Hi everyone! Sorry this is up so late; I was with my family today since it was Father's Day and I also wasn't feeling too well today. I'm glad everyone liked Loki's revenge- there will certainly be more of Loki's dark side as the story progresses! This isn't my favorite chapter that I've written, but I did like the end of this chapter. I have better plans for the next chapter! As always, reviews are wonderful!
"Well done group two and specifically Loki for finding the object!" You heard Vali call out, clapping his hands upon everyone's arrival.
Everyone more or less congratulated your team, some more begrudgingly than others, particularly Fandral who glowered at both you and Loki as if you were both the reason why his team didn't win.
"Now, the winning group, as a reward for your performance, you do not have to attend the next training session. You've earned a day of rest." Vali said which caused your group to erupt into cheers.
Your entire group gathered into a big hug that originated when you hugged Loki out of joy from being exempt from a training session and soon everyone followed suit, including Ingrid. It actually didn't surprise you too much that Ingrid joined in on the group hug because she absolutely loathed training even though she was fairly good at combat. Loki blushed at the attention he was receiving and even looked a little bit uncomfortable. Loki's initial discomfort quickly melted away, however, as he began to enjoy the positive treatment he was receiving from his peers who usually only praised Thor.
"As for the rest of you," Vali said to the other two groups, "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Enjoy the rest of your day everyone."
Fandral brushed Loki's shoulder as he walked by causing Loki to glare over at him.
"Don't worry about him, he's just jealous." You said to Loki.
"Oh, I don't doubt that. He's just determined to find any way to try and make me miserable." Loki responded quickly.
"I can tell, but try your best to avoid him." You offered.
"I do," Loki spoke as he continued to watch Fandral walk away with the rest of his team, "but he always seems to find me."
"Well, if he does find you then just ignore him and walk away." You said earning a blank stare from Loki.
"What?" You asked, obviously confused.
Loki sighed and said, "I can't just ignore him or run off like a coward; that will make his taunts worse."
You narrowed your eyes at Loki and then squinted ahead to see the outline of Fandral. "He teases you?"
Loki bit his lip, "His preferred form of torment is physical assault, but yes, verbal taunts are certainly rampant."
You felt an immense amount of anger building up inside of you at Loki's words. You couldn't believe that Fandral was being so cruel to Loki who didn't deserve to be treated so poorly. You felt like you were the only other person besides Thor who cared about Loki or thought well of him. You were angry that Fandral was isolating Loki and even resorting to physically hurting him. Yet, you saw no signs of abuse on Loki.
You took a deep breath to steady your anger and said to Loki, "You have no marks on your skin."
Loki nodded his head solemnly. "I know this. I was wrong to think that anyone would believe me."
"Wait!" You grabbed Loki's arm, "I didn't say that I don't believe you. I believe you more than anyone else. I just don't understand why there are no signs of abuse if Fandral did attack you."
Loki looked at you sadly as he said, "A few nights ago, the same night you left dinner to go back to your room alone, Fandral tripped me in the hallway. No one saw what happened, but he ridiculed me there and my face was pretty messed up. I went back to my room that night and when I woke up in the morning, it was if nothing had happened. I guess I have the ability to heal quickly."
"It doesn't matter if you heal quickly or not! Fandral shouldn't have done what he did! It's…it's an outrage!" You yelled angrily, but fortunately no one was within earshot to hear your anger.
"Shh, shh." Loki whispered as he motioned with his hands for you to quiet down, "I know it wasn't right of him to behave as such, but I do not want you to get involved in this. It concerns Fandral and I, no one else."
"You're telling me to calm down, Loki? I can't! I can't believe he did this to you and to think, I knew something was off about you that morning, but I took your word for it that you were only tired, that nothing was really wrong! Why did you lie to me, Loki?" you asked as your eyes brimmed with tears that threatened to fall.
Loki looked absolutely heartbroken as he said softly, "I wanted to prevent this from happening. I didn't want you to know because I wanted to protect you from the truth. I knew that the truth would hurt you, so I fashioned a well-intentioned lie to save you the grief of feeling pity for me."
You shook your head furiously. "Loki, you can't lie to me about your own safety. Lying isn't going to stop me from caring about you. I was bound to find out eventually or see it for myself. I wish you had told me about this sooner."
"I know, I know Aurora." Loki said as he placed a hand on your shoulder and looked into your eyes. "I'm sorry for not confiding in you. I just thought it'd be best for me to keep this a secret because I didn't want you to be hurt by what is happening to me. The last thing I want to see is you hurt."
A few tears escaped from your eyes as you wiped them away before answering, "We're friends, Loki. If someone hurts you, they hurt me too. That's just how it works."
"Well, it shouldn't." Loki said as he pulled you in for a hug.
"But it does and you can't change that. I'm going to be your friend forever, Loki, and nothing you could ever do would change that." You said as he held you tightly.
"You will always be my friend too." Loki answered back.
You pulled away from Loki's hug and wiped your eyes one last time. You smiled faintly at Loki and said, "Do you want to go to the library?"
"You know I'd never pass that up." Loki smiled at you as the two of you ventured to the library.
After you and Loki had gone to the library and spent time with others in the palace, it was later at night so you decided to try and sleep. You turned out all the lights and laid there in the dark staring up at your ceiling. You had wrapped your blue sheets around your body in an attempt to feel more comfortable as you waited for sleep to come.
After lying in bed for a while you began to toss and turn. Growing increasingly frustrated, you soon surmised that you were not going to fall asleep anytime soon. You really hated lying in bed staring at the ceiling or wall unable to sleep. You decided that you would rather get up and wander about the palace at night rather than remain in your room. You decided to change into different clothes and you walked out of your room and into the corridor. As you expected, nobody was in your corridor. The corridor was lit by torches on the walls as you wandered down it and out into another corridor along the side of the palace. You ventured out the palace and sat down on stone steps that led out of the palace from the side and to the pathway which led to the rest of Asgard. You normally didn't leave the palace, but you hoped to see what else was out there one day. From your position on the steps you looked out at the night sky and at all the stars and the different colored galaxies that you found amazing to look at. You wondered what exactly was out there; you wanted to see different realms and experience more than daily life on Asgard.
You were so mesmerized by the nighttime sky that you didn't hear someone approaching you.
"I see that sleep is evading you as well."
You turned around startled, but placed your hand over your racing heart when you saw who it was. "Loki! Don't sneak up on me like that please; you scared me!"
"You have my apologies, Lady Aurora." Loki said as he sat down next to you on the steps.
"It's okay; you just startled me a little is all." You replied as you removed your hand and placed back at your side.
Loki smiled as he looked up at the sky. "It's quite a magnificent display isn't it?"
You nodded, "It's beautiful; like nothing I've ever seen before. I really like all the different colors, stars, and swirl patterns."
"It really makes you wonder what more exists out there beyond what we can see." Loki spoke eyeing the giant red galaxy that had remnants of magenta in it as well.
"I hope one day I can see even a fraction of what is out there. There must be something amazing out there that hasn't be discovered yet or completely understood. I want to travel and see what the other realms are like, and everything in between." You said wistfully.
Loki turned his attention to you and smiled, "It'd be wise to leave some realms off of your itinerary though, like Jotunheim for example."
You turned to face Loki and said, "I even want to go to Jotunheim."
Loki looked taken aback, "Why?"
"Even though the Frost Giants live there and I've heard it's cold and pretty scary, I still want to go because it's something I've never seen before. I'd like to see what other places are like and besides, I'd love to sketch other landscapes besides our own." You responded.
"Jotunheim is frigid, dark, and desolate. There wouldn't be much to sketch." Loki chuckled.
You shrugged, "Maybe a nice ice fortress or something?"
"Oh, I'm confident there are ice fortresses there, but I'm not sure I'd call them nice or appealing." Loki continued laughing.
"Well, at any rate, I still want to go." You said as you looked back up at the dark sky painted with bursts of brilliantly colorful designs.
"I hope to avoid Jotunheim, personally." Loki spoke.
"I'm sure most people do. I certainly wouldn't want to fight any Frost Giants." You said.
"Me neither. I hope I never do." Loki sighed.
"Me too." You said squeezing Loki's hand.
You leaned your head into Loki's shoulder as he leaned his head on top of yours. The two of you remained in that position for a while just gazing up at the sky and talking. If anyone else in the palace had been awake and had seen the two of you comfortably sitting on the steps late at night, they would have undoubtedly had the impression that the two of you were romantically affiliated. However, this was not the case. You and Loki were just two best friends enjoying each other's company in the dead of night when sleep had refused to visit either of them yet. Loki was the one person in all of Asgard that you felt the most comfortable and secure around. Loki understood you perfectly and you understood him. You truly felt fortunate to have Loki in your life and you hoped he felt the same way.
You could feel your eyelids growing heavy as you fought to keep your eyes open. The spectacular celestial scene in front of you kept fading in and out. You didn't want it to go away, but at the same time, you felt as if maybe you were finally becoming tired enough to give in to sleep.
"Loki…" You murmured drowsily.
"Are you falling asleep, Aurora?" Loki asked you as he removed his head from on top of yours and looked at you.
You nodded our head lazily, "I think so."
"I think you should go to bed then." Loki said as he stood up.
"I…I don't want to walk. I'll just sleep….right here." You yawned, covering your mouth as you lay down on your side.
"Aurora," Loki suppressed a smile, "you shouldn't sleep out here. I'll take you to your room."
"Mhmmm…okay." You said softly with your eyes closed.
"I'm going to pick you up now," Loki said as he knelt down beside you, "so just hold onto me, okay?"
"Okay, Loki." You mumbled drearily as he wrapped an arm behind your shoulder blades and behind your knees.
Loki hoisted you off the ground as you opened your eyes slightly and placed your arms around his neck.
"I've got you, don't worry." Loki said as he began carrying you back into the palace.
"I'm not worried, Loki. I trust you." You smiled faintly as you leaned your head against him and drifted in and out of consciousness, finally falling asleep in Loki's arms as he carried you into your room.