A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
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As we both put protective enchantments around my room, along with a Proximity Alarm that will warn us if anyone approaches the room, Loki casts a teleportation spell on both of us.
With a flash of light, we appear back on Midgard, in what looks like a not so dense forest. Knowing where to go, Loki starts leading the walk, and says, "The first one is Narfi. He stays in a village near here."
"Can I ask how exactly you managed to bring him back to life? I've only ever revived animals from death, so I am a bit curious." I ask, as we start our walk.
Loki frowns, but says, "It wasn't easy. Since Vali killed Narfi pretty quickly, he didn't die in a battle, and so, was sent to Hel. Hela might not respect me much, but she loves her siblings. She gave Narfi a place of honour in Helheim, and informed me. We both then brought him out of Helheim, and put his soul in the body of one of my descendants' stillborn child. If it wasn't for Hela's presence, I don't think it would have worked."
Shrugging, he adds, "Sigyn descended to Midgard to raise him, and I brought Vali here from his prison, to help her protect the family. I cast every protective enchantment I knew of and managed to hide the three for 5 centuries. Alas, Hugin and Munin found Vali when he was away, hunting as a wolf, and reported to Odin. Odin cursed my sons to forever be younglings, never grow up, and ordered Sigyn to go back to Asgard."
Shaking my head, I mumble, "Well, I totally understand why you hate Odin. If anyone does anything to my mother, or my new family, I won't hesitate to destroy them. I.. apologize, Loki, for stopping you that day."
How cruel do you have to be, to have one son kill the other, as punishment to the father? And then, when Loki still manages to save them, Odin has the audacity to curse them? They were on Midgard! Literally out of the way of Asgard, and had no intentions of having any revenge. Bloody Odin.
Loki snorts, and says, "I would have gotten away in a few minutes. That bloody oaf had to throw a stone at my head."
I chuckle, remembering that day, and how Loki got knocked out.
Loki puts a hand up, making me stop, and points forward. In a clearing in front of us, were three teenagers. The lone boy amongst the group was definitely Narfi, his magic informed me of that. He was Loki's son alright, that smirk was unique to him.
He had dark hair and green eyes, and although the face looked like the boy was 19 at most, the eyes told me that the boy was way older than me. He wasn't that tall, only at about 5'10, and he also wasn't that big on muscles.
The two girls, meanwhile, were Demigods, both of them of the Aesir Gods, and sisters, by the looks of it. One girl was currently busy feeding Narfi some grapes, kissing in between, while the other was busy lowering her mouth on Narfi. Both were fairly attractive blondes, but were too young by my tastes. 16-20, from the looks of it.
"Are you sure he's your son? That looks like something a Thorson would do." I ask, fairly amused at the kid's behaviour.
Loki scowls, and snarls, "He took exception to his death, and decided that living it up is the way to go. Bloody idiot." Turning to look at me, Loki adds, "Wait here, I'll go and talk with him."
I nod, content with letting Loki handle it. As Loki enters the warded clearing, the boy jumps up into a fighting position, and then relaxes, seeing it's only Loki. Narfi then waves the girls towards the house that's behind him, starts fixing his clothes, and they start an animated argument.
Beyond curious, I eavesdrop, and listen to an embarrassed Narfi shout, "WHY IN THE HEL ARE YOU HERE NOW?! ISN'T RAGNAROK A FEW DAYS AWAY STILL!?"
Loki snarks back, "Oh, I'm sorry that I want to save my son's life. Would you want me to come after I'm dead? I need to take you away before Ragnarok even starts, you moron! And you're here having a threesome! Does your mother know?!"
Narfi winces at that, and mumbles, "Mother doesn't know, and don't you dare tell her." He then looks at Loki, and asks, "Couldn't this wait for.. I don't know.. a few hours? Unless you've forgotten, grandpa dearest froze me into this.. adolescent body, and I'm bloody horny!"
Loki smacks the boy on his head, and snarls, "3 hours is all you get, idiot. Take care of your needs, pack up some necessities, and then say your goodbyes. We'll return to bring you to your new home then. And for fuck's sake, do it inside the house!"
Loki then stomps over to see me smirking at him, and asks, "Had a good show?"
"Very. Vali next?" I ask, keeping my amusement openly on my face.
Loki simply waves his hand to cast another teleportation spell, taking us a few hundred miles away from Narfi's house. We're on Earth now, remember? I might not know what Loki's children look like, but I do know where I land after each teleportation spell.
This time, we don't have to walk much, as barely a minute after we land there, a dark black wolf, as tall as my shoulder runs towards us and jumps on top of Loki. I would have tried taking the wolf off Loki, but Loki seemed to be smiling, as the wolf licked Loki on the face.
"Stop it, Vali! You saw me just two days ago!" Loki says, while laughing.
Taking a step back, Vali the wolf shifts from his form as a wolf, and a boy looking surprisingly similar to Narfi, only looking like a 15 year old, stands in front of us. As the two hug each other, I say, "I didn't know you could do that."
Vali takes a step back, and looks me up and down. He says, "Yeah the Aesir gave me a taste for shape shifting, albeit unwillingly. And I wouldn't be my father's son if I couldn't shift into my animal form willingly, and keep my mind."
I nod at him and ask Loki, "So you have two wolf children then. Can't say I saw this coming."
Fenrir and Vali. One bound by the Gods for fear of his strength, and the other made to kill his brother. Why are Aesir called the good guys again?
Vali says, "Yes, but I can assure you that I'm a far better company. You're the one that's going to keep us alive?" Once I nod, he asks, "What's in it for you?"
Pointing my head to Loki, I say, "Your father promised me the sample of one of his potions, and it's recipe. And I get you Lokisons as the Gods of my Pantheon."
"Fair enough. Father knows what he's doing. But do be sure that if you break your word, I will kill you myself." Vali says, looking straight into my eyes.
Loki snorts, breaking our challenging eye contact, and says, "Okay, enough. Have you packed yet?"
Vali shrugs, turning to Loki, and says, "Everything I own is always with me. What about my kids and their descendants?"
I blink at that, not having known that Vali had descendants, while Loki assures him, "Your mortal descendants will live, but they won't remember you after Ragnarok happens, and they won't retain any magical gifts they inherited from you. If you have any new Demigod children, we should probably move them to his planet too, because they won't survive being here."
I frown, and say, "That wasn't part of our deal, Loki."
Hey I might be the Guardian Celestial, but saving every life is not my responsibility, nor possible. Death is natural, and my duty is only to prevent unnecessary death by the hands of higher beings, which I suppose this counts as. But taking humans that are smarter than my current Andals, along with the Norse Religion they'll bring with them?
Nah, one religion is enough for Induk.
Vali scowls at me, and says, "What do you suggest then? I'm not letting my mortal children die just because they're my children!"
"You must have some solution to this, Theos. I know you won't like children getting hurt because of the sins of their parents, your presence here supports that." Loki adds, looking at me with a smile on his face. The opportunistic bastard.
This time, I scowl, and say, "If I take them away from here, then there are two options. First, suspended animation. I will keep them in stasis until Earth is safe for them to come back to, which could be a few years. Secondly, I will erase every memory they have of their parents, and of Asgard, and allow them to create a temporary settlement on Induk. Again, I will drop them all back here within a few years."
Vali frowns, while Loki starts thinking it over. Vali asks, "Why erase their memories if you're going to bring them back anyway?"
"I don't want another religion to take hold on MY planet, Vali. Either agree to one of my solutions, suggest another one, or let them die." I say firmly, not willing to back off.
Vali sighs, and says, "Fine. Keep them in suspended animation. I don't want anyone messing with their minds."
I nod, accepting that. But, the point is, they will forget about Asgard anyway. Ragnarok will ensure that. Can't have the religion before the Gods even get there, can we?
With Vali all packed up, we pick his Demigod children one by one, leaving only those who had families of themselves. The children ranged from 3 years old, to 40, the oldest to remain unmarried. All of them were put to sleep, without even knowing about us.
Summoning my usual green portal, I widen it with a wave of my hand, and telekinetically pull the 17 Demigods and Demigoddesses of Vali through. Loki and Vali follow behind me, curiosity brimming on their faces.
"This is not your planet. We are.. too far away from Midgard to be there." Loki muses, looking around.
"Nope. This is not Induk. This is Donna, the seat of my actual Power, so don't even think to try anything Loki." I say, and without any movement, create a house with 17 beds in it.
One by one, I deposit the demi-children on a bed each, and walk out. Loki was still looking around, while Vali was looking at the door to the house in sadness. I say, "You will be allowed to see them, Vali. Don't worry. I'm just going to cast the spell now, so take a step back."
As Vali takes a step back, as ordered, I close my eyes and focus. I'm the supreme power here, on Donna, and I don't exactly need to cast spells to create magic. My Magic, is my will.
With barely a thought, a transparent barrier starts forming around the house. It forms a bubble with the house at it's centre, even digging underground to cover all bases. Once done, the bubble flashes, and a wave of my magic goes from the bubble to the beings inside.
Turning back to the two observers, I explain, "The bubble will protect the house from most damage, and also keep the occupants asleep, frozen in time. You can enter the house, obviously, but you will not be able to wake anyone."
Vali nods, and turns to Loki to say their goodbyes. I was going to leave Vali here for now, and not on Induk. Until Ragnarok happens, unfortunately, Induk was not an option for the Lokisons.
I wasn't worried about them finding anything here. Sonny and the ship were in Andalok, and my house was invisible to anyone not me or my family. Plus, we were currently on the opposite side of the planet. And Donna is a big planet, so no way anyone is finding anything.
While they're having their last talks, I create another house for the Lokisons to live in.
"You done?" I ask Loki, who had finally allowed Vali loose.
As Vali enters his new home, Loki nods and says, "We're done here. Let's go get Jormungandr and Narfi."
Goodbyes. Knowing that you're going to die, leaving your sons again, is definitely hard. And Loki was still showing a brave face. I might find him annoying, but I can't help but feel for him right now.
Jormungandr, Vali, and Narfi. Snake, Wolf, and I don't know what animal Narfi is, if any. Let's just hope you three don't cause any problems for me.
And with that we return to Midgard, to look for a giant serpent that encompasses the Earth.
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A/N: I won't write the meeting with Jormu and Narfi. The next chapter will cover Thor's return to Asgard and the beginning of the war. I really hope I give Justice to the event.
Any questions?
Gods' Bane is not Gorr, btw. They'll make an entrance soon enough, so don't worry. It's not an official name for the character, but I felt it appropriate for them.
Wish me luck! Tata!