Chapter 6

Loki returned to his rooms after the days horrid events. Fandrel was still unconscious and he was still battling what he had seen. "Songbird." He called her. Even his mental voice held stress. She appeared looking worried. After her usual bow and greeting he began to pace in front of her.

"Why the frost giants?" She finally asked breaking the silence. He was confused why he summoned her of all people. He just didn't want to be alone and she was always good to have around but she was a damned servant.

"That was Thor's doing. He insisted we go to Jotunhiem." He hissed.

"I meant for the coronation." She corrected. He stopped and looked at her. Of course she would know. No one seemed to know him better.

"It was just suppose to be a bit of fun. Something to fool him up. Prove to father he was unfit to rule just yet. But I had no idea he'd be banished. I didn't want him banished." He said explaining to her. He wasn't sure why he wanted her to understand so bad.

"What's done is done now." She said sighing. He looked at her shocked. Her loyalty sometimes was to good to be true. He lay down on his bed staring at the ceiling. He felt exhausted.

"Tell me a story. Something to take my mind off things just for a little while." He said. She perched herself in a chair next to the bed.

"A true story?"

"It matters not. Anything will do. Something I haven't heard before would be preferred." He rushed her onward.

"Well I'm not very good at story telling but I have been told this is true. A long time ago, like centuries, two twin girls from Midgard, Serenity and Selestia, came to find out their lives where not as they thought they were. A man, from another realm, came to them killing their mother to enact revenge for what he saw as poor treatment of his daughter Serenity."

"Then if she is not human how are they twins?"

"Their mother shared a bed with two men on the night she conceived. One was her husband the other Serenity's father wearing her husbands face. She became pregnant for both men. Rare but possible." He nodded.

"After Serenity's father killed their mother he told her that she was a princess and that she had to come home with him to learn how to rule. Serenity refused to go without Selestia. He scorned the idea of the human girl and threatened to kill her if his daughter didn't come with him. Serenity threatened him back claiming she would kill herself if harm came to Selestia. So he left but swore he would come back for her once she reconsidered."

"The fool should have gone with him and left the mortal. What good would she have been other then perhaps a servant." Loki scoffed.

"Anyway, they both made the decision to find her father themselves on this other realm and confront him for killing their mother. After years of searching for a way to get there a man named Merrick, also not belonging to earth, came to their aid. He offered to bring them to her fathers realm. As much as they didn't trust him, he was their only option."

"Fools." Loki shook his head.

"On the long journey Serenity began to fall for the dark handsome alien named Merrick."

"This is not one of those runaway love stories?"

"Not even close."

"Good."

"They had been right to not trust him though. Once he had gained some trust of the princess he made a detour and lured them into the hands of an inside enemy of the king. They imprisoned the human sister for the cooperation of the princess. It was there Selestia met another prisoner named Maia who had the power to see within others. Inside Selestia she saw something special. She explained to Selestia she had the power to copy other peoples magic through touch. With the help of Maia, Selestia escaped and they fought their way upstairs." Loki snorted but Cephera ignored it and kept going.

"They freed Serenity and they took Merrick's ship and left. When they made it to the kings realm they were not received well. Selestia was seized instantly by the king but was stopped by her sister. She proved to him how serious she was about killing herself if her father hurt Selestia. He let the human go. His people were disgusted and they had a uprising that night. A group of people tried to overthrow him for his softness and the king was mortally wounded. She could have let him die but using the first power she had gained through her magic to copy, Selestia healed him. The group of people where imprisoned and the rest of his people now looked at her a little differently. They didn't see her as a human anymore."

"A happy ending then."

"Not so much. Not all stories have happy endings."

"Continue."

"Life was happy for a few years but the inside enemy to the king was still out there, they had never found out who he was. After a time Selestia grew on the king and he decided to adopt her. On the day her adoption was to take place, the man who would betray the king revealed himself with Selestia in his grasp. He revealed his new plans to have a ritual preformed so he could gain her ability to copy magic. He himself had the power to drain others of their magic and life force. He wanted both abilities."

"Greedy, but smart. Would make him pretty powerful." Loki agreed, putting his arms under his head. "Why didn't she just copy his power and drain him dry?"

"She could only copy power if she could touch someones skin, he knew this and made sure she couldn't touch him. Keeping all parts of his body covered. Things didn't go his way though. Everyone present battled with him and his followers. They stopped him from taking Selestia but he escaped. He promised to come back for her. For her own safety and the safety of all others it would effect if he succeeded, she was sent away. Hidden far from his reach. Never to see her family again."

"Dark. Is that it?" she nodded. "It's not true." he said eyeing Cephera.

"Why not?"

"Because humans cannot use magic. Even if she had that ability, using it would have killed her." he saw a look pass over his little servants face. Something that seemed amused.

"It's as you say then." she agreed.

"It's alright to be disappointed." he said as she stood. "I must admit you are bad at telling stories but it was an interesting story all the same." he sat up. "Come here." he patted the side of the bed and she sat there looking away from him. He pulled her hair free of all the clips and let it fall over her back. "Lie down." she carefully placed herself sideways back on to him. He sifted his hands in her hair as he lay down behind her. He enjoyed the scent of her hair. He had noticed once that it calmed him. "Do you think me a monster?"

"No. But I think you're complicated." he laughed. Outright laughed. When his laughter subsided he paused. "You leave in the early morning for your annual visit with your family, is that correct." She nodded. "When you return expect the same long hours as every year after your weeks absence."

He buried his face in her hair and let himself relax as he took a nap and he waited for Fandrel to awaken.

When loki woke up he climbed over Cephera and she watched him leave the room. His behavior had been so odd since before the coronation. She wasn't sure what to think of him anymore. He was still the same Loki but somehow so very different.

She got up and sat there a strange feeling hitting her stomach. She set to work fixing the wrinkles now in his sheets. She bit her lip. Of all the stories she could have told. She was cursing herself. When she fixed up any inconsistencies in the room she left. When she left his room that day she didn't know it but that moment in his room was the last she'd see him for a while.