《The Child of Ragnarok》 The World Serpent fell from the sky! Chapter 1 The World Serpent fell from the sky!
The most unexpected event just took place! A Giant Snake fell from the skies and landed on the seas of Midgard! Its impact caused great destruction on the nearest coast side villages. There were a lot of prayers from the humans. Calling for assistance and to save them from this monster. The Aesir, the gods of Asgard, did not answer the call. The Snake was furious for some unknown reason. In its rage he completely annihilated the lands and every mortal construction. The Aesir gods were in a debate on how to deal with this Giant. As always, Thor, with joy, volunteered to slay the beast. But this time he was ordered not to act rashly from Odin himself! Instead Odin sent Mimir, the ambassador of the Gods, to investigate the event and the one who caused this abnormal catastrophe. Mimir traveled to Midgard through the Bifrost, and decided to approach the great Serpent, as it appeared to have calmed down. He tried to speak with it in the common tongue, but he took no response from the Snake. Instead it answered him in a language more ancient even from the Mountains! None are left who speak it, except of course for the smartest man alive, Mimir! As soon as he realized the tongue the Snake was speaking; he started talking with it! Asking it questions, with the Snake being surprised to find someone who speaks his tongue. ¡°Who are you?¡± Asked Mimir ¡°I am Jormungandr, or you might have heard me from the name those mortals gave me, the World Serpent¡­ I recognize you¡­ You must be Mimir¡­¡± ¡°You are precisely correct! I am Mimir, the smartest man alive! The greatest ambassador of the gods and all the creatures of the Nine Realms! I know every corner of these lands, every language spoken, every deal struck, every war waged! And you, my enormous fellow, you are a complete mystery to me!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know who I am¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should be flattered or disappointed.¡± ¡°You should be disappointed! After all, the fact that I don¡¯t know who you are, makes you insignificant, my big snake.¡± ¡°Look at me¡­ Do I look insignificant to you? I am Jormungandr, the World Serpent! I am the one who killed Thor in Ragnarok.¡± ¡°You killed Thor? Man, I should have realized, I am talking to an illusional dopper¡­ Thor is very much alive and what is this Ragnarok that you''re talking about?¡± ¡°You sure are Mimir? The smartest man alive? The man who knows every corner of Midgard, every language spoken, every war waged, every deal struck? And still you have never heard of Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods?¡± ¡°Yes, yes I am, but I have never heard neither of you nor that Ragnarok¡± ¡°How is this possible¡­ It is not! Right there I was, battling the Aesir, side by side with my family¡­ I remember¡­ I was against Thor¡­ I know I killed him! I spit him my venom EItr¡­ And then¡­ And then he struck his hammer on me¡­ And then I ended up here! That¡¯s it!!!¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°In my battle with Thor in our last moments I spit at Thor my deadly poison and then he tried to strike his hammer into my head, but I dodged, concluding he hit the ground. His impact must have been so huge, it harmed the World Tree Yggdrasil, because at the moment of the impact a hole was created, wrapping me in it... and out of nowhere I appear here in this timeline.¡± ¡°Do you expect me to believe you?¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Mimir, you have heard, as you so proclaim, every part of the history, every story ever told and still you don¡¯t know me or how I appeared in this land. My size is circling all Midgard and people claim that I just appear out of nowhere. Don¡¯t you think this is odd?¡± ¡°You got me there, to be honest. Your appearance still remains a mystery to me¡­ and to everyone here¡­¡± ¡°Let me tell you my part of the story¡­ Maybe you could figure out a way so I could return home¡­¡± ¡°Return home? You claim you got sent back in time! How am I supposed to craft a time machine in order for you to return? That is ridiculous to hear, even from me believe me. For I have heard unspeakable requests¡­ especially from Odin.¡± ¡°What do you have to lose? I offer you knowledge of events from another time. I will help you, to help me!¡± ¡°Fine, I will hear your story. The more knowledge I have, the better. But, let me return to Asgard to give a report on the All-father and I will return the soonest.¡± ¡°Fine by me, after all, you know where to find me.¡± Mimir is Odin¡¯s advisor and the ambassador of the Aesir gods. As a matter of fact, he gained his greatest title, God of Wisdom and knowledge during the great War between the Aesir and the Vanir gods. In addition, he was known as Robin Goodfellow, he is very kind and in fond of peace. He always tries to prevent War, because he likes the calmness of the world and every Realm. Even though he mostly thinks a little too high for himself he was rarely wrong in his judgment. The appearance of Jormungandr would definitely disrupt that peace. He knows Thor would jump to fight Jormungandr not only to test his strength, but because he loves killing Giants. * When he arrived in Asgard after using the Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, he walked with quick steps toward the great hall of Valhalla. Odin spends most of his time in this great hall, mostly because it was the place where he celebrated all his victories. A place that gives him joy and calms his mind whenever he is having problems. Tons of poems have been written for the famous Valhalla, All-father¡¯s favorite hall. With a roof made of gold-bright shields and iron spears for its rafters. Hundreds of seats, made of silver breastplates, surround the main gate and eagles fly above it. There, he waited for Mimir to show up and inform him about the giant-snake that appeared out of nowhere in Midgard leaving every living creature terrified from its monstrous look. Should the Allfather worry about its presents? The question that he waited for Mimir to answer. Mimir, being nervous and troubled from the information he got from the snake-giant, was in a hurry to visit Odin, so he could get the approval of the All-Father to start his research peacefully, without the Aesir Intervening and especially, Thor, rushing to attack the Giant Snake. He reached outside the gate of Valhalla, where he stopped. The wolves jumped in front of him, gave him a look with their emerald eyes and after they recognized his familiar scent. They let him pass into the Hall. Mimir with his peasant hands gave a strong push to the enormous door, echoing its movement in all the vast hall. Odin hearing that, he suspected Mimir had arrived so he raised his head and waited for him to come towards him. As expected Mimir reached Odin''s sight, walked toward him and bowed. After that, he began to explain the situation to him. * ¡°With my conversation with the Serpent I concluded that It cannot be considered a threat to the gods yet. It was too friendly to me. But I am concerned about something called ¡®Ragnarok¡¯. The Giant Snake claims that It is from the future.¡± ¡°Do you believe It?¡± ¡°We both were there, when you and your brothers killed Ymir, the ancestor of all the giants and filled the void Ginnungagap with the great giants'' body parts. At that point we witnessed a sight of the world tree Yggdrasil¡± ¡°What are you implying?¡± ¡°There is so much we do not know about the nature of the Yggdrasil¡­¡± ¡°Your point?¡± ¡°My point is that we were there, at the beginning of everything and never encountered something like time-travel.¡± ¡°In other words, the serpent is lying? Maybe it is Loki''s doing.¡± ¡°Not necessarily, but I think it might be worth investigating.¡± ¡°I am not really sure about this Mimir¡­ The Snake is a Giant, a Jotunn! They are all a threat to us!¡± ¡°He offered me a narration of his world and experiences. If he is indeed from the future then we might come up with plans and ideas to change this future for the world''s greatest interest.¡± ¡°In our best interest! You speak wisely Mimir! Very well, I approve of your quest. Try to get as much information as you can, after all, this might be our opportunity to prepare for future wars.¡± ¡°If that''s so, I¡¯ll try my best¡­¡± ¡°AAAHHHHHH!!!¡± Mimir hasn¡¯t yet finished his sentence and an enormous scream interrupted him. The scream came from a very powerful person, A god maybe? Above all, the volume of the scream was so powerful that it was heard from every living creature in all the nine realms! Children of Loki Chapter 2 CHILDREN OF LOKI
Thor, Odin¡¯s son, huge he is, and red-bearded, and strong, by far the strongest of all the gods, entered the halls of Valhalla quite in a hurry looking for the All-father. His breath stinks of ale, and his beard were leftovers from the feast he was having before he entered the hall. ¡°Did you hear that scream? What could possibly be?¡± asked Thor to Mimir, because he was the wisest of all the living and dead creatures, he knows everything. ¡°It¡¯s Loki, and he is in the realm of the giants, Jotunheim.¡± Odin, curious and nervous about what could have happened to his sworn blood brother, gave order to Thor to prepare himself for a visit to Jotunheim. Thor wore his belt of strength, Meringjord, when he wears it, his might is increased and strength is doubled. Odin called his 8-legged steed, Sleipnir who was Loki¡¯s son and a gift from Loki himself to Odin. Sleipnir, a huge gray stallion, the fastest and the strongest horse that ever there had been or ever would be. A horse that could outrun the wind. Despite its magnificence Loki was ashamed of his son, because Loki was actually Sleipnir¡¯s mother! Sleipnir¡¯s mother was Loki and Sleipnir¡¯s father was Svadilfari, the stallion owned by the disguised and unnamed Mountain giant who built the walls of Asgard. * Sleipnir Origin This was in the early days, shortly after the treaty between the Aesir and the Vanir, when the gods were still making a home for themselves and Asgard was undefended when Thor left, to fight trolls and giants. Odin wanted something that could defend themselves from the giants and trolls. They could not always rely on Thor for Asgard''s defense. Odin wanted a wall, high enough to keep out frost giants. Thick enough that not even the strongest troll could better its way through. They knew that building such a wall could take them years or even eons. But it was something that needed to be done! The next day a newcomer arrived in Asgard claiming he could build the wall they desired in only 3 seasons but his price was the Sun, the Moon and Freya. Things that gods weren¡¯t willing to give away. Then Loki suggested a wager that if he built the wall in only one season and alone, he would get his price but if not then he would get nothing as a reward. A wager, gods agreed with Loki and took the deal; after all, how could a mere mortal build something in one season, that it would take years for the gods. It was a win-win situation for them and when the builder wouldn¡¯t finish his task the gods would get his work as the foundation of their work. When the builder heard the proposition, he agreed only if he could take the help of his great horse Svadilfari, something the gods allowed. Months passed and the thing that seemed impossible was going to happen! The builder was so close to finishing his work in time and all thanks to his indefatigable horse, which went every night to the mountains and brought twice the stones as its master, every morning. Two days before the season¡¯s end the gods realized that they were going to lose their wager and started blaming Loki for proposing this idea. If they were going to lose the Moon, the Sun and Freya his punishment would be death! Loki, ashamed and afraid, left that day. The last night of the season the builder prepared to bring from the mountain, the last granite blocks. But when he whistled for his horse, his horse did not come. Odd, he had never needed to whistle twice. He went looking for Svadilfari and he saw him, but he realized there were two horses there. The other horse was a female and was luring Svadilfari away from its master. The builder cursed and spat and waited for his horse to reappear. The shadows lengthened and Svadilfari did not return. The builder returned to his stone-boat and went alone to the mountain quarry. The next day he returned to Asgard with only half of the granite blocks that were needed for the wall to be finished. He did not finish his work in time, and lost the wager. He cursed the gods calling them cheaters. By that time Thor returned from his journey and killed him. The gods prepared a feast. Strangely, for it was most unlike him, Loki was not around to be praised for his part in luring away the horse Svadilfari. Nobody knew where he was. Loki stayed away for the best part of a year and when he showed up again, he was accompanied by a gray foal with eight legs! And it followed Loki wherever he went and nuzzled him and treated Loki as if he were its mother. Which, of course, was the case. This foal was named Sleipnir. Who later was offered as a gift to Odin as his steed. * In Jotunheim Thor traveled via the Bifrost and Odin came riding his 8-legged steed through the sky; they met on the same spot, outside the great hall of Angrboda. Mimir and Tyr also came some minutes later and they entered forcefully in the huge hall. What their eyes encountered was unspeakably horrifying. A snake so gigantic, so horrible and so poisonous, Nithhogg the dragon that was chewing away at the roots of the life tree Yggdrasil was nothing compared to it. Besides it, Loki had fallen to the ground, with absolute terror in his eyes, while right next to him Angrboda, the giant¡¯s mother was laughing out of joy. Odin gave a quick look to Mimir. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°So, the serpent was telling the truth, it is from the future. This is the snake that will kill Thor...¡± Without a time to waste, Odin took his spear Gungnir, it is said that Gungnir can penetrate anything and when you throw it, it will always find its mark. It was a fine weapon for Odin, because after all he had but one eye and sometimes his aim could be less than perfect. That weapon was a gift made by three sons of Ivaldi. Three Dwarfs that Loki persuaded to make three exceptional gifts for Odin, Thor and Frey, Freya¡¯s brother. Gungnir indeed cannot miss its mark, so the spear that Odin tossed was aimed directly to the snake¡¯s head! But something unbelievably unexpected happened. The spear missed! Odin¡¯s aim was on spot, that is true, but the spear changed direction at the last moment and ended up landing on the ground. Everyone seemed surprised, but Odin saw with his only eye that contained much wisdom and power, something that others could not notice, well everyone except Mimir of course. A squirrel with a smile on his face looked at Odin and then disappeared. Mimir whispered to Odin ¡°Ratatoskr¡­ The messenger of the Eagle and the Dragon¡­¡± ¡°The snake is not meant to die today¡­ What should we do? Mimir, give me your council.¡± ¡°Take the children to Asgard, why not raise them ourselves, this way they will be ours to control¡± ¡°You speak truly¡­¡± * The snake was terrified by what was happening and slithered quickly behind its mother. Despite the fact that he is a giant and was just born, it is already as big as her. In front of her a wolf pup was trying to protect its mother and its sibling. It was indeed a pup, but it was so brave and confident of its strength that it stood against the two most fearsome Aesir gods, Odin and Thor. The wolf pup was also a giant. Tyr, the god of war approached the wolf-giant and complimented it. ¡°You are so brave, protecting your family. What is your name?¡± asked the Aesir god, whose mother was also a giant. ¡°I am Fenris Wolf, the son of Loki and Angrboda!¡± ¡°That is a proud name. It fits you; I am sure you will accomplish many great things when you grow. You already are as big as me!¡± ¡°Thank you, sir!¡± said Fenris, shaking his tail. Odin approached one of the children, who was a little more distant in this whole situation. Odin ordered her to step forward. He stared at the girl; on the right side of her face her cheek was pink and white, her eye was the green of Loki¡¯s eyes, her lips were full and carmine. While, on the left side of her face the skin was blotched and striated, swollen in the bruises of death, her sightless eye rotten and pale, the lipless mouth wizened and stretched over skull-brown teeth. ¡°What do they call you, girl?¡± asked the All-father. ¡°They call me Hel¡± she said,¡±If it pleases you, All-father¡± ¡°You are a polite child,¡± said Odin. ¡°I¡¯ll give you that¡± Hel said nothing, only looked at him with her single green eye, sharp as an ice chip, and her pallid eye, dull and spoiled and dead. He saw no fear in her. ¡°Are you alive?¡± he asked the girl. ¡°Or are you a corpse?¡± ¡°I am only myself, Hel daughter of Angrboda and of Loki¡± she said. ¡°And I like the dead best of all. They are simple things, and they talk to me with respect. The living look at me with revulsion.¡± Odin contemplated the girl and smiled. He had plans for her. Mimir interrupted Odin¡¯s thoughts saying ¡°We don¡¯t have enough time. The Jotunn will come with questions on why we came here aggressively. We must make our move and leave. Take the children to Asgard.¡± As Odin was making his decision. Thor gave a good look at the serpent. When they arrived, the snake was at the size of its mother and trembled in fear. While now, some minutes later, the snake seemed to him as it was double his size! That was impossible! The snake then lost any sense of fear, it looked at Thor with his venomous eyes as it was provoking him for a fight. Thor got angry, he touched his belt of strength and doubled his power, he then took out his hammer Mjollnir and prepared for a toss that was not meant to miss the snake''s head! Odin stopped him. The All-father made his decision. ¡°Loki, you and your children will come to Asgard!¡± he said, Loki knew he was out of options and ordered his children to follow him. At the moment Angrdoba grabs Loki¡¯s hand and whispers to his ear. ¡°Follow me. I am a giant, you are the son of a giant, our children are giants, your place is with us. Don¡¯t tell me you are not proud of the devastating forces of your children¡±. This reminded Loki of how Freya had encouraged him to feel proud for his son Sleipnir. ¡°Follow me,¡± said Angrdoba one last time. But Loki with a sad look on his face said one thing. ¡°What should we call our son?¡±Angrboda, disappointed because she understood that Loki wouldn¡¯t follow her, but also happy and full of joy because she saw that Loki actually was feeling proud and cared about their children. She gave the snake a motherly look and said. ¡°Jormungandr!" The Fate of the Children Chapter 3 The Fate of the Children
Odin and the other gods return to Asgard from their mission, with two out of the three Loki''s Children. By the time they left Jotunheim, Jormungandr had grown so large and heavy that even Sleipnir couldn''t resist his weight! As a result Odin released the snake free into the great sea of Midgard, half way along their journey from Jotunheim back to Asgard. Mimir worried more than usual, an odd thing for such a wise man. He worried that in this timeline they are right now, two giant-snakes exist and they are the same person! One claimed to be from the future and the other that was meant to be born naturally. He asked Odin permission to visit the snake from the future. Odin ordered Mimir only to get the snake to reveal to him what is yet to come, so he would be prepared for everything, even from Ragnarok. Mimir set off to find the ¡®oldest¡¯ Jormungandr. A mission assigned from Odin * While Mimir was gone, Odin had the mission and the duty, to decide what to become of Loki¡¯s children. The All-father ordered Hel and Fenris-Wolf to step forward, as he was sitting on his throne and all the other gods were besides him. ¡°First of all, before I reveal my plans and thoughts for these two children, I want to hear if you have any proposition!¡± said the All-Father to the other gods. ¡°I think we should imprison them¡± said Balder, ¡°We do not know if they are as mischievous as their father, Loki¡± Freya answered with an aggressive tone to Balder, ¡°Judging someone from their relatives is wrong Balder! They are just children taken from their home. Not to mention that if they grow to be as smart as their father, they might be of great assistance for us. Loki surely got us into many problems but he also found solutions in many others!¡± Loki at the moment was silent, he didn¡¯t want to express his thoughts and opinion about his children since he wouldn¡¯t be objective, but he gave a quick look of gratitude at Freya. Then Thor stood up, breathed heavily and revealed his position in this matter. ¡°I personally have no interest in their fate! The only thing I want is to kill the beast that escaped and had the audacity to look me in the eyes like we are equals! Father, can you allow me this request?¡± Odin saw that no one had any interesting enough suggestion for the matter at hand and since he could never disallow Thor from killing a Giant, he stood up from his throne and revealed his final decision. ¡°Thor, you have my permission to hunt down that snake, but not today, first Mimir shall return from a mission I gave him. When he returns, you may leave...¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Thor took the approval of Odin for the mission, but he wasn¡¯t satisfied, because he wanted to leave as soon as possible. He wanted to slay the beast that dared to look him directly in his eyes provokingly. Odin continued his speech ¡°Now, for the rest of the children, this girl here is Hel '''', he pointed his finger towards the daughter of Loki and everyone gave a good look at her. Some felt disgust from her appearance, some felt curious and Freya felt pity. Hel was half dead and half alive, after all. Odin continued ¡°She claims that she can see the very presence of the dead! She is admired by the dead because she is the only being in this world that stands on the edge between life and death. While the living, look at her with revulsion, the dead talk to her with respect. I, Odin, the All-father will crown Hel, daughter of Loki, the Ruler of the realm of the Dead. The realm from now on will be called Helheim, the ninth of the nine worlds!¡± Hel, then smiled, for the first time after she was taken from her mother. The gods seemed surprised from Odin¡¯s decision, but they understood the logic behind Odin¡¯s thoughts. A living dead is the best possible Ruler for the dead. Only Loki saw behind Odin¡¯s ¡°kind¡± words, he understood the cruelty hiding in them¡­ He was about to manipulate his daughter into being his puppet to control the dead. Loki hated Odin ever since that¡­ Odin was going to continue his plans following the other child, but Tyr stepped forward and interrupted him. ¡°Excuse me for my rudeness to interrupt your speech oh great All-Father, but I want to express my thoughts about the possible future of Fenris-Wolf!¡± Odin didn¡¯t seem to mind his interruption, so he allowed Tyr to speak¡­ ¡°This wolf giant is indeed very terrifying. Even though he is still a cub he grew, in a small period of time, while we were traveling from Jotunheim to Asgard, thrice his size and now he is as big as we are. He has undescribed strength potential, but I do not believe he will grow as a threat of the gods, rather he will be of a great asset if raised properly.¡± Odin was satisfied from Tyr¡¯s sayings ¡°Tyr, you speak wisely but who is to take that responsibility and the mission to raise this beast?¡± Then the gods muttered to each other for some seconds. No one dared to even get close to Fenris-Wolf, he was terrifying even for the bravest of gods, except Tyr. He seemed very fond of the wolf-giant, he was the only one who fed him until now and the only one who played with him. Tyr raised his voice once again. ¡°Me!¡± Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to him. ¡°I, Tyr, the God of War, will take the responsibility to raise Fenris-Wolf¡± ¡°Why you?¡± asked Odin, even though he already knew what Tyr¡¯s answer would be. But he asked him so the other gods have no questions, objections and inner thoughts about this matter. ¡°As the god of war, I am the most capable of teaching Fenris the art of war, to fight only to defend himself as well as to negotiate and even to prevent wars and conflict. Not to use his strength for himself rather for the common good! I am the only one who can take on this mission¡± Tyr responded confidently. ¡°So be it,¡± said Odin, ¡°with that, our meeting is over.¡± That was the fate decided for the children of Loki, by the gods of Asgard. Hel traveled to Helheim as its ruler and Fenris-Wolf who was nicknamed from Tyr as Fenrir in short, followed Tyr to his great Hall. Tyr was filled with joy to start training Fenrir as soon as possible. Those things happen in Asgard, while Mimir was traveling to Midgard for his own mission. Mimirs Mission Chapter 4 Mimir''s Mission
Mimir went to see Jormungandr, from the future. He called the snake and the snake roused from the sea with his might. The waves he created then went on rampage and completely destroyed a Village that was located some hundred miles away. The Village had a tragic end with its people getting drowned; with no warning or anything at all. Mimir saw that, but he couldn¡¯t do anything. It wasn¡¯t like that the serpent had any intention to create this tragedy for those villagers. Jormungandr¡¯s voice was loud, so loud even small mountains and hills shiver. ¡°So, Mimir¡­ You came back¡­ How can I be at your service?¡± ¡°You did not mention in our first meeting that your father was Loki¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t? Oh, It must have slipped my mind. Nevertheless I am Jormungandr son of Loki and Angrboda!¡± ¡°I know, some days ago you were actually born in this timeline!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yes, I, Odin, Thor and Tyr went after we heard Loki scream at Jotunheim and saw you newborn.¡± ¡°My father¡­ screamed at my birth?¡± ¡°He seemed terrified of you, no offense.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Interesting¡­ Then, what did you do?¡± ¡°Odin decided to take you and your siblings in Asgard, but Jormungandr of this timeline escaped and fell into the great sea of Midgard. That is one of the reasons I came to visit you. To give you information and advise you to keep yourself hidden!¡± ¡°Why should I hide¡­?¡± ¡°Because, with your arrival from the future, we ended up having in this timeline two Jormungandr, two of you! This is something unbelievably weird. If you two end up meeting each other I don¡¯t know what might happen to the balance of Yggdrasil.¡± ¡°Ohh¡­¡± Suddenly a small animal ran up at the shoulder of Mimir with such speed he didn¡¯t realize where he came from. He was a squirrel, but no ordinary squirrel. A spiritual squirrel with no certain color fur, it had something like a transparent white color. It was Ratatoskr! The squirrel that climbs the world-tree Yggdrasil and travels between worlds to give messages from the Eagle Hraesvelgr that stands above the tree, and Nithhogg, the dragon that lays down the roots of It. Ratatoskr is their messenger. Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg constantly talk to each other via Ratatoskr because there is no other way. Even though the squirrel often used to tell lies to both of them and took joy in provoking anger. That was Ratatoskr, the squirrel who climbed up to Mimir''s shoulder. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Oh, Mimir, do not worry so much! Their possible meeting will disturb Yggdrasil sure, but not so much that will cause a critical problem. Nithhogg will probably be annoyed but it will be fun!¡± ¡°Ratatoskr?¡± What is ¡®tusk the traveler¡¯ doing here?¡± ¡°Well, I was going to Nithhogg to give him Hraesvelgr¡¯s words and I thought to stop by, helping you with your speculations. And now that I gave you the answer, your welcome and goodbye!¡± As the squirrel was about to leave, since he''s always at a hurry. Mimir remembered something. ¡°Wait!!! I wanted to ask you¡­ Why did you prevent Odin¡¯s Spear from hitting its target?¡± Mimir recalled what happened when Odin tried to hit the newborn snake with Gungnir, the spear that never misses. But before Mimir could finish his sentence. Ratatoskr had already left. Mimir, irritated and disappointed, since he did not get a response, turned to Jormungandr and advised him nonetheless. ¡°Meeting with yourself in this timeline will bring great problems, no matter what Ratatoskr said, I strongly believe you should not reveal yourself¡± ¡°And how do you suggest I can do that? In my time there were stories and rumors about my length¡­ It is said that I am able to surround all Midgard¡­ And I cannot prove the theories wrong since I never tried it. How can someone my size¡­ simply just hide?¡± Said Jormungandr, troubled. ¡°People soon enough will spread rumors about Jormungandr in this timeline, if you can keep your face underwater, under the great sea; people will think that parts of your body are the ones of this timeline¡¯s snake. Is this understandable enough?¡± answered Mimir, trying to explain his thoughts on Jormungandr. And he understood Mimir''s syllogism and agreed with the plan. Jormungandr wasn¡¯t seeking any troubles; He is a peaceful monster. Hiding from everyone in this timeline, was something he seriously considered also in the past, or rather in the future, of his timeline. Everyone misunderstood his monstrous appearance, Humans were feared by him and connected him to a sign of death, gods too were terrified of him, all except Thor of course who wanted to kill him, only because he would present it as an achievement. Even most of the Jotunn, his own kind, were keeping their distance from him. When he was trying to talk to them, no one understood his words because he speaks a very ancient tongue even for the giants. The only ones who were close to him were his siblings, his mother and some handful of other giants. Mimir is known for speaking all the tongues ever spoken. So, he was able to communicate with the Big snake. Mimir wanted to continue the conversation after concluding what should be done about the main issue they had with the existence of two Jormungandr in the same timeline. Because his mission was to acquire knowledge as well. ¡°I almost forgot one of the main reasons I came to visit you, Jormungandr¡­¡± Said Mimir ¡°Could you tell me your story?¡± Jormungandr seems curious about Mimir''s request. ¡°What do you¡­ mean?¡± ¡°I, Mimir, as the all-knowing and smartest man alive, never heard of your story. It¡¯s something that really intrigues me, to know you and the future world you came from and this Ragnarok you spoke about in our first meeting.¡± He made a short pause in his speech. ¡°I am someone who knows every event, every person of the past and present. I want to learn about the future as well!¡± Jormungandr¡¯s expression did not show any kind of emotion, but he was happy. It was the first time since he came into this World that someone seemed to care about his opinion and life. ¡°I will gladly tell you my story¡­ So, Let us begin with¡­ The start of Jormungandr鈥檚 tale Chapter 5 THE START OF JORMUNGANDR''S TALE
Somewhere in Midgard Mimir and Jormungandr, the World-Serpent had a very interesting conversation. Jormungandr was about to start narrating Mimir his life-story. The ''childhood'' he got to experience¡­ * ¡°When I was born, I remember the face of my mother, a face that openly revealed her emotions; she was proud and full of joy. Seeing her expression, I felt important, then I turned my gaze and saw my father. He was terrified looking at me and I didn¡¯t know why. That moment I felt sadness, but after a while I also sensed a feeling of proudness from my father¡­¡± ¡°Was this the moment Loki, your father, screamed?¡± Mimir interrupted him. Jormungandr looked at him full of curiosity. ¡°Why should he scream? For my appearance? He was indeed afraid of me at the start, but never so much that he would have the need to scream!¡± Jormungandr was beginning to get angry from Mimir¡¯s comment and raised his voice. Mimir wanted to explain himself to get out of this misunderstanding. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to insult you, my big fellow, I¡¯m truly sorry. But some days ago, we heard Loki¡¯s scream and found out about your birth just a few days ago!¡± Jormungandr seemed not interested in what Mimirs was telling him at that moment¡­ ¡°I do not know what is happening in this timeline, but my father was proud of me and my brother and sister. He even tried to hide us from the gods in our childhood, so we could have a peaceful life!¡± Mimir¡¯s curiosity at that moment became even greater. In his mind, crossed the theory that Jormungandr¡¯s arrival from the future must have changed some events. He kept this thought only to himself and let Jormungandr continue his story, maybe he could find some clue in the narration of the World Serpent! And so, after they calmed down Jormungandr continued¡­ ¡°After that my childhood started by being introduced to my siblings¡­ Hel, my sister who was very sweet to me. I never understood why everyone kept their distances from her. If only they could get to know her¡­ She was unique in my eyes being both dead and alive! She often told me stories the dead were telling to her, since only she could listen to them. I got to know so much from the ones that have passed this world from my older sister. And then my oldest brother Fenrir; I remember the first time I met him as clearly as I can see you Mimir¡­ Fenrir was strong and he was proud of his strength. The way he first looked at me when he approached me, I thought he was going to attack me! His fearsome fire-red eyes seemed very threatening. He walked slowly like a wolf moving towards his prey, right in front of me. I could sense the air of his hot breath reaching my face. When he opened his mouth and I saw his dreadful teeth, I panicked because I thought he was going to attack me like I was some kind of threat to him. At the last moment I closed my eyes out of horror and then¡­ and then I sensed his tongue licking my nose. ¡®Do not be afraid little brother¡¯ he said ¡®I could never harm one of my own kin, you are part of our pack!¡¯ I heard from him. He was clearly testing me there. I was full of joy and proudness for having such a fearsome older brother. I thought I was the luckiest giant ever to have such a wonderful and strong family. But quickly realized that my childhood would not continue like that, since no one thought the same as I did. Soon after, I realized that no matter how unique, powerful and at the same time, gentle we were, everyone treated us the same way. With fear and disgust. Everyone who encountered us, no matter what race he belonged to. Human, Aesir, Vanir, troll, elf dwarf, they were treating us the same. I don¡¯t understand why they judge a person by his appearance. I mean they see someone different, that they have never seen before and the immediate thought is to either destroy or get away from him as fast as possible. So, we learned to rely only on ourselves and each other from our childhood years, like a family. Hel and Fenrir were my best and only childhood friends apart from my siblings. The only companion I ever needed. With our mother always looking after us, and our father occasionally visiting us, he wasn¡¯t with us every time we needed him but we understood him. Since he was doing his best to keep us safe from the cruelty of the outside world¡­ But even He could not stop what fate had in store for us¡­ I remember that day¡­ That day Fenrir and I compared our strengths; In our childhood, we were doing that very often; Fenrir wanted to improve his might and seeing me outgrow him in size, he thought I was a good training companion. I was the only one after all. Anyways, when we competed on whether he could lift me or not, three men entered our great hall. They seemed shocked when they saw us, nothing unexpected I may add. But before we could try to introduce ourselves and welcome them into our house, as our mother had told us to do, in such occasions of unexpected visitors, they seized us! They bound me first, tying me to the stripped trunk of a pine tree. They muzzled Fenrir with a muzzle made from knotted willow and put a rope around his neck as a leash! Thankfully they were not that aggressive to our sister who was very gloomy and disturbed. She followed them as they carried us. After three days I heard some of them talking. A red-bearded person, who I soon after I found out he was Thor, said ¡°Have you noticed something?¡± The other person Thor was talking to was called Tyr and he was the kindest out of those three. And the only one who did not act with violence before. He was like we were against seizing us but got outvoted. He often scratched with a playful attitude Fenrir¡¯s furry neck. ¡°What¡± Tyr responded to Thor¡¯s question. Then Thor told him something we had also noticed and were really sad about ¡°They are not following us, the Giants. Not even the creatures¡¯ mother has come after us! It¡¯s as if they want us to take Loki¡¯s children out of Jotunheim.¡± That made me and my siblings feel very sad and insignificant¡­ Why no one is even trying to help us, where was our mother? Did father even try to change the minds of the gods? Why is this happening¡­ Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. But as if Tyr wanted to cheer us up, he responded to Thor ¡°That is foolish talk! These are the children of Loki!¡± said Tyr while looking at Fenrir with a genuine smile. Since childhood my mother always told me to hate the gods, both Aesir and Vanir! But this god named Tyr might be the only exception! I was happy that not all the gods were that cruel. At that moment Tyr turned his face towards me and said with admiration "This one has grown many feet in the days we have carried it back!¡± He tried to pet me as he did with Fenrir but Thor stopped him, warning him about my venom. ¡®Careful!¡¯ he said ¡®This one can spit burning black venom. It spat its poison at me, but it missed. That¡¯s why we tied its head and mouth to the tree like that.¡± Said Thor correctly. That moment I vouched for the day my venom would not miss this Thor. I despised Thor! The other god, Odin, also turned his look at me and said ¡®It is a child, it is still growing. We will send it where it can oppose no threat to us.¡¯ As he said that, he threw me with the tree I was bound to off to the Midgard Sea, that tied beyond all lands. As I slithered and slipped beneath the waves and swam away in loops and curls, I saw for the last time my family, my only friends taken away from me or rather, I was thrown away from them to this newly for me place called Midgard. I always wondered what it would become of my brother and sister, If I would have the chance to see them again¡­ Left alone in Midgard I would grow beneath the deep blue waters of the world¡¯s ocean. I grew until I encircled the whole Midgard. Then I heard folk call me Jormungandr the Midgard serpent. What an Irony for my nickname to be linked to the place of my imprisonment¡­ I was alone for so long I almost forgot how to speak¡­ * I desperately needed to know what happened to my brother and sister, but I could not leave Midgard. My size was so large I could not enter the Bifrost and travel through worlds. I was stuck in this place, where everyone was so tiny and afraid that with any of my movements, I would destroy their homes and lands. I never wanted to bring trouble to anyone so I tried to lie still and rest until the end of my days. My whole existence was a curse. Why was I born? I wanted to die, but at the same time when the opportunity came¡­ I did not. One day someone bold enough tried to provoke me by tossing an Ox¡¯s head in the ocean believing it could fish me! I got so angry¡­ So, I rose from the ocean¡¯s waters looking for the one who challenged me. I was not surprised, rather excited that the person who did it was Thor! This time my venom would kill him, I thought! So, we battle. As the god of Thunder, with every hammer toss he did, began a storm and lightning in Midgard. Then I barely got hit by the edge of Thor¡¯s hammer. His hammer opened a serious wound with its electricity. Even though, I admit, our battle was even, I realized that one mismove of mine would mean my death. I wanted to end my life, that is true¡­ But dying like that, from a person I absolutely despise, was unacceptable! So, I left the battle for another day and returned to my original position in the Midgards ocean¡¯s deep. While Thor returned to Asgard proudly of his triumph that somehow, he thought he bested me¡­ A few months after this event, I got a visit from the squirrel, Ratatoskr¡­ Maybe the only one I could end up calling ¡®friend¡¯. * As Jormungandr was narrating his story, Mimir was, not only hearing him fully focused, but also wrote down notes of events that seemed to him extremely important for the future of this timeline they are in. He didn¡¯t want to interrupt The Giant Snake, but there was something he desperately needed to ask. So, he did¡­ ¡°Excuse me for my interruption, but I want to know one thing before you continue. ¡° Jormungandr at first, didn¡¯t even pay attention to him, mainly because he was fully devoted and concentrated on his story that it was like, he was living the events once again. So, he was about to continue talking about the events with Ratatoskr, but seconds later realized what Mimir requested of him. He turned down his look to him and nodded to him as he was ok with his desire. And so Mimir put down his notes and remarked to Jormungandr what was on his mind¡­ ¡°Your story is truly remarkable, but in all those events you mentioned, you never referred to myself from your world. What was Mimir of your timeline doing, where was he?¡± asked Mimir fully wondered. Jormungandr inhaled a big breath as he was going to announce something like Mimir wouldn¡¯t be fond of hearing. ¡°In Jotunheim, you were staying in your home¡­ or rather, you were placed there¡­¡± ¡°What?! I just stood home? What do you mean? With all those events I surely would want to see what was happening!¡± Expressed Mimir! ¡°You desperately wanted to see those events even though you predicted them¡­ But you couldn¡¯t¡± Said Jormungandr like he wanted to avoid telling something more. Mimir understood that, by the tone of Jormungandr''s voice, so angrily forced him to talk. Jormungandr realized he had to tell it so he did. ¡°You were just a head! You were decapitated by the Vanir Gods! Long before my birth. My mother told me stories about you and your house, which was the fountain of knowledge.¡± Mimir was shocked by the revelation¡­ ¡°I¡­ I was ¡­ decapitated?¡± said Mimir after making an uncomfortable pause in his speech. ¡°Do you happen to know why, maybe? ¡°Yes, my mother used to tell me of your story when I was little. She was telling me this in order to get to know how cruel all the gods are! Both Aesir and Vanir!¡± answered Jormungandr and started to explain to Mimir what happened to him¡­ ¡°When the Aesir and the Vanir Gods agreed to end their war, thanks to your successful negotiations, they agreed to exchange warriors and chiefs as a sign to prove their trust to each other. The new chief of the Vanir had been decided to be Hoenir and you were chosen by Odin to be an adviser to Hoenir. Long story short, when you were there in Vanaheim to advise Hoenir, he was making good and wise decisions. But, when you were not with him, Hoenir seemed unable to come to a decision. And the Vanir soon were tired of this. They took their revenge, not on Hoenir but on you Mimir; They cut off your head and sent it to Odin. Odin was not angry. He rubbed your head with certain herbs to prevent it from rotting, and he chanted charms and incantations over it, for he did not wish your knowledge to be lost. Soon enough you opened your eyes and could talk and advise, as you always did. Odin took your head to your home besides his eye, in the waters of knowledge.¡± Mimir seemed shocked and a bit terrified, as he took some steps back, like he could not handle what he heard. Then he sat down on a rock. Jormungandr gave him some minutes to realize and to accept what he had heard. After a while, Mimir''s thoughts and theories inside his intelligent head end up in something really odd. So, he spoke to Jormungandr about it, as only he could listen to it anyways. ¡°I think that only your arrival here, to the past, in this timeline, has brought changes¡­ Not only the events of your birth are different, but also the way you got taken away from Jotunheim, not to mention your story about me! I took a decisive role for the end of the Aesir and Vanir war, that is true. But I never was in charge of advising Hoenir. I may get decapitated, if this is my destiny, but maybe not by the events you described. With your experience (in the future for us), you know the outcomes of some things but because you arrived here in the past, the way that those things, you said, may happen in some other way. But I am pretty sure our fate doesn¡¯t rewrite itself; I am pretty sure my future is to be decapitated¡­¡± Said Mimir and continued ¡°This is¡­ very interesting¡­ Please, continue; I want to know about your first encounter with Ratatoskr and also do not forget to explain to me the event you called Ragnarok!¡± ¡°Do not worry, I will tell you also about Ragnarok¡­ So, Let¡¯s continue from where I was left, with Ratatoskr¡­ Ratatoskr, the Squirrel of Yggdrasil Chapter 6 RATATOSKR, THE SQUIRREL OF YGGDRASIL
He came right in front of my eye, So I could see him. He was very tiny compared to me of course. ¡®You sure are big¡¯ he said ¡®I think you are even more terrifying than Nithhogg¡¯ I didn¡¯t know if this was supposed to be a compliment or not. Nithhogg was the dragon that was below the tree of Worlds, Yggdrasil. So, I just answered him with only a ¡®Thank You¡¯. He laughed for some reason. ¡®I came here because Nidhogg himself is really fond of you and didn¡¯t want you to be miserable like a little worm in the oceans, those are my comments by the way.¡¯ He took his time giggling with his comment and then he offered me something I could not believe¡­ ¡®So, I am here to answer you three questions about anything¡¯ I knew Ratatoskr was the only creature that could talk between the Eagle Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg, the only being that existed even before anything, so if there is someone who knows what is going on in the world of the living is the Eagle and in the world of the dead would be the Dragon according to some old jotunn myths¡­ So, I took the opportunity to take information about my siblings. ¡®What happened to Hel?¡¯ was my first question. ¡®Hel earned the position as the ruler of the realm of the dead, which is now being called Helheim, after her. She is the only queen, ruler there until the end of the gods...¡± ¡°What is the end of the gods? ¡°Nithhogg calls it Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. The last war between giants and gods that would mean the end of their dominion. While Hraesvelgr thinks of it as the rebirth of the true and right world¡­ don''t worry about it, you will live seeing it. Now your last question? Without realizing it I used my second question out of curiosity, of Ratatosk sayings, he tricked me. He tricked me, so I could not have taken a clear answer. I could ask him more about Ragnarok, because he clearly knew something, but I wanted to know what has become of my brother Fenrir, so I asked him that. With a smile on his tiny furry face Ratatoskr answered me: The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Well, this will take some time¡­ Your Brother was brought to Asgard and was taken good care of by Tyr. I make you sure, Tyr was treating him like his own child. But Odin saw a dream of Fenrir''s teeth, so he believed him as a threat of the gods in the future to come. So, he demanded to bind Fenrir, in secret. The gods crafted heavy chains and shackles in their forges and they told Tyr to bring Fenrir in their meeting hall. They represented the chains to Fenrir like it was a way to test his strength. Fenrir was proud of his power, so he accepted the challenge. He broke the chains with ease. The gods brought new heavier chains than before, asking Fenrir if he could break through them if he was bound by them. And so, Fenrir broke every chain again and again. Tyr was happy for him and cheered for him, because he was the only god who did not know the true intention of the other gods. Odin, then desperate, asked the dwarfs, the master builders, who can build anything, if they could craft a chain that could bind Fenrir. The dwarfs could craft a chain called Gleipnir, a ribbon that could be crafted by six things: Footsteps of a cat, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinew of a bear, the breath of a fish and lastly the spittle of a bird. With these things they made Gleipnir. Gleipnir looked like a silken ribbon, smooth and soft to the touch. When Fenrir was called once again to be tested, he sensed trickery into this, and demanded Odin that if he was to be tested by this Ribbon, a god should place his hand into his mouth so if gods imprison him with magic, he would bite off the hand. He represented this as a guarantee to have so they would release him. No god dared even to think of doing this. Only Tyr, who was sure that Odin wouldn¡¯t trick Fenrir and his challenge was true. So, it happens. In the end Fenrir couldn¡¯t escape from his binding and gods only laughed at him. Fenrir looked at Tyr, with a betrayed face¡­ Tyr looked at Fenrir giving a sign with his head, saying while whispering ¡°Do it...¡±. Tyr lost his hand. Skoll and Hati, oh I forgot to mention them, they were Fernirs children. Yeah, Skoll and Hati tried to defend their father but Odin put a spell on them and they meaningless now chase at the Sun and Moon. Fenrir promised revenge on Odin while he, bound, was taken away deep at a mountain as his prison. For all eternity¡­¡± With that, Ratatoskr finished his explanation and answered me the three questions and left with no other word. With the answers I got, I found my will to live again. I decided¡­ I would help Fenrir take his revenge, I would help my brother and start this Ragnarok, that Ratatoskr said to me. And I would persuade Hel, to bring the dead she ruled to fight by our side in this battle against the gods! Their dominion should come to an end, they brought enough misery to us! It was payback time! Rage and Revenge Chapter 7 RAGE AND REVENGE
Decades, I was trying to figure out how to contact my sister, Hel, who was ruling a world far away from Midgard. But I couldn¡¯t think of anything¡­ I was losing hope¡­ I couldn''t understand. That¡¯s when I decided to swim in the open ocean; to clear my head¡­ That¡¯s when I heard him. My father! I heard my father screaming in agony. His voice came from inside a deep cave. Didn¡¯t know what was happening, what to do. Couldn¡¯t enter the cave, because of my size! I just stood there¡­ Outside this cave, with my father screaming in pain inside. Then, there was a long silence for quite some time; I thought, maybe the voices were just my imagination¡­ Until the screaming began once again. A woman was exiting the cave with a very big bowl in her hands. That smell, I recognized it! The bowl had some liquid inside! Snake poison!!! Anger seized me! Why was a woman exiting a cave where my father was screaming, while carrying a bowl of poison in her hands?! I was about to attack, but the woman just ran towards me like she recognized me! She yelled something that sounded like ¡®v¨¦r haftilr fylgjage tinn faeir¡¯ I didn''t understand her¡­ As no one speaks my tongue¡­ What was going on? I demanded an explanation, but she could not understand me as well¡­ I tried to clear my head and at least try to understand her. She continued to speak to me. All her efforts were not in vain¡­ I figured out that she was trying to help. But why and how¡­ And at that moment it hit me! I recognized who she was! She was Sigyn! The other wife of my father! His wife, when he was in Asgard! She was no threat. I had to help somehow but I couldn¡¯t understand what had happened¡­ With no time to spend as we were getting nowhere, she emptied the bowl of poison and ran again inside! Once she entered the cave once again, the screaming of my fathers stopped once again. That bowl somehow prevents my father from his torture. Now that Sigyn went inside, maybe she will ask my father for some help on what I could do¡­ My father is one of the few who have some knowledge of my tongue. He told Sigyn what to say to me every time she was going outside to empty the bowl of the poison. It was hard trying to understand her rephrasing¡­ But I understood her eventually¡­ Hearing what Sigyn was trying to tell me, while she was in sorrow, pain and sadness; it got me so furious like no time before. I yelled, unwittingly scaring Sigyn to run back inside. The Aesir had to pay! The Gods had to suffer for what they did to my family! They had to end!!! I was in no position to help my father. Couldn¡¯t enter the cave, without destroying it and potentially burying my father to the ground. I was left with no options at all. I Tried to talk to Sigyn but she couldn¡¯t understand the words I was saying. Once again when she came out, running towards me this time. Carrying a message from my father! I understood her dialect perfectly this time. ¡®Loki said you have to find Angrboda, you mother! She is the only one that could help¡­¡¯ she paused for a little bit as she was seemingly trying to remember the way she had to translate my speech as my father told her. ¡®Contact the sons of Fenris¡¯. I got it! The wolves that chase the Sun and the Moon, the sons of my big Brother. They would be able to help me! As I was getting the confidence to leave that place where my father was tortured, I put myself together and went off my way. In between the screaming of my fathers pain I heard something from him. He shouted as loud as he could inside that cave, so I could listen. ¡°Thank you¡± those words still echo in my head. Reminding me for what I am fighting for. My family, who have been robbed of freedom, each of them cursed in a prison of torture¡­ The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. * There was a long pause after Jormungandr''s speech. His story was fully emotional for him. He was narrating it to Mimir, as he was experiencing it once again. Mimir noticed a small tear exit Jormungandr''s eye. Mimir didn¡¯t want to interrupt him, so he gave the World Serpent the time he needed to calm down. Jormungandr realized he stopped talking for quite a while, and gave a look down at his audience, with Mimir looking him back, not saying a word. ¡°I am sorry, you said you were out for information and knowledge; and I completely skipped the part of what happened to my father to get him punished and imprisoned¡­¡± ¡°I did not think you knew what happened.¡± Said surprised Mimir! ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I later found out¡­¡± ¡°So, before I continue, I will tell you this little story as well¡­ Of how Loki, my father got punished by the Gods.¡± * He tricked Hod, the blind god into killing his own brother Balder. Balder was rumored to be immortal. More immortal than the gods, he literally could not die. Nothing in this world could harm him. But somehow my father found a way to kill him. But he did not do it himself, but rather put Hod in the position to do it. Also, he prevented the gods from getting him back from Hel, though the last part the gods weren¡¯t aware of. Somehow they learned he was behind Balder''s death so they orchestrated a cruel punishment for him¡­ More details about the events I am not aware of to tell you. His Punishment was cruel. They transformed his son with Sigyn, my step-brother Vali, into a wolf and had him attack his own brother, my other step-brother, Narfi! The wolf tore apart his brother, ripping open his belly and spilling his guts onto the rock floor. The cruel gods then forced Loki onto three stones; they put one stone beneath his shoulders, one under his loins and one beneath his knees. The Aesir then took Narfis'' spilled entrails and they rushed them through the holes they had made in the stones, binding my father¡¯s neck and shoulders tight. They wound the entrails of his son, my step-brother, around his loins and his hips, tied his knees and legs so tightly he could barely move! Then the Aesir transformed these intestines of Narfi into chains! After that,the Aesir hung a snake from the ceiling of the cave, above my father¡¯s head. The snake had his fangs dripping with poison, drops of the snake¡¯s poison dripped onto my father¡¯s face. Making his eyes burn. There the cruel Aesir left him, with poor Sigyn keeping her bowl right above his head, trying to catch each drop of poison as it was falling from the snake¡¯s fangs into her bowl. But when the bowl was getting full, she had to leave and empty it, that was when drops of poison could reach his head and torture him¡­ * After hearing the details of that, Mimir was shocked and terrified. Jormungandr''s father is Loki. His actions made Balder get killed. He was holding onto that, as an important notice. But he was frightened as he was hearing the punishment Loki got thrown to¡­ Once again, he kept his thoughts for himself and let the World Serpent continue with his story¡­ Days had passed and I wandered the World trying to find a clue on how to contact my mother. My father suggested to me via Sigyn to first speak with Skoll and Hati, the sons of Fenrir, my nephews. I remember Ratatoskr''s sayings when he told me what happened to them¡­ Skoll chases the sun so he must be present and knowing the things that happened in the Daylight. While Hati chases the Moon so he should have the knowledge of every action taken in the night. I tried to stand up and reach the stars with my height! It was morning so I yelled ¡®Skoll!!!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t see him but in the direction of the Sun a loud voice echoed in my ears¡­ The wolf cursed on chasing the Sun answered me while he was running, chasing the Sun. ¡°How can I help you, Jormungandr, brother of my father¡± I explained the situation to him as quickly as possible and asked if he had any leads over my mother¡¯s where-being. He answered. ¡®I haven¡¯t seen my father¡¯s mother for many days now, maybe Hati knows something¡¯ And that¡¯s what I did, I waited for the Moon to come and once again tried to reach the skies to ask Hati the same thing. He answered. ¡®My father¡¯s mother joined my father¡¯s sister in Helheim many nights ago¡­¡¯ Despair hit me¡­ I lost my mother, I didn¡¯t know what to do, who to contact, how I could help my family¡­ Everyone is cursed, imprisoned, or banished! I didn¡¯t say a thing and as I returned to the ocean of Midgard I heard Hati shouting at me. ¡°Do not forget Uncle, no one is really gone, she just went to Helheim¡± That¡¯s when it hit me! That was it! I thought. In order to find my mother, I had first to get in touch with my sister, Hel! Back to the original task as before... How can you contact the dead let alone their Queen!? Make contact with the Dead Chapter 8 MAKE CONTACT WITH THE DEAD
In order to contact the dead, I had to find someone who possessed knowledge of black magic or necromancy. People like that are rare to find, not only that but most definitely would refuse to assist me, since I am a symbol of terror and death in all Midgard. But my mind came up with someone who could help! I remember hearing stories from Midgard folk, about a wise woman at the end of the world. Beyond it, to the east, rumored to be the realm of the dead, ruled over by Hel. It is said that this woman could give answers to anything to anyone as long as they would be able to reach her since she lives in a place unreachable for most. So, I traveled east and stopped when I reached the place which was supposed to be her home. But what I found was a grave, her grave. I stood staring at it for a few seconds and called at her! I wasn¡¯t expecting a response, but a storm reeking of wicked magic began with its wind whipping my face. When the wind died a green fire started on top of the grave with a shadow reflection of her face in it. ¡°It was a difficult journey, coming back from the land of death¡± she told me ¡°I¡¯ve been buried here for such a long time. Rain and snow have fallen on me. What do they call you, my summoner?¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I stood up and answered ¡°For some I am the World Serpent, for my enemies I am Thor¡¯s Bane, and for the few that get to meet me I am Jormungandr. I want you to deliver a message to your Queen, the Ruler of the dead, my sister Hel!¡± I got no response for a few seconds. So, I tried to repeat my sayings, but the woman¡¯s voice interrupted me ¡°Jormie?! It has been so long!¡± I remembered this voice! It was my mother¡¯s voice! The wise woman¡¯s grave was actually Angrbodas grave. My mother! I talked to her of all my experiences in Midgard, all this pain I had, the loneliness¡­ She comforted me as much as she could. We hadn¡¯t much time, so I tried to explain the situation considering my father¡¯s torture, my brother¡¯s imprisonment, as well as my nieces curse! Our family has been wronged by the Gods, for far too long, we had to do something! She agreed, she said she would discuss it with Hel, to unleash the dead against the gods and the whole world, starting Ragnarok, the end of gods! An alliance must be made between the Dead, the frost Giants and the Giant Sutr ruler of Muspelheim, the giant with the flaming sword. Not an easy task. But a plan was made, and we made a start. It was the first time seeing my mother after I had been taken away from home by the Aesir gods. She smiled at me ¡®Oh, my sweet child. What have you been through¡­ Don¡¯t you worry now. Thanks to you we will end the gods together. You are the Child who started Ragnarok! Who will bring death to the Aesir!¡¯ Our time was up. We said our farewells as she was fading away from the shadow and returning back to Helheim. We would see each other in Ragnarok. Tale鈥檚 End Chaper 9 TALE''S END
Mimir, you might be wondering to know how exactly Ragnarok started. To be honest no one really understood how it happened. The thing that I remember was that there had been Winters, Winter following winter. There was no Spring, no warmth. It was cold and the people were constantly angry, battling and proclaiming wars to each other, all across the world. This everlasting winter took the name Fimbulwinter. Then cruel wind came and twilight to the world. Places where humans lived fell into ruins, crushed down and crumbled into ash and devastation. People lived like animals. And then it happened; Skoll reached the Sun, Hati reached the Moon and so, the light disappeared! Darkness filled the air, like ashes, like mist. Then great earthquakes came. The mountains shake and crumble. The earthquakes were so great that all bonds and shackles and fetters got destroyed That was how my brother Fenris Wolf freed himself. Oh, he was fierce! He howled, proclaiming war and death! His upper jaw reached the heavens, the lower jaw touched the earth. There was nothing he couldn¡¯t eat, nothing he couldn¡¯t destroy! Flames came from his eyes and nostrils. I rose to join my brother''s rage and met him after so long, spilled my venom into the sea, poisoning all sea life. Splattered my black poison into the air in a fine spray killing everyone of our enemies that breathed it! We were glorious! All those who saw us, ¡®Fenrir Wolf and Midgard Serpent¡¯, Loki¡¯s children, knew death! The sons of Muspell rode down from the heavens, led by Sutr, the fire giant, holding high his sword. They rode across the rainbow bridge, across Bifrost, and as they passed, the rainbows, once bright colors became shades of charcoal and ash. They burned the rainbow! * My father also escaped his bonds beneath the earth. He was tasked to be the helmsman of the ship called Naglfar. The captain of the ship was Hrym, the leader of the frost giants. The surviving frost giants followed Hrym in the final battle. My father commanded Hel¡¯s legions of the dead. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. We all traveled to the battlefield called Vigrid. I and my brother Fenrir Sutr and the flame giants of Muspelheim Hrym and the frost giants My Father, Loki with my sister Hel at his side, and the dead of Helheim warriors Against Odin and the Aesir gods with the Einherjar, all the warriors who died ¡®good deaths¡¯ in battle rode and arrived at Vigrid, the final battlefield. Thor was beside Odin. And so, the final battle of Ragnarok began, with Odin charging straight for Fenrir. I still remember that look Fenrir was having with flaming eyes full of rage and lust for revenge. Odin fought bravely I must admit, but my brother was more vast and far more dangerous than anything could possibly be. He broke his spear with his jaws and bit and crushed and swallowed Odin! That was the death of the All-father * At that moment I was battling Thor, I also, like my brother, had to finish my personal business with him. Our battle was legendary with storms, wind and thunder in the sky. He tried many times to hit me with his hammer again and again. I, as well, tried to reach him with my venom. It was then when he found the opportunity, he lifted his hammer and struck a definitely deadly blow but he missed or rather I dodged. The impact that his hammer made was trembling at that moment. Before I could notice I found myself getting sucked in a hole, no one knew where it came from. I could also let this chance go, so I ignored the strange event and focused on my opponent, emptying my venom over the person I must hate. As I was forcefully sacked at that hole, I saw Thor grunt in pain and then lifeless fall on to the ground and his death ¡­ That was when I was transported here. In this timeline before anything happened. And some days later you visited me and of course, you know the rest of the story. Here we are. * Mimir starred as Jormungandr finished his so-far life-story with absolute focus. His eyes were so wide open, one could say they were one step away from falling off from his eye sockets. At the beginning of the story Mimir was confused, then things got interesting about the future events that he was introduced to, but in the last part of the story his look spoiled the terror he was feeling. ¡°That was¡­ unexpected¡­¡± He said as his legs betrayed him, forcing him to sit and get himself together. You Cannot Escape Destiny Chapter 10 YOU CANNOT ESCAPE DESTINY
After hearing Jormungandr about the future events, Mimir, with no time to waste, traveled back to Asgard to report back to Odin. He realized that he was the one who counseled Odin to bring Fenrir and Hel to Asgard. In other words, he brought Odin¡¯s killer right in his hall! Mimir expected a punishment from Odin, but he had to warn him about Ragnarok! He was his advisor after all¡­He has to make sure he prevents the most devastating and destructive war ever to exist. So, it happened. Mimir requested a meeting with the gods to reveal to them the knowledge and information he recently acquired. All the gods were sitting, forming a big circle and in the center was Mimir. He started talking by noticing that someone was missing. ¡°Where is Thor?¡± He spoke ¡°I promised him I would allow him to leave Asgard to slay that snake. The son of Loki, who escaped from us because of its size. He could have left as soon as you arrived, not earlier. That is what I promised him. So, when he heard of your return, he could not stop himself from departing.¡± Mimir was shocked and at the same time disappointed in himself that he couldn¡¯t prevent one of the events Jormungandr from the future told him about. The first battle between the world serpent and the god of Thunder would soon begin. A battle which would end up on a draw and will be the seed of Jormungandr''s hatred towards the gods. So, he thought that it was the time to at least warn them about everything else. So, he did. He told the gods about every event he acquired knowledge about. He told them about things they needed to know. Such as Baldrs death, Loki¡¯s imprisonment, the start of Ragnarok and of course, Odin¡¯s death! Mimir turned his look towards the All-Father. Clearly seeing the rage in his eyes. He shouts at Mimir ¡°You! You are the cause of this! It was your idea to bring those beasts to Asgard! Don¡¯t you remember one of our most important and must-not break laws? Death as by killing, murder or any kind is not allowed in Asgard! You brought me that wolf inside my halls, the wolf which is going to eat me! And I can do nothing about it!¡± There was a deadly silence when Odin expressed himself. After some seconds, the murmuring began from the other gods pointing at Mimir''s tragic mistake. Many thought that it was intended from, they speculated he sided with the giants, he became a traitor! Then they shouted at Loki! According to the report Mimir brought, he would be the end of Baldr! Frigg, Baldr¡¯s mother, was about to attack Loki, before Tyr tried to hold her, preventing her from causing a chaotic scene in the Aesir Council. Mimir did not try to defend himself, he acknowledged his mistake. So, he tried to at least prepare them about the future events that really matter and how they might be able to prevent them. But his efforts ended up in vain. He thought that he might be able to save Baldr, the most beautiful god that everyone loves, from his fate. To prevent Fenrir¡¯s hatred towards the gods. Even to bring to their side Hel, who already took the throne in Helheim, the realm of the dead. But the gods didn¡¯t even try to listen to him, but instead the hall was full of noise and murmuring and arguments and shouting¡­ Noone gave Mimir attention, none except Tyr, who tried to make a great effort to listen to Mimir''s propositions but with all that noise from the others, he couldn¡¯t hear much. Odin demanded silence shouting at everyone and so it happened. ¡°You Mimir, saved us with your knowledge from many misfortunes and even today, you try to suggest alternative options. But as you have told us, this Ragnarok is a war between the Gods and the Giants. The last war that would end the world as we know it. You are part Giant too, so why should we even trust you?¡± Odin was as wise as he was cunning too. He suspected even Mimir, his ambassador from the beginning of his reign, as a possible threat. Mimir wasn¡¯t allowed to speak as Odin asked rhetorically. The Gods were to decide. They judged him guilty! They cut off his head and reanimated it afterwards. In that way Mimir would only advise the one being in possession of his head. They took Mimir''s head and placed it in his home in Mimir''s Well, where the sacrificed eye and the fountain of knowledge were. That was his eternal punishment. He was alone, unable to move! With no companion at all. Only Odin would seldom visit him, only when he would need advice and more knowledge and wisdom. * After dealing with Mimir, the gods had to decide what to do with the other threats. What all agreed upon was that every threat should be eliminated as soon as possible, so the catastrophic future Mimir told them could be prevented! That was the Aesir way! Killing the possible threats was always their first and only choice. First that was discussed in a very short time was the world serpent. They knew Thor went already to kill it; so, they would not even think that he would fail to do what he loves and does best. Killing Giants¡­ * Then they were troubled about Baldr. Everyone loved him and wouldn¡¯t wish to lose him. Who or how he would die remained a mystery to them, because they never allowed Mimir or say much, in his effort to warn them about the future events, earlier that day. They only heard from Mimir that Baldr was about to die by Hod hand, after getting tricked to do so by Loki! Frigg, Baldr¡¯s mother, stood up and said ¡°I will go and visit every animal, all kinds of beings, every race and tribe, every element, all plants and trees and I would get them to promise not to harm Baldr!¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°That is a very efficient plan,¡± commented Loki. Turning the look of the gods towards him, who were about to comment about him! ¡°What about Loki?¡± Heimdall said, ¡°Mimir said he would be the ultimate reason Baldr gets murdered in the first place! Not only that but even if we imprison him, he would later break free to join forces against us in Ragnarok!¡± Everyone seemed troubled about this event. They all looked at Loki with hatred and disgust and rage! They suggested killing him on the spot! Then Loki with a pure innocent face turns to Odin ¡°All-father, Odin, I, you swear blood brother, swear that I would never betray in any way or case the gods! Don¡¯t you remember? It was I who told the dwarves to craft you your spear that never misses its target, Thor¡¯s Mjolnir who is feared by all giants. It was I who let you do as you please with my monstrous children, I even gifted you one of them, Sleipnir, the greatest of horses as your personal ride! Not to mention I helped to win you the wager we had with the builder who made the strongest wall ever to protect Asgard!¡± Loki was smart and more cunning even from Odin. He always knew how to please the gods with his words and actions. Odin trusted him, for now, so the gods took no action against Loki. Thinking they could prevent the prophecy, Odin thought that if they imprison Loki he would do as the future foretold, if they killed him his presence would just be spiritually placed in Helheim, where he would end up with his daughter Hel. He could not allow that, Odin needed Hel alone in order to manipulate her more easily, and prevent Loki from having access to the army of the dead. His best choice at that moment was to keep him alive inside his Halls, where he could watch his every move! *Valhalla* The next issue they had to deal with was the dead! Mimir mentioned that in Ragnarok the dead from Helheim will come to aid the Giants. Odin had an idea that decided a very important part about the mortal people¡¯s lives! He decided to determine the Einherjar! Warriors that died proudly, honorably and with no fear; those would be chosen not to enter Helheim but they would become Odin¡¯s guests in Valhalla! Valhalla was an enormous hall. It had countless doors and each door allowed thousands of warriors to walk abreast. It seated more people than the mind could hold. In this great hall the mortals, who earned their right to enter, will fight each other every day and at every night they would rise and having all them healed they would sit with the All-father to feast together. That way Odin would grow an enormous army in the period of time that would be extremely loyal to him alone until Ragnarok comes! In order to guide their souls, Odin created a new Order called the Valkyries. Their job would be to determine the honorable, brave warriors and escort them instead of Helheim, the way to Asgard. *Folkvangr* Every mortal wanted to enter Valhalla, Odin¡¯s Hall. It stole the highlight of another great place named Folkvangr. Folkvangr is a meadow and a field ruled over by the Vanir goddess Freyja, where like Valhalla, warriors that die honorably and bravely would be allowed to enter. They should not be an uneven force between the Vanir and the Aesir, that was a crucial part of the deal made between them for their peace. So Odin the Aesir King and Freyja the Vanir Queen agreed for half the dead to enter Valhalla, and the other half in Folkvangr. The message was sent to Hel, to allow the warriors that passed the terms as brave and honorable to exit Helheim and be brought to Asgard. *Fenrir''s imprisonment* Lastly the gods had to decide what to become of Fenris Wolf. He was already big as the great hall they are in! And so strong it could easily be compared to Thor¡¯s might. Not only that, but they are prohibited to kill him, because of a great unbreakable oath they swore, that prevents and does not allow death in Asgard! So, they concluded that he should be bound and imprisoned so he could not harm anyone. So, it happened, just as Jormungandr told Mimir, Fenrir thought the gods were giving him a challenge and a game at the same time. The gods were giving him at first, chains no man could break and Fenrir broke them with ease. Then it was given to Fenrir, chains no god could break and Fenrir with a little more effort he broke the chains once again. Fenrir was laughing and felt proud of his strength, with Tyr also feeling happy for him. Tyr was fond of Fenrir like no other, he was looking at him as his own child. Then the dwarves crafted, by Odin¡¯s command, the Gleipnir, a magical chain with the appearance of a ribbon. Fenrir had some second thought about breaking this ribbon. He thought that this was trickery from the gods and he would do it only if a god would put his hand inside his mouth. No one dared to do it. No one, but Tyr. When Fenrir for the assurance he needed he accepted to be bound with Gleipnir. When he sensed there was magic involved, it was too late. He was bound forever with the gods to laugh at him. Tyr whispered to him ¡°Do it¡±. And Tyr lost his hand between the jaws of the one who admired him the most. Then Fenrir swore eternal hate towards the gods and especially Odin. He swore that he would be the one that would kill the All-father. His sons, Skoll and Hati tried to help him, but Odin prevented them from doing so and put an illusion spell on them. All these happened while their father, Fenrir, was watching. They would needlessly chase and try to catch the Sun and the Moon. Fenrir with rage and fire in his eyes yelled and roared with all the realms hearing this fearful beast! Odin, to silence him, put in Fenrir mouth his only Spear, preventing Fenrir from using his mouth and jaw. Odin order to put him somewhere deep inside the earth, hiding from everyone. There Fenrir waited for his time for revenge to come¡­ In Ragnarok¡­ *In Helheim* Odin, having dealt with all the issues Mimir told him about, felt relieved. In his mind he was well prepared for the possible war to come! He prevented Baldr¡¯s death by having Loki watched exclusively by him at all times! That way Loki would not be punished and never get to join the forces of the Giants and the dead. Not only that but he significantly reduced the numbers of the dead, having the ones that died as warriors enter as Einherjar in his personal army! That way even if in Ragnarok they end up battling the dead, his army would be significantly more powerful and war-experienced! And of course he dealt with his Nemesis. Fenrir is imprisoned under a mountain with a magical bound, made from the best craftsman Dwarves, that no one can break! Odin rests assured that he would never get to see Fernir free again! Not everything ended up as the All-Father planned though. While in Helheim messengers send the demand and order from the All-Father, Odin that the warriors should not be in Helheim anymore and from now on they would be sent to Valhalla and Folkvangr in Asgard. Hel didn¡¯t like that at all. She took that as a provocation and mockery that she isn¡¯t fit to rule over warriors. Later Helheim would be filled with dead that died cowardly and by old age. This marked Hel as the ruler no one would like to have. She was furious about this decision. And hold a grudge ever since towards the Asgardians! The Snake and The Squirrel Chapter 11 THE SNAKE AND THE SQUIRREL
Meanwhile Jormungandr remained, once again, alone. He waited for Mimir to come. Mimir was the only one he knew that could understand and speak his language. Jormungandr waited weeks, then months, and the months became years. Jormungandr stayed a long time in the depths of the deep dark sea. Silence was dominating his everyday life and he never realized how many years had pass, or rather centuries¡­ One day he felt something touching his head, something was moving on top of his nose. He woke up and saw the squirrel Ratatoskr. He then rose from the sea with the squirrel on top of his head. ¡°Tell me something Ratatoskr¡± Jormungandr started the conversation ¡°How are you able not only to walk freely inside the water, but also breathe?¡± A question Jormungandr had for quite some time in his mind, but never found the right opportunity to ask it. Ratatoskr seemed disappointed for a moment and a little bit angry. ¡°Really Jormie? You have known me for so long¡­ I am able to travel between the realms, climb the tree of Yggdrasil up and down since the beginning of time and your question is how am I able to move inside the water? I mean, come on Jormie!!!¡± Jormungandr realized it was indeed a meaningless question, suffering now from the consequences of the squirrel¡¯s anger. ¡°In my defense Ratatoskr, I do not know you very well!¡± Jormungandr replied back to him. Some seconds later Ratatoskr took a big breath trying to calm down. ¡°I guess you are correct in that regard¡­Anyways, how are you doing my big fella?¡± he asked ¡°I am troubled, Ratatoskr¡­ I don¡¯t know what I am supposed to do. Should I try taking the same actions, as I did in my time, also here and now? This world is almost the same as mine, but it has some differences¡­ Why am I here¡­ What is my purpose¡­¡± Ratatoskr took a good look at Jormungandr''s depressed face. He seemed like he wanted to tell him something he clearly knew. He wished to relieve Jormungandr''s sadness for a moment, but rules from higher forces did not allow it. The squirrel came here to give him some company and advice, which also prevented the rules! ¡°Your presence here, or rather ¡®now¡¯, definitely brings disturbances in the world tree Yggdrassil Two same persons cannot live at the same time. Now two Jormungandrs exist, two you! In order to bring balance, one of you has to die¡­¡± Ratatoskr seemed very serious at that moment and tried to lead the conversations somewhere else. Jormungandr seemed full of questions but Ratatoskr didn¡¯t arrive here to give answers. So the squirrel continued talking like it was his monologue, without letting the snake stop him. ¡°Ragnarok will come to this timeline as well. It is inevitable¡­ It always does¡­ The events are almost the same so you have to decide what to do¡­¡± Jormungandr had even more questions by the tone of Ratatoskr, but with the serious look he was getting from the squirrel, he realized he wouldn¡¯t get more explanation or answers to any of them. While the squirrel had more things to add¡­ ¡°I wish to say that the questions you are asking yourself, ¡®why are you here¡¯, ¡®what is your purpose¡¯ are something everyone wonders my friend¡­ There is never an answer for those to be given. You just have to deal with it by yourself. You know the answer for yourself better than everyone!¡± ¡°Do you ever feel this way too Ratatoskr?¡± ¡°Of course I do, Jormie! I am known as just a messenger between Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg¡­ Just running up and down in the world tree! Is this all I am? Just a messenger and climber of the tree? No! My purpose goes much deeper than none of the mortals shall ever know! You lived a whole timeline and now you get your chance to live a second and maybe improve some things for the better of your kin or your family while I have seen countless¡­ I do not know what your purpose is, this is something you have to figure out by yourself. Just like I said before!¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Wait! What do you mean by ¡®countless¡¯?¡± ¡°... I said something you weren¡¯t meant to hear, so I will not answer this question! Either speak of something else or I am leaving!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s ok, stay¡­ You seem kinda tense Ratatoskr. Is everything ok with you?¡± ¡°Are you really interested or you are just asking for the Hel of it?¡± ¡°I am¡­¡± ¡°Well, I was wondering about my purpose, my life-goal as well lately Jormie¡­ I am sorry if I got too baldly with you.¡± ¡°It is ok¡­ Generally I am happy I get to speak with someone about anything lately.¡± ¡°I get you¡­ Anyway I have been wondering about something lately. I am researching black magic. On a little project of mine.¡± ¡°Regarding?¡± ¡°I had these feelings that lately prevented me from doing my job correctly¡­ I want to abstract them away from myself, in order to find peace again!¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Abstract the feelings out of you?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I had this urge of creating a¡­ a family. An urge that makes me want to stop being just a messenger and settle down somewhere on a branch of my Tree¡­¡± ¡°Your Tree? A family?¡± ¡°Yes! Yggdrasil is MY tree! Have you ever seen any other squirrel be able to climb it in order to claim it for himself? No!¡± ¡°Yeah, no argument on that, but how are you going to start a family? Is there a female squirrel out there who took your interest perhaps?¡± ¡°Not like that you big fat idiot! I have those feelings of some kind of parenthood. Having to settle down¡­ What do mortals call it? Retire?¡± ¡°I am not sure¡­¡± ¡°Anyways, as I said. I have found a way to abstract those feelings so I can get back to normal once again.¡± ¡°Why would you do that? You would remove a part of who you are that way.¡± ¡°Creature like me does not get to settle down Jormie¡­ If only you knew what is my purpose in Yggdrasil¡­¡± ¡°Tell me¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Those are¡­ those are the rules¡­ You would not understand¡± ¡°Fine, but if you decide otherwise. You know where to find me¡­¡± ¡°Of course. What about you though? Have you decided what you are going to do in this timeline? I really wonder¡­¡± ¡°I will take part in Ragnarok, once again. I should help my family to end up victorious against the Aesir like we did in the Ragnarok I originally was. I have to help my father build a much better world from this of the Aesir gods¡­¡± ¡°Fine then¡­But, I should let you know that you must not take any actions that would lead you meeting yourself in this timeline. This would cause much disturbance, which I am not sure I will be able to hold in place.¡± ¡°WHAT? Back when you appeared on Mimir you said otherwise!¡± ¡°Well¡­ Ha ha ha. That was to fool around with him. He wants to think he is the smartest, most intelligent creature in all the nine Realms¡­¡± ¡°So, you lied about it so he would get confused or something?¡± ¡°You damn right!¡± ¡°What would you have me do then? Since by my experience, myself from this timeline would try to do what I did in my timeline. You don¡¯t expect me to hide forever until Ragnarok comes!¡± ¡°I do not¡­ But do not be so sure that the Jormungandr from this timeline would follow the steps you did! A lot of things have changed here¡­¡± Jormungandr seemed very annoyed and confused¡­ ¡°Fine! I will do nothing¡­ I will wait here in the Sea waiting for the inevitable end of the gods to come. And when the war shall begin, I will rise alongside my brethren and crush the gods once and for all.¡± ¡°You decide what to do, it is your decision! Figure it out! I am just warning you about the situation we were put in! Avoid any encounter with yourself in this timeline, unless you want the end of all creation!¡± ¡°What do you mean we were put in?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ratatoskr realized he said too much and without answering he was ready to leave. But at the last moment he spoke to Jormungandr. ¡°There are forces that control the fate of Yggdrasil which are beyond gods, giants and even the fates. Good luck my friend¡­¡± And by saying that, the squirrel disappeared diving into the realm between realms onto the branches of the world tree. The Rulers of Yggdrasil Chapter 12 THE RULERS OF YGGDRASIL
Ratatoskr, was jumping from branch to branch, going downwards, meaning he was going to see Nithhogg, the corpse eating dragon, who laid between Yggdrasil¡¯s roots. Jormungandr''s last question was popping into his mind. Causing him to talk to himself, like he was answering it in detail. ¡°You are her favorite¡­ Maybe you deserve the truth after all¡­¡± And then he arrived, in the place where Nithhogg lay. She was sleeping, with loud snoring noises echoing in a vast area. Ratatoskr wasn¡¯t known for his patience so he moved directly in front of the dragon''s ear and yelled as loud as he possibly could. ¡°WAKE UP YOU WORTHLESS TRASH OF A DRAGON¡± Nithhogg opened her eyes slowly and with a calm look, on her draconic monstrous face, looked at the squirrel, who had just moved down from her head and was now in front of her. Nithhogg was still laying there, with her lower jaw touching the ground. After a time of staring between the two of them, Nithhogg started talking ¡°So what words of the Eagle are you bringing me today?¡± ¡°Hraesvelgr agreed that Jormungandr will live in this Ragnarok, even though he is still not sure that this end will be the most fitting one.¡° Ratatoskr answered by transferring the words of the Eagle ¡°What do you think?¡± said Nithhogg, ¡°you are the only one who actually speaks and chats with our players¡­ What is your opinion about my favorite, Jormungandr?¡± ¡°My opinion does not matter¡­¡± answers Ratatoskr. Nithhogg looked at him and smiled. ¡°Come on, at least tell me what do you think he wants¡± ¡°Jormungandr is like he has lived two lives. At first, he tried everything to bring Ragnarok and be reunited with his family, and for that little short time he succeeded. But because you two donkeys can¡¯t decide for an end for Ragnarok, you send him back to relive his tormented life causing him to be part of yet another war¡­ another Ragnarok¡­¡± Ratatoskr wasn¡¯t just a messenger in the conversations between Nithhogg and Hraesvelgr. He was taking actions and intervening, in his various tasks, changing small things forcing a different destiny. He was the one who made Thor miss in the battle between him and Jormungandr, causing Jormungandr to travel back in time. Not only that but he was the one previously protecting the Snake from Odin''s spear. He was doing all these actions at Nithhoggs and Hraesvelgr requests. Nithhogg after hearing Ratatoskr words, sighed ¡°Don¡¯t you worry too much for him? You already know I want the best possible outcome for Jormungandr, after all he resembles me like no other creature in Yggdrasil. You know already, in our original Ragnarok he would actually get killed by Thor. Bringing him back in time, saved his life!¡± ¡°Sometimes Nithhogg, saving someone¡¯s life could not be the best for him. He lived a life full of suffering, loneliness and overshadowing himself. The moment his Ragnarok came, he was happy like never before. Don¡¯t you think letting him die for his family was better than ¡®saving¡¯ him and making him relive his torment?¡± answered Ratatoskr who thought of this matter very seriously. ¡°You cannot possibly suggest letting him get killed, right? Jormungandr is my champion. Hraesvelgr has been in the Aesir¡¯s favor for too long and for too many Ragnaroks! All of them end in disaster!¡± ¡°You both have to make sacrifices and understand, you both are different creatures that cannot agree on everything¡­¡± ¡°Ratatoskr¡­ I suggest you mind your own duties! At some point we will come up with a fitting ending! And personally, I think this is the one! This ending with Jormungandr as the main character will end up with the best outcome for the Ragnarok. ¡°Do you really care about him?¡± ¡°Yes I do! He is a serpent like me, a monster by appearance¡­ He deserves a good ending!¡± ¡°I know you and Hraesvelgr are the ones that get to decide Yggdrasil''s fate, even before I got my abilities, but¡­¡± ¡°No BUTs!¡± Nithhogg interrupted Ratatoskr ¡°This conversation is over! Now listen to my message for the Eagle on how this timeline will proceed¡­¡± * Ratatoskr was furious at both Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg. ¡°Those idiots they will never learn¡­ This feels like we are going to do this forever¡­ I have to find a way to stop it! Wait, what is that? Looks like¡­ Oh NO!¡± While Ratatoskr was climbing the world tree Yggdrasil, he encountered something that really bothered him. The tree was wounded! It had spots that seemed like a disease that began to spread in various branches and spots in the Tree! It seemed like it was rotting! Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Ratatoskr jumped on top of one spot. It was black and some sort of purple. Infecting the tree and by the time he was looking at it, it looked like it was spreading in other places as well! This was serious, Ratatoskr worried and tried to identify the cause of this problem. He gave a good sniff on the black spot. Smelled very ominous and ancient sorcery. He didn''t understand at first, he tried to gather his thoughts and concentrate on the rotting spot. He whispered something in his magical tongue and the issue appeared right in front of him! His eyes glow white yellow and found the origin of the disease! It was time-magic, someone is trying to prevent events from happening! Events that would identify this timeline! If that person who casts this magic succeeds he will crush the timeflow and cause the Yggdrasil to reset its laws of physics and balance. This would mean a catastrophic event for anyone living on the tree! On his journey across the branches of the Yggdrasil, across and between the realms he decided to act on his own. Something he used to do when he was younger for his pure enjoyment. But now he is both old and wise to create something on his own! He traveled to Midgard and met with Jormungandr. ¡°Jormie!¡± ¡°Ah Ratatoskr, it is you! How long has it been¡­¡± ¡°Some years¡­¡± ¡°I get more and more regular visits from you lately in this timeline¡­ I mean in my first you only appeared one time remember?¡± ¡°Ha ha, yeah I do¡­ I was different then, with a lot of things on my mind and duties¡­¡± ¡°Did something change?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I owe you the truth¡­¡± ¡°The truth?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ the truth¡­ You¡­ You are not here by mistake¡­ It wasn¡¯t meant to happen¡­¡± ¡°What are you saying¡­ ¡° ¡°Oh boy, this will take some time¡­ There are no correct prophecies¡­ No that¡¯s not it¡­ How can I explain it to you¡­Ahhhh, whatever. Nithhogg and Hraesvelgr are in charge of the Yggdrasil.¡± ¡°Which means?¡± ¡°Stop interrupting me please, I am trying my best to figure out a way to explain it simply!¡± ¡°I apologize¡­¡± ¡°Even before the creation of the world tree, there was an endless void, also known as Ginnungagap! We do not know what exists beyond Yggdrasil, but what I did find out. Is that our rulers, Nithhogg and Hraesvelgr, are not originally from this world¡­ They came from that void and claimed their territory and rulership over Yggdrasil ever since the creation of it¡­ Why do I tell all this? Because their magic and power is strong, they have found a way to redo the course of history. You got sent back in time, this caused a time-paradox, changing the events that were meant to happen and so much more ¡­ Why were you the one who got sent back in time? Well that¡¯s because of Nithhogg! She favors you! You are her favorite ¡®champion¡¯ as she likes to brag about.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me all these?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I figured you deserved to know the truth of how this world really works¡­¡± ¡°Ratatoskr¡­ This is¡­ a lot to process¡­¡± ¡°I know¡­¡± ¡°What does this mean exactly? That all my memories of my timeline would not happen?¡± ¡°Well, yes and no! Some will change, some will not¡­ Messing with time is no easy task to explain, my big friend¡­¡± ¡°What if I do not interact with this world at all? If I do not change something then the events of this timeline will proceed as I remember!¡± ¡°No! You don¡¯t know, every timeline differs from the others. And you have already interacted with this world already¡­you are now a creature with no world origin.¡± ¡°I am a what?¡± ¡°Your world, your timeline ended the moment you entered this one! Now and here are two Jormungandrs¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ What does this mean?¡± ¡°Events will be different from those you remember. But the Fates of this world hold no control over you, since you do not belong here in the first place! But I need your assistance about something crucial!¡± ¡°That is why you told me all this, right?¡±¡° ¡°Yes¡­ You have to know the truth of what happened. So you could assist me restore balance to the world tree!¡± ¡°Do tell¡­¡± ¡°There have been recently discovered strange occurrences and inconsistencies in the fabric of Yggdrasil! Someone is acting behind the scenes creating anomalies in the timeflow!¡± ¡°I do not understand you Ratatoskr¡­ What are you saying?¡± ¡°Someone knows about the time-paradox your arrival here created! I do not know what he or she or they are trying to do but obviously they do not comprehend the risk and the danger!¡± ¡°Should be Odin!¡± ¡°That would be the most valid guess, but I am not sure myself¡­ I cannot track the magic¡¯s origin!¡± ¡°I tell you Ratatoskr. Odin has to be responsible for this! He knows about me and the time travel from Mimir¡­It has to be him!¡± ¡°... I guess you might be right. I will go to Asgard immediately and try to expose the one responsible¡­ But in the meantime I need you, Jormungandr¡­ In case the cause of the anomalies is not Odin¡­ I need you to do some research on Midgard about the usage of odd sorcery!¡± ¡°How could I possibly do that?! I do not have such ability¡± ¡°As I said before¡­ You do not belong in this timeline¡­ You can, ¡®sense¡¯ the odd things too!¡± ¡°I will try my best¡­¡± ¡°Your best is plenty enough for me! Thank you!¡± With that revealing discussion Ratatoskr was wrapping it up and was about to leave into the branches of Yggdrasil. Until Jormungandr had more things to say to the little squirrel. ¡°Hey Ratatoskr! I forgot to ask you. How are you doing with the little project of yours abstracting your feelings?¡± ¡°Ohh, that¡­ I do not know yet. Haven¡¯t found a way just yet¡± ¡°So¡­ are you really going to do that?¡± ¡°Well, I will not do it mainly for the reasons I had told you before. I was thinking maybe expanding myself into aspects would assist me in being in more places at the same time!¡± ¡°I wonder how that would work¡­¡± ¡°So do I, my friend! I think I am getting close!¡± ¡°You could ask, or research in Jotunheim¡­ The Jotunn were always highly skilled in magic and sorcery¡­ Maybe they could help you¡­¡± ¡°I will look into it, thanks! But, first we have to set this timeline into a stable condition! You stay here and do as I told you. I will look into Asgard and Odin as you suggested!¡± ¡°Good luck!¡± ¡°You too Jormungandr! You too¡± Mask of Creation: Part A Chapter 13 MASK OF CREATION: PART A
Ratatoskr ran through the Realms and reached Asgard. But something was odd¡­ Strange smell in the air, and dark clouds were surrounding in circle movements above the great halls of Valhalla. Ratatoskr worried and immediately climbed the enormously huge walls that protected the Aesir gods. He was worried, maybe Jormungandr was right¡­ Maybe Odin is indeed the one scheming. But that would be the worst possible scenario. Odin is the King of the Aesir gods, and one very powerful. Despite the skills Ratatoskr possesses, he is no match to rival Odin¡¯s strength! He reached the top of the Asgards walls. There the most expected Aesir god awaited him¡­ Heimdall! ¡°Ratatoskr, Task the Traveler or the Climber Task¡­ What is the purpose of your visit to Asgard!¡± Heimdal¡¯s deep echoed voice was heard strongly in Ratatoskr¡¯s ears, as he turned his attention to him. ¡°None of your bloody business¡± his bitter personality popped, ¡°I am no mere creature you puny god! I am beyond all of you small Aesir!¡± Heimdall pulls out his big heavy sword. The small impact that deadly weapon made on the ground was enough to shatter the rocks that touched! ¡°Careful now¡­ You are about to enter Asgard. This is not your domain!¡± ¡°All Yggdrasil is my domain you wise freak!¡± ¡°I am afraid I cannot let you pass¡­ I see beyond your thoughts. Your presence here is not lucrative for the All-Father¡± ¡°Sit down child before you hurt yourself!¡± With that Ratatoskr pulled out his claws and wounded Heimdall¡¯s hand before he was about to raise his sword! He then jumped in front of Heimdall¡¯s face directly looking at his eyes. ¡°I am in no mood for your Aesir ¡®all mighty and shit¡¯ games ok? My Tree is in pain and I have to figure out why and who is responsible! Do you happen to know who it is that I am looking for?! Speak before you will be known as ¡®Heimdall the blind¡¯!¡± ¡°I do not understand what you are talking about¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t?!! You are supposed to be the all seeing god¡­ Haven¡¯t you noticed the scars that appear in the reality of space???¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Do you mean those black holes that look like someone cut them through?¡± ¡°Yes you bigot!¡± ¡°That has to be Garm! The Hound of Hel. It is loose and we try to catch it! Thor is at the moment being on the chase with him!¡± ¡°Garm? Hel¡¯s Hound? True he has the ability to tear rifts between realms¡­ But this wouldn¡¯t mean he is the cause of Yggdrasil¡¯s loss of balance, would it?...¡± Ratatoskr scratched his lower jaw as he was thinking out loud¡­ ¡°What is going on Ratatoskr?¡± Heimdall asked ¡°None of your damn business!¡± He then raised his head and looked over the Halls of Valhalla, the dark ominous clouds above. Something was happening there. He jumped and ignored Heimdall; he was headed for Odin¡¯s Hall! * Ratatoskr sneaked into Valhalla, without anyone noticing his appearance. His magical abilities allowed him to do so. He smelled the air¡­ dark magic! He follows the trail of smell and reaches a door. It was Odin¡¯s chamber. Entering would be unwise. But Ratatoskr was determined and smart. He entered a spectral form allowing him to enter inside the door without opening it. He had to be careful nonetheless though! Odin¡¯s eye does have the ability to see everything! But as Ratatoskr notices, Odin is not in the room! Curious he searched the room and the treasure chests Odin kept in his room with unique items he collected throughout his journeys and conquests. Ratatoskr followed his nose and tried to discover a clue that would prove id Odin is responsible for the disturbance in the stability of the timeline! He was searching and searching but nothing was found. He got furious and rage overcame him! ¡°Ahhhh¡­ focus Ratatoskr! Focus!¡± he told himself, as he was breathing in and out, trying to relax and find his inner peace. Suddenly, he heard footsteps! They were approaching more and more towards the room. Ratatoskr gave one last good look into the room, maybe he missed a spot or anything else. As he was sure he did not he put a spell on him making him invisible and jumped under the bed as the chamber door opened! Odin was the one entering it with someone behind him. Ratatoskr decided to stay and hear their conversation. ¡°I told you, Balder, the clouds are nothing to worry about!¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°But Father! They do not appear normal! Not to mention that the rest of them are starting to ask questions¡­¡± ¡°Do you think I care about their opinion?¡± ¡°No, father¡­¡± ¡°Good! Now stop whining and come with me, I have a task for you!¡± Odin whispered something in the old tongue and opened a secret door from the wall behind his office desk! Ratatoskr witnessed that. His eyes widened and decided to follow them! The secret door opened a path of a dark cave. It looked like it was some kind of a dungeon or a very dangerous place. Odin was doing his dark magic there! That was certain. As Ratatoskr was carefully following them, he found himself to keep track of what Odin and Balder were talking about along the way. But what he saw when they reached their destination, shocked him! Loki was chained down to rock with both his hands and feet cuffed, not allowing him to move at all! ¡°Loki! My sworn-brother! How are you feeling?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Still he refuses to talk, Father?¡± Balder makes his comment ¡°Yes, my child. He is too stubborn. I respect his determination though. But, I ran out of patience, ¡° He turned his gaze to Loki who was imprisoned, ¡°I need you to do something for me¡­ Refuse me and I will kill your children!¡± Loki spat at Odin! ¡°There is nothing you can do to my children Odin! You know they are strong and they will bring Ragnarok to you!¡± ¡°Oh, I am not talking about them¡­ I am talking about your children with Sigyn. Both Narfi and Vali!¡± ¡°How dare you!¡± ¡°Do not worry my sworn-brother¡­ I need something very simple from you!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you happen to understand this speech?¡± Odin pulled from his coat something like an artifact. A mask, with weird symbols on top of it. Ratatoskr wanted to get closer to see more clearly what it was. But he couldn¡¯t, knowing Odin might see him! ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°That is what I am trying to find out, my sworn-brother¡­ Help me uncover the truth, the meaning of this and I will grant you your freedom!¡± ¡°I do not trust you Odin!¡± ¡°Fine then, I will just have you rot here! We already know the future from Mimir Loki! I have already found a way to prevent it from happening! Aesir¡¯s reign will be forever!¡± Odin and Balder turned their backs on Loki and made their way back to Odin¡¯s chamber. Ratatoskr was curiously following them and overhearing their talk. ¡°Why did you bring me here father?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all part of my plan¡­ I have a mission for you. You will return here but alone! Try to earn Loki¡¯s trust, say that you plan to overthrow me or better that you got tired of me!¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°Loki thinks that because of the future we heard from Mimir, the one that you were supposed to die before the Ragnarok, I disallowed you to leave Asgard. Make him think that you got tired of it and you want your freedom¡­ He will try to manipulate you, so you could free him, I know him too well! Which you will, but only after you get from him information about this mask!¡± ¡°Are we sure that only Loki knows what those symbols mean?¡± ¡°No, I guess some Jotunn could recognize it as well¡­ But Loki is the one I hold hostage and have an advantage over him, by threatening him with his family¡­ Trying to search for a Jotunn that could possibly know the meaning of those symbols could take valuable time!¡± ¡°Why is this mask so important?¡± ¡°Because, I know it holds the secret of the reign of Yggdrasil!¡± ¡°What??!!¡± ¡°It was previously owned by the first ever creatures to rule. It is said that Surtr found it in the earliest of days of the world¡¯s birth. No One knows where it came from, my guess is from the Ginnungagap! He threw it out of Muspelheim and it fell on the hands of the first Giant, Ymir! Ymir did not find any use of it and gave it to Buri! The ancestor of all the gods! He used it somehow, but no records were kept of how and why! Then it passed to the possession of Bestla¡­ My mother! It was so long I do not even remember her face¡­ But I remember the day I and my brothers Vili and Ve conspired to kill Ymir! We had to! In order to create something! From Ymir we created Midgard and from there all the other Realms took form! But, as this was happening Ve and Vili were holding this mask¡­ they said to me that ¡®This was the way THEY wanted¡¯. I did not understand them at that time¡­ As we created the first humans, forming them out of logs. Ve whispered something into my ear¡­ ¡®They watch over us, we have to escape their dominion! This mask is the tool to do so!¡¯ I turned my look at him without understanding what his words meant, but as I looked at him he was pale and on the ground! I and Vili rushed to his side! But it was too late¡­ He fell lifeless to the ground and I still do not know how or why! Vili then sighed and he said to me ¡®Odin, you have to acquire all the knowledge of the world! You have to find out what that is!¡¯ Why me? We can do it together!¡¯ I said, but Vili showed that he was as well wounded from our battle from Ymir! He fell on his knees as he grabbed me and said ¡®This mask told us to start this war with the Giants. Ymir¡¯s descendants will hate our generation for it, forever! Find out what it is! End the war!¡¯ What war I was shouting as my second brother died in my hands¡­¡± Odin finished his tale as Balder looked at him wondering. ¡°Father, why are you telling me this tale?¡± ¡°It is not just a tale, Balder! It is history! The reason I am fighting all my life!¡± ¡°All this in order to find out what this mask is?¡± ¡°No Balder, I have already discovered what this mask is! What I am trying to find out is how to use it!¡± ¡°Use it? What is it?¡± ¡°It is an artifact from another world! It has a will on its own. If you wear it, it will urge you to do what it wants! But it holds immense power! Power to alter time and creation! I can rewrite history with it!¡± Ratatoskr was shocked as he was secretly hearing Odin¡¯s speech. He wasn¡¯t sure if Odin was right on what he was saying since he as well had no knowledge of this mask¡¯s existence. But one thing was certain. Odin was the one behind the unstable condition of Yggdrasil! Jormungandr was correct in suspecting him! There was nothing Ratatoskr could do at the moment except do the research himself about the accuracy of Odin¡¯s words. He exited Asgard¡¯s realm and entered Yggdrasil¡¯s branches. Mask of Creation: Part B Chapter 14 THE MASK OF CREATION: PART B
Ratatoskr called for the Stags of Yggdrasil. They were both wise and possessed more knowledge from him! Dainn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Durapror, are the four Stags that eat the leaves of Yggdrasil and make sure the tree stays healthy. Their presence brings forth different elements and winds. They were symbolized by the mortal world as the bringers of the Season! Ratatoskr was an acquaintance and friend of theirs. They answered his call and appeared in front of him. ¡°How may we assist you Ratatoskr?¡± ¡°We have a serious problem! The Tree is unstable, as you may have noticed¡­¡± ¡°We did.¡± answered Dainn ¡°I have discovered who is behind it! It¡¯s Odin! He has in his possession some sort of a mask?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Do you know of it?¡± ¡°Yes we do¡­¡± ¡°What is it? Is it a threat to us? Shouldn¡¯t we do something about it?¡± ¡°Calm down Ratatoskr, I will explain. We are much older than you and we have seen many things¡­¡± Duneyrr confessed as he was looking at his brothers and Durapror continued ¡°There was once a time when the mask was worn by someone faceless¡­ He planted the Tree of Yggdrasil, brought fire into Muspelheim and ice into Niflheim, created Ymir and Surtur¡­ He brought us, then Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg to watch over his creation as he left into, what we like to call¡­ the Realm of Creation. His own home¡­¡± ¡°Yggdrasil has a creator?!¡± ¡°Yes, it used to¡­ He left only leaving the mask behind¡­ The mask has the ability to bend the laws of Yggdrasil and change about everything at his wearers will.¡± ¡°THIS IS DANGEROUS AND SERIOUS!!! Odin could take control of Yggdrasil that way!!!!¡± ¡°No he won¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°How are you so sure???¡± ¡°Because no child of Yggdrasil can surpass the knowledge and ability our creator had¡­¡± ¡°Does this mean we will just sit here and do nothing about it?¡± ¡°I did not say that¡­ His obsession of control is annoying, that is true and he will only cause damage to our Tree.¡± ¡°How can we stop him?¡± ¡°Odin is trying to prevent Ragnarok from happening, that is why he tries to figure out a way to use the mask. To alter himself some events from planning out. What we would suggest is to try and make sure that Ragnarok does happen!¡± ¡°Am I allowed to intervene in the events?¡± ¡°Are you joking? Haven¡¯t you been doing it already?¡± ¡°... You are right¡­¡± ¡°Find the one who already has witnessed the Ragnarok and try to plan out a way of triggering the events of the prophecy!¡± ¡°Jormungandr¡­¡± ¡°Yes the Serpent, Nithhogg''s champion¡­¡± ¡°He is just a child¡­ I cannot force him into another tragic event.¡± ¡°He is a child who has already witnessed Ragnarok! If you want to bring Yggdrasil into its stable condition you have to do it!¡± * Ratatoskr explained as best as he could the situation to Jormungandr. Asking for his help in order to make sure Odin¡¯s plans do not get to ruin the very existence of Yggdrasil! They need to make sure Ragnarok is going to happen! ¡°Let me think for a moment¡­¡± said troubled Jormungandr ¡°What if you just steal the mask from him?¡± he suggested ¡°I cannot do that!¡± answered Ratatoskr, ¡°I may be able to do many marvelous things with my abilities, but do not get fooled, I am no warrior! I cannot go unnoticed stealing from Odin without a fight! One that would mean my defeat!¡± ¡°What if you are not the one fighting?¡± ¡°What are you implying?¡± ¡°...I will fight Odin! And in our battle you try to steal his mask¡­¡± ¡°Are you crazy? You cannot fight Odin!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°My friend, we cannot risk you dying before Ragnarok!¡± ¡°Ratatoskr, I am a creature with no origin, remember? Even if I die, the Jormungandr from this timeline would live in order to fight in Ragnarok¡­¡± Ratatoskr was very angry and disappointed with the only solution they came up with. But they did not have any choice at all. If Odin does succeed in unlocking the mask¡¯s powers, he would be the one controlling the flow of time and would be the ruler of Yggdrasil! ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do it!¡± He agreed in the end, ¡°But how are we going to get Odin to fight you, not to mention to even come to Midgard?¡± ¡°Travel in Asgard, visit Loki, my father, and tell him that he has to reveal what the markings on the mask say. But advise him to lie! Tell him to think of something in order to get Odin to come with the mask in Midgard! My father is much clever than me and more cunning than everyone alive. He would find a way to get Odin to visit Midgard¡­ And when he does I will be waiting¡­¡± ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t go sideways Jormie¡± * The squirrel of the Yggdrasil did just like Jormungandr suggested. He traveled to Asgard and with his magical powers he sneaked into Odin¡¯s secret chamber. The one Loki was held hostage in. At that moment Balder was the only one there. Talking with the prisoner, just like Odin ordered him to do. But Loki was too cunning for any trickery being played upon him. He quickly realized that Balder was acting on Odin¡¯s orders. So he was saying nothing to him. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Soon after Balder gave up and left. That was the time where Ratatoskr had the opportunity to speak with Loki in secret. ¡°Hello, god-trickster¡± ¡°Wha!! Who is that?¡± ¡°I am Ratatoskr, the tusk traveler as they call me. We have never got the opportunity to meet!¡± ¡°Ratatoskr? What is a Yggdrasil creature doing here?¡± ¡°You will soon find out!¡± They were speaking in the ancient tongue. A speech no one speaks anymore except a handful. Odin was not one of them! That is why they were sure even if they were spied on, Odin would not understand what they were talking about! ¡°Your son sent me!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Jormungandr!¡± ¡°My youngest son! What is he doing? How is he?¡± ¡°He is fine¡­ kinda¡­ We have a plan to counter Odin¡± ¡°What? What do you mean ¡®we¡¯? What is the purpose of your visit?!!¡± ¡°Shut up and listen, will you?!¡±Ratatoskr was losing his patience as he was anxious about this whole situation, ¡°You have to speak with Odin about the Mask!¡± ¡°No! That would mean he would get to use it! Do you even know what that thing is? It is dangerous beyond imagination!¡± ¡°I know very accurately what that thing can do! It threatens Yggdrasil¡¯s balance! That is why I am here acting like some sort of agent. I must protect my home from this Aesir idiot!¡± ¡°And you are telling him to give him what would enable to control its power?!!¡± ¡°No! Think! You do not have to tell the truth! Just lie about it!¡± ¡°He is too cunning for that little squirrel! His eye sees beyond lies! He understands when anyone would lie!¡± ¡°Then hide the truth in a lie! I do not care what you are going to say! We are risking too much for this! Just find a way for Odin to visit Midgard!¡± ¡°Midgard? Why?¡± ¡°If Odin reaches Midgard we have a plan to steal from him the mask.¡± ¡°Steal from Odin? Are you looking out for some sort of death sentence?¡± ¡°Do you think I am afraid of him?¡± ¡°Well, if you weren¡¯t you wouldn¡¯t ask for my assistance!¡± ¡°You are in no position to act smart Loki¡­¡± ¡°Ha ha, always a pleasure, little squirrel!¡± ¡°Will you do it or not?¡± ¡°Yeah, I will try my best¡­ Just deliver a message to my son will you?¡± ¡°I am listening¡± ¡°Tell him to be safe¡­ and ¡­ that I am proud of him!¡± * They did not know when or how, but Jormungandr and Ratatoskr were on all time alert, in case Odin shows up at Midgard. They trusted Loki to do what he does best¡­ fooling gods. To their surprise he did it! The Bifrost rainbow hit Midgard! Odin steps out of it, but with Thor at his side! That is a bad sign for Jormungandr¡¯s and Ratatoskr''s plan. Even if Jormungandr could distract Odin, no one knows how he could handle both Odin and his nemesis together! But Jormungandr did not hesitate at all. At the blink of an eye he rose from the deep dark sees! Shrieking and charging at them! On his ascent, he rose the tides and tsunamis followed him, destroying everything in his path! The sight was apocalyptic and Thor immediately pulled out his Hammer Mjolnir and Thunder and black clouds followed his charge! Odin did not seem like he was about to fight. He let Thor deal with the World Serpent while he was on his quest to find what he was looking for! Jormungandr knew he had to distract the All-Father as well! In the battle with Thor, he was dodging Mjolnir¡¯s strike, he tried to push him away as he was charging at Odin! The battle was a horrible sight for anyone alive to witness. The destruction was immense! Mountains crushed, sea tides smashing on the surface, and lighting everywhere, lit the forests on fire! Jormungandr did manage to get to Odin and tried to bite him! Odin saw right as the serpent was coming at him, he pulled out his weapon, the spear Gungnir! He had enough of it! Together Odin and Thor charged at the Serpent! Thor smiled at the sight of Odin fighting beside him. It was the first time ever he got to witness the All-Father fighting! Jormungandr proved the legends as the greatest nemesis of the Gods and the title as ¡®Thor''s Bane¡¯. He was the toughest and deadliest opponent they could ever face! But Jormungandr did not have an easy task at all. He was facing the All-Father, the King of Gods together with the strongest Aesir, the God of Thunder! The battle lasted for hours! Until Thor with all his might and strength, tired and breathing heavily, he summoned a storm greater than any time ever before! Thunder hit him and his Hammer. He charged at the Serpent surrounding himself with a cloud of lighting! Jormungandr responded at his charge head on! They clashed and crashed at its other attack! While Thor fell to the ground and Jormungandr was dizzy after that clash. Odin took no time to respond! He threw his spear and hit the Serpent! Jormungandr cried in pain and agony! He looked at them as Thor was unconscious on the ground and Odin having the spear back at his hand ready for another throw. Jormungandr retreated, knowing that was all he could do. Odin did not give chase to the serpent, instead he ordered Thor to get back on his feet, while he sat at a nearby rock trying to catch his breath after the long battle. * Blood was floating on the surface of the sea waters. The serpent''s blood. At a far coastside beach, Jormungandr laid to rest. Ratatoskr soon appeared. ¡°That was¡­ horrifying to look at!¡± ¡°Ha ¡­ ha¡­ T-Thank you¡­¡± Jormungandr tried to find the strength to speak as he was too tired and wounded. ¡°Are you ok?¡± ¡°...I¡­ I will¡­ ghhh¡­ survive¡­¡± ¡°Glad to hear it, my friend!¡± ¡°Did¡­ did you¡­ma-manage¡± ¡°Do not speak unnecessarily! Yes I did! I got the mask!¡± Ratatoskr interrupted Jormungandr''s speech knowing he did not have the strength to do it. While he pulled out the mask! ¡°H..how¡± ¡°I TOLD YOU SHUT UP!¡± Ratatoskr demanded after Jormungandr constant attempts to speak, ¡°Does it matter how or when? You did your job distracting them! I did mine by stealing it!... We did it! We saved Yggdrasil from that fool''s plans¡­ The future is secured¡­ Ragnarok will take place as planned, I wonder how Odin would plan for it, once he realizes he does not possess the mask. I guess he will take his anger towards Loki, and the Giants. I am sorry for you father¡± Ratatoskr finished his monologue as he witnessed Jormungandr sleeping next to him. ¡°Take your rest my friend, you deserve it!¡± * With that he left Jormungandr to rest and recover from his wounds as he hopped into the Realm between Realms. While he was running and climbing from branch to branch an ominous urge and feeling overcame him with headache and pain! It was coming from the mask! Ratatoskr could not contain its power and sorcery! It was glowing green and Ratatoskr did not know how to handle it! ¡°This evil, dangerous power must be destroyed and disappear from Yggdrasil! Ahhhhh!!!¡± In pain he holds his both hands on to the mask. He gathered all his strength and with force he broke the mask in three pieces! But not without a price to pay in return! He lost his left eye and his life essence got split into another four variants of himself! Immediately when he managed to break the mask into pieces and scattered them into all the Nine Realms! That way no one would ever know of their whole existence and claim its maximum power. With his blood on his hands. He tried to cover his wounded eye, while he witnessed the four aspects looking at him! ¡°Who are you!?¡± ¡°Oh you do not recognize who we are? We are you! And you are us!¡± responded to him the aspect squirrel with a red color ¡°What in the Yggdrasil are you talking about?¡± ¡°We are the aspects of your personality you bigot!¡± The squirrel with a light green color responded ¡°We are the aspects of your personality.¡± told him the aspect squirrel with a blue color. ¡°Bitter, Arrogant, Anxious and Perfectionist! All are the aspects that define your personality, but I guess you already knew that, I am so sorry for interrupting¡­¡± said the purple squirrel ¡°Oh, I guess the mask does wonders indeed¡­ it..¡± ¡°It did what you were looking for didn¡¯t it? I mean you wished for a way to extract the feelings out of you! Somehow the mask did just that!¡± ¡°I guess for interrupting me that makes you, the..¡± ¡°I am the perfect one, the perfectionist!¡± ¡°Wonderful¡± ¡°D-d-does that mean we will follow you now?¡± ¡°And I guess for talking like that not so sure that makes you the anxious one!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah smartass, why don¡¯t you deal with it and get on with it¡± ¡°Bitter?¡± ¡°No! I am the Arrogant!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ man, I guess I¡¯ll get used to this¡­For now follow me, I have to teach you so we can work all together!¡± Ratatoskr continued on his way with his aspects following him and his commands.