13 Time Skip
Cringe warning. Read at your own risk. But seriously it is necessary to show the relationship between the two. So try it at least.
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- 100 years later -
- Odin: ~280 years old -
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(3rd Person POV)
In a house, inside a forest, you could see a big strong man spooning a lithe beautiful woman with brown hair. Odin was holding Gaea while they were sleeping. Over the years they had offered their hearts to one another and fully committed to this relationship. No take-backs, no other affairs, or children ... just them and the love they shared.
They now slept together and were married in all but name. Both wished to have an official ceremony before they started to have children. At Gaea's age and also the age that Odin would reach, time wasn't that important anymore. Especially when Odin could tell that his ageing slowed down a lot. The Odin Force grew as Odin grew more powerful and as the Odin Force grew, Odin's ageing slowed down.
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Over the years, a lot of things have been set in motion. Ouranos reformed a few years back and in his quest for revenge, he approached Gaea.
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(Flashback)
"Gaea, I want your help."
"And with what would you need my help Ouranos? You are plenty strong, there shouldn't be anything you would need my help with.", Gaea said in a calm and neutral tone.
"I want you to sire my children.", Ouranos dropped the bomb and for a moment not one spoke. Gaea looked at Ouranos with an expressionless face and then had a ... pained look on her face. She was happy that Odn wasn't here to hear this. He has gotten very possessive of her, just like she had gotten possessive of him. The idea that either of them would sire children not from their union was painful for her.
"I refuse Ouranos. You might not realise it, since is still a relatively short time since you are back, but Odin is my husband in all but name."
"So? You sired me Atum with your father, I didn't think you had a problem with that."
"Maybe I haven't made it clear. Odin is my beloved, my life. I wouldn't do what you ask of me, even if you were the last man in existence."
"Oh come now ... you seriously want to tell me that you love this guy. I understand that you jumped at him because he was the strongest one on the planet after I left, but that is ridiculous. Come, I'll even make it worth your time~", Ouranos whispered in her ear and instantly that earned him a slap.
*SLAP*
"Don't you dare!", Gaea was furious right now and the world shook with her anger. Everyone noticed this and Odin did as well. In a flash of light, he appeared next to her. He held her in his arms and looked at Ouranos.
"Ouranos ...", Odin said and was just about to kill the primordial again, when Gaea stopped him. She smiled at his protectiveness and shook her head. This was something she would deal with and not Odin. She was a powerful elder god after all and over the years, Odin had made it his task to teach her how to fight.
Needless to say, Ouranos was intimidated by her aura that day and since Ouranos knew he couldn't handle both Gaea and Odin, he left after cursing both of them.
(Flashback end)
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Gaea's refusal was a setback for Ouranos but he still managed to achieve what he wanted in other ways. He used some of Gaea's earth in secret and combined it with his essence to mould and create his children. At first, created the Hekatonkheires, also called the hundred-armed ones. Ouranos hated them and immediately threw them into the other-dimensional world of Tartarus.
His second attempt resulted in him creating the Cyclospes. While they had two arms and legs, they only had one eye in the centre of their heads. Repulsed by this, Ouranos also threw them into Tartarus and then tried one final time.
Finally, after his third attempt, Ouranos created the Titans. 12 sons and daughters who Ouranos planned to rule the world and then one day take revenge on Odin. Ouranos was proud of the Titans for their physical perfection and their strength.
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But whether his plan would succeed or not ... we shall see.
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Odin awoke from his slumber and opened his eyes. He had just gotten a message from his father Bor. It was time to go home. As soon as Odin awoke, Gaea also began to stir and wiggle in his arms. Odin didn't need to sleep, heaven he wasn't able to sleep for decades but he found a way to do it anyway. Using the Odin Force, he could enter a pseudo-Odinsleep, that let him sleep but didn't make him weak. This allowed him to relax together with Gaea after vigorous lovemaking. It was funny that the young god had more stamina than the elder god who was billions of years old.
"What is it, love?", Gaea asked.
"I got notified by Bor to come back. It seems his health has declined greatly."
"Fufu, did you do a quick check just now, using the Odin Force?", she laughed.
"Aye, I did. He has gotten old and the last war wasn't good for his health. He wouldn't allow me to heal him after I got the Odin Force, so I assume he saw it as his time."
"And now he has called you back. So is it time?"
"*Sigh* I believe it is indeed time. He hasn't changed in these years and a fight is bound to come. You saw what he's doing and it is your world he is doing it on. So there is no excuse. I will have to finish it.", Odin says.
Odin is speaking about Cull. He has kept some tabs on his elder brother to see what he was doing from time to time. But what he saw didn't amuse him. It seems like a god of fear, who can't help but spread fear all around him. Cull wasn't fit to rule Asgard.
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(Flashback)
When Cull and Odin were told to journey and grow more powerful, Cull also wanted to go to Aesheim but before he went there, he journeyed through the realms freely, planning his future. That was until he was ambushed by storm giants. They beat him, made fun of him and then they took him to the storm-kissed peak.
"You gods think you live in the heavens. Let's see you fly.", they said and threw him off the cliff. The serpent was silent when he was ambushed, he was silent as he was beaten and ridiculed and when he fell and broke his bones during due to the fall ... only the slightest gasp was heard.
He should have died then but for some reason, all he felt was terribly thirsty. A thirst that neither dew nor rainwater and not even the wines from Asgard could quench. He arranged his splintered limbs as best as he could. They were awkward and ill-formed, and would not support him, but they sufficed for now.
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Cull waited for the night to come. Just like his moniker, the serpent belly-crawled to the camp of the slumbering ale-sated giants. And one after the other ... he made his way to each one. And one by one ... he gave them eternal rest and drank until he was full.
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All but one of the giant's throats Cull tore out that night. And when the one awoke, he found himself alone in the camp, with his dead brethren lying all around. When he looked around he found a note written in blood for him on the stone wall.
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'Gods do not live in the sky. We live on the earth. And you do so at our pleasure.'
The storm giant understood what Cull meant and from then on feared him, rightly so. And everyone whom he told that story also feared Cull. With this, he instilled fear in the giant, which would spread giving birth to the god of fear. After that, Cull made his way to Aesheim.
There Cull started to create an empire for himself. He gathered followers from Asgard and other realms. After that, he tried to find a way to increase his power. He understood that his power came from fear. The more those around him feared him, the more power he amassed and that was how he decided to create servants for himself that would help him spread this fear.
To that purpose, Cull created eight hammers. All hammers are inscribed with runes which say 'And he who shall be worthy will wield the hammer of ...'
The Hammer of Skadi,
the Hammer of Kuurth,
the Hammer of Nul,
the Hammer of Nerkkod,
the Hammer of Skirn,
the Hammer of Mokk,
the Hammer of Greithoth
and the Hammer of Angrir.
Those who could wield the hammers were called the worthy. The Worthy are the Serpent's elite vanguards and agents of destruction. The eight superpowered beings who can wield those hammers are granted immense magical power.
Among those powers are flight, force projection, energy projection and sometimes there are also mass destruction properties, like the Hammer of Mokk and the Hammer of Nerkkod.
So using these Worthy, Cull would send them out to spread fear. This fear would then be absorbed by Cull and he would grow in power. Odin has seen the giant city-like headquarters that Cull has created for himself after his fight with Set and Ouranos.
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Cull knew that he would get the most fear and in turn the most power from the mortals and the creatures in Aesheim. I never got along with Cull and never really cared for him. But it was not easy to kill your kin, even if he was the god of fear. But what Odin has seen over the centuries, are no longer the actions of a simple god that seeks to grow more powerful, he has lost his way and grown delusional.
(Flashback end)
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"When will you leave?", Gaea asked Odin still in his arms on their bed.
"Now. Bor is in very bad health and I need to make a stop somewhere first.", Odin answered.
"You don't mean ..."
"Yes."
"So you will endanger yourself again and then grow stronger ... I will have to increase my strength.", Gaea says with a smile.
"You sure do. The Queen of Asgard and the ten realms is not weak. You are already very powerful as an elder god. I will teach you how to fight and use your vast abilities offensively. I am certain that your name will reach the most distant places of this Universe."
"You have a way with words.", she smiled.
"Goodbye, my love. Wish me luck.", Odin says and stands up.
"You don't need something like that. Come back quickly.", Gaea says and they kiss.
Odin walks out of their house and then uses the Odin Force on his hands. He then swipes his hand in front of him, like he would swipe dust off something. What becomes visible is an entirely new reality.
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The sky there is red with various planets, stars ... an entire cosmos getting visible. It looks like Odin just opened the door to an entirely new reality or dimension but both of them know that is not the case. Odin looks back to Gaea once again and smiles.
"Munin, Hugin, let's go!", Odin calls out to his two ravens. They come flying and land on his shoulder.
Then he walks in and the reality vanishes. Gaea is left on Earth, waiting for Odin to return and deal with his brother as he said that he would in the future. And now that Bor was dying, the position of All-Father was something that Cull would want in order to spread his fear further.
It is that reason that led Odin here. To the roots of Yggdrasill, the World Tree.
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