The press frenzy over Thor and I continued through the few days before the trial, canceling any dates he had with any of us and between the last minute training and avoiding the public (save my small group of friends) the day of the combat trial arrived.

My stomach was a bundle of nerves the morning of as Sif woke me up. She was jittery too, but unlike me, Sif did not handle it by being quiet. She handled it by chattering endlessly about the trial.

"It can't be that hard," Sif rambled as I braided my hair. "I mean, yeah, it'll be tough but you'll breeze through it! I mean you've spent you're entire career being in peak physical shape to do the job and now you've kept that up over the last month and thrown in some new skills. You are really good with the staff and I'm sure that can translate to a doubled bladed sort of weapon. Assuming they're even offered at the trial."

Sif rambled on and on as I tied my braid into a bun. Basic rules of being in the field; don't offer things that could be grabbed onto and used against you. That included loose clothing and long hair. To deal with both, I was dressed in a black tank top and leggings to match as well as sneakers.

I'd have preferred my uniform, but sadly, I didn't have it with me. I knew it actually wouldn't be any help to me in terms of actual change, but it would have helped with my confidence. That uniform had been with me through a lot. Sadly, I wasn't allowed my gun either and that stung even more.

I tied the elastic on my hair and gave my hair a last once over in the mirror. No long strands were hanging out, if someone wanted to try and grab my hair during a fight, it certainly wouldn't be easy.

Sif was still spewing out worries. "I don't think Thor would include monsters in this trial. Now don't get me wrong-that would be an amazing spectacle-gosh I'd actually love to see what you could do against a wolf with that thingy gun of yours! But there's a matter of practicality involved here. I mean, you're the only one of the contestants who was ever really trained in any sort of combat situation and that only dealt with people. And then what you've done with us over the last month has only been more of that, just without your gun and though you're good, I still think you'd be in serious danger if a wolf or a troll-!"

"Sif!" I exclaimed, a hundred ugly beasts and monsters rolling around in my head. "I say this with all the affection and respect I have in me: shut the hell up."

My rising volume cut off her worried rambling and she pulled herself upright, squared her shoulders and straightened her navy blazer. "Right, sorry. I wasn't thinking, if I'm this nervous you have to be feeling even worse huh?" Her olive skin paled and she shook her head at her misstep. "Wait-I did it again didn't I? You really didn't need the reminder of-."

"What part of 'shut the hell up' is hard to understand?" I asked, rubbing my temples as more worried thoughts swirled around in my head like they were in a blender. The monsters Sif had described, the prospect of the unknown that was before me and the prospect of failure and the end of my search for the Jotun were all there and rattling my skull.

I agreed with Sif, yes, the trial probably wouldn't include monsters-too risky for Midgardians. But I still didn't know for certain and that filled me to the brim with anxiety and it made sitting still next to impossible. I had no idea how I was going to wait my turn for the trial once it began. I knew we were all going through one by one, so for all I knew I could be last or somewhere in the middle of it all.

"Sorry," Sif said, a sheepish smile on her face. "This is how I deal with worry-I talk."

"I noticed." I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. "Please, don't talk to me about the trial. Not now."

"Okay," my Asgardian friend looped her arm through mine and pasted a smile onto her face. "So how are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm fine," I said which was true enough. "Nervous a bit, but I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. I just want to get this over with." Sif handled stress by talking and I handled stress with physical outlets. I went running, I hit the weights or the pool or something else to channel that energy and focus solely on the action, not on the emotion. A conversation didn't provide me with a chance to do that, but I knew well enough that I wouldn't have time for that today, so talking was my only outlet.

"You'll be safe," she assured me. "Thor doesn't want any serious injuries occurring in this."

"That's not what has me worried," I said softly. "If I don't pass this, then that's it-that thing that killed Yuki will always be out there."

Sif's smile faded. "Suzume you can't think like that."

"It's why I came here," I replied, "how can I not think about it?"

"Is that the only reason you're here though?" Sif asked bending down to tie a loose lace on my shoe. "I mean, if you two don't fall for each other, you'll still be out."

"I know that," I replied, a hint of defensiveness to my tone. "And I do like Thor a lot, he's very thoughtful, good looking and he's funny. I'd like the chance to get to know him better. But if I flunk this, the both endeavors end right there. I don't want that to happen and I'm scared it might."

Sif tied off the lace, rose to her full height and placed her warm hands on my shoulders. "You are not going to 'flunk' this trial. I've been a warrior for hundreds of years and trust me when I say that you are more than capable."

I tried to arrange my features into a polite expression rather than shock. Sif had never praised me like this before. "Well thanks for the faith."

"Thanks for earning it," Sif said with a smile. "Now come on, let's get going." I nodded and the room faded in a flash. I was weightless for a moment and then my feet landed on concrete, the air around me cool, like a cave.

I looked around and saw that it wasn't much different from the underbelly of a football stadium. The square-shaped hallway was made entirely of plain grey concrete with bits of metal bolts and rebar through it all.

"This way," Sif said, pulling gently on my arm and I allowed her to lead me, my pulse thundering in my ears as we made out way down the cavernous structure. Eventually, we came to a set of steel doors, the glowing unfamiliar writing all around the trimming. Two guards, both wearing beige uniforms were blocking the entrance, one held a war hammer and the other an assault rifle.

The odd sight made me blink several times as we approached and then one of the guards who wore dark aviator shades addressed Sif. "State your name and your purpose."

Sif squared her shoulders. "Lady Sif, here to escort my contestant Suzume Hamada for the first trial."

"Hold out your arm."

Sif did as he requested and he held out his hand which glowed bright green and he moved his hand up and down her arm. Whatever he was looking for either was there or didn't show up at all because he let her arm go and then made a gesture to his fellow guard and they both stood aside.

"Thank you gentlemen," Sif said. "See you guys at the tables tonight!"

Tables? I wondered as we walked through the doors. I was about to ask what that meant, but my breath was stolen from me as I got a view of the space.

When I'd first entered this wing, I had thought it was like a football stadium. Now I realized I was wrong. It was not a football stadium. It was more like the Roman Colosseum. Tall stands loomed over the concave center, full of screaming spectators. From my point of view, they were nothing more than pinpricks of colors which was more helpful to me than seeing their faces.

In the center of the ring, a large structure stood, dominating the whole area. One section was made of grass, the other of a slit sort of mud, thick vines and trees and what could only be snow and ice but I had no idea how they managed that one. The room didn't feel the least bit cold. Not by a long shot.

The leftmost wall was strange too. A rock wall about forty feet tall like any other climbing wall, but that was where the similarity ended. It wasn't the plastic rocks and screws into a standard wall-it was an honest to goodness-rock face. As though someone had sliced off part of a mountain and stuck it into the building.

"Whoa," I whistled. "This is...insane."

Sif patted me on the shoulder. "Don't panic okay?"

"Why would I panic?" I said, turning around as I examined the rest of the space. Save the massive mix-up landscape it seemed to be completely empty. I frowned. "Where are the other contestants?"

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Right now what you need to do is listen to me alright? And listen closely because I'm only allowed to say this once. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ma'am?"

"It's how I address my superiors at the department," I said with an apologetic shrug. "Sir or ma'am depending on their gender. I'm not saying you're old."

Sif placed her hands on her hips. "Good. Okay now it's simple, you're gonna start over there," she indicated the grassy field. "And you're goal is to make it to the top of that," she pointed to the mini-mountain. "And you have one hour to do it. The intention of these terrains you see are to make that harder to do and it's going to be even worse because the guards who are not on duty today are working here, but now, they are not here to help you or to protect you. They are here to hinder you or stop you all together. They're well trained and they are armed and you cannot go easy on them."

I nodded, feeling my adrenaline pump into my system and go straight to my head like a shot of vodka. Except, rather than make me woozy and silly, it made everything sharper. The colors of the landscapes, the sharp smell of salt and earth in the air and the small details of the surrounding area were all clearer. Sharper even to my weak human eyes.

"Will I be given any weapons?"

Sif shook her head. "You'll be unarmed until you either make a weapon from something you find on the terrain or you steal one from a guard."

Well they certainly weren't making these trials easy. "Will they be holding back then?"

Sif shook her head. "Not exactly." She reached into the pocket of her blazer and pulled out a glass vial with gold contents. "Drink this."

"I don't need any liquid courage Sif," I said as I eyed the course. "I can do this." I wasn't even sure that was true as I said that. The different terrains would slow me down already, mud, sand and ice didn't offer much for stable footing and that was vital to a being good in a fight. Strong stances were everything and then there was the matter of the time limit. Fighting opponents wore people out and lead to tiredness and being tired slowed people down which was not good for making it across five different climates and up a small mountain in an hour.

Damn, they sure weren't going to make this easy and suddenly, with all my training and preparedness I felt unsure and scared. How was I going to do this?

"It's not booze, it's a way to even the playing field to some degree." Smirking she uncorked the vial and handed it to me. "Like I told you when we met, an Asgardian against a Midgardian and the Midgardian will always lose. But," she held out the vial again. "But an Asgardian against an Asgardian and the victor is less certain."

I grabbed the vial with phantom limbs. "So this stuff," I said, staring at shimmery contents and inhaling deeply. "This will make me like you?"

"For a time," Sif said. "It's temporary but it will put you on more even footing with the guards. You'll have their strength and speed, no additional powers or teleporting. They're forbidden from using both during the trials. The goal isn't to test your magic, it's to test your ability to fight."

The idea that I could possess the same strength and speed as Sif sent a shiver through me that was equal parts excitement and fear. "Anything else?"

"You won't be alone the entire time, you'll be joined by three allies during the trial. They'll swear this symbol," she ran her hand over her arm and in a soft flash of light, I saw a tattoo on her forearm. It looked like a set of wings, save for the long, sharp line that cut two parallel lines from the tipped figures. "You'll command them as you you go through the various landscapes, and by the time you reach the mountain, you'll have all of them with you."

I nodded. "Who are they?"

"I don't know."

Not what I was hoping for but I'd make do. "Thank you," I said softly, "whatever happens, I'm thankful that you took the time to teach me like you did."

"Don't do this," Sif said sternly. "Don't you say goodbye. You get out there and you kick this in the ass.  I picked you for this and I've been training you nonstop ever since you arrived on Asgard. You blow this and you make me look bad-I am not interested in that happening, got it?"

"Crystal clear ma'am," I said, folding my arms behind my back and nodding curtly to Sif like she was the Chief.

Sif beamed. "Good, anymore questions?"

"No."

"Then go."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and raised the vial to my lips and swallowed. The spicy taste of cinnamon filled my mouth and as fire spread through my body, fast like lightening and it was so startlingly that I dropped the vial and I heard it shatter on the floor.

My head split in two, like someone had taken a hammer to my skull and I fell to the ground, a silent scream tearing out of my mouth. I fell against the cool cement, barely registering Sif's unconcerned gaze above me and my muscles seized up violently as the vial's contents worked it's way through my body.

Then, suddenly it was over, the pain vanished and I sat up, feeling a bit dizzy and I looked up at Sif who was grinning down at me. She extended her hand and I took it, expecting my legs to be shaking but they were steady as ever.

"Remember what I said," she told me and then with one blinding flash she was gone and I was alone.

In a booming voice, I heard Thor speak though I couldn't see him. "Suzume Hamada, your trial starts now."

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New chapter! The first trial is here and I am so excited! I hope you guys are too! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Write on! :)