THE DEVIL'S SHADOW
VI. LEFT BEHIND
"I LEFT MATTHEW BEHIND, JUST LIKE HE LEFT ME BEHIND."
➖

HELL'S KITCHEN, 1989

YOU COULD practically feel the dread radiating off of Ariel's body that night, as she lay in bed cuddled up to her favourite teddy that helped her through nightmares when she was younger. Just like it was helping her currently.

The brunette lay asleep in her bed with the teddy cuddle up against her chest, her blanket pulled up to her shoulders as she dreamed away. She was sure that it wasn't a good dream either.

She stood with her teddy in her grasp, finding herself making her way down the stairs of her house. She made it down stairs, to the kitchen to find a glass of water to fix her thirst as she had woken up with a dry throat.

Her feet padded against the kitchen tiles as she made her way to the cupboard that held the glasses. She pulled one out from the bottom cupboard, carefully standing on her step to fill it up.

She flicked the tap off and brought the cup up to her lips to take a sip. Once she was satisfied, she placed the glass into the sink before climbing down from the step. She wiped her face with the palm of her hand to rid of the residue of the water left at the sides of her mouth.

She padded her way through the kitchen back to stairs, when she heard her parents talking in the lounge room. She made her way over, knowing that they wouldn't mind if she was up getting a drink. She peeped her head into the room, finding an old man sitting across from them both.

She didn't recognise him. He was old, with hair as white as snow, with what looked like a pirates eye patch, and old Asgardian armour. Was he from the birth place of her father?

"Ma? Pa?" questioned Ariel.

Both her parents looked over at her, finding their only child standing in the door way shyly. She had hold of her favourite teddy, and her parents smiled at her, motioning her to come in.

"Ariel, this is Odin. The king of Asgard. The place where I was born," said Omari.

Ariel climbed up onto her father's lap whilst he explained who the man was, and what his importance was to her parents. She looked over at the man who smiled gently at her, which made her smile back.

"Hi, I'm Ariel!" greeted Ariel.

Odin let out a small chuckle. "You're an enthusiastic one, child. I am Odin, king of Asgard."

Ariel smiled at him. "Are you Thor's, daddy?"

Odin smiles yet again. "Yes, I am."

Ariel knew quite a bit about Asgard, as she had found her father's old books under her bed one day. She was absolutely obsessed with reading them. She had read them all probably three times. She remembered the first time she started reading them, she had to keep asking her father for clarification on what many words meant.

"That's so cool! I want to meet Heimdall!" exclaimed Ariel.

The three adults let out a laugh at her enthusiasm, causing a large smile to overtake her face. Her parents knew that she was being completely serious, as she was always talking about the Bifrost, and the big man with the sword who had the power to see everyone.

"Did you want to meet him now?"

The three adults watched as Ariel's eyes had widened in complete shock at the question. She looked over at her parents, who smiled with a nod at her. She glanced over at Odin, before she nodded vigorously with a wide smile.

"Well, let's get to it shall we?" replied Odin.

The four of them stood up from the couch, following behind Odin as they made their way outside after locking up the house. Ariel looked behind her at her parents, who smiled at the young girl. They both noticed the light in her eyes at the fact that she would get to visit her favourite place for the first time ever.

After arriving in the middle of the park just down the street to their house, the two of them stood in the middle of the park in the clearing. Ariel noticed weird markings on the ground where they were standing, but she looked up at Odin spoke yet again.

"Heimdall, open the Bi-Frost."

Ariel watched in confusion as a rainbow came bounding towards them from the sky, surrounding them around the outline of the weird patterns on the ground they stood upon. She let out a giggle as they rose in the air, flying through the rainbow tunnel which took them to the Bi-Frost.

Odin and her parents landed with ease, as they had both been there many times before, while Ariel stumbles slightly upon reaching landing. She looks up once stable, noticing the Bi-Frost before her.

Her eyes lit up completely, as she walked around the large dome in amazement. Her parents watched from their place beside Odin and Heimdall, who watched her in complete amusement at her.

Ariel turned around to look at them all. "It really is as beautiful as they say."

Heimdall smiled down at the young girl. "Do they say the same about you, child?"

Ariel's eyes quickly locked onto Heimdall in his golden suit of armour, holding the key to the Bi-Frost. A smile tugged at her lips at the sight of the protector of the Bi-Frost, and she shook her head.

"Only my best-friend-" explained Ariel, getting cut off mid sentence.

"-ah, yes. Matthew Murdock I hear. Is he good to you, child?" asked Heimdall.

"He'd bloody want to be," said Omari.

Miriam nudged him on the arm with a chuckle, while Ariel just smiled at her parents. She looked up at Heimdall with a smile, to which she nodded at his question.

"He's very good to me. The bestest friend a girl could ask for."

"That's just the way a princess should be treated. Welcome to Asgard, Ariel Waters."

"Thank you Heimdall!"

Her parents just smiled in amusement, before the three of them followed behind Odin. They made their way out of the Bi-Frost, onto the rainbow bridge that overlooked the city of Asgard. Ariel's jaw dropped at the sight of Asgard, eyes flickering to every part of the city in absolute amazement.

The four of them made their way down the rainbow bridge, Ariel looking out to the ocean with a grin. After reaching the large gates, they stopped shortly to wait for the doors to open before they could enter.

Ariel's eyes widened even further if that was even possible. Her parents let out loud laughs at their daughter, who couldn't stop her eyes from flickering in every direction. When the gates behind them closed, she awoke.

Ariel looked around her room quickly, finding her mother walking into her room. A small smile graced her lips as she took a seat beside her daughter on the bed, who only laid there quietly.

"How you feeling Peanut?" asked Miriam.

"I'm okay, I guess, ma." replied Ariel.

Miriam nodded her head in response, before they were quiet yet again. Neither of them really knew what to say to one another.

"I had a dream about the day I went to Asgard," said Ariel.

Miriam let out a small chuckle. "Did you now?"

Ariel nodded. "Yeah, and you know what I realised? I left Matthew behind, just like he left me behind."

➖AUTHORS NOTE:
I'm seriously sorry for not updating. I've been busy completing head start work for next year, and I've had slight writers block too. Anybody have any ideas on what I should include in the next few chapters?
NOT EDITED