Revamped!
[A while back, I posted a Spider-Man one-shot centred on Peter x MJ titled Knight in Shining Spandex. Go check it out if you're interested]. [2020: Why does it feel like I published that story five years ago when it's only been one?]
Chapter 119: What Happened in Asgard Part Seven
Three Years Ago - Asgard
Apollo stands in the middle of the sparring area where Thor trains the next generation of Asgard's warriors. Apollo would join them on most days when he got bored around the palace, the warriors wanted to face a challenge, or because he wanted to train. Ever since he heard about his inevitable death at Ragnarök, he knew deep inside of himself that he had to try and find a way to beat The Midgard Serpent. He deems himself as powerful, mighty, and the Gods made him into their champion, so why wouldn't he be able to slice the Serpent?
Apollo ducks as a sword swoops over his head, nearly slicing the ends of his hair. He kicks over a warrior and turns around, holding his sharp axe by the blade to whack another one with the handle. Suddenly, Apollo is knocked to the ground in a good old-fashioned tackle. He rolls for a bit and laughs boastfully as he engages in a fistfight on the ground.
"Tired yet, Apollo?" The warrior asks with a smile.
Apollo grins. "Don't worry, you're doing great."
Apollo laughs boastfully as he pushes him off. He stands up but when he looks towards where the warrior landed, he doesn't see him. It's Sigyn's corpse.
His expression drops, freezes. His breathing and body shake. Everything around him blurs into a mess of colours Sigyn's corpse as the only clear image. Sigyn's corpse. The more he looks, the more sees the gruesome details of her dead body: the paleness of her skin, the stillness of her limbs - all of it is too much to think about. What strikes him most is that she's not covered in blood this time. That's when he notices that Sigyn's wearing The Serpent Crown on her head.
The crown starts shifting, slithering, going in circles in a nest of Sigyn's hair. It makes him queasy. When the head of the snake sees him, it looks up and its eyes narrow, locking on him. Some animal moves out of the shadows. No, a demon. Even in the relative darkness, Apollo makes out its grotesque face. Its jaw open so wide that it looks unhinged, showing off rows and rows of jagged teeth that drip thick and poisonous saliva. Its arms and legs are too long and muscular. Something grabs his shoulders and he looks up to see one of the Norns, specifically the Future Norn, hovering above him and her fingernails gripping him so hard that it cuts through his armour and into his skin.
"You'll kill your cousin and die," she hisses.
The Past one appears in front of him. "You thought you could put an end to the curse but you failed."
The Present one appears beside her. "That curse is branded on your skin even deeper than before. You should've realized that by now."
"No!" Apollo screams and back in reality, his scream is louder than ever, causing the storm clouds to start forming and darkening all of Asgard. The clouds swirl, charging with lightning. Apollo doesn't even have his axe in his hand and yet, he's calling his power which has everyone on their toes.
"Stand down!" Thor yells to his warriors as he starts running up to his son. "Stand down now!"
The warriors lower their weapons, return them to their holders on their armour if they could. They back away from Apollo, wary of a sudden lightning strike and to make room for Thor to handle whatever is going on.
Apollo's body trembles as he gasps for air. Short pauses between sobs while he desperately tries to recover from the horror he saw. Thor securely holds him by his shoulders as Apollo frantically clutches to himself to keep himself from collapsing, from showing defeat. His cries never beat through his chest, causing his heart to ache. His body eventually releases in his father's arms, his sobs softer and grip on himself softer.
Fighting combat and throwing an axe aren't only in the wrist. It's in the shoulders, hips, and, most importantly: the head. He should've known that his attack wouldn't work since his mind is infected with these visions.
"Apollo," Thor says softly, holding him close. "You're fine. You're okay. I'm right here."
"You want me to die!" Apollo unexpectedly screams at him.
Thor tenses as Apollo's chest continues to heave up and down. The warriors quickly dismiss themselves, leaving Thor alone with his son. Thor doesn't spare a second to think about what to say.
"How dare you say that?" Thor whispers. "How could you even think that? Ragnarök hurts for you because you're a good person disagreeing with Fate and I believe in what you're trying to do."
"Then why don't I feel like a good person?" Apollo asks, his voice trembling.
"Because Ragnarök is disagreeing with you."
"I thought that out of everyone who would want me to fight against my Fate, Ragnarök would side with me."
-o-
From the palace balconies, Sigyn peers over the edge in awe at the wonderful spectacle she just witnessed with Apollo in the sparring area. Various castle attendants and servants were talking to one another in hushed tones, showing concern or spreading gossip about their prince. At least they showed a bit of pity whereas Sigyn laughed at Apollo the whole time, applauding even. Nobody gave her sympathy, but strange looks at her lunacy. Then, she was finally alone with her show.
"I love a good drama with action and special effects," Sigyn says to herself as she rests her arms on the balcony's ledge. "At least Ragnarök would be visually stunning."
She looks up for a second and sees the dark clouds that Apollo made from nowhere slowly fade away. Then, her eyes return to Thor consoling his son. She can't read their lips but their faces say plenty. Sigyn knows that Apollo has never been more passionate about anything than defying Ragnarök. The problem is in what she saw. Passion is just an obsession with something that he can't get better at. If Apollo can't work through his hallucinations of Ragnarök, what makes him think that he can win the battle? It's funny to think about that until someone gets hurt, and then it becomes hilarious.
"To think that a boy who cries and screams at the littlest of his imaginations is supposed to save the Realms," she scoffs. "May the gods, help us all…" Sigyn snickers to herself as she turns and walks away from the balcony. "Ragnarök picked the wrong champion."
"You shouldn't have said that."
Sigyn enters the hallway of the palace and sees Jane standing before her. Sigyn notices Jane's worrisome expression but doesn't react the way she would've when she was a teenager. Times have changed. Years have passed. Ragnarök is in the picture.
"It wasn't the first time I've uttered those words," Sigyn replies before continuing to go her way. "I don't regret what I said."
She couldn't have her lines written for her just because people want to hear them. Her fate was already created by other gods so couldn't she have some things to herself? Sometimes, she has thoughts that she can't understand. Thoughts that are possibly true - that are maybe how she really feels - but they're running through her head because they're interesting to think about.
"I know you do," Jane says to her.
Sigyn bites her tongue.
-o-
In the throne room, Thor stands with Jane, Apollo, and Sigyn to inform them of his plans. Jane stands across from her husband with Apollo and Sigyn on both of her sides. Neither of them looks at the other eye-to-eye.
"I'll spend some time visiting some of the other realms, excluding Midgard, to see if they have any knowledge or tactics on Ragnarök," Thor says.
"Excluding Midgard?" Sigyn questions. "Why? They're the ones with a giant snake coiled around its core."
Apollo shivers at the sound of that and Sigyn huffs as she rolls her eyes. Jane scolds her and Sigyn pulls her arm back to herself. The two of them were still being treated like children and this is what happens when two childish minds are in charge of saving the world.
"I'm not visiting all the Realms," Thor corrects himself. "We're not amicable with some of them."
"Last time I checked, we were a protectorate of Midgard, and not only do we have allies there but friends! Go to Midgard! Take me with you, please!"
"Sigyn -"
"Sigyn," Jane states, facing her niece to explain this from a Midgardian's perspective. "Humans cannot handle crises. If we were to tell them that the apocalypse was coming, they would become so frantic and have so much distrust in all their allies that they will implode. They would destroy themselves before The Midgard Serpent wakes up. That, and there is still a vast majority of humanity who, even after what happened in New York, still don't believe in the possibility of aliens and gods and monsters. Try telling them about Ragnarök."
Sigyn straightens her posture. "You heard The Norns. 'It doesn't matter what you don't believe.'" She stops herself when she grins a little from the corner of her mouth. "But you're right, Jane, you said that humans will be the ones who will go ballistic when they learn bad news and that even applies to half-breeds like him."
Sigyn points at Apollo and he doesn't pick a fight with her. Apollo remains silent because she's right. He may be only half-human, but he still felt fear when it came to anything involving Ragnarök. Maybe that was his inner mortal screaming out to him. Or maybe that was an ode to him being more like a mortal than a god. Was that why he was the chosen champion? Was that why he was destined to protect Midgard?
"Alright," Thor states, returning the discussion back to where it started. He's only talking to Apollo and Sigyn since Jane already knows all this information. "In my absence, Apollo, you will be helping your mother with royal affairs and Sigyn -"
Sigyn holds up a hand to cut him off. "I will be on my absolute best behaviour."
Thor raises a brow skeptically. "Are you sure?"
She gives a devious smile. "I promise."
Thor and Jane look at her skeptically as Sigyn nods, keeping that smirk on her face.
Sometimes, she has to turn things upside down instead of right side up. Promises are lies that she wants to keep. Sometimes, she lies to deceive people, and other times, she lies because she needs the lie to become the truth. The thing about lying is that she never knows where the lie ends and as of now, she isn't 100% where it started either.
