The Power Of Norn

Loki chose to tell her. What was the point of hiding anything now, anyway? She couldn't and wouldn't rat him out to anyone! But before that, he had to tell her how he landed here the way he did. Loki cleared his throat. 'When I told you that Thor and I were fighting, he ended up being very angry. The dimwit destroyed the bridge by his hammer and the bi-frost completely collapsed—'

'What happened to Heimdall? Is he okay?' Nevaeh asked quickly, interrupting him and she saw his jaw clench a little.

'He is fine. He was in the healing room. Anyway, the bridge was broken and after I bid farewell to my family, specifying that I will not be returning, I was on the bridge, and I was gazing into Asgard's scattered constellation when – I – fell' Loki said slowly.

'You fell?' she raised her eyebrows. 'How?'

'Don't give me that condescending look! The bridge was broken! I slipped! I fell into the cold sky, plummeting into the abyss of space and it felt as though I were falling for an eternity,' Loki told her. 'The only way to survive was to teleport which was impossible in the vacuum I was being sucked into. But deep down I wanted nothing more than to go to the one who believed that I would do the right thing, even after finding out that I was planning on killing my own father.'

'So – so you wished your way back here?' asked a wild eyed Nevaeh.

Loki laughed, shaking his head in disapproval. Nevaeh sighed in relief, after all the mythical talk she had no idea what was possible anymore.

Loki closed his eyes for a moment and simply stretched his neck upwards. His upper clothes and his cape slowly vanished and were replaced by a thin satin emerald shirt, which was unbuttoned in the front. Nevaeh stifled a gasp; apart from Loki's lustrous body, a big bluish-green stone tied around Loki's neck chain widened her eyes. It was flickering between a hint of blue and green as though unable to decide where it stands.

'It looks in grave conflict,' Nevaeh remarked.

'Who died and made you the Queen of Stones?' snapped Loki. He sighed and continued, 'It was blue when I took it and it works like a charm, obeys my commands. It just flickers between its shades sometimes.'

'What is it? Where did you find it?' hushed Nevaeh, gazing at the beautiful stone.

'It is a Norn stone,' Loki said. It felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted from his chest.

'Norn Stone? That – sounds – so – cool' whispered Nevaeh, her eyes twinkling under the blue light emitting from the stone. She stretched her fingers to touch it and the closer she extended her fingers, the stone glowed greener. Nevaeh stopped her fingers in mid-air and the stone remained the same shade of green, blinking lightly. She moved her hand an inch ahead and it blinked greener. She halted and backed her fingers a little. The stone started glowing bluer the farther she took her fingers from it. 'Loki!' whispered Nevaeh urgently as though the stone can hear them. 'Are you seeing this or am I tripping?' she asked, shaking her head lightly and withdrawing her hand all together to place it on her lap. The stone again began its flickering between blue and green.

Loki was frowning heavily as he squinted at it. 'The stone is responding to you. Why – how?' Loki mumbled, his eyes narrowing to slits as he wondered about it.

'Well I do have a little experience with stones,' Nevaeh said pointedly, but it felt as though Loki couldn't hear her. He was looking lost inside his own thoughts.

'Is that – why?' mumbled Loki to himself.

Nevaeh raised an eyebrow. 'Is that why – what? What does the stone even do? And how did you get here, Loki?' asked Nevaeh sharply as he kept getting side-tracked from their main topic of discussion. Loki shook his head lightly, pulling himself out of his thoughts and sighed as he glanced side-ways at Nevaeh. She was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and he shifted in his seat to face her.

'I know I have lied to you a lot since we met, and I swear I will make up for that. Allow me to start at the beginning,' Loki said.

Nevaeh nodded slowly, sitting up straight and paying her undivided attention.

'It all started when father revealed his decision of making Thor the King of Asgard. I was naturally angry, and envious. I started planning how I could ruin his coronation day and enrage him to the fullest—'

'That is when you first brought the Frost Giants into Asgard?' Nevaeh asked slowly.

'Precisely,' Loki nodded. 'Nothing angers my brother more than those monsters, and I thought it would be hilarious if they ended up ruining his special day—'

'Hilarious?'

'I have a bit of dark sense of humour,' shrugged Loki. 'Anyway, it was impossible to bring the Frost Giants into Asgard by using the bi-frost, because of dear old Heimdall.'

'But you can teleport,' Nevaeh said.

'More or less,' Loki said, making a slightly embarrassed face.

'I don't understand.'

'I don't have the ability to teleport – naturally. I attained that power with great difficulty, and I worked quite hard on it,' Loki told her. 'One night, after a particularly "happy" feast which was intended to celebrate Thor's approaching coronation, and after a few snarky comments from my "so called friends" who were jeering at me for not attaining the throne, I paid a visit to the weapon's vault. The Norn stones are protected in there safely since centuries. I had to perform extremely complicated magic to manipulate the protective layer into thinking that the stone is still safeguarded under it and it will look as if the stone's in it till I lift my confounding spell.'

'Huh. And what does the stone do?' Nevaeh asked.

'The Norn Stones are extensions of Odin's powers. The power of the Norn Stone depends upon the being that wields it and whether the stone approves of the wielder. One can never define a concrete ability the stone provides because it differs from person to person. When I possessed it, I wanted nothing more than a gateway to other worlds which can allow me to carry on all the mischief I had brimming in my mind,' Loki said in a serious voice.

Nevaeh chuckled, receiving a questioning look from him. 'It's funny how you admit that you took an ancient mystical stone purely for some mischief.'

'Why does it feel like you are mocking me?' Loki said indignantly.

'I am not!' Nevaeh said quickly. 'I am merely admiring.'

'So the fact that I took it doesn't bother you?' asked a slightly taken aback Loki.

'Well, you didn't steal it! It belongs to your family, does it not? Ergo, it belongs to you! The fact that you bewitched the shield bothers me a little. If it was not forbidden to take the stone, then why did you maintain an illusion of it still being in the vault?' Nevaeh asked.

'I did not want anyone to know that I was more powerful than before due to the stone. It would've led to assumptions regarding what I need the stone for, and I don't like noses up in my business,' Loki said shaking his head firmly.

Nevaeh nodded. 'Makes sense.'

'After I learned to wield the stone with ease, I started practicing on opening minuscule portals. I mastered opening a perfect one in a matter of hours, and finally I had everything I needed to interrupt Thor's coronation. What I didn't know was that the real value of the stone will be inclined that very night, when I met you,' Loki added quietly.

'Why?'

'You are kidding, right? You live on Midgard! If it weren't for the stone, I would've had to take you home through the bi-frost!' Loki said, shuddering at the very thought.

'What was so horrible in that?' Nevaeh asked, but Loki simply shook his head in disapproval without saying anything. Nevaeh sighed, choosing to drop the topic.

As the bubble glided ahead, they kept talking about how Nevaeh knew nothing of where her powers came from, and about her parents' who have never really provided her with a straight answer, claiming that they were blessed with these powers randomly. Loki knew in his heart that he could help her figure out everything she wishes to know. 'But you do wish to unravel the mystery, yes?' Loki asked.

'Of course I do! But not by confrontation,' Nevaeh said quietly, making Loki's face crack in a thin grin, 'I want to figure it out without them knowing, so that I can confront them.'

'We both have questions that deserve answers, which we possibly cannot get from the people we need them from. For instance, how did you land on Asgard in the first place? That one needs thorough mystical research! We have more than enough power to search for the answers ourselves, and we – we don't necessarily have to stay here in order to do that,' finished Loki, shrugging a little.

'One of the main reasons for me wanting to get my hands over that device was that I didn't want to stay here!' laughed Nevaeh. 'As far as our questions are concerned, I do want answers, but I am hoping that everything turns out to be a coincidence.'

'Nevaeh, we can always pretend that it is a coincidence, but do you really wish that? To live a life of denial? Or do you want to face your questions head on, and crack open the cage of shadows you are trapped within? I recognize the power burning inside of you, the almighty power which has been conditioned to succumb to the puny rules of a dogmatic world!' hissed Loki, staring at Nevaeh who was staring back at him unblinkingly with a thin smile on her face. 'There are worlds out there, some less, and some incredibly more advanced than this one. With the combined power we possess, you and I could go anywhere we want, do whatever we want. There will be no one to stop us, Nevaeh! We will be—'

'Unstoppable?' asked Nevaeh with a raised eyebrow.

'Together you and I will be – Invincible,' Loki said in a thundering voice, waving his arms in the air for dramatic effect.

Their bubble was closing in on the shore. Loki could see the water getting shallower. Soon they would be able to stand up without needing the bubble. He had a few things left to say to her yet, but he didn't know how to put his thoughts into words. Loki ran a hand over the Cloak, making it vanish in thin air, along with the hardcopy of The Tales of the Almighty Gods. 'We don't want them to get wet.'

'Why would they get wet?' Nevaeh said. Her question was instantly answered.

A loud pop, followed by the bubble bursting in their presence forced their bodies to submerge neck-deep in the water. 'What the hell?' Nevaeh laughed as soon as she found her voice, coughing a little sea water. 'You could've given me a warning before doing that!'

Loki chortled heartily, straightening his wet hair. 'Warnings are no fun.'