Chapter 6 – They Call Me Loki
~ Five Years Later ~
It was dark and stormy in the little Indian village that night. Gabriel had arrived in the middle of the square to find himself in a deluge of rain. He rushed into the closest building and shook the water from his hair, glancing around him. It was a small Hindu temple. At the end of the room was an altar bearing candles and an alarming statue. In front of this altar stood a woman, her back to him. She didn't appear to have noticed that someone else had entered the temple. Gabriel walked tentatively forward and cleared his throat.
"Um, excuse me? Ma'am? I hate to interrupt..." he began.
The woman turned around and fixed him with a penetrating stare that caught him off guard.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on you praying, I just –"
"I wasn't praying," the woman said.
"You weren't?" said Gabriel, confused. "Then why are you in the temple?"
"I am collecting prayers," she replied.
"C-collecting...prayers...?" Gabriel repeated.
He suddenly realized that this wasn't an ordinary woman at all and was thinking it was high time he made a break for it.
"Yes. My name is Kali. This is my temple," the woman said.
"Your temple... so that statue..." Gabriel said, pointing at the frightening stone image.
"Yes, that is me, in my true form," said Kali.
"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Gabriel.
"Because I can tell that you are not just a man. You also are very obviously not from around here," Kali replied. "So... who are you?"
"They call me Loki," said Gabriel, giving her the identity he had decided for himself. "The god of mischief. Some cultures know me simply as the Trickster."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Loki. I believe I have heard about some of your exploits," said Kali.
"All good things I hope," Gabriel said with a grin.
He was beginning to feel a bit less wary, despite being in the presence of what he knew was a very powerful goddess, and felt rather drawn to her in spite of himself.
"Well, when you make your name as a Trickster, word is going to get out of the good and the bad," Kali said.
"Ah, yes, you probably heard about the Sicily fiasco, didn't you?" sighed Gabriel.
"Yes, I did," said Kali. "You ought to be a bit more cautious."
"It was a bad day," muttered Gabriel vaguely.
This had been true. That day in Sicily had been the second anniversary of the day he left heaven, a date that never left him in a good mood. In fact, today was that very day, the fifth year since he ran away from home.
"I was wondering," said Gabriel suddenly. "If maybe I could stay the night here. I've been traveling by myself for so long and I... I just don't want to be alone tonight..."
"I have plenty of rooms beneath my temple. You are more than welcome to stay in one of them," Kali replied.
"Thank you so much," Gabriel said.
Kali just smiled mysteriously and picked up a candle.
"Follow me."
She led Gabriel down a hidden staircase to the secret corridors beneath the temple, lighting the lamps as she went. The hallways were ornately decorated with gilded murals illustrating scenes from Hindu legend. Kali stopped in front of a door and pushed it open.
"You can rest here. My room is just across the hall if you need anything. And you are free to stay as long as you need," she said.
"I really can't thank you enough," Gabriel said.
"There is no need," said Kali. "Just don't try any funny business and all will be well."
"I'm a Trickster, sweetheart, funny business is sort of my job," Gabriel chuckled.
"That is not quite what I was referring to. I more meant that I have had far too many foreign deities coming on to me for my liking," Kali said warningly.
"No worries there, ma'am. I'm no Zeus. I know how to keep my sexual urges at bay," laughed Gabriel.
"You've met Zeus?" Kali asked skeptically.
"I sure have. He's a wild one though, I'll tell you that. Whoever gave him the throne of Olympus is probably spinning in their grave," said Gabriel.
Kali smiled, and Gabriel thought she might have almost laughed.
"Perhaps you can tell me about more of your adventures in the morning," she said. "I can tell that you are tired from your journey. Get some rest."
"Thank you again, Kali. Good night," said Gabriel.
"Good night, Loki," Kali said, then crossed the hall and entered her own room, shutting the door behind her.
Gabriel smiled a bit to himself before stepping into his room and looking around. It was small but comfortable, furnished with a large bed, a simple chair, and a shelf full of books. Gabriel dropped his pack on the floor, tossed his wet cloak over the chair, and flopped backwards onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling for a while before sitting up and kicking off his mud-caked boots. He walked into the little washroom through the door in the corner to clean some of the dirt and mud from his face, then stared at himself in the chipped mirror above the sink, water still dripping from his nose and chin.
Five years. That's how long he'd been on Earth. It felt like just yesterday that he'd seen Balthazar and Castiel in heaven, and yet it also felt like so much longer. Gabriel gripped the edge of the basin tighter until his knuckles whitened. The anniversary of that night had always been the hardest day of the year for him, and he had never managed to keep himself together on it. The first year, he got so drunk that he'd since forgotten where on Earth he even was that day. The second year was the Sicily incident, which had nearly resulted in the destruction of the entire island. He preferred not to think about that one. The third year he had decided to avoid anything that might destroy a civilization, so instead he went to a brothel in Rome, hired six prostitutes, and had an orgy. Last year was much like the first, except that in his drunken state he had set fire to half a town, been arrested, and was flogged within an inch of any mortal's life. It was the track record of the last four years that prompted Gabriel to come to India this year and spend the day avoiding anything that would cause trouble that he would regret later. As the self-proclaimed god of mischief, he lived for trouble, but the self- and public- destructive kind that he was prone to on these anniversaries was a kind of trouble he would rather avoid.
Gabriel went back to the bed and threw himself onto it. He didn't normally need to sleep on Earth, but he found that sometimes it was rather enjoyable, and sometimes he even found that he actually had needed it. Tonight seemed to be one of those nights. He was so worn down that he didn't have to coax himself into sleeping like he normally did, but just drifted off.
