Ragnarök

"Well done, immortal one. You have shown me what I needed to see. The powers of the universe are in your hands now and if you hurry, you might see the end. It will be... magnificent" the familiar voice thundered in her head as she opened her eyes.

She was floating through the vast emptiness of the universe and in front of her was a bone-chilling sight. She could see Yggdrasil in all its glory - and ruin. The buzzing in her ears was replaced by sounds of screams and the echoing of collapsing stars.

The nine realms were spheres resembling cosmic portals, floating in the air, held together and connected by dark matter resembling a tree. A great, huge snake lay dead on the bottom, its fangs stuck in a thick root. The Bifröst was gone and now there were only threads of light broken apart, floating around loosely. The top of the tree was engulfed in bright flames, leaving only ash behind and quickly advancing downwards, towards the realms.

Yrsa could recognise them. Midgard was already gone, now an icy orb dissolving into nothingness. The sight which angered her most was Asgard, burning bright like a sun and the fire spreading all around it. The protective orb which surrounded it was cracking until, finally, a flaming sword ripped through and split it in half. Out of it, Surtr pulled himself up.

Yrsa could feel rage and power overtake her. She didn't notice it, but she grew in size to match the Fire Giant and her eyes burned a bright white. Huge wings of cosmic dust appeared behind her. She took the sword and cracked it in half, dragging Surtr out of the ruined realm.

She crushed him in her hand, leaving only a spark of flames behind. She understood her purpose now. She grasped the dark matter and burned it all. Ending the end times wasn't really what she thought she'd be doing, but the cycle had to be finished in order to begin anew.

Yrsa could feel it in her blood - her bones - what she had to do, so she did it.

All over again is exactly how it happened, only this time, Yrsa was controlling fate.

The flames of Muspelheim fell into the primordial void of branches, along with the ice from Midgard. Ymir, the brothers, the gods - she brought all of them back in order. Even the flaming Surtr, who was now entrapped within his realm, unable to hurt anyone but himself for all eternity.

She remade the realms and the creatures in them with just a thought. When they awoke, the end of the world seemed like a dream to them, but they knew. All of them knew; even the smallest creatures of this universe who could only wonder what it all meant.

And in the void she breathed in a powerful spirit to guard the realms and fulfil its purpose of upholding balance and order - the spirit of Yggdrasil. The void took upon itself a shape of a tree and grasped the newly reborn realms.

When all was done and the universe back in order, she could hear every thought and feel every rustle of leaves in the universe, but she searched her mind for only one - Skadi.

The time continued on the day after Yrsa disappeared. The Great Winter had cleared out and was replaced by a spring breeze. Skadi and Dàinn had just woken up from a sleep they don't remember falling into and even though the world was alright and Ragnarök undone, they worried where Yrsa had gone off to without a trace.

Near their wooden house there was a great mountain, reaching far up into the clouds. It overlooked the lands and stood as a barrier between them and a chain of mountains spreading all the way north. Near the top, there was a small clearing and a path that led to it. It was a stone temple long since abandoned by the priests who used to live there. Its name was forgotten but many called it Mánigeyma, or Moonguard.

Skadi sat on the stone steps, deep in thought. She was distressed, yet her face revealed so little - only a light frown and red, puffy eyes from crying. Despite that, her emotions were expressed in a different way. She was surrounded by a raging blizzard that covered almost everything in sight with a thick layer of snow.

Yrsa reached her hand towards Midgard and with a touch, she was there, once again a normal god-like size and without any sign of what had happened just moments ago.

She appeared on the beginning of the path that led up the mountainside and she decided to take the long way. She had all the time in the world now and the woman she was looking for wouldn't disappear or run away, that much was certain.

There was much to be said and explained. It would surely be a long while and Yrsa was still under the impression of her new powers. She could do anything, although she supposed it was best if she just let fate take it's course and not interfere unless necessary. The balance of the universe was a delicate thing and tipping the scales slightly could have the same effect as a snowball falling from a mountain, turning into an avalanche. It wouldn't be a problem to her, but still, fates should be respected.

She understood it now - how she felt - and perhaps it was because she'd experienced death and the end of the world, perhaps it was the musician who taught her a lesson, or she simply realised now, when all the universe played like background noise in her head, that she could do whatever she wanted. Nothing was ever set in stone and could be changed, if only one wills it so. But change begins when you take the first step and she was terrified of it, dreading the very words she thought of speaking, but if not now, then when? If you simply wait for something to happen, it never will.

Skadi could see a silhouette appear in the snow. She stood up abruptly and the blizzard stopped. The snow cleared out and Yrsa appeared, a gentile look on her face. The face of someone who has looked upon death and greeted it with a smile, without fears, yet her very soul trembled, all because of love. Love that existed outside the boundaries of space and time, that broke the very laws of the universe and made fate fall to its knees - a power beyond good and evil.

Skadi stepped forward and embraced her, laughing with both relief and joy that brought her tears of the purest kind. Yrsa took a breath and opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing left her lips. What was there to be said?

Now or never, she thought, and snuck a hand behind Skadi's neck, pulling her in for a kiss. It was soft and lovely, just as a kiss should be, without regrets.

"I don't know how or why or when but I know you saved us all... thank you" Skadi whispered, still hugging Yrsa, her hands around her.

"You're welcome, my love" Yrsa replied, the clouds cleared to reveal a beautiful dark blue sky behind them, slowly becoming brighter and revealing first rays of sun.

"The Æsir will be looking for you, I'm sure of it" Skadi said. The gods knew they were brought back and that their twilight had ended, but they didn't know who had done it.

"They don't know it was me and... I think it would be best if we kept it at that. You know what they did to poor Fenrir, I don't want them to be afraid of me too" Yrsa replied, removing a strand of hair from Skadi's worried face.

"Speaking of Fenrir, I returned him to Hel. She is thankful and won't bother us anymore, I think," Yrsa added. "She can't."

"I trust you know what you're doing. We should probably go back now, Dàinn is waiting for us", Skadi said, "He was so brave, by the way. In the fight... he took a sword through the heart for me. I was so distracted with you gone, thinking we'd lost you forever... I don't know what had happened to you, but I'm so relieved you're here."

"Well, long story short, that damned hammer was a sentient power that I now share my soul with and it made me prove my worth so I could use it, but it's all right now, I have it under my control. Let us go home now... I crave something sweet," Yrsa said, taking Skadi's cold hand and smiling like a lovestruck fool.

The sight that greeted them was Dàinn, pacing around the house, helpless and frustrated. He was a hero, the young one, yet he paid no attention to it at all. Such selfless and kind thoughts ran through his head. Destiny surely had something set for him, as it had for them all. Yrsa knew it, of course. Now she knew everything.

"Oh, thank the Norns you're alright! I was loosing it over here. You left without a word - I thought you'd disappeared too. And you, Yrsa, come here" he said, hugging her tightly.

"Wait... something's different" he added, eyeing them suspiciously.

"We proclaimed our eternal love for each other" Yrsa whispered, with a small smile playing on her lips, almost sarcastically.

"Oh, finally! Only took you, what, a couple of centuries?" he laughed "I'm truly happy for you, but I'd like to hear what happened to the end of the world," Dàinn asked, pouring a drink for all of them and sitting down.

Yrsa spoke for a long time, until nightfall, and then she returned the protective dome around their home, so that Odin's crows couldn't see her or anyone else, for that matter. She was just beginning to test her powers and preferred to do it in secret. The gods lived in blissful ignorance for the time being, thinking it was fate that made them return, although the trickster Loki knew the truth from his daughter Hel. But even the trickster knew some secrets are best kept secret, from personal experience, so he said nothing.

It was only later when another crisis came into play that he sought the goddess's help, but that was a tale for another day.