Loki sat on his bed, legs crossed and eyes focussed on the wall opposite him. His arms were folded and his face showed how hard he was concentrating.
He took in a deep breath and moved his arms so that his hands were resting on his knees. Loki turned and looked down at his hands as he tried to summon flames in his hands. After a few seconds small fires started in his hands, his face lit up with excitement of it actually working.
"Thor!" Loki yelled as he made the flames disappear, he had managed to master quite a few other magical tricks over the past few weeks and he felt it was time to show his older brother.
"Yes Loki." Thor said as he skidded into Loki's room.
Loki patted the area on the bed beside him and waited for Thor to sit down.
"I wanted to show you something I've been working on." Loki said and he moved to stand in front of Thor so that his brother would get the best view of the magic. "I need you to be quiet for a minute, I need to concentrate."
Thor sat quietly as he saw his brother take a deep breath and move his hands outwards. A few seconds later fires appeared in his brother's hands and Thor jumped back slightly.
"Brother! Your hands are on fire."
"It's fine Thor, I made them."
"Made them? But you have no wood in your hands nor anyway to start the fire."
"It's magic."
"Magic?" Thor said with a hint of wonder in his voice. Ever since they were boys they had been told tales of warriors who fought brave battles against fearsome foes with many grand weapons. However the boys favourite stories were the very few stories that involved magic and told epic tales of how magic was used to create beautiful things as well as to destroy the evil forces.
"I looked in the library and found a few books on magic so I decided to learn. The stories with magic were always the best ones." Loki said as he made the flame disappear.
"Can you do anything else?" Thor asked, his voice full of wonder as he saw his brother use the tool that always fascinated them.
Loki closed his eyes for a second and closed his hands into loose fists. Loki opened his eyes and as he opened his fists butterflies flew out from his hands.
Thor looked around the room in awe as the butterflies flew all around the room, some of them landing on the furniture. One butterfly landed on Thor's arm and he slowly raised it up to his eye level.
"Loki," Thor said quietly as he looked at the butterfly, "This is beautiful."
"I know." Loki said as he looked around the room, "That's why I like magic so much. It's a weapon but it is also capable of creating things with such beauty, it's unlike any other weapon."
The butterfly left Thor's arm but as it flew it slowly faded from reality. Thor looked around the rest of the room to see that all of the butterflies were fading out of existence. He looked at his younger brother in confusion.
"I haven't figured out how to keep them around for an extended period of time yet, I'm working on it."
"No matter," Thor said as he stood next to his brother, "the things you can make brother. I am so proud of you."
With this Thor hugged his brother and left the room. Loki sat back down on his bed and looked at the floor. He thought about all that he had learnt, all of the various things that he could learn to do with magic.
'One day,' Loki silently vowed, 'I will be the best magician in all the nine realms and I will make Thor proud to call me his brother and I will make Father proud to call me his son. One day, there will not be a single realm that does not know my name.'