Spars and Plots

Jake observed Princess Loki, who stayed behind with him. He couldn't help but think she was quite beautiful. Her short black hair framed a face that he would describe as elegant and captivating. Surprisingly tall, she stood almost at his height, maybe just a bit shorter. Instead of the dresses he had seen other Asgardian women wearing, she donned a black and green leather body suit that seemed more suited for combat.

"..."

Princess Loki drew Jake out of his thoughts, saying, "You shouldn't worry about it so much. Honestly, no one in Asgard is going to see you as a toddler. After all, you are a different race from us. Making Thor look like an oaf seemed to be the easiest way to be rid of him," she added with a smirk. While she did care about her brother, she also enjoyed making him look foolish.

Jake looked at her strangely, wondering if the relationship between Thor and Loki wasn't great. "So you did that to help me out?" he asked.

"I never said that," Loki replied. "I simply wanted to speak with you about magic without him and the Warriors Three looking down on me." Loki had a deep love for magic, being known as the goddess of trickery and magic across the nine realms. Meeting someone from a new race who also specialized in magic excited her. She was even willing to overlook the fact that Jake had inadvertently foiled her original plan to delay Thor's ascension to the throne.

"That sounds great," Jake replied. He had a strong interest in magic and wanted to learn more from a race as ancient as the Asgardians. It would undoubtedly make him stronger. He also desired to learn the healing arts, but he knew that might require a significant amount of time. Studying to become a human doctor alone took over eight years, so studying to become a magical Asgardian healer would likely take much longer.

"Follow me to the training grounds," Loki said, turning around.

"Can't we do it here?" Jake asked. He didn't want to leave Serafall alone in case she woke up without him there...

"No, we are not allowed to practice magic in the healing wing after... the incident," Loki explained. "Why do you want to stay here anyway?" she questioned. The healing halls weren't particularly exciting; in her opinion, they were rather dull, with sick and injured people quietly resting in beds.

Jake explained his reasons, expressing his concerns about Serafall waking up soon. Loki laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Well, mister 'I'm almost 17,'" Loki snickered again. "I hate to break it to you, but in Asgardian terms, when someone says the word 'soon,' it could honestly be anywhere between five minutes and a month... and I'm leaning more towards the latter for when your girl wakes up," Loki explained to Jake.

'A month!? That's a long time for her to wake up,' Jake thought. As he followed Loki to the training grounds, he pondered his situation. He suddenly had a lot of free time until Serafall awakened. Once she did, he would have to figure out how to use the mist to transport them back to the underworld willingly. Then he would have to go and rescue Blaze from Cao Cao. He was also overdue for some dates with Fleur and Luna...

"We're here," Loki announced.

Jake's thoughts on the two beautiful blond girls in his life were interrupted as he and Loki reached their destination. He asked, "So what now?" as he looked around. The place seemed pretty standard, with areas of dirt and grass set up for training. He spotted targets for marksmanship, practice dummies for swords, and scattered weight sets. "This all looks like it's meant for warriors and not really for magic practice," he noted.

Loki grimaced and replied, "You're correct. Asgardian society doesn't value magic as much, which is foolish considering that our greatest feats are the results of magic. The pinnacle of our magical technology, the Bifrost, is the reason we can maintain rule over the nine realms. It's frustrating." Loki vented a bit, though Jake didn't fully understand her references. He got the gist that magic was underappreciated here, while swords were highly regarded. It was the opposite of the wizarding world, he thought.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Jake asked.

Loki smirked at him. "I may prefer magic, but deep down, I am still an Asgardian. We believe there's no better way to get to know someone than to meet them in combat. So, let's go!" she declared, and suddenly, numerous clones of Loki appeared all around her.

Jake found himself outnumbered six to one as the Loki clones armed themselves with a pair of knives each. "Well, here we go again," he joked to himself as he brought out his spell circles and surveyed his surroundings. Loki was skilled, with her clones evenly spaced out and quickly surrounding him. He had been in this situation before, though.

Jake's devil wings sprang out of his back as he took to the air, evading the encirclement. He smirked, knowing that flying might be seen as unfair, but he would use any advantage he had against a 1000+ year-old goddess.

"Of course you can fly..." all six Lokis spoke annoyed at once, trying to distract Jake from finding the real one. "It doesn't matter, as I figured out how to deal with flying opponents long ago," they all said ominously. Suddenly, Jake felt a heavy weight slam into his back, sending him crashing towards the ground.

"Ow," Jake grumbled as he tried to stand back up. "What the hell was that?" He asked.

"That was me teleporting right on top of you," an invisible voice said next to him, followed by a powerful and invisible kick that landed on Jake's side, sending him flying 20 feet across the ground.

Scrambling to his feet, Jake clutched his side in pain. The kick had been incredibly strong!

"Magic lesson number one, Jake," all six Loki clones said simultaneously as they approached him. However, he didn't give them time to finish before unleashing a barrage of ice spears at them.

To his shock, none of the six clones even bothered to dodge. The ice spears passed through them, leaving faint ripples in their forms. They were all illusions!

The air was knocked out of him as an invisible fist smashed into his gut, flinging him away once again. "As I was saying, lesson one: Just because your opponent lets you see them, don't assume they're really there," Loki said smugly as she faded back into view and approached casually.

As Jake stood up again, he coughed in pain. Her punch had felt like being hit by a sledgehammer. She possessed immense physical strength, and it didn't seem like she had enhanced her body with magic yet. Fighting an opponent who was invisible was something he'd never had to do before! He wouldn't let his guard down for a second. He saw that she was still casually walking towards him, but he no longer believed it was really her.

If he couldn't see or sense her, he would just attack everywhere. Jake focused his magic, preparing his strongest area-of-effect spell. "Frozen Hell!" He shouted as everything within a 50-foot radius of him was encased in ice, turning the training ground into a blizzard.

"Not bad. You're learning, and that spell was impressive," Loki's voice said from right behind Jake again. He spun around rapidly, only to be met with a blue fist striking his left cheek, sending him ragdolling once more.

Loki herself had been hit by the full force of Jake's spell, momentarily freezing before the cold seemed to dissipate. She found herself strangely enjoying the frozen environment he had created, as if the lethal frost was nothing more than a cool breeze. Looking down at her hand, she was shocked to see it had turned blue. Had she had a mirror, she would have seen all her skin had temporarily turned blue before quickly changing back. "That's strange," she muttered to herself. She would have to ask her mother about it later…

"What the hell?" Jake said, standing up for the third time. "Are you immune to ice or something?" Loki appeared completely unharmed, having taken his spell point-blank. Perhaps gods were simply built differently and had natural resistance to the elements. While he could try hitting her with the power of destruction, he realized this was just a friendly spar and not a battle to the death.

"Who knows," Loki laughed. Not quite sure herself. His blast of cold had caught her off guard and she was just as surprised as he was that she was unaffected as well.

Before the spar could continue, however, it was abruptly interrupted.

"Princess!" A palace guard ran up to the training grounds. "Princess, you must come quickly! It's an emergency," the guard urgently called out. Loki's expression shifted to alertness.

"What is it?" She asked the guard.

"F-frost giants," the guard stammered. "Frost giants have infiltrated the treasury and made off with some of Asgard's most valuable treasures!" The guard's words shocked Loki.

"..." Loki found herself internally panicking. Frost giants? How did they manage that? She had thought she had put a stop to that plan. When Jake interrupted Thor's ceremony, she no longer needed their assistance and had canceled the plan. She had never let the frost giants into Asgard or divulged how to access the vault. How did they get in?

Loki turned to Jake with a panicked expression. "I'm sorry, but I have to go," she said before facing the guard. "Tell me what is happening now," she demanded.

"Your brother Thor, the Warriors Three, and Lady Sif have all heard the news as well. They're heading to the Bifrost to wage war on Jotunheim!" The guard exclaimed.

'Asgard is going to war!?' Jake thought to himself in shock. This situation sounded dire.

"What? We can't afford a war right now! Father is about to enter his Odin sleep! I must stop them," Loki said, sprinting out of the training grounds. Jake surmised that she was heading towards the Bifrost she had mentioned earlier.

If Asgard was going to war, Jake wondered what he should do. They had taken in Serafall and saved her, so should he fight alongside them?-- Loki had already dashed off, and he had no idea where the Bifrost was located. He decided to head back to the palace to see how he could assist.

As Jake jogged back to the palace, he noticed that the guard was standing still. "Hey, guard guy," Jake called out to him. "Why are you just standing there, spaced out? Don't you need to help?" He asked.

The guard turned to Jake, and behind his ornamental golden helmet, a creepy smirk appeared. "Oh, believe me, I am helping," the guard said in an unsettling tone. "But you're right, Jake Gremory. I have places to be. Farewell… for now," he said before turning and walking away in a different direction.

Jake felt a sense of unease. Something didn't feel right, but he shrugged it off and continued toward the palace, determined to offer his assistance.

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