I woke up calmly for once. What did he mean? How could it have not been his decision? I actually wanted to trusted him, but I made sure not to truly show it yet. I still had to be careful. After all, he was the god of lies.

"Mornin' Sunshine. You slept well," Elisa said. I sat up and saw her all dressed and ready to go. It was very unlike her.

"Is everything okay?"

"What? Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"You're, well, prepared."

"Ouch." She rolled her eyes as she got up. All of a sudden, I was hit in the face with my sweater.

"Hey!"

"Get dressed. We have plans today." I was confused, until I remembered that we had planned a quick trip for the end of week before I became a Valkyrie. With all the crazy shit going on lately, it totally slipped my mind.

I put the sweater on, along with skinny jeans and boots.

"Cute! Now let's go."

"You're in a rush."

"Well, who wouldn't be? I mean, we're going to the bookstore. That's like heaven." Despite our personality differences, we both shared a love for reading.

"True."

******

We walked in, and I could already smell the beautiful smell of pages waiting to be turned.

"I'm going to go look at the sci-fi section. Meet me back here in an hour?"

"Sounds good," I agreed. She went her way, and I decided to look at the poetry section. I grazed through and eventually picked up a Shakespeare book. I'd only really read his plays before, not many of his poems.

"You like to read?"

Of course. Why wouldn't I? I set the book down and picked up and Edgar Allen Poe collection instead.

"I've just never really met anyone into books other than my mother. Everyone was always too busy fighting or obsessing over Thor."

Well, I think I'd rather read. I mean, Thor's nice and all, but I think books are more my type. He laughed, but I cringed a bit. It was weird to hear someone laugh inside your head, but something about his laugh made me smile.

"Good to know." I glanced through the book and held onto it. I wanted to buy it, but I also wanted to look around more. "What book is that?"

Have you ever heard of Edgar Allen Poe?

"I'm afraid I haven't."

What kind of books do you read?

"I don't think you will have heard of them either. I doubt you would be able to read them, anyways. They are written in a language far different from your English." I wondered if they were written in the same symbols that were displayed on the healers' technology.

What are they about?

"Adventure, mostly. I also read other things like poetry and Asgardian history." He paused, and for a moment neither of us had anything to say. "I suppose I should let you get back to your browsing." He spoke as if he didn't want to go. I remembered the loneliness I had seen in him. I felt bad for him. I couldn't imagine how lonely those cells were.

You don't have to go. You can stay.

"Are you sure?" I nodded, but then I realized he probably couldn't tell.

Yes. I wondered if I was crazy. What sane person would be so kind to a man who has murdered so many? I believe in second chances, but maybe I was too quick to give him one.

I checked the time to see that it had already been half an hour.

I walked around the store, occasionally making small talk with Loki. When I had finished browsing, I bought the book I had picked up and met Elisa at the door.

"Find anything good?" she asked.

"Yeah." When I didn't tell her what I got, she waved her hand in the air to ask what it was. "Oh, I got a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories."

"Nice. We'd better get going. You have to go back again, don't you?"

"Yeah." We walked out and got in the car. On the way home, we didn't have much to say. It felt strange. We were never so quiet together. I wondered if I said something wrong.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." We got out of the car, and she went back to our dorm.

"Bye," I said as she walked away.

******

"You're here! Thank Odin!" Alma ran up to me a squeezed me tightly.

"Yup," I managed to say. "I already checked in with the healers, but they kept giving me ugly looks and staring at my arm."

"Oh, right. What do you know about that?"

"More than you probably think. I know what it is, and who it represents."

"Oh. Right." We didn't say anything for a moment. "Well, that means things are different now. I can still train you for now, but you won't be treated the same once the other Valkyries find out. I know it's not your fault. Although, we were going to start training you on the whole soul reaping thing. I was forbidden from teaching you that since Odin found out."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want you to know how to do it in case you ever do fall into Loki's hands. He doesn't want you to be able to collect souls for him."

"Oh." She looked at me with pity in her eyes and I hated it. I hated being pitied, it only made things more difficult.

"Come on, let's go train. Just be careful around the others. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Once we got to the training grounds, every Valkyrie froze where they were. All of their eyes were on me. Some of them looked at me in fear, others with anger. I hadn't even done anything to them. Just the other day, they looked at me with awe and wonder. That was all gone now.

"Back to work, all of you!" I turned to see Ilia flying down next to me. The others went back to their sparring. "You, come with me."

"Me? But I didn't even do anything."

"Ilia, what are you doing?" Alma asked, grabbing her by the arm. Ilia jerked her arm away and turned away from Alma to grab me by the wrist.

"Hey, let me go! What's going on?"

"I can't tell you yet. Stop fighting me."

"It's hard not to when you're dragging me away! Tell me what's going on!" She didn't say anything. "Tell me!" I slammed my foot on the ground and when I did, Ilia was shot away from me. She hit the wall and slid to the floor. "Shit. I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"You little witch!" She got up and started running towards me.

"Run. Now!" I didn't need to be told twice. I took off in the opposite direction, not looking back. I heard her running after me, but after a few twists and turns, I lost her. "I know this sounds like a horrible idea, but you need to come to me."

Are you crazy? I can't do that.

"Then where will you hide?"

Hide? I'm not a criminal.

"I'm afraid you're wrong. Odin ordered to speak with me. He told me to unclaim you. I told him I couldn't, so he likely ordered for you to be executed. Your only option is to come to me. Please, I beg you."

Alright, fine. How do I get there?

"It might feel a bit strange, but I'll guide you."

Okay then, guide away.