To Withstand the Force of Storms (A Loki Laufeyson Fanfic)

Chapter 7: Bury Your Flame

"I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity." -John D. Rockefeller

***

After arriving back at Asgard and telling their tale to whoever asks for it, Annaka realizes something: Loki is moving on from his past of mischief and troublemaking. It's fading away, and he's gripping onto adventure and fun in a new way--with her. While all this is a good sign, Annaka can't help but miss the old Loki, who would wake her in the early hours of the morning to go explore the forest or to try to prank someone in the castle.

"What are your plans for today?"

Annaka glances up at him in his riding gear. "Well, I know you're going to spend some quality time with your brother, so I was thinking I would just hang out with the twins."

"It's going to be anything but quality time," Loki argues. "I'd be surprised if we both came back unscathed."

"Be good," she warns jokingly, "but have fun, too."

"It'll be tough, but I'm up for the challenge." Loki bends to kiss her and she complies, raising herself on her tip toes. Loki's tongue prods her lower lip, but she pulls away.

"Later; you have to leave." Groaning in protest, Loki leaves for the stables where Thor waits outside. Annaka waves to him before going back inside.

"Annaka!" Leyna is jogging down the hall to her. "Do you want to do something today?"

"I was just going to ask you that," Annaka says. "Why don't you, Linnet, and I go into town and have a little girl time?"

Leyna beams. "Sounds great!"

"Meet me at the entrance in half an hour?"

Leyna nods, running back towards the throne room.

Annaka goes back to her bedroom to change into something more out-of-the-castle suitable. If they're going out of town, she won't want to wear a dress. So, grabbing a green tunic and black pants out of her closet, Annaka changes into it before going to meet the twins in the throne room.

"Where are we going?" Linnet asks.

"Wherever the wind takes us." 

*

"The wind took us to town?" Linnet asks. "Must be a dull wind."

"This'll be fun," Annaka assures her, marveling at the townsfolk. The streets are full of children at play: jump roping, painting with chalk, playing hide and seek, tossing coins in the fountain, and playing hopscotch. Colorful ribbons fly in the wind off of people's doors and roofs, along with streamers. Everyone seems to be colorful today, wearing mismatched articles of clothing and even two different shoes. "What's going on?" Annaka asks Leyna, who appears most interested in the sight.

"It's the festival of colors!" she exclaims. "I forgot all about it. Every year, the town has a festival to celebrate the founders of Asgard. Everyone wears different colors to represent the founders; they say that each color of the rainbow stands for a founder. At sunset, everyone takes some colorful dust and throws it into the air from their rooftops, and then there's a fireworks show."

The last part makes Annaka think about the day Loki and she had had that color dust fight.

"There are all kinds of activities to do all day," Leyna continues. "Dances, special meals, games, it's all good fun."

"Then let's join the fun!" Annaka leads them over to a group of dancing folk, joining in with them. They dance until their feet have sores and there's no more music to play.

"So, what now?" Linnet asks, just as a blast sounds from behind them. People scramble away from the flaming building, dodging debris and rushing towards the building with buckets of water. Someone comes with a hose to extinguish the fire, but it's so wild, it does no good.

"We can't just stand here!" Leyna says as another chunk of building lands a few feet from them.

"What are we supposed to do? We're not fireproof!" Linnet replies frantically.

Annaka is already running towards the fountain. Using her magic, she manipulates the water to make it blast like a tidal wave over the building. The fire flickers down and died, the last flame blowing out in the now cold wind. Annaka swears she sees a flash of black fly out of the top of the building but dismisses it as just a puff of smoke.

"Brilliant, Annaka!" Leyna says as they approached.

People start murmuring throughout the crowd, wondering what could have started the fire.

"Was there anyone in there?" Leyna asks fearfully. Linnet jogs up to the charred ruble to investigate, walking carefully over the ashes. Annaka and Leyna follow slowly.

"I think there were a few," Linnet says, her voice shaking. Annaka catches up to her and sees that she's right. Corpses litter the ground, some still smoking, others burnt to a crisp. Loved ones cry out as they observe the remains. Luckily, it's only about four people, but Annaka knows it should've been zero.

Guards from the castle arrive on the scene and scope the area, looking for a cause of the fire. Annaka and the twins stay back.

"It's a restaurant," Linnet points out. "It was probably one of the ovens."

"But what if it wasn't?" Leyna asks nervously. "It looked like the fire started in the main room."

"We won't know for sure until the guards have a look," Annaka finalizes. How could this have happened on such a festive and happy day? Today was supposed to be honorable, but instead it ended in fire.

Linnet moves closer to the scene, and Annaka reminds herself of Linnet's peeking curiosity of the unknown. She and Leyna watch her from their spot as she scouts the building like the guards, eventually picking up a handful of ash and dropping it again.

"Anything?" Leyna asks when Linnet returns.

"I don't think that ash if from a normal fire," she says thoughtfully. "It felt...strange to me."

"In what ways?" Annaka inquires.

Linnet shrugs uneasily. "The color was too dark, but it might be from the building's material or something. I'm probably over thinking this." Annaka senses there's something she's not telling them, but lets it go as Loki and Thor arrive in the city, eyeing the mess worriedly.

Spotting the girls, Loki jogs over quickly. "Are you alright?" he asks Annaka, scanning her for burns or wounds.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she assures him. "We weren't close to it."

"And you two are fine as well?" he asks the twins. They both nod. "What happened?"

Annaka shakes her head. "It was going great, and then all the sudden the building caught fire." Annaka thinks about telling him about the black figure she saw, but, then again, she isn't sure she even saw what she thinks she saw, so she doesn't say anything for now.

"Come on; let's go back to the castle." 

Thor assists the horses back to the stables as Loki, Annaka, and the twins rush inside.

Later that night, Loki paces the bedroom. "A building doesn't just catch on fire like that. The guards said they couldn't identify a cause, but it was a restaurant. Surely it would've been an oven." 

Annaka is surprised he's giving the matter this much thought. "Leyna said there was supposed to be a fireworks show. Maybe one of the fireworks went off unexpectedly."

"I don't think one firework would cause such a fire," Loki mutters. "It's strange."

"Why don't you just come to bed and forget about it?" Annaka suggests. "You're worrying too much."

Loki stares at the wall. "You go ahead. I'm going to talk to Thor."