Unbroken

chapter 68

Laufey's grip on Lokis throat loosened and he collapse next to loki, Loki inhaled sharply in a gasp for breath and started coughing. He couldn't believe what had just happened, he turned his head and saw Laufey unconscious next to him and he felt panic swell inside him. If laufey was dead he may have just started a war, if laufey wasn't dead then he'd probably wake up soon and kill Loki.
Loki couldn't get up, Laufey had done a lot of damage and now that he wasn't fighting for his life, he found moving to be difficult. He also could barely breathe and couldn't stop coughing. He didn't want to be so near Laufey though, if laufey woke up, Loki wanted to be out of sight, so he pulled himself across the ground until he got to a tree and pulled himself up and sat against it, his arm around his either cracked or broken ribs, and his other hand trying to stop the blood that was gushing from his nose. He didn't know what to do, his limbs felt like jello now that he wasn't fighting, he was starting to panic because he didn't know exactly what he'd done to laufey, and he knew that he couldn't get himself back into the palace.
He looked around the tree and saw Laufey, he was still unconscious but Loki knew that wouldn't last long, so he put aside his pain and forced himself to stand. He couldn't see very well and his breathing was ragged, but he'd been in worse shape before so he limped his way toward he palace. He was covered in cold mud but he also felt hot, and his legs kept wanting to buckle under him. "Loki!" Loki had never been happier to hear Thor's voice. Loki didn't know why he was out here looking for him, but he didn't care, he was just thankful that he was.
Loki tried to call back to Thor, but his voice came out as a strained whisper, Laufey had nearly destroyed his throat. "Loki!" Thor called again, loki could see him now, but it was pretty dark and he doubted Thor could see him. He started to stumbled toward Thor but Thor heard the rustling of Lokis feet and turned toward him, finally seeing him. Once Thor saw Loki he made his way over to him in a Hurry. Thor was coming to tell loki that Laufey had been given permission to walk through the gardens, but as soon as he saw Loki he guessed that Loki already knew.
"Did Laufey-" before Thor could finish his sentence, Loki's legs gave out and he started to collapse. Thor grabbed him and held him up on his feet.
"Did Laufey do this to you?" Thor asked, sounding pretty mad, but by now loki knew that he was just mad at Laufey.
Loki nodded and pointed in laufey's direction. "He's-" But Loki still couldn't use his voice. Thankfully Thor didn't need a verbal explanation. He turned to the two guards who were with him.
"Go find Laufey, once he's secure come and get me, I'll be in the healing room" Thor said as he brought Loki back toward the palace. Loki was covered in mud, so Thor couldn't really tell what laufey had done to him until they got to the healing room and the healers started to clean him up.
Once Loki was washed up and in clean clothes, it became pretty obvious what laufey had done. The corner of Lokis mouth was swollen and cut, his nose was very obviously broken, and his ribs were black from where Laufey kicked him, but the worst marks were on his neck. His whole neck was purple and blue, making it clear that he'd been strangled. And he was covered in minor scrapes and bruises. "What happened?" Trinity asked Loki as she finished bandaging his ribs and went to fix up his nose. Thor was still there too, and he was also interested in knowing what happened.
"Laufey" Loki said, his voice was rough but he could get a word out. "He's crazy to attack you here. He'll be in a lot of trouble when they find him" she said, setting his nose and bandaging it. She was about to tell him that it would be a few days before he'd be able to talk without pain, but she was interrupted when the doors burst open and the guards came in with.... Laufey? "He has a pretty serious head injury" the guards said. Thor stood up and looked confused and surprised.
"You weren't supposed to attack Laufey" he told the guards.
"We didn't do this, we found him like this" they explained. Thor still looked flabbergasted, if they didn't do this to laufey then that means loki did. "Alright, well put him down and we'll check on him in a minute" Thor said. Trinity looked annoyed.
"He's going to be treated?" She asked, why should laufey get treated?.
"We're trying to avoid a war, if he dies then we've started one" he explained to her. "Did you do that?" Thor asked loki. Loki nodded a bit.
"Yeah, I- with a stone" he said, he was afraid that he may have just started a war, but he was a tiny bit pleased with himself. He felt like he'd broken free from Laufey, he knew he wouldn't be afraid to win now.
"Good" Thor said "glad you finally did some damage to him" he added, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What if I started a war?" Loki asked, Thor could see in his face that talking caused a lot of pain.
"You didn't. If a war starts it's him who started it, he attacked you first" Thor said "don't talk any more" he added, then turned to Trinity. "He's okay to leave right?" He asked, Trinity nodded.
"Yeah, I'll walk him to his room" she said, then put an arm around Loki and helped him to stand and brought him back to his own room.
"Try to sleep, and don't talk until the morning" Trinity said, helping loki to sit in his bed and get comfortable. Loki just nodded, not saying a word.
Trinity left and Loki laid in bed for a long time, but he couldn't go to sleep. His mind was thinking about a thousand things; the potential war, the fact that for the first time in his life he stood up to Laufey, the fact that he actually won against Laufey. He laid in bed for hours trying to sleep but nothing worked, he couldn't sleep. 'I need to talk to him' loki thought to himself.  He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep and he had things to say to Laufey, so he got out of bed and put on some clothes, then left his chambers and headed to the healing room.
It hurt to walk, and he held his ribs as he made his way to the healing room, but he didn't care.
After a few minutes he got to the healing room and opened the door. By now it was very very late, there were only two healers in the room with Laufey and Trinity wasn't one of them. They both turned to Loki when he entered the room.
"Please leave" Loki said to them as he came in. The healers both glanced at Laufey, thinking that maybe loki didn't realize that he was asking to be alone with the man who made his life hell, but Loki simply nodded. "Please leave" he said again. His voice was still rough and ragged, and it hurt to speak, but he'd be willing to ignore that pain for a few minutes.
The healers exchanged uncomfortable glances, but they left the room, leaving loki alone with Laufey.
Laufey turned his head toward loki, then sat up. Lokis eyes shifted to the handcuffs that were binding Laufey. There was no way laufey could break through them, but Loki still felt a hint of nervousness.
Loki came further into the room and closer to Laufey, he was sure to stop holding his ribs and did his best to pretend he wasn't in pain, which he'd grown to be very good at.
"Why are you here boy?" Laufey demanded in a growl.
"I couldn't sleep" Loki said.
"And you thought I'd read you a bedtime story?" Laufey said sarcastically. Loki just shook his head
"No. I couldn't sleep because I wanted you to know something. I've made a decision" he said. Laufey looked at him with the same hateful glare he'd always had in Lokis presence. "I don't care what you've decided. You're an insect and soon you'll be squashed under my foot" Laufey said with a sneer, a bit of amusement coming into his face."A year ago that statement would've caused me to panic to the point of madness, a week ago that statement would've made me nervous. but now it does nothing" Loki said, his voice was ragged but steady "I couldn't sleep because I needed you to know something. I needed you to know that I've decided to stop being so afraid of you, I've decided to stop letting you control and enslave me" Loki said "I needed you to know that. I'm here to let you know that you just lost your only upper hand, I won't be intimidated by you anymore" he went on, it felt good to say it, it felt good to speak to Laufey without fear in his mind.
Loki hadn't said much, but Laufey looked like he was just about to explode with anger. His fists were clenched tightly and Loki knew that if he wasn't bound he'd be strangling loki again. "You don't Know what you're saying boy" Laufey growled "you can't just decide not to be afraid, I will always be in your mind. I will always be the man who beat you until you begged for mercy" He couldn't stand that Loki was brave enough to speak to him alone, and he wanted to make him afraid again.
"Maybe. But you will also always be the man that I beat. I know I can fight you, and I'll do it again if I have to" Loki said. "If you don't believe me, just look" he added as he held his hands in front of him, showing that they weren't at all shaking. and before laufey could retort, Loki turned his back to him and started to walk away.
"Get back here boy!" Laufey shouted as Loki walked away. But Loki ignored him and kept walking, he just reached the door when Laufey shouted again. "I'm not finished with you! Get back here! You may not walk away from me!" Laufey bellowed after Loki, pulling on his restraints. Loki stood still for a moment, then took a breath and spoke.
"I don't take orders from you" he said over his shoulder, then opened the door and left.