Endlessly

Thank You

His look of utter disbelief quickly changes to one of complete determination as he squeezes the crystal, crushing it into a fine dust and placing his hand over your sister's mouth and nose.

Loki mutters something to himself that's difficult to discern whether he's praying to the Norns or cursing them.

"Bloody hel!" Hnoss coughs, gasping for air as she shoots upright on the soul forge. Her eyes, dazed and unfocused, drift to Loki, who still leans over her. "Galdraormur. Hah-" She taps Loki on the tip of his nose. "Nice to finally meet you." Without another word, her eyes roll back into her head, and she goes limp, slumping back toward the bed.

Loki catches her before she makes impact, gently easing her back down onto the forge.

Your entire family is at her side as quickly as you are, suddenly not at all concerned with Loki's presence. He attempts to shrink away as they surround him, capturing him inside of the hugs intended for Hnoss. Pink-cheeked, he smiles at you sheepishly, trapped; the entire thing creating a rather adorable picture.

A team of healers' rush into the room, disrupting the odd little family moment.

When Eir steps into view, your heart sinks to your shoes- she's going to alert Asgard that Loki is here, we're going to have to run again.

Wait, why is she here?

You're positive your eyes look as though they're going to pop out of your head when they meet hers. Silently, she looks at you, at Loki, and then back to you before regarding your sister.

The family watches in silence as she checks for a pulse, nods, and begins to manipulate the wisps of light that hang over the soul forge once again.

After several moments of silence, she looks up, scowling at Loki. "What did you two do?" Her tone is unreadable.

"They saved her life." Kvasir finally speaks.

"That's impossible. All of these readings show that she died just moments ago- and yet..." Eir's brow furrows with confusion as she regards Hnoss once again, breathing deeply, looking surprisingly peaceful as she sleeps. "Perhaps I am no longer the best in my field."

"She needs to be constantly exposed to these." Loki produces a handful of flowers out of thin air, handing one to Eir and the rest of the bouquet to you.

You begin to pull them apart, placing them carefully against Hnoss' skin.

"This... I thought these were a thing of legend." Eir practically chokes.

"They are. Loki- The Prince," You correct, out of fear of sounding too informal regarding him, "and I are going to try to change that." You don't have the courage to look up, terrified of what the expression on your parents' faces could be at the mention of you and Loki working together.

"Have you only had success with applying them topically? It seems terribly inefficient." Eir glares at the three flowers that have already lost their mystical purple glow and withered away to practically nothing.

"It's all we've tried so far." You meet her eyes, praying she has a better idea.

"Do you mind if I keep this?" She twirls the flower in between her fingers.

You glance at Loki, and he gives his pocket a reassuring tap. "We still have plenty."

You give Eir a nod and she disappears from the room as quickly as she came, very obviously on a mission.

The room falls painfully silent as the last of the healers exit.

A million words flood your brain, all of them falling horrifically short on how to eloquently explain even half of what's happened to your parents.