Chapter 259: Worthy (Patreon)

Chapter 259: Worthy

17th October 2012, Scotland, Earth

(Thor Odinson POV)

A lone tear came down from the Morrigan’s eyes, and she continued, “He was my friend, the first one I made after I lost everything, and it broke my heart to know that he was going to kill himself soon, and that there was nothing I could do about it. In many ways, he inspired me. We had both lost our homes, but even after all the agony and betrayal he had suffered, he didn’t give up. He walked into his enemy’s home, tried to take every single one of them with him, and greeted death as an old friend. His dedication to his race, to his people was moving, and I vowed to do the same for Midgard. And now, here I am, Odinson, fulfilling my friend’s last request, bringing you to his hammer, to his ultimate weapon for the fight ahead. Now, let us see, successor of my friend, if you are worthy.”

Thor nodded, excited and terrified. He slowly walked up the hill and grabbed the hammer by its stone handle, feeling it thrum with a power that far surpassed his own. And yet, he knew that it belonged to him, for Mjolnir and he had a deep bond that resonated in his soul, and for a moment Mjolnir and Thor were one.

The young Prince had a smile on his face, feeling Mjolnir’s presence which took the form of blue lightning started traveling the length of his arm and towards his heart. He was already deemed worthy by Uru Mjolnir, why would this be any different? For a fraction of a second Thor felt like he could pick up the stone hammer, the first step in surpassing all of his predecessors.

And yet, it wasn’t to be. Suddenly, Mjolnir’s presence faded, and the hammer fell into the ground, ignoring Thor’s attempts at lifting it.

Thor didn’t believe what has just happened. This reminded him of a hauntingly familiar scene, two years ago, when his father had banished him to Asgard, and Mjolnir deemed him unworthy of its power. The god of Thunder moved his hand, and the metal Mjolnir flew into his palm, reassuring him of its presence and allegiance.

It didn’t make sense. The Morrigan claimed that his Mjolnir was a shard of the stone hammer in front of him, so, how can one of them accept him, and the other one reject him. He had no doubt that the woman next to him was telling the truth. There was a sense of familiarity, of companionship between himself and the stone hammer on the ground in front of him. He knew deep down in his soul that this was Mjolnir. Then why did it reject him?

He gave the Morrigan a pleading look, “Why?”

The green eyed beauty shrugged, “I cannot give you an answer I’m certain of, but I assume that Mjolnir found you unworthy.”

“How is that possible? My Mjolnir seems to disagree.”

The woman snorted, “Your Mjolnir is barely a toy compared to its namesake. But I believe I understand why you were rejected by the original Mjolnir. You are not worthy of Mjolnir’s power because you haven’t mastered yours yet.”

“I don’t understand. I have thrown lightning and caused storms ever since I was a child. How could I not have mastered my own powers?”

The woman simply raised an eyebrow and waved her hands. Orange lights appeared in weird shapes that reminded Thor of his father’s runes slightly. She then gave him a condescending look, “Alright, then, Odinson. I want you to summon a lightning bolt.”

Thor motioned to summon Mjolnir, but it just wouldn’t come to him. He turned to the witch, enraged, “what have you done?”

The woman gave him an unimpressed look, “I simply suppressed your connection with Mjolnir. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent. It should only hold for a few minutes. So, get going, God of Thunder, summon a lightning bolt.”

By Odin’s beard was this woman was infuriating. Thor longed to punch her in the face just to remove that maddening smirk from her face. The only reason he hadn’t was because she probably could kill him in a blink of an eye without batting an eyelash. So, instead, the crown prince of Asgard gritted his teeth, “I need my hammer to do so!”

The Morrigan snorted, “What are you, the god of hammers? You are thousands of years old Odinson, and yet you still use Mjolnir as a crutch. It is a weapon, yes, and it can amplify your strength, something that it received from its namesake, but that strength is still yours. You have believed for so long that you need your hammer that you never even tried to access your power without it. And look at you now, your father is slowly withering away, while you barely have any control whatsoever over your powers without that hammer. In my society, in Atlantis, children often got training tools to learn how to channel their magics. Sometimes they used artifacts and sometimes that shaped their magics around it, but we always made sure that they were not solely depending on it.”

Thor looked down shamelessly and the woman continued scolding him, “No wonder the hammer deemed you unworthy. Power is given if it can be used properly, and for thousands of years, you have neglected your own strength, your own magics. Loki has used his magic without a tool for thousands of years, why haven’t you done the same? I look at you and compare you to your predecessor and all I feel is disappointment. My friend died to make sure you have a chance, so that you and your people would live in peace, would be free. And when I look at you, I see a spoilt prince that has never appreciated the power that he possesses and yet wishes to claim Mjolnir’s power. You have a strength of character, but you do not respect your power enough for it to accept you.”

“Then tell me how to change. How could I be worthy of Mjolnir?”

“You need to learn, Odinson. Find your true power, find your true strength. Aim to surpass your predecessor, not just by trying to gain more, but by mastering what you have first. Only then, will you be worthy of Mjolnir’s power, and stand a chance at defeating Asgard’s enemy. Feel it deep inside you, inside your soul, feel the well of power deep inside you.”

Thor closed his eyes and followed the woman’s instruction. He could feel something, like a heartbeat, that moved with the sound of Thunder. It was quick like a lightning bolt, moving around his body. It was warm, electric, powerful. It was him.

While he was meditating the woman continued, “You have found it, your source, your power. Now, you need to bring a fraction of it to the surface of your hand. Imagine a lightning rod in the palm in your hand. The lightning goes from your core, your power and is summoned by it, like a normal bolt does.”

Thor didn’t even nod, instead, he followed her once more. He imagined the lightning rod and his power followed, moving to his arm to the palm of his hand. With a great yell, Thor put his hand up and a large bolt of lightning came from his hand and flew towards the cloudy sky. Wait, wasn’t the sky clear before.

With that done, Thor marveled at the feat he performed. He had never even imagined his power being like this. It was so exhilarating, the thunderclap that emerged from just his power, without Mjolnir as a buffer. It was amazing, it was breathtaking, it was him.

Thor opened his eyes and saw the Morrigan with a slight smile on her face. It was a true smile, a proud smile, “Am I worthy now?”

The woman released a snort which later turned into giggles, “Of course not. Look around you, Odinson.”

The prince of Asgard did so and found out that the entire grass around him for a good two dozen yards was completely blackened, destroyed by the thunderbolt. Funnily enough, the Morrigan didn’t even look bothered in the slightest, her outfit still as pristine as ever.

Was all this damage done by his hand? Thor had a sheepish look and he looked at the Morrigan who took pit on him and answered his unspoken question, “You have power, Odinson, but no control. Your weapon controlled your magic for you, directing it in your stead. Without it, you are only capable of slightly directing it. You will need to work on your control to properly master your powers. Truthfully, even with Mjolnir you have never learnt to control your powers, merely direct it.”

“I don’t understand. What’s the difference between them?”

The woman gave him a cheeky grin and opened her palm. Lightning surged in her hand, but it was odd; it wasn’t in a straight line. It took the shape of a raven made out of lightning flying in her palm. In truth, Thor was flabbergasted by her control over lightning. And yet he was slightly peeved, “I don’t see how this is useful in battle.”

The Morrigan raised an eyebrow once more, “Not everything is about battle, Odinson. Sometimes we do things simply because we find beauty in them. But if you wish to see something fitting of battle, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

The woman raised her hand, and the raven turned into a bolt of lightning that she sent into the clouds above. Thor almost commented that he had done the same, until he heard a roar appear from the clouds above. Slowly, the lightning materialized into the mythical figure of a dragon, that flew down from the sky into the hill next to them. The Morrigan smirked and intoned, “Begone with the Thunderclap”

With that signal, the lightning seemed to converge into a giant beam and fell towards the hill. When it was done, all that was left of it was a gigantic crater. The Morrigan simply gave Thor a smug smile and waited for him to stop gaping, something that wasn’t happening any time soon.

How in the name of the gods did the Morrigan do this. Could he do this? Even with his largest lightning bolt, he couldn’t even imagine casting something of this magnitude. He simply looked at the woman who didn’t even seem winded in the slightest, something that deeply bothered the God of Thunder, and asked, “How?”

The woman was still smiling, “With proper control, power is not wasted, and the attacks are more concentrated and direct. I could send a bolt of lightning to vaporize an insect and nothing more. You should as well, that’s not even mentioning you being more of a natural at controlling lightning since it is your main element. This is what you can achieve without Mjolnir if you learn how to control lightning properly. With your hammer, you would be able to do this tenfold, with the original Mjolnir, you could wipe out continents with barely a thought. Control is a strength on its own, one that the original Mjolnir recognizes. If you perfect your powers, I assure you that you will be able to pick up Mjolnir as your predecessor did.”

“Will I ever surpass him?”

The witch gave him a disappointed look, “You should not want to. Power comes at a price, and even should you sacrifice your sight as he did, he was forged in the flames of betrayal and death. He was broken, alone, just as I was. It was why we got along so well, in the first place. His power was impressive, and it far surpassed mine at the time, but he wasn’t happy, not really. While he was fundamentally more powerful than you in raw power due to some special conditions in his birth that I won’t go into details into, in the end, he lived a miserable life, and died alone. He was a hero, he was brave, he was mighty, but he never understood the price his power came from until it was too late, and I hope that you will not suffer the same fate.”

Thor didn’t really understand what the witch was getting at, instead he said the words that he was yearning to ask, “Teach me.”