AN: It is time. Building to something later on, we will start with the 9th life of Moira Kinross/MacTaggert, the mutant who reincarnates into her own life whenever she dies like her birth is some kind of checkpoint.
The 9th life of Moira is the one where she had enough and frees Apocalypse to end humanity so that mutants wouldn't face extinction like they did in all her other past lives. Didn't work out in the end, but when are mutants ever not shafted.
Since it wasn't shown how, to my knowledge anyway, I can freely use everything for the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. For example, we only know Wolverine was War when he killed Moira 80ish years after Apocalypse killed the Avengers in that timeline. And since Wolverine is immortal, he was likely present for the arc I planned. The rest were randoms/clones/chimera when Moira was killed at age 120+.
100 years in the future of that timeline, the horseman Pestilence for example is the chimera of Emma Frost and Lorna Dane, Magneto's daughter with Magneto's powers (but reversed?), who I originally had as #1 for Eli's love interest...because she has green hair and lips.
So I have some creative freedom (like I would anyway). And for those who don't know, Moira chose death at Wolverine's hand after she learned when and where Nimrod was created, the ultimate sentinel that was the still the end for mutants even after Apocalypse had free reign.
Eli will arrive at the time of exactly this fight vs the Avengers, 80 years before Moira's death.
However, Eli will not stay long on Earth in that reality. I will graft something more to this splintered timeline that probably happened sometime else in Earth-616 canon time before he hops to the next arc.
Hope you enjoy this 4k+ word chapter to wrap up all he wanted to do in his reality.
____________________________________
It's been three months since his 'negotiation' with Arishem. The tryouts for the valkyries a day after Eli's verbal clash with the Celestial resulted in the formation of two valkyrie corps with thirty valkyrie each. Each corps was led and trained by Misty and Val until new and permanent leaders could be named.
By chance, less than half of these new valkyries were Asgardian, not that it was ever a necessity for them to be. Gamora and Nebula had managed to get a spot, a good twenty-one human ex widows with extremis applied and were all accepted. A few of the freed alien slaves from Eli's and Thor's stint in the Kree empire all these years ago applied and were also hired in droves. However, as promised, except for looking over the old armors, refreshing their enchantments, and giving them updated enchanted jewelry for support functions, Eli didn't help out much. Well, if you didn't count the invisibility, unlimited non-electronic and untraceable communication even through different dimensions, magical protections, and various other enchantments much help.
Staying true to the divinities of their leaders, the two corps focused on slightly different matters. Misty's team focused on intelligence gathering and stealth, while Val's team was prepared for war. Sure, they were all fine fighters, but Eli could see that Val's valkyries were doing much more one-on-one and free-for-all fighting than anything else.
Eliza had started going to school in New Asgard, and that brought a certain Astrid Heimdallson to his attention, or Axl Heimdallson as he would like to be called now. Despite their age differing by a few years, the two students became friends and frequently played together in Eli's mansion. Eliza was trained in Asgardian sorcery and how to fight with wooden swords, which she was quickly getting better at and Eli fulfilled his promise to Heimdall and trained his son in how to use the gift of his all-seeing eyes.
And, on the topic of schools, the three months of wait for the Midtown High school trip was finally over. Everyone in leading positions except for Eli and Sif were currently busy or in the case of Anya and Thor off planet. So it fell to these two to pick them up for the welcome.
Anya was currently in Muspelheim, the once-home of the now dead first of the Fire Giants Surtur. Since it was a planet of fire, Anya was trying to get a deeper connection to her divinity in Muspelheim. And Thor, of course, was currently with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
As Sif explained some of the rules, the Asgardian structures and buildings, and Eli just followed along with a smile, the two Asgardians were guiding the two classes and their teachers to a dorm that was currently vacant and not too far from the city center.
Peter tried to make Eli talk to Tony once, though from his thoughts, Eli knew that Peter wasn't on anybodies side. He just thought it was the right thing to do. It was commendable, but Eli still refused and vanished with magic the moment Peter tried to pass his phone to the young allfather.
Eli gave two 'concerts' at that time that Asgardians and the two classes alike were allowed to attend. It was the first time he didn't just sit in a park unannounced. But it was still an open area with free food and drink, like an Asgardian victory feast. Just much more tame. No five day coma drinking like the first feast he attended before Ragnarok.
When the classes left, he had given Tandy and Ty a few more notes on their powers, personally written by Eli in his time back after Valhalla and he gave all three, Ty, Tandy, and Peter an invite to Unity, their own Avengers initiative. He also offered them free relocation to New Asgard for their families, and the light- and darkforce duo immediately agreed to come over after finishing high school that school year.
As Eli watched the two Midtown High classes board the viking style vessel that would bring them back to New York, a small girl silently arrived next to him.
"Can I show them my progress for a cool goodbye?" Eliza asked in an eager voice.
"Sure, what did you have in mind? A giant hand to wave at them or a light show?" Eli inquired softly as he patted Tuuli, who sat on his shoulder.
"Both!" The young troublemaker shouted as she lifted her right arm that had a beautiful bracelet on.
The two finger-wide bracelet began to shine and turned into a vambrace slightly too big for her arm, and Eliza used her left arm to hold up the one already in the air. She narrowed her eyes in concentration, stuck our her tongue a little to the side, and mumbled 'come on, come on' under her breath.
Suddenly, a giant hand twice as tall as Eli materialized in the air with the palm facing the ship the New Yorker students were on. The hand gained a motion akin to waving just before motes of light appeared next to it that softly exploded into a little light show.
"Nice one, Eliza. You're really getting the hang of it," Eli praised.
"Yeah! I'll be the greatest valkyrie sorceress goddess Asgard has ever seen!" She gleefully shouted in response but lost her concentration, and the hand and light show stopped.
"Never lose that excitement, and I'm sure you will," Eli softly spoke as he patted the girl's head so she wouldn't pout for losing control over the magic. That's right, when he gifted her the promised bracelet on her birthday last month, Eliza cried that she couldn't turn it into armor like everybody else. Without expecting much, he told her she needed to concentrate really hard and pour some form energy in the bracelet for it to do that, and thus, they found out that Eliza has the gift for sorcery.
Training her this last month showed that the young girl had decent talent for it, but she did not have any remarkable or special traits for her magics like Ty, Tandy, or Wanda, for example.
Another two months later and seventeen days before the deadline Eli had set for his travels, Thor came back from his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy. He lost his bulk in these five months and was now more determined than ever to win Jane back after he finally got his son back.
The same day Thor arrived, he had invited Jane to Asgard and sent a team of valkyrie when she sent her okay. For moral support, Thor had asked his son to be there, and Eli reluctantly agreed. It's not that he didn't want to be moral support. It's just that it might be awkward to be the third wheel.
So he also brought Anya along who came back from Muspelheim a few weeks back. Their romance was still blooming rather slowly, but Eli didn't mind much. They had millenia to be together, so he allowed Anya to grow into her new reality of being a goddess and in love.
"She just said yes, instantly! Do you think she wants me back just as much as I want to take her back?" Thor asked nervously as they stood at a plaza that allowed for spaceships to land near a cliff. This plaza was most notable for its shrine to Mjolnir. The pieces laid here encased in a dome at the same spot they landed on when Hela caught the hammer and broke it apart.
"Well, we will find out soon. But she does want something. Otherwise, she wouldn't have answered, and so quickly, too. Do you think I have a half-sibling?" Eli asked with a good-natured chuckle.
"Oh, by Odin's beard! I already missed sixteen years of your life. I would have missed 7 years of this ones life if that were the case. Do you think the baby was snapped 5 years ago, and she needs our help finding the infant? But why would she wait so long if that were true? Right? Right?" Thor had a small nervous breakdown that only ended when Eli placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"It's going to be alright, dad. I was only joking. She would have said something much sooner if she truly lost the kid, I'm sure of it. And if you truly want to be there as a kid of yours grows up, give Misty's suggestion a chance for that whole sperm donation thing," Eli spoke in a soothing voice.
"I should, shouldn't I?" Thor mumbled absentmindedly. Eli felt bad, Thor wasn't in the right headspace for such a suggestion, but he's an adult, and before he could speak up anyway, a ship was speeding toward them.
"Welcome to New Asgard, Jane," Eli shouted when the woman in question stepped out of the ship with the valkyries, and Thor just stayed quiet.
"Eli, it's been... a long time," Jane greeted with an awkward smile.
"Indeed. Once in five millenia convergence, middle of Greenwich in London, world almost ending. A classic tale if there ever was," Eli narrated in fond reminiscence.
"Jane, it's been... so long," Thor spoke up at that point.
"Uhm, yeah. Like I just said. Long time," Jane nodded along, her awkward smile deepening.
"So uh, any siblings I should know about?" Eli eventually asked to cut through the silence that hung in the air as Jane and Thor just looked at each other.
"No. Uh, what? No? No," Jane stuttered out.
"Yeah, didn't think so. It's just that dad wondered what possibly made you answer so fast, and he was really worried that you hid a child from him or lost it during the snap. You wouldn't be the first. Child, I mean. Child that was hidden from him," Eli at first confidently, then with growing awkwardness explained.
"See, of course not. Jane wouldn't do that to me," Thor quickly said so he wouldn't remain silent.
"Yeah, that would be a terrible thing to do. But no, I don't have a kid hidden away somewhere," Jane joined in.
"You're way too busy for children anyway. Your career is too important," Thor continued.
"Yeah, my career is.. hey, wait! What do you mean by that?"
"It's just... you were always so busy. There was no time to spare for kids."
"I was always so busy? You must be joking! You were never even there!" Jane shouted.
"If I was never there, how come I found that lovely letter you used to break up with me? Where were you? See? You weren't there!"
"You only found a letter because you were neve-"
"Uh, hey guys? I don't want to stop your little lover's quarrel, but something is happening over here," Eli suddenly interrupted as he and Anya looked toward the dome that held the remains of Mjolnir.
Thor and Jane looked at each other for a while before they followed Eli and Anya. As they did, the clouds moved, grew, and became a little darker with time.
"Are you doing that, Eli?" Thor asked as he watched the pieces of Mjolnir in the dome sparkling with lightning.
"I'm not the god of thunder, and I've been here for months now. Mjolnir never did anything. My best guess? Jane is doing this," Eli mused.
"I'm not doing anything!" Jane hurriedly denied.
They continued to argue back and forth a little until lightning and thunder began rumbling in the clouds up above. It started to rain a little, but the rain drops didn't land on them, courtesy of Thor's power.
"Put your hand on the dome, Jane," Eli ordered. He had seen Jane flinch a little when a particularly loud thunder rang out. And when she did, the grip of the broken hammer flinched with her.
"Try calling for the hammer in your mind," Eli continued when Jane complied.
Moments later, the grip shot up, broke through the glass dome, and firmly landed in Jane's hand. A lightning bolt struck down on the doctor, and Jane was changed from her admittedly scrawny human physique and brunette hair to a blonde warrior. Her clothes were straining against her new muscles and slightly increased height. It reminded Eli a little of the changes Anya went through when he bestowed her a godhood.
"I did not know the worthiness oath would work like that when bound to a weapon," Eli spoke his thoughts out loud.
"You know what's happening, son?" Thor asked with scrunched brows after he made sure nothing bad happened to Jane, who was now holding a complete but cracked Mjolnir in hand.
"Whosoever holds this hammer possesses the power of Thor. That's what Odin decided when he sent you to New Mexico all those years ago. I did not know you could share some of your powers through that oath, though. And either the Allfathers didn't either or they hid it from me," Eli explained patiently.
"That's... amazing," Thor gushed as he marveled at the changed figure of his former lover.
"Yeah, it would be," Eli said as he was thinking deeply.
"What do you mean?" Jane asked with worry, seeing how Eli wasn't all too excited. Something told her it maybe wasn't an all too good thing to have the powers of Thor.
"The hammer is a conduit for the powers of Thor. It's a millenia old uru weapon, so it has gained considerable power in the hands of my father and those who held the weapon before him... but I don't think it functions as the full battery to grant you these powers. Which means the energy comes from somewhere else," Eli explained.
"I don't get it," Jane mumbled.
Eli held up his hand to call Mjolnir to him, and the weapon complied, though it almost felt reluctant. When the hammer left her hand, Jane changed back to her 'mortal' form and looked a little paler than before. Eli, in the meanwhile, used his All-force to check the newly regathered Mjolnir.
"You're worthy, so it isn't my right to take this hammer from you just like this. But please know that while you may feel amazing and powerful while holding the weapon, it eats away at your... 'mortal' health, Lady Jane," Eli softly expanded upon his previous explanation.
"So she's super strong but will die when she holds Mjolnir?" Thor asked his son, who nodded with a severe expression on his face.
"I... I'm dying anyway," Jane whispered, but all three people present heard her just fine.
Jane explained that she had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. That's why she agreed immediately to come to Asgard, in the hopes that Asgard's advanced technology or magics would have ways to help her. Eli could see his father's heartbreak in real time as Jane continued, so he began reading Jane's thoughts to check her intentions.
First, the woman really was dying and was devastated about it. Second, which was when Eli immediately left the woman's mind, she was still deeply in love with Thor and thought about him constantly. It appeared she wasn't over their relationship, just as much as Thor wasn't. Eli made a decision for them, so he asked everyone to follow them to his home.
"Anya, could you make some tea for everyone? Maybe a beer for dad?" Thor shook his head at Eli's question, and Anya went to prepare tea for four. Eli himself walked toward his study to get something and came back before Anya was done with the tea. Even the goddess of fire couldn't rush along the time it took for tea to be ready. All she could do was instantly heat the water.
"When my mom chose to die to give me, to give us more time before Hela breaks free, she left me some items she had gathered in her rather long life. If you ever meet her, please don't tell her I said she was old. Anyway, before my father was born, my mother was trained to be a sorceress by the great Idunn, goddess of youth. Apparently, she used to be called Freya and was a cousin to your mother, Frigga. But that's beside the point," Eli began his explanation, a little muddled as he quickly realised.
"Anyway, as she was taught by Idunn, who was the keeper of the golden apples, she spent a century at the roots of Yggdrasil. That's where the tree stood that grew the apples. Idunn saw through my mom's scheming ways but loved her anyway. When Idunn decided to stop being in service to Asgard during Hela's reign, she left my mother a parting gift of eight apples. These apples, once eaten, grant an Asgardian an unending youtful appearance. My mom had obviously eaten one apple immediately, obsessed as she was with her own beauty. One apple went to me, though I didn't know at the time, and five apples were left behind as my... inheritence," Eli continued.
"And you brought them so your dad wouldn't gain any wrinkles?" Jane asked in an attempt to make a joke.
"Wait, that's only eight apples. What happened to the last?" Anya added when she came with a tray for the tea.
"No, I didn't bring this apple for my father. And I don't know what happened to the eighth. My mom never told me. I had assumed she awarded one to Misty for her loyalty, but when I made her a goddess, her appearance became more youthful," Eli explained.
"You did what?" Jane looked absolutely bewildered.
"What did you bring it here for, then?" Thor asked with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.
"Of the five apples my mom left me, I always wanted to keep them for my loved ones. Imagine I fall in love with a human that would otherwise die in a century at most, or our kids don't gain an Asgardian's longevity. But... I can grant divinities now, so I have options. I already granted one apple to Maya Hansen for her loyalty to Asgard five months ago, and I had always planned to give one to you, father. In case you were still in love with Jane," Eli offered.
"So they can grant a human our longevity?" Thor asked, looking desperately for confirmation.
"But... Thor and I aren't even together. You shouldn't give this to me just for that," Jane hurriedly denied.
"Idunn was, among other things, the goddess of health. She once told my mother this apple could make any race long lived and cure them of any illness."
Jane wavered when she heard that last part, but she steeled herself and still shook her head.
"I still can't possibly accept it, especially if you only have four of those left," Jane denied the offer.
"Jane, this apple does not come with strings attached. You will owe me and my father nothing. I always wanted to give one to my father, but didn't have the chance before. And if I give it to him now, what do you think he will do with it? Just look at him," Eli said, and to prove his point, he gestured toward his crying father.
Thor quickly wiped away his tears, took the apple after he received an encouraging nod from Eli, and put it firmly in Jane's hand.
"If this has the chance to ensure you have a long life in good health, I would want to give it to no one but you. I ask for nothing in return, but I hope you would not disappear from my life. I..." Thor began but was interrupted by Jane kissing him deeply with tears in her eyes of her own.
"Hey, want to go... anywhere but here?" Eli whispered toward Anya who nodded. Eli used a spell to not interrupt the two in their getaway and went upstairs to warn Eliza and Nat to bother the two lovers downstairs.
Days later, it became apparent that Thor and Jane have reignited the flames of their love, though it came with the downside that Thor moved into his house. He didn't want Jane to see his old dwelling or mancave as Frigga had called it.
But it wasn't actually a downside because the day that Eli would leave came closer, and he enjoyed having his father close by. If the spell worked like his mother described and if he could even perfect it during his travels, Eli could arrive moments after he originally left, but it could be decades or centuries that have passed for him, or maybe even longer.
In preparation for his departure, Eli packed a bag of holding with some clothes and some food and water. But when he made his way toward the ritual site, the bag disappeared from his hands.
At the site, Thor, Val, Misty, Tuuli, and Anya were waiting for him.
"You have everything?" Misty asked in worry.
"Yep, food, water, clothing, a bit of tech, including two ships that would allow us to live for long enough to ditch," Eli nodded with a smile.
"Alright. I wish the two of you the best of luck. Please come back in one piece," Misty said with tears in her eyes as she moved toward Eli for a hug.
"Did you give him all you needed, Anya?" Val asked as she watched the two hug it out.
"Yes. I had prepared our belongings well over a week ago," Anya answered with a nod.
"Always so dutiful," Thor mumbled from the side, his eyes already turning moist.
"Okay, dad. No need for tears! If everything works out, it will look to you like I've just stepped away for a moment," Eli quipped.
"Are you still sure I cannot come with you?" Thor inquired, his tears only increasing with time.
"Apparently, only the pantheon connected to my All-force can follow along from New New Asgard inside the seed. We've been over this," Eli softly replied with a shake of his head.
"Haaa, it's always hard when a chick leaves the nest, you know?" Eli looked to his father with narrowed eyes. Thor really had a flair for the dramatic at times.
"We've had a long feast, so we wouldn't need to drag out this goodbye. Get going already," Val shouted, and they all complied. After a long round of hugs that Val once again cut short with a complaint, Eli put his forehead to Anya's and she, along with Tuuli resting on her shoulder, entered 'New New Asgard' in his All-force where their provisions were stored.
"See you soon," Eli joked with a wink as he sat in the magic circle he had meticulously prepared the last four days.
Eli poured in all his considerable magic into the circle, and it began to light up everything in emerald green. Minutes later, the light became blinding enough that Thor, Val, and Misty had to look away. When they looked back, Eli was gone.
The three stayed behind for a full day, but Eli didn't come back. Thor feared for the worst for a few hours, but through the original All-force, which he now had more of, now that Eli was gone, he still felt his son was alive. Three days after they left the clearing, two figures born from and wreathed in flame stepped on the magic circle. But that is a story for later.
When Eli opened his eyes, he was astonished to see the same clearing in Norway he had just sat on. However, he quickly noticed all the differences. There was no magical circle, no New Asgard in the vicinity. The air didn't smell better or worse, it just smelled different.
With closed eyes and a shift in his All-force, Anya and Tuuli appeared by his side.
"Okay, like we practiced, Tuuli. Try your best to stay out of sight and look around what changed compared to... our Earth," Eli ordered with a smile.
"It feels no different from our Earth. What does your phone say?" Anya asked as she looked around.
"One decade earlier, humanity is still on Earth. Thor lives in this time. He's a hero just like back home. But there's a different species here on Earth that we will probably need to take into account. They are called 'mutants'... they are... humans with powers because of an extra gene. Wow, who came up with the idea to call them mutants? That's just asking for segregation..."