“Esmeralda!” Odin blasted as he sat up instantly. Everyone else gasped in surprise as they got up, startled by Odin’s outburst. Goku, who was beside Odin, was staring with his wide golden eyes. Loki immediately grabbed Nataku by the arm, who, instinctively always having her guard kept up, activated a protective barrier around everyone; but put it down upon realizing that nothing was wrong. Odin was huffing and sweating as his eyes moved shiftily.
“What is wrong with you?” Loki raised an eyebrow somewhat annoyed yet more worried than anything else.
“Esmeralda.” Odin muttered, not even looking at his brother.
“Kuan Yin took her, remember?”
Odin didn’t answer and thoughtfully looked at his arm where the golden mark used to coil around. He was feeling horrible as if something –her, Esmeralda – was calling out to him in what he thought was helplessness. There was a tinge of pain in his chest, probably because of the aftershock of his body absorbing her soul and so somehow, he still had some contact with her. It was as if she was being taken to somewhere else.
It was as if she was being asked to disappear.
What was going on? Kuan Yin promised to take Esmeralda to Asgard, to ask for Esmeralda’s immortality. Could something have gone wrong? It was ironic to be the God of Knowledge and then not know something he wanted to know so badly. It was as if he couldn’t live up to his title.
And yet the God of Light seemed to care nothing about what anyone thought about right now. It was foolish of him to be blind and hasty. What he was worried about was Esmeralda in Asgard, the place where nothing except the maintenance of dominance was stable. Yes, after all, why would they search for the Runes? To continue their existence, that is why. It was funny how he thought it was stupid when it was his idea after all. Odin blighted silently in something that only Loki noticed since he is, after all, his twin.
The three other beings on the bed exchanged looks and Loki spoke again.
“Odin, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Odin’s eyebrows met in contemplation, “But something definitely is.”
“What do you think it is?” Loki asked again.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, Odin. I won’t stand for that.” Loki grabbed Odin’s arm and ignored Nataku’s soft appeal for him to let his brother go, “What in the world are you freaking scared of?”
Scared?
“I’m not scared. I just don’t know.” Odin insisted. Yes, he wasn’t scared, was he? He wasn’t scared.
I’m not scared.
“Odin!” Loki gripped tighter, jerking Odin and Nataku was still asking him to let go, “You never get intuitions out of nothing or sheer personal theories. Something is wrong and we both know what you are thinking!”
Odin was not speaking. Loki grunted and added, “Or are you too afraid to face the possibility of repeating events!”
“Shut up, Loki!” Odin tore off Loki’s grasp and heavily pushed his twin brother away saying, “Don’t think this is about you!”
“About me?” Loki glared and Nataku held him back by an arm, “You think I’m thinking it’s about me?”
“I am not committing the same mistake you did!”
Loki growled and lunged at Odin, grabbed him and slammed him on the headboard. The older brother squirmed in slight pain and surprise as Loki pushed on him, yelling, “I wasn’t mistaken, Odin. You know it.”
Nataku gasped softly, a short streak of pain across her head making her wince a bit. Goku was looking at her but she did not seem to notice.
Odin looked at his brother whose eyes were narrowed towards him. He knew he wasn’t angry and even if he was, it was out of concern. And yet, Odin refused to believe whatever it was that Loki was trying to imply.
What was Loki trying to imply?
Nothing. This is different.
“Loki, this is different.”
“It better be.”
But even before anyone could say anything, Goku gasped and all eyes turned to him as he spoke, “Something’s coming.” And no sooner than he had spoken did he leap out of the bed and out of the pod. Loki’s fingers loosened and he dashed out with Nataku with Odin at their trail.
Aside from the four of them looking around suspiciously, everything seemed to be normal. It was only dawn. The sun had barely risen and it was as if even the birds had only a few of them awake. Odin found it hard to calm down especially with his heart racing faster and his mind trying to think in a pace to outdo his heart. This left him in a state of weakness and confusion. He was not in full sharpness and he bit his lip as his chest heaved heavily.
Why was he so worried?
Odin grunted as he summoned Laevatin and the pod that they had been sleeping in warped back inside his ring. Loki was grasping Azaran but was more worried about his brother than the situation. Nataku had her rings of light and had just finished bringing up her defense-reinforcing spell upon everyone. Goku’s eyes were darting here and there as he sidestepped closer towards Nataku. He gripped his trusty Nyoi-bo tightly, posing to either strike or guard. Either way, Nataku thought it was a very good stance.
“It’s…” Nataku began.
“Master Odin!”
It was an obvious shout with a trace of panic and haste at it drew closer in an incredible quickness from the sky. Everyone looked up except for Goku who was still looking around cautiously. And from there came a green glowing thing that seemed to be plunging towards them.
“…Mercury.” Nataku said again and the foot-tall Messenger came to a hovering stop, breathing heavily as he steadied himself.
“What happened?” was Odin’s first question, walking towards Mercury who was now hovering towards him.
“Master Odin, Esmeralda…”
“What happened to Esmeralda!” Odin exclaimed, wanting to extend his arms and grab Mercury as if he could literally pry answers from his mouth without speaking. His heart was thumping so heavily that he felt like everyone around him could hear it. Mercury opened his mouth to continue in what Odin felt like forever. But even before Mercury could say anything, the Messenger, as well as the twins, were pushed to one side by Nataku as she and Goku blocked a strong pillar of light and electricity that shot somewhere from the sky. Sparks flew as Goku’s and Nataku’s barriers fended off the energy that was obviously sent to destroy them.
“Who was that!” Loki exclaimed, posing for battle.
By and by, both energies disappeared in a violent whiff as if canceling each other in failure of dominance. Nataku and Goku backed in a bit of recoil, Goku posturing before Nataku as if to protect her as his eyes seemed to glow. The Battle Aesir seemed to be curious but told herself she had no time to figure things out. Irrelevant questions were to be asked after everything was settled.
“This is the one I’m talking about.” Goku said beneath his breath.
Yes, Nataku could feel someone familiarly strange. Whoever it was, she didn’t like it. And this person – this being – surely wasn’t Persephone at all. As she tried to figure out who their attacker was, a figure in silhouette descended; the sun spreading its rays over the orange sky as backdrop. The being came closer and yet she still could not figure out who it was.
“Oh no…” Mercury was saying now and Odin did not know if he should know what was to come after that.
In a split second, the figure disappeared in quick movement. And that short time it needed to disappear was all the time it used to reappear behind Son Goku and attack him with a bladed weapon. The golden-eyed creature blocked in full swiftness, pushing his attacker with greater force as he swung his leg in retaliation. Nataku wasted no time and hacked away with her golden rings but was blocked.
“Impressive.” A female voice spoke.
Odin’s eyes widened upon the recognition and yet he refused to believe it. Mercury was saying something but somehow he could not hear it. Everything seemed to go steady as if the picture before him patched itself piece by piece. It was painful but Odin knew he was familiar with every detail.
Those red lips, rosy cheeks, brown eyes and black curls…
Those beautiful black curls…
“Esme—“ Odin started towards her but Loki pulled him back, shaking his head as a silent gesture to tell him it wasn’t her any longer. Loki could see the hurt in his brother’s eyes.
“Who are you?” Nataku spoke lowly, more of a warning than a question as their attacker leapt away. Except for her facial features, Esmeralda looked nowhere close to how she did when they first met her. She was wearing something that seemed to be a maroon corset-looking battle gear with white strings, black gloves that reached her arms, high-cut shoes and net stockings. The smile was no longer demure but scheming and her eyes were no longer gentle but deceptive. On her right, she was holding a weapon with a wooden handle whose blade was slender; longer than a knife but shorter than a sword. On her left was a silver gauntlet, which Nataku immediately assumed to be a substitute for a shield.
“Nataku, stop this.” Odin declared and Loki gasped, whipping towards his brother in question.
“Master Odin.”
“There has to be a mistake. She is Esmeralda.”
It was a stupid idea. Loki wanted to slap Odin’s face off his head. And yet somehow he understood what his brother felt. Odin knew it was stupid to say that this woman was Esmeralda. Maybe she looked like Esmeralda or maybe she was but was she the Esmeralda that prayed to him?
Of course.
Who else could she be?
“There is a mistake, Master Odin.” The embodiment of Esmeralda told Odin softly, her brown eyes changing expression and looking hurt as if Odin did not remember, “I am not Esmeralda.”
“Wha-What?”
“I am Lilith.”