Fear of Losing Control (Book #1 in the Infinity Chronicles)

Chapter 4. Illusions

I move uncomfortably as I follow one of my servants, to a room where Thor requested my presence. The dress that I'm wearing is a light brownish-gold with faint green lines. This attire is obviously not what I'm used to but it is what the Asgardians wear.

The servant girl leads me through dozens of halls in which they all appear the same. But I noticed that each one has different carvings on them. One way to tell them apart.

The girl seems to know exactly where she is going, for she moves quietly but quickly with some confidence.

I tried to get to know her, but all she did was help me get dressed. She hardly said two words, and that was "follow me".

As we turned a corner, laughter was audible in the room to my right.

The servant girl merely stopped in front of it and gestured me in. Once I was halfway through the doorway, she disappeared.

A table with five people sat in the middle of the room, and one of those people was Thor.

"How is Midgard?" a young woman with beautiful jet black hair and sharp features asks Thor.

"Very well," Thor responds cheerfully.

"That's because Jane is there," a handsome man with wavy blonde hair and a goatee jokes.

"Who's Jane?" I ask before I could stop myself.

The group of people turned and stared at me. The lady with black hair. The blonde man. And two others, a Asian-looking man and a oversized one with long hair and a long beard.

"Lady Sigyn," Thor says happily when he saw me,"Glad you're here."

He then turns to the others and introduces me, "My friends, this is Lady Sigyn. She will be here in Asgard for a while. Sigyn, this is Lady Siff," he says as he points to the woman and then turns to the three men and continues, "And Volstagg, that's the fat one. Hogan, the angry-looking one. And Fandral, the ugly one."

"Hey," Fandral says taken aback, "None of the ladies think I'm ugly!"

Thor and the others begin to laugh, but I don't join them. They still haven't answered my question.

"Who is Jane?" I ask again, bringing silence to the room.

Then Volstagg blurts out, "It's his girlfriend."

Laughter resumes and this time I join.

"Where is she?" I ask. I would like to meet her, for the more people I know, the better.

"She's on Midgard," Siff answers.

"You mean earth? Why?"

The room is silent again and then Hogan speaks up, "She is a mortal."

"You mean like me?"

Thor nods and says, "That's why I introduced myself to you as Dr. Donald Blake. Because no one can on Midgard can know who I really am."

"Except for Jane," Fandral says then adds, "And a few others."

"Why isn't she up here with you guys? Is she not allowed?" I ask curiously.

"Father doesn't like mortals," Thor says quietly.

"But, I'm a mortal. And Odin let me stay, and he gave me a nice room and clothes- he wanted me here!"

Silence settles again as everyone thinks this over.

"Am I the only one who finds this odd?" I say.

"No," Hogan speaks up, "I agree with Lady Sigyn."

"But Odin wanted you because you are smart," Thor says defending his father.

"Thor," Siff says, "Jane is every bit as smart as her."

We all agree with the nod of our heads.

Then Fandral whispers something that's sounds a lot like, "Loki".

"What does Loki have to do with this?" Thor demanded,"He's dead."

"Oh, he is?" I ask surprised that Thor hadn't told me, "I'm sorry."

Fandral looks at Thor and says, "You said that when Loki died his face turned a dark grey, and Loki is known for his illusions."

"No!" Thor almost yelled, "He's dead!"

"Just let me finish," Fandral says softly and then continues, "Odin is not fond of mortals. He claims that having one up here ruins our ways of life."

I was about to interrupt, but he continued.

"If Loki is the one who requested your presence, Lady Sigyn, then it was to put a crack in our traditions."

"Loki would want our old ways gone, for they block him from ever becoming ruler or even just a normal person again.," Siff says softly.

Thor is silent, which is the exact opposite of what I thought he would do.

Then he says, "Loki would have to use illusions to make this happen-"

"So anyone one of us could be an illusion," Hogan finished.

"But then how do we know who is real and who is not?" asks Volstagg.

Then Fandral reaches across the table and slaps him.

"What in the-" he gasps holding his face.

"Well Volstagg is really here," Fandral states.

"Obviously!" Volstagg groans, his hand against his cheek.

"Loki's illusions falter when's they come in contact with a force," Thor says quietly.

Then Siff slaps me across the cheek and everyone else does the same to each other. Everyone is still here.

"None of us are Loki," Siff states.

My cheek still stings from her slap.

"So what now?" I ask, "I mean if Loki is behind all this then what do we do? Slap every suspicious character we see?"

"Exactly," Hogan says.

Author's note:

Thank you so much all who have read this and voted or commented! Please continue doing so! And don't worry, Loki will be in the next chapter, I promise. Thank you so much!