Hardest of Hearts (Thor/Avengers: Loki/OC )

Chapter 8

<pre style="line-height: 21px; white-space: normal; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;">Hardest of Hearts

Chapter 8

300 years later

“I am so proud of you both, and of the women you have become,“ Fenrir said staring at his two daughters, his eyes watering with unshed tears. “And I know your mother would also be proud of you,” He told them smiling.

“Thank you father,” Sif replied, hugging him, then kissing his cheek, before stepping back.

Althea nodded at him, “Thank you,” She told him, before slowly embracing him tightly, then letting go.

A lot had changed in 300 years, Althea thought to herself as she and her sister waited to be let into the throne room together, to kneel before the All-Father, swear fealty, and receive their titles. She’d become a full-fledged healer, and had been made to study personally under Aesa, the head healer at the time, and still to this day. All thanks to the day she had saved that boy’s life, and almost destroyed her own…

Word spread like wild fire in Asgard, and by the time she had been let out of the healing halls everyone had known what she had done, and been afraid of her because of it. Even when she had saved the boy’s life, which was also mentioned, she had done so with magic, and because of that she was treated as an outcast. When she passed someone in the halls they would duck their head and avoid eye contact, or turn the other way completely.

She’d moved into the palace, which was filled with thousands of empty rooms, but it was necessary to be closer to the healing halls. It used to take her a half hour to get there from her old home, but moving into the palace had cut her time in half. But it also meant she was surrounded by unfamiliar servants, and the day she would remember most clearly was when Althea had set one of her mother's old vases in her new chambers. A week later, a servant girl, looking no older than just reaching adulthood had bumped the table, sending the vase falling, and shattering to the ground.

It also happened to be one of the few times that Althea was in there at the same time as the poor girl, who had gotten down on her knees and begged for mercy. Mercy, like she thought Althea was going to kill her for breaking a silly vase. She never understood until then just how looked down upon magic was, but even so, she never regretted Loki teaching it to her.

Althea had been appalled when the girl had gotten on her knees and hugged the floor at her feet. She’d gotten down on the floor herself and hauled the girl up. Explaining to her that she need not fear her, and that it was a mistake and she wouldn’t be punished. Althea didn’t think the girl truly believed her, but over time she became a regular in Althea’s chambers.

Now, life as a magic was lonely, not that she had many friends before, but overtime she began to see Edda, as her friend, and not just the servant who had actually bowed to her, like she was some sort of royal… But one thing that Althea never dared to tell anyone, only keeping her own council, was that it had felt empowering to see someone bow before her.

And that was when she realized that some of the rumors of magic were true, it did corrupt the user, to an extent. Having all that power at her fingertips had made her feel invincible, especially after Aesa had described, in complete detail just what she had seen when Althea had healed the boy.

Apparently no one had really noticed anything out of the ordinary, until her hands began to emit a golden light that seeped right into the boy, becoming brighter and brighter until it completely enveloped Althea and the boy all around their bodies. Then something dark, black, had taken hold and mixed in with the gold, and Althea had no doubt it was the presence of Hel she had felt. Still, Althea would never know exactly what was seen as Aesa had been unable to describe it in such a way that she could visualize it in her mind.