To say that Magnus didn't expect to wake up would be an understatement. If fact, he was positive that he'd just died. He'd gotten used to death in Valhalla, seeing as he'd taken more sword to the chest than he liked. (At least he'd gotten over "Newbie Status" pretty quickly. He hated being called that.)

But he also knew that he wasn't supposed to wake up after he died, not this time. This death was supposed to be final, yet here he was, opening his eyes for the millionth time, the pain from his magma induced wounds disappearing and and odd sense of peace filling his hazy head.

He didn't recognize the ceiling in front of him, either. It wasn't the blue, cloudless sky that he woke up to in Valhalla, not that he expected it to be, after all, the hotel was nothing but ashes now. But it wasn't Hel's Palace, either.

Instead of the early, black stone, gray fires, and creepy torture chambers he was expecting, all he got was a small hollow of cut wood. He was spayed out on some kind of down mattress on the floor of an alcove. A few feet above him hung thick vines dotted with small, rainbow colored flowers.

Magnus sat up with a small grown.

The only bad thing about being a healer was that he could feel every injury his body suffered, and could tell how much pain radiated from each spot. (Well, that and the whole sharing pain and memories thing, that was pretty bad.) But luckily, a thousand years fighting had gotten him used to pain.

He could tell that his right ankle was still twisted from his fight with Fenrir, and that his back was still slowly repairing itself from the damage that the dead had dish-out during the beginning of the end. Well, he thought, that hurts.

Sighing, he channeled the power of Frey. His ankle started to mend, snapping back into place with the exact force that twisted it, while the wound on his back started closing, although he couldn't heal it fully, yet.

With shaking limbs and a hurting stomach, he stood up and made his way to the opening of his tiny alcove.

"Do not move." Magnus froze and wiped his head around. He hadn't noticed them before, but three tall lady dressed in white shawls stood by the wall next to his bed. He sighed, realizing who the three being must be.

They looked a lot different from their last meeting, over a thousand years before, but that just made them easier to tell apart.

Urd, the oldest of the Norns had her blonde hair up in a curly bun, and despite the weariness of her pupiless eyes and her tall stature, her face remained as youthful as her sisters. Verdandi, on the other hand, was of medium height and had her hair in a flowering braid, and her eyes connected wonderingly with Magnus for only a moment, before they went back to wondering the wall. The youngest, Skuld, was even shorter than he was, with her curly hair pulled back in a ponytail with a rainbow flower hair clip. She was the only one who made direct eye contact with him, while the others seemed to look everywhere but.

"My ladies," He said, bowing to them, before wincing as it aggravated the gashes on his back. "Why is it that you have brought me to your hall?"

"Time is a fickle thing, Son of Summer," Skuld murmured, her voice sound far to sweet and motherly for a body so young. "It's been playing out for ages and not once have we decided to alter it to fit the needs of one person. Nor has anyone been able to alter it from the one we set."

Magnus stared at her, confusion obvious on his face. Just before he could ask what she meant, though Urd continued for her.

"But you, Magnus Chase, Child of Frey, have managed the unthinkable." Her eyes burned like liquid gold. "You have stopped Ragnarok several time, although you only managed to change the inevitable. You've save lives not supposed to be saved and changed many things not supposed to be changed. And yet, you seem unhappy with all that you've done."

"Your options as to go forward however, are options only you can make. "Skuld took over. "But they may very well defined time as a whole." The girl waved her hands, and one of the pretty rainbow flowers appeared in it. It reminded Magnus a lot of the roses that Mallory would wear in her hair during weddings, but also the silver carnations that Alex (dear god, he-he'll never see her again, will he?) forced him, Half-born, and T.J to plant outside the hotel. They reminded him of Sam and Amir and Blitz and Hearth and everyone else that he lost in his life.

"We offer you the chance to save them, Magnus," He looked up so quickly he was surprised his neck didn't brake. Verdandi had spoken for the first time since the conversation began, and her words sent shivers down his back. "This flower will take you back a long, long time, to the era of the gods, before Ragnarok was even predicted to happen." Books appeared in her hand the same way the flower was created. "You can warn them of a future that might befall them if they do not change it. The people you care about, although a lot younger, will be there to help you as well."

"It's your choice, Freyson," Skuld added in that quiet, mother voice that made him want to cry. "Go back and risk everything to change the future, or move on to the chambers of Helheim, were we promise Hel will not touch you or any of those you hold dear? But know that, either way, you will disappear at the end of the Raze?"

A lump was logged in Magnus' throat. He and his friends had done so much to save the world they were in now, and he couldn't be so selfish as to erase it, just to pacify the need to see them again?

He was better than that.

All he had to say was "Helheim" right? Then he'd go into one of those lonely dark rooms were the dead (it used to be dishonorable dead, but not anymore) spent their night. He might see one of his friends again, but they'd be pale and ghostly and not the same- But they'd be happy that the fight was over, happy to rest outside of Hel's steely reach.

He couldn't take that away from them, though. It shouldn't matter, they'd already told him he'd disappear at the end, anyway. (But maybe he could save them if he went back?)

He opened his mouth to speak.

"I-I'll take the flower, miladies."

As the Norns grinned and rushed towards him, all he could this a bout was how he was to selfish for his own good.

When Magnus woke up again, he was getting really tired of waking up. His body still burned all over, but he was on a much less comfortable place. The marble ground beneath him shone pristine in the light that wash from the candles on the wall. Several tall archways led away from the circular room he was in.

Immediately, he recognized the place as the hall of the Asir, the place that housed not only the meeting place of the gods, but also the high throne of Odin.

He sat up quickly, wince as he pulled open his injured back even more. Even for a son of Frey, the wounds were slow to heal.

"Oh, who are you?" Magnus turned around as fast as possible, but sighed in relief when he relized who had found him.

He had met Balder and Hodur only once before, but they were two of the kindest gods he'd ever met, despite one being the god of darkness and winter.

As always, the god of purity was smiling and guiding his twins hand. He was a handsome dude, with hair the color of browned honey and the brightest blue eyes Magnus had ever seen. Hodur, being Balder's twin, looked practically the same, although his eyes were clouded and sightless.

"Uh," Magnus muttered. "I'm a friend set by the Norns." He looked down at the spasming multicolored flower and the stack of books underneath it. "And that's my proof, I guess?"

Immediately, Balder let go of his brothers hand and rushed forward to grab the moving plant. He looked over it for a few moments, before looking back a Hodur.

"I suppose this is what father meant when he said there'd be more guest's, huh?" The blind god chuckled. "I'm Hodur, if you wished to know, and that's my older brother, Baulder."

"It's nice to, uh, see you again." Magnus mumbled, as the gods regrouped, taking the flower with them.

"Your friends arrived a few hours ago," Baulder explained. "You'll be able to see them when we bring you to the council."

Instantly, the son of Frey's breath caught. He nodded shakily and reached down to grab the books. "Lead the way."