© 2017 SilverStream22. All Rights Reserved.  

~

  Round and round and I never know why
Round and round and it will show us way out  

~

As we ripped through the sky, I felt Rosemarie's hands tug at my wings.

"Own it!" she screamed, the shadow of her wings haunting me as they reflected across the gold palace walls. 

She was crazy- beheading made her lose her head; literally.

"LET GO OF ME!" 

"Not until you force me off. Take control of your wings" her nails dug into the sensitive membrane between my feathers and I lost my breath. "before they take control of you."

 I took painstakingly deep breaths, rolling my shoulders back. I couldn't see Rosemarie, she was on my back as we were free falling. I tried hard not think of the rapidly approaching ground. The sharp rocks, the rushing river, and pointed trees- river. River. River.

With a last attempt to pry her off, I forced my wing to fold inside. We plummeted faster, the gaining speed throwing her off balance. Her wings caught the updraft, ripping her away from me.

I snapped my wings out, hoping that they would behave. But they were locked shut by my side, still wounded from Rosemarie's sharp Valkyrie talons ripping into the base. The river was approaching quick, and if I didn't force my wings open then I would be free food for whatever lurked in Asgardian waters.

Below I saw Jasper and Draver, their wolves running to reach the river before me. But with the dive I was taking, they'd never reach in time.

But then I saw two ravens, their size overwhelmingly big. It was Huginn and Munnin, and from the angle they were climbing into, I knew that they were grabbing Rosemarie.

Shit. The water was close. 

Screw Rosemarie for putting me in this position.

I urged my wings to fan out- to catch the wind. Instead they vanished altogether, sinking into my back. I slammed into the water full force, and the bright glow that enveloped me had me thinking that I had finally reached the pearly gates- or Valhalla. 

I screamed in the water, my body was definitely broken and the water's current wasn't doing me any good. It was like a battering ram attacking me from every direction.

Jasper wouldn't jump in; too scared of the water. Draver would, but either way they couldn't- not when they were supposed to be hating me.

Slowly, I began to see why I was glowing. I was full out Valkyrie, right in the middle of the water. Which made no sense. Facts said that unless I summoned the Valkyrie side, it shouldn't show up- unless I'm in danger.

The water seemed to get darker, and I realized I'd sunk to the bottom. I could still breathe, but it wasn't normal breathing. The Valkyrie was taking in electrical charges from everything around us, fueling us to breathe. Looking down, the floor of the river was eerily beautiful, a gold and green littered river bed.

Wait...gold and green?

Suddenly the river bed shifted, as if the tectonic plates were moving. The green and gold had lifted up and several yards away from me was a head- a serpent head.

My cazzo came out as bubbles as the serpent slithered over, jaws snapping wide like an anaconda.

Armor materialized, and the javelin was in my hand, ready to go. Human Faye was shoved back and Valkyrie Faye took the reigns.

Electricity sparked around me, and I was pretty sure I looked like a tasty electric eel morsel to the serpent.

Channeling the electricity, I aimed for the serpent's eye. But the serpent was quickly and swiveled out of the way as my javelin embedded itself into the serpent side.

No weapon. Great.

I swept my foot across the floor, hoping to raise enough muck and dust to cloud the serpent from me. The river would've been a pain for human me to maneuver in, but the Valkyrie side of me had no trouble moving as fast as the serpent. 

A flurry of green and gold swiped away the muck blocking the view, and this time the serpent's head was right next to mine, it forked tongue touching my head. Slitted eyes stared me, and I felt my body lock up. Then, the serpent opened it's jaws to bite down on me.

Bite.

Cerberus. 

Flashbacks of my rather untimely death traveled a mile a minute in my head, and before I knew it, I was grabbing the serpent by its fangs, kicking up the surface, and yanking the bloody creature right out of the river.

My wings screamed in agony, but my rage over being almost killed twice by the same method was driving me forward. 

The serpent coiled, its lower fangs snapping forward to bite my hands. I dropped one arm to lock onto one of the fangs. I was holding the serpent by its fangs when I spiraled in the air, my wings beating up higher into the air. Gaining enough momentum, I let the serpent go- flying straight towards the ground where Rosemarie was standing with Ryland and Ryker.

Her eyes widened as the serpent crashed onto the ground, a writhing mess, clearly not  amphibious.

Still remaining in the air,  I summoned the javelin to appear in my hand.

"Still think my wings are controlling me?" I muttered under my breath, grimacing as the adrenaline faded and the pain returned oh so quickly.

Lowering myself to the river bank, I kicked the serpent back into the water. When the serpent hissed at me, I stabbed it in the eye and ramped up the voltage. 

Ryker whistled, and I turned around with my javelin raised, ready to rain hell down on anyone else who threatened me. Instead, I was shot back, like a universal slingshot until everything was black except for a twinkling dot the size of a pinhead. In a matter of seconds I was rushed forward at a seemingly cosmic speed towards that very dot. 

Stumbling to regain my balance, I realized I was on a different plane- a different world.

I looked down to realize I was in the pool at Lorena's house, with the twins on either side of me. 

"What the hell-" Draver growled, taking a step forward. His left leg gave out, and he slammed his eyes shut. "Nope, not doing that."

An auburn haired Lycan dropped a plate of shish kebab onto the floor. "OH SHIT! SOMEONE GET KENDRA, HER SPELL ACTUALLY WORKED!"

Jasper blinked several times. "Are we back on Midgard?"

As if sensing the lack of danger, the Valkyrie side of me retreated back; the helmet, armor, and javelin fading into silvery dust. 

Kendra came out, a shit eating grin splitting her face. "Well fuck me. Kristos and I did it. We should name this spell, don't you think? Do you like the sound of shish-kebab locator?"

A blond haired man in a white butler suit came out from behind. "It sounds strange yet intimidating. I agree whole heartedly." When the butler turned to face forward, I realized that he had a gaping hole where the button up of his suit was open- which was all the way down. I blinked several times, trying to process how he wasn't dead.

He cracked his knuckles, looking a little weary but elated at the same time. "I haven't tapped into my power reserve in a long time. Reaper reserves are usually blocked up when you're signed to a Royal family. I'm surprised this even worked."

Kendra raised a spatula. "Lorena and I are cooking up some shish kebabs. Want some?"

Katya appeared out of nowhere, her eyes twinkling with the same type of knowing look Artemis and Odin had. "You can tell us all about your adventure- you know, being in the Underworld, going to Asgard."

"You know?" Draver wheezed out, still out of breath from the spell.

"How did you do that?" I collapsed onto the beach chair they had, facing the pool.

The auburn haired Lycan zipped over, his speed making my eyes hurt. "Kristos is a Reaper, and Reapers are universal in all mythologies. He was able to locate you through the power reserves using Kendra's spell."

"Castor, go get her some water." Jasper sat down next to me after helping Draver to a stretched out chair next to me.

"I'll be fine." I insisted, "I just need to lay down a bit."

He shook his head, "It's not for you to drink- your wings. I need to clean them, then stitch them up."

Castor was too fast for my eyes to keep up with, so I slammed them shut, trying to focus on my breathing. My insides felt liquidized.

"Let's not do that again," Draver groaned beside me.

"Love, this is going to hurt." Jasper said softly. 

I felt the icy water run down my back as Jasper rolled me onto my stomach. My nails shifted into talons as I dug them into the chair. Overwhelmed with pain, I didn't realize that I had passed out until Jasper shook me awake with the stitches done.

"You don't heal," Jasper looked broken at that fact. "Not in Midgard. At least not as quickly."

I gave my wings a test run, flapping them several times to see how bad it was. It stung if I extended out too far.

I lowered my head down, groaning out curses. "Goddamn it. I hate Rosemarie."

Jasper froze, and I heard Draver's sharp intake of breath.

I looked up to see Katya sitting with a bowl of what looked like my bloody water that Jasper used to clean out my wings.

"Rosemarie?" she said tightly, swallowing. "Is- Is that someone you met in Asgard?"

I was guessing the Rosemarie and her twin brothers were a sensitive topic for her- the Iris to her Lorena.

I pushed up, urging Jasper or Draver to take charge of the conversation. It wasn't my place to say- I didn't know Rosemarie and what she meant to Katya, and I didn't want to come off as rude if I said that Rosemarie was the 'bitch who tried to rip out my wings to teach me a lesson.'

"Yeah, about that." Draver grabbed water from Castor and downed the glass like it was shot of whiskey. "She's alive. So is Ryland and Ryker. But they're both not of this mythology, like Faye. And, well, like us. Our real identities are Geri and Freki, Odin's wolves. Rosemarie is a Valkyrie, one of which Odin has been hiding among mythologies to keep safe from Loki, who's apparently hunting them down."

"So they're alive?" she choked out, pressing a hand to her chest. "My pups are okay?"

"They're not the same." Jasper interjected. "They're older. Ryland and Ryker are close to Faye's age, Rosemarie a little younger."

She cried out, as if in pain, and Stark was by her side in a blink of an eyes, tucking her under his arm as he pulled her into a hug. His silver eyes, like glinting gunmetal, told us to stay off the topic until Katya got control of herself.

"Where's Lux?" I asked, hoping to change the topic.

"Ramon took her out shopping," Lorena popped in. "Winry, Castor's sister, is with them, so they're safe."

I glanced back at the auburn haired Lycan, taking him in properly. He was really odd- he had a Windex multi surface  spray hooked onto the belt loop of his jeans and a blue rage tucked next to it.

"Have we met?" I assumed that we had, so I stuck my hand out. "I'm Faye."

He firmly shook my hand twice. "My name is Castor." he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Hey, if they say anything about planes and pilots, don't listen to them okay? They were high at the time."

Pulling back, he smiled so wide his eyes disappeared. 

"Well then, who wants some shish kebab?" Kristos stole Kendra's spatula as he made his way back into the kitchen.

A resounding me echoed among us, including the blubbering Katya, and for some reason this felt more like home than Asgard ever did.