Light Wins

Nobody was quite sure what to do with the relic or how to "turn it off". It's spirit was committed to performing it's function, so Tetsuko couldn't just ask it nicely to stop. Finally, Vincent had the brainstorm to check Nattradr's clothing and found his journal.

I flipped through the pages as fast as I could (which is really fast) and figured out what we needed to do. We had to "snuff out" the "fuse" which was the growing darkness. So, we decided to recreate Tetsuko's trick with the reflective surfaces in the elevator and I told Vincent to get the mirrors from the restrooms.

It worked. The light bounced around the elevator where we put the relic and it amplified (physics can suck it) and a bright beam of light shot forth, out the window and up into the sky, dispelling the darkness and clearing the clouds. I didn't realize it was supposed to be daylight. It felt good to feel the sun again.

Our job finished, Amaterasu, Tetsuko's mother, arrived to congratulate us and she healed me enough to stand on my own power. I also feel... different. Like my ichor got thicker. I'm still banged up, though. I need some rest and relaxation. I'm thinking someplace warm and sunny. Maybe Florida. Or the Bahamas. Or Cancune. Or Hawai'i. Or....

Bent, Broken, Unbowed

I still hurt all over.

I'm still not sure whether what I did was smart or really stupid.

We started to take the battle to Nattrador, the svartalfar leader. I asked him what the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow was, for confusing effect. Tetsuko and Vincent capitalized on what I'd done and smacked him good. Or, well, it should have, but he didn't take that damage, instead getting hit out of his clothes and out of Vincent's grasp.

He appeared behind me and quipped "African or European?" he thought he was so damn clever. He held me out over the edge of the building. I wasn't about to be a damsel in distress. Being the weakest one had been enough of a liability and I made sure that underestimating me was the last mistake the svartalfar made.

I retorted, "I don't know that." and I grabbed him in turn, got my heels on the edge of the building and pulled for all I was worth. We tumbled down the side of the building and I think he did that shadow-stepping trick again, which is the only thing that kept both of us from becoming street-pizza.

I think nearly every bone in my body was broken. The bastard was still alive and I'd landed ontop of him. I grabbed my dagger and cut the bastard's throat before collapsing. Then Vincent yanked me off the street with his arm wrappings and pulled me up to a landing a few stories up. He needs to learn how to handle the injured, I can't describe how much that hurt.

He bound me up and carried me on his back as he climbed up the side of the building back to the top. When we got there, Tetsuko was talking to the spirit of the relic that we were seeking. I just wish they'd take the damn thing rather than being all cautious about it. I just want to rest in a bed for a month. I made Tetsuko promise not to lecture me about this, later.

Fighting in Cramped Spaces

We all came-to in the lobby, I wasn't the only one to have visions of speaking to my parent. Now I wonder if it wasn't just another one of the svartalfar's tricks. Anyway, we made our way to the elevators to start the ride to the top.

Well, I say "we" but really it was Tetsuko and myself. Vincent smashed his way through the first floor ceiling. Even taking the stairs would be more efficient than that. I swear, he acts before thinking.

We picked Vincent up on the second floor and continued the ride up. He didn't think we'd be safe in an elevator, and to an extent, he was right, but not for the reasons he thought. Most of the way up, the lighting cut out and Tetsuko used her mirror to shed some sunlight for us to see... and a pair of Shinobi had slipped into the darkness inside the elevator with us.

Once again, I proved to be totally useless, unable to hit even one that Vincent had grappled with. I'm thinking about returning this sword to my sister and seeing about a firearm of some kind.

Anyway, the brawl was short and brutal, the two proper warriors ending the shinobi pretty quickly (especially after Tetsuko summoned more sunlight to injure the shinobi). We stepped out of the elevator into such blackness that even Tetsuko's sunlight could barely illuminated.

Then we heard the svartalfar's voice calling out and the sound of him drawing his weapons.

Damn

Well, that mead hall wasn't one of our enemies' tricks, though it could have come at a better time. My father has really inappropriate timing, despite his claims otherwise. God, that... did not go well.

So, Loki shows up to have a "Father+Daughter Sit-Down Dinner" with me... right when we need to be doing something rather important. I typically don't go into exactly what was said, but... well, life is going to be much harder now... though I'm through giving a shit about my safety.

Aren says, "Fine, if only to get this over with so I can rejoin my companions." She sits down at the table.

"Are you sure that's what you want?"  His tone is mild, and his expression gives no deeper insight as to what he might mean.  Though he does pick up a pitcher, silently offering to poor her a horn full of mead.

It didn't take long for him to start feeding me this bullshit. Trying to make me doubt myself, my companions, and what I was doing. All under the guise of "Fatherly Advice". All the while ignoring my comments about New York about to be devoured by the orb.

"It never ends, you know."

Aren says, "It...?"

"How have the others treated you?  Alanna, Morgan, Tetsuko..."

Aren says, "Tetsuko's warmed up to me, but... Alanna and Moira...."

"Alanna and Moira what?"

"They've been pretty mean spirited... Alanna especially."

"Yes, rather judgemental.  And you saw how Alanna acted towards me, as well."

Aren says, "Well, you ARE her wife's ex."

"And I'm Loki, the Lie-Smith.  That terrible, untrustworthy fellow  who'll doom us all."  He doesn't bother to hide the hints of bitterness creeping into his tone.  "Don't you think ~that~ had something to do with it?"

I get it, ever since the myth of Ragnarok was penned, Loki's been cast as the bad-guy in everything from Marvel Comics to bad fan-fiction. This boils down to his bruised ego talking. Confronting him about his expectations of me only yielded vague answers about how he wanted me to "be able to see the truth." Like he wanted me to turn on my companions or something. Well, I let him know exactly how I felt.

Aren is silent as she composes her response, then she fixes him with a hard look, "You know, this is why nobody trusts you. You sit there and anguish over your fate and the fate of your kind, but what do you do? You show up before I have to confront a powerful agent of the titans to tell me that my existance is doomed to being on the recieiving end of abuse just because you decided to knock up some random mortal." she stands up, pushing her chair over in the process, "Send me back, NOW. No matter what you say, I have an obligation to help those I'm traveling with to save one of the largest cities on the planet. I care about the mortal stock I came from, I grew up in the dregs of society and I'm not going to let your centuries of bitterness keep me from doing what's right."

I touched a nerve.

The fire roars in the hearth as Loki surges to his feet.  His face a mask of anger as the heat in the room becomes suddenly suffocating.  "Have you forgotten who you are dealing with?!  What I know, the patterns I've seen, what I'm capable of?!"

Aren glares at him, "Go ahead, threaten me with your godly powers because I insulted you. You don't give a shit about the world, only your own pride. Otherwise, you'd be here to truely help me, rather than make me doubt the people around me."

He seems to grow larger in your view, even as the surroundings...flicker, almost, maybe.  It happens to quickly to be sure.  "Don't care, you think I don't care?!  If I didn't care you'd still be a street rat running around Europe, set to be trapped with the rest of the world!"

"Then get out of my way and let me do what I have to!"

"You think you can just insult me, ~me~ and demand to waltz away!"   His voice continuing to grow in volume...even as the surroundings flicker again.

Aren snarls, "You're goddamn right I do! You know why? Because I don't give a shit what happens to me! I'm not scared of YOU or ANYTHING!"

Then I found myself snapping out of a trance, back in the Empire State Building's lobby, just seconds before Vincent snapped out of his and then shortly Tetsuko did, too. I guess several divine entities decided that moment was a good time to speak to us.

There's going to be no repairing what I said to my father, but he doesn't get to come into the picture after 20 some years of me living alone, growing up alone, and acting like I owe him anything. He probably doesn't even care about whoever the woman was he got pregnant, she was probably a fling to satisfy his urges.

No, I've always been on my own, and that's only now beginning to change, and I'm not going to let anyone take that from me. I like having Tetsuko around and as much at Moira and Alanna drove me up a wall, I genuinly find myself missing them. Even Vincent, who I've only just met, is a welcome addition to my life. I won't abandon anyone when they need me for something as petty as my pride.

Now What?

The final Tengu was dealt with pretty quickly. I'd had enough of getting knocked around and feeling useless and I unleashed something in me to freeze the Tengu in place with confusion. Tetsuko quickly dispatched it.

Our new companion, Vincent, looks and sounds like he belongs in the early 90s Pro-Wrestling scene. Loud, boisterous, show-boating... yeah (I think Tetsuko got protective of me.. not sure what that was about). At least he can hold himself in a fight. I'm going to need training if I want to do more than flail about in embarassment.

We headed for the Empire State building and ran into roadblocks along the way. Tetsuko carried me on her back so we could keep up with Vincent's gravity-defying jumps, and we took the rooftops around the roadblocks. When we got to the doors the svartalfar confronted us again.

Threats were exchanged and I insulted his love-making skills. Oh yeah, I cut him good on that. He tried to get one in back at me, but his attempt sucked. I feel a bit vindicated, but I made sure he knew that I'd take him down.

He disappeared when Vincent went to swing at him. So, we went inside and all of a sudden I found myself in a norse-style mead hall with the table set for two. Tetsuko and Vincent were no longer near me. I'm not going to play along with these damned illusory games.

Urban Jungle

I seem to have this unfortunate ability to loose my clothes at times when I'd rather stay clothed. Mercifully, I can make a new set appear in an instant, but it's still humiliating.

Tetsuko and I climbed Yggdrasil up into Central Park of New York City. I'm still a bit sore. With no idea where to start looking for our support and no clue where the svartalfar would strike, I consulted the bones. I got a prophecy that told me that the svartalfar would enact his ritual from atop the highest point in the city. As to where to find our new companion.... it didn't help much, so we trusted to Fate to guide us and we did cross paths with him.

He was being chased by three Tengu at the time, however.

We joined battle and I made a fool of myself, again, unable to land a single strike, and I was also knocked from my clothing during the fight. Yeah, great way to make a first impression. Tetsuko, being the warrior that she is, was able to dispatch most of the Tengu. Now we have to explain to this new member what we've been through and whats going on before we have our final confrontation with the svartalfar.

I need a vacation... someplace warm...

Family Bonding

We all set out into the bleakness of Erebus.

Not pleasant.

Neither was the storm that overtook us. Purple clouds and strange lighting. Inside the storm we were attacked by strange walking dead. I managed to stick close to Tetsuko and we plunged ahead as we fought them off. Well... she fought them off. I can't swing a sword to save my life.

We heard a voice calling out to us and we stumbled towards it and into Nifilheim. We'd become separated from the Irish girls and were welcomed to the Norse underworld by my nephew. Yeah, I guess I have a nephew. Hjaeld, he called himself. Though I think he caught himself from using his old name. Growing up an orphan and then finding a bunch of lost relatives is a very weird experience. First a father, then a nephew, now a sister.

Hjaeld made a fire for Tetsuko to keep warm and we were taken to Helheim, the abode of Hel, my half-sister (no pun intended and I'm sure she'd probably flay me if she thought I was making a joke at her expenese). I guess this also makes me kin with Fenris and Jormungandr, too. And even Odin for that matter. Once we got shown inside we had to cross a low pool of blood. God that was nasty, we were up to our chests in blood when my sister, sitting on a throne up on a dias started to address us.

I pleaded our case as best I could, with Tetsuko filling in the gaps. We found out that that damned svartalfar (and even Hel knew about my... indiscretion... with him) had perfected his ritual and was targeting New York city. Worse, I found out why we were deposited outside the Titan's prison: because we were inside it. I think the towns that got sent there are lost, and we have to stop the next ritual.

Hel showed us to the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree and told us to climb in order to get back to "Midgard" and stop the svartalfar's plans. We should have help from another child of Amaterasu when we get there. I hate to admit it, but I'm going to miss having Alanna and  Moira around when the final showdown happens.