The Heavens
Eden
Mountain Biome
Light enveloped the pair, illuminating the area.
Yggdrasil squinted through Egil as they tightened their grip on Garm. Völund…the power of the weak. The voices thought. To think…two powerful souls would dare stoop to such a pitiable level. They raised it high and swung down, firing a towering energy crescent. We shall end your pathetic exist—
The crescent collided with the glowing light and shattered.
Their eyes widened. WHAT?! They swung again and again, sending a torrent of crescents. IMPOSSIBLE!
The light slowly faded as the attacks raced towards it and shattered. More flew as the glow dimmed, but nothing could reach the source.
Siegfried. Metatron said, his voice echoing in Siegfried's mind.
Sir.
There… is so much I must apologize to you for… and here I am: stepping back and trusting you. Once again.
The light began to fade.
If I were a better father, you and Hilde would never have suffered this. None of you would have suffered this living hell.
I know.
…
But nothing's stopping you from being him again.
The glow dimmed and vanished. Siegfried now stood alone. His clothes were gone, replaced by armor that sent chills down Yggdrasil's collective spines. A familiar sleek cyan, silver, and gold armor that covered the arms and torso, ending in sharp claws; the left still gripping his sword's sheath. Gold and silver boots wrapped around his shins and feet.
No one's perfect, and those with so much to lose…that fear must be unbearable.
He clipped his sheath to his left hip and slowly drew his sword. Cyan light emanated from the blade as the sword slid gently out, and he brandished it in front of him, eyeing the glow.
Balmung Excelsis
I can't truly let go of everything you did…Father. But there is still a lot to do and so much to make up for. Siegfried grew a wide smile. Besides! Everyone would be furious with me if I didn't get you back home!
He aimed the blade straight at Yggdrasil, his sharp, cold gaze returning.
I wish I knew how you kept such joy in your heart.
Your daughter. Simple as that.
…I know, but this is about more than her.
"No, it's not." Siegfried twirled Balmung Excelsis and gripped it with both hands. "Now, Father. Let me handle this."
…
Siegfried inhaled deeply. "HEY! VELK!"
The hivemind tilted its head.
"Hey! Can you hear me?!"
What are you doing?! Metatron asked.
Let me handle this. Siegfried answered. "Hey! How can you accept this?! To be a puppet to the same group who threatened your home! The same group your people were slaughtered to hide the truth of?! This is what you let yourself become?!"
Yggdrasil's left hand twitched.
"I remember you once said, 'All shall obey me!' Is this what the Allfather has been reduced to?!" He squinted. "Embarrassing…"
"Enough! You—" Their left hand snapped up and gripped Egil on the brow.
"How…DARE YOU…" Odin rasped out.
"I guess even you have someone you yield to, don't you?" Siegfried asked, the blade glowing slightly brighter.
"Think…you can take my body from me?! This is not your battle!"
His head snapped up.
"What are you doing?!" Yggdrasil yelled in cacophony. "How—"
His head snapped forward. "Silence! Do you forget who I am?!"
A Dark miasma poured from his body.
How is he…how is he doing this?! It's all four of us! Yggdrasil roared in tandem.
"I…am the Lord of Madness…and of Rage…and no one will get in my way ANYMORE! Not when he is in front of me!" He stretched out Gram as the miasma coiled around it.
What madness is this?! One yelled in his mind. Is he…using our power?!
Let him. Another spoke. If our 'Lord of Madness and Rage' thinks he can make us do anything, then let him have his way…and be humbled.
Ha! Sure! Let him!
We are in consensus. Have fun…Oh Lord of Madness and Rage!
Draupnir's spectral arms gripped Odin's seared flesh, molding and twisting the burns back into clean, healthy skin and covering it back up with repaired armor. The arms erupted in spectral, translucent fire, roaring and steaming.
Draupnir Fjallgeiguðr
Brisingammen's stars shattered like glass and affixed themselves behind him like a pitch-black stained-glass window.
Brisingammen Hjaldrgegnir
The miasma enveloped Gram, then wrapped around Egil. Under the darkness, the blade stretched and widened, the mantle shrank and smoothed. The darkness took shape, and a blade jutted out at the end of the impromptu spear.
Gram Dämmerung
Egil split open, revealing Odin's furious, spite-filled glare. Its wild horns shrank, and its bony surface vanished under the darkness.
Egil Goðjaðarr
"Siegfried," Odin whispered through his teeth. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."
He wrested control from Yggdrasil?! How?! Metatron asked.
No clue, but don't care. "No way that's happening. Like you, I've been waiting a long time for this," Siegfried said. "No way those guys were going to get in my way!" He rocketed ahead and swung.
Odin raised his spear and blocked the blow. Light and Darkness spilled out in all directions from the collision.
"YOUwaited?! I bided my time for millions of years! Just for this moment! To finally put down the one responsible for this nightmare!"
Odin rolled Gram, parrying Balmung, and flicked it back.
"And yet once again another of Metatron's little tools stands in my way! Like that upstart trio and your 'beloved' Brünhilde!"
Siegfried's hand clamped down on Gram's shaft, holding it in place.
He caught it?!
"Don't you…ever insult Hilde." He swung, but Odin caught his wrist.
"Why? Afraid to believe she used you? Like she used Týr? Like she turned him against me?!"
Siegfried push-kicked Odin's stomach, sending him skidding back. "You turned Týr against you! Baldr and Vidarr, too! None of your sons mattered to you, except Thor! And he's no better than a tool to you!"
Odin raised his left hand, and Brisingamen's eight stars flew off his body. All eight started vibrating and glowed white-hot. "Three defective sons who could not bring my goals to fruition….ALL OF THEM USELESS!"
He swiped his hand and the stars flew high. Four shot back down and burrowed into the floor. "All of Asgard! USELESS! All of them are only good for serving and dying! Do you know what that land was before me?! A land filled to the brim with fools declaring war on everything around them until it nearly got them annihilated!" He raised his spear. "I refused to let that happen again."
The ground beneath them began to rumble and hiss.
"Until I willed it! Draupnir…melt the world…"
Siegfried dashed to the side as the soil around them cracked, ignited, and melted away.
He can use Draupnir to heal and do stuff like that?! Siegfried thought, sprinting around as the boiling ground snaked after him.
Only if he touches what he wants to change can he bypass that with Brisingamen, thanks to its power to apply the powers of the other three through its stars. The only way to stop all this…
Is to destroy all four…not going to be easy!
But possible.
_________________________
"Are…are you seeing this?" Set asked, kneeling. Vidarr was to his right, crouching down and trying to keep his head from spinning. "Siegfried's fighting Odin!"
"Really? Hard…to tell…damn it, everything's spinning…" Vidarr answered, closing his eyes. "Phasing like that is too much…"
"But you saved everyone," Arthur said behind them, his hands stretched out over Hades and Michael. "That power of yours must have been useful against the Jotnar!"
Vidarr and Set looked back, looking puzzled.
"How does he do that?" Set whispered. "Metatron healed people like that, and he knows things impossible for one person."
"He was stuck in Avalon with the Dodecahedron, the original building block of time, space, and mana." Vidarr wiped his nose with his left hand, removing blood. "If it didn't snap his mind in two, he was bound to get used to it."
"But a Human?"
"Should that really…surprise you? Look what happened back in Winchester, the Arena, and down there."
"Down there?"
"Siegfried's Human," Arthur said, sweat starting to form on his brow as the bright blue light pulsed under his hands. "Or was. A God doesn't fight the way he does. Skill refined by years of constant warfare and life-or-death duels."
"He was Human?!" Set asked. "But…he would have had to ascend! All Ascended Gods are recorded in Thoth's personal library! And I know for a fact he was never recorded!
"Arthur," Vidarr said. "What else do you know?"
"Not important, but…that, like you, he earned the title of Jotunsbani, but he didn't have powers like you or Baldr, or monstrous strength like Thor." He sighed. "I actually wish I could watch with my own eyes for once, but alas. I'm here healing." The light intensified. "Now watch on. Watch the man who captured Brünhilde's heart and Metatron's trust."
_________________________
Jotnar. The mortal foes of the Norse Pantheon. They wield immense strength, bizarre powers, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are indistinguishable from Gods and are just as strong as them, with a few among them held in the same regard as the Greeks' Trifecta. Surtr, the Living Inferno and Ruler of Muspelheim. Uthgarda-Loki, the Lord of Magic and the Wellspring of Lost Arts. Fornjotr, from whom all elements are birthed and called Father.
Yet…among the Norse Gods, they are treated…like a joke.
Why? Simple. Despite their strength, none of them could hold a candle to a monster who appeared out of nowhere: Odin. With just his spear, Gungnir, and his words, Odin sundered every Jotnar who dared to stand against him. Years later, his sons followed in his footsteps, and they, too, slaughtered giants en masse. Their Supreme God and his sons, just them alone, turned the once-feared Jotnar into a parody. In honor of the Allfather's monstrous power and the might of his kin, an unofficial moniker spread amongst the Norse. Jotunsbani. Such was the strength of that family of black-eyed Gods that no one ever reached their power.
Or so it was thought.
The ground beneath his feet could be barely felt with each step. The wind whipped around him as he moved. The heat chasing him fell further and further behind. The sword in his hand felt perfect in his grip. The sight of the mad God locked on him grew more and more ferocious.
"You will not escape!" Odin roared. The stars above them glowed a deep purple and spun. Mist formed around them. It bellowed and expanded into black clouds that darkened the area. Lightning arched among them, and the sound of thunder grew.
"PIERCE HIM!"
Bolts descended upon the land, flying straight towards Siegfried.
Without a lapse in his breathing or steps, Siegfried's eyes followed the oncoming bolts. As they closed in, he swung Balmung. Its glowing cyan blade struck the first bolt and cleaved it in two. The bolt crackled and fizzled out. He turned right and dashed under another, then slashed at two more, quelling them.
Since when can you cut through lightning?! Odin thought. He crouched down. Annoying…and futile! He launched forth, dragging Gram behind him and letting its edge carve through the ground.
Siegfried raced through the deluge of lightning, cutting through any bolt unfortunate enough to get in his way. The heat behind him vanished as Odin flew his way, twirling his spear.
Suddenly, Odin stopped and smirked. The clouds vanished, and the stars of Brisingamen floated overhead.
"CRUSH HIM!"
The air above Siegfried grew heavy and thick. The ground beneath rose in a single, wide square column.
A pincer attack! Siegfried thought.
"Be crushed between Heaven and Earth, and remember what happens when you face me!"
The earth rose right in front of Odin's face.
"Certain death—"
A flash of cyan light carved through the ascending earth and slashed through Odin's left side from the collarbone down, splitting him in two. Odin's eyes widened as pain and blood erupted from the slash. Draupnir's arms immediately pushed the two halves back together.
Countless glowing slashes erupted from the rising slab, dicing it to pieces. Odin shot back, barely avoiding the onslaught as the hard-air construct burst, scattering the slab's remains in a gale.
Siegfried stood in the center, surrounded by the remains of Odin's futile attack, staring blankly at the Allfather.
"Did…did you really think that would work?" Siegfried asked, incredulous. "I just cut through lightning!"
Odin scowled under Egil's helm as a vein popped up on his brow. "Obstinate brat! Do you not understand what you're doing?! What disaster have you now wrought by protecting him?! By saving him?!"
"Obstinate?! Obstinate?! You selfish tyrant! Who the hell would think anything you're doing is right?! Also, why are you trying to kill me?! I thought you needed me!"
Odin twirled Gram before gripping it tightly.
"Need? No…I don't need you anymore. The moment you stood in my way…you ruined everything…" The miasma flowed from his body. "But I should have known better. I don't need anyone…I never did."
Sieg, something's wrong. Metatron whispered.
"Useless sons…insipid concubines…surrounded by Metatron's little spies and saboteurs…*and you…*The weakest, most pitiful, ignorant being ever to dare think this world is worth protecting! You…Yggdrasil…" His face twisted into a contorted scowl. "I don't need any of you! I never did! All I NEED is for this forsaken existence to BURN AND BREAK!"
The miasma erupted out of his body, clawing across the land and sky and tearing through creation.
He is tearing through the boundary of Creation! Metatron yelled. Yggdrasil could not do this! How is he?!
"You dare fight for a universe built on a foundation of lies and fear?!" The darkness swallowed the world around the pair. It reached up to the sky, blackening it out and blocking out the afternoon sun. "A world built on the corpses of the innocent?!"
Vidarr and Set watched on as the miasma formed into a dome that swallowed up the land.
"Do you know what HE did?! Do you know what his kin did to hide the truth of Yggdrasil away from their 'precious gods?!' The very same Gods who became no better than the ones that once sought their destruction! Who sit in undeserved decadence and entitlement while riding the coattails of their betters! But the worst SIN of all…committed by those monsters…"
Balmung Excelsis's cyan glow emanated within the vast, growing darkness, illuminating Siegfried and casting a weak glow over Odin's furious form.
"Do you know…WHAT. THEY. TOOK. FROM. ME?!"
Velk…not like this! Please!
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE TOOK FROM ME!?"
Siegfried took his sword in both hands. "I do! I know what he failed to protect!"
"FAILED?! HE LET IT HAPPEN!"
Odin could see it. Even smell it. That awful sight and that burning smell clung to the air like an insult. He could still feel that familiar pain. How it ate at him that day, and its ghosts would haunt him to this day.
Color and light slowly returned to Creation's new blank canvas. Siegfried gripped his sword tightly as the sky returned overhead and a forest sprang to life around them.
As the colors flowed under their feet, wooden huts and houses grew and formed. Footsteps filled the air as unfamiliar voices slowly emerged from the darkness.
Siegfried, Odin, and Metatron all looked around as the village formed and came to life around them. All the people wore the same set of layered robes and sandals and were going through what could only be imagined as a normal day, save for the two figures standing in the village's center.
"Where are we?" Siegfried whispered. He looked ahead at Odin and saw him frozen in place.
Siegfried, do not attack him under any circumstances. Metatron said. To answer your question. This is Velk's reason.
"How…" Odin whispered as his eyes darted from side to side. "Why?"
A young boy ran between them, his short, messy hair sticking out in every direction. In his arms was a small barrel, and a wily grin rested on his face.
"Feldis will love this!" The pair heard him say.
The world shook and shifted. The village whirled and twisted into a new place, the interior of one of the many small wooden homes. The pair found themselves in a large room decorated with simple wooden furniture. Resting in a large bed in the room's center was an older God in white robes. His arms were covered in bandages; he wore his scraggly gray hair in a short ponytail, and a large scar traced down over his left eye. Around the bed were two more Gods in those same robes, and the young God they had seen earlier.
"Feldis…" The young God said. "What's wrong?"
"Aaaah…" Feldis said, sitting upright in his bed. "Just age doing what it does, though the booze you bring still makes it fun! Ha!" He coughed, and Velk rose from his stool. "Sorry."
You…you used to be so much bigger. Velk thought, his voice echoing through the air around the unknown guests.
I…I remember you being so much bigger. Odin thought, his grip on Gram tightening. I don't remember you looking so…old.
Sir, who is that? Siegfried thought. He watched Feldis tussle Velk's hair. Odin…looks…
Feldis. The Gǫllnir's last apprentice and the Chief of the Gǫllnir People. Metatron answered.
"Velk, I have something for you," Feldis said, removing a necklace from his neck. "This is one of Gǫllnir's best inventions. Made from the world tree, too! Called it 'Gungnir.' It won't do me much good now, but it'll keep you safe."
"But…you…" Velk said.
Odin touched the base of his neck with his free hand on impulse.
A knocking came from behind.
"Excuse me," A deep baritone said. Everyone, Odin and Siegfried included, turned to the source. Even if the years had pulled life from him, Metatron was still Metatron, his youth still holding strong and his hair still a deep black. "I came as soon as I heard."
"Velk, I need to talk with Met and Saga," Feldis said. "Come back in a bit. I won't be going anywhere anytime soon!"
Velk nodded and left the bedside. He walked across the room and past Metatron, but the latter stuck out his hand, blocking him.
The two exchanged a short but solemn glance. Metatron tussled his hair and patted his shoulder, letting him leave.
I…I have to save him. Velk thought. I can save him! I know I can!
Velk, you tried to save him? Metatron asked.
"You knew..." Odin uttered as the world contorted. "You knew he was dying. You knew what could happen once he passed…"
Metatron appeared next to Siegfried. "I had nothing to do with what happened! I was trying to save him, too!"
"Liar."
Everything came into view. A large stone edifice appeared, and Velk phased out of it, wearing a large cape and hood over his robes.
"Whoa…that's how we're hiding?" He said. "No wonder the Primordial Gods can't find us!" He paused. "Now that I think about it, why does Mr. Met know about it?" He shook his head and raised his hood. "I'll ask him later!" He turned and ran through the forest, leaving the pair as the world shifted again.
Sir, he's not attacking us. Siegfried thought. Why aren't we taking advantage of this?
His mind is tearing through Creation with Yggdrasil's power.He might not know what is going on either. But if we attack him right now, it will do untold damage to the rest of Creation if this 'World' does not vanish under his own will.
"I was trying to find proof we could leave our home," Odin said, his fury vanishing as something washed over him. "The barrier that hid us, Jotunspegl, fed on the life force of whoever was the Chief of our people. Feldis treated it as an honor…"
The world took shape and a stone-cobbled town formed around them. Velk was running from building to building, books in hand, wearing an expression of unrivaled joy. He bumped into a Hippo-headed God stumbling down the street.
"Watch it!" The God roared.
"Sorry, Sir!" Velk stopped.
"You better—oh! It's you! The one asking about those fairy tales!"
"Y…Yeah, that's me! I took your advice and went to the library!" I gotta be careful here. Velk thought. "I found a bunch of books, and you were right!" He scratched his head. "I probably shouldn't have let my imagination run wild!"
Odin pursed his lips and scowled.
"All good, kid! Just don't cause trouble!"
They waved to each other, and Velk ran.
I got it! He thought. I finally got it! The history out here is different from ours! No one's seen the Primordial Gods in ages! They're gone! They have to be! Feldis doesn't have to keep Jotunspegl running! We're free!
"I…I wanted to believe it," Odin whispered as he watched his past self run down the street into a whirling landscape. "That the one person who kept my world from breaking after I lost my family could be freed of such a painful life."
Siegfried took a few steps away, eyeing Odin, but the Allfather wasn't bothering to pay attention to him.
"Had I known who you truly were, I would have never left." He turned to the pair. "Are you ready to see what happens next? What you caused?"
"Sir, ignore him—"
"No. This must be witnessed. I need to know how it happened."
Siegfried froze. "You…don't know how?!"
Metatron shook his head.
The world took shape, and the false stone edifice returned. Velk placed his hand on the surface.
"Fuelugrim Reila," He whispered. The edifice warbled, and he passed through. I can't wait to tell the others! We can finally go out into the real world and spread the real history! We'll keep Yggdrasil from coming back and Feldis will—"
A ray of light shot through the false wall and pierced through his chest. Velk crumbled to the ground as blood pooled around him.
Three cloaked figures appeared from thin air. Dread washed over Metatron and Odin. Siegfried felt the air drop twenty degrees, and chills ran through his whole being.
"We found them," One spoke in a deep, raspy voice. "We almost ran out of time."
Metatron saw his aged, wrinkled face, his perpetually closed left eye, and ornate false beard. His dread evaporated as his fury erupted to the surface.
"PTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He roared. "You paranoid bastard!"
"Forgive us, boy. This barrier was Gǫllnir's handiwork, and we owe you a great deal for bringing us here."
No! They're still here?! Velk thought.
"Do you think Metatron is here?" One of the other two, a God with a large crack running across his nose and cheeks, asked. His hair was spiked up, complementing his pointed ears and sharp eyes. On his cheeks, split by the crack, were facial markings running from his hairline to his chin and over his eyes.
"If he is, then that makes this easier," Ptah said. "Cernunnos. Bondye."
"I'm ready."
"Same," Said the third God. He had dreadlocks draping his face, a blindfold over his eyes, and long, sharp nails on his long fingers.
"Let's go. If we accomplish our goal, then the world will never suffer the true history and the threat of Yggdrasil's return." The three raced away towards the village.
Velk reached out towards them, his body going cold as his vision blurred. No…no…
And there was darkness.