No alarm clocks. No crowing roosters. No church bells. Alex had drawn the curtains so there was only a faint corona of sunlight outlining the window. He was quite comfortable not having to get up.
Though, he'd roused just enough that he started thinking about things. He doubted Lyman was done trying to bring about Ragnarok, and wondered what other opportunities for mischief had been exploited, especially since Lyman wasn't the only Scion pitted against them.
He'd have to get the Cliff's Notes version from Evie or Lya.
He knew he'd been used as some kind of anchor to tie a corner of Asgard to Earth - Midgard - which had to be no small task. He was just coming into his powers, yet his blood was enough to power that kind of working?
And why had Lyman left the birthrights that unlock- oh. Of course. If he'd taken them, then Alex was little more than a mortal, and not a Scion.
He doubted the locals did anything like go for a morning run, but there were some simple calisthenics he could do - perhaps not something a warrior has to be concerned with, but a lawyer stuck behind a desk? He'd had friends who had taken desk jobs and lost their edge. And others, like some of the DI's, kept in fighting trim through their 50's.
There's the sound of faint moans and the rustling of furs and flesh from the pile on the bed as Lya flops out from under them face first onto the cold wood floor. "Ow. Alex..." she groans, "please tell me they have coffee in Asgard... or I might think we're actually in Hel's domain again."
"I can't imagine the All-Father roaming the Nine Worlds and not bringing back coffee," Alex nods. "And despite drinking enough to float a barge or two, I'm actually hungry."
"Yes!" she replies as a thumbs up gesture is seen over the side of the bed. "I've seen the hogs... therefore there must be bacon! That's definitely a quest worth getting off the floor for...eventually..."
Evie grins and rolls over, pulling the blankets even tighter about her as she sighs languidly. She opens her eyes just a little, thinks about getting out of bed and then mutters to herself, "Nah. Ten more minutes won't kill anyone."
Then she seems to reconsider, turning back to peer at Alex and what she can see of Lya over the blanket that is pulled up over her face like a giant, fuzzy ninja mask, "But...bacon..."
"Let me get dressed, and I'll go down and ask about breakfast," Alex says.
He doesn't have to fumble with his clothes - things aren't that different in Asgard, and he's not donning armor. Alex is done in a handful of minutes, and heads downstairs.
He's back in fifteen minutes, a soft rap on the door before he enters. "It's on. It's like a buffet at one of the casinos, except for the seafood and fruit."
"Sorry floor... our time together was nice, but it's not you...it's me," Lya mutters as she pushes herself off the floor to sit back on her knees and do her best to smooth back her now frizzy braid. Thankfully she'd managed to get her armor off before collapsing on the bed last night and with a quick sniff she discovers her under shirt and breeches aren't too worse for wear.
"Come on, guys.." she shoves at the pile of furs and voices groan in response. "We're not at the hotel, so if you want breakfast you need to shift it."
"Slave driver..." Toxic mutters as she rolls out from under the blankets in a sports bra and shorts. "Move it, Orithia..." she commands as she puts her foot to one of the piles and shoves.
"Gods damn you to Tartarus, Toxic!" Orithia cries as she falls out of bed on the other side and lands on her ass.
"Keep your curses for the one who tells you they're out of coffee," Toxic snorts as she offers Orithia a hand up.
"Coffee?" Phoebe asks as she shoves her curls out of her face and sits up.
"There better be coffee," Klepto replies groggily. "I'll grind the beans with my fists if I have to!"
Evie rolls out of bed, blankets falling at her feet. She yawns and stretches, trying to get the blood flowing. Turning her back to Alex, she shucks out of her Midgardian shirt (which is doubling as a nightshirt) and gets into her Asgardian clothes.
Once she is dressed, she heads towards the door, ready to go on downstairs, "Bacon, ho!"
"Yeah let's get this day started," Lya agrees as the Furies quickly pull on their pants and run fingers through messy hair as they join Lya to stumble out the door into the brisk fresh air.
"Other than breakfast... what's the plan, anyway? Do we see about getting a direct line back home, or did we want to try and get some questions answered while we're here?" she scratches her head and laughs. "I doubt they're going to care to listen to me... but you two are scions from here so maybe they'll give you guys some consideration. At the very least, I figured you all would want to talk to your dads."
As an afterthought, Evie runs her hands through her hair, giving a half-hearted attempt at taming the bed-head that she knows she has even without looking in a mirror, "I'd definitely like to get a chance to talk to Heimdall, if I can. Of course, that's up to him. I mean, he's a god. If he decides he doesn't want to talk, there's not much I can do other than sing the Meow Mix song at the top of my lungs and include 'Heimdall' somewhere in there so that I am constantly invoking him...But I imagine that would make him even less likely to want to speak."
She tilts her head and cups one ear, dropping her voice a bit to try to imitate Heimdall, "What's that? You actually need my help now? Shoulda thought about that before you stuck a cat food commercial in my head. Suck it up, buttercup!"
"Gods I'm going to have that in my head all day now," Lya groans as she playfully swats at Evie's shoulder. "If he can see everything like the stories say... I'd be curious if he can see what happened to Hitoshi, you know? Not to mention Lyman himself."
Lya grows quiet for a moment and rubs her arms as a shiver rolls down her spine. "Those visions I had... I can't help but feel that we only stopped one small piece of a greater puzzle... and temporarily at that. If Lyman really is trying to bring about Ragnarok... surely the Gods will have something to say... right? Aren't they all fated to die along with the rest of us?"
Evie laughs and scrunches up her shoulders, pretending to avoid the swat. Her chuckles fade quickly, though, and she sighs, "I would think so, yeah. He should be able to see everything but...Lyman is (was?)...clever. He might be able to hide more from Heimdall than we'd like to think. Plus, just like we have the help of our parents, I'm sure he has backing from more powerful beings, as well."
"At any rate, I'm hoping that he can at least tell us what has happened to Hitoshi and Vegas in our absence. The last thing I want is another nasty surprise like we got when we left Hel's realm."
She pauses puts a hand on Lya's shoulder, "I think you are right. It was just one piece of something greater. But, we knocked out a freakin' castle full of einjehar and frost giants. We can take down whatever else stands in our way, too."
Evie smiles encouragingly and gives Lya a squeeze. Does the detective actually believe that they can save the whole, damn world? Honestly, she doesn't know. That's a tall order to fill and they are just a handful of people. But, it does no good to believe that they can't. No matter what, all of them will try, Evie is sure of that. She has to believe that they are capable of it.
"Tyr wasn't terribly forthcoming with the explanations when we first met. Generals don't always tell the troops every last detail, even when they're family," Alex said. "I don't know that he'd be in residence, either. I get the feeling he's wherever his ... business ... takes him."
He looks up at the ceiling. "Heimdall is supposed to see everything. Lyman may have been hiding his castle from the gods, but Heimdall has to know you're here, at least. I suppose we can ask how to get to Bifrost, because apart from hitching a ride with Hrofgar, that's the way home."
"Sounds like a plan, to me," Evie says. "Let's get some food and then find out where the Bifrost is."
The smells of a hearty breakfast waft up to greet you. As Alex described, it's a Vegas buffet without the decorative bits of fruit. Not to say that there isn't fruit, but the precisely-sectioned oranges, slice apples, and cubes of pineapple aren't in evidence.
More importantly, there's coffee.
"Blessed manna of the Gods!" Lya exclaims as she makes a bee-line for the coffee and pours multiple mugs that she precariously balances in her arms as she makes her way back to their bench where Phoebe passes a steaming mug to a grateful Toxic.
"This is what I call breakfast!" Klepto exclaims as she places a plate stacked with bacon, sausage, and various slabs of meat in the middle of their table for everyone to grab from. Orithia follows close behind with a handful of apples and a loaf of bread.
"Wish I could bring this stuff back to the hotel for everybody," Lya mutters as she gnaws at a juicy rib.
"You can't do everything for everyone all the time," Phoebe reminds Lya with a gentle smile as she sips her coffee. "With any luck, the snows will have passed along with Lyman's castle... so maybe the food situation won't be as bad as we left it."
"There are a couple of possibilities," Alex mused. "One, we go back home and find the place thawing out after a six-month blizzard. The neighborhood where the castle was is probably gone."
"Or, this is major league ball and we're just coming up from Triple-A. Hel was messing with Loki because he's threatening the status quo. When Hrofgar said, 'that's never happened before,' it was because we jumped back to our world and our reality."
"Mercy, Alex... you're talking about alternate realities and I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee yet," Lya chuckles.
"I can't tell if it's the coffee or last night's drinking," Alex smiles. "My ... other self didn't do anything embarrassing, did he?"
Evie, not being a sports fan, just sort of nods at the ball reference. She has no idea what any of the sports references mean but she can easily infer that the gist of it is that we're still a long way from winning. This ain't small potatoes.
She frowns and chews thoughtfully at a sausage, "So, wait...what do you mean our reality? Wasn't our reality what we saw - winter, a huge castle, lots of destruction and chaos?"
"So, this isn't just a timey-wimey, thing...it's a Sliders different reality thing?"
"We won't know until we go back, I think. I'm not a Time Lord," Alex muses. "Besides, you were running around with an alternate me, so why not? And if that means Lyman's Big Play to bring about Ragnarok didn't go off the way he wanted, good. We just have to figure out where he's gone and what he's going to try next."
Lya shrugs. "You were pretty normal for the most part when I saw the other you, Alex... other than, you know... that shroud of death thing. Now I can't say anything about when he was alone with Phoebe..." there's a thud from under the table and Lya sucks in a breath as she winces, "or when he took off to hang with the military encampment when they found out you were back... but from the newscasts it looked like Other Alex was quite determined to save the day."
She smiles and playfully nudges his shoulder. "Just goes to show... even when they fake being you, they end up doing such a good job that they can't help becoming the hero that you are, Alex."
"So let me get this straight..." Toxic adds. "Are you suggesting that everything that happened once we left Hel's domain was just one big false event put on for the benefit of Lyman to keep him out of her hair, and we just got caught up in it?"
"I don't think so," Alex answered. "Let's say Lyman blows up my house and carts me off to be some magical lynchpin tying Midgard to Asgard, but he's doing it in another dimension or parallel timeline, or whatever. Hel takes you through her domain and spits you back out where you're in a position to derail Lyman's plans, because if he destroys Asgard, he fucks up Valhalla and Hell as well and probably causes problems throughout the Nine Worlds.
"But Earth has nuclear weapons. Maybe this is some centuries-long plan - pitting men and nations against one another to lead to the creation of weapons of war that make swords and shields useless. Tyr, Ares, whomever - may not have seen it coming, or the Titans employing the human ingenuity at war may just be an unintended consequence.
"If they have to mash some universes together to get what they want, they'll do it."
"Well, regardless, it'll be interesting to see what we come back to," Evie says. "Now that I'm pretty much doubting not only my own timeline but what dimension I'm in, I think the only thing to do is just roll with it."
She chuckles and shakes her head as she dunks a biscuit in some gravy and sops the savory mess up.
Evie pops the last bit of sausage from her plate into her mouth and stands, wiping the grease from her fingers onto her pants. She goes over to the person in charge this morning and asks, "So, I have a question. How would one get to the Bifrost from here?"
"Main road out of town, can't miss it," says Gerra. "It's not a secret. Still, it's not a leisurely morning stroll. You'll want horses provisioned for a day's ride. We can take care of the provisions, but you'll have to talk to Erik down at the stables."
"Great, so now we've got to worry about Lyman trying to start Ragnarok in multiple dimensions just to see if one of them will take in ours," Lya groans before downing the last of her coffee. "Hopefully Heimdall can help us get this all straight, because my visions have been a bit vague on the details, you know?"
"I guess the good news is if we were in a different dimension, that means our Vegas might not have been decimated by the snow," Orithia offers.
"What about all those people we left, though?" Phoebe wonders. "If we end up returning to our own dimension... who is going to help them?"
"Yeah..." Lya mutters as she gnaws on a piece of bacon. "Good question..."
"Thanks," she smiles at Gerra and then makes a soft 'oh!' sound. "I almost forgot. Let me settle up with you for the mead and mug. And, I don't know how much Hama wanted for his mead, too. But, hopefully, this will cover everything." Evie hands some coins over to Gerra, just guestimating on how much everything should be. If anything, she probably offers too much. After all, what is she going to do with Asgardian money back in Vegas?
Evie wanders back to the table with news about the Bifrost, too late to hear Lya and Phoebe's comments, "Looks like it should be easy enough to get to the Bifrost. It's about a day's ride out. Gerra can pack us food and we can get horses from Erik at the stables."
Alex stares at his plate for a moment.
"If time is like a river, I can drop a pebble in the river, no big deal. But if I plunk a great big boulder down, the river splits, goes around the boulder ... and rejoins on the other side," he says.
"So, if I get up on the right side of the bed versus the left side, that's tossing a pebble. Sure, that means a different version of reality, but it's not a significant difference. But if it comes down to a world leader being assassinated, or a nuclear bomb being dropped, that's the boulder.
"And so we might be looking at the two versions of Vegas slamming into each other. Things could change drastically."
"So... like... bits of each universe might meld together into a new one?" Lya asks as she weaves her fingers together. "But you were the anchor between the dimensions, right? Without you... wouldn't they be all separate again?"
"This is getting all a bit much for me," says Toxic. "I say we take a ride and see what Heimdal can explain to us."
"I think I may have been used to cause the split," Alex frowns. "Or hide whatever Lyman was doing. It's stuff like this that made Odin sacrifice his eye at the Well of Mimir. So, I'm with Toxic. Let's go ring Heimdall's doorbell."
"Then let's get this show on the road," Evie turns and starts to head towards the door but then pauses. Turning back, she asks, "Do you guys have any experience horseback riding? Any preferences as far as tack? Well...not that we'll definitely have choices. We'll take whatever Erik has. But, just in case..."
It's not like Evie has a ton of experience, herself. She has ridden casually on outing with friends and family, but has no real training. However, she does know that there are different types of saddles and bridles. She figures that it's best to ask before she goes. Even if she doesn't know what the others are talking about if they ask for something specific, she can always ask for details and pass that on to Erik. (After all, what things are called on Earth may be different than what they are called in Asgard.)
"Been on a recreational ride before," Alex said. "If the horse is broken to a bit, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Do I look like I've ever rode a horse?" Lya snorts as they head out the door. "I prefer my horsepower to come from engines thank you very much."
"We tried to teach her once... it wasn't pretty," Orithia mock whispers to Evie before quickly moving ahead of the others and out of reach.
"The next time I want to ride something that bucks that much, I'll take them out to dinner first," Lya chuckles.
"A wagon might slow us down. Can you ride double with one of the Furies?" Alex asks. "'Cause, as John Wayne would put it, 'We're burning daylight.'*"
Klepto claps a hand on Lya's shoulder as she declares "I'll make sure she doesn't fall off this time."
The wagers you collected on the previous night more than pay for the additional expense of horses, which you choose to rent - just in case you end up making a trip back to Vegas. Well, to a Vegas.
The road is well-traveled and broad, so there is time for a measured pace that allows Lya to become accustomed to riding. Alex and Toxic ride to the front in a bounding overwatch, with Evie and Klepto carrying Lya in the middle, and Orithia and Phoebe riding last.
But the Bifrost isn't just a metaphor. It's a stone bridge with massive gates of gold and crystal at its midpoint. Sunlight shining onto the bridge and through the gate refracts the light into ... rainbows.
An armed contingent greets you at the base of the bridge.
"Ho, Travellers! I am Stellan, Captain of Heimdall's Watch. What business have you upon the Bifrost?"
"Good day, Captain," Evie dismounts and moves to stand before the soldier. The last thing she wants to do is loom over him on her horse. That's hardly respectful.
"I am Evie Heimdallsdottir. We were hoping to speak to Heimdall about happenings in Midgard, if he would allow us an audience," she smiles and adds. "Plus, the Bifrost is probably going to be our way home."
"I bid you welcome, Heimdalsdottir," Stellan smiles. "You may pass, as may the others. Another of you is Aesir, and the third is of a kind. I would learn your names."
"I am Alex Tyrsson," Alex says without dismounting.
"Honored," Stellan replies.
Klepto helps Lya off the horse with an extended arm before she walks up to Stellan with a grin and outstretched hand. "Dionysusdottir is a bit of a mouthful, so you can just call me Lya. I appreciate you guys being all nice and all what with me being from a different...um... clan, I guess."
"We are recognized by our deeds in life," Stellan says. "Heimdall saw your efforts in staving off Fimbulwinter. You have our thanks, and our respect ... Lya. I would raise a glass in your honor, but I understand you and Tyrsson have already done so."
"I think we raised enough glasses to honor all the inhabitants of Asgard," Lya chuckles, "but the sentiment is much appreciated. So do we just follow the rainbow road here and we'll run into Heimdall eventually?"
"Heimdall stands at the apex of Bifrost, just past the gates," Stellan tells you. "But do not stray past the Vantage if you do not wish to depart the realm."
"Thank you, Captain," Evie nods her thanks, smiling to the man before she moves back to her horse. The pats the animal on the neck, scratching at the fur thoughtfully before she turns back to ask. "Is it far to the Vantage? Should we take the horses?"
"It's about a mile to the Vantage, my Lady. I would take the horses, because you do not have a destination in mind, and you do not know to where you may be sent. If you depart and the horses remain behind, we will see them returned to Master Erik."
Even though the 'my lady' just sounds weird to Evie, she doesn't bother correcting Stellan. If she knew that she would be working with him for any length of time, she would knock that right out of his head (just the same as she had to do with Hitoshi and his 'Detective Cartwrighting'...constant reminders!) However, since this is most likely the last time she'll see him, she lets it slide.
"Thanks, Captain. I appreciate it. If we end up taking the horses with us, for whatever reason, I'll be sure to leave behind compensation for Erik. I'd feel bad just absconding with his horses," she smiles and climbs back into her saddle.
At first, The Bifrost doesn't seem that different from other stone bridges. Until you realize the joint work is different - precise lines joined without mortar, the structure held together by its own weight. And as you near the Vantage, there's a current in the air, the feel of a pending storm.
The size of the Great Gate becomes evident - it's at least six stories in height, and the match of any bank vault door. The crystal, though of an equal thickness, is clear. The sunlight from the Asgard side lenses through the crystal, creating myriad rainbows on the other side ... but within the crystal, there are intimations of other worlds. Flickers. Ghosts. Phantoms of things that are and are not real.
Heimdall stands just beyond the gate's threshold, the Vantage from which he watches over the Nine Worlds. He is clad in golden armor, and he stands with his hands resting upon the hilt of his sword.
Beside him stands another figure clad in a thick grey cloak, a staff or spear in his hand. They seem to be engaged in conversation.
"... trying to force the issue by derailing other realities. It's a mess," says Heimdall.
"My wayward son is mistaken in his beliefs," the other man says. "Your sight is not limited by such artifice, and mine was gained at great cost. We know how things will transpire."
"All-Father," whispers Alex.
Evie nods and whispers in return, "I've met him, once. Seems a nice enough fellow, though I doubt he or Heimdall would appreciate us eavesdropping. Why don't we move back a ways? They know we're here. They'll call us when they are ready."
"That would be now," Odin says. "We've been expecting you."
Evie dismounts, giving her steed a pat on the neck as she passes him on her way to stand before the two gods.
Where do I even begin? she thinks to herself. I have so many questions and they all sort of run together. I'm not sure there is even a logical starting point with all of it.
She comes to a stop before her celestial father and grandfather, "Dad...All-Father, it's good to see you both, again."
She is silent for a few moments, trying to marshal her thoughts. Evie isn't concerned that either of them will be offended by her silence or her bluntness when she does start asking questions. They both know her, her thoughts, her manners. She doesn't seek to offend either. Rather, she simply seeks answers.
"So, all this timey-wimey business. What's up with that?" she finally asks. "We know that there is a push to bring about Ragnarok by messing with alternate realities. But, how does it all work? I mean...there have been theories floating about Midgard about time travel and alternate dimensions for awhile, but we don't know for certain how it all happens."
Looking to Alex, she says, "Alex here has a good theory about it. And, if he's right, things are going to get super messy...messier...down the road, we're thinking."
"Plus, Lya has had some disturbing visions which seem to indicate that this was just the beginning of it all."
"Everything is possible," says Heimdall. "There's a reality where you bled out and died after your accident, Evie. There are several realties where you didn't slip and fall at all. There are realities where you made Detective, and others where you didn't. These are all reflections.
"What Loki is doing is ... cherry picking those reflections. Giving life to things that weren't anything more than a coin toss, a ripple in the water. And suddenly, you have a politician here, a military man there, other people of import who will do specific things that hasten Ragnarok."
The All-Father chuckles. "Ragnarok comes whether we want it or not. Loki is trying to carve out a destiny where he doesn't meet his end with your hands around his throat, Heimdall."
"So, if these are all reflections, then is there a reality that is...I'm not even sure how to say it...truer? more real? meant to be?" she looks between the two. "The way Alex described it is like time being a river. You drop a pebble in and there are a few ripples. No big deal. You drop a boulder in, and the river splits...but eventually they come back together. Is that right?"
"Or, are all of these reflections as real and true as any other reality? Are they splinters that take on a life of their own? New rivers, so to speak."
She pauses and frowns, trying to get a handle on it all, "I guess what I am trying to figure out is exactly how much damage Loki is doing. It's a giant cluster right now, yeah...but is he working against a clock, trying to get everything into position before the river merges again or is he forging something entirely new so that it need not be a race?"
"That, and I need to figure out what happened in our own reality. At this point, I am completely confused as to whether the castle happened in our timeline-dimension or if Hel spit us out somewhere-time else entirely in order to fuck with Loki."
Evie is so lost in thought that it doesn't register that she's starting to speak to the two gods as if they were fellow officers. She grins sheepishly and clears her throat, "Ahem..ahh...pardon the language."
"Pardon me sirs, Lya Bach here and I'm grateful for being able to visit your fine establishment," Lya introduces herself with a small curtsey. "I am curious... you talk of Loki's machinations... yet fail to mention Loki's son, Lyman. We thought we were dealing with Loki's scion... were we mistaken?"
"Loki doesn't have a son. At least, not one of his flesh and blood," Heimdall says. "At the same time, his own reputation can be problematic when it comes to making and breaking deals, whether they be with Scions or mortals."
Odin has nothing to say about his errant offspring. "One way of looking at different realities, Evie, is to consider Ragnarok an inevitability. It will happen. To borrow Tyrsson's example, time is a river. There are times where its course is calm, and others where the current is fast and treacherous.
"Hel made it possible for you to interfere with Loki's plans, though she is not the only one to have intervened. Because there are still forces pushing events forward, it is not possible to go 'back.' But neither is it likely that he can bring anything to the table that would dissuade you."
"So, there can't be any Groundhog Days where we live the same thing over and over until it happens the way we want. What happens, happens and we still have to go forward," she murmurs aloud, considering Odin's words. "That explains Hel shooting us into the future."
Silently, she thinks, Hel, I apologize for my misgivings about you. I was still in the dark and didn't understand fully. Your method was...unconventional... and I couldn't see it for what it was. Thank you.
"Do you know what happened to Hitoshi?" she asks. "He went into the castle ahead of us to deal with Lyman...whoever he is...and we haven't seen him since. We're hoping that he got out before the castle was destroyed."
"My vision showed him potentially under the influence of Loki as he may unwittingly help his plans," Lya adds worriedly. "I fear he may be given what he's wanted in this life without knowing the price."
Evie sighs and says, "Hitoshi is a good guy. Hopefully, he'll still be able to keep the big picture in mind, no matter what is happening to him, right now."
As an afterthought, she says, "So...what was it that Hjogar called Lyman...Laufeyson? Does that name mean anything?"
"It is no different than Heimdallsdottir or Tyrsson - it means Son of Laufey, Lord of the Frost Giants," Odin says. "I fostered him as liege lord, not in the hopes of rehabilitating him, but as my own lesson in trying to carve out a different fate. Such is possible, but never without sacrifice and great cost."
"So Ragnarok is fated to happen... I get that... but the hell if it has to happen on our watch," Lya says with grim determination before remembering who she's talking to and looking at the two gods with chagrin. "I mean... there's nothing in your prophecies that says it has to happen right now, does it? So that means we should be able to stop Loki... right? We obviously can't go hopping dimensions like he does without the help of the gods... so if you could help us see what he's doing, Mister Heimdall sir, it would be greatly appreciated."
"He is combing the worlds to find realities and commodities to exploit," Heimdall says. "And you may have seen true in your fears about your friend. If you wish to look, you may - but this is not a thing of prophecy; it is what is happening now."
"Oh, now he's done it," Klepto makes an aside to the rest of you. "She has to look."
"But it's not Delphi," Phoebe said. "It's the now. We can't change anything, can we? Don't we need to see what is coming?"
"Knowing where you are, my dear," says Odin, "Is essential to knowing where you're going."
"I will guide your sight," Heimdall tells Lya. "Alex, Evie, join us. See what Loki undertakes."
For a moment, all you see are the swirling mists ...
"Otoko oya!" a young girl, perhaps 5 years of age, exclaims. "I knew it was you."
"Oh? And how is that?" Hitoshi smiles.
"Because your footsteps are heavier than mine," another voice says. A woman approaches. She is unmistakably the girl's mother, and Hitoshi's wife. Wife? He favors her with a heartfelt smile.
"Are you joining us for lunch?" she asks.
"No. I have a lunch meeting with James," Hitoshi says.
"So desu ka," she says.
"I don't think I've ever seen him look that content," Lya breathes. "Loki's given him his heart's desire. The woman he failed to save. Bastard."
"His is not the only hand behind this," Heimdall warns. "Look closer."
And, at the hazy edges of your vision, you can see tendrils of shadow clinging to the woman and the child, like strings on a puppet. Neither is precisely what they seem, but illusions given form and life through someone else's machinations.
And you have the feeling that any conversation about their 'not being real' or pawns in a greater game will not go well ...
"Dammit..." Lya mutters as she shakes her head. "This is exactly what I was afraid of after my vision... Hitoshi is quickly becoming another piece of Loki's puzzle to put Ragnarok together. I'm kind of surprised about Izanami's influence, though... what would she get out of Ragnarok?"
"Maybe she just wants him," Toxic replies with a shrug.
"He is the son of a god," Phoebe reminds Lya in an attempt to console her. "He will not be so easily corrupted, no matter who is attempting their manipulations."
"For all of our sake I hope you're right," Lya sighs. "As much as I worry, there's just too much going on for us to focus on one person right now. We don't even know what happened to the world we left when the castle disappeared. The fact that we gave those people hope again only to disappear on them is sticking in my craw, you know?"
She turns to Heimdall with a hopeful look. "Could you let us see what's see what's happening to the world we left?"
Evie sighs, "I certainly hope that he's strong enough to see past the puppet show. But, if he doesn't...I don't think that I could blame him."
Even though Evie does not know even a fraction of the story of what happened to Hitoshi in the past, Lya's statement is enough for her to understand what this probably represents for their friend. This woman...he was unable to save her from something. Now, here she is, alive and well and the two of them have a child. Who wouldn't be tempted by such?
"Hey, we've only been gone for a day. I think. Maybe. I don't know how time flows here, but I'm sure that Heimdall could send us back as close to when we left as he could. That is...if we need to go back there," she lays a sympathetic hand upon Lya's shoulder. "It's entirely possible that we may need to go to another reality to fix something else. And, if we do...well...that's the best that we can do for everyone across all realities. Even if they can't see us helping them, we still are. And, the people we left behind have each other."
At that last statement, Evie's heart sinks. She realizes that it's entirely possible, if they must go to these other dimensions, that she may never again see the people she loves Or, at least, not her loved ones in her reality.
The view shifts to a more familiar Las Vegas. It's the morning after the explosion, with fire crews still walking the site to address flare-ups and hot spots.
"There are still a few residents missing. We're hoping they weren't home - away on vacation. We have six firefighters in the hospital, one in serious condition," the fire chief was saying.
"Evie, this is Saul. I know you were at the fire last night, but no one seems to know where you are. Gimme a call, 'kay?"
"... a gas main that had recently been worked on. Officials at NV Energy are expected to hold a press conference this afternoon. Megan Whitaker, KLAS."
"Wait, wait...I think I'm confused," Evie frowns as she gazes upon the images.
"So, this is our timeline, yes? This is after Alex's neighborhood exploded," she tilts her head to the side. "So, did things reset after we destroyed the anchor in the castle? Is this the river of time rejoining on the other side of the boulder, so to speak? The castle is gone, so it's like it didn't happen?"
"Or, was what we were in a completely different reality that has spun off into its own...thing? Are there people still dealing with the aftermath of that almost-Fimbulwinter?"
"I think that's what Alex was talking about Evie," Lya answers. "When we came out of Hel's dimension she shunted us to the timeline where Loki attempted to bring on Fimbrulwinter in order for us to try and stop it. Alex had been pulled from our timeline to be used in that new one to anchor all the timelines together so all the bits Loki's done in each can form his version of Ragnarok."
Lya scratches her head for a moment. "At least I think that's what he was saying. He was trying to explain it before I finished my coffee."
Evie frowns and makes a small, irritated sound. Then, a slight smirk graces her lips and, crossing her arms, she playfully nudges Lya's shoulder with her own, "Is it too late (or early) for me to start drinking? Because if there's anything out there that's finally going to drive me to the bottle, it's this shit."
She takes a deep breath and says, "Okay. So...that means...what? All the other timelines are set right because the anchor was cut? Now, we just have to deal with our own timeline again?"
"But, Hitoshi is obviously still stuck in another timeline. So...the other timelines still exist...but are no longer linked?"
"Million dollar question right there," Lya replies as she hands her a flask with a wink.
"Oy," mutters Alex. "I think I understand. Loki blows up my house. Boom, there's our boulder. But, impatient bastard that he is, he used me to pull the two timelines back together. He just needed something from the other reality. Beats me what that might be, though."
"And my guess is that Hitoshi is even further down the road, but with the added incentive of a wife who doesn't exist in our world. So, I was hanging around for six months or so, and don't remember anything 'I' was doing. Hitoshi might be going through something similar, and the best way to get someone to make a bad decision is not to give them all the facts."
"Probably a big ol' nuclear warhead," Lya mutters. "So... if Hitoshi is off in this other timeline... what's going on with ours now? The castle in the middle of Vegas kind of gave us a big thing to focus on... we've got no idea what Loki's plans might be now, though... other than potentially starting World War III."
"Well, it looks like the castle hasn't happened in our world," she gestures to the scenes still flickering before them, showing the aftermath of the explosion from the evening before.
"Because Lya thought to change the combination they were trying to get and we messed up his chance to use that doppelganger, I would assume that Lyman wasn't able to get those warheads in the other world. He would've had to have come up with a different plan and acted on it very swiftly in order to get everything in place before we destroyed the anchor," Evie takes a sip from Lya's flask as she thinks aloud. "I think we thoroughly fucked that up for Loki."
"But, Loki is clever enough to not put all his eggs in one basket. Hence, Hitoshi. And, who knows what else in other realities? So, the big question is: where do we go from here? Do we go home and try to figure out what to do from there? Do we try to contact Hitoshi in this other reality? Or do we go somewhere else entirely?"
Evie distractedly hands Lya's flask back to her with a small 'thanks' before turn to Heimdall, "Have you seen anything else in any other realities that you would mark as suspicious? Not just 'this is a different reflection' but 'somebody is messing with this?"
"You may find 'suspicious' to be surprisingly personal," Heimdall said. "To find mortals of influence is not difficult, but it takes time to groom them to be of any particular use. Many of the heroes in your pantheon were educated by Chiron, for example. Scions, on the other hand, have power and fate places them at the center of things.
"So all of this bullshit with the gangs wasn't to test us or get us out of the way, it was to ... create ripples?" Alex frowns.
"Essentially, yes."
Alex presses the heels of his hands against his temples. "So what happened in Hel's domain - she wasn't - I'm not ...?"
"You are Alex North, the Son of Tyr. Hel turned Loki's own machinations against him by exploiting those same ripples to create a copy of you which would act in your absence," Heimdall explained.
"So instead of a ripple turning out in Loki's favor, it contributed to my rescue," Alex nods. "So, as Evie asked, is there anything else being messed with? Do we have to save other version of ourselves?"
"Not at the present moment, but I cannot see into the future," Heimdall warns.
"Well that still leaves the question of 'What do we do now,'" Lya replies as she takes the flask back from Evie and takes a drink. "If our world is still dealing with the" she raises her hands and makes air quotes "gas mainexplosion then we'd be practically back to Square One if we went home... other than knowing that Loki was creating Jotunblut under Alex's house. I wouldn't know where to start to try and stop Loki then."
She takes an even bigger sip. "If we go back to the world we came from we could still help people... but as far as we can tell we've stopped whatever plans Loki had there. So the only other thing we know that Loki is actively doing is messing with Hitoshi."
She looks at Odin, who has remained rather quiet through all of this, with a raised brow. "Unless you've got something you'd like to add?"