Lesser Gods

“I knew you would come eventually.”

Raeyn’s eyes narrowed. “And how would you figure that?”

“The flower garden you keep remembering,” he said, knowing that these were the only words needed.

Her eyes widened in shock, and her defensive demeanor dropped for a moment — but only a moment. “How do you know about that? Did Thor tell you?” she demanded, taking a short step forward towards Loki’s cell.

It was his turn to be confused. “Thor? How does he know about it?”

Raeyn threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “It’s a recurring dream I’ve been having and I talked about it with him, okay? The question is not how your brother is aware of it, but how you are.”

Loki shook his head slowly, his black hair coming a little loose. “Then why are you here?”

Raeyn blinked, becoming somber once more. Her jade eyes dropped from his momentarily, as if scanning the prison floor for the words she sought. Though this scene had played in her mind ever since her child was born, not that it was here, she did not know the best way to bring up all the questions she asked herself. “She looks just like you.”

Her eyes stared at Loki evenly, and she watched as it seemed the air was punched right out of his lungs. He stared at her, the pain living deep inside him now evident on his crumpled features. Raeyn strode forward instinctively, resting her delicate hand on the glass separating them. Her lips parted without a thought, but clamped shut once she remembered the monster she stood before.

Loki pulled himself together once more, his lips pressed into a thin line and wiping at his eyes. “That is a pity,” he said carefully, making sure his voice did not break. “You are certainly the more beautiful out of the two of us.”

Raeyn’s lip began to curl. “What is that supposed to mean? That the girl is yours? The man who killed her father-!”

“I did not murder Arik. There was no battle between the two of us in the center of New York after the Avengers fell. You did not live on the run for the past two years, and my Chitauri soldiers certainly did not hunt you down.” Loki looked up at her sadly with his raven eyes.

A breeze swept through the prison, blowing Raeyn’s hair of gold every which way. Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, imagining the scent of it filling him. As he frequently did these past months, his mind let him escape to happier times where he could bury his face into her golden hair and hold her close. Even now, he remembered exactly how she felt against him, how her warm skin and her eyes of jade were the only things in the nine realms to cause his heart to skip a beat anymore.

“Then where is he?” Raeyn demanded, setting her feet apart in a stance Loki knew well from his early days living with the goddess. She was not going to budge — not going to leave him alone — until she had the answers she wanted. Though she had no idea that her never leaving would be more than he could ever ask for.

His eyes remained closed, the faint smile from his memories not fading as he spoke. “Arik Calderson does not exist. In fact, Calder died in battle long before you were born, childless and wifeless.”

Raeyn’s eyes did not widen, nor did her jaw drop as he thought they would. She continued to stare at him evenly as she soaked this information in as if she had guessed it all along. Finally, when she did speak, it was most certainly not what he expected her to say. “You proposed to me in that flower garden.”

“You were not supposed to remember that part.”

Raeyn shook her head, and though her voice did not tremble at first, her eyes faded to pink rather quickly. “But I do remember.” She paused, letting a small sniffle out before bursting into tears. She sank to her knees gripping her middle as she let the months’ worth of sobs escape her. “Why don’t I remember?”

He pressed his forehead to the glass so that if they were not separated, his would have touched her own forehead. “It’s not your fault,” he breathed, looking into her wide jade eyes earnestly. “I love you so much Raeyn, and I hope that one day you will be able to fall in love with me once more. Maybe one day we can be a family again.”