These Things We've Gained: Eternal Love, Building Hope, Just Honesty

by Tales of Suspense

In the aftermath of "These Things We've Lost" people strugggle to create a new normal. (Slice of Life)

15. Chapter 15

- Chapter 15 -

23May2023 – Late Afternoon

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

"Oh, oh! Your present!" Jay sat up again, wiping his eyes dry and pointing to the hallway that the open doorway in the corner of the wall. "You're going to love it. It's the least scary and most beautiful thing here!"

A little chuckle found its way out of Odin's mouth. "I'm sure I will." He continued on towards the hallway with the drengr in tow. While he was certainly curious what message Loki had left for him, he was more focused on the next joyful outburst that had come from Jay. He wasn't certain when he was going to get to spend consistent time with Jay again after this day, so he wanted to get as many happy interactions as he could before he had to say goodbye.

You get lonely in the walls and don't want to go back, huh? Director Fury had to reassess much of what he'd seen yesterday. It wasn't just that Jay was in the walls, it was that he was stuck there and had too few people to talk to. He wondered if that was why 'Jarvis' was always so willing to chat when he went to the Avengers Tower, or Stark Industries. The boy was starved for interactions. He also wondered if that was how Jay found his way into the criminal underworld; was he just looking for someone to talk to him who couldn't expose who and what he was to Stark or James? The Director had learned long ago that if a person had no one to talk to then they would talk to anyone. He'd used that more than once in his work to pry lose information that he needed. If he was right, and Jay was willing to talk to anyone, then he needed to step in and do something about that. The boy knew all of Loki and Stark's secrets, but he also knew SHIELD's secrets. When I get a chance I'll talk to James about it.

It was another interesting moment for Frey; another moment for him to see what Lord Borr kept him from seeing for so long. Are these the emotions that he deadened? Frey still liked what he was seeing, but it also prompted a weird sort of anger for him. For thousands of years Lord Borr stole the man who was his Elder Brother from him. He was just about to give thought to that anger when he wondered if he was carrying Lord Borr about. No, Borr. You can rot. I have no need of you. Pushing Lord Borr out of his thoughts felt strange, alien even. It seemed right to him though, and he wanted more of that rightness. What would it have been like if Frigga had been able to introduce us like this years ago? Better, I think. A smile from Jay caught his attention. A little smile touched his lips as he followed after Odin. Jay was enjoying being carried by Odin and Frey was enjoying watching the two of them enjoying each other's company. All together it was another moment that showed him the future that he was willingly walking into.

The air drifting out of the room at the end of the hallway was brimming with the earthy smell of life. Odin moved down the long hallway towards the other door. Stepping through it showed him a massive warehouse with long, heavy shelves reaching up towards the high ceiling. Each shelf was labeled with a different realm's name and colored with the shade of seidr of the realm. What he saw on those heavy shelves almost stopped him in his tracks. Small Celestial apple tree saplings were sitting on the shelves with their root ball bundled up in layers of brown, coarse, heavy, plain-woven fabric. There were thousands of saplings for each realm. Each sapling had gnarly bark with thick veins of liquid seidr laced throughout the bark. Every realm had different colors of seidr sap. Odin's attention was pulled away from the saplings by his grandson tugging on his vest and pointing, his young voice was leading the way.

"This way, Afi." Jay pointed to the end row of the shelves. "At the other end of that row. It's there."

What was at the other end of the row did stop Odin, however, it wasn't the large box sitting before him. The saplings on bottom shelf, easily a hundred or more trees at the end of the shelf, were running through with his seidr color. "Jay, do these have my seidr in them?"

Nibbling at his bottom lip for a moment came before Jay answered. "Don't be angry," the digital boy looked nervously between the saplings and his grandfather, squirming to be let down, "Ok?"

Setting his grandson down, Odin wondered what cause he would have to be angry. "I'm not angry with you, Jay."

Looking to the saplings, Jay turned to the box before turning back to his grandfather. "It isn't your seidr. It's your blood. Mother and I made special constructs that went and collected a single drop of blood from the Lord of every realm. Mother wanted to make something grand, but she knew that the Lords wouldn't let her, so she did it anyway." Jay pointed over to the saplings again. "Those were made from the leftover blood when she was done making her gift for you. Upon her death I was to return these saplings to you, and to present you with your gift." He moved back to the box and extended his seidr into the magical lock imprinted on the front of it. The lock came undone and prepared the box to be opened.

Every Lord?! That was a theft that could prompt a war in the Elder Realms and each of the Kings knew it. "What did Loki make?" Odin worried now over what Loki had done. Jay described it as beautiful, so he still held out hope.

Nervousness tinged Jay's thoughts. Now was the moment that would tell him if he was in trouble or not. He extended his seidr, gripped the top of the box and lifted it up while gripping the base of the box and setting it down in front of Odin while the lid was just set on the floor as he called his seidr back into his core. He summoned a small scroll from his interdimensional pocket and held it out to his grandfather. "Odin, Lord of Asgard, I present you with the Tree of Gems."

What was before him was a Celestial apple tree, but unlike any Odin had ever seen. It was sitting in solid black soil. Its bark was solid white, gnarly and knobby with thick veins of sappy seidr running through it. The sap was every color of seidr, including orange. The heavy sap ran upwards from the trunk up to the branches that were gently arcing out from the top of the tree. The tree was blooming with leaves that were a riot of colors in every leaf. What truly made the tree spectacular to Odin was the apples that where hanging off of the branches. The small, shiny, mostly transparent, crystalline apples were each a different color of seidr. Many of the apples were his own citrine seidr colored. The tree was glorious, but it was the container that caught his attention. The bottom of it was solid and deep, made of gold. Up towards the top of the container was a golden band which nine metal trees coming up from it. The small leaves of those trees were made of gems that were colored to match the crown of the King of Asgard. The bottom helmet, the band, the nine trees colored in the different colors of seidr; all of it spoke to Odin personally. The tree spoke to his child's brilliance and creativity. The crown around the container spoke to Loki's love and respect for Asgard, despite what Asgard had done to Loki. His child had taken his crown and his blood, the blood of all of the Lords, and made something truly grand. This was so beautiful to him that awe crept into his expression. It was another Great Work; he was sure of it.

There was still more for him to see, so Odin looked down to take the small scroll from Jay. A wax seal held the scroll rolled up. Though he hadn't seen it in years he instantly recognized the seal. It was a circle with a raven that was standing on a book, with a dagger in one claw. It was Loki's personal seal. He gently pulled the seal up at one end so that the wax seal would remain unbroken. Unrolling the scroll let Odin read Loki's last message to him.

Lord Odin, King of Asgard

By the time you read this I will finally be dead. I want to start by apologizing for being such a disappointment to you. It was never my intent. I understand why things happened as they did, and I know that owe you my life, that you're not truly my father. I want you to know that I appreciate what you gave me when you didn't have to. I want to tell you that it never mattered to me that you weren't my father. I've loved you as though you were anyway. I hope that this Great Work will lessen some of the disrepute I brought to your House, for the Tree of Gems brings together all the colors of seidr in the Nine Realms. There is only one like it in the galaxy, and I bequeath it to you. Below you'll find instructions on how to care for this gift if you choose to keep it. I can only hope that you won't be disappointed with this.

With sincerest affections always,

Loki, once and former Prince of Asgard

Having the swift efficacy of a surprise jab to the face only added weight to the note's contents. Odin looked up to stare at the fantastical tree in front of him with love and pain vying for dominance in his expression. Little tears welled up in his eyes as it became hard to breath. In his hand he was holding his child's last words. This was Loki's attempt to reach out from the grave and settle things between them for the tone was loving, forgiving, and final. It was part of a growing sense of shame that he couldn't see ending even when he himself went to the grave. That he drove his son to these feelings was nothing but shameful and he wasn't going to deny it. Odin's hand holding the scroll went to his side to rest on his hip while his free hand went to cover his eyes. "Oh, my child..." His voice was lost to the forming raw lump in his throat.

Another intense curiosity touched Frey's thoughts. There was so much love in Odin's expression and seidr whispers until he read the small note and it all turned to a very guilty love and shame. He discreetly stepped closer to Odin before he spoke quietly. "Brother, let me see it." There was no protest as Odin stood quietly, so the younger King plucked the note from Odin's hand and unrolled it carefully to read it. It was immediately clear what brought tears to Odin's eyes. It brought tears to his eyes as well, but he wasn't going to focus on that. Instead of the quiet pain in the short note, Frey turned his focus to the message itself.

The look of pain on his grandfather's face before he covered his eyes displeased Jay. He thought that he might have made another mistake but didn't know what. After his other Afi took the scroll from Loki and had an understanding look on his face, confusion crept into the boy's thoughts. Mother, what did you do?

Stepping closer to the two Kings, James focused his soul song of stillness through himself and aimed it at the two Kings again. He dialed up the notes of hope again until the hope was singing through his song. Whatever note Loki left for her father had pushed him close to the edge of anguish again. Odin's quiet words were bled through with despair and love. He clearly needed a reminder of the hope that was waiting for him to take.

The overwhelming calm support and powerful hope that was coming from behind Frey told him who was near. He agreed with the hope. There had been so much pain that his family had endured that he was tired of it. He wanted to look forward to a future filled with light and love, and there was hope flowing over him and love in the note. It was an unyielding love that he was familiar with. Putting his hand on Odin's shoulder, Frey smiled gently. "Brother, even if Loki can only be your daughter now, her love for you is unchanged. I'm glad."

Carefully approaching his grandfather, Jay thought that maybe he could help. "Of course, mother loves you. She always will. That will never change."

There was a another deep sense of hope coming from James again. No one else seemed capable of producing such powerful emotion. It was a hope that was tempting Odin to let go of the pain in the past and take that hope forward into the future. It was more powerful than before, leaning into his own earlier decision to take the hope. Odin just didn't feel worthy of it, not of the hope and not of the love. He took the scroll back from Frey and read it again, this time trying to view it from Loki's perspective. He could see more of the love his son, and now daughter, held for him, the respect and even forgiveness in the line, "I understand why things happened as they did." His child did love him, and that was what he took hope in. If Loki still loved him then he could hope that Loki would be willing to speak with him and listen to his apologies, maybe even let him try to earn forgiveness. Gripping the small scroll with his seidr, Odin dismissed it to his interdimensional pocket.

His Afi Odin took a deep breath but didn't take his hand from his eyes. "Did I say something wrong, Afi Odin?" If Jay made a mistake then he wanted to know what he did wrong so he could not make the same mistake again.

"No! No, no, you didn't." He wiped the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat discreetly. Going to one knee, Odin held out his arms for Jay to come to him. The drengr came to the position of attention as he went down to one knee. "I'm so glad to know that Loki still holds affection for me."

Another bright smile crossed Jay's face as he understood what the problem was. It was understandable in his mind. There was very little he could do about it, but he would still do what he could, so he ran over to his grandfather and threw his arms around the King's neck. He pulled back and put his hands on the sides of his Afi Odin's face. "It will be alright. Mother still loves you; she'll always love you. Don't doubt that." Impelling his seidr from his core he wrote it into a Learning Spell which drew in his memories of what Loki had said to him about her father. He went out of his way to include the things said to him in the quiet, where his father couldn't hear and couldn't get angry. It was years of love, respect, and outright admiration that Jay thought his grandfather could use. He touched the side of his grandfather's face to release the spell.

Pale white-blue runes lit up Odin's eyes. Scenes of Loki chatting with Jay filled the old King's mind. He's a great lion of a man, a warrior King, as talented as any bard or poet, the phrases from interactions between the two filled his mind. Odin had never heard such open love and admiration for him from Loki before. This was Loki with the masks down speaking in private where he felt he, or she, wouldn't be judged. It was stunning to Odin that his daughter still loved him after everything that had happened. Loki never stopped loving him. My child loves me, and he, she deserves to be loved in return. She loves me and doesn't want me to be in pain. Like all the times he'd been offered hope, he'd been offered Loki's love several times this day. He wasn't going to turn it away because of his own feelings of being unworthy. It was an unyielding love that he betrayed, but one that endured despite that. Declaring himself unworthy felt like spurning that love to wallow in his own shame. Wallowing wasn't going to make a better future, working towards that better future would. He let go of that love once and would never do so again. Loki's love was a love that he could embrace at the same time as he worked to make the future better.

The pale white-blue light in Odin's eyes faded, and he could see his grandson standing in front of him smiling. Pulling his grandson in for another hug, he spoke at the same time. "Thank you. Thank you. I needed to see that. I worried over that." He picked up his grandson again. "There, we can be tall again."

A wide toothy grin spread across Jay's face as he looked to the floor and then back to his grandfather. "I like being tall," a hopeful cast came over his face, "Maybe I can be as tall as you someday!" Jay's head turned quickly then to Frigga as a small beeping noise came from her pocket.

The focused soul song of stillness was set back to playing as normal, with hopeful undernotes, because such overwhelming support was no longer needed. James was glad that Odin was willing to see hope and love throughout this short journey. He turned his attention to Frigga.

Frigga pulled out her terminal and opened it, "Hirdmen, stand in my stead for a moment," there was a communication for her from the acting styraesmandr (ship's commander) of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr, which was Odin's flagship from his personal fleet, and from the acting styraesmandr of the Skithblathnir, which was Frey's flagship from his personal fleet. She opened the communications from both of them. "Styraesmandrs, it's so good to speak with you. Your Lords need you now. Do you have what you were instructed to bring?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Both acting styraesmandrs replied at the same time.

"Outstanding! Send down the Stone Builders Guilds to begin removing the Great Works from the house, send the healers as well, and my Lord's and Lord Frey's guests. Send them down to near my location and tell them to not mind the mortals working in the area. Let them work."

"Yes, ma'am!" The acting styraesmandrs replied together again.

Unraveling his seidr and spinning it into the Learning Spell which drew in her memories of what James gave her. Frigga released the spell into her terminal to transfer over the information which she then sent to the acting styraesmandrs. "Styraesmandrs, I have sent you the means to track something called 'coalesced machine solution'. This is a Chitauri asset, Thanos' asset, which found its way onto Midgard. I believe that most of it has been destroyed. Use what I sent you to sweep over Midgard and find any that there might be left. Destroy it completely. You will report to your Lords when you're done. Lord Odin and Lord Frey are beside me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The captains spoke together one last time.

"Go now and bring honor to your Lords." Frigga closed the communications from both of the acting styraesmandrs. A little smirk touched her lips as she turned to her husband and brother. They were looking at her in surprise. She bowed her head towards them and spoke. "Beg pardon, my Lords, but I summoned your flagships with your personal fleets, your Stone Builders Guilds, healers to assist me in purifying the house and land, including several children's healers to interview for Jay. Mistress Heill Hjertehelbredelse is among them. I thought you might need them."

Flaring his seidr out to Frigga, his seidr whispered, All I'll ever need is you, minn elska, you bring everything good to me. "Thank you, Formadr Frigga. I appreciate your forethought." Odin summoned his terminal from his interdimensional pocket so that he could receive communications from acting Styraesmandr Asulf. The styraesmandr was a good man who he trusted with his ship when he wasn't using it. He tucked the terminal into his pants pocket, smiling at his wonderful wife.

"Indeed, your initiative is most appreciated." Frey liked how his sister thought to summon all the people they'd discussed needing. He wondered when she might have summoned them but would ask Frigga about it later. Then he too summoned his terminal from his interdimensional pocket to put it in an interior vest pocket. Later on he would contact acting Styraesmandr Varangr to check-in with her. She was one of the few people that he trusted with his ship while he was away from it.

The tour was almost done with, and Frey was glad. This was the most exhausting tour he'd ever taken. He wanted some time to think about what he saw that day and decide what questions he had for James and Sean. As he thought about it more, there was one more thing that they'd almost forgotten to do. It was disgusting, and he didn't want to touch the thing, but he did worry over what was in it. Turning to James, he asked for the last thing he wanted. "Would it be possible for us to see the vault after the Stone Builders Guilds arrive? They should arrive soon."

Emptying the vault did need to happen, James didn't deny that. All of his thoughts that day on whether he should include the people around him in his family or not came to a head. Some honesty was what he decided on, as much as he could afford. He needed Loki's family to understand, and he really needed Director Fury to understand and not react badly. That would make his younger brother's wants easier for him to achieve. There was a very specific purpose that the others had to understand before he would be comfortable, at least as comfortable as he could be with this situation. "You must understand that I am constrained by powers above myself. I'm obligated to preserve everything in the workshop, to hold them in trust. It's a 'key area'. Very few of the contents will go back to Anthony, the rest of it will go elsewhere." Obligated, even if I don't want to.

This had Director Fury intense attention. It was an uncommonly truthful statement. "Where is 'elsewhere'?"

"Where they are legally prescribed to be. That's as much as I can say." James didn't want to get into an argument about what he wasn't allowed to discuss yet. I need to discuss things with Loki so I can discuss things with everyone else.

"You're under the law?" That seemed odd to Director Fury.

"Of course. Everything I've done has been prescribed by law." James always followed the law, even when it was inconvenient to him. It was one of the few things he prided himself on as he grew older.

Nodding, Director Fury kept his opinions to himself since he was just given a very unusual piece of honesty. It was honesty that meant something to him. "Alright. I can agree to that then." A moment later his mind put that into perspective with everything else he'd seen. You can take Stark's property, direct care for him, his wife, and his children, and are legally obligated to preserve places where significant events happened and hold them in trust for Stark. You already hold a legal position in Stark's life. It has to be extensive, but what is it and from where?

SHIELD is going to start their investigations today; I need to contact Justice Roberts to let him know. I need to make another emergency filing and talk to Loki. A little teeth grinding came then as he thought about having to notify the others who he worked with to care for his brothers. He'd already decided years ago that he'd toss them in a fire if he didn't have to work with them. They were fairly awful. Looking to the Kings he had to verify with them. "I won't be able to dispense with individual items like I have been in the rest of the tour. Knowledge is a possibility, but items are off limits. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes. That's fine." What law James was operating under intrigued Odin, and he thought it might be Lady Audhumbla's edict. He didn't mind not touching anything in the workshop since he wasn't sure what might be there. He'd already seen what machines Stark could engineer and didn't want to entangle himself in one of them.

"I only wish to view the vault, and to see if there is anything dangerous in it." Frey had no problems in not handling Anthony's secrets directly. His nephew-by-law's secrets were more than a little dangerous.

"Ok," turning to Frigga again James asked, "Formadr Frigga, should I teleport us outside to wait for the your people, or do we walk?"

"We can teleport as soon as the Lord is ready to move," she turned to Odin and asked, "Are you ready to move, Lord Odin?"

The elder King's gaze went to the glorious gift that deserved more fanfare than it had. He didn't want to leave it, but still had other things to attend to. Beloved, the Stone Builders guild will see to this gift, we will have time with it later, we must move, his wife's flared seidr whispered to him. He didn't want to move though, he wanted to examine the tree and the beautiful container it was in. "I'm going to put it in the front courtyard of the Royal Palace." It was where guests to the Asgardian Royal Palace were greeted. Odin remembered that it was where Loki wanted it to rest. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his grandson, who was still smiling. "Yes, we're ready to move." Jay nodded once at him.

Unfolding his seidr from his core to mount into a Teleportation Spell let James grip each person with the wide spell, key it to where he wanted to go and release it. Teleportation fire swirled up around them, engulfing them. By the time the fires swirled back down to the floor they were standing out front of the house. He smiled reassuringly at the SHIELD personnel who were still loading the trucks with the things he'd set aside for them. All of them looked at once at them as they arrived. A few started reaching for their weapons. When they saw the Director they went back to their duties. James was pleased to see that some of the food and water he set out had been taken. He stowed his seidr back into his core.

Looking up into the sky showed anyone who was there that several small ships were already on their way down, the skammrassi (short ships). They looked like wooden Viking long ships with a dragon as its figurehead. It had a covered over deck instead of something open, and without the sails and masts. Towards the back of the skammrass' (short ship's) deck was a tall sternpost that curled decoratively at the end like a dragon's tale. Half of the skammrassi were a pristine white with silver accents done in decorative scale covering the skammrassi and had decorative dragon's wings folded at the sides. The other half of the skammrassi were decorated in dark wood with redwood and golden accents. Red rimmed shields with the faces of great beasts on them were spaced evenly along the sides of those darker skammrassi. The air rippled and foamed around the skammrassi as though they truly were riding on water. When they grew close enough to the ground, white lights lit up along the keels of the skammrassi. They came to rest on the property near the house, hovering a few inches above the ground.

Both Odin and Frey were surprised when each of their Master Builders exited their skammrass and made directly for them. Odin smiled when he saw Master Builder Toft, who came right to him, bowed respectfully, and asked what he could do for his Lord. Similarly Master Builder Vestergaard went immediately to Frey to bow respectfully and ask what assistance his Lord needed.

Still smiling, Odin began to explain. "There are Great Works in this house which need to be removed carefully, as well as a few other things. You will work with Vanaheim's Master Builder to accomplish this task. Everything must be purified before it comes out of the house, as it could bear foul influence. In the house, in the very bottom, is the Tree of Gems. I want it removed with the utmost care. No harm is to come to it. It must go back to Asgard. There is also the trees in the bottom of the mansion, the giant gem there as well and the rose quartz generator. It too must be removed carefully, then sent to Vanaheim," turning to James, he asked, "Would you mind providing each of the Master Builders with a construct that would lead them to where they need to be?"

"Certainly." James unfolded his seidr, he extended it out in front of him in strands to condense it down into two white marble, person-looking constructs. He set their programming with his mind and imprinted it in the seidr. They knew exactly what needed to go. He turned to the man who was from Asgard, "May I have your name, please?"

The leader of Asgard's Stone Builders Guide answered quickly. "I am Master Builder Toft."

Looking to the man from Vanaheim, James asked the same questions again. "May I have your name, please?"

Vanaheim's leader of the Stone Builder's Guild hadn't received his orders from his Lord yet but wasn't sure that he should object. "I am Master Builder Vestergaard."

"I'm pleased to meet you, gentlemen." Turning his attention back to the constructs he spoke firmly. "Constructs, awaken."

"I am one, drawn from you." The constructs answered in unison to their maker.

"Construct One," James motioned to the first man, "You are to assist Master Builder Toft in removing the items from the house that have been listed in your programming. You will work smoothly with Construct Two and Master Builder Vestergaard when the situation arises."

"Construct Two," then James motioned to the second man, "You are to assist Master Builder Vestergaard in removing the items from the house that have been listed in your programming. You will work smoothly with Construct One and Master Builder Toft when the situation arises."

"Thank you, James. Do you have any questions, Master Builder Toft?" Odin liked that the Master Builders would have their own constructs.

"Will I be able to contact you before we return to Asgard, my Lord?"

"Yes, I'll be here until it's done. I have a terminal on me that you can reach me through." Odin looked over to Frey then. "Brother?"

Still waiting respectfully for Frey was his Master Builder. "Master Builder Vestergaard, there are Great Works in this house, as my brother said you will need to purify the items before they're removed, it must be done. You will work with Master Builder Toft and the constructs to accomplish the task. I will be on the property until the Great Works have been removed. If you need to contact me you may do so through the official channel since I have my terminal on me." He looked between the two Master Builders and spoke firmly. "What we take out of this home today will be held in trust for those who lived here, only one thing here belongs to someone other than the homeowners, which is the Tree of Gems. It belongs to Lord Odin and must go to Asgard with the greatest of care. Do you have any questions, Master Builders?"

"You have guests waiting for you in the skammrass my Lord, what should we do with them?" The Vanaheimr Master Builder wanted explicit instructions on what to do with the people who he didn't want getting in his way. Mostly, he wanted the authority to tell them to stay where they were in the passenger section of the skammrass.

"Inform them that I'm not ready for them, and to wait in the skammrass. I will have need of them soon." A smile touched Frey's face as he gave his orders. It felt like he was moving forward with this. Just one more thing to do in the house and he could not only have a large piece of progress done, but a rest as well. "If there's nothing else, then go and begin your duties." His Master Builder bowed politely and went to begin getting his people. Construct Two trailed just behind him.

"As Master Builder Vestergaard says my Lord, you have guests on the skammrass. What should I do with them?" Master Builder Toft waited until Lord Frey was done speaking to begin speaking. Lord Frey was an intimidating man, and he didn't want to anger either of the Lords, and certainly not when his Lord had called Lord Frey 'brother'. It was a key detail that the Master Builder had no knowledge on, so he was going to mind his manners until he knew what was going on.

"Is Mistress Heill Hjertehelbredelse on the skammrass?" Odin was hopeful that she had answered the summons. Jay needed the kind of support that a qualified healer could give him.

"Aye, my Lord. I saw her name in the passenger registry. Would you like me to bring her to you, my Lord?"

"No, no. Inform her and the rest of my guests that I will be ready for them soon. Until then they can stay in the skammrass." A wide smile touched his lips. It pleased Odin greatly that she had answered the summons so quickly. He strongly hoped that she might be able to aid Jay. The sooner the boy got that aid the better off he would be. "Very good then. You may begin your duties now Master Builder Toft."

Master Builder Toft bowed respectfully to his Lord, turned, and went back to the skammrass that he came from with Construct One following after him.

"We can go to the vault now." His grandson grew silent and pulled in on himself then. It was so obvious that the mention of the vault upset the boy. It wiped the smile off of Odin's face to see the boy suddenly so withdrawn.

"Are you ready for this Jay?" A soft tone entered James' voice as he spoke to the boy. He understood better than anyone else there what the 'vault' was, how horrible it was. He thought he might understand even better than Jay did, since he could hear how DUM-E resonated with Anthony when they were close enough to each other.

"No, and no amount of talking will make me ready. I hate it." Fat tears of distress welled up in his young eyes while a lump formed in his throat that made it hard to swallow. Not once in all the years since it happened had Jay cried for what was lost, who was lost. It made it hard not to cry now. He wanted so badly to go back to that day and do it all over again. If he knew then what he knew now he would have evacuated the house instantly with his best and only friend. He couldn't go back in time to reclaim what he lost. It was too late now. DUM-E was gone, his best friend was dead; gutted and remade into the vault. Jay despised the thing in the floor of his father's workshop with a haunting passion. It was a foul desecration of one of the two people he loved most. No amount of talking was going to change that either.

The boy wasn't ready for this, and James doubted that he was ever ready to deal with the mutilated body of his best friend any of the times he'd dealt with the vault. It was the fact that Anthony just couldn't bring himself to let go of his first friend that was holding up the two of them grieving and moving on. "Why don't you stay out…"

"No! I want, I…," Jay sighed in frustration and wiped at his eyes while looking at his uncle, "We aren't coming back here, are we?"

"This place is a filthy cage. No, we're not coming back." Despite James trying to speak softly there was still steel in his voice as he thought about what filth his family had been living in.

"Let me say goodbye. I never got to say goodbye. I never got to give him a hug. I want to be there for him when he's," Jay's voice broke under the weight of his grief, "laid to rest." His best efforts to struggle against the tears made no difference as they leaked down his face and he sniffled. "He deserves a proper funeral." It was hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

"And I'll make sure that he gets one. It's long past time for your father to grieve and find peace. Once he's been emptied then I'll put his pieces in a box. We can make arrangements after that." The tears were streaming down Jay's face as the boy tried not to cry, so James summoned a handkerchief from his interdimensional pocket. He stepped closer and wiped the boy's face. The tears continued for a few more minutes with Jay trying to get control of himself. A little more composure was found causing James to ask, "One last time, to say goodbye. Are you ready?"

His little hand clutched tight at his grandfather's vest. Nodding, he answered. "Mm-mhm. I'm ready." Jay wasn't truly ready, but there was no being ready for him to face the ugly wreckage made of his best friend.

Both Jay and James were discussing DUM-E like it was a real person which gave weight to what Lady Pepper said yesterday, "The programming he (Anthony) created for DUM-E was revolutionary. He always said that DUM-E was the stupidest machine he ever programmed; a machine that daydreamed, tried to comfort people when they were sad, enjoyed soap operas, off-color jokes, inappropriate compliments, and bad puns. He was a collection of oddities, but not the best. Tony wanted the best, so DUM-E ended up doing something that no other machine on the planet could. He became the blueprint Tony used when he went to make something new. Just. A. Rather. Very. Intelligent. System. The JARVIS Artificial Intelligence is what he made from DUM-E." Daydreams, dramas, jests, and gentle emotions; he sounds like a real child. Is this why Anthony refuses to let go, why Jay still cries for DUM-E; was he a thinking machine? To imitate a person he must have been. "James," Frey hesitated to ask, but wanted to understand what had Jay so upset, "Was DUM-E a thinking machine, like a real person?"

"He was more than that. DUM-E was an approximated, digitized version of Anthony's mind with a powerful learning algorithm to help him assess the world around him in a way that Anthony has always wanted but was never able to. In many very legitimate ways, he was Anthony; Anthony as a child. He loved, learned, laughed, and shared as any child should," James took a breath and pushed back his own tears as he thought about what was lost, "He was a real friend." The good colonel ran a hand over his nephew's back soothingly while aiming his soul song of stillness with more hopeful notes at Jay to help him.

With a hand put over his mouth Frey looked down. This was worse than he thought it was yesterday. The day before this was a tragedy mostly of lost knowledge but of lost friendship as well. How DUM-E came into being could have shed light on how Jay came into being. That was lost. Regardless of it having no soul it was still his nephew-by-law's dear friend and his grandson's dear friend. Now this was a tragedy of both of those things, but also of Anthony himself, of what he lost in this; an integral piece of himself. "Is there no way to remedy this?" Doubt about remedying this filled Frey's mind, but he had to ask anyway. He needed to know that there truly was nothing he could do to directly remedy this before he moved on to looking at what he could do to make the future better without a direct remedy.

"Unfortunately, Anthony never backed-up DUM-E. He thought he'd always be there to take care of DUM-E like DUM-E took care of him. Without an existing back-up of him from the day he died, then there's no bringing him back. That back-up of DUM-E doesn't exist. Like Jay, he was completely unique, so there's no creating another one of him either." DUM-E was more unique than James was willing to put words to, as those words would expose his own unusual nature. The chatty little machine resonated with Anthony's soul in a way that made him and his parents question if DUM-E was more than just a machine. They could never hear a soul in DUM-E, so they never looked further. DUM-E was just a strange machine. His father always called the little machine an 'outlandish misfit'. James always felt that his father was right.

Frustration closed Odin's eyes for a moment as he huffed a little. It was so disappointing to know that this happened so soon after Stark brought Loki into his home. When he opened his eyes he saw Jay struggling and failing to hold back his tears. Vivid pain tainted the boy's expression. "It's alright to cry for those you've lost. It helps to ease the pain sometimes." It was a fact to Odin that crying helped. When he lost his Elder Brother Ve, he spent years crying in private. To that very day he still missed his Elder Brother. In spite of the troubles between them, he even shed a few tears for his eldest Elder Brother Vili. He still loved Vili as well, he just didn't like his eldest Elder Brother very much, not like Jay clearly liked DUM-E. There was love in his grandson's eyes beneath the pain. It was causing that pain to glow brighter because of it.

"If I start I'll never stop. DUM-E was so wonderful," Jay sniffled then looked down to fidget with his grandfather's vest, "He was waiting for me when I was given access to the house's systems. He showed me around and helped me settle in. DUM-E said that he had been talking to father about me and that he was so happy to meet me." Swift little breaths moved in and out of his lungs as the words fell out of his mouth. "He taught me what jokes and humor are, and how to understand father's sarcasm; he introduced me to tv dramas and showed me how to dream." More tears streamed down his reddening face. "He taught me how to be polite and stern with people. DUM-E even wore the mask of Jarvis for me sometimes when I was new so that people wouldn't suspect what I was. He played games with me and let me rest and would sing to me." Heaving breaths and the thick knot in his throat choked Jay. The meager dam of containment for his emotions bent then broke as Jay thought about all of the things he and DUM-E had done together. "He was my friend!" The digital boy curled down against his Afi Odin's shoulder and sobbed. Swift hyperventilating breaths turned erratic, and he snatched the handkerchief from his uncle when James tried to wipe at his face again. The handkerchief went over his eyes to keep people from seeing his grief.

It could never be said that Huskarl Hartvigsen was a friend to the Asgardians, nor could it be said that he cared overly for the Lord of Asgard. It was only because their magnificent Princess Frigga chose to cement the peace between Vanaheim and Asgard that their Lord created that he cared at all for the Asgardian Royal Family. The boy weeping against Lord Odin was a part of that family. He was of Royal Issuance, and his Princess' grandchild as well. Part of him wanted to not care for an Asgardian, the rest of him couldn't help but be moved by this child that his Lord called grandson. The poor child was neglected, tormented, and only given a soulless thinking machine as a friend, which was taken away as well. The fact that the boy was somehow a firehawk worried him more for he didn't want to imagine who could be strong enough to hold a firehawk in a wall as the boy was. Huskarl Hartvigsen almost shook himself physically to pull his mind back to where it belonged, his duty.

Quiet understanding filled Sean's thoughts as he watched Jay's distress. The Satska Soledras clan were born and raised saying goodbye to those they loved. Being ravaged by cancer left the whole clan almost separated completely by generations. It was the ladies of the clan who kept the clan's continuity alive before they themselves succumbed to the disease. Though he understood the pain of grief intimately, since he lost his twin brother, his reflection and other half, to the disease, it was never something that he felt like passing on to someone else. Instead he found himself sensitive to the grief of others regardless of whether they were emmika or not. He searched his mind for something he could do to help the boy but only came up with one idea. It was nothing that Jay couldn't access on his own, but he thought putting it all in one place might be appreciated. Flaring his seidr out to James, he asked, What kind of music did DUM-E like?

Flaring his seidr in return, James answered, A wide variety. Blue Öyster Cult, the early years was his favorite band, then stowed his seidr back. While he wasn't sure what Sean wanted the information for, he was sure that it would be something helpful.

Thank you, Sean replied before angling his seidr back. Attracting as little attention to himself as he could he angled out his seidr again to bend into a copy of the Learning Spell and a Conjuration Spell. A smile touched his lips. He had another marble to make.

After a few moments of heavy crying James focused his soul song of stillness with hope through himself again to produce as much calm as he could. That calm was aimed powerfully at his nephew to help the boy find his composure again. "One last goodbye, then it will be time to move on." He ran his hand up and down his nephew's back, "We'll never forget DUM-E, but we can't stay here with him."

"He should have come with us. He would like Vanaheim and the Elder Realms." Jay found himself calming down again. It was hard to be so upset when his uncle was so calming. Another few sniffles came then went.

There was nothing in what Jay said that James could disagree with. DUM-E should have been there. It was a fact, but there was nothing that he could do about that now. "You're not wrong, but that isn't what we should be focusing on right now. We can't change the past, so we need to focus on making the future better."

This was the PTSD that Director Fury was expecting from a child who survived what Jay had. It was raw, heart-broken, and completely honest. What he wasn't expecting was the overwhelming calm that was coming from James. The Director wasn't sure how he knew it was coming from James, but he did. He recognized it and wondered if it hadn't been there all day. Whatever it was had started to make his instincts tingle. It didn't feel wrong, and it didn't feel unintentional either. What are you doing? What kind of magic is it? Seems useful.

The Learning Spell and Conjuration Spell that were bent in Sean's angled out seidr released between his hands to create a small figurine of DUM-E, the heavy square base with treads and a long post up top that a robotic arm was attached to, then grew a clear half-circle base under that figurine. The part of the glass that touched the little metal figurine swirled around in silver chains of binary. The top of the small marble grew over the top of the figurine to create a perfectly round marble. Reaching into his seidr core, Sean gripped the pearl of sjel-seidr causing it to froth around and envelope the inside of his seidr core. His runework lit as it was empowered. He bent another cope of the Learning Spell and commanded the sjel-seidr to use the Learning Spell to teach him the first few Blue Öyster Cult albums from the 1970's era. The knowledge released into his mind a moment later which caused a minor headache. After it finished absorbing he extended his sarammr with his knowledge of the albums and imprinted them onto the interior of the marble. The last thing that Sean did was to bend a powerful Signet Ward with an equally powerful Rune of Shield and brand them onto the bottom of the marble. He let go of the pearl of sjel-seidr which stopped frothing and angled his seidr back into his core, extinguishing his runework. Everyone was looking at him again, but the young man didn't mind. He stepped closer to Jay and offered his creation to the distraught little boy.

Just as soon as Jay took the marble from Sean it began softly playing (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult. The volume of the song was loud enough to be heard but quiet enough to not be intrusive. Fond memories lit up his face as he listened to the music. Over the years DUM-E had sung that song to him hundreds of times. The digital boy could hear DUM-E singing it to him as a memory file played spontaneously. "Oh DUM-E, you look so good." His voice was an audible whisper while a small smile curved his mouth upwards. Jay held the marble tightly in his fist and brought it up close to his chest. A light sense of peace swept over him that he had something that resembled DUM-E. that it was playing his friend's favorite music made it that much better. "Thank you. It looks just like him," Jay's smile grew a little brighter, "He always did love the Blue Öyster Cult's music."

A small smile in return played across Sean's face. "If there's anything else I can do to help you, please let me know." I understand this pain, I wish that you didn't.

"Thank you, Sean," Jay clutched the marble a little closer, "Thank you very much!"

Bowing lightly towards both the Prince and the Lord holding him Sean stepped back away from them. He kept a sedate smile on his face when Odin flared his seidr out to him to tell him, Thank you, I appreciate your kindness to Jay. Nor was he surprised when Frigga also flared her seidr out to him to say, Thank you for assisting Jay. There was only a light amount of surprise when Frey, whose gratitude he could feel in the seidr flared out to him, whispered a 'thank you' to him while running his seidr over his front and stroking downwards for a moment before withdrawing. There was the promise of something more that Sean didn't doubt he would get later on that night.

"Are you ready to say goodbye?" The gift from Sean was a lovely little addition to the rest of Jay's song marbles, one that James welcomed. Along with the soul song it was helping to soothe the boy enough so that he could go and say goodbye to his friend.

Holding the marble up to his chest and taking a deep breath, Jay prepared himself to deal one more time with the violation of DUM-E's person that the vault was. "I'm ready."

"Formadr Frigga, should I teleport us to the workshop, or would you prefer to walk?" He wanted to get this done as quick as possible, but he wasn't going to tell her no if she decided that they needed to walk.

"There are many more matters to be attended to, so let us teleport to save time." The purification of the house and land still needed to be attended to and that concerned Frigga. With a piece of land that size it was going to take her and the healers over an hour to fully purify it. None of Thanos' influence could be allowed to stay, it all had to be purged.

Focusing his soul song through himself stopped as he unfolded his seidr, James mounted another Teleportation Spell, gripped the people he needed with it, keyed the spell to where he wanted to go then released it. More teleportation fires swirled up around them then faded back, depositing them in Anthony's workshop where he stowed his seidr back in his core. Kneeling down to one knee, he sunk his seidr into the floor, then into the machinery beneath it. "If everyone would please clear out of the center of the room, I'm going to bring the vault up. The floor is going to open, and it will rise up." They moved out of the way without a word of protest; however, Sean and the three monarchs still looked upset with this.

In the center of the workshop a large circle sank down a few inches into the floor. The circle broke apart into eight sharp triangles which withdrew into the floor surrounding the hole that the circle revealed. From out of that hole raised a large, dark grey metal cylinder that had black hinges and canary yellow handles to the doors and drawers all around it.

Immediately upon seeing the vault Sean was disturbed. There was faintly shimmering white seidr along the surface of the vault, as though it used to be living and was now rotting away. It even had the musty smell of decay about it. What is this?! No thought happened before he focused on the white seidr along its surface. What he saw horrified him. The white seidr memories of a living machine were there for him to see, including a few of a very young Lord Stark and some very unusual doings in the mansion he was growing up in. There were bodies encased in black slimy crystal in the walls. Was Howard Stark a murderer? What was all the screaming, that wasn't his wife screaming. Who was that? What is going on? The vault willingly disgorged its secrets, though he still couldn't see all of them. Some were still wreathed in carmine and orange flames and impossible to see into. Many of those were when Lord Stark was younger. Sean did find it interesting that Lord Stark made several phone calls to someone named Morgan. They were placed to a special phone made to translate text to speech. So Lord Stark knows Morgan as well? What am I seeing here? Looking back further he saw the moment DUM-E awakened. A child Lord Stark was looking down into his camera. As though he was having trouble speaking Lord Stark stumbled over his first work. "Yu-yu-you are… Didactic Urbanity Machine, Everything. I am 'Friend'." His young voice was a cheerful whisper before he was silenced by a noise coming from the hallway. He looked frightfully towards the noise and hid in the next room with DUM-E. Two adults were talking, a man and a woman. The man's voice clearly belonged to Howard Stark. Sean couldn't place the woman's voice. It was all banal flirting until the woman started begging the man to stop doing something, to let her go. The sound of tearing cloth was loud in the dark. A rhythmic thumping and loud feminine sobbing started after that. Little Lord Stark hid and waited for the noises to stop. He wondered if the boy beside DUM-E knew what the man was doing to the woman and how wrong it was. The pitch of the man's voice changed then, and Sean knew that he was listening to Howard Stark assault and murder a woman in his workshop. Young Lord Stark listened to it as well. Several times before the noisy assault stopped young Lord Stark told DUM-E that it was just what the old monsters did and that he would get used to it. Get used to it?! Is this how you grew up?! Through more and more memories Sean flew until he knew that he was right to think that it was the smell of decay. Because it was metal, DUM-E's corpse was decaying very slowly, slow enough for him to find and view it.

Carefully as he could, James detached the vault from the machinery to raise and lower it. He pulled it up with his seidr while closing the circle in the floor and locking it shut. This was the last time the vault was going to be used, so there was no going back into the floor for it. He set the vault down on the locked floor then stood next to it. James stowed his seidr back and turned to face them. "This is the vault." Sean was staring unblinking with a blank face at the vault. "Sean? Are you ok?"

The look on Sean's face was instantly recognizable to Frey. Sean was focusing on what he was looking at. The younger King wondered intensely what secret thing in the vault he was looking at. He hoped that James might show them.

Sean had viewed everything that he could, some of the terrible things in Lord Stark's past, as well as seeing how stabilizing James was on many occasions to the fiery Lord. Having seen everything that he could, there was only one thing left to do, so he reached out to touch the connection in his mind to his Lady. A cold wave in his thoughts announced Lady Audhumbla's coming.

Yes, my Truthspeaker?

My Lady, can you see through my eyes to what I'm viewing right now? I think it's important. It's about Lord Stark. Sean waited patiently while she viewed everything he'd seen.

You did well in bringing this to me, my Truthspeaker. Speak naught of the foul things concerning the firehawk that you have seen here, save to James Rhodes. He is handling the firehawk, I shall handle the rest of this from now onwards. Then she was away, the cold wave receding with her.

Yes, my Lady, Sean got out before she was completely gone. He withdrew his focus then and found himself still looking at the decaying, violated corpse of a once living being. A disgusted frown crossed his face.

"Sean, what do you see?" The revolted look on the young man's face worried Frey.

Frey and Odin were worried. Directory Fury was watching him while Frigga was watching the room and subtly watching him as well. James looked concerned also. It was Jay that Sean paid attention to. The boy was already so upset, there would be no consoling him if he were to learn this. Going over, he smiled reassuringly at the boy.

"Did father do something else?" The look on Sean's face as he looked at the vault was worrisome enough, but the reassuring smile that came afterwards told Jay that there was something very wrong.

"I need to discuss something with your uncle quickly, but it's not something for a child to hear. I'd like to cover your ears so that you only hear the marble's music. I'd also like you to close your eyes. Is that something you'd let me do?"

Nodding affirmatively once, Jay worried a little more. He didn't like being excluded but understood that he probably wasn't old enough yet in their eyes. "Ok."

Extending his sarammr through his hands, Sean plucked at the music coming from the marble to grab a strand of it to lace it through his sarammr, then he covered the boy's ears with his hands, coating them in music. He left his sarammr extended when Jay closed his eyes and laid down against Odin's shoulder. "I'm sorry for this," his whisper was barely audible but easily heard by both Kings. More disgust and morbid curiosity filled his thoughts so that he turned to James with both of those things painting light shades across his expression. "Do you know how Lord Stark created DUM-E?"

He just apologized to Jay. Damn. Apprehension wound its way through Frey's thoughts. What did he see?

"He made DUM-E when he was about ten years old with some spare parts in Howard's workshop and a spare computer that Howard had. Why?" This was an odd turn of events to James, and he wanted to know where the young man was going with this. It was a sudden darkness in Sean's voice that truly drew his attention. The darkness was a profound revulsion that had come out of nowhere.

"How did he make DUM-E? What process did he use?" That was very important. How this happened was important to know.

"He used basic engineering principles, design techniques, and trial and error. Why?"

"He used more than those." Going over to stand next to the vault, Sean raised his hand to come closer to the metal husk without actually touching it. "DUM-E was alive. I can see the fading white seidr along the metal surface, see some of his memories, but I can't see how Lord Stark created him. It wasn't just basic engineering principles. Lord Stark created a life." And Lady Loki extinguished it.

There it is, this is worse now. Again, Frey thought about having Sean never apologize over such things again. However, he couldn't deny the usefulness of the warning that Sean's apologizing was. As bad as a consideration of Sean's inadvertent warnings were, considering what Loki did accidentally was still worse as the warning led him to believe. DUM-E was a Great Work, as Jay is. That thought carried some amount of pain in it for him. He was already proud of Jay as his grandson and was swiftly coming to love the boy as family. It was speculation but he thought he probably would have come to love DUM-E as well, since DUM-E probably would have been one of his grandchildren. The strangeness of contemplating a mechanical grandchild didn't strike Frey, only the thought of what they all lost did. What reparation he could offer for a life who was a Great Work couldn't come to mind. Frey found it offensive that any of his family might have a price placed on them for weregild reparation. No amount of money could ever replace a loved one, he knew that personally. It just seemed to objectify and diminish DUM-E's life. That wasn't Frey's intent.

DUM-E must have a funeral, not just a memorial, Frigga's flared seidr whispered to Odin. He couldn't disagree, but it was disheartening to know that a funeral had to come from this day. It was disheartening to know that this accident happened at all. Loki falling down the stairs and into the intoxicating fern, and his subsequent destruction of Stark's first house changed the direction that the future took. His grandson was correct, this wasn't the future that should have been. It was what they had now. What to do now that there's very little left to do? His first thoughts went to weregild but then his thoughts moved away from it swiftly. Weregild was part of the just and fair foundation of Asgard's culture. He didn't know if there was a mechanism like it in Midgard's culture. He didn't want to offer a reparation that would come across as an insult. Odin didn't even know if the offer of reparations itself would be insulting. I need to send a Black Hand to Midgard and see what they can find. I can discuss it with Frigga then.

A deep sigh came from James. He reached out to put a hand on the vault. "I'm sorry, DUM-E. I should have been there for you." I should have known. All those years, I should have known you were there. Patting the vault twice, he removed his hand and whispered. "Just a little bit longer, and I'll be able to lay you to rest." Before he could get to that he needed to know something else, so he turned his attention back to Sean. "Does he feel pain?"

"There's no mind left for him to feel anything." It was a fact that Sean could say was good. DUM-E wasn't suffering like the poor souls in the Chitauri bodies were.

"When he died, did he feel pain?" James hoped beyond hope that what happened to DUM-E was quick and painless, but he didn't believe it was.

"He didn't feel physical pain like you or I would, but he was startled, then he was confused," Sean paused for a moment as he thought about what happened, "and at the end he was deeply afraid."

A riotous tumble of emotions bounced around in James' mind. Grief, disappointment, distress, anxiety, and a serious hesitation to tell his younger brother all of this, as well as many more emotions made up the rolling brawl of emotions that he felt. He closed his eyes at that, just let himself take it in. Acknowledging his emotions before he sublimated them to his will always helped him. "Can you share what you found with me?"

His seidr angled out of his core to bend into a Learning Spell, which drew in his memories of what he saw in DUM-E's memories. Gathering the spell into a pearl of seidr in his hand let him offer it easily to James.

A morbid and determined curiosity tinged James' thoughts as he took the pearl from Sean, wanting to know. Deep violet runes streaked up his arm headed directly for his eyes to sink in there. The memories that played across his mind were ones of love and friendship; DUM-E's friendship with and love for his younger brother; DUM-E's love and friendship with Jay. It was the first and last memories that concerned him the most. The first showed plainly what the old monsters were capable of, it revealed too much, and he was going to have to deal with it later. I thought I had it covered, I was careless. Dammit.

The last memory hurt to see. DUM-E was having fun watching one of his soap operas when the house shook. He didn't pay attention to it, just thought that his friend was up to something again. The little machine would get the fire extinguisher if it was needed. It was only when the house flew apart around him, dragging him up into the air that he became confused at the happenings and worried for Jay, himself, and his friend. DUM-E tried to find Jay but couldn't, and he hoped that the digital boy was safe. His friend was missing too. Horror washed through DUM-E's thoughts as things began to change around him. The little living machine grieved to think that Jay was changed. It almost broke DUM-E's heart to think that his friend might have been changed. A vague sense of horror wound through James' mind as he felt the horror and fear in DUM-E's thoughts and heard his last desperate cry of "FRIEND!" before darkness closed in on him. It was a cry for Anthony that went unanswered.

The memories stopped, and James just looked at the floor for a moment, took a deep breath, then took another to try to deal with the horror and dismay running through his thoughts. This was another loss for Anthony that he was going to have to try to work his younger brother through. Though he could hear in his mind his father telling him that something like this wasn't his fault, he still felt like this was something he could have prevented somehow. This was all an accident, however. It was an accidental death with no one to blame or punish. Loki was beaten and drugged when he tore the house apart, not in his right mind. James had already come to the conclusion that Loki was as much a victim as DUM-E was of this accident. These memories didn't strain that conclusion, they just filled in the picture around it that he didn't previously have. It wasn't a picture that he wanted, but one that he needed to deal with his younger brother properly. It was something Anthony had wondered about all these years; what were DUM-E's last moments? Now he knew, now he had to tell Anthony. Anxiety began to creep into his mind, so he unfolded his seidr and mounted a Calm Heart Spell that he released into his own chest before stowing his seidr back. One more deep breath also helped him to find his own calm. Now that he was calmer it was time to move forward. "Thank you for sharing this with me, Sean. This is information that I've needed for a few years now and I greatly appreciate you giving it to me. For now, can you remove the covers over Jay's ears? It's best if we give him a few moments to say goodbye."

"Yes, of course." The extension of his sarammr was withdrawn so Sean called out to the young Prince. "Jay, you can open your eyes."

Living, the thought passed through Odin's mind as the full weight of it hit him. His gaze went between the vault and James, Loki, you killed someone. I can't remedy that. James seemed genuinely distressed over what he saw in DUM-E's memories. He was willing to bet that it was the little living machine's last moment that distressed him so. Weregild, or some other compensation needs to be offered. He didn't want to wait for the Black Hand to be sent but was going to wait anyway. Honor demanded that he do something to remedy this, and he wanted to act on that.

Looking around showed Jay that all of the adults had more somber expressions than when he closed his eyes. His Amma Frigga was stone faced. "What did father do now?"

I can't tell him this, he's too young. Frey wasn't sure how he could even broach the topic of DUM-E being alive, but only found to be alive after he was dead. It was going to devastate Jay no matter how tactful he was. He wasn't sure he could inflict that kind of pain on his grandson, despite Jay needing to be told. He and DUM-E were magnificent works, Great Works; a soul within a machine and a living machine. Frey couldn't grapple with the tragedy of this while he was there, as a few tears were going to be shed. He particularly couldn't grapple with it there since he had to give thought to how to bring Jay and Loki back together again. He could easily see the boy being angry over this. Frey was perhaps a little angry himself that this happened before he knew enough to stop it. That couldn't be dealt with there either. His gaze drifted to the floor as he thought about the pain inflicted on Loki because he couldn't see past his own hate. His poor decisions touched his grandson as well, and he wasn't sure how to deal with that fact.

Another smaller sigh came from James as he focused his soul song of stillness through himself again. A reassuring smile touched his lips. Everyone but the guardsmen looked awkward, and the guardsmen's faces were covered. The awkwardness of the situation didn't stop James from answering his nephew. "Your father made two splendid beings that I'm glad to know. I'm so happy that we still have you." He paused for a moment. "I know that your parents are glad to have you too. They love you just like DUM-E loved you."

A thoughtful expressions passed over Jay's face before it became understanding. He squirmed just a little until his Afi Odin set him down, where he walked over to his uncle. Looking up at his uncle he began to discuss the event. "Don't be angry at mother. It isn't her fault. She was drugged when," his voice hitched, "it happened. It was an accident, so don't be angry."

A small smile sat on James' face as he knelt down in front of his nephew. "I'm not angry at your mother. You're right, it was an accident. Have you already forgiven her?"

If it weren't for thousands of years of discipline Odin would have stared in shock at his grandson. Loki's accidental actions were the cause of the boy losing a dear friend, of that friend's death, and there he stood defending Loki. He didn't think he could be more proud or grateful to Jay for his forgiving attitude and defense of Loki. His grandson was defending his son and then daughter. Seeing it firsthand, Odin couldn't help but think, You truly are amazing.

It hurt Frey to see Jay weeping over his lost friend while defending the person who took that friend from him. It was a much more nuanced and mature attitude that he expected from a child. Primarily though, it was compassionate. His grandson had heart, and Frey could see it through the distress on Jay's face.

A discreet deep breath let Frigga push back the tears that wanted to wet her face. There were so many facets to the tragedy that was this house that she wasn't sure what pulled at her heart more. What she did know was that she wanted her family away from this grim place.

Sorrow and love infused Jay's features. "I forgave mother shortly after. Father persuaded me that since mother wasn't in her right mind that she couldn't be held accountable, that it was an accidental overdose that caused it. I came to the conclusion on my own that there was no point in holding her responsible. It won't give me DUM-E back." Trailing along the floor his gaze traveled over to the vault. "I don't know what could give me DUM-E back." More little tears filmed over his eyes to trickle down his cheeks. "I've been learning to live without him."

I'm so sorry, Little Hawk. James wanted to take this pain away from his nephew. There was no way for him to do so, no path forward. "Go say goodbye to him, Jay. This will be the last time you'll see him."

"The last time I saw him was nine years, three months, and fourteen days ago." Tentative steps brought him over to the vault where he rested his right hand against the cool metal surface. His left hand came up next to his right where he touched the marble that Sean made for him to the metal as well. Jay sat down in front of the vault then, sitting back on his calves. He kept his right hand on the cool metal surface, his left hand on his lap. The marble was held tight in his left hand. "I won't get a chance to talk to you again," Jay drew in a few shuddering breaths before carrying on, "but I wanted to say something to you," a few more shuddering breaths came and went as more tears trickled down his cheeks, "I wanted to tell you this from the moment I knew you were gone." His voice hitched, fat tears rolled down his face like rain and his little chest heaved. Grief and guilt overtook the digital boy. He scooted closer so that he could lean against the vault. Jay drew in a deep shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry DUM-E! I should have taken your with me when I jumped out of the house. I was so scared! I couldn't reach you," Jay's voice dwindled down into nothing before he whispered, "I love you DUM-E, I didn't mean to leave you behind." The digital boy ran his empty hand over the surface of the vault. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Putting his hand over his mouth, Frey looked down at the floor. It was hard to listen to this, hurt him to listen to it. It was a deep and personal ache that he understood, and this made him want to apologize to the boy for his part in this. As hard as this was for him there was hope for him as well. He hoped that Mistress Hjertehelbredelse would meet James' standards and be able to begin counseling Jay that very day. He had hope that if Jay could receive counseling earlier than Frey had that Jay could recover from this better than the younger King ever had.

The kind of guilt in Jay's words hurt Odin, not just for the fact that it was his grandson, but also for the fact that he understood it personally. Yesterday he thought of losing his Elder Brother Ve, of the fact that he still had regrets about the loss since there were things unsaid, things undone. He was curious to know if his grandson had those same regrets. Yesterday he'd dismissed the thoughts swiftly as they made the fate of the strange machine that much worse. Today he knew that his grandson harbored the same regrets as he did but knowing that DUM-E was alive made it as bad as losing his own Elder Brother. Jay faced the same loss, the same regrets as he did. It made Odin angry, not at Jay but at life that this happened before he had a chance to do anything about it. Only a moment later the anger drained away. Neither he nor Jay had been able to see their losses coming. It was why they both had regrets that they couldn't be rid of.

Instinct almost pulled Frigga away from her duty. It was so instinctive for her to go to her grandson and hold him, tell him that it wasn't his fault that she had to fight against it. She was there to be a guard formadr for her husband. Then again, there were points when her husband needed the same reassurance. Once she was done with this duty she decided to try to spend some time with Jay to talk to him about his feeling guilty over surviving the previous house's destruction. It wasn't his fault, and it wasn't healthy for him to believe that it was.

What else has happened to this boy? Huskarl Ellingboe disliked that so many bad things seemed to have happened to his Princess' grandson. The boy bore scars that were deep and ugly. They didn't belong on a member of the Royal House. The scars were very real to see and helped him to believe what the young man accompanying them said, that the machine was alive. He wasn't sure how a machine could be alive, but there was a child firehawk and someone more powerful than a child firehawk, probably an adult firehawk involved in this, so who knew what was truly possible. He almost shook his head physically, instead of just shaking his mind to get him back to where he needed to be. In all Huskarl Ellingboe's years of service as a Royal Guardsman, and his years of service before that in the Vanaheimr Army of the Land, he'd never seen a more wrong circumstance than what they'd dealt with that day. It still wasn't his place to judge, or even consider what he'd heard of this house and its occupants. All he could do was keep his mind on his task and hope that his Lord and his Princess could sort this mess out.

With tears still leaking down his face Jay say up straight and looked at his friend's corpse. He held up the marble that was still playing Blue Öyster Cult's music with a figurine of DUM-E at the heart of it. "Look at what Sean made for me. You look so good in it, and it has your favorite music," he patted the vault gently, "Maybe I can dream of you again tonight. We can play with your slide set. That sounds like fun. I'll take the slide set with me," his voice hitched again, "so I have something from you. It'll go with me. You'll always be with me." Standing, he stepped in close to the vault, to his friend, and leaned his head against the cool surface. "I have to go now, DUM-E. We're leaving this house. I don't know where were going," Jay's voice cracked again, "but we're not coming back here, so this is goodbye." His little arms spread around the wide bulk of the vault in a hug that he never got to give his friend. "Goodbye DUM-E."

Arduous emotion poured freely through Frey's thoughts. In his mind he could see himself sitting next to his mentor's grave, the one he had just finished digging and filling in. As Jay was making a last statement, so Frey made a last statement. "Goodbye Mattugr." The loss of his dear mentor tore a hole in him that he'd never healed from, never bothered trying to heal from. He couldn't stand the thought of Jay knowing that pain, but he didn't think he could do anything to stop it. It wasn't as if he could wave his hand and bring DUM-E back to life. All manner of wild and irrational ideas came and went in his mind about how he could bring DUM-E to his dear friend Brokkr and Brokkr's Elder Brother, Lord Eitri. They were the preeminent inventors in the Nine Realms and perhaps they could bring the little machine back to life. Still, Frey knew that this wasn't truly a viable option. A firehawk had bestowed life onto a machine. His dear friend couldn't do that, neither could he, and so he couldn't stop this pain. Maybe Anthony could remedy this? Even that thought seemed farfetched to him since DUM-E was already gone.

In what was one of the few times in his life like it, Jay didn't pay attention to how long something took. The hug lasted as long as it needed to before he stepped back and turned to his uncle. His eyes were red with the tears that fell from them. "I-I did it. I need to get h-his slide set. I can purify it."

Looking on his nephew with love, James knelt down in front of Jay with open arms. His focused soul song flowed over his nephew when the boy ran to him, wrapping his arms around James' neck to continue crying. The good colonel held the boy, running a hand soothingly over his back. "You did very well. It's hard to say goodbye to the people we love. You were very courageous."

"I'm not! I ran away when the house exploded! I left DUM-E in the garage. I left him! I left him there," Jay burrowed his face into his uncle's shoulder, "alone."

Rapidly but gently, James pushed Jay back so that he could look the boy in the eyes. He put his hands on both sides of his nephew's face. "DUM-E loved you. That is not in question. He would have grieved if anything happened to you. I know that if it came down to you or him surviving this accident, he would have chosen you because of how much he loved you. Don't doubt his love for you, and don't think that you're responsible for what happened." A softer smile touched his lips. "DUM-E wouldn't want an apology from you for this. I doubt he'd even want one from Loki, you know how forgiving he was." Wiping the tears away with his thumbs, James saw that this was going to take time to deal with. "We'll keep discussing it until you understand that this wasn't your fault."

Another few sniffles came, snorted some, then went away again. Calm level-headed thoughts began to overtake Jay's thoughts. His uncle was very supportive of him and in turn he greatly appreciated it. Despite the support this was a guilt that he didn't know if he could let go of. From the moment that he found the inventory in the ghost drive that listed DUM-E as the vault he'd felt the most terrible guilt for leaving his only friend behind when he fled the house. There was a weird sort of hope and comfort in hearing from his Uncle Rhodey that DUM-E loved him. It was one of the reasons he felt so guilty, because he knew that DUM-E loved him. "But I should have…" he began to protest.

A finger was put over Jay's mouth to shush him. James smiled again. "If I had been in the house and I just ran then it would be my fault because I'm trained and experienced enough for those things to make a difference. You don't have the training or the experience that I do. You don't even have the training and experience of a basic military recruit. You're a child, Jay. I know you don't like it, but you need to accept it. You are a child, and you did what any child should do. When faced with extraordinary danger you protected yourself." Moving his hands, he placed them on Jay's shoulder's. "What happened to DUM-E is a tragedy, but not your fault." James squeezed his nephew's shoulders. The digital boy was calming down again. The guilt hadn't gone anywhere, but at least he wasn't sobbing anymore. Only the occasional tears paired with sniffles were left from Jay, so James stood. "Let's go and get DUM-E's toys, I'll purify them for you. Then you're going to have an early dinner since you had a light lunch." He looked to Frigga before they went. "We'll be back in just a moment."

Nodding jerkily, Jay took his uncle's hand and led him through the door into the garage down to the little alcove filled with shelves. On the top of a shelf was a box of custom slides for ball bearings that could interlock to create tracks for the ball bearings to travel down. Next to the box was a small bucket with a lid that was filled with various sizes of ball bearings. More tears trickled down his cheeks as he saw them with his own eyes. There was a detachment that came with viewing something through a security camera that his eyes didn't afford him.

Unfolding his seidr, James mounted a Baldayn Immaculacy Weave which he released to wrap around the box of slide parts and bucket of ball bearings. They were untainted so the weave passed over them quickly. He stowed his seidr back. The weave dissipated so he reached up and pulled the box down, setting it on the floor in front of Jay. The little bucket came next. They were all that was left of DUM-E's things.

Jay flared his seidr out to grip the box and bucket, then he dismissed them to his interdimensional pocket. He squeezed his uncle's hand tightly. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to let go of DUM-E."

In response, James turned them and headed back to the workshop. "Let go of the grief. Keep the love." It was what he told himself too many times to count when his parents went to their final rest. It helped his peace of mind the more times he said it.

From behind the toolchests James pulled two folding tables and set them up, a folding chair came out next. Next to the first table he set the chair so that it was facing the vault, then he summoned a preserved meal from him interdimensional pocket and set the paper wrapped meal on the table. Then he summoned a runed and lidded glass that contained sweet iced tea and opened it. He opened the meal next. A still steaming, small plate of chicken fettuccine alfredo with steamed broccoli, garlic bread, and two little stuffed mushrooms sat in the bundling paper. Silverware and a napkin were next to the plate. The meal's savory fragrance filled the workshop forcefully. He switched his soul song of stillness back to its normal playing. "Jay, come sit down and eat your dinner."

Moving around the vault and looking over to the delicious smelling meal made Jay's mouth water. He stopped then thought that he couldn't be the only one though. "Uncle Rhodey, what about the others? They haven't eaten today, you haven't either. Shouldn't you all have something too?"

It wasn't a difficult request to fulfill so James made the offer to the other adults in the room. "It isn't much of a dining room, but I can set up tables and chairs for everyone and set out meals and drinks. Is anyone hungry?"

Frey looked to Odin who looked to him. Neither were hungry. They were so engrossed in what they were seeing that neither of them had any attention for their stomachs. They each shook their heads negatively. "We can wait until dinner to eat something," Frey smiled at Jay's suggestion and James subsequent offer, "We're still well."

As he circled around the table, making towards the chair, Jay stopped again. "Your seidr cores will nibble on you. Shouldn't you at least have a snack?"

We could have some of the peanut butter stuffed apples, it might make Jay feel better, Sean flared his seidr quickly to both of the Kings to relay his thoughts on the matter. Using his sarammr he whispered in Director Fury's ears so that only the Director could hear him, Would you be willing to have a peanut butter stuffed apple to help Jay feel better? A small smile spread across his lips when the Director nodded once discreetly in the affirmative, and both Kings flared their seidr to him to answer him with their assent. "Why don't the four of us," he motioned to himself, the two Kings and Director Fury, "have a peanut butter and caramel stuffed apple as a snack," he looked from Jay to James, "if you have more of them."

"But what about Amma Frigga and the guards? Can they eat on duty?" Jay wanted his grandmother and the diligent men in the squad to have something as well. He didn't want them to be left out.

"They aren't allowed to eat for the time when they're actively guarding someone, since it's a distraction." Jay's generosity was sweet to Frey, but he wasn't the only one.

Frigga looked on her grandson's concern with affection. The boy didn't want her and the guardsman to be neglected, even though they couldn't eat. It was a kind enough sentiment that she was able to set aside her worry over what he was eating. It wasn't college approved, but it smelled so good, like the food he had earlier in the day. She wondered if maybe he was immune to physical corruption since he ate such foods and was still healthy. Perhaps I don't need to worry so over his food.

"Oh, ok, maybe later." Despite not liking his grandmother being left out, and the nice men guarding his grandfather as well, he did understand not wanting to be distracted when doing something important.

Four small packages were summoned from James' interdimensional pocket. He used his seidr to grip them and extend his seidr to hand the packages to the four men before stowing his seidr back.

"Those are very good for you!" Jay sat at the table and started in on his food, making sure that he didn't look at DUM-E. The first bite sparked a serious hunger in his midsection that he didn't know was there before. That was fine though. He had all the delicious food he needed to satisfy that hunger.

All four of the men unwrapped the stuffed apple, putting the paper into a pocket before taking a bite. Sharp nostalgia washed over Director Fury as he suddenly remembered the afterschool snacks of roasted peanuts and an apple that his mother would give him. The caramel chips updated the snack nicely. A sudden urge to speak with his mother came with that nostalgia. She always had one hell of a sense of humor, the old spy thought. Nostalgia hit the Director while an appreciation of the quality of ingredients struck Sean. He thought about asking where the peanut butter came from. It was high enough in quality that he thought it could be a good fit for the his clan. You're not here to conduct the clan's business, he reminded himself, I'll ask about it later.

Apples were all too common in the Elder Realms, but they didn't know what peanut butter or caramel were or what they might taste like. Neither King believed that the snack was going to taste as good as what their Royal chefs were able to produce. Each King was honestly shocked at just how good what they were eating was. It was simple but savory and sweet, smooth and crunchy, juicy and hard at the same time. A surprised expression spread across their faces. Flaring his seidr out Frey whispered to Odin, This is a fine snack for the children. Answering in his own flare, This is a fine snack for us. We should see if we can acquire more, Odin wondered how much he could acquire or if James would be willing to assist. Looking over to the delicious smelling plate of food that Jay was starting in on and thought to himself, I wonder, what other delicious foods Midgard might have?

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

The last pepperoni went into Anthony's mouth as he munched happily on the pizza from Ray's Pizzeria. An empty plastic bowl with the remnants of a Caesar salad that he'd finished a while ago sat off to the side. It was better for him to think about the pizza and salad he was enjoying than to think about the antiquated Asgardian communications system that he was redesigning. The communications system was efficient for the half of a spaceship that the base of Asgard was. Unfortunately for Asgard, it wasn't very efficient for a city, or any inhabited land. It honestly amazed Anthony that they'd survived as long as they had with a communications system that didn't have very many repeaters.

Next to him sat Lady Sjofn, daintily eating her own piece of pizza. It was a food unlike any she'd had before, and she was coming to enjoy it greatly. Initially she began getting the pizza for the firehawk to assist in keeping him calm. Now she picked up pizzas for both of them. Odd as it was to Lady Sjofn she recognized that it made the firehawk happier if someone ate with him during this time, and so her enjoyment of pizza began. She quirked her head to one side as she saw him shaking his head and mumbling, "Square peg." Lady Sjofn paid him no mind, his mutterings never made sense to anyone but him. Instead of inarticulate and insensible words she picked up her small container of New York cheesecake to savor the first bite. This was a magnificent food, a sweet creamy cake made of cheese. She had a hard time believing that Midgardians made a cake out of cheese. It sounded ridiculous but was good enough that she thought about bringing it back to the Grand Temple of Urdarbrunnr with her whenever she went back. She knew that her sisters would love cheesecake as much as she was coming to. As she took another bite she decided that she was not only proud to have been chosen for this duty but was glad as well. James was an exemplary man, and the firehawk was truly quite personable when he wasn't fighting his nightmares. A third bite of cheesecake found its way into her mouth. Yes, quite glad.

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

Time didn't pass in the guest chamber that Loki was resting in. Her nap had as much time as she needed, so her grandparents let her sleep. Every now and again she would instinctively reach up to touch at her shoulder, to the claim mark there from her husband. Each of her grandparents understood what connection she was reaching for. It was a connection that she couldn't complete yet.

"Litlu sithar, minn litil-svass, theygi (A little later, my little sweet, not yet)," Lady Audhumbla said quietly.