The Fallen God

Loki was falling lifelessly, giving up all his strength as he kept his hands outstretched while propelling down into the hollowness of space. He heard his brother's hoarse scream as he was engulfed by the constellation and kept falling towards the vacuum. Loki's face was glistening with tears as he realized what he had just done. He thought of his mother, who would soon come across the news of her favourite son's sudden death.

Loki could feel the oxygen leaving his body, making him suffocate. He plummeted helplessly towards a slightly swirling vacuum beneath him, right into the darkness. Loki watched his skin turn frosty and he clapped a hand on his chest. His hair was fluttering above him along with his cape. He closed his eyes. Loki could see nothing but a pure blinding white light in front of his shut eyes. His chest glowed a piercing green, enveloping his bust. Loki could feel his lips shrivelling as he tried to gasp for breath, falling towards his death. He felt tears splash from his eyes. Loki thought of Nevaeh. He couldn't help but wonder how hysterical she would get if he didn't return soon. She would think that he had abandoned her again.

Loki made an involuntary shriek as the last of his breaths were sucked out of his body, making his hands fall limp in the air which had a somewhat scarlet glow under their palms. Loki wondered if he had performed good enough deeds to pass onto Valhalla, before he felt himself fading away into the harsh darkness, his body tumbling beneath…

Nevaeh was sitting with her legs tightly folded together and she had both her hands resting on her knees. She was soaring ten feet above her terrace floor, floating in mid-air. Her entire face was swallowed in darkness and her wand was hovering in front of her, its tip glowing white. She was hovering quietly in mid-air as the cold night breeze somehow managed to make her hair flutter lightly, even with the cloak draped over her head.

'Heaven or hell? Leaving that question to fate' she heard what sounded like Loki's voice echo in her mind.

Nevaeh sharply opened her eyes, but all that was in front of her was the cold night sky and the enormous ocean. Nevaeh noticed that the tip of her wand was green, making her frown. Her mind was meditating blank yet her wand's tip was glowing emerald which was highly unusual. Nevaeh sighed wondering if she was unconsciously thinking about Loki, and if blinking green was her wand's way of asking her to calm her ever-mounting anxiety.

Staring at the night's stars was not providing Nevaeh the usual, blissful feeling she had always attained. In fact, somehow the night was looking faded, cold and harsh, even though she was floating in the sky, which she rarely did these years. She wondered if her lack of interest was caused due to the heavy star-gazing she had done on the beautiful planet of Asgard.

There was a thundering roar far away in the sky above the middle of the sea, closely followed by a green blast, making Nevaeh look up in shock. A huge patch in the sky blazed a lightening green and thin red sparks erupted around it, bathing the middle of the ocean in green light. Nevaeh saw something drop from the sky, emerging from amongst it all.

Nevaeh thought it was a bird of some sort; she could see its wings as it propelled towards the middle of the ocean. 'Is that a bat?' hushed Nevaeh, as she watched it fall at an alarming speed. The tip of her wand turned a deep emerald. It started vibrating lightly but Nevaeh was too distracted to pay any attention.

Nevaeh's eyes widened as a sudden thought struck her mind. What if it's not a bat? What if it's batman? Or a certain someone – who – wears – a – freaking – cape?!

As soon as the horrified thought crossed her mind, Nevaeh's legs straightened themselves abruptly. She fell heavily on the ground as though gravity had just been discovered. Her wand was still vibrating vigorously than ever. It began soaring on its own, drifting away from her as if hoping she might give it some attention.

'What the hell? Where do you think you are going?' Nevaeh yelled. She stood up wildly and caught sight of her soaring wand which halted a little, but again started soaring towards the ocean.

'NOOOOO! I need you!' bellowed Nevaeh as she watched it with bulging eyes. It kept moving ahead. She stretched out her arm. 'AHHHHHH!' screamed Nevaeh, losing her temper when her wand unwillingly soared in her hand and she snatched it.

Nevaeh narrowed her eyes without taking them off of the unusual atmospheric activity. She waved her wand over her head. The green spark on the tip of her wand went flying towards the opening of the sky, diving down and bursting out into thin emerald sparks in the sky. Nevaeh watched as her blast was shot just in time above the body as it dropped lifelessly into the ocean, making the waves splash high over the sea-level as though someone had just dropped a 300 pound boulder in it. As soon as the object dropped into the ocean, the huge green opening in the sky vanished in a blinking second. Nevaeh watched through bulging eyes as the emerald spark from her wand dived into the ocean, following the fallen one closely. Her hands were trembling at the sight of her wand's desperation and willingness to investigate about what has happened, as though it had somehow affected the both of them.

Nevaeh looked wildly around the terrace to find something that can help her get there quicker. Damn it, if only she could fly! The point of impact was miles deep into the ocean and she needed to get there quick to see what has happened.

A thin plank of wood, approximately three feet long surrounding the flower pots caught her eye. She whipped her wand to make it soar towards her and she caught it in mid-air. Nevaeh gazed at her own foot size which was a mere two inches smaller than the width of the plank and she cursed out-loud.

She had no other option.

Nevaeh flicked her wand again. The door of the terrace bolted open. After a few seconds, a small metal clamp soared towards her and she caught it quickly with one hand. Nevaeh was frantically muttering under her breath as she placed the wooden plank on her lap and connected it to the metal clasp, but they were no spells being muttered. 'Weird shit happening per second, freaking sky just cracked opened – '

After hearing a metallic click, she hastily stood up and placed the metal clamp on the edge of the terrace. Nevaeh raised her wand and pointed it towards the wooden plank, making it lengthen foot by foot, but its width remained solitary, its corners tightly clutched under the metal clasp.

The plank was lengthening and soon it reached a little ahead of the sea shore when the plank abruptly stopped extending. Nevaeh knew this was the limit of bewitching it and she stared at the prolonged, thin wooden plank which was broad enough to fit her single foot on it, only if she ran straight without out-stepping her foot even for an inch.

Nevaeh draped the cloak around her neck, like some home-made cape which had a knot in front of her neck. 'After doing all this, if you do not co-ordinate, I will die – of embarrassment at the very least,' mumbled Nevaeh to the cloak as she fastened it around her neck.

She quickly hopped on the edge of the terrace, resting one foot on the plank. She already had a bad feeling about this, but there was no time to dwell on it. She moved ahead and strode for a few steps before breaking out into a run.

Soon, she was charging on the thin wooden plank, one foot after the other, her cloak fluttering behind her in the air. As soon as she reached the end of the plank, she jumped high into the sky, her cloak supporting her weightlessly as she glided above the ocean. The moment her foot left the plank, Nevaeh sharply flicked her wand in a backward stroke, making her jump way longer than she is normally supposed to jump.

Nevaeh watched the green patch in the sky as she jumped towards it with propelling speed just before reaching a point where her enhanced inertia of motion stopped working. She mentally prepared herself for an undesirable dive as she put on an underwater spell which would allow her to breathe freely inside the ocean for a prolonged period of time.

Nevaeh started dropping at an alarming speed. She glanced about; the green spark which she had sent through her wand to track the falling body was still nowhere in sight. Nevaeh was a few feet away from crashing into the ocean, when she hastily placed her wand between her teeth.

Water splashed slightly as Nevaeh dropped head-first into the ocean, quickly moving her feet and swimming as though it were a mere swimming pool and she hadn't just fell from the sky. An icy chill ran down Nevaeh's spine as she kept swimming inside the numbingly cold water, moving effortlessly as though she were a fish while wondering how better her situation would've been if she had thought of putting an anti-freeze charm on herself before jumping.

Nevaeh could see the night's sky above the water, but her wand's spark was still not visible anywhere beneath. She couldn't see anything other than the darkness of the night at her level.

After swimming for yet another twenty minutes, Nevaeh could see her hands getting pruned and she wondered if the entire day's events had dazed her mind, making her crazy for such endeavours. Truth be told, had the colour of the sky been anything but green, she wouldn't have made this trip. But green was becoming a bit of a personal colour these days.

As though the sea were hearing her, a slight twinkling of green reflected into the water. Nevaeh halted in mid-swim, her hair flowing all about the water as she abruptly stopped her movement. Nevaeh saw a hint of emerald by her peripheral vision and she quickly looked to the right, tilting her head below.

The water deep beneath her was glowing a faded shade of green. She recognized it instantly; it was the spark from her wand.

Nevaeh quickly bent low and started swimming downwards into the depth of the ocean. Her cape was sopping wet, yet weightless. She did not halt her swift strokes even when she had a perfect view of the little, arched layer of emerald sparks reflecting in the ocean as though it were a roof of some sort. Nevaeh quickened her strokes. Soon, she passed through the emerald layer, but kept moving deep down the sea without pausing for a moment. As soon as she passed the glowing emerald layer, it began moving behind her, following her closely as though providing light and direction, yet never needing to lead the way.

After a few final strokes, she saw the dark sea bed scattered with various rocks and pebbles. There were no fish anywhere near her. Some were swimming far away, but her patch was fish-free.

Nevaeh halted her swim, stopping a mere fifteen feet over the dark sea-bed and the green light gliding behind her took the lead. The light went beneath, passing through her and approached the very dark bottom of the ocean, lighting the way. The light flickered brightly. Nevaeh shifted ahead and narrowed her eyes as she saw it lighting up the sea bed and reveal a humongous rock. Nevaeh caught sight of dark black hair floating beneath it. Her heart dropped in her knees. Nevaeh was stroking her hands aggressively, swimming down as quickly as she could and she dived below, plummeting towards the rock and grasping it by her hands. She pulled the boulder with all her strength and threw it out of the way, making it float aside heavily. Then she saw it – a body – Loki's body.

Nevaeh shrieked. Air bubbles went rippling from her lips as she cursed. She knew very well that this was a déjà vu; finding him in such a vulnerable condition, but she gut-wrenchingly somehow knew that this was neither an illusion nor a trick. Loki was lying with his face down and he was horrifyingly still, his hand limping at his side...