Although it took over an hour of persuasion, Alicia got James to come to the feast. James was not pleased and stabbed someone with his dinner knife for patting him on the back. People avoided him after that. There was a large area of empty space around him as he poked at his food with a fork.

"Hey." Moira said, sitting next to him.

He sighed. "Hey, Miss Chinen."

"Please, James, it's Moira."

He looked at her, remembering all the times he'd been called Diego, even though he didn't like it. "Fine. Moira. There's something I need to ask you-"

"Is it about your plans for Ragnarok? So here's what I was thinking, we use one of the strongest fighters against Loki, or just a random god, like Thor, say, and use him as some good bait against Loki. Then, at that point, we can step in and kill Loki and Thor. Two birds with one stone. Then, after that, we still have Odin to dead with, and my proposal for that is-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, there, pumpkin." James said quickly, lightly covering her mouth with his hand.

Moira pushed his hand away. "Okay, well what do you propose?" She asked.

"How do you know about all this already?" James asked.

She sighed. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"No."

"Well, you're hearing it. In me bedroom, in the very center, there's a fire. In that fire, I'm laughing atop the world tree, staring at all the destruction I've caused to the nine worlds. And today, after I met you, you appeared in that fire, laughing with me."

James was lost for words. "I have the same thing, and with you, I just had the same thing happen."

Moira raised her eyebrows. "Why didn't I see that coming? Anyway, I also think that we should-"

"Hey guys, watcha' up to? Nice to meet you, James!" A guy walked over and sat next to Moira.

"Jax, this is an A and B conversation, C your way out of it."

The guy repeated what she said in a dumb voice and moved closer.

"Really, will you ever do anything right?" She asked him, annoyed.

"It's not like you're doing anything right."

"I do everything right, I'll show you when the time comes!"

"Yeah, and if you were right, I'd agree with you."

She balled her fists. "Go to Helheim you overripe tomato."

He scowled, stood up, and walked away.

"Um," James tried to think of something to say.

"That's Jax, our floormate. He's also known as a huge pain in the ass." She replied, seemingly reading his mind.

"Yeah, he seems a little-"

"Narcissistic? No doubt."

"I was gonna' say problematic, but okay."

…

James twirled his fingers, staring up at the ceiling. It was hard to fall asleep with the bright orange glow of the fire, but he learned to live with it. He shut his eyes tight, trying to sleep for at least a few hours. But it was a failed attempt. Apparently, death will do that to you.

James rolled out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and stumbled across the room. He was still wearing the clothes he'd died in: he was too self-conscious to wear anything different. He ran his fingers along the wall. No chips in the paint. No cracks in the wood. No water dripping down from the ceiling. No air blowing in from outside. This place was way too first-class.

What did he do to earn this?

But his thoughts were interrupted.

"Bad day?" A familiar voice said. He lurched back, startled, but turned around to face Loki.

He did not dignify his grandfather's question with a response. He ran to him, ready for a fight, but Loki moved aside lazily, avoiding the hit.

"Boy, I'm tied up in a cave halfway across the country. Your hits wouldn't affect me anyway."

James gritted his teeth, trying not to cry. He didn't want to give Loki that satisfaction.

"You…you…coward!" He eventually forced out. "I have a few weaklings to stand up against your entire army, but you're so scared I'll succeed, you feel the need to kill me? ME! Your own grandson!"

"James, I-"

"Don't call me that!"

Loki snorted. "Fine, Shaquana. I wanted this to happen just as much as you did."

"Then why did you f***ing do it?!" James snapped.

"I had to."

"What do you mean, you had to?!"

"I can explain it all. I still love you. You're my grandson."

"ARE YOU HIGH?!"

"Shaquana-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Get out of my head, get out of my life!"

Loki went silent, but before vanishing, he mumbled, "It's not your life anymore."

James's knees buckled, and he crumbled on the ground. Loki would pay. Loki would pay for everything.

And what did Loki mean, "I love you?" He killed James! Out of pure fear!

There were three bangs on his door. "James?" Moira's voice said anxiously. "I, uh, think you may have woken up everyone on our floor. Can I come in?"

James wanted to be left alone, but he opened the door anyway. Moira walked in as James shut the door again.

"Loki's that bad to have as a relative, huh?"

James nodded. "Who's your godly relative?"

"Tyr." She replied.

"Naturally."

There was silence.

"ラグナロクまで待ちます。 物事は良くなるでしょう。 私たちはあなたのおじいさんを正義に導きます。."

James raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"等到拉格納羅克。 事情會變得更好。 我們將把你的祖父繩之以法."

"Moira, I still don't know what you're saying."

She pouted, then whispered, "Just wait until Ragnarok. Things will get better. We will lead Loki to justice."

"Are we not aloud to talk about doomsday in our own bedrooms?"

"Never know when someone might be listening."

James nodded. "Do you know Spanish?"

She nodded. "A bit. I was learning it before I died, but there's no Spanish class at Valhalla, so I never finished."

"Oh. You should learn it. It's like, the second most spoken language on the planet. And, just wondering, how many languages do you know?"

She took a deep breath. "English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, German, Arabic, French, Dutch, Greek, Korean, Mongolian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Yiddish."

"But not Spanish."

"No, not Spanish."

James sighed.

"Alright, so are you gonna' be okay? With Loki and all?"

"No, but I'll survive the night."