Epitaph of the Eternal

Chapter 35: The Allfather

"Well more like a door, but yeah. I guess I can." I let the power bubble to the surface, and the air in front of me split in two as a wormhole tore through it. Without hesitation, we jumped in.

"Connor is going to be pissed at me for doing this." I announced as we landed lightly on the rainbow bridge. Immediately, our arrival attracted attention. Two guards clad in golden armor ran forwards, though they stopped short when they saw Loki. They both blanched.

"We mean no harm, but we wish to speak with Odin." I did the talking, taking upon a firm but not threatening demeanor.

"But that's by appointment only-" one began, but his friend elbowed him until he shut up.

"I think he'll make an exception." I assured them. And, of course, he did.

"Well, well, well. My estranged adopted son and a human hero show up on the bridge without warning, demanding an audience with me." The Allfather leaned back into his throne, surveying us with one sharp eye. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Not human." I corrected him calmly.

"Oh really? Why not?" He was extremely skeptic.

"The prophecy has come true, Odin. The prophecy of my people had been completed, after all these years. You and I both know that Thea is not human." Loki interjected.

"Indeed?" Again with the skepticism. I wanted to punch him.

"Indeed." I replied, my tone icy cold. not caring about being polite to someone with a track record like his.

"Know your place, mortal." His voice was sharp suddenly, full of warning. and his face was like thunder. He sat forward in his throne.

"Wrong. I'm not mortal. In fact, I'd wager, I'm more immortal than you are." Tendrils of tesseract energy emanated from my body as my temper and pulse increased. Odin's eyes went wide. "I've been chosen by the infinity crystal, as said in the prophecy. I've come to ask, peacefully, for its return to it's true keepers. Without the crystal, the Jotun will die out."

"So what?" Odin replied sharply. "They deserve it."

Loki growled beside me, but I placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Not yet.

"I highly doubt that. You've killed off almost all of them, the ones who might possibly, in the loosest definition, deserve death are dead."

"They're savages. They all deserve to die."

"How can you sit there, say that, and look me in the eye?" Loki screamed, and the air around us contorted with a sudden burst of emotion. Odin blinked.

"I've been to their realm after being kidnapped and lied to by Loki, been entrusted with their future, and reshaped their culture. We both know that that 'savages' is far from the truth."

"You know nothing. This is not a hero speaking to me right now. This is a puppet." He stared straight at Loki before splat! he spat at my feet.

"Puppet, am I, Allfather?" I hissed, up in his face within moments. The air around us sizzled with energy, and Odin's eyes widened slightly before returning to his normal bored expression.

Shouting came from behind me, and I waved a hand after sparing a half-glance to see guards engaging Loki in battle. Immediately, blue energy raced through their bodies until they dropped to the ground, motionless.

"You... killed the royal guards?" Finally, Odin allowed himself to show proper surprise.

"No, I didn't do any permanent damage. I'm not heartless, unlike you."

"I cannot allow them to reclaim the tesseract. It would be giving them all they need to restart the war once more."

"... and I've made it perfectly clear that if they use it for an improper cause, I'd turn on them in an instant."

"Hardly likely."

"Hold on a moment." I said, before stepping back into a portal that I'd opened a moment, remerging in front of a familiar face with eerie golden eyes. "Hey Heimdall."

"Hello, Thea. To what do I owe the company? Issues with Odin?"

"Of course. He's refusing to listen to me. I can't stand him. Anyways, you can see everything that's happened to me, right?"

"Yes, every single thing."

Oh, that's just great. "Hey, would you mind coming with me for a moment? I need you to bear witness." I didn't wait for a reply, and within moments we were back in the throne room.

"So, Odin doesn't believe me." I continued to explain to the slightly disoriented Heimdall. "Could you tell him what happened to me on Jotunheim? All of it."

By the time Heimdall had finished a remarkably thorough recounting of everything that happened in the past month, Odin knew he had lost. He slumped against the throne, looking exhausted and apprehensive.

"So." He finally spoke, moments after Heimdall left us to return to his post. "You spoke the truth."

"Damn right I did." I muttered.

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you the tesseract." He continued, and my jaw hit the floor. "I had not given permission for another being of nigh-immortality to be created."

It took me a few moments to realize he was talking about me. "Well excuse me." I glared at him once more, realizing that I was not in the clear yet.

"How dare you!" Loki hissed, breaking his furious silence to come to my defense. "She didn't ask for anyone's permission, nor did she need to! She didn't want this to happen to her. All she wanted, from the very beginning, was to be with the people she cares about. She didn't ask for any of this. She didn't ask to be sent to this universe, she didn't ask to become Spiderman."

Odin opened his mouth to say something, but Loki plowed on. "She didn't ask to become involved in any business outside her own. She didn't ask to be the one chosen for the prophecy. She didn't ask to become immortal. All she was supposed to do was live out her life and die peacefully among her friends. Everything she's done has been because someone has felt the need to tug on the strings of fate every once in a while. She didn't ask for anything, least of all your permission to exist."

Odin and I blinked, stunned. A rush of gratitude filled me but was immediately quashed when Odin waved a hand and Loki immediately dropped to the floor, screaming in silent agony. "So." He began, as if he wasn't torturing his adopted son at the moment. "Like I said, you cannot be allowed to exist. It disrupts the balance in the universe. It's nothing personal, but I simply cannot allow you to continue to live."

He could have gotten down on his knees and begged for forgiveness and it would have done nothing to curb my anger. I felt the power rise to the surface of an entirely foreign quantity to me. My fingers sparked with the power to smite and destroy everything in my path. Looks like things were going to come to blows after all.