Chapter 3

Forget-Me-Not

The brightness died and all that was left was a motionless body tethered to a chair in the middle of the room. Slowly the person in the chair opened their eyes. A torch was lit off to the side and was brought forward to the person in the chair.

"Asan, your mission is to find two me. One is named Loki and the other is named Chaos. Once you find them you are to kill them. Once you have killed them report back to Mistress Freya immediately. Also, send Sara Irine, she is overdue for her meeting," Laera said, untying the ropes on Asan's wrists and ankles. Asan stood up and teleported herself out of the castle and out into the forest. Looking back towards where the castle was you could see nothing. There was a barrier protecting the castle; apparently it was an invisibility barrier. Asan set out on her pursuit of Loki and Chaos, marching through the forest towards the southeast.

'Find Loki and Chaos and kill them. Report back to Freya. Find Sara Irine and tell her to go back to the castle.' Those were the only thoughts running through her mind as she walked along the forest floor. 'Wait,' she thought suddenly, "I'm a Valkyrie, so I can fly, duh! I'm such an idiot!" she said smacking her hand against her forehead. Shaking her head in dismay, she took to the air, looking down at the ground all the while. Off to her left to the east she noticed some movement and headed in that direction. There were two groups heading directly towards each other and a man coming up from the south. There was one man heading from the east and four people heading towards him from the west. 'I guess I'll just stay right here and see how things play out with this. It should be interesting enough; at least for now.'

Looking up at the sky, Loki checked to make sure he was headed in the correct direction. 'Three months and still no sign of either Nysa or this Chaos person.' Sighing Loki trudged forward out from the forest into a very large meadow. Across the field, at the same time, a man stepped out followed by three women. One was complaining really loudly while one was yelling at the complainer to shut up, the other one was just rolling her eyes. The only man in the group narrowed his eye in Loki's direction.

"Who are you? Friend or Foe?" the man called out to Loki.

"It depends on what you would consider an assassin," he replied.

"Well that would depend on whether you were looking to kill me or one of my companions," he replied back.

"What's your name, maybe then I can tell you if it's you that I have been searching for or not," Loki called out, taking a couple more steps into the middle of the field.

"My name's Chaos, this is Fenris, Iris and Lidia," he said pointing to each in order. "Now since I have told you my name, why don't you tell me yours?"

"I am known as Loki. But you can just think of me as your executioner."

"What? My executioner? So you are after me after all? What'd I do to you? Steal a face worm from one of your friends?" he joked.

"You killed my brethren. All of them are dead now. I have come to kill you to avenge their spirits."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

From the south came the other man. He finally stepped out into the field laughing maniacally. Everyone turned to look at the crazy man walking into their presence.

"Yes, yes, Talatsu. I can smell that power that is over here. Maybe this time it will quench your thirst unlike the Assassin's Guild did," He said, seemingly talking to himself.

I shall have their blood, Skurai. I shall feed came the voice in his head. The man, Skurai, held his sword up in front of his face and smiled.

"Which one would you like to start with Talatsu? The Legendary Assassin? Or the Legendary Rune Knight?" He chuckled as he tilted his head to the side eyeing Loki. "It seems we will kill you first, assassin. You may have gotten away from us while we were visiting your friends, but you will not get away from us today!" He yelled jumping at Loki.

Chaos stared at Skurai. 'That's the man who killed Nuri and Seri, Lord Irine and Peony! That's the murderer! Wait! Iris!' Chaos turned around, but Iris was already gone. He turned back around and ran after her running body. Grabbing her from behind, he tackled her to the ground.

"No, Iris. You can't go after him! He's too dangerous!"

"But, Chaos! He's the one who killed my family! He's the one who killed my dad! He killed my mom! I want to kill him! Let me kill him, Chaos!" She screamed at him pushing Chaos off of her.

"No! You can get your revenge later! But not now! Please, not now! I don't want you to die too!" He pleaded.

Laughing was heard coming from up above. Someone had been watching them the entire time. The figure descended from the sky to about twenty feet off of the ground in front of the mishap group of people.

"Nysa!" Loki called out, happy that he had finally found her.

"I don't know who you talk about, boy," the woman in the sky said. "Skurai, the cursed Prosecutor, I saw you at the castle correct?" with a slight nod from the named, she continued. "Good, do you know where Sara Irine is? Freya is looking for her and she is very displeases."

"Last I had seen she had headed off to Fayon," he replied.

'I know that's her. How can she not remember me? She has to! She promised! Unless…no! Freya must have erased her memory!' Loki, looking slightly discombobulated, turned back to Skurai and charged at him. "Our battle is not finished yet, Skurai!"

Skurai rushed at Loki to finish what he had started. Besides, Talatsu was annoying him with his constant complaints about him stopping to talk to someone. They exchanged blows for quite some time while the others looked on interested to see the outcome of the battle. Asan landed on the ground near Chaos and his little band of followers. "Who are you, boy?" she asked walking towards him.

"Cha…Balder," he said, changing it at the last second, getting this odd feeling that he had to do that. Loki and Skurai looked at him sharply, stopping their fight once more.

"Oh, alright then… you're not the one I'm looking for," she said walking away from him and over to the girls. Looking them up and down, she deduced that none of these could be Loki or Chaos. They just didn't have that air around them. "Well, I have another Valkyrie to find. Tootles," she said, and then disappeared into a cloud of mist. 'Now where could you be Sara? Skurai said Fayon, so I suppose I will check in that area.' Flying over Fayon, Asan noticed nothing but rubble. Obviously Sara had already been here.

"Valkyrie Asan, you are looking for Sara Irine. She is to the south in a secluded part of the mountains. You will find her sitting in an open field. She is waiting for you, but doesn't know it."

Asan looked behind her and saw two women, two very familiar women. 'Where have I seen them before?'

"Now is not the time for questions. You must deliver your message to Sara Irine immediately," said the short one. Asan complied and left, heading south to the mountains. There she found Sara Irine waiting. 'Just like those two women said.' Sara Irine looked up and watched as Asan descended to the ground in front of her.

"Oh you…What do you want?" she sneered.

"Freya told me to come and get you. You are overdue for your meeting with her. She got tired of waiting for you and sent me to find you instead. Now you can either go willingly or I can force you to go," Asan said narrowing her eyes at Sara Irine.

"Fine, I'll go, but only if I never have to see your ugly face again," she retorted.

Unrelenting though, Asan spit at Sara's feet and said, "you can be sure that I don't want to see you eve again either."

Sara disappeared around a couple of trees and Asan evaporated into a cloud of mist once again. When she got back to the adverse group she walked over to Chaos and stood next to him.

"So, Balder, what is that other mans name?" she asked.

"Oh, him? I think he said his name was Loki," Chaos replied scratching his head, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he said."

"Good. Skurai, you can have him," she said point to Chaos who let out a 'hey!', "He's of no use to me. But him," she said pointing to Loki, "he is one of the two that I have been searching for. He is mine."

Loki looked disbelievingly at Asan. 'She's been searching for me? Could she really remember? Was Nysa just playing around?' Taking out her sword Asan attacked Loki.

"Why are you attacking me, Nysa?" he asked blocking the blow.

"Once again, you call me Nysa. I know not of who you speak," she said attacking his left side. Loki blocked and dodged as she took another swing at him. "That is it! I tired of your petty actions! Fight me!"

"No! I believe that you still remember, it's just locked away somewhere," he said, once again dodging more swift blows.

"Foolish boy! You just don't know who you talk to. I am Asan, a Valkyrie under the command of the Great Goddess Freya! I can kill you at anytime that I want." Finally she landed a blow on Loki. She only nicked his arm though, just enough to make it bleed.

"The why haven't you killed me yet?" He asked, hope filling his heart.

"Because I have no had a good fight in a long time, that I can remember. I would like to enjoy at least one worthy opponent…"

Loki had had it, if she wouldn't remember by words, then she'd remember by force. He took off his cloak, scarf and mask and threw them behind him. Asan watched as he discarded his outer clothing. She smirked at him and charged.

"Now, Are you ready to fight me?" she yelled, running at him. His only answer was attacking her. He knocked her sword out of her hands and tackled her to the ground. Pinning her down with her arms above her head in one of his hands and her legs pinned beneath his, he placed his free hand on her forehead.

"You will remember!" he whispered fiercely. A light emitted from the palm of his hand and dissipated when he pulled it back from her forehead. Memories returned like a fire rushes through a dry field.

flashback

"Promise me that… that if anything happens to me that you'll keep looking for Chaos and that you'll never forget me. Okay? Promise?"

"Nysa, I…I promise."

end flashback

'Please, remember me. You said you'd never forget me.'

Nysa's POV

I opened my eyes, feeling the weight of a person on top of me. I opened my eyes and was startled when I saw that it was Loki. At least it looked like Loki. No, I'm pretty sure it was. His eyes gave it away. Those beautiful blue eyes of his. 'He's just not wearing' "your mask…" I said raising my hand up to his face. I thought that he would grab my hand again or slap it away, but he didn't this time. He let my hand make its way to his face. My fingers touched his cheek and I smiled. I watched in fascination as my fingers traced the contour of his face. It was real. He had his mask off and he was sitting…on top of me… I got a little irked, but I kept on smiling. I was so happy to finally see him with his mask off. 'He's so' "handsome."

I watched as a smile broke out on his face, at that I turned beat red. He was gorgeous! And his smile made him even more breath-taking. He got up off of me and pulled me up into a sitting position. I looked off to the side and saw Skurai and Chaos fighting.

"Do you remember anything after you were taken?" Loki asked from my side as we both stood up.

"Nothing except for being kept in a cell forever. Other than that I cant remember anything. I didn't kill anyone did I? Did I hurt you?" with a reaffirming shake of his head, I continued. "I know I was sent to kill you and Chaos, which I think is the man that Skurai is fighting, but I don't know if I actually did anything."

"You didn't hurt anyone, Nysa, so you have nothing to worry about," he reassured me. I stepped out towards the area where Chaos and Skurai were fighting. It seemed that Chaos had gotten a few scratches from Talatsu, but nothing more. That was a relief. Skurai on the other hand, had quite a few lesions on his self. Chaos seemed to be winning at this point, but I couldn't let anything happened to either him or Loki. So I ran in between Skurai and Chaos with Loki calling to me to stop. Both of the men stopped their descending blows in mid-swing.

"What are you doing, woman?" Skurai inquired callously.

"What does it look like, you fool? He is not to die by your hand today," I said narrowing my eyes in his direction. "Chaos, you and your group are to leave now. You are not to be a part of this fight at the moment."

"You are no longer the Valkyrie are you? You have your memory back! Yes, yes, Talatsu, you will feed. We will have one of those two men, woman. Now let me get back to my fight!" he growled out.

"No! You can not have either of them! I won't let you!" I said spreading my arms out to either side of me.

"Nysa! Please don't do this! Don't risk your life for mine!" Loki called out desperately. I looked over at him to see his face and watched as his pleading eyes grew wide in fear as he yelled out 'no!' Everything went in slow motion for me: Loki's mouth moving and the hand that came down on my shoulder. I felt myself being pulled in a backwards motion as my body was twirled around.

Normal POV

Nysa's body was twirled around so she faced Skurai. As soon as she faced him Talatsu ran through her midsection. Loki and Chaos watched in abject horror as she was stabbed right before their eyes. Skurai rammed his sword in Nysa's body down to the hilt and pulled I back out slowly, twisting it whilst he pulled, allowing her to suffer in her death. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung slightly open in a silent scream. She cried out as Skurai pulled the rest of his words out and shoved it into the ground, allowing her to fall to her knees.

Blood poured freely onto the ground in front of her. Her wide eyes pranced wildly trying to find something to hold onto. Next to her was Talatsu, standing firmly in the ground. Twisting sideways, she brought her hand up onto the hilt of the might blood-lusting sword. Grasping it tightly she stood up quickly and stabbed it through Skurai's heart. His body dropped to the ground, immediately dead. Coughing, Nysa let go of the accursed sword and brought her other hand up to her mouth. Feeling a warm fluid run down her chin, she brushed it off and brought her hand in front of her face. Blood covered her hand and filled her mouth when she started coughing again, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Shook out of his stupor, Loki raced over to Nysa's prone form, pulling her head into his lap. He traced the sides of her face, brushing her hair out of the way.

"Come one, Nysa. Wake up. Please, wake up!" he whispered fiercely. Using his middle and index finger he checked for her pulse. Again and again he checked, but found nothing. She had died in his arms while he sat there doing nothing to save her. After shaking her a few times and whispering to her to 'please, wake up,' he finally gave up. Laying his forehead on hers he started to cry. For the first time in his whole life, Loki had cried. For someone that he hadn't known as long as he knew the others, but he had cried for her all the same.

Perhaps it was the guilt of knowing that he did nothing to save her from her doom. Or perhaps it was the fact that he couldn't do anything to save her. N one will ever know. For, after kissing her forehead and placing her body back on the ground, Loki looked up at Chaos with grim resolution written all over his face. A bright light engulfed him and Chaos. So bright it was to be as blinding. And with and anguished scream, the light disappeared, leaving only one man standing…Chaos. Loki, it seems, had given his power to Chaos so that he may defeat Freya and save the World from Raganarök (the end of the world). His body was now lying on the ground in a heap next to Nysa's.

The rest of the fight is history. Perhaps Raganarök happened. Perhaps it didn't. No one knows. There is no record of it happening, but then again, the world, as it is now known, is quite different from the world that once was.

I was woken by a slap on my desk and a shout of my name.

"Miss Havok, would you care to join me in the land of the waking for just ten more minutes?" Mr. Johnson asked sarcastically.

"Sorry, Mr. Johnson. Won't happen again." I said as I sat up straight in my chair. 'Was that all just a dream? But it felt so real!' After ten minutes of wondering the bell rand and I moved onto my next class.

"Whoopee! It's math time!" Davey said as he walked past me into the math room with another random girl linked on his arm. I chuckled and took my seat right as the starting bell rang.

"Okay, class. I'm sure you heard that you would have a new student in here, earlier this morning. So I'd like you all to meet Loki Adams." When Ms. Applegate had said Loki's name my head shot up, along with the rest of my body. Our eyes locked and I was frozen in shock. There he was: the man from my dream. The same eyes and everything!

"It wasn't just a dream then," I said as my hand traveled up to my neck. Feeling a chain, I broke eye contact with him and pulled the necklace out of my shirt. The blinding light made me look away. It was the same necklace that I had in Midgard.

"Loki, you can go find and empty seat. I think I see one next to Nysa there." Ms. Applegate said, shooing him down the aisle. When he reached my side I lifted my hand up and touched his cheek.

"It's really you," I whispered.

"It's really me," he answered back, smiling slowly. I could tell her was holding something back, but I couldn't tell what. Suddenly he threw his arms around me and held me close to him. I wrapped my arms around him and felt his ragged breathing and shaking body.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," he choked out. "He killed you right before my eyes and I couldn't stop him. I'm so sorry, Nysa. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Shh, shh, its okay now, Loki. You're here, I'm here and we're both alive, so its okay. I'll never let you leave again." He sighed in relief and hesitantly let go of me, but kept his arms around my waist. "What happened to the others?" I asked.

"I don't know. But they're bound to be around here somewhere." He said as his hand came up to my cheek. Our lips met slowly in a soft kiss as an 'ehem, do you mind?' was heard from Ms. Applegate. Blushing, we parted and sat down in our seats, sneaking glances at each other all say.

No one, except for the ones that were left behind, knows of what really happened. Whether Chaos defeated Freya or she defeated him. It will forever remain a mystery, a legend, a myth…lost in time over the centuries that had past.