Chapter 4: Nightmares in New York
.o.o.o.
"Ooh, look, a ward that blocks demons," Loki said happily, taking a picture of the page with his phone. "And substitute reagents too!"
"He had to give you library access," Daimon grumbled over the chatter.
"Hey, if money's a problem you should be happy I'm finding a substitute for ground silver," Loki shot back. "And ground gold…saffron…why do spells always want expensive stuff?"
"Because the wizards of old were greedy pricks," Daimon replied, flipping through a newspaper.
"Why is saffron so expensive anyway?" Loki wondered. "It's a plant, right?"
"Google it," Daimon said. "And can it; I'm reading about idiot politicians."
Loki sighed and continued flipping through the books for useful things within his abilities, taking notes on his phone for things to stock up on. He only had ten dollars, but Daimon had promised him a cut of all paying jobs so more expensive things could come later…
Salt and peppermint were easy, he could get them from a dollar store. He could probably get rice as a flax substitute there as well. Powdered iron would be harder…maybe he could get a small hunk of iron and a strong file at some point…
.o.o.o.
Hush child, the darkness will rise from the deep and carry you down into sleep
Loki frowned and tossed in his bed, his covers falling to the floor as the thrashing worsened.
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
One free hand clawed at the air as Loki started breathing our half-formed curses.
And carry you down-
Daimon sat up at the noise and glanced over to see his charge thrashing wilding and muttering angry- and Norse-sounding phrases. "Loki!"
Loki froze, his eyes opening, "Wha…huh?"
"You all right?" Daimon asked.
Loki nodded. "I feel fine. A little cold—oh." He pulled his comforter off the floor. "Why?"
"You were thrashing like someone set you on fire, and muttering weird shit," Daimon said. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Wasn't dreaming or anything, if that's what you mean," Loki yawned. "Probably just stress from the fiend-fighting."
Daimon's eyes narrowed, but her nodded and went back to bed.
Loki curled back up and was soon fast asleep. The second Daimon was sure he got back up and watched Loki.
Guileless son, I'll shape your belief
Daimon's eyes narrowed—something was happening. Theoretically speaking the Sanctum Sanctorum was one of the safest buildings in the world…in practice it was a huge target for evil sorcerers. He tried to focus on what was affecting Loki.
And you'll always know that your father's a thief, and you won't understand the cause of your grief
Daimon frowned as Loki started spouting the weird stuff again. He'd have to brush up on his old Norse at this rate…
But you'll always follow the voices beneath…
Daimon's eyes widened as he heard something…something talking, or singing more like, about voices for some reason.
Something that wasn't Loki.
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty,
"What are you?" Daimon hissed, preparing a minor exorcism to get this thing out of his sidekick's head.
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me
"Believe me, the kid's loyalty is harder to get than with just a serenade," Daimon huffed, sending a pulse of energy through Loki who yelped and fell out of bed.
"Daimon! It's been what, fifteen minutes?" Loki complained.
Daimon ignored him. The voice had stopped. "Loki, are you absolutely certain you weren't dreaming?"
"…Well, when you put it like that maybe I was and don't remember. You seem rather certain I was," Loki replied.
Daimon frowned. Whatever or whoever it was, they weren't doing jack while Loki was awake. "Remember when I used you to get into those nightmares?"
"Yes," Loki said.
"Good," Daimon said. "Because now I'm going into yours. Go back to sleep."
.o.o.o.
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me
"Screw that," Daimon huffed. For a kid who did a lot of thinking, Loki's mind was pretty darn blank except for the music someone had left on. "Brat, you in here or what?"
"Depends on what you mean by here."
Daimon whirled. "You!"
It was the old Loki…and a different kid…and a blue kid…and another older Loki…
"Who the fuck are you?" Daimon demanded, his trident materializing.
Guileless son, your spirit will hate her
"We're Loki," the boy who wasn't his Loki said. "Almost all of him."
"Except for the one I know," Daimon surmised.
"Exactly," a female Loki—okay, that was odd—said. "All of Loki stays with Loki, no matter what."
"But in the back of the mind, the darkened depths," one of the adult males said. "Thanks to a little finagling, anyway."
"Me an' him get out to play," the blue kid said, nodding at the other kid. "He remembers us better. But the older lot don't get much."
The flower who married my brother the traitor
"So you're all the different incarnations of Loki?" Daimon asked. "From…different points in his life? And will someone turn off the damn music?"
"The, ah, 'music' is the problem," another adult said. "It seems to have latched onto the very worst of us, you see."
"So one of you is far worse than the others?" Daimon guessed.
"He's not here right now, but yeah," the blue kid said.
"Why?" Daimon asked.
"He's not the worst of us on, say, an evil scale," the female Loki said. "But he has the most breaking memories."
And you will expose his puppeteer behavior
"Memories?" Daimon said.
"The kind he only looks at if he likes," one man said. "But these are ones he never looks at."
"Because he knows what it would do," the female said.
"So if you want to save the brat, and by proxy us," a Loki with a long cloak said. "Then you will get your ass out of the subconscious and into the dreaming!"
Daimon's world spun before he was dropped onto a plateau.
For you are the proof of how he betrayed her loyalty…
"Again with the loyalty," Daimon snarled. "Loyalty…breaking memories…" His eyes widened. "Broken loyalty."
He headed to where he thought Loki was—since this was a dream that would most likely be right. Sure enough he found the boy standing stone still.
"Loki finally—what the," Daimon said.
Loki's mouth was sewn shut and his eyes were missing.
"You'd have to be seeing something," Daimon muttered, trying to cut the thread. "So why no eyes…or can you still see me? Hey, kid, I'm right here! React, damn it!"
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty,
"Shut up!" Daimon roared.
"But it was a joke!" a voice similar to Loki's cried. "It was just a—ah!"
Daimon snarled, if he couldn't see it, how was he supposed to help? Loki couldn't tell him, the stupid thread wouldn't cut and…
Lips sewn shut. Old Norse.
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me
The prank with Sif's hair. He vaguely knew the story, and if those extra angry voices included Thor's…
Broken trust. Broken loyalties.
The last straw for the first time around.
Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep and carry you down into sleep
"Loki, that was a long time ago!" Daimon yelled, shaking him. "Snap out of it! Your brother wouldn't do that now! You love each other too damn much!"
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep and carry you down into sleep
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Daimon bellowed, a circle of hellfire surrounding him and Loki. "You want the kid, come and get him from me, you hear?"
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me
"He doesn't owe you anything!" Daimon snapped. "Hell, he doesn't owe anyone anything, at this point! He just saved the world and most of Asgard is fine with treating him like shit anyway!"
The Loki with him started to stir.
"Kid!" Daimon said. "Come on, kid, snap out of it."
Loki started pawing at the threads.
"It's not real. We're in your head. You can see too, if you want," Daimon said.
Guileless son, each day you grow older, each moment I'm watching my vengeance unfold
"Don't listen to that idiot!" Daimon said. "Did you have to listen to The Serpent? Or Surtur?"
Eyelids blinked, green eyes appearing behind them. Lips opened, the thread binding them vanishing.
"Took you awhile," Loki muttered dazedly. "Keep the fire up, it's nice…"
"How about we drown the party crasher out?" Daimon asked.
Loki smirked slightly and his phone and a set of speakers appeared. Daimon laughed as 'Grow Up' blared through the dream world.
For a second Daimon saw the other Loki, a teenager with his mouth sewn shut and his eyes full of angry pain, but in the next he was gone, presumably back with the others. "How long's your dream playlist?"
"Long," Loki said. "Why?"
"Because we're talking about this when you wake up," Daimon said as he left the dream.
.o.o.o.
"So the whole mouth-sewing thing happened?" Daimon asked as he and Loki got ready to get some breakfast and then leave the good doctor's hospitality.
"Several times in several lives," Loki replied. "That was…the bad one. As much as I can tell."
"Comparatively speaking, I take it?" Daimon added.
"Yes. I cut the Lady Sif's hair in jealousy over many things. Thor and the Warriors Three caught me and chased me and called me many things. Then I got the new hair form the dwarves and got my mouth sewn shut. No thank-you, no 'oh, does that hurt?' And then the hair turned black and I followed it, especially that time."
"You got beat up?" Daimon asked. "After going through all that trouble?"
Loki shrugged, "I said it was the bad one, did I not?"
"Thor wouldn't hurt you now."
"I know," Loki said. "He loves me, and I love him. It just…hurts. And someone wanted to use that hurt."
"We'll find them," Daimon promised. "No one's going to control you, kid. Not while I'm around."
Loki smiled weakly as they began to pack up.
.o.o.o.
A/N: Cookies to whoever knows that song and thus guesses the new villain!