Chapter 13: A Family of Gods
The two continued to walk towards the hospital, but Katrina stood in front of them. The man stared at her incredulously. She glared back at him.
"Stand aside, child!" He ordered.
"I don't take orders from strangers who wear armor and hold lances!" She snapped.
"Why you-!" He began, picking up his lance. The woman put her hand on his, shaking her head.
"Now, Odin, what good would a fight do us here? We are not here to cause harm to an innocent Midgardian! We are here to see our granddaughter and aid our family in their darkest hour!" She scolded gently. He relaxed, loosening the grip on his lance.
"You are right… But, still, just who is this Midgardian, and why does she stand in our way?"
Katrina looked at them as if they were high.
"Odin? The hell-You know what, I've got too many questions." Katrina said, a bit irritated, pulling out her phone. As she began tapping on it, the woman walked over, curious.
"Do tell me… what are you doing with this strange… thing?" She asked.
"Umm… It's a cell phone. I'm sending texts to all my friends to get over here, and then I'm calling my parents."
"Texts? Cell phone? I have never heard of these things."
"...You talk like Thor. This is just too weird."
Odin's eyes widened.
"You know my son?"
Katrina nearly dropped her phone.
"Your… WHAT?!"
It didn't take long for Christina and Serah to arrive, along with the majority of the Avengers. Thor was still in the hospital, and Bruce was nowhere to be seen, but no one really asked questions about that. He was kind of… a shy and nervous guy, so no one got concerned unless he "went all enormous green rage monster" to quote either Serah or Tony. But the arrival of the whole gang only caused a massive discussion to arise.
Odin and Frigga (as they had since revealed themselves to be named) were in awe and wonder about Tony and Serah's suits, asking questions to the ends of the Earth. It was to be expected-almost every Asgardian who had met Tony referred to him as the "Man of Iron", so he was expecting it. But that was only the beginning.
They then made it clear what their intentions were-to see Astrid. Although Steve and Christina were all for it, Natasha, Clint, and Katrina had their doubts. It took a good three hours at the least (most of it getting information so the King and Queen of Asgard could be put in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s expansive database) before everyone was finally in agreement, and the pair of gods were finally allowed to go see their granddaughter.
Per their request, they were allowed to go see the slumbering Astrid by themselves. Thor's eyes widened when he saw them. He was rendered utterly speechless by their presence. They, in turn, were rendered speechless upon seeing Astrid's weakened form. Frigga walked over to the sleeping girl, and ran the back of her hand against Astrid's face, a worried expression on her face.
"Just what in the Nine Realms has transpired to leave her in such a weakened state?" He asked quietly.
"...I know not of the full extent of what transpired, but the small fortress she was in apparently exploded. Though her friends remained mostly unharmed, she took almost the entire force of the explosion upon herself to protect them." Thor replied, looking at his child with an expression of concern.
"But… why? Even a child knows what would happen if they purposely stood in the path of an exploding fortress!"
"Perhaps it is because she is my daughter. She knew that her body would have the highest chance of surviving such a brutal assault."
"...She cares so much for her companions that she is willing to sacrifice her own life for their sake...Truly, she is a compassionate young lady."
"Indeed. Jane has taught her well in that aspect of life."
While Odin and Thor were discussing Astrid, Frigga was sitting by her side, continuing to stroke her cheek ever-so-gently. Eventually, she moved on to hold her hand for a while. The kind Queen was silent, for the most part, but still made her sorrow and worry known by refusing to leave Astrid's side and continuing to be gentle in touch.
When she resumed the gentle stroking of her cheek, she heard a soft moan. With almost everyone in the room being pure-blooded Asgardians, the soft moan was heard. They looked at each other for a moment.
Thor hadn't made the noise.
Odin most certainly was not the source of the noise.
Frigga wasn't behind it either.
Another soft moan was heard, and then, underneath Frigga's hand, Astrid's head began to move. The royal family watched in pure shock and awe as Astrid's head moved from side to side a few times, before she blinked, and finally regained at least some degree of consciousness.
It was then that Astrid began making half-muffled sputtering noises. Although both Odin and Thor were about ready to rush to her side and remove the tube in her throat, a nurse happened to be in the right place at the right time, and sprinted in front of them. Nervously, she stood in front of them.
"Please, Mr. Odinson and… well, whoever you are, sir, let me remove the breathing tube! If it's done wrong, you could inflict serious harm on the patient!" She begged. Both men's eyes narrowed, but a silent nod from Odin eased some of the tension. The nurse then went over towards the side that Frigga was sitting on. Having heard it all, she got up and moved out of the way.
The royal Asgardian family watched the nurse closely, Frigga out of curiousity, Odin and Thor out of worry, as she began carefully removing the breathing tube. They watched as each strip of medical tape was removed, before she finally took out the tube itself. Astrid sputtered a bit before her breathing returned to a normal pace. The nurse, seeing the family's eyes beginning to water, quietly excused herself.
Astrid first saw her father, and smiled softly at him. She then turned her head to Odin and Frigga. Her eyes widened, and she tensed a bit. No one expected her to do what she did.
She screamed.