"Goodness, Akira, where are you?" my mother's soft voice calls as she turns from the large wardrobe to face the entire room. I'm peeking out from my newfound hiding spot in between the coat rack and the furthest corner of the bedroom.
We've moved into the castle basically because my parents are now part of the main people in the council or whatever. I guess it's fine… I get to live in a castle. I just had to move away from the few friends I had in my hometown.
"Akira?" my mother says in a warning tone.
"Rizz!" I shout stepping away from my position.
"I am not calling you Rizz, Akira."
Well then come and catch me, I think as I run out of her room. I hate when she insists on calling me Akira. It's not that I hate the name, I just prefer a nickname. Akira is too feminine. Kira is acceptable, and so is the shortened form of my middle name: Riszem.
As soon as I'm out of catching distance I begin to wander the castle. I pass dozens and dozens of hallways and rooms and passages and I'm lost. I am. I try to retrace my steps, but I can't tell which direction I came from. I probably also took at least 30 random turns. Running away from my mother suddenly seems like it was bad idea because when she gets hold of me she'll kill me.
Now I'm really just casually strolling because I figure I'm late either way. I look to my left and see another hall. It looks a lot more lit up than the others so I decide it's best to choose that way. I keep walking forward and quickly pass a library on my left. They have a library? They have a library? My liking for this place suddenly jumps by leaps and bounds.
I enter the warm, dark room and tilt my head almost 90 degrees to read the spines of all the books. I see one about mythological creatures and pull it out. It's green and looks around 500 pages long. I sit down slowly on the floor as I open the book. In minutes I'm speeding through pages, sucking in all of the information and mentally picturing the creatures in everyday life. I'm not sure how long I've been gone, but I'm half done with the book.
"Hello," a voice speaks. After such long silence I give a rather large jump at the noise. I look up at the person, who is a young boy, possibly as old as me, if not older. His hair is very dark, black, I think. His eyes are a shocking green and he has clothes to match his appearance. And he's very light skinned.
"When did you get here?" I question.
"I've been here for quite a while."
"Just… watching me?" I ask beguiled.
"Reading. I was here when you came in."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"What would I have said?" the boy replies.
"Hello. Like you did just a minute ago," I say as I stand up and put the book back.
"Well I'm doing it now, so does it really matter?" the boy asks looking me in the eyes. His tone isn't rude, as you might think. He's very calm and collected.
"I guess not. Kira or Rizz," I say sticking my hand out.
"Loki," the boy says taking my hand. I flinch at how cold his skin is and he pulls back immediately. "My apologies," he adds.
"It's alright," I dismiss. "So, Prince Loki, would you mind helping me out?"
"Not at all," he answers.
I explained to him my situation and he actually led me all the way to correct room. I thanked him and told him I'd probably see him at dinner in a few hours.
"Stay still," my mother demands while she continues to brush my hair as roughly as Asgardanly possible.
"It hurts!" I shout.
"Oh well," she says.
Thick knee length hair is nothing but a hassle. It's going to be stepped on if it gets any longer. I hear the brush being put down on mother's vanity and I can see through the mirror in front of me she picks up a nice hairclip, brings two sections of hair from either side of me and clips them together. The clip is silver and has curved lines and swirls everywhere. It's absolutely beautiful.
"Thank you so much, mother!" I exclaim turning and pulling her into a tight hug.
"Anytime, dear," she smiles. "Now go explore again. Carefully. I need to start getting ready and I can't keep an eye on you."