Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Prose 5:

It was incredible really. It was incredible that a simple chat could make him feel so good. Balder felt uncommonly blessed to provide Yui Kusanagi with answers to her questions about him. Strange that such a blessing could come from a human. He didn't know, but perhaps his problems were easier for a human to understand on an emotional level rather than a god. Especially the "your problems are your own" mentality of the Norse.

And as such Balder wanted to make things right. He couldn't step on the grounds to apologize to those he assaulted, but he could apologize to Loki. Yet, Loki seemed to be on his last straw, that when Balder apologized he scoffed it off. Hurt, Balder tried desperately to make it up to a pouting, red-faced Loki who just shrugged it off like a child.

"There's no need to apologize," Loki kept insisting with annoyance on his face. Although Balder had a tough time understanding nonverbal signals, he's known Loki for years and could at least sense when he was upset.

Especially when Loki decided to stay in his room, despite Thor and Balder trying to get him to hang out with them. Loki was punishing Balder. Not directly of course and Thor was only one who took the hint.

The day was surprisingly frozen, given Zeus' love for warm and cool, but never cold weather. Still no snow, but the lake behind their dorm was frozen solid. Balder reminded himself to break apart the ice around the dock and his ship, but more importantly, he wanted to experience to the frozen lake with his steadfast friend. What better way to celebrate the comfortable cold than with an old past time.

Balder pounded on Loki's door with the hard heel of his hand.

"Come on, Loki. It's a perfect day for ice fishing."

"No," was the abrupt childish answer from the other side of the door.

"But…ice fishing…"

"No, Balder. You know normally I would do as you ask without question, but I'm putting my foot down."

Balder pressed his palm up to the door and called back, "Loki don't make me do this."

"Do what? Bash down the door? That's not anything surprising anymore."

"No," Balder took a deep breath, and uttered in a strangely husky and deep voice.

"Berserker."

"No."

"Breidablik."

"Stop it."

"Reykjavik."

"Don't do this…"

"Hringhorni."

"Dammit…"

"Fjord."

Loki then unlocked and flung his door open, his face red with annoyance and embarrassment, "Dammit, Balder, you KNOW how saying those words in a Scandinavian accent gets me all flustered!" Loki puffed and stomped past his best friend down the stairs to get ready, "Fine! Let me get my snow suit on."

Balder was right, the lake was frozen completely over and although there was no snow, the weather was bitter cold enough to warrant some two-piece snowsuits. Loki and Balder walked out on the frozen lake to near the very center, their breaths forming mist in the bitter air.

Loki carried the lines while Balder carried the buckets, drink cooler, chairs and drill.

"I don't know why you convinced me to come out here," Loki complained.

"Because I need to start enjoying the outdoors again," Balder explained. "Besides, it brings back old memories."

"Old unsophisticated memories," Loki rambled. "Seriously Balder, do you even know me? I don't hunt, I don't fish, I don't build houses or ships, or whatever you and Thor think is manly these days. I'm a finer man. Sweating my armpits off is not my thing-"

"-Loki."

"A little crafting for practical jokes, I can do. I at least have some calluses on my hands. Same as your rope burns. I thought you'd be the same, dancing that Hallingdans* for no reason but to show off you can-"

"-Loki."

"-jump up eight feet and kick off a hat to try to impress some girls. Does the human know you can jump that high? Eh, fuck that. Most of us can fly."

"Loki!"

"What!?" Loki broke free of his entranced rant, blinking at his friend. Balder had the drill set above the ice staring at him with a twinge of impatience.

"Help me drill," Balder said holding the drill upright, ready for Loki to take the other end.

"Right."

Balder started the drill and with Loki's help cut a hole in the ice wide enough to see a few of the fish swim around underneath. Loki watched with distaste the little underwater creatures swim around, minding their own business.

His nose wrinkled, "I hate fish."

"I guess we could do something else if you want," Balder said with a twinge of disappointment in his voice. In truth he was confused. If Loki hated fish, why did he always go fishing with them as kids back home? Perhaps Balder was being selfish with Loki.

"Fishing I'm fine with," Loki said, lightly punching his friend in the arm and reaching into the pocket of his jacket, "As long as you take the hook out. It's just the smell I hate."

He placed a pair of nose plugs on his nose with a smile. Loki glanced back down at the hole watching the fish swim more. In a way he felt pity for them. Such guideless creatures.

"In some ways I feel bad for them though. I mean they don't hurt anyone. They just sit there, swim, eat, and mate. Not thinking, not analyzing."

"Loki," Balder said softly as he stared down in the hole as well, "I think I'm a fish."

Loki was caught by his friends' voice. He sounded so down on himself. Balder may have let his temper run his emotions but he was highly aware of his negative personality traits and tried his best to overcome them. Yet to hear Balder's low self-esteem drop further into the proverbial ice-fishing hole, bothered Loki.

The red-haired god laughed, "You wish you were a fish."

Balder blinked at his friend, looking confused.

"No, you aren't a fish. Hrmm," Loki scratched the mole on his chin in thought. "I always thought you were like a bear. Big, clumsy and awkward, and hairy as well."

Loki proved his last point by patting Balder's unshaven cheek affectionately, "But really there are so many animals you could be. Though I have to say…you are a stag."

Balder's heavy eyebrows drew together, "A stag?"

"Yes," Loki said unfolding the chairs and setting them on the ice, "A stag."

"I don't get it."

"Well…yes you aren't very graceful but you are very in tune with nature," Loki admitted, wondering how deep of compliments he could go without it sounding awkward. "Princely I suppose in some respects. Rulers of their forest domain. Proud and handsome. Docile for the most part, but not without a protective side."

Loki saw as Balder's face softened in mild astonishment at being compared to such a creature.

"Plus, during mating season their necks swell up, like yours does whenever you go around meat."

Balder let out a loud, full-blown laugh. Loki had never seen him laugh so hard in recent months and it was a sight to see. The laugh lines of his eyes and jaw crinkling, his white teeth showing, blue eyes sparkling. Balder brought his arm back and cuffed Loki's back enthusiastically, causing the poor smaller god to stagger from the over exuberant force, "Loki you never cease to make me smile."

Loki blushed horribly, feeling the warmth he usually received from Balder return. Balder didn't seem to notice Loki blush and sat back in his chair, going about setting his hook and line. Loki slowly did the same.

"So what would I be?"

His blond friend shrugged, "You're many things Loki."

His rather dull response annoyed him. Loki wanted to know what Balder thought of him badly. He doubted it was anything negative, but it would still help him understand how Balder thought of him.

"Come on Balder," he whined. "I told you what you were. What am I?"

Balder regarded Loki, biting his chapped lower lip, thinking the best he could. For a moment, Loki was worried Balder was thinking of a response that would make him happy, not what he actually felt.

"Be honest."

"You're a scarlet king snake."

Well…that was…somewhat expected. Loki was always called a serpent or equated to a snake, but he thought since Balder never ran from him, that he viewed him differently. But even Loki couldn't expect so much as to have Balder view him as anything but sneaky or slithering. "What? I give you a gallant stag and you give me a snake?"

"A scarlet king snake," Balder clarified.

"So?"

"I read about them in a book. You see they have the same stripes and colors of another snake that is venomous, the coral snake. So, other animals run away from them because they think they are venomous, but really they are harmless and generally friendly. And really, really cool."

Loki's tongue felt heavy in his mouth, feeling emotion swell in his gut. Of course Balder would come up with that answer. Why did he expect anything else? Why did he doubt Balder?

"You think I'm cool, hunh?" was all Loki could say, hiding the fact that he was strangely and deeply touched by Balder's rather eccentric comparison.

"Of course!" Balder laughed again.

Loki hid his flushed cheeks by reaching over and opening the cooler, "Balder, all I got is Tang and crappy beer, since you took the last of the ale."

Balder gave a ponderous look, "I don't think I did."

"Yes you did. There's none left, if you want to check," Loki said as he tossed Balder some of the "crappy beer".

"Did you ask Thor?"

"Yes."

"And he didn't have any?"

"What do you mean?"

Balder ripped off the top of the bottle and answered casually, "Yeah, he keeps a stash in his room."

Loki stared his friend wide-eyed, his mouth gaping like a fish, "W-w-wha-? That bastard!"

He reached in and pulled out some Tang, resting against his chair, not paying nearly as much attention to his line as Balder was, who kept tugging every once in a while to set the hook in the mouth of some idiotic fish.

"Just as well. I'd hate to end up like the blistering drunk you two are going to end up being," he remarked bitterly sucking the straw of his juice. Balder of course just smiled, not taking the insult to heart as usual. Loki smiled back patting his arm, "So do you think you're ready to go back to class?"

"Well," Balder jutted his chin out and scratched his stubble, "I need to clean myself up—"

"Which takes like two seconds for you—"

"I suppose I am ready, but I'd rather keep away for a few more days. Just in case."

Nodding, Loki cranked the wheel of his pole a bit, "That's rather mature of you."

That was the truth. In some respects seeing Balder become so self-aware, made Loki feel relieved. Perhaps, his friend could gain better control of himself and then he would…

"Whoa!" Balder grunted as he struggled a little bit with his line. "I think I got one."

Loki watched as Balder pulled up a good sized trout, cringing a little bit as it flipped and squirmed a little too close for comfort. Balder on the other hand, bravely grabbed the fish with his large hand gripping it tight. The squirming stopped but Loki could see its tail fin jerk and flip as his captor worked to wiggle the hook out of the fish's gaping mouth.

"It's a nice one," Balder said once the hook was free. He held the fish out to Loki, "Wanna see?"

The chair nearly tipped over as Loki leaned away from the gaping fish in Balder's hand, "Get it away from me! It's disgusting!"

"Alright, alright," Balder pulled the fish away from his disgusted friend and dropped it back in the hole, "Go on free little buddy."

Balder wiped his gloved hands on his pants, before fiddling with his hook.

"You aren't keeping them?" Loki asked, a little relieved that Balder didn't place it in a basket or cooler.

"No. Catch and release."

"What about food?"

"What about it?"

Man, Balder was so dense sometimes. There were days having a conversation with him proved tiresome, "I thought you were going to fry them?"

Balder shook his head, "Why would I when Thor said he was smoking a pork butt tonight?"

Well at least I don't have to eat fish, Loki thought.

"I'll take pork over fish any day," Balder explained. "Except smoked salmon. Smoked salmon goes just under a nice juicy steak."

If Loki had an appetite, he was slowly losing it now. He didn't hate meat, and he loved the way Balder's face brightened when he thought of meat, but he could only take so much of it. He would kill to have a cake tray or pie cobbler sampler, but stupid Thor was all "sugar and sweets aren't a diet." As if meat was any better. "It gives protein that promotes muscle health and strength." Like Thor was some physical trainer.

Loki sighed and sipped his Tang, taking a good look at the iced over lake, Balder in a snow suit, and knit cap with a fishing pole and a cooler of beer.

Dammit, he thought, we can't prove this stereotype wrong either.

"Next time…we do what I want to do. Agreed?" Loki demanded and Balder all too willing complied.

"Agreed."

While Balder was freed from going to classes still and spent his time tinkering with his crafts, jogging, and exercising, and reading, or…whatever he did, Loki was still going to class consistently every day. He found it harder to focus than usual, but he was scraping by free of being beaten by Thoth's glares.

After lunch break, the students found themselves funneling towards Thoth's classroom, moving in between the spirits. Yui was talking to Apollo about a possible get together around Yule, but Apollo was distracted trying to get through the spirits.

"I'm sure whatever you think will be for the best, Miss Fairy," he replied distracted.

"But Apollo, I'm serious. Maybe a small Yule get together with all of us could be good—"

"Dammit, are you still on Yule? Why can't you leave well enough alone?!" Loki called behind him when he heard the word "Yule" come out of her mouth.

"Loki, let me explain—"

Yui almost ran into Tsukito's back as he stopped in his tracks. In front of him, Takeru ran straight on into someone and reeled back.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Takeru yelled, before even figuring who he ran into. He first thought it was one of the spirit classmates Zeus conjured up, but it was obvious that whomever he ran into was not just an ordinary spirit.

"What the-?" the students' eyes traveled up. The figure was tall, about as tall as Thoth and it was prevalent that he was a god. He seemed older than the student gods, even if he wore a student uniform that was completely unbuttoned revealing his incredibly toned and slightly hairy body with blue body paint drawn into knotted and coiled designs.

The god had a strong tan angular face, with wild long dark brown hair, pointed ears, and a goatee at the end of his chin. His eyes were bright and forest green and on each of his hairy upswept eyebrows were his gold looped piercing limiters, and above his brow were two symmetrical dark birthmarks. He was barefoot, walking around like some exotic forest god.

"Oh man," Loki groaned. "It's Cernunnos. I thought he was still in confinement."

Cernunnos**, the Celtic god of the wild, seemed to have a certain distaste for the company of gods he was with. He spoke with a deep, slightly raspy voice, but his accent was beautiful and harsh. It reminded Yui of the way Balder and Thor spoke; accentuating the "R"s and blending of the consonants pleasantly. "Considering I cause less trouble than you, Loki Laevatein, I should think I should be free to roam the grounds if you can."

Yui glanced back at Apollo, "I thought you guys were the only gods here?"

Apollo sighed. He had forgotten to tell Yui about the "new arrivals". "Zeus had to take in a few more gods. Mostly at the request of the Supreme Gods."

"Yeah, right," Loki growled.

"Wait," Yui's heart jumped a bit at thinking about a possibility of a new school year, "Does that mean I have to be here for another year?"

"No, human," Cernunnos answered, "If anything Zeus will repeat the cycle again with another unfortunate soul. In reality though, he's just imprisoning us. As punishment."

There was malice in Cernunnos' voice, a distinct spite towards the Supreme Greek God.

Loki gritted his teeth, "That's what you get when you sell your soul to Crom Cruach***."

"I didn't sell my soul to anyone, Bastún (bastard)"

"Who's Crom Cruach?" Yui asked. Her Northern Pagan mythology knowledge was non-existent apart from a bit of the Norse. She was still in awe in seeing this…god. Men here were beautiful, but Cernunnos looked…exotic and strange, if not a tad more inhuman than the others.

"The worst," was all Loki said.

Cernunnos's green eyes narrowed on the small red-headed god, "And you are to judge? Even a 'gracious' god like your Balla(1) apparently has a knack of causing trouble as well. "

"Either way!" Apollo interrupted before things got really heated, "Cern-Cern, for the Christmas festival I have to get signatures of all the gods to get them to participate. So…"

Apollo opened his briefcase and pulled out the Solstice sign-up sheet that Thoth had given him. Not at all intimidated, Apollo held out the form to the tall god, "Could you be a peach and sign?"

Cernnunos' eyebrows drew together and he gave a snort of displeasure.

"What makes you think we are anymore happy to celebrate Christmas than the Norse?"

Obviously every god but Loki were confused. There goes this unknown and ambiguous distaste towards anything remotely called Christmas again. These Northern gods really got their feathers ruffled for something fun.

"So…no?" Apollo tried to pin a clear answer.

Crossing his arms over his large chest, Cernunnos' answer was resolute. He stroked his goatee, his lips upturning as his eyes sparkled dangerously, "This is interesting, Loki Laevatein. You see I refuse to sign and give permission to do this unless Crom Cruach does."

"You mean he's here?" Loki asked, a small glitter of fear in his gray eyes. Cernnunos grinned, "Of course, you little nutball. I sure will not thrust myself into these festivities unless he agrees as well."

"So you are his whipping post," was Loki's smart retort. In a rather hostile response, Cernnunos bared his flat-edged but solid white teeth and wrinkled his nose, giving a short growl.

"I keep my allegiances to my kin first. Not to some flakey Norse sprite, a human, a needy Greek, and the twits from the East—"

"Hey!" Takeru shouted, but Cernunnos paid no heed.

"The deal stands," he told Apollo, straightening to his full height looking down upon them with a haughty expression that made him seem more king-like than even Thoth. "Get Crom Cruach to sign, then I will follow. Do you think you can manage that, Loki?"

The tall god turned on his bare heel and marched down the other end of the hall, the spirits seeming to part for him. Loki let out a relieved sigh, the heavy atmosphere the wild god exuded disappearing the further down the hall he went. The students filed into Thoth's classroom, waiting for a few of the others to come in.

"I don't get it," Yui said aloud. "Who's Crom Cruach?"

Loki clucked his tongue and answered, "A monster. His name doesn't mean 'crooked one' for no reason. Cernnunos isn't a bad god though, but ever since he's stuck to Crom Cruach's proverbial hip he's been…bitter."

"What does Crom Cruach do that makes him so bad?" Apollo asked wondering what sort of god he was up against in getting to sign his sheet. His damnable sheet.

Loki's slit-like eyes traveled to Yui, wondering if he should give her a reality that would quite possibly frighten her. Thinking about it, it would be better if she were aware of the danger than to go on about oblivious.

"He takes sacrifices."

Takeru scoffed, "So? I take sacrifices."

"I do as well," Tsukito followed succinctly without further explanation.

Loki rolled his eyes, "I'm not talking about grains or a slaughtered goat. Crom Cruach takes…" Loki swallowed hard, as if acid was forming in his throat, "Human sacrifices."

A heavy silence filled the room and eyes traveled to Yui, the most at risk. At first, the idea of human sacrifices bypassed her thoughts. But slowly, the idea that a god who took human sacrifices walked around the very place she roamed formed a pang of fear in her spine.

"H-human sacrifices?"

Loki nodded, "Specifically first born children and virgin maidens."

Tsukito opened his notebook looking through for specific information, "Yui Kusanagi is not the first born of her family but…"

"Tsukito…" Yui warned, her eyes glaring at the moon god, shaking her head, begging him to stop before he started.

"I was able to confirm that she is indeed a virgin."

The girl's cheeks flushed brightly both from embarrassment and pure frustration at Tsukito who just…dropped her sexuality out there in the open. Surprisingly, none of the gods seemed to be too impressed or shocked by this. Takeru however had a question on his mind, "Brother, how'd you figure that?"

"I showed her the unicorn in the forest near the start of the school year. Normally, unicorns are violent and hostile. Unless you're a virgin maiden. She was able to stroke its mane. So she's a virgin."

Takeru uncomfortably looked everywhere but at the human girl, who sarcastically and bitterly remarked, "Thank you…Tsukito."

Tsukito must've been feeling particularly talkative today because he didn't stop, "Yui Kusanagi, I assume you should keep away from Crom Cruach then, you know…because you are a virgin—"

"THANK YOU, TSUKITO!" It took all of Yui's will power not to stuff the socially inept god's notebook into his mouth to get him to stop talking about her…lack of sex life.

"I hope your father's smart enough to keep that horrendous god away from the rest of us," Loki told Apollo. "Not that I expect to him to just start massively killing people right off the bat. He's vicious and subtle. He couldn't destroy his worshippers High King Tigernmas and most of his soldiers in one full blow and not raise alarm."

Loki stopped his tale, seeing the disturbed and scared faces of the others, "Just…be careful."

"I'm sure father knows what he is and how he operates," Apollo assured. "If he could get us here cooperating, I'm sure him playing prison warden for that god isn't far off."

If Apollo didn't sound so naïve on a normal basis, the others would have felt relief, but it was apparent that among them only Loki knew and understood Cernunnos and Crom Cruach.

"How do you know them?" Yui asked the Norse god. Loki didn't look at her, staring in the distance as he thought about his last encounter with Cernnunos. When Loki was young and wandering the Nine Worlds and beyond he beheld the forest god near the valley of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Cernunnos back then was a free spirit and at least gave Loki a smile before running back into his forest abode with the agility of a stag. But the last time he accidentally encountered Cernnunos the active and free god seemed…darker, bitter, as if he had been pounded into submission and complete solitude from the nature that he loved.

Crom Cruach was a different matter. A matter that Loki and most of his fellow Norse gods would rather forget and ignore.

"The gods of the North, the Norse, Celts, and what not are inexplicably intertwined because of the way our people intermingle. We share similar history. It's a simple matter as that. Just like you two Japanese gods get into it with the Chinese gods. I'm guessing you Greeks have had at least one talk with them Persians."

Yui looked astonished. She didn't think the gods outside of this school crossed boundaries and intermingled with each other. In a way, she liked to think that gods would be "ambassadors" of their various cultures, but by the way some of the gods acted at the start of the year you'd think they all had distinct barriers between each other. It was unclear on what type of interactions these gods had with others, but her guess it wasn't a comfortable round-table discussion, judging by their faces.

Perhaps though, this meant Zeus was doing some good. These gods were becoming friends with each other, which could mean a more cross-boundary approach to taking care of humans rather than the prideful, isolated divide amongst the divine.

But, as Thoth walked in, Yui was reminded that Zeus, of all the gods, was guilty of having the most pride.

*Hallingdans is a traditional Norwegian dance that was once part of a courtship dance that is now performed at weddings. It's highly acrobatic. The man dances around quickly using different moves that both prove strength and agility. Near the end a person (usually a girl) stands on a chair and holds a hat high up with a pole. The dancer then has to jump and kick it off to complete the dance.

**Cernunnos, also known as "the horned god" is one of the oldest depicted Gaelic and Celtic deities. He's the god of the wood, virility, prosperity, fertility and the underworld. He usually has stag-like elements (horns) which are here represented with his birthmarks and limiters in my "design" in his normal human form.

***Crom Cruach, is an Irish Celtic deity. He is the god of the harvest and his worshippers supposedly sacrificed humans on his altar for a good harvest year. His name loosely means "bloody crooked one" among other meanings like "crooked one of the corn."

(1) Balla is loosely the Gaelic name of Balder. Loki's name is Loki, not Loge or Lugh as some people misinterpret because those are completely separate entities. It's just...Loki

Sorry for the rather dull and dry chapter, there is more stuff to come.