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)

20. Chapter 20

- Chapter 20 -

23May2023 – Night

Aboard The Sa Ljodraen Berserkr Above Midgard

Disappointment chased across Jay's mind as he removed his hands and seidr from the gleipnir. His gaze fell to the floor as he thought through the problem at hand. It didn't take long for him to decide that he needed to talk this through with his Uncle Rhodey. Maybe he'll give me permission to fix the problem. So he stepped back from the cube and went back to his grandfathers. He stood before them with his hands at his front. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt then looked up to his grandfather. "Afi Odin, may I borrow your ship's communications system? May I talk to Uncle Rhodey about something?"

Again, Odin knelt and each security drengr came to the position of attention. "Did you find a problem?" He grandson was highly intelligent and surprisingly skilled. If the boy had found a problem then he needed to know.

"No!" Jay looked down again. "It's not a problem, I just need to discuss something with Uncle Rhodey. May I?"

If it had been anyone else that the boy wanted to speak with then Odin would have pressed to know what the topic of discussion would be. It was James however, so he decided to trust. "Alright. Do we need to go back to the bridge?"

"No," Jay summoned his phone from his interdimensional pocket, "I'll just use my phone." He smiled tentatively at his grandfather then returned to the side of the cube-shaped gleipnir. He extended himself into the phone and through it into the communications system again. His wings fluttered about behind him, flapping occasionally to give him more speed. In a short time he was able to dial his uncle's number. Two rings passed as the call connected, then his uncle answered.

"Are you safe?" James' voice came through the speaker cleanly.

"I am, I'm still with Afi Odin, Afi Frey and Amma Frigga on the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. We haven't left Earth orbit yet." Jay continued to fidget with the hem of his shirt with one hand while he held his phone in the other hand.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" The worry in his uncle's voice was as clear as his voice.

"No, nothing bad. It's just that, it's that, I need to talk to you about something." Jay's voice dropped down in volume so that his grandfathers wouldn't hear him.

"Are you out of earshot of everyone?"

"Yes, I don't think they can hear me over here." Jay didn't want to be rude to his grandfathers by calling their ships substandard, but he also didn't want to leave them with something he could easily replace. The calculations on seidr usage began and finished within the same second. The math supported his desires.

That caught both Odin's and Frey's attention because they could both hear their grandson very well, James also.

"What's the problem?" James voice was a little lower than before.

"Afi Odin showed me the gleipnir in his ship." Jay ran his free hand through is hair like his father was want to do. "It's not at all what I thought it would be. It's not a reactor like what father uses."

"How much of it have you seen?"

"All of it. Uncle Rhodey, it's dangerous. The metal it's constructed of has no vibranium in it. It's allowing seidr to leak through it. The runes on the interior are intensely empowered, overpowered really, but they're… they…" Even without saying to his grandfathers' faces he still didn't want to say it.

"They're graceless, childish, and inefficient?"

"I didn't want to say that. It's rude, even if it is accurate. Uncle Rhodey, it's dangerous," Jay repeated, "Afi Odin and Afi Frey take these ships into battle. They're the fleet flagships! After my seidr scanners detected the leaks I ran the approximate numbers on the seidr in the gleipnir and the leaks, and a short simulation on how they interacted. If either of their ships was hit in this section with the gleipnirs only being half full it would produce an explosion powerful enough to destroy either ship and many of the surrounding ships. One accidental shot could kill a quarter of the fleet. The more full the gleipnir, the bigger the explosion. If it's full, like it is now, then it could take out most of the fleet in the blast. Beyond the fact that there are thousands of people stationed on each of these ships, I don't want either of my grandfathers to die in combat from an unlucky strike!"

Frey's gaze went to Odin as Odin's gaze went to him. This was a huge problem that they hadn't known about. They were pleased to know that there was a problem, and more pleased that Jay was concerned for them.

"Can you send me the calculations and simulation you did quickly?" There was curiosity in James' voice now.

Jay sent along the calculations he used to determine the level of problem he was dealing with.

A moment later his uncle responded. "This is good work. Your process is clean, and your numbers are very close to what I would consider accurate. They're a little on the conservative side, but still good. So, what do you want to do about this?"

Jay was readying his arguments when his uncle cut to the chase. He wasn't going to deny it, he did want to do something about this. "I can quickly design a hybrid between the gleipnir and an original arc reactor and convert their current gleipnirs over to that hybrid. It would provide actual containment, safeguards, more efficiency, higher capacity, and greater output. It would be a stronger heart for their ships, which would in turn make them safer."

Frey's eyebrows rose up in surprise, as did Odin's eyebrows. They were impressed greatly with the gleipnirs, but the way Jay and James spoke made it seem like they ought not to have been. Frey flared his seidr to Odin, whispering, An arc reactor is greater than a gleipnir? Odin flared his in return, How would James know that?

"You make good points." There was certainty in his uncle's voice.

"You don't want to discuss it?" Jay was a little wary of that, but hopeful.

"Why? You've made good points and it's something that I've already considered. Why waste time on a redundant discussion when we both know what we're dealing with?"

"Wait, I haven't detailed what I saw yet, how do you know about gleipnirs?" Maybe father is right. Maybe Uncle Rhodey does know everything. Jay was starting to think that his father was right.

"Your father and I already replaced and filled every city gleipnir in Vindrvelsignet and in Asgard city proper. I understand how dangerous the original gleipnirs are and agree with you that something needs to be done about it. It's that simple. Your father designed a new gleipnir that will handle the problem, so you don't need to design something else. I can handle this when you return to Vanaheim if you're that worried about it." There was a certainty in James' voice that spoke to how easy he considered this problem was to fix.

"I want to be the one to change them over! Please, Uncle Rhodey. I can do it." Jay didn't want to just report the problem. He found it, he wanted to be the one to fix it. Did he change them over last night? Did he sleep at all last night? But he needs sleep too!

"Little Hawk, you needed help to handle the coalesced machine solution. You might need someone to help with this. If you lose control of it during the transformation you'll blow up the ship. No one wants that."

"That was because I had to scour and purify a planet of alien weaponry. You've seen the math on this. I have more than enough seidr to change over both of the gleipnirs in question. I won't be able to fill them further after I change them, but they'll have all the seidr that they had before the change. I can do this!"

"Changing them over will take a tremendous amount of precision. It's an atomic change that you're contemplating."

"I was more than precise enough to place mom's feeding tube. I was more than precise enough to use dad's armor for surgery on him. I was more than precise enough to wield the coalesced machine solution. I can do this! Please let me." Jay didn't mind a little pleading since he could tell that his uncle was close to giving in.

A few moments of silence passed before James spoke again. "Have you spoken with your grandfathers about this? Is this area secure enough to discuss something important?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you first about it," a little embarrassment found its way into Jay's thoughts, "I didn't want to be rude to them, not when Afi Odin was kind enough to show me the gleipnir in the first place. This room is secure."

"Ok, here's what we need to do. You're going to go back to your grandfathers, put me on speaker and let me speak with them. I'll explain the problem and the proposed solution. We'll go forward from there. Alright?"

"Yes, Uncle Rhodey!" A happier expression came over Jay. His uncle was better at dealing with people and explaining things. The digital boy had real hope that his grandfathers could be persuaded to accept an upgrade.

Odin looked worriedly to Frey who was equally worried. By the treaty they had with Lord Eitri they were to return any gleipnir that was no longer needed. The gleipnirs were to be whole, unharmed, and untampered with. They could owe reparations if the gleipnirs were damaged or destroyed. More than that Odin wanted to know what the gleipnirs were replaced with. His thoughts drifted back to the meeting in the SHIELD conference room. I was going to ask Stark to supplement the city gleipnirs with his arc reactors anyway. Perhaps this was for the best, the elder King mulled it over. If they were anything like what Jay was proposing then it might be worth the reparations to keep the replacements that he needed. When Jay approached, smiling but nibbling on his bottom lip in nervousness, they each smiled reassuringly.

Putting the phone on speaker mode, Jay held it out to them. "Uncle Rhodey wants to talk to both of you about something important." He looked down at the phone and spoke. "They're both here now."

"Gentlemen, it's good to speak with you again. I wanted to discuss something of personal consequence to both of you." James' voice was loud through the speaker suddenly.

"It's good to hear from you, James. Is there a problem?" Odin answered since it was his ship they were on.

"Jay tells me that you allowed him to examine the gleipnir on your ship. That was kind of you. Unfortunately, he found some difficult elements as he was examining it. You need to be aware of them so that you can decide how you want them handled." A reassuring tone took over James' voice.

"What manner of difficulty?" Odin appreciated James' tone and so he kept his own tone light.

"The gleipnir in your ship isn't as stable as it could be. Jay detected that it's leaking small amounts of seidr. Those leaks will only grow larger over time. This is because a gleipnir isn't powerful enough containment for the seidr it's containing. Its base construction simply isn't up to the task it's trying to perform. This unstable containment poses a real threat to your ship if, in battle, it's struck in the gleipnir compartment. Even a glancing strike could ignite one of these leaks. The resulting explosion would destroy the ship in its entirety as well as any ship within range of it. It's a problem with severe consequences, however, it's also easily resolvable. Unfortunately, it isn't the only problem there is in this." James kept his tone reassuring instead of grimly serious like the news that he was delivering. Jay's phone flashed suddenly. "If you touch Jay's device with a want to know about seidr leaks you can have access to the data I have about igniting stray seidr. I sent it to his phone for you."

"Thank you." Odin looked to Frey who looked to him before both of the monarchs touched their grandson's device while wanting to know about stray seidr. Sunny runes flew up Frey's arm headed straight for his eyes. At the same time citrine runes sprinted up Odin's arm to go to his eyes. A bevy of information about tests that James had run filled Odin's and Frey's minds. It was enlightening information that worried both of the Kings for how exact it was. It was all dry and factual, lacking any flare or showmanship. The numbers were easy to follow from the tuned seidr scanner to the tests themselves. Odin drew in a sharp breath when the information got to the actual seidr explosions. They were powerful even when only a small quantity of seidr was being tested. He could see this being his ship, and all the people who he had hand-picked to be on it. It's a bomb, my whole ship, that sourly displeased Odin. Treaty or no, this was a problem that needed to be remedied immediately. The lives of his people were hanging in the balance. No time could be wasted. Frey had come to a similar conclusion but found himself between the rock of his longstanding friendship with Lord Eitri and his Little Brother, Prince Brokkr, and the hard place of having an official treaty with Lord Eitri. He was caught between them with no good way to explain to his friends that he had to do what he was about to.

"You said there was another problem?" This had all of Odin's attention, Frey's as well.

"There are two more problems. The first of them is that the runes on the interior of the gleipnir are not up to the task of containing seidr for extended periods. They're adequate for a few days, maybe a full week. After that the runes themselves begin leaking seidr under the constant pressure of the seidr they're trying to contain. This seems to have led to the runes being over-empowered so that they'll last longer. That excess of seidr in the runes pushes the leaks in the metal to happen faster. Finally there's the problem of the seidr itself. The shape of the gleipnir, the metal it's comprised of, and the unmoving runes on the interior all serve to hold the seidr inactive. Inactive seidr takes up more space and is less efficient to use. By using the gleipnir in its current form you're hampering both your capacity to hold usable seidr and your output of power from the gleipnir. Ultimately, the entire set up is extremely dangerous, and inefficient." While James' tone was still reassuring, it had taken on a very factual quality.

The urge to object, to argue that James didn't know what he was talking about rose up in Odin. It was quashed almost instantly. James had been forthcoming, honest, and correct for the entire day. That combined with the information about igniting seidr to convince Odin that James did in fact know what he was talking about. "What remedy is there to this?"

It was a swift decision for Frey that he was going to have to find a way to explain this to Lord Eitri and his dear friend Prince Brokkr that their gleipnirs were wonderful while it was their time, but their time was done. They needed to be immediately replaced for safety's sake.

A little bit of a hopeful tone entered James' voice then. "There's a very simple remedy to this problem. Anthony already designed a new gleipnir. The construction of it uses different materials which are capable of holding seidr. The runes on the interior are radically different and capable of holding and activating seidr without leaking seidr themselves. Jay wants to replace the gleipnirs each of you have in your ships to ensure that you have the power and safety that you need." Jay's phone flashed again as more data was downloaded. "If you want to see the replacement model you can look it over in Jay's phone. I sent the schematic to his device as well as a breakdown of the interior of what you have. You can compare the two to see what you think."

"You would allow us to view the interior of a gleipnir?" Frey had never seen the interior of a gleipnir. It was forbidden by the same treaty that he was about to break. Only the Master Dwarves knew the secrets of the interior of a gleipnir.

"Anthony and I have already replaced all the city gleipnirs in Asgard city proper and Vindrvelsignet as part of Anthony's restitution towards Asgard and Vanaheim. They belong to you now and we see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to inspect our work to ensure it's up to your standards." Once again James was matter-of-fact.

This was an unprecedented circumstance to Odin and Frey. Neither had ever thought that they would be allowed to pierce the veil of secrecy surrounding the gleipnirs. Yet there they were, one touch away from knowing everything; one touch away from knowing what upset their grandson. Tentatively, as though they feared the phone being ripped back if they moved too fast, they each touched the phone Jay was holding. Runes colored in their seidr rose up from where they touched to race across their skin and sink into their eyes. Their minds opened to see the interior of the gleipnir that Anthony had designed. It was a magical marvel that was as elegant and urbane as it effective and efficient. The exterior contained a metal they hadn't seen before, something called vibranium. It held back the seidr it contained perfectly, absorbing and reflecting it even. It was the runes of the interior that flowed like a steel-fisted mist. They were correctly powered, without leaks, and gripped the seidr to move it forcefully. The whirling gyroscopic mechanism in the center of the new gleipnir was the literal and metaphorical centerpiece of the entire thing. It gripped and guided the seidr into moving down set tracks. That movement added momentum to the seidr which unlocked the seidr's potential as an energy source. It was an amazing magical device that thoroughly impressed both Odin and Frey. It also set their expectations for what they would see when they looked over the original gleipnir. At that point neither was expecting the nearly empty box that the original was. A box made of metal that was porous to the seidr it was containing. It also looked like it had standardized welds holding the walls together. It was disappointing to see how little care was put into making a gleipnir. The ancient magical device became even more upsetting when they saw what disappointed their grandson. The runes on the interior were all straight lines that seemed unfinished and juvenile when compared with what Anthony had designed. Though the runes were overpowered, each of them could see how the runes were stamped onto the metal before empowering instead of being handwritten. They were mass-produced. It was obvious.

Oh, this is awkward. Once again, Frey didn't know what to say to his dear friend Prince Brokkr. He didn't want to denigrate the gleipnirs, not when so much of his kingdom still ran off of them. He had been shown better though, he knew better now and couldn't look on the gleipnirs with favor as he once did. "This is not an arc reactor?"

"No, this is a new form of gleipnir, and can be filled like one. An arc reactor is far more complex. Isn't that right, Jay?"

"Yes, it is." The digital boy worried over the looks of disappointment that crossed his grandfather's faces as they absorbed the information of his father's new gleipnir.

"You would let us have this new gleipnir?" Odin could hardly believe this was happening. He was grateful to Jay for his attention to the matter and his care for his grandfathers. He was particularly grateful to Anthony and James for the opportunity to secure both his ship and his Kingdom. There were more gleipnirs that needed to be replaced. He was going to have to handle that.

"As I said, they're already in your cities, they already belong to you. The questions isn't if you can have them, but instead if you want them in your ships. I can scale down the gleipnir if either of you would like it, so that it can go into smaller ships as well. I just need the specifications of the ships that you want them in, then I can get those ready. It should be fairly quick if the specifications given are thorough enough. Your engineers can take the schematics and create new gleipnirs to install where you want them. We can supply you with the vibranium to make them. That's not a problem." James clarified his offer for them, not wanting any uncertainty.

"I can give Uncle Rhodey the specifications if you want me to," Jay offered, "I saw them in the ship's systems."

Secure gleipnirs in my smaller ships! Is such a thing possible? They would replace the batteries in the engines of the smaller ships! "How long could such a small gleipnir last?" Keen interest filled Odin's mind.

"Properly filled and maintained, the smallest I could make them could last around a quarter of a century once filled, but they could be refilled anytime during that time. They could withstand being overfilled slightly to extend their output, but I wouldn't recommend it." James understood that the batteries they had powering the smaller engines were great when compared to a Midgardian battery, but they were no gleipnir.

Such a potent power for my people. A power they can have. Thoughts of yesterday filled Odin's mind. Yesterday he would have worried about the treaty he was violating, the reparations that Asgard was going to owe because of it, about following the law and going slowly and cautiously. Today was still different in his mind. To continue making the day he was in different, Odin took a breath and spoke calmly. "Yes, I would like these new gleipnirs in my fleet, and realm." Turing his gaze back to his grandson from the phone James was speaking through. "If you have all the specifications for the ships in my fleets then send them please." Odin found himself suddenly impatient. If he could bring back to Asgard a potent good for his people, it would lend him more political cover for deposing his Council of Lords.

"Yes, Afi. I saw them all. All the specifications for each type of ship in all of your fleets. You're engineering section has them. The engineers are very thorough." A genuine smile touched Jay's lips. "And the ships in your fleet are beautiful machines." The digital boy looked over to his other afi then. "I can connect with the Skithblathnir and find the specifications for your fleets too. If you want me to I can send them to Uncle Rhodey so that he can work on the new gleipnirs."

"Yes, I would like that. Thank you, Jay." Frey knew then that he was going to pursue these new gleipnirs to replace all of the older ones. It was going to cost Vanaheim a pretty penny in the reparations that breaking the treaty would bring. He still considered it worth it. It was worth it for the safety of his people. It was worth it for the increase in power for his people. Frey had an obligation to pursue something so fine for his people, however he also had an obligation to his friends to find a proper explanation for them. Maybe if I show Eitri and Brokkr these new gleipnirs they'll understand. He hoped they would understand, and not be insulted.

Flowing through the communications systems of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr Jay made quiet contact with the Skithblathnir so as to not alarm any of its crew. The specifications for all of the ships that he needed were found in the engineering section just as they were on the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. They were very close to the specifications for the Asgardian ships. The fleets were a peculiar sort of mirror for one another Jay noticed. He sent the specifications along to his uncle.

"I have the specifications. I'm absorbing them now." A moment later James spoke again. "Ok, this should be a simple plug-and-play since everything is already scaled in the ships. They're a very nice design." His voice trailed off, then the phone started flashing. One flash, a moment later another flash, then another moment and another flash. It kept flashing for several minutes. "There, these are the new gleipnir and the scaled down versions of it. I included more efficient converters for the gleipnirs as well. After you absorb them it will take us to the next matter that needs to be dealt with."

Both Odin and Frey reached for the phone again to touch it with a single finger and learn its contents. They absorbed the detailed schematics and instructions for the new gleipnirs, the scaled down gleipnirs, and improved converters. A promise to provide Asgard and Vanaheim with the vibranium metal within a week of that day, signed by James, was included in the designs. Those precious designs would go to their Master Builders for them to assign the very best people to this project. Both Odin and Frey breathed a sigh of relief in having the schematics and instructions. They were a great good for their people that they acquired relatively easily. Each noticed how Jay absorbed the information from his phone as well. The boy seemed pleased by it. "There is another problem?" Odin didn't want there to be any more problems but appreciated that if there was a problem that James and Jay would assist him to manage it as they were now.

"Not a problem per se, just a decision to be made. Jay would like to replace the gleipnirs in each of your flagships immediately to make them safer for you. This should take a large amount of his seidr to complete. His seidr will return quickly, as he regenerates seidr at an increased rate. So long as he goes slowly during the transformation then he should be fine. If you want to let Jay handle this problem then I would ask that one or both of you allow Jay to link you to him during his work so that you can monitor how he's doing. I trust his level of precision, seidr, and strength to do this, but he's still young and might need guidance." James paused to let what he'd said sink in. "If you don't want Jay to replace them then I can replace the gleipnirs when you return to Vanaheim. I can visit Asgard tomorrow and take care of the flagship there. It's your choice."

"Pleeease, Afi Odin. Pleeease, Afi Frey. I can do this. I know I can. Uncle Rhodey says I can! Can I please?! I want to be the one to fix it." He bounced a little in front of them in excitement and longing. "I want to be the one! Please!"

I can do this. Uncle Rhodey says I can! Please! The words rang in Odin's mind a few more times. Standing before him with a look of earnest pleading, Jay reminded him so very much of Loki. When his second son was young he would come to Odin not just to show him things that he'd conjured, but to ask to do things with his seidr that were normally restricted to older more mature people. Odin frequently said no because he feared that something could go wrong, and Loki wouldn't have the knowledge and experience to deal with what happened then. The elder King could see his mistake through James' request. All James was asking was for them to lend their experience to Jay, who already had the ability. I should have done these things with Loki, instead of simply denying what he wanted. Odin's resolve was as hard then as it was before to not make the same mistakes twice. "If you feel you can, then I'll assist you." A little anxiety tinged his thoughts, and he shoved it down. If anything went wrong he would see to it himself.

Frey was on the verge of saying that he would assist Jay to replace the gleipnirs, since he'd always assisted Loki until she was able to do for herself. Then Odin agreed to lend his assistance to the endeavor. Surprise rolled through Frey's thoughts, raising his eyebrows up some. Odin had never lent his assistance to Loki when the second Asgardian Prince wanted to do something that was magically dangerous or was something that should have been beyond a boy's capabilities. It was always a flat 'yes' or a flat 'no'. There hadn't been an in-between which was one of the reasons why he started offering to lend his assistance to his nephew. Odin is continuing to make strides. I should do the same. "I will work with you, brother. We'll ensure that Jay is safe in this endeavor."

"Thank you, brother. I think between the two of us we can ensure his safety and the safety of our ships' crews." Odin was glad to have Frey's assistance in this. It wouldn't be just him dealing with this if it went wrong. It was a relief to know.

"We can." Frey nodded, smiling at Odin, then looked to Jay. "What do you need us to do?"

"Uncle Rhodey, I'm going to hang-up now so that I can begin. Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?" Jay was so happy to be allowed to fix the problem that he'd found. It was exciting in a very deep way for him to solve the problems that he came across. There was something wonderful not just in seeing how he made someone's life easier, but in the resolving of the problem as well. Jay always wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

"Do you remember how to link people to you?" James wanted this to be done properly.

"Touch them with my wings. I remember." His wings were still fluttering out behind him prettily. The phone flashed again. Jay absorbed the knowledge instantly with runes flying across his skin to light his eyes white-blue. This is just what I need!

"Alright. I sent you my process for changing them over. Learn it, use it, then send me a text when you're done so that I know everyone is safe, ok?" There was a caring tone in James' voice.

"I will, I promise." A brilliant smile sat in the middle of Jay's expression. "I'll have good news to report."

"Good. I love you, Jay. Just take your time and get this done properly. I know you can do it."

"I love you too, Uncle Rhodey. I'll talk to you in a little bit. Goodbye." Jay touched the end-call button, then worked his phone into one of his small back pockets. "I'm ready, are you?" Jay looked up to his grandfathers with an expression of longing to fix the problem he'd found.

"I'm ready, brother?" Frey wondered how Jay was going to 'link' them to him. It sounded like another of his grandson's talents that he didn't know about.

Am I moving too fast? Should I have done these sort of things with Loki when he was young? Who he was and who he wanted to be were tied up in the two thoughts. Deciding which was right seemed suddenly important, and not. Without several days to give it careful consideration he couldn't make a good determination. With that realization came the next realization that he wasn't sure that it did matter which was right. It mattered which one was his path forward. Doing this with Jay, being a different man than he had been, was still his path forward. "I'm ready as well. What do you need us to do?"

Before he turned around, Jay looked to his grandmother. "Amma Frigga, do you want to link with Afi Odin? To be safe?"

A nice little smile spread across Frigga's face. Her grandson was so considerate. "Yes, I think I would. What do I need to do?"

Turning around to face away from his grandparents, facing the gleipnir, Jay looked over his shoulders at them. "Put your hands on my shoulders, I'll touch you with my wings, so that we can link. Then I'll start." Each Frey and Odin laid a hand on one of Jay's shoulders, with Frigga putting her hand next to Odin's hand, so he extended his wings to brush firmly up again their arms. With that one touch their minds were sucked into Jay's mind. They could hear his thoughts, feel his emotions, and see through his eyes. Welcome to my mind, Jay thought towards them. Each of them was surprised by how their grandson was viewing the world. There was an extensive user interface overlaid on Jay's vision. It was giving him information on the gleipnir, letting his grandparents see the leaks coming from the gleipnir, telling them how much seidr was in the gleipnir, what types of seidr were in it, and estimates of how old the seidr was, as well as a host of other useful information.

Frey wondered if this interface was permanent, Is this how you see the world, Jay?

This is one of many different ways in which I can see the world. The image of what Jay was seeing changed suddenly to an infrared view, which changed to a night vision view, which changed to a seidr scanning view, which changed to a biometric scanning view. Jay kept changing his view until he'd gone through all of them for his grandparents, including the view without a UI. He didn't mind showing them how he saw the world, how it was possible for him to see the world. It was nice in a way to be able to show people who didn't think he was freakish because of it.

You aren't a freak, Jay, Odin thought firmly. He was surprised to feel the emotion from his grandson and swiftly moved to counter it.

No, you're not. You're a special boy, not a freak, Frey added swiftly. It reminded him that he needed to have words with Loki over her use of the word 'freak' in regards to herself.

You are beautiful, Jay, Frigga reminded her grandson.

It can be hard to believe that when you're so different, Jay's thought was a mere whisper in his own mind. He thought over all the times that day when he was told in a confident tone that he wasn't bad for being different. He thought over them and the strong sentiments behind them. They were stronger sentiments than his own poor self-image. He could feel those sentiments and the strength in them as they were linked to his mind. Jay wasn't weak-willed enough to simply follow what he was told, but he truly wanted to believe what his grandparents and uncle did. Thinking so poorly of himself made him uncomfortable and sad. The digital boy didn't like it at all.

Odin said something then that he couldn't ever remember telling to Loki as he was growing up. It was something that should have been said every day. He could see it now. There's nothing wrong with being different. You're precious, not freakish. It's fine to be different.

There was such an overwhelming love in Odin's thoughts that it stopped Frey for a moment. This was another glance through different means at a man who he had once thought had no emotions. The younger King was truly glad that he was wrong about Odin. Frey was glad that he was getting to know his Elder Brother now. He turned his attention back to Jay. My brother is correct, Jay. You aren't a freak, and there is nothing wrong with being different than others.

Warm affection for her grandson radiated from Frigga's mind. Like the sun on a cloudy day, it illuminated things for Jay.

Warm love covered each of the monarchs in silver flames in Jay's mind. As it did, each of them could feel that it was Loki's poisonous attitude towards herself that was influencing the boy to think poorly of himself. While Frigga increased the volume of her affection both of the Kings resolved to have words with Loki so that she might stop influencing her son negatively. Both Loki and Jay deserved to think positively about themselves in the Kings' opinions.

Thank you. Jay wondered then if his mother was correct in her estimation that her being so different made her freakish. She was so sure, so certain about it that it impacted him too. If she was a freak for being so different, then how could he not be one. It didn't help his thoughts that he received so little respect for his own personhood. He tried to encourage her to think better of herself but couldn't help his own darkening thoughts as he listened to his mother. Neither his father nor his uncle thought he was a freak though. Jay wondered again if maybe his mother was wrong. If his father, uncle, and grandparents were to be believed then he wasn't a freak, and if he wasn't then neither was his mother. The digital boy wanted to talk to his mother about this. He'd found a new way of thinking that he wanted to share with her. Her ideas weren't fully without merit, but the truth of them wasn't all-encompassing either. There was a degree of grey that her black and white thinking on the matter needed. Maybe I can help mother think better of herself. But that was a problem for another time. At that moment, he had some gleipnirs to upgrade, so he turned his full attention to those.

The monarchs were glad to be able to hear Jay's swift thoughts actually reconsidering whether he should think of himself like such a negative light. Loki had unknowingly set him down this path of insidious self-doubt. It was a path that Loki was too far down in their opinions.

Jay impelled the full might of his seidr from his core. It formed a sphere of seidr around him which he extended to encompass his grandparents. All four of them were lifted off the floor by the pressure of his young seidr. Silver fire flowed around them in waves and turns. The first thing that the silver boy did was to flow through the communications system in the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr over to the Skithblathnir to commandeer the ship. A simple message was put out by Jay through the ship-wide intercom of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr as well as the Skithblathnir in the voice of Jarvis. "Continue your duties. Everything will move along smoothly and be done shortly." The Vanaheimr flagship moved slowly through space until it was just below the Asgardian flagship. The fleets meshed as they tried to follow the lead of the flagships. Jay commandeered the small ships so that they were moved out of the way. His silver fire spread across the surface of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr until it jumped in waves between it and the Skithblathnir.

Jay, what are you doing? Frey trusted his grandson, especially since the boy was moving the smaller ships out to a safer distance. Mostly though, it was good to know that his grandson could commandeer ships despite the ships' protections.

I'm upgrading both gleipnirs at the same time. Half of Jay's vision was the white and silver gleipnir compartment on the Skithblathnir, while the other half was the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr's brown and black gleipnir compartment. Jay kept his vision set to scanning mode and zoomed by several orders of magnitude to get down to the atomic level of each gleipnir. After that he wrote out two broad Conjuration Spells and two Learning Spells. His memories of his father's beautifully designed gleipnir sank into the Learning Spells. Jay sunk his seidr into the gleipnirs, into the metal exteriors and interior runes. The metal exteriors glowed silver while the interior runes burned away under the pressure of Jay's fires. The monarchs watched as he caught the seidr in each gleipnir as it tried to escape. The digital boy gathered up the seidr into a ball in the center of each gleipnir.

Everything was prepared, so Jay released the spells into the seidr the metal exteriors were infused with. Atom by atom, molecule by molecule, Jay worked swiftly to change the metal exteriors from a cube into a closed cylinder with gently rounded ends. From the bottom working up to the top the boy guided the spells. When it seemed that he might make a mistake from moving too swiftly, Odin and Frey lent him their patience and steady focus. Frigga continued to radiate reassuring affection. They guided the boy who was guiding the spells. The new exteriors finished up nicely as four deep red reinforced glass panels formed on the exterior at the cardinal points in the Asgardian ship's gleipnir. Four light blue panels of reinforced glass formed in the exterior of the Vanaheimr ship's gleipnir. Deep brown paint spilled across the Asgardian gleipnir while the Vanaheimr gleipnir was painted a solid white. The mechano-magical runed interface was formed on the exteriors. Jay took prints of his grandfathers' hands and branded them in silver flames into the interface of their flagships' gleipnirs. Mages would put their hands in those prints to automatically begin the channeling process to fill the each gleipnir.

With that done Jay moved on to the interior of the gleipnirs. The swirling runic tracks were laid on the thick interior walls then the runes, which would act as containment, were inscribed and all of them were empowered in the boy's seidr. They were powered to exactly the appropriate level. To finish the gleipnirs and truly make them functional, Jay guided the last of the Conjuration Spells to form the interior runed gyroscopic mechanism which would be the heart of the gleipnir. Flat rings at the cylinders' center with three struts to hold the rings in place formed fused to the interior walls. Runes flowed over the surface of the rings and struts then were empowered by Jay. Smaller flat rings formed in the center of the first flat rings. They too were runed and empowered so that they could start spinning vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Each ring spun faster than the last. Since the gleipnirs were complete and ready for their seidr Jay released the seidr he was holding in each gleipnir. The seidr in each gleipnir exploded out of the ball it was in and instantly began flowing along the runed tracks. Momentum was gained as the seidr was enlivened. The glass panels lit up with the flash and flare of moving seidr. Overall the gleipnirs were a resounding success. Since the digital boy had a captive audience he decided that he wasn't done yet.

Odin looked on in wonder at the new gleipnir in his ship. He pondered, as he could feel Frigga and Frey pondering what Jay was doing now, but he didn't worry over it. Frey didn't worry either over what Jay was doing, as he looked over the powerful new gleipnir at the heart of his ship. He only had a light sense of curiosity over what other gifts Jay could be bestowing on them.

More of Jay's impelled seidr wrote into another two massive Conjuration Spells and two Learning Spells. He released them over each ship to replace and repair certain components to increase the efficiency of the ships' interactions with the gleipnirs. Purifying silver fire danced over every surface and person in the two flagships. At the same time Jay went rampaging through the ships' computer systems tracking down and repairing every bug, glitch, or otherwise dodgy piece of software, leaving the entire system cleaner and safer. His personal electronic warfare suite was written over top of the Asgardian and Vanaheimr versions. The data from each of the original suites was incorporated into the new suites. Finally, he conjured a scent infusion 'aroma therapy' system for the ships. They were scents that he had tested on the workers in his father's company. They were much happier now than when he began trying to find a way to make them happier. It was all taken care of so Jay moved the commandeered ships back into two separate fleets. Over the intercom of each ship Jay gave another simple message to each ship in Jarvis' voice. "Everything is complete. Thank you for your cooperation in this endeavor." The digital boy called back his seidr to his core, extinguishing the silver fire rolling through and on the ships. A little over half of the digital boy's seidr was gone, spent in the spells. He slouched some when he was set down on the floor between his grandfathers and in front of his grandmother. Breaking contact with the monarchs, his wings retracted back into his skin. Jay was done for the moment. The digital boy remembered to connect with the phone in his pocket, to compose a detailed report of his activities, then sent the report to his uncle like he'd promised to. That last line in the report made him happy to write. "We are all safe."

We weren't on my ship, but he still upgraded her. Pleasant surprise infused Frey's thoughts like the lovely scents now infusing the air he was breathing. They were the same scents that were now infusing the air in the Skithblathnir. It wasn't just him that Jay had seen to with a newer safer gleipnir. The crew of his ship was seen to, as was his fleet. This was a great good for the free peoples of Vanaheim. The other fleets were going to be outfitted with these new gleipnirs, scent systems, electronic warfare suites, and improved components. Frey looked down at Jay, who looked tired but satisfied now. The younger King smiled widely. All of this happened because Jay was worried for them and because James was willing to allow someone who had great talent to exercise that talent despite being a child. It was touching to him.

The feeling of the gleipnir at the heart of his ship was completely different. Before Odin could feel the seidr, but he hadn't realized that it felt so immobile, like it was stuck. It was unstuck in the new gleipnir. In fact it felt like it was running to him. It felt so much better, so much more powerful than before. This was a wise idea. I'll pay reparations for this. There was a small sense of shock at how quickly his ship had been upgraded. He might not have believed it if he hadn't seen it as it happened. Despite being a cautious lad, when Jay decided that he was going to move he moved quickly. That he was moving forward with aiding Odin's people and truthfully aiding Odin to be safer was amazing. Jay was consistently amazing to him.

Since she was no longer in her grandson's mind, Frigga went back to scanning the area around them. She had to return to her duties. Before she fully did that she fared out her seidr to Jay, whispering, Remember that you are beautiful, and that we love you. To make her point she unraveled her seidr quickly to spin it into a Learning Spell that drew in her memories. She released the spell towards her grandson, flaring her seidr to him again, Beautiful.

In his mind, Jay could see himself in the hallway standing in front of his father without his masks on. He was a child of silver fires showing himself for what he was. It was his grandmother's memory of him that he'd seen earlier in the day. Having had her in his mind made the memory more important to him. He could truly feel the love and awe that was for him. It helped him to feel better in letting go of his poor self-image, for surely so much awe could never be dishonest. Turning back around to face his grandparents, Jay was sad to see his grandmother return to her duties. She had a duty to complete, but there would be time for them to spend together later. Jay knew it, so he held his arms out to his Afi Odin, who picked him up without hesitation. He rested himself against his grandfather's shoulder while waiting for his seidr to return. "It's all much better. You're safe now."

"Yes, we all are much safer. Thank you so much. You did so well." Odin rand a hand over the back of Jay's head. "Do you want me to send a message to James?"

The smile on Jay's face couldn't have been more glorious than it was right then. "No, I connected with my phone and sent it along to him. He knows that we're safe." His grandfathers were safe to take these ships into combat from now on. Even if they weren't onboard the ships the ships themselves and their crew would still be safer. Having his family be safe always made the digital boy happy. That the safety was accomplished by his own efforts just made it better.

The terminal in Odin's pocket as well as the one in Frey's pocket began loudly beeping. Each pulled out their terminal to find an increasing amount of nervous messages from their acting styraesmandrs.

The elder King was the first to contact his chief bridge officer. "Styraesmandr Asulf," Odin addressed his acting styraesmandr calmly, "be at ease. I'm aware of the silver fire. It was my grandson.""

"Sir, you need to evacuate the ship immediately! The gleipnir appears ready to explode. You have to get to safety now!" Styraesmandr Asulf was in a tizzy at the thought of his Lord going down with the ship.

"Be at ease. Come down to the gleipnir compartment. I have something to show you." The elder Lord knew there was no danger, so his attitude remained casual. "Hersir Vang," he called, waiting for the hersir of the security drengr to present himself, "You and your drengr may return to your duties."

Hersir Vang bowed respectfully to his Lord. "Yes, m'Lord!" He motioned his drengr to get to their positions.

Odin was done speaking through his terminal, so Frey used his own terminal to contact acting Styraesmandr Varangr on the Skithblathnir. She looked as concerned as Styraesmandr Asulf. "Sir! I think we've been attacked, but…"

"Styraesmandr Varangr, this was no attack. I'm aware that things have changed onboard the Skithblathnir, but all is well. I observed the changes as they happened. I would like you to go to the gleipnir compartment and examine the new gleipnir. You have my permission to do so. I would like you to understand the depth of the changes."

After a moment, Styraesmandr Varangr bowed towards her Lord. "As you say, m'Lord. I'll examine the gleipnir immediately. Should I contact you after I do?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I'll be returning to the Skithblathnir soon. We'll speak then." Frey nodded to his chief bridge officer before shutting off his terminal.

A tiny hint of a smirk touched Sean's face as he heard the poor acting styraesmandr worry about having been attacked. He wouldn't qualify Jay's actions as an attack at all. Then again, maybe an attack of caring. He smirk grew a little more pronounced. And Frey will be safer now. The seidr in the gleipnir was softly humming, but he couldn't hear the voices any longer. They were silent, so Sean focused on the gleipnir to see if he could find the people. They were still in the gleipnir, only they were moving now. He pulled his focus back so that the voices disappeared back into the gleipnir. All of the leaks that he saw before were gone. Sean thought that must have been what was responsible for the silence. With everything put together, the streamlined design of the new gleipnir was so much more comfortable for him to stand near.

Styraesmandr Asulf came through the door to the room quickly, with a seriously concerned look on his face. Before he could address his Lord he detected the change in the gleipnir. Then he went to his Lord and bowed respectfully. "The gleipnir is stable, my Lord?"

"Yes, stable and improved." Odin nodded towards the gleipnir. "Inspect it. I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter."

Hesitation lined acting Styraesmandr Asulf's actions as he walked slowly towards the new gleipnir. This new one looked sleeker than the old one that he hadn't been allowed to touch. No one could touch the old one. The acting styraesmandr wasn't sure of the wisdom in allowing a boy to touch the heart of their ship. Nonetheless this new gleipnir felt more stable, and more importantly more powerful than the last one. Standing next to the gleipnir let him get a better feel for what he was dealing with. More hesitation filled him as he lifted his hand to place it on the brown metal side, next to the new red glass panel. The metal was warm without burning him. Extending his seidr through his hand he examined the interior of the gleipnir. The runes were more complex than any he'd seen. The gyroscopic device in the center drew his attention as it whirled about, moving the seidr. It was so simple to him, yet so complex as to not be something he would ever have thought of. He wished he could have seen into the heart of the old gleipnir, to compare the two of them. Acting Styraesmandr Asulf pivoted his seidr back into his core, then withdrew his hand. With that one touch he could tell why his Lord was seemingly unconcerned about the gleipnir being tampered with by a little boy. This new gleipnir was simply better than the old one. Going back to Lord Odin, he was much calmer than he had been when he arrived in the compartment. "May I approach the Royal Issuance, sir?"

Looking down at Jay who had a little smile waiting for him, Odin gave his approval. "You may."

"I am correct in thinking that Your Grace was responsible for replacing one gleipnir with another?" Acting Styraesmandr Asulf had only ever spoken with his Lord's second son, Prince Loki, who was quite affable. Looking into the boy's vivid green eyes reminded him of the second Prince of Asgard so that he wondered if this boy wasn't the Royal Issuance of Prince Loki.

"Yes, I upgraded the ship's gleipnir." Jay sat up against his grandfather, not wanting to be rude to the acting styraesmandr. His core was starting to feel better, not so empty anymore. That made it easier for him to feel like dealing with someone other than his grandparents.

"I don't know how the previous gleipnir was constructed, but this gleipnir is amazing, Your Grace."

"It is a pretty machine. I'll tell father that you liked his design. I know he'll like that." His father always liked it when Jay brought him compliments or praise for work done. This would be received well.

"Your father designed this? You understood enough to implement it? That's impressive, Your Grace. May I ask what other improvements you made to the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr?" Even if it wasn't the boy's design that fact that he was able to work with the design, to see it put in place properly, was still remarkable to acting Styraesmandr Asulf.

"I cleaned the general computer systems of any bugs, glitches, or dangerous software. I changed out certain parts in the electrical system to make the overall system more efficient with the new gleipnir. I replaced your electronic warfare suite with an upgraded version while incorporating the data that your version had collected. I left an aroma therapy system in place. For soothing restful sleep, I put lavender-vanilla in the sleeping quarters. For alertness and focus, I put peppermint-eucalyptus in the working areas. For happiness and relaxation, I put jasmine-frankincense in the cafeterias and crew entertainment centers. I put refill cartridges for the system in the ship's storage facility, with a variety of other scent combinations and instructions. They're appropriately labeled and sitting in nice blue boxes. I also purified the whole ship and everyone and everything in it. That's all." Looking down a little Jay continued. "I'm sorry that I couldn't fill the gleipnir up to full. I'm sure my father or uncle could fill it later."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Your Grace. This was most generous of you." Moving his attention back to his Lord, seeking confirmation of what the young boy said. "My Lord is aware of these improvements, and sanctions them?" He certainly hoped that his Lord did. "These improvements sound very much like things the ship needs, m'Lord."

"I watched the improvements as Jay made them. I am aware of the depth of improvements and changes that he made to both the Sa Ljodraen Berserker and the Skithblathnir. I agree that they will be a great good for the ship, and the fleet when the rest of the fleet is similarly upgraded." Odin was so proud of Jay's consistent and continuing attempts to save lives. Not just to save them, but to better them while he was at it. He let that pride show on his face so that everyone who saw him would know that he was proud of his grandson. It wasn't something that he did often but was something that he felt he needed to do more.

Both ships at once?! He was stunned at what the little boy had done, and stunned at how his Lord was reacting to it. If he hadn't already confirmed Lord Odin's identity acting Styraesmandr Asulf would have done so right then and there. For as numerous as Prince Loki's accomplishments were, being well-known amongst the ship and fleet commanders, Lord Odin hadn't shown any pride in the second Asgardian Prince. He wasn't one to gossip, as he found it petty and useless, but he did wonder to himself sometimes if the Lord saw his second son at all. Lord Odin saw his grandson, probably Prince Loki's son somehow, and was proud of him. The ship's commander agreed with his Lord that there was much to be proud of. Taking a small step back, acting Styraesmandr Asulf bowed deeply to the young Asgardian Prince. "I thank you, Your Grace, on behalf of this ship's crew for lending your aid to the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. These upgrades, particularly the gleipnir, will serve to make us a more effective warship. We are most appreciative of your exemplary efforts on our behalf. Thank you, Prince Jay."

Drawing on his history of writing thank-you notes for his father as well as the word choices of his mother and grandfathers, Jay put a little confidence in his voice and put together what he felt was an appropriate response. "Styraesmandr Asulf, no thanks are needed, I'm happy enough to be able to lend my aid to those who need it. I know that you'll use everything I put in place wisely. Most importantly, you'll be safer now doing anything you need to, so you're very welcome for the upgrades."

It was a much more mature response than his acting styraesmandr expected, but was what Odin expected of his grandson. In the myriad memories of the Dark Days were memories of Jay writing cordial 'thank you' notes and notes expressing 'you're welcome' also. Jay was practiced at it, but still looking for ways to improve his skills. Another wide smile split Odin's lips as he looked over at his grandson. "Very well said indeed!" The elder Lord looked over to his acting styraesmandr who was visibly impressed by the mature response that he received. "Lord Frey, my guard, my grandson, and I will be departing for the Skithblathnir now. You have your orders, Styraesmandr Asulf. Follow them carefully."

"Yes, sir!" Acting Styraesmandr Asulf was as impressed with the young Prince's manners as he was with his talents. The Royal Family was always held to a higher standard, but there was lenience given to the young children since they hadn't had enough time to learn what they needed to do. That was a response that he would have expected from someone hundreds of years older. A small smile broke out across his face as his Lord turned and left for the skammrass, the guard still formed around him. Lord Frey turned and went with Lord Odin. The acting styraesmandr still wondered what had happened to his Lord to melt the frosty exterior that normally encased him. While he wondered about it, he didn't worry about it. It seemed to be having his grandson with him that thawed the Lord. After that, acting Styraesmandr Asulf could only wonder what happened to the second Prince of Asgard. What of Prince Loki? Is he not disgraced and dead? It was only a short period of wondering though. He had orders to carry out, so he went to them.

Powerful, and… heroic? Hirdmen Vilulf decided that there was indeed something heroic about the young boy who'd been in their company all day. There was a forged steel in the boy's character that impressed the hirdmen, especially since it drove the boy to save lives. It still wasn't his place to consider, but since he'd already considered it he decided that he'd keep his opinion to himself. The admiration for his Princess' grandson could come from afar.

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

Anthony was finally asleep again. Sitting quietly at his temporary desk in the guest room of the Vanaheimr Royal Palace, James finished up reviewing the new engine designs that Anthony put together. That review included rigorous testing in his personal workshop to ensure the safety of the designs. The last report from his constructs on the engine testing was conclusive. The design was ready to go to Odin and Frey to be deployed along with the completed spaceship shielding unit designs. Asgard was going to get new shield units designs for the realm itself. The shield designs for Asgard were the only thing he had left to review. The testing was still running, but he expected it to be done soon. Anthony was very nearly done with his restitution, which was why it was up to James to review the designs. He looked over the latest report one more time and decided that the project was done. James dismissed the report to his interdimensional pocket, to be filed in the archives at a later date. Just as he did another report appeared on his memory cube, uploaded by one of his constructs. It was a report on the shielding units for Asgard itself, but James couldn't get to it before Lady Sjofn appeared before his desk in a flash of fuchsia sjel-seidr. Her fuchsia-ringed, unblinking eyes looked at him directly. "How is it going?"

"The boy is safe. He is happy. He was close to falling asleep when I left them. I found the two Lords and the Lady to be careful guardians of him." The fact that James wanted her opinion on things had ceased to surprise her and become the normal way of them doing things. She found that he valued her view of events. In the beginning she hadn't expected such wise consideration. Now she knew differently, and it influenced her consideration of him. From several moments prior to that one, and going forward into the future, Lady Sjofn considered the possibility of nominating him as a candidate for producing Norn progeny. Most of the elder Norns, like herself, had left behind beloved spouses and precious children when they answered the higher calling of Norn's Army. There were still several of the younger Norns who wanted to have progeny and begin their own bloodlines. Those bloodlines would then be harvested for women to become Norns. They needed the best of candidates to produce that progeny with. It was one of the duties of the elder Norns, to find those candidates and arrange those moments in time. However, she wasn't certain that James would be well with producing progeny with one who had already answered a higher calling, and so couldn't be there to raise any progeny that were produced. This didn't sit poorly with her though. Through listening to conversations between James and Anthony she had come to a loose understanding of how he believed a spouse ought to be treated. It was an honorable view that she appreciated. Still she considered his candidacy. His honor, intelligence, perseverance, compassion, and general demeanor were all exemplary. He could father many children worthy of the Norns who would birth them. They would be worthy of Norn's Army itself. It was a consideration for another moment in time, as James sighed in relief.

"Good, I was a little worried when Jay called. Do they look like they need anything?" The report from Jay worried him a little, just that the boy might have been doing too much for someone as young as him. It was why he sent Lady Sjofn to check on the boy. Now that she was back, he took her report. James didn't flinch under the unblinking gaze of a being who was millions of years old. He'd grown used to her gaze as they'd come to know one another. He still couldn't guess at her thoughts most of the time but that didn't make much of a difference to him. She always did as he asked and if she didn't understand what he wanted then she asked for clarification. She wasn't unintelligent, quite the opposite. Lady Sjofn was quiet though. He was certain that whatever she was thinking was probably either very mundane or very complex. Either was fine by him.

"A small simple meal and drinks were being discussed."

Nodding, James summoned from his interdimensional pocket a dark brown, circular table and four dark brown wooden chairs. After a moment of consideration he summoned a large platter to rest on the center of the table. It had a variety of meats, sausages, cheeses, and crackers, along with some fruit, vegetables, and dips. It was wrapped in bundling paper that resembled a large origami lotus with a gold leaf seal on red wax. Next he summoned a small, wooden bucket inscribed with Bundling Runes, filled with ice, and a few bottles of sweet tea. The bucket was covered over in a frosted glass lid with Bundling Runes inscribed on it. The platter and bucket went onto the table. Next to those things he summoned and placed little plates, knives, and forks. James nodded to Lady Sjofn again. "Let's send them what they need then."

23May2023 – Night

Aboard The Sa Ljodraen Berserkr Above Midgard

The interior of the skammrass was as comfortable for this second trip was for the first trip. The second trip was shorter though. Jay sat buckled into his seat, looking out the window in the safety section of the skammrass, bouncing lightly. "That's a Thegn class." It was a larger ship that looked like it was equivalent to a Destroyer class ship. "That's a Karl class." It was a smaller fighter ship. "That's a Skald class." It reminded Jay of a littoral combat ship. "That's a Thrall class." It was a larger fighter ship, sort of a bomber also. He looked through the rest of the ships as the skammrass moved through one fleet and into the other. He wondered if there were other things he could do to improve the ships. Turning his chair back around to face his grandfathers, Jay picked the Thegn class ship to begin with. In his mind, he broke out the design of the ship in an exploded view of the entire thing. Right away he could see efficiency problems in how the halls in the vessel were laid out, so he began a small analysis of the vessel's design. It was a small enough analysis for him to begin it with all of the deliberations going on in his mind, but a complex enough analysis to be useful to him later. Even as useful as it was, it was tiring for him.

As soon he was able to hop out of his seat he went right back to his Afi Odin to be picked up again with a smile on his face. He held on a little tighter to his Afi Odin's vest as an uncertainty came over him. The day seemed like it was ending very quickly. He wasn't sure when he would be able to see Afi Odin and Amma Frigga again after he had dinner with them in a few days. If his father would ever allow him to see them again was a serious matter in his mind. Once again he was pulled back to how quickly he'd bonded to his grandfather and wondered if it was good to bond to anyone that fast. He was reminded then that he instantly bonded further to his father, then his mother, then to his siblings, and to his Uncle Rhodey once he had a body. This felt no different than those other times to him. He knew he should slow down, take his time, be certain of his affections. 'Trust but verify' as an interesting man once said. Moving so slowly felt anathema to him, he just couldn't do it. It took all of his grandparents to slow him down enough to get the gleipnirs changed over properly. He couldn't do slow, so he was stuck with fast which brought him back to wondering if maybe he should slow down. Even if I do slowdown, it's too late. I already care. It's too late to stop now. Jay acknowledged that who he cared about was very selective, but once he began caring about someone then he didn't stop.

It all added up to leave him worrying over when he would see his grandparents again. I'll have to carefully bug father about it. The sentiment struck him as odd suddenly. He was indeed forthright with his father, but he never tried to be pushy. There was a newfound confidence flowing through his thoughts that he wasn't going to deny was there. It lent a more solid bend to his thoughts that had always been ephemeral. Analyzing the new turn as his grandfather carried him left his thoughts turning in strange directions. I've always been ephemeral, like smoke to father's fire. Has that changed? Is it because I have a body now? It didn't feel like that when mother gave me this body. Is it something else? Jay wanted to begin a deliberation on it but didn't feel safe doing so. There were still so many other deliberations moving through his mind. Many of them had completed, but many hadn't, so he made a mental note to himself detailing what he wanted to deliberate on when he could again.

As they exited the skammrass the pleasant scent of peppermint and eucalyptus greeted them in the hanger bay, so did acting Styraesmandr Varangr with a compliment of ship's security and the ship's registrar. "Are you well, my Lord?" A calm sense of concern emanated from the chief bridge officer. The waifish blonde woman with piercing blue eyes worried over the strange events of the day but had to admit that the ship was in a better state than it was before. She didn't know what to make of that.

"Ah, Styraesmandr Varangr, I am well. Accompany me, we can speak as we walk down to my quarters. I would hear your report on the state of Midgard, and on the state of the Skithblathnir." Frey motioned to Odin and Jay, and the drengr of Royal Guardsmen surrounding them. "Lord Odin is my guest; my brother is being guarded by a drengr of my Royal Guardsmen with Princess Frigga acting as Formadr of the Royal Guard. I would like the route from here to my quarters secured immediately." Motioning to Jay, who sat up with a little smile on his face, "This is mine and Lord Odin's grandson, Prince Jay. He will be accompanying Lord Odin to my quarters while we travel back to Vanaheim."

There had been no announcements of any Royal Wedding, the linking of two Royal Houses, or of a Royal Birthing, but acting Styraesmandr Varangr wasn't going to question her Lord over whether the boy was of Royal Issuance. She bowed to the elder Lord first. "Lord Odin, Battle Lord of Asgard, on behalf of my crew I welcome you to the Skithblathnir."

"Thank you, Styraesmandr Varangr. I'm glad to be on such an excellent ship with such an excellent crew." Odin didn't normally care about the mindless proprieties that came with life in a Royal House. Today he cared. He didn't want to be represented as the Battle Lord of Asgard to his grandson. In a moment of profound clarity that left him quietly going along with what was happening Odin realized that he simply didn't want to be the Battle Lord of Asgard anymore. The Royal Moniker, agreed upon and given by other Lords, no longer suited not only his purposes but his desires. He didn't believe that a Battle Lord could make the peaceful future that he wanted. It was a dilemma for him though. As one of the most tested and experienced Battle Mages in the Elder Realms, he couldn't simply lay down his weapons, not when he was a weapon. Pursue peace. It's the only choice left, but how? How can I show the other Lords that I mean them no more harm? What can I do? After another moment he thought about the hardest and simultaneously easiest way for him to accomplish showing them that he meant no harm. After all, it was the means he used to instill the most fear in them. The treaties! It was a hard thought though. He had shaped the Elder Realms so that Thor would have an easier time of ruling. The treaties he held with the other realms were the culmination of that work. I can't harm Thor's reign going into the future. That won't assist me. I would need favorable treatment in the negotiations lest they try to take Asgard in the negotiation. How could I accomplish that? What could I offer them to gain that favor? How can I get around the past? He was going to need something supremely flexible to bridge the past-present-future together. Odin's gaze darted over to his Little Brother as he decided to do what he should have done when he knew he wanted to marry Frigga. He was going to talk to Frey about this problem and see what solutions his brother might have.

The formadr of the other security drengr had his terminal out and kept glancing over to Frigga's drengr. When he glanced directly to her, bowed lightly, and nodded towards the door to the King's docking bay she knew that security had been arranged for their trip through the Skithblathnir. She smiled at him and returned his bow, secure in knowing that Odin would be seen to. Her attention went back to her husband for a moment before she went back to scanning the area. Something had broken loose in Odin, and he was contemplating it now. Frigga could feel it through their imprinting, it was so strong. Despite the strength of the feeling she still couldn't quite tell what it was, or what triggered it. While it wasn't a light-hearted consideration, it wasn't a morosely heavy one either. She almost flared her seidr out to him as she scanned the area around them, to ask if he was well, but decided against it. He was smiling and moving along with Frey. She didn't want to distract him, that wasn't what she was doing right then. Later on, then Frigga would ask after what triggered so powerful a train of thought.

Looking over to the ship's registrar, acting Styraesmandr Varangr looked between the registrar, carrying the registry, and their Lord. "Jarl Alsvartr, fill out the registry then you may be dismissed."

"Yes, Styraesmandr Varangr." The young half-dvergar bowed respectfully to his commanding officer before looking to his Lord. "Ath heilsa, my Lord," he turned the square device that he was holding around, "if you could please put your mark in the registry." He waited patiently, with a pleasant smile on his face, while his Lord pressed his right thumb into the registry. "Thank you, m'Lord."

Frey stepped back and to the side to motion to his grandson. "Jay, this is Jarl Alsvartr. He works in the same position as Jarl Hjorthkron does on the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. You just need to do the same thing that you did with Jarl Hjorthkron." Frey looked back to his Jarl and spoke again. "You may approach the Royal Issuance."

"Thank you, m'Lord." The young Jarl took a step forward and put a reassuring smile on his face when he saw that the young boy was eyeing him with a wary little smile. He held out his device to the boy and gave his instructions. "Your Grace, all you need to do is press your mark into the box in the center of the screen, and you'll be done."

Holding out his little hand, Jay pressed his right thumb into the box and expected it to flash red at him again. When it didn't a little bit of a wider grin touched his lips. The nice Jarl from the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr was correct, he was registered now. And so quickly.

"Very well done, Your Grace. Thank you." Moving on, Jarl Alsvartr bowed respectfully to the Lord he never expected to see on this ship. "Lord Odin," he held out the registry, "if you would please place your mark in the registry." Placing his right thumb in the registry, Odin left his mark. The registrar moved on to the young man with crystalline eyes next. He made the most effort of his entire career to maintain a professional demeanor when the registry showed the young man as a Nornic emissary.

Suddenly a deep thumping rang throughout the King's docking bay as one of the small Karl-class fighters came up from the decks below. A maintenance crew came out to begin working on it. The thumping reminded Odin of the base of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr's song. An idea popped into his mind to distract him from his desire to not be the Battle Lord of Asgard anymore. He glanced down at Jay who still had a smile on his face. There was something else he wanted done that he hoped would be easy to do. When the Jarl thanked him he nodded politely and flared his seidr to Jay. Are you able to make one more song marble, or are you too tired?, his seidr whispered to his grandson.

Jay wanted to speak to reply, but there was a clandestine feel about the seidr whisper from his grandfather, so he replied in kind. I can make another one for you, if you'd like, his seidr whispered to Odin.

Can you make one for your Afi Frey? Does the Skithblathnir sing like the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr? I can assist you if you need it. Odin hoped that the ship did sing and couldn't see how it wouldn't. The warships were much alike in his estimation.

She sings like a rumbling storm! I heard her earlier, Jay flared his seidr back to Odin with a grin, I can make another song marble. Will it bother you if Afi Frey has one too?

No, it won't bother me at all. I want my brother to have this. It's a wonder to behold.

I'm so glad that you like yours. I'll ask if he wants one then. "Afi Frey?"

At the sound of his name Frey turned to his grandson, who had a grin on his face. He arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Can I borrow that device," Jay pointed to the registry device, "it accesses your ship's systems. There's something I want to show you."

It wasn't the request so much as Odin's smile and small nod that caused Frey to unfurl his seidr, grip the device, and pull it too his open hand. He stepped back over to his grandson holding out the device. Excitement tinged his thoughts as he hoped that he might get the same look at his ship that Odin had of the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. "What would you like to show me?"

Holding out his little hand, Jay touched the square device. His silver wings spread out from his back as his silver fires spread across the device. He accessed the ship's systems of the Skithblathnir, listening to her stormy song again. "Here, come and listen, Afi Frey." Jay put his other hand over his grandfather's hand on the device.

An overbearing wall of noise crashed down on Frey so that he nearly took his hand back. It was only because Jay had asked him to listen that he continued to. He suspected then that this was similar to what Odin had heard before he heard the beautiful song. He almost couldn't make out the individual noises, there were so many of them, but he tried anyway. Among the loudest of the noises was what he determined to be the drumming beat of footsteps through the hallways and sections. His people were moving about in the course of their duties. The drumbeat was a sharp rata-tat-tat. It sounded almost like rain against a window to him. When he made that determination he could better appreciate the next thing that he picked out; the whoosh of atmosphere as it moved through the ship. Frey thought it paired nicely with the drumbeat he was listening to. It was like wind propelling the rain. After that he picked out the hum of power in the walls, like the hum before and after a lightning strike. With every new sound the storm in his ears built until he could finally hear the beautiful song that Odin heard. It was the sum total of the noise that the Skithblathnir made, the noise of life and movement. "I can hear her singing." It's so beautiful! Just as Frey grasped it Jay withdrew, and he was sad to see it go. Frey had found his own beautiful song and he wanted a reminder of it. When he looked up he could see Jay was putting together a marble for him. It was done very quickly.

As Jay handed over the runed song marble he handed over his assessment to go with it. "Many similar things flowing side by side in powerful harmony, like the sky during a storm. This is the song of the Skithblathnir. It's your song."

Frey held up the marble and listened to the song again. It played crisply from about the miniature of his ship. It was just as beautiful in his hand as it was in the ship. "I'm going to put this in my office." Looking to his grandson, he smiled widely. "Thank you, Jay. This is wonderful." He gripped the marble with his unfurled seidr and dismissed it to the safety of his interdimensional pocket and handed the device back to the Jarl, who bowed respectfully and stepped back. "Thank you for your assistance, Jarl Alsvartr. It is appreciated. You may be dismissed back to your duties."

It is my honor to serve, my Lord. The young ship's registrar bowed deeply to his Lord, stepped backwards, and pivoted crisply to face the other direction. He went quickly back to his office to process the new data in the registry.

All of the concern and disquiet that Styraesmandr Varangr felt was kept pent up in her thoughts. Her Lord rarely ever brought guests to the flagship of his personal fleet, and certainly none so strange as this day. Her gaze went to the young man standing quietly with his hands folded in front of him. The crystal on the young man's face was the same color as her Lord's sunny seidr. It was odd and suspicious to her, though she didn't know what she suspected. When he looked over to her she stopped looking at him. The deep violet crystal in his eyes gave him an ethereal quality which unsettled her. After that was the Lord of Asgard who her Lord called 'brother'. Has a true peace been made between Asgard and us? How could it? That wasn't what unsettled her the most however, since she wasn't one of the people who spat on the idea of peace between the two kingdoms. Despite serving on a warship she was no warmonger. She was more practical than that. No, what unsettled her more than the young man, or the surprise visit by a Lord not her own, was the young boy. The acting styraesmandr fought to convince herself that she hadn't seen what she definitely did. Firehawks are legends, not little boys. It can't be that, but what else could it be? The fires, the wings, the power, it's all there, but it cannot be!

"Come, Styraesmandr Varangr. We're going now." Frey noticed his acting styraesmandr looking over Jay and thought that she'd probably deduced what Jay was. It was fine by him since he planned on telling her anyway. She was a very trustworthy person after all.