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“Hooooguunnnn! Siiiiffff! Faaaaaaaaaaaandraaaaaaaaaal! Volllllstaaaggg! Where arrrrre yooooooou?”
Loki looked up from his book and rolled his eyes as his brother Thor charged through the palace yelling for his friends to “come hither!” After Thor had repeated this exercise several times, Loki was tired of his new pointless rampage. They obviously weren’t there. “Thor, what in the Nine realms are you yelling for?” Loki asked. “I’m gonna have a sleepover!” Thor announced, “And I’m inviting all our friends.” Loki raised a dark eyebrow. “Well I don’t think that you running around in circles and hollering like a beast is going to be very effective.” Thor sighed. “Fine. I’ll go and ask Mother if she knows where they are.” Loki gave Thor a sarcastic smile, although its effect was lost on Thor as he skipped off through the palace. Loki sighed and went back to his book.
***
“Loki!” Sif said breathlessly as she skidded to a halt where he was curled up with his book, closely followed by Thor and the Warriors Three: Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg. Well, they liked to call themselves ‘The Warriors Three’ just so that they could impress people, although most ‘awwed’ because a bunch of 8-year-olds trying to look tough is considered adorable. “Loki! Come and join our sleepover! Thor’s mum let us sleep in the throne room since Thor’s dad is away! How cool is that?” she continued, her small rosy cheeks flushing as she blew a loose strand of raven-black hair out of her face. Although Loki really did not want to have to spend the night with his rowdy friends, he pictured himself sitting on Odin’s throne and bossing them all around. Having found solace in that satisfying mental image, Loki agreed. “Alright, fine. I’ll just go and get my pyjamas.” “Excellent!” Sif declared. “Well, you better hurry up because we’re going right now!” That was when Loki spotted a bunch of blankets and other paraphernalia being dragged behind Volstagg. “Alright then,” Loki said, getting up as he watched his friends race off towards the throne room.
***
“Wait!” Loki yelled as the mighty doors to the Asgardian throne room shut with an echoing thud. He had done his best to gather up his pyjamas and his pillow and his toothbrush, but he’d been too late. They’d gone on without him and begun their party. Saying that Loki was disappointed was making an understatement. Oh how he had desperately wanted to sit up high on that golden throne and make his friends and his annoying brother grovel at his feet. “Another day,” Loki said to himself as he carried his belongings back with him to his room in a huff. “Another day.”
Loki flopped onto his bed like a starfish, his small body dwarfed by the large expanse of comforters. “They’re so rude!” he mumbled at the ceiling. “What did I ever do to them to make them hate me?” His resolve to make them all grovel was renewed. After grumbling and complaining to his ceiling, which wasn’t responding as he had hoped, he made up his mind that he was just going to have to have a sleepover all by himself. So Loki changed into his green pyjamas, gathered his books and his blankets, and went out and sat on the balcony in the cool night air. He opened up one of his drawing books and began connecting the pictures of stars into shapes. When he had made a shape that looked an awful lot like the pet fish that Thor used to have, (that is, until it was unceremoniously man-handled. “You can’t make the fish fly!” Loki had protested, but to no avail), he decided that he would practice his magic. While Thor didn’t care much for magic and illusions, Loki loved it. It made him feel like he had one-up on Thor, who was always beating him at silly arm-wrestling matches. He concentrated hard and watched with great delight as two beautiful blue smoke-fish began to swim around in the breeze. But no sooner than they had appeared, they vanished into the air. “Oh well,” thought Loki, “I’ll just have to practice some more.” Loki had been trying for a while now to perfect his smoke fish so that he could show his mother, who seemed to be the only one around that cared for magic as much as Loki did. He went back to reading his book, snug in his blanket as the stars glinted in the sky.
Loki’s head snapped to attention as a scuttling sound came over the roof of his balcony. He slowly closed his book and looked around. “What’s making that noise?” He thought. The noise came again, but this time a little louder. Loki, who normally prided himself on being fearless, was scared. “What do I do?” he asked himself as he wrapped the blanket around him tighter in an effort to make himself feel safer. Then he remembered his invisibility spell, and as he mumbled that, a dark figure plopped down from the roof onto his balcony. Loki prayed that his invisibility spell was indeed making him invisible and that this mysterious marauder couldn’t see him cowering beneath his blanket. He almost wished that Thor was there with him, but not before remembering that he had ditched him. Loki once again resolved to make them all grovel. But while Loki was thinking about grovelling, the intruder stepped into the light, and as they did, all thoughts of grovelling and invisibility left him. A girl, no older than he was, stood there looking directly at where Loki was hiding under his blanket and invisibility spell. He wasn’t really sure of what to do, so he just waited with his heart racing as the girl looked around, and then finally said, “Loki, I know you’re there.” Loki froze.
“Come on Loki!” she said, now standing directly in front of where he was hiding. “Resistance is fu- uhm, fu-, uhh,” she stumbled over her words. “Futile,” said Loki, unveiling himself and cautiously eyeing the girl. “Yeah! That’s it!” she said. Drawing a play sword from a worn belt around her middle, her voice deepened as she said, “Resistance is futile!” She had an old yellow bed-sheet tied around her neck for a cape, and it had a dark hem around the bottom from where it had dragged in the dirt. After crawling around on the roof, her blue pyjamas had snagged threads on them. “How do you know who I am?” Loki questioned. “Everyone knows who you are!” She replied, plonking herself down next to where Loki was still curled up in his blankets and letting her wooden sword clatter to the ground. “You’re a Prince of Asgard!” she said excitedly. “Well, yes,” said Loki. “Who are you?” The little girl puffed up her chest, fixed her cape and said proudly, “I’m Sigyn!”
Loki wasn’t really sure what to do with this new development. Should he go and hide again? Should he call for his mother? “Why were you climbing all over the palace roof?” he asked. Sigyn shrugged. “It’s fun!” she replied. “Why are you out here all alone?” she questioned back. As Loki’s face fell once again from the disappointment of being left behind, Sigyn decided that poor Loki was lonely and that he needed a hug. So she wiggled under the green blanket with Loki and snuggled up to him as he made a face. Sigyn put her arm around Loki and squished him to herself so that the sides of their faces were pressed together. “It’s alright, you can tell me,” she said, eager to hear Loki’s response. Loki normally detested physical contact, and tried to avoid it where possible. But Sigyn seemed nice, loud and nosy, sure, but nice. Plus she was warm. So he decided to trust her with his hurt feelings.
***
“What a bunch of butts!” Sigyn exclaimed as Loki finished pouring his heart out. As Loki let out a sad sigh, Sigyn hugged him tightly. “You know Loki, I reckon that we should just have our own sleepover.” Loki smiled and even hugged Sigyn back a little. “Alright then,” he said, “it’s settled.” After running back inside for some extra pillows, Loki made a nice comfy circle on the balcony for him and Sigyn to lie in. Once they were snug, Loki said, “Sigyn, would you like me to show you some magic?” Sigyn’s pretty green eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together happily. “Yeah!” she said excitedly. With a glint in his eye, Loki made his blue smoke fish appear. As they swam around in the night air, Sigyn reached out and touched one of them. Loki was puzzled when the fish didn’t vanish, but instead curled around Sigyn’s hand, and Loki found that he could keep the illusion going for as long as he wanted. But he had a feeling that Sigyn had something to do with the new potency of his magic. Soon the fish wouldn’t swim where Loki wanted them, but instead went where Sigyn wanted them to go. “Sorry,” she said as Loki began to get frustrated. He let the fish disappear. “No matter,” he mumbled. “That was beautiful,” Sigyn said, smiling at Loki. Loki decided to forgive Sigyn for stealing his thunder and smiled back. “I’ll show you some drawings,” Loki offered as Sigyn nodded eagerly. “That one looks like a giraffe!” Sigyn pointed at a drawing that Loki had done. “A what?” “You know, a creature with a real long neck! They have them on Midgard,” explained Sigyn. Loki was impressed. Sigyn could climb the roof and name Midgardian animals. That sealed the deal for Loki. Sigyn was his new best friend.
“Hey,” said Sigyn, interrupting Loki, who was quite taken with how soft her honey-brown hair felt between his fingers. Loki looked up at Sigyn, all ears. A rather mischievous smile crept over her small, round features. “I have an idea!” she said. “What is it?” Loki asked, excited at the prospect that he now had a partner in crime. “Well, since Thor broke your heart and stepped on it, I think we should break his heart and step on it too.” An incredulous expression made it’s way over Loki’s face, and then a rather large smile took it’s place. “Are you suggesting that we crash Thor’s sleepover?” he said, sudden hopefulness bubbling away in his stomach. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
***
“Shushshushshsushshushshushhhh!” Sigyn said, clapping a hand over Loki’s mouth. “Mmmmmfffffff” came the muffled reply as they hid behind a stone column. “I said no talking, Loki!” she hissed. “Grrrrmmmphhh,” said Loki. They peeped around the column and saw Thor, Sif, and the warriors three asleep in a huddle on the floor, blankets and cushions strewn about the place. Thor was snoring rather loudly. Loki grinned. “Hey Sigyn, do you have everything?” he asked, turning to face her. “Of course I do Loki, you can be so silly sometimes.” “Sigyn, you’ve only known me for several hours.” “So?” Loki let out a huff and pushed the matter aside. Now was not the time for silly bickerings. Now was the time for sweet, sweet revenge.
Sigyn stifled a giggle as she painted a moustache on Sif. She squirmed with excitement as she emptied bugs under their blankets. She bit back another laugh as she painted more moustaches on the warriors three. And she grinned a rather evil grin as she painted ‘BUTT’ on Thor’s forehead. Sigyn turned to face Loki, who was supposed to be - where was Loki? “Hello Sigyn.” Sigyn whirled around and saw Loki sitting quite regally on Odin’s throne, a smirk plastered over his face. Sigyn opened her mouth to say something, but remembered the five sleeping people right next to her. “Bow before your king,” said Loki, quite enjoying this new feeling of power. Sigyn just raised her eyebrows. “Seriously Loki,” she scolded, stepping up towards the throne, “Are you going to sit around and order the air about like a pompous ass or are you going to claim your vengeance?” From his seated position, Loki swung his short legs about in the air for a bit. He sighed and hopped off the throne. Sigyn was right. “Vengeance it is,” he said.
“Are we done here?” Sigyn questioned as they slunk back to admire their work. “I think so,” said Loki, who had just finished putting some rotten produce from the kitchens around them all. He dusted his hands off and looked quite proud of himself. “Now all we have to do is wait for them to wake up,” Sigyn said. “Yes, well, but that might be a little while yet,” Loki replied, putting his arm around her. Sigyn smiled. “Well then we’d better get some sleep,” she noted. “But I want to stay awake and watch them scream in horror!” Loki protested. “Oh fine,” said Sigyn, “You can do that if you want. But I’m sleeping.” So Loki and Sigyn crept back into a dark corner, and while Loki eagerly awaited his ex-friends’ awakening, Sigyn crawled into Loki’s lap, made herself comfortable, and promptly fell asleep his arms as he arranged her yellow cape around them and sighed contentedly.
***
A loud scream echoed through the throne room. Loki bolted upright, Sigyn with him. He hadn’t meant to drift off. Sigyn looked at Loki excitedly, and they peered at the unfolding scene from behind a column. Sif was wailing, Fandral and Hogun were jumping about, trying to rid themselves of the bugs, Volstagg was inspecting the strewn food for anything remotely edible, and Thor was making more noise than all of them combined. Loki and Sigyn giggled into their pyjama shirts. Thor began to yell again when Sif, with tears running down her face, told him what had been painted across his forehead. Loki and Sigyn laughed even harder. They all looked so comical with their moustaches, wriggling about to literally get the ants out of their pants. But they stopped laughing, however, when a stern voice filled the air. “What on earth is going on here?” said Queen Frigga, her eyebrows knit in confusion, staring at the scene before her. “Run!” hissed Loki, grabbing Sigyn’s hand and taking off with her towards one of the side doors. Their frantic exit, however, went unnoticed by Thor and his friends, but not by the ever-watchful Queen.
Loki’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he realised that his mum had caught onto them. Sigyn turned her head, spotting a bunch of vines growing in the corner. “Here Loki!” she rushed as Frigga’s footsteps grew louder. She pulled him behind the tall plant, pausing only to pull her cape in out of sight. “Loki, I know you’re to blame for this,” came the Queen’s no-nonsense-and-altogether-quite-fed-up voice from down the hall. Sigyn gripped the vine anxiously. What would the Queen do to her when she found that she had been conspiring with Loki? She closed her eyes, bit her lip and held her breath.
“Sigyn!” Loki squeaked. “What?” she said, looking at Loki, who was all in a panic. Loki pointed. Sigyn’s mouth fell open. “Well bless the beard I’m never gonna grow,” she said. The vines that Sigyn was holding onto had grown as a thick barricade across the hallway. Well, they were still growing, actually. Loki and Sigyn stepped out from the corner, and stared at the wall of vines. Loki stood dumbfounded as Sigyn touched the vines again and they erupted in flowers. “Loki! Slap me!” “What? Sigyn no - why?” “Loki slap me so I know I’m not dreaming!” Loki didn’t really want to slap his only friend, so he said, “Sigyn, I’m quite sure that we’re not dreaming.” Sigyn slumped back against the plants. A flower curled its way around her arm. Suddenly, the earlier episode with the smoke fish began to make a lot more sense to Loki. Jealousy began to boil as flowers snaked their way through Sigyn’s pretty hair, crowning her in white, sweet-smelling glory. But Loki pushed aside his jealousy as a loud and extraordinarily shocked yelp came from the other side of the wall. “Loki! What is the meaning of this?!?” cried the Queen. Loki and Sigyn looked at each other in a panic. “Should we run?” Loki whispered. “Yep!” Sigyn grabbed his hand as they took off together, white flowers trailing in their wake.
Loki slammed the door to his bedroom shut, and they leaned back against it, breathing heavily. Sigyn was as white as the flowers in her hair. “Loki, what in the Nine Realms just happened to me?” “Magic.” He replied with a smile. Sigyn bit her lip. “What are you going to tell your Mum?” she worried, her eyes widening as she grabbed two tiny fistfuls of Loki’s PJ’s. Loki thought about it for a moment. “I’ll think of something,” he said. Sigyn felt a bit better. “Thankyou Loki.”
***
Loki and Sigyn stood out on Loki’s balcony as the sun began to rise. “Promise me you’ll practice your magic some more,” Loki said, tucking Sigyn’s sword back into her belt and holding her hands. “I will,” she said. “Promise me you’ll come back soon.” “I’ll try my best.” They stood there in a bit of a daze. Loki squirmed on the spot a little, and nibbled on his lip. Sigyn grinned. “Are we meant to kiss now or something?” she enquired. “Ah, uhm, well, yeah!” Loki blurted out. So Sigyn planted a rather large and quite sloppy kiss on Loki’s lips. Loki looked like a stunned, but very happy mullet. “I better go,” she said at last, “My mum will be wondering where I am if I don’t jump back into bed quicksticks.” Loki nodded and kissed her hand, as he’d seen his father do to his mother. “I’ll send you a letter,” she said, and with that, she swung up over onto the roof, her yellow cape swishing in the morning breeze. A single, white flower drifted down into Loki’s open hands.
Loki was still clutching the flower in a stupor when Frigga burst out onto the balcony. “Loki, I demand an explanation for all of this commotion!” she exclaimed as Loki dropped the flower in surprise. “I, uhm, ahhhh…” Loki trailed off. “Loki, sweetheart, was it really necessary to write ‘BUTT’ on your brother’s face?” Loki sighed. It wasn’t his idea, although he wished it was. But he couldn’t give Sigyn away. “Of course it was necessary, mother. Thor is the biggest and meanest oaf in the whole of Asgard.” Frigga pressed her lips into a line. “He left me out of their sleepover,” Loki explained, beginning to feel sad. “Oh, my little God of Mischief,” she said, kneeling down to embrace him. Frigga’s expression grew serious as she held Loki at arm’s length. “What were all the vines about, Loki?” she questioned as she spotted the flower on the ground. Loki, in a panic, began to stutter. “Did you do that Loki?” said Frigga. Loki was at a loss for words. Frigga noticed a hint of slobber on Loki’s cheek. She pieced this together with the flower, and also yellow threads that had snagged on the vines, which a palace guard had had to cut through so that Frigga could go after Loki. “There’s someone else, isn’t there.” Loki still couldn’t bring himself to speak. “A partner in crime, perhaps.” Loki’s face twitched, confirming Frigga’s suspicions. She sighed as she hugged Loki again. “Loki, my darling, I won’t ask any questions if you promise me that you will make it up to Thor and the rest of your friends.” “Yes Mother,” Loki replied sullenly, even though he didn’t class any of the aforementioned people as his friends. Frigga kissed Loki on the forehead and went back out to go and deal with Thor and Co. And Loki smiled. He smiled because 1. He had decided the moment that Sigyn had kissed him that he was madly in love, and 2. Because he regretted absolutely nothing. But not wanting to upset his mother further, he went off to apologise.
***
The next morning, as Loki put the flower in a vase out on his balcony, he found a letter waiting for him. His name was scrawled on the front in fat, spidery writing. Loki let out a squawk of excitement. Sigyn had written him a letter! It read:
To Loki,
I hope you didn’t cop it too hard from your mum, even though you probably did.
I practiced my magic, just like you said, and I made my mum’s vegetable garden finally grow.
Also, next time Thor wants to have a sleepover, (that is, if he ever wants to again), let me know and I’ll come and prank them again with you, because I’m guessing that you’re not going to listen to whatever your mum told you.
Love from your bestest friend in all the Nine Realms,
Sigyn
P.S. I wrote the word ‘BUTT’ because Thor is one and he had it coming.
Loki smiled, because 1. Sigyn had written him, and 2. Because Thor had stolen his last pancake at breakfast that morning and a fabulous revenge plot had begun to formulate in his mind. He found some paper and a pen, and in his slightly neater handwriting, told Sigyn all about it. The prank-war-to-end-all-prank-wars had begun, and boy, was it going to be an utter spectacle.
THE END