Victorious

Cleo

Cleo gulped as the Valkyries lead her and her friends to Odin's temple.

Greek, Roman, Chinese or whatever the heck I was, I knew a temple or Odin when I saw one.
I was like, Cleo, kneel!
But the Valkyries weren't kneeling therefore was I not.
They led us around the temple, where different sections were gifted to other gods.
We passed Loki's section, where the Valkyries gave a snort and a devilish look to. There were dried, dead roses on Loki's offering bowl, incense burning from the table. And someone drew devil horns on my dad.
"The respect for Loki here is uncanny to the respect for Donald Trump." I commented.
Celeste and Jaz looked confused. Harriet mused a smile.
"That was a dirty election," she commented on the election of 2016. "But Loki leads Rangarok, you know, the apocalypse. We're designated to find soldiers to fight against him."
"Wait- are the Norse gods real?" Carter whispered as they stopped.
I bit my lip. "Later." I whispered back.
Harriet, Celeste and Jaz stopped in the middle of a square the size of a whole fencing ground.
(Sorry, I forgot most don't know what a fencing ground is- like the size of a basketball court.)
It was a bit large for a square, but then I realized whom was in the throne facing it all and knew why.
Odin was here.
Odin, the all-father was here.
I didn't care if Harriet and her posey were going to bow or not, but I did, getting down on one knee and bowing my head.
"Odin." I respectfully said as I bowed. From the sound of clanking armor, either Odin had gotten up from his chair or the Valkyries had finally decided to pay their respects to the man whom they were working for.
I pulled myself and my head up from the bow and Odin was still perched in his same position, his usual Raven missing from his shoulder.
Must be in Valhalla, I said, thinking about the Raven. The idea made me dizzy.
Despite Odin being the Norse all-father, he wasn't much to look at.
I know- rude. But what would you think about a man with a scraggly grey beard, an eye patch and Norse armor? The all-father was certainly intimidating.
Odin's face was rough and covered with wrinkles and scratches. The odd thing about Odin is that he didn't look old, even if he did have grey hair and wrinkles, but if anything, he seemed like his amount of wiseness represented his age full appearance.
"My lord," Harriet said, pulling up from her bow. I glanced at the boys in the back and Carter gave me the what the heck look and Alex was shaking his head with annoyance.
"We have brought you Cleopatra Hylla Ramirez -Arellano."
Darn it. They said the whole thing.
I downed my head in respect to Odin at my name. Odin looked at me piercingly, like he was searching my soul. He stepped off of his simple brown throne and faced me, without walking any more forward.
"I assume you know why you're here," Odin stated.
"Yes, my lord." I answered. I did know. I needed help. Serious help.
But now is not my place to tell.
Odin chuckled at the statement 'my lord,' which I figured every male-leading God would want to be called.
Odin looked at the three Valkyries.
"Thank you, Harriet, Celeste and Jasmine. Please take these two fine gentlemen to the waiting room."
There was a waiting room?
I glanced back again and saw Carters worried face and Alex's expression was just amusing. I tried not to laugh as I turned around to face the All-Father. Out of the corner of my eye; I saw another Valkyrie enter the scene, guarding her master. She stood with a spear and regal armor, watching me like a hawk.
"Cleopatra- Cleo, if I may," Odin started, pacing simply. "I understand your difficulty with this quest. But something has happened. It's not something swell." He commented.
I nodded. "Sir, What? What do you mean, something happened?"
Odin stood to face me simply.
"Cleo, you are the proper bridge between two worlds," he started pacing again, "and something is happening between these two worlds."
"Given I am a daughter of Loki, would I be connecting Asgard and Mingard?"
"No, no. It's not quite that simple." He turned to me again. "One world is asking for complete power, and will do anything to get it. By bringing down the other world, causing it to break upon itself, that world will have supreme power over the whole. You are a contribution to that, doing the quest you are." He started pacing. Gods, this guy needs to calm down.
I frowned. "Am I helping or not?" I asked, annoyed. The thing about Odin is that he sure is smart, but he talks in riddles. I mean, what worlds?
"That depends on how this quest goes and where your loyalties lie. Cleopatra, you are the tie. You decide which way the world is going to deck towards."
"But am I doing the right thing?"
"That, I cannot say." He stopped pacing. "But I know for sure how you can do the right thing."
"How?"
"Join me. Join me and my Valkyries and we can help the world for the better. You can help us achieve supreme power, taking down the others one at a time. You would be on the right side. You would be on your father's side."
Something stable, I thought. I needed something stable stat.
I tried to keep myself from falling over.
"But, my lord- I can't chose if I don't know which is right and which is wrong."
"Cleopatra, without a doubt, with me is the right side. Join me."
Something was racking in my head. It's not right! Somethings wrong! But he's the all-father.
"I'm sorry, all-father." I said. "I cannot. My focus lies here right now, with the Roman gods and this quest. I will join you when I have lost all hope."
"But you don't understand, Cleopatra. You are the bridge. You will die is you choose the losing side, with those Romans. You will live if you choose the right side, with us, where you belong."
Was I crazy? Was I really going to join Odin and the Norse gods when they where never a family to me? Was I really going to stay with the Roman gods where I was put under unbearable pressure? Was I going to choose my Mom's side or my dad's? Was I going to chose the right one?
3 seconds, I thought, twisting my ring.
"I guess I'll die then." I stated, sliding my ring off. It turned into my trusty sword.
I saw one last glimpse of Odin's Andy face as I bolted, running past Valkyrie #1 without getting killed, but getting glazed on the arm with a spear.
My mortal friends said I'd always be good in track. Seeing it now, they were right.
I smiled to myself out of accomplishment. Choosing your gut is the right side, I thought, running in the direction the boys went.
"Oh my gods," I complained loudly as a Valkyrie started fighting me mid-path.
I grunted as I slashed my sword at her. I didn't like hurting people unless they where mean. This one hadn't said anything stupid yet, thus I gave her a small blow that would knock her or for a couple of minutes but she would ultimately live. With annoyance, before she went down, she hit me upside the head with something that made my vision go double and red. I scanned my surroundings and in a split second, took her bow and arrows on instinct, without thinking. I slung the arrow pack on my back and nocked an arrow.
I slid against the wall leading to a corner, and at that moment i stopped running and my pain got to me. Man, this place was big. My legs hurt. My arm was throbbing. My heart was pounding in my head like a third degree.
I drew back the bow and heard someone coming around the corner.
With a throbbing head and a dizzy mind, I jumped out, shooting the arrow not at the Valkyrie, but at the wall. I was confident that I could get past her, but then I real sure she had backup and I was soon surrounded.
Pro tip: do not follow your non-ADHD instincts when you're extremely out of it and surrounded by deadly teenage girls.
And so I kept running forward.
Right. Towards. Them.
And they took me out in under a second.