JONAS
the Thirtieth Tale
Midgard Standard Year 2186 / August (14 years in the past)
Luna Education Center
A group of young children sit in class, paying close attention to the lesson of the day. This day was a special occasion for the children, as their teacher was none other than Thor Odinson himself. To Ben-Vell Parker, Eshir Maximoff, Attumidunn, K'Zan Strange and Jonas Barton, this was an unusual, if not unprecedented, treat; to Angelica Osborn, however, who had only lived in the Golden Realm since February, to be sitting in the presence of the Mighty Thor was almost overwhelming.
"Tell me, adopted sons and daughters of Asgard," Thor smiled down upon them as he sat on the teacher's desk, facing them, "have you all done your homework from our last encounter inside these hallowed halls?"
"Aye!" said Ben-Vell, catching himself speaking a bit too loudly. "Er, I mean, aye," he corrected himself, thankful that his blue skin mostly hid his blushing. "I've got it right here, Thor," he went on eagerly, punching hurriedly at his lap-top computer. The room watched as the black screen behind Thor blipped to life, a picture of Captain Mar-Vell (striking a heroic pose) appearing on it's shimmering surface. Below the picture of Mar-Vell was the title of Ben-Vell's paper, "Captain Marvel: Cosmic Protector."
Thor nodded, but did not smile, "I see that thou hath chose to report, yet again, on Captain Marvel, and not Spider-Man, Ben-Vell. Tell me, why did you not choose the other half of your lineage to write about?"
Ben-Vell had his answer at the ready, "Because Mar-Vell is one of the greatest heroes the Everything has ever known, Thor. There are monuments to his glory erected on-"
Thor held up a large hand, and asked, "I'm sure that information is in the report?" Ben nodded. "As I have told thee in the past, the original Spider-Man was also a great man."
"But all the reports I found on him," Ben blurted, "say he was a criminal, or at least a vigilante. There's no statues erected to his honor anywhere."
Thor sighed, "You are young, Ben-Vell. Perhaps I ask too much of thee. Someday you will learn that not all heroes are remembered in statue and song. K'Zan, have thee unraveled any part of thy family tree?"
K'Zan shook his head, "I … I mean, I can't … it's just …"
Thor laughed, "Ah, young Strange, thou hast begun the vast struggle with the realms of alternate worlds. Fear not. Eshir, hath thou finished the assignment?"
Eshir punched his keyboard rapidly, Thor noting the speed in which he worked. Perhaps he would indeed grow to have speed power. On the multiboard behind Thor, an image of Magneto appeared above the title, "Magneto: The Master of Magnetism." Thor looked at the young boy closely, "I thought I told thee to pick any ancestor but this one, Eshir? The subject of Magneto is much too complex for a boy, when even those of us with ages of experience still struggle over his legacy."
Eshir looked up, a sneaking smile creeping onto his face, "I wrote only about his power, not his deeds."
Thor nodded, a smile coming to his face, "Thou art wise beyond your eight years, young Maximoff. Attumidunn?" Thor turned to the aqua-skinned girl, nearly equal in age to Ben and Eshir.
Attumidunn blushed; of all the Asgardians, Thor was easily her favorite. "I wrote on my grandmother, Thor."
"Wise choice, Attumidunn," Thor nodded, turning to look at an image of Crystal on the multiboard, next to the title, "Crystal: Celestial Madonna." "Your grandmother was a good woman, child. I had the pleasure of serving alongside her in the Avengers. It was a sad day when we lost her." * He looked back and forth from Toomi to Eshir, both being able to trace part of their lineage back, ultimately, to Magneto, wondering what that bode for the future.
* As detailed in AGC 27: ASCENSION / ABANDONMENT, Part V: Titan Falls
"Can I ask something, Thor?" Attumidunn asked, a confused look upon her face. "Are me and Eshir related? I mean, I know we are, but how close? I mean, Quicksilver and Crystal are my grandparents, right? I mean, but they're also, like, Eshir's great-great-great-grandparents or something, aren't they?"
Thor sighed, smiled, nodded, "Aye. It doth get confusing, young ones. Both of thee come not only from Pietro and Crystal's union, but from the sacred Luna, herself, though Eshir is not directly her son, as you are her daughter, Toomi." Attumidunn's eyes popped open, disbelieving what Thor said, "He's related to Luna, too?"
"Aye."
"But she's not his mom, right?"
"Right, child. Eshir's ancestor was born of Luna when she was young and in love, but stolen away from those who sought to do him harm. You were born to Luna directly, in the autumn of her years. Which is one of the reasons why you associate yourself much more with Luna than Eshir does, and why he doth look back to Magneto much more readily than thou."
"But-" Toomi started again, but Thor cut her off. "No more for now, child," he smiled. "The complexities of lineage doth make mine head hurt. Now, Jonas, hath thou completed the assignment?"
Jonas, a quiet, but happy, child, who, at twelve, was a bit older than the rest of the Orphans, pointed to the screen. "Already up, Thor, though there wasn't much information on him."
Thor turned and felt his heart clench at the sight of Clint Barton, the Avenger known as Hawkeye. Memories of the Avenging Archer, gone now for almost two entire centuries, flooded back to him, of battles fought and of time passed at the Avengers Mansion. He looked back to Jonas kindly, "When thou are older, Jonas, I shall tell thee stories about Hawkeye that thou will almost not believe."
Jonas smiled, happy, content. Life was good.
Midgard Standard Year 2200 / December (the present)
Jotunheim
A week had passed since Beta Ray Bill sent Eshir and Ben-Vell, as punishment, into the ice-fields of Jotunheim, searching for the last Frost Giant; they sought his aid to repair the glass window they had broken in the Heimdall Library.* They had said little during their voyage, the icy cold winds making communication difficult, though neither was in any hurry to speak to the other.
* In AGC 21: Words Not True, Actions Not False
What, exactly, had they fought about, Ben wondered, pulling his fur-lined winter parka closer to him? Ostensibly, the fight was about Angelica, but was that the cause of the fight, or simply the boiling point to the larger rift between them? Ben looked at Eshir, who walked ahead by several steps, knowing that Eshir could use his power to move them along much quicker, but also knowing that his ability to bend the magnetic fields around him would aid in keeping him warmer. By not using the power, Eshir kept Ben-Vell and the cold in greater contact.
Which isn't to say that Eshir was warm, Ben thought on, far from it, seeing his arms jammed into his own coat pockets. His hands. That was the root of the problem, Ben knew. When they were children, he, Eshir and Jonas had traveled down into the Tunnels to spy on the Fenris Wolf.
Jonas died.
Eshir lost both hands.
Ben-Vell left physically unscathed.
A fact that Eshir had reminded Ben-Vell of nearly every day since, in one way or another.
He was always putting that scarred face of his in Ben's, too, but that wasn't Ben's fault. No, that was his own fault, though he never talked about just what he was doing out here on these ice sheets all alone on Christmas Eve.*
* Seen in the Christmas 2191 story in Marvel Fanfare, and reprinted in the upcoming AGC Giant-Size 2.
Eshir turned, fixing Ben with an icy gaze from behind his cold, grey eyes, "We should camp here, for the night."
Ben shook his head, "Not without getting food first. We finished of our provisions at breakfast."
Eshir pulled his arms out of his pockets, folding his arms across his chest, "You should have told me this, then."
Ben stared back, "I did."
"Very well, then," Eshir shook his head. "Wait here." Before Ben could protest, Eshir shot high into the air to float high above. Ben watched as Eshir's body slowly turned, his eyes fixed over the icy plains of Jotunheim, until they came to rest to their northeast. Silently, Eshir floated down and started walking towards the northeast.
"Well?" Ben asked, standing his ground.
But Eshir said nothing, and Ben was forced to follow along, several steps behind.
Midgard Standard Year 2186 / August (14 years in the past)
Luna Education Center
Ben stood near a water fountain inside the Luna Education Center, hoping to get a word with Thor before the Odinson left, most likely to return to Midgard. He didn't know why Thor wanted to talk with Jonas after class, but he did.
"Hi, Ben," Toomi smiled as she walked past. Ben shriveled up his nose at her as she passed. They said that he and Toomi came here together, from some incident Beta Ray Bill called the 'Annihilation of Atlantis,' but Ben couldn't remember it. He remembered a fight of some kind, and his parents yelling and screaming, but there were always fights of some kind ongoing. His parents just weren't around after that fight. He and Toomi'd been on Asgard five years now and it was more home to him than wherever he and Toomi had been before.
"Ben, hey." Ben turned to see Eshir walking towards him, his hands tossing a baseball back and forth between them. "Wanna play catch? This baseball game is fascinating. Hogun is helping me make my own leather glove down at the-"
"Can't," Ben brushed Eshir aside. "Me and Jonas are gonna go play vid-games at Logan's."
"Oh," Eshir's head dropped, disappointed. Without raising his head, he mumbled, "Don't suppose you'd both want to play catch, would you?"
"Nope," Ben said bluntly. "What do you think is taking him so long?"
Eshir mumbled that he didn't know, but Ben didn't notice, his head craning to look back at the door to the classroom. Ben sighed loudly, impatient. He caught Eshir slumping away, and he turned back to watch him go, thankful that he didn't have anyone like Magneto in his past. It was bad enough having a second rate hero/vigilante like Spider-Man … Ben didn't know what he'd do if he had to deal with someone like Magneto.
"What's with Esh?"
Ben jumped, startled, as Jonas came up to stand next to him. "I dunno," Ben lied. "He always grumpy."
Jonas smiled, nodding his head towards Eshir, "Hey, Esh! Wait up! Wanna play some vid-games with us?"
Ben watched the older boy go, anger flashing inside him. Why'd he go and have to do that? he thought. Eshir is never any fun.
Midgard Standard Year 2200 / December (the present)
Jotunheim
"Is that smoke?" Ben asked, looking to the horizon.
"It is," Eshir answered without turning.
"That the guy we looking for? The last Frost Giant?"
"How would I know? You're the one with Cosmic Awareness," Eshir scoffed. "Why don't you tell me?"
Ben coughed, but said nothing. Ever since they'd gone to Earth, looking for Franklin Richards,* and he exerted himself to levels he had yet to push his Awareness, he'd been unable to do much with it. He hadn’t told anyone - not even Toomi - but it was starting to worry him. Instead of answering Eshir's question, Ben shot back with, "You could've found that place days ago. Talk about me and my powers, why aren't you using yours? We could've scoured the entire Jotunheim ice sheets in a day or two, tops."
* During AGC 6 - 11: Fragmented Balance
Eshir turned, "You're the Chosen One, aren't you? You won't get to be Cosmic Protector by having me do all the work for you."
Ben took another step, getting in Eshir's chest, "I could save the Everything single-handedly and you'd still find a way to worm your way into it, Esh, and make it look like you did all the work. My shadow must be a fun place to stand because that's where you spend all your time."
Eshir's scarred face set itself hard, "Get over yourself."
"Why should I? You haven't."
"What do you think the odds are of Toomi staying your girlfriend if I bring you back in two pieces?"
"Who's she going to date? You? You're related somehow -" Ben paused, his mind screaming at him to not say what nonetheless blurted from his mouth, "- not that that ever stopped the Maximoff's from hooking up if the old rumors are true. They say Quicksilver was awfully protective of his sis-"
Eshir snapped; he extended a magnetic field, knocking Ben-Vell back a hundred yards, wishing he had hands so that he could do this without powers. Ben tried to rise, but Eshir's magnetic grip held him fast to the icy crust. Eshir used his ability to traverse to any place he could see quickly and was immediately upon Ben. "I'm going to beat you to a pulp, Parker," Eshir threatened, using the part of Ben's past that he didn't have much use for. "I'm going to beat you to a pulp with these two stumps," he held up his arms, "that you created by your cowardice." He stood over Ben now, his scarred face full of rage, "You're less of a warrior than Angelica is, pretty boy."
"Yeah," Ben grunted, having to force words out through the pressure Eshir was putting onto him, his shoulders digging into the hard, unyielding ground, "well, who's the one that Angel wants? I'll give you a hint, it ain't you, is it? Call me a pretty boy all you want, Esh, I'm not the one who doesn't know what it's like to lie next to a woman, am I? K'Zan's probably got more experience than y-"
Eshir let loose all his might onto Ben, and when he heard the cracking he thought he had done what he wanted - broken one of Ben's ribs - but that was not the case. The icy ground beneath them gave way and they dropped as dead weight through the crust, down into what looked like a large canyon, surrounded by walls of blue-white ice.
Without hesitating, Eshir extended a magnetic bubble outwards, catching Ben in it’s grasp and started to gently lower them down to the surface. Ben picked himself up, having to stop himself from knocking Eshir out as he concentrated on their slow, careful decent. Looking down, Ben could see they had a long drop ahead of them to the jagged ice towers below.
"Why aren’t we going up?" he asked.
Eshir didn't bother answering, his eyes locked onto the ground below.
Midgard Standard Year 2186 / August (14 years in the past)
The Tunnels
Ben and Eshir looked at each other, then at Jonas, a look of doubt upon their faces.
"Trust me," Jonas smiled, "this will be great."
"I don't-" Ben started, but Eshir cut him off.
"Don't be a chicken, Ben. If Jonas says it will be great, it will be great."
"Whatever, Esh-ear," Ben rolled his eyes. "Where we goin', anyway, Jonas? Just into the Tunnels for a look?"
Jonas grinned, "Come on, you two. I'll show you when we get there. It'll be a surprise."
Ben and Eshir exchanged another glance as Jonas bounded off ahead of them, dropping into the Tunnels.
Ben said, "I'm not a chicken."
"Then why ain't you moving?"
"I don't see you moving, either. Maybe you'd like to be playing dolls with Toomi and Angel?"
They both turned back to the Tunnel entrance.
Eshir said, "Playing catch would have been more fun."
"Vid-games."
"Baseball!"
"Vid-games!"
Jonas stuck his head back out, "Would you two, stop? Or I'll send you both back to play dolls with the girls." He smiled, "Come on, I want to get back for dinner."
Midgard Standard Year 2200 / December (the present)
Jotunheim
They stood on the ground, looking around them at a city of ice. Neither of them said anything for several long moments as they tried to absorb the icy prison.
"What is this place?" Ben asked.
"No idea," Eshir answered. "If Angelica were here, she'd -"
"I bet you wish Angelica was here," Ben shot, a mischievous smile on his face, the words out before he could stop himself.
Eshir turned, his cheeks reddening, "She'd probably know what this place is. That's it."
Ben laughed and Eshir fumed, feeling his anger, which had dissipated at the sight of the city, returning, but, somehow it just didn't materialize and a grin broke out across his face, against his will, and he turned away to hide it. It had done it's job, however; the discontentment between them seemed to ease a bit in the wake of Ben's joke.
But it didn't go away.
It never did. And both wondered if it ever would.
"From what I can see, the structures appear to not be Asgardian," Eshir noted, "though these are much too small for the Frost Giants."
"Hard to see with all this ice covering everything," Ben noted. "Can’t really see the buildings underneath at all. Just shades and highlights of something, but the design looks too simple for Asgardian buildings. Is this city supposed to be here?"
Eshir shook his head, "I don't think so, but … let's try to chip enough ice away so that we can see inside."
Looking upwards, the sky just a pinpoint of light, Ben asked, "That wise, Esh? We don't want all this ice crashing down around us, do we?"
Eshir ran the stumps of his arms across the surface that hid a city inside, "I don't think we have to worry about that. Look at these structures of ice, compared to the walls of this cavern. They're separate. I'd wager that this city, or these buildings, was frozen artificially."
Ben looked upwards again, but didn't see what Eshir was talking about. Not particularly wanting to fight, he said nothing to dispute him. "How are we going to get through that ice, though? Neither of our powers are really conducive to melting ice, or burrowing through ice, either, for that matter." Ben looked down at his own wrists, thinking that if he wielded the Nega Bands of Mar-Vell, instead of Captain America, they'd have no trouble punching through this ice.
"I've got an idea," Eshir offered, his face rapt with attention. "I can extend some magnetic feelers out and try to knock a crack in the ice. I don't want to push too hard, or else I just may bring these walls in around us. But if I can punch a crack in the surface, you should be able to use your extra-strength to clear a path through the ice." Eshir turned his face away from the ice to look at Ben. "Ready?"
Ben wanted to reply in deference just to reply in deference, but didn't, his stomach picking that moment to growl and remind him just how hungry he was becoming. He grumbled, "Maybe there's some food inside. What were those places called that we saw on Midgard when we were looking for Franklin? Fast Food Joints? Shrabnit, now I wish Angel was here, too."
Eshir rolled his eyes, "Must be tough having to decide between two eager women."
"Save it," Ben groused. "Take it out on this sheet of ice, here."
Concentrating, Eshir moved his arms out to his side, taking several deep breaths. He then brought his arms toward the center, hard and fast, stopping them mere inches from the other, and sending a pinpointed magnetic strike at the mass of ice. Other than some snow being knocked aside, there was no sign he had done anything. Taking a deep breath, Eshir tried again, to the same response.
Behind him, Ben watched with interest. For all of Eshir's talk of power and being a descendant of Magneto and all that, and even despite his vast ability to travel at great speeds through the magnetic fields, Eshir wasn't all-powerful. It took a great deal of concentration for him to effect damage on someone. Ben had noted this during their last fight, when Eshir was able to pin Ben in the air by concentrating on a single point, allowing other parts of Ben's body to move.*
* AGC 21, again.
Grunting now, Eshir continued to hammer the wall, until, on the sixth try, a small crack was formed. Ben slapped his fellow Orphan on the back and moved in to examine the crack. "Damn, Esh," Ben shook his head, "this is a thick sheet of ice, more like a thick wall. Think you can extend this crack outward just a bit?"
The look on Eshir's face said, "No, I've done enough," but he shooed Ben aside and hammered at the small crack several more times, eventually knocking a chunk of ice, roughly the size of a fist, off the large wall.
As Eshir tried to catch his breath, his face thick with sweat, Ben-Vell stepped in and punched the wall at the spot of the missing chunk. Instantly, the crack that Eshir started began to spider-web.
The two worked on this together for nearly a half-hour, smashing and removing ice, creating a small tunnel into the ice sheet. "Image is getting clearer inside," Ben noted as Eshir used his power to push the fallen ice chunks back out through the tunnel that was now close to two feet deep. "Must be almost," Ben swung hard at the ice in front of him, "there!" and fell forward as his arm disappeared into empty space beyond.
Pulling Ben back out, Eshir sent a short barrage of magnetic pulses at the ice in front of them and knocked out enough space for them to move out of the tunnel and into the space beyond. They entered, feeling dead air wash over them and they looked around, noting the architecture with a sense of immediate dread. Immediately, all of their defensive training came to them and they dropped into defensive postures, scanning the sight around them for signs of an enemy attack.
Eshir voiced the words they were both thinking, "Olympian architecture."
Ben's voice struggled to contain both his anger and his awe, as they looked around at the tall, white columns and marble statues, "This must have been their hidden base during Ragnarok, the reason they were able to sneak inside Asgardian defenses and attack us from within ... no wonder we couldn't spy the bastards coming across the Rainbow Bridge."
Eshir nodded, "They were already here."
"But how did they get from here to-?"
"Look," Eshir snapped, pointing to a far corner. "They bored a hole through here; I bet it leads right into the main Tunnels, where we know there used to be a Nexus point, before the Man-Thing relocated near Asgard, in the Forest of Midgard, and the Nexus point moved to be near him."
"The Tunnels?" Ben asked, his soul growing cold. "You don't think they disturbed-"
"They're Olympians, Ben," Eshir said, his voice low. He shook his head, "I wouldn't put it past them."
The two young men stood in this prison of ice, looking across an Olympian courtyard to a hole dug into the side of the ice at the corner opposite them. Neither wanted to move as they tried to absorb their discovery. During Ragnarok, the Olympians had betrayed their Non-Interference Pact with Odin, attacking the Asgardians and trying to drive them off the mortal plain.
It hadn't worked and the Olympians had all either been killed, or disappeared, not having been seen since.
Ben broke the silence, his voice strong with a resolve Eshir had never heard before, "So help me, Esh, if they’ve disturbed the memorial to Jonas, I'll hunt them to the bowels of whatever Hell they were sent to …"
Eshir started to walk forward, his blue-grey cape swirling behind him, "You and me both. Let's go."
The two Orphans walked forward, their mission to find the Last Frost Giant forgotten.
Midgard Standard Year 2186 / August (14 years in the past)
The Tunnels
"Shh, now you have to be quiet," Jonas whispered back to Eshir and Ben-Vell as they huddled before a rounded corner deep within the Tunnels of the Nine Worlds. "I want you two to walk to that corner, take a peek and come right back. Got it?"
Ben and Esh nodded, and moved, together, to the corner. Not knowing what to expect, but filled with a certain sense of dread, they peered cautiously around the corner.
And froze immediately in place.
Not two hundred yards ahead, chained to the ground, stood the Fenris Wolf, towering over everything. It's thick, matted dark fur seemed to suck the light from the air. The drool that dropped from his snarling maw fell in clumps to the floor beneath him. Before their hearts could skip a beat, the Fenris Wolf lunged at them, roaring.
Eshir jumped backwards, but Ben was too frightened to move.
Ben saw what Eshir didn't, that the large chain (each link larger than his own body) was pulled tight twenty feet away and no matter how hard the Wolf strained, he could get no closer than he was, which was close enough for Ben to feel the Wolf's hot, stank breath, but not close enough to be in danger from the Wolf's gaping jaw.
Still frozen in place, however, his mind absorbing information quicker than it could process it, Ben was pulled back as Jonas came around the corner and tugged him backward.
Panting, their veins filled with adrenaline, the young boys sat in the Tunnel, listening to the Fenris Wolf growl and tug at his chains.
"You're crazy!" Eshir blurted to Jonas' smiling face. "I'd rather play dolls with the girls than do that!"
"Aw, it wasn't that bad," Jonas shrugged. "I come down here all the time. Can't you feel all that 'drenaline running through you?"
Ben, who felt embarrassed by his freezing up at the sight of the Wolf, remarked, "Next time, Eshir, you can stay and play with the dolls. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being afraid."
Eshir blinked, "I'm not afraid! You were the one who didn't move 'cause he was afraid!"
"I was, I was, I mean, I knew that I could take him," Ben finished weakly.
"You're stupid, Ben!" Eshir shouted. "You were afraid-"
Ben stood up and started to head to the corner. "If I was afraid, how come I'm going back for a second look? Dare to join me, or are you chicken?"
"I'm not chicken!" Eshir shouted.
"Guys, hey wait," Jonas cautioned, but the two younger boys were already rounding the corner.
Not wanting to look like a fool in Jonas' eyes again, Ben let Eshir walk a step ahead of him. When the Fenris Wolf lunged this time, Ben knew they weren't in any danger, and stuck his foot out, behind Eshir, so that when his friend took a step backwards, he tripped and fell on his backside.
Ben turn and ran, catching a glimpse of the look of pure terror on Eshir's face and feeling his own flush with pride. He wouldn't be the fool twice in a row; let Eshir feel the terror he felt as he saw the Fenris Wolf lunging at him, unable to move out of the way. As he went to dive around the corner, he saw Jonas leap past him, heading back to the Wolf. Ben stopped, turned, and saw that Eshir hadn’t been frozen in fear, but instead had been moved by his fear to act irrationally. Instead of running back to the Tunnel, Eshir had run forward and was now well within the range of the Fenris Wolf and it's snapping jaws.
Jonas Barton, the one Orphan they all looked up to, the cool older kid who always got away with everything, hurled a rock at the Wolf, hitting him square in the eye, causing the Wolf to howl in shock and pain.
Helping Eshir to his feet - Ben could hear him yell, "Run!" and could see Eshir immediately start running towards him - Jonas didn't see the front right paw of the Wolf stomp behind him, sending Jonas sprawling into the dirt.
The world was moving in slow motion to Ben, as he saw Jonas lying face down in the dirt and grime and the jaws of the Fenris Wolf open and descend on him. Ben must've yelled - he couldn't remember yelling - because Eshir immediately turned around and saw the Fenris' mouth diving towards Jonas. Immediately, Eshir ran back and grabbed Jonas' legs, intending to pull his friend to safety.
He never made it. The Fenris Wolf, whose jaw came at Jonas from a head-on view, clamped down, his jaw smashing together just beyond Jonas' feet.
Eshir was pulling one moment, and the next …
The next, he felt his hands - the hands that were attached to Jonas' ankles - tear away from his body as the hot breath of the Fenris Wolf overcame him, the large beast exhaling through his nose. Eshir looked into the eyes of the Wolf and saw death walking.
The Fenris Wolf snapped his head back, Jonas (and Eshir's hands) trapped inside its great maw. Momentum, adrenaline or base survival instinct kept Eshir's feet moving backwards, where he collapsed at the feet of Ben-Vell, who had not moved once since Jonas passed him.
He had been too scared to move.
Eshir looked up at Ben with his bleeding stumps, and felt everything slip away into darkness.
Midgard Standard Year 2200 / December (the present)
Jotunheim
"No," Ben said, shaking his head. "No. They didn't … they-"
"They did," Eshir replied, kneeling down to examine the damage more closely.
A three-by-five foot piece of wood lay smashed into three pieces. Eshir picked them up and repositioned them together, noting the carved words in the wood's surface, words that he and Ben had carved together, without anyone else knowing of their work. The words read:
JONAS BARTON
d. 2186
He Died Fighting the Fenris Wolf,
He Died So That We Could Live,
He Died, A True Son of Asgard.
The House of Commons Has Lost Its Truest Son.
Tears began to streak down Ben's face; he tried to stop them but could no longer hold them back. Fourteen years worth of grief and pain and guilt flooded through him, an unstoppable force. "I can't believe they'd … it's a memorial … not even the Olympians would-"
"They would, and did, apparently," Eshir choked. "I almost wish there were Olympians left just so I could …" The threat died in his throat, sounding foolish.
"Jonas was supposed to be our leader," Ben said softly, causing Eshir to turn back around to look up at him. "I heard Balder and Odin talking about it after Jonas' funeral up above." Ben wiped a sleeve across his face. "Gods, we were so young, so stupid. 'House of Commons.' We used to believe in all that 'House' stuff."
Eshir rose to his feet, adding, "House of Maximoff, House of Mar-Vell, House of Strange … Toomi was too good for any of it, of course, and Angelica … well, none of us knew which House she belonged to."
"Remember how Jonas said that she could join him?" Ben smiled through tears. "We'll be the House of Commons, he said. We didn't care. We were just glad he wanted to play our stupid game."
They stood in the silence of the Tunnel, memories of Jonas and their youth flooding back through them.
"Life is a lot easier when you're a kid," Ben said finally, looking to Eshir.
"Yeah," Eshir said, matching Ben's gaze, then let silence fall again for several long moments. Abruptly, he turned away, "We should get back to finding the last Frost Giant."
Ben nodded as Eshir began to move away, but didn't move. "Esh, wait," Ben called. "Shouldn't we try to fix this?"
"With what?" Eshir asked sharply, stopping in the Tunnel and glancing back over his shoulder.
"I dunno," Ben shrugged, looking around. "I've got some rope in my bag. We could-"
"We could stop acting like children, Ben," Eshir said sharply, and Ben had never felt closer to, nor further away from, Eshir as at that moment. "There's a War going on out there, been going on for almost 200 years now. And we've been protected by Balder and the Council for too long. You said Jonas was supposed to be our leader. I believe you. Look at us without him; other than our mission to find Franklin, we haven't done a bit of good in this Eternal War. Angelica is an emotional wreck. K'Zan may be the worst magician-in-training in the history of the Everything; what kind of magician has speed powers they can't control? And Toomi, by the gods, Toomi wants to lead the Valkyrior so bad she sees right through Moonstar." Eshir shook his head, still with his back to Ben, "And you and me can't spend five minutes together without wanting to tear each other's head off. I've blamed you for what happened to me all those years ago, Ben, but the truth is, we both share in Jonas' death; you shouldn't have knocked me down, but I shouldn't have panicked. And that's what this has always been about, isn't it? Jonas. Face it, Ben," Eshir started to walk back through the Tunnel, "without Jonas around to bring us together, you and me are as different as night and day, and want about as much to do with the other as night does with day."
Ben stood in silence, as Eshir vanished around a corner, then called weakly after him, "I'm sorry, Esh." He looked back to the broken plaque, tears again welling in his eyes.
End JONAS
"Trust me," Jonas smiled, "this will be great."
-- MBQ …22 June, 2001
