He was falling.
Endless nothingness.
No sound, no scent, nothing.
No stars.
Nothing.
Loki always loved stars. He kept watching them from the window in his chambers, until his mother came and forced him into going to sleep. And even then he threw them one last glance, before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
When he was a small child, he thought, that the stars are lost fireflies, who have flown too far frome their homes, never being able to find their way back.
At age of barely one hundred, the stars made him cry. The thought of little, sad and lost fireflies saddened him. As he grew up, he realized, that there were no fireflies; but that never made the stars less beautiful.
Watching them trough the cold glass somehow made him calm, no matter how sad or lost he felt at the moment. No matter if it was a lost fight, messed spell, or a disappointment on his father's face, the stars calmed him.
They were always there for him. A quiet friend, who never mocked him for using seidr or his lack of strenght. He always found an acceptance.
And it did not matter, that they were only a huge balls of gas. Never to Loki.
Then nothing.
No stars.
No sound, no scent, nothing.
Endless nothingness.
He was falling.
And then he hit the ground.
He was lying in the dust of the training field. His ears were ringing; however, he still heard the laughter. And what was the worse? The loudest voice belonged to Thor.
Loki sat carefully and nearly fell back on the ground, when he tried to rely on his right wrist. The price gasped for breath, trying not to pay attention to Thor and his friends.
He felt tears in his eyes, but he shut them close and never allowed the drops to fall. When he stood again, he faced Thor, who was still laughing.
And then, more then ever, he wanted to tear off the smile from Thor's face. Loki's emerald green eyes darkened and he felt his seidr flowing in his veins.
The magic users always had to learn how to concentrate at first. Emotions cotrolled the spell as well as thought and movements of hands, so it was important. When a sorcerer allowed his emotions grow and then used his magic, it never ended well.
Loki's anger stemmed from the humiliation and betray of his own brother. Thor protected him from everything, even mockery, until now. It hurt.
When the feelings got to the maximum, Loki realized what will happen. He closed his eyes and tried to meditate, to calm down, anything. When he opened them, they were glowing bright green.
He moved his palm from the injured wrist and before he could stop himself, he slammed the pure energy in Thor's direction.
The older prince flew and hit the fence, which surrounded the training yards. The laughter died. All of the warriors who were training there, looked at Loki, who was currently floating a few inches above the surface, his palms and eyes glowing.
Thor slowly got up. Sif threw him a sword, seeing he was completely defencless. Thor caught it, just in case.
But Loki got it wrong and thought that Thor is going to attack him. He tried to conjure a shield to protect himself, but his mind, still full of anger and pain, twisted the spell.
Green light errupted from Loki's body, across the whole training field. His magic was streaming from his body, going weaker and weaker every second.
He could see only sillouletes of his brother and friends, who were struggling to stay on their feet, while the magic was flew around them like an extremely strong wind.
Someone screamed, but Loki wasn't able to recognize the voice.
And then darkness.
Nothing.
He was falling again.
The unfamiliar pressure of water was everywhere. He was diving deeper and deeper, but not exactly by his will. He was desperately trying to reach the air above the water, but the arrow in his arm was making it far worse.
Water was everywhere. There was no way he could make it out before he'd run of air. Loki cursed Thor and his damned friends. They thought, how much fun would be to go and try to catch the most dangerous men in Asgard. And as always, he was the one who ended injured.
Or worse, he thought, when the water around him darkened. It wasn't even his fault. He was just shoting their enemies, trusting Fandral to handle any attackers. But obviously, he should not do that. He got shot and fell into the water.
His lungs were aching, and his vision started to blur. His body screamed for oxygen, but there were none. At normal circumstances, he would transform into a fish or something, but if he'd done it now, the little body of a fish would end impaled by the arrow. In the better case.
Trough the water and now his slowly closing eyes, he saw a big light smudge, swimming down, in his direction. Loki smiled and closed his eyes, finally letting the darkness fill full his mind...
And he was falling.
Nothing.
Darkness.
Screams in the distance.
He woke up in the cold, dark cell. He was able to recognize the details of a room, which was his home for almost one year. He couldn't say those were happy memories, no. He remembered several times, when he lay there on the ground, with a pool of blood under him, or when he was forced to eat poison and then was vomiting his insides out, or hallucinating.
"It's good that you're finally awake."
Ah, that was Nebula. The only person on this damned ship, who wasn't causing him pain. He enjoyed seeing her. Together, they talked, mostly about their lives. Loki told her about his family, Asgard and how he ended here. She told him what she remembered about her old family and how the life on Sanctuary went.
Loki wasn't afraid she would tell Thanos. The Titan already knew everything about him, thanks to his sorcerer. Ebony Maw enjoyed torturing him, in a fact, he took it as his favourite action, during the days on Sanctuary.
Nebula went to him, as she said, 'because I have here no one to talk with. The only sibling I talk with is Gamora and she refuses to listen, she only fights and makes our father proud. And that is annoying.'
He understood it. Nebula said, her father never trusted her to do something right. She was forbbiden from torturing him, because he was 'important.' So, in front of it, she just sat with him in his cell. Ocasionally brought some food or water, because everything Loki got, was either poisoned or rotten.
She slowly became a friend to him, even if they never claimed each other in that way. Sometimes, when he thought about their relationship, he always heard a voice, painfully similar to his brothers, saying 'So my little brother finally found a girlfriend, hm?'
But Loki did not feel it in that way. In a fact, he never felt a romantic love to somebody. Some people found it weird, but Loki never missed that feeling. Not even now.
He was just glad he finally found a friend.
Then closed his eyes.
Darkness.
Cold.
Nothing.
When the coldness passed, Loki found himself lying... On someone's lap?
He opened his eyes and looked on his mother's face.
His breath hitched and he, once again, felt tears in his eyes.
"Shhh, sweetheart, everything is fine now," she whispered and gently cupped his cheek.
"Mother, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it-"
"Hush, I know darling. I know," she soothed him, as he sobbed into her skirts. He let go of the mask he wore for years, his eyes full of emotions.
He didn't know for how long they sat there and he didn't really care. Until his mother gently lifted his chin and wiped away his tears.
"I'm sorry, my son, but you have to go now. I'm afraid I cannot stay here for much longer, and neither can you."
"But mother-"
"Your brother misses you. He was sitting beside you for second day now and is scared greatly. He fears you would never wake up again," she said gently.
Loki froze. "I'm not dead?"
Frigga smiled. "No, you're not. Your fate is to die, but not now. You will do great things in the future, and maybe, the others wouldn't think it. But always remember this. You are my son, and I am proud of you."
"I love you, mother," he said.
Frigga stepped from him, still smiling. And then, she vanished, leaving only a gold powder.
The place they were at, errupted in a gold light.
And then nothing.
He felt warm.
Familiar darkness with shining stars.
He opened his eyes.