Legendary

"What's up?" I asked, removing my cloak and stoking the fire expertly.

He shifted. "I wanted to apologize for hurting your feelings. Please hear me out." I looked at him and nodded. "I am a genius. You are not. These are facts. It's not that I think less of you, we're just on different wavelengths. And here, it's all I've got going for me and it's not a lot, tech here is pathetic. You, on the other hand, have adapted a lot better than I have. You've carved out multiple niches for yourself." He blew out a gusty sigh. "I'm kind of jealous of that. You're well-respected and talented, and I think that I'm envious of that too. And I heard you saw Wayne in the city. So now I just feel that it's kind of inevitable that I'm going to lose you. I don't know how to fight for what we have."

I take a moment to process this. It seems so... Tony. But also kind of universal. People have loved and been fearful of losing that love probably since the emotion was first felt. "I saw Damian, that's true, but there's nothing that can be done about it. We're not in the same place, and I gave Odin my word that I wouldn't go looking for him or contact him if I saw him. So there's no question of me going back to him, Tony. I know on Earth you had everything going for you and it must be a big adjustment coming here where you don't have those advantages." I walked over to him. "It's true that when we were working together, our lab kicked into high gear only after you hired the PhDs, and I appreciate that you didn't mention that. I'm a little touchy about it because I'm not brilliant, I'm just hardworking, and I just really hate being behind the curve." I nudged against him, and he cautiously put an arm around me. "I want to be with you and I hope you want to be with me. I haven't forgotten how you took care of me, right from the beginning, that fight where Frigga tore me up, when I got back after the first big choosing of souls, when that bond was healing. I cherish that. You've always been supportive of me, and I feel bad that I overlooked that when I overheard a conversation. I don't believe that a relationship is something to fight over. It's something to be nurtured and tended and strengthened. You matter to me. That's a fact. And it might be that in the long run we don't work out. But I know that I always want to be friends with you because... I simply can't imagine my life without you there. You left a big gap in it when you died, you know. But I think I overreacted to what I heard because I'm insecure too. What does Tony Stark see in me? I never doubted that you loved me but it made me doubt that love was enough."

He turned and folded me into his arms. I put my arms around him and my head on his shoulder. "Collaboration works like that, Tiger. You did the groundwork in the lab with the algae and bacteria, and more people came in with different knowledge and abilities and together we were able to do some good work, and faster than if it had just been the two of us. You and I made that possible, working together in the beginning, creating the platform for development. So how did you and Wayne deal with it?"

"It helped that we weren't in the same fields at all. He was always available for a consult, like with that business plan he helped me with, and I translated some of the stuff coming out of the Wayne labs into less technical explanations for him sometimes, but for the most part, business was just that and we talked about other things. Our family was a learning process for both of us, and intelligence wasn't a question there. He was the authority at crime fighting, I was the authority at patching him up when he came home."

"Here there aren't as many diversions," Tony said, resting his head on mine.

"Maybe you should pick up some hobbies," I suggested. "Maybe you need more things to be obsessive over." He chuckled. "I do love you, Sparky. Let's see if love really is enough."

That winter was hard, snowdrifts over my head alternating with spaces blown bare by cruel winds. The paths were icy and the sun rarely shined. We all longed for spring, which seemed slow to get here. The winter had us in its merciless grip and refused to surrender to summer. We had to face the harsh truth that we weren't going to get anything planted this year and we had to do something to replenish our dwindling supply of food. There were caves rather far away; they were extensive and on the other side of the hot springs, so hydroponic gardening was suggested. Tony and Bruce started making the lighting, adjusting the light spectrum for plants, while the rest of us with any technical knowledge collaborated on the actual system; blacksmiths made pipe that was open at the top and the seeds were placed in a stretcher-like device, miniaturized for insertion into the pipe. Living quarters were established for teams to spend a week at a time out at the station, rotating in and out. The flocks were also brought to the pools for their safety and a ready water supply; the big predators were also suffering from the harsh winter and it was easier to defend them by the pools. Another part of the cave system was devoted to growing food for them and the winged horses. We'd have actually sent the horses off to another place in the Nine Realms, but all the worlds were in the grip of this particularly vicious winter. The sheep had to be shorn slightly; it isn't good for them to carry around too much wool, but they obviously couldn't be shorn completely. Our population was growing and resources would be scarce. There was concern that this was the Fimbulwinter, a period of three years of non-stop winter that was kind of a kick-off to Ragnarok.

The next time that I was in the city, I picked up the debit cart from the cache at Avenger Tower. I smiled slightly at the inclusion of a pencil, and on the paper envelope, I wrote "Ice cream for curious valkyries" above a notation in Damian's writing for pho and tacos. It made me laugh. Below that I wrote "Reference materials: Ragnarok." That should help indicate a possible research direction for everybody. I went to Barnes and Noble and cleaned them out of Norse mythology and comparative mythology. Stumbling under the weight of the bags and the slippery sidewalks under my feet, I went to the library and printed off a bunch of stuff from the internet, paying a surprisingly high cost for the printing. When I put the card back, I wrote "Thanks!!" on the envelope and went back home.

I found most of the valkyries in the library; it was warm, cozy, well insulated, and well lit. I put my bags on the table and got their interest immediately. "We don't have anything about mythology in our library, for some reason," I said. "And nobody's really talking about Ragnarok, but I felt that we need to plan. So I have books about it, and stuff off the internet. I figured that those who were interested could divide up the materials and research the end of the world." The valkyries were enthusiastic. Odin's refusal to talk about Fimbulwinter worried more than just us, and we didn't know why he wasn't preparing us. Tony and Bruce were there, along with the SOs of some of the other valkyries, and there were enough books that everybody got one. I took one on comparative myth and the printouts I'd made.

A week or so later, we met again to discuss what we'd learned. I brought Loki with me; as a scholar and someone who grew up knowing the prophesies of Ragnarok, I thought he could provide us with a more complete interpretation. He made us describe what we'd learned from the books and internet sources first. What a teacher. The summaries we'd read didn't completely agree with each other, due to differences in translation and interpretation. The stuff from the internet provided more detail that might not be accurate. But essentially, the first tip off was a rising level of incivility and fierce battles that were to rage for three years motivated by greed, no mercy was to be shown and kinship counted for nothing. That sounded an awful like what we'd seen in the Nine Realms prior to the winter. We'd all remarked about it and Loki confirmed that the rise in the what we'd seen had lasted for about three Earth years. Then there was this winter, which prevailed through all nine realms. It was a fierce winter, with an abundance of snow and wind and precious little light from the sun. No one could remember for sure the last time the moon was seen. I personally was starting to feel like an organism that spent its life in a lightless environment. The myths said that wolves ate the sun and moon, but we all thought it was safe to think that this was a poetic way to indicate that there wasn't a lot of natural light, just shades of gloom.

"This should also cover a span of three years," Loki said. "If it is the Fimbulwinter and not simply an exceptionally long winter." We all groaned.

"We should consider the impact on our bodies when it ends," Holly, who'd been a medical researcher, said. She'd worked on diabetes which wasn't a concern here, but she'd still been to med school. "When the storms pass and we see the sun again, our eyes aren't going to be used to it. We may need sunglasses. It's a good thing we don't sunburn, because our skin will be very tender. I'll think about what we may need to do to ameliorate the discomfort." I nodded and jotted that down.

Following Fimbulwinter, the cock Fjalar will crow to the giants, the golden cock Gullinkabi will crow to the gods, and a third cock will raise the dead. Then there will be a huge earthquake that will level mountains, uproot trees, and unleash wild animals. The Midgard serpent will be enraged and make its way to shore, causing water to surge over the land. Fenrir and Loki will be freed."

"What does that mean?" Dagny asked, puzzled. "Are you under house arrest or something?"

Loki smiled thinly. "For my misdeeds, I should be chained to a rock with the entrails of my children while a serpent drips venom on my face. My wife is supposed to collect the venom in a bowl, but while she empties it the venom will continue to fall on my face, disfiguring me. So you can see why I have had incentive to keep my nose clean following that unpleasantness in my youth."

I stared at him. "But Sif says that fate is insurmountable."

"And I may do something unforgivable," he said heavily. "But I think--I hope-- that this may be a fiction that simply puts me in the designated place at the appointed time."

And that would be at the helm of the ship of the dead, Naglfar, which is said to be constructed from the fingernails of the dead. It will leave its moorings and sail, carrying the inhabitants of hell.

I looked at Loki. "Where's hell, then? I've never seen or heard about it."

"It is under the guard of my mother," he said. "You have seen her in her benevolent guise, administering to those who lived decent though not heroic lives. In hell, with those spirits, she appears as a living corpse and is consumed by the same dark urges of those she guards. She is said in the stories handed down to Midgard that she is half living woman, half corpse, but this description merely attempts to explain the duality of her nature and the two realms she rules. The souls she brought with her when she attempted to conquer Asgard came from hell. Following her attempted coup, she further separated her realms and they no longer have interaction, as you have seen for yourself."

Following this, the giant wolf Fenrir, flames leaping from his eyes and nostrils, will advance with the Midgard serpent to one side, dripping poison from its mouth. The sky will open and the suns of Muspell will ride. Sutr, their ruler who has been stationed at the frontier of Muspell, will ride at the front brandishing his flaming sword, brighter than the sun. Around him everything will burn. The sons of Muspell will advance into Asgard through the Bifrost, which will crumble under their weight. They will advance to Vigrior, a plain spanning a hundred leagues in all directions, which will host the final battle. Fenrir, the Midgard serpent, Loki, and the frost giants will join the sons of Muspell.

"Wait, what's Muspell?" Carol asked, confused.

"One of the Nine Realms, Muspelheim. It is to the south of Midgard, which is between it and Niflheim. The Midgard serpent is known by the name Jormungandr."

"So what are the other realms?"

"Alfheimr, home of the elves, Asgard, Jotunheim, where the frost giants dwell, Midgard, inhabited by you humans, Muspelheim of the fire giants, Nioavellir, the fortress of the dwarves, Niflheim, which is the home of the dishonored dead, hell, Svartalfar, the black elves who created the fetters that hold Fenrir--they are no more, now that Thor defeated the last of them. And finally, Vanaheim, where the Vanir live. They are gods, but different from the ones you know from Asgard, which are the Aesir. There's a lot of contact between the Vanir and the Aesir."

Then Heimdall the watchman will stand and blow his horn Gjallarhorn to summon the gods. They will hold counsel with the Norns--the Aesir version of the Greek Fates--one final time and Odin will ride to Mimir's well to consult. The World Tree, the great ash Yggdrasil will shake, sending fear throughout the Nine Realms. The gods and the Einherjer will advance to Vigrior.

"Mimir is the keeper of the well Mimisbrunnr, located at the roots of Yggdrasil," Loki said, anticipating the next question. "Mimir discovered the well, drank from it using the horn Gjallarhorn, and gained the wisdom of the ages. Odin earned a drink from the well by plucking out his eye. Heimdall will sacrifice his ear when he comes to collect the horn."

After everybody has assembled, Odin, protected by gold armor and armed with Gungnir, will lead the force against Sutr, Thor by his side. Fenrir will swallow Odin, killing him, and Thor will slay the Midgard serpent, dying after taking nine steps. The god Freyr--he of Thrimilcy--would battle Sutr but be defeated because he gave away the sword that might have done the job in order to marry his wife. I rolled my eyes. If you know that you're going to be facing the Big Bad, why do you trade away the sword that will take care of him? This guy had needed a better negotiator for the bride price, apparently. Garm, a snarling evil hound I'd never heard of, will fight Tyr and both will die. Someone named Vidar will avenge Odin by pulling Fenris apart. My lip curled. Ew. Loki and Heimdall will battle, each killing the other. Sutr will fling fire all over the Nine Realms so that it all burns and the barren land will sink into the sea. Smoke, flame, and steam will shoot to the heavens. Following that, at some point the land will reemerge, verdant and abundant; crops will sprout and harvests will be abundant. The earth will be repopulated from a couple who had sheltered at the root of Yggdrasil. Some gods will survive and others be reborn. Wickedness and misery will no longer exist and gods and men will coexist happily.

"There's a lot that seems to be missing," I said as we all thought this through.

"You can't expect every little detail to be nailed down," Loki pointed out reasonably.

"So what do you make of this, Loki?" I ask. "Because it really doesn't sound too good for you."

He smiled drily. "Unlike my sister-in-law, I believe that fate is not inevitable. If it were, why bother with any of this? Even if we all gather on the plain, we could all just listlessly clank our swords together, but this will not accomplish all that is said to happen. I personally do not plan to go quietly on Naglfar or face Heimdall in combat. We have spoken of this, Heimdall and I, and we have agreed to avoid each other at Vigrior as much as possible and see what happens." He shrugged. "It may be that Sif is correct and I am wrong, but just in case I am right, I will be prepared. And the prophesy only mentions the fate of a few." That gave me a lot to think about.

"So what's the timeline?" Serena asked practically, looking up from her notes. "How long from the end of Fimbulwinter to the plain of Vigrior?"

"No one knows," Loki shrugged. "It could be instantaneous or it could take awhile."

"This isn't as helpful as I'd hoped," I said, rubbing my eyes, and Loki chuckled mockingly. "What do we know about other mythologies?"

"Hard to say," Carol said. "Not all mythologies were recorded or survive. Mesopotamian myth doesn't seem to have a conception of the end of the world, just an unpleasant afterlife in a dark hole. The Greeks seemed to exist in the realms of Hades forever. The Egyptians seemed to envision an eternal life, but it took years to journey there. There's a battle between good and evil in Zoroastrianism that features the destruction of the world and final judgment of the dead. Hindu mythology posits a series of cycles that ultimately ends the universe and starts another, not that dissimilar from Mayan mythology as I understand it. Aztec mythology doesn't really seem to have an end of the world. Chinese mythology seems to tie into the mandate of heaven; Taoist belief professes the return of a messianic figure who will take the faithful, destroy the rest, and create a new society based on Taoist teaching. The destruction of the wold is symbolic. There's a series of events running up to the end of the world for the Celts, bad things not dissimilar to the lead-up to Fimbulwinter; their afterlife is said to be quite nice, everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. The Cheyenne believed that the world was supported on a huge pole. A beaver continually gnaws on it and when it gets all the way through, the pole will fall, spilling the world into an abyss, and that's the end."

"The Abrahamic traditions--Christianity, Islam, Judaism--all have some conception of the sinning world that is ended with a big battle between good and evil and various types of judgment," Heidi said. We sat at the tables, depressed.

"What do we do now?" Kelly asked. "Sit and wait?"

"I don't know that there's much else we can do," Irene said. "We need to wait til the end of Fimbulwinter, anyway. It's awful out there."

"We have to be prepared," I said. "We don't know how soon the roosters will crow or how long it will take for us to end up at Vigrior. We need to be ready. Yeah, it's awful out there, but even if we get hurt, the wounds will heal at the end of the day." But this was not a popular idea and I couldn't convince anybody to train.

"Well, at least we have a pretty good idea of what's supposed to happen," Carol said, and the meeting broke up. I thanked Loki for his help; he nodded and picked up his high-tech parka before slipping out the door.

The meeting split up after that and we dedicated a section of the library to the books we'd been studying so that everybody could have access to what information there was. I looked up Freyr before I left; he was associated with sacral kingship, prosperity, virility, sunshine, fair weather, depicted as a phallic fertility god. Sounds like we should maybe throw him a few extra feasts, see if he couldn't lighten the impact of these winters a bit. The story behind his sword was that he saw the beautiful Jotunn Geror and asked his page to woo her for him. The page said sure, but the price was the god's shining sword, which will fight on its own if the bearer is wise. So the god agreed, and the page went off to woo the giantess. Offers of treasures and soft words didn't move her; she only agreed to marry Freyr after the page threatened her with destructive magic. Nice. Tony accompanied me back to my quarters in the complex; the weather made the short walk more attractive and the sheer mass of the complex provided insulation to the rooms, making them cozier. Even so, fires were lit on the hearth of every room in use or banked until the owner came back to keep the rooms from getting too cold. Once the stone got cold, it took a long time to warm up. We drew the thick curtains around the bed for extra heat retention and snuggled into the bed; the fur coverlet kept in the heat generated by our activities. We talked about the mythology but we had no answers.

The next time I went to Asgard, Thor was waiting with Magni and Torunn, who cuddled on her jittery father's lap. Sif was in labor. "Isn't it early?" I asked cautiously. I put a package on the table; I'd knitted baby booties and a cap, figuring it would be wise to get the gift out of the way, given the uncertainties of the winter.

"It is," Thor said grimly. So Magni and I practiced his hand-to-hand and weapons work and he shyly showed me the two swords that Hogun had given him. We had our first bout. As expected, with his lack of experience, he was terrible, but we worked on fundamentals. Hogun was a very gifted swordsman, but not really a teacher, so I helped Magni with some drills. You had to learn how to use both arms and swords, difficult for someone who trained up using a sword and shield. I gave him exercises to train his left hand, and turned my attention to Torunn. Thor had spoken with Loki, who approved the plan to add Torunn to his bodyguard when she got older, so today I presented her with a wooden version of a katana, explaining that it was ideal for guarding purposes since the goal of its use was economy in movement. Very helpful when you're trying to fight off attackers and get the person you were guarding to safety. I demonstrated the drills I still did every day with mine and worked with her until she could do them too. Thor and Magni watched with interest. The little girl should have looked ridiculous; the sword was nearly as tall as she was, but her concentration and determination prevented this. I praised her and suggested that she and Magni see if they could get a treat for their work. Both of them brightened up.

"What weighs on your mind?" Thor asked after the kids were gone. I explained the valkyries' research and my questions about fate. "I do not know if I believe that fate is unalterable," he said slowly. "Some of it might be, like the events that set Ragnarok into motion. But perhaps not the actions of men or gods. I confess I would prefer different fates for my brother and myself. But more definitive answers would have to come from the Norns. If they themselves know." I nodded, thinking.

"But, say, you were offered protective gear prior to the battle on the plains of Vigrior," I mused.

His solemn face split into a grin. "I would give anything a try." I smiled back, then offered to check on Sif, if he'd like. Men were banished from the room when women gave birth on Asgard. Thor brightened and accompanied me to the room. The guard looked at him in exasperation but let me through. Sif tried to smile when she saw me but was wracked by a contraction instead. The contractions were very strong but not close enough for delivery to be immanent. She and the midwives were worried due to the earliness of the labor, but there was nothing that could be done. She looked exhausted. I went to the door and told Thor to bring a pitcher of ice chips. He bolted, glad to have something to do. When he came back, I sat on the bed beside Sif and fed her the ice. It provided a welcome minor distraction as well as some hydration, and I told her what Magni and Torunn had accomplished in practice. I stayed with her, and around midnight, her contractions abruptly sped up.

"Finally," she said, and I offered my hand to hold. Holy cow, that woman has a grip. By the time the kid actually started his grand exit, she was exhausted and sobbing. I hoped Thor had been moved along and wasn't hearing this. The midwives and I encouraged her, and finally the baby was delivered. There was an awful, heart-stopping moment of terror, then he--yes, it was the Modi of prophesy--yelled, a thin scream. Sif relaxed, and eagerly took her son the moment he was cleaned and wrapped. She smiled and cried, and I left her to her son and helped the midwives clean up. Then one of them smiled, and I opened the door. Thor fell through, his face anxious. I patted his shoulder and walked into the corridor. I was surprised to see chairs a little way down; one vacated, the others occupied by Magni and a drowsy Torunn. Magni sat bolt upright when he saw me.

"You have a brother," I said quietly. "Your mother is exhausted but she's fine too." He beamed and got up, jittering in place until his father bellowed for his other children to join them. They were off like a shot and I smiled and faded over to Folkvangr. I could control when I arrived, so I showed up at Emma's shop midafternoon with the announcement of Modi's birth.

"I remember Loki telling me about this when Thor went missing," she said, frowning. "Refresh my memory." After I finished telling her the condensed version, she nodded. "People here are nervous too, and Frigga isn't giving her opinion. Probably nobody wants to go out on a limb here until we see if these winters are three years long, I guess. So what's your plan?" She laughed. "Alex, you always take the long view, so I'm sure you have some thoughts. Tell me what they are and we can get planning."