Unexpected

Chapter 5

Loki took his time finishing breakfast. He had little interest going to spare Sif but knew he couldn't not show up. Not now anyway. The tonic had helped his headache dissipate, but it could not pull the images of a naked Sif and his vulnerable self out of his mind. He wasn't pleased with his current state, he was used to having better composure over himself.

It wasn't yet noon by the time he was finished with him meal. He was moving slowly, with calculation, try to understand his thoughts and what to do about them. He drank the last of his water and dropped his napkin on the plate before moving to the balcony. From his chamber, he could see the entire city, the Rainbow bridge, Bifrost and the literal edge of their planet. Far to the right of Loki's balcony, past many columns and architectural features was an obscured view of Thor's balcony. And far, far above even their high towers was the broad balcony of Odin's chambers. Loki searched Thor's balcony, wondering if he could catch a glimpse of his brother, but saw nothing and assumed he'd be down in the training courtyards with Sif anyway.

Loki turned to go back inside, deciding to change into something better suited for combat. He contemplated his options for a moment before flicking his hand transforming his typical caped daywear into a fitted, sleeveless leather two-piece set with armored shins, shoulders and knees. His wrists were bound in black straps making punching a comfortable option if he were to need it.

With that, he left his bedroom, making a stop at his study before the training ground. The study was tall with cathedral ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. Shelves lined every wall and were full of books on topics ranging from astronomy, battle strategy, legends, incantations, art of war, potions, zoology, methods of ruling, herbology, fighting techniques and more. Loki passed stacks of books making his way to his desk on which the volume he seeked was laying.

He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. He'd been studying this for a while and felt confident that he could pull it off given the right circumstance. He ran his thumb over the spine, Enchantments: The Art of Altering Minds Volume 2. Loki sat at his desk and turned to the Table of Contents: Introduction.... Chapter 1: Contact... Chapter 6: Persuasion... Chapter 18: Power. He flipped to page 167 and skimmed through the chapter looking for a passage he'd read weeks ago, until he came upon it:

"There are a variety of enchantments that can be mastered, and all depend on the goal. If the desired effect is to create an artificial landscape in which to exist, a stronger approach will need to be taken. However, if the goal is short term, needing only last a matter of minutes or even hours, a mild version of enchantment will be required. More difficult, long-lasting enchantments require elixirs and potions that can help propel the effects further. Short-term enchantments will not require such materials, but rather simply physical touch. A strong, steady establishing connection will ensure a clear path for the enchantment to flow from yourself to another party member..."

Frigga had mentioned rules of enchantment to Loki a couple times over the years, but it had always taken a backseat to the interesting forms of magic like telekinesis and illusion casting. Now though, with Frigga gone, he had only himself to learn from. He'd mastered many of his other skills but had recently been focusing more on cryokinesis and enchantments.

Cryokinese was easy to practice alone. He could alter the temperatures within his study and had even gone out to the woods to try it on larger animals like rabbits and foxes. Truthfully, Thor was the largest creature he'd tried the skill on, so he was quite pleased that it had worked at all.

Enchantments, on the other hand were harder. He didn't have willing participants to test on and animals proved to be a challenge of their own. Animals didn't have thoughts or memories like humanoids did which turned out to be a big part of what made an enchantment work. Instead, he'd been working on brewing elixirs and potions that could be used for stronger enchantments, should the day come. Like his spare with Thor, if he wanted to test his knowledge, he'd have to try and figure it out in the moment.