#` ✦ ʜᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆༄ ⋆.◦◝ ( v003. )

[seidrborn]

SOMETIMES  ON  COLD  NIGHTS  like this one,  the fearsome trickster god loki can be caught  singing  in  the  language  that  asgard  gave  to  midgard.     if ever caught,  he will  DENY  IT  outright :    do you have the balls to approach him about it when he looks so  lonely?

“  þat  mælti  mín  móðir :    at  mér  skyldi  kaupa      fley  ok  fagrar  árar      fara  á  brott  með  víkingum,   fara  á  brott  með  víkingum.      standa  upp  í  stafni,   stýra  dýrum  knerri      halda  svá  til  hafnar      höggva  mann  ok  annan,   höggva  mann  ok  annan.  ”

[seidrborn]

MOTHER  NATURE​.

         𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐒 not kind. she cannot afford to be in an existence scarred by fate time and time again, for it seems each time the goddess has glimpsed into something akin to happiness, it is ripped from her trembling hands. no more, she vows, each time with increasing desperation. but each time, her loneliness increases. and her hope, however small, however weak, continues to seed itself at the pit of her stomach.

           the child seraphina pitchiner refuses to die, no matter how much the goddess tries to strangle her. and as loki’s magic weaves its way through her gown, there is a brief glimpse of her in wide, golden eyes. it lasts only for a heartbeat. even less. and perhaps even then, it is a trick of the ever dimming light on the horizon. someone that is amazed at such kindness. confused as to the reason. 

          but the verdancy restored to her gown is immediately rejected by her own magic. confusion leaves her, for it isn’t kindness – there is no such thing. and so like a ripple through ocean water, the green of her dress dies. the earth mother is now draped in brown and in black, in the winter death of an otherwise fertile summer. 

         ‘ a secret is safe with you until it is useful, ’ she spits, her sharp canines flashing in the twilight. such a habit is something she knows with immediate intimacy, for she is a distant goddess who says little but watches closely. to behold it another, however, fills her with a particular disgust – such hypocrisy the earth goddess displays! ‘ the fact that you would take me for such a fool is insulting. ’

         and thus despite the agony coursing through her nerves, she straightens with all the stubborn regality of the queen that she is. ‘ get to your point. what favor do you ask of me? ’

“  &  WHOM  WOULD  I  TELL  your secret to?  ”     loki huffs,  feigning hurt.     “  gaia?     emesh?     thor?     my dear lady nature,  you forget that the amount of deities that  HEED  MY  WORDS  grows smaller with each passing day.     asgard has forsaken me altogether in spite of my determination to turn over a new leaf,  so indeed  your  secret  is  safe  with  me.  ”

again he ducks his head,  hands clasped primly behind his back,  green eyes low & almost ... SUBMISSIVE.     can the æsir’s great calumniator truly bend to  any  god or goddess?     indeed he needs a favor from her,  but … is it truly worth the risk of her ire to ask?

“  i must confess that in spite of my ... TRUE  PARENTAGE ... i find myself unable to control the  powers  that i have inherited from them,  ”     he explains slowly,  taking the time to choose his words more carefully than usual.     mother nature is a humbling goddess to be near,  & she is  SURELY  not as forgiving as some of the others he has charmed.     “  my inner chill damages the things that i hold dear when i am … not  myself.     is there any spirit in this realm that might teach me how to control the icy storm within my heart?  ”

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @materxnatura​༄ ⋆.◦◝   ( ought  not  to  look  when  the  most  volatile  of  gods  is  walking  alone  in  the  snowy  wood )

“   EK  MAN  EFTIR  FIMBULVETR      þá  drífr  snær  ór  öllum  áttum,      frost  mikil  ok  vindar  hvassir      at  vetr  sá  kemr.  ”

[seidrborn]

‘  you’re injured. let me take care of you.  ’ ———@lcsthings​   (  AMALTHEA!  ).     (  FROM.  )

HE  IS  NO  STRANGER  TO  PAIN,   but that doesn’t mean loki  enjoys  it.     fingers splay against his damaged shoulder as he stumbles blindly through the forest,  the sinister night encroaching around him.     his throat still  THROBS,   especially when he swallows against the taste of blood in his mouth,  the echoes of a coughing fit that had turned his teeth red.

loki  runs.     it’s all that he can do.     his seiðr levels are so low that he cannot even heal himself,  so once he’s exhausted & the night has closed in on the woods,  he  COLLAPSES  beside a babbling stream.     his chest heaves,  his usually sharp green eyes dulled with pain & blood loss.     what world is this?     how  much  longer  can  he  avoid  the  inevitable?

——then,  like a silvery mist,  a gentle voice descends upon his senses & bids them to cease their panic.

‘  you’re  injured.     let  me  take  care  of  you.  ’

mischief groans,  struggling to raise his head.     “  ... is this some sort of trick?  ”

[seidrborn]

‘  how wonderful i am at making a mess.  ’ ———@symbiiotic​.     (  FROM.  )

PITY  IS  NOT  EASILY  OFFERED  by a creature such as  loki.     he presses his lips together tightly as something  painful  flickers through his eyes at that statement,  his guts flayed open for the briefest of moments to allow another being to glimpse just how much the mischief god has suffered in his years ;    but he stitches himself up quickly & without a word,  that pain buttoned away for more  PRIVATE  PONDERING.

“  fret  not,  ”     the great liar says evenly,  turning knowing eyes onto his ... admittedly  STRANGE  companion.     “  for you are in  like  company.     have you learned to  EMBRACE  IT  yet?  ”

[seidrborn]

‘  herein  lies  the  issue:  friends  don’t  try  to  trick  you.  ’ ———@executiioner​.     (  FROM.  )

“  WELL  I  WOULD  HAVE  TO   have  friends  for that arrow to hit its mark,  milady.  ”

of course he responds with venomous sarcasm,  but there’s a touch of  bitterness  to it as well :    for though loki has  grown  used  to  being  alone,   he does not necessarily care for it anymore.

[seidrborn]

‘ he’s tried a million different things to break me. but he should have remembered he never figured out how. ’           @doesntneedyou​.

“  HOW  VERY  ASTUTE  OF  YOU.  ”

ever watchful,  ever  distrusting.     loki’s pale lips twitch a bit as she comes closer,  the black—lacquered fingernails of one hand pressing five neat crescents into his leathers to indicate his anxiety.     he’s a cornered beast,  & his fangs are about to be bared.

“  i share not in your fortunes,  nebula :    he  DID  figure out how to break  ME.     & with  your  help,  if memory serves.     i remember  EVERYTHING  that he did to me both before the invasion &  after.  ”

[seidrborn]

“  BRAID.  ” ———@lcsthings​   (  AMALTHEA!  ).     (  FROM.  )

GREEN  EYES  CRACK  OPEN  & survey his surroundings.     everything is quiet & still,  the dim light of the moon cascading along the verdant foliage as the crickets sing their familiar tunes.     a nearby spring trickles along.     this place seems to have folded him into itself,  accepted him  flaws  &  all,   much to the trickster’s surprise.

equally shocking is the feeling of  FINGERS  in his messy hair.     loki can feel the magick in the touch,  senses it intertwine with his own & call out to it,  & in an instant he recognizes it to be  hers.

“  ... i did not know you to have skill in  BRAIDING,   my lady,  ”     the trickster utters quietly,  letting himself ease back against her familiar warmth.     “  for how long did i rest?  ”

[seidrborn]

❝ at night, i hear wailing, as if ghosts roam the halls. ❞           @oracuelum​.     (  FROM.  )

THEY  HAVEN’T  SPOKEN  IN  YEARS,   & loki knows that it’s mostly  his  fault.     then again ... DYING  will do that.

she’s grown up,  he notes.     grown  lovely.     being foolish teens sneaking into odin’s treasure hall had not given the trickster god much time to truly see her,   APPRECIATE  her.     but the weight of time has clearly settled atop both of them :    she seems ... somehow  tired  in spite of her queenly air.     & loki himself is as weatherbeaten as they come,  his usually bright eyes shining dully in the faint starlight of alfheim’s evening that he’s currently stood beneath.

“  ... do they not?  ”     he utters softly.     “ are there not ghosts in your halls,  milady?     in your thoughts?     in your mind?  ”

there are ghosts in his,  & they’re  HOWLING.

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @niteswcrd​༄ ⋆.◦◝   (  LYRICAL  ONE—LINER.  )

“  I  REALIZE  THAT  ALL  I  NEED  is to find the middle pillar path,  to sit like the sun by a star in the sky & just be.  ”

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @lovehurried​   (  SIGYN !!  )༄ ⋆.◦◝   (  LYRICAL  ONE—LINER.  )

“  IN  YOUR  EYES,   i can see the sky.  ”

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @hopeslastchxnce​༄ ⋆.◦◝   (  LYRICAL  ONE—LINER.  )

“  SEE  MY  CROWN?     i am king.  ”

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @goldenxtraveler​​​​༄ ⋆.◦◝   (  LYRICAL  ONE—LINER.  )

“  IF  THERE’S  A  LIGHT  AT  THE  END,   it's just the sun in your eyes.  ”

[seidrborn]

` ✦  @undawn​༄ ⋆.◦◝   (  LYRICAL  ONE—LINER.  )

“   EVEN  TREES,   so old & green of hope,  bow down their heads to you.  ”

[seidrborn]

“  Theeeere you are. Hi. Welcome back.  ” ———@miisunne​   (  PRESIDENT  LOKI !! ).     (  FROM.  )

A  DRY  COUGH  is all that he can manage at first,  expelling the taste of unconsciousness from his throat.     L1130′s eyes flutter open,  blinking away the remnants of darkness from them,  along with   (  hopefully  )   the illusion of this  other  loki  that’s crouched beside him.

great.     he hates this place,  he really does.

“  ... what trickery is this?  ”     he demands weakly,  still not quite able to sit up.     “  what is it that you want from me?  ”

[seidrborn]

❝  wait,  stop you’re bleeding.  ❞ ———@emeraldcast​.     (  FROM.  )

A  HAND  DROPS  TO  HIS  CHEST  where his regal asgardian leathers have been torn asunder ;    such wounds are not likely to slow him down at this point,  not with all that  this  loki  in  particular  has endured.     yet he turns to regard his mirror with muted concern,  black—lacquered fingertips coming away from his torn flesh  bloody.

“  ... oh.     i hadn’t noticed.     but how did  you,   & where did you come from?  ”