There are probably only two prologue/epilogues that are long, long as in roughly the same length as an ordinary chapter. This is one of them. The second is the prologue for Revenge, which I've already begun to write. 

I'm not sure if you're going to like it, but I hope you at least enjoy reading it. 

WELL, I'd love to say my thank-you's now, since we're ending Kidnapped.

THANK YOU. ALL OF YOU. For sticking with me for another book where I probably torture you too much as readers, but for loving the story anyway. Thank you for writing nice comments for me to read when I'm having a rough day, and for often making me laugh, or making me smile from your predictions or your interpretation of my story. Or your predictions. 

Thanks for making me feel loved, all of you. You have no idea how much these stories, but also YOU ALL mean to me. You are all EPIC and AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL and BRILLIANT and SPECIAL. And I thank God every day that you decided to read the tattered heavily errored Blue Moon. 

I'll be starting Maelstrom in the next couple weeks, after giving me a little break in preparation for Round 5. GEEZ. Fifth book already. 

Anyway. Enjoy the chapter!

~Epilogue~

In a darkened room of the huge lodgelike mansion overlooking the thundering waterfall, four figures silently regard the dancing flames that are dancing on the large logs in the center of the room, the smoke dancing around them before floating up through the small hole of the ceiling and vanishing into the growing darkness.

Caomh, leaning against the wall, regards the occupants of the room with glittering eyes, like radar. He has blood on his face, but he's smiling like the redness is a tattoo of victory.

Fjodr stands at the window, where a small gap of curtain reveals to him the setting sun over the mountains and the lake below the house. His hands are behind his back, and his lips are pursed.

Saissa is sitting on the floor, her pleated black skirts laid gently over a bearskin rug in ripples. She's combing her fingers through her long dark hair, but her even darker eyes do not leave the woman at the center of the room.

Neidra is sitting in the largest, high-backed chair in front of the sparking fire. Her hands are clenched against the velvet arms, and she is still wearing the long red dress she had worn when giving Thea the twin scar on her cheek. Her crimson adder, as if representative of her mistress's mood, coils menacingly around her arm, hissing occasionally.

In front of them all, on the oak table before the fire, sit three wooden boxes, decreasing in size.

"These powers," says Fjodr curtly, "You are certain they will prevail? Thea and Loki still live, and will surely seek vengeance."

Neidra laughs almost mockingly as the adder hisses again, "The little firebird and her father will meet death soon. I first must establish myself in the three worlds, and have them bend before me in an eternal bow."

"And you will accomplish this with these powers?" demands Fjodr, "How possibly can three powers conquer three worlds?"

Neidra stands, flicking the adder around her neck like a red boa, and bends to the largest box. "With time," she says in her low voice, a small smile on her reddened lips, "And with the right application."

She flicks the largest box open and picks up a long scepter. The scepter is detailed with iron markings across the hold, and steadily narrows until the top is nothing but a fine tip. But around the tip, a dull silver glow circles in an alabaster cloud.

"This scepter is ingrained with the embers of the most powerful of dying stars," says Neidra, holding it up for the light to catch and send the room into a gray glow, "With one firing of it, it will send barbs of the star directly into the hearts of numerous Velah at once, killing them instantly. Their kind will fall with the circle of this scepter, if they will not learn to recognize me as their leader."

Saissa looks up, her eyes glowing.

Neidra sets the scepter to on the table and moves to the second box. She unlocks it with a click and takes out a small jeweled casket. She opens the casket, and Fjodr bends to see its contents while Saissa, from her bearskin run, tracks her father's eyes with her own.

"This unlimited powder, when mixed together properly and drunk, or exposed to the air, will render the mind unconscious, with room for mine or another's to take over. This will be a suitable weapon against the boldest of Asgard."

The sorceress places the casket next to the scepter and turns to the last box, the smallest one, and opens it with a click.

When she sees the interior of the box, she lets out a short shriek of fury.

It's empty.

*

~Four Months Later~

"He's at the end," says the Asgardian guard to Max and Kyle Calen. "Wear the bracelets given to you if you wish to go inside the cell and then come out again." He nods, "You have half an hour, and then Thor requests your presence."

Kyle thanks the man and then helps his brother along the hall of transparent cells, for Max is stumbling slightly. "You okay?" Kyle asks.

"Fine," grunts Max, standing up straight and walking through the hall. "You ready for this?"

"You mean try to persuade a thousand-year-old sorcerer who's already angry that we've taken his daughter from him? Oh yeah, let's do this."

"Way to make it seem optimistic."

The brothers find the end of the hall soon enough. This cell is larger than most, but still a restricting box of light. In front of the cell is a long, silver sword. Inside, lounging on a small bed with black coverings, his green eyes watching their every move, is Loki.

"I must say," says Loki. His tone is almost bitter, "I didn't expect my first visitors from Earth to be the two of you."

"I know," says Max, stopping in front of the cell, "You wanted Thea."

"How is she?" asks Loki heavily.

"Pretty good," says Kyle, crossing his arms, "She's doing well at school, considering she and Jack are still not talking to each other. She's thinking about trying to get a job for the summer. And she's also grown a solid quarter inch. Her hair, by the way, is still black, but almost as long as before Neidra went all Edward Scissorhands on her. And she's growing stronger, fighting wise. Question though. Are all of your magic things genetic, because Thea has been 'secretly' trying to figure out how to change her appearance with basically a snap of a finger."

"'Secretly' meaning we know she's doing it," says Max.

Loki raises an eyebrow, "Is it working?"

"Not much yet. She can change her clothes, and sometimes her skin color, but face isn't working perfectly yet."

Smiling, Loki shakes his head, "She'll learn soon enough. That particular skill, I too learned without much instruction."

"Fantastic," says Kyle.

"Thea misses you by the way," says Max. "Mind if we come in?"

Loki opens his arms in a "be my guest" manner. Kyle and Max climb up and walk right through the translucent cell. As they do so, Loki says, "I suppose that Thea has no idea that the two of you are here?"

"Good guess," says Kyle, "She's with Videl, actually. I think they're at Niagara Falls. Thea needed a break from studying from finals, and Videl was bored and slightly frustrated, mostly because Angelique is also studying her heart out from finals but would not take a break."

Loki sits back down on the bed, "I'm curious then. For what reason would either of you wish to come here, and also not tell Thea?"

"The first," says Kyle, tossing a small circular object, "Is this."

Loki catches the object and hold it up. It's a compass, but has an oddly dished-out circle in the center, where the needle should be. He looks abruptly up at Kyle, "Where did you get this?"

"The day we broke into Neidra's place. I managed to get it out of the box, and I don't think Neidra saw that part."

"Which part did she see?"

"The part where I was inching towards her precious compass. So what the hell does that do?"

"This compass," says Loki, "Is what I suspected is one of Neidra's three powers. With a single drop of someone's blood, it can track their location. Neidra could use this to track down anyone she wished for, providing she had their blood. In that case, certainly me, and probably Thea."

"Could we track Neidra?"

"If you had Neidra's blood," says Loki, "Which no, I do not have at the moment, so for now, that compass is useless for you."

"But it's not for Neidra," says Max.

"Precisely. If I were you, I'd keep that safe, and keep its existence away from most. Does Thea know about it?"

"Nope," says Kyle. "Just Max and me."

"Also, Neidra will want it. But she won't know who's taken it, and I suspect she's keeping a low profile right now, waiting for the right moment to strike. She doesn't need to move right now, not with me in prison and Thor, beloved of the people, on the throne. But she probably does know that Asgard's only princess and current heir is on Earth."

"Meaning that she's going to go after Thea before you or before the throne?"

"Possibly. So although I urge you to keep that compass safe, as her father who is currently useless, I'm telling you to keep Thea safe first."

"Of course we will," says Max.

"What else did you need me for?"

Kyle glances at Max, and then back to Loki, "You know how I said that Neidra saw the part about me trying to sneak out one of her precious powers?"

"I seem to recall that, seeing as you said it less than five minutes ago."

Kyle ignores the Loki's condescending tone, "Well, she threw a dagger at me, but didn't hit me."

Loki raises an eyebrow, but he's now looking at Max.

"She hit me," says Max, and then, reaching down, peels off his shirt. Above his rippling abdominal muscles, right below his collarbone is a crusty swelling of silver and black, glistening like solid gel. The gel-like silver and black traces down from his collarbone to his chest, surrounding the area of his heart in a web.

"Thea said that the poison in Neidra's dagger would kill a mortal instantly if it hit him right in the heart, but kill him slowly if it hit anywhere else," says Kyle, his tone calm, but his eyes anxious.

"Thea was right," says Loki, standing up and walking over to Max, his eyes tracing the silver and black, "I'm shocked you're not in pain."

"Oh I am," says Max, "But I'm on a truckload of painkiller right now."

"What are you asking of me?"

"How long until I croak. And also, if–"

"If I can slow it down?" asks Loki, regarding Max with a practiced eye.

"I know I'm going to die," says Max, and Kyle grimaces, "But I'd sort of like to prolong it as much as possible."

"If you let it keep going like this," says Loki, "You'll be dead by the end of summer, maybe before that."

"So can you slow it down?" asks Kyle sharply.

"I possibly could, if I had the right materials."

"Thor already knows, and he's willing to let you work with whatever you need," says Kyle as Max puts his shirt back on, "Do you need your magic?"

"Only minute quantities, of which I still have in my possession." Loki nods towards the silver sword affixed to the cell, "My magic was siphoned into that sword, but not even a siphon can suck all the magic out of the blood."

"Well, will you do it?"

Loki's eyebrow is up again, "Why should I? If I recall, Max, you were one of the few adamants who took Thea from me and helped throw me in this cell."

"You know you deserve it," says Max.

"Do I?" asks Loki, "Does any father deserve to be taken from his only child?"

"He does if he nearly kills her," snaps Max.

"Maybe not," says Kyle, stepping in before Loki can reply, "But if you want to begin to redeem yourself, then this is a golden opportunity."

"What's the use of redemption if it does nothing for me?"

"Look," says Kyle, "If you're going to do it for anyone, then do it for Thea. She cares about Max who, by the way, has been there for her when you have not."

"Let me guess," says Loki icily, "Thea doesn't know about this either."

"Are you kidding?" asks Max, "No."

"Of course not," says Loki.

"She's been through enough for a while."

"More like a lifetime," says Kyle. He crosses his arms, looking very determinedly at Loki, "So are you going to do this or not?"

"Yes. I will. But I require something in return."

"Oh yeah?" asks Max, "What's that?"

"Let me see Thea."

"No," says Max, "She's just getting used to living without you, and she doesn't need that wound to be reopened right now."

"Is this devotion to Thea that's speaking?" asks Loki acridly, "Or is it jealousy?"

"Look, Loki," says Kyle, once again trying to prevent a bitter argument, "We can't do that, and it's not our fault. It's Thor's, so if you want to see Thea, you'll have to take it up with your brother."

Loki's eyebrow is still raised.

"C'mon, Ky," sighs Max, "He's not going to, I told you, it was–"

He doesn't get to finish, because Kyle has seized Loki by the collar. Kyle is shorter than Loki by quite a bit, but his face is rigid with anger.

"Look, your royal highness," he says through gritted teeth, "My brother is dying, and I just need you to help him, is that so much to ask? If you don't help, he's gone, and I'm not ready to lose him yet, and neither is anyone else, except maybe you, because you're the one that's jealous Max gets to be Thea's father instead of you."

Loki's eyes are steel.

"Kyle..." says Max tiredly, "He is her father."

"Not right now he isn't," says Kyle, still staring daggers at Loki.

"Yes he is," says Max, "You do realize you're making things worse for this, right?"

"He doesn't have his magic," says a very angry Kyle, "So I'm fairly certain I can send him crying to–"

Loki suddenly takes Kyle's shoulders, whirls him, and then Kyle is violently thrown to the floor, gasping as the wind is knocked from him.

"A lesson in threatening," says Loki, stepping over Kyle, "Don't give me time to do that."

Kyle, still not able to speak, glares up at Loki.

"I'll do it," says Loki, turning to Max.

"What?" asks Max, surprised.

"What?" chokes Kyle.

"Pay close attention to when I say this," Loki points to Max, "I am not doing this for you. I am doing it for Thea. Is that understood?"

"Yes, of course," says Max, "Thank you so–"

"You'll need to take a potion every week, provided that Thor won't bumble with bringing the ingredients to me. In return, when someone comes to pick up the potion, I except that the someone will give me detailed and truthful reports as to Thea's well-being. I should warn you now that I know when you are lying to me."

"Of course," says Max, "I'll do it, I'll tell you when I come to get the potion and–"

"No. You'll have a hard enough time pretending to be perfectly healthy without making a weekly trip to Asgard."

"Then who?"

Loki, smirking slightly, toes the side of Kyle's face. "He can."

"Oh, I hate you," groans Kyle.

"And if you didn't, you wouldn't be on the ground like a beached whale. Remember that."

"Thank you, Loki," says Max.

Loki's eyes harden and gaze at Max like glittering emeralds, "Thea will need to know one day."

"I know," says Max, "But not right now. She's too happy."

"Happy?" inquires Loki, "She and Jack not speaking, she's bored, her father is locked up for murder, and her two guardians are keeping something from her."

"She doesn't know."

"I assure you, she knows that something is amiss. I know my daughter."

"I won't tell her," says Max sternly, as Kyle gets to his feet, "Until I have to."

"Well then," says Loki, "Just don't wait too long. Time is a long train. But it'll pass right by her before she has time to blink, and then she won't be fast enough to hang onto the end."

"I'll keep that in mind," says Max.

"Good," says Loki, "Now go to my brother and see how much persuading of him you can do. And I suppose I'll see you next week, Kyle."

"Can't hardly stand to wait," mutters a rather sore Kyle.

Loki smirks.

Oh dear. 

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