MUSPELHEIM: VICTOR
The three teens fell out of the smoky sky and onto a beach of ash and embers. The air was stuffy and hot, the fumes smelled acrid and bitter. All around them they heard the low bubbling sounds of lava lakes and the hissing of melting rocks that crumbled errantly into the lakes. In his head Victor heard Loki's voice run over his mind like honey over a rock: "Well done Victor. How did that power taste?" Victor felt the fire leave his blood: "Beautiful..." he thought. Loki's ghostly laughter echoed in his mind: "I can give you that strength again. If you would join me willingly." Loki cooed. Victor remembered the power he felt when Loki lent him his strength, the heat of battle and domination overriding his senses. But at the back of his mind he knew that power must be earned. Like his mind, his wit, he had to own it. And so he closed his eyes and thought: "If I want that power it must be mine alone."
He felt a searing pain in his mind as he felt Loki's anger surge temporarily. Loki spoke again: "You are not a hero Victor. Don't pretend to be one." And with that the voice of Loki went silent.
When Victor opened his eyes, he felt weak, his body ached, his face and hands felt like they were burning. He coughed as he sat up. Maximilian stood over him, most of his chest exposed from the shredded tunic: "How are you feeling? What happened back there?"
Victor explained to the two of his friends what Loki did to him. Also explained to Maximilian how he and Skylar met. Skylar and Maximilian grew increasingly worried as he told them about the powers Loki had given him. Victor tried to summon flames again but could only manage a small flicker. Victor couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit disappointed. Internally, Victor resolves he would attain that power he had grown accustomed to, but he couldn't tell either of his friends that dark hideous desire for power. He bitterly grabbed a fist full of ashes and threw it into the lava lake. Skylar looked at Victor: "You were very brave. We will find a path back to Midgard. And we will contact the Aesir when we do. As such we would so well to locate Surtur's Black Fortress."
Maximilian pointed at an obsidian castle in the red fumed skies: "I believe that would be the fortress?"
Victor shrugged: "I'm not the one to be presumptuous but in the case of ominous black towers rising about the volcanoes, I tend to label it a fortress of evil."
Maximilian rolled his eyes in derision as the trio made their pace through the burning realm.
