Chapter Text
Moments after you closed your eyes, you opened them to find yourself back at your old home just before the Jötnar fled Midgard. It was the last time you saw Týr before Odin got to him. You were sitting on the bed reading a book Týr had brought back for you from his travels. It was a poem from a far-off land about love and war. The writing style was unfamiliar to you, yet you enjoyed it nonetheless. You looked up when you noticed Týr pacing as he began to get dressed in traveling clothes. There was a sense of urgency to his movements and, rather uncharacteristically, panic.
“What’s the matter, love?” you questioned. “Something’s wrong. I can tell.”
He sighed. “The time has come, I’m afraid. Holding Odin’s wrath at bay is no longer an option.”
You stood up in disbelief. “He’s really going to do it? Now? We must act quickly then,” you said as you frantically searched your dresser for suitable clothes. A large hand on your shoulder stopped you.
“No, (y/n),” he said solemnly, getting down on his knees to look you in the eyes. “You must stay here. He knows I will help them. It’s not safe for you to get involved with this.”
You looked at him like he had three heads. “I’ve been alongside you this whole time, every secret trip to Jötunheim, every meeting to plan with the giants. There was always a risk then. Why is it a problem now, Týr?”
He gently grabbed both your shoulders, eyes wide and pleading. “Because now he knows what I’ve been doing, but he doesn’t know about your involvement. If we both walk into a trap, who will stay behind to make sure everything turns out alright?”
You shook your head doubtfully. “Sure, your father doesn’t trust you, but how can you be so certain that he is planning to get rid of you too? His obsession with the Jötnar blinds him, he won’t be focused on you, will he?”
“If I am standing in the way of his goal, then yes. Yes, he would,” Týr said, voice wavering slightly. He reached up and brushed his thumb across your cheek with a sad smile. You wrapped your hand against his and squeezed.
“That won’t happen,” you said firmly. “We’ve made it this far without getting caught. You’ll return to me won’t you?” You almost asked him to promise but decided against it as you knew that wasn’t fair. As much as you didn’t want to accept it, the chances of Odin punishing Týr for aiding the giants were high. Too high.
He pressed his forehead to yours. “I’ll try my best, love.”
You leaned forward and captured his lips with yours. He sighed contently as he wrapped his arms around you, gently rubbing small circles along your back. You parted after a few moments and ran your fingertips over his face, tracing his nose, lips, and jaw so you could commit them to memory should he not return. He did the same before gently kissing the top of your head. He stood up and grabbed his pack of supplies, then turned back to you.
“When things settle down, Laufey will come find you to discuss the next steps if… I’m not… able.” He was trying to hold himself together but you could still see the glimmer of tears in his eyes. “I love you so much, (y/n). Never forget that.”
“I love you too, Týr,” you responded, feeling tears of your own welling up in your eyes. “Forever and always.”
Suddenly, the air grew stale as his demeanor shifted. The warmth vanished from his Bifrost crystal eyes and his face hardened. This is not how you recall this playing out.
“That’s a damn lie. A fucking lie,” Týr growled. “You don’t love me and you never have. Running off to be with my father at the first opportunity, what a whore. I suppose he was a better man to you than I ever was.”
“No, no, no!” you cried as you reached for him. “I didn’t know, Týr! I would never go to Odin. He took advantage of my love for you. I did not go to him willingly!”
His face twisted in disgust and he pushed you away. “I should have never married you, never trusted you. Meeting you was a curse. The realms are doomed because you were too busy whoring around with the All-Father!” he shouted as he towered above you.
You fell to your knees weeping. “I never– it never went that far I swear it Týr! I know I was a fool to fall for his deception. It will haunt me for the rest of my life, but you have to believe I never wanted to disgrace you. I DO love you, that’s the truth!”
“YOU LYING BITCH!” he roared, grabbing his spear by the door and brandishing it at you. You scrambled backward until your back hit the nightstand, looking up at Týr fearfully. His golden eyes regarded you scornfully—as one looks at a speck of dirt on their boots.
“Please, no,” you begged. “I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll make things right.”
“Yes…” he said cooly, tracing one finger over the tip of his spear. “Yes, I suppose you will.” He thrust the spear towards your throat as you screamed in terror.
You shot up in your bedroll covered in sweat. Tears were streaming down your face and your hands instinctively shielded your neck. You quickly glanced around to make sure no one saw and wiped your face with your sleeve. Freya and the others already had enough trouble on their hands; you didn’t want to worry them further. Hugging your knees to your chest, you let out a shaky sigh. It was just a passing nightmare, yet it shook you to your core.
Týr would never have said such things to you. It was extremely rare for him to raise his voice, and it was never toward you. This was a manifestation of your guilt and shame, not a reflection of your husband. You weren’t surprised as you tended to have vivid dreams when feeling intense emotions, though you bitterly wished that your mind hadn’t tainted your last memory of your late husband.
You were pulled out of your thoughts by the sound of hushed voices coming from the main area of the house. It appeared that Hildisvíni had arrived while you were resting. You noted with a tinge of sadness that Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir were still gone. Someone had moved the dining table to the center of the room and laid what you assumed to be a map across it. From your position on the ground of Freya’s room, you could see the mask and Gjallarhorn placed on the table as well. Hildisvíni had his arms crossed listening intently to Freya as she pointed out various spots on the map. Freyr looked serious for once and was nodding occasionally to whatever Freya was discussing with them.
There was no chance in Hel that you would be able to fall back asleep, nor did you want to. The idea of having another nightmare made you shudder. Besides, you wanted to make yourself useful. You regarded your hands and noted that they no longer stung when you opened them. You couldn’t help but smile. The sheer skill with which Freya used her magic always left you awestruck. With a heavy sigh, you picked yourself off the ground and made your way to the group.
Freya looked up when she saw you approach. “Ah, hello, (y/n). I hope we didn’t wake you.”
You shook your head. “Hello, everyone. No worries, I woke up on my own. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Greetings, (y/n). Not at all,” Hildisvíni said with a wave of his hand. “We are still brainstorming. There is much for us to sort out.”
You smiled at the archer. “Well then, I hope to make myself useful. It’s good to see you again, Hildisvíni.”
“Likewise,” he replied.
Freya glanced at your bandages. “How are your hands? Did the medicine help?”
“If it’s anything like the stuff you gave me the other day I bet she felt reeeaaally good. Right, (y/n)?” Freyr joked as he nudged your arm with his elbow.
You laughed as Freya glared at him, and Hildisvíni looked up at the ceiling and shook his head with a sigh. Freyr held up his hands, “Just sayin’. That was some good shit.”
You looked back at Freya while trying to contain your laughter. “Yes, they feel much better. They don’t hurt at all when I move them. Thank you for taking care of me.”
She smiled. “It’s the least I could do. Wait a few more hours and you should be able to remove the bandages entirely. I’m glad that you’re feeling better.”
Hildisvíni cleared his throat. “(Y/n), forgive me if this is not my place, but I would like to offer my condolences. Both for what happened to your friend, Brok, and for what happened to you. You did not deserve what Odin did to you and I hope that you are not too hard on yourself. If you need a shoulder to lean on, I will be here. We all will,” he stated genuinely, looking at Freya and Freyr who both nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, old friend. That means a lot. I’m grateful to have such amazing people by my side. Without you all, I don’t know where I would be. I am still not quite myself, but I will heal. Bringing Odin to justice will certainly help,” you said, eyes glinting with determination.
“It’s nice to see you up and at 'em’,” Freyr smiled as he gave your shoulder an affectionate pat.
Your heart was warmed by the support, temporarily staving off the oppressive heartache that threatened to drag you down into a pit of despair. This was Ragnarök: merciless and unrelenting. But having friends, no… a family that you trusted made things a Hel of a lot better.
You glanced around at the others. “Well, don’t delay on my account. Let me hear about this plan you’ve been working on. Odin may know we’re coming, but I don’t plan on giving him any room to breathe. We hit hard and show him no mercy.”
The twins and the archer nodded in fierce agreement. You all wasted no time huddling over the table and began to strategize.
Some hours had passed since the four of you had begun to fine-tune the strategy for invading Asgard. An operation of this level would require an immense amount of manpower and collaboration the likes of which the realms had never seen. Even Týr, with his impressive ability to broker peace and unity amongst the races, hadn’t managed to achieve anything of this level. Freya did not want to count on Kratos and Atreus returning, but you secretly hoped they did, and soon. If the task remained to the current group, you would spread yourselves too thin to be effective.
Just as you were beginning to lose hope that the Spartan and his son would return, the door to the house burst open. In marched Kratos, followed closely by Atreus.
Freya glanced back at them. “You’re back. Are you with us?”
Kratos gave an affirmative grunt as he placed Mimir on the table. You gave Atreus a small smile and he beamed seeing that you seemed to be doing alright.
“Good. It’s time,” said Freya.
“Time for what, dare I ask…?” Mimir questioned, looking at the goddess.
“Time to unite the realms against Odin, once and for all.”
Atreus spoke up. “Týr tried to unite the realms—the real Týr. Everyone loved him… and even he failed.” His eyes went wide as he realized what he had said in front of you. “I’m sorry, (y/n). I didn’t mean—” he began but you waved your hand in dismissal.
“No, Atreus. You’re right. Týr wasn’t able to accomplish his goal but WE can continue his legacy and set things right.”
Freya nodded in agreement. “Well said, (y/n). We better not fail or there will be no one left to try. This is Ragnarök.”
“... and Odin’s already heard every blasted plan we have,” Mimir interjected. It was the unfortunate reality of the situation.
“Yes, we’ve lost the element of surprise,” she acknowledged. “More than that, we have only one way to Asgard… and it’s not subtle.”
“Gjallarhorn.” Kratos grabbed Mimir and gave him a better view of the map on the table. From there, you discussed the plan of attack starting from Týr’s Temple and working your way to Asgard’s wall. To break it down, Surtr’s aid would be needed. Luckily, Ratatoskr had given you all a Yggdrasil seed to a new area of Muspelheim where the fire giant’s forge would hopefully be.
It was decided that you and Freya would return to Vanaheim to find Sigrún and the other Valkyries. Hildisvíni would go to Helheim to try to recruit the Army of the Dead. You hoped Hræsvelgr, who was very persnickety about Hel’s affairs, would not give him too much trouble. Freyr would go to Alfheim and unite the Elves. Something that he assured was an easy task as they “really liked him” there. Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir would seek out Surtr in Muspelheim. Midgard, Niflheim, and Jötunheim had no army to call upon. The only realm missing was…
“That leaves only Svartalfheim,” Freya said as if reading your mind. For a moment there was silence. It was a gamble going to the Dwarves. Even the ones who hated Odin might not be willing to risk his wrath should they fail.
A voice from above broke the silence. “I’ll go to Svartalfheim.” It was Sindri.
You were shocked to see him here so soon after losing his brother. Even from a distance, you could almost feel the grief and anger emanating from him. There was a look in his eye you couldn’t quite place. Something dark was brewing within the dwarf and you didn’t know whether to be scared for him or of him.
“Sindri! Are you sure?” Atreus asked hesitantly.
“I said I’ll go,” Sindi said with a hint of annoyance as he promptly turned on his heel and disappeared.
Something had happened between the two since the last time you saw them. Judging by Sindri’s demeanor, you guessed it was nothing good.
Freya sighed and grabbed Gjallarhorn. “So be it.” She paused and looked around at everyone. “Good luck to us all,” she said as she handed the horn of prophecy to Kratos.
Freya beckoned for you to follow and you joined her as she turned and headed for the door, Hildisvíni following close behind. Freyr caught up, but not before taking a long swig of his mead. You looked back one last time and made eye contact with Atreus who waved at you with a smile. You waved back then joined the others. He was a good kid. You hoped that Surtr, if they found him, would be more willing to aid the cause if a fellow giant asked for his help.
Now at the Mystic Gateway, you wished your comrades good luck with their missions.
“See y’all on the flip side. Don’t miss me too hard,” Freyr grinned as he stumbled through the door. Freya rolled her eyes and sighed. Hildisvíni actually let out a laugh, shaking his head with a smile.
“Off to Helheim then. Good luck.”
You and Freya waited for the door to close, then set the destination to Vanaheim.
You looked at the goddess teasingly. “After you, my lady .”
You expected her to glare at you but, surprisingly, she chuckled.
“Let’s go. The Valkyries await.”