Fated
Chapter Eight
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The darkness swirled as it thickened in the air, surrounding the caves where droplets of poison leaked from the mouth of the hanging serpent. Shiny wet drops of venom continuously splattered onto the flat surface of rocks near where Sigyn, the wife of Loki, sat. She counted each of them carefully…continuing to wait. The large chains on her lap screeched as she tightened her grip onto them once the time almost came.
But she will never let herself cry, only to take in the aggravating pain and accept her fate she had chosen herself. Mauve eyes glittered once the hiss of the serpent reached her ears, her mouth slightly open as it trembled.
“The time comes now, Narfi…” she whispered, her voice so low that even the caves were unable to echo the words, “For my punishment…my punishment alone…”
A scarred hand released the chains and lifted into the air, long curly brown hair that wrapped around her arms sliding to her side like gentle waves. A single drop fell upon the palm of her hand which burned through her skin, but she was much too used to it to cry out in pain. Gazing at the drop, her fingers quivered, slowly bringing it towards her lips. “This is for you…Loki…”
And she drank…
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The earth trembled softly and weakly but it was enough to wake the sleeping Ikol whose eyes snapped opened, sitting up from the hard ground. Inhaling a sharp breath, he sat there to recover from his shock before licking his dry lips, wrapping the wool cloth given from Runa tightly around himself. Lifting a hand to block his face, Ikol took bigger breath to calm himself a bit, relief from the darkness when his eyes opened.
Creaking them open slowly to stare between his fingers, wanting to enjoy the beautiful view of the black sky that was painted with many stars as if caught in a void between the large mountains was completely ruined when he gazed upon a pair of dazed but gem-like lilac orbs. But the eyes were so close to his face, they were the only view he could see. The result? Being scared shitless and giving a loud hollering scream, backing away too quickly when his arms – tangled with the warm cloth – that supported him slipped, his head banging into the hard ground which created the bump that had healed before to come back.
Runa sat up from the ground in alarm. She could sleep through the earthquake easily, but that scream – especially one like Ikol’s which was loud and pretty high pitched – was an exception. “Ikol?! What happened?! Are we under attack?”
Back still leaning against the rough rocks, the still awake Eir shook her head. “It’s nothing, Runa.”
“Then what’s with the scream?”
Eir slowly pointed over at where Ikol was which the seid quickly glanced over before giving an annoyed snort with a roll of her eyes. Giving a painful groan, Ikol stared up with tearful eyes and blinked when a face with those lilac eyes glowed from the moonlight. They all had agreed to not light a fire to warm their bodies, fearing to be found by Odin or one of his watchful ravens. With one look, he quickly recognized the owner of those ghostly eyes. “Falila!”
Falila gave a dazed smile, helping him up and speaking in a vague voice. “…Had I frightened you, Ikol…? I was only checking on you…”
“Do you have to be so close?!” Ikol exclaimed, noticing her odd behavior and rubbing the back of his head, giving a flinch from the bump, “Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping? I thought its Eir’s turn to be on guard!”
“…Hmm…I don’t really like to sleep…” she replied dreamily, lying down on the cold dirt ground, “…I couldn’t sleep anyway…sometimes, its fun to think of many things and try…”
“I don’t really want to ask what’s in your mind when you’re like this,” Eir sighed, answering Ikol’s confused look whose finger was pointing at the elf in question, “Falila’s personality changes when the sun sets, so you have to get used to her being like this.”
“…I don’t like the nights here…” Falila giggled, now rolling onto her side to look at them, “…It’s too disturbing to me…”
Ikol raised an eyebrow. “How is it disturbing? It’s completely empty here!”
“…That’s the problem…” Her lilac eyes hazed to blankness, pretty much chilling Ikol to the bone. “…It’s empty…”
Runa grumbled, rubbing her eyes. “Thanks to you, Ikol, now I can’t sleep.”
“At least you can sleep through the earthquake,” Eir’s eyes lowered. “An earthquake we shouldn’t be having…”
“What do you mean?”
“The earthquakes on this earth only come when Loki was greatly suffering,” she replied quietly while Ikol’s eyes narrowed, “But since he has escaped, its still been going on…I don’t really know how or even why. I have a bad feeling about it…”
“…Never a good feeling…” Falila tapped her forehead, as if thinking hard to herself before gazing at Ikol unenthusiastically, “…But you…you were disturbed from your sleep because of the earthquake…”
“You pretty much took the words out of my mouth,” Ikol said, shuddering from her gaze but sighing, looking up towards the sky, “Ever since the night that Runa arrived when my journey began, I’ve been having these bad feelings that something was very wrong…as if everything that’s happening now shouldn’t be happening.”
“You’re right; us being here should never have occured for the Fate was never written in this path,” Eir added in calmly, amber eyes caught with his, “I’m sorry to remind you, Ikol, but the reasons of you being Chosen by the Norns is still unanswered, other than your image and maybe something more, being identical to Loki.”
His jaw tightened, facing away. “What about the rest of you…? Why did you decide to come with me?”
“My business is none of yours,” Runa replied coldly, glaring at Ikol to keep his mouth shut when he almost dared to ask her again, glancing at the giggling elf and Eir, “I’m not sure about you guys though.”
“I come because of my shame for nearly destroying his life of having his memories wiped,” Eir replied, smiling at Ikol’s shocked look, “I consider your fate to be quite unfair so I decided to come and help you in any way that I could as promised.”
“…Eir was known to be the kindest of all Goddesses with a heart of gold…” Falila’s muffled voice where heard, her face hiding in her arms from where she lied upon her stomach, slowly raising her face, “…You all should have known that Urd was the one that requested for me to come along…”
“No, I was not informed of that,” Ikol said with a low frown, “Why did you agree?”
Her clouded eyes lowered, feeling her arms shivering from the cold. “…Why did I agree…? I must have forgotten…”
Then the four sat in silence, all their gazes lowered to the ground in their own thoughts. Giving a heavy sigh, Ikol quickly changed the subject, making a quick question with slight guilt, being the one taking all the spot of the warm cloth. “Any of you girls’ cold? I didn’t mean to take it all…”
“…Cold…but better….” Falila replied with a low smile while Eir shook her head, already cuddling in her own blanket.
“I’m fine; humans like you need the warmth more than me,” Runa responded lazily, only to blink when feeling the wool wrapping about her body with the boy sitting beside her. “Ikol?”
“Human-looking goddess like you is still a living being and needs the warmth as well,” he countered, throwing a part of it towards Falila before lying back down with his back facing her. Runa grunted but didn’t argue, resting back and closing her eyes for a restful sleep.
Falila jerked, dazedly staring at the large and tall rocks where they were all leaning against to protect themselves from being spotted. Not only from being spotted, but also safe away by blocking the path of the icy winds. “…Eir…” She whispered, slowly pointing at the rocks. “…I saw it move…”
“Rocks can’t move, Falila,” Eir pointed out matter-of-factly, flicking her head to the side so her bangs unattached from her face, “Just go to sleep.”
“…But…I’m telling you the truth…” she muttered, closing her eyes slowly, “…It was moving…”
Ikol cracked open his eye when hearing the soft breathing of the sleeping elf, sitting up carefully by not waking Runa and tugging a bit of the large cloth to wrap more around Falila. He chuckled, “I never knew traveling with so many women can be such a big pain.”
“Careful; I’m still awake here,” Eir reminded him with a playful pout while he made his way to sit beside her, “I thought you were tired.”
“Same here,” he sighed, running a hand through his soft strands and breathing in the cold air, “Is it okay if I talk to you a little bit…?”
“Ask me anything you want…”
“Do you think…I’ll ever find this Loki?” Ikol’s question surprised Eir but she had expected it, slowly turning on her spot to face him; a movement he needed to know that she’s listening. “He can’t stand still in one spot so he’ll be moving all over the place.”
“Anything impossible might work for you though,” Eir answered slowly, lifting her face to gaze at the sky, “You were probably ‘Chosen’ for a reason, Ikol. If anyone can find Loki, then you can.”
“What would you do if we managed to find him?”
Her amber eyes widened as she let the question sink into her mind, trying to figure out the answer that would satisfy him. But she had no answer nor did she even respond, knowing full well that Ikol wouldn’t expect much from her either. “Why don’t you ask me when we get a hold of him? For now, I don’t know…”
“Don’t worry, I will…I’m curious to know what a goddess, especially from Asgard, would do to him,” he snickered dryly, raising his fingers to his forehead where the light of the shining moon was blocked to shadow his face, “I don’t even know myself…I kept thinking if I should be happy that my mission will finally be complete and let him do whatever destiny has already written for him…or should I regret it and stop him from starting Ragnarok?”
“It’s tough on you, isn’t it?”
“I’m just a mere human…but there are more things that I thought about the most and it’s much more important.”
“Important?”
“My own thoughts of the reasons why you three decided to come with me,” Ikol answered, his gaze softening, “You…you feel deep pity for me, don’t you? If we never met, you probably wouldn’t have saved me at all.”
Eir would have protested but was interrupted when he lifted a hand to silence her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not blaming on you or anything. You’re still here with me, right?” He smiled reassuringly, turning to face the sleeping forms of the other two girls and continued. “Falila, even if it was requested by Urd, has her own reasons. I pretty much know a bit of her reason too. She’s pretty twisted, that elf, but a kind of twisted like some sort of a calculation…Solving it means you must understand her.”
A smile formed on Eir’s lips, wrapping her arms over bended knees and sat there silently, continuing to listen intensely to his words.
“I still haven’t figured it out yet, but so far my guess is that it must involve Aaron,” he smiled, inwardly concerned for the unknown condition of the Leader of the Elves, grinning at Eir’s astonished look, “It kind of makes sense, considering how things went in Alfheim, but that’s possibly not the answer.”
She traced a finger over her lips in thought. “There are many ways to solve it but only one answer can come out of it.”
“Lastly, the witch there, Runa,” Ikol grumbled in the lowest tone possible, not wanting to let the seid hear his words, “No one just automatically agrees with everything, especially if it involves Ragnarok. There must be a reason why Runa decided to find me so my mission can begin – to essentially help bring about the end of the world.”
“What do you think?”
“Me? Something unforgivable must have happened to her; that’s the only thing I can think of. Especially a mad seid like her…though for some reason, she seems a bit calm when we’re here in Jotunheim. But that must be me since I can’t help but think that she’s keeping it all in and letting out her anger when I say anything that she doesn’t like or finds annoying.” He cringed, biting his bottom lip in slight fear when seeing her shift. “She’s still sleeping, right?”
Eir laughed, quickly digging into the pouch at her side and presenting him with a small pill. “Take this, Ikol. You’ll have a peaceful rest throughout the whole night. I know you’re tired and very sleepy.”
He hesitated momentarily, feeling his stomach tighten in the memory of the drink she had given to him. “Does it taste bad?”
Her glare was enough to force him to swallow the pill without much of a fuss, though it was never as murderous as the one Runa kept on giving him. Even if the seid’s glare alone can make him swallow a whole can of pills without a word of complaint, just so he could get on her almost non-existent good side. And as he expected, the bitter flavor left a trail from his tongue and down his throat, face turning a bit pale. Slowly, that was forgotten when his mind began to clear and he smiled thankfully to the goddess.
His head nodded off when his mind surrendered to sleep, Eir helping him rest his head upon her shoulder, sharing the blanket with him to keep warm through the cold nights. “Sometimes you can push yourself too hard with just thinking abnormal questions – unnatural for a human like you,” Eir snickered, her eyes closed, somehow feeling very tired, “You need rest more than any of us…just keep your head up high, Ikol…you’ll go through this hardship with us always supporting you…”
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“Strong words, but will you actually perform them?” Emerald eyes narrowed behind his dark-brown hair, running his long tongue over his lips where his sharp teeth were shown, a growl in his throat. “Surprisingly…one from Asgard actually joined with them and an elf as well…all to find Loki?”
A deceitful grin spread over his mouth, making sure to stay a great distance away considering the strong feeling of being watched by someone much farther seemed to be deadly threatening to him. No use hiding, knowing he was too late from the very beginning when he spotted the group, or even attacking, considering he doesn’t know the person yet.
But whoever it was, it was incredibly annoying to him as his growl turned furious, sounding like a wild untamed wolf wanting to charge out of instinct for protection. His long clawed fingers flexed, clutching onto the rocks tightly, scratching his nails upon the rough surface to contain himself from surrendering into his thoughts.
Then a sudden strong scent passed him quickly from where he stopped, sniffing the air quickly to catch the smell but snorted instead when his nose burned from the cold breeze. “The wind shifted; no wonder I didn’t notice this from the beginning.” He grunted and scratched the tip of his nose carefully, narrowed eyes glancing over towards the large rocks where Falila had claimed to see movement. “This stinking scent…of a giant…”
“You’re a bit slow as usual, Vali.” His body turned cold from the sound of the voice heard whispering in his ears from behind; the voice he had never heard for many years; the same tone that created streaming rage deep within his chest as it burned through the ice of his frozen form. “Though the giant is surely not me that you’re detecting…”
“Lo…ki…?” Vali stuttered with the name, his body shivering dangerously. He couldn’t catch the new scent of Loki, nor could he sense him standing behind him, for the words were carried from a distance. But just hearing his voice sent Vali over the edge and he could never calm his anger any longer from years of keeping it inside.
His anger was what made his body change, dark eyes growing larger and shining a hungry green, his body twisting and stretching while he kneeled over on all fours to keep his balance. His breathing quickened, drool running from his gasping mouth and giving a howling cry to the sky above just when his hair spread down to cover his whole body with fur.
All thoughts and blazing anger of Vali soon disappeared into the mind of the wolf he had transformed himself into, his long fur ruffling in the chilly wind and looking around riotously before glancing up at Loki from above. The scent that surrounded Loki was still unidentified, for the wind had once again shifted to be much colder.
Loki sat there among the rocks calmly, his sharp eyes held to the hungry wolf but his senses still grew far to the one who’s still in hiding that had witnessed the change of Vali. Loki had already caused the group ahead to fall asleep, not wanting any of them to awaken by finding him near.
“What exactly has Odin done to you, my son…?” Loki spoke, though he knew the Vali from before is unconscious from inside the wolf, “Did you realize that the earthquake earlier was from the suffering of your mother…?”
The wolf leaped into the air and held his mouth open with a loud hungry cry, daring to swallow the God but missed, clamping his sharp teeth onto the boulders where Loki had stood and landed to the floor. He sank his teeth into the boulder which cracked to clumps of thick pieces, puffs of cold air blowing from his still hard breathing.
“But why should she suffer…when I’m the one who deserves it…?” Loki continued to stand tall above him, watching the wolf – his son – from below, “Anger is the result of you guising yourself to become this, isn’t it? Where you can’t feel or have any consciousness to what you are doing in this form of a wolf. A curse given by Odin because of my punishment…and also the cause of your brother’s death…”
The wolf leaped again powerfully but Loki did not move when he came deadly close to him. His visible emerald eyes sharpened and he raised an arm, his fingers stretching before bending in a grabbing gesture. The wolf struggled viciously when he was in a choking hold by an invincible force, giving a whine of pain as he clashes against the large boulder which shattered under him.
“Sigyn would want you to live, Vali,” Loki said gently, his sharp eyes slightly warm in hidden anguish from where the wolf moaned, unable to move, “I brought nothing but treachery to her but yet she stays with me…if I know you well, you would do no such thing.”
Forcing a snarl, the wolf steadily stood to his feet, his mouth watering with hunger and anger.
“I don’t want you to hide any longer, Vali,” he whispered, his eyes glowing in a ruby color before a surge of flames surrounded the wolf tightly, the cold wind boosting the fire while he roared, “I want you to live your life to the best…your mother will wish for this as well…”
Then with a flick of his wrist, he sent the wolf flying as it coiled against the large rocks that Falila had complained about. Unlike the others that smashed to pieces once his body came in contact, it snapped back to its position like fingers before twitching. The wolf slid heavily from the stone just when the rocks lifted into the air; showing that they were indeed fingers that are attached to a hand of a giant.
Loki
gazed at the enormous hand insipidly. “For you, it will start by meeting the owner
of that hand; the ruler of the chief city of
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