Chapter 5 - Vanaheim

It was impossible to guess how long they walked. Stars wheeled around Loki and Sigyn in every direction, but the twists and turns of the path made it impossible to track their travels across the endless inky night.

Sigyn was silent as she led the way, and Loki followed her example. He matched the steady, regular pace that she set, losing himself inside his own thoughts to pass the time as they continued ever onward. He ignored the rumble in his empty stomach and bit back the desire to demand to know where they were going and when they would arrive, but it became harder with every step.

His resolve was nearly spent when the stars around them began to fade away. The mist at their feet began rising again, but it was darker than it had been at Asgard. Loki had the sense of solid space closing around them from all sides, almost as if they were being swallowed, and a fine mist clung to his skin.

"Sigyn?" he asked, finally breaking the stillness. "Are we almost there?"

"Nearly," she answered, but didn't slow. The space around them continued to transform. Loki could make out a point of light in the distance. When he reached out, his knuckles scraped against roughened stone and the air began to carry the sharp, tangy scent of the sea.

"Just a little further!" They began to climb. Sigyn bent forward, pushing against the walls around them as she struggled up the path. They continued toward the light which grew steadily larger and closer until, at last, they emerged on a sandy beach.

After such a long journey in the dark and stillness, their new surroundings registered as a shock. The sun was very bright overhead and the crash of waves upon the sand and cliffs seemed overloud.

"Vanaheim," Sigyn announced quietly. She stood very still, but Loki could read the tension in her body, which gave the impression that she wanted nothing so much as to kick off her shoes and run headlong into the waves.

In all his travels with his father and brother, Loki had never visited this realm, and so he paused to survey the land. The sea was very different than what he had known at home. There, the water that ringed Asgard was little more than a grandiose moat. The waterfalls and fountains of the great cities pooled at the edges of the realm, extending only a few dozen yards before plummeting into space below. Even at their widest point, the waters were easily spanned by the Rainbow Bridge, but the Sea of Vanaheim looked endless. It stretched on a far as Loki could see and even then, at the point of the horizon, there was no telltale cloud of moisture to indicate where it fell away.

What passed for "waves" on Asgard seemed like the ripples from a stone thrown into a pool compared with the high, crashing walls of foam that slammed against the Vanaheim beach. Even from a distance, Loki could feel the spray against his cheek and taste a hint of salt on his tongue.

"The tide is coming in," Sigyn said. She scooped Loki's hand into her own and tugged him toward the cliffs.

Loki groaned aloud when he saw a narrow staircase carved into the stone- one that looked twice as steep and half as wide as the path to Noatun.

"Father says that the Vanir are the mothers of the elves…" Loki said in an acid tone, "But I think he's got them confused with mountain goats. You people do love to climb."

"It isn't safe down by the water," Sigyn informed him. "At least, not when the storms blow in…and there are sometimes serpents as well- at least, there used to be. It's safer on the cliffs."

Easier to watch for Asgardians too, Loki added sotto voice- not that their vantage point had helped the Vanir against Odin's armies in the end.

Gritting his teeth, Loki fell into step behind his companion once again. Luckily, the journey wasn't as far as he had feared. At the top of the cliff, the path leveled and led away from the water. It was bordered on either side by yellow flowers and sweet smelling grass.

"Look!" Sigyn said, gesturing behind them.

Loki did as she instructed. The sight of the Vanir Sea was even more impressive from above. Sunlight shimmered across the water which varied in color from pale blue to nearly black.

Sigyn retraced her steps to stand beside him. "The paler part is still the beach when the tide goes out," she said, gesturing as she spoke. "And those lighter patches are sandbars that stretch further out. The darker colors are deeper water…the darkest-"

"-is the bottomless sea," Loki finished for her.

"Yes!" There was an unmistakable note of pride in Sigyn's voice. "That is where the Azimuth was lost."

"It can't really be bottomless then," Loki noted.

Sigyn shrugged. "Perhaps there is another branch of Yddrasil beneath the waves."

"Perhaps," Loki conceded. "It isn't exactly a claim that can be disproved."

"No."

"What is on the other side of the water?" Loki asked, more interested in the width of the sea than its depth.

"Midgard, it is told- but no one has sailed that way in a very long time…since before my grandfather's memory," Sigyn told him. "It may be that the way is closed."

The wind was picking up. A strong gust blew over the cliff and tugged Sigyn's hair from its pins. Objectively, the girl was rather bedraggled, but there was something about the vibrant smile on her face and the way that her native sun glowed against Sigyn's skin that made her look quiet lovely despite her rumpled gown and unkempt hair. Loki stared at her longer than he intended before remembering himself.

"Where are we headed next?"

"We should spend the night in the castle," Sigyn told him. "The way to Svartalfheim is through the dungeons, but we need a chance to rest and eat."

"Why can't we just stop here?" Loki asked, sweeping his arm to indicate the meadow around them. He was weary of walking and the clearing looked ideal for a camp, but Sigyn shook her head.

"It isn't safe out in the open."

"And why not?" Loki asked, pouring the full arrogance of his royal blood into his tone. "You assured me that the Vanir have no plot against Asgard. I cannot see why their prince would not be safe."

"The people of Vanaheim have left this realm for Asgard... darker things have taken their place."

Loki found the pronouncement unduly ominous considering their present circumstances. The sun was still high in the sky. Its golden warmth dripped through the fruit-heavy branches of the trees that lined the street. A faint breeze was at their backs, propelling them down the lane to a snug village at the foot of yet another hill.

The houses in the village were very different from what Loki had seen in Asgard. The Vanir were closer to the earth than their Aesir brethren and had never been known for their metal craft. Rather than building golden towers, the Vanir lived in low-slung cottages with four whitewashed walls made out of shells and clay, reed thatching and little windowpanes of multi-colored sea glass. From a distance, the effect was quite picturesque. However, as he came closer, Loki saw that most of the houses had fallen into disrepair. Several of the roofs had collapsed and some chimneys were toppled over. A few of the homes were almost swallowed by flowering vines.

Despite the fact that the village appeared deserted, Loki could read the tension in Sigyn's body as she led the way through the empty streets. She darted from shadow to shadow until they reached the first castle wall.

Loki craned his neck to look up at the spires of the Vanir palace. It rose up from the village in concentric rings, each smaller and more heavily fortified than the last until it ended in a crystalline spire that flashed in the evening sun.

The walls of the castle were fashioned from the same mixture of clay, ash and shells as the village houses, but the placement of the shells was much more precise. As they walked, Loki made out a pattern. First it was a simple repetition of crosses and lines, but it grew steadily more complex as they spiraled upwards. Crosses became knots. Knots became vines. The vines ultimately coalesced into giant murals that had been painstakingly pieced together from bits of shell and coral and glass.

Like the houses, the castle had clearly seen better days. Large chunks of the walls were missing and, from time to time, a heavy piece of fallen stonework blocked the path. Enough remained for Loki to make out some of what the mosaics depicted. He could see the beginning of Vanaheim- the first sea goddess climbing out of her shell- and then the foundation of the castle being built. There were towering Jotunns fashioned out of blue cockles, light elves with green coral breeches and even the Aesir, engaged in battle, their glinting armor represented by shards of glass.

"There!" Sigyn gestured toward one of the figures- a white-haired Vanir battling a Frost Giant. "It is King Salkin- and the Azimuth!" Most of the crystals that made up the crown had been pried out or worn away, but Loki could still make it out, so heavy that the Vanir king was bent nearly in two as King Laufey rent a giant crack in the ice below.

That was the last of the pictures. Loki imagined that it had been completed not long after the battle took place- perhaps as a tribute to the fallen king- or maybe as Njord's reminder to himself of the price of hubris. Whatever the case, that was where the murals stopped. There was an expanse of plain white wall and then the road ended at a pair of battered wooden doors. Loki and Sigyn stepped inside, into a room that must have been very beautiful in its day.

It was a round chamber. Up above, the crystal spire of the palace caught the light and directed it inward, so that a thousand rainbows danced against the walls and reflected on the blue-glass floor. Giant windows faced the sea. It was breathtaking until Loki looked most closely. Most of the windowpanes had been broken, allowing the salty sea air to come inside. Rotting tapestries and curtains fluttered near the ceilings and the white walls were slimy with damp.

On the far wall, facing the water was a high-backed throne. One of the legs was broken and a heavy gash marred one of the sides, giving the impression that it had been thrown down from its perch before being handed up again, but it had clearly been magnificent once.

"What did it look like before?" Loki asked, wondering if it was Laufey or Odin who had caused the destruction.

Sigyn sighed. "I only wish I knew…I was born after the Great War."

"But your grandfather brought you here."

Sigyn nodded sadly. "Once…as a child."

"When you found the necklace."

She bobbed her head a second time. "It was when the last of our people came to Asgard. I think that grandfather needed to see for himself that Vanaheim was truly finished…or perhaps he merely wanted to say goodbye." She stood in the middle of the room and peered up at the crystal spire. "It seemed bigger back then..."

Sigyn walked to the throne and stroked her hand over the weathered wood. "Grandfather let me sit here once…only me...my sisters were so jealous…but they never understood grandfather like I did…I think…if Vanahiem hadn't fallen…" Her voice trailed off abruptly.

"What?" Loki asked, suddenly interested.

Sigyn flushed and looked away. "It doesn't matter. Vanaheim did fall. A little girl's daydreams don't matter."

Loki looked from the battered throne to Sigyn's face, and he felt a shock of recognition when he read her expression.

Loki had worn that look himself too many times to mistake it. Every time that Odin coddled Thor and favored his golden son. Every time the king took Loki's elder brother aside to bestow a bit of royal wisdom of wax poetic about when Thor would be King, the same angry, covetous green fire shone out from Loki's eyes. He knew what Sigyn was feeling: This should be mine… Njord would have named his favorite granddaughter as queen and she would have sat on the throne, staring into the cool blue waters that she loved.

Several moments passed in silence before Sigyn stepped away from the throne. When she did, she didn't look back. "We should get some rest," Sigyn told Loki. "Tomorrow will be another long day."

The door to the kitchen was charmed shut, but Sigyn opened it with a spell. The inside was dusty, but snug. The chimney was sound and it wasn't long before a fire was blazing in the hearth.

Loki dug an apple out of his robes, resigning himself to a meager meal, but Sigyn surprised him with an offer to cook. She left him alone to scamper back down to the water and returned a little later with the makings of a seafood stew.

Loki frowned suspiciously at the bubbling concoction of shellfish and kelp, but they day's exertion had left him too hungry for a finicky appetite. Whether he truly enjoyed the rustic dish or was simply too famished to complain he didn't know, but he gulped down every bite, along with a hunk of bread that Sigyn had carried in her pack.

With a fully belly and weary bones, Loki and Sigyn settled down in front of the fire to sleep. Loki had nearly drifted away when Sigyn's voice broke through the silence.

"Loki? May I have my necklace back?"

At first, he pretended that he hadn't heard, but Sigyn poked his shoulder. "Loki…my piece of the Azimuth…I want it back!"

"Why?" he asked, a little bit crossly. If he returned Sigyn's necklace now, he would only have to take it back when they found the rest of the crown.

"I feel safer when I have it."

"What, exactly, are you afraid of, Sigyn?" Loki certainly hadn't seen anything to cause alarm. Sigyn's paranoia was starting to annoy him.

"I just want it," she pressed.

Loki relented. With a sigh, he reached into his pocket and retrieved the crystal on its silver chain.

"You know…" he drawled, feeling a burst of mischief. "A real princess would have a golden chain," he teased.

Sigyn let out a little howl of indignance and grabbed for the necklace. "I thought you had forgotten that!"

"Forget the worst spanking of my entire life? Not likely," Loki countered. "You know that you still owe me for that!" He tried to sound harsh but, in reality, he was smiling when he recalled the night that he had first met Sigyn- and first seen her glittering necklace.

Njord had traveled to the palace to give his annual tribute to Odin. He brought his granddaughters along as a special treat. Lofn was the youngest then. She and Syn were merely babies and Loki had no memory of the pair apart from their cribs in the corner of the nursery. Nanna, the eldest, already fancied herself a young lady and, despite being exiled to eat her meals with the palace children, spent the entire visit apart from the others, curled up in a corner with a heavy book.

Sif was recruited to serve as an extra playmate for the girls. She was a longtime fixture of the royal nursery and a loyal playmate of Thor and Loki. While she was eager to spend an evening with the royal princes, Sif was loathe to share their toys with strangers- and even less inclined to give up her authority to assign the roles in the games that they played.

"But I'm a real princess!" Little Sigyn cried, arguing for the part of beautiful hostage instead of fearsome serpent. "I don't want to be a snake!"

Loki was quite keen for Sigyn's request to be granted. He himself was considered begging for a change to play a warrior or a fearsome wizard instead of his usual assignment as Jotunn, giant wolf, or troll.

Sif would hear nothing of it.

"I don't think you are a real princess," she said in a haughty tone. "After all- just look at your dress! My servants have finer rags than that! I bet your sister gave it to you! I bet it isn't even yours!"

Sigyn had obviously been quite pleased with her frock until that moment, because she looked down at her gown in despair. Despite the tears pricking behind Sigyn's angelic blue eyes, the lady Sif continued:

"And your necklace…Why, I think it's just a piece of glass! A real princess would have a golden chain- a golden chain with rubies and diamonds and emeralds…and a real princess would have golden hair like me!"

With that, Sif paused to admire herself in the mirror. As a child, Sif's hair truly had been a marvel: shiny corkscrew curls that flowed down her back like liquid metal. Asgard joked that the dwarves themselves had fashioned her hair out of fine-spun ore. Sif and her mother were both insufferably proud of her crowning glory. It was always braided and twisted into elaborate hairstyles adorned with pretty ribbons and flowers. She never missed a chance to gloat.

"YOUR hair is like an old copper pot…a copper pot full of ugly snakes!" she said maliciously. Her next glance into the mirror was ill-timed, because Sigyn took that opportunity to lunge at her. Of course, Thor instantly jumped into the scrum. A toppled tower of blocks brought the nanny running into the room and got them all sent off to bed without their supper.

The next thing Loki remembered was waking up to Sif's blood-curdling scream.

Loki jumped out of bed immediately and hurried toward the other side of the room to where the girls were sleeping, but he tripped on something hard as he crossed the floor. Loki bent down to pick up the object- which proved a fateful mistake. Loki was staring in confusion at the pair of scissors at the precise moment that Nanny swept back into the room.

"LOKI ODINSON!" the old woman bellowed. "YOU WICKED BOY! YOU'VE REALLY DONE IT NOW!"

Sif was still screaming. Loki looked toward her. That was when he realized that, while Sif was standing next to her bed, her glorious hair remained on the pillow. The blond curls were completely gone. The only thing left on Sif's head was a butchered stubble of inky black.

"I didn't do it!" He proclaimed in instant panic, but it was already too late. Nanny hefted him over her shoulder and started to carry him bodily from the room. The last thing Loki saw before the door slammed shut behind him was Sigyn still tucked up in her bed. Her eyes were closed as though she was sleeping- but a satisfied smile was on her face.

"I still can't believe that I got blamed for that!" Loki told the now-grown Sigyn as they laid in front of the fire. "Sif won't believe me to this day!"

"What makes you think I'm responsible?" Sigyn protested, but she was laughing. Loki didn't dignify the suggestion with a response. "Oh! Allright! I suppose I was…but it isn't my fault that you picked up the scissors!"

"As if anyone would have suspected the blue-eyed princess when they could pin it all on me!"

Abruptly, Sigyn's expression grew serious. "Guilt or innocence doesn't really matter," she said quietly. "Only what people think."

A/N : Are you reading? If so, please let me know…I feel a little bit like I am sending this out into the void! Also, I am still in DESPERATE need of a beta if anyone is willing to take on that role.