Sorry it took me a bit to finish this chapter; it was hard to get it where I wanted.
Please note that this is my first fan fiction ever, I would really appreciate any feedback that can be given. I really want to complete this story with a satisfactory ending, and not leave it to get dusty.
Loki landed in Encanto, ready to carry out his Father's orders and settle in the town of Encanto. He knew that his first priority would be covering up the marks that Bifrost had made. The markings would have clearly given away the fact that another culture was involved, due to the Asgardian artwork laced into them.
He went ahead and covered the markings. He started by kicking the dirt around the area, shuffling all of the markings in the process, and following he covered the area with as much brush and leaves as he could find without completely disturbing the area around him.
Loki could tell it was cold. He was never bothered as much by the cold as other Asgardians, but he could still tell. He decided that he would make his way into the town in the morning, and figure out how to blend in, get a job, and anything else he needed to do when the time came.
He lay on the ground. He was not afraid of animals as he was capable of fighting off any Midgardian beasts should the need arise. He thought to himself, passing the time but not going to sleep. He wanted to stay aware of his surroundings, in case one of the Colombians discovered him.
He approached the central plaza after the sun had peeked over the mountains, noting that everyone was going inside the Church. A Catholic church. Odin knows what would happen if they discovered who he was. He had no plans to get caught anytime soon.
When he went through the open doors, he saw that people were sitting on the pews, with a priest and young woman at the chancel. Loki carefully selected a pew to sit on near the back. He kept silent, despite sitting directly next to one of the townspeople. There were roughly 80 people in the church.
The young woman began speaking, his allspeak not translating it to Asgardian like he expected. It surprised him, but he figured it was because he already learned a variant of the language. "Alright, everyone. We were all there last night, when the miracle happened." She said in Spanish. It looked like she was exhausted, grieving, and devastated.
"My name is Alma Madrigal. We have been blessed by God, and it is our duty to preserve our miracle, and our… Encanto." She spoke this time in a strong voice, one that people could aspire to.
"We need to settle our housing!" Said one of the townspeople.
"And our jobs!"
Loki was glad that this was brought up now and not earlier. This would make getting settled into the… Encanto as she called it, much easier. He knew he could do a multitude of jobs relatively easily, and would have to be careful not to show his 'Asgardian' strength, but at least he wouldn't be physically exhausted.
"Everyone, we are going to need your names and family sizes so that we can sort out houses according to the needs of each family. Our priest has put papers and pens into the backs of each pew. Please, write your family's names with professions and ages, and pass them forward."
'Shit' Loki thought to himself. His anxiety rose, and his heart began racing. He hadn't thought of a name yet. He didn't want to seem like an outsider, so he needed to think of a name fast. The townsperson next to him would notice something was off if he took too long.
He collected himself and wrote down that his name was… Luis Cortés. Sastre. He knew he could do tailoring because he took it on Asgard. He had run out of good class options, yet his mother wouldn't let him stop schooling. He was glad it could finally pay off, not to mention he could use a few Asgardian techniques to really make his work stand out. No, he figured that would give away his true origins. Nevertheless, a Cuban Tailor he would play.
He passed his paper, as well as the papers of the other townspeople in his pew, to the person in front of him. He noticed that the person in front of him looked at Loki's paper before passing it forward to the next pew. Curious.
"Could the heads of families of 3 or more please come up here? Everyone else, you may go outside while we distribute the houses. Please don't go too far, you will be coming back here shortly so that we may make the proper arrangements." spoke Alma, in the same strong tone. Loki got up, and left the church.
He went outside, and monitored the rest of the townspeople. He wasn't gathering information on them for his Father, but rather so he knew who he was dealing with and their behaviors. Loki had made a habit to do this, he even did it on Asgard all too often.
A man approached Loki, and introduced himself.
"Hola. Are you Señor Cortés?" the man asked. Loki recognized him as the person who sat in front of him, in the next pew. He had fair skin and curly dark hair, with a mustache and a goatee. He spoke in Spanish, and his Allspeak still did not pick up on it.
"I am." He responded in Spanish.
"Great. I am Miguel. Miguel Hernandez."
"Good to meet you. Why were you curious about me?"
"I noticed you are a tailor. I was an apprentice before my mentor died in the raid."
'Raid?' He thought to himself. He was constantly learning new things during his time here. He thought Heimdall would have told him of such an event.
"Ah. A shame. Are you looking for a new mentor? I'm afraid I'm not the best at it."
"A mediocre mentor is better than no mentor at all."
He wondered to himself if this… Miguel was suspicious of him. Was he just not used to being approached positively before? People on Asgard very rarely asked him if he could do anything for them, especially politely.
"I see. Well, when la Señora Madrigal calls me in, I will ask if you can work for me. Is that alright with you?"
"Sí. Gracias Señor."
"De nada."
It didn't take long before Alma called 'Señor Luis Cortés' as well as 3 other people, including Miguel, back inside. Once everyone was seated, she called the names one by one. She got to Loki first, or in her eyes Luis. "Señor Luis Cortés. Please come forward."
Loki got up, and went forward. He could feel the eyes on him as he approached. Why was he nervous? He figured it was because he was in a church of the faith that killed off his own people's believers.
When he got to the front, he almost kneeled out of instinct, but stopped himself. "Sí, ¿Señora Alma?" 'Was that too formal?' he thought to himself. He hoped it wasn't, because he didn't want to stand out too much.
Alma pointed to a house on a map of the Encanto. He didn't know how she got a map so quickly, considering it had been a day since the town was formed. "You are our only fully experienced Tailor. You will be working here. Have you gotten a chance to talk with any of these former apprentices?"
"I have. Miguel Hernandez, I believe."
"Good, you should take him as your apprentice for now. There are 2 other former apprentices, I would like it if you could take them under your wing as well. Once Señor Hernandez and the other two are trained, they can become your assistants."
Loki was glad that it seemingly went smoothly. He now had a fake identity and a job he could work. He figured infiltrating this town would be a breeze, and he couldn't wait to make Father proud. He performed a bow of gratitude, and spoke. "Gracias, Señora Madrigal." He then walked out, with the apprentices following shortly behind after Alma had shown them their houses on the map. He wasn't sure how she got her power, but he didn't question it yet.
Loki arrived at his new dwelling. He hadn't thought much of it before, but now in his own eyes, the significantly smaller and simpler house was a refreshing change of pace for him. Centuries spent living in a grand palace on Asgard made him yearn for simplicity. The building was two stories, and he didn't bring much stuff from Asgard in the slightest- Only the things he normally concealed and took with him, such as his books, daggers, basic tools, and some rations.
He entered the building and was met with the room which he presumed was meant for selling. There was a counter near the back of the room, with two doors behind it. The first door led to a staircase, which he decided he would investigate later. The second room contained various tools for creating clothes, mannequins of both sexes, and reference pictures of traditional Colombian clothing. It also had fabrics, wools and dyes. There was a desk with an oil lamp, a stash of pencils of various colors, and two stacks of paper, as well as various measuring instruments. The papers had light diagrams of both sexes, sorted by stack, he recognized them as templates for designing clothes. There were two small windows at the top of the opposite walls, with shutters.
He left that room and went upstairs, where he found what he assumed was his living area, with a kitchen with basic cooking utensils. He stored his rations there. There were three doors from there, with the first one leading to a bedroom. It contained a bed, with a bedside cabinet, an oil lamp, a desk, and a closet. There was a large window at the far end of the room, with shutters. It led out to the main plaza.
The second door led to a basic bathroom, with a tub, sink and a toilet. On Asgard, he was used to washing in one of the rivers in the mountain range, so this would be something he looked forward to using. There were no windows, which made sense, as it was a bathroom.
The final door led to a small living room, with a couch and a few chairs, and a table at the center. There were three large windows at the end of the room, with shutters as well. They, like the bedroom window, led to the main plaza.
Loki knew that he should begin working on the patterns and designs. He figured that it would be best to start out working on Ponchos and Ruanas, as those were simple and some of the first things he learned to make on Asgard. He walked to his tailoring room and sat down at the desk, picking up a pencil and taking one of the male template sheets.
He got to work, making a simply designed poncho. He looked at his reference images for designs and motifs to put onto the poncho. He put the design into the paper, utilizing creative liberty while trying to maintain the Colombian aspects as best he could. It would be a gray poncho with dark blue embroidery designs on top.
He finalized his design, and decided that he would sell clothes by putting the designs in the selling area, and making them when they were ordered.
He heard a townsperson walk into the shop as he was putting his new design up, and he went to the counter. The townsperson walked up to the counter, and introduced himself. "Hola, Señor Cortés. My name is Alejandro. I see you are the new tailor around here?" Loki nodded in confirmation. "How can I help you?"
"I need a repair job on my poncho. It was ripped while we were fleeing the Guerillas, and I don't want to replace it. As a reminder of how we got here."
Loki wondered if these Guerillas were responsible for the raid he heard about from Miguel. "I understand. Show me where it is ripped." he responded.
Alejandro took his poncho off, and showed Loki where it had ripped; a cut roughly 12 inches (30.5 cm) that spanned from the bottom right corner to the center of the back. His poncho clearly got caught on something based on the pattern of the tear, as it was definitely not from a weapon.
"I can get this fixed up for you in no time."
"Great. When should I come and pick it up?"
"Later tonight, since you're my first customer and therefore my first order."
"Awesome. If it turns out well, I'll be sure to spread the word of your quality."
Loki wondered if it would really be this easy. Asgardian artisans were practically at each other's throats, competition was immensely stressful for many of them, especially in such an advanced city with the pride that comes with it. Here, with such a low population, he was one of the only tailors. A good choice.
The customer left the shop, leaving the poncho on the counter, eager to be worked on. Loki got to tailoring it. He determined a reasonable price while working on the poncho, based on what he had learned on Asgard about economics and marketing. He knew he was lucky to have been well educated, his Mother's concerns had paid off.
He knew that if Thor, who had taken so many martial classes he barely had time for his basic studies, was put into Loki's perspective, Thor would not have lasted without getting a labor intensive job. He was willing to bet Thor would have become a hunter.
He finished the poncho with 30 minutes to spare, which he used to design his next piece; a skirt and blouse. He enjoyed being this artistic, he rarely got the chance to at home.
Alejandro came into the shop, and arrived in front of the counter. Loki came out of the backroom with the poncho in his hands; with the tear almost completely hidden, even though it could be seen if someone paid close attention to the details, and knew where to look.
Alejandro was pleased, and Loki charged him his price, which both of them were seemingly happy about.
After Alejandro left, Loki locked the front door since it was getting dark, and went upstairs to prepare some food. He had brought some basic rations from Asgard, as Heimdall knew many of the refugees had brought some as well.
He prepared a vegetable soup with some bread on the side, and had some water to go with it. He ate and drank at a normal pace, thinking about how he would continue to monitor the people. He knew that seclusion would only lead to suspicion.
He decided that he would try his best to be outgoing whenever he could, even going to church on Sundays, but he would completely refrain from using magic, speaking in Asgardian, or showing his superior strength and durability, even if he thought he could hide it. He cast an aging illusion on himself that night.
After finishing his food and washing his dishes, he went to his bed to lay down, ready to sleep. He knew that his job would help him get more information on the people here; and perhaps the people would trust him more because of the nature of his work.
He dozed off to sleep, dreaming of his future in this realm; he was happy he would get to spend almost a century here, which was rare for Loki. A nice break from Thor, Odin, and the other Asgardians.
He woke in the morning, at his normal time. He unlocked the front door, and went to the backroom. Fifteen minutes later, he heard as someone walked in, and when he went to check, it was Miguel Hernandez. "Señor Cortés. I hope I am not too early. I am here to begin working." Loki had hoped that after sleeping, his Allspeak would finally catch on to the Spanish, yet it did not.
Miguel seemed to be slightly confused at the hesitation of Loki, before he finally responded. "Yes, of course. I will show you the tailoring area." Loki walked into the backroom, with Miguel trailing behind.
"This is where I have been designing clothes. I have a few works done. The embroidery machine is there, scissors are there…" He continued to point out where everything is. "Don't touch the papers unless I tell you to." Loki was very specific about that, which appeared to have confused Miguel.
"Okay."
"For now we don't have any orders, so I would like you to help me put out some of these designs." Loki picked up a few papers. "We are going to put them on the walls. Men's on the left, Women's on the right."
He picked up a box of nails and handed it to Miguel, as well as a hammer. They spent the next hour hanging up a few designs, Loki being very careful to not put the nail through the wall with one swing. His other two apprentices came in, and he didn't know what to do with them.
Just as he was thinking, a customer came in. He ordered multiple items, including his first skirt and blouse design, a custom poncho, a set of basic pants and a shirt. It was likely he was ordering for himself and an affiliated woman, since his own clothes seemed to be tattered.
Loki wrote the order down, and the measurements provided. He ordered Miguel and Jorge, the second apprentice, to come with him, where they got to work producing the requests. The third apprentice was tasked with taking in customers' orders, who seemed to be coming in and out. A bountiful amount of orders were being made each day.
This process repeated throughout the week, until Saturday. He knew it was believed that you should rest on Sunday, so he closed his shop on Saturday but continued to work on the orders. He utilized the weekend, including Sunday if necessary, to catch up on his orders, without his apprentices being present so they would think he did it all on Saturday. Every workday of the week, he would switch out the apprentices' jobs.
He was doing well, he never never got too behind, and by monday was completely caught up. He had made enough money to buy food, more supplies, and live comfortably. He was loved by the community for his artistic choices; some of which was inspired by Asgardian art. Of course, he just told them it was either Cuban or from his family, if asked about the art or his accent when speaking Spanish.
Every sunday night, he had written reports to Heimdall in Asgardian, as a summary of what was going on, and burned them after each week.
He enjoyed making his art more, and treated writing the letters more as a chore than he did his own job. He knew this facade was sustainable, and he enjoyed his job. He felt that he was going to enjoy this life, even if it was only the length of a Human life. A long one, at that.
If you made it this far, Thank you so much, it means a lot to me. Please, if you are willing to spare the time, leave a review. I would love feedback wherever possible, so I may improve my writing skills.