5. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS.
Bobby stirred in his sleep, then awoke. He rubbed his eyes, wondering as he did so why his mattress felt so hard and stiff beneath him. Had Wolverine's occasional threat during Danger Room sessions finally been fulfilled, and living conditions become so spartan at the mansion that bed and board were now the same thing? Then he looked about them, at the wooden hall that he and the others were sleeping in, and remembered. It was all that he could do, though, to keep himself from crying out in shock.
The others awoke, one by one, soon after that. There was no sign of Ivar about in the hall.
"Where do you suppose he is?" asked Jubilee.
"Maybe he gets his own bedroom," said Roberto. "I mean, he owns this place."
"He probably gets a real bed, too," muttered Amara, with a pained expression on her face. "Even plebeians have better accomodations than this back home."
"Good morning," said Ivar just then, entering the hall from the curtained recess at the far end. "I take it that you are all ready to break your fast?"
"Well, I certainly am," said Roberto.
"Same here," said Sam. The other New Mutants voiced their general assent to that.
"And I'm still ready to help you out against this Alfadur dude," said Bobby. He ignored Amara's silent glower. "I don't know about the others, though."
"Well, I'm interested," said Ray. "I want some proper action around here. I'm sick and tired of only getting to use my powers in training sessions. I want the real deal!"
"I also like the idea," said Roberto. "So I'll stay and help out."
"I cannot believe you three," said Amara, shaking her head in disgust. "What about the Professor, and everyone else back at the mansion? Shouldn't they have some say in all of this?"
"Nah, Professor X'd simply tell us that we weren't ready for it yet," said Bobby. "He'd have the big kids do it instead, as usual. This could be the only shot we have at showing him what we're made of."
"Showing him?" repeated Amara. "He isn't even here to see this! How will he know what we did?"
"You can tell him when you get back to the mansion," said Bobby. "Just tell the Prof that I and Ray and Roberto are all fine, and we'll be back as soon as we can."
Amara sighed. "Well, what about the rest of you?" she asked, looking at the remaining four New Mutants. "Are you also lunatic enough to involve yourselves in this enterprise?"
"I'm not," said Rahne. "I'm holdin' with ya, Amara. I say that we need to be lookin' for a way back to the mansion."
"Same here," said Sam. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have some real adventure for a change, but the others'll be out looking for us, wondering where we are. We really ought to let them know that we're fine - and that means getting back home as fast as we can."
"Well, I'm staying with Bobby and the others," said Jubilee. "I'm tired of living in the older students' shadow. Especially after seeing the way that Kitty's been looking at me during training sessions. She's got this little look on her face, as if to say 'I've been on missions and you haven't.' Well, now I can finally keep up with her."
Amara sighed. "Well, four fools, and three sensible folk," she said. "And what about you, Jamie?" she asked, turning to the youngest of the New Mutants. "Which are you?"
"Well..." began Jamie, then hesitated. He looked back and forth, first at Bobby, then at Amara, then back at Bobby.
"Actually, you might as well stay with Amara and the others," said Bobby. "I mean, what can you do to help us out, Multiple? Seriously? I don't think that there's going to be that much demand for a small army of 12-year-olds here."
Jamie sighed. "I'll go with you," he said to Amara, a downcast look on his face.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you haven't taken leave of your senses," said Amara. "So that's settled, then. You and your friends can stay here like the reckless fools you are," she said to Bobby, "while I and the others go looking for some way of getting back into the laboratory."
"Well, maybe you're right about that," said Bobby, after thinking it over for a bit. "After all, somebody's got to get back to the mansion and set things up so that we can go home when we're done here. It's a dull job, but somebody's got to do it."
"Thank you," said Amara stiffly.
"I shall provide you with some food for your journey," said Ivar. "You younglings will need it to sustain you, when you depart from my hall."
"Thanks, Mr. Hakonson," said Sam. "That's really nice of you - but won't that be something of a problem for you? I mean, wouldn't those Reivers have stolen a lot of it from you already?"
"I have managed to keep Alfadur's tribute gatherers at bay so far," said Ivar. "It has not been easy, true, but they have not carried off even a crust of bread or sliver of meat, nor one drop of mead, from my home. So I have enough to spare. I will have my servants set aside some for you, to bear upon your travels."
"That's very kind of you," said Amara.
"I will have the servants prepare the morning meal for you," said Ivar, walking back towards the curtained recess. "Wait you here while I attend to that."
* * *
Loki, still in Ivar's form this time, watched as his servitors (really a pair of dark elves in human guise) prepared the morning's breakfast. Four small packs were already lying upon the snow by his feet, which he looked down at with an approving smile.
There was a sudden shimmering in the air, and Heimir appeared behind him. Loki spun about at once, managing only barely to preserve his disguise.
"Never do that again, Heimir!" he almost shouted, barely managing to keep his voice level. "Give me some sort of warning before you arrive!"
"I am deeply sorry," said Heimir, in a stiff and not especially apologetic tone of voice. "How goes it with the younglings, Laufeyson? That we are anxious to know."
"Four of them are willing to help," said Loki. "The young ice wizard is chief among them; so is the youth known as Berzerker - a name which I certainly consider a good omen for us - the girl called Jubilee, and the youth named Sunspot. The last one bears particular promise. After all, his powers come from the radiance of the sun itself. That should more than offset the unfortunate effect that her light has upon the trolls - and even your own folk, to a certain extent."
"That also means that we will not be able to attack the sun and quench its light until after we have no further use for that human boy," said Heimir, not sounding too pleased with the prospect.
"True," said Loki, with a shrug. "I will simply have to send a message to Skoll, telling him to be patient and restrain himself from his attempts at overtaking the sun and devouring her. But then again, he's been pursuing his intended prey for many thousands of years; he can wait a while longer."
"And what of the other four?" Heimir asked. "I take it that they have refused."
"Yes," said Loki. "But I do not see any great trouble there. Not when your own race have such an interesting method of persuading them." He glanced down at the four packs of provisions. "And thank you for supplying me with it, as well."
"And it had better not fail," said Heimir grimly.
"It has never failed yet," said Loki. "Tell the others not to worry. We will have our champions from Midgard, all ready to do our bidding. Just you wait."
Heimir nodded in silence, and vanished. Loki picked up one of the packs, and stroked it gently, murmuring to himself, "Now, how does it go again? Ah, yes. 'Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow, your humanity shall die.'"
* * *
After breakfast, the eight young mutants were gathered by the gate to the yard surrounding Ivar's hall, in two separate groups. Roberto, Ray, and Jubilee stood by Bobby, to the left of the gate, and Rahne, Sam, and Jamie stood by Amara to the right.
While all eight of them still wore their ordinary clothes from Bayville, Ivar had given each one after the meal a warm fur-lined cloak, pinned at the shoulder with a small brooch. They looked decidedly incongruous, thrown over modern-day shirts and jeans, but at least they kept some of the cold out.
"So you four are still going through with this?" asked Amara, to Bobby and his companions. From the way that she spoke, it sounded as though she had already concluded that they were going to do just that, and that there was no point in arguing with them over it any further.
Bobby nodded. "And I suppose that it's the same way with you," he added.
"Indeed it is," said Amara, a trifle stiffly.
"Well, then, best wishes to you," said Bobby. "Once we're done here, we'll see if we can catch up with you if you're still here - or get back to the lab if you've already found a way of getting there."
"I should hope so," said Amara.
Ivar rode up at that point, mounted on a grey horse. Four other horses, all saddled and ready to ride, followed behind him.
"Are you all prepared, then?" he asked, looking down at Bobby and his friends. "Good. Mount up, then. We have a long journey ahead of us, and it will be better to travel on horseback than on foot."
"Hey!" said Jamie. "They get horses, and we don't?"
"It does make sense," said Amara. "We wouldn't be able to take them with us, and I don't think that it would be particularly feasible to send them back once we do find a place where we can return to the mansion."
"I prefer walking, myself," added Rahne.
"Well, then we're off," said Bobby, mounting up. "See you later, guys!"
After some hurried good-byes exchanged between the two groups of New Mutants, they parted ways. Ivar led Bobby and his team off, all riding, towards the north. Amara, Sam, Rahne, and Jamie walked off eastwards, cloaks pulled about them and packs on their backs.
A few minutes after both groups of the New Mutants had disappeared over the horizon, the hall and the fence around it shimmered, and faded away. Nothing was left to mark the spot where they had stood but open snow-covered ground.
Bobby stirred in his sleep, then awoke. He rubbed his eyes, wondering as he did so why his mattress felt so hard and stiff beneath him. Had Wolverine's occasional threat during Danger Room sessions finally been fulfilled, and living conditions become so spartan at the mansion that bed and board were now the same thing? Then he looked about them, at the wooden hall that he and the others were sleeping in, and remembered. It was all that he could do, though, to keep himself from crying out in shock.
The others awoke, one by one, soon after that. There was no sign of Ivar about in the hall.
"Where do you suppose he is?" asked Jubilee.
"Maybe he gets his own bedroom," said Roberto. "I mean, he owns this place."
"He probably gets a real bed, too," muttered Amara, with a pained expression on her face. "Even plebeians have better accomodations than this back home."
"Good morning," said Ivar just then, entering the hall from the curtained recess at the far end. "I take it that you are all ready to break your fast?"
"Well, I certainly am," said Roberto.
"Same here," said Sam. The other New Mutants voiced their general assent to that.
"And I'm still ready to help you out against this Alfadur dude," said Bobby. He ignored Amara's silent glower. "I don't know about the others, though."
"Well, I'm interested," said Ray. "I want some proper action around here. I'm sick and tired of only getting to use my powers in training sessions. I want the real deal!"
"I also like the idea," said Roberto. "So I'll stay and help out."
"I cannot believe you three," said Amara, shaking her head in disgust. "What about the Professor, and everyone else back at the mansion? Shouldn't they have some say in all of this?"
"Nah, Professor X'd simply tell us that we weren't ready for it yet," said Bobby. "He'd have the big kids do it instead, as usual. This could be the only shot we have at showing him what we're made of."
"Showing him?" repeated Amara. "He isn't even here to see this! How will he know what we did?"
"You can tell him when you get back to the mansion," said Bobby. "Just tell the Prof that I and Ray and Roberto are all fine, and we'll be back as soon as we can."
Amara sighed. "Well, what about the rest of you?" she asked, looking at the remaining four New Mutants. "Are you also lunatic enough to involve yourselves in this enterprise?"
"I'm not," said Rahne. "I'm holdin' with ya, Amara. I say that we need to be lookin' for a way back to the mansion."
"Same here," said Sam. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have some real adventure for a change, but the others'll be out looking for us, wondering where we are. We really ought to let them know that we're fine - and that means getting back home as fast as we can."
"Well, I'm staying with Bobby and the others," said Jubilee. "I'm tired of living in the older students' shadow. Especially after seeing the way that Kitty's been looking at me during training sessions. She's got this little look on her face, as if to say 'I've been on missions and you haven't.' Well, now I can finally keep up with her."
Amara sighed. "Well, four fools, and three sensible folk," she said. "And what about you, Jamie?" she asked, turning to the youngest of the New Mutants. "Which are you?"
"Well..." began Jamie, then hesitated. He looked back and forth, first at Bobby, then at Amara, then back at Bobby.
"Actually, you might as well stay with Amara and the others," said Bobby. "I mean, what can you do to help us out, Multiple? Seriously? I don't think that there's going to be that much demand for a small army of 12-year-olds here."
Jamie sighed. "I'll go with you," he said to Amara, a downcast look on his face.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you haven't taken leave of your senses," said Amara. "So that's settled, then. You and your friends can stay here like the reckless fools you are," she said to Bobby, "while I and the others go looking for some way of getting back into the laboratory."
"Well, maybe you're right about that," said Bobby, after thinking it over for a bit. "After all, somebody's got to get back to the mansion and set things up so that we can go home when we're done here. It's a dull job, but somebody's got to do it."
"Thank you," said Amara stiffly.
"I shall provide you with some food for your journey," said Ivar. "You younglings will need it to sustain you, when you depart from my hall."
"Thanks, Mr. Hakonson," said Sam. "That's really nice of you - but won't that be something of a problem for you? I mean, wouldn't those Reivers have stolen a lot of it from you already?"
"I have managed to keep Alfadur's tribute gatherers at bay so far," said Ivar. "It has not been easy, true, but they have not carried off even a crust of bread or sliver of meat, nor one drop of mead, from my home. So I have enough to spare. I will have my servants set aside some for you, to bear upon your travels."
"That's very kind of you," said Amara.
"I will have the servants prepare the morning meal for you," said Ivar, walking back towards the curtained recess. "Wait you here while I attend to that."
* * *
Loki, still in Ivar's form this time, watched as his servitors (really a pair of dark elves in human guise) prepared the morning's breakfast. Four small packs were already lying upon the snow by his feet, which he looked down at with an approving smile.
There was a sudden shimmering in the air, and Heimir appeared behind him. Loki spun about at once, managing only barely to preserve his disguise.
"Never do that again, Heimir!" he almost shouted, barely managing to keep his voice level. "Give me some sort of warning before you arrive!"
"I am deeply sorry," said Heimir, in a stiff and not especially apologetic tone of voice. "How goes it with the younglings, Laufeyson? That we are anxious to know."
"Four of them are willing to help," said Loki. "The young ice wizard is chief among them; so is the youth known as Berzerker - a name which I certainly consider a good omen for us - the girl called Jubilee, and the youth named Sunspot. The last one bears particular promise. After all, his powers come from the radiance of the sun itself. That should more than offset the unfortunate effect that her light has upon the trolls - and even your own folk, to a certain extent."
"That also means that we will not be able to attack the sun and quench its light until after we have no further use for that human boy," said Heimir, not sounding too pleased with the prospect.
"True," said Loki, with a shrug. "I will simply have to send a message to Skoll, telling him to be patient and restrain himself from his attempts at overtaking the sun and devouring her. But then again, he's been pursuing his intended prey for many thousands of years; he can wait a while longer."
"And what of the other four?" Heimir asked. "I take it that they have refused."
"Yes," said Loki. "But I do not see any great trouble there. Not when your own race have such an interesting method of persuading them." He glanced down at the four packs of provisions. "And thank you for supplying me with it, as well."
"And it had better not fail," said Heimir grimly.
"It has never failed yet," said Loki. "Tell the others not to worry. We will have our champions from Midgard, all ready to do our bidding. Just you wait."
Heimir nodded in silence, and vanished. Loki picked up one of the packs, and stroked it gently, murmuring to himself, "Now, how does it go again? Ah, yes. 'Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow, your humanity shall die.'"
* * *
After breakfast, the eight young mutants were gathered by the gate to the yard surrounding Ivar's hall, in two separate groups. Roberto, Ray, and Jubilee stood by Bobby, to the left of the gate, and Rahne, Sam, and Jamie stood by Amara to the right.
While all eight of them still wore their ordinary clothes from Bayville, Ivar had given each one after the meal a warm fur-lined cloak, pinned at the shoulder with a small brooch. They looked decidedly incongruous, thrown over modern-day shirts and jeans, but at least they kept some of the cold out.
"So you four are still going through with this?" asked Amara, to Bobby and his companions. From the way that she spoke, it sounded as though she had already concluded that they were going to do just that, and that there was no point in arguing with them over it any further.
Bobby nodded. "And I suppose that it's the same way with you," he added.
"Indeed it is," said Amara, a trifle stiffly.
"Well, then, best wishes to you," said Bobby. "Once we're done here, we'll see if we can catch up with you if you're still here - or get back to the lab if you've already found a way of getting there."
"I should hope so," said Amara.
Ivar rode up at that point, mounted on a grey horse. Four other horses, all saddled and ready to ride, followed behind him.
"Are you all prepared, then?" he asked, looking down at Bobby and his friends. "Good. Mount up, then. We have a long journey ahead of us, and it will be better to travel on horseback than on foot."
"Hey!" said Jamie. "They get horses, and we don't?"
"It does make sense," said Amara. "We wouldn't be able to take them with us, and I don't think that it would be particularly feasible to send them back once we do find a place where we can return to the mansion."
"I prefer walking, myself," added Rahne.
"Well, then we're off," said Bobby, mounting up. "See you later, guys!"
After some hurried good-byes exchanged between the two groups of New Mutants, they parted ways. Ivar led Bobby and his team off, all riding, towards the north. Amara, Sam, Rahne, and Jamie walked off eastwards, cloaks pulled about them and packs on their backs.
A few minutes after both groups of the New Mutants had disappeared over the horizon, the hall and the fence around it shimmered, and faded away. Nothing was left to mark the spot where they had stood but open snow-covered ground.