Chapter three
Despite how many times Thor asked me, I couldn't tell him what 'Odin' and I had talked about, but he could tell by the way I acted whenever he was mentioned or I saw him that it couldn't have been anything good. He was worried about me, and I couldn't do anything to put his mind at ease. There was a banquet held the day after I had arrived, and Odin was sitting at one end of the hall, conversation with some people who I didn't recognise. I sat at the other end with Thor, keeping half an eye on Odin, the other half on whatever the meat that I was eating was. It looked a bit like mutton, but it certainly wasn't quite the same texture. I didn't even recognise the vegetables that were with it.
"I think I now know how you felt when you first went to Earth." I said to Thor, who just grinned.
"It was strange," He admitted, "But I am glad that I did."
"Because of Jane?" I teased, smiling slightly as I popped a strip of the meat in my mouth, chewing it slowly as Thor turned slightly red, not very noticeably though.
"Yes," He admitted, "But also because I wouldn't have met many of my friends if I hadn't. Certainly wouldn't have found that I have a sister."
"Ya know... It's really weird looking like I'm a similar-ish age to some of the people here, but knowing that I'm the youngest by a few thousand years. And knowing that my half-brother is a few thousand years older than me while my foster brother is only five years older than me."
"I know a similar feeling." Thor ruffled my hair and I leaned away from him, pulling a face.
"Don't touch my hair." At that moment a man with gold hair, looking to be a similar age to Thor sat down on one side of me, a red headed man with a very bushy beard sitting on the other side of Thor, an Asian looking man pulling up a chair and sitting next to the golden haired man, while a dark haired woman came and stood behind Thor. I looked around in surprise, confused about why they'd all come over at the same time and who the hell they were.
"Are you going to introduce us, Thor?" The golden haired man asked, watching me closely. I felt my cheeks going slightly red as I looked at my brother. Thor just shook his head, laughing slightly.
"Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, and Sif, this is my half-sister, Tyra, of Midgard." I glanced around at the golden haired guy.
"I'm Fandral," He introduced himself, taking my hand in his and planting a kiss on it, "A pleasure to meet you." He smiled.
"Ah... like...wise?"
"I am Volstagg," The bearded man said, and I smiled slightly, noticing how loudly he talked, "And that man there is Hogun." Hogun nodded and I nodded back.
"Hi," Then I looked back at Volstagg, "You know... shave the beard, get a bit of a haircut... and you'd kinda look a bit like Ray Stevenson." He looked utterly confused.
"Who?" Even Thor looked slightly confused.
"Ah... He's an actor on Earth... um... Midgard," I explained, then looked at the woman, "Lady Sif?" I asked and she nodded.
"Indeed."
"Huh... you know, in Norse mythology you and Thor are actually married and Loki cuts your hair off as a prank. Also, in mythology, your hair is gold," Both Thor and Sif looked slightly put off by what I had just said and I couldn't help but laugh, "Man, I wish I had my camera right about now." Even Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral were joining in, though I doubted they knew what a camera was. Sif was blushing slightly, and Thor was just looking completely confused by what I'd said, but neither of them replied.
"You Midgardians have some... Strange ideas..." Sif eventually managed to get out.
"Oh yeah. You don't even want to know half the Greek mythology. That stuff is just messed up."
"What does your mythology say about Odin?" Fandral asked and I glanced once more over at where the false Odin stood, talking to a man with only one hand. I frowned slightly.
"Not too sure if you want an answer to that one. He is your king after all."
"You've said this much, why not a little more?" Hogun asked.
"Well..."
"Go on!" Volstagg pretty much shouted and I thought for a moment, frowning slightly while I tried to remember all I had to about Odin.
"According to one source I read, he's the patron god of rulers and outcasts, doesn't care much for... um..." I closed my eyes and turned my head slightly to one side, mentally scrolling through the article, "Communal values, like justice, fairness, that kind of thing. People also hate him a bit for being a 'fickle trickster' I think were the words used..." I opened my eyes and looked at everyone around me. Volstagg threw back his head and roared with laughter, Hogun smiling slightly while Fandral chuckled quietly. Thor just shook his head, smiling slightly, and Sif looked like she was still trying to get over what I had said about her and Thor.
"What about Thor?" She asked suddenly, an evil gleam in her eye and I grinned.
"He has a goat drawn chariot." I replied and Thor pulled a face.
"A what?" He asked.
"Goat. Drawn. Chariot."
"I think that would be a bit of a struggle." Sif joked, taking a sip of a drink and I shrugged.
"Dunno. I don't really know if you have goats here or how big they are. Markhors are around 42 inches at the shoulder I think, and Mountain Goats are about a metre tall. And goats are pretty strong. Besides, it's not like Thor would be riding them, he'd be riding a chariot being pulled by them."
"How can you have this much knowledge?" Fandral asked, drawing my attention back to him and I shrugged.
"I have no life." He looked confused about this.
"If you have no life, then how are you here?" He asked.
"Ah..." I thought for a moment, "Oh! You think that by no life I mean that I'm dead?" He frowned.
"Is that not what you mean?"
"No, it's a... sort of expression back where I come from. If you don't have a life you don't go out and do stuff often, you don't do much. Like in my case I never really go out with friends, just sit at home on the computer researching giant goat breeds and Mythology."
"But you're still doing something with your life. You are educating yourself in those fields and becoming an expert."
"If I wanted to be an expert in those fields then it'd be a matter of going off to university or something and getting a proper education in them. As it stands, I never actually went to further my education after leaving high school." Thor looked slightly confused about this.
"I thought you worked for S.H.I.E.L.D?" He asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, but that started when I was 21-22 type age. I think... might have been a bit earlier. I was quite young anyway. With the blackouts I didn't see the point in furthering my education."
"Blackouts?" Sif asked and I shook my head.
"It's complicated," I glanced back over to the man with only one hand, still talking to Odin, "Hey, is that Týr?" I asked. The others shared looks and Thor nodded.
"Yes, he is."
"Huh... cool."
"How did you know?" Sif asked.
"You kidding?" I looked around at her, "My foster parents named me after him pretty much. The Norse mythology version of how he lost his hand was my favourite story for years. The creepiest bit is that something similar happened to me... except for the losing my hand part and it wasn't a giant wolf that bit me, it was just a giant dog. Wrist hasn't been the same since though."
"Would you like to meet him?" Volstagg asked and I shook my head, smiling slightly.
"And say what? 'Hi, I'm Tyra. I was named after you and so stalked you on wiki for years, will you be my friend?' Somehow I doubt that'll go down too well."
"There will be time enough for her to meet him. I believe that meeting the warriors three and Lady Sif will be enough excitement for her for one night." Thor put in and I nodded, slightly grateful.
"I think I'm gonna turn in for the night," I muttered, feeling one of my headaches coming on, "It was nice meeting you all and I hope to see you around some time." I smiled as I stood up.
"Have a good rest, Lady Tyra of Midgard." Fandral said and I smiled at him.
"Night guys." The others all bade me good night and I headed off down the halls to my room once more, the noise from the feast echoing down the empty corridors. Thankfully it wasn't too loud in my room and I poured myself a cup of water from a jug in my room and popped one of my pills, downing it in one go before getting changed in a nightgown and crawling into my bed, waiting for sleep to take me.
"I like her," Fandral told the others, rather thoughtfully, "She's an interesting person."
"Do not even think about it, Fandral," Thor scolded, eyeing his friend up, clearly not trusting his intentions towards his younger sister, "She is but a child compared to us and seems to age at a much faster rate."
"The same goes for your Jane Foster, you realise." Volstagg put forward, earning a look from Thor.
"When did this become about me?" He asked.
"It isn't. And I agree on Thor with this one. Tyra is young, she should be with a human. Her rate of aging seems more similar to theirs." Sif put forward, Thor shifting uncomfortably about where this conversation had ended up.
"If it would put your mind at ease, Thor, I was never thinking about it." Fandral admitted, smiling slightly. Thor nodded, not saying anything. He looked over at his father, thinking.
"What is it?" Sif asked him.
"Something happened between Father and Tyra. I do not know what and she refuses to talk about it."
"They hardly know each other. No one even knew of her existence until recently, they are bound to find it difficult to be around one another for a while." Sif said, trying to ease the prince's mind. He didn't respond, then shook the feeling off and helped himself to another drink, shooting a grin at his friends.
"Let us not think about what worries us but enjoy the night." He said, raising his tankard high.
"I'll drink to that." Volstagg grinned, chugging his own drink down before pouring himself another.
Thor walked to where Heimdall stood waiting at the opening of the bifrost, looking out over the stars, his sword held in front of him.
"How is she?" Thor asked, Heimdall just smiling slightly.
"She misses you, and is still searching for you. But seems a little annoyed." Thor frowned.
"Why?"
"When you know the mind of a woman, then you really are doomed." Heimdall replied, not explaining at all why Jane Foster was mildly irritated with Thor. The asgardian prince just smiled, shaking his slightly before sobering.
"And what of Tyra?" He asked.
"She still struggles to come to terms with what has happened with her, though she is good at hiding it."
"Is there nothing I can do to help?"
"Not unless she wants you to."
"There has to be something." Heimdall shook his head.
"What she has done weighs on her. She fears that if she talks about it, no one will see her the same." Thor sighed.
"I thought that bringing her here would help, getting her away from where it all happened. I fear it might have just made things harder for her."
"She is strong. She will manage." Heimdall said, trying his best to put the prince's fears to rest. Thor shook his head.
"It is like Father doesn't want her around. I knew she didn't really want to meet him, but I thought that he would like to meet her at the very least." Heimdall frowned, but Thor didn't seem to notice.
"You should get some rest, my prince," Heimdall told him, "Perhaps a new day shall bring some peace between the two." Thor smiled, then bowed his head slightly to the guardian of the bifrost.
"Thank you, Heimdall." Then he turned and left, Heimdall continuing to watch over the stars, lost in his own thoughts. Something clearly wasn't right. Odin had come to him many times before, first asking after the woman he had met on his last journey to Midgard, a young American named Jeanie Williams, and then more about the child that she bore. He had come many times, wondering how the young child was doing. He had wanted to meet her more than anything, but thought it would be better if he stayed out of her life, sometimes sending his ravens to watch her. And yet now he was wanting nothing to do with her? It wasn't right. He turned his vision to where Tyra was, curled up asleep in her bed, her brow slightly creased in a frown, her fingers twitching slightly. He'd seen this before, though he never knew quite what her dreams were about, it was clearly nothing good. Her eyes flicked open and she sat up slowly, her arms shaking slightly, sweat gleaming on her forehead. He felt sorry for the girl. She's been through so much already, and now on top of all that she couldn't even get a decent night's sleep.
It was dark, the wind outside howling. I could feel its anger, its hatred, but I didn't know what that would feel like if it was me. I was just empty, feeling nothing as I looked down at the family of three, the young girl possibly being about 5 or 6 years old. Her mother was holding her close, trying to hide her eyes, but not managing very well. Her husband had a cut on his head bleeding profusely, the dark liquid already halfway down his cheek. His eyes showed how worried he was, but also how angry he felt and how willing he was to sacrifice himself for his family. Suddenly he stood up and charged at me, a knife appearing in his hand. Where he had gotten the knife, I didn't know. It hardly mattered. I stepped out of his way and pushed him past, sending him stumbling forward, but he recovered fairly quickly and turned to face me once more. My only companion stood in the doorway, watching me but not getting involved. The Schatten was there only to watch, and there was a part of me that doubted that even if it wanted to help me it couldn't. The man threw himself at me once more, but this time I didn't dodge him, instead stepping towards him and grabbing his wrists, my knee connecting with his groin, sending him falling to the ground in pain, tears streaming down his face. I let go of his wrists and quietly pulled out a hand gun, pointing it at him. He didn't even look up at me. I didn't give him a chance to, pulling the trigger three times, the woman letting out a sob and the child screaming. Blood seeped out from the now motionless man's head, pooling on the floor. Slowly I turned and faced the woman and child, pulling the trigger twice more, getting the woman in the head. She fell away from her child and my eyes met the girl's. She didn't know what was happening, tears forming in her dark green eyes. My hand started shaking and I felt sick. She was just a child. She didn't deserve any of this. My cheeks felt damp and I frowned, confused. Slowly I lowered the gun and reached up with my other hand to touch my cheek. Maybe I didn't have to kill her... she was just a child. She had done nothing wrong. I started to turn to leave, but then my doubt vanished and the gun shot up once more, my finger pulling the trigger once more without me even looking. Then I left the destruction I had caused behind me, vanishing into the howling wind outside.
I opened my eyes, feeling the tears on my face with both my powers and skin, though it was hard to tell where the tears started and the sweat stopped. I pushed myself up on shaking arms, feeling more sick than I had in a long time. That was almost worse for me than knowing I killed my own parents. I held one of my shaking hands in front of me and looked at it, not thinking anything before I silently reached out and picked up the gauntlets that Thor had given me, slipping them on and allowing myself to enjoy the quiet without all the extra input from the air and tears on my face. There was nothing else for me to do, so I just sat there for a while before getting out of my bed and picking up the cloak I had been given, slipping it on and stepping out into the corridor, just walking around in the darkness, letting the air currents tell me when to turn. No matter where I turned, the girl's eyes haunted me, never leaving my mind. Eventually I found myself outside on a balcony overlooking the city, the light of the moon reflecting off the sea and the buildings, somehow calming me slightly. It was beautiful. In that quiet I let the tears fall. I covered my mouth when a small sob escaped me, just letting my body shake slightly with my cries. No one would see me, no one would know about this. There was no reason why I shouldn't let myself cry. Just this once. So I did.
