A Crown of Wishes

Nightfall on Asgard was undoubtedly the most peaceful time of any given day. Even tonight, after the blunder during coronation, the night had seemed to calm the hint of fear that had momentarily taken over the minds of the Asgardians. But when one is too close to the darkness, such peace is beyond attainable. The starry sky gleaming with green, pink and bluish twinkles was a marvellously soothing sight, but as the woods grew deeper into the forest, they couldn't help but obstruct the surreal view in a thick canopy of ancient trees.

The air echoed with a swooshing sound, followed by a few muffled sobs.

A figure was soaring rapidly through the air, flying from the direction of the glorious palace of Asgard with such speed, as though it craved nothing more than the silence within the forest.

A shadow of humongous wings spread over the canopy of trees just before two feet landed on the forest floor with a thud, crunching the dried leaves beneath. The huge greenish-blue wings were slowly vanishing themselves in a glint of green as the figure rose to his trembling feet.

'What – what just happened?' Loki gasped, resting both his hands on his knees. His entire body was shaking with rage, or was that fear?

He couldn't breathe; his lungs being knocked out of air by his father's harsh revelation just a few minutes ago. After summoning the guards for Odin, Loki had stormed off from the palace. He had flown into the air, swooshing his wings in the sky and had landed in this wilderness.

I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance, bring out permanent peace, through you. The words echoed inside Loki's head, over and over again, his mind still refusing to believe what they meant. How could Odin do this? He is supposed to be my father! How could he be so cruel?

He wiped tears roughly off his face and gasped for breath. 'Peace between Jotunheim and Asgard? Over my dead body!' Loki hissed out-loud.

You're my son, I was protecting you from the truth. He heard Odin's voice inside his mind, making him cry out in anger. 'You are NOT MY FATHER! You are nothing but a liar!' Loki bellowed so loudly that the near-by trees were engulfed in flames. The fire started spreading, but he couldn't care less.

'Why?' Loki sobbed, 'why me? Oh, Gods, why?'

The wilderness crackled sinisterly under the raging fire spreading viciously throughout the forest and into the village within. The air echoed with startled shrieks as the villagers shuffled out of their houses to see the source of the sudden chaos. Loki looked around through tearful eyes; he hadn't intended on starting a fire, but it didn't matter at a time like this. Nothing mattered anymore.

Laufey's son. The words stung in his head, ripping him apart.

Loki changed his appearance into that of a simpleton with an unfamiliar face. An intimidatingly built man with an equally intimidating, curled moustache and pale eyes, as grey as an ice cube. He really needed to channel his anger in a healthy way. Loki started walking towards the chaos, shooting a blast from his hand right on an abandoned hut, setting it on fire. He wasn't stupid enough to cause mayhem while sporting his royal look. Especially now that Odin had collapsed after banishing Thor from Asgard.

At a distance, he heard children crying, people shrieking, but he didn't care.

Loki's thoughts were screaming at him; What kind of monster hides such a truth from his innocent child? What was Odin thinking? Did Odin thought even for a second that I would react in any other way than this? That I would be grateful and thank Odin for rescuing me? That I would even want the throne after this, or ALL OF THEM, for that matter? That I would spare my wrath? Just because he raised me? While lying during every step of the way?

Loki steadied his shaking breath as he came across two children sobbing behind a boulder with fear, amidst the fire he had started. The sight would've evoked a sense of protection inside Loki on any given day, but tonight was different. Tonight, he couldn't help but feel like his own resemblance with the terrified children in pain was uncanny. Frightened children who couldn't understand what they did to deserve such a devastating occurring.

Loki glanced around wondering where their parents were at such a time. The thought immediately made him smirk bitterly. Where indeed? When have parents' ever been with their children at times of need?

'Are you hurt?' Loki asked quietly, bending in his knees a little to take a proper look at them.

'Please don't kill us!' whimpered the slightly older looking kid, his hands wrapped around his little brother, fearfully glancing up at the unfamiliar figure.

'Where are your parents?' Loki asked icily, 'did your father conveniently collapsed when you needed him as well? Get up, boys! You must learn to take care of yourselves!'

The kids looked more alarmed by his words. They remained silent and whimpering.

Loki looked behind his shoulder, the glorious palace of gold visible as a distinctive outline from within the forest no longer had the warmth of his home, because it wasn't his home. The home he grew up in sheltered chronic and cruel liars. Loki imagined himself barging into Odin's sleeping chambers, entering his mystical, healing shell and shaking his body till he woke up. Till he answered each of his questions. They lied to him for centuries! He deserved an explanation! Yet, Odin conveniently fell into Odin-sleep, precisely when he needed him the most! At a time when Loki solely needed his doubts to vanish by his father's words, not strengthen by his collapsing like a guilty, old fool who had been caught by surprise! Loki felt like his knees would buckle any moment.

Two pairs of shuffling feet came running towards them. 'Boys! Come here!' their father shrilled, as though it was their fault to wander in the middle of the fire in the first place. Still, the kids couldn't have been more relieved, even after getting barked at.

Loki withdrew a thin, slender spear in his hand, pointing it threateningly towards the parents before their mother got a chance to take them away. They abruptly halted.

'Where were you?' Loki asked as though he was one of their children who was demanding an explanation for their absence.

'Why the hell should we answer to you? Get away from our children, you monster!' their mother shrieked.

'What did you call me?' Loki hissed, baring his teeth. He knew that if they had any idea that he was royalty, they'd have never dared to insult him. But Loki also knew that he himself wouldn't dare cause such chaos while exposing his true self in front of his own people.

Loki couldn't understand why he was feeling so hurt after hearing the woman's words. He forced himself to do the math inside his head in order to calm himself down. I am a monster. That is a fact. Jotuns are monsters. I am a Jotun. Therefore, I am a monster.

Loki suppressed a gut-wrenching scream, fearing that it might cause more damage. So, he merely held onto the rod in his hands, pointing towards the flustered looking parents who couldn't understand what to do next.

A distant quacking-honk made Loki turn around in mild confusion, wondering if there was a duck near-by, which would be odd due to the late hour and especially when there is a fire erupting all about. There was no duck. It was something odder than a duck arriving inside an aflame forest.

A pale golden light erupted approximately ten feet away from him, right in the middle of nowhere of Asgard's never-ending wilderness.

'What the Helheim is happening…?' Loki's brows narrowed.

The air buzzed with a vibrating swoosh, the golden light opening a portal between the trees. The bi-frost was the only allowed way in and out of Asgard. This cannot be happening! Loki had a sudden urge to recite a few rhymes for duck; like luck, muck, buck, but he didn't feel like being a bad influence on the captive kids.

The family in front of him were gazing at the sight as though the fire and safety were the last thing on their mind right now. Perhaps they were questioning Asgard's defensive systems as much as Loki, yet he sighed in mild annoyance as he would be the one to answer them from now on, being the only one left for the throne. A last resort. The family didn't even bother to realise that the threatening, moustached figure staring confusedly at the opening portal in front of them was still brandishing the staff in their direction, no matter how limply.

Loki wondered if this was the beginning of an external attack of some sort. Amidst the portal, which was now beginning to vanish, an indistinctive figure loomed out. A warrior, an evil god, an extra-terrestrial being who seeks destruction or even an uninvited, lethal creature's appearance could've never surprised Loki, not even in the slightest. If there was a portal opening in the middle of Asgard, an attack was the least he expected and most welcomed from his side. Especially when he was furiously prepared on accepting any challenge head on, no matter how dangerous.

What he didn't expect was the sight of a girl with a little, pink bag-pack on her back as though she were here for a lovely, family picnic. Minus the family.

The girl had straight, hip-length black hair which were looking like black waterfall under the fire light. She wore a blue t-shirt over black jeans and black high boots which were battered with greyish-blue soil. Even from a distance, Loki could recognize the slightly scared expression on her face.

Loki gasped loudly.

His simpleton form began rippling from head to foot in an emerald gleam. Loki relaxed his threatening arm to watch his own body change involuntarily. His face grew a tad horrified as he saw his skin slowly shape-shift back into his usual self. He tried shapeshifting again, taking on any other form but his own. His body was refusing to obey his own command.

The two boys grabbed this opportunity to hastily run towards their parents. Their mother wrapped them in her arms, but the father stared widely at him and began nudging his wife to do the same.

Loki sharply looked at the family who were widely gaping at the now-familiar-looking-boy, the Prince of Asgard, through bulging and hurt eyes brimming with betrayal. Their faces turned grave. Loki cleared his throat, his palm glowing a hint of green. He felt like waving his prepared hand in the air, in order to simply erase the memory of this time from their minds, but their eyes were fearfully flickering between his face and his staff which was still looking a tad threatening.

Loki heard approaching footsteps and he turned around to watch the girl approach them. Her feet trembling ever so slightly. He figured she wanted to ask for directions, and he smiled at her, looking into her eyes. Loki froze.

He saw something, or everything. He felt his pupils blinded by a shimmering constellation. It was something he had never experienced. Innumerable, indistinctive visions were flashing in front of his eyes. But he could still see the girl approach them distractedly, with a thin frown over her face as she gazed about. Her t-shirt embezzled some words but they appeared blurry due to his sudden lack of normal vision. He tried narrowing his eyes, but he was too unfocused to understand if he succeeded.

Keep calm and Hen shot first. Loki couldn't understand the sudden animal-related events. First a duck's quack, now a Hen-themed t-shirt. He blinked, his closed lids feeling as though they had stars hiding within them. Loki felt disoriented.

In his moment of unusual daze blended with confusion, he had unknowingly shifted the staff into his left hand, as though openly providing the approaching one with the opportunity of snatching it away. Which she did snatch, right from his hand, but unfortunately that wasn't where she stopped her shenanigans.

SNAP!

Loki turned around exasperatedly to watch her throw the two broken pieces of his beloved staff next to the family, who were gaping at the sight with slight fear, but with no hints of experiencing a recent shimmering-starry-attack on their eyes.

The girl kept walking silently, moving ahead in the direction of the palace.

Loki could've easily avoided letting one of his personal belongings from being taken away, but he had stayed frozen during her act of lunacy. Loki stared at his broken staff. As though he hadn't lost enough today! Fury bubbled inside his stomach.

'WAIT!' Loki bellowed, his right hand stretched out and pointing towards her back. Loki's fingers flickered in air as though pulling on to invisible strings.

The family watched through bulging eyes as her body floated a few inches above the ground. Her eyes snapped closed as though she had suddenly decided to take a nap in mid-air. Both her hands stayed a bit outstretched at her sides, with her dark, long hair flowing behind in the air.

Loki slowly walked towards her wondering so many things at once. Who are you? How did you break my staff with your bare hands? What are you doing here? How did you enter Asgard without the bi-frost, especially today? Precisely at this moment? Why is my body resisting change since your arrival? But most importantly, who in the universe are you? He halted in front of her, rubbing his eyes by his fingers to watch her tightly shut ones. Her cheeks had a certain ruby glow.

Loki knew that she was no Asgardian while distractedly wondering about the odds of him running into such a distraction when he was his most furious self. He stared at her slightly outstretched arms. The veins on her wrists oddly reminded him of Yggdrasil. He suppressed smacking himself on the head. Loki slowly moved his finger to touch her beckoning wrist. As soon as he did, a blinding red light threw him into the air and away from her.

Loki crashed on the ground, but quickly got up to glance back at her. She was lying on the forest floor, as though she had been blasted away along with him. He hastily went near her to see if she was still unconscious.

Loki stopped in mid-track. He could feel the guards of his palace closing in on their patch to tackle the source of the chaos. He immediately made himself invisible for everyone else's eyes, but hers and resumed his pace.

She had gotten up on her feet. Loki opened his mouth to speak when suddenly a group of four guards approached them. The girl's eyes widened in horror as she watched them halt in front of her. Her eyes were staring at their helmet. The guards ordered her to stand down while raising their swords. Loki felt his anger heightened at the sight of them.

'Girl, did you start the fire? Where did you come from?' one of the guards asked her.

Loki turned his invisible gaze around the forest to sense that there were a dozen guards around the perimeter, trying to put out the fire. He did not want them or anyone else to interfere. Loki's attention was wildly diverted when he heard an angry squeak mumbling something like, no horns, closely followed by yet another flash of red light.

Loki stared at the sight. All the four guards were lying unmoving on the ground.

'How did you kill them all?' Loki asked her with open amusement.

'God! I didn't. They are just knocked out,' she said while running a hand through her hair. 'I need to get out of here.'

She started walking briskly into the woods, leaving Loki alone.

Loki looked at his palms. They immediately glowed green. He quickly flicked his arms to wipe the memory of the family who'd witnessed it all. Their heads turned a faded shade of green, their bodies suddenly as still as a pole and their eyes unblinking. Loki blessed his luck that the only obstacles were a family and a bunch of unconscious guards. If they were einherjar, Loki would've been compelled to use much more complicated magic to erase their memory.

The girl had halted several steps ahead and was mumbling something under her breath. Loki hurried to catch up with her, glancing once behind his shoulder to watch the unconscious guards Odin was so proud of.

'Get out and go where? Where did you even come from?' Loki asked stopping in front of her as though a mere second had passed since her previously spoken statement.

The girl had an incredibly straight posture and had eyebrows as sharp as Loki's daggers, giving her a haughty look even with her chin facing down. She was about five feet seven inches tall and had hip-length sleek, black hair with a few short strands falling on her front shoulders. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, but her nose was considerably tiny, with big, dark, almond-shaped eyes gleaming above it. Maybe she was as shook by the recent events as Loki was, but her skin had turned as pale as Loki's, which was not the case when he had approached her before.

She was tapping frantically on a device that looked like a spherical ball. 'Come on, please work!' she pleaded, pressing a button repeatedly.

'Isn't it rather foolish to pray to a device?' laughed Loki.

'Then who should I pray to? You?' she asked, snorting distractedly. This made him chuckle even more, but he restrained himself in order to be polite. The device kept beeping but apparently the girl wasn't getting what she wanted.

'Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?' she asked glancing once at him only to turn her attention back to the device in her hand.

'My apologies. Where do you come from again?' he asked.

'None of your business!' she snapped.

'Well it is if you are barging in my kingdom and refuse to cooperate after knocking out the guards!' he retorted.

'The kingdom that you were setting fire? yeah, doesn't look like it belongs to you,' she said, pressing the same button on the device and frowning heavily at it.

'May I?' Loki asked, gesturing to the device in her hands. She shrugged and handed it to him.

Loki held the device in his palm, immediately feeling a strange energy within it. The pendant dangling from a thin chain concealed under his clothes shook ever so lightly on Loki's chest. He tightened his clench on the device and it vibrated a little, making him heavily frown at it with curiosity. Loki was finding these recent new events to be suspiciously odd, but he knew one thing for sure; the device in his hands wasn't a mere form of technology, it had something more within it.

'It's not working,' Loki said.

She immediately sighed, as though she was awaiting his verdict. 'I had figured that out,' she muttered.

'Why do you need it anyway?' asked Loki, handing her the device.

'To go home' she said simply.

'And where is home?' Loki asked politely.

'Don't talk to me like I am a child. I am an intellectual, so treat me like one. I don't want to tell you anything about myself and if you find that odd, or disturbing, you can leave right now in one piece without any harm, kapiche?' she said threateningly.

Loki frowned at her in confusion. She'd just witnessed him threatening a family, yet she had the audacity to threaten! Things couldn't be odder. 'So be it. But there is fire everywhere around the woods, and hence nothing is safe. If going home is what you seek, then one can do that with the help of the Bi-frost. It is a long journey till there,' Loki said, lying through his teeth. They were standing a few miles away from the palace and the Bi-frost was not that far.

'How do I get there?' she asked quickly.

'Oh, it would take days for you to reach there! It would be better if I showed you the way,' Loki said nobly.

'Why would you do that? You barely know me,' she asked curiously.

'Like I said, this is a – a war zone, at this moment, and I have nowhere to be… I mean – nowhere important,' Loki added.

'Yeah but what is in it for you?' she enquired.

'The company of a charming little creature who has intrigued me since the moment she set foot here,' he said, stretching out his hand in front of her.

'Yeah, I rather not take that. Just walk, dreamy eyes,' she patted him on the back, and with a curt yet approving nod from him, they set off together away from the fire, while a green, glowing illusion of Loki stayed behind to wreak havoc in his palace…