24: Self-Fulfilling

Jörmungandr's deep gaze was fixed on Hades. He slowly shifted his body so that his head was at the same height as Hades, but despite this he was still fully prepared should their fight continue.

"My brother?... Fenrir?" asked the world serpent, trying to guess which one it was. He had a much better relationship with Fenrir than with his other brothers.

Hades nodded and responded, "Yes, the big and angry wolf." He cracked his neck and stretched out his arm. "You know you could have gone a bit easier. It hurts a bit" he told the snake.

Jörmungandr glared at him with his abyssal eyes in a way that made it seem like he was telling Hades that he was not responsible for that. The snake's eye then drifted on his scales where blood slowly fell and with a piercing look, he ignored the previous statement.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I am not the one who decided out of nowhere to attack an innocent visitor." said Hades in an offended tone.

Jörmungandr looked sideways with his eyes living a crimson trail of light before asking in an overly serious manner, "Innocent, where? I see no innocent person nearby, maybe you killed them all by making the sea disappear."

"Oh, come on don't be so harsh, it was just a small pond of water. Beside at least now those fishes won't have to suffer living near your stinking breath any longer" answered the god of the dead.

The world serpent slithered lower to the ground and looked at the destroyed scope with a sorry glint "Can you blame me? I don't have such a pleasant relationship with most gods" whispered Jörmungandr.

"Maybe, but I doubt many gods would be dumb enough to show up here" retorted Hades.

Jörmungandr eyes silently the god of Darkness before telling him "You would think so"

Hades looked confused and asked in a mix of doubt and stupefaction "What?"

The serpent chuckled at his response before replying with an exasperated voice, "The Ragnarök had a somewhat big impact on their personalities, and they became fearless."

"Do not tell me they seriously believe that nothing can happen to them as their death is already predicated and written in the long list of those that will later die in Ragnarök?!" inquired Hades while he waved his hand thus making the evaporated water surge from reality and filled the gigantic hole.

Jörmungandr smiled at being in the water once again and lightly nodded. It was true. A few Norse gods had come here flying and tried to fight him for the fun of it. Jörmungandr of course did not care about their pathetic lives and easily humiliated them before breaking their spirits, mind and body.

After a few gods came back as a shell of their previous selves, most stopped coming but every century after a big banquet that are regularly hosted with lots of booze, some drunkards tried their luck. That was the reason Jörmungandr attacked Hades without showing himself, he thought Hades was one of them.

Hades slapped his forehead and shook his head in disappointment. He had heard that the Norse gods were impulsive (like the Greeks) but he did not know it was that much. He hoped the Aesir were not as much muscle brains as depicted in some stories.

"I guess and hope it was not the majority of the gods that tried to attack you" said the god of the living, feeling sorry for the snake for having to deal with idiots like them.

"No fortunately it was not. Most of them were unknown Aesir gods that overestimated their meager strength or their alcohol resistance." responded the snake.

"It would seem like the subjects of a god of wisdom are not that wise" said Hades lost in his own thought.

Jörmungandr lightly chuckled at that. His face however quickly morphed into a confused expression as Hades spoke. "Though I guess Odin is not the wisest of the wisdom gods"

"Why do you say that? Odin's head is literally filed with wisdom." asked the world serpent puzzled.

"Well, if we look at the beginning of Ragnarök, it is said that you will rise out of the bottom of the sea and thus Midgard will be flooded permitting Naglfar to free its moorings." Hades stopped speaking and looked at Jörmungandr who nodded before continuing to explain.

"And look where Odin threw you. The sea! Which explains the first part of Ragnarök. As for your brother it is said that he will snap his restrains and devour everything in his path and what is with him? He is chained." explained Hades

Jörmungandr looked thoughtfully and replied "That does make sense. But fate is supposed to be inevitable so no matter if Odin sealed me in the sky or the sea, I would have still gone in the water and flooded the world."

"It could have changed nothing, but there is a high chance that it would have changed something. A prophecy is not a fixed point of time. Time is malleable. A prophecy is merely a very small passage of an entire symphony. It tells things without ever doing it. And beside if a prophecy is forgotten or ignored, then it gets lost in the annals of history and the prophecy never gets realized." responded Hades before continuing his explanation.

"Most prophecy are self-fulfilling. The one about my siblings, my father and me for example was the same. My father had been told by his father that like him he would be dethroned by his children. In fear of that fate, my father swallowed me and my siblings thus provoking grudges and once free, we fought and won against him. Again, making the prophecy true"

"But if Kronos had not feared and had forgotten that prophecy, he might have never eaten us, and everything would be ok. And maybe his end would not have been the same, maybe as he got really old, he would not have wanted to be a king anymore and would have given one of us his crown. And even if the rebellion still happened, he might have won because I am pretty sure I would have sided with him."

***

synopsis to other fanfiction: (Loki: Soaring Winter (MCU))

Loki, a name full of meanings, a god, a higher being, something that mere mortals would have a hard time comprehending, but I will try to write you, with your mortal words, my story.

I was reborn as the son of Laufey, my path has only began, for the multiverse will soon come to know the name of Loki.

I grew up with my muscle head brother, and together or maybe alone we/I will rise to greater heights. Mortals and other beings will bow their head to a god, a being out of their sight, someone they can only revere and learn in fairy tails.

For I am the main character of those fairy tail, but my life was not so fairy as they wrote it.