Just a quick chapter to get it off my mind. Please enjoy.
I woke to a particularly loud crash. The thunder rumbled and resonated through my chest. I knew I wasn't getting any more sleep that night. Moments later, Loki burst through the door with a panicked look on his face. He took my wrist and raced back through the door. We ran out into the forest.
We teleported into a chamber made of the same stone as his lonely palace. The thunder claps were quieter here though. I realized we were underground. We ran through several doors going what felt to be farther underground.
When we finally stopped the thunder was barely audible. Loki sat exhausted on a couch in the corner of the room. I thumped down on a chair and worked to catch my breath. When I looked at Loki pressed into the upholstery, I almost laughed. He looked so like a small child. Such a large and menacing creature being afraid of a noise.
/
Thor had finally gotten Heimdal to tell him where Loki was. Heimdal had warned Thor not to let his anger get the best of him but Thor wasn't really listening to Heimdal's warning. He just nodded and Heimdal let the bridge open.
Thor knew this realm. Loki had used it to escape often when they were children. Thor knew where his brothers palace was and headed straight toward it. Thor was afraid of what his brother had done to Elizabeth. As his anger grew, so did the storm clouds overhead. Upon reaching the palace, Thor was in a white hot rage. He yelled through the halls for his brother, calling him a coward. When Thor was unable to find his brother, he released his anger on the palace itself. When he found a small smudge of blood in one of the rooms, he finally snapped. Releasing lightning bolt after bolt, He razed the palace to the ground. After his rampage, he returned, exhausted, to Asgard. His anger spent and his heart filled with sadness and guilt.
...
The rest of the night was spent in the stone room. I slept in the chair and Loki stretched out on the couch. I don't know if he actually slept, whenever I woke from a nightmare, he was staring at the ceiling.
I woke for the final time with Loki leaning over me and shaking my shoulder. I assumed that meant it was morning. with a light touch, he quickly healed the beaten skin of my feet. We walked silently back through the chambers. I noticed that each floor had a small smudge of blood from my cut feet last night. Now that they were healed, walking was easier and quicker. At the last chamber, he took hold of both my shoulders and the pulling sensation took were standing in front of his ruined palace.
/
Loki was appalled at the sight before him. The palace had taken years of hard work to craft. The library of books he spent years collecting was a smoldering heap. A profound sense of loss welled up within him. His so called brother had destroyed his last refuge. The last place that Loki felt at home was ruined. He walked through the rubble to stand in the ashes of his library. Reaching down, he took a handful of ash and let it fall through his fingers. Thor would pay, he vowed. All of them would pay.
/
I watched him as he stumbled through the ruins of his beautiful palace. His expression was rigid but a sliver of emotion was visible in his taught jaw. When he stooped to touch the ashes, I felt my heart warm towards him.