Author's Note: Hello my extremely patient readers (those of you that are left that is...)! I am so sorry for my terrible posting habits. This chapter was supposed to have been longer, but I finally decided that I just needed to post something... anything. As usual I'm sorry for any mistakes I didn't catch, and I hope you all enjoy! Snow White Queen (aka Sloth's the Sin I cater to) It's taken me so long to post that you have changed your name! Back to chapter 74 real quick, I was partial to Loki and Sigyn's sparring session as well. Now to 76, let's just hope I can untangle all of the plot lines XD I'm running out of chapters to do so! Anonymous1662 it is a nice little mystery isn't it? Don't worry, you should be able to begin putting the pieces together in this chapter. Alana No, I haven't stopped I promise :) It just takes me a little more time nowadays to get things written to my liking and posted.


Loki could smell his own blood, and it was nauseating. The chains that held him upright dug painfully into his skin, and Loki could feel the will to live slowly leaving him.

"How does the Prince of Asgard?" A familiar, yet long forgotten, voice asked.

Loki lifted his head from his chest to stare at Theoric.

"Believe it or not, I have had worse days." Loki replied in a hoarse voice. "I take it you offered to go ahead of the others."

"I did. We didn't want to send too many of us in if we could help it. The rest of the Hawks will be on their way soon enough."

"Does Sigyn know?"

"Know what? That you, her ever so faithful husband, have given up on her?"

"I haven't given up on her!" Loki protested.

"You haven't have you? She has been missing for over a month, and you have yet to leave the palace." Theoric noted.

"I have been looking for answers in a different manner. I have researched the dark magic that those men must have been trying to harness. I have corresponded with informants. I have…"

"Excuses!" Theoric thundered. "If you loved her you would have thrown 'research' to the wayside. If Sigyn's life was so important to you, you would have defied the AllFather's commands and began scouring the Nine Realms for her!"

"What good would searching blindly for her do?!"

"As long as you have your instincts you are never truly blind."

"I followed my instincts, and by the time I got there she was already gone."

Theoric let out a little hum.

"And I thought you were supposed to be clever." The dead warrior taunted.

Loki leaned his head back against the cavern wall and closed his eyes. He was too exhausted to rise to Theoric's baiting. Maybe if he kept quiet Sigyn's first fiancé would leave him be. Instead, footsteps neared him, and Loki felt Theoric grip his throat.

"You should have let me kill you." The man whispered mockingly into Loki's ear.

"And let a monster like you marry her?"

"Monster? Who is the man that cheated on Sigyn with another woman? Who is the man that almost strangled her to death in the library? Who is the man that killed her fiancé in a jealous rage? Who is the man that left his pregnant wife to miscarry all alone? Who is the man that allowed her to be kidnaped by his enemies? Who is the man that now hides from his failure behind his books and correspondents instead of going out to search for her himself?"

Theoric paused a moment to allow his words to sink into Loki's heart like daggers.

"Out of the two of us, who is the real monster?"

Loki could make no reply even if he had wanted to. Theoric's grip was like a clamp on his trachea, and Loki's chains rattled as he tried to shake his tormentor off of him. Theoric looked down on Loki with a burning hate in his eyes, and that is when Loki caught sight of the blood oozing from Theoric's throat. It was the fatal wound Loki had given him when they had fought in the cavern. Loki's failed attempts to breathe were causing a strangled gurgling sound, and Theoric took it in with relish.

"It's time I complete my mission." Theoric remarked before raising his dagger in the air.

Loki awoke with a start. He didn't move at first, but instead tried to let his eyes adjust to the dim morning light that was beginning to flicker into his chamber. When the nightmares with Theoric had first begun Loki had attempted to seek out Sigyn next to him, only to remember that she was gone. It had been just over a month, and there were still no signs of her whereabouts. Hallsteinn and Markus had both kept their word and supplied him with updates as they came. It was a simple task seeing as there had been nothing discovered. Loki had obeyed his father's command so far, but only because he had wanted to lay some groundwork before going off to find her. All his research on black magic, and the role it might have played in her kidnapping had turned up nothing, and his informants were less than helpful. Whatever trail there had been was now cold. It wouldn't be long before Odin called off the search for Sigyn entirely, and Loki could see those around him beginning to lose hope for her survival. Loki still truly believed Sigyn was alive, but even he knew that the chances of finding her were dwindling fast. As if that pressure wasn't enough, Theoric's memory had returned to act as his personal tormentor.

Unable to go back to sleep, Loki threw on a tunic and went over to the trunks sitting in the corner of the room. They were the ones he and Sigyn had travelled with. He had sent for them after his return to the palace, and while his was now empty, he hadn't been able to pull himself to empty Sigyn's. Just looking at hers tore at his already raw nerves, but he couldn't leave it sitting there unopened for forever. He needed a distraction from his rather vivid nightmare, and doing something as mindless as emptying a trunk could serve that purpose. He went over and knelt down to unlock the trunk. With one deep breath to steady his nerves, Loki opened the lid. Sigyn's familiar smell seemed to permeate the room for a moment before vanishing just as she had. Loki paused to keep his cool composure, and then studied the contents at the top of the trunk. Atop the clothing sat a solitary leather tome, and even the mere sight of it caused Loki to sit backwards and wrap his arms around his knees. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to face Sigyn's shadow. He had tried to numb himself to her absence; he had kept his mind busy so that he wouldn't concentrate on the fact that when he went back to his chambers at night he would be going alone. Sleep offered him no comfort, but at least it offered him yet another distraction. Staring at Sigyn's things now however, forced him to think about Sigyn's unknown fate. It reminded him of how futile his pathetic efforts to trace her had been. Loki suddenly felt as though he were a frightened child as doubt began to creep in.

Would he ever find Sigyn?

She had to be alive, he just knew she had to be, but just because she was alive didn't mean he would be able to find her. Thor's coronation was getting closer and closer, and every day that led towards his big day took importance away from the search for Sigyn. Odin would declare Sigyn to be dead soon, the search for her would be ended, her loss would be mourned for seven days, and then the kingdom's entire attention would be turned to Thor's coronation. Only Loki would carry the weight of Sigyn's loss at that point… well perhaps he would not be the only one. Sigyn's family would likely suffer the same grief. Still, it didn't seem fair that he would be forced to suffer in the shadows, while Thor ascended to the throne prematurely. That was the ill fortune of being the second son he supposed.

Loki could feel tears begin to sting his eyes, but he blinked them back. He was far too old to cry, and crying wouldn't help solve any of his problems. He went back to sitting on his knees to look at the trunk and its contents. He just needed to put everything away. Sigyn would scold him if… when… she came back and saw that he hadn't unpacked for her. Resolved to accomplish the task, Loki decided to start with the journal. He picked the leather tome up gently and simply held it for a moment.

The simple act of looking at the journal sparked a reminder of what Hel had warned him of during he and Sigyn's honeymoon. The strange woman had told him that Sigyn was in danger because of things she knew about him. What things? What could she have possibly known about him that people would be willing to kill her to keep the information secret? It wasn't the first time the idea had crossed his mind, but he had written it off before. He hadn't thought it possible that what Hel had said and Sigyn's kidnapping could be connected. All the evidence pointed towards other explanations, revenge on him being the most likely one, but as he contemplated the cover of Sigyn's journal he decided he had to at least consider the possibility that Hel was right. Every other angle he had tried so far had lead to nothing, so he might as well try this one too. If Sigyn had known something important she would have noted it among the pages of her personal diary, and he had access to all of them. Of course that was a problem. There were multiple journals to search through. Sigyn had been diligent in recording things from the time she had learned to write, so she had filled the pages of a fair number of leather tomes. Locating which journal the information was in would be difficult enough because of that, but he also knew that the information he was looking for might be some small detail, which further complicated things. Loki was certain that despite these problematic details he could discover if there was any basis to Hel's claims that Sigyn knew important and deadly information about him.

Loki returned his focus to the book in his hands and opened the front cover. A glance told him that this was his wife's handwriting, but after skimming over the first page he realized that this was not just any journal. This was the journal Sigyn had discovered in the locked bedroom the day she was taken from him. He flipped through the pages till they stopped at a folded and slightly crumpled piece of paper. It was the note from his dreams. He slammed the book shut and tossed it to the side. There was no point in reading that journal. It was some sort of hoax by the Norns, it had to be. He set to work on pulling Sigyn's clothes out of the trunk and placing them in their appropriate homes. Every so often he would look down at the book on the ground, but he refused to dwell on it. He would figure out what to do with it once he had emptied the rest of the trunk's contents. There were several other books at the bottom of Sigyn's trunk, and he scooped them all up and placed them on the bed to sort which ones went where. Two of them needed to be returned to the main library, one of them belonged in their personal collection, one was a blank journal, and the final book was Sigyn's most recent journal. He placed the two journals on the bedside table, and went to put the other books in their proper places. After returning to the bedchamber, Loki picked the journal from the estate up off of the ground. Part of him was curious to see what exactly was written in the journal, but the other part of him knew nothing good could come of it. Determined to discover what deadly information Sigyn had held, Loki decided to put the journal from the estate to the side for now. Loki took Sigyn's most recent journal to his study and set it on his desk while he looked through her books for the other journals. It took him about an hour, but Loki did finally manage to comb through all of Sigyn's book collection. There were eleven journals sitting on his desk once the task was complete. Eleven rather large leather tomes that he was going to have to study carefully.

There were too many.

Sigyn's life was on the line, and carefully scrutinizing all of these journals on his own was going to take far too long. Without a moment's hesitation, Loki pulled out three sheets of parchment and wrote three letters to Sigyn's family requesting them to meet with him that night. He dispatched the letters with Livia, and then went back to the bedchamber to begin unpacking Sigyn's clothing. The task was almost complete by the time he went to eat lunch with his family. He spoke little at the meal, and no one attempted to coax him into conversation. Silent contemplation was his usual state now that Sigyn was gone. Thor attempted to convince Loki to train with him once the meal was complete, but Loki declined the invitation. Training seemed rather unimportant at the moment. Instead, Loki opted to go finish putting Sigyn's clothing away. Shortly upon returning to he and Sigyn's quarters however, there was a knock on the door. Loki recognized the knock to be Livia's, and he called her in.

"I have a return message from Princess Sigyn's parents." Livia explained as she entered the room.

Loki accepted the parchment from the girl, and then dismissed her so he could read it in privacy. The response was short and in her father's crisp penmanship.

"Loki,

We would be more than happy to meet with you this evening, but, if possible, we would prefer you to meet us at Markus and Frida's home. Sigrún is not feeling well, and Frida is leery of being too far away from her. I am certain that a visit from you would also lift Sigrún's spirits immensely.

Feel free to respond at your earliest convenience,

Halldor"

Loki knew that this request had nothing to do with Sigrún being ill. That was Halldor's way of avoiding suspicion should his message fall into hands other than its intended recipient. Halldor wasn't convinced that someone inside the palace hadn't taken part in Sigyn's abduction, and therefore he wished to discuss matters concerning her outside of it. Loki didn't blame him. The same suspicion lurked in his mind as well. He immediately replied to Halldor's message saying that he would be more than willing to meet with him and his family at Markus and Frida's home. With all the arrangements now set, Loki was finally able to finish putting Sigyn's things away. The last dress he returned to the wardrobe was one of Sigyn's favorite yellow dresses. He took a moment to stop and caress the soft fabric.

"It is called aureolin…" he could almost hear Sigyn scolding.

An image of a young Sigyn flashed through his mind. He hadn't loved her in the beginning. In fact, he had very much wanted to hate her. She had slapped him the first time she had met him for the Norns sake! Try as he might though, his younger self couldn't help but to be drawn to her. He had found her defiance and willingness to go toe to toe with him to be stimulating. She had been his "comrade in arms" for quite some time before he had realized that he truly cared about her. He remembered the exact moment when that realization hit him. It had been at the lake during the first summer they had spent together, the day Thor and the others thought it would be funny to toss her in. He could still feel her wet body shivering in his arms as she clung desperately to him. Her despondency had, for the first time in Loki's life, made him feel needed. In that moment he knew that Sigyn was the most important person in his life. He still hadn't loved her though. The romantic feelings that he had eventually felt towards her had taken years to develop. He had tried to confess his attraction to her on more than one occasion, but had failed to do so each time out of fear. It had taken Sigyn being kicked in the head by a horse to force him to show his feelings to her. Memories flashed through his mind at a blinding speed. The way her favorite golden gown shimmered at the Winter Solstice, the first time they had given themselves to each other, the disastrous moment she had walked in to see him in bed with Amora, watching her dance and smile with Theoric, the look on her face when she forgave him for his infidelity, the first moment he saw her on their wedding day…

Loki jarred his thoughts back to the present. There would be time enough to reminisce later. Right now he needed to concentrate on finding his wife. He shut the door of the wardrobe and went to seek out his Mother. He informed her that he would be taking dinner with his in-laws, and his mother just nodded. She seemed rather distracted, and Loki could see that she was inwardly debating with herself about something.

"Is something wrong, mother?" He inquired tentatively.

Frigga gave a momentary weak smile, and then reached out for Loki's hand, which he gave her.

"Darling, there is something we need to discuss."

Loki's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. He knew that tone of voice all too well…

"Your Father has asked me to speak with you about the search for Sigyn…"

"He is going to end it." Loki interjected before his Mother could finish her thought.

"He has little choice without any evidence of where she has been taken. Asgard has been searched from top to bottom with nothing to show for it."

"There are other Realms." Loki pointed out tersely.

"Other Realms that we cannot just send our army into. Of course your Father has taken measures to learn what he can in the other Realms, but there has been no success in that search either."

"Then his measures have not been in depth enough. If he would only allow me to take some part in the search…"

"Which he is not going to do, Loki. He knows you would delve right in to the underworld that you worked in for all of those years, and he will not allow you to return to it given your recent separation from the War Council."

"If the answer to Sigyn's disappearance is anywhere, it is the underworld of the Nine Realms."

"That may be true, but Odin has mentioned no success in the enquiries that have been made there."

"And there will be no success as long as I am kept out of it!"

"Loki, you may rage all you like, but you will not be allowed to join the search. The AllFather has decided to declare Sigyn dead at the end of the month if no trace of her can be found."

His Mother's pronouncement set Loki's blood running cold. He had known this was coming, but actually having a definite date hit home the reality of the situation. Frigga looked at him with a keen sense of pity.

"Your Father believes…I believe, that it is time you began to move on."

Loki pulled his hand away from his Mother.

"Move on? You expect me to simply forget Sigyn and go on living my life?"

"We don't want you to forget her, Loki. You will never be able to do that, and no one would ever want you to. Sigyn was your wife and you loved her dearly. Her memory will always hold a very special place in your heart, but you must accept that it is simply a memory now. It is time you think about what you will do now that she is gone."

Loki knew his mother meant her words to be comforting to him, but they only caused him to grow agitated.

"Let the AllFather declare her dead as many times as he wishes, I refuse to accept that ruling. Sigyn is alive, I don't doubt it for a moment."

He turned on his heel and was out the door before his mother could reply. He returned to his study and grabbed the eight closest journals to him before going to the stables, saddling his horse, and riding to Markus and Frida's home. He knew he was extremely early, but he had to get out of the palace. He took the journals from his saddlebag and went to the front door. Quick footsteps and the door seemingly opening on its own greeted his firm rap on the door. Loki looked down to see Siggy smiling up at him.

"I told Mother that I saw you ride up. She didn't believe me." Sigrún explained as she opened the door wider.

Loki didn't doubt the Frida had written off Sigrún's excited proclamations as just her imagination. Sigrún liked telling fantastical stories.

"Well I wasn't supposed to arrive here so early, so I can see why she wouldn't believe you." He replied as he stepped inside.

"Loki? Is that you?" Frida inquired as she stuck her head out from around the corner.

"Yes, sorry to arrive so early. I needed an escape from the palace." He apologized.

"It is quite all right." Frida assured as she approached him. "Please come inside and take a seat."

Loki followed her to the sitting room with Sigrún following right on his heels.

"I see you brought Sigyn's journals along." Frida commented as they took a seat.

"So you recognize them?"

"How could I not? From the time Sigyn learned to write she began to journal, and all of her journals always looked the same. She claimed she could tell the difference between them all, but I certainly never could. Why did you bring them along?"

"For reasons that are better for me to explain once everyone has arrived."

"I see… so how are you?"

"Have you found Aunt Sigyn yet?" Sigrún interjected.

"No Siggy, I haven't found her. Not yet at least. I am holding up well though."

Frida raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Sigyn could always tell when you were lying to her, and I believe I am starting to be able to pick up on it too."

"Today has been more trying than usual, that is all." Loki allowed.

"You aren't sleeping, are you?"

Well one thing was consistent about the women in Sigyn's family. They were all observant. A little too observant perhaps.

"Not well. My mind is too preoccupied for sleep."

"Yours isn't the only one. Mother says that Father hasn't slept since we received word of Sigyn's disappearance. She is worried about him. He has taken the death of each of his children in stride, but this is different for him. Sigyn may or may not be dead, and that makes it more difficult. Every day we hope to receive news of some type, and every day our hopes are crushed."

Loki nodded in understanding. This was a family used to loss, but even they had their breaking point.

"How is your Mother handling all of this?"

Frida gave a little shrug.

"Better than my Father, for now. If Sigyn is found to be dead however, I'm not sure what will happen to her. Father is likely to take the news better than she will. We almost lost her to grief when Iounn died, so I cannot imagine what Sigyn's loss would do to her."

Loki remembered the doleful woman he had seen at the first banquet he had met Sigyn at. That woman was a far cry from the mother by law he knew. Would Signy return to that almost catatonic state if her daughter was not returned to her?

"We have not lost Sigyn yet, Frida."

"Perhaps not, but we still must prepare ourselves for the worst."

Sigrún had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout this conversation, but she took this moment to speak again.

"I believe Aunt Sigyn is still alive." She stated while looking up at Loki from her chair.

"I do too Siggy."

The room was silent for a few minutes. It seemed neither he nor Frida knew what they could speak of aside from Sigyn's disappearance.

"It is difficult to believe that Thor's coronation is only a few more months away. It doesn't feel right to think about such a grand celebration while Sigyn is still missing." Frida stated in as conversational a tone as she could manage.

"No, it doesn't, but it will take place all the same."

A second long silence took hold of the room. It was in that second silence however, that Loki thought of a question for Frida.

"Did Sigyn ever mention me in her correspondences with you?"

Frida looked slightly amused at the question.

"Yes, frequently. Why?"

"I'm just curious. What sorts of things did she tell you about me?"

"The sorts of things you would expect an adoring wife to say. Usually she just sang your praises, though every so often she would tell me of something you had done that had vexed her."

"Of course, but did she ever say anything about me that caused you any concern?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand…"

"Did she ever mention any information about me that you felt like she aught not to know?"

Frida thought for a moment, but shook her head.

"No, she would sometimes mention you were away doing work for the War Council, but that was the most secretive thing she would ever say."

It had been at least worth asking…

"Although… she did say something in her last letter that piqued my interest."

"She did?"

"It wasn't about you per say, but Sigyn did mention that the estate you were staying at seemed to be causing the both of you no small amount of anxiety. It was something that I had intended to ask her about when she returned, but not long after that letter reached us we received the word that Sigyn had been abducted. I had wondered if the two things might be connected somehow…"

"The anxiety that the estate gave us is rather difficult to explain, but it was not related to her disappearance. There were other things that were troubling her at the time that very well might have been connected to her abduction though, but those are things I intend to discuss with you all tonight."

A door could be heard opening, and footsteps that Loki assumed to be Markus's sounded down the hall.

"Markus, is that you dear?"

"Yes. Where are you?"

"In the sitting room with Loki."

"Loki?" Markus echoed as he entered the room. "You arrived early."

Loki opened his mouth to ask his usual question, but Markus raised his hand to stop him.

"No, there is still no trace of Sigyn. If there had been I wouldn't have wasted time commenting on your early arrival."

Loki sat back in his chair with a little 'humph.' Frida gave a chuckle, and Loki shot a questioning look over at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just that Sigyn does that too. Pouts I mean. I suppose I just forget how young you both really are sometimes…"

There was a touch of sadness in Frida's smile, but it was short lived. Sigyn's elder sister was trying her best to stay positive, and Loki was appreciative of that.

"Sigrún, why don't you go show Loki some of your artwork while we wait for your grandparents and Uncle Hallsteinn."

Sigrún liked that idea, and drug Loki off to her bedroom. She was soon showing him all sorts of pictures she had made. She spent time telling him about each picture and what was in it, and Loki was able to just sit quietly as she talked on and on. For a short while, he was at peace.

Halldor and Signy were the next to arrive, and Hallsteinn arrived not long after. Dinner was served after his arrival, and then the adults retired to the sitting room, while Sigrún was put to bed. It wasn't till everyone was seated comfortably that Loki began to explain why he had asked them to meet him.

"I have spent the past month doing what groundwork I could to begin a search for Sigyn, but my inquires so far have turned up nothing. In light of that, I have determined to try a different path of investigations… a path the AllFather's search cannot take. During our honeymoon, Sigyn and I made a trip to Nidavellir, where I came face to face with a woman whom Sigyn had seen from a distance on more than one occasion. This woman warned me that Sigyn was in danger because of something she knew about me, something she either told or was likely to tell to someone. I believed the warning to be hollow at the time, and I am still not certain that it holds any bearing on our current situation, but it is the only avenue that I have not explored yet. I have already asked Frida this, but I feel as though I must ask you all. Had Sigyn ever given you confidences about me either in person or in a letter that might be information worth killing over?"

Sigyn's family stared up at him in surprise as they tried to absorb everything he had just said. Signy was the first to speak.

"Sigyn never spoke to me about anything worth killing her for. She would mention feeling lonely when you were away on a task for the War Council, but she never even knew the details of your missions."

The rest of the family was unable to come up with anything either, and so Loki decided to move on to the journals.

"Since none of us here were told anything by Sigyn, we have only one more place we can look. Her journals. Fortunately Sigyn kept detailed accounts of anything and everything that she deemed important, but unfortunately that means there are almost a dozen journals to comb through. I would complete the task on my own, but it would take far too long. I need help sifting through the information contained in them, and I was hoping that you all would be willing to help me do it."

"What would we be looking for exactly?" Frida inquired.

"I don't know." Loki replied honestly.

"If the information Sigyn held about you was important enough to kill her for, then I am sure we should have no trouble distilling it out." Hallsteinn pointed out. "I'll help in any way that I can."

"As will Signy and I." Halldor agreed. "The searches so far have yielded nothing, so I am more than willing to try a different tactic."

Loki looked over at Frida, and though she seemed a bit more reluctant, she nodded her head.

"Of course Markus and I will help…"

"You do not have to if you do not wish to." Loki assured. "I don't doubt that the people who knew Sigyn well enough to know that she possessed dangerous information also know that she kept journals that might also contain the same information. If this is truly the root of Sigyn's disappearance agreeing to help me may put you and your families in danger."

"It may also put you in danger." Markus noted.

"I am used to living in danger, and with Sigyn gone I have nothing left to lose."

"Perhaps it would be best if only Halldor and I assist you with the journals." Signy suggested. "That way if there is any trouble it will only befall upon us."

Hallsteinn and Frida were quick to protest their mother's suggestion, and in the end it was determined that Loki would keep three of the journals, Signy and Halldor would take three, Markus and Frida would also take three, and Hallsteinn would take the two largest. Once the tomes had been split between those present, the little gathering of family dispersed. Loki would have preferred to start studying his three journals that evening, but thought it best to leave them be till morning.

He slept restlessly and wasted no time with breakfast the next day. Instead, he locked himself into his study so that he could read in peace. He knew almost immediately that there would be no information of importance in the first journal. It was one of Sigyn's early tomes, and had been written well before she had known him. Despite the lack of information it would contain, Loki read the entire thing. He had never really considered what her life must have been like before she had known him. In fact, it was almost difficult for him to believe that she even had a life before they had met. He kept telling himself that he continued reading her little rants about how being the youngest child wasn't fair because all her siblings teased her and wouldn't let her play with them and their "more mature" friends because Sigyn might have gone back in and left a clue for him to find. Perhaps she had known that her secret was important, so she had wanted to hide it in a place where someone could find it without it being too obvious. Why would someone continue reading a journal if they were looking for information pertaining to him, and she hadn't even met him at the time the journal was written? It seemed like a clever idea, though Loki truly doubted it was what she had done. In truth, he simply wanted an excuse to read more about his wife's childhood. He wanted to picture her learning how to ride horseback, or trying to sew for the first time. These entries from Sigyn's formative years brought nothing but a smile to his face, and he couldn't stop reading them. The unpracticed handwriting and spelling errors caused the journal to be slightly difficult to read at times, so it was well into the afternoon hours by the time he had finished reading. Though it had offered him a good deal of amusement, the journal held no relevant information in regards to Sigyn's disappearance. Loki set the journal aside, and then returned to his bedchambers. He spent a good deal of time in the bath chamber relaxing in the warm water and thinking before retiring for bed early.

The next day began in much the same way. Loki skipped breakfast again and locked himself in his study. He knew the second journal held more potential than the first one had when he came upon an entry that started with the sentence…

"I slapped a Prince today."

The next few hours gave Loki some insight into Sigyn's early opinion of him. It was about as positive as his early opinions of her… which was to say not all that positive. His future wife had described him as a…

"rude and arrogant snake charmer who is as conceited as he is clever,"

to which she had to begrudgingly add…

"though the latter trait does him credit."

Sigyn's opinion of him began to transform from disdain to begrudged admiration to fondness. It was a progress of feelings that he could remember all too well, and that he too had admittedly experienced. Though each page detailing their early friendship allowed Loki to remember some very fond memories, they offered nothing in the way of information that could help him determine why she was taken from him. It was dark outside by the time Loki came to the final sentences in the journal.

"Frida is deeply in love, and I can't help but feel slightly jealous that her love is returned. What a happy feeling that must be. Instead, I find myself relegated to nothing more than a 'kind friend' by the boy whose attentions I desire. No, I do not love him yet, but I believe that I could. If only he felt such desires as well… but there is no use wishing the feelings of others to change. Loki does not care for me in the same way I care for him, and so I will remain his ever faithful comrade in arms."

If only she had known how he had felt all those years ago, and how he had tried to convince himself that he was not attracted to his female companion. It was an attraction that his mother had noticed from the start, and others, like Fandral, had caught onto rather quickly. Sigyn had been the only one who hadn't picked up on it.

Loki closed the journal and leaned back in his chair. So far he had found nothing, but he still had one more journal to study. Perhaps that last journal held the key to the puzzle. If not, he could only hope that one of the other journals did. Loki went over to the small balcony attached to his study and stood in the crisp evening air. He looked down at the gardens beneath him. They were bathed in moonlight, and he could imagine a ghost like Sigyn wandering through them. She would flit from flower to flower like a butterfly. The image was so real in his mind that he could almost see her there with his eyes. The ghostly shadow evaporated however, when he heard the lock of his study door click.

"Normally when someone locks their door it means that they don't wish to be disturbed." Loki remarked.

"And normally I would respect that privacy, but you have been locked away for two days, Loki." His mother replied.

"I have been working."

"And what work is so important that you haven't eaten this entire time?"

"Finding my wife." Loki replied as he looked over at Frigga.

She had just moved out of the doorway, and was heading towards his desk.

"I don't imagine you will be able to find her from here." She remarked.

Loki didn't reply, and his mother looked down at the journals on his desk.

"What are these?" She inquired as she ran her fingertips over the cover of one of them.

"Some of Sigyn's journals. I had hoped to trace them to Sigyn's abduction somehow." He admitted.

"I see… so where are the other ones?"

"The other ones?"

"Well you said these are some of them, which means there must be others." His mother pointed out.

"Yes, there are others. I gave them to Sigyn's family. I thought they might want to have something of hers in case she really is gone. She will be thoroughly displeased with me however, when she does come back and she learns that I have handed private journals over to Frida. I imagine there will be plenty of teasing over them should Frida decide to take a peek into one." He added wistfully.

Frigga gave a small smile.

"Yes, I am sure there would be."

His mother came to join him on the balcony, and she placed her hand on top of his.

"I think Sigyn would be more upset with you however, if she knew that you weren't taking care of yourself."

A mother's worry shone clearly on Frigga's face, but Loki was more concerned with trying to ignore her continued use of the past tense when speaking about Sigyn. It seemed that his father wasn't the only one who believed Sigyn was gone for good. Loki made no reply to his mother, so she began to stroke the top of his hand comfortingly.

"I am going to insist that you take a break, Loki. You need to spend some time in the company of others. It would do you more than a little good."

"The AllFather will proclaim Sigyn dead in a matter of weeks, mother. I have to find something that will convince him to delay the proclamation and continue the search."

Frigga's hand slid from his, and she turned to leave.

"Very well, I cannot force you to heed my council, but I must ask… Are you trying to delay the proclamation, or your own grief?"

"I grieve Sigyn every day. My belief that she is still alive does not assuage that." He returned.

Frigga attempted to give him a small smile of reassurance, but failed. She left the study without another word, and it wasn't long before Loki left as well. He considered calling for Livia to fetch him something to eat, but decided to retire early instead. He dreamt of Sigyn that night, which was a welcome relief from his nightmares of Theoric.

Loki opened the door to the formerly locked bedroom at the estate and saw Sigyn sound asleep in the bed. He approached the bedside quietly and gently sat on the edge of it. Sigyn stirred for a moment, but then relaxed back into the mattress. The morning sun danced across her sleeping features adding a sense of mystery to her beauty. He softly brushed her hair away from her face before placing his hand on her cheek. Oh how he had missed her while he was away. He wasn't certain how long he would be able to stay with her this time, but hopefully it would be for at least a few days. He continued to brush his thumb along Sigyn's cheek till her eyes fluttered open.

"Loki?" She whispered, as if unsure that she had awoken from her dream.

"Yes, My Love?"

"You've returned."

"I always do, don't I?"

Sigyn's eyes flickered away from his in uncertainty.

"Do you doubt me, My Love? Do you fear that one day I will leave you never to return?"

"Yes." She answered openly.

"Sigyn, oh My Sigyn, do you truly believe I would go to such extraordinary lengths to gain your hand only to toss you off to the side? I did not face banishment to merely acquire a play thing." He assured her as he let his hand run from her cheek down to her clavicle bone. "You are my wife, the one woman I love. I will always return to you."

Sigyn's eyes bespoke her inner struggle.

"I know you would have your words act as a balm, but your reputation precedes you, My Lord. I fear I cannot trust anything you say."

"If you did I would think you a fool." Loki admitted. "So if my words are not to be trusted, trust my actions. What I do is far more reliable."

He slipped Sigyn's nightdress off of one shoulder and kissed the area tenderly. The tension in her body lessened, but only slightly. It seemed that his wife was not ready to be intimate just yet. He was a bit unsure how to shake her mood, when he remembered his gift.

"Before I get carried away, I do have something for you."

Loki rose from the side of the bed and went over to the chair he had tossed his cloak on. A small package lay with the garment, and Loki picked it up before returning to Sigyn's side.

"I found this during my little journey, and I thought you might like it." He explained as he handed it to her.

Sigyn took it, though with a little reluctance. She stared at the package a moment before finally determining that it was safe enough to open. She carefully tore open the brown paper to reveal a beautiful green pendent on a golden chain.

The same pendent Sigyn had worn in his dream of being bound to the rocks… the same pendent she had worn the night she had been abducted…

Sigyn's eyes widened at the beautiful gift.

"It is beautiful." Sigyn uttered under her breath.

Loki took the necklace from its wrappings, and slipped it on over Sigyn's head. The gem was beautiful, and it seemed to enhance Sigyn's natural glow.

"Thank you, it was a very thoughtful gift." Sigyn thanked a tad grudgingly. "Now if you will excuse me, I should go check on Váli. He is likely to wake soon, and he will be hungry when he does."

"Let me go to him." Loki requested.

It had been some time since he had seen his son, and he wanted this opportunity to be a real father.

"No, I will see to him. He probably won't recognize you, which will upset him." Sigyn excused, rising from the bed.

Loki rose as well, and blocked Sigyn from being able to reach the door.

"I will not upset him." He assured his wife.

"You may come with me, but I will not allow you to go to him by yourself."

Though disappointed, Loki relented, and followed Sigyn to their son's chamber. Váli was just beginning to rouse as they quietly slipped into the room. He had grown some since the last time Loki had seen him, but he was still just a baby. Sigyn gently took Váli from his crib, and he began to fuss. Sigyn shushed him and went to sit down in the only chair in the room. She threw a small blanket over her shoulder to cover the child as she fed him. The room was quiet except for the sound of Váli's suckling. There was a strange sense of peace in the room as Loki watched his wife feed their son, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was what it felt like to have a normal home life. It was as close as he would ever get at least. Sigyn rose from the chair once she had finished feeding Váli and approached Loki.

"Would you care to hold him?" She asked.

Loki nodded and Sigyn held Váli out to him. He was surprised how nervous he was as he took Váli into his arms. He was still so small and fragile, and his green eyes looked up at him in slight confusion. Sigyn brushed a finger against Váli's cheek.

"Say hello to your father, I'm sure you don't remember him."

Váli continued to stare up curiously and Loki looked to Sigyn.

"Is he frightened of me?" He asked.

"No, he is just trying to formulate his opinion about you."

Loki looked back down at his son, and nervously tried to brush his little hand. Váli managed to grab on to Loki's finger and began to smile up at him. That little smile warmed Loki to his very core, and he looked back at Sigyn excitedly. She continued to look down at the baby in his arms, but she had a small smile on her face as well. Loki looked back down at Váli holding on to his finger, but then he noticed something odd. Váli's hand was turning a faint shade of blue, and his hand was beginning to take on a darker shade of blue. Sigyn spoke up then.

"This was my secret. This is why I had to die."

Loki looked up sharply at Sigyn only to see that her skin was a deathly greyish blue, her hair was a silver color, and her blue-green iris's were now red. Loki dropped Váli in his surprise, but there was no child in the blanket that hit the floor.

"Jotunheim is the key." She whispered.

The gem around Sigyn's neck began to glow.

"If you wish to find me, you must go to Hel."

That was it. That was all there was to Loki's dream, or had it been a nightmare? Loki wasn't quite certain either way. He instinctively looked down at his hand to make sure it wasn't blue, and was quite relieved to see that it was as pale a white as ever. Not seeing any need to go back to sleep, Loki got up and went to the bath chambers. He relaxed in the water till it went cold as he ran his dream over in his mind. It had begun like some long lost forgotten memory might have, but had ended in a rather nightmarish fashion. Try as he might though, he couldn't just write it off of as pure fantasy. Sigyn's last words refused to let him go.

"This was my secret. This is why I had to die. Jotunheim is the key. If you wish to find me, you must go to Hel."

What was her secret? Their child? The fact that he was turning blue for some reason?

Jotunheim was the key… the key to what?

How could he find her in Hel? Only the dead went to Hel.