Choices

Chapter 43
Thor peered around at the wasteland. The far outreach of Muspelheim's great plains were a daunting sight. The heat was sweltering and Thor was already dreading his dreary task of helping the fire giants to create a city there. The old one destroyed by a volcanic eruption and many of their people killed.
Helping this realm was his fathers punishment, set out for him over a month ago. Himself and Sif shared this fate, and were given only a small time to relish their freedom before being sent here. Odin declared that as husband and wife, they would have to learn to work together and recreate a place for these giants to flourish. Teamwork was a big part of partnerships and if they felt they were responsible enough to take on marriage above and beyond Odin's commands, then they could begin to look at the future of the nine realms.
Decades..., this would not take a simple few years. Odin declared Thor and his wife could come home only once a years for two months until the job was done. Thor looked to his new wife and tried to give her a comforting look, but she looked just as weighed down by their task as he did.
He'd got them into this mess. Sif was dabbing at the sweat along her brow. The heat radiated off the dry sand and billowed in the warm, stuffy breeze. They'd only just arrived and already they missed Asgard. How anyone could live here was beyond Thor's understanding. The place was a dry wasteland. Only very remote and protected underground caverns held any sign of water and even those were drying up. No doubt, this realm and it's people would perish if the conditions didn't improve.
Even giants needed a proper habitat to live in and over the centuries, Muspelheim had only gotten worse. The fire giants were a dying race, a problem even the great All-father could not fix as the fire giants refused to seek homes elsewhere. One day they would see the light, until then, Thor was forced to do what he could for them.
He was not fond of the ashen redheads, but even less fond of the fire demons who were the more dominant race off all. They were the apposing people of this realm. The giants and the demons never got along and Odin was sure the drastic climate changes were a direct attempt of Surtur, the king of the demons, to either destroy or chase out the giants. Either way, Thor wasn't there for them..., although should he 'happen' upon one and they should seek battle, Thor would not stand down. His father would be proud of his son for protecting the giants further.
"Were are they? They should have been here by now." Sif commented coughing on the stale air.
"They take there time, that is certain." Thor agreed. After another half an hour, the two of them sat down on a cluster of nearby rocks to await the labourers the giant were suppose to send in the effort to help build the new city.
(Cephera)
The blindfold was a bit much, especially since he'd led her into water, told her to hold her breath and pulled her to some unknown piece of land after going under. 'Do you trust me?' Loki had asked her. She did, oddly she trusted him. Cephera woke to a heavy knock on her door early that morning, and in came Loki insisting that training would have to wait, and that he had a surprise for her.
He walked her all the way to the beach, far from the palace and much further than she'd ever traveled. They reached a massive cliff side and that was when he'd put on her blindfold. Now she was dripping water down onto her bare feet and the distinct feeling of smooth stone was below them.
"I found this years ago, back when I was a boy. I never saw beauty in this sort of thing, but when I remembered it existed, I immediately thought of you," Loki said, tugging at the knot in the cloth around her head. Cephera waited patiently, a little giddy with excitement of the unknown. "Open your eyes," he said softly, a breath of a whisper across her ear, had it been years before she might have become all fluttered in her belly, now it just made her itchy.
Cephera did as she was told and her breath hitched in her throat. They were in some sort of cavern, water rippling behind them where they entered from the Asgardian ocean. Along the walls and ceiling were tendrils of vines that glowed a soft pale blue in the moons lights. A round opening above allowing the light to shine in. Blossoms of dark blue littered the floor with bright yellow centers.
Cephera stood speechless, unable to tear her eyes off the unique surroundings. She stepped forward without a word and was careful to not tread on any of the blossoms. The smell was intoxicating, a sweet aroma that seemed to clear her senses. "What are they?" She asked him turning his way.
"Night tigers, I think. I've never had a reason to look." He grinned and Cephera smiled back.
Loki joined her amongst the flowers and pulled her to sit. Once on the ground she touched the soft petals. They had small wisps of hair along them and a light dust flew up into the air if she let them shake or wave. The dust made her sneeze as she waved it off.
"Loki, I once told you before these are the kinds of places you bring someone special." She reminded him. That day seemed like ancient history now.
"You are special." He replied without a moments hesitation. "Cephera, every word I said to you, the ones that hurt you, I meant to hurt you only because I felt confused and hurt. I didn't mean them. My mind was quick to pick out the more horrible things that would cause the deepest wounds. I wish it weren't so, but it's no less true. At that time I wanted you to hurt, but now I wish I could take it all back." Cephera's heart ached a little at the helpless and sincere look on his face.
"I know, I always knew that, but it didn't hurt any less knowing it." She frowned.
"I brought you here today for something else." He paused. "Deep in this cavern we are alone and away from prying ears. I wanted to give you something that I feel will show you how much I trust you and how much of I'm willing to give my loyalty to you." Cephera licked her lips. She tried to calm her mind from the hundreds of things running through it.
Loki fished his hand in his pocket and pulled out a simple silver chain. Small and delicate looking. "A bracelet?" Cephera questioned.
"No, this is made for your ankle, it's you who gave me the idea." He took her hand and turned over the ring she wore, her mental link to her sister.
Cephera caught on, "enchanted then, enchanted for what?" Cephera wanted to reach out and touch this new trinket, but refrained.
"It enchanted so that I can never lie to its wearer." Loki responded. Cephera stared at him a good few minutes before responding.
"So I could ask you anything, anything at all that's deep and personal and even invading and you would tell me? Aren't you afraid of what I would ask?"
"Which is were my trust lies. You're a good woman, I trust you will give me privacy."
"This won't work Loki, if I ask a random question to you then...,"
"It only works with the right words." Loki grinned. He seemed much more open to this than she did. "Tell me no lies..., you say this before your question and I will answer with nothing but the truth." Loki held it out in a manner that told her he would put it on. She stretched out her leg and watched him seal the clasp. She pondered it over and decided she'd probably never make good use of it. She could think of hundreds of things to ask him, but most of them were evasive and just wrong.
"You know I'll never use it." She admitted.
"Don't be so sure, you are the friend of the god of mischief and lies." He snickered.
"Really? A god? Going with the humans ego stroke?" She teased unable to help herself. He chuckled.
"Doesn't make it any less fitting. Even those in Asgard have come to use the names for me." He shrugged. "Ask me, ask if I meant those things I said to you." He urged her on.
"Tell me no lies, am I a worthless half-bred?" She wanted him to hear the words he'd spoken.
"No, if anything I am the worthless one." They stared at each other before she knelt up and threw her arms around him. She felt the movement of magic pulse threw her leg, and though it could be a trick, she chose to trust him on this. "Please don't tell your sister." He near begged the words.
"I promise, I won't tell her what it does, only that you gave it to me," Cephera said, after all, her sister didn't need to know everything. "I'm glad I came back." She told him.
"Me too."
***
The day had drawn to night and both Loki and Cephera were calm and smiling when they re-entered the palace. As they walked past the golden throne room doors Loki stopped. Cephera stopped a second after realizing he was no longer behind her. "What?" She asked looking in the same general direction.
"Who is she?" He wondered out loud. Cephera's gaze fell on the woman Frigga was talking to. A beautiful woman of golden hair pinned neatly half up. A slim figure in a soft blue dress.
"I don't know, why?"
"She's very beautiful." He cracked a devilish grin and Cephera chuckled, but behind the laugh was a sense of dread which she ignored.
"I could find out for you." Cephera offered. Loki only nodded with his eyes still fastened on the beauty. Even after the long beautiful day she'd spent with Loki, Cephera had resigned herself to the fact that any romantic connection to Loki she once might have been able to have, was no longer attainable. He simple didn't seem to view her that way and Cephera was sick of letting herself be disappointed every time she came to realize it. She needed to move on and as a good friend, she needed to be there for him when he found someone new, even if that meant finding out about this new girl.
Cephera tugged Loki away before he was caught staring, a nervous bubble gathering inside her that she hated. A tinge of jealously, she hated to admit that even to herself, but there it was. That hateful feeling that could bring out the worst in people if given time to manifest. She would not become that girl, she refused to allow herself to lose control. However, her wonderful mood had soured and she wanted nothing more than to go to her room and cry herself to sleep. Why was it, that just when everything seemed to be falling into place, something else came along to screw it all up?

Notes