Odin Allfather's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Odin walked to his high seat at Valaskjálf. From there he could see all the Nine Realms. He wanted to test Loki's claim before he accused his own wife. If his blindness was a lock, someone had touched his well of sight. He needed to know for certain. So he called the other kings of gods to Asgard. If every pantheon saw the same end coming, then the blindness was his alone, and someone had placed it there. Three came across the rainbow bridge. Zeus arrived first, lightning crawling down his arms, his white cape dragging. "You called kings from their thrones," he said. "This had better be worth the trip." Atum-Ra came wrapped in fire, his flames leaving no scorch on the stone. Hades came last, quiet, leaning on a staff topped with a golden eagle. A fourth guest stood apart from the gods. Dracula, king of the vampires, kept to the shadow of a pillar, away from the light that poured off the fire god. "I brought you here for one question," Odin said. "The end of all gods is coming. My sight shows me how it ends. It will not show me how it begins. Tell me what you see." Atum-Ra spoke first. "I fight the serpent every night. Lately he is stronger. I do not know why." His voice did not rise. "The end is near. I cannot see its start." "Nor can I," Hades said. "The dead come faster than they should. Something is coming that I did not sentence. I cannot name where it begins." Zeus scowled. "Same for Olympus. I see the fall. Not the first crack." Odin turned to Dracula. The vampire watched him with red eyes. "And you?" "I search the underworld for a soul I lost," Dracula said. "I have looked into every dark place that exists. I have seen the end you speak of. Its beginning is hidden from me also. That is not chance. Something buried it." The words landed like a hammer. Odin gripped Gungnir. Every king of gods saw the same darkness. Every one of them was blind to the same spot. That could not be a gap in fate. A gap would look different to each of them. This was one hand, covering one truth, from all of them at once. "Then it is confirmed," Odin said, low. "My blindness is no accident. Someone reached into my well of sight and stole this vision. And they hid it from every god who might stop it." Zeus stepped forward. "Then we make a pact. Blood between kings. We protect the worlds of gods together." Odin's jaw tightened. He had his answer, but it cost him. The thief lived in Asgard. The thief knew the future as well as he did. Only one being fit. His own queen. Now the other kings knew it too, and they would want her named.