It took about twenty minutes to reach the palace. Loki smiles as his daughter observes the lands, watching and taking everything in. And as she observes everything about Asgard, he observes her.
Her green eyes were his, alone with her nose, pale skin, and magical abilities.
But her full lips were her mother's, along with her average height, cheekbones, and dark, wavy hair.
Her personality, however, was a mixture of both. Loki could tell she was mischievous, sly, clever, intelligent, brave, stubborn, sarcastic, perceptive, sassy, and cunning, all traits of his.
But she kept promises, was kind, gentle, loyal, caring, bold, and generous, all traits of her mother.
"Did mum live on Asgard?" Kari asks, bringing Loki out of his thoughts.
"No. She chose to live as a Midgardian. She lived in a land called England, I believe." Loki says.
"My mum was British?" Kari questions, shock covering her face.
"I suppose, if that is what you name it."
"So, I'm from Ea-Midgard and Asgard. If I got sent to Ear-Midgard, how come I couldn't live with my mum?"
"Your mother passed away giving birth to you. I took care of you after she died, until Odin took you away from me. I needed to be punished, and the only way he deemed fit was taking me from you." Loki tells Kari sadly.
"I am glad we are reunited." Kari declares, leaning into her father.
Loki strokes his daughter's hair. "As am I." He responds, a soft smile on his face.
Soon, the duo arrive at the palace, and Loki hands Spellvirki to a palace stable boy, before he takes Kari into the palace.
"Are you good with magic?" Loki questions, causing Kari to nod.
"Have you performed any spells?" He asks as he takes her to his room.
"Yes. I have learned many. Illusions and transformations are my favourites, though." Kari states.
"They are my favourites as well. They make the best distractions, and do well in causing mischief."
"Yeah! Like one time, I turned one of Michelle's earrings into a spider, the other into a roach, and turned her necklace into a snake while she was sleeping. None of them hurt her, but it gave her a real scare!" Kari giggles. Loki smiles.
"I am glad to know you cause mischief as I do. But do not get ahead of yourself, and do not take it too far." Loki warns.
"I try not to anymore, but there was a time where I did once. I was working on this fire spell, and accidentally set a girl's pillow on fire. She woke up within seconds, and I was too scared that I couldn't concentrate on putting it out. I thought it'd be funny if I singed her hair. Instead I almost burned her alive." Kari winces, and Mikyla's screams still haunt her sometimes.
"Yes, well, we all make mistakes, darling. It gets better, I assure you. All you must do is learn to control your magic." Loki comforts his daughter.
"Is it true Asgardians are immortal?" Kari asks, changing the topic.
"No. We are not immortal. But our average life span is five thousand years."
"How old are you?"
"I am two thousand and three." Loki says, and Kari's jaw drops.
"Wow! You're old." Loki laughs at his daughter's response.
"You will be older than that one day." Loki reminds her.
"But I'm half human. Doesn't that mean I only live the average human lifespan?" Kari questions, slightly fearful of the answer.
Loki pauses for a brief moment.
"Not at all. The average lifespan of a halfling is somewhere around three thousand. But I am rather confident that because you are a sorceress, you will live as long as any Asgardian." Loki guarantees.
"Cool!" Kari grins, making Loki smile.
Her eyes are alight and happy, just like her mother's once were.
Loki does not grieve over the loss of Katherine, Kari's mother. Being Asgardian means learning to let go of lives much shorter, like those of mortals. But for a short time, Loki missed her. He missed her smile, her laugh, her attitude, her boldness, her stubbornness, and even her anger at him when he did something stupid.
But now, he has his daughter back, and he no longer needs to miss Katherine, because all the things he loved the most were in his daughter.
That does not mean, however, that there won't always be a place in his heart for his deceased love.
Loki enters his chambers, and Kari tags along.
When she enters the room, her jaw once again drops. The room is huge. She could fit the entire two stories of the orphanage inside it!
"Close your mouth, Kari." Loki advises with mirth.
Kari shuts her mouth, but her eyes are still the size of saucers as she observes the elegant bedroom.
"It's so..... big." She says at last.
"I suppose it is larger than what you are accustomed to." Loki comments.
"You have that right." Kari responds, looking around the room. It consists of a wardrobe, a door that Kari assumes leads to a bathroom, a huge bed, doors that lead to a balcony, a desk of some sort, and a huge bookshelf that almost takes up a whole wall.
Kari walks right up to the bookshelf, looking and reading all the Asgardian titles and words.
She notices some are historical, some are spell books, and some are merely for entertainment. Kari finds herself staring at the spell books the most. She was always interesting in magic, and she was almost finished with the book she owned, even though she hasn't mastered every spell it contains yet.
"What spells can you perform?" Loki asks, tearing Kari from her thoughts.
"Almost everything in that book. Except holograms. And creating gusts of wind. And most nonverbal spells. And duplicating. And teleporting. Teleporting is very hard." Kari says.
"I am aware of that. It took me many attempts before I succeeded. It is indeed difficult as well as strenuous." Loki admits.
"But otherwise, I can do some of the stuff in that book. I've been working on invisibility lately. I can do it, but it's hard to maintain. I lose my concentration too quickly." Kari sighs, staring at the ground.
Magic was hard to do, and admitting it to your dad was harder, especially when he could do magic easily.
"You shall get it eventually. When I was your age I could hardly perform any spell in this book." Loki states, making Kari look up at him.
"Really?" She asks.
He nods.
"Huh." The young sorceress doesn't know what to say.
"Have I rendered you speechless, angel?"
Kari shakes her head. "No." She lies.
Loki smirks. "Do not lie to me, darling. You know I can see through any dishonesty faster than you may speak it." He tells her, and Kari huffs.
"Stupid god of lies." Kari mutters under her breath.
"What was that?" He asks.
"Nothing!" Kari looks up and smiles innocently, causing Loki to chuckle.
"You are just like me, aren't you?" He questions.
"Of course not, I'm just like me." Kari corrects, and Loki laughs.
"You truly are your mother's daughter." He tells her, and she merely giggles in response.
A knock on the door takes the two out of their happy moment.
With a wave of Loki's hand, the door opens and Kari is invisible.
A servant stands outside the door, bowing humbly. "The Allfather commands your presence." The servant informs him.
"Tell him I shall arrive momentarily." Loki snaps at the servant girl.
She bows once more, and takes a leave.
With another wave of Loki's hand, the door is shut and Kari is visible.
"Who's the Allfather?"
"Odin." Loki responds simply, trying not to spit out the word like venom.
"You don't like him?" Kari questions, easily reading his tone.
"No." Loki retorts.
"Now, stay here, do not do anything stupid, do not open the door to the balcony or the palace, and do not try magic. Just sit on the bed and wait, or there will be consequences." The Asgardian prince commands.
"No magic at all?" Kari complains.
"No." Loki states, causing the teenager to groan.
"And I can sense when you use your magic in this room, so do not dare try it." Loki threatens. Even though it is a lie, Kari believes her father. Loki stares one last time before exiting his room and locking the door behind him.
Kari groans once more, before mumbling, "So this is what it's like to have parents."