Chapter 22: The future of Ásgarðr!

Chapter 22: The future of Ásgarðr!

Here is the new chapter!

Enjoy!

*Any images in this chapter don't belong to me! It belongs to their respective artists/creators!

Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

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- Timeskip: 1 day after Thor's journey in the land of the dead.

- Location: sgarr / Main Palace / Throne Room.

Pov. Third-person.

In the throne room of the Aesir realm, Loki, Frigg, Njord, Skadi, and Odin, who was sitting together with Frigg on his famous throne, the Hliskjlf.

These people were arguing about the future of the next generations.

"Odin... You are my king, and I respect that, you have won the war fairly and honorably and established peace for the first time between us, the Vanir gods, and you the Aesir gods... You need to consider what I'm asking carefully, so that this peace may exist for many generations to come... As it stands now if by chance we die, another war may break out, and it will be OUR own extinction due to OUR numbers!" explained Njord, leader of the Vanir gods.

"I thought your son was the 'god of peace' Njord, but does it look like he's also hungry for power?" Loki asked with a slight edge of sarcasm.

Odin frowned.

"Loki! Have more respect for our allies! Don't make such accusations, even if it's 'just a joke' for you, we're talking serious business!" said Odin, with finality.

Loki then held up his hands in surrender.

"I just think brother that this situation is... 'Peculiar', after all, they are asking for too much," said Loki, explaining.

Skadi then rose from her chair in a rage.

"'Asking for too much'? We want to establish a lasting peace! And we seem to want this more than all of you here!" shouted Skadi pointing to Loki and then to Odin.

Loki then smiled.

"Control your wife, 'leader' Njord... After all, Jotuns are quite prone to doing shameful things in search of unnecessary conflict~" said Loki.

"You are a Jotun too!" replied Skadi.

"It's true... But I didn't grow up among savages like you~" replied Loki.

Skadi grimaced.

"You bastard!" screamed Skadi already creating an ice spear.

"Oh~... Do you really want to fight, Skadi? Such limited behavior and thinking As expected from a wild one," Loki said with a tone of disappointment.

But you could see a mocking little smile on Loki's face.

"THAT'S IT! I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE AND HANG YOUR SKIN ON THE BRANCHES OF THE NEAREST TREE AND OFFER YOU TO LRAR!" shouted Skadi.

Before Skadi could leap towards Loki, Njord had grabbed her arm.

"ENOUGH!" shouted a voice.

It was Odin, and he was angry.

"Loki if you're going to create unnecessary conflicts, you'd better leave, if you choose to stay silent! And you Skadi, my brother speaks some truth... You are asking too much..." said Odin, with a frown.

Loki chose to remain silent, but Skadi...

"Odin! Please understand! As much as Frey does not seek conflict, the other Vanir gods are not like that... Old blood, Odin... Old blood means settling scores. Some gods lost cousins, uncles, parents, siblings, lovers, sons, and daughters during the last war against the Aesir, and I'm sure there are some Aesir who lost someone too. Frey and Freyja are pretty much alone, Njord and I managed to keep the other gods in line because we fought in the last war too, but Frey and Freyja didn't... And they are the future leaders, so we need to secure their position," said Skadi in supplication.

It was then that Frigg decided to speak at this point.

"And this is how you intend to secure their position as leaders? By marriage? What kind of guarantee do you have that this idea will work?" asked Frigg.

Njord then decided to explain.

"We can only respect force It's the only thing that will keep everyone in line. No one in their right mind will question Frey's leadership if his brother-in-law is the future king of sgarr as well as being the most well-regarded and beloved god by all his people... It would be long-term suicide," explained Njord.

"My son will not be a 'guarantee'!" shouted Frigg.

Frigg quickly rose from the throne and walked towards Njord.

"Have you ever thought about how this 'idea' can go wrong?! Furthermore, even if we accept marrying Balr with Freyja, what stops the rest of the Vanir gods from 'silencing' Frey and putting his sister in power? Huh?! This marriage proposal is ridiculous! It can go very wrong! I will not let my son be killed because of 'old blood'... I also lost my father in the war against you, but Odin and I ruled over the Aesir without a problem," said Frigg crossing her arms.

It was then that Skadi could stand it no longer.

"Of course you ruled 'without a problem', who doesn't remember the 'blood eagle' that King Odin used to do with some of his captured enemies?! No one is crazy to challenge Odin knowing very well what he has already done during the war!" shouted Skadi.

Odin then chose that moment to speak calmly.

"This is what happens in a war. For every 'blood eagle' I made, I saved 10 of my people from an unnecessary fight... In a war, if both parties have equal numbers of soldiers, the greatest weapon is the 'fear' you cause in your enemy... But now that the war between us is over I have let you keep your titles as leaders of the Vanir, and your status as prince and princess... That was my way of starting to ask for forgiveness for what I did..." said Odin silently.

The room was silent until Njord began to speak.

"*sigh* I understand that, Odin... I also had to use 'fear' as a weapon... We, Vanir gods, have a long history with you Aesir. But you have to see the reason... If we have succeeded in uniting the Aesir and Vanir royalty, there will never be a risk of future conflict, in addition to ensuring the peace between the Aesir and Vanir," said Njord.

For a moment the room seemed to have gone silent once more, it seemed that all the gods present were considering Njord's words.

"If we do Our kids never married for love," Frigg said.

"If we do, then No. But again, we didn't have that privilege of marrying for love either," said Skadi.

And it was true.

Odin and Frigg were married for politics.

Skadi and Njord? Politics too. A Jotun with the leader of the Vanir gods.

And Loki and his current wife, Sigunn? A political marriage to allay the other gods' distrust of Loki, marrying him to an Aesir goddess.

"As much as they don't marry for love... Just like us, they can learn to love each other over the years..." said Odin.

Loki then raised his hand, the intention was clear... He wanted to speak. Skadi, when she noticed, frowned.

Odin then nodded but gave him a warning look.

"I understand that you want to propose this marriage to avoid bloodshed... What I don't understand is: 'why' Balr? He's a good fighter and has a talent for magic I admit, but he's far from instilling fear in others, he's more loved than feared... And for this specific situation, it's not the best choice," explained Loki.

Skadi and Njord were confused.

"Could you explain then Loki?" asked Njord.

"Our aim is 'to quell any future rebellion' and, as my brother has already commented, 'fear' is a good weapon when both parties are 'alike' in strength... After all, you're better to be feared than loved when you want to end some rebellion quickly. Unfortunately, for this situation, Balr won't help; his first title is 'the god with the gold heart', he's too innocent... He's too... 'good'. So it won't work... Balr is loved but not feared" explained Loki.

Skadi seemed to think.

"...So who do you suggest?" asked Skadi.

Before Loki could respond, Odin interrupted him by summoning Gungnir and hitting the ground with it, drawing the attention of those in the room.

"This meeting is finished... Because it looks like I have an unplanned visit" said Odin looking at the throne room door.

The gods then looked towards the door, and initially did not understand... That's when they remembered the capacity of the throne of Odin.

This meant that Odin saw something coming towards the throne room.

Skadi then spoke.

"... Are we under any attack my king? Any invasion?" asked Skadi, ready for combat with an ice spear in hand.

"NoIt's justMy son" explained Odin nervously.

The gods were confused, why would one of Odin's sons come to the throne room now? Besides, couldn't the guards or the Valkyries stop Odin's son from interrupting this important meeting?

It was then that Loki, noticing Odin's growing nervousness, asked a question.

"Odin... Who, EXACTLY of your children, is coming here?" asked Loki suspiciously.

Odin turned towards Loki and smiled.

"It's your 'favorite nephew', brother," Odin said with a smile.

Loki widened his eyes.

"I'm out of here," Loki said.

But before Loki could make any teleportation circles, he was interrupted by something.

*BAM*

He was blind.

My family was disappointed... After all, we WERE a warrior society.

A warrior born 'disabled'?... He wouldn't have a very good childhood... So I decided to help him in some way.

The best way I found?... I will create something that will help him a little during his life.

As soon as I got back to Midgard, I started working on my little gift to Hd...

The Iron Nanny! The most competent nanny in the world!

I was also thinking about my little brother Balr's centenary, so I had to busy myself with finding the items to forge these things.

Initially, I was thinking about creating a bow for Balr... But I stopped to think about that because he doesn't really like using weapons... Balr prefers the classic.

The fists.

So I decided to give him the 'classic weapon' that would only become popular a long time later.

The weapon? A custom Knuckles (English punch).

Nothing can beat the classic.

I also decided to give him my old fishing Drakkar, the same one I used when fishing Jrmundgander. I had no more use for the Drakkar, as I could build a better boat.

After some time collecting items and building gifts, I was finally done!

Balr's boat was a simple Drakkar... With some runes like the 'always at sea level' rune, and storage for the fishing loot.

The Drakkar didn't have much fishing equipment... In fact, it only had one fishing line.

It was my spare fishing line... Made from the spinal cord and muscle fibers of a Grootslang.

In my opinion, it was the perfect gift!

Anyway, there was only one thing missing...

"I already said you can't go" I said looking at my stubborn little partner.

"*whining*"

It was Fenrir... The stubborn one didn't want to let me go.

While I wanted to bring him, I wasn't sure if he would behave.

After all, he still had a 'primitive' mind.

If Fenrir saw Odin or Loki I'm pretty sure there would be 2 more bodies in the quota of the 'god slayer'.

"Don't worry cousin, I can take care of him!" said a voice.

I looked towards the voice and saw Hel, she was visiting again, and by coincidence, it was the same day as Balr's centenary.

By the way...

"You can't," I said in finality.

Hel looked surprised.

"But then... *sigh* If I can't stay, and since you seem to be on your way out... Then I must return to the land of the dead," said Hel, her shoulders slumped.

"... What do you mean? You're coming with me," I said.

This seemed to have surprised Hel.

And it looked like Fenrir had understood the basics: His younger sister can go, but He doesn't.

And then he began to bark in indignation.

"*Woof! Woof!*" barked Fenrir.

"Ugh... Alright! You can go too, but you won't leave my side!" I said, in a warning tone, to Fenrir.

Whether he understood what I said or not, he didn't show it.

I just hope it's a no-kill party...

Hmm

I then remembered something important.

Hel's answer.

When I looked at Hel again, I could tell by her expression... that she was afraid to go.

"...I don't know cousin... It's been many decades since I went to sgarr... I don't know if it's a good idea to go with you, maybe it's better if I stay here or go back to the land of the dead..." explained Hel.

So she was afraid to go to sgarr...

"While it may be my brother's centenary party... I, as a prince, have every right and MUST be there... Just like you, as a princess of sgarr, have EVERY RIGHT to be there. Don't worry... You can stay close to me if you're not too comfortable with the eyes of others" I said.

It was a struggle to make Hel act more confident.

But it was to be expected from someone who has been alone for a long time.

So I had to give a 'little nudge' in the right direction.

If no one from sgarr approves of Hel's presence at the celebrations... Well... I want to see them try to unjustly expel her from the party, with me next to her...

"Okay I'm coming with you. But don't leave my side, okay? Please" asked Hel, still a little uncertain.

"I swear, and besides me, you will have your older brother as sgarr's scariest bouncer," I said pointing to Fenrir.

Who chose that moment to scratch behind his ear with one of his paws He seemed to be enjoying the feeling because he had his tongue out as he scratched.

"Hahaha... What a 'scary bouncer'!" said Hel, looking at me.

"I'm still training him" I replied grumbling.

Nice time to do this Fenrir... Perfect timing...

"*sigh* Here" I said to Hel, pulling a small package out of my storage necklace.

As soon as Hel took it she asked as she looked at the package.

"... What have inside?" asked Hel curiously.

"Inside the package in your hands is a miniature Drakkar inside a glass bottle... This is the gift YOU will give to Balr," I said in finality.

Hel looked startled and now held the package as if it were the most fragile thing in the world.

"No! I can't! What if I break it?! Besides that, It was you who did it! If I gave this for Balr It will look like I did it!" said Hel as she tried to give me the Drakkar back.

I just pushed the Drakkar firmly into her hands.

"I won't deliver it! I already have another gift for him, and as you are going to participate in the festivities you MUST bring a gift, especially if you are family! Also, it's not quite 'lying' you're just going to offer him the gift, it's not like you're going to say you made this Drakkar. And don't worry about breaking the gift, the glass that is protecting the Drakkar will absorb the impact and it will break, but it will leave the Drakkar intact," I said assuring Hel.

She then nodded.

"Right... So let's go now?" asked Hel, with a small smile.

She seems to be more excited.

Well... Compared to the fear she'd had before, that was a good sign.

"Yes, come on... I'll teleport us to the rune of sbr (Bilrst / Bifrst) here in Migarr" I said.

Next stop, Centenary of Balr!

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Well... That's it, folks!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Until next time, and don't forget to leave your comment!

*Subtitle:

sbr = is the Bilrst (Bifrst) bridge.

Lrar = Tree located on the roof of Valhll.

The next chapter will be out on Wednesday!... Probably? _()_/