I ended up spending a small fortune between the train tickets, supplies and food. The tickets were easier on my wallet than Verna's appetite. The girl stopped for food every few hours and was always complaining of hunger. Preemptively thinking, when we arrived in Norway, I made sure to stock up on snacks in one of the Old World bodegas as well as a fourth trip to McDonalds. When we slipped out into the mortal world again, we found ourselves at the airport in Oslo. It was jarring not stepping into another train station, but it gave us the opportunity to shop for much needed winter gear; it was a lot colder and snowier than Amsterdam or even Toronto. With a week left till Christmas, I was glad for Old World transportation, standing in the busy airport.

  "So, where to now?" Verna asked, bundled up in her new puffy winter coat, hat and mittens.

  "I couldn't tell you, but I can feel it. We're close now." I told her as we stepped outside and I took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp air. There was a thrumming in my chest, like a drum, that quickened as I got closer.

  "I'm sure that'll go over well with the taxi." Verna chuckled. I glared down at the sassy little creature who had eaten her way through my wallet and was reminded of Dyson and his quick wit; always having something to say. Of all the people, I was surprised I missed him as much as the others. I wondered how his training had come along, with such a heavy burden of wielding Death's Scythe.

  I flagged down a taxi, and sure enough Verna was right. Not only did we struggle with a language barrier that I was ashamed to have, the driver was not thrilled about my 'I'll let you know when we get there' approach to the trip. I considered a rental car, but I was more confident in my flying carpet skills than I was my own driving. Instead, I offered the driver a large roll of American bills, which he accepted, rolling his eyes.

  It was a five hour drive.

  The taxi peeled out behind us, desperate to be away from us, leaving us in Gudvangen, at the Viking Village. I looked over the heritage site with reverence. Normally, they did walk-throughs and other learning exercises here, but when we got there, it was eerily empty. Just us, and the cold wind wiping through the old style houses. I looked back over my shoulder, and poor Verna is shivering in the continuous gusts of the wintry squalls. She looked like a tiny blue snowman, all fluff and fleece as the snow accumulated on her coat. I could barely see her eyes through the scarf and hat, but I was sure she was glaring at me.

  "This is it?" I heard her muffled voice call out. I nodded, finding solace in the howling winds all the way out here. It was freeing and it also meant I couldn't hear Verna complaining about being hungry. I had given her several opportunities to turn back, but she insisted on coming along for the 'superhero adventure'. Who was I to stop her anyway. Her company had started to grow on me anyway. Maybe she fancied herself my sidekick.

  As the winds turned bitter and harsh, the sky started to darken, leaving us in a snowy, grey darkness. I pointed to one of the wooden houses and Verna ran ahead, practically bodychecking the door. Inside the shelter of the house, we were protected from the winds and much of the cold, but not all of it. I moved over to the old style firepit and attempted to get a fire going, while Verna broke out some snacks. She munched on an cold McDonalds sandwich, but it didn't deter her from talking.

  "So, tell me about the Order? Are you all superheroes?" She asked, with her mouth full. I, now, regretted having mentioned anything at all to her. If she didn't believe me, she wasn't gonna believe everyone else.

  "I suppose. We aren't really superheroes though Verna. It's a lot more serious than the comic books and movies." I glanced up at her, while tending to my fire.

  "Pfft," She spat sandwich bits at me. "Yea, okay there Thor. I bet you guys are like the real life Avengers!" She said excitedly, filled with the same kind of youthful innocents I would have expressed when I was younger. If we had only known. I just shook my head.

  When the fire was sufficiently burning, I sat back on my pack and opened a bag of jerky. Verna came swooping by and stole a hunk from the bag.

  "Hey, you had your snack!" I yelled at her, but chuckled at the futility. I couldn't help but watch her explore the ancient house, filled with old tools and furs, letting her imagination take her somewhere other than where we were. Despite having nothing, and being abandoned and abused, there was still very much a child's soul in the little girl, who seemed much to old for her age. She still found ways to enjoy her life; she still had time for fun. Suddenly, I felt horrible for pushing her away.

  We had more in common than I thought we would. While her parents abandoned her, my father abandoned me to women and they both lost me to alcohol. Verna had also had to grow up too fast, learning to be street smart in order to survive, where as the Order took me in and had been my only true family, but they modeled me after their own ideals. I was just a perfect soldier.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  And like most soldiers, one day I broke, and no one was there to pick up the pieces. Verna has struggled and suffered, making her own, but clearly hadn't been safe, judging by those men in the alleyway. She lacked any kind of discipline or etiquette, but yet I saw so much of me in her now. She reminded me that I wasn't always this way even if the days of my childhood were marred with pain.

  I thought of Orion, oh how I missed him, and how much I owed my best friend. I remembered watching him take his first steps. Hell, I held his little hands, not much older myself, eager to show him the world. I missed the hockey games and the long, late night talks and hanging out downtown. I missed the smog barrier in Toronto, and how it kept he damned snow away. A particularly cold gust cut through the wooden log house, causing me to shiver.

  I missed Amelia, who had trusted me, and I broke that. A girl far stronger than I, in battle and emotions. I felt awful still for how low I brought her, in my own selfishness. I hoped that we could get past it, and that maybe my absence had helped.

  And Kalysta. She had warmed up to me, and pretty much only me since joining the Cathedral. I wondered if she was getting along with the others. I wondered what it would have been like, if I had just admitted my feelings to her.

  "You okay?" Verna snapped her fingers in front of my face. I came back to reality and shook my head.

  "Yea, I've just got a lot on my mind." I mumbled, warming my hands by the fire. Verna stole the entire bag of jerky and plopped down beside me.

  "Penny for your thoughts?" She said, stuffing her mouth full of jerky.

  I raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a penny."

  Verna patted herself down and then looked around the room.

  "Pebble for your thoughts?" She handed me a tiny smooth rock from beside her, smiling up at me.

  "I don't know what exactly is okay to say to you. How old are you anyway?" I asked, staring into the fire.

  "That's a secret." She giggled. "Even if I don't understand, at least you are talking. When you talk about the things that bug you, it's easier to deal with them. I can just sit here and smile and nod."

  "That was pretty profound for a little girl." I told her, shocked. I looked here over like I was actually seeing her for the first time.

  So, I found myself telling this young girl everything that had happened; about my parents, about the Order, about the trip to Greece.

  I mean everything...

  "I can see why you're hiding up here." She sighed, her eyes wide. I felt like I might have traumatized her and immediately regretted trauma dumping on her.

  "Kind of a silly thing to do though. From the sounds of it, you have a lot of people who would support you." She threw the empty jerky bag into the fire, which crackled and hissed. Green smoke wafted up from the plastic, filling the air in the cabin with an acrid scent. "Honestly, for a group of superheroes, you guys sure have a lot of drama. You'd think you guys would have more important things to worry about, like real life monsters."

  "I suppose so, but when you cram a bunch of young people into a small space with conflicting personalities..." Verna wasn't having it. She sat there shaking her head back and forth. And she was right.

  "Fuck!" I slammed my head against the wooden wall.

  "Language!" Verna pretended to scold me, but she gave it away by giggling.

  "I can't believe I ran away like that. I've come out here, so far from home, and left the people who mean the most to me behind. Despite the fact that I'm sure everyone hates me, I should be there. I supposed to be their leader."

  "Your family may hate the things you do, but they will never hate you. That's what families are for...I suppose." Verna tucked her knees into her coat and turned into a blue cushioned lump.

  "Family?" I was confused by the use of the word. Maybe even by the sentiment. But again, she was right.

  "Yea. Family isn't blood. Those are just relatives. People who you think will love you know matter what, but truth is, they have no more reason to love you than a stranger." Verna stared into the fire and drifted off to her own memories. "Family feels like home, and home isn't the place you were born. You choose your family. You choose your home. It sounds like the Order is your family; Orion, Amelia, and them. You don't have to be like your parents Erik. It's just easier to push them from your mind and go your own way. You need to be who you're supposed to be, not who your parents wanted you to be."

  I stared at Verna for a long while, her eyes never leaving the glistening flames. When she realized I was looking at her, she offered me a huge smile and laughed.

  "What do I know, I'm just a kid!"

  "I feel like there is so much more to you than that, you strange little girl." I shook my head, and on instinct, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in close, like I used to with Orion. She seemed shocked at first and flinched away, but she quickly settled up against me, stealing my warmth.

  "How much further are you gonna run before you go home?" She asked, yawning.

  "I need to get my answers. My ancestors called me to this place and I intend to find out why. Once I have the answers I need, then we can go home." I told her. My eyes wandered back to the fire, but I noticed she was staring at me, eyes wide and curious.

  "We?" She asked, urgency painted across her face. It occurred to me that I had said we. It had felt right and made sense at the time, so the weight of the word didn't stick to me. But it did to her.

  "Yea, I mean I thought about just leaving you here out in the cold, but I changed my mind." I smiled, genuinely, for the first time in what seemed like months. She headbutted my chin affectionately, like a cat and snuggled up closer to me. I pulled out the sleeping bags and blankets and covered her tiny body. She quickly fell asleep, so I moved her down closer to the fire and made sure she was safely bundled.

  And that was when I heard my name, howled on the wind.