He opens his eyes and flinches at the bright light. His eyes are not made for bright light, but for prolonged darkness. The sunshine hurts. He feels hot, suffocatingly so. This place, this room, this world feels alien and wrong. His vision comes into focus and the first thing he sees is a bearded face and a warm, if concerned smile. He's never seen this man before. He tries to sit up, but it hurts. His whole body hurts. It is when he is peering down at his own abdomen that he notices that his skin is blue. There are others around him, many people with worried faces. Some of them look like servants, but the man and woman standing behind the bearded man exude authority and affection. Who are these people? None of them are blue of skin.
"Loki, we were so worried. You took quite a hit from that assassin. You saved father's life." Thor says to his brother. Loki? Is that his name? No, no his name is…His name….Oh dear gods!
"Who are you?" Loki looks upon Thor with fear and confusion. Thor's face falls immediately.
"Brother? Loki do you not recognize me?" Thor asks with alarm.
"Brother? We are not even the same species. I am not your brother! Who are you? What do you want with me?" Loki cries out as he curls up his body to create distance between himself and the handsome stranger claiming to be his family.
"Loki, it is alright! We mean you no harm. What do you remember?" Frigga as her son with a firm but reassuring tone.
Yesterday…..
Loki preened with smugness as he ate his meal beside his father at the trade conference on Vanaheim. Odin had chosen him, not Thor, to accompany him to this important gathering. Inter-realm trading agreements are important business and must be handled diplomatically and with great cunning. Loki knows that this is an acknowledgement from Odin of younger son's intelligence and finesse with politics. The atmosphere was jovial and the entertainment was lively. The food was wonderful and the guests were… enemies, competitors, and social climbers all looking to get an edge over the other realms both economically and politically. It was the reason why Loki did not indulge in any wine that night.
Suddenly a scream rings out from the crowd as a Vanir warrior turns black with frost bite and falls down dead. One of the Jotunn delegates rises from his large seat and directs a blue flaming ball of light at Odin. Without time to think or react Loki jumps in front of his father and absorbs the full blast. The Jotunn assassin becomes embroiled in a fight with a dozen guards before he is dispatched. Gasps ring out across the hall as everyone looks down at Loki's limp unconscious body.
He is alive, and blue like a frost giant. Only a frost giant could have survived that blast. It was designed to turn its enemy into solid ice. The revelation that Loki is not Odin's son is a scandal that rocks the nine realms. Odin stands before the other delegates and is forced to explain how a frost giant runt came to be his adopted son. Laufey's son. Wary of the reaction of the others Odin gathers up Loki into his arms and calls out to Heimdall.
"Nothing. I remember nothing." Loki says as he looks at the red haired woman with ignorance.
XxXxXxXxXx
The royal family spends a couple of hours talking to Loki, explaining to him who he is and why he remembers nothing. The healers try to fix his broken mind, but Lady Eir says that only time can repair what is broken. They've done all that they can. Loki for his part is suspicious. He does not fully believe what he is being told and suspects that he is in fact a prisoner or perhaps a war trophy of some type. He muses that this is just a ruse to gain his compliance and lessen his desire for escape. In the end Odin and Frigga realize that all they can do is re-introduce Loki to his home and reteach him what he used to know. That he is loved.
Before leaving the healing hall Loki complains of his discomfort. "I don't feel well. I am too hot. The light is too bright."
"I am sorry my son. I did not want to put the enchantment back on your appearance until you saw your own skin with your own eyes. I will put it back now, so that you may be more comfortable in this climate." Odin states before reaching out and touching Loki's arm. A patch of milky creamy skin forms on his arm and spreads across his entire body. The magic reaches his eyes and suddenly everything looks beautiful, not blazing. Loki sighs with relief. The heat was oppressive before but now, now it feels as though there is a cool breeze blowing in through the windows.
"Thank you. I believe I might have collapsed before the hour was out." Loki says sincerely. Odin smiles at him warmly.
"I am glad to provide you any comfort I can my son." Odin says. Loki smiles awkwardly at him. His instincts just tell him that this is all wrong. "Come my son, let us take you to your bedchambers so that you might get some rest and reacquaint yourself with your life."
The four walk as a unit to Loki's bedchamber. Frigga takes Loki's hand and wraps it on her arm. She gives him her best loving smile and Loki returns it in spite of his hesitation. She seems like a genuine caring person. They enter a room Loki has never seen before. They claim that this massive space is all his. The room is decorated in green and there are books everywhere. The style of the furnishing is elegant and the smell is pleasant. Loki likes this room. If he were to design a space to call his own it would look just like this.
The family goes through the room picking up various items of significance. "This is the very first spell book I ever gave you." Frigga says to Loki.
"This is the very first fur I ever gave you." Thor says to him.
"I gave you these throwing knives on you sixteenth name day." Odin says. Loki is overwhelmed by all of it. Most of all, the portrait that hangs prominently in his chambers. It is a painting of his own likeness. Loki looks in the mirror and then at the painting. If this is a ruse, it is a thorough one.
XxXxXxXxXx
Thor notices there is a subdued and queer atmosphere in the feasting hall this evening. Knowledge that Loki is Jotunn and not Odin's son of blood has spread like wildfire. The people gathered this evening all look like they are waiting to see Loki, to see if he will have blue skin. They are disappointed. Loki enters the hall with his hand resting once again on Frigga's forearm. She guides him to the high table and everyone cheers their second prince for his courage and saving the life of the Allfather. The feast is in his honor.
Loki puts a small amount of food on his plate and eats it daintily. He looks out at the crowd which is of full of people that are plainly gossiping about him. He wonders absently at how much he remembers and how much he has lost. He thinks of the books in his room, wondering if he can recall their contents. To his delight, he does. He remembers magic. He knows how to wield magic. He lifts his left hand and a green heatless flame bursts from it. Loki smiles genuinely for the first time.
"You remember your magic." Frigga says as a statement rather than a question. "Do you remember who taught you your magic?" She asks him with hope.
"You did, I'm guessing." Loki says to her. Frigga smiles back but is disappointed that he guessed instead of remembered.
"So I am Jotunn." He asks her.
"Yes you are." Frigga says to him. Loki spends a few moments contemplating this information. An encyclopedia of Jotunn history and anatomy opens up in his mind and one glaring fact jumps out at him like a predator.
"Jotunns are intersexed are they not?" Loki asks her. Frigga's eye pop in surprise. It is the last question she expected.
"Yes….they are…." She says cautiously. Frigga has known for years that Loki has a vagina, which has been kept a deep hidden secret. Not even Loki knew this from before, the camouflage hid it well.
"Do I have any children? And did I sire them or bear them?" Loki asks.
"No, you don't have any children and if you did you would have only sired them. To my knowledge you have never…..utilized your other…. Parts." She says carefully.
"I am a maiden then?" Loki asks her.
"Probably, yes though we could have the healers check if you want to know that for certain." Frigga offers. Loki considers it but declines. It's not really an important detail if he is physically a virgin or not. He doesn't remember having ever had sex before. For all intents and purposes, he is a virgin again.
Thor lets out a loud laugh at something some man said to him. Loki turns and looks at his 'brother' fully for the first time. He is a tall broad large muscular man. He is warm and joyful and happy in his heart. His smile is infectious and his arms are strong. Very strong. There is a thin sheen of sweat covering Thor's bicep caused by the heat of all the people in the room. Loki has a sudden overwhelming urge to lick it.
"Brother! You should come join me and my friends on the training grounds tomorrow. It will be good for helping you get your memories back." Thor exclaims.
"Alright, but you'll have to guide me there since I do not know where that is." Loki replies hoping the blush in his cheeks is not visible.