Jötunheim

Chapter Three: Faraway
~BlackRoseRaven

“Jötunheim!” hissed Sin, as she and Antares rolled his eyes even as grinned in spite of himself at his sister. “Jötunheim! We're going to Jötunheim! We're going to the home of the fucking giants!”

“I know, Sin, but tell the whole world, why don't you?” Antares asked wryly as he returned his attention to his packs, ensuring that his equipment was securely packed before he fastened them shut, muttering: “Okay, that's enough gear to camp comfortably for a week. Not that we really need the food, but it's nice to have a snack now and then.”

“Hey, I need the food!” Sin complained immediately, and then she picked up her own pack and simply flung it into a rift that opened beside her, Antares wincing before the portal slammed shut and Innocence grinned as she pointedly poked the silver bracelet she was wearing. “And you said this was dumb.”

“It is dumb. I can't wait for your pocket dimension to blow up and kill us both.” Antares said dryly, and then he shook his head as he picked up the cloak he'd been supplied with, looking critically over it as he added wryly: “Also we're going to be horses in a world where horses don't talk. I don't think these cloaks are going to do a lot of good.”

Innocence snorted, then she flicked her horn, her own cloak sizzling with magic energies before it neatly dropped itself over her body, the mare sniffing disdainfully beneath the cowl that covered her head. “You're just jealous because I look cooler than you.”

“Everyone's going to think you're a dragon. What am I going to be to them, half a centaur?” Antares asked pessimistically as he slipped into his own cloak, before both ponies looked up from the table as Nistle floated carelessly by.

“The portal to Jötunheim will be open in a few moments. We recommend you finish your preparations now.” it said gently, and then it soared past the two to the other side of the room, where a portal ring was crackling ominously with energy being fed down into it from two coils of wire that fed down from the ceiling.

Antares and Innocence looked at each other, and then the stallion rose a hoof and asked lamely: “Can I go home and get my shield, please? We're not all like Sin, just. Summoning stuff out of the air. I don't have the magic points for that.”

“No.” Nistle said pleasantly, before the shapeless creature turned its head and clicked its tongue, and Antares blinked in surprise as a rack of weapons appeared with a crackle of dark energy in thin air. “But you may choose what you desire from here.”

Sin huffed, crossing her forelegs and mumbling: “I could totally do that, I just don't want to.”

Antares ignored his sister as he studied the rack quickly, then grabbed a silver buckler off the rack, knocking his hoof against it before he shrugged and slipped it onto his back, smiling slightly when it magically bonded itself to his cloak. “It'll work for now. Thanks uh... kiddo.”

“We are seventy years old.” Nistle corrected, in a strangely-kind voice, before it gestured towards the portal, twisting upon itself bizarrely before regaining pony shape as it floated towards the glowing ring. “Your portal awaits.”

Antares and Innocence traded looks, then slung their packs on as the portal ring rumbled and crackled before a whirling vortex of energy formed inside it. It crackled and sizzled, then suddenly rippled before almost solidifying into not a hole in reality, but what was more like an open window, both siblings marveling as they looked through the ring at blue skies above a gorgeous forest, and grass so green and bright it almost hurt his eyes to look at...

“Wait, I thought the Jötnar were from iceworld?” Innocence said with a frown, looking back over her shoulder, and then she and Antares both squawked as Nistle picked them up with magic and calmly carried them through the portal, both ponies wincing and flailing wildly as they felt energy sizzle over them before they were dropped gently to the ground.

They flailed their way to their feet, then glared at the creature floating in front of a strange, blurry-edged window into Underdark, the demon smiling at them as it said: “There were many Jötnar once, of many races, many creeds, fathers and mothers of Gods and others. Now, they are all gone.

“This is origin. This is birthplace. The realm of giants. The giants are scattered and few now, but their kindred and their descendants still wander, of all races.” Nistle paused, as if to say more, but then the creature merely smiled before it wisped suddenly, quickly backwards through the hole in reality, and this sizzled before it snapped shut with a last bang of energy, leaving the two siblings standing alone in a grassy, green field beneath an alien blue sky.

“Well, bye!” Innocence shouted at the air, and Antares slowly turned to look at her as the mare huffed sulkily before grumbling: “Everyone's a dickhead.”

“Everyone.” Antares agreed after a moment, and then he ran a hoof through the grass: thick, large blades, so vibrantly, painfully green. He looked up, and saw the sky above was so clear that he could make out stars, sparkling beyond the ether, and the horizon was so sharp that he felt like he could reach out and touch it if he wanted to.

“Weird place.” he remarked, and then he closed his eyes, clicking his tongue as Innocence stared around as if she had just realized where they were, where they actually were.

“Holy shit we're in Jötunheim!” she blurted.

“Yes, thank you, Sin. Shut up.” Antares said gently as he dug his hooves into the ground, and Innocence huffed at him grouchily. “This world talks a little weird. I mean, I guess that's not a surprise, we're in the land of giants-”

“Jötunheim!”

“Jötunheim.” agreed Antares, and then he said in a quieter voice as he lowered his head: “But I can still hear the voice of nature a little... and Mutt and Dad obviously have real distinct energy signatures. They're... northeast.”

“Hey, uh.” Innocence rose a claw, and Antares opened an eye to look at her mildly. “Why don't we just find Mimir or whatever? They'll obviously show up there at some point, if they aren't there already. We get two jobs done at once.”

Antares tilted his head back and forth, and then he said finally: “Got a feeling.”

Innocence scowled at this, then echoed: “You have a feeling.”

“Got a feeling.” Antares confirmed, and then he looked towards the forest, muttering: “Yeah. Got a feeling. Mutt's never hard to find. But that's not the test.”

Innocence scowled deeper at this, then she groaned before complaining: “Why can't our family just ever tell us anything normally?”

The stallion shrugged, then answered mildly: “Because we're not normal. Come on, grumpybuns, let's walk. Or would you rather go home and sulk in bed?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm coming.” Innocence huffed, and then she paused as she fell in beside her brother, glancing at the bright blue sky before she asked: “So is it day here, or is this their night? Because either way... it's freaking bright.”

“Sorry, lady evil, I'm sure Mom will send us somewhere darker and more suiting of your black aura next time.” Antares paused, then added mildly: “At least it's breezy. Nice weather. Cool and comfortable. I could get used to this.”

Innocence snorted, then shouldered him firmly as she grumbled: “The fate of the world is at stake here-”

“No, uh, no. It's not, for once. It's just the fate of Mutt and Dad, and who really cares about them?” Antares said mildly, and Innocence nodded thoughtfully after a moment. “No, this is just going to be our whirlwind adventure, the one that Thorn isn't cool enough to come along on.”

The mare grunted at this, complaining: “He still should be here, though. I mean, I don't like him and he's lame and boring but if he was here I'd look so much cooler by comparison.”

Antares grinned at this, teasing: “Hey, don't worry your pretty little head, Sin, I'll do my best not to show you up too much.”

Innocence rolled her eyes and shoved him roughly, and then she sniffed the air, her horn giving a faint thrum as she muttered: “Well, looks like your first chance to do that's coming up pretty soon. Something alive is out there.”

“Something alive is everywhere, Sin, all of this is alive, you know.” Antares said seriously, nodding several times before he paused and added before his sister could swear at him: “Although, yes, there's some very big alives heading this way and uh...”

He reached out and gently grasped Innocence, pulling her carefully to the side, and she scowled at him before looking sharply up as she heard something moving through the grasses a moment before a tall quadruped pranced past.

A dozen more followed it, leaping and dancing to either side of Sin and Antares as the stallion grinned despite himself at the alien gazelle that stampeded by. They vanished quickly across the field, a few undulating calls echoing through the air around them, and Sin whistled a little before she said: “So those weren't intelligent, right? It'll be fine if I eat one, right?”

Antares rolled his eyes with a snort of amusement, then said finally: “From what little I know about Jötunheim-”

“You know nothing, I'm the smart person here, me!” Innocence interrupted with a huff, and then she tilted her head up and recited haughtily: “Jötunheim is chiefly populated by creatures of animal intelligence, as well as nomadic and settled tribes chiefly reliant on magic over technology. Refugees from other worlds have been detected here, living largely in bands and fortified camps.”

“So you actually read that report, huh?” Antares asked mildly, and Innocence shrugged.

“Paged through the good parts. Memorized a few graphs. Looked at some pretty colors. Got the gist of it.” Innocence answered, and then she said thoughtfully: “Would be a lot more helpful if we could actually get some kind of map, though...”

“Yeah, we can take a trip to whatever town's closest, definitely.” Antares answered as he dug his hooves against the earth, starting to reach out, to feel out the presence of life, of people, the vibrancy of-

Sin smacked the back of his head, making him wince and flinch, and then she cheerfully pointed her glowing horn forwards, saying mildly: “A hundred miles or so in that direction. Got a lock on some kind of magic energy, definitely feels like a big crystal block generator or something.”

“Glad I'm so needed.” Antares said drolly, but Innocence only grinned at him.

“Hey, I warned you that I'm gonna be the best.” Innocence said comfortably, and then she pranced ahead of him, whistling loudly, and her brother rolled his eyes as he let her take the lead and obligingly followed along in her wake.

They entered a lush forest, the two loitering a little to marvel at the sights, the sounds, the strangeness that filled the overgrowth. Massive, bizarre fruits hung from stout, leafless trees, and birdsong filled the air as small animals leapt and cavorted through the brush that covered the earth and the treetops high above.

If they hadn't been on some kind of mission at the moment, Antares would have loved to spend a few hours just wandering around, laying in the grass, turning over rocks and climbing up trees. Nature here was alive and wonderful and vibrant, the sense of teeming life amplified by the magical energy that thrived in the earth, the trees, sizzled through the air itself.

He grinned as not a bird, but a snake with wings shot by overhead, flashing brilliant plumage that was almost as iridescent as its glowing scales. It whipped through the branches of a gnarled old tree, knocking a few leaves loose as it passed and disturbing several not-quite-birds with too big eyes and painfully-bright feathers that screeched and squawked as they soared into the air.

“Jötunheim.” Sin muttered to herself, and she shook her head before wincing as another flying snake passed by, complaining: “Why are you grinning at these things? When I make flying snakes, it's morally wrong, but when we see them here-”

“There's a difference between natural weird animals and sewing wings on animals. Weirdo.” Antares replied mildly, and Innocence huffed. “Actually I don't think you've ever made any flying snakes, have you? You made that uh... bug-bear once. That was awful.”

“That was cool!” Sin defended. “It was a bug! With the head of a bear!”

“It was a bear with the head of a bug and it was abominable.” Antares only had to half-mock the shiver he gave before he added almost grudgingly: “Gotta admit. When I was younger, I would have been a lot... harder on you for the whole. Evil necromancy alchemy body-fooling thingy.”

Innocence snorted, and Antares smiled and shrugged before he said finally: “I guess growing up helps. Not feeling like I know everything, like I can absolutely judge good and evil, helps. Knowing that bodies are... only our wrappers, helps.”

“My wrapper is super sexy, though.” Innocence said helpfully, and Antares gave her a mild look before the mare nodded and smiled a little. “Hey, you wear a dead animal every day, you know. I think that's worse than trying to make something alive out of them.”

“I wouldn't exactly go that far but okay, points for trying.” Antares said wryly, shaking his head before he said finally: “We're pretty much opposites. Good guy bad girl. But we're on the same side, and we're basically each other's best friend, and-”

Sin blew a raspberry at him, and Antares gave her an amused look as the mare whined: “Now you're making it weird! Stop making it weird, Tarry.” She paused, then allowed her eyes to drift away as she mumbled: “Even if... I get what you mean, yeah.”

They walked through the gorgeous forest in silence for a few moments, and then Innocence asked abruptly: “How's Prestige?”

Antares groaned loudly, and Innocence grinned at him as she teased: “Hey, this would have been a fun little mission to invite her along, right?”

“Oh, yeah, great, sure, with you here too? Weird incest fantasies, again?” Antares complained, but when Innocence refused to take the bait, Antares stopped, groaned, grabbed wildly at his head, and then he huffed and squeezed on either side of his skull, mumbling: “We're fine.”

“Wow. Convincing.” Innocence deadpanned.

“I mean, we are!” Antares almost whined, straightening quickly, and then he sighed and grumbled, dropping his head as he and Innocence walked onward. “We... we are. It's just been really hard. I just... I just can't live in Heaven. It sucks up there. It's boring and I hate it and I guess... maybe I'm kind of jealous, too. Prestige is a captain in the the New Valkyries and I'm a noble and a diplomat and a 'you're not allowed to touch that.'

“I mean, I tried! For like... ten years, okay, I know that's not actually very long in the grand scheme of things. But she seems... happier up there without me. I know that's a shitty thing to think, and the talking through nothing but letters and calls and stuff sucks but...” Antares shrugged a bit, mumbling: “Every time we were able to get a few months together it would be wild and passionate for three weeks and then we'd just ignore each other between spats of arguing. She's still-

“A racist bitch.” supplied Innocence, and Antares gave her an amused look.

“You weren't even a thought back then, Sin, you have no idea how bad Prestige used to be.” Antares smiled wryly, admitting after a moment: “Even if she can still be kind of racist, yes. But she tries.”

“Hey, I try too, and no one ever lets me off the hook! Mudfucks.” Sin grumbled, and Antares rolled his eyes and bodychecked her lightly.

“That's because you're a lot meaner and have a far worse mouth than any of us. You really got that from Mutt.” Antares said wryly, and then he bit his lip before he asked almost impulsively: “What would you do?”

Innocence hesitated, and then she shrugged a bit and looked ahead, saying finally: “I dunno. I mean, if you love someone you should be with them, right? That's the way it works. But I can't give you the answer because I know the world's more complicated than that.

“I... I mean, I don't see myself ever being with anyone, you know?” Innocence shrugged again as Antares smiled a little at her. “I like sex. I like having friends and people I can trust and do stuff with. But I don't want to have a family... you guys are all my family. At the end of the day I still really hope one day, I can just... be with my family again.”

The mare halted and licked her lips, and Antares stopped, looking at her softly. “But I don't want a boyfriend, or a husband, or a partner.” She paused, then looked thoughtful as she meditated: “Maybe someone I could just use for sex or two. What would you call that? A dude-slut. Except oh wait, all dudes are sluts, pretty much, am I right or am I right?”

“I hate you.” Antares said kindly, and Innocence grinned at him.

“Shut up, slut.” she retorted, and then she asked curiously: “Would you bang someone other than Prestige? I mean, if you had permission or she would never find out or whatever?”

“Yeah, totally, absolutely.” Antares blustered, looking awkwardly away, and Innocence snorted in amusement before the stallion mumbled: “I mean... okay, no, probably not. I find lots of ponies attractive but... Prestige... Prestige is the only one I want to-”

“Sausage the buns!” Innocence loudly licked her lips and waggled her eyebrows.

Antares closed his eyes as if pained, finishing gently: “Be intimate with.”

“Loser.” Innocence huffed, and then the two turned and walked onward in silence for a little while.

Finally, Innocence broke it with a quiet: “You are a really good guy and you two love each other a whole lot, Antares. You two will figure it out if you belong each other. I'm sure she's not banging too many guys while you're gone.”

“Yeah, girls, probably, but that's hot so it's totally fine.” Antares quipped, and Innocence snorted in amusement before the stallion mumbled: “Horses of Heaven how am I supposed to compete with other Valkyries?”

“I dunno, your dick, I guess?” Sin said blandly, and Antares gave her a sour look before he hurried ahead, and Innocence grinned as she trotted after him and called cheerfully: “Although if they're anything like Mutt plenty of them probably have bigger dicks than you do too!”

“La la la not listening la la la!” Antares shouted loudly as he hurried through the underbrush, then winced and skidded to a stop, reaching out to catch Innocence before she could plow into him and knock them both down the short, dusty embankment they stood on the edge of.

A creek burbled happily by below, but that wasn't what had caught Antares' attention: rather, it was the glowing metal orb sailing by that caught his eye, the stallion scowling at this before it suddenly turned to face him, a crystalline eye on the front studying him with synthetic interest.

“Hi, Thorn!” Antares said loudly, and Innocence waved wildly even as she glowered. “I thought you had a different mission?”

The orb was silent, and Antares frowned a bit before both he and Innocence blinked in surprise as it shot suddenly straight up into the air and vanished over the treetops, Antares saying slowly after a moment: “Suddenly, uh, I don't think that was Thorn.”

“Oh, sure, fine, leave me with the sidekick line.” Innocence grumbled, and then she screwed up her face and shoved a claw into a nostril as she rambled: “Duh, duhr, gee, but who could possibly have Clockwork technology? Gorsh, it must be Thorn, that's just unpossible!”

The stallion ignored his sister as he muttered: “Demons would probably have modified that... could be Orex, could be remnants of Loki's goons, could be some part of Decretum that hasn't gotten the message yet that Thorn's in charge now. But the real question is the motivation. What would any of them be doing here?”

Innocence shrugged and asked mildly: “When is the bad guy's motivation ever really anything more than 'screw with the good guys?'”

“I guess you'd know, being a practicing bad guy and all.” Antares replied, and Innocence scowled at him before the stallion hopped down the embankment, jumping the narrow creek with a flap of his wings to neatly land on the opposite bank. He frowned a bit as he rose his head, sniffing at the air before he muttered: “What is that?”

Innocence teleported down beside him in an unnecessary display of power, sniffing the air as she walked past before she said with some surprise: “That's a phase drop.”

“You can smell that?” Antares asked incredulously, and Innocence nodded seriously before she cleared her throat and pointed, the stallion frowning as he walked forwards before he grimaced at the sight of the empty canister on the other side of several trees. “Oh.”

“Yep.” Innocence trotted quickly into the clearing that had been torn by the metal capsule presumably falling from the sky, the scaled mare whistling loudly as she approached and poked it a few times. Antares was a little more careful, surveying the area around them quickly before he strode around the edge of the clearing, noting the broken branches and burnt earth around the open pod. “I think this pretty much confirms Orex.”

“Pretty much.” Antares had to agree: he was the only person apart from Thorn who used phase drop technology, and this unmarked capsule was little more than a windowless metal can with a hatch that had been popped loose. There was no cushioning, nor any sign of life support. “Why would he drop a golem instead of doing his teleport trick thing, though?”

Innocence shrugged, saying mildly as she stuck her head in through the open hatch: “I dunno, but Thorn puts that dumb logo on everything. Unless that bastard really is trying to sneakily beat us to the punch.” She scowled, leaning back grumpily. “Hey, what if he is?”

“Well, all the more reason for us to hurry up and find Mutt and Dad.” Antares answered, and Innocence grunted in agreement before she stepped back, the stallion adding mildly: “I mean, hey, at least this means it won't be boring. Imagine if this really had just been one big nature walk.”

Sin blew a loud raspberry, then hesitated for a moment, looking almost longingly at the large fallen capsule before she grumbled: “I guess it's too big to stick in my pocket dimension.”

Antares rolled his eyes in amusement, then turned and walked onward, Innocence lingering for a few moments before she hurried after her brother.

As little as Antares liked to admit it, he was starting to feel apprehensive. Luna and Scrivener somehow being 'missing' was weird enough, as was being sent to Jötunheim of all places to chase after them, but he felt like things were much more complicated than anyone had let on, especially if Orex was involved now.

Still, there wasn't a whole lot they could do but keep moving forward. Whether they found Scrivy and Luna or Mimir at the end of the trail, he felt either way they'd get their answers then.

Besides, they'd both been through a lot over their long lives. At the end of the day, just how bad could Jötunheim possibly be?