CHAPTER SIX

Loki awoke with the distinct feeling of a weight on his chest. He raised his head blearily to glance down the length of the bed, wondering if he had perhaps fallen asleep trying to read through a stack of large books. His chest was bare and unobscured by books, but somehow it still ached as though something heavy were pressing down upon his ribcage. Besides, he realized with a start, he hadn't fallen asleep reading since he was a young boy. He had mastered Wakefulness Spells years ago; if he was intent on finishing a book despite the late hour, he could use the spell stay awake for hours without getting tired.

He scowled. He was tired now. He racked his memory to think of what he could have possibly been doing the night previous that kept him up so late?

Something in his brain clicked, and the memories flooded into him like a punch to the stomach. Pacing his room half the night…Darcy…magic…carrying her…yelling at her…the hallway…

He groaned furiously and rubbed his eyes as he sat up. It was times like this that he almost wished Sif were around to slap some sense into him. This fiasco definitely merited a slap upside the head, perhaps even multiple slaps. He was a fool, an absolute idiot, for not realizing it at the time: he had been carrying her through the hallway directly above where the Apple was being kept. He felt physically sick with shame…how could he have said those things to Darcy? How could he have over-reacted like that? Even under the influence of the Apple, how could he have turned his powers at manipulating and verbally wounding people against her with such fury? He regretted every word of it now; even the things that he meant, the reason he was holding back—he had said them entirely the wrong way. He had said them like a threat, as if he relished the idea of what his strength could do to her.

He rose to his feet and was out the door before he had finished putting his shirt on. He could fasten his armor on the way; he needed to see Darcy immediately. He had to set this right.

The time saved by dressing en route proved meaningless, as Loki ended up waiting outside Darcy's door for several minutes before he managed to pluck up the courage to knock. For once, he was at a loss for words: what could he possibly say to the woman he loved after hurting her so thoroughly?

Finally, he decided on a straightforward approach. No flowers, no frills, no excuses...just pleading for forgiveness, offering an eternity of servitude or his soul to make it up to her, possibly even—he couldn't believe he was considering this—begging.

He had never stooped so low in seeking forgiveness. Then again, the things he had said to her were just abusive. He had never stooped so low in being hurtful. Well…attempted genocide was pretty close. But he hadn't had to resort to begging in that instance, Thor being the way he was.

He sighed and knocked lightly on Darcy's door. "Darcy," he said softly, "are you in there?"

There was no response.

Loki cleared his throat. He had been expecting she might do this.

"Darcy, it's me. Please, I just want to talk to you. I need to talk to you."

No reply.

"Please, don't do this. Don't ignore me. If…if you can't forgive me, I understand. I can't even begin to forgive myself. Please, I just want to talk to you. I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't even expect you to understand. There is nothing to understand. The way I acted, the things I said, they were…unjustifiable. But please, hear me: even if you can't bring yourself to forgive me, at least try to understand how sorry I am. I need you to know that I regret everything I did and said last night."

"Why are you talking to a door?"

Loki froze. He glanced over his shoulder to see Sif standing a few feet away with her arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at him disparagingly.

"I…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I take it that Darcy isn't in her room, then?"

Sif tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. "No. Jane was asking around for her earlier, something about going out running. She wasn't in there." She sighed. "Based on the heartfelt gushiness you were just bestowing on her door, I'm guessing you two had a fight and that she's avoiding you." She narrowed her eyes. "You didn't cut off her hair, did you?"

"No," Loki replied grimly. "I'm afraid it's quite a bit worse than that." Sif gave him a questioning look. "I said things that I shouldn't have said. I…I yelled." He grimaced. "I believe this is the part where you punch me in the nose for being such a fool."

"Usually it is. I don't know if I can bring myself to do it, though. You just look so damn pathetic talking to that door."

Loki tried to muster a weak smile; it came out looking contorted.

Sif rolled her eyes. "Check the Great Hall. I didn't see her when I was eating breakfast; maybe she came back from running with Jane. She'd probably be eating right about now."

Loki nodded. Sif stared at him, taking in his pathetic appearance for a long moment before she left, shaking her head.

A few seconds later, Loki went off down the other end of the hall. He sincerely hoped that he could persuade Darcy to leave the Great Hall and talk to him privately—he would prefer that his apology be without an audience, for Darcy to hear and act upon alone, without the expectations of others forcing her to go against her will.

It turned out that the question of an audience was a bit of a moot point, because when Loki arrived at the Great Hall, he found Jane eating her breakfast alone. She said that she had not been able to find Darcy; she had gone out running alone.

Loki began to worry as the hours went on with no sign of her around. Everyone else in the palace seemed to have ideas about where she might be, but whenever he went to check, someone else was waiting there with a new suggestion for where he might find Darcy. He knew, even as he made his way from the stables to the library of Midgardian Literature to the Arcane Library to the training fields, that she was in all likelihood avoiding him. She might have even recruited some of the others in the castle to detour Loki from her true location with ruses if she really wanted to be alone. But still...he was astonished when he finally arrived back at the Great Hall for dinner, weary and on edge from searching all day and deferring the apologies that he desperately wanted to tell Darcy, only to find that she was still absent, and that nobody else had spoken to her all day.

He ate his supper alone, despite the prodding of Fandral and Thor to join their betting upon whether or not Volstagg could eat an entire caribou in one sitting. After several moments of conversation that consisted of witty jabs and cheerful invitations on one side and monotone, one-word replies from the other, Hogun seemed to catch on that Loki was not interested in speaking, and diverted the others' attention to the rumors that the Norns' latest cavern retreat hinted at a forthcoming prophecy. Only Jane abstained from the heated debate that ensued. She inched towards Loki's side of the table as if she intended to speak to him. He shook his head slightly. She didn't look happy about it, but she sighed and returned to her seat without comment, glancing only occasionally at his side of the table to see if he was still brooding.

Loki was just about to abandon the Great Hall to continue his search for Darcy—it wasn't as if he felt much like eating anyway—when he heard a small popping noise from the entrance of the hall. He looked up immediately to see Hermes, looking noticeably worse-for-the-wear after his encounter with the fey.

Odin stood immediately in greeting, followed seconds later by Thor as the latter realized what was going on. "Hermes," Odin said formally, "we are glad to see you back in Asgard alive and well."

Hermes looked like he was repressing the urge to roll his eyes with great difficulty. He grumbled something under his breath that Loki suspected had something to do with his supposed "wellness," and probably something less-than-friendly about the fair folk. "I am returned," he finally said aloud, "and I come requesting the return of what belongs to Olympus, in light of the fact that our thief has shown themselves to be interested in a different artifact than the one you were charged with protecting."

"Of course," Odin said, bobbing his head politely. "Thor," he said, "please fetch the Apple of Discord."

"Forgive me, father, but is that safe?" He turned to Loki. "Will your enchantments permit me to retrieve the Apple?"

Loki nodded. "I created the enchantment so that you, the All-Father, Frigga, Jane, and I could all access the Apple without hindrance."

Thor smiled. "I will bring it here, father." And he left the room.

After a few seconds, the conversation in the room returned to its normal levels, and apart from the Olympian god sitting in an extra chair at Odin's table, the meal went on as usual. Loki prodded a piece of salad sitting on his plate listlessly. The leaves shriveled and turned black. He sighed.

Suddenly, thundering footsteps echoed throughout the hall. Loki spun around to see what the commotion was, his heart dropping. Are we under attack?

Thor staggered into the room, his face pale and his eyes wide. "It's gone," he said loudly.

Hermes stood up immediately. "What are you talking about?" he said sharply. "What's gone?"

"T-the Apple," Thor said, shaking. "It's vanished."

Hermes growled low in his throat. "Things don't just vanish. They can be misplaced, taken, hidden, or borrowed, but they do not simply vanish." He pressed his lips into a thin, serious line. "It appears that our thief is cleverer, more ambitious than we thought. It wasn't just the girdle they wanted. Someone has stolen the Apple of Discord."