Beautiful People - Hela and Abderus

Basically, Beautiful People is a blog that posts ten questions for people to answer about their characters every month, found here. I decided to try it out, maybe do it for some of my charries. (Also, this gives me something to fill in the weeks I may not have a chapter for you guys. XD)

So here we are with Hela Lokidottir and Abderus from Asgard and Olympus. Usually these questions are only for one character, but since the questionnaire I chose to start with was the one-year edition of Beautiful People, this one asks you to use two characters and includes five extras on the relationship between the two characters you chose. Without further ado, let us begin.

1. Do they believe in anything that most people think is impossible?
Hela: How about the existence of nine separate worlds, magic, dwarves, elves, and…someone like me. -lowers gaze self-consciously-
Abderus: We’re considered to be the impossible…so…I believe that answers the question.
(Hela's left half is black, blue, and dead, and the two of them are more or less demigods, which explains their odd answer.)

2. Are they strong, or the "damsel/knight in distress" sort?
Hela: I’m not the type to refuse help if I need it… -not sure how to answer this question without seeming vain-
Abderus: She’s strong. If she’s ever in distress she does her best to fix it herself before she allows someone else to help her.
Hela: He’s the exact same way. Let’s move on.

3. Do they have a special place? (e.g. a corner in his/her bedroom, under a tree...)
Hela: No, I don’t.
Abderus: I don't think I would tell this random person asking the questions if I did have a place.

4. What occupation do they have, or plan on having?
Hela: I am the Queen of the Norse Dead. -sigh-
Abderus: Getting killed in the climax of the story kind of kills dreams. Previously I was the companion of Heracles, though.

5. Describe their current place of residence.
Hela: I’m currently staying in Asgard, visiting my father and brothers. =)
Abderus: Same, only I came with my father to deliver a message.

6. Explain their last crisis. How had they changed when they came out of it?
Me: They had to save the world; by the end of it Hela was even more quiet than previously, though more confident in her abilities. And Abderus was dead.

7. If they could drive any kind of car they wanted, what would it be?
Hela: Drive…a car? O.o I have no need for a car…
Abderus: I haven’t been keeping up too much with Earth technology…a fast car, maybe.

8. How do they deal with change?
Hela: I dislike change and unexpected conflict, but if I must deal with it, I choose the quickest and easiest path to make the change a comfortable one.
Abderus: I roll with whatever has been thrown at me.

9. If they had to amputate one body part, which one would they choose?
Hela: My dead left leg; I have gotten along well enough with a limp for centuries, it wouldn’t be so difficult to adjust to a prosthetic leg or cane.
Abderus: That’s tough. I think I’d choose something relatively minor, such as … Uh. I could handle losing a hand, maybe. Or a foot? It depends on how well they could fix me up afterwards…

10. What would their favorite be at the local coffee shop?
Hela: Hot chocolate, although I would likely let it cool before drinking; my Jotun blood won’t let me drink it any hotter.
Abderus: Uh…coffee is coffee, right? o.0

The extra questions:
1. How did they meet?
Hela: I bumped into him my first day back in Asgard.
Abderus: And I asked if she was all right.

2. How do these two deal with conflict?
Hela: I’m flexible. I’m a daughter of Loki. I am the Queen of the Unchanging Dead. I find the best way to deal with it and do it. The important thing is that the conflict vanishes.
Abderus: Uh…I let myself panic a little and then I just go with the flow, more or less…

3. Do they have a special song, phrase, item, or place?
Hela: …No…to all of them. For both of us.

4. What kind of things do they like to do together?
Abderus: Not get killed. -apologetic grin-
Hela; He died before there was a lot of time for leisure…

5. Describe their relationship as a whole in 3 words, or less.
A borderline romance.

Asgard and Olympus - Chapter Two

Amazing, a Saturday update. 8D

Asgard and Olympus, chapter two
Wordcount: 2,836 (because I felt the need to share that.)

Hela finds Aphrodite lurking around the trees that shield Loki’s hall from the rest of Asgard. Or she assumes the curvy, fair-haired woman in the rather revealing Grecian dress is Aphrodite. “Heil,” she says politely. (As much as she dislikes goddesses of Aphrodite’s type--and no, she is definitely not thinking of Freya right now--Aphrodite is a guest and Hela will be polite.)

Aphrodite blinks at the Nordic greeting. “Hello,” she says. Hela nods in greeting and turns right, intending to go look for her brother Fenris.

Aphrodite gives a pretty little gasp. “Euuuuw! Your face!”

The polite smile on Hela’s face stiffens and nearly falls; she only just manages to keep it on her face. (You would think after thousands of years of this she would be used to it, but it still hurts.) “I know.” She shakes long black hair over that half of her face, hating the loss of vision, the way it tickles her nose and gets in the way. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

The goddess of love shakes her head. Hela walks past her, ignoring the mortified expression, and sets her mind on looking for Fen.

It’s official; she really doesn’t appreciate Grecian deities showing up in Asgard unexpectedly. Óðins skegg, Loki should have warned her!

The forest ends, giving way to the ostentatious golden halls of the Æsir. She sees various familiar faces in the people: there’s Thor and Sif, Skadi arguing with Njord, Idun quietly handing out apples, and…

Oh, Ás. Fenris arguing with Tyr the Warrior. Hela increases her pace, limping slightly on her bad leg, and pushes past various Æsir to get to the two facing off in the middle of Ida’s Plain.

“Your confinement in Asgard was not my decision, Fenris,” Tyr says, looking down at the boy in front of him (for though Fenris is ancient by human standards, he’s only a boy by Æsir standards).

“I know that,” Fen snaps. “But Odin would listen to you over me--”

“If you want something done, Fenris, I suggest you take it up with Odin yourself. I am done here. Do not begin this argument again or I will be forced to take action against you.” Tyr turns on his heel and strides away, back into Asgard.

So Fenris still hasn’t learned to stop picking fights and arguments. Hela sighs and crosses the remaining distance to her brother, laying her right hand on his shoulder. “Fen?”

He whirls angrily, light blue cape swirling. She takes a step back; when Fen’s angry he doesn’t think about who he’s lashing out at, and a brawl is really the last thing she wants right now (not to mention Odin won’t exactly be happy if she and Fen trash the meadow directly in front of his doorstep). He relaxes when he sees her, though, and says, “Hei, Hela.”

A thousand things she could say after a few centuries apart…and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is, “You need to stop picking fights, especially with Tyr.”

He shrugs, arrogant as always. “Asgard’s gotten dull. There’s nothing else to do--and Odin still insists on keeping me and Jormungand confined here.” Fen looks her up and down. “You haven’t changed a bit, Hela.” Something in his gaze says, Still the lucky one, the one who got to leave…

She returns the gaze. He still keeps his hair cropped just below his ears, with one long shock over one eye; still wears that ostentatious fur-hemmed blue cape and the golden armbands with the rune Fehu on them…not all that out of place among Asgard, but compared to the simple commoner’s dress that Hela, Jormungand, and Loki dress in, it’s…a statement.

“You haven’t either.” She’s not sure it’s a good thing that he’s still the same old hot-tempered, rebellious Fenris.

Another shrug from Fenris. “I take it you’ve met the resident Olympians.”

“They’re staying here!?” Why did no one ever tell her anything?

“Yeah.” He laughs. “They’re going to be here for quite a while if Odin agrees to the alliance. If there’s a threat the Æsir should be able to deal with it themselves,” he adds, almost sounding reluctant to admit the competency of the Æsir but still managing to add derision to the sentence. “And the Olympians likewise.”

“Is there anything else related to the Olympians I should know that nobody bothered to tell me?” Hela sighs.

“I don’t know. What have people told you?”

She rattles off her knowledge, scant as it is. “Hermes came with Ares and Aphrodite,” (she winces at that name), “to deliver a message to Odin about an alliance.”

“Then people forgot to tell you that Hermes brought his two sons.”

Absolutely fantastic. More Olympians.

Hela sighs and nods, brushing her coarse black hair behind her left ear. “Thakka, Fen. You’re sure that’s all?”

“Absolutely positive.” Fen would never admit it, but on rare occasions he grins just like Loki.

“They told me I could find Hermes with Loki, and they said you two would know where to find Loki if anyone,” a voice drawls from behind Hela, a voice she’s never heard before.

As it’s male and not Hermes’ or Ares’ voice, she figures it must be one of Hermes’ sons (unless there are other strangers in Asgard that people have also neglected to tell her about) as she turns around to look at him.

Curly dark-brown hair in an unruly mess, round nose, eyes full of mischief, the slouching demigod in front of her looks exactly like a teenaged Hermes.

“If Loki doesn’t want to be found, not even his children can find him,” she replies.

He straightens. “You’re Loki’s children?”

Fen growls quietly. (Hela remembers that Fen has never liked being tagged as Loki’s son, and winces inwardly.) “Yes. We are. My name is Fenris; that is my sister Hela.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Autolycus.” Autolycus nods at Fenris.

What a strange name, Hela thinks. “Why are you looking for Loki?”

“They said that he would know where to find Hermes. Geez, do the Æsir ever just give a straight answer, instead of always passing a guy to other people?”

She cocks her head at his odd accent even as Fen snarls, “We are not of the Æsir.”

“Coulda fooled me,” Autolycus says. “You sure look Æsir. So you don’t know where to find Loki or Hermes?”

“Technically, we are three-quarters Jotun and one-quarter elf,” Hela says, just to set the record straight, “but our father was adopted into the Æsir and so…we have a place in Asgard.”

“Jotun; you mean the frost giants? Nice.” Autolycus talks fast, nodding a lot. He hasn’t said a thing about Hela’s dead side, and she wonders why. (She’s not complaining, of course; after Aphrodite she’s happy to find someone who doesn’t seem to care.)

“I have business elsewhere,” Fen says, turning to vanish into the crowd of Æsir walking across Ida’s Plain.

She knows he means ‘I have no more patience for this fool’s jabbering’ and sighs. At least he didn’t say that outright. And without Fen to interject things for her to smooth out, she has no idea what to say to an Olympian.

“Huh. What’s up with him?” Autolycus asks.

“It’s…complicated.” Hela doesn’t feel like explaining about frost giants and ancient battles and most of all, Loki. “You--you wanted to find Loki?”

“Well, Hermes, but the sea god told me that Loki would know where to find him.”

She nods. “Alright…um, I last saw Hermes at Loki’s hall in the forest that way--” she points behind her.

Autolycus leans to the side to look around her in the direction she’s pointing. “That way, huh? Okay. I’ll see you later, then.” He saunters off, hands tucked into his belt.

One more unexpected visit from an Olympian and I think I’ll just go back and hide in Loki’s hall for a while… She sighs for what feels like the hundredth time and decides to go on her own quest to find Loki; maybe she’ll also find Jorgi on her way, and then she’ll have seen everyone she meant to see on her first day back at Asgard and she can withdraw from the crowd and relax and stop worrying about unfamiliar people like Aphrodite.

Hela makes her way in the approximate direction Loki’s back door faces, which is more or less the same way Fen and Autolycus went. (She assumes Loki at least started out in that direction, though he’s probably halfway across Asgard by now). Wrapped up in her own thoughts of surprises and random Olympians and what she needs to do before she can call it a day, she forgets to watch where she’s going and slams into someone.

Oops.

She desperately hopes she hasn’t run into an Ás who will take offense (Thor and Skadi spring to mind) as she stumbles backwards and looks up.

“Are you all right? My apologies!” he says anxiously.

Óðins skegg, it’s another teen in a toga. She blinks, shakes her head. “It’s fine--I assume you are Autolycus’ brother?”

He’s gaping at her. She sighs and runs her dead hand through the left side of her hair--does she need to explain her condition? But he’s polite; he shuts his mouth quickly and meets her gaze (probably just trying to keep his gaze off her dead skin) nods. “Yes, I’m Abderus. Autolycus is my half brother.”

She nods back, dropping her hand. “Um. Apologies for running into you…I’ll be on my way now.”

He gives another nod (people seem to be nodding a lot lately, more than usual) and steps to the side to allow her to pass.

A very loud Nordic curse makes Hela jump as Odin, in full battle armor, helmet covering his long gray hair, cuts through the crowd of wandering Æsir with Hermes trying to keep up. The Æsir part before the two as they pass right by Abderus and Hela.

Odin stops right in front of his son Thor, who looks up from where he has been chatting with Sif. “My father! You seem in a foul mood,” Thor declares. (Thor always has been good at stating the obvious.)

Two large ravens glide through the air, settling on Odin’s shoulders. “Thor, there are Jotuns loose on Midgard. Dragons have managed to break through to Yggdrasil and from there, Alfheim. There has been an outbreak of monsters across the Nine Worlds.” He turns to the crowd. “Warriors of Asgard! Ready your shields, your swords! The threat that Zeus pleaded for aid with is upon us!”

Abderus mutters something that sounds like, “Zeus doesn’t plead.” Hela ignores him, trying to piece together exactly what Odin is saying.

Odin spreads his arms, an impressive figure with his two ravens still on his shoulders. “The Olympians have asked for our help in this matter. Do we agree to give it?”

The Æsir are drawing weapons left and right, only a few of them without weapons altogether. Plenty of the Asynjur the female Æsir, draw knives and swords and various other weapons as well; even prissy Freya looks ready to outfit her cat-drawn chariot for war.

Thor hefts Mjollnir in his hand, a wickedly determined grin on his face. “Shalt we remind these frost giants why they have stayed in Jotunheim these past centuries!?”

“I see why Zeus calls your people barbaric,” Abderus mutters.

“We’re not barbaric, we’re warriors,” Hela hisses, not noticing that she’s referring to the Æsir as her people. (Odd, as usually she denies having any true connection to the Æsir.)

He shrugs as if he doesn’t see much of a difference. Hugin and Munin, Odin’s ravens, take flight and the Allfather turns towards the Bifrost, the bridge between worlds. Odin leads at least half of the Æsir, the ones perpetually ready for battle at a moment’s notice. Thor whirls Mjollnir above his head, and lightning crackles in the sky. Thor is too powerful to use the Bifrost, for fear of breaking the delicate rainbow bridge, so he always takes an alternate route over the mountains of Jotunheim.

Hela shakes her head as she takes a step backwards. Odin’s just declared war on a moment’s notice and the Æsir respond enthusiastically… she’s not sure this is the wisest course of action. Of course Hugin and Munin have informed Odin of what’s going on…but she still feels that there should be some sort of reconnaissance before the Æsir dive headlong into battle…

“The Olympians will fight as well, won’t they?” she asks Abderus in a low voice.

“Of course they will,” Abderus says flatly.

Hela cocks her head, wonders if he shares her misgivings.

The Æsir and the Olympians on a battlefield together…when they haven’t been friends or even allies in thousands of years…

No, this is probably not the greatest idea ever…

Ehehehe. Wrote this at ten at night, so it's probably not my most polished work. xP And I hope the random Nordic exclamations didn't bother you too much...

Asgard and Olympus, Chapter One

...Whoops, again. Bad Quill.

So this may turn into a Sunday-updating blog. Or you could just check back every Monday and find that I've updated on one of the weekend days.

Have a first chapter.

ASGARD AND OLYMPUS

CHAPTER ONE

 Everyone knows that the Æsir and the Olympians, while not openly hostile to each other, are not friends. (Humans are excepted from this figure, of course; they barely know what’s going on around the other side of their little world, let around what goes on across the Nine Worlds.)

That is why Hela Lokidöttir (otherwise known as Half-Born Hel, Hela Half-Rotted, or Queen of the Norse Dead) is currently standing in her father Loki’s house, staring at Hermes with a mixture of surprise and confusing and wondering why in the Nine worlds the Greek messenger god is here in Asgard.
Asgard. As in, home of the Norse gods, the Æsir. It’s a wonder Thor hasn’t decided to take offense at Hermes’ intrusion with his hammer Mjollnir.

“Are you finished staring?” Hermes asks.

As if he didn’t do a double take when he saw Hela’s…condition. (Hela Half-Rotted isn’t just a name; the entire left half of Hela’s body is cold, blue and black; dead.) “Yes, quite finished. What are you here for?” 

“I’m Zeus’ messenger. You get three guesses.”

Oh for the love of Odin. He’s as bad as Loki. “Who’s the recipient of this message?” she asks. Normally she isn’t this blunt, but really, this visit to Asgard was supposed to be just a simple break from Helheim and the dead, a time to see her father and brothers, and now here are Greek gods running around and complicating things. (Hela is not fond of unexpected complications; she prefers not to have to deal with them.)

Yes, gods, because apparently Hermes broguht the god of war and the goddess of love along. Ares and Aphrodite. (And Thor is really showing restraint about the whole thing; under normal circumstances he’d have chased Ares out of Asgard and the god of war would have been lucky to get out alive.)

“Odin,” Hermes says, and Hela blinks and takes a second to remember what he’s saying ‘Odin’ to. (Oh yes; she asked him who the message was for.)

That would explain Thor, then. “I suppose it’s all confidential and such,” she says, moving towards a stool with the intention of sitting down.

“Anyone with an eye could figure it out, actually,” Hermes says cheerfully. “You have noticed the strange occurrences, haven’t you?”

Hela sits down, arranges her skirt. Her mind whirls; of course she has noticed the frost in strange places, the curiously scorched footprints, the signs of dragons and werewolves and empusa mobilizing. The marks are up and down the trunk of Yggdrasil, the tree that supports the Nine Worlds. “But what does that have to do with you and Zeus and Odin?” she manages.

Loki chooses that moment to emerge from the other parts of his house, just in time to hear Hela’s question.

Hela jumps up, ignoring the painful protest of her dead leg (it doesn’t like sudden movements, but to Helheim with it she has not seen her father in centuries). “Father!”

“Hela!” He catches her in an embrace, Hela hugging him tightly.

“I hate you right now,” she mutters despite this display of affection. Hermes lets out an undignified snort.

“Everyone does at one time or another,” Loki says, unconcerned by the declaration.

Hela pulls away. “You could have warned me--”

“Don’t you know by now I never warn anyone?”

Okay, he has a fair point. “Well, you could have met me at the Bifrost, told me there were Olympians here, that it was a bad time to come or something--”

“On the contrary,” Loki says, suddenly looking serious. “It’s an excellent time to come, because Hermes brought a message asking Odin to join in an alliance with the Olympians against a possible threat.”

Hela closes her mouth, which has been ever so slightly open. “A serious threat, then,” and her tone is solemn.

“Yes. And it would be better if you were here in Asgard if it comes to war.”
Hermes sits down on another stool. “On the vaguely related subject of meeting family and all, I think I hear Ares coming.”

Hela wonders what that has to do with meeting family (she has a vague notion that Ares and Hermes are related, but she doesn’t really know). Loki, however, seems to have a very good grasp of the situation as he immediately turns and heads back into the depths of his house, towards his back door. “Tell him I’ve gone to see Thor or something. That should keep him off my tail.”

“Will do,” Hermes says, laughing. Hela looks to him, an unspoken question in the air. “He and your brother Jormungand both took snake form earlier today and went to terrorize Aphrodite,” Hermes explains, still laughing. “Ares was angered by the disrespect to her.”

‘Meeting family’ would mean ‘get Jormungand and get out if you value your life’ then, and Hela smiles and then laughs.

She pauses, then asks tentatively, “So how serious of a threat does Zeus think it is?”

Hermes shrugs. “I’m here, aren’t I? That should say something.”

It does, and Hela doesn’t quite appreciate the statement. She gives Hermes a curt nod of thanks and stands, turning to go.

The door bursts open and Ares thunders in, sword drawn. “Where is he?” the Greek god of war shouts.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific, Ares,” Hermes drawls, looking innocent despite the mischief in his eyes.

“That elf Loki,” Ares growls. Hela laughs, because while Loki is half elf (and half Jotun, or frost giant) nobody around Asgard has ever called him ‘elf’ and meant it in a derogatory way, as Ares seems to. They usually call him ‘Jotun’.

Ares doesn’t get the joke and rounds on her, furious. Hela smiles sweetly as Hermes smothers snickers. “My father is not in right now,” she says. “he said something about going to meet my cousin Thor. After all, Thor has been away for ages hunting giants, and Loki’s been very busy, and they’ve been dying to see each other. They’re very close, you know, almost brothers--”

At that point Hermes completely loses it and falls off his stool laughing. (Anyone who knows Loki and Thor knows that they have no particular fondness for each other.) Hela takes advantage of the distraction and neatly ducks around Ares and out the door into the forest.

Yes, today is an excellent day so far.

(Aside from the promise of impending doom, of course…)

IMPENDING DOOOOOM.

Okay, I'm done. =P Sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed, drop me a line if you liked it. Yep. Bye. See you Saturday. (Hopefully. It'll likely end up being Sunday again. XD)

Two Scenes from Aesir and Olympian

Ack ack ack ack ack! First week and already I'm falling down on the posting! Oh well... Sunday's close enough, right? -nervous grin-

Have a scene from Aesir and Olympian.

Hela looks down at the limp form in front of her, and she can hardly believe that a moment ago this was the most terrifying creature in the Nine Worlds. Around her, Gladsheim lies in shambles, blood and rubble everywhere. (Odin will not be happy, but it’s a small price to pay for the safety of the Nine Worlds.)

She drops her hands, falls to her knees, exhausted. Triumph? Not exactly. She feels tired, so tired, and yes, it was a victory, but suddenly it feels like she’s been chasing this victory for aeons and now that she has it, what happens next?

Footsteps running, a hand on her shoulder. “Hela−”

Jorgi dead, Abderus dead, Fen a traitor; she and Autolycus are the only ones left to share in this victory. “Ly…we won.”

And what bittersweet words they are.

And a quick scene about what Hela has to lose:

Surtr couldn’t care less if everyone under his command dies as long as he gets what he wants. Whereas Hela cares too much and wants everyone under her command to come back alive.

We’re at war, Lady Hela. Not everyone is going to come back alive. Kos’ words echo in her mind, and she knows they are true. But it can’t stop her from trying to save everyone…it will never stop her.

For she has been beyond the gates of death, and she knows what awaits them when they die. (They say ignorance is bliss and for once Hela believes them.) Morality is a terrible fetter sometimes.

She knows Surtr will stop at nothing, that he will kill on a whim, and suddenly it seems hopeless.

For she has so much more to lose.

A Rambly Post On A New Updating Schedule

I have been terribly neglectful of this little blog. I must make more of an effort to nurture it.

So I think I'll try to post every time I feel like posting.

...Wait, I'm already doing that. And it ain't workin' out too well.

-revises plan-


Every Saturday and every time I feel like posting there will be an update. That part is bolded because it's really the only part that is actually important in this post.

Also I redid the blog look because I felt like doing that. The characters on the banner are Jormungand the snake, Rayle the shaggy-haired girl in profile, Fenris the angry-looking young man with the funky haircut, and Atyno the cat.

I was sorely tempted to draw Iron Man on there because I could and because after seeing Avengers for the second time, Tony Stark is now most definitely my favorite superhero. Sadly I don't have any charries as fascinating (or as amusing) as Tony Stark, and I don't own Tony Stark, so he's not on there.

Maybe I'll restart the 100 Story Challenge. Again. And actually finish it this time. But that's unlikely.

If you actually read this whole thing, you may have a virtual cookie for tolerating my ramble. If you did not, that is totally understandable and I will see you Saturday.

OH MY GOSH. AN UPDATE. This title has nothing to do with the below post. Other than that this is indeed an update.

Apparently I have fans now. This is new.

On the writing front, I have written stuff. I'm not a totally unproductive procrastinator who has been putting off everything. (Most of the time, anyways...) On the life front, we're moving. And I have a paying job now. And friends and family are apparently more important than spending all day typing on the computer. Who knew.

So I have written stuff. Posting it simply hasn't been a priority.

I finished False Black. It's in the depths of my computer waiting for me to decide I'm ready to edit it.

My latest project is this.

Something’s happening, serious enough to make Zeus extend an offer of an alliance to the Æsir, the gods of the Norse; serious enough to make the normally rival gods accept the offer and band together with the Olympians.

The Æsir and the Olympians find themselves caught in a war to save the Nine Worlds from enslavement. One by one the gods fall and are scattered through the realms, until the only ones left are those who weren’t allowed to actively partake in the fight: the children of the two tricksters Loki and Hermes.

Now Hela, Fenris, Jormungand, Autolycus, and Abderus must find some way to finish the task their parents could not. Where the gods failed, five tricksters must succeed. The Nine Worlds are at stake, and when the five tricksters can’t even make peace between themselves, how are they supposed to fill in for the gods?

Fun stuff, fun stuff. I have a few title ideas:

• Æsir and Olympian (I would use this but 'Æsir' is a very obscure term. Most people think of them as the Norse gods, or, thanks to Marvel, 'Asgardians'. You have no idea how much I hate the term 'Asgardians'. They're Æsir, Marvel, Æsir. Get your facts straight.)
  
• Trickster's Child (Self-explanatory, this.)
  
• Fire and Frost (Villains reference, this. Ten points if you can figure out what in Norse mythology this refers to.)
  
• Five Tricksters (Also self-explanatory.)

It's still in the planning stages, but I'm in love with it. Here's a quick excerpt from the beginning:

The giants are stirring.

The dragons are taking wing once more.

Frost covers the ground in the middle of summer,

The empusa and their sisters are at large.

Scorched footprints scattered ’cross the land.

Something is happening. Something beyond the Olympians.

Zeus turned to Hermes, who stood at the side of his throne awaiting orders. A smirk still lingered on his face, but Hermes hated to be the bringer of bad news, especially to Zeus, who tended to take offense at such things. “Hermes,” the king of the Olympians said, voice heavy.

Hermes fidgeted. “Yes?”

“It is time we reached out to our brothers in Asgard.” Zeus looked off into the distance, eyes unseeing. “Events are moving quickly, and it may be too much for even the Olympians.”

“You wish to send a message to the Æsir?” Hermes quirked an eyebrow. Zeus took a fiendish pride in looking down upon the gods of the Norsemen, declaring their ways barbaric and violent.

Zeus slammed his fist down on his throne. “You heard what I said, Hermes!”

“Of course. A message to the Æsir,” Hermes corrected himself quickly.

“An alliance,” Zeus went on. “Against whatever is coming.”

Hermes bowed and turned to go. “I will deliver the message.” The wings on his sandals fluttered, excited at the prospect of another journey.

Zeus extending an offer of friendship to the Æsir…something is coming. Something big.

With something of that magnitude…will anyone be able to stop it?