Hello everyone! This is chapter 18 and there are a couple other names from mythology mentioned here. Holler is the god of death, destruction, disease, and disaster while Laga is the goddess of wells and springs. There is an innocent Loki prank in this chapter :)
Cougar rolypoly bug: This one wasn't as fast as I wanted it to be, but two days is still pretty good, I hope! Harry Potter is one of my favorite series, probably my favorite series ever! Including that in the previous chapter was an anachronism though, so I definitely had to fix that. I'm going to include it in a later chapter though, when the timing coincides with Midgard having had the appearance of Harry Potter :) Thank you :)
A Wild Clover: Oh definitely! Yeah, Idun's parental instincts slightly overshadowed her demeanor in this chapter. Goodness...I'm actually glad you mentioned Harry Potter in your review; that anachronism should not be there! That's what I get for writing most of my chapters around 4am because I can't sleep. Thank you for pointing that out- I altered it slightly and used two books that might possibly coincide better with the time frame. I'm not sure how to put their time with that of Midgardian centuries, but judging by their childhood and how they age differently than we do, I made an estimate of the era and for the purposes of the time in Midgard in this story, right now I'm considering it as around 1400 AD or so for Midgard as an estimate. It is a great series :) HERE IS MORE, I WISH TO AVOID THE SMITING! Thank you for your review :)
"How far did you get in that dreaded book?" You asked Loki as the two of you walked out of the library.
Loki chuckled, "Don't insult the book; it didn't act of its own accord to get you into trouble. As for how much of it I was able to read, I finished it."
"You must be joking with me, Loki. There is no way you finished that book!" You exclaimed in disbelief.
"I am not fooling you, Aurora. I read very quickly, you know that." Loki replied.
"I know you do, but I didn't think you could read that fast." You shook your head in astonishment.
"How was that book from Midgard that you read?" Loki asked you.
"It was rather vivid, and slightly graphic. While some parts were mildly disturbing, I liked it. It's based on the religion known as Christianity and its structure of the afterlife." You answered.
"I've read a couple books on the topic of Christianity. You mean hell, purgatory, and heaven I presume?" Loki asked as he looked down at you.
You nodded. "Yes, those realms. I read the first book in the trilogy, which was about travelling through hell; that's why the literature was so…creepy."
"I see. Do you plan on reading the other two?" Loki asked you as you both continued walking down the corridor.
"I already started the adventure; of course I have to finish it!" You exclaimed with a laugh.
Loki laughed along with you, "I suspected as much."
"Anyway, I'm glad you bailed me out of putting all of those books back. I'm sure my mother would have made you put them back by hand too." You said.
Loki shook his head, "There is no way I will ever put back a large amount of literature without magic, even when dealing with an irate god or goddess."
"Speak for yourself," You began, "I rather not invoke the wrath of any god or goddess, even if they are my parent."
Loki turned to face you, "I would not be invoking them, I would merely create the illusion that I am doing what they wish, while in reality, I have already finished the task by using magic."
"Loki!" You exclaimed, "You can't just deceive gods or goddesses like that!"
Loki snickered, "Who says that I cannot?"
"Uh…I do! It's not possible…they would know immediately that you were deceiving them!" You said quickly.
Loki raised an eyebrow and smiled down at you with his eyes as the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a wide smile.
"Oh no," you pointed your finger at Loki, "I know that look. You are not getting into mischief."
Loki's eyes twinkled brightly at the mention of mischief as he spread his arms out wide and said, "Do not fret, Aurora, you need not be involved in my mischief. I will orchestrate the demonstration myself; you just watch and see that I am capable of deceiving a god or goddess."
You shook your head furiously, "This is a bad idea, Loki."
"I fail to see what the cause for worry is here." Loki replied.
You looked at Loki in shock that he seemed to miss the glaringly obvious cause for worry.
"Loki, how do you not understand that if you get caught, you will be punished for tricking a god or goddess?" You asked sternly.
"Oh, it is not that I do not comprehend the repercussions of what will result if I fail to properly conceal myself," Loki said smoothly, "but the key word is 'if'; only if I am caught I will be punished and trust me when I say, I will not get caught." Loki winked at you.
You groaned and threw your hands up in defeat, "Fine, you win. You're so stubborn that no matter how I try to reason with you, you're going to do whatever you please anyway."
"I do what I want, Aurora, you know that." Loki chuckled as he squeezed you tightly and then released you.
"Clearly." You rolled your eyes.
"Now," Loki tapped his long and slender fingers against his chin, "who should be my target?"
"I hope you are talking aloud to yourself and not asking me to help you in your ploy." You grumbled.
"It matters not to me whether or not you want to help me choose my target, for I will choose one anyway. Do not worry though, should you help me choose one, you will not take the fall for any of what I do." Loki spoke.
"Really? How can I be so sure?" You asked with your arms folded.
"You have my word." Loki bowed and then straightened himself again up to his full height.
You chuckled as you shook your head smiling up at Loki, "Very well sir, I will take you at your word."
"I had a feeling you would. Now, help me find a suitable target!" Loki urged as the two of you entered the main area of the palace.
"I do not advise that you choose to prank Vali or my mother." You offered.
"I was not considering targeting either of them I assure you." Loki replied.
"Good, because my mother is most likely already in a poor mood after discovering us in the library with that tower today and she does not need you tricking her." You said.
"I should probably also avoid Holler, as I would rather not be plagued with illness." Loki grimaced.
"That would be wise." You nodded.
"Hmm…" Loki said placing his index finger against his cheek and his thumb under his chin as the two of you stood against the large stone wall in the center of the palace, "I have to ponder this a moment."
"Take all the time you need. I'm tired." You said as you leaned against the wall and slumped down to the floor.
Loki remained standing as he thought in silence for a moment before snapping his fingers, "Got it! Come with me!"
"What? Loki, where are we going?!" You asked loudly as Loki grabbed your hand and pulled you with him through the palace.
"Outside; I know who I wish to use my magic on to prank them." Loki called back to you as he continued running through the palace with you in tow.
"Okay, okay, but you can let go of my arm or at least run a little slower!" You yelled.
"Shh, you will blow our cover." Loki whispered as he came to a stop.
"Blow our cover? I still don't know who you are planning to prank." You whispered back.
Loki pointed out onto the grounds to a woman who was tending to the spring that ran from underneath the palace. The woman near the water was the goddess Laga, she tended to the wells and springs and was also King Odin's closest friend. Your eyes went wide when you noticed who she was.
"You can't be serious, Loki," You hissed, "she's King Odin's friend, your father, or have you forgotten?"
Loki responded to you without peering away from around the wall, "I have not forgotten, Aurora, but I think this would be the perfect opportunity to play my prank."
"Loki, what has Laga ever done to you?" You asked him as you pulled on his sleeve.
"She hasn't done anything wrong in my eyes, but that is not why I am doing this. My prank is not a punishment, it's just fun." Loki said as he finally turned to face you.
"What if you hurt her though?" You asked Loki as you glanced at Laga who seemed blissfully unaware of Loki's plan.
"No harm is going to come to her, I assure you. It's just a harmless prank, honestly." Loki responded, his eyes bright at the prospect of trickery.
"You better not hurt her, she's kind and is close with your father so he will find out it was you if you do something bad to her." You said firmly.
Loki smiled at you reassuringly, "I'm not going to hurt her; I have no malicious intentions here."
"You better not be lying." You pressed.
"I swear I am not, now just watch." Loki said as you complied.
Loki peered out from behind the cover of the palace wall to get a better view of Laga. Loki waved his hand to the side when Laga placed her hand back into the water. Slowly, you noticed that the water began to turn the color of a deep red wine. Soon, the natural color of the water had been completely replaced with red which alarmed Laga. Laga stumbled backwards in surprise as she grasped her wrist with her other hand. Red droplets of water cascaded from her hand and onto the ground.
"Loki, you've frightened her!" You whisper yelled.
Loki chuckled slightly, "She's not that scared. I just turned the water red; it is not a major issue."
You glared at Loki, "No, you only just happened to turn the water the color of blood. That's not alarming at all."
"I considered turning it a dark green, but green would not have had as big of an impact as red." Loki responded.
Laga had stopped clutching her wrist and shakily stood to her feet as she peered into the water from a distance.
"Should I-" Loki began before you cut him off saying, "No, do not conjure something to pop up out of the water at her."
Loki sighed, "You know me too well."
"The glint in your eyes that you get gives you away every time as if that weren't enough." You retorted.
Laga started pacing back and forth along the water's edge, obviously perplexed. Laga began to rub her eyes which Loki decided was the perfect time to quickly change the water back to normal. Loki waved his hand again and the red water was gone. When Laga opened her eyes again, she looked down in shock at the clear water before her. You could barely see her mouth move and you figured that she was saying something like "How?" or "What just happened?". You would be asking yourselves the same questions if you hadn't known that Loki was the one causing the water to change colors.
Laga scratched her head in confusion and continued tending to the water as if nothing had ever happened. Loki pulled himself off of the wall and turned to face you with a slight grin on his face.
"See?" he asked, "No harm done, just slight confusion and mild fright, she's fine." Loki added.
You looked at Laga who did appear to be alright, but you still had misgivings about Loki using his magic for trickery.
"Yes, but I worry that you will let your abilities go to your head." You admitted.
Loki looked taken aback, "I'm not an evil person, Aurora."
"No, no," you responded quickly, "I never said you were, gods, I don't want you to ever think I meant it that way. I just don't want you to take these tricks too far, okay?" You asked reaching for his hand.
Loki looked down at your small hand holding his in earnest and then back up at you. Loki smiled at you softly and said, "I promise you I won't."
You smiled back at him because you believed him. You trusted Loki's word more than anyone else's in the palace and you knew that Loki cared too much about you to lie to you.