They Come on White Horses: Chapter 19
Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.
Not much I know...but seriously...kill me now. I love all of my classes accept for chem. Chem can just leave me alone forever, and I'd be happy. Anyway, we are reaching the end, and I already have an idea for a follow up story to this. Let's see if you can guess it.
But that won't be for a while, because I have other stories next in line to work on first.
Besides that, I have upped my crazy level and on top of the college thing and writing 3 multi-chapter stories at the same time, I have written a one-shot featuring Loki, of course. It is a bit dark, no bad ending, but the drama did take me a bit by surprise. So check it out: THE TONGUE'S GREATEST FEAR.
Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.
Won't Be Alone
Loki really couldn't say he was surprised. Both he and Thor had been waiting for something like this. He just supposed he had been expecting something a bit more…violent perhaps? By destroying the bonds on his magic, with his magic, he would surely be seen as an even greater threat than before. He would be surprised if the council wasn't already baying for his blood. So, Loki and Thor were not shocked to see the guards and hearing their proclamation, the others however, were not happy.
Tony stepped forward, his body language screaming confrontation.
"Are you kidding me?! He should be hailed a hero. Loki-" Said prince laid a hand on the inventor's shoulder.
"Anthony, it is alright. It could have been much worse." The guards gripped their weapons tighter and pressed towards them when Loki touched Tony.
"You are to unhand the Midgardian and come with us." Even Clint snorted at that.
"Seriously? He's the only thing keeping us from kicking both of your as-" Steve shot the archer a look.
"Clint." The guards did not take offense however, and instead approached again.
"You have already bewitched them? Undo your curse!" The atmosphere was quickly becoming suffocating with tension, and things were getting out of hand. Thor held his hands up towards the guards.
"Calm yourselves. My brother has not bewitched anyone." He shared a look with his brother, seeing what he wanted to do. With a short nod, Thor sighed. "We will come with you willingly." Tony shot his head over to Thor so fast his neck cracked.
"What?!" Bruce came up behind him, and leaned close to his ear.
"If we fight them now, it will make everything ten times worse." He pulled back and addressed the soldiers. "Alright, but we are coming with you." The guards were obviously not expecting this, and protested.
"We are under orders to only taking the prisoner. Midgardians are not allowed to attend a trial in the presence of the Allfather." Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, and Steve crossed his arms over his chest.
"No offense, but Loki is part of our team. If you insist on taking him to trial, we are going to be there." When it looked like the guards were going to refuse, Thor pinned them with his storming eyes.
"They will be coming with us, and will attend the trial." The guards pursed their lips, but did not argue with the crown prince and gave in.
"Very well." One of them placed the original shackles on Loki's wrists, and they nearly knocked Loki to his knees. His magic was violently shut off, and his ears were ringing from the violation. Thor caught him under one arm and Tony the other. They held him up as he tried to control his breathing. He could not show any aggression; he could not afford to give them any excuse to make this any worse. Despite that, Loki felt a very strong desire to turn them both into very ugly insects.
Instead, Loki held his head up high and shoulders back. He would not be cowed by any bonds or the glares of mere drones. They were not worth his time or his ire. Thor told him enough times, and now was the time to remind the guards before him. He was Loki, a prince. Once their prince, and they were no concern of his. So, he stepped forward, looking as strong and regal as he could with his brother and a Midgardian holding him on his feet. Loki raised an eyebrow at them.
"Well? Are we leaving or will you continue to gawk?" The guards fell back into aggressively stoic expressions and motioned them all towards the marks on the floor. Tony and Pepper spoke for a moment, deciding she would stay behind. Thor and Loki looked at their Midgardian teammates and warned them.
"Don't hold your breath, and plant your feet." They prepared themselves as best they could, and one of the guards called for the Gatekeeper. The same blinding light from before engulfed them, and Jarvis watched as his creator and his team were swept away to another realm. He sent a quick message to Director Fury and set to his task of protecting the tower while Mr. Stark was away.
Despite the many times he had traveled by the Bifrost, Loki found himself struggling with his own footing when they landed. Then again, he was also in the position of making sure Tony did not fall on his face, and normally he had his magic to automatically stabilize him. However, the ground did not meet his face and for that he had mostly Thor to thank. Not that he would actually thank him. Everyone had let a quick look pass over Bruce to make sure he was calm, before they all stood waiting for a direction.
Heimdall did not comment on the unexpectedly large group that had returned from Midgard; he did not even spare them a glance. His golden eyes were locked forward, however, he did address Thor.
"The Allmother is waiting for you and your guests. I suggest you walk swiftly." Thor nodded to the Gatekeeper and they all left without a backwards glance at the guards. Loki could tell the Midgardians were surreptitiously gawking. Had they not come here with a purpose, he had no doubt they would be blatantly staring. However, they were not in Asgard for a friendly chat, and they all knew it.
The walk across the Rainbow Bridge seemed to equally drag and fly by, all thoughts swirling and fighting in their heads. Loki was a bit surprised to find his mother waiting for them outside the gates, rather than inside, and he could tell Thor was too. A flare of guilt hit him, but he did not look away from her. All he could do was accept her reactions, no matter what they may be. From the time it took them to get within five feet of her, she remained stoic and emotionless, however, as their feet brought them closer to her, the queen's two sons saw her hands shaking ever so slightly, and the tense muscles in her shoulders.
Loki and Thor shared a curious look when they noticed that the usual guards were not at the entrance to the palace; their mother was waiting for them all alone. The Allmother watched their approach, appraised the Midgardians with them, and waited. The party stopped, and though they seemed unsure what to do next, she admired the heroes' determination. Thor gave her a small, tight smile, unnatural on his face. Loki just barely met her gaze, and she could see how he slowly shied away the closer they got. Despite this, he was the first to say anything.
"Moth-" the rest of the word was knocked out of him, as Frigga threw her arms around her youngest. Again, Loki was grateful for both Thor and Tony keeping him on his feet, otherwise he and the Allmother of Asgard would have landed in a heap on the ground. He would definitely be facing execution then.
"Oh my boy," Frigga pulled back and held Loki's face between her hands and just looked at him. The others had relaxed considerably upon seeing such a genuine display of affection, now knowing they were in the presence of someone who actually cared. Thor's smile grew and unwound as well. Loki had always been close to their mother, and he was happy to see once again how that had never changed.
The Trickster wiped the slightly stunned look off of his face and smiled as brightly as he could.
"Mother. I'm sorry. I seemed to have broken your gifts." He rattled the chains on his wrists, and Frigga laid her hands on them to still his movements. She continued to smile at him, and never took her hands off of him.
"Dear Loki, I could not be more proud of that." She pulled his head down gently and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Finally, after all of that, she addressed the others.
"I trust you are here to support my son?" Her hard stare would have been enough to force a change alliance in anyone, had they not already made the decision to back Loki. At their affirmations, she smiled once more and gestured for them to follow her.
They walked through golden, shimmering halls and past doors that were over fifty feet tall. It all came together in a stunning image, though there was one thing in particular they found interesting. Bruce decided to bring it up, as he walked on the other side of Thor.
"Um…Ma'am, or, Your Majesty? Where is everyone? No offense, but I kind of imagined we would have come across someone by now." Frigga continued to smile, though her lips pinched at the corners.
"Odin was not pleased when I said I would be out to meet my sons and escort them to their rooms." Even though they were behind her and couldn't see her face, both of her sons could tell she was elegantly rolling her eyes. "He made some fuss about the servants talking if they saw the queen doting over a prisoner. So, I told them to clear the halls we would be walking. Problem solved." Tony smirked. He liked her.
Just when Loki was unsure if he would be able to stay on his feet for much longer, they reached a beautifully furnished lounge area, large pillows and rugs with the occasional chair and table scattered about the room. Each table was laden with succulent meats and fresh produce.
"Mother?" Thor was surprised, though Loki couldn't say he shared that sentiment. It would be just like his mother to have thrown something like this together at the last minute.
"Heimdall was able to inform me ahead of time that we would most likely be playing host to Thor's Midgardian friends, and I had the servants set this up for such a case. We can rest here while we wait for someone to fetch us for the trial." Frigga turned and took Loki's hand, coaxing Tony and Thor to release their helping hold on him, and guiding him to sit with her on a large pillow.
"I don't think this is what the Allfather had in mind when I was to be set up somewhere to await trial," Loki said even as he sunk into the pillow with a sigh. The others dragged pillows over to join theirs until they were all gathered in a sort of circular shape. Frigga scoffed, and ran her hand through her son's black hair.
"Well, at the moment, I do not care for his judgement, Allfather though he may be." She sighed. "He seems to forget that you are our son, no matter what, and is allowing himself to be swayed by the words of the Council." Steve crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back a bit.
"Should we worry about them?" Frigga shook her head.
"Oh no. They are a bunch of old, scared fools. My husband might listen to their ravings now, but I know he will see reason. This trial is just to appease their bitter hearts." Natasha had to ask the obvious.
"And if he doesn't? See reason?" Frigga's eyes flashed, and even her boys knew to fear her tone.
"Then I will make him see reason." Her fingers had never stopped their movements through Loki's hair, and he could feel his eyelids starting to drop. Even when he had fallen asleep, his mother did not stop. She did, however turn to Thor.
"Now, I want to know what happened. All your father will say is Loki has broken the bounds of his probation, and Heimdall only said Loki managed to destroy the bracelets meant to bind his magic. The bracelets were meant to allow him to act in self defense or defense of another, but for his magic to completely overwhelm them and shatter them…" All of the Avengers smiled, sans Clint and Natasha obviously, and began to recount the crazy adventure they had had over the past week and a half.
Odin next chapter! I mean it this time ;) PS I love Frigga, and normally I don't paint Odin to be this bad, but after seeing the second Thor movie I kind of changed my point of view.
Please review! :)