The One That Wasn't || Loki

Chapter 8: An Attack of Realisation

"Cold skin, drag my feet on the tile
As I'm walking down the corridor
And I know we haven't talked in a while
So I'm looking for an open door"

-

Cordelia left the gardens through the west tunnel, towards the clanging noises. It seemed to grow cold every step she took to such an extent she began to cough out smoke. Her hands were beginning to freeze, and she was so close to fainting from the sudden change in weather.

There was only one enemy who could have such an effect but it was only a myth she had grown up reading. There was no way that the Frost Giants would be walking Asgardian land, not after the war ages ago won by the AllFather.

As she reached the front steps of the palace, Cordelia suddenly found herself stuck to the ground she was walking on mere seconds ago. She looked down to find the ground frozen till her knees, sending chills up her spine. This was not good for the power she had just acquired on Swetana. She had no idea how the Ring would react to magic beyond the known.

Cordelia could hear heavy footsteps coming her way followed by ragged breaths. She forced herself to look around at the giant coming her way. No. Not giant. There were two of them as tall as the walls of the palace and as heavy set as its pillars. They carried large cutlasses with them which shone in silver she had never laid her eyes upon before. She was seeing magic she was unaware of.

"Cordelia! Duck!" Came a voice from above, but Cordelia didn't dare disobey the command, sinking to her knees immediately as a loud whiplash was heard. The ground before her began to crack as someone jumped from midair.

Cordelia had never been happier to see the Warriors Three before this moment. They had come to save her life. "Volstagg!" She ran to embrace him. "How did you find me?"

"The credit goes to me, Lady Sigyn," Sif spoke as she landed before Cordelia, covered in dark blood that didn't belong to her.

"What is going on?" Cordelia asked as she joined Hogun on the attack on the fleeing Giant. Sif threw her sword at the giant, aiming for his knee cap from the back. At the same time, Cordelia channelled the energy of the Bifrost to hit the Giant on the chest. He collapsed instantly in a thud, and Fandral took care of the rest.

"Well, it's not news that Loki is the reason this is happening."

Cordelia's head turned to Sif faster than anything in existence. "I beg your pardon?"

"He is the reason Thor was banished from here. If Loki hadn't provoked Thor to go to Jotunheim-"

"Thor brought that upon himself, Sif! Know what you are talking about before you raise your voice at me."

"It doesn't change the truth, Cordelia," said Hogun. "Loki turned us all away when we tried to bring Thor back to Asgard.

"That is not possible." This was a joke, Cordelia wanted to tell them. She wanted to laugh but all she felt was bitterness. Could Loki really have abandoned his brother that way? All over the years, Loki has felt betrayed by his brother. He has felt left behind and mistrusted by the ones standing before her, but could he really have let the Frost Giants into Asgard?

"It's not possible," she repeated her words. "Loki despises the giants. Why would he let them roam freely here? Where is Heimdall?"

"You must see the truth, Cordelia," Sif said, softer this time. Sif could understand the emotions Cordelia was undergoing, having felt something similar towards Thor once when they were children. But her duties were more important than a mere courtship with someone who wouldn't remain loyal to her. "Thor has changed now after living in Midgard. It was hard for him to see the truth too, but you have to believe us. Loki is the reason this is happening. We need to stop him."

A loud crash was heard in the direction of the town followed by the sounds of crying and screams. There was no time to discuss who started all of this, they all knew. They had to protect Asgard as the AllFather would have wanted them to. This was what they were born to do.

"For Asgard!" Fandral shouted as the five of them rushed towards the town.

The Chosen were already on the scene of battle as they fought the giants while the few remaining Asgardians were evacuating themselves towards the nearest checkpoint for air control to help them further. The lack of crowd could only prove Heimdall's foreseeing this, but how could he leave the Bifrost behind?

Perhaps he didn't have a choice. Perhaps he was forced just as the Chosen were forced to step down from their duties.

No. This couldn't be the truth. Cordelia refused to believe it. Slaying down the giants in the battle helped her mask her true feelings for she couldn't come to terms with what was happening. Loki was supposed to be her confidant, and Thor was supposed to be his brother. How did it come to this?

Cordelia heard a child's scream from the forest cover, her head whipping to the sound immediately. The giant standing with his back towards her was raising his club high in the air, probably trapping the child between him and the tree cover. Cordelia pulled out her Ring and threw it at the giant, slicing off his neck in one clean cut.

She ran to protect the child from the horrors of what was happening. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she kept whispering to the child as she handed her over to the nearest Asgardian seeking cover. It became like a mantra running inside her own head even after the child was long gone.

I'm sorry. This was what she wanted to tell Loki. Whatever had pushed him to this, all Cordelia wanted to do now was apologise. Answers could wait for her. She needed to find him and she needed to make him see sense.

Right then, a bright light broke through the outer atmosphere of Asgard, burning into the cosmos ahead. It stopped time for a second as the battle came to a standstill. The wind speed increased and the waves of the eternal sea clashed against the palace.

"No," she heard Sif whisper near her. "It can't be."

The Chosen all around were clutching onto their Rings, which was now surging with a blue light, Cordelia's included. There was only one explanation to this - the Bifrost was being used to destroy a realm.