Chapter 3: Tears of Pain

Loki ran down the rest of the hallway and rushed into Mayura's room. He quickly came to a stop. The room was a mess. Clothes were haphazardly thrown on the floor, and several large stacks of official looking papers were sitting on Mayura's desk. Looking to the other side of the room, Loki saw Mayura's bed with the sheets pushed on the foot or sprawled on the floor. On top without a pillow appeared to be a sleeping Mayura.

"No… no… kami-sama… please… don't take him away…" whimpered Mayura. "Please… don't take him away from me." She began cry.

Timidly, Loki walked over to Mayura and leaned over her bed. Glancing down he saw that her tears were dry. Inspecting closely, Loki noticed that Mayura's checks were bright red and her eyes were puffy. Hair was matted to her face and it looked like she had collapsed of exhaustion.

"Mayura, who are you talking about? No one's going to leave you." Maybe she's remembering when I left? Could this be just a bad dream? Perhaps if I wake her up…

Loki reassured Mayura as he gently shook her. "It's me Mayura… Loki… I'm right here. No one is going to leave you. I… I love you, Mayura papa loves you…"

"Who will take mama's place? Who will take mama's place if you're gone?" Mayura interrupted agitatedly.

Who will take mama's place? She can't be talking about that… could she?

Flashback: Episode 4

"By the way Mayura, what would you like for a birthday present?"

"Let me think. I want to be patted under the beanstalk."

"To be patted under the beanstalk…? There are lots of pine trees in this area, but…"

"That's not it. Patted under the beanstalk."

"Alright, I got it! I'll give it a try."

.

.

.

"Mama, I can't reach the exit… mama… Mayura was a bad girl. Mayura didn't do her best. That's why mama didn't come to see me. Mama! Mama, please come. Mama!"

"Mayura!"

"Papa."

"Can papa take mama's place?"

"Papa?"

Mayura papa is leaving? No, she said 'take away'… "Mayura, wake up, you're just dreaming. Mayura…"

"Who will take mama's place then? No… don't…" Mayura's eyes opened up and brimmed with unshed tears.

"Mayura, you're okay. ............ Mayura, it's me, Loki…"

Mayura turned to look at him. "Loki-kun…" she whispered. "Loki-kun! It can't be true, but it is. He's going away… he's going away. Loki-kun!" Mayura broke down into tears and tightly hugged Loki.

............... too tight… can't breath. Loki's eyes bulged. "Mayura, a little less of a death grip." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. Upon hearing the word 'death' Mayura's grip went completely slack and she cried even harder, if that was possible. Completely distraught, Mayura's body gave out and her weight fell onto Loki. Unsure of what to do, he held Mayura up.

"Calm down Mayura. Shhh, it'll be okay. Calm down and tell me what happened. Maybe I can help, " Loki said into her hair. "Shhh, shhh, its alright, I'm here and you can tell me all about it." He stroked her hair and rubbed her back in a friendly manner. Come on Mayura, calm down, I can't help if you don't tell me. Although it felt like an eternity for Loki before Mayura calmed down, it was in fact only a few minutes.

"Sniff, sniff… thank you Loki-kun. I'm better now, really." Loki let go and Mayura sat back on the bed.

"Please Mayura, tell me what's wrong."

"Its papa, he's in the hospital. He, he, he… the doctors say he's not going to make it." Loki sat on the bed next to Mayura and hugged her. She turned her head, confused at Loki's unusual affection. "Loki-kun, are you okay?" sniffed Mayura.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just worried about you." Why is everyone shocked by my actions today? It's what anyone would do. Do I really come off that uncaring and coldhearted that even my family and friends think I'm acting strange? "What happened?"

"Well, it all started about a month and a half ago. Papa had been complaining about having some serious headaches. I was really worried and told him repeatedly to go to the hospital. A month later he finally decided to go to a doctor. I asked him about what the doctor said, but he always brushed me off. But he was always getting worse and worse… and I didn't notice! I didn't ask. Maybe he would be better if I had paid more attention." Mayura began to cry again.

Mayura…

Flashback: Episode 4

"Mama, I can't reach the exit… mama… Mayura was a bad girl. Mayura didn't do her best. That's why mama didn't come to see me. Mama! Mama, please come. Mama!"

"Mayura!"

"Papa."

"Can papa take mama's place?"

"Papa?"

"Mayura… it's not your fault. You got him to go to the doctor's, there's nothing more that you could have done," stated Loki as he patted her back. "So, what's wrong with Mayura papa? What did the doctor say?"

"I didn't know until he was admitted to the hospital last Thursday. He's got a brain tumor. And there's nothing that the doctors can do about it. It's too big. They've already tried surgery, but they couldn't get it all out. Papa's in constant pain when he's awake now. The doctors say it's only a matter of time. Meanwhile the bills are piling sky high! What am I going to do! Loki-kun!"

"I'll help. I'm sure the bills can't be that bad."

"Go see for yourself. They're on my desk."

"Later. We can do that later when you're feeling better. Okay?"

"Loki-sama, are you in there?" inquired the voice of Yamino.

"Yes, I'm with Mayura in her room!"

"Hey, four-eyes, where are you going?

"Watch out Narugami-tan. Punyaan!!!"

.

.

###Boom###Crunch###Smash###

.

.

Narukami-kun, can't you ever come in without such a… an interesting entrance? Sigh…

"Do they hate me?" whispered Mayura.

"Huh… Does who hate you Mayura?"

"Do the gods hate me? Do they enjoy watching me suffer?"

Oh, Mayura… Of course we don't hate you. I don't hate you. You're the reason why I stayed on Midgard. Why I had a chance to calm down and realize that attacking Odin would only foolishly cause Ragnarok. You're the reason the prophecies of Ragnarok have changed! Of course the gods don't hate you. Most of them wouldn't harm a hair on your head.

"Mayura, do you remember what I said about gods?"

"That they're busy and change their minds?"

"Ummhum… but even if you have their attention and they want to help you… maybe they can't." I would if I could Mayura.

"What do you mean Loki-kun?"

"Well… just because they're gods, it doesn't mean they're all-powerful Mayura. Could you imagine several all-powerful beings wandering around?" Imagine an all-powerful Odin or Heimdall. Eeuughhh. Loki cringed. "And death is one of those universal laws set down before the birth of the world…" Yeah… the nine worlds are made from the dead body of 'The Great Father'… I mean Ymir. I need to work on that. Ymir, Ymir, Ymir. "What do you think would happen if no one died anymore?"

(A/n: Ymir is the ancestor of all the frost giants, therefore "The Great Father". Loki, being the son of two giants would naturally consider Ymir "The Great Father". Yes, Loki is a giant. Just a really, really short one. Especially since his parents were probably about as tall as a 100 story building. In one adventure Loki and Thor camped inside the glove of a giant because they thought it was a cave. However, the frost giants are the mortal enemies of the Aesir and Vanir. (Norse gods) Since Loki is the blood brother of Odin (the head god) Loki is therefore also an enemy of the frost giants. (Being short and the god of fire of course had nothing to do with this… right) So, Loki made a terminology mistake.)

"I didn't say I wanted no one to die… I just don't want papa to die!" wailed Mayura.

"I know, no one wants the ones they love to die. But everyone eventually dies." Even the gods.

"Ah, there you are Loki. Daidouji! Are you all right?" Narugami had finally pulled out of whatever accident he had gotten into. Right behind Narugami was Yamino, Fenrir and unknown to Mayura ecchan. All of them had a bewildered look on them.

"She's alright now Narukami-kun. But I think she needs to take a nap." Loki responded as Mayura yawned. I'm going to have a talk about this with the Norns later. A long talk… a very long talk. "Promise me you'll go to school tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing Loki-kun, I promise." Within five minutes Mayura was fast asleep. Loki carefully disentangled himself as to not wake up Mayura, and motioned for the others to follow him. Loki sat down on a chair while Narugami, Fenrir, and Yamino sat on a couch near by. Ecchan landed on Yamino's head. Yamino, sitting too close to Narugami for comfort, squirmed nervously. They waited patiently for Loki to explain. Loki however just stared into space, not saying a word.

"Loki… Loki… Tell us, what happened in there? What's wrong with Mayura?" demanded Narugami. It seemed that his patience had run out.

"Alright, I'll tell you the condensed version. Mayura papa is dying of a brain tumor and there is nothing that the doctors can do about it. The surgery they tried failed. Mayura, obviously is upset. And to top it off the medical bills are piling up."

Fenrir and Narugami fell anime-style (which is really hard since they were sitting on a couch.) "Loki, a little less blunt next time if you please," responded Narugami.

Unfazed, Yamino-kun pushed his glasses up. "Tomorrow I'll come over and clean up the place for Mayura. Will that be okay, Loki-sama?"