The trio transported directly into the city of Idavoll not far from the cabin belonging to Vidar. Some people working in the city looked over at the trio but quickly went back to work when they realized what was going on.

"This is where the so-called gods live? I thought Asgard was a large golden palace city." Michael looked around and was kinda disappointed in what he saw. It looked more like a log cabin resort than a city.

"It was, then Ragnarok happened. This is the best they could manage with artisans to build for them. I guess depending on the labor of other realms means you never learn how to do things yourself."

Hel was surprised at how harsh Hunter was being. However she knew he wasn't wrong and verbalized as much.

"You're always so blunt Hunter. I get the honesty thing but jeez. You could at least sugar coat it a bit."

"Not happening Mike. I'll be blunt and stubborn till I die."

The trio made their way into the cabin. The entire point of being here was to talk with Vidar and arrange something so they could fix up two boats that could travel the realms. This plan, however, would have to be put on hold. They were not the only ones here to see Vidar.

There in front of the wooden thrones stood an overly muscular man. Built like a professional bodybuilder, dressed in something that definitely wasn't the kind of Old Norse fashion from the area but rather Greek looking. He had on his shoulders an oversized club and carried a bow made for him with arrows in a quiver. The grotesquely muscular man in ancient Greek looking attire spoke in a booming voice.

"Busy? Busy?! I just issued a warrior's challenge and you say you are too busy?! Your brother was never too busy to have a good fight."

"Yeah well my brother was never King. He had the freedom to do as he pleased without any regard for others."

Hunter took this opportunity to jump in. "I'm guessing this is a bad time to visit. Even if it's for something somewhat important."

The overly muscular man looked over at Hunter. "Who the fuck is this guy?"

"My name is Hunter and I'm from Midgard. I-"

"Oh, Midgard. Literally don't care." The man looks back at Vidar. "I came all this way, I'm not leaving till I have myself a nice good fight. You may not be as strong as your brother but you'll have to do."

Michael walked over to Hunter. "Who's this Mr. Universe looking meathead?"

"My guess, that's Heracles, the strongest person in the kingdom of Olympus. His physical strength rivals that of the late Thor."

"Rivals? He was second strongest under me. I'm definitely stronger than he ever was. Not to mention I'm smarter than that drunkard too."

"Yeah, you can add humble to that list too." Hunter said sarcastically.

Heracles looked back to Hunter eyeing him up and down. "Are you picking a fight with me, maggot?" The man's body shifted to be more svelte and less grotesque. "You wouldn't last two seconds. I'd crush your skull before you could even blink."

"I don't have time to get into a dick measuring contest with you. I came here to deliver an important message to Vidar. Though I guess you should hear it too since it affects all lands of all realms."

"Whatever message a puny worm like you could possibly deliver is far less important than the wants and needs of a god such as myself."

"You really think of yourself as a god? That's really something coming from the simple farm boy Ackladies."

Heracles looked shocked. "Heh, I'm surprised you know that name. Then again the fact my story has lived on this long should be no shock considering the number of people that fell at my hands in the Gigantomachy."

"What's coming will make even the Titanomachy look like a minor skirmish. Hastur is going to return, and this time he'll bring more than just a scouting party. We'll see how far those muscles get you when a squid faced goon is slurping your brain through a straw after mind raping you. We need all the kingdoms of all the realms to band together."

Both Vidar and Heracles frown at this news. Vidar stood from his throne. "I knew this day was coming, I just hoped we'd have more time. I'm guessing you still have realms to visit, so we've got what… a decade tops?"

Hunter nodded.

Heracles grumbled. "That changes little. I'm getting what I came here for one way or another. Even if that means crushing this bug that delivered the news. It's not like you'll be useful from this point on anyway, so at least try to make your death entertaining." Hercules casually walked over to Hunter and punched him in the chest sending him flying through the wall and outside the building.

"Hunter!" Both Hel and Michael shouted.

Hercules did a small stretch. "Crushing a bug might not be as satisfying as a full on fight but there is a nice little joy in turning something into paste in a single hit." He turned back to Vidar. "So about that spar-"

Vidar put his hand up with all fingers up like he was saying stop leading Hercules to tilt his head. After a bit Vidar dropped a finger. Then when the only finger left up was his pointer and he pointed it at the hole. Just then Hunter climbed back into the building looking mostly fine. "That fucken hurt you dick."

"What the- you should be a broken mess that's hardly able to move around let alone talk shit."

"They don't call me Steel-Bone for nothing. Now let's talk like civilized people."

"You want to have a civilized conversation?" Hercules cracks his knuckles. "But things just got interesting. You wouldn't happen to be a half breed like myself would you?"

"Not exactly, but all things considered I wouldn't call myself entirely human either. If you want a fight so bad at least move it to the arena. I'd rather not wreck this nice building any farther."

Hel put her hand on Hunter's shoulder. "You haven't fully recovered from your last fight. There's no way you can beat Hercules in your current condition."

"I don't have to win, just make it not boring. I can call on "Butcher" to heal any broken bones after."

"This is a bad idea Hunter. He could kill you. The prophecy isn't set in stone. You're not immortal till the predicted event."

"I know I'm not immortal till then. Okay Hercules, here's the deal. I'm not at one hundred percent right now. If you want a good and proper fight worthy of your greatness you'll have to be patient. I give you my word I'll fight you with everything I have as soon as I'm at full power. That could take several months seeing as I still have three realms I haven't visited. It's a bit of a long story but I won't be at full strength till I've been to all of the realms."

Hercules put his hand on his chin and thought for a bit. "What kind of power are we talking about here?"

"I'll be able to access the full might of the first Jotun, Ymir. Every time I visit a new realm I collect another part of what was scattered across the realms. Out of the fifteen realms there are three I haven't seen. However I can't jump to a location I haven't been to. I have to wait for the part of Ymir to pull me there like a magnet."

"The giant Ymir eh? That's the one Odin had to chop to bits right? I heard his power rivals that of the monster king Typhon. Okay, consider me convinced. I'll wait." He hands Hunter a gold coin. "Once you are ready, come to this realm and flip that coin. In the meantime I'll let Olympus know of the threat that is coming so Hermes can tell the other kingdoms. You better not die before I have my fight Hunter Steel-Bone." Hercules leaves the building, walking out through the hole in the wall.

Vidar claps as soon as the lumbering man is gone. "Well handled Hunter. I couldn't have done better myself. Literally, I couldn't get rid of the guy."

"Yeah, well, I didn't do it for you. I've got important matters to discuss."

"So I heard. I'm guessing you need something."

"Yeah, I need to establish travel between realms. For other people obviously. Lady Hel says you have a boat that used to be able to do so, and she has one whose body is somewhat inspired by it. If we work together we can get them both Bifrost worthy and use them to transport people from place to place."

"Why not just opt to build a new anchor?"

"Because they don't move and can be monopolized by whoever has the land it's on. Building hundreds of anchors is unrealistic. Flying boat taxis are our best option unfortunately."

"Okay…. I'm going to just pretend I know what a taxi is and move on. Yes, I have the boat. The Bifrost generator fried like all the others during Ragnarok and it took me forever to find. However without a Dwarf to rebuild-"

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"Yeah yeah, I already figured that out. Just show me to the boat and I'll get you your Dwarf."

Vidar stands "Okay, but since I'm doing this for you under the assumption you intend to keep both boats independent from any realm or kingdom for the use of public transportation of non military individuals I want something from you in exchange."

"No such thing as a free lunch I guess. What do you want from me?"

"There is a…. Personal matter that I've come to believe I'm simply too close to and need an unbiased individual's input on. As you probably know, Thor had three kids. All three survived Ragnarok and all three want to inherit his hammer. There's just one hammer so one one of them-"

"You want me to help determine who is worthy? Got it. Consider it done."

"I really don't like it when you interrupt me, but I guess you're impatient when it comes to this issue. You must have a very good reason for doing this."

"I need mostly unrestricted access between realms for other people so I can help mend and build good positive relationships between them in preparation for the next big war that's coming in… a decade tops."

Vidar sighed. "So it really is time for the prophecy that Odin bestowed on me."

"Yeah… about that well of knowledge bull shit. Loki was in on it."

"What?" Vidar looked a mix of shocked and confused for a split second before going "No wait, that actually makes a lot of sense. Too bad I can't strong arm the Nornir to give it to me straight. Only option to see the futures now is the well. Since I know you'll ask, I killed them. All three of them. To prevent further manipulation."

"I didn't expect you to take it that far but I guess it's better than leaving it to chance. Although I guess without the fates now everything is to chance and choice."

"To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Vidar starts walking and the others follow. He takes them to a spot at the edge of the city where the wall is. There is a building that is a sort of drydock by a lake there. Inside is a very large wooden boat that was clearly once used for war. With lots of storage space and a living area for the warriors it transported it could easily be converted into a massive civilian transport. The only issue is the engine. A Bifrost energy core that once sat in the center was nothing but a lump of scrap and solidified slag. Though the ship was rebuilt, the area the core used to be was empty.

"This is definitely more than big enough. Going to have to remove all weapons. It's not going to be a weapon of war till we need it so we definitely should keep stuff in place for the weapons to be added back in. I guess I'll go take a quick nap so I can fetch you a team of Dwarves to make you a core. I'll make sure they bring enough materials to build two so I can take them to set up the second boat right away."

Vidar nodded. "I'll have a guest area prepared for you."

After a while Hunter and Michael are led to a shared room. "Lady Hel has been given her own room, but you'll have to share since this was short notice."

"That's fine." The two brothers agreed as they laid down.

"So what the hell do I do for the few days you are away? You know, since you have to recharge after every jump."

"I don't know man, just don't make an idiot of yourself while I'm gone. If you need a translator, Hel can help you, but other than that you are on your own."

"Alright then. I'll let you rest and I'll catch up with you later." Michael leaves as Hunter dozes off.

As Michael wanders around watching people go about their day living mostly simple lives he eventually comes across a small group of men and women who are training in combat. Many of the women have interesting armor with metallic wings that move around as they move. Even Michael recognizes them as Valkyries. Michael looked around and found a practice sword and decided to join in. If he's going to back up his younger brother in this craziness it's best he at least try to pick up some proper fighting skills. After a bit one of the people training noticed the person that had joined them and walked over. A woman who had been practicing without a partner.

She had broad shoulders, tattoos from those shoulders down her arms all the way to her hands. She was clearly muscular in a way many would describe as butch and had bright red hair. It was short, two braids on one side of her hair with the other side loose creating a look similar to what you'd get if you had shaved one side. She reached out her large, almost masculine hand to Michael. "Thrud." She pointed to herself with her left hand.

Michael returned the firm handshake and matched her gesture. "Michael. Michael Erickson."

She nodded and reiterated. "Thrud, Thorsdotter."

"I know you can't understand anything I'm saying, but you are quite possibly the most beautiful woman I've seen since coming here from Midgard."

Thrud takes a few steps back and gestures her practice blade at his, indicating she wants to spar

"Well I'm not exactly a warrior-"

She repeats the gesture.

"Oh, okay. I guess we're doing this."

Thrud makes a heavy swing at Michael that he manages to dodge, then out of some sort of reflex makes a swing of his own that Thrud skillfully blocks. Thrud lets out a chuckle at the surprised look on Michael's face. "I just kinda reacted, felt a bit strange. Closest I've come to a sword fight before now is when my brother and I were kids. He was obsessed with old world stuff like history and mythology and got a set of foam swords to play around with." Michael chuckled. "We used to beat the crap out of each other with them, his dork ass picking up movements from…. Theatrical displays."

The two casually exchange blows for a while but once Michael started to feel the flow better and was nice and warmed up Thrud got more serious. It got harder and harder to block or dodge, Michael's hands stung like crazy from each block. They had both taken blows to the ribs and both looked a bit rough but Michael clearly looked rougher. Eventually Thrud knocked him on his ass. "Hehe, that was actually kinda fun. I think I might have a natural talent for this sort of thing."

"Your grip and swing were off, not the kind I'd expect from someone with a sword."

Michael was a bit surprised to hear English but something sounded off. "Are you using a language enchantment?"

"yeah, it picked up on your language a while ago but I was too much in the moment to spoil it." Thrud helped Michael off the ground. "Still, not a bad first go for a Midgardian. Almost broke a swear near the end. You do seem to have a fighting talent but I don't think you were meant for a sword."

"God, then you didn't understand what I said at the beginning" Michael stated under his breath. "Okay, well if I'm going to help my brother then I should find what suits me best. Any pointers?"

"Let's see… you shifted from one hand to two a lot for more powerful swings and you seemed to favor striking strong over striking fast. I suggest…. A Warhammer. Also, I heard what you said under your breath. Are you talking about the fact you said I was the most beautiful woman you've seen?"

Michael tensed up a bit. "I only said that because I thought you couldn't understand me, I'm trying not to be… I'm not sure what the right word would be but my brother told me my normal approach is problematic."

Thrud let out a hardy laugh. "Don't worry about it, I actually don't mind someone being forward with me. Besides, it's been a while since someone has called me beautiful. Most guys around here think I've become, and I quote: too masculine. Before I devoted myself fully to my training I used to get a lot of attention."

"Yeah? What did you do before going full Xena Warrior Princess?"

"I was a barmaid, during that time I had two responsibilities."

"Look pretty and serve drinks. Although we use different names for it now the tradition hasn't changed much. Only difference now is men are sometimes also used in a similar role. Because apparently the solution to gaining equality in sexual objectification is not to stop doing it to women, but to do it to men too."

Thrud laughs again. "Honestly at least there's an effort. Anyway before the war I kinda wanted to be a Valkyrie. You know, training the next batch of warriors."

"I thought Valkyries were warrior women. But from the way you talk about it they sound more like drill instructors. Someone who trains the military but isn't exactly sent to the front."

"Exactly. They were to only fight as a last line of defense and are often sent in to recover the injured or dead."

"I'm guessing after the war you changed your mind though."

"When the war happened…. My father died fighting. I was powerless to do anything to help him. I felt weak, helpless. I never wanted to feel that way again."

"I understand that, I guess. I'm not a mythology nerd like my brother, so this may sound silly. Who was your father?"

"Were you not paying attention when I introduced myself? I'm Thrud, Thorsdotter."

It takes a bit to click for Michael. "Ooooh! …oh. Names don't work like that anymore where I'm from."

"So you're saying that your father isn't named Erick?"

"Haha, no. His name is Johnathan Erickson."

"Oh. Ooh! I get how it works for you now. It changed to better track family lines."

"Something like that, probably. Hunter would probably know. He was always the bookworm. I was always more of a man of action compared to him talking things out first."

"Are you the older brother?"

"Yep, and I was dad's favorite. I'm betting that sounds familiar."

"Annoyingly so. Ugh, kinda awkward that I've started to like you, seeing how much you have in common with my dad."

"You think that's bad, my brother who lived in my shadow has Lady Hel pinning after him for some reason."

Thrud chuckles. "Considering he's like the Loki or maybe the Vidar for you, yeah. Never expected "underappreciated brother in the shadow of another" could be a type."

"To be fair, my brother has better morals than Loki ever did and I actually am capable of stopping and thinking. …. Most of the time anyway."

"Oh so you don't go all hammer and act like every problem is a nail?"

"I try not to. Though I do enjoy smashing things."

"I mean breaking things can be fun, the problem is when you go out of your way to find a reason to break things to the point you are picking fights for no reason."

"I've started fights over stupid reasons, can't say I've never had one. Sometimes the reason is as simple as wanting to prove how strong you are. Just because it's a bad reason doesn't mean the reason didn't exist."

"I guess. So if I may ask, why are you even here?"

"Oh, my brother and I were having an argument when he shifted to a new place and he hasn't exactly had the time to take me home. I also insisted on trying to help him."

"Yeah, but why, why help him? If your relationship with your brother is anything like the one my dad had, it probably wasn't great when you were growing up."

"That's precisely why I insist on helping. Don't tell Hunter I said this but if I'm being honest, I wasn't the best brother. I didn't realize anything was wrong until my brother shipped off to serve in the military. He and my dad had this big fight, Hunter said some stuff that I at first thought was just him harshly lashing out from holding in how nervous he really was. I started to think back on growing up with the harsh things he said in mid and realized he wasn't exactly wrong. Then when he came home with medals and a mental health suspension my dad couldn't even say he was proud. It almost seemed as if the man was disappointed my brother didn't die honorably in battle. We aren't Vikings, people mostly stopped the Valhalla shit like a thousand years ago. That's a long time for people that are lucky to live a century."

"So you are…. Trying to be a better brother?"

"Kinda, yeah. I failed as a brother once and I'm not going to just stand by and watch my brother once again carry a burden all by himself and slowly kill himself. Only this time he'll die on the outside and not just the inside and it pisses me off how okay he is with dying. It's almost like the fact that others are going to benefit after making it worth it as he's willing to literally die for the benefit of others."

"Your brother must be a noble soul to be willing to make such a sacrifice."

Michael gripped his head. "That's the problem, I don't think he's doing it because it's the right thing to do. He's been bending over backwards to make others happy, mostly my father, since we were kids. Even at the expense of his own. It's become habitual. I don't care if he's doing the right thing, I just…. I just want him to be happy again. He deserves to love and feel loved. But instead of having a full life with some elf girl or Goddess or even a boring earth person he's set on martyrdom. He probably won't have enough time to let go of the emotional burden he seems to be carrying long enough to enjoy being happy. He's too stubborn to change his mind and knowing what's at stake I'm not even sure I want to try. I mean, one life for the happiness of the fifteen realms on paper is logical. I just hate that it's my brother who was asked to make that sacrifice."

"I get your motivation, but at the end of the day what can you actually do? You have talent but you are still only human. I've seen no indication that you can enhance yourself like your brother apparently did when fighting my uncle. I held back in our fight strength wise. I'm not sure if you know this but Odin didn't exactly do anything to increase the strength of the humans he recruited. Sure, passing that apple trial brings out the potential in a human warrior but at the end of the day all the Einherjar were still only human. Odin just saved up a lot of them over a really long time."

"I… don't actually know. I was thinking maybe magic artifacts or technology could bridge the gaps so I could actually be helpful in a fight. I've already failed once as an older brother, I refuse to fail a second time."

Thrud rubbed her chin. "My dad had a special belt and gloves that helped him hold his hammer. Even as the strongest person in the realm he still needed help to lift it. Partly because he spent a lot of time drinking back then. Maybe we could find you something like that, or since I'm not using them I could give you my dad's old stuff. Not the hammer though, Vidar still has that."

"Yeah, I noticed. He tasked my brother with choosing who it goes to. He's really good at making decisions without emotional bias so whoever among your siblings gets it will have definitely proven they can handle it."

"You know they say a person's choice in weapon says a lot about them. Out of curiosity, what is your brother's favored weapon? I should probably know something about him if I'm going to join you in following him into battle when the time comes."

"He's got this legendary weapon, a set of shields with navel canons in them. Two on his arm and five more that hover around and respond to how he moves. Called it Skið-garðr."

"That's a fitting name for a weapon like that."

"I wouldn't know because the translation doesn't work on the name for some reason."

"Probably because there's no direct translation. Skið-garðr is what we call the line of round shields we put on the sides of longboats."

"Ah, okay. That is a good name then. Though I find it strange the odd number of shields. My brother dislikes odd numbers and asymmetry when it can be prevented. Probably why one shield is often directly at his back. So he either picked seven because it was the most he could get or because of some symbolism."

"Well there are seven worlds on each end of Midgard, so maybe that's why."

Michael shrugged and switched his practice weapon set up. "Want to keep at it till my brother gets back? It's not like I can go anywhere till then anyway."

Thrud readies herself for a second round. "Sure, I'll even teach you a thing or two."

The two then continued to spar well into the night, only to repeat the cycle of sparing and chatting for the next few days.