Hey guys and girls, 666Silvermoon here with another chapter of Key To Redemption, starring Loki and Diana!
Diana: *waves awkwardly from her position by my couch* Hey everyone.
Loki: *is nowhere to be seen*
666Silvermoon: *looks around, a bit nervously* Uhh Diana? Where's Loki?
Diana: *she looks around as well, also a bit nervous* He was just here sitting on the floor a while ago…I don't know where he could've gone.
666Silvermoon: *laughs nervously* Oh that's so not good… *claps my hands together and turns back to the audience* Well! While Diana and I look for the wayward God of mischief, the rest of you get on with reading chapter five. I promise we'll try and have Loki back by the end of the chapter. If not, then we'll for sure have him back by the beginning of the next chapter. Now, on to the story!
Chapter 5
Loki slowly awoke a few hours later, yawning softly as he opened his eyes, before blinking at the creature on his lap. It was Diana's cat Atlas, but he didn't know that. To him, it looked like the creatures that pulled Freya's chariot up in Asgard, though much smaller, with a silvery grey coat of fur with darker grey markings instead of golden brown and no sabre teeth. Its yellow eyes stared up at him unblinkingly before it twitched its whiskers and rubbed its head against his chest.
Loki looked at the creature in confusion, since no animal ever acted like this in Asgard towards him. Most were either too wild or too dangerous to keep as a pet, but apparently the animals of Midgard were not the same, at least this one seemed harmless enough. He slowly lifted his hand and scratched the creature behind its pointed ears. Its yellow eyes slowly closed in apparent contentment as a small rumbling sound came from its throat.
The moment was ruined however when Loki heard Diana's voice. "Atlas? Atlas where are you, ya overgrown fur ball?" The creature turned its head as the door to his room, which was already partially open, opened even wider as the woman herself looked in on them, a towel and a bundle of clothing in her arms. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, you feline menace." She frowned, however a twinkle in her pale blue eyes exposed that she wasn't truly angry. Loki looked down at the creature, who he figured was Atlas, and then looked back up at Diana.
She sheepishly smiled at him. "Sorry about Atlas, he has a nasty habit of getting into things, or rooms he shouldn't." She walked closer to his bed and gently laid the clothes and towel down at the foot of the bed. "I brought you some clothes and a towel in case you wanted to clean up and change into something a little less ragged."
Loki looked down at himself and saw just how dirty and torn his clothes were. He supposed a bath and a change of clothes were needed, if the dirt and leaves on his tunic, trousers and in his hair was any indication. He nodded and pushed Atlas off of his lap as gently as he could, before turning his body and moving his legs over the edge of the bed, but a twinge in his bandaged leg stopped him from standing. He glared down at his injury, because he knew it was best to ask for help from Diana, but his stubborn pride was stopping him. Eventually though, his common sense defeated his pride. "Would you please…help me to the closest room where I may bathe?"
The words barely made it past his lips, his reluctance to ask for help almost making them stick in his throat. Diana said nothing in reply, only nodding before standing next to him and gently moving his arm around her shoulders as she helped him stand. His surprise at finding that she was only two or three inches shorter than him was lessened as his leg shook in protest but with her help they made it to a room right across the tan colored walls of the hall.
The walls of the bathroom were pale lavender, with darker purple tiles reaching to the floor from halfway up the wall, touching the irregular shapes of the thin and pale grey stone slabs making up the floor. The tub was one of those old fashioned ones with brass clawed feet holding it in place, along with brass knobs showing which one is for hot water and which is for cold. The toilet and the sink are more modern and simple, made of white porcelain with a medicine cabinet with a mirror attached to it above the sink.
Diana sat Loki down on top of the toilet before turning the hot water knob for the tub all the way, and the cold water one part of the way. She left the bathroom for a moment before returning with the clothes and towel she got him. "These clothes should fit you. My older brother Lucas is about your height and he's on the skinnier side." She held up a plain, long sleeved white shirt and a pair of black, cotton drawstring pants. She even had the foresight to set a pair of black boxers out for him. He had enough sense of Midgardian culture to know what they were, he wasn't completely hopeless. Not like Thor when he came here, he thought, but then sneered at himself for thinking of his false brother. It was his fault for Loki's current predicament in Loki's eyes.
Loki looked back up at Diana when she held out a pale purple bar of soap to him and set down a plastic bottle of shampoo next to the tub on the floor. "Here, it's a brand new bar. A friend of mine makes them in town; this one's lavender and vanilla. Give me a moment to get something to cover up your bandages before getting in the water ok?" She says as Loki takes the bar from her hands, and then she's right out the door. Loki looks after her in slight shock before mentally shaking himself and stripping his tunic from his thin body. He's confused on why this woman is helping him so much. Is this just so she makes me let my guard down and then stab me in the back later? He asked himself silently, before scowling at his thin body; every scar showing up on his body and his ribs very visible to his eyes.
Diana's P.O.V
I step out of the bathroom and slightly close the door behind me before heading to the closet under my home's stairs. It holds spare towels and medical supplies for both me and my animals. I grab two waterproof protectors for bandages from the closet before heading back to the bathroom, walking in without knocking.
The first thing I notice are Loki's eyes, holding slight apprehension, even fear. The second thing I notice is that his tunic is off, and he's thinner than I thought and his skin is riddled with scars. Thin white scars cover his sides and what I can see of his back, and I can see three scars the size of a quarter each along his side turned towards me; it looks like he was stabbed with a three pronged instrument, like a trident or something. His ribs are noticeable on his tall frame, and there are shiny and raised burn scars dotted along his chest. I come to the realization that he wasn't just imprisoned; he was tortured.
My blood stars boiling as I'm reminded of seeing horses in the same condition. Bodies so thin they can barely walk, patches of hair burned off and whip marks covering their bodies. His current condition reminds me of a horse I rescued two years ago and now own. His owner would ride him over in the Rocky Mountains for hours, and when he finally brought him back home he'd only remove the tack and leave him out in in the field without bothering with a hoof pick or curry comb or anything. One day, he took his horse out riding and rode him to exhaustion and the horse eventually collapsed not too far from home. The owner took off his leather belt with its massive silver buckle and started beating the poor animal. He was caked in blood by the time the owner was finished, and he lost the sight in his left eye. Luckily a neighbor heard the commotion and called the cops, and the ex-owner is now stewing in jail somewhere over in Montana, and I now own the horse he beat and nearly killed. I named him Angus, an Irish name meaning unique strength and he is the gentlest of horses I own. The scars still cover his body, but he is back to a healthy weight and his ribs no longer show through his all blue roan coat.
I notice that Loki is watching my reaction, with anger and what looks like shame in his eyes as he turns away, and I make something out along his upper back. I can't fully see what it is, but it looks like a four letter word. "Do you have something to say woman, or are you going to stand there all day?" His words are like cold steel laced with venom as they come from his lips, and his body is tense, like he's ready to run. Or hold off against an attack, I realize. He thinks I'm going to make fun of him or something. Instead of snapping back at him, like I would've done if he didn't look like I was about to slit his throat, I say nothing, bend down at his feet, and start easing the protectors over his legs, the smaller one going around his right foot to stop at the ankle and the longer going over his left leg to just below his knee, where the dressing on his bear attack wounds stop.
"These will protect your dressings from the water and keep them dry while in the bath." I say, before standing back up and turning off the water, leaving the tub filled with slightly steaming water. I don't ask him if he needs help out of his trousers and into the tub; that would probably irritate him and bruise his ego. I instead leave, closing the door behind me firmly and head out into the living room, Atlas at my heels as I head to the kitchen. Cleo, who was lounging in a patch of sun on the kitchen counter, looked up as I entered, meowing loudly.
I almost absently scratch her behind her ears as I pass her by, heading to my walk-in pantry and opening the door, seeing the multitude of canned and bottled goods, boxes of cereal and pastas, metal baskets hanging from the roof containing some of the fruits in my house, and my deep freezer. I thought for a moment before deciding on a simple chicken stew and some homemade biscuits for dinner tonight, which should also have enough to be lunch tomorrow. I got out some chicken breasts from the freezer, a can of chicken stock and a can of peas from one of the shelves, flour, baking powder, and my salt and pepper grinders before exiting the pantry. I put everything on the granite counter before walking to my refrigerator and getting some carrots, celery, onions and garlic from the vegetable drawer. I also got out butter, buttermilk, shortening and some heavy cream from the door. I first started on the stew, since it would take longer than the biscuits. I defrosted and browned the chicken with butter in my enamel stew pot, and then when it was done put it to the side. I then chopped up the onions and sautéd them before adding some of the garlic I minced while they browned. I soon whisked in the can of chicken broth and chopped up the carrots and celery and drained the can of peas before adding the carrots and celery in with some salt and pepper. I let the stew simmer for a bit after chopping up the chicken breasts into cubes and adding them in the pot.
While waiting for the stew to finish simmering I mix up the flour, shortening, teaspoon of salt, tablespoon of baking powder and some buttermilk in a bowl before the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. I then take the dough out and knead it on my floured counter before cutting out the biscuits and putting them on a cookie sheet. I set them in my oven at 450 degrees and added the heavy cream and peas to the stew, stirring them in till I had a creamy sauce.
While waiting for the food to finish I cleaned up my counters, chopping board and knife before setting a kettle on to boil for some tea. I got out the box I kept my homemade tea bags in their container, but I turned around as I heard slight footsteps behind me. Loki stood in the archway of my kitchen, hanging onto it like his life depended on it dressed in Lucas's clothes which hung on his thin frame, his hair hanging in his face and dripping water onto my Terra cotta tiled flooring. "How many times have I told you that you shouldn't be walking on that leg?" I slightly chastise him before gently leading him to sit down on a bar stool up against the island in the middle of the kitchen. He scowled at me as I made him sit, but I was currently stronger than him from years of rescuing and training horses, along with the making of and tending to my greenhouse in my back yard and some stints at female boxing a few years back. "And you're dripping water onto my floor as well. Some thanks I get." I mutter as I head to the bathroom and retrieve his towel and grab a spare hairbrush and hair tie from under the sink. I reenter the kitchen and find Loki locked in a staring contest with my dogs Taboo and Kida, though it more looked like he was glaring at them. "What are those things?" He asked in a mixture of disgust and curiosity.
I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Those are my dogs. The dark brown one is Kida, she's my chocolate Labrador. The black one with the tan marking is my German Shepherd, Taboo. They won't bite you, don't worry. The only thing they bite is food and downed game." I tell him as I check on my biscuits before opening door in the kitchen leading outside.
"Taboo, Kida, outside, both of you." I command, and they race out the back door. Loki's glare dropped as he raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him in favor of stirring my chicken stew, before getting out two tea cups and saucers with ivy leaves along the edges of them before placing a cup and saucer in front of Loki. "Would you like a cup of tea Loki? I have jasmine, chamomile, spearmint, lavender and sage, and lemongrass with ginger." I looked at him, holding my box of homemade tea bags in my hands.
He looked contemplative for a moment before licking his lips and his face cleared of all emotion. "Chamomile would be fine." He said, so I set a chamomile tea bag in each cup before putting away my box and going to stand behind him. He followed me with his eyes and slightly turned as I held up his used towel.
"What are you about to do?" He asked me, his voice heavy with suspicion.
"Since you've decided on dripping water onto my floor then I have no choice but to towel dry your hair and brush it out, lest you drip more water." I replied before starting to rub sections of his hair in my towel clad hands. Soon his hair changed from dripping wet to only damp, so I slung the towel over one shoulder, grabbed my brush and started trying to get the knots out of his hair. He flinched and cursed at me in another language every time I yanked a knot too hard, but soon his hair was straight as could be and I tied it in a low ponytail to keep it out of his face. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" I said cheerfully, but he simply glared at me as I set the brush down.
The kettle started whistling at that moment and my oven timer went off, so I poured some water into each cup for our tea before putting on my oven mitts and taking out my buttermilk biscuits. I set them on the kitchen counter before turning off my stove top and stirring my chicken stew one more time before taking two bowls out and spooning a little into Loki's bowl and a bit more into mine. I set a biscuit in each bowl for us and set Loki's down in front of him. As I set my own bowl down on the counter and sat down at the bar stool nearest me, he looked up at me, his eyes scrutinizing me.
"Why are you doing this? Any other lowly human like yourself would've turned me in to the authorities. If you're doing this to have some sort of leverage over Asgard then you're sadly mistaken. The only thing anyone wants of me is to be dead." He said it so bitterly that I my eyebrows went up in surprise.
"Now I find that hard to believe," I say after taking the teabag from my cup and adding a little bit of sugar. "I know I certainly don't want you dead, though there are a few questions I'd like answered if you aren't too busy or in pain to answer them." I stir my tea, and then take a sip of it as Loki looks at me in almost disbelief.
"What?!" Scratch that, he's in disbelief. "But I invaded your planet with an alien army intent on conquering you! Hundreds of you humans died at my command and your island of Manhattan was destroyed during it! Why don't you hate me?!" He asked me hysterically, his eyes wide as he stood up from the barstool, only for his leg to give out on him. Luckily I caught him in time; otherwise my floor would be stained with blood as well as water. I gently helped him up though he struggled in my grasp.
"Unhand me this instant, woman!" He yelled at me and tried to get out of my grip, but I merely tightened it and made him face me. "Stop it!" I raise my voice to him slightly, but I don't yell. "I'm trying to help you Loki, and you are doing nothing but spit on my kindness. I'm not doing this to hurt you; I want to help you but you have to let me in order for that to happen."
He's panting heavily as he looks at me, his eyes wide and bright like that of a frightened horse getting ready to rear and bolt and his skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat. My voice calms and I loosen my grip a bit. "I just want to help you Loki, but you're not making it easy." I softly say as I lead him back to sit on the bar stool. He doesn't say anything back, but he does sit down and stares at his food. Every now and again I look up at him as I eat my food slowly, but he just looked pensively down at the island, barely seeing his food I guessed. I soon finished both my food and my tea, cleaning my bowl and cups and saucer in the sink. I heard the clink of silverware behind me, so I washed my dishes as slow as I
could.
When I finished I saw Loki already heading back to his room, his bowl of food half eaten and a few bites taken from his biscuit. I spooned his stew in with the rest of the leftovers in some Tupperware and I broke the biscuit into pieces and gave them out to Kida and Taboo as I let them inside. After that I headed up stairs, using the pull down staircase by my room to get up to the attic.
The attic is basically one large room with the chimney running down one side of it, which connects to the fireplace in the living room, and it's full of boxes and old trunks full of baby clothes, old toys, family scrapbooks, and various other knick knacks and things. I go to an old dark stained trunk near the back of the attic and open it up, and inside are old things that belonged to my grandfather Cormac. I gently rifle through it, pushing aside clothes, some journals, my grandfather's pipe, and a hat or two before grabbing what I came here for. I grip the old cane and lift it from the trunk, the oak wood of it well polished and the silver wrought raven's head handle gleams in the pale light from the overhead bulb. I gently close the trunk and head back downstairs, slowly walking towards the guest room where Loki is. I gently knock, before opening the door slightly. I see he's asleep on the bed, so I silently place the cane against the nightstand by the bed and leave, never seeing Loki's eyes slit open and look upon the cane as I close the door behind me and head to bed myself.
Third P.O.V, In Asgard
Thor, crown prince of Asgard, walked along the rainbow bridge of the Bifrӧst towards the control dome where Heimdall was situated at. "Heimdall! I have come to ask you of my brother's condition. How does he fare on Midgard?" Thor asked the gatekeeper in his booming voice, though the worry he felt towards his brother was evident in both his voice and on his face.
Heimdall calmly looked up the crown prince before staring off into the distance, and when he spoke his voice was calm and softly rumbled. "Loki was attacked by a creature of Midgard, but he was saved by a woman on a black horse. He is currently in her care, and she seems to have no intentions on turning him in to the authorities as long as he does not cause any harm to her, her animals or her future guests." The gatekeeper saw the anger on Thor's face when he mentioned the attack, but now confusion was the only expression on the prince's face.
"My brother is being looked after by a woman of Midgard?" Thor asked curiously. "What are her intentions towards my brother if she is not going to turn him over to the authorities of her world?"
Heimdall calmly looked off into the distance and answered Thor in the same calm and rumbling voice. "It seems the only intentions she has towards your brother for now is to help him recover and give him a safe haven to rest. She herself muttered to her horses that she has a penchant for taking in abandoned things."
Thor looked surprised as Heimdall said this. "She truly wants to help my brother? Who is this woman? What did she mean by 'penchant for taking in abandoned things'?"
Heimdall looked at Thor, his golden eyes staring into the blue ones of the crown prince. "Her name is Diana my prince. She seems to take great pride in finding and taking in abused horses and other animals with cruel or neglectful owners and healing them of both the mind and the body. It seems like our wayward 'prince' was meant to be found by her." The almost disregard of Loki's title went unnoticed by Thor, despite he knew that Heimdall still harbored ill feelings towards his brother after being frozen solid by Loki so he could attempt to destroy Jotunheim.
The confusion cleared from Thor's face, and now only happiness showed on it. "There is a chance she can save my brother? Is this true Heimdall?"
"Yes my prince, this Diana of Midgard is far more then she appears to be." The ominous tone in Heimdall's voice went unnoticed by Thor, who was too eager to share this news with his mother and father, and he immediately ran back to where his horse stood, mounted up and galloped full speed across the almost fully repaired Bifrӧst and toward the castle to tell his mother and father the good news. That there might finally be someone who could help Loki become his old self again!
Woo! That took a while to finish. Sorry about the wait folks, been busy trying to find a job and applying for college. I hope you enjoyed the fifth chapter of Key To Redemption, and the fact that we now have more than just Loki and Diana in the story. I promise I'll try and get some more members of the Avengers in the next chapter, which I don't know when I'll have out.
666Silvermoon: *tightens the straps holding Loki to his chair, blowing a strand of hair from my face* I'd like to see you get outta this and try and leave now, ya tricky bastard.
Loki: *glares and yells at the author, but its muffled by the strands of duct tape over his mouth*
666Silvermoon: *puts a hand to my ear* Oh, what's that? You want more readers to give me feedback on my story? Well I agree 100%! *turns to my audience* Come on people, I know you're reading this story, what I want to know is what you guys and girls think of it!