Endlessly

Hive Mind

"Please! Hilund- put him down! We can talk about this!" Your entire body vibrates with fear that you pray isn't nearly as obvious to her or Loki as it is to you.

"Careful, Little One- you're starting to sound like him." Her grip tightens on Loki, causing him to let out a little puff of air. She raises her free hand in your direction when you take a step toward her, her seidr gathering at her fingertips.

"I'll get the Casket." Loki's eerily calm tone of voice comes as a shock to you, and by the way Hilund snaps her head back in his direction, to her as well.

"Make me believe you, God of Lies."

"I will leave Gersemi here, under your care while I retrieve it."

THE HEL YOU WILL.

"Loki!" Your face and neck catch fire at his outlandish proposal.

"Is that so?" The giantess laughs, still dangling the young prince in the air. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"It's certainly not for you, if that's what you'd like to hear." He taunts.

"I'm crushed." She retorts, her sarcasm thick enough to be cut with a knife.

"Gods, the two of you fight like siblings." You scoff, your frustration with their ridiculous bickering temporarily overshadowing your fear.

"Cousins." Hilund laughs, releasing Loki, who lands on his feet with the grace of a cat. "'Course, I would never claim the runt." She drifts toward the kitchen area without another word.

You turn to him for an explanation, but he looks even more baffled than you feel.

"I beg your pardon?" He tips his head to the side, his sass not even remotely dampened by the fact that he's spent the last several minutes in a giant's chokehold.

She returns to the room with three mugs of steaming liquid, gesturing with a tip of her head at the large chair for the two of you to sit down. You both obey without a word, and she hands you each a clay mug full of something resembling herbal tea.

Her pensive gaze shifts from her mug to Loki. "You are unaware of much more than I realized." She takes a sip of her piping hot beverage. "Vernonias are native to Jotunheim. They didn't exist before the Casket was placed here and they all died off, along with most everything else, when it was stolen. Where did you get these ones?" Her eyes dart back and forth between the two of you, her expression difficult to read.

"They-" You begin to speak, but hesitate, worried this may not be your secret to share. Or if it should be shared with a woman who just had the man you love, who is apparently also a relative of hers, in a chokehold.

Loki gives you a reassuring nod and you continue. "They are growing in a deeply secluded area, hidden away in one of Asgards forests. The trees are so thick there that practically no light reaches them."

Hilund smiles, a reaction that you find completely baffling amongst all other things. "They prefer the cold and dark." Her eyes glisten with pride. "They must be able to grow only on the realm that houses the Casket."

"So we need to go to Asgard to get more-" You interject, your stomach still in knots in fear for your sister.

"No." She rumbles. "You need to go to Asgard to get the Casket."

Before you can protest, she continues. "Several hundred years after our banishment, the Jotun race was prospering. We'd developed our magic even further, had created our own political systems, and realized that we no longer desired to live amongst the false gods. We no longer needed them. Naturally, the All-Father felt threatened by this. He attacked us in our new home realm.