The Curse of Imbalance

Nevaeh didn't bandage her hand, as if it were the equivalent of tampering with evidence. No sooner had she reached inside Grace's fortress, than Joe arrived bearing the news of Loki's departure.

'But he would reach in time for shopping, right?' Nevaeh asked.

'Really?' she laughed. 'That's what you are worried about?'

They halted at a distance from the rainbow wall, looking awkwardly at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Nevaeh cleared her throat. 'You – you shot me with that beam the other day and now this happened!' Nevaeh said, raising her palm in its direction. 'My hand shined the same freaky green right now as it did that day. Why did you attack us?'

'I did nothing of the sort,' echoed a sharp female voice, making Joe wildly jump in alarm. 'I sensed imbalance and found a way to right it. I sense balance between you two, hence you hear me speaking.'

'Is it the stone?' whispered Joe. Before Nevaeh could say anything, the voice said, 'Yes,' making Joe gasp loudly.

'You hurt me, Grace! Look at my hand! And why are there co-ordinates on my palm?' demanded Nevaeh, stretching out her hand again, and staying rooted on the spot.

'The ray was meant to penetrate your brain. Loki tried to dodge it as well, but I overpowered his reflexes as he was my main concern. Meanwhile you dodged it with your palm, which led the beam to bifurcate; the positive energy went towards your heart and brain while the negative energy accumulated inside your palm, on the point of impact. If you hadn't deflected the ray, if you hadn't meddled with natural events, there would've been no blood. There would've been nothing, but the truth,' Grace said.

'But why would you do that?' Nevaeh asked loudly.

'I already told you. I detected imbalance. I instantly provided you the means to the truth,' Grace said.

Joe anxiously glanced side-ways at Nevaeh then faced the stone. 'Ma'am, may I? What exactly do you mean? There isn't any balance between Loki and Nevaeh?' Joe asked slowly, as though talking to a foreigner.

'Their chemistry is asymmetrical and lopsided—'Grace was interrupted as Nevaeh dramatically gasped, 'I beg your pardon?' and Joe gave the Grace a what-do you-even-know look.

'Why, yes. Essential elements are missing from your original equation, rendering it askew. I like balance,' cooed the voice.

Nevaeh looked at the stone disbelievingly as though it had a face. 'Well, if you like "balance" so much, then why don't you just tell me the missing elements? Wipe out the imbalance! Tell me what is missing!' yelled Nevaeh, losing her temper at the stone's calm voice.

'You must find your answers yourself. None of this was supposed to happen, certainly not this way, and not this soon. Tampering with the natural course of events leads to nothing but devastation,' Grace said.

Nevaeh sighed in confusion; it was like the mermaid thing all over again!

'Well, fix my hand! It is hideous and it hurts a lot,' Nevaeh said angrily. 'And tell me where these co-ordinates lead to! They are not mapping down on any location on the entire planet!' She suddenly stopped talking. Her eyes widened as realization hit her. 'Because – they have nothing to do with Earth! These are Asgard's co-ordinates, aren't they! Why? Why are there Asgard's co-ordinates etched into my skin?'

The voice chuckled a little, as if this situation were a mere source of muse for it. 'You are on the right course. Figure it out.'

'It's Loki, isn't it?' Nevaeh hushed quietly.

Joe questioningly looked at her. 'What are you talking about?'

'Loki is there, isn't he?'Nevaeh asked, quickly looking at the stone, expecting an answer, but there was none.

'Nev, he doesn't even have a port-device!' Joe said.

Nevaeh shook her head no. 'Loki has the device that teleported us here! But he isn't on Asgard! He can't be! Joe, read out that letter,' she ordered.

Joe hastily pulled out Loki's note from her pocket and cleared her throat.

Dear Nevaeh,

I have an errand to run near-by. I shall return in time for the evening. BRB.

Yours truly,

Loki.

'Imbalance,' Grace sighed gravely.

Nevaeh felt her heart pumping fast. 'So, you mean he is there. These are his co-ordinates. Why would he lie to me?' Nevaeh said quietly, but it was more of a rhetorical question. She did not expect either of them to answer on his behalf.

'Maybe Asgard is near-by to our planet and that's what he actually meant!' Joe suggested but her voice faltered under her friend's gaze.

Nevaeh yelled in pain as her hand once again glowed green for a few moments and new co-ordinates started etching horizontally on the remaining half of her palm.

'These are new co-ordinates! And they are completely different than the ones before!' Nevaeh cried, getting thoroughly annoyed. 'So basically, when Loki teleports, my palm shows the co-ordinates of his new location, yes?'

The voice immediately responded, 'Correct.'

'Why the hell is he teleporting this damn much?' she cried, dabbing her palm with tissues she conjured from her wand. Joe was lost for words.

Nevaeh was thinking hard, not about what Loki was doing, but how she can reach the new co-ordinates before they change once again and catch him red handed in whatever he was doing. She imagined following Loki to wherever he was and eventually finding out that he just wanted to water the plants at his house or something. How ridiculous would it look if she were there standing ready to bust him like some paranoid chick? The only thing urging her to follow him was Grace's borderline-terrifying overuse of the word 'Imbalance', which made little sense at the moment.

'Nev, why don't we just call Raphael? I don't understand anything and your parents aren't here! Your hand cut itself twice and got burnt when you tried to heal it!' Joe moaned.

'Look, I understand that weird shit is going on, but I need to see where these co-ordinates lead to! They are etched into my skin for a reason!' Nevaeh said. She suddenly blinked back and forth at Grace and her palm as she had a sudden, incredibly genius thought. 'You,' she hushed at the stone. 'You have teleported people before, plenty of times! You can teleport me!' Nevaeh said, coming to a sudden realization.

'Wait, what? You never told me about the library!' Joe said, but Nevaeh shushed her.

'Yes, I can.'

Nevaeh was relieved that it'd answered curtly, instead of providing her with another mysterious puzzle. 'Do it!'

'You need protection,' Grace said. Joe sniggered and Nevaeh frowned. 'You need to conceal yourself, make yourself invisible,' added the voice.

'I have never tried the invisibility spell! Also, I don't need that! I can take care of myself!'

'You will need invisibility for your first venture,' Grace said. 'I will wholly conceal you, but the effect of my charm will disappear once you teleport again from your destination.'

'Great! So, after I reach these co-ordinates, I will be invisible. But after I teleport back, I will lose it. Cool,' Nevaeh said. 'How am I going to come back?'

'I can teleport you twice, to and from your destination. After that, you are on your own.'

'I can handle that. Now, do it,' Nevaeh said.

Joe interjected. 'Hang on a second! I am coming with you!'

'Joe, I am sorry! I don't even know where the co-ordinates lead to and I cannot put you at risk!' she said.

'Exactly! You don't know where you are going! You can't go alone!' Joe said.

'I will be fine! Asgard is harmless! I bet there is a good explanation and that Loki has went home to feed his fish or pet snake or something. Just go home and I will come over as soon as I return! I promise!' Nevaeh said. She knew in the back of her mind that the second pair of co-ordinates were neither Asgard's nor Earth's, but she didn't feel like spooking Joe further by expressing her gut feeling.

Nevaeh looked at the stone and nodded. 'Now, Grace!' Her body shone bright gold for a moment before vanishing into thin air.

'Nev? You reached?' Joe asked unsure and looking around.

'Yes, she has. It's time for you to go now,' Grace said.

'Go where?'

'She needs to know,' Grace said. Joe gasped as she shined a similar gold and was instantly teleported. She looked around and realized that she was standing in the mythology section of Queen's library. She wondered if this was where the stone had teleported Loki and Nevaeh before and looked around the never-ending library.

A book was sitting open on the table next to her. Joe picked it up to read it. Her frowning eyes rapidly moved up and down the page and horror filled her eyes as she read the words on the opened page, which showed no sign of being torn in the past. Her mouth was wide open and she was gaping at it with wide eyes, just before she fumblingly dropped the book on the floor, not daring to pick it up again anytime soon.