Fated
Chapter Nine
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“Runa…”
In the midst of her dream, Runa awoke from her slumber and a gentle smile formed on her lips when meeting a soft pair of liquid-blue eyes. The owner of those absorbing eyes had a face both youthful and adorable, a teasing smile on his lips when he lowered himself and snuggled close to her, his long cyan hair tangled with her own loose violet. “Kali…”
Her eyes darted quickly to the familiar surroundings, melting immediately from the gathered warmth of the small house they both shared. Her eyes closed when feeling his hand upon her cheeks, a frown upon her lips when feeling nothing but coldness at his touch. “Runa…this isn’t how it was supposed to be…”
“What are you talking about? I always wake up with you near me.” Runa laughed at his silliness and opened her eyes, her body turning cold when warm liquid blood ran freely from many unidentified wounds on his bare body, soaking through the sheets they were sharing quickly and leaking to the wood floor below. Soon, the floors were covered with it, as if floating in an ocean of swirling red, the surrounding area slowly dissolving into blackness, carrying the warmth with it.
Kali’s eyes, so soft and loving once, turned dead and lifeless, blood pouring from his lids and mouth. “…This is the reality…”
Another…dream…? Runa asked herself, raising a shaky hand towards
his face, “K-Kali…?”
“Hm?” He held back a wider grin before stopping when seeing her face covered in sweat, unknowingly taking a deep and slow breath as if swallowing the air so she could properly breathe. He could see unleashed tears in her eyes and not even a sound came to his ears as silent sobs came from her lips. “Runa…”
But it can’t be…she thought, eyes widening when she felt his warm cheeks on the palm of her hands. He smiled, grabbing her hand tightly with his and slowly lowering his face towards her. You can’t be alive…
His lips were almost on hers. “I’m here, Runa…”
You can’t be alive…she repeated, already feeling his cool breath, closing her tearful eyes. Much too real to be a dream, but fake from the missing warmth she always carried when being in his presence, unlike in her true dream. Especially if I’m the one who had buried you…
‘Kali’ held back a cry of pain when the gentle hand on his cheeks became a curse, feeling a skin-ripping pinch given by the woman then eating a mouthful of silk sheets when she suddenly let him go as he fell into the ground.
His ears went almost deaf when she gave a loud killing scream from where her voice echoed painfully through the halls before an orb of water smashed directly into his face, sending the guy toppling over from his sitting position and landing onto his face, completely stunned for words.
Slowly, the color of his hair changed to a much darker shade of blue as it moved like slithering snakes, tying together magically into a long ponytail that reached the bottom of his feet. Long and dark robe-like material fell over his still stunned body, covering them without a show of skin. Once done, he slowly picked himself off from the ground.
“That was cruel of you, Runa. Though I’ll be worried if you didn’t react the way you had.” His voice was much more mature and deep with a teasing tone at the silent girl, lifting his face to show the color of pure white eyes under his long thick bangs. “Should I even ask if you still remember me? Even if we were never close – and it’s pretty obvious why – but your lover was someone I was very close too.”
And as he expected, luckily he was able to clog his ears in time, her screams completely terrorizing the entire building they’re in. “UTGARD-LOKI!”
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Ikol lifted a hand towards his face, slowly waking up groggily from the burning warmth. He decided to sleep a while longer, covering the soft sheets over his body and sighed, much too comfortable to even move.
The hand near his face dropped to his side and confusion swept over his hazy mind when it landed onto a soft breathing body beside him. Another slender figure moved from the opposite side where he could feel gentle fingers clutching onto his arms as if passing their tenderness.
It was bliss, Ikol thought with a smile and identified the girl who’s grabbing his arm to be Falila with the other as Eir. He closed his eyes again to surrender to the comforting darkness, sleeping between the two girls awfully close.
“…” was his silence before panic thrashed into his thoughts when his mind crawled out from his sleep and realized his position. He bolted up in a flash so fast that it had knocked the two girls off the warm bed, both falling over the sides. “FALILA?! EIR?!”
Falila lifted herself from the ground, rubbing the back of her head where it coiled against the ground and laid her face onto her arms that was placed on the bed. Looking up at Ikol’s burning face, who was much too embarrassed to face her, her eyes hazed over when she had thought the one sleeping beside her was a young light-blonde haired elf. Smiling, she blinked up at him. “Ikol?”
If possible, Ikol’s face was now turning a nice boiling tomato, wishing to melt somewhere and disappear. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t know I was…ah…”
“Where are we?” Eir was the one who questioned the other, standing up from the floor oddly, looking around room. It was fairly simple but still magnificent, the only window completely shown the dully atmosphere from the winter mountains with beautiful drapes and clean tiled floors that reflected the cold condition around them. One glance over at Ikol and the still sitting Falila from the ground, her face flushed lightly when it trailed over at the bed: the only warmth provided.
Ikol somehow noticed and mentally bashed himself repeatedly to the stone hard wall, but decided to change the subject instead, his face still red. “We weren’t captured again, were we? This room seems too nice for prisoners to…ah…to be in, right?”
“The door isn’t even locked, so I’m guessing we were welcomed here during our sleep,” Falila said, somehow already opening the door. She was the only one who doesn’t seem bothered at what had happened a moment ago. “Well, shall we-”
“-UTGARD-LOKI?!”
Came the sudden scream and Ikol rolled off the bed from such a force with Eir standing there in great shock. Being the one by the door, Falila double-blinked and she swore that the scream carried such a great amount of wind that it blew her long locks right past her face. Then her long ears twitched, immediately slamming the door shut.
“That was Runa, wasn’t it?” Ikol questioned when he crawled up from the floor, “Is that her screaming?”
Eir managed to give a nod. “I never knew that girl can give quite a scream…”
“Is she in danger?” he asked with a shout, running towards the door with the equally worried Eir but was blocked by the elf, “Falila!”
Falila’s face seemed calm in a much stranger way. “I wouldn’t recommend you going out there…”
“But Runa! That’s her scream!” Ikol, gently moving her aside, grabbed the handle of the door.
Ignoring Falila’s warning was one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever done in his entire life for once he stepped into the hall a rather large energy of water – practically taking the whole space without a single room to dodge – went soaring into the air and hit him full-on.
If it weren’t for his luck by suddenly being engulfed in a burst of flames and appearing in the arms of both women, he would have flew with the attack which made quite a large frightening hole at the end of the hall where they could see the beautiful cold mountains of Jotunheim. They each had their arms around the other with confound faces, all three staring at the view in silence. A piece of hanging rubble fell, bouncing towards them with the chilly cold wind blowing inside from the damaged wall, kissing their strands of hair lightly which snapped them all back to reality.
Falila was the first to break the silence. “I told you not to step out into the hall, Ikol…”
And Ikol felt his body falling back to the ground; his pounding heart was filled with such fear that he wasn’t able to acknowledge the emotion until now, his face such a white complexion. It was Eir’s short shriek that warned the two when flaming fire rose from his body and consumed them altogether, only to die down when noticing they had teleported to a different area to witness the scene of Runa arguing with an unknown taller man. A very tall and abnormal man indeed where they could have guessed Ikol – being the tallest between them – could probably reach his stomach at the most.
Ikol scratched the ‘arguing’ word off and found a better remark to the scene in front of them. Not arguing…but having a war matched better for Runa’s part and it seemed like Eir and Falila were thinking the exact same thing when another orb of water flew over their heads.
The taller man she’s having a war against can only laugh with such a confident attitude, dodging Runa’s attack successfully even though he’s not even moving, laughing harder when she began to get much more irritated and certainly had the intense need to kill. Ikol gave a bad shudder and thanked the Norns he never had THIS Runa against him!
The man blinked over at the three witnesses and his face broke into a cheeky smile. “Well! It seems like they’re awake, Runa!”
That’s just the distraction she needed, sending an orb quickly right at his jaw and he went airborne right through the roof, his figure disappearing somewhere in the light of the misty new day. Runa gave a triumphant grin, standing in a lazy pose with her hands at her hips and glanced over at her friends. Ikol’s face had gone white to an unhealthy blue with Eir’s mystified look, both wondering if that’s even normal for the man to survive such an attack.
Falila is the only one who doesn’t seem fazed, though her eyes were larger than normal. “I guess we haven’t known the real Runa just yet…”
Ikol turned to the elf in much greater fear for his life.
“Runa,” Eir managed to call to her, staring at the hole in the wall uneasily, “Who was that?”
“Utgard-Loki…” was her reply, crystal eyes narrowed sharply, watching the physician goddess helping the trembling boy to his feet, “Compared to the other giants here in Jotenheim, Utgard-Loki is far smarter and too much for his own kind. Sometimes you have to be careful with him.”
“How do you know such a person…a giant especially…?”
Runa’s jaws tighten, her fist shaking at her side and facing away; it was obvious she didn’t want anyone prying into her business.
Ikol noticed this with narrowed eyes, calming himself a bit and asking daringly but in a small tone, hoping it wouldn’t tick her off at the least, “Utgard-Loki, Runa…?”
“He’s not the Loki we’re looking for,” Runa replied, understanding his thoughts, turning her back towards them and walking quietly out of the room they’re in, “But he might know where he is…we’ll have to ask him and see…”
“You’re telling me he’s still alive?”
Runa gave a small twitch. “As much as I hate to admit it, he’ll just brush that attack I’ve given him aside like it’s nothing. He should now be waiting for us in his dining room.”
And a loud growl rumbled from Ikol’s stomach at the mention of food and he smiled in embarrassment. Runa inwardly gave a low chuckle, walking out and leading them towards where the dining room was placed while the others silently followed.
Rubbing his stomach to keep it silent, Ikol’s sharp eyes glanced around until they settled on Runa. For a place this big, there’s not even a single soul around guarding the area. He had learned that Jotunheim is a world full of giants and cold mountains, but this building seemed quite out of place, not to mention shouldn’t the owner – Utgard-Loki, is it? – worry that an intruder will be entering?
Runa…His suspicion of her had grown ever since the first time they’d met, wondering what her relationship is with that giant since she seems to know this place fairly well for a first time visitor. Or any other giants, for that matter, since it doesn’t seem to be common hearing a goddess or god being friends with them, let alone getting along.
Before his thoughts can go any farther, the smell of fresh food reached his nose and there, a table full of all varieties of food he had ever seen in his life was displayed right in front of him once they entered into the room. He had to gather as much will as he could not to drool.
Standing just behind the food was the same irritatingly smiling Utgard-Loki; quite hard to miss considering his frightening height gave his presence away. Just one look at him almost made Ikol lose his appetite. Not from disgust or fear, but his cold aura that seemed to crawl over his skin in a threatening manner. Utgard-Loki was definitely a dangerous man.
A grip on his arm distracted his thoughts and turned to meet serious amber eyes. “Ignore it, Ikol…” Eir whispered to him, leading him towards the table where they could sit and try to enjoy a meal, “Eat your fill and we can leave here afterwards if you want.”
A hand upon hers, Ikol gave her a gentle smile in return, making sure to sit down in between her – in case she can stop him if there’s anything suspicious about the food – and Runa – lords knows how much he’s afraid of the seid, but her protection would be worth it – and reached in for the food.
Utgard-Loki watched them with smiling eyes, taking his own seat, making sure to sit on the opposite side of the glowering seid, taking a small bite of his food. “It’s only been a few months, hasn’t it Runa?”
“I don’t want to talk about that, Utgard-Loki,” Runa scowled, biting down on the bread almost viciously like she’s taking her anger out in it, “Beside, it’s you who always disappears from the face of the earth and returns like a ghost like you can sometimes seem to be.”
“Should I apologize about Kali then?”
Her fist slammed upon the table and everyone remained silent. Ikol’s eyes were completely on Runa in confusion but would never dare speak. Both Eir and Falila sat silently, though a cup of tea was raised to the elf’s lips.
“He’s my friend also, Runa…” Utgard-Loki whispered, his snow white eyes holding with her fuming crystal ones, “Were you the one who also bur-”
“Enough, Utgard-Loki!” she hissed through gritted teeth, lowering her fist onto her lap and out of view. Ikol paused from eating; looking at her and how uncomfortable it seemed to make his friends. Silently, his eyes grew hard, narrowing them over at Utgard-Loki.
Glancing at her for another second and into Ikol’s eyes, Utgard-Loki held back his amusement when seeing how powerful that gaze was, considering it almost looked as though he was looking down at him though he’s still many feet shorter. With a shrug, he went back to eating and changed the subject. “You want to know how I came upon you four?”
Eir frowned at him. “I’ve been wondering about that.”
“Simple…I didn’t.” At their confused look, he smiled, “How should I rephrase this? I meant to say that it was you who found me and woke me up from my sleep.”
“Woke you up…?”
“You were all sleeping close to my fingers just last night. Probably thinking they were rocks, weren’t you?” He smiled when they all turned their heads over the Falila who was still drinking her tea as if she didn’t have a clue as to why they were looking at her with such wide eyes. “Sometimes I enjoy sleeping in my larger form out there. It didn’t bother me much, truthfully, but another wolf friend of yours nearly broke by fingers by being slammed into them.”
Ikol’s appetite was completely gone. He dropped the spoon down and pushed the empty bowl away from him, giving him a serious gaze as the others followed. “A wolf friend…?”
Eir’s muttering confirmed all their thoughts. “Would he be the one who had been following us…?”
Utgard-Loki’s eyes slightly widened with a blink. “I was only joking with him being friends. I thought he killed all of you actually. He was badly injured – from Runa there, I figured – and couldn’t even move, so I thought there had been a battle going on between you and both sides lost since no one danced in victory.”
“If we did have a war,” Runa managed to talk, glaring holes at the food to distract her from the coming bubble of anger, “wouldn’t you have heard it?”
“No, because I’ll be thinking it was only the wind and wouldn’t bother waking up.”
Runa and Ikol were nearly floored but kept their composure well. Falila finally spoke, setting her tea down back onto the table, her food untouched like Eir. “Do you mind showing him to us?”
“After you tell me your part of the story first. I’m curious,” he said, eyeing each one of them, “about what a Vanaheim goddess…” He glanced at Runa. “An Asynjur…” Now he looked at the frowning Eir. “With an elf – I’m surprised you actually left Alfheim!” Now to the silent Failia. “And a Midgard human…” Lastly to Ikol and held his gaze with him. “Be traveling together for in Jotunheim?”
Runa slowly stood up from her seat; Ikol and the rest followed. “That would be none of your business, Utgard-Loki. We thank for your hospitality but we should leave. You can do whatever you want with the wolf “friend” of ours.”
Ikol’s jaw dropped. “We can’t just do that, Runa!”
“Come now, Runa, you make it seem like neither of us has ever met!” Utgard-Loki said lightly, standing up from his own seat and walking around towards them. “And it seems like your Midgard friend has a point. Shouldn’t you meet this follower of yours?”
Like before, Ikol felt his aura repetitively close to him again…much too close and threatening like a second skin. He scratched his arms nervously, trying to get the feeling away while standing behind the girls, admitting fully that he’s afraid.
Ikol was amazed at how he can still eat in front of him without a problem from earlier. He felt Eir coming close to him, as if telling him silently that she’s there and his mind went warm from the gesture. Though his worry for her only increased, remembering that out of the three girls, Eir didn’t seem to have any attacking abilities. Falila was just rooted near them, her eyes held onto Utgard-Loki cautiously.
“Why would you want to leave so quickly? Is it because seeing me brings pain to you, Runa?” Utgard-Loki continued, ignoring the others and his attention was directly to the now angry seid who was the only one not as intimidated by him like the others, “Was it my fault for changing into Kali when you woke up? I would have thought you’ll be happy to see him…”
“Let’s go, Ikol.” Runa grabbed onto Ikol’s hand firmly and dragged him away, the other two following behind closely. “We’re not welcome here any longer.”
Utgard-Loki’s laugh was sweet, but Ikol still felt a chill running down his spine at the voice. Not even close to the door that would be their exit, each one of them held their surprise when the tall giant suddenly appeared before them. Falila now stood in front of the group, a flute near her mouth calmly though not a single note had yet been played, her eyes dully narrowed but serious.
Utgard-Loki held his hands up innocently, a single finger pointing behind them. A loud terrifying growl was then heard but Falila still hadn’t move from her position, leaving the others to glance back quickly. The sight he saw nearly made Ikol gasp out in horror, jade eyes completely wide under his scarlet hair.
The large wolf was chained to the floor with blood mixing in with saliva that was drooling heavily from between his teeth. The color of emerald gems flashed with such rage in his eyes and tried to crawl his way towards them, desperate on his shaky legs. A messy coat of dark-brown fur was covered in sweat and blood, his mouth open to give another howl through his lips.
Utgard-Loki’s soft voice echoed through their minds, somehow surpassing the loud thundering howl. “I believe this would be your wolf friend…”
Ikol angrily turned to him. “What did you do to him?!”
“Aren’t you kind to a creature like that?” He gave another laugh, pure white eyes glowing and the wolf yowled louder in pain, his legs giving way from underneath them, his body twitching.
“Utgard-Loki!” Runa shouted, facing him, “What do you think
you’re doing?!”
“Silencing him,” he
directly answered, bending over to look at Ikol straight in his eyes, his
attention now fully on the boy. Ikol was seriously angry at the treatment given
to the wolf, his jade eyes glowing powerfully as well as his white ones. “I
didn’t bring those wounds on him…but Loki himself did…Is that who you’re trying
to find, ‘Chosen One’…?”
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