CR-AAACK!

I sat bolt upright in my cot, jolted awake by the sound of thunder crashing outside. I swung my legs over the side of the cot and stood up. I grabbed my wand off the nightstand and walked to the tent flap. Peering out, I saw a fierce thunderstorm heading across the inky night sky towards my camp site. There wasn't supposed to be any rain here all week, so it had to be Zeus. Why was he here though?

I had gotten my first major quest for Camp Half-Blood this summer. It wasn't a regular quest either. It was just me, and nobody at camp knew about it except for Chiron, who had assigned it to me. There was unusual activity going on, and Chiron was fairly certain it had to do with the Norse gods. Since I am the only one at Camp Half-Blood to know about both the Roman and Egyptian camps, and I am a bit of a Norse mythology buff, Chiron felt I was the best one for this mission. I was currently camped out on a ledge of a cliff somewhere in the Black Forest near Stuttgart. I had found a lead that brought me to the city; but from what I knew, whatever Norse Immortal that was on earth wasn't making an appearance until tomorrow. I didn't have a lot of mortal money though, so I had brought my tent and camped out on this cliff for the night. So far all had been quiet — that is until now.

I rushed back into my tent, hurrying to pull on my hiking shoes, then collapsed my tent and stuffed it into my electric blue sling backpack. The storm had just reached me, the winds making it difficult to focus on where I wanted to apparate. I edged over to the wall of the cliff, where the winds were weaker. I was just about to disapparate when I saw a flash of red and silver streak across the sky and crash — no, land? — onto another outcropping above of me.

What the heck?

I looked up to the top of the cliff and saw something rise up. No, not something… someone. It appeared to be a man, blond, if I was not mistaken, and wearing armor and a cape. I blinked a few times, before looking back up. He was still there, and he seemed to have another person with him. They had to be either gods or monsters, to have landed like that and survived, but I couldn't think of any who dressed like that. I looked up to the sky and realized that the storm had stopped as soon as it had began, and the clouds had almost entirely vanished. Could one of them be Thor? I couldn't be sure from where I was. I looked up again when I heard them speaking. I was still scared out of my mind, but I knew I needed to climb up the cliff and find out exactly who these two were. I cast a disillusionment charm upon myself and scaled up the rock face. When I got to the ledge where the two stood, I crouched behind a boulder where I was in earshot of them and peaked around the side to see what was happening.

"...I remember a shadow," said one, lean and tall, with sallow skin and raven hair, and an intelligent, perhaps mischievous look in his eyes. I was intrigued with that one. "Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss; I who was, and should be, king!"

A prince? Maybe that's Thor. I thought he had red hair though.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for you imagined slights?" said the first, golden blond hair framing his face. He was the one I had seen land on the cliff, the one wearing a red cape and silver armor. "No. The earth is under my protection, Loki."

So his plan is world domination? Isn't that oh-so-original… Wait… Loki? Like, the Norse god of Mischief, Loki?

I couldn't believe it. The stories I had read of Loki were always my favorite. He didn't look like the Loki I had read about, but he was a shapeshifter after all, so there was never one definite appearance to him in the different stories.

"And you're doing a marvelous job at that," the raven-haired one, Loki, laughed. "The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

"Well, yes." Loki seemed genuinely confused as to why he wouldn't be above humanity. Yep, definitely Loki.

"Then you missed the truth of ruling brother; the throne would suit you ill." This was apparently the wrong thing to say, since Loki smacked the blond one's broad chest before storming away, scowling.

Brother? It may have been the dead of night, but I could still see that they looked nothing like brothers. The blond one was insanely buff, as in buffer than Ares himself, and seemed stern but kindhearted; his brother, on the other hand, was lean and pale, with raven coloured hair that feathered out so that it looked like a sinister Christmas tree. He seemed like like he .

"I've seen worlds you never known about!" Loki shouted. "I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I've seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it — "

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?!"

"I am a king!"

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" Thundered the blond one, his large hand gripping the other's shoulders. He wore a scowl upon his face, but both his expression and his voice softened, laced with sorrow as he spoke the next sentence — "You come home."

Loki's face dropped for a moment, and he seemed confused, but slightly hopeful. He quickly regained his composure, however, his face splitting into a cold smile as he barked out a quiet laugh,

"I don't have it," his brother let go of him and held his hand out behind him, a war-hammer with an oddly short handle flying into it. He raised it threateningly above his head, as if to strike Loki, but the dark-haired one went on. "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off, I know not where."

"You listen well, brother. I —" However, we will never know what was undoubtedly profound words of wisdom, since he vanished right at that moment. Or rather, something crashed into him, hurtling him off the cliff.

"…I'm listening," said Loki, as if the blond one was simply standing there in silence. Oh yeah, now I could see that they were indeed brothers. Did that mean the blond one was Odin? From what I remember, they had adopted each other as brothers. But Loki had called him Odinson, I was pretty sure, which would make him a son of Odin. That would make him Thor or Balder. That didn't make sense, but I remember that he and Loki went on a lot of adventures together, so maybe they just called each other brother, instead of Uncle and Nephew. Thor was the god of thunder, which would explain the storm before they landed. And the hammer of his, that would be… Mjolnir, I think. I knew I had to have finally found what I was looking for.

I peeked over the ledge to see where Blondie had gone, and saw him standing on the ground below, speaking with another figure Where they had landed was the exact spot where my tent had been not five minutes prior. I leaned forward a bit to better hear what they were saying. It wasn't too difficult, since they were being rather loud.

"...Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" said the new one who seemed to be wearing some kind of full body armour, sort of like a knight, only red and gold. Hmm… two Norse gods and a knight that was talking like he was in a Shakespearian play. What next, a time traveler?

"This is beyond you, metal man," said the blond god, scowling. "Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then, stay out of the way... tourist."

With that the god threw his hammer at the knight, who flew back with such force that he crashed through a tree behind him. He barely seemed fazed by it, getting right back up to go after the god.

"Geez," I muttered, not thinking. "Whatever that armour is made out of, I want it."

"Indeed, I have never seen a material of mortal craft that could withstand a blow from Thor's hammer," said a voice next to me. Startled, I looked up to see Loki sitting a few yards away from me, watching the battle that was now waging between the two below us. I thought he might have just been talking to himself, but I figured I should move to a safer spot, so I slowly rose, and was about to sneak off when he spoke again, this time there was no doubt as to whom he was speaking.

"That is quite an impressive illusion of invisibility you have upon yourself. Tell me, was it you who cast it?"

"Erm… Yes, yes I did," I said. He finally turned to look at me, and he seemed to be staring directly at me. "You can see me?"

"Only when you are in motion. Even then, you appear to be merely a bit of a ripple in the air. It's not really all that difficult if you simply observe. Are you a mortal?"

"I think so. I haven't ever died before, so I can't be too sure."

"And you are learned in illusionment? Or do you merely have powers of invisibility?"

"I wouldn't call myself an 'illusionist', but yeah, pretty much."

"I was not expecting to come across anyone with such abilities in this realm. Why don't you reveal yourself, so that we may converse more comfortably?"

"Well, I don't want to take the chance of those two seeing me." I said, nodding down at the two fighting. They were no longer there, however, and I looked a ways off to see sparks flying off the side of another cliffside about a hundred feet away, where I assumed they were now. "I mean, they can't see me from there, but they might come back soon."

"That is of no matter," he said, making an odd hand gesture in my direction. "There, now you are visible and audible to your and myself alone, and such is the same for your bag that you are carrying."

I looked down, realizing what he said was true, at least the part about being able to see myself again. He was the god of lies, so I wasn't entirely sure whether to believe him. "I'm going to trust you… for now," I said. "But if they come back and make any sign that they see me, I am leaving pronto."

"Fair enough," he raised his hands. "Now sit, and tell me what you are."

I sat on a small boulder, looking slightly down at him. "What do you mean, 'what I am'?" I crossed my arms. "I told you, I'm a human."

"You hold the ability to perform magical feats, yes?" He said slowly, like he was talking to a child. I didn't like it, but I nodded. "So you cannot be a simple creature like the rest of these mortals I've seen in this realm. So I ask you once more: What. Are. You? And do not think you can lie to me, I am the god of Lies, after all," he smirked.

"Fine," I answered after a moment. "I'm a witch," I wasn't going to tell him that I was a demigod, but what I said certainly wasn't a lie: I had graduated from Salem Academy of Magic a year ago.

His smirk grew into a grin, "Really? How can you stand the rest of these mundane mortals?"

"We can have our good points," I shrugged.

He gave me a doubtful look, but said nothing, so I decided to learn more about him. "I'm Alex, by the way. And you're Loki, right? God of Mischief and Lies, born of Jotunheim and friend of Odin and Thor, all that jazz."

His eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment. "That is partly true," he began slowly. "I am Loki and that is my title. I would not, however, consider myself a friend of Thor, and most certainly not one of Odin. How is it that one who hails from Midgard knows that I am a son of a Jotun, though?"

"We have stories of the nine realms. Not many people know them anymore, and the ones that do think they're myths. I read them when I was younger."

"That may be, but that still fails to explain how you know of my parentage. I myself did not know of it until only a short while ago."

"But… aren't you and Odin adoptive brothers?"

"What? Absolutely not! Thor and I are adoptive brothers. Odin took me from Jotunheim when I was an infant after the war between the Aesirs and the Jotuns."

"'Took you'? Were you adopted or stolen?"

He hesitated, pursing his lips, when a sudden explosion blasted below us. We scrambled away from the edge of the cliff, then looked back at the scene below. I slowly got to my feet, not believing what I was seeing.

"Oh my gods…" I breathed. "What happened?" Below there was a mile-wide radius of felled — no, obliterated — trees, the Knight and Thor, and now some other guy in a tight blue outfit, standing a few hundred feet away from us, which was right in the middle of the where the blast came from.

"I believe that Thor's all mighty Mjolnir has finally met its match," said the god, rising to look over the scene.

I stood there, appalled. Who did those three think they were, causing such destruction?

"Come with me," said Loki suddenly. I jumped a bit, startled out of my anger.

"Excuse me?"

"Come with me," he said again. "I have a plan. I will allow those three to take me prisoner, and they will unwittingly take me nearer to where I need to go, as it is far from here and I know not the way. I can do this on my own, however, someone such as yourself may be useful to me, if only for better company than these dimwitted fools. Though I have a feeling you can be much more."

"Thanks… I, uh, think. But that sounds like a bad idea. I don't want them to know I exist, and I definitely don't want them to know I'm a witch. I'm not even sure why I told you." I knew I could avoid getting caught (stealth is my specialty, after all), but Chiron had explicitly told me to only get information.

"But that would be of no matter. You shall be invisible and mute the entire time. No one will ever be aware of your presence."

I contemplated it for a moment. He was fascinating, being a god from yet another set of deities that wasn't my own. This would count as that getting information, I reasoned.

No. You will not go anywhere with this god. He wants world domination, you need to get back to camp so the heroes can put a stop to him.

"Of course," he went on, something in his voice putting me on alert. "The decision is yours, Alex. However, should you choose stay here, then I suppose you will be forever trapped as invisible and mute to all." He looked at me, a sly smirk upon his face as realization dawned on mine.

Oh heck no! I realized, too late, that I had no idea as to how to remove the spell he had cast on me. If he didn't take it off, then I could very well be stuck like this for quite a while. Oh, he was good. I knew I had no choice now but to go with him, but I wasn't about to let him know that I was scared. I was the child of Hermes, after all, and we were the masters of poker faces.

I stood up straighter and, smirking, looked him dead in the eyes, "When do we start?"