Time seemed to slow down as the people in the room acknowledged the words that came out of Loki's mouth. Odin merely squeezed Frigga's hand more tightly while Loki looked in angered confusion at the small irresponsive crowd.

"So? Why are you all standing there?" Loki said, eyeing the guards with contempt. "Shouldn't all the palace's men be looking for the responsible for such a foul attack?"

The guards surrounding the Alfather tensed and looked at the King, awaiting orders; as he turned around and gave a short nod, the guards ran out of the healing ward while the servants in the room looked at the King as if eagerly awaiting similar dismiss and not be forced to tend to whatever madness seemed to be plaguing the crown's black thorn. For all they cared, Loki was merely playing the fool in order to gain from it – getting rid of the stitches might very well have just been the beginning, and it had been terrifyingly easy for him to trick his family into going against their own decision.

One thing they could all agree on. Loki was a fantastic actor.

"Loki, you are not making sense. Do you feel unwell?" Thor moved closer and looked into Loki's annoyed expression with deep confusion.

"I seem to be physically well, yes, but this is beyond outraging, and you seem to be acting like idiots. I—"

"Loki." Odin's voice echoed, "We are glad to find you unhurt. I am sure we can have more private words now."

Jolting back to awareness, the healing staff left the room as silently as possible and closed the door behind them. Loki rubbed at his jaw once more and held his mother's gaze, frowning.

"Mother, don't look so upset. I am unharmed now."

Thor's mouth opened for a new remark but he was cut off by Frigga, who detached her hand from Odin's and ran to Loki's side, holding his face with a barely contained delighted smile and ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I'm glad. I'm so glad..."

Loki frowned once more but ultimately placed one of his hands on top of hers and let out a small smile of his own. "I am outraged, nothing more. It will pass. As soon as those responsible for this treason are punished."

Watching the scene unfold before him made Thor snap his mouth shut and heavily rub a hand on his eyes before standing and approaching Odin. "What has become of him, Father? What is the meaning of this?" The pain in Odin's eye scared him more than he would ever admit.

"Your brother has fallen prey to a memory charm. A very powerful one, for that matter. I am appalled he has not forgotten who he is entirely; we should consider ourselves very lucky."

By the bed, Frigga was now holding a surprised but mellowed Loki. Thor struggled to keep his tone as low as possible. "I saw it in his eyes - Loki was not lying, I know it! Who did this to him? How did such a vile act occur between these walls?" When Odin failed to reply, Thor gave a sharp exclamation, causing Loki and Frigga to look up. "But of course! The nectar! I briefly thought it strange that its colour was darker and Loki's mouth was still stained with it. We must have the serving maidens questioned at once!"

Odin placed a hand on his shoulder, "My son, we will have words in private, I am sure your brother needs rest and your mother…" His eye slowly moved to Frigga who looked vaguely defiant and tightened her fingers around Loki's hand, "must surely want to stay with him for a moment. Come."

Certain of his father's intention to plan the search for Loki's attacker, Thor offered his brother a pained smile and followed Odin out of the room and into the royal scriptorium.

"What will be our course of action, father?"

"Thor, please sit down, I must tell you something important."

"We have not the time! The traitor might still be in the citadel, we must make haste!"

"There is no traitor."

Thor froze. "What does that mean 'no traitor'? Surely someone has poisoned Loki."

Odin slowly moved behind his sumptuous writing desk and paused for a moment before trailing a hand on the back of his chair. "I fear that is correct. But what drove the culprit is far more dangerous than hatred."

"I do not understand."

"Love,." Odin muttered "It was your mother who gave Loki the enchanted drink."

"Mother? But… but why?

"Despair… Hope that he would simply forget all that's past and we could move on like nothing ever happened… Who knows? I imagine things must have looked so desperate to her to motivate such injustice."

Thor allowed himself a moment of silence as everything pieced together in his mind. "I… certainly the situation was bitter on us all, but this, this is madness, Loki would never consent to this were he aware!"

"Your mother acted behind our backs and I have had words with her, she remains adamant as to her motivations, we have never seen eye to eye on the matter of my judgment." He raised his gaze to his son, whose response came to no surprise.

"Nor have I. But toying with Loki's memory like this is aberrant; we must find a way to undo this."

"We must consider ourselves very lucky your brother does not seem to have lost much… the blood of the ravens might have proven powerful enough to efface his entire conscience… But to restore his memory now is, I fear, beyond my powers. To distort magical or physical matter is one thing but to meddle with a man's memories is dark territory."

"That is all?" Thor held up his arms in disbelief, "The matter is stored away with not so much as an attempt? Should we just pretend the past two years did not happen? I refuse to do that."

"Your mother seems to hope so, and I must say that now that the choice is put before us it seems painfully simple to do precisely that. A chance to erase what was wronged and go forward."

"Father-!"

"I know, Thor, I know. Only a fool would expect things to work this way. This was a mistake and it must be remedied as soon as possible but we must take caution – simply informing Loki of what has happened is sure to provoke him to disbelief or renewed madness."

"So your rule on Loki's crimes…?"

"The purpose of the bonding is no longer but this does not change my decision as to Loki's magick", Odin sighed, "A criminal remains as such even if he is unaware of his deeds."

Thor bowed his head "A just decision. I shall go to Loki at once; it is unwise to leave him to his own mind at the moment." At his father's nod, Thor left the scriptorium and made his way back to the healing ward, ignoring all those who tried to intercept him on his way – the news had travelled fast and the trickster's "new memory act" was already talked about in every corner of the palace.

Loki's room was still empty but for Frigga and Loki himself who was alternating between comforting his mother and confused annoyance at the entire situation. When the door swung open, Loki looked at Thor's too-neutral expression with a frown, "Well? As the criminal been found?"

Thor had only time to catch his mother's small pleading look before Loki was inquiring him again in a louder manner. In a split second, he let out the first thing to come to his head, "I'm afraid searches have proven unsuccessful so far."

Frigga seemed to mask her surprise by wiping briefly at her eyes but Loki was unimpressed, "Should you not be searching as well? You don't seem too disquieted yourself, to have a son of Odin attacked in the very palace is simply—"

"Worry not, brother, the culprit shall be taken care of in good time, I promise you. You should rest."

"I have rested quite enough, I think," Loki replied impatiently, nudging his mother into standing and pulling himself into an upright position in his bed. "I shall do my own research and set this matter aside at once."

Thor and Frigga exchanged a panicked look and Frigga placed a hand on Loki's wrist, stopping him from rising. "You have just suffered… an attack, Loki, your brother is in the right - you'd do well to rest."

Loki jerked his arm impatiently and swung his legs off the side of the bed "I appreciate all this concern but I feel mostly fine. Plus I should expect no results if I am to trust father's search parties; my knowledge in magick will prove much more fruitful."

"But—"

"I agree, mother" Thor interrupted, "If there was magick involved, who better to clarify this than Loki himself?" His eyes flashed with reproach and Frigga consented nervously to let go of Loki's arm.

Loki gave Thor a thankful short nod and turned to leave the room, swaying ever so slightly but refusing to meet Frigga's worried gaze once more. Thor spared his mother one last unhappy look and followed his brother out, dreading the uncomfortable silence but not knowing what to say without betraying his thoughts.

"Are you truly well?"

Loki glanced at him over his shoulder "As I said I am unharmed now, but this entire situation has been most unpleasant and incomprehensible. I will have to make sure the culprit regrets this until his final days."

They walked the remaining distance to Loki's chambers in silence. To Thor's surprise, the place was guarded by two members of Odin's personal guard. Loki looked at them in what appeared to be approval before turning to his brother, "Extra vigilance should be unnecessary, I will be more aware from now on." He paused, "Thank you for ridding me of those... bonds, whatever they might have been, I shall start my research at once." When Thor failed to move, he frowned. "No need to treat me like a child, Thor, I am perfectly safe now."

Unable to come up with a better excuse not to part with his brother, Thor uttered the first thing to come to his mind, "I thought you might want to join me for a walk in the gardens. Surely an hour won't kill your research and might do you some good to breathe the fresh air." Loki sighed. "You cannot blame us for being concerned. I merely wish to make sure you are fully recovered."

"Very well, if it will get you all to stop lecturing me, so be it."

Entering his room to be rid of his spoiled garments, Loki noticed how the space was impeccable, it hardly seemed lived on... except for his large framed mirror which was nowhere to be seen. He searched the closet for clothes and there too everything was kept pristine and impersonal. The whole area gave off an empty feeling that had Loki pause for a couple of seconds before making a mental note to inquire about the last servant to clean his chambers and whatever had happened to the mirror. Approaching his desk, Loki looked down on the neatly arranged pile of History books on top of a number of notes and random papers; he moved the books aside and reached for the first page.

Links and Bonds of the Nine Realms

Transpositions between worlds have been a myth for millennia as far as the lower realms are concerned, Asgard of the Aesir being the only kingdom in possession of a link through which travel is-

Loki's eyes roamed lower

-the use of dark magick to access other realms and dimensions is a topic of relentless study. It is commonly accepted that only beings of ethereal core are capable of forcefully breaching the wall between worlds but such has not been documented for over eight-hundred aesir ages.

The topic was not completely alien to Loki, but the presence of such notes in his study, made by his own hand were an event hard to place.

Outside, a loud noise of impatience was heard. Loki rolled his eyes - His questions would have to wait.

Scarce minutes later, Loki stood outside his chambers to meet a ridiculous anxious Thor. "What is it with you? I said I'm fine, this is becoming ludicrous."

"Ignore my worry if you so prefer but allow me the right to it." Came the solemn response.

Shrugging lightly, Loki followed his brother into the Palace's gardens - a vast outdoors space fashioned into a maze of all kinds of botanic species which grew little above its visitors' waistline. The once vivid and striking vegetation was now greyish and blurred, along with the slowly collapsing skies. Thor led Loki through one of the many possible paths and walked side-by-side to him. This was the first time Loki was led to see the natural chaos under which Asgard was decaying and so far he had refrained from commenting on it, much to Thor's surprise.

"I do not recall a phenomenon such as this in my lifetime. What is known of this so far?" He finally asked.

"Not much. Father has the whole court researching these effects while I myself have tried to make sense of this... strange lightning that weights the air but with little to no result."

"Tell me," said Loki, voice suddenly smooth, "For how long was I unconscious?"

"I- I would say not long."

"I should have known better than to expect a useful reply."

"Why do you ask?"

Loki slowed the pace as they approached one of the many long stone benches in the area. "Apart from the obvious fact that Asgard was in a healthy state last I remember it, which I assume did not happen overnight, my chambers seem most strange." He sat down and Thor mimicked him. "The mirror in front of the bed is missing and the whole room appears far too devoid of any presence. One would say it hasn't been inhabited in months."

Thor swallowed dryly. The past months had seen Loki put little to no use to anything in his chambers besides the bed itself and those History books he suddenly had seemed so keen on. By the King's orders the chambers were searched and cleaned into a state of almost sterile default order. "I'm sure it was but a matter of search for evidence. Then some serving girl must have cleaned your chambers."

Loki did not seem convinced. "And the mirror?"

"Broken in the guards' rush." He took a small private moment to feel proud of his quick reply. Loki's sigh was indication that he was willing to let the matter slide for now.

Silence fell between them once more. Thor was beginning to allow a sense of ease to crawl into him until Loki perked up suddenly. "It surprises me to see you so intent in my well being, brother." He said with the barest grin.

Loki's expression and too familiar mocking tone made Thor uncomfortable and, for a fragment of a second, fearful. "I don't understand."

Loki grinned harder and gestured at the darkening sky above them, "With your coronation coming in such few number of weeks I was certain your mind would be put to more important matters." When no reply came, Loki turned to look at Thor with a frown, meeting a distant gaze which on any other would have transpired... sadness. But Thor, the soon to be mighty King of Asgard had not been one to should sadness in decades. Loki was shaken "What is the matter?"

"The coronation holds no value to me as it is." By his side, Loki's eyes widened. "It is not a matter I wish to discuss."

"B-but, how so?" Loki hated himself for stammering, "Have you not spoken of nothing else in the past years? What made your mind change so?" This was impossible. It made no sense, all his plans, all his study and preparation for the great day, surely nothing would have changed his arrogant brother's mind.

Thor finally turned to face him and his expression was unreadable once again. This close and with no distractions Loki took on a number of things - Thor's hair was longer, his eyes seemed less bright and the lines on his face deeper. Being unreadable was something Thor had never been to Loki; Loki prided himself on being able to read his brother better than anyone and therefore use it to his advantage. This was not the brother he had mocked during his sparing session what seemed merely two days ago.

Loki quickly stood up and put two paces between them. "What is this? This is not right and now I am certain of it. Tell me the truth, what is the meaning of all this, what has happened? To me or to all around me."

Thor attempted to study his brother's expression - he too was facing surprise in regard to the other - Loki being confused and demanding an explanation from one other than himself was not how things were supposed to work. For a moment he bitterly regretted not forcing his father into forming a plan of action.

He sighed. "My apologies, I would be so shrewd to see you would not fall for a lie... The time that has passed since you last had awareness was longer than you sense it."

"But what of the sewing on my lips?" Loki's voice rose, "If I have been under your care for longer than mere hours why were those blasted strings not removed at once?"

Thor struggled for words before looking at his lap where his hands rested tense on his knees. "We did not know what effect removing them would have. As soon as I sensed you awake and in panic I took care of them myself." Why, why must we bury ourselves under more lies? I should tell him. Tell him everything and trust him.

"I... I see. It seems fair enough." He relaxed his stance but did not move to rejoin Thor on the bench. "I think perhaps we have overdue our welcome here and I suddenly find myself weary, we'd do well to retire ourselves for the night."

Loki's voice was tightly blank and Thor picked up the lie easily but saw no reason to begrudge Loki his need for privacy, although giving him said privacy sounded like the most dangerous of possibilities at the moment. "We will do as you wish, I apologise for putting you through further strain, brother."

Loki brushed aside his apology, his face all composed neutrality once more. "I wish only to rest. I will see to this matter in the morning."

Once alone in his chambers, Loki set to the task of trying to piece together the new information he had just obtained. Thor's dismissal of the coronation subject had been a sharp blow on his confidence and one he was still planning on researching further. How long could he have been unconscious to move Thor into not caring about his oh-so anticipated day of glory? Something else must have happened in the meanwhile, he would have to work his way around Thor's idiotic friends to fill in the gaps in his memory. What he had planned to bring his brother's arrogance down a considerable notch had to be postponed or maybe even cancelled; and here he had been so thrilled to set this scheme running...

But first...

He moved to the writing desk, making a point to dig deeper in his notes in hope they might trigger what he was missing. He surely did not remember studying Dimension Breaching out of mere curiosity although the topic had once or twice arose his curiosity in the past but such thorough research was cause for something else. Loki stored the papers in one of the desk's drawers and looked around once more, his eye catching the way all his trinkets and small magick objects were now neatly stored on the shelves next to the desk. He reached for one of his most beloved possessions - a glass globe containing a spark of gravitational magick inside - his first successful attempt at storing magickal essence, attained when he was still but an eager beginner in the arts of enchantment; the object was hardly menacing and its power was feeble at best but it was a reminder of how much he had evolved since the time when this small globe was capable of making Thor's eye widen in admiration and maybe the barest hint of intimidation, making all those times Loki was ignored in favour of his brother's quickly improving skill in battle and charisma seem insignificant in comparison, especially since Thor himself never thought his abilities too impressive when compared to his younger brother's enigmatic usage of magick. Loki was very fond of such memories.

He moved the globe in his hand, motivating it into reacting to the magick in his touch...

Thor's steps were slow and heavy as he made his way to his own room, the vaguely distant sound of familiar voices doing little to improve his spirits but he approached said sounds regardless to find the warriors three and Sif near his chambers' door.

"Thor! We came to find you as soon as we heard." Sif said, as all of them moved to circle Thor in the corridor. As Thor nodded, she and the others frowned. "Is everything well? We've heard but rumours speaking of an attack on Loki but I see no patrols searching; has the attacker been identified already?"

"The attack was but an unfortunate accident and the matter is taken cared of, my friends, you need not worry. I can say Loki is unarmed and that's all which matters."

Fandral and Sif eyed Thor's dark expression with curiosity while Hogun remained composed and Volstagg tried for a reassuring smiled. "But what happened? Did someone breach the Palace's guard? How did they reach Loki unnoticed?" Fandral asked.

Thor paused for a long moment before deciding it useless to further mask the issue; he would need his friends' cooperation after all. "This was the work of my mother."

"The Queen? But we were told-"

"It matters not what you were told, I am giving you the truth and that I trust you to keep for me, especially from Loki."

"Why would your mother poison Loki- it was poison, as we heard? Why would she do anything like this? She's been devastated ever since Loki came back to Asgard, my poor Queen." said Volstagg in an undignified boom.

Thor sighed and moved a hand to his forehead, rubbing against the latent pressure hammering at his temples. "Let us in, we'd do well to speak more privately." He gestured his friends inside the chambers and followed, firmly shutting the door behind him.

As soon as he turned back to the warriors, questions started raining and Thor held his hands up, "Please, my friends, I have had a long day and wish for no further turmoil. Allow me to speak and I shall explain everything."

Keeping the facts simple, Thor went through his version of the events in the past hours - or, at least, what he was let aware of so far - noticing how his friends' faces tightened when he mentioned having removed Loki's stitches with little hesitation, Thor chose to spare them any reproach; he knew the warriors had cause to doubt Loki's actions and was willing to allow them, and Loki himself, the time to be free of such doubts.

As soon as the narrative was over, the room was silent but for the wheezing of Volstagg's expectant hard breathing. "So you ask us to play this game as ignorant fools? Loki is to simply be allowed to blend back into Asgard as if nothing happened? You cannot be serious!"

Sif ran to his aid "The way Volstagg puts it might be harsh but he is honest in essence, Thor. Is this the Alfather's rule? Such a thing cannot be wise, surely you see it too."

"I see but the chance to start over, such as my mother must have when she took action. But I am no fool to think two years plagued by so much chaos can simply be erased from our minds and much less that Loki would let himself embrace whatever tale we might tell him. No, I will tell him the truth, eventually, and we shall deal with the matter as we should have the first time around."

"What about his magick?" Sif asked "Does he-"

"My father's decision remains. Loki is stripped of all his magick for as long as he is to be punished for his actions in Midgard."

Hogun spoke up for the first time, "How will you tell Loki the truth? It was the truth that drove him into insanity in the first place."

"That I do not know yet. But I will soon meet with the Alfather and form a plan of action before further damage is caused to any of us."

"Who is to say he won't go down the same path again?" Fandral asked.

"That will not happen. My brother has one thing he did not have the first time."

Fandral raised an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

Thor let through the first smile his friends had seen on him for months, "Me."

Under promise of keeping ignorant silence around Loki, the warriors exited Thor's chambers, who accompanied them to the door, overall feeling in a much better mood - assuring himself aloud had put things in a positive perspective for him and the sense of despair of the past few hours now seemed petty - everything was sure to work for the best.

"I still think Volstagg will fall on his own tongue the first time he opens his mouth around Loki" Fandral teased on their way out.

They all shared a brief laugh at Volstagg's protests before a massive crashing sound echoed through the hall, followed by the slightest undulation of the grounds' footing.

Immediately alert, they all ran towards the sound, a number of guards joining them from several directions. The agitation led back to Loki's bedchambers, where one of the guards was already forcing the door as no reply came from within. Thor ran to the man and pushed him aside, delivering a final blow to the door, which blasted open to reveal a scene that made Thor's heart freeze in place.

Loki was near the bed, his back forming a trembling arch that rose up and down with the force of his ragged breathing. All around him were shatters of glass and a foot-deep depression on the ground forming a circular cavity; his hand, clenched in front of his chest as if in a paralyzed fit, bled heavily from the spots where the glass had penetrated the flesh.

"Loki!"

Loki turned slowly to face Thor, who had not yet dared to move further than the doorway. Being able to now see his face, a small part of Thor wished he could not - Loki's eyes were wild once more but unlike his look of terror upon waking up, this was an expression of anger, pure anger and shock. His teeth were gritted and his neck throbbed deeply with each rapid breath he forced in and out.

"Loki, what-"

"My- magick," Came the raspy voice "My magick."

Thor took a step closer, raising a hand towards Loki in what he hoped was a reassuring manner "Loki, please just-"

"MY MAGICK!" Loki yelled, tears of rage welling up in his eyes. "MY MAGICK IS GONE! I CANNOT DO THE SMALLEST THING! IT'S LEFT ME!" His eyes unfocused only to focus back on the small crowd of people behind Thor. "BEGONE, ALL OF YOU! HAVE YOU NOT BEEN ENTERTAINED ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY?!" As Thor ran to him, Loki unclenched his wounded hand and his voice broke down between dry sobs. "It is all wrong, this is all wrong, what is happening?" Thor gathered his rigid form into his arms and Loki moved his hand to squeeze at Thor's bare arm, the glass digging between them "You are all lying this is not possible, you lied, someone did this to me, someone did this to me, my magick— all I had, my magick—" As his tone finally gave way to a string of senseless murmuring, Loki's body shut down as well and he fell boneless into Thor's embrace, burring his face into his brother's hair and forcing his mind into peaceful numbness.