Faith In Fear

Loki waited for Daniel to muster enough strength to walk on his own towards the doorway and they stepped through it after several seconds. Daniel was not looking forward to his meeting with the strongest God amongst all, but he knew he had no choice than to keep on walking ahead.

They entered the other side. Daniel gasped. There was nothing but pitch-darkness all around them. He blinked rapidly a couple of times to figure out the distant outlines of a few mountains.

They were standing on what looked like dead, rotten grass. Black trees with equally black leaves were standing at crooked angles, leading a path deep into the woods. The air was buzzing with a slightly sinister breeze. There were many rocks, pebbles and boulders scattered all over the ground. The air had a pungent smell to it as though the land had not seen anything living since a century.

'Where – where are we? What is this place?' Daniel whispered, staring at his surroundings.

'Svartalfheim. It is one of the Nine Realms,' a voice echoed from behind them.

Daniel wildly turned around to see a distant figure loomed in darkness and leaning over one huge boulder with his foot comfortably placed in a hunched nook. He narrowed his eyes as the figure slowly got up from the rock and approached them from the shadows. Daniel's heart began racing rapidly with each step the figure took towards them. He squinted at Loki, who had a thin smile spreading over his face.

Daniel was expecting to see the mightiest God that lives, and the close proximity finally revealed the figure's face in front of him. He was dressed in a strikingly familiar fashion, completely in green and gold and wearing a huge, golden helmet on his head with two bent horns.

It was Loki himself, minus the mortal clothing.

Daniel blinked back and forth at the Loki standing next to him, the one who brought him here, and the other one in front of him, who had just appeared from the shadows. The latter cackled mischievously.

'You were really expecting someone other than me, weren't you?' Loki laughed hysterically, 'boy, that's funny.'

'I – I don't understand. Which one of you is real?' Daniel mumbled, but he had a vague idea of what was about to happen. The Loki next to him was now unmoving in his mortal clothes.

'I am,' said the Loki in front of him, wearing his usual gothic green attire. He rotated his fingers in the air and the Loki standing next to Daniel vanished in a green gleam.

'You see, boy, I didn't leave your home when we left for the farewell dinner. I was so confident about your terror of me, that I merely sent an illusion with you to her home. I embedded a little magic in the illusion so that he could pretend to wine and dine with all of you to avoid suspicion. Do you see how much faith I had in your fear? I knew you wouldn't dare disobey my command!' Loki paused to proudly gaze at a stunned Daniel, before continuing. 'During dinner, you could've screamed! You could've told her parents everything that happened today, about which they are more than ignorant! You had the opportunity to openly ruin everything I desire! An illusion isn't powerful enough to hurt you! I definitely would've hunted you down and killed you later, but you get my point.' Loki patted him on the back.

Daniel was staring at him in shocked silence. He was realising how Loki had not once touched him or anyone else since the moment they had teleported near Nevaeh's home for dinner, and now he understood why, because he could have never touched anyone being an illusion. 'You really are the God of trickery and deception,' Daniel muttered weakly.

'Don't forget mischief!' Loki said chirpily. 'Let's trot, now. We have a lot of things to go through.'

Loki turned in the direction of the woods where the path led ahead, but Daniel stayed rooted on his spot as he slowly withered under the depth of Loki's words. He had a chance to get his life back, to spare himself from whatever horror Loki had in store for him ahead, he could've saved Nevaeh from leaving for another planet with this lunatic God, but he was a moron who couldn't figure it out! And now, he was trapped.

'Danny boy, you have your whole life for self-loathing! I, on the other hand, have very little time to spare for you. So when I say move, then move.' Loki didn't wait for him to move though. He once again grabbed the back of Daniel's neck, lifted him up till his shoulder level and began brisk-walking into the woods.

Daniel didn't complain either; he was kind of glad that he was getting help to cover the distance for a while as his legs were shaking with sheer fear. Loki kept walking for several minutes when the path gradually began to curve and lessen. After a while and as soon as he snapped out of the shock of the recent revelations, Daniel wiggled in his grasp. 'Lo – Loki? I can walk on my own now, you – you don't have to – umm – support me,' Daniel grunted from midair. He was also worried that his head might sever from his body under Loki's demonic clutch.

'If you insist.' Loki kept Daniel on the ground without halting his steps, making him tumble heavily on the ground. 'Our destination isn't far from here. About five minutes. Feel free to look around and enjoy the walk.'

Maybe the surroundings were pleasant for someone as dark as Loki, but there wasn't much to enjoy for Daniel. They were walking down a narrowed forest path which was looking more like a spooky graveyard without the graves. The trees were coal-black and almost withered, there were crows croaking all about, and Daniel was pretty sure that he had seen a skull of some unidentified species when Loki was "supporting his weight" before.

He wondered what punishment Loki could assign to him in such a place and whether he would be able to tolerate it. He kept wondering if brutal torture would be his punishment. There was no sign of any colour other than grey, black, brown and darker black. The only colour was of Daniel's blue jeans; he cursed his decision of wearing a black t-shirt, and of Loki's glinting, emerald armour.

Daniel needed a distraction to keep himself away from nasty thoughts. There wasn't much to distract him here though, so he attempted to strike a conversation with Loki. 'So, why did you stay back at my place? What else did you want? Especially when she was unconscious in an empty house,' Daniel asked without thinking it through.

Loki halted in his tracks, the dead grass crunching sinisterly under his feet. Daniel abruptly stopped to glance back at a fuming Loki who looked as though he just might kill Daniel after all.

'Really?' Loki asked genuinely, 'are all mortals this corrupt-minded when it comes to assumptions? You think that I, the Prince of Asgard, stayed behind in your disgustingly filthy apartment to take advantage of my unconscious beloved? When it doesn't once cross your mind that she was alone inside your unsafe hut with no possible means of protection at her disposal, if Odin forbids, anything should happen?' Loki paused to laugh lightly and shake his head; It had been decades since he had used his father's name instead of the generically used term, "God"

Loki continued. 'I had to come here to work on your punishment. I wasn't possibly going to leave her unguarded! I enchanted the bed, shielded the living room and sealed your house so that no one can enter it while she is asleep!' spat Loki, his breaths turning sharp with anger. Daniel was blankly staring at him. 'You know, before I came to Midgard with her, I wasn't fond of humans. After spending a few days here, I can't help but loathe your species!' Loki finished. He took a deep breath and was about to resume his stride when a silent Daniel suddenly laughed.

'She is a human too! What are you—'

'Oh, shut up!' Loki dismissed him, 'you are just embarrassing yourself. And even Nevaeh would prefer a planet full of droids rather than your kind! Or dogs. Or dragons. Or all of the above, but not humans!' Before Daniel could respond, Loki placed a finger over his own lips. He then withdrew his finger and pointed it towards the narrow path.

Daniel voluntarily took a step ahead. He was just glad to be alive at this point.

They started walking ahead the entwining path, clustered with dry dust and dead shrubs. Several minutes later, Loki halted in front of a barren, hill-like structure. The surroundings were the same everywhere he looked; crooked, dead trees, and withering ground. Daniel looked up at the huge, rocky-surfaced, sky-high structure. He couldn't understand what it was, but he had a feeling that they had finally reached their destination...