Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 49

Loki finally got over his shock enough to get his wits about him. "W-What? When did that happen?" He asked Thor. Surely, he should have heard something about no longer being a criminal, a wanted man. Even if he'd been off ruling Jotunheim at the time.

"Shortly before you left," Thor replied gently, understanding that this was a lot for Loki to hear and take in. "Morgana had wished to surprise you with the news,"

Loki nodded his acceptance of that. It sounded like Morgan. "And how did she manage to get the Allfather to pardon me?" That was the more important part. Odin would have never freed Loki of his own free will. Not without a damn good reason.

"She was working on a spell to turn normal books into those dot books that she can read," Thor meant Braille, but was an oaf and didn't know the word for it. "Long story short: while she was researching, she found an old law in the books that put you in the clear. The last time we were all on Asgard she brought the case before father while you were in that emergency mages council meeting," Thor explained. He'd helped Morgan cover so she could free Loki and he'd helped her present her findings to Odin, though she hadn't really needed help.

"She is amazing. I never thought I would be pardoned," Loki replied, awed by what Morgan had done. Very few would stand up to Odin. "Not at least for another century at least,"

Thor nodded "That she is," he said fondly. He thought of Morgan as a little sister and treated her as such. "She was going to give you the official pardon on your nameday," he added. Loki's namely had passed about a week after he'd left.

Loki sighed. "I'm sorry, Thor," he said and cast his eyes down. He hadn't meant to hurt his brother.

Thor pulled Loki back into his arms and hugged him tighter. Too tightly for Loki's liking. He summoned a dagger automatically, but managed to avoid stabbing him. Barely. His instinct was to stab Thor to get free, to get Thor to loosen his grip.

"I know, brother," Thor said gently and loosened his grip on Loki, eventually letting him go. He noticed the dagger in Loki's hand and wisely didn't comment on it. He was just glad said dagger wasn't in his side. "I'm just glad you're alright," he added.

Both of them turned at a noise from the bed and saw Morgan sit up, her eyes glowing gold. Thor rushed to her side and supported her. "What is it, Morgana? What do you see?" he asked her gently and Loki could see that the others had learned to deal with Morgan's visions while he'd been gone. It hurt, but was expected.

Morgan's eyes were still gold and unseeing when she answered Thor's question. "Loki captured. Red octopus. Dead bodies. Chains. The Allfather's throne. A cell with clear golden walls," she said, her voice ethereal. She sagged against Thor and he laid her gently back on the bed, tucking the blanket back around her and sweeping her hair back from her face before he presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Rest, little one," he told her gently. He sighed as he turned to Loki, looking forlorn. "She's been having the same vision for months and can't tell us any more than that,"

"At least we know what the red octopus means..." Loki said as he considered Morgan's words, looking over her worriedly.

"We just don't have enough pieces to stop this future," his voice was exhausted. They'd been trying to figure out the vision and just didn't have enough to stop the future.

"Maybe this is a future we can't stop. Her other visions have come true. It seems her visions are accurate. We know there is a hydra threat, apparently after me it seems," Loki grumbled. "We know the gold cage represents the cages in the dungeons of Asgard..."

"We've been trying to come up with ways for her to recall more of the visions, but even mother cannot help her..."

"I'm not surprised. Her visions are stronger than mother's. I think her blindness allows her access to the power. Blind seers are often more powerful than those with sight." Loki wished he could restore Morgan's sight, wished these visions weren't so hard on her. There was nothing they could do besides wait and see if there was anything they could do with the forewarning they'd gotten.

They would watch and wait and hope they could change the future Morgan had seen. For Loki's sake. Even with what Loki had done, Morgan was still helping him, consciously or not.