Loki watched as Akira fled from the room. The man in the doorway could only mean one thing, Askel was dying. In the time Loki had followed the group, he could tell just how close Askel and Akira were. It broke his heart all over again, the thought of his daughter losing the only remaining family member she had left.

“What’s going on?” Baldr asked in confusion.

“It’s her brother,” Loki choked out.

“What about him?” Thor prompted.

“He’s dying,” Ferros answered sadly. “He’s been dying far longer than any of us knew. But now…now he’s getting worse faster than anyone anticipated.”

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“What exactly is wrong with the boy?” Odin asked.

Ferros turned to him and sighed.

“He’s epileptic and his seizures have gotten worse to the point his medication no longer controls them,” Ferros replied. “He’s constantly running a fever because he’s having multiple seizures a day and each one lasts nearly three minutes now.”

“Until recently, we tried keeping his condition secret from Akira,” Asena told them. “However, as his condition continued to deteriorate we had no choice but to tell her so she could be at his side as often as her own condition permitted.”

His father and brothers stared in shock. Loki himself hadn’t known the boy’s condition had deteriorated to such a degree.

“It’s not bad news this time,” the man in the doorway said.

“What do you mean, Mavi?” Asena asked.

“He’s awake!”