Author's Note: I'll make this quick because you guys are the best and I am the worst and I am so unbelievably sorry it has taken me so long to update. I am busy beyond all belief and tied up with seven hundred different things right now. I'm stage managing a show, I'm in a show, I have all my academic classes which has assigned extra work, plus extra rehearsals for my directing class scenes...it's A LOT. I've also had really bad karma lately and I'm just trying to shake that off and keep on going. I hope you guys can forgive me and I hope you're excited because there are definitely some surprises in store! OKAY. I love you guys so, so much and I will try to update the next chapter with much more efficiency than this chapter. Also, if you have a tumblr and don't follow me, you should! I'd love to chat anytime! www.residentsuperhero.tumblr.com. Also, I've had some ideas for maybe writing some short pieces and anecdotes on there about Val and Loki and maybe even some cute AUs, so keep an eye out for that via tumblr! Great!
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Chapter Twenty-Seven - Illviðri, or Storm
I am struggling to keep up with Loki as we hustle down the hallways. My legs are long, but not as long as his. And here he is prattling on while I’m getting pathetically winded.
“The Soul Stone must have attached itself to you somehow, woven its way into your consciousness and aligned itself with your own soul. Like a parasite, though I suppose some aspects of the connection are symbiotic, seeing as you gained magic abilities,” Loki continues to explain. I’m starting to understand more of what he’s talking about. I think I am, at least. I suddenly feel like the ring is burning a whole in my pocket I am so aware of its presence.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“To see Odin,” Loki replies without even batting an eyelash.
I grab his arm, yanking him to a halt. “Whooooah there. Are you all right? Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course I am. Why do you ask?” Loki arches an eyebrow and I just stare back at him.
“You want to go see Odin about this?” I ask again, just making sure I’m hearing him correctly. He nods. I twist my bracelet nervously on my wrist. “Who are you and what have you done with my husband?”
He smiles. “I love it when you call me that.” He bends his head slightly and places a kiss upon my temple.
“Oh my god seriously what is happening? Have I died? Did I die?! Have I slipped into some sort of alternate reality?”
Loki rests his hands upon my shoulders. “I promise you will understand soon enough.”
I grumble, “Yeah, I sure hope so.”
We begin walking again in silence and Loki suddenly throws his arm around my shoulders, hugging me closer to his side. I wrap my arm around his narrow waist, reveling in the sound of his laugh as I wiggle my fingers into his side. He bends with the laughter and we stop, laughing, and I enjoy the look of amusement on his face. It seizes something in my heart suddenly and I stop laughing, feeling as though the very air has been sucked from my lungs. Something is wrong, and yet, I cannot put my finger on what. But I do have a very clear feeling that this is the last time I will see Loki so happy for a very long time to come.
By the time he has regained his composure and straightens to look at me I have returned a smile to my face. He lays his hand upon my cheek tenderly and he inclines his head ever so slightly to lay a kiss upon my lips. His mouth is soft and when he pulls away I grab his hand and kiss him once again. He exhales gently against my lips and again my heart clenches in my chest. This feeling is utterly more distressing than the last. Because this kiss feels like love. But it also feels like desperation.
“Alright, alright, let’s go,” I finally acquiesce, and take Loki by the hand as we head further down the halls, twisting inwards towards the center of the palace. When we get to the meeting room Odin and Thor are already there, and I get the feeling, gauging by Odin’s reaction that there was already a meeting in place here that definitely didn’t involve me.
“What is the matter?” Odin asks, rising from his seat. Thor greets me with a smile. Odin does not.
“Perhaps it is best if you sit,” Loki suggests. “I have some things to say that may be of interest to you.”
Odin sits slowly and turns his gaze towards me, finally acknowledging my presence. “Why do I assume you also had a hand in this matter?”
“Wow, that’s kind of rude,” I mutter. Odin narrows his eyes but does not provide any more unnecessary commentary for the moment.
Loki pulls out a chair for me and we both sit down. He puts his hand on my knee beneath the table and squeezes it quickly before moving his hand away. “I must confess I have done something a little foolish. But not without good reason, I assure you.”
I notice now Thor is looking to me for some kind of explanation, but in truth, it is not mine to provide. Nor do I truly have one to offer. Loki begins, explaining in a similar fashion to how he explained it to me. Though, I note, with slightly more reverence and careful attention to his wording.
A moment of silence passes after Loki finishes explaining the process of switching out the stones and getting it set as my engagement ring and clarifying that the Soul Stone is the stone Thanos wants of us. Odin looks at Loki with unflinching scrutiny, and then he slides his eye over towards me.
“Why?”
I squirm under his gaze. Get it together, Val. “Why what?”
“Why did you allow this to happen?”
“I’m not really sure what that’s supposed to mean, but I don’t think I like what you’re implying,” I spit through bared teeth, hands clenching into fists beneath the table. Loki inhales sharply and his head turns quickly to look at me. “I assume that you believe this is somehow my fault—because how could it not be!—as, at the time, technically, Loki was under my watch. Understand this much: I did not know Loki was doing anything because I had no reason to be suspicious. Also there were, I don’t know, a few other things on my mind. Like the impending destruction of Asgard.
All this is beside the point anyway. What Loki did was not bad, or good…it was smart. It was smarter than you.”
“Every time I believe that your insolence cannot get worse, you manage to exceed my expectations, child,” Odin says. I would swear he was laughing if it were not for the deeply ingrained scowl across his face. I am out of my seat in a flash and I am grabbing Odin by his collar before I realize what I am doing. For once, his expression betrays his surprise.
“Whatever it is you think you’re doing by constantly mistrusting me and accusing me, I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why somedays it’s like I’m your best bud, and then the next day you are audacious enough to presume that Loki and I have some sort of plot to take over Asgard,” I growl in his face. Thor and Loki are on their feet, but neither does anything to stop me. I let out a bitter laugh. “Though, I have to admit, I sort of wish we did. Because anything the three of us here would do would be better than what you are doing now. You are tearing this planet apart. There are rebels in the south who are rising up merely because they want better working conditions and taxes and you throw their leader in jail simply for asking too many questions or because he stepped out of his house arrest? Assess your priorities, Odin, and then get back to me, okay?”
I let him go and he is pleasantly silent. I turn my back to him and smile at Loki who is just staring back at me. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears, the blood rushing through me at a lightning fast speed. But Odin grabs me by the arm and turns me around.
“You dare to imply anarchy in my presence?”
“I’m not implying anything. I’m just saying, you should be worried about the state of affairs right now. Asgard is not on easy ground. Thanos is about to tear through here in pursuit of the Infinity Stone and he will stop at nothing to obtain it, you can be certain of that. The internal and external factors that are weighing upon Asgard to the point of breaking are concerning. I just…” I sigh, giving myself a moment to relax and breathe. Yelling at Odin never seems to get my point across for long. “I just want you to be aware. I don’t want anything to happen to Asgard, not after how hard we have all fought to protect it. I know you value your pride, Odin, but please, for the sake of everyone, lets rest our dignity for a moment in the name of safety.”
Odin pauses, “You are terribly selfish, you know. Just as your parents were before you.”
“How dare you!”
“I think perhaps we should adjourn this meeting. We’ve established what we need to establish,” Loki says, quickly darting between Odin and I. His back presses firmly against my front, pushing me back and away from Odin.
“Let me guess, now you’re going to say something like ‘Once a traitor always a traitor’, or ‘half-breeds have always proved themselves to be less than trustworthy’. Well, fuck you, Odin. You are not my father, and you are no king of mine!” I declare, side-stepping Loki. Rage strikes Odin's face like lightning and he grabs my left hand tightly, squeezing my wrist with more force than I thought he had in him. I gasp in surprise and in pure pain, though I do not let it show.
“I rue the day I ever thought it wise to bring you to Asgard,” he spits between his teeth, his wrist gripping tighter with every word. Suddenly I hear something crack and I let out a low hiss, betraying my pain.
“Father!” Thor exclaims and Odin seems to snap out of it, letting me go. My bracelet, the Midgardian serpent Jörmungandr, has broken in half and clatters off of my wrist to the stone floor. I stare at it as it seems to fall in slow motion before my very eyes…dropping, and dropping and dropping. It bounces up against the stones and then settles, one half spinning against the slate until it finally drops with a definitive clang. I bring my gaze up slowly to Odin’s. I reach my right hand into my pocket and withdraw the Soul Stone, ring, chain and all. I lift it up slowly so I can make certain Odin sees it and then I drop it on the table.
“Don’t be a fool,” I mutter and then turn on my heel to leave the room, Loki and Thor quickly pursuing me.
“He meant no harm, I am certain,” Thor says lowly, catching up with me on one side. Loki softly touches my arm, lifting it up for his examination. I wince at his gentle prodding.
Loki exchanges a glance with Thor. “I’m certain it was merely just the effects of the stone. You know yourself how it can change you, make you do things you would not…”
“Yeah, Loki, I really know just how it makes you a complete dickface,” I fume, snatching my arm away from Loki. An instantly regrettable action, as a sharp pain shoots through my hand. The undoubtable scowl on my face only manages to deepen.
“Come on, we’re going back to our room,” Loki says, wrapping a hand around my waist before he swoops me up into his arms.
“You know, my legs aren’t broken.”
“No, but your wrist might be.”
“Whatever.”
Thor sighs, “Take care, you two.”
“And, you will take care of what we discussed?” Loki asks Thor. I don’t like that I don’t know what he is referring to but I let it slide.
“Immediately,” Thor replies with a nod before he turns and heads off in the other direction. In an instant, Loki and I are standing on the threshold of our bedroom, and he refuses to put me down. Instead he carries me all the way to the bed and then lays me down gently. He gaze lingers on me, unreadable, for just the slightest moment.
“Loki close the door,” I command. He does so with a wave of his hand and then he turns back to me. He settles my wrist in his lap and then he sets about healing it carefully with his magic.
“We need to talk about something and I want you to hear me out entirely before you say anything,” I say quietly, bringing Loki’s gaze up to mine. He stills, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Okay, well, I have a plan.”
“Of course you do,” Loki says kindly as he returns his focus to my wrist. He gestures for me to continue.
“I propose we raise our own army—”
“Valkyrie—”
“Ah ah! You have to let me finish,” I place my free hand over his mouth. His eyes burn brightly and intensely but he does not attempt to speak again. “Help me. Help me raise an army. I know nearly everyone will support us. Thor’s own men alone are a formidable force. We raise the army under the command of Thor, yourself and myself and prepare them for battle without Odin’s knowledge. Because if the Allfather doesn’t want to take any action, I sure as shit will. Buuuut we are going to need a little help.”
“From whom?”
I smirk. “Frey Guarinnson. We must find him and free him, because I know he will support us. In turn, he will be able to rally the common people to our side. And I will propose a union with Ronan, which I hope he will accept…”
“Do you truly think the common people will want to help us at all?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m certain they don’t want to die. And for the other, what they want is equality and liberation from the servitude they’ve been forced into. We give them what they want and then invite them to join us. From what I understand, they will be willing to follow Frey into battle. As long as he’s willing to fight by our side, then we should be fine,” I shrug. I sincerely hope so at least. Loki turns my wrist over in his hand, which is feeling much better.
“What are you not saying?”
I sigh, “I also think that we should have Amora on our side.”
“Is that truly such a good idea?”
“She has intellect and power beyond belief. She understands Thanos well. She and Ronan will be able to provide us some much needed insight into that fucking pest’s head. While, I do not trust her, I do think that what we can offer her will pique her interest.”
“What are we offering?”
“Protection. It’s rather simple.” Loki stills looks skeptical. “And I promise I won’t kill her.” He arches an eyebrow. “I said I won’t kill her, but I make no promises about trying to.”
Loki is quiet for a while, deep into his own thoughts. He absentmindedly rubs circles into the back of my hand with his thumb. It comforts me to know he is not terribly tense when faced with this cockamamy scheme of mine. Granted, it’s not the best I can probably do. But with the time and the resources, and the pressure to do it without Odin’s knowledge, I think it will do quite nicely.
“Of course I am behind you, you know I am,” Loki smiles, a wicked gleam in his eye. I lunge forward and grab his face, kissing him quickly upon the lips.
“Well then, let’s get down to business, shall we?”