Stolen Relic ~ A Loki Fanfic

Chapter Twenty-Five

Happy Reading!

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This time the trip back felt like it went by way too fast. They landed inside the sphere of the bifrost in a flash of light and power that tasted of Odin. Loki knew in theory that his father commanded the strength to control the Bifrost himself, he had grown up hearing the tales, but he had never witnessed it.

The light and magic receded leaving Loki breathless, but Thor was already raging. "Why did you bring us back?" he demanded, spinning towards their father.

Odin swung around to face his older son, his face a cold mask of fury. "Do you realize what you've done? What you've started?" he demanded.

"I was protecting my home," Thor responded confidently.

"You cannot even protect your friends," Odin said gesturing to where Sif and the Warriors three stood near Loki. Their body language was not lost on him, they stood apart, clearly separating themselves from their raging Prince. Nor had he missed Loki's defensive position when he had arrived. Surprisingly, it seemed his youngest son had risen to the occasion and had protected his friends in Jotunheim while Thor had left them to their own devices.

"How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin shouted. He ripped Heimdal's sword out of the lock and threw it to the guardian angrily. He swung back around to face the warriors three. "Get him to the healing room now!" he ordered gesturing to where Fandral hung in their arms, blood coating his armor.

Without hesitating the four warriors fled from the All Father's rage. Heimdal followed behind them calmly, leaving Odin and his sons alone.

"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you are afraid to act," Thor defended. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."

Loki stood alone between his father and brother, his heart thundering in his ears. The adrenaline from the battle still coursed through his veins and he could feel that strange foreign magic still swirling through his veins. He frowned as he forced himself to focus on the fight between his father and brother. This was exactly the discussion he wished the two of them to have. His father needed to see that Thor was too impulsive yet to lead. He needed time to mature. So far everything was going according to plan.

"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership," Odin snapped. "You've forgotten everything I've taught you about a warrior's patience."

Thor scoffed disrespectfully. "While you wait and be patient the nine realms laugh at us," Thor snarled. "The old ways are done! You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls."

"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin shouted.

"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor screamed.

Odin stilled, and somehow his stillness was that much more terrifying. Loki couldn't take his eyes off his father. He had always feared Odin, but now, in this moment he wondered if his brother did too. Odin for all his terrifying stillness locked his gaze on the floor. "Yes," he agreed quietly. "I was a fool to think you were ready."

Loki's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between his father and brother. As badly as he wanted his father to see this side of Thor he hadn't anticipated their confrontation being this explosive. Loki could read the tension thrumming through Odin's shoulders and knew something was coming. His father might claim to hate magic, but he commanded it just the same. It was rising in the room around them, and making it difficult to catch a full breath. He glanced desperately back at his brother, but Thor's jaw was still set and stubborn, he refused to see it. Whatever was coming, it would blindside his brother.