Thor desperately hoped that his brother knew the difference between right and wrong, but there was still a pit in the bottom of his stomach.
"Thor." Kaisa's voice broke him out of his concentration, and he turned to see two guards standing behind him, their faces lined with worry. He rose an eyebrow and put down the scrolls he was holding. The box clattered loudly as it hit the floor.
"What ails you?" he asked, a small flicker of alarm shooting through him. The guards never intruded on his personal activities unless there was a major emergency.
"Heimdall has spotted two figures breaching the Asgardian gardens. He has a right to believe they're Frost Giants, sent from Jotunheim. They have infiltrated the weapons vault," one of them said, his large weapon resting on the ground. "Odin has been informed of treason. We need you at once."
The gardens. The last time he had spoken to Takumi was in the gardens, overlooking the ceremonial lilies for the upcoming wedding. The weapons vault was only around the corner, right inside the building behind it. He cursed under his breath. Nodding curtly at the guards he turned to Kaisa, who had turned a pale color of white.
"Kaisa, you mustn't venture out until it has been deemed safe. I will be back." he said, inwardly wincing at the look of horror that was growing on Kaisa's face.
"Do you promise?" Kaisa asked, her voice a whisper. She was clearly frightened, she was twisting her hands over each other in anxiety.
Thor gave her a nod. "I promise. Stay safe, Lady Kaisa."
With that, he turned on his heel and marched past the guards, making sure to close the heavy wooden doors behind him. Putting a large, steel bar in front of the door handles so it would be harder to break in, he ordered one of the guards to stand in front of it. He followed the other guard closely, one hand clenched in response, and the other hand wrapped over Mjölnir's handle.
He had to get to Takumi before the intruders did.
Takumi felt her body being dragged on the cold stony floor, her feet kicking helplessly on the smooth ground as she tried to get away from her captors. She was slipping in and out of unconsciousness, the cold seeping into her skin painfully and making her blood throb in her veins. She couldn't feel the hand that was still clamped over her mouth, rendering her silent. All she knew was that she was being dragged away, to someplace she didn't know, and that she was cold.
So cold, painfully cold.
She clawed weakly at the hand around her head, her nails scratching into the icy blue skin. "Mmph!" she groaned, her voice muffled. She felt her body being thrown to the side, and all of a sudden the paralyzing cold that she had felt on her face was suddenly lifted. She skidded on the cobblestones and then laid still, her limbs slowly crawling back to warmth.
Where was she? Her eyes flickered to the scene around them, they were encased entirely by stony walls caked with grout and mud. It was dark, there weren't any windows in sight. She didn't recognize anything around her, and she realized with a jolt that she hadn't seen this part of the palace. It was getting more obvious to her captors, since they were staring at her with wide smiles on their faces.
She glared at the three hulking Frost Giants in front of her, their bodies almost completely naked except for a brown loincloth in front of their groins. Their skin was blue, with strange ridges and swirls trailing down their bodies. Even more chilling, they had blood-red eyes. They were strangest beings that she had ever seen in her life.
One of them spoke, and she held her breath. "How shall we dispose of her?"
The one that had been holding her in his icy grip shrugged. "Do what you please with her." he growled, walking towards what looked like a door. Takumi felt herself stiffen. "Make use of her, for we do not have long before the All-Father's guards arrive."
The Frost Giant that had spoken previously just grinned at that comment, and stepped towards Takumi slowly, his feet thudding dully on the cobblestones. The other two Giants just sneered at her as they touched the walls, spinning intricate webs of frost on them. She only watched in quiet horror as the wall cracked and crumbled into a dusty mess on the floor. They both stepped through, disappearing into what looked like a vault. That left only one, and he was advancing towards her.
Takumi tried to scramble up to her feet, but her limbs felt like jelly. The cold had frozen her to the cold, and now she couldn't feel part of her legs or her arms. She struggled upwards again and again in a panic, but to no use. She felt idiotic as she tried, but it was quelled by the fear of the Giant stepping towards her.
A blue hand shot forwards and grabbed her by the shoulder, and she screamed in pain.
"Hello, Princess." he snarled, showing off his pointed white teeth.
"Get away from me!" Takumi shoved him weakly, her hand pushing into his hard chest as hard as she could. She failed miserably; he didn't move an inch. "What do you want from me?!"
"You are the bride of our leader's son." the Giant smiled at her as though it was the funniest thing in the world. "He has killed our leader, so we shall kill his precious little bride. And perhaps, ruin her innocence too."
She watched in silent horror as the Giant's hand changed from a normal shape to a spiky ice blade, growing up past her head. He grinned.
Without thinking, Takumi clumsily let her other hand fumble at her belt. Her cold fingers closed around an even colder handle, and before she even knew what she was doing, she ripped the blade from her belt and stabbed it into the blue man's stomach.
The Frost Giant let out a loud, pained howl that made her cringe. The icy arm released her shoulder and he stumbled back, clutching his abdomen and screaming in a foreign language. The look on his face was total shock, as though he couldn't believe that a dainty princess like her could do such a thing. But it passed, and he scowled.
"You little bitch." he spat out.
Takumi grasped the dagger more firmly in her hand, her knuckles almost growing white with strain.
He stared at for a moment in complete disbelief, and then he charged forwards with frightening speed. She barely had time to react, her dagger quickly coming upwards. There was the screeching of ice and metal scraping against each other, and Takumi realized that there was an icicle blade inches from hers, the only barrier was Kaisa's tiny dagger.
The Frost Giant grinned as he pushed harder, obviously enjoying the fight that she was giving. "You will pay for this insolence, Princess."
Takumi felt her arms weakening, and she cursed internally. There was only one way to get out of this, wasn't there? She squeezed her eyes shut and uttered a soft whimper of I'm sorry Kaisa to the air around them. The Frost Giant's grin fell to the floor, and a bored glaze crossed his face. He had enough. He pushed with all his strength, knocking her backwards.
Takumi fell against the wall, the dagger dropping from her hand. She used the last of her energy to focus on the wall behind the Giant, staring at it intently.
As she hoped, there was a soft hiss coming from behind the two of them. Takumi felt something surge in her, like a rush of heat through her body. A small orange spiral started to flow through the grey stones. Then another spiral trickling through the slab. Then another. It was fire, slowly leaking from the walls as Takumi worked her magic.
The Frost Giant heard the hissing behind him, and he turned.
The flames all shot forwards at once, like a the quick flick of a frogs' tongue. It hit the Giant directly in the face, knocking him to the side. His body slammed against the wall and the ice blade that covered his hand smashed to pieces. He let out another pained howl, the skin starting to sizzle from the heat and turning black. He let out a choke, blood running from the wound in his stomach and the burns on his face.
The other two Frost Giants quickly ran out from the vault they were in, their arms empty and their expressions furious. They spotted Takumi leaning against the wall, both her hands glowing. A fiery mass was pulsing against the wall, and the two remaining Frost Giants stared at the fire, and then at the body of their dying friend.
"Witch." one of them whispered aloud, his voice hoarse. He pointed at her, his blue arm casing over in ice. "You are a witch."
Takumi slowly got onto her feet again, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't even speak, she just let her hand hang in the air with the fire still trailing around it. Now she couldn't deny it anymore. Kaisa was going to kill her when this was all over, if Odin didn't first. Hell, if the Frost Giants didn't first.
A wave of disgust came over her. These creatures kidnapped her, attempted to kill her, and now they were insulting her. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Who cares if she was a spell-caster?
A small hiss escaped her lips.
Her feet took control as she lunged forwards, the fire weaving around her fingers as she thrust out her palms. Within seconds, fire shot at one of the Frost Giants. He screamed in pain as the flames licked at his icy skin, turning it black all over. The other one watched as his comrade suffered the same fate as the one before, and he turned on his heel and ran. Takumi quickly extended her hand towards him and let the fire curl outwards, shooting at the back of his neck. He shot forwards with a sickening crack! as he fell, his neck snapping in two and the rest of his body catching fire.
She could hear the soft crackling of the fire as it consumed the last giant, his limbs twitching spasmodically as the ice melted away. Smoke melted off all of them, filling the entire room with the smell of burnt flesh. Takumi felt her arms drop to her sides, and the fire around them slowly faded back into the air.
One of the Frost Giants was still alive. It was the first one that she had fought- the one that thought it was going to kill her while his comrades robbed the palace. He was burnt, most of his skin was gone and he was lying in a puddle of his own blood. Takumi stared at him, cold and unforgiving. The Giant reached out a long arm to her, making garbled noises.
It was pathetic. Takumi slowly walked over to where her dagger had been dropped. She picked it up, her numb fingers closing over the handle laced with frost. Then, without any hesitation, she plunged it into the Frost Giant's head. Mercifully, the garbling stopped. With a grimace, she ripped out the blade, a string of blood running down her hand.
"They have gone this way!" she heard someone shout. The sound of running feet suddenly increased.
She turned to see a large doorway that had been hidden by the darkness. Many Asgardian soldiers were standing there, dressed heavily in their armor and clutching their spears. Thor was leading them, holding his trustworthy hammer in his hand. But he wasn't fighting. Instead, he was staring at the burning bodies of the Frost Giants around them.
Then he looked at Takumi, bewilderment crossing his face.
Takumi looked at the bloody dagger in one hand, and the glowing ring of fire around her other. Then she looked up at him, a wry smile on her face. "Ta-da."
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