The Vala Prophecy - Loki x Reader - Chapter 7

You’d been having the dreams for weeks. Cold and darkness descended upon your senses every night. You’d try to fight it, conjure up some energy for a force field at least, but be sucked back into the darkness. The wind would roar in your ears, along with something deeper, more animalistic until it too faded. As the dreams continued, you began waking up sweating, trying harder and harder each time to save yourself, but it felt like something was blocking you, punching you in the gut before you could get your bearings. You decided to keep these dreams to yourself even though you knew they usually indicated trouble in the near future. Thor’s coronation was in the summer, not the winter. No one else was in view in the dream (granted your vision was limited). Still, you became a little jumpy, and you began training harder and harder. This only spurred on your team to train as hard as you, gaining momentum in the competition.
Soon, Thor’s coronation was coming up, and Loki seemed put out by it. You only noticed his mood in subtle ways. It was no secret that the younger prince wanted a throne, yet you saw him congratulating Thor at every party, ever fine dinner. You felt like he was planning something, though you were unsure what, and you didn’t want to ask him in case it made him feel like you distrusted him. You did trust him, but you also knew he had an agenda that surrounded him. And you. Lately, he’d been including you in his plans, but it came as a surprise to you when he sort of asked you out.
He asked about a week before Thor’s coronation during one of your practice sessions. It was nearly one o’clock in the morning when you finished up learning spells.
“I’m afraid I will be unable to give you a lesson next week, as it is my brother’s coronation,” he announced at the end of the session.
“That’s too bad,” you said, yawning. “Can you recommend any books or spells for me to work on in the meantime?”
“Actually, instead of focusing on your magic, you should focus on your competition. The final matches will be held after my brother becomes king, and as you are in second place, you may want to tidy up before your soldiers face Njord’s,” Loki said.
You nodded seriously. You began packing up your things to go.
“Also, if you have any interest in attending, there will be a party for the nobles of Asgard and others in the Nine Realms after the ceremony,” Loki said.
“I count as a noble?” you asked incredulously.
“Actually no.”
“Oh. Damn.”
“Nevertheless, I was wondering if you would want to accompany me?” he asked, then added, a little too hastily, “You’ll make the entire thing much less boring. It is a great honor. None of the other competitors, including Njord, rank high enough to be present.”
You blinked. Could he tell you had been crushing on him? As you’d gotten to know him more, you came to know Loki as more than just attractive and silver-tongued. He was deceptive, but with you, he was more open. He was calculated, and you both saw the world in a more logical, wary way. However, you both knew what you believed in and would find a way to stick up for it, though this didn’t always mean standing on a soap box and preaching about it. You saw in him a fierceness that you had, and when he let you into his world, even slightly, you felt at ease.
You must have been silent for awhile because Loki quickly picked up a magical theory book and flipped to a random page.
“You have no obligation to do this. It was just an offer,” he said in an offhand sort of manner.
“I’d love to,” you said.
Loki looked up from the book to see a coy smile playing on your face. He couldn’t quite tell what it meant or what emotion you felt, but a smile sneaked its way onto his face anyway.
“Wonderful,” he said. “There will be a special seating area closer to the throne for the nobles that you may sit in. I’ll make the guards aware of the arrangements.”
“Thank you so much,” you said, genuinely meaning it. “I can’t wait!”
He nodded and let you go back to your room. As he watched you leave, he breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no party taking place, of course. While it was scheduled to occur, his plans would make sure that it never did. He needed you safe while the Frost Giants attacked the castle, and though he didn’t doubt your fighting skill in the least, you had rarely fought against magic. And if his heart truly had fallen for a vala, he didn’t need any more obstacles getting in his way.

When the Frost Giants breached the security, no one had been around. Thankfully, the giants had been taken down by the automatic security enforcers. It was stupid to have put all the champions in the ceremony’s crowd, you thought. The greatest fighters in the Nine Realms all in one place during one of the biggest events in the galaxy led to a leak in another part of the palace. You were grateful nobody got hurt.
You had told your soldiers to go on a field trip to learn the origin of the breach and how to defend it in the future. Now, you were trying to find Loki. When the announcement had been made of the Frost Giants’ attack, you had seen him glance briefly at you before he left to investigate. Now, you were in search of answers yourself (What had happened? How had they gotten in? Why the heck are Jotuns bad again because in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard they were totally chill and now they’re attacking us?).

“You can’t just go after them, Thor,” Loki reasoned. He, Thor, the Warriors Three, and Sif were in the Atrium, discussing the recent events. Thor was irate, but suddenly quieted and got a gleam in his eye at Loki’s words. Loki froze.
“No, no, no, we’re not sneaking into Jotunheim to get revenge! It will start a war between our realms, Thor!” he yelled.
“It will do no such thing,” Thor snarled. “If anything, it will teach them not to invade us again any time soon.”
“We’ll be breaking the Allfather’s laws. He has forbidden our entry into their realm!” Despite his protests, Loki was ecstatic. His plan was going smoothly. No one was questioning anything.
“You do not think this is more important? I will be king of Asgard, and I will not have my subjects believe I refuse to act on this matter. I am going. Who will join me?”
The Warriors Three and Sif agreed to go, so Loki faked a begrudging look and joined the team as well. Thor regarded the team with a thoughtful look.
“We may need one more party member,” he said. He was thinking along the lines of the great battle and magic strategists. Three and nine were optimal numbers for things as they were rooted in the deeper, more ancient Asgardian powers, but there were too many members to be a group of three, and it was too dangerous to bring in three more people to be a party of nine, lest they be discovered. Both numbers could be derived from the number of days in a month (27), and since they had too many for two…
“We’ll need a seventh party member,” said Thor. “For fate to be with us.”
Loki had not thought of this.
“Why don’t we go in two groups of three? Will that not be luckier?” he said quickly, catching onto Thor’s train of luck.
“Heimdal will not allow more than one group to go. We will be best off with seven. Were you not just lecturing us on the importance of the number seven in Midgardian tactics?”
It was true. As you had told Loki about Harry Potter, the importance of the number seven had come up. Loki believed the power of Yggdrasil may have leaked into Midgard and empowered instances of seven, as it had a history of being linked with magic in Midgardian mythology. He may have recounted the information to a few others, one of whom was Thor.
“Well, not tactics, per se, but it’s possible that magic-”
“It may prove to channel our fate, then. Who should we bring? Njord?”
“Not Njord. Absolutely not Njord,” Sif protested.
“Then how about (y/n)? Has she worked with magic before?” Fandral asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Loki lied.
“I’ve seen her checking out magic books from the library,” Sif said. “She seems interested in it. Anyway, she’s second in the competition, and a killer fighter. If anyone can adapt to situation, it’s her. I say we pick her up on our way out and get going.”
“I agree,” said Thor. “All in favor?”
Sif and the Warriors Three nodded in agreement. Loki considered sputtering something about you being a woman to convince the group not to get you to join, but with Sif around, her knew that argument stood no chance. It wasn’t that he believed you (or any other woman) were less capable. He just REALLY didn’t want you to go.
Because what if you got hurt? It was a new terrain, it was a new skill set, and you were fighting new enemies. He trusted you to defend yourself, but this had not been part of the plan at all. And if you got hurt in his attempt at gaining power…
He would never forgive himself.
However, he could not see any way to get out of his commitment to going with Thor if he wanted to pretend to plead Thor’s case when they got back, nor could he think of any way to stop you from joining them without it seeming like he cared too much or too little for you.
Loki hoped the number seven really was lucky because he could use all the help he could get right now.