The Hydra Sin (SDS)

Chapter 28- Contact

I woke covered in sweat and breathing heavily, the night before I had gone to sleep had been filled with excited questions from the druids who, I suspected, didn't think I would actually be able to contact Asgard. I had answered as many questions with patience, but I was tired from my fight with Thor, so I bowed out as soon as I could to go pack.

I had planned to not leave until later in the day since I had no plan for what I wanted to do next, but after that dream, I knew that I needed to leave as soon as I could. It didn't take me long to gather the rest of my things, and as soon as I left my tent, I was surrounded by many of the adult members of the village, with Son-rah at the head.

"Janis, I am glad to see you were awake so early, we wanted to inform you that we are coming with you to fight Loki." I wanted to take a step back at her firm resolution and the similar looks that were on everyone's faces.

"Not that I'm really opposed to this plan, but may I know why?" I asked hesitantly, the druids were known as a warrior race, but there were so few of them left that I didn't want to let them endanger themselves further without good reason.

"When our people were attacked all those years ago, it made me realize that our position in this world is not as stable as we thought, and if we ever want to make a true comeback, then we cannot hide on our mountain like frightened rabbits. You coming here and telling me that we have been forgotten by the world gave even more credence to that idea; we were once some of the most feared warriors in this kingdom, but we have lost our true selves as time has gone by."

I nodded and looked at each face individually before turning back to Son-rah, "I know better than to try and stop you, I would welcome your help in the upcoming fight; it will not be easy. Should we perhaps try to enlist the sirens as well? I know that the rest of the banshees are out because of their corruption, but the sirens could be useful with their voices."

"No!" Several members of the crowd yelled out and when I looked to Son-rah in confusion, she simply sighed.

"The last time we saw the Sirens, they were hostile to the idea of being involved in the lives of 'silly mortals', I would recommend not contacting them."

I nodded, still a little confused, but right now I was more concerned with getting back to the sins so that we could defeat Loki and perhaps live a slightly normal life. "Okay, I recommend that we leave now then; I'm not entirely sure when Loki will strike, but I do know where. The Necropolis is one of the only places that he would be able to enter this world from, simply because if he wanted to come through anywhere else, he would have to break down a major barrier between our realms, which would be a bad decision on his part." Everyone was nodding, but something felt off, I did my best to shake the feeling off and started walking down the mountain.

I must have been showing my unease, because Son-rah quickly caught up with me and laid a hand on my shoulder, "Janis, if you would like to catch up with the other sins, we would not blame you; I'm sure that you are anxious to be reunited with your comrades, and we know where the Necropolis is. It would be more productive for you to go ahead and we'll provide backup when we arrive."

I nodded, "Yeah, I think I'll do that, could I possibly create a mist link with you first? I would be able to find you no matter what because of your connection with nature, but this way you'll be able to contact me if anything happens." She agreed, and I allowed the mists to rise and enter her slowly, much like I did with Hel and Ban; I felt the connection form within moments, and mere seconds after that I had entered my mist form and bade everyone farewell. Something big was going to happen soon, and no, I wasn't referring to Loki coming, though I didn't doubt that he would trigger whatever it was.

I attempted to connect with Hel, but something seemed to be blocking me, it had been over a day since I had last heard from her, and I was more than a little worried, especially after Loki proclaiming that he had broken into Helheim. As much as it broke my heart, I knew that it was entirely possible for him to use the souls there to his advantage; from what I had gathered about him from my studying and Hel's help, I knew that his power of telepathy with those in the same realm combined with his mastery of deception would more than enough to gain an army of souls.

Normally, souls wouldn't be an issue, especially since they really wouldn't be able to get through the barrier set up at the Necropolis, but with Loki being more than capable of breaking those barriers, he would have an army capable of incapacitating any forces that were sent against him. Souls were never permitted to stay in the mortal world after they had died for a good reason; they have a paralyzing effect on living bodies, and if they have ill intent, they can even force a body into a coma. The only reason I knew this was because every million or so deaths, there was one who could withstand the pull of the Necropolis and hurt people around them. Zaratras would have been one of those souls, but thankfully, I had been there to prevent anything from happening.

I walked away from the Dryads and morphed into my mist body form while reaching out to King, I had no doubts that they would be able to handle themselves, but I also wanted to make sure that they knew where to go. A sense of shock and irritation emanated from King when he sensed the connection, but I cut off anything he was about to say, "Meet me at the Necropolis." I said and cut the link, I would be there in only a few more minutes, so I spent the rest of the time trying to connect with Hel, her silence concerned me more than anything else.

Ban's POV

"What do you mean she just contacted you?" I held King by the front of his annoying green outfit and raised him to my face; it had only been a few minutes since Janis had gotten in contact with him and I was absolutely furious, though I wasn't bothering to ask myself why this made me so mad.

"He means exactly what he said, now let him go!" Someone was yelling at me, though I wasn't sure who, my mind was focused only on King.

"B-Ban, put me d-d-down, I think I c-can explain." King choked out and I threw him away from me and crossed my arms, waiting for his explanation.

Diane ran over to him, still in a human-sized form, "Ban, let him catch his breath; what's gotten into you?" She was looking at me with anger in her eyes and I just ignored that, keeping my gaze focused on King.

"It's okay Diane, I think I know why he reacted the way he did." With that King sent me a knowing look that bugged the crap out of me and I growled; just answer the question already! "Ban, I'm pretty sure she contacted me because I'm the only one that she can get a hold of without a mental link that she has already contacted previously. It's nothing besides that, and she only said five words to me, it was nothing special."

When I heard that, I sighed and looked away, for some odd reason, a ball of tension had unraveled inside of me now that I had a reasonable explanation.

Diane's POV

Outwardly, I was glaring at Ban for hurting King, but inside I couldn't help but smirk; Ban was so smitten with Janis, but he was so dense that he didn't even know it! Thank heavens we would be seeing Janis soon because waiting for these two to get together was torturous. Though, knowing how oblivious they both were when it came to their own feelings that they still probably wouldn't get together for a while; Meliodas and I had had several conversations on the best way for us to set them up, so maybe we could help them along.

The times of inaction were gone, as now we had a direction, and although we weren't able to find Escandor, we were going to the Necropolis and hoping for the best, this long-awaited battle was finally going to happen and I couldn't be happier!