Chapter 37) – Runaway

Leaning all the way back, Mara lowered her upper body under the sword that sliced through where her torso had previously been, before she pushed herself up with her free hand and swung Mjolnir towards Skurge's gut with her other.

Twisting his body at an awkward angle, Skurge avoided the hammer and managed to stay on his feet after the fact.

Closing on each other again; Mara swung Mjolnir from below, while Skurge thrust his sword forwards.

Just before the weapons hit their respective targets, an Einherjar acting as a referee blew a whistle which caused the sparring pair to halt their attacks.

Skurge's sword would have pierced Mara's shoulder if his attack landed, while Mara's would have crushed his cock and balls.

With the referee wincing slightly at my host's attacking method, he announced, "As much as I believe Skurge would be the loser if Thorsdottir's attack would have landed, the result of the spar is a draw. Suffering an injury such as the 1 Skurge would have inflicted would be the same as a death sentence on the battlefield and, as such, cannot be classed as a victory. The current record for the 11 bouts is as follows: 4 wins for Skurge, and 7 draws."

Both combatants lowered their weapons, and were panting heavily with sweat on their brows.

Catching his breath first, Skurge spoke, "You've certainly inherited your father's gift for battle Thorsdottir. 7 straight draws against an Einherjar, with a wealth of battle experience and when you yourself have practically no training, is no easy feat."

Having caught her breath in the time Skurge was speaking, Mara replied, "Well it's not like my father ever gave me anything other than my life. Besides, you didn't exactly make it easy for me. You're damn good yourself Skurge. Are you sure you're an average Einherjar and not a lieutenant or something in disguise?"

During the intervals between bouts, Mara and Skurge had discussed a few things about Asgard and the Einherjars. During said discussions, Skurge had informed my host that he was just a standard foot soldier – not holding any special position in the army. 

Although Mara knew who Skurge was from her movies, the information that he was a simply foot soldier with his ability was a surprise to my host as, at that point, Skurge had won all 3 of the spars they'd had.

Fortunately, Mara improved rapidly, and it was only 2 fights later that she drew level with the Asgardian - which is how the remaining fights ended.

Chuckling at my host's remark, Skurge answered, "Haha, I assure you Thorsdottir, I am but an average warrior in Asgard's mighty army. Whenever I challenge a lieutenant to a bout, I am overpowered like a child! I still have a lot of improvements to make if I want to ascend the ranks."

Nodding her head, Mara commented, "In that case, I have even more to improve upon. Up for another?"

Shaking his head, Skurge answered, "As much as I would like to, I am afraid that I have enjoyed the honor of duelling you for longer than I should have. My brothers-in-arms deserve an opportunity to do the same."

Shrugging her shoulders, Mara responded to Skurge before addressing the other Einherjar's still surrounding the duelling site, "Suit yourself, it was a pleasure Skurge. Who wants to go next then?"

Not expecting such an overwhelming reaction, Mara took a step back in shock when 3-quarters of the crowd shouted out to her with their weapons drawn in challenge.

Preventing my host from choosing her next opponent, however, was an interruption from Frigga and Thor.

No-one seemed to have seen them appear, considering everyone's attention was on my host and the duels, but everyone most definitely heard Frigga as her calm voice cut through the noise of the crowd - even though she didn't shout above it, "I apologize Einherjar's, but we have need of our guest."

Hearing the mellifluous voice, all of the Einherjar's immediately shut up and snapped their heads around to face the sound's origin.

When they confirmed who had spoken, every warrior respectfully kneeled down in genuflection towards their queen.

With a clear sight of my host, Frigga smiled slightly as she uttered, "Come now child. We have much to discuss."

Slightly disappointed that her fun was cut short, and also wanting to get back at the woman that incapacitated us, Mara huffed, "Haah, fine, grandmother. Sorry guys and gals, hopefully we can do it again some other time."

Watching Frigga's reaction, Mara was pleased to see that the queen of Asgard's eye twitched slightly at the familial term she had used.

Not seeing a need to hang around, Mara jumped over the genuflecting Einherjar's and landed a few feet behind Frigga.

Turning to face her, my host smiled smugly at the witch and Thor as she chirped, "Let's get going grandmother. Thanks for coming to pick me up with grandmother, father."

Shivering at the name he was called, Thor motioned to ask why Mara would call him by such a title, but Frigga cut him off with a sharp stare and spoke, "Indeed. Let us go."

During the trio's short walk back inside the palace, none of them said anything other than Mara passing Mjolnir back to Thor and joking, "I believe this is your partner? You should be careful where you leave her, someone could have stolen her if I hadn't happen to come across her lying around the courtyard."

Thor took back his hammer, but didn't comment on Mara's jesting and just continued to walk in silence while the trio started at the obvious Mjolnir sized tunnel in the palace's various walls - disproving my host's sarcastic claim.

Even when they entered the palace, neither Frigga nor Thor said a word as the queen led the way somewhere.

After 5 minutes of silence from the Asgardian pair, the group finally entered a room guarded by Einherjars. Frigga also made sure to shut the door personally, once Mara and Thor had entered, so that she could cast some spell on the door.

Turning to face my host, the queen of Asgard finally spoke up, "I have some things to talk about regarding last night, but before that would you care to explain why you called me grandmother and Thor here your father?"

Smiling and giggling at the question, Mara happily replied, "Hehe, Of course. I told the Einherjar that I'm Thor's daughter and used the fact that I can wield Mjolnir as proof of my identity - which they all believed."

When he heard my host's words, Thor spat out the water he had begun to drink in a spray all over the floor.

Rather than Frigga's calm reply that Mara expected, Thor was the 1 to shout in his exasperation, "And why, in the Allfather's name, would you tell them that?!"

Shrugging her shoulders my host nonchalantly replied, "Thought it would be funny and get a similar reaction to that from you. Plus, it was my revenge for letting your mother knock us out before we could tear a few limbs off Loki. That reminds me, you did capture Loki didn't you?"

Instead of answering Mara's question, Thor just turned to look at his mother.

Copying the prince, Mara too looked towards the queen to hear her answer which, from the looks of things, wouldn't be what she wanted to hear.

Sure enough, Frigga sighed as she answered, "Haah, Loki has disappeared. We are not sure how he got away with the Bifrost disabled, but considering he was able to sneak frost giants into Asgard without anyone knowing, there's a good chance he knows a way out of Asgard that doesn't involve the Bifrost."

Throwing her arms up in the air, Mara had a little rant, "Great, just fucking great. So not only does the little shit-stain get Thor banished from Asgard and take complete control of Asgard while Odin's having his power nap. He also sends the Destroyer down to Earth to kill not just Thor, but any poor cunt that gets in its way. Then! To top off the steaming shit-cake, he just waltzes out of Asgard to fuck-knows where, with all his limbs still attached - thanks to the intervention from you 2 by the way - AND he hasn't faced ANY punishment for his actions WHAT-SO-EVER. Do I have that about right?!"

Thor attempted to pacify my host, while Frigga just stood in silence, "Red Crown-"

Hearing the callsign, Mara interrupted the Asgardian, "MARA! Haah, my name, is Mara. Just- use that please. Sorry for shouting but as you might be able to imagine, I'm a bit annoyed right now."

Nodding in understanding, Thor continued, "Mara. I understand that the situation is not ideal, but getting angry about it will not solve anything. Considering that Loki wants the throne of Asgard, he is our problem to deal with. When he reappears we will apprehend him, therefore there is no need for you to think about my brother again."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Mara took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.

She knew that even if the timeline had changed slightly, with Loki's personality there was no way he would give up on his plans of conquering Earth if he came into contact with The Other like he was supposed to.

In fact, taking into account how thoroughly Mara pummelled the man during the short fight on the rainbow bridge, she figured that the situation would be even worse than the movie.

After a few deep breaths, in twice as many seconds, Mara replied to Thor, "I appreciate you trying to calm me down or convince me to just forget about Loki, but the problem is bigger than you realise. Look, Loki's already tried to take Asgard and failed. The best chance he was ever going to get was when Odin was asleep and you were banished, but even that didn't work out for him. Even when we were punching his lights out, he was convinced that humans were lesser beings, so you'll have to forgive me if I think he might come after Earth next time. Compared to Asgardians, humans are physically inferior - except for maybe a handful of people - and on top of that he has bullshit magic at his disposal. Provided he's cautions about the big organisations and takes them out first, there's no reason he couldn't put in a solid attempt at ruling Earth. Now if I think that, imagine how easy he thinks it'll be with his rock-bottom opinion of humans."

With my host calming down after her rant and complaint, Frigga rejoined the conversation, "I apologize for allowing Loki to get away, but I could not bear to see my child ripped apart in front of my eyes. I know what he has done is wrong, and he will face punishment for that, but everyone deserves a second chance. No matter which realm he reappears on, we will be the first to intercept him to prevent any potential damage."

Staring into Frigga's eyes, Mara sent me a mental signal to make her reply a little more dramatic and threatening than it would have been normally.

Spreading my form to cover half of Mara's face, split down the centreline like I had done once before, I created the suit facial features on my form and linked our mouths as we responded to Frigga, "You better hope that you get to him first, otherwise, the only thing you'll find is a headless corpse. We won't make the same mistake of playing with our prey again. Next time, we go straight for the head."

Not backing down from the confrontation, or intimidation, Frigga took a step towards us and challenged back, "Is that a threat, human?"

Covering the other half of Mara's face, I changed us into our full suit form to increase our height such that we towered over the 5'8" Asgardian queen.

Copying Frigga, we too took a step forward which brought us mere inches away from the woman.

We also raised our hair tendrils into the air around us, to make us appear even bigger, as we assured her, "A threat? No, It's a fucking promise. Even with your magic bullshittery, don't think we're scared or threatened by any of you self-proclaimed gods. Got it, witch?"

For the half a dozen seconds which proceeded, we just stared into each other's eyes – neither backing down.

That was until Frigga, surprisingly, smiled at us and took a step back.

Slightly confused at the reason for the smile, I reverted the suit form back into the Sif armour replica which was complete at the same time that Frigga spoke to Thor, "I can see why she is able to wield Mjolnir, let's adopt her into the family as your daughter."

Both equally confused at what had come out of Frigga's mouth, Mara and Thor exclaimed at the same time, ""Huh?!""

Mara, being the more confused of the 2, due to what had literally just transpired, required a full brain reboot and thus Thor was the first to respond, "Mother how have you come to that conclusion? It was only moments ago that it seemed the pair of you would fight to the death."

Nodding in agreement with Thor's statement, Frigga set about explaining herself while Mara was still in her confused daze, "That is exactly why I think she would be a good fit. For an Asgardian daughter, she lacks nothing and excels where our society wishes their children to. She has the heart of a warrior and the ability to back it up - if what we heard at the training grounds is accurate. She can wield Mjolnir, so she already has your father's approval through the enchantment, and has already informed the Einherjar that she is your daughter. By now, everyone in the palace, and probably half of Asgard, thinks of her as such. Besides, you are already over 1000 years old, my child. You should have had a few children by now at your age and especially with how often you slept around during your revelries in your younger years."

Becoming flustered at his mother's words, Thor voiced out, "Mother! If you must know I found someone on Midgard and there is still plenty of time for children in the future!"

Waving off Thor's counter argument, Frigga commented, "Yes, yes, I heard you have possibly found yourself a partner after a millennia, but you cannot be sure she wants children. You were only banished for a day or 2, so you could have only known her for that long. I highly doubt you have even brought up the topic of marriage, let alone children, after only knowing her for 2 days at most. Hmm?"

Not having a leg to stand on, as his mother had pulled apart his argument with expert precision, Thor began to try and think up reasons why Mara was not suitable to be adopted, "But Mara is not even Asgardian, she is human. The people would not accept a non-Asgardian as a member of the royal family."

Smiling wide at Thor's point, Frigga set about, again, dismantling it, "Of course they will. After all, she would be your daughter and seemingly already has the approval of the Einherjar's. You are also forgetting that Loki was not Asgardian. Granted, the public was unaware of his true parentage, but not knowing that about him is an advantage we can use. If there are any unsettled voices, we can inform everyone what Loki's true origins are and how they happily accepted him as part of the family for over a thousand years. We can also announce that she will have no claim to the throne, since I doubt such a free spirit would want to spend her days wasting away on a dusty old throne. That should quieten any protests."

With all of Thor's arguments dismantled, even though he wanted to continue protesting the decision he couldn't think of a justifiable reason to do so.

Even when Thor didn't retort, Frigga continued to argue her side, "Although she may be an adult in human years - from her appearance - with how old Asgardian's become, she will still be viewed as a child until she is at least 100 years old. I want grandchildren before I cease to exist, my son. Considering I have not gained any thus far, even after a millennia has gone by since you were brought into the universe, you will have to forgive me for jumping at the first opportunity I can get. There is also no strong reason why we should not adopt her other than the fact she wants to tear my other child limb-from-limb. But every family has a little drama, do they not? I am sure we will be able to work through it once everyone is together."

At that exact moment, Mara's brain finished rebooting as she questioned, "You… seriously want to adopt me?"

Turning away from Thor, Frigga began to answer my host, "That is correct dear, although-"

Alas, Frigga didn't get too far into her answer.

She had started to reply without facing my host, but, once she had refocused on Mara, she couldn't continue what she was saying.

Rather than using words, she stepped up to Mara and wrapped my host in a hug.

The reason for the change was due to Mara staring into Frigga's eyes as tears constantly poured out of them.

The downpour of tears only got heavier when Frigga wrapped my host in a hug, and Mara began to audibly sob at the gesture.

Mara had been an orphan for as long as she could remember.

She had gone through life with the belief that her parents never wanted, or loved, her - which is why they abandoned her.

Deep down, she had always thought that she was the problem.

Even if her parents didn't want her, every day that she was in the orphanage she had hoped that someone would adopt her.

That a family would choose her.

But they never did.

A few girls around her age had been adopted.

But it was never her.

That was 1 of the plethora of reasons why she initially got so engrossed in the Marvel movies.

It was an escape from the reality that she so hated when she would wake, every day.

Now, after 22 years of existence, and across 2 universes, someone wanted to adopt her.

Not anyone else, her.

All of the past self-criticism, the anxiety, the depression, the fear, and the loneliness from her childhood.

The unexpected shock of suddenly hearing the words she had always wanted to hear led to those emotions resurfacing from under the mask of humour, and perceived nonchalance, that Mara had always worn to keep them suppressed.

Even if there was the possibility of an ulterior motive to try and prevent Mara from killing Loki, since they would be family, Mara would let him keep his life if it meant she could achieve her lifelong dream.

Rubbing Mara's back, Frigga whispered, "It is okay child, let it all out. I am unsure what the cause is for your outburst, but if I have offended you in any way I apologize."

Alongside Frigga's comforting, I created tendrils to wrap around my host to try and comfort her as well - in my own way.

Shaking her head slightly, Mara made sure that Frigga was aware that she didn't do anything wrong, albeit with a croaky voice, "You didn't do anything wrong, it's a me thing. I- I just need a minute."

Not stopping what she was doing, Frigga affirmed, "Take all the time you need dear."

Taking full advantage of Frigga's willingness to accommodate her, Mara continued to let her tears gently flow at their own pace whilst her sobbing had gradually subsided.

After a few more minutes of silent tears, Mara eventually let go of Frigga and began to wipe her eyes to remove any excess moisture that hadn't fallen. I also absorbed my tendrils back into the armour my host was wearing.

Recognising that my host wanted to separate, Frigga removed her arms from around Mara and took a step back as she asked, "Are you okay child?"

Nodding in confirmation, Mara completely disregarded the fact she was playing an amnesiac back on Earth and honestly confessed, "Yeah. I was an orphan on Earth and never ended up getting adopted, so suddenly hearing the words I had only dreamed about for nearly 2 decades made me a little- okay, very, emotional."

Gently smiling at my host, Frigga commented, "Well better late than never. I was going to ask if you had parents on Earth, as that was the main concern I had, but I am now aware that such a question is no longer necessary."

Still not believing how the situation flipped from confrontational, to adoption within such a short time, Mara asked for clarification, "You really want to adopt me? After I just threatened you and said I would kill your son?"

Continuing to smile at my host, Frigga answered, "Indeed. Technically I wanted Thor to adopt you, but, since he is unwilling, Odin and I shall do so. Like I told Thor; after seeing, as well as hearing, all I have about you, you are unique in more ways that I count. Regarding Loki, I would obviously prefer you not kill him. Since he did not actually harm anyone on Earth, even if that was his intention, I believe that until he crosses that line, he should still be held accountable by Asgardian law as he did harm Asgardians. If you do not wish to be adopted, we will give you an honorary Einherjar position of high standing for all you have done for my son, as well as Asgard. If Loki were to have succeeded in his plan of killing Thor and keeping the throne, I can only imagine he may have succeeded where someone else had failed."

Shaking her head, and ignoring the ominously cryptic end of Frigga's words, Mara broke out into a small smile while playing with her fingers as she replied, "No. I would like to be adopted very much, please."

Clapping her hands, Frigga spoke, "Excellent. I shall prepare everything for the formal proceedings. Thor, I have decided that you do not deserve this child due to your continual refusal and, as such, we will be adopting Mara here. As I have already stated, she is a rather ideal daughter candidate for an Asgardian warrior family, such as ours, and I have no doubt your father will accept her as his own. I will also have to see if she is capable of performing magic once she is part of the family. For now, show your future sister around the palace so that she can get her bearings."

Smiling ear-to-ear at the mention of 'future sister', Mara looked over to Thor in anticipation.

The man himself was still trying to comprehend how things had got to that point, but nevertheless he gave into his mother's whims, "Very well, come along Mara- or rather sister. Let me show you around your new home."

With a smile that lit up the room, Mara nodded her head and replied, "Of course, brother!"