Chapter 443

I raised a glass as Scáthach and Jinn rejoined us in the Jorrvaskr. They happily joined Thorum and myself at the table.

"No, then my son lost his mighty hammer! The Giant tricked it from him! And of course, his brother – my brother, Loki offered a suggestion. They would sneak in and take it back without alerting anyone and to avoid the laughter of others." Odin was mid-story.

"Sneak in to take back his weapon then fight them? Not a bad plan." Farkas nodded. "If my foe stole my weapon through trickery, I would not feel ashamed to use trickery to get it back."

There were a round of nods from everyone.

"If that was it, then it wouldn't have turned into a story." Odin was grinning. "Loki convinced him, the best way to sneak in was to dress up as my wife – the most beautiful woman in all the land! And she would come and admit her love for the Giant."

"….did he wear a dress?" Aela asked.

"Yup!"

That was when they all broke out in laughter.

"Your son sounds a wee touched in the head, old man." Aela snorted, unable to hold it in himself.

"No, no, it gets better." Odin cut them off. "You see, he did it too well. The Giant invited everyone to the wedding. My Son didn't know how to escape the situation, so lo and behold, I arrive because I was wondering, why was someone apparently marrying my wife who was by my side? And I see my son, my very obvious son, dressed up as a bride. I did what any good father would do, and I offered my congratulations and blessing to the bride and groom, hahaha!"

The alcohol was flowing pretty fast at this point.

"That reminds me of the time that the Harbinger needed us to sneak in through the back of a vampire den when we were young." Skjor said, looking nostalgic. "Aye, we went through some tunnels and came out through a secret passage into the bedroom of the Jarl of Markarth! We didn't know at the time, but one of the vampires was the Jarl's mistress. My shield brother and I panicked, and being the foolish youth we were, we did the only sensible thing we could think at the time, we stole some dresses from the Jarl's wife and tried to pass off as maids. We thought ourselves clever, deceiving the whole place with our disguise."

He took a large swag of his drink, slamming it to the table as he finished. "Eventually, the Harbinger finds us, after having finished off the vampires himself after we got lost. We try to defend ourselves, explain our disguises. The Harbinger admonishes us 'Of course no ones going to call you out you daft brats! There are two large Nords with hairy arms and legs wearing dressing that barely cover their balls with weapons on their backs, do you think everyone's a stupid as you two are!?'" Skjor let out a laugh. "Aye, he made us walk back home with the dresses on."

Scáthach looked at us then at the rest of the room. "Did we miss something important?"

"They're celebrating." I glanced at Aela and the others. "And also drinking themselves into a stupor." I guess it was a tad awkward after what happened.

"This tastes like piss, what is this!?" Odin slammed a bottle onto the table."

"Norde Mead." Thorum replied.

"I like it, I want another."

"Dare I assume the cause of everything." She looked at Odin.

"Hey, I didn't do nothin." Odin harumphed.

"Yeah, he decided to tell everyone that he's a God." I nodded. "That was while he snubbed a Daedric Lord and sent a soul on the way to the Nordic afterlife."

"Ah." Scáthach simply nodded.

Well, it's not like they didn't know I wasn't from around here. They already knew I was a 'Daedra', which in their terminology was basically someone from outside of Nirn. And I wasn't going to fill in the details there.

And I've heard Meridia in passing saying that there were more Gods than just the Divines and Daedra that people worship too.

And they were mourning, slash celebrating, the Harbinger's ascent to Sovngarde. Apparently, it's tradition for their friends and family to hold a sort of wake type celebration to tell stories and just remember the deceased. There will of course be a bigger event once it becomes public knowledge, but that didn't really matter to me all too much.

"Hey Thorum, I forgot to ask, but were's Serana?" I looked at my friend.

"She is with her mother, they have been repairing that old castle of her father's, cleaning it out and turning it into a proper home." Thorum replied casually.

"She's not being distant, is she?"

"Nay." Thorum shook his head, perhaps with the tiniest tinge of a blush. "She was here some days ago, but I go and visit when I can." He said with a smile.

Ah.

"Old Man, you really a God?" Aela swayed a little in her spot, having put down several bottles at this point.

"Damn right! I'm the best God." Odin said proudly. "Worship me and I'll let you into Valhalla if you die in battle! It's like, 100 times better than Sovngarde! We got Valkyries with big boobs that will serve you Alcohol until the end of days." Odin held his hands out infront of his chest to emphasize this point.

Nords are pretty easy going people.

"Pft, alright. Why don't you – " Her words abruptly ceased and she stopped moving. In fact, everyone but our group and Thorum essentially froze in place as a subtle power washed over the building.

Odin grabbed his stick and a powerful aura emanated off of him.

I wasn't too concerned, because I recognized the touch of it. Turning my head, I saw Meridia standing near the entrance. I got up from my seat and walked over to her, and as much as I wanted to do my normal hug and kiss, in this particular instance, I merely took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss on the back.

Meridia smiled softly at me.

I wouldn't embarrass her infront of other people. If it was just us and the girls and what-not, I would be fine with making her get all huffy, but infront of other people I knew her perception was very important to her.

"Meridia!" Jinn smiled and waved.

Scáthach gave a polite nod towards her with she reciprocated.

"Lady Meridia." Thorum bowed his head respectfully as well.

"Child of Akatosh." Meridia acknowledged his presence.

She didn't even mention the 'mortals' in the room beyond him. Frankly, I think she froze them because she just doesn't deal with Mortals in a casual way and didn't want to put in the effort.

Odin watched her wearily.

Meridia also cast her gaze at him before her eyes landed back on me. "You bring troublesome people here again."

"Sorry?" I offered. "Did something bad happen?" In regards to Odin's actions, but I don't think I needed to clarify that.

Meridia lightly snorted again before looking back at Odin. "You announced yourself when there are many eyes on this one." Her finger pointed at Thorum.

"Ah, Sorry?" Thorum also took the same stance as me apparently.

"Hmph, it is in my nature." Odin merely said.

Surprisingly, Meridia didn't admonish him for that kind of flippant statement. It's actually a valid explanation for entities like Odin and Meridia.

"Is it bad?" I asked.

"It depends on your perspective. Hircine is aware of him now." She pursed her lips.

"I don't know much about him." I said with honesty.

"He is perhaps not the worst of the others to encounter. His ideals align with the instincts and impulses of the wild and animals. He is not inherently malevolent, but he is ruthless and aggressive. You should not expect any manner of retaliation from him, as he considers that curse of his as a 'gift', but he is now aware." She looked back at Odin.

Odin nodded. "I did what I did, let the cards fall where they may." He shrugged. "My Lady, I am Odin, All-Father, God of Asgard." He introduced himself because this was the first time they've met face to face.

"I am Meridia, Lady of Light." She held herself sort of in a way that was above him in her manner of speaking, and Odin had nothing to say in response to that.

He was clear in their level, and Meridia was giving him respect as a God.

"Is my presence here going to cause concern, Lady of Light? It was merely a whim that I arrived in these lands, I shall depart would I prove an annoyance that cannot be overlooked." It was odd seeing Odin being so…..obedient.

"What's done is done." She said simply. "Just know that you now garner the attention of the Gods of these lands."

"So we won't expect one of the Divines to come down and try to smite him?" I said with a bit of tongue in cheek.

While it was half joking, Meridia shook her head seriously. "It is not impossible, but it is unlikely as long as he doesn't cause too many problems. The effort they can spare is minimal in most situations, and they are but fragments of what they once were. They lent their powers in the creation of Nirn, and as a consequence, they have deteriorated substantially from their peak. That one –" She referred to Odin. "— Should be about equal to them in strength as they stand now."

Well, that gives some perspective then.

If Odin's about on par with the deteriorated Divines of Nirn, then they aren't going to sacrifice to 'remove' him unless he becomes a true menace, which he won't.

It's lucky that Nirn itself rejects the 'outsiders' of Meridia's nature, otherwise this place would have been burned down a long time ago. It's a delicate balance, Daedra can't project their full power inside of Nirn, but the Divines that protect the world also are substantially weaker than them at this point.

"Perhaps not Akatosh." Meridia idly mused as a follow up. "I believe he is still powerful enough to thwart even myself if I was reckless enough to abandon everything and make an attempt here. However, that is regarding the one you know as Talos. He is not to be trifled with even by my standard."

Huh.

Makes sense, he is their 'Chief God' or whatever.

"Did you just come here to warn us, Meridia." Jinn asked.

"Yes." Meridia didn't deny it. "I do not casually walk the mortal world." She pursed her lips once more. "Be wary of attempts at probing. Many will want to see what this 'new God' is. I suggest leaving this place soon."

"We probably won't be here more than a couple days at the most." I replied.

Meridia nodded.

"Quick question, do you think that the big Dragon upstairs would cause a ruckus if we took Thorum back home for awhile?"

"...I do not know." Meridia responded after a moment. "You may ask him if you are concerned."

"Ask…?' Thorum's eyes widened. "How…"

"Do you not have a statue of Talos outside of this building and down the road? Go pray and ask for a response. In a matter of this in particular, he will respond." Meridia waved it off flippantly.

Well…I guess we could do that.

"That works?" Thorum muttered.

"Do you think that Temples, Statues, and idols are just for aesthetics? They are links to the God you worship." Meridia huffed. "Any of us can use them as a means to connect with the world."

"Sounds good, let me go ask if I can borrow his baby dragon!" Odin nodded.

Why did I have the feeling that this wasn't going to go as expected?

[***]

As expected, everyone else within the Jorrvaskr returned to normal as Meridia left. And we simply told them we were going on a bit of an adventure and they didn't care to know more.

As I thought from before, Nords as a whole are very easy going people. They don't pry into your personal matters, they don't try to dictate anything massively about your life. They are a very live and let live sort of folk. Obviously there is a bit of a contradiction with their Nordic Pride and subsequent hostility – even if it settled down in recent times – towards other races living in Skyrim.

But I digress.

They didn't care overly much and didn't ask for details.

Regardless, Odin stood in front of the Giant statue that was erected next to the stairs that led up to the Jarl's keep.

Usually, there would be some more people walking around, but Odin easily erected his own Bounded Fields – or his equivalent – to shunt off this area from other people.

"Do you think he'll answer?" Jinn asked.

"I do not know." Thorum watched. "Talos has not publicly answered in many years. It is to the point where many Nords are uncaring about the laws against his worship."

"He is a Hero-God, actions must be earned." Scáthach said simply. She apparently had some knowledge of him. "Why would he answer the fools who ask for blessings for the mundane?"

That makes sense I suppose. He would answer those who prove themselves capable, rather than blessing people who want to become capable by extension of his help.

"Well, Odin, do you want to ask, or should I?" I stood next to the All-Father as we both stared at the statue.

"Let me handle this." He stood up straighter. "From one God to another, this is a matter I should handle."

Alright then.

When Odin is in proper 'God' Mode, he is a respectable and Wise person.

Odin, held his walking stick up, and a certain presence enveloped him. He was All-Father, King of the Aesir, and God of Asgard.

It was hard to deny his presence.

I was curious what he was going to do to reach out to Talos.

"Wake up you bastard!" He started smacking the large statue with his stick.

...Yeah, I don't know what I expected.

"Stop sleeping! I know you're watching and you can hear me!" Odin continued as we all sort of silently watched him.

"…..my Friend, I do not believe this will work. Perhaps we should attempt a more –" Thorum didn't even get to finish what he was saying as another presence descended upon the area.

It was heavy. It was enough that I felt it weigh down on myself.

And looking at the statue, I sort of felt like something was watching me back.

"It's about time!" Odin grunted. "I wanna take the brat with me, you got any objections?" He jerked his thumb towards Thorum.

It's strange, there were no visible changes in the statue, but once more, I felt like it turned its gaze towards Thorum.

Thorum, shuddered as well. I saw his eyes widen and he nearly prostrated himself onto the ground out of instinct.

"Ḁ̶̍͗͝c̸͍͍͆͒̀k̶̯̦͊͌̐ņ̸͎͔̂̊̕o̵̙̩̞͐̑̚w̵͖̩̏͛͘l̶̡̖̜͛̽̚e̶̟̎́͘͜d̵͕̠̄̒g̶̼͍̽̑͐ḛ̷͆̓͜͝ͅd̵̲̓͊̓"

The words that were not words.

It was more like intentions and feelings conveyed through a combination of Sound and Divine Power. I wouldn't even call them Divine Words as that was meant more towards altering the world through speech.

No, this was simply a non-human being communicating without lowering themselves down for a human to understand.

Just from that single 'word', I understood a lot. It was screeching almost, and I felt a small throb in my head.

The gist was that, Thorum was 'allowed' to come along with us, but he must return within a certain time frame, and in the worst case, his soul is to return to Nirn.

He specified Nirn.

I guess that cat is out of the bag.

Yeah, Meridia did say that I was known to certain entities here, but I suppose I didn't appreciate what she truly meant by that earlier.

I was fairly sure I didn't understand everything that was conveyed in that singular 'word' either, as it wasn't meant for me.

"Fine." Odin grumbled. "And talk like a normal person next time!" Odin continued to smack the statue with his stick, despite the presence still present within it.

The statue ignored Odin, but I felt its 'gaze' turn back towards me.

Something shot out of it, a light, almost as if the presence was using it to reach out and touch something of mine. Rather, it targeted my storage Ring. Normally, I would have done something to stop such blatant accosting of my stuff, but this was an odd situation, and I was willing to see how it played out.

It found an item I didn't expect, one I hadn't yet used since acquiring it.

The Scroll that Jinn made me, the map, that she took the effort to transcribe with all the locations she discovered and their accompanying coordinates so we weren't blind jumping or I didn't have to waste time calculating while in Skyrim.

It was forced out of my Ring and unfurled in the air in front of me.

On one particular spot, an emblem was seared up near the top in the shape of a Bow, located up Northwest by Solitude.

Just as quickly as the presence descended, it also disappeared back from where it came from.

The Map fell and I quickly caught it in my hands as everyone else sort of crowed around me.

"….Rin and Artoria spent weeks trekking through the mountains and delving into Tombs looking for clues regarding Auriel's Bow." Jinn commented.

"Yup." I said simply.

"And that's most likely its location." Jinn said again.

"Yup." I responded.

I guess this is literal Divine Providence then? It's fairly obvious I'm being told to go grab the Bow. I don't know what they're thinking, being fine with me taking it, as obviously they know I'm going to probably hold onto it If the Staff and other things are to go by. Not that I wouldn't let Thorum use it whenever he wanted, thus fulfilling any needs for it here in Nirn, but it's clear if they didn't want me to have it, they would have simply given Thorum the means to go after it earlier.

Regardless.

"Rin is going to pissed." I looked up at Odin. "Mind making a small detour?"

[***]

A/N

Divine Bow get!

Will probably wrap up this little Skyrim foray in a few chapters, so don't worry. Then we're off into Yggdrasil for some shenanigans.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

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