A/N: Hey all!
Hope you are enjoying the story so far. If you have anything you want to say about it, feel free to leave a review. I love hearing from readers.
By the way, if the picture associated with this story wasn't obvious, that's what Mjolnir looks like. If any of you aren't aware of where the hammer is from, it's God of War's version of Mjolnir. It's just a better design.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this next chapter.
The next day I called my work and told them I was going on a sabbatical, family related thing, which boss wasn't too happy about but gave me well wishes and told me to tell him when I got back. Mary and Harald were both out of town for family stuff so all I did was leave a message for them. They know I'm stronger than a normal person, but they never knew everything about me. They've been my friends for a little over a year, which happened pretty quickly, but I don't know if they are going to be around forever, so for now I'm keeping all this between me and my family.
I said my goodbyes to my mother. After longer than usual hugs, a few tears, and a promise to visit as often as possible, I was off on my own. I was about to pack some clothes and food, but she told me that if Tyr was taking me where she thought he was taking me, then I wouldn't need it. Saying it was best to just go light, and when I found out where I was staying, if I was staying with them, I can come back and take what I need or want.
At first I thought she was joking, or just wanted to have an excuse to make me come home sooner, but it appeared she actually meant it. The thing that convinced me was she invited Samira over, and she was at the door when I left. We didn't talk very long, since I was interested in getting the hell out of earshot before they started whatever it was they were going to start. Judging by the look on my mom's face, it wasn't just a conversation.
So, clad in cargo pants, boots, a t-shirt, plaid hooded button up, and a thick jacket, and a face and neck warmer to be used as a half mask, I went bounding from rooftop to rooftop until I reached the city limits. From there, I sprinted as fast as I could push myself to go. I tried staying out of sight, as to avoid drawing attention to myself, which I think worked, but I couldn't have been too sure. I made it to Eagle Mountain this time in three hours. This time I was pushing myself so I actually felt it, but I wondered if this meant I could build on my speed and strength through effort, or if it would be a gradual thing that would just happen over time. I don't know how this kind of thing works for gods. Questions for later.
Approaching the cliff I can see there were still search and rescue crews here, trying to retrieve the van. Everything else looks to be cleaned up. I decide to avoid that so I start hopping up the side of the mountain, which is a lot easier than I thought it would be.
Reaching the top I see trees and a man standing right in front of me.
"Shit!" I stumble backwards in shock and almost go ass over tea kettle off the cliff, but a hand shoots out and grabs me, pulling me with more strength then I was expecting into the woods, nearly tossing me on my ass.
"You should be paying more attention to your surroundings little brother." Tyr mocks.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the save." I look around to check to see if anybody else is around, focusing my senses to see if I pick up anything. So far nothing save the people talking below and the animals around... wait. I can hear people... from Fawcett City. Well, that's new.
"Your power is growing. That's good. Probably wouldn't have hurt to fall from this distance." I shake my head in confirmation. "Excellent. Perhaps you are ready. Heimdall!"
"Ready for-JESUS!" Next to us, what I can only describe as a technicolor ring opens up, and out of it extends a rainbow arch bridge that touches down to the ground in front of us. Tyr immediately steps onto it and before he crosses the threshold, turns to me with a smug look.
"Little jumpy today are we?"
"I swear I'll slap that smug look off your face." Tyr gives a boisterous laugh as he gestures for me to follow. I grumble about stupid half siblings and follow him with no hesitation.
It's kind of funny that I was half expecting to step right through it. Of course, the bridge is somewhat transparent, but it's completely solid. The bridge itself looks like an old school bridge from the medieval era, with waist high walls on either side.
Stepping through the portal feels like stepping into a cold wall of water that quickly warms up as you get to the other side.
"Holy... shit!" Looking around, the bridge seems to be endless and all around us is... space? It's the cosmos, I can just see stars all over the place. The bridge itself being the strongest source of light.
Tyr has walked about ten feet away from the entry point, and stops to look at me. He's so proud of himself right now for getting me to drop my jaw.
"This, my dear brother, is the main method of transportation for the Nine Realms. Asgard has control of it, so we may use it freely."
"The Bifrost?" He nods. "Are we... are we in space?" At this he laughs.
"Yes and no. The rainbow bridge, as it is sometimes referred to, is just that. Only it's a bridge in a wormhole, allowing those without the ability to fly to use it as well as any air or space craft, as well as flying gods. In fact, you can move a whole army and an armada through it." Well, now I know why Asgard and the Aesir are the most dominant gods in the pantheon.
"So, what happens if you fall off?" I begin to follow the one-handed man, or I guess god, as he begins to explain the bridge to me.
"Well, if you're lucky, you won't land too far off from where you intended to go. Otherwise, you're probably falling to a completely different realm or planet. Either that or you end up in a random location in the universe. Worst case scenario is you end up in a star or in the event horizon of a black hole." He says it with such nonchalance.
"Riiight! Okay, not going to risk that. Maybe I should just military crawl across." Tyr laughs at me again, and I think about tossing him over the edge. I was being serious. He and I were taller than most people, so those waist high walls only came up to our thighs.
"Oh, should probably mention to, in case you are unaware, wormholes basically bend time and space. We can use the bridge to cross great distances with virtually no time passing at all. Falling over the side however isn't just a concern of where you end up, but also when." The emphasis on the end told me there's a story there, one I would be asking about soon.
"So you're saying you can accidentally time travel falling off this thing?"
"Basically."
"Awesome." I'm only being half sarcastic with that response. The other half is genuine wonder. "So, how do we get to where ever we are going? It looks like the bridge never ends."
"It technically doesn't." I raise a brow, wondering if there was any really truth to that. Focusing my vision, I look as far down the rainbow bridge as I can. Sure enough, I see no end. It just keeps going as far as all the starts that look to be light years away. "It's all about will, like any kind of magic. Heimdall helps with this. He wills the bridge to open to us. We normally can tell him before or after entering the Bifrost where we intend on going, for he can see and hear us even here. Usually, the default is to take us back to Asgard. However, we are going somewhere else on Midgard first."
I think for a moment where he may be referring, until I remember what my mother said about Mjolnir last night.
"We're going to Norway." He snaps his fingers with a nod as confirmation. A second or two later a portal opens up in front us. It's so sudden it startles me again, but this time not as badly. There's also a difference from the last portal. Before, I couldn't see through the damn thing. It was just a an endless tunnel of colours. This portal is displaying mountain region in the middle of blizzard.
As we step through, the feeling is in reverse. Warm wall of liquid, quickly cooling, until we step out into the freezing cold. Though, another feeling became very present for me. Something powerful was nearby.
"Fokka! It's freezing out here! What did you do with my cloak anyway!" Right. His cloak.
"Uh, I kind of left it with the kid! Figured he needed it more than us!" The harsh winds in this snow storm were almost deafening. If it wasn't for our enhanced hearing, we wouldn't be able to communicate with our words.
"Oh really! You just decided for me that he could keep the damn thing! I bet he isn't in a raging blizzard such as this one!" I roll my eyes at him. I could feel how cold it was, but it didn't really bother me at all. Perks of being the God of Storms I suppose. "Do you mind calming this storm down?! What are you waiting for?!"
"I don't know how to do that!" Clearly we are on a completely different page about what the extent of my abilities are at the moment.
"What do you mean you don't know how to do that?! You did it YESTERDAY!" He seems pretty incredulous about this.
"NO I didn't! What I did YESTEDAY, dear BROTHER, was calm the storm that I caused when I was highly emotional, stressed, and ANGRY! I've never even attempted to control the weather when I wasn't the direct cause!" At this Tyr throws his hand in the air and shouts some obscenity before pacing a bit. Meanwhile, I'm trying to focus on where that power is coming from. Power was the only way I could describe it.
It felt like a tempest. I mean yes, technically with how violent these winds are, you could say what I am standing in is a tempest. I suppose it does feel connected, but no, what I mean is there's a source somewhere in this chaos. I just can't pin point it with all this commotion.
"Alright!" Tyr calls my attention. "Now's the time to try!"
"How?! If you have any suggestions on what to do, go for it! Maybe my previous iteration gave you hints as to how he controlled the weather!" Tyr nods as he points at the sky.
"The rain storm you caused yesterday! How did you do it!" How many times do I have to say it man.
"I don't know! My emotions become too much for me some times and-"
"-EXACTLY! Use your emotions! Every time you're the cause of violent weather changes, it's because you are beset by overwhelming emotion! Something you aren't actively doing, but having happen to you! Until you reign it in!" Oh I see. Wait... Tyr you brilliant bastard.
"So you're saying I should channel my emotions! Get myself angry or something like that!" He nods his head vigorously as he begins to rub his arm and dance around. I would have imagined gods could withstand the cold, but maybe because of the circumstance this was a lot harder. I mean, honestly, I can feel it. It's actually getting worse. Still, it's not bothering me that much. Mostly my senses are messed up here.
"Precisely! Maybe if you were to will yourself to feel however you feel when you cause storms, maybe it will infuse your will into the area, and you can command the storm to halt!" I mean it sounds insane and kind of like esoteric 'manifest your dreams' crap... but what else can I do.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my breathing, normally I slow my heart-rate by taking meticulously controlled and slow breaths, and calm my mind. Instead, I attempt to quicken the rate by breathing heavy and fast, and focus my mind on the chaos around me.
"By Odin's Beard! Thor! STOP!" I open my eyes, my focus snapping to my surroundings and I see that I have ultimately made things worse. Tyr was now being tossed around by the hurricane I just conjured, and now the blizzard was chucking around hard pellets of hail.
"Damn it! I- I can't..." Tyr was struggling to speak as he was being tossed around. I myself was starting to feel my feet levitate off the ground, but I did my best to stay grounded. It wasn't working.
Now, the winds were so harsh and loud that I could not hear a thing other then the tempest before me. The snow and hail whipping around like a tornado of frozen death, The sky pitch black, and only getting darker. Tyr, a God, disappearing in the dark, and now I see it.
In this storm, this tempest, I see eyes. Not the red from my dreams, but a dark hue of blue with lavender streams of light on the edges. Fear and rage fills my heart, and lightning strikes in the background. As it does, a form becomes visible to me. Not the form of the God of War, but something much larger. Much more... ancient. At least it feels old to me.
The lightning strikes again, and I can make out a shape. Very vaguely humanoid but more fluid, able to make itself apart of the storm. The swirling snow and hail writhe in a formation to make it's form, blending in with the blizzard itself... or it is the blizzard. The lightning strikes again and it looks to originate from the entities mind, and travels through it's body like veins, like circuitry.
It's staring at me. A judgmental glare. I now feel it more clearly. The fear, the hatred, the rage, the blood lust, it feels like it's coming from me, but it's definitely coming from this thing. I can feel it's malice.
It... it's sentient? It... it was resting. In it's sleep it was protecting itself with this never ending blizzard. No man, at least, no mortal man, would risk this trek. It was sleeping and I woke it up. The eyes shift now looking at Tyr who seems to be trying to cast something, but he gets tossed again. It's interrupting him.
Lightning strikes again, but closer now. No. It's not coming from the sky, or it's mind. It's coming from it's heart. It's not a human. It's form doesn't work the same. If anything, it's probably a concept, a pillar of existence... a god? Where's it's source? It's heart? It strikes again, and I can see it. It's at the top of the highest peek in Norway. Galdhopiggen. It's...
"MJOLNIR!" I shout at the top of my lungs. I can barely hear myself, but this entity snaps its gaze back at me. It seems to peer into my soul. I feel it's judgement.
I don't belong.
"CALM THYSELF! I HAVE RETURNED! YOU WILL NOT BE ALONE ANY LONGER!" Thunder roars for the first time, despite the proximity of those previous lighting strikes, and the clouds behind it seem to form into it's mouth and open as it screams its rage at me.
I left it alone.
"NO! THAT WAS THE OTHER THOR! I'M NEW! HE DIED! I'M HERE!" I spread my arms wide, and let the winds lift me off the ground, my palms facing outwards. I realize I've unintentionally entered a Jesus Christ pose as I'm drawn closer to the peak.
I am weak.
"YOU WILL OBEY! RELEASE TYR!" I rage as hard as I can against the Tempest. "WE ARE UNITED! I AM THE GOD OF THUNDER!" The rumbling thunder in the background sounds like laughter. Amused by my proclamation.
The winds start to throw me around as well. It becomes even harder to hear, to see, but I do not break my gaze from it's eyes. I remain locked onto the being as it toys with us. It's fear, it's hatred, I wish to be rid of it's emotions. I will use my own.
"GODS BE DAMNED! YOU WILL STOP! THIS! NOOOOW!" This time, I yell, and I don't stop. I scream my battle cry as loud and as long as I can as I think about never knowing where I belonged, being alone, about the sacrifices my mom made for me, my nightmares of the encroaching darkness, Billy and his family, and I let out everything.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The eyes grow wide. I feel a bit of terror, but it's mixed with a new found respect... no... not new... old. It's recognition.
The harsh winds slow, the hail ceases to pelt us, and as we are brought back down to the ground, the thunder stops booming across the sky, and the lighting only crawls across the clouds, but doesn't spike out. The Tempest takes one last look at me, before those eyes fade, and the storm ends.
The weather however, does not clear up. For now, it's lightly snowing, and I can only imagine what that means.
"Well-hah- doen brother." I turn to my left and I see Tyr sitting up, apparently having been put in a shallow layer of snow, of which he was rising out of.
"I'm not... I... thank you." I look around to see where we landed, and noticed that we are now basically on the peak of Galdhopiggen now, where before we were across the way on the other mountain. "It carried us here."
"What did?" Tyr looks perplexed.
"The Tempest." His expression doesn't change, only his eyes move to blink before he responds.
"The what?" I point to the peak where Mjolnir likely is, and he follows my finger. "The... hammer?"
"It was sleeping." I begin the rest of the trek up the mountain to our destination. A still confused God of War following behind me.
"Are you implying that your hammer is sentient? I mean, we've always suspected, and the last Thor would always talk to it, but to hear you confirm-"
"It's sentient. Maybe it's not the hammer itself, but you felt it didn't you? It's fear, it's hatred, it's blood lust?" I keep my focus on the point where the hammer is. It's half buried in snow, the handle being the only thing sticking out.
"My apologies, brother, but I felt only the harsh wet winds and the pelting of hail against my face. You have always been more in tune with nature, and the environment in such an... empathetic way." That's interesting to know. I suppose it would make sense, given the nature of my godhood, the domains I am supposedly in charge of. "I would mention, before Thor ever lifted the hammer, it didn't act like that."
"Maybe it's an enchantment thing Odin had on it before he did. Or... maybe it was added by Thor himself before he passed. Either way, it was sleeping when we got here. That blizzard was a deterrent of sorts. Like a cloaking system, or way to scare away those that would hunt for it. When I tried connecting to the Tempest to quell it's violent winds, I woke it up, and I unintentionally scared it... I think it... I think it fears Thor... or hates him, uh, me. It could also have just been a base instinct to protect itself. Either way, when I woke it up, it attacked us. But... it then seemed to be judging us. As if it was trying to determine something." Tyr 'hmms' at my explanation and grows silent for the time being.
Since I have nothing else to say, we walk in silence the rest of the way up the peak. As we get closer, the feeling I had before, of that raw power, was getting stronger. Now that the blizzard was over, it wasn't like a fog cloud enveloping our senses, but now a lighthouse calling to those travellers returning home. Yet something still felt wrong.
Getting to the hammer, I can see it's handle spark a pit, the vast majority of the head was hidden by frozen snow. Tyr stands by, just waiting to see what happens. I can feel a hum in my ears, the closer I get. Before I realize it I put my hand on the handle and grasp it tightly. And when I lift... nothing.
"Quit playing games little brother. Pick up Mjolnir and let's go. It tire of this place." I frown as I attempt again and again to lift the hammer. I plant my feet and heave as hard as I can, cracking the frozen snow around it, sinking my feet into the snow. I only feel the slightest of give, but it won't budge.
"Well then I guess you have to take a nap until I figure out how to lift this thing." I begin punching the frozen ground around the hammer to break it up. The ground splits part easily enough, freeing the head of the hammer.
Mjolnir's handle looks to be made of sturdy wood, with black leather wrapping around it. The bottom of the handle has a gold pommel with a swirl patterns going a few centimetres up the handle from the bottom. There are three sockets on the handle that have gold pieces in them. Though I'm not 100% sure I wouldn't be surprised if they were there for conductive purposes. The hammer head is somewhat T shaped with a point in the middle. It's thick, and has runes and various Norse etchings engraved on both of the face sides of the hammer. In addition to this, there are golden inlays around the bottom curve of the hammer that starts at the top of the handle and spreads to either side of the bottom edge of the head, ending near the striking point. In the midst of the engraved runes, there is three sockets, two small ones, and one larger one, with similar gold pieces in them as the three in the handle.
As I'm looking at the runes, the language is being deciphered in my mind. Finding that I can translate the Norse language without ever having learned it in it's entirety, I tilt my head to read the words. Most of them are unclear to me their purpose, but there is something that sticks out more than the others.
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, may wield the power of Thor." After reading it out loud Tyr sighs and I just look at him confused. "What does that mean?" He shakes his head as he places his face in his left hand, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know why the All-Father wouldn't tell me about this... actually, yes I do." Walking up to the hammer, Tyr bends down and attempts to lift it, with similar results. "Odin's beard. This is frustrating."
"Okay, you'll have to explain that Odin's Beard thing to me at some point. Right now, I'm just wondering what it means by worthy. As in, what are the hammers standards? Wow, that sounded stranger than I expected it to. Anyway, if you have any ideas I'm all ears." Tyr stands up and crosses his arms, placing his left hand on his chin.
"Hmm. Heimdall! Send us to Urdarbrunnr!" The Well of Urd? That sounds familiar to me, but I can't seem to place where I've heard it before. I think it's under the World Tree... Oh.
"We're going to see the Norns. Interesting."
"Aye. They are likely to have answers on how to overcome this hurtle. Possibly still, an answer as to why it's been placed here in the first place." I nod as we are now walking on the Bifrost once more, the infinite void around us, separated by the magic creating this connection between realms. Which reminds me.
"So, I have to ask. Seeing as the Bifrost is a wormhole, so to speak, does that mean the realms are separated by dimensions? Or other universes? Or are they just separate planets in different parts of the cosmos?" Tyr stopped moving on the bridge, turning to me with a small smile. He puts his hands out to gesture around us, as if to showcase the entirety of the stars in the backdrop of our current location.
"It's some what complicated and probably best to ask Heimdall, Freyja, or the All-Father himself. They may give a more thoroughly detailed answer than I ever could."
"Try me. Even if it is just layman's terms, it will give me a basis to work off of. I'm just curious if when I can fly, if I can fly, that I can fly from Midgard to the other nine realms." Tyr gives me a nod and a look of realization.
"Oh I see. The answer then would be... mostly no."
"What does that mean." Tyr turns as he points to the stars behind him.
"Let's take for example where this wormhole may be. What the All-Father and Heimdall have concluded is that the Bifrost doesn't exist on the anywhere on the physical plane. You have to summon an opening to use it. So, this void behind us, where you can see stars in the distance, where is it? According to them, they don't know. I believe it's just something to look at as to not give an ominous sense of Nihilism when surrounded by complete darkness. Regardless, Heimdall can look into the Bifrost with the magic he uses to open it, but he can't see it the way he sees everything else. He doesn't look upon it, or hear in it when it's closed. It's as if it doesn't exist until it's willed into existence. I don't really understand how all that works myself and I don't really need to, it's not my responsibility. Nor does it really interest me that much. That said, Midgard, and the other realms, do not exist on the same plane. The only place you can fly to from any of the Nine Realms is Yggdrasil."
"The centre of The Universe?" Tyr shakes his head at my query.
"The Centre of The Multiverse." I stroke my beard as I contemplate what that means. There are only more questions and less answers. Well, at least I know there's no point in me trying to fly to the other realms.
"Okay, so does that mean parallel Earths, or rather Midgards, don't exist? Multiverse theory is wrong? For example, I am with you, searching for a way to lift Mjolnir, where as in an alternate universe, events played out differently, and I'm still Thor, or already have the hammer, or was never born, or the previous Thor never died. If that isn't how the multiverse works, does that mean the nine realms are the multiverse? Are we the only ancient mythological gods that exist? What about the Tuatha De Danann, the Feylands and the fairies from Irish Mythology? Or what about Olympus, and Hades from Greek Mythology? Or-"
"Thor, enough!" His shout startles me out of my rambling as I focus on his eyes. He seemed exceptionally angry with me, and I was not entirely sure why.
"You just can't help yourself can you?" He's becoming a bit more snappy with me as well. I search his face and eyes for reason, but I don't really know him well enough to accurately guess his rationale for being upset with me.
"Sorry, I just... want to understand..." Tyr's angry glare persists only for a moment after my apology, and than fades to exasperation.
"You don't need to know everything, little brother. Let's just find out how to lift your hammer." He turns away from me and starts traversing the bridge. Leaving me to question why he doesn't want to answer my questions. I wish to push for answers on the things I should probably know, but decide against it for the time being. There will be time for it later.
Once again a portal opens to us, and on the other side looks to be an underground tomb or secret lair. The walls were mostly stone bricks, with various elevated platforms.
Stepping through, I become immediately aware of how warm it is in this space. It's not musty, but its humid in the enclosed location. Well, despite it being underground, the ceiling was quite high, and made of what looks to be silver-ashen bark.
From the ceiling sprouts silver barked roots, that sprawl down along the walls and wrap around a few of the elevated platforms. We are standing on a landing half way down a staircase. Behind us leads up and out of the area, but it is not clear where exactly. Below us is a pool about ten feet in diameter, with three stone pillars spaced evenly around it. This must be the well.
Tyr descends the steps and I trail behind him, looking around at this marvel. Some how, despite their being no torches, there is a blue hue to the area, light that doesn't seem to be produced from anywhere specific. It is brightest in the wells water itself, but the light reaches places that are blocked by pieces of architecture or roots.
"It smells like a forest down here. There's something else to it though. Almost like... a fruity smell." On top of it all there is a mysticism to this place. I can sense the otherworldly location I was in. I felt it less on the Bifrost, but here it was more than obvious. It was a fundamental truth that could not be ignored.
"Aye." Is Tyr's only response.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, I can see that not only does this place feel different from anything I'd likely find on Earth, but it's architecture even looks to be made by something out of my world. Which I suppose it is. It is all very... exciting. Even the water in the well looks unnaturally clear.
"Come, Thor. The well is not our responsibility." As he says this, a few robed figures seemingly appear out of nowhere. They startle me, which causes my guard to go up.
When they see my reaction they hesitate, looking between myself and Tyr. Tyr grunts at me and I realize I've scared them. Bowing my head I apologize and they seem to relax as they move towards the well, producing what look to be silver wooden jugs. They lean over and gather water from the well, which surprisingly doesn't seem to disturb the surface of the liquid even remotely. Once they have gathered enough water, they move towards the more ashen roots that have sprawled down into this mystical space, and begin to water them. The colour instantly is restored to it's silver state, rejuvenating the roots of the tree this well is under.
"They keep Yggdrasil from dying." I am astonished. I have entered the realm of the Gods, and am already coming to the realization that nothing is forever. As old as The World Tree may be, or any of the gods themselves, nothing truly lasts forever. One day these Norns won't be here. The roots with dye and rot, and Ragnarok will come to pass. I am both scared and oddly comforted by this truth.
"Erik Torsten and Tyr enter Urdarbrunnr, the new soon to be god in wonder, the old god impatient to get things back to the way they were. For change is terrifying even to one such as The God of War. Tyr is the first to speak." The female voice that is now filling my ears sounds like a mother telling a story to a child. Calm, knowledgeable, but I do not sense kindness, nor do I sense malice. It is just, matter-o-fact.
Tyr growls in frustration.
"I don't like these games." "I don't like these games. He He" I notice a smaller woman... maybe a girl, with shoulder length brown hair, runic tattoos, and shamanistic robes, pop out from behind one of the pillars in the room, brushing past Tyr as they speak, with a playful hop in her step, spinning like she's dancing as she says the words he does in perfect sync. I notice her eyes as she spins are solid gold, and she's smiling from ear to ear. He speaks with agitation, she sounds as if she is enjoying a game. Giggling after she says the words and disappearing behind another pillar. This does make me wonder...
"The Reborn God contemplates the extent of the Norns ability to see the threads of Fate, as well as how Skuld just disappeared behind that stone." The first voice speaks again, narrating our actions and movement.
"I didn't realize you could read minds." "I didn't realize you could read minds." The girl comes out from a different location that I didn't see. I didn't see you leave the pillar she had initially went behind, so clearly these Norns have powers beyond seeing the future.
"We don't read minds silly boy. We are not superheroes, like the Martians, or the half-damned Raven. We simply know the script." A different voice now speaks, a bit older, and not tired but, exasperated. As if she has explained this to everybody she's ever met and tired of it. Did she say Martians? What's a half-damned Raven?
"Urd speaks true, little godling. You will come to meet these beings one day. That poor girl will need your help, and you will raise the most dangerous being in all of creation to do it." Tyr claps my shoulder, drawing my attention to him.
"Tyr gives a stern look to his little brother."
"Pay attention to what they say." "Pay attention to what they say. He he." Tyr rolls his eyes at Skuld's antics. His words tell me that I am definitely getting valuable information. If I'm going to face something like that though...
"How do I lift Mjolnir?" "How do I lift Mjolnir?" As I ask my question, I sense something behind me, and spin around to face whatever it is.
"The young destroyer does not like Urd sneaking up on him. Even less so in this foreign place. " The voice that speaks belongs to the first speaker, and not the woman in front of me.
Urd is older, with long grey hair, though she barely has any wrinkles, I can tell in her voice that she is likely the oldest of the three. She is dressed similarly to her sister, but is carrying a staff that looks to be made of a tree branch from Yggdrasil. It is silver with blue-black oval shaped leaves at the top of it.. She is a bit wider, where as Skuld is slim, and she has a bigger nose and wider mouth. Her eyes are similarly solid luminescent gold. From the sides of her head she sprouts one horn each. She begins to speak.
"You have already read the enchantment on the hammer. No, you seek what all seek when they come here. You seek to know your place in the cosmos, to know your destiny. The end of your story."
"Erik feels a sense of despair well up in his heart. The nightmares he's been having. The Great Darkness approaches, and he wishes for the means to fight these New Gods." Since Urd and Skuld have been identified, the narrator of the trio had to be Verdandi.
"What do you me- SHUT UP!" "What do you me- SHUT UP! Ha ha ha!" Tyr seems absolutely fed up with Skuld. He ignores her pretty quickly however in favour of addressing Verdandi, who apparently had shown herself when I was looking at Urd. Verdandi looks like a younger Urd, with brown hair instead of grey, but her eyes are also gold, and her horns are shorter. Skuld must have horns but are barely visible. "...admittedly, a lot of what you have said has come to pass, but Thor wasn't supposed to die before Ragnarok. Seeing as how Baldur still lives, and is indestructible, and Erik's existence as the next iteration of Thor, should prove that destiny can be subverted."
"There is no destiny. No grand design. Only the choices you make. Thor is and always has been a destroyer. Despite his ability to sacrifice, and to act on instinct, or without self-awareness, his selflessness would always wane. His self-righteousness giving the Tempest enough influence to lead to the slaughter of many who are deserving, and many who are not. This enchantment will only delay the inevitable. You are the sum of your choices, nothing more. And because your choices never change, you will become worthy, lift Mjolnir, form a League in the name of your brother, and face the forces of Apocalypse that wish to consume Vanaheim, before moving on to the rest of the Nine Realms, only to give in to your desires to protect your mother, leading the dark destroyer to do what he does best... and then Ragnarok."
"The skies burn, the dark curtains fall. Exeunt Omnes." Verdandi walks up next to Urd, who has now taken a seat on a stone bench I had not noticed before. Maybe they could just form it whenever they wished.
"My mother? Vanaheim? When?!" The younger of the two eldest laughs as she turns to Urd.
"Again, he misses the point. Just like last time." Urd smirks as she looks up to her sister.
"Focuses on the second act to the exclusion of the finale. A common mistake in story craft." This was getting tiring. I'm beginning to understand why Tyr told me to pay attention to them, but also am garnering an understanding as to why he dislikes their theatrics.
"The godling wishes to snap our necks, disgruntled by our methods. By our words. He might just lunge at us, but Tyr steps in."
"We are leaving." "We are leaving." Skuld comes back and perches her self on an elevated part of the bench, now all three are next to each other. A sense of frustration at our current level of understanding barely changing at all lingers over me like a cloud. Outside, I can hear thunder, and the room is still as all snap their attention to me. The three sisters never stop smiling though.
Tyr turns me around and we start-
"The half-brothers turn to leave, stomping their way out of the realm of the Norns. A storm forming in his heart." Verdandi's narration grates on my ears as we make our way up the steps towards the exit.
"It was fun to see this subtle change in your story Thor. I enjoyed it very much. It's a shame it will end so soon after it was rebooted." After Urd's farewell all three sisters begin laughing at us as we get closer to the exit.
"There is no killing here. It is sacred grounds. You and Odin both deemed it as so in your past life. A way to ensure they will always be here to consult, as irritating as they can be." I growl in frustration. "Besides, despite their games, we got what we wanted."
"What did we get? Mockery? More doom on the horizon?" Tyr smiled as he stops me at the top of the steps.
"They may be insufferable at times, but we know what it takes for you to become worthy now. Not to mention, they rarely speak so plainly. Heimdall! To Nidavellir!" The Bifrost opens to us once more, and Tyr steps onto the first bridge, but I grab his wrist and stop him in his tracks. He looks back at me with bewilderment. "Why are you stopping me?"
"We're going to the Dwarves? We should be checking on Vanaheim." Tyr sighs as he pats me on the shoulder.
"Heimdall can see and hear all the realms. He is already che- wait what?" Tyr grows quiet for a minute before he curses. "Bloody Vanir... okay. Look, we need to equip you before we go to battle. The Dwarves will make you some armour and a weapon. After they've taken your measurements and we've determined what weapon you'll be using, they'll get to work on making it, and we'll get to work on sharpening your skills for battle."
I grunt in response to his plan as I walk past him through the portal.
Tyr's earlier unwillingness to answer my questions and the half-answers that the Sisters gave us really wore down on my patience. I could use something to hit, without blacking out for once, to let off some steam. So I suppose Tyr's plan wasn't a terrible idea after all.