Depression...

After running from the Wal-Mart, Hope found herself standing at the gates of the cemetery where her mother and friends lie. Wiping the tears from her face before they froze to her cheeks, she slowly walked over to Adrian's grave. A fresh sheet of snow covered everything but she didn't care. Falling to her knees beside the make-shift head stone, she studied it over and over again even though everything on it was already engraved into her head. After what seemed like hours, she finally took her eyes off the stone and looked at where a mound of now packed dirt sat underneath the snow. "So 'Dad' came back today. I don't know if you'd be happy about it or not," She muttered in a shaky voice. "I know I'm not. But I don't know what to do..."

Loki came up behind her. "She was a very kind person. Saved my life numerous times." he said, smiling weakly in recollection. "The first time I said 'I love you' was on a first aid table with a stab wound through my stomach. Heh. She was so beautiful."

Hope wiped a few more tears away as Loki appeared behind her. Instantly she turned and looked up at him from her spot on the freezing ground, the aggravation coming back. "What do you want?" She muttered through stifled sobs.

"I came to apologize. If you could only hear the full story without calling me a lunatic." Loki started.

Hope fell silent for a moment as she thought about whether or not she wanted to listen to his story. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she stood up and brushed the snow off of her jeans even though it had already soaked them through from her knees down. "What's the story then?" She asked, not even bothering to look at him.

He recited the story slowly, sinking to his knees when he was finished. He put his arms and head to the ground, and started to silently sob. "Even after the apocalypse, he was torturing me. I loved you both, and I had never even seen you yet. I couldn't take it. I started the apocalypse. It is my fault."
He sobbed for a bit, whispering: "Why didn't I just die. Why can't I just die?"

As he told his story, Hope's anger and frustration soon turned to sorrow and even a little pity. "It... It couldn't have been all your fault. It was bound to happen either way," She told him in a soft, pained voice. "I'm sure the king himself had something to do with it." It still surprised her that she was related to one of the shadow kings.

"Yes. Your half-uncle Odin was the one telling me this." said Loki. "And he set me in a trap, knowing I'd cave in. I caved in, though, making it my fault."

"But..." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't think of anything else to say that might in the slightest ease his sadness. As she fell silent, she started to think over the whole situation again with a different perspective. Suddenly more tears filled her eyes as she knelt down beside her father. "I'm... I'm sorry," She said quietly.

Loki looked up, and smiled slightly, hugging her. "It's alright. The only thing is that you are alright after this happened." he said. He felt odd having a daughter that was his age in Bodily years. In actual years, Loki was 36. Though, because of him being a halfbood, he only seemed 18.

Hope hugged him back awkwardly for he was still a stranger to her. They had only known each other for less than an hour. "Yeah," She replied. "I'm fine. And so is everyone else-- well the kids anyway." She then turned back to the grave she had been sitting next to. "All the parents weren't so lucky..."

"Well, I'll be happy to meet my friends' children." concluded Loki, standing up.

Hope stood up with him and brushed off her jeans once again. "I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you too seeing as how all of them think you're dead-- except for Crimson apparently," She replied as she started back towards the Wal-Mart.

"Sarcasm, I guess." said Loki, following.

"Not necessarily." She trudged along in the deep snow with a few complications almost tripping a few times. After falling silent for a few minutes, she finally spoke up again. "So... what exactly did you do for fifteen years if you weren't here?"