Inescapable 02

When the temporal distortions first started, I barely took note of them. They were simply that small, the briefest of glimmers that hinted at a wrongness in the world. That wrongness began it’s infestation in the realm of the mortals, the people of Midgard the first to suffer various oddities. The oddities manifested in their memories, the mortals becoming confused about events, history, even their own names. At any one time, there would be a handful of people each remembering the same event, but with enough key details for that memory to be different for each and every one. The differences led to such confusion that arguing broke out among the people. More so than usual, as each mortal insisting that their memory was the correct one.

It wouldn’t have been such a problem if the arguments had remained about every day memories, about inconsequential things that mattered little in the long run. But then, things weren’t that simple, the temporal distortions growing in power, fueling the mortal’s anger in direct response.

The past would be called into question, the very history of man holding huge gaps, details becoming confused. The people could no longer remember what was real, and what was faked, the details so blurred that the existence of whole kingdoms became in doubt. The ties between the kingdoms became a tentative thing, alliances falling apart, disputes happening over territory.

The history of mortal kind is full of wars, the humans such a blood thirsty race. But the details of those wars were called into question, people no longer able to remember for certain who had emerged as the victor of what war. The reasons behind many of the wars also became lost in the confusion, which only led the animosity that is so inherent in the mortals, to spur them into greater conflicts. Inevitably, all that anger and confusion led to new wars starting, the mortals now intent on destroying one another.

Of course, a war happening here or there wasn’t cause for alarm. It is as I have mentioned, a typical occurrence in the realm of mortals. However, when it appeared the entire realm of Midgard was engaged in the fighting, or soon would be, that raised my concern. And not just me! The other realms took notice, most especially the Shining one. My fellow deities have always had an invested interest in the mortals, and it became even more true once I took up Odin’s throne.

I am many things, and that includes being vocal. I left it as no secret just how much I loved the mortals, that I spoke of the deep rooted connection I felt to them. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to any of the Gods, not when I had spent many a lifetime living among the mortals in one incarnation to the next. Even with most of my memories still buried deep within the seal Odin had forced upon me, I still felt that connection. Felt it and cherished it.

Of course there were other reasons for me to feel so attached to the mortals. Before my ascension to the throne, long before I had become Lord Creator of all I surveyed, I had simply been a Goddess of the sixth ranking. A Valkyrie. One whose heavenly appointed task led me to work closely with the mortals and their souls. This work allowed me to see the mortals at their best and worse times, let me learn their individual stories, had me fight alongside them through their trials and tribulations. It should have come as no surprise that this fostered a closeness, one I had never felt with my own kind.

I would not call what I had with the einherjar a friendship. It was a bond that went deeper then that. I personally picked out many a soul to be brought to the heavens, grooming them into becoming warriors of the Gods. Einherjar. I was many things to the einherjar, mother, teacher, confidant. They were my pride, my joy. the manifestation of all my ambitions. And they were with me almost always, their souls locked into mine.

I have seen the advancement of many einherjar, seen them blossom and grow into fine warriors. But there was one group in particular who stands out in my mind. One group who had been with me through the toughest trials of my existence. It was this group who had helped to save me, this group who had fought besides me as I struggled against the greatest threat any of the nine realms had ever known. It was this same group who witnessed the rebirth of a Goddess, as I evolved into a new stage of being with the power to destroy the trickster and rebuild all he had ruined.

It was those same einherjar that I turned to in these troubling times. I would send them down to the realm of Midgard, all in order to ferret out the reason behind these wars. To stop them if they could. The reports the einherjar gave to me was troubling, leaving me to fear that Ragnarok had not been averted after all. And while I worried, the temporal distortions continued to grow out of control, changing the very face of the people of Midgard.

As the temporal distortions grew in strength, so did the changes. Eyes and hair changed color, mouths and noses changed shapes. All as a result of some discrepancy in a person’s family line. The distortions were affecting personal history, messing up the time line so that people would be exchanged. Instead of an ancestor marrying into the right family, they fell into bed with another. Even gender came into doubt, a people changing. One moment a man, the next a woman, leaving the people unable to remember which was right for any one individual.

The temporal distortions began to move into the other realms, the people there just as affected as the mortals. Landmarks began to shift, changing shape or even location. The temporal distortions were no longer slight glimmers, now affecting larger and larger areas by the hour. The Gods themselves began to feel the changes, their memories affected, even their lives. Some began to shift in and out of existence, as though something in the past called into question their right to live.

It wasn’t just minor deities that were affected. None were left untouched, not even my family, my sisters appearing before me. What should have been a welcome sight proved disturbing, for no real explanation was offered as to how they could be there before me. My sisters were as confused as I was, neither one understanding what was happening. To them or the nine realms! Nor was there stability in their arrival. At any one instant, they would wink out of existence, Hrist dead once more. Silmeria would alter between being trapped in the vampire Lord’s castle, and two other states. One where she existed, alive and free, the other where she faded away completely. That fading was the most troubling of all, for it hinted that she was as dead as Hrist, in at least one of the realities the temporal distortions came from.

I mention realities, though at the time I had not yet realized the truth of what was happening. I sincerely believed this was a form of Ragnarok, the very world in jeopardy of being destroyed completely. The temporal distortions continued to grow, gaining enough power for them to manifest a presence. One I could view with my own eyes. Those fields of energy were comprised of silver and white lights, ones that wavered and distorted everything they passed over. And as those distortions caressed over the land of Asgard, whole buildings were reduced to rubble in an instant. The land, once fertile and green blackened, and even the great tree, Yggsdrasil, tried to wither in place.

I was still so new to my powers. I tried desperately to heal the land to little effect. My attempts were like putting a flimsy bandage over a wound that needed stitches. The affects of the temporal distortions could not be stropped, could not be turned aside for long. Always they flourished, always they destroyed, and it wasn’t long before I found that many of my divine pantheon were gone. They had simply faded away into nothing.

My trusted einherjar continued to roam Midgard. The connection we shared, the power I fueled into them, protected most from experiencing the worst of the distortions. But even they went through some changes, Arngrim, the most trusted of my einherjar disappearing completely. And with his existence called into question, I feared it was the start of the end for my remaining einherjar. And yet I couldn’t called them back to Asgard, instead urging them to be quicker about their work down on Midgard.

My burdens were increasing, I found myself trying to hold the very fabric of reality together. My powers were strained to their maximum output as I struggled to keep the world from falling apart completely. I would kick myself when I realized it wasn’t the destruction of the realms that was happening. At least, not in the way one would think. A world WAS dying, but through it’s death, another world was trying to take it’s place. To impose a new reality on the realms and their inhabitants. What was worse was that it was perilous close to succeeding. Only through my struggles did the onslaught of this coming reality stay it’s hand.

As far as I was concerned, it might as well have been Ragnarok that was happening. So many dead, including many of the Gods. Even powerful Freya had ceased to exist, her life snuffed out in the mere blinking of an eye. The mortals down on Midgard continued to wage war, but now their reasons were based on blind panic and fear. Even they had sensed something of the wrongness of the two realities converging in on each other.

Distracted as I was with the responsibility of keeping my world intact, I didn’t consider the possibilities of why this was happening. I didn’t think of the manipulations time travel would have on a reality, didn’t realize the effect that a single person, good or bad, could have on the world. I wouldn’t think of the possibilities, until the einherjar made their discovery. The time machine inside the ruins of Dipan, activated and humming with power. It was there, in the very heart of Dipan that the temporal distortions were the strongest.

Einherjar were dispatched to Asgard, the ladies Mystina and Lorenta appearing before me. Their faces were lined with exhaustion, they like so many of my einherjar had not had time for proper rest. Nor would they get that rest now, the pair giving me a brief but hurried explanation of the einherjar’s findings. I’d actually gasp in understanding, an understanding I feared had come to late to do the current world any good. But there was literally no time to berate one’s self, might not even be time to undo the damage that had been wrought by the time machine’s usage.

With both my sisters and the einherjar by my side, I would travel to Midgard. To Dipan specifically. Silmeria and Hrist would continue to wink in and out of existence, their appearances translucent and flickering rapidly. The two realties seemed uncertain of their place in either world, and I knew that at any moment they could fade away for good. That only increased my need to hurry. It was a need that was at war with the realization that I didn’t yet know what to do to put a stop to all that was happening. Was it even possible to avert the other reality from replacing this one, the one I knew and loved? I did not know, but I was determined to try.

The ruins of Dipan were unchanged. It was as though in both realties, the once great kingdom had met a similar fate, Dipan falling into disrepair. An idea began to take root in my mind as I hurried past the broken remains of the city. The idea would pick and gnaw at my mind, continue to do so even as I drew my sword in preparation for the fight that was to come.

Monsters continued to make the ruins their home. They were even more ferocious than normal, an edge of fear to their actions. They too had noticed the effects the distortions were having, and it drove them into a panic. One that led them into attacking anything that moved, even their own kind. My party of five was forced to fight our way through the cities’ ruins. I regret that my blade use was not as effortless as it once was. And all because I was still exerting myself, still trying to hold this reality together on sheer force of will it seemed.

My efforts left me distracted, my actions slow and sluggish. It allowed claws to scrap over the metal of my armor with ear piercing noise. Even worse was when those claws touched unprotected skin, my arms being torn open with scratches. I surely would have been overwhelmed, forced to make a decision between saving myself of saving this reality. Thankfully, my sisters and einherjar were there to lend their strength towards battling these foes that plagued me.

SIlmeria’s bow sang often, arrows flickering in and out of existence as they soared towards their marks. Hrist and her spear cut down many an undead without the Goddess so much as drawing a ragged breath. Mystina and Lorenta, einherjar mages, lifted their voices to the heavens as they chanted out the words needed to activate their spells. Searing light and burning flames would eat away at many a monster, and soon the path to the castle was clear.

I could still make out hints of the castle’s former glory. Even time had not been able to weather down all of the stone that made up the building. And though the windows were shattered, color glinted in the broken remains of the glass. I could remember the pictures those colors had made. I had after all traveled briefly to Dipan’s past, to the moment before everything had gone wrong for the kingdom. But that trip felt like an eternity ago, even though in truth only a handful of months had passed.

As we hurried down the street that led into the castle’s courtyard, I continued to let my thoughts run wild. That included the idea that was gnawing at me, letting my suspicions build as I neared the castle’s doors. Something about Dipan’s unchanged state left me uneasy, troubled. As did the fact that I had left the time machine here, intact and just waiting for the wrong person to use it. True I had been working under Odin’s orders back then, but why hadn’t I thought to come back once I was free of my servitude?

The sad fact of the matter was I had thought the time machine unimportant. I had placed a barrier upon it, sealing it away so that no one, mortal or God could use it. Doubts filled me now, making me wonder where I had gone wrong with the sealing spell. Even more important, was the wonder of just who or what had activated the device. I once again cursed my inaction, knowing I should have destroyed the time machine the first chance I had.

My upset clearly showed on my face, drawing the attention of my sister Silmeria. The youngest of the three Valkyries would give me a reassuring smile, telling me it would all work out. I could not return her smile, wondering how she could be so certain of something I doubted so strongly. I wasn’t the only one, my oldest sister Hrist would let out a derisive snort. She’d never say it was my fault, she wasn’t that mean spirited. But I knew she blamed me, all because of my inaction where the time machine was concerned.

I would not miss the reproving look Silmeria flashed our older sister. I marveled at her faith in me, at both their determination to save this reality. A reality where they had no meaningful existence, a reality where they were trapped or dead. And yet both were just as determined to see the world in which they had no future, saved. I could not fail them, or the world.

Monsters lay in wait for us at the entrance to the castle. Their ambush turned pitiful, my party making quick work of the fiends. And yet I still felt impatience, knowing we couldn’t afford these kind of delays. Every minute that passed, I felt the strain on my powers, my mind wanting to give in to exhaustion. I wouldn’t be able to maintain my fight against the distortions much longer. That realization made my sword turn careless, my attacks clumsy. Weariness ate at me, dogging my every step.

The mages would make a sacrifice, urging my sisters and I to travel inside the castle. They would hold back this latest wave of monsters, ready to give their lives so that I could live long enough to set things right. There wasn’t even time for thanks, I could only nod my agreement before Silmeria was dragging me through the castle doors. Hrist would see to their closing, locking out both my einherjar and the monsters. I could hear the screams from both sides, the two mages working their spells even as they were attacked.

It would have been a dishonor to ignore their sacrifice, to not continue deeper into the castle. There were no monsters inside the building, something, perhaps my einherjar, had driven them off. Just as they had extinguished the darkness, torches lit and hanging on every available sconce. We followed the path of the torches, our journey descending downwards.

It would be deep within the bowels of the castle that we would find the time machine. We felt it’s presence long before we came across it, the power thrumming off it in waves. It left me staggered, the temporal distortion so strong I wondered how the world hadn’t torn apart already.

As I fell to one knee, a voice called out to me. I barely recognized it, the voice muffled as though coming from a great distance. But that was a lie, the one who had spoken coming to stand before me. A crimson clad hand was held out to me, the gauntlet matching the red color of the man’s armor. I would lift my head up slowly, and see the concerned face of my lover, Lucian. His corn colored hair was whipping about, the power radiating off the time machine was disrupting everything in these rooms. My skirt flapped wildly about my legs, my braid blew out behind me.

Eyes locked with Lucian’s worried filled ones, I gratefully took his hand. He’d help me up, his strong hands ready to steady me against the onslaught of power. But this was something he couldn’t protect me from, no one could. The burden was mine and mine alone to bear. But I did lean on him, my one concession of my weakness. I let his arms go around me, keeping me upright as I stared into the light that circled around the vibrating time machine. It was so bright it hurt my eyes, and yet I couldn’t look away. This was the source of all our troubles, the key to the salvation of the reality.

And yet I still didn’t know what to do! Even as I fought not to give in to my frustration, Lucian was speaking. “This is as close as we can get to the time machine.” He nodded at a sword that had been thrust into the stone floor. It was Kashell’s preferred blade, and it was being used as marker to ward off the rest of the einherjar from going any closer to the light. “Anyone who has stepped past that sword, has simply vanished!”

“Vanished?” I repeated, my weary mind trying to process this information and what it meant. How many einherjar had died to make this discovery? Or were they even dead, but sent elsewhere, to a different time and place? I couldn’t risk lowering my shields, but I wanted to taste the power of the time machine myself. Maybe then it would give me a clue as to what to do, give us all the hope that we would survive what was happening.

Standing taller, I stopped leaning into Lucian’s embrace. He read the intention off of me, and tightened his arms around me. “No, Lenneth, no!” Lucian cried in protest. “You can’t!”

“I have to.” I told him. The others all exchanged looks, trying to figure out just what I intended to do. I heard a female gasp, the young Jelanda looking dismayed when I pulled free of Lucian’s hold, and stepped towards the light. He went to follow me, and I shoved him back. “No, I go alone.”

He might have followed me any way, but Hrist stepped forward to grab him. They struggled, but an einherjar is no match for a Goddess, even one who was fading in and out of existence. Casting one last look Lucian’s way, I moved forward until I was even with Kashell’s sword. I didn’t know what would happen when I took the next step, but my courage did not falter. I took a deep breath, the power was almost suffocating me this close, and stepped pass the marker.

Screams echoed behind me, my einherjar unable to watch without being affected. I continued forward, coming up against the barrier of light. It was like walking through water, my movements slow and opposite the imagined currents. Difficult though it was to move, I kept on walking, each step a small agony. Until finally I pulled free of the light, coming out the other side with a plop of sound.

The time machine lay several feet in front of me, the very floor inside this circle was shaking. The hum of power grew to deafening promotions, and as I stared at it, I wondered if it was really hopeless. Destroying the time machine now wouldn’t solve any problems. I would have to travel to the past, to the time before it had been activated. Destroy it then to prevent it’s use now, and maybe, just maybe the reality would reset itself back to normal.

But I wasn’t sure what time period to travel to! It was then that the thought that had been gnawing at me all this time came into focus. I thought of Dipan, how it seemed untouched by the temporal distortions. How nothing had changed where this fallen kingdom was concerned. It made realize that whoever was responsible for this trouble, must have gone back into Dipan’s past. It stood to reason if I followed them into the past, I could undo the damage they had done. I could stop this clash of realities from ever happening!

For the first time in days I felt elated. My heart was lifted, I was sure I would save everyone. My steps were confidant, putting me in touching distance of the device. And then it happened. In a blink of my eye, the divine treasure, the sacred spear Gungnir slammed into the very center of the time machine. The power went wild, the barrier of light expanding outwards, passed Kashell’s sword. I heard Jelanda’s scream end just as abruptly as it had begun.

Whirling to the right, I turned in time to see Lucian be eaten up by the light. It tore him apart by his very molecules, until there was nothing left. The other einherjar suffered similar, and even my sisters screamed, flickering out of existence once the light reached them. I could only gape in shock, listening to the horrified scream that echoed all around me. It would even register at first that the scream had belonged to me.