He opened his eyes to see the Warrior Three standing a good distance away from the throne. The golden floors behind them were muddied by footprints and Loki knew he would have to get one of the servants to clean it up once they left his sight. A small bit of annoyance forced him to close his eyes again, to take a deep breath.
He sometimes wondered why those three could never look over themselves. Why they always seemed to inconvenience him at the worst of times.
"Why have you come to see me now?" He asked, getting up from the throne. As he took the few steps down he watched as Sif shared a look with Hogan and Fandral.
"We come to you to ask if you can check in on Thor since the Allfather has fallen into Odinsleep," Hogan spoke up. He took a step towards Loki, looking every bit as worried for Thor's well being as a close friend was supposed to be. "We also ask you if you could perhaps lift his punishment as well."
Ah, there was the deception that was hidden in all three of them. If Thor were to come back, he would be able to take the throne away from Loki as it was his give right as the eldest child of the two of them. It wouldn't matter that he had beenBifrost only appeared longer, but it didn't mean that time would stretch along with that assumption as well. The door to the observatory was open to all who needed to travel the Bifrost to a different realm. As long as they also expected the stare of the Gatekeeper, Heimdall with his golden eyes, lighter than any piece of gold that they would ever see.
Loki walked to Heimdall, knowing that the other knew that he was here. "I must go check on Thor."
"Is that all?" Heimdall shifted his gaze from the cosmos of the universe to Loki. His eyes still unnerved Loki, even all these years later after childhood. They almost seemed to accurately guess at what the younger Asgardian might be up to, even if he knew nothing of what was going on in Loki's mind at the moment.
"Yes, that will be all, Heimdall. The Warrior Three requested me to do so since father is in Odinsleep."
Heimdall didn't speak a word as he went towards the platform that held his sword. Loki moved into the center of where the Bifrost would be pointed, waiting for when the gatekeeper to turn the sword. He watched as Heimdall smoothly move the sword to turn, hearing the familiar hum of the magic and machines working together to start.
It didn't take long for Loki to feel the rush of magic sweep over him. The colours that he saw gleaming earlier in the bridge surrounded him, the colours brighter and more vibrant than everyone could ever imagine them. Then he felt himself moving through the Bifrost, heading towards Midgard.
The landing was uneventful. Loki looked down to see the ground was imprinted with the crest of the Odinson family. He felt his lips curl at the thought of his father, at the thought of remembering the man at all. Forcing his gaze away from the ground, away from the crest, he looked around at his surroundings.
There was no light, only the darkness of night. However, it made spotting where Thor could possibly be a lot easier since in the distance there was a mass of something white with unnaturally bright lights in a crater that only Mjolnir could create when falling down to the realm. Using the invisibility spell, Loki set forth to find his brother.
There were many Midgardians guarding the white structure, unaware of his presence as he snuck past most of them. There were several that seemed to be more in tune with what was unseen than the others. A spark of mischief entered his mind as he went by one of those Midgardians once more. It didn't take much energy to set up a few pranks around the structure nor did it take any of the Midgardians to set them off either. With the confused shouts of attracting other Midgardians, Loki went to go find Thor.
There were many halls and many rooms to search through. As he exited another room without seeing a trace of his brother, Loki heard murmurs coming from one end of the hall. Looking that way, he saw two Midgardians walking towards him. He waited until they pass by to follow after them. If he wasn't going to find his brother through one way, he might as well use another.
He leaned in as close he could get without setting off that he was there to hear their conversation.
"Still not getting any answers from him. You'd think that someone who was able to get past Hawkeye and fight off a bunch of us to only get caught for a hammer that can be lifted would be easy to get talking."
"Well, I'm betting it's not human. Didn't seem to understand anything when Coulson got him into custody."
"There's that, but why don't they ever just make it easy for us?"
"Then where would the fun be in the job? Or the gossip for that matter Jill."
"You're right." A sigh from the one complaining about Thor stubbornness. "It would still be nice to have an easy day once in a while. Especially since he's nice to look at."
"Right, Jill. That's what security entails, making sure that getting answers from the intruder is also available for a date."
"Not the point Chris. Besides, I saw you looking him up and down like I was at the beginning of the shift." There was an embarrassed cough from Chris and Loki could tell that Jill was smirking. "Let's just check on him one last time before our shift ends."
The two continued to talk, drifting to other topics. Loki, however, focused on what he would do once finding his brother.
It was clear that the blond oaf managed to get himself captured. Probably after trying desperately to get Mjolnir back. Which also means that Odin's banishment was still in effect if Thor still couldn't lift. So either he gives his brother a way to escape once they finished speaking to each other or let him figure it out on his own.
The two Midgardians lead him to a room that held Thor. It was the barest room he's ever seen in his life. There were only a bed and a chair and nothing on the white walls to provide comfort. Even with the prison cells that Asgard had given more a bit more comfort than this to their prisoners.
Loki slipped past the Midgardians and their technologies, he was in the horrible room to see Thor slumped in the chair. It was rare to see his brother this disheartening. He was usually so full of energy and some kind of motivation to do something, even if it was a playful brawl with Loki or his friends.
Looking around the room, he spotted things that were meant to keep an eye on Thor. With a simple spell, he was able to appear to his brother without any interference from the others. It didn't take Thor long to see him. He was probably the most colourful thing in this room.
"Loki?" Thor looking briefly confused, then looked beyond happy that he was here. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how your banishment was going." Loki took the nonchalant approach to this. Didn't need to give everything away all at once after all.
"Have you found a way to lift this punishment?"
"No. not yet brother. You know as well as I do that lifting father's punishment takes more time to figure out then mother's. And more of my energy." He said, taking a step towards Thor.
"Never stopped you before brother."
"Not the point now Thor. Right now the question is why you're being held captive by the Madgardians when you and I know you can easily escape."
There came the same sad look as before. "I was trying to get Mjolnir back. Tried to lift it and despite my best efforts, couldn't do it. It seems that I'm still not worthy of it."
"Still doesn't give me an explanation of why you're still here."
"Loki, do not push it," Thor said, his tone annoyed. Loki watched his brother slumped even more onto the chair. It was a sad sight to witness if he were to be honest with himself.
"Fine." He said, "If you aren't willing to talk about it, I'll inform you that father has fallen into Odinsleep."
That caused Thor to sit up straighter in the chair. "What do you mean brother? How did that happen?"
Memories of what their father said to him after Loki touched the Casket of Ancient Winter, touched a relic of the Jötnar. That he was a Frost Giant himself, taken as a babe from Jotunheim, to be used in a treaty with the Jötnar since he was the runty son of Laufey. Made to fear what he was since a young child because Odin never spoke the truth about who he was.
"I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night. It all makes sense now. Why you favoured Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!"
"It seems that recent events have caused him to go into Odinsleep. Mother stays by his side as he continues to stay in that state. It has fallen to me to rule Asgard." He explained, avoiding all the turmoil that he knew Thor could never understand.
"So you would be able to lift my punishment?" Came Thor's hopeful voice.
"It's not that simple. I've already explained why I can't do that now." Emotions crashed into each other, rushing to be the first one to escape and break his facade."I can't bring you back when you're still facing your punishment."
"They won't care about that Loki. I'm sure they'll be glad that I've returned."
"And that's a problem for me. They'll want you on the throne, not me. They'll be happy that I won't be ruling over them anymore since the golden child will return to save them. To save them from the monster. They would rather have a would be murder on their throne rather than a monster."
Loki noticed that the tips of his fingers were starting to turn blue. The same dreaded blue that he saw just only a few days ago. That told him of what he truly was instead of the pink skin he had known all his life.
He didn't stay to hear any more from Thor. He simply turned around and made his way out of the room. Out of the hall and out of the structure. (Later he'll vaguely recall Thor chasing after him and being met with the solid glass door when Loki went through it using his magic.)
The realm was still dark, but it welcomed him all the same. When far enough away, he called up to Heimdall to bring him back. The familiar feeling of the Bifrost swept over him and lifted him through the many miles that laid between Midgard and Asgard.
Then once more he was in the observatory.
Heimdall barely looked at him as he walked past. Even Loki barely took notice of himself, wanting to crush down the emotions that were crashing into each other, to get ahold of himself. He was a ruler now, he would not look weak in front of those who looked up to him.
The scenery passed him by as he rushed through the Palace. Servants got out of his way, cowering from what must have been a horrible sight. But he continued to the one place in the whole Palace that he knew he could hide out to rid through this burst of emotions.
Odin's study.
As much of a hurry as he was to get there, Loki did take a few moments to stand in front of the door. It didn't change from the days of being a boy other than it grew smaller and smaller as he grew taller and taller. Placing a hand on the panels of the wood, he was frustrated to see that his hand was still trying to turn blue. And that from that hand was a light layer of frost spreading over the door.
With that, Loki went into the room. As he roughly pushed the door to close, a bit satisfied to hear the slam that it caused, he turned to look over the room. The light was transitioning from late afternoon to early evening, making the shadows of the room more noticeable than what he remembered in his memories.
He used a bit of his magic to light the candles. The flickering lights of the many candles made the study appear more homely, more like someone who came here in the middle of the night to read over their books and notes. It also made the growing mass of shadows disappear.
There was also a thin layer of dust over everything as well. None of the servants were going to touch the room as many worried over the Allfather. Loki went over to the desk to see the papers and books that his father was looking over before everything. The familiar sight of his father's writing, the notes he took down from whatever book he was reading made a mix of emotions twist into each other. What won out, in the end, was a flurry of anger as he grabbed the papers, crumbling and turning to frost in his hands and threw them away.
They didn't land far as they are papers, floating down from the air to the floor. It wasn't enough. Loki grabbed at the books on the desk and threw them as well. It as a bit more satisfying to hear the loud thud of the books that crashed to the floor. He didn't stop until every single one was on the floor. Panting lightly, he looked around the room.
What his eyes landed on at last was a white sheet covering something in one corner of the room.
Quickly he rushed over to it, pulling the sheet off to see what was underneath. What he saw was a golden mirror of a simple design with only his reflection staring back at him. Loki could see that parts of his face were turning to that dreaded shade of blue. He could also see that in parts that managed to turn blue, there were engravings in his skin.
A part of him wanted to touch the engravings, to see what they felt like and to study them, another part of him was angry that he couldn't control it. That it was taking over. That everyone would soon know how much of monster he was. That this would be their proof of why he shouldn't be the ruler of Asgard.
With another burst of anger coursing through him, he moved to hit the glass of the mirror. There was the sound of his fist hitting the glass and the mirror teetering back and forth on its thin legs from the impact of the hit. But no cracks formed where Loki had punched it.
This made him pause for a moment. While he had expected it to be a normal mirror and break, it seems that his father was keeping a magical mirror in his study for many years. Then why didn't he remember it?
A flittering memory came to mind as that questioned echoed, unanswered. Quietly he gathered ingredients from the study. As he recreated the powder from a forgotten memory, he wondered why he couldn't remember his father having a magical mirror. He had been in the study so many times in his childhood, knew every possible way to sneak in without his father knowing.
Loki also knew every magical item that was stored in there. Knew that they were in there to be kept away from mages who would use those items for things that would threaten the Nine Realms. Why couldn't he cite any memory involving the mirror in front of him?
Even if it was a simple design, it still wasn't made by any craftsmanship that he had seen from the Nine Realms. Even from Midgard with how little he had visited it. The symbols that decorated the frame of it was also unfamiliar to him. Loki paused in crushing up a root to reach over and touch the symbols. The golden was smooth underneath his fingers, almost as if it was forged from the dwarfs' themselves. The only difference that he could tell between this and the work that came from the dwarfs was the way the symbols were carved. The little valleys in the symbols were a bit jagged at the side as if created with something other the smooth edge of a tool.
Loki went back to creating the powder for the spell. When done, he put it around the outer edge where the glass met the frame. Then repeated the spell that he remembered from his foggy memory. As he spoke the words, there was a gentle white glow where he placed the power. It was a sight that Loki felt he had seen before. Where he had seen it before was a mystery to him still.
As the glow grew brighter, his mind spun to figure out why it all felt so familiar. Why he knew for a fact that this exact scene had happened before. But his mind couldn't quite grasp the memory that had the proof.
Finally, the glow was too bright for him and he had to close his eyes. The second it stopped he opened them once more. The sight that greeted him was a room very different from anything in the Palace. (But he had seen when travelling to Niflheim some time ago.)
The light was low, even with the fire going in the fireplace. Still, Loki felt he had seen all of this before, his mind still not grasping the when and where.
He spotted someone in the room, reading a book by the window shaped like a half moon. The light that was coming through the window must have provided enough for reading or they preferred to read there instead of at the desk. They had long white hair that reached down near their waist, a little messy from sitting against a wall for some time. There was a set of horns that curved and had several points on it that looked dangerous enough to use like a stag if they wished to do so.
The most surprising thing was the colour of their skin. While not quite the dark shade of blue of the Jötnar, it was close enough of a colour for Loki to think that it might be a few generations with a Jötunn or two having children with races that had come to Jotunheim before the Jötnar tried to take over Midgard. There was the speckles of white that dotted the skin of their arm, gathered closer as Loki followed them up the stranger's arm.
The stranger flipped a page, engrossed with what they were reading. Loki couldn't look away, wondering why such a person was trapped in the mirror. Then they looked up from their book and over at the mirror. The fire grew brighter and the stranger rushed over to the mirror with less grace than Loki was expecting. However what unnerved him was the look of familiarity on their face, in their golden irises.
He would have remembered someone this beautiful. That he knew without a doubt.
They stood in front of the mirror, looking at Loki with excitement. The lighting around them had grown enough for Loki to see other parts of the room. It was more beautiful than many of the buildings and rooms he saw on Niflheim (with exception of the throne room with Queen Freya taking command of the room of course.)
As they moved a hand towards one of their pointed ears, Loki took notice of the four fingers rather than five. As they keep lightly hitting the ear, Loki spoke up. "Who are you? What are you doing in this mirror?"
The few moments of surprise and disappointment on the other's face was such a difference from the excitement and familiarity from before. Then it lead to a calm facade as they stared at him with sudden understanding. "I'll ask again, who are you and what are you doing in the mirror?"
They pointed at their ear once more, staring at Loki to get the answer quickly. He rolled his eyes, knowing what the stranger was trying to convey.
"Of course you can't hear me. That would be too easy, now wouldn't it?"
The stranger had a bitter smirk on their face, most likely reading his lips. Loki took a step back, pressing his hands to his face. He couldn't see the surprised look on the stranger's face nor the concern. What he did notice when bringing them down was the way they were pointing passed him.
He followed where they were pointing, at one of the bookcases that were across the room. The books that were thrown earlier were stepped over as Loki tried to search through the shelves. There was something here that the stranger knew about and if he was guessing it would help with the lack of communication.
He came across a container that had several locks, both of magic and not, keeping the lid closed. There were runes on the side, some that he could read and some that he could not. Carefully, Loki lifted it from the shelf and brought it over to the mirror. The stranger only took a moment to look over the container before giving Loki a nod.
He placed in front of him and set to work figuring out each lock. The ones that were magical were far easier to unlock as he had seen and knew how to open them without ensnaring himself into the container. The ones without magic, however, were a bit tricker. Usually, with those kinds of locks, there was only one key or many that would come together to unlock it. It was to make sure that nobody but the one who held the key could get in.
Loki looked over those locks, studying the size and shape of each one. Then he drifted towards the desk. There were many spots that Odin had designed into the desk that Loki had eventually found over time. Each time he snuck into the study, he would search, hoping to find a different place he could hide a trinket from Thor.
Under the panelling near one of the legs, he found a key. In another spot that was next to one of the drawers were a series of keys. He repeatedly looked in every spot he knew of, grabbing keys that could open the locks.
After exhausting every spot, Loki returned back to the container. Then he set to work trying each lock with keys that looked like they could fit. Every once in a while, he could look up to see the stranger was watching him. Their golden eyes carefully watching Loki's hands, the way they moved and the slow crawl of the Jötunn skin over his Aesir.
That was almost as unnerving as the excitement that the stranger had before.
Loki slowly worked through the keys, getting some of the locks to come off. Others were still stubbornly there. With a sigh, he dropped the last key when it didn't fit. Loki went to search through the shelves, knowing a few places where his father might hide them.
Soon he came back to the container. All the keys he found, fit every last lock, except for one. Loki knew that there weren't any more keys in the room, checking every little hiding spot that Odin had. There wouldn't be any that were hidden from him, as he knew all of them like all the tunnels in the Palace and other ways of travelling to realms without the Bifrost.
Loki looked at the stranger, watched as they looked him in the eyes. They held up a hand, creating a rune in the air. They held up the other hand in front of them, underneath where the rune had been drawn. There was a soft glow from the drawn rune as it was given magic. Then a small bit of snow was falling on the hand, frosting over slightly when it made contact.
Loki stared at this display, wondering what the stranger was trying to tell him. As the frost started to spread from the hand to the stranger's wrist and arm, the idea suddenly came barreling at him. Looking down at his own hands, Loki knew what he had to try.
Raising a hand towards the lock, Loki turned his focus inwards, his eyes closing. As he felt the flow of his magic going from one place to another in his body, he searched for something else that he knew would feel different. Would be completely different from the magic that he knew so intimately.
There was a cool feeling as he found what he searched for. It spread a bit when Loki reached into, the same as he would his magic. As he opened his eyes, he saw that most of his arm had turned blue and that a small block of ice that formed in his hand. Using the skill that he had from moulding his magic for years, Loki soon had a key that would fit into the lock.
As he pressed it into the lock, he looked once more to the mysterious stranger. Their golden eyes sparkled along with a wide grin. Loki turned the key and found that it actually opened.
He put it along with the other locks and took the lid off. Peering into the container, Loki saw that it was a bug of some kind. It looked non-threatening to him, like the bugs that he and Thor would find in the gardens when they were younger. But for whatever reason, his father had locked it away in a container. Whether it was to study it or to keep away from prying eyes of even the royal family, Odin didn't want anyone to get it.
Loki saw that it started to move, crawling up the side. Once more he looked over at the stranger. They once more held up a hand to their ear and lightly flicked at it. Loki looked back at the bug and held a hand to it. It was eager to crawl onto his hand and continued its journey up his arm. It tickled slightly when it went up to his neck, the soft bristles that fanned at its side brushing his skin.
It finally stopped moving when it crawled to the shell of his ear. Then he heard a voice speak that seemingly came from nowhere. "Speak, Loki."
Loki whipped his head, trying to find the source of where the voice came from. There was a light chuckle, as deep and melodious as when the voice spoke. "Over here, Loki. In the mirror."
Turning to where the voice directed him, he saw the mysterious stranger grinning still.
"Who are you?" Loki demanded, unsure of what he was experiencing at the moment. "How do you know who I am?"
There was a quick moment that Loki could spot the sadness on the stranger's face. But as quickly as it came, it left just the same. "I am Aavaros. For how I know of your name, I'm afraid that's a secret I shouldn't give away."
"I do not care what secret that is, Aaravos," Loki spat out, annoyance getting the best of him. But it was better than feeling sorry for himself at this point. "Or who you're keeping that secret for. You know who I am and were happy to greet me like had met at one point. Do not play me for a fool."
"I would never play you for a fool, Loki." The deep timber of Aaravos's voice held emotion that he couldn't identify.
"Then tell me." He hissed out.
"If you want answers for why I know you, ask your mother. She would have more knowledge than I do."
Loki glared at Aaravos, wondering why he wouldn't come out with the answers. He wouldn't be tricked or lied to about his past no more. "Why you're keeping a strong grip on such a secret is puzzling. Does it have to do with you being trapped in the mirror?"
"Perhaps. But playing around with words to get me to speak about the subject will not work." Aaravos said. Loki rolled his eyes.
"Fine, keep your secret. A better question is why you're trapped in the mirror. I know it wasn't my father's doing, he didn't mention you nor did any of the books I've read talk about a person being trapped in a mirror. Many other things, yes, but not this specifically."
"I do not remember."
"You don't remember?" Loki asked incredulously.
"I've spent a long time in here, Loki," Aaravos said, sounding more somber than before. "Long enough that why I was put here has left my mind. Whatever I had done in Xadia must have warranted my entrapment."
"Xadia? Where is that?" Loki asked, curiosity starting to take hold of his mind.
"It is somewhere beyond your Nine Realms or so I've heard." Aaravos said."But I'm sure you would like exploring it since magic has seeped into everything."
"How is that possible? Not even the realms that are known for magic have had that happen to them."
"I do not know the why, all I know is that there was magic in everything including the humans themselves if they tried hard enough."
Loki's mind raced at that. It sounded wonderous to be surrounded by magic like that. But there was one thing. "Midgardians were able to do magic on their own? How is that possible?"
"They are creatures like you or me. They just need a bit more guidance when it comes to doing magic on their own." Aaravos said. He sounded fond at that moment. Like he was speaking about personally helping the hapless beings himself.
"Yes, but they aren't capable of performing any level of magic that would be useful. Just little tricks to keep others amused."
Aaravos sighed. "They can do more than tricks, Loki. Or do you forget your title as the God of Mischief."
Loki could feel himself sneering. There were too many differences between himself and a Midgardian mage, not counting the short lives that they often lived to discount them. "I may play tricks, Aaravos, but I'm not like them. I am nothing like them."
"Are you saying that about humans? Or about whatever you hide away from your true heritage?"
The questions were simple, in fact, they had a simple answer of yes. But denial is often a fickle feeling, trying everything in its power to forget or change what is in front of a person's face. Loki turned his head away from the mirror, words that usually came easy to him suddenly gone.
He looked down at his arms that showed his true heritage.
As he lifted the sheet up from the floor he heard Aaravos speak up.
"What are you planning, Trickster?" His voice was almost stern with a hint of concern softening up the tone just a bit too much to make Loki truly afraid.
"Nothing you won't be able to help with." He replied as he put the sheet over the mirror. He could hear Aaravos demanding him to stop. But Loki pulled the bug from the shell of his ear, placing it back into the container. Carefully he locked it back up to the way it was before and put it back on the shelf.
Then he walked out of the room towards where he knew his mother would be.
It was well into the evening now, the hallways were lit with some candles for the servants to find their way. But he paid no attention to them as he followed the most direct path to the Allfather's room. The door to the room opened easily and he saw his mother sitting at his father's side, tending to him like any loving wife in her situation would.
She, however, would leave her post when seeing Loki the way he was. She stepped towards him, holding out a hand to comfort him until he held up his hand. He knew she wouldn't dare touch him while his blue skin showed, wanting to keep her limbs.
"Why don't we have a discussion, mother?" While posing as a question, they both knew that it wasn't. It was a demand.
"What would you like to discuss, my son?"
"I'm curious to know why a creature in the mirror in father's study knows my name. Why he says you would know why I can't remember meeting him before."
There was a quick moment of hesitancy from his mother as he spoke, her conflicting feelings present on her face. And Loki continued on. "Why does Aaravos know my name, mother? What has been done to my memories?"
A tired sigh escaped her. Loki watched as she positioned herself to the regal queen he saw from his childhood days of sneaking around from the troubled mother that stood before him. "Loki, you do not what your asking. The consequences of it all."
"I asked you a question, Mother. Now tell me."
"If that's what you want." She answered, her voice not wavering in the slightest. "You met the Xadian Elf when you were younger. You snuck into your father's study and found the mirror containing Aaravos. He was supposed to be kept away from everyone for the crimes he committed in his realm, to keep his voice from influencing others to do his bidding.
"But you found him and somehow found a way to communicate him despite the magic from his realm and ours that should have prevented that. I don't know what was discussed between the two of you, but it resulted in you attempting to do a blood bind with him."
She paused for a moment, her mask cracking from the regal queen. Instead, she showed worry that Loki only ever saw when either of her sons was harmed badly or scared beyond their wits. Something softened in him, wanting to provide her with the comfort that she had given them during those times. "Before either of you could perform the spell, your skin started to turn blue. Your screams could be heard from the throne room, echoing with shock and pain that only a child could have. When I finally reached you, all I could see was my son in pain and the cause was him, the Xadian Elf.
"I took the wretched tool he used to sway you and did the only thing that I could do at that moment to sooth you. I took away the memories of your skin turning into a Jötunn, to give your father and I more time to explain your heritage."
Suddenly the soft feeling disappeared. His mother knew what he was all along. Knew that he was a monster that was told to children, told to him as a child. Anger roiled inside him, wondering if her concern and love that she showed to him were ever real. "You knew?"
"Yes, my son, I knew. It didn't make me love you any less."
"And yet you told me stories about the Jötnar, how they were terrible monsters that would take any misbehaving child and eat them, use their skin to keep warm. Did you not think?!"
There was an ashamed look on her face, eyes showing the realization that never connected before in her mind. "Loki, that was a mistake on our part. Please forgi-"
"NO!" He shouted, sick of the excuses. Sick of the betrayal from every side. He had nowhere to go, no one to give him the comfort he desperately wanted.
"Loki, plea-"
He didn't give her a chance to talk any further. Once more he was forcing his emotions down as he ran from the room. The halls echoed with his thudding footsteps as he made his way back to the study. The door slammed with no regard for those working or sleeping nearby.
Once away from prying eyes, his emotions surfaced and exploded. Frost and ice covered the space close to him. Loki wouldn't even doubt that more of his skin had turned blue and for a quick moment he was fine with that. Then his anger welled up once more and caused even more of the room to be covered in frost and ice.
After the outburst, his eyes landed on the mirror that stood in the corner. A plan formed in his mind as he went towards it.
He unlocked the container, going by quicker than the last time. As he placed the bug on the shell of his ear, he stalked to the mirror. The sheet was pulled down and Loki spoke. "Aaravos?"
"Yes, Loki?"
"Would you like a way out of the mirror?"
The smirk that graced the elf's face was enough of an answer for Loki. He quickly searched his father's books, knowing there would be a solution or two in them. Time sped by him as Loki continued to look. Occasionally he would show Aaravos a possible solution and every time the elf would shake his head no.
It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he was able to find something that Aaravos hadn't tried before. It would consist of using both of their blood along with some ingredients that Loki would have to use on his end to pull the elf through the mirror.
As he crushed up the petals of a flower and small chunks of flowers, he started to speak to the elf. "You didn't explain that you were an elf."
"Ah, you talked to your mother. Only she and Odin know what I truly am in your realm." Aaravos said, sounding amused. "I'm assuming that elves look different where you're from."
"No, they don't look you. People would assume you're a mix of different races with the colour of your skin and how bright your hair is."
"What would you assume, Loki?"
"I had assumed you had Jötnar blood, a generation or two back where it would have been pure before they decided to have a child with one of the many elves."
A chuckle escaped the elf. "I will have to study the many races your kingdom has. It all sounds fascinating."
Loki hummed his answer in return. He finished up part of the spell, putting all the crushed ingredients into the container. Then he poured a red liquid, watching as they mixed together. It glowed slightly as he stirred it, not quite done yet. As he did this, he continued to read from the book in front of him.
When it was stirred enough, Loki finally lifted his hand (the dark blue mocking him as he stared down at it) and pressed one of his daggers to draw blood. His blood dripped down into the container, turning it from a bright red to a dull shade of it. Then he stirred that, doing it quickly as the book instructed.
He knew it was ready when the liquid began to swirl on its own.
Loki put his hands into the liquid, cupping and then lifted it out of the container. He splashed it onto the glass of the mirror, watching it as it ran down the glass, looking like a murder had taken place. His whispered the words he needed to activate the glass to act as a doorway between whatever dimension was created to contain Aaravos and this one.
The glass started to ripple as he neared the end of the spell. He looked to see the excitement on Aaravos's face, that he could barely contain in the smile that appeared while Loki was staring into the liquid. He pressed a four-fingered hand to the glass, becoming gleeful when it reacted to his touch.
As the last word was spoken, Loki reached through the mirror to grab at the elf's hand. It didn't burn the elf as he had expected. But the magic that he felt moving through Aaravos's body was something he had never experienced.
He had seen his father perform magic, felt the power that the older Asgardian had cultivated from his live. His mother, powerful in her right, had felt her magic as well. Both of those combined was nothing of the power and experience that thrummed through Aaravos's magic.
It was a quick decision, almost no thought put into it. Almost like Thor if he were ever to speak about that moment.
As he pulled the elf's hand, Loki silently did a spell that he only read once from a book. It was a forbidden spell, only meant for cases when there was nothing else to consider. And Loki knew it wasn't one of those cases.
Loki saw the widening of Aaravos's eyes, the shock that spread across his face. He could feel himself smiling, wide and almost unhinged in what he had planned.
The magic drifted from the elf's body into his.
The effects were immediate as the new source of magic joined and flowed with his own. The power and experience that he could never hope to achieve by himself was thrilling as he continued to take more. All he could do was take more, more, more of the delicious magic that Aaravos had in his body.
He noticed the elf squirming, yelling and screaming at him to stop in that deep voice of his. It was blocked out by the high of the new magic, so easy to ignore when Loki knew he could take on the world like this.
He only let go when there wasn't much more for him to take. As the magic settled into his own, Loki finally noticed that Aaravos was sobbing on the other side of the mirror. He was curled onto himself, his skin losing the healthy glow that it had before. The white speckles that spread across his arms, chest and face also lost the glimmer as well.
The most surprising thing was when the elf looked up at him, how his face had sunken in so much. And yet it didn't take away from the hum and flow of the mixed magic.
"I guess you shouldn't trust the God of Mischief," Loki said softly as he closed the portal.
With what little strength Aaravos had left, he desperately banged his fists against the glass. Loki could also hear the quiet shouts, growing hoarse from yelling so much. The haunting image of a once strong mage reduced to this.
And yet Loki didn't care. He had other things to worry about.
Like destroying a realm.
And I've come to the end of this fic. Was a ton of fun writing, especially this portion of it with us being placed in the movie Thor (2011). I couldn't quite remember how the events of that movie goes because it's been so long since I last saw it and I didn't want to skip around to just find scenes of Loki when that stuff probably connected a little to what happens on Earth with Thor. But considering it's a crossover with Aaravos, I'm allowed a little leeway lol.
But, I'm actually really happy how this turns out, even if some things like the ending were a bit unexpected when writing. You can blame the last portion from the scene with Frigga onwards on Doom Days by Bastille since its such a banger and got me to finish this fic a lot sooner.
I'm also hoping I can write a sequel to this when the third season of The Dragon Prince comes out.
Hopefully, it was a good chapter to read! :D