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Valkyrion

1/11/2010

Iris looked over at Jason, he was still fixated on the computer screen.

The anxiety in her stomach churned into panic. She didn’t know what was on the other side of that door. It wouldn’t be the first time something nasty had come calling. She wasn’t sure what was happening in Asgard. Time was different there. Loki could have already finished with the Aesir and was coming after her. The thought of seeing the god again didn’t frighten her as much as the idea of Jason getting caught in the middle. Whoever it was knocked again, more insistently. Iris sized up a single axe and went to answer it. If it was something supernatural, Iris wasn’t going without a fight.

She opened the door a crack, “Yes?”

“Iris?” A familiar voice floated through.

“Mina?” The stress released, leaving Iris feeling drained. She’d forgotten about Mina. She’d told her to come over tomorrow. What was she doing here?

“Are you gonna let me in or what?”

“Right, sorry.” She opened the door enough to let the other woman through, but no more. She glanced down the hallway after Mina entered, hoping nothing else was lurking. Everything seemed quiet. Iris shut the door and locked it.

She turned to see Mina starting at her. Iris realized she was still holding the axe, “Sorry.” She shrunk it and put it back on her ear. “What are you doing here? I told you to come tomorrow.”

Mina’s reddish hair was frizzing in every direction and her clothes looked like something she’d grabbed out of the laundry bin. Iris could see bandages peeking out the neckline of her shirt. “Mina? What’s the matter?” Iris’ stomach clenched again; had something else happened?

Mina glanced over at Jason, but he was too distracted to notice, “Have you guys seen the news today?”

Iris shook her head. There had been too much else going on.

“Here.” She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and flicked on the TV. The channel was irrelevant. Every single station was showing ‘breaking news’.

“…unknown animal appeared in Fort Worth yesterday, causing massive property damage before being killed by one or more unknown individuals.”

The screen cut to surveillance video. The quality was bad, but the shape of the dragon was unmistakable. Through the smoke, a figure leaping from the top of the sunshade to the animal was visible. Iris could feel the blood draining from her face as she watched. She’d known people would see her when she’d fought the thing. It had eaten at least one person. There was no way it could be hushed up. It hadn’t seemed important when she’d been fighting it. Iris had been sure she was going to die anyway. She didn’t have time to think about this. She had bigger problems, like trying to save the entire world. Jason looked up from the computer and was watching the screen. She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

The video cut out momentarily then came back on. Walking across the parking lot was a second figure pumping a shotgun. The video cut out again and went back to the attractive female reporter in the studio, “Details are not known at this time, and the area is under quarantine.”

Mina turned off the TV, “Anything you want to tell me?”

“They said it was under quarantine; how did you get here?” It was a relief to think about something mundane for a minute.

“You’re too far away; they only have one block cordoned off. You gonna fill me in, or what?”

Iris swallowed, trying to buy time to think, “How did you know it was me?”

Mina raised an eyebrow at her, “C’mon, I’m not that dumb. I saw you with the little ones last week. Besides, who else is going to be stupid enough to go against something like that?”

Iris sighed and ran a hand over her scalp. Mina wasn’t going to leave until she got an explanation. “Okay; you’d better sit down.” Jason was already reading again. Iris got up and wandered back into the kitchen, “You want a drink or something?”

“Just start talking. You told me to come over.” She sat down at the kitchen counter. Iris poured herself another drink. She needed to stop drinking so much. Alcohol would only slow her down. Still, it gave her a chance to collect herself. There was too much going on; she couldn’t handle it all.

Iris leaned on the counter opposite her, “You remember what I told you last week about being hit by lightening?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that thing on the news was supposed to be my last problem.”

“Supposed to be?”

“Yeah.” Iris took another drink. Why did Mina have to be so smart? “Apparently a god who’s been living under a rock for the past seven-hundred years or so has escaped and is going to destroy the world.”

Mina blinked and Iris wondered if she’d been too blunt. Mina was tougher than she looked, but everyone had their limit. Iris knew because she was reaching hers.

Finally she took a deep breath, “Let me make sure I have everything straight. A bunch of Norse deities accidentally anointed you their representative on Earth and forced you to fight monsters. That thing on the news was supposed to be the last one, but now another deity has escaped as is going to destroy the world.”

Iris took another drink, feeling the alcohol burn down her throat. She’d drunk just enough to quell the nervous energy. The urgency was still there, but was muted to something a little more manageable. The absurdity of the situation really came though when Mina described it like that. “That’s pretty much it.”

“So what’s he doing?” She motioned towards Jason, who was still staring intently into the computer screen.

“I think he’s trying to figure out exactly what’s going to happen.”

“So, what are we going to do about this?”

Iris frowned at her, “There is no we. What I’m going to do is try to find a way to save the world. What you’re going to do is take Jason and go to Wyoming in case I fail.” Her stomach clenched. If she failed it probably meant she would be dead. If Asgard was destroyed, what would happen to her afterwards? What would happen to Jason and the rest of the world?

“No, I don’t think I will.” Mina’s voice brought her back to reality.

“What?”

“I’m not going to run off and hide while you have all the fun.”

“Fun? Are you mental?”

“Probably.” Mina was indecently cheerful. “It’s been a while since I got out and did something really stupid. I think this qualifies.”

“You’re not coming with me.”

“Do you even know where you’re going?”

Iris opened her mouth then shut it without speaking. She had some vague ideas about getting back to the World Tree, but no concrete idea of how to get there. Unless she could get back there and convince Mimir to give her the information she needed, Iris might as well go and hide in Wyoming too.

“That’s what I thought. I’m guessing Jason in the brains of our little crew?” She paused, “Damn, that makes me the sidekick. I hate being the sidekick.”

“This is not a move! You two are not coming with me.”

“How are you going to stop me?”

“I’m going to start by kicking you out of my house.”

Mina frowned and narrowed her eyes, “You do that and there will be four SWAT teams knocking on your door within the hour.”

“What?”

“They’re still looking for whoever was fighting that thing down the street. You kick me out and I will give them your address.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me. I might act like a flake, but I know how to play dirty.” She smiled, “So, can I borrow something to sleep in? I don’t mind sleeping naked, but it might embarrass your geologist.”

“You’re out of your goddamn mind.”

“There’s a saying about fools and the fools that follow them. This little adventure is your idea. As far as crazy goes, I think you win.”

Iris stood up, “Out of your goddamn mind.” She walked back to the bedroom and began rummaging in her closet. What the hell was wrong with Mina? What was wrong with her? She should be kicking them both out, sending them someplace far away, someplace with an underground shelter, not letting them stay in her house. Fear for their safety was tempered with just a little relief that they were sticking around. At least, for now, Iris wouldn’t be alone. Still, she needed to get them out of here, off to someplace safe, tomorrow. Whatever research Jason was doing would have to be done by then. She hoped he was finding something useful.

She pulled an oversized t-shirt out of her closet and went back to the living room. Mina was sitting on the couch beside an oblivious Jason, rolling one of the rubies back and forth on the table. The stones were still spilled over the wood, forgotten in the urgency of more important things.

Iris tossed her the shirt, “Here. You can stay for tonight, but tomorrow both of you are gone.”

“Whatever you say. What is all this?”

Iris sat down at the kitchen counter, “The cut stones are rubies and the uncut ones are a mix of diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Nope. My trophies.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about money wherever we end up going.” She continued playing with the stone, “What about that hide? I’ve never seen one like that before.”

“A Saezian. His name was Klipsyx, but I called him Klippi.” There was a certain satisfaction in shutting Mina up. “He started eating people so I had to kill him.” She shook her head, “He was such an asshole.”

“I guess.”

The stress combined with the alcohol was finally taking its toll. “Look, I’m going to bed, you two can stay up if you want.” She glanced over at Jason then turned back to Mina, “No flirting with my boyfriend. Understand?”

“Iris, I never steal boys who don’t need stealing.” Iris frowned at her and Mina put up both her hands, “Okay, okay. You don’t have to worry about me, just stop making the scary-face please.”

Jason put down the laptop, stood up, and walked her back to the bedroom. She closed the door behind them.

“You okay?”

“What do you think?” Her voice was sharper than Iris intended. She put her arms around him, burrowing into his chest. “Did you learn anything?”

“I’m getting there. There’s a lot of conflicting information.”

“Are you going to be okay with Mina staying here tonight?”

“Whatever you want, sweetheart.” His arms tightened around her.

Iris sighed. This was probably going to be their last night together. Too bad she was too worn out and stressed to take advantage of it.

“You need to get some sleep. We’ll all be able to think more clearly in the morning.”

She tightened her grip, “Stay with me.”

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