Chapter Text
He made great efforts to keep from giggling his way through his scheme. He couldn’t let anyone see or hear him, though, so he made sure not to laugh no matter how much he wanted to.
He hid behind a tall pillar and peeked at the Throne Room from behind it, a smirk on his face. The room was empty at the moment… perfect. Nobody would notice he had sneaked inside early so long as he was stealthy about it.
He bit his lower lip as he went over his plan in his head once more. First, he would need a double of himself… then he would bring forth the main illusion, the one that would frighten that visiting nobleman and his family off their Palace. It wasn’t that Loki wasn’t a friendly boy… well, in truth, he wasn’t. Thor was the one who earned everyone’s love and affection just by being himself, while Loki only ever got confused looks and fake smiles. Whatever made Thor more popular than he was, Loki didn’t quite understand it… but the general favoring of Thor over him had slowly led him to dislike most people, to the point where he didn’t want any guests to stay at his father’s Palace. He was sure today’s guests wouldn’t like him… so he wasn’t going to be friendly towards them either.
He rubbed his hands together before conjuring the very first illusion. As the apprentice sorcerer he was, he couldn’t create any illusions unless he was watching them… so he was very careful as he produced a double of himself, dressed in fine clothes and with his dark hair properly brushed, just as his mother liked it. Loki smiled at himself, and his double smiled back. This would be so much fun…
Only a few minutes later, guards began entering the room and they found the young prince waiting within it. Only, it wasn’t the young prince but his clone, who was looking at them coyly from the center of the room.
“Why, aren’t you eager for the meeting, Prince Loki” said one of the Einherjar, smiling at him.
Loki nodded and lowered his gaze… in a gesture that was slightly too guilty, it seemed to the real Loki. That didn’t come off right, but how was he supposed to fix it now? Still for some reason, the Einherjar didn’t see through his trick. They probably didn’t think he would do anything troublesome… ah, they would see just how wrong they were about that in no time.
The All-Father arrived soon enough and he greeted Loki quite formally, yet he gave Loki a fond smile. Loki’s double beamed back at him, and his smile was wider when he saw his mother had arrived too. Frigga leaned down and fixed his hair, even though it had seemed to Loki it was already perfect. But it filled him with pride to see his mother hadn’t noticed she was dealing with an illusion…
His brother arrived as loudly as ever, talking to an Einherjar and probably telling him that he was going to grow to be much stronger than him. Loki’s double only smiled awkwardly at that, and soon enough, Odin began arranging his family so that they would stand in proper order to greet their visitors. Odin stood in front of the Throne, with Frigga at his right hand and Thor at his left. Loki’s double stood next to Frigga, and it seemed to the real Loki it was the best place for him indeed.
In no time, the arrival of their guests was heralded. Loki smiled and rubbed his hands together again, closing his eyes to conjure the magic he needed to bring forth his scheme…
A tall man with a gold mustache entered the room with a woman whose hair was just as bright as her husband’s. The girl that arrived with them could only be their daughter, for the resemblance she held with both of them was uncanny. Yet Loki’s eyes were closed. He didn’t see any of them, busy conjuring his magic as he was.
“Welcome to Asgard,” Loki heard his father say, after addressing the visitors by their names. “It will be our pleasure to share our home with all three of you during the next seasons.”
“We thank you very much for your hospitality, All-Father,” Loki heard the voice of the unknown man now, the visitor.
Odin proceeded to introduce the families while Loki was building up his power and directing it towards the illusion he was trying to produce. He gritted his teeth as he continued to bring forth his magic while Odin was speaking to the children.
“Thor, Loki… this is the young Lady Sif.”
Thor raised his eyebrows and looked at her with interest, while Loki’s double didn’t know how to react. What would his original do if he were faced with this young girl…?
Soon enough, that question was answered.
Loki finished bringing about his illusion, which had formed right at the doorway, and he looked towards the two families as they exchanged pleasantries…
And his jaw dropped when his eyes found the young girl with the golden hair.
He had never seen anyone like her before… he hadn’t met many children his age, for starters, but there was something about her that made him gape in awe. She was smiling as she nodded at Thor, who had waved at her happily. Why had she noticed Thor and not him…? Loki felt a pang of jealousy at that. The rest of Asgard already focused on Thor, why would she do the same? It wasn’t fair… his mother often told him he was very handsome, so that should appeal to the girl, all the same as her beauty appealed to him…
The young prince didn’t quite understand the nature of his feelings right then and there. Yet all he could do was look at her in utter amazement, wondering if she might be the fairest being in all the Nine Realms…
And that was when the monstrous white wolf barged into the Throne Room.
Loki was startled when the animal howled, all the same as the Einherjar and the families within the room. They all jumped back and turned towards the wolf warily, but confused. How had this wolf intruded upon them without anyone noticing?!
“Is it… Fenrir?!” asked Frigga, aghast as she recognized the creature.
“What?! B-but you just told us the tale of Fenrir last night, mother! Didn’t you say it was a legend?!” Thor exclaimed, looking at the creature with dread. He boasted of being stronger than most Asgardians his age, but he didn’t think he’d be capable of defeating a legendary wolf just yet. Ah, but surely, his father…
“Stand back, all of you!” Odin shouted, at the guards who were about to attack the creature. “It may grow violent if attacked!”
But it seemed it would be violent even if it weren’t attacked. Fenrir snarled and barked at all of them, and his claws dug into the floors of the Throne Room. He leaned down and took an Einherjar between his jaws just as Loki began struggling to end the illusion before he got himself into some real trouble. He couldn’t let the false Fenrir frighten the girl, no, that wasn’t what he had planned! Though… actually, it was exactly what he had planned. But this wasn’t what he wanted, not anymore!
He turned to look at her, scared she might have ran to hide in her parents arms or behind Thor, perhaps…
The sight he found left him agape for a whole different reason now.
The golden haired girl had pulled her father’s sword out of its scabbard, it seemed, and she was wielding it with fear, yet with determination. Her father was telling her to come hide by the throne with him, her mother, Frigga and Thor, but the child wasn’t listening. She stood next to Odin, who had been about to begin a counterattack on the wolf… until he caught sight of the brave young girl right next to him, holding the sword as if she had been born to hold it.
“What do you think you’re…?” he began, astounded, as Sif marched forward.
“I will rid us of the beast, even if it takes me my last breath!” she exclaimed proudly, glaring at Fenrir angrily.
Her last breath? Well, that was quite extreme. What was she thinking? There just might be something wrong with that girl... Loki grimaced, but continued trying to tear down his illusion, but it was harder than he expected it to be… he needed to get quicker at this, this could become a catastrophe if he was unable to put an end to it.
But as the beast grew wilder, it became easy to guess that Fenrir would choose the little girl as his target next. Loki had no more time to waste: he jumped out of his hiding place.
“Stop! Don’t!” he screamed, waving his arms and putting his mind to making the beast vanish.
“Loki?” Odin said now, frowning. How had he suddenly darted out from the least expected direction when he should have been hiding with his mother and the rest…?
The little girl was surprised to see him too… and even more surprised when the white beast disappeared suddenly with a blast of green. Loki stopped right in front of the girl, looking at her worriedly.
“Are you alright?” he asked, as she looked at him in confusion.
“How…? Are you a sorcerer?” she asked, amazed.
“I… uh, yes,” Loki said, biting his lip and lowering his head shyly… and suddenly that shyness became nervousness when his father approached, a deep frown on your face.
“Loki,” he said, with a deep booming voice. Loki stepped back, dreading the reprimand he was about to receive. “Did you make an illusion of yourself and the wolf Fenrir?”
“I… I did, but I… I didn’t mean for it to go this far…” Loki muttered, but it seemed that wouldn’t appease his father.
“You could have caused a real crisis, Loki,” said Odin, sternly. “One of the guards is wounded, and you could have hurt young Lady Sif!”
Lady Sif, was it…? Loki glanced at her quickly, and was surprised to see the girl was still looking at him. Yet instead of fear and distrust, her eyes gleamed with curiosity.
Loki lowered his gaze again as Odin continued to tell him off, but although he should have known better, he wasn’t listening to what his father said. All he could think about was this young girl, who hopefully would be at least a little interested in him, just as he was interested in her…