Chapter 44: Scorch Marks on the Soul
Loki was sitting in her room. It was bare, compared to the well decorated interior of the haven...
That's how she preferred it.
No matter how many ribbons you smack on it, the pace was hell four a reason. She figured she shouldn't become attached to materialism or those desires at all.
This was in fact, the sixth haven she had ever sustained.
This one had almost as many as the last.
She mused on this thought...
She shook her head. There was no need to dwell on such thoughts, they were the past.
They should stay there.
Every haven she had ever tried to sustain had been destroyed, and no matter how hard she tried, she was the only survivor.
Those who truly die here are frozen in an eternal statue of agony, never to return.
There are many other sanctuaries she had left, riddled with these statues.
"That's right... Because you weren't good enough." Said a voice.
She looked over, and saw her sister.
"What are you doing here Freya, I told you to stop visiting me."
She laughed. "But why should I? You still don't know after all of this time, you're destined to fail, like all of your statues."
"Those were people." Said Loki. "They aren't just statues. I bet you did this on purpose... This is your fault."
Freya swarmed angrily around Loki.
"You think it's MY FAULT!? YOU ARE THE FAILURE!"
"Shut the FUCK UP!" She yelled.
"Why can't you just shut up, and leave me alone! No one wants you here!"
Freya stopped. "Why would you disown your own sister?" She asked tearfully.
Loki sighed. "Freya... I didn't mean it."
She glared angrily. "You know the drill... Thirty whips."
Loki looked up at her. She was on the ceiling now.
"Will that make you happy?" She asked.
Freya nodded.
She pulled out the whip, and whipped herself on the back thirty times.
They weren't soft either, and often drew blood.
She cringed as she slashed across old scars.
She looked up, and Freya was gone.
"DAMN YOU!" She screamed.
"The time is coming..." She whispered.
"And there's nothing you can do..."
The room became silent. Loki felt the blood running down her back, and sighed.
"Damn... I did it again."
There was a time when she was normal, right?
Loki thought on this... No, she was never normal.
She never will be.
...
Loki was five years old, in fact, she had just turned five that day.
Her parents were wealthy, but they were often busy, and had no time to spend with her. They bought her piles of gifts, so to Loki? This was love.
She didn't have any friends to play with, and she was an only child.
It was her birthday, and her mother had gotten her a new dress. She made a gross face.
Her mother had this habit of dressing Loki like a doll. She hated the dresses, because they would always make her itch, and they were too tight.
She looked over, and saw that her father had gotten her a book.
She smiled. It was a chapter book. It was called, 'Freya and the Warrior's Oath'.
She was a fairly avid reader, and self sufficient for the most part.
She was self taught in most of her activities.
She opened the book, and began to read.
The story was about the main character Freya, and her adventures in foreign lands. She would travel around, and save those who were in peril on her journey to find the amulet of truth. She incorporated the rescued into her party, and traveled with them side by side. She had a friend in the story, and they called each other shield sisters.
Loki was enthralled by this vivid story, unable to stop reading until she finished.
She sighed. "I wish I had a sister..."
Her mother walked in the room.
"Loki? Can mommy talk to you for just a tiny second?"
Loki nodded.
She continued. "Well, you see... I want to have more things. The more things I have, the more I can get for you... Don't you want that for mother?"
She nodded, but there was nothing attached to it. She really didn't care either way.
Her mother gave a greedy smile.
"Thank you! You know mommy loves you right?"
She nodded, same as the last.
"Now, I need you to close your eyes... I have a surprise for you."
Loki closed her eyes...
Her mother quickly bound her, and uttered a spell.
"A sacrifice so bold as this, to give away to you my kin. To give to me all I deserve, for this great cost someone shall burn."
Loki felt the magic push her into blackness...
Darkness...
The ground... IT BURNS!
...
Loki was shaking, she was hugging her knees on the bed, trying to forget.
She regained her composure, and glared.
"Pathetic Loki." She said. "You disappoint me."
She glared harder. "What would you know? Just shut up!"
She began laughing maniacally. "Why don't you go talk with the future statues? They would give you this listening that you crave!"
"SHUT UP!" She yelled abruptly.
"Shut the HELL UP!"
She laughed softly. "Come on... Don't you want to talk to me Loki? Your sister..."
She sighed. "Yes, I do... No one understands me like you do after all."
She grinned. "That's right... Without me you'd be all alone. Remember that."
...
Eiji was sitting against the wall that was next to where he had woken up. He was in a lot of pain, but was silent. He was breaking out into a cold sweat, and shivering slightly.
Kuhn sighed. "How are you feeling?"
"Not good..." Eiji replied.
His leg was throbbing, his shoulder was constantly in pain, and he felt like vomiting.
Loki walked up to him.
"Time to train." She said.
Eiji looked up at her. "Okay then, what are we doing?"
She looked at him coldly.
"Today I will lay out a set amount of hidden birds, you will tell me when you've found them all."
She held out a paper origami bird.
"You will close your eyes, until I've hidden them all. I will tell you to open your eyes when I am finished. Don't peek, or I'll hurt you."
He sighed. "It's always the threats with you, isn't it... I won't."
She nodded. "Close your eyes."
He did.
She was taking a long time, and Eiji was tempted to squint...
"Don't even think about it." She said.
He jumped. "G-God! You scared me! No need to sneak up..."
She jumped around some more, and Eiji tried not to open his eyes.
"You may open them now." She said.
He did.
He spotted several right away. He thought he may have found them all, when he saw another bit of white lodged in a rock on the cave's ceiling. There were more white spots, but it was hard to distinguish the rocks from the birds. When he thought he had them all sorted out and counted, he told Loki.
"I think I got it." He said.
She nodded. "How many birds then?"
"Fifty." He said.
She shook her head. "Two hundred and six. Look behind you, and you'll find twenty more."
He did. They were in a pile behind him, under the small of his back. She was quiet, that was for sure!
He jumped. "Ah! How did you do that!?"
She shrugged.
She handed him a book.
"Read this, and when you've finished, we'll do more."
Eiji smiled.
Yes! I get to read ANOTHER book! And I thought my life had gone to shit... I guess not completely.