Chapter 37: Questions and Answers
It was only five o'clock in the morning, but Mayura didn't care what time it was as she ran into Loki's bedroom. Climbing onto the bed she hugged Loki tightly in fear. "Loki-sama... please... make it go away."
"Unhh... whaa? Mayura?" asked Loki opening up his eyes groggily. He hadn't been sleeping well—worried as he was about Mayura—and consequently her near death grip had woken him up. "Make what go away?"
"The funny feeling things moving all around the house," replied Mayura.
Loki sat up and yawned. Giving his eyes a final rub Loki looked at Mayura and asked, "Can you say that again now that I'm awake..." Loki yawned again, "More awake?"
"The funny feeling things moving all around!" Mayura hadn't let go of her death grip, although she had changed positions as Loki had sat up.
"Huh? There isn't anything moving..." Loki paused to concentrate. "Oh... you mean them. I don't even notice it anymore..."
"What are they?"
Loki placed his chin on Mayura's head and slowly began to stroke her hair. "They're just benign spirits that hide during the darker hours of the night under the house's wards and leave again at the first sign of false dawn. I don't even pay attention to their movements anymore. If the wards let them through, they're not a threat."
"But they feel so... strange." Mayura loosen her grip and leaned into Loki's chest.
Loki let out a sigh of relief as he felt Mayura relax. "I'm sure a lot of things feel funny, and it'll be that way until you've learned what their auras are supposed to feel like."
"Everything does feel funny. The kitchen, my old bedroom, the bathroom, your study... this room... And they all feel funny differently! Why can't they all have only one funny feeling?!"
"You can feel the aura of individual rooms?"
"Yes, the funny feeling..."
"Aura," Loki interrupted.
"The aura is different in each room."
"And how do they make you feel... emotionally?"
"Safe, warm... protected..." listed Mayura as she nuzzled into Loki's chest. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her to bring Mayura closer to him.
"Do these feelings make you scared?"
"No... they make me happy."
"Then there's nothing to be afraid of is there?"
Mayura lifted up her head to look at Loki in the eyes. "No... I guess not..."
Loki smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Now let's go back to bed hmm? You can ask me more questions after seven o'clock and breakfast okay?" Loki yawned loudly and dragged Mayura down onto the bed with him. Feeling safe from all the new and strange auras around her, Mayura fell asleep in Loki's arms.
Yamino walked into Loki's bedroom—well Loki's and Mayura's bedroom—at seven o'clock as always. He was a little bit surprised to see Mayura there that morning, since he knew that she had asked to sleep in her old room last night. However, he was no where near as surprised—or embarrassed—as he was the first time he had found Mayura sleeping with Loki. That day he had gone into Mayura's bedroom first to wake her up and found an empty room and an un-slept in bed. Fearing the worst, he ran into Loki's room only to find the two sleeping peacefully in each other's arms and clothes haphazardly thrown on the floor. Yamino laughed, remembering the look on Mayura's face when she had woken up. He also recalled his father's smirk at his obvious surprise and embarrassment—or perhaps his father was just very pleased with himself. Either way, Yamino had decided it was better not to ask. "I should have been expecting it though... they had been engaged for two weeks already by then," he said to himself as Yamino pulled open the window curtains. "Loki-sama, Mayura-san, it's seven o'clock. Morning has arrived. Today for breakfast are Belgium waffles with strawberries. Please ready yourselves for the day. Breakfast will be on the table." That said, Yamino left the room for the two to get dressed.
Entering the kitchen, Mayura once again saw ecchan and Fenrir. "Good... good morning ecchan. Good morning Fenrir," stated Mayura politely and as confidently as possible.
"Good morning mommy and daddy."
"Good morning Mayura-chan... Loki-tama."
"Good morning Fenrir, and good morning to you too ecchan.
Mayura was half way through her breakfast before she commented, "Loki-sama, why do..." Mayura paused and then rushed on, "Why isn't Narugami-kun... I mean Thor-sama here today? He's almost never is late."
Again with the Loki-sama? "Narukami-kun offered to do a few things for me today Mayu-chan, so he probably won't be here for breakfast at all. But don't' worry, he'll be here for dinner as usual."
"Ah" Mayura looked down at her plate and stared at it.
"Mayu-chan, what did you really want to ask?"
She was silent for a little while before speaking. "Why do the rooms have different auras Loki-sama?" she asked looking back up.
"Each room has its own distinct aura because different people use each room for different purposes and different emotions are associated with each task or make-up of occupants. So the room's aura is basically the long term residue of emotions and personality left in the room."
"Is that why sometimes people walk into a room and immediately for no good reason dislike it, or fall in love with it?"
"Ummhmm" agreed Loki. "A room's aura isn't permanent either. The aura changes according to the current actions or feelings in the room as well. New strange emotions in a room feel sharp and disjointed. But these are also very weak and you may or may not be able to perceive them. And even if you can, you'll have to concentrate on feeling the room's aura... or at least I do. Perhaps it comes much easier to Verdandi since she is the fate of the present," mused Loki. "Does that make sense?"
"Sort of, but how do you know if I can sense the constantly changing part or not?"
"Once you've become familiar with the room's general aura either you'll be able to sense it or not. Only time will tell."
"Oh, okay. Why was Narugami-kun shocked when..."
Loki cut Mayura off. "Mayu-chan, it looks like Yamino-kun wants to clean off the table. Why don't we go into the study and you can continue to ask me questions there. I have a few questions of my own to ask you."
"Sure. Yamino-san, you don't need any help do you?"
"Not right now Mayura-san. Besides, the conversation with you're having with Loki-sama is much more important. Nii-san and punyaan-san can help me."
"Okay"
Seated comfortably in Loki's study Mayura began her barrage of questions once again. "Loki-sama, why was Thor-sama so shocked when you said I communicated with Master Glassblower Anders' fire? I was... it was just something silly I did. Wasn't it?"
"Before I answer that Mayura, I have a question for you. Have you decided how you want to deal with your new ability?" he asked looking directly at her.
"Yes. I was thinking about it for a long while last night. And I realized I had two important decisions to make. I... I've made my mind up about one, but not the other yet." Mayura paused and fidgeted with the rug on the floor before she looked up back up with determination. "I'm not going to pretend the spirit world doesn't exist. I've always believed in it when I couldn't see it, and to run away now that I can would be hypocritical, even though a lot of it may be scary... really scary."
"You realize that your choice will require you to learn about and met things that will probably frighten you?"
"Yes"
"Alright Mayura, I respect your decision. Narukami-kun was shocked at my statement, because what you did wasn't silly at all. Or rather—what you did would normally be considered very silly, except for the fact that it worked." Loki paused to let what he just said sink in. "Elemental magic is very difficult and only a select few of the gods can use it. And even for the gods capable of using elemental magic, they can only command a single element or perhaps very tentatively a related element. Get this so far?"
"Uhuh"
"As the god of fire, I can naturally use fire elemental magic. Since lightening is very close to fire—Thor can command fire under the right conditions just as I can command lightening. But you... you shouldn't be able to communicate with the elements at all. And yet, somehow you did."
"Is that bad?"
"No... just not expected. You might not have done anything at all. It's possible the fire began to behave because it felt my presence, or perhaps it paid attention to you because of your close relationship with me. You didn't really command it either... it was more like you gave it a stern scolding and it felt ashamed." Loki paused in contemplation. "There have been extremely powerful mortals that have been able to receive messages by staring into the flames of scared fires. That's low level elemental magic..."
"How will we find out if I used fire magic or not?" inquired Mayura.
"That's what we'll hopefully learn with everyone tonight. What your new abilities are how powerful they are without conducting a lot of messy and potentially dangerous live tests." More importantly though, I hope we can figure out where these abilities have mysteriously come from... and for how long they've been growing already.
"Loki-sama..." Mayura started.
Loki grabbed her wrist and turned her towards him. "Why are you calling me Loki-sama?!"
"Because you're a god, Loki-sama. It would be rude to call you anything else."
"You don't have to call me that Mayu-chan. Narukami-kun just calls me Loki you know."
"But Loki-sama, Thor-sama is another god and your best friend. Skuld-sama, Urd-sama, and Verdandi-sama even call you Loki-sama, Loki-sama," rushed Mayura. Loki's eyes had begun to swirl after hearing 'sama' so many times in the four seconds Mayura took to speak.
"Loki-sama... are you alright?"
"Ulllghhh..." was his only reply.
As Narugami had promised, he had informed all of the gods currently on Midgard of the meeting taking place at Loki's house. He had even told Heimdall, despite the enmity towards each other, he knew that Loki would grudgingly deal with Heimdall's presence in order to learn more about the unusual recent events. The Norns were the first to arrive—after Narugami of course, but he had come early enough to eat dinner. Next to arrive was Freya, who was trying to look happy and failing miserably since she kept sighing as she stared at the wedding ring on Loki's finger. And last were Freyr and Heimdall— who was dragged in by Freyr.
Yamino had brought them all into the formal dinning room since it was the only room that had a table large enough to sit everyone comfortably besides the main dinning hall. But Yamino had thought that room to be too big.
"I guess we should start with formal introductions for Mayura." Loki motioned to his right. "This is Thor, god of thunder and lightening."
"Justice and the common worker!" added Narugami.
"To his right is Verdandi, one of the Norns and Fate of the Present. Next to her is her sister Skuld, the Fate of the Future."
"Hi Mayura-chan..." replied Skuld sheepishly.
"And to Skuld's right is Urd, the eldest of the Norns and Fate of the Past. To your left is Freyr, the god of fertility and the harvest. To his left is Heimdall..." Loki paused here, trying to keep and sarcasm out of his voice. "...guardian of the Bifrost Bridge and god of schemes. Last but not least is Freya, goddess of love, fertility, and maternity.
"Where, where? I don't see Freya-chan anywhere!"
"Onii-sama!!"
Freyr turned his head to look at Freya. "But that's Reiya-chan. This Freyr is confused! Why do people keep calling Reiya-chan Freya-chan's name? Besides, Reiya-chan is too nice to be Freya-chan—as much as I love her."
"Onii-sama!!" yelled Freya as she snapped her fingers causing pots and pans to fall on Freyr's head. "I am Freya!"
"Freyr you idiot! Reiya is Freya! Remember when Odin punished Freya for speaking up on Loki's behalf?" yelled an annoyed Heimdall. He wasn't in a very good mood to begin with, dragged into his—not closest of friend's house. And then forced to listen to Freyr's stupidity... Let's just say he was short tempered.
"Yes, that's when Freyr went looking for Freya-chan."
"That was her punishment! He sent her down to Midgard to be Reiya. Originally without any memories of you or Asgard you imbecile!"
"Oh, but Freya-chan's alright now?"
"Yes," Heimdall sighed. Mayura began to giggle, unable to contain it anymore. "But Loki, you missed an introduction. Mayura, sitting right next to you and the guy you married under false pretenses is Loki, the god of evil, chaos, trickery..."
"I think it would be best to start this meeting with Loki-sama telling us about last morning," interrupted Urd, trying to begin what was likely to be a very long meeting.
"Last morning, around ten o'clock I guess... ecchan had come in to great us back from our honeymoon..." Loki stopped.
"It's not fair!" grumbled Freya childishly.
They waited for Freya to finish pouting... "As I was saying, ecchan came in and landed on my head. Mayura had taken a great fascination to the top of my head and I was clueless as to what she was looking at. When she placed her hand down over my head, I realized that her had hadn't gone through ecchan—although it should have. That's how both Mayura and I realized she could see ecchan. Fenrir came in soon after and Mayura was able to hear his speech. At that point Mayura fainted from the shocking events."
"Have you learned anything more about Mayura-san's abilities since last morning?" questioned Urd, unofficially becoming the meeting's officiator.
"She's able to sense the benign spirits that seek refugee under the house's wards during the deep night, and she's also able to sense a room's aura. I haven't shown her any evil energy yet, so I don't know how she fares with that. The other event that might deal with Mayura's abilities is too unreliable to bring up at a meeting such as this."
"Fair enough, thank you Loki-sama. Verdandi, could you please tell us what you've discovered?"
"Last night I took a hair and blood sample of Mayura-san after we had decided to call this meeting. And I noticed something strange in a test I almost didn't bother to perform."
"Stop the melodrama Verdandi and get on with it!" insisted Freya.
"Mayura-san had a growth pattern and as an adult had a natural cell deterioration pattern of a mortal female until about five months ago."
"What do you mean?" asked Loki worriedly.
"Five months ago, the reproduction of Mayura's cells became erratic. Sometimes causing almost no errors at all, while at other times creating three or four times the expected amount."
"What does that have to do with anything Verdandi?" asked Heimdall annoyed. "We're here to figure out what weird powers Loki's mortal has picked up somewhere."
"Verdandi-chan, could you explain that in understandable Japanese? No scientific mumbo-jumbo please," commented Thor.
"Cell deterioration, or the errors cells make in reproducing themselves, is what makes humans age after they've reached maturity. As the errors build up, the cells don't work as well anymore and is perceived as old age. Nor are the cells able to reproduce as fast anymore, forcing imperfect cells to work longer, and injuries are not healed as quickly either."
"I still don't see..."
"Gods don't have cellular deterioration, and any imperfections gained over time are fixed by Idun's apples. In other words, gods never gain the imperfections that cause old age."
"So you mean Mayura-san was aging really slowly and then really fast back and forth for the last five months," asked Thor.
"Exactly, but that alone didn't mean much since it could just be a peculiarity, since her erratic aging balanced out to a little less than average. Mayura-san, how old are you?" questioned Verdandi as politely as possible.
"Twenty-four, almost twenty-five," replied Mayura embarrassed. Everyone around her looked younger than her now—the oldest being Freyr who looked to be about twenty-three—and yet they had lived and would live eons beyond her.
"According to the blood sample I took last night, your twenty-three right now Mayura-san, with no signs of continuing aging. In fact, you're still getting younger."
"But... but that's impossible! You can't age backwards! How could I be getting younger?!"
"We... I don't know..." Verdandi answered.
"We do have an idea however, but we have no idea what it means or what it really is. That's why we asked for this meeting to be called," informed Urd. "We noticed it a year and a half ago, but it wasn't causing any harm so we didn't bother to really investigate it."
"We nicknamed it 'the bond.' It was... I don't really know what it is... but it's some kind of connection between Loki-sama and Mayura-chan. During their... umm, nasty break-up it snapped, and Mayura-chan and Loki-sama started to act really weird," supplied Skuld.
Loki looked at the Norns questioningly, but Thor answered for them. "When you were really depressed and reciting poetry Loki."
"Oh"
"When they got back together," continued Thor, "the 'bond' had been reconnected."
"Verdandi, could you make a vision of the 'bond' in the tea cup. It'll probably be the most stable and strongest right now. I'll project it in the center of the table so everyone can see."
It took a bit of time and coordination between Verdandi and Urd, but they were finally able to project the 'bond' in the center of the table. Freya immediately jumped back in surprise when she saw the 'bond' Thor and the Norns were talking about. "That's... that's a lover's link!" she exclaimed.
"A what?" Thor asked.
"A lover's link. Generally it's used when two people are too stubborn to accept what they're feeling. You know... the couples that swear they hate each other and end up marrying? The lover's link allows small bits of emotions from each party to the other in order to, well... jump start their love life! It's removed however, soon after they realized their feelings for each other."
"But you didn't make a link between Loki-sama and Mayura-chan did you?" inquired Skuld.
"No... not like they needed it anyway. Besides, I won't have left it for so long."
"Why does it matter how long it's been there Freya?" asked Hemidall, actually interested in the conversation.
"Everyone's soul is looking for companionship. That's the reason we love. Given a connection such as a lover's link and enough time... two souls will slightly join together until they both consider the other's soul their own as well. Separation at that point would be impossible. I avoid connecting two souls together for too long because even at the lower levels of connection it's extremely painful for both if something doesn't work out or one of them dies."
"But Freya-chan, only you can create a lover's link. How did Loki and his Yamato Nadeshiko become connected if you didn't connect them?"
"That's not completely true onii-sama. Under the right conditions, the lovers themselves can create a link between their souls. Or rather, some large event causes their souls to touch and for one reason or another they don't let go. These lovers are commonly known as soul-mates. On very rare occasions, their souls had already begun to combine before they're lovers at any sort of level."
"I'm soul-mated with Mayu-chan? Why didn't I notice?" Loki asked blinking.
"It's a very gradual thing Loki-kun. The links I make are so slight that I need to put my energy signature on them on order to find them later when they need to be broken. Urd, how old is their link?"
"Seven and a half years or older now. I know it's at least been around since Loki-sama almost left to return to Asgard."
"If you could see it then, it most have been formed much earlier. Loki-sama, was there anytime you touched Mayura-chan's soul?" questioned Freya.
"There was that time with the copying curse..."
"No, not strong enough," she replied shaking her head.
"I ah... before even Freyr had found me, I had taken Mayu-chan and Mayura papa into their memories from ten years ago... now eighteen years ago," Loki answered squinting his eyes in consentration.
"That would do it. Did you love her Loki-kun?" Freya asked softly.
"I... I don't know. She was cute and annoying. Ever so annoying."
"I noticed you starting to like her way back with the tree of the gods incident Loki. And I heard from ecchan that you helped Mayura-san out on her math test the next day even though you had claimed you didn't care if she didn't come to the detective agency for a whole month. That you won't miss her... that you wouldn't cry..." goaded Thor.
"I would have missed her... even back then. But not the way you're thinking Narukami-kun!"
"I wasn't thinking anything Loki. What was your dirty mind thinking of?"
"Thor!!"
"Ah hem... Loki-sama seemed quite content getting glomped by Mayura-san when he told her he was keeping nii-san. Tea and cake anyone?" Yamino smiled.
Loki turned his head to get away from the smirk on everyone's face in the room, and noticed that Mayura wasn't blinking. "Mayu-chan, Mayu-chan... This is Loki, come in Mayu-chan," he teased waving his hand in front of her face. Although she blinked, she still had a dazed expression on her face. "Alright, I'm going to have to eat your cake then..." he threatened playfully. Narugami and Yamino weren't fazed at all by Loki's actions, being used to Loki's new behavior. The other gods' reactions however, ranged from mild amusement to total disbelief—Heimdall was in the later category.
All of a sudden Mayura burst out, "I didn't glomp Loki-kun! It's not my fault that Loki-kun was so short that any hug looked like a glomp. Loki-kun was so short he almost didn't need to bend over to look under my skirt!" Mayura paused and continued in a much quieter and a slightly nervous voice, "you didn't though, right?" Loki looked away biting his lip guiltily. "Loki-sama!"
"It's not my fault your skirt was at eye level. I was bound to see a flash or two."
"That's... that's why you started to read lying down on the couch isn't it?!" Mayura retorted sputtering.
"That skirt was so short! It was too tempting!" responded Loki in vindication. The room burst out into laughter at Loki's and Mayura's antics. "Anyway," he whispered in her ear, "I can still see under your skirt lying down on that couch, and now I'm allowed to do so any time I want to."
"Perverted Loki-sama!" The room rose up in laughter again. It was several minutes before any serious conversation resumed.
"Although it explains the slight changes in personality... it doesn't explain Mayura-chan's new abilities," mused Freya.
"What does... what doesn't?" asked Freyr confused.
"The lover's link, it isn't strong enough to transfer that kind of energy... not without Loki-kun purposely sending it.
"So it looks like we're back to square one," Skuld sighed.
"It does appear that way," commented Heimdall moodily.
"Mayura-san, when did these abilities start to appear? Was it gradual, or did you all of a sudden see ah... ecchan?" questioned Urd.
"A little bit after we got engaged, but it wasn't until after the wedding that I saw ecchan clearly." Mayura admitted.
"So that's why you were blinking and shaking your head all that time. Why didn't you tell me?" asked Loki.
"I... I was afraid I was going insane or something, but I convinced myself I was just nervous or worked up about the upcoming wedding."
"Urd, bring up a vision of Loki-sama's and Mayura-san's engagement night. With oaths of promised marriage and expectant feelings between the two of them, it might have been enough to transfer abilities," commented Skuld excitedly.
"That's right. I used the powerful feelings of a bride to trap Loki-sama not that long ago. And if they were using their own feelings... the magic would have been much stronger," added Verdandi.
"Loki-sama, Mayura-san, you don't mind do you?"
"I don't Urd. Mayu-chan?"
"No... if it will help everyone to figure out what happened." She was however blushing furiously.
The projected image flickered for a moment before the events of six months ago appeared. All the females sighed as they watched Loki propose to Mayura and when he asked her to dance in the shrine gardens. They became quiet as the conversation between Loki and Mayura became softer.
"I wish we could dance like this every April for eternity," mumbled the projected image of Loki.
"To do that, we'd only need to borrow the power of a god," giggled the projected image of Mayura in response.
The image faded with Mayura and Loki dancing together.
"So I did send it. Even though I didn't know what I was doing." Loki turned to Mayura. "I'm sorry Mayu-chan. If there's a way to undo what I've done... if you want... I'll do it. It doesn't matter how much it may hurt. I'll do it for you."
"Thank you Loki-sama."
"No, by that point the seed of power had already been planted, and her soul had been purified of any other auras—such as the Norns copying curse. That was just the touch of spring." Those at the table looked at Freyr very confused. "In other words, after the engagement, enough power was being transferred to start germination. Heimdall, I want you to see how big the seed is now," informed Freyr.
"What are you talking about? This isn't gardening! Power doesn't literally come in the form of a seed. That's just an expression, you moron!"
"Of course power starts as a seed Heimdall. Why do you think small bits of jaki look like small crystals? They reverted back to their seed form. All power has a seed form, but as it gets stronger the seed becomes smaller until it seemingly disappears."
"Oh"
"Now since you're the only one with eyesight able to see something that well hidden and small, would you please look."
"Alright, alright... never say I didn't do anything for you Loki," grumbled Heimdall. "About 3 nanometers Freyr."
"And how large was it six months ago?"
"Humph... Urd, would you put the image back up? ... Thank you... 7 nanometers."
"Freyr, why is this seed thing so small? Jaki shards are big enough to pick up," stated Skuld.
"Yes, that's true. But we're not talking about jaki shards here. This is the power of a god, and well big things sometimes come in small packages."
"Heimdall, how did you get your right eye back? I thought it was destroyed on the bridge..."
"It was Loki, but when your daughter rescued me, she also rescued my right eye. Convenient huh?"
"Indeed"
Meanwhile Freyr was doing weird calculations on the table. "What are you doing Freyr? It looks like he's calculating how long it'll be before Mayura-san's rip to eat... but Loki's already done that," added Heimdall rudely.
"Say that again you..." threatened Loki raising a fist in anger.
"Boys, boys... settle down will you? I don't think Yamino-san would like you to mess up his neat and tidy room," chided Urd.
"A year ago. The seed of power was planted a year ago, and so was the last purification," announced Freyr.
"Why is the purification thing so important Freyr-sama?" asked Mayura.
"It's important because Loki's power wouldn't take root in you unless there were no other power signatures on you. That's fortunately why everything in the world is not possessed by jaki—well okay, so jaki can also possess objects that contain great hatred or anger but anyway. Something like Loki's abilities need an empty vessel to grow in. If you had had any spiritual powers at all, like your father, none of this would have been able to happen. But because you were completely void of magic ability you're going to become more powerful than any other mortal before... or after you."
"Would this umm... purification feel anything like a purification scroll?"
"Exactly the same Mayura."
(And I didn't know I was doing it... how embarrassing.) "Do you have any idea when that may have happened last year?" Loki asked looking at Mayura.
"It was probably that kiss..."
"Kiss?"
"That kiss where we umm..." Mayura leaned over and whispered in his ear, "the one after the tickling fight, where we ended up in a certain position..." Loki still looked confused. "You ended up on top of me on the couch in the TV room, and you decided not to get up because you liked it there."
"Oh! That kiss..."
"What did you mean by that Freyr? How will she be more powerful than any other mortal before her?" worried Heimdall.
"She's gaining... growing the power of a god within her. Mayura is a very appropriate name for her..." Freyr mused, "She definitely is a good cocoon."
"How can that be stopped? We don't need TWO gods of evil wandering around!" shouted Heimdall, loosing his cool.
"Loki-sama isn't a god of evil Heimdall-san! He's the god of fire, trickery, and chaos. Should you be evil because you're the god of schemes?" defended Skuld.
"It's not a problem everyone," commented Freya.
"Eh?"
"As soon as the hand-fasting vows end, their link will go back down to normal levels and will be unable to maintain the transfer it is currently doing," continued Freya.
"But won't it be too late by then?" asked Skuld.
"No because the changes to Mayura's soul won't be complete, let alone there long enough to permanently alter her being. To continue with onii-sama's analogy, losing the close connection they share now will be like a permanent winter, effectively killing off any godly powers she may receive. Mayura-chan would once again become mortal, albeit with strong human spiritual abilities, but only human abilities."
"A hand-fasting... but Freya, we had a wedding," remarked Loki.
"Loki-kun, you're a god. Any wedding vow made without the approval of Odin and not done in the ancient ceremony of eternal marriage is a hand-fasting. And as such, the oaths will be voided a year and a day from the date of the hand-fasting," informed Freya factually.
"And if we didn't want to lose our close bond?"
"Then you would need to get hand-fasted once every year and a day or get permission from Odin to have a traditional wedding in Asgard Loki-kun. You know the rules as well as I do. Well... maybe not as well. It is my job to know these things after all. But this is basic knowledge Loki-kun."
"But mortals aren't allowed in Asgard!"
"I guess that would be a problem if you wanted to have a wedding there then..."
"If we were to hand-fast every year and a day, would Mayura be immortal?" asked Loki hopefully.
"Yes, because she would be connected to your immortality. Given enough time she might become immortal on her own right. I don't know... I've never seen a situation like this before."
"I think we've gained as much as we're going to gain in one night, and it's getting late. I'm sure there are plenty of things that Mayura-san and Loki-sama will need to discuss," interrupted Urd at the first opportunity.
"Yes... it is getting quite late..."
"I have work tomorrow."
"Leaving sounds good to me."
Loki got up and walked everyone to the front door. "I thank you all for coming to figure out that mystery."
"Oh, it was no trouble of all Loki-sama," replied Verdandi.
"Good night!"
Outside, Skuld stopped. "What's the matter Skuld-chan," asked Freya.
"The future doesn't look happy for Loki-sama. So much suffering I see... why can't he ever be happy?"
"Skuld, we all make our own happiness. And sometimes before there can be happiness, there must be suffering," comforted Verdandi.
"But all Loki-sama seems to do is suffer!"
"Perhaps, as goddess of fate, we can help. But we must choose our wars wisely," warned Urd.
Loki walked back into the dinning room to find Mayura still sitting in her chair staring into space. Moving in front of her, he once again waved his hand past her eyes. "Mayu-chan, are you here?"
Mayura blinked and found herself looking at Loki. "I'm sorry Loki-sama. I was just thinking about the other decision I have to make."
"Oh? Have you made a decision?"
"No, not yet... What was wrong with Freyr-sama tonight Loki-sama?"
"Nothing was wrong. It... it was the first time in a long time something was right."
"Huh?"
"The Freyr you know isn't the Freyr of old. Several hundred years ago, something terrible happened to Freyr, and he hasn't been right in the head since. It's been so long now that it's hard for us to remember sometimes that Freyr wasn't always the bumbling idiot we see today."
"Oh, okay."
"Coming to bed Mayu-chan?"
"Coming!"
Outside of Loki and her bedroom, Mayura stopped and backed up to the opposite wall. She looked down and began to fidget with her shoes.
"Mayu-chan, what's the matter?"
"Loki-sama, why did you give Slepnir away?"
Loki was taken aback. It was the second time in two days that Mayura had asked him a question that he hadn't expected nor really wanted to think about.
"You can take your time in answering Loki-sama," continued Mayura noticing that Loki was at a loss on what to say.
Where did this come from? What does it have to do with anything? Why... why did I give Slepnir away? I've never wanted to think about it because it always brings back such horrible memories...
"I'm sorry I brought up such a painful topic Loki-sama. I... I just need to know."
Huhhhh... when has she become so good at reading my emotions? Ever since we've been bonded you stupid idiot... and you know you love it too... Loki sighed. "I... I gave Slepnir to Odin because... because I knew I couldn't be a good mother... father... I don't know. Slepnir was my third child and the eldest of those still alive. I care for him, I always will... but I can't, it hurts to be near him—it brings back too many painful memories that I try to forget..."
"You don't have to answer then Loki-sama. It was rude..."
"No... I should talk about it with someone. I've been running from it for so long. It's been a thousand... two thousand years since it happened? I forget... But I've yet to really talk about it with anyone. You know the story behind Slepnir's birth right?" Mayura nodded her head. "I knew what I was doing. It was the only thing I could think of to stop that giant in disguise from finishing the wall around Asgard in the time allotment. But just because I knew what I was doing, didn't mean I enjoyed it... or didn't leave the experience emotionally scarred. Sure, I might have been physically a mare... but mentally I wasn't. It was still me in that female horse's body! It felt as if I was being ra..." Loki finally lost his composure and began to cry.
"Loki-sama..."
"And every time I look at Slepnir, all I remember are those horrible nights with that stallion. But the worst is probably the lack of gratitude from the other gods. They blamed me for the choice we made together as if I knew that we would lose the bet. I know I made a lot of poor decisions in the past, but none of them were ever on purpose! And I never let any of my jokes endanger Asgard. But the absolute worst... the absolute worst was that they had the audacity to assume I enjoyed it!" he practically screamed.
"Oh, Loki-sama!" cried Mayura as she ran to him. "It's okay," she soothed, hugging him for several minutes. "That was a long time ago in the past. You're not the same people... gods... that you used to be. They've changed. You've changed, Loki-sama. And as much as they may hurt, memories can't really hurt us. We can only learn from them and move on. Holding the pain will only cause more suffering."
Loki looked into Mayura's eyes. "When did you become so smart and mature?"
"When you needed me to be, Loki-sama."
"Thank you Mayu-chan. It doesn't hurt as much anymore. It still hurts, but not as much."
"I'm glad Loki-sama." Mayura tip toed up to Loki's ear. "I'll tell you something that'll probably make you feel better Loki-sama."
"Oh?"
"I've come up with a decision for the last thing." Loki looked at Mayura eagerly. "I've decided that I want to stay with you Loki-sama, and I don't want to lose our connection when the hand-fasting thingy is over. I don't even want to think about being apart from you. And although you're a god that doesn't have the best history behind him, if you want to be with me for all eternity, I'll gladly spend an eternity with you."
"Of course I want to spend an eternity with you. Why else would we be in all this mess in the first place?" asked Loki, closing the door to their bedroom.
"I'm happy Loki-sama."
"But there are a couple of things that need to be fixed."
"Huh?"
Loki spun Mayura around and pinned her against the bedroom's wall. "There will be no Loki-sama from you Mayu-chan..."
"Loki-ku..." Loki broke her off with a hard passionate kiss.
"No Loki-kun either—unless you're talking about the not even four feet tall me—my wife and mother of our future children," he whispered seductively into her ear.
"But Loki, I'm not pregnant!"
Loki once again kissed her roughly and carried her to their bed. "That's the second thing we're going to have to rectify, although it might take a little longer. But if we don't succeed tonight... we have all eternity Mayu-chan."
Author's Note: Wow! Is this a heavy chapter or what? I apologize to anyone whose native language is not English. Well, now the 'bond' stuff has been revealed! But don't worry, the story hasn't ended yet. And sorry about not thanking my reviewers last chapter. I was really busy starting my third year at college and I didn't even have an internet connection for about a week and a half. I was training to be an ACP (Academic Community Programmer) for one of the freshmen dorms. It's kinda like being an RA but for academics without being able to discipline people. (I'm the nice guy!) Anyway, now that my responsibilities are settling into a rhyme routine, I hope to be able to post more.
Oh, this chapter was written back when I translated LittleGreenWolf's scans. Ie: where the Loki looking under Mayura's skirt idea came from. Teehee
For Reviews of Chapter 36:
To Bibliomaniac: I don't try to portray Mayura as shy, it's just that I'm trying to keep this a PG-13 fic. And yes, it's gonna be complicated.
To No 1 You Know: cool. Thanks for reading.
To Neru: I'm glad you like all the research I put into this fic. It's hard and definitely not fun all the time (don't get me wrong, I enjoy learning the stuff) but if I'm going to write about something, I always feel it's best to be as informed as I can. Especially with the internet so close at hand.
To Rubydream: Thanks for liking my story. I love fluffy stuff too. As for more angst, well... you'll just have to wait and see what's in store for the two of them.
For Chapter 37:
To LittleGreenWolf: I'm a nice kind author... for now.
To dnangel-girl: Yeah, I admit I kind of dragged Mayura's not knowing of Loki being a god and all... Loki has a good explanation. Really he does.
To Bibliomaniac: I try to keep the characters 'in character' even though my story is all about how they change as people, gods, whatever. Mayura's going to go through a big characterization period. Of course gaining the abilities of a god would do that.
And no, Loki wasn't careless. Mayura probably knew about Ecchan for a long time but never put one and one together. Mayura thought he was connected 'somehow' to a god, so talking to the air wouldn't upset her. She probably thought it was a fushigi mystery. You did make a very good point however. I kind of left that part ambiguous. Break your heart? Mmmm... not yet at least.
To Neru: Now you know. That is, if you could follow this chapter. I know it gets a little involved and confusing.