Undaunted (Loki x Reader)

Chapter 24 - Intentional Parting

"I wondered the same," Loki answers, stroking your hair. "I believe her to have used the same stone you now wear around your neck."

"What?" you ask, your fingers flying to the icy blue glow on your chest. "But how would that help her?"

Loki thinks for a moment before answering.

"Binding seidr is like damming a river, darling. It prevents magic from flowing through the user's body. How much it prevents is up to whoever is doing the binding. For example, when I bound Herkja I allowed a steady stream of seidr to still flow through to her. Not enough for her to conjure dark magic, but enough for her to still heal."

You cringe thinking about Loki binding Herkja. You know that had been a difficult thing for him to do. It was also Odin's attempt to punish Loki for concealing her study of the banished magic as much as an attempt to punish Herkja herself.

"But a seidr stone can be used to bypass that dam," Loki continues. "Like building a trench around the dam itself, allowing the water, or in our case, seidr, to flow as it did before. That is why these stones are considered to be so powerful."

"Then why would she give this to me if she needed it to use dark magic?" you ask.

"Because she was receiving something much more powerful in return - the Tablet."

"How does it work, Lo?"

"How does what work?"

You think for a moment, organizing your thoughts.

"Well, Amora has to translate the runes to unlock the knowledge she needs to grow in her power, right? If Frigga and Odin seem to think her power is growing, then she must have already translated them all. So...isn't it too late?"

"Not quite, darling," Loki says, planting a kiss on your forehead. "The runes on the Tablet are like chapters of a book. Each one contains within it knowledge of its own. Together, they tell a story of indescribable power and all-knowingness. But each chapter delivers to its reader a subsect of that knowledge. Of wisdom. Amora is likely deciphering these runes one by one, and growing her power as she does. She likely has learned enough to be able to conjure the dark magic she needs on her own without the seidr stone, despite still being bound."

"So it really is only a matter of time," you ask, frightened.

"Yes."

For a moment you lay with Loki, running through a million different scenarios in your head, each more disturbing than the last. When suddenly, Loki pulls from your grip and stands. You're confused for a moment before realizing that he's simply going to the bathroom.

You laugh at yourself as you realize how panicked you had been to even have him leave your arms for a moment. It makes you think about Frigga and Odin.

"Loki," you call out to him.

"Yes?" he answers back from the bathroom with a laugh.