A Mother's Love

Chapter 24

As Loki desperately searches, I sigh "I'm sure Jane just took him to a chamber pot! They must have gotten lost!"

He stops and turns to me, practically crying as he reminds "He's a little blue boy, on Asgard, Thor! If the wrong village person saw him-" he cuts himself off as his eyes go crystal clear.

As he calls out for Jory, I sigh and follow him "I hadn't thought about that."

He stops and shakes his head "I can't lose another babe, Thor."

I step forward and rest my hand on his shoulder. The weakened submission in his eyes reminds me of last year, when he feared everything and everyone.

"Come here." I speak, softly, before pulling him to me. As I hold onto him, I speak, calmly "We'll find him, Loki."

He rests his chin on my shoulder and I hear him speak, mudily "I never wanted him out of my sight to begin with."

I give him a soft squeeze, before declaring "I know, but you've got to do it, eventually."

He nods, before backing away. He's about to say something, before I hear Jane call out "Jory! Jory, where are you?"

As she rounds the corner, she gives a breath of relief, before asking "Have you seen Jory?"

"He's not with you?" Loki asks, an alarmed look on his face, before he looks to me "Where is he?"

Jane sighs "We were playing tag, and he ran around a corner, just seconds before me. He was gone when I turned the corner. I've been looking for him ever since."

Loki pushes the hair out of his face as he begins to hyperventilate. As he turns towards the wall and begins to rip at his jacket, I step towards him.

He simply slaps me away and I sigh "We'll find him, Loki!" As he rips of his jacket, he squats to the floor and desperately tries to catch his breath.

As he continues gasping for air, he begins trembling and frantically declaring "I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

I give a concerned look, before asking "What's happening to you?"

Jane scratches her forehead, before asking "Anxiety attack?" I give a confused look and she asks "How can we calm him down?"

I give a knowing look, before grabbing hold of his arms and leading him back towards his chambers.

As he continues gasping, I hold him upright and lead him out.

When we reach his chambers, I sit him in his bed and drag his hookah over. After handing over the hose, I order "Suck in deep breaths."

As he does, I see very little steam coming out. After a moment, I look to Jane and order "Get out."

She gives a confused look as I grab a granite bowl "Why?"

As I toss some leaves in the bowl, I explain "I'm about to start a fire, to relax him. I don't know what the effects are on mortals, and I'd rather not find out, today."

After she's out of the room, I sit the bowl down and turn to a candle stick. As I light one, Loki frantically sucks for air.

Once I light the leaves on fire, I go to sit next to him and press him to me as he begins to calm down.

As my head starts to whirl, I lay him back and sway towards the door. When I step out, I hold onto the wall for support as Heimdall walks up and asks "How's Loki?"

"High." I state as I struggle to focus on him. After a moment, I ask "Do you know where Jormungandr is?"

He shakes his head, before declaring "I can't see him, no."

I bat my eyes at him in my intoxicates state, before asking "What do you mean, you can't find him?"

Loki opens his chamber door and presses his hair back, before telling me "He's somewhere outside of the nine realms."

I give him a look before asking "What are you-?" When I can't remember what I'm saying, he nods.

"I remember my first time getting high. It felt like all my troubles were gone." He states, before declaring "Now, my issues are still here. They're just less stressful."

Heimdall gives a weak smile, before telling Loki "We will find him, just, go take a rest. He'll be back by the time you replenish."

Loki shakes his head as he runs his face, intoxicatedly "I need to find my son."

~

After hours of looking for him, the high is long gone. Two hours into the search, Loki just gave up. He dropped to the floor and stayed there.

It was in that moment that all hope was lost. The moment he just gave up was the moment I realized what he was thinking.

Thanos had taken his son back, and there was no way to retrieve him, fore he was already lost.

While we converse in Loki's chambers, he sits in his bed as Frigga urges him to take deep breaths from his hookah.

As Odin, Heimdall, and I converse over the next search pattern, Loki calls out "He's died."

The three of us share a grim look, before I turn to him "You don't know that."

He's facial features read with hatred, before he declares "If Thanos has him, he's dead, or being used as leverage. If he's lost to all of us and can't find his way back, he dies of exposer or thirst. There's only three ways we find him, Thor!"

He sits forward and screams "He either finds his way back to us, Thanos pawns him off, or we find him dead!"

I'm about to say something, before Odin rests his hand on my shoulder and speaks softly "As grim as it is, he's right."

I furrow my brow and he gives a short nod "All we can do is wait." Heimdall states.

I step back and speak, sharply "Or we can start looking for him!"

Fandral steps forward and whispers "You'd be dead before you could travel to every planet in the universe, let alone Jormungandr."

I take in a deep breath, before it truly sinks in.

The sweet little boy that stole my heart is gone, probably dead already.

As my shock settles in, I stare at the chamber door, absentmindedly. I can feel the freezing heat rise up my spine.

Suddenly, something snaps and I turn back to ask "If it was Thanos, why don't we go to Titan and trade the Tesseract for Jory?"

Loki shakes his head, before declaring "If they don't have him, it would raise too much suspicion. They may still think he's dead."

I furrow my brow and ask "Is there a spell or something, to track him down?"

Loki shakes his head and looks down at the sheets, speaking tiredly "There's nothing."