Book 4: Arcane [Thor]

Chapter 9

To no longer make a spectacle of themselves Thor hauled Loki to a private study in the palace. Followed by the Warriors Three, when they learned of the commotion, and Anya. None of them needed an invitation. All wanted answers. Especially those who guarded the throne this whole time before the mortal arrived. They wanted to know when the swap happened. While they had been happy to hear that Thor had returned, none were expecting to see Loki in his presence. The God of Mischief nearly fell on his face when his brother shoved him inside.

"You put on a very good show, brother," Loki commended. "In front of everyone. I think some almost believed you wanted the throne–"

"This isn't about taking the throne for myself, Loki!" Thor shouted. "And I didn't put on a show like you did. The Nine Realms are not well and you are the cause of it. If you wanted to fool everyone you should have at least attempted to follow father's footsteps. Maybe then you would have gotten away with it."

"If you hadn't shown up, I didn't have to give up the illusion–"

"Enough, Loki!" The brothers nearly stood toe to toe. "There was blood on my hands. Back on the Dark World. It wasn't an illusion. I thought you had died. We all did."

"I was injured," Loki admitted. "But it wasn't fatal. I merely exaggerated."

"It was unnecessary."

"Maybe to you."

"That is why you removed Heimdall from the Bifrost? Labeled him a traitor?"

"I couldn't have him seeing through my disguise and alert everyone."

"Then would you have labeled Anya a traitor too had I not arrived sooner? Since she saw through your illusions and lies enough to raise suspicion."

"Anya," Loki scoffed. "Your confidence in her ability to see through my lies is extraordinary, brother. She gave no indication to knowledge on my ruse, not until you showed up. As if a mortal is capable of that."

Anya tried to keep a level head with the insults. The Warriors Three glared, not pleased in the slightest that Loki talked down to their friend like that. The Aether bubbled under the surface.

"The fact that you are over confident in yourself shows how unaware you are of those around you," Thor said.

"Ah yeah, because I must fear a mortal who is only capable of hand-to-hand combat and must rely on the mundane weapons of Midgard to kill an opponent. Her own mirages are hardly worth the trouble. I see no danger in her presence."

A blast of red energy expelled from Anya's form without warning. It slammed into Loki with so much force it threw the unsuspecting god off his feet. He was so surprised he didn't even have enough time to react before roughly colliding with the ground a few feet away. Thor wasn't even mad about the outburst, but maybe amused. And a bit worried from the look of surprise on his friends faces. Fandral even jumped in shock. Loki had it coming to him as they watched the god prop himself up on the ground and stare at the mortal quizzically as if she had sprouted three arms and an extra head.

"Don't test me, Loki," Anya threatened. "Otherwise, I may damage your precious ego a little further."

"Careful," Thor said to her. "I have questions that still need answers. And I thought we agreed to keep this under wraps while on Asgard."

"Odin's not here," Anya stated.

The Aether expanded. In a way that it began to affect the room. Darkness swallowed up any source of light in a threatening manner as a red glow flared around her figure. In her eyes. Her head cocked a bit, jaw tense.

"I'm not all that concerned as to who sees right now. I also will no longer accept such insults to my face. And I trust eighty percent of those present in the room, so I'll risk these odds."