A/N: Chap 23 review responses are in my forums as normal. As a reminder, I post every Saturday morning barring announced or unexpected absences. I know sometimes notifications on FFN can be hit or miss. Also as a reminder to any new readers, this is a sequel to Theogony. Thanks all to reading.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Public Relations

The moment Taylor stepped onto the rainbow bridge, she found three figures standing within the domed observatory on the edge of creation. Taylor recognized Lady Sif and Gna, but did not know the third. Whoever he was, however, Gna did not appreciate his company judging by her open glare.

The youngest Asgardian turned away from the man to greet Taylor. "Telos! You're well!"

"Hello, Gna."

They gripped their hands in a warrior's clasp, wrist-to-wrist.

Sif stepped forward and did the same. "Your time in training has done you good," Sif said. "You look well."

"As well as can be."

The Lady Sif looked as pale as Gna was dark, but more than that, she looked as if she could have been a distant cousin to Taylor herself. She had a strong chin and cheeks, wide eyes set in a long face, and long dark hair. The hair had no curls to it, hanging straight down the back of her armor, but otherwise the two could have been related.

Sif was a hard woman, Taylor had decided upon their first meeting months ago. Not unkind, but very absolute in her views. She too looked askance at the man who stood awkwardly. "Volstagg and Fandral were originally supposed to accompany me," Sif said. "The Allfather appointed Volstagg as commander of the Einherjar, though, so he could not come. Fandral chose to stay and help his friend. The Allfather also appointed this one as Heimdall's replacement."

"Skurge," the man said, though it took a moment for Taylor to realize he was speaking his name and not his profession. "I fought with Prince Thor on Vanaheim."

Asgardians tended not to have accents, unless they were raised elsewhere. "You're from Vanaheim as well?"

"Far side of it, but that was a long time ago," Skurge said. Despite wicked tattoos, in the presence of Sif and Gna he carried himself uncertainly. The raw, fresh dislike from the two obviously put him on his guard.

Even so, she could still feel his eyes checking her out. She was less inclined to hurt him, though, when his eyes drifted from her chestplate to her weapons. "That is some serious kit, Lady Telos. Planning a battle?"

"It is always better to be prepared," Sif said sharply.

"True enough." Skurge almost physically recoiled from Sif's sharp tone. "Well, ladies, are you ready?"

He walked to the dais, and to Taylor's shock Hofund lay in the key cradle. Not only had Heimdall lost his position, but his weapon too?

Glancing at Gna, Taylor began to understand why she and Sif were so very angry. Still, they had their orders and walked toward the opening of the bronze dome. Taylor followed in kind. "Where are we going?" she asked.

The question made the two older Asgardians share a long look. "You were not told?" Sif finally asked.

Taylor shook her head. "Only that I was to go with you."

Gna laughed. "We go to a land of rainbow men and the finest drink this side of Asgard. Xandar, we come!"

"Wish I were going with you," Skurge announced. He spun the great sword, and before them the endless expanse of stars exploded into a swirl of Bifrost energy.

Gna lost her smile, but said nothing to the man's comment. Instead, she glanced back at Taylor, before she stepped into the swirling tunnel of rainbow light and disappeared. Sif followed without looking back.

Her heart surged with excitement. Ducking her head, Taylor stepped into the bifrost.

Ten seconds of eternity, bathed in the rainbow blood of the Universe itself, ended with them standing on a broad tarmac. All at once, smells and sights assailed Taylor's senses. Overhead, she saw not one, but three suns in the sky, made small by distance but still lighting the world up like noon in a desert.

Even as she saw the stars, the sky hummed with craft beyond counting, in shapes beyond imagination. Nor did they move like Earth airplanes or jets. None seemed constrained to ballistic movement as they danced around each other in a sky-borne ballet of light, sound and grace.

She'd studied Xandar when she was a daughter of Thanos, but with the ultimate goal of someday destroying it. Now, in the company of two Asgardian warriors, she found herself more grateful than ever that she would not.

Her eyes drifted down to a broad field filled with a variety of different ships. "I see. We came here to purchase a ship."

Sif paused mid-stop. "Oh?"

"In...I have studied Xandar. They are in constant danger from the Kree. It does not seem like this would be a safe place for anything of value. But they are an open world, and so we could buy transport to wherever our final destination is."

Gna grinned. "See, Sif? I told you she's not so young as to be foolish."

Sif actually smiled. "I see." The smile faded. "I'm almost certain this used to be a farm."

Taylor also studied her environment. Opposite the field of older ships, she saw massive hangars, of a size to hold the largest machines earth could make. If she could derive anything about Xandarian architecture, it was a dislike of corners. She saw curves and columns everywhere, but very few right angles.

In the distance, she could see gleaming towers. The city didn't look like New York, with a central clump of tall, clumsy sky-scrapers. The towers looked almost organic, and were spaced such to allow light to reach the streets below. Waterways seemed to run through the city, as if it were built on islands like Venice.

"It has been a while," Sif allowed. "But I recall the Nova headquarters is in the city. Come."

They didn't make it twenty feet down the tarmac when a pair of beautiful, star-shaped space ships dropped down around them. The gold and turquoise color made them flash brilliantly in the multi-sun light.

Sif stepped forward and held up one hand in greeting. Taylor watched as a humanoid figure dropped down from the base of one of the ships in a beam of light. From the ship and uniform, she realized she was looking at a member of the Nova Empire's famed Nova Corps, their sole military and policing organization.

"Greetings," Sif called out. "I am Lady Sif of Asgard. My companions are Lady Gna and Lady Telos. We come in peace and friendship."

The man missed a step. "Asgardians?" He blinked, studying them, before shaking his head as if to wake himself. "I apologize. Our history books tell us a Lady Sif accompanied Prince Thor of Asgard in an expeditionary force that helped save Xandar during the Kree Incursions of 7035, four hundred years ago."

Sif smiled brilliantly. "It was a worthy fight, and I was honored by my prince to join him despite my inexperience at the time. It is good that your people remember."

The man staring at them in his futuristic blue uniform seemed to make a decision. He bowed his head. "I am honored to greet you on behalf of the Nova Corps. I am Denarian Garthan Saal. It would be my honor to escort you to Nova Prime."

"The honor is ours, Denarian Saal," Sif said smoothly.

Transport was summoned, and soon enough they were on their way out of the spaceport. As often happened since she regained her memories, Taylor's mind bounced between naive exhilaration that she was on a vehicle that looked a lot like something from Star Wars, and the grim knowledge that the Nova Empire's openness and generosity would eventually be their undoing.

The transport was even open-topped, but Taylor could feel a field of static that reduced the air of that passage to a gentle breeze. She also saw large numbers of colorful people emerging from subterranean transport tubs as they flew over the city. Now that she was seeing the many species that made up the empire, she understood Gna's reference to rainbow men. The place looked ...perfect.

"Your people have done well, Denarian Saal," Sif said, also admiring the open atmosphere. "When King Odin aided Xandar against the Kree's first strikes a thousand years ago, he told our people you would be worthy allies. I see now how true his words were."

Saal stood a little taller, sucking in his stomach like someone about to show off for a girl. "I'm honored to hear that, Lady Sif. Our conflict with the Kree has been long and hard, but Asgard's help, both at our founding and four centuries ago, helped ensure we had the means of defending ourselves until peace could be achieved."

Taylor saw to a star-shaped vessel flying to their left and slightly behind. To the right, another fell in beside them, forming an escort.

"If I may, what brings you Xandar, my lady?"

"My companions have reached an age where they will benefit most from seeing other worlds and cultures," Sif lied smoothly. "I remember my time on Xandar fondly, and thought this would be a good place to obtain a ship to better explore worlds beyond the Nine Realms. The Bifrost, as you've seen, can be disruptive."

The man glanced at Gna and Taylor. "Just out of curiosity, what age would benefit from such travel."

"Oh, we youths can count only a handful of centuries," Gna said with her own brilliant smile. "But I am quite excited to see more of the Cosmos!"

Taylor knew the Xandarians never saw more than two and a half centuries, and then only with good health care. The Denarian himself was likely in his forties. With Gna's comment, the others just assumed Taylor was the same.

When the transport reached the headquarters of the Nova Corps, Taylor had no idea that they were conducting an actual state visit. However, almost from the moment they entered the building she found herself surrounded by the cream of Xandari society.

When Nova Prime herself-the head of the entire empire-greeted them, she understood then just what it meant to have Asgardians visit. The woman literally fawned over Sif.

"My great, great, great grandfather was at the battle, you see," Irani Rael said as she led the three Asgardians on a tour of the newly constructed Nova Prime Administrative Center. "My own grandfather used to show me recordings of interviews where Nathani spoke of you, personally, as well as the mighty Thor."

Taylor felt no surprise when the Lady Sif nodded. "Nathani? I remember. His family name was not Rael, though, was it? Rather, he was Nathani Urdulin. A centurion of your Nova Corps, if memory serves, and a worthy warrior."

The Nova Prime virtually melted at her ancestor's name. Her hero worship came perilously close to religious awe. As Taylor looked around at the many members of the Nova Corps who attended Irani Rael's entourage, she saw similar expressions of awe in their faces at this seeming confirmation not just of Lady Sif, but of Nova Prime's esteemed ancestry.

Sif handled it like a polished politician. Her smile remained calm and welcoming, and Gna was the same, acting as the silent companion to Sif's greater experience.

"Lady Telos, I must say your armor is exquisite," Rael said. While Taylor was ruminating, the Nova Prime had made sure to address all of her guests, even the youngest one. She reached out a gloved hand to touch the feathers. "Where did you ever fashion such…"

The touch made Taylor's wings twitch, in the same way an unexpected hand on her arm would make her arm twitch. The Nova Prima jerked her hand away in surprise and a nervous laugh.

"The armor was crafted by the dwarves of Nidavellir, but the wings are part of me," Taylor said, flexing them a little to demonstrate.

"I'm so very sorry!"

Taylor forced a laugh. "There is no offense, Nova Prime." She intentionally pitched her voice and affected an accent to be the same as her companions. "It is my honor to be here and to meet you. I'll make sure the dwarves who gifted me this armor hear your kind words."

The tour continued, and that evening Taylor attended her first state dinner. Xandarian politicians of every color came by to introduce themselves to the three Asgardians before they were seated in a vast hall of windows that gave them a breath-taking view of the auroras that having three suns caused every night.

The food defied description. Beyond the basics of meat, or vegetables, she could not identify anything she ate. The flavors were fantastic even so, making the samples that Yon Rogg gave her a lifetime ago pale in comparison. The conversation, though, proved bothersome.

"We sincerely hoped that by bringing Ahl Agulla into the Empire as a partner world we could have the leverage we needed to force the Kree to sue for peace," Nova Prime said to Sif as the meal progressed. "It's difficult to negotiate with an Empire that has such slavish control over its population. The Kree have been all but programmed to view the Nova Empire as monsters of the highest order, when the truth is every aggression in the conflict was at the hands of Kree accusers. However, the Agulla were such glorious warriors that we hoped their addition to our Star Corps could turn the tide."

Taylor found herself looking down at her half-eaten meal, no longer hungry.

"The Kree Government controls all information their people receive," another Xandarian said, this one with striking crimson skin and bright, yellow eyes. "All forms of media on Hala and the various Kree outpost worlds show only state-approved programming. Any inquiries in their information nets are programmed by the artificial intelligence to return only answers the state wants their people to have. We've studied their propaganda machine and we must admit it is frighteningly effective."

The Krylorian man paused to sip his wine before he continued. "The Kree attacked Xandar a thousand years ago, and if not for Asgard's intervention, we would have perished. Four hundred years ago, the Kree fleet almost reached Xandar again, and once more our allies from Asgard stepped forward to help us. The empire ruthlessly slaughter any Nova outpost they can. Every time lives are lost, it was at the hands of Kree Aggression. And yet, every time, the Kree claim it is the Nova Empire that struck first."

"The most dangerous threat to tyranny is a well-informed public," Irani Rael declared. She spoke with all the fervency of a fanatic. "That is why the Nova Corps exists, and why the Nova Empire has the highest citizen quality of life index in the galaxy! It is worth defending!"

"Here, here!" Sif said, raising her wine glass. "To Xandar!"

The Asgardian's enthusiasm pierced the political mien. Xandarians of every species stood and raised their glasses. Gna and Taylor followed for a rousing toast.

The suite they were provided that night held a level of luxury Taylor didn't know existed. Whole walls could provide movie-like entertainment. Food appeared on a drop-down table, while each of their rooms featured beds that could have slept whole basketball teams.

She left her own room to find Sif leaning back in a comfortable, private patio with a tall, slim glass of something orange. Gna had the same, even while she picked out food on the drop-down table. The skies shimmered from the caress of three sun's worth of stellar material against the planet's enhanced magnetic fields.

"Join us for ale, Telos," Sif called.

Taylor poured herself a glass from what appeared to be a self-cooling pitcher, and when she offered, the two Asgardians both accepted refills. She grabbed a handful of bright orange-colored grape-like fruit and sat down in the lounge opposite Sif.

"You were really good," she said as she sat.

Sif waved her hand. "Asgard has not had as much of a presence in the larger universe for many centuries. When we go abroad, it's important to purport ourselves well. As you did, I'm relieved to say."

"Relieved?"

Gna snorted. "You are very young, Taylor. The Lady Sif has seen a thousand winters. I'm accounted a child at just three hundred. You carry yourself well, but you haven't even seen two decades yet."

The Lady Sif studied Taylor intently. "I have yet to hear the full story of what happened at the palace during the Dark Elf incursion. All I know was that Mjolinr was destroyed and Thor had to request a new weapon from the dwarves."

"Is he pleased with it, at least?"

Gna laughed. "Oh, he is. It is an enormous axe he calls Stormbreaker. He speaks to it like it is his favored child. Or he did, before he began a quest to find his brother and the assassins. He left shortly before we did."

The dark reminder of what brought Taylor here dimmed the mood. "Malekith had a creature with him. Lord Freyr called it a Kursed. It beat Thor, and even broke my wing despite my taking an Infinity Stone within me and restoring my magic. With Thor injured and the King and Queen in danger, I summoned Mjolinr and struck the Kursed with it."

Gna and Sif both stared. "You summoned Mjolnir?" Gna asked.

Sif, though, understood there was more. "What happened, Telos?"

"I killed the Kursed," Taylor said quickly. "But...it broke Mjolnir. Then the Allfather made me surrender the Infinity Stone, but it was very hard. It was still in the form of the Aether and fought my releasing it. In getting it out, I accidentally hurt the Allfather. It was why he went into the Odinsleep, and why I was sent for more training."

"Training with whom?"

Taylor thought of Heimdall's refusal to see Buri. "I was receiving training from friends of the Queen." She took off her rings, then concentrated on the dissonance that she could feel even here to summon flame in her hand. "In my old world, I had very powerful magic. I lost it when I was injured and thrown here, and so the Queen thought to help me learn Asgardian Magic. My teacher said I was a fast learner." She let the flame dissipate. "In fifty years I might be halfway decent. Until then, he had the dwarves gift me these rings to help me with the magic."

She slipped them back on.

"And your weapons? If we should go into battle, I would know how you can help. Show me."

Sif stood and stepped closer in her curiosity. Taylor pulled her bow and expanded it.

Sif's eyes widened. "That's spectacular!"

"I know, right?" Taylor couldn't help but gush. "Dvalinn said she spun Uru with moonlight, with enchanted arrows that will never shatter and always return to the quiver. The draw weight is ridiculous!"

Sif hooked her fingers on the shimmering string of dark energy. She did not pull with her drawing fingers, but rather set her right hand to pull, while pushing with her left. Even so, she could not fully draw it.

"Show me."

She handed it back and let Taylor draw the weapon. The moment she had it back, one of Dvalinn's enchanted arrows shimmered perfectly into place. She did not fire, though. Everywhere she looked were buildings and people, and she knew from the handful of exploded tree trunks how dangerous the arrows were. She let the draw pull back and replaced both.

"The blade?"

Suddenly she felt less sure. "It is Misteltein."

Gna gasped. Sif blinked in surprise, only to slowly nod. "I can see why she would give it to you. You know it's history?"

"I do."

"It is as I said," Gna added. "You look much like the Queen in her youth. I've seen pictures of her, and you carry the same beauty and strength. And the final weapon?" Sif looked at her staff.

Taylor lifted it off her hip, but was as unsure about it as the sword. "It is enchanted similar to Mjolnir. You will not be able to lift it, I don't believe."

She expanded the staff to its full seven-foot height. Sif studied it in silence, glancing from it to Taylor, before nodding. "A fine staff indeed. I think should we encounter any trouble, you will be a worthy addition to our party."

~~Titanomachy~~

~~Titanomachy~~

The quarters that the Xandarians gifted them were luxurious. A simple spell, learned from her very first book of magic, ensured no devices could see or listen to her. Even so, sleep did not come. Instead, she used the terminal that came with the room to access the vast Nova Empire public Internex.

An hour or two after the others went to bed, she heard a knock and turned to see Sif step into the room. She'd changed out of her armor, as had Taylor herself, and wore a simple gown. The older warrior turned and closed the door.

Confused, Taylor stood to meet her, only to pause when Sif gently took her face in her hands. "I see it now. I know now that I can trust you. So trust me when I give you this last word. You were wise not to speak the name of your teacher. Continue to hold that wisdom...do not speak the name, not here nor anywhere else. In company, call him Tiwaz."

"You know him?"

"Only those related to the royal family know," Sif admitted. "It was Queen Frigga's wish that I wed her son and be queen after her. I met him as a youth. But Thor ever did see me as a sister."

"That...really sucks."

It took Sif a moment to understand the euphemism. "Like a singularity," she agreed. "Because I assure you, I have never viewed that man as a brother. Still, my queen took me before your teacher. He spoke only a few words to me, but evidently found me worthy enough. But you...that is where you have been, isn't it?"

"I...lost my magic when I came here. He helped train me in using the magic of this Universe. I still have lots to learn, but at least now I can fly again. He reminds me of my father."

To her surprise, Sif pulled her into a hug. "With those weapons, you have been adopted into the royal family. We are now cousins. And I am glad you are here. Sleep well, Telos."

With that, Sif left her room. Taylor looked at her bed, then back at the Internex terminal with all of its completely free treatises on FTL travel, energy generation and general sciences.

She sat back down and began to read.

A/N: To those who celebrate it, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving. To those who don't, have a happy Thor's Day.