by Unknown
“Luke,” I started to stand but four sets of hands pushed me back down. “Why are you in here? Get back to your party.”
“I just wanted to check on you,” he came further in and closed the door behind him. “I heard about the prophecy, Vervain and I wanted to tell you to beware of the Greeks.”
“Especially those bearing gifts? Or maybe those with horse asses? Hey, if Silenus was from Troy, he'd be a Trojan horse's ass!” I tried for a little levity but Luke just shook his head, albeit with a smile.
“I know you trust them,” he continued, “and most are nice enough but they've always been suckers for divination, and oracles always speak in riddles. You get this vague prophecy and you go crazy trying to alter things to either prevent it from happening or help it come true, when you're not even sure what it means. Don't color your decisions by what Silenus said. Trust yourself and go with your instincts.”
“Dad used to be one of them,” Azrael looked over to Lucifer. “He knows them pretty well.”
“What do you mean he used to be one of them?” I looked over to Az. “A horse's ass, an oracle, or a Greek?”
“I was part of the group who went with Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon into Greece,” Lucifer leaned against the mantle over the fireplace, laughing a little at my determination to make it all into a joke. “I was known as Phosphorus back then, the Morning Star or Light Bringer.”
“What?” I leaned back in surprise. “I've never heard of a god named Phosphorus. I thought it was an element.”
“It is,” Luke shrugged. “Not a lot of people have heard of that incarnation of mine, despite their naming both the element and the planet Venus after me. I didn't stay long with the Greeks. One day Holly and Jerry came wandering through. They were building up a following and one look at Holly was all it took. I left the Greek pantheon and never looked back. I kept my light magic though and part of my name.”
“And today you finally married Holly,” I grinned. “You've come a long way, Glow Bug.”
“You're telling me,” he laughed. “Just remember my words, Vervain. All of you, for that matter. Don't let yourselves be carried away by these prophecies. Live your life as you would have if you'd never heard the words.”
“Good advice,” Odin nodded. “Words can be tricky things. So many different meanings behind them.”
“Exactly,” Luke nodded and went to the door. “I'm glad you're okay, Vervain but visions are different entities than prophesies. If your magic is motivating you to return to Faerie, I'd listen to it. It knows what's best for you better than a bunch of Greeks.”
“Thanks, Luke,” I said with relief. “I absolutely agree with you.”
“Good, you should always side with the Devil,” Luke threw open the door. “But never play my advocate. I can take care of myself. Now, let's get back to my wedding celebration!”
“Definitely,” I stood and followed everyone out but in the back of my mind I could still hear the calls of Trinity Star echoing through the forest. The glowing forest.
Chapter Fourteen
The rest of the wedding celebration was much better. Those angels could really party, even more so than the demons. At one point I wandered into a room and found Raphael passed out between a demoness' thighs. She enlisted my aid in getting out from beneath him and then we giggled our way back into the hallway.
“Angels,” she'd said to me conspiratorially. “They can't hold their Hellbrew.”
Azrael sang karaoke with his father and then Holly blew us all away with a rendition of Fleetwood Mac's You Make Loving Fun. I think Luke actually cried. Then he cried for mercy when Pan and Gello tried to sing The Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow. People actually threw pillows at them. I think they would have thrown worse things but everyone was afraid of messing up Luke's house.
By the end of the night, I'd forgotten all about the fey shouting weird things at me. I forgot about a lot of things after all the Hellbrew I drank. It had been a long time since I'd been that drunk, it's so hard for alcohol to compete with a goddess' tolerance. My healing abilities had been on the decline ever since I'd taken on a third magic though and I think that may have played a role in my inebriation.
In other words, I was blotto.
I giggled all the way up to Azrael's old room. Trevor, Kirill, and Odin had left me to Az's ministrations for the night since no one wanted to risk me tracing the Aether in that state. Azrael found it all quite entertaining and as long as I didn't throw-up all over him, he'd probably stay entertained.
I stumbled over to the bed and fell back on it in a sexy pose(which means I probably looked ridiculous). Azrael didn't laugh though, he just shut the door and helped me take my shoes off. His warm hands rubbed my feet and skimmed up them, pushing up my dress. I sat up so he could help me out of it and then I helped him with his suit. Which means I fumbled a bit until he just got undressed on his own.
“This is so weird,” he said as we crawled beneath the covers(there were Star Wars sheets on the bed-I'm not kidding).
“What's weird?” I snuggled up close to him beneath the glare of Darth Vader. “We're getting it on in your interstellar bed in Hell. What's so weird about that?”
“Exactly,” he laughed. “I used to dream about women like you in this bed.”
“You mean you used to dream about women like Gello in this bed.”
“I did dream about Gello in Jello once,” he laughed at my affronted glare. “I'm kidding. You know I don't like Jello.”
“You don't like the jiggly dessert for children or the jiggly demoness who should stay far away from children?”
“The first,” he laughed. “Gello's hot, you can't deny that.”
“Yeah,” I sighed and laid back. “I guess I can't but I can be annoyed by it.”
“You're way hotter in your dragon form,” he rolled over me, sliding his body between my legs.
“Keep talkin',” I grinned.
“The cloven feet thing can really get in the way,” his eyes started to sparkle. “All it takes is being stepped on once by those things and the romance fades.”
“I love you,” I laughed.
“I love you too,” he kissed me lightly. “In whatever form you take.”
“So you don't want me to change into my dragon form right now?”
“Carus, you changing into your half-form right now would fulfill every childhood fantasy I ever had.”
“Every fantasy?” I lifted a brow at him.
“And the fantasies that I'm currently creating,” his eyes started to sparkle. “Though it depends. How flexible are you with that tail?”
“One dragon half-form coming up!”
Chapter Fifteen
The next day I went home, showered, changed my clothes, and then headed over to Asgard. Ever since I'd got Odin back, I'd been making an even bigger effort to spend more time with him. I considered using the Ring of Remembrance, like I'd been doing with Azrael so I wouldn't lose any time with Trevor or Kirill, but sometimes it's good to have time apart. How would they miss me if I never left? So I gave them both a quick hello/goodbye kiss and traced over to see Odin.
It was strange but Odin seemed more vibrant to me in his new body. I don't know if it was because he'd been dead and now appreciated life more or if it was simply like getting a new car, you just want to get in and go full throttle. Whatever it was, Odin wasn't the same. He'd lost that somber quality he'd always had, that reserve that held him a little apart from everyone else, even me. Now every movement was filled with vigor, every look had an underlying happiness to it, even the serious ones. It was like going through so much tragedy, not just his own but Griffin's as well, had freed him from being weighed down by sorrow.
There had been a point where all there was for him was sadness and when he'd emerged from it, it was truly like being reborn. Every day had become an opportunity to find the joy in things. He could still feel grief but he'd learned to let it pass through him instead of leaving a mark. It was inspiring just to look at
him and for me, it made every problem seem inconsequential. Odin was alive, happy, and had his memories back. What could lessen that happiness?
“Hey, Blondie,” I teased as I came up to give him a kiss.
“Hey yourself,” he buried his face in my hair for just a second and then pulled away, smiling. “I'm glad you're here, I've just had some news,” he waved his hand out toward a guy who was standing off to the side of Odin's favorite sitting area in Valaskjalf.
“Who's this?” I eyed the guy as we walked over.
Skinny and pale, the visitor had ashy brown hair that hung limply over his ears like a dead mouse. His stance was subservient, shoulders hunched and caved in so he looked hollow-chested, and legs pressed together. If he'd had a tail, it would have been tucked between those legs. He clutched his hands together and kept his head lowered a little but his eyes met mine without hesitation and the cunning in them made me stumble a step.
“This is Skirnir,” Odin looked over to me with a concerned glance but I just shook my head. “He's come with an invitation from Freyr.”
“From who?”
“Freyr, he's the ruler of Alfheim,” Odin explained. “He's having a celebration in honor of my resurrection.”
“Oh,” I held a hand out to Skirnir. “Nice to meet you. I'm Vervain.”
Skirnir's eyes widened and he stared at my hand for a moment before his own shot out with a jerky movement and gripped mine a little too tightly.
“Nice to meet you too,” he said and pulled his hand back quickly.
“Freyr sent a ship for us,” Odin continued as if that weirdness had never happened. “Do you want to see Alfheim?”
“I...” I don't know why I hesitated. Of course I wanted to see more of the territory of the Norse gods but as I paused, I realized that there was this tingly feeling beneath my breastbone. In fact, I'd been feeling it ever since I'd traced to Asgard. I focused inward and saw the nine-pointed star that was laid over my heart. It represented my three trinities as well as the Nine Great Magics of Faerie. And one of its points was glowing.
“Vervain?” Odin's hand went to my face. “What is it?”
“One of the points of my star is glowing,” I whispered.
“It's glowing?” He eased me into a chair. “How do you know?”
“I can see it,” I looked up at him with my duh face. “In my head. I can picture it and I feel it all fluttery inside my chest. It's so strange.”
“But does it feel wrong?” He persisted. “Does it feel like a warning?”
“No, it just...” I focused inward again. “It just feels like it's waking up.”
“The sleeper has awoken,” Skirnir whispered.
“And how can this be? For he is the Kwisatz Haderach.” I couldn't resist the quote. I mean when do you ever get the chance to insert that into conversation?
“What?” Skirnir looked at me like I'd gone insane.
“Vervain is a movie addict,” Odin shook his head. “Pay no attention to the strange things she says.”
“Or the man behind the curtain,” I grinned at Odin.
“Really, Vervain?” Odin shook his head. “Isn't The Wizard of Oz a bit overdone?”
“Horror. Gasp! Oz is never overdone. It's a classic, which means you can quote it till the end of time and never be told that it's overdone,” I teased. “Like you don't watch a lot of movies, Mr. Santa TV. You understand a lot more of my quotes than Thor ever did.”
“Vervain, for the last time,” Odin sighed. “Hlidskjalf has nothing to do with the Santa myth.”
“He sees you when you're sleeping,” I sang. “He knows when you're awake.”
“Why do I even try?” He took a long breath in and slowly released it, like he was seeking patience through meditation. “Before we go, did you want to change into something more-”
“Old school?” I offered. “Medieval? Last century? Last, last century?”
“Less modern,” he amended.
“Yeah, alright,” I headed for the stairs at the back of the hall. “I'll be down in a few.”
As I climbed the stairs, I heard Skirnir say to Odin, “Did you see how she offered me her hand? She's not at all what I expected.”
“She never is,” Odin's voice was full of affection.
Chapter Sixteen
The ship Freyr had sent to fetch us was named Skidbladnir. Don't ask me what it meant, I have no idea. I could barely pronounce it. I asked Skirnir three times how to say it. I swear, Norse words are more a composition of slurred sounds than individual components.
The name probably meant “Fine-ass ship” or something of that nature. It was huge, for one, and its hull was gilded so that it shone in the sunlight. There would be no sneak attacks in that vessel. It practically screamed Look at me! Zeus would have loved it. It had three masts, all equipped with large, heavy, white sails, and no one to man it. It was just the three of us on board; me, Odin, and Skirnir.
Skirnir asked the ship to take us to Alfheim and we sailed out of the Asgard lake and into the ocean that separated Asgard, Vanaheim, and Alfheim from the rest of the Norse territory. The ship caught the breeze quickly and sailed itself without further handling by anyone. I stood at the railing with Odin, his thick arm around me, as we watched the cliffs of Asgard slide past.
After a few hours, we came to another inlet. I could just glimpse the green of land beyond it but nothing else. There were no guardian stones at the top of the cliffs surrounding the passage like there was for Asgard but there seemed to be something about it that set off my alarms.
“That's the entrance to Vanaheim,” Odin nodded toward the inlet. “It's best not to go there uninvited. They have strong wards in place.”
“Good to know,” I nodded and watched the entrance to Vanaheim go by. “And that's the home of the Vanir?”
“Yes, all except Freyr. If we'd been invited, we could get to it by land, we wouldn't have to sail.”
“So why does Freyr rule Alfheim?”
“It was given to him when he was just a babe.”
“Alfheim was given to him?” I lifted my brows. “As a baby present?”
“It was as the human's wanted it,” Odin shrugged. “We were occasional slaves to their whims.”
“So who lives in Alfheim?” I frowned as I tried to remember the conversation I'd had with Thor about the Viking worlds. “Oh wait, the Light Elves do, right?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Elves. Something resonated inside me. Was it possible that my dreams hadn't confused things after all? I'd forgotten all about the elves in the Norse pantheon. There were supposed to be two factions, Light and Dark. Another tie to the prophecy. Then I recalled Luke's words. Maybe I was reading too much into something that was simply a coincidence.
“So the elves don't mind Freyr ruling them?” I tried to push aside the anxious fluttering in my chest.
“He's practically become one of them,” Odin shrugged. “I don't think they've ever viewed him as an outsider.”
“Oh, right. I guess you're all Atlanteans at heart.”
“Something like that,” Odin glanced at Skirnir with an odd look.
“Do they all have pointed ears and stuff like that?”
“I assume by stuff like that you mean are they tall, thin, pale, and beautiful like Tolkein describes them?”
“Yeah, what you said,” I grinned at him.
“Yes.”
“But why? Is that how the Norse envisioned them?”
“It's more how people envision them now,” he shrugged. “Humans may not actually believe in elves but they believe that elves should look a certain way. Since the myth of elves stems from the Norse stories, the elves are directly affected by this belief.”
“No kidding?” I huffed. “Well, it's not a bad look to be stuck with.”
“It's alright,” he looked me over with a leer. “If you're into tall, skinny women. Which I'm not.”
“No, you like big women,” I teased. “As in giants. I met Rind not to
o long ago.”
“Rind?” His face fell. “Vali's mother?”
“Oh damn,” I totally forgot that there was bad blood between them. “Um, yeah. When I went to see Mimir, she came and yelled at me but then we made friends. She said some really bad things about you.”
“That's not surprising,” he sighed.
“Are they true?”
“Yes, I'm sure they are,” he swallowed hard. “I was a different man before I met Sabine. I was very arrogant and I didn't think anyone had the right to refuse me. When someone denied me, I used any means necessary to get what I wanted. With Rind those means were rather nefarious.”
“She says it was rape,” my voice was barely a whisper.
“I won't argue that,” he gave a deep, chest-lifting sigh, his whole body seeming to shake with it. “In my defense, it wasn't all that unusual back then, tricking women into sleeping with you. Zeus once impersonated a woman's husband so he could sleep with her.”
“Are you seriously using Zeus as an excuse for your behavior?”
“You're right,” he shook his head. “There's no excuse for what I did and it's not something I like to remember. She didn't deserve that.”
“Maybe you should apologize to her.”
“Maybe I should,” he looked over at me with serious eyes, a glimmer of the old Odin showing through. “She won't forgive me and I don't expect her to but she deserves an apology.”
“Good,” I nodded, feeling much better over the whole thing. “Because she does.”
It didn't take us much longer to reach another inlet. The boat turned into it and we sailed between two large cliffs, just like the inlet that led into Asgard and Vanaheim. We glided across a large lake but there the similarities with Asgard ended. For one thing, the forest came right to the edge of the lake. There were no clearings or buildings in sight. Just trees and more trees, heading back to vast mountains in the distance. It was all very bright and beautiful.
“Here we are, my lord and lady,” Skirnir announced and waved a hand outward. “Alfheim.”