Loki woke up, not in his cell, but with a soul forge above him and the physician Eir. He tried to move but his arms were restricted to the slab on which he laid and were restricted with chains. He didn't expect anything different as he knew the guards wouldn't trust him. He looked to Eir to see that she wasn't afraid of him or even nervous, she even gave him a small smile before nodding to someone who was hidden in the shadows. Out came Frigga, as she quickly walked out of the shadows towards him and said, "Loki," as she placed one hand in his and the other on his head to smooth his hair.

"Frigga," he said as he knew calling her that would hurt her as she was not his mother, but no matter how many times he called her by her name, her emotions would never waiver in front of him.

"Loki, my son, why did you harm yourself? The guards said you purposely threw yourself into the barriers, why?"

He gave her his mischievous smirk and answered, "because I wanted too...happiness".

Frigga looked up to see Eir also looked concerned, thinking that Loki had finally lost his mind but she said, "he appears to have cracked his skull but it seemed like he had tried to knock himself unconscious numerous times beforehand. That's the reason why he was unconscious for so long. He is healed now and I cannot detect any more damages".

"Why are you here?" Loki asked harshly, "shouldn't you follow Odin's orders and not come near me".

"You know as well as I do that even his orders never stopped me from seeing you," she said softly, her hand still smoothing his hair.

"A simple projection. I guess that's all I'm worth, considering I'm not your son".

"You are my son," she said with some force, "you are my son as much as Thor, you may not have come from me but that doesn't matter. We are a family, whether you care to admit that or not and I have told you that many times".

"How's Thor?" Loki said changing the subject but not changing the disgust in his tone. "And his lovely wife, Jane...and their son, Brynjar. He's 5, isn't he? Guess you and Odin got the grandchild you always wanted, not monstrous at all".

For the first time, Frigga's face changed to one of shock and shame at the same time. "I love your children, just as much as Brynjar. I tried to fight for them-"

"Don't lie to me," he snapped, "especially about them. You know nothing about them. You say that you have power but you let Odin control your every action".

A young trainee physician then came in and spoke quietly to Eir for a moment before Eir drew Frigga's attention, "Milady, the King is on his way. You must leave". Frigga looked to Loki, questioning what she should do when her friend told her again, "Frigga, I will inform you of what happens but you must leave. It was his decree, remember".

Frigga remembered all too well. The decree of her son being locked away till his dying day and she was forbidden to see him. It was the only way she could save him from execution, even if she questioned whether or not Odin would go through with it, but she didn't what to chance it.

She leaned down to kiss Loki on the forehead but he turned his head away so that she kissed the side of his head where his hairline began. She then turned and left but not before hearing him mumble, "I knew you would leave".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leaving Loki, she almost had to wipe her eyes of the tears but as the door closed, she saw her eldest son and his family. She wasn't surprised to see him as he was aware of her visiting Loki in the past and wouldn't miss the opportunity to see him in person if she could.

Jane had adjusted well to Asgard since she married Thor and became an Asgardian. It was hard as it wasn't done before but they had to perform a ceremony so that her Midgardian body would accept the golden apple of Idun so that they could live out the rest of their lives together. It was initially a shock for Jane when she discovered that her child would age just as slow after being born and being given the apple but she accepted it because she knew it was normal for Asgardian children as they all went through it so even after 5 years, he was still what Midgardians would call a baby.

She sighed as Thor said, "you went to see him?"

"Is it any surprise?" She said as she walked towards them and smiled as Jane handed her Brynjar but the thoughts of Loki's children came to mind and what he said and she felt guilty. "You would do the same for your child".

"How is he?" Jane asked. Even though she had never met Loki and still held him responsible for New York, even though Thor told her he wasn't in his right mind, he was still her brother-in-law.

"He is well and healed".

"The guards said that he chose to jump into the barriers, is that true, mother?" Thor asked.

Frigga hesitated to answer as she shifted slightly and handed the baby back to his mother and answered, "yes. I asked him why and he said because he wanted to and that it brought him happiness".

All three adults looked to one another in concern and Thor said, "mother, his mind is infested, he is not right. He must be healed".

"On Midgard," Jane said, "we have people called psychologists, you can talk to them and it helps people who have something wrong with the mind or if they just need to talk. Do you have them here?"

"My dear," Frigga said, "Loki always has ulterior motives for everything that he has done. He is the God of mischief and lies but I do believe he was telling the truth when he spoke of happiness, but there is something he is not telling me. The real truth of why he harmed himself".

"Jane and I are venturing to Midgard to see friends and her family, we can postpone if you would like us to remain," Thor said.

"Yeah," Jane agreed, "we can see them another day".

"No, it is fine," Frigga said shaking her head softly. "Your friends and family will not be there forever, go and I will see you, when you return". Thor nodded his head as Jane smiled and the family of three walked away to the Bifrost to return to Midgard.

Frigga watched as they left the palace and made sure she was alone before going towards the west wing of the palace, Loki's wing, and wanted no one to know that she was there. She entered his bedroom to see it was just how he left it, right down to the bed not being made because the maids were warned not to enter. It wasn't his room, however, that she wanted to see but the one attached to it. She walked to the door on the right side of the room that wasn't too far away from his bed and was greeted by everything a child could possibly want.

There were three beds, one of them a princess styled one whereas the other two were very much like Loki's which was a large gold circular one. However, the two golden beds looked unused like the princess one as the covers from one were pulled onto the floor and were sprawled out and a blanket was taken to a pole handing on the ceiling, as if something would have wrapped around it.

Frigga knew that it wasn't something but someone. Hela would always sleep in her bed but Fenrir would pull his covers down as he slept on the floor where he could roll around more comfortably and they had poles that swung on the ceiling where Jörmungandr would leap to and often wrap himself around and fall asleep. The three children never wanted to part which is why they shared. They were as close as siblings could be. She looked around the room to see all the toys they had from mazes on the ceiling, balls, puzzles and dolls and the floor and in one area was lots of artwork. She walked towards the desk with lots of artwork on and she recognised it as Hela's as she always had a passion for drawing. It made Frigga wonder if she still did, or did their betrayal make the girl lose her passion.

The drawing that stood out the most had family sprawled out across the top and there was a drawing of each of them, the boys in their wolf and snake form. Written "grandfather, uncle Thor, grandmother, me, papa, Jörmungandr and Fenrir". The palace was in the background of the picture which brought tears to Frigga's eyes as they were all smiling. Her hand came to her mouth as her knees buckled and she fell back against Hela's bed but as she sank to the floor, she found a silver metal box created by the elves so it was impenetrable.

She dropped the drawing as she pulled the box out and realised that it wasn't the children's but Loki's. It was sealed with magic and Frigga also smiled when she recognised that the spell used was one that she taught him. She removed the spell and when she opened the box, she was greeted with toys and most of them seemed familiar to her. There was a green ball that was Fenrir's favourite, its shape never deformed as it was spelled against that when he chewed on it and it was weightless. The second toy was a snake made out of wood that would rattle when told to move which was Jörmungandr's favourite. Both boys also had a small toy knight in there as they were the boy's favourite toys when they were in human form. Then there was a rag doll that looked just like Hela, with her half-deformed body and in a silver and black outfit. It looked just like Hela as it was especially made for her from her father which she carried almost everywhere as she didn't feel alone when she had it. The final toy was one that Frigga had never seen before and it looked as if it wasn't made on Asgard but on Midgard. It was a small white stuffed rabbit that looked worn.

She looked at all of the toys, especially the rabbit as it intrigued her as she said, "oh, my son, what secrets are you keeping?" She then cries for the loss of her family, for how broken it had become when it was once so perfect but that had all crumbled because of a prophecy and kept secrets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dahlia opened her eyes in the hospital wing and at first, she saw a golden light shimmering but as the image became clearer she saw that it was simply Professor Dumbledore's glasses as he stood. She shot up immediately as she remembered the chamber and the danger the stone was in and said, "it was Professor Quirrell! Sir, you have to find him immediately!"

Professor Dumbledore held up his hand and said, "the stone is safe, calm yourself, dear girl".

"But what about Quirrell, Professor-"

Once again, he held up his hand to interrupt Dahlia and said, "calm yourself or Madame Pomfry will not be pleased and will throw me out".

Dahlia looked around as she controlled her breathing and realised that she was in the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey would not be pleased if one of her patients was being stressed. She saw the table full of sweets next to her bed, what might have been half the sweet shop if she counted.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," Professor Dumbledore said beaming. "What happened in the dungeons is a secret so naturally the whole school now knows. Your friends Misters Fred and George attempted to send you a lavatory seat which I think was to amuse you but it did not amuse Madame Pomfrey".

"How long have I been here Professor?" She questioned.

"Three days. Your friends will be pleased, they have been worried".

Three days, three days she had spent in that world with her father. It felt like less but maybe that was because she wanted more.

"Are you sure the stone's safe?"

Professor Dumbledore nodded and said, "I arrived just in time so that Quirrell did not take it but it seemed like you were doing well on your own, dear girl" he said the last part amused.

"Good, I didn't think I could hold on to the stone for much longer. I thought he was going to take it".

"I feared I was going to be late-"

"The stone's safe though-"

"Not the stone," Professor Dumbledore interrupted, "for you. Your bravery nearly had you killed and for a moment I thought it had. The stone, it is safe but is being destroyed".

"But what about your friend, Nicholas Flamel, he needs it to-"

"You know about Nicholas," Professor Dumbledore let off a small laugh at how much knowledge the young girl had. "Nicholas and I have had a chat and both agree that it is for the best so that it will never be in the wrong hands".

"But they'll die. He and his wife," she said sadly.

"Yes, but they have enough elixir to sort out their affairs before that happens". Professor Dumbledore continued to smile at Dahlia and said, "to the well organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. Nicholas and Perenelle have been alive for many years, it will be like falling asleep to them".

Dahlia was lost for words, she didn't know what to say. Two people were willing to die so that no one can ever get their hands on the stone and she admired them for that. She then remembered who was really in the dungeons, "Voldemort, I mean You-Know-Who-"

"Say his name, dear girl, fear of a name increases fear of itself".

She nodded and continued, "Voldemort isn't gone, is he? He's going to find other ways of coming back. To restore to full power".

Professor Dumbledore hesitated in his answer and Dahlia could tell but he told her what she needed to know, "no, he hasn't gone. He is still out there, maybe waiting for another body to share. He is not truly alive but not truly dead either, he left Quirrell to die. You may have only delayed his return, Dahlia, but he will only take someone else who is willing to fight the losing battle. If he keeps on being delayed, he may never return...have you any questions and I will answer truthfully?"

"He...he...Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me, why does he want to kill me?"

He sighed and replied, "I cannot answer that...not now...not today but know that one day you will know the truth. When you are ready, you will know".

"Okay then, why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died saving you, Voldemort cannot understand love. A love as powerful as your mother's love for you leaves its mark. Not the scar on your head, no visible mark that another can see but deep inside. Being loved that strongly will give us protection forever. It was agony for a person to touch you who is marked by such good when they are such evil".

"The invisibility cloak, who sent me that?"

"Ah, your father left that in my possession and I thought you might like it," he said with his eyes twinkling.

Dahlia felt guilty that he was speaking of James Potter when her father was really Loki. She guessed that this was how she would feel whenever anyone brought up James Potter, knowing that he was a pawn in such a large plan.

"Professor, how did I get the stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah I'm glad you asked. Only one who wanted to find the stone but not use it would be able to get it. Otherwise, they'll just see themselves drinking the elixir of life. One of my most brilliant ideas...enough questions, you should be resting and I suggest you make a start on all of those sweets you have got". Professor Dumbledore began to walk away but stopped at the sweets as he picked up a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He said, "I was unfortunate to get a vomit flavoured one in my youth and I lost my liking. I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" He placed the sweet in his mouth and almost choked as he said, "ah earwax".

Dahlia laughed slightly before he smiled and then left. Dahlia looked at all the sweets that her friends had given her but she couldn't think of that now, she could only think about what she had learnt. She had a family, true, they weren't on earth, except her brother but they were out there. But at the same time, she remembered that she not only had to fear Voldemort who wanted to kill her but she also had the matter of Odin and what the consequences would be if he discovered her existence. Would he banish her to another realm like her sister and brother? Would he have her chained up like her eldest brother? All she knew was that she wasn't safe in either this world or any other and it just made her life even more complicated.

Madame Pomfrey had come to Dahlia to give her a vial that would help the healing of any cuts and told her to drink lots of water which is why she left a jug full and a cup. Dahlia held the cup to her lips when her father's lesson came to mind about levitating water and now that she was back in the real world, she was having doubts once again if it was real. So, she put her cup down and focused on the water like her father told her.

Holding out her hand, she focused on her breathing and once again, she could feel the tingling sensation and she almost lost her focus as she wanted to smile and laugh with joy but she didn't. Focusing on the jug, she wanted to keep her eyes open in case anyone came in. Slowly but surely, tiny droplets began to float in the air and the purple mist...magic, surrounded each droplet. It was then she lost concentration and smiled with joy because it was real. It was all real. Her magic, her brothers, her sister, her father... she had a family and it was real.