Nike was pretty enough, but the thing that made her striking to me was the sheer power that radiated off her-
cold, beautiful, and terrible All at the same time.
"Okay," I said. "We're doing that weird dream world thing again, aren't we? Where we're in the library but not reAll y there at All ? That's why there aren't any students studying on the first floor right now?"
It was the same thing that had happened the last time I'd spoken to the goddess. One minute I'd been in the library, fighting Jasmine. The next I'd stil been in the library, but everyone and everything else had disappeared except for me, the goddess, and Vic.
Nike laughed and stepped closer to me. "Something like that."
The goddess's eyes met mine, and I felt I could stare into her gaze forever. Her eyes were a curious shade, not quite purple, but not quite gray either, just like Vic's eye was. Her gaze made me think of the soft color of twilight, that instant of time just before darkness came and covered the land in blackness for the night.
Maybe I should have been more humbled, maybe I should have been more respectful, but now that the goddess was here in front of me, I couldn't help asking the questions that burned in my heart.
"Why did the Reapers kil my mom? What did they want?
What are they up to? How can I stop them? What am I supposed to do now?"
Nike's face was kind, but sadness tugged down her mouth.
"Walk with me, Gwendolyn."
I fel in step beside the goddess, and we started strol ing around the balcony, passing the other statues of the gods and goddesses from All the various cultures of the world.
Maybe it was my Gypsy gift or maybe it was only my imagination, but it seemed that All the stone figures stared at me, their heads swiveling around one by one to watch us circle the balcony. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, dropping my gaze from the statues. I didn't know what I'd see if I kept looking at them. Part of me didn't want to know.
FinAll y, Nike spoke. "Long ago, after Loki was defeated in the finAll battle of the Chaos War, the other gods and I combined our powers and locked Loki away from the mortAll realm, trapping him in another realm, another dimension. In a sort of prison, if you wil ."
"Kind of like this library is a mirror image of the reAll one that I'm sleeping in right now ... or whatever?" She nodded. "The gods placed seven seals on Loki's prison, using various artifacts and other magicAll safeguards to keep him contained."
The goddess stopped and looked at me. "Six of those seals have been broken. And when the last one, the seventh seAll breaks, Loki wil be free once more." The seals are all but broken, and it won't be much longer before we find the key to unlock the last one. Soon, Loki will be free, and his Chaos will reign once more.
And when that happens, you will rue the day you were ever born, Gypsy. You and Nike and all the other members of the pathetic Pantheon.
Preston's words echoed in my head. Back at the ski resort, I'd wondered if the Reaper knew what he was talking about or if he was just crazy. I reAll y, reAll y wished he had just been crazy.
I drew in a ragged breath. "But-but how is that even possible? You're so strong. I can feel the power rol ing off you in waves. Surely, you and the other gods together have enough magic to fix the seals."
Nike shook her head. "It took All the magic we had to create the artifacts and seals in the first place and trap Loki with them.
Centuries have passed, and some of the gods stil haven't recovered from the ordeal."
"But how did the seals even get broken in the first place?" I asked.
"By Loki's fol owers," Nike said. "They found the artifacts and other items we used, took them from the Champions who were guarding them, and destroyed them. They also weakened and eventuAll y broke through some of the other safeguards with their blood sacrifices. Blood has great power you see, especiAll y a Champion's blood, since she has been blessed by her god or goddess. Every time a Reaper kil s and dedicates that spil ed blood to Loki, the god of chaos becomes a little stronger and gets a little closer to breaking free of his prison."
Daphne and Grandma Frost had both told me that being a Champion was dangerous, that it was as good as having a target on your back, and that Reapers would do anything to kil Champions. Know I knew why. Because my blood had power-
more power than I'd ever dreamed of. More power than I'd ever wanted. I shivered.
Nike walked on, passing a statue of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. I thought about Metis then, about how the professor was Athena's Champion. I wondered if Metis knew about the broken seals-and the fact that Loki was thisfreakingclose to being free again.
"So what can I do?" I asked. "Is there any way to keep the last seAll from being broken?"
"The last seal, the strongest seal, was an artifact that was entrusted to my Champion," Nike said, not quite answering my question. "Over the years, it has been passed down from one of my Champions to the other, from your first ancestor All the way down to your mother, Grace Frost." Suddenly, the words Preston had said in his memories made perfect sense to me.
"A dagger," I whispered. "The artifact, the one that's the last seAll on Loki's prison, is a dagger. That's why the Reapers kil ed my mom-because she hid the dagger and wouldn't tel them where it was, and they need it to free Loki."
Nike nodded. "Correct. It's cAll ed the Helheim Dagger, because it has the power to open a portAll to Helheim, the underground netherworld where the other gods and I trapped Loki."
"Do you know where the dagger is?" I asked. "Where my mom hid it?"
Nike shook her head. "After the last battle of the Chaos War, All the gods made a pact not to become involved in mortAll affairs.
We would have torn the world apart otherwise until there was nothing left. That's why the seals and other safeguards were given to our Champions and other trusted warriors to hide and protect as best they could. The seals were designed to stay in the mortAll world, so no god could touch or break them. But, of course, the Reapers have been relentlessly searching for them ever since Loki was imprisoned. One by one, they've found the artifacts, and now, only the dagger is left."
"And nobody knows where the Helheim Dagger is but my mom, and she can't tel anyone because she's dead." Bitterness fil ed my empty, aching heart.
"I'm truly sorry, Gwendolyn," Nike said in a sad voice.
"But Champions are often cAll ed upon to make sacrifices.
Your mother gave her life to keep Loki imprisoned, and she saved countless other lives doing that. Every day Loki remains trapped is another day the world isn't on the brink of war. Your mother died protecting others, which is the bravest, noblest thing a Champion can do." I understood what my mom had done and why, but that didn't make it any easier to bear. It didn't make my heart hurt any less.