Without further ado, here is the other half of the previous chapter. It would have been one heck of a long update, so you get two in just a couple days! I hope you are enjoying the story!

Happy Reading!

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Loki's emotions were a tangled mess as he moved through the palace. He didn't even bother teleporting, he didn't know where to go. He felt guilty for what happened with Thor and yet, somehow justified. His brother had behaved even worse than he had expected. He was confused over the new magic and felt betrayed by the actions of his friends. Not to mention the daunting prospect of being elevated to heir apparent. He scrubbed a hand over his face and hesitated as he found himself standing outside the garden.

He needed to see Kenna. As badly as he knew he should leave her in peace, he would find none of his own until he saw her. The strange foreign magic still tingled at the edges of his senses and he needed to ground himself so he could banish it and focus. He turned the corner and spotted her, crouching over a bush with delicate silver flowers that reminded him of her hair. The dimming glow of twilight reflected off the blooms that were as metallic as her hair.

"Loki," Kenna said his name in surprise as she climbed to her feet. She had been worried since he left her for Jotenheim. With no option to help him, she had worked relentlessly the entire time he was gone so she wouldn't drive herself crazy with worry. Her black eyes quickly scanned Loki's body, taking in his blood stained armor. She took a tentative step towards him.

"I-" he started to say and he looked away. Suddenly standing before Kenna made him feel incredibly vulnerable. There was so much happening that he had no control over. He just wanted to control one thing. To have one thing of his own.

Kenna took a step towards him. She could see Loki's hands were shaking and the need to help him pushed past the power that contained her. Something had happened and Loki needed her. "Tell me," she said taking another step closer to him and all that she was shown out of her eyes.

"Thor-" he started to say and he looked away. He was being weak, it was weak coming here and putting this all on Kenna's shoulders, but he didn't want to be alone. And after all that had happened, he felt so alone. When he saw her, pushing past Sigyn's power in the collar he couldn't help himself. He just wanted something. He reached out and gripped the collar in his fist, he poured his power into it and the mechanism clicked and fell open into his palm. He needed his Kenna regardless of the consequences.

Loki waited as she recovered, watching her emotions play across her face as she regained control. She froze, her hands balled into fists as she absorbed it all. When she lifted her eyes there were tears swimming in their black depths, but it wasn't from the pain. Kenna blinked away the tears as the emotions roiling through Loki filled her chest.

"Loki-" she whispered his name. They were tears for Loki.

Loki looked away from her, ashamed of his weakness. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" he began to say, looking down at the copper collar in his hands, but Kenna stepped closer to him, cutting him off.

Kenna was surrounded by Loki's emotions and she tried to sort through them, but they didn't make sense. Fear and guilt and agony and want and betrayal...they all jumbled together and made her chest tight with the anxiety of carrying them all. She needed to help him.

"Thor has been banished," Loki filled in to answer the question he could see shining out of Kenna's eyes.

"Loki," she whispered his name and took a step towards him. If Thor was banished because of the plan they had concocted Loki would never forgive himself. It also meant Loki was the next King. It meant-

Revulsion and fear surged through him and he stumbled back from her. "Don't touch me," he ordered, but he tripped and fell to one knee before her.

Loki never tripped, never fell, he was always incredibly graceful. Something was very wrong. Seeing this powerful, graceful man on his knees before her tightened something in Kenna's chest.

Kenna took another step closer. "Loki please, what else happened?"

Loki shook his head. "I'm not sure," he told her honestly. "We went to Jotunheim and fought frost giants. I was protecting Sif when-" he looked down at his left arm as though he didn't recognize it.

Kenna scowled down at it, but she could see nothing. She reached down and touched the shattered edges of the armor. The armor had been destroyed, but beneath it Loki's forearm was bare and unscathed. The mangled armor was a sharp reminder of how dangerous going to Jotenheim had been. As soon as her fingertips touched his flawless cool skin he jerked away again as though her touch had burned him.

"I-" he started to say and he let out a shuddering breath. Kenna's gentle touch had felt like an inferno against his cold skin. "One of them touched me and something happened, something I-" he shook his head. He didn't remember her ever feeling that way. Had there always been such a temperature difference between them? He didn't think so, and that terrified him. There was clearly something wrong with him.

Kenna closed her eyes as the onslaught of Loki's emotions surged through her like a wild fire. She couldn't separate one from the next, it was all happening too fast.

"Loki?" she asked uncertainly.

"I changed," he finally managed to choke out, and he lifted his gaze to look into her midnight eyes. The deep black abyss pulled at him and he forced himself to look away.

"Changed?" Kenna asked in confusion. Loki wasn't making sense.

"I-" he started to say but he couldn't form the words. He was too ashamed, too scared to give them life.

She took another step into his space and he pulled back as far as possible, rocking back to sit on his heels. "Stay back," he ordered quietly. "I could be dangerous. I can still feel the magick."

Kenna snorted and closed the last distance between them. "You won't hurt me, and you don't frighten me Loki," she said honestly. A long silence hung between them.

"I should," he said in a tone so low, she barely heard it even standing directly in front of him.

"Never," she told him with absolute certainty. She watched as he absorbed her words. She wanted him to believe them. As much as they had both tried to stay away from one another there was no denying what was between them. She wished the magick connection still existed between them so she could force him to feel her truth. She missed the closeness that came from the connection. Unbidden her hand lifted to touch her neck where his amulet once hung.

If he couldn't feel it by magic, she would have to prove it to him. "Can you show me?" she asked quietly, not sure if it was right to push him.

Loki's eyes were tormented, but he nodded. A small frown of concentration formed between his eyebrows but nothing happened.

"Please," she pressed. She could feel his indecision and his fear interfering with his magic. "Loki," she whispered his name and his eyes snapped up to her face. His green eyes were burning with intensity as they captured hers.

The magick that had been hovering at the edges of his consciousness tasted of ice and the coldest reaches of space and was the furthest thing from the gentle warmth he always felt from Kenna. He was terrified he would lose her forever, that this magick would destroy what there was between them, but when it came down to it, he could deny Kenna nothing. Not when she looked at him like that.

Loki looked down at his arm. He stared at it for a long time as he reached towards the strange, new magick. He wasn't sure how much control he had over it, but he drew on the memory of the frost giant's grip on his arm, the feel of that first rush of power, and pushed.

Gradually Loki's pale skin started to darken until it was a rich blue. Kenna watched as it climbed it's way from his left hand up his neck and overtook his face. She sucked in a quiet breath of surprise, and he looked away. His shame slammed into her.

"I'm a monster," he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Loki, no," Kenna whispered.

Kenna reached up and before he could pull away she cupped his face, turning it back so he was forced to look her in the eyes. Her brow furrowed as she traced the pattern of that intricate lines that decorated his dark blue skin. When he at last met her eyes his iris's were blood red. Her thumb caressed his cheekbone and beneath her hands his skin was cold like marble.

"You're beautiful," she said honestly.

Loki made a noise in the back of his throat and moved to pull away from her, but Kenna refused to let go this time. If she did, she knew she would lose him forever to the self hatred she could feel growing inside of him.

Instead, she cupped both of his blue cheeks in her hands. He stared up at her through his eerie red eyes and she knew none of this mattered. She let her thumbs skim over the swirling patterns the lines his cheeks. His skin was cool beneath her hands, the cold teasing the pads of her fingers. She smiled down at him gently and let him see in her eyes that she wasn't afraid of him. Then, she bent down and pressed her lips against his.

Loki sucked in a surprised breath at the touch of their lips. Kenna took it as invitation and moved into him. She angled her mouth to deepen the kiss and instead of pulling away, his cool hands gripped her sides possessively, pulling her down into his lap. Kenna curled around him, her body soft and pliant beneath his hands. Loki made a ragged noise low in his throat and her fingers threaded through the hair at his nape. She tugged on it gently to keep him close and a noise of pleasure rumbled low in his chest. Loki kissed her passionately until they were both breathless and they had to pull away. Loki rested his forehead against hers as they both fought to catch their breath.

When Kenna's eyes opened, Loki looked like himself once more. His vibrant green eyes stared at her in wonder.

"I'm-" he started to say.

"Beautiful," she repeated more firmly this time.

Loki snorted in disbelief. No one had ever considered him beautiful before. He was too lanky, to angular, to pale, with hair too dark to be considered beautiful by Asgardian standards. And that was without his skin turning blue. "How can you-" he started to ask in disgust.

"Loki, I don't care what you are," Kenna said. "I care about you," she reached down and laid a hand over his chest where she could feel the steady rhythm of his heart. "Your heart," she said. "That's what you showed me."

Loki closed his eyes as her gentle words touched him more deeply than he could have imagined. He was so tired of fighting his feelings. He just wanted something of his own. No, he wanted his Kenna.

"May I stay with you tonight?" Loki heard himself asking, and he sounded so young and broken.

Kenna nodded. "Of course," she replied without hesitation.

Loki pinched his eyes shut and rested his forehead against hers once more. "I don't want to be alone," he confessed.

Kenna laced her fingers with Loki's and squeezed his hand in hers. "You aren't alone," she promised him.

Kenna pulled him with her as she climbed to her feet. She led him through the dark garden, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. There was something so open and vulnerable about Loki and it made her feel incredibly protective of him. It was silly, Loki was a formidable warrior and incredibly powerful magic user, a god, but there was something so broken about him in that moment that made Kenna want to hold him and promise him everything would be all right.

When they stepped into her shed Kenna stopped and turned back to face him. Her eyes ran over the blood spattered armor. He glanced down at himself and moved his hand, changing his armor to the soft tunic and leather pants he normally wore around the palace.

Kenna moved to her pallet and laid down. Loki hesitated awkwardly looking like he was reconsidering. Kenna could feel his hesitancy and refused to let him pull away from her again. Not when he was hurting and vulnerable. He needed her.

Reaching up she laced her fingers with his and pulled him down beside her. Her heart was thundering in her ears. They had always been so careful to avoid any kind of physical contact, but knowing he wanted her as badly as she wanted him made her bold. Loki was so much larger than her and she could feel his contained strength that he let her direct until he was laying beside her. They lay together, side by side, staring up at the ceiling of the small potting shed, the lines of their bodies pressed together on the small pallet.

"You know," Loki said thoughtfully, after a moment. "My bed is bigger."

Kenna snorted and turned on her side to face him. There was teasing gleam in his eyes that made her heart flip flop. "Are you inviting me into your bed my prince?" she teased.

The smile on Loki's face stilled and he reached out to tuck a strand of her silvery hair behind her ear. "I would never want you to feel like you didn't have a choice," he said seriously.

Kenna frowned for a moment as her thoughts raced. "Is that why you never-" she started to ask and when Loki nodded a blush heated her face. "I thought it was because I was a slave," she admitted and she looked down.

Loki rolled onto his side and pushed himself up on his elbow. "You didn't ask for what was done to you," he said resolutely. "I don't care about your past, or your station. I just care about you." He said, using her own words. "Your heart," he said and he reached out with a gentle finger to trace the line of her cheek.

Kenna felt the sincerity in his words and she leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his in a sweet kiss. When she opened her eyes, his were still closed as he savored the feel of her. His eyes opened and within them she could see so many emotions.

Loki reached out and traced her face with his fingers. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"I know," Kenna told him and she did. "I forgive you," she said sincerely and she reached down and laced their fingers together. "I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

Loki shook his head. "You were right to. I wasn't myself, I was danger-" he dragged off as a thought went over him. It hadn't just been Magdol's magic. He really was the monster he feared himself to be. Suddenly everyone's fear and rejection made sense. There must have been some part of them that recognized the monster within. Everyone but Kenna.

"Kenna-" he started to say. She was so open and kind, he was terrified he would damage that light within somehow. He ruined everything he touched.

Kenna felt the dark path his emotions followed and instead of trying to convince him with words she began grabbing at him, digging in his pockets. Loki wouldn't believe her words, he was the god of lies. He needed actions, and she refused to let him go again. The first pocket she shoved her hand into was empty and she huffed out in frustration, reaching for the second.

Loki caught her wrists in his hands as a blush colored his cheeks. "What are you doing?" Though he was so much more powerful than her, he held her carefully, like he was afraid he would hurt her.

"I want it back," she demanded.

Loki frowned, not fully understanding.

Kenna wiggled her fingers around in his empty pocket. "So it isn't just a fancy way to put things in your pocket," she said thoughtfully as Loki gripped her wrists.

Despite himself and everything happening, Loki threw his head back and laughed. Kenna could feel the laughter through his chest. She pushed herself up on one elbow and looked down at him, a pleased smile lighting her eyes. Loki was so beautiful when he laughed, and she knew it was going to be a long time before he laughed again. Tomorrow he would be heir apparent to the throne of Asgard. Tomorrow he would have to confront his parents about what happened to him, but tonight...tonight she could give him this moment of peace.

Loki shifted his hands, rotating them and the amulet appeared in his palm. "Is this what you are looking for?" he asked in a teasing voice.

Kenna nodded, "I would like it back," she said reaching for it.

Loki held it just out of her reach however with a teasing smile. She swatted at him playfully and he teleported away. Laughter glinted in Kenna's eyes and she climbed to her feet. The shed wasn't that big and she was naturally faster than him. She jumped forward without warning and he teleported away again.

"No fair!" she called. "I-" she started to say and without warning she launched herself at him.

Instead of teleporting away and letting her hit the ground Loki caught her in his arms. Loki swung them around and teleported them away from the tiny shed.

Kenna let out a surprised yelp as she felt the pressure of teleportation close around her body. In the next moment she was standing alone in the darkness of his rooms. A green fire ignited dramatically behind her, she whirled around to face it, stretching out her senses to find him in the dark.

She felt the shift of air and there was a soft brush against the side of her neck. Loki's lips glided coolly along the sensitive skin, making her shiver. Kenna took half a step back and she could feel his heat and the long line of his body at her back. His fingers came up and brushed her hair aside as he hung the amulet around her neck. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against the bare skin of her shoulder before moving her hair back into place.

"As you wish my lady," he said in a low tone, his lips brushing against her skin as he spoke. She shivered and felt him smile.

The power of the amulet grew like a warmth in the center of her chest, connecting them. She closed her eyes and swayed a little on her feet as she felt Loki's power glide over her. He was right, there was something new there, but he still felt like her Loki. She had missed him, and now that she could feel him against her skin, she didn't think she would be able to give him up.

Loki took a deliberate step back from Kenna. If he didn't now, he wouldn't be able to. She tempted him more than any woman ever had. Sensing the change, she turned in his arms so they were facing one another. She gazed up at him, understanding shone out of her black eyes.

"Tomorrow is going to be a busy day," she said. "We should get some sleep."

The two of them lay down side by side in Loki's bed. After a few moments of shifting, Kenna found her place, curled up in his arms. He leaned forward and buried his face in her hair, drinking in the smell and feel of her. She felt so tiny and yet she was so strong. He would need her strength tomorrow.

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It was the middle of the night, but neither the King nor Queen of Asgard would sleep that night. Not with one son banished and the other in danger. Sigyn responded to their summons almost instantly. She appeared with a sly smirk. She had warned them they would need her again. She bowed to each of them. "King Odin, Queen Frigga," she greeted. "What can I do for you this night? If it is in regards to Thor-"

"It is not," Odin replied stiffly, he paused, his one eye narrowing. "How did you know about that so fast?"

"It is my job to know my King," Sigyn said with a smirk and a sarcastic curtsy.

"It is about the slave," Frigga said sharply.

"Ljosalfar's daughter?" Sigyn asked innocently, as though the little elf wasn't the reason for her remaining close to the palace. "I believe that matter was resolved."

"It is not," Frigga growled. Her anger and fear over Thor made her all the more determined to protect Loki from a similar fate. "The collar is not working, no matter what you say. For the safety of Asgard, I demand you fix it."

"The magic is working. But she fights it. It seeks out what it perceives to have lost. It fight's for it's desire and will continue to do so."

"It's desire," Odin repeated, his jaw tightening. "The prophecy, the destruction of Asgard," he said with a calm nod.

Sigyn snorted and shook her head turning back to Frigga. "I trust you are wiser than your fool of a husband."

Odin's jaw hardened and he shoved himself to his feet, taking a menacing step towards Sigyn.

"Don't," Frigga whispered, half under her breath. Frigga went still as her thoughts raced over Sigyn's words. There was only one possible explanation. Only one possible reason the magic's power couldn't hold. "Oh Loki," she whispered as she stared down into the dark garden. What had her son done? Her poor, lonely son had doomed them all.

"Sigyn leave us," Odin commanded.

Sigyn flashed a smile that was anything but submissive and swept out of the room. Frigga normally wouldn't be so careless as to let the witch walk freely in her palace, but she had other things on her mind.

"What Frigga?" Odin asked sharply. He knew his wife well enough to know when she knew something. Her powers were not the type normally regarded with esteem in Asgard, but they had served her well. There were times when Frigga saw things beyond this plane, and it was clear by the haunted look in her eyes that his beloved wife had done so again.

"The magick in the collar," she said simply. "It is a dark magick, with a terrible purpose," she began.

Odin opened his mouth to argue the point, but the sharp look Frigga cast him had him biting back his reply. That magic had been necessary to save them all.

"Such magics will fail only in the presence of the most pure form of magic," she said.

"Frigga-" Odin shoved himself to his feet and began pacing. They had had this same fight all those years ago.

"A light elf," Frigga said. "I don't like it any better than you do, but their magicks-"

"You won't convince me that all light elves are pure of heart," Odin replied sharply. "Especially not this one. Not with her fate-"

"It is not her magick, but her heart I fear," Frigga answered clenching her hands together tightly.

Odin frowned, still not following. "Her heart?"

Frigga bit back an unladylike sigh that would have offended her husband, and made him even less likely to listen to her. Their relationship was centuries old and still there were times when his insistence to be ignorant was maddening.

"Love," she said the word with all the reverence it deserved.

"Love?" Odin spat out. "She loves him," he finally said in disbelief.

"And more importantly, him her," Frigga said. "If it were not mutual, it would not be powerful enough to defeat Sigyn's dark magicks.

"She is a slave," Odin said as though that negated the matter entirely.

"I believe her station to be immaterial to him."

"He can't," Odin stammered. The pain of losing one son to his poor choices was bad enough, he would not lose the other the same night.

"Agreed," Frigga said. "And we must protect him from himself. She must go."

Odin kept his surprise hidden. Frigga had struggled with the fate of the princess of Alfheim since the beginning. It was not in Frigga to damn a child, regardless of her eventual fate. He supposed it should not surprise him that it would be to protect Loki that she would at last change her mind.

"Call the witch back in, we must do this," Odin said. He turned to his wife. "I gave my word to her father on his dying breath when he begged me to protect her."

"You must protect her from herself," Frigga said. "She is the only one who can bring about Ragnarok, she would not survive it. You are saving her," she assured him quickly. "And you are saving our son." Her mind was made up, she would do everything in her power to save her son.

Sigyn stepped back in the room, awaiting the King and Queen's decision.

"You will be brought to her. Every memory she has of Asgard and Loki are to be erased. No half measures this time. No memory."

"And then?" Sigyn asked.

"And then she will be removed from Asgard, for good," Odin snapped.

Sigyn turned to the Queen. "I will do as you ask Frigga," she said. "But you must know, there are some memories the body will fight for. Some it will live in pain to keep. My magic can only burn them away, it cannot force her to submit to it."

"She is an elf, she is not strong enough to live like that. She will give up. She will give him up," Odin said decidedly.

Sigyn cocked her head to the side. "And what of the prince?" She challenged.

Frigga stormed forward, her eyes glinting dangerously. "The prince is none of your concern. You have your orders. You are dismissed."

"As you say. My lord, my lady," Sigyn said placatingly and she bowed. When she turned her back to the rulers of Asgard a cold, cruel smile twisted her lips. In trying to protect their son, they would lead him down the path that would land him straight in her lap. Loki's power was truly something to behold, but he had no focus right now, no direction. Once he tasted the betrayal of his family she would give him that direction.

Frigga waited until Sigyn was gone before she turned back to face Odin. Her fingers were tangled together nervously. "Loki may never forgive us," she said. "But it is our duty to protect him. She must go somewhere that she can be contained so she is unable to fulfill the prophecy. Somewhere she will never be found and can never return."

"I know where," Odin replied with a nod. He rang a bell, summoning a servant to him. "Fetch me Lady Sif and the Warriors Three," he ordered. The four warriors would know they were out of favor and they had never been loyal to Loki. They would do as their king commanded and ask no questions.

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