Ch. 6

Present Day

"We're going to Jotunheim." Those four words kept echoing in my mind as I sat in my room. I couldn't believe him. I knew him better than that. He wanted Thor angry, wanted him to want to go to Jotunheim. I knew that was his plan. The only reason I could think of why was the fact that it would make Odin become upset with Thor. That was Loki's ultimate plan, right? Get Thor into trouble so that Odin wouldn't make him king. It was sad, how desperate he was. Desperate enough that he would risk his own life. Loki wasn't stupid, he's proved that to me time and time again. But this plan was reckless! If he didn't come back home safely, I'd kill him myself.

What were the others thinking? Was I the only smart one to have stayed behind? Sif, and the Warriors 3.. Why would they go? I don't even understand. They should've known how dangerous it was. If I'd gotten the choice, maybe I would've gone as well, who knows? But not because I wanted to. I only would've gone because I didn't want them to go by themselves. Whether it's fortunate or unfortunate that Loki insisted I stay behind is yet to be determined. As soon as I'd stepped forward to tell them how flawed their plan was, he'd stepped forward as well. He'd stepped toward me, looking into my eyes. Quietly he'd said, "You are not going. I don't care if you want to. It's way too dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt. Please don't argue with me." I was about to tell him how ridiculous he sounded telling me I couldn't go because it was dangerous, while he was still going. The pleading look in his green eyes, and the concern so obvious in his accent made me stop. I'd nodded my head reluctantly, allowing him to go.

Now, I was beginning to regret it. Big time. They'd been gone for awhile. I know I should've probably told Odin, but I knew that would get them all in trouble and they'd already given me instructions not to. It scared me. What if they got hurt? What if they made a mistake and ended up getting killed? It was all too much to think about. Besides, I wasn't a warrior. They were. They knew what they were doing. So why was I worrying so much? Because I knew that no matter how much Loki might want to be, he wasn't a warrior either. He'd be much better off strategizing, than actually going into battle.

I took a deep breath and sat down on my bed. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my dress. How could it be that just this morning I'd had it chosen out? Just this morning everything was fine.

"Time to wake up, princess." I heard his accent just as clearly as I had in my dream. The curtains were thrown open, light beaming in mercilessly. I sat up in bed slowly, not ready to wake up. "You have slept in." Loki pointed an accusing finger at me, playfully smirking. I threw the covers of my bed and got up.

"So? I don't have anything important to do today."

Loki chuckled, "I figured you'd need all day to get ready for tonight. You are a girl, are you not? Don't they take forever to get ready?"

I looked at him, faking angry. "Are you saying I take forever to get ready?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "Of course not. I was just wondering. Don't you want to look your 'best' tonight for Thor?"

I noted the small amount of jealousy in his voice when he said Thor's name. "Of course I want to look good! But not just for Thor. This is a big night for all of Asgard. Yes, it's a big night for Thor but tonight, I will be by your side." I hugged him, trying to show him that he meant more to me than Thor. "You're my best friend, Loki. You know that, right?"

Loki looked down at me, wrapped in his arms. "Of course I know that. And you are my best friend. Thank you for being here with me through the years and staying by my side no matter what's happened."

I smiled at him, and pulled away. "Come help me pick something to wear." I grabbed his arm and led him to my walk-in closet. I turned him towards my rack of casually-dressy clothes and he rolled his eyes.

"You are going to dress up." He turned around towards my rack of gowns. I watched him as he looked at my gowns, flipping through them, a look of deep concentration on his face. A small smile appeared on mine. He looked his best when he concentrated hard. He didn't notice my staring and continued to move through the various gowns I'd never worn before. "Not this one. Nope. Well maybe..? No, definitely not. Uh, maybe this.. Nah.." I giggled as Loki began to mutter to himself, voicing his opinions on my dresses. "Finally. Something nice.. You shall wear this!" Loki pulled out a dark green dress, that spread out at the bottom. It was sleeve-less with the exception of a strip of fabric attached to one side and meant to go around my arm.

"Is there a specific reason you picked that one?" I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear him say it.

"It's green." And there it was. The simple reason. He searched through all of my dresses just to find something green. "It'll look really good on you, trust me. Green is your color."

I laughed, "Green is your color. Not mine. Anyways, thanks for helping me. Now, give me a minute and we can grab some books from the library and head out to the garden."

And that was exactly what we'd done. We'd gone straight to the library as I'd suggested and spent the rest of the die surrounded by plants. The sun glared down on us, the cool breeze whipping my blond hair around me. We hadn't gotten much reading in because we'd ended up talking for most for most of the time.

Once the sun started to go down however, we'd both decided to head back inside and get ready for the coronation.

I looked into the mirror, and smoothed out my dress for the billionth time. It was uncomfortable. I hated dresses. My golden-blonde hair was perfectly straight, my brown eyes lined in black. I looked over at Sif who was placing all of her weapons on a table. Volstagg was trying to flag down one of the servants carrying around trays of food. Fandral stood in one corner with his group of fan-girls. Hogun walked in right then and tucked a knife into a hilt on his arm. I smirked; of course.

Sif came and stood next to me and smiled. "How are you, Lady Sigyn?" The formality in her voice made me smile.

"I am well, Lady Sif." I put emphasis on the word lady because we never addressed each other as such unless we were in a public area where people could hear us. Even then, it was known to all of Asgard that that five of us hung out, along with Thor and Loki so there were times when we'd forget to use the respectful titles. "How are you? Excited about Thor's big night?"

Sif rolled her eyes, knowing what I was implying. "Oh, shut up. This is a big night for him. Be happy." I was about to respond when a guard came over and interrupted us, allowing us to enter. We walked into the enormous ballroom and stood off to the sidelines, just watching.

I wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about, as Loki had just walked into the room. People bowed to him as he made his way over to us and he acknowledged them with a head nod and a small smile. It widened, however, when he stood in front of us. "Lady Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral." He nodded at each of them as he said their names. Then, he reached for my hand and pressed his lips to it gently. I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. "Lady Sigyn. Long time no see."

I nodded, a grin on my face. "Oh yeah. Two hours is a long time." I teased, a smirk on my face.

"We should probably go into the Dining Hall now. Thor will be in shortly to accept his crown." And just like that, his happiness was gone. Sif beamed, proud of Thor for making it so far. I looked at Fandral, silently asking him why he would say it so bluntly. We all knew how Loki felt.

Loki recovered quickly, as usual. A smile was plastered on his face in the next instance. "Come on, then."

I'm not going to lie and say that Loki felt bad for Thor. I knew more than anyone that somewhere inside

of him he felt a little sliver of happiness that it hadn't worked out for Thor, that the frost giants has attacked. But no matter what he felt, I knew that somewhere deeper in his heart he really cared for his brother and wished him the best of luck. Unfortunately, a life lived in the shadow of Thor caused Loki to have some animosity and jealousy toward his brother.

I stood up from the bed ad headed toward my closet pulling out a simple light green sleeping gown. Might as well, right? Wearing his favorite color might bring him some good luck. I headed toward the bathroom and showered and put my hair into a messy bun. When I was finished I sat in my bed and picked up my book, the covers around me. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways.

A soft knocking on my door made me jump slightly before I called out, "Come in." Loki entered my room, no longer dressed up. I sat up in my bed. "Loki? What happened?"

Loki slowly walked toward my bed and stood at the end, looking down at me cautiously. "Thor has been.. Banished. Father sent him down to Earth to live as a mortal."

I looked at him alarmed, "What?! Why? Uh.. How did your dad know that you guys were in Jotunheim?"

"Well.. Father has finally realized that Thor isn't fit to be King. Unfortunately, he reacted rather harshly by banishing him and taking away Mjolnir. As to how he knew we went to Jotunheim, I told Heimdall to tell him where we were going." Loki looked at the ground as he said the last part, and I stood up.

"It's not your fault, Loki. You didn't know he'd be banished. You did the right thing by telling him to get your father. If you hadn't you guys might not have made it out alive. What happened while you were there?" I was standing next to him now, six inches shorter.

As Loki retold the story of his visit to Jotunheim, I noticed a strange look in his eyes. Like he was hiding something. He kept looking at his hand as if it had done something to him. When he was finished retelling the story, he finally looked at me. I gave him a comforting smile and hugged him, letting him know it was okay.