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Chapter 5

"Are you sure this is where Heimdal said we would be able to find them?" Loki asked Thor exasperatedly, not really believing it was true and that their soul mates were in the area. Thor's perhaps, but his? Hardly. And besides, what would they be doing out so near the cliffs at this time in the night? Apart from the stars and the moon, the darkness was complete. It was half three in the morning!

"I am sure brother! This is where he told us they would be," Thor told him, getting annoyed. They heard a few meows before two cats burst out of the grass, play fighting with each other. The two rolled to a stop at their feet. One, the bigger of the two, was easier to see, as the other could only really be made out by its green eyes with silver flecks, a sign that it was jet black.

As they looked at the cats and the cats looked at them, they heard the sound of hooves heading towards their spot. "Fade? Crookshanks? Where did you go?" A warm voice said.

"You know you can hide better than we can see you," another added this one with more of a musical lilt. Two horses emerged out of the darkness and were pulled to a halt before they reached the two brothers. Loki saw the two young women with the outlines of crescent moons on their foreheads, one in gold, and one in silver. Both radiated power, and it was not entirely mortal power either. "Oh, sorry, we almost didn't see you there," the girl with the silver tattoo said. The marks reminded them of some of the actors in the films Stark showed them, except they were fuller, had more tattoos surrounding them and were all in a sapphire colour.

"That is alright," Thor said, smiling at them both. "May I ask what you are doing out at this time of night riding?"

Both looked at each other, before the girl with the gold tattoo rubbed the marking absently. "We are Vampyre fledglings. Like adult Vampyres, we're nocturnal," she answered. "Taking a ride now is as normal to us as taking a ride in the day would be to humans. What are you doing out here?" Her eyes darted to their foreheads, obviously checking they were bare.

"We were looking for two people with specific Norse runes on their body. Most would mistake them for tattoos, while they may think they are birth marks," Loki answered her. "We were told they would be near here."

"Can I ask who you are first?" she asked, eyes narrowing. Though, they could only see that in this light because they were not human. Had it been even Steve Rogers or Natasha Romanov, it would have been missed. As it was they could see the girls clearly, and he assumed they could see him and Thor just as clearly. He could tell she was suspicious.

"I am Thor Odinson, and this is my brother, Loki," Thor answered her.

They exchanged looks, eyes widening slightly. "I'm Asta Emrys," she said after a moment, "this is Hermione Granger. Would those runes happen to be Kaen and Thuris in gold and silver?"

"They would," Loki said cautiously. Could he have been wrong? Could they be them? Asta pulled her jacket off and pulled the shoulder of her t-shirt down, revealing Kaen, watching him carefully. He felt his eyes widen, just a touch, and he froze. It was her.

"Like this one you mean?" He cleared his throat and nodding, forcing his eyes away from the rune and to look her in the eye again. Her dark hair was pulled up into a weave, a pale face framing green eyes. Her lips were red and full. Her eyes were guarded, but he saw an old pain hidden in them, making her judge everything around her carefully.

"Yes, that is my rune. Are you aware of what it means?"

"Nyx told us at Mabon. Before it, we held the wizards misconceptions, but that is another story," Asta told him, readjusting her shirt and putting her jacket back on, while Hermione shifted her sleeve, revealing the silver Thuris rune.

"You are in contact with Nyx?" Thor asked, surprised at the fact, but grinning as he looked away from the silver rune at Hermione, noting the curious brown eyes that surveyed him with caution.

"All Vampyres pray to her. She is our Goddess. Sometimes she turns up," Hermione answered.

Asta snorted. "And brings an information bombshell with her."

"She wouldn't just turn up simply to say hi," Hermione said to her. She then dismounted. "Sorry, everything recently has come as a bit of a shock. We're still processing things."

"That is alright. Though, I am curious, what is a Vampyre?" Thor asked. They had not heard of them before, and the fact that their soulmates had a link to an Olympian, a pantheon which hey had only a tentative truce with, could help strengthen their alliances.

Asta dismounted, "Well, it's certainly refreshing. Everyone knows. Vampyres are faster, stronger, longer lived and are much more in tune with magic and the world around them than humans. A natural life span is over several centuries. These marks," she gestured to her forehead, before dismounting, "show what we are. A simple outline marks us out as fledglings. Filled in and expanded on shows a matured adult. At around seventeen/eighteen, some humans activate a hormone in their blood which begins the biological change, and the mark appears when a Vampyre tracker fully activates the beginning of the change. Fledglings either complete the change as fully formed Vampyres and tend to realise some sort of gift or affinity, or they reject it."

"And revert back to human?" Loki asked her.

"No, they die. Until one or the other happens, they need to be surrounded by fully formed Vampyres for most of the time for their best chance at survival." Well, there went bringing them home. And there was a chance they would not make it at all.

"Well where are they then? Is it safe for you to be out here on your own?" Thor asked.

Hermione shrugged, "We could spend about two days maximum away from a House of Night. A short ride alone in the night, or visiting the town in the day is no problem. Besides, our House of Night is there," she pointed away from them. A few short miles away was a castle, lights shining from the windows. They had noticed it before, but had not paid it much attention. Both Asta and Hermione relaxed a little bit at the easy topic. The two were not trying to force anything. "We should be heading back soon. We still have work to complete for Theresa on the Rebecca Riots," Hermione told her.

"Yeah, you're right. And I want to start reading Frankenstein and get another book checked off the list," Asta added.

"May we walk you back?" Loki asked.

"Well, if it's not out of your way," Asta said.

"Not at all. We did come to find you two, after all," Thor told her, grinning.

The two fledglings shifted at the reminder, being pushed straight back into that topic. "It couldn't hurt," Hermione said after a moment. "I suppose we should get to know you, see where this goes." They were both reluctant, Loki noted. Something had happened in their past to make them so. He wanted to know what. But that would have to come in time. He and Thor would have to get to know them, gain their trust. It would be a slow process, with no guarantee, but it would be worth it, if they did everything right. The two had suffered real pain. One wrong move could send them running. He did not want to lose this chance. Asta and Hermione grabbed the reigns of their horses and turned them round. The two cats walked off ahead of them and Thor and Loki fell into step beside them.

"So, this House of Night, is it simply there so that fledglings can be around full Vampyres?" Thor asked.

"It's also a school, as well as a coven. We continue with normal lessons, on top of lessons about things like Vampyre History and Sociology. They also know how to give us the best chance at making the change. A strong, healthy fledgling will have a better chance than a lazy, unfit one."

"So, there's plenty of chances for fitness classes and the majority of the food is completely healthy. Of course, unhealthy options are ok, in moderation of course," Asta grinned. "Riding is just one of the exercise classes offered, and we began lessons as part of our actual schooling here. But there are others we are looking at, such as dance and martial arts."

"You want to learn self-defence?" Loki asked.

"Well, the world isn't the safest, and many humans look at us as a threat. Some go so far as to call us demons. Those tend to be just the fanatics though," Asta answered, smiling wryly. "Having some idea of how to defend ourselves would be a good idea."

"Why would they think you were demons?" Thor asked.

"Probably the fact that Vampyres need to drink blood to survive."

"Blood?" Thor's eyebrows shot up as he surveyed Hermione. Even Loki looked shocked.

"Cravings for that tend to come further into the change," Hermione explained, "but yes, blood. Sixth formers, those in their fourth and final year of the change, begin craving. Full Vampyres tend to drink regularly. They have blood donations regularly from the blood bank. Some even know humans who are willing to donate straight to them, if you know what I mean."

"They drink straight from a human?" Loki asked. Hermione nodded.

"That and the whole nocturnal thing tends to give people the creeps. But our physiology means we tend to be sensitive to the sunlight. For some reason, that part has yet to kick in for us. We might just not be far enough along though," Asta told them. "Our night vision is impeccable though."

"Why, if you need blood to survive, do they think such things? It is not as if you kill them for their blood. It is donated. What is the difference between that and donating blood to the hospital?" Loki asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Not everyone thinks things like that, but some do. It is baffling. You don't mind?"

"If you need blood then there is nothing wrong with it. Every being needs to eat. Your people just happen to need blood as part of your diet, instead of simply food and drink," Thor answered her, smiling. They both noticed the two girls relaxed slightly at this. They were obviously fearing a bad reaction. They continued on, talking about Vampyres, and the two brothers explaining things about their own race, on which very little was actually conclusively known to the majority of people. They soon reached the gates however. The four came to a stop as the two cats ran inside. "We should meet another time," Thor said.

"It's Saturday morning now, albeit very early. The town has several café's. One, Food For Thought, is the one we frequent. We can meet you there at two in the afternoon, if you want?" Hermione asked.

"Would that not disturb your sleep?" Loki enquired.

"We've done it a couple of times. We get a few hours' sleep, wake up, go into town, come back and then sleep some more. It's easy to do on the weekends. We get to sleep in longer," Asta explained, smiling slightly. "Besides, you were out there at such a late hour for yourselves no doubt. And, we've gotten a lot stronger lately. We need less sleep than before. Not that that means we can't sleep for twelve hours straight if we want, it's just a nice thing to do every once in a while." It was nice to see someone thinking about them instead of going straight for something that just suited themselves for a change.

"Then we will see you both at two," he said, smiling.

"See you then," Hermione said, before heading inside.

"Goodnight," Asta added, before following her through the gates, the horses walking patiently beside them.

One of the Vampyres at the gate house approached them then. His face was a blank mask. His tattoos formed curved blades, pointing towards his mark. "I know who both of you are, most of us do. Those two are highly thought of here. Especially after our goddess revealed they were her daughters in more mortal forms. Make no mistake, we will be watching and waiting. If either of you hurts them, we do not care how powerful you are, we will do our duty as Sons of Erebus Warriors and kill you to protect them from further harm."

So that was where their power came from, Loki thought as he saw Thor stiffen out of the corner of his eye. They did not just have a connection with Nyx, but were her daughters. Loki nodded. "I give you my word, we have no intention of harming either of them. Have a nice night. Come on, brother," he said quietly to Thor.

"The daughters of Nyx," Thor said as they were heading away.

"Yes, and therefore not someone father can disapprove of like he did Jane Foster when you decided to court her. Be very careful around Hermione. That short meeting, and the response of that warrior was enough to tell me one thing- both of them are emotionally wounded. I believe we are very lucky that they are allowing us the chance to get to know them, never mind anything else. Do not rush into anything. If you hurt her, you will hurt both of them, same as if I hurt Asta, I will hurt Hermione. If one of us loses one of them no doubt the other would withdraw also."

"You think I did not see that?" Thor growled. "I noticed it in their eyes, their stance. Many of even our oldest warriors have not seen the hurt they have. Something has happened to them, I know that. I am not blind."

"I am just cautioning you. There was a time where you would have overlooked it."

"That time has long since passed. Now, I believe we should head home."

"Agreed."

Asta and Hermione said nothing until they were back in their room and ready for bed. "Well, that was sooner than I thought," Asta said. "I know she said they would turn up soon but I thought she meant in a year… or four."

"Like when we'd changed?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly! What do we do now?"

"Go and meet up with them later and give them a chance. I mean if there's no one out there who we'd have a better chance with, we may as well see if we can make it work with them. And if they are our soul mates and care about this opportunity then they will respect us, and give us what time we need."

"You don't mean to tell them everything, do you?" Asta asked, startled. "We've only just met them!"

"I know that, and no, I don't. All we need to do is let them know that we were involved in the war in the wizarding world and still have a few issues from it. Hopefully, from that, they will respect our need for boundaries, as we would for them if they needed any for any reason."

"They're from a warrior pantheon, do you think they'd understand needing space after a war?"

"They're bound to have seen what war does to people. They have interacted with other races, even if their own doesn't experience the traumas of war, which I doubt. You talked with them too, they seemed to have just the same types of emotions as us, and I didn't see a hint of the bloodlust that would be needed to just not care about these things," Hermione told her, knowing how worried her friend was. All interactions with the opposite sex that was remotely near a physical or romantic relationship had been a very bad experience for her. Either they wanted to latch onto her fame or steal her fortune, or just use her like Dursley had. Hermione knew they were both well within their rights to be weary and suspicious, but Nyx had promised them love and safety, and she wanted to try for that. And she wanted Asta to feel loved and safe as well. Both those feelings had been in short supply through all of her human life. "Come on, let's go to bed. We can keep our meetings with them to public areas with all four of us together at one time as well for the near future, until we're both comfortable with changing the arrangement. We will be right there together, facing this just like we have anything else."

Asta hugged herself and nodded. Hermione was right. She did not have to do this alone, and she was not going to.