– This is a translated story. Original version can be found on EFP: * efpfanfic viewstory. php? sid= 3117495 &i=1 *
The site won't let me upload links (or maybe I still haven't figured out the right procedure), so just copy and paste the url *highlighted this way* and remove the spaces, until I fix this mess. Sorry.
Asgard's great palace is enveloped in the nocturnal silence. Its dwellers rest cradled by the sweet blanket of dreams. Everything is at peace, nothing seems like to interrupt the quietness.
A lone figure wanders through the dimlit corridors. It's a beautiful woman, and she's smiling. She's come back recently to her home town and discovered that the sweet little Prince is in chains.
Odin imprisoned him because he couldn't tame him, he has tried to break her little Prince… and now she's got a little revenge to take.
She enters Prince Thor's chambers, strolls up to his bed. She looks at his sleeping form for a while before proceeding.
With a wisp of magic, she puts him under a heavy sleep, then coaxes him to drink a potion and lastly she weaves an intricate enchantment.
Phase one, completed. Now for phase two, she just has to hope for the best… she smiles, again, while she leaves the castle. Everything's going great, now she just has to watch and hope the sweet brunet Prince doesn't go throught self-destruction, but gives that blond muttonhead a chance.
Odin will be furious. She can't wait to see his disconcerted face.
Odin can't believe what his eyes are seeing. The guards had told him something was wrong with the Prince, but he would never have expected… this.
"Dad, dad" a five-year-old Thor comes at him screaming and grabs hold of his vest.
"You have breakfast with us? Where's Loki?" the child is a raging hurricane, as soon as his little brother's name has fallen from his lips he's turned around to go search for him.
"Tell me this is not Loki's doing…" wheezes the King to his wife, that has sauntered up to him.
"Sadly not, but that wouldn't be the worst problem here…" Frigga smiles when her son turnes to her.
"He wants Loki. I told him one of the maids is giving him a bath, but he keeps asking for him. And you remember what happens when he doesn't get what he wants."
The Queen grabs one of his arms.
"I do… we have to give him a three-year old Loki… and he'll never accept to be subjected to such an enchantment."
Odin is downright terrified by the idea of what could happen. At that age, Thor didn't have a sliver of control over his powers. If they don't give him Loki, some tornadoes would wreck the place, at least.
"We have to try, even if it's going to cost us…" Frigga hopes he won't ask for much.
"All right, I'll have him brought to my office. I'll see you there in twenty minutes."
Odin shakes his head, his wife didn't witness the last few conversations. He doesn't think Loki will consent. He'll laugh on his face, that's more likely.
Frigga watches the guards carry Loki to face her husband with something akin to a garbling hole in her stomach.
Her son looks thin and pale, his hair is a bird's nest, far different from the usual composed look. She watches him keep his head held high before the King. But she understands how hard it is for him by his clenched fists.
Odin sends the guards away. Loki remains silent, he's tired of shouting at him. He feigns hostility, but even that lie struggles to stand.
"Loki…" she calls. He looks at her, surprised. It's been months since he last saw her, he grinds his teeth, he must not show weakness. So he nods at her, while she tries to get closer, her mind voids of words.
"Tell me Father, why am I bestowed with the honour of being in your presence?" Loki speaks to Odin.
"We've had an issue. We need you to-"
The prosoner's soft laugh interrupts him. Frigga winces, it sounds forced, spent. Loki laughs as if it's scheduled, acts like they would expect him to.
"Loki, Thor has been enchanted…" she just wants it all to end.
"Wasn't me" he says dryly.
"We're not accusing you. Don't talk to her that way." Odin would have liked nothing more than to throw that ungrateful brat back into his cell and melt down the key.
"Then why am I here?"
"Someone turned him into a child. You have to hold him off until we find a solution." Odin clenches his hands too. Loki sneers.
"We've tried to reverse the enchantment to no avail. Thor is looking for his three-year-old brother. You have to turn back too and stay with him. He doesn't have any control on his powers yet and could cause enormous damage if he doesn't find you."
Odin ignores Loki's disgusted look.
"Never."
"Please, I beg you." Frigga takes his arm. She wasn't expecting such a firm denial.
Loki looks at her, and she can't help but wince again, a little, looking into those cold eyes.
"Why should I? Will I be set free?" Loki looks back to Odin. "Will I be able to return to my chambers? To be left alone?"
He knows he has the upper hand. They'd do just about everything, for Thor.
"All right. You'll have your chambers, but you won't be allowed to leave the palace grounds. Or you'll be sent back to your cell."
Odin has to consent, he has to. Loki lifts his chained wrists. At the King's gesture, they fall open. He smiles.
"I can't do the enchantment myself, will you do it, my Queen?"
Calling her anything but Mother hurts, but she didn't come for him.
He waited for her, months. Then he had to draw conclusions.
"You don't call me Mother anymore" Frigga can't help herself.
"You are not." Loki's voice is hard, and he hopes she didn't hear his heart fracturing just a little more. He closes his eyes, holds back his tears: he can't show weakness or they'll tear him more.
She wants to cry, but her Queen side restrains her.
"The enchantment won't alter your mind. If you start feeling strange, you have to tell me."
He nods.
"You have to lie down on that sofa and drink this potion." Frigga tries to smile, but it's difficult. Are they doing the right thing? That's not her Loki. What will happen to Thor?
She watches that stranger obey her words. The actual enchantment is simple: Loki is wide awake and doesn't struggle. In a few minutes, there's a child looking back at her. A scary, false child.
"If you hurt Thor…" Odin speaks threateningly.
"How could I? Look at me. He's double my size. I couldn't even if I tried. I'm a little doll now, so what am I to wear?"
Loki slids down from the sofa, clumsy in the now oversized clothing. Everything looks strange. Was he really that small when he was three? If someone tried to hurt him, he'd be easy prey.
He clenches his tiny fists, he needs to look strong, always. Head high, back straight. It won't be so bad, he decides. Better than a damp cell anyway.
Frigga hands him a onesie and a pair of tiny shoes. He looks at them positively disgusted, then he glances at her, slightly worried. Does he have to undress there, with them watching? They'll see his scars…
Frigga turns around, she didn't recall her son being so pudic. Odin isn't even looking at him.
"Ready" huffs Loki. They managed to belittle him again, but after this he'll be free. Nothing will keep him on Asgard this time, as soon as he is of the right size again, he'll flee, he'll…
A knot forms inside his little stomach. He has nowhere to go.
He just hopes everything will be over soon.
"Loki!" Thor jumps down from his chair as soon as he sees him. He barrels toward him and scoops him up in his arms.
Loki's overwhelmed. His brother is immense, crushing him to the point he can't breathe.
"Thor, be gentle. He's small, remember?" Frigga tries to pry Loki away before Thor pulverizes him.
Touching that tiny body gives her a strange feeling.
"Loki where were you? I woke up and you weren't there. You don't go anywhere without me." Thor's gaze bores into Loki's, holding his hands. Loki can't do much beside nod, subdued by his brother's impetuosity.
"Now it is lunch time." Thor drags him to the table, but as soon as the brunet looks at the already full plate he feels a wave of nausea. He can't eat, he can't.
He pretends to, he pretends to be a child, he plays with his food until Frigga has his plate taken away.
Thor drags Loki from one game to the other all afternoon, exasperating him with all his attentions. He honestly can't take a step without the bigger child calling, stopping or tackling him. Sometimes by crushing him down with his whole body.
He keeps telling himself it's annoying, and still… he feels a warmth inside he has missed for so long… it hurts. Having Thor close relaxes him, the near obsession of the blond at always having him by his side manages to quiet down the ever present turmoil inside him, in a way he can't understand.
But this, every side of this, is bringing him to the brink of a breakdown. It's all fake. Thor is under enchantment, he'd never treat him like this otherwise. It hurts every time he looks happily at him and smiles brightly.
And if that isn't enough, Frigga is always near, observing and laughing. Every burst of laugh is like a stab through the chest. She laughes for her son, not him. By now, she has only one son, Thor.
"Loki are you hungry? It's dinnertime" Thor once again drags him to the table. Loki sighs, here we go again, is it bedtime after dinner? Loki dearly hopes so.
But no, more games. Loki just wishes for it all to end.
"Thor, why don't you read some books? Show me how good you've got." Frigga hopes this would calm her little Thor down a little. She fears what Loki might do, he seems more strange by the minute. She watches him look at Thor with a progressively harder gaze. He scares her: what has her little babe become?
"Loki you learn to read too?" Thor sits down on the floor with a children's book -where had that even come from, wonders Loki- in one hand and his little brother's wrist in the other.
"Yes, Thor, teach me." he answers with a tight smile. Thor starts reading about a little fox that has got lost and Loki tries to look interested, but he really isn't. He smiles and nods every time Thor looks at him and says nothing when the blond gets the occasional word wrong.
The eldest holds the smaller child close, as if he knows just how much the other needs it.
Loki lets him, he's comfortable this way, feeling safe for the first time after many years. He doesn't even realize he's falling alseep in his brother's arms.
"Mama, Loki's sleeping" murmurs Thor.
Frigga doesn't know what to do. Put him to bed? It's late, Thor's probably sleepy too. If she wakes Loki, Thor could get angry and damage something.
She gets up and takes him in her arms, that small child that looks so delicate, so harmless.
But it's all false, she knows, she must not be deceived again.
Thor opens the bedroom door for her, and quickly strips down.
She places Loki on the bed and starts undressing him, and then she recoils, horrified.
A series of deep gashes cross Loki's pale little chest. She wonders who could have done such a thing to him… and when.
"Loki got booboo?" Thor is by her side, handing her a little night shirt.
"Yeah, but he's healing fast, don't worry. He'll be fine tomorrow." Frigga manages to smile at him. In fact, the gashes are already closing and healing.
Loki was locked up in his cell, and since he's been out, he's always been with her.
Did he inflict them himself? Why?
"Sing me a lullaby, Mama?" Thor scoots closer to Loki, grasping his arm. Even in sleep, the older chlid never lets go of his little brother.
She sighs. How much did things change with time.
Author's Note:
This story has four chapters already written.
I'll post a chapter every ten comments.
Kidding…. u.u If I did it this way I'd never post chapter four u.u
Thanks for reading. Still, comments are always welcome. They tempt me to post faster . I'm telling you. I'll still update at least once a week ^.^
See you soon
Veleno (* efpfanfic viewuser. php? uid= 780 599 *)
Translator's Note:
Hiya guys, G.L. Hollow here. As said, the story has four chapters and is already translated. The update schedule will be the same as for the original story: at least once a week.
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* glhollow. weebly. com *
You're welcome,
G.L. Hollow