Red Hawk

Chapter Fifteen: Wishes of A Ghost

Something was wrong, at least that was the feeling that Odin got in the pit of his stomach. It had been too quiet on Hibiki's part recently. Sabrina stood at his side, noticing how he had yet to take a single sip of his tea. It having grown cold. "Is something wrong?" he asked while grabbing hold of the saucer."

"Leave it be," smiled Odin, "both my tea and thoughts. I am sorry to have worried you." His expression spoke on everything being alright, but she knew better. Whatever weighed on his mind had to be great, for him to let tea go cold. He took his first sip, "I may need to release Kai from our guild ranks to protect him and Ragnarok."

"You know that wouldn't work," Sabrina smiled, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"I know," Odin's voice sounded grim. At that time, Loki walked into the room in dead silence. Odin raised his cup when the door was shut, "Care for a drink?"

"What are we going to do about Hibiki?" Loki ignored Odin's question. Something that had been expected from the headmaster. Loki looked at his hands, "I can't continue sitting here, doing nothing. You told me what that spell can do, and that bastard's out there trying to get it for some demon."

"But he will not find it," Odin tried to reassure him.

"And if he does?!" Loki's voice now flared with a cluster of emotions.

"Then it means Kai died," a nonchalaunt Odin sipped tea. "But we have precautions to prevent such a thing. Please, take some time to relax." A shell of ice began to coat the room around them, a clear sign of Loki's frustration. Odin found himself only able to muster up a sigh. He turned to look out the window behind himself. Looking out over the city. "I swear to you, I will not allow another world to be reset by that spell."

"Can we even kill Hibiki at this point?" Sabrina spoke up. "He's nearly as strong as you, but without a moral tether."

"Perhaps," smiled Odin, "but it would require risking Kai's life in the process." His attention turned towards Loki once more, "If we can train him to harness Ragnarok's power." The air grew thick. He had just suggested sacrificing someone's life to end another. Though, there was no way he would actually do it. Was there?" Odin could see how uneasy that answer had made everyone there. "Do not fear, I have no desire to teach Kai how to use that power."

Though in his heart, he knew there might not be a chance. What made this worse, Kai had already mentioned feeling the influence of Ragnarok falling upon him. If the power could spring up on its own, they might have to train him to use it in order to save his life. "I must head out," Odin rose from his desk. "Please inform me the moment Kai returns, so I may speak with him over this all."

It was still early in the day, a strange time for him to depart from the guild. But no one brought this up as he headed for the near empty streets outside.

He made his way to the house of Sara, the old hag still trying her best to keep him outside, "You're not injured this time. Go away."

"Come now," he remained at the front door, "is there issue in an old friend visiting every now and again?"

Sara was cold, "Since when were we friends?" Her words stung like needles to Odin's heart, but he found himself unable to respond to her properly.

So he replied with the first thing to come to mind, "Would you listen to me, or the sake of one of my guild members? The one with orange eyes I told you about." It was silent between them. Odin began to feel the need to give up. But he needed to stand firm, not for himself, but for Kai. It seemed she pitied him just enough to unlock her door. For the first time in ages, Odin watched her leave the confines of her home.