Jazza-44: That's the point of the first chapter. I'd hate to give too much away before the story requires it. I hope I updated quickly enough for you. :)
The Yoshinator: Thank you. :)
Scousernic: Thank you. :) I hope I updated quickly enough for you.
So here's the second chapter. I wrote it all tonight while I freaked about senior portraits tomorrow. I'll be busy the next few days, so the earliest possible update would be Saturday (or 6/23). I've gotten pretty good reviews so far, so keep them coming. I love reading what you have to say, even if it's to correct me! Thank you for your support. As always, I don't own anything except my OC.
Green. Her room was covered in the color, all shades and variations. The bedsheets, the curtains, even the dark floor rugs were tinged or colored emerald. Sera grinned as her eyes roved the room, covering each wall in turn. To her left in the closest corner was a large, black wardrobe, almost one and a half feet taller than her five foot three height, embroidered with a golden trim. In the adjoining corner was a small screen, folded like a fan and decorated with scenes of Norse history. She could make out frost giants fighting ancient gods and goddesses, warriors falling in pools of their own blood as they fought brother against monster. Sera's eyes traveled past the changing screen to the small, ebony desk that sat on the next wall, the chair's cushion a variation of green and gold stripes. On the desk was a small scroll of paper, an inkwell, and a feathered pen. Against the desk was a tall bookshelf, empty of volumes. Sera assumed there was a library somewhere that she could borrow books from to fill her vacant shelves. In the next corner was a small, cushioned and winged chair, a dark green in color and placed in such a way that it captured the best light from the opened window on the far wall. The window led onto a balcony that overlooked the gardens below. On the right wall next to the door was a large, four-poster canopy bed, also decorated in hues of green.
With a raised eyebrow, Sera stepped toward the bed, slipping her bag off of her right shoulder. Tossing it haphazardly on the thick covers, she stepped toward the balcony. As she passed the end of the bed, she caught sight of another doorway to the left of the bed. Cocking her head, Sera stepped curiously toward the doorway. As she opened the door, her midnight blue eyes grew wide. Inside the doorway was a large, porcelain bathroom. A clawed bathtub sat against one wall as the other wall was taken up by a large sink and mirror as well as a necessary place to relieve herself. Sera chuckled. "I guess I get a better room than the help?"
"Actually, my Lady, you have almost the same luxury as the princes," a scratchy voice called from the bedchambers. Sera turned, her gaze caught by a middle-aged Asgardian. Her gray hair was pulled up into a tight bun, a twinkle in her bright eyes. The older woman was slightly chunky in size, but that didn't seem to stop her as she flitted to Sera's side. "Being a guest of the All-Father and all!"
Sera smiled. The woman had a cheery attitude that seemed to be contagious. "Aye," she murmured as she was pulled further into the room. "Are you assigned to me?"
"Aye, my Lady. My name is Anna."
"You do not have to call me that, Anna," said Sera, feeling a twinge of guilt. "I prefer to hear my own name. I am Sera."
"Sera?" came the curious reply.
"As in serpent or burning one. It's Latin," Sera replied. The blank look from the handmaiden relayed that she had no knowledge of the language. She sighed. "Never mind. Just call me Sera."
"I meant if you had a family name," Anna prodded. She tilted her head a little as she examined the younger woman before her.
"Actually, I do not. As a part of the peace agreement between my father and the All-Father, I am to drop my family name... for what reason, I am unsure." She took the silence from the other woman to mean she was understood. The other woman shook her head as she bustled around the room, opening the wardrobe and glancing back at Sera.
"Did you bring many clothes, my Lady?" Sera frowned at the formal phrase, but she ignored it. If being formal with her was what the handmaiden was required to do, she would accept it. She shook her head, and Anna turned away. "Well, I guess I'll have to see to getting you some clothing to suit your tastes." She turned to Sera again, closing the wardrobe doors with her left foot. "What's your favorite color?"
Sera grinned again briefly. "Green."
Anna smiled. "I should've known." For a moment, she hesitated, then asked carefully, "May I inquire upon a topic?"
"You may."
"What are you doin' here? Word is that you are here on a peace mission from some foreign realm." Anna came a little closer, something sparkling deep within her ocean blue eyes.
"Aye, my mission is one of peace, but even I am not aware of such a purpose," Sera replied calmly. She had expected such a intruding question. "However, I know that somehow the All-Father has found a use for me in becoming a student of one of the princes."
This new information sparked Anna's interest. "Ahhh, my Lady has been sent to work with Prince Loki, has she?" A devilish grin slid across the middle-aged Asgardian's lips.
"I do believe that was his name." To be honest, Sera had been paying little attention to who she would have been working under to learn to control her... talents. She had been too euphoric at the realization that magic, even if it was rather strange, was not completely frowned upon in Asgard. "He is to be teaching me how to control certain talents of mine and possibly find more within myself."
Anna nodded slowly, inching slowly toward the door. "Well, miss, I'll be on my way." She began to turn to go before Sera's inquiring voice reached her.
"May I ask where I may find Prince Loki at this time? The All-Father said that I may want to begin lessons today at two." Sera's eyes had connected with a sundial on the balcony that read the time. It was close to a quarter to two and with the show she had heard as she left, Prince Loki was not one with a level temper at times.
Anna paused. "More than likely, the prince may be found lurking in the gardens. I really must be going now, miss..."
Sera realized that the other woman must have been waiting to be dismissed. "You may go, Anna. Thank you." She offered a slight smile as Anna turned and hurried from the room. Turning from the closing door, Sera quickly trotted to the bedside as she rooted through her bag. She avoided the pendant as she grasped a pair of leather pants and a hunter green shirt she had borrowed from her brother before she had left home. She rarely felt comfortable in dresses and was itching to get out of this one. Quickly undoing the strings in the back of her dress corset, she practically threw her dress up and over her head. It pooled on the floor by her feet as she stepped into the pants and a stolen pair of her brother's small boots. Tossing on her shirt, she threw the bag under her bed and strode out the door and into the hallway.
After ten minutes of weaving through labyrinthine hallways and royal servants clearly en route to some important business on the opposite side of the palace, Sera found herself encased in the serenity of the garden. Floating from one flower bush to the next, she slowly made her way into the center of the gardens. Two large fountains sat facing each other, spouting water in various forms and streams. Sera glanced over her shoulder habitually, checking to see if she were being watched. Back home, magic was quite frowned upon... Shaking her head, Sera reached toward the pool of standing water that sat between the two fountains, her long, pale digits barely scraping the surface of the water.
As her hand retreated from the water, a flat puddle fit tightly to the small planes of her hand. The small puddle rose as her hand gained altitude, slowly forming into a small ball. It hardened into ice as Sera breathed slowly onto the orb. Chuckling softly to herself, she twisted it between her fingers, feeling it slide easily into the valleys between her digits.
A small huff of air came from over her right shoulder. That alone broke her concentration and Sera cursed loudly as the sphere crashed and splintered on the ground. Her eyes darkened as she turned, staring into a pair of haughty emerald orbs. "Should I waste my time with you?" The deep voice was warm to the ear, but his words dripped ice. His arms, clad in a leather jacket that matched his eyes at the angles, were crossed over his thin chest. As Sera's eyes remained on his, her peripheral vision picked up that he was rather thin all over. The angular planes of his face held no friendly greeting as he stared at her as an upperclassmen in a Midgardian education center would glare at one first entering such an establishment.
Sera's reply held the same temperature and friendly greeting his had. "If you wish to disappoint the All-Father, then you may leave me standing here with my crushed play thing."
Her retort gave him slight amusement, as his thin lips inched up a little on the corners. "Aye, if I did not teach you, the All-Father would find another thing wrong with me."
Sera chuckled quietly. "Having some 'daddy issues'?" She immediately regretted her comment as his grin slipped and his emerald eyes hardened.
"Not as many as you seem to be having since your father gave you to us."
Sera glared up at him. "Touche." She raised an eyebrow as she studied his face a little closer. His dark eyebrows were thin and seemed to be eternally raised. His pale skin seemed smooth, enough that she wanted to reach up and touch his cheek. She mentally shook her head, casting out the thought. What was she, thirteen? No. She was nineteen and she would not submit to unhealthy thoughts about some rude, arrogant man. She crossed her arms and glared up at him. "The All-Father insists that you teach me. What are you going to teach me, my prince?" Sera asked with a sneer on the last two syllables.
Loki chuckled softly, the sound more tense than amused. "Whatever I believe you can handle." He glanced down at the ice shards beside her. "Which I assume isn't much." He turned slightly, dropping his arms and walking to her right. He flicked his wrist, causing the ice shards to evaporate in a small cloud of water vapor. He looked up to her, his momentary grin fading quickly. "Show me what you can do."
Sera nodded. "Very well." Note to self: Asgardian princes are rather arrogant, yet have some intelligence. She eyed the flowers just past the tall, dark prince and focused on the tallest stem. His head turned as she stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Her eyes fell to his long, pale fingers, hanging by his sides. Her eyes flicked up to his face, still turned toward where she had been staring. Her own fingers fluttered by her sides as she focused on those digits, forcing her energy into trying to move them. As she felt her influence begin to make way, the fingers at his sides twitched then fell still. A door slammed on her focus as something within his mind locked down. His face snapped back to stare at her, questions littering his glittering eyes.
"How dare you." The statement dripped with poison as she glared up at him.
"You asked me to show you what I can do. You heard me state to the All-Father that I control men and matter."
"Then control matter. I cannot be controlled." His words drove knives into her ego. How could one man decide that she could not use her power to control him?
As she opened her mouth to speak, she felt something cold creep into her mind. As the sudden realization came upon her, she felt her own fingers jump up and slap her across the face. As she coughed in surprise, the same hand reached for her throat and tightened around her windpipe. Sera glared up at Loki, her dark eyes flashing in anger and surprise.
"Beg me to stop."
"Never," came her choked reply.
His dark eyebrow raised. "As you wish... my Lady." He began to grin as her eyes began to widen with the exertion of her own fingers. Sera began to feel light-headed as her fingers tightened around her throat. His eyes watched her, his amusement reaching those green orbs. As she started to see the black edges in her vision creep inward, she finally gave in.
"You win."
Loki's smug grin was her answer as her hand dropped to her side. He leaned in close, his breath warm on her ear. "You need help keeping those out of your mind. I can help you with that. As for your other talents..." he glanced to where the ice shards had been, "we'll work on them when the time comes." He turned. "I will see you tonight after the late meal. The library. Don't be late." Loki turned on his heel and swept away, leaving Sera by herself and out of breath.
I'm not quite happy with this chapter, but it's the best I could come up with without getting too much into the juicy parts of the plot too early. Oh, and internet cookies to the first person who figures out what realm Sera is from as well as why she's there in the first place. ;)