Yamino could not, in all honesty, recall Loki-sama being in a fouler mood.

Of late, his father had been irritable, given to little bursts of temper, and curt with his words. Not to mention that he seemed somewhat jumpy; and then there was the strange habit he had developed of bringing out the scrying mirror the Norns had given him, then replacing it, unused, into the cupboard...

He paused outside the closed door of the trickster god's study, tea-tray in hand, and sighed. Truth be told, his father had been behaving rather unusually ever since he had returned to Asgard over half a year ago; and while he knew that it was partially because of his lingering attachment to Mayura-san, he thought - and hoped - that it was also a simple case of nerves. It's not everyday a god initiates Ragnarok, after all.

Now, when the whole matter was finished and closed, Yamino wasn't so sure that his diagnosis had been correct.

"Come in, Yamino-kun."

He braced himself; he had long learned to fear his father's wrath. In some ways, it could be worse than even Odin-sama's. Carefully, he turned the antique, burnished doorknob, and stepped into the room.

"Your tea, Loki-sama."

His father, busy scowling at a document, didn't bother to glance at him, but acknowledged his son's presence with a terse nod.

Yamino waited.

Eventually, when it became quite clear that he had no intention of leaving, Loki looked up and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Yes, Yamino-kun?"

His son fidgeted uneasily, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Finally, he lifted his head to face the god, and asked, "Is something wrong, Loki-sama?"

Loki smiled - an ominously calm sort of smile that had Yamino mentally retreating several feet - and answered, "Of course not, Yamino-kun. Whatever put such a thought into your head?"

Pulling himself together, the human-snake continued bravely, "Well... You seem a little... out-of-sorts."

The smile widened. "Really, now?"

If Jormungand had had been anything less than the trickster god's son, he would probably have turned and fled at that point. As it was, he was fairly sure that his father wouldn't do anything too permanent to him; and so, he gathered his flagging courage and plowed doggedly on.

"Actually... yes. And... you keep looking at that mirror the Norns gave you... Is something going to happen in Midgard?"

At the word, Loki's eyes glittered flintily, and Yamino really did fear for his life for those few seconds.

Finally, Loki sank back into his chair, and expelled a faint sigh of defeat. "As a matter of fact, yes. Mayura's... getting married." The last was said with an air of distaste, and a flatness which spoke eloquently of repressed emotion.

There was a stunned silence. Then, Yamino choked out the words. "Mayura-san?"

"... Yes."

"... I assume... that we aren't going to attend the festivities?"

Loki's emerald eyes flashed dangerously, and he stood abruptly. "No, we aren't."

Yamino managed to think, fleetingly, that he was quite insane to push his luck yet further, even as the question tumbled helplessly out of his mouth. "Why?"

"Because."

"Because?"

His father favored him with a glare. "You know the reason why, Yamino-kun."

He opened his mouth in protestation of his innocence, but shut it again. Luckily for him, Fenrir chose that precise instant to barrel straight into the room.

"Daddy!"

Loki smiled at his older son. "Hello, Fenrir."

Unluckily for him, Fenrir still hadn't learned to sense Loki's moods. Not very well, anyway.

"The mystery girl's getting married? Does that mean that," the dog's eyes sparkled soulfully, "we'll get to eat lots of cake? And meat? At her wedding?"

Loki's smile promptly vanished. "No, we won't."

The wolf which had struck terror into the hearts of the Aesir pouted petulantly. "Why not?"

Loki grated his words out. "Because we won't be going, Fenrir."

The puppy blinked quizzically. "We won't?"

The trickster god looked like he was getting a stress headache. "No, we won't. Now, would both of you please leave me alone for a while?"

Not even Fenrir was obtuse enough to miss a dismissal as fervent as that.

VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA

Loki waited till both of his children were out of the room, before dropping back into his chair with a frustrated groan.

He supposed he should be feeling guilty for taking his anger out on his children, but the only emotion he could manage at that moment was one of deep disgruntlement.

Damn, but he still hadn't forgotten the roiling jealousy and betrayal he had felt when Mayura had told him, so readily, that she was getting married. True, it wasn't as though he had actually promised her anything, or that anything explicit had ever passed between them, or that he would even be around to see her in her new, blissfully wedded state...

But still, the knowledge hurt, festering deep within him.

He had known that, one day, they would both suffer. It was the main reason why he had asked Verdandi to create something which would erase her memories of him, after all. If she didn't remember him anymore, she couldn't get hurt, and he... Well, he would miss her, but knowing that there was no going back would have helped, if but slightly.

And being the idiot he was, he hadn't given it to her.

He cursed internally.

Now, he was paying the price, and he knew he deserved it.

He let his head fall onto his table with a weak thud. When she had called for him the night before last, he had heard her as clearly as the clarion of a trumpet. For a brief instant, he had considered simply not responding; but he supposed that the least he owed her was an answer, and so he had.

He could hear the note of surprise in her voice when he had answered her call, and the fact that he had considered not responding - for however short a time - shamed him. She deserved better, so much more than a person who couldn't... wouldn't even give her a single promise. Yet, when she had spoken with such sweet longing for him in her tone, if not her words, a giddy rush of elation had coursed through him.

Which was exactly why, when she dropped the news of her impending marriage on him, it had felt like a dousing splash of ice-cold water in his face.

He lifted his head an inch from the table surface, then let it fall again.

I see. Do I have the honor of knowing the bridegroom?

If he did, the man's life would be a living hell for the next couple of months; Asgard months.

I congratulate you.

He wasn't the God of deception for nothing.

Is he good to you?

For her sake, he hoped that her choice of... spouse was good to her. For his own, he would be perfectly happy if she couldn't stand even being around her husband-to-be.

Then, her voice, so hesitant. So, are you all coming?

He had barely managed to keep from exploding then. Go to her wedding... So he could see Mayura and some faceless man cuddling and toasting to their marriage?

Gritting his teeth, he had gotten out an even refusal, and he could see her wilt on the other end. And he had wanted so badly to hold her tight, engagement or no engagement.

When he had ended the conversation, his voice under admirable control, he had addressed her by her family name. Something which he had never done, not even from the first time they had met.

Perhaps it had simply been an act of petty spite, to try to show her that he didn't care. Perhaps he had wanted to put more distance between them. Perhaps he had thought that by retaining formality, the pain would seem more... remote, somehow.

However it was, he knew it had wounded her. Just as it had wounded him.

He groaned again, the sound muffled by the varnished wood.

He had no right to her, had no claim on her, had given her nothing, not even his presence... And he was well aware of it. So what kind of selfish bastard was he to want her to remain faithful to him, when he refused to commit himself to her?

Six years; she had stayed free and unbound for six long years. Was it not enough?

And he knew the answer to that before the thought even completed itself.

But it was too late. Far too late for regrets, to want to do things all over again.

Drowning himself in a bathtub full of cold water was suddenly a very appealing idea, just then.

VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA

Meanwhile, even as the god indulged in some private moping in his personal space, his children and Ecchan were huddled together in a secluded room in their huge mansion.

It was Fenrir who first broke the silence.

"Daddy's got it bad."

And that single, solemn statement seemed to sum up the situation perfectly.

Yamino volunteered, "Yes, I think so, too."

The floating marshmallow of a shikigami nodded her head vigorously. "Loki-tama..."

They contemplated their plight for a while.

Again, Fenrir spoke up. (What were older siblings for, but to provide constructive insight during times of crisis?) "I think we need help."

"... The Norns?"

They looked at each other for a moment, before all three broke out into smiles.

"Agreed."

VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA

Later that day, when Sol was just casting her last rays over the pastures of Asgard, there was a crisp knocking on Loki's study door.

He raised his head bemusedly. "Come in."

To his surprise, in marched all three goddesses of fate; Urd looking enigmatic, Verdandi wearing an expression of sinister smugness, and Skuld dragging her feet behind her and looking extremely reluctant.

He smiled politely, although his eyes were questioning. "Welcome... And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Verdandi smiled innocently back at him. The smile which always made him feel like a favorite lab specimen being examined... Not that he would ever admit as much to anyone other than himself.

Suppressing a vague unease, he rose. "Is something the matter?"

Verdandi's smile grew, if possible, even more innocuous. "Loki-sama, do you think we could borrow the scrying mirror we gave you, just for a little while?"

Skuld added sulkily, "We need it to monitor the situation of a person on Midgard."

He eyed them with a certain suspicion. "A human, you say? Can you not scry using your own powers?"

"As a matter of fact, no. The person in question is rather heavily guarded by runes of a special sort, and we really need the additional assistance to be able to scry on this particular human." Urd interjected smoothly.

The explanation had come quickly; too quickly, in his opinion. His suspicion sharpened immediately into downright wariness... But since there was really no way he could refuse their request without calling their bluff, he walked over to the mantle place and - much against his better judgment - retrieved the precious mirror.

He turned, only to suffer a chill of foreboding down his spine when he saw the Norns appraising him in an almost predatory fashion. Fighting down a sense of impending doom, he smiled in his most winning manner.

"Yes?"

Urd swept forward sedately, and he pushed down a craven urge to flee.

Placing her hand on the glass, she offered him a cheerful smile. "Think of this as a... reward, Loki-sama."

There was a brief wrenching of realities, and his last, wild thought as he sank inexorably into the darkness was...

Someone. is going to. PAY.

VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA

Authoress : This is the sequel I mentioned in Sayonara. Now, before I disappoint anyone of you, I shall lay down a few ground rules.

1) I will not be dealing with Ragnarok. This is simply because I will have another fic centering around it, and it's so boring writing the same thing twice, ne? Just take it as... uhh... Loki somehow managed to resolve the issue, ok/twiddles her thumbs/

2) I'm not particularly worried about trifling details like money, since the anime isn't, either.

3) This fic is /nothing/ but sap. It's about Loki, and Mayura, and precious little else. In other words, don't expect much... uhh... logic. /smiles sheepishly/

4) Yes, I will introduce Mayura's fiancé. Yes, he will be my own character. No, I won't go in-depth with his career/personality/etc. Same for Mayura. I might do a side-story sort of thing involving them, though.

And that's about it. Please, I welcome any kind of critique at all, although I love praise, too. /wags tail and sparkles/ Review? Please?

Disclaimer : Matantei Loki Ragnarok and its characters do not belong to me.