Prince

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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11th February 2013, Royal Palace in Asgard

(Loki Odinson POV)

Alas, Loki had been given a chance at redemption, not that he understood why Odin had given him one, in the first place. He was supposed to find Thor, and a teacher of his. When did Thor get a teacher, and who could possibly be adequate enough for Odin himself to think that they're suitable enough to train his heir? And what training did Thor even need? Perhaps it was in politics? He hadn't even known that Thor was outside of Asgard.

Loki started to sense the energies around him and concluded that he was in Midgard. Yeah, he could feel the foreign ambient magics everywhere around him, not unlike Asgard that was surrounded by the All-Father's Odinforce.

But what was he doing here? He kept walking until he bounced off an invisible shield, sending him flying back. What in the nine hells was that?

Before he could get up, he heard an amused female voice speak up around him, "Well, if it isn't Loki Odinson. What a delightful surprise."

The God of Mischief could do nothing but shudder from the voice of the woman who haunted his nightmares. Why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be the Morrigan?

Loki straightened himself and put a fake smile on his face, "I aim to please my lady…"

The woman's smirk grew, "That you do, Odinson, that you do."

The God of Mischief gritted his teeth at the woman's mocking tone. He really disliked people pointing out his relationship with Odin. In truth, Loki didn't even know what he was to the King of Asgard. Was he a trophy, a prisoner, an amusing pet Odin liked to watch beg for his favor? Being called Odinson was a reminder of his doubts and the God of Mischief wanted to forget it as much as possible.

Still gritting his teeth, Loki responded, "I have to ask you not to call me Odinson. Our relationship is strained you see. Something to do with usurping the throne and almost killing his son, I believe."

The Morrigan snorted, "And your little invasion on Midgard had nothing to do with it, of course."

Again, Loki did his best not to send out an angry retort to the woman in front of him. It wasn't out of respect, really; it was mostly because he still remembers her throwing him around like an animal and restrained him without even trying. Yes, he wasn't at his best, being somewhat disconnected to the Odinforce and having been tortured mentally and physically for the previous years. That's not even mentioning fighting off the compulsions to kill his brother that distracted him immensely during the fight. He had barely been able to use his illusions and not even a scratch of his true repertoire of spells.

Don't get him wrong, Loki knows for a fact that he would have been trounced even if he was at his full might; the power of the Morrigan was truly on another level, but it wouldn't have been that embarrassing. The woman had toyed with him, for crying out loud. He had trouble even looking at her in the eyes, he was so ashamed. Still, the Morrigan seemed to enjoy insulting him for some reason, probably to find any justification to kill him. Instead of falling for her ploy, he diplomatically answered, "Yes, so you understand why I wish to distance our relations as much as possible."

The green eyed woman hummed, "I can understand that. I had a very strained relationship with my birth parents as well, and changed my name in rebellion. Oh, I was such a petty young woman back then. I made a name of my own, independent of them, and when they returned crying out for my forgiveness, I found that I simply did not care enough about them to even get any semblance of revenge."

Loki nodded, at least he could use this fact to get her to relate to him. Perhaps, he could even manipulate her to act as some form of protection should he make a move against Odin, "I see, you understand my plight then."

"In a way, I do. However, what I do not understand is why you so desperately try to deny your relationship between you and your family. I was abandoned, unwanted, and I raised myself without my parents' help. But you, Loki, were abandoned and adopted as a child, raised as a prince, with a wonderful mother but a slightly distant father. The fact that you hate them with such passion is something that I cannot understand, Odinson."

"STOP CALLING ME ODINSON!" Loki bellowed, his face red in his fury.

The woman smirked, "Do you wish for me to call you Laufeyson? If you're denying your adoption as a son of Asgard, then perhaps a son of Jotunheim would be more to your liking. You should thank Odin in a way, had he not stopped me from killing Laufey at the beginning of his little war with Asgard, you would have never been born. I slaughtered many Frost Giants and Asgardians that day. What did they think, that I wouldn't react to them using my planet as a battlefield? It's not like my existence was a secret, Odin and I had met before, but that was long before your time."

While the Morrigan was speaking, Loki was gasping in breath, in both anger, fear, and slightly for the presence that the woman in front of him was slowly leaking.

The Morrigan continued, "But that's not what I'm interested about. You killed Laufey, you even tried to commit genocide, which means that you wanted nothing to do with your birth father, or even Jotunheim in general. And you did all of this, in a foolish attempt at impressing your father, of showing your loyalty to him. Then, why do you hate him so much? Why do you try so hard to deny Odin being your father? Are you ashamed, embarrassed, or afraid? Or perhaps it is your mother that you're ashamed of, huh?"

Loki's vision turned red, and he leapt towards the woman with a scream. Somehow, he felt faster, stronger. Was it the rage that he kept locked up inside for so long? Was it the madness that he was letting consume him? His rational mind told him that he was being foolish, but the God of Mischief didn't care. He prepared himself to kill the woman who had insulted his love for his mother, and he found himself teleported to the other side of the clearing, towards a boulder. He landed straight into the large rock, shattering it, but he was disoriented.

Before he fell into the ground, he found himself teleported again in front of the woman he tried to kill a few minutes before. She was still smirking, unperturbed, and hadn't moved a single inch. She raised an eyebrow, "Are you done?"

Loki glared at her and nodded, "Yes."

The woman gave him a cheeky grin, "You see, Odinson, that's why I know that all of this is a pretense, a childish temper tantrum because your father picked Thor before you. You know that Odin and Frigga love you. It's why you reacted so angrily when I insulted them. You still consider them to be your parents underneath all that bitterness because if you didn't, you wouldn't have reacted so violently."

"I did not come here to listen to a mind healer…" Loki glared.

"Then why did you come, God of Mischief? As far as I remember, you are supposed to be in a warded cell in Asgard's dungeons, not traveling via the Bifrost to Midgard. You're very lucky that I made sure that the wards wouldn't kill anyone traveling through the Bifrost. If you'd have come using anything else, you would have been scattered into atoms, not bounced off outside the wards."

Loki gulped and answered, "I was told to meet with Thor's teacher and give my brother this box."

He let out the Uru box which was filled with Odin's runes. The Morrigan took the box from his hands and looked at it curiously. At first, he wanted to protest her taking something that was meant for Thor, but he really didn't want to risk angering the woman in front of him. In the end, he chose to do nothing. It's not like he could actually stop her if she really wanted to take it.

Whatever reservations Loki had vanished the moment the woman started speaking while casting some magics unknown to the God of Mischief, "Well, I didn't think that Odin would just misplace something like this, especially when he's the one who made it. I would recognize his runes anywhere, and he is using them as a security measure, and it's a very severe one as well. You wouldn't have it, if it wasn't willingly given to you, and if you are planning on stealing it, then the box will disappear and return to its source, probably Asgard. And not to mention the fact that you arrived in a smooth Bifrost travel, one that wasn't stabilized by the mechanical bridge built with the space stone, I can tell from the lack of runes on the ground that the damn thing always causes. As far as I know, only Odin and Heimdall could channel the Bifrost like this and the All-Seer wouldn't do anything without Odin's permission."

Loki gaped at her. Sure, her reasoning was sound, but what was more surprising was the fact that she understood Odin's runes, "You understand the All-Father's runes?"

The woman had a smug expression on her face and nodded, "Yeah. I can't use them though, they're unique to the Odinforce and unless Odin allows me access to them, they would be nothing more than pretty drawings when I do. I can mess with them, but I can't power them."

Hearing her answer, Loki was very surprised and fascinated by a new approach to magical theory. The Morrigan, terrifying as she might be, was undoubtedly an expert in magical matters. It reminded him slightly of his lessons with his mother, who had far more experience in the magical arts than him, even if he had more raw power than her.

His hostility set aside, he asked her, "I don't understand, Runes are symbols that can be powered by magic."

The woman shook her head, "No, they are much more than that. Runes are woven on the fabric of the magics that they use. While Midgard mages use the mana provided by the Earth itself, you do not. Their runes can only work for them, and not you. Asgardians, any living member in the Nine Realms, use the magic tied to the world tree, Yggdrasil, which is also tied to the Odinforce. Your father's runes are tied to this specific energy, which is why they can only be used by someone with compatible magics. It's a completely different system from Midgardian mages."

Loki was flabbergasted. No one was supposed to know anything regarding the Odinforce. It was Odin's and his alone. Any attempt at deciphering its secrets was met with an immediate and often fatal retaliation from the All-Father. How did the Morrigan know as much as she did? No matter how powerful she was, she can't have discovered all of this without the King of Asgard knowing about it.

Seeing him think so hard that steam was nearly coming out of his head, the Morrigan chuckled, "Don't worry you pretty little head about it. One day you'll get to sit on the adult table. Unfortunately for you, you've still got a long way to go."

Loki glowered at her. How dare she look down at him. In response to his probably frightening glare – at least to Loki – the woman burst into laughter, "Oh, that's so cute. Now, come along, let's go see your brother."

"Wait, what?"

The Morrigan turned around, her eyes practically twinkling in amusement, "Didn't you know? I'm Thor's new teacher now."