DIVINE CHAMPIONS 5: THE FROSTY FATES

FAMILY REUNION

Ah, finally a weather that could hit Mikael's Swedish bones.

Oh, hold on. No. This was not Helheim. It was piping hot in here. Mikael panted, sweated, and gasped. "Where are we?"

"Sorry. But we need a thing to be collected for Helheim." Rishi said, "It won't be long. Oh, there he comes."

A little dude walked upto them with a little cube. He had dark skin, cornrows for hair, and his dark skinned hands were covered with tattoos. "Nice ink, Erik." Rick said.

"Thanks, magic-man, y'all should get one. Picked this up in my last Midgard visit, ain't changing nothing 'bout it." Erik replied.

"Are we in Nidavellir?" Mikael asked.

"Ah, you don't know?"

"Apparently not." Mikael replied, before going forward and putting his hand out to shake the dwarf's hand, "Sorry, its my first time."

"What a gentleman!" Erik said, as he shook his hand, "Y'all dawgs should learn."

"Well, he's Swedish. Gentleman-ness comes naturally to him." Ishaan replied.

"That's not a word, Ishy." Aitri replied.

"Try this out. Y'all have yours?" Erik asked. To that, the others pulled out cubes from their pockets, and Rishi said, "Turning them into cubes was an excellent idea." Erik mouthed 'I know', while putting the cube on Mikael's chest. "Alright, Nyqvist. I'm gonna need you to stay calm and let the cube do its work, alright?" Mik nodded, and as Erik pressed the red button in between, the cube started doing 'Iron Man' thingy on him, and covered his body with some sort of cold-blocking jacket. "Get it off!" He cried, panicking, "Its hot in here."

"Alright, put on yours." Erik said, "He ain't lastin' long in there. And goodbye."

"Goodbye, Erik." Rick said, as Erik gave the boys a hug. They put on their jackets, before Rick opened the portal back to Helheim. 

Helheim seemed to ease off the temperature. It was finally something that would have boggled Mikael's Swedish bones, had it not been for the jacket. Not that it wasn't, but it felt like Pankhpur again, i.e., comfortable. Ishaan seemed comfortable too. Rick and Aitri, not so much. They were rubbing their hands, blowing their mouths on them, while Rishi was just looking around, sniffing danger like a wolf. "I could take the cold." Mikael complained, "I didn't need this jacket."

"Try taking your hand out, then." Rishi said. Mikael followed him, and removed his glove, only to feel the immense pain in his bones. He quickly put the glove on. "The temperature of Helheim is -75. You go upstairs, Niflheim is -100. Even Sweden isn't ready for that cold."

"What did you guys do the last time?" Aitri asked.

"We used magic to stay warm, but it was not this cold last time." Rick said.

"Maybe the colder areas are fighting the Muspel Lord's rise." Rishi said, to which Aitri looked at him with derision. "Well, it could be a theory."

"Anyway, what do we do?" Rick asked, as they walked more and more inside the underworld, closing in on a field full of people.

"Maybe," Ishaan said, "She might be able to help."

Mikael's eyes froze on the woman sitting gloomily on an ice bench. But, but, how was she here? The look on Mikael's face had been caught on by Rishi, who had said, "Its her."

"Who?"

"That's my Mama."

Mikael walked up to her, and stood in front of the gloomy woman sitting, in her blonde hair and clouded blue eyes. She looked up and saw Mikael. And it was as if the light in her eyes returned. She looked at him for a second, kept looking for a minute, matched her blonde hair with his, her translucent soul swayed and felt something for the first time in years. Apparently, cancer may have destroyed her appearance in life, but at death, she was just as beautiful as she was known to be. Vera Sjoberg Nyqvist, for that one moment, felt alive.

"Mik!" She said.

"Hey, Mama." Mik shifted from English to Swedish. 

"Are you..."

"Nope. I'm alive. Till now. I'm a divine champion now. Ullr chose me."

"Woah! Really?"

"Yeah. Mama, how did you recognize me? You hadn't seen me since I was two."

"Being dead in Helheim gives you the pleasure of seeing your loved ones grow. But son, why are you here? What task have the gods put you into?"

Mikael described his mother about his quest, and what they were avoiding. "Oh boy, I'm so sorry." His mother replied, "You are in this mess because of me."

"Mama, no." Mikael tried to cup his hands around his mother's cheek, but felt nothing. He still continued, "Mama, its not your fault."

"No, my son, you don't know. It is my fault. My lineage is why the fire lord's awakening needs you or your sister. Where is Maja?"

"She is home, Mama, safe with the Valkyries."

"Oh, thank the gods." His mother sighed.

"Mama, I have a question I need to ask. And for the ease of my fellow divine champions, I shall start in English."

"Go ahead, son. It is time."

Mikael shifted to English, and asked, "Mother, what is my lineage from your side?"

"My dear son, he's your grandfather."

"Who?"

"Surtr. He's my father."

"I'm sorry?" Rishi blurted out. Aitri and Ishaan gasped, and Rick screamed, "What?"

"No!" Mik's hand shot up to his head, "He needs his line's blood to wake."

"Yes."

"But, Mama, how?"

"Surtr woke once back in the days, trying to take over his fate finally. He escaped to Midgard after he failed, and was it took ten days for Freya's magic to send him back to sleep, and bind him to his own blood. So, to ease off his awakening next time, he planned to leave his mark in Midgard. He forced himself into my mother's life, and left her carrying me for nine months, before she was alone to take care of me, while he went back to sleep. He's a person I hate with all my guts, in life and even in death. He can't be awakened, my son. Be safe, be safe from him. Avoid his thugs at any cost."

"That is the general idea, Mama." Mikael said, clearing many things inside his head. That explained why he and Maja were fireproof. That also explained why his father had kept this away from him, why everyone had kept this truth from him. It was only fitting that his mother was the one to tell him that. But there are other things he needed to know. To his luck, his mother said, "Your quest would need finding Frigg's sons, who roam around Helheim like absolute angels in death. Only they know the way to Urdarbrunnr."