I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen
And there's an old man sitting on the throne
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean
-Castle, Halsey
May 30th, 2010
Heimdall's Observatory
As we emerge from the Bifrost, we all see Heimdall lying dead-still on his control panel. A series of panicked noises escape my throat, a jumble of words and emotions all trying to escape. Next to him, I drop to my knees and listen out for a pulse, though it's difficult to hear anything amidst the thoughts racing around my head. Snatching onto his wrist, I feel for a faint heart beat, a sign of life- anything.
One.
Two.
Three.
His heart beats, slowly yet steadily.
"He lives!", I yell out, "He lives!", tears of pure happiness spill from my turquoise orbs, "Get him to the healing room! Now! We must!"
Sif and the warriors three rush over to him, as Thor leaves down the bridge, toward the city. Giving Heimdall one last pained glance, I get up and chase after him, my booted feet clattering along the glass bridge.
He glances back, continuing his fast pace, "Astrid, you should not come with me. This is dangerous and Heimdall is as good as your father. You ought to stay with him."
"He is strong.", I declare, "Your father in his sleep, not as much. After all the kindness your family has shown me in my lifetime, I owe him my protection."
"You are a strong spirit, Astrid, and your stubbornness may cost you one day, but I have not the time to argue my case now. You can fight alongside me if you so wish.", he tells me, offering a small smile.
Without a second thought, he wraps an arm around my waist and swings Mjolnir around us. Our feet lift off the ground and we speed straight down the bridge toward the city, our surroundings a blur around us.
We arrive in the golden halls of the palace and run as fast as we can to Odin's chambers, where he lies in rest. When we get there, we see Frigga hugging Loki, unaware of his sins and deception, "I swear to you, Mother,", he says, "that they will pay for what they've done today."
"Loki.", Thor calls out in a low tone.
"Thor! Astrid!", Frigga leaves Loki's side and rushes over to Thor and me, "I knew you'd return to us.". She pulls Thor into a warm embrace, then me, though he keeps his gaze fixed on his mischievous brother.
Confused, Frigga turns and follows his furious gaze to Loki, "Why don't you tell her how you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill Astrid, to kill me?"
"What?", shock laces her features and her lips stay parted.
"Why, it must have been enforcing Father's last command.", Loki lies with ease.
"Always a tale to spin. Always a way out.", I spit, walking down the steps and standing at Thor's side.
"You're a talented liar, brother.", Thor agrees, "Always have been."
"It's good to have you back. Both of you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim."
He fires a blast from his sceptre, knocking us both back through the golden-brick walls and tumbling through the air toward the oblivious, blissful city below. As we hurtle through the air, I try and try to teleport to the observatory but, for the first time in my life, today of all days, my powers fail me, just like on Midgard.
Luckily, Thor grabs onto me and uses Mjolnir to fly us back along the bridge, as the Bifrost flashes open. We land down at the entrance and watch as an iced tree-like shape rips through the observatory.
"You can't stop it.", Loki spits, "The Bifrost will build until it rips Jotunheim apart."
Thor runs at the ice and raises his hammer, but Loki knocks him back before he can hit it, "Why have you done this?", Thor asks, staggering to his feet.
"To prove to Father that I am the worthy son. When he wakes, I will have saved his life. I will have destroyed that race of monsters. And I will be the true heir to the throne!"
"You can't kill an entire race!", he cries.
"Why not? What is this newfound love for the Frost Giants?", Loki scoffs.
"It's not a love, we were just blind to your deception before.", I glare at him.
"You always have been weak, Astrid. But you, my brother,", he spits out the words with such disdain, almost as if they're poison on his tongue, "who would have killed them all with your bare hands.
"I've changed.", he declares.
"So have I.", Loki's smile remains, as he knocks his brother back across the bridge. Then, he turns to me with a grin from ear to ear and holds his sceptre across my chest, forcing me backwards with it. Thor clambers to his feet and stumbles toward us as fast as he can. Loki pushes me right up to the open Bifrost, "You always have been an irritating thorn in the side, who just wouldn't disappear. Asgard will certainly be a lot quieter with you dead."
As I'm shoved into the Bifrost and dragged away from Asgard, I hear voices, a pained voice screaming out, "Loki! What have you done?"
"Don't worry, she'll die quickly... unless the Jotuns get to her before the Bifrost tears Jotunheim apart with her on it.", Loki's laugh seems to echo around me.
The Bifrost goes on and on around me for far longer than it should do for a simple trip to Jotunheim, especially at full force. Suddenly, I land down on rubble-covered ground; I look up to see the open sky above me, dying stars glowing faintly in the dark abyss. All around me are jagged rocks, not a trace of civilization at all until I look ahead of me.
There's a large throne hovering in mid-air, made out of heavy-looking stone, the back of it facing me. On the armrest, I can make out a huge hand, clad in a glimmering, gold gauntlet with six indentations, that look to be missing something.
Something about the lack of snow and Frost Giants tells me that this isn't Jotunheim.
"Who are you and what do you want with me?", I call out, warily, holding my battleaxe in front of me.
"Who I am is of no concern to anyone for now. You, on the other hand, the Nótt. The goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision. The embodiment of night. You matter greatly. Or so the Asgardians foretold.", the throne spins around to reveal a purple being who looks to be of Titan, "And now here you are, at the feet of my throne."
"I bow before no creature like you."
He stands up and steps toward me, towering above me, "Oh, you will."
Behind me, light flickers, the rainbow lights of the Bifrost flashing; I raise my axe but before I can bring it down upon the being, I'm jerked back into the Bifrost. As I soar back toward Asgard, I'm tossed from side to side, narrowly avoiding being tossed out into some far-flung crevice of the universe. Looking down, I see the Bifrost below me being pulled into a black hole and the sides around me cracking, about to shatter. The destruction grows closer and closer until I'm certain I'm doomed to live out my days inside the black abyss.
Just then, I'm tossed out in Asgard and flung through the air, landing down halfway along the bridge. Lying on my back, I stare at the sky for a second before, from the corner of my eye, noticing Odin. As I sit up, I see the bridge in ruins, the observatory gone and shards of glass crumbling into the water below.
Odin stands on the edge of the bridge, where Asgard ends and the Cosmos begins, holding onto Thor's leg, as Thor clings onto Loki as though his life depends on it, which Loki's does. The two Asgardians hang off the edge of the bridge, the entire universe spanning below them and nothing more.
"I could have done it, Father!", Loki cries, "I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"
"No, Loki.", Odin replies.
I stumble to my feet as Loki's grip loosens, "Loki, no.", Thor chokes out in a gruff voice, "No!"
Releasing his grip, Loki spreads his arms and disappears into the star-filled abyss below.
"No.", his father whispers
All I can do is watch on in horror, staring at the blackness that the boy I grew up with now belongs to.
A message from the author:
I'm back with somewhat regular updates! Anyways, hope you all had a good week! Remember to vote and comment! See you all next chapter! (;
- Hannah xoxo
Word count: 1402
Date published: July 14th, 2022