IV.
Boulder turned out to be the starting point Sigyn needed. No one questioned the sudden appearance of a strange, young woman, and when people kept asking her if she was a student at the nearby school she saw no reason to tell them otherwise. If asked, her name was Vicki (since it was the first Midgardian name that came to mind), though she found she liked the full version, Victoria, better. A new glamour turned her hair from dark blonde to dark red and covered the scar on her cheek. A new identity for a new city.
The library attached to the school was her refuge. It paled in comparison to the palace archives but it was better than nothing.
Her first priority had been to find out the meaning of the red star. Sigyn poured through books on stars, but these people called their stars strange things. Red dwarves. Red giants. Most of it was of no use to her. And all the pictures she found looked like they could have been taken from the Bifrost. Do these mortals not understand they're looking at Yggdrasil?
The books on symbolism were worse. It seemed a thousand different cultures and religions held the red star in some sort of high regard. That meant a thousand possible leads, or none at all.
After days of coming up with nothing, Sigyn decided on something different. It wouldn't help her search for Loki but it would satisfy her curiosity. Piled in front of her were books on Norse mythology. The first was a children's book, bright and colorful and simplified. Loki's hair was the color of flame, and Sigyn remembered when he had insisted on wearing his hair like that.
The second, third, and fourth books were interesting. She knew, as did most of Asgard, that what was written about them in the legends was wrong. No, more like distorted. Bits and pieces of the stories were true. Some came close to the truth, with only a detail here or there that had been changed. Others just felt exaggerated. It was almost funny to compare the myth and the reality.
Ragnarok though... Sigyn slammed the book shut and flung it across the table with an air of finality when she read about that. The mortals are wrong.
The last book was larger, and covered mythologies from all over Midgard. Sigyn made a point of ignoring the section on Norse mythology, and skimmed through other areas. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, none of it mentioned a red star that matched what she'd seen, and hopelessness settled like a heavy stone in her chest.
Somewhere in the middle of the book, just after the Asian mythology section, something caught Sigyn's eye and she went back. It was the Native American chapter, and she flipped through the pages one by one. It caught her off guard, and her gasp drew the attention of nearly everyone around her. The Zuni sun symbol stared back at her just as it had in the bowl. Blood red on a field of fine print underneath it read: The official flag of New Mexico.
It took all of her self-control not to scream and cheer and cry and collapse in sheer relief. Her hand shook as she wrote her findings down; her knees wobbled as she returned all the books to the cart. The young man behind the desk just looked at her strangely when she demanded to know where New Mexico was and the fastest way she could get there.
"Did you hear me? I need to know where New Mexico is and how to get there."
"I heard you, it's just…how would you not know where it is? Never mind. It's a couple hours south of here." As she turned on her heel to leave, he added, "The bus would be fastest. There's a good bus station out of Colorado Springs."
South towards a red star. "I see. Thank you."
The bus would have been easier, not to mention quicker, but after acquiring a map and realizing exactly how large New Mexico was, Sigyn decided on walking…again. The bowl gave no mention where in New Mexico she should look, and Sigyn mentally kicked herself for not paying enough attention to Thor talking about his time on Midgard. She left at first light, leaving the room as though she had never been there.
It took her days to reach New Mexico, travelling day and night. Occasionally, someone would slow down and offer a ride to wherever she was going. One day, as the sky opened up to pour chilled rain down on her, she nearly took an older man in a truck up on his offer. Instead, she just ran faster until the rain stopped and she was soaked to the bone.
As she passed a sign that read Welcome to New Mexico, Sigyn kept to her plan of 'new place, new look'. Black hair this time, like Loki's only longer, she thought with a smile. She even decided she would go back to being called 'Vicki' rather than 'Victoria'.
It wasn't until she abandoned the highway and found a small lake that she decided to rest and regroup. New Mexico was too large and too unfamiliar for her to just roam about aimlessly. She could consult the bowl again but…after reading about Ragnarok she was wary of it. The book may not have mentioned this bowl specifically but it still chilled her to even look at it. Instead, and she admitted that this was a poor alternative, she spread out the map she 'acquired' (more like stole but who would notice one map missing?) in front of her.
With only a vague idea of where she was, Sigyn tried to piece together what Thor had mentioned while he was here. He'd described mountains and flat, dry land but…had he mentioned trees and forests? Rivers? Important land markers she could use? She didn't think so but he could have mentioned those things when she wasn't around. Regardless, she crossed out the few areas of green on the map. That still left…most of the state.
Frustrated, she ignored the chills as she picked up the bowl and filled it with water from the lake. When the spell was complete she opened her eyes and expected to see something. So long as that something wasn't her reflection staring back at her.
So she tried again, dumping the water and filling the bowl anew. Again nothing. Dump, refill, spell. All with the same result. The bowl was silent.
"Damn it, where are you?" she screamed as she tossed it aside, and the bowl hit the grass with a muted thud. "Was there a point to being stranded in this gods forsaken realm?"
Her screams startled the local wildlife, a couple birds flying out of the nearby bushes. It was after she sank to her knees and stayed there, willing herself not to cry in frustration, that one of the birds approached the water. A magpie. Loki's favorite. It ignored her for the most part, flitting around the water's edge.
She laid on her back and closed her eyes, feeling the breeze caress her skin. For the first time it occurred to her that he may not miss her the way she missed him. If at all. Thor did say he let go of Gungrir. The thought dogged her as she tried to keep her mind clear.
"What are you looking for?"
The voice, high pitched and clipped, came from beside her. Another magpie, the first was still tittering around the edge of the pond. Sigyn really should have been surprised a bird was talking to her, but after a lifetime spent between Vanaheim and Asgard with the mysteries both realms had to offer, a talking bird on Midgard really didn't disturb her.
"Did Loki send you?" It was a stupid question, and one that sounded even dumber when she said it out loud. The bird must have thought so too, since it just tilted its head at her. "I'm looking for someone. Someone I love."
"He is lost and so are you."
Sigyn frowned in confusion and annoyance. "I know that. I need a way to find him."
The magpie was silent, hoping over to where the bowl lay discarded and poking at it with its beak. "Your answers may be at the old bridge yet, if the winds have not changed." With that, the magpie flew off into the trees, followed shortly by its partner.
Sigyn didn't move for a long time after, mulling over the magpie's words. When the sun began to dip below the horizon and the sky turned a dusky pink, she gathered her belongings and decided to continue south along the highway.
After all, how many old bridges could there be in one state?
It was well past one in the morning before Jane was able to drag Darcy out of the bar. Her assistant wasn't that drunk—she could still stand, walk, and play around on her iPhone at the same time—but she thought she would at least make sure Darcy got back safely. And besides, it wasn't as though Jane was asleep at this time of night or anything.
Darcy snickered as she scrolled through some page on her phone. "The Rocky Mountain Demon…"
"What are you talking about?"
"This guy…I think he was from somewhere in Colorado…says he saw a demon."
"A demon?" Jane asked, eyebrow arched.
"Yeah," Darcy held the phone close to her face and quoted whatever she was reading, "She was a blonde, real pretty, and I asked her if I could give her a ride since she said she was headin' to Boulder. Then she turned and her eyes were all whited out and it looked like someone had ripped the side of her face open."
"Don't tell me you believe all of that?"
"You never know! I just think it's a stupid name and if I was this demon or ghost or whatever I'd be pissed that I'd been given such a lame nickname," Darcy said, suddenly defensive in her drunkenness. "Besides, you're hardly one to talk, miss 'I-have-the-thunder-god-for-my-boyfriend."
Jane's cheeks suddenly felt hot. "Thor's not…" What was Thor, exactly? And was he her boyfriend or…? "He's not a god."
Darcy rolled her eyes. "Fine. He's an alien or an inter-dimensional being or whatever. My point is you have no business knocking the supernatural." She paused, "Especially not if you're going to be kissing it like that."
Jane had to admit that Darcy had a point, and she honestly never thought they'd agree on something like that. "Okay," she said with a smile, "Show me proof this demon exists and I'll consider that it's not some guy making it up."
They turned a corner and honestly with the streetlight Jane should have been able to see the other person coming but they practically appeared out of the shadows at a dead run and collided with her. All three of them hit the ground with a thud and the sound of…stuff… hitting the pavement. Jane felt the cement scraping against her palms and elbows and Darcy squealed something about her phone.
When she sat up, she got a good look at the young woman who'd run into them. She was hunched over on her knees, her face obscured by the angle and her long black hair tied in a messy braid that fell over her shoulder. Whatever had hit the ground must have been hers, as she was scrambling to put everything back into a large leather bag. Jane's own notebook lay nearby.
"Are you alright?" Jane asked.
"Never mind the drunk girl lying on the sidewalk!" Darcy called.
"I'm fine." The young woman stood, and Jane got a slightly better look at her. Everything from her face to her hair to her clothes looked like it was covered in dirt and dust. "Sorry about that." She looked around, and it reminded Jane of a wild animal that had somehow wandered into the city. "What is this place?" And hell if there wasn't something familiar about how she said that.
"New Mexico? Puente Antiguo? A very boring place if you're not drunk?" Darcy said without getting up from the sidewalk.
The girl looked at each of them curiously, and nodded. "Thank you." Then she took off running down the street.
Jane picked up her notebook before helping Darcy to her feet. "Well, that was weird."
"Yeah, really. But hey, my phone's still intact."
"That's good. Let's…let's just go home."
The streets were empty and silent as they walked back, save for Darcy who continued to talk about the new game she'd installed on her phone, and the odd girl they'd crossed paths with was all but forgotten.