Thor Fic: "Kill all the pretty lies" (Darcy, Loki, PG-13), 6/10
LINK TO PART FIVE
Title: Kill all the pretty lies (Part 6: Reunion)
Characters/Pairings: Darcy, Loki, Erik, Thor, Jane, original characters including those based on Norse mythology, mention of Odin; implied Thor/Jane
Rating: PG-13 for supernatural violence, adult themes and dark tone
Length: 7,665 words
Summary: Darcy only wanted to get away for awhile. Loki only wanted to indulge his curiosity. But fate has set their paths to crossing, with each other and with something more; something that will prove to be very, very dangerous to the both of them.
Notes: For full notes and more information, see part one. Illustration by talented artist and close personal friend machi_neko whose other work can be seen on her deviantART page and personal site.
And remember, creative folk thrive on feedback - so if you like the story or the artwork, please please leave a comment and let us know! Thanks!
Part 6: Reunion
When Darcy awoke in a sleepy half-daze it took her a little while, the space of a few blinks, to remember where she was.
Once she had the presence of mind to look at her surroundings a few things cleared up. She found herself gazing into Lethia’s sleeping face.
Her head was pillowed on the taller woman’s shoulder. Darcy’s arms were lightly wrapped around her torso, and one of Lethia’s rested across her hip.
Well, they’d managed to go the night with neither of them kicking the other in the face or something. Darcy counted that as a victory.
With a gentle shove she managed to extract herself without waking her sleeping buddy. Lethia made a half-formed sound, then curled on her side, face buried in the pillow.
Lost in slumber she looked relaxed for once, not worried or sad or frightened.
Darcy wondered what age Lethia was. A few years older than her, it looked like. Outside of that she couldn’t really be sure. Without any context to go on, she certainly wasn’t going to guess.
Glancing at her iPhone she confirmed that it was way, way too early. The other campers wouldn’t be waking for at least two more hours.
But as long as she was up, Darcy figured, she might as well be up. She could always sleep on the bus ride back to New Mexico.
Moving with care so as not to disturb the sleeping woman, Darcy gathered up her things. Once she had everything shoved into her bag she left it just inside the tent, and headed to the main excavation site to see if anyone was actually awake.
Everything was quiet and a little damp, the gray misty chill from when the sun wasn’t all the way up yet still creeping across the ground. Like Darcy had figured there wasn’t a soul to be found at work yet. But she was wrong about no one being up.
Professor Fournier was sitting at one of the picnic tables, carefully writing in a notebook. There was a mug in her other hand; from the burning smell in the air, she must’ve made coffee in a pot of water over the camp stove.
She glanced up, and smiled lightly. “Good morning, Darcy.”
“Hey.” Darcy came over and sat across from her. It didn’t surprise her that much to find the professor still hard at work. “Tell me something. Have you been sleeping at all?”
“Not really,” Fournier admitted, easily. “A few hours each night perhaps. I’ve been too excited to go to bed for very long. Every time I lie down, I think of something and get up to continue working.”
“That doesn’t sound really healthy,” Darcy remarked.
“No. It’ll catch up to me eventually, I’m sure.” Fournier took a sip of her coffee. “Once I am finished here and go home, I imagine I will sleep for three days. But in the meantime, I can manage.”
She wrote a few more things down. Darcy tried to get a look from the opposite angle. She could make out a lot of abbreviations in some kind of shorthand, and a few crude quick sketches of artifacts, with arrows pointing at them and various labels.
“You really are into this, aren’t you?” Darcy looked back at the older woman, curious. “Are you like this with all your research, or is this one just that much of a big deal?”
“I wish I could say that every site I have ever worked on was this much of a ‘big deal’,” Fournier replied, with some trace of amusement. “Since the very beginning of what we’ve known about early humans, it’s been accepted that men almost strictly did the hunting, and woman the child-rearing. Not because of some kind of gender discrimination but simply because of a natural division of labor.”
She flipped her notebook and pushed it towards Darcy, tapping at the page. Darcy recognized a drawing of a small totem they’d found at the burial site, a seemingly female figure holding a club and spear.
“But this site has ample evidence to contradict all that. These people are what we’d call early or even pre-civilization: a semi-nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers with a traditional tie to the land.” Fournier gestured with one hand. “And it looks as though they had an established pattern of female hunting and men doing domestic work going back generations. Everything taught at the heart of archaeology, gone, in a single excavation.”
Even through the sleepy lines of her face, her eyes burned with excitement. “This could change everything. There have been other findings of so-called ‘Amazon’ tribes in the Middle East, but never anything like this.”
“How long do you think it’ll take you publish?” Darcy asked, knowing that was ultimately the big word in academia. The find of the century meant squat if there wasn’t a paper out on it.
“Oh, not long.” Fournier was dismissive. “We finish up here, and a few months will go to running lab work on the artifacts and bones. Beginning of next year at the latest. You can bet I won’t be letting this discovery linger, unheard about, any longer than I have to.”
“No.” Darcy had to smile at her driven enthusiasm. “Definitely not.”
She expected Fournier to go back to her notes, but to Darcy’s surprise she changed the subject. “So, I understand that Lethia is going home with you.”
“Oh, yeah. Dr. Rubens is taking us both into town, and then I should be able to get her a ticket on my bus.” Darcy nodded. “I know people that I think can help her.”
“Good. That’s very good to hear. Especially that you two will be staying together: I know that Lethia has grown close to you, and it’s probably much better for her state of mind to be with someone she feels comfortable with.”
Fournier frowned, meeting Darcy’s gaze.
“I hope you do not think I’m a callous person, Darcy. Perhaps it might’ve seemed like I cared more about my research than getting Lethia the help she needed, but that isn’t true at all. I’m as hopeful for her finding out who she is and getting home as the rest of you.”
“No. Believe me, I understand.” Darcy shook her head, eyes rolling briefly as she thought of Jane. “I know what it’s like around a scientist with a serious case of ‘eyes on the prize’.”
Fournier laughed faintly. “Yes. Exactly.”
With not much choice in what else to do, since everyone was still sleeping, Darcy headed back to her tent.
Lethia was where she’d left her, cuddled in the sleeping bag, out.
Except as Darcy was checking for the third time to make sure she’d packed everything, she heard Lethia give an unhappy moan.
“Lethia?” Darcy crawled over; the woman was gripping her blanket with white knuckles, a cold sweat dotting her face. She thought she heard her say ‘No, no, no’ in her sleep. “Lethia, wake up. Are you okay?”
Lethia’s eyes flew open with a gasp and a start. She turned toward Darcy, shaken, and then glanced around at their surroundings, slowly coming back to herself.
“It sounded like you were having a nightmare,” Darcy noted, surprised.
Lethia sat up slowly, nodding. “I was. I…” She looked down at her hands, flexing fingers as she stared at them, swallowing. The dread and anguish were written all over her face.
“I turned blue.”
Darcy blinked. It took her a minute to be sure she’d heard that correctly. “You what? You turned-?”
“Blue,” Lethia repeated. “My hands, my arms, my face; my skin all over my body…I could see outside of myself, the way you can sometimes in dreams. It was awful.”
“Wait. I’m not - what do you mean, you were blue? Do you mean like, you were turning into a Smurf, or an Avatar cat person…?”
Lethia stared at her.
“I’m sorry,” Darcy apologized swiftly, “I swear I’m not trying to make fun of you. Guess I just don’t understand…I don’t get it.”
Lethia screwed her eyes shut, pressing one fist to her hairline. “I can’t really explain it. I know it doesn’t make any sense.” Opening her eyes again, her head shook. “But seeing myself like that…knowing that I had changed, that there was something wrong with me. It was horrifying.” Her voice broke as she looked at Darcy. “It felt like the end of the world.”
“So I guess it wasn’t really a literal fear so much as a representative one,” Darcy mused aloud. “It’s very Freudian. Or maybe Jungian.” She shrugged. “Well, whatever it means, you’re okay. It was just a nightmare.”
“Right.” Lethia managed a very weak smile, trying to be reassured. “Only a bad dream. It’s over now.”
*
Ve had broken the announcement that he was betrothed to a somewhat mixed reaction amongst his Asgardian brothers.
They were pleased and excited for him that he was getting married, that he was moving on to become a husband and most likely not long after, a father. But the cost he had paid for this seemed to some of them too dear. Especially for a mortal woman they found a bit…strange.
Vili, one of Ve’s oldest and dearest companions, could certainly never imagine giving up his strength or his longevity for a mere woman. But if Ve was truly happy, well, who was he to judge?
And he had seen how happy Ve was when he spoke of Selene. He knew how much he loved her. Vili only wished them the best.
It was no surprise perhaps that Ve had asked that he stand beside him during the marriage ritual. It was an honor reserved for only the best of kinsmen; for Ve, his choice could only be Odin, or Vili. His two almost-brothers.
And everyone knew that Odin did not approve of Selene. Asking him to serve such a role would be an embarrassment to him.
So Vili it was. And he intended to do his duty with pride.
The day was unseasonably cool as Vili walked to Selene’s, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see that the bride-to-be had a fire going outside. He saw the plume of black smoke long before the rest of the hut, or the lone figure before it, was clear to his eyes.
“Ho, shaman!” Vili called in greeting, boisterous with good cheer. “Or should I perhaps call you sister? After all, it will be true soon enough.”
Selene turned enough from where she was feeding grass into the flames to smile at him aside.
“Indeed,” she said in her usual low, nearly toneless voice.
Vili waited patiently for her to finish stoking the fire, watching silently. Despite the chill of the day she wore only a thin, long dress, with no furs or cloak. There was no paint on her face, and barring the charms that never left her hair for once she was without the trappings of a shaman.
With white arms bare and a face unmarred by charcoal or blood, Vili found it much easier to see why Ve was in love with her. Underneath it all she really was a handsome woman.
Selene turned at last and Vili beamed at her. “Ve tells me that you have something for me to use in the wedding? A token, of some sort?”
“Yes,” Selene purred. She surprised him moving quickly to his side. “I do.”
There was hardly the space of a finger between them. Selene stepped in even closer, so her body was pressed against his. Her eyes were half-lidded, her lips parted. Reaching upward she ran her fingers gently through his long hair.
Vili was completely bemused, so stunned he was unable to move or speak. Surely this was a jest of some sort? Selene had not struck him as a very sensual woman to begin with, so for her to behave in such a manner toward him, when they both knew well she was promised to his kinsman, was…shocking.
Selene’s hand caressed along the side of his head, fingers brushing against his jaw, stroking his beard.
“Is it the same with all you Aesir,” she murmured in the ghostly whisper of a lover. “So strong, so beautiful. So full of life.”
And then in a heartbeat everything changed. Selene’s face twisted into a feral sneer, grabbing onto Vili’s face. She wrenched him toward her.
“So…powerful.”
Selene’s mouth opened wide and a low, inhuman sound came from her throat. Like the shriek of some wild animal triumphantly seizing its prey.
It was the last thing that Vili ever heard. Even as he struggled in her grasp, he was already lost.
His body dissolved into nothing, the golden light of his life’s force disappearing inside Selene as she drained him completely dry.
Selene’s eyes tipped back, her head lolling, a look of almost intoxication on her face. So much strength, so much psychic energy, and from just one man! She felt the life rush through her, her limbs filled with such vigor. She felt as though she could do anything.
So this was the power of a god.
“No!”
Her eyes flew open and she beheld Ve standing there, his face bone white, his eyes gone wide with hatred and horror.
Selene tilted her head. “My love,” she said, with an empty sweetness designed to be mocking, “you’re early.”
Ve’s hands trembled, clenched tightly into fists. He stepped toward her slowly, his strides long but stiff.
So she had been so occupied, killing Vili, that she had not even sensed Ve’s arrival. Well, no matter, now. He had served her in every way he had left that was useful.
“Selene…Vili.” Ve stared at the space where his friend had been, distraught. “What have you done? You monster!”
Selene almost felt sorry for him. He had fallen for her of his own accord, but it had been so easy to manipulate him. So easy to convince him she loved.
Tired of waiting for Selene’s reply, Ve threw himself at her with a roar.
But she had the strength of an Aesir now, and he was nothing but a man. It was child’s play to stop him.
Selene looked down at his broken body with a distant smile. Ve moaned on the ground where he lay, unconscious.
She could have drained him; every little bit added to her power. But drunk as she was on the thrumming magic of Vili, Ve’s puny remaining life seemed of no consequence.
No. She would just kill him, and then be done with it.
Selene went to fetch her horse.
*
Darcy chucked her sleeping bag into the bed of the truck. “And that’s all she wrote!”
She rubbed her palms against each other, as if they actually needed dusting off, and felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Turning around she found herself face to face with Ruth.
“You don’t have to say goodbye yet,” Darcy pointed out. “Aren’t you coming into town anyway, as part of the supply run?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ruth said easily. “But I wanted to give you your present before we left.”
“My present? I get a present?”
“Duh! I mean, c’mon. You came all this way and I haven’t seen you in months!” Ruth smirked. “Okay, so you remember my ‘Archaeologists do it in the dirt’ t-shirt?”
“You mean the one you try to wear like once a week for as long as I’ve known you?” Darcy said. “If not more often?”
“Well, they didn’t have one for Poli-Sci, but…”
Ruth whipped a light brown shirt out from behind her back. In black script it read, “Scientists do it experimentally.”
“You are so awesome,” Darcy exclaimed.
She took the shirt to examine it better, but then Ruth handed her a book.
“But wait, there’s more.” Ruth giggled. “Okay, so this one’s more of a gag. But I think it’s worth a laugh or two.”
“A romance novel?” Darcy eyed the cover with dubiousness, to say the least. “God, Ruth, this looks so trashy.”
“Oh, it totally is,” the redhead assured her.
“Why would you even-” She flipped it over to scan the description on the back, and then saw that the heroine’s name was ‘Darcy Lewis’, and did a double-take. “Wait. What?”
“It’s from this website online,” Ruth explained. “You can order the pre-written story and fill it out with your name, the name of someone you’d like to be your fictional lover, and some relevant description stuff like hair color and eyes - wouldn’t do to have him stroking your flowing raven’s wing locks when they’re really more like golden shafts of wheat. It’s like the world’s corniest mad lib.”
“You’re unbelievable,” was all that Darcy could say.
Anything else she might’ve come up with was cut off as Dr. Rubens wandered up with Lethia close behind him, the former shutting his phone. Darcy quickly hid her new book behind her back.
“Okay,” Rubens announced to them. “I just did the cell phone rain dance and managed to get enough reception to call into San Luis and talk to Sheriff Boomer.”
“Please, tell me that is not his real name,” Darcy demanded.
“It’s his nickname,” Ruth informed her sweetly. “If that helps any.”
Darcy just groaned.
“Anyway. I told him what all’s been going on out here, with finding Lethia and the garbage that turned up at the mass burial. He said he’s going to send somebody out here to investigate, see if they can’t find any sign of illegal camping activities.”
“The professor’s gonna love that, Bill,” Ruth remarked.
“As long as they don’t touch any of the excavations or artifacts, she’ll be fine.” Rubens paused. “Mostly. I’m sure.”
“Well that’s great. You guys all have fun being interviewed by the coonhound brigade.” Darcy gestured at the truck. “But we are getting out of here.”
Rubens actually grinned. “Oh, I know. Shame, really. You’re taking off just in time to miss all the fun.”
“Real shame,” Darcy deadpanned in response.
The older man looked between her and Lethia. “You two finished making your goodbyes already?”
“Yep.” There had been a lot of hugging and wishes of all the best. Darcy had exchanged emails with everyone - except, of course, Kevin. She’d even written them down on another piece of paper for Lethia, assuming that after she got herself situated she wanted to keep in touch.
Lethia nodded as well. “I think I said everything that needed to be said.”
“Well, in that case, guess we’ll be hitting-”
Dr. Rubens was cut off mid-word by a loud exasperated yelling coming back from the direction of camp.
“God,” Darcy cried. “Now what?”
“What in the world?” Rubens stepped forward shading his eyes. Ruth did the same. Realizing they were looking up, Darcy followed their example.
And could barely believe her eyes.
Closer to the sleeping tents than the excavation, Kevin was standing at the base of a small but still nonetheless very tall elm tree. The rest of the team was quickly crowding in towards him, pointing upwards with exclamations.
The very tops of the elm’s branches were draped with a sleeping bag, a few personal items, and lots of articles of clothing. Everything from a raincoat to socks and underwear. Men’s clothing.
In fact judging from the anger and frustration on Kevin’s face as he stormed around the tree, looking up in disbelief, and the poorly-concealed amusement in everyone else’s expression, it was all his stuff.
Darcy gaped, even as she started to laugh. “Oh man. Looks like Kevin’s gonna be having himself a very busy morning.”
“I wonder who did that?” Rubens asked, more puzzled than indignant on his student’s behalf. “And how?”
“And how’s he gonna get it back down?” Ruth added.
“It’s a good climbing tree,” Lethia said, calmly. “I’m sure he’ll manage somehow.”
Darcy turned to stare at Lethia, belatedly realizing she was the only one of them who hadn’t looked to see what the shouting was about - like she had already known.
Lethia gazed back at her evenly, expression perfectly innocent.
Darcy’s mouth opened, and then quickly closed again.
Her biggest question was when. She tried to think back on the morning, and couldn’t recall Lethia having been missing for any extended period of time; which, if she had to guess, was probably part of the plan. Every last one of them could swear Lethia was in sight at all times, except for a few minutes where she went to the bathroom, or back to the tent to get some things, or so on.
She must have snuck off quietly again and again, stealing a few moments whenever she could, carefully climbing up into the tree and leaving all of Kevin’s crap there one or two items at time.
It was somewhere between completely insane and brilliant.
Darcy stole a glance at Ruth and the doctor, who were still looking at the treed clothing and shaking their heads, apparently not having noticed anything. She whispered at Lethia, “But, why?”
Lethia only shrugged. “Oh, I don’t really know, it seemed like the thing to do.”
It looked like Kevin must’ve made the same impression on Lethia that he had on everyone else.
Darcy grinned, pulling her into a spontaneous hug.
*
From her hiding place concealed within the thick of the trees and the dark of the woods, Selene watched as the pickup pulled away from the campground and along the dirt path back towards civilization.
The old man was driving, the shape-changed Aesir sitting at his side. In the back of the truck along with piles of boxes and their scattered belongings were the two children, the dark-haired one with glasses and the one with the curly red hair. The girls were laughing and talking to one another, their voices loud to be heard over the wind.
As soon as she was certain they were too far away to see her even if they’d been looking back, Selene stepped out into the road. She watched them leave with satisfaction.
She hadn’t been entirely sure her spell on Loki would hold. Rune magic was tricky that way, particularly when cast on another magic user. Sometimes will alone was enough to breach through it.
But it’d been three days and there was no sign of the enchantment breaking. He seemed to have no memory of who he was or any chance of recollecting it at all.
Good. Perfect. Odin could search for his offspring all he liked, but even if he found his son, by the time he broke the spell on him Selene would be far gone. And she knew how to cover her tracks.
First, she had much to clean up, out in the wilds.
Mere mortals or not so many easy pickings so close were too much of a temptation for her - but she had to be careful. People already knew this group was out there and so they couldn’t just disappear. It had been bad enough when they found her one victim’s belongings where she had buried them. She had to make sure there were no more questions, or at least not the kind that had search parties combing her woods, possibly stumbling across clues.
Selene pressed her tongue to the point of a fang, and thought.
An unfortunate accident, that took out multiple victims and left the bodies too badly mangled to be identified. That was always a good way.
She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of a car engine. Selene turned her head, and spied a different vehicle coming down the road, back towards her this time. A sheriff’s patrol car.
Selene made no effort to hide herself. She stayed exactly where she was, waiting with her hands on her hips.
The car pulled to a stop in front of her. Two young men were inside, obviously not full-fledged lawmen yet, but trainees. One of them, the driver, started to get out.
“Told you we should’ve brought a map,” his partner was saying to him. “Or radioed in for directions.”
“Man, I signed up to be a policeman, not a goddamned forest ranger!” the driver snapped. His partner gave him an annoyed, dismissive hand gesture.
Ignoring the other man, the first walked towards Selene.
“Uh, excuse me, ma’am?” he said a little sheepishly. “We’re looking for the archaeological dig that those folks from the university got going on out here.”
He gave Selene’s outfit and overall appearance a dubious look. “You wouldn’t happen to know where it is, would you?”
Selene smiled at him.
Reaching out, she said, “Oh yes. I’ll get you where you need to go.”
*
Darcy was a big believer in it being better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
So when they got to the San Luis bus depot, after making their final goodbyes to Ruth and the doctor and sending them on their way, the first thing Darcy did was purchase a second ticket back to Puente Antigo for Lethia.
Then she called Jane to let her know she was bringing a friend home with her.
She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or annoyed that it went to voicemail. Glancing at her watch Darcy confirmed it was late enough in the morning for Jane to normally be awake.
Probably she was too busy doing something in the lab, too focused to even hear her cell ring. Darcy left her a message.
She wandered over to where Lethia was standing in front of the blinking bulletin board with hands loosely clasped behind her back, reading the names of the destinations. Probably trying to see if there were any she recognized.
At Darcy’s approach she turned. “So?”
Darcy shook her head. “Missed her. She’ll call back, though. Jane’s pretty good about getting her messages.”
“We still have several hours until our bus arrives,” Lethia pointed out.
“Do we?” Darcy squinted at the projected arrival time. “Oh yeah. Well, that’s perfect then. We can get some real food to eat. And maybe buy you some clothes so you’re not stuck with mine and Ruth’s hand me downs.”
“Are there places around here to do that?” Lethia wondered.
Darcy pointed at the desk labeled ‘Information’. “Let’s find out.”
The kid sitting behind the dust-covered desk had to still be in high school, and looked bored as possible to be there. When he saw them he was already pulling out a bus schedule to shove at them, likely used to that answering all the questions anyone could ask of him so that he’d be left in peace.
“Uh, no thanks.” Darcy waved it off curtly. “I was just wondering, is there any place to go shopping for clothes around here? Not like, hunting gear or anything, just regular everyday threads.”
The kid blinked slowly. “There’s a Wal-Mart back towards the center of town.”
“Great. Thanks.” Darcy managed a smile for him. “And, where’s your McDonald’s at?”
About fifteen minutes later Darcy was sinking her teeth into a Big Mac, closing her eyes as she felt herself in the throes of a cheeseburger orgasm.
“Mmm.” She looked at Lethia, sitting across from her in the plastic booth. “So much better than canned beef-a-roni.”
“After four meals of it almost anything would be.” Lethia nibbled enthusiastically on her fries. “I don’t think this sort of food can be very healthy,” she observed, although that didn’t change the fact that her burger was already half gone.
“It’s so not,” Darcy agreed. She stopped stuffing her face long enough to wipe the ketchup off her fingers. “Which is exactly why it tastes so good. Anyway, I don’t eat like this all time. But I figured, we’ve been in the woods for a few days, we deserve a little treat on our return to civilization.”
Lethia glanced down at her meal, as if something had just occurred to her. “What you used to pay for this. That was your money, wasn’t it? And the fare for my travelling pass, that was yours as well. You shouldn’t have to be spending all your wages on me.”
“I don’t mind,” Darcy told her. “You’re, you know, in need and everything. Besides, I was planning on trying to get reimbursed for it anyway.”
“You were?” Lethia frowned, surprised. “How are you going to do that?”
“Oh, I’ve done it before, once or twice.” Darcy waved a hand. “The guys we get funding from, for our research, we have to submit these expense reports into them every month.” She shrugged, returning to her burger. “You can slip just about anything on there, if you really want to…as long as you find a way to word it so that it sounds science-y.”
“Oh.” Lethia considered that information a moment. “Is that like stealing?”
“Noo, of course not,” Darcy reassured her. “It’s what we call ‘creative accounting’.”
“‘Creative accounting’,” Lethia repeated slowly, testing the phrase. She smiled. “I like that.”
“Great.” Darcy finished her soda. “Now let’s go get you a new wardrobe. For science!”
Wal-Mart was, shockingly, not exactly a high end boutique. Probably a good thing ultimately, since right then all Lethia really needed was the basics. Jeans, shirts, socks, underwear, pajamas…a few trendy accessories…
“I swear to god, I own these arm-warmers,” Darcy said, holding up a knit pair in black. “I got them at Urban Outfitters for like twice the price. Figures.”
Lethia dug past her in the bin, pulling out another set that were moss green.
“Those will go great with that camo top you picked out.” Darcy chuckled. “Green’s your favorite color, isn’t it?”
Lethia paused, startled. Taking a look at their shopping cart though it was definitely the most popular hue. She gave Darcy a sheepish smile. “I guess it must be.”
“It’d be mine too, if I had your eyes,” Darcy remarked. Reaching out she casually brushed a strand of hair out of her friend’s face for a better look. “Seriously, are we completely sure you’re not wearing tinted contacts?”
“Are you jealous of me?” Lethia tugged at her own locks, uncertain.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “A little. Well, a lot. But not in like a mean way. You’re just obnoxiously pretty, that’s all.”
“You’re very pretty too, Darcy,” Lethia said, in all earnest. “I like your nose. And your mouth.”
Darcy preened, half-serious. “Well, thank you. They are my most distinctive and refined features.”
And then that thread of conversation was forgotten as she spotted a rack of cute jean skirts.
“Ooh. Nice.” She did a quick size estimation, grabbed a pair and shoved them at Lethia. “Go try these on.”
Lethia clutched the skirt, wide-eyed with disbelief. “They’re short,” she protested, scandalized.
“And it’s even warmer in Puente Antigo than it is here,” Darcy countered. “You really plan on wearing cargo pants and jeans only? You’ll melt into goo.”
“I have bony legs,” Lethia muttered, sullen. Darcy gave her a considering once-over.
“Alright, yeah, maybe you do. But trust me, nobody’s going to notice. Nobody’s going to care. Now go,” she ordered, making a shooing motion. “After this we’re headed to the cosmetics department.” Darcy shook her head at the warehouse-style facility and bright white lights. “Someday, I promise I’ll take you shopping for real. At an actual mall.”
After Lethia went off, Darcy pulled out her phone and frowned at it. Still no call from Jane. Dialing the number she got voicemail again, so she gave up and called Erik instead.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Erik, it’s me. Is Jane okay? I’ve tried calling her like twice and she never responded to my messages.”
To her surprise and further confusion, Erik chuckled. “Oh believe me, I think she’s more than okay right now. She’s just…very busy.”
“Whatever. So, the reason I’m calling is - well it’s sort of a long story.”
She proceeded to explain the whole thing as quickly as she could, about Lethia and how she was bringing the woman home because she thought SHIELD could help her.
To his credit, Erik didn’t go completely ballistic or anything. In fact he was incredibly sympathetic. “And there really is no sign of where she came from, or how she got amnesia in the first place?”
“None whatsoever. So, you don’t think it’s going to be a problem, do you? I promise she’s really nice. Super polite, even.”
“Well it’ll be up to the agents at SHIELD whether or not they can actually do anything for her. But I certainly don’t think it would hurt to ask. As for you bringing her to stay with us…” He laughed again. “Sure. What’s one more guest at the inn?”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Darcy asked.
“It’s quite a story of our own. I’ll explain better when you get here. But the short end of it is…Darcy, Thor’s back.”
“What?” Darcy practically squealed, right there in aisle four of Wal-Mart. “He is? Oh my god. What happened?”
“Jane’s theory ending up turning out to be right on the nose. In fact you might say it worked a little too well.”
“I can’t believe you guys made a rainbow bridge without me!” A lady pushing her shopping cart past gave Darcy an odd look. Darcy glared at her until she went away. “Finally something interesting with all that weather data and anomaly crunching happens, and it’s the one time I’m not there?”
“I promise you it wasn’t on purpose. We weren’t trying to actually make a full connection to Asgard yet. Things just…lined up, that way.”
“I want to hear everything, eventually,” Darcy insisted. “Well, skip over the really boring technical parts, but other than that.”
“Of course. I’ll meet you two ladies at the bus stop this evening. Goodbye.”
Hanging up, Darcy glanced at her watch and saw they were almost out of time. She swiftly collected Lethia and herded their shopping cart toward the register - though not without stopping in the food aisles for a box of frosted wild berry poptarts and a big bag of neon gummi worms first.
The ride itself went without much incident. Darcy gave Lethia her iPod to listen to, while she started reading the book Ruth had given her.
It wasn’t well written, but it made up for it by being incredibly steamy and very ridiculous. Darcy was just getting to the part where James Van Der Beek was unlacing her corset, the better to caress her ‘heaving bosoms’ (ha, she wished), when Lethia gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Darcy jumped, and tried not to flush.
Lethia held up the iPod, having removed one of the ear buds. “I enjoy this song. What did you say the name of the noble lady that sings it is, again?”
“Gaga. And she’s not really…well, it’s complicated.” Darcy quickly stashed the book away for later, figuring it was the sort of thing best read in private. “Here, give that to me.”
Sharing the ear buds and not caring what anyone else thought, they ended up belting out a slightly off-key duet of “Born This Way”.
*
“You’re sure that I didn’t drool on you or anything?”
“I’m quite certain you didn’t.” Lethia tugged her bag up over her shoulder, and gave Darcy an amused look.
Considering how early she’d been awake that morning Darcy wasn’t really that surprised she’d fallen asleep. Still, she rubbed at her eyes grumpily and tried not to feel embarrassed.
True to his word, Erik was waiting for them outside the depot. He smiled at Darcy and waved to get their attention.
“Hey, Erik,” Darcy greeted him brightly, and dumped her backpack in his arms.
He let out an annoyed huff, but shook his head and went to put her luggage in the trunk of his car, which was just parked at the curb. “How was the ride?”
“Long. Dark. A little smelly. And some drunk guy who got on at the border kept talking to himself. So that was a little disturbing. But eventually he passed out.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t get up and tase him,” Erik remarked dryly.
“I left my taser here, remember?” Darcy gave him a look. “And it better be exactly where I put it, too.”
Erik ignored the accusation. “Are you girls hungry?”
“No, thank you,” Lethia said, politely. “We had poptarts.”
“Ah. Of course you did. Darcy’s pattern of dietary staples proceeds itself.”
“I fed her gummi worms too,” Darcy responded, defensive. Erik ignored her again - this time in favor of shutting the trunk and turning to see Lethia better. He extended his hand with a warm smile.
“Erik Selvig. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Lethia, however, stared at Erik with a strange look on her face. After a solid moment of awkward silence, she snapped out of it enough to realize Erik’s hand was still hanging in the air, and that both he and Darcy were giving her odd looks.
“Oh! I’m so sorry.” Lethia took his hand, a bit tentatively. “It’s just that…something about you. You seem awfully familiar.”
“I do?” Erik said, surprised. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.”
He squinted his eyes and peered into her face searchingly. Darcy’s heart was in her throat for a second in anticipation, but then Erik shook his head.
“No, I don’t think so,” he apologized. “You don’t seem at all familiar to me.”
“That’s all right.” But Lethia still acted a bit confused, and shaken. “It must have been my imagination. Strange.”
As they got into the car Erik told Darcy, “Thor and Jane probably won’t be around at all tonight. She wanted to take him to see a movie, and she said they wouldn’t be back until ‘late’. And he’s staying with her anyway.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet he is,” Darcy remarked, innuendo strongly implied. “If he’s going to be around now, she needs to get into gear and find a real apartment. SHIELD’s paying her enough.”
“Says she never has enough time to go looking,” Erik reminded her mildly - it was pretty clear he agreed with Darcy’s assessment. Jane still sleeping in an RV after so many months, too busy in her lab to take even a couple minutes to check the classifieds, was an exasperating state of things.
Darcy glanced back at Lethia, huddled in the backseat. “Jane is my boss,” she explained. “She’s a lot like the archaeologists at the dig, really. Nice but kind of intense. She’s also a total workaholic so don’t be surprised if she doesn’t have more than five words for you.”
Lethia nodded, absorbing the information. “And, there’s someone else, as well?”
“Thor.” Erik shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “How do we go about describing Thor?”
“Actually I think he’ll get along with her pretty well.” Darcy looked at Lethia again.
“I mean, he gets along with just about everybody, if they’re not trying to physically assault him. But you two actually have a lot in common. You both don’t always get modern stuff, or pop culture, you both talk a little funny sometimes, you both showed up under really strange circumstances - oh my god, I’m a moron!”
Darcy felt like she’d been whacked so hard with an epiphany she expected to see stars in front of eyes.
Erik stole a glance at her, startled by her outburst. “What? What is it?”
“That accent. And, and she didn’t know what diet coke was. And she’s got weird powers, and she was wearing a crazy elaborate outfit when we found her…” Darcy sat up on her knees and twisted around to gape at Lethia, frantically pointing at her. “She could be from where Thor is! Huh? What if she’s Asgardian?”
Lethia shrank back instinctively, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s…” Erik risked turning his head to look at the woman, as well. “Not impossible, I suppose. But I don’t think it’s very likely. For starters, Thor didn’t mention any of his people being missing when he arrived.”
“How much talking exactly did he get done before he tripped and fell on Jane’s lips?” Darcy asked, highly skeptical. “Besides, she has amnesia, so who knows what happened! Maybe she-”
“Went for a walk off a cloud and accidentally fell through a wormhole while she was about it?” Erik said. “I realize with everything we’ve learned it’s hard to keep the idea of ‘reality’ all in line, but you have to still try and make some sense out of it.”
“Will someone please tell me what is going on?” Lethia demanded. “What’re the both of you even saying?”
Darcy paused to stick her tongue out at Erik, just for good measure, before facing Lethia and answering her question.
“It’s a bit of a long shot. But there’s a chance that Thor might know who you are.”
Lethia’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Darcy assured her.
“If”, Erik stressed, “the two of you actually turn out to be from the same place.” When Darcy shot him a look, he evenly responded with one of his own. “Don’t get her hopes up over nothing. Do you really want to disappoint her?”
“No.” Darcy huffed. To Lethia she said, “But if I’m wrong, you’ll be no worse off than you are now.”
There wasn’t much to do once they reached their destination but unpack and go to sleep. Darcy’s room at their compound was little more than a closet and there wasn’t a guest bed, so they dragged out plenty of pillows and blankets to make Lethia comfortable on the sofa.
“I’m showering tonight, because I really need to wash off the smell of camping,” Darcy announced. “Erik, make sure you wake me up for breakfast tomorrow, okay? Don’t let me sleep in! Lethia, if he forgets, I want you to smack him one in the arm. Actually, if does anything you don’t like, do that anyway.”
“I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” Erik called back at her, sardonic.
Darcy waved. “Goodnight Erik. Goodnight, Lethia.”
Lethia yawned from the couch, sounding as if she’d be dropping off in very little time. “Sleep well, Darcy. And thank you both for everything.”
Darcy distantly hoped that Lethia had no more nightmares about turning funny colors, whatever that was about.
But if she did that night, no one came to tell Darcy.
The next morning she awoke on her own, to the sound of voices in the kitchen and the distant smell of frying bacon. She pulled on her slippers and headed down, noticing that she passed an empty sofa on the way. Lethia must’ve been getting dressed in the bathroom.
Jane and Erik were already seated at the table, but what immediately caught Darcy’s eyes was the familiar, very tall, very broad blond man in the t-shirt and jeans standing by the refrigerator.
“Thor!” she cried, excited. “It’s really true! I can’t believe you’re here!”
Thor gave a booming laugh as she ran to him, hugging her. “Darcy! How wonderful it is to see you again!” When they separated he smiled at her. “Have you been well since we parted last?”
“Oh yeah, been pretty much super.” Darcy looked up at him, nodding. She paused. “Hey, how’s that one friend of yours, the guy with the Carey Elwes mustache?”
Erik cleared his throat, pointedly. “Darcy, wasn’t there something else you wanted to ask Thor about?”
“…Right.”
“Ah, yes! Erik has already mentioned this to me,” Thor exclaimed. “This new friend of yours, the one who has tragically lost her memories. You believe that she may be of my race?”
“Well it would explain a lot,” Darcy said. “At least, I think it would.”
“But you said that the Bifrost on your end was destroyed,” Jane put in, turning in her chair to look at Thor. “How could she have gotten here without it?”
“It is said there are many passages between the Nine Realms, and one only has to but find them,” Thor remarked. “Outside of that, I could not tell you. I have heard of no one who has gone missing from Asgard but then, I do not know of all our people personally.”
He gazed at Darcy intently, and really, it wasn’t that hard to see how he made Jane go all weak in the knees.
“But whether she is of Asgard or not, I swear to you, in the name of my father and his father before him, that I will do all that I can to assist her.”
Darcy took a moment to recover her language abilities. “Awesome,” she managed, eventually. “I mean, that’s great! I’m sure she’ll be really happy to hear that.”
And then she took a few steps back, because it occurred to her she was probably standing a little too close to Jane’s almost-boyfriend.
Erik was looking at something behind them. “Ah,” he said brightly, “speak of the devil.”
Darcy turned around to find Lethia standing there, already dressed, with slightly damp hair. Evidently she’d had no trouble finding her way around the shower.
She nodded at the group, demurely. “Good morning.”
“Hey, you’re up,” Darcy said by way of greeting. “You sleep okay?” Lethia nodded an affirmative and Darcy took that as sign to continue. Pointing over her shoulder, she made introductions. “This is Jane, and the big guy is Thor.”
Darcy turned back, already speaking; “Thor, this is…”
But she trailed off as she got a look at Thor’s face. His blue eyes had gone very wide, and he appeared to have been stunned into speechlessness.
He was staring at Lethia in disbelief and confusion, looking as though he’d been hit by one of his own lighting bolts.
Darcy glanced between the two of them, but Lethia didn’t appear to have a clue what was happening. There was no recognition, but his reaction clearly unnerved her.
Thor took a step closer, moving like he was afraid he’d frighten her away, or maybe more like she would literally disappear.
“My brother?” Thor breathed, his voice all amazement. “You are alive?”
CONTINUE TO PART SEVEN
Title: Kill all the pretty lies (Part 6: Reunion)
Characters/Pairings: Darcy, Loki, Erik, Thor, Jane, original characters including those based on Norse mythology, mention of Odin; implied Thor/Jane
Rating: PG-13 for supernatural violence, adult themes and dark tone
Length: 7,665 words
Summary: Darcy only wanted to get away for awhile. Loki only wanted to indulge his curiosity. But fate has set their paths to crossing, with each other and with something more; something that will prove to be very, very dangerous to the both of them.
Notes: For full notes and more information, see part one. Illustration by talented artist and close personal friend machi_neko whose other work can be seen on her deviantART page and personal site.
And remember, creative folk thrive on feedback - so if you like the story or the artwork, please please leave a comment and let us know! Thanks!
Part 6: Reunion
When Darcy awoke in a sleepy half-daze it took her a little while, the space of a few blinks, to remember where she was.
Once she had the presence of mind to look at her surroundings a few things cleared up. She found herself gazing into Lethia’s sleeping face.
Her head was pillowed on the taller woman’s shoulder. Darcy’s arms were lightly wrapped around her torso, and one of Lethia’s rested across her hip.
Well, they’d managed to go the night with neither of them kicking the other in the face or something. Darcy counted that as a victory.
With a gentle shove she managed to extract herself without waking her sleeping buddy. Lethia made a half-formed sound, then curled on her side, face buried in the pillow.
Lost in slumber she looked relaxed for once, not worried or sad or frightened.
Darcy wondered what age Lethia was. A few years older than her, it looked like. Outside of that she couldn’t really be sure. Without any context to go on, she certainly wasn’t going to guess.
Glancing at her iPhone she confirmed that it was way, way too early. The other campers wouldn’t be waking for at least two more hours.
But as long as she was up, Darcy figured, she might as well be up. She could always sleep on the bus ride back to New Mexico.
Moving with care so as not to disturb the sleeping woman, Darcy gathered up her things. Once she had everything shoved into her bag she left it just inside the tent, and headed to the main excavation site to see if anyone was actually awake.
Everything was quiet and a little damp, the gray misty chill from when the sun wasn’t all the way up yet still creeping across the ground. Like Darcy had figured there wasn’t a soul to be found at work yet. But she was wrong about no one being up.
Professor Fournier was sitting at one of the picnic tables, carefully writing in a notebook. There was a mug in her other hand; from the burning smell in the air, she must’ve made coffee in a pot of water over the camp stove.
She glanced up, and smiled lightly. “Good morning, Darcy.”
“Hey.” Darcy came over and sat across from her. It didn’t surprise her that much to find the professor still hard at work. “Tell me something. Have you been sleeping at all?”
“Not really,” Fournier admitted, easily. “A few hours each night perhaps. I’ve been too excited to go to bed for very long. Every time I lie down, I think of something and get up to continue working.”
“That doesn’t sound really healthy,” Darcy remarked.
“No. It’ll catch up to me eventually, I’m sure.” Fournier took a sip of her coffee. “Once I am finished here and go home, I imagine I will sleep for three days. But in the meantime, I can manage.”
She wrote a few more things down. Darcy tried to get a look from the opposite angle. She could make out a lot of abbreviations in some kind of shorthand, and a few crude quick sketches of artifacts, with arrows pointing at them and various labels.
“You really are into this, aren’t you?” Darcy looked back at the older woman, curious. “Are you like this with all your research, or is this one just that much of a big deal?”
“I wish I could say that every site I have ever worked on was this much of a ‘big deal’,” Fournier replied, with some trace of amusement. “Since the very beginning of what we’ve known about early humans, it’s been accepted that men almost strictly did the hunting, and woman the child-rearing. Not because of some kind of gender discrimination but simply because of a natural division of labor.”
She flipped her notebook and pushed it towards Darcy, tapping at the page. Darcy recognized a drawing of a small totem they’d found at the burial site, a seemingly female figure holding a club and spear.
“But this site has ample evidence to contradict all that. These people are what we’d call early or even pre-civilization: a semi-nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers with a traditional tie to the land.” Fournier gestured with one hand. “And it looks as though they had an established pattern of female hunting and men doing domestic work going back generations. Everything taught at the heart of archaeology, gone, in a single excavation.”
Even through the sleepy lines of her face, her eyes burned with excitement. “This could change everything. There have been other findings of so-called ‘Amazon’ tribes in the Middle East, but never anything like this.”
“How long do you think it’ll take you publish?” Darcy asked, knowing that was ultimately the big word in academia. The find of the century meant squat if there wasn’t a paper out on it.
“Oh, not long.” Fournier was dismissive. “We finish up here, and a few months will go to running lab work on the artifacts and bones. Beginning of next year at the latest. You can bet I won’t be letting this discovery linger, unheard about, any longer than I have to.”
“No.” Darcy had to smile at her driven enthusiasm. “Definitely not.”
She expected Fournier to go back to her notes, but to Darcy’s surprise she changed the subject. “So, I understand that Lethia is going home with you.”
“Oh, yeah. Dr. Rubens is taking us both into town, and then I should be able to get her a ticket on my bus.” Darcy nodded. “I know people that I think can help her.”
“Good. That’s very good to hear. Especially that you two will be staying together: I know that Lethia has grown close to you, and it’s probably much better for her state of mind to be with someone she feels comfortable with.”
Fournier frowned, meeting Darcy’s gaze.
“I hope you do not think I’m a callous person, Darcy. Perhaps it might’ve seemed like I cared more about my research than getting Lethia the help she needed, but that isn’t true at all. I’m as hopeful for her finding out who she is and getting home as the rest of you.”
“No. Believe me, I understand.” Darcy shook her head, eyes rolling briefly as she thought of Jane. “I know what it’s like around a scientist with a serious case of ‘eyes on the prize’.”
Fournier laughed faintly. “Yes. Exactly.”
With not much choice in what else to do, since everyone was still sleeping, Darcy headed back to her tent.
Lethia was where she’d left her, cuddled in the sleeping bag, out.
Except as Darcy was checking for the third time to make sure she’d packed everything, she heard Lethia give an unhappy moan.
“Lethia?” Darcy crawled over; the woman was gripping her blanket with white knuckles, a cold sweat dotting her face. She thought she heard her say ‘No, no, no’ in her sleep. “Lethia, wake up. Are you okay?”
Lethia’s eyes flew open with a gasp and a start. She turned toward Darcy, shaken, and then glanced around at their surroundings, slowly coming back to herself.
“It sounded like you were having a nightmare,” Darcy noted, surprised.
Lethia sat up slowly, nodding. “I was. I…” She looked down at her hands, flexing fingers as she stared at them, swallowing. The dread and anguish were written all over her face.
“I turned blue.”
Darcy blinked. It took her a minute to be sure she’d heard that correctly. “You what? You turned-?”
“Blue,” Lethia repeated. “My hands, my arms, my face; my skin all over my body…I could see outside of myself, the way you can sometimes in dreams. It was awful.”
“Wait. I’m not - what do you mean, you were blue? Do you mean like, you were turning into a Smurf, or an Avatar cat person…?”
Lethia stared at her.
“I’m sorry,” Darcy apologized swiftly, “I swear I’m not trying to make fun of you. Guess I just don’t understand…I don’t get it.”
Lethia screwed her eyes shut, pressing one fist to her hairline. “I can’t really explain it. I know it doesn’t make any sense.” Opening her eyes again, her head shook. “But seeing myself like that…knowing that I had changed, that there was something wrong with me. It was horrifying.” Her voice broke as she looked at Darcy. “It felt like the end of the world.”
“So I guess it wasn’t really a literal fear so much as a representative one,” Darcy mused aloud. “It’s very Freudian. Or maybe Jungian.” She shrugged. “Well, whatever it means, you’re okay. It was just a nightmare.”
“Right.” Lethia managed a very weak smile, trying to be reassured. “Only a bad dream. It’s over now.”
*
Ve had broken the announcement that he was betrothed to a somewhat mixed reaction amongst his Asgardian brothers.
They were pleased and excited for him that he was getting married, that he was moving on to become a husband and most likely not long after, a father. But the cost he had paid for this seemed to some of them too dear. Especially for a mortal woman they found a bit…strange.
Vili, one of Ve’s oldest and dearest companions, could certainly never imagine giving up his strength or his longevity for a mere woman. But if Ve was truly happy, well, who was he to judge?
And he had seen how happy Ve was when he spoke of Selene. He knew how much he loved her. Vili only wished them the best.
It was no surprise perhaps that Ve had asked that he stand beside him during the marriage ritual. It was an honor reserved for only the best of kinsmen; for Ve, his choice could only be Odin, or Vili. His two almost-brothers.
And everyone knew that Odin did not approve of Selene. Asking him to serve such a role would be an embarrassment to him.
So Vili it was. And he intended to do his duty with pride.
The day was unseasonably cool as Vili walked to Selene’s, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see that the bride-to-be had a fire going outside. He saw the plume of black smoke long before the rest of the hut, or the lone figure before it, was clear to his eyes.
“Ho, shaman!” Vili called in greeting, boisterous with good cheer. “Or should I perhaps call you sister? After all, it will be true soon enough.”
Selene turned enough from where she was feeding grass into the flames to smile at him aside.
“Indeed,” she said in her usual low, nearly toneless voice.
Vili waited patiently for her to finish stoking the fire, watching silently. Despite the chill of the day she wore only a thin, long dress, with no furs or cloak. There was no paint on her face, and barring the charms that never left her hair for once she was without the trappings of a shaman.
With white arms bare and a face unmarred by charcoal or blood, Vili found it much easier to see why Ve was in love with her. Underneath it all she really was a handsome woman.
Selene turned at last and Vili beamed at her. “Ve tells me that you have something for me to use in the wedding? A token, of some sort?”
“Yes,” Selene purred. She surprised him moving quickly to his side. “I do.”
There was hardly the space of a finger between them. Selene stepped in even closer, so her body was pressed against his. Her eyes were half-lidded, her lips parted. Reaching upward she ran her fingers gently through his long hair.
Vili was completely bemused, so stunned he was unable to move or speak. Surely this was a jest of some sort? Selene had not struck him as a very sensual woman to begin with, so for her to behave in such a manner toward him, when they both knew well she was promised to his kinsman, was…shocking.
Selene’s hand caressed along the side of his head, fingers brushing against his jaw, stroking his beard.
“Is it the same with all you Aesir,” she murmured in the ghostly whisper of a lover. “So strong, so beautiful. So full of life.”
And then in a heartbeat everything changed. Selene’s face twisted into a feral sneer, grabbing onto Vili’s face. She wrenched him toward her.
“So…powerful.”
Selene’s mouth opened wide and a low, inhuman sound came from her throat. Like the shriek of some wild animal triumphantly seizing its prey.
It was the last thing that Vili ever heard. Even as he struggled in her grasp, he was already lost.
His body dissolved into nothing, the golden light of his life’s force disappearing inside Selene as she drained him completely dry.
Selene’s eyes tipped back, her head lolling, a look of almost intoxication on her face. So much strength, so much psychic energy, and from just one man! She felt the life rush through her, her limbs filled with such vigor. She felt as though she could do anything.
So this was the power of a god.
“No!”
Her eyes flew open and she beheld Ve standing there, his face bone white, his eyes gone wide with hatred and horror.
Selene tilted her head. “My love,” she said, with an empty sweetness designed to be mocking, “you’re early.”
Ve’s hands trembled, clenched tightly into fists. He stepped toward her slowly, his strides long but stiff.
So she had been so occupied, killing Vili, that she had not even sensed Ve’s arrival. Well, no matter, now. He had served her in every way he had left that was useful.
“Selene…Vili.” Ve stared at the space where his friend had been, distraught. “What have you done? You monster!”
Selene almost felt sorry for him. He had fallen for her of his own accord, but it had been so easy to manipulate him. So easy to convince him she loved.
Tired of waiting for Selene’s reply, Ve threw himself at her with a roar.
But she had the strength of an Aesir now, and he was nothing but a man. It was child’s play to stop him.
Selene looked down at his broken body with a distant smile. Ve moaned on the ground where he lay, unconscious.
She could have drained him; every little bit added to her power. But drunk as she was on the thrumming magic of Vili, Ve’s puny remaining life seemed of no consequence.
No. She would just kill him, and then be done with it.
Selene went to fetch her horse.
*
Darcy chucked her sleeping bag into the bed of the truck. “And that’s all she wrote!”
She rubbed her palms against each other, as if they actually needed dusting off, and felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Turning around she found herself face to face with Ruth.
“You don’t have to say goodbye yet,” Darcy pointed out. “Aren’t you coming into town anyway, as part of the supply run?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ruth said easily. “But I wanted to give you your present before we left.”
“My present? I get a present?”
“Duh! I mean, c’mon. You came all this way and I haven’t seen you in months!” Ruth smirked. “Okay, so you remember my ‘Archaeologists do it in the dirt’ t-shirt?”
“You mean the one you try to wear like once a week for as long as I’ve known you?” Darcy said. “If not more often?”
“Well, they didn’t have one for Poli-Sci, but…”
Ruth whipped a light brown shirt out from behind her back. In black script it read, “Scientists do it experimentally.”
“You are so awesome,” Darcy exclaimed.
She took the shirt to examine it better, but then Ruth handed her a book.
“But wait, there’s more.” Ruth giggled. “Okay, so this one’s more of a gag. But I think it’s worth a laugh or two.”
“A romance novel?” Darcy eyed the cover with dubiousness, to say the least. “God, Ruth, this looks so trashy.”
“Oh, it totally is,” the redhead assured her.
“Why would you even-” She flipped it over to scan the description on the back, and then saw that the heroine’s name was ‘Darcy Lewis’, and did a double-take. “Wait. What?”
“It’s from this website online,” Ruth explained. “You can order the pre-written story and fill it out with your name, the name of someone you’d like to be your fictional lover, and some relevant description stuff like hair color and eyes - wouldn’t do to have him stroking your flowing raven’s wing locks when they’re really more like golden shafts of wheat. It’s like the world’s corniest mad lib.”
“You’re unbelievable,” was all that Darcy could say.
Anything else she might’ve come up with was cut off as Dr. Rubens wandered up with Lethia close behind him, the former shutting his phone. Darcy quickly hid her new book behind her back.
“Okay,” Rubens announced to them. “I just did the cell phone rain dance and managed to get enough reception to call into San Luis and talk to Sheriff Boomer.”
“Please, tell me that is not his real name,” Darcy demanded.
“It’s his nickname,” Ruth informed her sweetly. “If that helps any.”
Darcy just groaned.
“Anyway. I told him what all’s been going on out here, with finding Lethia and the garbage that turned up at the mass burial. He said he’s going to send somebody out here to investigate, see if they can’t find any sign of illegal camping activities.”
“The professor’s gonna love that, Bill,” Ruth remarked.
“As long as they don’t touch any of the excavations or artifacts, she’ll be fine.” Rubens paused. “Mostly. I’m sure.”
“Well that’s great. You guys all have fun being interviewed by the coonhound brigade.” Darcy gestured at the truck. “But we are getting out of here.”
Rubens actually grinned. “Oh, I know. Shame, really. You’re taking off just in time to miss all the fun.”
“Real shame,” Darcy deadpanned in response.
The older man looked between her and Lethia. “You two finished making your goodbyes already?”
“Yep.” There had been a lot of hugging and wishes of all the best. Darcy had exchanged emails with everyone - except, of course, Kevin. She’d even written them down on another piece of paper for Lethia, assuming that after she got herself situated she wanted to keep in touch.
Lethia nodded as well. “I think I said everything that needed to be said.”
“Well, in that case, guess we’ll be hitting-”
Dr. Rubens was cut off mid-word by a loud exasperated yelling coming back from the direction of camp.
“God,” Darcy cried. “Now what?”
“What in the world?” Rubens stepped forward shading his eyes. Ruth did the same. Realizing they were looking up, Darcy followed their example.
And could barely believe her eyes.
Closer to the sleeping tents than the excavation, Kevin was standing at the base of a small but still nonetheless very tall elm tree. The rest of the team was quickly crowding in towards him, pointing upwards with exclamations.
The very tops of the elm’s branches were draped with a sleeping bag, a few personal items, and lots of articles of clothing. Everything from a raincoat to socks and underwear. Men’s clothing.
In fact judging from the anger and frustration on Kevin’s face as he stormed around the tree, looking up in disbelief, and the poorly-concealed amusement in everyone else’s expression, it was all his stuff.
Darcy gaped, even as she started to laugh. “Oh man. Looks like Kevin’s gonna be having himself a very busy morning.”
“I wonder who did that?” Rubens asked, more puzzled than indignant on his student’s behalf. “And how?”
“And how’s he gonna get it back down?” Ruth added.
“It’s a good climbing tree,” Lethia said, calmly. “I’m sure he’ll manage somehow.”
Darcy turned to stare at Lethia, belatedly realizing she was the only one of them who hadn’t looked to see what the shouting was about - like she had already known.
Lethia gazed back at her evenly, expression perfectly innocent.
Darcy’s mouth opened, and then quickly closed again.
Her biggest question was when. She tried to think back on the morning, and couldn’t recall Lethia having been missing for any extended period of time; which, if she had to guess, was probably part of the plan. Every last one of them could swear Lethia was in sight at all times, except for a few minutes where she went to the bathroom, or back to the tent to get some things, or so on.
She must have snuck off quietly again and again, stealing a few moments whenever she could, carefully climbing up into the tree and leaving all of Kevin’s crap there one or two items at time.
It was somewhere between completely insane and brilliant.
Darcy stole a glance at Ruth and the doctor, who were still looking at the treed clothing and shaking their heads, apparently not having noticed anything. She whispered at Lethia, “But, why?”
Lethia only shrugged. “Oh, I don’t really know, it seemed like the thing to do.”
It looked like Kevin must’ve made the same impression on Lethia that he had on everyone else.
Darcy grinned, pulling her into a spontaneous hug.
*
From her hiding place concealed within the thick of the trees and the dark of the woods, Selene watched as the pickup pulled away from the campground and along the dirt path back towards civilization.
The old man was driving, the shape-changed Aesir sitting at his side. In the back of the truck along with piles of boxes and their scattered belongings were the two children, the dark-haired one with glasses and the one with the curly red hair. The girls were laughing and talking to one another, their voices loud to be heard over the wind.
As soon as she was certain they were too far away to see her even if they’d been looking back, Selene stepped out into the road. She watched them leave with satisfaction.
She hadn’t been entirely sure her spell on Loki would hold. Rune magic was tricky that way, particularly when cast on another magic user. Sometimes will alone was enough to breach through it.
But it’d been three days and there was no sign of the enchantment breaking. He seemed to have no memory of who he was or any chance of recollecting it at all.
Good. Perfect. Odin could search for his offspring all he liked, but even if he found his son, by the time he broke the spell on him Selene would be far gone. And she knew how to cover her tracks.
First, she had much to clean up, out in the wilds.
Mere mortals or not so many easy pickings so close were too much of a temptation for her - but she had to be careful. People already knew this group was out there and so they couldn’t just disappear. It had been bad enough when they found her one victim’s belongings where she had buried them. She had to make sure there were no more questions, or at least not the kind that had search parties combing her woods, possibly stumbling across clues.
Selene pressed her tongue to the point of a fang, and thought.
An unfortunate accident, that took out multiple victims and left the bodies too badly mangled to be identified. That was always a good way.
She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of a car engine. Selene turned her head, and spied a different vehicle coming down the road, back towards her this time. A sheriff’s patrol car.
Selene made no effort to hide herself. She stayed exactly where she was, waiting with her hands on her hips.
The car pulled to a stop in front of her. Two young men were inside, obviously not full-fledged lawmen yet, but trainees. One of them, the driver, started to get out.
“Told you we should’ve brought a map,” his partner was saying to him. “Or radioed in for directions.”
“Man, I signed up to be a policeman, not a goddamned forest ranger!” the driver snapped. His partner gave him an annoyed, dismissive hand gesture.
Ignoring the other man, the first walked towards Selene.
“Uh, excuse me, ma’am?” he said a little sheepishly. “We’re looking for the archaeological dig that those folks from the university got going on out here.”
He gave Selene’s outfit and overall appearance a dubious look. “You wouldn’t happen to know where it is, would you?”
Selene smiled at him.
Reaching out, she said, “Oh yes. I’ll get you where you need to go.”
*
Darcy was a big believer in it being better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
So when they got to the San Luis bus depot, after making their final goodbyes to Ruth and the doctor and sending them on their way, the first thing Darcy did was purchase a second ticket back to Puente Antigo for Lethia.
Then she called Jane to let her know she was bringing a friend home with her.
She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or annoyed that it went to voicemail. Glancing at her watch Darcy confirmed it was late enough in the morning for Jane to normally be awake.
Probably she was too busy doing something in the lab, too focused to even hear her cell ring. Darcy left her a message.
She wandered over to where Lethia was standing in front of the blinking bulletin board with hands loosely clasped behind her back, reading the names of the destinations. Probably trying to see if there were any she recognized.
At Darcy’s approach she turned. “So?”
Darcy shook her head. “Missed her. She’ll call back, though. Jane’s pretty good about getting her messages.”
“We still have several hours until our bus arrives,” Lethia pointed out.
“Do we?” Darcy squinted at the projected arrival time. “Oh yeah. Well, that’s perfect then. We can get some real food to eat. And maybe buy you some clothes so you’re not stuck with mine and Ruth’s hand me downs.”
“Are there places around here to do that?” Lethia wondered.
Darcy pointed at the desk labeled ‘Information’. “Let’s find out.”
The kid sitting behind the dust-covered desk had to still be in high school, and looked bored as possible to be there. When he saw them he was already pulling out a bus schedule to shove at them, likely used to that answering all the questions anyone could ask of him so that he’d be left in peace.
“Uh, no thanks.” Darcy waved it off curtly. “I was just wondering, is there any place to go shopping for clothes around here? Not like, hunting gear or anything, just regular everyday threads.”
The kid blinked slowly. “There’s a Wal-Mart back towards the center of town.”
“Great. Thanks.” Darcy managed a smile for him. “And, where’s your McDonald’s at?”
About fifteen minutes later Darcy was sinking her teeth into a Big Mac, closing her eyes as she felt herself in the throes of a cheeseburger orgasm.
“Mmm.” She looked at Lethia, sitting across from her in the plastic booth. “So much better than canned beef-a-roni.”
“After four meals of it almost anything would be.” Lethia nibbled enthusiastically on her fries. “I don’t think this sort of food can be very healthy,” she observed, although that didn’t change the fact that her burger was already half gone.
“It’s so not,” Darcy agreed. She stopped stuffing her face long enough to wipe the ketchup off her fingers. “Which is exactly why it tastes so good. Anyway, I don’t eat like this all time. But I figured, we’ve been in the woods for a few days, we deserve a little treat on our return to civilization.”
Lethia glanced down at her meal, as if something had just occurred to her. “What you used to pay for this. That was your money, wasn’t it? And the fare for my travelling pass, that was yours as well. You shouldn’t have to be spending all your wages on me.”
“I don’t mind,” Darcy told her. “You’re, you know, in need and everything. Besides, I was planning on trying to get reimbursed for it anyway.”
“You were?” Lethia frowned, surprised. “How are you going to do that?”
“Oh, I’ve done it before, once or twice.” Darcy waved a hand. “The guys we get funding from, for our research, we have to submit these expense reports into them every month.” She shrugged, returning to her burger. “You can slip just about anything on there, if you really want to…as long as you find a way to word it so that it sounds science-y.”
“Oh.” Lethia considered that information a moment. “Is that like stealing?”
“Noo, of course not,” Darcy reassured her. “It’s what we call ‘creative accounting’.”
“‘Creative accounting’,” Lethia repeated slowly, testing the phrase. She smiled. “I like that.”
“Great.” Darcy finished her soda. “Now let’s go get you a new wardrobe. For science!”
Wal-Mart was, shockingly, not exactly a high end boutique. Probably a good thing ultimately, since right then all Lethia really needed was the basics. Jeans, shirts, socks, underwear, pajamas…a few trendy accessories…
“I swear to god, I own these arm-warmers,” Darcy said, holding up a knit pair in black. “I got them at Urban Outfitters for like twice the price. Figures.”
Lethia dug past her in the bin, pulling out another set that were moss green.
“Those will go great with that camo top you picked out.” Darcy chuckled. “Green’s your favorite color, isn’t it?”
Lethia paused, startled. Taking a look at their shopping cart though it was definitely the most popular hue. She gave Darcy a sheepish smile. “I guess it must be.”
“It’d be mine too, if I had your eyes,” Darcy remarked. Reaching out she casually brushed a strand of hair out of her friend’s face for a better look. “Seriously, are we completely sure you’re not wearing tinted contacts?”
“Are you jealous of me?” Lethia tugged at her own locks, uncertain.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “A little. Well, a lot. But not in like a mean way. You’re just obnoxiously pretty, that’s all.”
“You’re very pretty too, Darcy,” Lethia said, in all earnest. “I like your nose. And your mouth.”
Darcy preened, half-serious. “Well, thank you. They are my most distinctive and refined features.”
And then that thread of conversation was forgotten as she spotted a rack of cute jean skirts.
“Ooh. Nice.” She did a quick size estimation, grabbed a pair and shoved them at Lethia. “Go try these on.”
Lethia clutched the skirt, wide-eyed with disbelief. “They’re short,” she protested, scandalized.
“And it’s even warmer in Puente Antigo than it is here,” Darcy countered. “You really plan on wearing cargo pants and jeans only? You’ll melt into goo.”
“I have bony legs,” Lethia muttered, sullen. Darcy gave her a considering once-over.
“Alright, yeah, maybe you do. But trust me, nobody’s going to notice. Nobody’s going to care. Now go,” she ordered, making a shooing motion. “After this we’re headed to the cosmetics department.” Darcy shook her head at the warehouse-style facility and bright white lights. “Someday, I promise I’ll take you shopping for real. At an actual mall.”
After Lethia went off, Darcy pulled out her phone and frowned at it. Still no call from Jane. Dialing the number she got voicemail again, so she gave up and called Erik instead.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Erik, it’s me. Is Jane okay? I’ve tried calling her like twice and she never responded to my messages.”
To her surprise and further confusion, Erik chuckled. “Oh believe me, I think she’s more than okay right now. She’s just…very busy.”
“Whatever. So, the reason I’m calling is - well it’s sort of a long story.”
She proceeded to explain the whole thing as quickly as she could, about Lethia and how she was bringing the woman home because she thought SHIELD could help her.
To his credit, Erik didn’t go completely ballistic or anything. In fact he was incredibly sympathetic. “And there really is no sign of where she came from, or how she got amnesia in the first place?”
“None whatsoever. So, you don’t think it’s going to be a problem, do you? I promise she’s really nice. Super polite, even.”
“Well it’ll be up to the agents at SHIELD whether or not they can actually do anything for her. But I certainly don’t think it would hurt to ask. As for you bringing her to stay with us…” He laughed again. “Sure. What’s one more guest at the inn?”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Darcy asked.
“It’s quite a story of our own. I’ll explain better when you get here. But the short end of it is…Darcy, Thor’s back.”
“What?” Darcy practically squealed, right there in aisle four of Wal-Mart. “He is? Oh my god. What happened?”
“Jane’s theory ending up turning out to be right on the nose. In fact you might say it worked a little too well.”
“I can’t believe you guys made a rainbow bridge without me!” A lady pushing her shopping cart past gave Darcy an odd look. Darcy glared at her until she went away. “Finally something interesting with all that weather data and anomaly crunching happens, and it’s the one time I’m not there?”
“I promise you it wasn’t on purpose. We weren’t trying to actually make a full connection to Asgard yet. Things just…lined up, that way.”
“I want to hear everything, eventually,” Darcy insisted. “Well, skip over the really boring technical parts, but other than that.”
“Of course. I’ll meet you two ladies at the bus stop this evening. Goodbye.”
Hanging up, Darcy glanced at her watch and saw they were almost out of time. She swiftly collected Lethia and herded their shopping cart toward the register - though not without stopping in the food aisles for a box of frosted wild berry poptarts and a big bag of neon gummi worms first.
The ride itself went without much incident. Darcy gave Lethia her iPod to listen to, while she started reading the book Ruth had given her.
It wasn’t well written, but it made up for it by being incredibly steamy and very ridiculous. Darcy was just getting to the part where James Van Der Beek was unlacing her corset, the better to caress her ‘heaving bosoms’ (ha, she wished), when Lethia gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Darcy jumped, and tried not to flush.
Lethia held up the iPod, having removed one of the ear buds. “I enjoy this song. What did you say the name of the noble lady that sings it is, again?”
“Gaga. And she’s not really…well, it’s complicated.” Darcy quickly stashed the book away for later, figuring it was the sort of thing best read in private. “Here, give that to me.”
Sharing the ear buds and not caring what anyone else thought, they ended up belting out a slightly off-key duet of “Born This Way”.
*
“You’re sure that I didn’t drool on you or anything?”
“I’m quite certain you didn’t.” Lethia tugged her bag up over her shoulder, and gave Darcy an amused look.
Considering how early she’d been awake that morning Darcy wasn’t really that surprised she’d fallen asleep. Still, she rubbed at her eyes grumpily and tried not to feel embarrassed.
True to his word, Erik was waiting for them outside the depot. He smiled at Darcy and waved to get their attention.
“Hey, Erik,” Darcy greeted him brightly, and dumped her backpack in his arms.
He let out an annoyed huff, but shook his head and went to put her luggage in the trunk of his car, which was just parked at the curb. “How was the ride?”
“Long. Dark. A little smelly. And some drunk guy who got on at the border kept talking to himself. So that was a little disturbing. But eventually he passed out.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t get up and tase him,” Erik remarked dryly.
“I left my taser here, remember?” Darcy gave him a look. “And it better be exactly where I put it, too.”
Erik ignored the accusation. “Are you girls hungry?”
“No, thank you,” Lethia said, politely. “We had poptarts.”
“Ah. Of course you did. Darcy’s pattern of dietary staples proceeds itself.”
“I fed her gummi worms too,” Darcy responded, defensive. Erik ignored her again - this time in favor of shutting the trunk and turning to see Lethia better. He extended his hand with a warm smile.
“Erik Selvig. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Lethia, however, stared at Erik with a strange look on her face. After a solid moment of awkward silence, she snapped out of it enough to realize Erik’s hand was still hanging in the air, and that both he and Darcy were giving her odd looks.
“Oh! I’m so sorry.” Lethia took his hand, a bit tentatively. “It’s just that…something about you. You seem awfully familiar.”
“I do?” Erik said, surprised. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.”
He squinted his eyes and peered into her face searchingly. Darcy’s heart was in her throat for a second in anticipation, but then Erik shook his head.
“No, I don’t think so,” he apologized. “You don’t seem at all familiar to me.”
“That’s all right.” But Lethia still acted a bit confused, and shaken. “It must have been my imagination. Strange.”
As they got into the car Erik told Darcy, “Thor and Jane probably won’t be around at all tonight. She wanted to take him to see a movie, and she said they wouldn’t be back until ‘late’. And he’s staying with her anyway.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet he is,” Darcy remarked, innuendo strongly implied. “If he’s going to be around now, she needs to get into gear and find a real apartment. SHIELD’s paying her enough.”
“Says she never has enough time to go looking,” Erik reminded her mildly - it was pretty clear he agreed with Darcy’s assessment. Jane still sleeping in an RV after so many months, too busy in her lab to take even a couple minutes to check the classifieds, was an exasperating state of things.
Darcy glanced back at Lethia, huddled in the backseat. “Jane is my boss,” she explained. “She’s a lot like the archaeologists at the dig, really. Nice but kind of intense. She’s also a total workaholic so don’t be surprised if she doesn’t have more than five words for you.”
Lethia nodded, absorbing the information. “And, there’s someone else, as well?”
“Thor.” Erik shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “How do we go about describing Thor?”
“Actually I think he’ll get along with her pretty well.” Darcy looked at Lethia again.
“I mean, he gets along with just about everybody, if they’re not trying to physically assault him. But you two actually have a lot in common. You both don’t always get modern stuff, or pop culture, you both talk a little funny sometimes, you both showed up under really strange circumstances - oh my god, I’m a moron!”
Darcy felt like she’d been whacked so hard with an epiphany she expected to see stars in front of eyes.
Erik stole a glance at her, startled by her outburst. “What? What is it?”
“That accent. And, and she didn’t know what diet coke was. And she’s got weird powers, and she was wearing a crazy elaborate outfit when we found her…” Darcy sat up on her knees and twisted around to gape at Lethia, frantically pointing at her. “She could be from where Thor is! Huh? What if she’s Asgardian?”
Lethia shrank back instinctively, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s…” Erik risked turning his head to look at the woman, as well. “Not impossible, I suppose. But I don’t think it’s very likely. For starters, Thor didn’t mention any of his people being missing when he arrived.”
“How much talking exactly did he get done before he tripped and fell on Jane’s lips?” Darcy asked, highly skeptical. “Besides, she has amnesia, so who knows what happened! Maybe she-”
“Went for a walk off a cloud and accidentally fell through a wormhole while she was about it?” Erik said. “I realize with everything we’ve learned it’s hard to keep the idea of ‘reality’ all in line, but you have to still try and make some sense out of it.”
“Will someone please tell me what is going on?” Lethia demanded. “What’re the both of you even saying?”
Darcy paused to stick her tongue out at Erik, just for good measure, before facing Lethia and answering her question.
“It’s a bit of a long shot. But there’s a chance that Thor might know who you are.”
Lethia’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Darcy assured her.
“If”, Erik stressed, “the two of you actually turn out to be from the same place.” When Darcy shot him a look, he evenly responded with one of his own. “Don’t get her hopes up over nothing. Do you really want to disappoint her?”
“No.” Darcy huffed. To Lethia she said, “But if I’m wrong, you’ll be no worse off than you are now.”
There wasn’t much to do once they reached their destination but unpack and go to sleep. Darcy’s room at their compound was little more than a closet and there wasn’t a guest bed, so they dragged out plenty of pillows and blankets to make Lethia comfortable on the sofa.
“I’m showering tonight, because I really need to wash off the smell of camping,” Darcy announced. “Erik, make sure you wake me up for breakfast tomorrow, okay? Don’t let me sleep in! Lethia, if he forgets, I want you to smack him one in the arm. Actually, if does anything you don’t like, do that anyway.”
“I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” Erik called back at her, sardonic.
Darcy waved. “Goodnight Erik. Goodnight, Lethia.”
Lethia yawned from the couch, sounding as if she’d be dropping off in very little time. “Sleep well, Darcy. And thank you both for everything.”
Darcy distantly hoped that Lethia had no more nightmares about turning funny colors, whatever that was about.
But if she did that night, no one came to tell Darcy.
The next morning she awoke on her own, to the sound of voices in the kitchen and the distant smell of frying bacon. She pulled on her slippers and headed down, noticing that she passed an empty sofa on the way. Lethia must’ve been getting dressed in the bathroom.
Jane and Erik were already seated at the table, but what immediately caught Darcy’s eyes was the familiar, very tall, very broad blond man in the t-shirt and jeans standing by the refrigerator.
“Thor!” she cried, excited. “It’s really true! I can’t believe you’re here!”
Thor gave a booming laugh as she ran to him, hugging her. “Darcy! How wonderful it is to see you again!” When they separated he smiled at her. “Have you been well since we parted last?”
“Oh yeah, been pretty much super.” Darcy looked up at him, nodding. She paused. “Hey, how’s that one friend of yours, the guy with the Carey Elwes mustache?”
Erik cleared his throat, pointedly. “Darcy, wasn’t there something else you wanted to ask Thor about?”
“…Right.”
“Ah, yes! Erik has already mentioned this to me,” Thor exclaimed. “This new friend of yours, the one who has tragically lost her memories. You believe that she may be of my race?”
“Well it would explain a lot,” Darcy said. “At least, I think it would.”
“But you said that the Bifrost on your end was destroyed,” Jane put in, turning in her chair to look at Thor. “How could she have gotten here without it?”
“It is said there are many passages between the Nine Realms, and one only has to but find them,” Thor remarked. “Outside of that, I could not tell you. I have heard of no one who has gone missing from Asgard but then, I do not know of all our people personally.”
He gazed at Darcy intently, and really, it wasn’t that hard to see how he made Jane go all weak in the knees.
“But whether she is of Asgard or not, I swear to you, in the name of my father and his father before him, that I will do all that I can to assist her.”
Darcy took a moment to recover her language abilities. “Awesome,” she managed, eventually. “I mean, that’s great! I’m sure she’ll be really happy to hear that.”
And then she took a few steps back, because it occurred to her she was probably standing a little too close to Jane’s almost-boyfriend.
Erik was looking at something behind them. “Ah,” he said brightly, “speak of the devil.”
Darcy turned around to find Lethia standing there, already dressed, with slightly damp hair. Evidently she’d had no trouble finding her way around the shower.
She nodded at the group, demurely. “Good morning.”
“Hey, you’re up,” Darcy said by way of greeting. “You sleep okay?” Lethia nodded an affirmative and Darcy took that as sign to continue. Pointing over her shoulder, she made introductions. “This is Jane, and the big guy is Thor.”
Darcy turned back, already speaking; “Thor, this is…”
But she trailed off as she got a look at Thor’s face. His blue eyes had gone very wide, and he appeared to have been stunned into speechlessness.
He was staring at Lethia in disbelief and confusion, looking as though he’d been hit by one of his own lighting bolts.
Darcy glanced between the two of them, but Lethia didn’t appear to have a clue what was happening. There was no recognition, but his reaction clearly unnerved her.
Thor took a step closer, moving like he was afraid he’d frighten her away, or maybe more like she would literally disappear.
“My brother?” Thor breathed, his voice all amazement. “You are alive?”
CONTINUE TO PART SEVEN