Long And Lost (Book II)

Ch.4: Lost in the fog, these hollow hills

The old man was lost.
He had been walking around aimlessly for what it seemed to be days.
With every turn, something in his memory tried to come through, but to no end.
He felt frustrated, he knew everything was there, right inside his head, but just out of his reach, blocked by a fog.
Walk another block. This place looked familiar, and it didn't at the same time. He had been there already, hadn't he? Yes, of course, he walking around in circles!
Just turn around. Okay, this looks familiar too, keep walking, maybe around this corner. He remembered the address, the building. Yes, just a few more steps...

And it was lost again. Scared, he seemed to be chasing off a bug as he flailed his hands around his head.
The old man kept walking. Surely the next place would be what he was looking for.

.-

"Vick, you okay?" Sharon asked her friend across the table.

Victoria didn't answer. She just kept staring at the old man crossing the street. The colors abandoned her face.

"Vick?" Sharon insisted, waving her hand in front of her friend's face. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I have." Victoria mumbled. "Something is wrong.... Something is seriously wrong!" She pushed her chair away and nearly ran outside the shop abandoning her coffee on the table. She looked around frantically, but the was no sign of the man she saw.

"Victoria? What's wrong? Who's that person you saw?"

"Dammit." She muttered again. "That person shouldn't be here, not should he be looking like that." Victoria started speed walking, signaling for Sharon to follow her.

After a few blocks, Victoria managed to catch the old man again.

"Are we going to follow him or what?" Sharon whispered, snapping Vick out of her shock.

"Yes."

And they did. The old man seemed to be really lost, he'd nearly sprint for a few blocks and then go backwards. Then he'd go around a whole block before realizing he was walking in circles. All of his behaviour only made Victoria more and more anxious.
Finally, it appeared that the old man knew where he was going. Victoria watched him hastily walk to a building and disappear through the front door.

177a Bleecker Street. Shit.

"Are we going in there too?" Sharon asked.

"No. I can't. I know who lives there and I'd rather not to reveal myself to him." Victoria ran a hand through her hair, trying to think. "I have to go back."

"Back where?"

"Asgard." Victoria stopped and took a deep breath.

Sharon had too many questions: Victoria coming out of her exile? Who was that person she saw? Why did his presence mean that she would have to go back? Whatever was wrong in Asgard, would they be hearing from Thor, then?
Victoria resumed her walk, visibly shook, so Sharon remained silent.
Both women walked around apparently aimlessly for a while.

"Vick, where are we going?"

"Looking for..." Victoria kept walking, a faint light glowing in her hand. "Empty... no people..."

"What?"

"Space." She stopped. "Quite literally."

Sharon looked at her confused, realizing they were standing in the middle of an empty parking lot. Victoria took a deep breath, her hands visibly shaking. "Are you going to be okay?" Sharon said, rubbing Victoria's arm.

"I will." Hesitantly, Victoria hugged her friend. "Tell Steve that I'm sorry. And James--"

"Don't worry about that now. Whatever's got you this shook, it must be bad."

"I feel like I don't know half of it." Victoria let go of Sharon and stood in the middle of the parking lot. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they were glowing gold.

A bright multicolored beam engulfed Victoria, and made her disappear, leaving behind smoke and the sickly smell of hot tarmac.

.-

Everything was so bright, so golden, so... irritating. Victoria wasn't exactly happy to be there.
She was bracing herself to be greeted by Heimdall. During her short time in the bifrost, she had selected a few words for him. But in his place there was this other guy, by the name of Skurge.

"Who the Hel are you?" She asked.

"Who the Hel are you?" Skurge spat back. "How in the name of Valhalla did you activate the bifrost?"

"I used to live here... a long time ago." Victoria explained, feeling really uncomfortable, not only because of this strange looking man, but also because of the two scantily dressed women that accompanied him. "I need to speak with King Odin."

"Well, I cannot let you do that. You have been marked as an exile." Skurge said. The two women giggled. Victoria realized that their amount of clothes was similar to their amount of brain cells.

She was going to speak again, but the soft tingle on her arms stopped her. "Don't worry." Victoria smiled. "Thor will be here in a moment, he'll let me in."

"What do you mean? How--" Skurge was cut short by the sword on the bifrost blinking. "Oh, shit."

The bifrost opened, leading not only Thor but a giant dragon head. Victoria managed to conjure a small shield to protect herself, and Thor noticed her.

"You... what? How?" Thor said, looking at her like a gaping fish.

"Yes, me, my dear muscle-head." Victoria said with contempt. "I need to see Odin right away."

Thor stopped for a few seconds, examining her face. "You have my permission to enter." Victoria curtsied mockingly. "And-- I'm sorry for--" Thor didn't know how exactly to articulate his next words.

"That's why I'm here, Thor. Because of him."

"But, he's- dead?" Thor said, more as a question than an actual statement

"Is he?" Victoria smirked, raising and eyebrow. "You and I both know better than that."

There was a short moment of understanding, before Thor waived his hammer in the air and took off.

"Don't you just hate his showing off?" Victoria rolled her eyes and then turned to Skurge and his mortified expression. "C'mon, guardian. You're to introduce me to your king."

"Oh, shit." Skurge cursed, trotting off on the rainbow bridge, with Victoria right behind him.