Chapter 5: Inside the Mind of Urd
Daidouji Mayura-san: the girl that Loki-sama stayed on Midgard for, the girl that changed Loki-sama's heart, the girl that changed the prophecies of Ragnarok. Daidouji Mayura-san: the girl that Odin used to talk with Loki-sama that time…
.
"For fortune telling, I believe it would be best to ask about yourself."
"About… myself? Oh, the future! I do want to know about that too. Then… will papa remarry one day? Ummmmm. I'm sorry, please decide for me."
"You seem to be at the right age. How about the love you will face in the future?"
"Oh yes! I'm getting so excited! Ah, it doesn't even have to be a human."
"Then please look inside the crystal ball…
"So… I just peek inside there? Okay."
"What do you see?"
"What do I see… Nothing, really."
"Please look carefully, Daidouji Mayura-san."
It was black, completely black and cold. No, it wasn't even black. It was nothingness. The nothingness faded away, giving way to substance.
At first it was just a blur of colors, swirling around for no apparent reason. But they quickly settled forming a familiar scene. It was one of the many spacious fields within the walls of Asgard. The trees were just being to bloom with the beautiful flowers that promised a bountiful harvest. Zooming in upon the scene, a young woman with pink hair sitting on a bench under a cherry tree became visible. In her arms was a child that looked a little more than a year old.
"You're such a good little boy." The child giggled, waving his tiny hands over his head. "Yes you are. You have such beautiful green eyes, just like your daddy," the woman said adoringly.
"But he has his mother's smile, beautiful from the inside out," came a male's voice from out of view, accompanied by soft footsteps.
"You smile like that too," replied the woman.
"Only since I've met you, love. You're the one who taught me how to smile from the bottom of my heart." The man finally came into view, and sat down on the bench next to the woman. Kissing her temple, he placed his right arm around her waist. He wore a simple red dress-coat and a blue ribbon. His hair was a reddish-brown. "So, how are my two beautiful angels doing today?"
"We're fine. But today is a special day."
"Oh, how so?" inquired the man.
"Timir spoke his first word today. Come on, say mama again. Say mama. Timir, I know you can do it. Try for daddy, okay?"
"Ma...... ma..... mama....... dada." The boy smiled and clapped his hands.
The image once again became blurry and eventually reverted back to the original swirl of colors. Urd then felt Odin take control of the spell that had been placed on Mayura.
(A/n: Valkyries collect half of the souls of brave warriors and bring them to Odin's hall Valhalla. There they drink and feast at night and practice their skills during the day, preparing for the final battle, Ragnarok. The others are brought to Freya and live within her hall. (And yes, Freya is associated with war and is often described as wearing a helmet and upper-body armor while wearing a woman's dress.)
But I didn't have much time to contemplate the vision I had seen. Ragnarok was drawing steadily closer and we had a mission to complete: to kill Loki-sama. But each attempt to kill Loki-sama ended in the same fate, disaster. No matter what we tried, luck seemed to surround Loki. If it wasn't his companions or his cunning intellect, it was a shard of jaki (A/n: evil energy). In fact, I didn't have time to investigate the vision until Verdandi's plan to use Narugami-san to kill Loki was well under way.
The first thing I decided to check was the old prophecy of Loki-sama's marriage to Sigyn-san. Perhaps this was a new variation. Originally we (Verdandi, Skuld and I) foresaw Loki-sama being chained to a rock--while his ever faithful wife Sigyn-san held a bowl over him to catch the poison a giant insect was dropping on Loki-sama—until the day of Ragnarok. And that was the extent that we truly ever bothered looking into Loki-sama and Sigyn-san's relationship. Odin-sama meanwhile became afraid of that prophecy and decided to exile Loki-sama to Midgard in the form of a child. We talked to Odin-sama and explain to him that this might quicken the arrival of Ragnarok, but Odin-sama was confident that he would be able to kill Loki-sama before that occurred. This action destroyed Loki-sama and Sigyn-san's fated marriage. And no new prophecies had been made. So I was back to square one. Who was that woman with Loki-sama?
The next opportunity to ponder the vision was after Loki-sama (of all people) saved us from the plots of Odin-sama and Hel-san. It was during that terrible ordeal that I learned the key to understanding the vision that had eluded me for so long…
"The exit…"
"It's already…"
"Don't give up."
"But the exits have all…"
"Resign yourselves!" screamed a disembodied voice.
"Veeru Ugokurox!" Loki tried to capture the magic within his glass prism.
"It's useless."
"Onee-sama…"
"Skuld… Verdandi…"
"Painful, isn't? Loki… I will not let you die in peace. You will die in deep suffering."
"Who is it?"
"This is the end."
"This is our fate. Sorry Loki-sama, we were wrong."
"Onee-sama…"
"Please forgive us for what we have done till now. Aren't we pathetic…? The goddesses of fate? Being toyed around by fate."
"What happened up to now has nothing to do with fate."
"Eeh?"
"Pull yourselves together! You are all the goddesses of fate! Fate isn't something to be accepted. It is something to be grasped by your own hands! It is not the end yet."
With this new perspective in hand, I once again thought of the vision I saw in the tent with Daidouji Mayura-san. But this time I realized that I didn't see the future, but two probable paths of fate: two probable paths of Daidouji-san's. One path was emptiness, not even the black of unrequited love, but nothingness. I assumed it to be the path towards Ragnarok. The other path before Daidouji-san however, was impossible. Why would Loki-sama love her, and how was she able to live in Asgard? Could Loki-sama truly be falling in love with the girl? Putting my skepticism aside, I decided to watch and see what happened between the two of them.
.
.
.
"Urd, are you okay? You kind of spaced out there for a minute," said a concerned Loki.
"I'm fine Loki-sama. I'm terribly sorry if I worried you. I was just thinking about something. Would you like me to walk you out?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you again Urd."
"Anytime Loki-sama, anytime…"
.
.
.
Interesting, it seems as if my decision to 'wait and see' is going rather well. Who would have thought that he would stay on Midgard for her? Perhaps that vision is less impossible than I thought… it's certainly a good thing that you don't care if the love of your life is human Mayura. And with each passing day the road to Ragnarok is becoming fainter and fainter. It'll probably never completely disappear, but I hope… I will make sure that it never becomes the dominate path again.
Looking back on the visions I saw of Loki-sama and Sigyn-san, I'm glad that their fates do not cross in marriage anymore. Sure, Sigyn-san would have been a faithful wife and supportive of Loki-sama. It's true that she would have stayed by him until Ragnarok. In fact her name means faithful. But I didn't see any love in their relationship. I often saw Loki-sama with one random girl or another. Oh, there was plenty of mutual respect and understanding, but there was no love between the two of them. And neither Sigyn-san nor Loki-sama had a problem with the arrangement. Yet when I think about that vision of Loki-sama and Daidouji-san, I can't help but remember the soft looks and tenderness that passed between them and their young son. Even now when their love is nothing more than a seedling of what it will be… could be, there is a gentle and warm feeling around them. I wonder what might be in store for Sigyn-san now. I hope she finds happiness as well. ............................ Head over heels for a young god named Timir-san huh? The threads of fate have certainly become interesting to one who knows the whole story.
According to Norse Mythology, it was prophesied that Baldur, the god of light, would soon be murdered. Worried about her son, Frig (goddess of the home etc. and the wife of Odin) made all things promise not to harm Baldur. All the stones, plants, earth etc. swore not to harm him. Frig however was not able to get the oath from the mistletoe that grew on the wall of Valhalla to agree. Not worried about the insignificant planet because it was so young and harmless, Frig bragged that nothing could hurt her son. The gods actually found it fun to fire arrows and throw rocks at Baldur, watching them bounce off or change course in mid-air because they had all agreed not to hurt Baldur. Loki however, grew very jealous of the attention Baldur always received. (The gods had stopped associating with Loki due to his prankster/evil ways.) Changing his shape to that of an old maid, Loki snuck into Frig's home and congratulates her effort to save Baldur. He then asks if there was anything that had not agreed to Frig's wishes. Frig then tells Loki about the mistletoe by Valhalla. Quickly leaving Frig's company, Loki picks some of the mistletoe and forms an arrow/dart (depends on which story you read.) Going back to where the other gods were playing, Loki asks Baldur's twin (Hodur) why he wasn't enjoying in the fun too. Hodur replied that since he was blind, he didn't know where Baldur was to throw something at him. Loki promises to point him in the right direction and hands him the mistletoe dart. The aim is true and Baldur falls immediately to the ground dead. Loki had tricked darkness into killing the light. Hodur was quickly killed by Vali in revenge.
All the gods besides Loki were upset that Baldur was killed. So Odin sent the messenger god to the world of the dead to beg Hel to release Baldur. Hel agreed on the condition that all things cried for Baldur's death. Everything was going well since the gods couldn't think of something that wouldn't shed tears for Baldur, the most beloved god. On the way back to Asgard however, they met the giantess named Tork (coal) She claimed that since she had never seen the sun, she had no use for Baldur and would only shed dry tears. Thus, Baldur was forced to stay in the world of the dead. However, it was later found that the giantess Tork was Loki in disguise. Angered at Loki's actions the gods banished Loki from Asgard. Soon after however, the gods realized it was a bad idea to let Loki wonder around Midgard. So Thor (god of Lightening) and some others went to catch Loki. Loki tries to escape by changing himself into a salmon but is unsuccessful. Forced to return to his normal form, Loki is chained to a rock under a poisonous insect. Sigyn, Loki's ever faithful wife stays with Loki holding a bowl over him. Only when she must empty the bowl does any poison hit Loki. At those times, the Norse believed terrible earthquakes and fissures occurred.
Please do not read this paragraph if you do not like gory information. The gods knew that no ordinary metal chain would hold Loki captive. So they transformed Vali (Loki's newborn son—not the same Vali that killed Hodur) into a wolf and had him cut out the entrails of his twin brother Narvi. Narvi's entrails were then used to tie Loki to the stone. Still fearing that Loki could still escape, the gods turned Narvi's entrails into metal, hopefully preventing Loki from ever escaping.
At the time of Ragnarok, the chains binding Loki and Fenrir will break. The Midgard Serpent will rise from the sea and Loki will lead the giants to destroy Asgard. Heimdall will blow the horn Giallar and announce the beginning of Ragnarok. Heimdall will kill Loki, and Loki will kill Heimdall. Thor will kill the Midgard Serpent, but die of its poison. Fenrir will kill Odin and Fenrir will be killed by Vidar. After the horrors of Ragnarok, two humans will survive to continue mankind as well as a few less important gods. Baldur will be resurrected. If you want more detailed information about the battle Ragnarok itself and the names/descriptions of many of the Norse gods, read malkia-azrael's "Dearest".