Beauty and the Monster ⚤

Chapter Nine; Curse Of A Frozen Heart

Completely panic stricken, Loki recoiled away from Belle, his eyes never leaving the shocked faces of the guards.

They didn't have to speak a word, as they drew their swords and inclined them towards him.

He turned slightly, and caught sight of himself in the reflection of the polished stone wall, and his own slim face stared back at him....his illusion had slipped.

"Loki Laufeyson..."
One of the guards spoke at last,
"...you are a traitor to Asgard, a threat to the house of Odin. Surrender yourself willingly."
He ordered.

Visibly shaken, Loki fought back the fear he now felt. He would not allow these fools to ruin everything he'd strived so hard for.
He knew how this was going to end, but he attempted to settle it amicably for appearances sake..

"In the absence of Thor, I am the rightful king of this realm."
He pointed out, keeping his voice calm.

"You were reported dead!"
The other guard fired back,
"You cannot be trusted...what have you done with the Allfather?"

Taking a step forwards, Belle instinctively placed a hand on his shoulder, which he promptly shrugged off dismissively.

"The Allfather has entered the Odinsleep....I have done nothing to him. Now as your King, I command you to sheath your weapons."

As he anticipated, neither of the guards complied, opting instead to charge at him, wielding their swords aggressively.

Belle let out a scream, but in the blink of an eye Loki miraculously disappeared, then reappeared behind the unwitting men.
With a flick of his wrist, he'd conjured what looked like a plume of ice, freezing them both in their stride.

"Loki, stop!"
Belle cried out, forgetting all formality,
"You don't have to do this, you're going to kill them!"

Choosing to ignore her, he continued to freeze them until they were completely unrecognisable as men. To the untrained eye, they appeared to be nothing more than two solidly frozen blocks of ice.

Her hand flew to her mouth, as she observed his pale skin changing in texture, turning a pale shade of blue, whilst his beautiful emerald eyes glowed red now like rubies.

The temperature in the hallway around where they stood had dropped dramatically, a frosty mist clouded the air and through the shrouds he saw Belle staring at him aghast.

"Now you see me, Belle...."
He proclaimed, his tone mocking,
"...Loki of Jotunheim...the monster that parents tell their children about at night."

Despite his bravado, he felt extremely self conscious of her eyes on him. He knew he most likely looked horrifying to her. Any attraction she previously felt for him would no doubt be long gone now.
And who could blame her? He couldn't even stand the sight of himself in this form.
But it came with the territory. And in this instance, was regrettable but necessary.

Ever since his dealings with the Jotuns and their casket of ancient winters, he'd been able to wield frost giant sorcery as a weapon.
Prior to that he'd only ever been able to conjure smoke, water and occasionally the odd flame of fire. But he found ice to be the most effective method of disabling his enemies.

"A-are they dead?"
Belle stammered from behind her hand, which was still clasped to her mouth in shock.

"What of it?"
He exclaimed,
"I did what I had to do in order to deal with the problem." 

"How can you be so heartless, those men-"

"Those men were my enemies, so do not dare speak to me about callousness or compassion..."
He interjected curtly,
" ...this is who I am."