SIX MONTHS HENCE

PART II

By Ed Ainsworth

The envoy from Asgard, a dispatch of half of the remaining Gods, was significantly smaller compared to the party that met it. Balder put his hand on his Mothers shoulder, and she turned to face him, smiling. Her eyes caught the myriad of scars that taught the lessons of Mikaboshi over his skin, and faltered, looking away. Balder attempted to ignore it, and failed, his own gaze focused now at his scarred fingers. The Owl that now sat perched forever on his shoulder hooted once, ruffled its feathers and stared at Freya with crimson eyes.

“Your Owl, Balder…” Freya said with a catch in her voice “What…unusual eyes.”

“Mother,” he said quietly, “He hunts at Dusk.”

“Don’t we all,” she said pointedly, staring at her husband.

Magni peered at Thor and Odin, eyebrow arched, the pair refusing even to admit that their eyes might meet. The old boat, rickety and deeply uncomfortable for the royalty that sat within it, soared through the void of space towards the Asgard of Vili. His laughter, somehow, hung in the very air as they approached it – filling their ears and their hearts, with his vicarious pleasure.

Magni smiled.

His family did not.

“O, Lord of Gallows, King of Secrets. Before we enter the unknown domain of your jovial Brother – Do you wish to treat us all to the lies you seed in us, as though we are tarts waiting for your Wisdom?”

Freya stared at her husband, who simply closed his one good eye. She balled her fists and shook with rage.

“Families are complex, Freya,” he said slowly, “We should know better than most.”

“Aye, we should – but I know more about my Child, the God of Lies, than I do of my own Husbands life. I thought they were dead,” she hissed, “My heart is sick of you, Old Man. Sick of the weaving threads you refuse to let meet.”

“Perhaps they should be dead,” Odin said quietly. His finery eroded, gold tarnished, and armour rusted and cracked. The battle with Mikaboshi had rendered the King of the Gods to be little more than a weakened old Aesir. A step away from Village Elder on Migard, his tremendous power fractioned amongst his children, leaving him with none.

Thor said nothing, simply looking across to Magni, who couldn’t help but stare.

“The battle was never really won, was it?” he said quietly to his Father, “Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle? The scars of that battle run deep. I wish…”

Thor shook his head.

“Wishing is for those of us with the luxury of regret, Magni. Were we to give into to regret, we would spend forever living in yesterday. No, we must move forwards, irrespective of whether Odin truly wants us to or not.”

“Thor…”

“He is no longer King of the Gods. He possesses no power here. The battle with Mikaboshi broke him, and broke his connection to Asgard, and us. It gave us life again, a chance to tell a different story. One where he did not hold the pen.”

“Hush,” Balder said stood on the prow of the boat, “We near.”

It stretched on seemingly forever. The very edges of a city spilling over the balustrades of a boat the size of a Planet. They could barely see the edges of it, dwarfed by the scale. Underneath it, Asteroids and celestial bodies nestled in the grooves of the cosmic wood, like Barnacles of heavy metal and ultra-cold minerals. The wood itself seemingly carved from trees broader than forever, and measured in a thickness known only to black holes.

Towers stretching into forever, ringing with alien structures, plants that afforded cover for the inhabitants and some, like huge translucent mushroom sails, catching cosmic solar waves to power their propulsion. A tiny dot on the horizon, yet somehow filling it, stood its captain, the bearded, jolly and beaming Vili.

Before

“Mother?”

Sif bore her teeth under the darkness of her hood and continued to walk away from Magni. A high pitched keen came from above her, as a Sea bird circled. An Arctic Skua, screeching at Magni to move from its mistress.

“Mother,” he said, slipping into a step to follow her, “Sif, then. Please.”

She paused and turned to face him, jamming a finger into his chest.

“I do not want to hear more tales of adventures in your world, where I am a feeble maiden, a dotting Mother to a gaggle of Thor-Lings. I am not her, Magni. You would do well to recognise this.”

Magni placed his hand over Sifs and held it tight.

“I know,” he said quietly, “My Mother and you share a name, but differ in so many ways. My Father, equally, is so different a Thor.”

Sif’s eyes widened for a moment before she snatched her hand.

“I have business elsewhere,” she said, quietly. Magni nodded once and reached out for her again.

“A moment, please,” he said, offering a weak smile, “I would like, and by that I mean, I would wish to ask you – You are not my Mother. I should not have placed the burden on you to replace my own loss, but I would wish to get to know you, Sif. There are so few familiar faces in this world, I wish that I can look into one that shares at least a passing commonality with one I know.”

“I have already told you,” she said, her hand sliding down to her waist, gripping one of the many swords that was slung to her belt.

“And I understand,” Magni said, raising his hands, “I am a God of Strength, but even I realise that battering things repeatedly only breaks both the hammer and the nail. No, what I am asking is not turning you into my Mother. I wish to know you as Sif, Queen of the Beserker’s. I am asking to have a relationship with YOU – To know you as Sif, as you are now – not to make you into someone else. I am..”

Magni waved his hands as though he were searching for the right words.

“Temporarily marooned,” he finally said. He offered another wry smile, and tilted his head to one side, “Thor is not the man I knew as my Father, and we have, I believe, made some distance on making peace with that. I would like the opportunity to meet you and know you as an equal, rather than a template for a parent. Would you…do me that honor?”

Sif pursed her lips and let her hands slip away from the hilt of her sword. She took a step close to Magni and stared up at him, his auburn hair centimetres from her eyes.

“Perhaps,” she said, quietly, “but today is not that day. Perhaps one day I may see you on the battlefield, or in the haze of the Beserker, but not today, and not like this.”

She turned away from him, pulling her Cat-Skin cloak tighter around herself.

“Should anyone care to ask, I have gone hunting.”

“Where?” Magni asked.

“Hel.”

—

Now

“Welcome!” Vili yelled, holding a huge flagon of ale in the air, laughter hanging from his voice, “Welcome to Himmelflåten – I know, a little on the nose. But when you sail for as long as we have, you know that simplicity works!”

He grasped his Brothers hand tightly, pulling him up, and into a huge hug. Vili was a head shorter than Odin, and half as wide.

“You miserable fool, you’ve made a right old mess here haven’t you? I always told you, you needed to lighten up.”

Odin stared at his Brother, mouth agape. Freya pushed past and grabbed Vili’s shoulders.

“In Buri’s name, I have missed you.”

Vili beamed, pulling her into a huge bear hug.

“My Sister!”

“Not so much these days,” she uttered, extracting herself from his grip, “Where is Frigg?”

Vili paused, his smile falling away and he looked down at his Ale.

“Much has changed for us both it seems. You have lost your smile, Odin Borson, and I have lost my Heart. Do we dare ask what Ve has lost without us both?”

Odin shook his head and leaned on his staff.

“Show me the dining hall, Brother. I have yet to eat today, and I find that my balance is not what it used to be.”

“Must be something to do with the eyesight, Brother,” Villi laughed, “You seem to have neither the depth or warmth of perception these days – And who are these? Children?”

Vili glanced at Freya, who smiled.

“My Sons, and Grandson,” she said, pride virtually bursting through her.

“Ah!” Vili said, grabbing Balders shoulders tightly.

“You must meet mine! Although, I have two Daughters and a Son – We must meet, measure and enjoy! Our Families reunited!”

Vili swept his Seal skin cape behind him and marched forwards.

“Follow! Follow! Let us meet the family, and let us once again become a united house of Borson’s!”

—

Now

“I must ask you to do something for me, boy,” Odin said, to Thor. Thor said nothing, walking in step next to him, as his staff hit the deck, Vili chattering away to Freya and Balder. Magni walked behind, taking it all in like a lost child.

“How uncommon for you to ask,” Thor said, looking down at the ground.

“You’ll have to work harder than that to wound me,” Odin scoffed, “Vili believes I have made a mess, and I have, but he must not know that I am so diminished. He would think less of me, and less of us if he does.”

Thor cocked an eyebrow, letting his hand settle on his hammers haft.

“I do not get that impression from him. He seems outwardly reasonable enough. A pleasant change of pace, is it not?”

Odin glowered.

“Mikaboshi changed us all, in part because of my gift to you,” Odin said. Thor arched an eyebrow and stifled a laugh.

“I hardly consider being forced to house a portion of your Odinforce a gift, Father. You gave it to save yourself.”

“A gift is a gift, whatever the circumstances,” Odin said pointedly, “We must discuss the future of Asgard at some point. As it’s King..”

“Former King,” Thor said, “Balder rules Asgard now, Father. Under the sight of his Owl, and under the guidance of compassion. I trust him.”

“You would,” Odin said, “But he has not been tempered by diplomacy and change. He has not…”

Thor held up a hand curtly.

“You bartered your eye for wisdom, but learned nothing. Honeyed words and sharp barbs only illustrate that you were a better teacher for Loki than for I. We have finished speaking of this.”

“Do NOT…” Odin started. The group turned to look at him, and he shrank back, letting his pace slow to speak to Balder.

“Father…” Magni asked, tentatively.

“Not now, Magni,” Thor said.

***

Now

Vili’s laugh filled the huge longhouse before them, as he threw open the doors. Inside, a gaggle of strangely proportioned humanoids dispersed, leaving five huge wooden seats at the head of the room, staring down an enormous table.

The first to rise was a tall man, standing well over 8 feet in height. His skin was ebony, smooth and sheened like a rock. He smiled, warmly, and opened his arms in a gesture of welcome. Freya gasped.

“He’s enormous,” she said, “He’s wider than Thor and Odin together.”

Magni stifled a laugh.

“Father! You are back! And what wastrels have you brought with you this time?”

“Ho, Bodolf, I am returned! What have you wrought while I was away?”

Bodolf laughed, a booming sound that filled the room, louder and more robust than his Fathers. He crossed the distance, embracing his Father tightly.

“Did you miss me while I attended to state business for ten minutes?”

Bodolf shrugged.

“I am a God of Welcoming and Acceptance, am I not?” Bodolf said “Would you expect me to glower and gloom my way through your return?”

Behind Bodolf, playfully bickering, two women approached, but paused behind the enormous man. The shorter blonde woman seemingly the more passive of the pair, with the taller, dark haired woman sniping more aggressively.

“Bodolf, introduce your sisters?”

Bodolf offered a sarcastic bow to his Father, and gestured with an arm the size of Freya.

“My Sisters, Gyda, Goddess of those who are Lost, Unwanted and Forgotten,” behind his hand a tall woman, with short dark hair emerged. She smiled once, as a gaggle of individuals formed behind her. She closed her eyes slowly, and smiled, turning back to them.

“And my other Sister, Dagny, Goddess of Finding, and Understanding.”

Dagny remained behind her Brother, a hand on his massive, broad shoulder. The shorter women, with blonde hair in bunches that trailed her ankles. She offered an implaccable smile.

“Such…” Odin said, searching for the right words. Freya pushed past him, and embraced Bodolf’s forearm.

“I am Freya, Queen of the crater formerly known as Asgard, Estranged Wife to your Uncle, Odin. My Sons, Balder, Thor and his Son, Magni, stand before you.”

Bodolf’s massive hand wrapped the entirety of Freya’s hand, and forearm up to, and surpassing, the elbow.

“Welcome, Aunt. You are home,” he said. Freya’s face froze, and her eyes immediately welled up. Turning away from Bodolf, she moved towards Balder, stood in front of him, she paused, and put her head, very gently, on his shoulder.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she wept, openly. He held her, and allowed the shuddering sobs to work their way through her. Bodolf’s smile dropped, and he reached out – Thor held a hand to him.

“Cousin,” he said, softly, “Do not concern yourself. You did nothing wrong,” Thor said. Dagny stepped from behind her Brother and looked up at him.

“Our new family is correct, Bodolf. All you have done is be yourself, but you have given her something that her long life so far has been without.”

She, alongside Thor and Balder, stared at Odin, who closed his only eye and sighed, defeatedly.

“Come,” Vili said, gathering his arm around Odin’s shoulder. “Come.”

***

Now

Walking next to each other, Vili cleared his throat, and cast a glance to his Brother. The Five thrones before them gave way to a door leading into a quiet rear section of the Longhouse.

“I see that my time away has been hard for you, One-Eye.”

Vili smiled.

Odin did not.

“I have made many decisions, Vili, since you, Ve and Cul, opted to leave. Your years of exploring and selfishness left me to do what needed to be done. I gave up my laugh, so you could embody your own.”

Vili blew air from the corner of his mouth.

“Oh, I doubt that, my dower Brother. You never did laugh when we were younger – You have more in common with Cul, and Ve than I. I was never…”

Odin held up a hand.

“You were not like us but that does not make you less, Vili. Father was a uniquely…focused man.”

Vili shrugged.

“Focused on violence, you might say? I know. I was the focus for it many a time.”

“You were not the only one,” Odin said, “We all felt his knuckles on our skin.”

Vili closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I vowed never to be like him, Odin. I took myself away, with Frigg, to build a life away from Asgard, and Ragnarok and Yggdrasil. I wanted to build something that wasn’t designed around a cyclical predilection for violence.”

Odin looked up and around. The boat itself was enormous, holding buildings that climbed the rigging, the masts. Some fifteen, twenty stories high, all constructed from wood. Further down through the central streets, with carts pulled by long necked, tall seven legged creatures, Odin could see trees, and hear the sound of running water.

“You left a pair, and have built a society, Vili. How?”

Vili clapped his Brother on the shoulder.

“Determination, and sheer wit, my Brother. I have laughed my way from one universe to another, and discovered that it is not love that joins people, it is not violence or the same colour skin or hair. It is the joy in your heart to live.”

He brushed a hand through his beard a moment.

“When Frigg passed on, I was left bereft for a moment. A Father, to a young boy and two baby girls. I was left to face all of creation not as God, a Creator or anything else. I was a man staring down at my beautiful son, who as you can see, quickly outgrew me, and my two Daughters, who needed more of my time than I realised.”

He stopped, and gestured upwards.

“I built, and built and built. A place for them to grow and learn, to embody the Pantheon that I wanted to build. This is my Pantheon, Odin. Not a God of War, or violence in sight. We are an Asgard of Rescue.” He gestured widely, the braziers around them flaring for a moment, showing the diverse people that stood inside. Aliens, all, not Gods.

“You had a tree, to root you in place. I have a boat, to let me sail and see new things,” he grinned, his teeth white and gleaming, “With my laugh, Bodolf’s Welcoming, Gyda’s knowing and Dagny’s Finding, we travelled the universe finding lost Gods, who’s worlds had abandoned them to science, to antiquity, to violence. We found those like ourselves, and we made them part of us.”

“A noble cause,” Odin said, “But why do you return now.”

Vili laughed, a bold, deep laugh from the bottom of his belly.

“Is it not obvious, oh God of Wisdom – We are here to rescue you.”

***

“Another flaggon, Father?” Magni asked. Thor sighed, and held it tight.

“Not another. The same. I find my thirst is not quite what it used to be,” he looked over his shoulder, as the cheers from the Twin-Girls of Vili rang out through the Longhouse, Bodolf downing a barrel of beer, and Balder trying, and failing, to keep up with flaggon’s of mead split over the table. Freya laughed and clapped alongside him, slamming her fist into the wooden top to keep Balder awake and Focus.

His owl, looked on.

Balder offered a curt smile, backing away slowly, as the younger of Vili’s Daughters continued to press him. He looked deeply uncomfortable. Thor held onto the bannister of the side of the boat, looking down at the oars the thickness of bridges that stretched seemingly forever below.

“Balder wants me to remain here, to couple my power with his – I believe he fears those women. Odin wants me to travel with his Brother, Vili, and my Mother…”

“She wants you to find, Loki, aye. I can believe it. Grandmother always had a soft spot for Cats, and Loki.”

Thor nodded, a smile in the corner of his lips.

“Both as Mercurial as the next, but more, Magni. You spoke of a Brother, Sister even? I would….wish to meet them, I believe.”

Magni closed his eyes and smiled.

“Perhaps one day you will, Father,” he followed him walking towards the Longhouse, “What need of me do you have?”

“An envoy,” he said, turning to face him, rubbing the stubble on his chin, “I wish to make my own mind up about my path, be it via the Ocean of Stars, the Quest of my Mother, or to sit at the side of my Brother – I feel…” he paused and adjusted his cape, “I feel trapped by potential, Magni. I feel as though there is much decision to be made and for once, that decision is one of my own making and not me being foisted into a situation where I can…smash my way out.”

“Not everything is a Nail, Father,” Magni said quietly, “So you wish for me to go in your stead?”

“Almost,” Thor said, “I wish for you to discover yourself, as I had. As my Father had. Though adventure, through camaraderie. I want you to take my place on Migard.”

Magni stopped dead in his tracks.

“Father, I have only just found you. You have only just…accepted me. I do not want to leave.”

“I am not asking you to leave, Magni. I am asking you to live. I am asking you, to take yourself to the World below, as my Grand Father, Father and I did, and live. Learn. Become, perhaps even Love? You are a God of Strength but I see now your power comes not from your muscles but from your place in the world.”

Magni felt a catch in his throat. His Father, a man of few words in the world he hails from, a hard man to love, had never spoken with such earnest to him. He had never earned it.

“You are calm, steady, even. You provide a platform for others to rail against, and do not yield until they are ready to learn. You are an Anchor of Strength. Please, I have no right to ask you this, but be my anchor in Midgard – Be where I cannot be, and learn how to be the Thor I should have been.”

Magni bowed his head.

“My King, I…”

Thor grabbed his chin and tilted it up.

“Not your Father, not your King. I speak as your peer, your equal. Your worth is as much as mine in this world, and I would wish that you adhered to it. I would wish you noticed that your value does not come from being compared to mine – I am not the mirror to measure your reflection. I am a pool to temper your blade.”

Thor let go of his “Son’s” face, and Magni, shocked and humbled, flushed red.

“Thor…”

“I have many friends in Midgard, but some you may need to visit sooner rather than later. The Odinpower…Thorpower now…is diminishing, but I can tell my friend Stephen Strange needs more assistance than his meagre friendships can allow. Please. Attend to him.”

Thor gestured, towards the darkness beyond. Magni could not see Earth from his vantage point, but looked alongside his Father.

“Go in my place, and be Thor, Magni. Please,” Thor gestured, lightning glowing between his fingers. An explosion of ions blew Magni’s hair back, leaving with it, a twisted and gnarled handle, and a wide headed axe. The handle was twice the length of Mjolnir’s, ending with an ornate pommel. Alongside the Hammer, a screech rang out across the starkness of space. A bird, its beak glowing with the power of the Rainbow Bridge landed on Magni’s shoulder. A Puffin, tilting its head to one side, and staring upwards.

“Yours, Magni. It’s all yours.” Thor put his hand on his Son’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“And your decision, Thor? Where will you go? To Space with Balder? To find Loki, or whatever task Odin has for you?”

Thor paused, furrowing his brow.

“I must go my own way, Magni. I think before I take care of others quests and quandaries, I may do well to resolve my own – No, I must find my other Brothers. Whatever we call it, the force of the remaining Blood of Asgard dwindles, and we….we must ensure that Asgard does not sleep forever.”

Magni nodded, and grasped his Fathers wrist.

“To staying awake, then?”

Thor grinned.

“To staying awake – but now, my boy, you must Stay Away.”

Thor winked at the Puffin, who called once, and shed his beak, pulling Magni away from Vili’s City boat, and into the unknown.

(For more from Magni, see Defenders #25 for some significant displays of Strength)

“Ah, a bold move, my Son,” Odin said. In tow behind him Vili, Freya, and Balder, “Sending him away to learn the lessons you needed to learn. How you have become like me.”

Thor bared his teeth in an unexpected display of rage.

“I am nothing like you, Odin,” he said, stalking towards them. Vili visibly stopped, staring at the interaction, “I have sent him away to find his own path, not to punish behaviour I had cultivated myself.”

“Brother?” Vili asked.

Odin waved a hand at him

“Youth still prevails in his actions. Emotion untampered with logic.”

Odin gathered himself visibility and stepped towards Thor

“I have spoken over with my Brother, and my…wife…” Freya shot him a withering glance, “And perhaps, in light of Vili’s return and our desire to find our remaining Siblings, to reunite the Borison’s, that it is time for you to return to me what I granted you custodians of.”

Balder balked, twisting his head to stare at his Father, while Thor stopped, and smirked.

“You wish for the return of the Odin-Force, to you? A power that was given freely, without condition, in order to defeat Mikaboshi?”

Odin narrowed his eyes.

“Nothing is free, Boy. Return it.”

Thor cocked his head.

“Pay for it,” he said, under his breath, then again, louder, “Pay for it. You are All-Father, are you not? The Gallows God, who stood and watched as Asgard toppled under the attack of an outside force? Are you not Sky-Father who proceeded over the falling of that very same layer?”

Odin stepped forwards, fists balled.

“If you knew the choices I make every day, Thor, you would…”

“What? What would I do, Father? Make the same ones as you? I would gloat and scheme and hide behind others, while your abused adopted Son saved the Asgard that hated him? That your own Son, who you tethered to Midgard gave his life on more than one occasion to resolve your meddling in things you have no ownership of?”

Odin growled.

“Mind, Boy.”

“Or your other children? Sired away from your long suffering wife, with Giants and all manner because your oh so wise decisions did not include the zipping of your trousers? Where is Vidar, Father? Where is Tyr?”

Odin swung his fist at Thor, who caught it neatly in his palm. He twisted, using his Fathers momentum to throw him, face first, into the decking.

“You watched as your Wife, donning armour of her family; your Son’s, wielding naught more than sticks and stones, fought a monstrosity who could level reality. All while you stood on, and at the last possible moment, when you thought you would be consumed, passed on the power that could have saved all of Asgard if you had just acted.”

Odin pushing himself to his feet, turned

“Tell me, Father, how many times must we die to sait you? How many times must we live to serve you?”

Vili pushed his way between them and stood, staring at his Brother.

“I pride myself on seeing the positives, Odin, and you have told me you are a Good and Nobel King,” Vili turned to face the impassive face of Balder, pinned in place, the Owl staring implacably at Thor. Thor, almost vibrating with rage stood before him, and Freya’s look of absolute disdain of her husband laying in the ground.

“I see no evidence of love in this family. There is a saying on this vessel, if everyone you meet smells of Oxen shit, perhaps check your own shoe first.”

Thor’s anger dissipated for a moment and he smiled, letting his arms drop.

“Father,” Thor said, his words dripping with sarcasm, “Vili appears to have attained wisdom with only the sacrifice of time. Perhaps there is something for you to learn here.”

He turned to leave, with Odin producing a knife from his waistband.

“I will not be disrespected by my own flesh and blood,” he said, baring his teeth. Vili, whirling on the balls of his feet, delivered a kick to Odin’s wrist, sending the knife spinning, a moment later, a thundering fist that bounced the former Kings head off the decking, leaving him unconscious. The thunderclap of the impact blowing the gathered groups clothing upwards, a blast of hot, salty air filling their senses.

Vili, a grim smile on his face stood over his Brother.

“Apologies. Family disputes can get heated but there is no room for that sort of violence on my home,” he turned to Thor, Freya, Balder, “Is this….common?”

Balder looked away. Freya’s lips were a thin line, and Thor nodded firmly.

“I see that Bor lives on then,” Vili said quietly.

He paused, in thought, and looked at Thor.

“I ask you this, Thor, as a man looking at a mirror of himself centuries ago. My boat, my home, is a place of rescue, a refugee against the violence of Gods – Do any of you wish to be rescued? To come with me to surf the waves of the Stars?”

Vili turned to them, arms open, as a Star crested the prow of the boat, silouhetting him.

“Come with me Thor, while we find my Brothers, and teach Odin that family is more than just blood, be it in your veins, or on your knuckles.”

Thor looked at his Mother, who closed her eyes softly.

“Go, we will find your Brother,” she said.

“Brothers,” Balder added.

Thor paused, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Explore the Stars? Raise Asgard? Find my Brothers? What else, what else is there, for me?” He looked over at Vili; at Balder; At Freya.

“My Job has ever been to protect and Defend. Defend my Father, Protect my Mother; from themselves, from each other, from my Siblings, from Loki.”

Thor sighed, and blew air from the corner of his mouth.

“For the longest time I thought that was my roll. God of Thunder and Heroics on Midgard. Patron Saint. For the longest time I thought my role was to fill time before I must fight my way to my death, but..”

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

“This cycle was always Odins and never ours. All it took for us to break from this was for him to relinquish the tiniest bit of power, and I…I cannot get that thought from my head. We have always been the way he dreamed us, made us, and now we are away from that…what are we? Are we to find new roles for ourselves, or to remain in the same niches?”

He stared down at his prone Father.

“No,” he said, quietly, “No, Vili. Do not leave just yet. Balder, do not start to rebuild just yet. Mother, do not look for Loki yet. I ask you this – What do you want to do? What do you want to be? Granted the power of the All-Father, what do we want to be?”

Thor walked over to his Father and collected him up in his arms, holding him the way a Father would hold a sleeping child. He looked down at him, a frail looking old man cradled in his arms, and he felt a smile crack over his face.

“He took loss and impossible power, and used it to create us,” he looked up at Vili, “But he, as you, were a product of his Father, and his Fathers-Father. Bor and Buri. I do not know them. I do not want to know them, but, I must.”

“What do you mean?” Vili asked.

“We are going to meet your Father.”

Next Issue: Whilst Thor travels to meet his Makers Maker; what Mischief has Loki wrought?