Once Loki and the others left, Cora went back to the library. She picked out the same books she had gotten earlier, but she could only bring herself to read the How to Control Fear and other Things book. As she gets to the Eighth chapter, which focuses on clearing the mind, an envelope falls from the beginning of the chapter and slides onto the table front facing down.
Cora examines the envelope and inhales a curious breath as she reads the name inscribed on the front of the envelope.
"Adamaris?" Cora questions as she flips the envelope over and opens it. Pulling two thick pieces of paper out of the envelope, Cora see's that she is holding a letter. Cora's eyes begin to sting with tears as she mentally reads the letter.
'Adamaris,
I've tried to write this letter a thousand times. But, I can never seem to get the right words out. I'm writing this on the one year anniversary of your birth. And, if you are somehow reading this, then I've done exactly as I had promised myself. Either you have come home to Asgard, or wherever it is you were sent off to, this letter has found you. I need you to know, this was never how I intended things to go for any of us. Shortly after your birth and you were forcefully taken away from me, I tried to plead with Odin- your grandfather- to release me from the dungeon and let me try to find and take care of you. But, he would not have it. He's left me to rot in this dungeon cell for the last year.'
"You were locked away for a whole year? What kind of person does that to their own son?" Cora asks herself in a whispered tone, as she continues reading, the tears that sting her eyes fall and roll down her cheeks.
'Please know, that when I am able to get free from this infernal cell, I will do everything in my power to find you. But, for now you have a piece of me with you. The amulet, that I sent with you will keep you safe. It will also help you to understand where it is you came from. Just know, that I can sense that you are somewhat safe. We are connected in a way that is not normal to most people. I can sense your fear and pain, just as I suspect you can sense mine. The night you were born and ultimately banished, I could feel how scared you were. Not knowing what was going on, or where you were going, it was hard for me to watch as you were taken away. Within the year you have been gone, there has not been a day where I have not worried about you. Odin has said if I stop with the nonsense and just forget about you, then he will release me.'
"Well, you certainly did something in order to get out of the dungeon." Cora whispers to herself as the tears roll down her face and she finishes reading the letter.
But, I can not bring myself to do that. Forgetting you is the worst thing I could ever do. Just know, that if I am ever released from the dungeon, I will do everything in my power to find you. I care for you deeply and want nothing more than to know that you are safe and well cared for. Your father ~ Loki.'
"Well, that's not what I was expecting." Cora says to herself as she folds up the letter and puts it back in the envelope, she then places the picture of her mother in the envelope, and folds the envelope flap into the envelope to close it. She dabs her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. As she looks up from the envelope, she see's Queen Frigga enter the library.
"I must tell you. Thor has asked me to keep a sharp eye on you. So, when you did leave the castle earlier, I went to him and told him you had left. I have orders from Thor, but I am under strict orders from Odin and your father to make sure you stay safe while you are here." Queen Frigga says as she walks up to the table and stands in front of the chair across from Cora.
"Did those orders happen before or after the battle that nearly killed me?" Cora asks as she keeps her gaze on the table once Queen Frigga sits down.
"I watched over all of you once you had all arrived, but after you had awoken from the attack that nearly ended your life, I was given the orders to keep a much closer eye on you." Queen Frigga says as she sets her hands on the table.
"Why are you telling me this?" Cora asks as she looks up at Queen Frigga. Queen Frigga gives a small smile.
"I was asked to do so, by your father." Queen Frigga says, Cora begins to shake her head from annoyance.
"You mean the same father that had done what Odin asked and forgot about me, up until the day I arrived in Asgard?" Cora asks as she drops the envelope containing the letter and picture on the table. Queen Frigga scoops the envelope up and takes the letter out.
"Give that back! It does not belong to you." Cora says sternly. Queen Frigga only smiles as she watches Cora turn red.
"He never forgot about you. He never could, he merely did that or so it looked like he did that to get out of the dungeon. He never spoke of you around Thor or Odin. He didn't even speak of you around Heimdall. Only to me, did he ask to keep watch over you wherever it was Thor had banished you to." Queen Frigga says, as she reads the last portion of the letter.
"You went against Odin to keep Loki somewhat sane?" Cora asks as her eyes go wide, Queen Frigga gives a smile and slightly nods.
"It kept Loki at bay. However, when he came in contact with the Tesseract, all of his motives changed. Instead of worrying about getting you back, his mind was clouded with darkness and a need for power." Queen Frigga says as her eyes turn wary.
"I remember, I think I was either Six or Seven. Being on the Helicarrier with the Avengers, just after they had caught Loki and put him in a giant glass pod. After I was told to leave the room, I ended up teleporting close to the glass pod, that's when I first saw Loki. He had seen me, but I guess with how clouded his mind was he didn't realize who I was. He had seen my face and I saw his eyes go wide ever so slightly. But, it was only for a second though. It was as though seeing me unclouded his mind for a split second. Once that second was up, his eyes changed back to how they had been; dark and almost evil like." Cora says as she remembers that day from so long ago. She looks out the window of the library and watches the crystal blue sky begin to turn orange and pink.
"You worry for all of them. But, mostly for your father. I assure you, things are going as planned. In fact, accompany me to the Observatory, they should be calling for Heimdall to bring them back any minute now." Queen Frigga says as she stands and begins to walk toward the library entrance.
"Really? But, I thought we weren't supposed to go near the Observatory for any reason." Cora asks as her eyes begin to brighten.
"I can make an exception to the rule. After all being a daughter of Asgard does have its advantages." Queen Frigga says, Cora's eyes go wide with fear as Queen Frigga calls her a 'daughter of Asgard'.
"Can that not be said out loud? I don't need the others to have another reason to want to take a swing at me." Cora asks, Queen Frigga only nods as she turns and exits the library. Cora gets up and levitates the books she has on the table back to their places on the shelf, the only book she keeps with her is the How to Control Fear and Other Things book.
With a quick pace, Cora catches up to Queen Frigga. As they walk, Cora's side begins to hurt a bit. Waving her hand in front of her, Cora changes into a loose fitting dark blue long sleeved turtleneck poncho, with Black fitted faux leather looking skinny pants and Gray colored small heeled boots. Her hair stays in the same style it had been in from earlier in the day.
"Cora, everything alright?" Peter asks as he watches Cora and Queen Frigga walk toward the front entrance of the castle. Cora only nods to Peter as she exits the front of the castle.
"If you do not feel like walking the long way to the Observatory, you can try and use your teleportation power and get us there much quicker." Queen Frigga suggests, Cora looks at her with wide shocked eyes.
"Are you sure about that?" Cora asks as she looks between Queen Frigga and the Observatory.
"My dear, I put my trust in you that you can safely teleport us to the Observatory without an incident." Queen Frigga says as she looks to Cora and holds out her arm. Cora takes hold of Queen Frigga's arm, and in the blink of an eye, they are teleported to the Observatory entrance.
"You're becoming quite strong, you know." Heimdall says as both women enter the Observatory.
"Training and clearing my mind is a better move, than to just sit around and watch as everyone else progresses, while I fully heal." Cora says as she and Queen Frigga walk toward Heimdall.
"Have they asked for you to bring them back yet?" Queen Frigga asks as she stares out into the open window to the cosmos.
"Should be any moment now." Heimdall says as he looks out toward the cosmos.
"Heimdall, now!" Cora hears Thor yell. Cora looks around as she hears Thor's voice.
"You heard him, did you not?" Queen Frigga asks as she watches Cora look around. Cora looks at her and nods.
"You two stand back." Heimdall warns as he turns the sword in the Bifrost pedestal. The bright light nearly engulfs the whole room of the Observatory as the Bifrost opens and Thor is the first one to come running out. Loki is the second one out and Cora breathes a sigh of relief as she see's Loki is unharmed. Just as the others and Odin make it out of the Bifrost, with their prisoners, Loki begins to make his way over to Cora.
When Loki is only a few feet away from Cora, one of the prisoners brandishes a hidden dagger and throws it, instantly striking Loki in the back. Sending him to his knees and gasping for air, Loki falls to the ground. Just as Loki falls to the ground, Cora suddenly screams from pain and falls to her knees.
"Get them to the dungeon, NOW!" Odin screams to Lady Sif and the warriors. Lady Sif and the warriors surround the prisoners and quickly usher them from the Bifrost.
"Loki, it's going to be alright. We'll get you to the infirmary—." Thor says, Loki reaches out to Cora and places his hand on her shoulder. He transports them to the infirmary before Thor can say anything else.
"Dagny, Runa?" Cora screams in pain as she weakly lands on her feet, while holding onto a nearly unconscious Loki as they land in the infirmary.
"Dear Cora, what's happened?" Dagny asks as she, Runa, and a few other nurses come running out of the office.
"One of the Vanaheim prisoners had a dagger hidden on them, and right as the Bifrost closed, they threw it and it struck Loki in the back. He fell to the ground and then I started to get a sharp pain in my back, the same place he's been struck." Cora says, Dagny and two other nurses come up to Cora and take Loki from her and head to the back room. Runa and one nurse each take hold of Cora's arms and lead her to one of the beds.
"Where are they taking him?" Cora painfully spits out. Runa and the other nurse sit Cora on a bed. Keeping quiet, Runa walks behind Cora to examine her back. Lifting up Cora's poncho, Runa gasps as she only see's a large dark spot on Cora's back.
"Dagny, you'd better look at this." Runa yells, Dagny comes rushing full speed out of the back room and over to Runa.
"Go tend to Loki." Dagny instructs, Runa and the nurse both nod and rush to the back room.
"What's happening to him?" Cora asks, but then screams from pain. Dagny lifts the back of Cora's poncho up and gasps.
"Stop what you girls are doing!" Dagny exclaims. Cora tries to look back to Dagny, but she turns Cora's head back to face the doors of the infirmary.
"What is going on?" Cora nearly demands, just as she asks this, the infirmary doors burst open as Thor enters the room. Cora's eyes go wide with anger as she see's Thor.
"I'd like to know that same question." Thor says as he looks straight at Dagny.
"They are linked. Whatever happens to him also happens to her, she feels the residual energy and pain." Dagny says as she motions for Thor to join her. Cora watches as Thor's eyes grow wide as he makes his way over to Dagny.
"Same spot, depth, and width as the one Loki has." Dagny says, Cora begins to feel light headed and starts to slump forward.
"Oh, no you don't." Dagny says as she quickly grabs on to Cora and lays her down.
"What can we do?" Thor asks, just as Dagny is about to answer, Cora talks first.
"You've done enough, now leave." Cora says as she looks up at Thor. Thor and Dagny exchange looks and then shake their heads.
"I do not know what you are talking about." Thor says, Cora slowly sits up and let's out an annoyed laugh.
"You and the warriors could have handled that hostile Vanaheim take over by yourselves, but no, you just had to drag my father into it, didn't you." Cora says as she gets off the bed, Thor's eyes go wide as he listens to Cora.
"It's only been four days since we've come to Asgard, and under your watch so much bad rather than good has happened. You claim you want what's best for us, but you don't even know what that is. Under your watch, I've almost died four times. I'm done waiting for you to do the things you promised. You don't deserve to know what's happening, so get out." Cora screams, and her eyes turn Red again. Dagny covers her mouth when she see's the change in Cora's eyes.
"Now, you listen here—." Thor starts to say, but Cora cuts him off.
"No, I'm done listening to you. It's time you be the one to listen for a change. Now, like I said, get out!" Cora screeches, with her mind, she opens the infirmary doors and throws Thor out without even laying a finger on him. Once Thor is out of the room, Cora places a wood beam across the door so no one can get in.
"Cora, in order for us to help you and your father, we need you to calm down." Dagny sternly says. Cora turns to Dagny and her eyes slowly change back to Blue, she shakes her head and looks around.
"Cora, are you all right?" Runa cautiously asks as she comes out of the back room. Cora looks at Runa and hangs her head.
Just before Cora can say anything. A pained groan comes from the back room, without waiting for permission from Dagny or Runa, she darts into the back room. Laying on the operating table, Loki winces and writhes in pain.
"Dad, I'm right here. Can you hear me?" Cora says as she walks up to the operating table and sits on a stool next to the head of the table. As Loki winces and jerks from the pain, Cora grabs his hand. Just as Cora holds his hand in hers, Loki calms down and begins looking around the room.
"Why can't he see me?" Cora asks as she waves her free hand in front of his face. Dagny walks back into the room, and looks at Cora.
"With the amount of pain he's experiencing, that's all his mind can focus on. We haven't been able to properly care for him with him moving and jerking around." Dagny says, Cora places her free hand on Loki's forehead and her hand glows gold. Loki calms down as the glow from Cora's hand gets brighter.
"I tried to protect them, I tried, I tried." Loki rambles as he begins to get sleepy. As Loki's eyes close, Cora looks at Dagny and Runa, who stand back and watch Cora with stunned faces.
"Alright, we may be able to treat him now." Dagny says and Cora takes her hand away from Loki's forehead, she begins to walk out of the room, but stops.
"Is everything alright, Cora?" Runa asks as she walks up to Cora. Cora looks down at her amulet and then back to Runa.
"It helped heal me, maybe it can help heal him." Cora says as she takes the amulet off, and holds it out to Runa. Runa takes the amulet and walks back to Dagny.
"It is more attuned to you, it heals you quickly, but your father, we are not sure how it will affect him." Dagny says as she walks over to Cora.
"What do you mean?" Cora asks as Dagny places the amulet back in Cora's hand.
"Since it is attuned to you, it may only work for you. It may be useless if we tried to use it." Dagny states, Cora looks between her and Loki and grips the amulet in her hand as she walks back over to Loki.
Breathing in a deep breath, Cora tries to keep herself as calm as she can. She runs her finger over the bright green gem in the middle of the amulet.
"Can you both turn him over slightly? It'll have a better chance at working if it's as close to the wound as possible." Cora asks and looks at Dagny and Runa, they both nod and approach with caution. They hold Loki on his side and Cora begins to concentrate.
Holding the amulet over Loki's wound, Cora breathes in deeply and closes her eyes. The amulet begins to glow a bright and brilliant green color from the gem.
Dagny and Runa stay silent as they watch Cora heal Loki's wound. Runa's mouth falls open as she watches the wound begin to close and heal as though nothing happened in the first place.
Exhaling one final deep breath, the amulets light slowly begins to fade and Cora opens her eyes and steps back from the table. Once the light is completely gone, Cora places the amulet back around her neck. Loki jerks up and out of Dagny and Runa's grasp, he gasps and falls back onto the table.
"Runa." Dagny says, Cora watches as Runa quickly steps up and sticks a syringe needle in Loki's arm, and plunges some kind of liquid into him.
"No, no. Your not going to knock me out, not again." Loki screams and looks at Runa. Cora steps up next to the table and places a hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki looks at her and his expression softens.
"You need to rest now. You'll feel better once you wake up." Cora says as she watches Loki's eyes slowly begin to close.
"Caitriona, I'm sorry." Loki lowly says as he goes unconscious. Cora raises her hand from Loki's shoulder and places it on his cheek and lightly strokes her thumb across his cheekbone.
"If anything changes—." Cora begins to say, then is cut off by Dagny.
"We'll come find you." Dagny says, Cora turns and walks out of the back room and into the main infirmary area. Using her levitation power, Cora removes the wood beam she had placed over the door. As she opens the door and exits the infirmary, Thor waits in the hallway, leaned up against a pillar with his arms crossed, just staring at the door. Glancing at Thor once, Cora turns and begins to walk toward the hallway where her room is.
"Now hold on, there. We need to talk about what just happened." Thor says as he begins to follow Cora. Cora turns around and stares Thor down.
"There is nothing to talk about. As far as anything is concerned, I do not report to you. I report to my father." Cora says as she turns and walks away from Thor.
"Seeing as how Loki is not well enough to mentor you with any sort of task, I'm the only one who will be doing that." Thor says, as he grabs hold of Cora's wrist and turns her around. Cora looks Thor in the eyes and pushes him away from her.
"No! I'll find someone else, because I'm done listening to anything you have to say. After all, you don't care about me like you once said you did." Cora says as she turns and walks away. Thor catches up to her and stands in front of her, and looks at her.
"How dare you think, that I do not care for you." Thor says as he gets in Cora's face. Cora sizes Thor up and pushes him.
"You don't. Just admit it, had you actually cared about me, you wouldn't have gone through with Odin's banishment orders when I was only mere hours old." Cora challenges as she feels her eyes sting with angry tears.
"Bringing you back was the easy part. Figuring out how to go about telling you the truth and knowing if you should be treated how the others are being treated or be treated as an Asgardian royal, has been a challenge. If I did not care for you as you say I do not, then you would not be here." Thor says trying to get control of the situation.
"You should have been honest about everything the night before we came here. I can't even look at you like I used to. I looked up to you since I was a child, and now I can't even stand to be around you after everything that has happened. So, if you'll excuse me Uncle, I need some time alone." Cora says and then teleports herself to her room.