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[b]| A S G A R D |[/b]

"She wants Valhalla."

The young god looked over at the magpie, as though annoyed with so simple of an answer. "Of [i]course[/i] she wants Valhalla. It is the one realm of the dead she does not control," the boy-king noted aloud, the realization of his own voice causing him to look around for signs of anyone overhearing their conversation. In a whisper, Loki leaned closer to the magpie and said, "But that was decided at the start of this new story."

"Decided, yes," the magpie intoned evenly, cocking its head to one side as it stared back at the boy with its expressionless, black eyes. "By [b]Odin[/b]. And Odin no longer reigns in Asgard."

The young god began pacing, walking a path back and forth in front of where the bird was perched on the base of a marble column. "So she is coming to re-negotiate the terms of that agreement," the boy ventured aloud, trying to sound confident even as he looked over at the magpie for some sign of reassurance.

Perhaps he had forgotten to whom he had been speaking.

[b]"No,"[/b] Ikol stated flatly, bringing the boy to an abrupt stop for the finality and firmness of that single word answer. "There will be no negotiations."

"What is it you're not telling me?" Loki demanded in a harsh whisper.

The bird feathers ruffled slightly. Ikol didn't like being spoken to as though he were being commanded. But then, Loki could appreciate that fact. It was, after all, true for him as well. "Hela is coming here to deliver an ultimatum. She already [i]knows[/i] what she wants. She knows that [i]we[/i] know what she wants. The rest are pleasantries and she will have [b]none[/b] of that," the magpie explained patiently.

With a shake of his head, the young god began pacing once again. "The Aesir abide by a code of..."

"You are not an Aesir," Ikol interjected, interrupting the king. "Neither is Hela."

Again, the young boy paused and turned his head down toward the mysterious magpie. "How is it that you are so certain of this?"

"Hela..." Ikol began, hesitating slightly as Loki's eyes narrowed. He knew that pause. Was Ikol polishing a lie or deciding to tell the truth? Or even, which truth to tell? Increasingly, the god of chaos was finding dealing with himself to be quite annoying. "...is my [b]daughter[/b]."

"How is that possible?" Loki blurted aloud, again catching himself and looking about for any who might have overheard him, before continuing in a low voice. "Ragnorak..."

"Should have caused her re-creation. It didn't," Ikol stated flatly, with no apologies or explanations. Of course, Ikol had to have some understanding of how one could survive Ragnorak. After all, he was the previous Loki. Or, [i]a[/i] prior Loki even if not the actual predecessor to the current. "I know only that, at some point, Odin put Hela over the lands of the dead. All but Valhalla. And she will not stop until she possess it."

There was an implication hanging on that last statement, one which caused Loki to turn away as he began, "If what you say is true..."

[b][i]"Make way for the All-Mother!"[/b][/i]

A rather colorful curse left the young god's lips, waving the magpie off into the rafters as the youthful king of Asgard smoothly the front of his clothes and prepared to meet his adoptive mother. Frigga was as he had last seen her. Calm, controlled, and [i]in control[/i]. The way she walked into a room at once left no question who was in command here. Loki sat upon the throne, but that was merely a chair. Frigga was the queen of Asgard. Until Frigga said otherwise. "Mother," the boy greeted the matriarch politely, feigning a smile as he bowed his head toward her.

"I am told that [b]Hela[/b] journeys upon the Bifrost toward Asgard," the All Mother commented.

Straightening up, the boy put forth his best ambassadorial disposition. "We are honored by her presence. I have ordered a feast be readied..."

"Then perhaps I am not too late."

That comment caught the silver-tongued Loki quite unexpectedly. For a moment, he was uncertain what to say, collecting himself and finally asking the obvious. "Too late for what, Mother?" 

"The Disir are massing outside of Hel," Frigga stated, turning back slightly and gesturing with a beckoning motion that summarily brought Heimdall to the queen's right hand.

"I see an army preparing to depart Nifelheim," the all-seeing observer intoned dryly. "Twelve legions of the undead."

"She plans to take Valhalla by force," Loki blurted aloud, as the pieces of this situation at last all fell into place.

"Leave us," Frigga commanded Heimdall. The watched bowed to the queen, then again toward Loki as he backed out of the room. Waiting for the all-seeing eye to depart, the queen at last turned back toward Loki and offered her advice. "Hela wants us [b]all[/b] dead."

"Because then she'd have dominion over all of us," Loki uttered, thinking aloud as his mind began working through how to react, how to manipulate, or deceive Hela in some way. But nothing came to mind. War then? War between the realms? "Damn her," the child uttered softly then. "Damn us all," Loki repeated, before turning back toward his mother. "We will summon the [b]Warriors Three[/b] at once. We will call upon our ally, [b]Beta Ray Bill[/b]. And we will have [b]Thor[/b] returned to Asgard immediat..."

"That will not be enough." The All-Mother's words stung for how firmly they had been offered, as though she were quite confident that Loki were incompetent and incapable of leading Asgard through this newfound disaster. "We will require [i]allegiances[/i] if we are to survive this attack," Frigga stated.

Again, the young god was struck speechless. When he'd finally untangled his own liar's tongue, the boy asked, "Mother, what have you done?"

The look which Frigga now offered her so-called child made it clear that she did not appreciate the manner of questioning. "I have made contact with the other pantheons."

As he had feared. The boy's face blanched as he said words which she had first taught him. "The treaties of non-interference..."

"...will not save Asgard, Loki," Frigga snapped as though growing impatient with a petulant child, which was not at all far from truth. "Zeus has answered our call for aid. You are to be betrothed to a goddess of [b]Olympus[/b]."

"[i]Betrothed?[/i]" 

Even as he spat her own word back at her, Loki's mouth was agape as he wore his feelings plainly upon his face as never he had done before. As shock gave way to confusion, anger at last found a weapon in the tongue which had, thus far, been far too submissive. Scowling at the All-Mother, the young king cocked his head back and uttered a loud, "I believe the word you meant to offer is [b]betrayed[/b], Mother."

The thunder of the god Thor did not resonate as sharply as the [b][i]crack[/i][/b] which accompanied Frigga's hand as she openly slapped the boy across the face. Tears sprang into the corners of his eyes - alight now with baleful hellfire - but he refused to shed them. Gritting his teeth, he felt his head jerked aside by the force of impact, as seconds ticked by before the white hot sting began to bite at the nerves in his face. But the look of defiance never faltered. And that stung Frigga more deeply than anything she could do to Loki.

Drawing in a deep breath, Frigga took a moment to collect herself. "You are an Odinson. You are king of all Asgard," the All-Mother announced, talking down to her child as a teacher might an errant pupil. "Did you [i]really[/i] believe you could fall in love with a mere handmaid?"

So it was Leah, then. Straightening, his shoulders bowed up in aggression, the new king of Asgard took his first offensive against the former administration. "The sons of Odin have [b]fled[/b] the throne," the boy tossed back at the woman flippantly, his tongue striking upon what was truly at issue between them. And hoping to break open old wounds. "Did you really believe you could put a [i]frost giant[/i] on the throne of Asgard?"

[b][i]CRACK[/b][/i]

As his head snapped to one side, the young god tasted his own blood. He could already feel the hand print beginning to appear on his face, a red palm visible against the fair skin of the Aesir. 

"Who has told you this?"

He'd lost his fight to restrain his tears, but the hate in his eyes was now unfettered as he straightening back up. In response, the boy gave a snort and then spit a mixture of blood and mucus at Frigga's feet. The two stared at one another for a long moment, before the queen turned her back to him and proceeded to walk away.

"I should expect you at dinner," the young god stated, making clear that it was a command. Without looking back at him, the command was enough to cause her to stop. "Your presence would be missed at the feast," the boy provided in explanation.

And then she merely walked on, leaving him with the rapidly dawning realization that he was far less a king and far more the pawn.