The Raven

Enigma - Chapter Twenty-Five

Finally, the event had come to an end. It'd been ages, it seemed.

Loki watched on as Edith said her goodbyes to the Delgado family, feeling a tinge of jealousy as she embraced Caspian. They were simply childhood friends, Loki reminded himself. Then, he of course, questioned why he should care.

"I must confess, I miss your visits, mirlo," Caspian was telling Edith, a delicate smile playing upon his lips.
"Well, you're going to be missing them for much longer. I've work,"
"Vigilante or...?"
"Vigilante," confirmed Edith.
"Ah," The spaniard paused, taking the time to bow deeply to Edith, of whom chuckled in response. He took her hand in his own, and placed the gentlest of kisses upon her knuckles. Then, he rose. "Well, if you need my assistance, I am quite literally bound to provide it." Again, his gaze darted to Loki.
When their eyes met, Loki, placing aside his jealousy, could read two things: Mistrust and curiosity.
Edith laughed, "I'm aware," Her smile was practically ear to ear. She had missed her family. "Hasta luego, Cas."
The spaniard gave a short nod, "Hasta luego, mirlo." And with this, he exited the manor, after his two brothers and younger sister.

Edith, alongside her family, returned to the ballroom.
"Shall I proceed in taking down then decor, ma'am?" Cadell tentatively asked Edith's mother.
The red-haired woman looked about the room, before replying, "Yes, if we must," She would miss the occasion, as she did every year, until the next came.
Cadell merely nodded in return, before proceeding to walk directly onto the wall. Ah, vampires and their defying gravity. A fascinating feat, Loki considered.
"You guys don't need any help, right?" Edith asked Ethelinda.
Her mother turned, briefly arching a brow, "Oh, no, no! - We've everything, love. I do hope you'll stay a while longer,"
Edith offered a loving smile, "Of course, Mother," She turned to Loki. "We'll be around." She gestured now, for Loki to follow her.

He did so, once more considering he hadn't anything better to do. Of course, he could make a most dramatic escape, run to some far off planet...But strangely, he found, he didn't want to. Instead, he found himself yearning. For what, he pretended not to know. But, deep within him, he very well knew just exactly what he desired.

As they entered a hallway decorated with more blasphemous paintings, Loki offered her his arm.
When Edith noticed, she rolled her eyes. "No, thank you. We don't need to give my mother another reason to think we're 'courting',"
Things seemed....lighter, now. Strangely different. Neither had a way of describing it, truly. They simply felt at ease with one another.
"Or my father, for that manner," Edith went on. "Mind you, he's threatened to skin just about any male that so much as looks at me in a way he dislikes,"
At this, Loki chuckled, lowering his arm to rest at his side. "If you insist," He slid his tongue over his lips, cocking his head to view another painting. This one, perhaps, interested him more than the others. He stopped, finally, eyes locked upon it.
Edith, soon, did the same. "What?" She asked, as if she didn't know what had attracted him to this particular scene.
It was that of a grotesque battle, a young viking kneeling in the center of a dust field. Circling him, were several others. Most soldiers, but some....fellow warriors. Some appeared horrified, others expressed only disdain; For the young warrior was cloaked in a cloud of blackness, his pupils dilated so that white was no longer visible within his eyes. He was screaming. Tears, sweat, and blood covered him.
Below the image was a small plaque, of which Loki's eyes were now fixated upon.

" Einar, the Norse warrior, cries out to Odin, pleading for relief from the "curse" of necromancy. "

Loki's heart ached, as much as he despised it. This...It angered him, because he knew the ending. Odin never came, because he never did. Especially, he knew, for a necromancer.
They were monsters, he had been told. But, he had also been told that Jötun were monsters, and well...He had intended to play that role.
And now, here he stood, his mask slipping. Of course, he snapped himself out of it, attempting to make his lie believable,
"I apologize, seeing Odin's name caught me by surprise," He said, as a matter-of-factly.
Edith wasn't fooled. But then, he thought, of course she wasn't.
"You're an idiot," Was all she said, however, before she forced him to turn away, and continue their walk.