This is the quickest update I've done in awhile! There isn't much to be said right now, other than the characters/creatures/whatever you wish to call them that are in this chapter aren't part of the storyline until Thor 2 I felt like giving them a small scene in this story because I wield the creative power here and I didn't want to put a Frost Giant scene here so close to the point where they enter in Thor which is coming very soon. The next chapter (or two, depending on how chapter 27 flows) are concluding adolescence and serving as a prelude into Thor, showing things we didn't get to see in Thor, like Loki and Thor finding out who the heir is and Loki going to the Frost Giants before Thor's coronation.

Since this is up so early I only have one reviewer to respond to, A Wild Clover, Oh don't worry! I have thought those same thoughts numerous times myself, I've also engaged in debates with friends over those thoughts as well. I've used the same logic you are employing, yet a number of my friends are religious and they don't try to convert me and I don't try to convert them so we are all good! I am actually not religious, I am agnostic, but I figured that it might be a Thor kind of thing to say, disagreeing with Loki about Christianity which was the religion I decided to choose for their disagreement after visiting our lovely Midgard which actually, isn't always so lovely. I am glad you liked the chapter and while I do put in some sentimental things corresponding with Aurora and Loki's friendship, they are not going to be romantically affiliated, strictly friendzone in this fanfic! Hmmm...someone should enlarge wax Spock's face. *Spock hand*

Alright, so here is chapter 26! Chapter 27 hopefully soon to follow, sometime this weekend! I will not be home Saturday though, or for the afternoon on Sunday so either tomorrow or Sunday night I hope to have it up!

"Aurora!"

"Aurora!"

"Answer me!"

"Can you hear me?!"

You could faintly hear the sound of someone yelling your name, a voice you assumed to be Loki's, but you couldn't reply. You could barely move and even if you could shout, your voice would not be loud enough to transpire from the wreckage that trapped you on the floor. You struggled to free a leg, an arm, something, anything, from the rubble, but you were unsuccessful. So, in order to prevent straining your muscles and using up your air, you decided to remain still beneath the wreckage that was crushing your body beneath it.

"Aurora, I do not know if you can hear me, but I am coming to get you! Just keep breathing and try to stay calm!" You hear Loki's voice ring out.

You didn't have much of a choice, so you did exactly what Loki instructed you to do. You breathed and waited. You were surprised to find that you could keep as calm as you were since you had never been trapped under something so heavy before that was threatening to crush you and kill you.

Eventually, however, you were starting to feel lightheaded and you could feel your heart beating faster. You weren't sure if you were panicking, running out of air, or both. You felt like you were going to doze off when you heard the sound of shifting stone above you. The noise made you alert because you realized that Loki was getting closer to rescuing you from the wreckage.

You still couldn't move and it was getting increasingly harder to breathe, but you decided to use whatever air you had left in your lungs to yell out to Loki, "I can hear you, Loki! You've almost found me! Hurry, please!"

Loki responded back, "I can hear you too, Aurora! I will have you out of there soon!"

You tried to keep your eyes open, but you couldn't anymore as you felt your mind slip away. The dismal color of your stone prison faded away into black as you lost consciousness.

Loki's POV

I frantically sifted through the remnants of part of the palace wall as I worked as quickly as possible to uncover Aurora. I did not know how far under she was, but judging by the volume of her voice when I last spoke to her, she could not be too far under the wreckage.

After tossing aside numerous chunks of the wall varying in size and weight, I saw a glimpse of Aurora's hair and gown. I proceeded to move even faster now that she was in sight, but I had to remove more of the rubble before pulling her out so as to avoid injuring her more than she probably already was injured. I cleared away the debris near her head first and then over her upper body as I placed my hand under the rubble and around her waist to lift her up. I managed to free her from the wreckage with a slight tug and kicking of the pieces of the wall near her feet to get better leverage.

I breathed heavily as I stepped away from the mountain of stone and sat down on the floor with Aurora limp in my arms. I looked down at her as tears filled my eyes. I had just tried to walk away from her in order to protect her from harm that I might cause her, but I had failed to protect her from harm not caused by me. I should never have thought so foolishly, to think that she would be better off without me in her life. She needed me and I needed her. She needs me now and I still need her.

I inhaled sharply as my fingers tightened and a tear fell from my eye darkening a tiny part of the fabric on her gown. I clutched her tightly against me and rested my head on her chest, unsure of what to do. It was then that I heard a faint noise coming from inside of her. Her heart was still beating! I stood up quickly, deciding that I was going to take her to the healing room right away.

"What a shame it is for there to be such a pretty casualty." A low voice spoke from somewhere behind me.

I whirled around with Aurora still in my arms to find that standing where the wall had once been, was a Dark Elf. I had never encountered one before, but I had read about them. The Dark Elves are similar to humans, but superior. However, they are weaker than Asgardians.

I gritted my teeth as I growled, "She is not dead."

The Dark Elf smiled maliciously and said, "Perhaps I should change that then, I would hate to be incorrect in my previous statement."

"You will commit no such act! Now leave before you are the one who is dead!" I yelled.

The Dark Elf laughed, "I do not feel threatened by a mere Asgardian child, especially since you are outnumbered.

As if on cue, several other Dark Elves emerged from behind the first one. I tensed up and looked around. While I was indeed outnumbered, I was not outmatched.

I smirked as I said, "The fact that I am outnumbered does not matter, nor is it true."

The leader spoke, "Are you blind, Asgardian? Look around you! There are ten of us and one of you!"

"Perhaps you should look again, elf." I sneered as I used my magic to duplicate myself.

Now, my copies outnumbered the elves as one of my copies held Aurora.

The real me stepped closer to the elf in charge and said, "I am giving you the opportunity to retreat. If you do not, you will die."

Without warning, the Dark Elves began fighting with my duplicates. Anytime one of them struck a duplicate, it faded into the air. The Dark Elves also possessed magic, but I knew their weakness.

"You may have magic, but so do I and mine is better than yours!" I yelled as I made an iron sword appear out of the air.

I swung at the nearest elf and killed it. Four of the other elves came rushing toward me and I waited until they were within my arm's reach to spin and slash each of them in a circle with the iron sword. Two more came running towards me, but I disappeared before they could reach me and then I struck them down with the sword from behind them. Only the leader was remaining.

He did not look pleased as he snarled at me, "You may have killed those who came here with me, but you will not do the same to me!"

He rushed towards me and succeeded in taking a blow at me that created a gash on my cheek, but it was nothing to worry about at all.

"Tell me why you came to Asgard!" I yelled as he tried to gain the upper hand.

"You will only know if I am to fall!" The Dark Elf shouted as he struck at me again, but missed.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled as I hurled an orb of magic at him causing him to fall to the ground, convulsing.

I waved my hand and ceased the effects of the magic, but I placed the tip of the sword on his chest and leaned down to stare into his dark eyes.

"Before I kill you, you will tell me."

"Why would I do that?" He asked, teeming with arrogance.

"Because if you do not, you will suffer." I growled as I held my hand over him and caused him to writhe in pain with my dark magic.

I watched the Dark Elf twitch on the ground before me and as I glanced over to where Aurora now laid on the floor, I was growing impatient.

"TELL ME!" I screamed.

"I am part of a rogue group of Dark Elves that wished to conquer the realm eternal. While we were a small force, we thought it was better to try than do nothing." The Dark Elf managed to say after I lifted the dark magic.

"You were foolish to try. Your fellow members have paid with their lives, and so have you, beaten by a mere Asgardian child, as you so wrongly phrased it." I said sternly as I thrust the iron sword into the Dark Elf's heart causing him to disintegrate into dust like the others.

I made the sword vanish as I rushed to Aurora's side. I picked her up and when I turned around, I saw my father standing where I had just slayed the last Dark Elf.

"Well done, son." My father said.

I walked towards him as I said, "Thank you, father. I am sorry I cannot stay as I must take Aurora to the healing room. She is unconscious."

My father looked from me to Aurora's form in my arms as he placed his hand over her face. Aurora began to stir and finally, she opened her eyes.

Aurora's POV

"L-loki?" I asked shakily as the blurry scene before me came into focus.

"Yes, Aurora, it's me." Loki responded as his face became clear in my sight.

"W-what happened? And why are you holding me?" I asked looking down at the ground which was strewn with debris.

"When you were trapped under the remnants of the palace wall, you fainted before I could get you out. When I did, it came to my attention that Dark Elves had somehow infiltrated the palace and they were responsible for blowing up the wall which unfortunately, fell on you." Loki explained.

"Ughh…my head hurts." You whined.

Loki chuckled as King Odin spoke, "It is natural that it would and my son should take you to the healing room before any of your other injuries become worse."

"I will, father." Loki responded with a nod of the head.

"After you escort Lady Aurora to the healing room, come back and speak to me, Loki." King Odin said.

Loki nodded as he began to walk in the direction of the healing room, but you spoke, stopping him by saying, "Loki, you don't have to carry me like I'm some damsel in distress. You can put me down now."

"Are you sure? You are quite unsteady." Loki said raising an eyebrow.

You nodded, "Yes, I think I can walk."

"Very well then." Loki sighed as he placed you back down on the floor.

You began walking, but teetered a bit and almost fell before Loki caught you and held your side with a hand.

"I would wrap your arm over my shoulder for support, but seeing as you are so short, that would not work. Since you also insist on walking, I will support you this way instead of carrying you to the healing room. Does that suffice?" Loki asked.

"It does, since you've asked." You laughed slightly although you weren't sure why.

Loki eyed you suspiciously as the two of you eventually made it to the healing room where Loki left you to be tended to as he went back to speak to his father. Loki told you that he would return afterwards, but wouldn't wake you up if you were sleeping.

Shortly after Loki left, you fell asleep in the healing room after you were administered some type of medicine that was supposed to expedite the healing process while also making you drowsy.

You groaned as you rolled over on your side and opened your eyes. Initially your vision was blurry just like it was when you woke up earlier after fainting, and also like earlier, Loki's form materialized in front of you as your vision regained its usual acuity.

You smiled slightly as you sat up in your bed, "Waiting for me to wake up by my bedside eh?"

"Do not think too much of it, Aurora. I am your friend remember?" Loki asked with a slight smirk.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." You smiled but then paused and spoke again, "Wait…but you said we couldn't be; that's why you walked away and then the Dark Elves blew up the palace wall."

Loki's smile faded as he placed his hand to his forehead and said, "I did say that, yes. However, I was stupid and wrong. I failed to realize that without me, you are in more danger than you are with me."

"I can take care of myself." You said crossing your arms.

Loki gestured to your bruised body with his eyes as he said, "Is that so?"

"That's not fair! This could happen to anyone, even you!" You exclaimed.

Loki chuckled, "Yes, it could happen to me, but it would not have affected me as much as it has affected you. Even so, I am referring to whatever may come, not just this incident."

"Go on." You urged him.

Loki sighed and leaned forward, "You will not hear this from me often, Aurora, so listen closely. I am sorry. I apologize for my moment of error and rash thinking. It is evident that you need me in your life and you know what? I need you in mine too. I know that I can be a bit much to handle sometimes, but you always seem to find a way to deal with me on a daily basis even when I am not so sure that I would be able to do that myself. So, Aurora, I want to tell you that I appreciate you and I probably can never tell you that enough, but there is a first time for everything. I know not what the future will bring, but I do know one thing."

"What is that one thing?" You asked Loki after he paused.

Loki brought his eyes to yours as he said, "I know that I want you there by my side and I want to be by yours no matter what happens."

You smiled at him, "I never expected so much sentiment from you."

Loki rolled his eyes, "Me neither."

"Well, I accept your apology, but you probably expected that." You grinned.

Loki nodded, "I did, but I still needed to say it."

"I'm glad you did." You said as you hugged Loki and then winced.

"It is best that you rest more since you are still in pain." Loki commented.

"I know," You said as you leaned back on the bed, "but I must ask you. Where did the Dark Elves go?"

"I killed them." Loki said flatly.

"Well," You sucked in a breath, "normally I'd tell you that wasn't nice of you to do, but they deserved it."

Loki smirked, "Of course they did. They invaded Asgard and caused harm. Although, I suppose you want to know if anyone else was hurt, but you were the only one affected."

"That's lucky for everyone else, but unlucky for me." You sighed with a small laugh.

"Yes, but you are going to recover and King Odin has gone to Svartalfheim enraged about the event that transpired here. The matter is being handled." Loki said.

"I am confident that your father will handle everything. It is his duty after all." You yawned.

"Indeed. Now, get some sleep. I will see you later, Aurora." Loki said as he stood up.

"Goodnight, Loki." You said as you shut your eyes and rolled over on your side again.

"Goodnight, Aurora." Loki replied as he left the healing room pausing for a moment in the corridor.

You were already sound asleep as Loki breathed in deeply to regain his composure as he made his way to King Odin's domain where he was to meet with King Odin and his brother, Thor. The All Father had finally decided who was to become the heir to the throne and all was to be revealed upon the brothers' arrivals.