The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 44

You woke briefly to strong arms lifting you to a sitting position, cradled against and cool chest as a glass was placed against your lips. "Drink this, darling," Loki's voice told you gently as he held you up and held the glass to your lips, as he helped you drink the potion inside. "You used too much power. This will help," he said softly, his voice soothing and gentle.

Or was it just soft because you were already fading back to sleep? You couldn't tell

"Good girl," Loki praised when you drank the potion obediently. You were too drained to even open your eyes. You'd drained your power and all the reserves in the jewel on your handflower. And you'd still only barely had enough for your task. Loki eased you gently back on the bed and tucked the blanket around you. "You did a goddess' work today, magelet. I'm proud of you," he told you warmly and pressed his cold lips to your forehead. "Rest now, my love. You're safe and your task is done," he bid you gently.

You sank back into a dreamless sleep

*

When you woke again, you felt a weight on your chest. You opened your eyes and saw a black cat curled on top of your blanket, purring loudly. You smiled and slowly sat up, resettling the cat in your lap instead of one your chest. He protested, of course, but that's what one expected of a cat, so you weren't at all surprised. "Hey, Lokitty," you told him as you scratched behind his ears.

He cracked an eye open, made a soft 'mrrt' sound of greeting, and curled back up in a ball in your lap. You laughed and pet him for another minute, scratching behind his ears until he was a purring puddle of lokitty in your lap.

You pet the lokitty in your lap until you saw the dragon egg sitting on your dresser, safe in a basket. Your expression fell when you saw it and Loki noticed when his pets vanished. He looked up at you and mrowed softly in question. You sighed and stroked his fur. "I failed her, Lokitty," you said softly as you cuddled him close. "She was mine to guide. She was the sister of my soul, and I failed her," you told him with tears spilling from your eyes.

The lokitty climbed off your lap and turned back to his usual mostly-human-shaped form, though he kept the cat-ears and tail. You didn't know if he couldn't get rid of them, or just didn't feel like it, but that didn't matter at the moment. At the moment all that mattered was him enveloping you in his cool arms, cradling you to his equally cool chest, rocking you gently while you sobbed out all of the heartbreak and pain of severing the bond to your familiar, of repudiating her, of using the spell to turn Sera back into a dragonet in an egg, to give her a second chance.

Loki held you in his arms while you sobbed over the loss of your familiar. He, more than anyone, knew how much she meant to you. You knew it when you had woken up to him in cat form on your chest. When he was in cat form, he could give you some of the same benefits you got from a real familiar. He could ease the symptoms of her loss affecting you, of the loss of magic and bond.

He was doing everything he could to ease your pain and help you feel better. So he held you close and rubbed your back, stroking your hair as he murmured soothing words in English and eventually switching to the fluid court Asgardian. His words, his tone, his lovely silky accent all worked together to do their job and eventually your tears slowed.

"I know the wounds will take time to heal, magelet," Loki told you gently, still holding you safe in his arms. "You did the right thing. You gave her a second chance. And what she chose to do was not your fault or your doing," he reassured you.

You sighed heavily and extricated yourself from his arms. "You're right," you said softly.

He chuckled and kissed the top of your head. "I usually am," he told you with a smirk and you couldn't help a small laugh at that.

"Silly princeling," you teased him back and he was laughing as he leaned in to kiss you softly.

"I'm so relieved that you are alright, my darling. I was so worried when you were taken. I thought I was going to lose you forever," his words were soft and you heard the real fear in his tone. "I should've been out there with you,"

"Loki, it was just a shopping trip. It should've been safe. It's summer and you're a frost giant. We hadn't heard anything from the witch hunters in months. There was no reason to think they would have drugged me and kidnapped me," you reminded him gently. It wasn't his fault you'd been taken, though you knew he would continue to blame himself. He'd been hiding from the heat in the air conditioned tower.

Loki lifted your hand, looking at the horrible mark that had been tattooed onto your skin with magic as well as ink. "They branded you with a symbol of evil, because I was not there to stop them," Loki said mournfully.

You sighed as you finally looked at the horrible symbol on your hand. The ink was bright and fresh and the evil symbol was clearly visible, clearly legible despite how you'd struggled and fought. "I'm sure we'll find a way to get rid of it," you said softly, though you were sure of no such thing. You hadn't studied the kind of black magic it took to create such a mark.

Which was necessary to know in order to know how to break the mark.

At least you didn't have to worry about the compulsion spells in it. You could feel that they were dead with their caster.

"I need to take Sera's egg to the Headmistress. She can get it safely to the council. She might know of a way to get rid of this," you gestured to your hand. Then you realized how grungy and gross you felt. "Though maybe I should get a shower first..."

Loki chuckled. "You were asleep for two days straight, Magelet. That might be a wise idea," he told you warmly.

"Two days??" you demanded. You really had been drained in order to sleep for two days straight.

"You used a deadly amount of power fighting the witch hunters and then Sera, especially with only a small nap in between. It's a miracle you only slept for two days," Loki told you reasonably. "I don't know of any other Midgardian witch who could have done that. Or who could have given Sera a second chance," he reasoned.

You nodded. He was right, of course. You looked at the handflower on the back of your untattooed hand. It was full of magic again. At least you didn't have to worry about running out of power again anytime soon.

"Go get ready, Magelet. After you eat something, we will head to the magic school. We can also ask Strange," he rolled his eyes. "Or head to Asgard and ask Mother if she has any ideas,"

You sighed in relief. If anyone might have an idea how to get rid of the tattoo, it was Frigga. Traditional laser removal wouldn't work with magic imbedded in the ink. So you had to find another way. You climbed out of bed with stiff limbs from sleeping for two days and took care of human needs, most especially a stupidly hot shower. You dressed in teacher's robes since you were going to the magic school and had to keep up appearances there, even if you weren't working today.

You looked at Loki, who was lounging on your bed, when you returned. "If I remind you that it's summer and 12,000 degrees outside which is deadly to frost giants, is that going to affect your decision to come along with me in any way, shape, or form?" you asked him.

He smirked as he stood fluidly from your bed, his extremely attractive teachers robes shimmering into place as he strode over to you. "Not one bit, Magelet," he purred as he leaned down to kiss you.

"I didn't think so," you replied and stood up on your toes to meet him halfway. It meant a lot to you that he'd risk his own discomfort to make sure you didn't have to face going to the magic school and searching for answers alone.

It meant more than you could say or put into words.

So you put it into the kiss instead