LOKI

Satan growled as he watched the sleeping Loki. She looked just like a sleeping angel, which was probably why he couldn't stand the sight of her. Her creamy face, shadowed by long, black eyelashes scrunched up in ... pain? Fear? Worry? Bah. What did it matter? She was just another pawn in his game.

Upon further thought, he decided that peering into her dreams might give him better insight into what might give him a handle-hold on her. That brought him to another inconsistency.

The previous Loki had responded well to his flattering, and had been mostly under his sway. Regretfully she saw the light in the moment that he had needed her most, and he had been forced to trick her out of office. Maybe this Loki had some rough times with sweet-talking men, or maybe she was simply a better judge of character. He did not know, but he was determined to find out.

He sent the first tendril of magic into her mind, and then secured it on a prominent image in her dream. Then he pulled himself into the dream slowly, so he wouldn't jar her from sleep.

"Princess Serenity, it is your duty to the Empire to protect it by forming a strong political marriage. It matters not how you think or feel, women are simply possessions in the eyes of men. You need to learn how to control things from that vantage point, and Serenity, it will not be in the way you like. Until you learn the powers you hold as a woman, you will be a possession, a pretty trophy to hang on some man's wall, and you will remain that way. Learn, Serenity. How you manipulate Prince Endymion I care not. You will marry the Prince of Earth."

A beautiful girl, young woman actually, curtsied deeply. "Yes Mother," came the whispered submission through rose petal lips.

Suddenly he was on an island, watching as a handsome man pushed the protesting Loki into a large ship. Her fingers grasped at his cloak, but never made contact.

"Sister, you must carry the Heart of Atlantis with you! You are our only hope! In you is the legacy of our great Empire that came crashing down because we failed to heed the warnings of an old man! You must survive! You must live on! If not for yourself, then for Atlantis! For Father! For me!"

She cried out as the ship left the harbor. The ship was nearly capsized several times, and once, only once, when they were riding the top of the wave, the girl was given a bird's eye view of her home, her dear Atlantis beings swallowed by the angry Sea. The scream of sorrow that erupted from her throat was quickly cut short by the wave that rolled across the deck. After that, the only thing you could hear was the song of the mermaids, welcoming the strange new playground into their sea.

The scene changed from the bottom of the sea to a palace, this time an airy place sprawling across the seaside. Salty air brushed against creamy skin that he was beginning to recognize. A hand fell heavily on her shoulder, and she spun around to face a man. He was old, but had a kindly look about him.

"Daughter, I recognize how much you do not wish me to marry this Lady, but it is my duty as King of the Minoans to keep the peace. Her family is strong enough to launch a way that would suck the gold from out treasury like the gods pull the ocean from out shores. If this happened, our country would split and we would collapse into civil war. Then the gods would take sides, and that would cause the very earth to shatter. No, as much as I love you, my country comes first."

"I understand," she said softly.

The images flashed faster and faster, finally coming to rest for the last time on a meadow, and a little girl playing there. A woman came into the meadow, and smiled at the girl. The little Loki didn't see her, not even when the exotic woman came and laid her hand on the blonde child's head.

"Little One, you have lives several lives. In all you were duty bound to protect your name and country at all costs. From this you will have great loyalty. From your past sorrow you will have depth. And from this small encounter with my meadow and me you will always have the knowledge that no matter how horrible your life may get, sunshine will always come."

She slowly faded away. The melancholy look lifted from the lass' face, and she giggled chasing a butterfly.

Satan gasped as he wrenched himself from the dream, or nightmare as it could have been. He scowled. All it proved was that Loki was not the airhead that he had thought she was, and that he would have to step lightly around her. He thought back reflectively on the men he had seen, and then slowly assumed a new form. Young. Well formed. Dark eyes. Black hair, preferably pulled back into a ponytail. When his modifications were complete, he viewed himself in the mirror, and was disquieted to see a mirror image of his human self. Now a name. Ah, what was the harm in using his own? Chang Wufei would work splendidly.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!" a voice roared in my ear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I clutched the bed-sheets to my chest and stared at the grotesque, smiling face of my tree. That was so not the way to start out a day. I mean really. Waking up after a series of nightmares and staring into a hideous face like his? What can I say? I screamed again.

Bob glowered at me. "Well you don't have to get that worked up about it."

I laughed shakily and pulled myself out of bed. "Bob, you'd make anyone scream at any time of the day."

There was a snort from behind me. "It seems you and your tree aren't very comfortable together."

I groaned inwardly. Veggie. I turned around hopping on one leg while trying to shove it into one pant-leg.

"Veggie, you're not very nice."

He smirked. "So nice to hear. Now come on."

I glared at him. "Why should I?"

"Because I'm going to train you."

He was my new best friend! "I LOVE YOU VEGGIE-KUN!"

"I certainly hope not," he growled.

I didn't care if he was Satan Himself! I was going to lean how to fly!