The sun was bright, almost aggressive, reflecting on the water below the cliff. It was immense, straight, towering more than a hundred meters high.
A man nearly two meters tall, dark-skinned but without the ethnic features usually associated with that skin tone, was walking toward its edge. He walked with confidence, his blue hair seemed to imitate the shimmering reflection of the waves. He started to jog, then to run.
He pushed off the edge of the cliff and threw himself into the air, straight toward the water. He dove deep, unable to see within the abyssal darkness beneath his feet.
'I am completely immersed in darkness, as I turn my body away from the sun.'
He stopped, motionless in the middle of the water. He could only hear the bubbles leaving his body.
In front of him, he suddenly felt as if something enormous was moving, a massive shadow in the void.
The shadow drew closer, a deep rumbling sound began to appear. He stared ahead, seeing nothing, until two enormous eyes opened, each one being at least four times bigger than him.
'I think that someone is trying to kill me,'
The sea creature stirred and charged straight toward him. He moved out of its path quickly and grabbed onto the creature's unseen body.
It dragged him down into the depths, he let go and began swimming back toward the surface as fast as he could, but something growled beneath him.
'The fight for this fish is a fight to the death.'
The creature rushed at him from below, he couldn't ascend fast enough. But when it opened its huge mouth full of dirty, crooked teeth, he managed to push off its jaw, and thanks to his strength, catapulted himself out of the water, dozens of meters high.
As he rose, he looked down. He felt it coming' the shadow beneath the surface growing.
Suddenly, it broke through, revealing its repulsive form. "White whale, holy grail!"
A massive creature, resembling a white whale but far more monstrous, parts of its body were tentacled, and its eyes faced forward unlike normal cetaceans.
The man began losing speed and would soon fall right back into the beast's open jaws.
The creature's tentacles started to move and lashed out at him with the speed of bullets. He grinned and shouted:
"Split your lungs with blood and thunder! When you see the white whale!"
One tentacle brushed past him, he grabbed it before it could retract.
"Break your backs and break your oars, men! If you wish to prevail!"
He spun around it, managing to place his feet on the slick limb, letting him slide down the slimy tentacle.
The creature roared and sent even more limbs at him, but he dodged them easily, jumping from tentacle to tentacle, drawing closer and closer.
"Harpoons thrust in the sky!" he shouted before pushing off to launch himself at full speed toward the monster's face.
"Aim directly for his crooked brow, and look him straight in the eye!"
He pulled his fist back and struck the beast's head with full force, sending it crashing back into the sea with a terrifying cry of pain.
The man plunged into the water as well, then resurfaced.
As he waited there, he heard the echo of a woman's voice coming from the cliff.
"Njord! Someone's here to see you!"
He turned his head, surprised. 'Someone for me?'
But a few dozen meters away, the White Whale had resurfaced and was staring at him. It charged again at tremendous speed.
He extended his arm toward it.
"Stop, Mastodon."
The creature halted.
"I'm coming back up, we're done playing."
The white monster let out a noise, a sad one, then turned around and dove back into the depths.
Njord raised his head toward the cliff. The water beneath him began to rise, forming a typhoon lifting him upward. He rose all the way to the top and stepped back onto the cliff where he had jumped earlier.
He said,
"Skadi, who could possibly be visi—"
He stopped when he saw, next to his wife, a bearded man with short hair.
"Hodr! My brother! Honey, you should've just told me right away!" he said, laughing.
"Njord! How are you!" Sigurd said, giving him a hug.
After greeting each other, Hodr asked,
"Tell me, what is that creature you're training with?"
"Well, you know it, it's the Hafgufa you once saw."
"What?! But it's enormous!" Hodr exclaimed.
"Yes, but it's still only a juvenile!" Njord laughed.
"Come on, follow me, I'll get you anything you want! I hope Skadi welcomed you properly."
Hodr laughed.
"Are you kidding? She offered me a drink as soon as I arrived!"
Njord and Skadi brought Hodr into their home, a traditional wooden house like those in Norwegian fishing towns, except it stood completely alone, on top of the massive cliff.
They drank a bit, then sat on the doorstep.
Njord spoke first.
"It's been so long since you visited, it really makes me happy."
"I know, I know, sorry about that. The Foundation usually takes all my time."
"Don't worry, we don't blame you. We're the ones who chose to live here after leaving Asgard. But tell me, what brings you here, my brother?"
Hodr sighed.
"You know the old man was assassinated, right?"
Njord turned his head. Skadi, behind them, was stunned.
"Odin? That's impossible. Ullr comes here often, he would have told us."
"Ullr doesn't know. None of the gods still tied to Asgard know. There's an impostor on the throne," Hodr explained.
"Almost eighteen years ago, Loki murdered Odin and managed to take his place without anyone realizing it. And since then, even the fairest of gods have been following his orders without knowing it. The real Odin recently appeared at the Foundation, from what I understand, Frigg saw through Loki and searched for Odin in secret,"
Njord asked, "I'd like to say I'm surprised, but Asgard is a place where hypocrisy and trickery reign. Odin signed his own death warrant when he allowed Loki to live among the others again,"
Skadi corrected him.
"Loki was young. Odin believed he could change, he gave him the benefit of the doubt. And it made him lose many of us," she explained.
"I know…" Sigurd exhaled. "That's not all. Tachi, the young man I told you about, had two boys working with. One of them was Jormungandr."
"Jormungandr??" Njord exclaimed. "I hadn't heard that name in ages. The World Serpent disappeared centuries ago, to the point no one even remembers him. No one has ever truly known Jormungandr."
"That's what I thought," Hodr said, stroking his beard. "I never wanted to set foot in Asgard, so I don't know what they say over there, but honestly, among the entire pantheon, I've never heard anyone mention Jormungandr."
"And so, Loki sent Tyr, Freyja, and himself to capture Jormungandr," Hodr continued, his tone turning far more serious as he looked at Njord and Skadi. "According to Odin, Loki is preparing something. He wants to trigger Ragnarok."
Skadi sighed. "That's exactly why we distanced ourselves from all that. Triggering Ragnarok, great. Wonderful." She sounded hopeless.
Hodr continued, "We're going to launch an assault on Asgard to free Jormungandr."
Skadi covered her face with her hand, even more distressed. 'This can't be happening,' she thought.
"And I'm asking you to come with us," Hodr finished.
"You're asking us to fight our brothers, our sisters, our friends?" Njord asked.
"No. I simply think that the more of us there are, the easier it will be to convince them. Maybe we can prevent the fights altog—"
Hodr was interrupted by Njord, who stood up suddenly. "Alright." he said. "But on one condition, if I see Heimdall, I reserve the right to fight him."
"Njord! You really want to stand against them? If Loki is manipulating them, convincing them will be hard," Skadi explained.
"Honey, look at yourself. You're stronger than most of them, what are you afraid of?" Njord said with a grin.
"We're in, my brother. You can count on us."