Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 45

Frigga and Loki watched in horror as Morgan's magic wrapped around her, as she summoned every bit of it she could in a desperate attempt to save her life. Their horror only increased as they realized what she was doing.

She didn't have the knowledge or the skill for that piece of magic.

They both gasped when her spell took hold and actually worked. She vanished in a shimmer of gold magic.

Frigga cursed.

Frigga, the queen of Asgard, who held herself high above such things and whose sons would have sworn she didn't even know such words, actually cursed. Loki would have known how bad things were from that, if he didn't already know how dangerous what Morgan had just done was.

"Who taught her how to teleport? She doesn't have the skill or experience yet!" Frigga clearly cared about Morgan. Morgan was Asgardian, fully Asgardian now, despite her mortal father. Frigga had taken a liking to her when she'd first come to Asgard. Loki loved her and she had saved Frigga's life. There were a lot of reasons she cared for the girl and didn't want to see her hurt. Frigga was using the scrying glass to try to find where Morgan had gone. She glanced up at Loki. He could see her doubt in her eyes. She wasn't sure if Loki even still cared at all about Morgan, but she hoped her son wouldn't want to see the girl die.

Or at least that he would still follow his mother's orders.

She looked up into his eyes and saw the truth in his panicked emerald eyes. He still loved Morgan and would do anything in his power to save his love. He didn't know how to save her at the moment, but he would do anything the second Frigga gave him some sort of clue. "Go to the bifrost. I'll have your backup meet you there," Frigga ordered him. It wasn't his mother talking then, but his queen. There was always a difference between court and family, though Frigga didn't often use it. She usually didn't invoke royal privilege, not with her sons. Orders given to her sons were from their mother, and while it unwise to disobey orders from one's mother, it was survivable.

Disobeying orders from the queen was not.

Loki recognized the difference. There was no disobeying Frigga in this mission. Not if he wanted Morgan to survive. He was to take whatever help he was getting and get to her. Now.

She needn't have bothered. Loki would do anything to save Morgan. She deserved so much better than him, especially with how he'd treated her, but he would save her now. No matter what it took.

Loki inclined his head, then bowed to his mother, accepting her orders and her authority. "Yes, Mother," he agreed. They would work out their issues later. Right now, Morgan needed him.

Loki teleported to the bifrost, not wasting time with getting there any slower. He hoped his backup would be competent and wondered who in the realm would actually be capable of helping him. Thor was on Midgard. The warriors three were morons without a drop of magic between the three of them. Lady Sif was formidable, but not likely to be of much help. The ravens? While they were great spies, he wasn't sure they would be of much help.

He only saw Heimdall in the bifrost chamber waiting for him, poised at his sword and ready to send him through to Midgard. Loki growled impatiently and started pacing. He turned at the feeling of magic behind him.

"Hey, doofus," Amora greeted him with a smirk of a grin. She was always teasing and flirty, even at the worst times, like now. She fingered the collar around her neck, the controlling device Odin had placed on her, making her obey the royal family's orders as punishment for her misdeeds.

Before Loki could demand what she was doing there, she kept talking. "Your mother sent me to help you save your ex," she explained.

Loki bristled at the word 'ex', as he hoped it wasn't true. He didn't want to lose Morgan. Though he would take her kicking him to the curb if it meant that she was alive to do so.

Loki still nearly sighed in relief. Of all the people his mother could send to help him, Amora working on her best behavior was definitely his best option. She was a powerful sorceress, a skilled warrior, and as much as he hated how, currently extremely loyal to the royal family. She'd always been his friend since they were small and learning magic together. He hated that she was collared like an animal, but he knew he could trust the enchantress while she was. He needed that trust at the moment, even while he swore he would find a way to see her freed. "Amora. Good to see you again. We should go. Ana doesn't have much time," he greeted her, entirely business.

She nodded. "We'll find her, Loki," she reassured him as the pair moved to Heimdall.

"We better," Loki agreed, sorrow and pain in his voice. This was all his fault. He wouldn't be able to stand it or himself if they couldn't get to Morgan before he lost her forever. The guilt was already eating her alive.

He would have to make it up to her, though he knew in his heart that he didn't deserve her, not after what he'd done to her, not after taking her protections, knowing her life was in danger. He'd been so locked up in his own pain and grief.

Those thoughts didn't matter now. Now, he and Amora had to get to Midgard and save his love.

He would find her.

He would save her.

He had to.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.