Lokasenna (Loki's flight, Loki's quarrel)- a Norse mythological poem of the Poetic Edda, where the Loki accuses the gods of sexual morals, bias, and Seidr during a feast provided by Ægir.

When I woke up it was bright. I couldn't see anything through this thick cloud of brightbrightbrightness, so I only winced and turned away. I couldn't hear much of anything other than distant noises, like ghosts, wandering and lost and calling to me, where am I, where am I?

I don't know I don't know I don't know leave me alone please--

But the first thing I feel is fear. The first thing I feel is pain.

I struggle, a trapped animal, always fighting, always so futile. My heart races and I panic but I don't know why. My breathing becomes hard and sweat forms on my brow and though the air is viciously cold I'm hot all over and I feel insanity pulse in my brain, as if it's the only thing keeping me alive.

When my vision adjusts I can barely make out the figures looking down at me as I struggle, cold and callous. And I struggle, a trapped animal, and they gaze down at me with their eyeless stare. I am a wild creature and they are superior. They're all in white, everything is so, so, white, so cold and rough at the edges like concrete snow.

I gasp, and adrenaline rushes through me. Everything around me is fake and artificial, the glaring lights, the cracked porcelain faces, but I am alive, I am so, so alive I can't stand it. When I'm freed of my shackles I sit up quickly, looking all around me. Why is the air so heavy? Why is it so hard to breathe?

Somebody suddenly walks in, and I look at them, fear in my eyes as I tremble all over. He approaches me. I back away. He mouths something at me that I don't understand, as if he's trying to explain something. I stare at him, hair on ends, waiting for something to make sense, anything. Nothing. He smiles at me and ruffles my hair and I shy away. He chuckles condescendingly as he pulls a small object--what is it?--and unwraps it and sticks it in his mouth. He tells the fakefake figures something and suddenly leaves. Helpless and confused, I know I have no choice. I have no choice in anything.

They grab me, their gloved hands ice against my skin and I try to break free of their grips. This doesn't work. They harshly throw some strange things at me and they shout strict orders at me, I don't know what they mean but I know that they're angry. Where did I go wrong?

One of them motions at me to put the things on.

What...?

I try it out, but clumsily stumble over. They end up helping dress me, since I am still very uncoordinated and can't quite get used to this "walking" thing yet. After I'm covered with the bizarre fabrics I'm thrown in some sort of metal box, a cell, a prison. I sit there under those same fake lights, reminding me endlessly of their cold and empty stares, the first thing I saw when I came into this world.

I tremble, curling myself up, feeling so scared, so cold, so alone in this strange new world. I rest but never fall into this thing humans call "sleep." I'm not a human, and so I'm not supposed to sleep.

I don't know how much later it is but all I know is that it's later.

A vague feeling against my head tells me to get up. I turn over, groaning. Again. I open an eye and realize one of Them is prodding my skull with their boot. I shakily try to stand up from the desolate floor, like a tundra, and they mutter something to me in their harsh voices. I don't know what it means but they start walking so I follow slowly, stumbling a few times.

Balance is difficult.

First I'm given this strange red liquid, which the sight of made my stomach growl. By instinct alone I understood, and I hastily took the glass of liquid and drank it down, making a mess of it in the process. This does not help my lowly animal sort of look. When I'm done I feel refreshed and satisfied. One of Them wipes me off with a white cloth and another starts trying to explain something to me again. Ugh. For creatures that think they're superior to me, they sure don't understand that I don't know what they're even saying! But I listen.

This person gives me these rectangular-shaped things and says they're "books." I examine it curiously. They say the word "book" again, slowly, making sure I'm looking up at them while they pronounce it out. They seem to want me to say it back.

So I try my best.

"B-bu-boo..k...?" I stammer in a stupid voice.

They nod back at me in approval. After a while I start getting a hang of it. I learn that this person teaching me all of these things is a doctor named Ms. Akako, who unlike most of the doctors here, is warm and nice and smells like summer and flowers, a thing I will never see.

"Now what is this a picture of?" she says as she holds up a piece of paper.

"A car!" I exclaim proudly, as if I'm the smartest thing in the world.

"Very good," she says, and smiles. She holds up another one. "What about this one?"

"That's Miss Akako!"

"Yes, yes, you're very clever!" she chuckles softly, and pushes up her glasses. She brushes away some blonde hair from her face.

"Now who's this young gentleman?"

I stare at the picture for a moment, almost entranced. I flash back to the moment of my creation, the second I see all those strange people and that one doctor who came in, who was supposed to be in charge or something, who was he, Van something..? Whatever.

"I... I..." I stammer, and shake myself from the spell. "That's... That's... Me..."

"Good, good!" Ms. Akako then reaches in her desk and pulls out a thick, old fashioned style book, the cover worn and the pages frayed at the ends.

"Can you tell me what this says?" She gestures towards the title.

"The Book of Humans..." I say, and tilt my head to the side in concentration.

"That's right," she says. "Once we have finished reading this book your education will be complete."

I gaze at the cover, tracing the letters in wonder. I feel the texture of the cover, leathery and stiff.

"Go ahead," Ms. Akako tells me. "Open it."

And I do. I turn over the front cover.

"Part one..." I whisper to myself.

"Go on and read it," she says reassuringly. "If you have any questions you can just ask me. I should be an expert, being a human myself!" She chuckles, winks at me.

As I start reading the first paragraph, I mutter quietly, "Okay..." and bury my face in the book.

This "Book of Humans" is very confusing.

In the first section the basics are described, what is a human, and what isn't. Zebras and lions and sheep aren't humans. They're animals. And then it says that I'm not human. This I don't get. If Miss Akako is human, and I have the same general characteristics, am I not human too...? But as I read on I come to learn that I am a sort of creation... A creation based off of these beasts the humans call "Chiroptera." It shows a picture of the hideous beast, saying it drinks the blood of people and is a vicious monster. I stare at it in astonishment. That can't be me... No way that can be me--

"Is something wrong...?" Ms. Akako says, breaking my train of thought.

I look up at her, startled. I stare at her for a moment, quivering. She's human... and I'm... a monster? I clutch my head.

"No..." I mutter heavily.

"What is it?"

"I'm... I'm not a monster... Am I, Miss Akako?" I whisper hesitantly, and gaze up at her warm, tender face.

She studies me for a while with a concerned look on but she says nothing.

After a few more days of reading that book and sleeping in that cold cage and eating just enough to survive, I finally finish the book. At the time I was sitting in Ms. Akako's office, taking in the information with a stern, expressionless face. I finish the conclusion statement and close the book, and close my eyes, concentrating. I open them.

"I'm finished," I say, voice low and hard.

"That's wonderful!" Miss Akako exclaims. "But I'm afraid now that you know everything, I'm not much of a use to you..."

"Huh..?"

"You will be escorted by these kind gentlemen here..." and two men walk in, but they are not kind and gentle looking at all "...to further enhance your education. Good luck!"

"But--!" I start to say but they grab me and harshly yank me out of the room.

They quickly pull me along and I don't understand what the rush is, but they throw some sort of weird, long sword-type of thing at me and shove me in a separated room where a man in white, a silver mask over his face, and a similar sword in hand, waits for me.

Afraid, I stand there trembling, unsure what to do.

"Fight," I hear a voice instructing me, and look around.

I spot a glass sort of window where some people are, and realize that's where the voice came from. But then I'm just knocked to the ground, sword flying out of my hand but another sword right between my eyes. Shocked, I am left completely breathless, staring up at the man in white. What is going on...?

"Okay, start again."

The man lowers the sword and retreats, walking back. I watch him, and he turns around to face me again. I duck, throwing my arms around me, knowing he'll come at me again. A drop of sweat rolls down the side of my cheek and a few moments pass but nothing happens still. I open an anxious eye, and realize that he didn't move a muscle.

"Huh..?" I mutter quietly to myself in confusion.

"Get up," the voice over the intercom says, and I look up at the glass box-window, and stand with uncertainty.

I grip the sword anxiously, glancing at my opponent, and at the glass box-window, and back to my opponent again.

"Fight!"

Sometimes when you think you're ready for anything, you're really not.

He rushes toward me again and though I thought I look real hard he startles me and easily takes me down all over again. I grit my teeth. Damnit.

I am forced to do this over and over and over again. I grow tired, panting heavily, but my opponent looks the exact same, apathetic and unimpressed. It pisses me off.

Before the intercom-whoever had the chance to say "Fight!" I lunge at him with a fury, harshly whipping my sword around at him. I actually start to sort of get him, the element of surprise on my side, but he quickly recomposes himself, studies the situation, and sends my sword flying out of my hands, silver tip pointed at my neck.

I pant, staring at him wildly. He suddenly takes off his mask, revealing his face.

Oh, so there is a human behind that cold figure after all.

"If you want to beat someone you can't just use brute force," he tells me. "You need technique."

My hard expression softens into a confused one.

"Let's try something different," he says. "Pick up your sword."

I study him a moment, but nod and rush to it. I hastily grip it.

"First things first," he says. "Grip and stance."

He takes his sword in hand and poses as if ready to attack. I jump back, ready for him to come at me... Or at least, I hope I'm ready. But he doesn't attack me. Why...?

"You don't grab the thing like you're trying to strangle it," he says, and gestures towards my hands, curled up around the sword and fisted tightly, hands trembling and knuckles white.

"You hold it elegantly, like so," and he demonstrates. I try to mimic it, but I end up only dropping the thing... Again. I sigh. So does he.

He comes up from behind me and startled, I try to escape, but then he grips on to my sword.

"Like this," he says.

I feel myself breathe as I look at his hands, studying the position of his fingers.

"Okay..."

He lets go, and my grip slips a little, but I quickly manage to recover. I watch him as he picks up his own sword again and then begins to attack... But not me. He moves the sword in the air and it looks sort of like ballet in a way, he strikes the empty space, and when he's done he lowers the sword again, and looks at me.

I stare back, in wonder.

"That is a sword technique," he says. "When you use it you must be firm but flexible, concentrating but perfectly aware of your surroundings. There are many techniques and styles, but--"

He stops, but I don't notice. I didn't pay attention to anything he said then, to tell the truth. I only tried imitating his movements, and added a few twists of my own. I remembered The Book of Humans, the sections about fighting, and since I was currently equipped with a sword rather than a gun or a knife or anything else, I had to use it accordingly in the best manner, with the least amount of movement in order to make the easiest maneuvers to defeat my opponent.

I stop, calmly looking in front of me, and then I turn to face him again.

"I... I think we're ready to try fighting again," he says.

We back away from each other slowly, closely studying the other. I take slow, deep breaths to calm myself, my heart beating fast but I am a silent, swift machine ready for anything, truly ready.

"Fight!" they say over the intercom, and he rushes toward me, and I rush toward him, but I make a curve in my dash and manage to attack from behind him.

I have the element of speed on my side, like said in The Book of Humans, I am much faster than a human and can travel past the speed of light at a point, teleporting myself at my will. I have never tried this teleporting-like phenomenon before, and was afraid of it, but it all felt completely natural to me and was easier than my conscience allowed me to think it be.

But the man being quick-witted himself, my opponent turns to face me and strikes at me. Sweat draws on his face and I can tell he's straining, straining to collect his wits in a moment of rushing panic. I effortlessly block the attack, and approach further, striking my sword again. He backs up, defending himself, and tries to distance himself.

Futile.

I catch up with ease and our swords clash again, his strength and mine struggling to overcome the other's. We stare down the other as we force the swords against each other. I leap backward and withdraw my sword, but attack him from the side, he defends, again, again, again, and I work so fast he has no room to think anymore, I can tell, he's losing his technique, for he has smarts but so do I, and I have one thing humans lack: instinct.

I strike his sword again, and it flies out of his hand and lands several meters away. While this happens he trips as he tries to back up, and my sword is pointed at his face as I stand over him.

The roles have been reversed.

We stare at each other, eyebrows knit and sweat on our brow, breathing heavily.

"Stop," they say over the intercom.

I look up, and begin to withdraw coolly, when suddenly something trips me. I fall over harshly, next to my opponent.

"Hey," I hiss at him, glaring. "You're not supposed to do that!"

"In a fight between life and death," he explains, panting, "rules don't matter."

We both stand, and he puts out a hand. What is this...?

"Never heard of a hand shake, huh?" he says with a smile. "Looks like that so-called 'Book of Humans' doesn't teach ya much after all."

I furrow my brows. He's right, I can feel it. I hesitantly reach out with my own hand and he suddenly grasps it. Surprised, I try to back away but he... shakes my hand..?

"This is a hand shake," he tells me. "It means that you agree with the other person and are on equal grounds."

I return the shake, and we lower our hands again.

"Okay..."

"I guess we're done then," he says.

"Yeah..." I say, and begin to walk away.

Humans truly are interesting.

I don't quite understand them completely. In The Book of Humans it says that humans are superior, but humans can't travel at the speed of light and humans don't have instinct and humans-- But humans obviously have control over me, don't they..?

His words rang in my head again:

"It means that you agree with the person and are on equal grounds..."

Equal? Are we equal?

It's been a long day. I'm escorted back to my cage, empty and cold.

As my escort throws me in and locks me up again he tells me without emotion, "Soon you fight again."

Again..? But haven't I already beaten that swordsman? Or does something new await me? I can't really tell, humans are so difficult to understand.

I curl up in my cage, used to the feeling of loneliness, and close my eyes, resting without sleeping. I lay there for a while, and it's sort of boring, but not too soon after another man comes to my cage and I open an eye to watch him. He dangles a sack of the red substance, blood, at me and I rush over, hungry.

"See this?" he says as he holds it away from me. "Soon you won't be able to get it for free. You'll have to fight for it."

Fight for it..? What does he mean?