I'm standing on a glass-like bridge surrounded by darkness. I'm scared. I don't know why, but I'm just so scared. Something is happening. The ground shakes and I take a step back to steady myself. Then, suddenly, I'm falling. I'm falling, I'm falling, imfallingimfallingimfalling-
I sit up with a gasp, heart pumping at a mile a minute. I look around as the darkness seems to be swallowing me whole like it had in the dream. My entire body flinches when the light suddenly switches on and my mother comes in, holding me close as I shudder and break down into tears. This is the third time this month I had the same dream again, and it still scares me. I fight to breathe as the icy tendrils of terror slowly seep away along with the details of the dream. The soothing murmur of my mother's comforting "you're alright"s and "it's okay"s help ease away my panic until I'm left only tired and sad.
"Why do I always fall, mama?" I choke out when I finally find my voice again. "I don't like it. I hate falling. I thought dreams were supposed to be about the things we like." I can feel tears gathering in my eyes again, and I hate that too.
"I don't know, liebling, and I don't like it either. But tell you what?" She asks in a voice filled with forced steadiness as she blinks away the exhaustion in her own eyes. Sofia Fischer was not an overtly religious woman, but she prayed every day now that her daughter would overcome whatever it was that was happening to her that caused these terrible nightmares. She just hoped it had nothing to do with that... "We will go visit Doctor Lewinsky tomorrow and then spend the rest of the day however you like. How does that sound, hase?"
Immediately I lift my head to grin at my mother, not noticing the red rims around her eyes, of the forced quality of her smile. I had only one thing on my mind.
"Really? Can we go get ice- eiscreme?" I stumble over the word in my excitement, causing a small laugh to leave my mom's lips as she nods.
"Yes, liebling, but to do so we must be well rested. Off to bed with you." I immediately get back into the covers, but hesitate as she leaves.
"Mu-Mutter. Can you stay, please? Just for today?" I beg, and she looks at me with pursed lips before she sighs.
"Alright. But only for tonight, and only until you fall asleep. You cannot grow up with such habits, alright?" I nod my head shamefully, but she sits next to me and tilts my head up. "I say this so you will become a strong woman someday, little hase."
"Strong like Mutter?" I say wonderingly, causing another, even sweeter smile to appear on my mother's face.
"Even stronger." She stays til' morning, humming a lullaby I knew by heart now as I slept peacefully for the rest of the night.
Off in a galaxy far away, a young man sits in a library filled with towering bookcases, a book held loosely in his hands as he stares off into the sky. His head is tilted, as though listening for something, and he's so focused he doesn't notice anothers presence in the room until they speak, startling him.
"I had wondered where you had run off to, Loki."
"Mother." he responds with a small smile, although it is a distracted one.
"What's the matter, my son?" Frigga asks with a voice tinged in concern. Her son is one of the sharpest men to live, so to see him so distracted is a rare occurrence. Loki turns to her fully then, his face showing some nervousness, only furthering her worry for him. He's never acted this way unless he was truly troubled. He hesitates, then grows determined. If there is only one person he can trust with this, it's his mother.
"I can't explain it, but something strange has been happening recently. It's never happened before, but I've suddenly started to hear strange things. Mostly music, though sometimes they are words, like poetry or recited words from books. It doesn't appear to have any sort of trigger, and only I can seem to hear it. It happens randomly. I've looked in every book I could find and there doesn't seem to be an explanation for it, nor any clues of where it comes from." his voice turns soft as his eyes turn fearful and desperate, and Frigga feels her heart ache for her son. "Am I going mad, mother?"
"No, my dear boy." she soothes as she moves to hug him. He accepts her embrace fully, grateful for the comfort even as his thoughts whirl in his head. "No, you are not going mad."
She closes her eyes in despair as she reaches a conclusion on what might actually be happening. She had heard of such an occurrence happening once long ago. It had been a tragic tale of love and despair, and she prayed in her heart that it would end differently for her son. "Let us sit, Loki, and I shall tell you a tale. One long forgotten, but one that will help you now."
They sit at the window, and Frigga clasps her son's hand tightly, whether for her sake or his she doesn't know, but it helps them both the same. "There once lived an Aesir who resided in Asgard. They had lived here most of their life, never once venturing to the other realms. That is until one day they came across an ancient spell book bound in chains forged by the dwarves of Nidavellir themselves." She hesitates, unsure if it was wise of her to go on, but at her son's insistent gaze, she continued with a heavy heart.
"No one knows how they came upon it, nor how they managed to open it, but by doing so they unleashed a powerful spell. It was a spell that allowed them to hear their soulmate across the galaxies. It was a gift at first, one that allowed them to fall deeply in love with their other half, and they boasted about it day and night. However, this led to many heartbreaks, as they were tricked many times into believing they had found their soulmate only to find out it had been a lie. Before long, the gift became a curse as they spiraled into despair, haunted by the songs only they could hear. They searched through the entire populace of Asgard until they came to the conclusion their soulmate was not an Aesir at all. They decided to search across the galaxy, unwilling to stop until they had found their mysterious beloved." Loki was transfixed by his mother's words, and he hesitated to ask his next question.
"What happened to them?"
"No one knows. They were never heard from again." She answered solemnly, unable to look her son in the eyes. The true ending to the story was not such a merciful one.
"Why is it happening to me, then?" he asks, this time quieter. "Did someone curse me, Mother?"
"No!" Frigga rushes to assure him, "No, Loki, never say that. The Aesir made it a curse by telling the whole world about their gift, filling others with envy until they decided to ruin it for them. You, however, did the right thing and have told no one of your gift. You have only ever loved and respected magic, how could it ever think to curse you, my dear son?"
He smiled a moment before growing pensive. After a minute he squared his shoulders with a new resolve.
"Well then I'll be different. I'll keep it a secret, I'll find my beloved, and I will bring them back to Asgard." he vowed, and Frigga couldn't help but smile at her beloved son. She knew it might be a great risk to encourage him, but she had seen the soft smiles and heard the low chuckles he made whenever he thought no one would see. Whoever this person was, they made her son happy, and that was something she would never let be taken from him. And by the determined glint in his eyes, neither would he.
A/N: Hope you all liked it and are looking forward to the next update. :)