Lord Shadow

The sound of the typewriter echoes loudly in this house. The paper inside the typewriter slowly is filled with words

[And the Hand of the River Keeper reach deep into the river. And then as His hand reaches the deepest part of the river, His hand finally reached toward an invader.

Three mortal beings flew toward him, trying to stop the River Keeper. But how could it be easy to st-]

Knock

Knock

Knock!

The sound of the knocking become louder. And it fills the entire house.

The finger tapping the typewriter stops.

There is an old man in front of the typewriter. It was this old man that is typing words into a paper.

This old man waves his hand, the doorknobs on the front door opens and a man with a patched robe is waiting outside the house.

Loki of Asgard is waiting in front of the house. He dares knock the door of this house but he did not dare enter unless he is given permission

“you could enter” the moment this word echoes in his mind Loki smiles and enter the house.

The moment he enters the house, he felt the warmth of home and all the fatigue in his body disappeared.

All of his injuries that he gained recently is healed. Entering this house has always been a blessing and a gift

The old man did not even do anything. Just entering the house gives Loki so many boons. But he did not come here because he wanted to get these boons. He came here for something else

Two things. But when he walks here, he believes that the two things he wanted to ask is the same thing.

He walk inside the house. He look left and right and he sighed.

“I still could not see the true form of this house” he mutters to himself. All he could see was the quaint house. But he knows this is not the true form of this house.

“the house has also changed” he mutters to himself. He just sighed and then he walk toward the study

The layout of the house had changed a little but Loki knows the Writer always sat in the study room

After all, he heard the sound of typewriting.

This time, the Writer must have fancied writing on the typewriter.

He takes a few steps toward the study room and surprisingly enough this time he can come to the study without any interruptions.

Even though the house look small, Loki knows each step taken in this house is more than a trillion light years away for each millimeter

If Loki had entered this house without permission, he would probably die because of time and space even if the Writer did not do anything to him

Time alone is enough to destroy all creations. But this time, it seems there is no restriction and he could really treat it like a normal house. The distance he should have crossed seems nothing more than like an illusion

And before he knows it, he is in front of the study room. The door is open. And Loki enters and he saw an old man looking at him, sitting on an old school spinning chair. One that you would see in some mortal noir detective film

“an old man, this time, huh?” Loki said the moment he saw the old man.

The old man smiles

This is the Writer.

As for this form, maybe today he would like to play an old man or maybe it is to tease him.

After all, Loki likes to appears like a handsome dashing young man

Or maybe, the Writer simply wanted to try this form.

Who knows whether he has some other reason for cosplaying as an old man?

But that is what He is.

Always mysterious and his thought and mind could not be fathomed.

If one could understand Him, wouldn’t they would be the one sitting on that seat and not Him?

The Writer gestures for him to sit on one of the chairs in the study and Loki obliged. As he is sitting, he looks at the Writer.

This time the writer takes the shape of an old man, but not an old frail man. The back is straight, the shoulder broad

The face has some wrinkled and deep lines, but the lines are gentle, probably to exude affability make people feel comfort when anyone is around Him

His eyes are deep set, shining with a warmth that makes you feel seen without being judged

And the way he looks at you, it is like he has been waiting for you all along.

Loki knows that even before he knocks that door, even before the first knock sounded, the Writer already knows that he would come there and knock that door

But he still lets him do this.

And when one look at those eyes, if he was gentle towards you, then you feel warmth in your chest, if not, you would feel great terror that could even seize your soul in an eternal torture.

The eyes seems to change. Sometimes grey, sometimes blue, sometimes gold. It depends on who you are and what you have done.

His beard is full and white, soft rather than wild, framing a smile that never seem, far away

And he dresses like a normal mortal being.

A cardigan that looks well worn, trousers that could belong to any working man, the shoes scuffed but sturdy

There is nothing imposing and majestic about him at all.

It is hard toc all him majestic. He look like someone you meet at a village gathering, sitting on his porch, offering you some beverage if you are thirsty.

Like someone father. Like someone uncle.

This is him, most of the time.

When He is angry though….

Loki must admit, he rarely sees the Writer angry.

The last time He was angry, was during the early moments of Time. That was when He was truly angry.

The most recent ones was the Flood. At that time, Loki was not yet the Gardener.

As for the mortals, all the obstacles and all the punishment has been laid out from the moment they were created

Loki shakes his head and rid himself of these tangled thoughts and look at the Writer.

The Writer did not say anything.

He only looks at Loki.

Loki knows that the Writer wears this form because His true form would probably make him burst to flame or something.

Right now, the old man is just looking at him. Not saying anything. Just looking at him, like expecting him to ask the question.

He did not need to say anything. Because Loki understand the most. The Writer rarely speaks. Because when He speaks all kinds of things would appear and disappears.

Even before, the voice inside his head is not really his voice but the voice of the wind conveying the will of the Writer.

“Go- “before he could finish saying it, he stopped himself. Loki knows he is not really keen on people calling it that

There is nothing wrong calling him that.

But when He is in this house, wearing this form, maybe He would like to be called a Writer more

After all, if one did not understand the kind of miracles this being made, just looking at the superficial, not looking below the surface, one might mistake Him just writing a story on a paper inside a typewriter.

“What about the River Keeper?” This is the question Loki wanted to ask.

The fact that he could enter this house and ask this question, means it was all destined

It was written. And since it was written, it was destined

There is a smile on his face, there is a warmth in his heart

Hope is alive! He thought

But what made Loki feel hope rising in his heart is not because he could ask question.

After all, the last time he also ask questions. All of those things also probably have to be repeated.

But what makes his hope rising is that, this kind of thing never happened before.

The last time, the River keeper had never made any moves. He was just there, like always guarding the River.

The River Keeper did not make any moves at all.

That was not surprising.

Because Loki has been in the Garden for who knows how long but he had never seen the River Keeper interferes with any of the plans of the Writer.

But now…. something different is happening.

Is the River Keeper interfering with the Writer plans or is He helping the Writer to make sure the story get back on course?

Truthfully, even Loki with a belly full of tricks could not know what the River Keeper is thinking right now

This time, what had alarmed the River Keeper so much that he would scoop his hand down to the tunnels of time and space?

What breaks his peace?

Is it Wargod who talks of taboo things? Is it the meeting with that Monkey? Or is it the visit to the Tree of Creation with his sworn brother?

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