A very big thanks to my first reviewer! Thank you a thousand times over Tela! I took your advice and edited the first two chapters as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own… Do I really have to keep saying it? Sigh… I don't own Ragnarok Online, period.

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Unwilling Heroes

Chapter II: The god of Mischief

The sun was already high up in the sky as the two set off for Ahrian's camp. They moved quickly through the woods, the elf leading the way as the trail opened up before them.

Suddenly, he veered off into some unseen entrance of another path, leading away from the main trail. Julian looked up in alarm and rushed after his companion, who was moving in a steadily quickening pace.

"Slow down!" he exclaimed, "Why are we going in this direction?"

"It's too dangerous for us to stay on the trail. We're taking another path."

He exhaled heavily and trudged forward, straining to keep the light-footed elf in his sight when suddenly Sel'an halted, signaling for him to stop.

He looked around him, surveying the area, his long ears twitching slightly. His eyes were narrowed and flashed different colors as he inspected their surroundings. Someone was there, he just didn't know where…

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Just some distance behind them, a dark figure watched them apprehensively, hidden within the boughs of a tall tree. It didn't expect them to be this perceptive, and mentally scolded itself for being careless. If it was discovered now…

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Sel'an straightened, but didn't drop his guard. He had an almost unbearable feeling of being watched, but he wasn't about to do anything rash. He looked at Julian, who had a look of confusion on his face.

"What's going on?"

Deciding not to answer just yet, he simply motioned to be silent and continued up the trail. The day was still young; he would still have time to catch it later. Right now, he decided to mislead it. That would mean Julian would be led around as well, but he couldn't risk whatever was following them to discover Ahrian's whereabouts.

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The two of them finally continued on their way, apparently satisfied that nothing was wrong. It watched them, slightly relieved that it wasn't discovered. Still, it followed them warily, careful not to give itself away again.

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Thousands of miles away, another being was watching the two of them through his servant's eyes. He was within his prison, his entire body chained before an immeasurable abyss.

Loki, the god of mischief.

Like his namesake, even his physical appearance was deceptive. He had the look of a young man; a handsome face and a benign expression his façade. He had taken upon the form of a mortal to hide his giant heritage, but that would not help him, not within his prison.

High above him, a serpent was coiled around a rock, its mouth hanging open with bared fangs. Venom stronger than a hundred serpents' dripped from it, falling upon Loki and causing him incredible pain that caused his body to tremble.

This was his punishment for revolting against the gods so many years ago.

How he hated them. And his imprisonment only served to fuel that even more.

One thing about being imprisoned, alone, for nearly an eternity, was that you have a lot of time to think about what you did, and what to do if ever you got out. That and the inevitable madness that would ensue from being cooped up alone for centuries with no one to talk to.

There are basically two main kinds of insanity in the world. The first one is the raving, scream-at-the-top-of-your-voice insanity, where you're basically an obvious danger to anyone and everyone around you. Only thing is, you can't think straight anymore.

The second kind is the more refined version. By all appearances you are normal, sane and very well in control of yourself, but you're still very capable of doing the same things the first kind would, except that not many would think you'd actually do it.

What makes it more deadly than the first is that you can actually think about how you do it.

Loki's insanity was, unfortunately, the infinitely more dangerous second kind. And he had all that time to plan out his ultimate revenge against them.

Ragnarok.

He decided that just waiting for the prophecy to happen wasn't going to work for him. He definitely couldn't wait that long. So he decided to give fate a little push, and just possibly bring it about a few centuries earlier than foretold.

It was actually easier than he expected.

He first invaded the dreams of the leaders of the different nations of Rune-Midgard, manipulating them and bending them to his own will.

The King of Volsug, the Emperor of the East, the Fuhrer of Schwartzward, the Pharaoh of Surt. Each of them fell one after the other.

So, he now had control over some of the most powerful people in the world. He needed them because they each had something that was required for his plan to work.

The individual components of the one artefact that had power beyond any being in the universe.

So far, he had been successful in gathering all of them.

Of course, chained as he was, he couldn't reconstruct it by himself. Its full magickal power was much too powerful for him to manipulate on his own. So, borrowing a little bit of it, he shaped pieces of his own flesh into seven loyal servants.

He named them the Shades.

Years passed by as he supervised them, using them to channel his own energy into the reconstruction. Little by little each piece of the puzzle was put together.

After what seemed to him like an eternity, it was finished. All the pieces were put together and sealed. Finally, his moment of triumph had arrived. He uttered the ancient invocations of power, pouring his soul into it, to finally free himself and declare war on the gods.

It failed.

Try as he might he could not use it. It was refusing him his desire; it would not lend him any power.

It took all his willpower to stop himself from trying to destroy it then and there. Of course, that decision was probably influenced by the fact that he couldn't, and that if he tried, he would kill himself in the process. Instead he ordered the Shades to find out what was wrong.

What they discovered nearly caused him to change his mind about his earlier decision.

They were missing one tiny piece.

Controlling himself, he sent his Shades out into the different kingdoms to try and find that last missing piece. Months went by without any results. Loki's patience began to wear thin.

Finally, after nearly a year had passed, one of them found out about it. Apparently one of the former kings of Volsug had anticipated this event and hidden that one piece. He had hidden it within the monasteries of the Abbey of St. Capitolina.

Loki wasted no time. He ordered the king to lead an army to the Abbey and take the missing piece from them. After all this time, he would finally be able to complete it. But he didn't let his excitement go to his head. He ordered the Shade to go with them just in case something went wrong. But he was confident that nothing would stop his plan now.

He was wrong. One priest had escaped, and it seemed he had taken it with him.

He went ballistic at that. He almost killed the Shade for its failure. But as always he had to keep calm. The Shade was far too useful to be killed right now. He would have to wait, yes, but he could wait a bit longer.

He had sent another, lesser, servant to keep a close eye on him. He would have to make sure that he had everything ready before he could take it from the priest. He would not be able to stand another failure.

Yes, there were some setbacks, but in the end, everything will turn out just the way he willed them to be…

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"Come out, I know you've been following us around for the past hour already"

The figure stiffened. Sel'an's eyes were trained directly in its direction. His bow was strung, an arrow drawn. Julian glanced at where his companion was staring at, but couldn't see anything.

"I'll give you up to three to reveal yourself. Otherwise, I'll let this arrow do the revealing for me."

It weighed its chances carefully.

"One"

If it ran, it might be able to escape, but that would mean leaving he priest behind as well. However, if it stayed, it would very well mean death.

"Two"

It quickly decided and steeled itself, ready to run at the last moment.

"Three"

Sel'an released the arrow, just as the figure heard a sharp cracking sound.

The arrow whistled through the air and buried itself deeply within…

A tree trunk.

Sel'an blinked in surprise.

Whoever it was must have been incredibly fast to avoid my arrow like that.

He suddenly heard a faint sound coming from over there.

"Owww…"

The both of them immediately rushed to where the arrow flew. The arrow was there, embedded right on top of the broken half of a bough.

The other half was on the ground, right next to something both of them had really quite not expected.

There was a girl lying on the forest floor, holding her head and wincing.

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I hope you enjoy! Please R&R:D