CHAPTER 248

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You have exceeded my voting expectations. So, I will do the following, today I will post 3 chaps.

If the voting keeps being this… overwhelming, I will post tomorrow two, and so on. Let's see who burns first, me, or your stones!

Author whispers ~Probably me~

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Tranquility washing over me, I exited Dormammu's dimension, going back through the portal I had created, finding myself once again in the tombs of Asgard.

I smiled, fully appreciating the weight I had taken off my back with this mission of mine. I hadn't realized it until now, but absorbing those beings had been weighing on me, giving me power while taking a part of me at the same time.

I chuckled, looking at the runes I had carved a few minutes ago on the floor as something akin to gratitude blossomed within me, before turning away, erasing my creation with a thought.

"I wonder if spa days feel like this to others," I mused over the thought, opening a portal back to my office, where the Ancient One was waiting for me.

"I was starting to worry, you took longer than I had anticipated," The Ancient One sighed in relief, as I walked towards her with a big smile.

"Well, I had a few complications here and there, nothing to worry about though," I replied, extending my right hand towards her, palm out, bringing the part of her soul I had retrieved from Dormammu's dimension.

At this simple act on my part, time seemed to come to a complete halt, with the Ancient One looking at my hand, at her soul without a single word coming out of her mouth.

She seemed lost, scared even.

Her eyes, refusing to believe what she was seeing.

Her entire self, not daring to wish in fear of losing what was within her grasp.

The emotions she was feeling were confusing and powerful, to the point, I didn't need her to tell me what she was feeling. There was no need for her to tell me, I could see it, feel it, in the way her mana trembled in an outburst of emotions she had bottled up long before even meeting me.

I smiled, summoning a cup full of tea, her favorite kind, before laying the cup in front of her while saying, "I know I'm quite the sight to behold, a big fat ten in the scale of hotness, but what would Sif think?" 

My completely out-of-subject comment/joke caught her attention, making her laugh, a genuine beautiful laugh full of emotions, the kind that it's highly contagious.

"I won't take your laugh as a comment about how sexy I am," I chuckled, giving her a quick wink.

"Definitely a ten, Sif is a very lucky girl," She replied between chuckles and giggles, as her eyes teared up.

Seeing this, I rushed to her side, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulders, as my other hand held her soul.

"I can't even begin to thank you for this, I… I… I never thought I would… that… my destiny was sealed… I had made peace with it… and you…" Her words broke up more and more as she tried to talk to convey what she was feeling to me until all she could utter were stuttering wet sounds. 

Without a word, I brought my arms around her, hugging her as gently as I could, feeling the hot tears that streamed down her face running down my shirt, as she grabbed into my shirt like a child, squeezing her eyelids shut in the hope her tears would stop. 

I sat there for a few moments letting her vent, feeling her choppy breathing and watery eyes close against my chest.

"I must apologize," She muttered, not daring to look at me, "This is rather unbecoming of me."

I smiled, patting her on the head ever so gently, "No one is above feeling, you should know that."

She chuckled, breaking the hug with a playful push to my chest as she wiped her eyes, "Since when are you the wise one here, Mr. Walker?" she asked.

"Well, I had a good teacher," I shrugged, grabbing the cup of tea I had summoned for her, to once again try and give it to her, "Tea?"

"Most definitely," She nodded, grabbing the cup from my hands with a smile.

"So, soul now, or after tea?" I asked, summoning a cup of the very same tea for myself.

Index finger pressed upon her lips, she looked at the cup of tea that rested on her hands, steam gently coming out of the cup, inviting her ever so tenderly to take a sip of its contents. She smiled, putting the cup on my desk, before saying, "I would very much like to be whole before enjoying this wonderful cup of tea you have given me if you don't mind that is."

I smiled, once again summoning her soul out, "I would be delighted."

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[Thor Odinson POV]

Four realms ready, four to go.

This mission was taking me longer than I had anticipated.

Stupid politics, stupid people clinging to power like it was the only thing that mattered.

I really wasn't fit to be a King.

I hated this.

I hated having to convince others about something that in every sense only benefitted them, just because they didn't want to feel powerless, just because they wanted to preserve their role, their power, a power they directly associated with the crown above their heads, even though that, with or without the crown they were just as powerless.

A crown would give them no power.

A crown would not protect their people in their time of need.

A crown would not feed their young in the pains of war.

A crown would do nothing for them but feed their ego.

The more I talked with those I had promised to convince for my brother's cause, for everyone's cause, the more I came to realize that most of them only cared and sought to preserve their status, even in the face of imminent destruction.

Letting their unwarranted sense of hubris guide them.

It was laughable really.

Them, brushing off Knull's coming like a simple nuisance, like a chore they won't deal with until the time comes. Because in their tiny minds, what threatened me, Asgard, and anyone else in their little world, didn't threaten them.

I would no longer waste my time on them.

They didn't deserve a breath out of my mouth.

They didn't deserve a second of my attention.

They weren't worthy of it.

So, if they wanted to die a pointless death, it was their choice. I would respect it.

That, however, didn't mean I would forsake the people they swore to protect.

After all, there was more than one way to get a crown, and as the All-Father, I would do whatever was necessary to protect those in need.