Some not-so-subtle attacks!

As soon as the underground floor revealed itself, Loki gasped in pure shock. 'You have a secret basement?' Loki asked, trying to sound genuinely horrified. She gestured him to follow her without saying anything.

They walked downstairs till they reached the door that stood as tall and expensive-looking as ever. 'Just take a look, keep the questions to a minimum and we can discuss all about it when we get outside, okay? And don't touch anything!' she ordered as she opened the door.

Loki wondered what he could touch inside an empty room other than the stone itself. 'What are you people hiding in there? You are scaring me.'

'Don't be scared, Loki. I will always protect you. Just don't touch anything.'

They stepped inside.

Loki felt the same warmth as he glanced about the shining room as he did the first time. He followed her lead, although he could've easily led the way. He kept silent as they walked between the huge passage-way till it bifurcated in two opposite and open chambers. Nevaeh turned left, but stopped as soon as they had a proper view of the stone, as though there was an invisible line there forbidding her to step ahead.

The stone floated in mid-air emitting the same gold glow, encompassed under the magnificent rainbow wall reflecting with the kaleidoscopic effect from the stone's golden light. Nevaeh was watching the stone with nostalgia. Loki wondered the amount of time that had lapsed since she'd previously been here to gaze at it with such fondness.

'Isn't that a sight to behold?' Loki said. 'Exactly what is it?'

'The stone is called Grace. It maintains tranquillity and balance in nature. My parents told me that it is an ageless stone. I think it's their fancy way of saying that even they are clueless as to how old it really is,' she said smilingly. 'My father found it in a cave when he was young; it was almost rotten, dying and trapped inside dark vines that were sucking the life out of it. My father brought it home with him. The journey almost killed him. He is a brave man.'

Loki's heart was pounding so fast that he couldn't keep the wide grin off of his face. 'And does the flashy wall help him wield it?' Loki asked, looking at the stone, his gaze transfixed.

Nevaeh turned to face him in surprise. 'Wield it? It's not a weapon, Loki. It's life.'

She felt a little protective of the stone as Loki kept staring at it, without even glancing in her direction once as she spoke. She moved a bit ahead towards the stone. 'I think we should head back upstairs.'

The entire room suddenly turned into a perfect blend of pink and gold, engulfing the room, and startling the pair. The stone turned a soft shade of pink, now twinkling warm, pink light amidst the rainbow wall. Loki watched with bated breath and noticed that Nevaeh was equally stunned by the sudden changes.

'What was that?' she asked, as the stone blinked pink. 'Why is it acting strange?' Nevaeh asked looking at Loki who was gazing at the room intently, a look of confusion mixed with awe.

'Your confusion implies that this has never happened before,' Loki said.

'It hasn't! I – I don't come down here very often.' Nevaeh looked a tad worried, like a kid who had broken a new toy and was scared that her parent's might scold her.

'Fret not, little one. I'm sure we can figure this out.' Loki started towards Nevaeh, when suddenly the whole room was bathed in a piercing purple. They both were taken aback. The stone turned the same solid diamond-shaped chunk of gold as it had when Loki had come here alone. The rainbow wall, too, had once again disappeared. But the chamber had turned green when he'd come here alone. What was the meaning of this?

'What is happening? Why is it changing colours so many times?' Nevaeh asked him frantically, who was now rooted in his spot and glancing around with cautiously raised hands.

'You know what, you are looking happy, now. Mission accomplished. Let's get out of here.' She began heading out of the chamber to get into the passageway.

SPLAT!

She felt as though she had run face-first into a glass door. She tumbled behind a few steps, clutching her nose, but instantly recovered from the strange events and began waving her wand around her. Loki stared at her horrified face and made towards her, but he was being resisted by thin air. He ran his hand through the air. His fingers prodded something. Nothing was visible in between them, but it felt like an invisible barrier was stopping him from approaching her.

'Is it the stone?' Loki asked, moving ahead to touch her out-stretched palm. His hand stopped inches away from hers, not being able to get any closer.

Nevaeh stared at their hands. She kicked in the air, and her foot collapsing with the same resisting field. 'Stand back' Nevaeh ordered, backing away a few steps.

The fact that the barrier repelling their touch was invisible, and that Nevaeh was fuming in anger while pointing her wand directly ahead of her, made it look like she was about to attack Loki. He felt a slight tingle in his stomach.

As soon as Nevaeh began rotating her wand, the solitary chunk of a stone began vibrating ominously. Nevaeh tore her gaze away from ahead to glace at the stone, which was turning slowly into a shade of purple, just like the room.

Loki was staring at the renewed colour of the stone, wondering what it implied. His thought process came to an abrupt halt as he felt a vibration on his own chest. Loki glanced below, immediately stifling a gasp by biting his finger. His chest was glowing green, or to be more precise, the object over his chest was. Loki glanced at Nevaeh who was now staring at Grace, before subtly waving a hand over his chest. The green glow was immediately concealed, but he could still feel its humming. Loki was feeling anxious. He didn't like feeling anxious. He attempted to lift the barrier by his mind, but in vain.

'I think it doesn't want us here. My magic isn't working!' Nevaeh said, raising her wand once again. The stone kept vibrating, but Nevaeh chose to ignore it in order to focus on getting them out. Loki wondered if the stone wanted them to leave, then why did it felt the need to stop them from leaving.

His question was instantly answered.

Two white beams, as thin as lasers, plummeted towards both of them, emerging from the stone itself, which was still a solid hot diamond shaped chunk of gold. Both the beams shot through the stone, hitting them both at the same time.

I happened so fast that they didn't saw it coming. One of the white beams pierced Loki's head. At the same time, Nevaeh's was going to hit her in the head, but she dodged it by her left hand by raising it over her forehead and it hit her squarely inside the palm. As soon as the beams made contact with them, their whiteness turned emerald.

Loki yelped in surprise, grabbing the beam straight inside his fist as it penetrated the centre of his forehead. It felt as though it were a mere hologram, because Loki didn't feel anything inside his hand, his fingers passing through the beam attacking him as if it weren't there, all the while feeling it being pierced in his forehead. He could move his entire body but his head was locked in that position and he couldn't move it an inch.

Nevaeh watched through horrified eyes, she couldn't move her palm, let alone remove it from over her head. She was regretting putting her hand in the middle, but she had no idea why. All she could feel was regret, as if she had committed a sin by dodging it by her palm.

Both the emerald beams were connected to both of them for a few seconds before vanishing completely, leaving the room bathed in purple while the stone remained a solid gold. They could move again.

Loki quickly looked at Nevaeh whose mouth was wide open and was gawping at her palm as she held it gingerly in her other hand; there was no damage, nor pain. In the next second, a green light slowly slithered from the inside of her palm, moving up onto her shoulder, and towards her neck.

'What in the world!' she exclaimed in confusion. 'Where did it go? I can't see it! Loki, is it still there? Say something!' Loki merely blinked at her, unable to understand whether he should tell her the scary truth or comfort her with a lie. The green light bifurcated in her neck; one moved upwards stopping at her forehead, precisely where the beam had penetrated Loki's head, and the other moved downwards, halting near her chest. Loki gaped as her forehead and chest glowed bright green for a second, while she looked at herself anxiously.

'It's alright. It's just a little light! Nothing to worry about!' Loki hastily started towards her, but before he could reach her, both of them were instantly enveloped in golden light.

As soon as it happened, Loki knew that they had been kicked out of Grace's fortress. They had been teleported right next to a table, and two chairs. He immediately glanced at Nevaeh who was standing with her back towards him.

'What the hell was all that?' asked Nevaeh, turning around.

'Are you okay?' Loki was watching her as though she might break into tiny pieces. In his worry, he failed to realise where they'd teleported.

'Why are we in my library?' she asked looking around. Loki glanced around too; they were indeed surrounded by huge shelves, filled with equally huge books. Nevaeh began analysing her palm by revolving her wand over it to check for anything weird. 'I will make sure you are okay, too, Loki. Give me a minute. Take a seat.'

Loki leaned on the table they were standing next to, which had an old book sitting on it. He bent forward to take a proper look at the cover page.

Loki froze. His hands trembled in the slightest as he dragged the book towards him, simultaneously reading its title, 'GODS AND MONSTERS OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY.'

As soon as his fingers touched the book, it snapped open; its pages making an unnecessarily loud fluttering noise as if it wanted to capture a busy Nevaeh's attention, till it stopped at some random page.

Loki's heart fell till his knees with horror. The portrait of a man, barely clothed, stood there on the page and mischievously stared back at him. Apart from that, a massively huge snake was wrapped around his shoulders in a casual manner. The name above the picture read, 'LOKI, THE GOD OF MISCHIEF.'