Another! Thank you so much for every favourite, follow, review. I makes the writing easier :) Anyway, I am sorry if the next chapter will be uploaded later, but I have a graduation ball on Friday and then there is Christmas, but of course I will write as much as I could. Hope you enjoy! Leave a review! :)

Let me know if there are some spelling or grammar mistakes.

I own nothing but my OC and plot.

XVI

Drawings were piling up on her desk so quickly, that Emma soon had to find another place for pieces of paper and to sort them somehow. Milla started to write a date on the bottom of every one of them, so it was easier for her friend to put them in the right order. Despite all of that, the nightmares were getting worse. One night, after waking up, Milla was too afraid to fall asleep again, so the next day she visited a pharmacist, one of her friends. But no matter what potion he gave her, she always woke up sweaty and trembling even though she could not remember the dream. She was growing more and more desperate as the days went by.

Stars were bright this time. Her eyes were tired and she was not able to neither write nor draw. Milla tried reading, but the letters kept blurring into each other, so she gave up. It was looking around and thinking this time. There was no way of getting to sleep. She had quite terrible experience while having a nap in the afternoon and she did not wish to repeat that. Shivering and fear were not welcomed emotions. The only reasonable choice was playing a few melodies on the piano. That seemed to calm her from time to time, mostly when she did not think about what she was playing and she let her fingers dance through the keys on their own. Sometimes it sounded awful and loud, but most of the time, the melodies were quiet, only for her ears. Closing eyes and having her mind wander was the easiest thing to do then.

She was in the middle of some jazz melody she learned during her time spent at Midgard, when a cold breeze woke her up from some kind of meditation. Her eyes snapped open. It was strange, the wind was hardly ever cold at this time of year, especially in this part of the realm. She frowned and suddenly felt cold as if the temperature in the room fell some degrees down. The quiet in the house felt different as well. Heavier, deafening. Immediately she knew something was wrong.

First, she thought someone was in her house. Someone not invited and certainly not welcomed. That the cold was not actually coldness, but some kind of a sixth sense that warned her against something or someone. Maybe it was a lack of sleep, maybe only a reflex, but as soon as this thought occurred in her head, she started feeling watched. Milla looked around her, but saw nothing in the dim light of candles. Slowly, she took a hidden dagger from underneath the chair she was sitting on. Still, it was impossible to shake out the feeling. So when she stood up and walked around the room and checked every open door, her nerves were tensed. One corner after another, she checked it all, but everything was on its place. Still, the feeling never left.

"I should get some sleep," she murmured as she got back to the piano. Everyone was asleep, safe and sound. And there were guards outside the house. It was impossible that someone would walk inside and threaten her or anyone else. Still, it was the same when Loki appeared. Guards everywhere and he walked right in front of her. But that was different. An accident. And she made sure no more princes would fall from heaven to her garden.

A few moments of anxiety filled her with energy. Milla decided to go to bed and try reading there. Maybe if she fell asleep reading the book, she would dream about the story or nothing at all. And if not, the nightmare should not harm her. Thankfully, she was not sleepwalking. She blew out all candles except one on the coffee table, put the dagger on its place and went upstairs.

Pieces of fabrics were left hanging on a stair-rail. Milla made Emma finally look at them so she could choose a colour and fabric of her future wedding dress. For two days now, they had been looking through samples, discussing every possible pattern and design. Emma was unable to choose on her own and Milla liked too many combinations to choose only one of them. On the first day, the decision was that the dress will be light blue and black, but on the morrow, Milla found Emma looking through the colours again. She changed her mind to white and navy blue. Milla liked that combination better too, so they went with it. The fabric and the design were the harder part. After hours of trying Milla's dresses on, to feel the differences on her own skin, she chose silk and chiffon. And after she had a few sketched shown, he chose a narrow, comfortable dress with no sleeves. Simple and beautiful. Milla couldn't wait to see her on her wedding day.

Milla started picking them up and folding so they won't get wrinkled up. She was almost done, when she picked up a yellow velvet sample that was somehow...wet. She frowned and touched a few more next to it. They were wet as well, maybe even more. And moreover, it was...sticky. She hardly ever used magic now, but she was too curious to get the candlelight on the table. She lightened all candles around with one wave of hand and saw why was it all wet. Milla took a step back until she touched the wall. From one point, the fabric was soaked with blood. Fear rose in her and her heart was pounding rapidly. So the bad feeling wasn't only a feeling. There was definitely something wrong.

A wind blew behind her. When she turned around, she was sure someone was there, standing and looking at her, but she couldn't see. All the candles were blown out by the wind. Her instinct told her to run, but where? There was no light anywhere. Her rational self wanted her to go down, for she could run out of the house, but her caring self wanted to go up and wake up everyone and then run. She looked back to the invisible eyes.

Milla found herself walking to Emma's door. She was trying to be as quiet as possible so she was not running. When she reached the door, another fear appeared. The door was half opened. They never let the door opened.

"Emma? Johnatan?" she whispered as she opened the door. She gasped as she felt someone walked past her but she saw no one. Neither did she saw her friends in their bed. The room was empty and the window wide open. It was cold, so cold inside she started shivering. A real panic made it difficult to breath. She turned around, saw nothing. And her magic didn't work. She wanted t move objects, she wanted to light candles, she wanted to make fire, it didn't matter where, she wanted to see. But it didn't work. She stepped inside the room and felt the faint iron smell of blood. She was too afraid to look for it.

And then she heard a noise. Not a noise, a voice. She could not understand the words it was saying, but there was something familiar in it. It grew louder with each step she took, but it went from the hall. "You," she heard only seconds before she hit the wall. She was trapped. "You did it." It said.

"You didn't even try," another voice joined. "You let us there. you let us die."

"You ran away, you killed us. You should have stayed and nothing would happen. You killed us." It was merely a whisper, but she understood it all. And she knew whose voices they were. Her brother, mother, father. "No," she whispered too. This cannot be.

"You never cared. You care only for yourself. Was it worth it?" another voice. Arthur.

"You destroyed my life. twice. and then you killed me." Sarah.

"If we met under different circumstances, would you love me? Or kill me all the same?" Noel.

All their figures were slowly appearing in the dark. They were just like she remembered all of them, but different. Their eyes were darker and faces paler. Milla was whispering "no, no, please," again and again and slowly, she realised she was sitting on the floor hugging her knees. It was a nightmare, it had to be.

"It is only a matter of time till you kill us." Emma appeared and all others moved out of her way. She crouched right next to her and tried to touch her. Milla flinched. "Do you realise how deadly you are?"

"You make people believe they are safe and happy. And then...then we die." Johnatan stood behind Emma. Milla wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Tears filled her eyes and she let out a sob. They were right. Of course they were. It was something she refused to accept, but it was the truth.

"What should I do? What? I don't know! I don't want you dead!" she managed to say back, her voice hoarse and tears falling down her cheeks.

"Think," her mother said. It hurt so much to hear her voice again. The voice she almost forgot, but it was not the same. Not loving. Cold and weak.

"Everyone dies in the end." Christopher said. "Sooner or later."

Milla stared at him, his pale face was narrower as she remember and voice deeper. Could it be? Did she really not remember her husband's and mother's voice? Was it so long? She let another sob out. "I don't want to die." She muttered. Yes, there were times when all she wanted was to give up. When she almost starved to death, when she almost bled out, when she went to fight, reckless as she was. And the day in the warehouse, when Sarah almost killed her, for a second, she wished it to be over, she welcomed death. For a second, not more.

"Wrong." Another voice said. She knew that voice. Deep, vibrating. She hated that voice. Loved it. "You are afraid to die." Loki stood there, right in front of her. He looked at her, all in black. She fought the urge to run to him. He was no there, she remembered. She only nodded, forcing her eyes to look somewhere else.

"You killed us. We will kill you," one voice, probably Andrea said. Then others joined. Soon, it was too loud, so loud, that when she started screaming, she didn't hear her own voice. She felt them coming closer and reaching for her. She was dead.

"Open your eyes." someone whispered to her ear. She felt the hot breath tickling her. "Open your eyes, my lady." She knew who that someone was. She reached to him, but there was only cold air. "Open your eyes."

She opened her eyes and saw his green ones.

And then Milla was lying on a couch in the living room with Emma shaking her and three other guards standing around. She immediately moved away from Emma and stared wildly at the others. She didn't feel the tears on her cheeks, she felt the fear and coldness. Something was telling her, that it was all only a fantasy, but something else made a dagger appear in her palm.

"Milla. Calm down, it was a dream. Just another dream, you are awake now. We will not harm you. Put it down. Please."

It took a few more minutes, before they convinced her. She put the dagger into Erik's hand and fell down to the floor, crying. She never cried after a dream. Screamed, yes, and there were tears in her eyes, but she never cried. She still could hear the voices, full of hatred and blame, pain and grief. "Make it stop, make it stop please." Emma ran to her and took her to her arms. It didn't help. She wasn't the one she longed for, the one that made her open her eyes.

"It's all right. You are safe. We will make it all right." She heard Emma murmur.

"I don't want to kill you all. It's not my fault. I never wanted this." Milla said, her voice firmer than she thought it would be.

"Come on, you are the only one keeping us safe." Emma had no idea what to do. She thought that maybe, just maybe, the rumours are true. That Milla's lack of sleep was making her crazy sometimes. She didn't know what to do, so she tried something she was avoiding all this time. "Listen to me. Remember the day we had a party at our house? When I called you downstairs because everything changed colour? You told us it was a magic trick, but I know Felix did it, somehow. Remember how you laughed? Just think about how he always made you laugh. And the time you went outside and it started raining and you came home soaking wet? You woke me up in the middle of the night because you couldn't sleep from all the thoughts. Just remember that, remember how is it to feel happy. You told me at the masquerade ball that you have to think about him. Then think."

It worked. Milla thought. And Emma kept talking. And when she stopped, the sun was shining and they were sitting on a terrace, sipping coffee, smiling and gossiping.

Hours later, Emma knocked on her bedroom door and woke her up. Milla took the sleeping pills she had from Midgard and they let her rest for a few hours without any images. It wasn't sleep that made her feel better, but her body needed it. She admitted something to herself and then out loud - sleepless night were slowly taking away her sanity. Emma said nothing to it, so it must have been the truth. After that, she apologized to everyone that witnessed her breakdown and asked them to be patient with her. The pity in their eyes made her dig her nails to the palms, but she managed to keep smiling.

"You have a visitor," a mysterious smile was on Emma's face, but Milla hardly noticed. The pills were still affecting her. She opened one eye, still half asleep, covered in blankets and with messy hair.

"Who?" she turned on her other side, away from light and hugged a pillow. She must have fallen asleep because next thing she remembered was a hand on her shoulder turning her on her back again.

"He said his name is Leo and that you know him. Tony's son if I'm not mistaken." She was watching her, curious how she will respond to that. And she was satisfied and amused by her reaction. Sleepy as she was, she almost fell from her bed from getting up so fast. Emma laughed and helped her up.

"Oh God, what? Hair, make-up, dress, coffee. What the hell. Why today. Why is he so handsome, damn." she kept muttering while walking around the room and taking everything she needed. Emma was laughing and after making sure Milla won't fall asleep any second, she went to prepare the coffee for both of them.

Halfway through second unsuccessful attempt to get dressed, Milla gave up and found her night robe. She brushed her hair and made a ponytail, but there was no way she would apply the make-up correctly, so she gave up that too. She made sure the world was not swaying as bad as at the beginning and had a last look to the mirror. Good enough.

Leo was waiting on her in the living room, walking from place to place and looking at every piece of decoration she had there. Right before he noticed her, he was holding a book she was reading. She smiled and hoped she didn't look as bad as she thought. Moreover, she realised she was barefoot. "What a surprise to see you here, Leo." She said, her voice still hoarse and a bit sleepy, but at least she had some kind of a conversation starter if things went wrong.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something," he made a little bow, smiling like he knew something she didn't. She narrowed her eyes, determined to find out what is behind that smile.

"Nothing I can't repeat later," she nodded and asked him to go outside. The day was sunny, but a storm was coming from the east. At least the wind made the air lighter. After they sat down, without a word, Emma came back with a coffee. They both thanked her.

"If you needed something, just call." She said and turned to leave.

"Wait," Milla took her by the sleeve. "Could you get me something to eat? A sandwich probably? I am starving."

Emma nodded, but Leo stopped her. "Don't. I had in mind to ask you out for a dinner, Milla."

That took her by surprise, and for a moment, she stared at him with lips parted until Emma poked her without being seen. "Yes." She looked at Emma like she had no idea why she did that. "Yes, why not, great idea. After coffee, shall we?"

"Great," he smiled again, satisfied with himself. Before anyone could say anything, they heard a shout from the inside. "EMMA, WHAT THE HELL?!" it sounded like Johnatan. Emma started laughing.

"I'm sorry, I painted his nails in pink while he was asleep." She explained. Milla almost spit out her coffee and started laughing while Emma bowed a little and ran back to the house. Milla shook her head and looked at Leo, realising they are alone again and that she had no idea why and what to do. Her mind was still a little mess.

"Don't mind them. They are getting married in a few weeks." She said as an explanation.

"Actually, the girl seems very nice. Do you know her for long?"

"Yes. She is my guarding angel." She looked back inside, but heard and saw nothing. Yes, they were alone and she had not been so nervous for a long time now.

"Then you must be lucky. As far as I know, you need a guarding angel." He took a sip of the coffe and looked her in the eyes. Milla raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you know?" she didn't understand.

"My father talks about you, you know. I first heard about you as a genius, reckless, lucky and very, very beautiful lady recovering from almost mortal wounds. Of course I was curious to know more."

"Well, it's not an introduction a woman desires, but at least I became interesting," she shrugged and bit her lower lip. It was strange, that he knew such things about her, but she knew only his name and his father.

"That you did." He nodded. "I do not yet know you, but I am sure he was right in one thing."

"And that would be?"

"You are incredibly beautiful," he didn't fidget, he didn't look away, his voice didn't shake. She felt redness invading her cheeks and looked down to her lap.

"You mean incredibly tired. I look like hell, trust me." She said, smiling as a teenage girl. She wanted to slap herself.

"You may think that, but I don't. I believe women are most beautiful right after waking up, which I apologize for." His hair looked lighter in the sun, almost as honey and it made his eyes shine. Again, he looked different in this kind of light. She could look at him for hours and find new and new interesting features on his face.

She almost slapped herself, this time for real and looked away quickly. What was she doing?

"There is no need. I apologize for I may still be affected by the pills. I didn't expect any visitors today."

"I expected to never see you again, after your hasty departure from the party. And that was unacceptable."

Every sentence he said made her blush. "I am sorry, but I would rather not talk about the reasons of that."

"Of course, it doesn't matter, does it? Maybe it was meant to be like that, or I would not be here now."

"Mybe." She smiled and drank the coffee. It was almost cold. "Tony told you where I live?"

"No, he has no idea I'm here. Actually, I wasn't sure I will come."

"Really?"

"Yes. I wasn't sure you would remember me."

That confused her. "Why wouldn't I?" How could someone forget his face?

"We danced one dance and hardly spoke at all."

"And despite of that, you and your father were the only people I enjoyed sharing company with." She stood up smiled at him, happy to see him smile in little embarrassment for a change. "Give me a few minutes to change and we can go for that dinner."

Her heart was beating faster than it should when she closed her bedroom door behind her. She was afraid of those awkward silences that sometimes happen and really scared about the effect he had on her cheeks. She hasn't blushed that much since...since Loki. But it was so hard to look somewhere else than his face. Childish feelings were controlling her and that was not an option. But she wasn't in mood to oppose them, at least not now.

Mila chose a simple light beige dress, covered the bags under her eyes and used red lipstick. She wanted to look pretty today.

"How long had you been on Earth?"

"For two human years. Best days of my life more or less," she sighed, mind full of memories almost forgotten. It was almost midnight, stars shining above their heads and only a few voices of wandering people interrupted the peaceful silence. Milla was holding Leo's forearm slowing him down, wishing her house was farther.

"Really? Why?" Leo asked. She found out how curious he could be, but at the same time, not annoying at all. He only wanted to know, to listen to stories, to understand new things. He was more his father than he realised. And above it all, he wanted to know her. Milla could sense that. He let her talk and then he talked and there were moments when they were both silent, thinking about the experiences and feelings behind those words. Slowly, very slowly the tension between them faded away and before they realised, they were laughing and talking a much more openly. She was happy for that. Especially for the sight of his smile.

"It is hard to describe," she smiled. There was so much to say. "Where do I begin?"

"Where were you? Who did you meet? What was different and what was the same? What did you liked an what did you hate? There are so many possibilities." He helped her a little, looking at her. She bit her lower lip.

"Fine. I got there by accident, a spell went wrong and somehow, I found myself in twentieth cetury on Midgard in a town named Paris." She closed her eyes and her grip around his arm tightened. "Twenties were a great decade. I learned it was just after the war, so you can imagine the ectasy in everyone's heart. I met some men and women, artists with no money and home of their own and they took me under their wings. I learned to play piano there." Milla loved to think about those days, but there was no opportunity during the last months. But as she thought back, those months were a bit blurry. It was hard to remember what her daily routine was and what was that she was looking forward to. There was always something, but what? Those memories were hidden behind a mist. She shook her head. She will be thinking about that later.

"You were playing piano for fun for two years?" he raised his eyebrows and she smiled.

"No, silly, of course not. I played for money," she liked to hear him laugh. "We travelled. My companions were writers, two men and one woman, a wife of one of them, then there were painters and singers and dancers and some of them stayed in some city longer than the other and some went on different path, but that was the thing about those people. They knew each other for a fortnight or less, but they never forgot. The others lived in their words and paintings and voices and every time you saw or heard them, it made you remember all of it. It was all drunk and happy and depressing at the same time and I loved it." She looked at the stars. "With no money, we ate what we had, we slept where we could and sometimes stars were our only roof. We went from Paris to London, from London to New York and that was the end. It was a big world for a few young ones. And my journey ended there, for our group fell apart. Artists are unstable. Happy one moment and crying the other."

"That sounds interesting." He took a turn and they saw the end of their prolonged walk. "Have you ever thought about staying? Or going back?"

"Only half a thousand times," she shrugged. "It was a careless life. I was arrested more times than I can count. I jumped of a cliff for God's sake."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I didn't belong there. My place is here, no matter how hard it gets. This is my reality and I may hate it, but it is mine."

"What is there to hate here, Milla?"

"Right now?" she looked at him and smiled. "Nothing."

They stood in front of her house in silence, looking at each other. She knew Leo expected something, maybe a hug, maybe even a kiss, but she wasn't ready to give him any of this. And he didn't ask out loud. The house was quiet, but she saw a candle light in the window. Emma was probably waiting, or fell asleep waiting. Or forgot. "Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked.

"Only if you want to keep me awake all night." he winked at her and she giggled. She was not sure. Maybe.

"I could tell you more stories from Midgard," she said as she was opening the door. "Maybe I will tell you about the time I accidentally woke up in another country with too many strangers around."

"Oh I feel there was alcohol involved."

"Every good story has alcohol involved," she laughed quietly, remembering the awful headache.

She entered first and she immediately knew something was different. The candle was lit not only in the hall, but also in the living and dining room. She frowned, looked back at Leo, who looked equally confused. Not even a second after she closed the door, Emma ran to her.

"Milla. Leo. Hi," she went from surprised to embarrassed as she saw them. "I'm sorry, but we have a situation."

"What is it?" Milla looked at her and then behind her. Emma was obviously nervous and she didn't like that. At all.

"We have a visitor."

"Now?" Milla raised an eyebrow. It was past midnight. "Who?"

"It would be better if you saw." Emma looked at Leo and then lowered her gaze.

"I should go then," he said. "I don't want to interrupt."

"No, wait," Milla tried to smile, but was too curious and anxious about this visitor. She walked past Emma and the other two with her.

As she walked to the living room, her heart almost stopped. He stood up when he saw her and bowed a little. But he didn't say a word. Milla was staring at him for something that felt like an eternity and then slowly turned to Leo. "I am sorry, but it would be better if you went. I will see you as soon as I can." She said with a hint of coldness in her voice, her lady voice. He didn't have to be told twice. Leo nodded and took his leave.

Milla turned back to the man in front of her. She didn't realise that Emma was gone too, but she knew she will be back, with a coffee or something else. But that didn't matter. She looked into his eyes and tried to smile. "Prince of Asgard. Welcome."