Authors Note: Loki is older in this story than he is in the movies but not in physical appearance so don't worry if you like Tom Hiddleston. Basically, in the movies he is just over 1000 years old but considering they live for more than 5000 years, he is like a teenager just going through a rebellious stage (saw a head cannon of this and it made sense).

Chapter 2: Not Alone

Loki shot up in his gold lit cell, to see the noise that had woken him. The four prisoners that were in the cell across from him were fighting, once again. Usually this wouldn't have him but the fight was so severe, that the Asgard prison guards were now involved. If he could leave his cell, he would have killed them all. Make them suffer for what they had taken from him, but as his anger grew, it subsided with the knowledge that his daughter was alive. His precious Dahlia was alive. She was a witch, just like Lily, but she had also inherited his powers, it was the only way that they could have connected across realms but he knew her powers were new and needed to be taught, so that she could control them.

He tried to go back to sleep instantly, in order to return to her, but his heart was beating so fast that he could hear the beat as if it was a drum going off next to him. Even as the cells became quiet, the drums remained and he knew he had to get back to her soon, or she may vanish, not knowing how to use her magic so they could see each other once again.

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Dahlia had never felt such as rush of emotions, even after finding out she was a witch and the saviour of the wizarding world, she had never felt emotions like this. She was confused, happy, surprised, and scared all in one. She accepted that Loki was her father but she was still so confused and needed answers, regarding why he was never there, what the threat was to her life. She was happy that her father was alive, that she wasn't alone anymore but at the same time, scared at the revelation that he said he was a god. A god?? What chance did she have of being someone important to a god? That's if he was telling the truth. What chance did she have of him not leaving her? Everyone left her whether that was willingly or not, through death or through their own choices, they left.

Maybe the world around her was now her world. He said that he was waking up, did that mean she would have to wake up to leave or was there another way. She didn't want to think of it for long, as she was tired and couldn't help the sensation of sleep, as she slouched even further against the tree into a comfortable position so that she could close her eyes.

Dahlia couldn't tell how long she was asleep for but she woke up with her head in the grass and someone shouting her name. The setting around her hadn't changed, not even the sun as it was still bright like before. She quickly sat up and looked around as the voice sounded familiar and as the person came over the hill, she recognised it as Loki's. She smiled and said, "you came back?"

Loki smiled back at her and said, "of course I did". He sat down beside her, "I promise to always come back."

She continued to smile but then lost it when she saw the blood dripping down the side of his face, coming from the side of his forehead. She gasped and asked, "what happened?"

She reached to touch but then pulled away as she forgot about touching and how useless it was. Loki continued to give her a calm smile as he reassured her, "I'm fine. I couldn't get back here by getting back to sleep because I was so excited about seeing you again". She couldn't help the small smile. "So, I had to knock , in order to come back. I'll be fine."

He was telling her the truth but what he didn't mention was that he was in an Asgardian prison cell and that he had to throw himself into the golden barriers, in order to knock himself out as he already tried several methods.

She shook her head and said, "you didn't have to knock yourself out to come here. I could have waited till you fell asleep".

"You were already here for a couple of hours, I didn't wish to leave you any longer".

A glass wash basin then appeared not too far away from them with a couple of small towels. Water was already in the basin but shined as if it had a flow of golden spirits dancing within. Dahlia gasped and asked, "how did that get here?"

"You summoned it," Loki said as he smirked and she looked at him surprised. "In this world we created, whenever you wish for something, it appears. What were you thinking of a few moments ago?"

She turned red slightly and bowed her head as she mumbled, "for something to heal you".

"Thank you, Dahlia," he said and she raised her head once more as her gave her a grateful smile.

He looked towards the basin and towels and levitated them to him as the same green light that he disappeared to before covered it. He said, "we can use our magic here. Our magic is a part of who we are, it runs in our veins in our soul".

The basin and towels stopped as they landed in between father and daughter and as he cleaned up the blood on his face, Dahlia mumbled as she played with the grass, "I need a wand to use my magic".

"No, you don't," Loki commented.

"I do, it's how my magical core works".

Loki let off a small laugh, as he placed the towel down and the blood was finally gone. "You have your mother's magic, a magical core like others on Midgard but you also have my magic, Aesir magic. Magic that flows in your blood and is the very essence of life. You wouldn't have been able to get to this place if you didn't have it. The magic is hidden deep within you because you've never had anyone to teach you, it isn't developed but it is still there...let me show you".

Loki stared at the water in the basin for a moment, then raising his hand slowly, little droplets of water began to levitate from the bowl. "For beginners, you use your hand," he explained, "but then as you get more experienced, you won't," he said dropping his hand and the water was still levitating with his green magic around it, showing her the essence of his magic.

Dahlia raised her hand as she let off a small laugh and touched the droplets but then they fell back into the bowl. She openly laughed and asked, "I can do that without a wand or the green mist?"

"Yes. Magic lies deep within you as it does within me. The green mist" he couldn't help but chuckle at her explanation of the colour of his magic. "However, is not mist but simply the colour of my magic, the essence of it. Mo-Queen Frigga taught me magic and hers is gold and your sisters is light blue, almost silver".

Gasping wide eyed, she began to stutter as he smiled, "w-w-what? I-I-I have a sister".

"Yes. Her name is Hela, she's the Goddess of Death and ruler of Niflheim. You also have two brothers," Loki didn't think it was possible but her eyes went even wider as her mouth dropped. "We age slightly different, we live for thousands of years. Fenrir is the oldest and he's 1,892 years old, then it is Jörmungandr who's 1,869, and finally Hela who's 1,835".

Dahlia was silenced by their ages and only said, "wow".

Loki laughed and said, "your sister, however, is the only one with magic but they were all born...differently". Dahlia looked intrigued by that and he answered, "Midgardians have legends of us and in some parts, they are true, in others they've created feeble tales which are untrue. Fenrir was born a wolf, bigger than any wolf in all the realms. Jörmungandr was born a snake but he is known as being the King of snakes as he's also the biggest in all of the realms. Both of your brothers, however, can also change into human form, but they feel more comfortable in their animal forms. Finally, Hela...well, she looks a lot like you. Black hair, green eyes but she has my green eyes whereas you have your mothers. But, half of her body is different. It's slightly decayed so half of her hair is white and her skin almost looks like she doesn't have any. It is slightly thin and blue and clings to her bones, so she's like a skeleton".

Dahlia didn't seem fazed by the tale of her sibling's forms but seemed a mixture of excited and amazed. "I have brothers and a sister and you," tears shined in her eyes as she smiled. "How can I be sure that this is real? How can I be sure that this isn't a dream? That I actually have a family?"

Loki's instincts told him to move forward but he knew that reaching out to hold her would be useless so he said determined, "because one day I will come for you. I don't know when but I will find your siblings and come for you".

"Find them?" Dahlia asked confused as the wiped away the tears. "Aren't they with you? Where are they?"

Loki hesitated in answering, not wanting her to know the truth about where he was, what he had done or the fate of her siblings. He didn't want her to worry but as he looked into Lily's eyes, he remembered the same day he told her the story. He sighed and answered "Dahlia, there is something that I have to tell you and it will explain why your mother had to pretend to be married to James, why we couldn't be a real family".

"You said before that people would harm me".

"Yes. When your siblings were born, their mother Angroboda, wanted to use them for power. She tried to manipulate them to use their power for evil but they were too good hearted so she tried to kill them, to take their power for herself. I was young and the thought of a throne was tempting but looking at the children I couldn't put them in harm's way, so I took them from her but taking them back to Asgard was not the wisest option. We stayed there for a few hundred years when a prophecy was told that my children and I would destroy the realms...there's nine. Midgard, your world, is one, just like Asgard and Niflheim. There's also Muspelheim, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Svartalheim and Nidavellir...I used to believe that the King Odin, Queen Frigga, and Thor were my family but it was revealed to me not long ago that I was adopted".

"That's why Queen Frigga taught you magic," she said remembering his comment about her teaching him.

"Yes, I believed her to be my mother. When the prophecy was told, Odin feared it so he banished my children. He is keeping Fenrir trapped on Asgard, I do not know where. He threw Jörmungandr through Bifrost, a gateway between worlds, and he threw him into the oceans of Midgard. I've tried finding them both but I can't. Finally, Hela, he hurled her out of Asgard, casting her into Niflheim which is the realm of the dead".

"Isn't that the same as killing her?" She asked almost as if she was distressed.

"Yes," he answered gently. "Hela could travel between worlds but could never return to Asgard. The old King who died centuries before had taken Hela and cared for her, teaching her how to be a Queen so that she could take over. I visited as often as I could without being detected. I couldn't be banished, I had to find Fenrir. She's been Queen there for almost a 1000 years".

Dahlia inhaled sharply and asked, "how old were they when he banished them? How old did they look compared to...Midgard...children?" The name for her world sounding foreign on her tongue.

Loki thought for a moment then answered, "in Midgard terms Hela would have looked 8 while the boys 9. The last time I saw Hela was a decade ago and she looks like a Midgardian girl of 16 or 17".

"But you haven't seen my brothers in a 1000 years," she said tearfully once more. "How could Odin do that? You thought they were family at that time, doesn't that make them his grandchildren, what about Frigga and Thor?"

"They did nothing. Frigga says she tried to persuade Odin against it, but I never saw it and Thor was there holding me back, when I tried getting to them".

Dahlia shook her head and said, "that's why you wanted to keep me safe, you were scared that he was going to hurt me, take me away".

"I promise you, he will never," he said sharply as he vowed, "I will never, let him get to you. He doesn't know about you, you're safe. The spells I placed on you all those years to shield where you are, are still in place which is why I could not find you".

"But what about our family. We can't be a real family because of him," she looked down to her lap to hide her reaction as she never thought she could hate someone without meeting them but it seemed clear that she could.

"Your mother said the same thing," Loki said and she looked back up to see him smiling lovingly. "She met Hela and they bonded immediately, it is one of the reasons I love your mother, because she accepted my children. I promised her that we would one day be a family, all of us, and although she isn't alive, I will find a way for your siblings, you, and I to be reunited. I promise you".

She nodded slowly, believing his words and asked, "you said Hela had magic, does that mean she could come here like us?"

"Yes, but your sister and I haven't done that in a decade. She would need to focus on her magic as she sleeps in order to feel our connection and come here and I can't contact her".

"Why not?"

Loki fidgeted slightly, knowing Dahlia was half Midgardian and she may hate him for what he had done, especially if she had Lily's temper, then he would definitely be told off. "The day that your mother died, I came to the house that night and I found her dead and you gone and there was a little blood in your crib".

Her hand came up to her scar and she pushed some of her hair aside so he could see and said, "maybe it was this".

She watched as his knuckles turned white and for a moment was scared, so she put her hand back down so it covered the scar. "Yes, maybe," he answered and he tried to calm himself as he saw her reaction. "I thought you were dead and I was angry. It was also at that time that I discovered that my family wasn't my real family, I was angry. I nearly destroyed one of the realms and Thor stopped me but in doing so, I fell into an abyss. In doing so, I met a man called Thanos and we made a deal that I could rule earth, if he could possess an object called the Tesseract. I was sent to earth to find it and bring his army through a portal. I succeeded but Thor came and along with some very determined Midgardians, they called themselves the Avengers and stopped me".

"You were the one who tried to take over New York, with all of the aliens and everything. I heard about it at school. It was that event that told us, we weren't alone in the universe," she said amazed.

"Yes, that was me. I was so angry that I lost you and your mother, that I wanted revenge. I wanted to take this world so I could find the people that harmed you and destroy them. After I was stopped, Thor took me back to Asgard and I've been in the dungeons ever since".

"W-w-wait, you're in prison?" Dahlia asked shocked.

"Yes," he said and moved closer to her "Dahlia, I didn't mean all those deaths that happened, I was angry and driven by revenge".

"I know," she said as she smiled slightly, "you were upset about us but you shouldn't have done it. Even if I died, I wouldn't want you getting revenge and killing innocent people for it. I would rather you make peace and move on".

Loki let off a chuckle and said, "your mother would have said the same thing. After I went to the dungeons, I contacted Hela only a handful of times and just like me, she wanted revenge but I told her not to. Every time I saw her, she got even more angry at me for not being able to hold her so I said that she had to rule Niflheim and find Jörmungandr, while I searched for Fenrir here. Both of us have come up with no luck, so we haven't contacted each other since".

She shifted to sit on her knees and asked, "but if you tried could you contact her? Is there anyone on Asgard that would send a letter or something so that way I can meet her?"

Loki thought about all possibilities in which he could send word to his eldest daughter but there was only one and it wasn't 100% guaranteed that she would receive it. He nodded and said, "I can try, that's all I can promise".

"Thank you," she said as she yawned.

"You're tired, you should sleep".

"How can I be tired here, I'm not really here? Not physically".

"Your soul is, that's all that matters. A physical being just keeps our bodies in the realm where it stands. Your magic and soul are one so you can get tired...go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up".

"Promise?" Her insecurities showing as she sounded like a young child once again.

"I promise".

Trusting him, she lied down on the grass and it was only seconds later when a green blanket appeared over her and the crystal blue sky changed. The sun had rested and the moon took it place, along with the millions of stars, some standing still, some flying. But it wasn't just the moon and stars that she could see, she could see galaxies of all different colours and sizes in the distance, slowly moving.

She snuggled to her father as close as she could get without touching him, when she heard him singing a lullaby " Hush nú, minn kind, eða faraneiræddoghe

yðreiga neilengrsyrgja,

faðirir hōsþinn hǫnd.

leggja þinnhǫfgihöfuð

eðadreyma til með biǫð,

Hímilli minn vápna,

ykkr ná ør-uggrhvaðan.

Hush nú, minn kind,

láta sá dreyma festa ofan.

því sá sól ir mikinnnálgask

eða faðirvilja ávaltná hjá".

She turned her head so she would see him smiling and asked, "that sounds familiar, what is it?"

"It's a lullaby I sang to you as a child, I sung it to all of your siblings too. It's Norse, I'll teach you".

Dahlia seemed hesitant to ask but after a few moments, she was comfortable and asked, "please can you sing it again?"

"Of course," Loki said then began to sing the lullaby once again. He noticed half way through that as Dahlia fell asleep, she rubbed her eyes in an adorable manner that reminded him so much of her mother. It wasn't long after watching his daughter fall asleep did he follow her.

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What seemed like the next day, when Dahlia woke up, the sun was now back but she was unsure exactly as they could make their environment change at will, she was happy to still see her father who was practising his magic but as soon as he saw that she was awake, they sat down and began to talk. He told her stories of the nine realms, taught her some phrases in Norse and told her stories of her mother. She especially liked the topic of her name, how they could never decide. As he told her, her full name, she exclaimed, "why so long?"

"Because your mother and I could never agree. So, we decided on Dahlia Lily Astrid Amara Lokidottir. Each has a meaning to us. Your mother wanted to carry on the tradition of her family of flowers, just like your grandma Violet did with your mother and her sister. In Norse it means from the valley but on Midgard it means inner strength, creativity, dignity and elegance. Lily, in honour of your mother, it means purity and beauty. Astrid comes from Norse and it means diving strength. Finally, Amara it is Latin which is the basis of most spells that you use on Midgard and it means beloved".