Thor knocked quietly on his mother's door, impatiently shifting on his feet. "Mother? May I come in?"

"Come in," a soft voice answered. He swung open the door to reveal his mother, Frigga, dressed in a gown the color of deep wine. She smiled and embraced her eldest. "You look handsome, my son."

"Thank you, Mother. You look lovely as well," he replied jovially. His mother shook her head, a secret smile on the edges of her lips. Thor had learned many things over the years, but quieting his voice had never been one of them.

"Where is Loki?" She questioned. "Your father expects the two of you downstairs soon."

Thor shrugged his broad shoulders. "Actually, I came to ask you the same question. It seems that he is, ah, dare I say... missing?" His grin was as bright as his golden hair as he joked playfully about his younger brother.

"When did you last see him?"

"Breakfast, I think." The two of them glances at the clock. Well past seven in the evening, and the ball was to start at eight.

Frigga only shook her head at the antics of her children. This wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last time her younger son tried to evade a party. Patting Thor's cheek fondly, she said, "You meet your father downstairs. I'll go find him."

"Will you be able to? If I'd have to guess, he has no intention of being found."

"I was raised by witches. I'll find him whether he likes it or not."

The Allmother departed from her chambers and down the golden hallways of her home with a vague idea of where her wayward son might be hiding. Everything looked especially festive fun to the decorations reminiscent of the approaching autumn season. It was her favorite time of year, a time of change and unpredictability. She smiled at the servants scuttling around trying to put finishing touches on this and that. Then, she took a turn down a hidden hallway and unsuccessfully attempted to open the corresponding door. Smiling to herself, she quickly used her magic to unlock the door. It opened to reveal, as she suspected, Loki. Camped out in his private library pleasantly ignoring the entire world while caught in one of his own. In fact, he was so wrapped up in a book that he didn't notice her walk in at all.

"Lost track of time?" She asked. His head jerked up in surprise, a scowl on his face, but once he recognized the intruder, he shook his head, carefully marking his place before setting the book beside him.

"More like avoiding it." He stood and gave her a kiss on the cheek. His green eyes held a softness reserved only for Frigga. "Is it over yet?"

She laughed at her son. "Dear, the ball hasn't even begun."

"That's what I thought," he said. With a mischievous smirk on his pale face, Loki retook his position on the couch and opened his book once more. "I'll just read another chapter or two. Or fifty."

"Loki, you cannot talk your way out of this like you have other parties. You are expected to be there. It is tradition. This is one of our grandest celebrations of the year."

"So I noticed."

"My dear." She sat on the edge of the couch and took the novel from her son, a move that would earn a minor stab wound for almost anyone else. Taking his hands in hers, she continued. "I know you aren't comfortable with crowds or parties like your brother, but tonight is an important night. It is a night where we embrace the changing of seasons, where we celebrate the year we've had. If nothing else, come for me. Enjoy the night for me."

Loki rolled his eyes. His mother knew exactly how to play him. "All right," he finally uttered, standing. With a wave of his hand, his casual clothes shimmered away, replaced with Asgardian formal robes of black and gold. A green cloak billowed out behind his shoulders. "Am I presentable enough?"

"Yes," Frigga replied, smoothing down his black locks. "You look very handsome. My dear, your hair is growing far too long. You should look into getting it cut."

"I like it this way," he said resolutely.

"Of course you do. Now, let's go find your brother, he's been searching for you."

He smiled briefly. She knew that was the best she would get from him. "Thank you, Mother."

"You're welcome."

The two of them traveled down the hallways, chatting idly about the book he was reading until they reached Thor and Odin, the king of Asgard. Odin gave his wife a kiss before addressing his sons.

"Now," he said, pacing in front of them as he spoke, "we must all be courteous to the guests, specifically those we have invited from other realms."

"Who will be here tonight, Father?" Loki asked, curious. It wasn't often that those from other realms visited Asgard.

"Tonight, the royal family of Vanaheim joins us. I expect you to be polite to them all. Talk with the sons, dance with the daughters. Respect Frey, their king. Don't say anything idiotic. Charm them. We need to solidify an alliance, lest we break into a war."

Loki glanced down while Thor nodded respectfully to his father. Thor was just itching to go into the party, drink a few ales, flirt with a few maidens. Loki could tell. He knew his brother as well as he knew himself. And Thor knew Loki just wanted to leave.

The royal family of Asgard entered the banquet hall amidst loud cheering and stomping. Uncivilized, Loki thought disgustedly as he followed Thor down the steps and to their seats and the table.

Loki tuned out of the dinner conversation, taking an unusual interest in his glass of wine instead of contributing. He had recently come of age to drink the stuff and found he liked it much more than Thor's favored drink, ale. While Thor got along extremely well with King Frey's six sons, Loki found them to be tiresome. To be completely honest, he had no idea what they were even talking about when he excused himself from the table to join in the dancing. He had no partner, but correctly predicted that this would be a temporary issue.

As soon as he stepped onto the floor, a throng of maidens crowded the second prince. He smirked devilishly at them all while trying to ignore the unpleasant aroma of all of their mixing perfumes. The young prince picked one of the girls at random and danced with her, switching partners every song or so. He winked flirtatiously, whispered sweet nothings into their ears, promised feelings he would never reciprocate. There must have been eleven girls who were positive that Loki was their one and only by the end of their turn. While he generally enjoyed dancing and was rather good at it, the prince grew bored with his shallow companions and excused himself once again for a moment alone in the hallway, then out to the gardens to clear his mind in the cool night air. But of course, he wasn't alone.

In the gardens stood a girl, one Loki assumed was a few years younger than him. Her back was faced to him. Unlike most of the women at the party who wore flashy dresses, her gown was white as snow, the sleeves falling off of slim shoulders. Her blonde hair hung down to her waist, and as she bent down to examine something, the loose curls fell into her stunning blue eyes.

Loki eyed her interestedly, as she hadn't yet noticed his presence. With gentle fingers, she stroked the petals of a wilting white flower, almost like one would pet an animal. To his amazement, the little blossom perked back up, life immediately flowing through it at her very touch.

Curious to a fault, the young prince leaned forward to obtain a better view, but dislodged a large rock from the path. It went scuttling down the wall, and he quickly shimmered out of view before she could find him. The girl quickly stood up, glanced back and forth a few times nervously, trying to locate whatever could have caused the mysterious sound. When she found nothing, the girl started searching for something. To Loki's amusement, he realized that she was looking for her shoes. Who was this maiden, walking around the royal gardens barefoot in the middle of Asgard's grandest ball during harvest season? Still invisible, he vanished one of them just as she found the pair.

Her blue eyes widened. She bit her lip and picked up the first shoe, examining it for anything odd. When she found nothing, a soft groan escaped her lips and she stared at the door, dreading the prospect of returning to the festivities with only half of the necessary footwear. For a moment, Loki felt a wave of shame, but the humor he saw in the situation definitely outweighed it.

She glanced down at the hem of her dress, trying to arrange it to hide her toes. This barely worked, but it did. She breathed a sigh of relief.

And then it started to rain.

Showers poured down from the sky, as if the heavens above had flooded with tears to drown Asgard. The girl looked completely distraught for a moment, now soaked to the bone, but to Loki's surprise, soft laughter erupted from her lips.

She raised a hand, letting the raindrops pelt her, laughing the entire time. It wasn't a loud laugh, but it was beautiful, like the trill of bells. She laughed because she had to go back inside soaking wet and one-shoed, with mud caking the hem of her white dress. And as bad as the situation was, there was something so funny about it all.

Loki found himself smiling, too.

Casting one more glance around the garden, she retreated inside, shaking her head to herself.

Loki didn't follow her in. Instead, he allowed himself back into view and, casting a shield over himself to avoid getting wet, walked over to the little flower she had somehow rejuvenated with a simple touch. He felt magical traces on the petals like a thin layer of dust and plucked the flower from the ground. Thinking quickly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook he always had tucked in his pocket. With gentle fingers, he laid the flower down between two pages and shut it, intending to examine it carefully in the solitude of his room.

The raven-haired prince briefly returned to the ball and danced with a few more girls with forgettable faces to please his mother. In reality, his eyes were traveling across the hall, searching for the mysterious maiden with the white dress and no shoes to see what had become of her, but she was nowhere to be found.