Perfect Illusion
Chapter 10: Perfect Illusion
Days have passed but Stella's powers still have not resurfaced yet. She has been spending days in her room meditating and trying to do the easiest magic. She ended up buying clothes online or from shops around the tower and taking them to the laundry instead of changing with a flick of her hand. So far she can heat up a glass of coffee that Natasha has neglected.
"Ow! How in the hell…"
"Sorry. I warmed it up since it was sitting there forever. Forgot to warn you." Stella told her.
"You could've given me a heads up." Natasha blew out of her mouth. "Now it's scalding hot."
Stella held her mug and it really was beyond boiling temp. "Good thing the mug didn't break," she teased.
"Is it back?"
"Not in its entirety," she replied without looking up from the screen. She studied the pendant's blueprint on the screen. "Did you disable the tracker in this?"
"Took me forever to get into its mainframe but yeah, I did."
"Did you trace where it transmitted?"
Natasha continued typing on her end. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."
"I'm scared they might come bursting in."
Natasha reached out and held her hand. "Don't worry about it. We're ready for what comes next."
Stella nodded. "Thanks for doing this. I couldn't figure it out on my own."
She looked up and smiled. "No need to thank us, it's our job. Good thing Fury had you first than Ares."
“Nah. Ares wouldn’t even think of trying to get me into his team.” Stella opened her browser and searched for flights to Greece.
"Going on a vacation in the middle of this?"
"Uh, no. I can't warp myself to Athens and I need to talk to my sister about Ares and my powers."
"You can use S.H.I.E.L.D's planes." Natasha blew her coffee.
"Not really a wise move to do that right now when the tesseract's missing." Stella replied, eyes fixed on the screen.
"Oh yeah. How about Stark's private jets?"
"Too bougie. I need to go low key."
"Speaking of low key, why don't you ask Loki or Thor?"
Stella peered over her screen. "If I ask Thor, then I have to ask Heimdall to bring me to Athens. If I ask Loki-"
"If he can help you. If he wants to."
Stella shook her head. "Nah. I don't think he will. He still has a petty grudge on me."
"Wow it's been 3 days since Stark's party and he still hasn't gotten over you slamming the door at him?"
Stella straightened up and rested a hand on her hip. "In my defense, he made a security risk that night."
Natasha chuckled. "Yeah. But nothing happened."
Stella glared at the redhead. “Are you taking his side?” She scoffed.
Natasha was smiling at this point. “No. Not really. But if that woman had tricks in her sleeve I’ll be after her in less than a sec. Or all of us will be after her, including you.” Natasha pressed something on the panel in front of her and the face of the blonde woman appeared on the holoscreen between them. The name was Elizabeth Grey. “If she did threaten everyone that night, we would all know the second it happened.”
The woman’s flushed behind and Loki’s scratches on his back flashed before Stella’s eyes. Whenever she sees him in the tower she would always be reminded of the red sex lines on his back and she wanted to bash her head onto the concrete walls. Now that Natasha pulled up the image of the woman, she wanted to shoot herself for remembering the images. She felt a pinch in her chest but she laughed it out. “Natasha, for the love of sanity, why on earth did you bring this up? I’d like to forget everything I saw but you’re not helping.”
Natasha laughed. “I’m doing this because I need to tell you that you don’t have to worry about her.” She couldn’t stop giggling.
Stella groaned. “Easy for you to do that. You better thank whatever deity you believe in for not witnessing the horror with your own eyes.”
“I’ve seen -”
“Worse, yeah.” Stella finished her sentence for her. “But this could be the most horrible scene you’ll ever see in your lifetime, Loki kissing a woman like a dementor sucking someone’s soul.” She scrunched her nose in repugnance as she picked up her water bottle. “Please, for the love of everything you hold dear, shoot me,” she added before drinking.
“Are you sure you’re not jealous?”
Stella almost choked on her drink. “Hell no!” She retorted. “Over my dead body.”
Natasha lost it. Her laughter echoed in the lab. “I was just wondering because you’ve been reacting like it’s a big deal. Anyway, she’s a secretary for Stark Industries’ Marketing Department. Nothing alarming. She just got lucky an immortal got to her.” Natasha finally said.
Stella bit her lower lip. She stopped herself from letting out a heavy sigh. Her emotions have been confusing lately and she didn’t want to dwell on it. She even has been avoiding coffee so as not to trigger the anxiety. "And that asshole said I was jealous because I pointed out that she was a security risk." Stella ranted.
"You clearly have a point but y'know Loki. He would piss off anyone if he has the chance. Good thing he still hasn't uncovered your deepest, darkest secrets."
Stella paused and stared at Natasha. Natasha looked back at her, worried she might have struck the wrong chord.
Stella waved a hand between them. Natasha's shoulders dropped. "Nah. I don't have anything to hide. But…now I’m thinking...what if..." Stella pursed her lips and stood up to leave.
Natasha’s heart skipped a beat. "Where are you going?"
"Don’t worry about it. I’m taking my chances,” she replied over her shoulder.
Natasha sat up straight. “Are you really doing what I think you’ll do? Will you ask for Loki’s help?”
Stella turned on her heels to face her. “I have to. I need to see my sister and face my final judgment.” She continued to walk backward until she arrived in front of the elevator. She pressed a button and entered the car. “Wish me luck!” The elevator doors closed.
A few floors later, she entered their floor and knocked on Loki's door. "Who is it?" she heard him say.
"Loki, it's Stella."
The door opened, revealing Loki in his dark green leather tunic, dark green and black, intricately designed coat, and black trousers combo. “Ah.” Loki beamed. “You’ve finally thought of knocking at my door to find out what it’s like?” He said suggestively. “The cat’s finally curious?” Stella groaned. He smirked, pleased that he had annoyed Stella once again.
“No! What the fuck.” The cursed scenes appeared in her head again. She shut her eyes tight and her face contorted in disdain. “Can we at least have a normal conversation?” She fumed.
Annoyed, Loki’s lip twitched. "What do you want?" He grumbled.
She stood straight and hooked her thumbs on her front pocket. "I need your help."
He snickered and folded his hands on his chest. "You must be so desperate to need my help." She rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare roll your eyes on me!"
"Or what?" She said slyly as she imitated his stance and leaned on his door frame, a smug look on her face.
“I’ll pluck your eyes and play with them like marbles,” he replied nonchalantly.
She chuckled. “You won’t do such a thing.” Loki flicked his hand and his dagger appeared. “Go ahead, be my guest.”
He glared down at her. She will not back down, will she? He badly wanted to work on the tesseract case on his own but he remembered his father specifically commanding him to work with the Greek demigod. He also wanted to give her a hard time but he does not want to be blasted off to space once again.
Then he saw her necklace.
Loki sighed and conceded. He closed his hand and his dagger disappeared. "Fine. What do I need to do?"
She replaced her smug look with a cheeky smirk. "Can you help me translocate to Athens? Please?" She said as she unconsciously played with her amethyst pendant.
He still has a stern look written on his face. "What's in it for me?"
"You wanted to go home with the tesseract, right? And you get to meet Athena."
"I do not wish to meet your sister. Besides, I can work on the case alone." Loki turned back. “I can even defeat Ares alone,” he added.
Stella remained by the door, leaning on the door frame, one hand resting on her hip. "Oh, what a shame. She does want to meet you and she trusts you."
Loki stopped pacing. "She trusts me?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise. No other respected deity trusts him ever since and hearing this is unbelievable. He turned to Stella after a moment of silence. "Do you trust me?"
"If Athena trusts you then I do, too," she replied without missing a beat.
Loki snickered sardonically. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
“And you don’t know what Ares is capable of.” Stella replied as she let herself in his room.
Loki turned to face her, his coat fluttering behind him. “How could you say you trust me?” Loki asked, his curiosity was killing him. He had to know.
Stella fixed her eyes on him. She knew there was more to his question. She wanted to ask why not but seeing Athena was an urgent matter. “I told you, if Athena trusts you then I do, too,” she repeated.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t put my trust easily on anyone. Especially when you’re just a mortal,” he warned.
“If I didn’t trust you, then I would’ve already let Odin do whatever he wants to do to you.” Loki flicked his eyes to her. He was surprised to hear that from her.
“You know nothing,” he hissed. But she didn’t flinch. She was still standing there in his room, waiting for him to help her. She knows something, he thought. But now was not the time for it.
Loki took a few steps closer and held out his hand. Stella extended her hand but retracted it when Loki was about to grab it. “Actually, can we stop by my station in Kalambaka before heading to the Parthenon?” She now said in a cutesy way.
Loki groaned. “I can’t wait for your magic to be back.”
Stella snickered and extended her hand again. “Me too.” As soon as Stella held his, green and gold mist covered them and they disappeared in a heartbeat.
Stella almost stumbled when they appeared in the middle of the sidewalk in front of her police station. Loki immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her in, missing getting hit by a motorcycle by inches. Loki released her when he made sure she was steady. “Whoa. I almost died there. Thanks.” She fixed the tuck of her white loose shirt.
“‘Died’ is an overstatement. It was just a motorcycle.” Stella glared at him. Loki looked around and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why are we here, anyway?” He asked.
“I needed to check the missing people case. Maybe we can find something. A lead.”
“You can get that information from mortals?” He turned to her.
The corner of her lip rose. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
Stella surveyed the street. The station changed since they left it. The posters of missing persons pinned on the bulletin boards were now covered with placards saying “Justice for the missing people of Kalambaka!”, “we demand an explanation!”, “The End Is Near! REPENT!” and so on and so forth. Stella noted that there are more protest posters in front of the station. She caught Loki’s eye and coaxed him to enter the station.
Once the officers noticed who entered, everyone stood up and greeted Stella, either verbally or with a nod. Loki studied Stella. She was standing straight and acknowledged each officer in a stately demeanor. Even without her powers, she looked like she still had them. When the officers' eyes panned on Loki, they would either cower and go back to their work or look at him in awe, not believing their eyes seeing that the god who brought aliens down to New York was in their station, walking in with their respected youngest detective. Loki gave one officer a sinister smirk and he almost spilled his coffee on his shirt.
Stella led them to the back of the station, snaking through the cramped hallway full of boxes and abandoned desks until they passed by her own door and stopped on the next. Loki read the name on the door. Det. Alexis Marinos. Stella opened the door and let themselves in.
The heavily-bearded man sitting on the desk was startled upon the intrusion. “Oh it’s just you,” he exhaled when he saw Stella. “But who is this with you?” He pointed his pen at the tall, lithe man in a three-piece black fit behind her.
“This is Loki. Loki -” she faced Loki and presented a hand to Alexis “-this is Alexis.”
Alexis perked up. He pushed his glasses up and stood. He was a few feet shorter than Loki. “Oh, Loki! The Asgardian!” He approached them and he beamed at him. Alexis was older than Stella but soft-spoken. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” Alexis eagerly shook Loki’s hand, his strong grip surprising Loki. “Come, sit, sit!” He gestured to the seats in front of his desk. Stella pulled Loki’s sleeve and they sat. “So, you’re finally working together.”
Loki raised his brows, curious as to why the mortal man said ‘finally.’
“Yeah. We have to. Anyway, any news on the case?” Stella crossed her legs.
Alexis leaned on his chair. “Nothing. Everyone’s still missing. We couldn’t even give the government a normal explanation.” He gave Stella a folder.
“This isn’t a normal disappearance case. Though it would be easier if this was a massacre but it wasn’t. It’s a bloodless crime. Everyone just disappeared.” She commented as she scanned the folder.
“Is it true? That this is Ares?” Alexis asked.
Loki gave the man his full attention. “I beg your pardon? How did you know Ares?”
Alexis’ light-colored eyes wandered from Loki to Stella. “You didn’t tell him about me?”
Stella snickered. “It was meant to be a surprise,” she answered before facing Loki. “Alexis here is a demigod. By Poseidon. Which makes him my cousin.” Loki made a soundless ‘oh.’ “That’s why he knows who we’re after.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t like Stella who was trained by Athena. I was trained by elementals.” He pointed a finger at his water bottle sitting beside him and the bottle filled with water.
“And I lost my magic.” Stella interjected.
Alexis cocked his head, brows furrowed in worry. “How?”
“Ares’ twins have placed the collar on me.”
Alexis covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head. “No way. So you’re here to consult with Athena?”
Stella nodded. “Though I’m afraid.” Her eyes locked on Loki’s. “What if she’ll find another guardian because I’m decommissioned?” She said, more asking Loki about it than Alexis. It was a question Loki has been hearing much from her for the past weeks.
“I don’t think she’ll do that. But if she does, you can always come back here, to your office next door.” Alexis jerked his thumb to his right, where Stella’s office is.
“Alexis, that’s the reason why I have that job.”
Alexis shrugged and leaned forward. “Moving on, is it true that Kalambaka was Ares?” Loki and Stella nodded. His eyes dropped. “How the hell are we going to tell the government that?”
“I have no idea if the National Defense will believe us if we tell them this is an ancient Greek god’s doing. They’ll probably call the bs and fire everyone involved in the case.” Stella picked up the folder and stopped at a page. “I just noticed that you had a word with the monks on top of the cliffs.”
“Yeah. They said they noticed a bright flash of white light below around matins.” He scrunched his nose at the word.
“What is matins?” Loki asked after how many minutes of silently observing and listening to them.
“Between 2:30 to 3:00 in the morning. It’s a monastic term.” Stella answered.
Alexis nodded. “Okay. 2:30 to 3:00 AM, matins. They thought it was the antichrist.” Alexis added. “How are we gonna tell them that the people were zapped by magic?” Alexis glanced at Loki, waiting for his opinion. “Word has been circulating that the antichrist has arrived, thanks to the monks.”
“No wonder posters outside told people to repent.” Stella fell back on the chair and ran a finger on her lower lip. “Did the National Defense know about this bright light?”
“They do. We sent that report to them but they said it must be a result of powerful machinery. A weapon of mass destruction.”
“I mean, this is Ares we’re talking about.” She glanced at Loki. “Ares has an extensive collection of historical weapons.” She turned back to Alexis. “CCTV footage?”
Alexis sighed and gave her the tablet. She played the video and she watched it with Loki. The video was from the hallway of the hotel she checked. The screen showed the empty hallway and after 15 seconds, the walls of some rooms blew up, sending the debris toward the hallway then the video ended. Loki swiped left and it showed another footage, this time outside a shop. The camera was facing the street and seconds later the wall of the second floor of the building it was facing blew up. The projection of the debris was the same with the hotel rooms: it went outward. And, just like the hotel footage, the video cut, not revealing the perpetrator.
Loki and Stella watched the other videos and it showed them the same pattern: walls blowing up and the video ending in the same way. Stella checked the timestamps of the CCTV footage. It all happened at 2:40 AM.
“So this was a simultaneous attack,” she concluded. Alexis nodded, a morose look on his face.
“National Defense thinks it’s nuclear. But our and the science div’s findings showed no nuclear residue.” Alexis said. “If it was nuclear the animals would’ve died.”
Loki’s forehead crunched thoughtfully. “But didn’t we detect magical residue on the town when we were there?” He asked her.
“It could be two things: sorcery, or a weapon made of magic.” Alexis replied. “But I don’t think they’ll accept magic as an explanation.”
“Why?” Loki asked them.
“We’re children of the old gods.” Stella replied. “No one seems to believe our bloodlines still exist.”
“Has this catastrophe ever happened in Greece before?” Loki inquired.
Alexis removed his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. “Not in modern times, no.”
Stella snorted after a few seconds of silence. “Antichrist. Turns out it’s just Ares.” She closed the folder and returned it to Alexis’ desk. “Antichrist indeed.”
After they consulted with Alexis, Stella decided that it was time to go to Athens. This time, Loki led the way when they got out of the station, holding Stella’s hand through the crowd. A golden-green mist enveloped them and they stood in the middle of the Acropolis, surrounded by tourists. Stella was still holding his hand. She took a quick glance at him and it looks like he wasn't minding their hands. She looked around and no one seemed to notice the odd couple holding hands in the middle of a hot, Grecian summer.
Loki looked around and there was nothing but ruins. “So, this is it?” He asked, underwhelmed as usual.
She released his hand. “I know it’s not much -”
“It’s nothing.” He shut his lips tight. Stella looked at him, her arms crossed on her chest. “What?”
“Are you really going to wear that? It’s freaking hot.”
Loki looked at his all-black ensemble. “I don’t feel hot.”
She chewed on her inner lip. “Right.” She pulled him by the sleeve and led them to the side of the Propylaea. “Well, going back, it’s something in Midgardian history. Just goes to show that they exist.” Loki let her pull him. He tried to hide his smile, amused on the fact that someone as short as Stella was pulling an Asgardian god behind her. Loki caught up with her and clasped his hand on hers. Stella paused and lifted their hands. “O...kay. If you want to play it that way.” Loki noticed a blush blooming on her face. She dropped their locked hands and continued walking. They turned in a corner and stopped in a smaller temple in the compound. “This is Athena’s.” Stella studied Loki’s unimpressed face. “I know, I know. It’s nothing.”
Loki pursed his lips. "After you." He slowly released her hand. She nodded at him and she walked over the rope. She looked around, expecting the mortal guards to call her out. When no one noticed, she coaxed Loki to follow.
"Did you put us in your illusion?" She asked as they entered the ruined temple.
A green mist covered Loki, replacing his Midgardian clothing with his Asgardian leather armors, his golden helm appearing last. "I had to avoid their attention." They walked around the great hall. "How are we supposed to talk to your sister? Through a pot?"
"Athena!" Stella called out and the temple transformed from the ruins to a curtain-covered throne room. "It's not like Asgard's throne room but it's something."
Loki looked around. She’s right. It wasn't as grand as Asgard's throne room. It was white and gold all over. Just that. Too plain for his liking.
"Stella, sister," a woman spoke. Stella bowed before her and he remained standing some feet away from them. The woman was older than him, wiser. Wearing a rose-colored dress draping over her tall stature. Her dress exposed her gold-cuff covered arms, just like Stella's cuffs. Gold-plated armor attached to her shoulders but her chest was not armored, unlike the women of Asgard's royal court. Unlike Frigga's chest plate.
My mother. His heart ached for her until now. He looked at Stella and Athena. She looked at ease with Athena and the latter gazed at her with a motherly love.
He has missed these moments with his mother.
"And you must be Loki." Athena broke into his thoughts. He looked at her and smiled, unsure if he should bow. "You need not bow before me, boy. We are equals in this court."
Equals. We are equals. If only Odin could see me as Thor's equal. Shame it took for another deity to see me as their equal.
"I am Loki, yes. The prince -"
"The prince of Asgard. Odinson." Athena interrupted him. The rightful king of Jotunheim and I am not Odin's son, he thought. "It's good to finally meet a son of Odin." She put her hands on his arms and studied him. Normally he doesn't want people to lay their hands on him but Athena's touch was close to his mother's: gentle but strong, caring, warm. “How did you get here?” She let go of him and asked Stella.
“I asked Loki to bring me here.” Stella elbowed him and he proudly smiled. “I can’t translocate. Ares’ twins placed a collar on me and it drained my energy.” She said, looking at her hands, fear starting to creep in.
Athena noticed Stella’s shift. “Is there something bothering you, sister?”
Stella looked at her sister, a cold sweat dripping on her temple. “Is this the end?”
“The end of what?”
“My guardianship. I lost my powers.”
Athena approached Stella and held her hands. “What made you think of such?” Stella bit her lip. “I won’t revoke your duty.” Athena tucked a loose strand of the demigod’s hair. Loki watched closely, admiring the closeness of the two. “You are the most powerful demigod that exists and now you hold the honor to defend the mortals and Earthrealm along with us, the gods. This is just a minor inconvenience.” The older god kissed Stella’s forehead.
“Does that mean I can get my powers back?”
“Of course.”
Stella covered her mouth in shock and delight. She turned to Loki. “I told you it can be fixed,” he told her.
“Anything can be fixed, Stella. Did you forget?” Athena addressed Stella and gently squeezed Loki’s arm. “They are indeed on the move.” Athena led them to the sitting room. She walked to a table full of liquid and started mixing something. She turned to them, bringing a golden goblet. “Drink this. This will strengthen your energy, but it’ll take time.” Athena gave the goblet to Stella and she drank.
Stella felt the cold syrup rush down through her and she pulled the goblet from her lips. “That was so cold.” She furrowed her forehead and coughed.
Athena gave her a toothless smile. “Finish that.” She commanded and Stella drained the goblet. “You have to be careful, the two of you, include Thor in the equation. They have the means to draw magic from you.” Athena looked at Loki. “I am surprised Ares did not drain you when he attacked in Asgard.”
“He can try.” Loki challenged. Athena smirked in response.
Stella stood up and returned the goblet to the table on the other side of the room. “Why did he end up using sorcery?” She filled the goblet with water and took a gulp. “It’s unusual for the god of war like him to wield magic. He never was the one who believes in it.”
“I have been asking the same question, Stella. I asked Hera about it and she told me she doesn't know why.”
“Of course she won’t talk because she has to protect her son.” Stella added.
“Maybe Hera has bestowed sorcery upon her son?” Loki suggested.
Athena considered his statement. “She could. But she never favored Ares even though he is the son of Hera and Zeus.” Loki’s jaw clenched. That was a familiar feeling. “But whatever power Hera gives is all too powerful.”
“And deadly.” Stella said over her shoulder as she walked to the adjacent room. “But we’ll never know what’s in her sleeve. She could absolutely do that.”
Loki tapped his chin, deep in thought. If this is the case then it’s safe to warrant the Avengers’ help, he concluded. Athena interrupted his thoughts when she spoke. "Odin told me you were going to bring the tesseract home."
"I am working with my brother, Thor."
"And Stella. Hmmm." She looked at Stella, who was starting to meditate in the next room. "I was told you saved her from the twins." Athena held Loki's hand in hers. "Thank you, Loki. She is the last warrior I have."
Unlike his reaction when the mortal man held his arm back in the police station in Kalambaka, this time he just looked at his hand in Athena’s. "May I ask what happened to the others?" He asked.
"I do not have a thousand warrior demigods. Most of them died in the battle of Stheno, fighting her army. After I trained and taught her, I did not bring new children under my wing because there are no more of them." Athena explained.
That is odd. Loki thought as he walked around.
"It's not much, unlike your Asgard."
Loki studied the room where Stella is. "Asgard looks much better than this."
"I know. I’ve been there. Frigga was a dear friend of mine." Loki halted in his tracks, his mouth shut tight. Athena walked to where he stopped and held him by his arms. “I am so sorry for your loss.” He controlled his expression but deep inside he wanted to scream. He felt his energy bubbling in anger inside him. Not because Athena brought it up, but because Malekith killed his mother.
Athena seemed to feel his anguish. Loki then felt something warm radiating from her hands and spreading through him that calmed the raging storm within. She smiled softly at him when Loki gave up the stern expression masking him. “Your mother loved you dearly, Loki. She has told me multiple times.”
Then why would she hide the truth from me? He thought as he broke himself from Athena’s hands. She let go of him. She watched him enter the room where Stella is.
Stella stumbled from her bench. "Stella!" Loki caught her, good thing he was near her.
She choked on her breath and held onto his arms. Athena rushed to her side. Stella extended her arm behind Loki and she felt a surge of energy coarse through her but only a puff of blue expelled from her hand. She limped against Loki's arms.
Loki helped her sit back on the bench. "I can feel it but it won't appear," she said.
"Give it a few more days. At least you have meditated closer to Olympus." Athena replied.
Loki's eyebrows furrowed. He could never understand how things go in Athens nor in Olympus.
"Thank you, sister. I think we need to leave." Stella stood up.
"Before you go, take this." Athena gave her a shortsword, about 3 feet long. "I know you can't make your armor and swords appear for now."
Stella's lips curved up. "Back to the basics, eh?"
It was nighttime when they got out. Stella attached her sword on her waist as they went down the stairs.
"Have you tried gyros?" Stella asked.
"What are gyros?"
"It's like shawarma, but Greek. With a little yogurt. We should get one for dinner." Stella studied Loki’s helm. “Isn’t that heavy?” Loki glanced at her inquisitively. “Your...horns? Do I call those horns?” Loki sighed and ignored her questions. “Okay, silence means yes.”
“How did silence become a ‘yes’?” Loki asked, quite irritated.
She chuckled. “I don’t even know.”
“Why would you say that? That was not an answer for anything.”
“I know, I know. It’s problematic. It’s layers of problems. I was just kidding.”
“Not a good jest.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Stella dropped her head.
They continued walking in silence. Loki's thoughts were still lingering on his conversation with Athena. He was still a little bothered when Athena acknowledged him as an Odinson. But she doesn’t know anything. No one else ever knew except Frigga, Thor, and Odin himself. It was a secret he can’t give away that easily, given the nature of it. But he really was not one to give them away. "Is she the only one who trains demigod children for war?" He inquired after a few minutes of pondering.
"Yes and we're not trained for war. Ares does that. We are prepared for war. Why did you ask?"
"Your sister told me something peculiar about the demigod warriors," Loki began.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"She explained that she doesn't train demigods after you because there are no more demigod children. Have you thought of the possibility that the gods, or Ares, have been the ones training their children?"
Stella stopped. He did too after going down a few steps after her. He turned back to her. "It's also possible the gods are working for Ares's selfish reasons." She paused. Loki studied her. "Tony's right and yes, you're right. Ares might not have a thousand demigod children but he can convince other children or gods to work for him. It’s not even impossible for Hades to send dead demigods and warriors to help him."
"You're welcome." He gave her a smug look and went on his way. Stella followed. “And how old were you when the battle against Stheno happened?”
Stella got distracted by a tree by the pathway. “I was 18.” Loki nodded and continued walking, not noticing that he had left her behind. "Hey! Don't leave me!"
"Scared, Lords?"
But Loki stopped on his tracks. Something doesn't feel right. He waited for Stella to catch up with him. "Stay close." He told her.
"Can you feel something wrong?" Stella moved her hand to the hilt of her sword.
"Give me your sword." She started to retort but he gave her a tense nod. “Do you trust me?”
She looked straight at him. “Yes.”
“Then give me your sword.” She reluctantly surrendered her sword to him.
They continue walking. When they turned to a corner, a man was blocking the way.
"Give us the girl and we will let you live." The man told them.
"Just live? I don't need to 'just live'." Loki growled.
"Loki? What is happening?" Stella uttered. "Give me back my sword."
Loki leered at her. "No." He pushed her to the man.
"Loki! No!" Stella screamed and the man opened his arms. He closed his grasp on Stella but caught nothing. The man looked at Loki, smirking at him, and the former yelped. The man tumbled to the ground, revealing Stella with her sword raised to the air. The man caught her illusion and the real Stella slashed him from behind. "That was cool." She beamed at him. “Can you teach me how to do that?”
“Didn’t Athena teach you how?”
“It’s not our forte.”
More men appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them. Stella stepped back and her back met Loki’s. She twirled her sword, anticipating an attack. “Perhaps you will leave this to me,” Loki said over his shoulders.
“No, I’m armed.” Then a green force shield appeared around her. One of their attackers sent a dagger flying in her direction and dismantled Loki’s force shield. “It’s on.” She picked up the Aresian dagger.
Their attackers close in on them. Stella swings her sword and slashes two in one go. Loki sent his daggers flying. Sometimes Stella throws a kick when she can’t lift her sword. Loki, on the other hand, let his clones do the work, tricking the men to stab each other.
20 minutes had passed when it was over. Loki searched one of the bodies and he saw the same necklace Stella grabbed from one of the twins in New York. He picked one up.
“Don’t. Leave that.” Stella tells him with bated breath.
He approached her. “You don’t sound good.” He then took a good look at her. Her stomach area was bleeding. “Stella, you were stabbed.”
“I’m what?” She asked. She felt faint. As adrenaline left her, she felt the stinging all over her body. She held her hand to her side. “Why am I wet?” She looked at her hand, starting to feel disoriented.
Loki summoned a flame to illuminate them. It was blood. He approached her as he extinguished the flame and pressed his palm on her wound.
Stella noticed Loki’s leathers were glinting. "Is that...blood? Please tell me it isn’t blood." She swiped her finger on his wet shoulder and studied the liquid. “Smells like human blood.”
Loki gave her an ‘are you serious?’ look when she said her observation. He held her up by her waist as he led them away from the scene. “It's not my blood. Stella, how are you feeling?”
“Light. Everything’s light,” she croaked. She ran her hand on his leather-clad chest, soaking her hand with the blood of their enemies. “You’re...bleeding.” She held her hand before her, sludge dripping down to her forearm.
“I told you, you don’t have to worry about it, it’s not my blood.” He felt like his chest was being ripped. “Stay with me, Stella. Darling.”
“Darling?” She chuckled. “Only my mother called me darling.”
Again, that ripping sensation diffused inside him. He lifted Stella’s unbloodied hand to her wound. “Here, press your wound so you’ll slow down the bleeding.” Loki then lifted Stella bridal-style again.
Her eyes started to flutter and she gasped when he lifted her. Stella peeked through her heavy lids and saw the bright stars and Loki’s pale, anxious face. In her injured, unsettled state, she placed her bloodied hand on his cheek. He froze upon her touch and laid eyes on her. Her smile was affectionate, pure.
“The stars are pretty tonight.” She whispered.
Loki gave her a sad smile. “These stars are nothing compared to the ones in Asgard."
Stella’s hand dropped and she closed her eyes.
