A/N: A portion of this chapter has been inspired by Supernatural Season 7 Episode 10
Chapter 48 – Victory through defeat
It was truly like the old days, thought Balthazar as he stood back to back with his commanding officer – Tarre. They were both fighting a small group of Frost Giants, while being watched by Laufey, Nihilus and Sakazuki.
Tarre twirled the mighty hammer with such ferocity, electricity emanating from it and whacked, blasted at every enemy. Pushing the frost giants back, Balthazar did his best, well as best as a young angel could. Knowing that they had failed their mission, the two could now stall the enemy and hope that those who had been rescued would live to fight another day.
Laufey laughed at the display before him, "You are no Thor.", As he raised his hand to direct more giants towards them, they all stopped, hearing a very familiar, a very inspiring and fear inducing battle cry. Laufey's eyes widened in shock, as did Sakazuki's but Nihilus merely cackled like a madman. Tarre and Balthazar smiled at hearing this, with Tarre hurtling a lightning blast at Nihilus, throwing him so far into the air and disorienting him. A man landed in front of the two, unfurling two pairs of feathery wings and surrounded by a deep ringing noise. The two young Aesir recognized him as Prince Kuzan, a former admiral in the Asgardian Navy and the God of Winter.
"It is over Laufey, the angels and warriors of Asgard are here. It would be wise to surrender.", Kuzan spoke. Behind them was the recently arrived army of Asgard, the Mandalorian warriors who were being held prisoners, the rescue team, Bo Katan Kryze and the statue of Tarre Viszla.
Laufey merely laughed at this, "In the old days, it took Odin to break my spirit. Now his little brat thinks to challenge me. You know our answer, little godling." With this both the armies charged at each other.
With the battle raging all around them, Nihilus tried to make his escape, but was being pursued by Tarre Viszla.
Nihilus placed his feet against a vertical cliff and launched red lightning at his opponent, but Tarre blocked the lightning with the hammer and kept up his pursuit, destroying the cliff that Nihilus was on. This game of chase continued for a while, with Nihilus trying to absorb the life force of the planet, only to find it was being blocked by Tarre.
"In the end, cowards are those who use the dark side.", Tarre's hoarse voice came. He threw Mjolnir at him, but Nihilus dodged and kept moving. Tarre now unleashed a storm, and Nihilus barely made outside it. He of all people knew how relentless Tarre Viszla is and thus played his most desperate card – a teleportation spell.
"She loved gar, gar kar'taylir. Sa solus loves val adiik. Gar rucuyir an ibac she Ru'lis not cuyir. (She loved you, you know. As one loves their child. You were all that she could not be.)", Nihilus spoke to Tarre in Mando'a. This only infuriated Tarre, who charged towards Nihilus with no thought and didn't notice the elation in his opponent.
Back in Fenrir's mind, Hera and Kanan saw the memory of Fenrir holding the dead woman in his arms, now crying silently. His rage now transformed into grief.
"You have to keep moving", Bor's voice came through to them. Hera was rooted on the spot, unaware of what Bor had said. Kanan held he hand tightly and turned her to look at him, "Let's get going.", Hera then started to protest and pointed towards Fenrir, but Kanan shook his head and said, "We can't do anything here. This is a memory Hera. We have to find Fenrir." Hera then looked back at the scene one last time, before aiding Kanan in finding a door. As they located one, Bor's voice came through to them, "You are getting closer."
As they opened the door, there was another white light. Once it diminished, they saw the disaster on Naboo, Fenrir on his back with a broken rib. In front of them they saw the demon Samhain holding Tarre's severed head in his hand, and taunting the Aesir on the planet. Both Kanan and Hera gasped at this scene.
"This can't be real.", Hera spoke, turning towards Kanan. But he was so shocked that he didn't even hear her. Kanan took a deep breath, steadied himself and turned towards Hera, unsure of what to say. "Bor, is this real?", Hera asked.
"I don't know what you are seeing. But if you are referring to the disaster on Naboo, then yes, it is real.", Bor's voice came to them, "I know you have questions, which I will answer to the best of my abilities later. For now, you must press on, Fenrir is nearby."
With that the two of them started searching for a door nearby, deliberately paying no attention to the contents of the memory. After finding a door, they opened it and were engulfed by a white light. Once the light went away, they were both his by a terrible smell, one which reminded Hera and Kanan of the days when the latter drank heavily. In the new room they saw Fenrir and Issho and a third person, who was being hidden by Issho. The two moved to get a better view and saw Thor. But this was not the Thor they knew, this one was wearing a loose robe, fat, his hair long and unkempt and a drink in his hand.
"Are you alright brother?", Issho asked.
"I am. Why wouldn't I be?", Thor slurred.
"No offence uncle, but you look like molten ice cream.", Fenrir said.
Hera didn't want to look at this anymore, so she pulled Kanan apart and the two started to search for a door. All her life, she had held her father to a certain standard, something that was now unravelled right in front of her eyes.
"You're angry at him", Kanan said as they searched for the door. Hera didn't reply but only looked for the door.
"I found it. Let's go.", Hera said coldly. Kanan followed her. They found themselves in new surroundings, but his time there was no white light this time. Here they saw a little child in the middle of the dark gloomy room, with the same woman they had seen before screaming at the boy. The boy's arms were over his head, he was crying. "YOU DID THIS TO ME. YOU", the woman screamed.
"You have found him.", came Bor's voice. Realizing what this meant, they approached the little boy, but found their path to be obstructed by the lady, who force pushed them both.
"I'll handle her. Get to him.", Kanan said igniting his lightsabre. Hera followed his instruction as Kanan engaged the woman, whose hands had now changed into claws. Hera approached the little boy and softly said, "Fenrir". The boy then looked up, tears flowing from his eyes, shock registering on his face.
"Fenrir, its me Hera.", Hera spoke gently as Kanan fought the woman in the background, barely able to keep up.
"Hera?", the boy said surprised. His voice was so different from Fenrir, so full of self-doubt. His eyes then widened and he asked, "What are you doing here?"
Hera then quickly explained that Bor had sent her and Kanan inside his mind and told them of his plan. Behind them Kanan yelled as he was thrown into a wall, "Kanan", Hera panicked.
The boy then got on his feet and faced the woman. The woman yelled "YOU DID THIS", at him and Fenrir said, "I am sorry." He then extended his hand and the woman was pushed out of the room. As this happened, the area changed to a vibrant ground. The boy, now reverted back to adult Fenrir walked over to Kanan, helped him up and said, "Sorry."
There was a house near the horizon. Fenrir looked at it and said, "You probably have questions."
"Yeah… you don't have to answer them Fenrir.", Hera said quickly with Kanan briefly nodding behind her.
He then walked towards the house, followed by Hera and Kanan. As they stepped inside the house, Fenrir took the stairs to the upper floor and opened a door. Following this, there was a bright light. Once it faded, they found themselves inside the master bedroom, with colours so vibrant that Sabine would call it a master work of art. Outside it was raining and night had fallen. They heard something breaking, and saw pieces of glass on the hardwood floor. Standing near the broken pieces was the woman who had thrown Kanan into a wall. This time she looked absolutely normal, no knife wounds, no claws for hands, but very beautiful. Hera and Kanan said nothing.
"I don't believe you.", the woman said, "I don't understand. You are a good man, you would be a great dad.", her eyes tearing up. Hera and Kanan felt like they were intruding on a very private moment, as they started to leave, Fenrir told them to stay.
Fenrir looked at her, knowing what was about to happen, his eyes full of regret. "You break everything you touch?", the woman said venomously, "What does that even mean?", she then turned and accidently stepped on a broken piece of glass, yelling in pain as the broken piece now embedded itself in her foot and caused it to bleed. Fenrir started to move towards her, but the woman yelled, "Stay away from me.", stopping him in his path. As she sat on the bed she pointed at Fenrir, "You broke my heart Fenrir, you happy." She then put her head on the pillow and started crying.
"Three days. She died after three days.", Fenrir spoke looking at the weeping woman.
"Who was she?", Hera asked.
"Karen. My wife.", Fenrir answered. He then turned towards the two, "Biggest regret of my life. If I had known, I would have said anything. We never got past this." He then opened the door and left. Kanan and Hera followed him after a while.
Many hours had passed, but now the battle was over. The frost giants had been driven from Mandalore and many had died – Angel, Asgardian, Frost Giant, Mandalorian. The reinforcements from Asgard were currently helping the Mandalorians find and treat the injured, in the rubble caused by the battle. Prince Kuzan and the angel flanking him – Castiel were scouring the planet and found Tarre, buried deep in the rubble with no sign of Nihilus. Kuzan pulled him out and removed his helmet, seeing his face shocked Kuzan. Where there were supposed to be eyes were now nothing but empty sockets covered by eyelids and blood coming freely from them. He also saw the bleeding bandage on Tarre's neck. He then placed the helmet back on and saw a deep wound in his side, puncturing a lung. Quickly Kuzan placed two fingers on his open wound and closed it, simultaneously closing his neck wound. He then snapped his fingers and the blood on Tarre's face, neck and armour cleared immediately. As a last act Kuzan restored Tarre's armour back to the way it was.
"Tarre, what sort of madness possessed you to gouge out your eyes? Are you trying to be like Issho?", Kuzan spoke in a low voice as they all sensed Ahsoka and Zeb behind them.
"How did you know it was me?", Tarre asked slowly and in a hoarse voice.
"I have been around for as long as Thor. I know a thing or two about eye gouging.", Kuzan spoke.
By then Ahsoka and Zeb had reached their position. Kuzan helped Tarre up and said, "We'll talk later." He then dragged Castiel with him. Ahsoka put her hands underneath Tarre and slung his normal arm over her shoulder, helping him walk.
"Did you get him?", Zeb asked Tarre.
"No.", Tarre replied slowly and hoarsely.
"That was some stunt you pulled back there, bringing the statue.", Zeb said.
Tarre laughed a little, winced and said, "Thanks." In the same way as before.
"Zeb, why don't you ahead and help the others. I've got him.", Ahsoka said. Zeb nodded and moved onwards.
"Sorry for the trouble.", Tarre said after a while softly and slowly. Ahsoka merely scoffed at this. She then stopped and lowered Tarre on the ground. She brought out a medical scanner and was about to activate it when Tarre stopped her. "I need to check you for any injuries or wounds.", she said.
"The angel already did that. I don't have any wounds.", Tarre spoke softly and slowly.
"Well then you wouldn't mind if I check as well.", Ahsoka said activating the scanner, while trying to remove his helmet. He stopped her again. "Stop being so difficult.", Ahsoka snapped. She then used the force to remove his helmet and saw his face. She gasped and Tarre pulled the helmet back on.
"Who did this?", she asked angrily.
Tarre did not answer.
"Was it that masked man, was it Nihilus?", she asked again.
"Tarre.", her voice now dangerous.
"It was me.", Tarre answered. Ahsoka then slapped his helmet, making him wince, "Why?", she asked again with more anger than before.
"The statue.", Tarre answered.