DIVINE CHAMPIONS 3: THE RISE OF THE ELEMENTALIST

FARMER WITH AN EYE

Next morning, at seven, Aitri was thinking of how to get to Rick's house. She could have driven, but her father needed the car for office, and who would bring it back? She couldn't ask Rishi for lift, now that they were broken up. However, Aitri had an idea. She put her backpack on, and walked to the empty park, at the place where she was chosen as a champion. She had dressed herself in grey tights, with a black top, and had put on a purple jacket on. Then she spread her arms around, trying to grasp the air like she did against the draugar. She grasped it and tried to control it. Soon, she was levitating herself from the ground. "Well, what do you know?" She said to herself, "I can fly too."

Aitri held control of the air, and soared higher into the air. Then, she took off for Rick's house.

It took her fifteen minutes to reach, given she was flying for the first time. She lost her balance and was about to fall many times, but checked herself mid-air. She didn't fly too high, and as the boys used to say, no one would be able to see her, since normal human beings, who don't know about the existence of the supernatural, don't see the supernatural. 

She reached Rick's house's backyard, and landed just like the way her favourite superhero (the one from the only superhero movie she ever watched), Deadpool, liked it. As she looked up, she saw two people inside the Jacuzzi room. One of them was Rick, trying to find something in some book. He looked quite intensely involved. The other guy, standing by the glass door, looking outside quite surprised, was, of course, Rishi. His eyes seemed dark, as if he had been up all night. He looked at her without an expression, as the initial shock was gone. There was, perhaps somewhere, a pinch of appreciation hidden, but he was not showing. Male ego! His face got Aitri confused. Should she smile? Should she frown? In the ended, she also gave her no expression and entered, by pushing on the door.

"Why is he here?" Aitri asked. 

"You two may have been stupidly broken up, but he isn't out of the team. He is still the mainstay, the most knowledgeable of us all in this. And the first chosen."

"Fine." Aitri said. Of course, her anger towards Rishi surely shouldn't affect the big purpose here. So, she sat down. "Where do we start?"

"We don't know. We don't have any idea which world to travel."

"On top of that, Idunn has been hidden somewhere beyond both Odin and Heimdall's sights." Rishi said calmly.

"How is that possible?" Rick asked, still looking around for the books.

"Rick, you said that Thor was panting after killing all the draugar yesterday, right?"

"Yes."

"What if," Rishi said, pondering the possibility, "with the golden apples gone, both the gods have had their powers compromised?"

"That does explain why Thor, such a great warrior who has been killing monster all his life, was panting after taking down twenty of them. We need to find Idunn quickly. But where do we start?"

"Sif told me," Aitri finally chimed in, "to follow the nature around me. To feel it. What did that mean?"

"You guys should look around, you know." Rishi said, "Given the hints Sif leaves in her words, I'm pretty sure she meant something with these lines."

"So, here?" Rick asked, "In Pankhpur?"

"I think so."

Suddenly, there was call from the other side of the house. Rishi looked up, got up and opened the door. There was Robin outside, along with another member of this house, a certain Ashmi who Aitri hadn't seen since three days ago. The kitten walked in and quickly jumped on Rick's lap, and curled up. "Boss," He called for Rick, "Meghna Ma'am is here, and she has brought a guest. The man is a farmer."

Aitri felt proud of having Rick as a friend. Ever since he took over his company, Rick had opened his hearts for the poor and the lost of the town. His charity team fed many poor and hungry people around Pankhpur, and built homes for the homeless. Plus, if he, or Meghna, ever found some lost person in the road, they would bring them home, give them food, and send them to one of their safehouses (the ones that they built for the poor). This, perhaps, was another such case.

Meghna was super sweet about this tradition. As all of them went out to see, she had already seated the man. Food was being prepared for him. "He lost all his crops to the rain that happened last night." She scorned at Rishi. Right! It was raining last night. Apparently Rishi hadn't taken it all too well. Well, he couldn't be blamed either, right? She had dreams last night. Aitri took a close look at that person. He was super calm, and quiet. Too calm for a person who had lost his months' hardwork overnight. "He had to deliver his crops out of town, and get payment. He didn't get his payment, so he would have to starve, if not for us." 

"That is terrible, sir. You sit here, you won't have to starve. We will fix you up." Rick said, quite enthusiastically for a man quite taken by all the tensions of the mission. The man turned to say thanks, and then, finally, Aitri saw his face. He wore a cap on his head. The man seemed local with his skin tone. However, he was old, in about his sixties. He had grey hair and thick grey beard. And the weirdest thing, he had one eye. His other eye was covered by an eye patch. Rick and Rishi looked at each other as if it was they had seen ghosts. 

One of the cooks served him hot porridge. While he ate hungrily, Rick kept eyeing him. Gods, it was so weird. "Stop eyeing the old man." Meghna said, finally, "It makes him uncomfortable."

"I really don't think so." Rick said.

"The porridge is nice." The man said.

"Oh," Rishi chimed in, "you speak Hindi now, Lord Odin?"

Odin? Odin? Thor's father? the King of Asgard? Now, it all made sense suddenly. The eye patch, the calmness, and greyish beard and hair, his appearance in a farmer form, everything connected to exactly what Aitri had read a year before in the Norse culture. The man looked at Rishi, smiled, and said, "Knew I should have lost the eye patch." And continued eating.

After he finished eating, the farmer King of Asgard got up from his chair, and said, "I speak a lot of languages, dear champions. And I am so impressed by your hospitality, that I would give you a starting point in your quest."

"Allfather," Rick asked, "What about your all-seeing throne?"

"Dear boy," Odin said calmly, "The missing of golden apples affects my visions, and since Hidskjalf channels my powers to view what I want to see, it can't channel it now. Anyway, there are a few people who can help. And you need to get to them to find Idunn, so that we can have our apples, and stay fit for the incoming war."

"And who might they be, Allfather?" Rishi asked.

"My wife. You need to access the Bifrost to get to Asgard. And since your," He pointed at Rick, "your powers don't include a teleportation to Asgard, you need to find an access point." He turned to Aitri, "You, dear girl, have made a big decision. A strong stand. Are you up for it?" Aitri thought she should answer that, but before she could, Odin answered it, "I think you are. You have to follow what your patrons said, always. Trust the nature, trust your instincts, and just don't let anything fool you. There are a lot of illusions in the world, our world."

"The Allfather stands in my house!" Rick said, "It is an honor."

"Believe me," Odin said, "given what you are doing for the underprivileged people, the honor is mine too. Now, I have to take leave, kids. I got a long day today, learning things, specially about your own culture. It is so vast that it takes eons to learn everything. But with you in charge, I think I have eons."

"But Allfather," Rishi asked, "what about those access points?"

Odin had already taken his godly form, with his torn clothes taking the form of a fur and metal made battle armor, his walking stick taking the form of Gungnir, his great spear, a black cape coming out of his armor's back, and his head now covered with a metal helmet instead of the cap. He whistled, and to both the girls' surprise, an eight legged horse landed on the front yard. That was Sleipnir, Loki's son. "Isle by Njord's domain, in what is all of your distant home." And he jumped on Sleipnir and left, the horse taking off to flight.