I wandered up the all too familiar hallways of the palace, pausing momentarily outside Loki's room. I contemplated going in but decided against it and instead made my way to one of the rooms Frigga had informed me where always prepared for guests.
I opened the door and face planted the bed, letting out a scream of frustration into the pillow.
I rolled over and stared up at the ceiling trying to to figure out where the hell I go from here? Everything felt like it was a shit show.
I kept reliving the events from the past few weeks over and over in my head until I eventually nodded off into a dreamless sleep.
A few hours later a knock at the door woke me, "Y/N dear, it's me." Frigga called from outside my door.
I pushed myself upright in the bed startled by her knocking, "You can come in Frigga." I called.
She smiled at me sympathetically, as she made her way over and sat on the edge of the bed, "Tell me what's happened Dear, please?"
I contemplated whether or not I should tell her, then again, she was someone I had confided in before. I could confide in her now too.
'I...I think Loki and I are finished." I sighed.
Frigga's brows knitted together in concern, "Why Dear?"
"Ever...ever since I died, he's pushed me away. Frigga, when I saved him I didn't know what the repercussions of saving him would be, but I loved him too much to let him die. I know he's worried too because he used the potion Eir gave him to save me and I understand that's left him without a lifeline for going into the battle. But ever since, he's been cold and distant and I don't think I can get him back. On earth Bucky, I mean James, my friend you met with the vibranium arm. Well he helped him to make amends for his actions, by planning a date for us." I paused letting out a small huff. "I was so excited. It was our first proper date and I thought it was going to get us back on track, but it did the complete opposite. He nearly ripped the maitre'd head off his shoulders for staring at me, then he flirts blatantly with the waitress in front of me. For what? Did he think it would win me over? Make me swoon over him? He-he was acting so strange. It didn't even really seem like Loki...So. I left. I wasn't about to stand bye and be made a fool of...I deserve better than that Frigga. What should have brought us closer together, seems to have ripped us apart."
Frigga stayed silent, it seemed she knew there was more.
"My...my friend James he...he confessed he loved me earlier today...and I'm not sure I know what to do with that information. When Loki found out he fled. I suppose I kind of did as well." I was fumbling with the bedding at this point, staring down at my hands as I was scared to see Frigga's reaction.
I heard her take a deep breath, before she exhaled slowly. "Typical Loki."
That surprised me and I did look up this time.
"Dear, I cannot condole my sons actions. No one really knows what is going on in that head of his. But I know one thing for sure, he loves you. Completely and utterly. I can only hope he sees the error in his ways, but give him time, he will come around. If he truly is your soulmate," she reached over gently taking my wrist and running her hand over the mark on it, "he will always find his way back to you dear no matter what."
I nodded to her and smiled, "Thank you," I whispered.
She leant over and took me into an embrace, "Now I do believe you wanted to do some training?"
"Yeah, I need it after that unexpected time off!" I smirked.
"Well you would need to hurry then, Lady Sif will be waiting."
"I umm...I don't have any armour. Loki...well he gave me some the last time but as you can see. I don't have anything here."
She nodded, "Stand up." She said as she stood from the side of the bed, I followed suit and got out of the comfort of the bed. Frigga raised her hands and a lilac haze floated around me, when it dispersed I was in my suit of armour. Black leather and gold armour covered my body, I smiled up at her.
"It's beautiful, thank you so much Frigga!"
"Don't mention it Dear. Now go make me proud." She smiled before taking her leave. I rushed out the door behind her and made my way to the training grounds as fast as I could.
I spied Lady Sif talking to Volstagg and Fandral. Tyr was there too, "Hey Sif! Up for some more training?" I shouted as I ran down the steps towards them.
"Y/N!" she beamed, hurrying over to meet me, once she reached me she hugged me tightly, before we headed over to the others. "Glad to have you back, there's too much testosterone around here these days!"
They smiled, seemingly surprised to see me, except for Tyr. "No green today Y/N?" He winked.
I looked down at my attire, "Thought it would be nice to switch it up a little Tyr, keep you on your toes!"
I made my way over towards the sword I had previously trained with, balancing it in my hands, "Still want to use it?" Sif asked from behind me.
I nodded, "Yep. It feels right...Alright boys," I turned around to look at them all, "buckle up and let's have some fun shall we?!"
A few hours later after battling each of them and them helping me with tactics and moves we decided to call it quits. Tyr had stayed at the sidelines watching on at our progress. I was surprised he hadn't joined in.
He looked deep in thought as I made my way over and hopped up onto the fence he was leaning against.
"Watch you don't hurt yourself thinking too hard Tyr." I laughed nudging him with my shoulder.
He chuckled as he came around from his thoughts, "Good going out there Y/N, you have some good moves."
I smiled weakly at him, "Thanks, I have a long way to go though. I just hope when the time comes I'm good enough."
"Have a little faith in yourself, you have other ways of protecting yourself, not just your sword or daggers." He nodded to me.
We stayed there, silent for a little while, before I broke the ice, "Tyr?"
"Mhmm?" He rumbled.
"Are all Gods immortal?"
He was quiet for a while and I was beginning to think he wasn't going to answer me, then...
"No. No, We are not."
I turned to look at him in shock, "What?"
"We are not immortal, we can live a long long life with the help of Idun and her apples of youth. However we can die, just the same as mortals. Our normal lifespan is about 5,000 years give or take. Why do you ask?" He watched me, waiting for my answer.
"I just assumed, that you were immortal," I felt really silly now, "How do the apples of youth work?"
"Idun, means 'the young one', she rejuvenates us whenever we are in need, by giving us her golden apples which reverse the effects of ageing. It helps us see out our lifespan if we are lucky enough to make it that long. We are Gods, therefore we can withstand injuries that would possibly kill mortals, or non celestials. However we all have a weakness of some sorts and we can be killed."
"Yeah..." I mumbled. "Do...do you think I will live longer? You know because I'm part celestial?"
Tyr pondered my question before turning to me, "I'm not sure, perhaps we can ask Idun, if you would like?"
"Really?" I beamed at him, "You can take me to her?"
He nodded, "Yes. Go get cleaned up, then meet me by the Palace gates."
I forgot myself and threw my arms around his neck, taking him by surprise. A chuckled rumbled from his chest and surprisingly he wrapped his arm around me and patted my shoulders. With that I jumped from the fence and raced to get showered, I skidded to a halt outside Loki's room.
I mean I had clothes and toiletries in here. It made sense. So I slipped in and ran to get a shower. Finding my shampoo, conditioner and shower gel all still by the bath. Once out of the shower I headed into the closet and pulled on a teal dress. Unfortunately I had nothing to dry my hair with, so I pulled it back into a messy bun. Just as I was about to leave the room, I spied Loki's desk. Grabbing his fountain pen I scribbled a note onto a piece of paper. There was the possibility he might be here at some point and see it.
'Loki, I've said it before and I will say it again, sometimes things make more sense when they are written down. So here I go, I know we have been fighting but I will choose you. Even when you make me mad, my love for you won't fade just because we are angry. I know we will fight and have our differences, we will be frustrated and not always see eye to eye. But it's only human nature. Still, I will go to battle for you. No matter what, I will choose you. I always will. I will keep choosing you, every single day. I love you enough to fight for you, compromise for you and sacrifice myself for you if need be again. I miss you incredibly when we are apart, no matter what length of time. The past few weeks have been excruciating. I love you, enough to believe in our relationship, to stand by it through the worst of times, to have faith in you and our strength as a couple and never give up on us. I want to be there for you when you need me, when you want me and I never want to leave you or have to live without you. I love you this much Loki. I can only hope you feel the same.
Y/N xx'
I set it on the desk where he would see it if he were to return to the room on the off chance.
Then I left to find Tyr.
When I got to the palace gates I found Tyr on horseback with a guard holding a black horse for myself. Once mounted we set off out of the Palace and towards the woods. Tyr chatted to me along the way, telling me the story of how he lost his arm to Fenrir. He quietened down as we approached a clearing in the forest just off the trail, when we got to it we were met by a beautiful orchard. It was lined with trees ladened with golden apples.
Tyr halted his horse and dismounted, before reaching over to hold my horse while I hopped off beside him.
"Ready?" He asked.
I nodded. Even though truthfully I was scared senseless but I wasn't about to let the God of War know that.
He ushered me through the orchard towards a beautiful rustic cottage. As we approached, the door opened and out stepped a beautiful woman. She had pale skin, hazel eyes and long blonde hair that was braided into pigtails, flowing down past her hips. She adorned a beautiful white gown with golden accents that complimented her hair.
As she spied us she smiled warmly, "Tyr what a pleasant surprise. I am due to come to the palace in the next few days, could you not wait?"
"Actually Idun, I'm here for Y/N." He stepped to the side, revealing me.
"How rude of me, hello Dear." Her voice even sounded angelic.
I was at a loss for words as I stared at her, Tyr gave me a nudge and gestured for me to move towards her.
Cautiously I stepped forwards, my voice shaking slightly as I spoke, "Hello Idun, it's-it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Y/N."
She took my hands and closed her eyes briefly, when she opened them again she smiled. "So you are the one they are all talking about. The one who finally tamed the troublesome Prince."
A small nervous laugh escaped my lips, "I'm not sure I would go that far Idun."
"Nonsense, everyone who knows Loki has seen a dramatic change in him, for the better of course. Now how is it I may help my dear?"
I looked back over my shoulder to Tyr who smiled and nodded, "Go ahead, she can answer your question."
When I looked back at her she was watching us, "I want to know. Well I would like to know if I'm going to grow old quicker? You know like a human seeing as I'm only half celestial?"
She pulled a face of discontent. "Hmmm. Well, let's find out. Follow me." She turned on her heels and headed back into the cottage.
Tyr and I followed, finding her sitting at a table ladened with trinkets. She gestured to the seats, "Please sit. Y/N? Come sit here please." She tapped the seat directly beside her.
I obliged and sat, swallowing down hard due to nerves.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. However. I do require a drop of your blood."
She held out a small skinny dagger to me, "I can do it if you wish."
I looked from the dagger to her, then shook my head, "No it's...it's fine I can do it." I said reaching forwards taking the blade from her hand and quickly pricking the end of my finger.
Idun took my finger squeezing a droplet of blood to fall onto one of her golden apples she had sliced in half. As the blood connected with the apples bright white inner flesh, it turned a dark shade of crimson. Idun gave nothing away as she watched the blood seeping into the flesh of the apple.
The room stayed quiet as she studied the apple. I had no idea what she was looking at and as I chanced a look at Tyr, he looked as confused as I did. After a few moments she turned to me.
"You will not age the same as a normal human child. However, Loki will live longer than possible for you. If you had been fully celestial my apples would have allowed for you to see possibly over 4,000 years. Although..." she leant forwards cupping my face in her hands and closing her eyes again. She shook her head and mumbled something I couldn't comprehend, before looking me in the eyes, "I would say 2,500 years give or take."
"2,500 years?!" I exclaimed, amazed by what she had just said. "But I'm only 27!"
She smiled, "2,473 years to go then Y/N. More time to enjoy with your soulmate. Where is he by the way? Tyr...Not that I'm not happy to see you but I would have thought he would have escorted her."
Before Tyr could answer I cut him off, "He got called back to Earth earlier, to collect weapons. I had promised training with Lady Sif, so I stayed behind. He just hasn't returned yet is all."
She looked at us, but nodded, "Very well. Well I'm sure now I've answered your questions you will be heading back before it gets dark? I shall be at the Palace tomorrow. Please make sure everyone is present who will be fighting Tyr. Y/N? I'm glad you came to seek out your answers from me, I hope they have settled any fears you may have had."
I smiled at her, "It did. Thank you so much for helping me."
"No problem my dear, now off you go." She said ushering us towards the door.
With that we mounted the horses and headed back to the palace. We arrived at the gates just as the sun was setting. Frigga spied us and made her way over to us.
"Tyr? Y/N? Where were you two off to?" She looked intrigued.
"I met Idun." I said as I gracefully dismounted the horse I had been on, giving him a Pat on the neck.
Frigga didn't speak.
"She has informed me I'm not going to age in human years. I...I won't live as long as Loki, but I have a few years left in me yet it seems."
A flash of green behind Frigga caught my attention.
"Loki?" I hurried past Frigga in search for him.
"Loki please?" I called out in hopes he would reappear again.
But there was nothing.
"This is hopeless," I mumbled, turning back to Frigga and Tyr.
"Don't lose hope yet Dear." Frigga smiled.