Loki x Reader: Into the MCU

Chapter 11: Meeting Mischief

Let's just say that luck was apparently in short supply on Asgard. You tried multiple times to make it to the edge of the city, but the guards had set up a perimeter while the city was being swept. Clint could possibly make it through, seeing as they were not on the lookout for him and he was the master of stealth, but you hadn't the slightest idea of how to sneak by guards without looking suspicious. There were people still on the streets getting ready to hide out in their homes, so even dodging down alleys and behind buildings was hard to do without drawing attention to yourself. You had to act normal while staying hidden...not an easy task.

You found yourself being pushed back towards the main part of the city. The one bright side of this whole misadventure was the sightseeing. Asgard was simply beautiful. Everything was ornately carved out of pure white stone or marble, and the houses and buildings on the lower levels still bore gold trim. As you were forced in the direction of the palace by an uncomfortably close group of guards, you noticed that the buildings got grander the closer you were to the palace. Torches shimmered off of the gold and white that was everywhere, causing a dazzling spectacle wherever you looked. There were large courtyards and gardens, parks and outdoor venues, and pure magic all around.

Unfortunately, the tranquility and wonder of the scenery was tainted by the fear and adrenaline coursing through your veins. You were practically in the palace now, or at least on the grounds of the palace. However, you decided it wasn't such a bad idea to be so close to your hunter's home. It would be the last place he'd expect you to be, seeing as you were supposed to be looking for Heimdall. In fact, it had been easier to make it onto the palace grounds than one would normally expect. You decided the bulk of the guards must be out in the city and surrounding area looking for you.

Great, so I just chill on palace grounds and hope no noblemen find me.

You covertly made your way through grand courtyards and under balconies, past fountains and around large stone homes. You were looking for anywhere to rest for some of the night, but there didn't seem to be much cover anywhere.

Finally, you came to a garden. It was smaller than the others you had seen, as you had passed what you assumed to be the royal gardens earlier, and it was enormous. This garden seemed to be tucked away on the edge of the palace grounds. The path to get here had been winding as it was, with you taking many turns off of the main road. The nearest house was quite a ways back, the only surrounding structures being that of the palace walls, which circled most of the garden.

On the one hand, it was dangerous to be in such a boxed-in area. There was no way out, should things go wrong. However, no one in a million years would suspect the fugitive to be right outside of the palace walls. You also hoped that this garden wouldn't be heavily populated either, as the royal gardens were much more in the center of the palace life.

You decided to take your chances and venture further in. As you walked down the dirt paths, which you noticed was different than the other gardens and their stone paths, you realized that this one was actually much lovelier than the others you had snuck through that night.

The others were well kept and beautiful in their structure and organized design, but the wild and free nature of this garden entranced you more than the others. There were too many flowers and colors to keep track of, all allowed to grow in random patterns. Some trees had vines growing around the trunks that glowed a slight shade of purple. There seemed to be only the bare minimum human, or Asgardian, intervention in this garden, which you decided is what made it such a cut above the rest. It was nature left to itself.

You continued going deeper and deeper in. You got to a point where you decided venturing into the vegetation to your left would be best, as you judged that a wall to the palace, and nothing more, would mark the border of the garden. The path you were on would simply lead back around eventually, so getting off here seemed like the right call. You didn't want to trample any of the plants, thus leaving a noticeable trace of your whereabouts, so you found the thinnest part of the foliage to enter. This happened to be under a rather large and magnificent tree. You used your hand to lift the low hanging branches before stepping under and into the shrubbery.