3 | 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐃 ▹ LOKI LAUFEYSON

i. the norns

Amora faltered. "Okay, um..." She looked down to the staff in her hands. "I don't understand everything, but I was sent—"

The dark-haired sister sighed. "We know that too, Asgardian. There's no need for you to explain everything."

Amora fell silent, adjusting the strap of the bag on her shoulder. This was certainly not going as she had anticipated.

The more personable blonde stepped forward. She reached out her hands to take Amora's, but she hesitated as though not quite sure how to interact with the visitor. Her hands then settled on Amora's and gave a squeeze.

"Don't mind my younger sister. She just has a bit of a shorter temper," she said, "I'm Verdandi, and this is Urd"—the other blonde gave a nod—"And Skuld." The third sister made no greeting.

Verdandi turned back to where Amora stood by the pools. "Take your staff and put it in the water."

Amora obeyed, carefully picking up her staff, Frigga's final gift. The dark cloak draped over her shoulders was not something that she would have normally worn, but after the past few days, she had grown used to it.

She placed the end of the staff in the water, sending ripples out across the surface.

Verdandi smiled. "Now, do you know what I am? What I work with?"

"The present," Amora said hesitantly.

"Yes, what is happening right now." The witch motioned toward the water with her own staff. "This is right now, and when I move my staff,"—she ran her staff through the water—"it moves how I like."

The blonde shrugged. "It's fairly simple."

Her eyes turned up towards a branch hanging overhead from a nearby tree. Verdandi raised her staff out of the water and pointed it towards the branch.

One of the leaves suddenly turned a deep red, crumpling it on itself and darkening to black, before falling from the tree.

Amora picked it up with a careful hand; the brittle leaf nearly broke apart in her grasp.

"So you can change fate in the moment," she said.

There were so many moments that she wished she could go back to with this staff. So many things that she wished she could change.

"There are limits," Verdandi spoke, "You cannot simply change anything, just as you can't change the current or path of water, but you can cause ripples. And you never know when something small can have a big impact."

Amora nodded. She was glad that Verdandi been more eager than her sisters, offering to teach her first. The witch smiled at her with such gentle sympathy and familiarity, as though they had known each other for years.

Verdandi's smile turned lopsided. "If you want to speak about fate, you should talk to Urd," she said, pointing back towards the other blonde.

Amora hesitated. While Urd was much less intimidating than Skuld, the witch did not seem entirely welcoming.

"Go on," Verdandi said, "She won't bite."

Urd wove her strings together as Amora approached. The young sorceress wondered if it strained her back to always be hunched over her tapestry.

"Yes," Urd spoke expectantly without looking up. Although, one of her eyebrows arched up.

"Um." Amora faltered. She looked around for something to speak of, but her eyes came back to the strings. "Do each of those represent someone?"