Prophesied

It was dark. She was dimly aware of the cool air around her, dead leaves underneath of her. Suddenly, she heard noise in the distance. Footsteps, was it?

"Here we are!"

Was that a voice?

"This is what you wanted to show me?"

There were two of them?

"Yeah! Isn't it awsome?" The first asked boldly.

"Y-yeah, it is really n-nice, especially with the river n-nearby and everything..." The second answered more timidly.

Suddenly, a cry of shock was heard from the more timid voice.

"Wh- whats that?!" It cried, and she heard the footsteps get closer to her.

A second pair followed, until they sounded as though right next to her.

"It's a girl!" The louder voice exclaimed.

"Is-is she a-alive?" The timid voice asked nervously.

"I think so? She's not bleeding, anyway." The first voice replied.

"Hold on, let me go splash some cold water on her." The first added

She opened her eyes suddenly and sat up, glimpsing her surroundings. It appeared to be mid-noon, the sun shining brightly from above. Fallen leaves surrounded her, the air crisp, clear signs autumn. She was in the middle of a clearing, surounded by many trees, a small river flowing slowly nearby.

She glanced up at the two likely sources of the voices. There was a small blue-skinned girl with large, vivid red eyes, with slitted, cat-like pupils,  and black markings underneathe of her eyes. She had short, dark curly hair. She was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with dark-blue jeans, a cream-colored duffel bag draped over her shoulder.

The second was a taller girl with pale skin, long light-blonde hair that came down midway down her back, and beautiful pale-blue eyes that shimered in the noon light. She wore a light-blue hoodie which complimented her eyes, and light blue jeans.

The small blue girl leaped back and let out a cry of shock at her sudden movement.

"Wha- Hey, you're awake!" The blonde girl shouted.

The blonde girl offered her her hand, which she took hesitantly. The blonde helped her back onto her feet. The small blue girl slowly stepped forward, seeing no threat. She cocked her head in confusion at the two.

"Who are you two?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed. "And how and when did I get here? Where is this, anyway?"

The blonde girl simply shrugged, the blue girl now studying her curiously.

" I dont know how you got here, to be completely honest. We just stumbled on you when I was taking her to see my special place. As for where you are, this is Pine River Montana. I'm Taylor, by the way, and this-" She directed at the blue girl.

"M-my name is E-echo Mist, but y-you can just c-call me Echo." The small blue girl chipped in quietly, stuttering.

Suddenly, something seemed click in her mind.

"My name! It's Erin Lumise! And I'm eleven years old!" She cried in realization, Echo Mist flinching at her sudden loud tone.

"Erin Lumise... Huh... Y'know, it dosen't really ring a bell. Now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen your face before. You must not be from around this town." Taylor replied slowly.

"Do you... Remember anything else?" Echo Mist asked shyly.

Erin shook her head and frowned, dropping her gaze to the ground.

"Hey, I know!" Taylor cried out suddenly. "Why don't we take you to Loki? I'm sure he'll know what to do! I mean, he's a pretty good guy. He kinda has a history of trying to take over our planet, but he's changed and is trying to be a functioning member of society! He even took Echo in when she had no place to go!"

"I-it's true." Echo Mist clarified. "Th-though I wasn't anywhere n-near when his m-misdeeds ocurred, I do belive he has ch-changed for the better."

Erin pondered this option warily. History of trying to take over the world? Echo Mist and Taylor had both stated that this Loki had changed since then but how could they be so sure he had really redeemed himself?

Although... it was worth a try, if it meant potentialy getting help and maybe even her memory back.

"Lead the way." Erin concluded after awhile.

"Follow us!" Taylor replied, smiling and running ahead cheerfully along the river, as though having not a care in the world.

Echo Mist followed more slowly, and Erin fell into step between the two, leaves crunching underneath of her feet. Erin studied her reflection on the surface of the slow-moving water.

She had medium brown skin, bright orange eyes, and straight dark hair reaching to the tips of her shoulders. She wore black-rimmed glasses and was currently wearing a white T-shirt, shorts, and a denim jacket. She shivered, suddenly, the chill getting to her.

"C'mon, slowpoke!" Taylor yelled.

Looking ahead, Erin realized that Taylor and Echo Mist were now several paces ahead of her. She hurried to catch up to them, as they followed a path along the river, lined with trees.

"So," Taylor turned to her. "You really don't remember anything besides your name and how old you are?"

Erin once again tried as hard as she could to remember something, anything at all, but all she remembered were the most recent events.

"Nope. I mean, I remember how to do math and stuff and how to read, but nothing about my personal life. It's weird."

"Th-that is sort of p-puzzling." Echo Mist chimed in.

Erin studied Echo Mist closely, realizing her strange name, and remembering humans weren't supposed to be blue.

"Echo?" Erin asked.

"Y-yes?" She responded, now matching her pace with the other two.

"Why are you blue?" She inquired.

Echo Mist flushed a bright shade of blue, as though it was humiliating to her for someone to bring up her skin tone.

"W-why am I what n-now?" Echo Mist asked a bit taken a back.

Erin suddenly regretted asking such a question, as it seemed to make Echo Mist quite uncomfortable.

"Sorry, it's just I don't think people usually have blue skin, if I'm not mistaken. Then again, I guess I did lose quite a bit of my memory..." Erin replied, slightly flushed.

"N-no it's okay." Echo Mist reasured her. "You're right, they g-generaly don't. I'm n-not exactly h-human..."

"She's a frost giant!" Taylor declared. "They're supposed to be blue."

"A frost-what?" Erin asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"A frost giant." Taylor repeated. She looked thoughtful for a second. "Though, I guess you aren't very giant, huh Echo?" She added.

"..." Echo Mist didn't respond, instead staring off into the distance as if she were in another world.

"Right, buddy?" Taylor repeated, placing her hand on Echo Mist's shoulder, who continued with her distant stare. "Ha ha, right. I got ya."

"Is she...okay?" Erin asked heasitantly, worrying for the frost giant's well being.

"Yeah, she gets like this all the time. Nothing to worry about!" Taylor dismissed, grabbing Echo Mist by the shoulder.

"Wha- oh s-sorry, wh-what was that?" Echo Mist asked, finally seeming to snap out of her trance, still being practicaly dragged along by Taylor.

"Nevermind, buddy! It wasn't important!" Taylor continued running, still clutching Echo Mist's arm tightly, huge grin having not left her face since the begining.

"O-okay..." Echo Mist hesitated. "C-can you p-please let go of my arm, th-though?"

"Oh, sure pal!" Taylor replied, releasing her grip on Echo Mist.

"Th-thanks..." The frost giant muttered, clutching her arm where Taylor's hand had been.

Erin watched, a bead of sweat forming on her fore-head at the scene she had just witnessed. They continued along the path, the river eventually turning right while they kept on straight ahead, the trees growing denser.

As they moved through the dense fotest, Erin could begin to see a clearing through the trees.

"Here we are!" Taylor called, racing through the array of trees and into the clearing, where Erin could see through the branches, what appeared to be a road, and the back of a house.

Her heart soared with hope. I'm back in civilization! She thought estaticly. Echo Mist raced after Taylor, and Erin was hard on her heels.

Erin shot out of the trees, stopping briefly to catch her breath. She took in her surroundings. There was a small dirt road, and in her line of view, she could make out a few large houses, each having huge yards. The back of each house was lined with trees, giving way back into the forest.

Taylor dashed over to Erin, grabbing her hand and clutching Echo Mist's in her other.

"It's this one!" She exclaimed, pointing twoards a old-looking two-story white house with a dark-green trim.

She guided Erin to the doorstep, pulling open the front door without even bothering to knock first.

Erin took a moment to admire the interior. The walls were a pale moss green, lined with a few pictures of cats, and an a framed photo of Echo Mist, a dark-brown ferret perched on her shoulders.

In front of the entrance was a white-carpeted stair case leading to the upstairs, wich was hidden by a door. Taylor and Echo Mist both entered the house.

"C'mon in!" Taylor beckoned Erin, taking her hand.

Erin paused for a moment. Did Taylor even live here? What right did she have to just bring random strangers into someone else's house?

"Oh, it's o-okay." Echo Mist reassured her, as though able to read her mind. "I'm sure L-loki won't m-mind having you over a-at all."

Upon getting permission from someone who actually lived there, Erin heasitantly entered the house, silently closing the door behind her.

"You don't have to be so cautious, you know. It's not like I eat children or anything." Erin jumped as she heard a voice from upstairs.

she glanced up and saw a tall, thin, pale-skinned man with smoothed-back shoulder-length black hair and bright green eyes. He wore a dark green long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. He descended the stairs, and stood in front of the three girls.

It now became apparent just how tall he was. He towered over all of them, and Erin had to crane her neck to make eye contact. If she had to guess, she'd say he was probably over six-and-a-half feet tall.

"Well, sometimes I do. But I think today is definitely not a good child-eating day." He continued.

"Hey, Loki!" Taylor greeted him, un-phased.

"Hi..." Echo Mist aknowledged him, watching him a bit nervously as though she wasn't quite sure if the whole child-eating thing was a joke or not.

I don't blame you, Echo Mist. She thought. apparently, he's tried to take over the world before, so I wouldn't put much past him. Plus, it was pretty creepy how he just showed up and I didn't even hear him coming.

"Oh darling, you should never judge someone based on first impressions!" Loki declared, looking straight at her.

Erin flinched. Could Loki read minds? She shuddered a bit.

"Hello, children. Is this a new friend?" Loki inquired, pointing at Erin.

"Her name is Erin, and we found her in the woods!" Taylor yelled, but Erin figured that to Taylor, yelling was like talking in a normal tone of voice. "She dosen't remember who she is or how she got here! We need to find where she lives or something!"

Loki put his hands on his hips, staring at Erin sternly.

"You're certainly not going anywhere, dressed like that!" He directed at her, still fixing her with a stern look. "It's fifty degrees out there and all you're wearing are shorts and a thin jacket!"

Erin stared down at her clothes. It was true. And she had been shivering earlier when she was outside. But what did Loki care if she froze to death or not?

"Echo Mist, let her change into one of your outfits." Loki instructed.

"O-of course." Echo Mist obliged. "My r-room's up here, Erin."

Echo Mist started up the stairs, erin following. She opened the door. The upstairs was painted a light blue. It was a long, wide hallway with six doors, two on the left, two on the right, and one at each end of the hallway.

"I-it's this one." Echo Mist guided Erin through a plain white door, second on the right.

Echo Mist gently opened the door to reveal a normal sized room with pale-lavender walls, wich had a few posters of space, including a few  NASA, complete with a poster of a fluffy white kitten in space. The carpet was white, and against the left wall was a queen-sized mattress with a galaxy print comforter and galaxy print pillows.

Her closet was in the back of the room, a window beside it, galaxy print curtains drawn. Erin was starting to get the impression that Echo Mist really loved space. A white dresser stood against the right wall, alongside a bookshelf containing fantasy books, books on astronomy, and a book that stuck out to Erin, the spine showing a ginger cat wih a shredded collar at his feet, titled warriors: into the wild.

What stood out the most, though, was a large cage against the left wall containing a dark-brown ferret who started scraping at it's cage door upon seeing the two.

"His name is Leo. I n-named him after the c-constellation." Echo Mist explained upon seeing Erin's curiosity. "You...wouldn't m-mind if I let him out, w-would you Erin?"

"No, of course not!" Erin replied. "He's adorable."

"Th-thank you." Echo Mist responded, un-hooking the cage door open as the ferret immediately stepped into her opened hands. "He n-needs a lot of attention, and he just l-loves meeting new people."

Echo Mist gently carried the ferret out of his cage, stopping in front of Erin as Leo struggled to get to her, reaching out a paw and latching it to her arm.

"Oh, I th-think he wants you, E-erin. Y-you wouldn't mind h-holding him, would you?" Echo Mist asked in her normal shy manner.

"I'd love to hold him!" Erin replied enthusiastically.

"O-okay." Echo Mist flinched a bit at Erin's tone as she handed her Leo, so she made a mental note to try and keep her voice down around Echo Mist.

Leo clambered into Erin's arms, staring up at her.

"I'll go f-find you s-something to wear. You can k-keep playing with L-leo, if you want." Echo Mist walked over to her dresser.

Erin directed her gaze back to Leo. He was still staring up at her with wide, sparkling eyes. He suddenly pointed his head down and made a noise that souded like a little sneeze. Erin giggled, stroking the fur on his back.

Leo turned his round gaze back twoard Erin, this time clutching onto her shirt with his hand-like paws and grabbing a strand of her hair between his teeth.

"Don't do that!" Erin chuckeled, untangling her hair from his teeth and holding him up closer to her face as he reached out a tiny paw and booped Erin's nose.

Echo Mist returned, carrying a long-sleeved galaxy print shirt and a black pair of jeans.

"Here, I h-hope you l-like them. I d-do." She handed Erin the clothes, while she handed Echo Mist back Leo.

"I do. They're really cute!" Erin responded.

"Y-you r-realy m-mean th-that? Th-thank you..." Echo Mist replied, flushing a bright shade of blue, and stuttering even more, if that were possible. "Y-you know, I should p-probably put L-leo b-back in his cage." She changed the subject.

"Th-the bathroom's th-the door at the end of the h-hall way. Y-you can get ch-changed in there." Echo Mist informed her.

"Thanks, Echo." Erin replied, walking out of her room and into the bathroom.

The walls were plain white, but everything else was decorated in cats. There was a cat toothbrush holder, a cat soap dish, a few cat decals, complete with a shower curtain of a fat orange-and-white cat floating in space.

Erin changed into Echo Mist's outfit, still keeping her denim jacket over top of the shirt. The jeans were a few inches to short for her, and both the jeans and shirt were a bit tight, but she was happy to wear warmer clothes. She walked out of the bathroom, and headed downstairs, where she spotted Loki, Taylor, and Echo Mist all waiting on a white couch in the living room.

Taylor looked over at Erin as she headed downstairs. She stuck her head through the railing, now standing atop the couch cusion.

"Ready to go?!" she exclaimed.

Echo Mist flinched back in shock while Loki's expression hardened into one of intense anger.

"Sit right on the damn furniture! I don't want your little footprints all over it!" Loki exclaimed, leaping up from his seat and effortlessly lifting Taylor by her hoodie usung only two fingers and placing her on the ground.

Taylor's eyes widened with both shock and admiration, and maybe a little bit of fear, too. Both Erin and Echo Mist held similar expressions, exept Echo Mist's bore only fear.

"Whoah, how'd you do that so easily?" Taylor asked, dumfounded.

"That was pretty amazing." Erin agreed.

Echo Mist nodded in silent agreement. Loki's gaze softened, and he smiled.

"Magic. Now, I belive you're ready, Erin? We must head to the police department. They may have something about you in their files."

"Okay." Erin replied, trying to hide her fear that they might find no files under her name.

"Okay, then let's go." Loki opened the front door, Taylor dashing out into the driveway soon followed by Erin and a more heasitent Echo Mist.

Finnaly, Loki exited, locking the door behind him. In the driveway stood a decent-looking black Honda. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and clicked the unlock button on the car remote.

Taylor immidiatley yanked the door open, climing into the backseat.

"Wait, she's coming with us?" Erin asked. "I thought she didn't live with you two."

"Well, not exactly, but it's not like I really have much of a place to return to, or even anyone to care about me. I actually end up staying the night here about half the time, actually." Taylor replied, still smiling but holding a different emotion in her eyes.

"Oh... I'm sorry..." Erin responded, not expecting the response she got.

She slid in beside Taylor, feeling a pang of sympathy for the blonde. She must feel awful lonely sometimes. Erin thought. I don't know my family, so I'm not really sad about losing them, but for all I know Taylor could've known them most of her life. It must be hard for her.

"No, don't be. I've gotten used to it. It's really not that bad." Taylor dismissed, a smile on her face but her clear blue eyes showing a more broken expression.

Echo Mist took her seat beside Erin, and Loki started up the car.

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They had driven for about five minutes when Loki pulled up to a blue and white building labled Pine River Police station. Taylor leaped out of the car as soon as it stopped, Now looking more like her usual self.

Erin was soon to follow, along with Echo Mist. As Loki exited and locked the car, They walked through the glass doors. The walls were white, the interior having a few black chairs against the wall, along with a telephone atop a black coffe table.

Behind the desk was a was a tall young woman with dark-brown skin in front of a computer, and a pale-skinned man with blonde hair. Each were wearing dark-blue uniforms with golden lettering reading: Pine River Police Force.

The woman looked up from her computer.

"Hello, I'm Lin, and how may I help you today?" She asked.

Loki stepped forward, motioning for Erin to do the same.

"This is Erin," Loki placed a hand on her shoulder. "Taylor here found her out in the woods, and she remembers nothing but her name and how old she is." He explained.

"Which is?" Lin asked.

"Erin Lumise." Erin replied.

"Hmm...you know, we don't get many cases like these. I'll go see if I can find any records under that name. You might be here for a few hours." Lin stated, eyebrows furrowed.

Lin entered a door behind the desk. The man behind the counter turned his gaze to them.

"You might as well sit down." He instructed.

They did so, Taylor taking a seat left to Erin while Loki sat on her right. Echo Mist hat seated herself on Taylor's other side.

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Seven and a half hours had passed, the clock now reading 7:38 PM. Neither Lin nor anyone else had re-entered through the door in that time. Erin's mind began to cloud with fear. What was taking them so long?

What if they couldn't find anything about her? What would happen then? Would she be living out on the streets? Or in an abusive foster home? She shuddered at the possibilities.

She felt close to crying, when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked to her side. It was Loki, his green eyes softer than she'd ever seen them before. He gently placed a finger under her chin, directing her gaze up at him.

"It's going to be okay, darling, I promise." He soothed.

Erin looked down.

"How do you know?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"Trust me, it will." He replied.

"But what if they can't find my house? What will happen then?" Erin asked.

Loki sighed.

"Darling, it will all work out. Even if that does happen, I'll figure something out. I promise you, you'll be just fine." Loki wiped a stray strand of hair out of her face.

Erin held his gaze.

"You promise? With all your heart and soul?" She asked, flame-orange eyes boring into his.

"Yes." He sighed. "I promise. With all my heart and soul."

He held out his hand, which Erin heasitantly took.

"Yeah, It'll be just fine!" Taylor chimed in, pulling Erin closer. "I'm here for you, buddy!"

"I-it will b-be okay, I-I'm sure." Echo Mist stuttered.

Erin felt a bit better, knowing she wasn't in this alone, but was still on edge.

"I guess you haven't brushed your hair in a while, huh?" Loki asked after a long pause.

Erin directed her attention to her hair. Sure enough, it had many tangles. She groaned.

"Hold on." Loki made a brush appear in his hand, seemingly out of thin air, Followed by a "Cool!" From Taylor.

He slowly brushed it through her dark hair, taking care not to pull too hard.

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At 4:06 AM, the door finally clicked open, and out stepped Lin, followed by a pale-skinned brunette woman and and a very similar looking man. Lin's gaze dropped to the floor.

"I'm sorry, but we found nothing. We searched the whole country and found not one Erin Lumise matching your description. I'm sorry. I really wish there was more I could do to help." Lin explained.

Erin's heart dropped. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. The thing she feared the most had happened.

"No, it's fine. You've stayed way past your shift. You should go home, now."

The brunette woman turned to Lin.

"It's true, Lin. The night shift people have been here for hours. It's about time you went home. You've done all you can do, so just let us figure something out." She stated.

Lin finnaly walked through the glass doors, an un-satisfied look on her face.

"Where is she going to stay?" Loki asked, sympathy in his gaze.

"Well, since we don't know where her home is, or if she has any relatives, she'll probably end up going to a foster home."

"Is there a way that I could, by any chance...foster her?" Loki asked after a pause.

Erin's eyes widened with shock. Foster her? But he'd only just met her! Besides, why did he even care whether she spent the night in a warm bed or on a cold street? It didn't make sense.

"That's...definetly not out of the realm of possibility, if it's okay with this young lady?" The brunette's gaze drifted to Erin.

"Yeah, sure." Erin replied.

Anything was better than living out on the streets.

"Okay, I'll be back with the paper  work in a few minutes." She disappeared behind the door.

Loki turned back to Erin.

"See? I told you it was going to work out."

"Yeah!" Taylor added. "We'll be seeing each other quite a bit, now."

"I'd be h-happy to sh-share the h-house with y-you." Echo Mist stated.

Erin felt overwhelmed with emotion. These people she had just met cared so much for her. It was past four in the morning and neither of them had left the building or fallen asleep since entering the building. It was a wonder how Taylor even managed to stay seated that long.

Erin turned to the blonde and wrapped her arms around her tightly. Taylor gasped, but quickly returned the embrace. Suddenly, the door opened, and out stepped the brunette, a small stack of papers in her hand.

"Just sign these, and you can go home." She stated, handing Loki the papers.

Loki read through them quickly, conjuring a pen out of thin air and signing a few lines.

"Sign here, darling." Loki tapped her shoulder, and she finally released her tight grip on Taylor.

He handed her the pen, and she did so. The brunette woman took the papers back.

"Okay, you may now go. We will notify you if we find anything more about this. Good night."

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Erin gazed up at the moon from behind the glass window. Everyone was silent. Finally, Loki looked back at Erin for a few seconds, the same sympathetic look.

"Why?" Erin finally asked the question that had been tugging in the back of her mind.

"Why what?" Loki asked.

"Why? Why did you take me in instead of just leaving me? I mean, I'm not complaining, but it would've made your life a whole lot easier If you'd just let me go into some foster home." Erin explained.

Loki sighed.

"Darling, let me get one thing straight. I am by no means a good person. I've done some rather terrible things in the past." Loki turned his bright green gaze to Erin.

"But," He continued. "To leave a helpless child all alone, is something I am no longer capable of."

He turned back to the road without another word. Erin remenisced, still confused. No longer capable of? But he was at a time? Erin thought this over. Is this really someone I want to be living with? Someone who admits to having done horrible things?

But...maybe he has changed. Everyone desrves a second chance, don't they?

Erin looked over at Taylor who was currently humming and kicking her feet clearly unable to contain her energy, and the more mysterious Echo Mist, who just sat still and silent in her seat.

I think I'll give this a chance. She concluded as they pulled up to the white and green house.

Taylor shot out the door as soon as they got in the driveway, before Loki had even stopped the car.

Loki stopped the car abruptly and jumped out after her.

"How many damn times do I have to tell you, child?! You don't get out of the car until either I've parked or it's on fire!" Loki hissed.

"But what if it's flooding?" Taylor asked. "Can I get out then?"

Loki face-palmed and Erin bit back a laugh.

"It's too late to have to deal with your stupidity." Loki groaned.

"But, isn't it actually too early? It is called four in the morning." Taylor replied.

Even Echo Mist grinned, while Erin broke down laughing.

Loki unlocked the door.

"Just...go inside. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." He instructed.

"Okay." Taylor shrugged, walking through the entrance.

Erin finally collected herself and exited the car, heading into the house, followed by Echo Mist. Upon re-entering the house, two things imidiately caught her attention.

There was a long-furred silver tabby with pale-blue eyes staring at her from the couch, beside a snoozing fluffy white cat with black patches. The silver tabby meowed softly and leaped from the couch, brushing herself up against Erin's leg as she leaned down to pet her.

"That's Willow." Loki explained. "The other one is Patch."

Erin got a better look at the down stairs. beyond the living room was a table and chairs in which was probably the dining room, adjacent to a decent-sized kitchen, a few aprons hanging from the wall, a black cat sitting in the middle of the floor. The rest of the house seemed to be beyond a corner, making it impossible to see from her angle.

"I suppose you three are hungry?" Loki asked. "You two haven't eaten since breakfast, and who knows how long it's been since you've eaten, Erin."

Erin had felt the consistent pain of hunger throughout the day, but hadn't had much time to pay attention to it until now. She nodded, finally feeling up to eating."I'm always hungry!" Taylor agreed.

"Echo Mist?" Loki directed his gaze to the small frost giant.

"Oh...y-yeah s-sure..." She replied.

"Follow me, then."

As Erin stepped into the kitchen, the small black cat turned his blue gaze to her, stopping to give her a curious sniff and butt his head against her hand before continuing to Taylor as fast as his little paws could carry him. He mewed, rolling over in front of her.

She gave his belly a quick rub and scooped him up.

"I missed you too, Midnight!" Taylor cooed.

"You stole my cat." Loki put on a fake glare, making Taylor chuckle.

"Anyway, I don't feel like cooking this late at night, so you're all getting ramen." Loki continued

He strided over to a cupboard above the stove, pulling out three cups of instant ramen. He sat them on the counter, made a strange motion with his hand, and handed Erin a warm cup of ramen. Confused, she pulled back the paper, to find it fully cooked. Her eyes widened with shock, Taylor's with admiration.

"How did you...?" Erin gasped. "I didn't even see you pour the water in!"

"Magic, darling." Loki replied. "Now why don't you go sit at the table and eat that? The silverware's in here."

He pointed to a drawer beside the oven. Erin went to grab a fork, when Taylor grabbed her hand swiftly. She turned, confused.

"You can't use a fork!" Taylor explained. "You have to use chopsticks! It's more fun that way."

Taylor reached for a pair of chopsticks, handing them to Erin. Loki shrugged.

"She's...very peculiar about that. Don't ask why."

Erin went to go sit at the wood table, soon joined by Echo Mist and Erin. Loki strided over, holding three glasses of water. He placed them in front of the three, walking away as they thanked him. Erin dug into her magic ramen, savoring the taste. It was amazing, especially after she had gone so long without eating.

They ate quickly, having not eaten in hours. Loki got up from his seat in a black arm chair, setting his book down.

"Are you three done?" Loki asked.  "You ought to go to your beds, then, It's dreadfuly late. You're quite lucky it's a saturday. Erin,  you can sleep in Taylor or Echo Mist's room, for tonight."

"You can sleep with me!" Taylor grabbed Erin by the sleeve and practically dragged her upstair, Echo Mist watching with a horrified expression on her face. Taylor opened the white door leading to the upstairs.

"This one!" She exclaimed, guiding Erin to the second room on the left. She caught sight of Echo Mist walking quietely to her room, as though trying to remain un-noticed. Too late.

"Good night, Echo!" Taylor cried, causing the tiny girl to flinch, eyes wide. She breathed quick and panicedly. After a few moments, she seemed to calm down, breathing slowing down.

"O-oh, it's j-just y-you T-tayl-lor. G-good n-night." She stuttered, quickly making her way to her bedroom.

Erin followed Taylor into her own room. The walls were white, as well as the carpet. There were a few plushies against the wall beside a wood dresser. The closet lie beside the door. In the center sat a white bed frame with a white comforter, in front of a large church-like window with long white curtains drawn back.

Taylor ran over to her dresser.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I forgot, you don't have pajamas, do you? Here, you can change into a pair of mine." Taylor tossed Erin a pair of light green pajamas, and sat down on the mattress.

"You can get changed in here. I promise I won't..." Taylor never finished her sentence, instead collapsing onto the bed and snoring, as though worn out by her own energy.

Erin changed into the pajamas and flicked off the lights. She grabbed her denim jacket, stopping as she noticed something hard in one of the pockets. She reached a hand in, and pulled out an amber-like stone, around the size of the palm of her hand, with a strange lighter ember-like shape imprinted on it. Has this been in my pocket the whole time? She thought confusedly.

Erin traced the flame pattern curiously, feeling a strange drawing to the mysterious stone. Without warning, it let of a brilliant glow under the moonlight. The flame shape turned a blinding white. She dropped it in surprise, and it stopped abruptly.

Erin stood frozen for a moment, in shock of what had just happened. What in the world was that? She finally collected herself. She glanced back at Taylor, who was still sound asleep. Sighing, Erin figured she should do the same.

She climed in beside Taylor, and just stared out at the moon for a pause. She processed the events of her strange day. Why am I here? Erin thought. And why don't I remember anything? Why was I found by those two, of all people? 

Her thoughts traveled back to Taylor and Echo Mist. Taylor can't sit still for a second. Erin's gaze travelled back to her strange companion. And there's definitely something strange about Echo Mist. She regarded the frost giant.

But, I have to wonder, could it have been fate that we met? Erin remenisced after another pause. I did happen to be in the same spot whereTaylor often comes when we met. I have no idea what my fate could be, though! Is there a reason I don't remember anything?

Theycouldn't even find any files with my name, and now I'm getting fostered, and there's that weird stone and...I just can't focus right now! Nothing makes any sense!

Erin sighed once more, pulling the covers over herself. I guess some sleep would be useful. She thought with a final glimpse at the moon, before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.