Windstar: Thank you very much to my two reviewers. I really appreciate your kindness and your words. I only have one chapter after this, and the entire story will be over. I hope you all have enjoyed the ride- even those who haven't reviewed. Thanks once again, and please enjoy!
Chapter:
Loki had not remained in Asgard for long. He waited for all eyes to turn away from him, and then he had cast a spell on the locks that had kept him trapped in his room, and he slipped away to the stables. Narfi had followed him to the stables, crying the whole while. Loki hadn't felt the slightest bit of guilt in placing a bit of silencing magic on him so that no one could hear the Vörðr's shouting. The boy was mouthing wordlessly at him, but he didn't look towards him at all. Instead, he placed a hand on Sleipnir's neck.
"How do you feel about helping your brother?" Loki asked his eldest son. The horse looked towards the Vörðr curiously, but then he nodded his great head. Loki reached up, and placed his hand on the horse's muzzle. His finger traced over his skin lightly and almost absentmindedly. "We shall be riding long and hard between realms. Odin has not sanctioned this. I will be breaking my oath to stay in Asgard." Regardless of having already done so with Thor, Loki knew that leaving like this would be something else entirely.
Sleipnir nodded his great head, and so Loki requested if he could ride his son – and the horse lowered himself to be mounted with ease. Climbing aboard, Loki glanced down at Narfi. The rotting shade of his son looked up at him with a mindless disposition. It reacted to instinct and instinct alone, but if it was reunited with the true soul of Narfi…and shadow and truth could merge – his son's soul would be at peace.
Loki clicked with his tongue and Sleipnir shot from the stable, the magic within his son was mainly on transportation, and Loki always grinned when he saw it being used. Now, Sleipnir knew the path that Loki would travel, and he had a meeting with the dwarves.
Thor snapped awake to feeling a rotting hand touch his face. He shouted in shock as he opened his eyes and looked at his nephew. Narfi was looking down at him with wide eyes. "Thor!" He said insistently. Thor stared at the decomposing body that Narfi currently possessed, and felt his stomach churn.
"Why are you here?" He asked the boy. The Vörðr stamped his foot.
"Thor!" He said again.
"I don't know what you want." Thor murmured tiredly, rolling on his side. He had been out on a hunt, hoping to clear his head and letting Odin clear his before travelling back to Asgard. The All Father had not been pleased when he had discovered that Thor had allowed Loki to leave the city. Loki had been sent to his rooms, and the doors had been locked behind him. No one was allowed to visit the Prince, and truthfully – no one save Thor wanted to.
Frustrated with his father and needing to calm down, the blond god had left and flown as far as he could without leaving the realm. There, he had enjoyed fighting wild beasts and taking his frustrations out on the world around him.
"Thor!" The child repeated, and the god of thunder's brows furrowed. Shaking his head, he looked out towards the horizon. It was just edging towards dawn. Sighing in defeat, the boy continuing to call his name, the blonde started to collect his equipment. He grudgingly realized it was time to return to Asgard, and at the very least he could hand Narfi back to Loki.
The journey back to the city took him nearly a week to complete, and his strange dreams continued. They persisted to haunt him every night, and during the day – Narfi was shouting his name and he had no idea what the child wanted. It was making his anger grow and his temper short.
When he finally arrived at the palace, he was dirty, tired and sore. He had flown the whole way – simply eager to get rid of his nephew. His first thought was to go down the long and familiar hallways that led to his brother's door. All the time, the Vörðr called his name more and more insistently. He was clearly agitated about something, but the shade had not been given enough of a mind to be able to speak. He couldn't explain what was wrong.
Thor sighed and knocked on the door. Loki didn't respond, but he doubted he would. Loki had such a mind for sulking when he so chose. Thor doubted it would be unlocked, Odin's orders had been clear, and yet he tried the handle anyway. It opened for him and he blinked in surprise. Stepping inside, he called his brother's name. The room was dark, and he was prepared to just deposit the child in Loki's arms and return to bed. He was exhausted from their trip to Vaniheim, and he was certain that he was going to have to fight with Odin later over their excursion.
Reaching for the newest lamp that had been added to Loki's rooms, Thor lit it quickly and raised it to view the bed. Empty. The desk – empty. The throne – empty. Thor blinked in confusion, and looked towards Narfi. "Where is he?" He asked simply, and the specter stamped his foot again.
"Thor!" He said loudly, and the blonde groaned.
"I do not know what you want." He replied. He looked around the rooms. "Has father freed him? Perhaps he has grown hungry? Is he in the kitchens?" He murmured aloud.
"THOR!" Narfi was glaring at him, and he ran a hand through his hair.
"Child, I do not know what you want, can you not say something else? Can you not find your father and speak with him?" he had been saying the same thing for far too long, and his patience was at its limit.
"Thor, Thor, Thor-" Sighing in frustration, the god of thunder began to walk from the rooms. He moved purposefully towards the kitchens. All the while the Vörðr followed him. His persistence was growing on the verge of irritation, and he honestly couldn't stand to listen to the child's voice a moment longer. He was starting to truly understand how Vali had been driven mad over the years being haunted by his brother's shade.
The kitchens were empty save the servants, and so Thor tried the library. That too was empty. He stepped into the great hall, but only the Warriors Three were there. Fandral turned to see him when he stepped through the door. He waved him over, and his face was clearly prepared to relay the latest gossip. He was just about to, when he caught sight of Narfi following behind Thor.
"What on earth is that creature?" Fandral asked as he looked at the rotting child.
"Thor!" The boy stated, face scowling in anger. The blonde prince sighed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"It is Narfi's Vörðr, he has…found his way to the palace and has been quite insistent as of late. I have not the faintest idea why."
"Perhaps it is due to Sleipnir's disappearance?" Fandral stated, gossip back on his mind as he moved closer towards his friend.
"Sleipnir has disappeared?" Thor's blood ran cold as his recent dreams came to mind.
"Yes, several days ago he vanished from the stable. The servants insist that he was there one night, but in the morning he vanished! None can understand it, and he doesn't allow anyone except the All Father to ride him. So who has taken him? And where has he gone?"
Thor bit his tongue as he knew the error in Fandral's opinion. Odin was not the only one that Sleipnir allowed to ride him. Loki and Hela could also ride him, but Hela was in Helheim…and Loki was missing.
Thor turned on a dime, running as hard and as fast as he could towards the stable. He threw open the doors and his eyes were immediately drawn towards Sleipnir's stall. Empty, and not just empty, but looking exactly as it had in Thor's dream. His heart pounded heavily in his chest as he turned to look at Narfi.
"Where is your father?"
"Thor!" The boy cried out.
"Narfi, where is Loki?"
"Loki?" The name left Narfi's mouth in curious awe, and Thor nodded his head.
"Yes, Loki, where is he? Sleipnir too?"
"Sleipnir!" Narfi hurried to the stall and frowned. He stamped his foot. "Loki Sleipnir?" He asked Thor, and the blonde god sighed in frustration. The boy was no help whatsoever.
Moving with great speed, he swung Mjolnir in a great arc and burst into the sky. It took him only moments to fly to the remains of the Bifrost, where Heimdal stood guard. "Good Heimdal, I would request from you a favor."
"Yes, my Prince?"
"May you turn your gaze to my brother and tell me of his whereabouts?" He asked hopefully, but Heimdal was already shaking his head.
"From the moment he fell from the Bifrost, he as been lost to me. I have not seen him even when he has walked before me. He is always hidden from my mind's eye." Panic began to settle within Thor's chest as he nodded his head. "You cannot find him? Is he not in his rooms, where he was to be locked behind closed door?" Heimdal asked, and the god of thunder awkwardly shook his head.
"I am certain it is but a folly of mine, I shall locate him soon enough." The gatekeeper nodded, but his expression remained doubtful. All the while, Thor wondered just how he was going to find his brother if he didn't wish to be found or disturbed. Loki never made it easy to locate or track him, and he never would – it was against his very nature.
Anxiously, Thor tried to recall what happened in his dream, but it had ended abruptly after Narfi had pounced on him. There had to be more. There had to be. He ran to his bedroom, and lay down in his bed. Closing his eyes he tried to will himself to sleep. Nothing worked; his adrenaline was pounding in his chest far too much for that.
He rolled over and over again, trying to get comfortable and trying to push himself to the point of sleep so he could grasp the last tendrils of the dream vision that he was certain it had been. Nothing came to him, and after an hour of trying, he went to his father. As he approached the throne room, he glanced down to where Narfi had been following him for days on end. The boy was nowhere to be seen, and he let out a breath of air. At least that wouldn't have to be explained.
Stepping into the room, he quickly moved towards his father and spoke without preamble: "I believe I may know where Sleipnir and Loki are."
"Loki? I had not known he was missing." Thor winced at that. Loki truly must have done a masterful job at his escape if the All Father hadn't even realized it had transpired.
"Yes…he is no longer in the palace." Odin's face turned murderous, and Thor was quick to continue.
"I have had strange dreams of late, each leading to Loki's death. In one such dream, he presented the dwarves with a bundle of golden hair. When we were in Vaniheim, Sigyn gifted Loki such a lock as a boon…I believe that he has done as my dream foretold, and gone to the dwarves."
"The dwarves?"
"Long have they coveted the golden hair of the Vanir, and their beauty is much treasured in their realms. As payment for a weapon, I believe Loki would have made a great offer if he delivered Sigyn's hair to her." A foul feeling was curling in Thor's stomach as he realized that Loki's reasoning for helping Vali now after all this time had not come from care for his son, but of manipulation towards making him agree to allow Loki to go.
His brother had known that without good cause, Thor would not have allowed him to teleport to Vaniheim. He would have been caught, and his boon taken from him. Now, now Thor had not only allowed him to go –he'd gone with him and said nothing at the token of affection that Sigyn had given to her husband.
Loki had not even glanced at Vali when they had left; he had simply deposited the child. Once he had gotten what he'd wanted he was on his way, and Thor felt hatred and anger coursing through him. He hated falling for one of Loki's schemes, but this seemed far worse than those before. This was a family matter that he had manipulated for his own benefit, and he would not stand for it.
"Please allow me to travel to the dwarves so that I may see if my dreams have been a foreshadow of events to come." Odin looked troubled as Thor spoke, and he shook his head.
"You say that in each of these dreams, Loki has died?" He asked carefully, and Thor nodded his head.
"It seemed as so." Odin nodded sharply and waved his hand.
"You have my permission. Travel to the dwarves; determine if your brother has been there. I wish to know all that has transpired." Thor bowed low and then quickly left the throne room.
He hurried as fast as he could towards the weapons vault. Without Loki, there was only one power that was strong enough to enable him to travel between the worlds on his own. He still was uncomfortable using the Tesseract in such a way, but it needed to be done. No harm would come to it or him while he was on his journey.
Thor stood before the blue cube and took a deep breath; he reached for it, and allowed his will to tumble over it. In his mind he saw the homeland of the dwarves and he willed the cube to take him there. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the same smithy that Loki had been bartering in. Anger crossed his features as his eyes immediately fell on the long locks of hair that Sigyn had so willingly donated to Loki – believing that her husband would use them as a reminder of her. How much she had been tricked once again.
"You! Smith!" Thor shouted, barging forwards and pointing to the dwarf that was the same one he had watched forge the staff to give to Loki. "Where is my brother, Loki?" the dwarf looked surprised, not only at the sudden entry, but at the angry question directed towards him.
"The good Prince has left." The dwarf stated firmly, glaring at him and giving him a look that clearly showed him just what was thought of him. By calling Loki the 'good Prince' he'd implied there was a bad prince, and that Thor was acting unjustly. Thor knew he was, but he was too rushed and hurried to make proper amends.
"I apologize for my haste good dwarf, but I am in need of my brother's location. Did he not say where it was that he was travelling to?"
"No, he said nothing."
"And how did he leave? He is well then, I take it?"
"Slept for two days, he did. Right there on the floor." The dwarf waved his hand towards the spot that Thor had seen his brother collapse. Not dead then…exhausted. Loki had collapsed after using all of his magic on Vali as well. "We believed him dead and went to have him moved, but that horse of his wouldn't let it be done. Stood there guarding him until he sprang to life and mounted him. Probably used everything he had to charge that staff."
"And what exactly does that staff do?" Thor questioned, but the dwarves didn't know for certain. They only knew what they had amplified it for, and Thor knew the answer to that as well – summoning magic.
Thor grimaced as he realized that he was going to be in a great deal of trouble soon. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He needed to know more…what happened? What happened next? He struggled to remember the order it all went in.
Then, it came to him – Hela, and Helheim. That's where Loki had the staff. He'd given it to Hela, in order to have his name struck from the book of Hel: the book that controlled the very time and date of life and death itself.
