Chapter 25
Amora frowns as she pseudo-casually glances around at Puente Antiguo, the town Loki eventually discovered Thor landed in - Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis are all gone, swept away by several 'government-looking types that vanished about two hours after all the crazy stopped.' Ergo, Jane Foster is currently in the hands of a government body - likely the US, but it could equally be the more local government of New Mexico themselves, or even possibly MACUSA.
From what Thor's said, though, they set up a small city around Mjolnir, were studying it somehow - Hela was the one that went in, not him, so he's not sure how - and a 'Son of Cole' was quick to give Jane her equipment back after he and Hela destroyed the Destroyer.
So, probably not MACUSA, then. Not if they're using a bunch of technology and constructing pseudo-cities instead of just Warding off Mjolnir and Obliviating everyone.
Pinching the bridge of her nose as an illusioned Thor enjoys his third cup of coffee - without smashing the cup, thankfully - she mutters "Fan-bloody-tastic…" Every single time the government gets involved - bar the time they had to go through MACUSA to set up their identities, anyway - things get complicated.
Thor asks "We can simply-"
"Thor, nothing is ever simple when the government is involved. Ever. And then there's the detail that it's most likely the nonmagical government she's currently neck-deep in, rather than the magical one."
Thor asks "What's the difference?"
Amora deadpans "I have a great many strings I could pull on to arrange a meeting if Jane Foster had been taken by the Magical Government here in the US. Remember what I told you about my past? Before I was Amora Sigyn?"
Thor nods, a look of realization coming over his face, and he says "Right…I see."
"To the Nonmagical government, I'm a nobody. I have a degree in Marketing from Harvard, yes, but that doesn't make me anyone particularly important. Not worthy of notice, definitely."
Thor frowns, asking "Why…what is this Marketing, anyway?"
Amora grins, and says "It's how we got our business off the ground, that's what. Attracting customers, spreading the word about our business, putting ourselves and what we do out there. The official definition doesn't really do it justice, I've found."
Thor nods, then asks "What now, though? Jane has vanished into thin air, and I sincerely doubt Allfather will approve of me joining you and Loki on these trips. Not on a regular basis, anyway."
Amora snorts, and says "Only Queen Frigga gives a damn what we do, so long as we don't make spectacles of ourselves for the entire Realm to see anyway."
Thor raises an eyebrow, asking "Truly?"
Amora gives him a deadpan look, and says "Well, I imagine your father might have a thing or two to say if Loki and I got absolutely smashed and streaked through the palace, the city, and all the way out to the fort deep in the forest around Asgard. He would almost certainly have something to say about a scene like that."
Thor goes red as his favorite cape, glancing anywhere but at Amora, and coughs into his cup while nodding his head. Yes, Odin would absolutely have a few things to say about that.
And he absolutely did not need that image in his mind, he's never getting it out!
Amora waits until Thor's finished his coffee before saying "C'mon, we're heading home after a pit-stop in Maine. I might be able to do a little discrete digging online."
"Maine? Why…where is that, anyway?"
"Way up north, Loki's there on a personal matter. I'll just be telling him we'll meet him back home, is all. He expected to get home before we did."
Loki's halfway through explaining the Wards currently around him and his birth family to Helblindi, how they drop the temperature to a level that's bearable - if not perfectly comfortable, he's not exactly the best judge of that - to the three 'true' Frost Giants, when he senses Amora appear nearby.
Helblindi blinks, then gets an expression that seems a cross between a pout and a frown when Loki suddenly stops talking. After a moment, though, he gets why his elder brother - his parents couldn't have told him beforehand?! - stopped speaking when he senses a flare of the strongest magic he's ever felt before in his entire life through the magic surrounding them. Well, he's felt something like it twice before, back on Jotunheim a few weeks ago - right before they got the Casket back, actually. "Who or what is that?"
Loki grins, and says "That would be Amora, she's headed this way." When he glances towards where Amora's magic is coming from, he sees her and a man that can only be Thor coming down the sidewalk - Amora puts a hand up to stop Thor, and says something that makes him go paler than even Laufey, Farbuti, and Helblindi look before coming over past the Ward line.
Amora quickly walks over to Loki and puts her arms around his shoulders, hissing "How's everything going?"
Loki grins, and hisses back "Very well. I take it you didn't find her?"
Helblindi's gasp takes their attention, and he asks "You can hiss at things to?! Father said the lady that brought the Casket could…is that you? Are you the one that brought it back?"
Laufey pinches the bridge of his nose once more, and says "Yes, Helblindi, this is the most unique woman that delivered the Casket back to us."
Amora grins, and says "Your Highness, it's good to see you again. And you must be Farbuti, wonderful to meet you. And this is…?"
Loki hums, saying "This is the younger brother I just met today. Helblindi, as you already know."
Amora mock-scrutinizes Helblindi for a moment, then says "Seeing as you're Loki's brother," she breaks out into a mischievous smirk, "I can only assume you're a little chaos-inclined frost-imp like Loki used to be."
Loki snickers at once, Farbuti coughs into her fist to disguise a laugh of her own, and Helblindi raises his chin defiantly and asks "And if I am? Got a thing against fun or something?"
Amora snorts at once, saying "I couldn't be Loki's Soulmate if I wasn't completely onboard with pranks, mischief, and generally-harmless chaos myself, you know. Aside from all the chaos Loki and I have caused over the last eight centuries or so, the sheer amount of pranks I helped the Weasley Twins pull off while in school is too many for anyone but them to keep track of."
Helblindi grins, saying "Yes!! Best sister-in-law ever!"
Farbuti gives Amora a smile, and says "Forgive Helblindi, he's a little excited…" Ever since learning his new idol is also his long-lost elder brother, he's been nonstop excitement.
Amora waves her hand, saying "I would be to, in his position. Don't worry about it, really."
And that would be when Farbuti suddenly bursts into tears, wrapping her arms around a stunned Amora and sobbing into her shoulder. Amora just pats Farbuti on the back hesitantly, and eventually deciphers a series of thanks for raising Loki so well, for being there for him when she didn't even know he was still alive, and for loving her son.
Laufey pulls her off Amora after a moment, tucking her into his side and rubbing her back, before saying "A thousand years, we'd thought you dead, son. Now, to find you alive and with a Soulmate who'd do anything for you…" He can't break down right now, Farbuti's in another meltdown and if he breaks as well then they won't stop for at least three hours.
Amora shakes her head, saying "It's fine, I'm fine. Really. Take all the time you need."
Loki glances at Amora at the phrasing, then feels like facepalming when he realizes her lips are turning blue and she's shivering. It's too cold for her, and Farbuti full-body tackling her in a hug did nothing to help.
And then, because he can't help himself at the best of times, Thor comes in and asks "Is every- Stars, it's FREEZING!"
Everyone else gives him deadpan looks, and Loki flatly says "Normally, I'd politely tell you to go home, Thor. Now, I'm telling you to go home with Amora. Or, at the very least, wait outside the Wards with her."
"Wards?!" Thor looks around frantically, making Laufey raise an eyebrow in amusement.
Helblindi asks "You're afraid of Wards?"
Thor frantically says "I got attacked by one! It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever experienced!"
Loki deadpans "You were attacked…by a Ward?"
"Yes! It was on your door! A giant green and gold snake shot out of it and nearly killed me!"
Amora grins, even as her shivering gets more pronounced, and says "Loki, you've gotta tell me what kind of Ward you used on your door. It sounds absolutely hysterical, think we can use it to scare the crap out of people back on Asgard?"
Loki asks "Would this be when Amora was still recovering? Absolutely, we'll have to make it a mass-illusion effect, though. Something perception-based, rather than actually trapping them?" At Thor's nod, Loki facepalms hard and says "It was the Banishment Ward we created together… You had the pendant Mother gave you, Thor. Why, in the world, would the Ward have activated if you used it?"
"Used it? I had it on just like Mother said…"
Loki pinches the bridge of his nose silently, and Helblindi asks "Was he supposed to hold the pendant up to the door so the Ward would deactivate?"
"Yes…I'd created it for Mo-" He glances at Farbuti for a moment, trying to gauge her reaction, then continues "My second mother, when I first put the Ward up. And I made it a pendant, Thor, so nobody would question why she had it." His 622-year-old brother who's just met him today has more magical knowledge than his millennia-old half-brother he grew up alongside. Stars help Thor, honestly.
There's a thick silence for a long minute, right up until a sound suspiciously like a snort of laughter escapes Amora. Thor stares at her in utter betrayal, and says "It's not funny! I could feel the massive snake wrapping around me!"
"No, you activating a Ward you had the key to, why would there be anything funny about that?"
This time it's Helblindi who cracks, clapping his hands over his mouth as he stares at Thor with the most amused expression he's seen since this morning.
Loki adds "And now you're petrified of magic, despite deriding it for the better part of the last millennia. Even while Mother was the one teaching Amora and I Asgardian magic. No, this isn't hilarious in the slightest."
Now it's Farbuti that giggles, turning so she's partially covered by Laufey as she doubles over with the effort of not bursting out into gales of laughter. Laufey shakes his head, murmuring "You absolute fool…"
Thor glances around at everyone, then throws his hands up in the air and cries "Am I the only one worried about being around invisible magic that can kill someone if they take one wrong step?!"
And that seems to be everyone's breaking point, Amora and Loki ending up supporting one another as they laugh until they can't breathe while Helblindi ends up curled up on his side as he wheezes and cackles not unlike a hyena.
Once Amora's laughter fades into coughing and she pounds at her chest a few times, she says "Alright, Thor, time to go." She presses a kiss to Loki's cheek, and says "We'll see you back home. Pizza night?"
Loki grins, and says "I'll pick up a few." That'd be when he notices the frost forming in Amora's hair, realizes she's likely got ice forming in her mouth and throat, and he quickly pushes her over to Thor fully intending on her getting a long hot soak in a bathtub until dinnertime. Stars, but his Soulmate is the stubbornest woman in existence! He's so used to her being nigh-on invincible, a perception formed all throughout his early years since he met her, that it's all too easy to forget it was all a carefully-constructed act so he wouldn't worry whenever she went off and solved Asgard's problems before they became his problems.
And Amora certainly won't complain, will just power through her own discomfort to either be at his side a few moments more or ensure he doesn't worry!
Thor apparently doesn't need to be told twice that they're leaving, because he eagerly steps outside the Wards - and then he yelps loudly, having gotten somewhat used to the freezing cold temperatures inside the small area, and Loki snorts while running a hand through his dark hair.
After Amora Apparates the two of them away, Laufey says "So, you've stayed remarkably sane after a millennia with him."
Loki huffs, saying "Largely Amora's doing, I assure you. Her and…Queen Frigga. Hela, Hades, and their friends as well."
Farbuti hums, saying "He's certainly…something."
Helblindi deadpans "He's an idiot, Mother."
Loki runs a hand through his hair again, and says "He's no mind for magic, it's true. Thor's a thickheaded hot-head most of the time…but I can't deny he doesn't try to put Asgard first."
Laufey huffs, saying "I suppose that's why he invaded Jotunheim. Hotheaded idiocy."
"Indeed. All his companions tried to talk him out of it, yet he didn't listen for a moment." After a good minute, he says "I don't know if Amora told you, but Odin banished him to this realm soon after leaving Jotunheim. We're not sure what exactly happened, but…he's been better than in many centuries."
Helblindi asks "Why do I get the feeling that's not a very hard thing to achieve?"
"Because it isn't. Truly, it isn't." After a moment, Loki says "I'm currently planning on wedding Amora once more. If you would like to attend-"
Farbuti practically shrieks in delight, and Loki finds himself all but strangled by the smaller woman.