Son of Thor

i have a casual conversation with the king of asgard

Asgard—Odin's Palace

"I see." My grandfather says as he slumps in his throne. Two soldiers are standing by his side. "I am not surprised my son doesn't have a solution..." he continues before glancing at Clarisse, who's standing next to Leo, Annabeth, Hazel and Frank who all stand right behind me. Odin plants a sly smile on his face.

"Ah, the girlfriend."

I sigh. "Grandfather, please focus."

Odin narrows his eyes as he looks at me. "You address me with such disrespect, young one." Annabeth and Leo exchange glances, I can tell that they're surprised by my casual conversation with the Ruler of Asgard. But hey, that's family.

"But I will allow it to slide this once." My grandfather continues. "So I now assume you have come to receive a quest from me to regain your worthiness of Stormbreaker? Very well then." He sits up straight before speaking again. "Long ago, Loki stole three golden apples from Idunn, the goddess of youth and rejuvenation. The apples are now hidden within the Realm of the Giants, in the heart of Jötunheim. Only those who prove themselves strong and worthy can retrieve them."

Leo raises a finger up. "Why didn't anyone bother to get them back?"

Odin snarls a bit at Leo's sentence before replying. "Our attempts have been unsuccessful. Jötunheim is filled with perils and dangers that even a god may find difficult to overcome. The giants are not known for their generosity or hospitality."

Now it's my turn to speak. "What about that one time when you—"

Grandpa narrows his eyes at me. "That was different. That was decades ago, son. The giants have grown stronger since then. And they are expecting an attack now. Which is why a simple assault on their realm would not suffice."

"I thought you said that despite your age you were stro—"

"ENOUGH!" Odin's outburst causes my friends to recoil back a bit, but not me. If anything, I'm quite used to this. He's always like this for our Ostara celebrations when my dad and Baldur finish the ale barrels (that we stole from Dionysus) in the wine cellar. "Do not question my capabilities, boy!"

I open my mouth to speak again, but I get cut off again.

"You presume too much, Eric Odinson. Do not mistake my patience for weakness. I am the All-Father, the ruler of all the Nine Realms. My power and authority are unparalleled. Do you understand?"

"Pfft. Rude." I say with a slight frown before turning and walking away. "I'll come back for Yule!" I call out as I raise my hand and walk out of the palace, followed by the other five. Once they catch up with me, I turn around and face them with my hands on my hips. "Alright. We head back to Camp, where we armour ourselves up and Valdez moulds me a weapon. After that we head to J—what?"

Obviously, everyone is still in disbelief of my boldness. As if Percy wouldn't be like this. Annabeth speaks up. "Eric, you realize you just walked away from the King of the Norse Gods, right? And now you're casually suggesting we go on a quest into the realm of the giants?"

"Yes." I respond back. "Yes I am, Annabeth. Because you see, even though I can accomplish this mission all by myself...it does get lonely. Plus, I have no idea where Blitzen is."

After they exchange glances with each other, they look back at me and Annabeth speaks up again. "Well, yes, but Jötunheim is not a place you can just waltz into Eric."

I raise my finger up as a grin forms on my face. "Actually, Magnus and I did that once."

Annabeth's eyes widen at my comment. "You what?"

The others share a look of disbelief and concern. Leo scratches his head, Hazel and Clarisse cross their arms, and Frank looks like he's contemplating my sanity. I don't blame him if he is.

"Oh it was quite simple actually. You see, Samirah gave the both of us a dare—"

"Eric, Eric, Eric, honey." Clarisse steps forward and places both hands on my shoulders and kisses me on the nose before pulling back and speaking up. "Focus."

"Right yes, my bad..." I look down for a brief moment belfry back up at the others. "Back to Camp."