Meeting the Gods

John remembered a lot of things about the time when he met Surtr. He could remember the smell of sulfur and brimstone, the feeling of the heat all around him, the powerful boom of Surtr’s voice. One additional thing he felt was what it was like to stand so close to a fire jotun, to actually feel the strength and power of someone so… for lack of a better term, powerful. It was like standing next to a raging inferno, that was only barely contained through the most simple of methods. All that Surtr needed was a loose branch or a drop of fuel, and his fire would spread all across everything John knew and probably things he had no knowledge of.

It was powerful. It was terrifying. It was something that John thought would be unmatched in terms of awe.

That was until John sat in the presence of not one, not two, but five actual gods.

It was… well, John could not quite describe it. Each god had an aura of power that was entirely their own, and each one felt different because of this. Thor, for example, radiated raw power in the same way that Surtr did, but it was much more controlled. It had direction and purpose behind it, and was much more powerful than what Surtr displayed. In contrast, Hiemdallr did not radiate pure strength. John had no doubt that the watchman of the gods was strong, but his presence was more calming, giving John a sense of security. It was akin to that of a parent, one who you know has watched over you and ensured you were safe. It was… oddly familiar.

Before John could ponder the implications of a godly aura that was familiar, his attention was removed from the gods as he heard the sound of chairs crashing to the ground come from behind him. Lo and behold, behind the table the council had all quickly risen to their feet, shoving their chairs to the side to bow before the five collected gods. They weren’t the only ones, as both Frida and Hálfdan were also quick to bow. John, however, decided to remain standing. He didn’t know why, but something in him just said, “Don’t bow. Show your strength.”

The five gods looked over the various mortals in the room, each of them having their own little reactions. After a moment or two, all of their gazes fell upon John, each one of them looking him over with a mixture of curiosity and surprise that he refused to bow. That is, Freya, Thor, and Tyr held those reactions. Hiemdallr gave John a small nod of acknowledgement, and Odin just smiled and laughed.

“Well, I know my rune gave you a little familiar to help you out, but I didn’t expect it to give you some balls too!” Odin gave a hearty laugh before taking a step forward, shrinking in size as he did so. By the time he reached John, he was just a few inches taller than the runic mage standing around 6’5”. He clasped John on the shoulder, gesturing towards the doors to the room. “Come, John, we have much to discuss. My brethren will see to your trial.”

John said nothing, just giving Odin a slight nod as he was slowly led out of the room. As the doors began to shut behind him, he could overhear Tyr speak in a loud booming voice something about the unjust court, but before John could try to comprehend what he was saying, the doors closed.

John looked over to Odin, whose grin faded away and was replaced by a more tired expression on his face. He sighed softly, turning to walk down the hallway and gesturing for John to follow.

“You know, you have caused quite the stir amongst the gods, Jonathan Benjamin Newman,” Odin said, his voice still carrying a sense of power even as he spoke so quietly. “Here I was just relaxing in Midgard, in the middle of a fun game of D&D, and all of a sudden a shockwave from you alerts everyone at the table that you managed to do something that was supposed to be impossible!”

“I… I’m sorry?”

Odin looked over to John before sighing softly. “Don’t apologize, lad. I can’t blame you for being curious and seeking out knowledge.” He chuckled a bit to himself. “Would be a massive hypocrite if I did.”

John turned to look ahead, and realized they had managed to walk onto a balcony of sorts. Much like the rest of the building, it was made of the wood from the tree itself, all being carved as one piece. Ahead John could see far off into Alfheim, and when he squinted he swore he could probably see the barrow from where he stood. Odin walked over to the edge of the balcony, leaning against it as his ravens took off to the sky.

John walked up, standing next to Odin with his hands folded in front of him. “Pardon my asking, but... Well…”

“Why did I ban runic magic in the first place?” Odin said without looking towards John.

“How did you-”

“One: I am the god of wisdom. Two: That was probably one of the most obvious questions you could have asked.” Odin gave John a grin before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small runestone. It reminded John of the one he found in his own pocket after praying at Odin’s shrine; however, this one was on a piece of gold rather than a simple rock and the rune shone with a brilliant white light.

“John… Let me ask you something. If you had the knowledge that something bad was to happen, and you thought you could stop it, wouldn’t you try?”

John quickly nodded. “Of course. There’s the old saying of “All evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”

Odin chuckled. “Oh, I wish. Well, John, what about if you knew of your own ****?” Odin looked to John, and for a moment John swore he could see not the face of a god of knowledge, but the face of a man who spent all too many nights without rest over the things that he saw. It looked an awful lot like John’s face over the past few days. “What if you knew exactly how you would die, who of your children would survive, and then be told that you can do nothing about it?”

“Well…” John looked out to Alfheim, tapping his foot as he thought over his answer. “I… I guess I would try to prolong the inevitable as long as I could.”

Odin nodded. “Aye. What else would you do?”

“Maybe… Uh… Try to make the circumstances more to my liking? Like if I knew I was going to die by explosion, I would make sure that I do so in a cool and badass way.”

Odin chuckled. “Aye. Maybe that’s why you were able to relearn runic magic. We happen to think a lot alike.” Odin slipped the rune away and looked back out to Alfheim, watching his ravens fly across the grand skyline. “I’ve known for the longest time of my ****. I know that there is nothing I can do about it, that one day Fenrir will break from his bonds and eat me. I know that my son Thor will kill Jormungandr, but will still die. I know that Surtr will burn the worlds I have come to know and love, and there is nothing I can do about it.

“At first, I tried to simply prolong the inevitable. Perhaps if I put Fenrir in the tightest bonds I could, or cast Jormungandr to the deepest depths, or imprisoned Loki so my blood brother would stop causing so much mischief... “ For a moment, John swore he saw a slight tear roll down Odin’s cheek. “Maybe… just maybe… I could keep my family, my creations, my world alive. But… It will still happen. No matter what I did, Ragnarok would still happen.”

“Was banning runic magic one of your ways to try and stop it?” John asked hesitantly.

Odin shook his head. “No, by the time that happened, I had long since accepted that Ragnarok would occur no matter what I did. No, that was my attempt to try and control how Ragnarok would occur.

“You see, John, occasionally I have been granted visions of the future. Where these come from I do not know, but I have been able to see a few key events now and again. It was through these visions that I foresaw Ragnarok, and through these visions that I have seen many great warriors who would come to be known as my champions.” Odin turned to look at John. “One of these visions involved another goddess. I knew that when Titania would be banished, that would lead to a grand catastrophe, one that could even lead to the events of Ragnarok.

“So, I tried to control it. I tried to stop this event through my banning of runic magic.” Odin gave a tired smile as Hugin came to rest upon his shoulder. “And it worked. I was able to avoid that event entirely. But in doing so I managed to set the stage for you and your current plight, and now I worry that what I have done may have resulted in even greater catastrophe and loss.” Odin looked over to John and gave a soft smile. “Granted, I do regret it slightly. You and Brunhilde would have made an absolutely adorable couple.”

“Who?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Odin said, giving John a dismissive wave. “Point was that I managed to trade one disaster for another, one that I am not all too sure was a good trade to make.”

“Wait, if you could change that event, why could you not change Raganarok?” John asked.

Odin sighed. “John… here.” Odin gestured off in the distance, pointing to a snow covered mountain that was just barely in John’s line of sight. “Atop that mountain is snow. Snow that is slowly melting and running down the side of the mountain, eventually coming together with the rest of the melted snow to form a river.

“Imagine time to act like some of that melted snow. The snow will be able to go many different ways, twisting and turning around the various rocks and plants in its path as it slides down the mountain. Sometimes, you might be fast enough to see something in its path and try to redirect it. But inevitably, it will join with the river. Oh sure, maybe you can delay it for a very, very long time. Maybe you can have it land in a lake far away from the river. But that water will eventually evaporate. It will form into a cloud. It will either rain or snow to the ground again. And then you have to work to keep it from the river once more.”

Odin looked back to John. “I can alter some events in life, John, as can you. We can always alter the details of the story that is our lives. But eventually, the story will come to an end. Eventually, the rain will reach the river. Eventually, you and I will both die. But we can prolong it. We can alter the details. We can try our best to ensure that, when that ending comes, that it is a satisfying conclusion.”

A moment of silence passed between them. After a couple of minutes, Mugin chose to break the quiet by landing on Odin’s shoulder, cawing softly. Odin smiled and reached up to scratch at the bird’s neck, giving John a chance to turn away and look back at the mountain. “But… what of the fate weavers, the Norns?”

“Ah, now isn’t that a question that men and gods alike have asked since we had an inkling of the ideas of destiny? “What is predetermined?” “What is under my control?” “Am I a master of my own destiny or do I march to the beat of a drum I will never get a chance to hear?” Odin chuckled, reaching out with his hand only to summon Gungnir out of nowhere, which John only now noticed had disappeared while they talked. “Honestly, John, I am not quite sure. I have spoken with the Norns only a few times, nearly as many times as I have spoken with Gaia herself. They are cryptic when it comes to things like free will and destiny, and honestly have not told me much. I suspect they don’t entirely trust me, but that would just be my guess.”

“So… do we write our own fates, or are they written for us?” John asked again.

Odin shrugged. “I don’t know. But does it matter? The decisions will be made either way, and your actions will still be done. Such things are confusing to think about, and worth far less effort than they take up.” Odin looked off to the sky and smiled. “Ah, and I see it is nearly time for a feast in Valhalla. Don’t feel like missing that today.”

Odin then tapped his spear on the ground, which was then followed by the opening of the doors behind them. Quickly the other four gods walked out, each one looking a bit smug. John could only imagine they had a good time laying into the council before listening in on him and Odin talking.

Odin turned to look at John, giving him a small smile. “Well, my young runic mage, I look forward to seeing where you choose to take your fate. You will face great strife and hardship, obtain great power, and meet great people. I can only wonder how you will handle it all.” With that, Odin turned and whistled before stepping onto the edge of the balcony and leaping off. Before he could fall even a meter, Sliepnir ran directly past John, catching Odin on his back before the two of them charged upward into the heavens.

Standing next to John, Freya let out a small chuckle. “That old coot always had a flare for the dramatic,” she said before leaping off at the exact same place where Odin had. Rather than have a horse appear beneath her, her cloak seemed to morph and change, turning into a huge pair of black raven wings. She quickly flew up to the height of the balcony before turning around and winking at John.

“I am more that certain we will meet again later, mage.” She then blew a kiss at John before flying after Odin, leaving naught but a few black feathers and a hard on in John’s pants.

John was absolutely stunned for a moment or two before a hearty laugh broke him out of his stupor. A heavy hand came down upon his shoulder, and he looked over to see Thor standing beside him with a smile on his face and Mjolnier resting on his other shoulder. “Don’t let Freya get to you. She tends to have that effect on people.”

“Including you?” John asked quietly.

Thor shrugged. “Eh, I’m a married man. But I gotta say, even though I have my meal I can always enjoy looking at the menu.” Thor gave another laugh, slapping John on the shoulder and nearly sending John over the edge. Before he could do so, John felt another hand grab his other shoulder and hold him steady.

“Careful there, Thor. Don’t wanna end the boy’s life right after we saved it.” John recognized the gruff sounding voice as the last one he had heard speak up in the courtroom, and silently thanked the god of justice for saving his hide. John looked over at Tyr, noting how the man reminded him of a grandfatherly figure. He guessed he was the more orderly version of what a true war god would be like, as opposed to Thor’s persona of pure power and might.

Thor just shook his head and gave another laugh. “Don’t worry, the kid is fine! He managed to get the Sword of Souls as a weapon! I think he could survive a small fall!”

“Thor, we are at least 100 feet above the ground.”

“Like I said, a small fall!” Thor laughed, before bringing his fingers to his mouth and giving a loud taxi cab whistle. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, out of the sky descended a chariot drawn by two short brown…

“Are… are those goats?” John asked, squinting his eyes to try and see the drawers of what appeared to be Thor’s chariot.

“Yep! Best animals this side of Yggdrasil! Plus, they are delicious when I need an emergency dinner.” Thor climbed up onto the balcony’s edge, offering Tyr a hand. “Need a lift, old friend?”

Tyr shrugged. “Sure, why not.” The one-handed god of war then turned to John, giving him a small nod. “You’re doing a decent job at staying moral so far, John. Just remember to keep your morality strong and your sword arm stronger.” He then looked behind the two of them, back towards the door. “Hiemdallr, do you need a lift?”

The god in question shook his head. “I’ll just use the Bifrost. I need to have a chat with the mage.”

Tyr nodded, climbing onto the chariot with Thor. Without a second warning, Thor quickly shook the reins of his chariot, and the two of them shot off into the sky leaving behind only the faintest smell of burnt ozone.

John then turned around, and found himself face to face with the god that gave him the oddest sense of... Well, security. It was odd, unlike any other feeling John knew of. Hiemdallr gave John a small warm smile, before placing a hand on John’s shoulder.