Again Heimdall's eyes wandered upwards. The cawing of the raven had been echoing in his ears for several minutes.

The boy and his father had already begun to stir up trouble.

Freya had disappeared with the dwarf brothers. She knew Asgard from before she was banished so she must have a plan to rile Odin up the most.

Heimdall himself had crept into the great hall unnoticed.

Hiding in the shadows, he stood in front of the entrance that led to the Allfather's study and waited impatiently for something to happen.

But the raven did not move and he could not read his thoughts either.

That meant Odin's mind was calm. He did not yet know anything about what was going to happen.

And yet it seemed to Heimdall that it was unusually quiet.

The gods who had gathered at the table and were drinking were quiet, there was no laughter or fighting. Unusual.

But suddenly everything got louder.

Something heavy was knocked over somewhere. Probably a table or a bench.

Voices complained, but quickly quietened down again. Murmurs filled the air.

Irritated, Heimdall stretched his neck to see what was happening.

The smell of rain rose to his nose.

Then there was a hissing sound as if electricity crawled across the ground.

Immediately he knew what was happening.

Thor was present.

The boy and his father must have caught his attention.

Out of the corner of his eye Heimdall looked up at the raven.

Still it was not possible to read minds. That meant the Allfather did not yet know what was happening.

Thor had voluntarily decided to interfere. How stupid of him. Yet again nothing unexpected.

Several of the gods present seemed to rise and follow him into battle.

Heavy footsteps made the ground tremble.

The raven above the door began to caw. Wings fluttered restlessly.

Straining, Heimdall stared into the bird's empty eyes.

There it was, that tiny gap he could squeeze into. This time it was not voices that flooded his head. Instead, there was this feeling that made the heart in his chest beat faster.

Nervousness.

Anxiety.

Visibly restless, the raven fluttered its wings.

Heimdall's gaze wandered back to the tables.

No one sat motionless any more. All the gods had risen, some with weapons raised.

He could hear their thoughts, sense their fears.

Like a wave of pure fear and the certainty of dying, all these things hit him. It made his ears ring and his head ache.

Everything hurt. As if his body was actually suffering.

With clenched teeth and a silent curse on his lips, Heimdall squeezed his eyes shut and retreated into the shadows as if he could hide that way.

Something inside him began to scream.

Goose bumps crept up his arms.

Cold sweat ran down his back.

What was this?

He had never felt anything like it before.

This cold fear... No, it wasn't fear.

This was something completely different.

Something he never wanted to feel again.

Footsteps reached his ears.

Like a little boy, he pressed further into the shadows, trying to disappear. His back hit hard wood.

The raven began to caw.

It was so deafeningly loud that he thought blood would drip from his ears at any moment.

Wings fluttered.

Then the door suddenly swung open.

The Allfather emerged. He had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and taken off his hat.

Annoyed, he looked up at the raven.

What is it?!, he asked, annoyed by the disturbance.

The raven rose into the air and flew away.

It took a moment for Odin to start moving as well.

Magic burned beneath his feet. With each step the floorboards of the wooden floor broke.

Heimdall could feel his feelings inside him.

How much he would have given not to have to. If only he could have been human. Then his mind would not be burdened for all eternity with what the Allfather felt.

It was cruel.

If what he was feeling could have been put into words it would have been better just to remain silent.

With a trembling breath Heimdall slipped so deep into the shadows that he himself did not know whether he was still flesh and blood or already darkness.

He wanted to leave, as quickly as possible.

His mind screamed at him to flee but his legs trembled.

It took him a moment to get up and slip through the door unnoticed.

One last look over his shoulder and then pulled the door closed to avoid prying eyes.

With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and let his back fall against the cold wood.

He trembled. His entire body was wracked with fear.

He would have preferred not to take another step.

But then everything would have been for nothing.

Maybe the All-Father would still forgive him if he turned around now and confessed everything. Maybe he'd show mercy.

But he did not want to do that. Deep inside he knew he didn't want to go back.

His eyes opened to look over the shelves.

Odin was a collector of everything. There was nothing he did not own or had not once owned.

He knew many things and knew even more that many things wanted to be stolen. So he had come up with something for his most valuable possessions.

Odin's magic was far more tricky than it seemed.

Heimdall knew that if he was looking for you, he couldn't go to one particular place. He had to expect the unexpected.

His gaze wandered from shelf to shelf.

Books, papers, artefacts. Everything a collector's heart could desire was in the Allfather's possession.

He was clever, so he wouldn't hide anything in an obvious place. Maybe he had cast a spell on you.

Heimdall's attention was caught by a small ball on the highest shelf.

It was such an inconspicuous object that he quickly went back to looking for something else.

But when he took the first step, the ball trembled.

Again he stepped forward.

It started to roll.

He took a shaky breath.

"Can you hear me?", he asked as if he were crazy.

Then it fell over the edge.

"(Y/N)!", he gasped and rushed to the shelf to keep the small orb from bursting to a thousand shards.