Chapter One

The morning was overcast, a blanket of grey rolling in from the west as it usually did on these typical early summer mornings. As Nerida reached high to unlock the last wooden shade on the faded blue lifeguard tower, she could not help but notice out of the corner of her eye movement within the clouds in an almost circular pattern. As the small brass key turned and she swung the shade down 180 degrees, securing it in its fastener, Nerida slowly looked over her shoulder. She unzipped her red lifeguard jacket midway, mindlessly pausing, her green eyes focused on the peculiar cloud movement. Pulling back a long strand of black hair behind her ear, she leaned on the chipped wooden railing of the tower, her lips slightly parting.

"Holy shit, it's cold!"

Nerida's intense stare was broken by the bouncy cadence of her best friend Penny. Penny's usually long sandy brown hair was now pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head. Her red lifeguard jacket seemed to be two times bigger than it should have been, and she was donning her navy blue L.A. County Fire Department issued sweatpants that also seemed too big for her small, yet energetic frame. Barefoot and holding the ends of her sleeves within her fists, Penny began to climb the ramp of Nerida's tower.

"I'm going to die, it's so cold."

Nerida smiled down at Penny and her usual overdramatic expressions, especially about the morning weather. "Good morning to you, too."

"Aren't you freezing?" Penny questioned, purposely bumping into Nerida's hip and then leaning on the railing next to her. "You only have your jacket on!" she observed. "You must be freezing."

"I'm okay," Nerida remarked, looking down at her own long, tanned legs falling out the red lifeguard shorts on her waist. "I was actually going to go for a swim."

Penny flipped around and leaned back on her elbows. "You are crazy. Coocoo. Loca en la cabeza."

"I see Chino has been helping you out with your Spanish courses."

Penny laughed. "Yeah, when he isn't throwing back the tequila and dreaming of you." She sighed and spun around again, leaning on the railing as Nerida's eyes caught the clouds again. "All he does is drink and work here and then go to band practice, and think about asking you out but never does."

Nerida laughed. "Some life."

"That's what you do to men, you know. You are too intimidating and then you scare them away so I can't do a goddamn thing to snag them."

Nerida rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just ask him out yourself?"

Penny gave her an incredulous look. "Hell no! If he wants me, he needs to ask me."

"And therein lies your problem. You are never going to go on a date with anyone if you don't do something about it."

"Here we go again, mom."

"I'm serious."

"As a heart attack. I know."

"I can't deal with Chino. He is great at pursuing what he wants, especially artistically. But he can't figure out his feelings towards me, nor can he even figure out how to ask me out. Besides, Chino is like a brother to me. I don't think of him like that."

"You don't think of anyone like that."

"There hasn't been anyone interesting lately," Nerida admitted, to which Penny rolled her eyes.

"If you don't bang someone soon, you're going to dry up. Just watch."

Nerida laughed and shook her head. "That's one thing I will never do, dry up."

"Even a fish needs a little H2O lovin' every now and again, Rid." Penny rubbed Nerida's arm playfully to which Nerida shook her head and moved away. "Come on, Rid, you and I should hit the bar tonight. We can hook us some lookers and then have a little fun, what do ya say?"

"Look at that," Nerida said, gesturing her chin up towards the clouds hundreds of yards away from shore.

Penny stared out at the dark sky. "Wow. That looks … weird."

"Different, definitely."

"What if it's a waterspout or something?"

"It's moving too slow to be a waterspout. It just looks like the air is having a bit of confusion with which way it wants to move," Nerida said. "Still odd though."

"Maybe one of those hero guys is up there …" Penny leaned further out on the railing, stretching herself onto her tip toes. "That red guys flies – Iron Man, yeah?"

Nerida shrugged. "Who knows?" She stretched her arms over her head, let out a yawn, and then unzipped her jacket fully, exposing her red one piece swimsuit. "I don't pay much attention to a bunch of men parading around in spandex, trying to 'save the world' and all of that bullshit."

"Hey, you saw what happened in New York not too long ago."

"Penny, it was New York. It was bound to happen eventually," Nerida joked.

"That shit could happen here. Why else would Iron Man stay here in Cali?"

Nerida slipped out of her shorts. "Because he's rich and probably lives around here. I don't know, nor do I really care. I don't need saving, especially from an egotistical playboy in a metal suit. Their presence here is probably what brings about all of the weird shit that happens." Nerida tied her long black hair into a ponytail on the back of her head. "Besides, too much power like that in the hands of someone who doesn't know what to do with it is dangerous. One of these days, one of those guys is going to hurt somebody. Somebody innocent. Power like that is frightening."

Penny followed Nerida down the ramp onto the cold soft sand. "You're saying if you had the ability to become a superhero, you wouldn't do it? You, Mrs. Adventure Junkie? That seems backwards."

Nerida turned to her. "Penny, jumping out of planes, recycling, scuba diving – those don't make me an adrenaline junkie. I just … like to have fun. On this planet. While we still have it."

Penny rolled her eyes. "I have been sorting my recycling and eating less meat. Don't start with me about your Captain Planet campaign."

Nerida smiled. "See? I didn't even need a super power to convince you about the significance of those two things. I am a modern day heroine, I say."

"You are a modern day something, that's for sure. Why am I surprised you don't have a man – you scare them all away with your overbearing ideals and obnoxious hatred of people."

"Ignorant people," Nerida corrected. "Go open your tower. I need to swim before too many people show up." Nerida turned to the morning swells slapping against the shore enthusiastically.

"What if a superhero saved you from a burning building and then wanted to have sex with you – would you?"

Nerida turned and kicked some water up at Penny, who immediately started to scream.

"It's cold – it's cold!"

"Go to work, Penelope!" Nerida called over her shoulder and then began to run into the white water, splashing her way through a small breaker before disappearing into the breakwater of an incoming wave.


Nerida was a good distance away from the shore, beyond the breakers where the water was glossy and less disturbed by the indecisive wind patterns. She free-styled throughout the surface with ease, each stroke gliding gracefully over and through the tiny caps of water as the current moved lethargically towards the shore. The water had been cold upon her initial dive in, but Nerida's body adjusted easily to the temperature. She swam parallel to the shore, towards the cliffs of Palos Verdes, mindful of the distance as she did not intend to swim too far beyond tower 1 on Avenue A, Chino's tower. When she finally came to the area in which she usually turned around to head back towards her tower on Avenue I, Nerida stopped and began to tread water, eying the shore. Not too many occupants had gathered, aside from some of the regular surfers who had already started to pack up their boards, some mothers with their children and the children they were babysitting, and the groups of Junior Lifeguards who were now running laps along the wet sand. Beyond that, the early morning joggers and cyclers were working their morning regimes along the bike trial just beyond the sand.

At tower 1, Chino could be seen opening the wooden shades to his tower, late as usual. His jacket was already off, his golden back bare; his yellow buoy hung off the roof of the tower, establishing his dominion to the male surfers who were still lingering about the soft sand near his tower. He turned searched the water and waved an arm at Nerida, gesturing her in.

All in all, it looked like another quiet summer morning at Redondo Beach, to which Nerida sighed impatiently.

Nerida waved back at Chino to give her five, and she began to swim back towards her tower. As she stroked, Nerida began to feel the water becoming disturbed. She popped her head up and noticed how choppy the surface was. The wind had picked up and her heart started to pound in her chest as she slowly raised her eyes towards the now blackened cloud cover overhead. The clouds were churning and pockets of glistening rainbow colors could be seen peering down at the water fifty feet away from her.

"Waterspout," she whispered, and she began to move backward.

The clouds funneled open into a circle, spilling around a single beam of color as it hit the water at a spectacular speed, causing a rippling effect that sent a six foot wave in Nerida's direction. She began to swim, thrashing towards it, diving down into the water as the wave passed overhead with minimal pull. As she surfaced again, Nerida saw it: from within the newly formed funnel a figure fell out of the sky, unresponsive as its limbs caught the air and was dropped back-first towards the ocean. Above it, the clouds ceased to rotate, the funnel closing up again and the vibrant colors dissipating to the original grey of the sky. Gasping, Nerida began to swim at full speed towards the falling figure.

Come on, Nerida, she inwardly coached herself. You can be faster.

The figure hit the water hard. Nerida dove down below the surface, pumping her arms through the glassy green water and she caught the shadow of the figure as it began to sink. She broke into breast stroke, propelling herself into the depths to catch up with the limp being.

Come on! Three more hard strokes!

Nerida grabbed out at the closest limb, a hand, and then pulled the person up towards her. She instinctively curled her arms under the figure's arms and began kicking her way up towards the surface again, feeling a distinct drag on her speed. This person was fully clothed … in a trench coat? Holding fast to the body, Nerida continued upward. The water began to glow with the incoming rays of the sun as it was beginning to peer out from behind the morning marine layer.

Almost there …

Nerida broke the surface with a gasp, laying back and pulling the person's head out of the water. The head lolled back against her chest, and she kicked her legs out, moving them with the current back towards shore. As she neared, she could hear the din of alarmed bystanders. Clutching her arm around its chest, she used her other arm to pull herself along, the current stronger as the swell was now starting to catch her in her efforts. The distant crashing of waves intensified. She was close. Behind her, splashing started up and Nerida turned her head. Both Penny and Chino were in the water with their buoys trailing them, diving through the breakers and heading straight for her.

"Nerida!" Penny called out. "Rid, we got you!"

Nerida felt two big hands on her shoulder blades as she backed into Chino. "I got him," he said gruffly, though Nerida did not let go. Using the waves, she allowed herself and the stranger to be taken in while Chino and Penny aided her with the lower half of the limp body. As they entered the shallow water, Nerida stood and dragged her victim onto the sand, away from the incoming waves. At once, a swarm of beach goers and exercise fanatics crowded them, and Chino and Penny immediately began yelling at everyone to move away.

Nerida automatically dropped to her knees beside the man, leaned over him and began giving him chest compressions. Chino knelt down on the other side and Penny continued to keep the crowd back, shouting at the bystanders without hesitation to keep a distance.

"When you get tired, I'll take over," Chino instructed.

"I got this," Nerida told him firmly. She leaned over, tilted the head back and pressed her mouth over the victim's breathing air into his lungs. It was at that moment that someone from the crowd screamed out for her to stop.

The entire beach went silent and Nerida, continuing her chest compressions, snapped her head up in the direction of the shrill scream.

"What the fuck, lady!" Chino growled at her.

She moved quickly towards them, a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length brown hair, a large brimmed sunhat on her head and donning a floral one-piece swimsuit. Three small children gathered beside her, and she clutched out at them. "Don't resuscitate that man!" she cried out.

Nerida narrowed her eyes at Chino, who immediately stood and moved in front of the woman. "Ma'am you need to back away. This is an emergency situation."

"You don't understand!" she cried, and she pressed her hand to Chino's chest, moving around him so that she could see Nerida. "Young lady, you must stop!"

Nerida shook her head violently. "If you don't shut her up, Chi, when the police arrive, they are taking her."

"He's Loki!"

Some gasps erupted throughout the crowd. Other began whispering to themselves. Penny, holding her hands out to keep people from coming over, looked over her shoulder down at the unconscious man.

Nerida paused and looked down at the man. He was pale, his lips almost blue. His eyes were closed. His hair was as black as pitch, shoulder length, and it was frayed out upon the sand. He was covered nearly head to toe in green and gold and black – his green and gold lined trench coat, if that was what it could be called, stiff from the water; upon his chest was a thick tunic that extended down towards his knees. He wore knee-high boots and had golden plating upon his forearms and shoulders. He looked like he was straight out of a comic book – or another world, for sure. No wonder he was so fucking heavy, Nerida considered for the first time as she wholly observed him.

She instantly began to breathe into his lungs again.

"Don't!" the lady pressed. "He will kill us all!"

Nerida snapped up. "Ma'am, this man obviously needs help. As I am a lifeguard, and he is a human being, I am bound to help him. Beyond that, it's just the right thing to do."

"If you bring him back, he will kill us all, and you will have to deal with that blood on your hands!" the woman hissed.

Nerida narrowed her eyes at her and then began to provide chest compressions again. "Ma'am, criminal or not, I am going to save this man's life. When the police arrive, they can sort it out. Until then, I suggest you take your children and leave my beach." Nerida leaned over and pressed her mouth over the man's mouth. In the distance, she heard the sirens from an ambulance.

"If you got this, I will go meet them," Penny said over her shoulder, and she took off across the sand.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nerida saw Chino moving towards the crowd, telling them to step away. Her hearing began to fade. She noticed her mouth was still on her victim's but she couldn't pull away from him. She felt a kind of electricity between them, one she could not free herself from, even if she wanted to. The tingling spread from her lips up to her scalp, down the back of her neck, and as the hairs on her arms and neck began to stand on end, she felt the tingling sensation creep down her spine, through her muscles and into her chest. It did not cease until the man began to cough furiously, and Nerida broke away from him. She watched water spew from his mouth, his thin nose crinkling up.

People gasped and the woman with the wide-brimmed hat screamed, to which Chino shushed her again. "Get out of here!" he barked, but Nerida did not focus too closely on them. Instead, she watched the man laying before her open his eyes, his long thin fingers running through his hair in the meanwhile, shading his face.

"Are you okay?" Nerida whispered, nearly breathless.

He moved his gold-plated forearm and she met the gaze of two icy blue eyes, almost electric in their stare. He did not say anything; instead, he stared at her face as he lowered his arm to the sand, and then attempted to sit up on his elbows.

"Don't move," Nerida instructed gently. "The EMTs should be here any minute, they will help you. You should be dead from that fall …"

Loki glanced back. He watched the crowd around him break apart as police officers were running towards them across the soft sand. He looked back up at Nerida, who was focused on his face.

"Move away!" Nerida heard a police officer yell as they approached.

His thin, pale lips curled at the corners. He placed his hands behind his head, smirking up at her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Ma'am!"

Nerida snapped her head around at the incoming police officer, who was sweaty and out of breath. He stopped right before her, placing his hands on his knees.

"What's the issue here?" he asked between breaths.

"This man, he needs –" Nerida stopped mid-sentence. She was now staring down at her knees at the sand where random pieces of driftwood and dried out seaweed sat, undisturbed. "He … he's gone!"

Penny and Chino came running up, stopping on either side of the officer. Chino collapsed to his knees.

"Dude, he was right there!"

The woman in the sun-brimmed hat cried out, "You see! You have revived him. Now he can destroy us all!" She grabbed her children dramatically, pulling them to her sides.

The police officer glanced around, disordered. "Wait – what? What is this about destroying people?"

"The God of Mischief!" the woman spat. She thrusted her pointer finger down at Nerida. "That woman revived him, Loki, the God of Mischief, instead of letting him die! Hasn't anyone watched the news lately?!"

Nerida and the officer exchanged glances. He placed his hands on his hips. "Lady, are you telling me that guy from the television who was running around New York was here, hanging out at the beach?"

"He fell out of the sky!" the woman stated frantically.

The officer wiped the perspiration off of his forehead with the back of his hand. His eyes dropped to Nerida, who stared up at him in defeat. "Okay people, show's over. There isn't a damn thing I can do without a body, and seeing as how no one can produce a body, I can't do anything." He gave Nerida a small shrug, turned, and then began to tell the bystanders to leave.

Chino placed a hand on Nerida's shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. "You didn't see him leave?"

Nerida replied, "Chi, I literally looked away from him for like two seconds. There is no possible way anyone could run away in that time."

Penny dropped down in front of Nerdia. She began to play with the sand in which the man had been laying. "Yeah, it's impossible for any human."

"What are you saying?" Nerida questioned.

Penny eyed Nerida closely. "Maybe that crazy lady was right. Maybe he was something … more than human."

"He did fall out of the sky … out of the fucking clouds," Chino added.

"Or maybe we are all just on drugs?" Nerida suggested acidly.

"Now that is impossible," Penny stated.

"And yet your theories are sound?"

"Hey, calm down Rid. I'm just saying, I didn't take any LSD with my pancakes this morning, did you?"

Nerida ran her hands over her wet hair and sighed.

"I know you need to be right and logical about everything all of the time, but as you have seen on TV, some weird shit is going on," Penny said, tossing sand between her hands.

"It just doesn't make sense – and that is what is bothering me." Nerida stood, dusted the sand off her legs and then placed her hands on her hips.

Chino and Penny stood next to her. "Do you want to take another lap?" he asked.

Nerida shook her head. "No. Just head back to tower 1. I'm going to start my morning reports."

Chino nodded, stole a glance at the surf, and then started to walk away. "Penny?"

Penny looked at him and then back at Nerida. "I'll be at 5, hon. If you need me."

Nerida nodded. "Thanks guys. Keep your radios on." She walked back towards her tower. The odd tingling feeling sparked throughout her body. Nerida stopped and looked around. Many of the bystanders had already settled back into their normal routines of applying sunscreen and yelling at their kids to stay close. The woman with the wide-brimmed hat was pulling her reluctant children up the hill towards the parking lot, all her beach belongings in tow in a little red wagon. "I am crazy," Nerida whispered, embarrassed. She continued on towards her tower, the sand beginning to warm beneath her feet. The sunshine was erupting across the sky, and the tiny saltwater droplets that lined her caramel skin began to evaporate.

Clutching the blue railing of the ramp tightly, Nerida walked up to the tower. Just as she reached for the walkie talkie sitting on the small wooden desk in the tower, Nerida noticed something out of place sitting upon her clipboard: upon a silver chain was a small serpent starfish, its long, spiny legs speckled various shades of brown and sticking out in every direction. Within the mass of its body sat what appeared to be a pearl. Nerida picked the necklace up by the chain and let the starfish dangle there. Its leg span was an impressive 5 inches across for a necklace. Aside from the fact that the necklace was even there, the oddest part was the presence of the pearl. Nerida gingerly touched it with her thumb. It was smooth and its surface was shiny.

Nerida looked around the tower. There were not any signs of disturbance. All of her paperwork was in its place. Her jacket and shorts still hung over the back of her bench. Below, the beachgoers had respected the space around the tower's base, leaving room for the beach cruiser that was not parked there currently. The only people around were parents with small children, none of which could have climbed the tower without being noticed, even with the madness prior. Looking up into the wooden frame, Nerida caught sight of an old pushpin. She hung the necklace from it. "Let it go, Rid," she said aloud, switching on the walkie talkie. "You wanted something out of the ordinary. Well, here ya go."

She sat back on the bench and began logging her morning activities on the clipboard.