Chapter 258: Mjolnir

Chapter 258: Mjolnir

If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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17th October 2012, Scotland, Earth

(Thor Odinson POV)

Before he could air his grievances, he looked behind him and saw what the Morrigan was staring at. It was what appeared to be a large rectangular rock, with an even larger stone pole coming out of it. It felt familiar for some reason, like an echo, or a voice of someone who spoke to him in his childhood. It resonated with his soul like no other. In his hand, his hammer started vibrating as well, recognizing the stone for some reason. It took a few moments, but Thor gasped when he understood what was in front of him, "That's not possible!"

The Morrigan gave him a smug grin, "Honey, you have no idea what's possible"

"That's" Thor didn't trust himself to continue his sentence.

"Yes, Odinson, this is Mjolnir, or more specifically, the first Mjolnir ever built."

The Crown prince of Asgard had no words. There was simply no way that he could express the wonder and confusion that he was feeling. He looked at the hammer in his hand. It was far prettier, it was made of metal, Uru metal to be more specific, and yet it paled in front of the rocky grey stone that made up the hammer in front of him.

"Any idiot could be powerful. Anyone could master magics or sorcery. Anyone can sell their soul to elder gods, demons and eldritch beings. Celestials are beings of unspeakable power and yet they would not be able to move this hammer one inch. Did you never wonder why your father never used Mjolnir? He knows of the existence of the original one, and yet he never tried to use it against the Shadows. Why do you think he never even tried? It's not because his spear, Gungnir, is more powerful, because it isn't, it's because he's not strong enough. Because strength is more than being mighty, it represents the strength of character, of will, of hope and resilience. The first Thor never planned to conquer using Mjolnir, he never wanted to use it to harm anyone, only to protect, and the hammer understood that. She deemed him worthy and hasn't accepted anyone that isn't a reincarnation of Thor ever since. For the continuation of the cycle, Mjolnir would appear on a planet, and Thor, after some form of tribulation, would come desperate to find a weapon to save his family, and he would be chosen by Mjolnir until the next iteration of Ragnark."

Thor was spellbound by the story and asked, "what happened? Why do I have a different Mjolnir?"

The woman looked at him as if he was a particularly dim child, and Thor started to shuffle around in embarrassment, "Well, the Shadows came, of course. Mjolnir's influence over your soul presented a problem. You were always going to be a wild card, but with Mjolnir, you were a wild card that was powerful enough to cause trouble. Thor Odinson lifting Mjolnir was a fixed point in time in every Ragnark cycle, so they chose to control it. In every iteration, they would build a powerful hammer, but not too powerful, and call it Mjolnir and give it to the Thor of the cycle and sealed away the original hammer to avoid troublesome situations. Unfortunately for them, they didn't expect how powerful the hammer truly was and how desperate it was to reunite with its rightful wielder. Names have power, and there was no doubt that Mjolnir was powerful. It was sealed away, hidden from your sight, but it didn't forget about you. Every time a new Mjolnir was forged, it became a shard of its namesake. It was barely more than a fraction of a fraction, but it was enough to protect you against the Shadows' influence. It's why you've always felt that your hammer was alive, that it pushed you in a way, because, in a way, it is, but only on a rudimentary level, because of the influence of its namesake."

Thor looked at the hammer he was holding reverently. It was his companion, that had gotten him through some tough times, both in battle and in matters of the heart. Inwardly he sent his thanks to the hammer and felt a slight comforting thrum of power in return. But there was something that was still bothering him, "But if it was sealed, then why is it here, on Midgard of all places?"

For some reason, the witch had a far away look on her face, "It happened thousands of years ago, I was around a thousand years old at the time, I think. My home was gone. In a fit of greed and madness, a magical clan summoned something that they really shouldn't have, and they tried to bind it. I did my best to fight it and was able to save as many as I could, but in the end, my home, Atlantis, was destroyed, and the survivors, who were barely more than children, that didn't understand our customs and our ways, scattered all over the world. I was alone, lost and confused. I didn't know what I should be doing with my life. I was part of a temporal anomaly, meaning that I couldn't die until the paradox was resolved. I couldn't die, and yet, I didn't wish to continue living without my family. I was tempted to just go into an enchanted sleep and wake up when the paradox was resolved. And I almost got through with it, until I found him, crashed down, on that hill over there. I had built a small hovel to act as a temporary home as I traveled here. One day, I found him in a crater, Thor Odinson, or more specifically, your predecessor."

Mesmerized by the story, Thor let the Morrigan continue her tale, "He had crimson hair, funnily enough, that was a color as rich as mortal blood. I found him, bleeding gold, with two empty holes in place of his eyes. I healed him, but was unable to regrow his eyes, probably since he lost them while using sacrificial magic. After I nursed him back to health, he told me of his identity, of his tale. His father had just died, and the nine realms were in chaos. He wasn't sure of his choices, and so he chose to imitate his father and grow even further. He sacrificed both his eyes for knowledge, wanting to surpass his father in both power and wisdom, and using this knowledge, he found and unsealed the original Mjolnir, a weapon powerful enough to bring peace in the nine realms. For a while, it worked, he had saved his people. But he was betrayed by his brother, Loki, and Asgard was destroyed and with him being the only survivor. He had avenged his people, of course, but he knew of the Shadows' involvement in Ragnark and his brother's betrayal. After his hail Mary, he was injured and he crash-landed on Midgard. After telling me his tale, he told me of the Shadows and of their goals. He had planned on weakening them, killing himself in the process, not wanting to live as the last Aesir. Because as long as he was alive, the cycle would not complete. He decided to sacrifice himself to weaken them as much as possible and asked me to keep Mjolnir safe until his next iteration came to claim it for the final conflict against Asgard's ultimate enemy."

A lone tear came down from the Morrigan's eyes, and she continued, "He was my friend, the first one I made after I lost everything, and it broke my heart to know that he was going to kill himself soon, and that there was nothing I could do about it. In many ways, he inspired me. We had both lost our homes, but even after all the agony and betrayal he had suffered, he didn't give up. He walked into his enemy's home, tried to take every single one of them with him, and greeted death as an old friend. His dedication to his race, to his people was moving, and I vowed to do the same for Midgard. And now, here I am, Odinson, fulfilling my friend's last request, bringing you to his hammer, to his ultimate weapon for the fight ahead. Now, let us see, successor of my friend, if you are worthy."

Thor nodded, excited and terrified. He slowly walked up the hill and grabbed the hammer by its stone handle, feeling it thrum with a power that far surpassed his own. And yet, he knew that it belonged to him, for Mjolnir and he had a deep bond that resonated with his soul, and for a moment Mjolnir and Thor were one.

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If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.