LOST BOYS // Loki Laufeyson

14. Bagels and pain

Loki woke up sweating and panting. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was not in Asgard anymore but in Neverland. He could still see the smiling face of' his father. The smile was wide and proud, while the eyes screamed with anger and frustration. He was in danger, that much was clear. His father has his heart. He needed help. He didn't know why his father needed his heart and how he got it, but then again, it wasn't that important. The only thing that was important was to get it back to his heart.

He stood up and walked towards Simion, still panting. Simion was sleeping peacefully. Well, not for long, Loki thought before shaking the boy to wake him up.

'What...Loki, what's going on?' Simion mumbled, blinking his eyes to get accustomed to the light of the rising sun. 

'My, my father. He...' Loki said panicking. Now that he had to say it out loud it made it real.

'Hey, it's okay. You can tell me.'

'He has my heart...' Loki said, looking with worry to his chest. It didn't feel empty, but there was only one way to check.

'You're...heart? Loki how can you be walking around living then?'

Right, Simion didn't know that much about magic. 

'No, not like that. Dark sorcerers can rip someone's heart out without killing the person. It is dark magic, which allows the sorcerer to control the person. The person can just continue living without feeling a thing.' Loki explained. His mother had told him after he had taken a particular interest in dark magic. She said it was very powerful magic and he could never use it. It would change him, she said. He had asked her if she ever used dark magic. She smiled warmly and shook her head at him.

Off course not silly, she had said.  Like it was weird of him to assume that she would ever do something like then. And then she did. She stole his heart, and not in a good sense.

'That's...creepy. So he can control you now? Like you could kill me right now without wanting to do it?' Simion asked backing away ever so slightly. 

'No, I don't think so, not for now. He needs to know where I am to control me. He has no idea that I am in Neverland.'

Simion's muscles relaxed as he moved closer to Loki. His friend couldn't hurt him, ever.

'So is there a way to check if you have your heart? Should I like, search for a pulse or something? How does this work?' Simion asked, putting his hand on Loki's chest.

'No, I'll probably have a pulse, it's part of the spell. There is only one way to find out if I have a heart, that's to physically go in with your hand.'

'Ew... Can you do it, with like magic?' Simion asked, removing his hand from Loki's chest as he just had been in him with his own hand, looking disgusted.

'That's dark magic, I can't. But maybe I know someone who can.'

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Everybody was sitting at breakfast this morning. Peter was in a particularly good mood so the other boys were too, not too afraid of Peter becoming angry and then for talking, shouting or laughing. Loki was slowly explaining a spell to Simion, who was listening with wide eyes and a whole bagel in his mouth. He looked excited to learn about magic. But then again, it was hard to read as the bagel also slowly fell out of his mouth.

'You need a napkin or something?' Loki asked, sniggering at his friend. Simion shook his head as he finished devouring his breakfast.

The dishes disappeared as they always and Peter smiled as he was the first to stand up and go about his business for the day. Loki stood up to follow him, but not before Simion gave him a reassuring squeeze. Loki smiled at him as a sign that he would be okay and ran towards Pan before he was gone.

'Hey Peter, I need a favour.' He asked, acting way less nervous than he actually was.

'Sure, Loki. I have the feeling I owe you after the whole keeping you here thing.'

'Uhm, this is gonna strange. But I don't know if I have my heart.' 

'Ah, that's interesting. Why do you think that?' Peter says, walking towards Loki with an interesting look.

'I had a dream. Can you check for my heart?'

Peter looked to be doubtful for a second. He looked at his hand and at Loki's chest.

'Sure. But it is gonna hurt.' Peter said putting his hand on Loki's chest.

'I know, just do it quickly before I change my mind.' Loki said and not a second later Peter's hand was in his chest.

It really hurt. It really did. Loki had almost forgotten the incredible pain that came with ripping a heart out. It felt like all his organs got pressed together and the air got knocked out of him. He couldn't make a sound as his lungs were squashed together.

 Then Peter's hand went out, with no heart in it.

'You were right, it's not there.'

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Loki's dream was different this night. It wasn't focused like it was the night before. He was in a fight with Thor and the next moment he was having magic lessons with his mother. His father showed his face rarely.

'What do you want?!' Loki yelled, punching Thor with his hand while throwing magic at his mother who was singing a lullaby from years ago. Sif laughed at him from the sidelines.

It became too much. Thor was on top of him punching, but at the same time, he was hugging his mother. The hug felt empty though, not real.

'Just let me go!'

Sif grabbed his collar and smashed him against a tree. She grabbed a very familiar vase and held it up high, ready to drop it on his head.

'STOP!' Loki screamed at the top of his lungs. Every person froze, the vase hovering midair. His mother smiling at him evilly and Thor with his hand on Sif's shoulder, looking satisfied.

His father appeared and put his hand on Frigga's shoulder. He chuckled and looked at Loki with an icy look.

'Hello, my son.'

'What do you want?'

'For you to answer one question. Were are you?'

'Over my dead body!' Loki yelled, finding some courage in his power to stop Sif, Thor and his mother.

'Fine, pain it is.' Odin said with an evil smile. He grabbed a dagger and painted the trees with Loki's organs. But he didn't die, he just kept being attacked, ripped apart and humiliated.