Bijou

Sunlight hit me in the face like a brick.

My stomach ached. My core muscles were fatigued and hot. They felt pinched like they were working on tightening into a cramp. I groaned and opened my eyes, looking out of Bijou’s window at the building across the street and it reminded me of what she said about the open view.

“I don’t like curtains. I like being watched.”

I didn’t.

Not that there was a damn thing I could do about it. I wasn’t the one in control last night. I could feel the subtle sting of bite marks on my neck and between my breasts.

Especially the one on my ass.

Bijou fucked me all over her apartment. Three hours in and I was trying to crawl away from her tongue, my wrists still cuffed as she found new ways to get me off. I managed to make it a foot away one time, but she just dragged my little ass right back and slammed my eyes to the back of my head with another orgasm.

The bar, the couch, the floor, against the window and finally in her bed. She had the kind of stamina that scared me. I couldn’t catch my breath before she had me spasming and screaming again.

The last thing I remember was being face down, ass up on her bed, a deep arch in my back while she stuck her tongue wherever she felt like. She slid two fingers into me and I lost it.

She left me spasming and moaning on her bed, unable to stop myself from jerking through one orgasm after another. She made me beg her to stop and I did. I begged like the desperate, trembling ball of girl-jelly she’d turned me into.

And I loved it.

Sitting up in her bed I looked down at the lime colored sheet partially draped over me. My one leg left uncovered had a fat, purple hickey high on the inside, inches away from the place where pussy met thigh.

“Jesus,” I said, looking at the bruise before I dropped my head back down on one of her fluffy pillows. “This is gonna be a problem.”

I laid there in her bed until the smell of bacon hit my nose.

Sitting up again, I considered going into the living room, but I knew if I did I’d have to look at her. I’d have to talk to her. I was kind of afraid of what that conversation would look like, but I forced myself out of bed anyway.

Looking around for my clothes or at least my bag, I didn’t see anything on my side. Any hope I had of Bijou bringing me something to wear when I finally woke up out of my coma seemed fruitless until I saw my jeans laid out over the back of the armchair by her closet.

I walked over to it and picked them up. Beneath them, I saw my white shirt, even my mismatched colorful socks. Catching the smell of detergent, I brought the cloth to my nose.

“Oh fuck,” she washed my clothes.

That was always a bad sign.

Most times if I let somebody talk me into giving it up it was a mutual thing. We just wanted to get off, get high and split. The guys that wanted to stick around and make me food or wash my clothes were the ones I avoided.

I wasn’t the type to fuck around too much, but the lessons I learned when I did were harsh ones. Boyfriends that liked to force me to snort coke until my nose bled or eat pills with them until I couldn’t see straight were usually the kinds I attracted. Even the first time I shot heroin was because of one of my famously bad relationships.

After that, I swore off sex. It had been almost a year since I last got laid, and it wasn’t easy. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night wanting a swift, hard dicking so bad I’d have to take a cold shower. When that didn’t work I’d resort to porn on my phone and jilling myself stupid wishing there was actually a man in this world that would fuck my pussy like he owned it and then magically disappear.

Poof. Never to be heard from again.

But nope. They all turned into clingy, whiny fucking creepers that didn’t understand when I told them I didn’t want anything else. They all wanted to come save me like they were my own, personal Prince Charming.

Fuck Prince Charming. He sounded like a douchebag anyway.

I’m not saying I was right for wanting to treat men like pleasure factories, but that’s also why I shut the cookie shop down. I didn’t know how to be any other way.

Until Bijou.

The thought of the things she did to me last night gave me goosebumps. Made my face flush. I had to stop thinking about it.

I searched through my clothes for my panties and found no evidence of them anywhere.

“Fuck.”

I knew where they were.

Pulling on my jeans with a plaintive groan as the material slid over the bite mark on my ample left ass cheek, I tugged the Medici shirt Starland had given me on after. I marched out of Bijou’s room summoning as much indignation as I could.

Time to give her a piece of my mind.

I stopped though, looking around.

Where the fuck was her cat? I know I saw one last night. Did it just disappear into thin air or become one with her lime green carpet?

Shrugging it off, I continued marching towards the kitchen.

“Where are my fuckin’ panties?” I snapped, glaring at her.

Nevermind I had a bag full of them somewhere in her apartment. She wasn’t allowed to keep trophies. This wasn’t that kind of thing.

“Those are mine now, Cutie.” She sang back, never turning around from the oven to look at me.

“I’m not your cutie. Gimme my goddamn panties.”

“I put your toothbrush in the bathroom.” She said back and I felt my lip curl, my face twisting with irritation. I wanted to yell at her.

“Whatever.”

I stomped into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, muttering to myself with a mouthful of toothpaste. It’s only then that I noticed she covered the bathroom mirror with a towel.

She was doing little thoughtful things for me.

She liked me.

A lot.

“Fuck!”

I took a quick shower and tried to rehearse how breakfast was going to go in my head. I hadn’t the foggiest idea what to even say to her so I just gave up. I washed my bushy hair, dried myself off with one of her lime green towels and made my way out of the bathroom in a fresh pair of panties and my Medici shirt. I wasn’t too keen on putting skinny jeans on in the house. Not only was I more comfortable without them, but it wasn’t like Bijou hadn’t already seen me naked anyway.

By the time I made it back to her small dining area, she was setting two plates of food down on her coral blue table. I watched her slide into a seat, my HUD view outlining the digital newspaper that she had hovering in front of her face.

“You can come sit down. I already know you’re mad at me.”

I flounced over to the table and flopped down in the chair beside her.

My eyes were on that plate of food in front of me, my mouth practically salivating. The smell that hit my nose was intoxicating. She made sausage, scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms on the side and next to all of it were three perfectly fried pieces of bacon, burnt almost black, just the way I liked them.

“Fuck,” I said, looking at the bacon.

“Wow, Stagger was right. That is your favorite word.”

“Been talkin’ to him a lot about me?” I said back, stuffing a piece of bacon in my mouth and refusing to look up at her.

“Aw, you’re so cute when you’re mad,” She chided me.

“Stop it,” I glared up at her.

She practically assaulted me with those beautiful eyes. I dropped my gaze back into my plate.

Bijou only laughed, sipping her coffee.

“And yes,” She said, “Stagger and I have had a conversation or two. Or six. About you. Honestly, it’s pretty sad.”

“Here we go. Alright, go ahead.” I said, sitting back in my seat, mouth full of eggs, “bust my chops.”

“Chew your food,” She said, wagging her fork at me.

I chewed up the mouthful of fluffy, fucking delicious eggs in my mouth and frowned.

“Fuck.”

“What?” She asked.

“So fuckin’ good,” I whined, my face torn up with dread.

“How is that a bad thing?” She questioned, genuinely confused.

“You put milk in these,” I gestured at my eggs with my fork, my face awash in self-pity.

“Yes. Again, how is that a bad thing?”

“Because. It- y... nothin’.” I stabbed at my food, stuffing grilled tomatoes into my mouth so I didn’t have to talk.

“Oh no. No, no. He said you do that too,” She swallowed and set her coffee down, leaning forward, “Don’t shut down, just talk.”

“Fuck!” I dropped my fork on the plate. “Did he leave anything out while you guys were mockin’ me together in your little... fuckin’ love den or... whatever? Did you bring him back here and fuck his brains out too? Or was it the other way around, huh?”

“Ohh, there it is.”

“There what is?”

“That explosive temper. It’s cute. I like it.”

“Shut th- ..”

“Fuck up?” She finished and I glared at her until I felt the urge to look away.

“What’s your game?”

“Do you want something to drink?” She asked as I stuffed my face and hiccoughed.

I glanced up at her, shoulders jumping every few seconds as my throat tried to reject the big mouthfuls of food I was taking.

“Well?” She smiled.

“Yes,” I finally said, a prominent frown on my face as she got up.

“Water.” I quickly added.

“Water? Not milk, or coffee, or?” She turned to look at me, getting the glass out of her lime green frosted cabinet and filling it from the sink.

“No,” I answered as she set the glass in front of me and sat back down.

I took a big, thankful swallow and ceased my chest aching hiccups.

“When you spend as much time drunk as I did, after a while you don’t care what you mix it with. If you mix it at all.”

“Oh. Everything’s a trigger.” She reasoned.

“Yeah... Anything else and all I want to do is drink until I pass out,” I didn’t want to look at her so I focused on my eggs again. The awkward silence that followed was made all the more apparent by the sound of our utensils against our plates.

“That makes sense.” She finally said.

“So what is it you think you’re doin’ here?” I asked.

“I’m here to break you, Charlie.” She said with a pretty smile.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I stopped eating.

She stabbed at her over easy eggs, cutting a bit off and lifted it to her mouth, laughing.

“It doesn’t mean anything. I was just saying what you were thinking,” she flipped the page of her digital paper.

“Oh, you know what I’m thinkin’ now? You psychic or somethin’?”

“You’re pretty easy to read, to be fair.” She shrugged.

“Fuck you,” we said at the same time. She pointed at me with her fork.

“Right. See?” She said and ate more of her eggs. “You’re kind of like a sexy little broken record that spits the same catchphrases out over and over again. Or like an angry little wolverine, just snarl-snarl-snarl.”

“Alright. I’m done,” I said, dropping my fork on the plate and standing up from the table.

Bijou’s hand grabbed my arm and yanked me back down into my seat so hard I thought my arm would break.

“Sit.” Her silver eyes burned me with her stare.

I looked down into my plate and started stuffing my face with mushrooms to avoid any more eye contact.

“Whatever,” I said, my mouth full.

I didn’t want to admit she just scared the shit out of me. I didn’t expect her to be that much stronger than me. I couldn’t help but think back to last night when I was sure I was going to bust in here and kick her ass with my new found power.

That would have been a costly mistake.

“So, from the top. Let’s rewind a little bit. And slow down. You’re not in prison anymore. I’m not going to beat you up and take your food.”

I stared at her, my mouth full with sausage and bits of egg. I felt my cheeks flush a little and I chewed what was in my mouth slower.

I started sucking bacon grease off my fingers and Bijou plucked a cloth napkin from the center of the table, handing it to me.

“...Thanks.” I said, wiping my hands on it even though I had already sucked my fingers clean. I didn’t know what else to do.

“From the top. You woke up this morning angry.”

“Well... yeah,” I nodded, “I mean. You washed my clothes.”

“So? I have a washing machine. That’s what they’re for.”

“Yeah, but washing my clothes. That’s like,” I jabbed at the remains of my food.

“It’s affection.” She said and I nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t...” I dropped my fork again and clenched my fists. “Look, I can’t talk about this. Can we just go or, I mean,” I was getting irritated.

“Finish talking. You said we needed to talk.”

“Yeah, but I meant, like... I talk. You listen.” I said.

Andy’s words coming out of my mouth.

“Because that’s how you keep people at arm’s distance. Right,” she said, taking a mouthful of food and chewing it carefully. She swallowed before she spoke, ever the lady. “And I’m sorry, Charlie. You can’t verbally push me around like you do everyone else, hoping I’ll stop talking to you and go away.”

“Look,” I said, but I stopped when I saw her fork pointing at me.

“You ever notice that every time people with trust issues say the word ‘look’, it means they’re either about to turtle up and get defensive or be an asshole?”

No, I didn’t notice. And the embarrassed look on my face gave that away.

“Exactly,” she said when I shifted my gaze to her living room window.

“Alright, alright. What do you want me to say?”

“Start with what’s on your mind,” she shrugged as we continued eating.

“Alright. You washed my clothes... and then the breakfast. And it’s good, and,”

“And what’s wrong with that?” She asked.

“Can I... just?” I stared at her, my face contorted like I was in pain. “This is hard enough, alright just... lemme...”

She nodded while I shook my hands a few times.

“Nobody makes me breakfast or anything unless they want... and I can’t. Okay? I can’t. I’m,” I took a deep breath, “I’m a fuckup, alright? If anything good comes around I just fuck it up. I ruin people, Bee. I ruin everything, and I don’t wanna...”

“Wanna?”

“Now I see why you and Stagger are together. You don’t know how to just leave shit alone.”

Bijou laughed out loud.

“Stagger? And me!?” She set her fork down, “Is that why you’re really mad at me?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. I don’t...” I lifted my hand to touch my forehead, then put it back down on the table, then put both hands in my lap, not sure what to do with them.

“Stagger’s not mine or anything. It’s whatever, I don’t care,” I blurted out.

“Oh, god. You two are ridiculous.” She shook her head.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re all he talks about. All the time.” She sips her coffee, “It’s annoyingly pathetic.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s got a hard-on for Siobhan.” I rolled my eyes. “He thinks I can just magically turn into her. I keep tellin’ him that ain’t me.”

“No, that’s not exactly how Stagger works.”

“Yeah it is... I wrote the book on disappointin’ people, I know that tone,” I said, finishing off my plate of food.

She took a deep breath and stared at me.

“Am I missing something?” I asked, accentuating my words with a sarcastic tone.

“Stagger doesn’t want Siobhan. Stagger wants you, you dummy. Just broken little you. And judging by your behavior, I don’t think he’s the only one wanting.”

“Look,”

“Say it,” she said, her voice sweet even though she was squinting at me. “Say something rude.”

I curled my lip.

“This ain’t some stupid reality TV show where you get to play matchmaker by texting the word love to 442. And who do you think you are, anyway? If he likes me so much and you two are such good friends, don’t you think it’s pretty shitty you jumpin’ me last night?” I leaned forward, a smug smile pasted onto my face.

She leaned forward again to mirror me, looking me in my eyes, returning the smug smile.

“Stagger’s not the jealous type. You are. And while you’re trying to call me out... just keep in mind you just quoted his phone number. Okay, Pumpkin?” She tapped the tip of my nose and I flinched.

My smile dropped off my face.

442.

S dot Lee 442.

“Son of a bitch,” I sat back in my chair and shrugged.

“And there’s the shutdown. He knows you so well.” She giggled and I hated it.

“Look, when are we leavin’?” My face was flushed. I could feel it.

“Do you blush?” She asked sarcastically.

I didn’t say anything back, I just stared at the wall while my left knee jumped.

“For the record,” she finally said after she had her fill of staring at me, “Stagger and I have never done a thing. He’s my friend.”

“Yeah. Friend with benefits.” I said just to dig at her somehow.

“No. Stagger found me and got me back home. And I appreciate him for that.”

I turned my eyes back to look at her.

“Home?” I asked, looking her in those silver eyes.

Then my attention darted to that tattoo on her right shoulder.

I leaned forward, my hand reaching out to grip her bicep, looking closer. Down at the bottom of the title of that song, the exclamation point was made of an infinity symbol. Or more appropriately an eight.

Eight. Eight sides. Octahedron. Silver eyes. Something Sindri said about the Old Gods.

My mind struggled to put that together. She’s like the wind. She’s like the wind...

Wait.

She really was like the wind.

She was the wind!

I stood up and backed away from the table, almost stumbling over my chair. Her silver eyes didn’t just hurt to look at. They could see right through me.

My eyes were the size of saucers.

I dropped to my knees, bending forward to place my palms and forehead to the carpet.

“Huayra! Wind God, Eye of the Storm... I... Jesus.”

She let me kneel before her for a long, painful beat, my ass sticking up in nothing but panties, looking ridiculous before I heard her boisterous laughter burst out above me.

I shot up to sit on my heels.

“Really? You’re just gonna laugh at me? I don’t know how to... bow or do the respect... thing, I,” I looked around her apartment, my cheeks redder still with embarrassment at her laughing at my best efforts. “I mean, fuck. They say you used to blow people to dust if they didn’t say your name right,” I looked worried then, staring up at her.

“I did say your name right, right?”

She laughed harder.

“Other side of okay, Bee.” I frowned, pushing myself up from the floor, a full pout on my face as I started walking back towards her room.

“Charlie! Wait, I’m sorry. Okay, I’ll stop laughing. I promise.”

I turned around to glare at her.

She was poking out her bottom lip.

“I don’t like people making fun of me, alright?”

She straightened her face and stood up, walking towards me.

“You pronounced my name right.” She offered me a crooked smile. “Besides, I like you a lot. I’d never blow you to dust.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Bijou. I always thought the Old Gods were a myth. Not that you never existed. I mean, I didn’t believe you were still out there anywhere. I feel so terrible.” I shook my head, “I gave up looking for Brahma God. I gave up looking for all of you. I thought I was chasing ghosts.”

She took a deep breath and nodded at me.

“You’re forgiven,” I saw her smile and she pointed up at my hair. “And you need a haircut.”

I scratched at my poofy curls and smiled back.

“Yeah. Life’s been kinda tough.”

“It was tough for all of us,” she nodded. “I’ll cut it. How do you want it?”

I shrugged.

“I dunno. It’s been a while since I had my hair done,” I thought back to how often it had gotten me beaten up, or given someone else the advantage in a fight. Right back to the day those High School girls grabbed my puffballs and made me pay for being poorer than them.

“Short,” I finally said.

“I can do short.” She smiled.

“Listen,” I said as she got close to me again. I could smell her scent and it made me tingle. But knowing who she was now, “I’m... I don’t think we can... y’know. Last night was just a fluke. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Stagger’s face flashed in my mind.

“Uh-huh. Feeling guilty?” She asked.

I nodded. I didn’t want to say it out loud.

“Don’t,” She brushed my chin with a finger. “Everybody gets lonely. Promise I won’t tell.” She laughed a little.

“It’s been a while.” I admitted.

“Yeah, me too,” She searched my face and I found something to look at on her shelf of band paraphernalia. “You should tell him how you feel.”

“Don’t.” I said, my tone sharp, lifting a hand to push her fingers away from my chin.

“Fine,” Bijou lifted both hands in submission. “He still says you two are moving at Charlie speed.”

I nodded slowly.

“Turtles move faster,” I whispered, thinking about his grin. I gave a crooked smile.

* * *

Two hours later we were climbing back down the ladder to Chroma God’s office under the Siobhan statue in the middle of what I’d found out was called Brevity Park. With how small Old Settler’s Place was, it was no wonder it had a name to match. The park was just as small and even though it sat at the center of town, it was easier to walk around it than to walk through it because of the artificial ponds.

Old Settler’s Place itself was a piece of history. It was called that because this was apparently the first piece of land that the original men set foot upon during the Golden Age when the five gods ruled.

Huayra being one of them.

She filled me in on some of the history and customs of Blue Veil during the walk over. We avoided the streets that people might be occupying so no one saw my face and prevented our speedy arrival for Chroma’s meeting.

When we got inside, I sat across the table from Stagger, avoiding his eyes. Chroma sat beside him across from Bijou.

Stagger kept staring at me.

Bijou had done what I asked when she cut my hair. She buzz cut the sides and back and trimmed the length down at the top to give me a curly, sporty pompadour. A chunky fluff of spunky curls flopped onto my forehead, but I liked them.

I looked at Stagger and lifted my chin a bit, brushing my curls aside. I saw his nod of approval and tried to hide a smile.

When he started tilting his head to look under my chin that’s when I realized what had his attention the most. I had forgotten about the blazing purple hickey and bite marks on my neck. I had turned my multi-tool back into an earring when we arrived.

Bijou cleared her throat and he flashed his hazel eyes over at her. I looked over to see her twist her mouth up into a little smile. My mouth dropped open when she gave her lips a lewd lick. I snapped my eyes over to Stagger, panicking.

She outed me. She totally outed me.

He smiled knowingly and shook his head. My eyes bolted for the table top.

“Charlie, I see you’re feeling a bit better today. Well, maybe see is a bit of an overstatement.” Chroma said, tapping the side of his dark lenses.

“Huh? Y- yeah. Yeah, I...” I just kinda nodded for lack of better words.

“She just needed some rest,” Stagger said through a smile.

“Yeah, I just... rest was,” I let out a little sound through my lips like a rocket taking off and exploding. “So good.”

I heard Bijou giggle but I stopped her with a kick under the table.

She clapped a hand over her mouth.

Chroma looked around at the three of us sightlessly.

“Yes... well,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. Perun’s Valkyrie are moving across the High Moor, NEST across the Midlands. They’re searching every city building by building. Anyone they find with Anti-Valhalla paraphernalia are being rounded up and arrested. They’re putting half of the skylands to the question trying to find your whereabouts. It’s like the celestial uprising all over again.”

I felt my face tighten, “That’s not fair. Those people didn’t do anything.”

“When have tyrants ever been fair?” He replied.

“We’ve gotten word from Sindri and Brokkr,” my ears perked up at the mention of the place I had come to think of as home. “The Valkyrie at Demonhead paid them a visit and while they found nothing, not everyone walked away unharmed.”

“Oh my God. What happened?” I stood up from my seat.

“The Valkyrie decided to leave a message for anyone that doesn’t want to side with the Bright Throne.” He said, lifting his hand to settle me. “Everyone is alright, some a little worse for wear, but they didn’t come to kill. They came to threaten.”

I felt my shoulders falling heavier, my breath coming quicker.

“Who was it?”

“It doesn’t matter. Our focus must remain squarely on the Bright Throne.”

“No, fuck that, who was it?”

I watched Chroma God’s chest expand. He let the breath out slowly.

“Gozen Morrow.” He confirmed.

My fist slammed against the table, “Goddammit, I knew it. I knew it! Who did she hurt?”

“Charlie!” Chroma God’s booming voice silenced me. “I understand where your heart is. But every day our fight grows harder and harder. You don’t understand the size of the Army of Valhalla. They are a force of thousands. And while that may not sound like much in comparison to the armies that run the face of the earth, consider. Midvalley’s army is composed of men from the silver age and lesser celestials alike, supporting a ground force of human beings with some of the most powerful technology our world has to offer. They have Radiant Stones, powerful ones, and we are no closer to finding the Heart Fire than the day we started looking.”

I laced my fingers together on the table, my knuckles turning white.

“Fine. Lay it out.” I said.

Stagger stood up as I sat down, his hands on the table.

“Charlie, when I left you on earth, I was pulled away by our spy in Valhalla. They were in a bad situation and needed help getting out of the High Moor. What with the reporters starting to fill up your front lawn, my best course of action was to leave. I knew NEST wouldn’t be far. I had to go and get them before the Valkyrie did. They confirmed for me the truth of what we already know. Fenris sleeps in the Hellmouth.”

“Not only that,” Bijou piped in, “We’ve got no chance of taking the fight to Perun while he still has that massive dog at his beck and call. Everyone here has either seen or heard the truth for themselves. Fenris grows with Perun’s rage. I watched it tear Odin apart during Ragnarok.”

“Odin?” I asked, turning my head to look at Bijou.

“Brahma’s first name,” She said, her tone heavy.

The weight of her words struck me.

“We have to eliminate the wolf. If we kill the green flame spewing dog, that gives us the breathing room we need to take the fight to the Bright Throne,” Chroma said.

“How the hell do we kill the dog?” I asked, but then something tickled the back of my brain. Something I heard Sindri say. “Wait. The tools.”

“Wolves Bane,” Bijou nodded.

Stagger snapped his fingers, pointing at me.

“That’s where you come in,” he said, and I stared at him.

“I don’t know where they are,” I shrugged.

“You don’t?” Asked Chroma, his dark lenses turned to me.

That feeling came again. Like something sitting on the tip of my tongue. Siobhan was right it seemed, about how a memory could feel just out of reach.

“No, I- ... The guard.”

My eyes widened and I looked at Stagger. An old memory came creeping into my mind. I saw the hammer, the spear and the horn. I saw them held in the hands of three of my sisters. The most powerful of us all. I wasn’t sure if Sindri said it to me and my mind made it up or if Siobhan’s memories were flooding back, all I knew is that the information in the vision was correct. I could feel it.

“Exactly,” Chroma pointed at me, “Valkyrie elite keep safe the Bright Throne. Perun is surrounded by them at all times unless he or Gozen send them after someone. You’ve killed two of five guards. It stands to reason the only people he would trust with those powerful weapons are the strongest warriors in Valhalla. Your words confirm exactly what our spy said. The three remaining valkyrie guards have the hammer Mjolnir, the spear Gungnir and the horn, Gjallarhorn.”

“We have our heading,” Chroma said, looking at Bijou. “Charlie, we need to get you close to the sisters. It’s up to you to take them out and retrieve the Wolves Bane weapons.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I frowned, looking around the table, “you’re not just gonna set me out there to get fucked up. Do you know who you’re talkin’ about? The twins were nothin’ compared to Isolde and Brunhilde. I mean, Isolde I might can talk to, maybe get her to see reason. She’s not as vicious as the rest of the valkyrie. But Brunhilde? She’s the leader of Perun’s chosen celestials. Let’s not even talk about Sigrund. Only people stronger than her are also the only two people she reports to.”

“Charlie,” Stagger said, trying to calm me down.

“Gozen Morrow and Perun himself. Sigrund is the Hunt Leader of the Valkyrie elite for fucks sake.”

“Charlie,” Stagger said again.

I ignored him.

“You might as well kill me now, cus that’s what Sigrund is gonna do. And she won’t make it quick.”

Bijou put her hand on my arm, “You’re forgetting something, Charlie.”

“Nope. I’m pretty sure I covered everything,” I shook my head, pulling my arm away, “not doin’ it.”

“They’re only celestials, Charlie.” Stagger said, putting those hazel eyes on me.

“Celestials,” Bijou agreed, “And you’re a god.”

“No, you’re a god. I’m a lesser God. One who died, I might add,” I said, pointing at her, my eyes then pleading with Stagger. “Please tell her I’m not the one you want for this. I couldn’t even stand up to a pack of high school kids who beat me up over a discount chicken fried steak. What do you honestly think I’m gonna do against that?”

Chroma turned his attention to Bijou, “We can’t force her to fight. But we can at least control the controllables. The tools aren’t the only thing.”

Stagger nodded, “Mhm, we’ve also got to make sure your families from earth don’t get drawn into this.”

Bijou and I both pulled concerned expressions, looking at Stagger. We knew what was at stake. The second the lines got drawn in the sand NEST would send troops to earth to hold our families in the balance.

“Orcus,” I said, my features darkening.

“Orcus indeed,” Chroma said.

“He controls the gate and the keys. We have to take him out first and make sure NEST and any of the forces of Valhalla don’t have the ability to get back and forth between earth and Blue Veil. Otherwise, all of this is going to be in vain,” Stagger said.

“The keys are created by the All Sight. The only way for us to control the gate and the keys is to get my eyes back from Orcus,” Chroma added.

“This sounds like one really big job, guys. Are we sure we’re up for this?” I asked, looking around.

Bijou looked at me, “Do we have a choice?”

I stared at her, my mouth agape, “Yeah. We do. We go back to earth, let Perun have Blue Veil and keep our yaps shut.”

Stagger scoffed, “and what about the people that don’t deserve the punishment Perun hands out? What about the forgefolk? Or the people of Old Settler’s Place, or a dozen other cities that chose to stay free of Perun’s rule. Let’s not forget about the Republic down below the Divide. Perun’s army will storm the Icy Moor just as soon as he gets his hands on the Heart Fire and kill every one of them. Don’t say things you don’t mean, Charlie. I’ve seen first hand what valkyrie can do and so have you but that doesn’t mean we don’t try.”

I thought about those words and couldn’t fight the fact that Stagger was right. My whole life had become protecting my family. Mostly from me. I couldn’t bear the thought of someone hurting them. Or giving someone license to hurt my new family. The forgefolk were everything to me. My daddy was everything to me.

“Shit...” I chewed my lip.

“If you have the ability to help those that can’t help themselves, then you have a moral obligation to see it done,” Chroma said.

“My family at the Lightly Perch. My family back home... My daddy.”

“They all need you, Charlie,” Stagger said.

Family.

That word made my eyebrows pull down. My lips drew tight. I felt like I was late for an appointment, or like I left something burning on the oven. I thought about Sindri and Brokkr wondering if they were okay. Starland’s face crossed my mind. Chanticleer too. My mind kept imagining them in varying states of anguish and pain.

I thought about my daddy.

“I don’t want them to get hurt,” I said.

“Then do something about it,” Bijou said, looking at me again.

“Fucking Gozen,” I clenched my jaw again. “That bitch gives me the shits.”

“Gross,” Bijou curled her lip up.

“You know what I mean. She pisses me off. I’m sick of hearing about her. I’m sick of dreaming about her,” looking at Chroma I finally said, “I’ll take Demonhead. What order do we need to do this in?”

“Orcus first.” He set those dark lenses on me.

Orcus.

I felt like I was supposed to find him for some reason. What has he...

Robin.

The thought of her flooded into my mind. The fear I had when I first came here, wondering where she was. I remembered the hate in her eyes for me. Eyes that I felt like I deserved more than ever then. I had let myself forget about her.

“Speaking of Orcus... there’s another problem,” I said, thinking about how scared she must have been trapped down there in the underworld with that monster.

I hated myself for letting my own flesh and blood slip my mind.

“What?” Bijou asked, looking at the concerned expression on my face.

“I got reason to believe Orcus has my sister, Robin,” The room went silent.

“H.. how?” Chroma asked, his face a mask of concern.

“I got pulled here in the first place by him I think. Least I’m pretty sure. The valkyrie showing up when they did pretty much confirms that. I think he was trying to grab me and instead he got her. Both of us were forced through the gate. I ended up at the Lightly Perch. I’m not sure where Robin is, but if I had to guess... People keep sayin’ Perun is the prime concern. That I can’t do her any good right now. What if he has her?” I went quiet. I couldn’t look at anyone.

“Jesus, Charlie. I’m sorry,” Stag leaned forward in his seat to look down the table at me.

“I should have gone looking for her. But I didn’t... because I’m a coward. And an asshole. And a fuckin’ terrible person.” I said, feeling my eyes burn with tears but I blinked them away. “And because... and this is the worst part, I got so caught up in everything. In my life at the Perch... with other things here,” I looked over at Bijou for a moment, then back down to the table.

“I forgot about her. I forgot about my own sister.”

A tear finally won and rolled down my cheek.

“It’s alright, Charlie.” Chroma said.

Bijou rubbed the back of my neck, pulling me in close to kiss the top of my head.

“If he has her... we’ll just have to go and get her.” Stagger said, looking me in the eyes.

I didn’t look away. I felt how genuine his words were.

“Thank you.”

“We don’t know for sure. She could be anywhere in Blue Veil. Let’s keep our wits and find our focus,” Chroma said, standing up and knocking on the table, “Orcus, NEST, the valkyrie, the dog,” He looked around at the three of us, stopping on Stagger, “Then Perun.”

I knew he was right. Torturing myself with thoughts of Robin in torment would only make things worse. I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

Stagger looked back at Chroma.

“What?”

“Is Hymeris still infatuated with you?” Chroma smiled from ear to ear.

“Oh, no,” Stagger shook his head, “that’s not funny.”

“Wait, wait, what’s going on?” Stagger’s reaction put a smile on my face, the heel of my palm wiping my tears away. I could see his cheeks flushing.

“Hymeris has a thing for you?” I asked, remembering the name, my old memories connecting pathways in my mind and dragging up the image of her face.

“Maybe,” He said, frowning.

“Why does the goddess of alcohol, good times and lust fueled madness have a thing for you, Stag?” I leaned forward in my seat, elbows sitting on the table.

Bijou leaned over and whispered something in my ear.

My mouth dropped open.

“Oh! No way!” I said, clapping my hand over my mouth.

“It was a long time ago,” Stag rolled his eyes.

“Oh, no, we need to talk about this,” I said, looking at Bijou, “don’t you think we should talk about this?”

“Definitely should talk about it,” Bijou nodded her head with chiding confidence.

Chroma was laughing.

“We’re not talking about it,” Stagger looked around the table with a stern glare. “That’s it. I’m serious.”

“Oh, fine. Crybaby,” I bitched.

“You calling me a crybaby?” He said, faking incredulity with a smile on his face, pointing at me.

“Pot,” I pointed at myself. “Kettle.” I pointed at him.

“Alright. So what’s the move, C?” He asked Chroma, changing the subject.

“There are only three docks that connect to the river Styx. And the river Styx is the only way into the underworld. One in Valhalla, one at Demonhead and the other inside of Hymeris’ Tunnel of Love in the Bacchus Theater. Obviously, Valhalla and Demonhead are out. Our enemy can’t know we’re moving against them. Which means it’s up to you to bargain with Hymeris to get us a penny for the guy.”

“Where are you going?” Stagger asked as Chroma stood up and marched for the door.

“Penny for the guy?” I whispered to Bijou.

“Yeah, the boatman,” She whispered back.

“To find out where the Bifrost currently rests. We need to know how much time we have. Meanwhile,” Chroma stopped and pointed at me. “You two need to make sure Charlie is ready.”

Stagger nodded, “Right.”

Bijou stood up from the table and put her hand on my shoulder, “well, Charlie.”

I stood up as well, “yeah?”

“Time for you to learn how to fight like a god.”

I felt a thrill in the pit of my stomach at that thought.

The overwhelming feeling that went right to my head was both humbling and intoxicating. I was about to learn how to fight from one of the Old Gods.

And the only thing I could think to say back was, “Sorry I’m not taller.”

“That’s alright. Stagger likes short girls.” She looked over at him and winked.

“Ah-ha... Ha,” He faked a laugh, his middle finger extending.

I avoided his eyes, feeling my cheeks burn as I headed for the door behind Bijou.

* * *

We waited until nightfall to make our way outside of Old Settler’s Place. Stagger drove us by ball shuttle to the top of the main road and out onto the old concrete leading up to the bottom of the crater wall. The only stop we made was at a clothing store to grab a proper pair of boots for me and a hoodie to protect me from the cold. Stomping up rocky terrain would have been a bad idea in what amounted to women’s Uggs.

Stagger grabbed a pack out of one of the storage compartments in his Ball Shuttle. It took us some time to follow the path up the steep rock side. We had to head up by foot, but when we got to the summit, not only had the temperature gotten a bit warmer, we could also see out over the edge into darkness.

The cloudline had diminished in the night and below we saw the lights from the cities of the Icy Moor shining up at us. From where we were, there were only a few more continents down there. And past those like an inkblot in the darkness where no light seemed to escape, I reasoned that the circle of dark there was the Hellmouth. Not that I could rightly see it from here. The lights of civilization on the smaller skylands filled up my vision as far down as I could see.

“Are the Underworld and the Hellmouth the same place?” I asked as Bijou stepped up after me to the wide summit.

“No. The Underworld is someplace else entirely. I don’t even know if we’d call it part of this world. It’s weird, actually. Brahma made it because he felt sorry for the souls of the fallen. It was supposed to be the final meeting place where you could go to properly say goodbye to someone who had passed,” she replied.

“What happened to it?” I asked.

“Times change,” she said after a brief pause.

Stagger was still leading and we followed.

I watched him march on, his dark coat billowing in the wind. I couldn’t help but bite my bottom lip. He looked like a golden age film star. Like Paul Newman or Rock Hudson or something. His shoulders were confident as he sauntered on, hands in his pockets.

I had to put those thoughts away though.

One problem at a time.

By the time we got to a wide, circular clearing in the stone that seemed flat and level enough, Stagger lifted his hand and pointed around us.

“This’ll do. It’s wide enough to take the brakes off,” he said, nudging his head at Bijou.

“Brakes?” I asked, but no one answered.

Stagger opened his pack and took out a handful of thin, cylindrical rods. Tossing the pack aside, he dropped the rods on the ground in a bundle and bent over, picking them up one at a time. Cracking open the pull tabs at their cap, each one sparked to life with brilliant light. Stagger tossed them out at equal intervals around the flat summit and soon the circle was illuminated by dim white light. Those stalks of brilliance didn’t make a sound. It felt like looking at road flares that didn’t work right.

Bijou walked out into the middle of the clearing and started stretching.

I just stood there.

I kinda felt bad I didn’t have a warmup routine. Stagger was over there bouncing up and down on his feet, shaking the stiffness out of his hands. I heard all of his knuckles crack as he clenched his fists.

I tried it.

Nothing cracked.

I looked at him with my head tilted.

“Did you make that sound with your mouth?”

Bijou let out that boisterous laugh again and I tossed her a dirty look.

She stopped laughing.

“Sorry,” she apologized, twisting at the hip back and forth, then starting to bounce up and down on her feet as well.

Stagger was smiling at me.

“I’m glad I entertain the both of you so much.”

My multi-tool was around my neck, holding on to me in the wind. “Fuck, it’s still not that much better up here,” I said feeling the chill.

I looked over at the edge of the crater nearly two hundred yards to my left and when I looked back at Bijou she had changed clothes.

Her lean body was wrapped in that same material I saw her wearing when she flew up to the Perch to get me. It was a flexible, durable material a dark gray color with textured lines running through it. Only this time there weren’t any khaki pants. That same material went all the way down her body, outlining her strong thighs, right down to the boots it disappeared inside of that were laced up to her knees.

“How did...” My eyes went wide as two large falcon wings sprang from her back as silvery as her eyes were. She gave a luxurious stretch, arching her back, her fingers clasped overhead and turned over, cracking her knuckles. I realized then that she likely had that suit in her multi-tool.

I heard another wing unfurl, my head tilting up to see Stagger take to the air. His dark coat billowed in the wind before his hand seemed to draw from nowhere a black, straight-edged sword. It was slim, not unlike my Atma Sword, only it didn’t bear the same curve. It was perfectly straight and the only curve in it was a small, wicked little curve at the tip.

When he touched down again, I shrugged and just summoned my Atma Sword to my hand, drawing the curving, blunt blade.

“I don’t really have a cool costume or... a flashy coat or anything.”

It was just me, my jeans, that sturdy pair of black boots we scored before we left and a dark blue hoodie Bijou got for me. I knelt down, setting my Atma Sword by my feet and laced my boots up tighter.

“It’s not a costume,” Bijou rolled her eyes at me, “you’ll find it helps to pick attire that best supports your abilities. And since every god is different, well,” she shrugged, turning her profile to me, shifting her weight to one foot, showing off that snug suit.

And those thighs of hers.

“Gotcha,” I said, standing up, taking up my sword. “So what’s your strength? Aside from blowing people into dust for havin’ bad pronunciation?”

Bijou gave me a side-long look. She leaned forward slightly, hunkering her stance down. One knee slightly bent, the other leg moving back, anchoring itself on the ball of her foot.

“You ready?” She asked me and I nodded, smiling back.

That back foot of hers lifted, then came down on the ground, stomping with the ball of her foot. She did it again. Then again, each time speeding her pace. When the tap of her boot against the ground was as rapid as applause, she was suddenly gone.

I blinked in surprise.

She appeared in front of me, her fist rushing towards my face faster than I was ready for. I felt a strong gust of wind shove my head back so rapidly that my back almost snapped. Blood burst from my nostrils and the back of my head hit the ground hard enough to shake the world in my vision.

Everything was spinning.

I was down there long enough to think about what happened. I didn’t feel my sword in hand, or it’s scabbard in my right.

Did she just knock me out of my body?

“Am I dead?” I sat up, droplets of blood falling from my lips and chin onto my hoodie.

Aside from the pain throbbing at the back of my skull, my face felt fine. She’d blunted the impact with that gust of wind. In fact, she hadn’t even physically touched me. The sheer force of the air she displaced nearly broke my nose.

“Oh, shit,” I heard her say.

From twenty yards away.

“Are you alright? I tried to soften the blow, I forgot about the ground!” And then she was beside me, squatting down to help me up.

“I, yeah. What was that?” I said, coughing and spitting blood onto the ground.

“You asked what her power was,” Stagger said, marching over to the two of us, his wing disappearing as he tilted my head back and pinched my nose. “Huayra is faster than everything on this planet.”

That explained a lot.

She could probably hold the planet up with those legs of hers.

“Except my son.”

“You have a kid?” I asked, my voice stuffy from my pinched off nostrils.

“Mhm,” she intoned. “He used to be such a nice kid, too. Y’know... til he made his dog eat his dad so he could sit in his shiny chair,” she nodded. “So there’s that.”

I mentally booked a flight to What-The-Fucksville.

“Perun?” I hissed the name out of my mouth, shoving Stagger’s hands away.

She nodded.

“You and Odin?”

“I wanted to name him Zeus. Odin wasn’t having it. I don’t see how Perun was better.” She said, staring off into the distance as if lost in a memory, her lips screwed up as she shook her head.

“How old are you!?” I asked, my lip curling.

“I died, remember. Thanks to my brat. I’m only 32,” She winked and she and Stagger shared a laugh.

“Though I guess to be fair, that’s probably closer to thirty-two hundred,” She added.

“Note to self. Don’t tell Perun I fucked his mom.”

I coughed and wiped my bloody nose on my sleeve.

“Alright, Ladies. Fun and games are over. We don’t have long to get this right,” Stagger said.

Over the next several hours the two of them took me through my paces. Stagger tried to help my abysmal swordplay. We talked about stance, movement speed, footwork. All the classics. I did my best to channel Siobhan but it just wasn’t working out. I couldn’t beat him. Best I could do was stay on the defensive.

Bijou took my Atma Sword and she and Stagger flashed blades at varying speeds while I watched, then she drew a sword of her own. It was more like a claymore than a slim, hard-edged blade like we carried. She took both me and Stagger on and despite our best efforts, we couldn’t break her defense. Whenever we got close, a burst of speed moved her out of danger. We ducked, spun and whirled together. Three blades clashing in the night. I held my own but Stagger was better. Bijou, however, was better still.

Wings burst into the air, propelling us upward, left, right and spiraling down. Stagger and I were working so hard we could barely talk. Bijou was effortlessly slapping our attacks wide, chucking us through the air or dropping us to the ground so hard our teeth rattled. All with a gorgeous smile on her face.

I’d hate to fight her angry. Or with all of her power.

I seemed to be better at absorbing her defense-splitting kicks and punches to let Stag set her back on her heels with his impressive speed and agility.

She told me she couldn’t run flat out anymore. After she died, she lost quite a lot of her power and could only make short bursts of speed happen. Not unlike me. I didn’t have the full range of a god’s strength or speed, but I had enough to beat any celestial. I just needed to learn how to use it. She told me every god lost a large chunk of their power being reincarnated. The only way to get it back was through the consumption of Heart Fire or time spent in the world that was made with it.

A lot of time.

She taught me about my fear. About how it could be used as a natural instinct to help me avoid danger. But she was so fast all I could do was take one painful lesson after the next.

“It’s like a muscle, a god’s power. You have to flex it to use it. You can’t hold it forever, but the more you use it the stronger that muscle gets. You don’t reach burnout so fast.” She lifted her hand, pointing her sword at me, “Unless it’s a passive power. Those are rare. But they’re always working.”

“Passive? Her?” Stagger asked, out of breath, pointing at me with his sword, “What do you know that I don’t?”

“What’s a passive power?” I chimed in on his question between heavy breaths.

“You’re not bleeding,” she said, helping me up again.

“Yeah, it’s weird. It doesn’t hurt like it usually does.”

“No. Your nose. It stopped almost immediately. And now you’re not bleeding at all. From any wound,” she clarified.

Stag and I were both winded but she was barely breathing harder than normal.

“You think it’s the Heart Fire?” He asked Bijou.

“Heart Fire? I haven’t been around any since the Perch,” I said, coughing from my abused smoker’s lungs.

“Yes you have. It’s in everything. It’s what built the world after all. A god feeds off of it, grows stronger because of it. And if you’ve ever been exposed to Radiant Stones, that helps too. Something else though...” She said, looking at me awkwardly as her voice drifted off.

The sparks that flew between us let me know that I brought my sword up in time to stop her blade. She was at me so fast my instinct was the only thing that saved me from taking that sharp edge to the face.

But something didn’t feel right.

“Shit!” Stagger yelled, his wing bursting back out from his body, shoving him towards the two of us. He slammed into Bijou, bowling her over with a roar.

I stumbled forward a step, looking down to see a short dagger protruding from my side.

“Wh... I,” I tried to understand. I looked up at her. At Bijou, the mother of Perun, and felt the sting of betrayal.

“Wait!” She yelled and Stagger, who had his sword up ready to strike

“Wait for what!? What the fuck are you doing!?” He roared.

“Just. Wait.” She snapped at him, her silvery eyes focused on me, “Pull it out, Charlie.” She said, getting to her feet.

“But,” I looked down at it. I didn’t understand what was happening. What I understood less was the fact that it didn’t hurt. Not as much as it should. I gripped the blade’s handle and looked up at her. With an exhale I tugged it from my side and gasped in relief. Looking at the bloody blade, it felt like pulling out a thorn that was bothering me. Like something pressing into my ribs under my shirt that had been nagging me all day.

I yanked my hoodie and shirt up to see the wound.

It was there. It was dripping blood for sure, but it wasn’t leaking out of me like a faucet.

“What the fuck is going on?” Stagger asked, his sword hand dropping to his side, his voice hollow, his stare confused and empty.

“Just what I thought,” Bijou stated, her expression smug.

I held that dagger in hand and looked up at Stagger, my lip curled, pain on my face but not for the hole in me.

“Oh god...” I said.

“What?” Stag asked, concern on his face.

“She’s getting harder to kill by the day,” Bijou said, looking at Stagger who turned his head to face her.

“You’re serious...” He had a playful, almost boyish expression then.

“She’s got stamina,” Bijou smiled at him, innuendo coloring her voice.

I dropped the dagger on the ground and let my shoulders sink.

Of all the powers to have in this world.

Bijou could run fast and summon the wind.

Perun could summon lightning.

Hell, Brahma had the power of life and death.

Me?

None of those.

“I really am the god of gettin’ my ass kicked.”