“Is it true?” Maddie asked, walking at Eloise’s side as they were heading back to their flat.

 

“What?”

 

“That you have two brothers? I never heard you mention them before,” she added thoughtfully. She tried for the remainder of the day, after the encounter with the red-haired supposed sibling, to recall if her friend ever mentioned any such close relatives.

 

“I-,” Eloise barely opened her mouth to talk when she felt her guts doing the same weird dance they did when the one calling himself her brother showed up earlier in the day. Instinctively she looked behind, but there was nobody there except for a raven on top of a bench. Ravens were not common at all in that part of the country, but she bothered none with that bit.

 

“Hm? Are you all right?” Maddie turned to stare as well, while still being curious of what Eloise had to say in regards to her question.

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

“What about-”

 

“I don’t know,” Eloise frowned. She had been thinking about the unexpected visit and still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. “I can vaguely recall anything from my childhood, as if I lived a thousand lives merged together.”

 

“Then maybe it was just a coincidence. After all, it wasn’t even your name you got called by, which is the strangest.”

 

“Well, truth be told, I am adopted. What if I had another name before that?” Eloise mused at the sudden realization. She never asked her parents much about her past. She couldn’t even tell when she came in their care; all she knew was that for most of her life she was seen as a weird child and sometimes a nuisance thanks to her rather morbid passions, like nurturing for the dead animals found on the side of the road.

 

“Oh, I am sorry I brought up such a sensitive subject,” Maddie apologised in a quick breath.

 

“It’s okay,” she shrugged, not considering any offence being made. Eloise only wished that she could have a second chat with the mysterious brother and ask him about his sudden appearance and whereabouts.

 

However, little did she know that her wish would be granted. The moment they stepped inside the apartment, their blood froze in their veins; the girls heard a rattling noise coming from the kitchen; nobody else was supposed to be there except them. It was Maddie’s parents’ apartment, and they never visited without priorly announcing.

 

The girls closed the entrance door silently, and each grabbed something they could use in their defense. Though one couldn’t do much against an attacker with just a boot and a plastic broomstick.

 

It was to both of their surprise when they entered the room and witnessed a large black bird searching through their food shelves. It wasn’t just a bird; it was the same raven that Eloise saw on their way home—the very one that she stared in the eye when her gut jolted. She could tell it apart from a thousand given the small pack of silver feathers it had close to it's head.

 

It couldn’t be a coincidence that it was now in their apartment.

 

“How did this one get in?!” Maddie rushed towards the window, which strangely enough was closed. She then attempted to hush the bird with a tea towel, hoping that it would fly out without much of a hassle.

 

“Will you cease that already?” a voice that belonged to neither of the girls filled the room like an echo. They both stared towards the kitchen door, thinking that maybe there was indeed someone else in the house. However, just as they looked away, they missed the shapeshifting happening under their nose. The horrified screams, leaving their lungs, came as no surprise when they returned their focus back on the raven, who was now just the silhouette of the red-haired person.

 

“Where did you come from?” Eloise asked, pointing the broomstick in the intruder’s direction.

 

“Your bedroom window was open.”

 

“We live on the third floor! You couldn’t possibly climb the walls like Man-Spider,” Maddie added in a shaky voice, still taken aback by their unexpected visitor. “I suggest you invite yourself out, this time through the door, before I reach for the phone and call the police.”

 

“Oh, shush already,” Jörmungandr waved his hand through the air, and Maddie succumbed to a forced silence, her lips glued tightly together.

 

“What did you do to her?!” Eloise stared wide-eyed at her friend, who was screaming internally, unable to open her mouth anymore.

 

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

 

Looking back and forth between Maddie and her supposedly brother, Eloise sighed. There was clearly something strange happening—stranger than the red-haired one being able to simply enter their place through the third-floor window, possibly in the form of a raven. How was it even possible for one to become a bird?

 

“I appreciate that I started off on the wrong foot today. I was so ecstatic to see you after so long that I left entirely to the side the fact that you may be simply unable to remember me anymore. Or anything else from our past.”

 

“Who are you? What are you?” Eloise asked in a low tone. She needed answers.

 

“I am Jörmungandr, but you can just call me Jörmun,” he smiled with a tint of pride. “You are my younger sister, Hel. Aaand,” he counted on the fingers of his hand. “We also have Fenrir, our third and oldest brother.”

 

“Does this have to do anything with our biological family?” the girl asked hesitatingly. She remarked how quickly his pink-tinted eyes brightened up. It was only then when she observed the slightly elongated pupils; they reminded her of a snake’s eyes. Unless that was a genetic anomaly, then Jörmun was not even nearly close to being human.

 

“It does! So, you do remember something,” his last words came out soft, as if to double check.

 

“I actually... don't." All I know is that I am adopted.”

 

“Oh, I understand,” Jörmun replied in a quick breath. He heard Maddie whine while staring at them intensively. He rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, unbinding the girl’s lips instantly.

 

“What the hell was that?! How did you do that?”

 

“Nuh-uh,” Jörmun raised a warning finger. “Come with another avalanche of questions and presumptions, and I may do that again.”

 

“Please don’t mix Maddie into this; whatever this is,” Eloise threw her hands in the air, then walked to the table and pulled the chairs out, inviting the other two to sit.

 

“Only if she behaves. Is she your companion? Friend? Partner?”

 

“Partner?!” Maddie blushed to the tips of her ears, which were thankfully masked by her wavy hair. “We've been flatmates and study colleagues for a couple of years.”

 

“Ah! You can do so much better than this,” Jörmun stood up once again and pointed at the space around them. “You’re an Empress! Not just some girl’s flatmate,” he wrinkled his nose briefly, catching in the corner of his eye the offended silent gasp coming from Maddie’s side.

 

“An Empress?” Eloise barked a short laugh. “Of what? The odd balls in this town?”

 

“Of the Dead, my beloved sister. You were gifted to welcome and look after the souls of those that are no longer among the living.”

 

For a long moment, there was silence. In Eloise’s mind, there was a flood of questions, but also a good amount of connections—weird ones for sure, but worth considering nonetheless. For example, she used to feel the pain and suffering of the dying animals. Needless to say that it wasn’t much to people’s liking when she was deciding to bury them in the nearby public garden. Everyone she tried to speak to about it, whenever she was asked why she was doing such ceremonies, did nothing but stare at her in disbelief and pity, probably considering her short from crazy.

 

"Well, that was unexpectedly well taken,” Jörmun added, surprised by the lack of immediate reaction. Maddie looked confused and somewhat in denial of what she was being given to hear, but she was also scared to open her mouth, fearing another spell being cast on her.

 

“This... is very strange,” Eloise admitted.

 

“Hm? Is it? Well, where we come from, I can assure you it’s not seen as that.”

 

“And where exactly are you coming from? Some land of fantasy and elves?” Maddie eventually spoke, unable to keep herself silent any longer.

 

“Fantasy? Hmm, probably in human terms, yes. Does it contain elves? Well, of course.”

 

“How is it called?” Eloise asked, anticipating an answer only based off her siblings’ names.

 

“Asgard.”

 

“Did you just say Asgard?” Maddie puffed in disbelief, feeling that even with all circumstances at hand, it was getting ridiculous to believe. “THE Asgard? From the Norse Mythology?”

 

“I don’t know of any other,” Jörmun said innocently, while a grin spread on his lips.

 

“This is absurd,” Maddie protested.

 

“But our names match... Jörmungandr, Fenrir… Myself, supposedly as Hel. All children of Loki.”

 

“And you’re saying you remember nothing?” Jörmun arched an eyebrow at Eloise, starting to become sceptical about her memory loss.

 

“I do remember nothing. These are all myths we learnt about last year,” she said, looking at Maddie, then back at her brother. “We are studying history, you see. I actually enjoyed this part of the Nordic culture the most.”

 

“Interesting. I wonder why,” Jörmun said without sounding actually enticed by the subject. “Now that things make a bit more sense to you, are you ready to go?”

 

“She can’t just leave with you, Mr. Raven-man!” Maddie stood up, positioning herself between the two. “You come here, wave hands and snap fingers at us, telling us of distant myths, and expect us to take it all for granted?”

 

“Perhaps the silence spell was not strong enough of a proof,” he waved his hand again, and in place of Maddie, there was now a guinea pig, screaming its lungs out. Eloise stared down at it with a mix of shock and amusement.

 

“Please, change her back,” she bit her lip while abstaining herself from laughing.

 

“Only if you promise not to attempt at bossing around again,” Jörmun looked down at the guinea pig, which bobbed its head in approval. He then snapped his fingers once more and broke the spell, letting Maddie sit and be confused on the tiled floor.

 

“Can we please agree not to do this again?” the girl moaned as she stood up. She extended a hand towards Jörmun. They eventually met in a handshake, which for some reason felt like a pact. The other’s cheeky smirk spoke of nothing but mischief. She was not convinced that it would be the end of the ridiculous and potentially dangerous spells.