23

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Part Seven

By JannaKalderash

ASGARD

The Warriors Three were concerned about their friend, Thor, who had gone off in search of his runaway brother. It had been a total of three weeks, and still there was no sign of his return.

While he was often absent from Asgard for much longer periods than a mere three weeks, they usually had some idea of where he was and what he was up to.

The only thing they managed to get out of Heimdall was that Thor was in another dimension, that he and Loki were fine, and that they would return soon; which really wasn't all that helpful to them.

Sif, who had never liked Loki, even in the days of their long ago youth, was perfectly happy that the little trickster was gone from Asgard. The fact that Asgard was now boring as all Hel went straight over the brunette's head.

"Who cares if he's gone?" she asked nastily, "We're all better off without the little blight anyway. With any luck he will show his true colors and then Thor will realize what a mistake he made in bringing him back from the grave. Child or not, he should have drowned him in the Seine when he found him."

The three simply stared at her in shock. While it wasn't uncommon for Sif to make disparaging remarks about Loki, she wasn't usually this vitriolic about it. Usually, for Thor's sake, she managed to tolerate the child's presence, and kept her tone civil when addressing him.

Now that he was gone, it seemed that her inhibitions had gone as well, and she was saying what she really felt.

Fandral glared at her; while he and Loki had never really been anything like friends, he had some appreciation for the other's sense of humor back in the day, and now that he was a child, was somewhat fond of him.

Hogun, who was usually silent on everything, stated, "He has changed from when he was an adult, Sif. This is not the same Loki that we knew. He has a chance at a new life, as do we all now that the cycle of Ragnarok is over, the Siege dealt with and the Serpent destroyed. He has not engaged in one prank or act of destruction since then, and you speak of killing him?"

"It is a trick of his to lull us all into a false sense of security. He has always been that way; even when we were children the first time. He cut off my hair!"

"It would have grown back, you vain little brat." Volstagg growled, "It wasn't as if he kept your hair from growing at all! But you went whining to Thor about it, and he of course took it out on Loki, who procured a new set of locks for you. He ended up with his mouth being sewn shut for it in front of the court, as you remember."

She snickered, "That was a sight to see! The Liesmith with his lips sewn shut! I thought it hilarious, and so did a great many others! Even Odin said that he deserved it."

"And how did Frigga react to that? As I recall, she punted that wretched little duergar out of the castle, and forbade him from entering ever again. I also recall she slapped the snot out of you in front of everyone else, before taking Loki to the healers." The huge man stated, puffing on his pipe thoughtfully.

"There are other ways to insure that truth is spoken;" he continued, "Odin could have used a truth spell on him, but he allowed Loki to be harmed in order to 'teach' him a lesson. The only thing that boy learned was that his own father couldn't be trusted to defend him."

He finished his pipe and tapped out the tobacco before turning to Sif again. "I have seven children, Lady Sif; five blood children and two adopted. And if anyone, anyone were to do such a thing to any of my children, they wouldn't live to tell the tale. Never mind what my wife would do; I would kill that person. She'd make them wish that they were dead. Yes, he has been the most evil being our race has ever produced, but that was in the past."

He edged closer to her until he was practically in her face.

"So, do not let me hear any words of killing pass your lips concerning that child ever again, my lady. Otherwise, I will take drastic measures. I may act the buffoon, but tell me truly, am I such?"

Sif had to shake her head, 'no' at that. For all his bluster and good humor, Volstagg was exceedingly dangerous, even with his enormous girth. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Thor, and since Thor had asked him to look after Loki in his absence, the big man had done so.

He had even taken the boy into his own home, where his wife and children had welcomed the small godling with open arms, a large plate of food and a goblet of milk. It had been the one place in Asgard where the boy had been accepted as a child, and not tolerated as a reminder of his past self.

Loki had found a great many friends amongst Volstagg's great brood, from the eldest, Hildy, right down to the baby. Even the two adopted Midgardian children loved him. They all shared a sense of harmless mischief, and were always trying to outdo each other in their pranks on each other.

Volstagg's wife was truly upset that the youngster had left without so much as a peep, but if he had let on his plans to anyone, even his new siblings, they would have ratted him out to their mother, and she would have taken him in hand to keep him from running off.

She was worried about him, and had confided as much to her husband more than once.

He had assured her that Thor was, even now in search of the errant princeling, and would bring him home soon.

For the sake of peace in his household, Volstagg hoped that Thor would return to Asgard soon. There was only so much placating he could do when it came to his wife. If she had to wait much longer, she'd go looking for them herself, and that wouldn't be a pretty thing.

MIDGARD: THE BUFFYVERSE

Loki had recovered from his nightmares, thanks to the doctors and counselors at Slayer Central, and right now, stood at the gates with his backpack on his back, stuffed full of all the goodies he had scored for his birthday, which had fallen two days prior.

His friends had gone all out, and nearly everyone in the castle had gotten him something, as well as the other kids who shared the birthday with him.

For one thing, the cake had been GINORMOUS! It had been a huge chocolate sheet cake, covered with lime green frosting (white frosting with lime green food coloring), and matching filling. On it had been the names of the children in question, along with numerical candles indicating their proper age.

Since Thor hadn't been altogether too sure of Loki's actual physical age, Willow had done a mini-magical scan of him, and had come up with the age of 13, which was respectable.

The music had been lively, although the older adults had lamented what they called 'noise', and the fact that kids today just didn't understand real music. No doubt their parents had said the same thing during the early days of rock and roll, and their grandparents during the age of swing and doo wop.

The presents that Loki had received had made anything he had gotten in his past life look pale by comparison.

Willow had gotten him a magical 3D puzzle with over 10,000 variations to it, and it could even be enchanted to create even more.

Xander, ever practical, had gotten the boy a shortsword, complete with a gorgeously worked leather scabbard and baldric, along with a set of beginner throwing knives that were enchanted to never grow dull.

Buffy, not to be left out, had commissioned a pair of gorgeous young boy's boots from a master cordswain in Italy. They were guaranteed to last five years of hard wear and tear, or your money back. Right now, they were a bit big on him, but he would soon grow into them. They were black with silver knotwork buttons on the side, and super tough soles.

Dawn had put her mother's old sewing machine to good use, and had made him a cape with a reversible lining and detachable full cut hood. It was of a deep forest green, with a black iridescent lining that appeared almost liquid in its appearance.

Faith had gotten him leather bracers with hand engraved Norse knotwork, and a matching belt.

He had also scored books, CD's, comic books, candy, money, as well as other items of clothing that included a sweatshirt with the saying "Rule One: Don't Die! Rule Two: Remember Rule One!" and a Tshirt that said "I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every single minute of it!"

However, like all parties, it had finally come to an end at around three or so in the morning, and a rather pooped out young godling had been carried to his bed by his very amused elder sibling (who had a great many pictures on his Starkphone of his little brother enjoying himself. Their parents were going to kick themselves when they saw them! He mused.)

"Ready to return home, little brother?" Thor asked with a slight smile as Loki was nearly hugged, kissed, nuzzled and noogied to death by Buffy and her friends.

"Yes Thor, I'm ready." Loki said, looking very rumpled, red faced, and glad to be free of so many solicitous females.

Thor picked Loki up and settled him on his shoulder. He twirled Mjolnir in the proper pattern, and a great white light enveloped the two Asgardians. A huge clap of thunder resounded as the wormhole closed, knocking everyone off their feet.

There were a great many giggles all around as Buffy picked herself up muttering, "Stupid show-offy gods from another dimension," before she stomped back into the castle.

The last to return to the confines of the castle was Xander, who looked over in the direction in which their friends had left.

"Take care of him, Thor." He said softly, "He's a very special child. And if your father treats him like dirt again, I think I'll introduce Buffy to him…along with her Scythe."

MARVEL UNIVERSE: EARTH 616

Thor and Loki landed upon the Rainbow Bridge easily enough, and Thor placed his little brother on its surface so that he could walk the rest of the way on his own.

"Will we ever go back?" Loki asked, "I really liked it there."

"It will be difficult, little brother. I have the feeling that you were allowed to go there for a specific reason; you and Ikol both needed the healing that Mother Cassie and the others provided. I was allowed there to truly understand the depth of what had happened to you, and find my own healing. However, I have the feeling that the Powers That Be in that universe would not make it as easy for us the next time."

Loki pouted a bit at that. He had found a sense of welcome and a true home in that universe; it was sad to think that the Powers That Suck would keep him from visiting his friends.

"Do you have any ideas on the Powers, brother?" he asked, "They don't treat their Champions very well; most of the time, they are too focused on the battle and not on the Champion."

"I have one or two. I think that their version of Gaea will not be too pleased at the way her daughters are being treated. From what I learned Sineya was a descendant of hers, and that when the Shadowmen forced the demon into her, she was very put out with them. However, she wasn't allowed to interfere, due to the free will clause."

"That never stopped us." The small boy pointed out.

Thor snorted in genuine humor, "That is certainly true, but our universe operates under a different law. We do interfere, on a certain level; but I think that is because we are being allowed to do so. As long as we do not seek actual worship, we are allowed to operate on Midgard. Even our cousins, the Olympians still interfere to a certain extent; Zeus and Hercules among them."

Loki made a bit of a face at the mention of those two names. He considered Hercules to be a muscle bound buffoon, who never took the consequences of his actions into account, not until everything was over and done with. That and he really wasn't all that bright. Not even Thor at his worst was that stupid.

Zeus, on the other hand was an even bigger control freak than Odin was. The two older gods recognized this in each other, and detested the other accordingly, being far too much alike to get along with each other.

Oddly enough, Loki had always managed to get along with Hera, and the various females of the Greek/Roman pantheon.

Maybe it was due to the times he had spent as a female in the far distant past that made it so; not that he really remembered it.

But most of his feminine cousins had always had a kind word for him whenever he came to visit, as well as a feast that would rival anything Asgard could come up with, and a party afterwards that would be talked about for decades.

The two greeted Heimdall in passing, and he nodded in return, smiling slightly, although neither sibling really noticed it.

Once the two had returned to the palace, they were ushered into the throne room, where Odin and Frigga awaited them.

The Queen needed no urging; the moment Loki reached the foot of the throne, she ran to him, swept him up in her arms, and began begging for his forgiveness, weeping copious tears the whole time.

Loki, who had always had a better relationship with Frigga than he'd had with Odin, forgave her easily, and put up with the display of maternal affection while his brother chuckled at him from his position behind them.

"'Tis almost as much affection as Buffy and the others gave you upon our leaving," Thor said with a slight smirk, causing his brother to turn his head and stick his tongue out at him.

"Very mature, my son" Frigga stated drily, placing Loki back on his own two feet so that he could face the All-Father.

To the boy's surprise, he actually saw tears glimmering in the one good eye his father had. He had gotten many reactions from the All-Father throughout the millennia, but tears had never been one of them.

"Loki? My son? Can you forgive an old fool who has been blind in more ways than one? I truly did not know what I had until you were gone; and then when Harmonia showed up and made Asgard into a crashing bore, that was when I understood your true purpose here."

Loki, who could smell a lie at fifty paces, knew that the older man was telling the truth. He moved tentatively closer to him, looking directly into his blue eye.

"I forgive you….this time. Next time, I might not. You're really going to have to work on being a father, and not a king with me."

"Fair enough, little one." Odin said, before he pulled the youngster into his lap for a tight hug.

"Believe it or not, I did miss you. Now, would you please call off Harmonia? I think Asgard is going to fall asleep in the same manner as the Sleeping Beauty if things go on much longer."

"All right," Loki said with a grin, "You have to admit, this was one of my best pranks ever!"

"Indeed it was." Odin admitted, "I certainly never foresaw you pulling anything like this."

Harmonia was summoned, and she cancelled the spell that was affecting the Nine Realms.

All over the archipelago of asteroids, children everywhere began causing mischief to different degrees.

Brothers and sisters quarreled over toys, chores, lessons, and who was loved most by their parents.

Puppies began chasing kittens all about, yapping happily while the kittens hissed in displeasure.

Pranks were pulled; little bitty fibs were told; great big whoppers were told (usually by fishermen or hunters regaling their friends about the one that got away: "I swear! That stag had a HUGE rack of antlers THIS BIG!")

In other words, Asgard returned to what was considered normal.

Loki, Ikol, Thor et al would go on to many more adventures in the future.

Thor would die, and return from the grave (AGAIN!) stronger than ever; Asgard would be rebuilt (AGAIN!), and find that the people of Midgard weren't as primitive as they thought.

The people of Midgard would find that the Asgardians weren't such bad neighbors to have, in spite of the truly bloodthirsty natures that they had.

But those are tales for another time.

FIN.