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Chapter 11

A/N Yup. This is it. The final installment. Buckle in because this one is long. And I mean loooong. So give yourself time to read it, or at least in chunks because this is a gut rencher. It is sad. Also, I highly recommend listening to the soundtrack as you read this. Start from Brothers Fight all the way to Earth to Asgard. BTW: If you want to really follow along with that, the final notes of Earth to Asgard should end with the final lines of the story. Yeah, it's that lined up. I'll leave a link to those songs for you who want to listen to it in the description. So sit down, grab the feels blanket and enjoy the final chapter of Adalwin's tale.

Adalwin ran and threw on some clothing. Inadvertently, she had grabbed light pants and a shirt instead of the customary dress. Her excitement had gotten the best of her and she didn’t have the time to change once she realized her choice.

She ran out of her door and down the hall, excited to see Thor again, but also extremely anxious. After all, Thor wasn’t supposed to be back. His banishment was permanent, or so Loki had told her. She ran towards the throne room, but her instincts suddenly bolted to high alert. She slowed and trod lightly, apprehensive about turning the corner. Carefully, she peeked out to see what was causing her anxiety. Her eyes couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but her instincts commanded her to hide behind a pillar.

“There’s no way,” she thought.

Frost giants were coming down the hall way.

She peeked out from around the pillar, her heart hammering in her chest so loudly, she thought they would hear it for sure.

There were 3 of them, two on either side of the leader, who was none other than King Laufey himself.

Adalwin’s heart skipped a beat and she struggled to stop the gasp that rocketed through her chest.

She slammed back against the wall, terrified.

“What were they doing here?” she thought panicked.

The question was overshadowed by a more important question, “Can I reach somebody in time to get help?” Her legs shook.

“Thor was on his way here, he has to be close enough by now to stop them, right?” For the first time in her life, she was hoping for some unhinged anger from the blonde God.

Adalwin weighed her options. She had no idea where Loki was, and the Frost Giants were already deep within the castle. Time was of the essence now.

However, instead of turning towards the throne room, the Giants turned down the hallway leading towards the living area.

Adalwin raised an eyebrow, “The vault isn’t even that way, where are they going?”

Torn between running for help, and following them to their destination, Adalwin decided to follow. Maybe she could find somebody along the way.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Thor, please start destroying things, and fast!” she hoped desperately as she began to stalk the Giants.

Every moment of training inched through her head as she tried to be the quietest and sneakiest she had ever been. Her eyes were trained on Laufey’s shoulders, her ears were alert for the sound of any sudden change of direction, her mind was focus solely on her task. She had never been more on edge in her entire life.

As she followed them, running from hiding place to hiding place, she realized where their destination was, Odin’s room. Out of any room along this path, it was the only place that held any value. The vault was in the opposite direction and deep below the palace, and they had already passed the throne room.

“Oh my Norns!” the realization hit her like a runaway chariot. “They’re going to kill Odin while he’s stuck in the Odin Sleep!”

The thought only lasted for a brief second, but since Adalwin was still far from a fully trained warrior, it was just long enough for her mind to lose that concentration she had been betting on. So, when she dashed behind the statuette just as she had for the last 2 halls, she misjudged the distance, and her elbow bumped it, causing the slightest sound to emerge.

The Giants turned immediately, and Laufey’s lips turned up in a blood chilling smile. Adalwin’s heart stopped dead.

“I thought I heard a rat of Asgard,” his voice sent chills through the air. Adalwin covered her mouth to smother her breathing as she sank low to the ground, racking her brain for a way out of this.

She heard his footsteps come closer, the frost coming closer with each thud, crawling towards her in icy lightening patterns.

“I can smell you, mortal” he called out.

Desperately, she tried to think of a spell Loki had taught her.

“I’m gonna die,” she thought. Then the memory came to her. A translucency spell.

Laufey’s blue silhouette was just rounding the corner as she cast it. A light green shimmer surrounded her as she disappeared.

Laufey emerged, and Adalwin was grateful she had covered her mouth as the scream fought against her lips almost escaped.

He towered over her far more than any adult in Asgard ever did. She barely came up to his knees. The frost spread along the ground eerily unlike any frost she had ever seen. Laufey had an ice dagger in his hand.

Adalwin froze solid. If she moved, she would glimmer and give away her position.

Laufey bent close to the ground, only inches away from her face. Adalwin held her breath, unsure of how long she could sit still, her every instinct telling her to run.

Laufey scanned the whole area, before he slammed his massive fist into the wall. If it weren’t for Adalwin’s size, it would have crushed her head easily. It took every last ounce of her strength to not jump and give herself away. She slowly let out her breath she had been holding.

Laufey pulled his fist away but didn’t leave. Adalwin’s fear was increasing by the minute, and a chill began to set into her skin from Laufey standing so close. Laufey’s blood red eyes then looked down, and Adalwin’s followed.

There were no words that could describe Adalwin’s horror as she realized it wasn’t Laufey that was making her cold, but the frost that had crawled up her boots, revealing her sitting only two inches away from the King of the Frost Giants.

“I can see you,” he smiled.

Adalwin’s glimmer dropped from her fear. Her eyes locked with the king’s before she desperately moved as fast as she could to get away. Laufey pulled back his powerful hand and swung, hitting Adalwin square on. She flew back and smashed into the wall, sliding down into a crumpled heap. A blue burn spread across half of her skin as her eyes closed and blood pooled onto the ground.

Laufey grunted before he turned back to his goal of killing Odin. They had followed Loki’s directions to the letter, but he had told them nobody would see them. He was lucky it was only a child that had found them. Laufey growled as he made a note to discuss this with his bastard child later.

They continued on their way, throwing open the door. Frigga grabbed a sword that was hidden as a decoration in Odin’s bed and swung at them. Laufey easily knocked her aside.

He smiled as he strolled up to Odin, forming his ice dagger. The frost daintily crawled across the floor and up the bed as Laufey straddled Odin’s defenseless form. He pulled back his eyelid.

Adalwin stirred, everything in her body felt like steel knives. She gasped and rolled to her belly, the shattered bones in her tiny body crunching and splintering her organs.

She gasped in pain, trying to speak. Tears of pain rolling down her face. Her skin hurt, pain was all over her right side, but she had to get moving.

“You get 30 seconds to rest,” she told herself. In the meantime, she formed a plan to get up. She stuck her hand out and grabbed at the wall, her broken bones stabbing her muscles, but she was a warrior of Asgard, and she had to keep going. Odin’s room was where the Frost Giants were heading, that was where she was going too.

She pulled herself up with a scream of determination and agony. Bracing her back against the wall, she cradled her right side with her left hand. She was bleeding heavily. Her ribs were shattered, her spine fractured, her lip was split, the burn from Laufey’s touch created a deformed shape of where his arm had hit her, and her leg and arm were broken.

“Well, this puts a damper on the day,” she said with a grunt as she set her arm with a flick of her wrist and began to move towards Odin’s room. Each step was agony, each breath hurt and became shorter. Her lungs were filling up with her own blood, and the oxygen was bubbling out her wounds. She began to make steady progress down the hall, hurrying as fast as she could.

“It is said that you can still hear and see what transpires around you,” Laufey said happily, “I hope it’s true, so that you may know your death came at the hand of Laufey.”

Laufey raised his hand over his head, bracing himself for his moment of triumph, but just as the fatal dagger was coming down, a blast from behind him sent him shooting off Odin and over to the side of the room.

Loki lowered a smoking Gungir before he replied, “And your death came by the son of Odin.”

Laufey raised his head and made as if to speak, but Loki quickly dispatched him, his plan complete. There was nothing left of the former king of Jotunehim save a burned patch on the ground.

Frigga ran over to Loki, hugging him. He pulled away to look her in the eyes, which were filled with pride and worry, “Mother, I swear to you, they will pay for what they have done. I will destroy the Jotun race.”

Adalwin pushed herself harder and harder to get to the room, an increasing trail of blood following her every path. On her next step her leg gave out and she fell against the corner with a cry. She spat out the collecting blood and pulled herself back up. That’s all she could taste anymore, her own blood.

She fought back her tears, knowing that they would only make breathing harder, but some slipped out. They were bloody too.

“Loki, help me,” her voice was a hoarse, gargled whisper. Loki… He might be their next target.

Adalwin gritted her teeth. The Frost Giants had ruined everything for her. She wouldn’t let them take her Father too. Straightening her back and setting her jaw, Alfhild pushed herself off the wall moving as quickly as possible towards the room.

As the room entered her sight, a mighty blast shook the ground and Alfhild fell onto the floor with a scream as her bones dug deeper into her insides. The door flew over her head, knocked completely off its hinges.

Through bloody, teary vision, she saw a red cape flash as Thor stood in the room with an angry face. Loki and Frigga were in the room as well as Odin. They were safe, for now.

Loki’s jaw dropped as Thor glared at him. Frigga ran over to him to embrace him.

“Thor!” she cried.

“Brother, you’re back!” Loki’s eyes lowered to the hammer in Thor’s hand. Evidently the Destroyer had failed.

“Why don’t you tell her?” Thor looked from Frigga to him. “How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill me!”

“What?” Frigga’s eyes widened as she turned to Loki for denial. That look. It sent spirals of hate through his system. The look of monstrosity.

“Well, it must have been enforcing father’s last command,” Loki replied smoothly walking over to the singed spot on the floor, putting the bed between him and Thor.

“You’re a talented liar brother. Always have been,” Thor remarked before his mother’s scream turned his attention away from his evil brother.

“Adalwin!” Frigga screamed as she stumbled through the door, collapsing against the frame. The Queen ran to her.

Loki’s eyes widened as he saw the spatter of blood all over his daughter.

“Please, don’t hurt him,” her sweet little voice was choked with blood and it leaked from her mouth in a waterfall of scarlet. Loki’s heart shattered as his eyes widened.

“That wasn’t part of the plan…” he muttered. “You weren’t part of this.”

“Adalwin,” Thor mistook Loki’s shock at his daughter’s state for another part of his plan failing. “What did you do?”

“No,” Adalwin tried to stand before she pitched forward. Frigga caught her as her body slammed into her arm. Blood spilled onto her rich fabric and Adalwin screamed with the crunch that followed.

“Loki didn’t do this,” she whimpered. “I found Laufey…in the hall way. He saw me. I hit the wall…” Loki noted the blue on his daughter’s skin.

“Alfhild,” he started towards her. Thor stopped him. He wanted to rush to his daughter, but his goal was so close. The throne was just in reach. He was inches away from proving himself worthier than Thor. This setback could still be avoided.

“Don’t you move,” Thor pointed a sparking Mjolnir directly at him.

Loki knew time was of the essence, but he smiled at Thor. “It’s good to have you back,” he then turned to his daughter. “Darling, daddy has to go and get something done. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to destroy Joenunheim.” Loki then turned and shot a blast from Gungir at Thor who flew backwards.

Loki then leapt out of the hole Thor had made and used his magic to teleport to the Observatory.

“Father!” Adalwin screamed as tried to go after him.

Thor, who had pulled himself from the rubble, grabbed her, the feel of her small broken bones against his hand sickened him.

“Adalwin, your father has done some horrible things. Please, let me handle this.” Thor tried to reason with his niece, desperately wanting to keep her out of this whole mess.

“No! You’re going to kill him! Just like you always do!” she tried desperately to beat him off with her fists, but it was pointless. “Don’t kill him!”

“I’m not going to kill him!” Thor had to get after Loki, but he couldn’t risk Adalwin getting killed because of Loki’s own lack of attention.

“Adalwin!” Thor finally grabbed her and forced her to look in his eyes. “I know you are scared for your father’s safety, but I swear to you, I will do him no harm.”

Adalwin sagged, her energy gone, “You promise?” she said around a mouthful of blood.

“I swear,” Thor stood and summoned Mjolnir, “Now go to the healers. You have been a brave warrior, and you have done your part. You’ve made us proud.”

With that Thor launched himself out of the room and after Loki.

“Come along child,” Frigga ran to her, “we must get you to the healers, now.”

“No!” Adalwin struggled, “there may still be Frost Giants in the palace. I saw three.” Frigga stiffened. “Go find people to search. I can walk.”

Frigga looked at the little girl then to the door. She was fighting her oath to the people of Asgard and her maternal instincts.

“I’ll send for someone to get you.” She then ran out the door.

Adalwin then ripped the sheet on Odin’s bed and tied it around herself as a makeshift bandage. She had to get to Loki. She had to get to her father. She needed him.

It was clear that Loki cared more about the throne than her. But Adalwin couldn’t bring herself to hate her father. She could only feel love for him. After all, he was all she had. He was her only family. If he died…if he was killed…then she had no home again. There was no place for her. Home was with him, and after all this, she wasn’t sure if he would even accept her as family.

She looked up at the sleeping Odin, “You now, in all his attempts to be better, to not be like you, he became what he hated most. I really wish you were awake.” She tried to sigh but the pain cut it off.

“I’m so scared,” she said breaking down. “Papa, papa where are you! Why did you do this?”

Unaware to the sleeping Odin above her, she didn’t notice him stir.

Adalwin then pulled herself up, wiping away her bloody tears and bolted for the door, magically skipping as she ran. Her goal was to get to a horse.

“If I die, then I’m dying for my papa,” she thought to herself. “I’m not going to be left alone again.”

To her luck, after a painful skip down the stairs, she found a guard’s horse waiting for its rider. Adalwin leapt onto it and pushed it as fast as it would go towards the Observatory, which was already spinning madly with a bright light shooting towards Jotunheim. She remembered Heimdall’s warning about leaving the bridge open.

“Oh no,” she whispered. “They’ll be killed.”

She could now add genocide to the list of crimes her father had done.

Clinging to the horse, she bit through the pain and ran towards the observatory, which began to get covered in ice.

She knew she couldn’t go blindly riding a horse in, so as she reached the foot of the observatory, she commanded it to stop. It skidded trying to gain footing from the suction the bridge created. She leapt off and with the last ounce of her strength edging on the adrenaline coursing through her system, she put all her magic into her hands and began to crawl along the edge of the bridge, knowing full well if the Bifrost exploded, she would go with them.

She crawled along the bridge to the edge and then clung to the side, away from the forces of the wind trying to pull her to her death. If she lost her grip, she would tumble to the waters below, and if the bridge wasn’t stopped, then they would all be killed.

A mighty blast shook the bridge, almost shaking her off. Both Thor and Loki went flying out of the Observatory to the shimmering bridge below.

To her horror, Loki had fallen closer to the edge and rolled over the side.

“No!” she screamed. The massive wind that blew from the Observatory threw her scream back to herself. Loki luckily caught himself but was dangling helplessly off the edge.

The angered Thor walked closer to him.

“You promised,” she hissed crawling faster. “You promised.”

Thor stared at Loki for a long time before he leaned down and offered him his hand. Adalwin’s actually caught herself smiling.

But when Loki reached for the hand, he disappeared and reappeared behind Thor, hitting him across the face with Gungir.

Adalwin gasped as Thor was thrown backwards. Multiple Loki’s began to appear, surrounding Thor. Thor, irritated with Loki’s games, summoned a massive bolt of lightening that shook the entire bridge.

The fake Loki’s disappeared save for the real one who went flying backwards. He was still some good ways away from her, but his nearness gave Adalwin the strength to push herself forward.

Thor stalked up to the dazed body and after a moment’s pause, laid Mjolnir on Loki’s chest. Adalwin almost giggled, but instead gave a roll of her head. Loki tried, and failed, to lift it off his chest.

Thor now had to figure out what to do with the Bifrost. She knew that he couldn’t get back in, and as he looked sorrowfully out into the abyss, she could tell he was thinking about someone. She knew that look from her own face.

“Look at you,” Loki spat from his place on the ground. “The mighty Thor! With all your strength! And what good does it do you now? Do you hear me, brother? There’s nothing you can do!”

Thor turned to him, Adalwin kept crawling, she was right next to Loki now, but she knew better than to go up in the middle of them. She had never seen them fight this viciously, and worse yet, she wasn’t sure she could trust being in her father’s company with him like this.

Suddenly, Mjolnir went flying off Loki’s chest to Thor’s hand, where he raised it before giving a mighty slam to the ground. A spiral of cracks spread across it. Adalwin gritted her teeth against the shockwaves.

Loki sat up. “What are you doing?”

Thor slammed his hammer again.

“If you destroy the Bridge, you’ll never see her again!” Loki screamed. Adalwin had never seen her father this angered, or bloodthirsty.

Thor raised his hammer once more, “Forgive me, Jane!” Thor’s call echoed back to Adalwin, who threw herself onto the bridge just as Loki ran at Thor.

They met each other with the blast and were thrown into the air.

“Shit!” Adalwin screamed as she was thrown back.

Thor and Loki both fell over the edge, but when Adalwin opened her eyes, Odin had grabbed Thor’s leg and was holding him up.

Scared for her father’s life, and fearing the worst, she skittered over to the edge.

“Stand back child!” Odin commanded, but Adalwin forced herself to look over the edge. Gungir was held between the two of them, and Adalwin sighed with relief. Loki was alive, but he and Thor were dangling above a rip in space from the Bifrost. The stars were none she recognized. The force was sucking the both of them down.

“I could have done it father! For you! For all of us!” Loki cried.

“No, Loki,” Odin said sadly.

“Father! Hold on, we’ll pull you up!” Adalwin shouted to him, her happiness masking the pain.

Loki looked at Odin, searching his eyes for approval. But all his efforts had been in vain. There was nothing there but sadness and regret.

Loki then turned to Adalwin, and locked eyes with her.

“Loki, no!” Thor said.

Loki loosened his grip and fell towards the swirling abyss beneath him.

“No!” Thor’s cry and Adalwin’s joined in unison. Loki’s eyes never left his daughters as he fell.

“Papa!” she cried as she desperately leapt after him.

Thor grabbed her leg as she fell after him. Her tears fell in little orbs as the tear in space closed around her father.

“He’s gone,” she choked out as Thor pulled her up to him. He held her close, in shock himself from what he witnessed.

Odin pulled them onto the Bifrost. Adalwin fought out of Thor’s grip and shakily crawled over to the edge, where she numbly sat looking down into space.

“Gone,” the word echoed in her mind.

Odin and Thor were in exhausted silence behind her. “You promised,” she whispered to the open abyss before collapsing from exhaustion and heartache.

The whole kingdom was in mourning. The death of the prince of Asgard and the news of what had happened caused everyone to be in some state of shock.

Thor wouldn’t talk to anyone, and parties about his victory left a sour taste in his mouth. Frigga’s heart was in pieces, and Odin solemnly went about his normal business.

All Adalwin had done since that night was cry. She cried when they put her back together, she cried all night, she cried when they injected her, she cried. She screamed into her pillow to muffle them at night. It hurt her body severely, but it helped ease the inner pain. She had never cried so much in her life.

Days later, Adalwin lay in her healing bed, Frigga by her side with a tray of food. She hadn’t said a word since she witnessed her father fall into the abyss to his death, nor had she eaten. She only ever slept.

“Adalwin,” Frigga started before pausing, “darling, I know you’re hurting. And I wish I could ease it as easily as I could your bones, but you need to eat.”

Frigga brought a slice of cheese to Adalwin’s mouth, but she turned her head away as tears filled her eyes.

Frigga sighed, “Loki wouldn’t want this,”

Adalwin remained silent.

“Please, say something at least,” Frigga begged. She then threw the cheese back onto the platter. “I don’t blame you. I’m not all that hungry myself.”

She looked down at her adopted granddaughter, wishing for all the world she knew what was going on in her head. But only Loki ever knew that.

Frigga sat on the edge of Adalwin’s bed, smoothing her hair gently. “You have healed quite quickly. At least physically. You can go back to your room now if you want. Odin and Thor wish to talk to you first, can you do that?”

Adalwin looked up at Frigga. She was the only other person she could somewhat connect with.

She nodded, before she looked away. Her eyes were filled with understanding, and she couldn’t take it.

“I know you miss him, I miss him too,” Frigga started, “but don’t you dare listen to what others say.”

Adalwin looked back up, confused.

“Your father was never a monster, he never had it in him. He was just hurt. You know, he could only ever connect with you. You were his shining star.”

Adalwin started to tear up again. Frigga fought back her own, maintaining her composure.

“He loved you, more than any father ever could love a daughter, never forget that,” Frigga kissed her forehead.

“Then why did he leave,” Adalwin’s raspy voice split the air.

Frigga smiled softly hearing it again, “I don’t know.”

“That’s what they all do,” she murmured. “They ‘love’ me, then they leave me.” Adalwin was silent for another moment. “Do you really think he’s dead?”

Frigga opened her mouth to say something, but there was a solid knock on the door.

“It’s open,” she said rising.

Odin and Thor tentatively stepped in. Adalwin pulled herself up.

“How is the bravest warrior in Asgard?” Thor said trying to lighten the mood. Adalwin read him easily. He was hurting and worried for her. Not nearly as much as she was, but he mourned his brother.

Adalwin shrugged. She knew that he was trying to help her, but she could never forgive him for what he did. If it wasn’t for him, she would be with her father now. They would be dead together. Now she would have to wait to join him.

Odin stepped forward, “Adalwin, for your bravery and determination in protecting Asgard, I present you with this small gift as a token of mine and the kingdom’s gratitude.”

Adalwin was about to say she wanted nothing, but Odin laid the box on her bed. It was small, built of wood. Curiosity over took her, and she leaned over to get it. Tentatively, she slid the lid off.

Inside was a golden rod. Adalwin gingerly took it out.

“A shiny stick?” she looked at Odin.

Thor chuckled softly, “Not just any shiny stick, hold it in your hand, strongly.”

Adalwin gripped it firmly, and the edges sprung out and expanded into a long staff, just above her height. She jumped from the revelation. She ran her thumb over the edge, and found an engraving on the side. It was Loki’s name and seal.

“That was your father’s staff when he was your age. He learned how to fight with it. It was his best weapon. Now, it’s yours.” Odin looked at Frigga, unsure of what to say next.

Adalwin didn’t say anything, but hugged the staff as if it were a stuffed animal before nodding her head in thanks.

“Adalwin,” Thor started, “I know you are in pain, but we need to know how much you do about what Loki did.”

Adalwin’s head shot up.

“What do you know about Loki’s plan?” Thor pressed as gently as he could. “What was his goal?”

Adalwin thought back to when Loki and her were sitting on his bed.

“I don’t know,” she replied slowly.

“Nothing?” Odin asked.

“Nothing. He didn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know about the Frost Giants, I didn’t know about the plan,” she paused “I didn’t even know how badly he wanted the throne.”

Frigga nodded. “Then that is all we need from you,” she glared at Odin and Thor, “I’ll take you back to your room.”

“No, I can walk,” she said stepping down from her bed. She retracted the staff and put it in her pocket. With a nod, she went to her room.

As she walked down the hallway, the pain in her heart ached more and more. When she reached her room, the tears began again.

It had been almost a week since Loki died, but it felt like an eternity. As she walked into her room, she turned away from the bed and towards the wall.

Puppet like, she touched the wall, it disappeared, and she walked through. Once she was back in Loki’s room. She collapsed to her knees, rocking from the emotional baggage.

“You’re not dead,” she whispered through her tears. “You’re not dead. You can’t be dead. Why did you leave me? What happened to our promise?”

As her final shred of sanity slipped from existence, she collapsed on his floor and stayed there for days. Or was it weeks? Time didn’t matter anymore. She lay on her back sometimes, others her side. She didn’t answer when people knocked. She didn’t acknowledge the shadows that crawled around her. She didn’t move unless it was to rise to eat dinner. She wouldn’t talk. She became nothing but a memory of herself.

At some point Loki came back to visit her. He would tell her stories or make shadows on the wall. If the screams in her head became too loud, he would talk to her to drown them out. If she was crying, like she did every hour, he would pet her hair to calm her. No. He wasn’t dead. He was right there next to her. He was dressed in his everyday wear. He wasn’t dead. Just as the scars on her body weren’t really from his betrayal. They were an accident.

Nobody could get her to come out. Thor tried desperately to get her to speak. One night just talking through the door to her.

Adalwin waited for death, but it never came.

“It’ll be alright,” Loki said as he ran his finger’s through her hair. “I’ll be right here. I’m always here,”

“I know,” Adalwin whispered, mesmerized by her own glowing fingers.

“I love you,” Loki said again.

“I love you too,” she murmured. “Can we train today?”

“Of course, I’ll take you out on the boats again, just like always,” Loki smiled.

“Just like always….” Adalwin repeated.

A loud knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She looked up emotionless and flicked her fingers. Loki stopped petting her and leaned back.

“Adalwin, it’s Sif,” the voice called out, “we were wondering if you wanted to go horseback riding with us? We’ve got another horse that needs the exercise.”

“We’ll only throw you off once,” Fandral’s voice followed along with a loud smack.

“No we won’t.”

“Please?”

“You’re not dead,” Adalwin said as she looked up at Loki. She then silently rose to look in the mirror.

“You’re not dead,” she replied as she looked at his and her own reflection as the voices of the Asgardians fell away to murmurs.

Her eyes locked on her own, and an image flashed in her mind. Some place dark, as it usually was. These vision came more and more often, but this time, she heard a voice.

“…Alfhild…”

Adalwin blinked. “Loki isn’t dead,” she said grinning as she turned to him. “He’s alive.” She flicked her fingers and he disappeared into the mirage he was.

“He’s alive,” she whispered. “He’s alive. In one of the realms, he has to be!”

It was dark now. She ran around the room, gathering things she needed.

She slipped on his cloak and disappeared down to the docks. She stole a boat, and routed it towards the secret passage. The guards were already looking for her, Thor and Frigga most likely had noticed she wasn’t at dinner.

“I’m going to find you, papa, if it’s the last thing I do,” she muttered as she entered the cave. “Nobody will stop me. My first stop, Jotunheim.”

The boat jolted side to side while it caught against the streams of Bifrost in the walls. With a flash, she disappeared from Asgard and the boat landed on an icy turf of the ruins of Jotunheim.

Adalwin will return in the Avengers….

After credits anyone?

A young teen ran through the forest in the pouring rain. She couldn’t see anything from the storm raging overhead. She had to find someplace to hide until it blew over.

Finally, after stumbling up a driveway, she wound up inside a cozy garage. It was clearly owned by somebody rich, there were fancy cars everywhere.

“They won’t mind if I crash here for a bit,” she said to herself as she stripped off her coat and curled up on the floor.

Little did she know her entrance had triggered the silent alarm. The homeowner had been awoken by it and crept down the stairs. He peeked through the glass doors that led to his workspace. It was too dark to see anything.

He had his glove on his hand, the center glowing blue with a repulsor ray armed to fire.

“JARVIS, where are they,” he whispered.

“Three meters to your right, sir,” the AI responded.

Tony raised his hand, “Turn on the lights, in 3, 2, 1”

The lights blazed on and the girl leapt up into a crouch as she whirled around on the man.

“Alright little lady, what’s your name and what are you doing here?” Tony said as he raised his hand to shoot her.

The girl stood up, and met the brown eyes of the man cornering her.

“My name is Emily,” she replied inclining her head, “And I’m looking for someone.”

Description
Chapter 11

A/N Yup. This is it. The final installment. Buckle in because this one is long. And I mean loooong. So give yourself time to read it, or at least in chunks because this is a gut rencher. It is sad. Also, I highly recommend listening to the soundtrack as you read this. Start from Brothers Fight all the way to Earth to Asgard. BTW: If you want to really follow along with that, the final notes of Earth to Asgard should end with the final lines of the story. Yeah, it's that lined up. I'll leave a link to those songs for you who want to listen to it in the description. So sit down, grab the feels blanket and enjoy the final chapter of Adalwin's tale.

Adalwin ran and threw on some clothing. Inadvertently, she had grabbed light pants and a shirt instead of the customary dress. Her excitement had gotten the best of her and she didn’t have the time to change once she realized her choice.

She ran out of her door and down the hall, excited to see Thor again, but also extremely anxious. After all, Thor wasn’t supposed to be back. His banishment was permanent, or so Loki had told her. She ran towards the throne room, but her instincts suddenly bolted to high alert. She slowed and trod lightly, apprehensive about turning the corner. Carefully, she peeked out to see what was causing her anxiety. Her eyes couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but her instincts commanded her to hide behind a pillar.

“There’s no way,” she thought.

Frost giants were coming down the hall way.

She peeked out from around the pillar, her heart hammering in her chest so loudly, she thought they would hear it for sure.

There were 3 of them, two on either side of the leader, who was none other than King Laufey himself.

Adalwin’s heart skipped a beat and she struggled to stop the gasp that rocketed through her chest.

She slammed back against the wall, terrified.

“What were they doing here?” she thought panicked.

The question was overshadowed by a more important question, “Can I reach somebody in time to get help?” Her legs shook.

“Thor was on his way here, he has to be close enough by now to stop them, right?” For the first time in her life, she was hoping for some unhinged anger from the blonde God.

Adalwin weighed her options. She had no idea where Loki was, and the Frost Giants were already deep within the castle. Time was of the essence now.

However, instead of turning towards the throne room, the Giants turned down the hallway leading towards the living area.

Adalwin raised an eyebrow, “The vault isn’t even that way, where are they going?”

Torn between running for help, and following them to their destination, Adalwin decided to follow. Maybe she could find somebody along the way.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Thor, please start destroying things, and fast!” she hoped desperately as she began to stalk the Giants.

Every moment of training inched through her head as she tried to be the quietest and sneakiest she had ever been. Her eyes were trained on Laufey’s shoulders, her ears were alert for the sound of any sudden change of direction, her mind was focus solely on her task. She had never been more on edge in her entire life.

As she followed them, running from hiding place to hiding place, she realized where their destination was, Odin’s room. Out of any room along this path, it was the only place that held any value. The vault was in the opposite direction and deep below the palace, and they had already passed the throne room.

“Oh my Norns!” the realization hit her like a runaway chariot. “They’re going to kill Odin while he’s stuck in the Odin Sleep!”

The thought only lasted for a brief second, but since Adalwin was still far from a fully trained warrior, it was just long enough for her mind to lose that concentration she had been betting on. So, when she dashed behind the statuette just as she had for the last 2 halls, she misjudged the distance, and her elbow bumped it, causing the slightest sound to emerge.

The Giants turned immediately, and Laufey’s lips turned up in a blood chilling smile. Adalwin’s heart stopped dead.

“I thought I heard a rat of Asgard,” his voice sent chills through the air. Adalwin covered her mouth to smother her breathing as she sank low to the ground, racking her brain for a way out of this.

She heard his footsteps come closer, the frost coming closer with each thud, crawling towards her in icy lightening patterns.

“I can smell you, mortal” he called out.

Desperately, she tried to think of a spell Loki had taught her.

“I’m gonna die,” she thought. Then the memory came to her. A translucency spell.

Laufey’s blue silhouette was just rounding the corner as she cast it. A light green shimmer surrounded her as she disappeared.

Laufey emerged, and Adalwin was grateful she had covered her mouth as the scream fought against her lips almost escaped.

He towered over her far more than any adult in Asgard ever did. She barely came up to his knees. The frost spread along the ground eerily unlike any frost she had ever seen. Laufey had an ice dagger in his hand.

Adalwin froze solid. If she moved, she would glimmer and give away her position.

Laufey bent close to the ground, only inches away from her face. Adalwin held her breath, unsure of how long she could sit still, her every instinct telling her to run.

Laufey scanned the whole area, before he slammed his massive fist into the wall. If it weren’t for Adalwin’s size, it would have crushed her head easily. It took every last ounce of her strength to not jump and give herself away. She slowly let out her breath she had been holding.

Laufey pulled his fist away but didn’t leave. Adalwin’s fear was increasing by the minute, and a chill began to set into her skin from Laufey standing so close. Laufey’s blood red eyes then looked down, and Adalwin’s followed.

There were no words that could describe Adalwin’s horror as she realized it wasn’t Laufey that was making her cold, but the frost that had crawled up her boots, revealing her sitting only two inches away from the King of the Frost Giants.

“I can see you,” he smiled.

Adalwin’s glimmer dropped from her fear. Her eyes locked with the king’s before she desperately moved as fast as she could to get away. Laufey pulled back his powerful hand and swung, hitting Adalwin square on. She flew back and smashed into the wall, sliding down into a crumpled heap. A blue burn spread across half of her skin as her eyes closed and blood pooled onto the ground.

Laufey grunted before he turned back to his goal of killing Odin. They had followed Loki’s directions to the letter, but he had told them nobody would see them. He was lucky it was only a child that had found them. Laufey growled as he made a note to discuss this with his bastard child later.

They continued on their way, throwing open the door. Frigga grabbed a sword that was hidden as a decoration in Odin’s bed and swung at them. Laufey easily knocked her aside.

He smiled as he strolled up to Odin, forming his ice dagger. The frost daintily crawled across the floor and up the bed as Laufey straddled Odin’s defenseless form. He pulled back his eyelid.

Adalwin stirred, everything in her body felt like steel knives. She gasped and rolled to her belly, the shattered bones in her tiny body crunching and splintering her organs.

She gasped in pain, trying to speak. Tears of pain rolling down her face. Her skin hurt, pain was all over her right side, but she had to get moving.

“You get 30 seconds to rest,” she told herself. In the meantime, she formed a plan to get up. She stuck her hand out and grabbed at the wall, her broken bones stabbing her muscles, but she was a warrior of Asgard, and she had to keep going. Odin’s room was where the Frost Giants were heading, that was where she was going too.

She pulled herself up with a scream of determination and agony. Bracing her back against the wall, she cradled her right side with her left hand. She was bleeding heavily. Her ribs were shattered, her spine fractured, her lip was split, the burn from Laufey’s touch created a deformed shape of where his arm had hit her, and her leg and arm were broken.

“Well, this puts a damper on the day,” she said with a grunt as she set her arm with a flick of her wrist and began to move towards Odin’s room. Each step was agony, each breath hurt and became shorter. Her lungs were filling up with her own blood, and the oxygen was bubbling out her wounds. She began to make steady progress down the hall, hurrying as fast as she could.

“It is said that you can still hear and see what transpires around you,” Laufey said happily, “I hope it’s true, so that you may know your death came at the hand of Laufey.”

Laufey raised his hand over his head, bracing himself for his moment of triumph, but just as the fatal dagger was coming down, a blast from behind him sent him shooting off Odin and over to the side of the room.

Loki lowered a smoking Gungir before he replied, “And your death came by the son of Odin.”

Laufey raised his head and made as if to speak, but Loki quickly dispatched him, his plan complete. There was nothing left of the former king of Jotunehim save a burned patch on the ground.

Frigga ran over to Loki, hugging him. He pulled away to look her in the eyes, which were filled with pride and worry, “Mother, I swear to you, they will pay for what they have done. I will destroy the Jotun race.”

Adalwin pushed herself harder and harder to get to the room, an increasing trail of blood following her every path. On her next step her leg gave out and she fell against the corner with a cry. She spat out the collecting blood and pulled herself back up. That’s all she could taste anymore, her own blood.

She fought back her tears, knowing that they would only make breathing harder, but some slipped out. They were bloody too.

“Loki, help me,” her voice was a hoarse, gargled whisper. Loki… He might be their next target.

Adalwin gritted her teeth. The Frost Giants had ruined everything for her. She wouldn’t let them take her Father too. Straightening her back and setting her jaw, Alfhild pushed herself off the wall moving as quickly as possible towards the room.

As the room entered her sight, a mighty blast shook the ground and Alfhild fell onto the floor with a scream as her bones dug deeper into her insides. The door flew over her head, knocked completely off its hinges.

Through bloody, teary vision, she saw a red cape flash as Thor stood in the room with an angry face. Loki and Frigga were in the room as well as Odin. They were safe, for now.

Loki’s jaw dropped as Thor glared at him. Frigga ran over to him to embrace him.

“Thor!” she cried.

“Brother, you’re back!” Loki’s eyes lowered to the hammer in Thor’s hand. Evidently the Destroyer had failed.

“Why don’t you tell her?” Thor looked from Frigga to him. “How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill me!”

“What?” Frigga’s eyes widened as she turned to Loki for denial. That look. It sent spirals of hate through his system. The look of monstrosity.

“Well, it must have been enforcing father’s last command,” Loki replied smoothly walking over to the singed spot on the floor, putting the bed between him and Thor.

“You’re a talented liar brother. Always have been,” Thor remarked before his mother’s scream turned his attention away from his evil brother.

“Adalwin!” Frigga screamed as she stumbled through the door, collapsing against the frame. The Queen ran to her.

Loki’s eyes widened as he saw the spatter of blood all over his daughter.

“Please, don’t hurt him,” her sweet little voice was choked with blood and it leaked from her mouth in a waterfall of scarlet. Loki’s heart shattered as his eyes widened.

“That wasn’t part of the plan…” he muttered. “You weren’t part of this.”

“Adalwin,” Thor mistook Loki’s shock at his daughter’s state for another part of his plan failing. “What did you do?”

“No,” Adalwin tried to stand before she pitched forward. Frigga caught her as her body slammed into her arm. Blood spilled onto her rich fabric and Adalwin screamed with the crunch that followed.

“Loki didn’t do this,” she whimpered. “I found Laufey…in the hall way. He saw me. I hit the wall…” Loki noted the blue on his daughter’s skin.

“Alfhild,” he started towards her. Thor stopped him. He wanted to rush to his daughter, but his goal was so close. The throne was just in reach. He was inches away from proving himself worthier than Thor. This setback could still be avoided.

“Don’t you move,” Thor pointed a sparking Mjolnir directly at him.

Loki knew time was of the essence, but he smiled at Thor. “It’s good to have you back,” he then turned to his daughter. “Darling, daddy has to go and get something done. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to destroy Joenunheim.” Loki then turned and shot a blast from Gungir at Thor who flew backwards.

Loki then leapt out of the hole Thor had made and used his magic to teleport to the Observatory.

“Father!” Adalwin screamed as tried to go after him.

Thor, who had pulled himself from the rubble, grabbed her, the feel of her small broken bones against his hand sickened him.

“Adalwin, your father has done some horrible things. Please, let me handle this.” Thor tried to reason with his niece, desperately wanting to keep her out of this whole mess.

“No! You’re going to kill him! Just like you always do!” she tried desperately to beat him off with her fists, but it was pointless. “Don’t kill him!”

“I’m not going to kill him!” Thor had to get after Loki, but he couldn’t risk Adalwin getting killed because of Loki’s own lack of attention.

“Adalwin!” Thor finally grabbed her and forced her to look in his eyes. “I know you are scared for your father’s safety, but I swear to you, I will do him no harm.”

Adalwin sagged, her energy gone, “You promise?” she said around a mouthful of blood.

“I swear,” Thor stood and summoned Mjolnir, “Now go to the healers. You have been a brave warrior, and you have done your part. You’ve made us proud.”

With that Thor launched himself out of the room and after Loki.

“Come along child,” Frigga ran to her, “we must get you to the healers, now.”

“No!” Adalwin struggled, “there may still be Frost Giants in the palace. I saw three.” Frigga stiffened. “Go find people to search. I can walk.”

Frigga looked at the little girl then to the door. She was fighting her oath to the people of Asgard and her maternal instincts.

“I’ll send for someone to get you.” She then ran out the door.

Adalwin then ripped the sheet on Odin’s bed and tied it around herself as a makeshift bandage. She had to get to Loki. She had to get to her father. She needed him.

It was clear that Loki cared more about the throne than her. But Adalwin couldn’t bring herself to hate her father. She could only feel love for him. After all, he was all she had. He was her only family. If he died…if he was killed…then she had no home again. There was no place for her. Home was with him, and after all this, she wasn’t sure if he would even accept her as family.

She looked up at the sleeping Odin, “You now, in all his attempts to be better, to not be like you, he became what he hated most. I really wish you were awake.” She tried to sigh but the pain cut it off.

“I’m so scared,” she said breaking down. “Papa, papa where are you! Why did you do this?”

Unaware to the sleeping Odin above her, she didn’t notice him stir.

Adalwin then pulled herself up, wiping away her bloody tears and bolted for the door, magically skipping as she ran. Her goal was to get to a horse.

“If I die, then I’m dying for my papa,” she thought to herself. “I’m not going to be left alone again.”

To her luck, after a painful skip down the stairs, she found a guard’s horse waiting for its rider. Adalwin leapt onto it and pushed it as fast as it would go towards the Observatory, which was already spinning madly with a bright light shooting towards Jotunheim. She remembered Heimdall’s warning about leaving the bridge open.

“Oh no,” she whispered. “They’ll be killed.”

She could now add genocide to the list of crimes her father had done.

Clinging to the horse, she bit through the pain and ran towards the observatory, which began to get covered in ice.

She knew she couldn’t go blindly riding a horse in, so as she reached the foot of the observatory, she commanded it to stop. It skidded trying to gain footing from the suction the bridge created. She leapt off and with the last ounce of her strength edging on the adrenaline coursing through her system, she put all her magic into her hands and began to crawl along the edge of the bridge, knowing full well if the Bifrost exploded, she would go with them.

She crawled along the bridge to the edge and then clung to the side, away from the forces of the wind trying to pull her to her death. If she lost her grip, she would tumble to the waters below, and if the bridge wasn’t stopped, then they would all be killed.

A mighty blast shook the bridge, almost shaking her off. Both Thor and Loki went flying out of the Observatory to the shimmering bridge below.

To her horror, Loki had fallen closer to the edge and rolled over the side.

“No!” she screamed. The massive wind that blew from the Observatory threw her scream back to herself. Loki luckily caught himself but was dangling helplessly off the edge.

The angered Thor walked closer to him.

“You promised,” she hissed crawling faster. “You promised.”

Thor stared at Loki for a long time before he leaned down and offered him his hand. Adalwin’s actually caught herself smiling.

But when Loki reached for the hand, he disappeared and reappeared behind Thor, hitting him across the face with Gungir.

Adalwin gasped as Thor was thrown backwards. Multiple Loki’s began to appear, surrounding Thor. Thor, irritated with Loki’s games, summoned a massive bolt of lightening that shook the entire bridge.

The fake Loki’s disappeared save for the real one who went flying backwards. He was still some good ways away from her, but his nearness gave Adalwin the strength to push herself forward.

Thor stalked up to the dazed body and after a moment’s pause, laid Mjolnir on Loki’s chest. Adalwin almost giggled, but instead gave a roll of her head. Loki tried, and failed, to lift it off his chest.

Thor now had to figure out what to do with the Bifrost. She knew that he couldn’t get back in, and as he looked sorrowfully out into the abyss, she could tell he was thinking about someone. She knew that look from her own face.

“Look at you,” Loki spat from his place on the ground. “The mighty Thor! With all your strength! And what good does it do you now? Do you hear me, brother? There’s nothing you can do!”

Thor turned to him, Adalwin kept crawling, she was right next to Loki now, but she knew better than to go up in the middle of them. She had never seen them fight this viciously, and worse yet, she wasn’t sure she could trust being in her father’s company with him like this.

Suddenly, Mjolnir went flying off Loki’s chest to Thor’s hand, where he raised it before giving a mighty slam to the ground. A spiral of cracks spread across it. Adalwin gritted her teeth against the shockwaves.

Loki sat up. “What are you doing?”

Thor slammed his hammer again.

“If you destroy the Bridge, you’ll never see her again!” Loki screamed. Adalwin had never seen her father this angered, or bloodthirsty.

Thor raised his hammer once more, “Forgive me, Jane!” Thor’s call echoed back to Adalwin, who threw herself onto the bridge just as Loki ran at Thor.

They met each other with the blast and were thrown into the air.

“Shit!” Adalwin screamed as she was thrown back.

Thor and Loki both fell over the edge, but when Adalwin opened her eyes, Odin had grabbed Thor’s leg and was holding him up.

Scared for her father’s life, and fearing the worst, she skittered over to the edge.

“Stand back child!” Odin commanded, but Adalwin forced herself to look over the edge. Gungir was held between the two of them, and Adalwin sighed with relief. Loki was alive, but he and Thor were dangling above a rip in space from the Bifrost. The stars were none she recognized. The force was sucking the both of them down.

“I could have done it father! For you! For all of us!” Loki cried.

“No, Loki,” Odin said sadly.

“Father! Hold on, we’ll pull you up!” Adalwin shouted to him, her happiness masking the pain.

Loki looked at Odin, searching his eyes for approval. But all his efforts had been in vain. There was nothing there but sadness and regret.

Loki then turned to Adalwin, and locked eyes with her.

“Loki, no!” Thor said.

Loki loosened his grip and fell towards the swirling abyss beneath him.

“No!” Thor’s cry and Adalwin’s joined in unison. Loki’s eyes never left his daughters as he fell.

“Papa!” she cried as she desperately leapt after him.

Thor grabbed her leg as she fell after him. Her tears fell in little orbs as the tear in space closed around her father.

“He’s gone,” she choked out as Thor pulled her up to him. He held her close, in shock himself from what he witnessed.

Odin pulled them onto the Bifrost. Adalwin fought out of Thor’s grip and shakily crawled over to the edge, where she numbly sat looking down into space.

“Gone,” the word echoed in her mind.

Odin and Thor were in exhausted silence behind her. “You promised,” she whispered to the open abyss before collapsing from exhaustion and heartache.

The whole kingdom was in mourning. The death of the prince of Asgard and the news of what had happened caused everyone to be in some state of shock.

Thor wouldn’t talk to anyone, and parties about his victory left a sour taste in his mouth. Frigga’s heart was in pieces, and Odin solemnly went about his normal business.

All Adalwin had done since that night was cry. She cried when they put her back together, she cried all night, she cried when they injected her, she cried. She screamed into her pillow to muffle them at night. It hurt her body severely, but it helped ease the inner pain. She had never cried so much in her life.

Days later, Adalwin lay in her healing bed, Frigga by her side with a tray of food. She hadn’t said a word since she witnessed her father fall into the abyss to his death, nor had she eaten. She only ever slept.

“Adalwin,” Frigga started before pausing, “darling, I know you’re hurting. And I wish I could ease it as easily as I could your bones, but you need to eat.”

Frigga brought a slice of cheese to Adalwin’s mouth, but she turned her head away as tears filled her eyes.

Frigga sighed, “Loki wouldn’t want this,”

Adalwin remained silent.

“Please, say something at least,” Frigga begged. She then threw the cheese back onto the platter. “I don’t blame you. I’m not all that hungry myself.”

She looked down at her adopted granddaughter, wishing for all the world she knew what was going on in her head. But only Loki ever knew that.

Frigga sat on the edge of Adalwin’s bed, smoothing her hair gently. “You have healed quite quickly. At least physically. You can go back to your room now if you want. Odin and Thor wish to talk to you first, can you do that?”

Adalwin looked up at Frigga. She was the only other person she could somewhat connect with.

She nodded, before she looked away. Her eyes were filled with understanding, and she couldn’t take it.

“I know you miss him, I miss him too,” Frigga started, “but don’t you dare listen to what others say.”

Adalwin looked back up, confused.

“Your father was never a monster, he never had it in him. He was just hurt. You know, he could only ever connect with you. You were his shining star.”

Adalwin started to tear up again. Frigga fought back her own, maintaining her composure.

“He loved you, more than any father ever could love a daughter, never forget that,” Frigga kissed her forehead.

“Then why did he leave,” Adalwin’s raspy voice split the air.

Frigga smiled softly hearing it again, “I don’t know.”

“That’s what they all do,” she murmured. “They ‘love’ me, then they leave me.” Adalwin was silent for another moment. “Do you really think he’s dead?”

Frigga opened her mouth to say something, but there was a solid knock on the door.

“It’s open,” she said rising.

Odin and Thor tentatively stepped in. Adalwin pulled herself up.

“How is the bravest warrior in Asgard?” Thor said trying to lighten the mood. Adalwin read him easily. He was hurting and worried for her. Not nearly as much as she was, but he mourned his brother.

Adalwin shrugged. She knew that he was trying to help her, but she could never forgive him for what he did. If it wasn’t for him, she would be with her father now. They would be dead together. Now she would have to wait to join him.

Odin stepped forward, “Adalwin, for your bravery and determination in protecting Asgard, I present you with this small gift as a token of mine and the kingdom’s gratitude.”

Adalwin was about to say she wanted nothing, but Odin laid the box on her bed. It was small, built of wood. Curiosity over took her, and she leaned over to get it. Tentatively, she slid the lid off.

Inside was a golden rod. Adalwin gingerly took it out.

“A shiny stick?” she looked at Odin.

Thor chuckled softly, “Not just any shiny stick, hold it in your hand, strongly.”

Adalwin gripped it firmly, and the edges sprung out and expanded into a long staff, just above her height. She jumped from the revelation. She ran her thumb over the edge, and found an engraving on the side. It was Loki’s name and seal.

“That was your father’s staff when he was your age. He learned how to fight with it. It was his best weapon. Now, it’s yours.” Odin looked at Frigga, unsure of what to say next.

Adalwin didn’t say anything, but hugged the staff as if it were a stuffed animal before nodding her head in thanks.

“Adalwin,” Thor started, “I know you are in pain, but we need to know how much you do about what Loki did.”

Adalwin’s head shot up.

“What do you know about Loki’s plan?” Thor pressed as gently as he could. “What was his goal?”

Adalwin thought back to when Loki and her were sitting on his bed.

“I don’t know,” she replied slowly.

“Nothing?” Odin asked.

“Nothing. He didn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know about the Frost Giants, I didn’t know about the plan,” she paused “I didn’t even know how badly he wanted the throne.”

Frigga nodded. “Then that is all we need from you,” she glared at Odin and Thor, “I’ll take you back to your room.”

“No, I can walk,” she said stepping down from her bed. She retracted the staff and put it in her pocket. With a nod, she went to her room.

As she walked down the hallway, the pain in her heart ached more and more. When she reached her room, the tears began again.

It had been almost a week since Loki died, but it felt like an eternity. As she walked into her room, she turned away from the bed and towards the wall.

Puppet like, she touched the wall, it disappeared, and she walked through. Once she was back in Loki’s room. She collapsed to her knees, rocking from the emotional baggage.

“You’re not dead,” she whispered through her tears. “You’re not dead. You can’t be dead. Why did you leave me? What happened to our promise?”

As her final shred of sanity slipped from existence, she collapsed on his floor and stayed there for days. Or was it weeks? Time didn’t matter anymore. She lay on her back sometimes, others her side. She didn’t answer when people knocked. She didn’t acknowledge the shadows that crawled around her. She didn’t move unless it was to rise to eat dinner. She wouldn’t talk. She became nothing but a memory of herself.

At some point Loki came back to visit her. He would tell her stories or make shadows on the wall. If the screams in her head became too loud, he would talk to her to drown them out. If she was crying, like she did every hour, he would pet her hair to calm her. No. He wasn’t dead. He was right there next to her. He was dressed in his everyday wear. He wasn’t dead. Just as the scars on her body weren’t really from his betrayal. They were an accident.

Nobody could get her to come out. Thor tried desperately to get her to speak. One night just talking through the door to her.

Adalwin waited for death, but it never came.

“It’ll be alright,” Loki said as he ran his finger’s through her hair. “I’ll be right here. I’m always here,”

“I know,” Adalwin whispered, mesmerized by her own glowing fingers.

“I love you,” Loki said again.

“I love you too,” she murmured. “Can we train today?”

“Of course, I’ll take you out on the boats again, just like always,” Loki smiled.

“Just like always….” Adalwin repeated.

A loud knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She looked up emotionless and flicked her fingers. Loki stopped petting her and leaned back.

“Adalwin, it’s Sif,” the voice called out, “we were wondering if you wanted to go horseback riding with us? We’ve got another horse that needs the exercise.”

“We’ll only throw you off once,” Fandral’s voice followed along with a loud smack.

“No we won’t.”

“Please?”

“You’re not dead,” Adalwin said as she looked up at Loki. She then silently rose to look in the mirror.

“You’re not dead,” she replied as she looked at his and her own reflection as the voices of the Asgardians fell away to murmurs.

Her eyes locked on her own, and an image flashed in her mind. Some place dark, as it usually was. These vision came more and more often, but this time, she heard a voice.

“…Alfhild…”

Adalwin blinked. “Loki isn’t dead,” she said grinning as she turned to him. “He’s alive.” She flicked her fingers and he disappeared into the mirage he was.

“He’s alive,” she whispered. “He’s alive. In one of the realms, he has to be!”

It was dark now. She ran around the room, gathering things she needed.

She slipped on his cloak and disappeared down to the docks. She stole a boat, and routed it towards the secret passage. The guards were already looking for her, Thor and Frigga most likely had noticed she wasn’t at dinner.

“I’m going to find you, papa, if it’s the last thing I do,” she muttered as she entered the cave. “Nobody will stop me. My first stop, Jotunheim.”

The boat jolted side to side while it caught against the streams of Bifrost in the walls. With a flash, she disappeared from Asgard and the boat landed on an icy turf of the ruins of Jotunheim.

Adalwin will return in the Avengers….

After credits anyone?

A young teen ran through the forest in the pouring rain. She couldn’t see anything from the storm raging overhead. She had to find someplace to hide until it blew over.

Finally, after stumbling up a driveway, she wound up inside a cozy garage. It was clearly owned by somebody rich, there were fancy cars everywhere.

“They won’t mind if I crash here for a bit,” she said to herself as she stripped off her coat and curled up on the floor.

Little did she know her entrance had triggered the silent alarm. The homeowner had been awoken by it and crept down the stairs. He peeked through the glass doors that led to his workspace. It was too dark to see anything.

He had his glove on his hand, the center glowing blue with a repulsor ray armed to fire.

“JARVIS, where are they,” he whispered.

“Three meters to your right, sir,” the AI responded.

Tony raised his hand, “Turn on the lights, in 3, 2, 1”

The lights blazed on and the girl leapt up into a crouch as she whirled around on the man.

“Alright little lady, what’s your name and what are you doing here?” Tony said as he raised his hand to shoot her.

The girl stood up, and met the brown eyes of the man cornering her.

“My name is Emily,” she replied inclining her head, “And I’m looking for someone.”