Chapter 29 – Exploration and Explanation

"I never thought of that. I assume they forage. On Asgard, the spiders hunted deer, small creatures like our rabbits and mice, as well as birds. I've read enough of the Harry Potter books to know what an awful time you and Ron had during your first visit to the Aragog cave. Hagrid innocently walked you, fully trusting him, into a deadly trap. He failed to think how the spiders would react to two unknown students in their cave, without Hagrid. I think you and Ron have done very well in setting your fears aside and beginning to trust the spiders. You've made considerable progress. They are fellow members of the Covenant, so you need to keep working on getting the past truly behind you."

"May I intrude?"

"Yes, it's fine for her to come in," Harry softly messaged me in our formerly secret whisper mode.

I observed that Aagog both heard this thought and took it as mutual permission. She was already entering the room, when I thought back "of course you may," to her.

"My brother and sisters know that they make mistakes with Harry Potter and Ron. They are very sorry. They now see you as friends and not harm you. We eat larger insects, birds, and rabbits from the Forbidden Forest. Bigger spiders travel beyond Forbidden Forest to hunt deer and big birds. It is big effort. We make big mistake in supporting Voldemort. Hagrid tell us he be bad. We were tricked. Dementors also were tricked. We worry about price Dementors must pay for that trickery and old loyalty to Slytherin. They not even like Slytherin. He force them to obey. You can trust spiders. I sleep on your bed many nights and not harm you."

"I know," Harry conceded. "I know that my thinking is driven by old fears. I really like and trust you; I accept you as Ginny's friend. At gut level, I see you as different from the big spiders. I admit that I also really like Baalak. Maybe it's because she's a spider from another world and I don't link her with my first experience in your cave. That was more frightening to the very young me, than were my encounters with Voldemort."

"I know just little part of story. Please tell me all that you remember."

Harry told the tale in surprisingly detail. Even retelling this story from years ago, the fear slipped into his voice. I didn't detect a loathing of the spiders, but the old fear was still very real. Harry was incredibly lucky to be alive. How could Dad's old Muggle car have been so smart and capable of saving Harry and Ron. I thought my brother and husband incredibly brave to be as accepting and calm around the spiders as they were.

"Thank you. Aagog understand much better now. Yes, you are very brave. Yes, you try very hard to be fair and kind to spiders and not be fear person. We must all work together to be friends. I am becoming bigger spider. In a few years I be much bigger and have my own little spider child. I hope that you still trust me, and we still be friends."

"We will be," I promised Aagog.

After Aagog left us, Harry and I were so much on the same page, argument fully behind us, that we each felt a romp was called for. Glorious. I slept well and Odin waited until our daybreak to message me.

We must talk in person. I have many things I must tell you. Can your Quest team come to Asgard today?

"No. I gave them a week of badly needed vacation. A few of us could come, but we can't stay long."

I don't wish to impose, but I must see you today. I will be in your pyramid at your noon. I hope that is satisfactory. It is what must be, so I offer no apology.

I messaged Hermione at once. She was listening to the message as I reached her. "The four of us must meet. Breakfast at my house in an hour."

I gave Harry another half hour of sleep as I said good morning to Aagog and took a leisurely bath, using my wand to make the water as hot as I could stand.

"What is great excitement?" Aagog asked me, after I awakened Harry.

I said only "Odin comes at noon." That was enough for Aagog to recognise the significance. I grabbed a pile of minced meat from the icebox and presented it to her on a plate. She wolfed it down.

Aagog asked if she could join us for the meeting with Hermione and Ron. While I thought, Harry told her that she was welcome to join us.

"Do you think he wants to push up the schedule for releasing Vili?" Ron asked. I told him that, as far as I knew, this was not a scheduled event and that I very much hoped that it remained unscheduled.

"It must be some sort of serious trouble," Harry was as worried as Ron was.

We discussed whether it made sense for Odin to meet with the ICW and offer a visit to Asgard and, perhaps, Vanaheimer. Harry thought this an excellent idea and wanted to fetch Tony.

"Not until we hear what Odin has to say! But other than that, it is a good idea. I want just the four, five, of us to be the first to hear Odin and be able to decide what to do next, with none of our options precluded by Tony's advance knowledge. He pushes very hard for what he wants.

"Speaking of which, we need to talk about all of the magical and non-magical males who demand to visit seid-space," Hermione looked straight at Harry, letting him know he was included in that group. "Have you considered what a catastrophe it would be if Tony or you died there. Governments in turmoil, very difficult explanations to be made - that's a huge risk. For what? Males have a very difficult time doing seid. Non-magical males have no chance at all. I like Tony, but it horrifies me to be responsible for Tony as he blunders his way through seid-space. What would we do if he decided to step off the ribbon? I have no idea whether he could get back on, even with our help. We've never tested that with a non-magical male, so let's just go right ahead and experiment with the Prime Minister. Because he wants to adventure? Not nearly good enough. We have no idea what mischief Frijjo was up to. There could be very devious traps that we are unable to detect before it's too late. It will be more dangerous for everyone if we must protect you and Tony. Really, I worry less about taking Professor Sturluson. Somehow, he seems more… expendable."

Harry was obviously taken aback. "I don't want to make you and Ginny less safe. We don't have to go on the first, or even the second trip to seid-space. We certainly don't need to go to the way-back-in-time area of seid-space, where Frijjo is most likely to have laid her traps."

"Fine."

"Fine."

This was clearly the least fine 'fine' I had experienced in months. I shared Hermione's reluctance to be a tour guide but wished she had been gentler with Harry. We finished breakfast in silence. When I finished eating, I felt the pressure to break the silence.

"We need to return to way-back-in-time Yggdrasil. It should be safe to bring Captain Davies and Boldgog home. Barb and Cissy also are stranded with them. We need to decide how many we must bring with us, to be safe."

Apart from "of course Baalak will come with us' this led to a long and inconclusive discussion.

We were inside the pyramid well ahead of Odin's arrival, so that we could chat with and encourage the pyramid defenders. Guarding the pyramid could be a boring, uncomfortable, and nearly thankless duty... so we made sure to thank the guards. Hermione brought a big basket of home-baked muffins. Ellie was a part of the guard, for some unknown-to-me reason. Odin arrived, with just his ravens, and we immediately spirited him away to Harry's office. Harry dropped one of his personal aurors into the pyramid guard shift and asked Ellie to come with us. We also brought Baalak and Aagog.

"An interesting group," Odin commented, as we arranged ourselves in the conference room. "Seeing Baalak, I guess you will be making a quick trip back to ancient Yggdrasil. It is fine that Baalak is here. The spiders are part of what I want to talk about. I have confirmed that Spider World exists and has a population of almost ten thousand spiders. I also know that there is an alternate 'Aesir-saved-from-the-great-fire' Asgard world. So, two more worlds in my realm inhabited by intelligent beings. Isn't that wonderful? That means the seid-changes we made in our trip back in time had an effect. I did a little on my own to provide that path to alternate Asgard. There are now almost twenty thousand Aesir living upon that world. I want to bring them back to Asgard but thought I should speak to you first."

"That's a bad idea," Hermione replied. "So many things can go wrong on a world housing an advanced society. Better to have a spare world up and running. I do think you need to do what we did with the Centaurs - bring some of the otherworld Aesir to your world to expand the gene pool and reduce your in-breeding. You and they have a lot in common and can learn from each other. It should be very interesting and helpful to know where the path chosen by those old Aesir differs from the Asgard path. Of course, having visited them, you know that and can tell us."

"I take your point. No, I haven't visited, although I want to. I want you to come with me. Yggdrasil told me yesterday. Remember I had said we should keep any Aesir we saved elsewhere for a year into the future. Yggdrasil got the time a little wrong, or perhaps got it right and decided I need the rest of that year to prepare to deal with the descendants of those we saved. It's a great responsibility. Here is the interesting part: the new world of the ancient Aesir has a Black Stone. It is a habitable world, upon which the Light Guardian, or an even older God, seeded a Black Stone, a Stone to lie in waiting until it was required. Even Yggdrasil did not know that this Black Stone existed. I don't even know how that is possible. Those ancient Aesir are in communication with their new Black Stone. They have been for thousands of your years. I haven't been this excited in a very long time."

"That is quite astonishing news," I agreed.

"But wait... there's more. Most of the Aesir on Asgard who were unable to perform magic are now magical. I think that must be due to the Unicorn herd."

"And the spiders," Baalak spoke for the first time.

"Of course!" Hermione shouted. "It's the natural magical eco-system. Just like we've been told by the Light Guardian that the survival of all our magical communities is required for the health of magic, the same must be true for Asgard and the other inhabited worlds. Your world formerly held spiders. The great fire eliminated them. The return of both the Unicorns and the Acromantula should have been expected to improve magic. They were the missing pieces, during the time of Asgard's dwindling. Asgard is a magical world returned to health. We must research if there were Acromantula on Vanaheimer. Apart from the Unicorns, which have been re-established, what other magical peoples formerly existed there. Did they have Goblins?"

"That was a very long time ago. They may well have had Goblins. We should be on our way if we are to travel back in time. I'll tell you Vili's prophecy during our journey.

Harry quickly jumped in to ask Odin about addressing the ICW, probably in two days' time. He also asked about tours for leaders of the other thinking communities of Terra to Asgard and any other worlds which were feasible.

"Fine, we shall return in time for that."

We were on our way, taking Ellie with us. I wanted her to see seid-space and the very distant past.

I apparated us to the pyramid-between-worlds; we walked out the portal onto Asgard, and Yggdrasil sucked us into its belly.

As we sat in the library, Odin told the story of Vili's prophecy. "Vili had this prophecy as a waking dream, while sitting in my command chair inside Valaskjalf. He swears that he was completely sober and fully rested. He seemed surrounded by a glowing haze, then saw in my viewing mirror an image of himself holding a young male child. When the mother spoke to her child, the language was English, but mother, child, and Vili were in the throne room within Valaskjalf. Vili sat upon my throne. Vili swears that a voice within his head declared 'this child shall be the greatest Aesir. He shall mold worlds. He shall save all the Aesir. Not demi-God, or minor God, but full-God to rival the ancient Gods of Aesir. His mother will travel to Valaskjalf on Quest. You must guarantee that she leaves with your child. The future of all the Aesir lies in your hands, and other parts.' That's it. I tested my brother for truthfulness and am convinced that he did not lie. That isn't to say he wasn't half mad and simply hearing voices of his own creation. He believes. He almost makes me believe."

"That's quite a story. I doubt it is enough to persuade Adrienne to surrender her son. My people and I remain committed to do whatever are necessary to defend mother and child."

"I didn't expect that you would say otherwise. I will not force the issue and I am inclined to keep Vili in his cell. A prophecy must unroll of its own volition. That is how a true prophecy is separated from the many false ones. Technically, and this is very important, Vili's vision is not part of the prophecy. Only the words count. They are subject to a range of interpretation. They must work their own magic. I can see Adrienne's son fulfilling his prophecy and being reared on Terra. Actually, that's how I interpret the exact words of prophecy 'You must guarantee that she leaves with your child.' Those words don't say that Adrienne and her child must be kept on Asgard. My brother foolishly bent the words of his own prophecy, because he is besotted with the lovely Adrienne. Such foolishness is a big reason why he must remain in his cell. He no longer thinks clearly. He desires Adrienne, but he has only caused her to fear and hate him. Now, shall we ask Yggdrasil to send us on our way?"

Yggdrasil reminded me what I must ask the very young Yggdrasil, wished us luck, and whisked us to the path which led from the God-ribbon to ancient Yggdrasil.