A/N: I think there was a bug or something when I posted Chapter 2, because I didn't get any confirmation that it was posted. So I'm posting Chapter 3 now, too, just to be safe. You're welcome. (LOL, as if this is something you're waiting for with bated breath. Mostly I was just too eager to wait another whole day.)
Loki glided through the forest in silence, staring straight ahead in an unspoken resolve to reach his destination as swiftly as possible. But that was proving somewhat difficult, as Thor was marveling at everything in sight, and occasionally would stop to ask Loki what something was called. Loki only answered him some of the time, in the hopes that this would be the last thing asked of him, but it never was. But then Thor asked an entirely different question.
"Heimdall tells me that you are my brother?"
Loki gave him a sideways glance. "Yes."
Thor nodded in understanding, but when he didn't press the matter further, Loki decided to. "What exactly do you know?" he asked. "I never really understood how amnesia works, because, you knew what the word meant when I said it, you understand the 'brother' concept, and you apparently remember how to speak and how to walk. But you don't know the names of the things that make up your surroundings, and you don't remember anything in your life that has happened to you. How does that add up?"
Thor smiled. "I am sorry that I cannot explain it to you," he said. "I wish I could explain it to myself. But all I know is what I know."
"Well, I hope you'll have some choice words for whoever did this to you," Loki replied. "Because taking the memories of a god is low, even for me."
"Are we almost there?" Thor asked.
Loki sighed in exasperation. "You tell me, Brother, you're the one who's been here before."
"Oh, right." Thor pointed. "It's just over that, behind that big tree."
"Big" was a bit of an understatement to describe the tree, as Loki might have pointed out another time. Its trunk was twice as thick as even the thickest they'd seen so far, and it went up so high and spread its branches so far that it seemed to canopy the rest of the forest. It covered that immediate area, anyway. When the two walked behind the tree, they found a sort of grassy throne that was inhabited by a goblin-like creature, lounging and smirking at them. His skin was a dull green, and was incredibly wrinkled and bony. His eyes held such mischievous cruelty and malice that Loki was instantly offended that Heimdall considered this to be a parallel of himself. "Ooh, you'd better hope I forget to mention this to you when I get back," he said to the air.
"Well would you look at that," the goblin said with a cackle. "You actually did turn up, Loki Son of Odin. I never actually expected you to; I only said that to get that…" he shuddered. "…very nosy man out of my forest."
Loki was silent, letting the goblin get the inevitable monologue out of his system. This was the initial stage of bargaining, and one he was very familiar with. He wasn't going to rush it along.
"However," the goblin eventually resumed, when he'd finished his laugh. "Luckily for you, I came up with a proposal to offer you, just in case you were naïve enough to turn up. Let's call it, an official gauging of what you're willing to go through for that half-wit brother of yours."
"Half-wit?" Thor demanded angrily. Then he looked worried and leaned in to Loki. "Am I actually a half-wit?"
"Actually, given recent events, I'm surprised you've got any wits left," Loki answered.
"There are certain possessions that I have desired for a very long while," the goblin answered. "Four, to be exact. Do not worry, I know exactly where they are and how to get to them, and all you have to do is retrieve them."
"You honestly think I'm just going to take your word on that?" Loki asked.
The goblin laughed again. "And this is why it surprised me so that you turned up. But yes, I suppose you'll have to, at least until you find the first thing. Then you'll know that I'm telling the truth."
"So it is possible to restore his memories."
"But of course. I wouldn't have done it if I knew I couldn't bargain for the reverse."
"Thank you," Loki said. He took Thor's elbow and steered him around. "Come, Brother, we're leaving."
"Wait!" the goblin cried. "I haven't even told you what the things are!"
"Don't waste your breath," Loki said. "I have no interest in your bargain. I just needed to know if we were wasting our time by trying to fix him."
"You will be wasting your time," the goblin said. "The flower I used…its power can only be undone by the person who did it in the first place."
Loki slowly turned back around. "That seems terribly convenient."
"Well, I did choose it," the goblin replied.
"But if it were me, that's exactly what I'd tell somebody," Loki answered.
The goblin shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Go off on your merry way, fix your little ship, and just pray that you made the right call. Because this is a one-time offer. You'll never be able to find me or bargain with me again."
"We accept," Thor said quickly.
Loki took a little longer, looking at the goblin with a stare that would have killed him if it could. His clever mind was racing, desperately trying to conjure up any other alternative. But the goblin was right. Loki wasn't going to just walk away from what might be Thor's only chance. If nothing else, he would be slaughtered on the spot by Thor's people, because Heimdall was definitely watching this. Loki had spent two years on the throne of Asgard with sharp reminders that Heimdall could see everything. He had learned to watch himself in everything he did, and if he couldn't use his magic to hide it, then he'd have to do it in some way that he knew Heimdall wouldn't be able to touch him for it. Neither was possible in this instance. "Fine," he said. "What do you want?"
The goblin gave a grin that was so hideous Loki almost wished that he hadn't agreed for that reason alone. "It's very simple," he said. "I want the king's Horn of Plenty, up at the castle. I want the red bracelet kept by the poorest family on the edge of town. I want the Sword of Victory that Lady Gallivant has on the planet Sindar. Here's a key to Sindar…just turn it wherever you are and it will open a doorway, but it will only work once. And then, Loki of Asgard, I want your greatest possession. I'm sure I don't need to tell you where that is."
Loki was unfazed by even this last request, but he still looked at the goblin in disgust. "What, you wouldn't like the keys to the universe, too?" he asked.
"If that was the greatest thing you possessed, then maybe," the goblin replied. "But I imagine what you have will be much harder to part with."
Loki still wasn't concerned about this request. He'd managed to snag a thing or two from Asgard before he went to find Odin, and his magic came in handy more often than anyone saw. Even if for some reason this goblin knew his secret and wasn't referring to a different stolen item, Loki was such a master of deception that there was no way he'd have to actually turn it over.
He looked at Thor and sighed, "Well, Brother, it appears that we've landed in a fairy tale. Complete with tacky quests and…artifacts you only hear about in childrens' stories."
"Actually, I think this is quite exciting!" Thor answered. "I've never been on a quest before!"
"You…have, actually, but that's not really the point right now. The point is that we're suddenly running errands for a horrendous imp that he'll hoard for eternity because he has no idea what to do with them."
"You think I'm doing this for the objects?" the goblin laughed. "I could get any idiot who walks through here to do the same thing. I just want to send the infamous Loki on the most degrading and ridiculous quest I could think of. I just want the satisfaction of knowing I out-tricked the trickster. It's the same reason as I took away his memories to begin with. I'm only looking for a good laugh; surely you understand something about that."
Loki pulled out his dagger and pushed it up against the goblin's throat. "I still have time to pin you to this tree," he said in a low voice.
"You can't kill me," the goblin hissed back. "You need me to help your brother."
"At the moment killing you seems more appealing," Loki replied slowly, enunciating every syllable so the goblin didn't miss a word.
"Loki," Thor replied. "Come on, we should get going."
The goblin and the god kept their eyes locked for a moment more, before Loki let him go and reluctantly put his dagger away.
The goblin handed Loki a small brown satchel. "When you retrieve an object, you may put it in there," he said. "It'll come straight to me, and we won't have to worry about someone trying to steal it back from you. I imagine you'll want to turn over the fourth thing in person, and at that time I'll restore your brother's precious memories."
"You will indeed," Loki replied. "Because if you don't and I no longer have anything to lose, I can make you suffer in more ways than you thought existed."
The goblin laughed again. "So emotional," he said. "Unusual, for a frost giant."
Loki's face took on a mixture of rage and shock, but Thor was pushing him back the way they'd come like a child dragging on their parent's hand. "Come on, Loki."
And Loki did, but he couldn't help looking back at the skinny monster, sitting back under the tree with the same smirk he had greeted them with.
