Loki Laufeyson - The Experiment {1}

Chapter Fourteen - Asguard

When I came too, I was on something soft and I was covered with the softest blanket ever. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked, rubbing my eyes with one of my hands. I sat up a little and looked around me to see that I was in a bed surrounded with the fanciest furniture I had ever seen, all of which seemed to have something gold on it. I slowly sat up more and pulled the sheets off my body, slowly sliding off the bed as I looked around warily. I spotted a door and slowly walked over to it, grasping the golden handle and twisting it. The door swung open silently and I peeked around it, my eyes widening instantly.

The carpet outside of the room was a beige colour that looked a lot like a faded gold. It ran all the way along the floor until it met golden railings that went around a whole space in the middle of the floor, similar to how the Tower was set up. I cautiously moved over to the railing and looked down over the edge to see shining cream tiles on the level below that covered the whole floor. There were golden pillars supporting the ceiling above, which was the level I was standing on, and everything seemed to shine. At one end of the floor below me, there were two massive gold doors with two guards on either side of it, dressed in shining gold armour and holding spears. On the other end of the floor, there was a massive white marble platform with a large golden throne directly in the middle. Although the throne was empty, two guards still stood there.

"A little over the top with the gold, don't you think?" Came a familiar voice and I jumped, spinning around to see Loki standing a little way behind me. He was no longer dressed in casual clothing, but rather his green and gold armour he had worn the day he rescued me with HYDRA.

"I don't know how they manage to keep it all so clean." I murmured quietly, turning back around to look down at the level below. Loki chuckled and moved to stand next to me, leaning on the golden railings. We stood in silence for a little while before he turned to me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked and I looked up at him. "After the Bifrost?" I instantly remembered the bright light that lifted me up off the ground and my disgust must have shown on my face because Loki chuckled. "I know, not as pleasant as teleporting, is it?" I smiled softly and shook my head, looking back down at the throne room.

"I would give you a tour of Asguard." He spoke up after a couple of seconds of silence. "But my mother is wanting us all down in the dining hall, she did meet you when you were unconscious after the Bifrost, but she actually wants to meet you when you're awake." He smiled softly and I nodded, stepping away from the balcony. "I would teleport us down there, but I used up a lot of my energy travelling here in the first place, and I think you are probably done with jumping from place to place today." I smiled softly again and nodded. He moved away from the balcony too and beckoned for me to follow him.

We walked down a set of very fancy white marble staircases into the throne room before we took a right turn where there was another gold door, two guards also on either side. Upon Loki and I approaching, they pushed the doors opened and immediately I was hit with the smell of delicious food. I inhaled deeply as my eyes darted around the room. There were numerous guards along the wooden walls, which were covered in different paintings of people. There was a massive table directly down the middle of the room, made from a dark brown wood with a red tablecloth running down the middle. There were several plates of food along the table and three of the ten very elegant dark brown wooden chairs were already occupied. In one of them sat Thor, but two other people I didn't know sat in the others.

"This is probably the room with the least amount of gold in it." Loki whispered in my ear, humor in his voice. "It's y favourite." I laughed quietly, smiling up at him as he grinned down at me.

"You must be Emily." A voice said from the table and I looked away from Loki sharply to see the two people and Thor looking at me. The smile immediately faded from my face and I shrunk back at the sudden attention. I moved to take a step back, but Loki put a hand on my back, causing me to jump and look up at him.

"It's okay." He whispered in my ear, giving me a comforting smile. He gently nudged me forward and I stumbled forward slightly, my eyes darting to the two unfamiliar people at the table before I looked down at them as they met my eyes. We moved over to one side of the table and Loki sat down next to the woman, who had long strawberry blonde hair that was elegantly braided. She was dressed in a pale blue and white gown and when I briefly met her gaze, she gave me a comforting smile.

"I'm Frigga." She said as I sat down next to Loki. "It is nice to finally meet you. Loki has told me a lot about you." I looked up at Loki and I gave me a small smile, looking down at the food on his plate, a faint pink tinge on his cheeks. My eyes moved to Frigga and I gave her a small smile before I looked down at my hands on my lap.

"We indeed have heard a lot about you, mortal." The man from the head of the table spoke up and my eyes darted to him for a moment. He had grey hair and was dressed in black armour with a gold eyepatch over one eye. He was giving me a glare that almost seemed... annoyed.

"Father, she has a name." Thor spoke up, looking over at the man. The man didn't answer, putting a forkful of food into his mouth and giving me a short sharp glare. I instantly looked away and back down at my hands in my lap. I felt Loki tense up next to me but before the situation could get any worse, Frigga interrupted.

"Emily dear? Would you like some food?" Her smooth voice caused me to look up and I saw that she was holding out a bowl of some sort of food I didn't recognize. Not wanting to seem rude or get in trouble for not eating, I reached out and took the food from her. It seemed to be some sort of pasta, and I scooped a couple of spoonful's onto my plate. I set the bowl back down on the table and hesitantly picked up my fork, twirling a couple of strands of the pasta onto the end. I slowly brought it up to my mouth and tried to sniff it as discreetly as I could, trying to detect any traces of poison like I had been taught at HYDRA. When I couldn't find any however, I slowly ate it, chewing thoughtfully. It had a sweet honey flavour and seemed to almost melt in my mouth. I quickly ate what was left in my bowl but I was full pretty quickly. I relaxed a little in my chair and listened into the conversations going around the table. Frigga and Loki were having some sort of conversation about magic, and while a couple of parts intrigued me, most of it I didn't understand. Instead, I turned my attention to the conversation that the man and Thor were having.

"How long did you say he had known the mortal?" The man asked Thor quietly, like he was trying to hide their conversation.

"It's only been two days." Thor replied, not at all having a quiet voice, though he was trying.

"And he has already taken a liking to her?" The man asked, slightly disbelieving.

"Something similar to that." Thor nodded, poking his food. "I saw it instantly when he showed me her in that horrid cell."

"Why would he care about her?" The man asked in confusion.

"I don't know." Thor sighed. "But I'm wary of her, we don't know the full extent of her powers."

"Emily?" Someone nudged me gently and I jumped, looking up sharply at Loki. "Are you all right? We were said your name twice."

"Sorry." I murmured timidly, looking down.

"It's okay dear." Frigga said softly. "We were just wondering if you would be willing to stay here for a couple of days? Loki has explained what has happened with your power over the last two days, and I believe I might have several techniques that might be useful in controlling it." I looked up at Loki and he gave me a small smile. Thor and the man had finished their conversation and I looked over at Thor, as if asking him if it was okay that I stayed here. He nodded as he ate and I looked back over at Frigga.

"If its okay with you." I said softly and she smiled, nodding.

"It would be no trouble." She said before looking at Loki. "Would you mind showing Emily around Asguard dear? I'm sure she would love to see it." Loki nodded and stood up, which I took as my sign to stand up.

"Thank you for the food." I said softly to Frigga and she nodded, giving me another smile before I hurried after Loki.