Of Fertility and Confessions

If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

7th May 2013, Royal Palace, Asgard

(Odin Borson POV)

It was probably one of the strongest weapons in the universe and Odin could feel the remnants of the Phoenix Force and the Power Stone singing inside his weapon. And yet, it was not over. Odin grabbed the Tesseract with his bare hands and with a rune, the cube started disintegrating and a single stone remained.

It was blue and it oozed power. For it was the Space Stone, one of the relics of creation, an artifact that was older than even him, with all his many lives. It floated in his hand, and he pushed it towards the pommel of the sword, where a small spherical hole remained.

The stone filled the hole perfectly, and the runes all over the sword lighted up. Odin's weapon was ready, and it would surpass any other in existence. For the Odinsword was born on this fruitful day. This was it, the key to Asgard's freedom.

For may its power cleanse the parasites that had been feeding on his people and may its light destroy the shadows they dwell in.

When the King of Asgard returned to the throne room, with a sword larger than a man's body, whispers followed him. It was the first time since his conquest of the nine realms that he truly started acting like the warrior he is deep down.

Something in him always breaks after each ritual. He gains wisdom and understanding, but he loses his will to fight. He saw how useless battle and war were in the grand scheme of things, and it contradicted the Asgardian way of life.

He only allowed his soldiers to battle when there is a threat that might endanger the nine realms. He chose not to involve himself directly. It was useless, in the end. War, conflict, will always occur whether he wants it to or not, and his policy of non-involvement didn't always work out for the best. For example, Odin remembers Hela's almost escape where he sent his entire force of Valkyries, peerless warriors with impressive skill and teamwork.

And yet he had underestimated just how powerful Hela's power was when she was his blood daughter. She was already a nightmare to deal with when she was Loki's daughter, but being his child made her already impressive powers, ridiculous. It didn't matter in the end, if Odin knew something for a fact, it was that he could not turn back time. The Valkyries were massacred, and Odin needed to personally bind her, tying her imprisonment to his own life force, which was slowly dwindling away in his old age.

Yet, the people of Asgard never really saw Odin's true might. He had rarely gotten into any battle from the moment he got access to the Odinforce, and the few that he did, he only needed seconds to end the fight. Laufey's laughable plan of invading Midgard came the closest, and even then, most of the Frost Giant army was massacred completely by the Morrigan when they trespassed into Midgard. And Odin only needed a few minutes to immobilize the King of Jotunheim and bind the source of his power into the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Although, that little jaunt had the misfortune of spreading rumors about what kind of monsters the frost giants are, and demonized them, probably for the few Asgardians that lost their lives. Odin attributes these rumors to one of the reasons Loki fell so easily when he discovered his true nature.

But now, for the first time in centuries, the people of Asgard were seeing Odin genuinely preparing for war, one that they did not understand. Because why would he build such a weapon, that oozed power and authority, far more than his former spear ever did? The King of Asgard could feel their excitement at the thought of battle in the near future.

And they were right to be excited, with his new weapon, Asgard would soon be free. The Odinsword was a weapon unlike any other. It was a combination of the Eternal Flame and the Power Stone, two of the most powerful forces in the universe. And with the addition of the Space Stone, it was now even more formidable. Its mere presence was enough to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.

The synergy between the Eternal Flames and the Space Stone was immense. Adding in the amplification effect of the Odinsword, this was by far one of the most powerful weapons in existence. The Eternal Flame which contained the Flames of Destruction and Rebirth of the Phoenix Force and the amplification properties of the Power Stone would enhance any attack he could channel from it, and give it more destructive properties.

However, the Space Stone was the crown jewel. Odin often tried to avoid using infinity stones because it often brought the attention of power hungry beings to Asgard's doorstep and that was just troublesome to deal with. Many Ragnarök cycles ended with someone breaking into one of the nine realms to steal an infinity stone and ending up destroying the entire realm altogether.

But now, he needed the stone for what was coming. This sword channels the stone's energy so well, that he could use it to cut anything in existence by separating their bonds on an atomic scale. He could split a planet in two without breaking a sweat, and this kind of power was what was needed to deal with the Shadows.

In a way, Odin missed this feeling of power. It reminded him of his might in his older lives, where his strength wasn't sapped slowly by these parasites that dare call themselves the Gods of the Gods. But they would get their reckoning soon, and Asgard would be free.

His thoughts were interrupted by his wife Frigga, "Odin, what is going on? Why did you make that sword?"

The King of Asgard looked around and saw that they were alone in the Throne room, even the guards were gone, probably dismissed by his Queen. What a thoughtful woman he married.

Odin sighed, he needed to come clean now. He will be gathering the army soon, and she was his Queen. She needed to know what was going on, "Frigga, the situation is complicated, but yes, we're going to war. One that I hope will be a short one, but one that is necessary."

"War is never necessary," Frigga protested, "you taught me that when we first married. You promised that you would change your ways, that you would stop the endless bloodshed. All this time you have kept to your word. Why are you planning on breaking it now?"

Odin nodded, "And you would be right, normally. War is never necessary, until all avenues but battle are exhausted. And believe me, my Queen, this has been a long time coming."

Frigga answered with a bitter tone, "and which unfortunate realm will be the one that will suffer your wrath?"

To be perfectly honest, Odin knew that Frigga had every right to be furious at him. She was Vanaheim's peace offering. In his youth, the King of Asgard, hungry for battle and conquest, tried to conquer her birth realm and almost succeeded. The Vanir sorcerers were strong, but not enough to deal with Asgard's might. In the end, the realm submitted in exchange for him having a Vanir queen, which happened to be Frigga.

It took a long time for their marriage to start working, and it took Odin's vow to not start any wars for that to happen. He had performed his ritual by then and lost his youthful and foolish hunger for power. This was the foundation of their marriage, their core, and Odin was going back on it.

"I am not going attack any one of the nine realms," Odin protested, "I am not doing it to conquer anything, or for the sake of battle itself. You know that I grew from these foolish notions. I am doing it because I have to because to not do it, we will lose something precious."

Yes, he was truthful in this. This was his last chance. Should they fail, it would shatter him. He would be broken, having lost hope, to fight against the Shadows. If a plan, created by the strongest Asgardian ever born, born from the power of an Elder God and the Odinforce, a plan that was thousands of years in the making, did not work, then nothing will. It was his greatest attack, his final attempt at his people's freedom.

Frigga must have noticed his sincerity, "Then tell me, husband, why are you doing this?"

With a nod, Odin warned, "It will shatter you."

However, Frigga remained resilient to his warning, "I can handle it."

Odin sighed in exasperation, "No, you can't. But there is no use in hiding it any longer. I did not tell you about it previously because I couldn't, not without putting you in danger. The truth is that everything you think you know is a lie. Every living being in the nine realms is barely more than a puppet without them knowing it, even the Asgardians, even me. Well, I do know about it, but I was barely more than a knowledgeable slave."

Understandably, Frigga was confused by his proclamation, "I don't understand. How would that be possible?"

"Us, Asgardians live in an endless cycle, of conquest, death, and rebirth. This has been going on for millions of years. You have been reincarnated thousands if not millions of times over the cycles of Ragnarök. The beings I wish to wage war against have cannibalized this cycle, controlled it, and turned our lives into nothing more than stories, plays where we are each given a specific role, by pulling on the strands of fate to get their preferred outcome. I have awakened my previous memories after my ritual which was why I was so different."

Frigga seemed to freeze at that probably digesting the information. She had stayed silent for a few minutes before speaking up, "I had wondered why you were so different in such a fundamental way. Has any of this been real, Odin? Were my sacrifices real, were they worth it?"

Odin gave her a sad smile, "My darling wife, I have met you millions of times across countless lifetimes, and every time I fall in love with you again and again. Our actions might have been fated, planned by horrible parasites that feed on our efforts, but what we felt, what you have sacrificed, has always been real, Frigga."

"But why are you acting now? If they've been enslaving us for so long, what makes this time any different?"

Odin had a proud gleam in his eye, "Our son, Thor, or at least the last version, hatched a long-term plan to ensure Asgard's freedom. Even from beyond the grave, he was able to get us in a position where these Shadows are weakened, their control over our fates nonexistent, and their sight over Asgard clouded. We're almost there, it's almost over. This is the climax, the chance I have been waiting for. I cannot let that go, even if it means that I will need to break my vow to you. I love you Frigga, but I have a responsibility to my people, to our people."

Frigga sighed, "I can tell that this is serious, on a personal level."

Odin gritted his teeth, "do you have any idea how horrible it is to be trapped in your own mind, not being able to control your body, and watch as your people perish time and time again, without being able to do anything? I have seen you die countless times. I have seen Loki betray us countless times. I have watched as the realms fell into chaos and war countless times and I couldn't even try to stop these miserable scenarios, forced to pretend to be someone I am not, seeing my body speak and move without making a word. Believe me, Frigga, this is very personal."

Frigga nodded, "You have my blessing, husband."

Odin nodded, "Yes, it's time to assemble Asgard's army."