Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 35

Loki didn't know what to do with the news from Morgan's visions. He was horrified by what she had seen. The only thing he could even think to do was to speak with his mama and see if she could help him better understand the visions and how to deal with them without hurting Morgan.

So Thor carried Morgan to bed so she could recover from the visions while Loki made his way out of the tower. He went to the bifrost circle, feeling strange doing so alone. He usually always went home with Thor, but this time Thor was staying on Midgard to look after Morgan. And help the team. Loki called to Heimdall as soon as he was in the middle of the bifrost circle. The markings had been permanently etched into the earth since the brothers had been going back and forth so often.

The bifrost opened and Loki braced himself for the trip up the rainbow bridge. It was always a bit disorienting. He stepped out into the bifrost chamber to see Heimdall with his giant sword as per usual. "Welcome home, your highness," Heimdall greeted him as always. He wasn't surprised that Loki had returned home, he was all-seeing after all.

Loki nodded a greeting to the guardian with a murmur of thanks and teleported to the palace. He had locked onto Frigga's location, wanting to go straight to her to sort out his problem with Morgan's visions.

He was surprised to find that he appeared outside of her sitting room instead of outside the healing wing. It was strange for her to take an afternoon off, but he was grateful for it. He wouldn't have to interrupt her duties. Loki knocked on her suite's door and one of her maids let him in without question. He was always welcome in her chambers.

Frigga looked up from her embroidery, surprised to see Loki home. She set the project aside and practically jumped to her feet to go hug her son. "Loki! You're home!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. He gave her some kind of affirmative and hugged her tightly, thought relaxed slightly to be in his mama's arms when he needed her so. She sensed the trouble and unease in him. "What's wrong, my darling?" she asked him gently as she held him as long as he needed her to.

Loki hesitated before he started to spill his soul. "I need your help, Mother. I'm so confused,"

"Anything, darling," Frigga reassured him. She was always there for anything her son needed. She let him go long enough to lead him to her favorite couch. She fully expected Loki to curl up next to her as he'd done as a child so he could tell her all about his troubles. He did exactly as she expected, laying his head in her lap like a lost child, instead of the formidable prince that he was. That told her more of his mindset than anything else. She stroked his hair while he spilled his soul and told her his troubles. He told her all about Morgan's vision and the concerns he had for her and for what it might mean for him and for their relationship. His words finally ran out and Frigga waited another moment before she spoke. "Alright, my darling. It sounds like you have a difficult decision to make," she told him gently while he looked up at her plaintively, his head on her lap and her fingers running soothingly through his hair. "Do you truly believe you are not the right man for Lady Morgana? That she is not the right woman for you?"

Loki considered the question before he answered. It was always best to reason with this son, to let him come up with his answers on his own. Frigga knew her sons well. "I feel she deserves better than a broken, ruthless monster. She deserves someone who sees her worth and can match her intellect and strength. I'm just an adopted pawn, raised as a prince and lied to all his life by the man I thought was my father. I have too much baggage and I've done horrible things. Ana deserves better than that," Loki admitted with tears in his eyes. He didn't want to lose Morgan, but he had so many reasons why she deserved someone so much better than him.

"You are no monster, my darling. You are my son," Frigga reminded him gently as she stroked his hair. It always soothed him as a child, and still worked miracles now. "And you are a prince of Asgard." Being adopted made no difference to Frigga. Loki was her son.