Flightless (LokixReader)

Chapter Twelve

(Your Pov)

The night passed quickly. But even still, by morning you had come up with a sure plan to take Loki's spellbook. You'd simply sneak in once the princes left for their mission, find a usable spell, and leave. Easy. Simple. No chance anything would go wrong.

Well, simple can only go so far. The princes left early that morning, before any of the team even had a chance to wake. You waited until you were sure no one would come searching for you- not that they ever did- and raced across the hall.

To find a door locked with a thousand spells woven over the entryway.

Oh no. You ran a hand over your face, a feeling of rush settling on you despite how you knew you should still have some hours left. You couldn't help but try the doorknob again, as it clicked and rattled but never turned.

Now you really need to have a spell book. It would be so much simpler if you could only have known an opening spell. "Open sesame?" Nothing worked. Not if you kept trying to face the door head on and bypass the spells temporarily. Your magic might break it... but it would be much more than just one spell to replace these wards. Let alone Loki would know his room was tampered with...

You sigh, deciding that hiding your scales was more important than an angry Loki. He was only allowed to use some magics now, right? Surely nothing that could alter your person in any way.

This was a bad idea. But you had no other option.

With a shaky breath, you place your hand against the doorknob. You knew how magic felt. You remembered from your childhood, and you remembered watching the lessons of older fletchlings. Feel the magic, find the source, and let the power burn through you. You never meant to use it on Loki, nor during the fight against the Chuitari, but you were glad for the practice now.

The spells felt tingly as they threaded through your fingers, and you entangled your magic with the locks. Grabbing hold with one intention.

Break everything.

In a matter of seconds, the wards snapped and unlocked the door. Step one? Completed. You've gained entry. Now onto what should be the easy part. You glanced around the room, hesitant just in case Loki had snuck in here without you knowing. But that was impossible. He was off fighting who knows what, who knows where somewhere far away. You needed to focus.

Loki's room wasn't much, but it was more than what you expected. The furniture all seemed to be a part of the same set; bed, desk, and bookshelf. Bookshelf! You glanced along the titles, looking for anything that might seem magical. Nothing catching your eye. Some looked old or otherworldly, sure, but nothing that screamed "I have the spells you're looking for".

So you turned to the more secretive. Peeking under his bed, and glancing around the desk. A magician must have a spellbook, right? Somewhere? You weren't daring enough to search through the attached bathroom or his closet, deciding that if he had gone through enough trouble to hide something so deep in his belongings that it may not be meant for an amateur wielder.

Fortunately, as you fiddled with the corners of his desk, you found a drawer that blended perfectly into the front carvings of the piece. You slid it out as silently as you could, finding exactly what you had searched for.

A book of magic.

*

(Loki's Pov)

After a grueling search through all hours of the day, they had finally narrowed down where a dragon may have transgressed through the realms unnoticed for just short of 2500 years now. The brothers proposed the transportation must have happened through one of the slits between the worlds, many of which still remain undiscovered. Loki knew of some, sure, and they had started with those. But tracking something after thousands of years wasn't easy. Everything had changed.

When it finally started to get dark even on the other side of the world, the brothers called their search to an end. The only reason for the urgency was a vision from a questionable source at best, and they decided to wait just a day more.

"How's your mission?" The team called as they returned, Thor confiding in their difficulties. Perhaps it might be easier to enlist the Avengers' aid in their search, but Midgardians were so finicky about mythological beasts. They might want to study it instead of slay it. And despite his own thoughts on the matter, if this was the case, Loki would never earn his freedom.

With the thunderer occupying the mortals, Loki headed for his quarters to gain some scraps of rest before they head out again. He had been using magic at Thor's every whim and in any attempt that might be able to track the beast, yet still finding little. It's as if no dragon had ever appeared here.

Loki spared a glance at the door across the hall, noting how little he had seen of her. The mystery of a not-mortal. He didn't dare think she was Asgardian- her magic wasn't like that he was used to. But at the same time, she wasn't born as one either.

He wanted to check in, but decided against it. So it always goes. Because she knew. About Thanos, about the void, and about how quickly his weakness has shown through. He never wanted to attack New York, but he always thought the consequences of his actions couldn't be any worse than the punishment from the Mad Titan.

Loki shook away the thoughts, still frustrated how easily she had broken through his defenses. It shouldn't be possible. He was a master magician for crying out- "Oh shit."

The spells and wards he had layered on his door were broken. His first action after regaining even scraps of his magic, now unraveled in a matter of hours. Who would dare risk his wrath? Hadn't the Avengers learned what could happen when he's challenged?

Except for Y/N.

He opened the door, scanning the room quickly. Nothing looked to be changed. What did she want from him? Thor had brought some of his belongings from Asgard, sure, but nothing of any value to her. He was surprised she even knew how to break his spells...

Loki quickly jumped for his desk, pulling out the drawer to check for the only spellbook Thor cared to grab.

It's been moved.

It was still there, sitting in his drawer, but not quite how he had left it. And sure, during any normal day, he might have overlooked such an infinitesimal detail. But after the spells had been broken?

She did this, and he wasn't going to let her get away with it.