- Prologue -
The resplendent ebb and flow of time wound lazily around the great floating isle of Urdarbrunnr in all its incandescent glory. Like a hallowed rose sleepily unfolding, it revealed not its pollen but instead a great temple. The Grand Temple of Urdarbrunnr stood as an island in the endless pink tides of time; within yet outside of the bounds of time. From this inviolable stone temple did its beautiful and fierce denizens see through the eyes of time. They had seen the good, the just, the bad and the unashamedly evil. After so long spent gazing into endlessness without withering before it these women eternal, this army of Norn, thought themselves detached from any outside of their temple. Only a few still remembered the loved ones they left behind in time. Only one was uncomfortable in letting go of that love.
Within her chamber in the Grand Temple Skuld sat cross-legged on the plush carpet. Her hands rested on her knees as she sat before her fireplace. Without another light the warm light from the fire lit the room in gentle tones. Shadows flickered here and there over the armchairs that sat behind her. The light crawled back over the cold stone bricks of the floor, windowless walls, and ceiling to gently touch at the small, seldom used bed pushed up against the wall. It touched at the little table by the bed and the bookshelf next to it. Many of the little trinkets on the top shelf sparkled in the light. It was only the small and faded child's doll, covered in crusty brown stains, which didn't sparkle. The warm light flickered across the mantle of the fireplace to light the portrait above it. It also touched the portrait by the door to the small chamber. The warmth of the fire filled the chamber. It pushed back the cold permeating the temple grounds of Urdarbrunnr.
There were many things Skuld learned to give up when she moved to the temple grounds millions of years ago. Light, weather, the normal sound of her own voice and the warmth of life. It was the warmth she missed most. There was no warmth to be found outside the bounds of time where the temple existed. The currents of time flowed around the rock it stood upon, never to touch the temple grounds themselves. Her chamber was set alongside her sisters' chambers. She chose not to involve them in what she was doing. Urd and Verthandi already told her to let the matter drop. None of the lesser Norns she commanded would even speak with her on it. They weren't family. They were only cowardly for being more concerned with risking the Matron's wrath than aiding her.
"It is branded upon the cycle of time, there is nothing we can do," Urd told her.
"It is a matter of their past, and not our concern," Verthandi told her.
They were both wrong, Skuld knew it. They were both cowards and traitors to their own blood kin. She looked up at the portrait that hung above the large fireplace. It was a portrait of her with her grandnieces and grandnephews. A warm smile touched her lips. She stood at the back of the group, surrounded by the children. Beautiful little faces smiled at her even now. Sometimes she could still feel the silken smoothness of their beautiful red hair as she plaited it back for the portrait. They were so young when it was done. It was hard to get them all to sit still. Bitterness bled into her smile as she thought about how they died. The grief of finding their torn bodies still ate at her. It was the darkness of the Inquiry to Enlightenment that took them from her. There was no warning of the act to foresee. It all happened so suddenly and violently that the act branded itself upon the cycle of time. The cycle completed with their deaths and the Inquiries turned with the cycle, branded forever on it. Skuld couldn't undo the branding, and so undo the act.
She looked to the portrait that hung near the door to her chambers. Those were her other grandnephews and grandnieces. Another warm smile touched her lips as she looked on them. Each had sharp blue eyes that were so familiar. They were so sweet, so gentle. More bitterness bled into her smile. They too died violently in the second Inquiry. With the act branded on the cycles of time, there was again no warning from the golden city. Some days she could still see their blood thrown carelessly about the throne room she found them in. She loved them all and mourned for them still. Skuld mourned because she refused to swirl back through the currents of time to visit them again. It was too painful knowing what violence was coming to them that she couldn't stop. They were her family, her blood kin. She would've done anything for them, but even she couldn't change the nature of time, not even for her family. It was a family the golden city took from her. They owed her now.
Endless searches were undertaken to find the best way to collect the golden city's debt for endless years. All her searches and attempts ended in failure. In what was the bitterest turn, it was Skuld's Elder Sister who was thwarting her. The wretched golden city belonged to her Elder Sister and her frightening King. Her Elder Sister refused to allow her to blacken the gold with fire. To achieve that, something else was needed. There was only one thing capable of blackening the golden city: the Inquiry to Enlightenment itself. It wasn't a solution she could create herself though. Patience, puppets, and observation were required.
To be ready to move when the time was right she would need to know when the time would be right to move. Instead of looking for direct warning of the act within the city itself, Skuld simply waited for the branding upon the cycles of time to tell her when a new Inquiry to Enlightenment would come. The branding would appear a few years before the act would occur. Peering through the currents of time wouldn't show her the branding. She had to wait for it to reveal itself. Merely being a member of Norn's Army taught her the patience she needed. Since she understood the branding, all that was left were the puppets.
Wrath and regret found their way into her bitterness. She'd thought the time right to move. She even thought she had the most perfect puppet for her vengeance. Her Elder Sister's well-trained little-sweet was an implement of freakishly immense power. He would open the door for one of the darkest foes the Nine Realms had ever known. This enemy would trigger the Inquiry to Enlightenment. If the wretched golden city wanted the Inquiries, with their pain and blood and fire, then Skuld would give them their precious Inquiry then laugh as they choked on it. It would be even sweeter that she wouldn't have to lift a finger to make it happen.
The Matron had forced her to this. It was going to be difficult to keep the smugness out of her smile when she explained to her Elder Sister how it was her, and not her Elder Sister, who obtained justice for their murdered family. Little-sweet and the three counselor puppets would do all the work for her. When the cycles turned, and the branding appeared again, she sent forth little-sweet. Skuld was utterly disappointed when little-sweet betrayed her. It was as disappointing as her Elder Sister's protection of the wretched golden city, with its even more wretched inhabitants, in her search for justice.
Her lips twisted into another bitter frown. The little wretch prevented the Inquiry to Enlightenment but provided enough violent chaos to satisfy the branding. By doing so he caused the cycle to turn right past the branding. The Inquiry was done. Skuld would have to wait for the cycle to turn and the branding to reappear. There was no way to tell how long it would take. She didn't want to wait any longer to collect the debt they owed her. Salvaging the situation was the only option. In her thoughts, she could hear the weeping of her Elder Sister. It was swiftly becoming a roaring rage. Skuld could feel it. Her Elder Sister was going to come for her. She'd taken the little-sweet and used him, broken him unto ruin, yet he lived still.
Her Elder Sister didn't know that little-sweet still lived, Skuld could tell. She knew because she could still feel the tiny pearl of her sjel-seidr that she'd gifted to little-sweet so that he could pretend to be a Norn. Skuld snorted softly in disgust. It was a thought she kept for herself, so that her Elder Sister didn't hear her. It was there none the less. Did you truly believe that I didn't see your intentions, sister? You would adopt your little-sweet so that he would have a place at the temple grounds? As if his other face makes him one of us. Her expression hardened then. You would defile the temple grounds just to keep your pet, while doing nothing to bring justice to our family! It was a despicable task, gifting him with her sjel-seidr, but she'd thought it worth it to enable him to wreak her vengeance. She could feel the barest life essence flickering through that pearl and was glad then that she gifted him with it. Skuld was going to use him again. She only needed to find a way to force him into it. He was going to collect her debt, whether he knew it or not. His disobedience would be tolerated as well as waiting longer for justice would be.
Skuld took a deep breath and commanded her magenta sjel-seidr to extend from her seidr core into the currents of time. She almost laughed. Her Elder Sister's roaring was growing louder, she didn't have much time left to act. Her thoughts merged smoothly into the magenta sjel-seidr flowing from her, something any mage could do. It was only House Norn who'd flawlessly extended their entire being into their sjel-seidr. It was only House Norn who was able to extend this privilege to those who served their army on its long march. House Norn was always so much better than every other Noble House in her opinion. A sharp smile crossed her lips. That it was her Noble House who brought low her parents' murderers always brought a smile to her face. In all her long years that joy had never faded. House Songrblom was the worst of the worst. They deserved to fall and was scattered like hayseeds to the wind. The Matron always said that every person in every moment was able to teach a lesson. Skuld did learn two lessons from House Songrblom. They were lessons she lived her life by.
Firstly, there could never be 'too far' to go when seeking justice for family.
Second and most importantly, justice always comes soaked in blood.
As her mind flowed out along her sjel-seidr to touch at the currents of time flowing around Midgard, Skuld smiled. She opened herself to their whispers, so she might learn what all little-sweet did there. Skuld wanted to know what he was doing at this time. Try as she might there was nothing to hear from little-sweet himself. There was something blocking the whispers of him. It didn't matter much. What she did find was so much more than she could ever have imagined. The white-blue influence of a Great Work covered the entire realm. Midgard was a sparkling diamond in the sky. Its sparkling silver fire was even burning along the currents of time somehow. Skuld had seen many Great Works in her life. Accomplishments by the bold of heart that forever changed the whole of the Nine Realms. She'd never seen a Great Work like this one. Her smile gained a wicked edge as she saw behind the Great Work's influence to the muted whispers around it, telling of its own actions. Its whispers showed her that the aftermath of little-sweet's actions had created a unique opportunity. Perhaps she couldn't collect the debt in blood, but she could collect it in unending pain. This puppeteer of a Great Work had shown her how the golden city's own foolish misbegotten Lord could be her puppet. Instead of little-sweet, it would be he who would do the work for her. Her smile widened. Little-sweet unknowingly laid the perfect trap for the worst family of liars in the golden city. Skuld had only to spring that trap, then sit back and revel in the pain it would bring. The misbegotten Lord would do everything for her after that.
She closed herself to the whispers of time before commanding her sjel-seidr back into her core. It flowed like a magenta tide back into her. Skuld stood and looked up at the portraits of her murdered family. "I shall bring you justice, please be patient. I have not forgotten you, I promise," she whispered to them. There was a distinct shame that it'd taken her so long to find justice for their murders. She had hope now of having it. Those sweet children waited long enough. They would wait no longer.
Into the currents of time Skuld stepped. Her sjel-seidr was unleashed as she commanded it to take her to Midgard, to a fortress little-sweet touched. Magenta sjel-seidr whipped up to disintegrate her form back into sjel-seidr before shifting and swirling her into the currents of time. She swirled away from the temple grounds. The universe around her blurred into millions of colors as she swirled through the currents swiftly towards Midgard to arrange everything. As soon as she arrived Skuld stopped instantly. The sjel-seidr was commanded back into her core. The blurring currents were frozen when she stepped out of them. Sjel-seidr instantly reintegrated her form. From the currents of time, she stepped into the shadows. The shadows were ever one of her best friends. They cloaked her against prying eyes and open ears. She couldn't stay long in them. Every moment she stood within the grasp of time she aged. The Norns still did that. Even vastly slowed aging was still aging, so it made every moment of time precious. Sometimes those moments had to be spent to accomplish her goals.
The mortals moved about completely oblivious that they were being watched by Skuld. They looked like little worker ants. So busy. Instead of a Queen, they answered to a King, a descendent of the dvergar. A dark-skinned man with a black eyepatch stood at the helm of a flying mortal fortress. The whispers of the currents of time told her this fortress was one of several, all commanded by a King of Shadows, dressed in solid black. A crown of eyes and shadow floated above his head, though the King was even more oblivious to its invisible presence. Only through the eyes of time could Skuld see it. It was fitting for a King of Shadows to be decked in dark tones and paranoid crown. It was obvious that he'd worn the mantle of Guardian as well. The markings of a Mantle of Time were on him. The mantles, which defined a person's purpose in time, gave the Norns the power to control influential individuals, for there were few who dared go against the unparalleled power of prophecy. Those without mantles were wholly useless, to time and her. Bitterly, it was the Matron of House Norn, her Elder Sister, who first saw the mantles and heard the whispers. It was she who found the power to prophesize, the means to control then so much more after that. It was the Matron who first found the accursed and irrevocable Road Untraveled. Skuld would never forgive her Elder Sister's little-sweet for taking that path. She sneered as she thought of her Elder Sister, then smirked. Her Elder Sister wasn't going to be the one to stop her.
A smirk crossed Skuld's face as she watched the Temporal King before her. The Temporal Kings excited her with their extraordinary abilities. They wielded the power of King with no crown to hold them down. Power without restraint. Skuld always loved the thought of it. She peered into the currents of time swirling around this King. He passed the mantle to his heir, a man far to the north. The new mantled Guardian was dealing with the bastard offspring of the Elder Realms. Skuld giggled a little. It was too bad that this King of Shadows couldn't see into the shadows to see her.
There were machines with terminals all about the room she stood hidden in. Skuld placed a hand on one of the machines that the King's people sat at. They were massive and clumsier versions of the Memory Cube. One of the terminals was open, so she used it. The whispers around the Great Work had shown her how to access the machine. She still seethed a little that she didn't have a faster means to do this. Through the terminal schedules were rearranged to call everyone together. Skuld commanded her sjel-seidr to pass into the machine to leave gentle tethers in the streams of knowledge. They would find their way to the people she needed and pull them to where they were needed. Those wearing the mantles of One Set Aside, The Mad, and the new Faithful Companions would be found and brought. The new Faithful Companions would bring the misbegotten Lord who'd worn the mantle of Betrayer. She briefly considered hunting the vilest Faithful Companion, for it was he who stood guard over little-sweet. By placing his faith in little-sweet, he aided in the betrayal of justice. She swiftly decided that striking at him to cause pain and leaving him alive to endure that pain would be enough punishment. His pain would only serve to heighten the little-sweet's pain. As the vilest Faithful Companion once aided little-sweet, so he would aid her. They and this former Guardian would all be brought to her moment in time. They would all ensure that the full measure of little-sweet's trap was laid, for it was little-sweet who bound them all together.
The white-blue influence of the Great Work threaded through the streams of knowledge. Its sparkling fire tried to chase after her. Skuld deftly avoided its notice as it deftly avoided everyone else's notice. As she turned to leave she stopped. Shock filled her as she looked over the boy at the opposite end of the room. One of the King's servants was looking to her. Since she'd noticed him she could feel the power of his sarammr. The thrum of that ancient weapon was so subtle that she couldn't feel it when she looked away from him. Skuld didn't know how he could have that weapon. Only a few were ever given such power. They were all long dead. It cannot be new; the Matron refuses to allow us to have it. No mortal trash would be good enough. Who are you? That was when she noticed that while he couldn't see her, he was trying. When she peered through the currents of time swirling around the boy she was even more shocked to see him staring back at her from the future. Seidaugu! Skuld couldn't believe her luck. They were supposed to be dead. The longer she stood there the more noticeable the tug on her sjel-seidr from him was. Every moment that she was there was another moment that his body called out to her sjel-seidr. If he gathered enough he would be able to see her anywhere she went. What he could do with her sjel-seidr once he'd plucked it from her frightened even Skuld. If she let it happen then he would be bound to her. She had no use for that, so she peered through the currents one more time to be certain of what she'd found. He had one face dead and reflected in the past. His other face was alive and staring at her from the future.
The whispers showed her that the treasured weapon the Matron thought lost wasn't as lost as it appeared. However, the corruption of Void Sickness was swiftly destroying the last of this treasure. No matter the cost, you do what's right. The clan comes before everything, the currents around him whispered. She smirked as she understood how to move him. There was the barest hint of a man standing behind the young seidaugu. A shadow with bright green-gold eyes. Skuld was certain that it wasn't little-sweet. It was an echo of possibilities and was dismissed as such. There was no man able to ride the currents of time, and so no man worthy to wield the power of House Norn. She went to stand behind this boy, to watch him for a few more moments. The last of the Seidr Magi lived in the Second Era. Their seidaugu saw all. The Satska Soledras were servants to the High King. The filthy Blood Mages did their work well in slaughtering that clan, but she would never have looked for such a powerful weapon on Midgard. They were such a little people, so easily stepped on. They had no strength to worry about.
The false light from the ceiling glinted off his golden-brown hair. It was a mismatched color for his light eyes. His hëlja mask hid his real features well. The false light accentuated how pale his skin was, like the smoothest alabaster stone. His features were both fair and fine. Skuld grinned widely as she saw it. He was wearing the mantle of Keeper Of Secrets. It was a mantle her Elder Sister wore once. Vindictiveness crept into her grin. He would be used as well. She commanded her sjel-seidr to pass into the currents of time swirling around him to form an anchor in time for the tethers she'd created. They would all come to him. He'd draw them like bees to a flower then the anchor would dissipate. Skuld looked over her work and was pleased. The mortals would come, now she had to collect the means to spring the trap, and those whom she would be leading into that trap.
Unleashing her sjel-seidr again Skuld stepped out of the shadows and into the currents of time. It was commanded to swirl her away to the wretched golden city itself. Once again, her form dissipated into sjel-seidr in the currents. Alarm filled her as she swiftly dodged the swing of the Eilifd Framherji. Her Elder Sister whirled with the viciousness of a storm to swing the great scythe again. Skuld swirled her sjel-seidr herself, moving away as fast as she could. Fear flowed cold through her. Her Elder Sister hadn't fully powered the Eilifd Framherji. She didn't mean to kill her Little Sister. She meant to take Skuld alive. Skuld knew exactly what wrath would follow that capture. As talented and experienced in combat as she was, as powerful as her sjel-seidr was, she still had no way to best her Elder Sister in combat, or even to escape once caught. Should her Elder Sister catch her in her endeavors there would be no justice for the murders of their family. It wasn't a thought she could abide.
There was a wretched bitterness in her dealings with her Elder Sister. They were her Elder Sister's grandchildren, yet she refused to collect the debt. She continued to watch over the golden city and refused to bring them justice. Skuld would do it for her. So, she swirled even faster through the ever-blurred currents. She was always faster than her Elder Sister. Unfortunately, what she had in speed she lacked in endurance. The opposite was true of her Elder Sister. The Matron was ever relentless. Only the Matron's High King had the power to stop her. Since Skuld didn't command that power fleeing was her only option. She had to get away swiftly else be caught and punished for breaking little-sweet.
Skuld sneered as she swirled through the currents just a little faster. Her Elder Sister would seek punishment for her use of a tool while doing nothing about the murders of her own grandchildren. It is only power that gives you the position of Matron, not your worth! She kept that thought quietly to herself as well. She was in enough trouble, with no way out yet. Her Elder Sister treated little-sweet as though he were true family. He wasn't blood kin, so little-sweet could never be true family. He was nothing but a freakish tool. Skuld used him as such. There was no guilt to hold for that.
"Run as fast as you please, you shan't escape me!" her Elder Sister roared at her. Skuld worried because she was slowing down. Keeping up such a frantic pace was swiftly tiring her. She couldn't maintain the speed and her Elder Sister was catching up with her. No, I have hope again, and you cannot take it from me, she thought. Just then she saw the flash of little-sweet's emerald on the horizon. The pearl of her sjel-seidr in little-sweet's seidr core told her what ridiculous thing little-sweet just did. Skuld cared not. The jealousy that would normally accompany the gifting of the Learning Spell was absent. Little-sweet would serve her again. That was all that mattered. Her Elder Sister saw the flash and veered off to investigate. It gave her the time she needed. She smiled darkly as she thanked little-sweet for his witless distraction.
Skuld released her tight grip on her sjel-seidr and commanded it to swirl her away to the golden city with a wretched heart. It was home to nothing but murderers, bullies, and liars. They all deserved to be put to the flame. She was going to make sure it happened. She would ensure that they put themselves to the flame. The family of liars who resided there, the liar Lord with his little wench and their misbegotten Lord of a son. She'd watched as they were all bestowed with mantles. Conqueror, Unexpected Lover, and Betrayer. The mantles always fit the people they went to well. They wore those mantles no more, and she didn't care whom they went to. She'd already drawn the Betrayer into her trap, his new Faithful Companions would bring him. Now she would draw the liar Lord and his little wench. Their misbegotten Lord had work to do for her. Skuld always looked on them and thought the same thing; that she wouldn't want them in her family. They were no one's true family. All the Lords of the wretched golden city since the second Inquiry to Enlightenment were children of lust and wrath. They were no real blood kin to anyone since their blood was corrupted and broken. They were blind fools, arrogant liars, and worthless cowards. Besides them there were other fools to be drawn into the trap.
Stopping, Skuld commanded her sjel-seidr back into her core as she stepped out of the currents of time. Her form reintegrated from the sjel-seidr. It was too easy to catch the blade of her first fool between her thumb and forefinger. The former Guardian swung Hofud without seeing who was coming to him. "Is that how you greet me, Guardian?" she asked with a quiet, venom-laced voice. He flinched away from her but leaned in when he heard the grinding siren grate of time that her voice, and the voice of every Norn, carried. The air currents flowed crookedly over the blade towards her.
"What is it you want?" the former guardian asked of her, still leaning towards the siren grate her voice while trying not to grimace. He could see who she was, what she was. The mask of normality was left off, exposing her time-warped face. She'd always wanted to show him her face.
He withdrew his blade causing Skuld to smile widely at him. "I have come because you are guilty and must be shown the truth of this," she said quietly. He calmly stood his ground as she slowly circled around him. He'd always been exquisite; cold and hard. Had he not been so honorless she would've taken him as a lover long ago, when he wore the mantle of Guardian. Many times had she stood bare before him, in the shadows. She enjoyed using her hands to please herself, imagining they were his hands. All while staring into his beautiful golden eyes. He wore neither the mantle nor his honor anymore, so she would simply admire instead. "You shall come with me, so that you might be shown the weight of your guilt."
"I cannot leave my post. You may show me this guilt here," he said quietly. His voice was warm and smooth as it reverberated through the air between them.
There were no threats to the wretched golden city in the near future peered in the currents of time swirling around him. Even if Skuld had seen a threat, her answer would be the same. She was the only threat they should be concerned with. "Asgard shall be safe while you are gone, I promise you this. You shall come with me. Your Prince is to bear witness to this terrible truth, so must you."
The honorless Guardian considered her words before dismissing his blade back to the interdimensional pocket he had for it and sighing softly. "Very well," he said softly.
Commandeding her sjel-seidr again, Skuld encompassed him so she could pull him outside of the bounds of time with her. A tiny smirk graced her lips as his eyes widened almost imperceptibly as her form disintegrated into sjel-seidr when they stepped into the currents. The former Guardian was dragged roughly along behind her as she went to find his Little Sister. They stopped cold when they found her. Skuld was pleased. The petulant wench he called sister was with the other three idiots she needed. She saw the markings of Mantles of Time upon all of them, One Set Aside and Faithful Companions. These were the old companions she needed. They wore the mantles no longer. She didn't waste words on them. They weren't worth her time. She only commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at them to convey her message. The sjel-seidr allowed them to see where they would be going and whispered in their thoughts, You shall bear witness to a terrible truth. Once they'd seen then she gripped them tightly with her sjel-seidr. All five of them were teleported away to her anchor. It was waiting at the moment in time that she was racing towards with every new fool gained. They were sent away, so she commanded her sjel-seidr to cautiously swirl sideways through the currents of time. Skuld couldn't feel her Elder Sister anywhere and was grateful for that. There was only ever one being who was able to endure her Elder Sister's wrath. That man had politely proposed marriage to her Elder Sister with half the Eilifd Framherji's curved blade sunk into his gut. Her Elder Sister's King was a frightening power unto himself.
She stepped out of the currents of time. The sjel-seidr flowed smoothly off her form as it reintegrated out of her sjel-seidr again. Into shadows in the throne room of the golden city she went. The old lines were waiting for Skuld. They led her to where the pools and spatters of blood were cleaned away long ago. Along those old lines was where she'd found her darling baby still clutching the small doll that Skuld made for her. You shall have justice. I promise you. Your Aunt Skuld shall bring it to you this day, she thought. She commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at the liar Lord and his little wench, to convey her message. "It is I, Skuld. Your son is to bear witness to a terrible truth. You must bear witness as well. This duty I charge you with." The sjel-seidr allowed them to see the flying Midgardian fortress and know that they would be going there. She didn't bother to keep the venomous anger from her thoughts. It was a taste of what was to come. Just a moment later they both acquiesced. Next, she gripped them both tight with her sjel-seidr and teleported them away to her anchor. The moment in time she was racing towards was growing closer. Skuld knelt down to run her fingers over the cold clean stone one more time before she stepped back into the currents of time, sjel-seidr swirling her away from the golden city and its wretched heart. It would all be put to the flame.
As Skuld swirled to the home of little-sweet's true father her sjel-seidr moved faster. The currents of time shifted violently and changed all around her as she swirled through them. It was difficult to swirled through the dense shockwaves emanating from the cycle. Skuld had to take command her sjel-seidr to swirl it herself when the shockwaves threatened to throw her hopelessly off course. Only the Matron was powerful and knowledgeable enough to have caused something like that. Something had been unleashed. It wasn't clear what it was. Whatever it was had severed her connection to the pearl of her sjel-seidr in little-sweet's core. She could no longer feel the pearl, nor little-sweet through it. Once the currents calmed and the shockwaves settled she tried again to touch at her pearl of sjel-seidr. It was well and truly lost. Through the currents before her there appeared the ghostly shadow of a man with green-gold eyes. It looked like the same one as before. She still dismissed him. He was still an echo of possibilities, nothing more. There would be nothing that would distract her from her rightful vengeance, from her long-awaited justice. Once again, she stepped out of the currents of time and into the shadows. Her sjel-seidr was commanded back into her seidr core.
The sun was setting over the white walls of the Palace of Clouds at the heart of the capitol city, Vindrvelsignet. A grasslands city on the high plains. The Lord of Many Hands was sitting before his fire, ale in hand and tears in his eyes. She peered into the currents of time swirling around him. They whispered of his enduring grief over what befell little-sweet. He still grieves for my use of that disappointing freak? How pathetic. Skuld sneered at the childless and grieving father from the shadows. She liked to watch people from the shadows. While she aged there, it was still worth it to learn what things she did. There was no one who could follow her. A tiny smirk crossed her face when she thought about that young seidaugu. He was the only one in the Nine Realms who could track her once she'd stepped into the shadows. Only seidaugu could truly track a mage. She commanded her sjel-seidr out to touch at him to convey her message. "It is I, Skuld. A terrible truth is waiting for you to bear witness to. This duty I charge you with." It allowed him to see through the flying Midgardian fortress to know if was where he would be sent.
The grieving father dropped his ale as he sat up in surprise. The bottle landed on the plush carpet. Ale spilled out over the lush fibers. He looked around, instantly wary. Witless, she thought. He couldn't see her despite her being right in front of him. She wasn't about to peel back the shadows to reveal herself. He didn't need to know how close to death he was sitting. Skuld considered for a moment. It would be easy to slide her long sword through his chest as he sat there looking about. There was no way for him to stop her. He wouldn't know until the star-felled steel was sliding smoothly through him. She briefly considered delivering his heartstring to little-sweet. It would be fitting punishment for little-sweet's disobedience. No, she counseled herself to patience. If I kill him, he shall learn nothing. Skuld snickered softly, amused with herself.
When he didn't acquiesce immediately, she commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at his thoughts again. This time it allowed him to see him how she'd already ensnared his selfish wench of a sister and the misbegotten Lord who was false family of hers. The grieving father acquiesced instantly then. Skuld gripped him with her sjel-seidr and teleported him away to her anchor as well. The moment in time she continued to race towards was going to be the sweetest one of her life. A small snicker left her lips. Little-sweet's voice was coming from the other side of the door, calling for the grieving father to come out. Skuld stepped back into the currents of time, commanding her sjel-seidr to swirl swiftly away. A small spike of fear chased her thoughts. She could feel her Elder Sister chasing after her again. There was only one thing left to gather, then she could weave the strands that would lock out her Elder Sister. Just a little more, she thought as she again swiftly swirled her sjel-seidr herself to escape from her Elder Sister's wrath. It was only the military discipline that her Elder Sister raised her with that stifled the urge to throw taunts over her shoulder. That would only enrage her Elder Sister further. Only when she'd brought justice to her family and could show that to her Elder Sister would she be able to explain her actions and calm her Elder Sister's rage. Until then, she wasn't safe from the unyielding wrath chasing after her. She swirled as hard as she could towards her target. Were she to be caught there that wrath would be even more terrible.
Glee filled her as she felt her Elder Sister stop and disappear. She'd truly outrun the Matron. Only a handful of times had that happened. Skuld stepped only halfway out of the currents of time at her last destination. Even the shadows didn't feel safe in this house. The eyes of the Great Work were everywhere. The white-blue influence of this Great Work filled little-sweet's abode. His sparkling fire sought her out again. He stood before her wearing the mantle of Trickster. Beside him stood a Midgardian who has no Midgardian anymore. His ancestral greatness had been brought forth. Skuld instantly recognized what little-sweet did. It was Songrblom's handiwork in little-sweet's hands. It took everything she had not to strike down the abomination before her. A tight smile graced her face. When she had her justice, then she would return to strike down this walking abomination. She wouldn't fail in her sacred oaths. Skuld almost laughed as she saw that the abomination wore the mantle of Good Brother. There would be a grieving brother when she was done.
The Good Brother took the Trickster to task for his foolishness as Skuld listened. They were arguing as though they were little-sweet's family. Skuld snickered then. It was fitting that a freak had a freakish family. None of them were worthy of the lives they'd been given. As she listened, she saw how easily she could move them. It would be easier since her Elder Sister took the time to stop and visit with little-sweet. Why, thank you sister! You have made my work easier for me, she thought.
Skuld made sure her mask of normality was in place before she allowed her sjel-seidr to reintegrate her form fully. Allowing them to see her time-warped face and hear her voice wouldn't do. She stepped all the way out of the currents of time to stand before them. Each of them prepared for a fight instantly. It was the Trickster who relaxed first. He recognized what she was since he'd already seen her Elder Sister. He stopped and stared for a moment. Skuld wondered if this was the green-eyed man she'd seen, for his eyes were much the same as little-sweet's. The green-eyed man she saw had little flecks of gold in his eyes, where this man had flecks of silver. It was a small enough difference to not matter. Yes, it must be he whom I saw.
"You have met my Elder Sister, young Trickster. She has sent me to aid you, to aid little-sweet," she lied smoothly. "My name is Verthandi, and I need your assistance, in order to bring aid to little-sweet." She spoke in her sweetest, most sincere voice.
"The old woman, Amma, was your sister?" the Trickster asked her. It was obvious that he knew she and her Elder Sister were of the same blood.
"Yes, my Elder Sister. She sent me to bring aid to little-sweet. I should very much like to do that now," Skuld smirked behind her mask.
"How can you help my mother?" the Trickster asked hopefully. The Good Brother looked skeptical.
"I need the knowledge you guard, the truths you keep, young Trickster. They shall allow me to understand what is needed. Once I have these, then I can decide how best to aid little-sweet. Please give me your assistance. Allow me to view your memories," she put the sincerest face on her mask.
"How exactly will you getting into his mind help her?" the Good Brother asked skeptically. Impudent abomination, she thought with a touch of anger. Skuld wanted to slowly pull his tongue from his mouth with her teeth. She would have but he was Songrblom's handiwork. His tainted blood was foul and unnatural.
The currents of time swirling around him drew Skuld's attention, so she peered into them. She almost fled when she felt the flicker of her Elder Sister's sjel-seidr. It was gone in an instant, so she stayed. Her Elder Sister was still searching for her, but she was safe for the moment. All but a few of the currents around him were blocked. Those few whispered of the Good Brother's desire to use his own dreadful origin on little-sweet. All the walking abomination was missing were mages who were powerful enough and skilled enough to wield that unnatural power. She could hear the currents whispering of how little time was left. Little-sweet's time was run out. Another little snicker was hidden behind her mask. Skuld already had those mages but would never give them over. Let little-sweet suffer and die for his disobedience. Let them all suffer! Let them all be put to the flame. "My Elder Sister told me that you needed aid. She instructed me to listen to what aid you would need, and that you might need me to bring you people to aid you further. Tell me who it is you need, and I shall gladly bring them to you." She paused for a moment, "Little-sweet is my family, I would do anything to bring aid. Please allow me to do so."
"I don't know you and you want me to 'ok' you getting into my nephew's mind," the Good Brother said. She put tears in the eyes of her mask.
"She's the same as the old woman, I can see it. Mother trusts her enough to have done all of this. Please uncle, please let me do this. We could save mother. We don't have much time left. Father is almost finished," the Trickster pleaded.
The Good Brother looked at her with a hard look in his eyes. She snickered behind her mask. As if you could see through it, she thought with amusement. "Please, let me do this. We don't have much time left before father implements it. He's too close, you know that. If this is what I need do to save mother, then let me do it," the Trickster was pleading again. "We're out of options, you know that. If letting her into my mind to have my memories will help, then let me do it! It's my mind, I'm willing to do this."
"And what about the damage this could do?" the Good Brother asked softly.
"There shall be no injuries from my actions. My Elder Sister bid me aid you. She did not bid me harm you. I shall simply view the truth of his memories. Then I shall know what aid you need me to bring you," she said sweetly. When the abomination didn't look convinced she quickly added, "I shan't harm him. I would be punished were I to. My Elder Sister is ..quite formidable when angered." That was true enough to lend credence to her words.
"You'll only be viewing his memories?" the Good Brother pestered her once more. Had it not been for fear of her Elder Sister's wrath swiftly finding her she would have smote the arrogant abomination right then and there. "Yes," I shall kill you slowly.
"Please let me!" the young Trickster pleaded.
The Good Brother sighed softly. "Alright, alright. We don't have much of a choice here. He's too close to this already." He turned to point at the young Trickster, "Nothing more than viewing," he said staunchly, then turned back to her. "Do it." He looked at her with concern in his deep brown eyes. She could see the garnet seidr flowing in them. "Please hurry, we need those mages as soon as you can get them. We don't have much time left. Once they're here, then we'll take them to her," there was desperation and frustration laced powerfully in the Good Brother's voice. He watched her every move.
"Of course, I would do anything for my family," Skuld said softly. She smiled broadly as she commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at the Trickster so that it could form a bridge between them through their seidrs. His mind opened to her. He imparted his truths as she saw through his eyes, viewing his memories without reliving them. She kept a smile on her mask as she saw them and feared. There was even more here than the currents of time had revealed to her. The man with green-gold eyes was staring back at her through the Trickster, through her own sjel-seidr. He was a man who eclipsed House Norn and a possibility no longer. Worse than that was that she was standing in a firehawk's nest. The little-sweet's dream was as silent as ever but far more dreadful now. It was dark and wicked, wielding a power as disgusting and corrupting as Songrblom's handiwork. It was the power to make an unwitting servant of the Darkest Foe. The worst thing she saw was the genuine hope of saving little-sweet. Little-sweet's own Grand Work combined with Songrblom's handiwork could create that hope. It was what the Trickster and the abomination of a Good Brother were after. They wished to use Songrblom's handiwork as it was originally intended, instead of how it had always been used. Skuld tangled that truth in her mind. She would never let it happen. Only she would feel the warmth of hope this day. She was the only one who'd earned it.
When she was finished with the ruination of the golden city then she was going to come back and destroy that hope. It was sitting in a branded box and would stay there for the moment. She didn't know how much longer she had before her Elder Sister found her trail. "You both have my thanks. Wait here and do not leave. I shall return shortly with what you need. Fear not, hope is with us this day." With that Skuld stepped back into the currents of time. She commanded her sjel-seidr to swirl her away from little-sweet's abode swift as she could. She would return later. When she left the second time there would be nothing but shredded meat and fire remaining. A corrupted firehawk would be unleashed then. The beast would burn and destroy everything. She might not even need the misbegotten Lord. Even if she did still need him to cause Asgard to buckle, it would still make her smile to see the birth of a corrupted firehawk.
Next Skuld commanded her sjel-seidr to swirl her back towards Midgard. She swirled right past her moment in time. They were all waiting for her. The trap had only to be sprung. She stopped cold in a small room of the flying fortress, her form reintegrating from the sjel-seidr. 'Server Room 01-A' was written on the wall by the door outside of the room. She commanded her sjel-seidr form a small pearl in her hands. The truths of the Trickster flowed into it. From one side of the pearl, she pulled small connectors. It was then set on top of one of the small, thin boxes that were stacked in the room. The connectors snaked down to plug themselves into the small rectangular openings that she saw at the back of it. Each thin box had little lights and many wires running to and from them. They were a poor substitute for a Memory Cube, but they would do. Her pearl of sjel-seidr would impart the truths from the Trickster that she wanted them to see. It would create the portal through which these truths would be imparted, her portal. The liars from the golden city and the mortals would be tempted with more, but it was more that they would never get.
She stepped into the shadows as a mortal walked into the room. He had a small rectangular device with little cords and tiny balls that were stuffed into his ears. There was a blaring noise coming from those little balls. Skuld liked what she heard. 'Guilty all the same,' they tried to shout at her. She commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at the man, connecting their seidrs so that she could see his memories of the song. It was an excellent song which angrily confronted the guilty for their crimes. Skuld wanted the song for herself as she stepped out of the shadows behind him. He turned to look at something else and saw her. Startled then, he tried to draw his weapon. Skuld crushed the weapon and his hand in hers. "Thank you," she whispered before teleporting him away into a vurm nest in Muspelheim. One last command saw her sjel-seidr flick towards the pearl. It faded away to invisibility as it imparted truths into what would create and fill her portal.
Just the thought of the look on little-sweet's face when he discovered that she'd sprung his trap was enough to leave a wide and wicked grin on Skuld's face. She thought she might stop to view it before she brought him and his freakish family the deaths they deserved.
Her sjel-seidr was almost quivering in excitement as Skuld stepped back into the currents of time and commanded it to swirl back to her moment. She raced towards it, still mindful of her Elder Sister's wrath. Only when the moment was locked would she feel any peace. Her Elder Sister wouldn't be able to break her lock without using the Eilifd Framherji. She wouldn't swing the Eilifd Framherji near little-sweet's true father. He would be utterly destroyed by even her weakest swing. That would hurt little-sweet so very much that her Elder Sister would never risk such it. There was no one else could bear the weight of the Eilifd Framherji to swing it without killing everyone near. A vindictive pleasure oozed through her thoughts. Little-sweet's own true father would be her shield. He would ensure that this happened, and he would suffer mightily for it. For ages she'd suffered. It was their turn to suffer. As she was purified in the flames which took her home and parents, so they would now be put to the flames. Redemption or death. Neither was guaranteed. It was only the unimaginable agony of the burning that she was going to personally guarantee.
Finally Skuld commanded her sjel-seidr to touch at the Midgardian devices in the room that held her moment in time. It announced her coming. Excitement and dark amusement coursed powerfully through her. The song flowed from sjel-seidr to herald arrival. Everyone was assembled. The trap was ready, the bait was set. Justice would be done this day. The deaths of her family would be avenged as the cycle of time turned and completed. All the mantled fools would all fall before her vengeance.
It was going to be glorious.
