Lord Shadow

‘That’s the thing about her. She always wanted to fix things. I believe this has something to do with her trauma in her earlier years. And even she knows this about herself. But even if she knows about it, she could not stop it’

Loki stopped talking for a second as the baby moves. 

He fears that he would wake the baby. After seeing the baby went back to sleep like nothing is wrong, he continues speaking.

‘And against all odds, she managed to fix it. Maybe, there is a chance of true love between you two after all’

Then he sighed. And there is another silence. 

Only the sound of the wind from the outside could be heard. Then Loki said

‘You should have invited me for the wedding’

Heian this Riana was shocked and she said, her voice was trembling 

‘I thought you did not approve. I fear you would be disappointed in me. I fear…. that you would cast me out’

‘Heh’ hearing this Loki chuckles.

‘No father could win against his daughter’ he said and hearing this, Riana close her mouth as she forced herself not to cry.

‘You should have invited me nonetheless. I might not have approved it, but still, you should have your family around you in your happiest day. Our family might be an unconventional one, but still we are your family.’

‘And now, you even have a daughter. I am sad……that you did not think that you could not come to me with this matter.

‘I was afraid…. afraid that you would….’

Loki shakes his head as he looks at the baby sleeping soundly. He swings the baby slowly left and right

‘What a beautiful child’ he said. Loki could not help but feel happy seeing the baby. 

‘What is her name?’ Loki ask

‘Nathalie’ And Loki finally turns his face to look at Riana. He smiles before he chuckles and then he laughs.

‘You still could not forget her? Nathalie. That is the name of the nun that save you, right?’

She nodded.

There was silence again. Loki shakes his head. In his mind right now, he could that his ravens are being slaughtered right now.

Sasha is coming and she is coming fast to this location. She did not mind killing anything in her way.

This is also an effective way of cutting his vision. It is actually hard to distinguish between his ravens and normal ravens

But it would be easy if she just killed every ravens that she saw. He smiles thinking of how determined Sasha is in getting him

Loki could no longer hesitates. The discovery of the child shocked him but it did not change his decision. After all, it is already meticulously planned

He could not change the plan midway. It would affect all of his other plans if he did that.

But he does have to make some modification to the plan since the baby is an unexpected surprise.

He sighed and the moment he did that a powerful pressure fills the entire house. By now, the green mist could no longer be seen in the forest.

Instead it swirls around the house like a smog. It is hard to see what is happening around the area of the house.

In the house, this changes could not be hidden from Riana and Nathan.

The green mist from the living room had also come down toward the basement. In that process of them talking the green mist had already fills the area of the basement

Loki then click his fingers and all three of them was transported back in the living room. 

Even Riana and n Nathan was pull in by that teleportation force as they appear with Loki in the living room at the same position they were before, like they never have left.

Only the difference this time is that Loki now have a baby under his arm. 

‘Sasha is coming’

Riana was not surprised that her father would notice Sasha. Even though she did not say anything about Sasha, it is just so Loki to know all the enemies trump card.

Loki as an ally is a reliable. But as an enemy, he is very fearsome.

He looks at Nathan and Riana and he said

‘I’ll make sure that she would be brought up well. Come here. To me.’ Nathan seems to know that Loki had made his decision.

He would protect the child and Riana. But not him. Riana look at Nathan beside her and there seems to be reluctance.

But Nathan only smiles.

He shakes his head and said

‘You don’t need to be that stubborn for me. This is good enough for me. Nathalie need at least one of his parents alive. She would need her mother’

‘No’ she said as she grips his hand tighter. Nathan close his eyes. There is no anger. Only resignation to his fate

He had made his bed a long time ago. He just never had thought that he could at least experience what it was like to be…. kind and good.

With Riana he is all of this. But the past would always catch up to him. 

In a world where Karma is real, and there is punishment for good and evil, where justice could win, where Laws of the World itself would find a way to manipulate fate and destiny to bring judgment, this is the best kind of ending he could hope for

He only hopes that his daughter would take toward her mother and not him. What an unfortunate thing if she were to take after him.

He had a lot of things to regret in his life. But there are also good things. After all, it could not all be bad. 

He opens his eyes and then he hugged her. Loki only look at him, seemingly not caring. Nathan look toward Loki and Loki just nodded.

Like he could understand what Nathan is going to do.

Nathan lean on Riana left ears and said

‘Thank you. Sorry. I love you’ Then Nathan move his hand. He was about to incapacitate Riana.

Time suddenly seems to slow down for Riana

Riana is always stronger than him. 

The moment that Nathan make his move, Riana could feel the body of his husband jerk. She knew that Nathan wanted to incapacitate her, to render her unconscious and deliver her to Loki, deliver her to safety.

If she wanted to, she could push Nathan right now and deflect that attack. She could do that

But that……that action is an emotional reaction. She might be the most romantic among all the three sisters but she is…. still Loki daughter.

She was trained to be rational. Her heart wanted to stake it all and fight against her father with Nathan.

But her mind is telling her, this is the best way. 

No, more accurately this is the only way for her right now. if she was alone, if she did not have Nathalie, she would not hesitate.

But she had a child. That child is her weakness. It is her strength. Her hopes and dreams.

And Loki knows that. If there is a way to make sure that only one person dies today, Loki taking over Nathalie is that perfect way

Loki had been in control since the beginning. She did not know how she supposed to fight against Loki at this point and win

And she had felt that the rune in the house and the surrounding area was covered by the green mist

There is many discipline of magic in the world. As for her, she made a sealing formation with the runes

And one of the rules of sealing magic using runes is that in a given space only those who inscribe the runes could use their magic.

But magic is always subject to circumstances.

And runes have its own rules. It has its pulling force, and opposing forces. They are runes that constrained each other, repel each other, attract each other, and overcoming each other. 

And Loki had always been her teacher. He knows more than her about magic. And he certainly knows more runes than her

This act of filling the house with green mist is a familiar trick of the Trickster. 

The green mist has certain properties of Concept and Laws of the World. What the Concepts and laws contained it, only could be known by the caster.

Riana had fought many people, witches, warlocks, and all kinds of people who uses magic in her many missions. 

Whether it was one of the orderly discipline of magic, or those that uses rituals magic that summons an otherworldly force, channeling it from the Great Void, she had never seen someone more knowledgeable in magic other than her father

All she knows, all of her powers come from him. How could she then able to stop the descent of her own father?

It is then the easiest thing for Loki to break all the enchantments and the array formation in the house. If its anybody else, their secrets might not have been revealed.

But because it is Loki, everything seems to became meaningless

She had no power in this place to go against her father. The choice then become simple. Either she fought her father and lose or let Nathan go and have a chance for her daughter

It is a tragic decision. But it is the only decision she could take right now. She could only curse at her own powerlessness.

>>>>