“I need you to stay safe, and the only way to do that right now is to make you go to sleep. Plus this will help with your fear.” He picked me up and laid me down on his bed and then covered me with blankets.
“Don’t leave me,” I whispered as my eyelids grew heavier by the second.
He kissed my forehead and whispered, “I will always be with you and only a second away if you call my name. Right now, I need to go ensure Asgard is safe.”
“You said you wouldn’t leave me,” I said around a yawn.
“The Trickster must tell some fibs once in a while, most especially when it is necessary.”
“Jerk,” I mumbled as my eyes closed and the warmth of the bed pulled me into dreamlands.
“Sleep well, Alys.”
I felt him kiss my forehead again and then he was gone.
I woke up with a mouth that felt like it had fabric in it and a headache. I groaned as I sat up slowly and put my head in my hands. What had happened? Where was I? I spread my fingers apart so that I could look through them and realized I was at Loki’s house. Then it all came back to me. Where was he? What time was it? Was it still the same day? “Loki,” I whispered hoarsely. I looked around slowly and saw the mug he had drugged me with, but didn’t see any water. I started to stand up, but the drugs weren’t out of my system and I fell onto something warm and fleshy.
“Why are you awake?” Loki asked me.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked him as I lay on top of him on the floor. He must have appeared just in time to break my fall.
“Only a couple hours. Let me get you back in bed. You should sleep several more hours before this stuff wears off,” he grumbled. He put me back on the bed and handed me a mug of water. I knew it was probably drugged again, but I was so thirsty that I didn’t care. I took the entire mug in one gulp and then fell onto my side on the bed. He covered me again and whispered, “Don’t worry, the dark elf left Asgard. You’re perfectly safe.”
“Good,” I whispered and fell asleep again.
“Alys!” Thor called. “Alys, wake up.” Warm hands shook my body.
“I’m tired,” I whispered.
“I know, but Odin wants to see you,” he informed me.
I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn’t cooperate.
Thor sighed. “Fine, I’ll just have to carry you.”
I tried to respond, but fell asleep again.
“Wake up, child,” Odin said.
I opened my eyes and found him smiling at me. “Hello,” I whispered with a sore throat.
“Here, drink this,” Odin offered me a mug and I drank the contents quickly. When I had finished it I felt awake, alert, and well rested.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“Alys, what did that dark elf say to you before I arrived?” Odin asked.
“Um,” I tried to think back, “He told me to stay where I was and then asked why a mortal was here. I think that was all.”
“I told you he could sense that she was mortal,” Loki said from behind me.
I turned around and realized that we were in the meeting chamber and everyone was here.
“How did he make you feel?” Odin asked.
“Terrified. He felt evil.”
Sif snickered, but made no comment.
“Do you know why Loki gave you the sleeping potion?” Odin asked me.
I shook my head.
“Because the strongest dark elves can manipulate humans. He could have made you walk to him or caused you to turn against one of us,” Odin explained.
“I wouldn’t…”
“It wouldn’t be you doing it, no, but he could force you and no matter how hard you struggled, you would not be able to stop him.”
“So, Loki made me go to sleep so that I didn’t try to hurt anyone or so he couldn’t attempt to make me hurt anyone?” I asked softly.
“Yes.”
I sat numbly in the room as I took everything he had said in and then I whispered, “Is he gone?”
“Yes, I sent him away.”
“Did you tell me so that I would be prepared if I saw one of them again?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you go sit with the others while we discuss our upcoming strategy,” Odin said.
“If it’s alright with you, I would like to go to my house,” I whispered to him.
“Very well,” he said with a frown.
I stared at the ground and refused to meet anyone’s gazes as I ran home. That dark elf could have used me to try to hurt the others. Not that I was capable of actually hurting them, but they would have had to protect themselves while attempting not to harm me. Or if it was one of the ones who didn’t like me, they might hurt me just because they could get away with it. It was a terrifying thought. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I were to start attacking Thor or Loki.
I was even worse than useless, I was a huge liability. This confirmed that I needed to leave. I needed to leave soon. I didn’t need to pack anything since I would just figure out things from Midgard. If I took items, it would raise questions. I sat on my bed to wait for someone to come.
About an hour later, someone knocked on my door. I opened it and was shocked to find Sif. “I have a proposal for you,” she whispered. “Can I come in?”
Part of me was worried she might attack me, but I stepped back and let her inside. She closed the door and said, “I know going to Midgard seems like it will be sad and you’ll be upset about it, but what if I erase your memories before you go? That way you won’t remember anything about here and you can really start over there.”
I stared at her in shock and felt rage first and then, as I sat and contemplated it, I realized that it was the smartest idea I had heard and actually a very kind gesture. “Is there a way for you to leave certain memories?” I asked her.
“It depends,” she said vaguely.
“Could you leave the knowledge of Midgard that I’ve learned the past few months?”
“Oh, yeah, easily.”
“I have one more request,” I whispered.
“Okay…”
“Could you figure out a phrase or word that, if said, would bring my memories back to me?” I asked softly.
“What would be the point of that? If someone accidentally said it, the memories would be back?” she asked me as though I were an imbecile.
“Please, Sif.”
She sighed and said, “Fine, but I’m going to make it something complex and I’m only going to tell Odin what it is.”
I nodded my head in agreement.
“When are we doing this?” she asked me.
“Tonight. Meet me at Himinbjörg at midnight.”
She nodded. “Alright.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “And I am sorry for upsetting the balance.”
“The fact that you’re willing to repair it restores your worth in my eyes.”
She left the house and I plopped down on the bed to wait. I knew they would come. I just didn’t know when. Now I was really glad I hadn’t packed a bag. If I had items I wouldn’t even know where I had gotten them from. I chewed on my fingernail as I waited nervously. Would I be able to pull this off or would they figure it out? Loki was incredibly good at reading me.
One hour.
Two hours.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
Loki stepped inside and I stared at the handsome god for my last time. I had to hope that his claim about the darkness wasn’t true and that even with me gone, he would be able to keep somewhat behaved. He shut the door, walked to stand between my legs, and kissed me deeply. I melted into him and kissed him like it was the last time I would ever see him again, because it most likely was.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked softly and wiped the tears that had fallen down my face.
I shook my head and smiled at him. “No, I understand why you did it.”
&nbs
p; “Then why are you crying?”
“Because I could have attacked you,” I whispered.
“You would never attack me,” he assured me.
“If he was controlling me and I couldn’t…”
He put his finger on my lips and said, “I know you. You would stop even while being controlled before trying to hurt me.”
“Loki,” I whispered and then pulled him forward to kiss him again. I wished I could keep my memories, but I knew they would only cause me heartache on Midgard.
“It’s late and I need to get some rest,” he said as he ran his fingers through my hair.
“Okay, thank you for coming to check on me.” I had known he would come, but it was still thoughtful of him.
“Will you meet me for breakfast?” he asked.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to lie to him and yet if I told him no, he would ask for another time and I couldn’t just keep saying no. “Sure,” I said with a smile.
He kissed me one last time on the lips and then once on the forehead and left my house.
I would not cry. I would not cry. I. Would. Not. Cry!
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Come in,” I said softly.
Thor poked his head in and then smiled wide. “Hi.”
“Hello, Thor.”
He walked in and then jumped on top of me on my bed and began to thoroughly kiss me. I had no idea how much time passed as we made out, but when he finally stopped my head was spinning. “What did I do to deserve that?” I asked him.
He laughed. “You exist.”
“Well, I should exist more often,” I joked.
“I can’t stay,” he told me as he kissed my cheeks, throat, and chin, “But I wanted to come check on you, say goodnight, and see if you would come eat dinner with me tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I lied.
“Great.” He kissed me deeply once more and then jumped up off the bed.
“Thor,” I called as he opened the door.
He stopped and turned back to me. “Thank you, for being such a good friend to me.”
He smiled and winked. “Thank you for existing.”
He left and I collapsed again. No crying. No crying. These men would be terrible to try to get over and I was insanely glad that Sif was going to erase my memories now. I would miss them too much if I could remember them.
I waited until just before midnight and headed to Himinbjörg. I turned, looked at my home and drew in a deep breath of the night air one final time before walking inside.
Heimdall looked up at me when I entered and a deep frown creased his brow. “You’re going through with this?” he asked.
I nodded my head. “It must be done.”
“You know she’s doing the right thing,” Sif said and entered behind me.
“What is she doing here?” Heimdall asked me.
“She’s helping me,” I answered him vaguely.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Did you think of the phrase?” I asked her instead of answering.
“Yes.”
“Can you put the language they speak into my head? I don’t want to go down and not understand them.” I hadn’t even thought about it until now.
“Yes, I figured out a spell for that. I planned it out ahead of time since I knew you would need it. You’ll actually just understand what people down there are saying in any of their languages and you should pick up how to speak it quickly too.”
Wow, she really had planned ahead. I wasn’t even sure how that was possible.
I turned and smiled at Heimdall, “Thank you for everything that you have done for me over the years.”
“You are most welcome, Alys of Asgard,” he said with a bow of his head.
I turned back to Sif and nodded my head. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Sif placed her hands on each side of my head and closed her eyes. Pressure built within my head and then I felt like I was flying.
The pressure eased and when I opened my eyes I found a beautiful woman standing in front of me. “Uh, who are you?” I asked her curiously. I had never seen a woman so beautiful before.
She smiled and said, “I’m just a figment of your imagination, Alys. Now your dream will take you flying through a rainbow cave.”
“I don’t want to fly,” I whispered.
She turned me around and a large very white skinned man stood over a pool of water. “Don’t be afraid,” she whispered in my ear. “This is only a dream, so you won’t be harmed.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her, but what else could this be? The man smiled at me and then I was in the rainbow cave flying. It made me incredibly dizzy and I felt like I was about to throw up. Finally, my feet touched ground and as soon as I sat down I fell into blissfully dark sleep.
5
The persistent sound of an odd bug woke me up. I opened my eyes to a white ceiling and odd smells around me. I lifted my head and stared at my strange surroundings. Where was I? The room was made of odd items and there were machines all around me.
A door opened and a woman in weird green clothes walked in. She looked up at me and smiled. “Oh, good, you’re awake,” she said happily.
“Wh-Where am I?” I asked her.
“You’re in the hospital,” she said.
“What’s a hospital?” I asked. I had never heard of such a place.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Alys,” I whispered.
“What’s your last name?”
“What do you mean? I don’t have another name. It’s just Alys.”
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Eighteen.”
“Where are your parents?”
“I don’t have parents,” I said.
“Where do you live?”
“I, uh, live? I don’t know.”
“What state are you from? Like, Utah or Idaho or California?”
What? “I don’t know.”
My head was pounding and I didn’t understand why she was asking me all of these weird questions.
A man walked in and he smiled at me. “Hello.”
“She seems to have amnesia,” the woman told him.
“What’s amn-amnaysa?” I asked as I rubbed my head.
“Does your head hurt?” the man asked me.
I nodded. “How did I get here?” I asked.
“Someone found you unconscious in a field and brought you in,” the woman explained.
A field?
“Do you know your name?”
“Alys.”
“Do you remember where you were yesterday?”
Yesterday I was… “No,” I whispered in shock. What had happened? I didn’t remember anything.
“It’s alright,” the man said. “Why don’t you lay back down and rest? I’m sure you’ll start remembering things soon.”
I did as he asked and then stared at the strange thing in my arm. “What’s this?!” I screamed in fear and started to grab it.
“No!” The woman yelled and grabbed my hands, stopping me from pulling it out. “Leave that alone. It’s an IV and it’s giving you fluids and medicine.”
I didn’t like it. Not one bit! I obeyed her, though, and lay back down to let the strange thing give me medicine.
A man in another weird outfit came in, this one had a strange gold item pinned to his chest and he seemed important somehow. “Hello, Alys, I’m Deputy Stevens.”
“Hi,” I whispered as he sat down in a chair beside my bed. He was attractive and seemed young to be someone important.
“The doctors here said that you didn’t have any ID or any kind of identification on you when you were brought in. Do you remember anything about yourself?”
“I’m Alys and I’m eighteen.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Well, we’re going to take a picture of you and see if anyone might happen to know you, okay?”
What was a picture? Would s
omeone know me? Did I have friends who would come get me?
“Okay.” He took out a strange device and held it towards me. “What is that?!” I asked in fear.
“It’s a camera,” he said. “It takes your picture.”
“What’s a picture?”
“It makes a still image of you. Here, I’ll show you.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No.”
I didn’t really believe him, but I held still and after a second he turned the device around and showed me back an image of me on the screen. “Whoa,” I whispered. “That’s weird.”
“My grandpa refuses to use one because he thinks it is evil,” he said with a laugh. “Now, I need to get your fingerprints, okay? This won’t hurt either.”
“Okay.”
He put each finger on a strange feeling black thing and then pressed and rolled each finger on paper. Paper! I knew what paper was! He wiped off my finger and I found myself blushing at how close he was to me. Thankfully he wasn’t looking at me.
“Um, Stevens?”
“Yeah?”
“What happens if no one claims me?”
He smiled and said, “I don’t think that will happen, but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”
Bridge? What bridge? Why were we going across a bridge? And how would it come to us? Or was he taking me somewhere?
He left and the woman came back a bit later to put something in the weird line in my arm. She asked me how I felt and then left again, leaving me alone in this weird place. I slept for a bit and then the first man came back in and shined a light in my eyes. “Well, you don’t have a concussion.”
“That’s good?”
“Yes.”
“So, do I have to stay here until someone claims me?” I asked him.
He rubbed his chin and said, “Well, we want to keep you at least another day for observation. It’s very odd that you only remember your age and name, but nothing else.”
“I wish I could remember,” I told him honestly.
He patted my shoulder and said, “Don’t stress yourself over it. If you try too hard, you might end up hurting yourself.”
“Okay.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have the nurse bring you some food.”
“What’s a nurse?”
Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances Page 130