Looking at all the things they packed, Eloise wondered how would that be efficient to carry around. By the sound of Jörmun’s words, they were going to head where wheeled travel bags won’t be of much use.
The girl let out a long sigh, accepting the option of them having to eventually abandon some of the luggage in the favour of saving space for food or other essential things for the journey.
“My mother is still sceptical about us leaving for as long as a whole month. I don’t think she’s buying the field research bit,” Maddie confessed as she carried her bag outside her bedroom. “How are your parents feeling about this?”
Eloise shrugged. Her parents were often a bit passive when it came to her care. She couldn’t tell if that was because she wasn’t their own blood, or because they were simply built that way, trusting her doing whatever she wanted to. She never felt disliked by her family, but not much attached to it either.
“They just told me to take care and not miss my exams.”
“Which is a reasonable thing to say,” Maddie nodded appreciatively. “Have you spoken to Jörmun? Is he on the way to the airport yet? We don’t even know where he lives or what he does other than stalking us for a hobby,” she fought her luggage to the door. Packing as many warm clothes as she could surely amounted to its weight. However, she wanted to at least try and be prepared for the winter they’d face in the north of Europe.
“How was I supposed to talk to him? Through telepathy?” Eloise said and realized that they did in fact had no way of reaching out to her brother. Truth being told, she never saw him using a phone; it would’ve probably crossed her mind to ask him for his contact if so.
“Well, I thought you may have asked for his number or something. Does he know about our flight? I think we told him last time, didn’t we?”
“I think we mentioned it.”
“This is so frustrating,” Maddie clicked her tongue, feeling annoyed with the situation. “If he set us up for a trip to Norway and he won’t show up…”
“Well then, we’ll just have to enjoy a vacation there and come back sooner than planned.”
“True. Let’s get going then!”
The girls made it to the airport and all the way out on the other side of their journey, setting foot on Norwegian land a few hours later in the day; all without a single sign or sight of Jörmun. They were set on believing that the so-called trickster’s son pulled yet another one of his fun pranks on them.
“It’s good we booked a hotel for the weekend. At least we can enjoy the city and decide after whether we want to stay more or change our tickets for an earlier leave,” Maddie said as they left the airport.
Eloise nodded absently at her friend’s words, but her mind was set aflame with anger. How could she even believe for as long that some random person showing up in her life, or rather in their life, would be there for some grand purpose as he claimed?
With Maddie being nose deep into her phone, trying to find the quickest way to the hotel through public transport, and Eloise fuming internally, both failed to see that they passed by the one they considered to be missing.
Jörmun caught up with them. He walked silently at their side in the hope that they would eventually notice him.
“I think we should head that way for the train- OH! Oh my God!” Maddie shrieked when she realized Jörmun was at her side, staring into the phone’s screen as she lowered it. “When did you show up? Where have you been?! We thought you ghosted us!” she planted a playful slap onto his arm.
“Oh, I’ve been around all along. You just didn’t see me.”
“I’m pretty sure we would’ve noticed your unmistakable hair if you were on the plane with us.”
“Let’s just say I was in the mood for fair tones this morning,” he winked, watching the girls frown in confusion and eventually give up on whatever he was up to in order to focus again on finding their way to their first destination.
“So, is this where we will spend the evening? Charming. Who chose it? Your grandmother?” Jörmun said as soon as he saw himself in the room. It was a pretty old fashioned place, but cosy and perfect for a couple of nights; not mentioning within the budget to which he contributed none.
“You should be the least to moan about it, when you haven’t paid a penny. Speaking of which, what is your offering to all of this?”
“My offering? I will be your guide.”
“We never asked for a guide. Should I remind you that you’re the one that initiated all of this,” Maddie protested while Eloise started to take out some of the food they bought on the way and place it in the small fridge.
“She’s right you know? You didn’t show much initiative in this journey other than setting us up for it.”
“Well, I did that.”
“That will not amount much if we end up hungry or without a place to stay.”
“We’ll manage.”
“Says the one that came without a luggage. Are you going to stay dressed in one set of clothes for the entire month? I am not sure whether I should feel disgusted or impressed.”
“Oh trust me, I don’t need any of that.”
“What? Hyegene?” Maddie pressed on, already imagining the foul smell they’d have to endure.
“You two, stop it already,” Eloise sighed, letting herself fall with a thud on the edge of the bed. It was surprisingly soft and comfortable.
“I will of course bathe myself. I am not a savage," Jörmun explained. "However, I have no need of clothes,” he snapped his fingers and with a discreet hissing sparkle, that looked like burning his clothes from ground up, his outfit changed entirely.
“This is not real.”
“Oh, but it is; finest asgardian silk. Touch it,” Jörmun approached and offered his sleeved arm.
The girls examined with a close look and a soft touch of the fabric. While Eloise gave up soon after on being impressed by the happening, Maddie was unable to tone down her fascination.
“Is this something you can teach others how to do it?”
“I doubt you’d be able to even conjure water in an empty glass, let alone fabrics,” Jörmun dismissed the girl’s hopes and dreams for an infinite and cost free wardrobe.
“This is incredible,” she ignored his defiant response and reached to touch again the sleeve, as if trying to make sure that it was as real as she’d felt it first time.
“You surely do a lot with this device of yours,” Jörmun peeked at his sister’s phone as she browsed the map of their journey.
“I’m sorry?” Eloise asked as she pulled herself out of the studious mood, realizing that she was being talked to.
“This… Thing.”
“My phone?”
“Mhm.”
“You don’t know what a phone is?” Eloise’s eyebrows twitched up, surprised by the news. Maddie barked a loud laughter at her side, nearly collapsing on the floor as she rolled on the bed.
“We were wondering why do you play mysterious not sharing your contact with us. Haha!” she eventually pushed herself back to a sit, brushing the tears from her eyes. “You have in fact not the slightest idea what a phone is.”
“That’s because I had no need of it, as much as I don’t require carrying half of the house with me when I travel.”
“Well, I am sorry but not everyone is as fortunate as you, to be able to change outfits through the blink of an eye,” Maddie snapped back, annoyed by his arrogance.
“Are you done?” Eloise looked at the two in turns, then invited them to explore together the potential route they would have to follow, leading them to the region that Jörmun pointed at on a map, when he first spoke of the journey.
The first two days were now behind and the trio was slowly but steadily heading north. They marked a few destinations on the map, where they could stop for the night. However, they reserved no rooms in advance, because according to Jörmun, there may have been detours on the way that could put them out of sync for any pre-booked evenings.
With the winter approaching, the day was becoming quickly shorter and shorter. They were supposed to be away for a single month, but each day felt as if it was shrinking considerably from the previous one.
Their first week of the journey rolled without any incidents or delays. After they went past their landing point, each town they visited seemed to only get smaller.
“There will be even less settlements as we head north,” Eloise said as she browsed her phone while waiting for a bus to come. They were headed towards a forest where Jörmun hoped to find some old cabin. The girls warned him that whatever he thought he could find there, may be significantly different in reality; if there was something so big and obvious, it would’ve surely been marked as a tourist destination.
“Uhm… Guys?” Maddie said as she frowned at her phone; a news page was open, where a video showed a bright lightning from various angles, filmed by random people and posted online. With no reaction coming back from the siblings who seemed to be still browsing the map, she approached, shoving her phone under their nose.
“What is this?” Eloise asked, sounding mildly annoyed for being interrupted.
“The article says that there was a lightning so bright and a thunder so loud, that it cracked windows and caused temporary blindness to some passersby.”
“And? Do we have a bad weather warning in our area we should watch out for?” she looked at Maddie who withdrew her phone, to keep on scrolling through the news article.
“Well, there’s no mention of that. However, at the place where the lightning struck, there was a man.”
“I suppose he is no more,” Eloise shrugged without sounding affected by the information anyhow. She checked impatiently for the bus; they were waiting for a while already and it was least to say pleasant, given that the cold wind made its way in with ease, even through their considerable clothing layers.
“Ah look!” Maddie exclaimed, bringing her phone back to everyone’s attention. “Someone actually caught footage of that person walking out. It looks like he wasn’t hurt.”
Jörmun’s lips went abruptly pale, as he pressed them in a thin line. His eyes widened and his heart rate increased considerably only at the thought of who that might’ve been. He snatched the phone from Maddie’s hand and stared at the picture; it was the tall silhouette of a well-built man, with a short beard and long, pale red hair. The person was wrapped in a long mantle matching the colour of his mane, only much brighter.
“That is no ordinary man,” Jörmun shuddered while still gripping tightly at the phone. He felt the girls’ eyes turn to focus on him, taken aback by his sudden reaction.
“Friend of yours then?”
“That’s Thor,” he whispered low, as if afraid of being heard.
Maddie snorted loudly, attracting Jörmun’s piercing gaze. “What? Don’t tell me you’re actually talking about the Thor we all think about. Isn’t he supposed to be blond anyway?”
“He has never been blonde.”
“Then the comics and movies had us believe in a lie.”
“This is not a joke,” Jörmun hissed and as soon as the bus arrived, he urged the girls in, while keeping an eye out for all the passengers; the recent news made him feel so uneasy, that he expected Thor to show up out of nowhere. They headed back to the very last seats of the bus, for the smallest bit of privacy, as their conversation carried on in a buzzing whisper.
“Is he after you?” Eloise asked. “Is there something you’re not telling us?” her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She wouldn’t have been surprised much if it was the case. Jörmun had been questionable enough in his doings so far.
“I have no doubt that it’s no coincidence. Where was he seen?” he asked, looking at Maddie who had been the news bearer.
“Not far from the airport we landed on.”
“He’s tracking us… But how?” Jörmun mused.
“Thor is tracking us?!” Maddie gasped, unsure whether she should be looking forward to it or fear it.
“Have you done anything that may have left… Magic traces?”
“Thor is denser than a rock. He wouldn’t be able to search and find magic even if it guided him through arrows ahead of his nose.”
“Well, I suppose we’re quite safe then,” Maddie concluded, putting her phone back in her pocket.
“If he knows where we’re headed, then we’re not.”
“If that would be the case, then why didn’t he land at our destination and wait for us there?” Eloise asked. Regardless where Thor may have decided to land, she liked it none that he was likely after them; and by them it likely meant only Jörmun. It was a variable nobody cared to mention.
“Because he probably doesn’t know where that place is exactly. Fenrir has been trapped there for a while; Midgard changed ever since he had been abandoned there,” Jörmun frowned. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the old man doesn’t remember anymore and he just sent his dumb son to scout the surroundings in the hope that he’ll find something.”
“Well he wasn’t far off from us. Just a bit out of sync.”
“But why would he want to mingle in your… Or our family business?” Eloise asked. She knew of the myths she read about, but couldn’t help but wonder if the truth was different.
“Because that’s what they always did; Odin and his kin,” Jörmun spoke through gritted teeth. “That’s why we’ve been disbanded and our father is trapped somewhere.”
“Loki is trapped for good?” Maddie gasped. She recalled reading a story speaking of it, but didn't think it was real. “Can’t he just… Shapeshift his way out?”
“If he’s bounded by magic, then no. He can’t,” Jörmun explained, feeling a heavy weight on his chest. “That family of Gods knows nothing but to foolishly banish or kill anyone that threatens their existence, even if that’s only in their heads.”
“As if you could at any point be a threat to Odin,” Maddie scoffed, earning herself a glare from Jörmun so intense, that it felt as if her whole being was split for his poisonous eyes to pierce right through her soul.
Eloise put a hand over her brother’s back, attempting to calm down the spirits, while urging her friend through a stare to stop mocking the other.
“We can’t be sure if that’s Thor. Maybe it’s a coincidence. There are loads of natural phenomena that we don’t understand. I say we carry on with our journey and if we are to face anyone resembling that person, we’ll see then,” Eloise gave a small nod to her own words, then watched the other two agree in a similar manner. If trouble was really on their way under any shape, they were better off together rather than split and busy holding grudges.
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