Chapter VII:

"Are you sure you brought us to the right place, Moby?"

Giving an honest gander around the new landscape, Percy took in the golden spires that towered over crystalline waters.

"Asgard." Yelena breathed in awe. "This is definitely the right place."

"Asgard?"

"The home of the Norse gods." Yelena simply left it at that, wanting to soak in more of the glorious atmosphere.

Norse gods? Now that was something unexpected.

He did not think that he would ever see something as impressive as Olympus, but the city sparkling before them put it to shame. Never had he seen so much gold and glass before, nor shining lights for that matter. Not even Zeus' temple was comparable to the massive palace that dominated the landscape, surrounded by hundreds of equally impressive structures that gave off the impression of a futuristic society. Around it all, flying skiffs zipped over swaths of water, spraying them with a refreshing mist.

He felt strange being in the presence of a different pantheon. It was like mixing oil and water; his body felt oddly misconstrued, wonky even. "Norse gods, so like…"

"Thor, Loki, Odin…" Yelena rattled off. "And everybody here is basically immortal, they all live for thousands of years."

"No kidding."

Percy could not imagine living with the same people for thousands of years. What was there to even do at that point? Actually… he could see now why gods had so many kids.

Looking behind, he was pleasantly surprised to find themselves near a rainbow-colored bridge, which seemed to extend for miles out into the ocean.

"That leads to the Bifrost," Yelena said, also noting the bridge. "It's what they use to travel."

"So you've been here before?"

Yelena pouted. "Yeah, but probably not this version. Although it looks pretty damn similar."

Percy rubbed his hands, anxious to discover the new surroundings. "Alright then, let's get this show on the road. Moby, you know what we're looking for, right?"

Moby, back as a cat, shook his head.

Percy frowned, "Moby? The Tesseract?"

Again, the flerken said no.

Yelena's face exuded the aura of a concerned mother. "What's the problem?"

"I, uh, I don't think Moby knows where the Tesseract is."

They both stared at the flerken, the cat seemingly wanting to do nothing more than lick his paws.

"So Moby can track the stones through dimensions, time and space, but he can't track them in the city?" Yelena pinched the bridge of her nose in disbelief. "How does that make any sense?"

"Well, if Moby's anything like me, maybe all this Asgard stuff is messing with his stone-finding compass." Percy reckoned, feeling a bit sympathetic.

Moby stopped his paw-licking to nod his head.

"Great," sighed Yelena. "Now our super-cat doesn't work."

In anticipation, Percy wrung his hands, eying Asgard with a twinkle in his eye. "I guess we gotta do things the old-fashioned way.

-Ω-

Deciding it was best to keep out of the public eyes as much as possible, Yelena led them away from the majestic courtyards and lavish fountains, sticking to the outskirts as much as possible. But when everything was made of either marble or gold, they stuck out as sore thumbs regardless.

"If the Tesseracts anywhere, it's gotta be in the palace." She said as their trio navigated a back alleyway, which of course in Asgard was cleaner than anything on Earth.

"Not a bad call," Percy agreed. "But we look like apes in comparison to these guys. We can't just walk in through the front steps."

Yelena chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. Both of them were still wearing the same outfits from the first day they met. Everybody else was wearing silky tunics and ornate gold pieces. Not to mention, there were guards aplenty.

A dangerous smirk crossed Percy's face. "Okay, I got an idea."

"Okay?"

"It's a really crazy idea."

Yelena fought back an eye roll. "Alright?"

Percy gestured at the flerken trailing them. "What if Moby ate us? And then snuck into the palace as a cat, and then spat us back out."

"Please tell me that you didn't just say that." She groaned, looking both ways before they crossed yet another street.

"What? You got a better one?" Percy fought. "Sounds legit to me."

Yelena paused her step to wrangle his neck, a thought that crossed her mind more times than not. "Did your brain unwrinkle? Percy, out of anybody here you should know that flerkens are walking blackholes."

Percy shrugged in his annoyingly endearing fashion. "I mean yeah, but Moby's been keeping the stones and gauntlet for us this entire time. What's the difference?"

Moby meowed. And winked. He was still in his three-eye phase.

"There are still guards," she pointed out. "Maybe we can mug some people and steal their clothing."

"Yeah maybe, but do we really want to do that?"

"Rather do that then be consumed by a flerken."

Percy bit his lip in an interesting manner,

"Fair point. But those guards probably know everybody, no? What would they think if they just see some people they don't recognize. You said that everybody lives for thousands of years, they would know something's not right."

Yelena stopped again once they entered another alleyway. It was impossible to sneak around and talk crazy at the same time. "Okay well, same applies for Moby. You think a cat can just wander in there?"

"I'm sure he can sneak his way in easily, right Moby?" Percy bent down to pat the flerken on the head, who meowed affectionately in response.

In any other time and place, the moment might have passed as adorable.

"I cannot believe I'm actually considering this." She grumbled.

"But you are." Percy pointed out.

Resolving to regauge their options, they watched the Asgardians for a little bit longer. Specifically, those that were mingling outside and near the palace. The situation, unfortunately, did not seem to be getting any better. If anything, there were even more people now.

Yelena did not believe in worshiping gods, but praying for divine intervention did not seem like the worst idea currently.

With a strained moan, she turned to the flerken. "Moby, are you sure you can do this? You can get us into the palace, safely?"

The flerken stuck its stupid thumb up.

"Alrighty!" Percy's expression had turned to childish excitement. And this she did like. "It's go time baby."

"I can't believe I'm trusting this thing."

On command, Moby's mouth opened to reveal a void of nothingness inside. It was like staring into death itself. The light around them felt as if it were being leached by the flerken's pull.

"My god." Yelena cursed, her stomach clenching. "This is how I die."

Percy slung his arm over her shoulder, making her tense for a second. "Lady's first?"

"Absolutely not. You first, it's your pet."

Percy smirked. "Mmkay, see you soon."

In not-so-secret horror, she watched as he jumped into the flerken's outstretched maw without a second thought, his body distorting in the light before disappearing from sight.

Moby stared at her impatiently, waiting.

"The things I do…" Yelena sighed deeply.

-Ω-

Being in a flerken's mouth was like riding a non-stop zero-gravity carousel with the lights off and the speakers turned up to max. Or in other words, it was the best and worst experience of Percy's life.

To begin with, time felt strange. It either felt like it was moving at light-speed, or not at all. Same went for the things he saw pass by him, either zipping by or crawling at a snail's pace. Everything that Moby had ever consumed was in there with him, and as it turned out, Moby had eaten a lot of things. Highlights consisted of what appeared to be an entire dessert island (that's right, dessert, not desert), a wax figure of Joseph Stalin, and a fully intact barnhouse, horses and all. The horses could even talk!

"First time?" A strikingly black horse asked Percy as they floated by each other.

"Me?" Percy asked, pointing to himself. "Yeah, and you?"

"Oh no," the horse shook its head. "This ain't the first time I've been eaten by a flerken. Happens to the best of us."

Percy surmised that that statement was more than reasonable. "How long have you been in here?"

"I'd say a good year and a half," the horse reckoned, "enough time for me to hit a solid growth spurt."

Percy surmised that that statement was more than reasonable as well. "Do you want me to put in a word for you when I get out?"

"You mean to say that this flerken will let you out?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but to make it short, I'm on a universe-saving expedition thing right now, and this flerken's been helping us. Right now I'm in here so he can sneak us into this crazy looking palace."

The horse shook its mane in incredulity. "That certainly sounds like the most extraordinary adventure. As for leaving this place however, I'll decline for the time being. I kind of like it down here, no responsibilities, just straight chillin."

Percy could totally see where the horse was coming from. "Alright, well, nice talking to you I guess."

"The pleasure was all mine," the horse neighed, already beginning to float away into the unknown. "Best of luck in your adventures. And may the odds ever be in your favor."

-Ω-

With a funny pop, Percy returned to the land of the living, luckily landing on top of something surprisingly soft and cuddly.

"Hello there." He greeted cheerfully.

Yelena's sharp cheekbones snarled back at him. "Get off me."

Moby let out a ghastly burp as the two of them untangled from each other on the spotless marble surface. They had arrived at what appeared to be one of the lower levels of the palace, tucked away in the corner of a dimly lit hallway.

Rising to his feet before helping Yelena up, they then took stock of their ever evolving situation.

First thing that was easily noticed were the ancient relics, strewn all around them on stately looking pedestals. Objects and items ranged from the mildly interesting to the otherworldly, with most of them screaming 'I-killed-somebody-for-this' energy. It was like a history museum on steroids, minus the annoying staff members.

"This must be Odin's trophy room," Yelena whispered, eyeing the pedestal closest to them, on which sat a crystal ball.

Percy spied a sword that looked suspiciously like Riptide, making him subconsciously feel for the pen in his pocket. "Is this where they would keep the Tesseract?"

"Not sure, but it's a good place to start at least."

Together as three, they continued their sneaking, pausing every time one of them thought they heard footsteps approaching. For a place as large as this one, there were frighteningly few people around. The Tesseract did not seem to want to be found either.

"I swear we passed by here already." Yelena muttered as they rounded a corner.

"You sure?" Percy asked, checking to make sure they had not lost track of Moby. "There's like fifty different skulls here."

"Exactly my point," she emphasized. "You would think they'd be so kind as to put directions on the walls."

Percy agreed, and was about to bring up what he believed was another good idea, when abruptly Yelena stopped ahead of him.

"There." She said seriously, pointing to a pedestal neatly planted in the middle of a larger room. "That's it."

There waiting to greet them was definitely something that would be called the Space Stone. Seated atop the pedestal was a glowing blue box that sparked like it was made out of pure electricity, casting out waves of static energy that made the ends of their hair rise.

Moving with purpose now, they closed the distance. However, they were not alone in doing so.

From just a few hallways down, a child appeared, him crouching as well as he rapidly made his way towards where the Tesseract lay.

The trio stopped dead in their tracks

"No way we're mugging another twelve-year-old." Percy mouthed silently.

Yelena's eyes narrowed viciously as she mouthed back. "I don't think this is your normal twelve-year-old."

The crouching kid was donning a bronze crown with wings on either end, which accentuated the oily black hair that flowed over his dark green tunic.

They watched, frozen in the middle of the hall, unable to move without making noise, as the kid eventually laid his hands on the Tesseract.

As a narrator would put it, this is when things got interesting.

Suddenly, the kid's eyes met theirs. And immediately there appeared a blade in his hands.

"And who might you be?" The kid demanded, taking the effort to point at each one of them, the Tesseract in his hands sparking with each word.

"I don't know, who are you?" Percy asked back, wanting to but in the end not drawing Riptide.

"Loki, son of Odin." The kid answered with a smug expression. "And you're trespassing!"

Yelena cursed. Moby meowed. Percy did the only thing he could think of.

"What… are you doing?" The Norse god questioned in absolute astonishment.

"Dance battle!" Percy exclaimed, swaying his hips like a mentally deficient raccoon.

To the beat of Stayin' Alive, the demigod inched closer and closer to his target, all the while Yelena and Moby gawked at him, not fully trusting their five combined eyes.

Loki, also in a stupor, blinked out of it and reasserted himself, "Stop! Whatever it is you're doing!"

By hook or crook, Percy was now within arms reach of the kid and the stone. The tip of the kid's blade was aimed right at his jugular.

"Listen Loki, I know that we're not supposed to be here and all that, but we really really need to borrow that thing you got in your hands."

"What are you using it for?" The god questioned, slightly curious. "And you still haven't told me who you are!"

"To save everybody." Percy grimaced at his cringeful words. "And don't worry about it."

Loki laughed, which felt mildly degrading coming from somebody that looked like a middle-schooler. "By my fathers beard you are!"

"Looked to me like you were sneaking around too." Percy argued. "What are you using it for?"

"Why, to pull a prank on Thor of course!" Loki said. "I was pla—"

"Loki!" A deep, godly voice rumbled.

They all turned to the nearby steps, where a stately figure who could only be Odin, appeared at the top. Massive staff, armor, eye patch and all.

"What are you doing, my son!" The god demanded, his voice rattling the floors and walls of the palace. "Who are these people?"

What happened after that, Percy struggled to remember.

One second he did not have the Tesseract, the next second he did. One second there were two Norse gods in their presence, the next second he was tumbling through space, Yelena hanging on for dear life by his ankle, with Moby cradled in her chest.

Percy surmised that this was more than reasonable.


Author's Note:

Lol. Feedback please :)