Emma Joan Tallis

chapter thirty-four: A Wiser King?

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
~ Helen Keller

~*~

"You once said there would never be a wiser King than me. You were wrong," Odin said as Thor and I knelt before him. "The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new King in return?"

"My life. Father, I cannot be King of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice, it changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great King," Thor said honestly and I smiled. 

"Is this my son I hear, or the woman he loves?" Odin questioned. 

"When you speak, do I never hear Mother's voice?" Thor quipped back. Odin sighed, so Thor continued. "This is not for Jane, Father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now forbid me to see her or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing."

"One son who wanted the throne too much, another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?" Odin asked rhetorically. 

"Loki died with honor, I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?" Thor asked as he lifted his hammer and offered it to Odin. 

"It belongs to you, if you are worthy of it," Odin said wearily. 

"I shall try to be," Thor said with a smile. 

"I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune," Odin said, and there was a deeper hidden meaning in his words. I looked at him suspiciously, and realized that I too would be able to go home. 

"I know," Thor said as he turned to leave. 

"If I were proud of the man my son had become, even that I could not say. It would speak only from my heart," Odin said. "Go, my son." 

"Thank you, father," Thor said as he walked away. "I will wait for you, Lady Emiliana at the bridge." 

As soon as Thor was gone, I turned back to Loki with a raised eyebrow. "Don't make me regret this," I warned as I crossed my arms. Odin became Loki and he smiled deviously at me. "This is going to blow up in your face you know." 

"Perhaps, but Odin was not in his right mind," Loki said, and I could tell he was being honest. "If he was, I would not have been able to do this." 

"What did you do to him?" I asked Loki suspiciously. 

"He is somewhere where he can recover from the death of my mother," Loki said. 

"So, Frigga is your mother now," I said crossly. 

"And Odin, for however horrible he truly is, is my father," Loki concluded grumpily. 

"They raised you with love," I reminded him. 

"You could remain here," Loki said, quickly changing the topic. 

"What would that benefit?" I asked. "Asgard is no longer my home. And if I remained, you would be found out. I cannot treat Odin like I would treat my friend." 

"Asgard will prosper in my car," Loki said.

"I will hold you to that," I told him firmly. "I will come back, Loki. My parents remain here, and so I will return. If you do not do what you have sworn an oath to uphold, I will reveal your secrets and lock you back up."

"But then, who will rule?" Loki asked.

"I will also find Odin, wherever you hid him on Earth," I said flatly, and Loki blanched at me. "Yes, that was quite easy to figure out. I just need to figure out which nursing home you left the poor man in." 

"I will miss you, Emi," Loki said. 

"I'll be back," I threatened as I turned to walk away.

"Until next time, my friend," Loki said and I walked out of the hall. When I found Thor, he was pacing in front of the Bifrost. 

"Was he difficult in allowing you to leave?" Thor asked.

I smiled sadly, "something like that."

"But you are allowed to return to Midgard?" Thor asled.

"I'm going home," I agreed. "Though, I will not be going with you. It's time I start my own adventure."

"With the Captain," Thor said with a knowing smile.

"Hopefully," I admitted. 

"You must come and visit," Thor said.

"I have a feeling we'll both be busy, but I'm sure we'll run into each other," I told him fondly as I gave him a tight hug. I wasn't going to tell him that I don't particularly like Jane, that would be rude. "Besides, I will be returning to Asgard periodically."

"Is that wise?" Thor asked.

"I can't pretend my parents don't exist, Thor." 

"But my Father may not allow you to leave."

"Oh, he'll allow it," I said firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" Thor asked.

"Just a feeling," I said with a shrug. Though interiorly, I felt incredibly guilty for letting Loki remain here as he is. 

"Fare thee well," Thor said as he gave me a tight hug. 

"Be careful," I told him with a fond smile. Thor nodded at Heimdall, who then activated the Bifrost. Thor gave me one last friendly wave before stepping through. "Thank you, Heimdall." 

"You will arrive where you meant to be," Heimdall told me vaguely.

"If you say so," I said as I stepped through the Bifrost. When I landed, it was unfortunately in the middle of a very crowded park. "Well done, Heimdall." I looked around at the people who had begun to take out their phones and record me. 

"It's Thor's girlfriend!" Someone shouted, and I rolled my eyes. 

"He would be so lucky," I grumbled. 

"Is she a superhero?" Another stranger asked. 

"I don't know, but she's hot!"

I glared at the person who spoke, and he gulped nervously. "Where am I?"

"America," he answered nervously.

I sighed as I looked upwards, wondering why I was surrounded by dumb people. "I figured that out, what state am I in? Or better yet, what town?" 

"Washington D.C.," he answered right as SHIELD pulled up. 

"Lovely, I have a welcoming committee," I muttered.

"I don't know about welcoming committee, but what about an old teammate?" Natasha asked as she walked up with Clint. 

"As long as it's not Fury," I said as I walked up to them. "Sorry about destroying the grass, I didn't know I was going to land here."

"Where's Thor?" Clint asked.

"England," I said. "Or, at least I assume that's where he went."

"You wanna explain what happened there?" Natasha asked.

"It's complicated," I offered weakly. 

"Looked crazy," Clint said.

"Annoying is more the word I would use, I got transported to Jotunheim. It was snowing there, I hate snow."