Chapter 4: A lone adventure…
Nevaeh was walking briskly down the woods. She noticed that the forest cover was thinning, and the path was clearing.
She strode off along her way wondering so many things. What was all that about? What did she exactly do? She was just sharing a story and Loki suddenly went berserk. Now, that's berserk. She was disappointed in herself for shedding a tear, but when a maniac springs on you and starts yelling out of the blue, it surely counts as an external force.
There was hardly any tree cover over her head. The sun was glowing the brightest. Even in her foul mood, Nevaeh couldn't help but appreciate the calm breeze caressing her slightly red face. The sound of flowing water some place close made Nevaeh quicken her pace.
She came across a narrow stream of river. The scenery was simply breath taking. The birds chirped peacefully, the winds were comforting, the trees were pretty, and the water was as splendid as it was clean.
Nevaeh sat down on the unkempt grass near the river and took a deep breath, thinking that she could live here forever. She watched squirrels scurrying nearby. She momentarily recalled that she had definitely noticed Loki's eye twitch in an unpleasant manner when she had earlier remarked over the squabbling squirrels. She scoffed, why was she still thinking about him? He was a maniac!
A squirrel was sitting not far from her, all alone.
Nevaeh shifted a bit closer to it, 'All alone huh? Me too.' She paused, hoping for it to say something, but it blankly blinked back at her. 'You are no different than our squirrels, then. Squirrels back home are kind of jerks. I don't know why I had hope for you.'
Nevaeh moved away from the squirrel in disappointment and lit a cigarette. She was wondering, how she could get back home without Loki's assistance. Maybe she touched a nerve while she was talking to him, but there was no point in dwelling on it. She needed to get out of here and if she found someone, she could ask them where the bi-frost is. She would figure something out. But after trekking for so long and not even coming across a single person other than Loki was bordering on being suspiciously unnatural. There had to be someone around to provide directions!
'Hello there,' a voice came from the opposite.
Nevaeh jumped with surprise. She looked around and saw a mermaid sitting on a rock inside the river stream. The mermaid was wearing a gold top which looked like it was made out of scales, and had an aquamarine tail floating next to her in the water, with her long hair shining the same colour as her tail. Her eyes were a piercing shade of blue as though they had slurped the entire river inside its pupils. She was smiling thinly at Nevaeh, her tail swaying lightly as she shook her hair. Nevaeh was utterly pleased by this unusual encounter.
'General Kenobi!' Nevaeh said in a pleasantly surprised voice.
The mermaid looked perplexed. Nevaeh thought it was adorable; she had never seen a mermaid before, let alone a perplexed one!
'My apologies. How long have you been there?' Nevaeh asked.
'I was watching you since you arrived here. My interest peaked when you spoke to the squirrel and waited for an answer. You are not from around here,' the mermaid said in a musical voice.
'Well, I am glad I provided you with entertainment' Nevaeh said genuinely.
'You speak with nature,' sang the mermaid.
'Excuse me?' asked Nevaeh, wondering if she was referring to the squirrel as nature.
'You speak to nature, as if it is speaking to you. You speak to mute animals and provide them shelter. You shine brighter than the sun, yet you have an undying relation with the night. You prefer ice, but the fire inside you has the ability to tame a raging dragon. We have seen Valkyries rising and Queens ruling, yet I have never encountered anything like you. I am a mere aquatic protector and it is not in my nature to question the decisions of numen. A decision that brought you here, I am assuming,' finished the mermaid smilingly.
'Wow, I am flattered!' Nevaeh said blushingly, even though she didn't understand her fully. 'But don't you think that might just be because you haven't encountered an Earthling before?' asked Nevaeh, unable to understand the last sentence the mermaid had spoken.
'You are much too modest,' said the mermaid, 'and lost. You are lost' she said, concern filling her eyes.
'Oh, I am fine! I need to reach the Bi-frost. I just don't know where that is. Can you tell me the way?' Nevaeh asked.
'The bi-frost is far southeast from here, and it might take you another day's journey to reach there, if you plan on walking all the way then it might take more. You believe that you can find your way back home once you reach your destination?' she asked.
'Yes.' Nevaeh said, slowly getting up on her feet.
'Your way back home lies in your journey, not your destination. Remember, you have the power to bring peace between fire and ice. Your empathy, brilliance and compassion will give birth to a blessed bond, and only then, the gods will kneel before you,' she sang and splashed into the water. Her enormous tail rippled the entire stream's current. She disappeared out of sight.
'Wait! – What? Give – birth?' Nevaeh snorted in disbelief. 'I don't – I don't want to give birth to anything! Gods – kneeling?! Lady, are you out of your mind? I am an Atheist!' Nevaeh yelled shrilly after her with rapidly blinking eyes, but the mermaid was nowhere to be seen.
Nevaeh sat down on the grass once again. Her legs were feeling oddly heavy. She couldn't understand what had just happened. Why was this place so strange? Logic was not applicable around here! People just wanted to give you puzzles and tricks, and what sounded like a mermaid-freaking-prophecy!
She sighed heavily and lit a cigarette. She will not be side-tracked by foolish thoughts! She wasn't planning on staying here long enough to bring balance to the force. Sorry, between fire and ice, she thought. She would just finish her cigarette and move along her way with nothing but logic.
. . .
Loki was lying on the ground, covered in mud and a little blood. He opened his eyes to watch a scorpion climbing on his arm. He shook his hand. The scorpion bit him. He sat up and held the scorpion between his thumb and middle finger, squashing it like a bug. He stood up sucking the venom the scorpion had left on his arm. His eyes glowed red for a blinking second before turning back to their original green. He watched his arm, a hint of blue running down his veins, towards his body.
Loki remembered flying furiously amongst the trees, getting hit again and again, till he had collapsed. He remembered dreaming about waking up in Jotunheim, surrounded by his giant brothers, finally looking at the pretend-prince-monster who had finally returned home.
'AHH!' Loki screamed.
The forest floor behind him crunched. A creature came out of the woods. Loki quickly made himself invisible without giving it a further thought.
'I saw you, Prince of Asgard. Our kind sees everything.' said the werewolf quietly, maintaining his distance.
'It's King, now!' spat Loki, 'Apparently your kind doesn't see everything.'
'Or maybe, we simply don't agree to it. I heard the whispers of the all-father collapsing, exactly how that happened?' asked the werewolf, baring rotten teeth.
Loki chose to remain silent.
'We were also wondering why our temporary King is trotting off with a human girl,' said the werewolf.
Loki sharply looked at the creature, before scoffing lightly. 'I doubt that my days have grown so dull that I would feel the need to dignify that question with a response, especially to a pathetic creature such as yourself,' Loki said rolling his eyes. 'As far as the time-span of my rule is concerned, why don't you leave that to the evolved brains to figure out?'
'So be it. I was just saying this to my brother that I think it's all for the better that you parted ways with the mortal. Maybe my brothers and I would eat her for dinner after the moon shines. Humans are quite easily available as food,' he jeered.
Loki sharply slid out a dagger from in his hand. 'Why don't you have me instead? Or shall I have you?' hissed Loki, threateningly approaching him. The werewolf's eyes widened as he backed away and spat on the ground
'Gods are a bit much for our taste anyway.' He walked away.
Loki vanished his dagger in thin air, rolling his eyes one last time before setting off into the woods. He was so tired of being treated like dirt by everyone. Even now that he is King, the foul creature dared to have such a conversation with him! Even that look Sif gave him when he'd denied their foolish request! It made his blood boil. He decided to plan a new quest to Jotunheim; whether for death or glory, he would decide later. Preferably some time when he was not covered in mud.
He was walking along the way while making plans in his mind when he abruptly stopped in mid track. Werewolves were like insects for Loki to handle, even if they are fully transformed into wolves, but this – his eyes widened in the slightest.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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