章節 32: Chapter 32 – Decisions!
Here's the new chapter!
Thanks for the wait!
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Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
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- Location: Asgard / Valhalla. (Year: 3750 BCE / Thor age: 250 years).
Pov. Third-person.
The leader of the Norse pantheon, Odin, was in the hall of Valhalla, welcoming the new einherjar who had just emerged from the turbulent river of reincarnation, the Gjöll and had been 'chosen' by Valgrind, Valhalla's main outer gate, to the souls become the 'army of one', known as einherjar.
Odin was seated along with his wife Frigg, and the presence of some gods in the hall, watching the small group of men and women who looked around confused.
"Greetings, noble warriors!" said Odin extending his arms.
As soon as Odin spoke, he caught the attention of the small group.
"I am Odin, your host, and the person in charge of this ballroom you are in..." explained Odin.
When Odin said his name, all of the small group of newly named einherjar knelt before the Norse god.
Even though there wasn't much interaction between gods and mortals, legends perpetuated among mortals about some gods... Odin was one of those gods.
One of the most famous legends? Legend said that Odin was the god who, with the help of his two brothers, created the human race.
And of course... There was another legend about Odin and his brothers.
The murder of the primordial Jotun Ymir, by the young Odin and his two brothers, Vili and Vé, resulted in the greatest flood the world has ever seen told in the stories by their parents.
And that during that fight, Odin's brothers ended up dying in battle.
"Rise, noble warriors, you've earned your rightful place here... But I'm afraid I have to warn you," said Odin, with a serious tone.
As soon as the group stopped kneeling, Odin proceeded to speak while summoning an illusion rune, which in modern times would be comparable to the hologram.
What the rune showed startled most of the newly einherjar group.
Creatures, made of fire and magma roared in fury.
There were thousands of these creatures.
It was then that the rune's image shifted focus, and showed something worse.
A being.
A monster.
Sitting on a throne and wielding a sword that appeared to be a mixture of black steel and magma, was a creature that could be described as imposing.
The creature looked more like a statue... But just by looking at it, the newly einherjar began to get the feeling that was always present in humans since the beginning of their creation.
Fear.
The feeling that made humans survive due to instilling their self-preserving instinct.
It was then that Odin dissipated the image that the rune showed.
"I know you are afraid, and many of you must be wondering what that was... But don't worry, I will explain" said Odin.
The newly einherjar then awaits the Norse god's explanation.
"That... Thing... It's called Surtr, and it has only one purpose... To burn all existence to the point of no more life; the creatures you saw at the beginning before you saw Surtr, are the 'children' of that thing and share similar thoughts to their 'father'. Valhalla chose you, those who 'fought' to the death, because you are the most worthy and promising to help us stop this monster" said Odin.
It was then that a newly einherjar raised his hand as if he wanted permission to ask a question.
Odin nodded and motioned for the newly einherjar to ask his question.
"I don't mean to be disrespectful Lord Odin... But how are we who were only mortals even able to help against such monsters? Even the 'children' of that thing are the greatest things I've ever seen! They're even bigger than the biggest moose I've ever hunted!" said the new einherjar.
This made the group of newly einherjar doubtful.
How could they help?
The way the rune showed the situation, they would just be sacrificed during battle.
"I understand your growing doubt, but I wouldn't ask for your weapons if I didn't see the need, and as soon as you set foot in this hall, your bodies are at their physical peak... You're stronger now than you were alive, and some of you have a hidden talent for things like rune magic, the same magic I did just now. So I tell you not to underestimate yourself because now you are given the power to fight once more, the question is… Do you wish to fight one last time?" asked Odin seriously.
Some newly einherjar still had their doubts.
"What happens if we refuse?" asked a newly einherjar woman, after raising her hand.
Odin looked at her and sighed.
"*Sigh*… I won't make you fight one more time. Whoever refuses my request will be sent out of Valhalla through the main gate, the Valgrind, and will be back in the river Gjöll so that he ends up reincarnated to live a mortal life again, or... End up a slave to his own honor who will fight until 'wither' against anything that moves" explained Odin.
The woman, who had asked the question, didn't like the answer at all.
Because the answer basically said, either you fight for me or you can either be a mortal again and die again or, in the worst-case scenario, you will transform into something else that appeared to be an eternal warrior without any thinking ability.
The newly einherjar then looked at each other and nodded.
It was then that the newly einherjar knelt once more and proclaimed to Odin.
"Our weapons are yours!"
A short time later, after the newly einherjar had left to 'feel in', Frigg began talking to Odin.
"I never like it when you do that..." Frigg said, looking toward the group of newly einherjar.
Frigg was referring to the 'choices' or, to be more specific, the 'lack of choices' that mortals had.
"*sigh* I know you don't like it said, my love... When I returned from my encounter with the 'Norns', I was warned that Surtr and his 'children' will kill many of us in the last confrontation, and our best chance of survival for not only our race but of all nine kingdoms subordinate to us, it is if we have beings and soldiers capable of fighting so that only then we can 'survive' Ragnarök, after all, the number of Surtr's 'children' are growing every year, we can't turn down potential soldiers" said Odin.
Odin, after hearing the prophecy of the Norns, who were the agents of fate, was never the same.
The Ragnarok.
The fate of the gods.
It will be the biggest showdown your pantheon will have.
But, Odin didn't have all the prophecy, because the Norns knew that if Odin had all the prophecy, the Norse god would do anything to prevent such a fate.
That's why the Norns only spoke what was necessary so that Odin would never change Ragnarök.
A good example of what the Norns said to Odin?
He would fight and fall against the wolf of the end, which will tear the sky.
This led Odin to paranoia against Loki's children.
Odin then chose to isolate each of Loki's children in one location, with Fenrir being chained.
However... What Odin didn't know was that he ended up doing exactly what 'fate' wanted for the Ragnarök happen.
For fate, Ragnarök MUST happen.
- Location: Land of the Dead / Third Root of Yggdrasil / Near the well of Hvergelmir / Home of the agents of 'fate'.
The Norns.
Beings that were responsible for dictating the destiny of each living being within their 'territory' of influence.
Beings that served an existence so ancient that it was said to be the creation of the 'dream'.
Destiny itself.
The Norns, as 'agents of destiny', had the function of weaving the destiny of gods and men and watching over the fulfillment and conservation of the laws that govern the realities of the people they were responsible for.
Generally, Norns have full knowledge of the fate of every being in the Nordic pantheon, because everyone's fate was 'woven' and therefore immutable.
Or at least... That's what they thought.
"What is happening?! This thread is getting in the way of ALL the tapestry! It's all messed up! See sisters! The future has been changed again!" said a woman.
That woman was Verðandi, the 'watcher of the present'.
And she had noticed a problem in the tapestry... A thread was 'changing' what was going to happen for some time, the thread was 'young' about 250 years to be precise.
It was then that Urðr, the 'guardian of the past' began to say.
"This is terrible... This thread has altered the present and now the future is all messed up or altered," said Urðr, surveying the tapestry.
Verðandi then looked at her other sister, who looked like a scared little girl in trance... The little girl was the guardian of the future, Skuld.
There was something that was standard knowledge about 'fate'... If one 'changes' the future, fate will unconsciously do everything to bring it into balance.
Destiny is like a balance between 'good' and 'evil', there will always be a balance.
Somehow... The thread that 'changed' the fate of other threads ended up changing everything.
Including the 'power' of a being that was represented by a particular thread.
"sister…is it so bad?" asked Verðandi, looking worriedly at her sister.
Skuld seemed to have woken up from her trance.
"Surtr... Will awaken later than scheduled... To be more exact, 4286 years from now, but... He will be stronger... Much stronger... Easily one of 10 existences, probably in fifth place," Skuld said.
This seemed to frighten the other two Norns.
The top ten of the strongest existences...
A classification completely reserved for only a few beings.
Although the name is 'the ten strongest existences' a single position was shared by beings of 'same level'.
A good example was the 1st position.
The only position that hadn't changed since the creation of the universe.
The position was 'shared' by only two beings.
The infinite.
And the dream.
The two oldest beings as well as the most powerful.
The top ten of the strongest stocks was truly a ranking of another level.
Even several gods and some primordials were not in that classification.
But... 4286 years from now, there will be a new being that will share the 5th position of the top 10 of the strongest existences.
Surtr, the twilight of the gods.
"... What will we do?" asked Urðr.
The Norns looked disconcerted, after all, fate had never changed so much.
"I think... That we should remake the tapestry according to this new thread," Skuld said.
This seemed to have irritated the 'watcher of the present'.
"What?! What do you mean by 'according to this new thread'? We are agents of fate, we do not have a 'thread' as a guide... We weave the past, present, and future of each thread impartially... We cannot have a 'favorite thread' to 'guide' us" said Verðandi.
Verðandi strictly followed the first rule of the agents of fate.
Be impartial.
"Sister, if we don't do this, the thread will just mess everything up again!" said Skuld.
Skuld, on the other hand, defended another rule of the agents of fate.
Preserving the future in the best way possible.
"Enough of you two!" shouted Urðr to the 'guardian of the past'.
The 'guardian of the past' defended another rule of the agents of fate.
Follow the rules of reality.
"... We will first see what this thread will do... And we will weave according to it – Let me finish talking Verðandi!" said Urðr looking at Verðandi, who looked outraged and ready to complain.
But Verðandi remained silent after Urðr stop her.
"As I was saying... We will weave according to the 'thread', but it will not be 'favoritism', we will leave the 'path' of the thread free, and we will correct the rest by making the 'necessary changes' so fate can adapt again... Does anyone want to complain now?" said Urðr.
This seemed to have calmed the other two Norns.
"…Do you think Urðr will be enough?" asked Verðandi.
Urðr thought for a moment before answering.
"No…I don't think it's enough to fix it. If I'm right, then I don't see any other option... We'll have to summon this 'rebel thread' here so we can use Skuld's ability to see all the probabilities of each future more accurately" said Urðr.
The Norns then looked at each other and seemed to have reached a consensus as they nodded to each other.
- Location: Asgard / Valhalla.
The party in the hall of Valhalla was eternal.
Food and drink were never lacking.
After all, it was all to feed the army of warriors until the time for the 'last battle' to take place.
However, the new einherjar noticed when the gate guard spoke aloud.
"All hail Prince Thor, son of Odin!" said the guard.
If the new einherjar were, to sum up, the son of Odin in one word, it would be...
Big.
Odin's son was a giant when compared to the other gods, however, some of the more newly formed einherjar recognized Thor for something else.
During the winter solstice, this god could be seen in the sky in his chariot pulled by two goats. And during this period, Thor delivered 'blessings' in the form of food and objects.
Some einherjar, who had seen the god in their last moments of life, before dying in combat, made a point of talking to their sons and daughters about the day that was the winter solstice.
Thor was loved by mortals.
While the einherjar admired Thor, the red-haired Norse god only gave a nod of acknowledgment as he headed towards the head table, where Odin sat.
"Old man... I will travel," said Thor.
This seemed to have taken the head table by surprise.
"What do you mean by 'travel', my son?" asked Odin suspiciously.
Thor just raised an eyebrow.
"I mean what I say, I'm going to travel... I'm tired of staying alone in our territory in Midgard when there's a world I've never seen before," said Thor.
That seemed to have alerted Loki.
"I'm sorry to dash your hope nephew, but it is not advisable for you to leave Asgardian territory to other pantheons around the world and you are a prince, even if you are a bastard, your actions have consequences," said Loki.
"Oh? You don't understand uncle... I clearly said 'I will travel', I'm not asking your permission or anyone else's" said Thor.
Thor's intent was clear.
The god of thunder was going to travel... and no one will stop him.
"Very well... But if you don't want our permission, what are you doing here?" asked Odin.
Odin wouldn't question his son... Even it wouldn't help.
Also... Odin would like to know how to get rid of the damn 'Doggo' statue that Thor gifted him years ago.
The statue had been preventing him from 'pleasing' his wife for years!
"I came here just to let you know... And I won't necessarily be gone for years, I'll be home some days, the trip is just to see some things in the territories of other pantheons. I know what you're thinking, so relax, I won't cause any problems and I'll strictly respect the guest law" said Thor, looking at his parents.
"…Will you… go alone?" Frigg asked worriedly.
Now, Frigg knew her son's reputation, and she knew she wasn't Thor's 'real mother'... But she still considered him her precious son.
And, like a good mother, Frigg worried about her son.
"No... I'm taking Hel, she said she wants to see the world too, Sif is also interested in going with us -" said Thor.
As Thor spoke, he was interrupted... The reason was simple, although most of the people didn't mind Sif's company... The same couldn't be said for Hel.
"No! Hel is responsible for the souls in the world of the dead, she cannot let go of her responsibilities!" said Odin.
Loki and Frigg seemed to agree.
Thor, however, had other plans.
"She won't let go of any responsibility… She'll always be in the land of the dead for most of the day, I'll just use the rune to summon Hel whenever she wants. Also, some of my brothers want to go... By the way, Fenrir will be at my house, so I suggest no one comes to my house while I'm gone," said Thor.
Odin, Frigg, and Loki still seemed to want to disagree with Thor's journey... But they knew they couldn't do much.
"... *sigh* Very well... But can you do me a favor Thor?" asked Frigg, accepting her 'son's decision.
Thor, who considered Frigg his mother in his new life, saw no need to deny her request.
"Well, why not... What's your request, Mom?" asked Thor curiously.
Frigg looked at Thor, then said.
"Take one of the Valkyries on your journey... I don't mean to offend you or your brothers, but the Valkyries are more aware of politics among the pantheons than you are," Frigg said pleadingly.
Thor... didn't see a good reason to deny that request.
It wasn't like the Valkyrie was a 'nanny', and what Frigg had said was correct.
Among Thor's brothers, only Balðr and Höðr were 'trained' in politics. This was due to one simple reason... These two were the next heirs to the throne of Asgard.
So it was an obligation for Balðr and Höðr to know about politics.
The Valkyries knew about politics because they accompanied the leaders and heirs of the Norse pantheon.
It was then that Loki chose to comment.
"Well, since you're going to go on this trip of yours anyway, with my daughter, by the way, could you, at least, tell us your first destination?" asked Loki.
Thor flashed a smile.
"You know... Our territory in Midgard is a little too snowy... So I was thinking about a change of scenery," said Thor.
Odin, understanding the meaning of Thor's comment, asked.
"You mean… the land of Horus?" asked Odin.
Thor didn't lose his smile.
"…Yes," replied Thor.
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Well... That's it, folks!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Until next time, don't forget to leave a comment!
*The next chapter will likely be published on Saturday or Sunday.
Title of the next chapter:
Chapter 33 – The Land of Horus!
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