Visitation

by kalimecat

Loki has returned to Asgard and is imprisoned for his crimes. While in prison he has the occasional visitor, will the love of others bring back the fallen prince or is he truly too far gone?

42. Left With Nothing But Memories

A/N: HEEEELLOOO READERS! Thanks so much for all your continued support of the story. I appreciate each follow, favorite and review soooo much. I cherish each and every one of them. I can't believe we are only one month away from Thor: Ragnorok. I was really hoping to finish this story by the time the new movie came out, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. LOL. But either way I intend to keep writng until the story is comple! I thought that this chapter would cover more plot points than it actually did, but sometimes the story unfolds as it pleases. Anyway although I did hope to cover more in this chapter I hope that it still strikes as much of an emotional core for you as it does for the character. I hope you all enjoy. Happy reads and writes. God bless. Without further ado

Chapter 42

Loki's heart pounded, his limbs trembled, his lungs ached as he scrambled for air. He clawed at his own neck as he struggled to breath. All around him he felt flames. His skin was drenched with perspiration. He was way too hot. He felt as if he would melt. Loki looked around wide-eyed as he stumbled through the hallway. He crashed into the stands and ottomans and pillars and vases. He was making a mess as his shaky body bounced off the walls. His sweat ran into his eyes, stung them and blurred his vision. He looked around and gasped and winced as he thought he saw flashes of fire leap up and lap at the curtains and drapes and tapestries that lined the palace halls. Each flicker sent him reeling backward and tripping over himself. He started to get the sense that the corridor was filling up with smoke. He could feel the heated cloud hovering over him and starting to fill his lungs. "I...I...I can't breathe," he choked out as he started to cough. He blinked and then saw that there was no smoke. Loki shook his head and tried to wipe the sweat from his eyes, but every attempt to clear his vision only caused his eyes to sting more. In another blink of the eye the thick, black clouds were once again surrounding him, engulfing as he scrambled for air. He clawed at his own neck as he struggled to breath. All around him he felt flames. His skin was drenched with perspiration. He was way too hot. He felt as if he would melt. Loki looked around wide-eyed as he stumbled through the hallway. He crashed into the stands and ottomans and pillars and vases. He was making a mess as his shaky body bounced off the walls. His sweat ran into his eyes, stung them and blurred his vision. He looked around and gasped and winced as he thought he saw flashes of fire leap up and lap at the curtains and drapes and tapestries that lined the palace halls. Each flicker sent him reeling backward and tripping over himself. He started to get the sense that the corridor was filling up with smoke. He could feel the heated cloud hovering over him and starting to fill his lungs. "I...I...I can't breathe," he choked out as he started to cough. He blinked and then saw that there was no smoke. Loki shook his head and tried to wipe the sweat from his eyes, but every attempt to clear his vision only caused his eyes to sting more. In another blink of the eye the thick, black clouds were once again surrounding him, engulfing him.

Loki didn't know if he could trust his own senses, they were quick to betray him, but he knew that the heat was overwhelming, oppressive and suffocating. He had to do something. He had to get away. Loki clapped his sweaty hand over his mouth and nose to keep from breathing in the supposed smoke. He dropped to his knees and crawled like a child across the carpeted floor. His body was weak and limbs trembled as he tried to drag them. He was panting. He was so hot. He felt like his lungs were sure to be charred from the inside out if he did get some water soon. "W-w-water," he said as he tried to look around him. Everything was foggy, a swirl of colors in the haze of a mirage. Scarcely, he could make out the form of a flower pot.

With his tongue dangling from his mouth and his hand shaking and unsteady, he reached up and summoned the vase toward him. The ornate vessel floated through the air, but it shook as it did so. As if he was barely in control of the newly enchanted object. Despite his weakened skill, the vase did manage to make its way to the king. Loki flopped to his back and reached up and plucked the flower pot from the air. He flung the pretty flowers to the ground and greedily guzzled the water in the vase. The dirty water ran down the sides of his face and cheeks and Loki sighed in relief. It was all at once disgusting and delightful, healing and sickening.

The king of Asgard laid on the ground for awhile, allowing the lukewarm liquid to cool his flaming insides. He could feel some lucidness returning to him. His vision started to clear just a little. He was at least able to comprehend that the palace was burning, but he was still way too hot. Soon, after a few more swings of the murky water from the flower vase, Loki was able to flip himself back on his stomach and scuttle onward.

Slowly, he pressed his way to his feet. He was still trembling, but at least he was able to stand. Nevertheless, his hands were on fire and he was still desperately seeking relief. He went forward stumbling and muttering to himself. His face was wane and white, he looked haggard, like a vagabond. He certainly hoped that neither Malekith nor any of his soldiers came into the hallway. He could have them see him in such distress.

Finally, he happened upon the door to his old bedchamber. He noticed the rich black oak of the door and the insignia, his own symbol, his helmet made of gold and onyx. He sighed, almost smiled as a wave a relief washed over him. His fingers eagerly skimmed the surface of the door. He pressed his face along the door post. His weak, bloodshot, emerald eyes slowly closed as he felt the gold overlay around the doorpost, perhaps here he could rest. He wanted to rest, he needed rest. The hour was growing late, dawn was swiftly approaching, Convergence was drawing nigh, he needed to be well rested.

Loki immediately grabbed at the gold handle of his door. He feverishly twisted and pulled on the knob, but his hands were so slick that he found he couldn't get a good grip. His bony, trembling. Sweaty fingers seemed to slide right off of the knob no matter how hard he tried. In frustration and panic, Loki slid down the door huddled against it and wept.

He wept quietly. A silent stream of tears just swam down his face. His face crumpled and lightly he banged on the bottom of the door. It was a gentle rapping, a plea to be let in. "Please, please, please," Loki whimpered. He was exhausted and his voice was barely audible. Loki sat with his legs spread out before him, his back slumped against the door. He halfway expected someone to come find him. It always seemed to happen in times past. The times when he'd been ill and trying to pull away from the crowd or drunk and sneaking into the palace late at night. Those times had been rare, but they'd happened more frequently than he would have probably cared to admit.

"Loki?" A young, deep voice, somewhat muffled with the tone of sleep called to him from down the hall. He was disheveled and unkempt. He never liked to be seen as such by the populace, let alone by the palace. This had been a mistake and even in his alcohol-soaked state, he knew that now. He had no more time to ponder his bad decisions as he heard the person calling his name swiftly approaching. He panicked. He just realized how loud he must have been. He hadn't been able to make it down the hall without stumbling over his own two feet. He kept tripping over himself and falling on the floor and running into things. He would have been humiliated by his lack of finesse at even the simple task of walking, but he'd had one too many drinks to be humiliated. Rather he found his stumbling rather humorous. He tumbled to his bedchamber and guffawed as he found himself on the floor. He managed to pull himself to his feet leaning heavily on the door to find his balance. All the while in between his inane chuckles he spat out a few verses from the drinking song he learned at the tavern that night.

"Brother, is that you?" a sturdy bass voice bellowed as it seemed to get closer and closer.

Loki fiddled with his door but found it wouldn't budge. He couldn't be caught like this! He fiddled and fiddled some more. He twisted the knob back and forth, but for some reason, it just wouldn't open. He needed to speak with his steward about doing something about that door. "Dumb door," Loki mumbled as he kicked the bottom of the door. "Stupid Thor," he groused as he looked over his shoulder and noticed the blonde behemoth burling down the corridor toward him. He and his older brother had gotten into a bit of an argument earlier in the day about the fact that he'd been so distant lately. It never occurred to his brother that he grew tired of listening to him and his friend prattle on and on about nothingness. The heavy footsteps were coming quicker down the hall, so he did the only thing he could think to do.

"Loki is that you?" The voice was fairly alarmed sounding. But when the person arrived at the door, they did not encounter the form of the younger prince of Asgard, but that of a palace guard slumped against Loki's door. "Oh," the person was surprised by the person they found.

"Prince Thor, sir," the guard mumbled. His speech slurred and slow as he climbed to his feet. "Forgive me, your highness," he apologized. He tried to stand up straight and managed to fall into a proper bow to show all due reverence to a member of the royal family.

"Soldier, have you been sleeping?" Prince Thor asked curiously, his thick lips pursed as he took a good look at the soldier. In all his years, he'd never known any of the guards to be anything less than vigilant on their posts. They were all so well trained and disciplined. He and Loki used to always try to make the guards react when they were boys. He admitted that Loki was certainly better at it. He could be quite rotten with his antics. Loki could sometimes send a guard yelping with his nasty tricks. He used to love to switch faces. Sometimes he'd walk down the hall and he'd wear a wolf's head. The guard would do a double take and cry out, but even in that they always went right back to their position poised and steady at their assignment.

Thor didn't necessarily recognize this particular guard, but perhaps he was new to the palace. New hires were fairly frequent. The guard was tall, dark-featured with a thin mustache. The color of his eyes was mostly concealed by the hooded shadow that came from the helmet, but Thor guessed that they were brown. He wore a bronze coat of arms, depicting his low ranks amongst the guards.

"No, my prince," the soldier muttered and looked down.

"You were lying on the ground...tell the truth, soldier," Thor instructed. His voice was stern.

"Ah, yes sir...I'm sorry, sir." The young guard's eyes shifted about. He would not meet the prince's gaze directly. "One thousand apologies, your highness," the new guard started groveling. He dropped to the floor and kissed the prince's ring. "Forgive me, sire please don't have me flogged. Don't tell father...re...I mean...your father...the all-father," the young soldier rambled on. He shook his head and grabbed his face as he spoke. "I'm sorry for my tiredness... I am not used to working such late hours," he said and gave a sleepy yawn. "I am new you, see my prince..."

"Ah," Thor snapped his fingers. "that's it I knew you were new," Thor went on. "I was thinking that I didn't recognize you," Thor spoke informally. Thor smiled a kindly smile at the young man. He almost seemed amused.

"oh you did not recognize me," the guard muttered and rubbed his hands together and started snickering.

"What was that?" The blonde-haired son of Odin asked as he turned to the guard.

"Oh nothing, your highness, I was just astonished... tis no need for a prince to recognize a lowly guard such as myself. I did not mean to cut across you, my prince, please don't have me flogged," the guard drew back and cowered a bit.

"There, there soldier. I shall not have you flogged. I dare say," he chuckled and allowed the guard to rise. "I suppose these wee hours do take some getting use to," he continued laughing and clapped a hearty hand on the young soldier's back. The slap caused the guard who was already unsteady on his feet to nearly lost his balance. He wobbled and tottered and rocked until his found uneasy footing once again.

"Thank you... thank you...thank you so much, my prince. You are truly kind and gracious and goodly and all the things I ever heard about you," he praised as he tried to keep himself from swaying back and forth. "I shall not forget your kindness, my lord Prince and I shall be more diligent in making sure I do not fall asleep on my post again," he bobbed his head and placed his hands across his fist in a pledge.

"Good man," Thor nodded back and he placed a steadying hand on the soldier's shoulder. "A word of advice though," the prince offered.

"Of course, sire," the guard said as he swallowed deeply.

"It is probably best not to drink while on your rounds," he stated. Thor could smell mead on the guard.

"Oh," the guard dropped his head. He played with his fingers and shifted his weight from one foot to the next. "I am sorry...I'm so sorry," he started to blubber. "Please...please sire don't tell father...er the all-father." He sputtered.

Thor lifted his blonde brows. He gave the soldier a questioning look. "The all-father has far more important matters to concern himself with than your drunkenness," Thor corrected and lifted his nose up at the comment. "I would not bother him with such trifles," Thor shrugged.

The guard once again bowed his head, "Yes, of course, my prince...I did not mean to imply..."

"However, that does not mean that your superior, Captain Njel will take kindly to your state. He will certainly have cleaning the barrack bathing houses for a month for such an indiscretion," Thor reminded him.

"Yes, I know, Highness," the guard remarked, his voice jumping an octave. "Please...I..."

"I suggest you go to bed, soldier" Thor stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Captain Njel will certainly have you punished if he finds out about this matter. Besides, you are standing right outside of Prince Loki's bedchambers," he inclined his head toward the door.

"Merciful Yggdrasil, I had no idea," the guard gushed.

"Yes, but you are making quite a mess and Loki hates rubbish," Thor elaborated as he looked down at the muddy footprints right outside of Loki's bedroom door. Not to mention the rumpled carpet and the toppled over table.

"Yes, sir...I am sorry," he mumbled.

"You are also making quite a ruckus," Thor expressed. "My brother is a sensitive sleeper and actually quite cranky if disturbed," he continued chuckling slightly.

"I am not cranky!" The guard blurted out.

"What did you say?" Prince Thor turned around and looked at the young soldier. Most of his face was obscured by his helmet.

"I...I...I...I only said I don't wish to make him angry, my prince"

Thor scratched his head. "It sounded like you said..." He stopped mid-sentence. The hour was late, he was tired and the young soldier's speech was relatively slurred. It was more than possible that he'd heard him wrong. "Oh never mind," Thor remarked. "Perhaps we should both be off to bed," the prince said.

"Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" The young guard saluted. Thor responded in turn by saluting back. Then the prince turned back around and proceeded to head back to his own chamber. Meanwhile, the guard slipped his skin and changed back into his original form. Pleased at the fact that his guise had worked so perfectly, he started snickering. He laughed loudly at how easily he'd been able to fool his own brother. All the while he continued to try and work his doorknob. He let a hiccup slip between his lips and he startled himself so much so that his knees buckled and he found himself slumped back on the ground before his door. To this, the younger prince of Asgard found himself unable to contain his laughter. He guffawed and then he snorted.

"Loki!" Thor gasped as he turned back around and found Loki sitting on the ground laughing like a child. Thor was soon right by his side, hovering over his brother. His look was most concerned. Loki raised heavy, glazed jade eyes up to look at his elder brother. Seeing the look of worry on the golden boy's face sent the younger prince it to a tizzy of fitful giggles.

"Now you see me brother," he crowed loudly. There was a broad grin on his face. He raised his hand in the air to greet his brother.

"Loki," Thor shook his head perplexed by his brother's state. "Where have you been?" Thor asked with great concern. He hadn't seen his brother at the evening meal, but Loki had said that he was feeling unwell and would be retiring early. "Why are you so dirty?" He inquired. Loki's clothes were disheveled and filled with stains, his tunics were rumpled and untucked. His shoes were filled with soggy mud. Loki's response to this was just to look down at his messy clothes. He picked at his clothing and then laughed and muttered something that Thor could not decipher. Thor squinted and looked at his brother in the dim light of the hallway candles. His normally, smoothly slicked back black hair was flopping in his eyes. His green eyes were red and glassy looking. His lids were heavy and he kept blinking, his thin limps looked plump and purple and his cheeks were rosy, "Are you drunk?" He asked in horror. Thor looked around, he halfway expected that all of the palace guards would be turned to donkeys.

"Nope, not at all," Loki said while shaking his head yes. Loki then reached into the lining of his cloak. He felt around in the pocket and pulled out a wineskin. He immediately popped to cork off and pucked his lips to receive another swig. He was disappointed to find that the wineskin was empty. He had his mouth wide open ready to drink it down, but when he found that their wants a drop, the raven-haired prince continued laughing as he slapped his knee and tried to push himself up off the ground. His attempts only caused him to slip and fall back down right or his romp. This sent him chuckling quite loudly all the more.

"Alright, come, come now Loki, let's get you to bed," Thor said slowly as he stooped down and wrapped Loki's limp arm around his broad shoulders.

Loki was still giggling like a little girl when Thor happened to hoist him to his feet. He was surprised to find himself in an upright position. Still, he was unable to stand on his own any longer and he was leaning on his brother for support. "Mmm," Loki whined. "I dun wannagotabed," he pouted.

"You need to," Thor stated sternly. His brother's track record with spirits was not an impressive one. Loki could become quite volatile when alcohol was involved.

"But-but-but my door won't open," Loki pointed out as he grinned from ear to ear. Thor looked at Loki and rolled his eyes and twisted the doorknob open right away. Loki's emerald eyes opened wide. He gasped in astonishment, "Brother are you learning magic? How did you do that delightful trick?" He asked as he stumbled into his own room. "You must teach it to me," he chimed sing-songily.

"Alright, easy-does-it, Loki, nice and slow," Thor said as he led his brother carefully into the chamber. Loki seemed to be barely able to lift his feet off the ground as he walked. "Come, and lie down," Thor instructed as he ushered them both closer to Loki's bed.

Loki sat down. Although, Thor thought it was less out of obedience and more out of necessity. He grabbed his head as the room started to swirl about. "Thor, the room is spinning," Loki announced dizzily.

Thor shook his head and chuckled and walked into Loki's sitting area. "I'm not surprised it seems like you've had quite a lot to drink tonight," Thor said with a frown. He found a pitcher full of freshly chilled water and poured it into a glass and brought it over to his brother. "Here, drink this," Thor offered the glass to the younger prince.

Loki looked at Thor's hand and it appeared to be rocking from side to side. The second son of Odin had to squint and concentrate very hard to figure out which of the many hands and glasses that he was seeing was real to actually take it from Thor's hand. Finally, he managed to catch it! He practically snatched it from his brother's grasp. "More wine?" Loki asked licking his lips.

"You've had enough," Thor admonished. "Cold water," the blonde-haired prince replied.

Loki's this purple-tinted lips formed a childish scowl, "Boooooo," he jeered. "No fun," he stuck out his tongue.

"You need something to clear your head," Thor responded. "Just take a couple of sips, ok," the thunderer insisted. He pushed the drink toward Loki's mouth and ruffled his young brother's messy raven-locks. Thor pursed his lips and sighed as he happened to feel Loki's forehead. It was damp and radiating heat. "You should lie down...you're feverish," Thor expressed and he practically pushed Loki down on the bed.

"I am?" Loki asked in confusion as he felt Thor's strong hands take hold of his shoulders and slowly lower him toward the pillows. He blinked dully and a sleepy grin was plastered on his porcelain face. Loki flopped back on his own bed he stretched out in his bed rolling about like a child in the sheets.

"Yes," Thor said slowly, patiently. "Maybe I should get a healer," he posed and started to stand up.

"Wh-what...what...no...no...brother, please don't" Loki begged he gave a weak tug to Thor's fingers. His eyes were wide and trembling.

Thor sighed but recanted his thought. He sat back down on the edge of the bed next to Loki. He kept his hand on Loki's forehead. He doubted Loki truly wanted anyone to see him in such a state. Loki took such pride in always having perfect composure. "Why have you been drinking brother, tis not like you?" It was true. He couldn't recall Loki having ever finished a glass of wine since his coming of age ceremony many years ago. Loki had...had not taken well to strong drink. He was wild and malicious and out-of-control and it had been frightening to see. The things Loki had done, turning people into animals, scaring people out of their wits, practically performing a public flogging on that poor tavern maid, it had made people mistrustful of the second prince of Asgard.

"Canitellyouascretbrudder?' Loki's words ran together as his eyes rolled back and he started to giggle once more.

"Of course, Loki," Thor said as he helped Loki out of his leather surcoat. He practically had to peel the young prince out of his garments Loki was so limp limbed that his arms just flopped about as his clothing was removed.

"Mother won't approve...Father won't approve," he whispered and laughed. "But...I met someone one," he announced sloppily as Thor yanked his tunic from his slender form. When Thor had pulled Loki's green tunic all the way off of his body he found Loki grinning foolishly with his head cocked to the side.

"Really?" Thor questioned. He nearly smiled. Thor was surprised by his brother's confession. Loki was not the most open person. He had always been private and secretive. Loki hadn't opened up to him in such a way in a long time...not since...not since Lady Dagmar that was. Thor felt a pang of guilt pull at his heartstrings. Loki had been hesitant to confess his feelings about their longtime friend. Thor had no idea that they had the same feelings for the same woman. It wasn't as if Loki actually came out and told him. He hadn't meant to hurt Loki by pursuing Dagmar. He broke off his fledgling relationship with the Vanir maiden, but Loki had not confided in him about such matters ever again. He doubted that Loki had considered courting again. He focused on his studies and his mystical arts and on his teaching at the academy. Every so often he would suggest introducing his brother to someone at court. Generally, Loki would blow up about the matter. He'd fume about how he didn't need his help to meet women or about he didn't want his leftovers. Eventually, he just stopped trying, it wasn't worth the arguments and insults that it caused. He couldn't imagine that Loki was still pining away for Lady Dagmar, that had been nearly 200 years ago. He didn't know why he found it so surprising that Loki was interested in someone. Asgard was filled with beautiful women. Actually, when he thought about it was probably a good thing. Loki was so serious and studious, it would be good for him to let his hair down and find some maiden to take to his bed. He finally looked up at Loki only to find him smiling as he bobbed his head up and down silently. "Well, what's her name?' Thor asked as he walked away from Loki's bed and went to look in one of the drawers

Loki laughed, "she has such a beautiful name," Loki gushed and he started humming again. "It's like a song!" He announced excitedly. He crawled toward to edge of the bed and chased behind Thor.

"Here," Thor looked back at his brother as he shook his head and laughed. He could not remember seeing his brother this giddy since he was a boy. "Why don't you put on your sleeping clothes?" Thor suggested as he tossed a light green shirt and a pair of gray trousers toward his younger brother.

"Name's Calliope," Loki gushed as he struggled to put on his shirt. Somehow he had become quite entangled in the shirt. He was trying to fit his head through his sleeve. Thor turned around and chuckled slightly seeing the struggle.

"Here," he said quickly coming over to be of assistance. He turned the shirt around a pulled it down over Loki's head while gingerly helping to guide his arms through the sleeves.

"Thanks," Loki laughed before he slouched back down on the bed. Thor looked down and noticed that Loki's boots were still on. At this point, he doubted Loki would be able to get them off himself. Thor scooted back toward the bed and lifted Loki's leg to his lap.

"Where did you meet, Calliope?" Thor asked as he unlaced his brother's left boot.

"At university," Loki explained. "She's studying to...to...to be a minstrel," Loki continued and bobbed his head enthusiastically

"You take music classes?" Thor wondered out loud his deep yellow brows quirking at the thought.

"Some incantations need be sung," Loki expounded as he wore a silly, sleepy grin on his face. "We were paired by our professor for an assignment," the raven-haired prince elaborated. "We...we...have been talking for a while," Loki went on swooning. "She had such a beautiful voice and she was singing at the tavern tonight and told meet her there," he stated with a shrug. He hardly noticed Thor removing his shoes and socks.

"She's a tavern wench?' Thor asked as he guffawed. "My, my, little brother you sure know how to pick them, Mother will love that," Thor shook his head.

"she's a MINSTREL!" Loki corrected. "And don't call me that!" Loki fussed and swatted at Thor. "MMnotlittleboy," Loki grumbled miserably.

"Ok, ok," Thor said as he patted Loki's shoulder. "So, this minstrel girl, called Calliope got you drunk?" Thor's look changed instantly from amused to worried. It didn't seem like Loki to be so easily influenced to partake in alcohol. He was so adamantly against being made to look foolish in front of the populace. Thor couldn't imagine what had come over him.

Loki shook his head, lazily, "I drank to impress her," he winked. He started giggling once more. "Father won't like it," the emerald-eyed enchanted admitted. His shoulders fell and he huffed an exhausted breath out of his mouth, it was so loud and huffy that it made his thin, though plumpened lips bounce off one another.

"Why don't you think father will approve?" Thor questioned as he tried to settle Loki down. Father was actually fairly concerned about Loki in the department of romance.

Loki brought his finger to his lips and shook his head, he gave a silly little Cheshire cat grin as he shushed his brother. "She'd not of noble birth," Loki whispered. "Peasant girl," he spat out. "Her father owns a tavern in the hill country," Loki expressed. Loki let out a blast of a laugh. He slapped his knee, "I...I...duneven think she knows I'm a prints," the second son of Odin continued guffawing as he tossed his head back so far that he hit his head on the headboard of his bed. His cranium met with the wooden board with a loud a smack.

"Loki!" The elder prince gasped as he watched his brother whack his head.

"OWWWIE" Loki enunciated through fitful outburst of chuckles. His gem colored eyes crossed and he snorted once more as he rubbed his sore noggin.

"Are you, alright?" Thor asked as his brows furrowed. he inspected Loki's head searching through his inky hair to see if he'd injured himself. "You really need to settle down, brother," Thor instructed mildly. He took Loki by his thin shoulders and gently started to press Loki's shoulders back onto the soft pillows. "You are very drunk," Thor stated slowly. He once again wiped his hand across Loki's pale forehead.

The young wizard let out a hiccup that caused a magic ripple and sent the furniture floating in the air for but a minute. Thor even found his own feet rising off of the floor. He was hovering off of the ground. "

"Loki," The crown prince of Asgard said in a testy tone as his body teeter-tottered toward the ceiling. "Loki!" Thor yelled as he felt himself floating higher and higher. "Put me down!" The thunderer commanded. Loki laughed, but obliged his brother and brought him down. Albeit, ineloquently. He slammed Thor's body against his plush king-sized bed and it sent them both bouncing. This sent Loki into a tizzy of twittering teeheehees. Once his body stopped bouncing upon his brother's bed. He shook himself and bristled. He leaned over Loki and was ready to strike him in the face for the little stunt he just pulled. But when he looked upon his younger brother, who was rosy-cheeked and glassy-eyed and grinning jovially from ear to ear somehow all his anger disappeared.

Loki looked up at him panting. He reached his long, porcelain fingers out toward Thor's cheek and tapped him roughly there. "Just a bit of fun, brother," Loki sighed.

"Yeah," Thor said returning the gesture, "I'm sure you've had enough fun for tonight," Thor reminded him. "You need to get some sleep," Thor stated. He raked his strong, ruddy fingers through Loki's dark tendrils. "I'll see you in the morning," Thor expressed with an affectionate smile. He patted Loki on the shoulder and started to stand.

"Butbutbut," Loki countered as he restlessly sat up and grabbed at his sibling's wrist. "I haven't finished my tale," he explained. Loki flashed a beguiling smile at the older Odinson. He figured that it would be unlikely that Loki would be so apt to share once he was sober, so he sat down once more at his brother's bedside.

"Alright," Thor uttered consolingly, "Then bed," Thor instructed and gave a playfully scolding finger.

Loki bobbed his head silently before he went on. "There were many men around her at the tavern. All were trying to impress her, she is so fair," Loki leaned over and whispered in Thor's ear. "All the men were offering to buy her drinks and then she proposed a contest to see who could drink the most and then that man could escort her to the spring carnival at university," Loki expounded as he twisted his hand in the air. He twirled his finger in the air and made electric green patterns in the air. Everyone twas challenging one another to see he could drink the most. With my...my...magic I was able to drink the stupid lot of mongrels under the table," Loki expressed as he snorted.

"Why didn't you just show her your magic?" Thor inquired as he tossed Loki's boot over his shoulder. He pulled down the covers and slid Loki's legs underneath them.

Loki yawned, "noooo," he groaned as he leaned back deep into the pillows. They were soft and comfortable. Loki bonelessly allowed his arm to fall over his warm forehead. He started to hum to himself. "she was singing about how she likes a man that can hold his liquor and is strong...someone like you," Loki mumbled as his eyes slowly became half-lidded. Though the way the statement was said Thor could determine was less than flattering. "Nobody in Asgard is impressed with my magic anyway," Loki admitted and hiccupped.

The older prince scowled. He slowly raised the quilts from Loki's midsection to Loki's shoulders. "Do you really think that, brother?" Thor's tone was low and concerned. Loki has always been good at deception, but Thor concluded that Loki seemed far too intoxicated to lie at that moment. He was drunk enough to let himself be readied for bed like a child.

Loki blew a tired breath out the side of his mouth. The smell of it is a heavy mixture of mead and grog. And Loki hasn't had anything more than a diplomatic glass of wine since his birth celebration many years ago. "Iknowthat," Loki admits. He shrugged and laughed slightly, his lids growing heavier and heavier.

"That's not true, Loki," the crown prince of Asgard said as he took the glass from Loki's hands. Loki seemed to be barely able to hold onto it. "Everyone is impressed..."

Laughter bubbled forth from Loki's throat. "Ha!" He blasted. "Real prince of Asgard uses sword and spear...not tricks in battle," Loki echoed the comments and insults that he has heard many times whispered behind his backs by the nobles of the realm. "Maybe they are right," Loki sighed. He snuggled down into the quilts and pelts on his bed.

"They are wrong," Thor said. "You should really sleep now, Loki," Thor practically pleased.

Prince Loki nodded, his eyelids already had closed. "Schleepy," he muttered.

Thor tucked the covers all the way up around Loki's shoulders and flicked his dark hair out of his face. "We'll talk more in the morning, ok?" Thor smiled down at Loki's nearly slumbering form. Though Loki is past his adolescence, Thor could still see his baby brother.

"Yeshtor," Loki bobbed his head. Thor blew out the candle on Loki's nightstand and slowly crept toward the door. It was hard for the strapping young prince to move silently, but he tried his best so as not to disturb his brother's much-needed sleep. Thor reached the door and the door creaked as he opened it. "Tor?" Loki's voice was hazy with alcohol. "Tanks for opening the door," he mumbled groggily as he fell asleep.

Loki chastised himself for the ridiculous memory. What did it matter now? Thor was trapped in the dungeon, doomed to die in just a few short hours. He didn't need him. He didn't need him. In one last languishing effort Loki wiped his hands on his tight pants. He reached his hand back and attempted to twist the knob once more. "Please," he muttered as he gave it a firm twist and he the knob click. He practically fell into his room.

The enchanter scrambled to his feet upon tumbling on his back and into his bedchambers. Once on his feet, Loki quickly slammed the door behind him. His back was pressed to the door and he tried to catch his breath. After a few moments, Loki found that his lungs felt clearer, his pulse was no longer racing, his heart was no longer banging against his chest and the heat that had taken over his body was starting to dissipate. Loki placed a palm to his feverish forehead and licked his damp, raven curls out of his eyes. He was finally able to look at his quarters. His chamber was so dark he could hardly make anything out.

His room had always been his sanctuary; along with the Southern Tower and the palace library, there were few places that he'd ever felt so comfortable and safe in. It pleased the king to find that its tranquil effects still remained. It had been such a long time since he'd seen his own bedchamber. He could scarcely recall... He blinked in the darkness as he felt a draft tickle his sweaty and open flesh. It made him shiver, but the chill was a welcome sensation to that of burning heat that had just taken hold of him moments before. Loki once more wiped his brow and then wrapped his thin arms around his taunt and bony body.

His emerald eyes squinted in the dark. He frowned as his feet hesitantly shuffled across the marble floor of his bedroom. His hands groped along the wall as he felt for one of his lamps. He had a switch along the wall that could light his room all at once. He felt for what seemed like an eternity, he was frustrated. He was afraid he had forgotten when his switch was. Had it truly been so long since his royal presence had graced his own bedchamber? One hand quickly balled into a fist, while the other kept feeling along the wall. Loki's lips formed a snarl, he growled. He'd been kept in the dungeons for far too long. How long had he ground lowly in that dank prison cell? How long had he been tethered to a wall like a beast, chained and electrocuted? More than moon cycles, more than months... it had been years! Years since he'd laid in his own bed. And who'd put him there in that pit? Who'd confined him to a miserable dungeon? Odin. Thor! They'd kept him from all the opulence that he was entitled to him. He felt himself seethe. It only fueled the ire deep within that reminded him of how much he hated them and how much they did deserve Ragnorok. Loki's fist clenched tighter and tighter. He pounded his fist against the wall. Until he finally heard a faint click. With that, the room was illuminated. The lanterns and lamps that littered the wall were immediately flooded with light. Loki reeled back on his heels, he was stunned and practically dazed by the brightness.

Loki shaded his jade eyes for a time and then pulled his hands down. He expected his room to be changed. He suspected that perhaps the draft that seemed to sweep through the chamber was because all of his belongings had been removed. He was so prepared to find a cavernous space, where all traces of himself had been removed, instead, he found just the opposite. The newly appointed king's mouth hung open as he beheld that his room remained unaltered. It was just as he remembered it from the last night he'd been called King of Asgard so very long ago.

Loki's skinny fingers traced the mantle that wrapped around much his chamber. He inspected. He was so ready to see how his chamber had been left in disrepair to collect dust. As he scrutinized his finger and thumbs. There was not a speck of dirt, lint or dust to be found. He marveled. He mashed his lips together, then licked them, he caught a whiff of his favorite furnish polish lingering on the ledges. It was crisp and clean like salt and mint. It was divine. Loki walked on further through his bedchamber. His hands fumbling and feeling at so many of his things. His globes and charts and displays, his portraits and paintings, they were all polished and buffed and in perfect condition. His shagged rugs and tapestries were beaten and dusted. He crossed to look into his bathing salon. It was pristinely clean, the way he liked it and it was still filled with fresh, linen towels and his favorite bath salts, soaps, and oils. He opened one of the vials and inhaled deeply the pleasant aroma of tea leaves and musk. He quickly scooped up another and uncovered the refreshing scent of myrrh mixed with newly cut lemon. Perplexed, Loki shook his head leaving the room. He then wandered over his sitting pallor. There he saw all his games, his marble and glass chess sets, his cards and senet tables were all lines and neatly organized. He then moved to his library where he found that each and every one of his precious pieces of literature hand been carefully placed upon the shelves and returned to its designated spot on the shelves and filed in alphabetical order. His fingers skimmed across the books. He studied them to see if even one had been misplaced if his order and the meticulous collection had been somehow corrupted, but it wasn't. It was perfect.

Loki then moved to look at his bed. His feet staggered toward his bed. There he found it made the way he always had his chambermaid dress it. The blankets and pelts were neatly folded. He felt them and remembered the fine quality of fabrics that used to comfort his skin. He sighed as his flesh became reacquainted with the fine satins, silks and velvets in his colors were alluring and made him want to lie down in the bed right then and there. For so long he'd been denied the finery of his life as a prince. He had nearly forgotten how illustrious and opulent his bed truly was. His bed was decorated with pillows. His preferred kind, the one made of golden goose feathers. He nearly shuddered as he thought about sleeping with them once more. It was like sleeping on a cloud. It was a far cry from the horror of the dungeons. He'd been chained to the wall at one point. He dangled like a piece of meat in a butcher shop window. The only reason he'd ever fallen asleep was from pure exhaustion, for there was no comfort in his bleak and lowly cell. Even when he'd been moved to his gilded cage where they'd provided him a daybed on which to rest his head it had seemed like a luxury, but in comparison to the wondrous comfort of his kingsized bed, it was like sleeping on a floor mat.

Still, Loki puzzled as he looked around at all his things so perfectly set and so well kept. He had expected to find everything in disarray. He'd thought everything would be all over the place. He thought that they'd have converted his room into another gymnasium for Thor. At most he thought that they'd at least have allowed the room to fall into disrepair. But he never expected it to be taken care of. It was as if they actually cared. Why did they bother to clean his room? You would clean the room of a dead person or a person who you had locked away in the dungeon? In the back of his mind, Loki thought that he heard someone say, "Because they do still care about you."

The voice startled Loki. He looked around. His eyes wild and bloodshot. It wasn't like the voice of Queen Frigga that had been haunting him just a few moments ago. That voice was audible and ringing in his ear. This voice was from within and he had not heard it in a long time. Loki felt thus inclined to debate with this voice. "No, they don't!" Loki shook his head violently. "No, they don't!" He argued fiercely.

"Why would they keep your room the way you liked if they didn't care about you?"

Loki decided to push such rationalizations from his mind. He didn't know where that still small voice had come from. It stirred from somewhere deep within the very recesses of his heart. It was a low rumble from the dusty, cobwebbed caverns of his soul. It was so small that he'd barely heard it. It was lower than a whisper. Fainter than even a hum. It was shriller than a whistle. It was more of a breath. It was raspy and weak. It had spoken to him so timidly, too. It was scared to rear its head again. "I thought I had done away with you," Loki growled within his throat. "Can I never escape you...you sniveling weakling!" he spat at no one. The new king of Asgard grabbed at his ears trying to drown out the soundless voice that rung in his ears. Loki didn't hear the silent tone speak again. That was all the more maddening. It simply left him alone with his own thoughts. "I don't care!" The raven-haired enchanter railed. "I don't care about them!" he echoed. He paced about like a caged beast. "This changes nothing!" Loki declared. He pointed his finger at his wardrobe as if someone was standing there. He glanced up and thought he saw a shadow of someone there. Someone he once knew. He almost made the reflection out in the mirror. Someone slim and tall, regal and refined looking. The expression on the face was one of fear. It looked so completely horrified as Loki turned back to glance at the figure, but as quick as he thought he saw the image, the image vanished. Loki scarcely recognized himself.

He raked his hands through his long black hair and rubbed his bleary eyes. He looked on his nightstand. He had a beautiful, well-crafted sundial made of marble and onyx stone. He could see that the hour was growing later and later. It was half past midnight already. He needed rest. The task set before him would not wait. Convergence was a timely matter. Tomorrow the Convergence would take place at high noon and the Aether would be unleashed and Thanos would be free to make his way back into the Nine Realms. Thanos would grant him his coveted kingship over Asgard. All would be as he desired. As long as he killed Thor in the morning light as was decreed. He had to rest. Morning drew closer. In the morning the Dark-Elves would round the people up and draw them into the arena and there they would be set to stand and stare at the execution of their most beloved Prince Thor, their champion, their lion and they would see him rise. Finally, after centuries and centuries of standing in Thor's shadows scrambling for any glimmer of light, he would, at last, have his time to shine. He would have his moment in the sun. He would defeat his brother once and for all and none would be able to contend with him. He would be the victor and for him, there would be spoils. The people of Asgard, those who would survive Ragnarok, that is, they would hate him at first and curse his name. They'd call him chaos, but they'd dare not challenge him. He'd be invincible and in time they would grow to love him for his benevolence. And if they didn't he'd dispose of them, simple as that. But who would dare to challenge him after they'd seen the devastation that he could unleash? He'd be the undisputed, uncontested king.

Loki nodded to this notion. All the while he continued to look at his bed. His eyes and head growing heavier and heavier the longer he stared down at the emerald quilts, black pelts, and pillows dressed in satin cloth. Loki tiredly undressed the bed and proceeded to climb in, but while doing so he happened to stub his toe on something that was hard and heavy and that was sticking out ever so slightly from the bed. King Loki was so furious at the object that had dared to obstruct his path that he stooped down to scoop up the object. He sought to hurl it out the window. Loki was surprised when he picked up a medium sized chest made of fine mahogany wood with bronze around the edges and for the locks. Loki's jade pupils grew wide at the sight of the old chest. He dropped it on the bed as if it scalded him. He turned around. Loki groped at his chest. He felt his heart rate increase. Once more his fingers were burning. He instantly became breathless.

The young king of Asgard raked his hand through his hair as he tried to compose himself. He hadn't seen that old sea chest in such a long time. He'd almost forgotten about it. He could not remember ever speaking to anyone about it, not even Frigga. He could easily recall the day he and Thor dug up the chest. He doubted that Thor would have remembered. They were but lads. Thor may have been roughly been about 300 years old (9), he couldn't have been much older than 200 (6), himself. They had been staying at the Southern Palace for a summer holiday. They both enjoyed the beach, Thor maybe more than he. He liked the beach. He liked to build sandcastles and play in the waves and collect seashells, but he hated the heat. He would often get sunburnt and dehydrated. Thor played hard and it had been hard to keep up with his older brother's athleticism.

One day, it rained and they weren't able to enjoy the bright sunshine and fresh sea air. He had been relieved a rainy day gave him a chance to read and he was excited to explore the library in the Southern Palace, but Thor quickly grew restless that day and without the company of their small group of friends, the task fell on him to keep the elder prince entertained. They took to exploring the castle. They searched through the rooms and played hide and seek. In the midst of their game, Loki decided to hide in a small wardrobe. It was filled with old clothes that looked like they were made for children. Loki pressed his way back into the many layers of fabric and held his mouth as he tried to keep from giggling while listening to Thor's heavy footsteps come into the room. Thor was very easy to beat at hide and seek. Loki admitted that in part that was because he cheated. He knew it was wrong. But since he had started to learn enchantments he found that he was able to beat Thor at a lot of things and there was something irresistibly wonderful about having the opportunity to best his older brother. Loki was debating on using his newfound powers and making himself invisible, but as he pressed his way deeper into the wardrobe his heel bumped against the inside of the wardrobe and something fell from the shelf. It tumbled to the floor with a loud crash. Loki's small pale hands reached down and scooped it up. At first, it didn't appear to be much. It was just a bottle. But what was it doing here? A wardrobe was no place for a bottle.

The door to the wardrobe swung open wide. His green eyes slammed shut as they were assaulted with the bright light of the room. He heard his older brother's booming voice. "Found ya!" he declared. Thor practically yanked him out by the arm. "Okay, Okay, your turn!" the blonde prince said energetically. "You have to be the seeker, this time," Thor explained breathlessly. "Gosh, I felt like I was searching for you for forever," the light-haired boy declared. He wipes his brow. "You better not have been cheating," he wagged his finger in his younger brother's face. Loki seemed to be hardly paying attention. His young jade eyes were transfixed on the bottle in his hands. "I would have never found you had you not been making so much noise in the closet," Thor pointed out. He was still grinning. "Why were you making so much noise?" he then turned to Loki and asked. It was the first time that he had noticed that he didn't have his younger brother's undivided attention. "Hey, Loki, are you listening to me?" He asked his little brother in a huff. Loki still didn't answer. His nimble little fingers were busy fiddling with a cork that was in the bottle. "Hello!" Prince Thor laughed as he knocked on his younger brother's raven-haired head.

"Stop that!" Loki barked he spun around to face his brother and swatted at his hands.

Thor responded in kind with a big hearty laugh. "What's that?" His sapphire eyes shined with curiosity. He immediately snatched the bottle from Loki's hands.

"Hey!" Loki squealed. "Come on, brother give it back!" Loki whined as he jumped up trying to grab it back from his brother.

"Haha," Thor laughed in his younger sibling's face. He dangled the bottle in his brother's face and when it got close enough for Loki to reach he would yank it away. Loki kept leaping up in the air and trying to reach the glass bottle. He soon became breathless and he got all red in the face which only increased Thor's overall amusement at the whole situation.

"Give it back!" Loki yelled.

Finally, Thor gave up laughing and dropped the bottle into Loki's hands. "There you go, Loki," he said cheerfully as Loki caught the bottle. "It's just a bottle," he shrugged and scratched his head. "Come on, I'm gonna go hide," Thor pointed his thumb at his chest and started to scramble out the door.

"Wait, Thor," Loki called. "Look, there's something in the bottle," he explained as he chased behind his older brother.

"So?" The older son od Odin asked in annoyance as he blew his long flaxen strands of hair out of his face.

"Look, Thor it looks like there's some old parchment in there," Loki pointed to the tattered, tanned paper rolled up inside the glass bottle. Thor only blinked at the explanation of the younger child. "You know," Loki went on rolling his hand trying to see if Thor would catch on. He rolled his eyes as he waited for Thor to respond. Which of course he didn't, "You know, like a message in a bottle." Thor baby-blues batted vapidly. "You know, Thor like in the book with the pirates. It could be a treasure map inside," he informed the blonde-haired prince.

"Pirates!" Thor leaped in the air. "Treasure!" He exclaimed jumping up and down. "Well come on, Let's open that thing up!" The young prince of Asgard declared and raised a triumphant finger into the air

When they pulled the message out of the bottle they found that it wasn't a letter but rather a map. A map, that apparently led to a great treasure. The next day when the rain stopped and the glorious Asgardian sun was brightly shining down on the shore once again, they determined to spend the day searching for the buried treasure. They spent all day searching, following the maps directions to the letter. They traipsed across the beach counting paces and looking for the clues that the map showed them. They walked past a grove of palm trees, a cleft in the rocks that looked like a bear and the old wreckage from a longboat. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, they found the place where x marked the spot and started to dig up the treasure. They'd felt just like real pirates that day. They'd tied scarfs across their heads and doodled tattoos on their arms. They even gave each gave each other buccaneer names. When they started digging and found the chest they'd both been so excited to find it. "Wow, Thor it's real! A real pirate treasure!" The younger child exclaimed as he watched his older brother labor to pull the old chest out from the sand.

"I know, I know little brother," Thor expressed his enthusiasm matched that of the dark-haired little boy who stood by his side. "We're rich!" The golden-locked little boy exclaimed as he plopped the heavy chest in the sand.

Loki rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Thor we're already rich," He pointed out with his hands on his hips.

"Oh well..." Thor paused then he shrugged his shoulders. "we are richer, then!" Thor chimed back as he flashed a smile back at his brother. "Come on, come on, Loki help me get this thing open," Thor beckoned the raven-haired boy closer. Loki scampered up toward the chest and dove to his knees next to his brother. There, the two princes kneeled before the chest. "What do you think is in there?" Thor asked as he turned toward the younger child with bright blue eyes all aglow with wonder.

Loki shrugged. "I don't know, Thor," the little boy replied. "I mean It could be anything, gold, silver, jewels..." Loki whistled. "I hope it's something magical!" Loki expressed and rubbed his palms together.

"Magical?" Thor's thick lips curled. "I hope it's something powerful," Thor countered.

"Magic is powerful," the younger prince of Asgard barked back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Thor waved dismissively as he vigorously tugged on the lock on the chest. "But I'm talking about something that's really powerful, like a weapon," Thor said between gritted teeth as he continued pulling on the secure lock.

"Well most of the weapons in the Weapon's Vault have magical properties," Loki countered.

"Ugh, I guess, Loki," the firstborn son of the king and queen of Asgard shrugged. He moved from sitting on his knees and rested on his bum. He was winded. "Ugh, I don't think that thing is gonna open, Loki," the blue-eyed boy stated. "It's stuck," he pointed out.

"Here, let me try," the thinner younger child said as he scuttled toward the chest. He put his hand on the padlock. He cupped it between his two tiny hands. His palms started to vibrate rapidly. They glowed with a tiny yellow light. When he removed his hands from the padlock, Thor was left gaping with astonishment as he discovered that the lock had opened. "Loki! How'd you do that?"

Loki winked one of his big green eyes, "Magic!" Loki declared proudly. He puffed out his scrawny little chest. "See, it is powerful, brother," he boasted.

"Yes, yes, yes," Thor said, but his voice was hurried and he wasn't even looking in his younger sibling's direction. His eyes were completely fixed on the prize. "Come on, let's see what's in this thing," he said as his itchy fingers scrambled to pop open the lid. His bright sapphire eyes were wide and hopeful as he flipped the chest open. Both boys gathered around it. Their young expressions eager. They could scarcely believe what they found in the chest. Instead of treasure, they found that the old wooden chest was filled with all manner of childish trinkets. There were toys and books and hand-drawn pictures inside the chest. There were figurines of soldiers and horses carved of driftwood and wooden swords. There were old paper hats and bags full of marbles. There were seashells and collections of rocks. One different item in the chest there were names etched on them. One of the names was Baldur, the other was Odin.

"Look at all this stuff, Loki," Thor said as he found a toy sailing ship. Thor started to chuckle. "Why do you suppose these pirates stole children's toys?" Thor inquired as he scratched his head. He poured open one of the bags of marbles. They sure did look just a beautiful as a chest filled with rubies, diamonds, emeralds and sapphires as they glistened in the sun. He kept laughing as he held the Catseye marble up to his eye. "You think they were pirate children on the ship? Like maybe the pirate king and queen had children or something?" He speculated.

Loki giggled, "Yeah, Thor I think so," Loki nodded. "Look at this," He pointed out as he pulled out one of the books. The title written on it said, "The Dreadful Misadventures of the Pirate Prince Odin and His Faithful First Mate, Baldur."

"Wow, Loki! The Pirate prince has the same name as Papa, isn't that funny?" The blonde giggled.

"Thor, I think it is Papa!" Loki exclaimed.

"What? Don't be ridiculous, Loki. Papa was never a pirate," Thor flagged off his younger brother's theory as he continued to search through the treasure chest. He pulled out the many pieces of papers full of childish drawings. "You know what? I bet...I bet... these pirates robbed Julenissen's sleigh and this is the reason why some of the good little boys and girls in Asgard don't get everything they want for Solstice," Thor expressed.

"Thooorr," Loki's voice rumbled with a bit of agitation. The black-haired little boy slapped his forehead. "I think this was Papa's when he was a boy, like us," Loki pointed out as he pointed between the two of them.

"Really?" Thor held up a pair of toy longboats. "These must be really old then," the fair-haired prince stated. "Here, take a gander at these," Thor exclaimed as he pulled two folded up metal planks from out of the bottom of the chest. There were strange engravings on the planks. There were swirling, spiraling patterns that looked like waves. He tossed one at Loki. The metallic object came sailing toward the younger boy and hit him smack dab in the chest. It smarted when it hit him and Loki probably would have started crying if it hadn't been for the fact that Thor kept chattering on and on with excitement. The older prince was far too excited to pay any attention to his brother's cries Thor started pressing on the plank panels. There were little knobs and buttons on the side. All of a sudden the planks started to hum, then it started to vibrate.

"Thor what did you do?" The jade eyed youngster asked as he looked at his.

"I don't know?" Thor express as he shook his head. His eyes were alight with glee as he stared down at the folded plank. It then started to flicker with lights. Soon the swirling marks were glowing. The plank started to unfold automatically. "It's alive!" Prince Thor shrieked as he beheld the new device. "Stand back, Loki," He yelled as he jumped protectively in front of his younger brother and put a hand out to hold him back. "I'll slay this foul beast!" He declared and immediately he reached into the chest and grabbed one of the wooden swords and proceeded to go about and stab the contraption.

"Thor, stop!" Loki shouted. He rushed to block his brother. "It's not a live...it's...it's a surfer," The little boy pointed out and clapped his hands.

"I think you are right, little brother," Thor nodded. "It's ancient-looking though," he laughed.

"Think it still rides?" Loki inquired.

Thor turned to his sibling and there was a devious little glint in his eye. The younger prince immediately started giggling. He loved when Thor got that mischievous look in his eyes because it mimicked his own. "There's only one way to find out," Thor folded his arms across his chest and gave his brother a wink. Loki bobbed his head enthusiastically to the suggestion. Instantly, they both took off running toward the surfer. "Loki, help me lift this thing up," Thor said while bending down and trying to pick the nose of the surfer out of the sand. Loki followed suit and went to trying to lift the back end of the surfer. He wiggled his little fingers to make them nimble for the task. No sooner had he started to lift the backend of the surfer out of the sand did he feel Thor lifting the nose off the ground. Thor swung the surfer over his head and Loki was left with his small, pale hands holding onto the back end for dear life. His bare feet were left dangling just about the sand. He kicked about as Thor unknowingly carted he and the surfer toward the waves.

"Thor, let me have a turn! Let me have a turn!" Loki called as he ran into the ocean chasing after Thor, he stopped as the water started to rise up to his knees. Thor was already dragging the surfer out into the waves. It seemed seaworthy but he supposed one could never be too sure about those things.

"Hold on, Loki," Thor said. He found that the surfer was actually floating and he was impressed by that. He placed his palms on the surface of the board trying to balance his weight as he hopped on. "Let me go first," Thor stated. He was on his knees trying to gain stability as he felt the tides rolling in.

Loki pouted. He poked out his lip and folded his arms across his chest. "Ugh, no fair," he grumbled. "Why do you always get to go first?"
"Well, I am older, Loki," Thor said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"So," Loki remarked back. He watched as his older brother tried to stand to his feet. The waves rocked the little surfer and Thor wobbled and tottered barely able to stand. He held his arms out to the sides trying to find his center. "You didn't even know what it was," the younger son of Odin remarked rolling his eyes.

Thor finally seemed comfortable on the board. he managed to stand up and feel the rhythm of the ocean beneath him. "I'm making sure it's safe for you, little brother," Thor called merrily over his shoulder. "Now, I wonder what this button does?" Thor wondered aloud as he toed at the button. When he pressed it all of a sudden hand bars popped up. Thor screamed with enthusiasm as he found that he was now able to navigate the surfer fully through the waves. He started off slow. The surfer barely skimmed across the water, but Thor was adventurous. He started trying to do tricks in the water. He made the surfer go faster, he zipped over the crystal blue waters and broke through the breaking waves. Loki could hear if older brother laughing. He sulked and stalked off, kicking up the sand miserably as he went. He knew the nature of such action. This was not the first time that he had seen his brother give himself the first turn that never seemed to end.

Loki got an idea, there were two surfers, were there not? He'd just take the other one and join his brother in the ocean. Loki's thin legs ran like the wind back toward the beach and he gripped the nose of the board. He tried to drag it through the sand but found that it was more of a chore than he had originally realized. Thor had made it look so effortless. "Ugh, come on," Loki said as he gritted and strained and put his back into it. He gave it all his might as he kept attempting to lug the long piece of metal to the water. He'd only managed to cause it to budge a few inches and had he'd already collapsed. He was winded and panting and sweaty.

In the background his older brother's voice crowed and cawed and hooted with enthusiasm, it billowed over the crash of the waves and the song of the gulls. All of a sudden he heard his brother's hurried footsteps, racing across the sand as he rushed from the sea. "Hey, Loki did you see that? Did you see that?" Thor yelled as he ran over to where the ivory skinned prince was laying in the sand. Poor Loki was red in the face. "Hey, little brother, did you see?" Thor asked excitedly. He toed Loki's limp form and leaned over his body and provided momentary relief from the splendid sun. Thor's damp blonde hair dripped in Loki's face. "I got the surfer to jump out of the water. It was incredible! I was so high in the air," he expressed as he moved his hands to demonstrate how his surfer and glided practically into the sky. "It was like flying! It came down on one of the big waves that was rolling in and it made a huge splash! I was soaked!" Thor tossed his head back and laughed. "Oh, I bet I can do it again. We'll come one brother did you see?' Thor continued to question as he steadily jammed his big toe into Loki's side.

Loki couldn't help but start to giggle a bit, "Ugh! Thooor," Loki groaned as he covered his face. "No, I didn't see...I've been here, trying to drag this piece of tin to the ocean," Loki grumbled as he sat up and tossed sand at the surfer.

"Oh, no matter," Thor shrugged. He gripped Loki by the forearm out of the sand. "I can do it again," the big, burly, blonde child declared. He stuck out his chest. "Come watch!" He beckoned and he started to race back toward the big, blue waves.

Loki snatched his arm from his older brother's firm, but affectionate grasp. "Goodness Thor, I don't just want to watch! I've been waiting for a turn all this time and then I can't even get this silly surfer to the waves," he pouted and held himself.

Thor looked back and forth between his younger brother and the shore where he had parked his surfer. "You want a turn?" Thor scratched his head. Loki didn't say a word, but he bobbed his head slowly while hugging himself tight. "Well, why didn't you just say so?" The elder prince laughed. He slapped Loki on the back and nearly sent the dark-haired boy sailing back into the sand. "Come on," He waved for Loki to follow him as he lifted the surfer out of the sand and darted back toward the water. Loki's jade eyes lit up and he turned around and chased behind his brother. Thor bent down and turned Loki's surfer on the two prince's were delighted once more as they watched the surfer hum and light up and unfold. "Ok...Ok, let me show you how it's done," Thor said as he held Loki's board steady so that the younger prince could climb on top of it. They spent the rest of the day racing each other on their surfers, frolicking in the waves and playing in the sand. They did this until the sun was starting to set and their nursemaid, Helga came to fetch them for dinner.

At dinner, that night, the king and queen of Asgard asked their two young sons what had kept them so occupied that day. "Well Papa we were pretending to be pirates," Thor stated. The king and queen exchanged bemused looks at one another and laughed softly. "And we actually found real buried treasure!" he exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Asked their mother while she cut into her meat.

"Yes, Mama, we found a chest and everything," Loki chimed in.

"Let me go fetch it and show it to you, Papa!" Thor said and immediately started to push away from the large table that was arrayed with so many fruits and meats and vegetables that it seemed more like a banquet than a family dinner.

"Why don't you wait until after dessert," the Queen of Asgard suggested with a wink.

When dessert was over the family retired to the sitting pallor, Thor and Loki retrieved their treasure chest from their shared playroom and brought it back down for Odin to see. "Look, Papa!" Thor exclaimed as he plopped the old, heavy sea chest in the king's lap.

"Thor, where did you find this...how did you find this?" Odin asked, his gray-blue eye looking curiously at the mahogany chest.

"I found a message in a bottle, Papa," Loki explained. "There was a treasure map in it and we followed it," he nodded.

"The treasure map in the wardrobe," Odin said as his voice was drifting off.

"Yes, Papa, how did you know?" Asked Thor.

"Look, Papa," Lok said as his little fingers undid the lock with his magic. He held his breath expectantly. He hoped that Odin would be impressed with his feat. Odin didn't seem to notice, but his mother ruffled his hair and whispered something encouraging in his ear. He beamed back at Asgard's lovely female rule. Then he scrambled to reach in the chest before Thor so that he could show Odin the book. "Look, Father it has your name in it!" He pointed.

"Yes," Odin remarked softly, his calloused hands brushed against Loki's small soft ones as he gently took the book from him "It was mine," the king sighed and laughed all at once.

"Really, Papa?" Thor asked his blue eyes batting wildly as he looked at his father. "Loki, you were right!" Thor yelled as he turned and punched his younger sibling in the arm. "Loki said he thought it might be yours," Thor started to explain. "Papa were you really a pirate?"

"Easy, my son, calm down," Frigga said as she gently patted him on the shoulder.

Odin laughed slightly, "No, son," he said as his large hands searched through the chest. His face housed a happy expression as he saw his old things. "I was just a child, like you lads. I used to pretend I was all sorts of things. I loved to pretend and make up stories," the king recalled. He thumbed through the old leatherbound and felt the parchment. He laughed as he saw his old scrawlings and doodles.

"You wrote this, Papa?" Asked as his hands reached for another one of the books in the chest. He was delighted. He had never imagined his father took much of an interest in books. He didn't really think Odin liked to read let alone write anything. He always encouraged he and Thor to do well in their studies, but he more encouraged them to do well in their physical training. He was still too young to do much combat training, but Thor had just started and Odin was very involved in it.

"Yes, Loki," Odin explained as his massive, calloused hand stroked Loki's ebony tresses. "When I was a boy, I had an active imagination, just like you and Thor," Odin's gray-blue eye gave a wink that sent his young sons giggling.

" Guess what, Papa?" Thor asked as he placed his hands on Odin's knee and jumped up and down. "We found some old surfers in the chest," Thor explained. "We went riding on them all day!"

"Merciful Yggdrasil!" Odin slapped his knee. "I can't believe those old things still work,"

"Oh yeah! They still work great, Papa! We were jumping and bumping and dipping and racing all across the ocean!" Thor exclaimed and held his hands out like he was still riding on the surfer, He started running all around the room imitating the movements he handmade.

"What?" Frigga gasped. "I cannot believe you boys were out on the ocean unsupervised," the queen grabbed her heart.

"Don't worry, Mama we are alright," Loki said sweetly and took the queen by her delicate hand.

Queen Frigga clasped him tightly, "I'm so glad that you are, my love," she sighed in relief.

"Don't worry boys tomorrow I will take you out and show you how to properly use them," Odin explained as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and winked at the princes. To this Prince Thor and Prince Loki raised their fist and jumped up and down with excitement.

"Now, Odin," Frigga's voice was mild but cautious. "You don't want to overexert yourself out there," she laughed.

"Nonsense, Frigga!" Odin flagged off his queen's advice. "I can't imagine a better way to spend a holiday than with my fine sons," he opened his arms wide.

"Papa," began Loki, "Who is Baldur?" He questioned

To this, the king and queen's beaming expressions slowly faded. Queen Frigga grew quiet and King Odin's relaxed posture stiffed. His lips tightened. His gray eye darkened. "Loki," Frigga spoke hurriedly. She grabbed her younger child and pulled him by his shoulders onto her lap. She shook her head and pursed her lips with her finger at her lips. Loki's green eyes batted rapidly as he wondered what he had said that was wrong.

"No, no, it's alright, my dear," Odin said as he raised his head and rubbed his one eye. "Baldur was someone very special in my life. Seeing this old chest... it brings back a lot of memories" The king of Asgard nodded. "He...he...he was my brother," Odin answered.

Thor and Loki's head swiveled as they turned to face their uncle. "What? We have an uncle?" Thor asked excitedly. "How come we've never met him?" Thor asked enthusiastically with a smile on his face.

"Boy's now that's enough," Frigga said as she stilled them. She stood up as she placed Loki's feet on the ground while holding his hand. The queen's gracious hands reached out for her oldest son's hand, "Come you, both have had a long day, it is time for bed," she insisted.

"But...you said that there were no bedtimes on holiday," Thor whined as he looked up at her.

"Shhh," she said as she took him by the hand. "You can play in your room," she whispered in his ear.

"It's alright, Frigga, my sweet, tis alright," the king of Asgard said as he beckoned them back over. "Boys come," he instructed softly. Obediently, the two princes came back over to where the king rest on the couch. Thor practically trotted, but Loki walked over slowly and solemnly. Perhaps he had asked the wrong question, but his tutor told him there were no wrong questions. Odin placed his hands on his son's shoulders. Frigga placed her hand on Odin's shoulder. She steadied him. Her strong and proud warrior husband was lightly trembling. Loki looked at his father's face. His expression was grave and his gray-blue eyes housed one shimmering tear. He cleared his throat and spoke very matter-of-factly. "The reason that you boys have never been given the honor of knowing your uncle is because his soul now resides in the halls of Valhalla," the king of Asgard explained.

Thor's ecstatic expression instantly faded. He clapped his mouth shut. "He died?" The blonde-haired child asked.

Odin simply nodded, "I haven't thought of him in so long. It was such a long time ago," he shook his head. "I...I am so glad that you boy's found his chest. It brings back many fond memories," he looked at them and smiled. "I want to find a special place to put some of these things," he explained. Odi soon dismissed his family as he was left alone with his old chest.

Later that night, after Thor and Loki were both scrubbed and tubbed, Thor had promptly fallen asleep. Loki tried to sleep, but his mind was full of questions. It horrified him the thought of a brother dying. He'd never thought of that before. One time he had had a terrible dream about Mother dying. He woke up screaming and crying. Mother came in and comforted him. She assured him that she was fine and that nothing was going to happen to her. She pulled him into her lap and sat in the rocking chair and rocked him gently back and forth until he fell back to sleep. He supposed on some level he had already been aware of the reality of parents dying. Asgard had many orphanages, many of the books he read involved children who were orphans and even his own friend, Hogun was raised by two elderly aunts but for all that he had never pictured the possibility of a sibling dying. It was positively horrifying. Although Thor could be annoying at times or overbearing, loud, rude and all around obnoxious, he was still his big brother and in that his best friend. He couldn't imagine life without his brother. The scariest part of all was when his father said how he hadn't thought of his brother in so many years. How could he just forget about his own brother like that? How could he forget about him so much so that he never ever spoke of him? He didn't ever want to forget about Thor. He didn't want Thor to forget about him. He wanted to make something so that they wouldn't forget each other.

Loki pulled himself from those old memories. He doubted that Thor did. He shouldn't have remembered them either. He was a dreadful sentimental boy. He cared entirely too much. He laughed at the irony of the thought that once he had been a boy who was so scared of his own brother's possible death that he'd made a bunch of silly glass snowglobes where he'd preserved holographic images of he and Thor so that brotherhood would always be with him. Now he was the man who was plotting his brother's demise. It was funny...it was hilarious...it was so ironic. He thought all the while he was laughing loudly, wildly. It turned it a crazed bitter cackle, which had him contorting. He wrung his hands as he paced about the room.

Loki took a few deep breaths as he gathered himself and stopped his manic cackling. He pulled himself from his musings. All of that was in the past and the past mattered not at all now. He needed to think of the future. The future, the glorious future where he was king, unchallenged and unrivaled, as king of Asgard and all-father he would be one of the most powerful beings in the universe, perhaps only Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet would be more powerful than he. Loki smiled. Such things were all that he had ever dreamed of. What did it matter if it came at the expense of the lives of the innocent or the destruction of his kingdom or the death of his family? Loki felt a fire rise up in his belly. It was as if phoenix's wings fluttered against his insides. He doubled over, he leaned on his dresser for support. Not family. Not brother, Loki reminded himself as he rested his heavy head in his palms. He reminded himself once more of his desperate need for rest.

He turned back to his bed, perfectly made and beckoning him to find sweet slumber upon his familiar sheets and mattress. The emerald-eyed king of Asgard would have been more than happy to oblige the bed's call had it not been for the clutter of snowglobes that rested on top of his quilt. Loki rubbed his weary, tired jade eyes. They were bloodshot, dark circles had formed underneath them. They were so heavy and he desired so much to sleep, but alas there was a mess of memories all over the bed. He focused his tired and overwrought mind back on the problem at hand. How and that chest gotten into his bedchamber? He hadn't brought it in his room. Had he? No, surely he hadn't. At least he didn't recall doing so. Loki's long, licorice locks laid in his eyes and he brushed them aside as he tried to recall when he might have brought the chest down to his chambers. He remembered having last kept it in his study in the Southern Tower. He had always kept it private.

He'd never told anyone when he had made it. After they left from their jolly holiday that summer, he had found his father taking some of Baldur's things away for safe keeping. He said he was going to give them to one of Asgard's fine museums. Loki was somewhat confused by his father's decision. He couldn't understand why his father would want to give all of his brother's things away. He supposed he had wondered out loud because Odin answered his question. "Do you think I am brave, boy?" The all-father asked as he gathered up Baldur's things, his books and his bags of marbles and silver figurines. Loki simply nodded in response to his father. "Even king's have fears, Loki," Odin explained. "There are somethings that even I am not bold enough to face day in and day out, my son," Odin replied with a sigh. In the midst of the practically one-sided conversation, Loki managed to ask his father if he could keep the chest. He was astonished that the golden king actually answered yes. It was cautious, suspicious yes, but a yes none the less. He had run off with the chest excitedly after that. He had started to collect things from he and Thor's many marvelous misadventures. He did that for a few years, but once his skills as a magician grew he found that he enjoyed making projections and images more. That way their memories would be preserved forever. But he'd never told anyone. He never shared with Thor, he was sure that mighty son of Odin would have only ribbed him terribly for his sentimental and womanish collection.

Who brought that terrible chest to his room? Had they meant it to be a stumbling block for him? Loki growled. Well, it wouldn't be! That chest meant absolutely nothing to him. There was no value in it whatsoever. It was nothing but a worthless, nostalgic possession of a naive boy. A boy who believed in the pretend love of a family that never existed. A boy who idolized a brother who only kept him under his thumb and stole all his glory. A boy who cared far too much. But luckily that child, stupid and gullible and guileless as he was long gone...long dead.

Those memories that he had once valued beyond all else had been nothing but lies. They weren't memories at all they were dreams, dreams from a life that was purely a fantasy. These visions would no longer be there to torture him. He'd rid himself of them for once and for all! They'd burn with the rest of Asgard. He promised himself. And in a century or two when Thor was dead in a nameless grave, not even given a proper Aesir funeral, and Odin's and Bor's and all the other great kings of Asgard's past statues were knocked down and toppled over and covered in moss and Frigga's garden singed and over taken with weeds then he'd be free.

But first things first, King Loki reminded himself. First, he'd be done with these cursed memory orbs. Loki inhaled and turned back around to grab the chest once more. He was more than ready to toss it out the window. As he turned around he found the content of the chest had spilled across his bed. What seemed to be hundred of small glass spheres rolling about on the bed. The glass was a fine stock and clarity, they shined up like ice reflecting in the sunlight, but when they were shaken up the snow-filled them and then hologram images played from deep with in.

Loki didn't mean to look into the snow globes. He didn't mean to glance at those sweet memories from long ago, but they caught his eye none the less. He had made valiant effort to scoop them up and plop them into the chest. Every one of them was practically in the chest, sealed tight and locked up never to see the light of day again. Loki smiled wickedly. His breathing was erratic and wild. With the destruction of these precious little memories, he'd have no proof that his life before ever existed. Without the proof of that, he would surely be absolved of all guilt.

With the hooks of the old mahogany held tightly in his sweaty palms Loki started to march toward his balcony. It was only a few steps, but it felt like a miles-long trek. His legs felt like lead as he labored with every footstep to make his way to the balcony. The walk was practically painful. He tried to hurry his steps. Hurry up, get it over with, break all ties, sever the bond. Be a man, be the ruthless tyrant that you were always meant to be. He lectured himself with every trudging step His stomach was in flames and all at once in tangled up mangled up was in pain, physical pain and anguish washed over him, it made him want to crash down to his knees and faint although, he was laughing maniacally.

He couldn't stop laughing and he told himself he had no need to. After all, this was glorious, momentous occasion. It was the day he'd longed for and dreamed of for so long. He was about to bring forth Ragnorok! How mighty was he? Not Thor, not Odin, not Bor or any of the great kings of the past had ever been able to claim such invincibility and power. None of them had ever had the power to wake up and summon destruction on this level. Yes, he felt proud and victorious and mighty a nervous, giddy, but he also had a terrifying, proud and bittersweet feeling boiling deep with in.

He felt like a father walking his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. He was happy and scared, melancholy and joyous all at once. Like a father preparing to give his beloved only daughter to another, he knew that this was supposed to be a proud moment. It had to come, he had to give up something that mattered so much in order to move on to the next phase in life. After all, an unmarried daughter could be a burden on the family. These pesky memories were nothing, but a burden on his soul, they were a tether, a fetter keeping him a slave to this terrible bondage. He knew it was what he wanted, he knew it was his goal, his long-term aspiration, his dream. He knew this was right, what he needed to do, that all would be better...that his fairytale ending was right there, reaching out for him...all he had to do was take the step, reach out his hand a give away that precious thing.

Each step brought him closer and closer to what should be the happiest day of his life. Loki nodded still grinning madly as he drew closer and closer to the balcony. His gem-colored eyes were wild with excitement. They scantily darted back and forth. His breathing becoming harsher and raspier as he became more and more frantic about what needed to be done. His boots stopped just outside of the shimmering, gold curtain that separated his bedroom from the glass door that led to the balcony. He breathed deeply once more, then pushed the gossamer curtains open. The glass door was locked but he could see out into the night. It was such a dreadful, bleak and endless night. There was no moon. It was blotted out by the swirling Aether dust. It still hung heavy in the air in thick bloody clouds. There were no stars. The sky was a sea of vast blackness. It was an odd sight to see the heavens above so empty. Normally, the sky blazed and galaxies could be seen. The mighty branches of Yggdrasil were visible. He could almost hear Heimdal's deep voice. When he and Thor were boys Heimdal was one of their tutors. Odin would ride them across the Bifrost to the observatory and there the guardian would teach them of the great mysteries of time and space "They are more than stars, my prince's" he pointed out. "Remember these are the remains of our ancestors. They are monuments. They are the shadows of the souls that rest in Valhalla," he expressed. "When they twinkle, it is said that they are watching us and look back with pleasure," he waved his massive brown hands toward the sky.

"What if there is a shooting star? What then? young Loki asked as his eyes sparkled with the stars.

Heimdal smiled, "it is said that if the star flies toward the heavens it is a soul souring the beautiful halls of Valhalla," Heimdal taught.

"What if it is falling, toward Asgard?" Thor inquired

"This is very rare, but then the ancients say that the soul is visiting to give a sacred warning or message to loved ones left behind," Heimdal said as his amber eye looked back at the two boys. They were huddled together sitting on the observatory steps. The younger prince clutched tightly to the stuffed dragon in his arms.

"Ooohhh, spooky!" The elder prince teased, wiggling his fingers above the black-haired child's head.

Loki gulped nervously, but he wanted to show bravery toward his older brother, "Shut-up, Thor!" Prince Loki snapped back.

"Come, my prince's enough of that," Heimdal chided mildly, but his voice was so strong and rich and commanding that it made the prince's sit at attention immediately, "Who can name this constellation?" He asked as he pointed toward one of his charts. A small pale hand immediately was raised.

This night no stars shined over Asgard, they were obscured by the dust and soot and debris. But Loki could help, but think that perhaps the stars had turned their back on the sorry sight of Asgard's destruction. Surely, the Aesir of old dared not look back and see the end of all things, Ragnarok. Loki's evergreen eyes scanned the Imperial city. No lights littered the cityscape, there were no lamppost or lanterns or candles in the windows. The city was vacant. A ghost town. It stood in little more than ruins. The rainbow bridge did not glow brightly this night. The only illumination was the smoldering embers of the dying fires from a burning sacked kingdom. Housing so many emotions made him feel as if he would go all too pieces.

King Loki slammed his eyes shut. He noticed that his hands were trembling. The chest and its contents rattled in his clasp. He brought them up and held them close to his chest to try to keep them from shaking. He bit his lips to try and hold himself back from screaming into the darkness. He felt the fire on his feet. Loki reached his hand out and opened the door. He stepped forth boldly onto the balcony. The air was harsh, it was bitter. It was so full of smog that he could hardly breathe. The Aether dust coated everything. It covered it and mutated it. It turned all that was good into something that was wicked. It cast a terrible spell on all in its path and where there was light it spread darkness and where there was life it spread death. Loki's magic encircled him like a forcefield, it kept the dark powers of the Aether at bay for he dared not breathe the poisonous substance in.

He moved closer and closer to the balcony's rail. He held out his hand and prepared to drop the chest into the murky blackness that was just below the balcony. All at once it reminded him so much of the Abyss. A sinking feeling gnawed away at him. All of a sudden he was reminded of tumbling through the endless darkness. It was a darkness so thick that it could be felt. It felt like slime and oil and 1000 insects crawling all over his body. It was icy cold and smoldering hot all at once. It was a vacuum where no sound or light could escape from. His own horrified scream was silent in his ear during his time of endless tumbling. He felt small and weak and powerless. As he fell he could feel himself shrinking and the Loki who had been was lost to the Void. That was where these memories belonged. They belonged to a man who was long dead. He'd drop them down into obscurity, they would never be seen again and that old, weak soft-hearted boy would be gone forever.

The king's alabaster hands were raised high into the air. "Goodbye," Loki uttered to the darkness. An impish grin was plastered across his severe lips. He didn't know what possessed him to do so. He didn't know why he did it, but for some reason, Loki gave a backward glance. He looked over his shoulder, at his bed. There, in the dead center of the bed, he saw one last snow globe sitting amidst the green sheets. Loki's inky brows quirked. He was annoyed. How had he missed one? He'd been so careful, so deliberate in harvesting all his old memories. It seemed impossible that he could have missed one. The new king could have kicked himself for such a silly error, but then he remembered how late the hour was, how on edge he was, how tired he was and he was able to stop beating himself long enough to drop the chest at his feet and walk back over to his bed and get that pesky snow globe.

Loki's feet stomped heavily across his carpeted floor. He grumbled as he stumbled his way to his king-sized bed. He reached his long, bony finger down toward the forest green comforter spread across his mattress. Nimbly, his hands plucked the glass orb from the folds of the quilts. Loki's think lips stretched into a menacing grin. "Thought you could escape?" He questioned as he looked at the smooth crystal ball. It was so tiny and delicate, perfectly formed, cool to the touch and made so that it fit snuggly in the palm of his hand. "You...you," he growled as he twisted the orb around in his hand. "What did I ever even make you?" he asked. He studied the crystal ball as if he expected an answer to appear inside the sphere. He shook it up violently. He watched as a flurry and slurry of artificial snow spun around and around inside the ball. "No matter," Loki breathed, his breath hot and heavy. "You'll be gone soon enough," he stated. "Isn't it ironic, that the one that almost got away will be the first to die?" he inquired of the crystal ball. He started to chuckle as he asked this. "Be gone!" Loki declared as wound his hand back as if he was ready to hurl the snow globe. He could have made a clean pitch right out the balcony window. Loki had always had a good arm. That is why when he began his weapon training as a child he had naturally excelled with daggers. Tossing daggers required precision and focus those were skills he had always possessed in abundance. He rarely missed a target.

The self-appointed king was ready for the wind-up and pitch, but just as the glass orb was about to roll off his fingertips and vanish into the hazy night, where it would have been but a little speck of whiteness if the midst of deadly crimson clouds and horrid blackness. Loki caught a glimpse of the orb once more. The snow started to clear away, it somehow just magically evaporated and a strange yet familiar scene was displayed within the sphere.

A dark horse's hooves trotted softly over the frost covered brush of the forest. The horse approached a snowcapped cave that was nestled deep within the woods. The path leading up to the cave was well worn and trodden. The horse came to a standstill and another horse was found. His bridle was tired to a tree and the creature had a woolen blanket toss over its back. Despite that, the animal still shiver. The black horse approached the white and the two stood together for a time while a pair of shiny black boots hopped down and crunched the snow.

Inside the cave, there was a fire. It looked warm and inviting and so the boots entered. The tall figure ducked his head to make his way into the mouth of the cave. "Well if it isn't the future king of Asgard," an articulate voice echoed throughout the cave. The cave was well furnished in a childish manner. The man who entered smiled as he looked up and beheld the vines where fancy rocks and bones dangled from the cave ceiling. He was sure that had the snow not been falling he would have been able to make out the painted words telling others to keep out and keep away warning of a cave that was guarded by a dragon. There were a few tapestries slung along the wall, most of which depicted epic battles form tales of yore. On the other side of the cave wall, there was a large chalk drawing of a mighty red dragon, spewing fire from its gaping mouth. The man's hand carefully traced over the dragon's hand-drawn scales. He couldn't help but chuckle as he thought of the times when unsuspecting woodsman had dared to approach their hidden domain. His brother was pretty good at making a scary growling voice, but he thought he really sold their little trick when he made sparks of fire flew from the mouth of the cave There was even a bear skinned throw flung over the cave floor. There were chairs hand-whittled out of birch and oak and other fine trees from the wood. There were weapons stored in the back of the cave as well as rollaway sleeping cots, changes of clothes, fishing and hunting supplies, extra food and old games.

A handsome pair of sapphire eyes looked up at the intruder. They merely rolled as they beheld a young man clad in emerald green tunics and gold trimmings. "It's unwise to be in my company, brother," Thor mumbled bitterly as he took another deep swig from his tankard of ale. "I wish to be alone," he grumbled as he wiped the back of his sleeve against his golden mustache and beard. Loki studied the area. There were several casks of ale that had been cracked open. Wine bottles were strewn across the cave floor and it was obvious that Thor had been indulging in strong drink for quite some time.

Loki slowly approached, That is not like you," the younger prince observed. It truly wasn't, Thor was always in the mood for company. Thor was always in the mood for people who bolstered his ego and people whom he could impress with his valiant deeds or at least tales of such valor. Thor once again rolled his eyes and then trained them to stare at his drink. "Ahh, why is the future king of Asgard, so glum?" Inquired Loki. His feet padded softly toward his brother. He slid his way next to him on the log.

"Ugh!" The crown prince groaned as he tossed his mug of grog into the fire that blazed. "Don't remind me!" Thor grabbed his head and started to curse low and under his breath. Had this been a banquet hall, the emerald-eyed mage had no doubt that the place would have been demolished by now. Loki's shrewd eyes scanned the spacious cave and he already noted some of the aftermath of Hurricane Thor. Fueled with more warm moisture there was no doubt how much devastation he could unleash.

"What's this?" Questioned Loki. He reached by the fire and sifted through the cinders and noted the remains of their Yeti trap. They'd taken so much care to make it as lads. Loki picked up the broken pieces and displayed the dangling bits of wood and brass before his brother.

"It was in my way," the eldest son of Odin grunted as he squinted to try and make out what it was.

"We took a lot of time to make it," Prince Loki explained.

"Much good it ever did," Thor continued his grousing. "Never caught a Yeti," he complained.

"I told you there were none here," Loki went on slightly chuckling. His impish young laughter was only met by a series of groans. An awkward silence fell between the brothers. The sound of the howling wind and neighing horses outside was drowned out by Thor's gulping of gallon after gallon of frothy grog. The dark-haired son of the king cleared his throat and fidgeted slightly with his hands. He shifted on the long and scooted ever so slightly closer to his brother. "I heard you did not attend the meeting with the delegates and magistrates of the cities and provinces," Loki remarked.

"I went to inspect the Einherjar's new training stadium," Thor interrupted. "Isn't that the duty of a king, to train his troops to protect his people?" Thor demanded his massive hands flying.

"Come, Thor you know good and well that you didn't go to train troops. You went to see the stadium yourself. You wanted to christen it with your blessing by shedding your blood and sweat in a sparring match, admit it," Loki countered.

"And if I did?" The thunderer retorted. "What's so wrong with that?" he questioned. He hung his head and continued staring into his goblet. The alcohol sloshed about in his unsteady hand and its ripples made entertaining patterns.

"Many of the delegates travel thousands of miles for sessions. They come to petition for the policies that they want to set for their towns and shires to make new laws, to be heard by their king. With your coronation only a few months away I am sure the delegates were hopeful that you would be willing to put some new laws into place," the younger man explained. His voice had dropped a bit when he mentioned Thor's coronation.

It had been nearly two centuries since the new year's celebration where Thor had been rightfully declared heir before the eyes of all the people. Loki had hoped way back then that he would be named the heir. It wasn't that he so desperately wanted to be king, he more so just wanted to be considered fit for the job. He wanted to be seen as equal to Thor and possessing skills that would make him a fine rule, but like all foolish hopes, they were dashed to the wind. After that day he'd watched his dream of ascension sail away and with it was made known that he and Thor were far from equals. He was truly as the Norns had told him, Thor's shadow. He was as his father said, Thor's ox, his beast of burden. Still, to some extent he let it go. It had only confirmed that which he had always known and in all honesty nothing really changed. It had only been within recent months that Odin had begun to talk with the council about picking a coronation date.

Both he and Thor were shocked when one evening over dinner their mother and father announced rather casually, that by the end of the year, Thor would be crowned king. Thor jumped out his seat. Thumped his chest, kicked over his chair, raised his hand in the air, swung Mjolnir around and summoned lightning. His voice shook the palace with thunder. The king and queen of Asgard watched with amusement as their proud firstborn strutted around like a peacock with jubilation. He was kicking up his heels, dancing about and even strolled over to Queen Frigga and lifted up chair, he hoisted it in the air over his head and started tossing her in the air. The Queen of Asgard squealed and screamed at her son begging him to put her down, all while butterflies fluttered in her stomach and caused her to laugh. It wasn't until the king engaged them and ordered for the crown prince to drop his mother that the blonde behemoth obliged. Even once their mother's chair had reached the ground he took the royal woman by the hand pulled her out of her gilded chair, planted two huge kisses of her painted cheeks and beamed at her from ear to ear before waltzing his mother all around the dining hall. For his part, all Loki had been able to do was spit out his drink. He must have looked quite foolish wine running down his chin and spilling onto his fine leather tunics. His mouth hung open and he blinked with disbelief at the news he had just heard. At some point he vaguely remembered taking his napkin to his lips and wiping his face. All the while he could hear Thor's rich, masculine voice in the background going on and on about how he wanted a banquet that lasted 12 days, jousting and tournaments fireworks, and a masked ball for all to attend. He could recall his father mentioning to he that he would officially start his work as Thor's chief advisor. Loki remembered allowing a mask to wash over his face. His ecstatic expression reflected nothing, but glee and pride in his brother's new position. He raised his glass and proposed a toast to Asgard's soon to be king.

"I know...I know...I know," Thor moaned with slurred speech. "Father and Algrim wanted me to look over these laws and think of new laws...I don't know anything about those things, Loki," he looked up at his younger brother with glassy blue eyes.

Loki's thin lips pulled into a quirked frowned. He raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean, Thor all these things we have been trained in since we were children," Loki reminded him.

To this, Thor just hung his head. He shook it while holding his head bitterly. "Well, perhaps I didn't pay enough attention to those things," the blonde prince muttered. He raised the mug of ale to his lips and drank deeply.

The dark-haired enchanter waited quietly for a while in silence. He waited for Thor to say more. But the thunderer just continued to indulge in the strong drink. "I heard that you stormed out of the throneroom court earlier this mornings. Mother was worried. Father was about to send a whole squadron of Einherjar out to look for you," the raven-haired son of Odin started to chuckle. He flashed Thor a debonair grin and he elbowed his brother in the arm. The younger prince was practically laughing. Thor did not return the facial expression. His shoulders were heaving and he reached to the ground to grab another mug to fill with alcohol. "I told Ffather, not to worry...that I knew where you were. I figured, I'd find you here," Loki said as he motioned about the cave. "Talk to me, brother," Loki urged as he put a slim hand over Thor's heaving shoulders.

"What do you want me to say, Loki?" Thor finally swung his head to face his brother. "The coronation is coming so quickly," Thor admitted as he shrugged his shoulders and tossed up his hands.

Emerald eyes remained placid but shrewdly curious. "Yes, I know," Loki said with a sigh. He blew breath out the side of his mouth, "You have talked about nothing more than your coronation day since we were children. I'd think you'd be overjoyed now that the day is drawing nigh," Loki expressed.

"I am, Loki...I am," Thor nodded earnestly. "I can't wait to be king," He responded. He puffed out his chest and gave his charming grin, but then he let out a breath and it seemed like all the wind was let out of him. "It's just..." He started. "Uhh, I dunno," the older brother stated and he started to laugh. "Everything is different," he admitted, and Thor's booming voice became very quiet. "There are so many expectations," he confessed. He was hunched over and practically fold in on himself.

For a moment Loki felt a small candle spark inside his heart. He did well to hide his smug smirk by the shadows of the fire. He had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised to hear about his brother's reservations. Thor was the epitome of masculinity and bravado. He was everything that the Aesir praised and desired in the king, but for all that, even the mighty wielder of Mjolnir was starting to realize the daunting task a head of him and how completely unfit he was for the task. "Come, come, " Thor," Loki finally said shaking himself from his private gloating. "You couldn't have honestly thought that being king would simply involve you running around taking on challengers and sitting at endless banquet night after night," Loki stated annoyedly.

"I know that I have responsibilities, Loki," Prince Thor said as he put quotation fingers around the word responsibilities. "I just didn't think there were going to be so many," Thor went on.

Loki's green eyes rolled back in his head. "Thor," Loki voice rippled with agitation. "Think of all the meetings that father attends on a daily basis. How often do you see him attending festivals or going for a jousting match with friends or participating in such frolic," Loki flipped his wrist. "Being king is serious and if you can't take it seriously... then maybe you..."

"I know it's serious!" Thor hollered. His thunderous blast would have been enough to send most other men scurrying away with their tales in between their legs, but his brother merely sat there practically stone-faced in the wake of Thor's tantrum. Loki's passive blinking eyes only managed to infuriate Prince Thor all the more. It caused the elder son of King Odin to toss the golden goblet which he had just poured fresh mead into against the stone wall on the cave. The gold goblet bounced off the wall and the mead splattered toward the ground. Thor's shoulders rounded as if he was embarrassed from his violent outburst. Loki sat back and stared at him with his arms folded across his chest. "I know," Thor finally spoke more calmly. "But Father is well...you know...Old," Thor guffawed with a shrug.

"Father was not always old," Loki voiced using the same silly drunken slur that Thor had just used. "He took the throne when he was younger than Either of us. He has ruled Asgard with wisdom and bravery for centuries. He is tired that is why it is so important to him that you are prepared to take the throne," Loki explained.

"Yes, I know, but father had time as king to make a name for himself. Fighting enemies, slaying monsters, saving damsels in distress," Thor exclaimed as he leaped up from his seat on the log and parried and thrusted at his younger brother with a stick. He jabbed at Loki in the chest and Loki swatted the stick away.

"Will you stop that!" Loki snapped as he gripped the other end of the stick and ranked it from Thor's hand flung it to the other side of the cave. This simply caused Thor to laugh. For a moment the blonde-haired son of Odin debated chasing after the stick, but then he noted the way that the leaves on the cave floor seemed to be swirling about his feet. His thick bow legs slightly swayed and for the first time in his hour's long binge on mead and ale and grog he finally felt the hot rush to his head. He thought better of his plan and decided the best course of action was for him to take a seat. Thor's legs crisscrossed over one another as he stumbled his way back toward the log, he started to take his seat back on the log, but somehow the prince's royal bottom missed the log completely. He slid back and his feet flew in the air. And Thor would have fallen completely off of the log had it not been for Loki's strong lean arm wrapping around his shoulders just in the nick of time to keep Thor's head from hitting the ground. He propped Thor back up and positioned him against the wall where he could better support himself. "You know, Thor," Loki said once he had propped his brother up and leaned him against the cave wall. "Father made a name for himself as all-father in more ways than just in battle, he composed many new laws and policies that set Asgard into a course for prosperity," Loki explained. "He helped make Asgard what it is today. Don't you have anything that you would change, brother?" his question was serious and earnest.

Thor managed to open his heavy eyelids and look at Loki. He blinked stupidly at the question. He thought for a moment, but his mind was laced with grog. He had always been one who could hold his liquor well. It was just another skill that he prided himself on. A lesser man would have been facing down by now. He was Thor Odinson and he could drink any man under the table. Thor had a positively pleased grin on his face as he thought of how he had bested many a warrior in a good-natured drinking game. He scratched his chest and let out a belch before he trained his brain back to Loki's question. Finally, he sat up off the wall, rather ungracefully. He ran his thick fingers through his golden man. He hung his head and rested his elbows on his knees. "I don't think so, Lok," he admitted. He shrugged and gave a boyish goofy grin. "After all, Asgard is a paradise...the envy of all the realms," He elaborated throwing his large mitts out.

"Thor you can't be serious," Loki sneered.

"You dare impugn the honor and dignity of our fair realm?" Prince Thor gasped and acted as if he was offended. "You better be careful brother, such actions could wind you up with a day in the stocks when I'm king," Thor said waving his finger in Loki's sharp nose.

The younger prince blew at his sibling's finger and fanned it out of his face. Thor remained ever and amused and grinning child. "I am being serious," Loki said as he caught Thor's thick finger in his smooth hand.

The blonde-haired son of Odin let out and irreverent burp in Loki's face. The belch was so loud that it shook the cave like thunder. It rocked Loki a few inches back, practically bouncing him off of the log. Reflexively, Loki covered his head thinking that there was going to be a cave in. Loki reared back as his nostrils were assaulted with the pungent odor of the mead on his brother's breath. Thor gave a loud guffaw seeing the disgusted look on his brother's face. "So am I!" he declared. He stooped down and reached for another half tankard of mead. "Asgard is perfect," he mumbled as he licked his lips, ready to taste the tang of the mead on his tongue once more. Just as he scooped up a small tankard, he realized that he'd flung his goblet toward the other side of the cave. He didn't really feel like standing up and getting it. He shrugged. Still, satisfied, he popped the cork out of the tankard and put it to his lips, ready to chug. Thor's mouth hung open and his tongue hung out all too eager. He was disappointed when seconds later his thirst remained unquenched. In confusion, Thor's eyes popped open. He looked around on To find Loki waving the tankard at him playfully. Thor threw his head back and laughed, "No fair," the crown prince declared his voice almost a whine as his unsteady hands reached out for the tankard of mead once more. Just as Thor felt he was about to be able to grab the cask of ale back from his brother did Loki perform a slight of hand and the mead vanished into thin air.

"Yes, " Loki sighed. "Asgard is wonderful, brother, but there are still changes that could be made to improve the lives of our citizens," Loki went on to explain as he stood for a moment. He was facing the cave wall. His hands absently tracing over the stick-figures and childish drawings that he and Thor had made on the cave wall. The stick-figures were of little men holding swords and facing off against an army of blue stick figures. Loki looked and smiled realizing that Thor's ambitions hadn't changed much since he was a boy. He was still the same eager young prince ready for conquests of glory and slaughtering of Frost Giants.

Thor shook his head. "Such as?"
"Plenty!" Loki declared turning around to face his brother once more.

"Like..." Prince Thor pressed. He waved his hand egging on his brother for more details.

"Well, healers aren't as readily available in the mountain country, it has the highest mortality rate in all of Asgard," Loki stated.

"I haven't heard of any deaths," Thor expressed.

"It has the highest infant mortality rate in Asgard," Loki muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't think that is really a matter for a king to be concerned with. Certainly, that is something that Mistress Eir should attend to. She is the chief healer..." Thor pointed out.

"Thor, Mother' is from the mountain country, I'm sure she would be thrilled to know about your concern for her home," Loki said rolling his eyes.

"See! See! That's just it!" Thor said he spoke loudly, pointed his finger and clapped his hand as his red eyes stared at Loki.

"What?" Loki asked. He looked around bewildered.

Prince THor threw up his hands. "The expectations! The disappointment! It's like everyone wants something from me. How am I supposed to meet their expectations?" Thor asked his eyes wide and sad. Loki couldn't be sure, but in the shimmer of Thor's crystal blue eyes in the firelight, he thought he saw a tear. But it must have simply been the alcohol, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his older brother cry. Besides what could Thor truly have to cry about. His life was completely charmed. He was a spoiled boy who got everything he wanted and at the slightest sign of even a little bit of pressure of scrutiny, a little push or pull in a direction that he was slightly uncomfortable with and he was ready to crack. It was laughable. Everyone thought that Thor was so strong. So invincible. If only they could see him now, cowering in a cave, drowning his problems with rum instead of facing them head-on. Wasn't liquor just an easily accessible magic potion. A dose could give you courage, make you see strange things, turn you into something you were not, it could make you weak, make you fall in love, make you foolish and help you forget. No warrior would have praised another warrior for going to a wizard and retrieving a potion as a means to defeat an enemy. And now Thor was practically blubbering. Prince Loki surely wanted to laugh in his brother's face. He wanted to chide and deride him for a moment, but then he saw how completely miserable and beside himself with worry, his compassion opened up for his brother once more. "Come, come, come, now, Thor," Loki sang as he padded softly back across the bear skinned rug and resumed his seat near his brother. "When has anyone ever been disappointed in you?" Loki asked as he slung his long, lanky arm across Thor's broad and strapping shoulders. The young enchanter flashed his brother a grin. Thor tried to return the smile, but it fell short.

"Father is," Thor admitted his golden locks falling in his face.

"Father could never be disappointed in you," Loki stated most assuredly, he slipped his arm from around his brother's neck. He folded his hands in his lap and he let out a deep gusty sigh. "You are his heir, his pride, and joy, his namesake, spitting image...do you need more adjectives?" The silver-tongued prince teased.

"He told me that I need to take these matters more seriously," Thor said as he made his voice deepen. He sort of chortled at himself as he slouched more and more against the cold and rough cave wall.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that he's disappointed in you..." Loki began to explain.

"Then there is the council," Thor's voice was growing husky. He leaned his head back against the cave wall. The mixture of mead and grog was settling on his stomach and mind and he was becoming increasingly and increasingly fatigued. "They've all been pressing me about my new appointments and when I tell them they all vegan bickering amongst themselves," Thor went on.

"Thor, you can't only assign your friends to the High Council of Asgard!" Loki fussed.

"Why not?' Thor inquired lazily, his eyes fluttering closer and closer to closing. "It'll be my council and all of the council members are father's friends," the crown prince reasoned.

"It will be Asgard's council. The governing body over our realm. It should be full of the wisest and most experienced nobles in the realm, not just your band of followers," his younger brother explained to him. "They need to be men and women of honor who the people can trust," Loki pontificated as he walked around the fire with a finger raised in the air.

"My friends are trustworthy!" Thor declared as he thumbed at his chest. "They are the most trustworthy people I know," the golden-haired prince proclaimed.

"That's saying a lot," Loki remarked as he rolled his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thor questioned his eyes flickering for a moment. "Can you think of any person more honest or blunt than Sif? I dare say there isn't anyone more skilled in combat than she, save myself of course," he chuckled slightly. His eyes once more drooping as he folded his hands in his lap. " she's an excellent member of the Council," Thor boasted.

"Lady Sif is also quick-tempered, hot-headed and thinks ever matter needs to be settled with a sword. Not a very good diplomat," Loki pointed out.

"So, I won't send her on diplomatic missions," he cavalierly shrugged and let out a yawn. "Maybe I will send, Hogun, huh, huh?" Thor kid jovially as he dug his thick elbow into Loki's side.

"A diplomat is generally required to speak," Loki said snighly.

Prince Thor brought his finger to his chin, "Well," he started. "What about Frandal? Frandal will surely make a great Council member, he loved to talk. He can charm the pants off anyone," Thor expressed. He then gave Loki a wink.

Loki flagged his brother off" And he can charm the skirt off of anyone's wife. Frandal has many enemies in court for his indiscretions. He is not a popular choice," Loki explained.

"I will decide who on the High Council!" Thor declared. he slammed his large fist against the log. "Not those pompous, old windbags," Thor blew an exhausted breath out of his mouth.

"Pompous?" Loki echoed nodding along, "Nice word choice, numbskull," Loki teased.

"Shut-up!" Thor roared with laughter, he leaned over the edge of the log. He practically fell off while doing so. His thick hammer, wielding right hand felt around for a smooth, shiny stone. He happened to find one and he gave it a flimsy toss at Loki's head. The blonde's aim was off. Loki was easily able to dodge the projectile, once again proving exactly how much Thor had probably had to drink. Thor finally gave up on trying to lean against the cave wall. It was cold and lumpy and somewhat wet. He took to laying down on the log. His limbs dangling limply toward the ground. He ran his fingers through the bear's thick fur. "Anyway," he began as he wriggled and tried to make himself comfortable on the long. "it's the least I can do for them," he confessed as he slung his hand back over his forehead. One hiccup escaped his full lips.

"What do you mean?" Loki inquired. He finally waded back to the log. The warmth of the cave and the heavy, lingering odor of fermented drinks in the air also made the younger prince drowsy.

"Ugh... they've been complaining. I dunno..." Thor shook his head... "I guess I haven't been a very good friend, I missed a sparring session with Sif and we've always sparred every day at that time and I wasn't able to attend for over a week due to these sessions of the court that Father has me attending," Thor elaborated.

"One of your duties as king of Asgard will be to preside over the highest court cases..." Loki pointed.

"Duties as king..." Thor whispered and shook his head. "Duties as king," he spoke up. "Duties as king!" Thor thundered. "All I hear about nowadays! Well what about my duties as Thor... duties to Thor, huh?" He sat up and asked his brother. He was fuming. Loki didn't answer right away. "I missed a sparring match, I could go to the local tavern with Frandal and meet the newest maiden he is courting," Thor elaborated.

The raven-haired enchanter scoffed. "Oh come on, it isn't as if he won't have another in a month or so," Loki kibitzed.

"That's not the point!" Thor roared. He turned around and punched the wall of the cave. The whole cavern shook.

"Thor stop!" Loki called as he grabbed his older sibling's shoulder to keep him from swinging again. "Are you trying to bring the whole cave down on us?" He pointed up t the ceiling of the cave where impressive looking stalactites loomed overhead. The cave formations shook like limbs of tree branches in windstorms and Loki could just picture one of the massive formations falling and cracking their skulls open.

Thor looked back at his brother as if he finally recognized the danger of his violent little outburst. He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were bloodied and his fingers were starting to swell. He felt a rush of pain come to his hand. He cradled it in his lap. Then he looked back up at Loki. His eyes were still glassy and droopy and red, but beyond the drunken stupor that the son of Odin had worked himself into something else was housed in the pits of those sea blue eyes. Loki's vigilant green eyes observed it all. There was confusion, sorrow, but something else. Something that was rare and it was an emotion that Thor hardly ever housed...fear. Thor dropped his head no longer able to handle, his younger brother's penetrating gaze. "Everything is changing, Loki..." Thor muttered. He winced as he tried to flex his injured hand.

"You knew some things would change when you became king, Thor" Loki stated. He started to move his hand toward his brother's slumped shoulder.

"Yes, but not everything...not my relationships...not my freedoms...not my entire life," the blonde looked up at his brother desperately.

Loki swallowed hard. He wanted to slap some sense into the thunderer. Thor had talked of nothing but all the thing he wanted to do as king since they were boys. They'd been trained for this moment all their lives. Ascending the throne. Yet, Thor seemed completely baffled by the sheer weight of his responsibilities. Maybe in a sense, Thor could accept the responsibilities, but Thor couldn't accept the sacrifices. It made sense, all their lives Thor had never been required to sacrifice anything. Things came naturally to Thor. He was a naturally gifted athlete and warrior who excelled in his training. Thor had never had to choose between royal duties and time with his friends. In part that was because of Odin's own upbringing. Odin had wanted Thor to be well-liked and accepted among the people to attend school with other nobles rather than live a sheltered life in the palace. If Thor wanted to go to a parade or festival rather than attend to his schooling than Odin had always allowed it. Thor never had to sacrifice his person in order to be accepted. For all that he was not only accepted but celebrated throughout the realm of Asgard. Thor never even sacrificed an ounce of his glory. He couldn;t even spare any of his sunlight. It was always Thor's victory or Thor's conquest. Even in moments when Loki knew that it has been his cunning, his conniving, his craft and his silver-tongue that had gotten them out of many numerous scrapes and battles, Thor could never sacrifice his own praise. No wonder he was so scared of the undertaking. he was so scared to give it all up.

Loki understood much of sacrifice. All his life had been made to sacrifice. As a boy he'd often had to sacrifice his favorite pastime, reading to be a playmate to Thor who loved boisterous games of tag and hide and seek. He learned that practicing magic meant sacrifice as he grew older, it meant sacrificing the praise of his peers and the respect of the elders. A prince of Asgard shouldn't be a magician. So he tried to fit in, he tried to be more of the prince the Aesir wanted, so he sacrificed his study of enchantments for a time. He focused on honing himself as a warrior. That sacrifice proved to be too hard, too much of a loss of self. So many times he'd sacrificed his own esteem, he'd given up his own hero-worship and allowed Thor to feed on all the praise. In recent years mother had told him that what he was doing was noble, that it was what Thor needed, he needed that bolstering as heir to the throne.

Loki took a deep breath as he contemplated what to say. Telling his brother to quit bawling like a baby because he couldn't get his way would prove futile not mention cruel, it would be like kicking an injured puppy. "It is only so much pressure because your coronation is so close," Loki assured him. "it is necessary that you take a hand in all the administrative task of governance. You will master these things in time and then the task at hand will not seem so daunting," Loki explained his hand still resting on his brother.

"I just thought Father would still handle those matters," Thor shrugged. "Or...Or...hic...at least I could assign the task to one of the lords or something..." His words were mumbled and muffled as the effects of the alcohol slowly started to sedate him.

"Father will no longer be king, Thor, I'm sure he will help you in some matters, but as you get more comfortable in ruling, I doubt Father will interfere. We will all have to trust your judgment and guidance. Naturally, you will delegate tasks, Thor to members of the High Council they will be over certain ministries and overseeing certain aspects of affairs, but it will be under your plan...you will still have to lead," Loki moved his hands rhythmically as he spoke. There was something to sound of Loki's voice. The resonance of it. It was smooth like butter and each and every word was perfectly crisp and clear like a bell. It was the same familiar voice that had always been there to listen to him, chat with him, talk with him and sometimes argue with him. Loki finally stopped talking and he turned and looked at Thor. His eyes were slowly closing and in his half-drunken state, Loki doubted that his brother really heard his words.

Thor gave Loki a grin, it was the first genuine once he'd shown the emerald-eyed enchanter since he'd found him in the cave that night. "Atleastiknoweverything...won't change...won't be different" he muttered, his tongue was growing lazier and heavier.

Loki smiled back as well. He patted Thor's strapping shoulder. "Of course not, you're still the Lion Of Asgard, your still Thor Odinson, Thunderer, Barrier of Mjolnir, Undefeated Champion of the Nine Realms. And I'm sure after coronation there will be plenty of time for you to spar with the Einherjar, slay fire-breathing beasts, rescue damsels, wage war, revel" Loki went on and on excitedly.

Before long Thor found himself chuckling at Loki's antics. It did all sound so wonderful. "No, no, no," the golden prince waved his hand limply in the air. "I...mean...I mean...us" he admitted with a goofy grin plastered across his plump pink lips. He pointed between him and Loki. "Even after the coronation," Thor said as he let his messy mop of golden locks lull back onto the cave wall. "We'll always be us... right?" Thor asked as he laughed. he assumed he knew the answer. He swung his arm over Loki's shoulders. His big, muscular arm felt like a log on Loki's shoulder and the slender prince grunted and sank under the weight of Thor's over bearing shoulder.

Loki smirked, the corner of the left side of his mouth slightly curled upwards. His jade colored eyes remained intent, focused and concentrated. He began to fiddle with his narrow fingers. Thor felt his shoulder's heave as he exhaled. "Somethings will change, Thor" the younger prince of Asgard confessed.

"What?" Thor blinked and stared at Loki with confusion. "No..." He started to protest.

"You will be king...I...I...I will be your advisor," Loki explained as he mentally weighed his role. "Your subject," he qualified. He mashed his lips together, shut his milky eyelids over his emerald eyes. He'd always felt less than Thor in the eyes of the people. He'd always felt like a shadow, but in the back of his mind, he'd been able to at least tell himself that they were equal. That their positions were the same. Thor may had been head of the Einherjar, but he was the Master Mage in Odin's court and Chancellor of Education for all of Asgard. His title may not have been as well known throughout the realm, but surely they were equal, but once Thor took the throne his illusion of equality would soon fade. "I'll owe you all loyalty, duty and obedience..." Loki muttered... his eyes staring at his shoes.

Prince Thor blew a raspberry and then let out a loud guffaw. He stomped his foot and then slapped his knee. "You'll never be my subject, Loki," Thor stated as he yawned and stretched. Loki's eyes were wide, his mouth was slightly ajar as he looked at the strapping blonde with astonishment. "Just my brother," the carrier of Mjolnir corrected. "Just my little brother," he said with a playful tone in his voice before Loki could offer another word he felt Thor's bulky, bronzed arm wrap around him once more. This time it was tight around his neck, it folded him into a headlock while Thor's free hand rushed in to give him a classic noogie. Instantly, the pair of prince's returned to their childhood selves. Thor was demanding that Loki yell uncle and Loki was squirming and squealing with his arms flailing about. After awhile, Thor finally let him go. Loki's slick, jet-black hair was now ruffled and tussled about. Loki glared at Thor as he tried to smooth back the edges of his ebony mane. "I'll have enough subjects, but I'll only ever have one brother, right?" He joked.

"At this rate, you might not even have that," Loki stated as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Awww, come on...don't be that way wittle brudder," The blonde played as he inched his face closer to Loki's a raised his thick, grimy hands toward Loki's pale cheeks.

Loki immediately, smacked Thor's fingers, "Don't you even think about it!" He declared. Even after the reprimand, Thor was still grinning from ear to ear. "Come,"Loki said as he waved at Thor. "The hour is growing quite late," he announced. "Let's head back to the palace," he said as he stood and stretched his back.

"No," Thor said as he grabbed Loki by the wrist. He didn't mean to yank at his brother's arm so hard. Sometimes he forgot his own strength, but he practically slammed Loki's back to sitting on the log. "Let's stay here for the night, like when we were boys?" Thor suggested. His eyes were shining with a mixture of wine and innocent enthusiasm.

"For once I'd rather stay at the tavern," the dark-haired son of Odin expressed.

"Come on we had great times here when we used to camp out as boys," Thor continued as he stood up and marched to the back of the cave. His heavy feet stomped about.

"The horses will freeze out there in the snow," Loki pointed out but all the while the skinnier man as gathering wood and stoking the fire.

"Can't you put a warming spell around them or something," Thor suggested.

"I suppose," the emerald-eyed enchanter remarked while he shook his head. With that, he whispered some mystical incantation and a trail of red light started the move from his hands and filter out of the cave toward the horsed.

"LookI!" The elder prince practically screamed as he reached into an old chest, "We still have our old sleeping quilts!" He ran over holding to sleeping quilts one red and one green respectively.

"I doubt, we can still fit in these," Loki stated as he caught his he laughed and shook his head. Thor soon trotted over toward his brother waving his sleeping quilt behind him. Much like a child, he leaped onto the bear-skinned rug that was spread across the floor. He spread his quilt made of rich red velvet over his body. As he slipped his tall, muscular body under the quilt, he found that his legs from just above the knee were sticking out from beneath the quilt. Thor laughed and knocked his boots together seeing his long, strong legs poking from under the child-sized blanket. "I told you, we were too big for these things, now," Prince Loki grumbled. He tried to turn his emerald green quilt long ways to get it to cover up more of his body and being that he was so thin, it happened to do the trick. He was at least covered from his chest all the way down to his knees. Loki wriggled himself closer to flames to keep warm. He flipped on his side and tried to gather up patches of the bear's brown fur in order to create a pillow for himself. "This is silly," the ebony coiffed prince of Asgard complained as he flipped and flopped back and forth on top of the bear. "Not to mention uncomfortable," he murmured all the more as he reached underneath him and pulled out two big stones and one large twig from under his back. "Can't we just go back to the palace, where we can spend the night in our warm beds?" Loki insisted as he heaved a deep gusty sigh. He finally rolled over to his back where he crossed his arms over his chest bitterly.

"I'm too tired to ride back to the palace, now" Thor retorted. "we always used to stay out here as boys, remember brother?" Thor inquired he rolled over to his left side so that he could look at Loki. The younger prince wasn't paying him much mind though, Loki's eyes were trained up at the cave ceiling where he glanced at the old mobiles the had made and hung from the stalactites. They had used balls and marbles and stones and pinecones and bones and branches and all manner of other whatnot to create replicas of birds and flying machines and celestial bodies. Despite himself, the dark prince smiled.

"I remember," Loki nodded slowly.

"Besides this may be the last night we ever get to spend in here together," Thor said hopefully.

"I doubt that," Loki confessed. "I'm sure you'll run away the night before your wedding and I'll have to cart your inebriated arse back to the palace so you can take your vows," the silver-tongue remarked.

Thor grabbed at a pebble that was nearby and tossed it at Loki. It managed to hit him dead center in the forehead. "Ow" Loki said boredly as he rubbed the offended body part.

"Come on!" Thor groaned. "Don't be such a spoilsport. Let's just stay here for the night... PLEEEEEASSSEE!" The crown prince pleaded. His hands in prayer position as he continued to star over at Loki. Loki was paid his pathetic whimpering no head. Thor huffed irritably at the lack of attention. "Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!" He went on yelping like a dog.

"Ugh!" Loki moaned as he grabbed his ears. He rolled over to his side with his ears held and eyes closed. "Will you ever grow up?"

"Nope," Thor responded childishly. When Loki finally opened his bright, jade eyes he found Thor batting his long, blonde lashes over his sky blue peepers. It was the same puppy-dog look that he'd been using for years to charm his way into getting what he wanted. It worked on their parents and it had worked on their nursemaid, Helga from time to time and it had worked on their tutors and although Loki hated to admit it he had fallen prey to the infamous look as well.

"Fine," Loki finally agreed. Thor's cerulean blue eyes lit up. He pat his hands and stomped his feet with glee. Loki rolled his eyes and shook his head. Thor's stomping was enough to cause an earthquake. "But no more talking!" Loki warned sternly. He stuck out his finger in Thor's face. "Go to sleep, I mean it." He ordered. Thor bobbed his head and his golden locks shook with the movements. Then he pinched his index finger to his thumb and moved it across his lips. "Alright," Loki said indulgently with a gentle smile on his face. "Well good night," the raven-haired enchanter said with a yawn as he settled down and got more comfortable. His eyes slowly slid closed.

"NightLoki," Thor slurred sleepily as he started to drift. A quiet hum settled over the cave and soon only the delightful sound of the logs crackling over the fire could be heard. "Loki," Thor's deep, husky voice broke the tranquil silence of the cave.

"Thor, go to sleep," Loki said his words garbled since his cheek was pressed against the floor.

"I'm really glad that I'm gonna have you for an...an...an advisor" Thor went on his lips moving while his eyes were closed. "I...I...I'm so lucky to have you...y-y-you'resossschmart..whyyse and...I...I...I donthinkicould be king without you," Thor expressed. He reached out his hand and patted Loki on the face. The pat was meant to be kind and reassuring, but rather it came out as a rough slap. Loki's eyes flung open as he felt his brother's firm, large hand against his cheek. Loki's lips were pursed and he was ready to spit fire at his brother for so abruptly and harshly jarring him from his slumber, but when his deep emerald eyes opened he found Thor's face drowsily smiling at him. Thor corrected his hand placement while grinning and slid it down from his cheek and to his neck. "We'll always be brothers, right, Loki?"
Prince Loki couldn't help but return Thor expression. He lazily reached his hand out toward his brother and cupped his neck as well. "Always brother, Thor" the younger prince of Asgard replied. "I'll always be here for you," he promised. "Now, let's get some sleep," Loki suggested as he lifted his hand off Thor's neck.

Loki slowly turned back over. He tucked the green quilt up around his thin shoulders. "I gotta better idea!" The blonde said sitting up. There was an all too eager look shining in his blue eyes.

"I don't want to hear it," Loki muttered. "Go to sleep," the younger prince ordered.

"Looookiii," Thor sang in his ear. He was standing right over Loki's body. His hands tucked behind his back.

"Thor! What?" Loki asked angrily as he sat up. He was determined that he was going to use a sleeping spell on the big oaf if he didn't go to sleep. As his tired green eyes popped open his face was met with a ball of cold, white snow. Thor tossed back his head and let out a hearty laugh. Then immediately, the future king of Asgard darted out the mouth of the cave.

Loki sat up, stunned and shivering and practically seething. It was late at night and he was tired, unbeknownst to his brother he had also had a long day and since he'd had to come gallivanting after him he hadn't had a proper dinner. Not only was he being coerced into sleeping in a cave for the night when there was a palace not far yonder with a bed that had his name written all over it, but now he was forced to tend to Thor's drunken whims. It was simply ridiculous. His mouth called out no. "We aren't children anymore, Thor," the emerald-eyed enchanter yelled. "You better get back in here before you catch your death of cold out there!" He warned very much so sounding like their mother. Despite his protest all the while he found himself standing up and pulling his cloak and cape on once more. He scooped up a mound of fresh snow at the foot of the cave as he made himself invisible and rushed into the winter wonderland chasing after his older brother.

Loki watched as the snow globe was once again filled with fluttering snow whiting out the scene that had just been displayed before his eyes. He looked away from the snow globe. He didn't know why he had gone out into the snow with Thor that night. It was such a foolish and juvenile action. Ridiculous. They had been grown, men. Well into their adulthood and they should have been far beyond such childish antics of frolic. When he reasoned it like that it was absolutely no wonder why Thor had simply run amuck. Their conversation moments before had proved how very much of a boy his older brother really was. He'd run away, a sulking child, a spoiled brat who couldn't accept the fact that growing up meant taking on responsibilities and leaving the merry world of frivolity behind him. Yes, Thor's regression should have come as no surprise, he was always no more than a child playing dress-up, alcohol merely removed the costume and showed him for what he truly was, a boy. Still, Loki was never convinced why he had joined Thor in the snow romp. The last thing that his brother honestly needed was more appeasing, but Loki told himself he did it to keep Thor from hurting himself. If left to his own devices Thor was likely to fall into a ditch or off a cliff or get caught in a bear track. He might have even accidentally crawled into a bears cave, wouldn't have been the first time. He told himself that then. He was a good liar and sometimes his sharp and clever mind was so cunning that he was able to convince himself of his untruths, but not that time. He knew the truth, he went out into the cold, white night gathering and hurling snowballs because he didn't know if it would be the last time he and Thor would ever do such a thing. Deep inside he too had the same sneaking suspicion that his brother had, that everything would change. Thor would be king soon and despite Thor's claim that they would always be brothers and equals, he was unconvinced. They had never been equals.

Loki's mouth was hanging open. His emerald eyes glistened as he allowed the crystal ball to fall from his pale, bony hands and into his lap. He remembered making this particular globe. He could not say that he remembered making every single one of them, he was sure that there were close to one thousand of the tiny, shiny crystal balls. He did remember making this one though. It was the last one that he had ever made. It had honestly been years since he'd made one. They weren't exactly boys anymore. And although, in some ways, they were still close their worlds were growing increasingly and increasingly apart. Thor would go away on military campaigns with the Einherjar throughout the Nine Realms, sometimes, he would accompany his brother, but more often than not, Odin had sent him on diplomatic missions to foreign courts. Frigga had told him that it was meant to celebrate his skills. He was sure he served as a far better diplomat and ambassador than a warrior, but still, he was insulted by it. While Thor waged war and got honor and accolades he was left in shadows, whispering and negotiating and working out treatises. He was doing just as much for peace, maybe even more so and he was left to receive none of the glory. It was infuriating.

So he made that memory globe as one last happy reminder of the times with his brother. Times when they were each other's greatest companions, support systems, and confidants. It was a reminder of times when they trusted each other like more than any other. Times were changing for him and for them, but in his heart, he'd want to freeze the moments in time when they were most joyous and most carefree.

The new king of Asgard couldn't help, but scoff at how dreadfully naive and sentimental he was then. It wasn't so long ago, he supposed. In the view of Midgardians, it was only a little over 4 years ago. To the Aesir 4 years could seem like a mere 4 months. Normally 4 years was nothing, but a drop in the buck, a raindrop in the Forever Sea; yet now, 4 years seemed like eons ago, a lifetime. He was a far cry from the young man who pledged to always be there for Thor.

It was only a few short weeks after their conversation in the cave that Loki plotted his little prank for Thor coronation day. The truth was he had been thinking about It for quite some time. But Thor's admission that he was incompetent to handle the affairs of kingship had only convinced him that it was what he needed to do. To save and protect Asgard of course. At the rate Thor was going he would lead the kingdom into war over some petty insult over his headdress or he'd spend all the tax money on building a luxury training facility on the Nornheim beaches for the Einherjar. He would have driven Asgard to ruin. He was sure that Odin had probably already seen that Thor wasn't ready, but their elderly father was too soft-hearted to disappoint his firstborn. In the end, Loki was convinced that Odin would thank him for his sabotage. Besides, it was just a little joke. Harmless. He thought that in a few centuries they would all look back and laugh about it. He had figured that the hot-headed Thunderer would want to go to Jotunhiem, but he'd spoken the truth when he'd told Lady Sif and the Warriors Three that he had no idea that Odin would banish Thor for the offense. He merely that the old, one-eyed king would finally open that one eye and see that Thor wasn't ready to be king. He could have never fathomed that one idea fueled by one conversation could have led to such chaos. He'd wanted to be Asgard's savior, in a way he wanted to help Thor (mostly he'd wanted to help himself, but he genuinely didn't want to see Thor fail at being king). Now he was Asgard's king and destroyer. Just like he thought Thor would be.

Loki looked down at his hands now devoid of the memory orb, they were shaking. He raised his hand toward his cheek only to find that it was damp. Viciously, he flicked the moisture away. The self-proclaimed king quickly snapped his mouth shut. He mashed his lips together tightly. The ebony-coiffed monarch girded himself against those old weak feelings. he told himself that they didn't exist anymore. He repeated to himself again and again how much he loathed and hated, Thor. And he did. he really truly, did with ever fiber of his being he swore to high heaven that he did. Loki's breathing grew ragged and his chest swelled with air as he struggled to suck in air through his narrow nasal passage. His nostrils flared as he rapidly inhaled and exhaled through his nose over and over. He refused to open his mouth because he didn't know what would escape his lips if they were to part, a scream, a sob.

He recalled how Thor was his not-family. What they had shared had been but an illusion. He knew well of illusions, the number of illusions he had made in his life was incalculable. He'd gotten good at them, he could give the depth and dimension and shadow and sound, he could make them so very lifelike, but no matter how wondrous of a mirage he could create it still was a lifeless apparition. He gave Odin full marks, he'd weaved a fantastical fantasy, but all bedtime stories ended and reality was due to set back in when one waked. He was simply fulfilling his destiny. He didn't regret it. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't! He was Odin's own self-fulfilling prophecy. Odin told him he was born to be a king and now he was. He was the son of Laufey, the sworn enemy of Odin it was only natural that he and Thor were to be sworn,enemies. He was doing that which his real father had always wanted to do...conquer Asgard. He'd won. He'd won! HE'D WON! He'd won everything that those who considered themselves better than him had failed to achieve and nothing would take away from his revel in his victory.

His narrow jaw started to quiver fiercely. Soon the quiver worked itself down from his jaw to his shoulders than from his shoulders to his chest. The shaking ran down from his chest already to his stomach. It set his belly on flame. He felt a flame take over his belly. It raged all over his gut. It was so painful, so scalding, so hot, he felt like his insides were melting. Loki doubled over with pain. He panted and started to hyperventilate. His hands groped at his stomach. He tried to whisper a cooling incantation to cool off his body. He was so hot. So very hot. He felt like he would explode and bust into a solar fire. He concentrated more and more on the cooling spell. He dug deeper and deeper into his magic reserves to find a power to cool the blaze that seemed to set him aflame with the fires of Helheim.

Loki finally started to feel cool. All of a sudden a frosty chill washed over his entire body. Loki relaxed as he finally felt the burning pain leave his body. He removed his hands from being wrapped around his core. As he drew his hands back he found that the snow globe had completely frozen over. It was a true snow globe. Frosted through and through and the glass was entirely coated in ice. Loki raised the snow globe to his eyes once more. The layer of ice was so thick that Loki could no longer see the projections that he had placed inside long ago. He also noticed that his alabaster fingers had turned a deep, garish indigo color. The back of his hand was carved with horrid markings, swirls and spirals and scratches and striped marks. His fingernails which were always cleaned and manicured were now long like talons, thick as ice-cubes and the color of tar. Loki gasped, his mouth opening reflexively despite his great power of will. As he did so the snow globe tumbled out of his hands and shattered into hundreds of pieces around his feet. As the crystal ball broke golden, pink, purple and green pixie dust sprinkled across the floor like glitter, it formed in a pile and then in the blink of an eye it vanished.

All at once, he sank to his knees. His long, cobalt fingers desperately grasped at the frozen glass. Loki scrambled to try to piece together the fragments. The shards of glass scraped against his icy flesh. They chipped at his frost-bitten skin, but they didn't harm him. He could scarcely even feel the cuts. He didn't bleed. He felt nothing. He was no longer burning from the inside out nor could he feel the sharp glass pricking his fingertips. In his Frost Giant form, he was made of ice, 100%, body and soul. Loki kept trying to put the broken pieces together, it was near impossible to do such a tremendous feat by hand, though it would have been very easy to with magic. It would be simply a flick of the wrist, a snap of the fingers, but the snow globes were made of pure memory. He'd used pixie dust to preserve each memory in its golden form and perfect state so that it wasn't corrupted even though sometimes the scenes were made months even years after the event. He could conjure another illusion, but it would never be the same. He was so jaded he couldn't see what was like he had before.

Loki eventually stopped trying to gather the broken fragments of the ground. He sat back with is head against the side of his bed. His hair ruffled and pushed up from leaning against the comforters and quilts. He chuckled to himself as he rocked his head back and forth. Why should he have spent time trying to piece the shatter crystal ball back together? It meant nothing to him any. He was just going to toss the whole chest out anyway. It was worthless, trivial garbage now. He reminded himself. He snorted with confidence. He thought, good riddance. It was nice when fate took and hand and helped in such matters. He was already down one memory globe. He waved his hand over the rest of the mess and watched with pleasure as they disappeared. Just that simply every trace of that time long a past. That time that was so far removed from the person who now was gone. Loki's thin lips stretched into a smile. His pearly white teeth shined. He relaxed as he ran his blue finger through his black hair. He recalled that he still was in his Jotun form, which a little concentration he was able to convert himself back to Aesir skin. He rubbed his hands together and was grateful to feel smooth flesh.

His emerald eyes cast a glance at the gossamer green curtain that led to his balcony. He remembered that he had left the chest just sitting there. His head lulled to the side as he determined to stand up once more and return to his original work of throwing all the memory globes away. Once it had been his secret prized possession, now it was nothing but rubbish and he would dispose of it as nothing but such. He didn't want any memories of Thor, Thor would be dead soon enough. Loki continued to anxiously rub his hands together. He only had a few hours left to sleep. He needed to act quickly. Simply kick the case over the edge of the balcony and let the swirling remnants of the Aether's destructive force do what they did best.

He was about to do it. His sinewy arms pushed up off of the floor. But as he rose to his feet he felt the terrible tension in his neck once more. His head was so heavy he could hardly continue to hold it up. His eyes were so tired he was barely able to keep them open. He kept blinking and his concentration and focus had started to blur. He could feel the fatigue in his long legs. He looked toward the balcony. The stretch between the interior of his chamber where his bedroom was and the space toward where his balcony was all of a sudden seemed like an insurmountable sea, a vast and uncrossable desert. He yawned. He shifted his attention to his bed. His large and soft and very comfortable king-sized bed. With cool silk sheets and plush, rich velvet blanks and warm thick pelts made of the rarest animal furs. he looked at his pillows, so many of varying sizes and shaped lining the head of the bed from one corner to the next. The thought of resting his heavy head on the satin pillowcases stuffed with the golden-goose feather was more alluring than he could resist. He could feel the bed's pull. He could hear it beckoning him, its call was like a siren and even though he knew he shouldn't, the new king of Asgard gave into the bed's earnest plea. He gave one last glance at the balcony. But he was unable to bring himself to make the trek. He'd throw them always at first light, he assured himself. Yes, certainly at first light he'd be able to toss those pathetic orbs into the abyss. They'd never be seen again. He'd be free of those old and delusional memories and then promptly after that he's free himself of Thor's very presence. It would be glorious. It would be delicious. But first sleep. He couldn't even think of when he'd last slept.

So King Loki smiled as his weary body inched ever closer to his bed. He waved his hand and removed the pillows from the bed. They floated through the air and across the bedchamber to a stand where he always placed them. His pale hands then gingerly and ever so meticulously folded back the corner of the bed to a triangle just before he crawled in.

Once his body hit the bed it was like being wrapped in a cloud. The silk sheets massaged and soothed each taut and aching muscle in his body. He was able to stretch out and relax. He inhaled deeply of the rich scent that was sprinkled upon the fabrics. Clean, pressed linens, musk, chamomile, moonlight jasmine and pure musk. The divine scents practically lulled him to sleep. Loki's fingers reached for one of the pills that he left on the bed to rest his head upon. The wonderful down of golden-goose feathers beneath his head was surely one of the most luxurious ways to lounge. His breathing had finally slowed, his pulse no longer raced. His bloodshot jade eyes were finally able to flutter close. Now, this was most certainly how a king should rest, in total contentment and security and in confidence. Loki snuggled down into the blanket. A smug grin was on his pink lips. He eagerly embraced slumber. He was ready for that sweet sleep that would undoubtbring brig him dreams and visions of his conquest.

Loki was a sleep, soundly and snugly, then all at once he twisted in the bed. He grimaced as he found that he was no longer so comfortable. He didn't know what had happened. He was convinced that he had fallen asleep. One minute he was in blissful repose and the next he was awake once more. It was infuriating and the king wished to scream and all at once he wished to cry. He bit deep into his lip. The hours were ticking away and he was in desperate need of sleep. What else could he do. The bed was neither too hot or too cold, yet he was still uncomfortable. he rolled to one side and then rolled to the other. All the while he kept his eyes closed. he was going to will himself to sleep. Even if that meant he had to use a sleeping potion on himself, but the thought of leaving the bed to find the tonic was not so appealing. Finally, he discovered the origin of his restlessness. There was something uncomfortable about his pillow. It was puzzling since golden-goose feather pillows were the softest, fluffiest pillows. He pounded it hard to try and fluff it a bit. Still he was unable to rest his head upon it. He thought to discard the pillow for a moment. he'd simply toss it on the ground and be done with the thing, But then he decided to reach his hand under the satin pillow case just to see if something was there. As he did he was surprised when his hand pulled out a piece of parchment.

The parchment was folded up neatly. There was seared silver seal that held the edges together. In the center of silver seal was a symbol of a hammer. "Thor," Loki's voice murmured. He looked at the parchment curiously, he turned it this way and that as he debated if he should open it. He thought to burn it, to bury it, toss it on the floor and be done with it, but Loki had always had a love for reading. His natural interest peeked. Reading before bed had always been a pastime that the king enjoyed.

Loki's fingers worked to open the letter. He looked over the parchment for a few moments. It was definitely Thor's handwriting. Thick, bold, heavy-handed strokes that could barely be considered legible. Even after their profound education, numerous classes in calligraphy and study with private tutors Thor's penmanship was still little more than chicken scratch. It made Loki's weary jade eyes crisscross as he tried to decipher the letters. Finally, with great concentration, he managed to make out the wording.

Dear Brother,

It has been a long time since I've written you a letter. I think it hasn't been since you were studying in Alfheim. You stayed away so long then. It was a few years and you only returned home during the holidays. Your studies were important to you, of course, and your studies in Queen Sofria's court did wonders for our relations with the Elves. Father wanted you to stay and continued to build those bridges, but still, I missed you terribly and begged you to come home.

I guess that is why I am writing you now. You know I don't like writing letters, I don't know, it just takes so long to express oneself this way. I also don't suppose I'm very good at it. But you already know that, so I won't apologize to you for it. Just know that I will probably ramble, but I feel like I need to do this...I need to get this off of my chest.

I miss you, brother. It has been nearly 6 months since your funeral. And almost 9 since you fell from the Bifrost (father deployed the Valkyries to search for you for several months after you fell. We were so hopeful...that...well...I guess it doesn't matter now). Most people would probably say the time of mourning has passed. Maybe it has. But somehow the pain from your absence only grows stronger as the months go one. I suppose initially it seemed like you might return. It seemed like you were just away on one of your diplomatic missions, but now it had become unbearably obvious what has happened that you will not return to us.

We all miss you in our own way I suppose. The palace seems so empty without you. We didn't have any celebrations or banquets for the longest time, our flags flew at half mast, we had few visitors. Mother was not in the mood for entertaining. So unlike her, for you know well how much she loves to have guests and for merriment and laughter to fill the halls of the palace. She walks the halls polite and poised, she'd ever the regal and dignified queen that she has always been, but her smile is not nearly as bright. She spends hours in the garden. I watch her from the windows at times. many times she seems to be doing nothing, she isn't planting or weeding or collecting flowers for bouquets or picking the fruit from the trees. Nor is she walking with her maidens or enjoying the company of other noblewomen for social tea...she just sits, quietly beneath the willow. Sometimes she sits only for a few minutes, but more often than not she sits for hours. and then at times, I hear her sing. Mother has a lovely voice as you well no, but I cannot bear to hear her sing the song she sings is so sad, so lonely and mournful that it breaks my heart. It is lonely and empty and desolate like the cry of a wolf at the moon. It is like listening to the wind whip through an empty house. I have taken now to accompanying her in the garden if only to keep her from singing.

Father mostly keeps to himself. He is always in his study. He comes out to attend his meetings with the High Councils. He is as strong a man as ever, but he is quiet, somber, thoughtful. I convinced him to go with me for a ride with the Einherjar for exercises a few weeks ago. Mother was glad it was the first time Father had left the palace since your funeral. He seemed to be enjoying the ride and being with our fine warriors. We were riding fast, working on maneuvers through the forest. We were going so fast I nearly missed it, but we came to the river, the river where Ffather took a fishing when we were small. You found a lodestone that day and father showed you how to use it. Father was way ahead leading the men and they were all happy to see their king having such sport again, but then when he came to the river, he halted his horse abruptly. He stalled the men. I rode ahead only to see what was the matter. Father refused to ride on. He told me to carry on with the exercise, but that he needed to get home very quickly. I was confused, but I dare not argue with him in front of the troops. It was only after he rode away that I realized where we were. Father often misses dinner.

Our friends miss you, they do Loki, they really do. We have gone on a few adventures. Nothing in comparison to old times, but there was a raid in Vanaheim and we went to settle the matter. You know many of the Vanir our powerful enchanters such as yourself and our force of arms was doing little against their attacks at first. Volstagg remarked, "It sure would be handy to have Loki at a time like this." When we go to the taverns and the people ask us to regale them with one of our tales of valor there aren't any that we can tell that don't involve you. We tell of your antics. The citizens bow their heads respectfully and whisper prayers. We reminisce, naturally at times we say remember when and somehow your name comes up. For a moment we experience laughter, but then the tragedy hits us again and our tongues fall silent. We all look at each other, we are not as good with words as you are...we don't know what to say. We don't know how to make the awkward moment pass. At that point, the evening may end. Hogun will excuse himself to sharpen his knives, Volstagg will say he needs to head home for supper, Frandal will need to go a wenching and Sif and I may end up sparring, where we need not use words. Lady Dagmar has not come to visit since your funeral. Apparently, she has taken very ill. I cannot help but think it has been your death which has caused this

As for myself, well brother I...I...I miss you more than words can tell. I have no words to describe how much I mourn you. Sometimes the palace, my home feels like a prison. I long to escape because every hallway, every corner and room reminds me of you. I see your shadow around the corner, I hear your mischievous laughter in the corridors and I for a moment long to call out to you, to run up and embrace you and welcome you home and then I am slapped in the face with the fact that you are gone. I do leave at times. I go hunting or go to the training facilities for the armies. I have even taken to visiting the mines as they look to harvest the minerals needed to rebuild the Bifrost, I want to stay away, but then I feel guilty for trying to runaway from my memories of you.

Today, I went into your room. It was my first time going in there since your death. And honestly, I don't know if I will ever return. I never felt right going in your room without your permission as you were always so private about your room. I wasn't trying to invade your privacy, it's just that when I woke up this morning it was snowing. It snowed most all the day. It' the first snow of the year! It's so beautiful, Loki, I know you would love it. The whole of Asgard is a complete winter wonderland. The palace grounds are decked in white. It is pristine and clean and perfect. I was so excited when I woke up and saw the snow on the ground. I felt like a child again. I guess I always do, it's just that when we were boys we always had the best times when it snowed. I rushed to your room like I always have. I was so eager to find you, tell you that it was the perfect day for skiing or sledding up at the lodge or just to go out in the palace courtyard and romp around like we did when we were lads. I could just picture us going by the lake and watching the town youngsters in a pick-up game of sticks and shots on the ice and showing them how to play it properly. I knew you would be angry with me for waking you up so early, but all the while I knew we would have a great time and so your momentarily ranting and raging and complaining would be worth it. But when I came to your room...no one was home. I was crushed. I felt like my heart had been ripped out. I fell to my knees and wept like a child.

I forgot...I forgot, just that quickly, Loki I forgot. You see, last night I dreamt of you. I dreamt of you all night. But it was more than just a dream, Loki...my dreams were memories. In one night I relieved a lifetime, the lifetime that we had had as brothers. I saw us as boys growing up and enjoying each other's company...I saw us grow all the way into adulthood. Oh, Loki the dreams were so real and vivid. You were so lively in them. I could see your dancing green eyes looking back at me with excitement or anger or sorrow. I could hear your voice, sometimes it was smooth and crisp the perfect silver tongue that you always possessed was as sharp as ever. I could hear your mischievous laughing and telling jokes and snickering at your own pranks. Your laughter was music to my ears. I could even smell you... I never really knew I knew your scent before. I never much thought about scent. But in my sleep, I caught whiffs of certain aromas and they smelled like incense and musk and fresh laundry and forest pine and everything that was and is magical and I recognized that smell and I thought, that smells like my brother! And Loki I could feel you. I could feel your light tugs on my garments when we were boys, your smooth young hand in mine as we walked, I could feel your gentle shoves as we tackled and wrestled as boy. I could feel your cool hand against my neck in moments when we would affirm our bond. I could feel the power of your magic coursing through me when you worked your incantations and healing spells on me. I could feel your feverish forehead as I dreamt of times when you were so very ill. And I could feel your strong hug on those occasions when we embraced. In my dream Loki you were so alive and real and for those brief moments I forgot that you were gone. And for that brief night, Loki it was like you never left.

Waking up and having to face your death again, Loki has nearly killed me. I have never felt such pain, I have never known such loss. In that moment, when I fell down to my knees and wept for you, I was all at once I was flooded with so many emotions.I still have all those feelings, maybe I have tried to keep them bottled up for far too long. Maybe it is good that I say them now. I'm so full of anger and rage and bitterness and sorrow. Loki if you ever loved us, if you ever cared for us, how could you do this to us? How could you leave us? Why did you leave us? Didn't you know how much it would hurt us? How guilty we all would feel? Did you know how much we'd miss you? Do you know how much I miss you? Did you even care?

Sometimes, Loki I am so angry at you for leaving. I think that what you did was stupid and selfish and immature. There were other options, Loki! You didn't just have to let go! You didn't just have to die! Nothing that you did was so terrible that we couldn't work it out. Nothing you did was unforgivable. WE could have worked it out in someway, Loki. Things could have been made right. We could have still been a family. Why didn't you us that chance? Why didn't you give yourself that chance, Loki?
Sometimes I am just mad at you, Loki. I blame you. I blame you for my loneliness and guilt. I blame you for my own pain, but then I know that the blame isn't yours at all, but mine. I should have been there for you more. I should have listened to you more. You were always there for me. You always listened to me. But I was too foolish and too self-absorbed to be there for you in those times when you needed me the most. Your demise is my fault brother. Your blood is on my hands. I don't know if I can ever be cleansed of such a sin.

Then there are other times when I just feel sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't a better brother to you, Loki. You were the best brother anyone could have asked for and it was I who let you down. I'm sorry that in our last moments as brothers we fought. I'm sorry that maybe in the end you didn't even consider us brothers. I'm sorry that we don't have the chance to patch things up and make amends. Oh, Loki, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I dragged us to Jotunheim, I'm sorry you learned you were a Jotun by birth...It's my fault you found out. If I wouldn't have been so reckless and hot-headed and eager to prove myself then none of this would have happened. I'm a food for what I did Loki. You only went with me because you were a good brother who never left me to fight my battles alone. You were always looking out for me. You were always willing to protect me, but I was the older brother, I should have been the one protecting you. Instead, I looked out for myself and caused you to learn something that maybe it would have been best if you had never known. I'm so sorry little brother. ...I'm sorry that our culture has always made Frost Giants the enemy. You aren't my enemy, Loki...you're my brother, my one true brother... my blood brother. That's who you'll always be. I'm sorry that you aren't here with us... with me anymore.

I always imagined we'd live out the entirety of our lives together. That I'd rule as king and you'd be by my side as my most trusted advisor. I thought that we'd fight in so many glorious battles together to protect the Nine Realms. I envisioned that we'd be there for each other when we got married, we'd be uncles to each other's children and grandchildren and that we'd grow old and gray together. I thought that when we died we'd be old, ancient and we'd die on the battlefield. We'd die as brother's in arms just passing from this world to the next seamlessly without ever having to be without one another. Now, that won't happen and it's my fault. It's all my fault!

I have so much guilt. I feel so much so responsible for your death. Mother tells me it is not so. That it was she and father who should have told you what you were a long time ago. Maybe she is right, but I cannot bring myself to find blame in mother and father, I can only blame myself. I am your older brother, I swore to protect you and I failed. I failed to save you. I have saved countless lives, but the life of the one who counted most in my life, I quite literally let slip right through my fingers. I will never forgive myself for that.

I can only hope that somehow, in some way one day you will find it in your heart to forgive me, brother. I beg your forgiveness, although I don't deserve it. I hope you are at peace, brother. Your last few days were full of so much turmoil and pain, I hope that you are at peace. I hope that you have found all you desired in the halls of Valhalla. I hope that the Valkyrie who protect Valhalla's gates welcomed you in with rejoicing and gladness and they sing the songs of your mighty exploits all over the bright hallways. I hope you received the recognition that I denied you here in Asgard. I hope that all that you desire is there, the food, the wine, the music, women and learning. I hope that there is such a bounty and wealth of wisdom there that your mind is blown and that your search for knowledge never ends. I hope that one day we meet again. When my time comes to rest in Valhalla that you greet me with open arms and I can hear your voice call me brother once again. I'd do anything to hear your voice again here in Asgard. What I wouldn't give to see your face once more.

I miss you so much, I cannot imagine celebrating Solstice without you this year. What will I do when your birth anniversary comes around? I will mourn for you always. I will never forget you, I swear it. You will always be with me. You are a part of who I am. You are a part of my very soul. I owe who I am to you. I know that I wouldn't be the person who I am if I hadn't had you by my side. Running and playing with me as children, fighting by my side, you kept me safe and kept me sane, you taught me so much, you were my best-friend and my hero. You always will be. I plan to name my first-born son after you, dear brother. I can only hope that he turns out to be half the man that you were. That would mean everything to me. I love you, Loki and I miss you more than words could ever say. Be at peace.

Your brother always,

Thor

Loki found himself gasping as he finished reading the handwritten note from Thor. He had reread it two or three times to confirm that it was Thor who had written it. The penmanship was rushed, it looked somewhat as if the quill had been held by an unsteady hand as there were ink splotches smattered all over the parchment. But the earnest, blunt words choice and lack of syntax and run-on-sentences were Thor's finger prints.

Loki found his pale fingers trembling. There were water spots on the parchment. Somewhere try and old as if they had been left there to stain the parchment for years, but there were others that were fresh and new and caused the black ink to run. Why would Thor write him a letter if he thought he was dead? When had Thor written this? During his time in the Void Thanos had convinced him that those who he had once thought of as his family had completely forgotten about him. After all he spent endless days and night crying out and screaming in the dark, pleading to be rescued from that nightmarish place and no one came.

It didn't matter now. it didn't matter what words Thor had written way back when. It could have been a trick, Thor could have written it anytime...it didn't have to be true. The emerald eyed conqueror of Asgard once again felt his palms starting to burn. He felt as though his flesh would melt clear off his bones. He shook his head. He knew far too well that Thor wasn't capable of such guile, he couldn't have written something that sounded so sincere if he hadn't meant it. Ruthlessly, savagely, Loki's shaky hands balled up the parchment. He flipped over on the bed and pounded the mattress. He put the pillow over his face and he screamed into the golden-goose feather satin pillows. The plush, lush pillow cushioned the wail and drowned it out and when Loki plucked his face from the pillowcase his throat was raw. He laid in the bed, his body was still, but his heart raced and banged against his chest like a wild animal. He was melting like an ice cube in the sun. Sweat poured from his forehead down to his ankles. His alabaster body was coated with perspiration. He picked the crumpled piece of parchment back up. He slowly, unfolded it. He started to tear it. His nimble fingers were positioned at the corners ready to rip it to shreds. With his eyes wide and breath hitching he managed to tear just the slightest edge off of the corner of the letter. With that he tore off the word brother. The torn piece fell onto his bed. He started to tear another piece, but he found his fingers unable to move. He pressed and gritted and strained, but still his hands would not follow the half-hearted commands of his brain. Loki then dropped the crumpled up parchment paper and allowed it to fall on his lap. he pretended that the water droplets and running ink on the piece of parchment was caused by sweat dripping from his ebony hair. His hands sat and quivered in his lap until he balled them up into tight fists. He yelled once more. It was a deep and shattering ear piercing scream. He bolted from his bed and ran to his balcony and let the wild howl that tore through his soul out into the cursed black and red night. His fist clenched the golden edges of his rail of the balcony. "Damn you, Thor!" He swore violently.

With that, King Loki composed himself. He straightened his posture. Held his head high. He wiped his brow and dripping face. He mumbled ancient words as he tried to cool himself once more. Loki knew that this night he would not sleep. Maybe nights like this when the world was about to change and be made new, maybe these were not nights to sleep. No, he would not sleep. Not until he spoke to Thor for the last time.

A/N: WOOHOO! You made it to the end of the chapter. I know that was a long one. It was actually going to be longer, but I cut it for a cliffhanger. Anyway I am going to try to fit one more chapter in before Thor Ragnarok appears in theaters. And I will try to make sure that one if full of big plot points hint hint. Anyway if you've been reading all this time you deserve to leave a review and let me know what you think. Don't be shy...I don't bite ;)

PS please remember to pray for those sufering from the hurricans and the devestating tragedy of the Las Vegas shooting.