Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.

WARNING: There's mentions of vomiting in this chapter. If that's not your thing, stop reading after Loki flees Odin's study. There's an explanation of the rest of the chapter at the bottom.

In this chapter, Loki is masculine and goes by he/him/his pronouns.

Thor held Loki back just before he burst into Odin study completely unannounced. Thor knocked and waited until Odin called back before allowed Loki to enter, Loki shooting him a filthy look. They walked in, Loki pushing past him and Odin looked up from his work, raising an eyebrow. Before he could say anything, Loki pressed the diary on the table in front of him and said "Would you like to explain this?"

Odin glanced at the diary with a neutral expression before picking it up and flipping it open. His gaze hardened when he realized what it was. He closed it and placed it down before looking up. "Where did you find this?" He asked.

"Thor found it," Loki said, fists on the desk as he glared at Odin. "He found it in the library. Would you like to explain why you never told us that Bestla was a frost giant? Hmm? Or perhaps you'd like to tell us any more family secrets?"

Odin looked up at Loki, a strange look on his face. "Loki," he said. "What do you know of your grandmother?"

Loki growled and turned away, pacing. Odin turned to Thor, who looked uncomfortable. "She... She was from Alfheim, was she not?"

Odin narrowed his eye and looked back at Loki. "Loki," he said. "What do you know of her. What were you taught?"

The note of urgency seemed to make Loki more agitated. "She was of Alfheim, as Thor said," he snapped. "She was married to grand- to Bor as part of the Peace Act between-"

"Between Alfheim, Jotunheim, and Asgard," Odin finished. He looked back at the diary and said calmly. "Although I suspect the Jotunheim part of that history was removed. Sit down, please, before you wear a pathway in the floor, Loki."

Loki shot Odin a dark look as Thor sat, then reluctantly sat as well, crossing his arms and glaring. Odin laced his fingers together and placed them on the desk, eye slowly moving from Loki to Thor.

"Why was this kept from us?" Loki asked, but before Odin could reply, he added "And don't say it was for my protection. I'll only believe it as much as I believed it the first time."

Odin's lips thinned, but he nodded once. "Very well, I will not," he replied. "I would not have anyway, for that's not the answer. In fact, this information was not intentionally kept from you." Loki scoffed at that, but Odin continued "Not like you so think it was, at least. It seems that Asgard has forgotten that its previous queen was jotun."

"It says in the text that she could Shift," Thor put in, looking at Loki. "Like you do."

Odin nodded. "Aye, she could Shift. And she did it often enough, as it was mostly too hot in Asgard for her to use her jotun form. She even looked somewhat like you, Loki. It helped quiet anyone who questioned your birth. My mother was very proud of her heritage, however it was mostly kept from the people.

"She was of Jotunheim and Alfheim," Odin continued. "She was small and, as is tradition, went to live in Alfheim. As far as I know, Jotunheim and Alfheim still have an agreement that states that noble children of Jotunheim are housed by nobles of Alfheim, to receive education. She spent half of the year on Alfheim and the rest of the year on Jotunheim to learn of the heritage and history there.

"She was intelligent," Odin said and paused there a moment, nodding. "All who met her remarked on her intelligence. She learned Allspeak when she arrived in Asgard, but even without it she was fluent in the most prominent languages on Asgard, Alfheim, and Jotunheim. She learned their ways in magic as well and became one of the most accomplished and powerful mages of her age." The ghost of a smile appeared on Odin's lips for just a moment before vanishing again. "It is because of her that the Act of Education passed, the reason why the gardens weren't ripped up after Bor took the throne, and why parts of the gardens were opened to the public as parks. It is because of her that the peace between Jotunheim and Asgard survived as long as it did, ending long after I became King." Odin paused there and tilted his head slightly. "It is also partly because of her that the Queen of Asgard has equal power to the King."

"Then why weren't we ever told about her?" Loki asked, hands twisting and folding in his lap. Thor resisted the urge to reach over and still them.

Odin sighed and shook his head. "I know not," he said. "Some of her attributions were given to Bor, something which infuriated her to no end. Your mother made the official change to make the Queen equal in power to the King, however she was the one who began the fight."

"But why was her heritage never mentioned anywhere?" Loki said, standing up, an angry tint in his voice. Odin sighed again.

"Loki," he said, sounding tired. "No one cared that she was jotun. Why would it matter? She was a good mother, a good queen, and a good mage. We were at peace with Jotunheim; no one would have thought to care. We had very little argument with Jotunheim even before the Peace Act was official. We left them alone and they left us alone. If anything, people were curious about her.

"In truth, I am appalled to see now that you knew nothing about her," Odin said, leaning back in his chair. "She was very proud of her heritage, but when the peace with Jotunheim turned to dust, no one cared to remember her." Odin paused and looked at Loki. "I am sorry you did not know this sooner. I am sorry you did not know any of this sooner an that I did not look into it. This was not kept from you intentionally, for all you believe it was. I assumed that if you had questions about her that you would ask either your professors or me and was indeed surprised when you had none."

Loki swallowed and stared back at Odin. Thor looked from one to the other nervously for a moment before saying "But what of Vé? She mentions another child, yet you have no brother named Vé."

Odin's gaze turned to Thor for a moment and he nodded, slowly, before reaching down and opening a drawer, pulling something out. A book, Thor realized. Odin flipped through it before taking something out of it, placing it on the table and saying quietly "This is Vé."

Thor leaned forward to take a look. The picture was of a Small jotun child, smiling widely, the way all young children do, face scrunched up in an adorable way. He had long brown hair, braided, although loose locks hung in his face. He was sitting on a bench that Thor recognized as the gardens, blue feet unable to touch the ground. There was a bundle of flowers next to him on the bench and in his lap.

"This is the only existing picture of Vé," Odin said when Thor looked up at him. "All others were destroyed."

"Why?" Loki asked, his voice blunt, his arms crossed.

Odin looked at him, a weary expression on his face. "Vili and I were born closer to each other, barely a decade apart. Vé, however, was born much later. He was the youngest and disliked having his picture taken. As such, there were very few pictures of him to begin with.

"As Bestla says, she remained in a jotun form for most of her pregnancy with him, since those months were in the fall, winter, and spring. Perhaps this is why he was born the way he was, but regardless of that, he did not inherit her gift of Shifting."

"What happened to him?" Thor asked, unsure of he would like the answer. Odin looked at him for a moment before returning his attention to Loki.

"Vé was..." Odin shook his head and looked down at the picture. "Vé was brilliant," he said at last. "At a very young age, he could master most everything he tried. Mathematics, history, language... everything came to him with ease, learning was a second nature to him. But for all the brilliance he had, he was often bored. And because he was so brilliant, people often forgot that he was still just a child. Like all children, he was trusting and naïve, and one day he discovered a way to slip out of the palace, unnoticed."

Odin went quiet, picking up the photograph and looked down at it. "Vili and I had gone hunting with... a friend or two. Vé wanted to join us, despite not liking hunting—he avoided all violence if he could—but with him as young as he was, our mother and I refused to let him come along. We don't know for sure, but... It has often crossed my mind that he had planned on following us from that moment on."

"Father," Thor said, dread filling his stomach. "Father, what happened to him?"

Odin's finger rubbed the worn edge of the picture, sighing deeply. "I said that we were at peace with Jotunheim and that very few people cared that Bestla was jotun. But, like always, there were people in Asgard who did disapprove of a jotun being on the throne, for the only reason that Bestla was not aesir. Even I, as a half-blood, encountered hardship when I took the throne and I look more aes than not. But Vé..." Odin shook his head before setting the photo down and looking up at them. "Vé was kidnapped and held for ransom. They told us that if they were not paid in full, then they would kill him. Needless to say, we paid in full, however when he was reunited with us..."

"Father," Thor said, glancing at Loki. His brother was worrying his hands again, although his expression was stony.

Odin stood abruptly and moved to stand at the window, looking out. "Vé was returned to us," he repeated, his voice dark. "But he was..." He stopped and clenched his fists. "They took his magic from him."

Thor's eyes widened; he and Loki had once witnessed a magic-removal ritual, hiding where they wouldn't be seen. The event had been horrible and Thor knew it had more of an effect on Loki than it had himself. The sentenced man had screamed for nearly ten minutes, screaming for help and then screaming for death before he went silent, still in pain, but unable to scream as blood poured from his ears and mouth and eyes.

Thor would never be able to forget how Loki's face had paled and how he had left before the ritual was finished. Loki had looked sick then and as Thor turned to his brother, he found that Loki looked like he was going to be sick now.

"What?" Loki managed, one hand hovering close to his mouth, the other clenching at his chair's armrest. "But... But that..."

Odin bowed his head. "I trust you know what happens when a person's magical core is pulled from their body," he said. "It damaged him severely, both physically and mentally."Odin broke off and drew a deep breath. "Vé died within a week of him being returned to us."

A sound somewhere between a choke and a whimper ripped from Loki's throat and he covered his mouth again, eyes squeezed shut. Odin turned away from the window and focused on Loki instead, blinking as though he'd forgotten he and Thor were still in the room. He then approached Loki and said "Loki. Loki, be calm; it was a very long time ago."

Thor reached out in concern and brushed Loki's arm with his fingers. Loki reacted like he'd been electrocuted; he jumped up from the chair and made to leave the room, pausing at the door and leaning against it, breathing heavily. Thor got up and went after him, keeping back a little. "Loki? Brother, are you well?"

Loki shook his head. "I think-" He paused and pressed a hand over his mouth again. "I think I'm-"

He fled the room a moment later. Thor hesitated a moment, glancing back at Odin before following Loki back to his rooms.

Loki had made it to his front room before being sick. Thor paused at the door and felt a wave of nausea roll through his stomach, watching as Loki heaved again. Thor forced it down and moved to help Loki, pulling his hair out of the way and murmuring to his brother, hoping to soothe him. Odin appeared shortly after and walked over, kneeling on Loki's other side, placing a hand on Loki's lower back.

"Thor," he said, waving a hand to make Loki's vomit vanish from the trash. "Go fetch a glass of water for your brother."

Thor nodded and stood, Odin pulling Loki's hair back instead. Loki was still half doubled over, something suspiciously like sobs escaping every so often, mixed with his ragged breathing. When Thor returned with the water, Odin was gently rubbing circles into Loki's upper back. Thor knelt again and offered the water, saying "Loki, would you like some water?"

Loki squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, hugging his stomach. There was sweat on his brow and tears on his face and Thor couldn't help but feel utterly helpless. He looked at Odin, who murmured to Loki "My boy, would you like something to clean up with a bit?"

Loki nodded at that and Odin conjured a washcloth, handing it to Loki. Loki accepted it with a shaky hand and pressed the cloth to his face. When he pulled it away, he spat into the wastebasket and glanced at Thor, accepting the glass of water and rinsing his mouth, then taking a few tentative sips.

"Brother, are you alright?" Thor asked, still unsure of what to do. Loki sipped some more water and cleared his throat, nodding.

"I'd like to be alone, please," he whispered in reply, his voice scratchy. Thor noticed that Loki's eyes were rimmed red, like he wanted to cry and nodded.

"Of course," he said, standing. "I'll be- I'll bring you some food later. Is that okay?"

Loki nodded and Thor glanced at Odin, who nodded and indicated the door with a flick of his eye. Hesitant, Thor left, glancing back once more before leaving, closing the door a little ti give them some privacy. Thor then went to his own rooms, pacing and chewing on his lip. The sudden urge to hit something came over him like a wave and he clenched his jaw, pacing some more before leaving his rooms again, making his way to the training grounds to calm himself.

Notes:

For the people who skipped: Loki leaves the room and Thor and Odin follow him back to his rooms. They comfort Loki before Loki says he wishes to be alone. Odin stays to try and further comfort Loki while Thor goes off to the training grounds to calm himself.

In other news I'M BACK! Sorry this update took so long; I had hoped to get more writing done than I actually did over the holidays. Well, here's a late Happy New Year! I was kinda nervous about posting this chapter, since I wasn't sure if my explanation would suffice. To add more into it, I got kinda pissed about how human history leaves out a LOT of fantastic women, so I figured the same would probably happen on Asgard. Let me know what you think!