Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! To celebrate the holiday, and to show how thankful I am for each and every one of my readers, I am posting the next chapter. Yay! That makes two somewhat timely updates! Sorry for any mistakes, I only had time to proofread this once. Fire Elf Maiden Thank you :) Cosima N Glad you are enjoying it. The events of the movies are quickly approaching! Mybonded You are going to get a glimpse into the room and the estate itself today, though Loki kicking butt is still in the future. SparklesJustReads I don't know if you are caught up yet, but you will get to this soon I am sure. First off, thanks for checking out my story! I always loving hearing from new readers. Secondly, I love your reactions to Sigyn and Loki's little meltdowns. They are exactly the reactions I was hoping to incite in my readers, and it is nice to know that I was pretty successful in gaining them. Of course by the time you reach this chapter quite a few more events will have altered our leading couple's lives, and I hoped you enjoyed them just as much!
Loki and Sigyn did manage to survive without Livia there to help them, though the pleasant weather seemed to leave with the maid. Loki had made another attempt at the door before he and Sigyn took lunch, with no results. They had made plans to take a walk along the beach afterwards, but were stopped from doing so when a storm rolled in. The storm kept he and Sigyn inside the next day as well, but it turned out that perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing.
"Loki, I think it is time to leave the door alone, at least until we hear back from your mother."
Loki didn't look at his wife, but kept his gaze on the door. He couldn't just give up now. He felt as though he knew how to get the door open, but that he just needed to be reminded. Why he was so certain about it was beyond him, but he knew that the answer was there somewhere deep inside his brain.
"We don't have anything to really do today, so I might as well fiddle around with it some more."
He felt Sigyn come up behind him and slip her arms around his waist.
"I can think of a few things we could do…" she cooed.
Loki could feel his blood beginning to rush south, but he took a deep breath to calm himself. He needed to solve this door mystery, and now was the perfect time to do so.
"Later." He responded.
Sigyn's arms slipped from around him and she hit her forehead on his back with a little groan. Loki glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her childish despondence.
"Hmmm and people always say men are the needy ones." He remarked.
"You are driving me insane with this door thing!" Sigyn lamented. "For all you know there is no spell to open it, but some magic key that you need to find. This could re…"
Sigyn continued speaking, but Loki suddenly stopped listening. What was it she had just said?
A key?
A key.
Now that caused something in his mind to click. He needed a key to open the door, but not one made of metal. He glanced down at his hand and studied it intently. The key was a person. Only someone specific could open the door that was the spell that had been used. Unfortunately, that was not a spell Loki could break. He could feel his shoulders slump in disappointment. Only one person would be able to open this door, and it could be anybody. For all he knew, that person could be dead.
"… Loki? Loki are you even listening to me!? Fine! I'm going to the sitting room to read if you need me."
Sigyn took a step down the hall, but Loki caught her arm. It was a crazy thought, but something deep down told him that Sigyn should try to open the door. She had been the only person so far that hadn't tried.
"Loki, what are you doin…"
Sigyn trailed off as he placed her hand on the handle. He kept his hand clasped over hers, and he held his breath as he pressed both of their hands downwards. There was a slight click, and the door opened inwards ever so slightly.
"Loki… h… how did you do that?"
"I didn't do it, you did."
Sigyn looked up at him in confusion, so Loki explained.
"The spell on the door kept it from being opened by anyone except for one chosen person. That person was you."
"Me? Who would do that? Why choose me?"
"I'm not certain." Loki replied honestly.
Neither he nor Sigyn made a motion to push the door further inward. Now that it was open, Loki wasn't sure he was ready to know what was inside. It had been sealed shut for a reason, and Sigyn was the only one who could open it for a reason. What if those reasons were bad? Just as that question flitted through his mind, Sigyn pushed the door open. Loki released her hand and followed her into the room. It was too dark to really see anything so Loki went to open the doors that led out onto what Loki assumed was a balcony. The doors didn't budge so he looked towards Sigyn. She seemed to catch his unspoken request, and came over to open the doors. She pushed them open with ease revealing the storm outside. The room was still quite shadowed and now rain was trying to blow into the room.
"Maybe we should come back and air the room out once the storm has passed." Sigyn suggested.
Loki agreed with her, and she closed the balcony doors and followed him out of the room. They spent the next few hours in the sitting room trying to read. Despite his best efforts however, Loki couldn't concentrate on the text in front of him. The dim outlines of the sleeping chamber kept distracting him. Sigyn appeared to be turning her pages rather regularly, but he sensed that she too was having trouble concentrating on anything else. Sigyn eventually put her book aside and went to stand by a window to watch little droplets of rain race down the windowsill.
"Will this rain ever stop?" She bemoaned softly.
"Eventually." Loki assured, while putting his own book aside.
Eventually was not that evening however. They were finally forced to retire, and Loki drifted off to sleep to the sound of Sigyn's gentle breathing and the pitter-patter of rain. His dreams greeted him with images of Sigyn with two little boys playing in one of the courtyards of the estate they were at now. The younger of the two children was just learning how to walk, and the elder brother was trying to help his little brother out. Sigyn sat on the edge of the fountain softly smiling at the two boys. Loki moved into the courtyard, but Sigyn didn't seem to notice. Instead, it was the eldest boy who spotted him first.
"Father?" He asked in a surprised voice.
Sigyn turned her head to face Loki, and she quickly rose from her seat on the edge of the fountain. She didn't move towards him, she just simply stood there glaring at him. Since she wouldn't budge, Loki went to her. He stopped just short of her, and she took a step to close the small gap between them. In a swift motion she slapped him across the cheek.
"How dare you leave me without any warning!" She fumed.
She slapped him again before he even had time to recover from the first one.
"How dare you abandon your sons!"
She brought her hand up to slap him again, but this time Loki was ready. He caught her wrist and began to place pressure on it. He looked around quickly and spotted a maid standing nearby.
"Take our sons away from here for a bit. I need to speak with my wife." He ordered.
The maid trembled, but did what he commanded. Once she was out of sight with their children Loki twisted Sigyn's wrist. His wife let out a gasp of pain and went to her knees in front of him to help alleviate some of the pressure he was exerting on her fragile wrist.
"Now that is enough from you." He remarked. "You will have time to vent your displeasure with me later, but right now we have more pressing matters to discuss. Can I trust you enough to release you, or do we need to have this conversation while you are in this current state of discomfort?"
"I don't intend to discuss anything with you." Sigyn replied coldly.
"This is no time for your stubbornness, Sigyn. I have already granted that you may rebuke me for my latest actions later, but there is a chance that once I explain myself you will not wish to."
"I can hardly see how any explanation you can offer will absolve you."
"Then let me explain and decide for yourself if it is possible."
Loki released Sigyn, and she sat on the edge of the fountain while nursing her wrist. Loki clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace as he spoke.
"The reason I left you without any warning was because I received some disturbing news from Jotunheim. I had to leave immediately to handle a rather personal matter there."
"A personal matter? You ran off in the middle of the night to go be with your mistress!? And you believed that this explinatio…"
Loki clasped his hand over Sigyn's mouth. She really wasn't going to make any of this easy, which didn't bode well for the favor he was going to ask of her.
"Yes, I went to Jotunheim on account of Angrboda, but it wasn't to see her. Angrboda is dead..."
"I'm so sorry for your loss." Sigyn interjected sarcastically from behind Loki's hand.
Loki ignored the smothered remark and continued speaking.
"she was killed because of her connection with me. I went to Jotunheim to secure our children…"
"Oh yes, your children. How many have you had with her again? Five? Six?" She asked while forcefully pulling Loki's hand away from her mouth.
"Three, Sigyn."
"Ah yes, that's right. Three. What a sad fate the Norns set for me. My husband's mistress was able to give him more children than me."
"It's not your fault. We always knew it would difficult for you to carry any child of mine to term. We are fortunate to have two."
"Are we? Fortunate, I mean. We have brought two sons into the world that will grow up without a father because their mother isn't good enough for him!" Sigyn shouted while rising to her feet.
"That's not why I leave you."
"Really? Why then? What could be so pressing that you have spent the majority of our marriage away from my bed!?"
"I do it because I have to, now can we stop this argument? There is something I have to discuss with you."
Sigyn gave him a dismissive gesture, but she didn't leave.
"I went to Jotunheim to bring the children here to Asgard, but I was too late to retrieve my sons. Odin had already discovered them and banished them. I was however, able to reach my daughter before Odin."
"And did you bring your daughter here?"
"I did."
"Why?"
"To raise her, Sigyn, she is only a child."
"You want to raise your daughter here?... no, wait. You want me to raise your daughter here."
"Sigyn, I couldn't just abandon her to the wastelands of Jotunheim."
Sigyn didn't reply, but her gaze did seem to soften a little. As angry as she could get at him, he knew she would be hard pressed to bear a child ill will.
"She has a pathetic excuse of a father, Sigyn, she at least deserves a good mother. Just speak with her, and if after talking to her you are still set on having her leave, then I will find another place for her to live. Please."
Sigyn folded her arms and sighed.
"Very well. I will speak with her, if nothing else."
Loki grabbed Sigyn's now bruising wrist and placed a soft kiss on it, while silently healing what little damage he had done. He then led his wife to the spare bedroom where he had taken his daughter upon arrival. He stopped just outside the door and looked at Sigyn.
"I must warn you that my daughter is not quite like any other little girl. She is… well… you will see."
With that vague warning, Loki opened the door. There was a flurry of movement as Sigyn entered, and they both just spotted the door to the wardrobe close.
Loki sighed inwardly. Apparently his daughter wasn't going to make this easy either. He approached the wardrobe and knocked on the door.
"Hella, please come out." He requested kindly.
"No." The little girl's voice replied from inside the wardrobe.
"Please? My wife has come to speak with you, and I am certain she would rather talk to you than the wardrobe door."
"No, she isn't going to like me."
Loki threw Sigyn a pleading look, and she rolled her eyes before approaching the wardrobe and kneeling down.
"Hella? My name is Sigyn, I am Loki's wife."
"I know who you are. You are the pretty one my father talks about."
Sigyn threw Loki a semi-surprised look that said 'good job, but you're not off the hook yet.'
"Will you come out to speak with me Hella?" Sigyn asked.
"My name is Hel, father just calls me Hella."
"I see… well will you come out and talk to me Hel?"
"No. You won't like me. You will be scared of me, just like everyone else."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because its true. I'm not pretty like you."
"Well I am not really all that pretty compared to all the other Asgardian women, just ask Loki."
"Father says you are the prettiest of all, and that's why he keeps you here away from all of the other Asgardian men."
"He says that does he? Well why don't you come out here and judge that for yourself? Your father is known for his ability to lie after all."
There was a moment of silence, and then the wardrobe door opened very slowly revealing Hel. Loki watched Sigyn's reaction to his daughter carefully, but couldn't really decipher what was going through her mind as she gazed at the little girl who looked half fair and half dead. His wife held out a hand for Hel to take hold of as she stepped down from the wardrobe, and Hel took it shyly. His daughter had tried to brush all of her blonde hair over to hide her black hair, and had even tried to use some of it to obscure the deathly side of her face. Sigyn cupped Hel's face in her hands.
"Now was that worth all of the fuss?" Sigyn asked in a gentle tone.
Hel looked at Sigyn with wide eyes.
"You aren't frightened by me?"
"I don't see anything here to be frightened of except your choice of hairstyle." Sigyn stated compassionately before parting Hel's hair properly down the middle and tucking it behind her ears. "Now that's better."
The two females stared into one another's eyes for a few minutes, and Loki didn't disturb them. They were having some sort of silent conversation that he hadn't been invited to join. The longer Sigyn looked at Hel, the more Loki could sense her bitterness slip away. Finally, his wife spoke.
"I think you are a very special young girl Hel, but Loki tells me you are in need of a home… a mother even. What would you say to living here with me and my sons?"
"You… you would let me live here? With you?"
"Yes. Though I don't approve of my husband's actions, you are his daughter, and I will not allow you to be abandoned by him. You may stay here with us if that is what you want."
"And you would be my mother?"
"And I would be your mother." Sigyn confirmed.
Hel threw her little arms around Sigyn's neck.
"Father wasn't lying. You are the kindest and prettiest being in all the Realms!" She exclaimed.
Sigyn wrapped her arms around Hel timidly at first, but then tightened the embrace. It was just as Loki thought. His wife had managed to fall in love with his strange little girl in a matter of minutes, though it was going to take quite a bit more time for her to forgive him.
Loki's eyes flickered open, and he immediately noticed that Sigyn wasn't lying next to him. He heard a footstep near the vanity, and he looked over to see his wife standing next to it with a smile on her face.
"Finally decided to wake up did you?" She teased.
"Finally? What time is it?" He asked with a groan.
"Almost mid-morning." She informed before turning to pick up something from the vanity.
Loki threw his arm over his eyes to keep them from being offended by the sun.
The sun!
Loki shot up and looked out of the window. The rain had finally passed, which meant they could air out the room from yesterday. He slipped out of bed and threw a random tunic on. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked eagerly at Sigyn.
"It's nice to see you putting so much effort into getting ready this morning." She remarked with a grin.
"No point in soiling a nice outfit." He explained. "We don't all like to wear our finest jewelry to clean a room." He added as he placed his hand over the green gem that they had found on their honeymoon.
Sigyn wore that necklace so often that Loki sometimes didn't even really notice it.
"We? So you plan on helping me clean this room out?"
"I might dust a thing or two."
"Do you even know how to dust?"
"No." Loki replied honestly.
As a Prince he had never been required to clean anything in his life.
"It doesn't look all that difficult though, and I am sure you are an excellent teacher." He argued.
In all honesty, he wasn't sure if Sigyn really knew much about cleaning a room either. A stable? Sure, but a room… guess he was about to find out. The pair had to use the vast majority of their self-restraint not to just sprint to the room in question, and they set to work the moment they arrived. Sigyn threw open the doors to the balcony to bathe the room in sunlight. Little particles of dust swept about, and the room already felt a tad fresher. Sigyn glanced about the large sleeping chamber in wonder for a moment, and then went to stare at the bed. She brushed her hand over the fabric of the comforter almost forlornly.
"What is wrong?" Loki queried, sensing her unexpected anxiety.
"I've seen this room before, in my nightmares."
"I am sure it wasn't this room, Darling, just one that looked similar."
Sigyn didn't reply, but Loki knew that she wasn't accepting his statement.
"We should set about cleaning it up some. What should I do?"
Sigyn brushed past him and ran her fingers over some of the dusty surfaces.
"We will need some cloths and wood oil to clean the furniture. They should be in the servants quarters." She stated.
Loki knew that this was her way of instructing him to go fetch him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to leave her here by herself given her current mood swing. Despite his misgivings, Loki went in search of the supplies needed to clean the furniture. He found the servants quarters easily enough, and searched about for the cloths and wood oil. Along the way he also found a few buckets, a broom, and some strange flat wood object that looked like it could be used for cleaning. He grabbed all of the tools he had found and hauled them back to the bedchamber. Sigyn was sitting on the balcony patiently waiting for him.
"I thought we might be able to use these things as well." He explained, while showing Sigyn the fruits of his search.
Sigyn gave him a small smile and grabbed the broom.
"Perfect. We will probably need all of this. Now I am going to show you how to clean the furniture so you can do the rest of it while I sweep."
"Wait. Why do you get to sweep while I have to clean the furniture?"
"Because I am not tall enough to reach all of it." She explained before grabbing a cloth and one of the jars filled with oil.
She nodded at the other cloth, and Loki picked it up. After explaining how to use the oil properly, showing him on a small section of an end table, and watching him finish the rest of the small table, Sigyn set about sweeping the entire chamber. On occasion she would use the broom to knock down cobwebs, and the flurry of dust set her off sneezing on more than one occasion. Loki had only managed to get the two end tables and a nightstand completely cleaned by the time she had finished sweeping all the dust from the room and off the balcony. He was currently working on the wardrobe, and she paused to watch his progress for a moment before going to pull the comforter, blankets, pillows, and sheets off of the bed. She took each item over one by one and hung them over the railing of the balcony. She brushed the newly fallen dust from the bed off of the balcony and then grabbed another cloth and the second jar of wood oil. She began cleaning the lower portions of the wooden bed frame, and then moved over to the dresser. Loki eventually finished cleaning the intricate wardrobe and moved to cleaning the portions of the bed frame that Sigyn hadn't been able to reach. The pair worked silently on the wooden furniture for several more hours before collapsing on the floor to admire their handiwork so far. The floor had been swept and the furniture was now shining like new. The sun was starting its descent towards the horizon, and Loki realized that they had forgotten to eat either breakfast or lunch.
"Are we done for the evening?" He inquired.
"I belive so. We can take care of the bedding tomorrow, and we can clean out the fireplace as well… ohhh and we need to clean out the insides of the dresser and the wardrobe! I completely forgot about those!"
"Do we have to?" Loki complained.
His hands were already starting to hurt from the nonstop cleaning, and he was fairly certain he wouldn't feel up to polishing even more furniture tomorrow. Especially when no one would even see the inside of the wardrobe or dresser.
"Of course we do, and you did such a wonderful job with the polishing today that I think you should finish it off tomorrow." She answered while snuggling up to him and batting her eyelashes.
Loki sighed. There was no way he could deny Sigyn anything when she looked up to him like that.
"I can't wait." He remarked half-heartedly.
"I know you can't. You are the most wonderful husband in the Nine Realms." She stated before placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Mhmm of course, now can we eat? I believe my stomach may indeed be trying to digest itself."
"It isn't, I promise, but I am feeling a tad famished myself." Sigyn admitted.
They left the now partially clean chamber and dedicated the remainder of their evening to rest and relaxation. It didn't take long for their weary bodies to settle into sleep, but Loki once again found himself having strange dreams.
Loki stood looking over his sleeping wife. He knew he should go, but he didn't want to. He had only been here for an hour or so, but he couldn't risk staying any longer. Odin and the others would know to check here in their pursuit of him. He had already stayed too long. He pulled the blankets up over his naked wife and softly tucked them around her. He wasn't sure when, or even if he would ever get to see her again. It was possible that this time he would be leaving her for good, and that thought frightened him.
How could he live knowing that he could never be with his beautiful wife again?
How would she manage to take care of their boys and Hel without any support from him?
Would she die believing that he didn't love her?
Loki shook off these questions. Thinking on them didn't change the reality of the situation. Odin was coming for him, and he had to leave now to avoid being captured. At least he had been able to make love to Sigyn one last time. He caressed her sleeping face for the final time and smiled as a look of pleasure lit up her features. He set the sight to memory and then turned to leave. Just as he was passing the desk however, a few blank sheets of paper caught his eye. He didn't have time to write Sigyn a letter explaining what was happening, but he did have time to pen her a quick note. He swiftly dipped her quill in ink and began to write…
My Darling Sigyn,
I have loved you from the moment I saw you, I love you even as I leave you now, and I will love you even after the Nine Realms crumble. Forgive me.
Loki
He folded the note and opened the dresser drawer where Sigyn kept her journal. He found the last entry she had written and slipped the note in between that entry and the next blank page. He returned the journal back to its hiding spot, and silently left the room. Loki found himself on the road not long after he left Sigyn sleeping in their chambers, but his enemies had been waiting for him. He was captured by Thor and Odin's warriors and then taken to a nearby village where the AllFather, Frigga, and a portion of the nobility were there to oversee his trial. Of course the trial hadn't been started till the order to sew his mouth shut had been given. He was given a sound beating after the first segment of his trial, and he was then hauled back to his home. Instead of entering the estate itself however, Odin had him taken down to the beach and thrown into one of the caves along the shoreline. Another beating commenced as the Asgardians set to the preparation of the rest of his unannounced punishment. Hel was brought into the cave first by several guards that looked at her nervously. The eldest of his children that lived with Sigyn was bound and afraid. Loki couldn't blame Hel for her fear, he was afraid for her. The Asgardian nobility had hated his daughter since she was born, and now he had given them reason to act on that hatred.
"Father?" She uttered shakily upon catching sight of him.
Loki obviously couldn't respond, and Odin's voice cut in before Hel could speak again.
"Hel Lokadóttir, it is no secret that you have been held in close examination since your father brought you here to Asgard. We have allowed you to live freely within the Realm despite the Council's fear of your father's intentions in bringing you here, and for that you may thank Sigyn. Given Loki's most recent actions however, the issue of you living in Asgard has been brought back to the forefront. It is my opinion, and the opinion of the War Council, that allowing you to live in Asgard poses too great a threat to our people. Therefore, I have determined to banish you from Asgard to the Realm of Nifleheim, and the jurisdiction of Death."
Threat? What sort of threat could Hel pose? She was practically a child still.
"Guards take her to the Bifrost, Death is awaiting her arrival in Nifleheim." Odin instructed.
"Wait! Please wait!" Hel begged. "What have I done to you, to any of you, to deserve this!?"
Odin didn't respond, but that didn't stop Hel's pleas.
"At least allow me to see my mother before you banish me!"
"Your mother is dead." Odin stated coldly.
Loki felt his heart skip a beat. Sigyn was dead? They killed her? Once he had left they snuck in and murdered her in her sleep… unless of course they weren't referring to Sigyn as Hel's mother.
"No, she isn't… she can't be! Sigyn is…"
"Not your mother." Odin pronounced. "You are the product of an unsanctioned union, a testament to your father's life of debauchery. Sigyn has never been your mother. No Asgardian could be parent to such a creature of deformity."
Hel's tears were flowing freely now, but Odin continued to let his scorn fall upon her.
"You are neither of the living, nor of the dead. That is why you are being banished to Nifleheim, where no living being can enter yet no soul departed can rule. You will continue to exist in this in-between state till Death decides to take you into her embrace permanently. Now take her away from here, and see to it that Loki's sons and wife are brought before us."
Hel struggled against the men holding her to no avail, and she called out for Loki even though he could not call back. Loki watched helplessly as one little piece of his life was being torn away from him, and Odin's words gave him the feeling that the worst was still to come. As Odin and the others awaited the arrival of Loki's sons and Sigyn, he couldn't help but regret that his wife hadn't been there to witness the proceedings of Hel's banishment. Sigyn would not have stayed mute in the face of Odin's mockery of Hel as he was forced to do. Ever since Sigyn had taken Hel into their home, she had treated Hel as a daughter, and would have no one else call her otherwise. She would have interceded on Hel's behalf, but Sigyn hadn't been there. Sigyn was peacefully asleep and completely unaware that her daughter had been made a servant of Death herself.
Another round of beatings commenced while they waited for Loki's sons and Sigyn to be brought to the cave. Loki wasn't sure how long the wait lasted, but it was his sons that were the first to arrive. Loki felt one final slap before his eyes snapped open…
Sigyn was hovering above him with a fearful look in her eyes. Loki could feel his cheek burning, and it took him a moment to realize that the slap in his dream had actually been Sigyn.
"I'm so sorry Loki, but you weren't waking, and I was worried." Sigyn apologized.
Loki sat up and closed his eyes as he rested his head back against the headboard of the bed. He tried his best to calm himself, but it wasn't till he felt the back of Sigyn's hand brush his cheek that he began to feel more at ease. He opened his eyes to see Sigyn sitting up against the headboard next to him, her eyes swimming with worry.
"You haven't had a nightmare this bad in a while. Loki… I think it is time to tell me what it is that haunts you."
Loki let out a sigh. Could he tell Sigyn, or more appropriately, should he tell Sigyn. Would she risk falling into her old nightmares again if he admitted the subject matter of his nightmares… especially now that Hel was somehow getting mixed up in all of the nonsense? Then again, who said he had to mention Hel?
"Do you remember that story in the Prose Edda? The one about 'Loki' being bound to the rocks with the serpent?"
"I am not sure how I could have forgotten it."
"Then you know what I dream about."
Sigyn furrowed her eyebrows.
"Your nightmare is about that story?"
Loki nodded.
"and all this time I had thought that you had been dreaming about your missions…" She remarked.
"Not a bad thought. The Norns know I have seen enough during my missions to fuel a fair number of nightmares." Loki replied.
"It's been so long since I have really thought about that story."
"Well don't start thinking on it now. We should try to get a little more sleep so we are ready to finish our cleaning."
Sigyn didn't protest his suggestion, and they both settled into sleep once again. Fortunately for Loki, he did not dream this time. The morning hours came soon enough, and Sigyn and Loki busied themselves with cleaning the bedding. Sigyn had begun by shaking off the top layer of dust out over the balcony, while Loki played with the strange wooden paddle thing he had found the day before. She finally glanced over at him and shook her head.
"Are you going to assist me with this or not?" She inquired.
"What is this for?" He asked instead.
"We are going to use it to beat out the rest of the dust from these covers and sheets."
Loki strutted over to his wife while twirling the cleaning tool in his hand.
"I believe I have come up with a better use for it." He remarked before gently swatting Sigyn's behind with it.
Sigyn gave a little jump and grabbed his wrist before he could strike again.
"Oh no you don't! You are going to use that to beat out the dust from these blankets while I go get water to wash them in."
Loki gave a pout, but Sigyn was headed to the door before he could object. Instead of going to beat out the dust however, he followed her towards the door to try and swat her again. Sigyn gave a squeal at his pursual, and before either of them knew it, he was chasing her about the room. Sigyn did manage to turn the tables on him eventually, and she deprived him of the wooden paddle.
"Ok, new plan. You are no longer allowed to use this." She remarked with a laugh before tossing the paddle out of his reach. "You get to clean the insides of the dresser and wardrobe now." She determined, while holding out a cloth and one of the mostly empty jars of wood oil towards him.
Loki took them rather unwillingly, and Sigyn made her way to the door once again. He opened the wardrobe door, and his jaw almost hit the floor.
"Sigyn… You may need more water to wash with than you originally intended." He informed her.
"What do you mean?" She queried, while pausing to look at him,
Loki opened the wardrobe doors wider, revealing clothing. Sigyn immediately turned from the door and came to stand next to him. She stared at the full wardrobe for a minute before going to the dresser and randomly opening drawers. Each drawer she opened was full of clothing and jewelry.
"Loki, when is that last time someone has lived here?"
"No one has lived here permanently as far as the records show, but even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to get into the room… unless of course they were the ones who sealed it in the first place."
Sigyn began to rummage through the clothing and jewelry that was in the drawers, and Loki had a feeling that she was recognizing the same common theme as he was. A majority of the clothes and gems consisted of two colors: gold and green. Loki began to study the clothing in the wardrobe, and came to the conclusion that while many of the outfits were faded, there was still no denying the familiar color scheme. A little 'hum' from Sigyn brought Loki's attention back over to her. She pulled something out of one of the dresser drawers and Loki took an unsure step towards her. It was a book. Sigyn opened the cover and began to flip through the pages mindlessly before looking up to Loki.
"It's a journal…" she trailed off.
Something about her tone set Loki on edge.
"And?" He pressed.
"And… and it looks like my handwriting." She finished as she turned the pages to face him.
Loki went to stand across from her and grabbed the journal. As the tome switched hands however, a slip of paper slid from between the pages. Loki didn't take notice of it, as he was too busy focusing on the handwriting in front of him. This did look like his wife's penmanship. Sigyn bent down to pick up the fallen sheet of paper and she let out a gasp. Loki tossed the journal on the bed to help support his wife as she almost fell over.
"What's wrong!?" He asked urgently.
Sigyn appeared to be in too much shock to reply, so she just held out the piece of paper to him. Loki made sure that Sigyn was steady on her feet before pursuing the paper in his hand. What he read there caused him to almost crumple the paper in his dumbfounded state.
This couldn't be possible.
This was his imagination.
He was still in his nightmare.
Loki pursued the paper once more, but there was no denying the words on the page. These words written in his own writing…
My Darling Sigyn,
I have loved you from the moment I saw you, I love you even as I leave you now, and I will love you even after the Nine Realms crumble. Forgive me.
Loki
