Chapter 11 – Meanwhile

Thor soared through the air with Chase and Peach safely in his arm, Mjolnir out in front of him as his red cape fluttered behind him. "What are we going to do when we get there?" Chase finally asked. 'You're going to go to the chamber where we saw the councilors, and check on them!' Peach thought through her pearl. "Your sister has spoken wisely!" Thor said, "Her plan will save time and confirm any suspicions."

Chase simply sighed, "She never spoke!" he said as he earned looks of concern from the other two. "You cannot hear the voice of your sister in your mind?" he asked, "That could only indicate a closed mind! There is something you have not opened up to."

"How about the whole Immortal Demigod thing you've got going on here!" Chase said, "There is no way this world is timeless! Time effects all plains, no matter what!"

"Your parents are timeless." Thor said. "They are not timeless!" Chase corrected, "They just age at…" In his mind, he thought, trying to figure out what the answer would be, "About one, one thousandth of the lifespan of a human! They'll live for almost twelve hundred years, give or take a few centuries, not forever!"

"That is where your mind is frozen my friend!" Thor said, "Just because something seems impossible by the standards you base your life on, does not mean that things beyond your preferred method aren't possible! Until you realize that one way of thinking cannot explain everything, you will never hear the voice of your sister!"

Chase sighed again, "She doesn't have telepathy, and you can't give powers like that to someone by just giving them a pearl!" he said, and watched as the human landed at the front gates of the city of the large tree, Yggdrasil. "You have to go check the councilor chamber!" Peach whispered to him, "If they're there, tell us and we can go help Crash and Crystal."

"Ok, that I can understand!" Chase said, and turned to the gates, only to come face to face with six enormous heads, the black scales covered the disfigured faces as the tussled brown hair waved in the breeze. "Well, well!" one of them said, her voice echoing in her throat, "Visitors! And live ones at that!"

"The last ones we had come through our doors were frozen." The second said, her emotions almost nonexistent. "Wait!" the third more excited one said, "Aren't they the ones the Frost Giants had captured?"

"Naughty Frost Giants!" a fourth said, "Causing such despair and misery upon such cuties!"

"Good evening Scylla!" Thor said as he passed by the monster without even thinking about it. "THOR!" the fifth head nearly shouted, "So good to see you after all these years!"

"Tis a pleasure to be in your company again Scylla!" Thor said politely as he turned back to the beast. The six heads were attached to a single body chubby and beast like in form as it stood on four legs with a tail that split into eight tips near the middle. Around the place where the necks met the body, there was what looked like four wolves heads that gnashed their teeth at the human god wildly. "It's a pleasure to see you again!" the sixth head said as they all neared him. Chase gulped once, and reached for his hood. Peach placed her paw against his, effectively stopping him as he looked to her, then looked to where she was looking, two of the six heads were staring right at them. Peach waved her other paw, a smile on her face as she tried to be as polite as possible. "Are these the little ones that Councilor Shiva is so bent on finding?" the first head asked as the four wolf heads growled. "They are, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't let him know we were here!" Thor said. Scylla turned all six of her heads to him, then back to the kits, "I don't see why we should honor that request…" the six heads began, "…Except that we don't trust Shiva." the second continued. "It has been far too quiet in Yggdrasil tonight!" the third head said. "That is why we are here! We wish to make sure the other councilors are still safe." Thor explained.

Scylla growled once, and turned her head, "Fine, but you must first get word to me of Zeus' permission to leave the city, or I will eat you alive as you pass!" Chase once again gulped as one of the heads veered closer to him, "And remember little one, though you may fool the eyes of others in this world, my eyes can see you through that invisible disguise!" it said, and was quickly pulled back by one of the other heads, "Be gentle with the little ones!" the second head said. "I'll not be gentle!" the first argued, and suddenly all six were trying to make their own points as the wolves just growled. "Come, we leave while they bicker!" Thor said. "No, that's ok. I'll just stay outside the city if you don't mind!" Chase said, and turned around, only to be grabbed by the scruff and the cloak in the massive hand of Thor. "Come friend! Adventure awaits!" he said as he tucked Chase beneath his arm. "It can wait a little longer, I don't want to get stuck in a city or be eaten by that thing!" Chase said as he felt the panic begin to build. "Scylla is the guardian of the gates to Yggdrasil. Be happy we were on her watch instead of Charybdis'."

"Charybdis…" Chase asked as he felt himself lose the ability to breathe. 'What's a Crib-dis?' Peach asked innocently. "Charybdis is the second guardian, and he would usually just sit there with his mouth open at the gate, waiting for travelers to enter into the city, and devour them! He looks like a giant wyrm!" Thor told them as he watched Chase practice breathing in order to keep from feinting.

The three of them raced on through the city, making their way towards the giant tree in the center, Thor looking up to see a strange mist coming from the trunk were the door was. "Something's wrong!" he said, and slid to a stop, ducking behind a pillar as Peach joined him. Chase slipped his hood up, disappearing completely. Just at that moment, one of the Frost Golems emerged, glancing around as if he were on guard. "This is great!" Chase said as he walked up to the two of them, "What do we do now?"

"You must discover what that mist is." Thor whispered, "We shall wait here for your report." Chase groaned a little, but still took off, racing up to the front door unseen by the Giant as it scanned the horizon. 'It's cold!' the little kit observed as he came to a stop next to the door. With a little patience, he followed the Frost Giant in as it opened the door. Inside the hall, Chase gasped as he looked towards the thrones, the floor and walls were covered in a thick layer of ice, large ice sickles hanging from the ceiling as the mist rose from the floor and walls. He could quickly feel the temperature drop in the room, completely overwhelmed. He didn't even see it when the Giant, who had heard his gasp, turn to the noise. His shock saved him, as he walked slightly forward, his breath caught in his lungs. The giant scratched his head, and reached down, wrapping his hand around nothing. With a shrug, he turned and left, his loud footsteps causing Chase to turn and release his breath. He panted a bit, the steam from his breath puffing out and disappearing quickly. Slowly he turned, looking at the frozen chairs near the back. They all were frozen, all except one, the middle one. Zeus's chair was untouched by the ice, but the man was nowhere to be found. "I still can't understand it." he heard a far off voice say. With a dash, he raced off, trying to find the owner of the voice.

"All you had to do was bow down to my will! All I wanted to do was keep our world safe!" Shiva said. No one answered him, instead he continued, "My plan was simple; just leave the foreign animals to die in the cold. Children or not, they are an enemy to our great power. But you had to set them free!" Chase quietly slowed down, peeking his head around the corner. He saw Shiva, the Azure's back turned to him, and in front of the councilor, a frozen Shenlong.

End Chapter 11