And here it is, the next part! Hope everyone is enjoying this!
Loki's Plan Part 8
Sleipnir was restless in his stall. He had smelled Mother's human-male-form scent quite strongly on that girl that Master had hurt, and he hated being part of anything which hurt Mother.
Since Master was trying to breed him again (a thing to which he was not disinclined in the least, he was a stallion after all, and his mother's son) he had a bit more leeway than he normally would with getting in and out into the paddocks. He decided that if he left after the grooms had been around in the early morning, he could get in a visit to Little Sister without much trouble. Master had said something about her visiting Mother lately, he was sure she must know what was going on, and who Mother was claiming as a part of his herd these days.
Getting out of the paddock unnoticed was no trouble at all, and when he came to the bridge Gyoll he bowed politely before Modgud and she smiled at him.
"Have you come to see your sister?" she asked.
"I have." Sleipnir admitted.
"She returned a few days ago from Midgard, and she hasn't been well, but I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Modgud told him.
"I will hurry to her then." Sleipnir neighed, and galloped across the bridge.
When he reached Eljudnir he slowed down, and whinnied to warn her of his approach.
"Sleipnir? Is that you? Come on into the serving hall." he heard her call from inside.
He nosed open the latch and trotted in. When he reached his sister, Hel was slumped in her high seat at the head of the hall, and she was very pale. Even though to him she always appeared whole - he had never seen her decaying side - her colour was very bad, and she looked weak enough to be almost on death's door. He hurried over to her, and nuzzled her gently, and she weakly reached up to stroke his nose.
"What happened to you, Little Sister?" he asked with worry in his voice.
"That is a bit of a long story, but the gist of it is that Odin tricked me into thinking that Father hated me, and that he had left me here alone on purpose. I don't know if he did something to make me a little mad or if it was just the loneliness that finally got to me, but I went to confront Father and make him feel the loneliness I felt. I stayed far too long in Midgard and used power recklessly. I guess part of me wanted to see what would happen if I died, as horrible as that sounds. What happens to the Queen of the Dead when she dies? Would I just return here, or disappear, or is there some other, unknown underworld to which I might go?" She sighed deeply, then rubbed at her forehead.
Sleipnir sank onto his knees next to Hel and lifted her chin with his nose. "Little Sister, you mustn't say such things! If you died we would all be very upset and miss you terribly!"
Hel smiled wanly. "I know, and I know it's silly to think such things, but I came very close to finding out, you know. I'm not sure Father even knows I survived, although there hasn't been any way for me to reassure him that I am alive, I've been far too weak..." Hel perked up. "Maybe you could tell him!"
"I could!" Sleipnir agreed. "Actually, I plan to go see Mother soon anyway. I wondered if you know, Little Sister... I took Master to Midgard a couple of days ago, and he hurt a girl who smelled of Mother's scent. Is there anyone whom Mother is paying special attention to these days?"
"There is one... Did she have hair of a similar colour to mine?" Hel asked, frowning.
"Actually, she did." Sleipnir admitted.
Hel sighed. "That would be Daidouji Mayura. I held her for a little while away from Father, and he seemed most upset about it. She is a kind girl, she tried to comfort me in my depression, I don't like to think of Odin hurting her in any way. Sleipnir, I think you should definitely go to see Father and tell him I am alright. You should also tell him that if there is anything I can do to help him, not to hesitate to ask it of me."
"Of course, darling Little Sister, I will tell him." Sleipnir agreed. He nuzzled her one last time then rode off to Midgard to find Mother. He would relay Little Sister's message, certainly, but he also intended to tell Mother exactly how unwell she looked and see if there was anything Mother could do to make her feel better.
When Mayura headed off to school, Yamino and Loki carried the bags she had packed back to their house. Loki was in a rare good mood, and he was whistling cheerfully as they walked along.
"Loki-sama, won't it be difficult having Mayura staying with us? I heard about what the Norns said..."
Loki just laughed. "I'll put her in the room next to mine, have no fear there, and I'll spend today extending the wards on it to keep her safe; from me as well as anything else that might try to harm her."
"Daddy, I'll sleep at her feet if you want." Fenrir offered.
"Ask her if she wishes it, although I don't think she'll mind." Loki agreed. "She seems to like puppies."
"I'm a wolf! I'm not a puppy!" Fenrir objected.
"Even wolves, when they are small, are puppies." Yamino pointed out.
Fenrir pouted but he couldn't argue the point.
When they got back to the house, Yamino and Loki busied themselves airing out and preparing Mayura's new bedroom, while Fenrir and Ecchan volunteered themselves to patrol the yard and watch for intruders. It was about three hours after they had gotten home that they all heard the syncopated rhythm of a horse's hooves galloping, followed by a high-pitched whinny.
"Sleipnir!" Fenrir parked, and ran to the front yard.
"Hello, Little Wolf-brother." Sleipnir neighed, and leaned down to nuzzle him.
"Come into the back yard, Sleipnir-aniki." Yamino suggested, poking his face out the door.
"Little Snake-brother?" Sleipnir said, surprised.
"Yes, it's me. Loki-sama laid a spell upon me to allow me to stay here with him, although Niichan managed to change his form to this puppy-like shape all on his own."
"I can see there is much to explain on both sides, maybe I should come around to your back yard as you suggested." Sleipnir whinnied in amusement.
"I'll tell Loki-sama you're here and we will meet you in the yard." Yamino said with a smile.
He rushed up to tell Loki that it was indeed Sleipnir they had heard, and then the two of them hurried down to the back yard.
"Mother!" Sleipnir neighed happily and nuzzled Loki, who wrapped his arms around his eldest son's neck and scratched him affectionately under the mane.
"Sleipnir! What brings you here?" Loki asked.
"First to bring word of Little Sister. I saw her just this morning and she said you might be worried about her..."
"Hel? She's alive?" Loki said with a sudden note of hope in his voice.
"She is, and she told me I was to reassure you that she is fine, and tell you if there is anything she can do to help you against Odin you are to tell her and it will be done. Honestly though, she is not as well as she would let on, she looked very sick, and she was horribly weak. I wondered if there might be anything you can do to make her feel better, Mother?"
"There may be. We have a few things to finish here, but how much time do you have before you're missed?"
"Oh, lots. Master is trying to breed me again, so I can tell him I found a mare in season out in the forest and went off to get her. I could even stay a few days if you like. There is indeed a mare in the forest who is in season, but I know her well, and she'll come with me if I ask her, so I won't be caught out on that story."
Loki laughed. "You are indeed my son, aren't you?" he said. "Well, if you have time, then I think I would like it if you could take me to see Hel. Why don't you crop some grass for a bit, and maybe Yamino-kun can find you something more substantial to eat while I finish the wards I'm placing, and then we will ride to Niflheim to see her."
Halfway across town, Heimdall was plotting. He was plotting a most wonderful plot to really irritate Loki without actually harming him, and the mere thought of it made him giggle. He still hadn't told Freyr about that Mayura girl's situation, he had decided it would be funnier if he found out on his own, and also, he somehow didn't want to see the Vanir sad. He was trying to think of some way to distract the other God once he found out, and he was on the lookout for other pretty girls. Freyr always was a sucker for a pretty face. He would warn Freya, however. He knew that even if she was obsessed over Loki, she had a great respect for the inexorability of wyrd, and destined love was one of her areas of expertise. He was presently waiting outside "Ooshima Reiya's" school for the little girl form of Freya to emerge. He giggled again, thinking about his great plot to bug Loki, then straightened up as he saw a head with brown curls tied up with two bows walk past him.
"God afternoon Reiya-chan!" he called out to her.
"Oh! Higashiyama-kun, Reiya didn't see you there!" she replied, heading over to him.
"Do you have a few spare minutes? I have something to talk to you about. In private." he asked.
Reiya blinked, then nodded imperceptibly, and they headed of to a nearby park.
When they got there, Freya appeared in a flash of light and frowned at Heimdall. "Okay, what is it that you wanted to say to me?" she asked, sounding a little put out. "I was going to head over to Loki's place after school today, you know."
"Well, it's a good thing I caught you when I did, then." Heimdall said. "There 's been a bit of a development with Loki and that Mayura girl in the last couple of days, and it really is something you should know about."
"What do you mean 'development' Heimdall?" Freya asked, her voice icy.
"Mayura was attacked by Odin, and when Loki went to the Norns for help, they discovered that she really shouldn't be Mayura at all." He took a deep breath, then looked Freya right in the eye. "She's Sigyn, Freya." he said.
There was a sad note in Heimdall's voice. He didn't like to be the bearer of bad news to such a beautiful Goddess. He secretly rather liked Freya, even if she did have a foolish obsession with Loki, and he hated to see her upset.
Freya's face fell, and her eyes began to tear up. "She's Sigyn? Are you sure?"
"That's what the Norns said, and it makes sense, Freya, you have to admit that."
"You're right, it does make sense." Freya said sadly, "Although I wish it didn't. She always seemed to get and keep his attention even when she wasn't really trying." She sighed deeply. "I guess I should go talk to Skuld-chan. She also had feelings for Loki, and I'm sure she must be upset."
Heimdall reached out to pat her hand. "I'm sorry I had to tell you Freya, I'm sorry I had to make you unhappy," he said.
Freya smiled down at him. "No, it's better that I know." Her smile turned into a thoughtful frown. "You know, I really shouldn't have to look down at you like this." she said.
She leaned down to kiss him and his body shifted until he was in his more natural form. He appeared to be a young man of about twenty-two or three, and his clothes were slightly more formal than they had been before, although he still wore his heavy leather gloves.
"There. Much better." Freya said with satisfaction. "You can still change to your other form, since people will expect it, but now you can resume this form whenever you want."
"Thank you!" he said, rather stunned.
"Think nothing of it." Freya said. "Now I must go see Skuld. If you'll excuse me..."
