Utgard of Wonderland.
From the Author...
Yes, I know I have an unfinished fiction... But lately Utgard Loki has been fascinating me more and more. I noticed, well a lot of people on HemuLoki told me, that there is not a great deal of Utgard Loki fan fiction (or Fan art) out there. So! I want to contribute!
Disclaimer...
I do not own Matantei Loki Ragnarok in Manga or Anime form - they belong to Sakura Kinoshita! I own some art books and I ordered black books 1 and 2 in English... O.o don't sue me for them! ;o; pleab?
Overview...
Utgard lives in Wonderland, er Joutenheim, this fiction is Utgards' life - before the Manga and after the Manga. Pairings are undecided (if any) at this current stage for now it's just Utgard Loki and the misfits of his world.
Chapter 1: I don't like White Rabbits...
Rabbits, fluffy and white, wearing top hats and ties. These were the rabbits that Utgard met in his world - once Frost Giants now Fluffy Giants in a rabbit shape. For no true reason other than the fact that Utgard read a book and had an idea. With a wave of his hand he created his new home - the world he once knew replaced by trees and a castle.
Utgard sometimes wondered what possessed him to copy the book, sure it was different but was this difference an improvement? He sat at a desk, looking out of a window when suddenly something changed. His routine was suddenly disrupted, he had a spontaneous idea. He stood, shivering slightly at the feeling of doing something unplanned - was this excitement? He wouldn't know anyway. He turned and walked toward the exit of the castle, down flights of stairs to a large pair of oak doors, which swung open with a whimpering creak.
He stepped outside.
It was a rare occasion indeed, Utgard left the castle sometimes but normally only for an afternoon walk, it was not even midday and he had already ventured outside. An indulgent break in his daily clockwork routine and he was starting to like it. Things looked different in the morning light, they looked fresh and wet - the waxy leaves on the trees still had dew on them. What did dew taste like? Was it sweet? He wondered, but ended up telling himself not to lick a leaf to find out, he left the leaves un-licked and his curiosity hungry.
His Wonderland was just as he saw it in that book - green and strange. A world of fantasy where he could, if he tried hard enough, become lost maybe even disappear from his role as king for a while. His footsteps were silent, a very faint crunch of grass under his feet. His shadow cast behind him dramatically regardless of the lack of sun, which was still rising.
He wandered down a pathless clearing, a space where trees did not grow making a kind of illegitimate pathway. Occasionally his eyes were drawn to admiring his own handy-work, the fruits of his labor. He leaned down to a cluster of jasmine, his nose delighted briefly by the perfume of the flowers. He smiled. A novelty, a sudden chill in his spine from his upturned lips. They quickly fell back to their normal nonchalant pose.
He resumed his walk, looking at trees as they fragmented the now air-borne sun's light and created a torn mosaic on the grassy floor. The wind rustled the leaves, it sounded like the sea in his ears.
His footsteps stopped, suddenly, something had moved out from the undergrowth - he had not expected to see another creature, person or living thing as he walked. But there before him, a few feet away, was a rabbit. He remembered the rabbit as being from the book he read. A white rabbit who was "late, late, for a very important date".
However, his rabbit - the rabbit in his world- was different. It was not pure white or hurrying. It stared at him with red eyes. Utgard observed the rabbit closer, trying to get a good look at it. It was definitely unique. The rabbit was dressed like a court jester, black and white harlequin diamonds adorned the shirt it wore and the strange puffed up pants. It had a hat on its head, in black and white, with bells on the end it jingled with a pleasant sound, Utgard noted. The rabbits face was unique too, a black diamond patch of fur surrounded its' right eye. It was looking at him now, nose wiggling side to side, smelling him.
He started to wonder if his smell was offensive, the rabbit seemed to recoil.
It was turning away from Utgard, hind legs poised to make a bounding leap away from the King of Giants, but it did not run, it looked back with a look like a twisted smile. This surprised Utgard - did rabbits have evil smirky-faces? He did not think so, his head tilted to the side silver hair falling to expose one of his eyes. He observed the rabbit intently. Then he blinked - it spoke in a simple and forgettable voice.
"Welcome to your kingdom, King of the Giants."
Then it ran off, disappearing in to the undergrowth once more. Utgard frowned slightly, confused by the rabbit. It spoke and it said something strange, what was the meaning of its' words "welcome to your Kingdom"? Of course he was welcome... was he not? He was the King, he turned to leave he was bored and slightly hungry. His desire for his routine was returning, however he stopped suddenly - the path was gone. The trees seemed to block his path the way back to the castle no longer apparent. He looked left, looked right and established quickly that the path had not moved to a new location. It was just gone.
A spark of something, frustration? Annoyance? He could not tell, but he felt flustered and decided he must find that white rabbit else he might never get home to his lunch. He moved in the direction the rabbit had gone, glancing to the floor - a path was forming under his feet as he moved forward, the trees shuffling backwards as if they were merely actors pretending to be trees.
Utgard walked following the path laid out for him lacking any concept of time or distance. He had no idea where he was in comparison to the castle or what time it was - the trees blocked the sun. In the distance he could hear noise, shouting and feet running around. He moved towards it - maybe it was the rabbit again...
He pushed through bushes, moving leaves out of the way. Grunted in near-annoyance as thin branches slapped his face - creating a tremble of pain and shock. He shrugged it off and continued, the sounds of feet and shouting grew louder. He could make out words now.
"Awn..."
He was perplexed; awn did not mean anything to him (though he had only just finished reading the A's in the dictionary in the library). Perhaps they meant Yawn or Lawn or ... something. He staggered as an uprooted tree-root tripped him. He fell forward, though some bushes in to a corridor. He frowned, looking around; the forest had turned in to an indoor area. He looked back; the path of trees had gone there was a blank wall behind him. He was most confused over this sudden turn of events.
"Ing!!" the voice shouted, if only Utgard had paid attention he might have heard that one. Unless they were talking runes, though he did not think so... Awn and Ing, what did that mean? Awning? Yawning? Was someone here sleepy, he was sleepy too. It was nearly afternoon naptime - or so his body was telling him. He walked down the corridor. Not bothering to call out, what was the point in talking to nothing but walls and doors? Even if there were someone ahead they probably wouldn't bother to respond until Utgard was in their line of vision. He passed shelves and bookcases, curiously inspecting the choice of books. However there was only one book - "Alice in Wonderland." there were about 10 bookcases, each one lined with 8 shelves and these 80 shelves held nothing but copies of Alice in Wonderland. All the exact same edition not a single deviation and none of them looked any more or less read than the one beside it.
Utgard took one, not a special one, just any old copy from a shelf he opened it, a bookmark was carelessly left marking a page. He plucked the bookmark out and glanced at the text. It was the moment with the caterpillar asking WHO Alice was. He remembered wondering that himself - exactly who was he? If he was not complete was he half a person? Sometimes he thought that might be true. He closed the book and slid it back in to the rows and rows of identical copies.
He turned, his clothes swishing away to the side as he walked forwards he had remembered what he was following - that shouting voice. Utgard continued his pursuit walking down what seemed to be an endless hall he continued to walk, forwards, onwards, towards. . . but towards what exactly? He was not convinced that he was going to reach anything at all there was no end to the passage. It extended outward seemingly to infinity. He kicked a door. Frustration again.
He walked a little more. Time passed - he wondered how long but could not decide on a definite time frame.
His head snapped around to the side, he approached a door it had a rather strong kick-mark in it, the bottom panel caving in from the dent. He rose his foot and pressed it to the dent. It fit perfectly. It was the door he kicked not long ago. His brow creased in a frown - it was like a big long circle. He puffed; silver hair fluffing up then falling down over his eyes again he pressed an ear to the door.
"PAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!" The voice he was pursuing screamed, clearly from behind the door his ear was pressed to. He recoiled in surprise.
He gripped the door handle and tried it, it rattled but refused to turn all the way. Locked. He kicked it again, this time it fell down - collapsing with a dramatic THUD. He walked over it and in to the new surroundings. It was a garden. A grandeur English-style garden with neatly trimmed hedges shaped like chess pieces and rose bushes sporting pure black blooms, white rose bushes occasionally offering a shock of paleness in the otherwise dark garden. He walked along the path that was neatly trimmed and lined with stones.
Eventually the grass stopped, he glanced, he was standing on a massive chess board - black and white tiles they were huge too wider than him, like a Giants play-set. He looked around for signs of life. At the other end of the chessboard was a figure. He approached. Utgard rose an eyebrow as he inspected the figure before him.
It was a Kappa.
Its balding head shone, the crown of black hair-like fur surrounding the bald patch. Its beak was turned upwards in a grin, its beady eyes fixed on the silver haired male. The Kappa had green skin, scaled and ugly, his feet were webbed and he wore a small top hat that failed to conceal that bald spot as well as a tie and shirt-cuffs. He looked like a ridiculous businessman of some kind.
"Who are you." Utgard stated, rather than inquired.
"Me? Why me? That's easy. I'm me." The Kappa replied with a grin.
"Name." Utgard stated, if indeed the creature had one.
"Ah I see I see. My name. Well. Most people call me the Mad Kappa."
"..." Utgard did not bother to reply to that one, there was a Mad Hatter in the book he read. Was this a joke on that? A Cap was a kind of Hat, and this was a "Kap"pa... he did not enjoy this pun at all.
"What did you come here for, Silver-head?" Asked the Mad Kappa.
"...Utgard. My name is Utgard." Utgard stated.
"Alright, Utgard, then. What did you come here for?" The Kappa repeated.
"..." Utgard looked away, looking around.
The Kappa smirked "Did you come for a game, perhaps?"
"No. I have no desire to play." Utgard muttered.
"I won't let you leave unless you play." The Kappa replied, his eyes gleamed with a sinister edge.
"...Humph." Utgard snorted.
"Play chess with me, if you win you can leave. If you lose you can become a piece of my collection!!" The Kappa chimed.
Utgard's lips formed a smirk, this fool creature wished to play him "Very well." he replied "I accept your challenge."
"Wonderful!" The Kappa replied and clapped his hands together.
The sky grew dark, Utgard looked up in time to see massive chess pieces fall from the sky. Huge pawns, huge bishops, a king and queen. He rose an eyebrow in amusement - an interesting battle was about to unfold...
END of Chapter 1
How is it? I'm nervous to hear what other HemuLoki community members think. After I went to the trouble to find out about Utgard Loki from them, I hope I did him justice?
Comments, reviews, criticisms and suggestions are always welcome! I hope you enjoyed it!
Ji