(Author's Note: Yay! Emmeline's saviors have arrived! Please review in the magical box to tell me what you think! Any questions, suggestions? What would you like to see happen? Let me know, and enjoy!)

Chapter 17

The sight of Emmeline alone was enough to make Thor's stomach turn. The Other had her chained by her wrists and ankles to the wall. Emmeline's entire body was covered in blood. She was completely red. Her red-orange hair was now completely red with blood, wet and caked in thick strings. She held her head down. Even when Loki entered the dungeon she did not lift her head. It looked as though she had been tortured. Thor swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked at her, tears threatening to overflow his cheeks. Her eyes stared at the ground, open wide, dark and beaten with pain and despair. They were dull; the spark they once had was gone, replaced with a dark shade of misery. Her breathing was in ragged, short gasps. She looked like a corpse hanging as a trophy. Barely hanging on to the last strings of life.

On the floor below her there was a pool of her own blood; Thor could see it still dripping off of her slowly. The shadows on her face revealed the outline of her skull, and her eyes sunk in, large purple circles surrounding them. She was skinnier than she was normally; Thor knew the Other hadn't fed her, or given her any water to drink for that matter. As Thor looked closer, he saw large whiplashes at her sides, cutting through her clothing not to mention her skin. Blood and puss poured out of them, and bile rose in Thor's throat. He swallowed it back.

She looked as if she could disintegrate onto the floor at any moment. Her lips were bone-dry and split in a few places. Her face could break a thousand hearts. Her expression was one of despair, fear, and surrender. She had completely given up, and Thor could see it. She stared into the void of the stone floor, with an eerie acceptance of whatever was to come to her.

Loki's face broke Thor's heart as well. Written into his brother's expression was shock, anger, heartbreak, and desperation. Every string holding Loki's composure broke in that instant. His brow furrowed and tears welled up in his sparkling emerald eyes. He saw Emmeline the way Thor saw her now, but it was different for Loki because he loved her. All the blood and gashes and the look on her face shattered his brother's soul. Loki shot a glance at Thor, with a look of worry and anger Thor had never seen before. Loki was mentally yelling at Thor to attack the Other.

The Other stood there, smirking at the two brothers as they stared at their female companion, barely surviving.

"There is no hope for her now," said the Other. Loki took out his daggers and pinned the Other to the wall. He growled through gritted teeth.

"You release her this instant, or I swear I will—"

"—You'll do what? You can do nothing. And now you shall watch her die." The Other shoved Loki into the stone wall and took out his sword. He approached Emmeline, and on instinct Thor swung Mjolnir in the creature's face before he could reach her. When the Other was on the ground, Thor placed Mjolnir on his chest, pinning him to the ground. Loki smirked at the creature.

"Well look at you," he said. "Such weakness! How easy that was! I suppose I will have to watch you die instead." Loki picked up the Other's sword, and looked at Emmeline. He looked back at the Other with a look Thor could only decipher as pure hatred. Thor knew what he was going to do.

"Loki…" he said, warning in his voice. Loki wasn't paying attention. Emmeline remained silent, her body unmoving. Thor began to worry about her.

Thor had no time to stop his brother when Loki plunged the sword into the Other. His blood splattered on Loki's face, half of it already bloody from the scratch the Other had given him days before. Loki pushed the sword down into the Other, and up to make sure it would kill him. He pulled the blade out and tossed it aside.

Loki stood over the Other, smiling mischievously, as if he was proud of himself. He looked to Thor.

"Let's go," he said. Loki turned to Emmeline, standing a distance from her as if he was afraid to get too close. Thor slowly stepped up to where she hung and using his brute strength, unbound her hands and feet from the chains. He took her down from the wall and turned to Loki. Loki held out his arms to take her and Thor set her gently in them. Loki looked down at Emmeline in his arms and she slightly turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were still wide from torture and she said nothing. Loki looked at her with horror and sat on the floor, setting her in his lap. He held her close to him, stroking her blood-soaked hair, her blood staining his clothing and skin.

"How could I have let this happen?" he whispered, half to Emmeline, half to himself. "I'm so sorry Emmeline... I am a fool." Emmeline whimpered in pain and fear, her breath struggling with gasps. She was trembling.

"Shh…nothing can hurt you now, dear one," Loki said. Thor had never seen his brother act like this before. Seeing Loki so vulnerable and comforting was not the norm. Thor wished that his father could see Loki now. Odin had never understood Loki or known him the way Thor had. Thor hated that he had to interrupt, but if Chitauri soldiers saw the Other lying dead and Loki and Thor standing by, things would go bad quickly.

"Loki…" he said. "We have to go." Loki nodded and stood up, gently lifting Emmeline with him. She rested her head on his chest. "Illusion yourself as a soldier," Thor said.

"I can't. I must carry Emmeline, and my illusions cannot be touched. We just have to carefully sneak past them."

"Where?"

"To mother's chambers," Loki replied. "She needs tending to, and no soldier would reside in the queen's chamber. You fetch Odin and Heimdall. At least one of them might know what to do." Loki's voice shook with fear and uncertainty. He did not know what to do for Emmeline, and it scared him, Thor could see. He nodded, and when he reached the doors of the palace, he wound up Mjolnir to fly him to the dwarf village. To Odin and Heimdall.


Loki snuck past the Chitauri guards until he made it to Frigga's chambers. As he expected, it was uninhabited. Loki gently laid Emmeline on the bed and bolted the doors. He searched fervently for a water dish in Frigga's chamber. Just looking at Emmeline and how beaten; how tortured she looked stabbed him in the chest. Loki opened a wooden armoire and found a dish in it. He grabbed it and filled it with water from the fountain that was in the middle of his mother's room. That fountain was a place that Loki had practiced his magic with his mother many times, but Loki had no time to reminisce. He knelt by Emmeline and looked into her eyes that no longer sparkled. She looked back at him, unable to say anything from her lack of water. She looked only to be half there.

Loki put the dish up to her mouth and let Emmeline drink from it. He could see the relief on her face when the cold liquid hit her dry mouth, lubricating her throat like it was from the heavens. After she finished, Loki crawled up in the bed with her and gently held her close to him.

"I'm so, so sorry," he said. "This is all my fault. …What have they done to you?" Emmeline, shaking, wrapped her fragile arms around Loki. He held her close, but was careful not to hurt her.

"You came back," she rasped.

"Yes," Loki replied. "I would never leave you."

"You saved me."

"Here, let me look at your wounds," he said, laying her gently on the bed. "I don't want to hurt you by slipping your shirt over your head, so is it alright if I cut it?" Emmeline nodded. Loki took out one of his daggers and cut a slit in her shirt, using his hands to rip it off of her. Loki cringed at the sight of the whiplashes. They were open; bloody and swollen. He looked at Emmeline intently, pain in his expression.

"I'm going to have to pour water on them," he said. "…It will hurt." Emmeline winced and nodded, preparing herself. Loki hated that he was the one that had to do this. Seeing her in pain was almost the same as him being in pain. He literally hurt when he looked at her. He filled the water dish again and proceeded to pour the water over Emmeline's lashes.

She threw her head back and cringed, screaming from the pain. She clutched the blanket below her and sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. Loki wept for her. He didn't try to hold it back this time; they were alone. He closed his eyes and poured water over the other side, and Emmeline let out more cries. When Loki was about to pour the last of the water over her, he hurled the dish at the wall and put his face in his hands.

"I can't. I cannot do this. I can't stand to see you in pain like this."

"It's okay," rasped Emmeline. "It doesn't hurt as much as the salt at least." Loki turned to Emmeline with wide eyes.

"Salt?!" Emmeline said nothing and Loki took her hands in his.

"I wish I could kill that loathsome creature a second time," he said. "But I have killed him. He will not bother you now."

"I thought I would never see you again. I thought I was going to die." As Loki held Emmeline's hands, he studied the circles of blood around her wrists, where the chains had cut into her.

"You're alright now my darling," he said. He pet her hair, the blood in it staining his hand. "I will never let anyone hurt you again." After a silence, Emmeline spoke once more.

"What happened to your face? It's terribly slashed."

"The Other smashed me into the ground," Loki replied. Emmeline looked at him lovingly, and then looked as if she thought of something.

"Did Odin make it? What happened after the fight? I didn't see you," she asked.

"I slipped out, and that is why this is my fault. I should have never left you."

"But why? Why did you leave?"

"I disguised myself as a Chitauri soldier and saved Odin's miserable life from the guillotine. Then the Other beat me out of consciousness and I woke up in a dwarf village. When I woke up, Thor told me you had gone missing, so I came to where I last saw you. Here. The dungeons were the last place I looked."

"So he's alive? You saved him?"

"…In a word." Emmeline mustered a small smile at him.

"I would have thought you'd let him die," she said.

"I would have. I should have," Loki replied dryly.

"Why didn't you?" Loki looked at the floor and said nothing. Why hadn't he? He would have thought it amusing to see the Allfather fall. But at the last minute he acted on impulse and saved Odin's life—endangering Emmeline's in the process. It was a foolish thing to do. So why had he done it? "I think that's enough questions, love," he told Emmeline. She smiled at him.

"You did it for Thor, didn't you?" she rasped. Loki stayed silent. That thought hadn't occurred to him, but when he thought of it…no. That couldn't be it. Could it? Certainly not. Thor? Loki shut out the thought. "I know you did," Emmeline said. …Why must she always be right?

After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door.

"Loki, it is I. I have brought Father and Heimdall." Loki got up to open the door.

"You may want to cover yourself," said Loki to Emmeline. "Do you need more water?" Emmeline nodded and Loki fetched another water dish for her and waited until she had covered herself with a blanket to open the door.

Thor entered with Odin and Heimdall and gestured them to Emmeline.

"She was tortured," he said, making Loki shudder at the thought of that word associated with Emmeline. But she had been tortured. And it was his fault. His, and Odin's. He should have let the guillotine take him. But he couldn't. Because his brother would have suffered. Why do I care if Thor is hurt? When have I ever cared? Loki thought. He didn't care about anyone, except Emmeline and Frigga. And now Frigga was gone.

Because I know what it's like.

Odin addressed Emmeline. "It seems every time I see you child, your life is in danger."

"And will you do nothing to help, just like the last time?" remarked Loki bitterly.

"In repayment for saving my life Loki, I will do what I can to help her," Odin replied calmly. He kneeled beside Emmeline. Loki shot a look at Thor, mentally telling him to leave. If the Allfather was going to attempt the healing technique Loki thought he was, it would be better for Thor and Heimdall to not be present. Thor nodded at his brother.

"Come Heimdall," he said. "Let us guard the door." Loki nodded back in agreement. Once they left, Emmeline removed her blanket to show the Allfather her wounds. Odin studied them. He turned to Loki.

"This requires magic," he said.

"I know that," scoffed Loki. "I called you here because you're the only one that can summon the healing gauntlet."

"No," said Odin. "Wounds like these can only be treated with Hardol's Spell." Loki widened his eyes in horror at the Allfather.

"No. No, that's out of the question."

"Can you not do it?"

"I can do it; I just refuse to do it on her." Odin stood up and looked at his adopted son.

"It is the only way," he said. Loki swallowed hard. Emmeline took a drink of water and spoke up, her voice still hoarse.

"W-What's the problem? What's Hardol's Spell?" Loki approached her and sat on the bed.

"It's a healing spell created by Hardol the Healer. When he created it, it worked very well, but it was excruciatingly painful for those who had to undergo it. Some even thought it wasn't worth it. Hardol died though, before he could perfect the spell."

"It is the only one powerful enough for your case," added Odin. "If Loki does not perform it, you will die." Emmeline sighed after a moment.

"Okay," she said.

"Hold her down," Loki ordered Odin, making Emmeline wince with apprehension.

"Loki, you cannot stop once you've started," warned Odin. "You have to be strong when it hurts her."

"You think I am weak, Odin?" Loki said, as if he was challenging him.

"I only speak with the knowledge that you love her," Odin replied. Loki said nothing and stood over Emmeline while Odin held her down by her arms.

"I'm sorry," said Loki to Emmeline. She bit her lip and nodded to him. Loki placed his hands over Emmeline and began reciting the spell.


Loki was reciting the Hardol's Spell in some kind of foreign language Emmeline didn't know, but she couldn't focus on that for long. Loki had warned her about the pain, but there was no way Emmeline could have prepared herself. It was a good thing Odin was holding her down.

As soon as Loki began reciting the spell, a green glow escaped from his hands and it stabbed Emmeline's wounds like hundreds of needles sticking her at once. As much as she tried to for Loki, she couldn't hold back her screams. The magic went from needles to knives, and it caused her to shake and convulse, trying to escape it. Tears ran down the sides of her face out of the corners of her eyes, and she became so hot it felt like she was on fire. She had been on fire before, but that was her own power; it hadn't burned like this.

Emmeline shrieked at the top of her lungs and Odin whispered consolations in her ear. She couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything. Just the blood rushing in her ears and her own screeching. She tried to focus. Focus on something; anything…Loki. He recited the spell with a pained expression, tears spilling over his cheeks from the sound of Emmeline's pain. He looked at her while he performed the spell; love and hurt in his eyes.

Suddenly the pain grew worse. Emmeline felt as if someone had reached inside her and started turning her inside out. She couldn't control her convulsions, nor the blood seeping out of her mouth. Her insides were burning; she was almost sure of it. She could almost hear herself sizzling; smell the smoke. Sweat ran down her face and wet her hair, and she heard Odin yell to Loki.

"Finish it! Hurry, you're killing her!"

Killing her? Loki muttered the spell faster and with every word a new form of the excruciating pain emerged. Emmeline screeched and writhed and suddenly she could sense nothing but the pain. She couldn't hear anything. She couldn't see anything. Just blackness, and pain within the blackness. The pain grew and grew, and she felt herself crying louder but heard nothing.

And then it was over.

The pain stopped abruptly. Altogether in one second, everything went away. Emmeline felt perfect; like nothing had ever happened. She looked down at herself and her wounds were gone. She was completely healed. She could feel her power coming back as well; it was flowing stronger and stronger through her veins, giving her a sense of relief and adrenaline.

Loki collapsed onto the floor, which startled Emmeline from her wonder. She sat up and peered down at him. He had fallen unconscious. A look of worry spread over Emmeline's face but before she could reach out to him, Odin picked him up.

"He will be alright," he reassured her. "Hardol's spell drains every bit of one's power."

"Thank you, Allfather," said Emmeline. "For saving me." Odin set Loki on the bed and sat next to Emmeline.

"Loki saved you, child," he replied. A silence passed between them "…Do you love my son?" Odin asked, breaking it.

"With all my heart," said Emmeline.

"I can see he cares for you deeply. He loves you as well. You must have quite an effect on him, I've never in my life seen him as…animated, as he is with you." Emmeline beamed at Odin's words.

"Really? Thank you," said Emmeline. "And I've been meaning to tell you, I've never planned to endanger Asgard in any way. I simply follow Loki." Odin nodded. He stood up and started for the door.

"I wish you well," he said.

"Wait," said Emmeline. "Where are you going? It's dangerous out there."

"The war has begun," Odin replied. "I must gather my army." Emmeline smiled.

"Where do we meet you?"

"The bifrost. In three days." Emmeline nodded, and the Allfather opened the door, releasing the sounds of chaos, and then impeding them by closing it. Emmeline looked back at Loki. She brushed his several stray strands of his raven hair out of his face, and looked upon his perfect features. She loved how peaceful he looked when he slept. Like the little boy she knew he had been once; full of ambition and longing. Her gorgeous sleeping prince. Her salvation.