James didn't talk for the next few days. Occasionally he'd mumble something to himself, but that was about as far as his speech went. He was too guilty to speak. He'd ended his best friend in an asylum.
No. He tried to push the idea away. It was Loki. He tried to convince himself, with varying levels of success. He didn't want it to be his fault that Tyler was in a nuthouse, but it was an inevitable thought. He knew, no matter how much he hated it, he had ruined Tyler's life. Forever.
After three days, James decided that not talking was harder than it seemed. Even if he had no one to talk to, having locked himself in his room all three days, it was still difficult. James stood up to go outside his room, but instantly learned the side effects of three-day sleep deprivation.
He'd been 24-hour sleep deprived before. He'd thought it was terrible at the time, feeling so lightheaded and confused. But he'd take that a hundred times over instead of this.
As soon as he stood up, his vision doubled—tripled, his legs felt like rubber, vomit rose up in his throat, and all he could hear was Loki's cackling. He'd forgotten where he was, who he was, and what he was. It was almost as if his brain had the common sense to go to sleep, but his whole body was still awake. Trying to get any memories of what had happened, he started mumbling to himself.
"Has hecho algunos enemigos, James. Moira Chinen? ¿Realmente pensaste que alguien de sangre japonesa entera podría tener un nombre tan irlandés?"
Stop it, Loki! James thought. Get out of my head. Moira isn't my enemy, she's yours.
"Oh, is she?" Loki materialized in front of him, leaving his body.
"Yeah. She is. But you're such a coward, you try to kill of your enemies before you've even excepted them as enemies. Or maybe you just want her on your side, because you're too afraid to kill her yourself. Could be either."
"James, you currently have the mental state of an average drunk."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Yours, genius."
"Who killed me, huh?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "Get over it, James."
James snorted. "Yeah. Get over the fact that the other gods held you in a cave with a viper dripping acid in your face for thousands of years. Once you get over that, I'll gladly get over the fact that you killed me." James smiled sweetly.
Loki scowled. "Go to Helheim."
"I'll gladly do that right now."
Loki snickered. "Actually, right now, you'd rather go to bed. You're three days sleep deprived."
"Naw." James insisted, even though Loki was right. He wanted to pass out right then and there.
"What do you mean 'no?' You're definitely sleep deprived. And, also remember, I'm in your mind now. I know what you're thinking."
"Crap. Well, I guess there's no good in hiding it. Night, Lokers!"
"Were you actually drinking?"
"I dunno!"
…
James opened his eyes, again, with minimum memory of previous events. He was still on the floor, but Loki had left, and he didn't feel at all sleep deprived. In fact, he felt very well-rested. He had no idea what time it was, but he got up anyway and unlocked his bedroom door. Outside of it, the halls were deserted, so he figured it was late at night. Slowly, and very silently, he drifted across the carpeted floors to the elevator. When he pushed the lobby button, the beeping sound of the button startled him, as he realized how initially quiet it had been. It was as if he could hear specks of dust land on walls and floors. The sound of the elevator sliding down sounded like an explosion. James was again, startled by a beep when the elevator stopped on another floor. When the doors slid open, revealing Magnus Chase, James rolled his eyes.
"Uh, hey." Magnus said awkwardly. "I haven't seen you in weeks."
Weeks? James's face went pale. He'd been asleep for weeks?
Magnus blew air through his lips. "How's your life?"
"Crap, but what else is new?"
"Oh."
Silence.
"You…wanna talk about it?" Magnus asked.
"You've got to be kidding me." James turned to look at Magnus. Magnus was slightly taller than he was, and much more muscular.
"I wasn't, but if you don't want to, it's fine. Just thinking of a way to pass the time."
"How long is this elevator ride gonna' be?"
"It ranges. Could be anywhere from two minutes to nine hours."
James balled his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white and cracks.
There was silence for a few minutes.
"Got anything you wanna talk about?" Magnus eventually asked.
"Deja de hablar, Magnus Chase."
"What?"
Then an idea struck James's mind. "Actually, I do want to ask you something." He said nervously.
"Uh-huh?"
"What are your thoughts on Loki, God of Mischief?"
"He's a pain in the ass, why?"
"Alright," James replied, avoiding Magnus's question for now. "What about all the other gods?"
Magnus shrugged. "Thor's also kind of a pain in the ass. Odin is bleh. My father is good I guess. My grandfather on the other hand, not so much. My aunt Freya is fine, but from what I've seen of her, a little full of herself. Tyr I hardly know but he seems-"
"I didn't ask for your opinion of every god individually. As a whole, I mean."
"Meh. 2/10." There was a short break. "Why are you smiling?" Magnus asked after a few seconds.
"I'm smiling?!" James asked, alarmed. He ran his fingers across his lips. And dang it, they were upturned at the corners! It was the first time in…actually, he couldn't remember.
Magnus tried and failed to hold back a small laugh. "Is that a problem?"
"Uh," James considered this.
"Anyway, what was the point of bringing this up?" Magnus asked, still slightly amused.
James bit his tongue, but by the time the elevator door slid open, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
"Anyway, nice talking to you, James. See you another time!" Magnus stepped out, leaving James alone in the elevator.
…
James stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, which was also abandoned. A huge gold clock read 1:34. The would explain why everything was so deserted.
He stepped out of the Hotel Valhalla and looked up at it from the outside. It was massive. Its top seemed to be stabbing the milk white semi-circle that was the moon. There was a light breeze, and the air was slightly above freezing, but James didn't care. He shut his eyes, trying to recap the last few days. He went to Midgard to try to fix things and save Tyler, but instead got him locked in a nuthouse. Then, he got possessed by Loki, which he was surprised hadn't been brought to his attention by anyone. After the Loki was out of him, he remembered what had happened, and went on a no food, no water, no sleep strike for a few days. And then, somehow, he slept for weeks, according to Magnus. And now…now? What would come next?
He made a mental list of things that might happen next.
-Lose all will to live and have my soul vaporize from Valhalla.
-Somehow make my way to Helheim.
-Stay in Valhalla until Ragnarok.
But then another thought entered his mind. It was very dangerous, and probably a terrible idea, but he added it to his mental list anyway.
-Forget the wait and start Ragnarok as soon as I'm powerful enough to destroy Loki.