The Secret Rebellion (Book 3 in The Secret Series)

Chapter 21: The Seer

Chapter 21: The Seer

A day after Odin’s awful reveal, I found myself in Loki’s chambers.

My father’s room was abandoned and dusty, as it had been for a few years now. Silvery cobwebs hung in the corners of the bedroom, illuminated by the afternoon light that streamed in from the window. Various books lay opened yet untouched on the floor. No one had entered Loki’s chambers since he’d left Asgard, so everything was positioned just as he’d left it.

On closer inspection, the thick tomes were books on magic; dark and tantalisingly powerful spells for the open-minded sorcerer. There were no portraits, or ornaments. The room was just like the man himself – hollow and  devoid of affection.

The emerald bed sheet was pristine and neat in comparison to the haphazard books, so when I sat on it I could almost feel Loki’s irritated eyes on me. I took the nearest book from the bedside table, and flipped open the pages without much thought.

After the initial shock of finding out who my mother was, I’d resigned myself to one simple fact.

I was destined to be a bad person.

My genes were programmed for evil.

I’d often thought this anyway, due to Loki and Hela’s sadistic tendencies. But finding out my mother’s identity had reinforced this, and explained why Hela couldn’t help but be evil.

The question now was how could I carry on being an Avenger, protecting the lives of the humans, when I was tainted with this inherited darkness?

Tony suspected that something was wrong. I’d tried to focus on Thor this morning as he offered suggestions on the best way to end this war, but after just a few minutes, my mind began to wander again. Eventually, I left Thor, Sif and Tony to their plotting and took a stroll around the castle, which felt more alien to me than ever before.

After wandering the castle, I’d felt an urge to go to Loki’s room. Perhaps it was finding out the identity of one parent that had made me seek solace with the other, the one I actually knew.

The golden clock across the room ticked loudly. I’d been gone for three hours, even though I was supposed to be back with Thor by now, helping to come up with some hair-brained schemes that would save Asgard but probably get us killed in the process.

Tony would probably wonder where I was. But Tony was another issue. He might not believe it himself sometimes, but his heart was good and pure - untainted

He was too good for me.

I flicked to the next page of the book in my hands, grimacing at an image of a tortured soul which left little to the imagination. I placed the book back on the bedside table and picked up the next. This was leather bound, and the pages were yellowed and thin. The title read “Notable figures in Asgard”.

Curious, I opened it and turned the pages, recognising an image or name every now and again. I paused about midway through, intrigue freezing my hand. The top right corner of the page was dog-eared, implying that it had been read many times.

‘Volla – The Seer’.

The book explained that there was an ancient Asgardian by the name of Volla who had the uncanny ability to see into one’s future. For the right price, she would answer whatever queries you had about the path ahead of you. Unlike many of the people in this book, she was apparently still alive, and resided somewhere in the wild forests that dominated part of Asgard’s landscape, far away from the city.

A map had been drawn at the bottom of the page, not by the author, but by someone else entirely. Immediately, I recognised Loki’s hand. I followed the route he’d drawn with one finger, wondering when and why Loki would have gone to visit this ‘Volla’ woman.