Chapter 7:
The Trickster
I stood there for a few minutes, just gawking at the fact that a part of the prophecy was right. Hey, I'm not used to this kind of stuff, 'kay?
"Ookay." I mumbled when they began staring awkwardly at me. "So I suppose you're also going to meet my dad?" Edward shifted slightly.
"Yes, unfortunately." He had that awesome British accent we all know and love. I raised my brows. "Don't expect him to be happy to see us. You I don't know, but he probably hates us because of our parents."
"Oh, yes. If Marvel's movies are right, your parents are pretty shitty to have as family." They both looked kind of angry. I quickly regretted saying that.
"Marvel got a lot of things wrong." Natasha said. "And your father isn't the best family ever either. He tried to kill my dad once. And killed his own brother. Did you know that?" I stared at her, and she stared back. Pretty scary shit. Nico looked a bit uncomfortable with the number of Vikings around him.
"No, I didn't know that. Can we go now or is there still more to say about our shitty parents?" She shrugged.
"We should ask around." Nico said. I stared at him in disbelief.
"Yeah. 'Hello there miss, do you happen to know where the Norse god of mischief lives?' Yeah, that'll surely work out great." Natasha snickered behind me.
"This place is called Grossville, right? That is your last name, if I'm not wrong?" Edward asked me. I nodded. "Then I think we can safely assume that the big mansion over there is where he lives." Damn. That boy had an aura of superiority that irritated me a bit. "Who is this, anyway? Father didn't mention anyone else in my dream." He gestured at Nico. Natasha frowned.
"Neither in mine. Who are you?" Nico looked uncomfortable again.
"I am Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, the Greek god of death. Our Oracle said I had to come."
"Plus your dad also told me to bring him." I told Edward. He looked at Nico hesitantly, but nodded. "Let's go."
As we got closer to the mansion, an old lady selling flowers smiled at us. She was so short I thought she was a kid.
"Why, hello here, children." She said, smiling. "You're not from here, are you?" Edward shifted.
"No, miss, we are not. Tell me, this is the house of the Grossville family, right?"
"Yes, that it is. But the Grossvilles have been gone for a while. What could you want in this old house?" All of us got a bit uneasy. Edward stared at me like he expected me to do something. I sighed.
"You see, I'm a Grossville from the USA. I came to visit my family's old house. Are you sure that no one lives there anymore?" The old lady gave me a strange look.
"Oh, someone does live there. But you're not getting anywhere near him." She laughed, a weird manly laugh for an old lady. "That thief belongs to us." Suddenly, many more tiny people came from the trees and bushed around and ran toward us, weapons in hands. The old lady herself lifted something from her neck- a mask- and revealed to be a man.
"Dwarves!" Natasha growled. We all took our weapons- my Lævateinn, Edward's silver sword, Natasha's hammer and Nico's entirely black sword. The dwarf-lady tried to stab me, but I dodged and set him on fire. Then I turned to attack the other dwarves.
Natasha was doing a pretty good job at frying the dwarves with her hammer; just like in the movie, she just pointed it to the sky and evil pretty thunders came down on the enemy. More dwarves came from their hiding places and soon we were cornered just in front of the mansion. I burnt a few more, Natasha fried some too, and Nico and Edward did a pretty good job at killing the rest. It seemed it was over, but then one remaining dwarf that hid himself behind the mansion's fence came out and struck a dagger on my leg. I screamed and everyone looked at me, not understanding what happened. The dwarf was still pretty hidden to them, being small and everything. I fell on my knees and saw my leg bleeding as Hel. The dwarf had already taken his dagger out and was preparing to attack again, this time closer to my head. This time the others saw him, but were too far to do something. From out of nowhere, an old rusty dagger flew over and hit the dwarf straight in the chest. I was breathless and in pain, and looked over the mansion to see who had struck the dwarf, but the sun was blocking my eyes. The others reached me and stopped, also looking at the mansion.
A man came down the stairs that led to the old big house, rotating his wrist as if it hurt. As he came closer, I could see his face; a middle-aged handsome guy, with rebellious green eyes and messy hair, that was a mix of brown, blonde and ginger. He had a few white strands and stubble growing, which made him look a bit old and worn, but was still pretty hot. He gave us a revolted look as he came nearer.
"I was sitting by the fire drinking my tea peacefully, when suddenly I hear fighting noises. And when I come to look, there's a war between teens and dwarves in front of my house? What is the meaning of this, huh?" We were all shocked, even Nico. I wanted to speak, but my voice seemed to have disappeared.
"Are you Loki?" Edward asked, coming closer to me. The man smirked, and I felt my heartbeat increase, not only because he was hot, but because he looked a lot like me.
"Well, it seems I have visits. Please, come inside." He took me in his arms and gestured with his head towards the house. I shivered. Furiously. "How you doin', miss?" He asked me, slightly out of breath.
"I'm hurt and being carried by the man that brought me to this world. I think I'm okay, thanks for asking." I mumbled, still shocked. He laughed, a warm beautiful laugh.
"I should've known. Not all of those dwarves looked fried."
He led us inside the house; it wasn't as abandoned and old as it looked from outside. It was actually very pretty. Probably in need of a few repairs, but pretty. He took us to a small office on the second floor, where he sat me on a couch and brought some bandages to put on my leg.
"Okay. You, Son-of-Odin-ish boy, start talking." Edward was slightly taken back, but sat on the couch behind him. Natasha and Nico sat next to me.
"We are demigods, sent over here by Odin… my father. That girl is your daughter, the other one is a daughter of Thor and that boy… is a son of Hades." Loki gave him a look.
"I want the news, not the obvious. Also, tell your dad I said hi." He told Nico, who looked shocked but nodded anyway.
"Helheim is in danger. Something is trying to break in." Loki nodded slowly.
"How's Hel?"
"She told me to find you." I told him. He looked at me, then back at my wound. "Can you help us?"
"Funny the gods would ask their pretty little semi mortal children to find me, a traitor, to help them." Edward frowned. "I could do something, I suppose. Not sure how much of help I can be. There you go." He told me, getting up. He went to sit by a desk that had a small tea cup sitting on it. I sat straighter and looked at him. He stared at me, and I felt uncomfortable. He made me think of my mother, and of what could have happened to her.
"How's your mom?" He asked, after a few seconds. Now I was the one staring.
"Is that some kind of sick joke?" I mumbled. He shifted in his chair.
"No. It's a legit question. She left me 15 years ago and I never saw her again. How is she?" I stood up unconsciously, but the pain in my leg made me fall. Natasha helped me sit again, all the while staring at me with a frown.
I didn't want to look at him. At anyone. So I looked at my feet.
"She died when I was 2. I never met her." He stood up slowly and looked at the window.
"How?" He asked simply.
"No one really knows. They think she was murdered, but weren't able to find any-" He slammed his hand into a nearby bookshelf.
"You all must be hungry. There's some food on the kitchen downstairs. Feel free to eat anything you like. I'll be down soon." He spoke, very fast. We had no idea what to do. Nico came by me and helped me up, putting my arm over his shoulder. Edward was the last to leave the room.
When we were descending the stairs, I heard yelling and the noise of things breaking. We all walked over to the kitchen speechless. Nico helped me sit by the table and everyone did the same. We just sat there, looking at nothing in particular for a few minutes.
I was so confused. I thought he knew. I thought he abandoned us, or that he killed her. It was a lot to take in. I felt like crying. Tears even started forming in my eyes, but I dried them. Nico stared at me worriedly. Natasha looked at the ceiling and Edward played with a spoon.
"Are you okay?" Nico asked, breaking the silence. I started nodding, but then shook my head.
"I'm not sure." I mumbled. Natasha shifted.
"I'm from Nashville. My mother is a weather girl. This obviously got Thor's attention. She fell for him and well, you know, I was created. He left shortly after, saying that Asgard needed him. My mother told me she regrets meeting him." Edward dropped the spoon.
"I'm from London. My mother is a lawyer, and she met Odin in a business party. What followed was pretty much the same. He sent his ravens to meet her a few times to check on her and on me. Even gave me a sword. But he never came to visit us. I don't think they ever do.
"My father did." Nico started. "My mother was an Italian, but she lived in Washington, during the War. She was always getting herself in trouble- like, life-or-death trouble- and my father got curious. He came to visit her a few times while Persephone wasn't around. They ended up falling in love. Soon after…"
"You were born?" I guessed. He shook his head.
"My sister was born. Bianca Di Angelo. A few years after, they had me. But the War involved demigods, and Zeus decided it was too dangerous for the three most powerful gods to have children. So he decided to kill us. My father only managed to save me and my sister, and to be sure we wouldn't be traumatized or anything by seeing our mother dying, he erased our memories and hid us in a place where time didn't pass."
"Wow." Natasha said, turning to him. "That's pretty bad." Nico nodded, staring at the table.
"We were taken off that place many years after and a son of Poseidon found us. He tried to help us, but… it didn't really work out. My sister died that same year. Helping him on his quest." We were speechless again.
"I'm sorry, Nico." I told him, suddenly all my sadness gone. Hard to be sad when you see someone who's in deeper shit. He shook his head.
"It's okay. I've already made peace with that." Shortly after, Loki came down the stairs. His eyes were red and his hands were bleeding, but he gave us a crazy smile.
"Okay, who wants some pizza?"
