Legendary

It took until the spring had firmly supplanted winter in Valhalla for me to be able to control my power to puff people to Hela's domain. It was finally determined that I had some rogue power similar to what the valkyries used to move themselves and retrieve souls. After that discovery, control of this projective aspect of power became a lot easier and finally allowed me to become skilled enough to take up my duties as a valkyrie. One morning, Odin summoned me and gave me my first task. It was a soul retrieval job and he said it would be tricky. I paraphrase, of course. The soul was on a planet I'd never even heard of, and I had to go talk to Heimdall to be shown where it was. I also had to take a horse, as the travel would be too difficult and draining for me to return with the soul on my own.

So I attired myself in the classic white dress of the valkyries (gotta keep up appearances), grabbed my spear, checked out a flying horse from the herd, and summoned my will and the power to slip into time and space, and after a long and hard-fought journey, the horse and I popped out into the atmosphere of a warm green planet. The horse glided, playing with the thermals, until we found the plateau that Heimdall had identified for me, and there at the base was the remains of a large man. It looked like he was going to explode at any moment from the buildup of gas in the corpse. Standing by the body, looking forlorn, was a smaller, scruffy-looking man. Yep, time to vacate. We landed and I turned the man away. The horse and I walked him a fair distance away before we stopped and I got a good look at him. He was human sized and looked vaguely familiar, although for the life of me (so to speak) I couldn't place him. I didn't really know how to say it, but the guy looked helpless and lost, so I just blurted it out. "I am Thyra, a valkyrie. I have been sent by Odin to bring you to Valhalla." Ok, my patter needed work. Lots and lots of work, but it caught his attention.

"You sound American," he observed.

"I am. I'm new at this," I confessed. "My name is actually Alex. You get a valkyrie name when you sign on."

"Do you know Thor?" he asked.

"I do," I confirmed, happy to be able to say something that might make me look more competent, even just by association. "He's King of Asgard now."

"That's very interesting," he said, looking like he actually did find it interesting. "Do you see him much?"

"He comes to Valhalla every so often," I told him. "Now, will you come with me?" Jeeze. What if he didn't want to come? I'd hate to go back to Valhalla without my soul. The soul I'd been sent to fetch. Does it have to be a free will thing or could I tie him up?

The man looked back the way we'd come. He seemed like a nice guy, mild, dark curly hair, kind face. "Well, there's nothing left for me here. Might as well," he said, so I mounted the horse and gave him a hand up behind me. The horse gathered herself and launched into the sky, wings beating strongly, and when she was ready I sort of shifted us back. The air was cold as we glided in, circling the great hall. The shields that made the roof glittered in the light, and I wondered what this man would think of the hall, with its rafters made of spears and the seats made of breastplates. He didn't seem to be the type to buy into warrior culture. The horse dodged one of the eagles that hung out in the airspace above the hall, and began her descent. When we landed, the man looked a little blue.

"Spring just arrived," I said. I was chilly too. "This way, please. After Odin greets you, we'll get you all set up, including getting you warmed up again." I pointed the way to the main hall with my spear, glad to use it somehow.

"I don't know why I'm here, actually," the man confessed. "I'm not a fighter, personally."

"Odin didn't tell me what you'd done to earn your place here," I said. "But he'll have his reasons."

"I was a scientist," he said ruefully. I wondered how he ended up so far away from Earth, but there are just huge bucketsful of weird in the universe.

"Well, you aren't the only scientist here," I told him, grateful to have some good news for him. We hit the front lawn and as we strolled up to the main doors, the huge carved wooden doors opened out, the wolves that prowled the hall as guards hustled over, and Odin strode out. He does love an impressive entrance. He nodded to me.

"Well done, Thyra," he said. Behind him, Tony strolled out, eating an apple and looking curious. I thought he'd like to meet a fellow scientist and nodded toward the new man. Tony took one look at the new guy and dropped his apple, shooting over to hug him. My mouth gaped, and even Odin looked taken aback. The men knew each other, that was evident from the happy greetings on both sides and the back slapping. Odin raised his eyebrows, made a short welcome speech, and directed Tony to get the guy settled in.

"Come on, Bruce," I heard him say encouragingly as they turned away. That finally got my stupified brain back in motion.

"Bruce...is that Bruce Banner?" I asked Odin, my brain finally making the connection, and he nodded.

"He helped to free my son from a captivity engineered by Hela," he said, then dismissed me. I went to my room to change, putting on some old work clothes. I was back in time to help the valkyries with the shearing of the sheep and lambs. Oh, yay.

Later that afternoon, I crawled back to my rooms, muddy and exhausted. Shearing is trickier than it looks, and I'd been tired already from retrieval. I rinsed off the mud and drew a hot bath for my muscles and also because the mud had been cold, getting out just in time to make it to dinner. I didn't know if Tony would be there or want my company if he was; Avengers history was that the two had been good friends as well as colleagues, and they sure had a lot to catch up on. A look around the hall didn't reveal either of them, so I sat down with my best valkyrie friends, Irene, Dagny, and Carol.

"Where's your devoted companion?" Irene asked teasingly.

"I brought in a soul today that turned out to be his best friend from Earth," I said.

"Was this your first retrieval?" Dagny asked, and when I confirmed that, they toasted my success with the mead that Hildr poured for our table and asked me about it, shaking their heads at the difficulty of travel and laughing as I told them about trying to convince Bruce to come along. And yes, it did have to be an exercise of free will. After the others told the stories about their first soul, Carol looked at me knowingly.

"You're afraid that Tony will minimize your friendship now that he's got his buddy," she said accurately, and I had to nod.

Irene snorted. "Not unless they were sleeping together," she said.

"Tony and I aren't bedmates," I pointed out, a little sharply.

"But you'd liiiiiiiiiiiike to be," Carol said slyly. "I've seen the way you look at him."

'And Tony watches you when you're doing something else," Irene said matter-of-factly. "You ought to just jump him, nothing wrong with sex, and it's good for you. And no pregnancy or disease here, so it's all for a good time." I didn't have to say anything then because our dinner was served. It was true that here, our friendship had evolved into a richer friendship now that he wasn't my boss, a beloved and admired mentor, and the age difference had been voided. I still valued his good qualities--his sharp and agile intelligence, his kindness and generosity--and accepted his faults, and he seemed to do the same in his estimation of my own qualities.

"But Tony values you," Carol said briskly after the meal. "You don't give yourself enough credit. Or him." Then we pushed back the tables and benches and the dancing started.

Usually I danced mostly with Tony; the beats and music enabled dances from many different cultures and times, so there was usually an odd mix of dancing going on, but that evening, my partners were traditional Norsemen and they taught me steps to a couple of traditional dances. I had to concentrate on learning the steps. There were a lot of different kinds of traditional dancing, including for festivals and sacred days; there were also sword dances and ones for the berserkers.

The next day it was back to shearing. We had breakfast and lunch brought out to the pastures, so it was pretty much non-stop work, and I've never dealt with herds of animals before. Lots of learning going on.

None of us were particularly lively at dinner. After I ate, I wondered if I could get in a little nap before the tables were cleared away (yeah), and if Odin would notice (yes) and if he'd let me get away with it (probably not.) The decision was taken out of my hands when Tony plopped down across the table and pushed a glass of mead toward me. Bruce sat more cautiously. "I'm too tired to hold my liquor," I said, and pushed the glass back toward Tony, wincing as somebody (Carol) kicked me.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "You smell like sheep." I narrowed my eyes at him and noticed the rest of the valkyries in my group were starting to look mean too.

"Shearing," I said succinctly. "Without the fleeces, there's no wool cloth or yarn. There's only three, four dozen valkyries and about three thousand sheep and lambs." And they were huge beasts, larger than Sigurd, stupid and wild and inclined to spook. They looked like cartoons with their ridiculously fluffy bodies and spindly little legs, but they could move deceptively fast. They produced beautiful fleeces, though, very long, soft fibers in incredible abundance.

"We're going to have to increase the flocks in order to meet demand next year. And after the shearing, we'll have to harvest the first crop of flax," Irene said drearily. "We'll have to increase the plantings there, too."

"Then process the flax," Bryn said, looking like she was going to start crying.

"I can't wait til winter," Heidi muttered.

"I feel that I should have gotten out of the lab more," I sighed. I was pretty fit, but this was a whole different level than the exertion I was used to. It was sustained and unrelenting, unlike teaching self-defense.

"Well, after we get the first flax crop done, we'll get a break," Carol said, trying to be positive. "Washing the wool is hard because of the volume, but after that, we get to card it and make rovings for the spinners. That's both social and easier."

"Then there's the second flax crop, and then after all the linen's processed, we start the weaving," Heidi said. "I hate setting up the looms, but the weaving is fun."

"Then we get the silk cocoons in the fall, so we have to reel those," Carol sighed. "Most of the plain weaving is done in the summer, fall, and early in the winter. The specialty weaving and what we each do for ourselves is done from the time we finish with the silk and before the shearing starts again. It's the only time we have for it."

"Where do you get the silkworm cocoons?" Bruce asked.

"There's a group of valkyries who do sericulture rather than weaving," Heidi said. "The shepherds for the sheep are some of the male Einherjar, and the ones who work in agriculture actually plant the flax for us. They also grow a different type of flax for the seeds and oil. They get a good price for the oil in Folkvangr; they've got a lot of artisans over there."

"Frigga is pressuring Odin to have us do the work for Folkvangr as well," Dagny said darkly. "I heard him promise to think about it, which means he'll ask the older Valkyries." We all turned to look at her.

"That's ridiculous," Heidi said after a moment. "We can supply the needs of Valhalla, but no more. Everything would have to be at least doubled, including the numbers of the valkyrie. Possibly more than doubled, as those in Folkvangr do like their luxuries." I had to suppress my smile. We all liked our little luxuries, but those in Valhalla also liked to think they were tougher than anybody else.

"Let them do their own work," Irene said firmly. "We have our hands full here. That would mean increasing the herds and the plantings far beyond our current ability."

"Let's not be too hasty," I said slowly. The looks my fellow valkyries gave me were horrified. "Hear me out. If they're looking for cloth, the finished products, there are ways that perhaps we can arrange it. An exchange. If the plan is presented to Frigga, she has the option of accepting it to get what she wants, or turning it down and looking...dare I say...a little ridiculous."

Carol caught on first. "You mean to shift the raw production of materials." I smiled at her.

"If they did the shearing and took care of the flax, we could increase our output. Maybe do more specialty work," she said, getting more enthusiastic.

"Why don't I take this to Hildr, Randgrid, Sigrun, Brynhildr, and Eir," Dagny said brightly. If we had a plan, these valkyries, who had served the longest, would be necessary for implementation. Odin would listen to them. And Dagny had joined the valkyries at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and got along with them the best of the modern valkyries. There was a big gap in understanding between pre- and post- Industrial Revolution, especially those of us who had joined in the past fifty or so Earth years. Asgard wasn't nearly as technological, but even there, there was a difference in outlook about the role of women and societal order.

Dagny pushed up and went to the group of the oldest valkyries, all tall, beautiful blondes. Then it was time to move the tables and benches. "I'm dead dog tired," I said to the other valkyries, who nodded. Several of us hadn't been around long enough to learn shearing, and we were stuck with rounding up the sheep and delivering them to the shearers, occasionally picking up the fleeces and putting them into the cart that would take them to a storage building. Sheep often broke away from the flocks, those swift bastards. I spent a lot of time running after them. I smiled at Tony and Bruce. "This new person is Bruce," I said to the valkryies. "I brought him in today." Irene immediately offered Bruce the seat next to her. Tony got up when I did and offered to walk me home.

"I'm glad I picked up Bruce for you," I said once we were outside, yawning. "You need a friend."

"I need another friend," he corrected me. "Aren't we friends?"

"Well, yeah," I agreed. "But you know, a guy friend." He shot me a grin.

"Apparently you didn't recognize him."

"Nope," I said, abashed. "I thought that the corpse had just been there awhile and my timing sucked. I felt that an explosion was imminent."

"Big and green?" he asked, laughing. I smiled slightly. "Well, Banner said that he'd just gotten up and was looking at what was left of the other guy, so your timing really couldn't be better." We reached the outer door to the annex, which he held for me. "But yeah, thanks for bringing him. It was clever of you to propose dumping the hard work on the Folkvangr people," he said, changing the topic. I smirked at him.

"It's not that we're getting rid of all the hard parts. Setting up those big looms and weaving them is hard work too. We're just proposing to get rid of the less skilled part. The smellier, muddier part." I smiled beatifically. From what the others had told me, the retting phase of linen production was very odiferous and deeply unpleasant, something I'd just as soon skip. "I imagine the strongest people over there will be taking part." Both my uncle and Captain Rogers were pretty strong. Tony burst out laughing.

"When will you be done with the sheep?"

"Hildr says a day or two before Walpurgis. We'll get a break to rest up before the festivities," I said.

"The next skirmish with Folkvangr takes place the day before the festival," he said, stopping at my door. I meant to give him a little hug, but somehow I got caught in a cuddle.

"It's a big deal, Odin's big festival. Nine days and nights, a May pole, decorating in flowers and fresh boughs. Feasting and revelry, according to the gals."

"Can't wait," he said without a trace of sarcasm. Reluctantly, I pulled away and grinned at him.

"I might just fall asleep standing up. And it's not like you can stand there all night."

"Nothing better to do," he quipped, but then he blushed. I was uncertain how to take that.

"Well, thanks for walking me back," I said.

"My pleasure." He winked at me and strode down the hall. I watched him for a moment, then went inside my room.

The days passed and I got better with the sheep and developed more stamina. Nevertheless, it was still hard work and we were all relieved when Hildr said that she and the others had proposed our plan and the reasons behind it to Odin. He'd looked thoughtful, and had disappeared shortly thereafter.

The last ewe had just been sheared and released, the last fleeces put in the cart, and we were cleaning up when Odin showed up, praised our efforts, and said that Frigga had accepted our proposal and that when the flax harvest began, people from Folkvangr would come over to learn how to do it. We could expect work parties to come in at all stages of the flax treatments and the shearing next year. We cheered. After Odin had gone, Randgrid said, "I feel that it is likely that the All-Father did not explain exactly how long it takes for the wool to be shorn or the flax to be processed." There was silence, then we all burst out laughing. They probably wouldn't have agreed to do it if they'd known.

The next day I slept in and took it easy. All of us did. Later in the morning, the other valkyries showed me a volcanically active area where there were hot pools. As expected, the area stank of sulfur, but the afternoon was cooling off and it was fun to relax and socialize, get to know the other valkyries besides my friends. The Einherjer were able to understand each other due to magic, some kind of translating spell; otherwise we'd never get anything done, with tongues ranging from old Norse to Asgardian, modern English, Swedish, Finnish, Arabic, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese. And those were the only languages I was told about; there were undoubtedly more. Odin had widened his recruitment over the centuries all over the Nine Realms. The older valkyries told us new ones about the significance of Walpurgis (a festival to honor the sacrifice of Odin, who hanged himself on the world tree Yggdrasil for nine nights in order to understand the wisdom of the runes. On the ninth night, he understood, and for an instant died. All light went out of the world and chaos reigned in that moment. At the final stroke of midnight, he revived. The history had been conflated on Earth with a Christian saint in accordance with the official goal of the church to absorb pagan festivals, so it was called Walpurgis even here now.)

"We celebrate with feasting and dancing and veneration of Odin for eight of the nights," Eir told us. "But the ninth night... that's all together more serious and sacred."

"The celebration begins at dusk, with the kindling of a great bonfire by striking flints together," Sigrun took over. "We all light a small piece of kindling once the bonfire gets going and kindle the fires upon our own hearths, for luck and success, then we keep vigil. The barrier between living and dead is stretched thinly that night, and some may find ways to return to the living if they greatly desire it and find a means. We offer a blot, a ritual sacrifice in the form of a feast which all women serve. Thor usually comes to be honored as the bringer of lightning, thunder, and rain, as does Freyr and his sister Freyja for their fertility aspects. The bonfire is snuffed as midnight approaches and at the last stroke, it is rekindled. After the moment, we celebrate the beginning of summer, a celebration known as Thrimilcy. Mead is served by all the valkyries, and the stirring of the blood and fertility is the object of the rest of the celebration. We hold to the old ways, and it is necessary to make offerings so that the earth will return abundance to us in turn. Wild desires awaken in our hearts that life has not fulfilled as the party takes to the forests. We celebrate together, though also in secret."

"It's good luck to burn anything that's worn out in the past year, and being kissed under a cherry tree in bloom means good things for your sex life," Irene added cheerfully, and others talked about leaping through the bonfire for luck, dancing around the bonfire, other traditions. The next morning at dawn, the men bring in fresh branches to decorate the hall and erect the Maypole, the women gather flowers to make a wreath for the top of the May pole. Men and women dance and sing, and couples wind ribbons around the May pole in a dance. I knew of the custom but had never seen it done.

"The May pole is a phallic symbol, of course," Heidi said. She'd been an anthropologist, so she provided context on some more obscure things for us more modern valkyries, but this seemed pretty evident. She chortled. "The wreath symbolizes the vagina, and as the ribbons are twined on the May pole, the wreath slides down the shaft of the pole. The wreath drops down to the earth after the ribbons have been completely plaited around the pole, then the ribbons are unwound with the direction of the original dance reversed to conclude the rite. Then we have a big breakfast and celebrate the rest of the day."

We had to get out and hustle to get dressed in our white dresses; there was a scrimmage with Frigga's team that afternoon, and with Walpurgis imminent, there was hope that he'd let us fight too as a special boon.

"Is Frigga going to be here for Walpurgis?" I asked Irene as we walked over to the battle field, clothed in white, with our swan cloaks, shields, helmets, and spears gleaming in the sun and she snorted.

"Yeah, she's not going to leave him unattended during fertility rites," she said. "He went over for their ceremony; they're ahead of us in terms of the season, you might remember." I did. They were well into summer now. "Look, it's not a requirement to have sex if you don't want to once the bonfire is relit," she said. "Participation is strongly encouraged, though, as fertility rites are magic, and magic works here, of course. If you don't want to add to the magic, you'll want to slip away soon after that. You should, though. It's amazing." And she nudged me.

When we arrived at the scrimmage en masse, Odin took one look at us and smiled, granting permission but reserving us until battle had been joined. We watched with anticipation, but we had a wait. There was an initial clash, which gradually resolved into individual battles, then Tony used gently pressurized water and nettles to really distract a bunch of people, but finally we got in the game. It was a bit disappointing, really. Our swan's feather cloaks became actual wings, enabling us to attack from on high, and we made short work of the visiting team. There were a lot of complaints since we significantly shortened the scrimmage, but we blew them off and Odin said that it was good for people to remember that we were skilled warriors ourselves. Afterward, Odin summoned me and had me set up a time with Thor when I could start training Magni again. I would be going there every third day, and it was agreed that I'd start after the celebration was over.

Captain Rogers caught up with me after the slain were reanimated. "Pretty impressive," he said, gesturing to my fellow valkyries. He invited me to run his obstacle course with him, and I accepted eagerly. From what my uncle said, it was even better than the ones he'd had as an Avenger. I got to chat with my uncle and aunt a bit too, then it was time to go back home. Dinner would be somewhat makeshift since the effort was going towards the holiday feasts, but the plan was to eat at Tony's workshop. The plan went awry when Cap saw Bruce; there was a big reunion with Tony, Bruce, Cap, Bucky, Emma, and Peter, which was completely understandable. It looked like it would last awhile. I faded away and went back home.

After eating, the customary entertainment was not available due to preparations, so we hung out in the great hall and I worked on my chess game with Dagny. I was beginning to suspect that I'd never master it. She smirked and the other remaining valkyries hooted when she had me pretty well boxed in. I stared glumly at the board and started when someone thumped down beside me, straddling the bench. It was Tony. He studied the board, directed some moves, and in six moves Dagny was in check. She shook her head and tipped her king over before she and the others drifted away. Tony helped me put the pieces back in their case.

"Thought you'd still be reminiscing," I said, smiling.

"They are," he said, leaning toward me. "But I got a new task from Odin that I need to start on in the morning. And I wanted to say goodnight." He brushed a lock of my hair back and I realized he was drunk. Did a good job of concealing it, though. "You could have stayed with us," he said. "Barnes was disappointed you left."

"It seemed like an Avengers reunion," I said, shrugging. "And since we're pretty much off the clock until the festival is over, I just thought I'd relax."

"You don't feel like you belong," he corrected me. Then yawned suddenly. "We'll talk about that another time, though. I need to go to bed now." He patted my hand. "Probably won't see you til tomorrow night."

"Ok, then. Night, Tony." We stood up together and he wavered slightly. "Need some help?"

"Naw, I'm fine." But he wobbled again and I just took his arm and steered him toward the door. We didn't talk on the way back to his workshop, which had his quarters built off to the side. I'd never seen them before, we'd always stayed in the workshop; it was familiar after working so long with him. Fittingly, the dark stone chambers were dramatic; the usual high ceilings added grandeur to the furnishings. There were deep red curtains at the large, long windows and the canopied bed, and elegant walnut furniture, thick wool rugs that I recognized as having been created by Gretchen, one of the oldest and most artistic valkyries. Some rather mysterious, abstract tapestries that had to have been made by Birget warmed the walls. The touches of metal were the Asgardian golden stuff. In the air was the spicy scent of the tonic he used as an aftershave lotion, both crisp and seductive. Tony stumbled as I turned back the bed, the white linen sheets a shocking contrast to the rest of the room.

"Do you miss being Iron Man?" I asked as I lowered him to the bed, taking off the belt with pouches for his tools and removing his surcoat before gently pushing him over and unlacing his boots.

"I don't miss having to deal with the fallout of trying to protect people," he muttered. "But helping, yeah. The flying.... that I miss." I swung his legs into the bed and covered him, lightly touching his jaw as he went right to sleep. Although one of the benefits of being dead is that there's no hangovers the next day, I felt that he'd probably be thirsty when he woke up, so I got him a glass of water from the bathroom, folded his tunic and set it on a chair with the belt. I drew the curtains and left.