Trickster or Treatster

"I want to go trick or treating!!" said Love.

"Good idea! Where should we go trick or treating?" Thor asked the gang enthusiastically. "I can't wait to collect all the candies."

Just then, Miek came by, looking perplexed. She walked up to Thor and chirped something urgently.

"What?" Thor asked. "Korg got lost in the corn maze?"

Miek nodded her head and chirped some more. 

"It's been an hour since he went inside?" Thor questioned.

Miek chirped again.

"Oh Norns! We need to go rescue him," said Thor

He turned towards Loki. "Brother, I need to go rescue Korg. Why don't you, Sylvie, and Love go without me?"

Loki nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, brother. I got this."

Thor slapped his brother's back, then left with Miek. Loki turned to Sylvie and Love. "So, where should we go?" 

"Let's go to the edge of town," Love suggested.

"The edge of town?", asked Loki. "There won't be anyone there. We won't get any candies."

"It will be a better adventure though. Aunt Sylvie would surely enjoy it more. What do you say, Auntie?" Love countered.

"I agree with Love. It will be fun," Sylvie replied.

Loki huffed in annoyance. "Well I am not sure what we would even do there."

Love grinned at Loki, a hint of mischief on her face. "Are you scared, Uncle Loki?"

Loki narrowed his eyes at the accusation. "Scared? Me? Oh please… I have seen worse things. There's no way I would be scared of roaming at the edge of town."

"Don't worry, Loki. I will protect you," Sylvie mocked playfully, high fiving Love. She liked Love better when they teased Loki together, but not so much when she gets burned by her laser eyes.  

"I am not scared!"

"Prove it..." Love teased in a sing- song voice.

"Fine," Loki snapped back, his voice laced in annoyance. "We are going to the edge of town."

"Yayy!!" Love jumped in excitement, and hugged Sylvie. 

Together, they started walking towards the edge of the town, leaving a sulking Loki behind.

Him?? Scared??? …

Oh please…

They had no idea how brave he was…

He stood there, stewing in his anger for a few moments, ruminating on the various ways he was brave. In the meantime, Sylvie and Love had already reached the end of the road. 

Sylvie shouted from the end. "Coming or not?"

"Wait for me," Loki replied, realising they had gotten quite far as he ran to catch up to them.

"You are a horse! Gallop!" Love teased.

"Says the giraffe," Loki teased back as he caught up to them.

Loki, Sylvie and Love reached the edge of town in twenty minutes or so. They would have reached earlier if they hadn't stopped to collect candies from a few houses, which Sylvie and Love consumed as quickly as they got them.

The edge of town was supposed to be an industrial area, lined with shipping ports, warehouses, breweries and bars. But right now, it was looking like a battlefield.

"What in the Norns happened here?" asked Loki as he took in the surroundings.

The pumpkins which were set up on the doorways for display, were smashed, and entire warehouses were covered in toilet paper.

"Who did this?" Sylvie asked. She walked to the giant statue that was erected at the edge of the street to find a pumpkin on its head.

"It wasn't either of us," Loki replied. "Then who did this?"

"Whoever this was, they surely outdid you, Uncle Loki," Love teased.

"Oh please," Loki laughed. "That's so plain and basic. Looks like an amateur to me."

Love was about to reply when they heard a loud bang, followed by cheering noises. In the distance, they could hear people laughing and hollering.

"Did you hear that?" Sylvie questioned.

"It came from there", Loki answered, pointing towards the biggest brewery in all of New Asgard. "Perhaps it's the person responsible for this mess." He started towards the source of the noise to catch the menace causing hooligan red handed.

"Loki wait," Sylvie called out, and she and Love followed him to catch the culprit.

Silently, they entered the brewery. The main reception area and the packing station were completely empty. But they could hear noises coming from the back of the place, the wine cellar, which stored some of the best wines and meads in all of New Asgard. 

Loki, Sylvie and Love made their way to the wine cellar. The door was slightly ajar. They peeped through the door hoping to find a rowdy drunkard, trying to steal some wine.

But instead they got the biggest scare of their life. The blood drained off their faces as they saw who had exactly broken into the wine cellar.

It was filled with… undeads…

Their pale skin barely clung to their bones, their faces resembling a skull. Most of them had scars, cuts, and bruises on their face and body, exposing the skeleton underneath. They were big and bulky, with long hair plaited into intricate braids. They wore Viking helmets on their heads as well as battle armors, carrying various weapons like axes, swords, and shields.

There were five of them, walking all around the wine cellar, picking up the barrels of wine. One of the undead punched a wine barrel and drank the wine inside it.

Loki, Sylvie and Love looked at each other, petrified. They needed to tell the others. Loki signaled Love and Sylvie to quietly leave the place, when Love stepped on a can. The can crushed with a crackle, catching the attention of the undeads.

"Run!!" Loki shouted as the undeads saw him. He grabbed Love and Sylvie by their hands and they ran out of the brewery. 

The undeads dropped the wine barrels and chased after them. Loki ran full speed, pulling the girls with him. An undead jumped in front of them, but they turned left. They ran along the street, dodging every obstacle, eager to get to safety. But they reached a dead end, a wall in front of them while the undeads surrounded them on all sides.

 "Stay away," Sylvie warned, taking a defensive stance, ready to beat them all up. 

"Whoa, whoa," said one of the undeads, making his way towards the trio. "Take it easy. I know this is scary for you. It's tough to grasp at first. But it's ok. Come."

Loki, Sylvie and Love looked at each other confused. One of the undead clasped Loki's back and led them to the outer streets. The trio were flabbergasted but decided against fighting and quietly followed the undeads.

The undeads led them inside an empty bar. They dropped two barrels of mead in the middle and grabbed large beer mugs from the shelves. Then, one of them pulled off his helmet, revealing his head which was partially covered with thick, red hair and partially exposed his skull. Using the horn on his helmet, the undead made a hole on the lid of the barrel.

Honey gold Asgardian mead flowed out of the barrel. Its pungent sweet aroma spread all around the bar. The undeads cried in glee as they filled the mugs with the mead.

"Oh, the finest mead ever," one said.

"I missed this so much," said the other.

One of the undead chugged down the mead in one gulp and smashed the glass on the floor. "Another!!!" he shouted while the others laughed and hollered, banging the tables in unison.

The undead in the centre of the room filled two more mugs and made his way towards them. He looked older and wiser than the rest. He had coarse, white hair that reached just past his shoulder, with a thin braid just down the centre. A bulky, rusting metal viking helmet adorned his head, matching the rusting armour he wore. 

He walked with authority, commanding the other undeads on what to do. The other four seemed to respect him and his authority and did as he said without question. He was clearly their leader.

Loki and Sylvie were surprised when he handed the mugs he filled to both of them. "Here you go."

Loki eyed it suspiciously, then looked back at him. "Who are you all?"

"We are the draugr", the undead replied. "Or in today's language, the Viking undead."

"What are you all doing here?" Sylvie questioned angrily. She didn't have a good feeling about any of this.

"Why, we are partying," he replied.

Loki was even more surprised at the answer. "Partying?"

"Why are you partying?" Love asked.

"It's Halloween. The only time of the year when we can come out of our graves or our castles and roam around," came the reply.

One of the draugr, who was near the barrel came and handed a glass of mead to Love as their leader looked shocked. "What are you doing, Sigdis? Giving mead to a child…?"

Sigdis laughed in response. "Don't be silly, brother Jyrik. She isn't a child anymore."

Loki and Sylvie exchanged a confused look at the statement. What did they even mean?

Another draugr joined Sigdis. "Sigdis, you know our eldest brother is a man of morals. A pity he won't let the girl enjoy the fine stuff even now. It's so unfair for her to never get a chance to experience this fine mead."

Jyrik glared at them and took the glass of mead from Love's hand. "Sigdis! Mikrul! I may be dead but my morals aren't dead. No mead for the young girl."

He turned to the two draugrs standing near the booth. "Curalmil! Thrall! Find something appropriate for the girl," he shouted and drank the mead he took from Love. 

Loki and Sylvie looked at him, clueless about what they had got themselves into. This whole situation was weird, to say the least.

"Come on, both of you. Drink," Jyrik prodded when he saw them staring at him. 

Loki took a small sip of his mead and asked, "So, you really are the draugr? The undead of the Scandinavian myths?"

"In rotting flesh and decaying blood," Jyrik replied. 

Love couldn't help her curiosity. "How did you turn into this?" she blurted out, much to Loki and Sylvie's horror. 

They looked around, scared they might have offended the draugrs.

Jyrik, however, didn't seem to mind. He simply laughed, then shifted closer to the trio and whispered as if telling a secret. "We are all warriors who died. But our souls were too stubborn and angry to give up."

Loki nodded in agreement, remembering all the times his mother recounted the myths of the draugr to him. 

Jyrik looked into the distance as if remembering a memory. "All of us were driven by a desire to get revenge. When the Valkyries came to take our soul to Valhalla, we fought them off and tried bringing our body back to life. We failed however. We couldn't turn our body back to how it was when we lived and became this. Since then, we were trapped on Midgard, doomed to roam this realm forever." A lone tear rolled down Jyrik's cheek.

Loki and Sylvie looked at each other, when Love asked. "Why would you give up on Valhalla? Its the place every warrior dreams of going when they die."

"Well, Valhalla is over celebrated. Don't you think, little one?" Jyrik asked.

"It's the eternal ending, the eternal reward. Every warrior hopes to die and go into Valhalla." Love replied confidently.

"Ah, the promise of eternal reward," sighed Jyrik. "Let me tell you something. There's no greater reward other than the gift of life. Not Valhalla, not some paradise we go to. Just our lives."

"Not true. Life is full of troubles and sorrows. When we die, all sorrow and pain disappear. All that's left is happiness." Love countered.

Jyrik chuckled at that. "And what is the joy of happiness without sorrow? Without struggles and pain, happiness loses its meaning. It's the dark of the night that makes the first break of dawn beautiful. "

"If you don't seek Valhalla, what do you desire then?" Loki asked.

"Oh stop with these sad topics today brother," Mikrul interrupted their conversation. "Tonight is all about having a great time."

Sigdis pulled out his hand to Sylvie. "I will take the lady."

Reluctantly Sylvie took his hand and he led her to the middle and gave her another glass of mead. He gulped his drink and started singing. 

"Eigandi valfalls ok Brisingamens

Valfreyja, spyr Hyndlu falu"

Mikrul sang on as Sigris twirled a laughing Sylvie around. Curalmil pulled Love and hoisted her on his shoulder, singing with her while the others clapped, hollered and danced.

"Spyr hvasstenntra ulfs sins

Skara a herskjödum sigrunar

Skara a backum blodgar usigrunar

Skara a skidum mannkyns forlög

Hermann hinn med geiskum at afma

Eda hann at frelsa"

Jyrik drank another glass of mead, and topped up Loki's drink as well. Sigdis climbed onto the bartop and sang while he danced.

"Hauks bjalfa aukin fljúga, ok samlagast ad bardaga

Valfreyja, halfran val hon kyss

Eigandi valfalls ok Brisingamens

Valfreyja, spyr Hyndlu falu"

Loki smiled as he looked on at Sylvie and Love, laughing and dancing and singing. He had never seen either of them so happy or carefree before. Jigrik saw him and patted him on his shoulder. "It's sad this happened to both of them. They are so innocent and full of life. But you must prepare them to face reality."

"I beg your pardon," Loki asked confused. But before Jyrik could answer, Thrall smashed a mug and sang on.

"Spyr hvasstenntra ulfs sins

Skara a herskjödum sigrunar

Skara a backum blodgar usigrunar

Skara a skidum mannkyns forlög"

Sylvie laughed loudly as the undeads hoisted her in the air and Love clapped. Jyrik banged the table in applause, not sparing another glance to the confused Loki. Everyone was so busy enjoying themselves that they didn't notice the door of the bar open and a worker enter. 

"What is happening here?" he asked loudly.

Loki, Sylvie and Love held their breath, hoping the worker didn't freak out at the sight of the draugrs while the draugrs looked at each other in shock. 

"Prince Loki, Princess Sylvie, Love, what are you three doing here?" the worker asked.

"We are partying," Love replied before Loki could diffuse the situation.

"Just the three of you? All alone?", the worker fired back. 

"Wait what?" Sylvie interjected. "What do you mean alone? Don't you see these guys?" she asked, pointing towards the draugr.

"There's no one there," the worker replied, then looked at all three of them. "I am not falling for any mischief. I see what the three of you did here. I will go tell King Val I found the tricksters."

He walked away, banging the door as the trio and the draugrs looked at each other confused.

"Why didn't he see you all?" Loki asked.

"How did he see you all?" Jyrik asked back.

"What do you mean?" Sylvie questioned.

Jyrik scratched his chin in contemplation as he replied. "It was about a century ago that a witch cast a spell on the undeads, turning us invisible to mortals. Then, how did that mortal see you three?"

Loki looked at Sylvie, then at Love as the situation became clear to him. Igniting a faint seidr in the palms of his hands, he said. "We are not undeads."

Jyrik was shocked at the revelation. "You aren't dead?"

"Liars!" growled Mikrul angrily.

"We didn't lie," Loki tried to reason but Mikrul threw a table at him before he could explain. Loki fell down from the impact and groaned in pain.

Mikrul charged towards Loki with his axe drawn out but he quickly shot a blast of green seidr at him and he flew backwards.

Sylvie kicked Thrall and pulled Love towards her. The other draugrs pulled out their swords and axes and surrounded them. 

Loki pulled out a concealed dagger from his costume and Sylvie grabbed a stick from behind the counter. They were all ready to attack each other when Jyrik shouted loudly. 

"Everybody stop!"

Mikrul glared angrily at him. "Don't interfere, brother."

"Mikrul, the draugrs no longer fight the mortals," said Jyrik.

"They lied!!"

Sigdis jumped in the middle, placing an arm on Mikrul's shoulder. "They didn't, brother. Calm down."

"Calm down?" Mikrul shouted. "We are no longer shrouded from the mortals. It's only a matter of time before they inform others and the mortals hunt us down as trophies to embellish their armours. They will come to our graves, enter our castles and slay us, because we are nothing but monsters for them."

He slouched down on the floor, tears pooling in his eyes. "Their knights will hunt us to show off their bravery. They will parade our heads all around."

"We would never," Sylvie cut him off. "I would never let any of you be hunted. I promise."

"It doesn't matter," replied Mikrul. "The mortals can see us. They will be scared of us and will hunt us, no matter what."

"But we were shrouded from the mortal who just entered. He only saw these three," Curalmil interjected.

"Yes and no one saw us at the pirate ship we went today earlier as well, and it was full of mortals," Sigdis added.

"Then how did you three see us?" asked Jyrik.

"Why did you think we were undeads?" Sylvie asked back.

"Because you could see us." Sigdis replied. "Only the undead can see us."

Loki scratched his head in thoughts when suddenly, he realised the answer. "It's going to sound strange but we all have died once."

The draugrs looked at them with interest. Loki looked at them and carried on. "A version of me died and I survived, and then I was pruned. Love died and came back to life. And Sylvie was erased from existence."

"I think that makes you part undead, like us. That's why you could see us," Thrall concluded.

Loki, Sylvie and Love looked at each other, shaken at the revelation when Jyrik spoke. "You three are so lucky. You got a second chance to live. So many die with unfulfilled wishes and unresolved issues. Not all of us get another chance. You all have a gift. Don't waste it at all."

Loki nodded his head and smiled at Sylvie and Love who were looking back at him. Jyrik placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well my friend, you all should go out and live your life. We all shall take a leave."

"Where are you going?" Love questioned.

"There's a whole night left, my child. We will go watch a movie and spook some mortals, from afar of course," Jyrik replied. He waved goodbye to all of them and the draugr exited the bar, leaving them alone.

"Well, that was eye opening," said Loki.

"Yeah, I never knew how lucky I was to find a happy family again," Love replied and hugged Loki and Sylvie.

"Yeah, it was great. But we didn't get anything here, other than a life lesson," laughed Sylvie.

"Yeah, there's a whole night left. Should we try something else?" Love asked

"Let's find Thor, and decide what to do next," Loki suggested and they walked out of the bar.