“Normally, I wouldn’t give you special treatment. But let’s just say your existence is better off hidden to some of my students.”
The Ancient One stepped off to the side as the same man from earlier came into the room and collected the tea cups. She raised her hand up, and drew a circle in the air. Immediately, a ring of sparking golden energy cut a whole in reality. On the other side, I saw an empty room. It looked similar to the room Doctor Strange occupied in Kamar-Taj.
“Plus, I have a feeling you will pick this up quickly.” The Ancient One added after a moment. “It is simple, visualize a destination, channel your energy into your arm and go there. We find that familiar places are easiest, for obvious reasons.”
“...Obviously, Sig. This will be child's play for you.” Jane commented off to the side as she found a seat. She was obviously being sarcastic.
I snorted and shot her a smile.
“No time like the present.” I said as I dropped down into a meditative position.
“Perhaps..” The Ancient One began to tell me to stand up.
“Can’t I try this? If I fail, I’ll do it your way.” I asked as I closed my eyes. It wasn’t really a question.
“Let’s just disregard the master of what you hope to accomplish and do it our own way. What could go wrong?” Jane muttered. She was especially snarky today. Maybe it was because of Clint’s comment about tits?
I droned out the world around me, and felt where the tiny flame burned inside me. It was in the same place it had been since my fight with Tyr. Just a corner of my mind, burning like a candle. For some reason, I always pictured it in my chest.
Well, I found the flame easy, guess all that meditation was good for something.
I tried to send the flame to my arm. I pictured it spreading from my chest to my arm. Nothing happened.
Then I tried igniting my arm. Metaphorically of course.
Nothing.
I continued to try every iteration of a flame getting to my arm to power the new enchantment on my arm.
Nothing.
----------------------------------------
Finally, I opened my eyes, angry as shit that I had failed like Jane knew I would.
There was nobody around me. Although I knew I hadn’t gone anywhere. I was still in the main area of the New York Sanctum.
“Fuck!” I half whispered half screamed. I couldn’t help the spit that flew from my mouth into the air. The anger inside me kept building.
First I get thrown into a universe that was intent on chewing me up and spitting me out. I get a body capable of so fucking much, and yet what happens? Mjolnir chooses Jane fucking Foster instead of me.
Something burned inside me. It was anger unlike I had ever felt. I barely even noticed it.
And I had lived a good life in my previous one. I didn’t fuck people over, I didn’t break the law, I lived on the straight and narrow as I was supposed. No drugs, barely drank. And then Loki, the fucking runt of the fucking litter kicks my ass, cuts off my arm and I wake up knowing I was next to useless.
So much for getting the opportunity to be a hero.
My chest felt hot, I needed to punch something, but there was nothing around. So instead I just flexed my entire body like a kid throwing a temper tantrum. Had anyone been watching, I would be so embarrassed. I was a Prince throwing a fit for not getting his way.
And then a memory popped up. A recent one.
Odin in my face, his hot breath touching my cheeks. If only I was back in that throne room right now, I would knock his fucking teeth out.
I twisted in anger, thinking about being back there.
A feeling completely different than the Bifrost passed over me. It was like my internal compass was screaming at me. And the heat spread from my chest to the rest of my body.
Suddenly I was standing in the throne room on Asgard. The lights were dim, and there wasn’t a soul around.
“I did it.” I said, more out of surprise than triumph.
How the fuck had I done it? Was it anger? Was that the secret to the flame inside me?
I went to the place in my mind that the flame sat. It was still small like a candle, but somehow bigger than before. And I could feel the heat.
Now that I wasn’t angry, I could feel the heat fading from me. I stopped it, held on to the feeling of it in my chest. It obeyed me, surprisingly. I sent the warm feeling to my arm, and just like before nothing happened… No, it slowly moved to my arm. It was so miniscule it might as well not even moved from my chest.
Fuck that shit, you will get to my arm!
And then it started crawling down my left arm again. I had never had a moment in my life where pure will triumphed, except for then. It was me against the flame in my chest, and I refused to lose.
When it encompassed my entire left arm, I pictured the New York Sanctum, raised an arm and started doing circles with it. I willed my magic to cut into the world and take me to where I wanted to go. There was no other option besides that.
It obeyed.
Gold sparks cut into the air in front of me. At first it was weak, and I realized I was letting go of the fire inside me. I grabbed it and willed it into position, pictured my destination again, and RIPPED the world to do my bidding.
A portal appeared, and I wasted no time in going through it.
“Well done.”
Of course the Ancient One was there, waiting on me. Had she seen everything that would happen today? Was there even a point in holding the conversation with her if she knew what I would say?
“Tell me you didn’t see me throw a temper tantrum.”
It was the first thing I could think of. There was no way I would ever live that down.
“Pffff hahahahahaha!” Jane’s voice hit me from my side.
I groaned. Jane fucking Foster had seen it. Allfathers help me before I kill this woman. “I would have preferred you saw it.” I whined, talking to the Ancient One. Jane would literally never let me live it down.
The Ancient One’s mouth twitched, and a small sound escaped it. I looked at her threateningly. “We all have our eccentric ways…” She muttered, right before she lost it.
Jane immediately began snorting and wheezing from laughing so hard. The Ancient One had a hand over her mouth, trying her best to hide her laughter. It was failing.
I couldn’t help it, but I started chuckling as they stood there in front of me laughing at me. The Ancient One literally pointed at me, and her laughs intensified. Jane said the last thing that made the laughter deepen between the three of us.
“I’m literally going to pee my pants! Hahahahah!”
----------------------------------------
“Good luck, Odinson.”
The portal closed behind me. The voice was quiet, almost mournful. Perhaps that was because the Ancient One knew her time was passing in a few years. To people like us, that was a blink of an eye. But it was also such a long time. And she had lived a long laugh.
“I like her.” Jane said, as she twirled Mjolnir around in the air casually. Definitely not fast enough to fly or anything like that.
“Me too.” I agreed as I looked around my rooms.
I heard a yawn, and looked to see Jane stretching like a cat standing up. “I’m beat.” She said as she moved to the door at the front of my rooms. She knew the way, she annoyed me enough.
“Jane.” I said, stopping her. There was something that had been on my mind for a while.
She turned back and looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
“You ok?” I asked. I didn’t elaborate, I didn’t have to. We both knew why I was asking that.
Jane’s face sobered immediately. “I’m adjusting.” Jane answered. “My whole life got uplifted in the span of two days. I don’t know where any of my equipment is. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to continue my work. I don’t …know what’s going to happen next.” She elaborated, her shoulders shrugging.
“I don’t… I just don’t know.” Her mood continued to darken.
“But you know the worst part?” She asked, as her voice broke slightly. I couldn’t help it. I moved forward to her, closing the distance.
“I don’t have anybody to miss me.”
I drew her into a hug, just as she finished her sentence. And then the waterworks came. It was like a dam broke inside her. She squeezed my chest, fucking hard, and buried her head into my shoulder.
The metal of her helmet was cold and dug into my chin, but I endured it. It really didn’t even compare to the pain she must have felt. If the comics were right in this world, both of her parents were dead. Mom from cancer at age nine, and dad from a heart attack, but I didn’t remember the age.
“No family?” I asked. It could easily be taken as an obvious thing. But sometimes people just needed to talk about it. Sometimes you needed to give them the opportunity.
Jane’s head shook on my shoulder, confirming my suspicions.
“Dead.”
The mumble would have been hard to understand if I wasn't expecting it. It made me think about my own family. And then I stopped. I couldn’t think about them. I wasn’t in the same universe anymore. But I still had my family in this life. Odin, Frigga, Tyr, Balder, Loki, Hela, and even Heimdall might as well be family.
“People say you don’t get to choose your family.” I told her, mimicking what a family member told me one time. “I call bullshit. You don’t choose blood. Family is more than blood. Go make a family.”
I expected a response, to be honest. But I got nothing.
Now that I thought about it, the crying had stopped too.
Was that snoring?
Fuck.
I rolled my eyes as I slowly maneuvered Jane so that I could carry her bridal style. She never even opened an eye. I noticed Mjolnir dangling off of her wrist.
I guess this is one way I can wield Mjolnir. I thought, giving the hammer the mental middle finger.
I began walking in the direction of Jane’s room.
“Fuck. The palace gossip is going to love this one.”
----------------------------------------
I strode with purpose, clad in full armor, as was normal nowadays. Jarnbjorn was clutched confidently in my right hand.
Jane was close behind, whistling and twirling Mjolnir. I was beginning to believe she did that when she was nervous or stressed. Maybe acting like it wasn’t a big deal was the trick. I just gripped Jarnbjorn a little bit harder. I wasn’t sure why I was even nervous, all I was doing was proving that I could transport us to Nidavellir and back.
Lady Sif and the Warriors Three walked beside Jane, and behind them was a squad of asgardian warriors. All of them had spears in one hand, a shield in the other, and an assortment of other personal weapons once those failed them.
It was purely ceremonial of course. Eitri was a good friend to Asgard, as were the dwarves, and we wanted to show respect. We were their escort, and not expected to actually fight.
Finally, we reached the rainbow bridge that normally led to the Bifrost. Odin sat on his massive horse towards the end. On either side of us, more asgardian warriors were lined up, like we were in the throne room. We sure were a vain bunch, weren’t we?
I got to Odin, and dropped to a knee.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You have returned from Midgard, as you promised. Bring me Eitri, Siegfried, bring me peace!” Odin exclaimed, as his horse reared back and neighed to the sky.
Did everything have to be so theatrical?
I stood to my feet. “Yes, Allfather.” I said as I lifted my left arm and sent my power to it. It was significantly easier today. Last night, it had moved like honey across my body. It was slow and sticky. Now it was slightly faster and stronger, like molten metal traveling across my bones.
A golden portal opened up, ten foot in diameter, according to my will. My memories provided the destination. I stepped into the portal.
One thing the movies got wrong, was that it was not just a hunk of metal circling a star. It was that, plus so much more.
The most obvious thing was that there was an atmosphere on Nidavellir. Above, another star, not too far away shined light onto the ground beneath us. I stood on a pathway, not made from concrete, but similar in looks.
On either side of the pathway, there was topsoil that fed grass and trees. An entire ecosystem if you will. And in front of me stood a palace, made out of what looked to be marble. It was the same material that sat beneath my feet.
I looked around me, and up to the sky. Jane was mimicking me looking out to the horizon and sky.
“Is that Solar Plasma?” Jane asked as we looked at the same phenomenon. It looked like wisps of orange light extending out into the cosmos. Even with another sun close enough to light the world around us we could see it.
“I believe so.” I answered as I watched what looked like to be the opposite of the northern lights on midgard.
Jane walked over to the grass on the other side and knelt down to feel it. “Holy shit it’s real.” She said as she continued to rub it.
“Of course.” I answered as I pointed ahead of us. “That is the palace.”
I was right too. There was a massive walled city that led to what looked like a palace. It honestly looked like a combination of Asgard and an old scottish castle. There was gold, but there was also white stone, and metal. The gate was massive, and was obviously nearly impenetrable. I wondered how they even managed to open it.
“Picture it this way.” I said as I held my hand out in a sphere. “There are eight rings that extend out from this location, that circle all the way back around the star. Each ring is about as wide as ...california is long if that makes sense. They join here, and on the opposite side of the star. Does that paint a picture of what we stand on?”
Jane stood up, sighed, and a smile blossomed on her face. “This is amazing.” She said. “And dwarves live on the rings?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s mostly just wildlife from their home planet. They’re mainly to sustain the atmosphere, although they also grow the food on them. Almost all of the dwarves reside here, or on the opposite side of the star. Two massive cities hold the population.” I explained.
It was an interesting experience explaining things that I had learned in my childhood, but hadn’t realized since ‘merging’ with this body. A part of me was used to the information. Another was in awe, as Jane was, getting to see it.
“Thats…”
There was a loud creaking sound. Like a massive door being opened. Realistically, that was exactly what happened.
A hundred yards ahead of us, the city gates opened, revealing a crowd of dwarves dressed in ornate armor. And most of them were on the back of goats. It was a ...well I wanted to mention how ridiculous it was, but honestly it just felt right.
Nothing in my memories mentioned them riding goats.
The sound of hooves hitting the ground reached my ears as the crowd of dwarves began riding my way. The closer they got the more I remember that they were not like the dwarves of Midgard. No, they were ...giant ...dwarves?
That didn’t sound right. What I mean is that every single one stood a head taller than me, and I was six foot six. Jane looked like a child next to me, next to them … well she looked like a ...dwarf…
I nearly laughed at my own joke, but I kept it together as they approached.
“Thor!” The lead dwarf yelled as he approached. How he wasn’t drowned out by the hooves I’ll never know. I made a note never to get into a shouting contest with him.
I waited patiently until the lead dwarf, obviously Eitri, pulled on the reins of his goat. A goat that was at least eleven foot tall, with massive curved horns. It had a look in it’s eye that made me think it wanted to eat everything around it.
Fucking goats.
“Eitri!” I greeted as I walked forward to where the dwarf was dismounting. “It’s good to see you!”
Eitri looked at me, and his eyes flickered around my form, before they locked onto the companion beside me. His whole face turned mournful, quickly. “Oh, Odinson, I am sorry.” He said, obviously talking about Mjolnir being in Jane’s hands.
I smiled at him. It was a nice gesture. “Don’t be. I finally get to use Jarnbjorn again, and I have a new arm!” I said as I held the axe and my new appendage up to him. It was a slight manipulation on my part. Eitri wore his heart on his sleeve.
His face brightened. “That you do!” Eitri said as he closed the distance between us and laid his massive paws on my arm. “Ha! I told Odin that damned Destroyer could have better use!” Eitri continued, showing his metalworking skill. He had deduced the origins of my arm with barely a touch.
“Now, I hear you want your precious rainbow bridge repaired, yes? Why Odin won’t let me build him a fleet of starships, I’ll never know.” Eitri said, smiling wide. “Or even just one.”
I filed that information away in the back of my mind for later conversation.
“Yes, well you know how stubborn father is.” I said, joking with the dwarf.
“Hahaha, yes indeed!” Eitri said as he pointed over his shoulder to his fellow dwarves. “We’re ready to go when you are, Odinson.”
“Siegfried.” I corrected. “You don’t need more time to prepare?” I asked as I looked around him to his entourage.
“You have forgotten Heimdall’s ability to speak across the Nine Realms, hmmm? I know that hammer didn’t take all of your wits, boy!” Eitri said, in a teasing manner. He actually elbowed me good naturedly to show he was joking. “We have been gathering the materials since we heard of the Bifrost’s destruction.”
Honestly, I had completely forgotten about Heimdall’s ability to do that. How else did I think Odin had been in touch with the rest of the Realms? This was going to save us a lot of time, but would also not allow me and Eitri the time to talk alone like I wanted. I would have to corner him somewhere on Asgard.
“I forgot how efficient you damned dwarves were.” I jabbed back towards him. “Now watch this!”
I held my left arm up, and drew power into it.
And then, a fist, about the size of my head with red scales on it reached out of the ground beneath me. I don’t know how I reacted in time, but I moved my left arm and deflected the punch from the being rising out of the ground beneath me.
What followed the red scaled fist, was a red scaled arm that attached to a massive body.
It was a rock troll.
As the Troll rose out of the ground, he rolled with my deflection and in his right hand he had an axe headed towards my neck.
Jarnbjorn rose, out of instinct and years of battle experience, to parry the axe. It felt like I was holding a mack truck from running me over. The power and strength behind the blow was incredible. I didn’t know why the rock trolls were deciding to attack, but I needed space from this monster in front of me.
My leg reached out, and I spartan kicked the ten foot tall behemoth. He flew away from me, nearly thirty feet off of the path he sprung out of.
I was slightly surprised by the strength that I hit the troll with. And then I realized that the power I had sent to my arm, I had instinctively moved to my leg when I kicked the troll.
“Ahh!”
A scream, that was obviously Jane’s caused me to turn my head in her direction.
She staggered backwards, and from the position of her enemy, I noticed her armor barely stopped the sword that the troll swung. It would have split her from collar to hip had the armor not been there.
I jumped, seeing that she was in shock and wasn’t fighting, and swung Jarnbjorn with purpose. The rock troll’s head separated, with almost no hesitation.
Jane was doused with blood. It splattered on her face, where her helmet wasn’t, and all over her torso. When I landed I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me.
“Jane!” I yelled.
Her eyes met mine, but they didn’t show any comprehension.
“Fuck.” I said, knowing that I didn’t have the time to get her to snap out of whatever trance she was in.
“Thor!”
The call of my previous name made me look to whoever said it. There was a rock troll, that stood at least five feet about the rest of his brethren. And his physique could only be described as ...otherworldly.
His arms were as big as a fucking tree trunk, and his legs even bigger than that. His red beard flowed down his chest, and his red hair was braided to reach his waist behind him.
It was Ulik, a rock troll that I had hunted in my earlier years as Thor. He had raised a major ruckus on Vanaheim. How the fuck had he made it to Nidavellir. And what was he doing here?
“Finally done hiding Ulik?” I asked, trying to stall.
He sneered, and growled at me. “My people are done being slaves to the Asgardians. We declare our independence, with your death!”
Well then…
Ulik took four steps and jumped to clear the rest of the distance between us. He had what looked to be like brass knuckles on either hand. So it would be a death by fists, if he had his way.
I grabbed Jane’s armor near her back, summoned my power and tossed her somewhere behind me.
“Got her!” Eitri said to me, alerting me that he was still alive, thank the allfathers.
Ulik was hurling towards me with his right arm cocked back, prepared to hit me with it. I summoned as much power as I could and sent it to my left arm, before I jumped towards him.
I don’t know why I did it. Maybe it was the arrogance from my kicking the rock troll earlier. Maybe it was my desire to meet him fist to fist and see who won. Maybe it was plain stupidity.
When our fists connected, nobody won. Meaning neither of our arms, or bodies gave out. But he had way more momentum than I did, and although my arm and body held, I went flying backwards.
I held on to Jarnbjorn as we tumbled off of the road and into the grass. Somehow I came up on top, and wasted no time in swinging Jarnbjorn to his head.
He caught my wrist with his left hand, and slung me. I flew through the air for a good moment before my back hit something really really hard.
I had no time to gain my bearings, however, because Ulik was once again rocketing towards me.
I braced myself, and once again summoned my power, before taking a stance like I was going to meet him in the air again.
I was not.
When he got close, I jumped straight up, with my knee heading straight to his face. That time, I won our engagement, and he crumpled under my knee that struck him right on the nose.
The impact was jarring, and I felt it run through every bone of my body, but it did not hurt. Still Ulik was not done.
I didn’t give him the opportunity to get up. I swung my left arm right towards his temple before he could react. His eyes rolled in the back of his head for just a moment.
I brought down Jarnbjorn before I could even ponder the act. Just like the rock troll before him, Jarnbjorn cut through skin, muscle, and bone without trouble. For the second time that day, I decapitated another sentient living being.
The massive body beneath me still immediately.
I took in a deep breath, thinking it was all over, before I remembered there still might be more. I looked around and brought Jarnbjorn up just in case, before I realized there was no more fighting going on.
Three Asgardians, fifteen rock trolls, and even one dwarf laid on the ground unmoving nearly a hundred yards ahead of me. That motherfucker had thrown me that far? Trees were scattered around me, making a straight path back to the road.
I reached down, and grabbed the head of Ulik. A part of me was repulsed at the idea of doing such a thing. The other part of me was so nonchalant, having done it a hundred times before.
I began walking back towards the road. I couldn’t help but hear the blood dripping on the ground behind me. As I approached, I noticed Jane was on her knees staring at a figure on the ground in front of her.
The rock troll's chest had been caved in, and it was obviously done by Mjolnir. I had seen that wound a thousand times before. She took her first life…
Eitri gave me a look of remorse before nodding towards me and turning around, to deal with the dead dwarf on the ground behind him.
I bent down, breaking the line of sight between Jane and the body on the ground. Her eyes flickered up to my own. I could see tears on the rims of her eyes behind her helmet.
She leapt forward, and wrapped her arms around me. I dropped the head in my left hand, before I hugged her back. Just as she did that, I wondered if she was ready for the life that laid in front of her. I hated that I doubted her. Anybody could have this reaction to their first kill. Especially if they never even considered that they could do such a thing.
I sat there, letting her get it out of her system. This would be used against her in the court. The soldiers behind me were watching, even if they didn’t say anything about it. It would spread like wildfire when we got to Asgard though.
She would be viewed as weak.
When it sounded like she wasn’t crying anymore, I stood her up and peeled her arms off of me.
“We have to get back to Asgard, Jane.” I said softly.
“I killed him…” She whispered. “He attacked me, I know he would have killed me but I never expected to ...I just meant to knock him back not … fuck.” She word vomited.
“I know this is a lot right now, Jane. But you need to stand up, you need to poke out your chest, and grip that hammer. Hold it together until you can get back to your rooms, ok? Don’t let them think you are weak.” I told her quietly.
“What if I am?” Jane asked. God she was a mess.
“The hammer would never have chosen you, if you were.” I reassured her. “You can do this. That was self-defense. He’ll never hurt anybody else ever again.”
She nodded, and her hands wiped the streaks of tears that ran down her face. Luckily, it was hard to tell that her eyes were puffy behind her helmet, an advantage in this situation.
Once she was done she gripped Mjolnir with purpose, and stuck her chest out like I told her. I nodded to her. “Good. You did great.” I said before turning to my companions.
“Eitri.” I called out to the King of the Dwarves.
The dead dwarf was already on top of the goat he rode up on. It was gently taking him back to the palace, where a line of more dwarves waited. I could almost feel the sorrow from where I stood. He would be hailed a hero, but that wouldn’t mean much to his children or wife.
“We are ready, Siegfried.” Eitri said as he nodded to me.
I turned to my own people. Lady Sif stood by the Warriors Three, who each had an asgardian body slung over their shoulder.
The portal to Asgard opened up without me even having to move my arm. My anger fueled my will. My will opened a twenty foot portal in front of us. I reached down and grabbed the severed head of Ulik and strode forward ahead of everyone.
I heard the surprised gasp of a crowd through the other side of the portal. Could have been a couple of things. The head in my hand, the bodies on the ground, or The Warrior three carrying bodies.
I walked into the throne room of Asgard, as Odin had requested when I brought back Eitri and the dwarves. He wanted a spectacle, well he was getting one. There were many many asgardian nobles in the room as I walked in.
I walked forward enough for everyone to get through the portal and then stopped. I turned to the Warrior Three, as I had so many times before. They walked up to me, and one by one I took the body off of their shoulders before walking before the Allfather and laying them on the ground before the throne.
It was tradition that they be honored before their king. They would get a king's burial tonight.
“Who did this?” Odin asked.
“Rock Trolls.” I answered and threw the head of Ulik on the ground. “Before attacking us, Ulik declared their independence.” I told him. I would not suggest a course of action just yet. I would see what Odin wanted to do.
Odin’s gaze shifted from me to Eitri. “It is good to see you unharmed, old friend.” Odin said with a nod towards him.
Eitri dropped to a knee. “It is because of Siegfried, and Thor that I still live. Unfortunately, I will not be able to honor the fallen dwarf tonight.” Eitri answered.
I was happy that he mentioned Jane. She would need all the good rep she could get.
“Asgard asks for your help, once again, King Eitri.” Odin said, formally. Eitri answered, as he normally did when he arrived at Asgard.
“We will always answer the Allfather.”