Happy Loki day!!
I hope you all enjoy this introduction to a three part fic I'm making with this!!
Part 2 Coming soon
-
“When I accepted this deal from Frigga, I did not expect for there to be so many missions— well, assignments. Norns above may this be the last one for this month,” Loki complained. He followed a guard clad in golden armor through the big halls of the palace, apparently Frigga was asking for her youngest son's presence for the umpteenth time this month.
Golden doors opened and revealed the Allmother sitting in a golden throne. She was wearing her crown this time, and had her trusted and most powerful advisors on either side of her.
Loki sensed this may be an important one, and it would do him right to shut his mouth.
“You called, mother?” Loki announced himself.
“A final assignment before you indulge yourself,” said Frigga. “A woman, pivotal to the timeline is set to make different decisions than what the TVA has planned. A decision that should happen if we want peace and order in the Nine. You are tasked to collect her from her captors, and help her escape from the TVA. And, if you deem it proper, I am giving you permission to take her wherever and whenever to ensure her safety.”
She always asked her son to take care of matters that dealt with the “sacred timeline”, which Loki sort of found annoying at times. But then again, he gets to travel through time and experience indulgences that existed before he was even born. And, being the hedonistic demigod that he was, he couldn't complain (a lot).
Frigga had always been all powerful, she had the knowledge and wisdom that could battle He Who Remains, that is why he doesn't go out of his cocoon to battle the Allmother purely out of respect. The TVA however, are not aware of Frigga's slight meddling with the timeline to ensure peace and order.
Loki nodded. “Easy enough. I've ran from the TVA before,” he winked. “Collect the girl and ensure her safety, yes?”
“Right,” Frigga handed her son a gadget that could help him cross the timeline without difficulty. “That is in case you're too injured or too tired to access your seidr.”
“Always so worried, mother?”
“Of course, dear. It's my job,” teased Frigga. “Be safe.”
He gave her his signature smirk. “Always am.”
-
“Uh— sorry, I think you're going the wrong way,” you shouted while banging on the roof of the carriage. The ride was supposedly paid for by your father, and was on a route to Teatro de Monet, an opera theatre you and your father attended regularly.
You didn't see the driver smirk, but you could certainly hear the satisfaction in his voice. “Don't worry, love. This is a short cut.” It was dark, and when you peeked outside the windows, you didn't recognize any of the street names nor did the alleys look familiar. You huffed and rolled your eyes.
Fifth time this week, let's see how far they can get me.
“Oh, that's fine then! Sorry to bother you!” you yelled from inside the carriage, frowning in annoyance not long after. You really didn't want to fight today, not in your new dress. Goodness, your father spent quite a fortune for that birthday gift.
This is why I despise the city—
The carriage was suddenly hijacked by three more men. They were massive and carried hard, heavy, metal weapons. One of them was missing a tooth— maybe several teeth— you don't know. You looked at them with wide and surprised eyes.
You thought about breaking a window with your elbow and smashing the left over bits of glass in their faces, but you were squished between two men. And the other one that was sat in front of you seemed to track your every movement.
“Hello, boys,” you greeted them in a very fake and pleasant tone.
They said nothing.
“Where are you three headed?” you continued to prod.
The men looked at each other. “To our boss.”
“And who might that be?”
“Quit asking questions, little lady. That is if you want to be returned to your dear papa unscathed.” The one in front of you threatened. He bared his teeth to intimidate you but all you felt was disgust when you smelled a waft of his rotten breath.
“‘Unscathed’, wow good on you that's a big word!” You patronized him. Your voice was dripping with sarcasm.
The man tried to hit you with his big mallet, but you got to kick him in the neck first. Damn brute was too big and too slow. The men beside you held you down while you laughed grimly at the third man's face.
“Haven't done that in a while. Forgot how good it felt,” you said while smiling.
The man in front of you choked and coughed
He rubbed his neck to ease the pain, cleared his throat and spat out the window. He looked red and teary eyed, but remained an intimidating illusion.
“You're lucky we've got orders to leave you unharmed or you'll be—”
“I'll be what, hm? Nothing but a sorry little pile of bruises and cuts?” You raised an eyebrow before scoffing. “You're not the first to make threats against me, lads. Not even the second or third, you're actually probably the tenth time this month! You're not special.”
They shut up after that, probably out of annoyance.
You soon arrived at your destination. It was— weird enough— to be an abandoned theatre, so there was at least a little bit of truth in their not-so-cunning lies. The men beside you shackled your hands behind your back before manhandling you off the carriage.
“Oi! This is a new dress!” you scolded.
They grunted in reply and hauled you inside the theatre. You were muttering how men don't know how to value a good fabric and even better tailoring when transporting their victims to another location.
Annoy them into letting you go. Yes, that'll work.
It never has. Shut up, self.
The space was barren, most probably abandoned. There was dust everywhere, and the seats looked like they've been rotting for a while. The stage was no less clean, as well as the props that were displayed on it.
There was a chair at the center of the stage with a spotlight directly shining on it.
That's where I'll be kept, I guess.
They dragged you up the small steps towards the stage before forcibly sitting you down on the dusty wooden chair at the center of the stage. They tightly tied your hands behind your back, and you groaned when you tried to test how tight these new shackles really were.
The men grinned triumphantly.
“Where's your smart mouth now, little girly?” One of them taunted.
You smirked daringly. “It's always been here, big man.”
The man who you kicked squatted in front of you intimidatingly. You could smell his foul breath, you flinched.
“Not so tough now, huh?”
You raised you chin and grimaced at him in defiance. “Your breath smells,” you said before kicking him in the crotch, and then head butting him. It made his nose bleed.
Good.
Kicking off your heeled shoes, you sprang up, standing with a chair tied behind you. The one with the bat swung at you. You ducked in response, spinning around quickly before delivering a kick to his crotch. He fell down and groaned in pain.
Before the other man could lay his hands on you, you managed to turn you back against him, abruptly sitting down in your chair to hear his toes crunch with agony using the legs of the chair. He bended over in pain, so you took that opportunity to headbutt him. It sent stars to his vision and finally fell down.
Two men stayed standing. You leapt and kicked one of them with two feet, falling on your back on the other. It broke the weak and wooden chair, the man stayed down.
Now it wasn't difficult to shake off the shackles. Your hands were free.
One man stood in front of you, his lips busted and bleeding from the headbutt you gave him.
“What happened to your lip, boss man? Did you bite it while having your ice cream?” You taunted before rushing at him. It was more difficult with a full skirt, but you managed to kick yourself around him and rest your legs atop his shoulders. You delivered blow after blow on his head and face, until he eventually fell down.
No men left, good.
You collected your heels and hurriedly exited the building, in case there were more people out to ensure your capture.
In the alleyway across the abandoned theatre you saw a searing green light.
What on earth?
Then, a silhouette.
-
Midgard was a fairly tolerable place. Not Loki's favorite though. If you asked him if he could visit any realm, he would most probably not choose the land of the mortals.
And yet, there he was teleporting through space and time to save a woman pivotal to the timeline in the mortal realm.
Perhaps even more if mother was so concerned about her. Loki thought while closing the portal he made.
He arrived at the location and went on to find his target.
What he didn't expect was to bump into his target who was hastily walking away from the location, holding her shoes in one hand while the other is tightly held in a fist with bloody knuckles.
What did you do? He thought.
Loki stared at you in confusion.
“Can I help you, Sir?” you asked, observing his peculiar apparel.
“No, but I certainly need to help you,” he replied.
“I'm alright.”
“You don't look like you are.”
“Sir, I'm sure that I am—”
A yellow, hologram-like image appeared in the middle of the road. Multiple people in armored uniforms came out holding batons that lit up at the tip.
Loki's eyes widened and dragged you behind an alley.
“What is going on?” you hissed.
He placed his hand on your mouth to silence you. You furrowed your eyebrows and tried to hurt him by kicking him multiple times but he didn't budge.
“As a mortal, this is going to be very different for you. I am Loki of Asgard, working as an agent for the Allmother, Frigga. Those people in black armor are here to kill us, because you're doing something they don't like. You need to escape and be kept safe because the Allmother said you were our best hope at peace so I am here to ensure that,” he explained as best as he could but it just made you question more. “I will answer your questions later when we're safe. But for now, I'm going to need you to stay calm and quiet, and follow my lead.”
He slowly took his hand from your mouth. You stared at him before nodding your head slowly.
Lower his guard...
And you ran.
Right onto the middle of the road.
“There she is!” One of the black armored men yelled.
“Norns, why does mother always give me the slippery ones!” Loki complained while chasing after you.
He managed to grab you by the shoulders and teleport the two of you to one of his safe houses where the TVA can't get to him.
He's learned his lesson from last time.
You gasped and grabbed at your body, trying to decipher if everything that's going on is real or merely a figment of your imagination. You pinched yourself on the arm, and still, nothing shifted.
“What on Earth is going on? How did they arrive? Where did they come from? Is this real? Am I dreaming? Where are we? Who—”
“Breathe, mortal,” Loki said firmly, clutching your shoulders. “I used my magic to teleport us. Do you understand?”
You nodded. Well, you didn't understand per se, just heard the words he spoke.
“We are on Sakaar, essentially the garbage bin of the realms. You are safe, for now.” Loki continued. He kept glancing at the door, anticipating for people to bust through it and pruning the both of you.
“For now?!” You yelled. “What do you mean ‘for now’? And how did you do that? T-That's... not natural.”
“Seidr,” Loki clarified. He made glowing green light appear from his palm. “Magic.”
You shook your head frantically. “That's not possible.”
“It's rare for mortals to possess such power but no, it is most definitely possible.”
Loki watched you try to compose your breathing. You've got your hands on your waist, desperately attempting to wrap your head around the concept of multiple realms, magic being real, and people with disintegrating weapons trying to kill you within a few moments. And if you were being completely honest with yourself, your efforts are looking to be futile.
“Take your time, mortal. It moves differently here, you probably have enough before we need to start moving again,” said Loki. His voice bearing no true concern. He disappeared into the kitchen to fetch himself a glass water, he left you one on the dining table.
After a moment, you sat yourself on one of the dark wooden chairs around the dining table, drinking the glass Loki had prepared for you. You did your best to stop the shaking of your hands. With heaving breaths, you closed your eyes for a brief moment, centering yourself.
This is real.
You're going to have to accept that.
Loki sat across from you, polishing his daggers. He's a little dismayed by the fact that he hadn't got to use them during the fight.
“What is a TVA?” You suddenly asked. You heard him say it earlier but did not understand what the hell it was.
“The Time Variance Authority. They're the ones who watch the sacred timeline. Arresting whoever does anything that diverges from the original branch of time,” Loki explained.
“But I haven't done anything drastic in my life yet...”
Loki chuckled. “No matter how small your impact is, if it creates a butterfly effect that leads to another timeline, the TVA will arrest you and set you up for trial.”
“You speak as if you've experienced their cruelty.” You couldn't miss the slight bitter tone of Loki when he explained what happens to the TVA's prisoners.
“If you only knew, little mortal.” Loki stored his daggers in his inter-dimensional pockets and rested his legs on the table.
You stayed quiet for a while, trying to remember what Loki explained to you when you were in that alley.
“You said I was needed for there to be peace and order. If that were the case, then why does the TVA want me gone? Don't they want order if they're so adamant on capturing anybody who diverges from the... time-line?”
Loki pursed his lips. “Well, if there is a beginning then there's also an end. Same goes for time and the whole multiverse. For it to end and begin again, chaos and discord is needed in the Nine,” said Loki. “But I don't think the Allmother wants it all to end soon, as she foresees it in the next few centuries.” He shrugged.
You stare at your hands, furrowing your brows in a mix of confusion and concern. “Do you know what I did— well— what I'll do to be this sort of bridge to peace and order?”
Loki shook his head. “The Allmother did not tell me, but I suspect she knows every little detail.”
A being— a deity knowing my future...
Terrifying.
“Let us hope I make the right decisions in the future,” you said.
“Yes,” Loki sighed. “Let's hope.”
A little later, Loki told you to help yourself around the kitchen if you felt famished or thirsty. He also pointed at the general direction of the comfort room in case you needed it.
Loki has been polite in answering all of your questions. He's learned to understand how not everybody is exposed to all of the madness he has been accustomed to. And now Frigga tells him that it's why he's going to become an even better agent and god because of this.
While you did your business in the comfort room, you had a brief look at your appearance after everything that went down.
All that running and fighting has not been kind to your new dress. You pouted in dismay before choosing to take off the outer-most layer of your outfit and your bustle to be more comfortable.
Loki did say you were going to have to start moving soon.
You peeked your head out in the lounge area and managed to get Loki's attention. “Do you have anything more comfortable that I could wear by any chance?” you asked.
“No, I don't. But I suppose it wouldn't be a lot of trouble if I conjured you one,” Loki replied, standing up from the sofa.
“Pardon, conjured?”
Loki nodded before moving his wrist in a slight arc and suddenly your petticoats and big blouse were gone. They've been replaced with a thick but breathable leather suit in a gorgeous dark red color, similar to the color of your gown earlier.
“I've never worn trousers in public before,” you said, admiring the beautiful suit that hugged your body just right.
“Well, now you have,” said Loki. “Now you'll be more comfortable running with me through apocalypses.” Loki deadpanned.
“What now?”