So the opening night for Barbie and Oppenheimer is for sure to come at us like a hurricane with crowds of pink-adorned Barbie fans coming in like a flood, piling up their trash as if an avalanche hit. I saw Barbie at a premier showing for us associates, but I won't spoil anything for you guys. I have not interest for Oppenheimer though. Biopic films are not for me, so I'm not looking forward to that one. This will certainly be our busiest time during the summer, which means it'll probably be difficult for me to write chapters for my story, so I may need to prolong my time limit between scheduled updates to try and give myself more time. Anyhoo, there's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: Turning Red and it's characters are the property of (c) Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios.
Elements are borrowed from God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, owned by (c) Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment.
C/W: Physical violence, injuries, blood
THRYMHEIM (Old Norse: Þrymheimr)
The Home of Skaði
Stacy Frick was following the trail left behind by her ancestor Skaði in the snow leading up to the summit of her own home in the realm of Jötunheim, which was a snowy mountain in the highest point of the region where everything was cold as could be, not unlike the Siberian atmosphere of Fimbulwinter. It was quite a walk up the mountain and Stacy was genuinely surprised to see how she wasn't even freezing. It's like it wasn't even that cold out to her. When Stacy met her ancestor, she never would've imagined being related to her once she met her in person. The snow-white hair, the pale skin and blackened eyes. All of this was a lot for her to process and she still questioned it, but she nonetheless allowed the Goddess of Bowhunting to take the lead.
"How am I not even cold?" Stacy asked over the howling winds.
"You have the power over winter." Skaði explained. "It's impossible for you to freeze."
"Oh." The girl peeped. "So I'm actually descended from you and stuff?"
"Born and bred." Her goddess ancestress nodded. "I understand that this is all still quite a shock to you."
"Uh, yeah." agreed Stacy, brushing her hair. "I get swooped up by these shadow things and tortured by nightmares in this dark place and then the next thing I know, I'm creating snow."
"Yeah, I'm sorry that happened to you, by the way. If I had known about it before you were brought to Asgard, I would've done something about it. But then again, all access to and from Helheim had been ceased for the gods." The Goddess of Winter told her comfortingly and with regret, remembering when she heard of her descendant being kidnapped and tortured by Hel in her domain. "It's a good thing that the bear managed to get you out of there before your mind shattered like glass."
Stacy reached out her hands and tried to create some snow like she did before, but only summoned a strong gush of wintry wind towards her by accident, blowing her back and was almost sent falling down the mountain if Skaði hadn't rushed over and grabbed onto her tightly and carrying her back onto the path, though Stacy was a tad shaken from almost getting herself hurt in the process.
"Try not to force it." She reminded her strictly.
"Gah, how am I even supposed to know how to use this?!" The blonde girl complained, getting frustrated, but was now causing more winds to pick up around them. "I just now got these powers and I'm all the way out here far away from my home and my family and now I'm told I need to stop the world from ending and killing everything and every-!"
SLAP!
…Stacy's disheartened rant abated abruptly when Skaði slapped her across the face to get her to settle down since she was disrupting the environment around them with her powers via her tense emotions before the Goddess of Mountains held her shoulders firmly.
"Sorry." She told her calmly. "But you really need to calm yourself and not let your emotions take over so much. That's why I'm here. I will get you around to controlling your powers."
While she nursed her bruised cheek, Stacy nodded and continued following her ancestor further up the mountain until the air was thin and you could get a stunning view of the mountain from afar and all around, including the forest and the clouds below. In spite of her current dilemma apropos of the situation, Stacy let herself be overtaken by the view from her spot on the mountain because it truly took her breath away while heeding the appearance of any slippery slopes may lay in waiting in the area. It almost made her wonder if this is how her ski vacation would've turned out. Out there and up here high in the serene mountainous range of British Columbia with all this snow around, good enough to ski and sled on. Getting herself back on track, she caught up with Skaði when their path ahead reached a cavern into the mountain wall that looked untamed and looked to be home to ravenous creatures like yetis, making Stacy almost hesitant in going any further without running the possible risk of upsetting anything dangerous that might be homing in there and taking shelter from the cold outside. However, as the two pressed on ever forward, Stacy realized it wasn't as untamed as it looked like on the outside by the entrance since it began to look more and more domesticated as indicated by wooden arch-like structures built into the cave walls they were passing by and by now, the darkness in the cave was slowly being luminated by some light sources inside and the air was becoming less thin than it was before.
"Welcome to my home. Careful of the candles." Skaði said, bringing her descendant inside the cavernous abode. It looked very homey indeed for being inside of a mountain ice cave with shelves of books and scrolls, animal pelts like a bearskin rug, antlers on the walls and lit candles all around enough to look like a fire hazard, so Stacy heeded her instructions without question, not wishing to get burnt. Exploring more closely and all around, the walls of the place were lined up with ice crystals and snow jewels, a wide array of ancient hunting tools and armaments like a boy and arrows and knives. Hunting trophies decorated the place such as the heads of a stag, a snow leopard, a lynx, a wolf and a bear and a couple taxidermied animals like a reindeer, a buck, a rabbit and an owl, like her own personalized menagerie of wild game. then Stacy jumped when a wolf with white fur approached her with a warning snarl.
"Ruttisdir, down boy!" Skaði ordered him sharply. "Leave her alone! She is a guest in our home and you will treat as such!"
The loyal-to-a-fault wolf, Ruttisdir, obeyed his master's command and resorted to sniffing Stacy like a house dog before scampering off. She probably would've found him cute if he wasn't threatening to tear her to shreds just a second ago.
"Sorry about him. He doesn't warm up to strangers very well." The Goddess of Winter apologized.
"Hehehehe…" Stacy nervously chuckled. "Nice place you have here."
"Thanks. It's a very cozy little place to be when you're not hunting in the wild." Skaði explained. "You've already seen the view outside and I enjoy the peaceful solace from civilization where I can be one with wilderness and its inhabitants, like Ruttisdir."
"You hunt?" asked Stacy.
"I'm the Goddess of Bowhunting and the Hunt, child." Her ancestor answered back matter-of-factly. "There's no simple joy out of the hunt. The only true reason behind it is to survive, especially when the chips are down."
Stacy said nothing, but only stared directly at the unmoving rabbit statue with horror, so in a desperate attempt to distract her thoughts of this gruesome exhibition, her eyes darted over to something covered with a cloth and decided to go check it out for herself.
"What's this over here?" She asked, removing the tarp to reveal a large, blue, crystalline spherical object with Elder Futhark on it. The etchings were glowing brightly and it tightly and securely fastened down with ropes to keep it from rolling away. Its glow almost put the girl into a trance the longer she stared at it curiously.
"Be careful with him please!" Skaði cried in fright, rushing over to snatch the tarp from the girl, who reared back from her tone. "Excuse me for that, but this is very delicate. For you see, this orb contains the spirit of my father."
"Your father?" Stacy's eyebrow lifted.
"Yeah, it would be a shame living without him." Skaði muttered, then put an ear to the orb and listened. "Indeed so, father, but don't worry, she's a relative of ours."
"..." The blonde girl had no words.
"Meet Stacy Frick, she has been glorified with my power. Say hello, Stacy." Her bowhunting ancestor encouraged her.
"Hi…" Although compliant, Stacy really found it weird that she was greeting a glowing crystal ball housing the restless spirit of Thiazi (Old Norse: Þjazi), also spelled Thiazzi, Thjazi, Tjasse or Thiassi, the father of Skaði, son of Ölvaldi and the brother of Iði and Gangr, now encased inside this magical sphere of magnificent and glorious crystal and pure Jötunn magic. With the introductions out of the way, Skaði kissed the orb with her father's spirit and recovered it with the tarp.
"Well, I think you've seen enough here as I can tell by your expression by how uncomfortable you are amongst my commodities here. Allow me to take you for a ride in my sled."
Back outside they went, down the treacherous acclivity that lead up into Skaði's ice cave away from the woodsy landscape downwards and onto the Goddess of Bowhunting's wolf-drawn sled pulled by Ruttisdir and two other female wolves, Speki and Svanna with the three wild canines marching them through the forest and away from the snowy terrain where Thrymheim was. Stacy never wondered what riding on a wolf-drawn sled was like, but now that she was riding one now, she couldn't quite say for sure how it felt other than it was like being back in medieval times when transportation vehicles like cars, trains, even bikes weren't invented yet. Then again, Kris did say they were inside a parallel universe where the world hasn't left the ancient times.
"How, um, did your dad become a glowing ball anyway?" asked Stacy in an effort to strike up a conversation.
"That's not something you're ready to hear." Skaði stated, dodging the subject. "When you've spent enough time with me and gotten to know a little better, then I'll willingly disclose that information."
"Nothing good?" asked Stacy feebly.
"To put it mildly."
"Wait, stop for a minute!" Stacy ordered suddenly and made her ancestor bring the sled to a halt when the girl noticed something in the woods nearby that she recognized instantly. She had seen it before back in Asgard, the animal that rested upon Valhalla, the giant stag with the pronounced antlers just meandering along the forest close to them. Both ancestor and descendant looked on with awe at the stag known as Eikthrynir (Old Norse: Eikþyrnir) as he minded his own business, having left his spot from Asgard to wander the lands around the Realms as he saw fit to be surrounded by the trees and the grass and the mountains and the rocks on the ground, seeking the sanctity in Mother Nature.
"Keen eye. Guess we aren't that different after all." Skaði spoke fondly, eyeing the stag with wonder. "Magnificent, isn't he? Eikthrynir rests upon the top of Yggdrasil in Asgard, but goes wherever he pleases. The Realms are his domain. A wondrous and most awe-inspiring force without a doubt. No other graceful creature of the forest can ever surpass that of Eikthyrnir. The forest is his kingdom."
The stag stopped and turned to face the two on the sled. Stacy made no sound when she locked eyes with him and at that moment, she saw the beauty of nature within those black eyes staring back into hers and it made her feel safe. And her heart fluttered with wings in the air to be in the presence of this amazing animal like standing before a king in his palace.
FÓLKVANGR
The Home of Freya
Willow Wrenley was close to geeking out when she met her own ancestor in person, whom she now knew was skilled in magic. But she's never been the over-enthusiastic one compared to Mei and her friends if met with their idols like 4*Town. However, she was still excited to hear that she, herself, has some magic potential and her mind scrolls through the possibilities of what kind of things she could do with magic, what sort of feats and what sort of spells while wandering around the vast, open meadow of Fólkvangr, the realm of her ancestor which was stunning as it was monumental with plentiful fields of healthy crops that wouldn't dare spoil or wilt. All around her were a couple of Einherjar tended to those crops like farmers would do. Deciding she's seen enough of this heavenly place, Willow returned to where Freya was sitting on the steps of her hall, Sessrúmnir, with her beloved two cats and her boar, Hildisvíni was meters away, munching on some grass.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked the Vanir goddess with a doting smile.
"It's worth the look." Willow shrugged.
"This is also where people go after death." Freya explained, gesturing to all the Einherjar in her vicinity. "My own Valhalla as it were."
"Huh." Willow felt herself smile. As a true goth with macabre fascinations, it might as well be a dream of hers to be standing in an afterlife surrounded by souls of the deceased, even though the place she was in was a bit too bright and paradisiacal for her personalized standards.
"What is 'huh'?" Freya asked the salmon-haired girl.
"I'm more of a ghostly and eat-your-flesh-off kind of afterlife, you know? Full of wailing ghosts and zombies hungry for brains, but that's me talking." expressed Willow, sounding like an arbiter critiquing artwork.
"If it's heart-stopping horror you seek, it's down below in Helheim, but not even you would last a day down there and you do not want to go wandering there alone." Freya sternly reminded her, petting one of her cats. "It's also home to an inexorable cold that will be fatal for anyone that enters."
"I could wear a coat." Willow remarked plainly.
Freya sighed through her nose which made an unattractive sound. Sometimes children can be tough to reason with and this was Helheim she was speaking about. Notably, the goth girl does not appear to be as dense, so perhaps teaching her magic prowess won't be as cumbersome as long as the girl hits all the right notes and keeps her head in the game in regards to the high stakes their worlds were looking at right now and Hel will not wait for too long to keep her plan in motion. Willow, meanwhile, turned her attention downward at the two cats sprawled against the steps and what huge cats they were, at least the size and close to the body shape of lynxes with her gray, speckled and spotted fur.
"So what are your cats' names?" asked Willow, sitting down with her and her felines.
"Bygul and Trjegul." The Goddess of Love and Magic answered, petting them. "They were a gift from Thor."
Willow smiled at them and carefully put a hand out for one of them, Trjegul, who was hesitant at first, but eased himself in and allowed the girl to rub his head.
"I got two cats back at home." She said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. They're named Beetle and Tre." Willow stated, then was struck by a thought. "That sounds really funny."
"Yes, funny." Freya seemed to grapple with that consensus along with her descendant. Perhaps this could correlate to something.
"All in all, in spite of the whole 'end of the world as we know it' situation, I think I'm surprised to learn actual magic." Willow mused fondly, her black lips painted with a small smile.
"There's gonna be more to you than just magic, skogkatt." Freya imparted. "Rest assured, Vanir magic will give you an advantage to fight. Magic spells like this one. Glóa."
Uttering that galdr into her hand with a mystifyingly low tone, a ball of sunlight materialized in her hand when her fingers unfurled outward like the petals of a flower as it bloomed. And as Willow watched with voiceless wonder, Freya danced the light ball around her hand, then from one arm to the next in a form of contact juggling and as it landed in the palm of her other hand, she thrusted her hand out towards the sunny sky above, firing the ball above like lighting a firework on the 4th of July and just like a firework when it was high enough, it exploded, bombarding the sound barrier and eliminating any silence in the area with it's earth-shattering sonic boom, which made Willow cover her ears and wince, making her visibly afraid that she make cause more harm and damage with spells like that.
"As long as you maintain focus and concentration, you'll be mastering the magical art in no time before Ragnarök nears." Her goddess ancestor spoke to her without taking the girl's reaction into account.
"Are you kidding me?! I could kill someone with that!" Willow balked by the goddess's lack of concern.
"I will help you gain better control over spells like that, but you won't have to or need to use magic of that caliber unless the situation really calls for it. Magic isn't just about turning people into animals or tricking them into thinking you're right, magic can't be a salvageable tool when in moments of combat. When you take time to harness your power, to focus it and then when the time is right, take no prisoners. But you mustn't always rely on magic to fight. It must be used sparingly." Freya spoke on, trying to assuage the girl's troubles.
"I'm guessing stuff like that needs to be necessary for…..the end of the world…thing?"
"Preciscely." Freya nodded, then arose as she led her gobsmacked descendant inside her hall and without saying anything else or even needing to, Willow followed obediently. Inside, there was Freyr with Freya's two loyal servants, Beyla and her husband Byggvir, a married Vanir couple sworn to the allegiance and reliability to the Goddess of Love and Fertility. Both were a couple of middle-aged folk who were caught in the midst of the thin line between juvenescence and senescence. The brother of Freya got up first before the other two and went to greet the goth teen.
"How the fresh blood has arrived." He jokingly stated. "Welcome to the crib."
"I hate it when you call it that." His sister moaned in annoyance.
"I know."
Willow shook her head in slight amusement at the two's sibling antics. Just a couple of well-renowned gods of myth bickering and battering like children like a brother and sister would.
"Mind if I step outside while you two settle this alone?" She remarked with a tease, crossing her arms. While Freya frowned at her for that comment, Freyr hid a smirk behind his hand.
"I like her already. We should keep her around." The God of Fertility jested ebulliently.
"Ingvi." Freya muttered at him warningly.
"Young Willow." Beyla spoke as she greeted the goth girl upon setting her sights on her, finally coming over to her while the two siblings went back and forth.
"Hey." She only said.
"An apprentice in our midst, I say." claimed Byggvir, scratching his chin. "A little too young to be learning the magic ways at the behest of a goddess."
"Hush, Byggir!" His wife shushed him with a harsh glance.
Willow ignored the two elders and let her wandering eyes settle upon one of the tables with dozens of artifacts, talismans, charms and relics plausible for magic or ritualistic use. One of them looked like a dagger, just a simple dagger. She picked it up and examined it more closely. More runes and even magical symbols not unlike ones that would be associated with witchcraft. Freya patiently took the dagger from her and put it away.
"I don't think you're ready for that just yet." She reminded her with a poker-faced tone of voice. "Up-and-coming sorceresses need time building up their magical aptitude before they can wield weapons like those to hone their abilities."
"But what's a dagger gonna do?" asked Willow.
"Whatever you see fit." Freya answered as she walked about the room. "Personally, I'd use one by means of soul transferal, but you'll get there. Sooner or later."
Soul transferal?
As in taking a soul from one body and putting it in another?
Willow isn't usually surprised, but she was surely surprised by that very idea and it almost gave her chills thinking about it. But if she did capture a soul into an object, what would she even do with it?
Moose Monroe was venturing through the uncharted terrains of Svartalfheim with his ancestor, Týr and with him was Carter Murphy-Mayhew who had his own ancestor, Mímir, strapped to his chest. Like you'd expect, the very first time the teens, aside from Kris and his friends, met the decapitated head of the God of Wisdom, they were legit freaked out when seeing him, even when he was still functioning without a body. It was still taking a lot of getting used to, conversing with and carrying around a talking severed head, but for Carter, the more he spoke with him and the more he spent time around him, the less afraid and disturbed he became. Though he may never get over it.
"So ah still think it's weird that ah'm related to a god this whole tahm." Moose remarked while remaining by the God of War's side. "Does that mean mah whole family has powers?"
"No, just you." Týr corrected. "Only one person in your generation can be born with my powers, but it's trauma that helps unlock it."
"Oh…" The burly teen deplored, losing his confident air right away and turning his eyesight away and out into the distance.
"What?" asked Carter, noticing the helpless distress on his face.
"Nothing." The old bully said immediately.
"If there's anything-"
"Ah'd rather not, alright?" Moose interrupted his ancestor. 'Ye're not ready fer dat. And ah'm not ready to speak abaht it."
"Understood. I won't pry." said Týr, leaving it be for now.
"Let's chance t' subject." Mímir spoke up, receiving a jump from Moose when he did, who kept looking away. "How well-versed are ye lads in Auld Norse?"
"Not good." Carter stated.
"No." peeped Moose.
"Here in Svartalfheim, th' dark elves live wit' the dwarves, but there's been a huge kerfuffle amongst both races fer as long as we can remember. But last time we were here three years ago, Stig, the scary goth boy, managed t' get the two sides to get along wit' each other. Sure, they don' fight or argue, bit a' least they're learnin' to co-exist. He even turned int' a bear."
"A bear?" asked Moose, suddenly turning his gaze upon the head.
"Yeah, no shit." A new voice that both gods unfortunately recognized made them turn emotionlessly towards the two bumbling dim-witted dark elves that they were all too familiar with, though seldom wished they hadn't. Nobody they knew personally other than the brothers, Svir and Thrum, adorned in their armor and masks, which failed to get a scare out of the two boys because for one thing, they were too old to be afraid of scary masks like those and for another, they both had a preoccupation for things that would scare you. If adding a third reason was obligatory, they looked kind of silly on them.
"Sons of Svartáljǫfurr and Alva. Nice seeing you again." Týr blankly greeted the two idiots.
"Svartal…smartl….svartahlar…." Moose mumbled to himself under his breath, trying to pronounce the name of the Dark Elf King.
"New kids." Svir perked up when he saw the two boys and came over to bring the two into an embrace. "Push my buttons, I've been overtaken with modesty."
"We are humble wholesale, that is a promise." Thrum cried dopily. "What's shakin', egg n' bacon?"
"I tell you. I see bright new pupils for the gods. How lucky you are." Svir pinched Moose's chubby cheek, making him cringe. "What's in store for you goblins?"
"Certainly, what's Escápula mean?" asked Thrum, pointing at Carter's shirt.
"I mean, really, what sort of power you got?"
"When do I expect to see lightning bolts?"
"How come you're so fat?"
"Why won't you guys say something?"
"I know. Too excited you can't even speak." Svir surmised. "Endorphins-"
By this point, the two had heard enough of their annoying questions that it was driving them to desire them gone already so they don't have to listen to them talk anymore. But then suddenly, when Moose shoved Svir away to shut him up and out of his personal bubble, the fat boy had surprised even himself when he pushed the nonsensically-babbling dark elf meters away from him and he looked down at his hand in shock. So that's what his power was. Or rather part of it, anyway.
"Neat." Carter commented on this in his own way, then retracted his attention. "Who are you guys?"
"A bunch o' ninnies, is they are." Mímir answered with a groan.
"Two dark elves who I recall should be growing crops for the dwarves." Týr hissed while Svir recovered and rushed back over eagerly. "Why are you even in armor?"
"We heard Ragn-"
"Shut up, Thrum." Svir slapped him with a glare. "We heard Ragnarök was coming and we wanted to prepare for the fight to come. The All-Father said he wanted all the help."
"Can't grow crops if the world ends." Thrum shrugged.
"Well, fine." sighed Týr defeatedly, rubbing his head. "Just so long as you keep to the sidelines and not cause any more trouble."
"Indisputably!" The two dark elf-light elf hybrid brothers shouted en masse with big, stupid grins.
"Hope youse don't get us all killed." Moose barked at the both of them, but then Thrum laughed like a hyena at the boy's accent, which did not earn any shared amusement from the cubby one. Then the pale dark elf got up right in his face.
"I love the way you talk! 'Hope youse don't get us killed'. Say something else!" The boy glared at him for that when Moose grabbed both him and Svir and threw the both of them high into the air, far away from them and waited until he heard their body hitting the ground a mile away.
"Are they okay?" asked Carter, worried that they may have accidentally gotten killed in the process.
"Unfortunately…" grunted the God of Wisdom.
"When the time comes for you to be throwing people and stuff around, I hope you'll have that temper checked out. Not that it's not entertaining to see those two get a good clomp now and then." Týr informed his rowdy descendant while they proceeded down the trail.
"Y'know, those guys almost remind me of mah brother and sister." Moose admitted with a huff. "Chatty lil' groundhogs, but ah can't imagine bein' without 'em."
"Yeah, I've seen how they are back in middle school." Carter intoned.
Niðavellir was a city that really made both boys' jaws drop when entering. Everything was built small to accommodate the city's pygmy population. It was like entering an amusement park of sorts. Everywhere they looked, dwarves were all around. To meet an actual dwarf like before in Asgard was confounding on its own, but to be inside of a city full of them tailored to their scale was a sight of an unassailable margin. Many short people marching around, going about their business as the group ambled on their random path through the kaupang ("market-place") full of dwarves selling a bunch of priced goods like fish, fruits and vegetables (grown, harvested and shipped to them by Svir and Thrum), spices, herbs, glassware, pottery, textiles, wool, animal hides, antlers, etc.
"Land o' the dwarves as ye can see." Mímir noted.
"Yeah, ah can see that." Moose marveled, eyes looking all over the place.
"What's that?" Carter asked, walking over to a stand somewhere else, taking Mímir's head with him.
"Can ya not go too far?" Moose shouted as they took off.
"Lúnda!" Týr called for a woman dwarf who had fair skin, but with visible blue patches, brunette hair braided into an elaborate ponytail, short-sleeved underdress and goggles and in response to being addressed, Lúnda snorted and spat out a loogie on the ground and smiled. At her forge, she was joined by some helpers, Dvalinn, Dáinn, Andvari, Alvíss, Eikinskjaldi, Durinn, Fjalar and Galar who were hard at work behind the counter.
"What's a' gotten you rootin' 'round here?" She greeted when the God of War showed up by her forge.
"I had just recently discovered my descendant." He answered. "I see you've got some extra hands."
"These bums needed sum' extra work." said Lúnda.
"You said you have a descendant?" Andvari asked. "Does that mean you finally married Zisa?"
"Perhaps I have. You never knew?" asked Týr.
"Ah here. Ah'm related t' him." Moose responded, coming forward and making himself known, but then all the puny blacksmiths turned perusing glances towards him that made Moose think they were scanning him for flaws.
"You're him?" asked Eikinskjaldi. "Because forgive me, but you don't look like much."
"Yeah, well, I'm him." riposted Moose.
"Ain't much going on 'ere." said Dvalinn. "From up close, ye don't seem like fightin' material."
"I used to…beat up other students at my old school." Moose winced, his comment made him think back to when he used to be a bully and this made Týr turn to face him, incredulous.
"No matter. You'll be a mighty warrior in no time. With the right tools." Dáinn informed him.
"And how t' use 'em." Durinn said.
"'Sppose ya got more girth in 'ere than you realize, big fellar." Lúnda articulated, working her tools proficiently, even without looking. "We just the folks ye need if'n it's weapons ye need."
"Oh, thanks, but-"
"Really, boy." Andvari interrupted, coming over to him. "Even starters of yer age need some way to help himself in combat. This place can be riddled with ferocious beasts that are ready to snap their jaws around you and gobble you up. Weapons? We can make anything."
"Ask Eitri and Brokk." Fjalar suggested.
"Yeah, they the ones who built Thor's hammer." His brother, Galar, added.
"Spears, hammers, swords, knives, rings to make you invisible, you name it, we can build it all. Just ask us." Alvíss was quick to suggest in comparison with the rest.
"Invisible rings?" Moose's head turned upright when he heard that one.
"Yeah, you just put on one and nobody will see you."
"But you're not ready to use weapons yet." Týr attested with a hand clutching the round boy's shoulder. "Weapons are for when you're being taught combat. First you need to learn how your powers work."
"I wouldn't be too rough on the boy." Andvari told the God of War, putting on a strong voice. "Beginners will break down easily."
"Hey!" Moose seemed to take offense.
"Don' listen to' this sack o' taters. Y'know some thin'? Ah see a spark in ye. A fire waitin' to be a'-burnin'." inquired Lúnda. "But when th' time comes, we'll provide ye wit' the stuff."
"And the dwarves here have more blacksmithing skills than any other blacksmith you'll ever meet." Týr stated with complete and infinite honesty.
"Damn straight." Lúnda nodded.
"Don' let me be a burden." Moose replied with a shrug.
HLESEY
The Home of Ægir
Taken under the wing of Ægir, Toshio Sato was taken to find the undersea dwelling of the God of the Ocean himself which was located in an underwater coral cave at the island of Hlesey down at Midgard where the sea hadn't been frozen by Fimbulwinter since Ægir himself couldn't come to pick the boy up because the countless-year old sea god preferred the comfortable solace of his domain more often than not, much less the company of others. However, he was still a social deity nonetheless as his banquets and parties were phenomenal and preeminent in the Nine Realms as were his sea storms, which were powerful and inevitably perilous and tempestuous at best that no ship out there could ever brave without being taken down to the dark depths below due to rogue waves. However, when not hosting festivities for the gods, he's mostly in the zone, minding his own business and looking after the sea and its kingdom of creatures, keeping an eye out for sailors and if need be, helping them find fish for them to catch. Some sacrifices are meant to be made.
With nobody willing to venture into the sea god's watery dominion without disturbing him, Toshio was escorted across the island by Ægir's daughters, the undines and the locally-named Nine Mothers of Heimdall, all of whom almost looked identical apart from their hair and skin color and all wore similar dresses that would glitter in the sun if it weren't for the clouds blocking it from view and all nine of them were there and accounted for; the eldest of the sisters, the strict, authoritative and commonsensical Blóðughadda, the auspicious Bylgja, the adventurous and excitable Drǫfn, the calculative, cool and apathetic Dúfa, the smart and diplomatic Hefring, the hard-boiled Himinglæva, the light-footed and sharp-witted Hrǫnn, the more welcoming and open-minded Kólga and finally, the stoic and stone-faced Unnr, the Norse Goddesses of Waves.
"What do I expect to find?" asked the Japanese boy.
"Father's private dwelling is in a cave far below the surface of the water." Blóðughadda answered him while all nine of the undines kept their gazes forward at the roaring ocean waves ahead as they were nearing the edge of a cliff. "Expect to find an underwater coral reef. It should lead the way for you."
"And you're not coming?" Toshio asked, noticing that all of them were standing still now while he kept walking.
"No." Dúfa answered.
"Father isn't too keen on his slumbers being disturbed." said Hefring.
"His foul moods are not a sight to see for us." Kólga enunciated plainly.
"I will really need some help down there." Toshio argued against their refusal. "What if I get lost or drown?"
"You won't. Trust us." Unnr said with an unchanged face that conveyed no such emotion.
"Once you're in the water, things will be much clearer." said Hrǫnn.
"Father and mother will be all the help you need when you meet them." Himinglæva explained to him. "But if you wish, we will raise the waves."
"And if father is asleep, wave him gently." Blóðughadda instructed with a strong and harsh tone so that the boy knows full well not to be careless if he meets the personification of the ocean.
"Sing to him." Bylgja also instructed him.
"Sing to him…" Toshio was really at a loss now.
"Sea shanties. He loves those." Drǫfn implied.
"But I don't-"
He couldn't get a word in because all nine of the undines were already running for the cliff and all took a huge leap off the precarious bedrock without any thought of precautions and made graceful dives down below like a pair of Olympic swimmers diving off and Toshio stood there and gasped, but then waited for a splash. When he didn't hear one yet, he nervously peered over the edge and saw it was a seriously long way down to the ocean below, him standing about 69 ft.-45 in. off the surface of the water which the Nine Mothers finally broke through 9 seconds later and there was a luminescent glow as their bodies impacted the water, like they were becoming one with the ocean itself since they basically personified the waves.
"That's….really high." wheezed Toshio, growing pale. He's taken high dives before in his life, but never ones this big, much less off a cliff because he'd be defying death in that situation.
By now the ocean started to go from wild to erratic in a wink. The insanely-undulating currents were morphing at an alarming rate great nobody could expect. A massive wave appeared out of nowhere and gale force winds blew in from the west in the direction of the island. Like a wrecking ball striking a building, the wave smacked against the cliff wall with the force of a submarine torpedo. One must never be too careful against indomitable coercion such as that. However, although it took him a minute for the pieces to fit together, Toshio figured that the nine sisters were working together to make it easier for the boy to land in the water, making the water rise and give him a short enough fall from the top to the bottom. So he gave this some thought and breathed in and out, psyching himself up and finally, timing it just right with restraining conflict, he leaped right off the cliff and let himself plummet downward at the moment another massive wave hit the wall.
Toshio punctured through the ocean's surface like a needle piercing the skin. It almost hurt, jumping from that incredible height, but it made it into the water. That's all that mattered. However, the boy was now flailing around, fighting against the ocean's waves from underneath, the force of the currents were too strong for an athlete like him. The water was cold, no doubt from the winter. His mouth burned from the saltwater when he tried parting his lips, his body yanking all about until the currents settled only a tad when the aggressive winter winds tempered down and Toshio was like an astronaut floating through space in the deep water when he stopped fighting it and let himself sink down, down, down like a rock that fell overboard off a boat that went lower and lower until it hit the ocean floor. Toshio held his breath as long as he could, but it was becoming too much. His lungs were about to burst from the lack of oxygen. He needs air or else he'll die, but if he stops holding his breath, he'll drown. But when he opened his mouth, he found that he was breathing normally somehow. He wasn't choking or suffocating on the water, he was just breathing it in like he breathed in air above. And this struck him as odd and without exception, a perplexing development. He was breathing underwater like a fish. Toshio tested this as he sat down there on the floor millimeters below the ocean's surface, inhaling and exhaling through his mouth and nose and water did nothing to stop him from achieving this conformity.
It was like he wasn't underwater at all, but still on dry land. And Toshio actually laughed to himself under the water and he actually heard himself laugh, sound traveling much faster than on air. However, he felt his excitement diminish when he saw that he wasn't alone down there. Something else was there with him. Something huge, something abnormal, something….eldritch in nature.
It was at first in the corner of his eyes.
He could make it out to be something off a giant tentacle that belonged to a humongous cephalopod as it grappled onto a sunken Viking ship next to the boy, crumbling it to dust and debris as it gripped it tightly. Then Toshio gasped out bubbles when he felt eyes on him from the front and it was staring right at him from the darkness up ahead. He could make it out to be two otherworldly glowing lights that appear to epitomize eyes. And the thing was massive as it revealed itself to Toshio, dragging itself towards him until he could make out its head, which was roughly the size of a football stadium that actually had more than two eyes - about 6 or 10 of them to be exact - which gave it a Lovecraftian appearance, a gaping mouth with barnacle-besmeared teeth, lionfish-like fins on both sides of its head and a comparatively large body composed of tentacles like a colossal mutated octopus.
A kraken.
The sea monster known to sink ships.
Unable to react or move away, Toshio was involuntarily locking eyes with the thing as its eyes glowed an unearthly green. Instead, he stayed perfectly still.
Instead, he felt himself slip into a near-catatonic state of easiness, his consciousness all but melting away and feeling no need to be afraid.
Just let the mind steady and the heart thump and the body go stationary.
Nothing but him and-
SWOOSH!
The currents from underwater sprung back to life and Toshio did nothing when he felt as if he was grabbed and lifted up up and through the water away from the kraken as he could listen to an otherworldly, muffled bellow like a roar as he was whisked away like he was caught on a hook and being pulled away by the line. Only it wasn't the surface he was heading for, instead it was a cavernous opening with loads of coral all around and Toshio snapped out of it. Now he found himself being whooshed into the cave and reaching the surface of the water, breaking through and allowing air to fill his lungs after prolonged oxygen deficiency. He coughed a bit to get the saltwater out of his mouth and breathed in deep, though it wasn't necessary considering that he was able to breathe just fine earlier, then climbed up on top of dry land, setting down to get the shake the water off of him while his wet clothes clung annoyingly to his body. Two heads of the nine sisters poked out from the water, which glowed bright blue around them.
"Never look a kraken in the eye." Blóðughadda informed him strictly. "Or else you'll get lost in a trance."
"Like I knew that before." Toshio coughed up more water. "So now you decided to be helpful."
"We help raise the waves for you like we said we would." claimed Drǫfn.
"Yeah, thanks." Toshio grumbled, brushing the soggy strands of hair from his face.
"Little boys are such children." Drǫfn jeered playfully before she and her sister magically dissolved into the water and disappeared out of sight, leaving him by his lonesome inside the undersea cave.
Toshio stood to his feet and took a moment to observe the cave. There was much coral, algae, barnacles and whatnot all around and there was a large waterfall nearby and the Japanese boy eyed with surprise, seeing a waterfall inside of an underwater cave. Regardless, now was not the time for sightseeing. He needed to find and meet his ancestor, so up the steps he went, the wooden steps stained and molded with the seawater and moistness and even the air felt wet. The flight of stairs went on for an agonizing half-hour and he finally received the reward for his spirited efforts. He was standing inside a large exterior of a massive and magnificent banquet hall, incontrovertibly to host parties for the gods with a wide berth big enough to fit an entire crowd.
"What took you so long?" asked an older woman and there she stood with pale chestnut skin, a long mane of curled black locks covered in a shiny, moist sheen and wearing a gown made from fish scales. She was holding some sort of fishing net in her arms.
"Hi?" Toshio greeted her halfheartedly.
"My husband should be expecting you." explained Rán, the Norse Jötunn Goddess of the Ocean and the Personification of the Sea. "I presume you must be our son's descendant. From our son, if I'm not sadly mistaken. We'll have introductions later. He's down this way."
"Uh, okay." He obeyed and followed the elegant-looking woman in the scaled dress down away from the table while wondering what kind of food they would serve to their guests. Ordinarily, he'd assume, since they were ocean gods, they'd probably serve seafood or other fish-related dishes like smoked salmon or cod. Rán was leading the boy down the hallway, which was devolving from the land-based interior idiosyncrasy and made it seem like they were entering another underground.
"Is he…..?"
"Harmless? Mostly." said the sea goddess intuitively. "However, he's in his chambers in a deep drowse. It's how he rejuvenates himself. Absorbing energy from the ocean water. The quiet solace keeps him relaxed and if disturbed, well….he doesn't take it too well."
"I don't usually like being woken up like that, either." Toshio responded.
"Well, expect nothing less from him."
"I was told I need to sing to him?" faltered Toshio.
"Yes, that usually helps. Know of any sea shanties, boy?"
"Just the one." He confessed.
The tunnel they were both traversing through was dark, but there was thankfully a light at the end, they were getting close to something. Sure enough, it led to an enormous, watery cave full of dripping stalactite and stalagmites and an wide immaculate pool of glowing water.
"Sing to him." Rán spoke to the boy.
Toshio looked between her and the reflective pool of water and in spite of his wariness, he did as he was told. First one step at a time and into the water he went, inching and easing himself in, allowing his body to become wet once more and ignoring his shoes and clothes getting more soggy the further he edged in. The farther he went, the more the surface reached his knees. But with one glance back at Rán, she just urged him to keep going. Toshio was starting to hesitate, but he didn't seem to have any say on the matter. This was the reason he was here. To meet his Nordic ancestor in person, whom he's only made privy too via a magical vision brought on by the touch of an omniscient tree that bears life and death at its branches and roots and with the world at stake, Toshio needed to press onward, irregardless of the risks. Everything he ever knew and ever cared about will be gone unless he learns how to understand and use his powers. Toshio didn't stop until the water was just past his shoulder and just barely brushing against his chin. Now he had to think. What could sing to wake the sea god up?
There was this one song he remembers by heart and ear from a movie he saw once a couple years ago. Will that work, though? One way to find out.
"Uh….~ Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me hearties, yo-ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot.
Drink up me hearties, yo-ho.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life f-"
From underneath him, it took him by surprise.
A giant, hulking figure burst out of the water below the boy in the pool and arose until Toshio was just a hair from touching the ceiling when he was found hanging on top of the head of the Ægir, who was now the size of a blue whale, inches bigger than that, even and he let out a big yawn, almost letting Toshio fall off him in the process, but the shocked boy grappled on tightly.
Ægir, the God of the Ocean, had woken up from his daily siesta when he heard the boy singing and it roused him pleasantly awake as the old sea god rubbed the sleep from his eyes and shook himself from the jitters, which made Toshio lose his hold and fall directly into the water in front of Ægir, making the towering giant aware of his presence at once.
"Yo-ho, yo-ho. What do I owe to the pleasure of a peculiar song?" Ægir numbly asked, picking Toshio up and holding him up to meet his eyes. "So you're here in my chambers, my descendant. Does he have a name?"
"Toshio Sato." Toshio stayed perfectly still.
"Toshio. I love the way that rolls off my tongue." said Ægir with his still-waking half-asleep brain affecting his thinking. "Toshio, Tosh-ee-oh, T-ah-she-o-…."
"My love,…" Rán interrupted his spacing. "Leíf almost had him on the way in."
"Leíf?" repeated Toshio.
"That kraken of mine helps keep any unwanted visitors away." Ægir explained. "But he can't always differentiate. Now you are here to learn the ways of me, is that correct?"
"Correct." Toshio nodded.
"Give me a moment." The God of the Ocean dropped the boy into the water before the giant disappeared into the pool and as Toshio swam himself back up and tried to reach the shore, Ægir reappeared in his normal size, having shrunk down from big to small as all giants are known to do as he returned to the shore before Toshio did.
"Let's get a move on, young man. There's much to do before Hel strikes again." ordered Ægir.
Toshio didn't bother questioning it, he just rushed out of the water and shook the water off of him and followed his ancestor's lead.
HIMINBJÖRG (Old Norse: Himinbjǫrg)
The Hall of Heimdall
Gulltoppr was put away in his stable.
Here in the remote Himinbjörg, the personal hall of the Watcher of Asgard high in the summit just beneath the Bifröst, Roar Wagner was to be met with his ancestor, Heimdall. The hall was glorious and it had its own little observatory, but with no telescope, obviously. It's there that Heimdall can amplify his enhanced seeing and hearing abilities, much like Hliðskjálf does for Odin back at Valaskjálf because with it, his eyes and ears are everywhere. Himinbjörg even had its own gondola lift, which is often never used since the Watchman had a flying horse with him.
Roar was just checking the place out and peering out a window, seeing everything from down below. It was a fantastic view if you weren't acrophobic since they were up a scary height. While Heimdall was busy sitting on the floor in a meditative state, Roar sort of wandered over and got a look at him while he did his duties, surveying him up close.
"What are you doing?" asked Heimdall, turning to face him, which made him jump.
"Sorry. I was just-"
"That's what you were about to ask me wasn't it?" Heimdall asked.
"I was…thinking about it, yeah." Roar calmly answered him, feeling it to be pointless to deny it to the god gifted with foresight.
"You've been doing it too. I know these things, I do." Heimdall got up with a hateful scowl. "Like how Loki is talking shit about me behind my back, knowing full well that I hear every word he's saying."
"What is it with you two, anyway?" asked Roar, remembering when they started a fight earlier.
"Nothing to be concerned about." Was all the God of Guardianship had to say to the boy's question with a lost expression as if his thoughts were elsewhere.
"I'm surprised you never told me about this before." Roar stated.
"Before?"
"The last time we were here? To save Kris?" clarified the bespectacled boy. "Christmas?"
"Oh. Well, one priority at a time." Heimdall elucidated, maintaining a fair adroitness. "And suffice to say, it wasn't my business to say."
"I hope there's nothing personal you can see and hear." Roar scrutinized him with a suspicious look, now really hoping he's not using his absolute foresight to peep in on anything private.
"It's not something I can just turn off and on." He said firmly. "But it looks like you can."
"I….do?" The boy was perturbed, but also relieved.
Foresight, the power to see and hear all so efficiently, may sound like an interesting skill to have for some people, but the idea behind its nature is quite visually disturbing. There's so much that you can never unhear or unsee and it's very inappropriate to be peeping on people's personal business.
"You won't need to worry about spying." Heimdall consoled. "It can be overwhelming."
"I-I know." Roar stammered.
"And you'll understand its advantages?"
"I'll try to."
BREIÐABLIK
The Hall of Baldur
Rudolf Stein was the most excited and exuberant than he's ever been, unlike the others who were still trying to make sense of their current situation. Him and the other Nörtherners were the only ones to have interacted with the gods before and they were not as knocked sideways as the newcomers. And he was overjoyed to hear that he was related to a god just his friend, Kris and he almost had nothing to describe his excitement with when he met his ancestor, Baldur. Now they were standing centimeters away from Baldur's hall, Breiðablik (alternatively spelled as Breidablik or Breithablik), the most glamorous hall out of all the halls in Asgard, which was the most stellar place to establish lavish parties and is tragically also the same place where Baldur met his end by a mistletoe arrow.
"So I get powers too like you?!" Rudolf squealed with uncontainable exhilaration.
"Indeed." Baldur nodded, looking all around. "Here, you can be one with the brightness of nature."
"Amazing!" chirped Rudolf, looking at himself and clenching his fists.
"You'll have an array of abilities related to my own, such as manipulating light and invulnerability. The strongest of any kind." Baldur explained to him.
"You mean like…nothing can kill me?" The boy's eyes were the size of basketballs, sparkling with glitter.
"Theoretically and developmentally, yes. But in terms of immunity to all forms of harm, there are going to be some-AHHH!" Baldur jumped when he realized that Rudolf moved from his spot next to him, sauntered over to a tree, used his strength to cause it to fall and stood perfectly still to allow it to fall on top of him to see if it would hurt him, but the God of Peace dashed over and hurried grabbed the boy out of the way just in time before it hit the ground. Then he glowered sternly at him for his recklessness.
"Now, see? You cannot just deliberately throw yourself into danger like that just because." Baldur scolded him. "Just because nothing can kill or hurt you, doesn't mean everything won't. You still need to be more careful than that."
"But how will I know what can harm me and what can't?" Rudolf argued.
"In due time, you'll know the difference with experience. But the important thing is not to take advantage of it." Baldur remarked. "You still have much to learn about your powers before you can use them."
"Aww." moaned Rudolf.
"For instance. I may be invulnerable, but I still had a weakness that was used against me, which was what led to Ragnarök last time." The God of Peace explained, turning the boy's head to face. "Mistletoe was used to kill me and it was the only thing that succeeded in doing so. My mother made all things, except mistletoe, to not harm me because, ironically enough, the gods never feared such a plant."
Rudolf gulped hearing that, but also inwardly felt confusion wash over his naïve mind. Mistletoe being the only weakness? As ridiculous as they may sound to most people, this made Rudolf wonder if he wasn't completely durable to the point of being an unkillable force.
Stig Falkenberg was placed in the care of Loki, but only because Odin degreed it to be so. Stig didn't mind being the God of Mischief's company as much, but Loki was irate at being ordered to keep an eye on a youngster, even if he is related to him. For their little outing, Loki decided to take Stig down to the forest Ironwood in Jötunheim to pay a little visit to Angrboda. Regardless of the complexity of the two giants' relationship, neither side can deny their still-lingering feelings for one another. Loki had a human wife long ago and had sons with her and he loved her very much, but he still harbored love and care for his lover as well as they are both the mothers of his children. Although Angrboda put on a straight face when Loki showed up at her doorstep, there was nothing she could say to reveal how much she missed having him around. Stig himself was pleased to see her again, though.
"So you're related to the old snake?" quipped Angrboda lightheartedly, working on a new painting for her collection.
"I wasn't as shocked when I heard about it." The goth answered.
"Neither was I." Loki mentioned, resting his head on his arm on the table. "Apparently, he's my descendant from one of my human sons."
"Fitting." Angrboda mused stonily.
"...before they were murdered." mumbled Loki, his otherwise playful and snide demeanor adopting a form of remorse and sadness. Stig turned to look at him, but his ancestor stopped him from asking about it. "Don't ask about it. I'm not saying a word."
"Okay, fine. Don't mind me." Stig rolled his eyes.
Angrboda giggled tenderly, but noticeably in a maternal kind of way like how a mother would when her two children play around.
"He's got so much of you in him." The giantess painter bantered, flashing a quick teasing glance at her old lover. "Better hope he doesn't turn out to be any more of an equivocator as you, bokmål."
"I always miss your sass, drengr." Loki hit her back, but not without levity and because of that, Angrboda was hopeless in keeping a smile from appearing on her lips.
Stig looked back and forth as the two old flames with neutral curiosity. However, a sound outside stopped anyone from saying anything else because there was the sound of lightning outside and Loki groaned angrily, wondering if it's the God of Thunder. But when Stig went to open the door to see for himself, it wasn't Thor.
"Thrúd's here." He announced it to his hosts and Loki groaned even louder, feeling like the sky was falling down on his head in the hopes of crushing him to death.
"Seriously?" Angrboda sneered.
"What does that little jackanape want now?" Loki snarled under his breath before going to see what the daughter of Thor had come for. By his account and the veracity of his horoscope, Loki had a deep instinctual feeling in his belly that it was to threaten him or accuse him again like their last encounter. There Thrúd was standing before Angrboda's hut with an irate look on her face, holding her hands to her fist like how a parent would when a child has been caught in the act. However, Loki wasn't fazed by Thorsdottir's temper at all.
"What now?" He hissed at her.
"Don't 'what now' me." She hissed back with twice the venom. "I'm onto you, mister."
"I'm shocked." The God of Mischief bragged sarcastically. "What are you here to bother me about this time? Don't tell me. Is it my fault that Fimbulwinter is upon us?"
"Funny you should say that." Thrúd smirked darkly, crossing her arms. "Since I'm actually here because I think you've set that hideous daughter of yours up to unleash the end of the world on us all….again!"
"Don't call her-!" Loki shouted at her with a hateful glare, but Thrúd whipped her sword out at that very instant and pointed it dangerously at his chest to keep him at a distance while her own glare exacerbated as did her fury. The commotion outside brought both Stig and Angrboda's attention to them both.
"I'll call her whatever I want, trickster." She snarled. "I know you're little tricks. I know what you're up to. You and Hel have been secretly conspiring against us all this time. You're trying to undo everything all because you can't get over your hate for us."
"I've never even seen Hel again since you assholes took her from me." Loki deflected her accusations.
"Hmph. Like I believe you." Thrúd gibed.
"Like I care!" Loki shot back, but the Asgardian girl only brought the sword ever so closer until the tip was just touching his chest, ready to cut to stab him at a moment's notice. Loki backed away, but Thrúd just stepped closer.
"If you really think you can just trick your daughter into bringing Ragnarök back from ashes just so you teach us a lesson, you've got another thing coming, shape-changer!" Thrúd snapped, tightening her grip. "I know you're still the same killer you used to be!"
"You were the ones that kidnapped her, held her hostage and threw her down into the dark pit all by herself!" thundered Loki.
"She was a disaster waiting to happen! Odin saw it with his own eyes before!"
"What your mouth, Asgardian!" Angrboda cursed at the warrior girl from afar with wrath. "You have no right!"
"Oh, I don't? Maybe you're both in on this. Working together with your daughter to kill us all, isn't that so?!" Thrúd was getting more and more furious.
"So much for 'changed'." The giantess rolled her eyes, refusing to look at Thrúd anymore. "I remember a time when you told me the Æsir have turned over a new leaf, but now here you are, spitting fiction into our faces all because Ragnarök is upon us soon."
"I'm only trying to see if you're not pulling our legs here!" Thrúd defended.
"What you're testing is me and my patience!" Loki stormed, getting more and more fed up with the Asgardian girl giving him bullshit. "And how hypocritical of you to call ME a killer. Look at your own self for a change. You sought Odin's favor, slaughtered, tortured and ravaged without question all because you wanted to be a valkyrie."
"That's not me anymore! Not everything I did was awful!" Thrúd shouted at him.
"What about that time with Alvíss?" The shapeshifter challenged her.
"He was a pervert and a creep!"
"AND WHAT ABOUT MY SONS?! NARFI AND VÁLI?!"
Loki was really reaching his limit at this point. At this, however, a great silence befell the area, still and uncomfortably tense that it even any animals nearby froze in place as if they felt the tension rising like an erupting volcano about to plunge the land in burning lava. Angrboda was speechless, because this was a reminder that admittedly even she had difficulty dealing with. A memory that she wished she could forget. With a pale expression on her face, Thrúd seemed to be horrified when he shouted this in her face, even so much so that she nearly dropped her sword, but she kept her guard up and clenched her grip on the handle.
Something rang in her head. Something like a church bell, snapping at the air with its low chime. Thrúd's next words, however, were not something one should say in these particular circumstances.
"It was your actions that brought it onto them. You have nobody to blame but yourself."
After all that he had to take from her, this was the straw that broke the camel's back for Loki.
His rage at her went off like an atom bomb during a military test, dangerous enough to wipe out everyone within its blast radius and destroy anything in its wake until only scorched ruins remained as a reminder of what the horrors of science has wrought on mankind.
"Ljósta!" He shouted and blasted a magic spell at her that summoned forth immense exertion that shot Thrúd back and onto the ground, knocking the sword out of her hand and disoriented her for a moment, but she hadn't had a second to react when Loki came at her first and kicked her right in the face extremely hard, making her head jerk back and a spatter of blood spill out of her nose like a geyser of imminent agony and anguish and now the God of Mischief was really letting her have it now. He was right on top of her, beating the living shit out of her, punching her in the face over and over and over again with his own strength that was just barely a percent close to the power and might of an Æsir, much less that of Thor or Vidar. Thrúd wailed and bellowed in pain each time his fists hooked her defenseless face, but Thrúd blasted him off with a blast of her lightning and retaliated against him, landing cuffs on his face this time, screaming wildly like a maniac.
The two spectators had to do nothing but watch in horror. Loki grunted in pain when the daughter of Thor beat the shit out of him like the vengeful warrior that she was right now before going for his throat, strangling him tightly with her monstrously-pressured grip.
"Þruma!" With this distinct galdr rung into the air like tornado siren, Loki shot his opponent with powerful volts of lightning of his own. Not even the daughter of the God of Thunder was no match for such a magical attack because this succeeded in knocking her off of him and back onto her back, leaving the girl physically weak and drained with a broken, bleeding nose and an aching jaw. Rising to his feet, Loki snatched up her sword before she could and looked ready to use her own weapon against her, but then Stig transformed into a bear and hurriedly got between the two, standing on his hind legs, raising his paws into the hair defensively and roared at his face to get him to cease and desist before he returned back to his human form.
"Enough of this!" The dark-haired boy ordered. "Don't make anything worse!"
Despite his anger at the girl still present, Loki panted heavily before mulling it over and he knew that regardless of Thrúd's unfair accusations against him, this will only escalate things to a point of no return. Things were already hectic with all the apocalyptic distress that was currently endangering the world as they knew it and it will only get worse from there if they keep letting these petty arguments and past rivalries get in the way and slow them down. So he reluctantly heeded the boy and threw the sword back at Thrúd, who shakily reclaimed it and returned to her feet.
"Spoiled little brat." Loki spat at her, but Thrúd gave no comment. She only limped away in angered defeat, holding her nose to halt the bleeding and sheathed her sword before letting the lightning teleport her away from sight.
"What was that all about?" demanded Stig.
For now before they start training, the kids need a moment to get to know their ancestors more, because trust and comfort needs to build up between the gods and the teens if they ever hope to work together as a team in time for Ragnarök. Stacy is gonna need to better perfect her powers after she inadvertently started Fimbulwinter and luckily, Skaði is there to help. The Goddess of Bowhunting even possesses a magic crystal ball housing the spirit of her father, Thiazi, after he was swiftly killed. The goth girl, who I've named Willow as you know, is on the way of becoming a sorceress like Freya. Moose will certainly make a gallant warrior himself if he learns to be less confrontational in stressful situations like Svir and Thrum. For Carter, he's probably going to inherent Mímir's intelligence, which may not be useful in battle, but we'll see.
We now meet the Nine Mothers of Heimdall who help Toshio seek his ancestor, Ægir out. In the process, he's learned the existence of krakens and has found that some of them possess psychokinetic abilities like hypnotism and he was lucky that the Nine Mothers were there to pull him away from the beast. I hope you guys love the Pirates of the Caribbean reference there. Kris's friends will take time to understand their abilities, like Roar for instance and especially Rudolf. Invulnerable doesn't mean indestructible. We have now seen that there is still a sliver of flirtation between Loki and Angrboda. With Thrúd's arrival, she believes that Loki is working with Hel in unleashing the end of the world and Loki's pretty quick to call her out on her hypocrisies and even hints at something his hatred of the Æsir stems from. Don't get me wrong, Thrúd means well, but her stubbornness and impulsiveness outweighs her common sense time to time. And by now, she's not doing so well in proving to Angrboda that she and her fellow gods, even Odin, have changed because she still sees Loki (if not even Angrboda) as the monster the Asgardians previously saw him as, which clouds her judgement. As slick and troublesome Loki is, he is no villain and he cares for his children deeply.
As for Eikthyrnir, he's the stag that stands upon Valhalla in Asgard. He east the leaves from Yggdrasil and his antlers drip dew which forms rivers.
Next Chapter: While eating with his friends, Kris opens up everything to Michael, even revealing the SkyDome incident as well. Hel's plagued with traumatizing memories of her past. Thor and a group confronts Surtr with little success.
Next Update: July 28, 2023