Capítulo 67: Two
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
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A couple hours later, the noise of the door opening brings me out of my meditation, to the view of Loki, with a look of relief on his face. I ask, "The talk went alright?"
Loki nods and takes a seat at a chair. He says, "Yes. My idiotic son agreed to our deal. Are you sure you can protect them from the backlash?"
I cross my hands, feeling insulted that he questioned it. I answer, "Where I'll take your kids, is so far away from Midgard, that the wave of Yggdrasil's energy won't even reach. And even if it does, I'll have made your sons a part of my pantheon by then. You get to save your sons from a world of pain, and I'll get the potion I asked for. I also get three new Gods to add to my pantheon. You remember the deal, don't tell me you're backing out of it?"
Loki sighs and mumbles, "As much as I want to take them away from here myself, I cannot. So no, I'm not backing out of our deal. Are you still not going to tell me how you know about the potion?"
"No." I say plainly. The potion I'm speaking of is a personal invention of Loki, and he hasn't used it yet. Not even once. The only reason I know about it, is that I remember reading about it in my past life.
Loki snorts, and says, "Well, let's go then. Better not to keep the Gods above Gods waiting. We can visit my children and take them away from here then, and you can have your potion."
I nod, and stand up to follow Loki. He was invested in this mission, and why wouldn't he be. No manipulator likes being manipulated. What the Norns do for the Gods above Gods, is manipulation of fate, and Loki likes to keep his fate in his own hands.
Soon, we reach a random spot outside Asgard's palace, close to the forest when Loki stops. There were no other Gods here, as opposed to right outside Asgard, nor were there any dangerous animals.
What was here though, was interesting.
"Huh. A wormhole." I mumble, looking at the invisible to usual eyes crack in the space. A natural portal, that leads to somewhere, present in a Pocket Dimension? That's.. unusual, to say the least.
"Not quite." Loki corrects, and before I can ask, he explains, "These are the Old Ways. Before the invention of the Bifrost, the denizens of the Nine Realms would use these to get from any Realm to any other Realm. These Gates do not bend space in any way, shape or form, so they do not count as Wormholes. They just.. take you there."
I nod, understanding that this falls under the 'It just does!' category, and ask, "Where does this one lead then?"
Loki smirks, and says, "This one leads to right underneath Asgard. The lowest point in fact. Come."
And with no warning, Loki walks through the Gate, and disappears. Sighing, and putting my guard up, I walk through after Loki, and with a flash of light, see that I'm in a different place.
This place was a cave, with what looked like a giant tree trunk, with little to no leaves, and only a few branches, rising from the ground beneath me, and going through the ceiling above. Loki was a fair distance away, looking at the branch, and I approach him.
"This is impressive. The amount of magic within this tree is more than the amount within both of us combined!" I whisper, looking at the tree trunk in awe.
Loki chuckles, and says, "Oh naïve Theos. This is not a tree. This is a single, very small branch of the World Tree, the Yggdrasil. This cave is the only place in Asgard where this branch is visible, and solid. Elsewhere, the branches are intangible as well as invisible, and only the most knowledgeable even sense its existence."
Damn, that's.. wow. Even I did not realize that something like this was present on Asgard. Probably only someone very familiar with the Magic of Asgard will recognise it.
As I keep staring at the branch of Yggdrasil in awe, Loki says, "Shall we start?"
I nod, and bring my focus back to task. Approaching the Yggdrasil branch, I sit down in front of it, and motion Loki to sit beside me. As he does, I place my hand on the branch and begin using Echolocation, a bit more actively than before.
As my Echolocation does its work, I begin seeing an infinite cosmos, although definitely not the one I know of. There were stars, planets, black holes, and most importantly, a shit ton of Magic. My Echolocation begins covering everything that the Yggdrasil covers, which includes the other realms
I see everyone and everything, from the deepest pits of Helheim, to the Three Wells of Yggdrasil. It was all.. magnificent, but I still keep my focus on finding something more, something hidden.
As I do that, for the sake of Loki's mind, I explain, "From what Odin and you told me, these Gods above Gods feed from the energy released by the Ragnarok, each time. This means, they must be somewhere that doesn't get harmed even a little bit even after repeated cycles."
"Yggdrasil. So that's why you asked for a 'physical representation of Yggdrasil'. You believe you're able to traverse the Yggdrasil and find the place they're hiding in? What makes you think we didn't try it?" Loki asks, placing his hand on my shoulder to see what I'm seeing, and mumbles, "How are you doing this?"
"To answer your first question, yes. I do believe that I am able to traverse the Yggdrasil, and I can definitely find anyone hiding there. How? I am the son of Gaea, Loki. She's The Nature God. Yggdrasil came 3 Billion years after her own birth, and it was formed because of her own machinations. Yggdrasil is just as much part of her, as she is of Midgard. It's just.. far more powerful." I say, frowning and closing my eyes.
I then add, "Along with that, I'm also the Elder God Theos of Andalok, a Nature God of my own, and a Skyfather with no connection to Yggdrasil. I am more likely to see irregularities, than you lot are, because my mind isn't susceptible to the powers of the Gods above Gods."
What I said was bullshit, tinged with a bit of truth. If I tried to use my Nature God Powers on Yggdrasil, I would either go crazy from the amount of Magic present within it, or I would ascend to the level of my mother, and I cannot bet on which is more likely.
Right now, I was using my Cosmic Energy to weed out any irregularities within the tree, and have already found a few. The Wells of Nornheim having been abandoned for one, with Thor being the only person there. For a moment, I felt someone else looking at me, and through me, but before I could identify them, they were gone.
And then there's this. There was a spot on Yggdrasil, at a location above Asgard, where my sight failed me for once.
"Sorry what did you say?" I ask, observing the spot and realizing that Loki just said something.
Loki says, "I asked why do you think our minds have been played with. I assure you, my mind is my own, and no one is allowed to get away with manipulating my mind."
I snort, take my hand off the Yggdrasil, turn to Loki, and ask, "Do you know how many years this cycle is going on? Constant death and rebirth? A billion years. Each cycle amounting to a million to two million years, with the longest one being 2.5 million years. This means that at least 400 times, this cycle has already happened. 400 times, either one of your siblings, you, or your parents, have tried ending Ragnarok, and they still failed. What does that tell you?"
Loki, who looks grim now, answers, "Someone ensured that They wouldn't be found by any Asgardian. If Odin, with all his Knowledge couldn't do it, then no Asgardian can."
"Don't be stupid, boy!" a rough sound snarls, making me smile. I was wondering when he would show up. Loki startles, and looks up. Both of us turn to our side, to see a giant Aesir, standing and glaring at both of us.
He ignores me, and turns to Loki. He says, "You think there's no hope? No Aesir can find those bastards, doesn't mean no one else can't. Theos is here just for that."
"Who are you?" Loki asks instead, summoning a pair of daggers, and pointing them at Buri, his great grandfather. By adoption.
Bori snorts, and waves his hand. With that wave, Loki gets bound by his own clothes, and pushed into an ice chair that materialized behind him.
Chuckling at Loki's glare, I go towards Buri, and hug the giant man. He was almost twice my height, and wider than me by a big margin.
"How are you, Buri? I didn't think to find you here." I ask, patting his back as he brings me up in a hug.
He gives me a gentle hug, which definitely broke a few of my ribs, and laughs heartily. He says, "I have been good, Theos. And I wasn't going to come, having lost my will to save them all, but your mother sort of forced me to come here."
I had met Buri sometime around my 1000th birthday. He had asked me to wrestle him, for some reason, while I was traveling around Midgard, and he put me to shame while I was using my Magic to double my strength. He handily defeated me, and he kept on defeating me for hundreds of years, before he introduced himself as Buri, the first and only one. And wasn't that an amazing conversation.
Turning back to Loki, I say, "Loki, meet your great-grandfather, Buri, the first Asgardian."
"You're still alive?!" Loki asks, with a shocked look on his face.
Buri snorts, and says, "I won't die before the bastards that started all this die. And now, for the first time in a billion years, we finally have a chance."
"What do you mean?" Loki asks, as he looks at Buri warily.
Buri sits down and undoes the binding on Loki. He says, "I am the Son of Ymir, and my Progeny make up the Realms of Asgard and Vanaheim. That much is known. What is not known to you, is that I never died after the first Ragnarok, and I didn't die in any of the consequent ones. Not even Odin knows that, and even Bor was ignorant of it before his death."
He gets a bit morose, and says, "Millennia after millennia, I've watched my progeny live, battle, and die, and nothing I did could stop them. I tried killing the Norns, destroying Nornheim. It didn't work. I gained control over Yggdrasil for one cycle, it didn't work. Heck, I made sure your brother Thor became the strongest version of himself, and even he failed to kill the bastards properly. I even did that to you once, and we still failed. Do you know why I am so sure that this time, it will work?"
Loki shakes his head, and even I do the same, captivated in his speaking. Buri says, "We have him this time." And points at me.
"Me?" I ask, wondering why my presence will ensure their death.
Buri nods, and smiles widely. Slapping my back, he says, "Aye! You're the son of an Elder God, just like Thor. However, you are not governed by the Tapestry of the Norns. Thor is. No matter how strong he becomes, he will only manage to banish them at most."
Banish them? "What happened to the Yggdrasil after he banished them? The strongest version of Thor?" I ask.
Buri says, "For 3 cycles they stayed away, but on the fourth cycle, they returned. Ragnarok kept on happening, but they were just unable to feed from it while they were banished."
"You can see them!?" Loki blurts out, shocking me too. I did not know that, but it's obvious now.
Buri nods gravely, and says, "Aye, I can see them, but not where they are. But they can see me. Theos's presence is the only thing that's currently hiding us from their ever present sight. As soon as I leave this room, they will resume being able to see me."
Shaking his head, he stops any more questions, and asks, "You found their location?"
I nod, and say, "I was about to try entering their Realm when Loki became an Emotional wreck. Want to join in on spying on them?"
Buri nods gleefully, and we go back to our position next to the Yggdrasil, this time standing, with Loki having a very serious thinking face on. I know he has questions, but they can wait. I have no idea how long it'll take to breach their defences.
Looking back at Loki, and up at Buri, I ask, "You ready? This time I'm going to be physically taking you two to a trip around the Yggdrasil."
Loki nods a bit uncertainly, while Buri still looks gleeful. I turn back to the Yggdrasil, place both my hands on it, with the two Aeisr touching my back, and PUSH.
The place we appear in was dark, with an occasional star twinkling in the distance. Most of all, this place had more than 10 times the amount of Magic that I had felt on and around Earth.
Along with that, were the small hints of the Realms that are connected to this.. Realm. I could see Asgard behind me, and Midgard was a ways away below me. There was a literal 7 coloured Rainbow bridge going from the Eternal Realm to every other Realm. This.. was the Yggdrasil. The World Tree, and we were within it.
Covering the two in a bubble of my Cosmic Energy, I hide us from anything looking over Yggdrasil, and start our travel to the Hidden Realm of the Gods above Gods.
"You're a Celestial?!" Loki yells in my ears, taking a step back, and it's only because I expected it that I refrain from slapping him on instinct.
Buri does it for me, quite harshly, and whispers, "Keep your voice down, boy! He's risking everything for the sake of your children, your Realm, and your first instinct is to flee to your daddy?! For fuck's sake, grow up!"
Before Loki can defend himself, I stop our flight, turn towards Loki, and say, "While I won't force you to keep it a secret, do keep in mind that I'm the only one willing to help save your children. Do not make me your enemy, and you won't have a reason to fear me. Understand?"
Loki gulps, uncharacteristically, and nods. He says, "It was just… unexpected for a Jordson to be a Celestial, that's all."
"My other parent was a Celestial, and she's dead now. I was raised on Midgard, by my mother Jord, and am under no inclination to see it destroyed. Keep that in mind before even thinking of accusing me. Now, shall we continue? Or should I drop you somewhere else to die a very horrible death?" I ask, as Buri frowns at Loki.
It was a calculated reveal. I preferred Loki as my guide for the sole reason that I have one over him, in the form of his children. They're older than me, so it's alright, but I am the only one that can save them, currently. His behaviour was despicable, even if expected. The fear of Celestials is a wonderful thing, you know.
Loki nods, and says, "I.. apologize. Please continue Lord Theos."
Huh, back to Lord Theos. He's really afraid of me. Somehow, that's just as much a rub to my ego, as it is a kick in the balls. I don't like it when anyone is afraid of me, except when it's Demons.
Ignoring him, I push the bubble upwards and focus on finding the Hidden Realm of the Gods above Gods. After a short while of looking around, with the two Aesir thankfully staying silent, I whisper triumphantly, "Found it!"
Buri immediately pushes Loki behind, and puts his hand on my back. He pushes his Magic within me, to see what I'm seeing, and I hear him cackle. He says, "This makes things really easy, Theos! I should have brought Jord here before."
Loki asks, "What is there? I cannot see anything?"
Pointing at a spot in front of us, which was just a few dozen miles above Asgard, I say, "That spot right there contains a portal, not unlike the one we used before. However, it is hidden from Magic of any kind. I don't think even my mother would have been able to find it, although I could be wrong. Since I'm not just a God, though, I could."
Loki nods, uncertainly, and asks, "And how will we go there? It's bound to be guarded more extensively."
I laugh loudly, Buri joining me soon, and say, "Loki. They're Gods above Gods! They never expected anyone to try and find them! The door is literally wide open, and we need just walk through!"
And with that, I manipulate the bubble to take us through the portal, and into the Dark Realm of the Gods above Gods. Time to spy on them.
~~~
A/N: I.. sort of spiralled during writing, so please ignore that. The chapter is bigger than usual because of that.
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