AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who read "Daddy Loki", I'm planning on updating it sometime within the next three weeks. I've already begun working on a new chapter.
Born to be a King
Chapter 6
Thor, Loki, Sif and Volstagg stood around Ragnar's holographic double as the gatekeeper once again relied what he had seen. The two warriors could not hide their amazement as Ragnar described the magnificence and wonder of a world that up till then none knew existed. Their amazement turned to befuddlement upon hearing that there was actually more than one.
"But how were they able to stay hidden for so long?" Volstagg asked.
"This string of realms is protected by the remains of two large stars that died many ages ago. They've remained hidden inside two nebulas. This was a cosmic event that predates the dawn of Asgard. The strength and magnitude of it created these realms and much more..." Ragnar looked cautiously at Thor's hammer "it seems to be the birthplace of many of the powerful relics of antiquity"
Ragnar's words and glance did not go unnoticed by Loki. "Forged in the heart of the dying star" he said with realization, eyeing Mjolnir.
"Impossible" breathed Sif.
Thor looked down at his powerful hammer. He looked at the runes and the symbols engraved into it, and remembered the stories his father told him of how Mjolnir came to be forged ages ago. If the stories were true, then the worlds that up to now had remained hidden were not enemies. They were sister realms. Kept shrouded for a purpose.
"We must go to them" he said, looking around at the small group assembled.
"Even if we are able to make landfall in this realm, how do we go about it? We don't know what we'll find in this place so the three of us may simply be walking into our deaths. And falling upon them with a large army doesn't sound too diplomatic" Volstagg interjected.
"We will not be the ones traveling, nor will I send our armies into uncharted terrain. We're sending a scout"
"And who will that be?" Sif asked.
"Loki" Thor said, looking at his brother. The two warriors gasped in both shock and disapproval and moved to speak the reasons for their displeasure, but Thor instantly held a hand up, stopping them. Loki simply looked at them, an amused smile playing on his lips.
"Now, I know this does not sound like the most agreeable choice, but it is the only choice we have. As Volstagg said, we don't know what we will find in these realms, and we need someone who can travel undetected and report back with the information we need before we reach out and make contact. Loki has that ability, and he is also a master of sorcery, a skill needed to tread a world governed by magic. He is the only one capable for the task at hand"
"He will escape, or worse yet, take this perfect opportunity to betray you" Volstagg said, unable to hide the resentment in his voice.
"I know this, which is why I have made the proper arrangements to ensure his compliance, and his return"
"Surely you have terms of your own" Sif said, en eyebrow raised sarcastically at Loki.
"I do, and your king has graciously agreed to them" he said in innocent cordiality.
"Loki will travel with Barbara" Thor stated.
"WHAT? NO!" both warriors replied in unison.
Loki raised an eyebrow in mock befuddlement at their reaction. "I trust no other, and I will travel with no one else. I will need the use of her powers if I am to embark on a quest such as this. By having influence over the elements she can harness whatever forces are found in their environment and shield us from them should we run into danger. By possessing the gift of language she will understand the speech of all races that inhabit these realms, thus ensuring that we return with the greatest amount of information"
"Then why don't we just send her alone and keep you here? It will make our sleep much easier" Sif quipped.
"Great idea, Sif. Why don't we also send you with her? It will certainly make my sleep much easier knowing only one of you will survive the trip and return, and we both know very well who that will be"
Sif took a step forward, but Loki didn't even flinch.
"Enough" Thor interjected "Loki will travel with Barbara, that is my decision. Their son will remain here. They will return within a fortnight and report on all they have seen and heard. We will move forward from there"
"They will travel veiled from the view of all save for mine" Ragnar said "should anything come to pass that puts them in greater danger than they can overcome or should they attempt anything that goes against the will of King Thor, they will be instantly forced to return. They will be under my control as well as my watch"
"Well then" Volstagg stroked his beard "that makes me breathe easier"
"When will they leave?" Sif asked.
"Two days hence, at dawn. Preparations have already begun. Any celebrations for Jane and my upcoming nuptials have been suspended until their return. That will be all"
Loki rolled his eyes. There was no way of getting out of witnessing that damnable wedding. Ragnar disappeared and Loki turned to leave, but he was instantly blocked by Sif and Volstagg. The look in their eyes was murderous.
"You better bring her back" she warned.
"No, I'm planning on running away with her to Niffleheim to elope" he mocked.
"I swear, if you try any underhanded shenanigan..." Volstagg threatened.
"I'll be sure to prepare my neck for your axe" Loki retorted, then bumped their shoulders in blatant defiance as he walked right in between them.
"Princess Sigyn, the mortal asks for you" a guard informed Barbara the moment she walked into her wing of the palace.
"You mean your future queen" she replied with just enough hint of sarcasm. The palace guard looked uncomfortable, much to her amusement. The thought that Thor was about to marry a human was obviously not as widely accepted as it seemed. She raised an eyebrow at the guard and walked back in the direction she came from. A few moments later, she arrived at the floor where Jane Foster was housed. Guards immediately ushered her to her private chambers and was surprised upon entering to find them empty. Where were the servants who were supposed to be fawning over their new mistress? Where was Frigga?
"I asked to be alone until I talked to you" came the soft, feminine voice from deep within the chamber.
Barbara steeled herself and walked further in. She crossed the sitting room and finally entered Jane Foster's chamber. She found her sitting on a chair facing the garden behind her rooms.
"Why is that?" Barbara asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess it all just seems rather overwhelming. I thought that you'd be the closest I would get to anyone who understood my position"
"My arrival was much different than yours" Barbara answered.
"I know" Jane Foster said, finally standing and turning to look at Barbara. Their eyes met, and to Barbara's surprise, she saw nothing but kindness and sympathy in Jane Foster's brown eyes.
The two women smiled at each other.
"Well, this is an awkward situation" Barbara said "the last time I saw you, I was about to break your neck"
"The last time I saw you, you hesitated in doing it"
They laughed.
"No hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings"
"Don't mistake my congeniality for empathy, Jane" Barbara said "I am not a human anymore. I can no longer sympathize with your situation"
"I can't bring myself to believe that you've lost all your humanity" Jane said "if you have, then there isn't anything else for me to look forward to other than spending the rest of my life with Thor"
"It's a sacrifice you must be willing to make"
"Oh I am" Jane said without an ounce of doubt "there is nothing I want more than to finally be able to spend thousands of days with the man I love..."
Jane paused. Her eyes turned downwards at the floor and she sighed. "...but I am afraid"
Barbara took a few steps forward, finally coming to stand only a few feet from her. In her mind the old doubts, the old questions, the old maybe's began to resurface as she observed the petite, pretty and fragile woman that stood before her. Had she once been as small, fragile and impressionable as Jane Foster?
"Afraid of what?" she choked out, but she already knew what the answer would be.
"Afraid of becoming like you" Jane finally raised her eyes and looked into Barbara's "afraid of forgetting who I am and spending the rest of my life wondering who I once was. I'm afraid of coming to possess abilities I can't even explain as a human. You have power over matter. Science can't even begin to explain why humans are the dominant species on Earth and yet they only use ten percent of their cerebral capacity. Now I'm on the brink of leaving all that behind and becoming something alien, something that our people once worshipped as deities. Am I really ready for this? I'm afraid of dying. What if it doesn't work for me and I don't come back?!"
Barbara swallowed the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. She walked to the edge of the balcony and looked out towards the garden. She remembered the first time she had stood on a spot very similar, in another wing of the palace, admiring the beauty of the realm into which she had been brought. A mere human, a captive, torn from her home world and forced to become part of another.
"Is it true?" Jane Foster's voice pulled her from her memories.
"What is?"
"Is it true that Loki changed you against your will?"
Barbara breathed heavily. She suddenly had the same urge to break Jane Foster's neck as she had a long time ago, when they had first stood face to face. She unsettled her.
"It is" she finally replied "but I don't regret it. I never did"
"Why not?"
Barbara now smiled. "It's like you said. There is nothing I want more than to be able to spend thousands of days with the man I love"
"Even when said man just happens to be an evil villain who tried to take over the world?"
"Even more then"
Jane laughed softly to herself, and nodded.
"Welcome to Asgard, Jane Foster" Barbara said, and took Jane's hand. Jane wrapped hers around Barbara's and gently squeezed it.
"I saw your son, but only for a brief moment. He is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations"
"Thank you" Barbara said wholeheartedly, then made for the doors. She stopped at the entrance and turned once again to Jane.
"It gets easier" she said, then walked out.
The torches in the room burned very low as midnight gave way to early morning hours. There was to be no sleep tonight. There was no rest for the wicked; even as he clung to the only thing he possessed that was still pure and untainted. In Loki's arms, Arik was but a sleeping child resting his head on his father's shoulder.
Father and son.
Not villain and offspring.
The languid flames of the torches created lazy, dancing figures on the golden walls. There was to be no sleep tonight. There was no rest for the wicked; even as he clung to the one thing he possessed that had once been pure and untainted, and now stood one with him in the darkness. In Loki's arms, Barbara was but a lover resting her weary head on the shoulder of the man she loved.
Husband and wife.
Not villain and captive.
"Is that all the Norns said?" he asked in a hush tone, wrapping his arms tighter around the only two people who were truly his.
"Yes" Barbara whispered in reply. She nuzzled his neck, placing light, feather kisses on the smooth, pale skin of his neck. "Please tell me it's not going to happen"
"I won't let it" he replied, his gaze set and intense, staring straight at the wall, but in his mind's eye he saw the oncoming doom. He felt his blood freeze in his veins with terror, but he would not allow her to notice. He would allow Barbara to believe that the Norn's prediction was foretelling the forces of Hel coming to reclaim them. But she was terribly wrong.
Death was not be cheated.
He and Barbara had escaped from its clutches, but a life taken was never returned. Hel does not give back that which it took. Yet Hel had lost not one, but two lives.
The prophecy was clear.
Hela was coming to settle the score, and demand payment.
A life for the price of two.
Instinctively, Loki wrapped the arm he had around Arik tighter, and buried his nose in the crook of his neck, inhaling his sweet aroma. So pure, so gentle.
So INNOCENT.
"I won't let it" he declared.
End of Chapter 6
Responses to guest reviews:
Anon fan: You're right about this story being a wild ride, you have no idea what I have prepared! As for your take on the prophecy, you're somewhat on the right track, and absolutely correct on this story coming full circle, but not just in this sequel's sense, but on the entire trilogy. The end of this story will tie Game of Shadows, Of Madness and Mayhem and Born to be a King into one, final ending. Yes, I love to foreshadow and I always get very very excited when readers catch on to the small tidbits I throw in here and there about what's going to happen. Oh shucks, thank you for that very sweet compliment. And yes, I am going to go see Guardians of the Galaxy. I went to see Maleficent yesterday and watched the new trailer for gotg. I am so ready for that movie!
LisaF: Ooooh, you're somewhat close. Good deduction. And thank you!