Mythical Detective Loki RAGNAROK

Feel Better, Yamino… SOON!

Chapter 1

The master of the Enjaku Detective Agency and the evil trickster god awoke with a start. The birds outside his bedroom window were chirping fiendishly loud. So loud, in fact, that he was able to hear them even after burrowing his head under two of his enormous, fluffy pillows. Growling, the god of mischief rolled out of bed, his bare feet touching cold floor. The mischievous god stood tall… at barely four feet. His auburn hair was in disarray, and his deep green eyes were glazed over in his exhaustion.

Loki offered the small clock beside his bed a quizzical look. Surely, it was well before five in the morning, or so he thought. He was startled to find that it was nearly ten. The sun, though deterred by the curtains over the window, streamed into the bedroom, assuring Loki that it was well into the day already. Yawning and sighing awkwardly at the same moment, the child-god fumbled around his bedroom, dressing and preparing for the day.

His stumbling around the bedroom caused Fenrir, the black wolf pup and Loki's eldest child, to stir at the foot of Loki's bed where he slept. The dog lazily sat up, staring blankly at his father. He released a yawn, curling his long, pink tongue. Then, he flopped back down, stretching his stubby legs as far as they would go.

"Daddy, it's too early…!" he whimpered, flapping his tail momentarily. "Midgardsormr hasn't even come to wake us up yet!"

"Hmm…" Loki paused a moment with his black coat only half on. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked to the closed curtains over his window. "Now that you mention it, Yamino hasn't been in here this morning. I thought I may have fallen back asleep, but he always opens the curtains…"

"Sleepy…" Fenrir mumbled, his eyelids fluttering down once more. Loki glanced back at him, chuckling faintly when the small dog began to snore.

"I see you're going to be very productive today, Fenrir," commented the child-god with a smirk. Pulling on his coat the rest of the way, he ensured that he was properly dressed, and then he wandered out of his bedroom.

The house was completely, utterly quiet. Fenrir and the magical creature Ecchan were still sleeping soundly, which was not out of the ordinary before noon, but there was always someone else in the household to make noise. The silence which indicated that that someone was not up and about like he should have been unnerved Loki a bit.

Making haste to the kitchen, Loki whipped the door open only to find that it was empty. The air lacked the delicious smells of Yamino's cooking. The dishes were still clean and put away. Breakfast was not being made and had not been made. Yamino, the giant serpent Midgardsormr and Loki's second son, was missing.

"That's strange…" Loki muttered to himself.

"A strange mystery!" a cheerful voice sang behind him. The child-god jumped, his eyes wide and his body tense. He whirled around, blinking at the girl who had snuck up behind him. Mayura grinned at him innocently, completely oblivious as to why he appeared so startled. "Is that it? You've got a mystery that we need to solve! Oh, I'm so excited!"

"Mayura! How did you—When did you—Did you break in?" Loki's confused look faded and was replaced by the ordinary, nonchalant look he wore whenever dealing with the bubbly girl and her peculiar antics. Mayura ignored him completely, shoving past him so that she could scan the kitchen, her eyes squinting.

"What is it? A beastly monster? A ghost? Oh! Is it a possessed toaster?" she chimed.

"Nothing of the sort, Mayura," Loki shook his head at her, sighing. "Why must you always jump to such absurd conclusions?"

"What else could be in a kitchen? Everyone knows that there aren't possessed can openers!" Mayura explained, wagging a finger at the boy beside her. She flipped her long, pink hair over her shoulder, standing tall. She set her hands on her sides. "So, what is it, Loki? What mystery do we have to solve today? It's the toaster, isn't it?"

"It's Yamino," Loki corrected her, his eyes narrowing slightly at her obsession with their toaster.

"Yamino is possessed?" exclaimed the girl.

"No, Yamino is—" Loki stopped, rubbing his forehead. He shrugged his shoulders, slightly. "I think he's still in his room."

"That's a mystery!" Mayura chirped. She paused, stared at the ceiling, then frowned at Loki. "Why is that a mystery?"

"I never said it was," Loki said. He stepped away from the kitchen door, heading back down the hall. He offered Mayura a wave over his shoulder, not even bothering to offer her another glance. "I'm going to go find him. If you're going to hang around, wait in my study, please."

"You're no fun at all!" pouted the girl. With a heavy sigh, she slouched and dragged her feet across the floor, slowly making her way to Loki's study.

OOOOOO

Much to the trickster's surprise, Loki discovered an unmoving lump still present in Yamino's untidy bed. The alarm clock which Yamino dutifully set every single night beside his bed was then on the floor. A spring had flown from it and was resting halfway across the room. Loki blinked at the broken clock, then made his way further into the bedroom, closing the distance between himself and the bed. When he reached the bed, he curiously leaned over it and slowly peeled back the covers.

The unmoving lump was indeed Yamino. The young man was sleeping, though hardly soundly. His face was twisted in discontentment, and his breathing was shallow. Beads of sweat glistened on his flushed face. He cringed when the blankets were pulled away from him, and he felt for them in his sleep, shivering without them. Loki placed the blanket into his youngest son's hand, and Yamino buried himself once more, never waking from his slumber. The trickster straightened out and frowned, eyeballing the broken alarm clock a moment before twirling around, heading toward the door. He was greeted by Fenrir in the doorway before he could exit the bedroom.

"Daddy! Did you know it's already after ten?" Fenrir yelped, his eyes wide. Before his father could say anything, the pup scowled, his tongue dangling from his mouth. "I'm so hungry that I was chewing on the pillow in my sleep!"

"Quiet, Fenrir," Loki chided, tipping his head in the direction of the bed. "Yamino is sleeping."

The small pup became still. His eyes were wide, and he did nothing but stare at the bed for a long, silent moment. He still did not move, so shocked by the news that he had just heard, even as his father walked past him and out of the bedroom. Fenrir only moved when the door threatened to close on his foot, and he hastily retreated into the hall after Loki.

"But what about breakfast?"

"We'll have to do without Yamino's cooking this morning," Loki said, smiling when Ecchan raced down the hall and plopped down atop his head.

"B-but what about breakfast?" echoed Fenrir, his voice wavering.

"If you're that desperate, I'll have to make something," said Loki. He smiled, rolling up his sleeves as he made his way down the hall. Fenrir paused in his trot, one of his eyes twitching.

"What have I done?" grumbled the wolf to himself as he watched his father head toward the kitchen.

OOOOOO

"D-Daddy… th-this isn't very g-good…" Fenrir sobbed into the bowl where his breakfast was located. He took a bite and then cried some more. Slowly but surely, his tail curled between his legs and his ears drew back.

"What do you mean? Toast is a normal breakfast! It may not be as extravagant as Yamino's breakfasts, but it's still good." Loki took a bite of his own breakfast, cringing slightly.

"Is it supposed to be black?" Fenrir whimpered.

"It tastes like cardboard…" Loki glared at the black toast in his hand, then dropped it on the plate. Sighing, he took a drink of orange juice.

"You did use bread, right?" whined Fenrir.

"I hope so."

"Loki!" cried a distressed voice from deeper within the house. The child-god jumped, frowning in the direction of the door. He let out a gasp, tossing his burnt breakfast into the garbage before flinging his plate into the sink.

"I forgot Mayura was here!" he hurried from his perch on a stool to the floor, heading toward the door. "Who knows what sort of trouble she's getting into by—"

"Loki, have you been kidnapped? What a mystery! First Yamino, now you!" said the girl. No longer were her words filled with worry and concern, but they were filled with joy and excitement. "Today is my lucky day!"

"What a strange girl," Fenrir snipped, glaring at his breakfast.

"Quiet and eat your breakfast, Fenrir," Loki commanded, causing his child to sob again.

"You didn't eat yours!" cried the wolf, desperately.

Loki ignored him and bounded out the door in search of the girl wandering their home. Fenrir glared at the mass of food in his bowl. Then, very carefully, he nudged his bowl across the floor with his nose, directing it toward the garbage. With every ounce of energy he had in his tiny form, he bit down on the bowl and jumped with it in his mouth, dropping it in the garbage. Unfortunately, he landed in the garbage first, and the bowl landed on his head.

"Um… Daddy? Help!"