Immediately upon reaching the residence of the city lord, Loki and group were escorted to an audience chamber.
"I'm so nervous," Petra hissed to her sister
"I know, meeting a noble for the first time, and a city lord?" Tetra added.
"So, what's this city lord like?" Loki enquired
"Not sure," Thor shrugged, "only met her a few times before, I spent most of my time down in a well."
Fen snickered at that, quite loudly, "They stuffed your tin ass down a well? That's hilarious!"
"Maybe I should stuff you down a well, flag face," Thor sneered back, "see how you like it."
"Don't fight, you two." Loki said, in a tone reminiscent of a parent to their children.
"Oh, flag face knows I'm just teasing," Thor said, playfully slapping Fen across her back, "it's not like I suggested that we shave her again."
"Again?" Petra exclaimed
"You bitch!" Fen snarled, slamming Thor into the wall, "I told you never to bring that up again!"
Thor stared her down, ignoring the enraged snarl, her glowing eyes glaring through the veil to the face beneath, unafraid. Electricity started to crackle around Thor, while the chains around Fen started to writhe.
"I told the two of you to stop fighting!" Loki snapped, no longer finding it amusing. Both Valkyries immediately broke apart, and lowered their heads in apology.
"Forgive us, master!" they said as they bowed their heads in unison. It was clearly something they were used to doing to just assume the position without a moments hesitation.
"Now, Thor, apologize to Fen about your comment," Loki commanded
Thor hesitated for only a moment, before turning to Fen and offering a half-hearted 'sorry',
Fen just nodded, then smacked her in the face with her bushy tail as she turned, a smirk playing on her lips.
"I forgive you, I guess," Fen grinned
Loki just sighed, then turned to captain Ezra, "sorry about the display. I'd say they aren't usually like this around each other, but I think that would be lying."
"Uh, n-no problem," Ezra said incredulously. Even though Loki had treated it like childish bickering, Ezra, and the others present, could feel a frightening amount of bloodlust flare up before Loki intervened.
The fact that Loki was so unperturbed when the two of them seemed ready to try and kill each other, he dreaded to even think of what something like her would actually consider a serious situation.
They were escorted to a grand reception room, where an attendant was already waiting. The older woman looked at them, bowing her head slightly at Ezra, who returned the gesture.
"It has been a pleasure, lady Loki, but I must be off." Ezra said, kissing the back of her hand,
"You were quite charming," Loki chuckled, "I'm surprised you didn't try to seduce me,"
"Please, I'm not that hopeless," Ezra smirked. In truth, Ezra had considered it when they had first met, but the threatening glares he got from Thor and Fen were enough to dissuade him. He didn't want to give those two calamities any more reason to be resentful of him.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Loki said as the knights walked off.
The room was quite spacious, with an arrangement of comfortable couches and a table of assorted refreshments. As the twins helped themselves to the luxurious spread prepared for them, Loki noted that she herself lacked an appetite. One of the many things she had come to remember about her kind was that they didn't need to eat and barely needed sleep, sustaining themselves on starlight.
While Thor joined the twins in partaking, Fen fixed a cup of tea and presented it to Loki.
"Thank you, Fen," Loki beamed at her, taking a sip of the fragrant liquid.
"There wasn't much to work with here, but I did my best," Fen said.
Unsurprisingly the tea tasted superb.
They had been waiting for about half an hour when the doors opened, and a young human woman walked in, flanked by two other officials.
"Presenting the City Lord of Nüjaven, lady Margaret Taggard," the attendant announced.
The woman barely looked into her twenties, with deep mahogany skin and dark tresses, and she was dressed in an exquisite dress. She sat opposite Loki and her group, with her two officials standing at her sides.
"My lady, I present to you lady Nex Loki, and her companions." The attendant said
"So, you're the one who vanquished the dragon horde?" One of the officials said, scrutinising Loki, "you don't look like much,"
"Watch yourself, mortal," Thor growled, "I will not allow you to insult my master."
This caused the newcomers to shift uncomfortably. They had heard the reports, but it was still a shock to hear it directly.
Looking directly at Margaret, Loki stood from the couch.
She took a step towards the city lord and four guards appeared out of nowhere, one with a sword leveled at Loki's chest.
"Keep your distance!" the guard ordered,
Loki completely ignored the guard and his sword, her brilliant emerald eyes focused squarely on the city lord. She looked so unbothered by his presence that he felt intimidated.
"Lower. Your. Sword." the guard heard Thor growl, only then realizing that the Storm Bringer was right behind to him, poised to remove his head.
"Enough," Margaret sighed, and the panicked man quickly sheathed his sword and backed away from the woman in green.
Loki stepped closer to the city lord, standing right in front of her, looking down at her.
"So?" Loki said with a raised eyebrow.
There was so much implied in that simple word, it stunned Margaret. Was she issuing a threat? Offering an alliance? Proposing a marriage? What?
Margaret pondered this for several moments, before arriving at a conclusion. She took out a small object from her pocket.
"This is the master controller for Thor's Dominator Collar." She said, placing it in Loki's outstretched hand.
Loki inspected it for a moment, then tossed it over to Fen, "get that stupid thing off her, Fen,"
"Of course," Fen replied with a smirk.
"I will apologise for whatever Thor did to you and your people," Loki said with a nod of her head, "I'm sure you were probably justified at the time for imprisoning her."
"All I did was go on a little rampage through the city," Thor grumbled as Fen worked on removing the collar, "they were pissing me off."
She then yelped as the collar sent a jolt through her.
"Hey, watch it, flag-face!" Thor snapped at Fen
"I thought you would like that?" Fen teased,
A second later the collar came off. Thor stretched as electricity crackled over her body, "ah, that's better!"
Immediately, a chime went off in Loki's head as a new windown opened before her.
[CONGRATULATIONS! THOR THE STORM BRINGER HAS JOINED YOUR CLAN!]
[ANOTHER OF THE VALKYRIE HAS BEEN REUNITED WITH THEIR MASTER IN THIS NEW WORLD! YOU HAVE LEVELED UP [X15]! SOME OF YOUR LOCKED SKILLS HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED AND SOME RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN LIFTED!]
Loki grinned, pleased to have Thor back in the fold.
"Welcome back, Thor," Loki said
"Thank you, master," Thor beamed, kneeling before Loki, "This storm bringer once again swears loyalty to you, my one true lord and master. I look forward to being your sheild once more."
With Thor right before her, Loki appraised her;
[STATUS]
Name: Thor the Storm Bringer
Race: elf (cyborg)
Sex: female
Karma: chaotic good
Attribute: storm
Condition: normal
Jobs: sentinel/tank
Affiliation: Valkyrie
Level: 820(geas)
Tier: Ancient
HP: 100.00%
Anima: 100.00%
Points: 10,110,000pnts
[SKILLS]
Appraisal; Analysis; Absolute Defense; Castle Guard; Chivalry; Charge; Electrokinesis; Energize; Force Reflection; Grand Slam; Hard Target; Hero's Fortune; Heresy; High Voltage; Illness Resistance; Impregnable; Iron Will; Iron Flesh; Longevity; Lightning Rod; Mental Fortitude; Overdrive; Pain/Pleasure Reflux; Phalanx; Poison Resistance; Smite; Shatter Point; Thunder Armor; Word is Bond;
[EQUIPMENT]
Tempest Heart; Mjolnir; Bionic ³dy Armor;
[TITLES]
Storm Bringer; Bionic; Attacker; Sentinel; Damage Sponge; Eye of the Storm; Masochist; Knight;
"So, what will you do now?" The young city lord asked,
Loki turned to the young woman before her,
"Well, for starters, I'll need to fix Thor's arm," Loki mused, "of course it won't be that easy without Asgard, or even Jori,"
Thor shivered, "I-is the doc around?"
"No," Fen replied, "just the two of us for now."
Thor gave a sigh of relief, she really didn't want to cross paths with Jörmungandr for as long as she could manage it.
"So, what's our next move?" Fen asked
"We'll need somewhere to operate for the time being," Loki mused
"Then I would be honored to host you in my city," Margaret said to Loki
Loki raised an eyebrow, but it was one of the city Lords officials that spoke up
"Are you sure that is wise?"
"Would you excuse us?" Margaret said as she led her people out of the room.
She then turned to face them,
"This woman is an unknown," one said,
"A dangerous unknown," the other commented, "and she has the Storm Bringer, and another attendant of equal threat with her, not to mention she is actively looking for more. This is a great risk."
"What you say is true," Margaret said, "but whatever this Nex Loki is, she is clearly powerful, possibly strong enough to rival a holy knight." Margaret reasoned, "I beleive it would be in our best interest to ally with her."
"How do we know she can even be trusted?"
"She could've killed us at any time in there," Margaret said, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face, "she wouldn't even have to do much, just unleash her monsters on us, yet she didn't. She can be reasoned with."
At thar point, Loki stepped out of the room,
"I'll have you know I've been known to be quite reasonable," she said, looking pointedly at the other two. She then turned to the city lord, "I would like to take you up on your offer, and I can make sure you're adequately compensated in exchange."
Loki held out her hand and a large glowing crystal materialized from her inventory.
The humans looked at her in shock
"I-is that...?" Margaret stuttered
"An anima drop," Loki confirmed, "I trust you're aware of its value?"
They nodded,
"Then I trust we have a deal?" Loki smirked.