"Good morning for you too, Lok. I'm… going. Better than I was before, for sure, thank you for asking. Who are your three friends?" I asked, noticing the other three ravens flying with him, both that were perched at each corner of the rooftop, guarding me for sure.
["I'm his mate, Muirenn Maolmhuaidh Ó Frighil,"] spoke the one at his left, her, I suppose it's a her, having a deep but softer voice than Lok. ["I was eager to meet you, Missy. You can call me Frigda. Anything you need, I'll help. Us females understand each other better."]
I felt my cheeks blushing, "I agree. Frigda it is. Frigda and Lok, it kind of reminds of the names of Norse mythology Gods. Funny story," I smiled at them, feeling like it was just as, as if everyone else had vanished. "My grandparents told me that my mom, Felicity, was fascinated by Norse mythology, and that she while she had always wanted a daughter named Euphemia, she was didn't know what name to give me, and that she picked it last minute, and after Loki, who's know as the God of Mischief."
"Funny enough, I'm guarded by ravens and serpents, ravens being a symbol of Odin who's the God of the Skies who sees everything with his eyes and the eyes of his ravens, and the serpents are one of the symbols of Loki. So, every time I did something naughty, something chaotic, or lied about something, my mom would say I was as terrible as Loki himself," I couldn't help grinning. "She said it offensively, but I always took it like a compliment, because he's my favorite Norse God, and also my favorite character of the Marvel universe. He's just fascinating, and that only meant I was fascinating as well."
Then I raised the border of my gym top a bit to show my upper left ribs, and the tattoo in it, two serpent interlocked with each other and biting their own tails, with a Norse mythology symbol passing under them in a straight line, "This tattoo both a symbol of Loki and automatically of my name, Mischief," I told Frigda and Lok. "It was my 6th tattoo."
["It's beautiful, Missy,"] said a third crow. ["Your story was also beautiful. We are family with the Norse mythology tales told by humans, and the real ones. I think that only connects us a bit more, no?"]
"I guess it does," I chuckled softly. "What is your name?"
["Toirdhealbhach Duinnshléibhe Troighthigh, Tor for short."]
I couldn't help laughing softly, "Lok, Frigda, and Tor? Now this is crazy, Thor is awesome too in Norse mythology and in Marvel. Oh, yeah, he's amazing in Marvel, his movie Ragnarok is one of the best. It's nice to meet you too, Tor. You're a male?" A nod, "So, are you his mate?" I asked the fourth one who hasn't said anything yet.
A nod, ["Aghna Fearghuis Amhalghaidh Heldhasa. I'm Tor's mate, and they all call me Hhela. Female. We waited for you to come to us, Missy, we have been waiting for you for a long time."]
"A Norse pantheon then, Hhela," I mumbled amazed. "And what do you mean by that? Waited for a long time for me to come to you?" It was hard to frown in confusion. "As in, waited for me come up here in the roof, or… waited for me to leave Sofia and come to Chicago?" That doesn't make sense. "Did… did you know they were here?" I pointed to appa and Ari.
The ravens shared a tense gaze, which only made me tenser.
I swallowed, "I made you a question," I hissed, feeling my temper slipping bit by bit out of my control, "did you know my sister was in fucking Chicago with my father?"
["We knew your father and your sister were looking for you, as much as the ravens in Bulgaria knew you were looking for your sister,"] Lok said at last. ["We could feel that your father's missing daughter was the one who would be able to talk to us. So, we were waiting for you."]
Clenching my fists and jaw, I tried to control myself, "There are no language barriers between the ravens of Bulgaria and the ravens of the United States. No," I scoffed, "I was in the United States for 4 years. There was definitely no language barriers then. So why didn't you say anything? Why… why didn't you…" I felt my hands shaking. "If you had told me… everything would be different now. My mom wouldn't…"
["There's a limit for our connection, Mischief. Our kind never communicates with humans. We have abilities that can only be unlocked if you are prepared, strong enough to handle. You are untrained, and you don't have the preparation yet. Because of that, our power share with you is limited to speaking, and even that, is limited."]
"What? I… I don't understand," I growled even more puzzled. "I… I don't understand what you meant. What preparation? Did you just call me weak or something? 'Untrained and not strong enough to handle'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I fully hissed this time. "Why couldn't you just fucking speak to me? What power share? The hell is that supposed to mean? Those excuses make no fucking sense. If you… if you had come to me… if… if...."
"…Yeji? Yeji?" Dai-Jin shook me softly. "What's happening?"
I blinked furiously, fighting the tears, forced to come back to this maddening reality, "I… I don't know… I… they are saying things that don't make sense… that… that I don't… I don't understand… I… I know you don't believe me, no one did… I… I swear I'm not insane or hallucinating… I swear. They really speak to me… they… they…"
"Hey, hey, Yeji," he bent down in front of me and I noticed he had turned my chair around to face him, holding my face in his two huge and painfully soft hands, making me meet his eyes, "I don't think your insane or hallucinating, I believe you. I believe in you. You're not crazy."
"No… you don't mean it…" I cried. "No one does. You don't…"
"I am like you, Yeji," he cut me mid-sentence. "I'm like you."
I instantly frowned, feeling my eyes watery, "Don't mock me on this, ahjussi. That's not funny. You can't speak to Raibh or to them, and,"
"I don't speak to ravens and snakes, Yeji," he chuckled, "I don't even know how you do, when they pretty much put on a human-ban tons of millennials ago. I speak with cats."
Laughter bubbled inside me, and I couldn't even hold it, "Hah, I see, you're trying to joke around and,"
"I'm not joking. I speak with cats," he said seriously. Too seriously.
My smile died, "What?"
"How do you think I got to your house? I spoke with the cats in your neighborhood, and the black cat, a female called Yor, freaked out when I asked about you, calling you Missy, and saying that she wasn't going to help me, because I came in the name of your dad, and a black cat called… Jungkook, had made a decree that you didn't want to contact us, and some,"
"Jungkook?" I frowned. "Aunt Sofija's cat?" My frown deepened.
"I didn't know it was your aunt's cat, only that he's a big boss of the cats in Sofia and some shit, and his word is law. Then a bunch of ravens came flying passing by us and to your house, noisy like crazy, and Yor and the cats freaked out, saying your name, and then ran after the ravens. I just followed the cats, then the whirlpool of ravens. As soon as I got there, a bunch of ravens flew to me, grabbed me, which was genuinely impressive, flew up with me and threw me in the pool, where I found you. Then I saved you, the rest is history, and you're here now," he caressed my cheeks.
"We believe in you. We all do, because you inherited this ability from your dad. Each of us speak with different animals. If you doubt me, I can get one of my cats here," he has cats? "Then you talk to it, I do too, and I prove it to you that I do talk with cats. I got it from my dad, he also speaks with cats, while mom speaks with ants, which is absolutely useful to get information, since ants are every-fucking-where. We all speak with them, though it's unheard of anyone speaking with five different ones, your sister speaks with three kinds of birds, which is rare on itself. And,"
"You can't be serious, ahjussi!" My eyes widened and I instantly glare up to the ravens, "He's not serious, right? He's mocking me, right?"
["It's true,"] they chanted together. ["He's telling the truth."]
"You can talk with animals?" I pretty much screamed, in dismay. "Ahjussi," I gasped, "you can talk with animals?"
He cringed, "No need to scream, ajumma. What? Thought you were the only one special? Sorry to tell you that you're not. I mean, sure you may be special considering your bonds, but so are we."
"How can you talk to animals?" I gasped, staring at them all.
"Jesus, it's not like you can't either, Sera," my sister chuckled.
"Hah," I chuckled then I burst out laughing like a maniac, "oh, lord, if eomma knew you were as weird as me, she would have an aneurysm."
"Hey, I'm not weird," she pouted.
I scoffed, glaring at her, "Dude, your hair blue, you talk to three types of birds, and you are the golden retriever type. You are weird." Then my eyes widened, "You talk with three types of bird!"
Her pale skin turned bright red, "No ravens or crows, but yes."
"You're like a Disney Princess," I mocked.
But she seemed to like it, "Doesn't that make you one too?"
"I'm more like Lord Voldemort," I tilted my hair, and I think all of their choked on their food, except Dai-Jin who choked on air and saliva. "Too much?" I chuckled, "It's because of the snakes and all."
"Why not Harry Potter?" Minho asked amused.
"I'm not a fan, I'm more into Malfoy. And I'm a Slytherin," I tilted my head. "Gryffindors are… obnoxious. Not much brain in there, only exaggerated levels of dumbness and adrenaline. I'm smarter than everyone and I know that, which makes me a Slytherin, and a Ravenclaw underneath. Slytherclaw if you may. Which does make sense if you take in that I have the snakes and the ravens with me," I smirked at the thought. "Jesus Christ, back off, ahjussi," I pushed him, who was still too close, so close that I'm sure the turtle-neck of my tom will smell like him.
"Well, you were losing your shit, I had to do something, ajumma," he snorted, standing up like a giant, turning my seat to it's original place again like it was nothing, and then going back to his. He's definitely strong, not that his sculpted muscles were proof enough of that, but damn, he's strong. "We were planning to break it to you more calmly, but well, seems like your ravens complicated it a bit, ajumma. Quite awesome the Norse mythology story by the way."
My cheeks definitely blushed, "It was not for your ears, ahjussi."
"Too bad, my hearing is spectacular. We all heard it though, since you are quite the loud one, ajumma," this bastard-
"I never thought I would be alive to see this brat calling anyone else loud, other than himself," Victoria's mom mocked. "But you are a bit… high on the volume, sweetheart. It's good though, better than you staying silent, it shows you're quite lively. You definitely got that from your dad. He's always been a loud one."
"Well, then seems like I got it from both, because all mom did was talk yelling," I chuckled at the memory. "Quite the strong lungs she had," and that's because she smoked. "And you, ahjussi, are as loud as I am."
He clicked his tongue, "You have quite the fiery temper, ajumma."
"You hasn't seen half of it yet, ahjussi," I sneered.
"You're like Tom & Jerry, eonni," Jiah grinned at my side. "You are Jerry and onii-chan is Tom. You know? Because he can talk with all cats, and you can talk with mouses," she beamed with her own joke.
"Well, thank you, Jiah. I always thought Jerry was smarter than Tom's dumb ass," I purred, mocking Dai-Jin.
"You will realize I'm quite smarter than I look like, ajumma."
"Well, I doubt that, ahjussi," I countered.
"I hate to say it, but he's actually intelligent," my brother growled as if the words tasted sour on his tongue. "What he has of condescendence and annoyance, he has of intelligence. He's still an incurable troublemaker though, and absolutely infuriating," he pushed Dai-Jin again.
As if I couldn't tell that much. That only makes him more of a pretty dangerous and attractive threat. Like a Swiss cheese in a trap, waiting for the hungry mouse to come and take it, just to hunt him down.