Author's Note: In case you forgot:
"This is Japanese."
"This is English."
"This is Norwegian."
"This is Old Norse."
Chapter 35: Day 2, 3... and 4
They're second day in Norway began the planned sightseeing around Oslo. They first went to the National Theatre and saw the statues of Bjornstierne Bjornson, the writer of the Norwegian National Anthem and a receiver of the Nobel Prize for literature. In the same complex they saw Rococo Hall which was built to stage Norway's most famous writer Henrik Ibsen's plays.
"Imagine a whole hall built just so your plays could be performed! He was a real good writer!"
"Mayu-chan, do you know who he is? Read any of his works?"
"No"
Thought so
They next went to Akershus Fortress. "Loki, what does the plaque say?"
"Akershus Fortress is Norway's most important medieval monument - built around 1300. Overlooking the harbor, the fortress is used today for state occasions. The Akershus Castle contains dungeons, plush upper floors with banquet halls and staterooms, and the chapel used for royal events. The chapel holds the crypts of King Haakon VII and King Olav V."
"Dungeons, royal crypts... Fushigi Mystery! Loki let's go on the tour. I want to see the dungeons."
"Where to next Mayu-chan?
"To the Royal Palace!"
"And then something to eat."
"After that, there's only one more place we intended to see today... the City Hall."
"Come on... if we hurry, we can get to the palace in time to see the changing of the guard at 1:30," added Loki after he seeing the time in a shop window. "It's only up Karl Johan Street."
"Who was that?"
"The king of Sweden and Norway from 1818 to 1844, but the palace wasn't finished until 1848."
"Thank you encyclopedia Loki."
"Yea! This plaque is written in English... "City Hall: This mod... modern twin-towered landmark was opened in 1950 to celebrate the city's 950th anniversary." Mayura turned to Loki, "Wow... this city is really old! They know that it was called Oslo and was right here since 1000 AD!" Mayura went back to reading, "It's inter... interior has colourful frescos and murals depicting daily life, Viking gods, and Norwegian cultural figures. Loki, what does colourful mean?"
"Colorful Mayu-chan, you just learned the American spelling of the word and they're using the British spelling."
"Oh, okay. Many leading Norwegian painters and scul... sculp..."
"Sculptors"
"I would have gotten it meanie!" retorted Mayura sticking out her tongue at him. "... sculptors cont...ri...buted... contributed to the decorations. The Nobel Peace Prize is handed out in the Main Hall each December." Mayura looked towards the walls on the far side. "These must be the murals they were talking about. I wonder were he is?"
"Where who is Mayu-chan?"
"Loki-sama, the plaque said that they had murals of the Viking gods. One of them has to have a picture of Loki-sama right? Even if he's not really well liked, he's an important god you know."
"I know Mayu-chan, I know. Ah... over here Mayu-chan."
"Where? Let me see." Mayura giggled, "They got his hair color wrong." Reaching up, she grabbed a little of Loki's hair and placed it in front of the mural, dragging Loki's head along with it. "Nope, definitely the wrong color."
"Warn me next time you want to drag my hair somewhere, will you? And it would be the right color if his hair was full of dust."
"Why isn't he wearing the same type of clothing as the other gods?"
"He wasn't the warrior type. Not that he couldn't fight or defend himself, he was just..."
"More of the rambunctious stable boy type, who never liked to take a bath?" inquired Mayura. "Now I know why Loki's day of the week was also called washing day... because his bath must have been a major production!" she teased.
Loki laughed haltingly. Mayu-chan, why do you have to be so insightful with anything embarrassing?! He thought sweat-dropping.
Back in the hotel room, Loki and Mayura were relaxing after an enjoyable day. "Where are we going tomorrow Loki?"
"The Norwegian Folk Museum, here's a broacher I found in Japanese if you want to read about it," answered Loki handing her the pamphlet.
Curious, Mayura began to read, "Imagine a museum where you can "tour" much of Norway in a day! At Norsk Folkemuseum - the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, Norway in a nutshell is presented with 150 houses and numerous exhibitions from all major regions. The open-air display includes wooden barns, stables, storehouses and dwellings from the 17th - 19th century. Here is also the famous 800 year old Stave Church from Gol. Various home crafts are demonstrated, including weaving, sewing and national costumes. Ongoing events during summer include folk dance, concerts, etc. The main building has displays of national costumes, Henrik Ibsen's study, Sami crafts and much more..."
---Two Days Later---
"Where are all the tourists Loki? I thought you said this was one of Norway's most popular tourist attractions."
"It is Mayu-chan, but the tourist season ends tomorrow, and a lot of the tourists have already stopped coming for the year. And we didn't get here when the Hadeland Glassworks opened, so probably most of the tourists are already inside."
"Well then, let's get going," stated Mayura dragging Loki behind her.
"Mayura! Hold up!"
"That's a really pretty pink candle you dyed Mayu-chan."
"Thanks, I was planning on giving it to Skuld-chan in gratitude for all the photography she did for our wedding, and for all the film she gave me for this trip. She was real insistent too. 'Now Mayura-chan, you have to use this film got it? Only this film will do the best job, you here me?'" imitated Mayura. "And she threatened me that if I didn't take a lot of pictures, she'd... she'd read my diary!"
"I'm sure she'll love the souvenir, and it is true that Skuld is the photographer of the family. But you're going to have to thank Verdandi for the film; she's the one who supplies Skuld with it." I'll have to thank you too Verdandi, I don't want to know how much time it must have taken to make all that film.
"We'll have to get Verdandi-san something then too... Do you think she would like a blue candle? Then we could get an orange candle for Urd-san and they could have a set!"
And knowing the Norns, they'll think it's cute. "Sure Mayu-chan, sounds like a good idea to me. You make the blue one, and I'll make the orange one."
"Wow! Your vase came out perfectly straight, not like mine," pouted Mayura holding up a slightly deformed vase of light blue glass."
"Well, I don't think laughing while blowing the glass is a recommended procedure," replied Loki with a smirk.
"You don't have to point it out!"
"Why not? Maybe you could sell as a modern art? If people will buy splatter painting for hundreds of thousands of dollars; why not your piece of work? You only need the right kind of advertising," he teased.
"Meanie," replied Mayura, once again sticking her tongue out at him.
"Don't do that Mayu-chan. You'll give me ideas on what I could be doing with it. And all of them are rather enjoyable," Loki spoke softly while smiling flirtatiously.
"L... L... Loki!" sputtered Mayura.
"But," continued Loki flipping her nose, "if you want to see a real masterpiece of glasswork, you have to watch them work," he stated pointing to the floor below from the balcony like area they were standing.
"Awe, there's too many people to see anything. I still think their work is pretty, even if I can't see them do it," Mayura sighed depressed. "Huh...? Why doesn't he have anyone around him? Come on Loki, let's go talk to him."
"Another cracked work... What have I done to annoy you? I've never seen you so temperamental before. Your mood so fickle and destructive..." conversed the master glassblower to himself.
"Umm... excuse me sir. Can we talk to you, or will it bother you?" asked Loki politely.
The master turned around to face Loki and Mayura. "No, not at all... please take a seat if you want to watch. My name is Anders."
"My name is Loki, and this is my wife Mayura."
"Mayura isn't a name from around here. May I ask where you're from?"
"I'm from around here, but Mayura is Japanese."
"Can you speak English Mayura? My name's Anders by the way."
"I can, if you speak slowly enough. Why aren't there tourists around here like all the other master glassblowers?" asked Mayura bluntly.
"I haven't had good luck with my work recently. Everything has been coming out cracked," he answered holding up his latest cracked work. "Some say I've lost my knack, but it's not that... I've lost the connection with my partner. That's what's destroying my work."
"You're partner? Who?" Mayura questioned.
"He's always there when I work. In fact, you're looking right at him."
"But no one's there!" "Fushigi mystery! The ghost partner! Or perhaps it's more like a spirit... maybe a wisp," rambled Mayura.
"Do you mean the fire?" Loki asked incredulously. Mayura stopped rambling at Loki's words.
"Huh? I don't get it."
"People used to say that I was the most gifted glassblower the company had seen since the time of my grandfather. But the truth is... he taught me how to interpret the mood of the fire."
"You mean it gets happy and sad?" asked Mayura excitedly.
"In a way... a fire could be playful or serious... mischievous or sincere... And my grandfather's first rule was to never try to make a piece that was contrary to the mood of the fire. Sure, you can produce beautiful creations... but never a masterpiece. A true masterpiece comes from when you and the fire as one pour emotions into the glass. It's not from the glass itself, or craftsmanship... it's when you can look a creation and see life seeming to glow from within it. That's a masterpiece, and anything else is just a beautiful lump of melted sand."
"You seem to understand the fire so well, what's the problem then?" inquired Loki.
"We lost our closeness, that bond between friends... and I don't know how to get it back. It has become as fickle as the wind and cracks all my attempts. I can't even make beautiful lumps of melted sand..." Anders sighed.
Puffing her checks, Mayura strode towards the fire and placed her hands on her hips. "What's the meaning of this? Anders is one of your good friends. Is this how you treat him, hmm? Is this how you treat friends? Would you rather have no friends and only be seen as an enemy? Something that brings destruction in its wake? You're the force that keeps everyone warm and safe... that mikos pray upon and lovers cast their wishes before." Mayura turned her back and continued to speak, "But, do as you like. It's not my place to force you into making beautiful works of art that brings joy to the hearts of others." And with those final words she sat back down.
"I don't know what you said Mayura, but the fire seems to be quite taken by you. Perhaps you have the same gift. You could be quite a glassblower if you practiced." Anders stared intently at the fire. "Yes, let's try that..." he spoke more to himself than anyone else, or perhaps it was to the fire. Whomever he was talking to however didn't really matter as Anders began to work. Mayura watched enthralled as seeming did Loki. But something else besides fascination with Anders' work was running through his head.
What happened back there? Did Mayura really talk to that fire? But... that's impossible. She can't see or hear the spiritual world. And even if she could, I highly doubt she would be able to touch the elemental level. Not even all the gods can do that. And even the gods can only touch an element, or at most closely related ones. I'm sure if Thor tried he could command fire, just as I can control lightening... But then why did the fire calm down and become almost remorseful during Mayura's impromptu lecture? Could I have done something without realizing it? Perhaps her words where heeded to in deference to my relationship with her? But the fire shouldn't have been able to hear her... Loki's thoughts continued to loop around themselves in similar fashion.
Placing the finishing touch on his work, Anders moved the newly created glass sculpture away from the heat to harden. "There now, it should be cool enough to handle now. So what do you think Mayura? Like it?"
"It's beautiful! A swan right?"
"Indeed it is missy. Here... hold it."
"It looks so fragile, and yet I could swear it was going to fly right off my hand!" "Fushigi mystery!"
"Not the greatest in craftsmanship, but a masterpiece none the less... and I owe it all to you Mayura. Please accept this glass swan as a token of my appreciation."
"But... but sir! I couldn't, it must be valuable enough to sell."
"True, I could get a handsome sum for that little swan there... but, without you that swan would never have been possible. Nor is that a gift from just myself. My partner put in as much effort as I. And for truth, there is no other way we can repay our gratitude."
"I accept your generous offer. I just wish I could repay you with more than just words..."
"You have done more than enough already. I wouldn't wish to be in your debt!" he laughed in good humor.
"Should we go Loki?"
"Yes, we probably should. It's getting late if we plan to eat dinner at a reasonable hour," he replied standing up.
"You and food... Who needs a clock when we have your stomach to keep time?" teased Mayura.
"Haha... is there anything wrong with enjoying regular meal times? At least Narukami-kun agrees with me." Loki turned his head to look back at Anders' fire and whispered under his breath in Old Norse, "Creation is more powerful than destruction." With that, he turned back around and left the Hadeland Glassworks with Mayura.
Author's Note: That was definitely a hard chapter to write, but the glassworks part was really fun too. All the places the Loki and Mayura went to are in the downtown Oslo area. But since I haven't been to Norway, all the writing about Hadeland Glassworks is fictional as is the descriptions of the murals in The City Hall. However, anything that sounded like 'boring facts' is true. And all the plaques Loki and Mayura read were actually the paragraph descriptions of the places I got from www. norway. com (remove spaces) But it is true that you can dye your own candles and blow your own glass at Hadeland Glassworks. The part about the master glassblowers was a fiction however. (As far as I know)
Loki's day of the week is Saturday—day of recreation, god of recreation—makes sense to me. In England it was once commonly called 'washing day'. But that has nothing to do with Loki's dislike of water (or baths in my story).
To Amaya Shinkuyoake: You're so right. Thanks for the compliment on the recreationist stuff. And yes, I did research for it too.
To LittleGreenWolf: Hope this chapter was just as cute.
To Bibliomaniac:
1. I added the "in Old Norse" for you. I put the language information at the beginning because it gets rather tedious and hard to read if I described what language they were speaking in. I realize that four languages is a lot. But if Loki and Mayura really did go to Norway for a honeymoon, they'd have to deal with the four way language barrier. I thought including that difficulty would make the story seem more realistic.
2. Misaodatter means 'daughter of Misao'. In Old Norse that would be Mayura's full name—Mayura Misaodatter. Unlike nowadays, Viking women did not change their last names when they got married. They didn't have "last names", only a second name to clarify their parentage and perhaps a third if they came from a specific region or farm. If Mayura lived at a farm called Glenwood, she might be known as Mayura Misaodatter Glenwood. Get it? I wrote about this in an earlier author's note, but I really should have re-informed the readers about it. Gomen.
3. Unfortunately it's more complicated than Odin just saying okay. Poor Loki and Mayura.
To Ytak: Your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Thank you.
To Malster: Glad you liked the chapter. Hope you liked this one just as much.
To No 1 You Know: Fluffy stuff is good.