Chapter 4

Soon, Loki and Fenrir returned to the detective agency with Mayura's soul safely in tow.

Together, they went up to the guestroom that Yamino had put Mayura. Taking great care, Loki freed her soul from the prism and placed it back into her body.

Mayura's eyes fluttered and closed tightly as she tried to roll into a little ball from the pain she felt. She felt a kind presence over her, it felt like the time she had met the man who called himself a god. She tried to force herself to open her eyes and look closely at the person above her but could not find the strength to do so.

The presence leaned forward and said quietly, "You should rest." A wave of sleepiness washed over her. Eyes feeling like lead, she fell into a deep, healing slumber.

Yamino moved from behind the door where he was hiding to his father. "Will she be alright?" he asked, worried tones coloring his voice.

Loki looked up at his son, "She should be fine with plenty of sleep. I doubt she'll wake before the evening."

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Images and sounds and sensations passed through her mind as she felt she was suspended in air-no longer suffering from the emptiness that she had been feeling.

Memories slowly came to the surface of her mind-like snapshots of sight, sound, and even smell.

A creature that wanted to use her soul.

The wonderful voice of the man who said he was a god accompanied by what sounded like the bark of little Fenrir.

A feeling of not being able to move.

A warm hand on her head.

Finally, she heard Loki-kun's teasing, but not cruel, voice telling her to wake up.

"Wakey wakey, Mayura. If you don't wake soon, your father will come over and throw a conniption fit because you are late coming home." She could hear the teasing grin in his voice. She could hear the teasing smile in his voice. "It's already time for you to go to bed."

Mayura sat up abruptly and began to panic at the thought of how upset her father would be at her lateness. Then she looked out the window and saw that the sun was still up. Pouting, she allowed herself to fall back on the bad. Mayura made a face at Loki, "Mou, Loki-kun, it's not nice to tease some older than you are," she said as she pushed herself into an upright position.

Abruptly, she leaned over, clenching her head in pain. "Ooooooo," she said, rubbing her forehead, "I have such a headache."

Loki nodded and handed Mayura two aspirin and a glass of water, "I'm not surprised, considering you slipped and hit your head. You're lucky all you have is a headache and not a concussion."

Mayura looked at Loki in surprise, "I hit my head? How? I don't remember hitting my head…," she trailed off as some of the stuff she saw while she was asleep came to mind. She drew her eyebrows together ever so slightly in puzzlement.

Loki frowned in concern. "I supposed it is possible that the hit on your head has made you forget what happened." He shifted his position slightly and began said, "You running around in excitement, yelling about a 'fushugi mystery' and slipped on a pile of leaves."

Loki then gave Mayura a 'look,' "You really should be more careful. If Yamino-kun hadn't heard your exclamation of surprise, you might still be in the unconscious in the forest. Even worse, you might have really gotten hurt and no one would have been around to help you."

Mayura was looking down at the bedding. Loki sighed slightly and shook his head. Nothing will deter Mayura for long. Not even the threat of being seriously hurt. He saw that she still held the aspirin and water. "You do know that medicine works better if you take it, don't you?" he teased.

Mayura looked up at Loki and stuck out her tongue but she followed up by swallowing the aspirin. The expression on her face shifted to a thoughtful one. "Ummm…," she said.

"What?"

"Nothing," Mayura said, shaking her hands in front of her, "I just remembered some weird dreams."

Loki gave her a serious look, "I'll let you go home on one condition. If the pain gets any worse or you start seeing spots, you need to go to the hospital immediately."

Mayura thought about it a moment and nodded in agreement. Then she sat up straighter and then slumped in disappointment. "I never did get to see if the leprechaun appeared or not." She looked at Loki hopefully.

"No, Mayura, I will not go back to the park to look for the leprechaun again. And if you got back looking again, and I will know if you have, I will tell your father about your carelessness today," he threatened.

She wilted in disappointment, remembering from past experience that Loki would know if she did. She asked, "How would you know?"

He gave her a secretive smile and said, "I'm a detective."

Mayura huffed at him, climbed out of bed and left the room quickly. She saw Yamino and thanked him for taking care of her (just to spite Loki who she knew had helped her).

Yamino shook his head and smiled as he watched Mayura leave the house. He turned and saw his father.

Loki wore a speculative look on his face. She was not quite normal. I wonder how much she remembers and if she will ever tell me.

Mayura slowed from her fast walk to a very slow pace as she got further from the detective agency. She remembered snippets of the past day. Much of the day was like a dream to her. What happened today? she thought. Looking at the time, she saw that she still had time to get home in time for supper if she ran.

As before, questions, comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome.

Surprise! I have a sequel planned. It will set out to answer the unanswered questions of this story. So stay tuned. I don't know when its going to come out, so, DON'T TELL ME TO HURRY UP! (doing so makes me angry and would make me procrastinate on writing the new story)