It had been about two weeks since Loki revealed the truth when the news revealed that more characters had emerged from the sea. This time, however, it was the King himself, with the Queen, Thor and a clear statement. They wanted their son and Thor's brother back.
You're thinking of flying away for the time being for a vacation until things calm down. At least that was the plan, but you didn't have time to carry it out.
You were almost ready to leave when there was a knock on your and Loki's apartment door. You peeked through the peephole and noticed it was your friend Jane.
"Jane? What are you doing here?" You asked, opening the door. The last you saw of her she was leaving to do her research. Before she could answer you, however, Thor pushed you aside and entered your apartment with the others.
"Hey, you can't come in here!" you tried to shoo them away, but Jane held you back. "Let go of me!" You snapped at her, slipping out of her hand. You burst into the apartment only to see Loki being gagged and handcuffed.
You wanted them to let him go, to release him, but your pleas fell on deaf ears. None of Loki's family even spoke to you, and they just looked at you with contempt.
When they took him away, Jane tried to apologize, but you wouldn't hear another word from her. You didn't even trust her nose between your eyes. Your friendship ended with that moment.
Loki was taken back to the underwater golden palace, where he was condemned by his father and imprisoned in a dark and cold part of the palace.
The only one who visited him there was Frigga, who brought him books. But every time she came there, Loki refused to speak to her. She noticed that her son hadn't touched a single book she had brought him or anything else he had there.
Mostly, she saw him lying on the bed, projecting a picture of you and him together using the spell. But she noticed that when she watched him from the sidelines.
Loki never talked about you in front of the others, and he never showed any pictures of the two of you. But as she saw him looking at the photo, she could see the longing on his face.
Even though Loki was in jail, Frigga didn't want him to suffer so much. Sure that was the purpose of prison, but he was still her son after all. Even though he was adopted, she thought of him as her own.
She wanted to find out more about you and how you changed her son in one year. Even though she had a pretty good idea what caused it.
But she needed Odin's approval to go ashore. She told him she wanted to find out if you were under the spell or not.
She was able to convince her husband so well that he sent her on land, accompanied by Thor, to get you out of the spell at the worst.
Jane led them to your door, but you refused to open it. You didn't even speak to them. You were still angry with Jane and the others and wanted nothing to do with them.
But that didn't deter Frigga and she decided to change her tactics. She waited outside your door until you opened it.
Just as you stepped outside to go shopping, Frigga joined you and started talking to you. At first you ignored her and told her to go to hell before you started talking to her, since you found out she wasn't that bad and she was trying to help Loki.
After Frigga found out you weren't under any spell, that's where you started asking questions. You also wanted to know why they took him away.
"Loki has killed 80 people in the past and nearly started a war between our worlds.
He escaped and had no punishment," she explained.
"And then I met him... " you said when you figured it out. It was true that when you met him, he was very cautious and kept to himself.
After all that, his mother suggested that she take you to see him. She would take you unnoticed to the underwater kingdom of Asgard and you would have the chance to see him again and talk to him. You didn't need to hear more and you agreed.
Frigga used magic to create an air bubble that you crawled into, protecting you from the cold of the ocean and providing you with air. She also disguised the bubble so that you could walk past the guards straight to Loki's prison, which was located all the way at the end of the prison.
Despite the protective bubble, you felt the chill of the surrounding water and pulled your sweatshirt closer to your body.
Moreover, she had disguised you to see her son's reaction. She wanted to surprise him with your visit.
She greeted him and asked him to cancel the illusion he'd cast on his cell. You had no idea what she was talking about, since nothing else about him seemed to matter.
"Why should I cancel it, mother, when you use it yourself? Is Odin not going to let you in here and you have to send the illusion instead?" He asked bitingly. Frigga replied, but that only pissed Loki off more.
She had just opened her mouth to say something to him when he cancelled the illusion. A green blast ran through the whole thing, revealing the chaos that was there. Things in the room were scattered, but what caught you off guard the most was Loki himself.
The prince had deep blue skin and an equally blue tail. You instantly remembered the moment he poured cold lemonade over himself. Another striking feature was his ruby red eyes, which shone like gems in the dark surroundings, but were framed by dark circles underneath.
"You'd better pull yourself together, since I brought you a visitor," she said fearlessly.
"Then Odin shouldn't have put me in the coldest place in all of Asgard," he replied dismissively, seemingly uninterested in any visitors.
"Unfortunately, your father ordered it."
"He's not my father," he snapped.
"Then I am not your mother."
"You are not," he replied in a hard voice, but there was a certain pain in it. Frigga paused for a moment at that, and you could see how those words hurt them both.
"I brought you your Earth girl, but I see you're not in the mood for visitors," she said, using a spell to erase the disguise and reveal you in a bubble.
You saw Loki startled by the gesture and his gaze focused on you. You saw his gaze glaze over for a moment before he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Feel free to cancel your illusion. As if you actually brought Y/N here. I expected a lot, but not this kind of torture from you. Though I have to admit, you really pulled off this illusion," he commented.
"It's not an illusion," she replied calmly. This did not convince him. He compared you in the bubble to the way he remembered you. How beautiful you were in his eyes, his earthly queen. His words stung and warmed your heart at the same time. Finally, you'd had enough and decided to speak.
"Then I don't know whether to be angry or flattered. Although after a month of not seeing you, I thought I'd expect a different kind of welcome," you said, crossing your arms.
"Y/N?" He said in surprise, as if your voice was proof enough that it was really you. He immediately used a spell to cover his blue skin and adjusted himself a little. He couldn't believe his eyes and touched the barrier of his cell to get closer to you.
Frigga arranged an air capsule room for you where you had your privacy. You waited there until the door opened and Loki walked in. He now looked as you remembered him and had legs. He had a bedspread over his shoulders that now made him look like a real prince.
You didn't wait for him to come to you, but immediately jumped to your feet and threw yourself into his arms. You squeezed him as if to make sure it was real.
Loki hugged you too, before he cupped your face, making you look at him. You were so happy to see him again that tears welled up in your eyes.
"I was afraid I wouldn't see you again," you said before you kissed him. Loki mumbled something against your lips and pulled you even closer to him, as if he wanted your body to meld with his.
When Frigga came to check on you after some time, she found you both curled up on the bed in each other's arms. It warmed her heart to see her son, even an adopted one, open up to someone like that.
She carefully closed the door again and went to her husband, where she convinced him to send Loki and you back to earth. She even vouched for the two of you. Odin hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.
You were thrilled to be able to return to earth in your apartment with the prince. You even got a new little beach house. Sure it was partly to keep an eye on you, but you could live with that.
Plus, it was a private place where Loki could move freely in the water and where no one disturbed you. Except for the regular family visits from the ocean. Either they came to you, or you looked underwater with the aid of an air bubble.
Loki is on earth and trying to fit in among humans. His only enemy is perhaps water, which can reveal his true form. The second risk of his being revealed is his family. He hides both things very well until he is discovered.
You were heading down the street to the restaurant Loki invited you to.
You were supposed to meet him inside. You couldn't wait. You'd known him for a little over a year, but you had a feeling he was the one. There were still some secrets surrounding him, but that didn't limit you two.
Sure, Loki had a certain aversion to water and always carried an umbrella to keep the rain off him. In fact, you'd never been in the water together, and you lived in a seaside town.
He was very sensitive about it and didn't want to talk about it. He always found some excuse and after a while you stopped asking him about it.
Despite all that, your relationship was going well, and after six months, Loki started calling you my queen. At first, you were taken aback and had no idea how to react. At first, you were speechless and blushing.
Some time later, after you got used to it, you started calling him "my king." It was originally supposed to be retaliation for how he made you flustered. You totally caught him off guard. But right after that, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He loved it when you called him that, and eventually it became a habit.
You walked up to the restaurant and stopped at the front desk. You said that you were there to meet someone and that he already had a table waiting for you.
Unfortunately, the receptionist wouldn't let you in. You had no idea why, but no matter how much you argued with him, he wouldn't let you in. You were about to give up when Loki came out of the restaurant.
"Is there a problem, my dear?" He asked, kissing you. It was clear now that you really belonged together.
"They won't let me in, I just don't understand why,' you replied. Loki then turned to the receptionist, who then apologized to you and then added some small change to your bill.
Loki apologized again, telling you that his queen didn't deserve such treatment, and led you to your table. Despite that little incident, you had a pleasant dinner.
After dinner, you walked home. You walked side by side, hand in hand, enjoying the pleasant summer evening. A pleasant breeze was blowing in from the sea and you were heading for the beach.
You were heading slowly towards the busier part of town when you noticed a commotion. People were crowded around the pier taking pictures. You walked closer to the crowd when Loki stopped.
You heard among the people that they were merpeople. Better said, Thor and his party, who were on land looking for the Sea Prince, his brother.
As the group of merfolk approached in your direction, Loki pulled you away, into one of the smaller alleyways. That way, you avoided the crowd. When you looked at him, he looked much paler, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Is something wrong?" you asked, taking his hand. Loki just shook his head before smiling at you.
"It was crowded in there. We wouldn't have had the peace of mind of the two of us," he replied. You could see in him, though, that it bothered him, though he tried not to let it show.
From there, you headed back home. At first you walked around for a little while longer, but all the atmosphere was gone with that.
Instead, you kept returning to the theme of the merfolk. They were still a mystery, even though they had appeared among humans a year ago. You got the impression that they started talking about them around the time you started hanging out with Loki.
He was quite surprised at what you knew and how calmly you took it. A lot of people were panicking about the fear of water at the time. It was also a tough year for seaside hotels and the like.
"So am I supposed to believe in life in space or in our ocean that hasn't been fully explored?" You replied. You believed in aliens too, but this was more interesting at the moment.
In the quiet of your home, you settled on the couch and you leaned against Loki. In fact, you could almost say you were lying on top of him while he told you about the merpeople. It was surprising how much he knew about them.
He told you about Thor, that he was more like a stingray and could produce elecrtrine in his body. They varied by species and had different abilities. Some could freeze, others could glow, and so on.
He also told you that underwater, in waters unknown to humans, was their own underwater kingdom called Asgard. A city made entirely of gold that shone like a beacon in the dark depths of the ocean.
"It's amazing, how do you even know all this?" You asked him, genuinely amazed. To which he just smiled mysteriously at you and said it was a secret.
"Loki, will you open this can for me?" you asked him one summer day. You had the urge, but you absolutely couldn't open it. The can was perfectly cold and you were afraid you'd rip the lid off first.
Loki took the can from you and opened it with no problem. He had no idea that it was carburized, so he was in for quite a surprise. All the contents of the can started gushing out at him like a geyser.
He was wet from head to toe and his hair was sticking to his head. However, what caught your attention and gave rise to many a question in your mind was the blue skin that was wet from the lemonade. You were shocked.
"What is that? Are you okay?" You asked in shock and immediately reached for a dry cloth to wipe the lemonade off of him. But you were afraid to touch him lest you make it worse or hurt him. Loki was shocked himself, as he wasn't expecting it.
For a moment there was an almost deafening silence, which you broke by asking if he needed to call an ambulance. You really had no idea what to do and this was the first thing that came to mind.
Loki dismissed your question with a shake of his head. He didn't need any of that, plus he showed you that his skin was returning to its normal shade where the water had dried.
You were slightly confused and had perhaps a thousand questions in your head, but you had no idea what to ask or how to ask them. Finally he spoke up, saying he wanted to tell you, the truth about him, but definitely not like that.
"Tell what?" you asked, though you had some idea. To that question, Loki decided that a demonstration would be best.
He took your hand and together you walked to the kitchen sink. He just asked you not to freak out too much with what he wanted to show you. He turned on the normally lukewarm water and put his hand in it so that the water ran freely down it.
Scales with emerald green highlights appeared on his hand and swimming membranes appeared between his fingers. Without having to use words, you got what he wanted to say. And that Thor wasn't looking for just anyone, he was looking for Loki.
"Thor was looking for you..." you finally said, looking up at him. It made sense to you now. Loki's strange behavior towards the water and especially how he wanted to avoid his brother.
"I knew I wouldn't keep it from you," he chuckled lightly, though he would have liked to have been able to hide the truth from you longer.
You took this whole thing too well for his taste. When he asked you about it, you simply replied that you knew he was hiding something. That's not what you expected.
Despite all this, you had many questions for him. One of them was what he looked like underwater. You had seen his blue and green scales and now you were even more curious.
You were sitting next to him on the couch, Loki had his arm resting on your shoulders and he was describing to you in vivid detail what he looked like underwater. You thought that if you closed your eyes, you could see him clearly.
When he finished his explanation, he looked at you to see if you had caught the basic picture of what he looked like underwater. Even though he described it so perfectly, you still wanted to see it in person.
You could see in him that he wasn't really into it. You had to do some convincing before he finally agreed to demonstrate. He stood up and you saw him into the bathroom together.
"Is the tub too small?" You asked suddenly, since you imagined him with a strong, long and majestic tail, according to his words. Loki just chuckled genuinely at your question and raised one eyebrow.
"I guess if I've made it through the last year, it won't be so bad," he replied amusedly, as if you were asking something completely stupid. You didn't quite understand his answer at first before you realized what he meant.
Loki began to fill the tub before asking you for some privacy. You'd known him for over a year and you both knew what the other looked like. Despite all that, this was the kind of moment that called for some privacy.
When he called out to you, you walked into the bathroom. Loki was lying in the tub, half of his green tail peeking out over the edge. Merman was slightly nervous at first, as he was now completely exposed and had no way to escape.
You'd never seen a merman in the flesh before and you were absolutely fascinated. He was glad you were taking it so well. You moved closer to him and he even gave you permission to touch his scales.
But when you leaned in, he took your hand and pulled you into the tub. Loki wrapped his arms around your waist and turned you around so that you were now sitting straddling him. He was glad you were taking it so well and pulled you in for a kiss.
