Hi all!

Just came back from Boston, for a class trip- one of the best experiences of my entire life. It. Was. Amazing. Bloody cold, but amazing. 

This is sort of a boring chapter, but I PROMISE, the action begins to pick up soon. 

~Edit: Me (When I found the picture of the girl with the sword, I squealed.)

~Songs: Bleeding Out, Imagine Dragons; 

Chapter Forty-One

~Thea's POV~

"No." states Jack, "I am not riding with Loki just because you and Kyle made up. Absolutely not."

"Pleaaaaase," I say, giving him my most winning smile, "We have to take turns sharing the burden."

Loki, who is standing a few feet away, rolls his eyes, although he looks more amused than annoyed.

"I can ride with Max," points out Jack.

"And have Leah ride with Loki?" I demand, "No way."

"What's so dreadfully wrong with me?" asks Loki.

Jack and I give him very obvious looks, quite plainly telling him that we could go on forever about why we don't want to ride with him. Loki retaliates by pulling my ponytail.

"How about you ride with Archer?" asks Max, ignoring me as I swat Loki multiple times, "And Loki can be by himself." He glances at Archer, who is standing nearby, "Are you good with that, Archer?"

"Of course," says Archer. He has cheered up slightly with the ride down to the lake, although the loss of his friend is still evident in his bloodshot eyes.

"Good," says Max, "Not let's head out. We want to be down at the lake by sunset."

*

The lake is beautiful.

We let the parabai go about a mile from the lake's surface, but I can see it glittering in the trees, blue and pristine. As we clamber down some sandy embankment, it comes into full view.

It's like a glass of turquoise, shimmering underneath the setting sun. The water splashes up to the white beaches in clear ripples, so that we can clearly see the pebbles the dot the shoreline. It has to be one of the most spectacular views that I have ever seen.

"This is gorgeous," gushes Jane, who is holding Leah's hand across some of the rocks- Jack and I had skittered down them like mountain goats, bringing about shouts from Max, "This has to be a glacier-formed lake- the water is so clear and blue."

"It might be beautiful," says Steve, "But I don't know if we should go near it unless we have to." He looks at Jack and I with a raised eyebrow, as we are already taking off our shoes.

"It's best not to," says Archer, "The mermaids are fiercely protective of their lake. Even the smallest ripple of disturbance may signal their rage."

Jack and I stop pulling off of our socks.

Steve nods, "That's that. Let's head back up that ridge and make camp. Once the sun sets, we can see about visiting some mermaids."

*

Loki attempts to teach me how to fight with a sword as Steve and Jane make dinner, but he doesn't get much further with me than Thor had in Asgard. For one thing, the sword is really heavy and bulky, not at all like my light dagger that I've gotten so attached to (literally, it doesn't leave my side anymore).

And it doesn't help that Loki is growing rather impatient with me.

"Thea, you're going much too slow- I could have killed you three times before you even lifted the sword."

"It's too big!" I exclaim, which is true: it's more than half my height.

"I don't care," snaps Loki, "You need to pay attention."

"Paying attention has nothing to do with it! It's too heavy!"

"No, you're arms are just too weak and skinny," Loki retorts, "Now try again."

I glare at him, "No. My dagger has the stupid star in it. Why do I need to learn to fight with a sword too?"

The swishing of the sword is so close to me, I scarcely have time to recover and lift my own sword to block Loki's blow.

"MAX!" I wail two minutes later as I fall to the ground due to a particularly hard swing.

He looks up from where he's playing cards with Kyle, Tony, and Jack, "Thea, just keep trying, you're doing fine."

Jack looks up and smiles toothily. I curl my lip at him.

I grow more and more tired, and more and more frustrated. Loki is relentless- it's trying to fight a black belt martial artist the first time you step onto the mat. I'm sweaty, panting, and my arms feel heavier than lead. I really want to be done with this.

I get my wish a few minutes later.

As I try to block Loki' sword with my own, bringing it horizontally in front of my face, I trip on a few of the backpacks strewn across the ground. Before I can catch my balance, I fall. The main problem with this is that my sword cuts down, freeing Loki's, the point of which catches my face.

I don't think I scream, but I know I at least cry out. The tip has caught my left cheekbone and sliced downwards. Loki reacts quickly and yanks the sword back, but not quite in time- the cut goes down to the bottom of my chin. I can feel the blood on my cheek my mouth, and worse, I taste it. My nose is bleeding.

"Damn it, Loki!" exclaims Kyle, who, like practically everyone else, has heard my cries. That's all I hear and I assume and Bruce are getting some medical crap, but I'm gagging on blood and can't quite concentrate.

I feel hands on my shoulders, then my face, pulling me up. My face is searing with pain, and tears mix in with the blood.

"Thea," says Loki firmly, "Look at me."

I groan, but there isn't any blood in my eyes so I avert them into the direction I am hearing Loki's voice.

"Mm, I caught you good didn't I?" he says, looking at my bloodied face. I want to slap him, but one of my hands is holding my nose, and the other one is on my cut. Loki pulls the latter one off, which is probably wise because I'm sure my hand is filthy.

"You're really good at causing trouble aren't you?" That's Kyle's voice, and it's short, aimed at Loki. I feel his warm hands on my face, squeezing my nose tightly with a white cloth, "Thea, don't lie back, it will make the blood go into your throat."

I already know that, but I don't protest. I'm busy gasping through my mouth.

The cut on my face isn't very deep, but it's still bleeding, although most of the blood is from my nose. Bruce takes care of that within minutes while Kyle takes care of my nose. It stops bleeding ten minutes later, and my nose feeling numb.

"Loki, I'm going to kill you!" I moan when I can finally speak again.

Loki, who is still nearby, snorts, "You're going to need to learn how to fight off my sword first."

"You're not even going to say you're sorry?" I demand as I take a wet cloth from Bruce and wipe the blood from my mouth and neck.

"It wasn't my fault, whatever do I have to be sorry for?" asks Loki.

But as I glare at him, I spot him twisting the hilt of his sword rapidly in his hands and the drawn-out anxiety of his green eyes.

*

"Mermaids like beauty," says Archer as the sun sets completely over the east (still weird) and we gather near the lantern light, "And are attracted most to young, attractive men."

I brace myself for the inevitable.

Sure enough: "Perfect," says Kyle, who is leaning lazily against a tree, next to me, "Looks like I'll be hooking up with a few mermaids before dawn then."

"How do you hook up with a mermaid?" Jack demands who, like me, looks exasperated, "Since they don't have-"

"Point being," says Bruce, "We also need to be polite. Ask nicely, don't attack unless we have to." Here, he looks pointedly at both Asgardian brothers. They nod stoically.

"How exactly does this work?" asks Natasha, "There aren't boats, and unless they come up to the beach, there's no way we're getting anywhere."

"No need," says Archer, "About a mile around the left side of the lake, there is a series of pools connected to the lake. It's deep, and the mermaids frequent those waters at night."

"We need to remember some jewels," says Steve, "As in, the big one."

"Point granted," says Tony, "And let's pack up anything we might find useful. I have a feeling these chicks aren't going to give up that pearl easily."

I finish packing my loyal rucksack and pull it up on my shoulders. I also make sure my dagger is fastened securely to my belt and that my stiletto sleeve is attached.

Clint correctly observes that the sleeve is slightly too big on me. "It's probably because you were sick and you might have lost a little weight," he says, looking me up and down, "Which is a real shame, because you need some muscles in you."

I want to protest that everyone needs to stop calling me a twig, but Clint continues, "I can fix that up for you."

And so he makes a little slit in the leather, stitches it up in record speed, and feels the gap between it in my skin, "There you go," he says, "And it's also adjustable so that we can make it bigger if we have to."

"Thanks," I say, glancing down at Clint's handiwork.

As I stand up to go join the others near the edge of camp-with the exception of Jane, Leah, Max, and Bruce, who are staying behind at the camp- someone grabs my shoulder and pulls me, staggering back.

"Let me see your face," orders Loki, "And stop squirming, you are trying my patience."

"Leave me alone," I say grumpily as I try to shake myself away from him. When my attempts fail, I kick his shin.

"Thea!"

I wrap an arm around myself, seeing as Loki is in possession of the other, glaring at his chest armor in frustration. "Go away," I say in a muffled voice.

"Argh, you're acting like a child!"

"I don't care!'

Loki, getting more impatient, jerks my chin up so that he can see the clear cut running down the left side of my face.

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Thea!"

"Don't touch it!" I whine as he puts his finger on the edge of the wound. "It hurts!"

"I'm aware," he says, removing his hand, "It was a sword, not a pillow."

"Yeah! And you were being too aggressive!"

"I don't think Videl will be very gentle," says Loki coolly.

This attracts my attention, "What makes you say that?" I squeak.

"Videl is stronger than you. If it comes to the worst, I would really prefer if you stay alive."

"You want me to stay alive?" I ask, trying to dismiss the V-word. "Are you feeling all right?"

His eyes narrow and I shrink slightly under his glare.

"Sorry," I squeak.

He snorts, then lets go of my arm. "You really need to learn manners."

"Oh please, it's not like you have any."

"On the contrary," he says, "I am perfectly polite."

I burst out laughing, "Are you joking?" I try to stop laughing but without much success, "Are you joking?"

He flicks the tip of my nose, "Hush."

"Don't hush me." I say, "You're not- nn nnnn,"

Loki has covered my mouth with his hand, "Evidently, I can hush you," says Loki, apparently gaining vindictive pleasure of seeing me try to escape from his grasp, "And I will continue to do so if you do not learn to shut up." He pauses, "And if you even think about licking my hand, I will cut it out of your mouth."

I put my tongue in my mouth just in time.

"Loki, let's get going!" shouts Steve.

Loki looks down at me and I am surprised to see that his eyes are gentle, "Be careful, kitten," he says. He lets go of my mouth, "I really would prefer if you came out of this alive."

I look up at him, which is somewhat difficult to do, because he's more than a foot taller than me, "Being careful is boring."

He gives me an awful look.

"I mean of course I'll be careful," I say hastily.  

Thanks for reading! 

Please VOTE and COMMENT! :D 

(btw I think Blue Moon won its category in the Watty awards, but I'm not certain for sure, but I'm still mentally celebrating)

What do you think of Thea's character development? I've been shaping it for a while now. Comment your thoughts if you'd like! 

Have a nice day! Love, Sierra

~Three Tasks Fact~

The mermaid lake is based on Walden Pond, which I just visited (literally, I was there yesterday). It's absolutely gorgeous, and I felt so at peace there.