Post by fluffyrenegade on Nov 3, 2016 0:55:38 GMT
Loki’s Audition: Focus
“Focus, Loki. Magic is influenced by will and intent. Your will must be stronger than that of the magic you wield.” Laufey instructed her 9-year-old son. It was only his fifth lesson in magic and already he was doing extremely well. In fact, he was doing much better than she told him. Laufey did not want her son to become cocky or careless. Both qualities could be extremely dangerous when dealing with magic.
“I am focusing.” Loki said, somewhat arrogantly as he stared at the slowly rising stream of water. Quietly, Loki continued to mumble words under his breath as the water twisted and changed shapes. Slowly, it began to take on the form of a hawk which began to glide above Loki’s head.
“Look mother! I-I did it!” He shouted, turning to look at her, a gigantic grin on his face. But Laufey was nowhere to be seen. “Mother?” Loki said as he slowly turned in a circle, trying to locate his mother in the dim warehouse.
“BOO!” Out of nowhere, his mother jumped out from the shadows of the warehouse and startled him. Loki was so scared that he ended up falling to the ground and screamed aloud. As for the spell, his concentration on the water was shattered and the water hawk lost its form. The now magicless water fell out of the air, right on Loki’s head.
“You tricked me!” Loki shouted angrily as he tried to wipe his wet hair out of his face.
“So I did.” Laufey said as she walked over to her son and magically dried his hair and his clothes before helping her son to her feet. “I told you to focus. When you are in the field, you will not always have the peace and quiet of this warehouse. There will often be distractions, loud noises and a million other details that you will need to focus on. You need to be able to focus on your spells no matter else is happening around you while at the same time, remaining perfectly aware of what is happening in your environment.”
Loki nodded sadly and bowed his head. “So, does this mean I failed the lesson?”
Laufey smiled at her son and pulled him in close for a hug. “No dearest. You performed the magic lesson perfectly. I just had another lesson I needed to teach you.”
Present day
Loki stared at the masses of people that were milling around at the square beneath the famous Eiffel Tower. With so many people around, the square was filled noise. Tourists were snapping pictures with cheesy grins plastered on their faces while locals were milling around and talking with friends. Such a dense crowd created the perfect setting for pickpockets and other daytime thieves.
Today, Loki had cast an illusion that made him look like a 12-year-old boy. At Interpol headquarters, Loki liked to joke that everyone at Interpol was mentally older or younger than their real age. When asked what his mental age was, Loki had said ‘Probably 12’ much to the amusement of his audience at the time.
Casually, the seeming blond 12-year-old walked through the crowd, paying close attention to everyone that was around him. It wasn’t long before he spotted a familiar young boy, not much older than his illusion, dip into the pockets of an unsuspecting tourist. Smirking, Loki whispered a few words while subtly pointing at the young boy. When the boy tried to leave, he was surprised to find his feet stuck to the ground. Unable to move, he started panicking which caused the tourist to turn in the direction of the commotion. When the tourist did so, the person realized that the young theif was holding their wallet and started calling for the police. At this point, Loki thought he should step in. Shedding his illusion, Loki stepped in and grabbed the young boy’s arm.
“I’ll take it from here, madam. Here’s your wallet back.” He said, flashing the lady a dazzling smile.
“C’mon, Cedric.” Loki said, as he unglued the boy’s feet and hauled him off in the direction of an alleyway.
“Ah fuck damnit! Why’d yah have to do that, Loki?! We had a deal!” Cedric whined.
“We do. The deal is if I don’t see you, I can’t catch you. You should have been focusing on your surroundings more, kid.” Loki said with a smirk.
“Not fair when yah got magic.” Cedric said, pouting.
“Not my problem. I caught you kid, so it’s jail for a day or until your gang members buy you out.” Loki said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Awww c’mon Loki! Be a sport! Ah know yah gots a spot for us little thieves! C’mon, Loki! I can tell yah stuff, like I did last time!” Cedric pleaded.
Inwardly, Loki smiled. This was why he had made Cedric his unofficial informant. The kid did not know how to keep his big mouth shut. “As if, I doubt you have anything that would be of use.” Loki said, pretending disinterest.
“But ah do! Ah heard dat the Big 6 are in town! Or were, but a lot of good thieves left with them. Didn’t say where though, just dat they were getting their big chance!” Cedric said, excitedly. With any luck this would get him out of having to spend a day in jail.
Loki raised an eyebrow, not really impressed. He had heard similar rumors floating around the headquarters at Interpol. He hadn’t really given it much thought but if an active thief, albeit a slightly incompetent one, knew that the Once-ler’s gang was on the move as well then maybe it was worth paying attention to. Loki frowned slightly. He would have to look into this rather tricky development and there was nothing Loki loved more than a good trick, as long as it wasn’t on him.
“Alright, Cedric. You can go.” Loki said, smirking slightly.
“YES!” Cedric shouted and wriggled free.
“Hey! I wasn’t done yet.” Loki said as he magically glued Cedric’s feet to the ground. Wary, the young thief looked back at the dark-haired, sarcastic 19-year-old. “You can go on the condition that if you hear anything new about the Big 6, you report it to me. Understand?”
“And if I don’t?” Cedric said defiantly.
“Well, if you don’t,” Loki stepped in close so he was right in Cedric’s face and grinned maliciously down at him. “If you don’t then you’ll quickly find out that there are worse things than a night or two in the Interpol jail. Got it?”
Cedric gulped and nodded. “G-got it!”
Loki smiled, happily. “Great! Off you go then Cedric. And focus more on your surroundings next time. You might not get caught if you do.” He said chuckling as he unglued the boy’s feet. “See you next time.” He said with an unsettling smile.
Cedric nodded warily and quickly ran off without a backward glance. Once the boy was out of sight, Loki frowned and leaned against the brick wall of the alleyway. Once-ler and Co. in Paris, huh? He wondered where else they had shown up?
“Focus, Loki. Magic is influenced by will and intent. Your will must be stronger than that of the magic you wield.” Laufey instructed her 9-year-old son. It was only his fifth lesson in magic and already he was doing extremely well. In fact, he was doing much better than she told him. Laufey did not want her son to become cocky or careless. Both qualities could be extremely dangerous when dealing with magic.
“I am focusing.” Loki said, somewhat arrogantly as he stared at the slowly rising stream of water. Quietly, Loki continued to mumble words under his breath as the water twisted and changed shapes. Slowly, it began to take on the form of a hawk which began to glide above Loki’s head.
“Look mother! I-I did it!” He shouted, turning to look at her, a gigantic grin on his face. But Laufey was nowhere to be seen. “Mother?” Loki said as he slowly turned in a circle, trying to locate his mother in the dim warehouse.
“BOO!” Out of nowhere, his mother jumped out from the shadows of the warehouse and startled him. Loki was so scared that he ended up falling to the ground and screamed aloud. As for the spell, his concentration on the water was shattered and the water hawk lost its form. The now magicless water fell out of the air, right on Loki’s head.
“You tricked me!” Loki shouted angrily as he tried to wipe his wet hair out of his face.
“So I did.” Laufey said as she walked over to her son and magically dried his hair and his clothes before helping her son to her feet. “I told you to focus. When you are in the field, you will not always have the peace and quiet of this warehouse. There will often be distractions, loud noises and a million other details that you will need to focus on. You need to be able to focus on your spells no matter else is happening around you while at the same time, remaining perfectly aware of what is happening in your environment.”
Loki nodded sadly and bowed his head. “So, does this mean I failed the lesson?”
Laufey smiled at her son and pulled him in close for a hug. “No dearest. You performed the magic lesson perfectly. I just had another lesson I needed to teach you.”
Present day
Loki stared at the masses of people that were milling around at the square beneath the famous Eiffel Tower. With so many people around, the square was filled noise. Tourists were snapping pictures with cheesy grins plastered on their faces while locals were milling around and talking with friends. Such a dense crowd created the perfect setting for pickpockets and other daytime thieves.
Today, Loki had cast an illusion that made him look like a 12-year-old boy. At Interpol headquarters, Loki liked to joke that everyone at Interpol was mentally older or younger than their real age. When asked what his mental age was, Loki had said ‘Probably 12’ much to the amusement of his audience at the time.
Casually, the seeming blond 12-year-old walked through the crowd, paying close attention to everyone that was around him. It wasn’t long before he spotted a familiar young boy, not much older than his illusion, dip into the pockets of an unsuspecting tourist. Smirking, Loki whispered a few words while subtly pointing at the young boy. When the boy tried to leave, he was surprised to find his feet stuck to the ground. Unable to move, he started panicking which caused the tourist to turn in the direction of the commotion. When the tourist did so, the person realized that the young theif was holding their wallet and started calling for the police. At this point, Loki thought he should step in. Shedding his illusion, Loki stepped in and grabbed the young boy’s arm.
“I’ll take it from here, madam. Here’s your wallet back.” He said, flashing the lady a dazzling smile.
“C’mon, Cedric.” Loki said, as he unglued the boy’s feet and hauled him off in the direction of an alleyway.
“Ah fuck damnit! Why’d yah have to do that, Loki?! We had a deal!” Cedric whined.
“We do. The deal is if I don’t see you, I can’t catch you. You should have been focusing on your surroundings more, kid.” Loki said with a smirk.
“Not fair when yah got magic.” Cedric said, pouting.
“Not my problem. I caught you kid, so it’s jail for a day or until your gang members buy you out.” Loki said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Awww c’mon Loki! Be a sport! Ah know yah gots a spot for us little thieves! C’mon, Loki! I can tell yah stuff, like I did last time!” Cedric pleaded.
Inwardly, Loki smiled. This was why he had made Cedric his unofficial informant. The kid did not know how to keep his big mouth shut. “As if, I doubt you have anything that would be of use.” Loki said, pretending disinterest.
“But ah do! Ah heard dat the Big 6 are in town! Or were, but a lot of good thieves left with them. Didn’t say where though, just dat they were getting their big chance!” Cedric said, excitedly. With any luck this would get him out of having to spend a day in jail.
Loki raised an eyebrow, not really impressed. He had heard similar rumors floating around the headquarters at Interpol. He hadn’t really given it much thought but if an active thief, albeit a slightly incompetent one, knew that the Once-ler’s gang was on the move as well then maybe it was worth paying attention to. Loki frowned slightly. He would have to look into this rather tricky development and there was nothing Loki loved more than a good trick, as long as it wasn’t on him.
“Alright, Cedric. You can go.” Loki said, smirking slightly.
“YES!” Cedric shouted and wriggled free.
“Hey! I wasn’t done yet.” Loki said as he magically glued Cedric’s feet to the ground. Wary, the young thief looked back at the dark-haired, sarcastic 19-year-old. “You can go on the condition that if you hear anything new about the Big 6, you report it to me. Understand?”
“And if I don’t?” Cedric said defiantly.
“Well, if you don’t,” Loki stepped in close so he was right in Cedric’s face and grinned maliciously down at him. “If you don’t then you’ll quickly find out that there are worse things than a night or two in the Interpol jail. Got it?”
Cedric gulped and nodded. “G-got it!”
Loki smiled, happily. “Great! Off you go then Cedric. And focus more on your surroundings next time. You might not get caught if you do.” He said chuckling as he unglued the boy’s feet. “See you next time.” He said with an unsettling smile.
Cedric nodded warily and quickly ran off without a backward glance. Once the boy was out of sight, Loki frowned and leaned against the brick wall of the alleyway. Once-ler and Co. in Paris, huh? He wondered where else they had shown up?