First of all, I am so so so soooo sorry about the huge late for this chapter! Internet didn't work anymore and I just had it back! x(
To be forgiven, I'll post all the chapters I have late - 5 of them! :)
byungwha : You'll know soon enough how Takeru ends up like! ;) And I understand perfectly how the more pain there is, the most satisfying it is! :P I hope you'll like the coming chapters as well! :D
Gins1241, anonym, Guest, 77702penn : Chapter coming! :)
FANFICTION
KAMIGAMI NO ASOBI : THE THREAT OF THE HURRICANE
CHAPTER VII : Northern Lights
[ Yui keeps dreaming about Takeru's death and is afraid that, as her dream about the thievery, it already happened. Thanks to Yui's dream of the thief and the Sword of Life, they can save Loki from his trial and death but the Japanese girl collapsed after hearing a mysterious voice calling her. ]
Yui woke up suddenly, screaming in terror, she was clenching the sheets in her fists and was hardly breathing, as usual…
"Yui!" Baldr exclaimed, standing up immediately and walking towards her.
But she didn't seem to hear him and hid her face in her knees, sobbing and crying… Baldr looked at her with sad eyes and hesitated a long moment before sitting next to her on the bed, he gently put his hand on her shoulder and brushed it in a reassuring way.
"Yui, have you been dreaming of Takeru?" He asked.
Her sobs stopped and she froze, barely breathing before she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears. She swallowed and he saw such terror in her eyes that he felt his own heart ache and chills ran all over his body…
"Apollon told us… Is-is it so horrible?" He asked.
Yui wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and at Baldr's surprise, she shook her head.
"N-no… It's.. just the idea of losing him that is driving me.. that is.."
Her voice strangled in her throat and she looked at the wall in front of her, her body completely tensed, just thinking about the possibility of Takeru dead…
Baldr stared at her, thunderstruck by her panic… He had never thought she would react this way for a possible death of any of them. Never had the idea occurred to him that she would react this way for the death of a friend.
He swallowed, his muscles now trembling of a burning pain in his chest. His eyes hardened but he forced himself to smile reassuringly at Yui.
"Don't worry.. he-he'll be fine… We'll make sure of that, we'll save him before it happens…" He said.
"But.. what if it already happened, just like the thievery ?" She whispered, her eyes dreadful.
He looked at her with an opened mouth and smiled once again, pushing her gently against the soft pillows.
"You should rest, this quest and those nightmares are exhausting you…"
She sighed and let her head rest on the pillows but didn't close her eyes immediately, fear dancing in her eyes. She turned around for long minutes, sighing annoyingly by her own fear of falling asleep. She finally forced her eyes to remain closed even if her thought kept harassing her from rest.
Once she was asleep, Baldr left her and closed the door of the room. Once closed, he leaned against it, his eyes full of worry and a feeling he didn't want to feel: jealousy…
"Baldr?"
He looked up and saw Thor walking towards him with worried eyes.
"How does she feel? Why are you making such a face?" He asked.
"Yui is fine, despite.. the terror…" He mumbled.
"The terror?"
"The nightmares, about Takeru," the blond haired god added.
"Oh, that's why you're making this face…" Thor said with a slight sigh.
Baldr pouted and looked away, embarrassed.
"I'm not making any face…" He whispered.
"Yes, you do. You have that face of jealousy you're trying to hold back." Thor simply said.
Sighing, Baldr shook his long magnificent blond hair, feeling terribly guilty.
"Why am I feeling this way? I should be worried, just like Yui… But I'm-I'm terribly jealous…" He murmured.
"Baldr…" Thor whispered, looking at him.
He put a strong hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him a little reassuring smile.
"Come, Loki had woken up."
"Is he all right?" Baldr asked, following the thunder god.
"You know Loki, he always seems all right, even when the Worlds are collapsing!"
Baldr had an amused smile and they soon entered Loki's room. They found him putting clothes on with Apollon and Artemis sitting in comfortable sofas not far away from the warm fire. The fire god turned towards his two friends and smiled quickly before getting serious.
"How is Yui?" He asked immediately.
"She's.." Baldr started, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
"She's still sleeping, and worried about Takeru," Thor said instead.
Loki nodded and turned towards Apollon.
"What are those dreams all about?" He asked. "I don't like Yui being in the middle of all this."
"I don't like it either, and believe me, if I could have avoided her to be thrown into our gods' issues, I would have. But.. The Pythia was clear. The only one who can help us is Fairy…" Apollon said with sad eyes but a serious face, which was unusual for him.
"But why is she having those dreams? Is this the way she's helping the gods? With prophetic dreams?" Baldr asked.
"I don't know, I don't always understand the Pythia," Apollon answered.
"I'm not even sure the Pythia herself could understand what she's saying…" Mumbled Artemis.
"They aren't prophetic dreams," Thor said.
The others looked at him and he explained quickly:
"She isn't dreaming of what will happen, but what already happened."
"So.. Takeru ?" Baldr hesitated.
No one replied and they all lowered their heads, except Artemis who didn't know Takeru.
"This would explain why the Japanese Realm is ignoring everyone else and isn't answering about this thief problem. They have more important issues than being preoccupied by a thief and a Norse problem," she said.
"It's not just a Norse problem, but the entire Universe's problem!" Baldr exclaimed. "If this thief isn't caught before the end of the Convergence, Loki will be once again accused, Yui and all of us as well for protecting Loki! And this thief will still be here, somewhere, ready to use the Sword of Life!"
"I don't think he stole the Sword just to wait, he'll use the Convergence at its advantage," Thor replied.
Once again, no one replied and Loki stared at the fire, feeling guilty. He may be innocent and he didn't want to die, especially not killed for the crimes of another one, but Baldr was right. If the thief wasn't caught quickly, he'll be accused once again and this time, all his friends would be accused too.
"We need to go to the Japanese Realm," he said.
The others looked up at him and he explained:
"Even if Takeru is dead and the Japanese Realm is a mess, they still need to confirm us that they don't have a thief among them. Yui dreamed of the thievery, if she is dreaming of Takeru's death, this might have some role to play in this story."
Thor looked at Baldr.
"Will Odin even accept that we go out of Asgard and investigate on our own?" He asked.
"He won't be happy, but this is the best way," Baldr answered. "Let's ask him immediately, come Thor!"
"I'll come with you!" Loki exclaimed.
"No, you need to rest," Baldr replied. "And someone from the Norse needs to stay with the Greeks and Yui…"
"But-"
"And Odin hates you," Thor said.
Loki pouted and nodded reluctantly.
The two gods got out of the room while Loki sighed deeply, feeling more useless than ever…
A few hours later, Yui woke up again in a jump and this time, she felt a terrible headache added to the heartache. She grabbed her head, closing her eyes and trying not to cry after her dream…
"Not crying over a possibility… Not crying over.. a possibility…" She repeated to herself.
Suddenly, someone knocked at her door; she looked up and saw two young women enter. They were both wearing beautiful long dresses, one in blue, the other in red. They smiled at Yui and one brought her a plate full of food.
"Sir Loki asked us to take care of you, Miss Yui," the blue one said.
"Lo-Loki?" Yui hesitated. "Is he all right?"
The woman smiled and put the tray on Yui's laps, showing her fruits and food to eat.
"You need to gain strength if you want to see him," she said. "My name is Anneke, and this is Ingrid," she said glancing at the red-dressed one.
"Th-thank you…" Yui answered.
She started to eat and realised she was more hungry than she had thought she could be. She barely ate these last days and with everything that happened, she had lost conscious of time.
When she was done eating, Anneke and Ingrid guided her towards another room, smaller, when a hot bath was waiting for her.
"We'll prepare you a dress while you take your bath, Miss Yui," Ingrid said with a smile.
"Thank you, but I can-"
Anneke pushed her gently behind a folding screen made of wood and decorated with beautiful paintings.
Yui sighed and took off her clothes before going into the warm water. She let out a sigh of pleasure when she felt immediately relaxed…
After a long moment in her bath, she got out and dried herself. When she got out from behind the folding screen, she saw a beautiful white dress on a chair. She put it on and turned around before going out under Anneke and Ingrid's eyes.
"You look beautiful, Miss Yui!" Ingrid exclaimed.
"Thank you very much," she answered. "Where are the others? Apollon, Artemis.. and I would like to know how Loki is …"
"Follow us," Anneke said, guiding her in the halls of the palace.
Yui followed them in the huge grey halls and finally arrived at a door. The two Norse girls let her in front of it and the Japanese girl finally knocked.
"Enter!"
She opened the door and saw Apollon, Artemis and Loki. The two gods stared at her, mouth wide opened while Artemis was rolling her eyes, seeing their reactions.
"Loki!" Yui exclaimed. "Are you ok?" She asked, walking towards him.
"I-I'm ok…" He hesitated, bewildered she would think of him before anything else.
"Good… I'm so relieved!" She sighed.
"I'm a god, don't forget that! Nothing can break me down!" He said with an amused smile.
Yui tried not to smile but couldn't, remembering all the times he had shown a part of himself that was as fragile as crystal…
He was wearing a similar outfit than in her dream, except that he didn't have the long jacket, only a black leathered outfit with golden and red decorations.
"Thank you for the dress," she said. "What do you think?" She asked, spinning around.
Loki opened a wide mouth and stared at her with amazed eyes. She was wearing a white dress typically Scandinavian with her shoulders nude. She had wide sleeves and a silver belt with a triquetra. The dress was skinny and wide under the waist, it made her look curvy. When he realised it, Loki felt his cheeks turn slightly red. He looked away, too embarrassed to look into her brown eyes.
"You're beautiful, Fairy! As usual!" Apollon exclaimed with a bright smile.
The God of Fire glanced at Yui and stepped towards her, surprising her so much she didn't dare move. He put his hand behind her head and with a nimble move, he took off her red ribbon. Her hair fell in her back and he took a lock of dark hair in his hand, smiling mischievously. He kissed the hair before looking at her with his silvery eyes, his expression more impish than ever.
"Now, you're even more beautiful, kitten…"
She blushed and looked away, embarrassed but couldn't help herself but smile shyly. Apollon jumped between them and looked at Yui.
"How do you feel, Fairy?" He asked with a smile.
"Fine, even if.. I'm a little tired…" She replied, hiding her fear the best she could.
But her hands were moving anxiously and her eyes were often drifting away, full of a growing terror…
Apollon and Loki looked at each other, knowing perfectly that she was hiding her feelings and didn't want to talk about her nightmares.
"Baldr and Thor are talking with Odin," Artemis said. "They are trying to convince him to let us go to the Japanese Realm."
Yui's heart missed a beat and she turned towards the gods, eyes wide opened.
"The Japanese Realm? Why? Did… did anything happen there?" She asked in a low trembling voice.
"No… Well, we don't know," Apollon started.
Yui's eyes grew even wider and fuller of fear. Loki elbowed Apollon in an annoyed way.
"Good job, A-fool-lon…" He mumbled.
"We don't know, Yui," Artemis said. "But we're going to find out. And we need to make sure nothing else happened there because of the shutdown."
"The shutdown?" She repeated.
"The Japanese aren't answering the Norse," Loki explained. "They're on the top list of the suspects, well, right after me, anyway…"
"But, they aren't thieves! Tsukito and Takeru wouldn't steal the Sword!" She exclaimed.
The three Gods looked at each other and Apollon, with sad eyes, answered.
"They aren't, but they aren't the only Japanese gods either… And we have to admit that this shutdown is weird… Especially during such a tense time…"
Yui lowered her eyes, thinking of all the possibilities but she couldn't concentrate on the thievery. All she could think about was that Takeru might be dead. Or will soon be. And it scared her more than anything…
"Don't worry, Fairy, we'll soon know the truth…" Apollon said with a reassuring voice.
She forced herself to smile up at him when suddenly, the door opened. They turned and saw Baldr and Thor entering, but there was also the god Freyr following them closely. He looked at Yui, slightly frowning as if he was thinking deeply.
"Yui, you're awake. How do you feel?" Thor asked.
"Fine, thank you. And how are you?" She asked.
He nodded silently while Baldr, mouth wide opened shook himself and stopped staring at Yui, even if his eyes still devoured her.
"Yu-Yui… You're gorgeous…" He whispered.
She blushed and lowered her eyes while Freyr approached her and everyone tensed while he stopped just before her, arms crossed over his chest and looking down at the Japanese girl.
"So, it's you," he said.
"Me?"
"The human girl who saved Baldr," he said. "And the one who has those dreams about my Sword. What can you tell me about my Sword? What are you dreaming about?" He asked.
"Go easy on her, Freyr," Thor said simply.
But the brown haired God ignored him and Yui hesitated before answering:
"I didn't dream of the Sword, except the dream with Loki and the thief, as I said earlier. The only dream I have is.."
She stopped talking but Freyr intervened, shaking his hand in a nonchalant way.
"I know, Baldr and Thor explained about it. I honestly don't care about your boyfriend's fate but the Japanese Realm might be a clue to get to my Sword."
"H-he's not my boyfriend!" She exclaimed, blushing violently.
Freyr raised an eyebrow and smirked, glancing at Baldr and Loki. The first was clenching his fists with a pained expression while the second was crossing his arms, highly annoyed and snorted.
"Well, if you say so…" The brown haired god replied, still smirking. "Anyway, after talking with Odin, we decided we'll go to the Japanese Realm tomorrow in the morning. Why don't you go to sleep, you look awful, human," he said.
She looked away, mid-way between being embarrassing and angry at him. Without Yui noticing it, Freyr looked at the gods with an intense look that was explicit. Loki reacted before the others, Baldr still too blinded by his jealousy and Yui's dress to notice Freyr's eyes.
"Yui, come with me," the red-haired god said.
"Uh? Where?" She hesitated.
"Just come! There is something I want to show you!" He exclaimed with his cat-like smile.
He took her arm and pulled her out of the room. She glanced at the other gods when Freyr was turning to all of them to talk. The door closed and she couldn't hear what he was starting to say.
"Where are you taking me, Loki?" She asked.
"I told you, there is something I want to show you," he said, letting go of her arm.
The god's hand went down he young woman's arm and brushed her fingers, as if he wanted to take her hand in his but he stepped away at the last moment. She glanced at him, wondering if she had dreamed his fingers brushing the back of her hand but he had his little smile and his sparkling mischievous eyes.
"Why are you in your human form?" She asked suddenly. "In my dream, you had other clothes than usual but you were in your god form."
"Oh? You noticed. Well, we usually prefer to be in our god form, considering it's our true form and we're more powerful like that, but.. we thought you would be more at ease if you saw us the way you're used to."
"Thank you… I have to admit, I feel better when you're normal…" She said with a sheepishly smile.
He smiled at her and turned, guiding her in the huge halls. She looked at the paintings and the tapestries with amazed eyes. It was beautiful; all those colours put together while the rest of the walls were grey and cold.
Loki arrived in front of a window-door and opened it, letting Yui go in front of him. She arrived on a huge balcony and he followed her, closing the door before guiding her to the edge of the balcony.
Yui had a huge smile when she saw the view. She could see snowed mountains and meadows. There was a huge lake, so big it seemed to cover half the landscape. There were a few big Viking ships on it but what was breath taking was the dark colour of the water, reflecting the shining stars above them.
She hasn't noticed it was night before but now, she felt overwhelmed by so many lights. Back in Japan, even if she lives in a shrine on a hill, there were so much light in the city, they were barely seeing the starry sky at all… The only time she could truly see stars in the night was back at the Garden. But if back there, the sky and the stars were all in shades of purple, red and pink, in the Norse Realm, they were shades of blue. There was a dark blue, there a lighter one, a blue-green one further…
"Loki! It's beautiful!" She finally exclaimed.
He smiled and leaning towards her ear, he added in a mischievous way:
"Wait a little longer, and the show will start…"
"Uh?"
She turned to him, surprised, but suddenly, lights invaded the sky. She turned to look at it and saw waves of lights crossing the night, adding even more lights and shades to the stars. The white lights turned into blue, then red and it continued to more marvellous colours, dancing in the skies and reflecting in the lake in a way that made it almost impossible to make a difference between the sky and the water…
"We call those the Northern Lights, but in your World, it's known as Auroras…" Loki explained with a smile and looking up at the Auroras.
She smiled and turned to him.
"Thank you, Loki…" She whispered.
"Do you like it?" He asked with shining eyes of all the colours in the sky.
She nodded vigorously and looked up at the dance of lights once again… Loki dropped his smile, overwhelmed by Yui's beauty and he stared at her without her noticing it.
"It's probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen…" She murmured.
"It is…" He agreed in a whisper, still looking at her.
The lights were reflecting on her dress and in her eyes. She had never been more beautiful than with him, on this balcony under the Northern Lights and he felt so grateful to have lived a little longer to see her so beautiful…
"It really is…" He repeated with a soft smile, his eyes locked on her in a protective embrace.
In another part of the Asgardian Palace, the other gods were listening to Freyr who was sharing his worries.
"Apollon, you said that this Yui Kusanagi had been chosen by your Pythia."
"Yes, I wouldn't have brought her otherwise," he said.
"But, you were looking for the thief, didn't you?" The brown haired god continued.
"What do you mean?" Baldr asked, frowning.
His fellow god turned towards him but talked to Apollon.
"What was the exact question you asked the Pythia?" He asked the green eyes man.
Apollon blinked, surprised but answered:
"Well, I asked her who was the thief but she only showed me Fairy."
Freyr frowned and Apollon understood what he meant, he shook his head in a revolted way.
"It's impossible! Fairy can't be the thief! She is our guidance! I asked for it right after the first question!" He exclaimed.
"I agree, Yui would never steal your Sword," Baldr said. "She is too kind and innocent, she never knew about you or your Sword before!"
"We know our Fairy! She would never do such thing!"
"Well, maybe you don't know her that well," Freyr said.
"Freyr, you're wrong," Thor simply said.
Shaking his brown hair, Freyr looked annoyingly at the gods.
"Maybe your Yui would never do that, but what makes you think she is herself? Or maybe something or someone took over her and stole the Sword, using her as.. a cover, considering how close you all are. This would explain why she knows so much about the Room and the Sword, maybe it wasn't a dream, maybe she just defended Loki to keep her acting as a nice little human girl. After all, you asked for the thief and her face appeared to you. Maybe you just misinterpreted the Pythia. Maybe she wasn't showing you your guide, but the thief…"
"It makes sense," Artemis said.
"Sis!" Apollon exclaimed, shocked.
"What, Apollon? The three of you are too close to Yui to see the obvious. But now that Freyr is saying this, it makes perfectly sense."
Baldr swallowed and Apollon looked at each other.
"I said to Odin I'll go with you to keep an eye on the possible thief," Freyr continued. "Let's just say that I'll keep an eye on both Loki and the human girl," he said before getting out of the room.
If Thor was trying not to show any emotion and remained still, Apollon seemed completely shaken by Freyr's suppositions. Baldr was in a as bad shape as was Apollon, both glancing at each other with eyes full of worry.
"I refuse to believe it.." Baldr breathed with stubborn eyes.
Apollon lowered his eyes and didn't answer.
As I said, I'll post the five chapters, so four more to go! :)
For the references, Odin is the father of both Baldr and Thor, but they don't have the same mother. He is the principal god in Norse mythology and their leader as well as the God of Knowledge and War. Freyr is the God of Sun and Fertility and has the Sword of Life.
For this chapter, there is a reference to a triquetra - a Celtic symbol. Yui's outfit is inspired by the one she wears at the end of the love's routes for Baldr and Loki. And Asgard is the name of the World of Norse gods :)
Yours truly,
May
