((Here, world! Take this! My first fic on , an awesome Loki Ragnarok story! Hyahh!
…
Yeah, that was dumb. But still, you get the point.
Anyway, first things first: this story takes place after the first volume of the manga. The most important thing this entails is that the entire anime series has occurred, and Spica (a.k.a. Angerboda, Loki's first wife and a Jotun giantess who is now a blue-haired girl with a quiet disposition and huge appetite) is living with Loki, Yamino, Fenrir, and Ecchan. However, none of the stuff in the second book with Utgard Loki has (or will) happen(ed). Got it?
Also, I mention that the way I have Loki act in the fic is a mixture of the calmer, more mature Loki in the anime and the goofier, more childish version in the manga, although he'll be mostly the calmer version early on. Just so you know.
Also, I own none of the Norse deities (duh) or any of the characterization that was made by Loki Ragnarok's creator. So, now we go to the story…which starts with a flashback…))
The fabled and revered Norse god of chaos stood in the shining halls of Asgard. He was insanely handsome, with tousled red-brown hair and piercing green eyes and an impish smile. Although he wasn't smiling at the moment…quite the opposite, he wore an expression that could be seen as agony, fear, regret, anger, and confusion, combined into one macabre emotion that remains unnamed.
Beside him stood a woman about his age in a dark dress, with darker hair and even darker tear filled eyes one could just barely discern were blue. She, too, was nice to look at, but with her face contorted with such grief and worry that one felt the need to look away. It was heartbreaking.
Standing before them was a pair of young men, each of whom bore the same fetching green eyes as the handsome man and the same inky dark hair of the beautiful woman, making it obvious that they were the pair's sons. One, the younger, clung tightly to his brother's arm as he gazed in terror at the myriad band of gods who surrounded them, all not quite looking at them, their faced darkened and made unrecognizable by unseen shadows. The elder boy's mouth twitched like he was containing shouts of fear or unwise, snide remarks, but he stood firm and tall like his father, trying to appear unfazed.
A voice boomed from nowhere. "Loki," is called the chaos god's name, making everyone flinch except the one who was actually addressed. "You know why you are here, I assume."
Loki took a deep breath and sighed, looking down. "Yes, Odin. Because I…killed Balder."
"You must pay for your crimes, Loki."
Loki looked up now, in the direction one could vaguely discern Odin's bellow came from. "Fine," Loki announced. "I'll pay. But leave my family out of this."
"L-Loki," the beautiful woman said through her silent sobs, and Loki reached back and put his arms around her. He then looked toward his sons and gave them an encouraging nod, which the elder boy returned.
"For being yours, they must also pay."
Loki glared at Odin's voice. "But that makes no sense! It isn't fair!"
"Neither was the slaying of my son." Odin reasoned.
Loki's face flashed with guilt momentarily. "I did not mean to kill him. I didn't!"
"But you did. And for taking my child…"
"Odin, no! Anything but that!"
"…You will lose your children."
The gods surrounding the group all shared soft gasps and began to stir with confusion and excitement. Some seemed to agree with Odin, chuckling softly and exchanging murmurs of agreement: others, however, sided with Loki's family. One of the younger onlookers, a pretty blonde girl, even went so far as to try and approach the boys, but a slightly smaller girl with flaming red hair placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.
For a minute, nothing happened. Other than the whispers of the onlookers and the quiet choking sobs of Loki's wife, there was no sound. Perhaps Odin had only been toying with Loki…
Then the elder son howled in pain, suddenly engulfed with purple and black light. The younger let go of his arm like it was on fire. "Vali!" he called his suffering brother's name. He looked toward his parents, who were frozen by some strange white light, unable to move or look away from this horrible scene. The mother only stared, while Loki was obviously trying to move, trying to reach his sons. The god surrounding all shrieked and yelled, but a strange force field held them back, keeping any who wished to assist the mischief god's family from coming close.
"FATHER!" yelled Vali, his shout sounding less than human. "HELP ME!" He howled again, and it sounded more like a real animal howl this time. He was changing, morphing, disfiguring. The younger brother fell to his knees and watched in terror as Vali turned completely into a beast…and then suddenly lunged for the younger's throat. Vali's brother hadn't even time for a final cry.
And Loki could do nothing but look on helplessly…
Loki shouted and sat straight up in bed. He gasped for a bit with unreleased screams, then glanced around. He was not in the glimmering halls Odin called his own, but in his own bedroom on earth. He was not a man at the moment, but a young (adorable) boy. And the child before him was not Vali or Vali's brother Navri, but their half brother Fenrir (who wasn't even a child, he was a puppy).
"What was that about?" Fenrir said sleepily, just waking up. He looked at the clock. "It's only five in the morning."
"Sorry, Fenrir," Loki said solemnly. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just…had a bad dream."
Fenrir looked over his father worriedly. "What kind of bad dream, Daddy?" he inquired.
The answer was waylaid when another of Loki's children entered the room. Yamino, who we all are aware was really the Midgard serpent, opened the door and poked his head in. "Master Loki, why did you shout?" he asked with concern.
"He was about to tell me," Fenrir told his brother with a bit of anger. Yamino ignored it and approached his father.
With a shake of his head, Loki admitted "I dreamed about your half brothers, Vali and Navri. And what Odin did to them." Fenrir and Yamino exchanged looks. That was a sad subject, but a little awkward for them too.
Loki smiled sadly. "It's alright. I'm fine now." With that, Loki got out of bed and stretched, trying to look like nothing was up, even though his mind was furiously struggling to decide whether or not the dream/memory was a prophecy or just the result of eating too much of the cake Mayura had given him before bed. "On a different topic, where's Spica?"
"Still asleep," Yamino said after a moment. "She stayed up late helping me last night, so I guess she didn't hear you."
"Good, I wouldn't want to worry her," Loki said with some relief. It went unsaid that the topic of Loki's remarriage to a woman among the gods was a touchy one he'd avoided at all costs. "Anyway, now that I'm up, I might as well get ready for the day…I actually have a client with a case coming in today."
Around noon, the doorbell rang, and Yamino opened it to admit the earlier mentioned client. She was a normal but worried looking woman about twenty-two years old who was dressed in the garb of a secretary, implying that she'd come here right from work. Her tan hair was pulled back in a bun, but it had come a little loose, falling into her green-brown eyes. She was pretty…and pretty scared.
"I'm Megumi Hanabusa," she introduced herself to Loki, who was standing nearby when she entered. He wore a white short-sleeved buttoned shirt, a red vest, and black pants (Because in the manga he wears different outfits, which I prefer to the anime when he always wears the same thing). All in all, he was a pretty professional looking little guy. "I assume…you're the child paranormal detective I heard about?"
"That I am," Loki confirmed, smiling at her comfortingly. "You sounded nervous on the phone, so we'll get right to it. Come up to my office and we'll discuss your case immediately." Megumi followed Loki without hesitation, which Loki found slightly surprising: usually people were a bit slow to believe someone his size was really a detective.
That was explained right after Megumi sat down on the couch. "I'm so glad that you're really ready to believe me. I've seen other detectives, but they all either discredited my story once I mentioned it was paranormal or else they got so gung-ho about it that I couldn't trust them. Plus, you're the same age as my sister who was the main witness to the whole thing, so I think she'll be more likely to talk to you than to the adult detectives I brought in."
"I'm glad to have your confidence," Loki told her. "Now, please tell me exactly what happened as far as you know.
Megumi nodded. "It was about three weeks ago, now. My home is a large apartment where I live with my five younger siblings, and the older three of us-me, Shinji, who's nineteen, and Midori, who's fifteen-work. We're all adopted, that's why our ages are so messed up. One night all three of us older ones had to go out, but we were fine, because we trusted our siblings. Their names are Kori, Yuki, and Maki. Kori's the one who's your age, and she's insanely responsible and kind, we trust her with the younger two even though she's so small."
"Kori's the one who you said is the 'main witness,' then," Loki said, to insure he was correct.
"Yes," Megumi confirmed. "Anyway, that night while we were out, something happened. From what my siblings told me…
Flashback
"C'mon, you two, time for bed!" said Kori to her younger siblings, both of whom were already in their pajamas and sitting in the living room watching a cartoon. "I let you stay up a half hour later than usual."
"Okay, Onee-chan," the young ones said without hesitation. They got up and were about to let Kori lead them to their rooms when suddenly a loud smash from the kitchen, followed by an eerie growling sound. Kori's face went pale. "Oh, no…"
"What was that, Onee-chan?" asked Yuki, a seven-year-old boy. He sounded excited. "A monster?"
"I-I think so," Kori admitted, sounding scared. The youngest, the six-year-old girl Maki, began to cry within an instant. Kori grabbed both children by the hand and quickly led them away from the room into Megumi's. She opened the closet and shoved both children in.
"I'm going to get the bat in Shinji's room and get rid of them," Kori told the smaller ones. "You two stay in here, and don't leave unless me or one of our older siblings lets you. Promise me that no matter what you hear, you'll stay here and won't come out."
Maki nodded, still crying. Yuki shakily said "I promise." Kori shut the door tightly and ran off.
End flashback
"When she let them out later, she was covered in blood and holding Shinji's favorite baseball bat…the blood was not hers, though. I got home just then…" Megumi shuddered. "It was a wolf."
"A wolf?" Loki repeated, not incredulously, but with mild surprise.
"A wolf," Megumi concluded. "Kori had beat the creature half to death, and it could just barely move…it kept trying to bite us, especially Kori…she looked tired, not scared or anything, just tired, and the kids were horrified…she said there had been two, but one had left when it saw she had the bat.
"I've never seen a wolf that big before. I have no idea how Kori was strong enough to bash it so badly, or how it got into our fifth-story apartment through the window. We called animal control, but when they picked up the wolf, it suddenly seemed to get better. It ran into another room, a closed room, and…it vanished. The animal control men thought we were playing a prank on them…"
Loki looked deep in thought. He seemed to be trying to decide whether or not something was true. "You don't believe me," Megumi said wearily.
"Oh, no, I definitely believe you," Loki said sincerely. "I've just…heard of a similar case to this, and I'm trying to figure out whether the two are related." He smiled. "I hope I'm right, because that would mean this is an isolated incident and you won't have to worry about creatures coming into your house anymore."
"Really?!" Megumi asked, sounding terribly hopeful.
"I'll have to talk with Kori about the details of the incident, but I'm pretty sure that you're all safe now. If you wouldn't mind, could I go over to your house to talk to Kori personally? Accompanied by my assistant Yamino, of course."
"Yes, yes, you can come over!" Megumi said, extremely relived that there was a good chance she didn't have to worry anymore. "You can come over today, if you like! Shinji, Midori and Yuki have some friends over, but they won't cause any problems, they'll stay out of your way!"
"Well, if it's not too much trouble for you, then I'll come right now. Let me get my coat. Wait here for a few moments." Loki got up and left the room, immediately locating Yamino, who was working with Spica in the kitchen. He no longer smiled as he told them what he suspected about the wolves.
"You really think they were Odin's pets Geri and Freki?" Yamino asked, amazed. "But why would they attack an innocent girl? And how could she fend them off?"
"Because she must be a deity," Loki explained in the same tone Sherlock Holmes probably used when he said "Elementary, my dear Watson." He scowled to no one. "I have a good idea which one, too…"
"Master Loki?" Yamino said, concerned.
"Spica, I'd like you to stay here and keep safe, okay?" Loki suddenly instructed his wife among the giants. "Yamino is coming with me to help interview the other Hanabusas, but Fenrir will stay here in case Odin's using this to get me out of the house and attack you."
Spica nodded. Loki motioned for Yamino to come, and the two quickly went to get Loki's coat and go to Megumi's home.
((And so ends chappie numbah one. Oh, for those who might not know, 'Onee-chan' is a term that means big sister. Putting a more respectful honorific on it instead of –chan would obviously be more respectful, but Kori is the younger of Yuki and Maki's elder sisters, so it makes sense that they'd use an honorific attributed to younger girls. Can any of you guess who Kori really is, using that flashback for a clue?
Oh, and Geri and Freki are Odin's pet wolves. Their names both mean 'greedy.' Odin doesn't need to eat, so he feeds all his food to his wolves instead. So say the Norse myths, anyway. Unless I'm wrong and I got confused with the myths somewhere along the line.
Also, I took liberties with the scene where Vali is morphed…meaning that my small amount of research tells me that Vali's transformation did not occur in the palace that the gods lived in. It happened in the cave where Loki was bound to rocks immediately after (with the intestines of the younger brother Navri, which were turned into iron after tying Loki up). But I felt like it would make more of an impression if it happened with an audience, plus I wanted to foreshadow the arrival of a couple characters who appear later on (i.e. those girls). So, if any of you cares, be aware that I'm aware I'm not necessarily being true to the myth.
That's it, then. Until the next chapter, I bid you adieu! Read and review!))