- Disclaimer: Matantei Loki Ragnarok belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

Ah, My Loki-sama!

written by Kurosu

- Chapter Twenty-Seven.

The streets of Tokyo were still filled with people going about their busy days, but it was the beautiful skies that caught their attention. The late afternoon glow of the orange sun sent a warm feeling into Mayura's heart as she stood, her gaze lost in serene thoughts, half an eaten meaty pastry within both hands. Hel-chan stepped up beside her, with the other half of the pastry in her own hand and a book tucked under her other arm, and smiled.

Both girls, in their regular clothes having had time to change before they left the shrine, stood still among the throngs of people walking around them, as if they had frozen in time while the world continued without them.

"Ne Hel-chan," the girl turned to her friend, "was it all right just to leave the others at home?"

She blushed and looked away, "I... just wanted to spend a few more moments with Mayura-san."

The mortal blinked, "A few... more? What do you mean, Hel-chan?"

Hel-chan lifted her eyes to the girl, trying her best to smile, "I'm sorry, Mayura-san, but I don't have much time left..."

"Wha...?" The pastry fell from Mayura's hand and laid forgotten on the ground, "You're leaving? But what about Loki-sama?! Fenrir and Yamino-san?!" She grabbed Hel-chan's hands, another pastry dropping to the ground.

"There's a place I want to take you, Mayura-san," she smiled.

After his run in with his brother, Narugami, in a sullen mood, returned to the Daidouji shrine, walking up the steps, and soon, a group of troubled gods in the middle of the courtyard came into his view. They had all returned to their regular clothing, leaving him the oddball out in the Shinto wear, not that he found it uncomfortable, having been used to it for weeks now.

He blinked and hurried over to them, and most were relieved to see him, unharmed. Freya, with arms folded her body, sighed with a hint of annoyance at the god of thunder, "You could at least let one of us know if you were going to run off during lunch."

"Aha, sorry, Freya," he apologized and rubbed the back of his head in shame.

Fenrir, still human, had been sitting on top of one of the stone lanterns with crossed legs, a finger in his ear, looking disinterested, "Lucky me I got your share!"

"Is that so?"

The demi-god cracked an eye open and stared at him, "Weird that you'd miss out on lunch."

A very serious Loki cut in, standing in front of Narugami, "Have you seen Mayura? Or Hel?"

"No. Why?"

"Freyr's beloved Yamato Nadeshiko's been kidnapped!"

Narugami sweatdropped at Freyr's sudden dramatic proclamation but turned to Loki, "Why don't you track her down like you normally do?"

He shook his head, "I can't see the white thread anymore." He seemed so disappointed and hurt, "If she is with Hel, I wouldn't worry so much, but... This just doesn't feel right." He could still feel the connection he had with Mayura, the feeling was faint but still existed and she wasn't in trouble either, but to lose the very thread that lead him to her, it was disturbing that someone had fiddled with their bond.

Yamino, ever the worrier, added, "Mayura-san left her phone behind too. And with nii-san like this..." He glanced to his brother's sulky form, still in the same spot on the stone decoration, without any need to finish his sentence because they knew with the great wolf in his human state, his sense of smell had dulled, being completely useless.

Freyr started to cry even louder for his Yamato Nadeshiko, hugging a sympathetic Gullinbursti, while his sister was prepared to smack his head with a frying pan to shut him up. Everyone sweatdropped at the siblings.

Loki eyed his friend, who seemed uncharacteristically silent, almost brood-like, "Do you know something, Thor?"

Narugami looked up, snapping out of his silent wondering if Baldur had a hand in it, "What? I know as much as you do..." Sure, Baldur may have ordered him to kill Mayra, but he still didn't know the reason behind it, nor what he and his father were planning, but just something about his suspicious manner had ticked off Loki.

The blonde god grabbed him by the collar, yelling angrily, even his eyes flashed a dangerous red, "Dammit, Thor! If anything happens to Mayura, I... I won't forgive you!"

"Loki..." A shocked Freya whispered his name, while everyone else had been stunned by the scene in front of them, for Loki to lose his anger at his long time friend, like the inevitable event was drawing near.

"If you guys are done," all eyes turned to the voice, belonging to one arrogant Heimdall, "then we need to go now."

Freyr jumped to his feet and ran to the short god, "Heimdall! Do you know where Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko is?!"

"She's with Hel, and they're waiting for us."

Loki narrowed his eyes him, "What do you know about this?"

"A god's existence is a long and lonesome one. We forget things that were once dear to us. We lose things that once held meaning in our hearts.

"A long time ago, gods did not live in Asgard. We were among the many races that were a part of the Nine Worlds.

"But no one is perfect, and conflicts stemmed from greed and distrust, the darkness within one's heart. Finding the imperfections of others so distasteful, the gods left for the sacred havens of Asgard, isolating themselves from all, while others began to worship them, idolized and prayed for faraway dreams."

"It must be difficult, the feeling of loneliness," Mayura understood it very well, "but I can't imagine having to endure it for hundreds of years." A soft smile fell on her lips, "Loki-sama is lucky to have his family."

Hel-chan smiled faintly, resting her head against Mayura's shoulder, and her eyes fell onto the book in her lap. Just the two of them on the quiet bus, seated in the middle with Mayura nearest to the aisle. The light outside the bus shimmered a bright orange, as Mayura looked down at the young goddess, whose eyes had serenely closed. She lifted her gaze once more to the scenery outside the moving vehicle, watching the countryside landscape pass them by, not knowing their destination, but in her heart, she knew these were the final moments with Hel-chan.

"One day," Hel-chan's voice drifted in the tranquil silence, "the gods will be punished." (Ragnarok?)

"Hel is planning to corrupt the Yggdrasil System."

"WHAT?"

Obviously, everyone was purely shocked by this information, even moreso was the goddess' only family, who didn't even know the girl had the guts to do that. Then again, when they recalled Hel-chan's powerless form, they really shouldn't be surprised that she would do something so gutsy, but to take down the whole Yggdrasil System, that was practically the core of Asgard?!

"Yggdrasil has been around for a long time," Freyr stated.

Freya added, still sounding doubtful, "And no one has ever dared to mess with it."

"Why would Hel do this?" Loki inquired, not able to grasp the reason why his daughter, who had always kept to herself in the Underworld, would do such a thing as drastic as topple Asgard - not that he would mind if it was just a huge prank of Asgard.

Heimdall had taken the rest of the gods on another empty bus, seated in his own spot near the back, as he contemplated over Hel-chan's words from the night before. Loki was in the seat across from him, eyeing the small god, while his two sons took the space in front of him. Freya and Freyr took the seat behind Loki, and Narugami was still brooding near the front of the bus.

"Odin is not expecting us to complete the task," Heimdall frowned.

"Freyr doesn't believe this!"

"This is Odin-sama!" Freya cried, milding offended that their Almighty God was spoken as a sneaky bastard.

Heimdall stared at the siblings, "Just think about it. Do you know exactly how many jaki there are in the world?" No one could answer, so he told them, "A little over three billion in Midgard alone, and each day, about a hundred are born. And the ones in Tyr's jar held just under two million."

Everyone sweatdropped, all held one single thought: 'Poor Tyr.'

And somewhere in Jotunheim, Tyr sneezed.

Heimdall continued, "It will take all of nee-chan's lifetime for us to gather Tyr's missing jaki." He paused and looked over to Loki, asking the inevitable, "Just how many of her lifetimes would that be, to collect the rest of the world's?"

"..."

"If we can infiltrate the Yggdrasil System and corrupt its central unit, Odin will have no choice but to reboot the whole system before all of Asgard crashes into chaos."

Loki could finally see what Hel's intentions were. If the plan was successful, Yggdrasil would return to its original state since its first run, with all data wiped out, including all records and wishes from the Wish Program, which meant that Mayura's wish would also be erased. And without the wish, it would allow him to return to Asgard as if it never happened in the first place.

"Why wouldn't father just destroy the whole system then?" Narugami finally spoke up.

It was Freyr who answered, "Yggdrasil is connected to all of the worlds. If it were to be completely destroyed, so would the balance of the Nine Worlds."

"Odin's only option is to reboot the system," Heimdall nodded.

Fenrir, having finally returned to his puppy form, snorted, "How would a klutz like Freyr know?"

Said god puffed out indignantly, flailing his arms about, until his sister snapped her fingers for some pots to silence him. Everyone sweatdropped as she explained, "We were born from the original Yggdrasil tree. We have an innate bond with it."

"Ha, that's why Odin keeps Klutzy around!" Fenrir laughed.

Yamino, looking at Heimdall, asked, "How will Hel do this?"

The one-eyed god smirked.

Somewhere in the outskirts of the city, an beautiful field of green stretched for miles, beyond what the human eye could see, flora and foliage swaying in the breeze. In the distance, a very large ash tree sat upon a small hill, and two familiar girls stood underneath it, staring up through the leafy canopy that covered them. The wind blew through their hair, letting them dance like separate entities.

Mayura pushed some loose strands from her face, her eyes trailed at the height of the tree, the largest one that she had ever seen before.

"Is this...?" she began, her hand reaching out to touch the trunk of the tree.

Hel-chan nodded, "Yes, this is the Yggdrasil tree, connecting the Nine Worlds together."

With her hand pressed against the ancient tree, a surge of power rushed through her mortal body, almost electrifying her senses, "Waah, I can feel the strange power!" She quickly took back her hand, staring in amazement.

The goddess stared at the ground, looking very regretful, "I'm sorry, Mayura-san, to drag you into this..."

Mayura placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and with her other one, she touched Hel-chan's chin and lifted her face up, to meet her gentle eyes. "Didn't I already agree, Hel-chan?" she lightly admonished the timid girl for having forgotten their conversation on the bus, "I don't understand your plan very well, but you're doing this because you love Loki-sama.

"So, I at least understand what Hel-chan is feeling."

Hel-chan's eyes began to moisten, and she felt terrible at the mortal's kind soul. She threw her arms around Mayura, crying in to her chest, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to use you!"

Ever since she met Mayura, gradually understanding what type of mortal she was, the guilt had eaten Hel-chan's heart, because she had planned to use her to mess with the Yggdrasil System, which would allow her father to return to Asgard, but after her days on Midgard, she had learned so much about the girl and her father and all those around her. It wasn't just a wish that had tied her father to Mayura, but a bond had been created and nurtured into something very special, and she could see the feelings that radiated from both of them.

"Loki-sama is very important to me too, so I want him to be happy."

"But," she sobbed, "I can see how happy father is with you! Even Fenrir-ani and Jormungand-ani!"

"Hel-chan," she called softly, tightening her arms around the goddess, "you aren't doing this just for them, right? You said that gods are lonely. They watch over mortals and envy the bonds that we make... but if we can change that, then why don't we?"

She held Hel-chan back and watched her wipe the tears from her eyes, "Instead of punishing gods, let's create a world for gods and mortals!

"For your sake, Loki-sama's sake, and everyone's... I'll do my best!"

"MAYURA!"

The girls turned towards the voice, and the brightest smile erupted from Mayura's face as she slipped away from Hel-chan and ran to Loki, who was dashing for her too. Hel-chan, still teary-eyed, was smiling when Mayura abruptly tripped, falling forward, but Loki had caught her in time and cradled the clumsy mortal in his arms, obsessively, "Mayura, you can't do anything without me by your side."

She looked up at him, pouting, "Mou Loki-sama! Even for a god, that's very arrogant of you to assu-"

Her words were suddenly muffled by his lips over hers as she struggled, but he was relentless when he finally had the opportunity to kiss her. The warmth, the passion, everything about him, she felt all of him through the contact of their lips, and she stopped resisting, her arms weaved around his neck, as his arm around her waist pulled her closer to him, practically melding her body into his, and his free hand held the side of her face.

Both lost in their own world...

"Loki!"

"Yamato Nadeshiko!"

The pair cried, "NOOOOOOO!"

A frantic and upset pair of siblings freaked out in the distance - one holding a magical wand, the other with a magical frying pan - making a run at the kissing duo, with the rest of the sweatdropping gods jogging after them.

Loki and Mayura finally pulled back for air, and he chuckled out, "Mayu-chan talks too much."

The breathless, blushing pink-haired girl peeked up to see the god smirking down at her, and her shyness turned into annoyance at his cool, arrogant manner, because he could make her feel a thousand different things while he just remained calm and aloof about it - so unfair! (I feel your pain...)

He peered at her slyly, "Were you that dissatisfied?" She turned her head to the side, not able to hide her red face, trying to push him away, and with a hard shove, it sent them both in opposite directions to the ground. He blinked while several shadows appeared behind him, looming menacingly, as he nervously smiled to the audience of gods and figured that was why Mayura broke them apart.

"Loki! How could you!" Freya teared up, biting on a handkerchief dramatically.

Freyr, tears already streaming down his face, "Curse you, Loki! Corrupting Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Heimdall didn't care for what Loki did, but this wasn't the time for romance, "Do this on your own time!"

"Sensei's gonna be so pissed," Narugami sighed and gazed up to the skies, "Sorry, sensei, I couldn't protect Daidouji's purity."

An annoyed Loki, with his left eye twitching, shouted at Narugami, "It was only a kiss!"

The sun was just setting over the horizon, welcoming the evening skies, but the drastic change of darkness alerted the group to the major turn in mood and danger. Clouds gathered overhead and bursts of lightning flashed for the tense moment. Hel-chan hurried over to them and shouted in a surprisingly loud voice, "They're coming."

Heimdall walked over to Hel-chan, who looked at Mayura and told her, "Mayura-san, please begin as soon as you see a change in Yggdrasil. She then hugged her father, "I'm sorry, father, for not telling you."

Loki returned the embrace and kissed her forehead, "I understand, and I love you, Hel."

"Father," she smiled, "I love you too. Please protect Mayura-san."

"Of course."

She pulled back and then said her goodbyes to her brothers, "I had fun."

"Don't sound like this is the end, Hel!" Fenrir snorted, hating to express his emotions so publicly, and turned away.

She giggled at her older brother's tough attitude, but he was such a softie deep down, and Yamino patted her head, "Nii-san is right. We'll be seeing you again, Hel!"

"All right, enough of this," Heimdall waved, "We need to go, Hel."

She nodded and joined Heimdall as they walked towards Yggdrasil, and with one finally glance back to her family, Hel-chan smiled before she and the one-eyed god disappeared in to the tree. Just as they did, the clouds erupted with several winged-beings, all armed and all female and all heading straight for the group.

"The Valkyries!" Freya gasped.

They all moved closer to Yggdrasil as the army of Valkyries approached them, but they didn't get any farther than the outer perimeter of the tree, remained floating but well-prepared for an assault.

Meanwhile, Heimdall and Hel-chan reappeared at the base of another Yggdrasil, but this time the realm was nothing like Midgard, where the skies were bright and clear, unlike the damp, dark, cavern-like space. It wasn't enclosed but opened up to a field of emptiness, dead vegetation scattered across the land encrusted with ice, leaving Yggdrasil as the only living entity in that entire world. The faint mist of frost crept over the ground, sending a terrible chill to those unfamiliar with the place.

The pair had finally arrived in Niflheim.

Hel-chan, having held a book in arms since who knew how long ago that was, finally opened it and flipped through the pages until she came upon what she wanted. She held her palm over it and chanted a few words, summoning a bright light, and from it, a dagger rose into the air.

She had awaken 'Famine' from its slumber. *

"Hurry, Hel!" came Heimdall's prompt voice.

But of course, nothing ever went smoothly. Hel-chan's path was obstructed by one floating entity, taking the familiar form of her father, but the huge grin on his face was filled with malice and other terrible things. He even dared to adorn himself with Loki's formal garments of Asgard, and she couldn't forgive whoever it was for tainting her father's image. She glared and prepared to attack, but Heimdall retreated to her side, left arm slightly extended in front of her as a sort of protective gesture,

"Why is he taking Loki's form?" he questioned, "I even sense Loki's powers."

She shook her head, "I don't know, but he can't be father!"

"Who are you?!" Heimdall demanded, "And what do you want?!"

The doppelganger cackled madly and raised his hands into the air, summoning the element of fire to prove that he was not just a copy of the god of fire. He would become the god himself, and he would start by eliminating his targets. His right eye suddenly flashed red, and Heimdall, shocked and horrified, could not move, because he was staring at the being who possessed his missing right eye.

"Mayura, stay close to me," Loki urged, as he kept the frightened girl behind him. Yamino and Fenrir were to their father's right, staying alert, while Narugami took his other side, with Freyr and Freya, covering the other half of the Yggdrasil tree.

"What the hell!" Fenrir cursed, growling at being surrounded by Asgard's army of Valkyries, "Is Odin tryin' to start a war?!"

"Nothing of the sort."

Baldur laughed, appeared in front of the group, at the edge of tree's reach, and Narugami grimaced at seeing his brother again, being reminded of the deal they had made.

"But I can't let you mess with the Yggdrasil System."

With a brighter flash of the right eye from the mysterious Loki, Heimdall screamed and fell to his knee, clutching the right side of his face in pain. Hel-chan rushed to his side and gasped at seeing the stream of blood dripping down his face. He clenched his teeth, struggling with the immense pain throughout his body.

Hel-chan, clearly angry, jumped to her feet and charged at the intruder with her dagger in hand. Her black and white wings sprouted from her back as she flew forward, and her dagger clashed against another weapon. Her green eyes widened in surprise, staring down in recognition of her father's own staff, Laevateinn. "Father?" she questioned with disbelief.

He grinned, "Then what a disobedient child you are."

She couldn't believe that the stranger even had her father's voice - sound, appearance, everything about him was exactly like Loki - but she knew in her heart that he wasn't her father, because he would never raise a hand against her.

While fending her off with the staff, he lifted his free hand to her body, summoning a spiralling ball of black fire, and blasted her with it. Hel-chan, screaming in agony, was thrown back as a struggling Heimdall cried out her name. He tried to get to her to catch her before she hit the ground, but he could barely move in his weakened state.

"Mistress!"

"Why are you even here, Baldur?" Loki demanded. "Is a group of stranded gods that threatening for you, to send in the Valkyries?"

"Ha? Threatened by you?" he laughed, "You do realize that all of you don't even have your full powers. So killing you would be so easy."

"But you hate getting your hands dirty."

"Oh! So that's why you sent the Valkyries here!" Freya pointed at him accusingly, "And to think you came from the honorable loins of Odin!"

All the males in the vicinity sweatdropped at her phrase, not sure whether it was because of her choice of words or that she thought Odin's loins were honorable. With the sudden (comedic) break, Tyr appeared in a flash at Baldur's side, giving the group another big surprise.

Baldur glanced to the warrior god, who spoke, "He's in Niflheim now, dealing with those two."

"Good."

At the mention of the Niflheim, Loki jerked his head to them, "Don't you dare hurt Hel!"

"I won't be hurting her," he chuckled, "You will. More precisely, the other half of you."

Loki realized that Odin still had half of his powers contained in Asgard, but he just didn't know exactly what Baldur meant by those words.

"She should've stayed in the Underworld, like she was supposed to, and mind her own business," Baldur shrugged and then clapped his hands together, "Now why don't we start the massacre?" He then turned his eyes to Narugami in the back, "Won't you do the honors, dear Thor?"

By the time they all focused on Narugami, the god of thunder had already captured Mayura, cupping his hand over the girl's mouth, but she wasn't even resisting, too in shock that a good friend had betrayed them. His head - adorned with the head guard, Megingjoro - hung low, almost brushing against her shoulder, his brown bangs and shadow concealing his eyes and turmoil of emotions.

And Loki couldn't believe what he was seeing...

* Famine is the goddess Hel's dagger, according to wikipedia site, lol.

Notes: Ugh, sorry for the cliffhanger... but as I was working on this last night, the power went out, lol... So many storms lately. Anyway, there's quite a few cuts back and forth that even had me confused, lol. I don't know how I feel about this chapter exactly, but it covered most of what I wanted, so the next chapter is it, guys... *sweatdrops* Totally confused yet?

Ano, do you think the kiss was too soon? Lol, too soon... I can't believe I asked that, considering this is the second to last chapter! *bops her own head* I guess I meant to ask if the kiss was appropriate there? Lol, to get her to stop talking? *shakes her head and shrugs* I don't know what I'm thinking at this point! *goes to take her medicine* Cold medicine! Lol... -kuro.