Chapter Text
A susurrus of snapping branches increased as Teuta swayed from the tree to the ground and began running, cutting through the thicker shrubs as she went. Finally, with a loud increase of breath, she jumped forth and knocked the running creature down just as Loki appeared on her right side. She turned it around on the ground as it shouted.
“It’s a child!” she yelled, breathing quickly.
It was a small boy, dirty, with muddy face and torn clothes. He kept yelling while trying to free himself from her grasp.
“Wait, wait, calm down!”
“Are you sure it’s a child?” Loki asked, his face now in front of the boy, who started crying while squirming.
“Calm down. Shh. It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.” Teuta tried calming her voice as she made him sit up. Loki squinted, sniffing his skin.
“He stinks.”
“He was probably hiding. Hey, little one, were you hiding? Are you lost? Do you understand me?”
The kid stared at her, sniffing now, fear apparent in its wide grey eyes. He nodded.
“Can you speak, humanoid?” Loki asked. Teuta looked at him with disbelief.
“Ignore him, little one. Are you lost? Look, I’m human.”
The child observed her, before opening his dry, cracked lips:
“Yes, I’m lost.”
Teuta caressed his face.
“Are you hungry?” she said, pulling her backpack from her back and getting the water bottle out, along with an apple she’d brought from the inn. The boy started eating, shoving the fruit in his mouth, making Teuta smile. She pulled out a piece of cloth, wetting it with water and cleaning his face gently.
“He’s not over six,” she said to Loki, pulling another apple out. Loki nodded.
“Are you from the village?”
He mumbled, wiping his mouth, extending his hand in a plea for more fruit.
“We will take you home, alright?”
“We will?” Loki asked. “Are you entirely sure that is a human child? It stinks.”
“Have you ever been around children?”
“Well, Asgardian chi-“
“Are around five hundred the second they’re born, and they’re eating starlight and shitting stardust and they don’t scream and cry, they sing songs of their suffering and holler out complaints, yes, yes. Now help me, carry my backpack.”
Loki frowned, wanting to voice his disapproval of her simplifications and insults, but she shoved the backpack into him and hoisted the boy up, carrying him on her hip.
“Ooh, you’re heavy like a mountain!” she overreacted, making the child grin. “Did you wander off into the woods? What happened? Where are your parents?”
“I ran from it.”
“From what?”
“The monster…” The boy’s voice faltered as he shivered and hid against her neck. She looked at Loki.
“Can you tell me what the monster looked like? Did it have a big head?”
The boy nodded.
“Was it very big?”
The boy shook his head.
“If you help me and describe it, we can protect you. I am very strong and this man here is a wizard.”
The boy leaned around her head to look at Loki with his large eyes.
“Is he scary?” she asked.
The boy nodded, making her laugh. Loki rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at the boy behind her back. The child now smiled lightly.
“He is a powerful wizard, and we will get you to your parents safely, alright? What is your name?”
“Lyv.”
“That’s a very pretty name, Lyv. I am Teuta, and this scary wizard is Loki. Now, did the monster have wings? No? Alright, take it easy. Was it fat? Mhm, okay then.” She looked at Loki, and he nodded.
“Did it walk on four legs, like a cow?”
“Yes! Like a pig!” the boy exclaimed, tightening his hands against her wool cape.
“A monk pig,” Loki added. “Why would it attack? It must’ve been enchanted.”
“Pig had bones, horns here.” The boy placed his fists on his head and chest. Teuta frowned. She knew of the experiments run by Orgoscope and their connection to Thanos. Orgoscope produced most of the implants bought by organizations throughout this quadrant of the universe. They also dealt with a higher scope of operations, always experimenting with creating new creatures, new pathways of consciousness sewn into whatever could contain it. She knew they traded with Thanos’ fanatics, including Ebony Maw and her mother.
However, she rarely heard of the results of those experiments running free. If she had never met Rocket, she would not have made this connection. Giving another apple to the child, she tried to speak more quietly with Loki, telling him of her thoughts, while leaving the details of her mother out of it. She reasoned it would be wiser not to let him know of a thing which he could use to betray her. Possibly.
“But how would such a creature escape?”
“I don’t know. Rocket did, though. He never told me everything, but… Those were his dark, dark days.”
“I have seen the scars on his chest.”
“Yes. He doesn’t hide it. Not a fan of talking about it, but if you get close to him, he eventually tells the whole tale.”
“He’s your friend.”
“My best friend. My… only real friend. I am sure he had his reasons for leaving. We’ll meet each other eventually. It’s probably for the best that he is away from me. It’s safer.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t tell you.”
“Teuta, you can trust me.”
She stopped walking, but still caressed the back of the boy soothingly while he laid his head on her shoulder, exhausted.
“I really wish I could,” she spoke, sighing. Loki was taken aback by the sadness he saw in her eyes. He wanted to caress her face.
“You’ll understand very soon that you can, and you will.”
“Loki… You don’t have to do this. We can just get on with this task.”
“Very well. Go on then.”
Continuing their walking, they were soon out of the forest, where they could see the sky. The clearing was already larger, and up ahead of them laid a kind of hamlet with wooden houses. The deceptively quaint sight now made Teuta gasp, for it looked quite different from when she last saw it: some of the cottages were razed to the ground, charred grass and smoke billowing around them. There were people crying, some of the residents didn’t even notice the three of them. The other houses were intact, but the entire scene appeared as if a tornado had passed through it.
They got nearer, and Teuta tapped the back of the sleeping child.
“Lyv? Sweetie, we’re here. We’re home,” she said quietly. He opened his sleepy eyes and turned his head around, holding a breath. Scrambling down off of her, he began running. Teuta and Loki followed him. He ran between several houses, to reach his own. There was a scream from his mother when she saw him, and she dropped the cloths she’d been holding to run and pick the child up in her arms, starting to cry and kiss his entire head.
His father, sister and brother ran out, all pulling at him and hugging him. Teuta didn’t speak, she didn’t want to interrupt the reunion, but his mother lifted her swollen eyes and looked at the strangers.
“Who are you?”
“They brought me back. That’s the flying lady and a wizard.”
Teuta took a step closer, caressing the head of the boy.
“He was lost in the forest. We were passing through.”
The mother wrapped her arms around Teuta and tightened them, cutting off her breath, and thanking her profusely. The father took her hand and shook it hard with both of his, choking back tears.
“Can we offer you anything? Are you hungry?”
“What happened here?” Teuta asked. “Was there a fire?”
“There was. People got angry. The Centauri came, they came for some of us. Somehow, they knew we had fugitives. But… they were good people, those were not great crimes, and the others… They were wrongly imprisoned, wrongly sentenced. We… we were just trying to live… And…”
“They took them?”
“Yes, because we couldn’t pay. And then the beasts came, later that night.”
“Beasts?”
“They’re… I’ve never seen them. They weren’t any of the animals from our forests. These are new.”
“Monk pigs?”
The woman’s husband joined in.
“Yes, monk pigs, but they were enhanced by that scum from Orgoscope.”
Teuta looked at him.
“Yes, I know all about it, Unseen. I know how you get your implants. I worked for the military. I have seen the monsters and the pain. I thought we’d be safe here, but the Andromedan filthy cowards just offered us to those fucking tyrants from the Alpha Centauri!” He spat on the ground. His wife put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
“I am sorry.” Teuta looked down at the ground. Loki had his arms across his chest, silent, listening to everything.
“Do you… do you know Ura? She’s… a friend,” Teuta asked, afraid.
“Yes, she’s alive, at home probably.”
Teuta nodded. “I am sorry for everything that happened. Lyv, sweetie, don’t wander off again, alright?” She crouched and caressed the boy’s cheek. He held onto his father’s leg the whole time, hiding his face. He smiled at her and hugged her when she opened her arms.
The family thanked her and Loki, and Teuta started walking between the houses, reaching the one slightly farther away.
“Who’s Ura?”
“She’s a doctor. She helped me once, and I returned the favour.”
“Was she supposed to vouch for you? The Centauri are here. Will she betray us?”
“She would never. I have to see if she’s alright.”
When the house was in sight, they saw a Xandarian woman opening the doors and hurrying out towards Teuta, who ran and hugged her tightly.
“Ura! Are you alright? Are the kids alright?”
“I… I am, we are, we are fine.”
“I heard what happened. How many of those beasts were there?”
“Some… I don’t know, ten, fifteen? I didn’t count. They took their weapons, all of them, and tried fighting… We lost some.” She shook her head, clearly still in shock. “Come, let’s go inside, please.”
She pulled on Teuta’s hand and they all walked in, before sitting down.
“Do you want tea?”
“Ura, please, you don’t have to-“
“No, no, I need something to keep busy.” She turned around, starting to boil the water. Teuta could hear her three children from the other room.
“Orgoscope,” she spoke, and Ura nodded. “But they were not released.”
“No, someone definitely did it on purpose. Most likely bought them then set them loose.” She placed her hands on the counter behind her and looked at Teuta. “Someone with the intention to see the damage they could do. I think we both know who it is.”
Teuta nodded, biting her lip and looking away. Ura walked to Loki and extended her hand.
“I’m sorry, I’m Ura. I’m impolite, but forgive me, things have been…”
“Loki. It is alright. Accept my gratefulness for allowing me into your home.” He bowed his head in the slightest. Ura smiled lightly and looked at Teuta, who was busy tracing patterns on the tablecloth with her claw, not listening to them.
“So, did you kill them all?” she suddenly asked.
“I’m afraid not. There are four or five left, from what I’ve gathered. At least that’s how it was explained by the woman who was the guard last night. Teuta,” Ura continued, before turning around to pour them the tea and placing the cups on the table, “are you alright? Why are you here?”
Teuta sighed.
“It’s a long story. Well, not that long. We escaped Tungsten A. Rocket is… somewhere, I don’t know. But I have an actual chance of getting the units, because I have… help.” She looked at Loki. “We’re indebted to each other, and he is-“
“The Norse god of mischief,” Ura finished for her, looking at him with a smile. “Why were you in that prison?”
“I needed to hide. I was captured, almost, by the…” She darted a look at Loki, wondering whether she can say this out loud. “By Maw. I had no choice.”
Ura gasped, and Loki’s mouth opened slightly, before he asked “Ebony Maw? Thanos’ Ebony Maw?”
“Yes.”
“Why was he after you?”
“He doesn’t know?” Ura asked. Teuta shook her head. “Teuta, if you’re working with him, he needs to know. He might be in danger.”
“What danger? I can take care of myself.”
“See? He’s fine,” Teuta added.
“Teuta!” Ura raised her voice. “Loki, she is Alder Craw’s only daughter.”
Loki stood up fast, the chair dragging on the floor behind him as he stepped away and looked at Teuta. She closed her eyes and frowned, having felt the pain upon hearing that name. Loki shook his head, his eyes wide.
“I didn’t even know she had… children.”
“She did. One. Me. But not anymore.” She opened her eyes, expecting to see the vile look of disgust and fear every time anybody learned of this fact. But it wasn’t there. There was only wide-eyed shock and worry in his contorted eyebrows. He sat back down and took both of her hands in his.
“Teuta… I… don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to be said, my god. This girl has been trying to escape her whole life,” Ura added, and Loki tightened his grip on her hands. Teuta pulled them out.
“He’s not your god. Enough, I can’t talk about this. Even if this was Thanos’ work, that doesn’t change the fact I need to get rid of the Centauri. I need this money.”
The loud dragging of the chairs had alerted the children in the next room there was somebody in the kitchen, and there were now three little heads peering inside. Teuta noticed them and grinned.
“Who are you? Ura, there are tiny ghosts in your house! I’ll hunt them down!” She got up and started towards them. The oldest boy ran in.
“Teuta! It is us, Teuta! It is us, we are not ghosts!” He ran right into her arms. She laughed loudly and hugged him, while the other two hugged her back.
“Oh my god, oh my god, look at you all, you are gigantic! What are you feeding them?” She kept chuckling and hugging the children. They knew who she was. The smallest girl, who was not over six, walked over to Loki and looked up at him. He frowned at her.
“Who are you?”
“I am a god, little girl.”
She blinked at him, not understanding anything, before going to sit on her mother’s lap.
“Honey, would you please wait in the other room? Mommy has something to discuss with Teuta and Loki.”
“I know everything, I saw the beast, I can listen to it,” the middle girl said, nodding her head.
“I know you did, but still-“
“Will Teuta kill them? Will you protect us?” the boy asked, pulling on Teuta’s arm. She inhaled a loud breath and held his face.
“Yes. I will find them all.”
Loki looked at her.
“Teuta, there are multiple women and men tracking the remaining ones, and we’ve called on the Andromedan force, they should be here tomorrow at the latest-“
“Don’t worry. I’m faster.” Teuta rose, putting her backpack on her chair and pulling her blades from the pocket universe.
“What, are we going to go hunt for them?” Loki asked warily.
“No, I am. You will stay here.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t work well with others. I’ve hunted beasts before. I’ll be back soon. You… you take care of Ura and the children.”
“I beg your pardon?” He yelled, opening his palms. “What am I, your pet guardian dog?!”
“Is that magic?!” the little girl interrupted, seeing Loki’s seidr glistening.
“Yes, my sweet princess, my friend is a magician. He can show you beautiful tricks while I am away.”
“What the fuck-“
“Loki! Language!” Ura yelled at him.
“Forgive me, mistress Ura, but I am a god, you cannot expect me to-“
“Loki, I am going alone, and there is nothing you can do about it. Loki, please. I need to do this alone. It's just a few beasts.”
She held both of his shoulders with her hands. As usual, Loki found his resolve softening when she looked up at him with her radiant eyes. It was becoming very annoying; this gentle but coercing force she seemed to have over him. He knew that, if he was to follow her, they would get in a very, very serious fight. And he was still deeply shocked by what he found out about her. He slouched slightly, and sighed. His thin pink lips unglued, and he licked them, shaking his head.
“You… I am responsible for your life. Please, don’t endanger it.” He caressed her face with just the tips of his fingers. Her expression softened. That green, green which stared down at her was so inviting, like a warmed bath that would ease the ache out of her every tired muscle. She wanted to lean her face into his large palm, have him cup her cheek and stroke it, but she had to stay strong. The few silent moments of so many things kept quiet between them were interrupted by the girl who was sitting on Ura’s lap, who wanted to whisper, but failed at it miserably, because she spoke into Ura’s ear quite loudly.
“Is that Teuta’s boyfriend?”
Ura chuckled and kissed the girl’s cheek. Teuta separated from him and took the girl in her arms, pinching the same plump cheek.
“No, that is not my boyfriend, he is a man I’m working-“
“A god,” he interrupted.
“…a god I’m working with. A magician!”
She said, tickling the child and making her laugh, before placing her down on the ground. Loki observed her silently, the way she displayed gentleness and touches, somehow wanting to be the object of it. This morning at the inn, when she entered the room, he wished again to be kissed, just like at Gullveig’s. He wanted her to sit on the bed and give him a soft, lush kiss. So he took it. And now he wanted her to do to it again, along with her hands roaming his skin.
Was he seriously jealous of a child?
She hugged Ura again, before tightening her hair and getting rid of her wool cape. They walked outside and Loki followed them. She secured her blades, and, not wanting to make the scene into a farewell, just said she’d be back soon, and ran on.
“Are you coming?” Ura asked, holding the doors open. Loki nodded and sighed, turning around and walking back in.
“Give me your hands,” she said, and he complied. She took off the bandages still covering the almost entirely healed wounds, inspecting them. “What happened here? Were you hanged by your wrists?”
He looked at the children staring out the window, who were trying to see where Teuta had gone. He spoke more quietly.
“She hanged me, so to speak of. By accident, anyway.”
Ura winced. “How did that happen?”
“Ah. I did wrong by her, and she tracked me down and got her revenge. In a manner. I am sure she’ll tell you all about it.”
“Most likely not. I usually need pliers to open her mouth,” she said, and Loki smiled. She placed her hands in her lap.
“She will be alright, Loki. I can tell you’re worried.”
“I am not. I know that I have a working partner who is entirely capable of applying her Unseen training to hunt down a minor beast.”
“So you’re not…”
“No.”
Ura tightened her lips and nodded, with a shadow of disbelief crossing over her eyes.
“I want to keep myself busy. I will go prepare an ointment for your wounds; it’s not very likely you’ll come across these plants further on your journey. It will speed up the healing. Would you mind looking after them for me? I won’t take long.”
Loki leant forward, closer to her.
“Can’t… Can’t they accompany you? I am afraid I am entirely unequipped to deal with human offspring.”
Ura laughed loudly.
“They don’t bite. Well, not often. Just play with them.”
“Play? With them?”
He contorted his face, almost as if he didn’t understand what she was talking about.
“You were a child once. Think of something. You three, come here! Listen to me, Loki will look after you while mommy goes and makes a balm for his hands, alright? Behave! I will be very angry if you don’t behave. Got it?”
There were several reluctant head nods while she kissed their cheeks, and just like that, she was gone.
Loki got up. They were tiny in comparison to him, and had to bend their necks all the way to the back to see his face. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. By the Nine, this is unbelievable.
Teuta talked to the woman in charge and her right hand. They explained the situation, and, while they did offer to accompany her, she declined, running back into the darkening forest just as dusk slowly disappeared from around them.
Climbing on top of a young oak tree, Teuta was still, expanding her lenses to their full size and activating the zooming in feature. Her eyes looked as if they were entirely covered by a silver plate, almost glowing in the dark while she scanned everything.
Determining the possible movements by following the dried blood trails spilt the previous day, she silently hopped from branch to branch of trees very close by, and sneaked crouching by the bushier low ground.
There were some quieter, typical forest animals around her, all evading her, and she could hear the tiny buzzing of the very many insects. Now, in the pure darkness, where the colours were mutated by her lenses to paler ones, with more contrast, it appeared as if she had found herself in a pale green dream; be it pleasant or a nightmare.
She scoured as much ground as she could, following the instructions given to her by more experienced native trackers, and after a while, she saw it in the distance, chewing on a bloodied small animal laying in front of it. The victim had been one of the Chitauri look-alikes. Teuta slid slowly across a heavy branch above it, getting closer and closer very, very slowly, wanting to plunge down with a dagger into its neck. It truly had been a monk pig, slightly larger and of brownish complexion, but with large claws and distorted hoofs. The muscles edging its back were prominent like on a large cat, implying its strength. And the head - the head was the most horrifying of all: bony antlers with hooked horn-endings, curving forward to allow impaling of anything in front of it. Teuta licked her dry lips and got into a crouching position, spinning the hilt of her dagger in her hand and holding on to the branch with the other one, tightening her muscles to prepare for the jump down.
The beast stopped chewing and turned its head around, fully around, looking straight up into Teuta’s face, its eyes a gleaming white, amplified with Teuta’s vision. She flinched with pure horror, before jumping down. The beast stepped away and turned around, going for her and almost knocking her down. She ran to the tree and jumped up just in time to avoid a swipe of those sharp antlers, gasping loudly and hoisting herself up. The beast rammed into the tree, making it tremble, and made awful screeching noises, starting to open the bark with its clawed hoofs. Teuta breathed heavily, going farther up and away, onto another tree branch, moving into the darker foliage to hide herself.
The beast circled the few trees, trying to determine where its next prey had gone; Teuta put her dagger between her teeth, pulled out her vibranium knives quietly, and sent them flying into the beast’s back. The howl that came out of it was almost deafening, before it turned around and started clawing at the tree Teuta was on. She jumped down behind it and tried grabbing its antlers, but the greasy, probably fat covered back of it made her slip, and the beast turned again, trying to stomp her. Teuta lurched, trying to scurry away using her feet before jumping up. One of the antlers grazed the back of her thigh, making her scream and hurry her running.
Extending her claws, she jumped sideways, making the beast run past her, and then dug them deep into the buttery flesh of its back, making it howl again and try to throw her off: one of her hands slipped off and she yelled out, grabbing an antler and reaching to the front, sinking the claws of her other hand into its eye. It still thrashed about, managing to get a few good kicks at Teuta’s breastplate. Teuta straddled the slippery back, and started plunging her claws in erratically, with the blood spurting everywhere, finally managing to bring the creature closer to its finishing twitches of life.
Morning seemed to be late, as Loki sat on the porch of the horribly dainty wooden cottage, trying his best not to make any movements that would wake the awfully energetic little human demon who could apparently stay up longer than even Frigga, trying to get one more story out of him; the little girl curled on the bench next to him, her mouth open while she drooled on his arm. He huffed and laid his head on the benchrest behind him, sighing. This could’ve very well been one of the worst nights he had to endure in his six hundred years of existence. The children had demanded magical fireworks, sixteen times in a row, while squeaking with glee and jumping to catch the non-existent lights.
Then they said they were hungry, and he was forced to try to find Ura, who had apparently disappeared from the face of the planet. So he got them something from the fridge and slices of bread. After they ate, they wanted to know everything about him; that was the only part he enjoyed, talking about himself. He explained the schools of his childhood, and the magical learning. He started embellishing stories about some of the beasts and horrors he encountered. In retrospect, the one about Surtur and the way his flames peeled the skin from the toughest Einherjar, with details of the flesh opening and the screams might have been a touch too rough for the middle girl, because she started crying. The older brother covered her mouth with his hand to make her silent, wanting to hear more. Loki shrugged and continued. Then he tried easing it up and told them, with magical lights twirling around them, of the nights on the very North back on their homeland, Xandar. The smallest girl was entranced, even in the most gruesome details, and kept asking questions. After a while, even the boy, who wanted to know as much as possible about the bodies of the female demons, making Loki grin and whisper extra details in his ear; yawned and pulled his already sleeping middle sister to their room.
He said his mother would be back by morning, considering her work needed a lot of time.
When Loki turned back around, the smallest girl had her eyes opened widely, showing she wasn’t sleepy at all. When they were gone (and she slapped her bare tiny feet all the way to the doors to make sure), she ran to Loki and whispered she was magical as well, displaying a miniature blue flame on the very tip of her finger. He smiled widely, and caressed her hair, now taking extra time to explain to her how to control it and twist it into shapes.
After a while, she was tired, but said she didn’t want to sleep. She dragged him outside and made him tell her of the creation of the Nine Realms, pretending she understood every complicated word. Loki drifted off, finding himself fully lost in the tale; reminding himself of the entrancing yearning he felt for knowledge when he was a child. He smiled, looking at the floor, before he felt a tiny little press against his shoulder. The girl curled up against him, firmly asleep. He sighed with gratefulness and leant his head on the benchrest, thinking about Teuta. Feeling the breeze flutter against his face, he thought the girl must be cold, and he pulled out a blanket from his pocket universe and threw it over her.
Ura had gathered the herbs at the exact chime of the hour under the moonlight and mixed them together. With incantations and the help of her nanotechnology, she made the standard potions for Teuta, and ointment for Loki’s wounds. It took hours, but she knew her children were safe with the god. She felt it.
When the first light of dawn coloured the sky, nobody had slept much: not the three of them, not anyone from the village, still fearing for their neighbours’ lives, still awaiting the bravest ones’ return.
Teuta dragged the beast by its antlers, limping to the edge of the forest, before looking up at the lightening skies and turning off her lenses. Her eyes were blue again, but red-rimmed with the pain and the sleeplessness. She limped on, dragging the dead body to the group of guards. Reporting of everything she’d seen, she shook their hands and said she was going to go see Ura. They thanked her and asked that she tell Ura they’ll need more doctors until the Andromedans arrive.
She found her friend with her bags clinking with the glasses and vials inside, hugging her tightly. Retelling the tale of how she slayed the beast, they walked back to the cottage. Teuta stopped in her tracks: Loki was sitting outside, sprawled wide legged on the bench, with his hair hanging backwards from his position, and the little girl tucked in a blanket against his right side. She found herself smiling at the unusually gentle image. When he heard her steps, he flinched and got up, lowering the girl’s head to the bench and meeting the two women approaching him.
“What happened? Are you alright?” He eyed her clothes, covered in blood, and the way she walked, clearly with a wound in her leg. He frowned.
“It got me in the thigh, but I managed. Huge goddamn thing, fucking heavy, too; I was more annoyed with dragging it back than anything else. We were right, experimental monk pigs.”
He nodded, putting an arm around her waist to help her walk, but she swatted him away very harshly.
“I’m fine, Loki.”
Ura picked her daughter from the bench, kissing her and taking her to her bed.
“You’re not fine, Teuta, you could have died! I knew I needed to go with you!”
“It’s just a scratch, calm down, why do you even care?”
She frowned at his worried expression, not understanding it. He ran his hand through his loose, lustrous hair and puckered his lips, before sighing.
“Fine. Act tough. Whatever.”
He walked back inside, wanting to make himself some tea. Teuta, still confused, followed him inside, where she stared at his back until Ura walked in.
“Come on back, I cleared the bed.”
Teuta followed her to her practice room, where she began stripping out of her clothes and laid on her stomach. Ura took to cleaning the wound, exclaiming that it wasn’t deep, and began dousing it with her ointments, making a few stitches where necessary.
“You need to sleep, my friend,” she said, applying a specially made bandage to her leg; the fibres were made from the exact fabric as her sturdy clothing, made to endure superficial cuts.
Teuta agreed, taking the warm tunic handed to her and curling up on the bed, covering herself with a blanket.
Loki exclaimed that he needed to go talk to grown up creatures and stormed out. He was disturbed by the disdain she showed when he displayed his concern for her. How could she not see that he was being honest? Was that her way, the constant drawing back into herself? It was hard for him to admit feeling hurt by her swatting his arm away, with the underlying rejection.
He reached the group of soldiers and told them he was the companion of the Unseen, asking for the details. Apparently, they’d managed to put down thirteen of the beasts, and there were around four more roaming the forest. The Andromedan back up was on the way, taking their time with the paperwork needed for interfering with the Edirne’s normally autonomic rule; they should be here by the end of the day. And, if there hadn’t been tremendous help by both the Unseen fighter and another powerful being, who knows how many casualties there would have been?
“What powerful being?” Loki asked.
“He didn’t say his name, but he was enormous, claiming he was a visitor from another land. He showed concern over what had happened and stormed off when he heard of the implications of the dangers. Literally stormed off – I have never seen it before, he summoned lightning and the belt around his stomach lit up like a firecracker, and his eyes… his eyes were burning! I… don’t know who he was, but he single-handedly slayed seven of them, before being summoned away. I mean, that’s at least what he said, that he was needed elsewhere.”
“Megingjord,” Loki whispered, thinking about Thor’s belt of strength. “Thank you. I am sure the Andromedan force would be better off thinking you people did this yourselves. Think about it: if they don’t, it might give them cause for the annex.”
The man frowned, understanding.
“It… we don’t want that.”
“I know. Be careful,” Loki said, patting the man on the back with a tiny flash of seidr to make sure he remained silent, before turning around, and with a twitch of his upper lip and a grit of his jaw, he firmly strode off into the woods. There’s no beast I can’t slay that my brother can. And with that thought, competitive jealousy, he would return to the guards with the remaining corpses, bolstered by his anger that he allowed Teuta to go alone, while he idled away telling stories to the children.
Teuta was up, showered and dressed in her friend’s comfortable tunic, waiting for the meal which smelled delicious, cooking away slowly.
“And he said that the lights are green and blue and yellow, and that ladies dance under them, naked,” the boy said quietly to Teuta, so that his mother didn’t hear him. Teuta nodded with a smile.
“Did he? And what else did he say?”
“He told us the story of Surtur, and how he burns people alive, WITH FIRE, and he will end the world, and he said that Asgard was made of gold, and how he had fought all the demons in the Underworld!” the middle girl added. “And he made us sandwiches.”
Teuta smiled, caressing the child’s hair.
“She cried,” the boy said, pointing to his sister.
“I did not!”
“You did too! You’re a coward!”
“I am not a coward! Loki said I wasn’t a coward, he gave me this gem and said it will protect me!” She pulled out a tiny ruby.
“He is right. That will surely protect you. And you have to protect your siblings, young girl.”
“I will. I will be as strong as you are, Teuta, I will be an Unseen!”
Teuta sighed.
“There are other ways of protecting your family, you know?”
“Fuck that,” the smallest girl said. Ura gasped and pointed her spatula at the girl. Teuta covered her mouth to stop a snorting laugh from coming out, while Ura reprimanded her youngest, who defiantly had her chin up.
“Loki said fuck that,” the girl reasoned, and Teuta scrunched her eyes closed and laughed behind her palm. Ura snorted a little but kept a straight face. The girl continued.
“He said I can go to Shangri-La and find a teacher who will teach me magic.”
“What magic, you fool?!” her brother yelled, and the girl pushed him away. They began fighting, and Teuta separated them, making them sit still, while the girl blew a raspberry at him.
“You are lying. You can’t do magic.”
The little girl displayed a fully grown up, egotistical smirk, and opened her palm, making an illusion of a bright blue flame shoot up to the ceiling. The children jumped away, and Teuta’s eyebrows lifted. Ura’s jaw dropped down.
“You learn fast, little one.”
Loki was standing in the doorway, his hair dishevelled, a streak of splattered blood on his tunic, his hands muddy. He got nearer to the girl and leant down, putting his hands on his knees.
“Control the surge, control it with everything you’ve got. You might make a fine witch one day.”
Ura turned the fire off and placed the pans on the middle of the table, before dragging her child a bit farther away to talk to her. Teuta ladled a lot of the food to her plate and began eating, all the while staring at Loki who washed his hands thoroughly, rolling the sleeves of his shirt all the way up, before sitting down at the table to eat, staring directly at Teuta.
There was something about this dishevelled look. He seemed to have been in a fight of some sort. The strong forearms were streaked with prominent veins on his milky white skin, his long fingers tightening around the bread slice to tear off a bit and put it in his mouth. Teuta traced the movement with her eyes, watching his lips leave wet traces on the meaty tips of his fingers.
His face was slightly dirty, and the jaw grits while he chewed made her feel… like she wouldn’t mind being his meal. Teuta swallowed her food, taking a sip of water and clearing her throat.
“Care to tell me what happened?”
“When?” he asked, looking disinterested. She sighed. He was still mad at her for some reason.
“Loki. Why are you filthy?”
“Oh, I killed the remaining beasts.”
She put her spoon down.
“You’ve what?”
“There were some more left, so I went and did it. Needed a bit of… how do you people say it? Me-time.” He tapped his chest. She frowned.
“You had to out-do me? Of course.” She rolled her eyes, before taking the spoon back up and continuing to eat. Now he frowned. Ura joined them at the table.
“What are you on about? This had nothing to do with you.”
“Right. You were mad because you had to babysit, and you had to show you were better. Congratulations, you managed to get better in the five hundred extra years you have on me. Well done. You want a medal now?”
“I am not a nursery maid! I am a god! And this had nothing to do with you, Teuta! If anything, I helped these people, they were in danger.”
“Oh, forgive me, my liege, we are most welcome for your indubitable assistance.” She bowed, before getting up and walking to the sink to pour herself more water.
“I helped!” Loki said to Ura.
“You did. We are very grateful.”
“Loki!” The smallest girl ran to him and hugged him. “You are as strong as Teuta!”
“Oh I am, my little witch.” He patted her back. Teuta’s eye twitched, she leant against the sink, angry that he would be so self-servient about the situation, but strangely endeared with the affection he was showing the child. She stomped back to the table.
“Whatever. Let’s just eat.”
“I didn’t do it to spite you.”
There was no reply; Teuta kept ripping off pieces of bread and dunking them in the sauce angrily.
“Teuta, it’s not a competition,” Ura said, placing her daughter on her knee and making her eat tiny pieces of meat. “We’ve lost too many to this horrid incident. Any help is greatly appreciated. You know how I always valued all you’ve done for me. This doesn’t change it.”
“I know. I am sorry, I’m just… Wondering why he is pretending to be something he isn’t.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“I told you, Loki, I know of your ilk. I know of your ways and of your deceptions. I just don’t understand why you want to seem like you… care.”
He inhaled, tightening his fists. He was deeply, deeply offended now. He looked down, licking his lips.
“Thank you for the meal, Ura. I have to go get washed and ready.” He said, before winking at the little girl who didn’t understand a word of what was going on, and got up, walking out of the room.
Ura shook her head at Teuta.
“That is a god of Mischief. You know I know them. You know what happened to me. Do not judge me, Ura, I am being wary for all of us.”
“Teuta, he has given me no reason to doubt his intentions. He took care of my children.”
The little boy listened attentively, and now turned to Teuta, saying how he put them to bed. Teuta shook her head, sighing. Was this guilt she was feeling?
“He betrayed me and took my magic,” she said quietly, to Ura. “He left me alone on a mining station. They’re all the same, I don’t need to take years getting to know him only to come to this conclusion.”
“And you have tortured him. We’ve been over this, are the humans all the same? Are we Xandarians? Aren’t my pink children all different from one another even now? Don’t we have different virtues and flaws? Why should the gods all be alike?” Ura replied, covering the little girl’s ears. Teuta gritted her teeth, getting up.
“Are you saying I have to go apologise?”
“Go, go already,” Ura said, waving her hand in the air to make Teuta go faster, as she straightened her tunic and walked out.
“Why are they fighting like this?” The little boy asked.
“Because they’re in love, my son. They just don’t realise it yet.” She caressed his cheek over the table.
“Like you and mommy were in love?” The middle girl asked. Ura gulped a tear back, and replied: “Nobody will ever love anyone the way your mommy loved me. She gave me the three of you, and we all have the greatest love she gave us, each other. And we will all meet again one day after this life, my little dove.” Leaning over, she pressed her lips against the child’s cheek, closing her eyelids tightly to try to keep the tears inside her eye sockets.