Cat wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand.  Healing the wounds of the people who had suddenly appeared in her backyard wasn’t physically taxing, but using so much magic in quick succession took a mental toll.  She took a deep breath and sat back in one of the lawn chairs.  If she had to cast one more spell, she thought she might just faint.

“What a day,” Billie said, thumping down into the seat beside her.  “I can’t help thinking we really botched this.  Loki played us all for fools.”

Cat opened her eyes, only then realizing that she’d closed them.  “You can’t blame yourself for this,” she told him.  “Loki chose to do this.  No one pinned him down and told him he had to pull Crys’s mother into this.  And Liz is… I honestly never thought she had it in her to do something like this, though, honestly, when you start pulling in ancient, universe-devouring dragons, I suppose just about anything is possible.”

“Yeah, I knew Crys’s relationship with her was difficult,” Billie commiserated, “but honestly, that is next level.  Then again, I suppose I’m not exactly one to talk.  I haven’t spoken with my parents in centuries.”

Cat sat up, realizing she’d not heard Billie talk about his family at all before now.  “Wait a second, I thought Odin was your dad?”

Billie gave her a look of annoyance.  “Not all gods are related, Cat.”  He winked to let her know he was kidding.  “But really, there are a number of different bloodlines.  Believe it or not, I’m actually older than Odin by a few centuries.”  He looked around the yard for a moment.  “Honestly, I’m grateful most of these people seem too intimidated to ask questions.  Trying to explain that, yes, gods exist, to a few dozen mortals would be probably too much for me to handle right now.”

Cat inhaled deeply.  Now that she’d had a moment to rest, it was time for her to do something she’d been wanting to do for several minutes now.  “Billie, do you think you could hold down the fort for a bit?  I… I have to go do something.”

Billie looked up at her as she stood with a look that said he could see the dam in her heart that was about to burst and nodded cautiously.  “I think I can take care of things from here.  We’re mostly just waiting for the police to get here, anyway.”

Cat nodded, then walked around to the side of the house for some privacy.  That’s when the tears came.  Even as she opened a portal and stepped through it, the tears ran down her cheeks.  She did her best to wipe the tears away, only for them to begin again as she saw Astveig’s familiar smile, only now it was a different color, almost like someone had dimmed her light a little.  Astveig pulled her into an embrace as Hel looked on just over Astveig’s shoulder with a consoling smile.

“I had a feeling you might want to come by and see for yourself,” Hel said, “So I had Astveig brought to the palace as quickly as I’d heard.”

Cat sobbed into Astveig’s shoulder.  Even seeing her safely in the realm of the dead did little to comfort her heartbreak.  Astveig would never again be able to leave this realm.  Her soul was now eternally bound to it.

“It’s alright,” Astveig comforted her.  “I had a long life.  Don’t worry for me.  And you can come visit me whenever you want.”  Loosening her embrace, Astveig placed her hands on Cat’s shoulders, looking her in the eye with a sad smile.

Cat choked back her sobs before asking the question that seemed most obvious to her.  “But… where is Arey?  Crys said…”

“We do not know,” answered Hel.  “She was not destined for this realm.  Her soul had a different path, and that is beyond my purview.”

Astveig looked concerned.  “For now, there’s nothing we can do from here to find her.  Arey has been in my care for over two centuries.  It pains me to have lost her.”

Cat’s sadness was lessened by this line of inquiry.  As much as she mourned her friends, a distraction would be enough to shield her heart, and there was nothing that could distract Cat better than a mystery to be solved.  “Where could she be?  Do you have any ideas?”

Astveig pondered a moment.  “She could have wound up a number of places.  Since she died attacking Loki, it’s possible she is in Valhalla.  It’s also possible Loki had laid a claim to her soul.  I hope that is not the case.”  The worry on Astveig’s face brought another pang of sadness to Cat’s heart.

“Don’t worry, Astveig,” Cat said finally.  “I will not rest until I’ve found her.”