Chapter 52: Unexpected Scenarios
Loki snuggled up next to his wife, feeling the tension leave his body. His eyes drooped sleepily. "Goodnight Mayu-ch..."
"Loki-sama," announced a loud voice, "it's time to get up. Sunrise is two hours away. Mayura-san, I..." Loki groaned. "Good morning Loki-sama. Did you sleep well?" asked Yamino in a cheerful voice as he flicked the light switch on in his father's and hopefully permanent new mother's room. Loki groaned again rubbing his eyes after they had been nearly blinded by the sudden light. Yamino took that as a no. He hadn't really expected Loki-sama to sleep well that night, but it still worried him. He at least knew that Mayura had a good night's sleep after she had worn herself out worrying the previous five. Loki rubbed his eyes one more time, cursing his luck, before leaning down to shake Mayura awake.
They stood alone together, hand in hand. The great assembly of gods surrounded them, waiting for the sun to rise. Odin stood regally at the foot of the Bifrost Bridge along with its guardian Heimdall. Loki squeezed Mayura's hand. She was glad for his comforting support, but nothing—not even the fierce wolf Skoll—could stop the sun from rising.
(A/n: Skoll is the giant wolf that chases the sun. Hati chases the moon.)
As the first true rays of sun softened the peaks of the mountains of Midgard, Odin began to speak. "Long and hard have I weighed this decision. I have consulted with the just Forseti, listening to his words wisely. Candidate, please step foreword," commanded Odin, who was still not giving any clues about his verdict. Loki squeezed Mayura's hand once more before letting go. "You have proven to possess many of the characteristics of the gods. And should my decision be solely based upon these qualifications my role in this would be easy. However, your quest, candidate, is also something I must consider. A quest assigned to you to prove your worthiness. A quest in which you failed to complete within the time allotted to you."
Heimdall smirked in triumph, confident that Odin would find the mortal unworthy to live in the world of the gods. Mayura's heart thumped loudly in her ears while her chest tightened in fear of what Odin was to say next. And Loki held his breath as the words that would decide his wife's fate, their fate, and his own passed Odin's lips.
"Therefore, in light of both of these pieces of information I find the candidate, Misaodatter Mayura un..." The brightening sky was suddenly plunged into darkness. "What the...! What's going on!" bellowed Odin above the din of the other gods.
"Something has eaten the sun!" cried one of the many gods present.
"Skoll has captured the sun!" blabbered a frightened goddess. As if her sentence was a signal, the lesser gods and goddess began to scream in terror. Loki ran to hold Mayura tightly. But the noise didn't scare the giant beast who had eaten the sun into letting it go—unlike all prior incidences.
"Quiet!" commanded Odin in Old Norse with a booming voice. "Loki, something will you!"
Loki knew what Odin meant and quickly created an orb of flame in the palm of his right hand before lofting it up into the sky. The terrified gods calmed in the presence of the softly glowing flames.
"Now that that's taken care of... Come forth devourer of the sun, and let your demands be known," Odin demanded, not even taking a second to thank Loki or even check to see how the other gods were fairing.
It was in that moment that Loki realized something very important—Odin wasn't angry at him. Odin still needed him. Their bond that had been stretched and broken over the centuries could be reformed, and Odin was willing to meet half way. A smile crept onto Loki's lips. He had his blood-brother back. Mayura watched Loki suspiciously, but held her tongue. She was far more interested in what Odin was doing, and the fact that he had slipped into Old Norse only peeked her curiosity. Anyway, she could always interrogate Loki later.
"I demanded that the quest of Misaodatter Mayura be considered complete," responded a large growling voice. The earth shook as a massive black paw fell to the ground. The gods looked up to the sight of a giant black wolf emitting the glow of the sun from within his belly. None of them recognizing the offender—all save one.
"Fenrir! What are you doing!"
"Don't get in my way father," Fenrir threatened.
"Fenrir release the sun! There's nothing you can gain by doing this," Loki pleaded evenly to his son.
"No! I was told to stall Odin's decision and that's what I'm going to do!" he growled back, crouching into a defensive position.
The gods stared in horror at the Great Beast Fenrir which had always before been bound by an unbreakable chain deep inside the coldest reaches of Asgard. As one they stepped back in fear while Thor pulled out his hammer; bringing it to a ready position in order to defend those of Asgard should Fenrir charge. Risking an attack, Thor turned his gaze full of pain and indecision towards Loki.
Only one person dared to break the eerie silence. Puffy her cheeks Mayura strode towards the great wolf not even a tiny bit afraid. "Fenrir! What are you doing!"
Fenrir didn't respond to Mayura, cocking his ear to the northern horizon instead. "He comes."
"Who?" demanded Odin, once again speaking in Japanese, as he shifted his gaze between Loki's second oldest son and wife.
A small speak of burning blue light flashed upon the horizon moments before they heard the sound of hooves hammering the earth. It took only seconds for the creature to reach them. He reared up onto his hind legs to stop his forward momentum, showering the gods with sparks from his glowing hooves. "Jymir!" cried Mayura as she rushed over to him. Jymir lowered himself back onto four legs and enthusiastically embraced Mayura's hug.
"Mistress! I'm so happy to see you. Did I make it in time?" Jymir asked Mayura in her head as he backed up anxiously. "Quickly, open the right saddle bag."
"Candidate what is the meaning of this?" ordered Odin, who was quickly becoming annoyed with all the distractions.
"Odin-sama I... I" stuttered Mayura.
"The saddle bag, Quickly!"
Mayura reached carelessly into the saddle bag. "What's so impor...tan...t..."
The gods stood in shock at the object she held in her right hand. "It's... it's my quill!" exclaimed Bragi happily as rushed down to retrieve Althasil from Mayura's grasp. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn't find it anywhere!" Mayura blinked at the estatic god who was now vigorously shaking her hand.
"Does... does this mean I..." Mayura fell silent, still trying to understand what was going on. "Does this mean I completed my quest?"
"Odin?" questioned Loki, wanting to make sure Mayura's thought was true before he let his hopes up.
Now this wasn't a situation Odin had prepared for. He had planed on how to deal with a hysterical candidate, an irate Loki, and even had contingencies if Loki decided to become human or some other crazy idea. But not this--no, he never thought to plan ahead in case someone finished her quest for her. "Ah... well it would seem that she has," Odin answered thinking quickly. "The terms sworn upon stated that any companions she gained on her quest could help or hinder her. Nor did I give her companions a time limit to the quest," he rambled sagely. "Therefore..."
"Wait," interrupted Heimdall. "Wasn't Jymir within the dwarven mine in Jotunheim as well? " he asked as he stepped off the Bifrost bridge to address all assembled.
"Yes, of course he was!" retorted Mayura.
Turning back to Odin Heimdall continued, "Then how did he return so quickly?" Heimdall paused to give his statement as much dramatic effect as possible. After all, he was the master of schemes, and this was one of his fortes. "Obviously he had godly help."
But Odin raised his hand to silence the guardian of the bridge. "Your accusation is unfounded Heimdall. Jymir is one of the grandsons of Slepnir himself, and possess the speed required to undertake such an arduous journey. Do you not see the sparks still flying from his shoes?"
"Very well father," Heimdall conceded with a slight nod of the head. He knew that there was no way to argue with Odin. "However, who told the wolf to delay your decision? Didn't we all swear holy oaths to not interfere with the candidate's quest for better or ill?" continued Heimdall, hoping to strike from a different angle.
"He is not a god my son, as you well know, and is therefore not held under the same oath as we. Nor is the wolf under the influence or direct control of a god seeing as that he is both self conscious and free thinking. However Fenrir," stated Odin, turning towards the glowing black wolf once again, "who told you to delay my decision?"
"Older brother told me."
"From Asgard?" asked Heimdall incredulously. "I didn't hear any such a thing."
"Of course not, but neither can you hear a dog whistle. Yet does that make the sound any less real?" retorted Fenrir rather intellectually for a wolf that generally snoozed or ate all day.
"Heimdall, stop trying to persuade Odin to make the decision you want to hear," retorted Loki. He had been quiet during the initial argument since he didn't want to look like he was pressuring Odin, which was why he could blame Heimdall for doing it now. "Fenrir, release the sun so Odin can make his decision without further interruption." Loki gave a look to his son, a look that plainly stated 'do not disobey me.' Fenrir, not willing to disobey his father twice in one day spat the sun back into the sky. Loki breathed a sigh of relief and crossed his fingers. He knew that he had taken a large risk in pushing Odin into making his decision without a word of support to Mayura's case. But he also knew that given enough time, Heimdall would come up with an argument that Odin would agree with. He had called Heimdall's bluff, now he could only hope that he played his cards right.
"Very well," state Odin clearing his throat. "With this new information I have no choice but to grant the candidate, Misaodatter Mayura entrance into the world of the gods, for she has proven herself worthy on all accounts."
Upon hearing Odin's words, Loki rushed to Mayura and twirled her around in the air before bringing her down low enough to kiss. Odin smiled benevolently, Heimdall scowled, and the goddesses sighed at the romantic sight before them. Regaining his composure, Loki set Mayura gracefully onto the ground and held his left hand up for her to grasp. Bowing slightly he asked cordially, "My lady?" With only a slight giggle, Mayura accepted his offered arm and together they began the journey across the Bifrost Bridge into Asgard.
Heimdall followed closely behind, staring into Loki's back. The other gods followed in groups. Thor of course began the short walk to his trusty goat pulled chariot.
(A/n: Thor can't cross Bifrost in fear that his great lightening powers would destroy the bridge. Instead he travels to and from Asgard in a goat pulled chariot.)
Only Odin stayed behind. Quietly he stood at the foot of the Bifrost Bridge. From the shadows came three small childlike shapes. As they approached it became clear that they were dark fairies. Two were boys, and one was a girl. The first of the boys was completely wingless, the girl owned a single shredded one, and the second boy possessed nothing more than stubs. "It looks like you three did help as I had foreseen, although not the way in had predicted, Geri, Freki, and Kypi," announced Odin to the three children.
At the sound of his voice, they're forms changed. The destroyed wings melted away, they're arms grew longer and much more muscular. "It's good to have you back, my faithful wolves. I've missed you." The wolves howled in agreement. "Let's go get something to eat for the three of you hmm? You must be very hungry."
Author's Note 1: Odin has two wolves in Norse mythology: Geri and Freki. I added the girl Kypi because, well… he probably got another one since it's been a long time since those old books were written right? Exactly.
For those who didn't understand the ending of this chapter, Odin has the ability to slightly know the future as long as it doesn't directly impacted him. With this ability he had seen that his wolves would somehow help Mayura on her quest but he didn't know how because this event is really close to himself.
Author's Note 2: I'm sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. Me being lazy and all. (Didn't want to transfer the story from the computer I use at school to the one I use at home. But I'm back at college now, so I'm going to finish posting this story quickly.
To all readers: Thanks for all the reviews since the last time I posted. Too many replied for me to thank individually, but I really appreciate it. REALLY!