Mirabella Odinsdottir

12- Illusions

The door closed and suddenly Loki stood before us. "Brother!" I exclaimed, as Thor who spoke at the same time, "Loki. What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you"

"What's happened? Tell me, is it Jotenheim? Let me explain to Father."

"Father is dead"

"What?" I asked, Thor just sat there almost crying at this point. I was just disappointed that I wasn't there to see it.

Loki still just completely ignored me, he acted as though I was not even there. All of his attention was on Thor "Your banishment, the threat of the new war. A lost daughter. It was too much for him to bear." Well atleast I had some part to play in the old bastard's death.

"You mustn't blame yourself. I know that you loved him. I tried to tell him so but he wouldn't listen. It was so cruel to put the hammer within you reach, knowing that you could never lift it." How stupid could I have been, all that time with Thor had rubbed off on me, I was as blind as he was.

This wasn't Loki being sincere, there was not the faintest whiff on sincerity on his face or in the room for that matter. Well apart from Thor, he was falling apart in front of our faces. Pitiful really. I looked away from one brother who felt as if his world was falling apart, to the other who seemed to be acting.

Loki turned to face me he gave me a puzzled expression, his eyes flickered across my face darting around left to right just as if he were reading a book, well, I suppose in that moment that's what I was, wasn't I? An open book. His eyes widened slightly, he knew and just as if it had never happened, he regained his composure.

Anyone else would have missed it, but I suppose that's where Loki was rather unfortunate. Because I'm not anyone else, I'm a smaller version of him. He continued talking to Thor, "The burden of the throne has fallen to me now."

"Can I come home?" This broke my heart, hearing Thor like this, he sounded weak and small, he sounded like everything I hated about myself. "The truce with Jotunheim is conditional upon your exile."

"Yes, but couldn't we find a way"

"And Mother has forbidden your return"

That's when everything started to feel off, not the situation I mean physically off, I felt the restraints around my hands loosen but I looked down and nothing was amiss. I felt something hoist me up but there was nothing there, I went to scream but I could not. I looked down to my hands only to see nothing.

It was as if I was invisible, I stood by the door, yet there I was, sat in the chair, I looked at myself sat there. I watched myself from someone else's eyes. I looked towards my brothers when I saw the end of Loki's viridian coloured coat flicker to an emerald green and then back like nothing happened.

Perhaps my brother was better at illusions than I give him credit for. Four illusions going at once? Now that was something. The illusion of Loki standing in front of Thor spoke again. The illusion of the fake me sitting there looked down at her feet seemingly grieving? And I thought Thor was supposed the be the idiot brother. Loki was playing a poor job of me, I was too proud to do that even if I was grieving, but all I was thinking about at this moment was what Loki was playing at, how to stop it for Thor's sake and how the man who had controlled my entire life up until this point was gone.

But fortunately for Loki, Thor blinded by his own grief did not notice illusion me's absurd emotional status.

"I'm so sorry" Thor sobbed out

"No, I am sorry" No, it was a trick, all of our other tricks had been in good spirits but this was cruel, I couldn't move or call out for Thor to help him realise, the real me stood in the corner of the room, perfectly invisible, perfectly still, perfectly calm. Yet on the inside I was screaming and crying but nothing was reflected on my exterior. "Thank you for coming here"

"Farewell" The illusion of Loki said, it was torturous having stand here helpless and watch this scene unfold, but like I said, I was helpless. There was nothing I could do.

With that Loki teleported the both of us next to Mjolnir, I still could not speak or move but atleast I could see myself. I doubted that anyone else could though apart from my brother. He tried to lift Mjolnir, but it wouldn't budge, all it let out was a faint humming noise.

I couldn't process what was happening, questions raced and flooded my mind. I was so lost in thought I almost hadn't noticed us arrive back home. We stood in the observatory. That's when I noticed I could move again, immediately I collapsed to my knees to weak to stand.

"What troubles you gate keeper?" Loki asked Heimdall

"I turned my gaze upon you in Midgard, but I could neither see you nor hear you, nor your brother or sister. You were all shrouded from me like the Frost Giants that entered this realm."

"Perhaps your senses have weakened from your many years of service."

"Or perhaps someone has found a way to hide that which he does not want me to see, perhaps your sister there would agree?" Loki glanced back at me to where I still knelt on the floor. I wanted to say what happened, to tell Heimdall but I couldn't. Not because Loki's magic was stopping me this time but because I couldn't do that to Loki.

For whatever he did he will fix it, no matter how bad things seem, no matter how twisted this seems, he is still my brother, just as Thor is his, this is just some sort of big plan against Jotunheim, and then we will all be fine and reunited.

"You have great power Heimdall, did Odin ever fear you?"

"No"

"And why is that?"

"Because he is my King, and I am sworn to obey him"

"He was your King, and you're sworn the obey me now. Yes?" Loki began walking back to me to help me up.

"Yes" Heimdall spoke, I could tell he did not like that, I would have laughed if I were not still in utter confusion. I shakily stood up as I used my elder brother for support. "Good then you will open the bifrost to no one until I have repaired the damage my brother has done"

He then teleported the both of us into my chambers, there was only one phrase circling around in my head.

Brother, what have have you done?