Chapter 256: Sordid Revelations

17^th October 2012, Scotland, Earth

(Thor Odinson POV)

Heimdall nodded, “Yes, it is, but so are our accusations as well. Meet with her and be wary at the same time. I will get you out if things get too dangerous.”

Thor nodded and walked towards the Bifrost, “I trust you.”

And he meant it. He trusted Heimdall with his life and if the man thought that he needed to speak with the Morrigan, then he will trust his judgement.

With a nod, Heimdall opened the Bifrost, and the God of Thunder walked through. He arrived in a valley, empty of all humans save for two beings. He recognized one of them and bellowed out, “Morrigan, there’s something that I need to discuss with you.”

Besides the slight widening of the woman’s green eyes for a fraction of a second, the Morrigan didn’t seem to have any reaction to his surprising arrival. The woman simply raised an eyebrow and answered in an unimpressed tone, “Prince Thor of Asgard. I remember telling you less than a year ago that Asgardians were not allowed to arrive to this planet without my permission.”

Thor did feel slightly chastised by the woman’s severe tone. It reminded him somewhat of his mother’s when she caught him doing something that he really shouldn’t. The God of Thunder barely stopped himself from looking at his feet like a chastised child. Instead, he steeled himself and answered like a proper heir to Asgard should have, “Lady Morrigan, I assure you that I haven’t traveled to Midgard since you have last seen me. I just wanted to speak with you about a sensitive topic.”

The woman hummed, “And since your father hasn’t contacted me, I assume you traveled here without his permission.”

Thor looked away but before he could try to justify his actions, the woman continued, “I guess I can understand not wanting your parent to know about all your goals and dreams, so I’ll forgive you this time, but this is your last warning Thor Odinson, do not come to this planet without my permission, again.”

With every word, some sort of pressure came onto Thor, like the planet was rejecting him, wanting him to go away, and with a look at the woman’s glowing green eyes, he understood just how insignificant he was to the being in front of him. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, and it wasn’t because of some spell, it was just the pressure of her gaze that petrified him entirely. It was the implicit danger that it showed, like that of a predator looking at a petrified prey. In the end, the Prince of Asgard could do nothing but nod at the being in front of him.

The woman seemed satisfied, and the pressure entirely receded. She gave him a warm smile, one that contradicted the terrifying being that hid underneath this mask of innocent beauty. Thor would have been fooled by it if it wasn’t for what happened a few minutes prior.

The Morrigan spoke up, “Oh right, I suppose that it’s time for introductions. Thor, this is my wife Selene, and Selene, this is Thor, the first-born son of Odin and the Crown prince of Asgard.”

Thor hadn’t even noticed the woman standing next to the Morrigan who was currently looking at him with an amused gaze. He will admit that the woman had a unique beauty to her, one that also hid a very dangerous creature underneath, but it wasn’t as well hidden as the Morrigan’s mask. He hadn’t even known that the woman was married for Norn’s sake. For what seemed like the thousandth time in the last few minutes, Thor just nodded, not trusting his voice to not crack in fear.

The woman’s small smile widened slightly – how fitting for her to be the Morrigan’s wife, they both seemed to enjoy his suffering – and spoke in calm voice, “It’s nice to meet you, Thor Odinson. I suppose it’s time for me to leave you two alone,” she then looked at her wife, “Morrigan, we will revisit the topic later on.”

The Morrigan nodded and then her wife slowly faded away, probably teleporting elsewhere, leaving Thor alone with the Morrigan. If it wasn’t for Heimdall’s reassurance that he will use the Bifrost to get him out in case of danger, Thor wouldn’t have been as assured to stay in the company of the woman whose tales of Death and Destruction had terrified him ever since he was but a babe in his mother’s arms.

They stayed silent for a good minute before the Morrigan started being irritated, “Thor, you came here wanting to speak with me about something. Get it over with.”

The God of Thunder spluttered for a moment, then steeled himself once more, “My apologies, Lady Morrigan, I was lost in thought.”

The woman hummed, “It is something that tends to happen when you live a long life. Again, Odinson, what did you wish to talk about? I tire with this pointless conversation.”

Thor was slightly panicking. Why had his courage left him so? He was ready, barely a few minutes ago, to speak with the Morrigan, outraged by the fact that she might have enchanted his father. Where had his fire gone, where had his rightful fury gone?

Instead, Thor nodded a tad meekly and asked, “Yes, I wanted to ask you something, Lady Morrigan. Ever since your meeting with my father, he’s been acting oddly. I feared that he was under some sort of spell, or something similar.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “You thought that I had enchanted him…”

Before Thor could deny it, the Morrigan burst into laughter, “Don’t worry, I can understand how love for a parent could get someone to make foolish accusations, but I will tell you that I have an idea on why he’s acting oddly, and I will assure you that it isn’t something malicious in nature. And as much as I appreciate the compliment, I am not powerful enough to keep your father trapped in his own mind and maintain my control from an entire realm away. Do not underestimate your father’s power. At most, he would completely break out of any mind spell in months, even one cast by myself.”

Thor was begging her now, “Then tell me, I beg of you, what happened to my father.”

The Morrigan gave him a sad smile, “Hope, God of Thunder. I gave your father hope after thousands of years of despair for himself and his people.”

He didn’t understand what the woman was spouting. According to her, Thor’s father lived in pain and despair. Why would his father suffer so. He was the King of nine realms, he lived in a palace made of gold and he was one of the most powerful beings in the universe, “I don’t understand…”

The woman nodded, “I didn’t expect you to. It is something that your father has kept secret and with good reasons.”

The Morrigan then raised his palm and released a burst of energy, “Good, now we are not to be overheard, even by that nosy All Seer that serves your father.”

Outraged, Thor yelled out, “Heimdall is trustworthy.”

The woman didn’t seem perturbed by his temper, “Yes, he is. But he is compromised.”

Thor stopped for a moment, “What do you mean compromised?”

The Morrigan shrugged, “It’s a long story, but first tell me, Odinson, what do you know of Ragnarök?”

Ragnarök? What nonsense was this woman spouting. It was a fairy tale, nothing more. One created to destabilize Asgard’s reign, prophesizing the destruction of Asgard and the death of the Aesir race, “It’s a story, a nonsensical prophecy about the destruction of Asgard. What does it have to do with what is happening to my father?”

“Everything, Prince Thor. It has everything to do with it. Ragnarök is real, but it is not a moment in time, it is not the end of Asgard. It is a cycle, one that has been set into motion for millions of years, of the death and rebirth of not just Asgard but of the entire nine realms, outside of Midgard.”

Thor was gaping at the woman, “that’s impossible, Asgard was created barely thousands of years ago…”

The woman nodded, “Yes, your Asgard was. But there was an Asgard before that, and one before that, and thousands of others.”

“How is that possible?”

The woman hummed, “What do you know about the nine realms, in general?”

“They make up the world tree, and the entire known universe…”

“That’s not entirely correct, outside of Midgard, the nine realms are small pocket dimensions that are connected to the main universe that contains Midgard. The world tree is considered the boundary of this main universe, it is both eternal and ever growing which is why no one can truly comprehend it. The Bifrost, allows you to travel the World Tree and go into any realm you wish at any place.”

The God of Thunder already knew this. He had forgotten it slightly since he usually didn’t pay too much attention on his lessons, but the words that the Morrigan were speaking of were somewhat familiar. Still, this didn’t explain why the Morrigan was teaching this to him.

Thor looked at the woman quizzically, “what does that have to do with anything?”

“You need to understand the basics to understand how the Ragnarök cycle works. The cycle has existed ever since the first Asgardian King, in the first cycle. I believe it was your great grandfather, Buri. He created the foundation of what Asgard became later on, while his son Borr, and his grandson Odin, your father, ruled. But he wasn’t satisfied with it. He wanted his civilization to survive the test of time, so that its might, its glory, would be known everywhere, throughout the entire universe, until time itself runs out.  And so, he went on a foolish quest to find a shard of Eternity, to bargain. He was able to find the shard, and Eternity granted him an audience. He agreed to fulfill his wish, but only for a price.

“Asgard will never die, but it will be reborn in a realm, outside the universe, and yet connected. Asgard will be destroyed, yes, but it will never truly perish. It’s a rule of the universe, that everything that is created in this universe will inevitably be destroyed as well. So, in order to circumvent this, he wouldn’t stop Asgard's destruction, but allow it to be reborn, along with the other realms, the souls remaining separate reincarnating in every cycle. Death and rebirth over and over again.

“The energy of the destruction of Asgard, of the nine realms is then used by the universe to keep expanding, to grow and propagate even further. It’s supposed to be a natural cycle, with no one aware of it, ever, until the end of time itself. That was the bargain your great grandfather made, and it has been paid fully. Buri then used the power of the Bifrost, to lock away the access to Eternity, deeming the access to the cosmic entity to be too dangerous.”

Thor was enraptured by the tale, of his ancestor making sure that Asgard stays eternal, of great bargains. But were they forever trapped in this cycle, trapped in this endless loop of death and rebirth?

Thor sighed, exasperated, “That is horrible…”

The Morrigan shook her head, “No, Odinson, your ancestor’s bargain was struck and why should anyone care? Your souls might reincarnate, but you are still different people, with different lives, ambitions and so on. And you don’t really reincarnate in the same post, but your names tend to be engraved in your souls still. It’s an off phenomenon, one that I never had the opportunity to study. No, Prince of Asgard, the cycle is not a tragedy, for you need not concern yourself with your past lives, only your own. No, the tragedy came after, the tragedy is what happened when they arrived…”

“Who?”

“I do not know their names, but your father and I call them ‘Those Who Sit Above In Shadow’ and what they did to your people, what they’re still doing to your people, is so horrible that it even horrifies me.”

Thor gulped not knowing what to expect from something that horrified the Morrigan herself.

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