Blood Moon || Loki [2]

[30] Little Red Door

4 NOVEMBER, 2013

ASTRID

Loki was right about the gate. When the Asgardian ship touched down on the smoothed-out asteroid, they were ushered inside a reinforced craft piloted by a grey-skinned humanoid girl with a bald head and severely pointed ears. Loki had warned Astrid of the impossible speeds that spacecraft had to reach in order to pass through the warp-gates. Folds in space were nothing new to her, but watching the galaxy cave in like a multicoloured funnel screwed Astrid to her seat, her eyes unable to register the full majesty. Loki was laughing as they tore through the universe like shoving aside curtains. She couldn't quite reach his level of ecstasy due to her churning insides, but she delighted in seeing Solra shut his eyes when he thought neither of them were looking.

It only took ten minutes to jump between fifteen warp-gates, and Astrid was officially the farthest she had ever been from home. Alpha Zen One appeared before them once they crossed through the atmosphere. The sprawling civilization of glass and metal reminded Astrid of all the ways in which Earthly humans were so very insignificant.

She was the first to disembark when the ship slid to a halt along the runway, practically jumping up and down to explore the giant city. The spaceport was a giant glass building shaped like a pyramid, with green grass (fake; she checked) in the courtyard out front. From what she could see, the city was built to the sky in the very heart of it, surrounded by smaller buildings still made of glass and metal but not quite as polished at the skyscrapers, whose roofs were buffed into dunce caps.

Loki had disguised himself as one of the Zen so they wouldn't get hassled on their way through security. A slaver, he told the pilot, a convenient excuse to keep Solra in shackles-besides, the Zen did not seem to care where slaves went, as long as they did not escape. Astrid wished she didn't have to feel Loki against her back all the walk to the capital, but she reminded herself of the mission. Sleep. Eat. Secure a ship. Possibly steal a ship.

They chose to stay in the slums because everyone walking the waterstone streets seemed to be drunk, asleep, or possibly dead. The air smelled of stale ale. Astrid wrinkled her nose when she walked past a Zen with pale blue skin and snow-white beard (stained yellow in some places with piss or alcohol) who tried to hand her a flask of sour-smelling liquid, remembering to act like a pathetic enslaved human when he lunged in front of her and leaned in so close she couldn't help but hold her breath. Astrid did not smile when his pants miraculously fell to his ankles, tripping him, but she wanted to as she stepped over his drunken figure.

Thank you.

He was filthy. I can't have you smelling like that if we're going to share a room. I do hope you bathe.

Astrid's ears were buzzing once they reached the inn: a stout building with two floors and a great deal of windows, most of which were covered by white sheets from the bed. Loki shoved Astrid and Solra into an alley, abandoning their disguises in favour of ratty commonfolk. It was hard to see past the stringy grey hair hanging in her eyes, but at least she did not have to look too long at her spindly grey fingers.

She missed her human skin by the time they checked in. The innkeeper had just served another male who was short, stout, grey, and wore glasses, which Astrid thought was comical due to the nature of his giant eyes. Loki had performed some sleight-of-hand at the spaceport while Astrid struggled to get away from him, under the guise of a slave, to beg for help from the bored-looking guard by the door. Meanwhile, Loki had pried her off him and simultaneously plucked a handful of coins from the guard's pocket. Now, he placed them down before the innkeeper. It would only pay for a night, the pointy-eared male told them, which was perfectly fine. A night was all they would need.