《Battle for Midgard》


 1. The Jotun Arrives

    He jumped to the ground from the portal, appearing between some trees in an empty park. The morning weather was still crisp, and since it was late summer the sun not fully risen. He turned to watch the lightning flickered behind him, and see that final bit of home before it faded away completely. Nothing left of the portal, but the faint smell of ozone.


    Trapped. He swallowed the thought, ignoring the fact that he didn''t have a means to return home unless They willed it. A trained soldier, he ran lightly through the paths, coming upon other joggers and blending in. When he left the park and the safety of the trees and rosebushes, buildings towered over him. He marveled at the lives pulsing inside them. Their energy pulsed along his skin, and he wanted to open the door to his masters now, but that was not the way. They had sent him as a spy first. The pent up energy in the Earth threatened to turn the ground to the waves of an ocean of rocks, to knock down these buildings. He''d been warned of the human cities. They''d warned him the city lay on a fault line where the Earth would shake. What fools they were to build in such a place. What fools they were to grow such numbers when it would only draw the Old Gods hunger to them.


    After ten minutes of pretending to be a jogger, he turned the corner and jogged toward the cheap motel. The dirty, red tiled roof looked almost brown in the light of the rising sun. The doors were painted a garish red. A rough white stucco sprayed the sites. It was a Wednesday morning by this world''s calendar, and most of the rooms were empty.He took the stairs two at a time, like someone who was young and fit and used to running for sport. He was young and fit, though he didn''t run for sport, but for military purposes.


    He found room 259 easily enough by walking quickly at the second level of stairs. He prayed to the Old Gods, while running his empty palm over the card-reader. Something inside the mechanism whirred and a light turned green. That meant he should turn the handle. The door opened and to the left were to two crisply made white beds, both far larger than any one person had a right to demand. The floor was hard concrete, painted a dingy orange.He let the door shut behind him. Someone, one of his people he supposed or perhaps those from this world who had determined to worship the old gods, had booked the room and stocked it for him. Then they''d left in the dark of night so that he could arrive in the morning. They couldn''t risk the portal behing detected inside his hotel room.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    To the right, stood a desk. A blue rucksack¨Cbackpack he corrected himself¨Cstood open atop the desk, beside it sat a metallic rectangle about a hand and a half long and just over a handspan wide. Though, this body was tall and he forced himself to use their inches and feet not to give himself away. Perhaps 13 inches long. The laptop. On top of that sat a dark rectangle, a cell phone. If it had been taken to his world and returned here, it would not work with the network here. And it would hold a residue of his world, which would have led that medler''s agents straight to him.


    He picked it up, the screen lighting as he did. The heft felt unfamiliar even though he''d practiced with a few of these at home. The blue plastic case had an ugly drawing of a green bird on it that appealed to the teenagers of this world. He''d watched a few episodes of the show as training so that he could pretend he watched it as well. Everything for the mission. Everything for the Old Gods. This one had been set up for him with a passcode that had been drilled into him before he took the mission. He keyed in the code, arranged for a car to pick him up and drive him to the college. He had thirty minutes. He moved toward the back of the room and stepped into the bathroom. He showered and changed into the clothes that had been laid out for him. Underpants, covered by short pants, and a shirt that in most times and climates would have been called an undershirt. Solid colored at least. He slid the laptop into the backpack. Grabbed the wallet from the small pocket and moved it into the zippered pocket of his pants.


    He stepped out of the room, headed downstairs and dropped the keycard from his wallet into the bin outside the motel lobby. He waved to the clerk inside who waved back. The night clerk and the day clerk were different, and they had no way of knowing that he was not the same person who had checked in to the room late last night. After a few minutes, his car appeared and he made small talk with the driver. Inane talk about how it had been cheaper to fly in on a Tuesday even though the dorms opened on Wednesday and how excited he was to start college. When they arrived at the dorms, he''d had to present his ID to collect the keycard and they gave him directions to the suite where he would live alongside his marks. The girls who had stolen the Old God''s gifts would arrive shortly. If their intelligence was right, Violet Valentine and Elizabeth Lara had stolen the abilities to resist harm and to control the winds. He would keep his own gifts secret from them and the others of their world, while doing everything in his power to befriend them. Any information that he earned would go to his handler on the other side of the darkness between the worlds. This world promised a bountiful feast to the Old Gods. He and his people just had to prepare. When the time came, he and his compatriots would open the doors.

 2. The Ravens Gift

    Revna held a small section of Reidun¡¯s long hair as dark as the feathers on their raven mechanicals, then gently worked the boars¡¯ hair brush through the knots at the bottom. She sighed. Her little sister could brush her own hair now, but that didn¡¯t mean she was any good at it.


    ¡°What are you going to do with this rat¡¯s nest of hair when I¡¯m gone?¡± Revna asked, trying to keep her tone light and teasing. She couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that she shouldn¡¯t leave her sister, no matter what Alvis had told them about her being needed on this mission.


    ¡°Same as you. Brush and braid it myself.¡± Despite her tiny frame, Reidun sounded so sure of herself and so grown up. She didn¡¯t sound like someone whose big sister was going to step through a portal to another world to possibly never be seen again.


    Revna sighed, as she worked the brush through another section of snarled up hair.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how your hair makes these knots. You need someone to brush it for you. Who will make you breakfast, little bird?¡±


    Reidun shrugged at the nickname. ¡°I¡¯ll make my own breakfast. You weren¡¯t much older than me when you started brushing both our hair, when you started making our breakfast.¡± She left unsaid that that was when Mama had died. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ll have Thought with me, just as you¡¯ll have Memory. They can communicate across the gap. You can still boss me around through the birds.¡±


    The ravens were too quiet, and it was too late for them to be asleep. Revna had left the windows shut, so that meant they¡¯d be getting into trouble somewhere in the cottage.


    ¡°Rev¡­¡± Reidun trailed off, her voice an echo of what it had been when Mama died.


    And suddenly, Revna saw it. The seams of her sister¡¯s brave act. She was being tough, the same as Revna had done when Mama died. But she was falling apart, terrified of what it would be to be alone without her big sister there to take care of her.


    ¡°Rei-rei.¡± Revna set the brush down, the worst of the knots worked out, and rested a hand on her sister¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I love you. I¡¯ll do my best¡­I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m not going to go like Mama. I wish¡­I wish I could stay. But Alvis saw¡­¡± She trailed off because she didn¡¯t know actually what Alvis had seen. Just that he had had a vision of the future and that Revna was in it¡ªcrucial to whatever mission they were being sent to take care of on Midgaard.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°I know.¡± Reidun sighed. ¡°And I¡¯ll be okay, better than okay. The money from Mama... it will go farther with one mouth to feed, and they¡¯ll be giving me your money, too. For you being gone on a mission. I¡¯ll be okay.¡±


    A horrible tapping began at the door, like a bird pecking. Revna started. Were the ravens trying to get out? She turned to look across the tiny cottage to the door. And noticed for the first time the string¡ªpart some kind of gadget the birds had used to escape the cottage over the night. The clockwork ravens couldn¡¯t just sit calm and avoid causing trouble. She supposed they took after her famous ancestors that way, both Odin, who they¡¯d been meant to serve, and Loki.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what the birds brought us.¡± Reidun stood and gathered her hair over her shoulder, her fingers sticking in the tangles as she tugged the hair out of the knots, separating it as she worked her way towards the crown of her head.


    Revna sighed. ¡°You really won¡¯t let me braid your hair one last time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the last time. It¡¯s the last time for now.¡± The girl bounded to the door. ¡°What gifts did the birds bring us?¡±


    Revna stood, the keys hanging from her belt jingled. Outside, the ravens squawked and pecked harder. The fool birds had snuck out, but hadn¡¯t thought to leave themselves a way in.


    She opened the cottage door to find the two huge ravens. Thought held a shiny coin and his beak, and Memory had an intricate chain hanging from hers.


    Reina held out her hand to the ravens, who dropped their gifts. The coin fell smack into her palm, nothing special, but the chain slid over her fingers until a pendant settled into her palm with unsettling ease. The pendant felt warm and took the shape of Mjolnir, Thor¡¯s hammer. Reina sucked a breath in through her teeth.


    ¡°What?¡± asked Reidun.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a copy.¡± Revna closed her hand around the pendant. Erik was supposed to use Mjolnir to open a portal to Midgard later this morning. She was supposed to meet him at the under ground sea several hours from now. But why would the ravens have stolen it from him? How could they have stolen it? Stories said Thor had once accused her famous ancestor of stealing Mjolnir while he slept, and forced Loki to adventure to retrieve the hammer. Now her ravens had done the same to his descendant. She had to return this before she was accused of theft, or worse. They would accuse her of cowardice, trying to stop the mission Alvis¡¯s vision said would put the jotun on their knees.

 3. The Embarcadero

    The BART station stank like pee. Violet thought going upstairs and getting outside would help, but the second they stepped outside, the smell of rotten seaweed and hit Violet right in the face. This time, Liz was prepared and a breeze the scent of urine and rotten seaweed away from the knot freshmen. At least Liz didn''t want to deal with the stench either.


    All eight freshmen lived in the same suite in the dorms. Two rooms branched off either side of their shared living room, the boys on one side  and the girls on the other. So far as Vi knew, only she and Liz were supers. They''d trained at Preston Castle together, and the Super Commission had helped them choose a college and a path towards their future. No one else on campus, or in town, was supposed to know that htey were licensed supers. They were just two friends who had requested to room together. True enough, even if they hadn''t gone to the same high school. The hours at Preston Castle had forged a friendship, and getting their provisional super licenses had meant a lot.


    "Smells better outside this time," Nina said, tossing her shiny red hair over her shoulder. She was the one who had insisted that they go down to the Embarcadero and check out all the tourist sites.


    "Of course it does, it can''t smell like that all the time." Liz winked at Violet. "And if it does, we''ll just get used to it. You know, like people who live on a dairy or live in a hoarder house. They don''t smell it anymore, right?"


    Seriously, how had no one warned them of the stench before they had signed up to go to college here? She would have picked someplace else for sure. Vi nodded and hung back from the group. She tried to fit in. She really did. She just wasn''t like Liz who could go with the flow and was as flexible as the wind she could control.


    "Think we''ll see any supers? I hear SF has a lot," Josh said. He was from somewhere in the midwest, Kansas, maybe, and supers weren''t as common out there as they were in California. Almost all the supers out there had moved from the West Coast after the EastTech launch and the eldritch invasion that had given Vi her own powers.


    "How do you know you''re not seeing a super right now," Liz asked, turning backward and meeting Josh eyes, her tone light and flirty. "Some of us are from California, right in the flight path of the EastTech launch." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Vi almost choked on her boba tea. She''d been just a litlte kid when the weird thing had flown through the sky and then Sklowdoska had claimed credit for launching a space craft, the EastTech founder hadn''t admitted that it had radioactive material¨Csomething from her homeworld that had caused those exposed to it to get a superpower related to what they wanted in that moment. She hadn''t been one of the fortunate or unfortunate ones to get a super power in that first rush of heroes.


    Josh stopped walking and studied Liz. She breeze she''d summoned brushed the blond hair out of her green eyes. Vi frowned. Her roomie shouldn''t be playing like this. They were supposed to keep their identities secret. Finally, he said, "If you were a super,  you''d be getting paid a nice salary by EastTech and you wouldn''t be living in the freshman dorms. You''d have some fancy apartment off campus."


    "Is that so?" Liz pushed him on his shoulder and sauntered down the sidewalk away from the BART station.


    "I don''t want to see any supers," Maddision said. She was in the other girl''s bedroom in the suite. "They don''t come out just for fun. They''re always stopping crime, looking into portals into the Eldritch, and that sort of thing." She shuddered. "If we see a super, we could get hurt."


    "Oh come on," said a dark-haired guy with thick coke-bottle glasses. Ricky maybe? "I heard that sometimes Dragon Girl and the Dredgetown Speedster do autograph sessions. The Embarcadero is the perfect place for that."


    "That doesn''t happen so often," Vi said. Or like at all. She''d never seen an autograph session and she''d only met Dragon Girl when the famous super had saved her as a kid. Both supers Ricky mentioned had pretty much retired after the Eldritch attack. If not retired, then definitely secluded themselves away from other supers.


    Whatever. Vi fell back behind the rest of the group as they wove their way between brick fronted buildings, up and down the hills of San Fransisco. She didn''t want to talk about supers.


    Jenny, a cute girl with curly brown hair fell into step beside her. "What''s wrong?"


    Vi touched her earpiece, knowing it would look like she was pausing a podcast or music. Inside though, she was dreading hearing Minerva, her AI''s voice in her ear,  and having to ditch the group so that those supers the boys wanted to see would show up¨Cthose supers being Vi an dLiz of course. They were assigned as provisional supers to monitor SF and, if needed for backup, New Eastopolis. "I guess I''m with Maddy. I don''t want for any supers to show up while we''re out today."


    On the Embarcadero, they found a wax museum that some of them wanted to go into. The wax figures though, weirded her out and made her think of dead bodies, the way that her mother and sister''s corpses had stared off into nothingness after their apartment had collapsed. Why she was the lucky one who had survived and gotten the power to be indestructible, she didn''t know.

 4. Returning Mjolnir

    After braiding Reidun''s hair for the last time in who knew how long, Revna left her little sister with a kiss and set out to return Mjolnir to Eric Thorsson before he accused her of stealing it. She stuffed the chain and pendant sized artifact into a small bag strung from her belt alongside her keys. Ancestors, she had planned to spend her last morning home sharing stories with her little sister to let the girl know how much she was loved, not traipsing through the tunnels across Nidavellir to the expensive homes where Thorsson lived. Reidun would set out to school half-past first bell.


    Memory dug her talons into the leather strap slung over Revna''s good shoulder, and the girl carried a lantern full of glow-moss in one hand because, even in the morning, Nidavellir was dark. Shafts ran up through the caverns to the surface, where there was supposedly a sky. Ocasionally, bits of light filtered through, but never enough that Revna could see patches of blue or stars. Even in the main cavern where the town was, the sky¨Cthe patches of it that they could almost see, ranged from black to dark purple, and they never saw a sparkle of the promised stars. Revna''s mother had told the girls stories of how they had adventured across worlds to protect them from the Jotun, before the time when she didn''t come back. In her stories, Mama always talked aboiut yellow-white suns, nearly as big has her fist, set like jewels in light blue skies with white, fluffy clouds. Maybe Revna would see something like that in Midgard. Maybe she would see something other than cave walls with chimneys struck through.


    The tunnel narrowed, and Memory hopped down just before Revna''s bad shoulder brushed the wall of the damp, narrow tunnel. She winced at the pain, but refused to slow to rub it or attempt to dry her cloak. Instead, with the raven moving behind her, Revna crawled on her hands and knees through the extra narrow space. She was nearly halfway there, she could hear the hammers ringing through the twilight darkness. While not all dwarves were smiths, most practiced some craft that they trusted the Aesir and Vanir to sell throughout the worlds. The rich ones who lived in the huge, glowing homes, not Revna''s family of course. Revna and her family would never be trusted with such powerful artifacts, and the only reason they had gleaned Thought and Memory over the centuries was because their dead owners had gifted them to her ancestors. That, and ravens were mischievious carrion birds, so of course they gravitated towards descendants of Hel and her father Loki.


    The dwarves'' eyes were meant for the darkness, and they could see for miles. To them, this world was bright enough and cheery. Though Revna knew nothing else, she longed for the jewel-like sun Mama had promised her. The sun so bright, that to look on it was to risk blindness.


    In the main cavern where most of the dwarves lived, they set about their business. Short, bearded dwarves, both men and women, gathered glow moss and mushrooms from buildings carved into hollow stalagmites or built from stone carved from the earth. Unlike the rest of the intellgient races, the dwarves needed little but the mushrooms growing on their homes to survive. Still, a long line always formed outside the duck keeper''s home to buy eggs because the dwarves loved the taste of delicacies from other worlds. If only Revna could buy a couple eggs for her sister. Maybe the pay Reidun would receive while Revna was on this missionw would be enough to keep Reidun fed while she was gone. The money from their mother''s death hadn''t really been enough to keep them well fed. The dwarves thoguht they should just eat the mushrooms that grew everywehere, but that hadn''t been enough. Not for growing girls.


    As she passed, the dwarves stopped what they were doing to watch her. She turned her eyes from the line at the duck keeper''s cottage and toward the houses on the hill. But she didn''t miss the dwarves crooking their fingers and waving them through the air, warding against her. Warding against her ability to trespass against death.


    Revna was tempted to do something to scare them. But this wasn''t the time. Besides, it wasn''t like she liked raising the dead, or had even done it outside of practice with her Mama. She''d only practiced with rats, except for the one time. And now she did wrap the chain of Mjolnir around her wrist and reach back to rub the ache in her shoulder. She couldn''t ignore it when she thought of the dead. At least Reidun''s gifts seemed to lie elsewhere, in hearing the dead''s words. In reaching through to the other side. Perhaps she favored her unknown father, but at least Reidun wouldn''t die as Mama had, as Revna was doomed to, with the rot slowly spreading through her body the more she used her power.


    The school house would be full of dwarven children and the handful of Aesir who didn''t have private tutors. Reidun would attend in the afternoon, after gathering mushrooms. The dwarven schoolmaster said she was a good student. Of course, he didn''t know that Reidun could listen to the answers from the dead. Her talents lay in other paths than her sister''s,and that was a good thing. She''d never suffer the way Mama had or the way that Revna would.


    At the far end of the main cavern, Revna chose the tunnel that would lead off to the wealthy Aesir''s houses. THey didn''t live in tiny cottages--barely more than shacks, that No,


    Revna could almost imagine a bejeweled sun, as she looked past the town to the glowing squares on the hill. The wealthy had windows on their homes, that looked down into the darkness of the town. Their brightly lit homes hurt their servants'' eyes, but the dwarves who served them wore darkened glasses to protect their eyes and spoke of the treasures in their homes. And here, Revna clutched Mjolnir, one of the most precious treasures that, somehow, the Raven lazily following her had stolen.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    The tunnel she was in, wide already, widened and the comfortable warmth of the Aesir cavern forced her to remove her heavy cloak. The luxurious homes had been built close to the gush of a geyser. The boiling water would never reach their luxurious homes, but the heat from the water warmed their whole area. The dwarves didn''t like it, but the heat warmed her, starting with her feet and relieved the ache in her shoulder. Revna couldn''t imagine living in the warm open space. In this area, stalactites and stalagmites had connected, forming a sort of forest. Or what Revna imagined would be a forest.


    Still, her stomach clenched as she moved closer to Erik''s home. She swallowed her fear of the mission, perhaps Alvis would be have seen that she was coming and would meet her to help her to explain why she was returning Mjolnir hours before their mission. Perhaps Alvis would protector her from Erik''s taunts. What kind of Aesir was she that she wouldn''t use her power except in the most dire need. Erik who needed Mjolnir to open the portal to Midgard and even make this mission possible. Of course, there were other tools that could open portals, and even Thought and Memory could broach the World Tree''s so that they could speak across different worlds, but Mjolnir was the one that had been in Erik''s family since the time of their Illustrious Ancestors.


    The mansions stood at the bottom of the warm cavern, and the light shining from their massive windows made Revna imagine she could see the light of the sun, filtering through. Of course, it was just their lights shining through the strange glass bulbs the dwarves had invented.


    Sweating, cloak thrown over her bad shoulder, Revna stopped outside the door of the Thorsson''s mansion, and tidied her hair. Her hand hesitated at the door, but before she could find the words that she would say, Memory hopped off her shoulder and tapped hard on the heavy door.


    A dwarven woman opened the door, the light glowing so brighlty behind her that Revna had to blink a few times for her eyes to have a chance to adjust. Even though Revna was far taller than the woman, she somehow managed to look down her nose at Revna as she stepped outside and shut the door. When the door was shut, the servant raised the darkened goggles that protected her eyes from the bright light inside the home.


    The servant somehow managed to look down her nose at the far taller Revna as she asked, "What do you want?"


    On Revna''s shoulder, Memory cawed in outrage.


    "Hush," Revna whispered to the raven. She patted the purse at her belt. "The raven took something that belongs to Erik. I came to return it."


    "The young master is leaving on an important mission today, he doesn''t need to be distracted by the likes of you."


    Revna fought the urge to roll her eyes. "He needs this. Besides, Alvis saw that without me, that mission will fail." Revna tried not to think of the implications there. Did that mean someone crucial was going to die and she''d have to resurrect them? How far would the rot spread if she were forced to use her power? And what would she do if it were someone like Erik who she had to raise


    The servant sighed and settled the dark goggles over her eyes.


    "Are you going to let me return his belongings or are you going to delay that same important mission?"


    The servant opened the door. "I''ll take you to the young Master. He is much aggrieved this morning."


    Just what she needed. Erik already disdained her. because she refused to use her powers, which put her at the bottom of the Aesir. That with Loki''s betrayal of the Aesir centuries ago and how that had lead to them being all but stuck on Nidavellir.


    Revna set her glow lantern down beside the door.


    "The bird stays outside. Can''t have him stealing anything else."


    Revna bit her tongue, wanting to correct hte dwarf. Memory was the female of the pair ¡ª well, neither Thought nor Memory were truly alive, more clockwork than anything, but they were still counted brother and sister with Memory the sister.


    "Of course." Memory dug her talons deeper into the leather guard on Revna''s shoulder. "Hush, I''ll be out in minutes."


    The bird squawked, then hopped off her shoulder and flapped up to an outcrop of the home. Light shown out the building, technically.


    Revna had seen the Thorsson home from the outside, but she hadn''t been prepared for oppulance retrieved from a dozen worlds. As the descendants of Baldr, Thor, and Odin''s gavored children, the Thorsson''s enjoyed the benefits of generations of power, prestige, and travel among the worlds.


    The servant knocked on the door to Erik''s room.


    Something banged against the door. "What do you want?"


    "Miss Revna is here to deliver something to you that her raven took," the servant called through the door.


    Throat dry, Revna swallowed hard. Just what she needed. She patted the purse on her belt. It held all of her money, money that she would need to buy one last gift for Reidun before she left. And the Mjolnir.


    "Give me a minute." The sound of clothes rustling and then the door opened to reveal Erik in a thin dressing gown. Their home was so warm, it was only for modesty, though it scarcely served that purpose. His muscular shoulders strained the material and it hung loose over his partially tightened breaches. His room though, had been torn asunder, clearly he was looking for Mjolnir, even if he wouldn''t admit he had lost it.


    "What? What could your dumb bird have taken?"


    Revna''s eyes slid to the maid who stood in the hall next to her. She shrugged. If he wanted to play this game, she would play it as well.


    "Memory is anything but dumb. She has centuries of experience." Revna turned her gaze to the mess in his room. "I don''t think she was mistaken in thinking that this was the real artifact." Revna untied the purse from her belt and loosed the drawstring. The silver chain caressed her fingers and the hammer practically sung in her mind. She swallowed, wanting to slip the necklace over her head and claim the hammer for herself. "She must have remembered how important this is to your family."


    "How dare you dirty Mjolnir with your touch!" He snatched the hammer from her open palm and she could almost feel the hammer''s sorrow at returning to the bully.


    How dare she indeed. Return what her raven had taken.


    "You, who scarecely have any power, whose power corrupts when you do use it¨C"


    "I did not plan on traipsing across Nidavellir to bring you Mjolnir when you were too careless to keep him safe."


    "You probably sent your bird to steal him yourself."


    "If you''d been more careful with your belongings, Memory would never have brought Mjolnir to me." Revna turned on her heel and stalked out before Erik could hurl abuse at her.

 UPDATES

    Hi folks.


    I know I could have posted this update on my phone, but I didn''t. And I know this probably belongs in the author note section...


    We experienced a major house fire on 11/30/24 (the day after my last chapter).


    We stayed with my sister-in-law and her family for just over two weeks while we scrambled to find a rental, and moved into a rental two weeks ago. We''re looking at 8-10 months if everything goes smoothly before our house is livable again. When we move back in it will be entirely redone. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    My laptop was ash. Our kitty did not make it. I got a new laptop for Christmas and have only journaled since, though this morning is about updates and posting, and hopefully I''ll get back to drafting my new book soon and editing existing rough drafts after that.


    I still have goals for 2025 and am working on getting back into the writing, just this last month has been pretty rocky. Writing rough drafts is part of my self care. There will be new words. I''m just not sure how soon.


    Our community and family have been super helpful in helping us replace literally everything. So, I am very grateful there. It is still a transition for me, Mr. Woodburn, and the kiddos.


    May your 2025 be safe and full of joy!


    ~ Mel

 Ch.5 - Carnival Mysteries You Cant Believe

    After unpacking their belongings into the dorms, he¡¯d gotten the others to go explore the city. The pull of all this life around him left him breathless. He¡¯d have to harden himself to the surging sensation of the world.


    He watched Liz pull out her phone to pay for Carnival Mysteries You Can¡¯t Believe, as the freshmen pushed inside eager for a bit of distraction. The air she¡¯d been summoning to keep the stench of the city at bay fell away with a wave of her finger as she tugged her phone out of its spot in her purse. The lobby was cool, reminding the young Jotun of home. His real home, not this city or the place he¡¯d supposedly come from, where the real Josh was going to a community college and working to help support his family. This Josh looked like him. And while these mortals thought of identity theft, they had no idea the extent to which he could steal their identity.  Josh had never seen San Francisco, but he¡¯d also never seen Wichita or wherever he was supposed to have flown in from. But that didn¡¯t matter, the real Joshua James was going to school somewhere in the Midwest and had no idea that this Josh was even here. His handlers had done their research.


    Josh smiled as he watched her. He enjoyed the banter and the flirting with the super who controlled the winds. She would work well for him to find out more about the Super Commission¡¯s plans.


    <hr>


    Violet was moving past a fake mermaid made of a duckbill platypus and papier mach¨¦ when her AI chimed in her earbud. She stifled a groan and fell further from the group.


    ¡°What is it Minerva?¡± she cupped her hand to her ear. The others would think she¡¯d gotten a call, but they couldn¡¯t hear what the AI said either.


    ¡°Portal activity has been detected at your location. I will highlight the location on your goggles once you are in uniform.¡± Next to a picture of a bearded woman, Liz¡¯s eyes narrowed, and Violet knew her AI was giving her the same message. Chances were it was just a new super with portal abilities making a tiny portal. Since the event two years ago, those were super common.Then again, the Eldritch wanted in, but when they bored through, it took time. So, wherever this portal event was, chances were it was too small for anything truly dangerous to come through. Though, the Eldritch were one of the few things that could hurt Vi.


    ¡°An Agent Mann has already been dispatched with anti-Eldritch weapons and will be arriving shortly,¡± Minerva said. ¡°Be prepared to contain.¡±


    Violet groaned. She hated working with the weird robot men.


    Josh grabbed Liz¡¯s arm. That¡¯s what her friend got for being so noticeable and flirting so much. A nice guy worried about why she looked worried and what the phone call meant. Violet, on the other hand, could nip away quietly.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Anna asked her.


    Or not, she thought.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Violet said. ¡°I just need to go¨C¡±


    ¡°You just got a phone call and now you need to take off? Is everything okay?¡±


    ¡°I, um... It was an alert from my phone, not a call. My blood sugar¡¯s low and I have to go get a snack,¡± Violet lied. She hated lying, especially about her diabetes this way, but it was the first excuse that popped into her head.


    Some people¡¯s powers had no repercussions, others caused weird food cravings, and hers had caused her to stop producing insulin, or maybe that was the stress of everything that had happened. No one knew exactly how the powers worked, though everyone agreed powers were related to what you most wanted when the Eldritch were near you.


    Her apartment building collapsing in the attack had definitely left her wishing she wouldn¡¯t get hurt. Whatever that had to do with food, who knew? If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Usually, I bring something with me, but I didn¡¯t bring my bag.¡±


    ¡°What about insulin? Don¡¯t you need that too?¡±


    Violet tapped her pocket where her insulin pump sat. ¡°I have a pump. Usually, it keeps everything stable... I¡¯ll be fine. Why don¡¯t you go take some pictures with...¡± Violet looked around the room for something, and pointed towards a red bench with a statue of a woman whose neck was two feet long on it. ¡°The stretched neck woman.¡±


    Anna laughed. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, and I¡¯ll meet up with all of you later, okay? I¡¯ve got my phone.¡±


    Anna shrugged, but Violet could feel Anna¡¯s eyes on her back as she hurried back towards the entrance. Liz met her around the corner, shaking her head.


    ¡°That guy¨C¡±


    ¡°Likes you,¡± Violet said, looking for somewhere, anywhere, that felt private where they could change into their super suits without drawing anyone¡¯s attention. While supers were sanctioned by the government and licensed, most supers had learned it was best to keep your powers secret otherwise, people wanted constant demonstrations and demanded things of you. The Commission in its wisdom kept supers¡¯ identities secret by default.


    ¡°He¡¯s cute, I guess.¡± Liz rolled her eyes as they ducked into a public bathroom.


    ¡°And what? What¡¯s so wrong with a guy that likes you?¡±


    ¡°Have you seen his stupid thumb print tattoo? It takes up his whole tricep! Seriously, who is that dumb?¡±


    ¡°I do wonder...¡± Violet stepped into a stall. The ground here was gross and damp. And no, she didn¡¯t like the stupid thumb print tattoo, though she wasn¡¯t into guys. ¡°Is it his thumb print or just a random one generated to look cool? And should you keep your thumb print on your arm like that? Like what if someone wants to copy it to make it look like you did some crime or something?¡±


    Her clothes swarmed over her, becoming her super suit, turning from the comfortable shorts and t-shirt she¡¯d been wearing into a skin tight mesh that protected her identity and her already indestructible body. When she¡¯d applied for her super name ¨C Indestructigirl ¨C she¡¯d chosen purple to match her name. Patterns adorned the whole suit, and over her chest sat the Super Commission logo and her super name was emblazoned across her back. Her insulin pump, of course, was secure in the same spot it had been, though somehow the nanites hid the bulge. Her hair blew free, but had turned a brilliant violet. Something about the hairless look with no face weirded people out. The commission had done studies. So, most new super-suits coated their supers¡¯ hair to match their costumes and gave the appearance of goggles over their eyes so that they didn¡¯t hit that uncanny valley and freak people out. Her phone had moved from her pocket to press against her lower back. While she couldn¡¯t get to it, Minerva could respond to any texts or anything for her.


    When she stepped out of the stall, she saw Liz at the mirror. The nanites of Liz¡¯s supersuit had transformed into a sleek, teal creature with dark blue hair. They emerged from the bathroom, and people stopped to stare. Where no one had noticed them going in, now everyone stared at them emerging.


    ¡°Indestructigirl and Storm Rider?¡± a woman said loudly. ¡°We got some new supers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m giving you the coordinates for the portal now,¡± Minerva said in her ear. Her goggles showed a map in the top left of her vision. Of course, the portal was out over the water.


    The wind around the two of them picked up, making the brilliantly colored hair whip around them.


    ¡°You better not drop me again,¡± Violet said. ¡°I¡¯m not the best swimmer.¡±


    ¡°That was an accident. I¡¯ve been practicing,¡± Liz said as the wind picked up. ¡°Besides, your suit has emergency flotation devices.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll blow up like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka? In my suit, I¡¯ll look like a giant blueberry.¡± Violet¡¯s feet lifted off the ground.


    Liz didn¡¯t say anything, as she concentrated on bringing the wind underneath them, lifting them both into the air in a mini-tornado. She had to focus to keep them high enough off the ground and away from the other people so that no one else was in their path. Normies weren¡¯t supers and didn¡¯t have any protection against any debris that they might drop.


    ¡°Bouncing was not fun,¡± Violet shouted over the mini tornado.


    ¡°That was an accident. I already apologized.¡± They rose above the buildings near the docks. At least they were on the Embarcadero and not downtown where the skyscrapers were. Or as high of skyscrapers as were around in San Francisco.


    The wind whipped around them as they moved toward the portal activity. Violet¡¯s stomach clenched. Not at the thought of falling, but at what they would do if there were Eldritch coming through the portal. Neither of their powers could do much against the creatures. Liz could send more tornadoes and storms at them and disrupt their flight and keep them away from the city. Violet could punch and tackle them, but not much else. And they were one of the few things powerful enough to hurt her. That Agent Mann better get there soon with the anti-eldritch devices. She really hoped it was just a new portal super, but what were they doing out over the water?