The Monster Within

Chapter 10

Loki's P.O.V.

I stared at my Kærasta while everyone else was arguing. She was practically shimmering with magic. Natasha had helped her sit down on one of the many couches. They were talking about something and Aubri was worried.

"Are you even paying attention?" Barton asked. "We need you to tell us what happened!" I stared at him, realizing that he was scared.

"Here, let me put my cuffs back on, so even if I did lie, it would be obvious, I hope. I don't wish to go back to the cell full time." I said, holding out my hands.

"Okay. Now, talk." Stark said, reattaching some new cuffs.

"Um, so, Aubri? What may I say without making you upset?" I asked. She shrugged and went back to talking with Natasha. "So, something happened at school with Aubri and a male. Don't worry, the male is safe. We were moving to the next classroom when Aubri had to go somewhere else for something. I don't know exactly what, but when she returned, she was very sad. I asked her what was wrong and she insisted on nothing. I held her bag and she accidentally threw me into the lockers." Everyone gasped and stared at Aubri, who stared at her feet while she talked with Nat.

"That kid, the tiny one wrapped in duct tape, threw you, a full-grown man, into lockers? ON ACCIDENT!" Barton yelled, startling Aubri. I glared at him.

"Do not worry, Clint. Loki is not fully developed mentally. He is around the same age as the spider-child." My idiot brother said, glaring at me.

"Yes, Aubri threw an æsir three feet into lockers. May I go back to my story now?" I said exasperatedly. I settled onto the arm of a chair like I was telling one of my stories to the bairn on Asgard long ago. "She fled, obviously scared. I wanted to follow right away, but I knew that you all would be angry if I left Peter. So I waited for Peter, who came running at the noise. I used some magic to repair the lockers where my body was, and proceeded to drag Peter outside. There, I attempted to break my magical cuffs to find Aubri, for I knew something was wrong." The magic was weaving into my story, I couldn't help it. I knew my eyes were glowing and everyone could probably see my story as I told it. "Peter graciously removed the cuffs, and I teleported to Aubri. We missed by a bit and ended up accidentally landing on her."

"Hey! Stop using magic!" Natasha said, finally noticing me. "You aren't supposed to use your magic, otherwise you have to go back to the cell."

"Wait, you were using magic? How? Shouldn't the cuffs be stopping it?" Stark asked. I took a deep breath and re-bottled my magic.

"Apologies. They don't call me the god of stories for nothing. Now, I didn't try, just like Thor doesn't try to cause storms when he gets upset. Now, the story needs to be finished. There were these men, one was chasing the other, and Peter went to get his suit. Aubri ran after a man driving a car and jumped inside through the window. I teleported into the backseat of the car to keep an eye on her. The man and Aubri knew each other and she took control of the car. She managed to stop the other man, who was driving a vehicle with two wheels, I think it's called a motorcycle. Peter webbed up the man and Aubri and the other man got out of the car. The first man cut the second man out of the webs and teleported away. At this point, a crowd had started to form, so I led Aubri away from the noise and such." I said, taking a deep breath. "People were throwing stuff at me, so I moved her to my other side to hopefully avoid her getting hurt. All of a sudden, she told me to watch my six, and I was hit in the face with a black stick. The police officer hit me once more before Aubri desummoned the stick. He threatened to arrest me, and Aubri told him some stuff about police brutality, and threatened him. He backed off and Peter showed up. I teleported us three back to the tower to avoid the people and everything else."

"Wait, hold up." Clint said. "Small child over by Nat, threw you into lockers accidentally, caught up to a speeding car and jumped through an open window, magicked a walking stick to god-knows-where, and threatened a police officer?"

"You teleported three people to the tower?" Thor asked, looking impressed. "That is no easy feat of magic. How are you not passed out drunk right now? You are completely out of magic, and you teleported, not portled."

"I was just getting to that. But to answer your question, Barton, yes. Yes she did." I said. Barton stared at Aubri who glared at him.

"What was Thor talking about? Passed out drunk? Out of magic? You do have limits?" Tony asked, rubbing his forehead worriedly.

"So, seiðr works strangely. When we are actively using our magic, we don't notice anything. But just as men have to work to maintain physical health, we have to train to maintain our magical endurance. I have been out of practice with my recent mind control and captivity. So, when you are actively using magic, and your magic is on the surface, you don't notice how much energy you are using. But the minute you pull it in, that energy source is gone and your body in a sense, crashes. Most of the time, one just acts like one drank too much mead. In bad cases, they pass out. In severe cases, they may pass out for several days. If one uses all of one's magic, they have a chance of dying a glorious death." I said. Aubri stared at me in interest. "But when I teleported three people, I shouldn't be able to tell you this story. The Yggdrasill has many branches connecting the worlds. I spent many years learning these branches. You would call them wormholes. Using portals is just finding these branches and traveling them. Teleporting, on the other hand, is basically jumping from branch to branch. You can completely miss and you can also get lost. It takes a lot of magic and concentration to teleport. Someone had to have lent me magic, but I don't know of anyone who would willingly do that."

Everyone stared at me. Aubri was looking at her shoes again and saying something to Natasha with her hands. The spy responded in the same language and stood up. She walked over to Stark who nodded. He walked over to Aubri and said something with his hands. She started crying as she nodded. He pulled her into a hug and whispered something to Nat.

"What's going on?" I asked, carefully walking over. "Do you need anything? Is it the male? Do I need to remove his hand?"

"Can you stop threatening to remove Flash's hand? He needs to keep his girlfriend." Aubri said with a small smile. She wiped tears with her sleeves.

"So, do you want to keep going to midtown? I can afford to send you. Or, I can just give you a job at Stark Industries." Stark said, looking at Aubri.

"I want to keep going. But I don't want to be a burden." She whispered.

"You wouldn't be a burden. I want to help. Do you want to go to your friend's apartment now? I can have Peter take you." Stark responded, patting Aubri on the back.

"Yes, please." She said. Peter took her hand and walked out with her. I watched them leave in sadness. I looked at Thor as he snuck up behind me.

"Her seiðr is powerful." He said. "We should talk to Mother about this. And, I apologize. I was wrong about you. I shouldn't have listened to Father when all you wanted was to make up for your sins. I hope you can forgive me someday."

"I forgave you the moment she stabbed you. It was pleasant to watch your butt get handed to you." I said with a tentative smile.

"Yeah, I wasn't trying!" Thor protested with a laugh.

"Yeah, right. If you weren't trying, why did you throw Mjölnir at her?" I said with a laugh of my own.

"Because it's the quickest way to win a battle! I was not expecting her to be worthy!" He replied while picking up his hammer. "But, I would like to talk to her in private about this. It scares me. What if it makes me unworthy?" He fretted.

"Mjölnir won't betray you like that. It still doesn't let me hold it. It probably thinks she is an honorable warrior or something along those lines. She is extraordinary." I said.

"She really is." Thor agreed. 

Lots of information in this chapter! Thank you for all of your reads, votes, and comments! Please, remember to drop a follow for more information about updates and maybe schedules. (I might create a new one. Xl )