Well folks, count yourselves lucky, I managed to get this to a point worth posting tonight, and tomorrow I fly out into the frozen wilds of Manitoba with no computer access for a week! Please enjoy, and hopefully when I get back I will have more of this story (and some of my others as well) for your enjoyment!
Loki's Plan Part 4
Loki was in his study when the Norns found him, and from the expressions on their faces he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Urda had a rather feral grin on her face, Verdandi was smiling beatifically, and Skuld was pouting and looking put out.
Skuld spoke first. "She was the reason you decided to stay, wasn't she, Loki-sama?"
"Mayura?" he asked. Lying to the Norns when they had agreed to help was a bad idea, he decided. "She was a big part of the reason, yes." he admitted.
"Because you care for her, right?" Verdandi asked, her smile not changing.
Loki sighed. Why did he have to get into this with them? "Yes," he grated, "because I... care for her."
"I can see you're worried about her. Don't be, she's safe now, we removed Odin's spell and put her into a healing sleep, but we discovered something else at the same time." Urda told him. "Her wyrd is not human. The form and persona known as Daidouji Mayura is merely a cocoon, from which an Aesir will emerge."
"What are you talking about?" Loki exclaimed, "Mayura? Aesir? But how..."
"We don't know." Verdandi admitted reluctantly, "But we do know who."
"Sigyn." Urda said in a triumphant tone.
"She's... But... But she's..." Loki spluttered. If he hadn't been seated already he would have had to sit down.
"Your wife, or she will be." Skuld said a little sadly.
"But Mayura is - well, I guess was - completely without Sight, it was only since Odin touched her..." Loki finally managed to get a coherent sentence out. "This could all be part of Odin's trap."
"Odin's granting her knowledge was the trigger, yes, but we are perfectly able to differentiate between what is natural and what has his energy signature. Trust us, this would have happened eventually, Mayura will be Sigyn, it's just happening a little sooner is all." Verdandi explained.
"How much did you tell her?" Loki asked.
"Only that she should be one of the Aesir named Sigyn, and that you would explain the rest." Urda's grin turned positively evil.
Loki dropped his head into his hands and groaned. "Thanks... I think."
Even Skuld snickered at that.
"Now that we've removed Odin's spell, the transformation should slow down, but you'll need to get some apples for her, and it's up to you how to get in touch with Idun, we can't help you there." Verdandi warned him.
"That part I have well in hand." Loki laughed, but refused to elaborate.
"One more thing, since I know you too well Loki Laufeyiarson." Urda said sternly in Old Norse (just to ensure he got the full meaning of what she was telling him), "Mayura is in flux right now, and that is a very delicate condition. It would be easy for her to be unintentionally hurt by your ardent attentions. You may touch her - gently, mind you now - but until she has had an apple you may not make her yours. Do you understand me?"
Loki sighed deeply. "I understand," he answered in Old Norse, "and how long will it be until she is ready for her apples?"
"At least a week or two, so I suggest you find other ways to keep yourself occupied until then." Skuld grated.
Loki smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes, and rose from his seat. "Well ladies, I appreciate all your help, and I'm sure we'll be calling on you again before long, but right now I have some explaining to do, not least to my sons, so if you will excuse me, I'll see you out."
"Of course." Urda said with a kinder smile as the three of them rose to go.
After making polite farewells to the Norns, Loki took both his sons into the sitting room to explain things to them.
"Loki-sama, did the Norns fix Odin's spell? You look so worried." Yamino asked.
"They did, but..."
"Daddy, is the mystery girl okay?" Fenrir yipped as he jumped up into Loki's lap.
Loki closed his eyes and tried to figure out how to explain all this. "She's fine, for now, but Mayura isn't just 'the mystery girl' anymore."
"Loki-sama, what do you mean?"
"She's Aesir, or she will be. The Norns assure me it was her wyrd all along, and in no way a trap from Odin."
"Aesir?! But Daddy, who is she then?" Fenrir could scent his father's reluctance, and it only made him that much more curious.
"Well..." Loki vacillated, twin spots of colour appearing high on his cheeks. "According to the Norns, she's Sigyn." he muttered reluctantly.
Yamino coughed politely, hiding his smile behind his hand. "That's a bit of a shock." he said. His eyes held a gleam that rivaled his father's at his most mischievous. "How did Mayura-san take the news?"
"She doesn't know. That is to say, the Norns told her that she's Sigyn, but they didn't explain anything of what that means, and Odin's spell doesn't seem to have conferred that particular bit of information."
"They left that for you, ne Daddy?" Fenrir wagged his tail.
"They did indeed."
"How much are you going to tell her?" Yamino asked.
"I don't know, Yamino-kun. I have to tell her something, since the Norns said I would, but... Ours is not the happiest of prophecies, and I don't want to frighten her with the ghosts of the future."
Fenrir laid his chin sadly on Loki's knee. "But that won't be for years and years, right Daddy?"
"With Odin the way he is now? I don't know how long or short our time might be, Fenrir, I just don't know." Loki admitted with a haunted look in his eyes.
"Loki-sama, why don't you go sit with Mayura-san and explain things to her. I'll make some tea and cakes and bring them in to you both."
"She's probably still sleeping, but if I know Mayura she'll want her explanation the moment she wakes up, and will come looking for me if I'm not there." Loki sighed, "That tea sounds like a good idea, Yamino-kun."
Narugami-kun was walking his latest restaurant cart part-time job along to a new spot closer to the local park in hopes of attracting more of the after-cram-school crowd when he felt a wash of power crawl over his skin.
"Father?" he said, surprised.
He looked around, but he didn't see Odin anywhere. Then he heard the echo of hooves, and a high-pitched scintillating whinny, and he knew the Allfadder had been there, but was now gone again.
'This job should be done in an hour or so, then I'll go check on Loki.' Thor thought to himself, patting Mjolnir where the hammer-cum-boken rested under the counter.
When Loki opened his bedroom door and looked inside, he found Mayura cutely curled up in a nest of blankets like a kitten. He sat on the bed and gently picked her head up and laid it in his lap so he could stroke her hair.
"So, you're my Sigyn are you, Mayura? My faithful one? It solves a number of problems for us, you know, not the least of which being my wyrd, but it brings other problems with it as well. I only hope we can be strong enough together to overcome the odds... and wyrd.
