Sacrifice - Loki Laufeyson x Reader

The Choosing

It was a bleak Sunday morning, the dew still fresh upon the wheat fields your clan relied on for not only sustenance but also for the prosperity of your people. Toiling in bed you resisted the urge to get up and get ready despite knowing today was the dreaded Choosing. Sooner than you had desired, your mother knocked upon your door, softly calling 

"y/n? it's time to get up... You need to get ready"

You gently stirred from the comfort and warmth of your sheep hide blanket and rose from your bed, sighing and stretching before responding back, "I'm coming, give me a moment please" After the slow lull of the cicadas outside your window found silence, you walked to your mirror looking yourself over. Every curve of your body and every small discoloration added up to make you proud of your appearance, no matter the struggles your family and your clan may face after the Choosing's results you knew that prosperity would last. Despite the struggle you had faced, you came out looking stronger than ever and you knew you would never lose that strength easily. 

After looking over your body, taking in your appearance for what may be the last time, you began getting ready. Adorning the ceremonial clothes of your people, you wrapped the firm, coarse beige cloth around yourself as it hugged your waist and bust but somehow still felt loose and slack upon your shoulders. Following the undercoat, you wrapped the leather waistline around your midriff, pulling the strings tight to hold the loose cloth against your skin to better accentuate your healthy figure. Finally, you put on your leather work boots your father had made for you years and years ago, and you were ready to let the ministers of Gylif begin your inspection. 

9:00 am

After getting ready for the inspection that would take place during dusk,  you exited your room and found your family sitting around the kitchen table nearby the hearth where your mother had begun making breakfast. 

"Good morning mum, da" you said softly, acknowledging the tension growing as no one was ever truly prepared the say goodbye in the time leading up to the Choosing festival. 

"Good morning dearest" they both responded with slight discord between your mother's soft voice in tandem with the gruff nature of your father's. 

You took your seat at the table, looking between your parents and taking in their appearances one last time in case you never saw them again. Your hair was just like your mother's but you had your father's eyes. For many years it never felt like this could ever happen to you but alas the day had come and you were finally old enough to join in the Choosing.

"Would you like bacon with your eggs this morning? I even got some bread from our neighbor for today if you'd like any" Your mother offered generously. You knew the price of bread in a clan that only harvested simple herbs, this was an expensive item for your people. A luxury you may never have a chance to try again. 

Despite your anxiety dwelling deep within your stomach, causing butterflies with every breath, you nodded slowly- doing your best to bring a smile to your face and bring peace to your family. Your mother placed a wooden plate with two fried eggs, toast, and a slice of bacon in front of you happily awaiting your response. 

"This looks delicious mother, I could never have expected such a breakfast to start what may be the most honourable day for our family," you say attempting to sound sincere to calm your parents down as the day begins to pass and every second is a moment closer to the inspection.

After breakfast and plenty of idle conversations, time was passing faster than you would have liked. Fear was building in expectation for the end of the day but you were determined to make every second with your family a memorable one as dusk neared closer by the hour.  You and your family played dice games and card games, told stories from when you were young, and watched the clouds together as a family creating memories that will last a lifetime- even if it isn't yours. 

"mum?" you asked softly, "Do you think I'd be chosen on my very first inspection?" 

"I could never know the answer, my dear, it feels random every time. Some young and naive, and others on their final year of the Choosing... it is something only Gylif and his ministers understand but I have hope you will not be taken. No matter the honour, I do fear losing my one and only child" she answered, allowing her voice to trail off as you laid your head in her lap and she gently caressed your hair allowing you moments of sleep before dusk would soon arise. 

As you slept, your parents softly cried, unsure of what would come. They looked upon your face with pride, happy to see the strong child they had raised, and they prayed to Gylif that you would be spared. 

7:00 pm

You awoke, mere moments before it was time to leave and anxiety was building once more by the second. You knew you would have to be strong today as to leave your parents worry-free no matter the results, so you held your head high and left to the field to await the bridge that would bring your god to the land of Frost Petal once more.

"Frost Petal..." you thought to yourself. Your home village was named this due to the state it was in before Gylif came and blessed these lands. Frost Petal was valley after valley of snowstorms every day that left the people sick and without food, it was an ever-waging war with nature to simply live at peace. One day, centuries ago, the great plague came and killed every fish in the water and eventually spread to the people. Sickness, cold, and starvation were all that Frost Petal knew and it was all it would know as the people cried and begged for some form of salvation. Amidst this plague, a God came to the land of Frost Petal, and his bridge of light scorched the ground around it, spreading warmth to the very core of this land. This God was Gylif, who came bringing a mysterious herb known now as Petulium and bringing light and warmth that cut through the snowstorms bringing their infinite winter to an end. This was the night of the Autumn Moon, the day our God came and blessed our land and cured our people, and now once a year on the night of the Autumn Moon he comes to Frost Petal once more to ensure the continuation of our prosperity at the cost of one sacrifice. 

As you walked through the fields of Petulium you finally reached the clearing and took your place in formation, holding yourself faced forward away from the ever-growing audience accumulating behind you. This was the moment you feared most, all the people you ever knew circled around you awaiting answers to prayers of prosperity despite the looming cost of a life it would take to get said prosperity. 

Lost in thought and anxiety, your eyes were glued to the central pedestal that Gylif would soon appear on. So many questions were running through your mind as you waited to see your God for the very first time and know if this would be the only time you'd ever see him or if it would be the last time you'd ever see one of your peers. That was when it happened. An arc of light appeared in the sky, slowly making its way to the ground as it fluctuated in a beautiful array akin to a rainbow that would occasionally grace the skies of Frost Petal. Were these rainbows signs from your God that he was watching? You couldn't know for sure but what you did know, is that the time had come and you could not be afraid because this was for the good of your people, your land, and your God.