A/N: Hey, thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed! Thank you so much! And good eye, to everyone who caught the Cass reference. :D I'm happy to have perceptive readers.
Enjoy the chapter! It's mostly a filler.
3rd POV
"Krystal." Katarina echoed, examining the figure in front of her as she removed her hood. Dark brown hair cascaded down her back, and the younger girl tucked a few strands behind her ear.
"What do you mean, these are your family?" Nikolai stepped forward, standing protectively next to his sister. He hadn't removed his hand from the handle of his sword.
"I mean that they were my family." Krystal corrected herself, bending down to examine one of the headstones. A sad little smile flitted around her lips as she ran a hand over the faded and crumbling stone. "Obviously, they're dead now."
"But..." Katarina's head was spinning. She took a step forward, suddenly excited. "...if this is your family, then you were a villager from this place!" She gestured around herself at the ruins. "You're a survivor?"
Krystal nodded sadly. "Unfortunately." She stood back up.
"But how...? There weren't any survivors, except for that man, but he's dead..." Katarina trailed off, considering the possibilities.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Krystal asked curiously. She eyed their clothes. "Strange tourism location for nobles."
"Well, we're not touring." Nikolai loosened his grip on his sword but did not release it altogether. "We're searching for something."
Her green eyes darkened immediately, turning them a familiar shade of viridescence that made Katarina feel a little sad. Loki's eyes looked like that...
"What could you find in such a place?" Krystal gestured to the ruins around her, shaking her head. "There is nothing but the shell of a once-grand village."
"Why are you here?" Nikolai growled. "Like you said, strange place for tourism."
Her lip curled. "Ah, but like you, I am not a tourist. I come to pay my respects." She bowed her head suddenly. "And apologize." She added in a soft voice.
Katarina surveyed the girl critically, and couldn't stop a feeling of foreboding. "What do you mean, apologize?" Her hand strayed back to the knife at her belt.
"Apologize for what I've done." Krystal said in a morose tone of voice. "What I've done to them."
Realization dawned cruel and clear on the two Ryker children. Both took an instinctive step back.
"You mean...?" Nikolai found himself speaking quietly.
"Yes." Krystal whispered. She lifted her head, and for a few seconds she looked much older and much more tired than she should've. "I killed them all."
vVvVvVvVv
The reaction was immediate. Nikolai's blade flashed as he redrew it, almost glowing in the eerie light. He stepped forward, tugging his sister behind him.
"You killed them." Nikolai snarled. His hazel eyes flashed in the way that they always did when he was angry. "Why...?"
Krystal put her hands up again, palm-up. "Please, try to understand." She pleaded. Katarina felt a twinge of remorse among her surprise and anger. The girl was unarmed, and seemed harmless enough. "I wasn't myself, I didn't want to..." She trailed off.
The princess managed to catch the penny before it dropped. "The Darkness."
The younger girl seemed surprised. "You know about it?"
"That's why I'm here." Excitement bubbled once more in the pit of her stomach, as if she had just swallowed an entire crate of carbonated water. "I'm researching it. And," She paused before making the proposition. "You could help me."
"Who would research such a topic?" Krystal shook her head, eyes downcast. "Forget it. I do not care what fancy school you go to, or how expensive your private tuition is, this is not worth some extra school credit..."
Something inside of Katarina snapped. Extra school credit. The tumor of shame and bitterness she had been carrying around burst. All the weeks of pent-up energy and anger and guilt spilled out. "For your information," She snarled. "This is not for some extra school credit."
Nikolai recognized her expression. "Katarina-" He began warningly, but she cut him off.
"This research is precious to me. Right now, it's all I have. All the hope I have in the world is riding on finding out what the Darkness is, how it works, and how I can cure someone of it. And if you're too ignorant and blind to see that-"
"Enough." Nikolai barked, but there was an undertone of worry to the order. "Katarina, stop this."
She was about to turn around and yell at him too when she realized that her skin was smoking. Whoa. She had almost just lit herself on fire.
It had been happening often. Too often, for her taste. Since she had begun to research sorcery and the Darkness, she had been practicing her magic more, becoming bolder in the spells she used. It was like a dam had broken inside of her, and the magic would just pour out, sometimes when she didn't call on it. Like when she was sad, or angry.
And that's when things started to catch on fire, or explode.
Krystal eyed the smoke rising from her clothes. "A sorcerer, huh?" She sounded more curious than reproachful, which is how most people sounded when they found out. "Well, I do have a respect for magic-users, surprisingly." She hesitated. "You claim that your research is for a noble cause?"
"Absolutely." The anger had dissipated, shoved into a drawer to be dealt with later. "Will you help me?"
The brunette frowned, examining her muddy shoes. "Help." She muttered. "It's been a long time since I've done that." She looked up, and shrugged. "Might as well."
vVvVvVvVv
"Katarina! Nikolai!" Thor smiled as he approached them in the horse stables. "Good to see you back!"
The princess returned the smile wearily. "Likewise."
Their relationship seemed to have taken a turn for the better. Thor no longer flirted with her. She no longer teased him. Most of this could be attributed to Loki's death (No, disappearance. Katarina corrected herself) but there was another reason for Thor's sudden change of attitude towards her.
Although he did not speak about it, Katarina knew anyways: Jane.
The mortal woman had had an affect on the prince. He was quieter, more modest, wiser, more like the king that Katarina knew he could be. It made her slightly proud of him.
Their relationship had turned to more brother-sister.
The prince froze when he saw Krystal. "Who is that?"
The brunette had just been dismounting from Nikolai's horse. She drew her cloak tighter around her person as she bowed. "Prince Thor." She said, in slight awe.
He automatically bowed back.
"This is Krystal." Katarina said quickly. "She's come here to help me with my research."
"Your research." Thor echoed. "About...?"
"The Darkness."
He tried to hide it, but she could see him give the tiniest sigh. "Katarina, you should not spend so much of your time on that. Please. Just go out a little more-"
"Sorry, Thor, can't." Krystal seemed surprised at the casual way they were addressing each other. She glanced in amusement between them. "Lots of things to do." She brushed past him. "I hope that you don't mind. I told her she could stay at the palace."
Thor sighed and shot Krystal an apologetic look. "Did she drag you into this?"
"Well, kind of." She admitted. "But I really do want to help her. She seems... a little desperate."
Nikolai snorted behind her as he hung up his saddle. "Desperate is an understatement." He scowled. "She's obsessed."
"With the Darkness?" Krystal could not think of a less favorable topic. "Why?"
The two princes exchanged uneasy glances, as if wondering how much they should divulge to the girl. She tried not to feel hurt. After all, they did just meet her a few hours ago.
"Katarina's friend was... affected, by the Darkness." Thor said finally, slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. "She's... never been the same."
"Well, that I can understand." Krystal tugged nervously on a lock of her hair. There was a bit of silence, which Nikolai interrupted with a small cough.
"Um, Thor, maybe you'd like an explanation."
"Very much so." He crossed his arms.
Nikolai explained the story: how Katarina had found out about the village, how they traveled, glossing over the bit about Krystal's murder spree, saying instead that she was a survivor.
Thor seemed appalled by the end of it. "So you let her go to a cursed village?"
"I know, I know." Nikolai put his hands up in surrender. "But she insisted, and you know what she's like when she makes up her mind."
"Stubborn as a mule." Thor smiled briefly. "Stupid girl."
The men chuckled quietly. They both seemed to be very close to Katarina, and even though the prince of Asgard wasn't in any way related to her, it looked as though he was as much as an older brother to her as Nikolai.
After a few more seconds, Krystal cleared her throat as noisily as she dared. "Hate to interrupt your little memoir review here, but I think I deserve an explanation as well."
Both princes blinked and turned towards her, as if they had forgotten that she was there.
"Ah, right." Thor leaned against the wall of the stables. "What do you want to know?"
"First off, you said that Katarina's friend was affected by the Darkness. That means she was possessed, right?"
"He." Nikolai corrected. "And yes."
"Who is he? And what happened to him?"
Again, they looked at each other. Krystal was beginning to feel frustrated with her lack of information.
"It is not really our place to say." Thor said finally. "This is Katarina's business..."
Krystal gritted her teeth.
"...but I can tell you the gist of it." The prince of Vanaheim shrugged. "A close friend of Katarina's- that's all I can tell you about him- was possessed by a small piece of the Darkness, in a ring." Here, a shadow of what might be shame crossed his face. "It "screwed him up", as the Midguardians say, and messed with his mind. He ended up doing a lot of bad things."
Krystal's mouth went dry. "Is he... dead?"
"We think so."
"What do you mean, you think so? How can you not know if someone's dead?"
He pursed his lips. "That's all I can tell you. Just know that this project is very important to Katarina."
"On that cheery note," Thor smiled at her. "perhaps you would like to join us for dinner?"
vVvVvVvVv
Krystal had to hand it to them. The Asgardian chefs knew how to cook a meal.
The table was unusually long for so little people: Katarina, Nikolai, their younger sister Katia, Prince Thor, a girl named Alienora, and herself. Only six.
Katia was the most adorable thing alive. Reddish blonde hair and multi-colored eyes, with pale porcelain skin like a doll and the sweetest tone of voice she had ever heard. About... ten or eleven years old in Midguardian age.
Alienora was a blonde, with long flaxen hair and tanned skin, bright blue eyes and a playful smile. She seemed to be a little older than herself, same age as Katarina.
The meal was served in silence by servants in white and black uniforms.
"How was your field trip, Katarina?" Alienora asked, grinning. Her friend shrugged.
"Pretty well. I finally got a lead."
"Oh." The blonde shot Krystal a look. They had been introduced to each other earlier, but both of them felt like there was still a bit of a wall between them. A barrier.
Krystal had expected that. I mean, first of all, she was a commoner. The rest of the people at the table were powerful, either gods or nobles.
Second, it was obvious that everyone else knew each other, and knew each other well. It was in the way they looked at each other, addressed each other, the way they smiled and shared jokes and talked. Krystal stayed silent most of the meal.
Why did I take this deal again? She wondered to herself.
Because you're tired of trying to make a living on your own. Her reason reminded her. The money Katarina offered you was quite a lot.
Katarina looked up from her food. "Parents aren't joining us?"
"Meeting." Thor informed her. "Apparently it was important." He gestured towards the five empty chairs at the head of the table.
Krystal frowned and swallowed a mouthful of food. She counted the vacant chairs again. "Um, correct my math," All eyes turned to her and she blushed at the attention but forged on. "but isn't someone missing?"
Immediately, everybody tensed, even Katia. Katarina pursed her lips and looked at her hands.
"What do you mean, missing?" Thor asked, trying to be casual, but everybody felt the change in atmosphere. The tension was as thick as hell.
"I mean, two sets of parents... that's four people, right? How come there's an extra chair?" She nodded at said chair, the one on right across from Thor. Suddenly a thought hit her. "Hey, wait, aren't there two princes of Asgard? Isn't there another one? Like, Lucky or something?"
She knew that she was probably being disrespectful, but it was an innocent enough question in her mind (she had been disoriented in the few months it took to recover from the Darkness, and she hadn't really cared about the royalty of Asgard anyway) but at the mention of the second prince, Katarina stood up, shoved her chair in so hard that it rocked the table, and left.
Krystal blinked. "What did I say?"
"Nothing." Alienora assured her, but it was obviously something. Her forehead was creased. "It's just that..."
"Did you hear that the other prince died?" Nikolai asked her, bluntly.
Krystal blinked again. "No. Did he?"
Everybody looked at her in surprise. She put her hands up (I seem to be doing this a lot lately). "Yeah, yeah, sue me. Just what happened, exactly? I thought gods couldn't die."
"They can't, usually." Thor smiled fleetingly. "But Loki..."
Loki. That rang a bell.
Yes, that's the other princes name.
I've heard that name before... and not just from traveling gossip...
It hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Count yourself lucky, Asgardian. The pain that you feel now is nothing compared to what is down the road for Prince Loki. Be glad that you are no more than an experiment."
vVvVvVvVv
To hear someone toss out his title and mispronounce his name so casually was like a knife in the heart to Katarina. The pain returned, and suddenly she had no appetite.
She left the dining hall.
He's out there, he's out there, he's out there... She reminded herself, but the chant- which had started out so strong- was much shakier now, made weak by the time she had spent without hope.
Hope. She repeated bitterly. What hope do I have?
She knew instantly where she wanted to go. The bridge.
Heimdall stood guard, of course, gold-orange eyes unwavering as he gazed out into the horizon, stock-still.
"Hello, Gatekeeper."
"Hello, Princess." He spared a glance at her. "You have already visited me today."
"I know." Katarina sat down by the edge. She hesitated. "You would tell me if you saw anything, right?"
"Of course." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "What makes you think I would be so unfaithful?"
She flushed, not something she did often these days. "I don't know." She sighed. "Too much doubt."
"Hm." He surveyed her and finally said, "You should not blame yourself for what happened."
She knew instantly what he was talking about and felt her eyes sting with tears. "Why shouldn't I?" She croaked, hating herself for crying and yet was unable to stop herself. "I was right there."
"You could do nothing."
"I could've done something!" She snapped, frustrated. "I could've convinced him, I could have saved him-"
"You couldn't have."
"How would you know?"
"I am the Gatekeeper. I know many things."
"Heimdall-"
"Katarina." He interrupted her firmly. "You blame yourself for things that you have no control over. You feel guilty."
She flinched, confirming the truth in his words.
"It is not your fault." The princess met his gaze. "Prince Loki chose his path. Maybe you should choose your's now."
She was silent as his words sunk in. "Forget him?" She asked, shaking her head. "Never."
"It has been three months-"
"I shall wait forever if it means seeing him again." Katarina got up. "There's still hope."
Hope. The word was much sweeter now.
You will see him again. She told herself forcefully. You will.
"I should have told you this earlier." Heimdall shifted, almost as if he was uncomfortable. "He did not perish so horribly. In the end, his magic slipped, and I could see his thoughts. There was still light in his life, one bright spot, one beautiful thing he held onto, even in the end."
"Oh? And what was that?"
"You."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I got writer's block halfway through, so that's why this chapter's a little "meh".
Tell me what you think of it!
Oh! And what did you guys think of the dream at the beginning of last chapter? Too OOC?
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