Chapter 28: Tricks
It was Alex's first official magic lesson. Loki had put Storm down for her nap, and they had moved to the gym.
"First thing, if you are a beginner, always practice magic in a vast room with another sorcerer. You will have more room to avoid the inevitable accidents and the other might be able to stop those accidents."
So it was Loki, Alex, Steve and Wanda. But they had to convince the others that it was a private magic lesson.
"Alex, first, I want you to know you should only practice your magic if mister Rogers and I are around. Or if Wanda is there and if she gave you authorisation. But you should not do magic alone and never at the daycare. It is only during our practices that you can do magic. Do you understand?"
"Why?"
"Because you are still a beginner. You might commit mistakes. It's normal, but someone with magic should be there. And people outside of the Avengers don't know you have magic. You need to keep that a secret."
So they were sitting on the ground in a big gymnasium.
"There are different types of magic. Illusions and metamorphoses are two very powerful one, but there are also creation and chaos magic, and many more. Wanda, I believe you have chaos magic, if I'm not mistaken. Alex, because you managed to create a shield, we will focus on creation and illusion today. In order to be in control of the world surrounding you, you first need to be in control of yourself. So Alex, I want you to close your eyes and tell me what you hear."
Alex did as told and closed his eyes.
"I can hear the wind. I can hear breathing."
"Great! Now, can you point at Steve?"
That was a bit trickier. Steve was very silent, but Alex seemed to be focused.
"Good. Now, Alex, look at me."
Alex opened his eyes.
"If you want to make something appear, you need to have a clear image of it in your mind."
Loki looked at Steve for a second and Steve nodded.
"Order me to make a ball," asked Loki.
"Loki, I order you to make a ball."
Loki focused and then made a ball appeared in his hands.
"I want you to look at this ball."
Loki gave Alex the ball and Alex examined the ball for a few seconds, then gave his father the ball back.
"Now, close your eyes. You need to have a clear image of the ball in your head."
Alex closed his eyes again. Wanda, who wanted to try, just made a ball appear. This was easy, at least for her.
"Now, imagine you are holding that ball in your hand. Think of its weight, its texture."
Suddenly, a weird-looking ball appeared in Alex's hands who opened his eyes.
"I did it! But it does not look like your ball," said Alex.
Loki smiled. He was very proud of his son.
"It's really good, Alex."
"So I can just make everything appear?"
"And you can make it disappear. But you should not abuse your magic. It takes energy to do magic. Now, I want you to make the ball disappear. Just think of it as something you would want to throw away."
Loki looked at Steve again.
"Loki, I order you to make the ball disappear."
And Loki did. It was bothering him to always require order to do magic, but it was how it worked now. He was just happy Alex was free of that bond.
And Alex thought really hard about the fact he wished the ball was not there. Then, the ball caught fire and Alex jumped back.
Loki tried to use his magic to extinguish the fire, but the bond hurt him.
"Ow..."
Wanda took the lead and made water appeared to cease the fire.
"That's a kind of accident that can happen," said Loki. "It's okay, Alex."
"Why did you get hurt," asked Steve.
"I tried to use magic without order," explained Loki. "I'm sorry, Mister Rogers."
It had happened on its own. Loki had just used his magic and wanted more. He had been used to resort to magic to solve those kinds of problems, but the bond would not let him do magic without orders.
"Alex, try again. Make the ball disappear."
Alex focused a lot, and eventually, the ball did disappear.
"Yeah! Can I do something else?"
"What do you want?"
"A giraffe!"
"No Alex. No living animal yet. And nothing too big."
"A car? We have toy cars at the daycare."
"How about a bigger ball?"
Alex nodded.
"Okay, focus, imagine the ball in your head. Which colour is it?"
"Blue!"
"And how big is it?"
"That big," said Alex holding his hands separated.
"Is it only blue? Does it have a picture on it?"
"It has a yellow star."
"And how does it feel? Smooth? Rough surface?"
"Just plastic and smooth."
"Oh, I want to see that ball. Show it to me."
Alex focused on the ball and it appeared in his hands.
"Wow!"
Alex was so proud of him.
"Daddy, can we keep the ball? Like not make it disappear?"
Loki shook his head.
"Your magic is not strong enough yet. You will use your energy to keep this ball into existence as long as you focus on it. But if you forget the ball, it will cease to exist. And you will get tired faster the longer you keep the ball into existence," explained Loki. "When your magic gets stronger, you will be able to use the object you create for a few moments."
The ball started to shrink slightly.
"Daddy? Why is it doing this?"
"Your powers are not strong yet. You have potential, you will do great magic with training, but not now."
The ball continued to shrink.
"You are tired. This will be all for today. Now make it disappear."
The ball continued to shrink, but it eventually just pop out of existence before it had shrunk completely, meaning Alex had made it disappear.
"You are doing great, Alex. I'm so proud of you," said Loki.
And he was. He had been proud of himself when he had done his first few magic tricks, but now his children also had magic. And Alex was showing great potential. Storm also was already doing a bit of magic on her own. They both had great potential and would be able to do a lot of magical prowess in the future.
For now, magic had drained Alex's energy and the boy would sleep thigh during his upcoming nap. Magic is like a muscle and needs exercise and training to become stronger. Alex also needed more stamina to last longer.
oOo
One morning, Steve was pouring coffee into his cup like any other morning. Then, he poured a bit of milk. And then he took the sugar.
"I'll be careful with that if I were you, captain," said Friday.
"Careful with my coffee? I know it's hot, don't worry about me, Friday," said Steve adding the white powder to his drink.
"I was not referring to the coffee, sir," said Friday.
Then Steve lifted his cup. Then he took a sip of coffee. And then, he spat it.
"That's what I was talking about," said Friday.
"Who put salt into my coffee," asked Steve.
"You did," said Friday.
Steve took the sugar pot and tasted a bit of it. Salt! Someone had put salt into the sugar pot.
"Oh, I must have been mistaken when I refilled the sugar. I'm so sorry about that, mister Rogers," said Loki not guilty at all.
And then, Steve laughed. Rhodey came into the kitchen and took a cup, then poured some coffee into his cup.
"What are you laughing about," asked Rhodey now taking the sugar pot.
"Oh, I would not take sugar this morning if I were you," said Steve.
"But you are not me," said Rhodey putting some "sugar" into his coffee.
"Well, let's just say your coffee is going to be a bit salty this morning," warned Steve.
Rhodey drank his coffee and spat it.
"That's what makes you laugh," said Rhodey.
By now, both Steve and Loki were laughing. It was an innocent prank and Loki was surprised he caught two Avengers with such a basic trick.
"I must apologise, mister Rhodes, but it is funny," said Loki.
So Rhodey moved on and opened the utensil drawer. He plunged his hand without looking and took something.
"Yeah, it's really funny," said Rhodey sarcastically. "Real funny."
And then he looked at the fork he just took.
"Where are the spoons? Who messed up the utensils in the drawer?"
"Oh, my bad. I'm so sorry, I am not familiar with your way of sorting utensils in that drawer," said Loki without meaning it at all.
Rhodey looked at Loki with a semi-mean look. Then Sam arrived.
"Be careful, we have a god of mischief on our hands. I would not recommend salt in your coffee," warned Rhodey.
"But where is the fun in warning people," said Loki.
Steve sat at the table with another cup of coffee, without salt this time, and started drinking it. Sam decided to make himself some toasts and took the margarine out of the fridge. He opened the lid and let out a big girly scream.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh !"
"What! What is it," asked Rhodey.
And then, he saw the spider in the margarine. The fake spider. The plastic spider and he took it.
"It's just a fake," said Rhodey.
"Loki, did you put a fake spider into the margarine," asked Sam.
"Maybe. Maybe it got there on its own," answered Loki.
"Oh... It's own. I'll get my revenge," warned Sam.
"Anything else you did that we should be aware of," asked Rhodey.
"Nothing that you should be aware of, no," said Loki innocently.
"Anything that we should NOT be aware of, then," asked Sam.
Steve let out a small laugh. He was enjoying this as much as Loki.
"And you are just doing nothing, Steve. You are our captain, you should protect us," said Sam.
"It's harmless," said Steve. "And it's funny to see you make such a fuss over it. Let it go."
"Okay, I'll let it go," said Sam, and then he added, pointing Loki. "But you better not do something else."
"If I had access to my magic, I would not stop there," said Loki. "And really, you should not need the protection of your captain to defend you against a fake spider or a bit of salt."
"You are a menace," said Sam amused.
And Loki just smiled. It had been so long that he had not pulled a prank on someone. And way longer since he had pulled a prank without his magic.
"You wish you could have your magic right now, isn't it," asked Steve calmly.
"Yes, I do. I could turn the water from the tap into spaghetti, or turn the coffee back into coffee-ground, or change the colour of something."
Then, Steve leaned toward Loki and murmured an order in his ear. Loki smiled mischievously.
Tony had just entered the room and he started himself some toasts.
"Don't put sugar into your coffee," warned Rhodey. "And the utensils had been rearranged. Also, don't trust the margarine. Other than that, it should be fine."
"Oh, did someone did the classic of switching sugar and salt?"
"Yeah, someone did," said Sam on a slightly angry tone.
"Well, butter can never harm you," said Tony skipping the now safe margarine and taking the butter out of the fridge.
It's at that moment that Loki obeyed the order. When Tony put the butter on the counter, it slipped to the other end of said counter. Tony then took it back, but it slipped again. Then, the butter flew out of reach, literally flew. It was now close to the ceiling and all those present in the kitchen was looking at the butter.
"Loki, did you use your magic," asked Tony.
"I'm only doing as order," said Loki with a wink to Captain America.
"Butter fly," said Rhodey. "Really?"
And that was Loki's cue for the next order given by Steve. The flying butter turned into a butterfly. And everyone laughed it out for a while. They had a good laugh.
"Okay, now my toasts are ready," said Tony. "Steve, can you order him to bring it down?"
"What's the magic word," asked Loki.
"Abracadabra," proposed Rhodey.
"Please, can I have the butter now," said politely Tony.
Loki and Steve looked at each other.
"Loki, I order you to turn the butter back to a non-flying state and give it to Tony," said Steve.
And Loki obeyed.
It had been fun to pull pranks on the Avengers. Harmless pranks, of course, he didn't want to get into trouble, just wanted to have some fun. But the reaction of Steve had been worth it. Loki had been permitted to use his magic for tricks once again and it was so worth it.
He would not have pulled pranks if he had not been comfortable with the Avengers and he had chosen a lazy day. But they had enjoyed his tricks, even if they did not show it that much.
oOo
As usual, Loki would read a story to his children and then, he would put Alex and Storm to bed. Those stories were smoothing and it reminded Loki of his mother. Frigga used to tell a bedtime story to Thor and him when they were too young to read. After, they had been able to read a book by themselves, but Frigga was still there for that routine.
Once the children were in bed, Loki would close the light, lighted up a nightlight and get out of the room. But not this time. He was really tired and decided to stay in their room. He sat on the soft chair with his purple blanket and looked outside, at the moon. Asgard did not have a moon, so it was special for Loki.
But he could not stop thinking about Frigga. How he would love to speak to her again.
And then, she appeared in front of him.
"Mother!"
"My son," said Frigga, smiling.
Loki got up. He could not believe she was really there. He hesitated to touch her. He just wanted to hug her and never letting her go.
"I don't have much time," said Frigga.
"I love you."
"I know," said Frigga with grace. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing better now. I am alive, I have two children, Alex and Storm," said Loki pointing at them. "I work for the Avengers. I think I'm doing well."
"How do you feel about your sentence?"
Oh, how Loki had wanted to talk to his mother about that. But all his anger toward his sentence had evaporated.
"I know I deserve it. I'm starting to regret my actions. Not all of them, but some. I'm sorry I lost you. I love you and I lost you. But it had also given me my children and I would do everything for them. They both have magic."
"Loki, your father gave you this sentence and, as much as I did not condone it as first, you must know there is always a purpose to what your father does. He knows best and he loves you. You must know that."
"I disappointed him far too often for him to still love me," said Loki while lowering his head.
"If your children were to do something bad, would you stop loving them," asked Frigga.
"No! Of course not, never. They are my children and I will forever love them," said Loki.
"It's the same for your father and me. Even for Thor. We all love you because you are a member of our family."
"I'm not an Odinson anymore. Odin made sure of it. And I never was."
"Family is more than blood, Loki. You have been my son since the moment you have been in my arms. And you will never cease to be. Your father loves you too. He had to sentence you to a life sentence if he wanted you to live. Do you understand?"
"He wanted me to live? If he had condemned me to the axe, all my sufferings would have been over. He wanted me to suffer," said Loki starting to be angry again.
"No. He knew you would be angry and suffer for a while. But the training is over now. You have a life here. You are happy here on Midgard. You have found support. If you would have been killed after your misdeeds, you would not be here today, you would not have this life as it is. You have overcome so much, you are so strong, Loki."
"But I'll never be free."
"You might be free in other terms. Asgard has much to learn from Midgard and I think it was part of your father's intentions with your sentence."
"So he just wants me to learn?"
"You have always been a scholar, you love learning. But there are things one cannot learn in books. I must go now."
"Mother, no."
Loki stepped forward and try to touch Frigga, but she was not really there and his hand just passed through her.
"I love you, mother. I am sorry for what I have done."
"I forgave you. And I love you."
"Will I see you again?"
"Oh, you will. But not now, not before a long time. And I don't want you to join me just yet. The Valhalla is gorgeous, but you should be with your children for now."
"Farewell, mother."
And Frigga disappeared.
A small tear rolled down Loki's cheek as he was asleep on the chair in the corner of the room. But a smile also appeared.
