Forever. I Promise (Sequel to As one. Always)

Chapter 14

Three days had passed since I had confronted Thor about the clue I had found. Now my days were spent either in the library or in Odin's room. I was still searching for more clues, in vain. There was nothing else to be found, but I still checked. In the library I pretended to be looking up more techniques and spells to find clues. What I was really looking for was spells to bring back the dead, which were nonexistent.

The more I thought about this clue, the more I started to believe some trickery was afoot here. There was technically no proof that Loki had died. We had no body. No one had done an autopsy. Thor had been in a hurry when he declared Loki dead. He hadn't checked for pulse, he hadn't checked for brain activity.

I agree that Loki was close to death. He had been impaled, for goodness sake! But that doesn't mean he died.

I had begun to lose hope, until this morning I had finally found the gem I was looking for. The book was old, falling apart and had been pushed to the back of a shelf, and covered with more books. I had opened it and nearly had a heart attack when the cover basically fell off and the cover page crumbled a bit. Once I recovered, I gently turned each page, wincing when it buckled, hoping that the ancient book survived being read again.

It was the title that drew me to the book: Evading death.

It was so obvious a title that I had to check it out. The first few chapters didn't really hold anything important. They mostly went on about death, the state of the mind and body during death and the most practical ways to heal someone mortally wounded. All things found in healing books.

It was while reading the last chapters that things got relevant.

A person, though close to death, may not always enter such a stage. If the body is mortally wounded beyond the aid or herbs or medicines, one can avoid death by living through another. The wounded would not become a shadow or a spirit, but a living, breathing being once more, living on the life of another.

This was the first interesting thing I had found in days. I continued to read throughout the day. It seemed that once I found something useful, more information popped up.

One can be raised from near death by the giving of life by another. This would require giving blood, bone, flesh and hair, mixed with one's essence of life. The giver would essentially give up their life for the dying.

Closing the book, my mind began to think again.

Both passages were plausible. Loki was close to death, and had someone help him, whether living through them or having them give him life. Thor had left him to stop Malekith. Someone could have followed them to Svartalfheim and as soon as the coast was clear, run out and helped Loki.

This was the proof I needed. It made sense. It explained why I found his signature on the sheets. There was just one question now: motive.

I tucked the book under my arm, careful that the cover didn't disintegrate any more, and left to find Thor. He had been with Loki during his final hours. He could tell me what state of mind Loki had been in.

I was nearly to the throne room when I was stopped by three people I didn't feel like seeing. "Lady Noelle." I was greeted by Volstagg, who seemed a little nervous. He, Fandral and Sif were standing in the middle of the hall, shoulder to shoulder, blocking my path.

"Volstagg, Fandral, Sif." I greeted them quickly. "Good to see you." I tried to duck around Sif, and was nearly hit in the face by her arm blocking me. I looked up at her. "Look, I don't have time for this. I have to go."

"You've spent months on Earth and you already speak like them again." She said.

"I happen to be part human. Can we talk about my heritage later?" I gave them a look, to which the men looked away, embarrassed. Good. Sif was unfazed though.