I did write this chapter to foil canon a bit. It's very similar to the conversation Jack and Amy had. Big difference is that Loki is someone Amelia cares about and not the leader of the Slaughterhouse 9. Though you can't really say that Loki is innocent. Far from it actually. Just this story alone, they tried to get Taylor to kill their brother, which when it failed, decided to control Ori and try to have her kill Baldr instead. There's a lot more shifty and horrible things Loki has done from the myths alone and many of them do apply here.
Taylor is a girl who happened to have a genetic issue that caused the development of male organs instead of female ones and she is taking steps to fix that. And she is a lesbian.
I would like to thank my beta team. You girls are amazing and I appreciate each of you greatly!
Now we get to see what Taylor's been dealing with!
Thurisaz 3.12 (Taylor)
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
The bell rang, it's broken tintinnabulation snapping me from my thoughts. My cheek was hot from the leaning position I'd been in all class while the teacher prattled on some inane concept that had no hold over my attention.
I leaned back and stretched, my mind returning to the sadistic medieval torture device that Canary was strapped into. It was disturbing just how far the government would go because they feared certain powers. All my life I'd been surrounded by powers and capes as an integral part of society. Ori grew up with them, but I was still immersed in the culture. Their lives foretold in classes and on the news were an everyday part of my life. Could some powers be scary? Yes. It took one look at the Slaughterhouse Nine or the Endbringers to see that.
Still, this was a woman who willingly allowed herself to be taken into custody and from what little research I've done, had been completely compliant, and they were still throwing the book at her hard.
I hated it.
I stuffed my notes into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. One glance told me that my friends were in the process of the same. Charlotte had just zipped up her backpack and was putting it on while Sophia was practically ready to go. Guess she didn't wait for the bell to ring. I used to be like that but after getting powers and then my trip to Asgard, I just didn't care anymore. There was no fear of being jumped in the hallway, not to the point where I could actually be hurt.
Leo could threaten my life all he wanted, but unless he brought a sniper rifle or somehow had gained powers, I'd probably heal from it. I think. It was probably stupid to not wear Brísingamen, but I didn't want the constant reminder right there, not right now.
Emma was all bark and no bite. Did her words still sting? Yes, they did. I couldn't deny that, but I'd dealt with that for the past year and a half. And she was running on fumes now. Without Sophia by her side, the gaggle of thin faced groupies barely tried anymore. One look from Sophia was all it took to make them scurry. Even Madison hadn't tried anything except following Emma's example.
It was pathetic, honestly.
My only concern was for Charlotte's sake, and she can take care of herself. It was just the Empire I worried about.
Walking out of the classroom, I made my way to the otherside of the hallway. A quick look down both ways showed that nothing was out of the ordinary, yet I had this itch that hadn't let up all day. It was a tension that rose to the surface, toying with me like an annoyingly long hair that somehow escaped shaving and was just dangling, touching my skin ever so slightly. Yet when I looked at everyone, nothing was amiss.
Sophia and Charlotte exited the classroom and made their way through the traffic.
"You okay, Taylor?" Charlotte asked.
"Hmm?" I hummed my response.
"You seem deep in thought. Or maybe you're constipated."
Sophia snorted and I couldn't help but scrunch up my face in a grimace.
"I'm not constipated."
"Just checking!" Charlotte said with a cheeky smile.
I rolled my eyes and looked down the hallway again, contemplating telling them. Sophia might be a Ward, but she'd have her own opinions on Canary.
"I saw what was going on with Canary," I informed them.
Charlotte's face conveyed her thoughts. Sadness filled her eyes as they darted to the side and her head lowered. Sophia's face remained neutral but there was something in her eyes that hardened.
"You know they compared her and you to the Simurgh?" Sophia mentioned, crossing her arms and leaning against the locker.
"Before or after my wings became known?"
"Which is super cool, by the way," Charlotte interjected before Sophia could answer. We both looked at her and she sheepishly shrunk. "Uhh, just saying."
I chuckled, "Thanks. I like my wings too."
Charlotte smiled, barely restraining the request to see them no doubt.
"Before," Sophia answered. "Though your display did make things worse."
I shrugged my shoulders. There wasn't a chance I was going to hide my wings. It was akin to when I was in the closet and 'pretending' to be a boy. It didn't pan out well. My wings were an extension of my being and the idea of keeping them bound was just as clipping.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out. It was not a second later when I read the notification that I read the full message.
"Shit."
"What?" Sophia immediately went on high alert.
"I need to go," I said quickly, already pushing off the lockers.
"What? What's going on?" Charlotte looked at Sophia and I frantically.
Could I tell them about Hookwolf? Was it assumed that I'd want to hunt him down after he killed Ori? I guess it wasn't that big of a leap to conclude. Though the Kill Order was very much a secret and only the PRT, New Wave, and my family knew about it.
Any chance I had to answer was swept away as an annoying gnat appeared.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the dyke brigade."
"Go fuck yourself, Emma," Sophia barked out.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
When my eyes landed on Emma, I had to quickly school my expression before my mouth opened in shock. For someone who cared so much about her appearance, she didn't look so good. From a quick glance, she appeared as usual. Makeup done nicely, hair straight and shiny, clothes pristine and neat; everything that Emma cared so much about. But I grew up with her, I'd seen the little things that she tried so desperately to hide. There were bags under her eyes, caked in foundation, concealer, and powder in some feeble attempt to hide them. Her clothing choice was different than normal. Around this time of the year, She'd be moving towards skirts and dresses but she was wearing jeans. Not her usual designer jeans but faded old ones. She had chosen a darker color blouse, dark blue instead of the usual vibrant colors.
In her terms, she looked like shit.
She also wasn't surrounded by her gaggle of bitches, leaving her the only person standing in front of us.
"You look like shit," I spurted.
Emma was taken back and she wasn't the only one. Sophia and Charlotte turned to face me, surprise etched on their faces.
"Go die in a corpse pit, Taylor," Emma snarled back.
I held up my hands as if I was innocent. "Sorry for making an observation."
"That's all you've ever done, make fucking observations. You don't know when to stay out of it."
"Ironic how it's usually you who butts her head into people's personal lives like an ox in a china shop."
"Fuck you." Emma poked my chest.
With a raised eyebrow, I said, "Running out of steam?"
Emma fumed like never before. She was paler than usual and the makeup wasn't helping. Which of course meant she lit up like Time's Square's disco ball on New Years when flustered.
She looked ready to blow until cries and screams reached my ears. Emma backed off and her back hit the lockers.
"What's going on?" Charlotte asked, her voice muffled under the roiling noises.
"I don't know," I said as I tried to see over the crowd but I couldn't see anything directly.
Everyone came flooding into the hallway, pushing us against the lockers. One step forward and we'd be trampled by the tsunami of terrified teenagers. It was madness and showed how people could devolve into the fight or flight mentality, where most choose flight. My heart raced with each second and I wanted nothing more than to summon my armor or one of my Valkyries. It was too dangerous and I couldn't help but hear Zoe's voice in my head to keep my head down. The armor would raise far too many questions and I was already skirting the line with my powers.
After what felt like an eternity of watching a replay of the wildebeest in Lion King running through the ravine, the crowd thinned into nothing but did little to curb the cries that continued to echo elsewhere in the school.
Standing at the other end of the hallway was none other than Leo. There were a few of his lackeys that followed him, especially the big one that held me in his arms in that fight that felt so long ago. Normally I wouldn't scoff at the sight, but they each had weapons in their hands ranging from clubs and bats to knives. As bad as it was that they were openly bringing weapons to school— it was no secret that they kept them hidden normally— it was what was in Leo's hand that was alarming.
A gun.
He marched down the hallway, acting like he had all the swagger in the world but in reality just looked like he needed to take a shit and his pants were too low. I held back the bark of a laugh that wanted to escape my throat at the ridiculousness of it.
"Wha— Leo—" Emma stammered. Surprising that she didn't flee with the others.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch!" Leo snapped at her, spit flying and the gun pointed at her. "For too fucking long you've been neglecting what you owe. I'm taking it and more because your bitch ass strung me along like all you girls do."
That was a lot to unload. Emma's eyes went wide as the fear seeped into her cowering form. This was what the person who was once my sister and her choices led to. She tormented me for so long and then tried to kill me by revealing my identity as being trans and then siccing Leo and these lackeys on me.
As I stared at the scene in front of me, I didn't feel anything for her.
Charlotte huddled into me, pulling me from my thoughts of my former friend and sister. One glance was all I needed to know that this situation was serious. Any reservations I had about using my powers fled. I was a hero and this was my job.
"Leo," I said, taking a step forward.
He spun like a mad man, gun spinning and leveling it right at my forehead. Even knowing that I was the daughter of a goddess going through a godly puberty, having a gun pointed right at you was startling. It never felt like this when I was wearing my armor, feeling the safety of its heavy enchantments. There was no protective layer over me now.
I took a deep breath and kept my cool.
"You're a fucking bitch, you know that, tranny fag?" Leo said, gesturing with the gun as if he was pointing at me. "You just had to up and disappear for two fucking weeks because your glory hole of a dyke girlfriend died. How fucking pathetic. I'm sure you went crying home to your mom."
Ironically enough, I didn't. There was a lot that I said to her, but crying about Ori's death was not one of the subjects we spent much time discussing.
"Let me guess, your grand plan of killing me to join got foiled," I replied, keeping my cool once again.
His eyes narrowed.
"Maybe you shouldn't have underestimated me," I added. "Because with all of the attempts you've made, including the very first one in that alley, you have yet to manage it. Do you really think you're Empire material? I've faced multiple Empire members, including their capes, what makes you so special that you feel you could succeed where everyone else failed."
He snarled, pure hatred in his eyes. He raised the gun and fired, the sound shattering my ear drums, leaving behind the loud ringing sound before it faded away.
Sophia took a step closer to me, keeping an eye on the other goons. It made me wonder what her protocol was in this situation. Miss Militia should be around and I doubt the PRT would allow this to drag on for long. Especially knowing there were capes at the crux of it.
"You think this is fake?!" He waved the gun and fired again. This time, its aim was pointed down the hallway and I hoped no one was caught in its path. "I'm not playing around, bitch! You're fucking dying! You just had to go and get fucking powers! Why couldn't you be like a good sissy bitch and die!"
As pathetic as his screeching was, he wasn't wrong. My trigger of both parahuman powers and Divinity, fucked his entire plan. I would've died that night if it wasn't because of them. It was a wonder attacks like that happened at all, with how someone could trigger at random and suddenly swarm you with roaches or something.
A door creaked down the hallway and nearly everyone snapped their heads in that direction. One of the classroom doors was ajar. Students huddled near or behind their desks.
By Thor's hairy asshole.
"Max, go check it out," Leo said, pointing his gun at the door.
One of the other goons walked over, hefting his heavy bat in the air with a menacing look on his face. There was a glint in his eyes and I knew he was going to do far worse than 'check it out'.
Before he could get there, I summoned one of my Valkyries, Mist, to block the door and prevent Max from getting in.
Don't fight but don't let him through, I ordered her. Mist gave a short nod and leveled her focus on the bat wielding teenager.
"Faggot," Leo said, using the slur to get my attention. My eyes went back to him to see him flailing the gun at my head again.
"You really didn't think I'd use my powers? You brought a gun, Leo. Get a grip."
"Fuck you, tranny bitch. All it takes is one pull of this trigger and you're dead."
"It's clear my death would get you into the Empire," I pointed out. "So why haven't you pulled the trigger?"
Leo shook violently, the gun barely trained on me. Better there than on anyone else, I just had to hope that a handgun packed less of a punch than Mjolnir. Getting Sophia and Charlotte away would be ideal, but Sophia wouldn't dare walk away from this. Charlotte too. I think she was tired of being targeted by Leo and his ilk.
He stared at me with a look as if he wanted to cut me up and eat me for dinner. Leo's eyes wandered over to one of the other Hitler Youths. "Ryan, John, go to the other rooms."
The two stared at him, wide eyed and filled with apprehension. "Uhh, you su—"
"Go."
The two scrambled and headed towards the two nearest classrooms, brandishing their weapons and ready to fight. Sophia went to intercept, but Leo swept the gun towards her and she snarled at him with narrowing eyes. I summoned Geirskögul and Sanngriðr, blocking their attempts to enter the two rooms. At that same moment, my hand snapped out and pulled the gun back to my head, glaring at the pathetic man as I did.
"I'm your mark, the gun stays on me."
Leo growled. I was half expecting him to pull the trigger, but it was clear he wasn't up to it. There was conflict in his eyes. He didn't have the heart to kill me even though that's been his entire mission since the school year started.
"Kill her, Leo," A voice echoed down the hallway.
My head turned in that direction and fought to curse aloud.
Rune.
She hovered on the hood of a car, her black and red robe hung loosely on her body as if it was hastily put on. The runes on her body were still the same before, incorrect and incomprehensible to anyone who could actually read them. There was a smirk on her lips like she saw herself as queen bee of the school, but it was marred by the permanent sneer.
Her voice was familiar and I forced myself not to connect the dots. Apparently it seemed far too easy to determine identities based on that unless you had some voice synthesizer or modifier like Ori's helmet.
"Rune, what a pleasant surprise," I deadpanned.
"I'm sure," She sneered.
"What? Want to go for round two?"
"Is it really round two if you don't have your dyke girlfriend around? Oh right, she died," She said as she made the hood land on the hallway in an ear piercing screech. She hopped off the makeship platform and flung it towards Mist. The one Empire goon jumped back as it flew towards Mist. She took it in the gut and was pushed back from the force. One glowing hand tossed it aside as motes drifted off from her center.
Rune spoke again as she walked closer, "Leo, kill her. If you don't, what would your daddy say? That you're not man enough to kill one sissy faggot. That's all you have to do and you will get a nice spot in the Empire. Seems like a pretty good fucking deal to me."
The situation went from bad to worse with her appearance. Having a villain waltz into a school like she owned the place was no different than throwing gas on a fire. This went from a school shooting straight into a cape fight. The situation was devolving quickly and I needed to end it now.
My eyes went back to Leo, the gun still held in my grip. I couldn't quite crush the steel barrel unfortunately. There was something in his eyes I couldn't quite describe. There was now a little insight into why he was doing this, not that I cared since he has been trying to kill me.
Glancing off to the side while still keeping Leo in my periphery, the other bruisers were striking my defending Valkyries with their weapons, only yielding slight damage but eventually they'd destroy them. Rune continued to walk down the hallway, her head swiveling to the other classrooms. The corners of her lips quirked upwards.
She didn't speak as she started to move towards that door.
Bitch.
I needed to act now. A quick glance at Sophia was all I needed to know that she was primed and ready like a wind up toy. She needed a diversion of sorts and I wasn't sure if she'd use her power, but I'd think in a life or death situation, she'd risk it.
With one look at Leo, I took a deep breath, not so much as to gather magic but to center myself as I thought of a plan. Leo would fire the instant something spooked him. He might not have the heart, but his finger was on the trigger and he was in a state that he would accidentally shoot. Charlotte was to my right. She needed to get to safety as this quickly went above anything she could do. Sophia faced the remaining wannabes that followed Leo.
I needed something to pull everyone's attention so I could act.
As I watched him, my eyes wandered up. The lights.
With another deep breath, I finagled my phone out of my pocket. The only thing I had on hand that wasn't in my backpack. Sorry, Aunt Zoe. I'm gonna need a new one. After my silent apology, I flicked my phone upwards with a flick of the wrist and out of everyone's line of sight. The moment the phone was airborne, time seemed to slow down. Leo's manic gaze turned frantic as his eyes landed on the phone.
A breeze brushed the side of my face, urging me to move as my vision started to waver. Whiteness touched the edges of my sight and I begged and pleaded that it wouldn't distract me like it had before. The Norns proceeded to be cruel mistresses as my entire vision turned white. I was going to move on my own volition but I was locked in place which only made me panic more. Either this bullet was going to hurt or I was dead, all because of my stupid magical insight.
Then something strange happened. The whiteness cleared, or maybe it was more that something was appearing, I wasn't sure. The gun filled my view, Leo's finger on the trigger. I knew where the gun was pointing given my hand was still on it, how the squeeze of the gun would trigger the mechanism inside and the bullet projecting towards me.
Was… No, I couldn't question this now. I had to act.
I ducked out of the way, pushing Charlotte to the ground in the process. At the same moment, I swung my arm that was still holding the gun, and Leo, like a whip. The gun slipped, but Leo bounced off the lockers all the same. Like a snap of my fingers, I was now staring at a crumpled Leo while my ears rang from the gunshot. There was no time to contemplate what the fuck had just happened. Rune had turned back towards us, probably expecting a show of me dying, but the sneer quickly returned to her face when she realized that I was in fact, not dead.
She placed her palm on the lockers, her fingers digging a pattern on the metal. It was a rune, her namesake. Then a single locker came barreling towards me with a lift of her hand.
With Charlotte under me, I had to take the brunt of the hit or she'd be seriously hurt. I jumped to my feet and braced, bringing my arms up as the locker slammed into me, and I pushed it away as best as I could, deflecting it towards Leo who was scrambling away. Ignoring the twinge of a forming bruise, I turned back, helping Charlotte up even as I pushed her away. "Go!" I yelled at her when she hesitated.
I could see the exact moment she snapped out of the shock as she snatched up her backpack and swung it at an approaching Empire boy.
He wasn't prepared for the twenty pounds of books that hit him in the side of the head. The shaved headed teen dropped like a rock, hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes. Charlotte didn't waste time, snatching his fallen bat and turning towards the next in line.
Knowing that she was handling herself was a relief. The pressure shifted again and I was assailed by that pure white. An image appeared in my mind, a switch blade with a little rune on it was sailing towards my head from behind. Like last time, I stepped to the side and I watched the same pocket knife fly and strike the linoleum floor, scraping and skittering.
Rune snarled, her hand running along a set of lockers, palm touching the metal and her fingers etching runes. The lockers were airborne a moment later and coming straight for me.
There were no visions this time, forcing me to square up and try boxing them down. I was largely successful, until one I had already punched away snaked out and took my feet from under me and a second caught me right in the stomach. My back hit the ground hard, sliding on the floor like I was on the ice skating rink. Pain flared from my momentum being halted, sadly at the expense of my head hitting the concrete wall hard enough to crack it. No sooner than I could blink the stars away, the floating lockers were poised above me, ready to strike again.
It was time like these that the helplessness and hopelessness started to settle in. My Valkyries were busy keeping people safe, even if a part of me believed they didn't deserve it. It was selfish and that's why I didn't allow my Valkyries to move from their positions, but they did stand on the sidelines while I was harassed and bullied.
The first locker came crashing down and I met it with a hand, fighting against the force of Rune's power. Another locker followed and I used my other hand. I was starkly reminded of the fight with Thor and how the strength of the lockers was nothing compared to Mjölnir.
From my awkward position, I pushed against the lockers, fighting against Rune. The act caused the lockers to twist and smack into the lockers above me as they all crashed down towards me. I rolled to the side just as the lockers slammed down. Using the momentum of the roll, I stood up and prepared myself for the other lockers.
As expected, two more metal coffins were aimed right for me. I dodged the first one, stepping aside while looking Rune in the eyes as it narrowly missed, the crashing ring of metal on metal sounding off behind me. The second one I grabbed. My fingers bit into the locker, the metal groaning as I began to turn with the flying locker. I glanced back at Rune and spun with the momentum that Rune had given me and launched the locker her way with all my strength.
She could probably stop it, but it would be a momentary distraction. The locker headed straight for her, she strained, but wrested control enough to send it away from her. Her fingers were already working on a piece of the tile on the ground. The sound of it snapping and breaking as a large section of the floor rose into the air like a tsunami being created from an underwater explosion. It didn't break from the rest of the floor until it was about as high as I was tall. Then the lacquer or whatever toxic material that kept the floor slick and smooth, snapped. The resulting smash stirred dust and debris from underneath, forcing me to cover my eyes.
That felt entirely showy in my opinion, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rune was trying to display how strong her telekinesis was. The locker with my dented hand prints joined it in the air and the tile flew towards me and I realized that I couldn't dodge them. Everyone I was trying to keep safe was behind me, and without my armor, this was going to hurt.
I caught the mangled locker before it smashed into my face, and in a moment of irony, recognized the number as my own, but the chunk of tile and concrete was right behind it. My locker crumbled like a soda can and the mass slammed into me, driving me back and almost sideways into the wall.
The last time I'd been hit like that was when Thor had sent me on a cross Valhalla tour of the city, walls and all. I'd had my armor then, and that took the brunt. This time, I was just glad my skull was thick enough not to be crushed.
I pushed the mass away, wincing as the crash of it falling to the ground made my headache worse. My vision blurred, heat throbbed across my everything, and I could only blink the dust from my eyes as I fell forward, catching myself with my arms and coughing up the concrete dust as I tried to will magic to help clear my lungs.
When I was able to properly look up, it felt like deja vu as I was staring down the barrel of a gun.
Leo.
He was standing a few feet away with an unsteady hand. When I went to look at the others, he asserted himself quite annoyingly.
"Bitch, look at me as I kill you."
I raised a single eyebrow, "Think you can handle meeting the eyes of the person you're about to kill?"
"Shut up!" He jabbed with the gun.
This time, he took the gun in both hands to steady himself instead of in that 'gangster' sideways manner. I stared into his eyes again, wondering if he could actually pull the trigger. This time, there was something different there. Fear was evident, a bit of determination maybe. Plenty of hate, pure malice. He enjoyed the position he was in right now, standing over someone with a gun pointed towards their head. Worse, I could see something he had lacked before, resolve.
At that point, I had no doubt that he would pull the trigger.
"Shit! She's Shadow Stalker!" Someone yelled.
I didn't have the time to contemplate Sophia revealing herself before her body ghosted through me, shifting out of her shadow form between myself and the gun. Whatever happened next, I could only hear as the gun went off, ringing my ears once again.
Sophia jerked, standing there in a moment that seemed to hang forever. It was then that a very familiar feeling washed over me. One I hadn't felt in over a month. Sophia teetered sideways, then fell with a heavy thump.
No. Not again.
I didn't wait on ceremony as I scrambled to her side. Already, I could tell that it was bad and not just because I could feel her life essence slowly eb away. She flopped onto her back, making the grimace on her face worsen. A hand was already on her chest, but the other went to cover it, not that it did any good as crimson liquid still seeped through her fingers. With that little bit of movement, her life rapidly dwindled and there was little I could do.
She was going to die, the certainty of that weighed heavily on my shoulders as the call grew louder in my ear.
Sophia's eyes looked up at me, the excruciating pain etched in their mahogany-wood richness showed more about her than anything else. Ever since the beginning of the year, she had changed. I wasn't that oblivious to it, it's been happening ever since she helped me that day when Leo tried to beat me up with his friends. Since then, she'd been trying to do better… and she had.
She took a bullet for me when it wasn't needed.
"You idiot," I whispered, uncaring of what was going on in the school.
"Y-you w-would—" She coughed, blood coating her lips from the hard expel of liquid. "Died."
"No, I wouldn't have," I whispered back.
Whatever she said fell on deaf ears as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the world slowing as I did. Leo killed Sophia. She was alive in the moment, but that life was fading fast, the siren call growing louder for me to collect her, bring her to Asgard. There would be no time to get her to someone. Even if I teleported her, she'd die in transit. The strain draining what life remained. The bullet was still in there somewhere, and given how she fell, it probably hit her spine.
I was angry. She didn't deserve to die. Sophia had done so much in a short amount of time span to change who she used to be. She wasn't a bully anymore, not in my eyes. She was a friend and someone who I was willing to trust with some of my secrets if it wasn't for her employment with the PRT.
It was supposed to be me who took the bullet. I would've been fine and even still, it was better that I take it than let someone else die.
When my eyes opened again, only a single heartbeat had passed, and the full weight of my focus was on Leo. He stood with a frozen expression. Shock overtook the malice in his eyes, as if he realized he actually shot someone, not like the numerous thugs who had no remorse. The gun was still pointing at me, his finger on the trigger and it would only take a single twitch before he fired again.
My veins felt like they were filled with liquid magma as Sophia's life continued to wane into nothingness. For the first time since returning to Bet, I was energized and all of it was pointed at one individual.
I raised my hand, the words echoing in my head for the spell. The motion of the magic within me, the way I could twist it with my iron will and intent, it came easier than it ever had before.
One spell was all I needed.
I was only dimly aware of someone yelling down the hallway as I clenched my hand, flames covering it like a glove. Instantly, Leo's frozen face turned into pure terror as he was quickly engulfed in blinding flame. An instant later, his body was reduced to ash, his form crumbling to the ground. There was no feeling from his death, just a spark snuffed out, because Leo hadn't been a warrior, and so Valhalla did not call out for him.
There was no way in the molten volcanoes of Múspellsheimr that I would even consider bringing him to Valhalla. He wasn't worthy.
Everyone in the hallway was frozen, watching as I had just incinerated a boy in a mere second. When I glanced over my shoulder, there was Miss Militia, the green glow rapidly swirling around her hands, no form taking shape. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. This would brand me as a villain, I knew it, but I couldn't let Sophia's killer, the boy who had been trying to kill me for who knows how long, get away with it.
A life for a life.
I slowly stood, ready to explain as best as I could and hope I wouldn't be carted off to jail or—
All of a sudden I was somewhere else. Something familiar touched me but I couldn't place where. All I knew was that I had seen it before.
Massive creatures, rivaling Níðhöggr— no, maybe Yggdrasil itself— appeared in my vision. It was hard to tell how I knew they were two different creatures as they seemed to move in and out of dimensions, weaving through them like they were their plaything. It took a moment, but I remember where I'd seen it before.
It was the space worm that was projected in the meeting with the coalition. Scion. The image during that meeting did the creatures little justice as it looked like I was peering into several mirrors, light and images reflecting off each other, creating a mesmerizing— yet headache inducing— visage. Their skin was constantly changing, both within and out of the third dimension of my view. They glittered in the distant light of the stars, refracting into a rainbow of colors.
The two beings were different sizes, one was far bigger than the other, and I couldn't tell which one was Scion. It made me wonder if 'Scion' was his actual body or an avatar of sorts. The two were in sync, circling one another on their trajectory towards Earth. Whenever they were too far, they communicated by means of methods far grander than any language I knew, even surpassing the elven language that seemed to thrum through one's body.
Destination. Agreement. Trajectory. Agreement.
Each message was far grander in scope of what their words were intending. So great that trying to decipher it was producing a headache far greater than I had ever experienced.
Their destination was towards Earth and there was no presence of Yggdrasil or any of the other realms. How they ended up there first was a mystery as I knew the other gods faced them before Scion appeared on Bet.
Then there was a shattering in the image. Like glass breaking, large pieces of the cosmos broke and twisted in space as if the stars and black void of space were merely painted on a window instead of light years away.
—I lurched forward, only to be stopped mid air. The vision was trying to escape my memory but I grasped it, clutched it close and refused the force trying to tear it away with every fiber of my growing Divinity. That was what Scion looked like and only amplified the scope of the coalition's efforts. The enemy that awaited in the darkness like Cthulhu or any of the other eldritch beings in Lovecraft's dark mind. Only that this one existed and was very much a threat.
My power felt diminished and weak, the feeling in the back of my head was small and barely noticeable. Normally it would be pounding like a jackhammer in a situation like this, but it was as quiet as a mouse.
Looking at the thing that stopped me from falling onto Sophia was a tall shadowy figure that was, at first, hard to distinguish and easily towered over me. Large skeletal wings sprouted from the back, wisps of shadow drifting down from bone to give the appearance of full wings. White eyes stared back at me, thrumming with power and visible through the barely tangible helmet. A large weapon was in her free hand, a hammer of sorts.
Skögul. A new Valkyrie.
I couldn't wrap my head around why she wasn't whole, not that white hardlight exterior like the others. At least, that was my thought until I glanced at the others and realized that they too were similar in appearance. The hardlight was gone and were practically shadows.
A glow appeared not far from me and standing on the other side of the hallway a few feet down, was a generic body made of hardlight. It had the same shell as my Valkyries, but it wasn't in their image. Just some human shaped body with no clear defined features.
Below that, was Emma.
Green swirls circled her hand as it shook in place. Her skin appeared crystalline, white lines creating long hexagonal sections and her eyes were wide in fear while her mouth gaped slightly. I had forgotten she was here. Slowly, Emma's head went up towards the glowing figure above me and I furrowed my eyebrows.
Did… did Emma just get powers?
An anger bloomed within me and I wasn't sure if it was because I just noticed it or the fact that she took my powers.
The thought left me as I was unceremoniously shoved by Skögul and I had to balance myself to not trip over Sophia. She was still with me, but not for long. Skögul seemingly floated towards the glowing figure, an intangible hammer in her hands and she struck the hardlight figure with enough force that the resounding chimes of its cracking echoed in the near silent hallway. Even the previously distant cries and screams seemed quieted in this moment. The generic projection didn't move other than being knocked back by the blow, but then Emma pointed at the generic projection. It moved, sluggishly. Raising its fists, it tried to punch the new Valkyrie, but it went through the shadow like it wasn't even there.
What occurred to me was that I wasn't ordering or controlling my Valkyries. They were still standing in their place, protecting the doors. Not that they were currently needed as the Hitler Youths stood motionless, one of them even had a wet stain on their pants. Rune was also frozen, but she was bobbing a little, her body moving back and forth as if she was dizzy.
A wet cough brought me back to Sophia and I knelt down, quickly applying pressure to her wound. Her hands had drifted off, cupping her head in pain, blood smearing her face.
The sound of metal scraping against metal and a snapping sound caused me to look up again. The locker next to Emma was floating now, a little wobbly and looked ready to fall at any moment but still aloft. It went flying into Skögul but again, it went through and smashed into another set of lockers.
"STOP!" Emma screamed, curling within herself. The projection and Valkyrie continued to fight, not that I'd call it that as Skögul was virtually immune to any attacks made by the hardlight construct.
Her words caused another lurching feeling and my vision blurred as my powers seemed to dwindle furthermore. Still there, but muted. It was in a cage before, but Emma's scream had made it smaller.
Skögul efforts continued but with more vigor now, more anger. Taking a baseball batter's stance, she swung her hammer and the hardlight projection shattered into a million pieces just like the vision of the two worms approaching Earth.
At that, Emma's eyes went wide and she frantically scooted away from the looming threat that was my Valkyrie. All of a sudden, she scrambled on her feet and turned into shadow, phasing through the lockers and the wall.
A few seconds later, I felt my power swell again, hardlight proceeded to encase my Valkyries and they returned to full power. Under my command once again. I didn't know how lonely I felt in those moments when I didn't have my power, but with it back, I didn't want to feel it again. My Valkyries were everything to me. They were an extension of myself even if I didn't control them directly. They were my identity in a way that very few understood. A queen should have her Valkyries and I wasn't lumping Ori into that mix.
My projections were my Valkyries.
"Come on! We have to go!" Rune yelled, her voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard. The goons stood confused before realization dawned on them and they scrambled, ignoring my Valkyries and racing after the Empire cape.
"Stop!" Miss Militia said, a gun forming in her hand as she aimed down the hallway. She didn't fire like I expected but instead watched as Rune and the others ran around the corner and fled the school. Anger flooded me as she just let them run.
Charlotte was leaning against the locker, the bat falling to the ground as exhaustion took over. She slumped down and landed on her ass while taking deep and labored breaths.
My eyes wandered down to Sophia and I knew her time was short. Her eyes met mine and I knelt down.
"You're dying," I said solemnly.
"N-no s-shit," Sophia weakly replied. "I-I'd d-do it a-ag-again."
"Sophia…" I sighed as her words hit me. She sacrificed herself to save me. It weighed heavily on my shoulders considering her soul was reaching out to me. It was the same as Ori's but this time I knew what it was. That feeling wasn't one to help her, not in the context I had thought before. No, her soul wanted to be taken and as a Shepherd of the Dead, it was my duty to do so.
Sophia was a warrior, and had died a death befitting Valhalla.
Her eyes were slowly glazing over and she would lose consciousness soon. There wasn't much time and I wasn't going to make the same mistake like I did with Ori.
"Sophia," I said again, more confidently. "I can help, but it's your choice if you want it."
"Just—"
"No, you don't understand. The choice I'm about to give you… it's not a simple healing or anything like that." I leaned down to her ear and whispered, "I can take you to Asgard, to Valhalla, where I can make you a Valkyrie. But don't think of this lightly, you will remember everything, you will feel all the pain of this moment. It doesn't go away and you would be bound to me in a way you don't understand."
I backed up and looked at her. Even through the glossiness, there was a determination and fire in her eyes that surprised me for someone so close on the edge of death. She really was fitting to be an Einherjar. She coughed, more blood passing her lips and her ragged breathing was getting shallower.
A few seconds passed before she nodded.
There was still a weight on my shoulders, but at least I could, in good conscience, know that it was her choice.
"We need to get help for her," Miss Militia said, kneeling down on the opposite side.
I shook my head, "No, it won't matter."
"Taylor—"
"She's dying, a minute or two is all we have."
Miss Militia looked down at Sophia, a profound sadness in her eyes that made my heart ache. Sophia was a Ward and Miss Militia knew her. I didn't know if she was close to her personally, but it still couldn't be good to see a Ward dying in front of her eyes. A cynical part of me whispered that it probably wasn't the first time.
She looked back up at me, "What did you whisper to her?"
I took a moment to formulate words to respond without giving too much away. "I can help her, in a way, but you have to trust me."
"Taylor, I just saw you incinerate a boy!"
"Please," I pleaded, "This… there's a lot."
"Yeah, there is," She said as if there was something on her mind. Like she knew more than she was letting on.
"I'll be back, I promise."
"But Taylor—"
"Please, I promise to answer your questions as best as I can, but I have to do this. It was my fault that Sophia was in this mess, I have to make this right. I'll accept any punishment the PRT deems after this."
Miss Militia closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, before responding. "Okay."
"Thank you."
"But find me when you… do whatever it is you need to do. We have to talk."
I nodded, "You can also ask my aunt."
"Oh, I plan on calling her after I call the PRT."
Taking a deep breath, I looked down at Sophia again.
"Ready?" I asked.
She looked confused, if only slightly due to her waning life. She nodded a second later.
I placed my hand on her chest, not far from where the gunshot wound was, and pulled. My wings burst free of their own volition and I could see the glow my eyes had taken on reflected back in her now glassy orbs. Her soul traveled through her body as I lifted my hand and stood. A glowing white version of Sophia was within my grasp, asleep and whole while the body on the ground wheezed out its final breath, dead before the air passed her lips.
A second later, I crouched, ready to jump, and my wings ready to carry me away. Another second and I pushed upwards, straight into the ceiling. Before I hit the corked ceiling, a white wormhole marred by inky shadows swirling within appeared and I slipped through the space between reality. So uhh... that happened.
Taylor is a girl who happened to have a genetic issue that caused the development of male organs instead of female ones and she is taking steps to fix that. And she is a lesbian.
So you're saying that if Taylor fucks Vicky, she won't be able to get pregnant.
But if Alec fucks Taylor, that she has a chance of an ectopic pregnancy.
In general, the spread on Earth Bet, the presence of 40 genders is very racist in relation to Cases 53.
Moreover, with a shortage of population due to disasters/wars/capes, they should not have started populist propaganda of this.
So you're saying that if Taylor fucks Vicky, she won't be able to get pregnant.
But if Alec fucks Taylor, that she has a chance of an ectopic pregnancy.
Okay. There's this gene called SRY. If you have a copy, and it's active, you will develop male reproductive structures and related characteristics. If you don't, you develop feminine ones instead. However, this does not mean that the brain or mind is affected, and when there is a mismatch, you get transgender people.
In general, the spread on Earth Bet, the presence of 40 genders is very racist in relation to Cases 53.
Moreover, with a shortage of population due to disasters/wars/capes, they should not have started populist propaganda of this.
Until the 21st century, a boy who likes to look at girls in the toilet and locker room was called a preoccupied, pervert and other synonyms.
Lesbian boy-girl = heterosexual boy.
And in general, the designation minors just means that a person does not have enough of his mind yet. It is also often replaced by the formation of the body, since the main formation of the body is completed just about the age of majority. And if he started taking any hysterones before the age of 20, then after ten years he will completely go crazy. And because of the failure of the formation of the body, he will die before 50, if he does not commit suicide earlier or gets into an accident, since problems with organs, primarily the brain and nerve endings, will be provided for him.
Please don't parrot propaganda. The first modern conceptualization of transgender was back in the 1880s, and multiple cultures had similar ideas for centuries.
I don't even... WTF? Are you serious? The Empire is literally a bunch of Nazis, spouting standard Nazi bullshit, and you're claiming that being trans, which just so happens to have quite a few parallels to the C53 experience, are the real bigots?
Please don't parrot propaganda. The first modern conceptualization of transgender was back in the 1880s, and multiple cultures had similar ideas for centuries.
I heard about problem xx-xy only in the noughties from the American broadcast on discovery. Before that, I hadn't even seen any notes about this on the Internet, although while I was studying at the university I had to look for a lot of things.
I heard about xx-xy only in the noughties from the American broadcast on discovery. Before that, I hadn't even seen any notes about this on the Internet, although while I was studying at the university I had to look for a lot of things.
Rule 2: Don't Be Hateful requires users to refrain from bigoted behaviour, including transphobia. Trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary individuals are non-binary, and that is not up for debate. Posters are expected to live up to the standard set by Rule 2. @Fenixlord has been removed from this thread and infracted for 50 points under Rule 2.
My apologies to @Sylnarri and her readers for locking the thread while it was discussed what to do with this, but I am now unlocking it. Thank you all for your patience, and for reporting when the issue became clear.
Yep, saw that one coming a mile away…
Great chapter Syl. Honestly wasn't expecting Emma to trigger, much less ping off of four different capes while doing so, kudos for *that* curveball. Things are about to get spicy, I think. The painful, burning spicy.
Yep, saw that one coming a mile away…
Great chapter Syl. Honestly wasn't expecting Emma to trigger, much less ping off of four different capes while doing so, kudos for *that* curveball. Things are about to get spicy, I think. The painful, burning spicy.
I mean the trauma of her trigger directly involved a cape using their powers in her presence during the trigger. That is a textbook trump trigger.
I think Taylor is going to regret not stepping on Emma's skull when she had the chance.
Also a suspension and a threadban for entering an LGBT thread and deliberately trying to pick fights using literally instructions on how to start fights in trans spaces seems light. But whatever, he's gone.
Emma might be a problem in the future, but a more immediate issue is that if Ori reveals herself now, and then Sophia comes back with Taylor in valkyrie form, Taylor runs the risk of getting compared to Glaistig Uainne, as well as Ziz. Add in her torching the nazi-wannabe and things will not be easy for her.
As for the troll in the thread… I could barely understand what they were trying to say. Really not helping the view that transphobes are a bunch of barely-literate knuckle-draggers there.
I mean, the myth of Iphis goes back to at least 8 CE in the Roman Empire, and Iphis being AFAB but identifying as male and later magically transitioning is given some pretty heavy divine aid and sanction. Like, exact interpretations might vary and we might not have the full cultural context, but that really doesn't seem to me like the sort of myth you have if your culture says there are only two genders, they always exactly match birth sex, and if somehow anything other than that manages to exist it is always Bad and Wrong.
I would love to thank my lovely beta team. You girls are amazing and I appreciate you greatly!
Thurisaz 3.13 (Victoria)
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
The tunnel swirled around me, white mixed with inky shadow as it spiraled down almost as if one flushed paint down the toilet. It was somewhat similar to the gold and blues that I had seen when we first went through via the world tree to Bet, but it was different. This felt temporary, unstable, as if it was closing behind me and I had to pick up speed or I would be lost in whatever limbo the method of travel pierced through.
Listening to my instincts, I gunned for it. My wings extended to their fullest before all the strength went through them and pushed me forward, causing me to draw them in for more speed. My flight enhanced the speed further, catapulting me through the enclosing wormhole.
Far into the distance, a pinpoint of a figure was visible and knew it was Tay. Suddenly she disappeared and my eyes widened as the tunnel started to shrink. Pushing my flight to the limit, I streaked through the tunnel, wings scraping the closing walls as I gave one final push towards the shrinking exit that should lead me to Asgard. If it was like when Tay ferried me, we'd appear at the edge of Asgard and she'd go to Valhalla.
Just as the wormhole was about to collapse, I bursted through the exit and was surrounded by blue sky and a shining aurora above me. I was easily several hundred feet above the sparse land. In the distance were trees and mountains that I remembered when we first arrived at Asgard. Was this the opening for Valkyries? I would've thought that we'd appear above Valhalla or at least Dolgnæstr, but instead it was at the far end of the realm.
I shook my head, debating with myself about the cosmology and mechanics of the traveling methods of Valkyries was something I shouldn't be focusing on. There were more important things than dwelling on the potential science behind literal magic.
Finding the direction Tay took wasn't hard, I could feel the pull of Valhalla, and in that direction Tay's form was just visible on the horizon. Ignoring the slight twinge in my wings from pushing them so hard, I took off after her.
As I followed the pinprick dot off in the distance, my mind wandered back to what I just experienced. I knew that vengeance would only give a temporary relief, but knowing that Hookwolf was dead, that the very man who had killed me was gone forever, did feel oddly satisfying. Both in the fact that the Empire would have one less heavy hitter on the streets, and that a known killer wouldn't menace Brockton Bay anymore. Even better, I had denied him Valhalla, the one thing he sought in death.
It was going to cause major backlash from the Empire and it would only create a further imbalance in the Bay. Somehow, I knew that whatever happened with Taylor would only make it worse. How did my girlfriend always seem to be the center of the ever bubbling cauldron of issues? Probably something to do with her being a goddess, and I was now wondering if Thrud was also going to amplify that cosmic karma.
And I couldn't forget Amy.
My hands shook even as I flew over the mountains. Even after everything we'd been through since she joined the family, she threw it away at the first sight of her mom. Of Loki. I was still trying to wrap my mind around that fact. That Loki had not only known of Bet, but also had been there for some time. Amy was only six when Mom and Dad brought her home and I don't think she lived with her dad for long, whoever that was. No matter the case, the years we spent as sisters— and she truly was my sister— meant nothing at the first sight of her mom.
And what she was doing to my body. A shudder ran down my spine at the very thought of… of… of whatever that thing was. Amy—Amelia had been toying with it for quite some time now. At least from before the funeral. The puzzle pieces were falling into place.
She had crafted the fake body of myself, somehow got my real body, swapped them, and no one was the wiser except for us knowing that the body in the ground was a fake. Fuck, the more I thought about, the more depraved it was. All just so she could get… Vicky and try to bring me back.
It was sick in so many ways. I knew her powers could do things like that, it wasn't a secret. How else could she regrow limbs or alter flesh to heal? The moment she got powers, the family knew what she could do. Her trigger…
My sister's trigger was just another reminder that my rash choices and decisions always caused pain for those that I care about. It's what happened with the first Hookwolf fight, leading to Tay standing over my body as I passed.
I had to do better. Needed to do better. That no matter how nice it felt to just… let go, I have to be mindful of what the repercussions could be. Amy went down this road because of my death. It hit her harder than I thought, which shouldn't have surprised me given how she had latched onto me over the years. No matter how fucked up it was that she used my body—That was another thing altogether—I'd just have to talk to her.
If I could ever find her. Loki could've taken her anywhere.
So many questions I wanted to ask and so many that would be left unanswered. It was a problem for another time. I needed to find out what happened with my girlfriend that had to have led to her ferrying someone to Asgard.
A shining oasis in the dense forest caught my eye. Breidblikk. Baldr's home. It made me wonder if my girlfriend's brother was at his home or if he was elsewhere. I knew he protected his domain well, better than the others from what I've been told. Not that was saying much since Freyja didn't go to Fólkvangr and I had no clue about Thrud's parents. Both were very much a touchy subject with Thrud; I figured that out early on when we first became friends and how little she spoke of them.
Nonetheless, I quickly soared above the city and over the plains, heading straight towards Valhalla.
It wasn't hard, there was a pull towards the city, and despite the distance, I was slowly gaining on Tay. The aurora offered its own guidance, and I recognized a few landmarks from our prior trip on foot.
My first thought was that she would head to Valhalla, but knowing my girlfriend, she'd rather not see her mom and opt to go somewhere else. That left two possible places. One, I doubt Tay would go considering it was a realm away. So that left option number three.
I wasn't surprised when Tay diverted and flew straight for the mountains, towards the once great hall of the Valkyries. I followed along and wasn't sure if it was because of Freyja removing the illusion or that I'd been there, but finding the platform wasn't difficult.
It also helped that my girlfriend stood out among the snowy peaks.
Her black wings were the first thing that caught my attention before the rest of her came into focus. She knew I was coming as her head craned towards me. I landed next to her, ruffling my feathers as metal scraped against stone, a reminder that I was still in my armor.
I pressed the sequence of buttons to open the armor, unlatching the stupid helmet as air released from the sides of the cumbersome suit. There were a series of beeps, blinking lights, and unlatching sounds before I nearly stumbled out due to my hasty release.
"Tay, what happened?" I said as soon as I got my bearings.
One quick look was all I needed to know that something major happened. Her clothes were torn and battered, covered in dried blood and caked on debris. Most of the obvious injuries were already healing, but the cuts along her arms stood out, still angry and inflamed. Just what the hell had hit her to cause all of that? It couldn't have been Hookwolf, had Kaiser shown up personally?.
Floating next to her, almost like a chalk outline on the ground but molded into a three dimensional person with fully detailed features, was a girl that seemed vaguely familiar. Her limp body was suspended underneath Tay's hand, limbs dangling underneath just as physics would apply to a dead body being held airborne.
I glanced up at Tay's face again and I could see the turmoil in her features. She was taking deep breaths, almost as if she was trying to enjoy the magic of Asgard again but couldn't due to the circumstances.
She opened her eyes and the conflict was heavy within.
"The Empire finally came after me," Tay said so confidently as if no other words needed to explain the situation.
"At school?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Remember when I mentioned some problems?"
I nodded. She didn't talk about school often. She mostly did her homework and was ready to move onto something else. My girlfriend didn't want to be at school in the first place and I couldn't blame her. The administration failed her consistently and I hoped that once she transferred out, she'd have a better time at Arcadia. It was a better school, I had no doubt. There was none of that bullshit about the gangs being tolerated like at Winslow. It was still school, but tolerable.
The only time it ever came up was if Zoe was around and Emma did some stupid shit to her. The moment I saw that redhead…
I relaxed myself, the golden glow around my body, my powers, disappeared with but a thought, though the wings remained. Looking up at her, I answered.
"Yeah. They did something, didn't they?"
Tay sighed and nodded. "Yeah."
She set the floating body on the ground and the moment the girl was out of her grasp, the spiritual glow and whiteness disappeared and color quickly faded back into her body. She was an athletic black girl wearing gray varsity track sweatpants and a black form fitting t-shirt that did little to hide her toned figure. Her black hair was a mess of what I can only assume was in a ponytail but with most of the strands having frayed from the hair tie. Her eyes were closed, but I knew what they'd be like the instant they opened.
It slowly clicked into place.
Shadow Stalker.
"Shit, Tay. That's—"
"Sophia Hess, also known as Shadow Stalker, yes."
"Why was she at Winslow?"
"That," Tay said with a sigh, "Is a long story. To make it short, she goes—went there. She… used to be one of my bullies before the Empire started their shit, we kinda fell in together after that. Since then… well, I guess I could say we became friends."
I closed my eyes and rubbed my face, "You're telling me that you became friends with your former bully. Tay…"
I wasn't surprised that Shadow Stalker was a bully. She was always a bitch whenever I was around the other Wards or at photoshoots with them. Dean had told me about the Ward's photo they had taken and how she had ruined it, forcing them to take it again. How could—
"Look, I know this looks fishy—"
"Because it is! She bullied you, Tay. You don't just turn around and make friends with them? Would you do that to Emma?"
"Fuck no! Especially not with what happened."
I took a deep breath and said, "Start from the beginning."
"Okay," My girlfriend said more quietly. "It all started when Emma practically told the whole school I was trans. Since then, Sophia started to… back off. Then when Emma had actually sicked the Empire on me—"
"You're shitting me. Tay!"
"I know! I know. It's just… Leo and his goons were just wannabe fascist peons, all bark no bite until that moment. Sophia came to my rescue that day when they had me cornered. It was after I triggered and I nearly summoned my Valkyrie before she showed up. Since then, I don't know, things changed. She wasn't hostile and I started to see more of who she was. But that didn't stop Emma or Leo from being a pain in my ass at school. It only got worse as time went on, but it didn't faze me. Sophia told me that I was his target into the Empire."
"Taylor."
"I know! Look, it just…" She sighed. "I just didn't care. I'm a cape and a Godling. What happened at school didn't matter."
"Of course it matters, Tay," I said, letting my anger fade away. "What happens to you is still important. They might seem insignificant, but it still affects you. Should I remind you what happened before my funeral?"
Tay was silent for several seconds, her eyes unwavering but I could tell she was contemplating what I said. It was… dangerous to think that way, especially as a cape. It was so easy to fall into that trap that the simple things in life like school were insignificant to the rest of what we had to deal with. It was something Mom had talked to me about; school, cape, and life balance was important. Ironic considering how much of a workaholic she was.
Tay looked away and I knew that I hit home with my words.
"How bad was it?" I asked.
"Bad," She muttered. "Emma started off with her usual bullshit. Leo brought a gun in his attempt to kill me. Then Rune showed up, egging Leo on, which led to me fighting her while protecting the others by blocking the Hitler Youths from entering the rooms with my Valkyries. My powers acting weirdly where I could practically see what was going to happen, probably something with divination or whatever the fuck. Then it got to a point where Leo was about to fire at me before Sophia went through me and…" Tay closed her eyes. "The idiot took the bullet to protect me."
"Tay."
"I would've been fine! He was after me, not her! If anyone was going to take the shot—"
I ran up and hugged her. It was unprompted, but the moment tears started to well up in her eyes, I couldn't hold myself. Once my arms wrapped around her, her head went straight for the crook of my neck and she started to sob quietly. Dampness seeped into my hoodie and it wasn't from the sweat from the fight.
Rubbing her back in gentle patterns, I whispered, "It's okay."
She hiccuped in response.
"You gotta stop doing that, Tay. Let others help."
"B-but everytime I do, s-someone d-dies," She stuttered into my ear.
I sighed, "That's our choice. You are not alone in this, and don't you dare say you aren't and summon your Valkyries."
She let out a weak snort. My girlfriend was quiet for a bit, her tears and hiccups subsiding over time.
A groan from the side broke our moment, bringing us back to reality and the truth at hand. Tay pulled away and turned to face Sophia. Stepping to the side, I got a clearer view of the girl as she rubbed her face. Her eyes opened and it was the same ones I used to see in the mirror before becoming a Valkyrie. Gold irises floated in the sea of solid blue, glowing from within like a beacon. It was haunting to see on another person, especially one who had just died and not among the older Einherjar. There was something with the way a newly made Einherjar acted that displayed their innocence to the afterlife compared to the others.
The hollowness hadn't sunk in yet. That was when it changed.
It took me a day for it to set in. That not everything was as it seemed in the world and I felt just barely out of place. Then you realized that the reason for that was because you were missing something. You were missing your body.
I hadn't felt it in a while now, the feeling had faded away, but the mere thought of it brought back those memories and I could distinctly feel it as if it was an old baseball glove that still fit but had sat around in the garage for a few years.
"Hey, Sophia," Tay said as she wiped her face.
"Taylor?" Sophia said, blinking her eyes as if she was seeing the world for the first time. Her head looked around, taking in the sight that was Asgard. Her mouth gaped a little as her head tilted up, presumably to gaze on Yggdrasil's bough. "What the— where the fuck—" She stopped when her eyes landed on me. "Glory Girl?!"
"Antares now," I clarified. "Though you can call me Ori."
"What the fuck is going on?"
"Did I not say that I'd take you to Asgard when I gave you the choice?"
My girlfriend gave her a choice? Under the circumstances, with me at least, she didn't really have a chance nor would've known to give said choice. Even though it was understandable, it left a bit of jealousy taking root in my heart, but I could at least look at the brighter side that Tay was nothing like her mother.
"You did…"
Sophia looked over at Yggdrasil again, "Fuck. I didn't expect… What's going on?"
Tay looked at me and I shrugged. She did bring her.
"Well," Tay started off while looking around, her eyes not quite landing on anything until they landed on the throne. "Remember in history class last year where we learned about Norse mythology?"
"Some… why?" Sophia eyed my girlfriend.
"Because it's true. Well, not that abridged Christianized version, but it is true." Tay gestured all around her. "This is Asgard, or at least what's left of it, and that." My girlfriend pointed in the distance, "Is Valhalla."
Sophia's gaze followed Tay's finger, craning her neck in the process. Valhalla stood with its golden dome, shielding the city from enemies. Probably the only reason it stood practically isolated within the basin that hovered over the abyss. Scion and his ilk couldn't get through the shield, laying waste to the surrounding area.
The new Einherjar looked back up at my girlfriend, a sense of undeniable truth settling into her eyes as the magic coursed within them.
"You're not lying," Sophia said, her tone filled with confidence. "Fucking hell, Taylor. What's next, you're the daughter of a god or something?"
"Actually…" I said a little cheekily.
Sophia looked at me, "You're shitting me."
"No, she's not," Tay confirmed. "My mom is Freyja."
Sophia rubbed her face as if she didn't want to process that yet.
"So I'm dead," She said after a few seconds.
Tay nodded, "Yeah, you died. I— You didn't have to do that, Sophia."
Those blue and golden eyes leveled at my girlfriend as if she had grown a second head.
"After everything I've done? Yes, yes I did."
The two stared at one another for several seconds and I could tell there was a tension between them. Not necessarily a bad one, but one filled with history. My girlfriend wasn't joking when she said that there had been a lot between them and what I was witnessing was just the tip of the iceberg. Fuck, she really did become friends with her former bully.
People can and do change, I hope you see that Tay.
"So what now?" Sophia said, a sigh on the tip of her tongue as if she was waiting for judgment.
Tay glanced over at me, the question in her eyes.
"Are you going to anoint her?"
"I'm not letting anyone linger with those bonds like you did. Not now that I know I can remove them."
I almost wanted to say that she'd be merely changing one for another, just less restrictive.
At least she wouldn't have to deal with the hollowness for long if she accepted.
I nodded, "Up to you. You're the queen."
Tay rolled her eyes.
"What's going on?" Sophia asked, a snark nearly rising in her voice but held it back.
"What my girlfriend is trying to allude to," I said in Tay's place. "Is that she wants to make you into a Valkyrie, like me. So you don't have to deal with the… a lot that comes with being an Einherjar."
"Enhe— okay, could someone fucking explain."
Tay sighed, rubbing her face. "Sophia, you're what's known as an Einherjar. Translated from Old Norse to army of one. A physical manifestation of your soul. Sadly, as we found out some time ago, you are inextricably linked to me, as I was the one who ferried your soul to Asgard. This has… consequences on many fronts. That is why I had asked for your permission before doing this. I will not have the same thing that happened to Ori happen again."
Sophia's gaze wandered over to me, the calculating eyes trying to peer into my soul. Fuck, that was kind of creepy. The other Einherjar didn't seem to do that, at least not Aunt Jess and the ones in Gimlé. Was it something with new Einherjars or just a Sophia special? She always had that piercing gaze like she wanted to tear down the walls.
She slowly stood up, her legs shaky at first before she looked down. She patted her chest, right where the tear in her shirt was. Neither Tay nor I said anything as she inspected herself, just like I had.
"There's no…"
I shook my head, "No wound. Same happened to me. I expected to see a massive hole where the rebar was sticking from, only for it to be healed like magic."
"Well, it sort of is magic," Tay said. "It is your soul."
Sophia shook her head before looking at my girlfriend. "So what was this about 'anointing' me?"
"I want you to join the ranks of my Valkyries, along with Ori. That way you can return to Bet with us. There's more we have to explain, but it's the most sure fire way for you to return and it would free you from the current bond you have to me."
"There's a bond," Sophia deadpanned. She didn't sound happy.
I nodded, "It's not a pleasant one. It's your choice, but I'd recommend taking the oath. You… don't want to feel what it's like to stay an Einherjar for long."
Sophia scoffed, "Sounds like I'm trading one chain for another. What the fuck else is new?" Wisps of shadow leaked from her body, not quite turning her into the smoke that her powers were known for. It seemed she still had her powers and was more in control, though it wasn't quite what it used to be. There was a tinge of purple among the inky tendrils that wafted off of her. Interesting. I wasn't the only one with altered powers.
I couldn't help but wince at her comment. She figured it out and not only was she not wrong, but it was deeper than that. Shadow Stalker was a probationary Ward due to some excessive violence that nearly killed a man if what Dean said was accurate. Wards rumors could be spotty, even that close to the source.
Tay feared that she would kill too easily after returning to Bet, she'd said as much after the confrontation in her front yard. She'd been ready to kill those Empire members, and that scared her. The odds were good that with Sophia shot, she had crossed that line.
Nonetheless, the restrictions on a probationary Ward were not fantastic when you were used to being on your own. It seemed that even with my girlfriend's modified oath, she would still have them. It was a feeling that she knew all too well.
"I know," Tay said quietly. "I wish I could do better. I hate the position Freyja put me in and I promise to find a way to make it better, but becoming my Valkyrie is the best we have at present."
"So what? I become another one of your projections? Sounds like some Glaistig Uaine shit."
As chilling as the comparison was, she wasn't that far off. Each of Tay's projections were former lieutenants under Freyja's rule. To some degree, we still sort of were. We were linked to Tay via the tether and she was our queen just through magic rather than space worm fuckery. If anyone were to take one look at us as we truly were, the news would spread like wildfire and we'd have a situation similar to Glaistig Uaine when she was a child before she disappeared for several years and waltzed into the Birdcage.
"No," Tay shook her head. "My Valkyries, my projections, are actually the former Valkyrie lieutenants under Freyja's rule. How my power somehow learned to summon them via Necromancy, I couldn't tell you."
Sophia was following along until my girlfriend started talking magic, which then quickly went over her head.
"You'd be like me," I butted in, hoping to explain further considering we'd be in the same situation. "I renamed my cape identity and changed appearances. No longer am I Glory Girl, but Antares. As for my name… that was more of a personal thing."
The golden and blue glowing eyes stared at me for several seconds before drifting away, looking down off the side of the platform. Sophia took a deep breath before speaking and it sounded so defeated.
"Fine."
"I'm sorry, Sophia. I tried to—"
Sophia shook her head, "You didn't lie to me. I can accept my choices. Have had to for a while now. I just never expected it to be like this."
"I know," My girlfriend sullenly replied.
Before anyone could add anymore to that depressing thought, there was an increase in the temperature, almost as if a magnifying glass was hovering above the area in front of the throne. A mass of swirling green leaves materialized from motes coalescing into defined objects. Wonderful. This was going to be interesting, and not in a fun way.
A second later, Freyja appeared. Her off-white dress with earth and grass stains at the edges blew in the wind, her green tattoos had a slight glow to them before returning to their dull mixture of greens and browns. Like Tay, her hair was braided and wasn't always the easiest to tell if it was a mess or just because of the curls. What I could tell was that the ends were fraying and there were numerous loose hairs. Considering how similar the mother-daughter duo were, it was definitely a mess. Her brown eyes were frantic at first until they landed on my girlfriend. Then the mask quickly covered her face.
"Taylor," Freyja said, a touch of concern in her voice. "What happened?"
"Why the fuck do you care?" Taylor bit back, facing away from her mom.
"Of course—" Freyja stopped herself before taking a deep breath. "I wasn't expecting you to return so soon."
I raised an eyebrow. We'd been in Bet for two weeks. Compared to the rest of the Nine Realms, or at least Asgard, that's a month. It would be nice if we could get past this same routine. The whole time bullshit was giving me a headache. Hopefully we won't be here for long. We had pressing matters to return to.
Like Amelia and my family.
Tay finally turned and faced her mom. There was a fire in her eyes. "Not like I wanted to return. You made that abundantly clear of how important this is."
"That's not—"
"Don't. You put this responsibility on my shoulders, so I am doing it."
Out of the corner of my eyes, Sophia seemed to stiffen a little. Her eyes were locked on the woman in front of us. The full fledged goddess. In fact, she looked like she was seeing a ghost. Had she seen a picture of Freyja? Right, she had been watching the house while we were in Asgard, keeping Danny and Zoe safe.
Freyja sighed again, "You're right. I… I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"No thanks to you."
Ouch. From Freyja's wince, that one dug deep. As painful as that was to watch, I was on my girlfriend's side on this. So much could've been avoided if she had just been honest or forthcoming from the beginning.
Freyja quickly schooled her features and nodded. "Okay. If… if there's anything you need—"
"I don't."
Freyja sighed, but I could tell she was holding herself from the constant interruptions and tone Tay was giving her. "I will let the brothers and Kyle know about the recent development." She looked over at Sophia who was still acting like a deer in the headlights. "When you are ready, they can help you with any new armor or whatever you'd like."
I hope she wasn't going to go the power armor route like I did. At first I thought it would be cool to have Tinker armor, but after the few scuffles with the Empire, I was tired of it. It would need repairs, and one day I might ask about requisitioning new armor, but I don't think I'd have it in me to tell Kyle that I don't want Tinkertech. It might be better if I just fashion my own at that point, or find a proper smith.
"Anything else?" Taylor said, more as a 'get the hell out of here' than an actual question.
"How is your father and Zoe?"
"Now you care?"
"Taylor…"
"You left them, you didn't tell them anything. Did you know that Zoe was a cape? Any other fucking secrets you want to keep?"
Taylor was fuming and I could feel the sizzling magic roiling off her. She wasn't holding back now that she was in Asgard, but I didn't expect her to have that amount in such a short amount of time. By the time it fully encompassed me, it felt like a hot sauna. Freyja didn't react, but I knew she felt it too.
Freyja took a deep breath before speaking. "I figured you'd tell them."
"Of course I did. Unlike you, I didn't want to keep something like that from them."
"Before you ask, yes I did know Zoe was a cape. It was not my secret to tell. She was a lieutenant. They were all capes."
Taylor continued to fume, her eyes narrowing at her mom. "She's a better mom than you."
Another homerun made by Taylor Hebert, the crowd goes wild as she makes her lap at trying to inflict pain on her mother. I knew I shouldn't make light of something like this, but I knew how much Tay hated her mom right now. Was it a bit too much? Possibly, but just from what I've seen between Zoe and Freyja, the divide between the two was immense.
"I know," Freyja admitted solemnly. "She was always a natural at it, one of the many things I admire about her."
Tay's fists clenched and she looked ready to throttle her mom. I could only imagine what was going through her head right now; all the pain and betrayal coursing through her along with the eventful attack she had at school. She was barely holding it in. As much as a part of me wants to see her punch her mom after missing the last one, I primed myself to intervene should the need come. Tay needed to be better than her mom and holding back the anger and hate was one step towards that.
Freyja's eyes wandered over the three of us, but they surveyed Tay's the most, as if she was taking in the injuries on her.
"How bad was it?" Freyja returned to the topic at hand.
Tay didn't look like she wanted to answer, so I did for her.
"I wasn't there, but apparently the Empire finally attacked her at school. Leading to… this," I gestured to both my girlfriend and Sophia.
Freyja closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "I feared that might happen eventually."
"What'd you expect?!" Tay bursted. "We lived in the Nazi capital of America!"
"Taylor—"
"No, don't give me this shit about Brockton Bay being safer than here."
"Tay," I said in a chiding tone to calm her a little.
Tay glanced at me from the corner of her eye. She took a deep breath, visibly calming down just a little to the point where she wasn't radiating magic.
"As much as it doesn't seem like it," Freyja said slowly, "It is. Even with the Endbringers on the planet."
"Let me guess, because of whatever weirdness is going on in the city?" Tay responded, crossing her arms, her wings ruffled from the action.
"Yes, and before you grill me for answers, I'm afraid I only know so much about it. I've tried to delve into it, but whatever your uncle was doing was a well kept secret. All I can tell you is that we were not the only people from the Nine Realms to reside in the city. Maybe you will get farther than I. Elli always had a shine for you."
Tay had mentioned her before, an old woman who owned the store that was right above the world tree root. I didn't know what she meant by the weirdness going on in the city but maybe that was because I'd always lived in the bay. There was definitely something about Brockton Bay that was different from other cities like Boston and I couldn't say it was because of the powder keg the city was always in.
My girlfriend stared at Freyja, no doubt checking to see if she was lying. I didn't get a hint that she was unlike the times before. Freyja truly didn't know what was fully going on in the Bay. She might know the surface, but not much else. Her words did remind me, however, that I needed answers.
"Did you know that Loki was on Bet?" I asked, cutting inbetween the mother daughter staredown, if you could call it that since it was only Taylor who was doing any of the intense staring.
Freyja blinked her eyes and scrunched her eyebrows. "What?"
"Loki, they've been on Bet, longer than you have."
"How would you—" Freyja was about to ask before she stopped. "They're there now, aren't they?"
"Ori, what happened?" Tay asked, any hostility was gone from her voice and her eyes softened as she looked at me.
"While Thrud and I found Hookwolf," I said slowly. Taylor looked a little guilty as she looked away briefly. "You were busy with your own thing, I don't blame you," I added hastily. "Anyway, I overheard him talking about going after my sister. Apparently she'd been making the Empire sick recently."
Tay nodded, "Explains why there's been so little gangsters and most of them didn't look that great."
"Yeah, in anycase, after I… killed Hookwolf."
"You killed him?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I did. With Thrud's help."
"Good riddance. The asshole deserved worse."
"I denied him Valhalla. His soul disappeared into nothingness," I added. "No afterlife for him."
"Good," Tay said with a small smile. Her voice was filled with pride. That was a nice reassurance.
"But that led us to finding my sister because I wanted to make sure she was safe. Hookwolf was talking to Kaiser and he could've sent a squad or something. What it led to was finding out that my sister was the one who had my real body and was…" A shiver ran down my spine. "Experimenting. What I saw… it was… horrifying."
I grimaced and looked away. The image of what my body had turned into, like it was some art project. The white glowing lines, the nearly white hair and the strange darkened spots; it was sick and twisted. An abomination. My body should be in the grave where it wouldn't be disturbed not walking around like some imitation of me. The fact that my sister went to such lengths…
"Ori, what happened?" Tay asked. "What do you mean she was experimenting? What was she doing to your body?"
"I don't know, Tay, I don't know. My body had these white lines and dark patches, the hair was nearly white. When I first got there, she was cursing, saying something about it not waking. Then… then Loki appeared."
"Draugr," Freyja said quietly. She looked at us and repeated herself. "Draugr. That's what your sister made."
Draugr. A chill ran down my spine at the thought. From what I remember, they were revenants of the deceased. They made their home in burial mounds, but also in Helheim.
There was a haunted look on Freyja's face, but it disappeared when she shook her head.
"What did Loki do? What did they say?" Freyja asked, pressing for answers. It was almost… frantic.
"They…" I shook my head as I wrapped myself around what had happened. "They said they were Amy's mom and how they've been on Bet longer than you. They knew about Freyr's project." My eyes met Freyja's and said, "Is that what's going on with the Bay? Some project?"
"Possibly," Freyja said, schooling her features. "Freyr had his own plans that he seldom told me. Always under the pretense of 'it's for the best'." We both chose to ignore Tay's muttering about that being a familiar line. "A common thing he said while I was married to Odin. I imagine that if he were alive right now, he'd tell me but that's impossible now. That said, I'm not surprised that Loki knew more about it than I did."
"Really?" Tay asked.
Freyja nodded, "At one point, the two of them had a tryst. Even after their moment, they were still close. So for Loki to arrive on Bet before I did, is not surprising in the slightest. I wouldn't be surprised if Freyr invited Loki personally to see what he was trying to accomplish."
"That's how they knew," Tay said distantly.
"Hmm?" Freyja hummed, looking at her daughter.
"They knew my full name when they shouldn't have."
"Of course they did," Freyja said, rubbing at her forehead. "Loki is marvelous at finding information when one shouldn't be able to. To know that they had another child… that's a revelation on its own."
I knew of Loki's children, it was among one of the many things Tay and I researched in the various legends Freya had compiled. They had several, all of them monstrous in some way. The only reason I could think that Amy wasn't like that was because her other parent was human and not the mother of monsters.
"What could that mean?" I asked.
Freyja shrugged her shoulders. "It could mean nothing and your sister is just a normal parahuman or it could mean she's part Jötunn. It's never clear when it comes to Loki. Only time would tell, though creating a Draugr does point towards her inheriting something from Loki's blood. I… I am sorry that you had to find out like that. Finding out one's sibling had a different parentage than you thought is not easy."
"You could say that again," I looked away from her and crossed my arms. The pain was still radiating as if a real dagger had been stabbed in my back.
"But it's clear she's following her biological family's path, especially her deceased sister, toying with things that shouldn't be toyed with," Freyja added, which only dug the knife deeper.
"What do you mean?"
Freyja rubbed her face as if she was trying to think on how she wanted to say her next words.
"From the sounds of it, your sister and her parasite had started testing around with biology not known to Midgard. How she got that information, I can't tell you. Your body itself is a draugr, but the glowing lines sound magical, but without seeing it in person, I can't say for certain."
That was… disturbing to say the least. From what source could Amy have that would get her that information? I was hating my reluctance to return to my family. If I had gone straight there, I could've stopped whatever the fuck she was doing or at least figure it out. Maybe turn her from whatever necromantic bullshit she did.
Several seconds passed and no one spoke or moved. The wind whistled past, ruffling Tay's feathers and jingling Frejya's jewelry. Sophia seemed entirely out of her depth, having remained in a silent daze the entire conversation, and I couldn't blame her. Even with all our research and the month we spent here, I was still reeling from it all.
Eventually, Tay broke the silence.
"Where's Amy now?"
I looked at her and took a deep breath. "She left, with Loki and my awakened body."
Tay nodded slowly, more to herself. "Well, today was shit."
A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips, "You could say that again."
She looked at Freyja, who was standing still, not wanting to be fully part of the group, but close enough to say her piece.
"Anything else you want to enlighten us on."
Frejya looked like she was going to speak but stopped herself. A few seconds later, she shook her head, "No. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I… I hope my information will be helpful and if Loki becomes a problem, please let me know."
"You seem to think that's inevitable," I said, noting her frantic tone.
"Because they will be," She said with certainty. "I know them. They meddle in things they shouldn't and if they decided to stay in Bet, they will meddle with your movement, Taylor."
"So…what?" I gestured with my hands, "You'll come back to Bet and scare them away? I don't see that happening considering the bridges you burned."
If I wasn't paying attention, I would've missed the wince she made before it was smothered by her mask.
"If it comes to it, I will," Freyja said with conviction.
"Well, don't bother," Tay said, turning to face Sophia. "Just go."
That mask broke again and Frejya's shoulders sagged a little. She noticed my stare and straightened herself.
"Very well, be safe," She said to the three of us before she disappeared in a flurry of leaves. This time, they weren't green like I expected, but red and gold.
The wind whistled as we stood there in silence again, a melancholic ending to the conversation. There was so much that needed to be digested and so much ahead of us. After today, the Empire wouldn't be holding back, they couldn't afford to. One of their biggest hitters was killed and they actively went after someone in their civilian identity at a school. Not only that, but the PRT won't stand for the death of a Ward. It might take time, but they will mobilize against the Empire.
This was going to be a war.
"Well," Sophia said slowly, as if she knew she was breaking the silence. "That was a lot of shit."
"You could say that again," Tay replied. "Fuck. She had to show up. She just had to."
"She's worried, Tay," I supplied from my observation. "I know she's done some fucked up shit, but she cares."
"I don't care."
I sighed and rubbed my face at her tone. "Okay," I said at a loss for words. "What do we do now?"
"We have to go back, Miss Militia wants answers," Tay said, moving to sit in the throne. It was more of a flop than anything graceful like she normally managed. "After I make Sophia a Valkyrie, we head back."
"I need to tell my family too," I said as I moved to stand in front of her. "I can't let Amy take that… thing home and I'm tired of not being with them."
Tay leaned on one arm, a position that didn't look comfortable considering it was stone but she didn't seem to mind. She stared out into Asgard, looking at nothing in particular, her eyes calculating. Sophia moved gingerly, standing next to me but looking very much out of place like before.
Slowly, Tay nodded, "I said I'd be there to help and I meant it. I can face whatever music Miss Militia and the PRT has for what happened at school later."
"Taylor—"
She shook her head and held up a finger, "Don't. It's more important that you reunite with your family." She looked over at Sophia and asked, "Do you want to do the same? If you're not sure, that's fine but I'm not going to hide what we are anymore. I won't willingly tell them, but if it comes to light, then it's better to be honest about it than make things worse."
Sophia was frozen at the question sent her way. She looked down at her hands and I could only imagine that it was settling in what it meant to be dead.
"I… I don't know."
"That's okay," I said with a slight smile. "It's… it's not easy."
Sophia's eyes met mine, the swirls rotating like one would see from a hurricane. Slowly, she nodded before looking at my girlfriend.
Tay sighed, "We can worry about a new costume and all that later. Right now, let's make you a Valkyrie and get back to Bet." The next words she said were to me. "Then we can contact your family and tell them everything."
Her words hit a chord within me that made me vibrate. This was actually going to be it. It was going to happen. Anxiety bubbled within me, a reminder that it had been six weeks since I died. How they'd react was on constant replay in my head for days now. Add on to the fact of what Amy did and who her birth mother was?
If I thought my freeze at the bust was bad, this was going to be so much worse. All my nightmares came crashing down onto me all at once. Even though it was comforting that my girlfriend was going to be there to help me along, it still had to be me to tell them.
I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak or else I'd say the things that haunted my mind.
My girlfriend continued to stare at me, the tiredness evident in her eyes but I knew they weren't from physical exhaustion. It was the culmination of everything that happened today. As obvious as that was, it didn't hide the care that reflected within them and how they were directed my way.
After a few seconds, she spoke while standing up. "Come on, Sophia, let's make you a Valkyrie."
"Uhh… okay," Sophia said hesitantly. "What do I need to do?"
"Stand here," Tay directed her to the front of the throne. The same place I stood when I took the oath.
I stepped out of the way and stood off to the side. My girlfriend stood still for a moment, her hand on her chin as she thought. Her tongue stuck out and I couldn't stop but think how cute it was. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, let's see if this works."
I furrowed my eyebrows but I didn't have the chance to voice my confusion as she closed her eyes. In a feat I hadn't seen in a long time, my girlfriend glowed, a brightness that blinded me even in the midday Asgardian sun.
Just as quickly as it came, the brightness left, leaving my girlfriend decked out in her armor, from head to toe. Her sword came out of its sheath in a flourish.
"How the fuck," Sophia's jaw dropped in shock.
I smirked, "Magic." My next words were directed at Tay, "How did you summon it without the necklace?"
My girlfriend shrugged her shoulders. "I just envisioned it like I did with the necklace and it worked. I had to force a bit more magic, but it came on its own."
"Why didn't you fucking do that at school?!" Sophia asked, on the brink of yelling.
Tay turned to face her, "Because Earth Bet doesn't have a lot of magic. Here in Asgard, it's everywhere. It's hard to describe, but being here allows me to do things I can't do on Bet. Summoning my armor is one of them. I thought about it, I really did, but I just wasn't able to. That little bit of summoning used more magic than I could gather in a week back home."
"Fuck," Sophia cursed, rubbing her face. When she opened her eyes, those haunting Einherjar orbs bore into Tay. "Can we get this over with then?"
Tay nodded, "Yes, let's." She pointed with her sword to the spot. "Kneel there."
Sophia, begrudgingly, went to the spot and kneeled. It looked like she really didn't like the whole thing. I couldn't blame her and I wouldn't be surprised if some of Tay's ordering was a factor in it.
"Sophia Hess," Tay started off. "You kneel before me—" She had already changed it from my own oath. "a chosen warrior, seeking to become something greater by your own free will. To be a chooser of the dead. A Valkyrie."
My girlfriend took a deep breath before continuing. "Our charge is not for the faint of heart. Death is our companion and we must ferry the souls to their rightful place while protecting those unable to protect themselves. If you accept, I request an oath."
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Kind of the point of why we're doing this?"
Her snark made me snort and Tay fought the urge to sigh, but she did roll her eyes.
"Swear before me. Swear that you shall serve as a Valkyrie, with me as your queen. That you shall aid me in fulfilling our role in the cosmos. You shall be free; free to act as your own, free to make your own choices. I will not have a slave, but a subordinate that is free to offer advice and opinions on any order I give. One that is free to disobey an order should they choose for whatever reason. Will you accept this oath and join me as a Valkyrie? Will you become my lieutenant?"
I could feel a pressure build around us, almost like a cyclone of heat yet the world around us didn't change. The wind still blew from the high mountain top, its crispness soothing to the raging inferno that surrounded us. The rare moss on the stones remained green and vibrant where I thought they would dry up and burn. It was strange to say the least.
Glancing over at Taylor, my eyes widened. Her wings had appeared, black and regal, a mysterious aura surrounded them that reminded me of how Lisa defined them. Even she couldn't figure out what kind of owl they were from and it made them unique. Queenly, one would say.
A brief thought to kneel as well came to mind, but I didn't feel the urge and it wasn't necessary. It would be symbolic, sure, but we weren't some medieval knights. We were Valkyries and we had our own sense of freedom and responsibility. My own wings did flare out, the warmth of the magic fluttering the feathers as they did.
Tay spoke one last time, "Do you accept this responsibility I offer to bestow upon you?"
There was an… echo, a reverberation in her voice that seemed to be charged by the magic surrounding us. As if it wasn't just her who was speaking, but the voices of long dead Valkyries.
Sophia looked up at my girlfriend, a single raised eyebrow almost in defiance. "Yeah, sure. I accept."
"Then join me, my Valkyrie."
At Tay's words, the magic swirled and stopped in mid air for not even a perceivable instant before slamming into Sophia. Her body was practically lifted into the air, glowing with Tay's magic before it turned dark. The shadowy trails remained leaking from her body but the white turned into a dark purple, nearly black. The heat of the magic was gone, now replaced with a coldness that seemed to touch my very soul. Sophia's back arched, a pair of wings bursting forth but still indistinguishable in the swirling glow.
Sophia slowly descended after that, returning to the kneeling position she was in before. The umbra that encompassed her disappeared, leaving behind purple motes in the air, her wings out on full display. They were similar to mine, at least in design, but were mostly brown and a mixture of white.
She slowly stood, looked over her shoulder at her wings. "Huh. That's neat."
Tay and I chuckled.
"They are," Tay said with a bit of reverence in her voice. "When you are ready, I can show you how to fly with them."
Sophia nodded as she trailed her hand on her feathers.
"I'm going to go see Aunt Jess real quick, let me know if you need me."
My girlfriend turned her head to me, "Hmm… maybe a cloak of sorts? I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. Armor can wait till after we tell your family and deal with the PRT."
I nodded, "I can do that."
"Want me to teleport you there?"
I shook my head. "That's alright. It feels good to finally stretch my wings."
Sophia blinked, then stretched her own wings, eyes widening in fascination as she moved them about. "Please tell me I don't have to clean this shit."
Tay snorted. "I can show you how later." Tay then turned back to me. "We'll catch up once Sophia can fly reliably. Make sure Jess is ready to get her measurements for the armor before we hit the tree."
I grinned, flashing Tay a thumbs up and took off with a running leap into the abyss before flapping my wings and rising back into the sky with a whoop of pure joy. I let myself soar for a moment under my own wings, leaving my power off. I felt an itch as I did that, then relented, letting the golden glow of my power engulf me like a warm blanket. It felt ready and eager.
With that, I flew off in the direction of Gimlé to get some much needed advice from my aunt. Even though I had spoken to her on the device, it would be nice to see her before I faced the rest of my family. Even a little bit of comfort to quell my anxiety.
So, we have a transbian valkyrie queen, a lesbian/bi valkyrie (I can't remember if Ori has explicitly defined herself), and a black valkyrie. At this rate people are going to think "Your very existence angers Nazis" is a requirement to join.
