"Loki." Sirona frowned at the Norse trickster. "Unbind Arden. Now."
Dipper and Wendy both shot glances over at Fenris, but he and Mabel were gone. The couple met each other's eyes, their expressions mirror images of confusion.
Loki smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling, as he strode across the Gravnemeta. He looked like a really nice guy, apart from the fact that he was trailing a beaten and gagged goddess along behind him like a dog.
"Put me down, Dipper," Wendy whispered. "I'm feeling kind of fighty-or-flighty."
Dipper nodded, and gently placed Wendy on her feet.
"I have to say, that was an excellent performance," drawled Loki. He stopped about a meter from the group and grinned. "Especially that bull-riding bit—that was genius. Well, not really. It was idiotic—but in the most entertaining way. Where is that boy? He deserves a smiley-face sticker or something."
Sirona wasn't amused. She crossed her arms and stared the trickster down.
"Unbind. Arden. NOW."
Loki narrowed his eyes, and tapped his chin with a finger. "Yeah, no. I mean, for all you know, she likesbeing tied up. Maybe that's her fetish." He glanced at Wendy, and winked, murmuring "I know it's one of mine."
"Okay, ew," muttered Wendy.
"Sorry," said Dipper, hesitantly raising his hand like he was in class. "Um, hi, new god here. Can you at least tell us why you have Arden tied up?"
"Why, yes, in fact, I can," said Loki. "You see, before I tied her up, she kept trying to run away from me. It was quite rude of her."
"Um," said Dipper. "So, but… why?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "BecauseI was trying to talk to her. Yeesh. Did no one ever teach you how to infer from context, kid?"
"No, that's not—" sputtered Dipper.
"He meant why did you kidnap Arden in the first place?" asked Wendy, her eyes narrowed.
"Oh, pish posh," said Loki, flapping a hand. "Kidnap is such an unpleasantterm. Think of it more like… I took her on an involuntary vacation."
Arden stood slightly behind Loki, staring daggers at the back of his head.
"Semantics," spat Sirona. "Why did you take her, and what do you want?"
"Well, it seems my son has gone missing," said Loki, pouting theatrically. "You may have heard of him. Big, furry, pointy ears and teeth—goes by the name of Fenrir? See, I have it on good authority that someone from the Green Realm released him from his bonds. When I questioned the new king of the Green… whatsits… horny guy…"
"Cernunnos," supplied Dipper.
"Right! Cernunnos," said Loki. "When I asked him about it, he said that the last time he saw Fenrir, my boy was accompanying some gods to the Mundane Realm, to help protectit or some foolishness. Said his sister, Arduinna, might know where to find him." Loki winked and tilted his head back toward Arden.
"But why kidnap Arden?" asked Sirona. "Why not just come ask her?"
Loki shrugged. "I was bored."
"You asshole," said Dipper, clenching his fists. "After you took Arden, daevas attacked the Gravnemeta and nearly killed my sister!"
A smirk slowly spread across Loki's face. "Ah yes, the daevas. They provided a very good distraction while I nipped in and absconded with Her Royal Bitchiness," he said, indicating over his shoulder with a thumb.
Dipper saw red. Wendy and Sirona had to grab him by the elbows to hold him back from attacking Loki.
"You broughtthem here?" he shrieked, his voice cracking.
"Loki grinned and shrugged, his hands palms-up. "What can I say? I'm a fan of chaos and mayhem—and they're really good at causing it."
Dipper started to yell profanities at the Norse god, but was muffled when Sirona placed her hand over his mouth.
"The pollution demon…monster…thing…that was you too, I gather?" asked Sirona, glancing over at the corpse of the beast, laying apart from its head in a pool of black ooze.
"Nasu? Yeah, that was me," said Loki casually, chuckling. "Boy, he was a nasty one, wasn't he? Those ancient demons don't mess around."
Sirona, Dipper, and Wendy stared at Loki wordlessly. He stared back without blinking.
"So," said Loki, ending the awkward silence. "My boy. Arden says he hangs around the girl who's supposed to protect this place, and pretends to be her puppy?" He paused. "I might have to have a talk with him about that. Gods of destruction are not supposed to be small and cute.
"Anyway," he continued, "I'm here to make a deal. I will trade you one slightly-used goddess for one fluffy little doom-bringer. At sundown tomorrow, you will bring my son to me here. Should you be disinclined to acquiesce to my request, I will let some of Nasu's big brothers out to play. They don't play well with others."
With a soft pop, Loki and Arden disappeared from the Gravenemeta. Loki's malevolent laughter, however, lingered in the clearing for almost a minute after he'd gone.
/
Mabel sat next to Fenris on her bed, and took his hand. It was cold and clammy.
"Why are you so scared of your dad?" she asked softly. "I mean, my first impression of him isn't great, what with him showing up with my mentor in chains… But is he really so bad? I thought he was a trickster, like Puck and Dipper."
"He's a trickster, yeah," said Fenris, his chin trembling. "But he's nothinglike Puck and Dipper."
"How so?" asked Mabel. She leaned back against the pillows at the head of the bed, and propped her feet up, patting the empty spot beside her. Fenris scooted next to her, and curled up against her side, making himself as small as possible.
"Dipper is a smartass, but you know your brother—he's a genuinely good guy. Puck can be an asshole, and sometimes takes jokes too far," explained Fenris. "But he's mostly an okayguy. He usually does what he does for selfish reasons, but he doesn't go out of his way to hurt people."
"And Loki?" prompted Mabel.
Fenris shivered, and pressed his face into Mabel's shoulder. "He's not an okay guy," he mumbled. "He has no sense of honor, and doesn't care about any collateral damage he might cause. He does nothingthat does not benefit him in some way. When the Aesir became scared of me due to my size, they bound me in magic chains, and propped my mouth open with a sword. I screamed the whole time. Wailed. In my mind-speak I shouted to any who were nearby that I was wrongly imprisoned—that I had done nothing to deserve my binds. Okay, so I didbite off Tyr's hand, but that was only after I realized they had tricked me and I was trapped. I panicked."
"You bit off a guy's hand?" asked Mabel.
"A god, actually…yes," said Fenris, his voice small. He was afraid of Mabel's reaction.
"That is so…metal!" she enthused.
"Um, I guess?" said Fenris. "Anyway, the point I was trying to make, is that my father could have come to my aid at any time. He knew where I was. In fact, he came by to see me once. I cried out for him to help me, and do you know what he did? He laughed. Said it was my own fault for being gullible and letting the Aesir put the chain on me."
"What a dick," said Mabel, running her fingers through Fenris' hair. "That's awful, Fen. I'm so sorry he treated you like that. But—and I'm not trying to downplay what a rat bastard he is—you seem actually scaredof him. I understand why you'd hate him, but why are you so scared?"
Fenris trembled. "The prophecy," he said. "I think he's going to try and use it against me."
"How?" asked Mabel.
"In the prophecy, Ragnarok begins when I break free of my chains, and start devouring the world," said Fenris. He pressed himself closer to Mabel, and squeezed his eyes shut. "Since I'm free of my chains, I think he wants me to start… start doing what I'm meant for."
"Oh, God," Mabel breathed. "You think—"
Fenris cut her off.
"Loki wants me to destroy the world."
