Chapter 97: Loki (V)

"Unsurprisingly ruthless and moronic, how would you have gotten to Asgard if that was the real me?" Loki’s voice echoed from the surroundings with a small chuckle. "Did I take after my mother, perhaps?"

"Silence." Laufey sent out a wave of icicles around him.

The sharp shards of ice clawed through the blackened earth and drove through rocky walls around him as half of his soldiers barely dodged. Those that couldn’t were sliced to bits.

But through it all, Loki continued to laugh at the destruction.

As the heavy dust settled, Laufey or any of his leftover elites were still unable to locate Loki.

"Do you think going against me is wise?"

"Definitely not. What will I do if you destroy Jotunheim out of anger?" Loki materialized a distance from them.

And a wave of ice froze him; at least that was what it appeared like, since he reappeared on the highest point of the wave, standing leisurely. He had the royal attire, the horned crown, and Gungnir in his hand.

"The All Father needs you alive for some reason, and I cannot allow you to kill him." Loki looked down at Laufey with a small smirk. "My mother... she would be heartbroken if that happens."

"Ridiculous. You do not have the means to stop me." Laufey growled.

"Keep thinking that; it’s better for me." Loki shrugged.

He wasn’t the type to storm the enemy territory; that was more up Thor’s alley. Loki had another way of dealing with Laufey, and the entire Jotunheim if he needed to do it.

’Let’s never cross paths again.’ Loki, hidden under the veil of transparency, glanced at the angry Laufey in the distance.

After a light stretch, he jumped down from the tall throne of Jotunheim and walked to the path he used to travel between the nine realms to stay out of Heimdall’s eyes.

But he wasn’t returning to Asgard just yet. His first stop was Vanaheim, or more specifically the Lifsvatn. It was a healing spring that he had found here while studying magic under Frigga, or more like rediscovered it.

The place had become a bit of a legend and was lost in records. His mother had asked him to look for it as a test, and since then it had become a secret place only for the two of them.

Even now, only small animals walked the beaten path carpeted by the thick, lush grass.

Loki moved through the winding, moss-covered trees to arrive at the pool of creamy white water curtained under heavy fog. Even if his mother had most likely seen through the illusion sitting on his face, there was no need to worry her further.

So, before returning to Asgard, Loki had to make himself look presentable at least. And there was still more he had to unwind.

Even as he took off his coat, Loki still wondered about where he stood on the line. He didn’t have any attachment to Laufey; if need be, he could kill that man where he stood.

He still didn’t know what to feel about All Father and his decision to hide all this, but it didn’t seem that important any longer.

For Thor, he only felt a sense of obligation. Even if he didn’t want that trust, once he knew it existed, there was no going back from it.

But there was one thing clear to him: he had a reason to stay in Asgard. It didn’t matter even if he wasn’t the prince of Asgard, or had any right to the throne.

It didn’t even matter if everyone there didn’t welcome him. As long as his mother was there, he would be too.

’These are things that I shall not worry about any longer.’ Loki dove into the water with a splash.

The familiar warm water rushed in, washing over his skin and seeping in as he sank like a piece of lead. The moment he reached the deep end of the pool, Loki closed his eyes.

He had been alive for a decent amount of time, but among all his memories, there were some that he could clearly recall as if they had happened yesterday.

And most of them had his mother, Frigga.

One of them was made at this very place when he brought her around after discovering the pool. And at that time, he wasn’t the prince, a frost giant, or whatever label anyone had put on him.

In those memories, there was just Loki.

He wanted to know what the real Loki was like beneath all these layers of falsehoods and tricks. He wasn’t sure what he would find at the end of this road, but Loki knew where to start at least.

’Let’s start from the beginning... The first mask I wore after birth...’ Loki thought back on his childhood.

He had spent most of that not even knowing that he had worn that mask. And the first time it came off was in this pool when he came with Frigga.

Thinking about the panic he fell into that day and the warm hug that melted all his worries, Loki couldn’t help but remember those words again.

"No matter what happens, you will always be my child."

Those were the words of his mother, and if he had just been able to walk into that chamber for real. Maybe, just maybe, this memory would’ve resurfaced sooner.

Inside the warm pool, Loki began to strip away each layer of his body.

Acting king of Asgard.

Prince of Asgard.

Discarded Prince of Jotunheim.

Trickster.

Thor’s brother.

Odin’s son.

Little by little, it all came off as he arrived at the last layer, or the first one. The mask he had worn the moment after birth, the moment he was left behind in that temple. The moment he saw the children the Jotuns took with them.

His body started to become itchy as the warm feeling settled in his belly. A warm flow from the depth of the pool elevated Loki to the surface; his hair started to grow out.

A faint green glow spread across his body. His shoulders narrowed. His frame became leaner.

The lines of his face softened, cheekbones shifted subtly as his jaw narrowed.

Water flowed around the new curves of his chest and the emptiness beneath his thighs. At last, Loki resurfaced, slicking the silky black hair back as the glow finally faded.

The clear eyes looked at the mirror-like surface of the pool. She slowly raised one hand to her face; the slender fingers traced her cheek, her jaw, and her pink lips.

Born a female, she had donned the male mask on instinct when she saw the male offspring the Frost Giants took with them.

And the male form was useful since Odin had picked her up in that form, but this form truly made her feel light and cozy.

After all, beneath all those layers, this was Loki in its essence. The only person who knew of this was Frigga, as everyone else already knew her ability to shapeshift.

Loki rarely shifted into this form over the years since she was too busy playing the prince of Asgard Odin wanted.

But it didn’t matter what anyone else wanted at this point; there was no need to put up another mask anymore. If she did that, it would all go back to square one.

At this moment, she only had one person in her mind right now; no, it would be apt to say there were two. First was obviously Frigga; as for the second one, it was the one who had constantly nudged her to this conclusion without once showing his face.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for these books messing with her mind, she would’ve solved her crisis much sooner.

’But maybe it would’ve been much different from this... maybe a bit more destructive...’ Loki raised her hand and the copy of Pluto flew out of her coat, snugly fitting into her fair palm.

It was the fluffed-up volume one that she had read enough to draw it by memory. And now that she read it with a clear mind, a small smile appeared on her lips.

North No.2, the struggle between the human and robot side, the advanced robots caught in that struggle, and how these robots met their ends.

It felt so directly connected to her that it wasn’t even funny.

There was no way a normal Midgardian had written something like this randomly, and there was no way it had just got into her hand at the perfect time.

’There’s more to this writer than meets the eye.’ Loki still couldn’t find any enchantment on it, and it was really frustrating.

But there was something she knew for sure. Even if it irked her how a Midgardian’s idle scratchings had consumed so much of her attention and were the driving force of her change, there was a novel feeling about this irritation.

"I will find you, and I will put your mind and body through the same torment you have made me feel." With a smirk, Loki traced the author’s name on the cover. She couldn’t wait for the day she got her hands on him.

"You will feel every bit of it." As the soft voice blended in with the chirping of a small bird, she placed her crossed hands on the pool’s edge and rested her chin on her lithe arms.

Enjoying the relaxing bath that scrubbed away the fatigue and confusion from her mind, Loki looked forward to the reaction of this pompous writer when his day of reckoning came.

And just like that, Loki had set her sights on Midgard, determined to uncover the one who had been on her mind for days.

...

Yo.

I am sure some of you, or maybe a lot of you, have questions right now.

If you want answers, I have hidden them all over the Chapters. If you want them, find them.

jk.

What did you guys think of that? Pretty crazy, right?

If you want a bit more context, this is not the MCU(the sacred)timeline. I am sure that was pretty obvious, but it saying it clearly in case there is that one reader who doesn’t know.

So this is a different version of Loki. The MCU Loki was unable to use physical transformation at birth. I dipped a bit into Norse myth for that, and we all know that Lady Loki is a thing.

It would be a lie to say I am not worried about how you guys would feel about this, but I’ll just say it wasn’t a random decision. I had sort of had it in mind since I started the Loki arc.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, Lady Loki is fine as fuck, but that isn’t the only reason for this change. It isn’t Male Loki turning female; it has been Female Loki playing the prince this whole time.

That’s why I even had her as the cover; well, most of y’all thought I was trolling you guys.

Needless to say, she will be interacting with John, and you know where that could lead. I feel like these two will have an interesting dynamic, and I wanna write it too.

But I am aware that this could make some readers leave.

If any of you do end up leaving, thank you for reading up until this point.

To those who are staying, the next arc is going to be a long one with John. So, I hope you all enjoy that, since we haven’t had much time with him for a while.

Also, just know that there won’t be any genderbending in this fic. Some may still see this as genderbending, but it is what it is atp.

I can’t wait to see the confused comments of the readers who are skipping Chapters right now.

Did I pull this twist just to fuck with them? Mayhaps?

We’ll find out in the next episode of Dragon ball.

I am sure you guys remember the drill and the powerstone goal by now.

2.5k stones. Get cracking.