'Our' Home.

Matching his rhythm to the man in front of him, Loki walked noiselessly behind him as he used his mental focus to slide out the wallet inside his pocket.

'Three, two'

Loki saw the man try and peek back, but the crowd's movement forced him to look ahead.

'One and done!'

Loki snatched the wallet that was floating in the air before anyone saw it, picked out twenty pounds and calmly pocketed it.

As the man walked towards the automatic doors of the subway Loki slipped the wallet back into his pants and swerved away from the crowd.

'Phew! He almost noticed me. That was risky.'

Loki breathed a sigh of relief but as soon as he noticed a police officer moving towards him, Loki ducked into the crowd and vanished from sight once again.

Racing the exit and looking around to see if he had lost the cop, Loki truly relaxed and skipped towards the bus stop.

'Hmm…the cops on this platform are also becoming more aware.'

'Are people reporting the pickpocketing?'

'Although I take only a single note of the least denomination in their wallets, it seems this is not enough to evade their senses.'

'Well, I guess it was time to change stations anyway.'

It had been a month since Loki had begun stealing or more accurately pickpocketing from people. Much of his initial reluctance toward the profession had worn down after he turned into a repeat offender but he still felt a little bad for stealing from someone every day.

So he did a little something to take off his guilt.

He sometimes donated food to a nearby orphanage, always anonymous but still he did it. 

Over the course of the month, Loki visited the orphanage three times, gathered some extra money he could spare and then bought ingredients for an English breakfast which he donated to the orphanages.

It wasn't much, but it kept him a little guilt-free.

Reaching home, Loki stealthily entered the house with soft footsteps and sneaked upon Elane.

Before she could realise what was happening, Loki covered her eyes and asked her a question.

"Who's behind you Elane!?"

"Big bwother!!!!!!"

"Yes!"

"Hehehe~ Big Bwother its so easy!! Of course its you! This is our home!!"

Picking up Elane and twirling her around, Loki had a little fun with her. And after they were sufficiently tired, Loki had lunch with her.

When Elane was asleep, Loki closed his eyes to rest himself, but before he could fall asleep he felt something cold and metallic touch the back of his head.

"Shout and you'll be blown away." A grumpy, cold voice, spoke in barely above a whisper.

The hairs on Loki's arms stood up as he realised the current situation and he did exactly as the voice told him to.

"Slowly place the little girl on the floor and turn around without waking her up."

Loki did as he was told, grabbed a piece of cloth, stuffed it under Elane's head like a pillow and slowly turned around to see the man ordering him around come into view.

The man had a perpetual smirk on his face, along with a scar over his blind eye that gave him a threatening and dangerous look.

His skin was unnaturally pale and stuck to his bones like vacuum-sealed plastic while the hard stubble on his face gave him a rough and unclean look.

There was a crazed look in his eyes that bordered on insanity.

And his hands that held the gun were marred with scars.

Loki shuddered involuntarily and felt his mood depress as he watched the smirk on the face of the man deepen.

'Is he not going to leave me alive since I've seen his face?'

"I've dreamed of meeting you from up close for a long time now." The man said breaking Loki out of his thoughts.

"Do I know you?" Loki asked with a quiver in his tone.

"No. But we've crossed paths quite often recently."

"...?" Loki was confused and couldn't understand how to respond to the current situation.

"You've been swiping in my territory as of late." The scary-looking man spoke with a glassy tone, the whispers only accentuating the sharpness in his tone.

Loki's eyes widened with fear and he recognised what was happening.

'Damn! I shouldn't have allowed anyone to follow me back from the station.'

'How was I supposed to know there were these many thieves in London!'

'And how was I supposed to know there was one crazy enough to follow me home!?'

Loki felt his chest grow heavier as he wondered if this would be the last day he was going to be alive.

'I still haven't become a beyonder.'

'I still haven't seen Elane smile and laugh with other kids her age.'

'I still haven't reached the top of the world.'

The darkness in the barrel of the gun mimicked what he was feeling about his future, empty, fractured and very much without light.

"Lucky for you, I have a plan for you."

The words that graced Loki's ear felt like music in this macabre dead end of life as he looked at the intruder with the finality of hope in his eyes.

Loki's eyes spelt out a simple sentence clear to anyone who would look at him.

But he still spoke it out.

"What is it?" Loki asked in a hurried manner, even forgetting to keep his voice down.

It was his luck that Elane didn't wake up.

The intruder smiled coldly and then spoke in a soft cryptic manner.

"Meet me at Whitechapel High Street tomorrow."

Loki gulped and nodded.

"Believe me I will know where to find you if you try to run away."

Loki nodded with even more vigour.

"Good." Tapping the barrel of the gun on Loki's head as a warning, the man slowly departed the way he had walked into the burnt house and vanished from Loki's sight.

*sigh*

Releasing a breath of relief and taking a deep breath of fresh air, Loki collapsed onto the floor of the house and tried to calm himself down.

"That was something else." Loki whispered.

The first thing Loki did was reprimand himself for not being careful enough.

'I should've taken a diversion to cover my tracks!'

'Why didn't I think of anyone following me home earlier!?'

*sigh*

'At least not all is bad.'

'At least he doesn't know I can do magic.'

A stern resolution formed in Loki's mind as he decided upon his next goal.

'I should practice magic until I'm strong enough to blow him away like I did with the Police earlier.'

'I don't want to work like a slave.'

'Especially not under such a cruel-looking man.'

'I doubt he will hesitate to wipe me from the face of the earth once I lose my usefulness to him.'

'Damn it! Why is this happening!?'

'I would rather face the decent of a true god instead of feeling threatened like this!'

'Bloody hell!'

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A/N : There will be an extra chapter today. If you want to read twenty chapters ahead, you can do so on my Patreon ( pa treon.com/hooin_kyoma_au) for just $3 USD.