In her favor

Prologue

In her favor

Prologue

It started in a winter day. The wind was cruel, lashing enraged at its surroundings. A lone figure was walking down the empty street, its head down, its arms holding a couple of books as if its life depended on them.

Lugh's interest immediately peaked. Who was crazy enough to go out in this freezing storm? And what was so important? It was hard for someone like him to fight the ennui of eternity and become interested in someone or something. In the past centuries he though seriously about drinking the potion of second chance, but Loki or Veles dragged him to the present, making him delay the moment when he would erase his whole personality and start anew.

But the mortal fighting the storm was uncommon. So he followed the figure, observing every detail to discover what it was, what were its reasons, where it was headed.

That was how it started.

Curiosity.

It evolved quickly into interest and amusement when he made it so that he appeared in her way – because Lugh found out the foolish mortal was a female – to get to know her better.

The days gone by and Lugh found himself enthralled by the quirky female. She brought uncertainty in his boring existence. It was impossible to not fall in love with her.

He fell.

He fell so hard that he went to Zeus to beg him for the Golden Apple, the one that granted the person who ate it immortality. It wasn't cheap. Zeus demanded one favor of him: that he would save Hercules children and bring them to Olympus. It wasn't easy, but he did it. He had to leave his love all alone for a couple of weeks while he accomplished the favor, but in the end it would have been worth it.

As soon as he finished the task for Zeus, he went to Mount Olympus to claim his prize. He froze when he got in the Hall of Gods – a round marble floor with columns going on forever while white clouds encircled the space providing a pocket between dimensions - where the entire pagan Gods could meet. Zeus was sitting in his throne with Lugh's mistress on his right – the Queen of the Tuatha Dé Danann – and Baba Yaga with Veles on his left. Odin was arguing with Loki some steps down and Lugh knew they were in trouble. The Greek God – as were most of the deities in attendance – was looking at the mortal in the center of the room.

It was his mortal.

Aife was sitting among Gods, looking at everyone with eyes of a wondrous child – enraptured and afraid at the same time.

Lugh was preparing to go to her when Eris appeared and stopped him.

"I'm sorry, brother. But she is Dwale's heir," he heard Discord say, holding him back by the shoulder.

"It can't be," thought Lugh. "Aife doesn't know anything about her ancestry." Out loud he said: "She doesn't have the sword. It would be a slaughter."

Eris shrugged. "They should have taken better care of it. Loki told me Njöror has it now."

Lugh knew what would happen from that point on.

Aife would be killed by the sword he helped forge and humanity would lose its freedom. He didn't care about humanity, but to have Aife's light extinguished by a careless act done by her ancestors? He cared about that very much. Lugh couldn't change her death in that timeline, but he could change it in another. He could go back in time and make it so that she would have at least a fighting chance. She might not fall in love with him in that new timeline, but in that moment, at that crossroads, he loved her enough to save her life and let her go.