The Confrontation

Sweat dripped off John’s brow as his muscles screamed in agony. If he had the energy to, he would’ve yelled out in sheer pain, but the action of holding up the hammer as lightning coursed through it, arcs of electricity leaving the head of the hammer and landing directly on Thor’s hands, was too much. Barely out of the corner of his eye, he could see Talia, holding up her hammer as well, the rune that he drew on both of their arms glowing brightly. They had realized a few moments before lifting the hammers that they would probably need some magical help to do so, so John had quickly drawn the Uruz rune on their arms, hoping it would be enough to give them the boost they needed to finish the puzzle. And while the rune did indeed help, it got them just barely over the threshold of strength they needed, so although they were able to lift and hold the hammers in position, doing so was the most strenuous task John had ever undertaken. Finally, just as it seemed that John’s arms and legs were going to break under the strain of this heavy hammer, the lightning stopped coursing through it, signaling to both Talia and John to drop them.

As they let their weakened muscles rest for a moment, they watched as the statue’s arms rose upward. When both of its hands were clasped above its head, a replica of Mjolnir fell from the darkened ceiling and slid perfectly in between them. Then, Thor quickly lowered his arms in a hammering fashion. And when Mjolnir struck the ground, it caused the sound of thunder to echo through the chamber. There, sitting directly in front of Mjolnir, was a small lever - the same kind of lever that they had pulled in Tyr’s room to finish that puzzle.

John and Talia both gave a sigh of relief. But even so, that relief did not last long, as both of them realized that since the puzzle was done, Frida would be returning, and they would have to confront her about what they knew.

John stumbled his way over to Talia. Although his Gamer’s Body was returning his strength and energy at an increased rate, holding the hammer had still taken its toll on him, and he would need a few moments before he was back up to full strength again. As John walked over, the part of his brain that wasn’t focused on the upcoming awkward discussion with Frida decided to take a moment and admire Talia’s beauty. She had tied her long blonde hair up into a ponytail before holding up the hammer, and it really complimented her features. She had rolled up her sleeves, showing off the muscle that she’d already built up during her hidden sword fighting practice. And while both of these things made her look absolutely stunning, John’s mind decided to focus on a few other things, namely the sweat that was slowly rolling down her curvaceous figure and the fact that John had clearly not given enough time to how absolutely amazing her ass looked in the armor she was wearing. Talia then began to stretch her arms above her head, thrusting her chest out and causing John’s jaw to nearly drop. If John’s body could spare the energy, he’d probably be sporting a massive hard on. Sadly, the only thing he could do with what little energy he did have was drag his body over to Talia and slur out the words: “You’re - you’re really, really hot.”

She looked over at him and gave a smile, as well as a shaky thumbs up. “Thanks. My arms hurt.”

“Just your arms…?”

“Well, my legs went numb about halfway through - oh, there they go, never mind. Yep, aaaaand my whole body hurts. Ow.”

“Ha, you fool. My whole body hurt before yours did! I’m the ‘ow’ winner!”

They both chuckled before plopping down onto the ground. Just then, Frida walked in, looking just as sweaty and worn out as the two of them. She gave them a tired glance. “How was… how were the hammers?”

John and Talia both groaned, before John asked, “How was the… fixing thing?”

Frida groaned in response before sitting down next to them. “I couldn’t actually fix it. One of the cables snapped and I couldn’t repair it. So instead, I just had to channel a lightning spell through the main energy port. Turns out, once you start channeling the spell, you can’t stop until it closes up.” She looked down at her hands, which John just now noticed were smoking slightly. “I gotta say, it’s a really awful feeling, having a spell **** out of you. Would not recommend.” She then reached behind herself, pulling out of a small pack a handful of tiny white pills. John looked over and instantly recognized them, but Frida spoke up before he could say anything. “Here, take one of these. Halfdan uses them when he gets really tired in the workshop. Take no more than one a day, they can be very addictive.”

John was about to tell her that he already took one earlier that day, but a small voice in his head asked if he should really heed her warning. After all, he had magical skills no one had ever seen before, and a constant status effect that aided him in avoiding negative physical consequences. Besides, the other one had already worn off, and if they were going to continue exploring the barrow today, he would need some more energy to push forward. And anyway, he was a strong-willed individual. There was no way that he would get addicted, right?

Without another thought, John reached out, grabbed one of the pills, and popped it into his mouth, swallowing it dry. After a moment or two, the same burst of energy shot through his body, causing him to spring to his feet and roll his shoulders. He gave Frida and Talia a smile, who both returned it as they too rose to their feet. “Gotta love a good happy pill.” John then sauntered over to the lever and quickly pulled it.

As he did so, he could hear stonework and gears turning all around him - but his attention was more focused on the rune that had just blazed to life before him upon the head of Mjolnir. He could tell instantly that it was a rune of Thor, and a quick use of Runic Observe confirmed his suspicions.

Rune Unlocked: Thor - Slayer of the Jotun
1200MP to cast
“Guests scrambled everywhere, fleeing for the doors as a brilliant flash of lightning set the roof ablaze. A roar of thunder caused the pillars to crumble, and the feasting hall collapsed inward on the screaming guests.” A Rune used to tap into the powers of Thor, Norse God of Lightning and Thunder. Allows for the caster to channel the lightning of Thor, shooting forth from the caster in all directions.

John could not contain his grin as he read the description of his rune. This effectively replaced the Surtr rune in his arsenal, which would hopefully show the council that he was more inclined to side with the correct side of the gods and allow him to not be executed. Plus, this rune seemed to be less ****-and-chaos filled than the Surtr rune, and he hoped maybe having this rune would help him not have another nightmare like the one last night. He turned, grin still beaming, but the sight of Talia and Frida caused that smile to fade away. ‘Right. We have to talk to her.’

Frida looked to the two younger members of the party with a puzzled expression. She was unsure why they looked so anxious after managing to solve the puzzle, but figured they might just be worried about the road ahead. ‘Or they could have found out… no no no…’ she thought to herself. There was no way they found out about her and this place. There was no way.

Unless….

Her gaze turned back to John. All three of them had made their way out of Thor’s room and they were back in the main hall. Currently John and Talia were whispering about something, completely oblivious to the fact that above their heads the statues’ weapons had touched, causing electricity to surge from statue to statue and eventually shoot out of Tyr’s lost hand, hitting a sensor above the door, opening it. Frida did not pay much mind to it, as it wasn’t something she hadn’t seen before. But she figured John and Talia would be amazed at such events, as she was all those years ago when she first saw it. But no, instead they just continued to whisper in agitated tones to each other. Frida sighed and walked up to them. “Alright, you two. Spill it. What’s on your minds?” She crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side as both of their heads turned to her, realizing they had been caught. Frida noticed John’s eyes travel up and down her body, lingering for a half second on her curves. She did not hate that; in fact, if she were a few decades younger, she would have encouraged it. She could fondly remember the days that she would catch Hálfdan staring at her, and she would respond teasingly through wearing clothing that showed off more of her body, or occasionally doing things in an obvious sexual manner, hoping to get him to crack one day.

This young man reminded her a lot of a younger Hálfdan, both of them having a curiosity and charming personality, and both of them in an awkward phase of life that she could tell would result in the blossoming of someone handsome. She bit back a giggle as she recalled how Hálfdan looked three centuries ago. Noodle arms, awkward height, pimples on his ears… But oh was that man charming and kind, and so thoughtful and sweet. He was worth his weight in gold, and his eventual escape of his awkward phase into his current looks, the looks that caused some of the other elven mothers to look at her with envy… just icing on the cake of her man.

She was glad that Talia found someone similar to her Hálfdan. Hopefully he would turn out just as handsome as her husband, and if not, she had no doubt in her mind that they would be very happy nonetheless.

It was then Frida realized that she had been so busy travelling down the road of memory lane that she had just been standing there, awkwardly staring at the two younger adventurers, as they stared back at her with the same level of awkwardness. She cleared her throat and took a step back. “Sorry, I, uh, spaced out there for a second. You two want to tell me what’s wrong, or am I going to have to guess?” she asked, hoping that they didn’t already tell her.

They looked at each other, then back to her, then to each other again, seeming like neither of them wished to speak, both waiting for the other one to start. After a couple of minutes, John finally decided to be the first one to speak up.

“Um, uh… Mrs., um… Frida,” John stumbled out. He then took in a deep breath, steeling himself and grabbing Talia’s hand before speaking up again. “Frida, we need to talk.”

“Obviously. That’s why I asked you what was wrong.”

“R-Right. Um… we’ve been - I mean, I’ve gathered some… well, that is…”

Talia interrupted, taking a step forward. “Mom, I need your honest answer on this. John and I found some evidence suggesting that you and Dad have been… hiding some truths from us, and we need to know.” She took a deep breath before looking her mother directly in the eyes. “Mom, were you a part of the rebellion?”

‘Shit.’

Frida couldn’t hold back the surprise that overcame her. She looked away from the two children before softly asking, “What makes you think I was a part of the rebellion?”

“Well, your reaction, for one,” Talia said, her tone indicating that she was clearly hurt.

It was then that John stepped back into the conversation. “We also found a knife in the rebellion camp that said it was both crafted and used by Hálfdan. In addition, you’ve looked at all the things we’ve seen in this barrow with an expression that would be more akin to… nostalgia, rather than the awe of discovery.”

Frida sighed. “Shit. I knew this was going to happen, but I was hoping it would’ve been later into the barrow.”

Talia let go of John’s hand and walked closer to her mother, her voice laced with resentment and pain. “Mom, how could you?! You’ve - I mean - why would you hide this from me? And then, when John and I discovered this, when we planned on going to the barrow, you couldn't’ have told us that we were going to your old secret hideaway? You had to give us hints on how not to die rather than just telling us straight out? What the fuck, Mom?”

Frida took some steps back, defensively holding her hands up. “Talia, it’s not that simple! Do you realize how hard it is to tell your own daughter, ‘hey, so, Mom used to be part of a rebellion that is now considered by the government to be a terrorist group!’ Do you think I could’ve just brought that up at the dinner table? Told you about it when doing homework given to you by the same government that I once actively rebelled against?”

Talia threw her hands up into the air, walking angrily past her mother and through the doorway that had opened just minutes ago and into the new room. “But Mom, do you realize how many times I’ve wanted to come to you with problems that I’ve had with how the Elven societies are run? Huh? You know, it’s not exactly easy having some of the interests that I do! I mean, jazz music, video games, all the fun stuff that I like to do - guess what, the elders don’t like that stuff! And I’m always like, oh, I can’t go to my parents with this stuff, they wouldn’t know what it’s like growing up, wanting to do things that the government doesn’t want you to do, wanting to be a different person than the government has ordained you as…” Talia quickly turned on her heels to face Frida, her features overcome with rage. “I mean, hell! Did you know that all the times I’ve spent out and about, I haven’t actually been spending time with friends, because I don’t exactly have a lot of those - you wanna know what I’ve been doing? I’ve been out practicing with a sword! Because that’s what I’ve wanted to do, ever since I saw Dad making swords in his smithy! And I thought I could never tell you or Dad that I wanted to do this, because it’s against the rules for a woman to ever be a swordsman! Closest I could ever get was using a bow! I mean, for fuck’s sake, Mom, I almost died yesterday! And if it wasn’t for John, I might have! And all because I couldn’t tell my mom and dad what I actually wanted to do! And now I learned I could have this entire time? That you two were part of a terrorist cell that tried to overthrow the government? Gee, thanks, Mom! Really saved me a lot of trouble and hurt!”

Frida was completely taken aback. She had no idea about all of these things her daughter was going through. She always figured there was something different about Talia, but she guessed it was something more like being a lesbian, or getting in fights with her schoolmates, not… holding a rebellious spirit like this within her this entire time. ‘She probably gets that from her mother. And me.’

She followed her daughter into the new room, with John at her heels. “Talia, I wanted to tell you! Your father and I both did, but… there were so many things that would’ve come up because of this, and it would’ve been so difficult, and so much would’ve changed…”

“What would’ve changed, Mom? Huh? What, that you’d be able to be involved in a part of my life that I had to hide from you and Dad? What else are you hiding from me, hm? Because I really doubt that ‘I was secretly a terrorist’ is the only thing.”

Frida snapped. “We were not terrorists. Stop calling us that! The government only calls us that because they were unhappy with what we were doing - that we understood that the people weren’t happy with preordained destinies, that they wanted a choice in what they would do.” Her voice softened as her shoulders dropped. “Just like you want. We fought for choice.”

It was then that John chimed in again. “Guys, what is this room?”

Talia waved her hand dismissively. “Not now, John. Mom and I are having a very important… discussion.” She turned back to her mother. “If you were just fighting for people’s choice, then why did your rebellion result in the deaths of hundreds?”

“It’s not our fault, Talia - things got out of hand. When a government starts shooting at you, you either get shot or you start shooting back.”

“No, seriously, guys. This room doesn’t look like the safest one to have a discussion in.”

“And what about Arvida, huh? You wanna start spouting rhetoric about her too? Something about how she was a ‘wonderfully misunderstood heroine of the people’? She led an armed revolution!”

John gave a small chuckle from the sidelines. “No one really credits Robespierre for being a misunderstood hero. But seriously, you two, this room is not safe-looking… I am out of descriptions… dangerous, deadly, harmful to our well beings-”

Frida laughed bitterly. “Talia, if you knew a thing about who Arvida actually was, and not the drivel - the mindless slop - that your school feeds you, trust me, you’d be singing a much different tune about her. You especially.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Mom?”

“Guys, LOOK! T-Talia, watch where you step!”

Talia had been backing up this entire time, away from her mother, and had inadvertently stepped upon a small pressure plate that housed a glowing rune. A loud click sounded off as the gates behind and in front of them quickly slammed shut, and all of the other previously hidden runes in the room blazed to life. Everyone was still for a few moments before John softly said, “This does not look go-”

Suddenly, the trap mechanism of the room sprang to life. Frida watched in horror as each square plate that housed a rune began to move, either upward towards the ceiling, downward towards the floor, or from one side of the room to the other, if they were etched upon the walls. Frida remembered this room from her early days in the rebellion, when they had first found this barrow. She knew that, if it was given enough time, all of the pillars these runes sat upon would interlock with one another, crushing and mangling whatever poor soul was stuck inside the room.

Thankfully, she also knew how to deactivate it.

“Talia, John, move quickly! We only have about thirty seconds left! We’re looking for Odin’s knot - there should be four of them hidden around the room. Find them and press them. It’s the only way to get out of here with our skin intact.”

John nodded and quickly ran around the room, desperately looking for the symbol. Talia stood there in shock and disbelief, her features still betraying how hurt she was by her mother’s deceit. Frida turned to her and quickly spat out, “Talia, you have time to be angry with me later. You must find Odin’s knot or we’re dead!”

That was enough to shake her out of her stupor. She joined John in his search for the runes.

As Frida ran over to where she knew one of the runes was located, she could hear the sound of one of them being pressed. “Got one!” John’s voice cried out. Only a moment passed before Talia’s voice rang out, declaring she’d also found one. Frida quickly pressed the one she knew about, and just as she could feel a pillar pressing into her back, she heard the final rune click - and she saw Talia, standing far above her atop one of the pillars, her hand pressed up against the final switch.

The pillars slowly began to retract, and the two gates swung open. Talia and John both walked up to Frida, carefully watching where they stepped. Frida gave a small sigh and looked to the gate. “The next room should be safe. It was a meeting room we had used back in the day. Come on.”