Chapter 7
Thor spins around so fast he very nearly falls flat on his face, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to see if he really just saw Loki and Amora - it's been five decades since they left! His mother has always seemed content with the situation, likely because she's been in contact with them, and Odin hasn't sent out search parties or anything…but the palace has seemed oppressively silent these past few decades.
And now they just show back up?!
Thor follows them to Frigga's garden, Of course, when he gets to the doorway, he hears "Odin can name Thor Crown Prince tonight, for all I care anymore, Mother. I know everything he didn't tell me about myself. I don't know why, but I do know what."
Frigga gasps, pulling Loki into her arms, and says "He forbade me from telling you, Eir as well. But-"
Loki cuts her off, saying "You're still my mother, I've never doubted that. Not even in the midst of my identity crisis have I doubted that you loved me always. But, whatever plans Odin has for me…well, they don't matter anymore. Not to me, who wasn't even aware of them. I've found something far better than a throne."
Thor would feel a bit bad about eavesdropping on the conversation, but he's simply waiting patiently to greet his brother instead of interrupting their clearly-important conversation. But, still, what in the name of the Stars is Loki talking about?!?!
Frigga gasps in delight, and asks "Who? Who do I get to meet? Tell me everything, Loki."
Loki smiles, really smiles as Thor peeks around the doorway, and says "You've already met her a thousand times over, Mother."
Frigga sucks in a little breath, then says "I have a wedding to prepare, then. I'll need her latest measurements, yours to since I'm sure you've grown since you were last here-"
"Mother!" Frigga stops talking, and Loki says "We had a wedding on Ear- Midgard. She didn't want a grand ceremony anyway, in front of all Asgard's people, and even if she did Odin would never give his blessing. And, yes, we've saved the memory for you to view." Their one regret was that Frigga couldn't be there, but they made do nonetheless.
Frigga purses her lips, and says "Odin's never been fond of Amora, no. All because she can do magic." Her husband is a selectively blind man, with a manipulative streak a realm wide, and she has no qualms about admitting that. He took her as a wife, knowing she was the most talented magic-user on Vanaheim...and yet disparages magic and looks down on its use nonetheless. Amora once theorized, Hela in complete agreement, that he doesn't want anyone to become stronger than him - especially his own children.
Loki nods, saying "As can I. And yet, if it weren't for your lessons, I'd never have learned how to control my own magic, Mother. We both came to accept we'd never have a wedding on Asgard, seeing as it takes the King's blessing to be officially wed in this realm." And Thor has always mistrusted Amora, said she's a bad influence on him.
Ergo, unless Thor manages to get himself banished and Odin falls into the Odinsleep or perishes soon after, they'll never be officially wed on Asgard.
Frigga nods after a moment, then says "You're correct, Loki. As much as it pains me to say it, given the context. Odin is no fan of magic, given that he has no natural talent or disposition for it. He can't use it on his own, and therefore sees it as a threat." The only thing remotely close he can use is the Odinforce, and that has been passed down his family from one generation to the next.
Loki nods, saying "Which is why you never told him about our lessons."
Frigga purses her lips, saying"Indeed. It's why there isn't a Court Sorcerer anymore either. He got rid of that station soon after he married me, and long before Thor was born."
After a moment of oppressive silence, Frigga claps her hands and says "Enough of those depressing matters. Tell me, Loki, where did you two go? What did you do? And I want to see your memory of the wedding."
Loki smiles, saying "We had a whole life down on Midgard, Mother. Did whatever caught our fancy, after we made it so we could do so without anyone questioning us." They took every single NEWT, got Masteries in everything. Literally everything, every branch of magic available. Charms, Transfiguration, Runes, Creatures, Potions, everything. They learned Enchanting and Curse-Breaking, they traveled the world, made a Manor, Warded it so Heimdall couldn't see it, and it's currently being cared for by a few House Elves along with the Thestral Herd that took up residence in the forest around it.
And then, when they couldn't think of anything they wanted to do and Amora didn't want to rip Thor to shreds at just the thought of him, having held a grudge against the blonde for far longer than Loki for hurting her Soulmate, they came back to Asgard.
Thor pretends to be walking into Frigga's garden just now when Loki turns to leave, and paints a surprised expression on his face. "Loki!" He caved about a month into Amora's 'punishment' and went to his mother with tears in his eyes and his voice finally returning as he begged and pleaded to let Loki know how sorry he was. Frigga nodded, sent him away…and, about four hours later the ears suddenly fell off into his food.
Thor gets the distinct feeling Loki had something to do with that, in all honesty.
Loki says "Thor." Loki's grateful he no longer feels another pang of utter betrayal at the sight of Thor - none of the absolute confidence he once had in his half-brother, but the stab wound in his chest that was the betrayal he felt at the mere thought of Thor is gone as well. He doesn't know whether there's too much of Odin in Thor to ever trust the blonde again, or if it's something he'll grow out of as he hits true Asgardian adulthood...but only time will tell, and Loki's not holding out any hope for the latter.
"Wha- How- when did you return?!"
Loki fixes him with a cool gaze, saying "Today. Did you need something…?"
Thor knew when his brother didn't want to talk, but that was fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, Loki would just pull a book up higher as if to use it as a physical barrier - fifty years ago, Loki still had a child's demeanor and outlook in life. Now, this new coolness towards him is both foreign and like a punch to the gut. "I was just coming to ask Mother a question. But-"
Loki immediately says "I'll leave you to it then. I'll see you later, Mother." And then Loki's just gone, exactly the same as when Amora suddenly vanishes with a quiet pop.
Thor can practically feel his eyes pop out of his head at that. "What…how did Loki just…"
Frigga hums, then says "He and Amora call it Apparition, Thor. It's how Amora travels long distances in a single Realm. If she needs to travel to a different one, she goes to Loki. Did you actually have a question, though?"
Thor sighs, dropping down to the seat Loki was just occupying, and says "No, I didn't…"
Frigga hums, having already guessed as much, and asks "Well, then, why don't you go spend some time with your friends? Perhaps keep them away from Loki and Amora after they've just arrived on Asgard once more?"
Thor runs a hand through his hair, and says "I'd hoped to spend some time with Loki, but…" Shaking his head, he changes the subject and asks "He's truly found his Soulmate?"
Frigga smiles delightedly, and says "He has. And I could not be more thrilled about that. And, no matter what anybody else says, I know she will always put him first." She always has, after all. For one's best friend to be their Soulmate is truly a blessing, even moreso when it's a friendship as long as theirs.
Thor blinks, then asks "Who? Who's to be by Loki's side?" Who's his Sister-in-law? Or, if he understood the conversation right, almost-sister-in-law?
Frigga purses her lips, giving him a mildly disappointed look, and asks "Can you think of no-one, Thor? No one that's always put Loki before herself?" At Thor's blank look, Frigga very nearly rolls her eyes and facepalms like she's seen Amora do multiple times, and instead says "I'll let you figure it out, Thor." Honestly, her first son is positively blind, apparently. Amora's done more for Loki than anyone else she knows of, especially dropping everything and heading out to a Realm with an uprising or rebellion and putting it six feet under the ground single-handedly before Odin could send a battle force with Thor and Loki at the head.
She's heard whispers about the battle scenes, battlegrounds that no single person should've managed to walk away from with bodies strewn everywhere in various states - frozen through, burned, electrocuted, dismembered, simply blown up…all by Amora. All on her own, simply to keep Loki out of danger - in her own words, to.
Frigga thanked her for keeping her sons safe, and Amora just shrugged and said she'd already been through war before, fought before she should've been forced to, and she'd like to keep Odin from doing the same to Thor and Loki.
One time in particular that comes to mind is…she thinks it was the fourth time he'd tried to send Thor and Loki out to stop something on Vanaheim. A group of mercenaries, criminals, marauders, and thugs that had been pillaging and destroying entire villages and towns, killing anyone they found in the process.
She wasn't quite fast enough to track down all of the hideouts, but she was just finishing with the main one when the rest of her 'reinforcements' arrived.
That would be when the rumors truly picked up steam, when she was so gravely wounded and appeared to simply walk it off.
Loki, Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three, and a battalion of Einherjar get to the old, formerly-abandoned ruined fortress Heimdall said the marauders were using as their hideout, only to find bodies instead of living guards - two of them are cut to pieces, a third shows signs of having his neck snapped...and there's a fourth set of boot impressions yet there's only three bodies and a pile of ash or dust.
All the Einherjar shift nervously, whispers start up, and Loki scoffs and says "Let's go, these four have already been taken care of." Honestly, he'd think they'd recognize Amora's work by now - he most certainly can, and at only a glance. Those first two were hit by a Sectumsempra each, the third she took out bare-handed, and she hit the fourth with a Reducto.
It's always amusing to see Asgardians get so scared of what magic can do when they think so little of it otherwise.
There's obvious signs of traps having been triggered as they go through the fortress - these people were waiting for them, and were hoping to kill as many as possible if the sheer gruesomeness of the things is anything to go by. And then they hear "BOMBARDA!"
KA-BAM!
"REDUCTO!"
And then there's a series of hissing that only Loki can understand, and he takes off at once - running further into the Fortress without so much as a glance back at anyone else. Thor curses as Loki runs ahead, nimbly jumping three bodies without so much as breaking his stride.
"Loki! Wait, don't-" Thor takes off running as well, trying to catch his brother before he loses his life altogether. But, Stars, when did Loki get so fast? Thor doesn't know, but he resolves to find out at a later date as his younger brother escapes his reach for the fourth time in a row.
Finally, Thor manages to grab Loki's shoulder and pins him to a wall. "Loki, stop this foolishness! You can't just go running around in a place like this!"
Loki uses a spell Amora taught him, Relashio, to make Thor release him, and says "A place like this? Look around, Thor, this place has been cleared of everything that could possibly kill us! Every trap has been activated, all the soldiers are dead or dying, exactly what do you think will happen?" Thor glares, but doesn't say anything. "Thought so. Now-"
"CONFRINGO!" Loki takes off running yet again, and Thor swears inside his head as he fails yet again to catch his younger brother. When he catches up to Loki, the sounds of a fight are much closer, metal hitting metal and voices shouting.
"She's not natural!"
"She won't die! Why won't this bitch die?!"
Amora's voice breathlessly taunts "Haven't you heard of me, boys? The last group I did this song and dance with…well, they ran screaming their heads off, even as I hunted them down."
A horrified voice breathes out "The Deathless Witch…"
"No, that's just a myth! Everything dies somehow, it's just a matter of figuring out how!"
When Loki looks in, there's four full-grown men surrounding Amora…and she's playing with them, dodging every attack and letting them tire themselves out. And she certainly looks like she's been clearing out the fortress, considering the limp in her gait and how she's favoring her left arm. She's bruised, bloodied, and if Loki had to take a guess she shouldn't Apparate because she's most likely going to Splinch herself. In about three seconds, she takes down two of them, slicing one's throat with a knife she Conjured and burying it in the other's heart. Loki takes out a third, sending him crashing into the far wall, but that only draws attention to him and Thor. The fourth opponent grins nastily, and charges them…only for Amora to appear between then, and jam the knife that was just in her side into the underside of his chin before cutting his throat. The man collapses, blood pooling everywhere, and Loki's at Amora's side instantly.
"Careful," she gasps out, nearly falling to the floor herself once the danger's passed, "think some of them were poisoned." Her blood's on fire, her head is pounding, the room is spinning, the only point of stability seems to be Loki as he wraps her arm around his neck. Definitely poisoned, then - still, it's got nothing on Basilisk Venom. Splinching herself, as it turns out, is not fun though.
Loki quickly makes his way to the Healer's tent, Amora nearly unconscious at his side due to sheer bloodloss. One of the three Healers that was sent with them is at the bed he sets her in almost instantly, and quickly waves her hand over Amora before freezing for all of two seconds. After moment, she says "Your Highness, I don't- I'm not even sure how she's still alive. A punctured lung, her intestines have been shredded, there's poison in her bloodstream…" Not to mention the big hole in her side that's closing up somehow or other.
Loki can hear the horrified whispers start up even as the Healer starts gathering up supplies, and waves a hand to cast a Silencing Charm Amora taught him just a month ago. He hears booted footsteps walk over as he starts following the Healer's instructions, and doesn't even turn around before saying "Thor, either help or leave. I'm not going to lose the only person on all of Asgard who actually sees any worth in me and the gifts I possess."
Amora coughs, cracking an eye open, and gives Loki a blood-stained grin before saying "Don' worry 'bout me, Trickster. Can't die, I'll be fine." She'd try to tell him she's had worse, but it's getting hard to talk at the moment.
Loki tries to smile, even if only at her nickname for him, but he knows it's barely believable. His best friend in the entirety of the Realms is currently dying, the idiots outside the tent are probably spreading rumors about her, and the Crown Idiot that is his older brother isn't helping matters at all.
Thor grabs Loki by the shoulder, and says "Loki, you're a Prince of Asgard-"
Loki whirls on Thor at that, snapping "And, as a Prince of Asgard, it's my duty to know how to take care of my people. And that includes being able to heal them if they're injured!" He's wondering just how many times they're going to go through this - Thor being shocked and confused when Loki actually knows how to do things not considered something a 'prince' should be doing. Like healing people, for instance - joke's on him, then, because one of the first things Amora taught him after they merged their magics was every single healing spell she knows or could find, Wiccan and Asgardian alike. She wanted to make sure he never had to regrow a bone because an idiot vanished it trying to heal it, or couldn't heal himself if he was hurt and nobody else was around that could or would help him.
Thor takes a step back at the fire in Loki's eyes, then quickly exits the tent as Loki coaxes a half-conscious Amora into swallowing what he guesses is the antidote to whatever poison the mercenaries were using while the Healer starts cleaning and dressing wounds.
And then Hela and Osiris show up, a four-armed woman with knives following after her, and they all get quick introductions. And Kali mutters "She could've at least left some for me…"
Osiris gives the currently half-conscious red-head a look, and says "She could've not gotten poisoned."
Hela rolls her eyes at them, even as Loki keeps fussing over Amora trying to heal her, and says "She can most definitely self-heal the injuries themselves. Loki, as un-comforting as this is going to be, she has actually had worse back when she was still a mortal. She'll be fine, we'll make sure of it."
Amora just puts an arm over her eyes, hissing in Parseltongue and making Loki snort in amusement despite himself. From the grin on Amora's lips for a moment, she succeeded in distracting Loki from the detail that she is, technically, dying.