And yes, yet another part of this is done! I have to put one note here before I let you all read it, though. Somebody commented about Loki being married already, to Sigyn. Yes, I am aware of that relationship, but given the non-linear nature of time, I'm assuming that the events of this story took place after Loki's liaison with Angrboda but before he married Sigyn. He knew about her though, since she was a part of the stories surrounding Ragnarok, which all the gods knew.
Enjoy!
Loki's Plan, Part 3
It didn't take Yamino long to find the Norns, they had, after all, set up their fortune telling tent in the same park as before. There wasn't much of a line-up, but polite and patient though he might be, Yamino knew this wasn't the time to be waiting in line. He walked up to Skuld where she stood at the front of the tent and bowed before her.
"Yamino-san?" Skuld said, surprised by his sudden obeisance.
"Skuld-sama, I have come to beg help from you and your sisters, on behalf of my father and Daidouji Mayura." he said formally.
"Mayura-san? Has she gotten herself into trouble somehow?" Skuld asked.
"Something of that nature. I think it is best not discussed in such an... open place." Yamino said carefully.
"I understand. Is time an issue?" she asked, looking at the four or five people still in line.
"It does seem to be."
"Alright then." A rather giggly schoolgirl left the tent and Skuld slipped in to talk to her older sisters.
A minute later all three came back out, and Verdandi handed out vouchers to their remaining clients, apologizing for their need to close for the day and promising to bring them right to the front of the line when they came back.
"Yamino-san, please come in." Urda gestured to the tent. "No need to fear, the interior is well-warded."
He followed the Norns in, and the four of them sat around the table.
"Now, what is this about Mayura-san needing our help?" Urda asked.
"About half an hour ago she was attacked as she was on her way to our home. Loki-sama rushed to her, but by the time he got there she was already unconscious."
"And her attacker was...?" Verdandi prompted.
"Odin-sama. He forced knowledge of Loki's past onto her. It caused her to pass out, and we strongly suspect that's not all it did. They sent me because although we were able to revive Mayura, she started screaming the instant she tried to leave the heavily-warded room she was in."
The Norns looked at each other and nodded.
"Since it's for Mayura-san, we will help." Verdandi said.
It had barely been more than twenty minutes from the time Yamino left when Ecchan appeared in Loki's bedroom.
"Loki-tama, Yamino-tan ish back!" he announced.
Loki looked up from where he had been nibbling at Mayura's collarbone.
"Did he bring the Norns with him?"
"Hai deshu!"
Loki leaned his forehead against Mayura's. "I suppose you would rather not be seen in such a... compromising position?" he said with a rather wicked half-grin.
Mayura, blinking, realized that she was on Loki's lap, he had one hand on her back under her blouse, the fingers of the other halfway under the waistband of her skirt, and the front of her blouse was askew, her ribbon and the top button undone. She blushed crimson. "Um yes... I mean no... I mean..."
Loki smiled gently at her and lifted her off his lap, settling her in the middle of the bed and straightening her clothes. He ran his thumb over the reddened marks he'd left on her collarbone with an air of satisfaction before carefully concealing them under her midi collar. "Perfect." he pronounced with one last light kiss to the tip of her nose just as they heard a knock at his bedroom door.
Loki stood up and winked at Mayura as he opened the door. In the doorway were all three of the Norns, flanked by Yamino and Fenrir.
"Thank you for coming." he said with a polite nod.
"We came for Mayura-san's sake, not yours." Urda said sternly.
"I understand. Yamino-kun, would you fetch some chairs for our guests." Loki said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He turned to Mayura. "I know you've met them before, but I should probably introduce them properly. These are the Norse Goddesses of fate, the Norns. Urda, the eldest, represents the past, Verdandi the present, and Skuld represents the future."
"I can't really say 'hajimemashite' since I've met you all before, but it is nice to know who you truly are." Mayura smiled. "And you really can tell the future? Mystery!" she crowed excitedly.
Urda rolled her eyes, Verdandi shrugged and Skuld giggled.
Yamino returned with the chairs, then excused himself and took Fenrir with him. With the attack on Mayura, he wanted to double-check the house's protections and wards.
"So, the whole story first." Urda said, "Then we'll see what we can do for Mayura-san."
"Mayura, why don't you start with you heading here after school." Loki suggested.
Mayura explained to the Norns about her lingering curiosity about "Loki-kun" and the "man in the weird hat" who had appeared and offered to explain things. She told them about the intense pain which was followed by blessed unconsciousness.
At that point Loki took over and told them how he had heard Mayura scream and found her unconscious and alone, and then, upon bringing her home and waking her up, their discovery that she now knew the truth of Loki's background.
When the whole tale had been told, leaving out no details (except those which dealt with the feelings Loki and Mayura had expressed for each other, which they both considered nobody's business but theirs) the three Norns looked at each other.
"We need to examine Mayura-san now, and we need you out of the room." Verdandi told Loki.
Mayura looked a little nervous at that announcement, so Loki caught her hand and squeezed it briefly, before leaving the room with a smile and a wink.
Loki caught up with Yamino as he was checking the wards on the basement.
"How are things looking Yamino-kun?" he asked.
"All the wards seem to be holding for now, Loki-sama. Although we might want to look at reinforcing the ones on the front door, they've been worn down a bit."
"Daddy, do you think Odin knew about the apples? Is that why he attacked Mayura?" Fenrir asked.
"More likely he simply saw an opportunity to hurt me and took it. Although it is possible he knew about the apples. Yamino-kun, you did put them in the warded storage area, didn't you?"
"I did. I even put some extra wards over them.
"Good. Those are precious, and I wouldn't want to risk losing them."
After Loki left the room, Mayura looked at all three of the Norns. "You're going to examine me? Should I lie down? Or sit up? What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"You can sit where you are, whatever makes you comfortable." Urda said with a smile.
"We won't be doing anything physical, after all." Verdandi added.
Mayura shifted so that she was a little more comfortable and leaned against the headboard. The Norns arranged themselves so they were around the bed with Urda on the left, Verdandi at the foot and Skuld on the right.
For the first time in her life, Mayura was able to See the aura of power at work, and she was absolutely fascinated. She watched the waves of what looked like purple light pass over her, and felt them tingle as they passed through her. Neither she nor the Norns said anything for the five minutes or so it took them to examine her and look for what Odin might have done, but when they were finished, the three sisters gave each other significant looks.
"I wonder why we never thought to check her wyrd before." Skuld said, irony colouring her tones.
"Is there something wrong?" Mayura asked, "Will you be able to fix it so I can go outside the room again?"
"We can remove the spell Odin put on you, but unfortunately it had an effect we weren't anticipating."
"An effect you weren't anticipating?" Mayura was sounding more than a little worried now.
"Your fate - wyrd, as we see it - is not that of a mortal woman. Your true nature was hidden inside you, dormant like a seed in winter, and Odin's touch was like the touch of spring to that seed." Verdandi told her.
"But both Mama and Papa were normal! So if I'm not ningen, what am I?" Mayura asked plaintively.
"At this point you are in flux, but your wyrd is that of one of the Aesir, and according to it, your name ought to be Sigyn." Urda said with a hint of a grin. "Loki will no doubt find that little tidbit of information... intriguing."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think we'll leave Loki to explain." Verdandi giggled.
Skuld pouted.
"Now, if you would come a bit closer, we'll get rid of that nasty little gift of Odin's, then I think we'd better talk to Loki." Urda said.
Each of the Norns laid a hand on her head and closed her eyes, and Mayura felt a wrench as something came loose inside, and then they pulled back and the lingering headache she'd been suffering from was gone, and she felt exhausted.
"Why am I so tired?" she asked.
"Your psyche was hurt, and you need sleep and dreams to heal it." Skuld told her.
"Why don't you sleep for a bit, and we'll talk to Loki about what we discovered." Verdandi said kindly.
Mayura nodded sleepily and snuggled down into the blankets and pillows on top of the bed as the Norns left the room.
