The Superheroes' Soulmate

Chapter 43 - A Willing Sacrifice

Loki was pacing irritatedly around the room he and Thor were in. Odin was making them wait to see him. It rankled, he should be back on Midgard, back with Lexi and the others. Instead he was here having to deal with Odin's infernal directives and petty threats. He wasn't going to let anyone, not even the Allfather himself tell him that they had to do something before she was ready for it. 

"Brother, stop your pacing and come eat." Thor called.

Loki ignored him; he missed them all, but especially Lexi and the archer. He couldn't help smiling as he thought about them. But before long his face fell into lines of anger again and he resumed his pacing. When the doors were pushed open Loki turned expecting to see the guards there to take them to Odin.

"My friends!" Thor boomed as he jumped up to greet the three warriors and Sif as they entered the room. Loki rolled his eyes and resumed his pacing.

"What are you doing here?" Thor was asking them.

"We heard that you were in state waiting to speak to the King," Sif explained.

"Come, there is food and drink aplenty while we wait." Thor gestured expansively towards the table set up in the middle of the room.

"And what business does the God of Mischief and Lies have with Odin?" Fandral asked, with a quick look towards where he was still pacing in tight circles.

Thor slapped him on the shoulder and said, "My brother has found his soulmate, and Father is insisting the soul binding occur immediately."

Loki turned towards Thor then, angry, "What business is it of theirs?"

Thor scowled, "Loki, there is nothing to be ashamed of here. This news is the best kind of news. You should be happy to share it."

Loki sneered and turned away, "What is good about it?"

"I do not understand why you are so reluctant for this? Is it not a good thing for the binding to occur?" Thor demanded.

Loki closed his eyes briefly, sighing, not quite believing that his brother could be this dense. He turned and strode over to where Thor was currently standing, "Thor, brother, I know that you can be dense sometimes, but try to understand it from her point of view. It is not that I do not want a soul binding to occur. It is that I do not want her to feel like she has no choice in the matter because Odin has declared it must happen when he wants it to happen. I want her to agree to it because she truly wants it, not because she is being forced into it by him. Midgardians are not raised as we were in regards to soulmates and soul bonds."

The four newcomers watched the exchange between the two brothers in fascination. Then Sif spoke up, "Are you saying that your soulmate is Midgardian?"

Loki spared her a look. There was hurt behind her eyes and with it came a small kernel of guilt. He and Sif had a history, and he had unintentionally hurt her when he had gone on his mission of revenge and dominion. He suspected that she thought, once he had fulfilled his sentence of banishment, that there might be something between them again.

It was Thor who answered her, "Yes. She is Midgardian. You should see them together."

"Even if she is, what is the problem with a binding occurring as soon as possible?"

Loki found himself sighing once again, "Well, first off, she has three other soulmates. And more importantly, she has only bonded to each of us a short time ago, she is young, and she is still adjusting to the changes in her life. Now, Odin is trying to force her to do the binding without her not only actually understanding what it means but without giving her a chance to decide that it is right for her."