Chapter VIII: Mimir's Well

A/N: This chapter I will be playing with something from the mythology. I will be making some changes for my own purposes. Also, thanks go out to theicemenace for her beta reading!

Also on another note: Nothing, I repeat nothing is going to happen between Hanna and Loki in Skyfall. Hanna will make good on her innuendos, just not in this story.

Hanna was holding the dagger that her brother had given her back at Yule. It felt as if it had been longer than four and a half months.

Sven had left a week earlier, promising that he would give her father and brother news of the progress that she had made, taking care to make sure that her cousin had it correct and that she still had flare ups more often than either Loki or she would like.

They had not just talked. Her cousin Sven had given her some basic pointers on how to use the dagger without hurting herself.

Hanna was smiling at that particular memory when the dagger suddenly disappeared from her hands.

"Where did you get this?"

Quickly spinning around, Hanna saw who had spoken, as Loki now held her dagger in his hands.

"It is nothing of your concern. Now give it back!" Hanna tried to make a grab for the dagger.

Loki, making use of his height, easily held the dagger out of her reach. He then said, slowly and deliberately, "You need to tell me where you got this, or I could possibly assume that you stole this."

Indignant, Hanna shot back, "I did not steal this, my brother gave it to me shortly before I left."

Loki was silent for a few moments before asking, "Do you even know the first thing about using this?"

"Get them with the sharp edge," Hanna replied with a smirk.

Loki shrugged his shoulders. "That is the essence of it I guess," he said with a slight grin.

"Now that you know that I did not steal it, can I have my dagger back?" Hanna asked, holding out her hand.

Loki did not give it back to her right away, as he seemed to be thinking something over. But he did give it back to her.

"It seems as if you will be having another day off from your lessons, at least for today. I am going on an excursion with my brother and some others."

Hanna nodded. She was not about to complain about another day off.

Of course he had to say as he left, "I still expect you to use your free time wisely. You have plenty of books to read by the end of the week."

Hanna had to suppress her groan.

###

Hanna was bored. Today had been a day that had been spent entirely in the library, as her instructor was off somewhere adventuring with his brother.

She had been reading for hours before finally finishing the first of two rather thick stacks of books that she had to read. Deciding that she would put them away now rather than later, Hanna got up and carried the stack around the library to put the books away in their proper places.

After putting the last book away, Hanna turned around and cursed silently. It would seem that she had gotten lost in the library. Again. Being in Asgard for nearly five months, had made this event less common, it was still something that happened far too often to her liking.

As she was about to make a left turn, Hanna saw something out of the corner of her right eye: A room that seemed to be glowing a strange blue light.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Hanna made her way towards the door and shut it. Her eyes went wide as she realized what she was looking at: Mimir's Well. It could explain the past, clarify the present, or show the future. Or it could only show the reflection of the person looking in.

Hanna would have to be careful to leave no evidence of her presence in this room.

Biting her lip, Hanna peeked into the well. When she was about to turn away, she saw something,

She was covered in ice and couldn't move. A feeling of complete and utter betrayal permeated her bones. She saw a glowing blue box with runes on it that seemed to be emanating ice with blue hands holding it.

Hanna gulped. It would seem that the well was choosing to show her possibilities for the future. It wasn't done with her yet.

From a raven's eye view, she saw a city in flames, with chaos and destruction reigning supreme. She could keep it from getting worse, she just needed to find its orchestrator.

The city was unfamiliar to her at the moment, but it must have been important to be shown as a possibility. The next possibility made her want to scream…

She saw a battlefield. Most of her family lay in that field. All of them dead because of a single choice Hanna had made. A single horrible choice.

Her throat was choked with emotion. But the well still was not through with her just yet.

Her brother was sitting on her uncle's throne, with people bending knee to him. There was a sadness in his eyes as he took in the scene. She saw her cousin Sven, and his younger siblings Kara and Jakob along their mother, her Aunt Maila. She also saw her nephew Magnus and her sister Ingrid's husband Erik, who had a haunted look in his eyes.

Then she saw herself, standing to her brother's left. Wearing a suit of armor and a sword on her hip. She had a similarly haunted look like Erik's.

Something truly horrible would have had to have happened for Ragnar to be on the throne. He was that far back in the line of succession.

Pushing away from the well, Hanna left the room, and went back into the library, barely caring whether she ran into anyone or not.

###

Unfortunately, luck was not with Hanna as she stumbled her way back to the table. She, quite literally ran into somebody.

Blushing, Hanna said, "I beg your pardon…" Looking up she saw a kind face.

"It's alright Lady Hanna. I was not looking where I was going either."

Hanna took in the man who she had run into. He was as tall as either of the princes, but was built more like Thor. But there was keen intelligence in his eyes.

Remembering her manners, Hanna said, "I am sorry, but I don't recall catching your name."

"My name is Bergir. I have worked with your father in the past."

Hanna went through her mental recollection. Smiling, Hanna replied, "My father has mentioned you, my lord. He has mentioned your skill as a diplomat."

"Your father is quite skilled at what he does." They had been walking back towards where she had been sitting earlier. He then asked her, "Now what was it that had you looking like you had seen the ghosts of your ancestors?"

Hanna bit her lip at that. She had a feeling that looking into the well was something she was not supposed to have done, so she would give as much of the truth.

"I had some… I guess you could call them visions. They scared me. They all seem to hinge on choices. Choices that I may or may not make in the future."

Bergir seemed to be deep in thought, before saying, "Those that get visions often get caught off guard by them. But they are not always clear. In any of the visions did you see anyone besides yourself?"

"In two of them, I saw members of my family. In one of them I was there with them. The other one with my family, I would rather not talk about." Hanna hoped that Bergir would not find her being too rude. She did not even want to think about that third vision the well had shown her.

Knowing that the young woman was not going to divulge that information, Bergir backed off. From what he had observed, Hanna had inherited her father's stubbornness.

As he got up to leave, Bergir decided to give Hanna a piece of advice about the visions, "It does not do to dwell on possibilities, Lady Hanna. Whatever you saw, are only what could happen."

With a slight smile Hanna replied, "Thank you, Lord Bergir."

"You are welcome, young Hanna." With a nod, Bergir left, leaving Hanna alone with her thoughts, before she too got up and left. It had been a long day indoors, Hanna hoped that she would find her way outside tomorrow.

###

Loki and the others had not gotten back till well past dark. It had been a long and tiring day, and Loki was looking forward to getting some sleep.

There had been something that he'd been thinking about over the course of the day. It would make sense for Hanna to combine her magic with a weapon of some sort, especially after he had found her with the dagger.

The simplest thing would be to find a teacher for her. Not any of the Warriors 3: Volstaag and Hogun's fighting styles wouldn't work for Hanna, and Fandral would be more interested in trying to get her into his bed.

And Sif would sooner eat glass than help him with anything. He also did not want to ask Thor for help in that regard.

Loki didn't want to share her with any of them, and they would likely give him unnecessary grief on the matter.

Who could he get to teach Hanna and would not give him ridicule for asking for help?

Loki mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. His mother would be the perfect teacher, provided she was willing to do it.

###

Loki watched his mother as she was working on a spell. It was a familiar one, though he had not seen her use it in a very long time. This was a spell that she had crafted with a specific purpose: to separate him and Thor when they were being unruly.

Before Loki could get his request out, his mother spoke first, not even looking up from what she was doing,

"When someone enters a room, they usually have a reason for entering it."

"Do I need to have a reason to come and see you?" Loki asked with a slight smile on his face.

"You never need a reason to come visit me, but I have a feeling that you want to ask me something important."

His mother was one of the few people that Loki did not beat around the bush with, so he asked,

"Hanna needs to combine a weapon with her magic to compensate for her lesser physical strength. I was wondering if you could teach her how to use a sword."

A/N 2: I believe that Loki would show a softer side of himself towards his mother and perhaps not beat around the bush with as often if at all.

What do you all think of the visions of the future that Hanna saw in the well?

If you want to know what/who Bergir looks like, picture John Rhys-Davies in his role from In the Name of the King as the Magus.

Please tell me what you all think!