The Ragnarok Trials

Day Eighteen: Nightingale

Day Eighteen
         Nightingale
Focus Word: Fly
Word Count: 2951

A nightingale greeted me with its song as I exited the building. It was beautiful, the lilting chirp of its song bringing in the night, but all I heard was a knell, leading me to my death.

Michael did not touch me, thank all the gods, but neither did Gabriel, the two Angels instead electing to walk with me into God Town and into the waiting crowd of my admirers. You know, the ones that wanted me dead. Michael walked afore me, as befitted the leader of the Divine Host, and Gabriel walked behind, I suppose to make sure that I didn't run. Both Angels wore their full contingent of armor, leaving only their hands and their heads free, swords gleaming (but thankfully not yet burning) along the stretch of their backs.

Ordinarily, the sight of Gabriel in full armor would have stirred me into thinking very inappropriate thoughts. But, even though I was glad he was behind me, it was only because I couldn't bear the sight of him. He was the first true friend I had made since the Fall, and, hell, since ever, and now he believed that I was guilty of a murder I knew I didn't do. A murder he had to know I didn't do. That his disappointment was so strong it blinded him to true justice was, I suppose, a testament to how much he cared for me, but I admit I would have preferred blind justice.

And that lay ahead of me, embodied in the golden Angel stalking his way through the streets.

We were, of course, not simply stalking through mortal streets, leaving mortals to stare at us in wonder. Two Angels and an Old God? Could you imagine the chaos? (Yes, I could, incidentally, and I craved it. I craved the chaos, if only to feel its tremor along my spine once more before my death.) No, we were protected by a deflector, a spell that did not render us invisible, but rather forced everyone to look the other way. Once, Bacchus' joint would have enjoyed something similar, but our power does not extend that far any longer. For two of the most powerful entities in existence, however, it was no problem.

I was beyond jealousy at this moment. The song of the nightingale followed me, the bird flitting from tree to tree, following the power it sensed rising from the two Angels and I. Oh nightingale, do you sense the love between myself and the Angel behind me? Does it lend a sorrowful timbre to your song? Sing us a song, nightingale, of a love that once belonged to only me, a love betrayed by disappointment and old crimes long ago paid for in blood.

I wished that I could fly with this bird, could let it take me away somewhere else, somewhere far away from these gods and these Angels who were so ready to believe that I was guilty. Who would punish me, once more and for the last time, for behind me.

Nightingale, do you know that the Angel before me, so upright that one must believe his spine is steel, is my last hope? My...no, I would not call him my enemy, but...but an adversary, I suppose. My adversary in so many things; he who doubted me, who tormented me, and was so willing to believe in my guilt but three days before, represents the last thread of hope to which I can cling. And I do so cling, beautiful nightingale, I cling desperately to the idea that I might get away from this alive. That somehow, Michael will sense this for an injustice and free me from the (HAMLET TIME) slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

You know, I've never gotten to quote Hamlet before. Well, nightingale, if anything good comes out of today, at least I got to make a pretentious Hamlet quote once in my long life. It's a nearly microscopic silver lining, but at least it's something.

The nightingale left me as we approached the center of God Town, where Odin's ridiculous building stood, towering above everything else in sight. I watched it fly away, wishing that I were going with it. It has been so long since I have flown, but it's a feeling that one never forgets and never stops dreaming of. It is glorious, the feel of the wind dancing with you and around you, pulling and pushing, tugging and tossing you from every direction. I pity anyone who has never flown. And I envied the nightingale that now abandoned me to the milling, squirming crowd before me.

I could tell the second Michael made his presence known. The nearest around him flinched, the bone-deep agony of Angelic presence pounding its way into the crowd as he lowered the deflecting spell around us. I was pretty well used to it by this point, I'd had so much practice with it over the years. I do admit that the sight of them quailing before the mighty Angel amused me enough to gloat at my familiarity, even though I would be dead within the hour. Hey, gallows humor, right?

There was a raised dais at the center of the crowd, on which stood Ares, Athena, and Odin. I jolted at the sight of Athena standing there. Had the betrayal gone so deep that even she now stood against me? I'd known the sex was nothing but pleasure for her, but damn...fuck me, then betray me? That was cold.

I think I liked her just a little bit more, actually. What? I'm still a chaos deity. Have you forgotten that already?

The crowd parted before Michael like...well, the Red Sea before Moses. I suppose that's an apt comparison. And I stepped after him, looking only at the back of his head, ignoring the glares and the hisses, feeling the warm wetness of spit as it landed on my face. Something flew toward me, but bounced back scant inches from my stomach. I didn't see what it was. Either Michael or Gabriel had wrapped me in some sort of protection meant, no doubt, to keep the crowd from doing me any harm until I'd been officially convicted. Probably Michael; he's the one obsessed with justice. Gabriel was mad enough at me to throw stuff himself, though I had to give him the credit due an Angel. Discipline was in their blood.

Odin nodded to me as I climbed the steps of the dais, but neither Ares nor Athena so much as moved, only their eyes following me as my Angelic guard moved me into position.

Angelic Courts did not take long. The last time something like this had happened, someone had killed Argus, the hundred-eyed man. Suspicion had naturally fallen on Hermes, but I'd proven that Io had done it in revenge for keeping her prisoner all those years ago. Her hearing had taken ten minutes, during which an Angel had recited all my evidence, Michael had done whatever it is he did, and Io had lost her head. It had not pleased me to receive Hera's thank you note a few days later.

She...does not like Zeus' lovers. I keep trying to tell her to take some of her own, but she holds tight to the Marriage Goddess bit. Gods bless her, she tries really hard.

Gabriel came up beside me. "The defendant will kneel," he barked, pushing me down hard from the shoulder. I collapsed to my knees, cursing at the sudden pain that rushed through me. The crowd cheered in response to his rough treatment, glad to finally see me brought low, or, more likely, just glad to have a show after all these years. Crowds love blood, and gods are no exception. Well, maybe Christ is, but he's special.

The rest of us, and even his Father, all love a good bloodbath. It...it's weird, but you guys had gladiators! And...oh, what's more relevant? Boxing? Wrestling? MMA! That's it! You guys have MMA cage fights. So, don't go getting all high and mighty on us, okay? You guys love blood and violence as much as the next group. You pretend to act all civilized, but really...nope. You're all animals, and not even that deep down.

Michael stood facing the crowd. "We are here to judge the guilt of one Loki Laufeyson, charged with the crime of murdering Baldur Odinson four days ago. Gabriel will speak for the prosecution. Gabriel, what have you to say?"

I stared at the wood of the dais. It was new, constructed just for me, and would be torn down the second this proceeding was done. Which, all things considered, was probably in about fifteen minutes. Like I said, Angels move fast. Michael is terribly efficient, and has a lot on his plate, what with practically running Heaven. Christ has miracles to attend to, and sandwiches to post his face on. It amuses him, actually. He's developed a bit of Godly...asshole. It happens to all of us. Just be glad it stops with sandwiches, because Christ is one powerful son of a bitch.

Seriously, he is.

Gabriel coughed to clear his throat. I knew it for an affectation, but Gabriel always did like putting on a show. "Four days ago, Ares of the Greek Pantheon, God of War, ambushed and murdered Baldur Odinson with a sword. The cause of death was exsanguination."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Then why is Loki Laufeyson, God of Mischief, now kneeling beside you and not Ares Hellene, God of War?"

"Because Ares did so for a just cause, Michael, and Loki is the one who extolled the virtues of doing so. Baldur wanted to cause war between the Angels and the Old Gods by seeking to return the Old Gods to their former glory. Ares worried that this would bring chaos to his people and result in the deaths of much of his family. Loki Lie-smith took advantage of this and persuaded Ares to murder Baldur, in order to feed off of the chaos of Baldur's death."

I blinked. This was the story they were going with? That was preposterous. There was far more chaos to be had from war than from peace! I turned to Michael, hoping that he wouldn't miss this crucial detail.

He didn't. "Surely there is more chaos to be had from war than from peace, Brother Gabriel?"

"Thus why Ares wielded the weapon. Loki wished for Ares to take the fall, as they say, thus ensuring a blood feud between the two pantheons. Ares realized this and confessed to me a day ago, during the grace period you allowed Loki to prove his innocence. It is only because of this period that Ares' confession waited to be heard. I have support from both Athena Hellene, Greek Goddess of Wisdom and from Odin Allfather, Principle God of the Norse pantheon. Athena attests to the bargain between Loki and Ares, and Odin was kind enough to allow me to scan his son's body before it burned on the pyre. It was, indeed, Ares' sword that delivered the killing blow."

Michael nodded and did not turn to the other three, even to question them. No doubt he sensed the truth from Gabriel. No doubt Gabriel had worked some magick that, even had Michael asked, their answers would have seemed the truth. Michael is not a lie detector. He can sense injustice.

Now, wait a minute, you ask. Shouldn't he be able to feel the injustice of killing you for a crime you didn't commit? Au contraire, my boyhood amigos. I am guilty of Baldur's death, remember? Tried, found guilty, and punished. And that guilt runs through my veins still. As long as the crime is orchestrating the death of Baldur, it is a crime I have committed. Thus, in executing me for Baldur's death, Michael was simply delivering justice for a much older crime than he intended.

It's tenuous, I'll admit. But Michael is...not the most flexible guy. And, as such, only the most strict sense of the definition was needed in order to make him happy. It sucks, and he really needs to work on that, but I'm hoping that maybe my death will do that.

Michael turned to me. "Loki Laufeyson, have you anything to say in your defense?"

I looked at Gabriel. "Well, you might want to check which murder of Baldur we're talking about. Am I guilty of both, or just one?"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "You ascertain that you are innocent of the most recent murder of Baldur? What proof can you offer that you didn't do it?"

I sighed. "One, I was busy fighting a Chimera at the time of Baldur's murder. Two, I have not seen Ares, barring earlier today, in six months. Three, it was not Ares' weapon that killed Baldur, but rather Heimdall's shiny Bifrost-infused sword. But, as I cannot prove any of these things, what with everyone speaking against me and Baldur being a pile of ash scattered to the winds by now, I suppose nothing I say can have any effect. We have no body, which is something that we really ought to work on for the future. A lot of evidence destroyed in allowing Old Gods to follow all of their customs. So, just to tell you, don't let us destroy bodies and/or crime scenes anymore. It tampers with evidence."

Shaking his head, Michael reached back and took hold of his sword. "So, you are saying that you can offer no evidence but your word that you are not guilty of this crime, Loki? And you expect me to take the word of the God of Lies above the unassailable word of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, and Gabriel, Angel of the Host? I have a confession from Ares. A confession that guarantees him a number of years of mortality--a punishment that no god would undergo willingly and for no reason. Odin has confirmed that it was Ares' weapon. And I can feel guilt crawling all over you. For any number of crimes. I am not happy at the lack of substantive evidence, but this is not an American courtroom and we do not rely upon common law here."

"Yes, yes, I know. A higher law. A Divine Law." I hadn't realized that Ares would face mortality for this. I could see that he had paled somewhat. Apparently, he hadn't known what the punishment would be, either. Well, that was a definite blow. No one would willingly undergo that kind of torture just to frame someone, right? Except that they were, and I had no way to prove it. Michael, damn him, was simply following logic. And what little circumstantial evidence was to be found. "But we can't really trust Odin, can we? He's not really unbiased..."

"And his testimony serves only to strengthen. It is not the lynchpin. We have a confession, Loki," Gabriel replied, voice ice cold. "Ares' confession. And I have deemed it valid. Truthful. A righteous confession."

Ah, Gabriel. You tarnish your soul with your lies, all to gain revenge on me? Does losing your heart to a supposed murderer and sleeping with him right before finding out he's been lying to you really necessitate such petty cattiness?

Yeah, probably. Oh, dear. I was royally screwed now.

"Loki Laufeyson, I have reached my decision. You are found guilty of planning and instigating the murder of Baldur Odinson for your own, selfish cause. The punishment for this is execution." Michael loosed his sword from its scabbard, and it rang free with a hiss as it lit with but a mental command. The crowd fell silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop, such was the amazing power of this weapon. "I will execute the sentence myself, immediately."

A voice rang out from the crowd, then. Deep and powerful. A voice I hated. "Wait!" Heimdall pushed himself forward, armor glowing blue today. "Michael, Angel of God's Mighty Justice, I beg of you a boon! Allow me to execute this god. Twice has he taken Baldur from us. Twice has he lied to and betrayed us, stealing the Bright God from our sides. Allow me to bring justice to him for our people, whom he has wronged so often. Allow my sword to deliver the killing blow, Michael, and thus cancel all blood debt owed to my brethren."

Michael hesitated for a moment, during which Gabriel stepped forward. "Heimdall, did Loki not also seek to blame you for this crime?"

A slow smile spread across Heimdall's face. "He did. A third debt, then, owed to me and me alone. Michael, I ask of you once more, please allow me to deliver justice to this loathsome creature once and for all!"

I looked up at Michael, willing him to say no. Heimdall couldn't be the one to kill me. After all this time, the prophesy of my death could not come true, especially because I would not be able to take him with me. If I was to die, and I was obviously going to die, I wanted it to be Michael's fiery sword. I wanted cold justice, fraught with nothing but indifference, not the vengeful blood lust I now saw glinting in the Watcher's blind eyes. I was due something wasn't I? Due something for dying an innocent man. Something for dying innocent of the crime of which I was accused, at least. Anything but Heimdall, I begged inwardly, practically sobbing inside of my head.

Michael disappointed me. "Yes. It is just that you should deliver the blow for your people. Come Heimdall, Watcher, and execute the criminal yourself. End the blood feud once and for all."