53 - Fixing Loose Ends ( 1 )

Still on the back of Hræsvelgr, Poseidon faced yet another Realm falling and he not being able to stop it, ' I wounded him, but still, it's not nearly enough... We need more than me.'

The odds of the Gods against Chaos were not fair from the beginning, but what Poseidon saw and felt inside the portal made him even more apprehensive, ' Even if the Gods get stronger inside Chaos, Cthulhu was afraid of something after he let out the scream... And if he, who can destroy Gods with a breath, was afraid of something, how would we be able to fight against it?'

Poseidon was getting desperate, 'I've already died once as a mortal, been reborn as a God and I'm at death's door again...'

While thinking of something, anything really, to fight Chaos, Poseidon, and Hraesvelgr flew over what was left of Helheim, which was officially destroyed. '' What can we do?'' Poseidon asked this question out loud, but there was no one with the ability to answer.

With the imminent destruction of the Norse Realm, Poseidon was now racing against time, 'I don't know how long we have until the destruction of the realm... I hope it's more than 1 day.'

He had so much to take care of before he left. Laufey was still sick, Poseidon didn't know how Hephaestus was doing, getting Freya's wings back, killing Odin...

Hræsvelgr and Poseidon flew over all of Helheim, until they reached the 'exit' of the realm, or so Poseidon thought. Hræsvelgr finally landed and Poseidon got off her back. The 2 beings looked at each other. Poseidon tried to communicate with her using gestures for the eagle to follow him but to no avail.

' Looks like I'm going to lose another ally.'

Poseidon tried for a few more moments, but without success. Just as he was leaving, he felt a somewhat familiar presence, ' Ratatoskr...'

Knowing that the squirrel was connected to Ygdrassil, Poseidon knew that his chances of surviving the destruction of the 9 realms were minimal. Even so, he turned to face the squirrel.

Looking at Ratatoskr, Poseidon noticed that he looked strange, 'He must be apprehensive.'

Anyway, Ratatoskr immediately started to speak as soon as Poseidon faced him, '' You were right. Odin has placed portals in all 9 realms and they have only recently been opened. All the realms are at war with the forces of Chaos.''

Odin... this guy is like a cockroach! He just won't die!'

'' And,'' Ratatoskr looked behind Poseidon, more precisely at the crater that Cthulhu's final attack left, '''We have approximately 5 days until the total destruction of the Norse realm.''

''... I'm sorry. Hrasevelgr and I tried to fight the being, but it is beyond our powers.'' Poseidon was feeling sick.

''Don't worry. Any other God would be dead by now at that point. Everyone across the 9 realms felt the powers that eradiated by that being.''

Poseidon then finally asked, '' What about you? How will you be when Ygdrassil is eventually destroyed?''

Ratatoskr sighed, '' I am bound to Ygrassil. My fate will be the same as hers.''

It was a new way of saying that he would die. Still, Poseidon didn't want to lose a possible ally against Chaos. '' Isn't there a way to make you disconnect yourself from the tree?''

'' With my limited information, there is no way. The process is irreversible.'' Ratatoskr has apparently already accepted his fate.

Poseidon thought for a while, '' What if we broke off part of the tree and planted it in another Realm? Would it be possible for you to survive?''

Ratatoskr had clearly already thought of this, '' In theory, if we could carry a part of Ygdrassil out of the Norse realm, it would prevent the destruction of the tree and mine. But the part you would have to cut off would be huge and I would have to plant the tree again and I would lose my powers for a while.''

''But is it possible?''

Ratatoskr hesitated, '' ... Yes.''

Poseidon smiled, seeing a chance not to lose an ally, '' So that's what we'll do!''

''By the way,'' Looking at Ratatoskr, Poseidon asked, '' Do you, by any chance, speak the language of the Giants?''

-----

Leaving Helheim on the back of Hræsvelgr, who was convinced by Ratatoskr to follow Poseidon and leave the Norse realm, Poseidon went straight to Freya's house, where Hephaestus should be, ' Since I didn't see Mimir, Kratos nor Atreus in Helheim, they must already be there.'

Alas, flying on Hræsvelgr's back was convenient. Poseidon arrived at his destination in minutes, ' If my speed is like this, I can handle everything I need in these last few days.'

Hræsvelgr landed near Freya's house. As soon as the eagle landed, the door to Freya's house opened. The woman who appeared was herself, with a face of astonishment and surprise, '' What the hell is this?!''

Poseidon looked at the eagle and at Freya. He then said what everyone should say when they see a familiar person, '' Hi...?''

----

Before entering the house, Poseidon explained everything to Freya, who already knew that something was very wrong thanks to Hræsvelgr being in another of the 9 realms other than Helheim.

Freya put a hand on her head, '' Wait, so let me digest all of what you said....'' She took a deep breath, '' The entire Norse Realm is being destroyed in a few days, Chaos is invading the 9 realms, you want to take a big chunk out of Ygdrassil to save Ratatorsk, and Odin betrayed everyone... The last part I believe, but the rest...''

'' To tell you the truth, I thought Midgard would already be at war from what Ratatoskr said. Maybe the Chaos forces are fighting elsewhere.'' Poseidon added.

Freya looked intensely at Poseidon, who kept his face normal. In the end, Freya sighed, '' It doesn't look like you're lying, which means we're all screwed. Just when I've sort of managed to convince Baldur to start forgiving me...''

Poseidon felt that enough time had passed, so he asked, '' What about the situation with Hephaestus? And how is Atreus?''

For the first time since Poseidon arrived, Freya smiled, '' Why don't you go see for yourself?'' She pointed to the door of her house.

Poseidon wasted no time and went inside. As he passed through the door, he noticed that Hephaestus, who was supposed to be dead, was standing there talking to Mimir and Kratos. Noticing this, Poseidon practically shouted, '' Hephaestus!''

STAB

Hephaestus turned to face Poseidon. The God of Forges smiled at him, '' The last time we saw each other was less than a day. Why are you shouting?''

STAB

Seeing that Hephaestus wasn't that much affected by his ordeal, Poseidon relaxed. He then smiled, '' It's good to see you well.''

'' I'm glad to be back!''

STAB

Poseidon tried to ignore the sounds, but it got to his nerves, '' Can someone explain to me what he is doing?''

Everyone inside the house looked at the sound of the stabs. There, Baldur was stabbing himself repeatedly on his hand and laughing.

'' Let me explain that.'' Freya, that at some point entered the house, said, '' I gave him the 'cure' to his condition. He can feel now and is stabbing himself for some time now.''

STAB

'' ... Should we stop it?'' Poseidon asked.

'' I don't know. As long as he doesn't kill himself, all is good. Besides, he spent some decades without being able to feel anything, let him have this moment.''

STAB

'' If you say so.'' Poseidon then turned to Kratos, '' Is Atreus ok now?''

Kratos nodded, '' Yes. His condition is cured and he will have no problems in the future. Now, we just need to cure Laufey, and all is good.''

Poseidon was puzzled, '' You guys didn't feel it?''

'' What are you talking about?'' Kratos asked.

'' Let me try to guess.'' Mimir interjected, '' That portal in Helheim opened and some being of Chaos attacked. Seen as you're fine, you managed to beat it or you ran away successfully. My guess is the latter, and it means that something is wrong.''

Poseidon noted that Freya was already packing a few of her things. He nodded at Mimir,'' ... Odin managed to open the portal, and out of it came Cthulhu.''

Kratos reacted at that name, '' The same being you fought before?''

Poseidon nodded, '' Yes. This time, I managed to hold him for a few minutes, but in the end, it wasn't enough... The Norse Realm will be destroyed in 5 days.''

STAB

What Poseidon said made the entire house be in total silence. The only sounds were the ones of Baldur stabbing himself and Freya moving her things.

'' Well ... Fuck.'' Mimir broke the silence.

Kratos said nothing but Poseidon could see his hand trembling in rage. This made the next part difficult for Poseidon to say, '' Out of 4 big Realms, 3 have been already destroyed. Only the Greek one still stands, but by the way things are going, I doubt it would stay that way for long... Kratos, we need to go back there.''

It took some time, but Kratos nodded, '' When are we leaving?''

Poseidon was relieved Kratos accepted going back, '' We still have a lot of things to do here. We leave in 5 days.'' Remembering something, Poseidon took out the bell Ratatoskr gave him and shook it.

A few moments later, the squirrel appeared, '' What is it?''

'' How is the evacuation going?''

Poseidon and Ratatoskr already discussed their course of action. The squirrel would go around the 9 realms alerting the ones who still do not know, about the destruction of the Realm.

'' I just finished talking with the Dwarfs. They accepted the help to leave the Norse Realm, since they were being attacked by the forces of Chaos. Asgard noted the state of the realm and is battling the force of Chaos across the 9 realms. When I explained what will happen in 5 days, they didn't believe me. But I'm confident I can make them change their mind. I'm about to contact the other realms.''

'' Good. When you finished it, find us in this location.'' Poseidon gave Ratatoskr the way to Laufey's house.

The squirrel nodded, '' See you soon.''

After that, Ratatoskr disappeared in front of everyone. At this point, Freya already packed her things and was ready to leave. '' Okay, guide me to Laufey so I can heal her and leave this Realm for good.''

Poseidon nodded and looked at his group, '' Are we good to go?''

Atreus, who for some reason managed to stop Baldur from stabbing himself and made friends with the Aesir, nodded. Kratos and Mimir were also ready to go.

'' Then let's get everything in order!''