The Valkyrie's Legacy/ Loki

11

Gale and Erika sat on the plateau of the mountain again. This time it was only the sisters. A week has gone by since the victory of Thor. Erika still felt the grief in her body but sitting on the grass with her sister helped her. 

"Can we try flying now?", Gale asked. The cliff was tall enough to train but Erika was still scared. She trusted her wings but no one was there to teach them how to fly. 

Gale on the other hand couldn't wait to finally fly around with the birds around. She stood up and went near the cliff. Erika wanted to stop her but Gale just smiled at her. 

"Trust your wings.", was all Erika heard and then her sister fell down the cliff. Erika screamed but a second later her sister was levitating in the air grinning at her. 

"Take my hands.", she ordered and Erika followed hesitating. She took her sisters hands and felt her own wings widen. She looked directly into the eyes of her sister trying to distract herself from the fact she was going to fall down a few hundred metres. 

Surprisingly she didn't fall down. Gale held her hands tight and soon both sisters were flying a few metres away from the plateau. Scared Erika looked down and lost her faith. 

A moment later she felt her wings stiffen and for a second she thought this was her death. But then her sister grabbed her again. 

"Don't be scared, okay?", Gale whispered and softly wiped away a tear from Erika's cheek. She didn't even notice she was crying. Now filled with new faith she started working with her wings. 

After a few minutes she let go of Gale's hands trying it herself. Happy it was working both sisters flew around the mountain. Gale's wish came true and birds joined them on their flight. 

When Erika landed on the plateau, she wanted to fly immediately again but her feet were giving up because of the adrenaline and she kneeled on the floor. She couldn't remember when the last time was she felt this happy. 

Just the feeling of freedom in the air made her want to fly again. In the air she could be alone and still with her sister. She felt closer to her mother and could look at Asgard in a new perspective. 

Now watching her sister play around with the birds she felt ultimate happiness. 

Sadly that didn't last long. 

"I knew I'd find you here.", she heard a voice say behind her. She didn't even need to turn around to see it was Odin. Tired of him she turned around. 

"What do you want?" 

"I just wanted to visit you. That's all. I see you're flying ability is making you really happy.", Odin said and looked at the memorial of the fallen Valkyries. 

Erika went next to him. Since when was Odin interested in her happiness? That didn't make sense. On the other hand she was glad Odin came here because now she could ask him something she wondered about the whole week. 

"When is the funeral?" 

Surprised at her cold voice Odin turned to her. When Erika looked at him she felt something weird again. It was the same feeling around Niklas. What the hell?

"Whose funeral?", Odin asked and he seemed really confused. 

"Loki's? Your son?"

"Oh.", Odin answered and Erika felt the rage filling her body. Odin was even worse as a father than as a king. "There won't be a funeral. They didn't find his body." 

"This is the worst excuse for not holding a funeral.", Erika scoffed. 

"Excuse me? I am still your Ki-" 

"King, I know that. But before you are a King, you are a father. You just lost your son and don't even want to hold a funeral?" 

"He wasn't my son. He wasn't even Asgardian.", Odin replied. Erika felt her fists tighten. 

"He died for you." 

"He died for his brother." 

"At least give him the honour of a burial or something. Loki shouldn't be remembered as the cause of deaths but of the reason we are still alive." 

Odin seemed really surprised at her words but Erika truly meant them. 

"Why do you care so much about my son?", Odin asked and Erika immediately noticed how he called him 'his son'. She looked at her little sister still playing with the birds and smiled. 

"He may have done many bad things. Hell, maybe there wasn't even any hope for him but in the end he chose to die for us, to protect his brother, and-", Erika said and watched Gale again. "Before I am a Valkyrie, I am a sister. That's why I care about his honour. He may didn't die your son or as an Asgardian. But he died a brother." 

This night Erika couldn't sleep at all. When she realized there wasn't any chance for sleep she stood up and went to a place she always wanted to go to since she came to Asgard again. The Library. Erika loved reading when she was young but then she didn't have time for it anymore. Now that it was quiet it was the perfect time to read. She remembered staying up all night just to finish a certain book. 

When she entered the library she immediately smelled the familiar scent of books. Happily she traced with her fingertips along the backs of the books and read the titles. She pulled out an Asgardian fairy tale book and sat down on a chair. She read all those tales when she was a kid. 

While reading she suddenly saw a shadow moving. Now fully focused she placed a hand on her sword she of course carried around her waist even in a nightgown and followed the shadow. She turned around a bookshelf and her eyes widened in shock. 

"Loki?", she asked and went to him but as soon as she was about to touch him he disappeared in green light. Shocked Erika looked around and saw another shadow. Curious she followed this one as well. When she entered the next room she gasped. 

"Mom? F-Frigga?", she breathed. Her mother was sitting there wearing armour. Her hair was braided just as usual and she looked as if she didn't age a day. Next to her was sitting Frigga smiling softly at Erika. On her stomach was the wound were Malekith stabbed her. 

"Love, I am sorry for stealing your precious sleep.", the Queen said softly. "But I need to tell you something." 

"I don't quite understand." 

"Honey, it's really important.", her mother said suddenly. Erika remembered how she was always called like that by her mother. 

"We don't have much time.", Frigga explained. "Remember my last words to you. Before I died?"

"Yes- you said-", Erika began but stopped herself. She wasn't sure if her mind was playing tricks on her or if she really just met her mother and Frigga. With the additional fact that they both died. 

"Remember them!" 

A second later Erika awoke on top of a book. Apparently she fell asleep while reading. Her breathing was unstable and she tried to calm herself down. What a weird dream. Then she wanted to close the book and leave the library but stopped herself. 

"The tale of the Witch and the Valkyrie.", she read the title of the next fairy tale and gasped. Was it real? Could it be possible?