Eternity | T.J.

I Love Rewatching My Death... Twice

     I nearly jumped, not for any logical reason, but because I simply forgot that I would have to go through my story of death. Liv pulled me up by my arm as the screens lit up again.

     The video showed Surt landing on Longfellow Bridge, the lamppost I'd grabbed which I hoped counted as a weapon ( and was currently just hanging out in my new room), and my leap through the flames and brief battle with Surt before getting stabbed ( something that caused lots of cheering on the part of the Einherjar). Unlike the other videos we'd seen so far, it seemed edited, cutting out certain parts of the battle, specifically excluding and parts Magnus was in, which I suspected at the time was so his bravery could be shown separately.

     The Thanes muttered amongst themselves for a brief amount of time before Helgi got to his feet yet again, which seemed like a lot of standing up and sitting back down on his part, and spoke to the crowd.

     " While we have never seen a lamppost used as a weapon before, I think it's clear that facing a fire giant single-handedly counts as an act of great bravery. We find Willow Chase worthy of Valhalla!" Helgi waited for a minute for the noise to die down again before going through the same words he asked every other new Enherji." Willow Chase, do you know your parentage?"

     " I've never known my father."

     Again, just as he'd done before he nodded." We will seek wisdom from the runes, unless the All-Father wishes to intercede."

     I guess it shouldn't come as much of a shock that the All-Father did not wish to intercede. The Throne stayed empty, and the Vala approached our table again, walking over to Liv and me before casting some rune stones down at her feet.

     The first rune I noticed, and the rune that appeared on the screens, was a slightly familiar one to me, the weird F shaped symbol that I'd seen in Randolph's office, however, it seemed less known ( or less exciting) to the Einherjar, as, unlike Thor's rune, there was no chanting

     " Willow, daughter of Frey," The Vala said." The runes are in your favor, you shall die close to the end of Ragnarock, having fought well, and twice this week in combat you shall be killed by a spear."

     More cheering came at these words, which I hoped was about the Ragnarock bit, and not the two spears I'd die to. I gave a shaky smile to the Thanes, before sitting back down again and attempting to merge with my chair and pretend I wasn't there.

     " Magnus Chase!" Helgi spoke up again, moving on to my brother." Rise and impress us with your courage!"

     The Thanes were not impressed by Magnus's courage.

     The video of his death started after he and Sam stood up and flitted between scenes just as mine had, going from him threatening Surt with the pre-transformation sword, to Hearth and Blitz arriving, then it went to my death again, before suddenly fast-forwarding to him being backed to the bridge railing and Surt scooping out a chunk of the ground and throwing it into my brothers gut before the fire giant charged and both he and Magnus fell over the side of the bridge. Just as they both hit the water, the video froze and zoomed in on the sword, which was in Surt's gut, and definitely wasn't being held by my brother.

     Unlike with the other videos, there wasn't any cheering over the blood and violence, and instead, an uncomfortable murmur filled the room as the screens went dark again.

     " No," I heard my brother automatically speak up." No that's not how- someone edited that. It's like a blooper reel."

     " Samirah Al-Abbas." Helgi turned his attention to Sam." Explain."