All Hail The King // Loki - Book 2 ✓

Chapter 31

"HE'S GONNA unleash it," Jane tells them, breathing heavily as they enter a cave to take shelter from the brutal storm brewing outside. "Not just on Asgard, or on a star...Malekith is going to destroy everything."

Thor frowns, "How? Jane, how?"

"I saw him on Earth," she replies. "Why would he go to Earth?"

"The Convergence," Thor says slowly, realization dawning on all of them.

Jane inhales, the breath catching in her throat as it hits her.

"Oh god," she whispers. "None of this would've happened if I hadn't found the Aether."

Moving to her, Thor squeezes her hand reassuringly, "Then Malekith would've only possessed it that much sooner."

"He's right, Jane," Anna interjects, her voice cracking from disuse. "This isn't your fault."

No longer tormented by tears, she followed Thor and Jane willingly as they escaped the storm. It would've been so easy to slip into the darkness, get lost and allow herself to join Loki in death on this godforsaken planet, but she knows he wouldn't have wanted that for her. Thor's right. They cannot let Loki's death be in vain.

"I only found it because I was looking for you," Jane admits, glancing up at Thor.

Thor sighs, running his hand over Jane's hair, "Jane..."

"Now we're trapped here," she continues, ignoring him.

Music begins to play from within the darkness of the cave, a rap song pulsing from what sounds like is a very small speaker. Jane looks into the darkness, her eyes landing questioningly on Anna. Anna shrugs, and they both look at Thor.

He shakes his head, "It's...not me."

Jane's eyes grow wide as it hits her, realization dawning on her face, as she digs her hand into the pocket of the jacket she's wearing over her Asgardian dress. Pulling out her cell phone in both awe and confusion, she stares at the device for a split second while the ringtone continues to blare before answering the call.

"Hello?" She asks, standing up and punching the speakerphone button. "Richard?! Where are you?"

"I'm still at the office," a man's voice crackles through the phone. "It's been a crazy day here today."

Jane lifts the phone, marveling at how it's receiving reception, "Oh my god, this is amazing."

"Is it?" The man, Richard, asks. "I quite enjoyed our lunch despite never actually ordering anything."

"How am I getting service here?" Jane ponders, more to herself than anyone else.

Thor steps closer to Anna, both of them watching carefully as the brunette astrophysicist picks her way deeper into the cave. Neither of them know who the man is on the other line, nor do they know how she could have received a call in Svartalfheim.

"Is this a bad time? Do you want me to try you later," the man asks.

"No, no, no, no, please," Jane urges. "Whatever you do, do not hang up the phone."

"Okay then," Richard replies. "I was just wondering if you want to try again. Uh...maybe dinner next time."

Thor and Anna exchange an awkward look as Jane says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um...just...stay on the phone, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," he replies.

Jane glances at her two companions, turning the phone off speaker and holding it to her ear. Her eyes land on the ground in front of her. A crumpled up soda can sits in the dirt, and her eyes widen as she realizes what's going on.

"Oh my god," she says slowly, leaning down to grab a set of keys - her keys - from the ground, before speaking to Richard, "No, no, no. Nothing at all."

She beckons to Anna and Thor, waving them toward her, "C'mon."

"Where are we going?" Thor asks. "Why are there so many shoes in here?"

They walk further into the cave, and within a few steps they pass through a portal. Disappearing from Svartalfheim, they reappear in the warehouse where Jane discovered the Aether. All three of them begin to fall, but Thor grabs both of them and pitches to the side. Smashing into a railing which crumples under his weight, the three of them hit the stairs heavily and tumble to a halt.

"London," Anna says first, standing and adjusting her dress. "We're back in the factory where you found the anomaly."

Jane smiles proudly, jangling the car keys she picked up in the cave, "Yep."

She leads them out of the building with Anna by her side, and Thor trails behind them while Jane rattles on about the impossibility of receiving Richard's call from an entirely different realm. Somehow, the portal created by Convergence allowed cell phone waves to penetrate it as well. Once they reach the beat-up red car they left with Darcy in the parking lot when Thor arrived to take them to Asgard, the three of them climb in - carefully avoiding broken glass - as Jane starts the vehicle.

"So," Thor asks. "Who's Richard?"

Jerking the car into drive with a loud groan, Jane looks at him in disbelief, "Really?!"

Now playing: "Paralyzer" Finger Eleven.

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Ready for an exciting Sunday?

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