Hearts of Gods

An emanciated man walks through a desert-like land, carrying sacks; he's revealed to be followed by several men, nordic barbarians... However, they're without clothing, sweaty and tired, they ride malnourished horses, broken carriages. The man eventually collapses, and another man just picks up his charge, as the entire line of horses and men just avoid his corpse and carry on. Standing above them, watching them from the sunny clouds, a man caresses the sun, with golden-locked hair, he laughs, spitting down, a single drop of rain arrives, hitting one of the men in the head, who falls to the ground. This is **Freyr**, as he observes the misfortune of the men down below, he turns behind him to talk to someone, saying that he doesn't enjoy causing harm to their people, but knows that this is making those *Aesir* suffer, behind him is Zeus, who holds a traditional norse beer, he takes a sip of it but spits it, complaining it's too warm. Freyr retorts that it's what he gets for asking him to do what he did, but says that he'll do anything so that the Aesir finally perish and the Vanir may take their place in Asgard again. Freyr complains that if he keeps this up for too long, the Vanir will come at him with all they've got, lead by Odin in the skies and Tyr in the Earth, Zeus says that they're by far the most powerful Gods, and that he'll give him assistance, but assures him a Pantheon War is unlikely to happen if his master plan is followed, soon enough, Dunor will be vulnerable enough that he'll be trapped in a desert-like North and unable to leave, and that's when he shall strike him down. Freyr turns the sun to shine onto Zeus' face, who screams in pain, Freyr tells him to remember the other part of the deal: to assist him with his powers so he may dethrone the Vanir, Zeus nods, saying he's already left a huge assistance, and then leaves. Freyr looks down, seeing the same line-up of barbarians start camping, preparing for a war over the Lake.

Meanwhile, Sif wakes up incredibly sweaty in her tent, Dunor complains that she should not wear her robes to go to bed because of the extreme heat, but Sif retorts he has no choice in what she'll wear or not; Dunor goes back to sleep, but realizes that it is sunshine, he complains that they've just went to sleep, and that this Sun problem is starting to be quite big. Dunor asks Sif if this might be trickery from the Gods, as they pack up camp, the six-legged Sleepy hoofs as Sif pets him, riding on it, Dunor goes behind her, and they take off out of the warm forest, dripping down in sweat. Sif tells Dunor that the God of the Weathers Freyr is a Vanir, and so is of different allegiance than the ruling Aesirs, she also warns that if this weather continues they won't make it to Asgard as the Bifrost cannot open when there's extreme temperatures. The horse journey is awkward and boring, as the death of the people of Jotunnhaven still weighs heavy in Sif's mind. They look over a hill, realizing there's two enemy encampments in each side of a large lake, Dunor exclaims they've finally found a lake, but Sif says that the lake might be exactly what those armies are fighting for. The barbarian armies each break off from each of their camps and go into battle, they look malnourished and ill, affected by the heat, they start a bloody battle; which they watch carefully from afar, Dunor complains intervening to stop the bloodshed, he takes a look at his carefully forged Mjollnir, reluctant to step in, not wanting to become a God who toys with humanity, he leaves them to their own devices. The battle rages on, and Dunor suggests they stay there observing it until it's safe to pass. The desertified land goes from a greyish yellow to red as the battlefield gets flooded with blood, some rush towards the lake to drink and stay safe.

An army of barbarians climb over the hill where Dunor and Sif were, taking them onwards, a terrified Sleepy charges with them, as they both hold onto the horse, unable to stop, Dunor unwields the Mjolnir, prepare to go into battle. Inside the mesh, they try to take themselves out of there, not wanting to get themselves involved, however, the armies start attacking them, Dunor uses his smaller hammers to defend themselves as Sif uses her shortsword, poking down at the armies. Sleipnir is tilted over and falls to the ground, and the barbarians realize Sif's presence, they start trying to take her. And a reluctanct Dunor is forced to use the hammer, ringing down a single thunder onto the battlefield that isolates everyone from his location. Dunor tells everyone to back off from him, Sif and the Horse. The barbarians slowly retreat, Dunor tells them their name, and they shudder, misnaming him '*Thor*', Dunor announces they'll stay here to ensure the lake is split apart equally by both armies.

Overnight, a fest is mounted on the lake. The fest lasts over night, and the barbarians can be seen practicing their traditions, even through the warm night. Even the opposing armies now drink and friendly wrestle with eachother, as the water of the lake is bottled up into primitive canteens that Dunor himself forges in his tent, filled up with water, and loaded up to be brought to their respective families. In the large drinking fest, Dunor departs his tent, and everyone shuts up, Dunor says that they can keep drinking and just pretend that he isn't there, but all the barbarians bow down at him. Dunor says that he's not really the God of anything, the barbarians ask him what Gods are. Sif looks at Dunor, she tells him that the Barbarians don't have a religion, and that in the North, mystic beings keep to their own. Dunor ponders the question of what a God is, he tells them that he's from a land of many, many Gods; and that they can bring great joy and prosperity, and balance, but then also says that Gods are like them, they can get greedy, the power can go to their head. Dunor reveals he's from a land of many Gods, Gods that, when it came their time to separate themselves from their people, who had moved on, they couldn't, and clinged to them, which only brought them down. Dunor reveals there's Gods amongst them too, Gods who he hopes will be kinder people. One of the Barbarians, a young soldier asks Dunor if he's one of the Gods from the North. The barbarians agree, and proclaim him God of Thunder. They start chanting: 'God of Thunder', and lift him up into a crowd.

As the night progresses and they all have fun, descending from the clouds themselves rides an army of purple-wearing knights, extending their swords at the population, Dunor reaches into the Mjolnirr. The knights led a man pass, the strongest, and tallest knight of them all step forwards, he puts down his helmet, revealing a man still made entirety out of metal underneath, pure bred golden-tinted scraped iron. He calls himself Tyr, and says that behind him are the Teutons, they've just come back from beating the Empire of the South. Tyr, whose mere presence causes clanking and clicking because of the many layers of armor he has on; slowly descends, demanding to meet this Dunor character, Dunor advances forwards. Tyr screams at him instantly, recognizing him as the son of Odin, he asks why he intervened, and he says he was forced to, when he was dragged into the battle. Tyr, presenting himself as the God of War of the North, reprimands him. Tyr explains that they're in war right now, aside from the Romans, the two clans of Gods, and that they're in no way permitted to reveal the existence of Gods to the population. Sif tries to defend Dunor, but Tyr shuts her down, Tyr laments not being able to go back home, as Freyr's everlasting heatwave makes the conditions for a Bifrost impossible, and blames Dunor, saying he's not even really from here, Tyr insults him, calling him Son of Zeus, to which Dunor immediately hits him with the Mjollnir, sending him back and electrifying him, the Barbarians immediately go into battle, striking into the Teutons as Tyr gets back, fighting hand to hand with Dunor, being the first God he's fought and being entirely in his prime here, Tyr starts beating the everloving shit out of Dunor, sending him flying through the lake, and just overall very badly hurting him. Dunor beats Tyr in the face with the Mjolnir, electrifying his metal frame and causing an explosion that sends them fighting in the desert dunes, crossing them, Dunor continues his maestry with the hammers, which Tyr comments; meanwhile, Sif fights against the Teutons with sword and shield, driving them away slowly as Dunor and Tyr beat the everloving shit out of eachother in the background, with Tyr striking quite a few good hits on the God of Thunder, who retaliates with a massive bash to the face with the Mjolnir, sending him flying towards the surface of the now mostly drained lake. Tyr orders the Teutons to stand down, and tells Dunor that he knows he wants to see Odin, that he's stuck in here as well, and asks him to go on war with him against the Vanir, who he reveals are allied with Olympus. Dunor reluctantly accepts, and Tyr says that he might just be useful.

Tyr, the Teutons, Sif and Dunor depart from the Barbarians, continuing their journey. Dunor asks Tyr where to go next, and Tyr reveals that they shall head for Vanaheimr, where the Vanirs are plotting their Civil War from; a location brought over not from a Bifrost, but already preestablished from Earth, brought closer and closer to their allies: Greece. Dunor is reluctanct at first, saying he's going right back to where he escaped from, but Tyr assures him that there's nothing to fear. Sif fears that Tyr might be taking advantage of them. Tyr says they shall stop at the village behind the mountain, and as they cross behind the mountani they discover Uror, a small but seemingly unaffected by the drought village of Dwarves. The Dwarves welcome Tyr as a hero, and Dunor as well, saying they're big fans of them. Dunor asks Tyr why they're celebrating him if they barely know him, but Tyr reveals that the Dwarves in Uror all live gathered around the Uror Well, and underneath the Uror Well the trio of Norns lives, who decide people's fates. Dunor realizes who Tyr is talking about, and reveals that in Greece, they're called the Fates. This means that the Uror Well is directly connected to the underworld, controlled by his uncle Hades, and therefore directly connected with Olympus, meaning they'll know where they are, Tyr reassures him. Sif and the Teutons decide to stay upstairs, Sif sees Uror and it reminds her of Jotunnhaven, she starts interacting with the local Dwarf populace, who ask her who she is, Sif tells her her name, and all the Dwarves quiet down, shaking their heads; when Sif asks her what was up, the Dwarves respond that in the prophecies, she doesn't go down too well.

Tyr and Dunor descend down a wet, humid and cold sewer-like corridor, with several runes of Gods on the walls illuminated by their torches; they hear giggles in the dark, but are forced to walk in it for minutes and minutes without an end. An enraged Tyr keeps angrily calling out for the Norns, and Dunor follows him along silently. Eventually, Dunor speaks up, calling them out as 'Fates'. A torch lights up in the way, and the Nordic-like runes begin to turn into Greek paintings on the wall. Dunor reveals these are paintings that represent the land where he came from, telling him his real name was Hephasteus, and that he was the God of Forgery. As they walk down, the aesthetic goes less from a typical cold, nordic cave more into a dimly illuminated Greek marble temple; they eventually come out of the well into a hole in the side of a wall of a ruined temple, no doubt in the Underworld, a large chamber with a table in the middle, where the Sisters of Fate haggle about, three old decrepit looking women who all share a single eye, passing it through the table while watching Grey's Anatomy on TV. There's several items in the collection of the Sisters of Fate, including revolvers, like the one Zeus had given Rustt. The Sisters of Fate turn to face them, but are actually facing the wrong way, they turn to face them for real, putting the eye back on, an admiring the new God of Thunder of the north, sarcastically calling out for them. Dunor condemns them for not telling him they had a way to the North when he wanted to meet his father, but the Sisters reply with it being good enough already that they don't tell Hades of his whereabouts as it is. Tyr demands the sisters to tell him the armies of the Vanir's following tactic, where they are, assuming immediately they don't have an army. The Sisters laugh, one puts on the eye, and tells Tyr that he was foolish to not consider that the Vanir had an army: an army of men, golden and red, the Empire of the South, marching in one large formation, the greatest war machine the world has ever known: Rome. That the armies of Gods stand no chance agains them, Dunor asks them why, as although they're aided, Rome is made out of only men. The Fates reveal that there is someone leading the Roman armies who did not account into their plans, and laugh. The Fates warn that the Romans will let the Teutons advance further, only to ambush them in the Alps and engage retribution for their former lost battle, and that Dunor will pay by the hand of his brother, proclaiming that Zeus is done meddling around and that he's ready to bring out the big guns. Dunor tells Tyr to immediately run back and prepare.

A Teuton guards the house where Sif is sleeping in, he's approached by a robe figure, who starts rubbing themselves against the Teuton's body, the Teuton bends down to touch them further, but they're suddenly striked in the heart by a dagger and frozen in place, slowly bleeding out into the floor as they freeze. While Sif sleeps in one of the small houses in Uror, she can't stop thinking about this 'dark future' foretold to her, having nightmares of her being drowned, hanged and other horrible ways. She hears Dwarves talk in the background, drunk, and a woman's voice as well. Then, she hears loud knocks and gagged screamings. Sif covers her mouth, realizing that someone might have come after them. She gets up from the bed, looking outside the window as she hears the footsteps ever closer, she peeks out through the window and sees most of the Teutons dead, along with the Dwarves, backed out against the wall, Sif can do nothing as suddenly, the door is opened slightly, and out steps a beautiful, dashing, golden-haired Frella. Frella mocks Sif, telling her that she chooses very bad for a man, and asks her where Tyr and Dunor are. Sif tells her they're not here, and she becomes angrier, approaching Sif with the dagger, who's completely backed up against the wall. Frella, notices Sif's fear, and tells her to not be afraid, that he won't do anything to her, as she needs her, for now. She takes out ropes, and ties her up, loading her into a carriage. Frella sarcastically asks her if she wants to see Rome, before taking off, revealing the animals carrying the carriage are actually cats.

Tyr and Dunor drag themselves out of the pit, and are almost blinded by the light of the sun, now shining down on Urn, having completely taken it over, they realize this means the Vanir were here; and look down to see the corpses of many of the Teutons and Dwarves. Dunor looks for Sif everywhere, and Tyr realizes the positions and locations of the body of the Teuton and Dwarves means it wasn't a forced entry, but an invited and clausulated one, he realizes they must've sent Frella. Dunor and Tyr, the only two remainders of the Earthly army against the Vanir, begin to gallop south, as fast as they humanly can. Meanwhile, on the complete other side of Europe, Rome prepares its armies to fight against the Gods, with a general giving an amazing soldier that Ares claps to. As the Roman Soldiers begin dinner, with large roasted meals, one of the soldiers asks Ares from what province he's on, to which he responds Greece, the Soldier nods, and says he admires that he got to be a General at so young, to which Ares replies that he's not a general, he's just from a prestigious family, comparing himself to Mars, he calls himself 'An Eternal Soldier', unable to even command what he was birthed to do, and always being under others. The Roman Soldier nods in understanding, but reveals to Ares that he thinks things are going to be different from now onwards. The general reveals that they will face whatever force the North sends head-on, as they expect an ambush head on.

The sun beams down on Tyr and Dunor, they're completely exhausted, without water and food; finally Sleipnir collapses onto the ground, and they're left completely alone in the middle of the desertous mountains. They're forced to make camp in the middle of the mountains. Tyr and Dunor share stories, Dunor tells Tyr it's easy to live if your myths and legends haven't even started, as they haven't had to begin to deal with humans believers just yet. Tyr asks why Dunor really left, and he reveals that Zeus hated that Hephasteus had been accepted as one of the twelve main Olympians, as he was the only one there not directly related to him by blood, as Hephasteus was a bastard son of Hera. Tyr says he doesn't really know who his father or mother is, as it doesn't matter too much in the North, it only matters if you're Vanir or Aesir, Tyr says that they'll probably never have the level of success the Olympians did if the two branches of the Gods keep bickering; but not that it matters now, as they were both going to die in this dry land. Tyr eventually passes out from exhaustion, almost entirely coveered in sand, and Dunor struggles to stay awake, waiting for Sleipnir to rest up a bit. He starts hearing strange noises, the ground shakes: an **estampede**, running from something large. Dunor quickly wakes up Sleipnir and Tyr, he gets on the horse and so does Tyr, and they begin galloping down the mountain, trying to avoid the Crocotta estampede that's about to completely kill them, they have to jump across gaps, seeing as several Crocotta die, and jump carefully across the walls, trying to make it through the estampede. the Crocotta even lunge to try to take a bit out of Sleipnir, who promptly attacks them, once the estampede is over, they go down the mountanous pass again, but then Tyr asks why he can still hear the ground shake, realizing the mountains are being flooded with **water**, water destined to help the Romans in their invasion no doubt, they cheer but scream in terror as well, and have to make a run from it, jumping from rock to rock to avoid falling and also avoid being carried by the water; eventually, they wind up on the rivershore, Tyr asks Dunor to stare forwards, revealing a beautiful scenery. They start immediately drinking, and resting up.

Meanwhile, Sif is brought to the presence of Freyr by Frella. Freyr starts to toy with her. Freyr admits that Sif is very important to the Vanir, as she, and her upbringing as a Jotunn will prove to be a significant downfall for the Aesir. Through the doors enters Zeus, dressed completely in an armor that resembles a marble statue of himself in his younger years, he sees Frella, winking at her, but she doesn't seem impressed. Zeus stares down at Sif, harshly taking her by the neck, saying that he was eager to meet her, the companion of his son, and the love? An unimpressed Hera follows soon behind, who Zeus makes fun of, Hera however, looks at Sif rather strangely, she starts sniffing her, caressing her entire body, and then her abdomen, before turning to Zeus and revealing to him that the girl is pregnant. They both look at Sif with disgust.

Tyr and Dunor arm themselves with the few remaining weapons they have, marching onwards through the Alps, looking out for eachother. Dunor asks Tyr what motivates him, and he answers he wants to go back home. Dunor says it's hard to know what motivates him if he doesn't know what home is. Tyr asks that maybe after this he'll know, and if not, he still has people to protect from Zeus; he says he has a whole life ahead of him in Asgard, and that he can live without him, besides, the answer is already written, they just don't know it. Dunor agrees, and they climb the mountain, finally reaching the utopia-like **Vanaheimr**. They stop here, saying that they'll wait until the Romans reveal themselves to attack, after the Sisters of Fate's prediction. Dunor feels like something's wrong, as his hammer starts vibrating harshly. A bright sun shines down on them, completely blinding them, Tyr nearly stumbles down the mountain. Rome, in all its majesty, charges down the mountains and towards them, a true ambush. Dunor realizes that the Sisters of Fate have lied to them, he tries to strike down with lightning but it's useless. Entire solar flares are sent towards them, which they quickly reflect as Freyr and Frella present themselves, commanding this Roman-Vanir army. Dunor takes a step forwards, berading the Olympians for having sold themselves to Rome in a desperate attempt to stay alive, denouncing him, he claims himself as a descendant of Sparta, Athens and Crede; he takes out his Spartan sword on one hand, and the Mjolnir on another; Freyr steps besides him as the Roman Armies come charging down, with Zeus at the very helm, Tyr engages the siblings; while the entirety of the Roman Empire and Zeus fight Dunor, who sends them away with powerful lightning strikes, cracking Zeus' armor, which even starts melting because of the incredible heat, causing him great pain. Zeus berates Dunor as he fights through the mountains, but he beats back soldiers wave after wave with his own thunder, and this time, he has more to say, Dunor proclaims Zeus as a traitor to Olympus and the greatest scourge that's ever been birthed. Meanwhile, Tyr manhandles Freya and Frey, in what is a battle charged with centuries-long feud, for the future of the North. Freyr completely melts half of Tyr's face, who screams in pain. However, he grabs the Mjollnir, slamming it onto Freyr's face, sending him through Vanaheimr and completely collapsing its main temple, turning towards Frella and comboing her with the Mjolnir, Dunor rips his stepfather's armor in half, throwing it at Frella, then lunging at them, he summons the Mjollnir and hits it on her head, causing an earthquake. He fights back against the Roman Empire, taking several stabs and impalements, as well as Tyr, who is completely covered in blood and chrome at that point. Tyr takes out his Teuton Sword, stabbing it deep into Freyr's abdomen. Although they seem to have the upper hand over the other three Gods surprisingly, the half dead Dunor picks up a decrepit Zeus, who was trying to escape the battle, showing them to the Roman Empire, screaming: "***IS THIS THE JUPITER YOU'RE FIGHTING FOR?!***" Singlehandedly, it starts to rain into an amazing thunderstorm through the entirety of Europe, ending the drought, the Romans, scared, retreat as Zeus screams, singlehandedly winning the battle, and the *Aesir-Vanir* war.

As it rains again, the Bifrost descends down, snatching up Freyr and Frella who scream in terror, however, the rainbow envolves them in their entirety, entrapping them in a bondage that takes them above. Tyr looks at the Bifrost, cheering, completely exhausted, he hugs Dunor, saying "I hope you're ready for your throne in Asgard, Thor.", before being taken up by the Bifrost as well, they bid eachother farewell. Dunor looks at Zeus, who's mumbling to himself, he drops him to the floor, kicking him in the chest, Dunor says that he'll let Zeus live as long as he doesn't leave Greece for the North ever again, Zeus laughs, wiping blood away from his face, asking Dunor "Since when did you have that much leverage?" He asks, dissappearing into feathers, turning into an eagle that flies away, onto the top of a mountain, where Sif is, completely entrapped by eagles, bruised and unable to release herself. Zeus hints at her being pregnant, before letting her fall down the mountain, Dunor's entire world slows around him, watching Sif fall towards her death, towards that dreaded cave lying at the fall, that Underworld. He runs towards her, as she dives, and soon enough, he dives too, not even getting to see the stop.