Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 98: The Banquet Part 2

Chapter Ninety-Eight

The Banquet Part II

Milky Way Galaxy

Sol System

Nine Realms / Planet Earth

Loki watched the portal with growing trepidation. Why did it have to be tonight, when so much was hanging in balance? His life, his future, his fate, so much was at stake. He needed everything to be perfect. He knew of course that it was too much to ask for, but he expected well... minor problems.

Stark was thankfully gone now, so there was only Hatchet by his side. He did hope that more help would arrive in case their unwanted guest was hostile. He was not enough of an optimist to expect anything but an enemy. It's not like he made a habit of befriending powerful beings, quite the opposite actually.

The tendrils that grew around the portal expanded even further, spreading out to the floor, cracking the marble. Hatchet tilted his head and frowned at the growing dark shapes when they started to thicken and emerge from the floor like thick roots of a tree. There was not exactly recognition in his gaze, but he seemed to have more of an inkling about whom to expect than Loki.

'Do you know who this is?' Loki asked him. His own list was getting shorter and shorter as the seconds passed, but none of the names he could think of meant anything good.

Hatchet raised his eyes at the portal again just as it darkened further, a second later fog thick and grey as a storm cloud started flowing through it.

'I think I do,' Hatchet said quietly. Loki felt his body tense and his magic flare up underneath his skin in reaction to his tone. He focused his attention fully on the gateway again.

A dark shape stepped through, came forth out of the thick fog. Loki felt a breeze upon his face and the scent of rain, grass and flowers. He realized a moment before he saw her.

She was just as imposing as the last time Loki laid his eyes upon her. Even barefoot she was taller than Loki, skin black as fresh earth, glistening from the lights above her on the ceiling, her dark hair was untamed, framing her sharp face wildly. And her eyes? A pair of burning embers, almost like Heimdall's all-seeing gaze.

'Babba Queen,' he addressed her, keeping his voice even and confident, despite his surprise... nay, shock. It was definitely shock.

Her gaze settled on him right away. The last time he saw her, the thick dark lips were stretched wide into a smile, now there was a visible tightness on her face. The dark fog was still swirling around her from the gateway, and it made her stand out less in the bright room. It felt like just a speck of the deepest and darkest forests of Alfheim slipped through along with her.

'My invitation must have gotten lost,' she said in her deep voice. Loki tensed, oh no, let her not be insulted. He was already prepared to spin some words, but Hatchet stepped forward before he could.

He bowed a little then looked her square in the eyes. He was uncertain in a way Loki rarely saw him to be, and he also appeared to be confused, which was an ever rarer sight.

'My most gracious Babba Queen,' said Hatchet, his tone humble and careful. 'I speak for both myself and my dear friend Loki, when I say that there is no greater honour-'

She cut him off with a chiding scoff.

'How are you addressing me, boy?' she questioned. Hatchet's eyebrows climbed up on his forehead and he looked even more confused. Loki just waited, letting his friend speak for now.

Hatchet and the dark Fae Queen kept looking at one another for a long and tense moment, then finally her dark lips widened into a sharp smile, white teeth practically gleaming. It took a moment for Hatchet to react, but then he just huffed, all tension seeping out of his body.