A Chance for Change [A Loki Fanfic]

Chapter 29

Loki and I walk out of the Ballroom, waving final goodbyes to Frigga, Thor, and Lifa. Once the doors have closed, Loki takes my hand and pulls me to the left, the direction opposite to the one Frigga, Lifa, Toril and I took to get here. We walk in silence, small, matching grins on our faces. Slowly, I realize the hall we are walking down is getting darker. The walls are still gold and tapestries still hang. There is still light emanating from the source I have yet to find, except now it seems muffled, as if I'm looking at everything through dark gauze. I glance over my shoulder, looking behind me. The Ballroom doors are still visible but, as I watch, they shimmer and it is at this shimmer that the light shifts most drastically. Looking forward again, I frown and look up at Loki.

Knowing the question I haven't asked yet, he says, "We are in a short cut I created when I was quite young. It leads back to the parts of the palace you are familiar with. If you are this confused, then obviously my mother is still unaware of its existence."

"You made this?" I ask, looking around me again. This time, I notice how the golden walls shimmer, how the tapestries don't look as real as they did before, how the light seems to come in slow waves. I reach my hand out and drag a finger across the wall. It ripples and hisses, and I jump back. Loki laughs.

"My love, what were you expecting?"

"I don't know," I say, "but it wasn't that."

Looking down, I watch the floor ripple away from our feet, like water.

"So, uh..." I say, letting out a laugh, "where exactly are we, again?"

Loki smiles, looking proud that his short cut is baffling me so much.

"When I was a child, I got lost," he begins. "I was running through the palace, away from Thor. I believe we were playing some sort of chasing game with Sif and the others—but that is not important now. I was in a part of the castle I had never been in before—I didn't realize that's where the Ballroom was until later—and I was scared; no one could hear me calling for them. By that point my mother had started teaching me some magic, which included teleportation. However, I was not comfortable with the feeling it created—"

"Hmm," I mutter dryly, "I wonder why."

Loki laughs, mouth paused around his next word. "Puzzling isn't it? Now, as I was saying, because I did not enjoy teleporting, I decided to make a physical passageway back to where I had last seen Thor. I did not intend for it to be permanent, however, it became so. After that night, we used it as a means of hiding from parents, instructors, those looking for us for one reason or another."

"This is very detailed for a whatever-year-old kid you were," I say.

"I was very skilled," he says.

"No kidding," I say. He smirks, not saying anything for a moment.

"Ah," he finally says, "here we are."

We walk out of the magical hallway and into one I recognize. Immediately, everything regains its normal brightness, the walls are unmuffled gold, the tapestry across from us looks like it wouldn't ripple if I touched it. I blink to get used to the light and turn to look behind us. But when I look at the place we had come from, all I see is a very solid wall. When I touch it, it's hard, the only sign it isn't normal being a very faint hiss in response to my hand.

After half-smiling-half-frowning at young Loki's genius, I look around, trying to figure out exactly where the hall has brought us.

"Library's that way?" I ask, pointing to our right.

"Yes," Loki says, following my finger with his eyes. "I am glad your sense of direction has not failed you."

"And I," I say as we turn to the left, the direction of our rooms, "am glad your sense of sarcasm has not failed you."