A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

Hand of Odin

Beth jerked back up into a sitting position and coughed up mouthfuls of blood. She fell to the side and caught herself on her arm as she threw up just a few more mouthfuls. When she stopped, she found herself surrounded by her friends back on the training ground. Gunnr had gone down, sent her soul to Valhalla, and brought her body back up. Marc had shocked her heart to restart it and bring her back to life... or that's what she was guessing. His mace was still sparking with his lightning and her chest felt... very hot. Nate reached down to her and she took his hand, letting him help her back up to her feet.
She wobbled a bit and he held her up as she asked "What... happened?"
"Nate killed you and then Tyr sent a message to the Valkyries," Gunnr explained "Once he did, we brought you back."
"But... did it work?" Beth asked, still breathing heavily.
"That... we won't know until you face your mother once more," Gunnr replied "However, the All-Father requested something of you."
"That... that being?"
"Well, Thor's been in a drunken state ever since the attack."
"He's always drunk," Nate pointed out.
"Yeah, and this shit happened... not too long ago, like a few days," Mikayla added.
"Both of those are true statements," Gunnr assured them "However, a few of them... took Zeus' usual approach to getting what they wanted. When he wouldn't give in-"
"They did something to Sif," Eden gasped as she came to the sickening realization.
"Yes... and while he incinerated all of them in an understandable rage, and she is thankfully making a full recovery with Eir's help, he has been..." She stopped talking as she couldn't find the words "You'll just have to see for yourself."
"Where do we find him?" Beth asked.
"There is a pub on the left most side of the Realm," Gunnr told her while using a wing to point to the building "It's his favorite as it's the one that gives the hardest meed."
"And they don't cut you off," Nate told his friend as she got off of him "Perfect place to drink yourself into a hole."
"Alright... I guess we have to go there, but why does Odin want us to go talk to him?"
"Odin can't stand his family being in this state. He wants them all at their best. He's already lost two sons, one spends all his time in Valhalla, another is blind, and now Thor's drinking even more than he normally is... oh, and Loki's gone."
"Myeh," Nate said with a shrug.
"Our thoughts exactly," Gunnr agreed with a little laugh "Thor is the most upset about it, but he's more upset about everything else. Please find some way to sober him up." They nodded and Marc and Nate led Beth to the pub.
Beth followed Nate and Marc to the bar as they were the only ones who had been there in the past, but before they went in, Nate said "They don't want weapons inside. We're gonna have to leave them at the front." Beth nodded, but she didn't like that she had to give up her weapons.
While they were checking the weapons in at the front, she asked "So how have you two been here before?"
"Well, remember the first time you saw us drunk?" Nate asked.
"Kind of?"
"Well, I said that Norse, especially Aesir, drink a lot and we start early. Orpheus took us Norse on a trip to Asgard once a while ago and we got to hang out here. I got into a drinking contest with... some God, I don't remember which one. I obviously lost." Beth was shocked that he was so nonchalant about having had a drinking game with a God.
They walked through the crowd and Beth instantly noticed how different they were to people in the Greek pantheon. Everyone was much more relaxed, much more casual. People were getting into fights left and right, but it seemed like unless something of the bar's was damaged, the employees didn't care all that much. While Beth was just looking around and trying not to bump into people and Marc ordered himself a drink, Nate was just in the mood to get this over with. While he and Thor had never really gotten along, they had no bad blood between each other either. Nate just really wanted Athena, and any other Greek being who got in their way, dead. Beth tried to get past two drunken warriors, but it took her a few seconds. She looked back at Marc, who was already getting into a fight with another drunk man, so she pushed the two away from each other.
Nate let out a sigh as he found Thor, then called his friends over, and groaned "Oh, boy. Here we go." They walked over to him and Nate sat down on the adjacent side of the table while Marc sat next to his grandfather, and Beth stood at his side.
"Hey... Thor," Beth greeted him slightly hesitantly, but more confused if anything "Uh, Odin told us to come talk to you... I guess?" Beth looked over at Nate when Thor barely even reacted, but he just shrugged, so she tried again "Uh... Thor? I can see this may be a bad time, so we can come back later if-"
"Oh, for the love of All-Father," Nate groaned then slammed his Bifrost palm down on the table "Hey, Thor! You fat drunk bastard!"
Thor finally looked up, clearly drunk, and asked "What're you doin' here...? You on another field trip?"
"N-no, Odin told us to come talk to your drunk fatass and-"
"Wait..." Thor turned and looked at Beth "You shouldn't be here... why're you here!?"
"Not the point, uncle!" Nate snapped at him to get his attention.
"You're her friend... you shouldn't a' brought 'er here," He told Nate.
"Thor, what the Hel are you doing?" Nate asked while leaning on the table.
"Chilling," He replied while taking a massive swig of his meed.
"Yeah, we can see that, dumbass." Beth was amazed that anyone would talk to Thor, the scourge of the Nine Realms, like that, but he was never one to hold back when he was in a bad mood "You mind if we borrow Mjolnir for a bit? We're gonna need the gloves and belt, too."
Thor seemed to only hear the name of his hammer and yelled out "Let it be known, that the God of Thunder is good for two things! Killing big boys... and pissing Mead!"
Nate groaned and said "You know what? Fuck it. Imma go get a drink."
"I'll join you!"
"Thor, we need that hammer Mijo... Mi... Mijol... whatever Nate called it. We need it now!"
"Quiet, Athena kid!" He yelled at her.
"What the? Hey! Listen, I severed my ties with her-"
"I said... quiet, girl!"
Beth seethed about this for a moment, then yelled "My name is-" Thor got up and swung Mjolnir into her chin, sending her flying up into the air.
"Oh shit!!!" Nate yelled as he watched.
Beth tried to move the hammer as it pushed her through the air, but for some reason, she couldn't even get it to budge, then Thor flew in and grabbed the handle and the back of her head, and told her "I've been waitin' for this! You're not from around these parts, there's this thing we got called blood payment!"
"Yeah... Nate told me..." She rasped out as the hammer made it borderline impossible to speak.
"Good, then you'll pick it up!"
Beth stopped trying to move the hammer as it clearly wasn't working and decided to punch him in the face. Either he didn't notice the hits or he just didn't care as he just flew her through the sky. They flew over Midgard and Jormundandr looked up, just seeming to be slightly annoyed by being woken up. His normal calm expression, while barely changing, was clearly now a little bit more agitated. He went back to sleep and Thor sent him and Beth crashing into an underground cave.
They tumbled away from each other and Thor got up while saying "That was for Baldr! Now show me these elite warriors I've heard so much about!" He called the hammer back to his hand, but instead of using it on her, he just latched it onto his belt "Because now I'm gonna kill your ass!!!"
"Wait... what?"
Thor ran at her and held out his arms, which gave Beth an opening to punch him in the stomach. The fat, bulbous abdomen barely seemed to register the attack and Thor swung his arms at her. She ducked underneath the attack and the force of his palms crashing into each other resulted in a thunder clap. Beth was thrown backwards and crashed into an ice pillar. She groaned as she got up to her hands and knees, then she looked up at Thor. He began charging at her again so she quickly rolled out of the way of the attack. She got back up and punched him in the jaw, but he didn't even register the attack. She punched him in the stomach, but this didn't make him react either and he grabbed her by the throat. With one hand, he lifted her up off the ground and with the other, he punched her in the chest.
She went flying backwards and when she landed, she told him "I was not a part of the siege against your home!"
"And I don't care," He replied, chuckling at the first two words.
Beth summoned a shield to her arm and when Thor punched at her again, she let the fist bounce off the shield. He stumbled backwards and Beth used this opening to kick him in the chest. Beth's heel slammed into Thor's sternum and he went flying back, so Beth summoned an axe to her hand. She ran at him again and swung at his head, but he used his Járngreipr to block its blade. Thor pushed her axe blade away and used the knuckles of his gauntlets to swing a heavy hook punch into her ribs. She stumbled backwards and he swung a punch up into her chin. She stumbled back again and he let out a yell while hammerfisting her in the top of the head. Beth was knocked to the ground and Thor kicked her in the ribs, sending her away.
"Can't fight without a weapon? Coward!" Thor scolded her as she pushed herself back up to her feet.
She threw the axe at him, but he just slapped the weapon away like it was nothing. While she tried to regain control over the weapon, he raised both arms over his head again. Beth was distracted when Thor let out a drunken yell and slammed his fists to the ground. Cracks in the ground started to form and she was thrown backwards by the force of his fists. He tried the attack again, but she rolled out of the way this time. She called the axe back to her hand and brought the shield back up when he jumped at her. His fist slammed against her axe, but she managed to stay on her feet despite the massive force being pushed down on her. She pushed him back slightly and slashed through his chest, but he barely seemed to notice. She watched as the sound nearly instantly healed much like every wound she ever saw Nate and Marc take. Before she could even take in how quickly Thor healed, he roundhouse kicked her in the ribs. Beth silently screamed in pain and fell onto her side, nearly dislocating her shoulder.
Thor glared down at her and said "You insult me holding back like this! I wanna see the monster you are! Lemme see who you are inside."
Beth got up and Thor didn't even give her a chance to fight back as he hook punched her twice across the jaw. She stumbled back from the attack and he elbowed her in the throat. Beth fell to her knees and held her throat while gagging a coughing. She looked up at the drunken Thunder God and he heel kicked her in the face! Beth was sent tumbling to the ground and he walked over to her, then grabbed her by the arm, and lifted her up. Once she was back on her feet, albeit a bit wobbly, he uppercut her in the chest. She went flying backwards and crashed through the wall of the cave. Beth tumbled into a different cavern of the cave and heard heavy footsteps coming toward her. She groaned and looked up from the freezing water she had been thrown into as she heard the crackling of lightning getting closer and closer to her. She looked back while still sitting in the water and saw Thor jump towards her. Beth yelped and barrel rolled to the left of his attack.
Thor punched through the ground, making the cavern they were in even more unstable, then pulled his fist out of the ground, and said "You've been really disappointing. Come on, kid."
She got back up and dive rolled out of the way of another of Thor's wild charges. She got up and ran at him while summoning a shield with a serrated edge to her arm. She jumped at him and swung it across his face, tearing pieces of his flesh away. She landed and hit him in the side with it, stabbing the shield into his ribs. She tore the shield out and hook punched him across the face, then spun around, and swung the shield across his face again.
"What's this!?" Thor asked excitedly as she punched him in the jaw again "Now we're talkin'!" He jumped to the side of a heel kick and thunder clapped again, sending her flying back into the first part of the cave "Oh, that's all? You were finally showin' me something."
She ran at him again and swung a sword at his head, but he just grabbed the blade. He crushed it in his grip, then swung a punch into her jaw. She fell backwards and backrolled back up to her feet while casting the useless remains of the sword away. She tried to run at him again, but he blitzed her first. He grabbed her by the face and elbowed her in the sternum simultaneously. He held her up into the air and uppercut her in the stomach. She flew up into the air and Thor grabbed Beth by her ankles, then slammed her down to the ice. Without letting go, he swung her around and threw her toward the wall again. He jumped after her and tackled her into yet another cavern in the cave.
"This is pointless..." Thor slurred as he wrapped his arms around her waist and swung her over his head in a suplex "Ya can't beat me!" He got to her side and kicked her in the ribs, sending her flying back into the main cave.
She tumbled to the ground and landed on her stomach as he kicked through the rock that separated the caverns. He walked toward her and she grunted while pushing herself up. Thor continued walking toward her and still... having not used Mjolnir.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked while she jumped at him and punched him in the nose.
He stepped back and she uppercut him in the groin, causing him to fall to his knees. She pulled her fist back and uppercut him in the chin, then phoenix fist punched him in the side of the neck. She grabbed him by the back of the head and pulled him into a punch, then let him go, and uppercut him in the chin again. She summoned another shield to her arm again and punched at him with it, but he grabbed it. She repositioned the shield to push him back against the wall, which she was surprised she was able to do. Thor was massive, easily over a head taller than her and thanks to his alcoholism, his stomach appeared to be perpetually pregnant. Still, he was a powerful looking figure with legs clearly built out of pure muscle. His reputation as a genocidal Joten slaying madman preceded him, and yet hers clearly did as well.
"Wait... you know my past?" She grunted while they pushed against each other.
"The whole Athenian Warrior thing?" Thor asked, "Yeah."
"Then you know what I can do!" Thor kicked her back and she held her hand out, summoning another weapon to her hand.
"Show me!"
The two ran at each other and a spear flew into Beth's hand, so she stabbed him in the kidney with it. Thor stopped in his tracks and looked down at the weapon, then he kicked her back. He ripped the weapon out of his body and cracked his neck while Beth got back up.