ephemeral ━━ 𝘓. 𝘓𝘈𝘜𝘍𝘌𝘠𝘚𝘖𝘕 ✔

■ mother

LOKI

The prisoned prince stared at his glorious self in the mirror. He was wearing his own royal clothes again, majestic and quite different from the other. This one was more casual and formal, with a green cape fluttering from his back and a hood.

He remembered a little piece of his past---the way he strolled along the hallways of the castle freely. Magic bloomed from his aura, and people looked up to him once. Asgardian's greeted him with dignity and honor.

However, it was still not as much as Thor's.

Is it better to be feared? Or to be loved? He thought to himself.

Sometimes, a kind of whisper made its way to his head, telling him that it wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Forget what had happened after Thor's coronation, after falling from the rainbow bridge, forget his battle in New York. Forget Thanos – and how the titan controlled his mind with the stone to attack Earth. These were his secrets. And Loraine didn't know anything.

But he ignored it. He still wanted people to recognize him. His authority. His power. That he too, could be a king, not some shadow behind someone's glory. Maybe for a time, he was alright with being by his brother's side. A confidant. But that past proved to be nothing more than an illusion. An illusion he had created because of his own foolishness and ignorance. Now he knew better.

Even though he could change. Would people honor him the way they did back then? Would they even respect him? They all heard about the rumors that had been plaguing this realm---no, not rumors, for they were real. Real enough for Asgardians to believe Loki had gone mad.

Well, he was mad before then.

How could he even reject his nature?

A slight knock interrupted his thoughts.

He thought of Loraine entering. "Your presence isn't needed. Do me a favor and go away," he shouted back bitterly, but the doors had already opened.

Loraine wasn't there, except for a familiar face.

Standing between the opened doors was a woman. She had the same height as Loki's with golden hair that poured down towards her chest in elegant curls. She was probably in her fifties, but a timeless beauty nonetheless. Crossing her two shoulders was a cloth of fur, and each of her arms was covered in silk. But her piercing blue eyes attracted Loki. Eyes that seemed to look past through his soul---or passed through his mind.

"Frigga," Loki acknowledged.

Frigga smiled at him warmly and the doors slowly closed. "Hello, my son. It has been a while."

Her tone made it seem as if she hadn't changed her thoughts about him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised.

"I thought I taught you how to greet your own mother," Frigga replied, though it wasn't actually the answer Loki was asking for.

"You only thought," he spat back. "Besides, how in Valhalla can we validate that you're my mother?" His heart ached. What a bitter response he made.

Her expression shadowed. "Loki... I once thought of you as good." She went near. "I knew somehow you would learn the truth. But we only did what's best for you."

"Best for me?" Loki pointed to himself. "How was that best for me?" He asked.

"To keep you from being mocked, to keep you from the hurt that people might threaten, to keep you..." She was now inches from him. "From being left alone." Her voice quivered.

Somehow, Loki felt uneasy with the thought that her mother might break down in front of him. Why? Probably, because Frigga, her mother, was the only person that did not give up on him. For all he knew, maybe it was also her plan to bring that servant, that Liv, Loraine here. Then again, she was the reason Loki wasn't locked up underground along with the other monsters. If it weren't for her, he might have been kept in the depths of darkness underneath.

"I am alone now," he whispered.

"Oh, no," Frigga replied at once. "You are not, my son," She caressed his cheeks.

"What do you mean? Look at me. This room is hollowed with the silence that I am forced to hear every day," he stared down, but Frigga placed her hands under his chin and made him look up.

"Loraine is here. " Frigga smiled. "You shouldn't worry much; she keeps you company. Not only is she a servant here, but she is a friend---to you."

Loki scoffed. He knew the absurdity of friendships. Its illusions. Wasn't that word fiction as well? "That girl? She is nothing but trouble. Last I remembered, she wrecked my chamber."

"You made her do it," his mother snapped. "That, I warn you not to. Do not confuse her. Both of you are the same," she whispered.

"How are we the same?" He laughed at the thought. "She mocked me a while ago," Loki said, making Frigga smile.

"Oh?"

"Yes. She did."

"And," Frigga cut him off. "She also told me you two are going outside again." Frigga smiled.

Loki only knitted his eyebrows. "She forced me too. I, on the other hand, have no intentions whatsoever with that girl," he lied.

"Mmm," she hummed. "As I have said, Loraine is your friend, and probably your only friend if you haven't cleared up that gap with your brother."

"Do not even speak to me of Thor."

Frigga sighed and her face softened. "I also did accept her request."

"Oh. Yes, that fishing," he sighed in exasperation. "A bit odd don't you think? I certainly remember we do not have that kind of---of leisure activity here in Asgard."

"Ah, but well, it is a fresh sight."

"Why do you even hope for me?" He asked. "Am I not a lost cause? I have already fallen way too deep. Why do you do this mother? Do you intend on altering what I am?" He touched his temples. "Because I doubt any of you could do it."

"Loki, my son," she started. "Do not misunderstand us. I know that you cannot change nor alter your nature Loki. You will be a trickster, with or without your powers. You are still a god. A mischievous one, at that. But you'd have to choose my dear," she said. "To whose side are you going to commit mischief? For the good ones? Or the bad ones?"

Loki could only stare as he let the words fall over him – thoughts desperately shifting.