Hell or High Water (#Wattys2016)

ANYA'S CHOICE • Preview

Hello, hello! Thank you guys again for all the support, votes, and noms on this book, one of my first fanfictions on Wattpad (I know, you're probably sick of seeing this since the last chapter, lol) that I didn't exactly expect to receive such a generally good response like it has. If you get the chance, I hope you will check out my current project about a girl with an unnatural ability to harness energy and perhaps put an end to a evil old as time threatening her world, and did I mention she is the daughter of Loki, Silver Tongue himself? Who knows the countless people he has made angry over the course of a thousand years or more? So without further ado, here is a preview of Anya's Choice, sequel to Hell or High Water.

***Please note that it has NOT been fully revised and is ONGOING.***

Enjoy!

~~~~~

"You wish to speak with me, brother?" By habit, Loki wrinkled his nose at the familiar term and started to retort, but kept silent. Some things could not be helped no matter how hard he tried.

"Yes, Thor," He loathed asking for help, no less from Thor. But his daughter is now involved in something potentially life threatening and Loki isn't going to be backed into a corner like a caged animal, not when it came to his blood - an alternative was always an option so long as the auxiliary is loyal. "I seek your aid in a matter which involves your niece."

Thor was taken aback for a split second before realizing that this is Loki, had he actually changed his ways? Not entirely, Thor could still catch glimpses of a cunning grin, or witnessing another mostly harmless trick practiced on unsuspecting mortals. He gathered long ago that his brother will never change; it is his nature to connive and weave lies into words that have little truth, though he is undoubtedly more tolerable and less vengeful than the Loki that Thor remembers gradually getting worse by the years.

He supposes Charlie plays a large part in such a drastic transformation. Despite what scant credit his brother gives him, Thor still refuses to trust him fully. Despite the immense love he harbors for him as if they are blood, he simply cannot bear to see what relationship they managed to salvage be torn apart again, perhaps for good.

"Is she ill?"

"No, nothing like that, though I'm running out of time and I fear there is no other way out."

"Loki, for Vahalla's sake, please be more specific. It has been a lengthy and wary day filled of consultations -"

"She will be taken by the Unknown," He blurted before thinking about how desperate it would sound. "Once she comes of age, the rite of passage will transpire to her. The problem is that I cannot narrow it down to a specific date."

Thor felt his heart grow heavy at the news, immediately he knew why Loki had told him to come urgently, why he told him to meet at the one place in the nine realms that held many childhood memories for them both.

"You are sure... nothing can be done?"

"Do you not think I have tried? Do you not see how I have fought to keep her and Thomas safe? Do you not think for one single SOLITARY moment when I found that my daughter would be used in order to manipulate time, I did not result to every negotiation tactic known within the nine realms? No, Thor, forgive me as it did not even cross my mind to consider what the reverse effect will have should I intervene."

Loki spoke his words harshly, while Thor can finally see that they aren't aimed at him and what has been off about this whole evening. The strained, irritable look his brother carries around like a dead horse says it all. Thor placed a hand meant to be comforting on Loki's shoulder, who promptly shrugged it off. Same old Silver Tongue.

"I believe that is the first time I heard you utter that word."

Loki looks up from where a patch of fog has begun to appear upon a small boulder, just as it did when they sometimes played hide-and-seek, with the loser left standing in the thickest part of fog until found. Even then, life seemed trivial and there were plenty to be explored outside the walls of Asgard. He always thrived to upturn every rock, search every nook and cranny, and unveil every lie as to form his own more accurately later in life. Likewise when it was denied to him, a challenge he could never pass by.

"What words are these? I see you have forgotten when your intelligence is being insulted."

"Only one," Thor chuckled. No matter how many offenses were thrown his way, he knew Loki insisted on having an odd way of showing his feelings.

"Daughter."

~~~~~