Yes, I'm back. Don't ask why I've written this so quickly, I just have. Besides, it's one of those teacher work days so I have nothing else to do. It's a good thing I don't write these beforehand otherwise there would be nothing to stop me from posting the whole of the last book right this minute. XD Anyway, this is the last chapter and I thank you all for sticking with me this far. Even those who are silent readers, every time I see the number of reads rise, I feel incredible elation. Thanks again to all of you. Enjoy!

Song of the Chapter: Frozen ~ Within Temptation

One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."

-Joan of Arc

The little Midgard tavern was full of men and women of questionable dignity. Laughter and chatter filled the air, along with the sound of steins being slammed onto the tables by drunken hands. In the corner of the tavern, cloaked in shadows, sat a stranger no one would approach. Although she was appealing to every eye that was laid upon her, she gave off a dangerous feel to those around her. When a man stared too long, her striking blue eyes would dart up towards them. The empty eyes caused them to shiver at the otherworldly woman, her gaze full of ice and broken glass.

The red-haired woman seemed to have no business in the vicinity. She was obviously not a harlot, but nor was she a barmaid. An untouched glass sat before her, but she ignored it. She spun a strange coin on the table, occasionally stopping it to reverse its rotation. Though her gaze was directed at the coin, it was not what she was seeing.

She saw a world of crystal, quartz, and metal. There were streets paved with smooth platinum, elegantly curling towers that kissed the brilliant blue skies. She saw rolling hills in an impossible shade of green, rivers and lakes of water so clear, the bottoms were perfectly visible. She saw tall, thin beings with iridescent black hair, silver eyes, and blue-black skin. She saw Vanaheim.

Freyja was unsure of what exactly had happened. One moment, she was within ten miles of Vanaheim and the next, there was a blinding flash of color followed by darkness. She had woken up in her ship, which had been hovering about in space, completely disorientated. The engine, which had overloaded at the explosion of energy, took much coaxing on her behalf to get it to work once more. In the small hope that Vanaheim was unaffected, she headed towards her childhood home.

She wished she hadn't.

Vanaheim had been in ruin. Corpses of her people and her enemies littered the ground. Bodies of children, adults, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters covered almost every inch of the streets. Blood ran across the smooth surface of the roads, staining her riding boots as she walked. The buildings which had once flickered and glowed with the light of civilization were now dark and hollow. There was nothing except death and destruction left.

And so she had set up a make-shift burning for the dead. It was the only respect she could pay them, but she felt it was less than they deserved. With the smoke of her people rising towards the heavens, Freyja left Vanaheim for the last time. Despite finding her father's corpse, she could not find Freyr's. She could only assume Thanos had him and would, no doubt, kill him.

And so she had fled to Midgard, where she knew no one would trouble her. It was in that little tavern that she planned to wait out most of the pain. She would stay there before returning to Asgard. The idea of returning to Asgard hurt, as it would remind her of Vanaheim. But she needed the one person left who could sympathize. She needed the man who would hold her close and take the pain he could. She needed Loki.

In retrospect, what she had found in Loki was strange. The very god of mischief, lies and chaos had become something entirely different. Though he still had his silver-tongue and his mischief had never left, he never seemed chaotic to her. She still wore his ring on her finger, a constant reminder of the wrong she had committed that always felt right. Was there a right kind of wrong? She wondered at the idea.

Freyr would most likely tell her yes. The thought of Freyja caused her to wince. She regretted not telling him of her and Loki's romance, as he would have been thrilled at the prospect. He would never know now, and she wished she had been more open with him. She could never fix that.

On top of her grief, she felt something unusual directed towards Asgard. More importantly, the foreign emotion was directed at Odin. It was strong as passion, but distinctively darker. It ate her alive, causing her to grit her teeth in resistance. She couldn't remember the last time she had meditated, and now she wished she had done so. Come to think of it, she had never found the need to meditate with Loki. He calmed her in every way.

Loki. She wondered if he thought her dead. It would be foolish to believe otherwise, she knew. She wondered what he had told Thor, or Sif and the Three, or his children. She closed her eyes at the thought of Hel, Jormungand and Fenrir. They were practically her own children and they had come to love her as they would a mother. She had told them so many things, promised them so much. And she would keep her promises, she told herself. She would return.

She wondered what would become of her when she returned. She had believed that perhaps Renascentia would be fulfilled when she died in Vanaheim. And yet she was still alive, so what did that mean? What did the fates have in mind for her?

She was certain she would die, that much was clear. The question was when? As she thought over the words of the prophecy, they made less and less sense. Did the "green-eyed serpent" refer to the Nidhogg? She shook her head to herself, knowing the Nidhogg could not rule a kingdom, let alone share one as was foretold. And the All-Father's pride…surely that was Asgard? But she was lost at the last half. It was stated, pure and simple, that she would die. And yet it also mentioned a halfling taking an ivory throne. There must be, logically, two halflings. Right?

With a sigh of defeat, Freyja decided to simply wait and see how her life would play out. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't realize the barmaid had approached her until the woman spoke in Norse, the language of the area.

"Miss?"

Freyja looked up, softening her gaze slightly, "Yes?"

"The ale you ordered was one of our finest. My father makes it himself and often times, men come here and do not pay their debt. I do not imply that you would cheat us, but it is a new requirement to pay beforehand."

She looked down at the coin in her hand, knowing it was not enough. Checking her pockets, she realized she had left all of her money in her ship which was safely hidden deep in the woods.

"I am afraid I do not have a sufficient amount with me. However, if you allow me to take a small journey out, I can assure you I will return with your payment."

The girl shook her head, "I cannot take the risk that you might not return. Perhaps one of your rings will suffice."

"I will not forfeit my rings, as they have sacred meanings."

"Are you a priestess?"

"No," she answered, knowing the confusion was caused the priestess who followed her, as they wore rings as well.

"Well, I am afraid I cannot allow you to depart."

Sighing, she quickly thought of different ways to assure the mortal of her return. She would not use the fact that she was a goddess, as she did not want the attention. Not to mention the fact that she didn't enjoy gloating.

"If I leave something here with you while I obtain my pay, will you be satisfied?"

"I suppose it depends upon what you leave here."

With a glance out the window, she realized it had begun to snow.

"The winter night is cold. If I leave my coat, I will not be able to journey far from here. Will that suffice?"

Luckily for her, she had left her falcon cloak in the ship and now wore a black velvet coat embroidered with silver around the edges. The mortal girl nodded, and took the coat carefully as Freyja shrugged it off. She had no qualms with leaving the coat there, as it meant little to her. Despite this, she would return with her payment. She had no wants to cheat mortals out of what they deserved.

Walking out the door, she shivered as the harsh winter winds assaulted her. Without the coat, Freyja had nothing to keep the cold from blowing straight through her leather tunic and trousers. Trudging across the hard ground, she made her way towards the forest. She felt the odd sensation that something was amiss, but she shrugged it off.

Walking through the concealment spells she had placed on her ship, she opened the windshield and rummaged through her belongings in search of her coin pouch. She hadn't actually intended to bring it to Vanaheim, but she had found it in the ship anyway. Taking out a few more silvers, she pushed back her grief as she saw Njord's face imprinted on one. She had decided to repress her emotions for the time being, knowing her grief could cloud her judgment.

Walking back, she thought she felt an unnatural static in the air. She knew she must have been imagining things, as there were only a few sorcerers on Midgard and none of them would blatantly flaunt their abilities. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoke, wondering what the cooks had burnt that could smell so foul. As she reached the tree line, she heard screams.

Eyes wide, she ran the remainder of the way to the tavern before stopping dead. The entire place was engulfed in black flames. Rushing towards the door, she attempted to open it without burning herself. The door wouldn't budge, and she burnt a hole through it with magic. A few people flooded out in a panicked disarray as Freyja made for the horse in the stables nearby. The horses were whinnying nervously, kicking and rearing at the approaching flames.

As she opened their stalls, they fled in fear, not stopping in their race to escape the fire. Knowing there were still people within the tavern, Freyja raced back to the building. She was three feet away from the door when the place exploded. She cried out in pain and the force and flames threw her backwards. Her head hit a tree as she fell, causing her to see spots.

Sitting up painfully, she realized she had burns on her arms. Ignoring the pain from her body, she stared into the clearing smoke. Within the torrent of ash, just barely visible, was a familiar tall figure. She could hear his cold laughter, feel his fear-inducing aura. Thanos.

Scrambling to her feet, she ran into the woods towards her ship. She frantically hopped in, starting the engine and causing it to rise too fast. If Thanos captured her, she would not be able to stop him from taking what he wanted. As her ship broke through the trees and ascended towards the heavens, Freyja quickly began to work out what to do.

She could not return to Asgard. If she did, she would bring Thanos to her friends and family. He was not aware of how deep her connection with the Æsir ran, she knew, and so he would not travel there so long as she stayed away. She could not endanger the Midgardians, either, as they had no defense against the Titan. That left her with Jotunheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim, the ruins of Svartalfheim, and the more remote areas of Alfheim.

With a pang of guilt, she realized she was uncertain how long Thanos would chase her. This made it impossible to tell when she could return to Asgard. She could not see Loki again, and she could not keep any of her promises.

How much would she have to sacrifice to keep those she loved safe? She could not save her brother or father, but she would not allow harm to come to Asgard. Her only remaining family consisted of Thor, Loki, Sif, the Three, Frigga, and Loki's children. And yet she was forced to stay away from them. Why was she the one to sacrifice her freedom, happiness, and life to protect the Realms?

With a sigh, she gazed out at the stars in the direction of Asgard, unaware that Loki was doing the same.

"Forgive me, Loki. I cannot return to you. I hope you can understand my choices and forgive me when this ends. I will not be home again."

And with that, she began her race against Thanos that would last for a millennia and a century. She stayed away from people whenever she could, not wanting to bring destruction upon the strangers she met. When her resolve wavering, causing the loss of an entire dwarven town, she branded the marks of the lost lives onto her skin to remind herself of why she ran.

As the years passed, the marks slowly made their way across her right shoulder. In time, she found that Thanos did not follow her to Midgard, for reasons she could only guess. And when she was shot out of the sky by the humans, she did not expect to see an old friend, much less her own lover. And when she took Thanos's life in repayment for those he had stolen, she thought Renascentia was upon her once more.

But, once more, she was wrong. Though she knew, deep down, that her blood would demanded in the future, it mattered little to her. It matter little for she was Asgard-bound and would reunite with the remains of her family. She would return to her lover in Asgard, where she would attempt to soothe his wounds, both the ones created in her absence and by her absence. And she would be content with her life once more.

For the remainder of eternity, until Renascentia itself tore her away from him.

And here, as promised, is the teaser/excerpt of HeartFrost, the third and final installment of the Renascentia Trilogy. No, I cannot give any background information without revealing major spoilers. Sorry.

Once Loki had left the room, Freyja took hold of Thor's arm to keep him there. His blue eyes met hers at the contact. He seemed to be perfectly calm, but she knew it was a façade. She could see the anxiety in his eyes, both for what she had done and what they were about to do.

"Might I have a word?"

He glanced at the door, "Should we not-"

"It is of great importance."

He nodded, turning to face her fully as she let go of his arm. Glancing out the door to make sure Loki was too far to overhear, she pulled out the Kris dagger she had kept, the same one Loki asked her about in New York before she left. She placed it in Thor's hands, careful not to let the blade touch his or her skin.

"What is this?" he asked, confused at her actions.

"Thor, the Tesseract is one of the largest sources of negative energy in the Realms. It has been able to corrupt every being that has attempted to harness it. There is a high possibility that I will not be able to control it for long."

"And yet you still went through with this? Why did you not inform us?"

"Loki would have never allowed me to do this if I stated my doubt of my capabilities. There was no other way."

"What does this," he raised the dagger, "have to do with what you are saying?"

She sighed, "If I lose control, there will be nothing to stop me from destroying the Realms myself. I cannot ask Loki to do this, as he would never agree."

"Freyja," he warned, not liking where the conversation was going.

"If I lose control," she wrapped his fingers around the knife, keeping her voice steady. "Drive this through my heart and do not stop until the light leaves my eyes."

She could see the shock on his face, "I will not take your life.

"I'm asking you, as King of Asgard, to make a choice. Will you sacrifice my life, or the lives of your people?"

He was silent, internally conflicted at the two ideas. At the back of his mind, he could hear the Other's taunts at Freyja. You cannot stop this. This was set into motion before you were brought into these Realms. The only question is, just how far will you go to protect your family? Looking into her eyes, which were glowing from the Tesseract, he realized what the answer was.

"Thor, I trust you to make the right decision. You are a good man, and I know you will make a great king."

She let go of his hand and walked to the door before glancing back at him, "If I lose control, tell Loki I am sorry. He will understand eventually."

And with that, she left the room, leaving Thor to stare at the dagger gripped in his hand.