Tales of Friends- Book 1: Rae

Prologue

         My name is Rae Lokisson; I was killed protecting what I love. I would like to share my story with you, so that you may know who I was and what I did. I didn’t have very many friends, only a few close friends came to mourn me. I had many enemies. Most of my enemies, I had acquired not for anything I did or what I had said to them in life, but for the one simple fact, my father was Loki. He had made many enemies and my enemies had come to the thought that I would as well. They didn’t want me as a friend; for fear that I might stab them in the back when I had the chance.

         As I have already told you, I didn’t have many friends. Those friends I did have were closer to me than anyone else could be. Our bond was formed stronger than Gleipneir, and was growing ever stronger with each passing day. My last few weeks were among the best I had ever had. My friends and I were visiting our friend George in Tucson. He lived with his father and was different from the rest of us. George’s appearance was that out of an anime book about a Wolf boy. He still mourns my passing with each passing day. I wish I could let him know the truth about where I have gone but I fear Odin might not allow it. So We’ll just keep that little secret between us shall we?

Chapter 1- Meeting Loki

It was a normal spring morning in Phoenix, Az. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and as always, I was the last one awake. I got out of bed and went into the kitchen. My mother was making me and my half siblings, breakfast, eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, and some golden brown toast. I was 12 at the time. Had I known that would be my last meal with my family, I would have talked to them a lot more. But I had no idea that I was never to see them again.

After breakfast there was a knock at the front door. No one else would answer it so I went into the living room and answered the door. That was when things got strange. As I opened the door there was a man with long black hair and a small goatee. He greeted me and told me he was Loki, and I was his son. He then took me away from my home and asked me if I wanted to go and get something to eat. I told him I just ate breakfast but then he shook his head. Next thing I know I was hungry again so I told him I was starved.

He took me to a restaurant, the name of which I have forgotten, but it wasn’t half bad. He ordered me the same thing my mother always made for breakfast. As we waited for my food to arrive, we talked a bit and he told me I was a demigod. He told me I was to go and find seven others just like me. They all lived together in Tucson. I didn’t know what else to do, so I nodded and told him ok. Once my food arrived, I ate it slowly as I thought about what he had told me. When I had finished eating, he took me to a bus station and gave me a ticket to a bus that would take me to Tucson. I looked at the ticket and then looked back at him, but he was gone. I had nowhere else to go, so I boarded the bus for Tucson.

Chapter 2- The Busride

The bus ride was not too bad. As I boarded the bus I noticed that most of the seats were empty. I gave my ticket to the bus driver and he told me to pick a seat. I made my way to the back of the bus, for I was never really comfortable sitting in the front or the middle. As I took my seat, I looked around at all the other passengers. None of them looked out of the ordinary and I thought to myself, "Ok so far so good."

The bus driver started the bus and we were off. It was a long ride and I remember that I hadn't had any snacks. The bus hit a bump and one of the bags fell. I caught it then looked at the name. I was astonished to realize it had my name on it. I opened it up and inside was some waters, a couple bags of chips, a few bags of skittles and two sandwiches. Then I noticed a note,

My Son,

I know you're confused right now. Don't worry. They will explain everything when you get to Tucson. I can safely assume that since you're reading this note, you got my little present to you for this trip. I know what you like and I made sure to pack a few things for entertainment. Check the side pocket of the bag.

-Loki

After reading the note, I looked in the side pocket of the bag. As I unzipped it I saw a psp and a few games. Strangely enough, it was my psp. I could tell because it had the same scratches as mine did from when I had dropped it a few times. I didn't know how he did it but all the games, they were also mine. I didn't care about what he had done to get them. I thanked the gods for this and I started playing. I don't really remember how long I played for, because when we pulled up in Tucson I was still playing. I was able to do this because he had also packed a few extra batteries.

Chapter 3- Arrival in Tucson

As the bus arrived in the station in Tucson, I remember looking out the window and seeing many people there. Some were waiting to board and some were waiting for friends, family, or other visitors to exit the bus. I picked up my bag, the one my father had given me, and exited through the bus door I saw what looked like a group of 7 people, the oldest was holding a sign with my name. I remembered what my father told me, I was to meet 7 people here in Tucson.

As I walked over to them, I got the strange feeling that they would soon become more than just acquaintances. My head started to ache as I tried to process what was happening right now. The older man, the one who held the sign, greeted me and told me that his name was Brandon, and that everything would become clear to me once we arrived at the house.

The 7 people led me to, what looked like a brand new Kia Sedona van. I noticed that the car only seated 7. One of the 7, a boy around the age of 14 or 15, told me that there are two seats left and I could take one. I was confused for there were 8 of us but only 7 seats. He explained that he and his sister always laid down in the tail gate of the van. I remember thinking about how strange that sounded, but I didn't argue with him. I got into the van and strapped myself in.

Chapter 4- The Strangest Vanride of All time

The van wasn't anything fancy. It had a tail gate, where the boy and his sister were sitting. It had three seats in the back, the right of which I was sitting in. Then there were two middle seats and the driver and passenger seat. We all talked for a little bit, and that's when things got even stranger.

The boy that was laying in the tailgate, with his sister, told me his name was George Fenrirsson, and that he was a demigod. George's sister Ashley said that she too was a demigod and her and George shared a father. Brandon then told me that he was a son of Zeus and the leader of the little group. Then the boy, sitting up front with Brandon, turned around and looked at me. He looked about 17 or 18. He told me his name was Mark, his father was Balor, and that everyone in the van was a demigod. There were two girls sitting in the middle seats, they turned around and grinned at me. They told me that their names were Bethany and Sarah, they then told me that they were twin daughters of Bastet. Then the girl sitting next to me looked at me, told me her name was Erin, and that her father was Ra.

I looked at them and was about protest, but then I realized that if my father really was Loki, then these people were telling me the truth. I looked at them and just nodded my head in recognition. I remember hoping that we were almost there. When I asked Brandon how much further, he replied with something that made my heart sink a little.

"We're going on a raid then we'll be heading home." He told me as he pulled into the parking lot of a Walmart Grocery store.

I sat there and thought to myself, "Oh no. I've made a huge mistake. These aren't the people I was supposed to meet. These are criminals who found out what my father told me."

But as we walked into the store I realized why they called it a raid. It wasn't because they were going to steal anything. It was because they each had their own list and went to get everything on their own respective lists. George and Ashley had one list between them and they went to one end of the store. Bethany and Sarah had their own list that they shared. They went to another end of the store. Mark took his list and went straight towards the deli section of the store. Erin and Brandon took me to where the sodas were.

As we were getting the groceries on the list, Brandon would ask me if I wanted to get something too. Occasionally I would say yes and he would put it in the cart. We kept doing this until we had everything on our list.

Brandon pushed the overflowing cart up to the counter and I watched with amazement as the others quickly unloaded the cart. As I watched I think I nearly got whiplash from moving my head too fast just to keep up with their movements. It only took them about 5 minutes to unload the cart then put the bags back in.

After we loaded the car and got back in, we drove to their home. It was really quiet for I remember that nobody wanted to disturb George and Ashley. Ashley was asleep and George was chewing on a bone that he had bought at the store. I remember being a little scared, because all I could about was, "Why would they not want to disturb them?"

I didn't really get much time to think about it, for we pulled up at their house as soon as the idea came into my head.

Chapter 5- The House

The house, if you could call it a house, was huge. It had two stories and was built with only three hallways. As I walked through the front door, which was designed to give visitors a sort of welcoming feeling, I saw before me the first hallway.

There were four doors in this hallway; each door had a certain design that held a clue to what was beyond the door. The first door on the right, the one that opened to the kitchen, was adorned with a carving of a chef’s hat, with a fork and a spoon, like crossed swords, on top of the hat. Across the hall was the dining room, whose door held the same symbol as the kitchen’s only without the hat. Venturing farther into the hallway brought me to a staircase that stretched from one side of the hallway, to the other. Where the bottom of the stairs met the wall on both sides was a door. Both doors opened inward, and both were adorned with a symbol, just as the first two had been. The door on the right, was adorned with an inlay of an amphitheater, and opened to a medium-sized meeting room. The final door, was adorned with a carving of a couch, it opened to the living room.

The room that amazed the most was their meeting room. There was a pretty large table; it was lower to the ground than most, which confused me. As I counted the chairs around the table I became even more confused, there were only three. I then noticed what looked like four blankets. Two had pictures of cats on them. Of the remaining two, one had dog bones while the other was solid grey.

“Are you wondering what the beds are for?” Brandon asked as he put his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m guessing those two are for Bethany and Sarah.” I replied as I pointed to the two with cats on them.

“That’s right and the other two are for George and Ashley. Don’t ask me who owns which because they will use both instead of always using one.” Brandon explained to me.

As I exited the meeting room, I saw that the others had unloaded the car and were bringing the groceries into the kitchen. I looked at the stairs and a feeling of curiosity filled me. I wanted to go upstairs so badly but I didn’t know if I should or not. I stood there and stared up at the top of the stairs when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder. It was George.

“Want me to show you where you live?” He asked me as he grinned.

“It would be helpful.” I told him as I stared at his teeth, which looked as though he sharpened them every day.

“Alright then follow me.” He told me with a grin. He led me upstairs.

Once upstairs, we found two doors, one on the right, and one on the left. The one on the left held a carving of a girl. The door on the right, which held a carving of a boy, is the one George took me through.

We walked into a hallway which had 6 bedrooms, 3 on each side. At the end of the hallway, if you were to make a left turn was another staircase, but it was off limits to us. George took me past two of the rooms on the left, the second of which, I assumed was his for it was littered with dog toys and bones. He took me into the last room on the left. It was large compared to most rooms but it was also crowded with furniture.

“Welcome to your new home buddy.” George told me as he led me inside.

“Wow it’s huge.” I told him.

The room contained a king sized bed, a computer desk and office chair, a television which was hooked up to a Wii, and a walk in closet. It was clear to me that these people lived in luxury.

“Well, I guess I should we should go downstairs. Brandon is making ham.” George told me as his mouth started watering. “Mmmmm ham.” He said sounding as if he were in heaven.

“How does he cook it?” I asked him as I wondered if it was fried ham, my favorite.

“He has three hams. One he grills, one the fries and the third, he bakes.” George explained to me.

“Oh my gods that sounds good.” I told him as I smiled.

“Then come on, otherwise Ashley will eat it all.” He said as he took my arm and pulled me downstairs.

As George pulled me into the dining room I looked around and saw that the table was almost the same as the one in the meeting room. There were four chairs this time; each chair had, in front of it, a plate, a fork, a spoon, a napkin and a glass. I saw that they had brought the four beds, from the meeting hall, in and each had two bowls in front of them. Of the eight bowls, three had only ham in them. Each of these three was in front of the two cat beds and the solid grey dog bed. The other bowl in front of these beds had either water or soda in them. Lying down in each cat bed was a kitten either drinking out of the bowl in front of them or eating out of the other bowl in front of them. Lying down in the solid grey dog bed was a wolf that looked to be not an adult yet, but too old to be a puppy. The wolf was eating out of a dog bowl labeled Ashley.

“Hey Rae, grab your plate and get your food.” Erin told me as her, Brandon, and Mike, each, grabbed a plate. They walked across the room to where a table, with food, was set up.

They started serving themselves and I, being new to this form of serving, followed their lead. As I started to serve myself, I noticed George walking over with a bowl. I went down the table and filled up my plate. I then sat down at a chair that had a runic letter carved into back. I know now that the runic letter was that of R, for Rae. Brandon sat down in a chair, marked with a lightning bolt, for Zeus. Mark sat in a chair marked with an eye for Balor. Erin sat down in a chair marked with an Egyptian sun. Then George walked over to the dog bed covered with dog bones. He set his bowl down and then the strangest thing happened. George turned into a wolf and, laid down in the dog bed and started to eat.

“Uh, what just happened?” I asked Brandon.

“George and Ashley are children of Fenrir. They can turn into Wolves. Bethany and Sarah,” He motioned to the two cats. “Are daughters of Bastet, and have the ability to turn into cats.” He explained to me. “I am a son of Zeus. I can call lightning down from the heavens. Mark is a son of Balor. He can willingly kill someone by looking them in the eye, and willing it to happen. Erin is the daughter of Ra-“

“She’s a real hot head.” Mark said as he interrupted Erin.

Erin looked at Mark and his ham burst into flames. “At least I can charm people with my eyes.” She teased him.

“Hey I was eating that.” Mark said as he stood up and went over to the buffet table to get more ham.

I sat there trying to control my laughter. I was starting to get used to these people. They were like a family and they took me in when my father had sent me. “So uh, how did you all meet?” I asked them.

They looked at me and the room was filled with a sudden silence.

Chapter 6- Their Stories

“Well Ashley and I were trained in Vanaheim, to control our powers. After we turned 6, we were brought back here to Midgard and were told, by Heimdall, to find the children of the other cultures. So we went looking for them. We ended up lost, hungry and scared.” George told me.

“We were pathetic excuses of demigods.” Ashley said sadly as she looked down. She looked as though she was trying to forget that memory.

“Yes…We were.” George agreed with Ashley and did the same thing that she did. He then looked up at Brandon. “Can you finish the story?”

Brandon nodded to George and then turned to look at me. “At the time that they were lost, and starving, they were at the train station, begging for money. I had just come back from a vacation and gotten off the train, when I saw them. Something about them seemed off, as though they were not human, but were of another species. I know now that this feeling was right, but at the time I hadn’t realized that there were other cultures that had demigods. I felt bad for them because it looked as though they had gotten into a fight with a chimney, and lost.” Brandon told me.

Mike couldn’t help uttering a laugh. “I think they were trying to get you Erin.” He joked, trying to get some laughter to arise in the now solemn room. His attempts proved fruitless as he was met with an elbow in his side, from Erin, rather than laughter.

“Please continue.” Erin told Brandon. She looked at Mike and gave him a look that seemed to say, “Not the time.”

Brandon nodded. “Thank you Erin.” He told her gratefully as he then turned and looked back at me. “Where was I? Oh yes, they had dirt all over them. It looked as though you could put them in dirty 19th century English little kids clothes, and they would look like orphans. I went over to them and told them to follow me.” He said as he gave a look as though he loved this memory.

“We followed him, because we had nowhere else to go, to the very same van that we picked you up in. He drove us here and then showed us to the bathroom. At the time there was a maid and she absolutely loved kids. She cleaned us up in the bath tub and then for some reason, she ran and told Brandon something that sparked a conversation about demigods.” Ashley continued the story.

“She told me that she saw a tail on you two.” Brandon told George and Ashley.

“Oh that’s why you said, we couldn’t possibly be Greek demigods and we definitely weren’t human.” Ashley told Brandon.

Brandon simply nodded and then looked at me. “So anyway, we had a little chat about who they were. It was then that I had found out that they were the son and daughter of Fenrir the Norse wolf god. But despite the fact that they were demigods I still adopted them and raised them as best I could. Of course the Vanir had raised them in the way of their [Ashley and George] ancestors, so I had to raise them to be able to live in modern society. Teaching them was easy. Getting them to actually want to learn was the hard part.” Brandon said with a slight gleam in his eye.

“Hey! We did want to learn.” George blurted out.

“Hey wolfy, why don’t you go and, fetch.” Mark said as he picked up a tennis ball, from off the ground, and tossed it into the entrance hall.

George, being a wolf still, jumped up onto all fours and chased the ball.

Bethany and Sarah, who had been quietly watching and listening to the others, started to giggle at George. “Oh George, when will you ever learn? This is why cats are smarter than dogs. We would never fall for anything as dumb as a tennis ball.” Bethany said to George, knowing he could hear her with his dog ears.

Erin picked up a ball of yarn, from off the ground. “Fight amongst yourselves for dominancy.” She said, sounding playfully evil, as she tossed the ball of yarn between the two cats.

Bethany and Sarah first looked at one another then looked down at the ball of yarn then back up to at one another. It looked as though they were trying to control themselves, and not try to get the yarn, but they were failing miserably. I remember laughing so hard, at the expression of the two cats that I almost fell out of my chair. They looked as though they were struggling to keep the thought of playing with the yarn, out of their heads.

Their instincts got the better of them, for they were soon pouncing on the ball of yarn and were then in a true cat fight.

Brandon quickly put a stop to the fight, by picking up the cats by the scruff of their necks. “Beth, Sarah, please behave. Why don’t you tell your story next?” He told them.

Beth looked up at me and started to tell the story. “Well we were born the youngest of our entire family. One day we were all in a car crash and we were the only survivors. We came out of the wreckage as cats and were thought to have been the pets of the family. So we were taken to a pet adoption center.” She told me.

Sarah hopped into my lap and looked up at me. “One day, we heard barking coming from the main lobby of the adoption center. You know where the front door is and where you actually sign the papers?” She said to me. I nodded to her and she continued. “Well anyway we heard barking and then a wolf ran into the room we were in, and stopped in front of our cage. It stood there and sniffed. Beth and I were so scared that we hid at the back of the cage.”

“Then our cage was lifted up and we were taken into the main lobby, where we were quickly put into a pet carrier. After a few hours of being tossed around our carrier, we were finally let out, in the entrance hall to this house. Brandon had adopted us because the wolf, Ashley, could sense that we were different from the rest of the cats.” Bethany finished the story.

Mike told his story next. “One day I was at home and there was a knock on the front door. My mom answered it and a man walked in. I know now that the man had been my father, but I had no idea at the time. He told me that I must go Tucson and find the team of demigods. He said that I was destined to join them here.”

Brandon nodded as though saying, “Please continue.”

Mike looked at me and pulled out a knife. “My mother had told me that my father was a great man. That he would come back someday and I would have to leave home for a while. The man actually took me to the train station in Salt Lake City. He gave me a ticket and told me that it was a one way ticket to my destiny and that I had a choice. Either stay in Salt Lake and watch my world crumble away, or go on the train and find the demigods, so that we can prevent the coming evil. I still don’t know what evil he was talking about.”

“I met him at the train station and took him here.” Brandon told me. He then motioned to Erin so that she may tell her story.

“Well I was born an only child. I lost my mother at an early age, and my father was basically disowned by his culture, for being too powerful. I am still considered an Egyptian demigod though due to the fact that Ra was Egyptian. I was in Albertsons, one day, looking at some little gold statuettes of Egyptian symbols. One of the Onyx and Gold obelisks started glowing, and then around tip, a ball of light formed. I swear I heard the voice of a man speak from it.” Erin told me. “It told me that its name was Ra and that he was my father.”

“A talking ball of light huh? That sounds a little creepy.” I told her.

“It was creepy, but let me finish please.” She told me.

“Yes of course. Sorry, please continue.” I said, wanting to hear more.

“Ra then told me that I would find a house of demigods and we were to form an alliance. At the time I hadn’t realized what he meant by alliance. I had thought he meant that I was going to make peace between them and him. I now realize that his version of an alliance is more of like a family. I was already living in Tucson but had not really noticed anything out of the ordinary until that fateful day. So I went looking for the house of demigods, when I finally found it, I was shocked to find out that it consisted of a grown man, a teenager, and four kids. But we have made this ‘family’ or ours, work for a few years. I think I speak for everyone when I say, welcome to the family Rae.” Erin told me with a smile.

“So what is your story?” George asked me.

I smiled at him and then told them how Loki had come to me and taken me away. I told them how I ended up on the bus. Then it got me thinking about how dull and boring my story was compared to theirs’.

Chapter 7- Hidden Talents

After a few days of living with them, Brandon started to give me tests to find out what powers I had inherited from my father, Loki. Each day, he gave me at least 3 tests. Some days he would give me 6 or 7 tests. The tests weren’t really bad in fact I actually enjoyed them a little. The tests proved fruitless, for after countless attempts, we could not figure out what powers I had. Then one day, a few days after we had given up our attempts, my first power had revealed itself, with a little help from George and Bethany.

I was sitting in the den, talking to Brandon about what powers I could possibly have, when Bethany, in her cat form, ran in and jumped into my lap. I looked down at her and scratched the top of her head. After a few minutes, George, in his wolf form, ran in and stood in front of me. He was growling and glaring at Bethany.

“George! Calm down!” Brandon ordered.

“NO! Give me that cat!” He growled and said loudly.

“No. You’re scaring her.” I told him as I hugged Bethany and held her away from him.

George glared at me. He looked as though he was about to kill anyone he could get his hands (I mean paws) on. “Fine, you die with her!” He leaped at me and was about to strike, but was stopped by the wall.

I didn’t know what had happened, but George had missed completely, and I had teleported to the other side of the room, still holding Bethany. “Wha-what just happened?”

“I think your first power has revealed itself to us Rae.” Brandon told me, he sounded a little happy. But the happiness soon turned into anger when he looked at George. “You are in big trouble mister. What were you thinking?!? You could have killed Rae, and Bethany! You are grounded for a week.” He said to George, sounding stern and fatherly.

“Im sorry, dad, but Bethany took my chew toy.” George said, apologetically, to Brandon.

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Rae, and Bethany.” Brandon ordered him.

“Im sorry, Rae. Im sorry, Bethany.” George said sounding very apologetic.

Bethany and I only nodded because we were still trying to comprehend what had happened. At that point, my head was filled with so many questions. What had just happened? Why had it happened? Will it keep happening?

Apparently Brandon had seen my confusion, for he started to calm down and then he spoke. “Rae, I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah…Ok.” I said while nodding my head, I felt like a little child, because I didn’t know what was happening.


Brandon took me to his bedroom and we sat down and he started to tell me something that would change my life forever (again). “Rae, Im sure you’re well aware that everyone, here on Earth, has a purpose for their life. We all have a destiny, and I think it’s time you were told yours. A few nights ago a message came to me, in the form of a scroll being pushed through our mail slot, from Isis. Something terrible is coming. It will kill everything in its path, and destroy all the heavens. When I say heavens I mean, Olympus, Asgard, The Temple of Ra and the rest of the kingdoms of the gods and goddesses. We have to stop this before it destroys the world.”

I looked at him with a scared look upon my face. “How long do we have?” I asked him trying not to sound scared.

“We have three days before it hits the Temple of Ra. We must be prepared for the worst.”

“Sh-should I tell the others?” I asked him, my attempts to not sound scared had failed.

“Gather them in the meeting room. I will be in there shortly.” He told me as he crossed the room and opened the closet door.

I nodded and walked out of the bedroom. I went looking for everyone and had them go to the meeting room.