Author's Note: You know what I could never spell when I was younger? Separate. Maybe my confusion stemmed from how my sixth grade teacher decided to pronounce words with her terrible New England accent. If you're unfamiliar, think heavy A-vowels and adding unnecessary Rs to words ending in A and other vowels. So she would always pronounce my name like KEER-ER. No. That's not my name. Keara. A. AHHHH. Okay, I don't know why I'm thinking about this right now. I'm going to make some mac 'n cheese. Onto the chapter--leave me comments! They feed my souuuul!
OH. Important. There is a lot of reference to mythology in this chapter, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll add a note at the end to clarify a little. I've adapted one of the characters to suit my needs a little. Okay, now onto the chapter!
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I drum my hands on the table, eyes open and focused, unblinking, locked onto his. Finally the corner of my mouth quirks into a smile and I bang my flat palm against the rough wood.
"I win!" The little boy at the opposite end of the table cheers, pumping his fist in the air.
I laugh, "You've bested me again, Narfi! What do I owe you now?"
"Two sweet cakes and your hand in marriage," the precocious little ten year old smirks.
Gyn laughs, patting her son on the head, ruffling his dark curls. "Narfi, you know you cannot marry Val."
"She'll wait for me, won't you, Val?" Narfi grins. I can't help but laugh at him, shaking my head.
"Afraid not, I may be a little obligated," I smile faintly, thinking of Loki. Vàlia sits down next to me, smiling up at me. She has blonde curls like her mother, and vivid green eyes like her brother. I envy her blind but youthful exuberance. Though together, this family makes me feel a little okay again. Like things can be good and happy.
Vàlia clings to my arm, "I think Val is in love! With who?"
"Uh uh, I don't think so!" I smile. "I think some things are better left alone, wouldn't you agree Gyn?"
Gyn places a plate in front of me and I nod appreciatively. She gives me a knowing look before returning to the kitchen area. "I think that perhaps we should allow our new friend to keep her own secrets, Vàlia."
"I don't actually mind," I shrug. I prop my elbows on the table and lean forward. "There is a boy who quite honestly hasn't always been the nicest to me, and has a lot of his own problems, but we understand each other I suppose."
"Well that doesn't sound like much fun," Vàlia pouts.
I tilt my head to the side, "No, it doesn't. But you know when love is real. You get this feeling like butterflies in your stomach and you smile just to think about them. One day you'll have a prince of your very own, Vàlia. I promise."
Vàlia grins, "I'd certainly like a prince. One in particular..."
"Oh? Who might that be? Who is the fairest prince in all the Nine Realms?"
"Thor!" She giggles and I can't help but laugh.
"Well, that is a good choice. He is rather handsome, isn't he?" I agree, thinking fondly of him. It's only been a few days and I miss him desperately. He makes me happy and safe. He's like the big brother I only wish I have.
I open my mouth to say something but there is suddenly voracious pounding at the front door. I look up to Gyn but she is already at the door. I grip the back of my chair, worried that it may not be good news...or more specifically, not good people. The door swings open and I can hear Gyn gasp. I leap from my chair and turn around and there is Loki.
"Loki!" I exclaim, relieved but judging by the look on his face I should probably be in panic mode.
Gyn turns and looks at me, "You know Loki?"
I nod, "Of course I do, well, actually it's a long story...you know him too, don't you?"
Loki sighs, "We don't have time for this. Sigyn, thank you for taking care of Valkyrie, but we must go." He looks at me, "We must go right now."
"Sigyn?"
"Valkyrie?"
"Yes, now we are all properly acquainted. Valkyrie, if we do not leave now, you are going to die."
Loki reaches for my hand and takes it roughly, yanking my arm and pulling me along with him out of the door. I snatch my cloak off the wall, knowing the apple he gave me is still stashed inside. I throw out a rushed goodbye, suddenly worried by Loki's aggressive behavior and the fact that I'm pretty sure I just spent the last several days with Sigyn, Loki's wife.
"What the hell is going on?" I demand.
"Shut up!" Loki hisses and pulls me along further. He stops suddenly, craning his neck at an unusual angle.
"Loki--"
"Silence!"
I shut my mouth and hold my breath, listening to the ensuing silence. But there is something not far off. A sound I don't recognize. Loki lets go of my hand and makes a gesture for me to stay put. I nod quickly and then Loki disappears into thin air, leaving me on the side of the road, cloaked in darkness. I shift my weight uncomfortably trying to be quiet but it's rather hard to do. Usually when I'm left alone in the dark I sing to pass the time. I don't know, but it makes me feel just a bit better, even if it's useless protection.
I hear another sound, something like a faint whistling that I can't put my finger on. It grows closer and I turn to hear it.
"FUCK!" Something hits my shoulder and tears into me with a sudden force that sends me stumbling backwards. The burning is instant on contact and I flail, trying to see what it is in the dark. I finally look down and there is a golden arrow sticking out of my shoulder. "Holy fucking shit!"
I can feel the blood running over my hands, spurting from the wound. Definitely not good. The blood and warm and slippery on my hands and I try to pull it out but the pain is excruciating. I scream in frustration and pain and I wheel around to look for Loki, only to be met by a blow to the face that sends me stumbling to the ground. I land face first, forcing the arrow all the way in through my shoulder blade. I screech in deafening pain, rolling on the ground, trying to sit myself up.
"Stop moving and I will make this easy on you," the voice sends a chill down my blood soaked spine. I shake away the tears and grit my teeth firmly, my arms trembling as I push myself up, turning to face him.
"Forseti," I spit, the word barely able to get past my lips as I suck in a painful breath. My stomach turns with all the blood in my mouth and I am afraid I'm going to empty the contents of my stomach. I think of Thanos and all that he did to me and realize I can deal with this. If I focus hard enough, I can shove the pain away to a place where I don't have to deal with it.
Forseti smirks at me and his booted foot forces the arrow further out of my back. Now the shaft of the arrow is deep into my shoulder, the arrow head jutting out of my back, the tail still facing out in the opposite direction. I can't look at it and instead I force myself to look at Forseti.
"I am going to relish in killing you, Valkyrie," Forseti grins, withdrawing a sword from his hip. The length of the blade is not silver, but instead pitch black, with ragged edges. He raises the sword slightly and then suddenly he is knocked out of my view by a blur. I push myself up a little and see Loki and Forseti grappling on the ground. Loki overpowers him for a while as I struggle to get to my feet and then Forseti pins Loki to the ground, holding his sword to Loki's throat. He mutters something at him in their native tongue and Loki hisses a response. Neither of them note me getting to my feet.
"You understand, Loki," Forseti says suddenly. "You know how I feel. Odin has betrayed us both. I can help you."
I look down, knowing that I am essentially helpless without a weapon and I can't see straight. My visions strays and unfocuses before refocusing again on Forseti's back. I stumble forward, falling onto my face, barely catching myself in the dirt. I get up again and get a sort of grip on the arrow, now completely slick my blood, sticky on my hands. I position my right hand around the wound and use the left to reach around and pull the arrow by the tail end, knowing that I am going to have to rip the arrow head back out of my shoulder. I bat back the tears with my eyelashes and grit my teeth down, knowing I don't have much time left. I pull hard on the arrow and it tears back through my arm with a sickening and slick sound.
"FUCK!" I screech, then I grip the arrow like a knife and stagger towards Forseti with it. Evidently I catch him unaware because I am able to literally throw myself on him in a dizzy blur and stab him in the side with the arrow. He roars, trying to pull me off so I rip the arrow out and stab him in the back again. He manages to fling me off, but I pull the arrow out again. I roll onto my back and Loki tosses me the sword which I angle up and manage stab directly through Forseti as he lunges at me. He staggers back and collapses into the dirt next to me as I get unsteadily to my feet, forcing the sword all the way into his chest. I stand over Forseti's suddenly very still body and I realize I am covered in both his blood and my own.
"Loki," I whimper, my hands shaking as I realize exactly what I have done. "Loki!"
Loki's arms are quickly around me as he hoists me off of my feet and into his arms. Within the blink of an eye Loki's long legs are carrying us both down one of Asgard's blindingly gilded halls and I realize I am sobbing, and loudly, against Loki's chest. He coos soothing words at me that I can only half understand and I bury my face into his shirt.
Loki kicks open the door and quickly lays me down upon Eir's table where I watched Thor lose his stomach just a few days ago. My fault. Here we are again, Loki covered in my blood. My fault.
"Eir!" Loki calls urgently and Eir appears suddenly, looking me over with blinding speed. I've never actually seen her myself, but I know she has tended to me before.
"My dear child, I wish we were meeting in better circumstances than all we have met in before," Eir says, seeming very calm. She prods the wound in my shoulder and I convulse on the table, like I've been jolted with electricity.
"Poor child!" Eir exclaims as she comes back into focus in my hazy vision.
"I'm not a child," I mutter under my breath and this seems to amuse Loki. Eir is beautiful, her reddish hair in braids and her eyes bright blue. She appears a little aged compared to some of the other women of Asgard, closer to Frigga. And her face is full of worry.
"She was hit by an arrow," Loki explains to Eir as I lay on the table, breathing raggedly. "She's lost a lot of blood."
"I can tell. It doesn't look very well," Eir frowns. "Did you tear the arrow out, Loki?"
He shakes his head, "No, she did that herself. It was quite the sight."
"It was pretty badass, wasn't it?" I wheeze, managing a painful smile. Eir disappears a moment and Loki sits on the edge of the table, reaching down and taking my hands in his. He grins at me but I can see the sadness in his eyes, feel it in the way his clings to my hands. I really don't want to die. I've been to that place before and I don't want to go back. I gave up on life under Thanos' control. When I thought I had nothing to live for, anyway, nothing that could make me go on. But when that thing is staring back at you, it's hard to greet Death like an old friend.
Loki squeezes my hand suddenly as Eir begins to clean the wound. My vision is losing focus again and I can't feel Loki's hands on mine. In fact, I can't feel much of anything aside from the searing pain in my shoulder. "Val," he says. I frown. He never calls me Val. "Do you still have the apple I gave you?"
I frown deeper, finding this to be really rather trivial right about now. I try to nod, but I can't support my head anymore. "Yes. In my cloak."
Loki lets go of my hands and begins to burrow into my bloodstained cloak, pulling the folds apart and reaching deep into the pocket. He pulls out the golden apple, somehow entirely unscathed, save for a smidge of blood across its gleaming surface. Eir stops suddenly and looks at Loki.
"Loki, what are you doing?"
"I am saving her, Eir. It is the only option. You know as well as I that she is going to die if I don't do something about it," Loki says very slowly and calmly. I can barely manage to keep my eyes open long enough to see what he is doing.
"If you let me do what I must do she will likely live," Eir counters, grabbing Loki's hand.
"Likely isn't potent enough for me. I prefer the utmost certainty, which is exactly what this gives her."
"I assume you have not asked for direct permission from your father," Eir says and Loki does not respond. "Very well. Do what you will, but I am going to seek out Odin."
"Very well," Loki replies flippantly, dismissing her with his very words. He turns back to me, groaning on the table and feeling like an idiot. I really can't survive Asgard for more than a few days at a time without someone at my throat, without some threat, without some near-death experience. Nobody wants me death more than Death, I guess.
Loki props my head up, supporting my head with his head. "I am going to need you to use your strength to take a bite from this apple. One single bite will restore you to your proper health and glory. Trust me."
He brings the apple to my lips and it begins to piece together in my mind. Idunn. The golden apple. The solution to death is what? Immortality. Is it what I want, though?
I sink my teeth into its lustrous flesh, tearing a bit away with my mouth. I let it sit on my tongue for a moment, not quite sure I can muster the strength to slide it down my coarse throat. First it is tart in flavor, which quickly changes to a warm, sweet taste. The warmth spreads from my mouth and I finally manage to swallow the piece down. Loki grasps my face, calling my name. I cannot manage to answer him, only look up with unseeing eyes. I see lightness and darkness all at once. I am all that ever was and all that ever will be. And then suddenly, I am merely nothing.
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Mythology Note: In Norse myth, Sigyn is Loki's wife, hence why Val freaks out a little. We'll come back to it at some point, I promise. Sigyn and Loki have a son, Narfi, and Loki has another son called Vali, which here I changed to be a girl, Valia. Narfi is also referenced in myth as either Nari or Narfi, so that's fun. Also, the apple! Idunn is associated with the apples of youth and immortality in Norse myth. It's a bit complicated to delve into, but for out purposes, know that they bring immortality. (: