Odin's Little Devil// Loki

Progression and Patience

The wine, the ale, and the exhaustion was getting to Nyx in ways she wished on only her most hated enemies. Her head was throbbing before she managed to find some peace and fall into a deep sleep, a place where she was no longer in any pain. It was an odd feeling.

She was still worried even in an unconscious state. Thor must not tell anyone of what they spoke about. He was truly one of the best people in the world. He was far from perfect but he was a lovely brother and an even better friend.

When she awoke, she had a headache from hell. To her luck though, there had been a beautifully bonded book that looked heart-wrenchingly familiar sat beside her at the foot of her bed. She bent over, one hand on her pulsing head and the other reaching for the leather book enticingly wrapped and melted with what looked to be gold.

She sighed and smiled sadly down upon the book. She turned the cover and inhaled deeply. The smell of cedar that was fermented into the pages made her feel like a child again, running through her mother's belongings and playing with everything in sight. Within the page lay a single sentence in cursive at which when Nyx first saw it, she hardly knew how to read, let alone read cursive.

She smiled down on it now, reading to herself:

Fyrir minn darling, marine. Minn beautiful, Frigga

Translated into English, it read "For my darling, Marine. My beautiful, Frigga."

Aquamarine; something Nyx recalled from childhood when her own mother stated that similarities between their eyes. It was something all her children carried from her. The beauty of the stone was so fragile yet strong. Though she had never met her grandmother, her handwriting and soft words were something she held close to her heart.

She noticed the necklace hanging from between two pages near the back of the book and opened up until the necklace fell free into her lap. Inside the vial, lay a glittering gold liquid Nyx knew looked amazing but would taste as if cat piss could curdle and mold. She cringed as she read over the page, a spell to be specific.

Frigga held that spellbook close and Nyx couldn't help but wonder what it took Thor to get her to leave it with her. She read over the directions and knew it was time to drink the disastrous liquid in the necklace. She stated a short chant before popping the cork and taking the swig of a potion. It tasted exactly as Nyx assumed. A sour tart filled her sense of taste and as it slid down her throat, her whole body felt tight and hot like someone had started a fire on her skin. She sucked in a breath of air and held on tight as the potion took its place in her stomach. The aftertaste was of pure starch and salt, but her head had begun to ease in pain.

Nyx kept sucking and swallowing on the pungent liquid in an attempt to make it disappear. The taste faded after a minute or so and she no longer felt the suffering of the migraine.

She took a moment to think before her hands began flipping through the pages. Everything was written in the same handwriting as the note on the cover. Nyx imagined her grandmother jotting down each potion and spell from memory. She was a careful woman from what Frigga had told her, delicate and thoughtful. She imagined her putting everything together for her daughter; her Marine, her Aquamarine.

Now, it was hers. She was fondling the pages as if they were beautiful shards of glass that would seep into her fingertips if she wasn't careful enough. There was such rich information within the pages of that book. Spells of mind control, shape-shifting, the severities and differences in each. The history of a non-animated object taking more energy than a living organism and the size would only add another variable to the energy loss. There was so much science involved and the detail made Nyx feel that much closer to her grandmother.