Astarte’s brow furrowed with concern. “We must hurry if we’re going to attempt this teleport.”
Zoe looked up. “Why? Do you sense something? Is Zane in trouble?”
“I can sense nothing of him at all, but time is of the essence because of the temporal differences between dimensions.”
Kento stared at her. “Huh?”
“Time does not move the same from one to another. It has been half an hour since Zane disappeared, but who knows how long it has been for him?”
Zoe was alarmed. “So for Zane, it might be hours, days, or even longer since he was pulled away.”
Mia sat down in the sand. She looked over at Kayura who had just arrived. Dais was with her. Kayura carried the Staff of the Ancients that had the power to open gateways between worlds. She could provide most of the raw power while Astarte, Anubis, and Mia supplied the guidance and the rest of the power. Everyone else sat down as well, armors powered up. Anubis would be helping with the gate, but under great protestation he would remain behind with Dais. Kayura needed beacons to home in on for the return teleport. Since Anubis still held some of the powers of the Ancients besides his Sentinel Armor of Chaos, she would be able to feel his power easily. He could guide her back. And Dais, well…Kayura had explained with a blush that he would be her emotional anchor to this reality. Dais smiled slightly and merely said that they had an “understanding”.
The Staff began to glow, its rings spinning and clinking. A column of swirling light engulfed them. It made Anubis think of the gate the Ancient One opened for the Ronins so they could go into the Dynasty Realm to fight the evil Talpa. The light suddenly disappeared, taking everyone with it except Anubis and Dais. Anubis looked up to the grey-tinged Norwegian sky and sighed. “May the Ancients guide and protect you all.”
Mia and the others appeared in a vast desert dotted with rocks and craters. Fire spewed up in great plumes from the craters. Mia smiled. Ryo would love this place. She looked down to see her armor was gone. “ARMOR OF OCCLUSION!” Nothing. “DARK FOG RISE!” Still nothing. The others noticed that they could still feel their armor and draw on its power some, but they couldn’t call it forth.
Zoe suddenly sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face. She started laughing with relief. “He’s alive! I can feel him! HE’S ALIVE!”
Kento took her hand and pulled her up. “Alright! Now we just gotta find him and go home.”
Zoe’s smile quickly turned into a frown. “This way!” The heat was already making Zoe feel lightheaded, but she only knew she had to find Zane. They all followed Zoe as she headed for a large butte in the distance.
Zane was resting quietly. Then suddenly a light burst on in his brain, like someone flipping on the electricity in a pitch-black room. Zoe? “ZOE! You scared me to death when you disappeared from my head like that! I thought...”
“I know. Me, too.” Her mental voice turned light-hearted for a moment. “You’re the one always complaining I talk in your head too loud. Maybe this will teach you a lesson.”
“I promise! I’ll never complain again. You wouldn’t listen anyway.”
Zoe then felt how tired and sore he was. He’d been hurt. “We’re coming Zane! Just hold on. Whatever’s wrong with you, we’ll fix it. The others are with me. I know you still don’t like Astarte, but her healing powers will make you as good as new. Then we can all go home, home to Japan. See you soon.”
Zoe stopped talking, but her presence was still there, strong and soothing like a cool breeze on a hot day. Some of the turmoil in his head subsided. Zane smiled contentedly and relaxed, oblivious to the real danger he was in.
In the throne room, Odin paced impatiently. “Well?”
“He will be ready in the morning.”
“At last! You will bring him here where he can face all those he’s wronged who’ve lived to tell of it. Even now he tries his little tricks to distract me. I feel his energy out there in the wasteland, but also here within the palace. But his illusions won’t work. I will not be deceived or confused by him anymore. He will stand before our people and answer for his crimes at long last.”
Balder frowned. He wanted Loki to suffer a long time. But was this justice? Or revenge? “Yes, Father. Tomorrow.” He bowed and left the room. He should feel celebratory on the eve of the Great Traitor’s judgment, but somehow he just felt unclean. He went back to the room where Loki was staying. He stopped in the doorway at a scene that surprised him.
His daughters were looking at Zane, mesmerized by what he was doing. Gudrun’s open expression of wonder made her look every inch the little girl. Zane was concentrating on his hands, a frosty mist rising up from them. When he opened his hands, there was a flower made completely of ice.
Gudrun’s lips made an “O” of surprise. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s an orchid. My sister grows them at our cabin house in Japan. Here. It won’t last long, but you can appreciate it while it does.”
Gudrun took it with eager fingers, lifting it to let the light shine through. She handed it to Skadi who caressed its smooth, cold surface lovingly. “I’d almost forgotten what ice felt like—the soothing tingle of it. And a flower. We don’t have the luxury of them here. Thank you.”
Gudrun turned more serious. “Now that will be enough of that. You’ll wear yourself out with these little tricks.”
Zane leaned back, a contented smile on his face. “It was worth it to see you look so young. You’re not, are you?”
“No. I’m much older than I appear.”
“Are there others like you?”
“No. I was the only young child to survive the journey here after Ragnarok. Many of our people did not make it. There have been no children born since then. New life does not grow easily here. It has been…difficult for me. But you know of loneliness. You and your sister. You were always outcasts, were you not?”
“I keep forgetting you have the sight. They said my mom had it, maybe my uncle. My sister and I don’t have it but we have a bond that others could always see--one that made them uncomfortable. And we didn’t exactly look normal either with our unusually pale skin, hair, and eyes. But as long as we had each other…”
“Until the vortex broke your link. It must have been terrifying—to have someone so close and then to be so totally alone. She’s here in Muspelheim, isn’t she?”
Zane chuckled. “Yes.” He felt strangely at ease with Gudrun. He soon found himself telling her about the nightmares. “Am I…Loki?”
Gudrun got a strange, faraway look in her eyes.
“In little ways
you and she are he
the one, the two
the almost three.
Loki’s essence
was to pass
into the three
returned at last.
But in the womb
the babes were ill
two survived
one born still.
With only two
he could not revive
not all his aspects
came alive.”
Zane was so tired of cryptic rhymes. “I don’t understand. My brother, sister, and I were supposed to
be his…vessels? Are we Loki or not?”
“Some good traits
and some bad
but not the worst
that Loki had.
One his cunning
feminine self
who claimed for Odin
objects of wealth.”
She pointed at Zane.
“Another his more serious
brooding side
the quiet thinker
with dignity, with pride.
The one still-born
his malicious part
bitterness and jealousy
clouded its heart.
Lucky are you
that he is gone
or else your lives
would not be your own.”
“But what about the nightmares? They seem so real—like memories.”
Gudrun seemed to snap back to her surroundings. She placed her hand on Zane’s forehead. He felt a tingling sensation. “They were triggered by your fear of returning to Norway. Sometimes we do not listen to our feelings as we should. These nightmares are remnants of another life that was not yours. Remember that you are only yourself, no matter what others may say. Remember.”
Skadi was worried that Zane didn’t quite grasp how much danger he was in. “You do know why you were brought here, don’t you?”
“Not exactly. I haven’t really had that much time to sort things out—everything’s been happening so fast. I think…Let me get this straight. You people are really the gods of Asgard?” They nodded. “Then that guy who was smacking me around in the throne room was…Odin?” They nodded again. “Oh crap! It just gets weirder and weirder.” Then it dawned on him. “Since he seems to hate my guts so much, he must be convinced I’m Loki.”
Gudrun stared out the window. “He is going to torture you tomorrow to appease his pride and anger and he will call it justice. He plans to make you suffer long and hard.”