Dessa explains to me a little bit about what happened. It was before Loki came to Midgard. Something I now realize was perhaps the reason he ended up on Midgard in the first place. After an incident with Thor being sent to Midgard... Loki was given the throne. Odin had fallen into this thing called the Odinsleep - something he needed to do to recharge his energy. Apparently Odin never sleeps. For some reason, that doesn't shock me. What shocks me is this: after being given the throne, Loki, fueled by jealous anger, attacked Thor and tried to destroy an entire race. That race being what Dessa told me, after much prying, is the Frost Giants. They're not talked about much here. Evidently they're the mortal enemies of all of Asgard. Anyways, Thor came back to Asgard to stop Loki, and Loki, consumed by despair, jumped off the bridge leading to the bifrost and into the void beyond. Everyone thought he was dead, and the kingdom was devastated. That is until he was found destroying Midgard much later.
Seeing my shocked expression, Dessa winces. "I guess you really didn't know."
"I wouldn't lie about not knowing something like that!" I exclaim. My mind is spinning. What caused him to feel the need to take his own life? Was it Thor? Something Odin did? Or maybe it was something else.. something hidden. Whatever it is, if he's still feeling that way, I'm going to help.
I shake my head and meet Dessa's gaze. "Sorry, it's a lot to take in."
She nods, her expression still grim. "I understand."
I look around, suddenly noticing how dark it's getting. How long have we been sitting here? "Um Dessa?" I say, feeling nervous. Is it just me or does this rock seem closer to the water below?
"What is it?" She asks, just before the rock drops beneath us, leaving my stomach lurching.
Letting out an undignified screech, I find myself in freefall. Time seems to slow down. Wide eyed with shock, Dessa and I meet each other's gaze. I look down, and my heart drops. The rock is gone. Only water remains. And with how far up we are, when we hit, it's going to feel like concrete.
We start falling. Panic and adrenaline rush into my veins. I don't want to die! I close my eyes shut. I've got to teleport us. We have to get out of here. I won't let us die. I pull myself out of Asgard... it doesn't work.
I open my eyes in a panic. The air is rushing past us, faster and faster, tearing my cries from my mouth and the air from my lungs. I can't breathe. I can't leave. I can't think, because all I can think of is the air rushing past and the big blue water that's rising up so quickly... I don't want to die. I don't want anyone to die. Squinting my eyes through the tears, I manage to look over at Dessa. She looks terrified. Seeing her expression makes my panic ease slightly, just enough so I can think rationally.
First off, I'm still breathing. I know this because the air is rushing so quickly through my lungs that they feel as if they are going to explode at any moment. Second, we're not hitting the water yet. I still have time. Surely with this grand power of mine, I can think of something. I close my eyes again, trying to picture something. A giant inflatable lake trampoline. Parachutes. A squishy mattress. Wings suddenly sprouting. Anything. But nothing seems to stick. The ideas pop into my head, then fly out as soon as they come. I can't do anything. Not by myself. My thoughts trail off to Loki. I wonder how he's going to react when he finds out about this...
Wait. That's it! Loki! We have a mind link! In my panic ridden state, I didn't think of it sooner. "Loki!" I scream into the wind. "Help!" The water rushes closer, and I begin to doubt if this will work. "Please!" I'm starting to panic again. I'm not completely here, I don't know what happens if I die. Will I be in a coma back on Midgard? Will part of my brain just be missing forever? Or will I just die, completely and unexpectedly, never to wake up again?
My parents are going to be so devastated. This is my last thought before a chasm opens up before me, and I pass out.
I wake up with my heart pounding in my chest. With adrenaline coursing through my veins it takes me a few seconds to realize where I am. I'm in my room. I almost cry in relief. I'm not dead. I must have passed out just in time. I feel fine, although my head feels fuzzy, and I can't exactly remember what happened. It's like it was all just a dream. I know I was falling, and I was about to hit the water when I passed out. But there's something else that should be there too. A nagging feeling deep inside my core. I can't quite identify what it is.
It's not a nice feeling, whatever it is, so I push it aside and sit up, thinking about what to do next. The sun is still in the sky, so I assume I wasn't out for that long. I don't dare attempt to go back to Asgard. Even if.. my heart twinges at the thought.. I may never see Loki again.
My thoughts are so consumed, I don't even notice when my mom walks in. She sits down next to me, clearly sensing some of my distress.
"What's up?" She asks, startling me out of my daze.
I quick glance over at her then look away, focusing on the wall. She can't know. She'll think I'm crazy. "Nothing." I lie. "I'm fine."
She sighs, then grabs my shoulders and turns me towards her. Her calming gaze meets mine. "It's not nothing. I can tell something is on your conscience."
"Well..." I tear my gaze away from hers and focus on my hands instead, which are folded neatly in my lap. "I just have this strange feeling." I try to explain. "And it's not a good feeling. It's also like I've forgotten something, something important."
She frowns, considering the possibilities. "I don't know what you could be forgetting, but the feeling could be..." She pauses as she looks for the right word. "Guilt?"
"Guilt?" I repeat, looking up at her. Guilt for what?
She smiles and pats my shoulders once, then places her hands in her own lap. "Maybe guilt for forgetting whatever it is you've forgotten."
"Oh." I frown. That makes sense, I guess. But I feel like maybe there was something more to it than that.. I sigh and shake my head, meeting my mom's gaze. "I'm sure it will come to me eventually."
"I agree." A familiar voice says, surprising me. Loki. I do my best not to act surprised, especially in front of my mom.
"Well I guess I better get started on my Chemistry homework." I blurt out, trying to get her out of here so she doesn't see me talking to Loki and think I'm crazy.
"Alright." She gets up and pats me on the head. "Let me know if you need any help." She starts for the door.
I narrow my eyes suspiciously at her. "Didn't you fail Chemistry?" I ask.
She laughs. "You're right." She opens the door and winks at me. "Let me know, and I'll tell your dad."
I laugh and she leaves, closing the door behind her. I immediately spin around to face Loki. "What is it? What did I forget?" I ask him, but then I stop, seeing his appearance.
His normally bright green eyes are dull, and he looks exhausted. "What happened?" I ask, feeling slightly scared.
He meets my gaze. "I would suggest you go look and see." He even sounds tired.
Look and see? But what if I'm dead? Then a different thought occurs to me, slicing across my brain unbidden. What if someone else is dead? I start to feel anxious. Is this why I'm feeling guilty? I close my eyes. I could be the cause. I could be the reason Loki is looking so tired right now. I take a deep breath. There's only one way to find out. I cast myself off to Asgard.
I wake up soaked, freezing, and in the dark, but I am very much alive. I hear someone coughing beside me, and that's when everything comes rushing back, including the reason for my guilt.
"Dessa!" I lurch forward in the darkness, feeling around on the... stone? floor. "Are you okay?" I can't see anything. Not even my dress is glowing this time, which makes me think there was something really weird about that room I was in. The coughing gets more intense, and I move towards it. If Dessa was dead... I don't know what I'd do. It would be all my fault.
Finally, my hand touches some wet fabric. "Dessa?" I ask, trying to figure out who it is. I reach up towards the direction of a face, but immediately pulls away as my hand touches something slimy. "What?!" I exclaim. Is something attacking Dessa?! Unbiddingly, a pillow appears in my other hand. Not much of a weapon, that's for sure, but it will have to do.
I bring it down with all of my might on the slimy thing.
"OWWWW!" I hear something screech, and suddenly, the world is filled with light. I squint, not able to see much, but there's a white blob in front of me, and I'm pretty sure that's Dessa. The green blob tightening itself around her neck? Probably not Dessa. I bring the pillow down again, this time more accurately.
"OWW" the thing screeches again, then unwinds itself from Dessa's neck and moves off somewhere else. My vision sharpens, and now I can see where we are. We're in a large cavern, the rock dripping with water. But that doesn't matter now. I crouch over Dessa, who is coughing once again.
"Dessa are you okay?" I ask, panicked. Her breathing is shallow, and her face looks almost blue. That thing was choking her!
"Get out of the way, you useless twit!" An annoyed voice demands. Something shoves me to the ground, then moves towards Dessa again. All I can see is green and scaly, so I reflexively hit it with the pillow again. It hisses in pain. "Will you not see that I'm trying to help her?!" The voice exclaims, sounding irritated. Something wraps around my middle, pulling me away from Dessa.
I look down. It's another green scaly thing. I try to wriggle free. "Stop it, you're suffocating her!" I yell, hitting the green thing with my pillow. Unlike the green thing crouched over Dessa however, this thing doesn't release me. Instead, my pillow gets ripped out of my hand. "Hey!"
"Shut up and contact Loki, would you?" The voice, which now I recognize has a distinctive raspy quality, hisses right behind me. I try to turn around and look, but the green thing around my waist tightens, restricting my movement. "Do it!" It orders. "Or else I'll find a way to make you do it!"
"Why should I?" I ask. "You're hurting my friend!"
It mumbles something in frustration, and I hear brief snippets of what it's saying "stupid...father...Midgardian..." So this thing knows I'm a Midgardian, huh? Well I don't care. It shouldn't be hurting my friend.
Screwing up all my strength and concentration, I attempt to Describe a knife. It doesn't work. I pound my fists against the green thing in frustration. "Let me go!"
"I won't." The voice replies. and to my horror, I realize the voice and the green scaly thing are one entity, something I recognize. It's a giant snake. The green scaly things are coils of its body. Slowly, the coil around me shifts so that I am turned around; making it so that I am now face to face with the gigantic snake. Its yellow eyes glare at me. "Now unless you want to be hurting as much as your friend, I suggest you call Loki." It threatens. "That way your friend will actually survive the next few minutes."