Through the Realms

Chapter 2 - On the Run Again

     Ten minutes. Ten minutes to ask all the questions she'd been tortured by since she was a child. Where to start? Squeaky took a moment to organize her thoughts, then took a deep breath.
     "Who are my real parents? Where are they?" Two questions had slipped out instead of one, but that was alright. Time would pass quickly, and she wanted as many answers as possible. Kastor and Eva exchanged a glance before Kastor nodded, and he spoke.
     "We're not sure where they are. It's complicated... Your father was from Asgard, and your mother, well, she was from earth." He began. Squeaky frowned.
     "Wait, I'm not fully Midgardian?" She asked, glancing between them in surprise. Eva nodded slowly, looking her adopted daughter in the eyes.
     "We didn't want to tell you, we didn't want anyone to know. We were scared how people would react to a... A half blood." She said carefully, hoping Airarr wouldn't take this badly. "Asgard has no place for half bloods, and I'm not sure about Midgard. We didn't want to risk losing you, Airarr. The danger was too great, so we lied. To everyone. Even you." She added softly. Squeaky remained silent, taking it all in. So she was neither human, nor Asgardian. She was somewhere in the middle, unable to identify with either side.
     "How did you find me?" Squeaky asked, not sure how to process the reply she'd received. She'd wanted to ask the questions for so long, yet had never paused to think about what she would do with the answers. There would be time to think later.
     "I was on a mission," Kastor spoke up. "With my squadron, we were investigating some illegal activity at the edge of the city, something about a mob. When we arrived, we found that the Midgardian; your mother, was dead. The mob had killed her when they learned she wasn't of Asgard, and your father was run off. We found you alone, bleeding from a few gashes where the crowd had tried to kill you. They didn't want a half blood."
     Squeaky rubbed her hand across the light scar on her collarbone, a shiver running down her spine. This scar was from someone trying to end her life.
     "You told me it was from falling out of a tree." She half whispered, her voice faltering as she looked up at her parents. Never had she imagined it was from something much worse. Kastor took his daughter's hand in his own.
     "But would you have wanted the truth? You weren't ready for it then." He said gently, his tone heavy with concern. "You were quiet, terrified of the angry crowd. We managed to force them to move along, telling them you had died. I took you home, and Eva and I decided to raise you as our own. You didn't deserve to die for something your parents had done. Because of your mixed blood." He said softly. "We told everyone that I had found an abandoned Midgardian child on one of my missions. They had a hard time accepting it, but most agreed that it was my duty to raise you, since I'd found you." He finished.
     Again, Squeaky sat in silence, taking in the truth for the first time. She and her parents were the only ones who knew she was a half blood. Except of course, her father. Her real father.
     "Who's my father?" She asked, rubbing the faint scar once again.
     "Well, we don't know for sure." Kastor admitted with a sigh. "He ran off as we arrived, and we suspect he left Asgard for good." He explained. "He never came back for you." He added quietly.      Here, they were interrupted by a hard knock at the door. All three exchanged a worried glance, and Squeaky nearly jumped to her feet.
     "This is the royal guard, open up!" Came a stern voice from outside. Now Squeaky stood.
     "I need to go." She said softly. "I've stayed too long already." Her voice was full of emotion, and it was obvious that she didn't want to leave. It wasn't just information she wanted; she wanted time with her parents, the ones that had cared to raise her. Her eyes teared up again as they stood and hugged her, and she hugged them back tightly. "I love you." She breathed.
     "We love you too." Her father replied, his voice muffled. Their hug was broken up by repetitive, angry knocking at the door and the impatient shout of the one knocking. Squeaky accepted a quick kiss on the cheek from Eva before pulling away, giving them a weak smile and darting back up the stairs in a blur.
     "Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry." The girl thought to herself as she pulled her hood back up, preparing to make the jump out the window and onto the next roof. Tears would blur her vision, and if she missed this jump, she'd get some nasty bruises. And probably be caught by the Asgardian patrol as well.  Not a good combination.
     As Kastor opened the door, Squeaky leapt out the back of the house, landing lightly on the next roof and staying low as she headed for the next one. The guards stepped inside, looking around suspiciously.
     "We received report that someone managed to break into your house, is everything alright?" He asked, and Kastor hid a sigh of relief as he realized it was Talrog, one of his good friends from the squadron.
     "Yes, we're fine." He let out his breath as he said it, nodding. "I showed my dagger and she left, whoever it was. She obviously didn't have much experience in the art of thievery." He said with a huff. Talrog nodded slowly, glancing around as if to make sure everything was truly in order.
     "Right then. Did you happen to see which way she went?" He asked, and Kastor shook his head.
     "I'm afraid not, she went out one of the windows upstairs, and-" He was cut off as one of the guards outside started shouting.
     "Up on the roof, there she goes!" One yelled, and several echoed the cry as they scrambled to follow the fleeing figure. Talrog snapped to attention and turned, ready to follow his men.
     "We'll get her Kastor, don't you worry!" He called back, following his men with his weapon drawn. Kastor stepped into the doorway, watching them go with a worried frown.
     "I pray you won't." He said softly, his heart heavy as he stepped back inside.
     Squeaky was soon aware that she was being followed, and sped up, clearing one jump after another with flying bounds. The guards followed on the ground, but managed to keep up with remarkable speed. They had trained all their lives, Squeaky noted grimly as she slid down a pillar and onto the ground. She needed to portal jump, and fast, but she needed a sturdy structure to create the portal on.
     There. Coming up ahead, a large courtyard. The wide open brick platform would be perfect. Reaching into her multi-dimensional pocket, she removed her portal gun, not even bothering to see what setting it was on. The gun had been a gift from a friend of hers on earth, a young scientist named Ace, who'd been working with SHIELD for awhile now. Since the disbanding of the agency, she hadn't heard from him, and was worried that he'd been killed in the civil war between Hydra and Shield.
     No time to worry about him now. Her own life was on the line. She pressed the blue button on the gun that would eject a clear orb, which she called a portal seed. It looked almost like a bubble, but felt like glass and fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. As she touched the orb, images from the world it represented swirled through it, and it buzzed softly. Ignoring the shouts of the guards behind her, Squeaky hurled the portal seed, running towards it as it exploded on the ground in a flash of light.
     A silver circle of swirling colors rose from the ground, almost like water in appearance, with energy rippling across it. The portal was open, now all Squeaky had to do was clear the last fifteen feet to get to it. A simple task. Atleast it would be, if it weren't for the guard barreling into her from the side. Ouch.
     Squeaky landed with a yell of surprise, thankful for her Asgardian armor as she slid several feet across the stone ground. That would have left some nasty scrapes. Kicking off her attacker, she rolled away, surprised to find that it was a girl. Well, Asgard did have a lot of female fighters, she noted. She'd trained as one for a few years, after all. Time to put those tactics into practice.
     The girl was about her age, maybe a little older, with long, dark hair swept into a braid. Her eyes were lit with determination, a hunger to succeed and prove herself as a warrior of Asgard. Squeaky had known that desire just a few years ago, and she almost felt bad to crush this girl's goals by escaping. Oh well, too bad for her. This girl was all that stood between her and escaping, literally. She had planted herself firmly infront of the portal.
     "Roland!" Talrog snapped at the girl. "Stay out of this!" He said firmly, glaring as the two females faced off. "You've caused enough trouble as it is." He added coldly. Roland shook her head, eyes locked on the futitive.
     "She's mine, Talrog! I can do this!" She yelled back, her eyes daring Squeaky to even step towards the portal. Roland was a little taller than Squeaky too, probably five foot six, while Squeaky stood at five foot three. Squeaky knew from experience that height wasn't everything. Sliding her portal gun back into her pocket, she raised her hands with a smirk, her eyes hidden by the shadow of her hood. She could have made another portal, but she didn't want to leave that one open, allowing two worlds to mix. That could be dangerous on multiple levels, for thousands of people. It was too risky.
     "This doesn't have to get messy." Squeaky said cooly, amused by Roland's overly confident stance. Obviously, the girl had made mistakes, and wanted to prove herself. Squeaky had been there too. "Just let me through the portal, and I won't have to shoot your knees."
     "Shoot my knees?" Roland repeated in a condescending tone, shaking her head. "You'd better get on your knees, peasant, if you want to make it through this alive." She threatened. As far as the Asgardian patrol knew, this was only a common street criminal. They weren't yet aware of who they were dealing with.
     Thanks to the magic cheesepuff orb Squeaky had found during her last visit to Asgard, she now possessed the ability to shoot large quantities of the cheesy snack from her hands. It may have seemed a useless ability to some at first, but Squeaky had discovered the many applications of such a gift. First of all, the shock factor was incredible. No one expected a shower of cheesepuffs to greet them on the battlefield, but Squeaky provided just that. The dust shed by the projectiles was handy for blinding potential attackers, once the shock had worn off. It also collected in the nose, mouth, and ears of those opposing her, making even walking and breathing difficult.
     The sheer force of a wave of cheesepuffs crashing into someone could knock them back, giving Squeaky extra time to dissappear or draw a weapon. Sometimes, especially with animals, her attackers would get distracted by eating the cheesepuffs. This, in turn, made it all the more amusing when a well placed blow to the gut would cause a bright orange cascade of barf to rain from the enemy's mouth. Cheesepuffs may not seem threatening, but if used properly, they didn't often disappoint.
     However, in this case, if Squeaky used that ability, they'd instantly know who she was, and even Odin might be alerted. Her parents would be in danger, and she could be imprisoned. Not good.
     "I'd rather not visit the palace today, thank you very much." Squeaky said, lunging forwards and drawing her metal staff. The sturdy weapon was one she'd trained with as a student of the royal guard, and she'd found it to be the only weapon she could really master. Roland almost looked thrilled at the prospect of a challenge and drew her sword, stepping forwards to meet the fugitive. Right before their weapons met, Talrog intervened, striking Roland's sword back.
     "You're not supposed to be here, stay out of the fight!" He ordered, shoving her away and blocking Squeaky's strike with his own sword. Roland looked furious.
     "Hey!" She growled, watching as Talrog pushed Squeaky away from the portal with a barrage of quick blows. Adjusting her grip on her sword, Roland quickly moved back towards the fight, unwilling to let herself be excluded like this. Her face was flushed with anger and embarrassment, but she knew she couldn't let that distract her from the task at hand.
     Squeaky managed to block the hurried blows, knowing she didn't have to drag the fight out. Actually, she was doing quite well, pulling them away from the portal. If they weren't puppy guarding it, ducking around them and getting through would be easy. That's exactly what she decided to do. In a blur, she blocked a final blow and scooted around Talrog, rushing past Roland and dive rolling through the portal. Droplets of silver energy splashed up around the spot she'd gone through, almost as if she'd dove into a pool.
     Roland's heart sank. She'd failed, the fugitive had escaped. The portal was still open, though...
     "I'll get her!" She exclaimed, turning and diving through the portal. Talrog frowned, now worried for the young warrior.
     "Roland, no!" He called, but it was too late. She was gone. The guards gathered around, watching the portal silently. No one dared to go after them; who knew where that portal went? After a few seconds, with a sudden flash of light, the portal closed, disappearing and leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the stone.
     Roland was gone.