Sweat was dripping from my forehead, almost feeling feverish after that message delivery. Without thinking too much, I started shaking Loki awake and he shot his eyes open, completely confused.
"We need to get the hell out of here," I said as convincingly as possible but Loki's expression still showed complete bewilderment. It was understandable but I had no time to explain, all I knew was that we needed to move.
"What are you talking about, dude?" he mumbled, his voice still groggy from waking up. He started putting out the fire with the use of his hand and the focused intention. I quickly got up from the ground, completely dismissing his question while he was frowning looking at me. He slowly stood up as well, his eyes now giving a hint of concern. "You're really worrying me, what happened?" He insisted and the more I remembered the Devil's voice, the more I felt my heart sink into the stomach.
"He's here… I don't know where but he managed to get to me… I heard his voice in the vision. He's sending out a warning." The words were struggling to get out as I was also trying to piece together what I had heard and trying to come to terms with it. "He knows about you."
As soon as Loki heard the last part, there was a noticeable shift in energy and he started becoming as frightened as I was.
"You're right, we need to get the hell away from this spot." Without saying anything more, we both started making our way through the forest.
The trees stretched out before us were almost touching the sky. There was an early morning smell reaching our nostrils. The sun rays were struggling to come down due to the density of the tree branches. The silence around us was almost deafening, it was like every creature ran and hid away from something dangerous looming nearby. We were going slowly so as not to scare more creatures or rather not to draw attention to ourselves. Based on what I knew the creatures lurking in these woods weren't as dangerous as they were treacherous. They wouldn't kill you but you'd wish you were dead. At once, the sound of a nearby stream reached our ears and we knew we were finally close to a bit of a clearing. We started following the sound as we started making our way to what seemed to be the west side of the forest. The closer we were to the water, the less density between trees there were. And, at one point, I started taking notice of a turquoise-blue stream making its merry way down the forest. Even though we were still pretty far off, we managed to hear and see its burbling as it splashed over the limestone rocks in the way. After a few moments, I began to notice how this stream as well, just like the river that got us here, was extremely clear. You could see the bottom very easily.
We soon reached the place where the trees ended as we were standing on a small hill. At once, Loki crouched behind one of the trees and forced me to do the same by pulling me by the arm.
He hushed me so as not to say anything and then whispered in a very low voice,"Look. It's a light elf."
My eyes traveled towards the area Loki was indicating and that was when my attention got fixed upon the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her long and delicate blonde hair was reaching almost to the bottom of her back while it was lightly being blown in the wind. She was resembling a personification of the sun as it seemed like there was a significant amount of soft light radiating from her. She slowly bent down near the stream and started gathering the water with a chalice in her hand. Despite not seeing her face, I couldn't help but become mesmerized by the image before me.
"I'm going over there." I mumbled and got out of the hiding, making Loki get up too.
"What are you doing?!" He hissed out but I didn't pay him no mind as I started making my way down the hill. I heard Loki following close behind me, indicating that he wasn't ready to leave me alone to deal with the elf.
"Time for you to see that I'm very much capable of getting people to sleep with me." I could feel him glaring daggers at the back of my head the moment I said that.
"You're unbelievable…" He sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with me now. Oddly, I couldn't even tell myself to stop in my tracks and to think twice about my actions. It felt like the elf herself was inviting me to come to her. Loki noticed my overt focus on her and grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back. I staggered back which made me snap out of it for a few minutes.
"Stand back." Loki said and started pulling out the sword from around his waist. Now it made more sense why he brought the sword. He slowly crept behind the blonde elf when she suddenly turned around, her ocean eyes staring us both down. Loki stopped in his tracks and put up the sword towards her. My mind started getting blurry again the more I stared at her face. She was incomparably beautiful.
"Hold, Loki. You're getting ahead of yourself." She suddenly said with a small smirk playing on her lips. She was holding onto the chalice with both of her hands. Her eyes then traveled over to me when I felt like I was beginning to black out. I shut my eyes as I stumbled back, everything in me attempting to fight off whatever she was attacking me with. I heard Loki's muffled yells directed at the elf. My own rage started building up, transforming into a powerful push back against the attack, allowing me to finally regain the composure.
Loki's blade was pressed against the woman's throat and then he slowly started pulling the sword away as he saw me get back to normal.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" I yelled out at her, taking one step closer to the elf.
"Wow, calm down, boys. You don't need to be so vile towards a lady." She laughed lightly but there was a hint of malice in her voice.
"This elf is no elf." Loki remarked and glanced over at me. "It's a huldra."
"A what?"
"A nymph." He explained.
"Oh… Ew." As soon as that information came into my mind, it was like my own brain started putting a guard up even more than before.
"You're bringing some odd company with you this time, Loki." This time? I thought. How many times did he visit this world?
"That's none of your business. Let's go, Asmo." Loki retorted, looking over at me with a glare indicating that he blamed me for everything that had happened just now. And I would be offended had I not agreed so eagerly with him. This was one of the times when I regretted having a need to try to hit on anyone and anything.
Suddenly, she started making her way towards me before saying, "Well, hold on, I still haven't got to know this type of being yet." She mused as she lifted up the chalice she held in her hands to my lips. I was standing there, feeling like all the guard that was up was starting to come down. The intense influence coming from her was starting to encircle my mind. Just when I was about to take a sip from the chalice, Loki grabbed the chalice from her hands and hurled it into the river. Then, all of a sudden, his hand reached and grabbed her by the throat raising her up from her feet.
"You're absolutely relentless!" I heard him growl as he released her from his grip and hurled her against the ground. I took a step back, once again taken aback by the immense rage Loki was emitting and was capable of. My brain still felt like a pudding after the huldra was done with it. On the other hand, Loki was completely fine as he yanked me by the arm, leading me past the huldra and then alongside the river.
He wasn't letting go of my arm, feeling his grip getting firmer that he almost prodded through my skin with his fingers. That was how I knew he was furious at me and I wasn't looking forward to the point of time when we stopped walking. Unfortunately, as we distanced ourselves enough from the woman, if one could call her that, he finally let me go and turned around.
"Let me ask you one question - do you have a death wish?" He snapped at me.
"I didn't even know it was a huldra… or whatever."
"That's why you don't go wandering off in an unknown realm! Just like that time you went snooping around in that room!" Loki huffed out and ran the fingers through his hair. I was starting to believe he had a point. Maybe there was a part of me that wanted to die. "From now on, you don't stray off from me. If I have to, I'll tie you to myself!"
"You may be right…" I mumbled. I completely pushed off the memory of the Devil contacting me earlier. I'd have to be even more careful because of it. I didn't know how close or far he was. "I'll try to be more careful. Especially now that the Devil may know where I am."
"Exactly." Loki replied and sighed in relief as I understood what he was trying to say. I wasn't used to being on the run or to be so careful. Maybe I wasn't ready to face the reality and the part of me that was trying to face it was trying to die.
After that brief conversation, we began walking again, continuing going alongside the river. It was a good break after going through so many trees for so long. I was making sure I was relatively close to Loki so he didn't have a chance to say I was wandering off again. He glanced behind him every now and then to make sure I was still there. If anything, I should try to make it easier for him to have me here considering he was risking a lot.
We were pretty deep in the woods when the sun started coming down. The realm somehow turned out to be even quieter during the night. One would feel as if they were going deaf by the intensity of the silence. Despite the seemingly harmless front, the realm itself was confusing to any kind of traveler. Along the way, we came across many intertwining paths. Several times we even caught ourselves going back to the point where we started. It was even harder to figure out where we were going due to the immense darkness. Night in this realm was like nothing I'd seen before. In fact, the entire Norse world made me feel extremely vulnerable and it wasn't very fun.
Suddenly, during our walk, I heard Loki starting to laugh in front of me.
"I find it funny now how you were so ready to show your flirting skills but huldra got you so bad!" He burst out laughing and I felt my face going warm. I had to admit that was pretty embarrassing especially because I was a demon of lust.
"Now it's funny to you, huh?" I huffed. He didn't respond to it, he just continued snickering quietly. What an annoying bastard. "Do you have a plan on where we are going?" I asked, trying to change the topic.
"Having no plan is the plan here." He replied with a hum.
"That sounds like a fun time." I said sarcastically. Sometimes talking to him felt like talking to a Cheshire Cat.
"Well, there's no point in planning here because the exit could be anywhere. So we are taking the time to explore the realm. It's also important to constantly be on the move so it's harder for the Devil to catch up." He finally explained except I didn't see how that was a better plan than having an actual plan.
"I think I should eventually face him though. It's pointless to be constantly on the run." Although it was true I needed extra time to plan what I was going to do.
"Face him?" Loki suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. "You do realize that if he catches you, you'll be dead? And if you die then… I'll have to kill you for leaving me all alone to wait for the apocalypse."
"You can't possibly expect me to be here for eternity! It's dangerous for both of us. If I turn myself in, then it's only dangerous for me. I don't want to drag you more into this than you have to." I tried to make it make sense as best as possible but he kept staring at me with a frown. Greatly judging me for my choices. I thought he'd be grateful I was leaving him alone. Refusing to say anything more, he turned back around, pushing through branches passive-aggressively.
"When the Devil sent me the vision… he told me if I turn myself in then nothing will happen but the more I wait the more likely he is to kill my friends… And I'm guessing one of those would be you." I finally told the full story, hoping he would now see sense in what I was saying. If he was willing to risk it, I didn't want to leave Beelzebub or Mammon to chance. They might not have wanted to possibly die for me. I wouldn't blame them either, I wasn't someone worth dying over.
I was sure Loki wasn't going to reply. He just kept going without even glancing back to look at me. There was still a lot of tension in the air, it was almost palpable. It didn't seem like he was going to forgive me for my choices until he suddenly spoke up.
"Then we face him together." He grumbled under his breath like he wasn't entirely confident in his decision.
"What?" I asked, not sure if I heard him correctly. I heard him breathe out in annoyance and once again stopped walking. I almost collided with him when he abruptly turned around to face me.
"You can't possibly expect me to let you walk into a death trap by yourself." He insisted stubbornly, his eyes fixated on me. I knew he wasn't going to accept no as an answer.
"You're going to die. We both are." I tried to reason with him again but I didn't expect to succeed. Allowing him to come with me sounded like signing a death warrant. But he thought that letting me go by myself was signing a death warrant. Maybe I was damned no matter which path I took.
"You've got a better chance of surviving with an ancient god by your side." He pulled his lips into a sheepish grin and put his large hand on my shoulder.
"I keep forgetting you're that old."
"Hey, now!" He laughed. "I'm not that old. But I was definitely there before the Devil was." Loki recalled and, somehow, that made me have a bit more faith. Oftentimes I forgot that the Norse world was here long before us demons and angels ever came into existence. There was definitely much more immense power here than most other realms I had visited. The sole fact that it was much harder for me to defend myself against anything here was enough. No matter how small it was, it still possessed a lot more power than anything in Hell did.
"So, you're planning to come with me to Hell?"
"Yeah! That's what I said." He declared, putting his hands on his hips.
"You're insane… But I'm no better because I'm considering this." I let out a long breath, attempting to process everything that I had just heard.
My brain immediately started making plans on how we were going to make it all work. One good thing was that Mammon seemed to be on my side so that did make the whole crossing over easier. The trouble was keeping him covered - especially now that all eyes would be on me. I wasn't a background character before and I sure as hell wasn't a background character now.
"Is it possible to get you that chain like the one you gave me?"
"Hmm…" He mused for a few seconds before continuing, "it might be difficult. Do you guys not have blacksmiths?"
"I'm afraid not. Anything that we need, the Devil makes it happen." I said awkwardly and Loki made a disgusted face.
"That sounds like a miserable existence. Relaying all power into one being." He made a silent disgruntled noise. "No wonder all that power got into his head. Not even Thor is that annoying." He stood there for a few seconds and looked like he was thinking hard about what I had just told him.
Shortly after, we decided to continue walking and maybe find some clearing so we could continue with our planning. It was getting much darker, I was surprised it was possible to get so dark here, making it pointless to continue with the walk. Loki was able to see in this dark but I couldn't and once again it was the Norse world 1 and me 0. Unfortunately, we found no clearing but we did find some sort of a ruin in the middle of nowhere. According to Loki, it should be safe so it was only barely safe in reality.. Nonetheless, oddly I was starting to feel safer in his presence so I didn't mind we stopped here.
The ruins barely had any roof, it was very caved in and walls were destroyed. It was very silent and murky like the rest of Alfheim. The building, or rather what was left of it, was rather small and probably about 800 square feet. There was a considerable amount of wildlife growing into the cracks through the walls. A small stone staircase was leading towards the three passageways on the building, one next to the other. It didn't even have a roof nor did it look like it even had a roof before. It looked almost like a small ritual site which was a bit odd for it to be in the middle of nowhere.
Loki and I walked up the stairs and got inside. It was mostly empty inside except for one small stone roundtable in the corner. Upon coming closer we noticed different runes were engraved into it. Definitely a ritual site. We took a seat on the floor in the other corner, far away from the table in case we activated something that needn't be activated.
"So… you were saying?" Loki asked almost instantly after setting up on another fire in just a few seconds. It was also just as fascinating as the first time I saw him do it.
"We need to get you something that will make you less noticeable." I reminded him.
"Oh right." He breathed out and leaned against the wall behind him.
"I might need to go there before you. I need to do research before we even consider bringing you over." As soon as I said, Loki shot me a glare.
I expected him to disagree and protest but instead he just replied with, "Fine." Maybe he realized that there was no point in arguing with me anymore. After all, I accepted his suggestion to come with me to Hell. That suggestion scared me greatly but the truth was I needed as many allies as I could gather. And he was currently my best bet in surviving as ironic as it may sound.
Suddenly, I spotted a light coming out of the outside of the ruins before a shining blue light in the shape of a ball floated inside. I was about to react and flip out before Loki interrupted my actions by informing me what it was.
"Will-o'-the-wisp." He said before the light started approaching us and ended up in the middle of the room. Hearing Loki, I realized that I actually had heard about these apparitions, so to speak. They have been sighted in so many parts of astral under different of the time they were malevolent.
"I think we have possibly angered some forest spirits." I noted, snickering at the thought. It was probably a slighted huldra.
"Well as long as you don't go wandering after the will-o'-the-wisp, I think we'll be fine." He mocked me and I just rolled my eyes although I knew he was right. It was quite tempting, I had to be honest. This time I knew better as I was sure Loki wouldn't follow me and let me die. Just to teach me a lesson.
"Is it just me or is the light becoming brighter?" I wasn't sure because if there was anything the demon eyes were good at was absorbing light.
"You're right." He said as he was shielding his eyes with an arm bent over his head. He reached out for his sword in the belt and pointed it towards the wisp. "Go away, you stupid creature."
The will–o'-the-wisp didn't budge at all, just continued growing brighter. Loki attempted swinging his sword at it before he pushed the sword into my hands, covering his eyes completely now. I grabbed it confusedly as he exclaimed,
"Please do something before I go blind!"
Having a sword in my hand was a bit weird. I hadn't wielded one since falling from Heaven. Made me feel a bit nostalgic. I stood up from my spot and walked towards the blue light, swinging hard at it. It quickly flew back, completely avoiding the hit. It felt a bit ridiculous trying to fight a light when suddenly the brightness started dimming before I felt a striking pain in my head. I dropped the sword to the ground as I fell to my knees, clutching my head. Ringing in the ears followed before a vision started showing in my mind's eye. At once, nothing else reached my mind other than a sudden feeling of myself falling into a deep abyss that didn't seem to have an end. The part of me that still had a bit of reason was struggling to wake up from the vision. However, it seemed like the wisp was trying to prove a point by forcing me to see the end. Out of nowhere, I felt myself slamming against the hard floor at the end of the void before a dreadful feeling of having spent a whole eternity there snuck up on me. Just as I was getting used to the horrible dread, my eyes shot open and I found myself covered in sweat once again.
I was laying down on the floor as my hearing started recovering. Loki was yelling some obscenities at me in the distance but I still couldn't fully comprehend speech. I started sitting up only to see the will-o'-the-wisp's light completely subdued before it simply floated away outside the ruins.
"Is it finally gone?!" Loki exclaimed behind me and I heard his footsteps behind me as he crouched beside me. "What in hell happened to you?"
I slowly turned my head towards him while I was still trying to process whatever had just transpired. "I don't know… I was just in this void." I mumbled, trying to recall and maybe make a sense of it.
"Some will-o'-the-wisps can cause visions of the future," he explained. "I just hope it wasn't the case with you."
I swallowed a lump in my throat as I heard him. "It did feel quite real." And I hated to admit that. "I was all there… Like all of me was in that vision." I had never before experienced such a vivid vision. It was so hard to separate myself from what I had just seen now. Like part of me stayed in that illusion.
"Damn, one really can't leave you alone." He joked but I couldn't even force myself to laugh. His expression quickly turned back to serious as he got up and then helped me stand up. We went back behind the lit fire and I just sat down, continuously staring at the flames. It felt like a very terrible high.
"I spent eternity there… And now that I'm awake I feel like I have just spent eons in some borderless dark space." I said and finally turned to look at Loki whose face was showing concern. It looked like he was trying to find the right words to make me feel better but he found none. Not even Loki could make this situation lighter.
"Hey, if you end up in a void, I'll find you just so you know." But he still somehow managed to make me have some faith. Somehow I had a feeling no matter where I ended up, he'd find me to bother me. Even if I ended up in a void. It felt like he was my karma if such a thing existed for us supernatural beings.
I laughed lightly, "No doubt there." I wanted to say something more when suddenly an image of Abaddon popped in my head. I remembered he was a void being and that I recently did meet him. I frowned slightly at the thought, wondering if the vision would come true, if he'd be the one behind it. I was about to tell Loki what had just occurred to me only to remember I made a promise not to tell anyone about Lucifer. There was also a gut feeling telling me to keep this to myself for a while. I knew, however, I had to meet up with Abaddon again.
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Maybe that future is so far before us, you probably won't remember it until you experience it in maybe millions of years." His attempts to cheer me up worked as my mind was finally starting to feel back together. I was also starting to feel like my old self. This was quite a trip, not going to lie.
"You're probably right." I breathed out and felt the last bit of dread leaving me. So many things have tried to kill me since coming here. "I think maybe we should definitely start going back. I feel like if we stay any longer, I will actually end up dead."
"Totally agree." He nodded. "We'll wait until the sun starts rising and we'll immediately start heading back. Well, we'll try. I might have to call up Freyr if we get too lost." I assumed Freyr was the ruler of Alfheim which was why I didn't ask him to elaborate.
"Sounds like a plan. Better yet, summon him as soon as possible. I don't want to stay here longer than I have to." I grumbled. I expected this realm to be a fun time but it only wanted to kill me.
Loki started laughing before replying, "Remember it was your idea."
"Yeah, yeah," I waved in a dismissive gesture towards him. "What are we going to do until then?"
"Do?!" He snorted. "I am going to sleep. You make sure not to fall into a void in the meantime."
"How often do you sleep?!" I exclaimed in disbelief. It looked like he could sleep forever if you let him.
"Unlike you demons, we actually get tired." He shook his head before making a pillow out of his coat and laying his head down. I wasn't going to sleep, I couldn't. There were too many thoughts roaming my head. If I attempted falling asleep, I'd probably end up receiving another Devil's message and I couldn't allow him to reach me.
I picked up Loki's sword that he put beside him on the floor and I walked up to the passageway before sitting down next to it, with the sword next to me. I decided to be a night guard until the sunrise and think about my future. I'd rather be tormented by my own thoughts than someone else's in my sleep.