A Rainy Day in Asgard

Chapter 3

When I get back to our chambers, I find Loki curled up, book in lap. Curiosity gets the best of me, and I take the book from him.

It's his journal. This neat handwriting speaks of things from years ago, then I get to one from yesterday. It's the first one in Twenty-five years.

"Thor has moved us into a chamber, seven times bigger than my old home. He throws around money like it's nothing. He scarfs down food like peasant aren't starving, right outside the castle walls. I chop it down to not knowing hardship."

I flip the page to find a new entry.

"Tonight, I went to visit Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Sleipnir. Sleipnir was pleased to see me. Jormungandr had almost forgotten me, as I hadn't had a chance to see him since I knew Heimdall last left his post, almost three years, ago. Fenrir, I miss him dearly. I just sat next to his grave. I have yet to tell Thor about them. How am I to tell him that Odin slaughtered an innocent? How do I explain what happened with Svathlifari? Heimdall promised not to tell Thor about Sleipnir, but I don't know what he knows of Svathlifari. I don't want to hide this from Thor."

Thoughts flood my mind, and all I can do, is like back to Loki.

~

When Loki awakens, he looks up to find me in an armchair, book on the table next to me "How much did you read?"

"All of it." I answer, before clearing my throat "The last entry raises several questions that I'd like to know the answers to."

He climbs to the edge of the bed, before clear his throat "Svathlifari was a stalion that I cared for, in the stables. And he was the only one I had, at the time." he looks up to me "I wanted to connect with him, so I transformed myself into a horse." He clears his throat and looks to the ground "I didn't know that you get weaker when you transfer into a different species, and he was sexually aggressive. And I could kick him off. The second I turned back, I sold him to a farmer to use as a plowhorse. That resulted in Slephnir."

He clears his throat "I don't blame the horse. I blame myself for thinking that an animal can long for a friend.'

"Slephnir is an eight-legged horse, that I gave birth to, two people years ago. Right after your coronation." he states, before explaining "Fenrir's father was a farmer. He was killed by Odin, fourteen year ago. Odin thought Fenrir would kill him."

"And Jormungandr is sirered by a fisherman." He states "He lives in the ocean, because I thought Odin would kill him if he found he was there. I gave birth to him, ten years ago."

I nod, understandingly, before clarifying "I didn't know that you could have kids." he shrugs, before looking to the ground "Is it a Jotun thing?" He nods.

There's another moment of silence, before I ask "May I meet them?" he gives me a perplexed look and I repeat "May I meet them?"

"You want to meet them?" he asks and I nod "Okay, just give me a moment."

After he's dressed, he leads me me onto the bifrost "Are we going to Jormungandr, first?" he shakes his head as he leads me down to the relics "What are we doing here?"

"Visiting." he states, before passing the relics hall and walking into another room "Odin refused to give him a proper funeral." he speaks softly as he sits next to a prophet table that holds the skeleton of a large wolf "He was only four when he died."

"Was he born this way?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"I was horrified that Odin would find out about him." he scoffs, before explaining "So, when we'd go out to hunt, we would transfer into wolves." A grim look comes over his face "When I found out Odin was coming, I told him to go hunt. Fenrir got back before Odin left." he wipes a tear from his face and shakes his head "I begged Odin to stop, and Fenrir didn't understand. And when Odin sunk a sword into his skull, I begged Odin to kill me to."

I kneel in front of him and sigh "Loki, we don't have to talk about it." he shakes his head and I sigh "We don't need to talk about it."

He sniffles and straightens up, wiping his face and nodding, before shaking his head "I gotta get out of here."

Once outside, he grips the wall and gasps for air for a moment. When he gathers himself, he0 starts to walk towards the castle "Slephnir is in the stables. We should see him next."

"Why don't we go to Jormungandr, next?" I ask and he shakes his head "Why not?"

"It's takes a while to get there." he grumbles.

When we reach the stables, his face lightens up as the horse nays. As soon as we step in, he goes straight towards the horse from two days ago "Slephnir, my boy."

The horse is white, with a golden main and golden swirls. His eight legs are a marvel "He's beautiful."

"Yes he is." Loki smiles, scratching in between the horses ears as the horse flicks his tail at him "And he's in a mood!" he smacks  Slephnir's side "We should leave him be. Have to castrate him soon."

We walk out of the stables as I ask "So, how do we get to Jormungandr?"

"Paddle boat." he states, pulling me down to the beach below the bifrost. As he pulls the boat into the water, he explains "Because Odin killed Fenrir, I had to relocate Jormungandr. He fears Asgardan boats."

As he starts to paddle, he explains "Jormungandr can only take the form of water dwellers, or of a human. You can tell he's a Jotun, as you could with Fenrir. He spends most of his time, far from here, and the other part, in this ocean."

"Where is he now?" I ask.

"Home." is all he says, before continuing to row. When we finally beach, he smirks "Now you see how I got muscular."

That's when he turns and starts climbing up the side of the mountain "Where are you going?"

"To one of my portals!" he calls over his shoulder, before continuing up the mountain. By the time we reach the cave, I winded "You're getting soft."

"Shut up." I groan, before reminding "I'm a king. I'm not really supposed to be doing all of this. Seriously, were are we going?"

"Take my hand." he demands, and I do. We continue walking in the tiny cave, and the air gets colder. It isn't until I see the exit to the cave, do I know I've walked through a portal. Everything that surrounds us, is a shade of blue "Welcome back to Jotunheim. Population: one."

We walk out onto the frozen wasteland and I ask "Does he know?" Loki raises an eyebrow to me and I clarify "That he's prince."

"This is no longer a world." Loki insists, before calling out "Jormungandr, come out! I've brought someone for you to meet!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something slide over the ice. Loki smiles as I find a massive green snake slithering towards the palace.

After the snake disappears, a twenty foot tall boy walks towards us "Mum, I wasn't expecting you home so soon."

"I come to introduce you to the king of Asgard." Loki states and the boy's smile drops "Thor won't hurt you, will you Thor?"

"Course not." I smile before looking the boy over. He wears peasant clothes, with no shoes. His green hair is long. He has pale blue skin and green eyes "It's nice to meet you, Jormungandr."

We continue to talk for awhile, until I ask Loki "Why don't we move him into the castle? So he isn't alone, I mean."

Loki shakes his head "He can't control his power. If he touches an Asgardan..." he gives an apologetic look to Jormungandr "We can't risk it."