Lie? I Never Lie!

After a surprisingly uneventful morning during which Nevaeh and Loki mostly kept watch on the sea because she expected more unusual events while Loki pretended to do the same, and a normal lunch, they sat on the terrace's chairs under the shade to guard it some more, just in case the fire demon decided to turn up.

'Maybe it surfed to some different state,' Loki theorized.

'Do you think we should try and track it? I doubt every state has their own witch to protect them,' Nevaeh said.

'Stop being such a Samaritan,' Loki yawned. 'Nothing is more annoying.'

'Think about the fishes, Loki!' Nevaeh snapped. 'What would happen if they get frozen? Those defenseless little creatures!'

'Look who is suddenly concerned about the fishes,' Loki mocked. 'At least the frosty fire demon would freeze them prior to setting them on fire. Now, that would be a mercy, they wouldn't feel a thing when frozen. You are worse! You wanted to barbeque the aquarium lot right away!'

'Who told you that?' Nevaeh's cheeks were burning red. 'Shut up.'

'Your father did,' he sniggered. 'And you shut up. You are boring me to death. I'm going to my room.' Loki got up to head downstairs. Nevaeh instinctively grabbed his wrist and was about to retort, when suddenly she paused.

'Are you okay?' Loki analyzed her. She was staring at him with an almost blank expression on her face.

Nevaeh let go off his wrist as though she'd touched a hot pan. 'Sit down, Loki.'

'What's going on with you? Why are you making that face?' asked a confused and a little scared Loki. This was the first time she'd touched him anywhere near his hand, and the resultant factor wasn't looking good.

'I – I saw something,' she said. 'It was weird.'

'You saw me, because I'm standing in front of you,' Loki waved at her. 'That's not weird.'

'I saw ice,' she said.

'You saw what?' Loki's eyes couldn't help but widen a fraction.

'Why are you making that face?' she asked suspiciously.

Loki sat himself down. 'Don't worry about me. You don't look good. What's going on?'

'I should ask you the same thing!' Nevaeh got up. 'Why did I see ice when I touched you?'

'How would I know?' Loki asked in a high pitched voice. 'It's your mind!'

Nevaeh sat down again, dragging her chair a little to the left to face him. 'Look, I know we have been with each other constantly since we met, and I trust you, Loki,' she paused and watched him nod. 'These visions, they are extremely rare. It has been years since I've had one when I touched someone. So, I have to ask. Is there anything you are hiding from me?'

Loki waited for her to frame her question differently, but she didn't. 'Am I hiding something? What would I even hide? I haven't left your sight since we met!'

'I know! I know!' Nevaeh said quickly, trying hard not to sound accusatory. 'I am not saying that you are, but I am still asking! So, I need you to be honest.'

'I am always honest,' Loki said, rising his chin up.

'I'm sure you are,' she said.

'Look, it's not like it's possible to fit our entire lives worth of events into a week's conversation!' Loki said. 'I might've left out a thing or two, but nothing on purpose!'

'I am not asking if you've told me absolutely everything about yourself, because I know you haven't. Heck, I don't even know your last name—'

'People on Asgard don't have last names,' Loki lied instantly. 'We are all one species. We are all Asgardians.'

'Oh, that's nice—'

'Next question,' Loki said loudly, interrupting her.

'Why are you yelling?' Nevaeh said.

'No, I just want to get this interrogation over with. Next question, please,' Loki said coldly.

'Please don't get upset,' Nevaeh said quietly. 'I have only one question, Loki. I'm not interrogating you. Have you left out anything relevant? Anything I need to know?'

Loki opened his mouth to instinctively lie, but closed it again. Could he just tell her? Exactly how long was he going to keep up his charade? This clearly didn't look like the right time to come clean! He needed to figure out what he was going to do before getting sucked up in some moment like this one! 'I have not, Nevaeh. My life isn't remotely as interesting or as happy as yours. Take a hint why I don't like to talk about it.'

'Loki, forget I said anything,' Nevaeh said. 'But we can turn it around, you know? I can make your life exciting! Why don't we plan something different for tonight? Joe is coming over within an hour! Let's get out of the house and go somewhere! Do something fun! We can shop in the evening! Or—'

'Later, sure,' Loki got up from his chair. 'But I have had enough excitement for the moment.'

He left the terrace, leaving behind a crestfallen Nevaeh who cursed her stupid vision. She hated this. Loki had been nothing but polite to her and she had to ruin the day. Did she ever pause to think that he was just preoccupied with ice because the beach next to his place of residence on an alien planet just froze over and then was lit on fire? And he was just too haughty to admit that he was scared? Or any other reason, for that matter?

She felt like having a drink. Moments later, a juice box hovered till the terrace and halted in front of her. She began sipping, never taking her eyes off the sea and patrolling it as if it were her solemn duty.

Loki was beyond agitated; first the opened book and now this vision. He doubted he could keep up with his lies any longer. Whipping out the book on Norse myths that Grace had so graciously provided, Loki decided it was time for some light reading. He wasn't unaware of the depictions of the Aesir by the hands of mortals, and he was sure he had read them sometime in the past, being an avid reader himself.

The book had vivid imagery; colourful depictions of Aesir gods, detailed information regarding Yggdrasil, the bi-frost, the einerjhars. Most of the myths were fairly accurate. Truth be told, Loki was getting a tad homesick after reading the book, till he came across his own page.

Loki turned red with anger.

Even in mythology, Loki had been portrayed as Odin's puppet, often kicked around by other gods and never taken seriously. His connections are linked with the Frost Giants against frequent attacks on Asgard. Loki found it annoyingly misleading; since he was a kid, he had dreamt of nothing more than ruling Asgard and defeating the Frost Giants – till he had found out that he was one of those monsters. Odin had led him to believe that he was his son, an Asgardian, all the while hiding his true identity of being a Frost Giant, evoking hatred in his mind for his own species and yet preferring Thor over him every single time due to his race.

Loki's blood was boiling. All the other depictions; Frigga, Thor, Odin, Heimdall, even the Warriors three, everyone were praised and worshipped. Except Loki who was depicted as a monster who seeks nothing but tragedy for the other gods.

As he turned the page to read the final paragraph, silently inflicting more pain upon himself, Loki stifled a cry. His head began to burn. Clasping a palm over his forehead, he refused to take his eyes off the words etched in front of him. For some reason, his brain was fighting to avoid the information he was soaking in, but his will to know was stronger.

Ignoring the incessant throbbing in his head, somehow the pain in his heart grew to a bigger extent as he read the way he ended up; trapped in a cave for an eternity, bound to rocks, with a serpent dripping poison on his body. Loki turned raging. His tearful eyes widened with horror as he saw the person who had trapped him in such a brutal prison; Odin, the god of war and death, who led the other Aesirs in binding the god of mischief.

No sooner had he finished reading, than Loki slid to the floor in pain, his eyes tightly shut. He was remembering things; things of which he had no memory till now. The image of his mother flashed in his mind, embracing a crying Loki, who knows how many centuries ago. Then the pain came to an abrupt stop, leaving him sharply breathing in rage, his entire body trembling with disbelief. 'Oh, mother. What did you do?' he croaked. 'What ancient hell is this?'