Disclaimer: I can't do this anymore…it hurts too much. Help me, Lynna!

Lynna: We don't own it.


Chapter 3

Ruri decided to take her secret route home. Sure, she would miss a beautiful panoramic view of her village under the setting sun, but at least she wouldn't draw attention to herself.

I mean, what will everybody say if I came back home carrying a knocked-out sexy guy on my shoulders? And that we shared some kind of electric shock? Speaking of which, I wonder if it was just a way of passing his fits on to me. Oh please Thor don't let it be…I don't wanna grunt and wail crazily like that! Oh nooo! …No, bad Ruri. Stop worrying. It's bad for your health.

Trudging along, she got to the edge of a wood, and reached the rather large bungalow she called home. Relieved to find nobody hanging around, she set him down and knocked. A plump, white haired woman in a loose grey dress opened it. Gram.

"Ruri, how many times do I have t' tell ye not t' come back late! What if-" she caught sight of the unconscious weird guy and understood.

"Young 'un, ye know better than t' bring strangers home! Ye can't help everybody, ye know." But Ruri trained puppy dog eyes at her, and she gave a resigned sigh. Works like a charm. "Who's it this time?"

Whoopsie… I didn't get his name. But at least he's not like the girl with the shaved head, huge tattoos, buffalo nose ring, and other weird body piercings. Or that huge masked guy wearing animal skins who chased everybody around with a chainsaw. I don't think Gram has forgiven me for that one yet.

"Uhh… Gram, it's cold out here, and he really needs help. And a bed. Can we get inside please? Besides, something really weird happened; I'll tell you all about it later." C'mon, get all curious and concerned. You wanna help everybody too, even if you try to hide it. And you like working pro bono.

Yuki Tomoeda sighed again and opened the door wider.


Loki shifted on the bed, trying to catch the floating remnants of a dream. Long violet locks, soft laughter, a wolf bone pin. Fenris… He was half-sure that any minute now, a carrot top Rune Knight would shake him rudely awake and offer a loud greeting. Then they would go out of the room, and join the others in the dining area of the inn for breakfast. Lidia would ogle him, Iris and Chaos would start flirting, and Fenris-

Loki opened his eyes and came crashing back to reality. I had not dreamt in years. Why now? What happened? Where am I? …Oh. He remembered now. The girl. He had regained enough awareness a few times to dimly feel her carrying him. How she found the strength to do so, he didn't know. But he intended to find out.

But a self-check postponed things. He was physically drained, and Loki was suddenly conscious of a pounding headache. At least this afforded him some peace and quiet, and an opportunity to think things through. He started to do a bit of planning and room-observing.

It was not a very large room. Pale cream walls and ceiling. A single bed, a bedside table with two matching chairs and a vase of colorful flowers. A large gilt-frame mirror and a dresser, some cabinets and a shelf with books. Across the bed was a window, the green curtains drawn. Two oil paintings adorned the walls.

Then he heard a stomp-stomp-stomp, as if someone was going up a flight of stairs. So, I am at least one storey from the ground. A door creaked, and he realized it was the one to his room.

"Hey, great, you're finally awake! You gave us a bit of a scare, sleeping for two whole days! Are you okay now? Do you like the room?" It was her. She flashed him a smile. He kept silent, and she went on.

"And you better give me your name, it's not nice calling somebody just 'You', you know. Oh, and I'll call your doctor now. She knows what happened to both of us, but you have to talk to her about your earlier fit, we have no idea what it was. Hey, you gotta be really hungry. Wait, I'll go get ya some food. Ten minutes, tops." Why does she have to talk so much? Loki was getting irritated, but he didn't subdue the feeling.

Ruri walked out the door and yelled, "Hey, GRA-AM! He's awake now! Come on UP!" So much for his peace and quiet.


Humming, Ruri fixed up some food. Imagine finding someone like me in that way! I hope he likes his breakfast. No, it's already afternoon. Wait, it's still breakfast, right? He's breaking his two-day fast. But aren't they called breakfasts only in the morning? Geez, language is always so confusing. Now where the heck is that mug?

She was still silently debating about the breakfast issue while climbing up the stairs. Balancing the tray on one hand, she knocked and went in. She found Gram sitting on one of the chairs, talking to the guy, who was now sitting up. Ruri set the tray on the table beside him. "I got your food now. Come on, eat!"

"Ruri-chan, ye know it's rude to order a guest t' eat. He will when he wants t'. Sit down, I want ye here for this." So she hasn't told him yet? No wonder he doesn't look shocked. I hope his eyes pop out or he screams or something. That 'cold & blank' expression of his is getting a little old.

"Now where were we, Loki?" So his name is Loki, huh? Very common, not to mention boring…Oh well. At least it's not 'Fluffy' or 'Pinky' or anything.

"Human con-" he was interrupted by a loud, distant clanging, accompanied by screams. Oh, no.


Loki knew what that sound meant. A village bell, sounding a warning to all. Danger is near. It was probably some huge monster preying on the residents. Loki could not ignore such a threat. I must go. The headache was gone, and even though he wasn't back at full strength, his cosmic powers should be more than adequate to kill the threat.

"I gotta go now Gram. Take care of him, okay?" Her voice had changed. Now it was serious, calm and strong. What? Surely she did not mean to go there and face the monster. She might be strong, but it is still a fool's errand to even contemplate her fighting the beast. And certainly her grandmother is not foolish enough to let her. He had been talking with her long enough to know that she was a wise and knowledgeable woman.

But Ruri was already racing down the stairs, and he heard several doors slam open, then silence. She was gone. Loki stared at her grandmother. "How could you allow her to go?" She smiled at him, a very different smile from her granddaughter's.

"Ye needn't worry, she can handle it. And ye should stay here. Not recovered yet." I was not worried. And I certainly will not stay here. Loki brushed past her, ignoring her warnings, and ran out the door.


Please please let everybody be okay…I could't bear it if anybody got hurt… you hear me, Odin and all the others up there? …Stupid monster, why does it have to attack our village! I hope it gets struck by lightning or freezes in a cave while drawing those evil stick figures! Oh yeah, I'm the one who's gonna defeat it…I hate this job. I wonder if I can be a Professional Ice Cream Taster instead… Darn it, focus Ruri, focus!

Ruri ran at breakneck speed towards the sound of screaming and, by now, gunshots. They didn't seem to come for the village itself. Instead, they led Ruri to the clearing in a nearby wood. Yes. Thank you, thank you, kind gods! Maybe I have to give you those offerings after all.

In a few moments, she arrived at the scene. Golem. Several men were trying to ward it off with pitchforks, rakes, guns, any weapon they could get their hands on. But every time it roared and advanced towards them they scattered, yelling. The ones with guns stayed at a distance, firing ineffectually.

She scanned the area for wounded or, (oh please Odin don't you dare!) dead. Thankfully, there weren't any. The screams had come from several children, who were now being herded away. Good. Hundreds of offerings coming up! Now to get everybody else outta here.

"Hey guys, I'm here! Gram says everybody better leave; go to the far side of the village. Please alert the guys at the watchtowers, some golems go in groups. Go on now!" Most of them did. A stubborn few stayed, cheering. Oh nooo…please go. I hate playacting… They stayed. Grrr. Gotta take this show on the road then.

Ruri turned and faced the golem.


Loki ran down the house, following the open-door trail. As he got out the front door, the direct sunshine blinded him for a moment. I suppose two days in a dark room does that to a person. Still, he was a bit unnerved. It had never happened to him before. Loki pushed the matter to the back of his mind as he followed the screams and gunshots.

His legs didn't seem to go as fast as he wanted them. Actually, they were very slow by Loki standards. His mindfulness of some things was impaired, or gone altogether. And he sensed things he was never aware of before. In fact, he felt a change in his whole perception of his surroundings. He attributed these to the fact that he wasn't fully recovered yet. And besides, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Closer now…He knew he was near. He could hear loud, enraged roaring up ahead, beyond some trees... but no more screams. That meant that they got away, were dead or had simply stopped shouting. He willed his feet to run faster. Why hadn't he seen the girl -Ruri- yet? It was impossible for her to run that fast.

It was when he summoned his armor and grasped his Sword of Shadows that Loki discerned that something was really wrong. He did not feel the familiar surge of power run through him. What the-? Then Loki burst into the clearing.


Ruri ran up its arm and smashed its nose. She wished it could have been the center of the forehead. A golem's weakness, it makes for instant, painless kaput. It howled in rage and pain, punching its own face a split second after Ruri jumped off. Sorry, golem! But it's your own fault! I've got nothing against you, but we in the village can't just roll over and wait to be dog food.

She landed behind it, its back wide open. But Ruri ignored this and waited for it to turn around before making her move. I've learned my lesson, Mr. Golem. But I'm sorry 'cause it lets you suffer longer. She bit her lip and continued to fight.


As he watched her combat the golem, Loki put all the pieces together. The strange shock. The two-day sleep. Yuki's talk of flowing energy and human contact. Her willingness to let Ruri battle. The weakness and change of perception. The unresponsiveness of his Swords of Shadows. And Ruri herself, fighting with what was clearly superhuman strength and speed.

She had taken away all his cosmic energy.

End of Chapter 3

Loki: "Fluffy and Pinky?"

Random fan that just happened to be here: Sesshoumaru and Sha Gojyo. They're hot too.

Me: Anyway… News flash!! We can't update as often anymore due to the fact that school has begun. If, in the off chance that someone actually cares, we're very sorry, and we'll try our best to update regularly. Right, guys?

Paul: ((dreaming of the girl in the front row)) …yeah…sure…whatever…whatta cute smile…

Penny: ((bent over homework)) Mmm? Oh…uh huh…uh huh…

Lynna: ((frantically trying to inspire students to write their English essays)) Not now okay?

Loki: Look before you speak.

Me: O.O…T.T

Chaos: You okay?

Me: NO! Waaaaah...

Iris: On behalf of the now bawling jj, please read and review!