The rain hadn't begun as rain normally would. It immediately crashed down with a crack of lightning, thunder resounding across the land soon after the ground was soaked. Fandral and Fenrir stormed across the pathway, trying desperately to see where they were riding in the darkened night. They found the path that went off from the main road and quickly galloped down it. Fandral prayed to the Æsirs above that Loki was alright and Annar was nowhere near him.
His face fell as they came to the clearing where Loki's house had been, only to find ruins in its place, and where Loki's beautiful garden had been were roots and small trees. The spot looked as if it had been abandoned for twenty or so summers.
The brothers looked to each other atop their stilled horses and both shared one question.
Where was Loki?
Loki awoke to a soft, dim light. As his blurry eyesight came to, he realized a brilliant night sky was above him. But it wasn't any normal night sky.
Swirls of blue, green, purple, pink, and silver were spread across it. Clusters and twirls of stars shone down on him. His mouth fell open as he realized he was in what one of his books had described as space. He looked down, feeling soft material under him. He was on a bed in a room with a glass roof. Sitting up, he noticed he was wearing blue, swishy robes. They reminded him of Thor and he rose with a start, needing to know where he was.
"My son."
Loki froze as the words rang in the air, daring to look up after a few moments. His eyes widened as he saw a tall man with blue skin and red eyes smiling at him from the doorway. He knew who he was. Tears ran down his face as ran to embrace the blue figure.
"Papa!"
After two hours of hard riding, Fandral and Fenrir arrived at the castle, chilled to the bone and wet as dogs. They refused dry clothing, insisting they needed to see Thor instantly. When they met the Prince in his halls they bowed briefly before standing.
"Thor, Loki, Annar, and Loki's house are gone." Fenrir said.
"We know not where they've gone." Fandral added. Thor looked at them incredulously. "Annar, the servant? Has he harmed my Loki?!" Thor cried, hands coming to hold Fandral's wet collar. Trying to calm the Prince, Fenrir eased Fandral from his grip.
"You should see this." From a buckskin tube, he pulled the drawing out for Thor to see. "We should search for them. I am concerned for Loki." Fandral suggested as Thor looked at the picture. The Prince's hands shook as he looked at the terrible illustration.
"There's also much I should tell you." Fandral admitted as Thor looked up from it.
The blue man held him in a loving embrace as Loki cried into his robes, choking on sobs. "You have grown so much since we put you on Asgard, my son." His father said. Loki looked up, eyes shining with tears. "You... Why?" He asked, voice small.
"There is much I need to tell you, but first, there is another who wishes to see you."
Mother? Loki hoped and prayed. A young girl came from behind his father, holding a small silver ball, dressed in silvery and dark blue robes, tied in at the waist with a silver rope. She giggled and smiled at him.
"Hello, brother." She smiled a beautiful smile with her rosy lips. Her eyes were green like his, but her hair was so silver it was almost white, and it hung down her back in a loose braid. She looked no more than twelve summers old.
"This is your sister, Astraea." Their father said. She came up to hug Loki, her head coming up to his ribs. "My sister..." Loki hugged her too, kissing the top of her silvery head. "Where is my mother?" He asked. "And where are we?" He added. His family looked at him with slightly sad eyes.
"Mother is... No longer with us." Astraea said solemnly, hugging him again. "As father said... You have much to know." At the mention of him by his daughter, the blue man pulled his shoulders back proudly.
"I am Laufey, king of the gods, and god of ice and frost." Laufey said, smiling proudly.
"I am Astraea, princess of the gods, and goddess of starlight and justice." She did a small curtsy.
"And you, Loki, are the prince of the gods, and god of magic and mischief."
Odin slammed a hand down on the table.
"No, Thor!" He said.
"Father! My love is missing and could be dead!" Thor roared back, nearly flipping the table in anger. "I will not have you going on a wild goose chase through this cursed rain. Æsirs above know how many dangers await you in such a tempest. You will stay here!" Odin growled. In a much softer tone he added, "I understand Loki is important to you, but you must realize your position and safety as the Prince of Asgard is what you must always put first." Thor stayed silent, still seething though.
"You may look for him in the morning." The King said as he left the throne room, retiring to bed once again with Frigga.
Thor looked to Fandral then Fenrir.
"I know you are going to insist on telling him, but you'll only be perceived as mad. No, Thor, it is best to wait till the storm is over." Fandral tried to comfort him. Fenrir left the throne room, saying something about gathering a search party.
"Is it true, though?" Thor asked, collapsing onto the steps before the throne. "Is my Loki really an Æsir?" His voice was tired and cracking. Fandral nodded. "Everything points to it..."
Thor nodded, suddenly exhausted by the overwhelming amount of information that had been placed upon him.
Oh Æsirs above, He prayed. Please let this rain stop so I may find one of your kin, my one and only love.
Loki sat solemnly before the memorial to his mother, the goddess of family and marriage. Her name was no longer spoken for the stars would give out due to Astraea's grief and frost would creep up all over the celestial palace where the gods resided due to the sadness Laufey felt. A magical likeness of her had been engraved into the wall behind the piles of shining flowers and leaves. Loki knew where his green eyes, pale skin, and jet black hair came from. His mother had given him his smile as well. She was beautiful, fair, and must have been wonderful.
"How did she die?" He whispered.
"Annar, our half-brother, killed her." Astraea answered, her voice a hiss. Loki's head lowered.
"He said I killed his mother."
"I was never unfaithful to your mother, Loki. Annar was a pure accident, and not wanted. You were young at the time of her death. Playing only practical jokes was what you did. However, during Annar's birth, you played one that resulted in his mother dying. Annar became the god of anger and revenge that day. He killed your mother after Astraea's birth."
As Loki listened to his father, he reached toward the pile of shimmering flowers, picking up a white rose that glowed. It's iridescent sparkling attracting the god of magic and mischief to it. The sight of the blossom made his heart ache and he knew he had to see Thor or he would die... Again.
"Father, will I ever be able to see Thor again?" He asked, standing, holding the blossom. Laufey nodded.
"Oh, do you wish to leave so soon? Can you not stay just a little while longer?" Astraea asked, tugging on his sleeve. "I... I suppose I could, but I wish to return to Thor." Loki said. "Why did you send me to Asgard? Why did I have no memory of anything?" Loki asked, turning back to look at his mother's likeness.
"After Annar killed your mother, you became furious. You were both still young so you knew not of the powers you both possessed. Many lives were in danger, especially after Annar met Thanos, the god of death and misery. You were about to kill them when Astraea alerted me of the terrible deed you were about to commit. Upon her judgement, I cast Thanos from the ranks of gods to the underworld where your cousin, Hela, rules as the eternal goddess of time and spirits." Laufey said.
"Loki, you and Annar were sent to live as mortals till you were able to forgive each other. Annar's cruelty seemed to last forever though, aided by Thanos' anger. He kept killing you without mercy and both of you had to continue mortal lives through different time periods and worlds." Loki's brows knit in sorrow as he looked to his sister, then to his father.
"Now that you have forgiven each other, you, Loki may do as you wish. Annar needs to pay however, for his crimes." Laufey finished, his red eyes looking into his son's green ones. "But he forgave me... Has he not been punished enough?" Loki asked.
Astraea's form shimmered and she grew older, turning into a lovely, mature woman. "He killed others and must be punished. Peace cannot exist in Valhalla if justice is not first served." She answered, her silver ball turning into a staff with two wings atop it. Banging the butt of it to the ground, two guards appeared before them, dressed in white robes, bowing before the royal family. "The criminal Annar is detained." They answered in one voice.
"You may leave." Astraea replied, tapping the bottom of her staff to the floor again. She turned, looking to Loki.
"I wish to see him." He said.
A/N: Yay! A faster update. The reason why this chapter is shorter because
A) This fic will be ending in 3 more chapters (I have a thing for multiples of 5)
B) I was camping when I wrote it and my phone died like... At the end :D
So those of you who wish to be written into the next chapter, please continue to submit cute couple names for Fandral and I. I also wish to mention that whoever wins will be making surprise appearances throughout the sequel multi-chpt fic and perhaps in another multi-chpt fic that will be published after this one is finished and before the sequel. I will PM the winner and ask them for the name they would prefer I use and a basic description of them, so please make sure to check your inbox if you submitted a couple name!
A little note on Astraea- Her name is the name of the Roman goddess of justice. I fucking love mythology okay, so it wouldn't make sense if I didn't incorporate other myths into a Norse-based myth, because, like, that's just wrong of me not to. I'm a mythology junkie- what can I say?
This story only has 3 more chapters and more will be revealed~ After that, I am posting a short multi-chapter fic (maybe like, 5 chapters?). For those of you who are extremely focused on Loki and Thor gettin' it on... There shall be that. And then after that short story, the sequel to this story will be put up. *sigh* I have so much to write and I am LOVING it!
Also, wanted to say thank you to everyone here who reads my writing. You've all inspired and motivated me to keep writing and *sigh* wow, it's just amazing.
Love you~
yakisoba
