Wendy's Tale

Tom breathed hard, he swallowed twice but kept his eyes fixed on the bright green eyes burning at the end of his bed. He knew it was Loki. The bedroom door was shut, he had no means of escape. He could not yet think straight. He had woken from one nightmare and gone straight into another. Except the second one was real. Loki was here in his bedroom and Tom was trapped.

He swallowed hard again, took a deep breath and spoke.

"What are you doing here Loki?"

The eyes continued staring back. Why didn't he answer? thought Tom. He must have heard me. The eyes seemed to levitate in the darkness. They began to edge closer towards Tom. Loki not speaking began to unnerve Tom. Was this another of his psychological mind games?

"I said what are you doing here Loki?"

Tom spoke again firmly and clearly, he was going to stand up to Loki, if Loki expected Tom to do as he wanted he would be very wrong.

The eyes kept moving towards Tom. He couldn't break their gaze. He could feel them bore deep into his mind, probing, searching. Tom's heart beat hard in his chest. He was sure Loki could hear it.

Finally the eyes paused beside Tom's bed and gradually a shape formed around them. Loki materialised sitting on a bedside chair ... Smirking.

"You are no fun you know Thomas" Loki smiled.

"You are very a very difficult person to find."

"What do you want?" shot back Tom, annoyed at being thought of as Loki's chief means of amusement.

"I tried to tell you in the dream Thomas. Do you not remember?"

Tom frowned, confused. The dream... The memories were cloudy and he could remember small parts of it. What he could remember did not make much sense. He looked back at Loki puzzled.

Loki let out an exasperated sigh and stood up, he walked around the edge of the bed whilst speaking.

"Hiddlesgard is in danger of disappearing into nothingness. It has started. The first to disappear was Magnussville, then Freddietown. They cease to exist Thomas. One by one they fade and then...nothing. He is behind it. Not I. Yes I have my mischief and sport with the Hiddlesgardians, but this threatens our very existence. I do not wish to cease to be Thomas. You need to bring us all back together. You are the key. I fear once he has destroyed Hiddlesgard he will come for you. He will slowly, piece by relished piece destroy you. I know what he is capable of."

Tom sat there looking at Loki in disbelief. There was more than one Loki? Yes, he vaguely remembered Hiddlesgard had a Loki but he was not 'the' Loki. Not as twisted and malicious as the Loki Tom had met in Hiddlesgard, the Loki who loathed being beaten. The one who hated to lose. Tom had beaten him and he was out for revenge.

So the Loki standing in front of him was part of Hiddlesgard? And now he needed Tom's help because Hiddlesgard was slowly disappearing. The friends Tom had made were disappearing... The Wendys?

Tom's eyes opened wide. Had he lost Wendy?... Forever? No, it couldn't be that. Wendy had not faded from existence, she was real. He would know, wouldn't he,that she... She was...? No he couldn't even consider that thought.

"What would happen to the Wendys?" Tom had to ask that question. He needed to know what had happened to Wendy.

Loki turned to look at him. "They would fade and disappear from existence too. Everything related to Hiddlesgard would simply cease to exist."

Loki caught the look of horror in Tom's eye.

"Ah, you are thinking about your little friend? She is not yet gone."

Tom straightened and sat bolt upright, listening to Loki's every single word.

"I enchanted a magpie feather to lure her out to me..." Explained Loki

Tom's face hardened and he glared at Loki.

Loki continued.

"My feather, she could not resist. She flew straight out of the window. I only wished to communicate with her to get her to talk to you but she flew away from me."

Tom frowned. "Flew away from you?"

"Yes. I can shapeshift into other forms. One of my many 'talents'" Loki smirked, the smirk dropped from his face when he noticed Tom's stern look.

"I took the shape of a ..."

"Bird" replied Tom tersely.

"Yes" replied Loki.

"I lost your friend by some trees. Then the next day I saw you and tried to get you to notice me, but those pigeons got in the way. I could not be seen by others that would cause too many...complications."

"There may have been an easier way for you to try to talk to me" said Tom.

"Really? A bird?"

Now Loki's face grew hard.

"Do not mock me! You might not have even listened to what I had to say after your previous situation with the other Loki.

"You were in my dream last night too?" Asked Tom

"Yes. I have tried to speak to you. Your subconscious blocked me, so now I have to speak to you like this. As I said, time is running out. Do you truly wish your friends and your Wendy to disappear, never to return?"

"No" replied Tom. He paused then looked up at Loki.

"I will help you but only if you agree to help me find Wendy. Do we have a deal?"

Tom glared hard at Loki. He was not prepared to back down. He had Loki where he wanted him. It may not have the been the Asgard Loki but to him Loki was standing in front of him and he was capable of of all the actions the other Loki had done. He was not prepared to let Loki have the upper hand. It was Tom's turn to smirk. He was in control, not Loki. He paused, he looked closely at Loki's face, he sat there at the end of the bed looking back at Tom. To Tom he looked different. Loki looked lost without his swagger. He sat there now, his normal bravado diminished.

Loki stared back at Tom, he needed Tom. He hated feeling this helpless. He was already feeling weaker. Shape-shifting into the bird had zapped him of energy, he could not sustain that level of magic for much longer. He was not a god like the other Loki. He was part of Hiddlesgard, which only existed because of Tom. It was a place filled with characters he had played as an actor. Whether Tom had realised at all that this Loki sitting in his bedroom was actually part of him. He was an extension of Tom. Tom had breathed so much life and felt so much empathy with his characters they existed in an alternate reality. The Asgard Loki had transported Tom there as part of one of his games he liked to play on unsuspecting souls. The game had not ended they way he would have like and so he had taken his frustrations out on Tom in the unkindest of ways. Tom only saw Loki in front of him. To him he was seeing the Asgard Loki. The Hiddlesgard Loki, although just as mischievous would never have reached the depths of hatred and malice that the Asgard Loki inflicted upon Tom. He was afraid that Tom would see only the Asgard Loki.

"I agree to your terms" he replied Looking at Tom. His face flat.

Tom sat back startled. He had expected more of a fight or battle with Loki. Loki rarely, if at all, backed down. Tom was still unsure he could put his trust in Loki. He just wanted Wendy back and safe.

"Ok then" said Tom "For a start you will have to do as I say. You cannot leave this apartment unless you are with me and you certainly cannot walk around dressed as you are."

Loki gazed down at his black leather and mental clothes and looked confused.

"This would not suit your world?" He asked confused.

"Not if you wish to blend in" replied Tom.

"We do not want to draw attention to you. You are the same size and shape as me so you can use some of my clothes."

Loki looked Tom up and down. He was currently wearing pyjamas. Loki frowned he had never seen apparel quite like that before. Still, as Tom had said me might have to make some sacrifices in order to not draw attention to himself. Even if he did not like it.

"Very well" said Loki. "It is agreed."

A frantic scratching sound could now be heard coming from the other side of the bedroom door.

"That will be the Wendys" said Tom. He noticed Loki start to squirm.

He smiled, he couldn't resist his own mischief.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Loki shifted uneasily at the end of the bed. His smiled weakly back at Tom.

"Delightful creatures" he said sarcastically.

Tom threw back the duvet, and slipped out of bed, he padded barefoot to the door.

"You are letting them in?" Loki asked, sounding surprised. He started to edge away from the door along the end of the bed.

"Yes" said Tom grasping the handle. He turned it slowly and opened the door.

He quite enjoyed the feeling that Loki was uncomfortable at the thought of meeting the Wendys.

As the door opened the Wendys came tumbling in. They landed on the floor in a heap. All Tom could see was a mass of ginger and black whiskers and a few pairs of eyes. There was grumbling too. Tom could recognise the grumbler, it was Horace, he was probably at the bottom of the pile of Wendys.

In a minute, thought Tom, the Wendy's would spot Loki, he was not sure what would happen next. Perhaps he had better put himself between the two. The Wendys were very protective of Tom, there was no telling what their reaction would be on discovering Loki was here in Tom's apartment.

Too late... Tom could hear growling... Low, deep angry growling...