Loki visited Erik at least once a month after he left Erik's home. Sometimes Erik would call for him and Loki would soon arrive after he felt the warm heat of the enchanted wooden coin. Other times Loki would suddenly appear before Erik in increasingly more complicated displays. One time, when Loki was feeling particularly adventurous, he took Erik from his bed in the middle of the night and transported them both to a deserted valley in Vanaheim, partly to see the confusion on Erik's face when he awoke, but mostly so that they could go hunting for creatures Erik could hardly imagine. Loki returned them to Erik's home before he was too terribly missed, bearing armfuls of pelts from the beasts of the realms as their prize.
Loki's little trips were starting to become too frequent, however. Even utilizing all of the backdoors through the realms, no one could escape Heimdall's gaze for long, but that was inevitable, he had planned for that. The Gatekeeper would be silent about his endeavors as long as they did not threaten the kingdom of Asgard, which was simple enough. Thor on the other hand, was beginning to wonder where Loki was going.
More and more frequently, Loki's visits with Erik would coincide with Thor's sporadic need to go on an adventure. 'There is a Giant to fight, Brother!" "Loki, we must spar!" "Brother! We might defend our honor this day!" It was all starting to become too much for him. Loki could only give Thor so many excuses before he began asking questions.
Loki was not sure why he did not want to tell Thor about his meeting with Erik. He mostly believed that it was not Thor's business to know. It would change nothing even if he did. It was not like the practice of favoring a mortal was forbidden, Thor himself had a taken many the mortal maiden. No, he did not want Thor to know. Erik was his. And for as long as he could help it, he would keep it that way.
It had come to the inevitable point when both Thor and Erik asked for his attention. Loki would have ignored Thor as usual, but he was starting to arouse his suspicions, and Loki was not in the mood to make a lie to get out of it. So he ignored the warm call of the coin and went with Thor on his quest.
This mission was quite different from the other's Thor tried to drag Loki to. Apparently, Thor heard that some Midgardian was stealing from a shrine dedicated to him or something of that sort, Loki was not really listening. Thor mostly wanted Loki to attend to help him track down the foolish mortal if they did not arrive in time. Loki begrudgingly agreed, if only to get Thor to stop ranting about how 'sometimes mortals needed to be taught a lesson about not angering the gods'. It was all very petty. It was not as if he ever collected anything the mortals gave him at those shrines. However, this was purely a matter of pride.
Suddenly the coin burned like it had caught fire in his pocket. Loki's hand quickly went to the coin to attempt to cool it before it did catch flame. Erik must have tried calling him again. Loki was not sure why it was hotter this time compared to all of the others. Though he had never ignored a call from Erik before either.
They arrived in Midgard at the mouth of a shallow cave where Thor's shrine lay. He practically charged inside, eager to catch the thief red handed. Loki was about to run after him when he felt the coin burn him. Never before had it been this close to an inferno. Loki was about to abandon Thor to see what was the matter with Erik when he suddenly heard Erik's voice from inside of the cave.
Loki ran inside and his eyes were met with what he had feared. Thor hand pinned Erik against the hard wall of the cave with a sword at his throat; in Erik's hand was a satchel, likely coins from how it hung loosely in his grip. In his other hand was likely the wooden coin.
"Please, have mercy, in the name of Loki Odinson, I beg of you." Erik begged, not taking his eyes off of Thor.
"Brother!" Thor scoffed as Loki walked closer. "I have caught the thief. He asks for mercy in your name. Him. How do you think he should be punished?" Thor angled the blade so it glinted in Erik's fearful green eye.
Erik looked fearfully to Loki. "Please, help me!"
"There is little mercy for you now, mortal!" Thor nearly laughed.
"Release him Thor!" Loki shouted as authoritatively as he could. Thor looked taken aback.
"Loki, you cannot seriously be considering giving him mercy?"
"I am, now release him. This mortal is under my protection."
Thor hesitated a second but did as he was told. Once free from Thor's wrath, Erik ran towards Loki. Thor looked increasingly annoyed.
"Explain yourself, mortal! You may have my brother's favor but that will not spare you for long."
"Now Thor, this may be more than it appears to be." Loki gave Thor a glance from the corner of his eye.
"They have taken my sister."
Loki's eye's widened slightly at the news. Thor uncrossed his arms.
"Someone has taken Liv?" Loki asked, Erik nodded.
"They told me to bring the valuable treasures from the shrine of Lord Thor. I tried calling for you so that you could ask for it, since he is your brother, but you never answered. I had to get it as soon as possible."
"Who has her?"
Erik did not respond. The look on his face told Loki the answer. It had to be those three boys who had taken Erik's eye and chased them both through town.
"What is going on Loki?" Thor asked, walking closer to the pair as his anger quickly dissipated.
"A little girl has been kidnapped by a trio of brutish mortals. I have encountered them before. They beat me for their own amusement. Thor, this boy was not wishing you any dishonor, pardon his actions."
Thor nodded then turned towards the entrance. "Very well." Thor breathed heavily, refocusing his anger on this new enemy. "I will not be mocked by cowards who make others perform their evil deeds. Where are they?"
Erik hesitated before answering the question. "They are in town. Please don't hurt them, just get my sister back."
"I'm afraid they are beyond your pleas for mercy now, mortal. Wait here. I shall ensure that justice is done."
Erik moved to chase after Thor, but Loki held him back with a strong grip.
"Let me go Loki, I have to warn them."
"It's too late for that, I'm afraid, they have sealed their fate." Loki looked down and took a seat on a rock. He pushed Erik down to join him. "I should have done away with them when I had the chance."
"No."
"If I had they would not have taken Liv!" Loki growled. "What else have they done to you that you haven't told me about! Surely this is not the first time since that day."
"I do not need your help with every little thing! I can handle this myself."
"Obviously," Loki smirked. "Nearly getting beheaded by an Odinson is a wonderful way of taking control of the situation. If you had told me when you called I could have-"
"It is because of you that I am in this mess, Loki!" Erik shouted.
Loki was quiet for a moment, Erik continued.
"After you gave me back my eye, yeah, they were frightened to even talk to me. But then they decided to start picking on Liv, instead of me. They would steal her doll, trip her when they saw her in the street, small things at first. Then they started to get confident, they believed that I was beyond the gods wrath. So they took Liv while she was outside playing. They told me that if I ever wanted to see her again that I needed to bring them gold from Lord Thor's shrine. I tried calling for you, but you never answered."
"I am not at your beck and call." Loki responded annoyed. "I have no obligation to answer you."
"Yeah, I see that now."
They sat in silence for a few moments before Erik spoke up again.
"I think they are afraid of me because of you. They all think that I will just ask you to destroy the village one day if they ever upset me. I used to tell them stories of the adventures you would take me on, show them the things we would find. At first they seemed fascinated, but as the tales became more grand, they started to avoid me. It was as if they had thought that you would become bored with me and leave the town be, not continue on for as long as you have. Now I can hardly get anyone to speak to me. No one would help me get Liv back. I tried asking for help before coming here. They are all too afraid of getting on my bad side to risk interacting with me."
"Is that such a bad thing?" Loki asked sounding proud. "They respect you, fear you. It is just those boys who have yet to learn that those favored by the gods should not be trifled with."
"Loki! You are not listening to me!" Erik shouted, standing up to glared down at the god. "They took her because of you! No one would help me because of you! Because of you-" Erik cut himself off and turned away slightly towards the mouth of the cave. "Because of you I am alone." He started to walk towards the exit. "I am going to stop Lord Thor. They do not deserve to die because of me."
With a flick of the wrist, Loki summoned Erik to his side once more in a puff of green smoke. The boy looked to the god with anger in his mismatched eyes but Loki's expression never wavered from his somber look.
"So...you believe I am responsible for all this?"
Erik took in a heavy breath. "Yes. Their blood will be on your hands."
"Then I gladly accept that burden."
They both looked up as thunder started to rumble in the distance. Before Erik could reach the mouth of the cave he jumped to his feet and a large bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the center of the small village with a deafening crack. Erik fell to his hands and knees as the resulting thunder rumbled and growled in triumph, his head hung low as a deep cry escaped his lips.
"You have damned me." Erik screamed from the ground. "Do you understand that? Do you know what you have allowed to happen here?"
"I fixed a problem." Loki said flatly. "Someone took Liv and now you will have her back. And now everyone one will know what will happen to them if they ever try to harm you again. They will respect you and will have a new found respect for the gods. Through you they will see how benevolent we can be and how disrespect will not be tolerated."
"You are not gods!" Erik spat, turning to Loki with tears beginning to form. "You are monsters, playing with humanity. What gives you the right to kill at your leisure?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Loki explained as he slowly walked closer to the mortal. "We took that right for our own. Now no more tears, please. My favorite mortal should not cry. You should be happy. Your god has answered your prayers-" Loki's hand was slapped away before he could touch Erik.
"You are not my god! You are a curse." Erik took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Once Liv comes back, I never want to see you again."
"Do not joke like that, Erik." Loki tried to laugh it off but Erik kept his determined stance. "Do not be bitter merely because your prayer was not answered exactly as you desired."
"Then I pray you bring them back to life. If you are a god you surely can do that much."
Loki huffed. "They are not worth such a blessing."
"Then am I?" Erik asked, pulling out a hidden blade and holding it to his own throat. "Would you bring me back to life?"
Loki took a step back and glanced down. "You give yourself too much credit. Besides, suicide does not suit you." He lunged forward, picking Erik up by the throat and held him against the wall. Erik grunted in pain, but paused when Loki turned a dagger to his throat. "I will only permit two things to kill you: Time and me. I promise you that this shall be true from this day forward." Loki's hands and eyes glowed green with this oath and Erik struggled as the god took his knife and pushed it lightly into Erik's flesh, drawing a small bead of blood; the green light flooding into his veins. Only when Erik's own eye's flashed with the same green light did Loki let him fall to the floor in exhaustion from the spellwork. He coughed and gripped as his throat violently, trying to claw the magic out of his veins. But as he dug and drew his own blood his wounds were quickly healed but the green light. Loki smiled at his work. Erik was not so pleased.
"So you curse me for my defiance? You steal my mortality?" Erik looked at the veins in his arms.
"Bless, Erik. You were blessed. This is not a curse. And even I cannot grant immortality." Loki corrected but Erik stood up and moved to the back of the cave. "It is a protection spell. Nothing will hurt you ever again. Not even yourself."
"Loki. You are an utter fool." Erik seethed. He turned to yell at Loki once more but his face fell and he ran towards the entrance.
Loki turned to see Thor carrying a crying Liv in his large arms. He let her down as Erik ran towards her. "Worry not. I have smote the foolish mortals. You and your brother are save now, dear lady."
"Liv!" Erik quickly picked the girl up and held her as he cried harder. "Are you alright?"
"She is unharmed, my boy." Thor said proudly, Loki quickly moved close to Thor and pushed his shoulder, signaling that it was time to go. "Oh, leaving so soon, brother? I thought we would stay and feast here."
"You just killed three of this town's sons. I doubt you would be welcomed at any table tonight. Our business is done. We should be on our way." Loki gave one last glance to Erik before turning and walking out of the cave.
Thor looked to Loki and then back to the mortals. "I wish you too well. If you are favored by my brother, you are favored by me, as well."
"Th-Thank you, Lord Thor." Erik offered a shallow bow. He kept his head low until he heard the rush of Bifrost and Thor and Loki were returned to the heavens.