Makutu ☆ Thor: Ragnarok [DISCONTINUED]

seven

SEVEN
THE LONG SLEEP
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Muted sunlight filtered through the lace canopy like flecks of golden snow and highlighted the long, blond hair of a bowed head. A snore escaped his lips and he choked on a stray piece of saliva; the near death-experience shocked himself awake and he jerked upright. Thor exhaled and slackened his stance before he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his left hand, as his right hand held the cold, pale one of his sisters'.

The room was stiflingly warm, the few stained-glass windows that adorned the golden walls were open, though there wasn't a breeze outside to provide a cooling chill that the room needed. Thor thought about summoning the wind, but decided against it. Contrast to the ruby red velvet bedding, Rán's pale and skeletal-like body lay on the bed, her chest rose and fell in shallow and sporadic movements that scared Thor at times. Scared him into thinking that, like Hjalmar, she had passed on. Her hair was spread around her head like a halo, unbraided and adorned with her favourite flowers from their favourite courtyard, the one she and Loki had fought in weeks ago. Her eyes were sunken and purple, and her cheeks were so deep that her skin looked like it could slice open at the slightest movement. Thor hated seeing his sister like this.

She looked like Loki, and that's what irritated him most.

It was a mystery what had happened to her and Hjalmar; Loki had found the two - one comatose and one dead - in a room below the castle, a room that neither Thor nor Odin knew the whereabouts of. That concerned him, but evidently not as much as her current state.

Frigga had cried in hysterics, her precious daughter on the brink of death, her luscious golden hair now raven black. Odin was furious, how could this happen to them right under his nose? He had interrogated everyone in the castle, but nobody showed any signs of guilt. Loki was quiet, as though he mourned for his sister. He probably just missed teasing her. And Thor, well, he hadn't left her bedside unless he needed to. He had all his meals there, slept there, and occasionally had his wash cloth brought there. Occasionally Frigga joined him, but it was clear she couldn't stand the sight of her deathly daughter. Loki never visited. Odin only did when he needed to speak to Thor. It seemed that everybody else had better things to do than worry over their beloved princess.

It was morning, but it was early. Thor looked at his sisters ratted hair; not even his mother came to comb it whilst she slept. The servants would soon awaken and the chefs would prepare their morning meal. The castle seemed to sleep as Rán slept; nobody spoke to anybody, they just put their head down and got to work. Nobody lurked in the hallways, chatting amongst themselves between jobs; everybody busied themselves to avoid talking to the royal family. The door opened slightly and Thor looked to his left to see his mother enter the room with a solemn look upon her face.

"My son, you must eat, rest properly, bathe." She said as she closed the door gently and approached him. She took a seat on the bed beside her daughter's legs and in front of Thor. He shook his head.