Shadow of Hope(Book 2)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Frigga was gone.

The Queen of Asgard was dead.

She died with a blade in her hand. A warriors death.

And in some of her final moments, she thanked me and asked that I find Edith.

I had only experienced death a few times in my life; I'm not talking about the deaths I'd caused during battle, or the ones Id witnessed waiting for my dad's shift to end at the hospital. I'm talking about the deaths of those you actually knew, of those you grew to care for.

My grandparents had died when I was 6. I had never known them, but dad had said they were good people. Dad told me once that grandpa had been an artist, his favorite muse being my grandmother.

He would spend countless hours just trying to get the color of her eyes right; a hazel mixture of green and brown with flecks of gold mixed in. He would paint and draw each strand of her dark hair with care. Even when the light began to fade from her eyes, and her hair greyed with age, he always made her look like even more of an angel then she was.

They were one of those couples you heard about on the news; sweethearts from the very beginning and until the very end. They passed from this world hand in hand with not a single breath separating them.

I thought I understood death, I thought I knew how you were supposed to react when someone you loved was suddenly not there anymore. I knew you were supposed to get upset, and grieve, and in time the pain would lessen. Dad had always told me that they weren't really gone, that in a way, they were still there with us.

And then he left me.

My dad died three years ago in a helicopter crash. He was a nurse.

When I was told, I wasn't sure how to react. I hadn't cried, or screamed out in outrage. I hadn't  even thrown things. I just sat on the floor of my living room in silence, my mind and heart empty of all expression and feeling. I sat there for three hours before Peter found me.

" What's wrong?" He had asked, but I couldn't even respond, as if speaking the words would break me in two. " Do you want me to leave?" He had asked next, but I had just looked at him. Peter sat with me in my silence until his Aunt May came to find us, then she sat with me to.

Peter swears to this day that we sat like that for almost 13 hours before I finally spoke, but I had barely noticed the passing of time.

Sam found me in bed hours after the funeral of Frigga and the many Asgardians who had given their lives, staring up at the ceiling in silence. " Did you know?" I asked her.

" Alice-"

" You were acting weird when I got back, so did you know?"

" I have the ability to sense death." She said sitting next to me on the bed. " Its something I've been able to do my whole life."

" Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered.

" It wouldn't have changed anything, Alice. I can sense death, but fate cannot be altered, no matter how much we wish it could be. I learned that lesson the hard way."

" I'd like to be alone." I told her.

" Alice-"

" Just go away." i snapped turning away, and with a nod she disappeared in a swirl of shadow.

********

" I told you she wouldn't understand."

" A lesson had to be learned."

A loud knocking woke me from my dream, but I just pulled the pillow over my head hoping that whoever it was would just go away and leave me alone. When the knocking continued, this time louder, I was forced to crawl out of the cocoon I had created. As I threw open the door, ready to snap at whoever had decided to disturb me, I found an annoyed looking Thor and a smugly smiling dark haired prince. " Thor-" I started to say, but he cut me off.

" Look, just let me explain." He said, and I stared at him before stepping aside to let them in. " Make it quick. I want to be out of here before Odin throws me out himself." I muttered, walking over to where I had left my backpack. 

" He's throwing you out?" Thor questioned stepping into the room, and I let out a sigh, dropping my head. " I'm not pretending not to know that the only reason I was allowed to stay as long as I have was because..." I trailed off, before shaking my head. " Because Frigga asked him to let me stay. My only reason to agreeing to stay was because I wanted to help you, and because I wanted to know more about Edith." I told him. " War is over. Frigga is gone. I have no other reason to stay here."

" Then you wouldn't mind helping with one last thing before you go." Thor said, and I glanced between the two princes before I made a face. " Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" I sighed.