Homebound Chapter 9 (Pre Thor Story) Final Chapter

Chapter 9

Massnordore paced about his massive ‘throne room’ in his current home, irritated as usual. A week had passed since he had failed to retrieve his daughter from Asgard, and he had been watching her and the rest of the Asgardian royals from his magic portal that he used more often now since his return back to his desolate planet. Odin had adopted Lucy, and she was now being called a Princess of Asgard. The Little Traitor.

His pride was wounded deeply, which is what irritated him most: the Asgardians saw him as weak now. He had been shown up by a seven year old and those idiotic princes. Starting to pace again, Massnordore grumbled under his breath, his mind racing more than ever now.

One of Massnordore’s advisors, Cast, watched from a corner, expressionless as usual, but observing. The man he served had changed over the past thousand years or so. He had become… almost deranged. He was still quite cunning, but his mind was broken. But Cast didn’t say anything of the sort to Massnordore, knowing what would happen if he ‘disrespected’ his leader.

“Sire,” Cast said, addressing him formally. “What do you plan to do now?”

Massnordore turned sharply towards him, startling Cast slightly. “We wait. We watch. We plan.”

Cast nodded, not prodding anymore. He just turned and left Massnordore to his pacing, feeling almost sorry for anyone that was going to be the way of Massnordore’s future plans.
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Lucy stood in front of the mirror as Frigga finished the final touches on her daughter’s hair, doing what she could with Lucy’s now short and wild hair. Studying her reflection, Lucy felt overwhelmed with emotions, more than most seven year olds normally experienced. But, she was happy. Two weeks had passed, and she found herself now to be happy in her new family, though nervousness and excitement were now rushing around in her head.

“There, I think it’s done,” Frigga said, smiling and admiring her handiwork. Lucy’s face lit up when she noticed the beautiful little flowers woven into her hair that seemed to be sparkling. Frigga fastened Lucy’s blue cape to her gown, which flowed down to her feet and was detailed with beautifully crafted embroidery. “What do you think?”

“I feel like a princess!” Lucy breathed, twirling around.

“That’s because you are,” Frigga answered with a warm smile. She hugged Lucy, feeling such joy because of this little creature. There was a knock at the door, and Thor, followed by Loki came in, dressed in their fine clothes, both holding their helmets: Thor his silver winged helmet and Loki his golden horned helmet.

“Wow!” Lucy said, seeing her two brothers all jazzed up. “You guys look…. Fantastic!” Thor and Loki grinned.

“I’m not sure,” Loki said.  “You might show us up.”

“I’m just glad that I don’t have to wear your funny helmet,” she said giggling.

Loki pretended to be hurt. “My helmet it not funny! I quite like it,” he said, placing it on his head.  “It makes me feel taller.”

“Even though you’re already tall,” Lucy retorted. She floated up so that she was nose to nose with him. “I have to pretend that I’m tall.” As she was floating in the air, Thor scooped her into his arms, tickling her side and causing her to erupt in giggles.

“Stop!” Lucy exclaimed. “You’ll mess up my hair!”

Thor let out a hardly laugh as she perched in the crook of his arm. “I’m still trying to get used to the fact that we have a girl in our family now, besides Mother of course.”

“Come then,” Loki said. “We’re going to be late!” Lucy hopped down and walked with Thor, Loki and Frigga into the banquet hall, where loads of people greeted them with cheers and claps. She had never seen so many people in one place before. Odin stood at the front of the room, wearing his own helmet and holding his spear. He looked so regal, Lucy almost forgot that he was her father. Frigga, Thor and Loki took their spots by Odin, and Lucy was left standing before him, with hundreds of eyes watching on.

“Friends,” Odin started, his voice booming throughout the huge room. “We are gathered here tonight to present the newest member of the royal family, Princess Lucy, Odindottier.” Odindottier. Lucy liked how that sounded. A finely dressed boy held a pillow with a beautiful crown next to Odin, and Odin handing him the spear as he took the crown. Placing the shiny bronze crown that looked almost like a butterfly on the back on Lucy’s head, he smiled down at her, cupping her chin in his hand. Turning her around and taking back his spear, he addressed the crowd once again. “Your Princess, Lucy!”

The room exploded with cheers, and Lucy suddenly felt very small. But still, it felt good. She looked at her brothers and mother, who were also clapping, and she grinned as Loki winked at her. Everything felt happy in her world.

Then the feasting began. Lucy had thought that she had seen a lot of food, but she was wrong, because there were mountains upon mountains of food here. She sat beside Loki with Thor on the other side of him, who both had taken off their funny helmets, and they were all laughing and talking as if they had always been siblings.

The dancing began after words, mostly with the younger couples in attendance, who seemed to float around the room in each other’s arms. Lucy sat watching, glad that she was at a time when no one was talking to her, and just watched. So of them seemed like they weren't touching the ground. The ladies’ skirts flowed across the floor and the men seemed strong and confident. She was completely mesmerized until she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Loki standing beside her, offering his hand.

“But I don’t know how,” Lucy said. Her dad has twirled her around the room just for fun, but she had never learned how to really dance like the people that were now.

“I’ll teach you,” he said with a smile. She took his hand and followed him out to the floor and studied his feet as he started up a waltz to the music. “It’s just  back step, step, step, then,  back step , step, step,” Loki explained as Lucy started to get it, but still was studying her feet, trying to get the steps right.  “It also helps if you don’t think about it,” he said. She looked up, wondering if he could read minds too. But suddenly, she felt more confident.

“There you go,” he said, starting to step more in time with the music, getting up to speed with it. She was able to stay in step with him almost the whole time, letting him lead her through turns and laughing when he lifted her off the ground. It sort of surprised her when Loki did a little dip with her at the end and some people that were watching clapped. Loki bowed and Lucy did a little curtsy, that wasn’t too gracefully, since she didn’t really know how too, but that’s what princesses did in the story books.

Another waltz started up, and Lucy took Loki’s hand again, wanting to dance some more. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki saw his parents both dancing together, something that wasn’t seen outside of feasts. Odin wasn’t exactly the dancing type, but he did enjoy it with his wife. Loki grinned, and he and Loki waltzed over towards them, and with a swift motion, Loki stole Frigga away from his father and twirled Lucy into Odin’s arms. Odin seemed the slightest bit surprised, but he smiled warmly down at her, and she blushed, feeling shy waltzing with her adoptive father.

“You look quite lovely,” he said as they moved across the floor.

“Mother did most of it. She likes to play with my hair,” Lucy grinning. The Allfather let out a small chuckle as the music ended. He squeezed her hand before he let go, giving her that real fatherly smile that came out every so often. Feeling warm inside, Lucy skipped off to find either one of her brothers.

She found Loki sitting at an empty table, watching the other people with a deep expression. When Lucy tapped on his shoulder though, it brought him out of his thoughtful state. “Thank you,” she said, sitting in the seat next to him.

“For what?”

“For teaching me how to dance!”

“Oh that,” Loki replied with a grin. “Of course. I thought you might like to learn.”

“Well I thought that it was really fun.” They sat for a moment, in a comfortable silence.

“Loki, why did you like me?” Lucy suddenly asked.

Loki was taken aback by this question. It wasn’t why he liked her now, but why he had liked her before, when he had really known her. “I guess,” he started, choosing his words carefully so that she would understand. “It’s just because I think you’re a lot like me, and there aren’t very many people like me around here.”

“Were you lonely?”

‘Goodness, she can ask really good ones when she wants to,’ Loki thought. “You could say that, in a way. I don’t feel that way all the time, but there are times…” he trailed off. He felt almost foolish for talking this way to a seven year old, but not entirely, because he had learned that she was much wiser beyond her years.

“Well it’s a good thing you have me now!” Lucy said, putting one of her little hands on his.

“I suppose it is,” he said, smiling. He took her hand and kissed it, and Lucy giggled. Just as they were having this special little moment, Thor came lumbering over and plopped down in between them, just the slightest bit drunk.

“Brother! You must try this wine! It’s fantastic!” Thor said, giving his cup to Loki. Loki responded by placing the cup on the table, just out of Thor’s reach. “So Little Lucy, are you having a good time?”

“Of course! This is one of the best nights of my life!”

Thor laughed. “Well, there will be many more to come little sister!” He put an arm around both of his younger siblings. “I can proudly say that I am happiest with you,” he said to both of them. Lucy beamed as she shared a look with Loki and then flung her arms around Thor in as big a hug as she could give.

For the rest of the night the three of them were inseparable, talking, joking, laughing, eating and just being together, as if they had always been the best of friends. As the night wore on though, Lucy’s eye began to feel heavy and her energy slowly drain. She head was bobbing, trying so hard to stay awake, but her tiredness won out. With her head rested on Loki’s shoulder, Lucy drifted off into dream land, and her dreams were no longer nightmares, but wonderful scenes of being home. Home. That was where she was now, and it was magnificent.

Loki looked down at his sister, who was sleeping on his shoulder and smiled, pushing a wild strand of hair away from her nose. It had been an adventure in itself getting to this point, but Loki knew that this was just the beginning, and he couldn't wait to see what was coming next.

                                        The End