The Thralls Of Asgard || Arrival

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Molly, Tandy, and Ty arrive in Asgard in the aftermath of of the Dark Phoenix's attack and Paige Guthrie's sacrifice.



The great hall echoed, silence having fallen after Brunhilde's pronouncement, its walls reverberating with the Valkyrie's words. She turned a moment later, taking Paige with her, and exited the hall through its large, arched doorway. Everyone left behind seemed to hold their breath as they waited for the All-Father to decide the fates of the children so unexpectedly standing him.

"More Midgardian children cluttering up my hall." Odin said, and stood, towering over all three of the teens, and looked down on them with his one eye. The pair of ravens perched on the back of his chair took flight, circled once around Ty, and then split. One landed on Molly's shoulder, only to walk down her arm, pecking and cawing. The other settled itself on Tandy's head, and plucked at her hair with it's beak.

"More unusual Midgardian children." The All-Father added. He nodded - at the birds, and they returned to his shoulders, only to fly off at a gesture. "Your home is gone from you, and you are not of my people, or my court. Our new Valkyrie left before telling me what you would have to offer Asgard."

Frigga watched the children, so very young, even by their own world's standards. "As you say," she murmured. "They are unusual - possessing gifts that could prove advantageous should they learn to properly utilize them."

Huginn and Muninn lifted their heads to look at the All-Mother and nodded in the way birds do, heads bobbing several times.

"My wife shames me with her wisdom." Odin said. "And patience for an old man's cantankerous nature." He walked down off the raised dais and stood in front of the three teenagers. "Tell me, the three of you, what gifts could you bring to Asgard? What strange children has Midgard born and sent to us?"

Molly was momentarily distracted by the Ravens, staring at them with a sense of wonder that lit up her entire face. When she realized she was being spoken to, she glanced up, tilting her head. "Oh! Um...I'm Molly Grace Hayes. I'm super strong, and unsquishable. I lifted a building over my head once...but that was on the Astral Plane. I dunno if I can do that here. Oh! I did pick up a car for real before, and got thrown through a church. And I fought a bunch of monsters. And a knight. Do you guys have knights?"

Tandy was still as a statue when the Raven landed and started to beck at her hair. Once Molly had spoken, Tandy looked over at Odin - she felt like she was thrown back in time. Like in Evil Dead 2 but with less zombies and more gods. "My name is Tandy Reese Bowen. I can create light daggers." She hadn't stopped glowing since her arrival and her crescent moon around her right eye was glowing brighter, probably because she was standing very close to Tyrone at the moment. "Currently they put people into comas and make plants die."

Ty nudged her. "I think they can feed me, too. That cyborg version of you hit me with one. It killed the hunger and gave me an energy boost." He looked up at Odin and Frigga. "I have shadows. I can move them a bit, make them solid and effect the regular world, hit people, move things around. They tried to eat a painting once." He scuffed his shoe against the floor in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah. My name is Tyrone Johnson."

"Shadow, light and strength. Those are not uncommon gifts here." Odin said, after a quick shared glance between him and Frigga. "Yet, you are still children of Midgard. Powerful children, but entirely untrained in our ways... and in your gifts. We cannot simply let you loose to roam the Nine Realms at your leisure."

"Indeed, that would be most unwise," Frigga agreed. She turned her gaze toward the many Asgardians scattered throughout the great hall. "Their gifts could prove as dangerous as they are valuable. Undertaking the training of children such as these would be a challenge. Who amongst you will step forward to accept it?"

There was a beat of silence before a tall figure stepped forward, hand resting on the hilt of the sword hanging off his belt. "I will take the light child," Balder volunteered, his voice echoing off the walls.

Nott looked up lazily from her spot in the corner. Normally she wouldn't get involved but this was different. This was something new, and she wanted to be a part of it. "The boy child. You. Ty-roone." That sounded much better than that awful way he pronounced his name. "You will be mine. And you will listen to me. I will take full responsibility."

"And the young shield-sister, she shall be my charge." Sif had smiled to herself when the girl had mentioned knights. She had spirit, and strength - both would need tempering and molding, just as they had when she had been a child.

The hall erupted into hushed smalltalk as the three had now been claimed; rumor, speculation, and consideration for change. This was halted, however, by a pointed rap tap tap of a staff on the stonework floor.

The crowd's shifting attention acted cut like a bow wave to isolate the tall, slim figure who had called for attention. Loki, formal in his traditional green tunic and gold accents, easily dominated the fray both in position — current favored son of the Allfather — and gravitas. A gravitas now solely focused upon the three Asgardians who had emerged to lay claim to the children.

"Ahem," he began, "It is wise and just that we move to extend the hospitality of Asgard, but I must, for the good of us all, question the weight of the sacrifice offered. One life is not worth three. Hel demands her due, and my darling daughter is not to be ignored."

He smiled wide. "These whelps are not worthy of Valhalla, and Niflheim holds true claim over their fate."

"You forget yourself, Loki." Odin said. "Your silver tongue may set bargains well made for you and yours, but the bargain was already made, freely." He looked down sternly at Loki. "Three young lives, barely lived, may not be a fair exchange for what was paid. The lady Tomadottir and Brunhilde have already made an agreement. It will not be changed, Baldur, Sif and Nott have already spoken for them. The Midgardian children will not serve your daughter."

Loki's snake smile only widened, but he went down on one knee in an overly submissive gesture. "I am laid bare by the infallible judgement of the Allfather. However," and the shocked whispers of Loki's decision to continue rang throughout the Great Hall, "I humbly pose that Asgard would find more benefit with the life-sworn pledge of thrallhood. Deals must always be sworn on both sides. Oaths must be made."

"Make them thralls?" Frigga asked, arching one regal eyebrow. "Loki, my darling, I hadn't thought to hear you suggest the use of such an antiquated process."

Then the All-Mother looked to the children, each having answered Odin's question without faltering, and continued, "However, you do raise a... valid point. And so I would ask this of each of you, Nott, Baldr, and Sif: should they agree to the terms, knowing that to do otherwise would mean death, you release your charges from their bonds of servitude when you feel they have repaid the debt they owe."

Frigga turned, meeting her son's eyes, and finished dryly, "If our granddaughter wishes to dispute the All-Father's decision, she is more than welcome to discuss it with me or your father. Over tea, perhaps. I would expect her to wear something suitable."

"You know my Darling Tyrant of the Mists and Fog. She never does anything halfway." Loki smiled fondly, unfolding himself with a flourishing bow toward Frigga. "I only fear that your terms may be too lax, Mother. Let us instead trust the All-Seeing Eye of the Allfather to pass judgement when the time comes."

"Cease your theatrics and be silent, Loki Silvertongue.." Odin boomed. "It is not your place to ask the courts to place their trust in the All-Father." He struck the floor with his staff and the marble walls rang. "The children will swear oaths of fealty and obedience to their patrons. Sif, Baldr and Nott will swear to protect and teach them. When they are no longer children, we will look again on their oaths. Should they prove unworthy to be of the Nine Realms, then your daughter may have her pick of them."

Frigga settled back in her chair and raised her hand. From her fingertips sprang whirls of color that shifted and intermingled until they formed a picture of sorts - a living picture. "Though truly, our granddaughter should be quite content with the souls reaped this day, for there were many." Her brows furrowed as she gazed upon the destruction wrought throughout Midgard. "Three souls more or less should bother her little." The window to Midgard winked out of existence a moment later and the All-Mother gestured toward the rest of the court. "The oaths."

Once spoken, the oaths bound the three Midgardian children to their Asgardian sponsors, millennia of tradition and magic weaving around them, cinching their life forces to the bond. To break it meant death. And so the newest thralls of Asgard took their places in the shadows of the All-Father's court.



Snapshots of daily life for Molly, Tandy, and Ty.



"So...what does a 'thrall' mean?"

Molly looked up at the warrior lady they said would be her leader or something. It was hard to keep her attention on her, though, cause Asgard didn't look like Earth. Cause it wasn't. It was like one of those fantasy shows with princesses and dragons. Or maybe Xena. Yep, definitely Xena.

"It is an old term, a term for a type of servitude." Sif did not mind the questions. Some might have found it impertinent, but not her. "The particulars vary from person to person, how formally they treat it and so on."

"Servitude, like...like a slave?" Molly said with a frown. She'd read about that in class. It happened in the old days. But this was another realm. So it was still happening. She didn't like that idea. It meant people didn't have the ability to be free. They had to do whatever someone said. No matter what. Or they'd get hurt.

"There are some who treat it that way." Sif shrugged. "Others - like myself - tend to think that obligation flows both ways. You have an obligation to perform tasks for me, but I have an obligation to feed and house you and make sure your needs are met."

"So...sort of like a parent?" Molly said. The kid had to do stuff for the parents, and the parent fed them and made sure they had a roof over their head and like...taught them stuff. Hmmm. She brightened.

"Do teach me stuff too? Can you teach me how to use a sword? And a bow and arrow? And like...how to fight monsters?"

Molly Hayes was nothing if not an optimist.

~X~

Tandy put her hands on her knees as she leaned over trying to catch her breath. "Can we break?" Balder was Asgardian that had resume a mentor role over her when she first came to Asgard a couple of months ago. She was still getting used to the fact that she was in a different world, much less a world of old Norse gods. His training methods were far different as they were going at it for hours with very little breaks in between but with each new session Tandy was learning how to harness her powers. It was easier when the person training you had similar light powers.

"Already?" Balder asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the small girl - well, small in comparison to him at least. "You just had a break." Just being over three hours ago. He was very generous when it came to breaks. Learning required discipline, after all. Discipline required being able to power through.

Looking up at him with narrowed eyes as if she was trying to figure out if he was serious or joking. "Do you not believe in breaks? I mean, don't get me wrong. I am grateful that you are teaching me, but man you are worst than Mr. G..." Her voice broke off as she remembered everyone - she didn't know what happened since she was brought here. Where they okay? Did anyone survive? Did the Dark Phoenix succeeded? She touched the necklace around her neck and stood up straight. "How often did you train as a kid?"

"Twelve hours a day and no I didn't get breaks, so you should consider it a luxury that you get any at all." Balder smiled a bit, however. He enjoyed Tandy's spunk. It made the otherwise boring days interesting. "Let's take a break, then. You humans aren't nearly as durable."

"That is so cray cray." Tandy stared at him him in disbelief. When he said break, Tandy fell to the ground and laid on her back. "We are puny, very breakable."

Balder raised an eyebrow. "Cray cray?" Tandy used a lot of strange words he didn't understand. Humans were so strange.

At those words Tandy couldn't help but start laughing. "Oh that was good."

The Asgardian was, of course, completely lost. "What was good? You act so odd sometimes."

"Says the man who trains 12 hours a day non-stop."

"That's not odd, that's dedication. If you want to learn, you put in the effort."

She laughed again and looked up into the sky. "You are so serious."

"Well one of us has to be." But a small smile quirked at his lips. Strange little girl she was. "Come on, back up. Time to work again."

"Fine my jedi master...." She rolled over onto her stomach before pushing herself up.

~X~

Ty parted the light particles carefully, and darkness slipped into their absence. He picked up one tiny bead from the chaotic pile on the floor and brought it over to the storage bin to drop it into the correct color, only a shade off from the ones next to it. He was expected to know all the tricks of light and darkness, color distinction was just a small part of it. But apparently Nott liked to pretend such small things were easy.

Nott sighed heavily and loudly. "Boy-child! Did you not see the slight variation?" Stepping down, she pointed to the off-coloured orb. "Do you think that because it is similar, no one will notice?"

With a bit more concentration, Ty detected the difference she spoke of. Sullenly, he pointed to the correc bin. He'd heard of humans with four cones in their eyes, he wondered if Nott had six. Or more.

Nott continued to watch in silence, her dark eyes following Ty-roon's movements. "If even the simplest tasks deserve care and atten‎tion, then it should be doubly so for those that elude us." She raised her eyebrows. "A hurried task should not have been initiated. Time is your scarcest resource, boy. Do not waste it."

Ty nodded his understanding, and renewed his interest in sorting the pile of beads.

~X~

The Asgardians had places set up to practice battles. It was sort of like a Danger Room except it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. It had been a couple of months since Molly had arrived, and she had taken to being in Asgard like a duck to water. Or like peanut butter and jelly to bread, something equal to that. Today, like everyday, she and Sif were practicing.

Wearing the Asgardian equivalent to a tanktop and pants that reminded her of a pirate, Molly, daggers in hand, circled Sif. They were trying to work on fighting without just strength, but speed and cunning and stuff as well.

For the time being, Sif's sword was sheathed on her back, and she defended herself bare-handed against Molly. The young girl had yet to land a strike against her more experienced 'coach', but she'd been getting closer over the past few sessions. She stood, pivoting in place to keep the shifting Midgardian in front of her, hands curved open and loosely to redirect strikes as they came toward her.

When they first started practicing, Molly had gotten frustrated and tried to go all throwdown on Sif. And Molly got her buttkicked hard that day. But eventually she'd learned to go with the flow, like now. She just had to be patient. Waiting, carefully watching Sif, she tried to get an idea of how she moved, to see if she could figure out how she normally reacted to stuff. It was like learning ballet. Except with knives.

She jabbed a knife at her, but it was only halfway to see what she'd do, then snuck around a split second later and tried to use a sweeping kick to knock Sif off her feet before she could figure out what was going on.

Sif did not fall for the feint, and lifted her foot to step back out of the way of the sweep. "Better," she declared. Her young charge was attentive, and rarely made the same mistake twice.

Expecting a different outcome, Molly tripped over Sif's foot and tumbled to the ground, the daggers falling along with her. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she grabbed the daggers and hopped up to her feet. She was totally gonna get this.

"Let's try that again!"

~X~

Rubbing her shoulder after a long day of sword training. She had finally upgraded to a real sword and shield and was capable of holding both weapons up for longer periods of time. She walked over to where they were going to step up camp for the night, "How did I do today?"

"Better than yesterday but as well as you'll do tomorrow," Balder said cryptically. He almost never gave Tandy a straight answer to a question like that. Mostly because he liked to see her frustration.

Looking over her shoulder, "That isn't helpful." She dropped down to the makeshift pit to light a small fire to begin cooking their dinner. "At least I got the parrying down. You had to admit, I thought I had you for a moment."

"If you say so." There was a slightly teasing note in Balder's voice. She was getting much better. And he was proud of her for that. But he wasn't going to let it go to her head.

"Balder the Gentle. More like Balder the cruel." Looking up over at the god. "I am kidding." Knowing he took things way too seriously at times.

Oh he knew she was kidding. But he also liked teasing her. A noise drew his attention before he could answer however, and all traces of amusement disappeared from his expression as he turned. "Hush," he said quietly.

It became very quiet as silence grew in the camp site. The only noise was the occasional crackle of the fire - which at this point Tandy wished she had super hearing. She wanted to ask what it was but she didn't dare move or make a sound, instead her eyes were watching the growing darkness around them.

The figures bounded out of the darkness quite suddenly, weapons reared as they yelled. Balder hopped up at once, drawing his sword. He hoped Tandy was ready for a fight.

Tandy ran towards her shield and held it up as a spear hit it. "Shit." She stood up and looked over to see a goblin. "Really this close?" She raised up her hands and unleashed five daggers with just enough power to stun them.

Balder wasn't nearly as kind - Balder the Gentle though he might be, he didn't take well to seeing himself or his ward threatened. He slid the blade into the body of one of their attackers before swinging it clean through another.

Another goblin appeared to Tandy's right and she yelled out as it slashed her side. Quickly she tumbled back and lifted up her shield as the goblin crashed down on her. They were strong for tiny creatures. "Get off!" She was struggling as the Goblin was trying to reach around her shield to get to her.

At the sound of Tandy's struggles Balder whirled, swinging his sword through the goblin attacking the blonde; the blade buried itself in the creature's side, and it stumbled off with the rest of its friends, realizing they had underestimated who they had chosen to attack. "Are you okay?" Balder asked, seeing the blood staining Tandy's shirt.

Tandy stood up and held her side. "Tis but a scratch." And winced, "Goblins don't poison their swords do they?"

"No, you should be okay," Balder assured her, still examining the "scratch." "We should get that tended to, however. An infection would set you back in your training."

"Is this the part were you rip your shirt and bind my wound?" She gave him a small smile before looking behind him. "There are more but not attacking?"

"I don't think ripping your shirt will be necessary," Balder said as he examined it for a moment and grabbed his bag, finding some bandages. "They're not bright but they're not stupid enough to take an adversary they know is stronger than them."

"No. Not mine." She winced as she moved a bit to get a better look. "What are they saying?"

Balder strained his ears to here what was going on, at the same time holding Tandy still so he could wrap her up. "Nothing much. They are annoyed. They were expecting easy pickings."

"Ha. Easy pickings. I guess they didn't know you are literally a god. Good things I am on your side. Or you are on my side...whichever. I am cold."

The god smiled gently. "Let us get a fire started now."

~X~

There was nowhere Nott felt more comfortable than on a horse. On her mount, riding through the night sky, ‎it was easy to remember she was night personified.

It seemed her charge was not as proficient as she. ‎ It'd been several minutes since they'd entered the stables and he still wasn't ready. In that time, she'd prepared her horse and even mounted.

"Ty-roon," her voice boomed. "You are being useless. I have no time for this. The night does not wait. What is the meaning for this delay?"

Ty wondered if he should admit that this was the first time he'd seen an animal this big since that time he'd snuck into the Bronx Zoo. He'd been growing even more since arriving in Asgard, but the horse still had an easy thousand pounds on him. It looked back at him patiently, and sighed. "I-I'm not sure exactly how this works," he said.

She looked at him agog. "Surely you have been in the presence of these majestic creatures before! I refuse to believe your education on Midgard was ‎that remiss!"

He bit his lip and looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "South Boston and NYC are more friendly to cars than horses, really," he said apologetically. Not that he could drive yet either.

The glare didn't subside. With a huff, she got down from her horse and walked to him. Her strong hands pushed him aside as she started to gather the tools. "A horse knows when your emotions. If you are scared, the horse will sense that and react. It is the same as with our enemies." Throwing on the saddle, she started to work on the bindings. "Never show your emotions, child. Observe the situation. Learn from what is being done around you. It is not my job to teach you -- it is my job to lead you." She deftly finished the tackle in less minutes than it would've seen possible. "I will not do this again. Now mount."

At which point Nott then returned to her horse, and moving only slightly slower, she sat herself up, straight and proud. "I do not have all night. We have things we need to accomplish."

With a fortifying breath, Ty attempted to imitate Nott's motions. He ended up in the saddle correctly, anyway.

~X~

"There is a Midgardian saying that I am fond of, about advanced technology and magic." Sif tossed a ball between her hands, then tossed it into the air, where it hovered and uncoiled to show intricate clockwork.

A year had went by. It'd felt like no time at all, though. Molly had seen many things during that time, but there was always still things that surprised her. She didn't think there would ever be a time when it didn't.

But there was one thing, besides learning how to be a warrior princess, that always kept Molly's attention: it was the super advanced stuff. Asgard was like one of those places that looked like it should have been all hobbits and m'lord and lady, which it was, but they coexisted alongside stuff like motorized chariots and ships and even little floating balls that kids played with. This was all just normal for them.

And it blew. her. mind. It was freaking awesome. But the best part? The best part was that they let her see how it worked. Because they knew she understood once she saw it. Course, they didn't like her taking things apart all the time but cause she was Sif's thrall they let her do it. Most of the time it was stuff that was broken, no longer needed.

Reverse engineering, they called it.

"Whoa," she said breathlessly.

She stared up at the ball, watching the moving parts with a sense of unbridled wonder, studying the way they were put together, moving in a mechanized dance.

"It's totally magic," Molly said, then glanced over with a grin. "Just..." She hunched her shoulders, shrugging. "Y'know, how I think about it."

"Even in the tales of your modern storytellers, when there is magic it follows rules." Sif grinned and collapsed the ball, then expanded it again so that Molly could see how it was done. "And the technology of Midgard, though it lags behind that of Asgard, is still advancing. And if you were to show one of your motion pictures, now that more and more of them are using three dimensions, to a ancient warrior, they would find it just as much magic as you do this."

Molly got closer, standing in the middle of the pieces. She turned around slowly, her eyes flickering back and forth as she made internal notes about how each thing fit into another. Everything had a place. It just made sense. It was almost like the machine was talking to her, telling her it's purpose. All she had to do was listen.

"That's so cool," she gushed. She glanced back down to Sif, then grinned again, running over to wrap her arms around her.

"Thanks."

Having someone to believe in her, to teach her and guide her, felt good.

Sif had gotten used to Molly's unexpected exuberance and shows of affection. She hugged back with one arm and her eyes twinkled gently. "You are quite welcome, little sister."

~X~

Tandy sat at a table in the city of Asgard with piles of books all around her, written in the different languages that could be found in this region. "My brain is going to melt."

"Perhaps if you focused less on that and more on the task at hand you would not realize your brain is melting," Balder said evenly.

"I do think that is why my brain is melting." She moved to stand up, feeling slightly naked when not wearing her armor and only in the Asgardian garments that were provided. "But I think I get it. It is the pronouncing the words that I am stumbling on." She was able to read most of the different written languages.

"Well, let's try again." Balder picked up the book Tandy had been studying and read off a sentence, slowly and carefully, letting her hear each pronunciation. "Now repeat."

She repeated what he said only stumbled once on the last word. "Bad, right?"

"You're getting better," Balder assured her. "Your pronunciation is mostly correct, it's the inflection we will need to focus on next. The right inflection in the right place can mean the difference between 'Nice to meet you' and 'I wish to fornicate with your mother.'"

"I don't want to fornicate anyones mother. That is just wrong." Tandy turned to look back at Balder. "Okay again."

He repeated the phrase again, emphasizing each inflection carefully.

Tandy repeated the phrase and this time she didn't stumble on the last word. "Getting your tongue to move that way seems impossible." She repeated the last word again.

"It takes practice," Balder agreed. "Especially starting as late in life as you have. Children are much more inclined to pick up languages quickly."

"I was never given the pleasure of learning new languages, especially strange ones in Midgard. I think I am doing great for someone whose birthday is tomorrow. If I got the calendar right."

"You're doing very well. Shall we start again?"

"You are the Jedi Master." Tandy returned back to the table and sat down.

~X~

Sif had exchanged her polished breastplate and armor for hunting leathers, and her sword for a cross-guarded spear. She was a firm believer in testing the practical applications of the skills she was teaching Molly. In this case, testing her stealth and understanding of silent communication. Besides, she was rather looking forward to seeing Molly's initial reaction to a bilgesnipe.

Molly had been trailing behind Sif, carefully shadowing her, which was easy to do when you were small. The forest was vast, spreading out all around. They'd gone to another world, something Molly was still getting used to. Traveling through portals made her queasy.

"Do we really have to kill this...big-spike?" she said. She wasn't really into the idea of killing things. But she trusted Sif. If she said it needed to be done then she believed her.

"This is not for sport, Astrid," Sif said gently, but also ever so slightly reprovingly. "Bilgesnipe are...I am trying to think of a similar animal on Midgard." They were not yet in a place where silence was necessary, so she could take a moment to explain. "Imagine...a rhinoceros. But larger. And with antlers like an elk. And the temperament of...what is the name...ah, yes. The honey badger."

She motioned to show which way they were going, and quieted her voice significantly. "Bilgesnipe can cause serious problems for a village, and they are not dissuaded from a course once they set themselves on it."

Molly smiled faintly to herself. Honey badger. But she quickly went back to serious business face and gave her a nod. This was saving people. Which was always good.

"Okay....So we dissuade them. Got it. What's the best way to do that? Sword? Bow and arrow? Fist?"

"Any. All. There are times that even Mjolnir itself is not enough to turn a bilgesnipe away, though." Sif placed a hand on Molly's shoulder. "It is good that you do not take killing lightly, even of a wild beast. But even so, there are times when it is necessary, when you have exhausted all other options."

Studying the treeline, Molly was quiet for a few moments.She ran her finger along the top of the handle of her sword. It had been specially made for her for her birthday, a gift from Volstagg of the Warrior's Three.

Eventually she nodded in solemn understanding, then added. "I hope there will usually be lots of options. But...I'll do what's gotta be done if have to."

"That is what I expect." Sif cocked her head, hearing the slightest rustle in the distance, and gestured for Molly to follow as she loped into the trees.