Stronger Together chapter 233

Explaining Cowl was...tougher than expected. Since Dead Beat hadn't  actually happened yet (if it even would now) Cowl had never shown up,  which meant he never fought Harry. It was frustrating trying to explain  to everyone here why Cowl was so dangerous without dropping the  different reality bomb, but I did my best. Because I knew he was  dangerous. There was no question of that at all.

Cowl's  ability with rituals was impressive enough that he had survived having  his concentration disrupted during a literal ascension to godhood which  was supposed to be scary, and now he had psycho magic daddy Loki  providing guidance and power. Considering the feeling I got in his  presence Loki and to a lesser extent Hel could be considered ambulatory  ley lines. The idea that the were actively pursuing the end of the world  now was...unsettling. To be fair they were probably always technically  doing that, but the previous end was one where the Aesir died and they  lived, which meant humanity probably did too.

In  this timeline though, with Odin now slated to live Loki had apparently  decided on the "FUCK THIS GAME!" table flipping approach to existence  and was letting in the outsiders to murder us all out of spite. Of  course it was possible the asshole had a backup plan, but honestly at  this point it didn't matter. Not to mention if that asshole Cowl was  here then the rest of his creeper club house couldn't be far behind. I  did my best to explain all this without giving away my origins in case I  was going to get got by the council, but people seemed to have other  things to worry about.

The  girls already knew most of this, but the newer roommates and the allies  called to this war council we were hosting had no such knowledge, and  their minds looked blown. I stuck with my visions of the future schtick  but honestly they barely even heard me. They were seriously worried by  what I'd told them all. Ebenezar spoke up, he'd arrived earlier in the  night via the Ways along with Joe. "That's a mighty tall tale boy." I  furrowed my brown and glared at him, but he just put his hands up to  forestall my comment. "I don't mean to call you a liar, but it's a hell  of a story you must admit. Fact is I'm of a mind to believe you, but the  problem is that believing you makes things worse for us not better."

Joe  spoke up. "We received your warning. The council as a whole that is to  say, and we've begun mobilizing to aid in repelling the forces at the  gates. We can't spare any wizards for the war effort here because every  single able bodied hand and staff is needed at the gates. In point of  fact they've already left. The distance to the outer gates is vast, and  while the Gatekeeper knows secret routes to speed their passage it will  take time we do not have. Ebenezar and I were left behind with a small  contingent to guard Edinburgh for...reasons, but we're all that can be  spared."

That...was  not what I had been hoping to hear. I looked around the room. We'd  called all our allies and friends here. Even Flamebird had come from  Colorado to answer our summons. Or at least Kara's summons. Though she  disliked being away from her domain. Dalton and Brynn, Hana, Henry, Die  Su, Renier, Kaya, Valentina, Vikram, Nadia, Marcone, Gard, Hendricks,  Lara, River, Tera, the Alphas, and every single friend and ally we had  made since we got to this world, all packed into our suddenly very small  house and waiting to hear what the move was.

I  exhaled and nodded. "Well we're grateful to have you in whatever  capacity. Wizards at your level will be invaluable against whatever the  hell we fight." Because who fucking knew what they would summon  honestly, I was terrified for this battle, but having all this help sure  made it a bit less daunting. I turned to Ebenezar, I'm curious, what  was the reason that kept you from the gates, and will it effect the  fight here?" I hadn't pegged the blackstaff as a back lines kind of guy,  so it he was like dying or something I needed to know now. It would be  shitty and we'd do our best to help save him but it was info I needed.

Ebenezar  scowled and looked around a bit guiltily, catching sight of Harry. The  old man sighed, looking more exhausted than I'd ever seen him. "I have a  certain...artifact in possession that I use in the carrying out of my  council duties. It holds some small relation to the outsiders and  renders me less than efficacious  in combating the strongest of their  number." His voice was stiff and formal, and I saw Harry's brow furrow.  This was going to be when he found out then. Hopefully he could back  burner that anger until we all lived through this battle. He turned and  nodded to Joe. "Joe's style of magic is tied to this world, being too  far away from reality weakens his spells so they left him with me as  backup."

I  nodded again. That all made sense. "Well, we're glad to have you,  hopefully you can help me figure out what the fuck is going to happen  because aside from the implication that he would be summoning outsiders  I'm drawing a blank here." I turned to Odin, who was sitting back in the  corner, heavily in shadow. "I'm surprised you're even here, I'd have  expected you to be at the front lines with the accorded nations. Will it  be alright for you to not show up?" I mean I was a huge fan of not  having to solo Loki but it didn't bode well that Odin made a personal  appearance.

He  shook his head. "I cannot stay. I have faster methods of reaching the  gates and so came to consult with your forces, but I will indeed be  needed at the battlefront. I could not in good conscience simply ignore  your call however. Not when I heard why my son has decided to engage in  this insanity. Loki has never been well and I suppose having his face  burned halfway off with snake venom didn't help." He shrugged. "The  folly of a less than prudent aspect of myself, but still my own failing,  so I am here to offer counsel where i can."

Damn.  Not ideal, I'd been hoping to have Odin on side, but advice from a  literal god of war was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick  at least. I sighed and slumped onto a nearby couch, one of the only open  spots in the room. "So, did you know that killing Fenrir and saving you  was going to send Loki off the deep end? Because if so I'd really have  appreciated a warning or something before I did it. Those kinds of  deceitful machinations would warrant at the very least a strongly worded  letter of complaint." My words were snarky but my tone was anything  but. I was fucking pissed he hadn't told me to expect this.

Contrary  to my expectations he looked genuinely ashamed. His voice when he spoke  sounded...tired. In a way I'd never heard from the charismatic god  before. "I don't understand my son as I once did Cameron. Loki's mind  has become a twisted and broken thing. He's done much to himself in  search of power and his thoughts remain a mystery to me to this day.  Perhaps i should have expected him to be enraged at the thought of my  survival, to some extent I even did. But never in my wildest dreams  would I have imagined he was so drowned in spite and malice he would  destroy this whole world out spite of my mere survival. No father wishes  to believe his son hates him so."

That  was harsh. I hadn't considered it from his point of view I supposed but  it made sense that hearing your son hated you so much he wanted to  destroy the world just because you were going to keep living in it must  he rough even for a god. I had no real response to that, so I just  sighed. "Fine. Fair enough. Can you at least guess what he's going to do  next? Even a vague idea would help us out immensely." All we had right  now was that he might be summoning outsiders but he could be doing it  anywhere at any time. I doubted he'd sent his dad a monogrammed  invitation card with the date and time embossed in gold, but still Odin  might have some small insight.

The  old god furrowed his brow. "As I said, I don't understand his mind  anymore. If I ever really did. But I do know enough about how he handles  grudges to know he'll want this to be personal. He'll do the summoning  somewhere with meaning to you. Somewhere something important happened on  your journey. It will seem poetic to him to take something that has  meaning in your life and use it to hurt you." Well that sounded like the  opposite of pleasant, but at least it gave me a place to start. Or  rather a place to end because only one location really meant much to me  and how I got here.

Aside  from the Raith Deeps which wasn't really a triumphant place for me, the  only place with real meaning to me was soldier field. I'd killed  Chastel and helped beat the twins there. Whatever was going to happen it  would happen there. Odin seemed to see my realization and nodded  solemnly before standing. He surveyed the room. "I understand this is  daunting, but the lot of you are the final line of defense. The accorded  nations will hold back the tide at the gates, and you will stem the  flow here in the heart of our territory. If either force falls this  world as we know it is lost. I wish we could be of more help, but you're  all on your own. Good luck to you."

With  that he turned and walked to the front door, pulling it open and  striding out into the night. I'd been hoping for more help, but part of  me was expecting even less, so it turned out fine. We had a lead now and  that was all we really needed to finish this. We just had to go to  soldier field when...I froze. Fuck. We didn't know WHEN this fucking  fight was going to be. I cursed internally but I figured Bob could help  us out. This was right up his alley. Finally I turned back to the crowd  in my house.

I  gave a helpless shrug. "Well honestly I kind of wish he'd let me do the  speech. I was going to go a bit more upbeat that that, but hey what do I  know. If Odin himself decided that's the speech we needed then I guess  that works. So yeah. We have a war brewing. We're going to be fighting  the biggest battle any of us have ever seen, and honestly some of us  might die. Or not. It's hard to say really we have no fucking clue  what's coming. The outsiders are strange and awful and wrong. All we can  really do is prepare for the worst."

Everyone  sat still for a minute, staring, and then Dalton finally burst out  laughing. "Dear gods man. I'm glad Odin bothered with his speech before  he left, because that was pretty much the saddest attempt at  inspirational speaking I've ever heard. 'We might die or maybe we wont?'  Stick to punching things Cam." He started laughing again and this time  everyone joined it. Oddly it didn't bother me at all. Really this wasn't  the worst outcome for a speech, everyone being happy was all I could  ask for. I had a feeling humor would be in short supply soon enough.