Loki
How can another Asgardian be here in this manky tavern? Maybe he's not one. He doesn't have a hammer. My mother told me stories of the Odinson family and the last I heard anything, there was only one left in the Odinson family. It was common knowledge that her younger brother was adopted. No one had seen or heard from the middle brother in 15 years. The rest were completely wiped out. Odin died not long ago (Everyone is unsure if it was old age or if he was murdered) and Queen Frigga was murdered by Dark Elves around a decade ago. The youngest Prince was in Hela's dungeons. Hela was Queen and it may be possible that the middle child may be sitting next to me.
According to my mother (and Hela's many, many stories over the last month), Odin was a cruel, dramatic old man who would cast his children out the moment they made a huge fuck up. Hela was confined to Niflheim. The middle child was cast out to Midgard at one point. And the younger one was confined to the dungeons for trying to overthrow Midgard. Queen Frigga was kind and caring. She loved her children deeply. I don't remember the son's names. I know one Prince, the Midgardians named a day of the week after him and he was the God Of Thunder. The other Prince was the God of Mischief. He once cut Lady Sif's hair off for fun. But they were stories. Stories to frightened children at night. There were only a few that my mother spoke poorly off and that was her own parents after they cast her out for having a bastard child and trying to cut me out of her. I was honestly glad the day I cut their throat.
Then again, if that guy really was an Odinson, I should really get going. His sister is Queen now. If she tortures the younger brother, what will she do to the middle brother? I finished my ale in one quick drink (impressing the shit out of him and the bartender) and threw some extra coin on the bar. I needed to get out of here before anyone found out what I was. Especially if I happened to be sitting in the tavern with a fucking Odinson! I didn't make any eye contact with him, so I should be good.
"Now, where did I put that shard of the mirror?" I patted down my pockets. I needed to get back to Asgard. The two pints of ale that I drank took enough of the edge off to where I could finally get to sleep. Even if it was bought for me by an Odinson twat. Mother did say the Odinsons wouldn't hurt me, that the Princes were like their mother but why take the risk? I guess Morbius is right. I don't know how to be around people. I threw down the piece of the distance mirror and got back to Asgard in no time.
Soon I was back in the room that Hela showed me. I walked out of there like nothing happened. Although, the strength in my legs was not what it used to be. I stumble as I stepped through the portal. My legs felt like lead. Was that a side effect of the distance mirror? Or was it something else? I knew damn well it wasn't the ale. I didn't drink all that much and I wasn't a fucking lightweight. I could drink most men under the table. According to my mother, I came from a long line of alcoholics, but if anyone had been through what I had been through, they would understand why. Or run away at the freak that is me. Every single one of them could drink their face off and I was no exception. Even though, Mother always said it wasn't exactly ladylike to be able to hold my liquor as well as I could.
When I walked out of the mirror room, my legs immediately gave out and I fell to the floor. Of course, that did not go unnoticed. Hela rushed to my side.
"Aurora? Are you alright?"
"Yes," I shook it off, "I'm fine. Just tired."
"Midgardian ale went right through you"
"Is that where I went?" my eyes grew wide. I always wanted to go to Midgard. I year the food there can be delicious in certain countries.
"I thought you knew?" Hela questioned as she helped me back to my feet, I shooked my head.
"I only wanted an ale. Seems the mirror choose poorly"
"Let's get you back to bed"
After my night in the pub, I didn't exactly get to go to sleep. I was used to roughing it. So sleeping on soft feathers made it difficult for me to sleep at night. I used to have something that would help with the insomnia that didn't come in a pint glass and that was my mother's lullaby. It was soothing. I wish I knew how it went.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Hela worried, bringing me back to my bed "You seem distant"
"I am fine, honestly" I nestled down in the blankets, "I'm just... tired"
"Alright," she cradled my cheek in the palm of her hand, "Get some rest, Aurora. My dear, sweet Aurora..."
"Good night," I shut my eyes again and finally got the sleep I needed. Although, my brain kept rattling around the possibility that I inadvertently ran into the lost Odinson tonight.
When I woke up again, I felt so much better. Granted, I had gotten used to sleeping on the road, under trees, on flat rocks big enough to lay on, soft spots on the ground. Moss as pillows. Sleeping in a bed again will always be a foreign concept, but definitely a welcome one. The pain in my back eased. I noticed that there were some clean clothes placed on the chair in the corner.
However, I did notice that it was the middle of the afternoon. I did not doubt that everyone else in the castle was doing their own thing. And if I am to be left unintended, then maybe now would be a good time to go pay the dungeons a visit. I wanted to meet Hela's younger brother. I threw on my clean clothes and made my way toward the dungeons.
Things were quiet on this side of the castle. It did make me curious, though. If I was as big of a sadist as Hela, I'd probably have her brother on regularly scheduled torture. But when we first came here, it was as if she forgot he even existed.
When I made it to the dungeons, I saw the brother balled up in his cell, cold, naked and in a truly pitiful state. I knew Hela didn't care much for him and I wasn't supposed to care for him. But seeing him in this state, shocked me to my very cold core.
"No!" he scurried to the back of his cell at the mere sound of my footsteps, "Get away from me! ... I can't take much more... Please..."
"Hello there" I spoke softly, trying not to scare him. He looked up at me with his sad, sunken eyes.
"You're Hela's new favourite, aren't you?"
"How about," I got down to his level, Resting my arm on the cell's bar "you call me Aurora instead?"
"I'm amazed you're letting me talk at all," he scoffed, "If you were Hela, She would cut out my tongue by now. Or sewed my mother shut"
"But I'm not Hela," I pointed out. I knew Hela was cruel but this was wrong "You don't have to be afraid of me."
"What's your play?" he kept his guard up, "Playing nice with me for Hela? Is this some new form of torture she's aiming at?"
"Not at all" I promised as I shook my head, "No torture. No Hela. No ulterior motives. I am just saying hi"
"Where my sister is involved, There's always an angle," he wasn't budging. And I couldn't blame him. Hela had done a number on him.
"Again, I am not Hela," I reiterated, "What's your name?" The Prince rolled his eyes.
"I get one of those now?"
"Everyone does," I nodded, "Human, Frost Gaint, Elf, Hybrid. Would you like a sign of my good faith?"
"What's that?"
"We really shouldn't be talking through bars for one, should we?" I looked around and jumped behind the guard's post and grabbed the cell key, opening the door to the cell. I sat across from him on the floor, "There. That's better."
He immediately went for my throat, his fingers wrapping tightly around it.
"What's stopping me from killing you right here and making my escape?"
"Honestly, I couldn't care less if you escaped" I struggled for breath. Only half of me needed to breathe, "But Hela will hunt you down" In the next breath, he let me go.
"Fair point." He hung his head, awaiting some sort of punishment. Instead, I gave him something better than a deserved punishment. I took off my warm cloak and draped it over his shoulders.
"Now, I can talk to you without something waving in my face" I nodded down. The Prince blushed as he realised he was naked. He pulled the cloak around him tighter. I couldn't help but look.
"Thank you" Despite having his guard up, I think I just shattered it entirely. He didn't know what to think. I wasn't going to give him any sort of punishment. I could understand why he was so jumpy around me. Hela favoured me. I had Skurge on my side now, too. And I'm sure Morbuis would do anything Hela asked of him. Instead of giving him a harsh and swift punishment, I did something even better. I showed him kindness "Why are you doing this?" he asked, revelling in the warmth I gave him.
"Call it empathy from my Asgardian half," I smiled, "Now, can you tell me your name?" I smiled as I leaned against the cell's metal bars. He looked up at me, still confused, yet absolutely grateful.
"I am Loki. Former Prince of Asgard" Loki sighed "You said your name was Aurora, right?"
"That's right," I nodded, "It's a pleasure to finally put a name to the face, Loki."
"Could I ask you something, Aurora?" Loki pulled the cloak around him a little tighter.
"Sure."
"Why are you here?"
"I wanted someone to talk to and everyone else is asleep."
"I didn't mean here" Loki clarified, "I meant in In Hela's castle. Are you Hela's new plaything?"
"No," I shook my head, "She seems to care for me. Despite being half Frost Giant"
"You're a Frost Giant?" he looked me over, taking in what he could.
"Half of me is," I confirmed, "It was my father's fault. And that term is a loose name for him."
"What would you normally call him?" Loki wondered.
"Asshole, normally," I admitted, "I guess Volstagg worked too. Prefer wanker though"
"Volstagg was your father?" he gasped, his eyes growing wide "He laid down with a Frost Giant. Can't say I am surprised. He has his wife were separated for a year about 20-something years ago"
"You knew him?"
"And fought alongside him at one point" I did come down here for answers.
"Was he really a pig like Hela and the others describe him as?" I picked at my hand.
"Only when it came to food. The damn fool was always shoving food in his mouth" Loki chuckled "I remember one time that we visited Midgard, we visited the King Of England and boy did we feast. Volstagg had so much food in his beard that at nighttime, Raccoons made nests in his beard"
"So he wasn't a wanker?"
"Not really. Why what do you know of him?"
"That he tried to sleep with Hela but she pushed him down the stairs" I looked at the floor. Loki chuckled.
"That bit was true but in his defence he was drunk. What else?" Loki tilted his head at me.
"That I was only conceived because he raped my mother. Was that in Volstagg's nature?" I crossed my fingers, bracing myself for his answer to my question. Loki shook his head.
"Volstagg wasn't like that at all. As I said, He had a wife and here in Asgard"
"Morbius said that I was one of Volstagg's bastards" I sighed.
"He did have 12 kids with his wife. Maybe during the separation, Volstagg whored his way through the realms"
"Still doesn't make me like Dear old Dad any better" my voice drenched in sarcasm.
"Volstagg was insufferable, but his heart was in the right place. His head was left near Midgard. Maybe even Nidavellir" Loki scoffed.
"You know, I like you Loki. Do you think I could trust you?"
"Why?" he sat up a little more. "Are you considering betraying Hela?"
"No," I shot that down before it could turn into something. I can't betray Hela after she put a (very large) roof over my head "I know better than that. Though the others seem to be a little more..."
"Suspicious?" Loki cocked an eyebrow.
"Paranoid seems to be a far more fitting term" I went on, "I just need to know that there is someone I can trust that isn't in Hela's little circle"
"I wouldn't trust Hela as far as I could throw her," Loki admitted "But I could see why you would."
"What about you, Loki?" I asked, standing on my feet again. I cracked my neck a few times "Can I trust you?"
"Only if I can trust you, Aurora" he stipulated. I like how my name sounds on his tongue.
"You can" I took his hand. Smiling up at him, I untied my doublet from around his neck and wrapped myself in it. Loki looked at me confused "Could we do this again sometime, Loki?"
"Yes," Loki nodded as he licked his lips "I think so."
"Until the next time we meet then" I left his cell and locked it behind me, "I'm sure you understand why I can't let you out."
"I do," he sent me off, "I suggest leaving before someone wakes up and comes down here for me. Which given the fact that the sun is about to come up, won't be long"
"Loki," I took his hand one last time, "You don't deserve this. No one deserves to be treated like this" Loki stared blankly at me, not sure what my angle was for showing him such kindness. I just needed to kill some time before the others woke up. I've seen Hela when someone wakes her up. It's not a pretty sight. Given my current position in this castle (even though I'm her new favourite), something tells me she would have my head on a spike outside. However, maybe I did have an angle for being so nice to Loki.
It wouldn't be such a terrible idea for someone like me to have him in my pocket, would it? I want to know if I can truly trust him first. Perhaps I could test him? But what would I test him with? I didn't exactly tell anyone I was going to the dungeons today. Something tells me Hela wouldn't want me fraternizing with the former Prince. Even though he was considered below shit right now, he was still of use to her. As much as I wanted to play with Loki a little more, I needed to leave him. Once everyone is back to sleep, I'd pay Loki another visit. I could perhaps bring him something later, though. Like trousers, or a blanket.
But there was one other thing that still bothered me. What was I going to do about the Asgardian in the Tavern? I'm sure he and I should meet soon. Maybe that's why the mirror brought me to him instead of the pub down the road.
"Were you showing me destiny, little mirror? Does that mean you're going to show me where the Odinson is?" I'll go to the mirror room later. Mother's stories always spoke so highly of the Odinson family. Well,most of them. I might as well go introduce myself. Having the last sons of the Odinson family in my pocket wouldn't be a half-bad idea either.