Happiness did not come easily for her. It never has. Especially now as she was surrounded by the emptiness of dark space.
Is she floating, is she standing, is she sitting? She did not know and she knows it doesn’t matters.
The pain chipped away her abilities to even make judgment, only pain and more pain, a suffering that seems to be eternal.
The image of red thunder flashed inside her mind and she shivers.
For all of her sufferings she has never complained. Sometimes this almost unbreakable determination looks more like an atonement.
Another image appears inside her mind. A gigantic face in the sky shouting at her and she trembles.
Like she was bearing some terrible sin on her shoulders. The image disappears and she was back where she was at.
In pain.
She didn’t know how she is in pain and what or why she is in pain. Only the pain exist, pain is the only feeling she felt, chipping at her life force, sapping away her vitality and erasing her memories.
Not only that but she was assaulted with her worst memories.
The image of thunder and the face on the sky appears again as she shakes and trembles in that emptiness of dark space.
She remembers the most painful experience without any of the good ones.
Most people would break by now. But she endured. She did not know why she endured or why she gritted her teeth to endure the pain or why she is still not consume by sadness and end the pain herself.
She do not remember anything happy to keep her going…but there is a certain determination that keep her going.
An obsession.
It was stronger than any other happy memories that even the pain could not erase it. It was a steely determination.
She felt this pain every day, and every day she endures. She did not remember how many times but she knows this pain is familiar.
A punishment of some sort…or was it a price that needs to be paid?
The pain assaulted her again today and once again she was on that place.
She looked upwards and she saw red skies and red sun. She closes her eyes and she hears the screams and wails, the pleadings and the unfulfilled prayers.
She closes her ears and she could feel the destruction coursing through her body determine to make her just like one of those faceless wraiths screaming and crying, wailing and praying.
And then suddenly she was jolted by a foreign energy that seems to breathe energy into her and like she was being slammed into life, she opens her eyes.
Slowly she opens her eyes. It was then that she realizes it. She has returned back to her younger body.
It was not something new. As she was released from that dark emptiness of space her memories returned.
‘This time it was longer. Every time it become longer and longer’ she whispers to herself as she could feel the sweat on her back.
She looks around her surrounding where she felt something is not quite right.
She was lying on the ground of a cave with Louise sleeping beside her, with blood stains on his robes.
Examining Louise with her eyes, he seems to be breathing and looking at his body, there is no signs of wounds.
‘He seems to be breathing alright. But he usually guard me far away in the corner of somewhere else not beside me ‘she thought to herself.
But if that was not weird enough, not too far away from where she was lying down a young man is roasting meat.
The man was young with long silver hair that reaches her neck and a boyish charm. He was six feet seven.
Green dark aura surrounded the young man feet with no intention to hide that aura. The young man seems to not mind.
‘Loki’ she coldly said, there was no emotion in that word. Loki looks at Morgana and only shakes his head.
‘Morgana, awake already?’ Loki asked.
Loki tosses another firewood into the fire pit, as Morgana could see the face clearly now.
‘It was still his disguise’ she mused.
‘Never his true face’
The woman was Morgana and the person roasting meat not too far away from her sleeping place was Loki.
‘How are you here?’ That was her first question. Loki on the other hand seems to not notice the tense atmosphere as he sprinkles some salt on the grilled meat.
‘I was invited in’ he said nonchalantly.
It was only when Morgana was about to get up in anger she realizes she has no energy left.
‘What happens?’ She ask herself. She was incredulous right now as she realizes she did not have any energy.
If Loki wanted to end her right now it would be as clicking his finger.
Then she realizes the sweat all over her face. She rubs it before feeling it to be extra sticky then locking at her hand she realizes that it was not sweat but black blood.
Her face fell. Loki looks at her and sighed.
‘What have I told you? Magic always has a price to pay. Especially dark magic. It demands more. It always has and it always will.’
‘That’s none of your business’ Morgana snapped before finding herself shocked at her behavior. It almost like she was assaulted by a negative energy stimulating her to easily get angered.
‘What happened to me?’
‘Punishment ‘Loki easily said as he rotate the grill meat on the makeshift roaster.
‘What do you mean? ‘
‘What else do I mean? Do you forget what you’ve done? Your own child Morgana. Your own blood. Is it worth it?’
Loki ask back as he looked at Morgana with a hint of pity. Morgana face warped. She didn’t like people looking at her with that expression.
It reminded her of her father, God of Death. It reminded her of that face in the skies and the red thunder that punished her.
‘You performed blood magic’ Loki declares.
‘Do you really think such magic will not be punished? You use your most pure innocent heart, the love for your child as a fuel for your magic. The pain, the despair…..I could not have imagined why you would resorted to that.’
‘Not all of us are like you Loki who have friends on high places. Not all of us have powers like the Sovereigns.’
Morgana snorted but her face clearly scrunched up whenever Loki mentioned her son. Loki did not reply only closing his eyes.
‘Now leave.’ Morgana said. She was afraid Loki would do something else. She is now at her most vulnerable moment.
She didn’t even have the energy to perform any magic from the Investiture of the First Race.
Loki shakes his head. The atmosphere inside the cave suddenly become tense. Morgana strengthen herself to get up as she summons her Tome.
It’s the best she can do with her current condition. She tries to nudge Louise body with her feet but Louise isn’t waking up.
‘Leave.’ She ask again this time her tone was cold.
Loki ignore her for a while as he tastes the meat with his fingers before nodding to himself praising himself for cooking bland meat into gourmet food.
‘I am not finished roasting my meat. I’ll go after that. Come to think of it you did not even pay me a dime or even say a word of thank you.’
‘Thank you’ she said coldly as he she stands unstably
‘Come now. Relax yourself. You will require more energy before you got back your prowess. Let your Orb finished charging itself up.’
This time it shocked Morgana.
‘He knows that I have no energy right now? Why didn’t he go for the kill?’ She contemplate this question as he looks unblinkingly at Loki.
For a while there is only silence as they both only cares about what the other were doing. They both sighed and then went to their own activities.
Loki was roasting his meat while Morgana try to sleep.
Knowing that he already knows she has no energy and still did not kill her, means Loki didn’t want to kills her.
She trusted her judgment. After all she is Loki ex-wife. This is the reason she absolutely certain Loki won’t kill them when they are asleep. Thus, she knows she could sleep soundly.
With the barrier on the outside the sound was dampened. But even she could hear the storms and see the lightning covering the night skies.
Silence filled the moment. She was lying on the makeshift bed made of thick fur that gives her warmth.
She could not sit still as she finally could not repress her curiosity and began sitting up as she looked at Loki direction.
‘What happened to me?’ This question broke this awkward silence between them. Loki just smirk.
The girl is stubborn but Loki knows Morgana is a girl that could not hold her curiosity at bay. She was inquisitive.
This is the only trait that make her a little cute.
‘If I had to hazard a guess, hmm…maybe it is a form of temporal displacement between your soul and body’ Loki said his face looking serious now
‘Or maybe it is the Dark Price. Now this kind of pain you experience could not be easily explained by science or logic. It is magic. It wasn’t supposed to make sense. What the mind could think, the mind could conjure. And the aura that permeates around you has a trace of Universal Energy which means you are fucked’
‘Is that your expert opinion? I’m fucked?’ Morgana said with her face showing how displeased she is right now. Loki chuckles.
‘I could only guess because while at some extent I could manipulate Time when I was Sovereign it was not to the point of mastery quite like Jean. Neither am I proficient in manipulating souls. That’s the Prince domains.’
Putting his hand up like he was surrendering Loki continued
‘Truth be told you have meddled with the most abstruse concept of Time and not only that. Since you facilitate your time slip with dark magic and not Domains or Dominions, the price is steeper’
Morgana face turns grim. She notices Louise is still not waking up. What the hell did Loki do to him? She wondered before asking Loki
‘So, what do you think of my problem? Tell me’
‘Body and soul. Mostly when you turn to your younger version each time you travel back and forth you left something and take something. The Dark Price that is’
‘What does that mean?’ Morgana ask Loki as Loki sighed.
‘The connection between body and soul are hard to explain and proven. Simply because you can’t see souls. But it exist. That was something I confirmed.’
‘Soul?’
‘Yes, soul. Do not underestimate the power of a soul; or what happen when your soul is damaged.’ Loki said. He once saw The God of Death reaped a person soul and used that soul to power an entire universe.
Only a person with such understanding of souls could manipulate it to that extent.
This was after the great event that happen in his battle with the Annihilator as the God of Death understanding of the soul increased.
‘The God of Death once said to me that one human soul if used appropriately could power up an entire universe. Which is why he was always puzzled at mortal willingness to bargain their souls’
‘I don’t want to hear about him. Any solutions?’ Morgana ask as Loki smirking face turns scary.
He clicked his finger and then disappears into a puff of green smoke when suddenly he appears only a few steps in front of Morgana.
She was sitting and she was nearly shocked and almost fall back down to her bed.
‘This is not fair. You seem to ask me all the question with me not gaining anything. I am Loki. The God of Mischief, Deceit and Deals. Mortals call be by many name and I never give something without gaining something of equivalent value. Morgana, Morgana’ he said her name as he shakes his head in regret.
‘Do you think me saving you is only because you are in need? From now on, you.owe.me’ and he smiles.
BOOM! The thunder outside boom as the skyscape were filled with lightning arcs stretching all across the skies.
Morgana eyebrows creased. If this was before the Fall owing something to someone is not a big deal.
After all if the other party did not want to pay what she or he owed that’s the end of it.
But Morgana knew about Loki most proficient Laws. Karma. Since she owed him today, one day, Loki would cash what she owed him.
And the Price the God of Deceit asked would surely be steep.
‘Tch’ she clicked her tongue looking at Loki smug face.
Loki beckon his finger towards the meat when the meat on the roaster flies off to him and he grabs it with his hand as he take a bite and his eyes shining with satisfaction
‘I’ve seasoned it pretty well’ he said to himself as he walks away from Morgana bed. Morgana look at Loki back with a complicated expression
Loki keep eating the meat.
There is notification of his stamina being restored but he ignored it. When he reach the Energy Disperse Stage the stats has disappeared.
After all with each realm the power of each person is different.
Now it depends on skills and the condition of the realm. As he thinks about this he remembers Azief.
‘He is walking the path of perfection in this timeline.’ He muttered as he take another chunk.
Even Loki could not follow that path. First it was too long and second he doesn’t have the will. People might think it is easy to get Tribulation Lightning but it’s not.
Not only one has to persevere to get to the Undying Physique collecting numerous EXP but also has to endure the pain of the Tribulation Lightning.
The pain is easy to describe but it is different for the people experiencing it.
To describe it is after all easy. Painful, skin ripping pain but who have felt their skins get ripped or heat that burns you from the inside. Easy to describe, hard to endure.
‘Now it’s my time asking some question, Ana.’
‘Why do you hate your own father?’ And Morgana face turns red with anger.
‘You!’
‘You owe me a question. To be more precise you owe me eight questions.’ Loki said as he laugh, his laugh reverberates inside the cave.
Green smokes fill the caves and a sealing power slowly creeping up towards Morgana. That sealing power was in the shape of strings that seems to slowly bind Morgana feet.
It could not be seen by naked eyes but it could be felt. Something constricting, something that is unholy.
Morgana expression was calm but only she knows how fast her heart is beating right now.
Loki however take a step forward as the green smokes becomes thicker and the strings on her feet becomes even tighter.
‘Do you want to pay now or do you want to wait when I regain back my power? Trust me when I say, you don’t want to owe me when I regain back my power. I could be pretty scary to my debtors. Though that does not really work with your father. He is such a bully, you know?’
Morgana ignore that last bit and answer with gritted teeth.
‘I…was banished from Heaven. His Heaven’ she said. And Loki eyes bulged out.
‘So, it is true. He created his own galaxy with him as the God of that Universe’ Loki nodded as he understand something.
Then he ask his second question.
‘Why are you so young when I first met you? It should not have been possible. If your age right now is only on your teens than when I met you that time, you should have been at your 300 years. Even I was at that time was almost 300 years. But you were younger than me by a whole 200 years’
Thinking whether to answer this question Morgana finally relented.
‘In the original timeline I was captured by this puppeteer a few years after the fall. At the time I was just a child. She tortured me becau-‘but she suddenly stopped her words and Loki impatiently ask
‘Because of what?’ Loki ask as Morgana smiles.
‘That’s your third question’ as Loki immediately tries to close of his mouth.
In his anxiousness of hearing the answer he unwittingly falls to Morgan ploys. Now he has only five question left he could ask. But he did not get angry
‘Smart. I acknowledge that.’ Loki nodded. After all he also uses this kind of loopholes with his debtors and no one forbids his debtors to be smart about it.
‘So, answer it’
‘With pleasure.’ Morgana said smiling
‘He tortures me because he finds pleasure in it’ Then she stopped saying anything else.
This time Loki will not be baited to ask another question as he come back to the root of the question
‘You still did not answer my initial question of how you were so young. Which means you still owe me that one question. SO answer it and stop trying to think tricks’
‘Tch’ Morgana clicked her tongue as she nodded
‘The puppeteer was defeated by an Element manipulator and I escaped but I fall into a cavern. In that cavern there is the White Dragon of the Ice Mountain. I was swallowed by it. By a stroke of luck my magic protect me until I arrived at his stomach. As his stomach was full of ice energy it forces my body to hibernate. And so I hibernate for hundreds of years until one day a person defeated the White Dragon and found me in his stomach.’
‘That man is the God of Death. I understand now.’ From this Loki also knows why the event of this timeline is different.
Morgana must have avoided the Puppeteer or killed that puppeteer already.
‘What happens next?’ He ask his fourth question.
‘I was adopted by him.’ And she stopped saying anything. Loki knows he make another mistake. He did not specify of how much next should she said.
But Loki gives that a pass.
‘Where did you live after that?’ He ask his fifth question.
‘His Universe. At the time, I didn’t know anything. I might have live for hundreds of years by then but I was still at the Orb Condensing Stage when I was swallowed by that dragon. When I was saved the world I saw was not the world I knew. Father….’
And she said father with hesitation like she was afraid she would get scolded but she continued saying ‘takes pity on me, adopted me and brings me to his Universe. I live in Heaven as the Overseer of His Archangels. In that Universe I was powerful beyond belief as I was blessed by God. It helps when God is your Dad.’
She laughs dryly
‘It was good moments. I live there for eons’ Loki nodded.
It is not surprising. If Azief manages to create a universe the flow of Time of his Universe might be different from the time flow of Earth.
If not how could he explains that Azief while he rarely appears on Earth prime he always shows his face in a few hundred years?
After all he is the God of that Universe so he could have just speed up the time in his universe to achieve faster evolutions for his creations.
‘You said you were banished. Why? And please specify’ Loki ask his sixth question
Morgana closes her eyes as she remember the red thunder and the face in the skies and his heart breaks again.
But she answers. She did not want to owe Loki when the time comes. There will be a lot more secrets she will keep later. She did not want to owe Loki her question when it matters.
So, she answer his question
‘I….did…something unforgivable. Father…in his wrath took away my scepter, stripped me of my power and banished me from his Universe hurling me down to Earth, weak and defenseless. If not for my resourcefulness I would not have survived. In my eons of work in Heaven I know that my Father has a treasure room. In one of that room was the Investiture of the First Race location. I memorized the location. It was in Earth Prime and was full of dark magic. I always wondered why he didn’t take it but considering my Father Power level maybe he look down on such artifacts.’
‘I always wondered how you found that Ancient Tome so, that’s how you found it.’
‘What unforgivable act did you do?’ Loki ask his seventh question. And Morgana smirk. Her trap works.
‘I….killed his son’ and hearing this suddenly Loki felt like he was being hit by lightning. A son? He almost blurted.
But he manages to endure. Could it be little Alexander?
Loki ask himself. He knows that Sofia had a son called Alexander but she lost her in a miscarriage.
But was that the truth? Could the God of Death did something?
Loki wanted to leave the last question for later but he knows now he couldn’t contain his curiosity. And that was the trap. Loki realizes it. Morgana wanted to settle all of her questions today.
‘What was the name of his son?’ He asked his last question.
Morgana smiles and she said the name. As she said the name thunder boom in the skies as the storms outside getting even fiercer.
Loki just nodded when he heard the name but he was truly shocked. The answer was not was he expected.
‘You no longer owe any question from me. Next time, I advise you to be careful when you ask someone a question. It forms Karma. Unimportant question form weak Karma, important question form strong karma.’
Looking at the still unconscious Louise Loki waves his hand as a pill landed on the side of Morgana bed.
‘This is the pill to wake him up. I need him to be unconscious for me to save you since no person alive could endure that much pain. He…might like you, Morgana’ Loki said.
‘He sacrifices his vital force and even demoted back into Pillar Forming Stage donating his orb to wake you.’
Looking at the unconscious Louise he said bitterly towards Morgana
‘I truly do wish you to live happily. I hope you could put down your mission.’ He sighed before he continues
‘If you really determined on pursuing this pointless mission of yours….then I will warn you now. There is only one path you are walking if you are still stubborn. And that is the path of your own demise. I have warned you Morgana.’
And Loki usually mischievous expression is no longer there. This expression of his was scary and the pressure emanating from his body was like a Titan.
‘Next time, if Louise really wanted to ask for my help, emotional appeal will not work anymore.’
He said sternly before turning his back and walk outside the cave passing through the matrices formation without any resistance.
Loki look back at his behind and all he sees is a huge boulder. The cave is nowhere to be found.
‘She has strengthened the formation’ Loki nodded as he walk amidst the rain and lightning crisscrossing in the clouds.
‘I didn’t thought that it was that complicated’ Loki mutter as he remembers what Morgana told him about Azief son.
Then having a heavy expression on his face, he disappears in a puff of green smoke. Morgana inside her cave holds her chest in pain the moment Loki disappears.
‘Damn it, that Trickster. He formed Karma with me. I must cleanse the Karma.’ She said as she could see the green string slowly binding itself to her fingers with her magical eyes.
She has the Eyes of Fires that could see through all Illusions and Disguise which is why she could always see through Loki disguise.
In the Jade Palace this ability belongs to the Sun Wukong the War God of The Jade Palace.
When Loki donned his disguise Morgana would always see two faces superimposed with each other.
It also works against illusionist and the Illusion master like Hikigaya. But cleansing Karma is easier than done.
And cleansing karma could not be done by dark magic. It will only strengthen it.
You could sever it but that requires understanding of Karmatic Laws and only powerful people like Sovereigns could cut Karma lines as easily as cutting paper.
‘I don’t like this but I guess I have to meet The White Witch and ask for her help. I’m also curios about the stories of her tattoo. I think that is Loki handiwork.’ and she chuckles a bit.
‘The Wicked Witch meets with the White Witch. It sound like a beginning of a bad story.’
Outside the storms is getting fiercer as the lightning keeps dancing.
***
GREECE
NORTHEASTERN GREECE
ORGANI, RHODOPE
The Oracle looks at the sky. It was full of spacecraft falling down. The warriors fights on the ground spilling blood and reaping lives.
Dozens of villages in the distance is in fire. Screams of anger was drowned by the sound of explosions, gunshots and metals ripping through flesh.
About five thousand warriors charged through the battlefield fighting the invaders from outer space.
Mages hurls fireballs while Elementalist changed the terrains to be more advantageous to them, warrior’s swings their swords, snipers and gunman shot from the distance while Archers supported with their AOE attacks.
Alchemist and Physician concocted medicines while Poisoner coated poison in the warriors weapons, Builders builds rams and ballista and cannons helping the force to halt the crazed attack of Weronian to kill the important member of the Revolutionary Army, The Oracle Erika.
Not far away from him was the strongest woman in the world, Katarina.
Each time she moves her hand an ice spear is formed and was hurled into the clouds, felling down two or three spacecraft belonging to the Weronians.
On the ground Katarina brother, Boris is commanding hundreds of beast to maul the Weronians intending to capture Erika.
As a Beast master he commands almost a hundred beast. With one point of his fingers his beast would ride to the battlefield and rampages fearlessly.
Beside him was the woman Erika is most curious about, Paulette, Jean woman. Paulette keep sniping any Weronians she could find with her scope.
Every second Erika could hear the sound of gunshot. Behind her was the former Emperor of France Jean combating a few five horns Weronians.
The Weronians targeted her from the beginning probably wary of her abilities that could see through the future.
If not for her vision of the future she would be dead by now.
She needs to flee to safety before advancing her plans.
‘I need to confirm my suspicions’ she whispered underneath her breath as a face appears inside her mind.
It was the man she always felt wary about, Loki the Trickster. She senses something is amiss with that guy.
After passing this trial she has to find him. Erika thinks he might hold important information that could help her.
As the vision of the future that she saw turns even grimmer she could not help but to try find a way to make sense of it.
She saw Seven godly beings warred against each other, she saw a wedding full of bloodshed, she saw a continent was being crushed in a battle being two powerful beings and she saw the sky cracked and a darkness that devours everything.
Even a person with the strongest heart would feel hopeless seeing such visions.
She needs answer. As she keep dodging attacks and people protecting her to go to the spaceship belonging to the Revolutionary Army she did not forget her mission.
Find Loki. And with that she needs the help of Mind Master. As she boarded the spacecraft her eyes turns cloudy as another vision swarmed her mind.
It was only a second but she gains valuable intel
Then smiling she muttered under her breath
‘The Prince has returned’
***