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That's not ominous-sounding at all... [Danny replies, sounding amused and a little sarcastic.]

Is that not the nature of apocalyptic events? To scorch the Earth and wipe them clean?

Perhaps. Though most of the people I know do their best to stop apocalyptic events.

Which is why I am here. [She said absently as she read the book spines on the towering shelves in front of her.]

Out of context, you sounded like you might be on the side of those that trigger an apocalypse. [He clears his throat a little.] Sorry for the misunderstanding.

No one walks away unscathed from such events. And I would prefer to stay alive. [She glanced at him before plucking a book from the shelf.] Think nothing of it.

Yeah because that always seems to work well. Until they manage to get back to this stage in the whole bloody cycle again.

Does an apocalypse ever work well?

Not that I see. Past is always fuzzy, but that's Urd's expertise. And the future... isn't looking too good

You see the future?

How's that working out for you?

[Selene had her eyes buried in a very large, very old book that wasn't written in English. She glanced up.] I have always found a scorched earth policy to be quite effective when cleaning my own messes. When it comes to an apocalyptic event, however, I find I have a very strong desire to keep living.

Scorched earth polices generally are not good for everyone else.

No, they are not. What I am concerned about is when the earth cleansing affects us all. When a door is opened that will scorch the entire world.

[She closed the book, leaving a scrap of paper to mark the page. Selene was surrounded by books. They looked and smelled old and all had small white flags of paper poking out where she had marked things of note.]

All doors have keys and gatekeepers. From what I heard gatekeepers don't make opening doors easy.

[He is dressed casually. And in his hand is a small package.]

We have a mutual friend.

That is the hope, isn't it? Unless of course the gatekeeper is running about with the key to his unmaking.

[Standing up she glanced at his hands and then back to his face. Her throat felt tight.]

Are you his lawyer?

[He hands her the package. Inside it, is a burn phone and a piece of paper with a number on it. There is also in Nathan’s handwriting a note:

I’ll make up for the balcony conversation when I get back.
-N.]

He told me not to make this business and to say I’m just the go-between. The number is to him if you need it, but that don't mean he can always answer your call. He also told me to tell you to make use of me if you need company.

Edited 2022-07-31 23:27 (UTC)

[Opening the box she feels an overwhelming sense of relief to find a phone. The note is read and she sighs softly. Clutching both in her hand she closes her eyes as she presses her hand against her mouth.]

I am assuming not making this business means I cannot ask you to help me find any relevant entries about Abaddon in these books? If you cannot help me with that then how else would I make use of you?

[She hoped Nathan didn't think she needed a man to bed in his absence. After living more than fifteen hundred years even a few years alone felt like no time at all. She stared at the phone.]

I have held this in my hand for mere moments and already want to call. It has been so long since a man has been under my skin like this. I don't know how to navigate his world...he won't...I can carry the weight of whatever his world brings...yet he won't just talk to me.

I do not need a warm bed. The only company I need is insight. How do I stand with him? Tell me that and your company is welcome. Unless of course you have a bottle of tequila in you pocket.

You’re looking in the wrong book. Start with the book of Isaiah and end with Revelations 9:11. Personally, I’d stick with New Testament Gospels according to Matthew and Luke. Has a little more hope.

[He gives a shrugs and an apologetic look.] Sorry no liquor, and can’t give advice on Nathan because my history isn’t long or good with him.

Is there hope? [She nodded and took a quick note of what he recommended. Selene was surprised he answered that question.]

Tell me more about that. About why your history hasn't been good.

There's always hope. That's why we're fighting.

[He gives a short laugh.] Remember, I'm the messenger and you don't kill the messenger.

Hunter. Retired.

I only wish I were part of the 'we'.

[She holds her hands up.] I would never.

Tell me how you have come into his good graces then. If you are here in my heart I feel that means he trusts you a great deal. Or I think I am more important then I really am. I mean, I don't think he would send someone to my door he did not absolutely trust.

I know why you would. In honesty, given half the chance I’d bow out of the ’we’ part and find some nice quiet place that has no fight.

Retired is the key word there. That, and the understanding what the world needs now is civilised brutes. I’ve always been civilised. Mostly. So is Nathan. Mostly.

I am good in a fight. As are most immortals.

We have all been hunter and hunted at some point. Most of my life I was fed lies about our Lycan cousins. I hunted them. It was my job. Now I understand them. Understand myself and know the truth. And now....[She motioned with the phone in her hand.] Now one of them is so deeply rooted in my heart I could never be the same person I was even a decade ago.

Tell me about mostly.

Lucky you. [Raises hand.] Human, here.

How about I leave the mostly for when you and Nathan get together. It'll be a sterling conversation starter you can thank me for later.

Meanwhile, I've done what needs to be done and now I'm just using up oxygen here. May I be dismissed?

By choice?

[She snorted a soft laugh.] You don't need my permission. Thank you for your time and your reading recommendations. My door is always open should you need it.

Absolutely. Exercising my right to human free will.

[Shrugs] Habit of being a foot solider who knows his place. Yeah, I'll see you around. Maybe. Take it easy.

[Skuld gave a dramatical bow] Skuld Norndottir at your service. Some call my sisters and I Fates, others call us aspects of time.

But yes, I can see the future. I've also been around many, many cycles.

Many cycles? Years?

More... eons, cycles of life between the final battle... whatever you want to call it. I know that Allfather prefers Ragnarok.

Ragnarok? That is Norse, yes?

[She nodded.] Yes.

And I am not part of the golden hall crowd... Most of the time. My sisters and I aren't really welcome after we kinda... Took an eye as payment for a sip from our well. Would have taken the second one for the one he stole, but my sisters said that would be too cruel.

Can you explain that? The golden hall and the well?

[Well that causes Skuld to pause. She's used to people having at least the bare basic knowledge of the Eddas. This though... is kind of a relief.]

The guilded hall is where the Gods live as well as their chosen souls. Valhalla. I slip in from time to time with my duties as one of the Valkir, but most of the time I'm barred from it. [She gives a small stretch.]

The well, is what my sisters and I protect, it is where all the knowledge of the realms goes, stored there by Yggdrasill, or the world tree. I'm really not sure if the garden was there before the tree, or the tree grew in our garden. But our home is built against the trunk of the tree. It's where we keep our weavings, which tell the stories of all time. Threads of each living being, woven into a great tapestry until the last breathe is lost during Ragnarok.

Are you able to read the threads of each being?

I can read their futures. Though the ability has been... Laxing lately. I fear I've been far from home too long. Though I cannot return yet. Soon maybe.

How fascinating.