A/N: Hey so I LOVED the movie Thor and loved loved loved the character of Loki, so I thought I'd do what I do best and make up a love story for him. So, it's based mostly off of the marvel movie and norse mythology (none of which I own!), I only own Anna and any other new characters. Let me know what you think
Prologue
"Loki…" Sigyn sighed, pulling her gossamer veil over her tumbling tresses of sunbeam gold.
He loved those precious strands that framed the ever-so-slightly rosy planes of her fair face. Standing behind her, watching her twist those wild locks of liquid gold, his hands twitched. Whether from a sudden impulse to run his hand through those silken strands as he had done so many times before, or from a sweep of barely repressed sorrow at the nature of the occasion, he would never know. At length, his own sigh filled the silence and he watched her shiny blue eyes glisten.
"You go through with this," His hands encircled her frail lace-garbed arms when she stood, his deep forest green eyes pleading with her; "I won't let you."
Sigyn smiled remorsefully up into those eyes, watching as they fingered the delicate lacy patterns of her gown's sleeves. It was a simple dress, fashioned in haste in which the wedding was orchestrated. His lips, those lips whose prudent language she had grown to read, were pursed in that helpless way that brought her tears cascading down like clear pearls down her flushed cheeks.
Loki almost cried out then. He remembered the otherworldly glow of her skin, when she was a Aesir, sneaking past curfew with him as children, running through the gardens of Asgard under the pale kiss of the moonlight. He loved the way she would glow under the moonbeams, eyes alight and hair falling over slender shoulders.
"You have to let me go, Loki." Sigyn said softly, nearly whispering.
It was not a plea, but rather a warning.
"No…" Loki fought for words, Sigyn watched them each nearly issue forth from his trembling lips, but never pass.
"I gave up my immortality…" Sigyn whispered, fingering the glowing moonstone necklace, her only proof. "Does that say nothing to you?"
His eyes, those dangerous depths of consuming emerald were once enough to bend to his will without question, were now the cause of the embers slowly burning within her. They were turning dark, desperate; like a feral panther forced into a corner. She knew it would not be enough to halt his advances now with soft, gentle persuasion. Sigyn felt the few little words she needed to say, that he needed to hear, manifesting themselves at the tip of her tongue.
Gazing into those pools of beryl, she watched his heart shatter under the weight of her cool words.
"I love him."
Sigyn had expected this to break him, but she did not expect such a dramatic response. Loki, the god of mischief, lover of tricks, prince of treachery, gripped the material of his royal uniform over his heart with a wide-eyed gasp. It were as if she were watching all the air rush from his lungs. He seemed feeble now, childlike. Trembling like a twig just before it snaps in two, his eyes flew wildly over every piece of furniture in the room, up to the ceiling, over to the window, to the floor below, and finally they rested upon her.
"Loki…" Sigyn bit her lip, feeling bathed in relief that he had not tore her bridegroom apart down the hall in seconds.
Suddenly he froze, and she held her breath. His eyes blinked, drying themselves. With one firm step towards her, his intent turned from mourning… to cruelty. Nearly a whole head taller than her, although all sinew and lean muscle, his immortal strength sent her staggering for support. Gripping her vanity's table, she felt her heart grow sick at the sight of her childhood love scorned.
Glancing out the window, she watched the snow fall gently. She had wanted a summer wedding, but the circumstances denied her even such a trivial indulgence. When she had met Rorak, on a simple traipse across the worlds, she could not deny the intense feeling of ravenous need for every part of him: his easy going smile, his copper hair that fell in uneven locks, his sturdy build. It was not the innocent affection she had lavished upon her childhood sweetheart, that lovable trickster. She had not thought anything of the pure, innocent pledges of undying love they had vowed as children of the gods.
Now, as Loki gazed at her with all the white hot fury that his soul could muster, she quaked with unsuppressed fear.
"Love him?" Loki mocked, his lips turning into that sneer she despised. "Love him? Love the human mortal who will never know the glory of your upbringing. Never know the true spirited girl that I… that I…"
There, again there was the helpless, nearly lifeless form before her eyes. He swayed dangerously and she held out a hand to steady him.
"Do not touch me!" He cried, his face screwed up in fury. "If it is a human life you desire, then it is a human life you will have, and all the displeasure it entails!"
Breathing rapidly, like a wild feline, Loki stormed to the window, tracing the frosted glass tenderly with his pale elegant fingertips. The humans, Vikings, as they called themselves, were a rough people who believed in the power of the gods. Too gruff for gentle, ever yielding Sigyn.
"But know this, Sigyn," Loki whispered dangerously low, unnerving her, "Know that now, when you have so blatantly broken your vow to me, so I shall break your trust in turn."
Too shell shocked to respond, Sigyn felt her very human heart flutter as he wheeled around, emerald eyes aglow with vicious glee.
"You have promised your heart to me," He seethed, "And so it shall be mine. In time, I will return to earth and will find you're descendent, and take her as my own. This is the choice you've given yourself, Sigyn: an eternal life with me beginning now, or this painfully brief human misery, leaving the toll for the fruit of your bloodline?"
Sigyn bowed her head, ice cold tears streaming down her face. "I… I love him."
Her whisper fell upon a silent room, however, as she glanced up and he was gone. But as she dried her eyes and adjusted her skirts, she felt the cool breath of his laughter upon her face.
"I hope she has your eyes…"
Chapter One: The Raven
It began with a raven. Anna awoke to its cool black stare, transfixed almost as it lilted its head slightly. It was gazing down at her from an outstretched, gnarled branch of her oak tree outside her open window. A balmy mid summer breeze carried in and she lifted her head off her pillow with hesitant, calculated motions as if not to frighten the black bird away. Sliding her smooth, fair skinned elbow under her for support, she felt her silken gold waves caress her bare shoulders. She nearly screamed when the bird blinked and shook its feathers lightly, the faintest hue of green in its coloring as it preened in the sunlight.
"Good morning." She mouthed, careful not to scare it.
This hardly perturbed it, however, as it cocked its head to the side, its eyes softening.
"Anna!" A shrill cry, muffled by her door, sent the fowl staggering, ruffling its feathers indignantly.
"I'm coming!" Anna cried, sighing as she glanced from her door to the empty branch where the strange bird had been perched.
Stretching arms high over her head, she sighed and swung her legs over her bed. Her hair had dried since her shower that night and gently yielded to her paddle brush as she eased it through her locks. It fell in luscious golden waves that kissed the bottoms of her shoulder blades and framed her delicate facial features. Her bright clear blue eyes scanned over her wardrobe and she selected a simple pastel green summer dress with a simple white lace trim and simple white ballet flats. Sweeping her hair up into a simple bun at the base of her skull, she smirked wryly when several stubborn half curls fell against her face rebelliously.
Touching a hand to her necklace, she watched its faint blue glow in the sunlight shining through her window. It was a moonstone oval set in slender silver. Her great grandmother had given it to her back in June, and she hadn't taken it off since. Somehow it made her feel tied to her ancestry. Besides, great grandmother Eire had said its milky white patterns glittered clear blue as Anna's eyes when she wore it.
"Morning mom." She said, kissing her mother's temple as she sat down to grab a piece of fresh toast.
"Morning dear," Her mom, Victoria, smiled, "Working early today."
"Yeah, down at the shop." Anna answered, filling a plate full of fruit from a bowl on the kitchen table. "I'll be home around four… ish."
"Alright," Mom smirked, her daughters same, though aged, features twisting into a grin, "Will Ryan be there today?"
Anna paused while chewing a slice of sweet pineapple, her brows furrowing. "I don't know. Why?"
"Ah… the innocence of youth." Victoria giggled, feeling younger than she had in a while.
Anna rolled her eyes. Ever since she had spent the first half of her summer after high school graduation backpacking across Europe with her best girl friend Colbie in tow, before settling in a small Norwegian village to spend a holiday with her great grandparents, her mother had been hell bent on tying her down to this little seaside southern California town one way or another. What ties could be more binding than those of fierce young love?
That's the problem, Anna would sigh to herself, I don't love him.
Clearing her plate and kissing her mother goodbye, she left their little two bedroom bungalow and swung onto her beach cruiser bicycle.
"Hey!" Her mother called as she pulled out onto the street. "Don't forget it's Lucy's birthday tomorrow! Today might be a nice day to pick her up a present, hint hint!"
"You got it!" She called over her shoulder.
Pedaling into town, she felt the cool kiss of the ocean breeze on her face, the waves not twenty yards from the road she sped down. Staring at the road, she could feel the heat of the day already creeping into her sun kissed, yet stubbornly fair, skin. A tiny shadow crossed her path and she gazed upwards.
A bird… A great black bird…
"Anna, watch out!" She heard a young man's voice call out to her.
Before she could stop, she felt the front tire of her bike clip onto the curb, sending her sprawling on to the sidewalk headfirst. Landing ungracefully, she kept her chin from smashing onto the pavement by shielding it with her arms and successfully stripping the skin off of her elbows. Her dress was remarkably unscathed, it seemed, if only a little dusty from the loose pavement. Rising clumsily to her feet, she felt tentatively at her elbows and fresh blood shone on her fingers. Swaying dangerously, she felt two clammy hands hold her upright.
"Easy, Anna," Ryan said uneasily, "It's just a little blood. C'mon, it's not that bad."
Anna knew he meant well, but was too engrossed in proving his manhood to seem in any way maternal. Guiding her into the flower shop, Rimbly's, she mumbled something about her bike. Sitting her down on the shop's front counter, she watched him bring her bike up to the front window outside. Great, she thought, the bike is untouched but the anemic one is leaking dangerously.
Awesome.
Walking over to sink, Anna watched as Ryan's mom came sweeping in with her face pinched in worry.
"Oh Jeeze," Mrs. Rimbly tutted sweetly, "Another graceful moment, huh Anna?"
Anna loved watched stout Mrs. Rimbly maneuver around the gardening shop and nursery with deceiving fluidity. Everyone was more graceful than Anna. Helping Anna wash her superficial wounds with soap and water and wrap them in bandages. This was a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence.
"Feeling better?" Ryan asked awkwardly, avoiding Anna's clear blue gaze as he nervously set about arranging packets of seeds in the front display.
"Yeah," Anna answered absentmindedly, spraying the hanging baskets overhead with water.
Her mind was elsewhere, watching the rather large black bird that would occasionally wander past the front windows, hopping across the sunny sidewalk. Anna read enough symbolic literature to know that crows and ravens were dark omens, and this one seemed a living half breed of both. It's almost metallic green shine of feathers glimmered in the sunlight. Somehow the sight of it made her uneasy now.
Ryan was going on about something, something about… water…
"Anna! Earth to Anna!" He grinned sheepishly when she snapped out of her reverie.
"Huh? What?" She frowned when his grin grew.
"You're out of water." He said pointedly.
"Wha-?" She glanced up at her watering can, an old water-filled Windex container… which was empty… "Oh…"
When she allowed her eyes to wander once more, the black bird was gone.
The Next Day…
"Anna…"
Anna felt her head, light as a feather, lifting not of its own accord.
"Anna."
Two orbs of glowing green, like glowing northern lights, or emerald tinted stars.
"Anna!"
She tried to hold up her arms to protect her eyes as those two burning green embers began to spark dangerously.
"ANNA!"
"ANNA!"
Anna awoke to the screeching cries of her now-seven -year-old sister Lucy barreling into her room the next morning. Turning her head to the side, she swore she saw a flash of black feathers just before she felt the air rush from her lungs when Lucy came crashing down upon her.
"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" Lucy cried jubilantly.
"You're seven!" Anna tried to seem jovial as bony little Lucy made a trampoline out of her stomach. "Ya-ay…"
"I know!" Lucy shrieked, launching off of Anna's bed and bounded to her vanity mirror, sitting at the desk. "And you're going to do my makeup. I'm a big girl now."
"I know you are." Anna smiled softly, pressing a kiss to her little sister's strawberry blonde curls.
Pressing her least-gaudy red lipstick to her little sister's lips and sweeping a little mascara over her patient little lashes, Anna wished her happy birthday as Lucy gasped in the mirror. Anna watched Lucy as she touched her little seven year old face in wonder. Glancing up the mirror's length at her own face, Anna imagined her sister gaining the modest curves that genetics had blessed her soft but frail frame with. All too soon, she thought, too soon.
Suddenly something dark flashed in the mirror and Anna gasped.
"What is it?" Lucy asked, still half dazed in wonder at her made-up face.
Blinking, Anna wheeled around to find her window empty. "Nothing… I hope."
Mom had planned Lucy's birthday party at noon, so Anna could stick around for screaming children and cake and presents and Disney movies before heading to work at four thirty. Lucy loved her gift from Anna, a little empty photo album with pretty yellow flowers on the cover. Her little sister loved taking pictures with her little toy Polaroid and storing them everywhere in her room. Now she had somewhere to put them.
When the time came to go to work, Anna pedaled twice as slowly today. That sense of foreboding from that morning had not left her breast. Wearing an old simple white a-line skirt and clear blue blouse that matched her eyes, she parked her bike and quickly rushed into the store.
"You're late." Mrs. Rimbly admonished in that playful way of hers, warm chocolate eyes shining.
"I'm sorry," Anna began.
"Don't worry, it's Lucy's birthday," Mrs. Rimbly smiled pleasantly, "You're babies are in the back. One's blooming."
Without another word, Anna rushed into the nursery in the back, her heart light once more. Far back in the corner was a small veiled box with a heat lamp glowing dutifully inside. Pulling back the curtain excitedly, Anna bit her lip and grinned. She had been nurturing her rare species of Himalayan blue poppy for nearly a month now and the fruits of her labor were beginning to show.
A small flash of electric blue was unfurling from the bud of one of the flowers. It was slight, but anything was worth celebrating. When her great grandmother in Norway had given her the seeds, she had vowed to grow them, take as many photos as possible and send them to her great grandparent's email. A laptop and lessons on modern technology were her family's present to them when she visited in June. Caressing the swelling bud, she silently willed it to grow, same as she had been doing for weeks now. Spraying her budding greenery with her Windex container, she took a deep breath and stood gazing over her work.
Wait, she glanced nervously at one of the flowers. It's bud was turned downward from the weight. She needed a splint for it, to grow upright.
Turning on her heel, she gasped as she collided with something firm, yet somehow soft and warm. Blinking, she felt two rather large, gentle, dry hands wrap themselves around her arms to steady her as she backed away. Face burning with embarrassment, she had to tilt her head upwards slightly to meet the gaze of whomever this stranger was.
Lips parting slightly, she had to consciously keep from gasping. Two deep green eyes held hers captive, staring down at her. It was a man; a very tall man. Nearly a whole head taller than her, he held her steady with his long, almost elegant fingers. She wondered if he played piano…
"Oh, I'm sorry." She forced a half dazed smile as he released her, hands quietly retracting to his sides.
"Quite alright." He smiled softly, his distinctly British sounding accent causing her alarm.
In a town where everybody knows everybody, foreigners can seem a bit out of place, even for someone who just spent a significant amount of time overseas. This stranger was dressed quite outlandishly as well. He wore a white dress shirt and black tie under a casual suede looking cream pea coat, a plain grey scarf round his neck. Casual, she thought, yet undeniably sharp. He stood erect, posture giving off an air of calm, modest grandeur.
"Can I help you find something?" She asked as he suddenly turned from her, wandering around the dimly lit nursery.
She wondered how he was not sweating his skin off in the balmy heat of the nursery. Rather uncomfortable in the warmth herself, she had swept her hair into a low ponytail to keep it away from her face.
A smirk slowly made its way across his face and his eyes lit up with some unmistakable hint of mischief. Anna recognized that same look on her sisters face from time to time. Except, usually, Lucy was about to race down the stairs on a mattress or rearrange the furniture with that same look. His features were angular, sharp. He had midnight black hair slicked back down to the nape of his neck, a high forehead and a pointed nose. His lips were thin but defined and his curious emerald eyes were currently staring deeply into hers. Outlandishly handsome, she thought to herself.
"I'm afraid I've already found what I'm looking for." He smiled, flashing straight, ultra-white teeth.
Anna felt her face radiate heat as he took a step towards her. He had to be nearing his late twenties from the looks of it. There she was, rapidly approaching nineteen. What was he doing staring into her like that.
"What would that be?" She asked, mouth suddenly dry.
She didn't like feeling this uncomfortable. Her palms were suddenly warm and ever so slightly moist. Feeling stifled in her flowy blue blouse, she wished she could take off her keds without looking stupid. The man's eyes flickered across the room, sweeping over to where her covered babies were soaking up the heat lamps' warmth greedily.
"Are those Himalayan blue poppies?" He asked, gently stepping from beside her to view them at a better angle.
"Yes," She replied quickly, hoping he would not touch them, "They're very delicate."
"As all the most precious flowers are," The strange man noted, reaching a hand to caress the little limp bud.
Snatching one of the toothpicks they used to mark what plant was what from the table beside her, Anna reached around him as his fingers retreated from her beloved babies. Taking the tie from her hair, she gently fashioned a splint for the failing bud, holding it upright gently. Her hair fell all around her face and she watched the slight twitch in the strangers' hands.
"These are yours then, I suspect." He smiled, tucking his hands behind his back as she stuck the toothpick in harder, the little splinter of wood refusing to still itself.
"Yeah," She nodded slightly, "I've been growing them for a month- ouch!"
When the confounded pick finally stuck, her finger was the slippery one. Sliding down the little sliver of wood, she received one in her fingertip. Biting her lip in pain, she watched the angry swell of blood rise in her skin around the puncture. She hated the sight of blood. Ever since she decided to give blood her freshman year in high school at the annual blood drive and fainted because of her apparent anemia, she hated blood.
Suddenly, those long, dexterously looking fingers enveloped hers with cool, dry comfort. Holding injured index finger in one hand, he pinched the long sliver between his other hands thumb and index finger nails. The sliver was huge, nearly as big as the toothpick from which it came. Anna gaped up at the stranger, shocked at his shameless indifference at her discomfort at their proximity.
"Take a deep breath." He said, his voice so velvety and soothing that she was almost too distracted to take his advice.
She was glad she did.
Biting her lip did not seem enough to squelch the whimper that made its way past her clenched jaw. His eyes were gentle as he slid the tip of the thick sliver out of her finger, a speck of bright red blood dripping off the jagged edge and falling to the plastic covered floor below. Anna felt her face turn deathly cold and the room begin to lilt.
"Ah, there we go." The stranger said calmly in his low, throaty voice. "Anna, what's wrong?"
"How do you…" She swallowed, suddenly with his arm around her waist for support. "Know my name?"
"You're name tag, silly." He laughed lightly, his eyes growing serious though when he saw her face. "You're pale as parchment. Come, sit down a moment."
Too weak to protest, Anna felt his large hands steer her almost tenderly to one of the benches along the side of the nursery, sitting her beside him.
"Thank you." She smiled softly as he handed her a soft cotton handkerchief, seemingly conjured from thin air. "Where'd you get this?"
"My pocket, of course." He grinned, the air of playfulness returning to his glowing beryl eyes.
"Right." She shook her head, letting the little drips of blood drain into the kerchief as she pressed it to her little wound.
"You don't like blood, do you?" He asked after a moment of silence, his words more of a thoughtful musing than a question.
Anna had been letting her mind wander back to the fact of how composed he was in spite of the intense heat in the room. "Hm? No, not at all. I shouldn't think anyone would."
This seemed to amuse him on some private level, as his light chuckle startled her. "You'd be surprised, Anna."
After another odd moment of contemplative silence, she felt the words suddenly rise to her lips.
"What's your na-" She began, but was cut off when Mrs. Rimbly came bursting through the plastic flaps that hung down the doorframe between the nursery and the shop.
"Oh, Anna," She glanced between her and the stranger, as if wondering how he got in without her hawk's eye noticing, "There you are. Have you been back her the whole time-? What happened to your finger?"
Glancing down at the blood soaked handkerchief in her hands, she shook her head thoughtfully, painfully aware of the looming presence of the emerald eyed stranger at her side.
"It was just a sliver." She held up her index finger to prove it, the little clotting puncture wound much smaller than she had thought earlier.
But Mrs. Rimbly's eyes remained fixated upon the tall, dark haired stranger. "Oh, well. She is rather clumsy. Aren't you, dear?"
Noticing the strangers eyes fixed upon her, she had every intention of fleeing the room at all costs. Just as uneasy as she had been earlier that day, she felt the sudden panic begin to rise within her.
"Yes, definitely a klutz." Anna said, turning slowly to the man probably ten years her senior as he stared down at her intently. "Well, thanks for helping me out…?"
He seemed to pause, giving thought to telling her his name or not. "Louis."
"Thank you, Louis." Anna shook his left hand, as her right one was sufficiently preoccupied with the kerchief.
Stepping out into the cool air of the shop, she began arranging gardening magazines in their display cases. Well, as well as she could with one hand. She heard the bell of the shop door 'ding!', announcing the departure of her the stranger, Louis. Taking a deep breath, she sighed with relief as Mrs. Rimbly came bustling up to the front counter behind her.
"Good riddance." Mrs. Rimbly nodded resolutely. "Odd, quiet guy, don't you think? Hardly said a word after you left. And the way he looked at you! Shameful! A man his age staring at such a young thing."
Mrs. Rimbly kept on tutting the man and clucking her tongue reproachfully. Anna slipped into her usual quiet self, rummaging through the store and helping the occasional customer. She didn't blame Mrs. Rimbly, in a way. Everyone knew everyone in this small town. Strangers were quietly discouraged and newcomers silently tolerated. Anna hated it here.
Soon enough, she told herself, I'll be moving somewhere else. Perhaps Rome, she thought, it was nice there. Nice and warm. Or perhaps the mystical countryside of Norway, to live with great grandma Eire and great grandpa Rowan. Grandpa Row was the best, had the best stories, knew the best places to eat in their small village. Grandma Eire was as comfortably shy as Anna. Easy companions, Eire taught Anna the superstitions of their country. How if a girl picks a flower April 31 and slips it under her pillow that night, the eve of May Day, she will dream of her future intended. The story of how her great grandmother had been given the very necklace that Anna wore now by her own mother, and her mother before that, and her mother before that.
But not even the small village near Drammen could make Anna feel as if she belonged. Whether it was the intolerance of her hometown, the linguistic difficulties of her forefathers village, or otherwise, she had yet to find the perfect place where she belonged.
That night, when she lay down to sleep, she fell prey to dreams of a dark nature.
Anna…
Those two shining orbs of evergreen were back.
Anna, I've come back for you.
A face, featureless and pale, two bright beryl eyes flashing, grinning at her.
My sweet, sweet Sigyn.
"Leave me alone!" Anna cried out.
Suddenly there were hands upon her; large, unyielding hands.
"Let me go!"
Waking in a cold sweat to the dark of the night, Anna breathed heavily and gasps and sighs. A sharp tap came at her window and her heart leaped into her throat. Jerking her head to the window, she froze.
It was open.
Tentatively slipping from her bed, she padded over to the window, her heart beating harshly in her chest.
Thud… thud….thud…thud….….thud…thud….thud-
Screaming, she watched a flurry of black feathers whip across her face as she struggled to shut the window. Once the latch was firmly snapped into place, she scrambled back onto the floor.
"Anna!"
The lights flipped on in her room and she blinked rapidly.
"What is going on?" Came her mother's groggy demand.
Anna gulped, gasping once more for breath. "Nothing, mom. I'm fine. Just a bad dream. That's all."
"Alright then." Her mother nodded once Anna slipped back under her covers.
The lights went out, the only illumination coming from Anna's glowing white necklace at her throat. Feeling something sting her finger in the dark, Anna brought her index finger into her mouth for inspection.
It tasted of salty, metallic blood.
She blacked out.