Harry slept peacefully, until he felt water splashing onto his face. Cold water. That wasn't the most pleasant substance to be hit with, but this wake up call was much better than one that he had a questionable honor of getting when at Privet Drive. He jolted up and looked around to see the sun was slowly rising and his dad was standing in the room with an amused look in his eyes. Initially he had trouble believing in what was going on around him, but somehow his mind managed to realize that it was real.
"What was that?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes as he looked at Thor. Looking at the God of Thunder, he could tell that Thor was not a dream and this huge man really cared about him. This was a strange new phenomena for him, as previously he didn't have a single person to trust or care about him
"Wake up call," was the only reply from smiling God of Thunder. "Get dressed. Today you'll start learning about the Æsir and Asgard. Maybe some training too. I spoke with one of my friends that has son your age and can teach you a great many things."
Upon hearing those words, Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement. Although he wasn't sure if he heard things right. He looked at Thor, who slowly nodded.
"I'm not joking about that and you remind me more and more of your mother."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked looking at Thor, always ready to learn more about his parents.
"She had that same gleam in her eyes when she had an opportunity to learn anything new," said Thor and looked at Harry, "Get dressed and I'll show you around."
Harry jumped off his bed excitedly and the moment he saw that Thor was out of the room, he grabbed fresh clothes and walked to the bathroom. The bathroom was the sole room he didn't pay much attention to when he was exploring his rooms. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw how big his bathroom was. He never expected it to be so large.
It looked for him as if it was as large as living room of Privet Drive, if not larger and everything looked too beautiful to be true. It was hard to believe it was his, and his alone. He stripped out of his clothes and when he looked at himself in a mirror he saw something that he thought was impossible. All of those bruises and scars he had thanks to the Dursley's were gone.
"It's impossible," he said as he moved one of the fingers across one of spots where he knew he used to have a scar. His fingers moved over the soft skin and didn't feel any scar tissue. He blinked a couple of times and shook his head, looked at his clothes and started to dress.
o-0-o
Ten minutes later Harry emerged from his chambers in similar clothes to those he'd worn yesterday and looked at Thor, who stood near, his back resting against one of many pillars that supported the ceiling. As Harry looked around, he had trouble believing that this building could be so huge and massive. He walked to where his dad was standing and looked at the wall behind. It was covered with yet another massive painting, this one showing once more wolves.
"What do you remember from myths or stories about Asgard?" Thor asked as he looked at Harry
"Not much," Harry sheepishly admitted and Thor looked at him, "Dursley's never allowed me to watch the TV and I wasn't allowed to read things other than textbooks." There was a small growl from Thor, that almost immediately went away.
"I should have expected that," he sighed "Anyways in short, in the myths that were on Earth, it was described as the Realm of Gods, Seat of the Allfather."
"We are gods?" Harry asked excitement visible in his voice. He looked at his dad, not sure if this was a joke or not.
Thor shook his head and explained. "We aren't gods, we can be killed, we can die and we can fall ill. Although that is far harder to achieve than with a normal human. If I remember correctly, your uncle managed to lose his head and get it back later."
"He did what?" Harry sputtered, clearly shocked by those words.
"It was a bet," Thor said with a smile. "That he could be fine with his head away from the rest of his body. Indeed he was, although it took some time for him to heal from it. By some time, I mean a few years and help from your grandmother Frigga, who is one of our best healers."
"Alright," Harry said carefully, looking at Thor suspiciously. Losing one's head and still being fine was not a thing that seemed plausible to him.
"Here we are," Thor said after a moment of walking as they stopped in front of doors flanked by two guards that kept constant vigil in front of them. They wore golden armor, maille with pieces of plate armor over it, and their heads were covered by horned helmets. In their hands were spears and shields. When they saw Thor approaching, they bowed and looked suspiciously at one that was with him. Thor noticed that and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "He is my son, Prince Harald James Thorsson."
They only nodded and bowed, stepping aside and allowing Thor and Harry passage into the armory. "We didn't know, Your Highness."
"I'm not surprised. Not many do," Thor said moving past them and into the armory. "In due time everybody will learn that he is my son. But not now."
"Of course, Your Highness"
"Your Highness?" Harry asked when they were inside of the room, walls of which were covered in all kinds of weapons and armor. As he looked at them he couldn't name even half of them and he was almost dazzled by an amount of gems and precious materials covering them.
"I'm the Crown Prince and you are my son, thus a Prince. You should get used to it." Thor said as he looked at Harry, "We're here so you can get used to various weapons that are natural for Æsir." At those words Thor indicated shelves and racks full of weapons and some hanging from the walls and some even from the ceiling.
Harry walked forward until his eyes landed on a sword that lay close to Mjolnir. It was a hand-and-a-half sword with pommel shaped to resemble the head of a wolf with two gems set as the eyes of it. The handle was made out of unusual metal and covered in silver and gold wire. Its guard was bent towards the blade and at the end of the guard were the heads of wolves. In the middle of it were set rubies shaped like a some sort of a spiral. The blade wasn't the normal steel gray color; instead it was pale silver with veins of gold in it. A scabbard that was hanging nearby was made out of leather with metal reinforcements and gems set in it. When Harry approached the blade he felt familiar warmth, as if it was supposed to be his.
"Dad?" He asked, "What is that sword?"
"Tyrfing" Thor said as he stopped behind Harry, "A sword forged by dwarves as a gift for your grandfather Odin for his help in saving their King Eitri and their realm from a Giant attack. Try to lift it off the wall."
Harry looked curiously at his father and later at the sword. He reached out with his hand and grabbed it without any problem. It felt nice and comfortable in his hand, like it was supposed to be there. It was so light, it felt like he could lift it without any troubles.
"It feels light," he said after a moment and doing few moves with it. He could feel his hand gripping comfortably handle of the sword, as if he was destined to hold it.
"A normal human your age wouldn't be able to lift it," Thor said as he looked at Harry and saw unasked questions in his eyes, "It's forged from Mithril, an alloy developed by dwarves to make the very best weapons. You'll learn about it one day, and much more. I merely wanted to show you what Æsir use for warfare, now it's time to find Ullr, God of Hunt and Archers."
"He will be one of few responsible for your education, he's one of the advisors of Odin, your grandfather," Thor said as he took the blade from Harry and placed it back on the rack, making a note to speak with his father about it. And to ask Sif for a lesson or two for Harry about swords as he easily saw ease with which he lifted that blade and how he held it. He didn't use swords as his weapon of choice, but it didn't meant that he wasn't able to spot one that would be natural with them and, given time and proper training, be deadly with blade.
o-0-o
Harry looked around the city and tried to remember as much as he could as he followed his father through the streets. He was shocked by how it looked. It was tall and graceful, not like the town in which Dursley's lived. His jaw dropped as he saw objects floating in the air. "What's that?" he asked indicating one of them.
Thor followed his gaze and laughed. "Buildings, Asgard is a place where you'll see a lot of wonders."
Harry shook his head and looked at his father, to see if it was a joke. This was a thing that seemed impossible to him, but after a moment, he accepted it and focused on looking at the city. He could see plenty of green areas and open spaces between buildings.
"Here we are," Thor said after a long walk across the city and into wilder regions beyond it. There were still some of the same types of buildings as there were in the main part of the city, but they were far more sparse and hidden between trees and streams. There were some more primitive ones built from different materials. Harry was panting a bit at the end of a walk and had troubles with keeping up, so he was glad that it ended. He looked at his father for his explanation of where they were. "Nordheim, northern part of Asgard and home as well as the realm of Ullr."
"Your Highness," A man said, emerging from the forests to their right. He was tall with brown hair, hazel eyes, a long beard, leather armor covering his body, a quiver full of arrows on his back and in his hand, there was a bow. As Harry looked at him, he had a feeling that he knew those hazel eyes, but he couldn't place where he had seen them. "I'm Ullr, God of the Hunt and Archers and as your father told you, I will be one of your teachers, Your Highness."
"Yes," Thor said with a nod. "Ullr is a good marksman and teacher. Either he will come to the Citadel or you will come here."
"Good teacher, Your Highness?" Ullr asked looking at Thor, Harry could see amusement in their eyes.
"After all you were the one that taught my brother and I how to fight, how to be a Prince and so on," Thor said as he looked at Harry, who looked at Ullr, mostly curiously. "And now it's a time for you to teach, yet another generation of the Royal Family."
"It certainly will be an enjoyable thing," Ullr said looking at Harry "So son of Thor, your arrival caused quite a stir."
"Sorry?" Harry asked looking at the Æsir standing nearby.
"A new child in Royal Family is a rare thing, you are first new child in it for the past fourteen hundred years. So you've nothing to be sorry about," Ullr said as he looked at Harry "The previous two were your father Thor and your uncle Loki."
"Oh," Harry said as he filed away that information for later use.
"So you know why that is of interest to everyone," Ullr said and took a better look at Harry, he easily could see signs of malnourishment and mistreatment, but he also easily spotted potential for bones and muscles to develop. Especially with access to the best care that Asgard had to offer. Every Æsir was a hulking person, easily being a head or so taller than an average human. "You'll be quite a good archer, probably a warrior. Time will show that though."
"How do you know that?" Harry asked, his gaze switching between Ullr and Thor.
"Experience," Ullr said and Harry looked at him, "A lot of experience and having seven children. One is your age. I can recognize a warrior in the making when I see one. Let's say, did you have any weird situations when your instincts guided you?"
"Few times," Harry said with a frown "I somehow avoided a punch from my cousin and later sent him crashing into the wall."
"Were you angry at that time? Or sad?" Ullr asked gently "Or mix of those emotions?" Harry only nodded at those words. "That was your power flaring up. You lost control of yourself and your body worked on its own," Ullr said "And even if you doubt who you are, I can simply prove that my every word is true."
"How?" Harry asked, not sure where Ullr was going with it.
"Do you see that tree on the other side of the valley?" Ullr asked, indicating a tree as he pulled out arrow and looked at Harry. It was pretty far away, probably four or six hundred yards away from here. For normal human it would be almost impossible to hit it. For one of Æsir, it would be a hard thing, but probable. Certainly more probable than for a human
"Yes" Harry nodded as he looked in direction of that tree, his mind estimating how far it was.
"Try to hit it using a bow," Ullr said as he handed Harry a bow, it was a smaller one than one that Ullr had on his back and when Harry looked at it, he could see rows of runes engraved on the surface of it. "Or somewhere in it's direction."
Harry nodded, grabbed bow given to him, notched an arrow and looked in direction of that tree. He pulled the bowstring and released it. The arrow flew from the bow, soaring through the valley and came to the stop embedding in the tree. "Wow," he gasped when he saw that he hit it.
"Indeed," Ullr said. "Do you want more proof that you are Æsir? A human wouldn't be able to hit a target that was that far away."
"No, I don't think so,"
"Being cautious isn't a bad thing," Ullr looked at Harry, feeling internal turmoil in the mind of the young Prince. "I know a thing or two about your past. While we couldn't find you, as there were many protections placed on you, we watched you. We tried to protect you, you might remember a stranger that stopped your cousin few times."
"It was you?" Harry asked as he remembered tall stranger that looked similar to Ullr that helped him few times.
"Yes," Ullr nodded and shimmered as he changed, he looked almost like a human. He was a little shorter, his wild beard neatly trimmed and his hair shorter than it usually was. He was wearing human clothes and his weapons disappeared. "That was my form on Midgard and it's one of reasons why I was asked to be your teacher. One of many teachers that you'll have, yet for now I'll be your sole teacher," Ullr's shape yet again shimmered and he returned to his normal look.
"What're you going to teach me?" Harry said, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"How to control your power, our culture, how to fight, the very, very basics of magic and the history of Asgard," Ullr said as he looked at Harry, his voice gentle and calm. "Follow me and I'll show you where my house is and you can meet my youngest son. He's about your age."
Harry glanced at Thor, who nodded, and after a moment, Harry jogged after Ullr, who was running quickly, but slow enough for Harry to join him. Harry noticed that his body changed over the night and even previous day he felt stronger than he ever previously felt. All of the scars that he had collected over the years were gone, only one on his forehead remained, he felt like he got a completely new body. Which wasn't completely false as his Æsir genes that were dormant and well hidden, only flaring from time to time, now were fully active and started to change his body and mind.
"As your grandmother and father told you multiple times, you're stronger, faster, more agile, more intelligent and much, much tougher, " Ullr said as they jogged. "But you also need to control those things as they can be dangerous if improperly handled. You need to embrace who you are, but also get some control over it."
"How can I do that?" Harry asked looking at his teacher.
"By training and growing up," Ullr said as he looked at Harry with amusement "As we grow up, we grow in strength, but we also get much better control of it. Until you learn it, you will be punching holes in walls, destroying pieces of furniture and causing chaos. There is a reason why your grandfather's Chancellor makes the repairs and maintenance section of the budget a very important one."
"Why's that?" Harry asked as he felt amusement in his teacher voice.
"Your father and his temper. From what I saw, yours isn't far behind." Ullr said, trying not to laugh as noticed Harry smiling for the first time. This kid suffered enough and Ullr saw enough of Harry to know he would open. Question how soon that would happen and how far he would go. Harry only nodded and focused on following Ullr as they went into wilder parts of Asgard.
o-0-o
After a moment of pleasant jog, Harry was shocked by how much fitter he had gotten over the night. Wow, he thought as he glanced backwards and saw golden spires of the Citadel visible between the trees, it's impossible.
"No, it is not," Ullr smiled as if reading Harry's mind. "You're an Æsir. A human your age would have fallen from exhaustion well before the border of the forest."
Harry shook his head as his mind tried to wrap itself around the whole thing. It was something he thought impossible. Previously, he was a freak. Now, he started to understand that he was accepted and that was a completely different kind of emotion. Previously he never felt them and it was strange to him.
He stopped for a moment to take a look around and his jaw almost dropped as he looked at the clearing in front of them. He had never been to a forest before, but he could just feel that this one was ancient and full of power. His gaze darted across it and at the end of it, he saw a massive building.
For him, it looked huge. It was not as tall as the Citadel was. Instead it was quite low and spread over a large surface. He saw it was built out of stone, with plenty of wood, but none of the metal used at the Citadel. The thing that surprised him the most were the trees that seemed to be growing through the building.
"Wow."
Ullr followed Harry's gaze and chuckled. "That's the effect of one of my sons' magic." Harry looked at Ullr curiously. "He is a God of Trees and Forest, so trees around him behave weirdly and this is an example of it."
"O-Okay," Harry nodded and than his gaze switched to a boy that was shooting arrows from a bow. He was a bit taller than Harry was and bigger, while clothes worn by him were similar to ones that Harry wore, though they weren't as richly embroidered as his were.
"That's my son, Ulf," Ullr said and Harry nodded.
"How... How can he shoot so well?"
"Training and experience. You'll learn it as well and given time, you'll be as good as he is," Ullr said and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I think that you two may be good friends." Harry nodded at those words. "Ulf, that's enough for now, you did good. I want you to meet someone."
Ulf shot the last arrow and propped the bow against a nearby tree and then walked to his father and Harry. He glared at Harry, challenge visible on his face, yet it softened when he looked at his father.
"Who's he?" Ulf asked.
"His Highness Prince Harald James Thorson," Ullr said and Ulf's eyes widened in shock. New royalties were a rarity on Asgard. "Yes, he is the lost son of Thor."
Harry felt Ulf's gaze focus on him and he didn't wince when he saw those hazel eyes focus on his own green eyes. He could see in them arrogance and some sort of superiority, as well as a lot of kindness and warmth hidden deep beneath the unpleasant layer. He was a bit surprised when Ulf cut the eye contact and instead extended his hand.
Harry glanced at Ullr who nodded with a smile and he shook offered hand.
"Good," Ullr said and they looked at him, they could see a smile on his lips. "It means that I'll have a lot less brawls to deal with as His Majesty asked me to be a tutor for his grandson. With you two fighting each other, it would be trouble. With the two of you accepting each other's presence, I think it'll be manageable."
o-0-o
"That went better than I expected," Frigga as she stood near clearing, hidden by a layer magic and watched the scene with Thor. "I expected them to fight for dominance, yet Ulf easily accepted that Harald was in charge."
"He didn't accept that, not yet," Thor said, thoughtful expression on his face. "He merely agreed not to be hostile. He'll try to test who is in charge in nearby future. Loki and I did that a couple of times, trying to see who was better." He gathered his thoughts and looked at his mother "I took him earlier to the armory and he chose Tyrfing and while it isn't interesting per se, interesting is the fact that he held it with ease that not many have."
"You plan on speaking to Sif to give him couple of hints and show how to use it?" Frigga guessed and Thor only nodded, causing her to smile. "Yes, that isn't a bad idea, but not now. Ulf and he can be a good friends, Harry needs one so those wounds can fully heal and accept the fact that he has the family and friends. I healed as much as I could, but some wounds..."
"Need time and friends." Thor finished for her "That was one of very first lessons you gave us and very true," he said as he mused about old times.
"Yes," she smiled "He will give you as many headaches as you gave us."
"Mother, can you not mention that?" Thor sighed
"No," she said and looked at Harry, making sure they were concealed from his sight.
o-0-o
"I honestly expected you to fight each other," Ullr said as he looked at Harry and Ulf, which were still sizing each other, but more friendly. Not that one filled with challenge, more like a one with competition.
"Why?" Harry with raised eyebrow and glanced at Ullr.
"That'll take some time to explain," Ullr said, sitting down on one of tree stumps and motioning them to follow him. "I'll drop all of the titles as they're an annoyance right now. Harald, you don't see it, but you are a son of the Crown Prince. Second in line to the throne, while Ulf is considered a prodigy in his generation and he gets almost all attention that he can get. So your arrival, even without any announcement will get you a lot of attention, attention that you might steal from Ulf. So I expected him to have issues with you."
"I see," Harry slowly said, considering those words.
"But the fact that you can live without challenging each other is a good thing especially considering your past." Harry winced at those words.
"His past?" Ulf asked as he glanced at his father.
"Let's just say that his mortal relatives aren't the best kind of people, far from that in fact." Said Ullr "During past four years, I spent a lot of time on Midgard, concealed as a human and watching over him. Enough that I wanted to kill those people. For more info, you'll need to ask him, assuming he will be willing to talk."
"I see," Ulf said and looked at the Prince in new light. He expected him to be a stuck up bastard, not one that was humble.
"Ulf, go back to demolishing practice targets," Ulf said looking at his youngest son, lips twitching as he said those words. "Harald, get up."
"Huh?" Harry asked his mind starting to work.
"The beginning of your lessons," Ullr explained looking at Harry, some amusement visible in his voice. "Either you focus or we are going for a jog, a long one. And you won't enjoy it that much, not with me running at my full speed."
"I'm here," Harry quickly assured him.
"Good" Nodded Ullr with a thin smile. "You know that we are, let's say, better than humans. But everything has its price, the question is how high it is. In this case it is density of our bodies, generally speaking we are three times as dense as average human. Another important one is that our power varies depending on the realm in which we are."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked, not sure how to understand those words.
"As you should know there are nine realms, Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim are high realms. They lay in the upper reaches of Yggdrasil. In the middle are the next three, Midgard, Jotunheim or Utgard and Muspelheim. On the lowest level is the last set of them, Svartalvheim, Niflheim and Nidavellir. Each realm is a home to one race that rule over it and in case of Asgard, whole of the Nine Realms. This is a lesson that you should remember well, you will use this knowledge for almost all of your life," Ullr patiently explained "On almost all of the realms you have full power at your disposal, but there is one exception, one place where your power is limited and harder to control."
"Which one?"
"Guess," Ullr smiled. "You know it, you just need to think about it."
"Midgard?"
"Are you asking me or answering my question?"
"Midgard" Harry said once more, making sure it sounded like a statement.
"Exactly, nobody knows why or how. But we are slightly weaker than we normally are, it isn't much, but it is noticeable. You need to know that as your father and uncle Loki spend a lot of time there and you might as well."
"So I need to be more careful when on Midgard," Harry said, watching another target being turned into a pincushion by Ulf.
"Yes" Ullr nodded and looked at sky. "I suppose I can fix the mistakes that you make when shooting arrows."
"I make mistakes?" Harry asked as he looked at his teacher.
"Yes," Ullr said as he walked into the building. "I'll get one of the spare bows and I show you basics of archery."
o-0-o
Sif stood on the raised dais adjacent to the training grounds and looked at warriors training. She heard footsteps and nodded when she saw Prince Freyr approach her. He was a tall man with long fair hair and dark green eyes, glowing with gentle and warm power.
"How true is it that a son of Thor was found?" She asked as he came to a stop to her side.
"Yes," Freyr nodded. "According to what my dear aunt told me, you will have a questionable pleasure of teaching him how to use weapons."
She sighed and looked at him "Let me guess, he chose Mjolnir or some other one of those overgrown hammers?"
"No," he said and she arched an eyebrow. "He chose Tyrfing, which is the last weapon that I expected him to choose."
"Bastard sword, forged out of mithril and a gift from Eitri?" She asked
"The same one," Freyr nodded and added after a moment. "Honestly I expected him to choose Jarnbjorn, Gungnir or even Mjolnir."
"Life should be really interesting," she said and looked at the training grounds in front of them. "It's been a long time since I had an opportunity to train someone in the usage of sword, or at least from the very beginning to the very end. "
"Last ward from Olympus? Something like three hundred years ago?" he guessed.
"Yes," she said after a moment, there was some sadness visible in her voice, she enjoyed teaching that ward of His Majesty. She looked at Freyr and could easily see flickers of amusement in his eyes. "Olympus is sending another ward?"
"Yes, one or two of them. I don't know exact details, but from the rumors that I had heard, one of them might be a daughter of Hercules, and the second one they're silent about."
"Did you say that we know nothing about one of them?"
"Yes, do you have any ideas who he or she are going to be?"
"Last time it was one of children of Zeus or his brothers," she said and shook her head. "But two of them are a surprise that I didn't expect to happen."
"No one expected it," Freyr said, she could hear some badly hidden amusement in his voice.
"What's so funny?"
"The fact that it's the effect of our negotiations with them during Summer Solstice," Freyr said and paused, she could see him thinking if he should tell her more. "The same ones that allowed us to go to Midgard and retrieve son of Thor without any interferences on their part. This was one of the things that we were forced to agree upon."
"Not the worst demands," she said and sighed. "They want to keep them out of Hera's hands?"
"Nobody will officially admit it, but..."
"But everybody knows that it's true," she finished and indicated sword that was at his hip "Since I'm about to be given several people to teach how to use a sword, what would you say about a spar."
"Why not?" Freyr agreed as he pulled out his sword out of its scabbard. She only smiled and walked with him to the training grounds. People looked at them, curiosity and badly hidden interest visible in their eyes.
She lightly bowed to Freyr and in the next moment her sword shot out towards him. He raised his own to block her strike and sent hundreds of sparks in every direction. Beginning a duel that would last for a while.
As their swords clashed, sending clouds of dust and showers of sparks flying in every direction, everybody that was present at the training grounds stopped what they were doing and focused on it. It was an event that was worth watching as they were of the very best Asgard had to offer.
o-0-o
Harry groaned as his muscles flared with unseen fire as he released the last arrow from the quiver he'd been given by Ullr. The moment he felt the bowstring return to its position, he lowered the bow and looked towards the target. Most of the arrows hit the target, but some went astray and flew wild.
"Not bad," Ullr said as he followed Harry's gaze. "For the first time you've had a bow, you did well and everything can be fixed with a proper amount of training and experience."
Harry briefly smiled as he placed the bow on the ground and let quiver slide off his shoulder. "It won't be a pleasant experience, will it?"
"It should become a pleasant thing, but first you need to get used to being here and living among us. We're different than the life on Midgard is and a lot of things will surprise you," Ulf said and Harry nodded. "Now follow Ulf and he'll show you where the bathhouse is so that you can get cleaned and deal with the aches."
"I'm fine," Harry said and Ullr only loudly laughed.
"Your arms are on fire and feel weak?"
Harry looked at Ullr and as he tried to move his hands, he yelped in pain.
"Don't overextend and you need to pace yourself," Ullr said. "Now follow Ulf and he will show you around, you will spend a lot of time here, so you should get accustomed to being here."
Harry nodded and saw Ulf waiting for him near one of the entrances into the palace. Harry quickly walked and joined Ulf.
"Not bad for the first time," Ulf said as they walked inside. "You could've done better, but it's still quite good."
"Thanks, I guess," Harry said and glanced at Ulf. "Where's this bathhouse your father was talking about?"
"Here," Ulf said as he opened one of wooden doors.
Harry was almost pushed back by the wave of a warm air that rushed out of the room and slammed into him. He blinked a couple of times, trying to see clearly. When his sight focused, he was able to look into the room. It was a large rectangular room with wooden walls and wooden ceiling supported by several trees that grew through the room. He saw several wooden benches placed along the walls and on few of them, there were several towels placed. In the room he saw several large pools, all of them were lowered into the floor. As Harry looked at it, it reminded him about Roman baths he had read about in one of the books at school.
The water looked so inviting that he ignored Ulf's presence in the room and not caring about him, he undressed and jumped into the nearest pool. When his body was submerged in water, he felt the aches and pains disappear.
o-0-o
"Oww," Harry managed to say as he got back to the Citadel after day of training with Ullr. Every single muscle was on fire and he was having trouble moving. That opportunity to take a bath all of those hours ago was now an almost forgotten memory as more hours of training followed it and he wanted to forget about it.
"I forgot to mention that he'll train you until you drop from exhaustion." Chuckled Thor as he received a glare from Harry.
"Did you actually watch the training?" Asked Harry glaring at his dad, still not used to that idea.
"Some of it," Admitted Thor "And you did well. Nobody expects you to be good at everything the moment you see it."
"I guess you're right," Harry said as he tried to place himself comfortably on his bed.
"I am right," Nodded Thor as he looked at Harry "Ullr is impressed with you. He won't openly admit that, but he is. He was one of my teachers and I can say that from my own experience." He ruffled Harry's hair, who didn't even flinch. He was already deep asleep and his eyes were closed.
o-0-o
Fury looked up from a document he was reading and saw Loki appear in his office. "To what do I owe this visit?" Fury asked, his whole attention focused on his guest. He didn't expect to see him here so soon.
"My nephew," Loki said as he conjured for himself a chair and sat down in it.
"Your nephew?" Fury slowly repeated, unsure if he heard it right. From what he knew Thor didn't have any children.
"Yes," Loki smiled. "My dear brother was banished to Earth something like thirty years ago and landed in the body of James Potter-"
"You mean that Harry Potter, son of James and Lily, is in truth a son of Thor," Fury cut in.
"Yes," Loki agreed and looked at Fury. "I think that you know what I want from you."
"To take care of Petunia and the rest of her family," Fury grimly said and sighed. "Lily was like a younger sister to me and I don't know why she didn't agree to my offer of protection and hideout away from Britain."
"She was stubborn and strong. Running away from troubles wasn't in her nature." Loki said and looked at Fury. "Can I hope that this talk will stay private? We would like to keep the fact that Harry is my brother's son as a secret for as long as possible."
"Of course," Fury nodded and watched as Loki disappeared from his office in a ball of multicolored light. When he saw that his guest was gone he stood up and walked to the window that overlooked the Potomac River. He lightly tapped his earpiece. "Prepare my Quinjet, transatlantic flight."
He nodded at the confirmation, turned around and walked out of the room. Their life was getting really interesting, but the news stung him badly. On the outside it wasn't visible, but inside it hurt him. Harry should've never been placed at the Dursley's. That was an easy recipe to get another Voldemort or other madman in the next few years.
o-0-o
For Harry, the first two weeks he spent on Asgard were the best of his life. While he grumbled about Ullr and how hard he was being trained, he grudgingly admit that he felt faster, stronger and more powerful after each session. As well as wiser, as a sizeable portion was focused on learning customs, rules, about other races and a thousand and one things that he would need to know.
Harry and Ulf had some clashes, trying to see who was in charge, but they generally ended in a draw, with him winning more than Ulf did. While Ulf was better in hand to hand combat, Harry was much better with a bow. Even after only two weeks of training, it was obvious that he was better. He could shoot much better than he had, which made him slightly better than Ulf was.
They were fighting when from the forest emerged two giant wolves, each size of an average looking pony, their fur was steel gray and eyes were the color of amber. When Harry saw them, he jumped away from them in fear, causing Ulf to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked as he glared at his friend.
"Those aren't normal wolves," Ulf explained. "They accompany your grandfather, King Odin."
"Indeed, you are right," Odin said as he emerged from the forest. The wolves moved closer to Harry and started to circle him. Harry looked at them, but after a moment he pushed his fear away and tried to scratch them behind their ears. "They are called Freki and Geri and by the looks of it, they like you"
"Grandfather, I don't think you're here simply to talk about your wolves or even ravens," Harry said as he looked at Odin and noticed his talking ravens flying nearby.
"No, indeed I'm not," Odin agreed, his voice so deep that it seemed as if a mountain was speaking. "I'm here to talk with you about something. Something you should like. So come with me. Ulf if you want, you can follow us. I know that you're close to my grandson."
"I'll stay here," Ulf quickly said and Harry nodded in thanks. He wanted to be alone with his grandfather.
"How?" Harry asked, but then his eyes landed on the ravens that were nearby. "Ah, your ravens are watching me whenever I train."
"Indeed," Odin said. "You have a keen eye, grandson." Harry smiled at those words "The thing I want to talk with you about is related to which day it is. On Midgard it is 31st July."
"31st July?" Harry mused and Odin nodded. "Isn't it my birthday?"
"Indeed," Odin nodded and revealed a long rectangular wooden box that was hidden under his cloak. Harry took it and looked at his grandfather, who only nodded, it looked like a box for weapon and the surface of it was covered in various carvings and decorations. "Open it, you'll like what's inside. Your father would've given it to you, but he couldn't as only I have that right."
Harry had a suspicion about what was inside and when he opened it, he found a sword inside, with its scabbard to the side of it. When he recognized the blade, his eyes gleamed with excitement. "Is it?"
"Tyrfing," Odin said with a smile "The blade that chose you when you were in our family armory. Your father would have given it to you, but it was officially given as a gift to me, so he couldn't. But I can."
"Thank you." Harry said hugging Odin, who smiled. "The Dursley's never gave me gifts on my birthday and weren't the nicest people."
"What?!" Odin asked, through clenched teeth, controlling his anger, after a moment he calmed down. "It will be solved in the future. " He assured Harry as he lightly patted his arm. Inside he was ready to explode and if not for his self-control he might have lashed out with magic.
"Thank you," Harry whispered.
"It's nothing," Odin said and looked at him, as Freki nuzzled Harry arm. "My wolves took liking to you and if you don't mind, they will be with you at all times. As companions, but as well as guards."
Harry smiled as he felt nose of one of wolves touch him. He scratched it behind the ears and his smile brightened when he heard his grandfather words. "I won't have a problem with it."
"Good," Odin nodded as Geki trotted to them. "Once your lessons with Ullr are completed for today, join me in my study as I need to speak with you about certain things."
"Of course," Harry nodded as he closed the box and watched his grandfather disappear, yet Odin's wolves remained. Two of which were now his very big and dangerous guards and companions. Harry turned around and walked back to the clearing where Ulf was looking at him with Ullr, standing nearby. When Ullr saw Harry emerge from the forest his eyes immediately landed on those giant wolves and box held by him.
"What type of weapon?" Ullr asked as he easily recognized the box, as it was used to hide weapons.
"A sword," Harry replied as he placed the box on one of tree stumps and opened it, revealing the blade that was inside.
"Fine blade," Ullr said as he took it out of the box, inspecting it under the light. "Mithril blade, forged in the heart of a star. Powerful weapon, and one worthy of a King or Prince."
"What is this mithril?" Harry asked looking at his teacher, who was admiring the blade.
"An alloy created by dwarves. It's used to forge the best weapons and armors. Extremely light and sharp, it can cut through rock without too much of a problem." Ullr explained and looked at Harry "It will serve you well and long."
Harry nodded at those words and looked at wolves that circled around him, looking for comfortable places to lay there and watch him.
"It's your birthday, isn't it?" Ullr asked quietly and Harry nodded. At those words Ullr nodded and gave Harry a longbow that was laying against one of trees. "It'll serve you well and you're a good archer for your age. A few more years of training and you should be really good."
"Thank you." Harry said softly as tears appeared in his eyes for a moment before they disappeared.
"No problem." Ullr said placing his hand on Harry shoulder. "Today we won't train anymore as I know that your father and grandfather want to speak with you."
"Thank you," Harry said, before closing the box, grabbing it and disappearing towards the palace.