Walls torn down

The apple flesh was crisp and tart, and delicious as it was, there was nothing about it that spoke to Asta of sticky juice ran down her fingers as she waited for the spell to work. She'd expected it to be like filling a vessel with water, a slow stream of memories trickling in as she ate. Instead, somewhere between the seventh and eighth bites, she had a head full of memories, like a wall hiding them from her had been torn down. The apple slipped from her fingers to roll across the floor as she crossed the breach.

"Ring-a-ring-a-roses, a pocket full of posies,

A-tissue, a-tissue, we all fall down."

She fell to her knees in the grass beside her sisters, too young to even know how old she was. Five of them in total, all with the same long hair, fine and straight and the colour of walnut wood. It was their eyes that set them apart from each other, and the different way their noses slanted, but they were all easily marked as one of the Kirkwood girls. Alex was the baby of the group, her hands still pudgy as she grasped at the earth.

"Fishes in the water, fishes in the sea,

We all jump up with a one, two, three."

They sat in a forest in an unnamed realm, Alex crouched by Loki's side in shrubbery. She was sixteen, still in her school uniform—he'd whisked her away when she was meant to be doing homework at a friend's house.

"What are we hunting?" she whispered as a butterfly with vibrant wings settled on a twig nearby.

"A bicorn. It's not as rare as a unicorn, but its horns are particularly useful to me."

She squinted out between the trees but couldn't see anything amongst all the greenery. Loki's eyesight was much keener.

"So I kissed this boy." She watched him for any hint of reaction, but he kept peering out through the foliage.

"And what was that like?" He didn't sound particularly interested.

"Kinda wet. Not slimy, exactly, but pretty wet. I don't see the fuss."

Loki laughed. "You will, with enough practice and a skilled enough partner."

"See, I was thinking about that…"

He ignored her and she watched his lips peel back from his teeth in what had to be his most unnerving smile. "There you are." The beast stalking had appeared ahead. He covered her mouth with a hand, a warning to keep quiet, then was gone, not even the foliage stirring around her. She saw only a blur of black between the leaves, the flash of his knives, and the bicorn fell.

Why couldn't she find the words to tell him how watching him do this kind of thing made her feel now? To watch him stalk, quiet, powerful, efficient and lethal, the way her body reacted to it? It went beyond mere awe. It left her blushing, stammering when he returned, her legs quaking. She'd held off on kissing for years behind her peers, but she hadn't wanted to leave school without trying it, and she knew the resulting disappointment was because she only wanted to do it with him. He'd be skilled.

Only when he looked at her, it was the same way he'd looked at her since she'd known him. The heat wasn't returned in his stare. Though she rolled her skirt up and unbuttoned her blouse as low as she could without showing bra, his eyes never lingered, skipping straight past her body to focus on whatever adventure he'd brought her on.

She was invisible to him.

"Alex, where were you?"

She was four years old, running into the house with muddy feet and tangled hair.

"I was with Loki, mummy."

An exasperated sigh. "Sweetheart, we've spoken about this before. Loki isn't real and you have to tell mummy the truth when I ask you things."

Alex felt her bottom lip waver. "But, mummy, I'm not lying. I was in the garden and then Loki showed me this door in the wall and we went through it and there was a jungle with flowers as big as me!"

"Beth, you were supposed to be looking after your sister…"

"I was! She was in the garden then whole time! She was just hiding in the bushes. I'm not a bloody babysitter—"

She was coming home from school with her uniform carrying the distinct smell of smoke. Not cigarette smoke; bonfire smoke. Loki's doing. It was hours after school had finished, the sky inky blue, but no car waited in the driveway.

"Mum? Dad?" she yelled, but she could tell the house was empty. Fourth straight night in a row. Money was tight lately. It wasn't like she could complain about them being gone—it meant she didn't have to make excuses about where she'd been when Loki stole her away. Normally she wouldn't complain.

A note was pinned to the fridge with a magnet.

"Girls—we're both working late tonight. There's lasagna in the fridge to heat up. Alex, there's cake too, and candles."

Working late meant they wouldn't be home until midnight, probably. Her sisters had obviously taken the opportunity to go out with friends and boyfriends. It wasn't like it was her birthday or anything.

The card she'd opened this morning, pink glitter fourteens plastered on the front, were in a pile next to the red-texted letters her parents had received. No one had even bothered to put them out on the mantelpiece. Plus, when she rummaged in the fridge, the lasagna was all eaten, and there was one piece of cake left, the letters ap rth iced on the top. She dumped it onto a plate and stormed through the quiet house, wishing—not for the first time—that she was an only child. Then money wouldn't be as tight, and when she did well at school it wouldn't be dismissed as something her sisters had already achieved, and she wouldn't be eating stale cake for her birthday tea because everyone else ate all the food. Sometimes it felt like no one would even miss her if she was gone. Not when there four other perfect daughters who'd already done everything she would.

From her bag she retrieved a locket, pure gold and engraved with a serpent. At least someone cared about her birthday.

"What's wrong, pet?"

"Mummy says you're not real. And daddy, and Beth."

"Adults don't understand. They don't always see the things they don't want to."

"Why can't you just let them see you? Then you could come play whenever you wanted, even if I was at school."

"That's sweet to think so, but it wouldn't work that way. They'd call me dangerous and stop me from seeing you."

"Oh." Alex bit her lip to stop the tears from falling. Loki didn't like it when she cried—he preferred her happy and giggling. "Then I guess I'll stop telling them about you."

"It's probably for the best," he agreed. "Do you hear that sound? That's the genie coming towards us. He's free, but I'm going to capture him so he has to do as I say." He handed her a golden vessel, shaped like her mother's best gravy boat but with a lid. "Whatever you do, do not let go of this."

"Why are you telling me this?" She and Loki sat side by side on a tropical atoll, feet dangled in the bluest waters, after she'd begged for a little sunshine as respite from the miserable English winter. He'd taken some of the leather off, but only some, and he had to be sweltering in what remained. She'd stripped down to a bikini.

"Because it's a pretty big thing, and I don't really have anyone else to tell. I know you've been having sex for centuries, but this will be my first time."

Loki paused and gave her a curious look. "You're still a maiden?"

"What? Nineteen's hardly ancient. I didn't want to give it away to someone clueless idiot, and John is a lot older than me. He'll know what he's doing."

She watched the muscles in his jaw tighten as he took in her words. "He only wants you because you are young. You should wait for someone who wishes to be with you because of who you are. Someone you care for."

She huffed. "The only man that fits that description has made it pretty clear the feeling isn't mutual."

"Alexandra—"

"No, I get it. You don't want to sully yourself with a mere mortal—"

"It is your age that concerns me, nothing more. How can you know what you want when you've lived less than a score of years?"

"And I've seen more in those years than most people do in decades! You've shown me that. I'm not a child anymore, Loki."

"I'm well aware of that. Your eager recounting of various escapades have made it clear."

She rose. "Take me back. I've got a date to prepare for."

"Call it off," he demanded. He took her by the hand, and in the next breath they were in the woods, fully clothed again.

"No!"

He loomed over her, eyes narrowing at her refusal. "You ask things of me you're not prepared to deal with. It would be no mere dalliance, Alex. I will either have your friendship, or I will have all of you." Her breath caught in her throat as she saw, for the first time, heat flare in his eyes, like he'd dropped the mask that had kept it hidden. He gripped her shoulders, pulling her onto tiptoe so they were mere inches apart. "It is your choice, but once made you cannot turn back."

She cupped his face in her hands. "I know. I chose years ago." And she kissed him.

She'd never expected to lose her virginity on the forest floor, underneath him on the green cloak, but that was how it happened. He wasn't exactly gentle, but he knew how to play her. Despite all his skill, there were three things she carried with her afterwards, tucked away in her heart: the way he captured her hand and entwined their fingers; the split-second where he held her eyes and let his walls fall down, a boy terrified of rejection staring out at her; and the way he whispered Asta in her ear, the word brimming with reverence. It would be months before he admitted what it meant.

"Honestly sweetie, you have to try and focus at school. You can't just wander away when the teacher's talking— "

"—never had this kind of trouble from your sisters…"

A weeks-old photograph of her in a graduation cap and gown stood on her parents' mantelpiece. The house was quiet, and Loki held her to him, tipping her face back so she was meeting his gaze.

"Come with me to Asgard, Asta." She shivered as his mouth trailed across her jaw. She knew what his pet name for her meant now. Beauty. Though she doubted the accuracy of the name, she knew he meant it wholeheartedly. "My brother will be king soon. I want you there with me for his coronation. I want you there with me always, then we'll never have to keep this a secret again."

"But what will I do there?"

"Silly girl, you'll be my wife." She gasped, and his fingers found the hem of the skirt she was wearing, brushing against the bare skin of her thighs. "I'll give you all the pretty dresses and jewellery you want. We'll have servants to do everything for us, and attend banquets with food the likes of which you've never seen. We'll spend days locked in our chambers, entwined together. Father will gift you immortality, and you'll be a princess, beside me forever."

She had to cling to him as her heart swelled at the promises he made. "Do you mean that?" she whispered.

"Of course. And it's only an offer I've made once. One I will only ever make once, to you. Do you accept?"

She stared around the room, quiet and dark as it usually was. The house was so empty now they'd all grown and moved on, but even when she returned to visit, her parents were out, enjoying their empty nest. Would they even notice if she stopped returning their infrequent calls? How long before her mother tallied up the daughters at Christmas meal and realised she was one short—especially now there were grandchildren to dote on?

"I just need to write a note," she told Loki.

Going travelling. I'll be in touch when I can - Alex. She stuck it to the fridge and walked back to Loki's outstretched hand.

A/N: On a previous chapter I gave a teaser to a few people who'd guessed about Idun...so, I decided to offer teasers of the next chapter to anyone who reviews or leaves a kudos (so long as it isn't done anonymously. I don't have anything against guest comments but I'm not psychic :P). I'll send a 200 word snippet from chapter 16 via PM.