A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

The Nine Realms

As the group got to the tree, they stared up in awe at it. It definitely looked like a tree that would transport them into an entirely different plane of existence. For how big it was, they were all surprised it hadn't been taken down sooner. Looking at all the axe marks in it, people had clearly tried. The wood was carved with strange markings and runes. They all recognized most of them, but being a Norse God's son, Nate could read almost all of them. He walked around the tree and read the story of how it was created along with the other Primordial Realms. Once he found the place to put the seed, he took it from Eden, and put it in the hole. All the symbols, runes, and pictures began to glow with a magical power that was older than even the Bifrost. A doorway formed in front of them and Nate was the first to walk through. When the rest entered, it looked like they were actually inside the tree. There were gateways to every realm, but they were all blocked, needing an entry stone to get inside evidently. The Midgard door's rune began to glow as they drew closer and they put the stone in it like a key. As the door crumbled, they looked through it into the largest of the realms. Mikayla was confused at how the door looked and got behind it to see... her friends. Even though she was the daughter of the Greek Goddess of Sorcery, she was starting to realize that there was a lot of magic she didn't understand, and probably many different types she didn't even know about. She joined her friends and stepped out onto the massive mountain with a little shack next to the tree.
"Well, everyone. Welcome to Midgard," Nate said as he stretched his arms out.
"Um... Nate, can I ask a question?" Eden asked as they all looked around at the landscape.
"No, she can't make it snow here," Nate answered her, having heard her question from within her head "This isn't good. We need to get down there now." He looked around and noticed Gulltoppr had also come with them for the first time "Hey, buddy! How are you?" He rushed over to his furry companion and hugged and rubbed him, before noticing what was in the shack, the door to which had been left open by the last visitors "Hey... have any of you ever gone snowboarding?"
"Once with my dad," Eden replied "Although, that was years ago."
"When it snowed in the haven, I would make makeshift skis," Mikayla added.
"Nate, if we need fast transport, should we not just use Gulltoppr?" Beth asked.
"We could, but this is a field trip. What is a field trip if not educational?" Nate asked "Come on, the worst that'll happen is you fall and break your nose."
"And why would I want to risk that?" Beth asked him.
"Ah, come on. Scared you won't be pretty enough for the king of dead schmucks anymore?" He asked jokingly with his elbow on her shoulder.
"Oh, shut up," She groaned while rolling her eyes.
"Try it, it's actually a lot of fun. Eir would take Marc and I snow boarding for a week every winter. Said she wanted some time with her favorite nephews or something. I dunno, I wasn't really listening, but this is the mountain she'd always take us to. Tallest one in the realms."
"Yes, it is the tallest, and the longest way down."
"Which means it does have the best length to learn," Eden chimed in "Come on, it can not go that wrong. They likely cleared this mountain of too many obstacles to make getting down to the rest of Midgard easier."
"Fine, damn it! Fine," Beth relented "But if I get hurt, I will throw both of you down the mountain completely naked. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, just get a board, and let's get this show on the road."
They each got a board that fit them as well as possible and went down the mountain. Seeing as Nate and Eden knew what they were doing, their movements were fluid and graceful. As usual, Nate's hair didn't move very much aside from when he'd shake the snowflakes out that were steadily, but very slowly, falling from the sky. Eden's hair flew behind her as she soared down the mountain, keeping pace with her Aesir friend. While they were having the time of their lives, the same couldn't exactly be said for the others. Kenneth, being a son of Hermes, was naturally very light on his feet. With this being said, it took him quite a while to get used to the board that held his feet in place. He tried to mimic what Nate and Eden were doing to move their boards, but each time, he almost fell on his back or stomach. When he fell forward, he could at least use his hands, which were now covered in gloves from the shack, but if he went down on his back, he'd have to figure out a way to get back up. Mikayla was having a much worse time as she was used to having skis which she could manipulate in a much different manner than the board. She had to use magic to keep her standing, but every now and then her focus would waver and she would end up falling. Once in a while, Eden flew past her and giggled as she saw her girlfriend's pastel pink hair covered in snow. Beth however, was having the worst time. Yes, like Mikayla she had skied before, but she hadn't done so in ages. Now that she was going down a very steep and very tall mountain, she was struggling a lot. She was doing everything she could to stay on her feet, but in the end, it was pointless. She ended up falling and began barrel rolling down the mountain side. What made it even more humiliating was Nate riding past her and laughing at her as many times as he could.
When they got down, Nate got off his board and exclaimed "Oh, that was awesome! Haven't had fun like that in ages."
"Yeah, easy for you to say!" Beth yelled at him as she threw the board at his head, knowing he would of course dodge it without moving from his spot "You know what you are doing."
"Yeah, that's why it was fun," Nate replied "Come on, let's get going... but we should also figure out why it's snowing even though it's only the end of summer."
"Yeah, that is unsettling," Eden agreed as they put their boards in the shack at the bottom of the mountain.
As they walked through the forested continent of Midgard and found surprisingly few actual towns, or at least what they would classify as towns. The areas where there were more than one or maybe two houses all had upwards of ten. The strange part was that there were so many so close to each other. Why they didn't just decide to join up together, who knew? However, that was not their main concern. Being a peaceful realm for the most part, the people of Midgard were quite welcoming, giving food and clothes if needed. Both Mikayla and Beth desperately needed a change of clothes after being practically thrown down a mountain that was almost fifty thousand feet tall. It had taken them hours to get down the mountain and the two Demigoddesses were absolutely soaked.
Both of their outfits were very similar, however there were some differences. They were both dresses with baggy sleeves that fell down to their wrists. They both had a vest like design on the top that split to show a white triangle facing downward. Each had a different set of golden stitching and designs for the skirts. When it came to combat, neither outfit would do them much good, however it would keep them warm until they could find something more suitable for their current needs.
Once they got dressed, they saw Nate talking with an elderly man and his grandchild. The two walked over and Nate let out a single but quite mocking laugh as they both approached. His ability to see almost everything had always been annoying, but now that they had even less people around for him to see instead of them, they were always in his spotlight. The group walked into the back... and quickly discovered the cause of the snow.
"Oh... shit," All five said in absolute unison when they saw the body in the back room of the small hut.
Who they found was Baldr, dead on a table in some random hut out in the middle of nowhere. How he died was a mystery, but that wasn't something they were concerning themselves with at the moment. His armor and most of his body were completely untouched, so they couldn't tell what had killed him. His skin was perfect and seemingly undamaged. His long blonde hair and beard was somehow, even though the elder mentioned he seemed to be in a fight, completely unaffected as well. His skin was just like the legends said, perfect, full of life even in death. His body was that of a chiseled God, unlike Thor who had the physique of the strongest men in the Mortal Plane. He was seemingly built of pure muscle, or at least his arms and legs were. His chest was covered in a suit og golden armor that had a blue fluffy belt attached to keep both legs and waist warm. The more they looked, the stranger the sight became. What had killed such a powerful God? No, some wild creature couldn't have done this. It had to be someone smart enough to know his weakness.
"Ope, yeah. Found it," Nate said as he turned his uncle over "That'll do it." The rest of his friends looked down at the green spike that was lodged in his back.
"Hey, wait. Would that happen to be-"
"Mistletoe," Beth sighed "His one and only weakness."
"And really good for crafting magic around here," Mikayla added as she tore it out, causing him to bleed more "Alright, let's go."
"What? We are just leaving like that? Why?" Eden asked incredulously.
"Look, we know what's coming, and frankly, I don't wanna be a part of it," Mikayla replied "Now if we can get a move on, I'd highly appreciate it."
"Alright, fine," Beth agreed as she took Baldr's chest plate since it fit him "Thank you, sir. I am sorry for the loss of Baldr, but we swear to you, we will avenge him." He nodded and they left, beginning to walk through the forest again... and then they all heard a sound coming from Nate that they had never expected.
"The bears die... the cubs cry..." He hummed as he dragged his left hand across the snowy trees "The snow falls... to cool all..." They all stopped talking and simply listen to him, again, having never heard anything like this from him before, he was usually so reserved with his hobbies and... well anything that really wasn't killing Gods at the moment, but now, "Stars will implode... as told by the last ode..." His humming became quiet singing, which began to get slightly louder with each passing verse "That's what begins the end of us all." When they started paying attention, he was seemingly singing about the tale of Ragnarök, and now he was back to his usual speaking voice "When the horn blows, you'll reap what you've sown. The cubs will behold their new thrones." He hadn't stopped moving, had never stopped looking ahead, seemingly lose in his own mind, he just kept walking at the same pace as his friends, somehow slowing and speeding up based on how they walked, even Gulltoppr seemed a little confused at the trance he was seemingly locked in "The bears forgo, their old thrones, leaving the cubs to lead all on their own." Somehow, he actually got back up onto Gulltoppr, but kept singing, his hands still brushing against the trees "The strength to hold onto the world will leave the old, and now new worlds will be regrown, that is the Ragnarök."
And after that, Nate seemingly passed out on Gulltoppr, but it did make a lot of sense. In the past few days, he had been in a fight with an Oni, thrown around through the ocean, and stranded on an island. He was already not okay with being on his own, but then having to deal with Ares after who knew how long. He hadn't told them about Calypso and if no one ever asked, they knew he wouldn't tell them what happened on the island. After Ares, he had barely stopped moving, then they had to snowboard down a mountain for over an hour. At this point, they all just figured it would be better to let him sleep.