Six months later

Valen groaned, pushing himself off the ground, the very same ground smudged with his own blood.

"Again," His maternal grandmother demanded.

Stifling a sigh, he held Stormguard up once again. Sif's form blurred, and purely on instinct Valen moved, leaning sideways as he used the flat of his blade to parry an attack, sending a brief impulse of lightning into the weapon.

Sif's fingers twitched, but her grip stayed true. With a muffled yell, she pushed him away, sending him flying.

Maneuvering his body mid-air, Valen made sure to end up in a standing position. He was given no time to rest as Sif's relentless barrage continued. Shadow travel, hellfire, thunder, nothing seemed to work against her, or rather she seemed to know what he was going to do. Comes with being a war goddess, no doubt.

Alas, Valen was still a mortal, he couldn't keep parrying forever, he would slip up sooner or later.

Sooner in this case, as Sif's blunted blade caught him at his pectorals, throwing him into one of the marble columns.

"ACK!" Valen gasped, a soundless scream ripping itself off his throat. He fell, hitting the ground with a dull thud, and lay unmoving.

"Valen?" Sif said after a while, had she hit him too hard? The shadows darkened for a brief moment and Sif's eyes widened by a fraction. Her combat instincts and fast reflexes were all that saved her from the barrage of lightning that crashed a hair's breadth away.

A shiver went down her spine when the air behind her dropped a few degrees, she could barely see a black blur behind her, an all too familiar sword in his hand.

She glowed, exploding with light and teleporting away, and not a moment too soon as a crescent wave of lightning imbued with darkness rended through one of her marble columns.

Valen frowned, "I had you there."

Sif grinned, "Good work Valen, you made me use my godly powers. I'm afraid it's only going to be harder from now."

Valen tensed, preparing himself for the thrashing he was about to get.

"That will have to wait." An unfamiliar voice boomed, startling them both.

The man who interrupted them seemed to command authority just by existing. His rugged red hair and beard, thunderous blue eyes, and iconic hammer and gauntlets were more than enough clues as to who the man was.

Valen tilted his head respectfully, "Grandfather."

"Thor," Sif acknowledged, "Is your task done?"

"For the moment, yes," Thor answered, switching his gaze to her. Turning back to Valen, he said, "You're Emily's son eh, not much from the looks of it. Did she not feed you enough?"

Valen stared wordlessly at him, the first time meeting his grandson, and that was what he said?

"Thor!" Sif chided, "That is no way to greet your grandson."

Thor grunted, walking up to the two of them, "I am not wrong, look at him he's thin and lanky. Not something a viking should be."

Sif huffed, about to chide him again when Valen spoke, "My mother was too dead to feed me anything the past six years. I'm plenty muscular, enough that it doesn't hinder my fighting style, being too buff is nothing but a hindrance to mobility and precision."

Thor stared at him for a moment, an unreadable expression set on his face. Valen resisted looking away, forcing himself to stare right back.

To his surprise Thor broke out in a boisterous laugh, patting him roughly on his shoulder, "Good, you have that viking courage."

Sif shook her head, sheathing her sword. "Why did you interrupt us Thor?"

As Thor's laughter died down, he answered, "The allfather has a task for him."

"So soon?" Sif asked, sounding worried.

Thor shrugged, "I don't see the issue here, he has proven to be capable of handling himself. If what Heimdall saw was correct, this one here held his own against a titan twice."

"I had help from a literal goddess the first time, and the second time I merely incapacitated him."

"Still noteworthy feats," Thor said, "You, young man, could handle most monsters our pantheon has to offer, of course that is ignoring the beasts of Ragnarok."

"But do not let that get to your head, overconfidence will cause your downfall." Sif warned.

"Unless you're as strong as me."

"Thor!"

"What?"

Sif sighed, "You two should get going."

"Right, of course." Thor said, beckoning Valen towards him. In a flash of thunder, they were both gone.

.

.

.

If Valen were to describe the throne room with one word, it would be golden. The entire room looked like it was carved out from a single block of gold.

"Valen," Odin acknowledged, "I assume your stay with Sif went well?"

Valen nodded, forcing his gaping mouth to close, "Yeah, although when you said she'd treat me like family I didn't expect being pummelled to the ground and sporting fresh bruises every day."

Odin smiled, amused, "It is what you asked for."

"I suppose so, yes." He sighed, "Anyways, what's this mission I'm hearing about."

Odin cleared his throat, adopting a hardened expression, "I'm afraid a great wrong has been brought about."

Valen furrowed his brows, "What happened?"

Odin hesitated, "I believe it would better to let Sunna tel-"

He never got the chance to finish that sentence, in a flash of white three nine feet tall hooded beings materialized in the throne room.

'Valen Steensen'. He couldn't tell which one had spoken. The soft disembodied voice resonated through the hall, seeping into his head, turning his skull into an icebox. 'Scion of the Umbral Thunder'

Then, in the hands of the middle one, fog collected, solidifying into half a dozen runestones. She threw them into the air. They floated above her, each rune expanding into two luminous white symbols as big as a poster board.

ᚦ ᛇ

Thurisaz, Announced the left woman. The rune of Thor.

Eihwaz. Said the one on the right. The rune of Death.

Then, the weirdest thing happened, the white smoke the three women trailed behind took on a green hue, turning into a strange mixture of white and green.

And when they spoke, I could swear I heard the hoarse voice of the Oracle amongst them.

Winter lies at the root of all

Through resplendence the ghost king shall fall

Bound mischief seems not so forcefully set

For the dark whispers reach even the ears of the dead

Nary a soul dares tread the gaping void

Lest the realms be all but destroyed

The glowing runes dissolved. The three women bowed to Valen. They melted into the fog, which had lost its green tinge by now, and disappeared.

Silence reigned for a moment before Valen broke it, "Do your women generally barge in, deliver a prophecy and leave like that?"

"Speak with respect, you do not want to anger the Norns." Thor warned, turning to Odin "This is graver than we thought All-father."

Odin sighed, "It seems our young friend has a perilous journey in front of him."

"Of course, a quest. Can't escape those even in a different pantheon pantheon." He grumbled.

Odin smiled wearily, "Alas, quests are a unifying factor amongst all pantheons. You must go prepare for your first quest from us."

Thor coughed, "All-father, you haven't explained to him about Svalinn."

"Ah, yes. Valen, how much do you know of the sun goddess Sunna?"

"Uh, does she ride around in a chariot, like Apollo."

Odin nodded, "Yes, but there is more to it than a simple chariot. You see Sunna had a shield, Svalinn. That shield embodies winter itself, much like how Frey's lost sword embodies summer. This shield was responsible for deflecting much of Sunna's heat, thus preventing the nine realms from burning to a crisp and starting Ragnarok."

"Had?" Valen echoed, "Did she…lose it?"

Odin shook his head, "I'm afraid it is not as simple as that. Someone stole it, and the lines of your prophecy points to one god in particular."

Bound mischief seems not so forcefully set

Valen connected the dots, "So, Loki escaped and stole this shield of winter? But why? There's bound to be other things he can do to cause mischief on a larger scale."

"It does not get much larger than preventing the sun from rising ever again, plunging the nine realms into an endless night." Thor grumbled, "That snake, if i get a hold of him-"

"What about the other sun gods?" Valen interrupted before Thor could go on a tangent.

"I suppose they will keep going as if nothing has happened, it is only the norse world that is affected.", Odin answered instead

Valen blinked, processing this information, "So, everywhere apart from Boston is going to have normal days and nights?"

"That is the gist of it, you see how imperative it is for the shield to be returned to us?"

"Yes," Valen said, "As if the prophecy didn't make it clear." He sighed, "I don't suppose anyone is volunteering to go on this quest with me?"

He shook his head, "The einherji are not permitted to leave the halls of Valhalla unless I grant them permission."

"And they won't be thrilled to go along on a strangers quest, even if it is to save the end of all nine realms." Valen confirmed.

"That seems to be the case."

Valen sighed once again, "When do I leave?"

"Right now." Thor said, "Get everything you need for the quest and meet me at the bifrost."

Valen sighed for the third time that day, err night. He had double checked his belongings to see if he left anything behind, and had only managed to pry Sif off him and get to the bifrost.

Only to find his grandfather hadn't arrived yet.

"I swear to Zeus if he doesn't arrive soon I'm asking Heimdall to send me to Boston without him."

"I assure you, I shall not be accompanying you to Midgard."

Valen jumped, stifling a scream which he was sure would have sounded like a girls. "Holy hell, what's with gods and sneaking up on me."

Thor narrowed his eyes, "Your sword, boy."

Valen, albeit taken aback by such a request, handed him Stormguard. Grabbing the sword none to gently, Thor waved his hand across the blade, the tranquil lightning in it reacting to his presence.

He took an involuntary step back when his grandfather began glowing an eerie red, failing to notice how the blue lightning of Stormguard did so too.

After a moment, the glow died, and Stormguard returned to its original form, "Here, take good care of this sword."

Breaking out of his stupor, he took his word back, "What did you do to it?"

Thor smiled unnervingly, "You shall know when you most need it."

"That does not even-"

"Heimdall, do it." Thor cut him off, turning to the armored watchman of the rainbow bridge, who gave him a small nod.

And the next moment, Valen was falling through a wormhole of iridescent white, The city of Asgard getting farther and farther away.

.

.

.

Valen grumbled under his breath, dusting himself off as he rose up from beside the statue of the ducks.

He had no idea where he was supposed to go, all he knew was that he had to get the shield back to the sun goddess.

'Alright, let's do a summary here,' He thought, beginning to walk out of the park.

' "Winter lies at the root of all", winter definitely alludes to Svalinn here, and the root of all…' He trailed off, staring aimlessly at the greenery around him.

'Root of all, trees… Of course, Yggdrasil!' Valen snapped his fingers in triumph, but sagged soon after, 'How the hell am I get to its roots?'

He sighed, it was an issue for future him. The next line was what bothered him the most, 'Through resplendence the ghost king shall fall' He had often heard shades, and the living, call his father by that title, and by extension his children.

'Resplendence could mean sunlight, does that mean I will die returning this shield?' He thought, part of his brain seemed to panic at the prospect of death and the other part began thinking of alternatives.

In the end, he decided he would defy death again if push came to shove, he did it once he could do it again. At least, he hoped.

The third and fourth lines seemed to hint towards Loki using dead souls to do his bidding, rogue einherji perhaps?

As for the final two lines-

"Man, this is awesome, we've been here for days and not a single monster attacked us!" An obnoxiously loud noise interrupted his thought process, and his eyebrow twitched in annoyance before he realized exactly what the boy had said.

Monsters. He was a demigod.

"It's like a dream come true," He heard a feminine voice this time, "Like a paradise."

Silently he crept up towards the duo, getting a closer look at the two. The boy had, auburn hair and grey eyes, a quiver hung behind his back. The girl, however, looked nothing like any Greek demigod, with flowing red hair and ivy green eyes, holding two daggers.

"We could stay here for the rest of our lives, no monsters to worry about." The boy suggested.

The girl hesitated, "I don't know, it feels wrong somehow."

"Entering enemy grounds does do that, generally speaking." Valen decided to announce himself, walking up from the bush he was hiding behind.

Instantly the duo was alert, the boy with an arrow already nocked and pointed at him and the girl with her daggers glowing an eerie purple.

Valen raised his arms in good faith, "I mean no harm."

"What sort of monster do you think he is?" The boy whispered, clearly unaware that Valen could still hear him.

"Some form of male empousa perhaps?" The girl suggested.

"There are no male empousa," He said dryly, "I'm a demigod, like you."

"How do we know you're not lying?"

Valen sighed, summoning his sword, "Firstly, monsters don't use stygian iron swords," Black wisps began swirling around his free hand, "Secondly, umbrakinesis is exclusive to chthonic deities and their children."

"Chthonic?" the boy said, lowering his bow, clearly convinced.

"Beings belonging to the underworld." Valen said, sheathing his sword.

"So, you're a child of an underworld deity?" The girl asked, lowering her daggers but not sheathing them.

"Hades to be exact." He nodded.

"What did you mean when you said this was enemy grounds?"

"Boston is not under the greek pantheon, monsters cannot enter the city without fear of starting an all out war." He explained, "They know exactly how much of a risk Boston possesses, an no matter how enticing two demigods would be, they will never enter here."

"Not under Greek gods? Is it under another pantheon?"

"Yeah," he said simply.

"Anyways, I overheard you talking about this place being a paradise," He changed the topic, "I'm guessing you haven't heard of Camp Half-Blood?"

"Camp what now?"

Valen sighed, he had a long explanation ahead of him.

"So, there is a camp for people like us, to train us and act as a safe haven, and there's a war brewing for the past five years between this camp and the titans?" The boy, who had introduced himself as Theron Cirillo, confirmed.

"That's the gist of it." Valen nodded, "Most demigods find a way to get there, either by something their parents left behind or through a satyr guiding them."

Theron shared a glance with Aricia, "All our parents left us were the weapons. We've been living in an orphanage for all our lives."

The girl nodded, "We only left because the monster attacks were becoming too frequent."

Valen narrowed his eyes, he could lead them to the camp, but that would mean wasting days, and he had no time to waste. He supposed he could tell them where it was and leave them be, but he didn't feel right leaving the two alone, they were untrained and easy picking for any high tier monster.

He hesitated, a third possibility bubbling up in his mind. 'That's not an option, they need training before even thinking of that.'

You were untrained too during your first quest. A voice in the back of his head said, and he cursed under his breath.

He sighed, there was one way to evaluate their strength, even though he didn't like it very much. Well, not like he had any other choice.

Without warning, he summoned Stormguard, slashing diagonally at the boy. "Hey! What's the deal with you!" He yelled, pressing his hand against his chest, his heart beating faster than ever. His hand came back with a bit of blood.

"I knew it," Aricia said through gritted teeth, "He is a monster."

Valen smiled, sending a shiver down their spines. Turning his body, he summoned his lance as it shot at the two demigods, his sword arm wasn't idle either as it moved to intercept a silver arrow.

"You'll have to try harder than that," He said in a bored voice, faking a yawn, "A simple Hellhound would kill you the way you are."

Aricia glared at him, stabbing her dagger deep into the ground, and yanked it forward, tearing a hole in the ground, only it wasn't a hole. The destruction followed the trail of the dagger, opening up a small chasm under him.

Warping away, Valen analyzed the girl, Ares perhaps? Hot tempered and physical strength. His eyes trailed to her arms, and he shook his head, Not muscular enough for that, hmm maybe a minor god?

Theron hadn't been idle all this while, the night was his territory, and he'd be damned if he let this boy one-up him when the moon was still up. The silver light seemed to bend and weave, countless silver arrows materializing in the sky. Valen's eyes widened, and he moved just in time to conjure a sphere of darkness around him.

(A/N : Theron is not a son of Artemis, it's more complicated than that.)

He saw the projectiles impacting his shield, poking into it and shattering, but when they suddenly stopped, he couldn't help but be wary. Perhaps it was that which saved his life, as he felt, more than saw, dozens upon dozens of arrows impacting the same place at the same time, tearing a hole in his defenses.

Maneuvering his body to the side, he managed to evade what could have been a fatal injury, and instead received a puncture wound through his shoulder.

Wasting no time, he began repairing the sphere, making it thicker than before. He shouldn't have underestimated them. Yet, before he could reinforce his shield, Aricia rushed at him, her daggers emanating an eerie purple glow.

His surprise was visible on his face when her dagger cut through his defenses like hot knife through butter. He felt the blade cutting into his body before he could warp away.

His breathing haggard, he absently felt his wound, thankfully it was too shallow to cause him serious harm. He inhaled crisply, "Stop!"

They did not.

Theron had managed to conjure a massive sword, easily the size of a small car, and Aricia sent wave after wave of her purple energy at him.

Time slowed down as his mind began working in overtime. The second line of the prophecy kept coming back to him, 'Through resplendence the ghost king shall fall.'

He supposed resplendence could mean the son of Apollo too. 'I am not dying here, not to some untrained demigods.'

Raising his hand, he conjured up a thick wall of darkness, effortlessly stopping Aricia's attacks. Black fire condensed around his sword, held together within a thin layer around his weapon, and he swung with all his strength, copying Aricia's move as a wave of dark fire shot out in a crescent arc, shattering the sword in an instant.

Turning his sword back to the ring, Valen held his arm out, and his spear flew back to him, disappearing into its tattoo. Having sheathed his weapons, he stared at the two, "You can stop fighting now, you've shown me how capable you are."

"This was a test?!" The girl exclaimed, glaring at him.

Valen smiled apologetically, summoning a flask of Nectar from his ring, and began sipping. Soon his injuries were gone, and the scars faded.

"What was the test for?" Theron asked, having calmed down.

"Partially to determine your godly parent, and partly to see if you can hold your own." Valen said, shrugging, "You're a son of Apollo, although I've never met one who can manipulate light, much less moonlight. But her, shes tricky."

Aricia was still glaring at him, even after having sheathed her weapons. Valen rolled his eyes, "If you want to kill me, do that after I finish the quest."

"Quest?" Theron asked, taking his attention away from Aricia.

"Yeah, I…" Valen trailed off, hesitating to make the choice. He sighed, if he was getting them involved, then he might as well tell them.

"Wait, so the norse gods are real too?!" Aricia exclaimed, "Is every mythology real."

Valen winced at the sound, "I don't know, maybe?"

"So let me get this straight. You, a son of Hades and grandson of Thor, are on a quest to return the shield of winter to the norse sun goddess before she burns up the nine realms."

"Yep." Valen said, dragging the p.

"Are quests like this usually taken on by a single person?" Aricia asked.

"Well, it's usually groups of three," Valen admitted.

"Why were you alone then?"

Unwilling to tell two people he had just met more about the norse pantheon, he fabricated a lie. "I don't want to brag, but I am one of the strongest people in camp, and they thought I alone would be enough for this. I don't blame them, we don't have many to spare right now."

Aricia made a face, "You, the strongest?"

"I'll have you know that I battled a titan twice." Valen retorted.

"Sure wannabe goth."

"What does that make you then?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her choice of clothes. Black jeans and black leather jacket over a white shirt with a purple demon mask drawn on it.

"Bitch please, I'm fabulous."

Valen rolled his eyes, "Yeah right, and I'm Zeus."

Thunder crackled in the distance as the two bickered and the third watched, amused.

.

.

.

"So, where is this shield?" Theron asked once they had stopped, seriously did they never run out of insults for each other?

Valen shrugged, "No idea, all I know is that it's at the roots of yggdrasil."

He blinked, "The world tree? The same one holding all realms together?"

"The very same."

"How are we supposed to get there?" Aricia asked, "It's not like we can just waltz out of the world."

"I haven't thought that far yet," Valen confessed, he had an idea that he could try but it wasn't foolproof.

"You have no idea how to get there do you." Theron deadpanned.

"Well, I have a theory." he said, sounding uncertain, "It could work, but it could also send us somewhere completely unexpected."

"Doesn't sound safe," He muttered, "But what other choice do we have?"

"True," Valen said, backtracking himself, "Come, we need to go back to the ducks."

Aricia furrowed her brows, "The what?"

"Ducks, you know like swans but uglier?"

She rolled her eyes, "I know what a duck is dumbass, how is one going to help us go to the tree?"

"Not one, nine." Valen said, enjoying the look of confusion on their faces as he walked back to the statues.

"Don't kill him. Don't kill him. Don't kill him." Aricia muttered, clenching and unclenching her fists as she followed.

Theron sighed, shaking his head. He'd be surprised if they didn't kill each other before they even got to the shield.

"Grab on to me," Valen said, kneeling down next to the statues of ducks, nine in total.

Aricia raised an eyebrow, "This is what you meant by ducks?"

"Yes," he said, placing his palm over the lead duck, "Now grab on or I'm leaving without you."

They didn't need any other convincing, grabbing ahold of both of Valen's shoulders as they fell into their shadows.

Normally shadow traveling involved eerie whispers and a cold shiver down your spine, not a beacon of black light wreathing you and slamming down on a tree branch.

"Ow." Theron deadpanned, pushing himself up.

"Could've warned us about the fall." Aricia glared at Valen, nursing her bruised shoulder.

"It doesn't usually do that, generally it's a lot gentler. Then again I've never tried this before." Fayden said, stifling a groan as he got up.

He sucked in a crisp breath, taking in the sights around him. The world tree was like any other tree, brown bark, and green leaves, only that it held the nine realms together not fruits. The 'sky' consisted of billions upon billions of stars and galaxies clearly visible from where they stood.

"Whoa!" Theron walking towards the edge. He whistled, "That's a long way down."

"You can see the shield?" Aricia asked, walking up to him.

"No," Theron shook his head, "In fact I can't even see the roots."

Valen scoffed, "It's the world tree not some oak tree in your backyard."

Aricia rolled her eyes, "And how exactly do you suggest we get down there smartass?"

Valen shrugged, "Under normal circumstances I'd say jump, but these aren't exactly normal circumstances."

"So?"

Valen didn't answer, choosing instead to wave his hand and stretching his shadow beyond the branch of the tree. A square platform solidified outside, tethered to Valens shadow. He tenderly walked in, "It should hold all three of us."

"Should?" Aricia asked, looking like she'd rather swallow a bag of rusted nails.

"Eh, I'm about 80% sure we won't fall to our deaths."

"Eighty percent?!"

"We'll be fine," He insisted, "If anything does happen, I'll shadow travel us to the nearest branch."

Theron shrugged, walking in the square. "Although," Valen said once Theron was inside, "It is difficult to shadow travel when moving at high speeds."

"WHAT?!" Aricia screeched, and Theron stared at him incredulously.

Valen grinned, "Nah, it's alright. I'm just messing with you."

She began stomping towards him, "You little-!" She shrieked bloody murder as the platform began free falling.

Valen broke out into full blown laughter, slowing down the platform to a reasonable speed. Aricia relaxed her grip on his shoulder, releasing a sigh of relief, before realising whose hand she was holding, and tightened her grip again, painfully.

Valen raised an eyebrow, "You do know you'll fall if something happens to me right?"

"Shut up."

Something blurred past them, and a terrifying YARK! Made Valen freeze.

"What was that?" Aricia asked, looking around warily.

"I'm not sure, it's not good news that much I know." Theron said, nocking an arrow.

Gently pushing Aricia away, Valen summoned his sword, noticing her do the same with her daggers.

Another explosive YARK! Made them jump, the dark platform moving to the nearest branch as the three got out.

And then they saw it. If you can imagine a Sherman tank covered in red fur, barrelling down the side of a tree … well, the squirrel was way scarier than that. His front teeth were twin wedges of white enamel terror. His claws were scimitars. His eyes were sulphur yellow, burning with fury.

YARK! It screeched again, packed with insults, reopening old wounds.

"No," Valen shook his head, "I did not kill her." The image of Kampe hurling Bianca into the forest fresh in his mind.

Aricia would have asked what he meant, had the next bark not been directed at her. She staggered, her mind going back to the first time she had seen a monster. When the werewolf had broken into her room, and killed her roommate. It was eating her body when she walked in, the memory burnt into her memory.

"Hey, this is no time to have a breakdown." Theron said, shaking Aricia violently. But it was like she was in a trance. He moved to Valen, attempting to break him out, but he wouldn't look at him, muttering something about 'not my fault'.

The squirrel opened its mouth to bark again, but Theron had enough of it. The stars above twinkled violently as the silver light of the heavens fell, a waterfall of solid light materializing between them.

"This way!" Someone yelled, and Theron turned. A knothole at the end of the branch glowed golden.

Therons eyes widened, as he began pulling them away, but he was slow, too slow, and the silver wall began cracking.

"Oh for the love of-" The voice cut off, and something suddenly came flying at them, Theron didn't even have the time to shield them before it reached them.

Fishing lines, that's what they were.

The hooks caught on to the two demigods, pulling them away at an alarming pace. "Run boy!" the man said again, and Theron took off.

The wall shattered and the squirrel barked, and Theron fell into the knot just in time to see the beast trembling in barely controlled rage.