These Things We've Gained: Eternal Love, Building Hope, Just Honesty

by Tales of Suspense

In the aftermath of "These Things We've Lost" people strugggle to create a new normal. (Slice of Life)

2. Chapter 2

- Chapter 2 -

23May2023 – Before Daybreak

The Lord Of Vanaheim's Private Chambers

The silk sheets were the perfect temperature as always, never too warm and never too cool. Having Sean under them with him hadn't disturbed the lovely balance for Frey. Nothing about Sean had disturbed Frey so that he wondered if there was some facet of the younger man that would eventually bother him. It didn't seem like it, but Frey had only been with Sean for a day. One amazing, life changing day. It was the seidr bond that caused him to think that Sean couldn't be a bother to him. He was imprinted on Sean after all. His thoughts and emotions had flowed through Sean, as Sean's thoughts and emotions had flowed through him. Nothing in that flow bothered Frey. Much of it interested him. Some of Seans thoughts sounded like they were in Shiväisith, a dialect that he didn't know. Others were in someone else's voice who sounded so close to Sean's voice that it was difficult to pick out that voice. It was like he was bonded to someone else before he bonded to Frey, though Frey knew that was impossible. He would have felt the remnants of that bonding. The was no other bond, there was only Sean, just the young man sleeping next to him.

Frey ran his fingers softly down the side of Sean's face. "Sean, awaken." His voice was quiet in the perpetual gloom of his bedchambers. The only light came from the sparse candles on the small tables at either side of his bed. It wasn't enough for Frey to get as much of a look at Sean as he wanted. The beautiful young man was starting to stir, and would be awake in a moment. As much of a temptation as it was to pull the sheets back and drink in the glorious sight beside him, Frey resisted. He didn't want to be rude.

Consciousness came swiftly back to Sean. With it came the certain knowledge that Frey wanted to admire him, to touch him again. The unambiguous desire to fill him with sunny seidr was filling Frey's seidr. It was only a concern over manners that was holding Frey back from starting their day wonderfully. Chuckling, he looked over to Frey. "Your desire isn't rude." Sean took Frey's right hand and placed on his midsection, with his own hand over top of Frey's. "I welcome you." Whether or not his clan would accept Frey was a different matter, but Sean was always going to welcome Frey.

This dream has to end at some point. Frey almost couldn't believe that a young man more beautiful than any Svartalfr had willingly come into his bed and was still welcoming him to do …more. He moved swiftly to take advantage of the invitation before reality intruded, pulling the sheets back and staring hungrily at the object of his desires. If this was a dream then he never wanted it to end.

23May2023 – Early Morning

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

The sheer shining white halls of the Vanaheimr Royal Palace were still mostly empty as James moved back through them. The subtle tones of his soul song of stillness rang through the walls instead of off of them. Anyone who walked past him felt better about the day without knowing that it was him they were listening to. A meeting had been requested and he had agreed to it. Lady Audhumbla wanted to speak with him on something, though he wasn't sure what just yet. All he could hope was that Anthony hadn't done something else that he needed to take care of now. Fortunately, the room where Lady Audhumbla set the meeting was next to Loki's room, across the hall and just down the way from where he had Anthony.

The carved wooden door pushed inwards easily enough. The ancient Lady rose to stand when he entered and motioned to the seat across from hers. A small, squat table sat between the two chairs. It was home to a steaming teapot, and several teacups, along with a plate of some sort of small cookies. James sat where she motioned for him to, not wanting to be rude.

The subtle yet powerful song singing from this man was as intriguing now as it was when she first met him in the firehawk's nest. It was singing in the language of the soul, singing out calm to everyone to who was near him. Now how might that be possible? Is this how he deals with the firehawk? "Do you care for tea?" Tea was never what Lady Audhumbla wanted to discuss with her guests, but it was almost always the first thing she asked after.

"Yes, that sounds lovely." She poured him a cup of tea which he took from her. The entire tea ritual was perfunctory and could have been dispensed with. Neither were so mannerless as to do that though, so they had tea.

Several moments passed before Lady Audhumbla spoke. "I have called you here to offer you something which I believe to be useful to a man in your position." Her voice was covered like her face in the mask of normality.

"Oh, what's that?" James was interested in what a Lady of her age and experience would think he needed. It was especially interesting since there was only one other person who fully understood the conditions he was working under and so could anticipate what he needed.

A small smile touched Lady Audhumbla's lips. "I believe that you could use more time, better containment, and faster transportation. I shall provide you the means to obtain these things," she quirked an eyebrow just so, "if you wish to have them."

It was an unexpected offer, but an intriguing one. James was curious, and he didn't deny it. Just the faster traveling would help him immensely. More time would be a blessing. He wasn't sure what the ancient Lady meant by better containment, though he had ideas. More honesty brought him to the admission that he might need it when he went to tell Anthony what he'd done and who he'd done it with. "What are you offering? A machine or magical trinket?"

"Oh no, something much better. Someone better." Lady Audhumbla's smile widened as she pulled back the mask of normality, if only for a moment. "Lady Sjofn, come forward." The siren, grinding grate of time echoed through her voice, but had no effect of her guest. He was unbothered by it, only looking slightly confused,

James thought it was odd when Lady Audhumbla's face suddenly changed to an old hag's withered face and when she spoke it sounded like there was another person in the room speaking with her, their voice perfectly synced to hers. Each of them were speaking over the rumbling grind of a rusting engine, then it was gone. Her face and voice went back to normal. James didn't know what to make of it but wasn't rude enough to comment on it. Instead, he chose to pay attention to the woman who had just teleported into the room, appearing in a swirl of teleportation fire.

"How may I serve, Matron?" Lady Sjofn asked quietly, with the mask of normality covering her voice and face.

Lady Audhumbla kept her attention on her guest, instead of her subordinate. "If you so choose, I shall assign Lady Sjofn to your command. She shall serve under you command to provide you with swift transportation between realms and times, bringing you outside of time if you so need. She can also bring others outside of time, if you so need."

This was an unexpectedly wonderful offer, one of particular use to James. Turning to Lady Sjofn, he asked, "Can you pull a room out of time and hold it there? Loki had mentioned something like that to me."

"Yes, the room, its contents and occupants." Lady Sjofn wasn't sure that she liked the thought of serving a mortal. As one of the flying cavalry of the Norns, mortals were beneath her in every way. There was no way her opinion would ever come to light, however. The Matron only handed out the most worthy of tasks to the most worthy of Norns. If this was the task her Matron assigned to her then she would carry it out to the very best of her abilities.

"How long can you hold it there? And can you pull multiple rooms out of time? How big a room can you pull out of time?" This was something that had the potential to truly assist James. His mind immediately went to his archives and how he could develop better safety precautions for them.

That this mortal was interested in her abilities was unsurprising to Lady Sjofn. That the mortal was questioning her instead of just asking for her service was surprising. There was something odd about this man, beyond his song. "Once the room is outside of time I can temporarily lock it or lock it for longer times if it is so needed. I can pull individual rooms outside of time or something the size of this palace."

"Is there a time limit on how long you can keep these rooms outside of time?" Every answer made James want to accept this offer. This was an offer of assistance unlike any he'd ever heard. How much safer can I make the archives with this?

"There is no limit on time when outside of time." This mortal was after something, something that her taking a room out of the bounds of time would accomplish. Lady Sjofn kept her curiosity to herself.

What James could accomplish with this offer made him want to accept immediately. The fact that he couldn't hear any ill intentions in either of the Ladies' voices, no darkness at all, helped him along towards accepting the offer. He couldn't be so reckless though. Hesitation had to be his friend. There was more he needed to know, intentions mainly.

There was a reluctance in Rhodes that she easily interpreted as caution. Prudence when representing a firehawk is wise. "The burden you bear is extraordinary for anyone, yet you bear it well. Lady Sjofn is one of my finest. She shall lend her aid to ensure that you can continue to tend to the firehawk as he needs." That Rhodes seemed interested in her offer pleased her. He'd done well enough with the firehawk that Lady Audhumbla hadn't known there was a firehawk until she stumbled across his quiet nest. Despite that success she still felt that he needed more assistance than he had. She only wished that she could see into the currents of time around him to see all of what he needed. The firehawk's flames were still blocking her vision. The fires might recede if the firehawk is further healed. The deep, dull, slightly metallic, voice of her Lord husband accompanied her own thoughts, through their omnipresent mental link. Her response with swift and hopeful. Okkarr litil-svassa heillbredelse skulu enn sem valda, minn kaerr. (Our little sweet's healing should further that cause, my beloved)

A firehawk?! Lady Sjofn's face remained unchanged despite her opinion changing suddenly. Firehawk's were legendary creatures even to the Norns, they were so very rare, unpredictable, and powerful. If the mortal was somehow involved with one then this was no mundane assignment. Does he wish to pull a firehawk outside of time? I should be able to do that. Her assisting with a firehawk was worth her efforts.

"This is very generous of you, Lady Audhumbla, and I know what I want from this. but with such an offer I'm compelled to ask what you're expecting out of this. If it's to exert some kind of control over Anthony, I can tell you now that it's not going to work." James wanted what was being offered, it would make things so much easier for him. Making things easier on himself wasn't his job though. Making things easier for his brothers was his job. It was a lifetime appointment for him.

"Oh no." Lady Audhumbla took a small sip of her tea. This was going better than expected for her. Not only had this man dealt successfully with a firehawk but was willing to defend the firehawk even to someone as powerful her. He was a good brother to her little-sweet's husband. "I shan't be so foolish as to try to control a firehawk. Not this day nor any other. I know better than that. No." She took another sip of her tea. "I merely wish to aid in healing the firehawk of his wounds. His being healthy and whole shall greatly aid minn litil-svass."

Too many people tried to control his younger brothers for their own ends. It hadn't turned out well for anyone in any of the times it happened. Her doing this for family continued the trend that he'd already seen. "Litil-svass? Loki?" James could hear how Lady Audhumbla was telling the truth. There was no falsity in her voice, no darkness to warn him of foul intentions. Her doing this for Loki's sake was an answer he could readily accept. It was a soothing reason for him. A smiled widened on his lips.

"Yes, Loki is minn litil-svass. My little-sweet. She needs her firehawk to be well." I need him to take back his flames so I might see more. A moment later her Lord husband spoke to her again. We should gift him with portal brace. Offer him our aid, minn kaerr. After another sip of tea Lady Audhumbla motioned to the table while summoning a portal brace for Rhodes from her interdimensional pocket. "My Lord husband bids me to gift you with a portal brace. The brace shall take its wearer immediately to my Lord husband's tower or to my library. This shall give you an easier access to my Lord husband and to myself, and to our aid should you need it."

The wide silver bracelet sat on the table quietly. Its hammered finish was polished and shining. The milky white, opalescent gem in the center-top looked like it had grown with computer components and other crystals in it. Connecting to and going away from the gem down the center of the sides of the bracelet were lines of runes done in shiny contrasting gold. Every rune linked to the ones above and below, with the lines terminating at the edge of the ends. For a small machine, it was beautiful. This was something that would look nice on his sister-in-law. James suspected that Loki already had something like that, or better. "How would I use that?"

"Once the brace is on your wrist, you need simply touch the runes. The left line goes to my Lord husband's tower. The right line leads to my library. The brace shall bring you to us. We shall aid you in that moment."

His gaze traveled from the bracelet to Lady Audhumbla to Lady Sjofn and back again. James still couldn't hear any falsity in her voice. People weren't normally so hospitable or generous towards his brothers, and none of his brothers helped that. Again, his gaze went form the bracelet to Lady Audhumbla. "What sort of situations would you be comfortable in me using this? Under what conditions?"

"There are no conditions attached to this. Any circumstance where you feel you need assistance or aid is what the brace is for. Any situation from the largest to the smallest are permissible. From the firehawk sickening and corrupting to you desiring a few moments of quiet, and perhaps a nice cup of tea. A quiet place in my library or my Lord husband's tower is always open to you." There was a real sense of caution about Rhodes that wasn't overbearing or disrespectful. Lady Audhumbla appreciated it but wondered if there wasn't a hint of general mistrust. She wondered if there was a reason for it, and what it might be. It didn't seem to be overtaking the desire to accept the offer though.

"Would you have a problem if I sent Anthony there, or perhaps someone else; for instance, to remove them from a troublesome situation while I clean it up?" The more James learned about this the closer he came to accepting. There were only a few more questions that he had.

"Of course. If you send them then I shall assume you have good cause to do so?"

"Absolutely." James turned to look at Lady Sjofn then back at Lady Audhumbla and asked, "What would Lady Sjofn's assigned duties be? How long would she be assigned to me?

"I shall assign her to transport you through space and time and outside of it if necessary; to assist you to tend to the firehawk should you so need it; to give her full efforts to aid you in your efforts. She shall be assigned for so long as you need her." She smiled at the slight widening of Rhodes' eyes. "I imagine that tending to a firehawk leads to many unforeseen possibilities. You have done well so far. You honor and skill are impressive. I believe that a man in your position could use aid, not orders. That is what I am offering."

There was still no hint of deception in Lady Audhumbla's voice. Even when her voice changed and she sounded like someone else was speaking with her, there was still no ill intent. This looked very much like an honest offer of aid, sounded like it. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first offer of aid that began well. There were others that were promising and ended poorly. James acknowledged that he'd become old and jaded with all the times people had tried to harm his brothers. Trusting people was difficult for him now. He also acknowledged that his mother and father would be disappointed in him if he passed up on an opportunity to help his younger brothers because he was too jaded to accept it. The last thing he acknowledged was that although it was hard for him to trust, his untrusting nature was essentially his problem and should never be his brothers' problem. After those acknowledgements James took a deep breath and hoped that this wouldn't end with one of his brothers in another hospital bed. "Alright. I accept."

"Excellent! The brace is yours then." Lady Audhumbla stood and turned to Lady Sjofn and motioned for her to come forward. "In order to aid in the care of a firehawk you may need extraordinary means, Lady Sjofn." The ancient Lady held out her hand as if to hand something to the junior Lady. She commanded her sjel-seidr to form the Learning Spell, to gather her memories into it, and to turn into a copy of the Learning Spell itself. When Lady Sjofn held out her hand the great Lady touched her. "I bestow upon you the Learning Spell. Use it wisely and guard it well."

The younger Lady's eyes flashed with dusky rose sjel-seidr. "Yes, my Lady. I surely shall." Lady Sjofn was surprised to be gifted with the one spell that the Matron had already made clear was to be kept to a select few. When she arrived in that room she would never have said that she would be worthy to be among that select few. Now she was, and she resolved quickly to put forth her best effort, no matter what was asked of her. No matter how extraordinary or mundane she was going to strive to give her best and fullest effort. Only then could her actions bring glory to the Norns.

"Lady Sjofn, you are now assigned as the Norn Emissary to James Rhodes." Lady Audhumbla was pleased at how well this went. It provided an interesting insight into the thoughts of James Rhodes as well, showing her a man who was cautious with his family. The distrust of offers of aid displeased her though. She wanted to know what caused it. She wanted to know much more about this man than knowing that he was honorable and successful with a firehawk. There was more to him than that. Since he was regularly around her litil-svass she needed to know now.

"Yes, my Lady. Rhodes shall have my best efforts." How this mortal was dealing with a firehawk interested Lady Sjofn. She looked forward to observing and understanding it. Turning to him, she had a question. "Rhodes, do you have any instructions or orders to begin this time with?"

"Please, call me James. The only things I have for you right now are that there is to be no violence directed at or around Anthony. He's very good at returning that violence to where it came from. If he starts the violence then please pull the room he's in outside of time, and teleport yourself away to safety. If I'm not already there then please teleport me into the room with him. I can hold him where he is and deal with whatever the problem is. Other than that, you need to understand that sometimes Anthony's responses are a little strange, but that's just how he is. He really doesn't mean anything by what he says. He doesn't mean to be rude or offensive. He's a little childish sometimes, but he's a good kid." James finished explaining the basic rules to his new subordinate. He bowed to the Lady he was going to be working with. "I look forward to working with you, Lady Sjofn."

"May all your endeavors be successful." Lady Audhumbla withdrew her sjel-seidr from the area. The chairs, tea set and table disappeared as she did so. "Now go, see to the firehawk. I and my Lord husband shall see to minn litil-svass and her children this day."

He wasn't going to argue over her taking the children. They should have gone to Herb, but that was a different problem. Leaving them with a Lady who was their ancestor, and an honest Lady seemed like a fine idea to him. "Yes, ma'am." James motioned towards the door while looking over to Lady Sjofn. "After you, good Lady." He followed her out into the hall and pointed out the door where they were going. "That room, first door on the right, needs to be pulled outside of time. Once I'm inside I'll corral him there while you work. I'd like you to please lock it out for a longer period. I'm going to need a lot of time to work." Something presented itself presented itself then. "Can he get out of that room after it's outside of time?"

"No. I would have to remove him or you from the room." More questions. Lady Sjofn liked that James wanted to have a good grasp of the situation before proceeding.

"Yes, James. I shall see to it." What a firehawk might look like, or how he might behave piqued Lady Sjofn's curiosity, but again neither of these things were going to show in her work. The Norn swirled through the currents of time, leaving the hallway behind. She commanded her fuchsia sjel-seidr into the currents around the room. The closing of the door behind James was her moment to move. Her fuchsia sjel-seidr took her commands to turn into strands which created a dense rope. The thick cord encircled the room length and widthwise so that she could grasp the rope of fuchsia sjel-seidr and pull. Without any resistance the room moved outside of the bounds of time.

Through her sjel-seidr Lady Sjofn could see James and the firehawk in the room. She watched her mortal commander calmly as he moved to waken the slumbering firehawk. The firehawk himself didn't seem so much like what she'd read about, even though there was something strange about his seidr. She could feel it. Even asleep the firehawk's seidr was pushing against her own. Weirdly enough, it was warming the cold currents of time around her. How strange. He seems calm enough. Perhaps this shall be an easier assignment. An easy moment.

"Anthony, time to wake up." This was the moment that James didn't want to come to but wouldn't shy away from. A few quick shakes to Anthony's shoulder helped rouse his younger brother. "Come on, kid. You need to get up now." The soul song of stillness played carefully. He didn't want to put Anthony back to sleep, but wanted to keep him calm. What was going to happen would go more smoothly if his younger brother was calm.

Such a nice feeling of being well rested filled Anthony that he couldn't remember the last time that he felt so good. He sat up, yawned, and stretched, eventually looking at James. His brother was sitting on the bed beside him playing his soul song. It was the wall behind his older brother that took Anthony by surprise first. He didn't recognize it. That's when he realized that he didn't know where he was and couldn't remember going to bed. Looking around slowly brought him back to his brother. "What's going on, Rhodey?"

Standing up, James walked over to table where he summoned a meal wrapped in bundling paper from his interdimensional pocket. Looking back, he said, "Come over and eat something." His voice was pensive and filled with the unease that he felt.

A unique sense of apprehension filled Anthony. This was his older brother right before a hard correction. This wasn't a look he wanted to see. He slid out of the bed and walked slowly over to the table, noticing thar his shoes were missing. His feet loosened and the joints unlocked, moving his big toe slightly to the side so that he could easily grasp things with his toes. He wiggled his toes in his socks. Poking a little bit at the still wrapped meal showed his rising anxiety. "I'm not really hungry. What's going on?"

"Here, take this. You should have met him last night." James's garnet seidr unfolded from his seidr core to run down his arm. It mounted into the Learning Spell which he gathered his memories into. They were memories of Jay, his machine nephew. The boy was an utterly unique lifeform, a living soul in a machine. It was time for Anthony to know what he created, to meet his first child honestly. It should have been done last night, but Anthony was too single-mindedly focused on Loki to get that done.

Anthony waved off his older brother. He didn't really want to meet a stranger, What he wanted was to get to Loki, he needed to do that. There was something that he was planning, a gift he had to give his wife, a permanent repair that he had to make. She needed to have the machine strand to replace the heartstring that she was missing. He had to replace it for her with the coalesced machine solution. Just the thought of her being healthy with the nanomachines made him happy. He looked around the room again, not seeing Loki. "Rhodey, where's Loki? I need to see Loki."

"No, you don't. Now come here." Slight irritation peaked out of James' voice. He held the spell tightly, looking for an opportunity to hit Anthony with it.

"No, I really do. Where is she?" Anthony looked at the door to the small guest room then looked back to his older brother.

"No. You don't. Come here, Anthony." James took a step towards Anthony, holding out his hand to transfer the memories to his stubborn younger brother.

This was getting Anthony no closer to where he wanted to be, which was healing Loki. She needed the nanomachines to heal her. He was certain of it, so he took a step back from James. "No. I need Loki."

"Anthony." It was a succinct warning that his younger brother hadn't paid attention to in several years. James had little hope of it being listened to today.

A quick look at the door showed Anthony that it was only a few steps away. He could get past his brother and to the door. After that he could get to Loki. That was still his main goal because he still had work to do. Anthony shifted rapidly to the side and made a run for the door. He was shocked that James didn't make a grab for him until he got to the door and found that it couldn't be moved. None of his seidr would stick to the door easily. Burning through it was his only option. As soon as he tried that he wasn't surprised to feel his older brother's seidr flicker out and surround his seidr to stop him from burning anything. Irritation filtered into Anthony's thoughts. This was already not going well. When he turned he found that James was leaning against the table with his arms crossed, just waiting. "Let me out!"

"No."

"I haven't done anything!" As Anthony looked at his older brother he knew that hard corrections were definitely inbound. His pet project was probably exposed somehow. After decades of experience, he thought he should know better, but he still thought he could hide things from his older brother.

"You haven't done anything? Oh really? Are we going to play this game again?" A hard frown crossed James' face. Running around in verbal circles before beginning to fix the problem was never what he enjoyed doing. Anthony trying to weasel out of corrections always had to be dealt with first though. That was just how his younger brother was.

Staring for a moment let Anthony express his frustration without opening his mouth and getting him into more trouble. It seemed obvious that his older brother had somehow found out about his 'godkiller' platforms. He hoped they'd already gotten to their destination but knew that the travel times probably didn't work out in his favor. Dejected, Anthony looked down. "I got so close. It's not fair." Looking back to James, he could see how much trouble he was in. There would be worse trouble if he didn't come clean right then.

23May2023 – Early Morning

Vanaheimr Shipping Lanes

Multicolored points of light streaked past the deadly icosahedrons as they zipped along the wide walls of the interstellar shipping lane. Silently they approached their target; a golden city and the lands around it. It was floating in space near the end of this shipping lane. Every one of the icosahedrons was fully charged and ready to call down the flames of wrath on any who crossed their paths. In a very short time, they would be at their destination then they would carry out their purpose; to melt a golden city until it was blackened while a brief chorus of terrified screams echoed through space.

23May2023 – Early Morning

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

Giving up his 'godkiller' platforms when they were so close to achieving success rankled Anthony. "Ok, I know you don't like the 'godkiller' platforms, but they're totally justified for what they did. Asgard deserves it."

Serious concern shot through James'. He didn't know what the 'godkiller' platforms were, but he knew who to ask about them. If he needed to move through time to intercept these platforms then he would. They would be dealt with too. "I'll deal with those, but that's not all you've been up too." He retrieved the folded up picture from his pocket where he stashed it last night. It was the picture of Anthony's wrongdoing. He unfolded it and held it out for his younger brother to take.

The picture in his brother's hand drew Anthony back over to the table. When he took the picture and finally saw what it was of his eyes went wide and he looked up to James. "It's …ready."

James snatched the picture back, folded it up and put it back in his pocket. It would go to the archives later on, after he dealt with Anthony. "You would do this to your wife? Use untested machines that could kill her just by being turned on? Are you one of the old monsters now?"

"I had the camera turned off. They were off …the monitors were blocked." How does he always know?! He must have put extra monitors in. When? "Jarvis didn't tell me."

"No. He told me." The Learning Spell released when he reached over to touch his younger brother's hand then his seidr stowed back into his core. Garnet seidr runes streaked up the younger man's arms, then neck, then face. That same seidr flashed in Anthony's eyes as the memories of the child he had but didn't see played in his mind.

When the memories stopped playing the younger man looked at his older brother in a near panic. He couldn't count the number of dangerous things that he dragged his son into. His opinion quickly settled on him having permanently damaged the boy with his careless and oblivious behavior. "Fuck me, no." turning again, he ran back to the door and tried to burn through it. Again, his brother stopped him. "Let me out, I have to see him. I need to know that he's ok! Let me out! Rhodey, let me out!"

"We need to discuss the situation before we go anywhere. I'm sorry Anthony, but you've left me no choice." It wasn't the best beginning, but it let his younger brother know that he was sorry that this happened. "I found Jay last night, and he told me what you don't know, what his mother told him. Loki was dying. Her missing heartstring was killing her."

Anthony turned back to the door, pulling on it with all his strength. He had to get to Loki and his children and couldn't understand why his brother was just standing around. It wasn't like him. Pulling on the door wasn't getting him very far, so he pulled harder.

"After that a woman named Skuld came to the mansion and spoke with me and Jay. She's Lady Audhumbla's sister and was trying to use us to betray her sister." His own younger sibling was still pulling on the door, but James knew that he was still listening. "She offered to help Loki. She was lying. Lady Audhumbla found us as we were waiting for Skuld to come back. She promised to help us if we would help her. So we made a deal."

"What deal?" He didn't like the sound of any of this. It was prodding the years' worth of rage that he had stored up, so he pulled at the door again.

"Lady Audhumbla delivered two people who could heal Loki, and you. In return, I delivered Loki and you, …to Frey and Odin. They healed both of you last night." James took a deep breath while he waited for Anthony to turn around.

A burst of sudden rage flamed through Anthony, shaking his thin layer of control. "I don't think I heard you correctly." Soft shuddering started in his hands.

"You heard me correctly. Last night Odin and Frey healed Loki, then you." Slowly James' brother turned to face him. His seidr unfolded from his core and mounted another Learning Spell that he gathered his memories of what he knew happened.

"You let Odin near Loki? My Loki? Near me?" Quiet rage spread through his voice and Anthony couldn't believe what he was hearing. James wouldn't betray him, he just wouldn't.

"That isn't all. Come and see," James held out his hand to offer more memories to Anthony.

Slowly, and trembling slightly with rage, Anthony went over to his older brother to take what he was being offered. The Learning Spell released into his hand again as he willingly took the memories this time. The longer the memories played the angrier he became. He was completely exposed now. SHIELD knew that they were compromised, Director Fury knew that the hellicarriers were particularly tainted and that the mansion was an armored fortress with an army waiting inside. Even the orbital weaponry was exposed. Worst of all was his older brother's cooperating with Odin of all people. Odin was responsible for every bad thing that had happened to Loki. Odin was the reason why Loi was missing a heartstring and had a broken mind and a fractured seidr core. Odin was the reason why he lived in the ashes of his own dreams. Odin was the reason why Loki would spend hours screaming in agony because of the scar on her chest with Anthony unable to do anything to help her. It was all his fault. Rage flooded Anthony like fire and knives in his blood. It roiled and shook him, bleeding orange lines of seidr out of his core and into his body as he lost control of his emotions. The delicate dam of control that he constructed to contain the enormous amount of rage that he had broke under the full force of it. Anthony sucked in a deep breath, ground his teeth together and then opened his mouth to unleash a primal scream of rage. Flames exploded off of him as his scream echoed off the walls.

James sat down focused his soul song of stillness through his own body to make it as strong as it could be and extended it towards his brother while that same brother got this rage out of his system. This was going to take some time. It was a good thing that he had all the time he needed now.

23May2023 – Early Morning

Vanaheim Royal Palace Hallway

Looking forlornly at the door again didn't help Odin feel better. His daughter, Loki, was behind that door. She was resting well after he and Frey healed her. What he wanted to do was go in and apologize to her for the many things he'd done wrong, and for the many ways that his failures injured her. He couldn't though. A short time ago Lady Audhumbla entered the room, first telling him to that she would handle Loki and the children, that he should be off to the firehawk's nest. Not leaving was risking angering her, he knew it. Odin saw Loki the night before, but he wanted to see his child when she was awake, and he could apologize properly. Being relegated by the Matron of the Norns to waiting outside the door wasn't what he wanted. Odin wanted to follow his emotions to wherever they led, and especially if they led to him back to his child. The day before his emotions were penned behind a mask of stoicism that he wore everywhere. The mask was thousands of years old, almost as old as he was. The stoic expression helped him get through the difficult situations that came with being the ruling monarch of an ancient kingdom. Millions of years of history and the promise of millions of years more was what he was the steward of. For as well as he'd stewarded Asgard he hadn't stewarded his own family very well. Yesterday he was shown in overwhelming detail how poorly he'd done at being a father to his children. Both of his sons were brought to tears in one day by what he'd done. The tides of his heart crested over the dam that he built to contain them. They smashed the dam in the process. His unruly emotions were loose now, and he no longer wanted to rely on his soothing mantra; 'A King has no heart. A King can have no heart'. His stoicism didn't help his family, it only separated him from them. That wasn't what Odin wanted either. I'm just wasting time here. An unhappy sigh gusted out of his lips. I should head to Frey's office. That was almost as bad a prospect as angering Lady Audhumbla though.

Closing his eyes and taking a breath only pushed the desire back some. When the beast within him started whining pitifully, Odin's irritation and distress focused laser-sharp and he thought a mental bark towards the cursed beast, Be quiet Borr! The whining continued unabated, climbing almost to a fever pitch as he looked to the door his child was behind. It was a door he still couldn't go through. The distress only created more irritation then anger at the beast.

Dealing with the beast at that moment wasn't something Odin wanted to do, Then again, he never wanted to deal with Borr's madness, particularly when its whining was trying to spread its own poisonous emotions through him. For most of his life he'd bent an ear the beast which was madness incarnate. When the beast became too much to bear he began trying to deaden his own emotions to cut off the beast's access to him. Watching in concise order what his efforts had done to his children, to his family, deadened his desire to keep bending an ear to a beast that kept him apart from those he most loved. When Seidmadr McCorrmick revealed to him what the beast truly was, a curse from Borr, his desire to even be polite to the beast dried up, Instead of listening to its whining Odin pictured himself and his brothers in the training court of the Asgardian Palace, learning Harmonic Magics. As a young warrior-in-training he learned to make his voice blaring. "You must be heard across the field of battle, my son," Borr said often. He pictured himself yelling at targets, learning to destroy them with his voice alone. When the yell was ready he aimed it at the beast instead of the target in his memories. QUIET! Odin's yell echoed loudly though his own thoughts while silencing the beast again. The dangerous whining stopped, and lovely silence was left in his mind.

Little hrafnasueltir, the beast gripped at him, as if he cared.

Shut your mouth. No one cares to listen to you, least of all me. Odin couldn't wait to be rid of the beast. Now that he knew what needed to be done to be rid of the curse he was looking for opportunities to not listen to Borr. Direct disobedience was what was needed.

You'll never be rid of me, my son. I'll always be waiting for you, the beast taunted him again, being so bold as to speak in Borr's voice before it receded back into the darkness of his mind.

No response was needed in Odin's opinion. In fact he decided to conspicuously ignore the beast. He was going to find a way to break the curse, he just needed to be something other than Borr's son. Like being unable to see Loki right away it was a little disappointing that he couldn't break the curse immediately.

Coming around the corner, Frey found Odin standing outside the door to Loki's guest chambers with a hesitant and slightly disappointed look on his face. He was wearing his standard kingly raiment of a heavy, black leather vest with golden ties which was covering a light weight long sleeve green tunic and dark brown leather pants tucked into black knee-high leather boots. He was a dark contrast to Frey's solid white raiment. The scar on Odin's left hand was oddly noticeable that day. The straight line that traced up from between his middle and ring fingers almost down to his wrist. It was noticeably reddened that day and Frey wondered why. The younger King knew his own scars only reddened when his blood pressure increased. It wasn't a surprise to find his Elder Brother there when he was headed there himself. "Brother?" He was pleased again to see his Elder Brother's healed eye. It brought a smile to his face.

Quiet hesitation played through Odin's mind. He turned to face Frey, not surprised to find him wanting to check on Loki as well. "I was going to check on Loki quickly, but Lady Audhumbla is in with him, ..her. She's in with Loki and the children, and instructed me to be off to the firehawk's nest."

"Oh." A slightly disappointed look crossed Frey's face as well since he too came to check on Loki. He also wanted to apologize for the thousands of years of hate that he subjected her to. It was the man before him that he'd aimed his hate at, the man who was his Elder Brother by oath now. Frey liked the idea of going to apologize to Loki with Odin by his side. He knew that Odin wanted to apologize to Loki as well. "Perhaps we can check on Loki after we handle the house? Speak with her then?"

A soft smile transformed Odins face from disappointed to happier. "Yes. I'd like to apologize to ..her as soon as possible." He was pleased with himself that he caught himself mid-sentence to use the correct pronoun for Loki. It was still hard to think that he'd never get to see his son again. That he had a beautiful daughter now soothed the hurt.

Odin's open attempts to change himself brought a small smile to Frey's face. "Yes, I'd like to apologize to her for my behavior as well. This is something else we can do together." The more Frey thought about it the more he liked the thought of apologizing with Odin. It just felt right to him.

Looking back to the door accompanied his next want. "I wish we could be there when the Lady tells her about the coalesced machine solution." To not be able to be there for Loki when she was told the truth hurt him personally. His child was going to learn something horrendous and a large part of him needed to be there for Loki.

The smile faded from Frey's face as his gaze drifted to the door. "Yes. We should be there." There wasn't much else to say.

"There is work to be done. You ought to be about that."

The voice that surprised the two Kings was deep and dull with metallic undertones. When each turned, ready for a fight as their combat instincts flared to life, they were stopped by the sight of the man who had managed to sneak up on them both. Before them stood a giant who was easily half again as tall as them, looking down on them and a slightly amused smile. His brilliant red hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail and many braids. The brown and gold armor encasing him was impressive. His red eyes were only disconcerting for a moment. A heartbeat later Odin and Frey knelt swiftly, going down to one knee before the High King of the Nine Realms.

"Rise, be at ease." Lord Gin liked that Odin and Frey were more in unison than they were before. It gave him hope that they could accomplish the greatest task they had before them: reconciling. His smile widened when his Lady wife opened the door to the room that their litil-svass was in. He was greatly looking forward to seeing his precious litil-svass again. There was some nasty business to attend to first though. "My Lady. You have called. I have come. Is litil-svass ready?"

"Litil-svass is still sleeping. I should like to see how well the firehawk fares before we speak with litil-svass." Lady Audhumbla went to the door across the hall. "Lady Sjofn, allow me to open this door." The elder Lady commanded her sjel-seidr to flow through her hand, to grip the door handle and open the door. As soon as the door was ajar brilliant orange flames blew the door open faster than Lady Audhumbla could grasp it. A screeching roar poured out with the fires. The flames rushed out to surround Lady Audhumbla's instantaneous shield. The garnet edges to the flames became swiftly apparent as the raging fires were contained and pulled back into the room. "We're not ready yet, ma'am." The soul spoken voice came softly from inside the room before the door closed quietly.

Lord Gin heard the soft, respectful voice and appreciated that his Lady wife was shielded from the flames. It was accompanied by two soul songs that he could hear. The man who was speaking was cycling between the two songs. The first one felt like it was causing a soothing calm like a Calm Heart Spell while the other felt something like the healing of a Regenerative Weave and the luckiness of a Prosperity Charm combined. They were having a clear effect on the firehawk, maybe enough of one. The fires were uncontrolled by the firehawk, but the garnet edges to the flames were clearly someone else's seidr. There was a person strong enough to contain and control a firehawk's raging flames. How did that happen? It was an idle curiosity at that moment. I do not yet know. His Lady wife answered quickly.

'Well then, three months longer should do." Lady Audhumbla wrapped her shield around her and placed her hand on the door. She commanded her sjel-seidr to skip the door forward by three months of approximate time. It seemed odd to her instantly that James Rhodes hadn't asked Lady Sjofn to let him and the firehawk out of the room. Opening the door showed her immediately why James Rhodes hadn't asked to be released when the door was blasted open again and the fires poured out around her. The roaring scream was as loud as it was previously. And again, the garnet seidr had the orange flames captured. Garnet withdrew orange back into the room. Another very respectful phrase preceded the door closing. "We're not ready yet, ma'am." The soul songs were just as obvious the second time around as they were the first.

"Ah, another three months' time should do." She smiled cautiously at her Lord husband before attempting to open the door again. Again, roiling flames came screaming out of the room with garnet flames edging them. They withdrew just as quickly, along with the soul songs and the still respectful voice. "We're not ready yet, ma'am."

A petite frown touched the ancient Queen's lips when she looked to her Lord husband again. "Maybe six months' more time will be long enough." Her Lord husband volunteered the suggestion and Lady Audhumbla agreed with it. Unfortunately, their agreement didn't mean much to the ranging firehawk behind the door. When she opened the door again an even more intense fire poured out with gold and silver sparkles threaded throughout it. The screaming had increased in pitch and strength to become a full-throated and monstrous roar. The garnet edges to the flames burned brightly and were still as effective despite the increase in power in the orange flames. They not only pulled the orange flames back but created a shield around the flames to pen them in. As the door was closing she and her Lord husband heard the respectful voice again. "We're not ready yet, ma'am."

A few covered coughs brought a blackened smoke from Lady Audhumbla's lips before she cleared her throat of the smoke and flame that she accidentally inhaled. "Lady Sjofn, come forward."

Appearing in swirl of fuchsia teleportation fire, Lady Sjofn bowed to her Lady. "How may I serve, Matron?"

"How often does the firehawk roar?" There was an obvious answer that the ancient Lady didn't want to entertain.

"He started shortly after I pulled the room out of the bounds of time. It has been about a year and one half of approximate time. He hasn't stopped yet."

"You are dismissed back to your duties." Patting the door twice and then turning, she looked to her Lord husband. "Well. There has been no raging firehawk for us to contain, so we shall let James Rhodes continue to see to the firehawk."

Lord Gin looked to the closed door and wondered how this man was successfully containing a raging firehawk. It was something that he would have struggled to do. It wasn't an easy task. "Indeed," he murmured quietly. "We should see to litil-svass now." How does James Rhodes sing with his soul? We should speak with litil-svass about this man. Looking back down at Odin and Frey, who both seemed unsettled, he spoke to them next. "You shan't have to worry about litil-svass' children today. My Lady and I shall watch over them, so that you may go to your work without interruption." They looked up to him as though they couldn't believe that he was speaking. "This shan't be easy, I wish you luck in your endeavors." With that the ancient Lord moved passed them towards the door. It opened silently. The only noise was from his skull knocking on the top of the door frame. "Damn tiny doors."

"James Rhodes shall be with your shortly. He and the firehawk are outside of the bounds of time, but he shall meet you in your office. Be away to there swiftly and wait until he arrives." Lady Audhumbla moved across the hall, opened the door to litil-svass' room and disappeared into the dimly lit room. She commanded her sjel-seidr to find Loki's children in the palace and to bring them to her immediately. The sounds of children playing came through the door to the hallway.

The sounds of children that he could hear renewed Odin's resolve to be diligent. Time and hard work still weren't going to be the things that bested him. He was going to build a better future, and meet his grandchildren doing so. His seidr unwound from his seidr core to array into a Calm Heart Spell for himself. It released into his chest to calm him as he listened to his grandchildren play. They were so close and yet so far away. He couldn't meet them yet.

"Come, brother. Let's get to work." Frey put a hand on Odin's shoulder. He was close enough to Odin to feel the discreet Calm Heart Spell that his Elder Brother used on himself. A sliver of pity broke into Frey's thoughts. He had greater access to their grandchildren and had for years. Odin had only briefly met two of the grandchildren. There was a longing that streaked across Odin's face when the sounds of the children could be heard. "The sooner we get our work done the sooner you and Frigga can meet the children."

The persistent desire to meet his grandchildren and the distress at not being able to were both shoved to the back of his mind. Now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to work. A smile touched his lips as he thought about the work he was going to have to do. No matter how mundane or important, it would lead him back to his grandchildren. Odin's smile widened just a little as he thought about the day ahead of him. He was going to be working with one of his grandchildren. Jay was going to be coming along, and he had things to discuss with the lad. Odin turned to Frey with another hopeful smile on his face. "Yes," he said, nodding, "Let's get to work."

The two Kings swiftly made their way from the second floor guest quarters towards Frey's office on the first floor. Both of them smiled at the people who got out of their way with surprised looks on their faces. There was some amusement to be found in the disbelieving expressions. It was enough amusement to distract Odin from where he was going. When he got to the doors to Frey's office Odin could no longer be distracted. At the doors to the greatest shame of his life, he stood quietly. In just a minute he was going to have to go in, to walk across the cerulean blue tiles that he avoided like a plague. He was going to come to the place where it happened; where his father murdered Frey's and Frigga's parents. They were slowly carved into little bits in front of Frey and Frigga. It was the place he held the chains that restrained Frey and Frigga as children. It was the place where me made the first and most secret mage's bargain of his life. The bargain sealed in seidr and sealed his fate for the next ten years. Frey should hate me. Frigga should too. Those recriminations were always on his mind when he came to that door. Yes, they should, the beast whispered to him, growling softly as it spoke. Normally he went past the doors and arranged to meet Frey elsewhere. Since it happened he'd only been in that room just once, almost fifteen hundred years ago. It was only a quick meeting with Frigga present, but it left him with nightmares for over two years. Run away again, little hrafnasueltir, gather your 'pride' and run, the beast within him whispered to him again, laughing and growling. Since he discovered what the beast truly was it seemed to have dropped all pretense of being Odin's own emotions. It had become the same hostile menace that the man who created it was. Irritation streaked through the elder King's mind, hardening his thoughts some. He no longer felt like running from what he'd done, what Borr did. He was going to go into that room, and he was going to apologize to Frey again, properly this time, then he was going to apologize to his wife again. I can't give them back the past. I can try to make a better future. An honest one, without fear. Odin set himself for the intrusive memories and the nightmares that would come from revisiting this blighted room. I can do this. I will do this.

"Hm?" Frey turned to see what was the matter when Odin stopped. For only the third time ever Frey could see his Elder Brother without his stoic mask of an expression on. Odin was staring at the doors into his office. A haunted look crossed his face, then bitterness and shame. His Elder Brother's breath began to slow down and Frey worried then that Odin was falling back into memories. In a brief and terrible moment, he wondered if Odin had the same sort of damage to his mind that Loki had, that Anthony seemed to have. Why? What could have caused this? Frey looked between his Elder Brother and the door several times. It's just my office. It's nothing so … In a snap he remembered what his office was. It was a reminder of an event so gruesome that he could never forget it. In fact, he chose that room as his office because he hadn't wanted to forget. Am I not the only one who can't forget? For the first time in Frey's life, he wondered if maybe he and Frigga weren't the only ones who were injured by his parents' deaths. Only a day ago this would have been a heresy that not even the darkest places in his mind would condone; to worry over Odin's possible injuries from what happened. The consideration was uncomfortable and ill-fitting in his own mind, but honest. I have given up my wrathful anger. Frey reminded himself of that before setting a hand on Odin's shoulder again. "Brother?" His seidr unfurled to form into a Calm Heart Spell that released into Odin's chest before furling back into his core. Just as he was about to gently shake his brother from his stupor the doors to his office pulled inwards.

The doors to her brother's office pulled open quickly, making way for Frigga. She had been waiting for her husband and brother when she felt their seidrs approaching the office, but they stopped right outside. That's when she felt it, the darkening of Odin's thoughts and emotions. Through her imprinting she could feel Odin's seidr filling with such negative emotions. There was the echoes of shock, bitterness, and shame. Worst of all was his feeling of self-loathing. All of this was unexpected as she looked down at the cerulean tiles covering the floor. They were glaring and ugly to her and had been since she was a child, since her parents were murdered. There were more than enough times that she asked Frey to change the tiles at least since he wouldn't be moved from this terrible room. The room! She realized where she was standing was where Odin was about to be standing. The traumatic memories beckoned to Frigga, to come and live them again. Her dress abruptly felt to large was the memories pulled her back into her child self. No! Suddenly the entire room became anathema to her. It's entire existence needed to be erased, since the memories couldn't be. She rejected those memories wholly and turned towards the door. There was only one thing on her mind, that her beloved didn't need to be in that room, neither did her brother. Frigga's seidr unraveled to spin into a Strengthening Weave which she applied to herself. Next she spun a Quickening Weave and applied that to herself as well. Finally, the Asgardian Queen spun a Spell of Feather's Lift and held it tight in her hand. Her beloved was going no further. She laid eyes on Odin and knew she was right. The determined look on his face was the same as when he went into battle. He always came back with scars after she saw that look. Not today!

Frigga moved swiftly to Odin and applied the Spell of Feather's Lift to his shoulders, back and down the backs of his legs. The application of the spell was enough to draw Odin's attention, but it was too late. She spun low and took his legs out from under him. Odin tried to roll away, but the Spell of Feather's Lift floated him up into air sideways and slightly backwards just before his wife. Frigga didn't stop moving though. She pushed him further into the hall and extended her unraveled seidr to open the doors of the sitting room across the hall from Frey's office. Neither the call of "Wife!" nor of "Sister?" were enough to stop her. It was only when she was in the sitting room with the doors closed behind her that she stripped the Spell of Feather's Lift from her husband to drop him onto the settee in front of the fireplace.

A minor glare was aimed at Frigga. She was delaying what he had to do. Warm embarrassment tinged across Odin's face at him being knocked down so swiftly. If he hadn't been distracted then it wouldn't have been a problem. He took a deep breath and steadied himself again. "Wife, we need to get to Frey's office so that we can begin today's work."

"No. We can plan from this room. You will not enter that room." Frustration spread across Frigga's thoughts. Looking at two of her most favorite men she realized that she had made a terrible mistake. It was one that needed to be remedied to what extent that it could be.

"I don't feel like running from what I've done, Frigga." Odin didn't like how determined his wife was in that moment. He hadn't seen this in quite some time. There was no getting around that look.

"No."

Odin's flat statement gave Frey the distinct impression that he was right, that Odin bore scars from what happened as well. "Sweetling, we need to get to work." Frey didn't know what triggered this outburst but suspected that it was because she felt Odin's distress through her imprinting. He'd talk her through it as he'd talked her through so many other things.

"No!" Frigga's seidr built along with her frustration and her desire to repair the mistake that she made. "Neither of you should be in wretched room." She looked to Odin first. "I regret ever letting you enter that room. I was young and foolish and thoughtless, and it will not happen again!" Then she turned to Frey. "I regret ever letting you back into that wretched room, letting you make it your office where you spend time every day?! How sick did that room make you that I didn't notice?!"

"Frigga, you don't need to be so distressed. I'm well and …" Frey didn't get any further.

"You would lie to my face?" Her words were low and fast and halted her brother instantly. Snaelda Asni came from her interdimensional pocket them. The long sword's weight was comfortable and comforting in her hand. The surprised look on her husband's and brother's faces didn't stop her either. She was doing this for them. Frigga turned sharply and went to the doors. Turning back to two of her favorite men she pointed her long sword at them as a reminder. "If you think I can't compete the both of you, then remember who you're speaking to. You will not cross this line." Focusing her seidr through Snaelda Asni, she used it like a laser to mark the floor in her flaxen seidr.

Frey took a step forward only to get an angry glare from his beloved sister that stopped him in his tracks. "Frigga, it's my office. I need what's in there. Let me get my things."

"I'll pack them for you. You will not enter that room again." The floor was marked, and the warning was given, so Frigga turned and went through the doors, closing and sealing them behind her with a Bjargagudr's Extra Lock Ward.

The younger King's gaze met the elder King's gaze and he smiled nervously. "Maybe this is for the best. We each have," Frey sighed as he acknowledged that his beloved sister might be right in doing this, "strong memories tied to that room."

The line in front of him was a challenge to him, but not in the way the elder King would have thought. He knew that he could go past it, but he would be showing his wife that he didn't value her opinion then. She had made her opinion clear to him. It didn't look like he was going to get to face his ghosts, so Odin faced Frey instead. "I am sorry Frey, for what happened there. I didn't know that he was going to do what he did. I should have but I didn't, and I didn't want him to do it. I foolishly thought he was still a good king. I'm sorry that I didn't apologize sooner. I thought that by apologizing I would be admitting that I agreed with Borr. I didn't believe that you would listen to me, not like Frigga did. By not apologizing I became more like him, which was never what I wanted. I'm so sorry, Frey. Truly and deeply, I am sorry for what Borr did and for my part in it. I never meant to destroy your life or make you sick." His gaze drifted down in shame. He couldn't think of what else to say. There were no words that could undo what took place in that room. Odin knew the tiles were cerulean, but in his mind they would always be blood red. Nothing could ever undo that, so he waited for what he undoubtedly deserved. He wouldn't even consider it a betrayal.

The last apology was no less sincere but was whispered and quick. This was an honest and open apology and Frey stared for a moment before wiping the unexpected tears out of his eyes. It helped to fill in the ashen hole in his middle that his wrathful anger left. "Thank you, brother." Odin wouldn't look at him. As open as Odin's apology was, the look of self-loathing shame on his face was equally open. It was a look that Frey had waited thousands of years for, and still never thought he would see. Now that he was looking at it, it was uncomfortable to him.

Don't hold on to this pain… Frey could hear his father's voice whispering through his thoughts.

Don't hold on to this pain… Again, his father's voice spoke to him, a little louder.

Don't hold on to this pain… …remember to live. More tears misted over Frey's eyes. He was so grateful to be able to hear his father's words again instead of his own screaming anger. The apology made it easier to hear those words, to hear any of his father's wisdom. Looking back to Odin, Frey could see the deep wound that his Elder Brother suffered. It was a wound that was well hidden until now. It was also obvious that Odin was fully expecting to be struck for what he said and did. Frey's wrathful anger would have had him attack Odin, but it wasn't what he wanted anymore. The past day or so had shown him someone who he could be a brother to and have them be a brother to him. He wanted the comfort of that peace more than he wanted the petty satisfaction of violence. Despite that Odin was offering him a clear outlet for that violence, he wasn't going to take it. Hate no longer seemed so desirable to the younger King.

Moving forward to Odin, Frey wanted his brother to choose comfort instead of shame. Putting his left hand on his brother's right shoulder, he chose to impart his father's wisdom. "Don't hold on to this pain, remember to live."

Odin's gaze snapped up when he heard those words again, the last words of the previous Lord of Vanaheim before he was bloodily murdered along with his wife. He expected a blow to follow those words, but it didn't. Frey had a gentle look on his face. It wasn't a look of vengeance. Words escaped him so he just stood and stared. The last time he heard those painful words were when he apologized to Frigga. Like Frey, she didn't seem to understand what he deserved for what he'd done. She told him to let his pain go and live his life with her. She'd been trying since that moment to get him to let go of that shame. Odin wondered then if he used pride, stoicism, and thoughtlessness to cover the shame.

"My father was a wise man to many people, myself included. I believe that there's wisdom in those words for you too, brother." Putting his other hand on Odin's left shoulder, Frey met Odin's gaze fully. "Don't hold on to this pain, remember to live." He squeezed the shoulders of the man before him. "It's time for both of us to let go of this pain and live, brother. Truly live!"

Profound shock rolled in tsunami like tides through Odin's mind. This couldn't be right, couldn't be happening. Frey couldn't be telling him to, to, to feel better about what happened. No, this isn't right. I can't, why? It was like Frigga all over again with those words. "Frey, I can't." Shaking his head and looking down. Odin knew this couldn't be right, not with Frey. Maybe if he told Frey what he'd told Frigga all those years ago his Little Brother would understand. Frigga never did, she refused. "It was my fault. I should have done more to stop him. I can't let that go, I shouldn't. I don't deserve to." Stepping back, he looked to the door that part of him wanted to go through; get the pain over with. A different part of him wanted to bask in his wife's protection. Frigga would never hurt him. She was such a marvelous creature and more than he ever deserved. "I should be in that room." He whispered to himself. That cerulean tiled room or the one that his bargain led him to back in Asgard. There was deserved pain in either.

The nature of Odin's wound was becoming slowly more defined to Frey. There was a crushing sense of self-loathing lurking beneath the vain pride that Odin had carried around for so long. Now that the vain pride had been shattered the self-loathing shame had broken free and wasn't going to be easily let go of. It almost shocked him that Odin felt this way. His wrathful anger hid this from him as it hid so many other things. He stepped into Odin's gaze. "Yes, brother. You've held on to this for too long. I did too. We've both been sickened by it. This isn't what my father would want for you. He would want you to let go of this, to heal and be whole. Both of my parents would want that for us."

"I didn't do enough to stop their deaths. I can't let that go." Odin wondered if Frey was going to hit him or not. This wasn't going well.

Frey knew his father would be disappointed if he didn't try to heal Odin. It was an awkward acknowledgement that he needed to heal himself as well. When Odin met his gaze he made what he felt was a strong point. It was manipulative, but as a healer he was sworn to do all in his power to heal any injury presented to him. "My parents wouldn't want revenge and pain. They wouldn't want me to seek revenge and pain. They particularly wouldn't want you to live in pain because you married their beloved daughter, and you make her happy. You are their son-by-law, and they would want you to heal. I want you to heal. I know Frigga does too. Why do you think she's stuck us in this room? It isn't to embarrass us." Little tears misted over Frey's eyes again. "She wants us to heal. She's not wrong. We both need and deserve to heal. Please brother, come with me. Let us heal."

Cold tears washed over Odin's eyes. They were wiped away swiftly. "I don't know if I can."

"We'll work together." I want to heal! "Speak with me on this matter. We'll talk through it."

"I don't think me regaling you with how Borr destroyed our lives will aid you, brother." His gaze drifted down as he gripped quietly. There was no good way around the fact that he held Frey's chains. He just couldn't see a way that he deserved to be forgiven, that he deserved to let the pain go.

Borr destroyed your life?! I tore the weakness from you and made you strong! I made you feared. There is no King who isn't afraid of you. You didn't know where to go and I gave you a direction. I didn't destroy your life. I shaped it, the beast within him spoke. It was the longest single communication from Borr that he had since he killed Borr in the throne room of Asgard.

You destroyed everything. It's all you know how to do, Odin shot back bitterly. Be silent or I'll silence you again. A sour growling rumbled out of the beast's throat as the only answer to his threat.

It was just a little slip of the tongue, but Frey caught it none the less. 'Borr destroyed our lives'. Did he do something to you too. Frey worried then. Borr placed a curse in Odin's heartstring, his own son. He laughed as his other two sons died on the field of battle. The Mad King spared no one. Was there more than just the curse? "We've hidden this for long enough. Hidden from it for long enough. If we're to let go of this then both of us need to discuss it with someone. We've lived with these injuries for too long." His gaze drifted back to the door, then forwards to Odin, then down to the floor. "I know that part of me never left that room and that moment. I'm starting to wonder if part of you never left it either. Maybe Frigga was the only one who escaped. That must be why she's doing this, so that we can escape and heal. She loves us enough to try. I love her enough to try to heal. I know that you love Frigga enough to try as well." Frey took a deep breath. "My parents would want you to heal. Frigga wants it and I know that I want it too. Loki stood between you and Lady Audhumbla and wants you to heal. I know that Thor would want you to heal. We all do. You're strong enough to try, brother. Come with me on this healing journey. Please try for us."

It was odd to Odin that at that moment he should think of his mother. Towards the end of their time together she urged him to go to the library as often as he could, and to be as little like his father as he could. He had a growing feeling that she too would have wanted him to heal. Ve certainly would have told him to heal since it was always his Elder Brother who dragged him to the healing rooms when Borr would let them go. It was always days after they were let down from hanging on the wall in the 'discipline room'. There were people that he loved who would have wanted him to heal if they were still alive. Then there were the people who lived and wanted him to seek healing currently. Odin didn't understand and wondered if maybe none of them understood either. For a mistake of this magnitude, he was raised to expect and endure brutal punishments. It was simply what he deserved. But is it? Isn't that what Borr wanted, for me to never heal?

You don't need to heal. If you're strong enough to bear the wound then you're too strong for the need of healing, the beast hissed at him contemptuously. You don't deserve to be whole. You never did.

A moment before Odin agreed with the beast he stopped and gave that sentiment some thought. It was what he was raised with, but not the way that Frigga treated him. I don't need to heal, but I do. He couldn't deny that he did need to heal. It was undeniable to him. I'm too strong for healing, but I don't heal as well without it. Not receiving healing seemed foolish even if he could carry the wound around easily. It was certainly something he'd told Loki many times over, that healing is important. He was reminded then that he still needed to have a chat with Loki about hiding injuries and realized suddenly that he was doing the same thing that he told Loki to never do. It only bleeds me out to do that. It makes me weaker to not have healing. Odin was close to agreeing with the beast that he didn't deserve healing when he looked into Frey's eyes again. There was a desire to see him healed in those sky blue eyes. Even if he hasn't forgiven me, he still wants to see me healed. Frigga does too, she always has. Her excitement over his being healed last night wasn't abnormal at all. She always wanted him whole and well.

You cowardly little mare! You dare even consider this?! You won't! The black scaled, red maned beast shrieked loudly at Odin. He could almost feel the foul thing frothing at the mouth as it writhed in his heartstring, infecting his seidr.

Anger at the beast, at Borr for bequeathing him the beast, and at life in general flared to life through Odin's thoughts. He focused the anger into another memory of the training court. He used it to silence the cursed beast again. Borr's madness had made its opinion clear to him though. Again, he thought that he didn't want to be Borr, or have anything to do with him. He wanted to be the opposite of Borr. That's when Odin decided it. He was going to think of what Borr, or his old stoic self, would do in a situation and then do the opposite. Hopefully it would lead to better places than him following his father's madness ever did.

Odin looked down into his Little Brother's eyes. The desire to heal him was still there. It hadn't been a dream. Frigga often had the same look, and she would again. What wouldn't Borr do in this situation? What would I have done before? He never let me go to the healing rooms, and I would have just scarred the wound over and not went to the healing rooms. Right. I know what to do then. "I don't know how, but I will try. I promise you that."

A relieved smile touched Frey's face. Odin thought it about, mulling it over for so long that he worried that his Elder Brother wouldn't take his offer for them to heal from this event. "Good, good. We can talk through this. We can try."

Odin would have agreed but for the near deafening boom coming from where Frey's office was. The enraged roaring in a familiar feminine voice that interrupted them was an appropriate accompaniment to the swift sounds of stone blocks falling and exploding. They could feel the intensity of Frigga's seidr and how it built upon itself to destructive heights. Dust blew into the room from under the door chased after by flaxen seidr fire. Each man's eyes widened, and they turned to go to the door. Odin stopped first. "Brother!"

Frey turned to see what was holding Odin back. It sounded like his palace was being attacked by his sister.

"We need to trust Frigga. As you said, she's doing this for us. Let's wait until she comes back." Odin hoped it was the right choice since he wanted to be out that door and investigating what was happening.

Frey turned back to the door while not going a step further. "She'd best not bring my palace down on us." His words came alongside an increase in the roaring and booming. One final explosion ended the deafening roar. Through the door they could hear things being moved about in the hallway.

The moving boxes stacked neatly in the hallway contained everything that was in her brother's office. Frigga used her extended seidr to pick up and move the last box into the stack before she turned her attention to the satisfying destruction before her.

A few inches above the hallway floor Frigga floated. Her unraveled seidr held her aloft and caused her long blond hair to float up in the back. The skirt of her multi-toned vivid blue silk dress waved gently around her ankles, drifting over her soft cream slippers. A flaxen sphere of seidr surrounded her. Its flaxen light shined brightly in her eyes. The sounds of people running down the hallway towards her drew her attention. She turned sharply to meet them and saw her brother's Council of Lords standing there. They were staring at the destruction before them with looks of disbelief.

"Lady Frigga, where is Lord Frey?" Lord Hrolfr Bengtsson, First Councilman of the Vanaheimr Council of Lords addressed his Princess politely but firmly. His Lord's office was utterly destroyed. He needed to know that his Lord wasn't in the room when it happened.

"All is well, Councilman Bengtsson. My brother is indisposed for the moment, so I'm handling this business for him. You may be dismissed while I handle this." She was going to return to what she was doing when she was interrupted again.

"Excuse me, my Princess, but we must speak with Lord Frey on this. It's most out of the ordinary." This time Lord Jostein Gunvaldsen, Third Councilman of the Vanaheimr Council of Lords addressed her politely.

The shining seidr in Frigga's eyes glowed brighter in irritation. They were keeping her from doing what needed to be done. "I have already informed you that he is indisposed right now. Are you questioning me?"

Lord Jalmari Havard, Second Councilman of the Vanaheimr Council of Lords stepped in then. "My Princess knows that it is surely the Council of Lords' duty to question many things, even the Lord himself if it is appropriate. We mean you no disrespect, but we must know what's going on here and if Lord Frey was injured in whatever happened."

Frigga wrinkled her nose at that. "I haven't harmed your Lord." She turned slowly back towards the ruin of her brother's office. "I'm doing this for him. It was such a vile room, filled with such foul memories. It's past time that he gave up this place. It's sickening him. I won't stand for it any longer."

"Does Lord Frey know that you're doing this?" Lord Hrolfr Bengtsson thought this was a wonderful development, so long as his Lord condoned it. He agreed with his Princess, the room needed to be disposed of. Lord Frey didn't need to be spending his days in the room where his parents were murdered in front of him.

"Yes. He does." I didn't give him a choice so yes, he knows what I'm doing. He doesn't need to be pestered about to right now.

A soft smile touched the lips of Lord Hrolfr Bengtsson. "Is there anything that we can do to assist you, my Lady?"

"Not at the moment. If there is I'll send a messenger to you. Thank you."

"Come," Lord Hrolfr Bengtsson motioned to the other Lords, "Let's leave Lady Frigga to continue her work."

"Thank you, Lord Bengtsson." Frigga turned her attention back to the devastation. The burnt, broken, and crumbled stone of what used to be Frey's office needed to be cleaned up first. Extending her seidr out into the destroyed area let her break down the stone and other debris into the cloud of particulate matter. Spinning a wide Conjuration Spell let her use the cloud of matter to create new glass walls and an arched glass ceiling. After that she conjured dirt from the spell to fill in the space, then grass seeds to grow over the dirt that planted themselves into the soil and grew quickly. Beautiful white stone benches popped up in the grass here and there. Shimmering opalescent white steppingstones were created to lay down pathways to the benches and the center of the forming garden. In that center, Frigga conjured a broad circular fountain that matched the steppingstones. A fully charged Enduring Flood Spell would provide clean clear water to the fountain for at least a thousand years. With the groundwork laid she conjured the seeds for flowers, bushes, trees, and vines to fill the space with life. A riotous rainbow of flowers were going to bloom there, but none of them would be cerulean blue. They planted into the soil easily enough. A watering system tied to the fountain came next so that the seeds would be watered. Frigga spun a Freja's Food for Paradise Weave for each place something was planted in the new garden. There would be adequate fertilizer for the plants also. The last thing Frigga did was to put a wide arch into the garden where the doors used to be. This enclosed garden was going to be open to anyone who walked past it. This was her gift to her brother, to her husband too. "I should have done this years ago."

Raveling her seidr back into her core caused her to step down on the floor as the sphere of flaxen seidr extinguished. Frigga looked over her work. The new garden fit seamlessly into the wall. In a few weeks this was going to be a beautiful space filled with life. Her mother would have loved it. She nodded at it and then turned back to the doors to the sitting room across the hall. Half of her was surprised that they stayed in the room. The other half was pleased that they did. They didn't need to even be involved in the destruction of that room, in anything regarding the old room. Frigga pushed the doors open to see them standing closer together staring at her. "It's done. That vile room is no more." Through the imprinting she could tell that Odin needed her, so she went to him and placed a hand on the side of his face. "Beloved, did something happen while I was out of the room?"

Taking her hand in his, Odin stroked a thumb over her knuckles. "I know you did this because you love us." His voice was soft as he spoke.

For a moment Frigga thought he was going to tell her that he had decided he was going to rebuild the office or some other choice that she disagreed with. She wasn't going to tolerate his harming himself whether it was his choice or not. The more she thought about it the more she came to the conclusion that she never should have agreed to him making unilateral decisions.

"I agree with Frey that you're trying to assist us to heal, that you love us enough to try." Odin took both of her hands in his, another bitter acknowledgement in his mind. "I don't love you less, but I haven't tried as hard as I could. I thought that if I didn't think about it that I could be proud of what I built after it." Shaking his head, he smiled slightly as he looked down into her gorgeous eyes. "I was wrong. I'm going to try to heal, instead of just ignoring this."

Frigga jerked her hands from his and launched herself into his arms, holding him tightly. The receding of his stubbornness was joyous news for her. The possibility for him to heal as he never had was a marvelous way for the day to begin. "Oh, beloved! This is wonderful. Thank you." Odin wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife and basked in the warmth of her love. He still didn't think that he deserved her love but also knew that if he could build a better future then he could earn it. Spending all his time with her was always what he'd wanted. Flaring her seidr to Odin she spoke silently, I love you. He flared his seidr back to her, I love you forever.

Frey smiled as he watched the love his beloved sister and her husband had for one another. Having Sean to hold would have been nice, but they still weren't allowed to embrace in public yet. He still needed to handle that matter. It wasn't for that day though. Frey hoped that Sean's meeting wouldn't last very long that way he could at least have Sean's company. From his interdimensional pocket he summoned a small terminal and logged in to his Royal Server. He cleared his schedule for the next several days and listed his activities as confidential. He sent a note to his Council of Lords that he would be indisposed but would check the server daily for any notes from them or business that absolutely required his attention. Once that was taken care of he dismissed his terminal back to his interdimensional pocket. A short, sharp series of knocks at the door drew his attention.