Oh, Mother Earth
Chapter 7—Rash Decisions
Disclaimer: I don't own Thor
Thor had barely had time to register his feelings in the moments prior to waking up. He had been in shock. His own father had tried to murder him in cold blood. Thankfully, Loki and Sif had been there to save him in the nick of time. Thor's shock was gone. Now, he was angry.
Every time one or both of the giants threw fire at him, Thor absorbed the energy and slammed into a surrounding tree. After 5 minutes, Gaea stopped his first stage of training. Thor looked around him at the carnage he had caused. The once beautiful forest had been diminished to nothing. Piles of ashes littered the ground, turning it a sickly grey color.
"Thor," Jane said slowly, "What is wrong?"
"My father attempted to kill me," Thor said, "That is the problem."
Jane sucked in her breath and wrapped her arms around Thor's large torso. "I am so sorry," she whispered.
Thor held on to Jane as if his life depended on it. He did not know who he could trust anymore. He did know for certain that he could rely on Jane. Thor released Jane and turned towards Gaea, who was making a grim expression at the sight of her son and Jane.
"What is the next stage of my training?" Thor asked determinedly. I will show father. He will never dare to try and strike me down again
"First of all," Gaea started, "Throw down your hammer. After this session you will never need that tool ever again."
Thor released Mjlonir from his belt. He stared at the object that was once his symbol of power. It reminded him of his father and the anger he felt towards him; Thor threw Mjolnir as hard as he could. The hammer soared away from the god of thunder. It broke trees in half and left a long path of destruction in its wake. Normally, Thor would will it to come back to him. This time, he abandoned the hammer where it lied.
"Good," Gaea smiled, "Now the true test begins. Control the air. Fly and while you are in the air, make the temperature drop 30 degrees Celsius."
Thor concentrated. The air started to shift, adjusting to his weight. Soon his body was going into the sky. Thor opened his eyes and observed his surroundings. A flock of geese flew towards him in the distance. The sun blared hot on Thor's neck. He closed his eyes and his body glowed a faintly red color. The air began to cool drastically.
Thor had never heard of the term Celsius, but his body automatically knew to stop when the temperature had dropped 30 degrees. A thin layer of ice coated the tops of the trees. He stared toward the ground where the others looked up in amazement. Gaea applauded dramatically, "Well done my son."
"How did you do that?" Jane asked amazement sparkling in her eyes.
"He is my child," Gaea answered abruptly, "He had the power to do virtually anything."
Thor came to a landing between Jane and Gaea, "What do I do next?"
Thor had always looked down on Loki for using magic. Now, he learned that he himself could call forth magic. Thor would raise his hand to eye level and reddish gold light would split the air. He could manipulate sights and surroundings as easily as he could breathe.
Thor next challenge was to beat Antaeus to the flag Gaea had placed 350 yards away. Thor was limited to the ground during this challenge which gave him a slight disadvantage. When Gaea signaled for the challenge to begin, Thor instantly knew the way of beating Antaeus. Thor ran at a steady pace, all the while causing the earth to shift and bounce beneath Antaeus's feet.
Antaeus was much taller than Thor, which gave his strides a greater distance. Thor's mini earthquakes were causing Antaeus to stumble, but the giant would not fall; which is exactly what Thor anticipated. No, when the goal was just a mere 75 yards away. Thor shot a beam of magic from his palm in full stride. Antaeus instantly stopped in his tracks. Thor laughed at the giant's confused expression as to why a beach had suddenly appeared in the middle of a small country town. Thor sprinted ahead shooting little gusts of air in all directions in his triumph. He grabbed the flag triumphantly and brought it before his mother.
"I present you my prize," Thor said kneeling, "Thank you mother for showing me these great powers."
Gaea smiled wickedly. This was the moment she had long been waiting for. "Oh, Thor," she crooned, "This is just the beginning of our beautiful mother/son relationship. There is still much for you to learn. You are doing so well, I am very proud."
Thor looked up with pride into the face of his mother. He was not used to receiving such compliments from a parental figure. Thor stood and asked, "What can I do to help you mother?"
Gaea smiled and stroked Thor's cheek softly, "My son you can restore me to my true form. I have been trapped within the Earth's confounds for thousands of years. You have the power to put my soul back into my body. Help me rise and I will reward you greatly."
Jane went to interrupt immediately, "Thor,"—
Jane was cut off harshly with a hand covering her mouth. Earlier while Thor was training Jane had witnessed Gaea's true evil. She wanted to warn Thor, but he had already agreed to help Gaea. Jane could only stand and fret at the words that were wringing through her mind, Once my son restores me. We will set our sights on Asgard. He is angry with Odin which just sweetens the deal. He will lead an army onto our enemy's soil and strike Odin where it hurts, and I will be there to finish that bastard Allfather off personally.
Gaea and Thor stood in the middle of an open field, just a few miles where he had trained earlier. Gaea had demanded that they be alone so he could use his full concentration. Gaea's form stood just a few short feet from him and in just moments she would be whole again.
"All you have to do is a blood ritual," Gaea said slowly, "Simple and not very painful at all."
"Why haven't any of your other children freed you already," Thor asked curiously.
Gaea grimaced, "None of my other children have the same culpabilities as you. I love them, but they are all mostly idiots. You are the only one powerful enough and smart enough to free me."
Thor nodded sullenly. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to stop and think this through. There had to be a purpose for his mother being sealed away in the earth all those years ago. However, Thor's anger towards his father won the fight and he quickly drew a silver blade from his pocket.
The blade had been a gift from Fandral after one of their many adventures together. It was of medium length and had a firm hilt that was inscribed in an ancient language. Thor had always found the blade to be beautiful and deadly. Now, he drew the blade across his arm. Blood gushed from the wound and dropped to the soil below. Thor patiently waited for Gawa to give further instructions.
"Now," Gaea said, "I will return to the soil. I will absorb your blood while you chant and ancient proverb. Say, I release your from your hold, Oh Mother Earth. Rise from the soil and crush your enemies in one fatal swoop.
Thor memorized the words and played them in his head over and over until Gaea had fully returned to the dirt below. He allowed his blood to spill on the ground for a few moments longer. When his head began to ache slightly he began to chant loudly, "I release you from your hold, Oh Mother Earth. Rise from the soil and crush your enemies in one fatal swoop."
The air grew cold, the ground stood still, and all around the animals; plants; and insects dropped dead. Thor swallowed hard and gazed to the ground below. The ground where Gaea's form had previously stood began to sink inward. Thor's blood formed a circle with intricate lines around the sinking ground. In the center of the blood ring, a large hand shot up from the Earth.
Thor watched with mixed emotions as the hand began to pull the rest of the body to the surface. Brown hair flew wildly around the torso and cover Gaea's face. When she had pulled her entire frame from the ground, Gaea stood at least 20 feet tall. Her body looked like a normal human's, except tiny trees and shrubs lined her arms and legs. The tips of Gaea's hair were as green as the grass below. Her fingernails were brown with mushrooms growing form them. Thor had never seen anything so amazing in his life, or terrifying.
Gaea swept a hand across her forhead, pushing brown and green hair from her face. With her face fully visible now, Thor stared into the brown eyes of his mother. Gaea's eyes were only brown, no irises or color of any sort, just brown. The sight unsettled Thor greatly. Gaea stretched and green engulfed her completely.
"Mother Gaea?" Thor asked cautiously.
When the light disappeared, Gaea stood at a normal height in front of Thor. "Oh thank you dear," Gaea said moving to awkwardly hug Thor, "This is the best I have felt in such a long time. We have many plans to discuss now."
Thor wished he had used his head more often. His rash decision could have deadly consequences. Thor hoped and prayed that he was just being paranoid. A nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that that was not the case however. The voice informed Thor that he had just doomed all the realms, especially Earth and Asgard, to finish their days in misery.
A/N—Hope you all enjoy this chapter. I start college back tomorrow so I don't know how often I will be able to update. I will try my best though.
Please review and tell me how you liked the chapter and any criticisms you might have. I will have some romance in the later chapter but this story is mostly about Thor.