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Tuatha 319 Book 4 Chapter 12

I used the chaos my information had caused to slip away. [Justice] had already ruled that I could come and go, so I used this moment of anger and fury to gather Draioct and leave. I needed to be fast, and riding on the back of a Divine creature that could gallop across the sky would work best.

I entered Asgard using the failsafe I had left in place. Once I’d returned, it was a simple flight from there to Asgard City. Hrimfaxi was quick enough and well-known enough to the Asgardians that they ignored Draioct’s presence as she galloped across the sky of the city.

We were able to move much faster without the need to worry about stealth or masking my presence. We acted with purpose and without skulking, giving those who witnessed our passage no reason to question what we were doing. There would be no lasting memory.

Draioct landed near Mimir’s well. Without Huginn and Muninn’s watchful gaze, we landed without being challenged. I had made plans if there were guards in place, but the Well of Urd stood unguarded. I dove from Draioct’s back directly into the water that had been diverted from the headwaters of a divine river. The water that had pooled formed the basis for a part of Odin’s [Divine Wisdom].

I swam to the bottom of the well, my perception barely working to stay oriented as the energies of the well interfered with what I attempted. The water was connected, in some manner, with the river of history, that gestalt of physics, magic, and divine that touched just barely on the rules of [Time].

No matter how close I swam to the bottom of the well, I wasn’t able to discern individual items, but I needed that eye. So, the only recourse I had was to sweep everything I came across into the [Ring of Hidden Depths].

It took time as I had to search the entirety of the well methodically, and like my [Ring of Hidden Depths], it was affected by spatial magic. I had no idea what the detritus of items that I was finding was. The accumulation that had managed to build up as Asgardians tossed things into the well was prodigious, but finally, I got the System message I was waiting for.

[Quest Complete: Avoid Heimdall and steal Odin’s Eye.]

I followed the connection that existed between Draioct and me to figure out which way to go as I swam my way free of the well. Without that connection, I would have been lost, trapped within those waters for eternity. My perception wasn’t strong enough to pierce the waters, and without the sands at the bottom of the well to use as a reference, it was impossible to tell which way was up.

Draioct was waiting patiently for me as I scaled the brick-and-mortar walls that surrounded the opening of the well and climbed out. She waited for me to mount patiently before launching into the sky and galloping away, leaving Asgard and the Asgardians behind with no clue of what we had just accomplished.

I was fighting to maintain my sense of self, my purpose, and of my goal as I fled. I had accidentally gotten a sip of Mimir’s water, and they were changing me. The properties of the water remained as potent today as they had always been, and that small sip was impossible to guard against.

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I’m not sure why Mimir had allowed the theft, accidental as it had been, but to drink of his waters without paying the price and with no consequence must have been for a reason. There must be something Mimir hoped to accomplish by allowing me to imbibe even the smallest part of his essence.

As the water began to change me, it worked to expand my intellect and knowledge and bless me with wisdom. I realized as my already prodigious intellect increased that Mimir had allowed me to claim Odin’s eye. He protected his well too carefully to allow someone to land, dive inside, and grab the plethora of items found at the bottom without his permission.

Items that I now realized were the price the Asgardians paid for even a drop of the water the well contained.

There was nothing I could do about it now. I needed to return to the conclave of Gods. And honestly, there wasn’t anything I could do if I wanted. Mimir wasn’t simply a God. He was a force of nature, akin to the [Wild Magic].

Before I had directed everyone to approach the leaders of the magical races, I made sure Tia could enter Asgard without the benefit of a [Fairy Ring]. Just in case they were detected and destroyed, I needed some assurance that we could return.

Tia had been Cait Sith long enough, and she had recruited and transformed enough of the world’s cats that she could establish a portal connection between planes as long as a cat was present. She had left a cat hidden near Utgard Citadel, which was the reason I had returned so easily, without using the [World Tree] or [Fairy Rings] and arriving back in the [Forest of Nightmare Plants].

I thought to suggest that Meaner, a Cait Sith that transformed into a bobcat, and the Sidhe Tia had left to open gates, leave the Asgardian Realm now that my goal had been accomplished, but I decided to hold my tongue.

The Cait Sith were Tia’s subjects, and what plans she might have in Asgard were hers to deal with. My task was finished, but I knew Tia had selected an [Oracle], so there was no telling what future plans might need a Cait Sith’s presence to remain hidden but present.

Without access to the [World Tree], or a connection to the [Fairy Rings] I had established, Tia and the Cait Sith would be locked out of this Realm if and when they retreated.

My expanding intellect and the wisdom I had gained from drinking the waters from the [Well of Urd] gave me some insight into what she had planned. She and her people would monitor the [Forest of Nightmare Plants]. They would nurture the [Fairy Rings] I had planted. And over time, they would slowly expand the expanse of territory that [Fairy] claimed.

Her people would serve as a check, and if the [Fairy Rings] were ever discovered, she and her people could protect the Demi-fey until they could transplant each ring into [Cait Sith]. They would be the last line of defense to make sure they would never be destroyed.

If the [Oracle] she had found was powerful enough, she would know how best to expand the [Fairy Rings] so that they created an ever-expanding grove of [Fairy]. Each ring supported and empowered with the [Illusion and Glamour ] I had set to protect and hide them from Odin and Heimdall’s sight.

The chain of [Portals] Tia had fashioned between Asgard, Urt, and with a brief mental request, the [Conclave of Gods] allowed me to return to the council chambers with none the wiser. None other than [Justice], [Order], and [Chaos].

For all of their [Divine Nature], none of the Gods were omniscient, none of them powerful enough to breach the defenses that my membership as part of the Tuatha de Danann afforded. I was protected from scrying, from Divine sight, and although Odin might have noticed the theft of his eye if he’d been paying attention, the chaos that greeted me when I returned explained why he hadn’t.

The Gods from each Pantheon were casting accusations and Levin bolts. The only reason the chamber hadn’t devolved into a war of Gods, one that might tear the world apart, was because of the suppressing effect of [Justice’s] [Domain].

What happened once she left was beyond her [Authority]. But as long as she sat as President pro tempore, she could restrain [Time], [Death], and [Eternity] themselves. The Levin bolts and Divine attacks never landed. Within her own [Domain], [Justice’s] [Authority] was unassailable.