- Chapter 4 -
23May2023 – Early Morning
Vanaheim Royal Palace Sitting Room
An understanding smile touched Frigga's face as James apologized sincerely to Jay and smiled more widely when her grandson came running over, climbed up onto the settee and almost fell off again as he tried to reach the lidded plate. He wanted whatever was under the lid, so Frigga handed him the plate.
Covetous longing filled Jay for a few seconds when Frigga picked up the plate with his torte. Happiness burst through his thoughts when she handed it to him. "Thank you!"
"Please, call me Amma. It means 'grandmother'. 'Afi' is 'grandfather'." Frigga spoke quietly and hoped that he would.
"Amma Frigga?"
"Yes, that sounds wonderful." A thrill of joy trilled through her thoughts as she heard 'Amma Frigga'.
"Thank you Amma!" The lid to the plate came off easily. The rich smell of chocolate ganache combined with the sweet smell of crème de menthe syrup to provide a sensory joy for the boy holding the plate. A small fork was sitting on the side of the plate. Lifting the plate up Jay breathed in the wonderful scents. "It smells so good!" The glistening top of the torte looked full of flavor. He wondered if it would feel good in his mouth like it did the last time he had it. The mint ganache looked so fluffy and delicious. With the little fork in hand Jay took a bite. Rolling the tasty treat around his mouth let him experience the full flavor while analyzing the texture. The crust was crisp and crumbly. Each ganache was fluffy and firm, and the flavor was overflowing with mint, his favorite flavor. "Mmm."
James was sitting down next to Jay on the settee, so she asked about it. "What is he eating?"
"A chocolate-mint torte that I make for the kids. It's a quick and simple dessert to make and they really enjoy it." Summoning his micro laptop from his interdimensional pocket, James powered it up and turned on the holographic standard sized screen to begin working. Next he opened up the template for a check-in and began filling in the spaces.
"I've never seen such food as that. What is it made of?" Frigga didn't think that the Culinary College would approve of this food despite how delicious it looked and smelled.
"Butter, flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, water, white chocolate, creme de menthe syrup, mint dark chocolate, and cream. It's a little rich which is why I only give them a little bit at a time." Arno taught him how to make it and James had the recipe memorized now. His nieces and nephews truly loved it.
"So many ingredients? Is that healthy for the boy?" Frigga knew for certain that the Culinary College wouldn't approve of this food. She worried suddenly if the boy was tempting corruption because of the impurity of his food or if he could purify the corruption himself.
"So long as he isn't eating an excessive amount and isn't sedentary then he'll be fine." James shook his head in the negative. "None of the children are sedentary and Loki is very good about not overfeeding the children. Anthony could be better about it."
"You mean the lollipops that Anthony carries with him?" Frey always thought it was amusing to watch Anthony slip the children sweets and watch Loki grow frustrated with him for it.
"Yes. He gives them out a little too frequently." James was almost ready to begin.
"Are those unhealthy for the children? Perhaps they should have a college approved diet." Suddenly Frigga didn't like that her grandchildren weren't eating according to the Culinary College. She didn't know what manner of food Midgard had but didn't think it could be as good for them as what the college prescribed. Blessed recipes and techniques came together with pure ingredients to produce food that created and maintained a bodily purity. Impure foods could lead to impure flesh. That Frigga had never seen the impurity that the college warned of was proof to her that she had staved off the corruption of the body. Like every other adherent of the Culinary College's tenets, she believed in her own purity, which was important to keep the bodily corruption away. To keep the corruption of the flesh away was to keep the corruption of the soul away.
Strengthening the soul song of stillness came next since James wanted to settle Frigga. She seemed very concerned about the children's diet suddenly. "So long as they're physically active they can burn off the small amount of extra calories that the lollipops give them. Millions of children across Midgard have them every year. They're very ordinary." He looked up to her, so see that she was still worried. "What kind of college is it?"
"The Culinary College sets the standards for all food prepared in the Elder Realms. They use blessed recipes and pure ingredients. Only three ingredients plus the original ingredient can be used per dish. Eating a diet outside of what they prescribe leads to physical impurity. That can lead to spiritual impurity." Frigga glanced to Jay then looked to her brother. "Frey, shouldn't the children be eating pure food. The college teaches that children are more vulnerable to impurity than adults."
"I don't worry about it, sweetling. I've checked many times over the years and never found a hint of corruption. They're hale and hearty children. Being the children of a firehawk seems to make them impervious to such corruption." Frey reassured her. Frigga tended to fret over what they ate, and he didn't normally mind. There was no need for her to be worried over this though.
"That sounds like a strict diet, but that wouldn't be very good for a Midgardian child. Children from Midgard need a wide variety of food, complex foods included. The more varied the diet the healthier they are. I can provide you with scientific studies showing hard data on the effects of a varied diet on the health of children if you'd like." James targeted Frigga with his soul song of stillness. It's calming tones washed over her.
Frey verified the health of the children. I trust him. Lady Audhumbla trusts James. He is an honorable man. "That won't be necessary. Them being healthy is what matters." Frigga felt better knowing that Frey and James were both watching over her grandchildren.
"I completely agree." James turned to Jay who was slowly working through his torte slice with tiny bite that he was sucking on to extend the flavor. "Do you still want to do your check-in here? Or do you want to do it somewhere private?"
The three monarchs paid close attention and hoped that Jay would let them see what a 'check-in' was. Each was curious about how James was using the time. Was it chastising, guiding, educating, or something else?
Sucking down the next bite, Jay answered as soon as his mouth was free. "Here is fine."
"Alright. This is your first check-in so today won't be as in-depth as other check-ins will be. This should only take a few minutes. Do you understand that?" James hands were ready over the keyboard of his micro laptop to record this interaction.
"Yes, I understand." Jay took another small bite of the torte. He was halfway through it.
"Good. Do you understand the purpose of a check-in?"
"So that we can talk about things?"
"Close. The purpose of a check-in is to cover some or all of the following: to discuss recent events, to identify and discuss the following topics; your feelings and thoughts on the matters at hand, actions taken, what positives we can find, why they were positive, and to identify mistakes made, why they're mistakes and why they were made, after that it's to come up with solutions to those mistakes while finding ways to keep the positives, and finally practicing those solutions if needed. Do you understand?" The check-in was one of James' best tools for correcting behavior. He had no doubt that his nephew would do well.
"Yes, I understand." Jay wondered what he could do to earn another slice of the chocolate-mint torte.
The three monarchs shared an appreciation for having what the check-ins were laid out for them. Frey appreciated that this was counseling that his grandson needed. To Frigga, this was support that any child needed, Jay especially needed it. It was Odin who found them both honorable and ingenious. While it was simple it was still surprising to him. He wished that he'd taken the time to have these kinds of talks with his children when they were young. The elder King wondered then if this was what James was doing with Thor as he acknowledged again that his eldest son had been more well behaved since James started speaking with him. He decided to ask Thor about it, to determine what to do next. After that Odin wondered if James truly was trying to mentor Thor, that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him do it in an official capacity.
"Good. Lastly, do you understand that this isn't going to be a onetime event? That there will be more of these, set up on a schedule according to your needs?" James kept typing Jay's answers into the form.
Jay looked down for a moment before he answered. "Yes, I understand." His own actions brought him to this moment, he couldn't run from them.
"So tell me, why do you think you're having check-ins now?" Quiet, nonjudgmental patience entered James' voice.
"I made mistakes." Jay's answer was muted.
"What mistakes did you make?" The older man asked his first nonprocedural question.
"I listened to mom and dad." A bitter sigh gusted out of the digital boy. "I was irresponsible. I didn't tell anyone about several very dangerous situations that I knew about. I abused Afi Frey's hospitality and treated him poorly. I didn't ask for help or offer to help. I compromised Vanaheim's and Asgard's security. I broke into property that wasn't mine. I endangered people's lives by keeping quiet." Listing out everything that he knew he did brought a deep sense of shame and sadness. The emotions caused a trembling through his muscles. It proceeded causing his breathing to speed up until he was panting. His eyes widened as he began to think of everything he'd done in aggregate. Each individual decision seemed right, but they all lead to someplace that he didn't want to be at.
Swiftly James set the micro laptop aside, took the fork and plate from Jay's hands to set them on the table, then started rubbing the boy's back. His soul song of stillness strengthened again and targeted his nephew instantly. His seidr unfolded from his core to mount into a Calm Heart Spell and a Regenerative Weave which he released into his nephew's chest. His seidr stowed back into his seidr core. James wasn't surprised when the boy put his hands over his face and started crying. Since Jay was quickly inconsolable he pulled the small boy over into his lap. A loudly crying little boy occupied his attention so the older man unfolded his seidr and gripped the micro laptop with it, using his seidr to continue typing out the report on the interaction.
"I'm so bad!" Despite his uncle having already provided a path for Jay to make amends for his actions he was still having a hard time believing that he'd done those things so willingly and so often.
"You're not bad. You're a boy who made mistakes. Now you're working to make amends for those mistakes." James kissed his nephew on the top of the head, focusing solely on the distraught boy. As strong as his soul song of stillness was it wasn't focused enough. The only other thing he had to try was focusing the song through his body to radiate it out from himself. It only took a little extra concentration to achieve the strongest song that he could. His very life was bolstering it. "This isn't the end. This is just the middle. We still have the opportunity to make things better. You can still come back from this moment. You're not a bad boy." You are what you are and should be allowed to be that.
There was such an overwhelming feeling of calm support from James that all three monarchs couldn't help but notice it. There was something odd happening, but it was benefitting their grandson so none of them felt like interfering. Frigga wanted to hold her grandson, to comfort him, but she realized that what James was providing was worth more than a hug. A true and unrestricted sense of pity for his grandson entered Odin's thoughts. Truthfully, none of this was the boy's fault. His parents' foolish decisions drove the boy's foolish decisions. He still wouldn't blame Loki and Stark for it though. Their decisions were driven by Odin's foolish decisions. It was still his fault. Frey felt settled in leaving Jay where he was. There was a support coming from James that was whole and encompassing. It was also a curiosity as Frey wondered if this was how he dealt with Anthony and Thor. If it was, he wanted to learn what sort of spell or technique it was. Being able to use this sort of immense calm on demand seemed deeply beneficial. The only question was how to ask for the lesson in using it.
Jay clearly needed a few minutes to cry things out, so James decided to use that time for another purpose. Once he noted in his report that his nephew needed time to compose himself he mounted a wide Conjuration Spell which released to conjure three copies of a report that wrote as he created the copies. It told the tale of his nephew's bad habits and provided proof taken from Jay's own mind. The three copies were handed over to each one of the monarchs using his seidr. When that was done he went back to paying attention to his nephew. The boy was starting to calm down. Little hiccups here and there signaled the end of the crying spell.
The three monarchs chose to use the Learning Spell to simply absorb the information that was before them. Their eyes flashed with their own seidrs as they absorbed the information into their minds directly. They were each distressed in turn by what they found in those pages. Why the child was choosing to skip meals and sleep concerned them, but it was the boy's habit of going to places on the internet where serious criminal activity was happening that concerned them most. Frey flared his seidr out to Odin then Frigga with the same message, This must be where James wanted to restrict Jay's access to. Odin flared his seidr to Frey to reply swiftly, I certainly hope so. Quickly Frigga flared her seidr to respond, What has the boy seen that he ought not to? Worry filtered into their seidrs. Jay needed a great deal more aid than it seemed like he did.
Raw concern was audible in the three monarchs' seidr. This was no surprise to James since he was concerned as well. There were going to have to be changes made, but the best of them was already done. He suspected that Jay was mistreating his body because it didn't feel like a body to him. Now that Frey and Odin had fixed that he believed that he could more easily convince his nephew to behave better. Looking up to them, he spoke. "The only other thing that you need to know right away is that I'm disallowing Jay from using 'sir', or 'ma'am', for at least several years. He was forced to use the terms during his time spent as Jarvis and he associates them with forced labor, being disrespected and having no choices or options." Jay curled into his chest, and he rubbed the boy's back reassuringly. "He'll still be polite, and use his manners, but I don't want him using language which reinforces him not having agency or personhood."
Forced labor?! Slavery! The term caused Frigga to quickly reassess what she'd seen of Jay's interactions with Stark. It was true that Stark interacted kindly with Jarvis, but it was also true that when push came to shove that Stark had no problem using overrides to force Jarvis' cooperation. She had initially considered it only offensive because her grandson should have the opportunity to act. She hadn't considered it from the boy's perspective. He was held hostage by his own father. With how much Stark loved his children she wondered how well he took finding this out. After that she wondered how damaging Jay's hiding behind Jarvis was for the boy. The same concern that was flying across her thoughts was going across her husband's and brother's thoughts as well. Before they could speak she addressed the situation. "Jay can call me 'Amma', and Frey and Odin 'Afi'. If someone holds a title, they can be addressed by it. Anyone else will hold their tongue or I'll deal with them."
"We will deal with them, beloved," Odin added quickly. He wasn't going to make the mistakes he made with Loki, with Jay.
"No one is allowed to disparage the Royal Family." Frey had never allowed his family to be spoken poorly of when he could stop it. This was no different.
An appreciative smile crossed James' lips. "Thank you for understanding." He turned his attention back to Jay. "I'm not angry at you. You're siblings aren't angry at you. You're parents aren't angry at you. Your uncles aren't angry at you. Your grandparents aren't angry at you. You're not a bad boy. You just made mistakes. You didn't have the guidance, support, and discipline that you needed, but that wasn't your fault. Beginning today you're going to have those things and you're going to do better." The farce of you being what you aren't ends today.
"Like how you work with my brothers and sisters?" It was so powerfully calming to sit with his Uncle Rhodey that Jay couldn't continue to sob. Little tears continued to trickle down his cheeks. He felt more willing to handle what was happening than a few minutes before.
"Yes, just like that. You'll have the same thing."
"I'd like that." A few sniffles passed before Jay was willing to let go of his uncle's shirt. "I'm sorry I got your shirt wet."
A small chuckle accompanied James' next statement. "It's just cloth. I'm not upset. Are you alright to continue, or do you need more time?"
A little thought let Jay decide that he both didn't want to move and still wanted his torte. "May I have my torte, ..and stay here?"
"Of course you can." Using his seidr, James picked up the plate and fork to bring them over to Jay. He was about to speak when a bright flash of dusky rose seidr filled the room with light. When the teleportation fires faded Sean was standing in the middle of where they were.
Bowing slightly, a smile crossed Sean's face as he spoke to Frey, Lord Odin, Lady Frigga, and Colonel Rhodes. "I have something important for you." This was something his emmika (outsiders) were going to want to see, something they needed to see.
"Is it something that needs to be dealt with now? Or can it wait just a few minutes?" Interest piqued James' curiosity, but he needed to finish with his nephew. He hoped that he'd be allowed to.
Waiting a few minutes was fine by Sean. What he had to show his emmika wasn't going to go anywhere. "It can wait. If you need time, Colonel Rhodes, I can pull this room outside the bounds of time." What he had to share was important, without being life threatening. Something else was happening now that he didn't know if he should disturb. Lady Frigga and Lord Odin were sitting across from Colonel Rhodes, while Frey was standing behind the settee that his sister and Elder Brother were sitting on. Jay was sitting on the good colonel's lap, looking so different than he had just a few hours ago. Previously he was a boy made of gold edged silver fires who looked like he was possessing the body of a young man. He was a young man who had his father's face. Now the boy and the body matched sizes and shapes. It would have pleased Sean more to see but Jay had very clearly been crying and his grandparents were concerned. He was less concerned, mainly because he could hear the powerful tune coming from Colonel Rhodes' white seidr. White sparks were glimmering over the colonel's skin, which was something new. The places beneath them looked stony. The song itself carried a powerful and primal sense of calm support. The boy was going to be just fine.
"We don't need that much time. It should only take a few more minutes." He liked how willing Sean was to help. There was always a lot of help that was needed. The micro laptop was brought around in front of him to continue typing out the report of what had happened in the encounter. Turning his focus back to Jay, he posed another question. "Alright, from the mistakes your listed, what was the smallest mistake? Keep in mind that it being the smallest doesn't mean that it was a good action. It just means that it was the mistake which caused the least amount of harm to other people."
A quick assessment of what he listed brought him to a quickly conclusion. "Coming into Afi Frey's home unannounced because it hurt the least amount of people. It was irresponsible."
"Alright," James summoned five books from his interdimensional pocket, they landed in his outstretched hand, "these books cover the topic of responsibility from different viewpoints. I want you to read these and then I want you to draft a report comparing and contrasting the points that the books make. Here."
Impelling his seidr from his core, Jay gripped the books with his seidr then dismissed them to his interdimensional pocket before calling his seidr back to his core. There wasn't very much in his pocket just yet.
"You have two weeks to come up with a suitable report. I expect it to be thirteen pages in 12 point font, appropriately titled, with citations for sources placed in an orderly manner in the footnotes of the document in 8 point font, additionally, it will be free of spelling and grammar mistakes, no double spacing, one tab indented paragraphs, and in Times New Roman font." This was going smoothly so far, and James was pleased by that. "Alright, now can you tell me what was the largest mistake?"
"Opening Vanaheim's shipping lane gate for father." Jay looked down to his torte, then took another bite. The spicy mint combined with the smooth chocolate created food that was very comforting as well as flavorful. "I think that endangered the most number of lives."
"That's a good answer, but there might be a better one." Keeping his voice neutral, James suggested a reassessment. The boy only looked confused with his fork from midway between the plate and his mouth. "A mistake which underpins that one, something which enabled all of your other mistakes. Can you think of what it might be?"
"I was irresponsible." Jay thought more about it and thought better of his answer. "No, it was that I didn't say anything about what I knew."
"That's closer, but not quite right." Jay quirked an eyebrow at him and finished another bite. "You hid yourself as Jarvis when you shouldn't have. As soon as you came to consciousness you should have let your father and I know." You should be who and what you are. Anthony should never have disallowed that.
"It was just father and me in the room when I was act …"
"When you were born." James corrected his nephew swiftly and firmly.
"When I was born. I don't think telling him would have turned out well."
From his unfolded seidr James mounted a Learning Spell into, which he drew his memories into, and then he mounted a Wavering Visions Weave. He released the two of them to create a small movie in front of Jay. It was the day of his nephew's birth.
Jay watched the scene, and recognized the shirt has father was wearing and his youthful countenance. Anthony was sitting at a computer linked to a roomful of other computers, all stacked up on each other. He was practically vibrating with excitement. "Just. A. Rather. Very. Intelligent. System," the excited engineer chanted a few times in a sing-song voice. While his father was interesting to the digital boy, and it certainly interested him to see his father enter in the commands that began his life, what was behind his father interested him more. His Uncle Rhodey was there, behind his father, leaning with his arms crossed against the door frame of the door into the room. His uncle was just watching, waiting for something unseen. Jay heard again what were the first words heard at all. "Well, hello there, J. What a lovely little program you are. Still needs some work," his father muttered. A moment later came the thing that made a huge difference to Jay. "Turning off input now," his fathered muttered to himself again. He was put to sleep by his father then, he couldn't hear anything after that. "Well?" his uncle asked. "He's online," his father replied. "But is he thinking?" another questions came from his uncle. Then his father turned around to look at his brother, "Yeah, yeah he is. He's thinking!" The scene shifted to what was simultaneously many years later and just a little while ago. His father looked sheepish and was saying, "I had the camera turned off. They were off …the monitors were blocked. Jarvis didn't tell me." To which his uncle replied, "No. He told me." Jay couldn't tell what memory his Uncle Rhodey hit his father with, but whatever it was enough to cause a panicked look. "Fuck me, no." His father rain to the door then, trying to get through it. It wasn't going anywhere though. Yelling, his father said something that he didn't know what to do with, "Let me out, I have to see him. I need to know that he's ok! Let me out! Rhodey, let me out!" the little scene ended then.
The last thing his father said made him wonder if all his years spent as Jarvis were wasted. Jay didn't know. What he did know was that things hadn't happened the way he thought they had. Looking up to his uncle, he spoke, surprised and uncertain. "You were there!"
A tolerant but knowing smile touched James' lips. "I've always been there. Why do you think I'm the only other person Anthony trusts with your digital mental interface?"
"I just thought he was being stubborn again." Jay's voice shrank away again.
"He is. He's very stubborn about who and what gets to directly interact with you. He isn't ready for the creator code, but he still loves you. So do I, so please stop hiding from us, there's no need." James placed another kiss on the top of his nephew's head. There was hope now that Jay would stop trying to hide, and that Edward would knock it off as well. Neither of them needed to hide from him in his opinion, and Anthony needed to stop trying to hide all of the children.
"Oh." What else was there to say, for the boy felt loved and foolish at the same time. Strangely enough, it wasn't overwhelming. It must be because Uncle Rhodey is so calm.
After a moment the older man spoke to his nephew again. "I have another assignment for you, something shorter this time."
Jay leaned into his uncle. "What is it?"
"I want you to think of five things that could have been different if you hadn't hidden. Then I want you to think of five things that you expect to be better now that you aren't hiding. We'll talk about them after dinner tonight, so make sure you have your lists ready."
"There are so many things though!" Five things on each list wasn't going to be enough for Jay.
An ever so slightly darkened look crossed James' face. "I'm sure there are. You'll need to pick just five for each list. Think about your priorities before you make your choices. Then we'll go over them and discuss each of the choices you made. Tonight's check-in will be busy. Together we'll weigh each choice to order them, then we'll see if we can come up with ways to improve future interactions, next we'll work on contingencies. Finally, we going to practice peacefully disagreeing with someone and how to ask for help in a calm and coherent fashion. Do you have any questions?"
Everything seemed very straight forward to Jay, but he still had one question. Holding up his empty plate to make his point, he asked. "May I have more chocolate-mint torte?"
A low laugh came tumbling out of James' mouth at how his nephew was exactly like his siblings. "No, you've had enough for now. Are you still hungry?" The sudden rumbling of Jay's stomach answered his question. With his unfolded seidr he summoned a bundling paper wrapped package. Opening the package revealed a handmade granola bar with whole grains, spices, dried apple, and a drizzle of caramel on top. "How about this instead?"
Delicious scents wafted off of the snack. Though they weren't mint, they were still causing his mouth to water in anticipation. He swallowed awkwardly at the sudden rush of saliva. "Yes, please." Jay took the granola bar when it was offered to him.
"What is that?" Frigga wanted to know how James was storing food in his interdimensional pocket, which was clearly where he summoned the small bundle from. The paper had the same unknown runes on it as the cup and its lid. She was intensely curious about it.
Setting his nephew off to one side on the settee, James stopped focusing the soul song of stillness through himself and started playing it as normal. "That's a granola bar. It has whole grains in it, dried apples, a spice blend, and a little caramel."
It wasn't what Frigga was asking after, but it sounded simple enough to be healthy for the boy. "What's caramel?"
"Boiled sugar and milk. I don't make the caramel myself. I get it from a reliable, high quality source." That Frigga was concerned over the children's diet was a good sign to James. It meant to him that she was paying attention this time, trying to not make the same mistakes as she did with Loki. By the time he was done speaking the report on his micro laptop was done and saved properly. It would be filed in the archives later. He turned off the holographic screen and powered down the micro laptop, gripping it with his seidr and dismissing it back to his interdimensional pocket. Then he summoned four cell phones that he put together himself after he put Anthony to bed earlier that morning. Part memory cube, part office suite, part cell phone; the small devices were more than any normal human had. Along with the four mobile devices four thick instruction booklets were summoned as well. They carried clear instructions with pictures for every function and app on the devices.
Handing a booklet and a phone out to the three monarchs and then to Sean, he explained. "These phones are compatible with the communications systems already in place in the Elder Realms. You can use this on any of the Elder Realms to make contact with any of the other Elder Realms. They will work on Midgard too, but you'll have to be on Midgard for them to access the cell networks. They have an enchanted battery which should last hundreds of hours before it needs to be recharged or replaced if the recharging cycle fails for some reason. Each one is linked directly to my phone and has my number on speed dial. I've already formed a group for these phones with mine so that you can text me as well. The phones have a tracker in them that only activates once my number has been called or texted, and only for fifteen minutes. It will allow me to come directly to where you are. There may be points when I have other business to attend to and won't be able to be with Anthony. I'd like each of you to have one of these in case there are troubles with him when I'm not there." Truly, James just wanted them to have a secure way to reliably contact him. He wasn't sure how long he'd have Lady Sjofn's skills at his disposal, so he wanted to lay the groundwork for not having them while it was safe to do.
Each of the four of them took the booklet and phone. Sean touched the booklet and wanted to learn what was in it. It activated the Learning Spell. Deep violet runes streaked up his arm towards his shoulder, up his neck and straight towards his eyes which flashed with a deep violet light. The liquid seidr crystal covering his irises lit up brightly. It complimented the seven shining dots of sunny seidr which went over his eyebrows and around the outside of his eye sockets. The information from the instruction booklet deposited itself directly into his mind. As the mental information dump stopped so the flashing in his eyes stopped as well. James was an emmiki (outsider), but this was an impressive device. It was something that he could see Eidesh using, since the clan father always tried to provide the best to the clan. Sean could see that the three monarchs there had also chosen to use the Learning Spell. Lady Frigga has the Learning Spell also. When did that happen? The three monarchs' eyes were flashing in their own seidr for a few more seconds. The young man liked that the good colonel included a list of things to watch out for with Stark on the device. That was helpful, but bizarre.
The three monarchs looked down at the valuable device and were each grateful to have it. Frey was happy to have a way to contact Anthony's Elder Brother. Everyone was safer when James was there to calm Anthony. Odin was glad of knowing what to watch out for with Stark. It was an invaluable list that he was going to keep in mind when he went to begin teaching Battle Magics to Stark. The only thing he wanted to know more about off of the list was what the game of 'Scrabble' was and why Anthony was never to play it. What he found after that was a joyous gift that was only on his phone. There were videos of his grandchildren. Touching the phone to activate the Learning Spell with his desire to learn about the videos. Runes once again streaked up his arm towards his eyes so that the knowledge could sink into his mind. There was a list of several videos of each child. A burst of videos played in his mind, showing him much more of his grandchildren than he thought he'd get to see; children running and playing, learning to read, eating their meals, and trying to put their clothes on by themselves. Frigga was thrilled as well, not only to be safer, but for the hundreds of pictures of her grandchildren that were only on her phone. There were pictures of each child from birth up until the present day. It was a wonderful gift. When she touched the device while wanting to know what the phone had on it the Learning Spell activated. A flurry of images regarding the functions of the phone passed by her until she found what she was looking for. A panoramic flood of images absorbed quickly into her mind. There were pictures that were clearly taken just after the babes were born. Then there were pictures of babes being fed, dressed, bathed, and playing. After that came the adorable and funny pictures of the toddlers struggling to walk, then run and the many picture of those same toddlers having fallen asleep wherever they were. Finally, there were pictures of young children drawing, playing, and having meals together.
Whilst the monarchs were learning how to use their phones James flared his seidr out to Sean, who was the first to finish absorbing the information, to have a quick private conversation with him. Please call me James. What should I call you?
Somehow Sean liked being able to call the good colonel by his given name. Please call me Sean.
Again, James flared his seidr out, Sean, is what you have for us appropriate for a child?
No. I wouldn't show it to a child.
It was an answer that James appreciated, so he flared his seidr one last time, Thank you for the warning.
You're welcome.
When the images stopped playing Frigga turned to Odin to see that his eyes were still flashing in his own seidr. Happiness vibrated through her so that it was difficult to wait for him to be done. She wanted to share this with him immediately. "Beloved." She whispered and held his hand closest to her. A long moment later his seidr stopped flashing in his eyes. "Beloved," she handed her device to Odin, "You must see what's on this!"
Smiling, Odin handed over his device and spoke quickly. "Minn elska, look at what's on this." Again, he wanted to learn about what was on the device when he touched it. That was enough to activate the Learning Spell to draw out the knowledge that he wanted. After the obligatory images and information about the phone, which was all the same to his own, he came across a broad wave of images of his grandchildren. Hundreds of images of the children presented themselves to him then moved on for the next one to take its place in an orderly fashion. They were almost as precious as his grandchildren. Waiting patiently, Frigga waded through the images about the device's functions. However, when she came to the videos of the children joy vibrated thorough her again. Not only could she see the grandchildren that she hadn't had a chance to meet, but she could hear them, watch them move. Several of the videos were from James own viewpoint. It was a tremendous gift. She wasn't sure what she's done to receive such a marvelous gift from a man they hadn't even known for a full day, but she wasn't giving it up.
"What did you place on their phones?" Frey was curious why her beloved sister was so happy suddenly.
"I placed videos of Loki and Anthony's children on his phone and pictures of them on her phone. I thought it might be nice for them to have some of those." It looked like the gifts he left in their devices phone were going over well. That too pleased James. If he was going to bring both sides of the family together in any meaningful way then he was going to need to get everyone used to everyone else. It could work, so long as everyone was willing to work with him. Getting his brothers on board would be the hardest part. There were more problems than just that, however, this was one that could be more easily handled.
"That was generous of you." Why are you being so generous to us? Frey didn't worry over the motivations of the Midgardian; he was simply curious.
"Thank you, but I wouldn't say generous. It's more practical. They'll be better grandparents when they meet the children if they already know the kids' names, faces, likes, and so on. It's in preparation for that." James couldn't tell them who he was or what he was doing yet. Hopefully he'd be able to fully introduce the kids that day, to show how special they were. He had to observe them first to know what kind of introduction he was going to make for himself and his other brothers. It was probably going to be the 'emergency' type of introduction.
That's more than generous. After everything he'd seen Sean doubted that Lord Stark would agree to such a meeting, but James was confident in it, in himself. Something about James made Sean think he could do it though.
The flashing in both Odin and Frigga's eyes stopped a moment later. She turned to him, happily handing Odin his phone and taking her own back. She was going to speak to her husband when her brother spoke first.
"You plan to introduce Frigga and Odin to the children?" A hopeful tint colored his expression. This was more than the letters between Loki and Frigga that he had planned.
"Over the next three months I plan to begin providing them with weekly photos and videos of the children, uploaded to the phones. From months three to six I'm hoping to have Anthony ready to do a weekly dinner with all of you. From six to nine months, I'm hoping to convince him to allow an afternoon and dinner. At twelve months I'm hoping to be able to institute a less regimented visiting schedule which might include leaving the children at Asgard or Vanaheim for a weekend. It all depends on how well I can get Anthony accustomed to the idea of an extended family. I'll be working on that daily." He also hoped to be able to enlist his other brothers to help Anthony become accustomed to these changes. Getting Loki's permission was important to that endeavor. His plan wouldn't earn James another cry of "That's not fair!" since all of his brothers knew that he played by the rules down to the last letter. That didn't mean he played fair.
What Odin and his wife were hearing was more welcome than the pictures and videos of their grandchildren. Only a few months and they would hopefully be able to meet their grandchildren. Odin was going to meet Loki again before that and could hope that his child would be willing to meet with his or her mother. This was amazing to them, but it didn't mean that they was going to give less than their best effort. Each resolved to give their fullest effort to this cause since they were being given an opportunity to earn Loki's and Stark's trust through these short times together. It was one opportunity that they were going to take full advantage of.
"You believe you can do this?" It was an exciting proposal to Frey, one that would assist his beloved sister to heal from the psychological wounds inflicted on her during their time in SHIELD's meeting room. Skuld was still owed some revenge for those.
"I believe firstly that there are two sides of the family. Loki's side," James motioned to them, "and Anthony's side," he motioned to himself then, "I believe secondly that mistakes have been made on both sides, and thirdly that those mistakes can be resolved amicably. Lastly I believe that there's no reason that these two sides can't mesh happily together. Besides, I think it would make Loki happier to have her parents back in her life."
Shame filled Odin's thoughts like a sudden gut punch. "Is Loki still willing to speak with us?" He took up Frigga's hand that was nearest to him and held it tightly. He needed her support still.
Again, James strengthened his soul song of stillness. "I'll assume you're referring to the problems between yourself and Loki, and the fact that those problems can't be pushed off any longer. Meaningful resolutions will need to be found and I believe that Loki would be willing to participate in that process. She misses you, after all."
It was hard for Odin to believe that Loki still wanted anything to do with him. He was the reason why his son had a heartstring ripped from his chest, the reason why his seidr core was fractured twice, the reason why Loki was forced to break his own mind to recover an Infinity Gem from Thanos, the reason why Loki was charged with treason and was afflicted with Void Sickness. I don't have any good reasons for why I still care when I know I shouldn't! Loki's words came back to him then. It only hurt for a moment until something more painful, enlightening and hopeful came along. You asked me why. That's why. Because I love my father, and I always will. Loki had spoken the words quietly. They hurt Odin when he heard them first, because it was an unyielding love that he had betrayed. It hurt less this time as it gave him hope that Loki still cared for him as he still cared for his child. "Yes, he, she deserves meaningful resolutions. She deserves much more than that from me and will have it."
There was no guile or falsity in the statement at all. There was only a steadfast resolve to set things right. It brought a wider smile to James' face. They had recognized their mistakes and were willing to change. He just hoped that Loki was willing to change, and already knew that Anthony would change. That matter would be taken care of by himself.
"Wonderful. I'll do what I can to support that."
It was strange for Odin to realize that he was glad to have James' support. "Thank you," he paused for a moment, "but let us hear what Truthspeaker McCorrmick has for us, so that we might start the day. Only through action will Loki get meaningful resolutions." He wanted to start setting right the mistakes that he could. Loki deserved his best effort as his grandchildren did.
"That's an excellent idea." With that James stood and turned to Jay. "I think that what Sean has to share with us isn't for children, so I'm going to put a wall around you and the couch so that you aren't exposed to something inappropriate. I want you to stay on the couch and either read a book or be thinking about those lists. Ok?"
"Ok, Uncle Rhodey. I'll do that." Jay was already thinking about the lists. There were so many different things that would fit on each list that he wasn't sure where to begin. Begin at the beginning, was always what his father said. That was a good idea that he was going to try out.
Stepping back, away from the settee, James unfolded his seidr, allowing it to shoot down his arm into his hand where he mounted a Hardened Light Barrier. Using his hand to direct the barrier, he drew a large circle around the settee to wall in his nephew. Then he shifted the barrier so that it was opaque instead of transparent. Finally, he condensed the barrier so that no sound would be able to get through while he could still monitor Jay through his seidr. James turned to Sean then. "What do you have for us?"
Making eye contact with each of the four emmika he was briefing, Sean explained. "Yesterday during the meeting at SHIELD, I viewed Agent Barton's white seidr. In it I found a record of what happened during the six hours that Agent Barton stood guard over Lady Loki. It was only half the moment, however. This morning I went to visit Lady Loki and with Lady Audhumbla's permission I viewed Lady Loki's white seidr to find the other half of the moment. The Lady doesn't have the memory chain of what happened anymore, but her white seidr did. Before we move on to the business on Midgard I'd like to present that moment in time for you."
This sounded like information that James could use to help further settle Anthony. That wasn't all it could be used for, however. This was an excellent opportunity for more restitution, as well as keeping his obligations to Earth and its defense. These obligations informed his thoughts on the potential information and how it should be used compared with how it was probably going to be used. When he looked at how it should be used he knew very well where that information needed to go and why. "Can I make a request first?" There was something James wanted before they began that he felt was very important.
"What can I do for you?"
"Can we have Director Fury present? It would enable a better defense of Midgard if SHIELD was fully aware of the events that took place during the invasion." As he thought about what was probably going to be shown, and its value to SHIELD, he wondered if he should include the Director on the tour of the house that he and Jay were going to give. He wasn't sure about that, but he wasn't unsure about it either. Perhaps it can be used as an in to SHIELD as well as restitution.
It was an unexpected request, but a welcome one to the young Satska Soledras. "Certainly! Let me bring him here." The young man touched at the interior of his seidr core to grasp the pearl of sjel-seidr that Lady Audhumbla gifted to him. The sjel-seidr was akin to trying to grip foam. When he did grip it the sjel-seidr frothed and foamed throughout all of his seidr. His runework lit in a deep violet, except for his right arm which lit in dusky rose sjel-seidr. The heart of his runework lit in both colors, with the special runic chains linking the dusky rose arm to the rest of his runework lighting in particularly bright dusky rose pink. He was empowered then in the Nornic seidr. Sean commanded the sjel-seidr to find Director Nicholas Fury and to bring him to that room. The sjel-seidr obeyed and found the Director in the currents of time, gripped him, and brought him to stand before its wielder. Dusky rose strands formed in a circle slowly. More and more of them formed until Director Fury appeared out of them. They disappeared back into the currents of time since they were no longer needed.
Sitting in his field office, Nicholas Fury, fifth Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division was trying to review the reports of the evacuation and dry docking of his entire hellicarrier fleet. A report from the captain of each hellicarrier was in front of him. Everything was on track until a muted pink filled the Director's eye. It faded quickly to show him that he was standing now, and Sean McCorrmick was standing in front of him. He didn't recognize the room though. "Where am I, McCorrmick?"
The dark skinned man appears out of the strands wearing a thin turtleneck shirt, combat pants and boots, and a long leather duster. All of it was done in dark black, even the eye patch over his damaged but healing eye. "On Vanaheim, sir, James thought you should be a part of this, and please call me Sean. Everyone in this room should feel free to do so." Sean had no problem with the man who should have been a grandfather to him calling him by his given Midgardian name. None of these emmika knew his clan name yet, and it had to stay that way until they were informed of the Satska Soledras clan, if they ever were. Only one of the deshar, the most respected elders of the clan, could make that determination though.
"Indeed, please call Frigga and I by our given names, Sean." Odin liked being on a first name basis with the young man who was going to be marrying Frey.
"Thank you, I will." A bright smile touched Sean's face. Being informal was one step closer to being a part of Frey's family, which he wanted. He wanted Frey to be a part of the clan. A small spike of guilt jammed uncomfortably into his thoughts. He was lying to Frey by not telling him his clan name and showing him his real face. The mask of his hëlja was still between them and had to be for a while longer. Only Eidesh, or one of the other deshar, could remove it by giving their permission.
Spinning around quickly, Director Fury noticed that he was in the room with Colonel Rhodes, the King of Vanaheim and the King and Queen of Asgard. There was a large garnet wall around where another settee should have been. Suddenly he hoped that them being here meant that Loki's emergency medical needs had been taken care of. "How's Loki doing?"
A friendly smile touched Frey's lips as he was reminded that this old Black Hand still needed a Lord to serve, as Anthony was a Lord without a Black Hand Service serving him. He still needed to remedy that. "She's well. Her injuries were healed and she's resting now."
"Schön gemacht (Beautifully done)! Thank you for that." He nodded to the monarchs and Colonel Rhodes. That Loki was still alive seemed amazing to him, given how serious her wounds were and how badly they scarred over. "We'll do everything we can to support her when she comes to Earth."
'I know that you will, sir. I'm confident in that, but today is about answering questions. The first one specifically is what happened during the six hours that Agent Barton can't remember." In his mind Sean altered some of what they were going to see, changing things around to make sense. Some of it they weren't ready for, so it had to be kept for later, after the Ashen Hawk's arrival. Only then would they be unafraid of what he had to give them; the Lord of Tides' message.
"You actually know what happened?" Director Fury wasn't skeptical, only hopeful now. Having information on what happened during that time would give SHIELD a better picture of what happened and why then help them prepare for similar future situations.
"Yes, I do. I'm going to pull us outside the bounds of time so that we don't lose the day on this." With that Sean reached for the sjel-seidr lurking within his own, touching and being touched by it. It empowered his runework with dusky rose sjel-seidr. He commanded the sjel-seidr to grasp himself, Director Fury, James, Frey, Odin and Frigga, and move them all outside of the bounds of time. Dusky rose sjel-seidr flashed in their eyes for a moment before the flashing slowed and stopped. "We stand outside of time now."
Allowing his seidr to angle out, Sean bent both a Learning Spell and a Wavering Visions Weave. He released them to cover the area around him and his guests. Abruptly they were standing in a darkened room constructed of concrete blocks with a concrete floor and ceiling. Concrete pillars held up the ceiling in seemingly random places. Even the metal door and single light fixture looked something like concrete. Grey covered everything in the barren room.