The Devil Is A Gentleman | Loki

3

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Aria awoke suddenly to Jane shaking her.

"Wha- what do you want?" She asked her irritably, sitting up in bed. Jane began to pace the room.

"Aria where did you go after Thor's father took us to the relic room? We were looking for you everywhere afterwards!" She said hurriedly,

"Oh you know how I am, I wanted to explore. Why are you so stressed? You know i've wandered off before" she rubbed her eyes and looked down, she had apparently slept in the gown from last night.

"Odin told us something about the thing inside me."

"What is it?"

"Apparently there are these relics, the most powerful substances in the galaxy, most of them take the form of small stones but one of them takes liquid form and apparently that's what's inside me."

"What the-"

"But that's not all. This evil elf guy, Malekith is after it and has been for ages apparently and he'll use it to turn the cosmos into his own dark realm so we have to stop him and make sure he never gets the liquid stone!"
Jane finished and looked at her expectantly.

Aria stared at Jane's concerned face, and couldn't help but start laughing,

"WHY?! Why are you laughing right now?! Do you find this funny?!" Jane almost yelled.

"I just find it funny that yesterday you were literally having breakfast in my kitchen and now you're on the run from an evil space elf" Aria said through continuous sobs of laughter.

Jane looked at her in disbelief, but eventually started smiling, and soon she was laughing with her,

"Come on then," she said holding out her hand which Aria took, "let's go to the dining hall, I'm starving"

•

They both got a lot of shifty looks from nearby Asgardians as they are their bread and cheese, but they didn't care. they both decided to remain in good spirits as they would need it for what was to come.

After their breakfast, Thor invited Jane to walk with him which she obviously accepted, Aria went back to the palace gardens and sat on the marble seat again.

After a short while, she was joined by Frigga. They both talked and laughed together for ages, and strange as it was, Aria slowly started to feel like she had a mother again. But this time it was like a real mother. A mother who cared about her.

"May I ask, who is your parentage?" Frigga asked. knowing she couldn't lie to her, Aria sighed deeply and looked out over Asgard before turning back to her.

"My mother passed a few weeks ago. I know I shouldn't be hurt because she never really loved me, well she at least didn't show it. But I can't help grieving.. as for my dad, well I never knew my father."

"I apologise for bringing it up."

"It's okay, I don't mind, really.. So I heard you guys can do magic here?" Aria asked,

"Some people can yes, but not many. I taught my youngest son magic when he was a boy." Frigga answered, smiling down at her lap

"Are you two close?"

"We were, and deep down I know we still are, but he hides it.. and he hides it well. He discovered something a while ago and he hasn't been the same since."

"Can anyone learn it?" Aria asked again, changing the subject as this was obviously a sensitive topic.

"Magic is complicated, you can't simply learn it, you work with it. When you understand that you must allow it to flow through you as you flow through it. Then you can learn to harness it."