A/N: Look! Another update! Not even a month later!
I'm on the ball.
Drifting.
Always drifting. He could not tell for how long – and indeed, he would never know. Time was not important here. Such constrictions did not exist. Not here. Here was different. Here, he drifted. Always.
And then, the three women.
Mother, maiden, crone. A mantra, repeated by many by way of prayer, even on Earth - and he could see the three of them perfectly before him. A shifting landscape unfolded before his eyes, but the women were constant. The Norns had never changed. They never would.
The youngest, the one whose face was unwrinkled, smiled in greeting. It was a gentle smile, but Loki would be a fool if he weren't unnerved by it.
"Hello, World-Breaker."
It was all Loki could do to unknot his tongue.
"Skuld," he whispered, and then, to the remaining two, "Verdandi. Urðr."
Skuld giggled as she sat on her perch, scarlet threads between her fingers. "Look. Silvertongue's tongue is tied."
"A remarkable feat," rasped the eldest, Urðr, looking at Loki with perfectly sharp, dark eyes ringed with wrinkles. "Yes… remarkable."
Verdandi said nothing, merely smiled and observed, her gaze so piercing Loki almost felt the overwhelming urge to look away, a little boy once more. But he steeled himself, and gazed at them.
"Why am I here?"
Urðr studied him. Loki felt utterly exposed, and she waved a finger at the god.
"You, boy, are a strange one. We've squabbled over your fate so much, you know. Neither of us can come to agreement. So, the choice is yours."
Loki blinked, and he glanced around, mind unable to fathom what they had just told him.
"… I could go back."
"Or you could go onwards," Skuld said lightly. "Valhalla awaits you, if you so choose."
Valhalla. Oh, the temptation was strong, and yet, he gave a laugh. Never had he believed he would be one to enter those halls. Thor, yes, but Loki, son of Laufey….
He looked behind him, just once, but everything was unclear.
A swallow, and he turned back to the Norns.
"I'm not yet finished. Am I?"
Verdandi spoke then, almost kindly.
"It is your decision, Loki, son of Laufey, son of Odin. We cannot make it for you. Not this time."
Memories flooded him, and he paused, sifting through each and every one. Pain and pleasure. Hate and… love. His fingers flexed – and when he stared at the Norns, his gaze was resolute.
"Very well. The choice is made."
"Oh, good," Urðr replied, almost impatiently. "Now move along."
They vanished.
Loki opened his eyes.
Eva rolled hers.
"You're a fucking idiot."
And he began to laugh, and laugh.
Two days he'd spent recovering, so Eva told him. Two days of unconsciousness. Eir had done everything she could, "but your brain was bleeding, apparently".
"Brilliant," came his dry response. He turned his hands, shifted his legs, moved his eyes, tongue, toes, fingers. "Well, I seem to be alright."
"Yes. You Asgardians heal so damn fast."
"We have been known for that." He gazed at her as she sat by him on the bed. "I'm sorry I had you taken to Asgard. But I had no choice. If –"
Eva had placed a finger to his lips, and she nodded.
"I know. I know why."
She withdrew her hand. "Do you want to see how horrific you look?"
"So charming!" He smirked, yet it faded as soon as he saw his reflection in the mirror Eva held up. Oh. Horrific was not an incorrect description, he decided. His vanity was not best thrilled.
Red-rimmed eyes, stark and bright. Ashy skin – not that he'd ever been tanned, but this was something else. His lips were dry and cracked, and blood vessels pulsed in his eyes.
"Wonderful."
"Isn't it just?"
They watched each other, abruptly silent, almost awkward – until Eva leant forwards. Her lips were warm on his forehead, sparking surprise in him, and she pressed her nose to his head.
"Thank you," she whispered, voice catching. "Thank you."
"Earth survived, then," he murmured. She sniffed, pulling back, and once again – it would always startle him – he blinked to see tears in her eyes.
"Yeah. It did. But don't ever do that again!"
"World domination or world salvation?"
"Both. Fool." She laughed shakily, wiping her eyes. "What was it you did?"
"The shields absorbed the energy from the blasts, and then projected it outwards," he said calmly. "Simple technology. But it is too advanced for Earth at present. Earth does not possess the materials needed to summon the energy. I had to improvise."
"Glad it paid off," Eva remarked dryly. "It's still intact, by the way, still thriving."
Loki allowed himself a thin smile.
"Good. I will return shortly."
"No. You won't."
Loki turned his head to see Odin in the doorway, resplendent in gold and silver. Instantly his youngest son tensed, and Eva could see the wild animal seething inside of the trickster. It made her almost wince.
"Midgard is mine," Loki said softly. "My domain. I came, I saw, I conquered. Isn't that what they say there?"
"You are not fit to govern the realm," Odin replied steadily, his one eye scrutinising. "You will have no throne."
Instantly Loki was off the bed, as if to throw himself at Odin, but a muscular arm grabbed him by his shoulder, halting his outburst. Thor did not release his grip, blue eyes resigned.
"Brother. Have you learnt nothing?"
"I learnt that I can rule," Loki spat. "Just as I said I would."
Eva could only watch, still sat upon the bed. She had not moved an inch, frozen in shock. This was a Loki she had not oft seen. Wild, desperate, and utterly raging.
"You need to rest," Thor said firmly, hands taut as he kept Loki from tearing Odin to shreds. "You almost died."
"I know!" Loki shouted, eyes nearly bulging, breath ragged. "I know what happened! And the Norns gave me a choice! I came back, damn you! I could have gone to Valhalla, but I returned! And this is how you welcome me! Imprisonment!"
There was a collective intake of breath. No one moved. Utter stillness took the room. And then, slowly, Thor turned Loki to face him.
"What?"
Loki's chest heaved, his grin sudden and triumphant, splitting his face and filling Eva with horror.
"They gave me a choice. I chose my thread, Thor. And here I stand. What have you to say to that, brother?"
"Loki."
The younger son froze, and his tongue flicked between his lips, green eyes flitting.
"Mother."
"My son." The Queen of Asgard stepped closer, entering the room, and her hands gently took his face, thumbs smoothing over his cheeks. "Oh, my son."
Thor let go, retreating, and Loki stared at his mother. Anger still simmered, but somehow Frigga had caged it.
"Am I?" he rasped. Frigga inclined her head, smiling sadly.
"You always have been."
The cuffs clicked around his wrists.
"No!" he screamed. "No!"
He tried with all his might to summon his magic, to break free, but it would not come. He thrashed, but Thor was there to grasp him once more. Eva could not bear to watch her lover, and yet she could not bear to look away. Tears spilled, her hand at her mouth. Loki's head suddenly turned, as if remembering, and the look he gave her would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Thor hauled him out of the room, and a succession of guards followed. Eva's lip trembled, and then she ran from the room, running as fast as she could to the gardens. She passed startled guards, citizens, and did not stop until she reached an empty bench. The grief poured forth at that moment, and she clung to the edges of the seat, doubled over in her anguish.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
She did not come to see him until three days later. And when she did, she almost wished she hadn't.
His eyes shone too bright in his face, but it was not a joyful light. He'd not slept, she could see it. Hair untamed, fingers bloody – Eva winced when she saw the ragged fingernails coated in scarlet.
"Three days."
She did not move away. "Loki – "
"Three days. Three days I have been here, and yet you only come now. Why?" He rose to his feet, gaze piercing, almost cold. Déjà vu washed over her, but no pleasant feeling followed. She had met him in a cell, and she would leave him in one. Glass and metal, stone and magic.
Full circle.
"Odin forbade it," she answered quietly. Loki scoffed.
"Does that old fool know you are my wife? He cannot keep you from me."
"He offered to break the bond. I refused."
Loki tilted her head, smiling suddenly.
"Ah."
She sighed. "Don't make this difficult for me, Loki. Please."
"Difficult? For you? Oh, please." The acid was back, and Eva almost recoiled. She had almost believed him above such spite these days. "You're not the one in a cell, Eva. You can walk away from all of this. You're a free woman. So break the damn bond. Marry some benevolent mortal who'll give you little angels for children. That's what you want, isn't it?"
"I don't know!" she hit back – and there it was. Her anger. Loki almost grinned, but he had no time for amusement. Not here. Before her ire had thrilled him. Now it only agitated him, brought his own wrath to the surface. "How can I possibly know? After all that's happened? I can't go back to a normal life! It will take months, years for Earth to readjust."
His expression only hardened.
"And what of it? Do you want my pity? My sympathy? I saved your pathetic planet. Be grateful for that at least if nothing else."
Eva was silent. Her eyes were full of unsaid feelings, and for a moment Loki regretted his outburst. But only for a moment. There was no room for regret in his tattered thoughts. Not anymore. Any sliver of repentance was smothered by rage.
"The guards are still talking of yesterday's ceremony," he said, softer now, though his gaze still scalded. "Eva Lena Manning, now Princess of Asgard."
She clicked her tongue, turning her head away, the memory of the display burning her cheeks. "I'm not that."
"You are. You married an Asgardian prince. I know you can put two and two together. You're no fool."
Her head slowly returned to look upon him, eyes tired. He could suddenly see all he had put her through, all that he had inflicted upon her. Upon them both. And emptiness was all he felt.
"Yet I'm married to a man I can't even spend my life with."
What kind of marriage is that? Unspoken, but Loki could read it in her face. She no longer kept her emotions from him.
"Do you want to?"
"Would it make you happy?"
They both knew the answer to that.
The mortal looked at the god.
And the god gave a smile of resignation.
"You knew."
"That I couldn't stay? Yes. I knew." Eva inclined her head, already distancing herself. "My home is on Earth, Loki, no matter who I'm wedded to. Prince or no prince." Moving closer, she lifted her hand up against the shimmering barrier separating the two of them. He followed suit, his fingers longer and palm larger. His heart lay heavy, but he could not stop her. Not now. Once upon a time, perhaps, but he was bound in punishment now. And she would walk free.
"Goodbye, Loki."
His eyes softened, savoured every glimpse of her face, her mind.
"Farewell, Eva."
Her hand lowered, and without looking back, she walked out of the dungeon, and out of his life.
A/N: It's not the end. Not yet.
Lightning xoxo