It was still dark. The weak light beams of an uprising sun slowly came forth over the gray, gloomy mountains, though no matter how much they tried to penetrate through the thick solemn clouds, the snow-filled grounds of the golden city were just too far for them to reach.

Another day had begun, for some to live and for others to survive. For some, a gift… and for a few, a curse had once again been humbly presented by Yggdrasil.

In the long, narrow halls of the palace, silence was ruling severely like a ruthless king. The only sound that was echoing between the marble walls was from steady footsteps of a woman that walked gracefully through the corridors.

She touched her golden gown, folding its top into her grip as she grimaced inwardly at the unpleasant thoughts that had been haunting her mind for a couple of days now. Nevertheless, all her fears and concerns were covered by her mask of calmness, cloaking her inner emotions perfectly, making it hard for others to read her expression, let alone realize the swirling storm of emotions in her mind. She was, after all, the queen… and a queen had to be strong.

No one was aware of how her heart was beating inside her chest, how she felt fear creeping on her skin like a dangerous, poisonous snake, and no one really knew how Frigga wanted to cry as she walked sternly through the empty halls to make her way to the healing room, where her beloved one was struggling against death.

A few servants bowed down as she passed by them to reach the golden double doors at the end of the hall. She paused, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. It took so much effort to swallow her tears and halt her heart from bursting out. Frigga noticed her hands were shaking, so she tightened her grip on her gown and, with her free hand, she finally swung the door open.

Her eyes fell upon a rather enormous bed at the center of the room. Its surroundings were covered by silken white curtains as a few healers, all dressed in long light blue dresses, were gathered around it. She felt her eyes getting warm and her hands began to freeze, her knees trembled in dolor and she stopped breathing for a moment. Still she started to make her way to the bed, but was cut short halfway by the sight of a red headed old woman coming to her.

The woman, dressed in a darker shade of blue than the others, had her long red hair braided into a French braid that fell on her left shoulder tidily. She bowed her head towards the queen, her expression a mixture of sadness and soberness. Still, she tried to greet the queen with a warm, assuring smile.

"My queen,"

"Eir," Frigga uttered her name under her breath as her eyes flickered between the woman and the bed, "How is he?" She asked firmly.

"Our healers seem to not have found the proper cure yet," Eir's announcement made the queen sigh in frustration, looking away from her, "But we have discovered the reason of his suffering."

"What is it?" Frigga tightened her knuckles, looking directly in Eir's eyes. Now the old woman could see how the queen's azure eyes were glittering with fresh tears.

"It is a soul sickness, my queen. The one who cast the spell on our prince intentionally aimed his soul to suffer. It is indeed a powerful spell; only the one who originally put the spell on him can undo it." Eir studied the queen's confused expression for a moment before casting down her eyes, "I am sorry, my lady, there is nothing we can do."

Frigga blinked the tears in her eyes away, her gaze directing back towards the bed, "We can't find the sorcerer… Heimdall cannot locate her… it seems the person who did this was no more than an evil spirit of Helheim- by gods, what will happen to my son? There have to be other ways!" She said in a whispering tone as a single tear dropped down her pale cheek, drifting down her narrow jaw.

"We must not lose hope, my queen," Eir answered in a hush tone.

"I want to see him." Frigga started for the bed, just to be stopped once again by Eir.

"Please, my queen," the redheaded woman pleaded, "It is not wise to see him in his condition."

"Why?" Concern colored the queen's voice as she tried to take another stride towards the bed behind the curtains.

Eir stepped in front of Frigga this time, hands folded on her gown, but eyes locking sternly on the queen's. "It is the skin." Frigga felt a lump in her throat; her jaw was now trembling noticeably. The veil was dropping and she could not hide her motherly feelings anymore. Eir continued, " The spell, it has dragged his soul to another dimension, another world. We do not know if it is a limbo or another realm such as Helheim… it has suited him ill," The queen gasped in horror, eyes widened with terror. "And… my queen, it has affected his physical body. The boy you seek, it's a shell; it has lost its youth, its delight."

"I shall see my son now." The queen pushed past Eir and pushed the curtains open-

The tears started to fall on Frigga's flushed cheek and she bit down on her lower lip at the sight of what she saw.

For a brief moment, she felt the whole world spinning around her head. She couldn't bear her weight anymore, and before she fell, the healers came to her aid, holding her arms and trying to drag her to a cushion to sit, but she refused them.

"My boy…" She fell to her knees, hands stretched towards the bed side, clutching the white sheets that were covering most of the boy's bare skin." My poor baby… "She whimpered and buried her face in the boy's thin shoulder.

There on the bed lay a small motionless figure. He had literally no flesh; it seemed like only a gray crumpled skin was covering a fragile skeleton. On the bed lay the raven haired boy, with no signs of life, though there were tubes and such attached to his thin arms, feeding him so he could survive a little longer, but still it seemed like his life, along with his glamour and beauty, had been hauled out of his body.

It was only three days, three days since the night that the younger prince had fallen ill and fever had taken over his body. The queen never thought it could be this horrific. It first started with harsh, painful coughs that made the boy vomit thick, clotted blood, and then he had finally fallen into a deep sleep. No one knew the reason of his disease… until now… Frigga was never one to wish ill fate on others, but this time… she felt so much pain in her heart, she couldn't stop herself from wishing whoever had put the spell on this innocent child would burn in the fires of Helheim for the rest of their miserable lives.

"Lady Frigga…" Serenely, Eir put her hands on the queen's shoulder, trying to draw her out of the room. "Please…" She whispered in the queen's ear.

Frigga stood on her feet and wiped her tears gently. Once again she swallowed the sadness blocking her airways. She drew her hands to softly touch the boy's bony hand. It scared her, somehow; the boy was now so frail and weak that the queen feared hurting him with merely touching his body.

"Whoever has done this-"

"My queen!"

Frigga and Eir turned their head at the young maiden's loud voice of worry.

"Why are you here?" Eir scolded the young woman, walking towards her to brush her out of the room.

"No, wait… please…" The young girl struggled between the guards and finally almost ran to the queen, "My queen… there is a girl- " She took a deep breath and looked back at the stunned face of the great healer, Eir.

"What about this girl?" Frigga strode up to the girl and put her hand on her shoulder. She looked in her eyes with a bittersweet yet heartwarming smile. "Tell me. "

The young maiden swallowed a knot in her throat, "She claims… she claims she can heal our prince."

~~~R~~~

Heidr couldn't divide her hatred and her love for this place. How she felt when she first put her step to this baneful palace. Forbidden… forbidden it was for her, just like what mother had said a thousand times. But by gods… how she wished, how she wanted to give whatever she had to enter this golden palace, to be a part of it, to be an Æsir. And although she had almost reached her everlasting wishes, it wasn't exactly what she had expected of her fate. But then again… it was life. And when did things ever go according to plans?

She shook her head empty of the rusty memories and focused on what she had to do when she entered the grand gates of the palace.

"Hmm… just like a snake, crawling in caves, waiting for their prey to come-" Heidr smiled playfully, "Extremely wise of you, my prince, though, wasn't Heimdall the eye and ear of your beloved non father?" Heidr teased Loki when both of them crawled into a dark crooked cave near the training field across the rainbow bridge.

Loki cocked his head to the side and looked at Heidr with an expression like he was staring at a witless being, " If you could ever shut up you would've known better-" he raised his hand and pointed at the light shade of the hollow around them. "Besides, Odin might've imprisoned him for the treason he committed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions. "

"Oh, an invisibility spell… " Heidr gasped falsely. " I meant no disrespect… I mean, you were so thorough with your magic, even I didn't notice." She threw a smirk at the fallen god and shook her head at his creased brow, "Now, now, no need for frustration, just tell me what I shall do next. "

"Really, woman… " Loki rolled his eyes, "Have you any idea what I do with those who have a bigger mouth than me?"

"You strangle them? " Heidr raised both eyebrows at Loki's emotionless gaze. " Because that is … um… pretty obvious." She winked and licked her lips seductively.

"I should've killed you from the beginning. " Loki shook his head and looked away from her taunting face. Slowly he closed his eyes and moved his hands in circular patterns so a visual image of the inner parts of the castle appeared in front of their eyes, "Listen carefully; if you slip up even a little, you'll get caught. And I won't accept that. "

Heidr crossed her arms and gazed at the man next to her with a menacing smile, "I still don't understand how you can trust someone like me?" She reached for her black hair and brushed it out of her eyes, " I could just go straight to Allfather and inform him of how you're alive. "

"And what would you gain if you do that?" Loki raised a brow and slowly a smirk crept on his features, "You think they'd believe you? Believe a stranger with a hideously dark past? Tell me, Heidr, how many innocent lives have you taken? How many children have you murdered? Was your own child included as well? " Heidr cringed at Loki's last sentence, feeling the air around her become a suffocating space to breathe in, " How did you do it? With your bare hands? You dragged the life out of them? Were they screaming? Were they begging you to stop? Did you, Heidr? Did you stop?"

She felt her knuckles turn white with how hard she squeezed her fist in the dirt, her body trembling out of anger. If she wasn't so tired, she would definitely lash out in aggravation.

Loki noticed how tense her body became within seconds, and it made him smile in satisfaction, "The only thing you gain out of betrayal … is my wrath."

"Should I be scared now?" She finally relaxed a bit, leaning against a rock, " I won't betray you… " She said soberly, " and that's not because I'm scared, " she sneered, " After all… snakes were always my favorite."

Loki leered conceitedly and looked back again at the visual map of the palace, "Now that we've reached an understanding, when you enter the gates, I drop the invisibility illusion. That's when you need to show off some of your skills. "

Heidr quickened her strides as she walked past some guards and entered the golden gates. She was now on the outskirts of the main buildings of the palace. Cautiously, she crawled behind a column as she felt the invisibility illusion slowly drop off of her body.

She then immediately closed her eyes and whispered a few spells under her breath. A hollow in the color of bright lavender started to glow in her hands. It leisurely crept on her skin and took over her abdomen and lower body. Shortly after, her black tight leather tunic was replaced by the simple white gown, the same as the other servants.

Her straight dark hair was affected by the purplish glow as well, shifting into the color of shining gold. She smiled at her newly golden curls, how they fell loosely on her shoulders. So much like a goddess.

Her pale skin stayed the same while her cat-like deep brown eyes melted in a glowing bluish color. For a servant, you look stunning. She smiled at that thought-

Caw-Caw

Heidr turned so fast she felt her neck twist a bit and heard the sound of it cracking.

Caw-Caw

The raven on the godly statue in the halls made Heidr jump to her feet and look directly at its dark shape, huge wings. How its eyes were glowing deep and dark, like it was filled with an inky void. and how she hated it. Ravens… they were Odin's special servants, his eyes everywhere… everywhere, and she hated them.

Serenely, she moved out of the shadows, standing sternly before the immense raven. Its eyes were locked on her, and it spread its colossal wings in what might have been a warning sign for her to know it was no place for her. It was forbidden… forbidden. The word started to swing into her head and she felt an ambiguous wave of sickness coming at her. Just looking at that loathsome creature made her sick.

She moved her fingers, forming a tight fist as she drew her arm up at the raven, her brows creasing slowly and her body growing tense. For a second, she forgot where she was; nothing seemed to matter at the moment. All she wanted was the raven to melt before her eyes, to see it burn and suffer at her hands. And honestly… she didn't know where the urge was coming from. Wherever its source, she welcomed it warmly enough.

The raven started to flutter its black wings, ready to fly to inform the king or attack her with its hard beak, penetrate through her body and eat her heart out, but no… it kept on cawing, and she felt agonizing pain in her brain, in her chest, and abdomen and she felt sick… gods how the creature disgusted her.

She swung her wrist, eyes locked on the now-suffering creature. Yes, the spell was working. She could see the lavender hollow shine around the raven to strangle it, slowly and painfully… and how pleasuring was the thought of seeing others suffering, while you are revived by their torment-

"What are you doing here?"

Heidr turned on her heels, pushing her arm down to her side, realizing how she might've looked a few seconds ago. She wasn't going to get caught … no, not now. That would be hilariously disappointing.

The servant looked at her suspiciously, "I said, what were you doing?"

One last glance at the raven. But… it was gone. The harsh sound and weird feelings… just gone. She forced a smile on her new features.

"I…I… I'm sorry." She uttered, eyes cast down. "I was heading to the throne room; I need to see our king."

The other servant raised an eye brow, "Why?"

"I have news from the dark world, " she paused and then snickered, " The king should be reminded of the depth of his actions. "

"What?" The servant's brow furrowed, "Whatever you mean, just get back to your work." The servant turned back and started to the door.

"Don't turn your back on me." Her cold deadly tone made the servant stop and look over his shoulder with suspicion. " Do you not want to know how your dear Allfather is going to suffer for all he has done so far!" Heidr proclaimed gravely as she shoved the servant's shoulder to turn and look her in the eye. "First, " She held up a finger, " I'll cut his tongue, so he can't make any of his stupid, wasteful, kingly speeches, and then while he is struggling to talk, I'll hang him on Yggdrasil, drain the life out of his miserable centuries-old body, and then I will burn him till eternity. His soul will suffer till Ragnarok comes, and until then, he'll be torn apart by his own demons!" She spat every word hatefully as her manipulating, unnatural bluish eyes were still locked with the now horrified hazel eyes of the servant "Not only him… " She leaned against the servant's chest and whispered in his ear, " You all will burn, and I… will be watching. " She chuckled darkly as her hot breath danced on the young servant's neck. "Now, I would only speak to our king." Heidr said dryly.

The young servant stood dead-still on the spot, his mind seeming to be swirling somewhere now as he gazed upon Heidr's glassy eyes. He could see every vivid image of Heidr's words. He didn't know, though, why he couldn't move or flinch even a single muscle; it seemed like he was paralyzed as terror slowly started to force itself through his veins. His heart started to beat like a drum, and he wanted to flee, but he couldn't. It was like he was stuck in a horrifying nightmare.

"I could kill you, but… oh, well. " Heidr shrugged and deliberately walked past him. "You won't be remembering me." She whispered as she laid her index finger on her upper lip Shh and carefully opened another door to the halls, which lead to the throne room at the center of the palace, where Allfather was.

"How can you destroy some one's soul with just words? " Heidr could hear Loki's whisper in her ears clear as day, " With only a tone? How a look on the face can shatter an already cracked figure? " He chuckled mischievously. " I want to bring down the protector of all realms, the great Allfather, I want to humiliate him and drag him to the edge of madness. " His tone cracked a little, " His beloved wife is dead, his very own son has betrayed him, rebels rising from everywhere in the realms, peace gone; Hel's falling upon his head while he has lost his trustworthy gatekeeper, and enemies threatening from other realms. How much more can a man take?"

Her strides became stronger and with so much more effort when the illusion slowly changed her to a much bigger figure, mighty and powerful. A warrior indeed. She looked at her own reflection in the glassy walls of the grand hall. She looked like one of the Einherjars. Strong and majestic, in golden armor. One of the so called chivalrous men in all the nine realms. She smirked, but not the devious, sly smirk she usually wore in situations like these. It was the bittersweet, heartbroken smirk… not at her own image, but at the dark, black memory at the back of her mind. He was one of the Einherjars as well. The first and last man she ever fell in love with.

With the bows she gained from the two guards standing at both sides of the golden doors that led to the throne room, she walked towards the door and opened it with a hard push. There he was. Allfather. With all his glory, he looked old and tired and he had changed. He had changed from the last time Heidr had seen him. He was already falling apart. Was it because of Frigga? Or losing his two sons at the same moment? He was a lonely, broken man in Heidr's eyes. But of course, she was never one for compassion; especially for a man like Odin.

"Forgive me, my liege," She almost rushed to stand and bow at the King's foot. The old god's expression showed only sadness as he looked upon the now-disguised Heidr, " I've returned from the dark world with news."

"Thor?" Grief and sorrow of a broken heart were wavering in his voice.

Heidr shook her head, creasing her eyebrows slightly in an attempt to show nothing but concern, "There was no sign of Thor, or the weapon, but… "

"What?" Said the king abruptly.

"We found a body." the Einherjar cast down his eyes when the King whispered in a despondent tone, "Loki. " And for a second, Heidr felt the old man still cared. She smirked when the King turned to return to his own chambers, though it was too late now.

A flash of dark green shadow caught her eyes. It was moving fast between the columns. She smiled disdainfully and walked towards the king's chambers quietly.

"By the time he gets to his own chambers, he will barely be able to stand. He'll be too irritated to even realize how you've used your magic on him and how his life has been dragging out of his body the whole time he's been in the throne room with you. I don't want him to die; all he needs is a little push to OdinSleep. That is when my part begins."

Heidr stood. In front of her was the door leading to the king's chambers. She thought for a second, perhaps it was for the best to stay out, as Loki had ordered her to. But then again, she wasn't that fond of following Loki's orders. She could use this situation to her own advantage. Playing with the King before Loki arrived.

So she dropped the veil, exposing her tight tunic and dark hair, and swung the door open. The king was sitting on the side of his grand bed. His back faced her, and he seemed not to realize her presence in the room. His face, though, was buried in a silky golden gown.

Heidr raised her arms; dark shades of purple hollow rooting from her veins began to crawl through the air toward the man, embracing his still muscular figure. And she watched as the old god lay on the bed, eyes closed and the majestic golden gown still crinkled in his hands.

"I knew you'd come." The king whispered.

Heidr frowned and gritted her teeth, but then stopped dead when the fragrant scent spread all over the room. And it was familiar, it smelled like rare flowers. The flowers that only grew in the queen's garden. She felt her eyes getting wet when the king peacefully rested his head on the pillow and seemed to be falling into a deep sleep, and, oh… it ached, she could feel how her heart ached at how the man was peaceful. He didn't deserve it; he had caused pain to many. Laying this calm… waiting for his wife to come down from Valhalla and take him there was not something this man deserved.

She stepped forward and stood beside the bed, her face tensed in annoyance. She drew her arms up and whispered the spells loudly and severely so the hollow embracing the king became darker and darker.

"Now you'll taste the pain, old man-"

She felt a twitch in her stomach, drawing her back and away from the bed. She resisted and opened her eyes-

"What did I tell you?" A familiar voice echoed in her ears when the pain in her body got deeper and greater. She turned and looked at the man in green-black armor, a golden horn helmet on his head. He was holding Gungnir in his right hand while his left was moving frequently in particular patterns towards Heidr.

With Every twist of his wrist, she could feel the shooting pain all over her body and dragging her as far as possible from Odin, though when her eyes fell upon Loki's green ones, she smirked wryly, "Ha! I've just … had a bit of fun. " She groaned while chuckling.

"And I am having plenty, right now. " Loki responded rather dryly as he finally let her go. "Now leave, Heidr… while I'm still in the mood. "

Heidr grabbed her abdomen, looking at Loki with a twisted smile. Yet her eyes were glittering with tears. Was it for the physical pain he had caused her, or something else? She didn't have the ability to tell. So she stood and stumbled to the door before turning back and gazing at Loki's flat expression. Of course, he showed no emotion. but his eyes were fixed on the Allfather.

"He deserves the pain." She whispered, but Loki either didn't hear or he didn't care enough to respond as he remained quiet.

Heidr cocked an eyebrow and opened the door, her feet numb with how she was tortured within seconds. She walked out, and before closing the door, she watched how the doubled golden door closed roughly by Loki's magic and sealed.

She smiled a rather bittersweet smile and leaned against the door.

~~~R~~~

Frigga almost ran through the long corridor, following the young maiden's fast strides.

"Where is she?" She asked with concern.

"My lady… she is supposed to be-" The maiden stopped suddenly. " There."

She pointed to the end of the hall, where stood a little girl who seemed to be the same age as the queen's younger son. Her long straight raven hair was falling loosely on her shoulder and her waist. Although she seemed too small for her age, her dusky, ragged gray skirt and her black long sleeved shirt were too big for her to wear. Her face was buried behind her hair, but the queen could see how nervous she was from the way she was standing, her fingers entwined and sole tapping on the ground.

Frigga slowly passed by the maiden and walked towards the girl. She knelt in front of her so she could be at the same height as her. " Hello." The queen smiled and waited for the girl to lift up her head. But she could only see behind her hair that she chewed her bottom lip. "You know that no one can hurt you here, you are under my protection, dear. " Her voice seemed like a peaceful melody in her ears. "You can help my son?" The queen asked sadly, "He is very sick."

The girl nodded her head, finally speaking in a really rather quiet voice, " I-I can help him."

"Can you remove the spell? "

The girl nodded her head again, still not looking in Frigga's eyes, " Y-yes."

And then Frigga put her hand on the little girl's shoulder. How warm she felt, how she smelt, like flowers, rare flowers. She had never smelt something as fragrant as her.

"What is your name, beautiful maiden?" Asked the queen in a motherly tone.

She finally lifted up her head. Her innocent dark brown eyes shone with tears, "Heidr." She said, smiling chastely at the queen.

Uh-oh this is getting serious guys! really trust me I'm writing this and every step I take, every move I make towards the end of it, it surprises me, I mean EVEN ME! so I really like to know what you think of it so far, cause truly I've never been this motivated in my life thanks to my awesome friend and beta reader LoquaciousQuibbler so I want to know what your idea, your opinion is, hmm ? so let me know, I wouldn't bite I promise ehehe any way so now we have Heidr having some acquaintance with Loki since childhood and then we have Loki being a vengeful god he is and then Odin at the edge of death? soooooooo what will happen next ?

Like last night I was reading this awesome short story from Norse Mythology and the interesting thing was... well you know Heidr was the name of a powerful sorcerer in Norse Mythology and apparently she was from nowhere and she traveled between realms and taught the knowledge of Seidr to women cause evidently sorcery was a thing only women did and wasn't quiet manly and that is why Loki wasn't exactly a likable guy/god among the Aesir, any way it was quiet funny how I didn't know about this history of Heidr and Norse Mythology and then it turned out I am going along the lines of the mythology *gasps* wow I am proud of myself haha

Okay I think I am officially rambling now haha hope you enjoyed and again... guys c'mon don't be this cruel to me I mean what have I ever done to youuuuuuuuu?! I mean for the sake of Loki! cause he's becoming so evil in this fanfiction, leave a review and or a comment or whatever necessary just leave me something, ok? okay ? okay ?

Thank you!

Favorite and Follow, Loki and Heidr love ya! ( It quiet had a rhythm, huh ?)

See you in next chapter ;)