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jtaylor2019 · 6 years ago

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The Return--Chapter 1

Though not a gatekeeper, Loki could see pretty well. He knew what was going on below him, in Midgard. The weak, self-destructing planet, supposedly ruled by his brother, though who knew where Thor was now, not wanting the throne, when it was pretty much handed to him. Fool.

Loki decided it was the right time for him to put his plan in place. He could see below him the hundreds of mourners at her home. They dressed in dark, somber colors, wiped their eyes, and laughed with melancholy at stories they told to comfort each other. Funerals were stupid rituals.

He knew she was down there in the midst of it all, surrounded by his friends, locked in a cocoon of well-wishers. Useless. The man was more corrupt than he was. Had more tricks up his sleeve, mortal ones, but still…But she deserved the chance to mourn him. He was her father, after all. Loki hadn’t had much of a relationship with his own.

Many years had passed since he first met Caroline. It had been a time of fire and danger, not created by magic spells. As others in their family had already been compromised, Rose knew he needed to his only daughter, a familiar face in the company, away to safety. Somehow, somewhere, Thor had made friends with this family. Where they would have amused Loki, Thor became almost a guard to the family. Guarding what, not too many knew, but some did, and wanted the advanced technology Rose had developed and manufactured. A crooked, dirty business. Rose had asked Thor to bring her to Asgard until the threat was eliminated. The whole mess took over a month to clean up and so Caroline became a guest of the Realm.

Immediately, it was evident, even if she didn’t know it, that she belonged there. Loki remembered how strangely he felt looking at her for the first time. She was human, inconsequential, not worth investing his time or energy in, but yet he wanted to…She wasn’t even a human cursed with any power, as most of her friends were. There was something timeless in her simplicity. Something graceful in her plainness. At first, he convinced himself that he wanted to hurt her, possibly getting his brother in trouble at the same time. Kind of a win-win…but she had changed his course effortlessly.

She was surrounded by guards as they moved through the corridors. Her hair was dark like his so she seemed more other-worldly than she already was. She was scared too. The Asgardian palace was formidable, made so on purpose. Thor led the procession, talking grandly about how much she would love being there, pointing out landmarks along the way. “This is a likeness of my great-grandfather.” “Here is an ancient vase owned by one of the original Einherjer…um, Vikings, I think you call them.” Loki wanted to step out, tell his brother to cease his incessant boasting and let him take over, but he felt it safer to wait in the shadows, until the right time came to introduce himself.

That time wasn’t long in coming. She had just changed into Asgardian dress and was eating alone in the Great Hall. She looked so small in the grand chamber with its gold and black tiles, scrollwork and tapestries. “Do you mind if I sit,” he asked, quietly? He had a habit of sneaking up on people, scaring them without intending to. He did it to his mother all the time.

She looked up at Loki, and smiled, not scared at all. She held out her hand to invite him. “I’m Caroline.”

“Loki. Thor’s brother.”

The minute he said his name, he knew he had heard about him. Her eyes darkened a bit and he swore she made distance between them. He grew angry, feeling slighted, a familiar, painful tingle in his gut. He stood.

“I thought you wanted to sit?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt you.”

“I’m almost done.” She wiped her hands together, dusting off crumbs from the bread that had been on her plate, then turned to him. “Maybe you can show me around a little.”

Loki smiled and bowed. He had never done that, even to his father, and felt a bit ridiculous. It seemed to suit the situation, “It’d be my honor.”

That had been so long ago…Loki had been locked in the dungeons after some infraction or another having to do with Earth, his mother had been killed by Dark Elves, his father had passed on, Loki had been killed many times over. More than a lifetime had passed. But Loki had always had a glimmer that she would come back to him, stay with him, maybe even rule by his side. She knew how he felt about her. He had told her so many of his secrets, and she had told him probably all of hers, as humans were so careless in doing. They had talked about the future, maybe not one where they appeared together, but about their hopes and goals.

When Loki was a boy, he thought that his father, Odin Allfather, King of Asgard, was the giver of all things, the protector, the omnipotent leader. Loki also thought there was a chance he could be King of Asgard. Soon though, as Thor began to show his skill at fighting and harnessing a power Loki could not even dream of possessing, Thor edged ahead as the frontrunner for royal successor. Loki felt left behind at first, angry, jealous. But then the numbness set in. He just began to hate, plot, and spend time by himself, practicing his sorcery. At first, the magic was under the tutelage of his mother, but later he hid away in a secluded area so nothing he tried might backfire and get him into trouble.

Nothing was for certain in his world, except he grew stronger each day at magic. He knew how to protect himself with force field charms, he could shape shift, even project magic onto others. He could fight when needed, but he was not an immovable rock like his brother. Despite the fact his father told them on more than once occasion that ruling, not by war, but by peace was the real goal of a good king; despite the fact he said war should never be something that a king seeks out, but only is ready for; Thor and his warrior ways were much more popular than a studious and quiet candidate for the throne.

Thor had everything: his choice of women, all the friends. Loki’s friends were really Thor’s friends first. They only tolerated him because they loved his brother. Loki learned quickly that magic could save and control far more than a fist—or a hammer. Unfortunately, thought while his brother commanded thunder, all Loki could do was steal it. And he’d become very good at that. People feared him, except for Caroline. And he could honestly say he didn’t want to frighten her.

She was in her father’s basement. He could see her there, her black hair pulled tightly behind her head. Rose had remarried when Caroline was an adult, to a much-younger woman and they had had a child, a little girl. Rose moved his new family out to the country to live a quiet life, but that kind of life was impossible to find, especially for a man with a price on his head, and many enemies. Caroline had not gone with them, despite liking the new wife a lot. Caroline was a dutiful daughter, but not heir to the company. She had her own life. She was a successful marketing consultant, and had a healthy mix of friends. Loki shook his head. Human lives were too dramatic for him to care. He had more important things to worry about. He was one of the casualties of the Dark Elves, dying a gruesome death in front of his brother, but time reversed itself somehow, and he awoke, made his way back to a new home and began to think about what he really wanted. Unstantly, he knew.

xxxxxx

Caroline sat at her father’s workbench. He had rid himself of almost everything that had made him a millionaire many times over. His computers still held vital information that he used under pressure from his murderer, she imagined. By the time they caught up with him, he only wanted to live a quiet and peaceful life with his family. In the end, he knew he held the technology to win the war that had not been fought yet. And he paid with his life.

Her father’s most recent wife had been Caroline’s friend for over a decade. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her, even if it meant putting up with her father’s sometimes arrogant and questionable methods. She cried with Audrey when her father was missing somewhere, in some third world country, where he was doing business, or when some part of the world was in ruins and it was most likely her father’s fault, well, the fault of his technology that someone stole from him and did not know how to use properly. Caroline let her friend yell when she was angry at her father for putting himself in harm’s way. And happily, Caroline had stood up as Audrey’s maid of honor when she married the love of her life. Now he was gone. And if the hole in Caroline’s heart was this big, she could only imagine the pain in Audrey’s.

“I’m sorry, Caroline.”

Caroline looked around in surprise for Audrey. “Were your ears ringing? I was just thinking about you.”

Audrey laughed. “Well, I saw you come down here.”

“Well…I just needed a break.”

She chuckled as only someone in pain could. “Yeah, me, too.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, this is actually good that we are down here, where it’s quiet. You father had something for you. He asked me to give it to you should he ever…,” her voice caught, “not make it.”

Caroline sat up straighter in her seat, “What is it?”

One of her father’s virtual computer monitors came on in front of her and a list of her bill accounts came into view. Audrey had the reigns and was scrolling through. “He paid off your student loans. He knew that was a burden you carried.”

Sure enough, on the screen both financial institutions Caroline dealt with said she had “paid in full.” Caroline smiled. That was very much like her father. He could be arrogant and insufferable but he was generous to a fault. “Thank you. That does help.”

“He also has bequeathed you five million dollars.”

Caroline coughed, putting her hands to her chest. “What? Why? I’ve never asked…”

“He knows. You’ve always lived a quiet life,” Audrey said. “He knew you wanted a house, a place of your own.”

A house, not a mansion, Caroline thought. Five million. Having that much money was beyond her expectations. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

“He had only one request.”

“Yes? Anything.”

“He asked that your house be near me and Cora.”

The tears snuck up really. She had no control over them. The request was something her father would ask; something that proved beyond a doubt his love for Audrey and their five year old.

“Of-of course I will.” Caroline stood, “Excuse me, Audrey. I’m sorry.” She covered her eyes and ran up the stairs, pushed her way through the dozens of mourners, friends, family, and her father’s colleagues. She kept her eyes downward, not wanting to see their looks of pity. Outside, the air was colder, fresher, so she kept going, her boots crunching on the gravel of the road. Caroline didn’t stop until she came to the end of the street, where the lake behind her father’s house rounded a bend. A large rock played sentinel to the trail past it and Caroline stopped there out of breath.

“Are you alright?” Loki asked her. He had seen her fleeing the house, knew there would be no better time to get her alone. He saw her shoulders stiffen, and she put the strands of hair that came undone during her walk behind her ears before she turned.

“Loki? What are you…? Are you real? Is this…?”

“An illusion?” he finished the sentence. “No. I am here.”

“What? How? I thought you had died.”

“I did.” He took a step toward her, his hands out to let her know that he meant no harm. “It seemed the Elvish leader’s death reversed time and brought me back to life. Quite extraordinary, actually.” His jet black hair glistened in the sun. His eyes sparkled and he smiled broadly, amazed and pleased at his seeming immortality.

“I am glad to see you,” she said. “I really am.”

“I hoped you would be.”

She smiled, “I like your suit.” He was dressed in a well-cut black suit. “So you know what happened then? Why we’re here?”

Of course he knew. He could have cared less for anything that happened to any human, especially Connelly Rose, but the man was important to her. “Your father was ambushed and died.”

“Yes.”

Loki took a deep breath, “We were not…well, close, but I am sorry for your pain.”

“Thank you.”

He moved toward her. She held her breath, not sure if he would put his hands on her. He wrapped her in an embrace, fully expecting it to be awkward but was very pleased it was not. He smelled the perfume of her dark hair. She fit perfectly in his arms.

But they were interrupted almost immediately, "What are you doing here?"

His brother Thor, stood, legs apart, hands balled into fists, ready to do battle if he had to, almost relieved to have a purpose again, an enemy.

Loki laughed when he saw his brother, "Brother, what happened to you?"

Thor was clearly embarrassed. The muscular physique that Thor was used to had started to disappear with his lengthy time on Earth. The air was different, his powers more forced and so his body suffered. He was soft, heavy and tired. Instead, Thor asked, "How is it you are back?”

"The time reversal gave me life. What? Are you not pleased to see me?”

Instead Thor flipped his hammer in the air. It hummed. "Leave Caroline alone, Loki."

Loki laughed, “It is over, for all of you. You won your people back, but you lost. You gave yourself up for Connelly Rose and paid the price. Can’t you just give it a rest?”

The trees seemed to still. No one spoke. The weight of Loki’s words hit home. Rose’s death seemed empty. The world would never be the same. And there was no proof that just the very existence of Rose’s technology hadn’t started the chain of events that put them where they were today.

Loki took Caroline’s hand in his. “I am visiting an old friend.”

Thor took a step closer. “Nothing you do is simple, Brother. Nothing is without a veil.”

Caroline was frustrated Thor was there. She would have liked some time alone with Loki, to talk. Something about the prince-who-would-never-be-king intrigued her. Loki was really the only piece of her father’s life she had for herself. He was the only proof she had that she was close to a world of magic and exquisite strangeness. Besides, Loki had never been anything but kind. A bit dangerous, but kind. And somehow, why she did not know, he had taken a liking to her. She spoke up, "He's not hurting me…"

Thor stepped toward them, fully intending to get Caroline away from the God of Mischief. But Loki and Caroline shimmered out of sight and were gone.

xxxxx

Loki was proud of the dramatic exit he had engineered. The look on Thor’s face as they vanished was worth every minute that Loki had pondered whether the trip to Midgard would be successful. The God of Thunder, the original heir to the throne of Asgard, had indeed grown soft and slow.

He watched Caroline sleep off the effects of the trip. It was not as simple as a Bifrost now. He had to create a portal through his magic, a journey that was not left without its twists and turns. She went unconscious not long after he had put his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him.

He shifted in his seat, looking out the large window in his chambers. There was a familiarity to having her back with him. They had really only had a little more than thirty days together, but that part of his life was etched in his mind. He longed to pick up where they left off.

He knew immediately when she opened her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly. "You know I would never hurt you. But this is a better place for you to be.”

“Where am I?"

"The New Asgard."

She tried to sit up but realized her hands were bound. Almost as soon as she noticed, the bindings disappeared. Running her fingers through her hair, she blinked to adjust her eyes to the dimness of the room. "I don’t understand. How? Isn’t Thor supposed to be king?”

He turned back to her and stood. In his Asgardian clothes, he walked slowly and deliberately toward her. The room they were in was barren but regal. Gold paper on the walls, rich woods, tiles and tapestries. When he reached her, he sat beside her, waving his hand. Her funeral dress was replaced by a long, deep blue and white dress. Her black hair was loose, cascading in tendrils.

She looked at him strangely and toucher her hair, “Why this?”

He smiled, “I remember you wore it like that when you stayed on Asgard. I always liked it.”

"Thank you.”

“Are you hungry? I can get you some food, something to drink.”

Caroline shook her head. “Loki, how did this place happen?”

“Some of the Asgardians survived," Loki said, "and chose to come here. They began to rebuild, waited for a leader.”

He smiled when he remembered that day. Very few times in his 1,500 or so-year life, had he felt nerves, actual accelerated heartbeat type of nerves. When he realized the souls on the planet where he was headed were his own people, his palms began to sweat, an odd sensation, and not pleasant. So much had happened; it had been so long. Truthfully, he hadn’t the strength to go any farther. He needed them and gratefully, luckily, they needed him. A member of the Asgardian royal family. They blocked out his indiscretions or possibly had not heard about them. Instead, they chose to keep alive his help when Hela tried to take over Asgard, when he fought valiantly by Thor’s side, allowing survivors to board a ship for who knows where.

“I needed time to heal and grow stronger,” He came out of his reverie and finished his tale. “My magic was weakened; my health was questionable. But they saw me as the only surviving member of Odin’s family. And now I am king, strong again, powerful.”

“How long had you been watching me?” She asked, feeling less alarmed.

“Not long. Long enough. Caroline, I would like you to rule by my side."

She closed her eyes. And there it was…the imbalance, the familiar tilt of the world Caroline remembered when Loki was nearby. She closed her eyes, exhausted, thinking about her life on Earth. She thought about her promise to her father: the house near Audrey and Cora, and what else she could do with the money he left her. Finally, Caroline thought about the small glimmer of fear she felt around Loki. She felt it around Thor, too. The fear that came from the unknown, the power they wielded was so far beyond her capability to imagine or understand. What if he wasn't going to let her say no?

He didn’t press her for an answer. Instead he smiled, took her hand. “Do you remember when you came to live on Asgard? I have been thinking on it a lot lately.”

“I remember. I loved that time.”

“My father was so upset with Thor. He did not want you there.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“No, we never told you. My mother, Frigga…she always loved to have visitors. She was lonely, longed to see the places my father sent us on assignments. Me and Thor…well, Thor mostly. He was always too afraid that I…” Loki’s voice trailed off. “She was glad when you were there.”

Caroline felt sad. She knew Frigga had died. “Your mother was an amazing woman.”

“Thank you. I think you’re a lot like her.”

She squeezed his hand. “That is a great compliment from you. I know how much you loved her. So thank you.”

The sun was beginning to set. The colors over the New Asgardian sky were amazing: yellows, reds, some oranges, cast against the deep blue of the night to come. She walked to the window where Loki had been gazing earlier, surprised how comfortable the clothing was that he put her in. Looking down she saw the lights glimmering in the distance. They were high up, and she saw houses, what looked like factories, and churches below.

"My father talked to me once about you,” She spoke quietly. “after I returned from my time on Asgard.”

Loki scoffed, “Oh, he did. I can only imagine what that conversation was about.”

"He said I shouldn’t ‘get comfortable,’ I think he said, or believe we could ever be a couple.” She laughed, uncomfortably. “I imagine that Thor had told him how much time we spent together. I remember that he looked me in the eye, almost shook me. He knew that the father-daughter conversation was about to have was going to be for nothing. That it was too late.”

Loki’s heart jumped. What was she saying?

“He had joked that we probably made a good couple because there is such a vast different between us. I am the righteous one, the one who does everything according to the rules--and you, well…”

“Let me guess, I am the evil one.”

She nodded. “My father said I would balance out the mischief in you. But that he hoped I would be smart enough not to be fooled by your motives.”

Just as quickly, Loki’s heart sunk, "And what did you tell him?”

"You can't help who you fall in love with."

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