Havoc and Retribution

Afterlife

"So, are you a goddess of the afterlife now?" Loki asks.

There is more than a little of Hel in their smile. "Nothing so benign," they chuckle lowly.

He found them on the Ice Peaks of Vanaheim, standing on the spine of what was once the Dragon before they reclaimed it. The peaks have remained, perhaps the old bones grown so deep into the fabric of the realm, or perhaps because the Dragon in Moirava now is a different species entirely. They'd called out to him across the stars, and he had answered, only months after they left him in the Roots of Yggdrasil. He was afraid it was going to be years, but they had stayed true to their word and did not make him wait long.

They're gold and bronze against the star-rise, but it is not a metallic gleam in the starlight. It's the hint of shine in the darkness, warm light like fire flickering against a deep morning sky. The rippling curls that cover their shoulders are bound halfway down their back into a braid, the waves looser than Sigyn's spirals but with more flow than Hel's long strands. In profile, the line of their jaw is all Jaycee, small chin up, defined jawbone and eyes outwards on the worlds that wait around them. He spots a grey gem winking on one of their fingers and smiles at the silver band that grins at him like a promise.

"Did you explore your realm?" he asks them.

They nod and there is a burning, passionate light in their irises. They turn their eyes to him, finally, after all these months of waiting and meet his emerald gaze, sparking in the dark.

"You will love it," they say, walking towards him and Loki gulps down schoolboy panic, oh goddesses, the pretty girl is coming my way. "Chaos," they say silkily, a bit of Hel bleeding through, "and possibility," with a touch of Jay.

They reach out to him, neither Jace nor Sigyn nor Hel. Their fingers are as hot as the inside of a star. They are slim, like Sigyn's were, but covered in calluses like Jay's. Their touch rips through him, a wave of heat and light, illuminating both the light and the dark.

Their auburn hair floats behind them, the ends tipped in gold fire streaming away from their body. Their eyes are golden, pearlescent, looking at him with the wisdom of the universe.

Their hand caresses his jaw, and he sees Sigyn, Hel and Jace flicker through their eyes before it is just Moirava as a whole that is in front of him. The touch is tender, creepy and somehow sarcastic all at once.

"If you come with us," Moirava says, "you cannot go back."

Loki laughs. "And what a story that would be."

They give him Jace's half-smirk. "God of stories indeed."

"A rebel Norn and an exiled Jotun prince," Loki muses, echoing his words to Sigyn. "What a team we will make."

"Team member status is earned," Moirava admonishes with a smirk. "You start at lackey and move up to minion if you behave. Equal status is reserved for those who can keep up."

Laughing harder than he has in a long time, Loki asks, "Can lackeys kiss their bosses? I want to know, just so I'm ready for the impending castration if not."

Moirava gives him Jay's haughty sarcasm in response. "Of course not!" They say imperiously, "And the punishment is far, far worse than losing some family jewels." Surprisingly the last is said not in Hel's toothy tones, but in Sigyn's sassy snarl.

Loki gulps, struggling for a smile. "But," Moirava says, and Loki loves them for their wickedness alone. "Superiors are allowed to kiss their lackeys senseless." And then they do just that.

When they allow him to breathe, they ask, "Ready?"

Loki stares at the gleaming portal to the Realm Beyond in front of him. "Always," he grins.

"Careful," Moirava says, their face softening. "When you promise 'always' to the Norn of Afterlife."

If you've stayed with me this long.... Thank you will never be enough.

If you're here at the end of this story, you've read three of my books, a journey which took me years to complete, with many patient fans pleading for the next chapter as I struggled through my own life. Jaycee Strong's evolution reflects my own, from college girl to powerful, independent young woman and her finale is all about finding the balance between light and dark within her soul. It's about evolution, not looking back, but finding the strength to look forward, to accept the challenge, to get back up when you fall down. There are 96 chapters from the beginning in 2014 to the end now in 2022, an eight year journey I could have never imagined completing. When I fell and couldn't write, your support got me back up so this finale is as much yours as the reader, as it is Moirava's.

If you are here, at this last chapter, you have my eternal gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Also please consider checking out my original work, "Saa'be". While I love writing fanfictions, I'm hoping to one day publish a full original work and I love all the comments and support from WattPaders like yourselves!