Hello readers! Thank you again to my new followers and people who favorited this story! It means a lot to me! :) Before I get into a few details about this chapter, I have to thank my reviewers as I always do!

Katerina13- He's going to get a bit more scary in this chapter so get ready for it! Awww, while I don't like making people cry, it's something to be said for writing, thank you! I was referencing it :) I love subtleties too!

A Wild Clover- SALVATION HAS COME! I actually love reading/writing dark themed pieces, whether they're on here or actual novels that I buy in a store somewhere. Aurora needs to really prepare herself for what is to come! OH YES, IT IS CERTAINLY GETTING UGLY AND I LOVED WRITING IT, NO SHAME! Thank you! *bows back*

Cougar rolypoly bug- I'm glad you loved it; thank you :) No worries! It's been taking me a bit longer to update lately whereas I used to have one up everyday. I hope to get back into that rhythm soon! Yeah, I wanted to ease into it rather than making everything happen too quickly. Thank you so much!

Now, a note about this chapter: As a warning, this chapter is a little violent. It's not the worst you'll read by any means, but it's not sunshine and daises either so just prepare yourselves for that if you're not accustomed to such circumstances. I've had this chapter planned for A LONG TIME, way back around chapter 10 so this has been a long time coming and I've been very excited to put this chapter out there and now, here it finally is so let the reading commence and please leave reviews! :)

Loki's POV

"I'll catch up with you later, okay Loki?" Aurora called out to me over her shoulder as she began walking away from me to the courtrooms.

Aurora had said over dinner that she wanted to speak to Forseti about any literature that he might recommend to her so that she could learn more about law outside of the courtroom. Aurora is very invested in her studies which I admire, because I too, am the same way.

"I am just going to walk to my quarters so you can find me there after you speak to Forseti." I replied as she waved her hand and disappeared from my sight.

I did intend to go to my quarters, but I was not telling the complete truth to Aurora when I said that was the only place I was going. First, I was going to try to find Sif because I wanted to see if she was gracefully dealing with her misfortune as everyone would expect. Naturally, I was the only disparager who hoped that Sif would not meet the standard expectations set before her.

I passed through the corridor leading to my area of the palace in order to search for Sif. I decided that I was not going to unleash mischief upon her if I came in contact with her, I still had some restraint inside of me, and I just wanted to observe her, nothing more. In order to reach Sif's quarters I first needed to pass by Thor's quarters as well as the Warrior's Three. I passed by Thor's quarters without seeing him, it was strange that as his brother, I was often not his companion and sometimes had no idea as to his whereabouts. This was one of those times. Since Thor would not see me and be suspicious I continued walking. I passed by each of the Warrior's Three's corridors and was just nearing Sif's when I stopped for a moment.

I stood still as I sensed that there was a presence behind me. While my ability to detect those who were trying to be stealthy was still developing, I knew better than to ignore the inkling of someone or something approaching me without my prior knowledge. As I began to turn my head, with the rest of my body supposed to follow, I felt a force knock me down to the floor and immediately identified the force to be the weight of another individual. I was not as startled as my assailant was undeniably hoping for, but rather annoyed as well as eager, definitely eager. I was ready for a fight and whoever had tackled me to the floor was definitely going to get one.

I felt the sharp tip of an object faintly touching my neck in the crook between my head and my armor. I knew that a sword or dagger was touching my neck and judging by the weight that I felt on my back, my assailant was not very heavy but not very light either.

My lips curled upward in a knowing smile as I turned my head to the side instead of lifting it up so as to avoid the sword piercing my skin and said, "This is a rather unorthodox manner of greeting someone. Wouldn't you agree, Fandral?"

"How did you know it was me?" The irritated voice of Fandral responded.

"There are a few clues that enabled me to ascertain that it was you who decided to attack me, but I will not recount them to you." I replied with a sigh.

I felt Fandral shift as he said, "A little uncomfortable are we?"

I could almost feel him grinning above me with that smug smile of his and it irritated me to no end.

"This is but a minor inconvenience to me." I said with my head still turned to the side, "Now, I trust that you have forced me to the floor for some sort of purpose. Care to enlighten me?"

Fandral shifted above me yet again as he replied, "Yes, I did not need to witness it to know that you were the one who cut off Sif's hair after your encounter with her in the corridor. She knows it too. We don't know how you did it, probably another one of your stupid tricks, but we know that you did it."

I smiled beneath Fandral, with the tip of his sword still hovering against my skin, "Then prove it."

"I don't need proof. You're the only one who could have, and would do such a thing. That's all the proof I need. I think that it's only fair that your body is cut in some manner too." Fandral said in a low voice.

"Hammurabi's Code; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, I must say I am impressed that you know of the code. So, I presume that you plan on cutting my hair off since that is what I did to Sif?" I chuckled.

I felt the tip of the sword press against my skin a little harder as Fandral said in an annoyed tone, "I don't know who that hammer fellow is that you are talking about or why he's taking people's eyes and teeth, but no, I am not going to cut off your hair. Your punishment should be worse. I'm going to stab your hand since that is the way you produce your evil magic."

I did not feel alarmed at Fandral's threat at all and I found it extremely foolish of him to tell me what he was going to do. I heard Fandral pulling out another sword or dagger while still keeping the first one on my neck.

"I'll even let you choose the hand." Fandral said.

"How generous of you! I choose the right." I said in mock acclaim.

"Very well." Fandral said as he took my left hand.

"I must inform you that you have taken the wrong hand, Fandral." I said calmly.

Fandral laughed above me, "It matters not which hand I take, it will hurt the same way on both."

I felt Fandral's grip tighten on my wrist which I took as a sign that he was preparing to thrust the tip of his weapon into my hand. I waited a few seconds before disappearing underneath Fandral just as he thrust what turned out to be a dagger down and instead of stabbing my hand; he only stabbed air before hitting the stone floor instead of my flesh.

"What…what just happen-" Fandral began to say, but stopped midsentence when I lifted him up by the back of his armor, twisted his arm behind his back, and took his sword from his other hand.

Then, I pulled Fandral and slammed him up against the nearest wall, pointing his own sword at his throat.

I grinned slyly at him as I said, "It is unwise to pick a quarrel with someone much larger and stronger than oneself."

Fandral, stunned and afraid, looked back at me in silence.

"You have underestimated me, Fandral." I hissed.

Fandral began to struggle in my grasp which urged me to push the point of the sword closer to his throat so I did.

"It would be in your best interest to quit struggling as it irritates me and makes me want to thrust your own sword into your throat." I sneered.

"Don't, please don't do it Loki." Fandral begged.

My expression changed from one of anger to one of amusement as I smirked, "What is this? Begging me to spare you?"

"Yes…" Fandral trailed off as he refused to meet my gaze.

I jerked his chin up with the tip of the sword so that he was now staring back at me before placing the tip of the sword against his quivering throat again before saying with venom, "You were going to stab me, do not deny it. Why should I bestow upon you the humanity that you failed to demonstrate when our positions were reversed?"

I glared at Fandral imploring him to respond to me, which he did.

"Loki, I am sorry for acting so rashly and attacking you. I should have controlled my anger and not gone looking for a fight. I was wrong to threaten you and you are not the type of person to truly hurt someone." Fandral spoke quickly.

I narrowed my eyes at him and withdrew the word from his throat. Fandral looked down at the sword and breathed a sigh of relief. Fandral's relief was short lived because I quickly used the hand that had been holding the sword to grab Fandral's throat and held him up off the ground and against the wall.

I brought my face close to his as I whispered, "Do not tell me what I am. You know nothing about who I am. All that you know is what you see on the surface, but there is so much more inside and you are getting a good look at it right now."

Fandral just stared wide-eyed back at me as I continued, "I advise you to not come looking for a fight with me again because if you do, I will not be so generous with your life. Have I made myself clear?" I finished as I squeezed his throat for emphasis.

Fandral nodded his head as much as he could with my fingers curled around his throat.

The corner of my mouth curled up in a devious smirk as I said, "I figured that even you would be intelligent enough to understand."

I released Fandral from my fingers as he collapsed to the floor gasping for breath.

I watched him for a moment and when he tried to hoist himself up, I pushed him back down with my foot and leaned down slightly to say, "The next time you cross me, you will have to fight to escape and even though you will attempt to win, I assure you that the odds are unlikely."

I removed my foot from Fandral's back as he gasped yet again and I turned to walk away, feeling satisfied with myself even though I had not seen Sif after all. Outmuscling Fandral was much sweeter anyway.

Aurora POV

"Oh, Aurora! Greetings!" Loki exclaimed quickly.

"Yes, hello Loki. You aren't in your quarters; that's where I was just going to find you." You said eyeing Loki carefully.

"Yes, I know. I was there, but I went to look for my brother to see if he wanted to spend some time together tomorrow since we have not been seeing each other much lately." Loki responded smoothly as if it were the actual truth.

"Oh. Well, did you find him?" You asked as you began walking.

"No, I did not." Loki replied.

"Well, let's go look for him some more then. You tried his quarters I assume?" You asked as you began walking in the direction of Thor's room.

Loki quickened his pace to catch up with you as you continued walking, "Yes, I did. He was not there. I am quite sure that I would have seen him if he had returned there recently."

"Well, there is no harm in checking!" You smiled at Loki who looked worried.

"I do not think that-" Loki began but stopped speaking when the two of you entered the corridor and Fandral lying on the floor came into view.

"Is that…Fandral? He looks hurt!" You exclaimed as you looked back at Loki who looked stoic.

"You…Loki…you did this to him. That's why you didn't want me to come down here!" You shouted as you stared at Loki in disbelief before running to Fandral's side.

You were crouched down beside Fandral who was groaning. You did not hear Loki approach as he said, "It is not what you think."

You shook your head as you said, "Fandral, come with me. I am going to take you back to your room."

Fandral groaned in response which you just assumed was his acceptance of your statement. You put a lot of effort into helping Fandral to his room before you returned to find Loki standing in the corridor with his expression sorrowful.

"Did you do that to him?!" You asked in alarm pointing in the direction of Fandral's room as you gazed up at Loki.

Loki tilted his head down to look at you with tired eyes. Loki opened his mouth to speak and before he can, you said, "Gods, you did!"

Loki set his mouth in a firm line. "I did not say that."

"You didn't need to. It was written all over your face!" You exclaimed.

"Aurora-" Loki sighed.

"No, Loki." you shook your head. "You can't just injure someone like that."

Loki narrowed his eyes down at you. "He instigated the fight with me. I did not seek him out yearning for a quarrel."

"It is of no concern who started it!" You yelled.

"He struck at me first, Aurora! I was defending myself!" Loki said growing agitated.

"You could have just used your magic to get away; you didn't need to rough him up!" You exclaimed gesturing wildly.

"Aurora," Loki grabbed your arm just below your elbow causing you to gasp. He had never gripped you so tightly before and his large hand and long fingers wrapped completely around your arm. "Do you not recall how he treated me when we were children?"

"Loki," You said firmly as you writhed in his grasp, "let me go this instant."

"You didn't answer my question." Loki said devoid of any emotion.

You were even frightened that the anger was gone from his voice and that it had been replaced with an eerily calm tone.

You continued to try and break free from Loki's hold as you used your free hand to try and pry his fingers off your arm. Loki's emerald orbs stared into yours as you tried to look as irate as possible. Loki did indeed release his grip on your arm, but now both of his hands were on each of your shoulders. Loki towered over you as his hands weighed down on you, rooting you to where you stood. Loki never broke his stare as he continued to look down at you.

Refusing to break the stare, you sighed heavily and replied, "Fine, okay? Clearly I can't escape so you win."

Loki said softly, "I do not know what you are playing at: this is not a game."

You huffed angrily and spread your arms out as best as you could with Loki's hands you're your shoulders saying, "Then what is this, Loki? You have me held in place by your hands in the middle of the damn corridor where everyone can see us and it looks like you're threatening me or something."

"No one can see us nor can they hear us. My magic is concealing you and I from any by passers." Loki spoke.

You let out a frustrated noise as you raised your voice, "THAT'S JUST PERFECT! NO ONE CAN HEAR ME YELLING SO I'M GOING TO KEEP DOING IT UNTIL YOU LET ME GO!"

One of Loki's hands left your shoulder and moved to cover your mouth. You struggled to speak against Loki's palm as he just looked at you sadly. His expression was pained as his eyes pleaded with you.

"Please Aurora," Loki implored, "struggling will only make this worse. I just want to speak with you and you aren't going to contribute to the conversation if you scream at me when your attempts to be heard are futile anyway."

You furrowed your eyebrows at Loki which caused him to sigh and continue speaking, "I have no desire to argue with you. I trust you have not forgotten what Fandral has done to me in the past; you were of course, the only person who ever defended me. His behavior enraged you as much as I. Has your perspective changed? Fandral is still an insolent fool desperate to gain the upper hand on others. I will not tolerate such behavior from him, or anyone. If anyone acts so defiantly, they will face the consequences. Aurora, just because we have gotten older does not mean maturity has grown with us. It is apparent that Fandral still lacks that quality. Yet, I can sense that you would argue, if you could speak," Loki smirked, "that I have also failed to display maturity in roughing him up, as you say, even more so that I am exerting force upon you, a person much smaller and weaker than myself. But is this not what I had been forced to endure at the hands of everyone else?"

You stared up at Loki shaking your head as much as you could with Loki's palm still pressed against your lips.

Loki squinted at you in confusion and tilted his head. "You perplex me, Aurora."

You were growing tired of this interaction with Loki. You couldn't speak because of his hand and you also couldn't run away from him. Even if you could run, he would catch you in an instant because of his long legs. Also, no one could help you because Loki had concealed both of you with magic which further ensured that you would just have to be patient and wait for Loki to finish his tirade. You figured you would just have to act like you were listening while Loki spoke his mind. He probably just needed to vent and once he was done, he would let you go. You never expected to become a hostage at the hands of your best friend, literally.

Loki sighed and lowered his head. His head was still inches above yours and you did not dare to look up at his eyes which were surely right above you, waiting for you to do just that.

Loki removed his hand from your mouth and said, "You may not believe me, but I hate myself for this. I-I don't know what possessed me to act like this towards you. I just...became angry when it sounded like you were on Fandral's side instead of mine."

"It isn't about sides, Loki. It's about what's right." You spoke firmly despite being shaken up from Loki's aggressiveness.

Loki inhaled sharply and lifted a hand to run it through his black hair. The sudden movement caused you to jolt reflexively which was not missed by Loki.

"YES, AURORA, FLINCH EVERY TIME I MOVE! THAT IS WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD DO FROM NOW ON BECAUSE EVERY LITTLE MOVEMENT I MAKE IS CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED TO INFLICT PAIN ON SOMEONE!" Loki erupted causing you to flinch yet again.

"I-I…" You stammered, unable to form the right words or hardly any at all.

Loki continued to yell as he said, "SINCE YOU SEEM TO THINK I AM GOING TO HURT YOU WHY NOT FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT NOW?!"

Loki grabbed your wrist before you had time to react and roughly pushed you against the wall like he had recently done to Fandral. Loki's eyes were searing holes into you as he stared at you full of unbridled rage. You couldn't tell if he was angry at you, Fandral, or himself, but no matter whom the culprit was, you were the one who was face to face with Loki in his violent state and you knew that there was nothing you could do to protect yourself against him.

"Loki-" You began to say as you stared back at him feeling the grip of his long fingers against your wrist as you felt the unwanted and unintended tears begin to form in your eyes.

Loki was still glaring at you venomously as if he was the snake and you were the prey. You shut your eyes knowing that at any moment the snake could strike and it would all be over. There was no doubt in your mind that Loki could kill you if he wanted to, you just hoped to the gods that he didn't.

Loki did not speak, but his eyes left yours to follow the path of a lone tear as it cascaded down your cheek. You opened your eyes to see Loki lifting a finger on his free hand to your cheek. You fought the urge to flinch so as not to invoke his rage again because that was not at all what you wanted to do. Loki's finger touched your cheek and you bit your lip and sucked in your breath waiting for the snake to strike.

The snake didn't strike. Loki's fingertip caught the teardrop and he lifted his finger away from your face to inspect it before squishing it in between his fingers. You dared to lift your eyes to meet Loki's, but his eyes were not on you. He was still staring at his fingers.

"I am a monster…just like everyone says." Loki spoke quietly, almost inaudibly.

You swallowed before saying, "No, Loki. You are not a monster."

Loki's eyes shot to yours, but you met him with a steady gaze as he said, "Then why do I act this way?"

You looked at Loki sadly and answered, "I truly do not know, Loki, but I will help you. We'll try and figure this out okay?"

Loki looked at you and simply said, "Do not do that."

You looked puzzled as you asked, "Don't help you? Why not?"

Loki released his hold on your wrist as he said, "I am so sorry, Aurora."

"Loki, I don't understand…" You said eyeing him carefully as Loki stared intently at you and then turned away.

You ran after him yelling, "Loki wait!"

You reached out for him, but before you could touch him, Loki disappeared right before your eyes. He had slipped through your fingers and now you stood in the middle of the corridor staring into the empty hallway unaware of where Loki had gone and what he had meant when he said he was sorry.