Believe

Prologue

"Once upon a time in a far away land, a Goddess lived with her husband in an immaculate house, decorated in only the finest of whites and golds. Their home was nestled tightly between the valley, leading to road of the Kingdom of Asgard, and a stream from which the family used for drinking water. It was what they had always hoped of having some day.

For a over three centuries The Goddess and her husband had attempted to conceive a child, but all their attempts proved to be futile. Until one day, the Goddess paid a visit to Frigga, The Goddess of Fertility, Queen of Asgard.

After only a few short visits with the Queen, The Goddess's decision had been deemed successful; she had fallen with child.

The couple was over the moon with delight, for their dreams had finally come true. They were truly going to have a family.

The Goddess and her husband happily prepared their abode for the child; her husband built the bassinet with his own two hands, carving the designs with the blade of his sword, while The Goddess knit countless outfits and booties for their child.

For once in their long lives, they were were happy.

That happiness, however, was short lived. For you see, The Goddess was an oracle, a seer.

In the midst of a mid-day slumber a vision came to the expectant mother - one that threatened to bring her world crashing down.

Her daughter, their beautiful, long-awaited child, was destined to be born only to be sacrificed to Midgard by King Odin himself.

The Goddess made haste to Asgard, to beg the Queen for mercy. She rushed into the Queen's reading chamber after being allowed passage, her small feet echoing in the ornate halls of the palace.

Frigga stood at the end of the hall, her face full of concern for The Goddess's safety.

"Are you well?" Frigga asked quietly, her hand darting out to rest on her rounded belly. The child kicked at Frigga's hand with the promise of new life.

The Goddess sobbed, her green eyes wild. "You can't let him do it, my Queen. Please, don't let him do it!"

"You must calm down, it's not good for the babe." Frigga insisted. "Please, sit down."

"He's going to take her," The Goddess cried. "King Odin's going to take my child and exile her to Midgard!"

Frigga refused to listen. "The King would do no such thing! She is but a child, she's done no wrong."

"I've seen it, my Queen!" The Goddess begged, "Please! Please don't let him take my child."

"I am most sorry," Frigga sympathized, her blue eyes welled with tears. "I can not ensure your daughter's life. The King's orders are his alone. I can not sway his decision if it is, in fact, final."

The Goddess cried and pleaded for her daughter's fate nearly hanging from the Queen's robes. "Please! I know you have sons, I've seen them with my own eyes! Would you sacrifice one of your own?!"

The Queen stepped forward, her slender hand warm on the mother's shoulder. "I am sorry."

While The Goddess was pleading with the Queen, her husband had caught wind of his wife's cries and took matters into his own hands.

"ODIN!" He called from outside the palace. "Let me in!"

Odin gave a nod to the guards from atop his throne, who flanked him on either side, in a silent request to open the door. In seconds the man ran down the throne room toward the King, only to be halted by a large, powerful blast that Odin emitted from the palm of his hand, throwing him mercilessly against the palace wall. Odin stepped down from his throne ambling toward the man, his powerful hands placed behind him as he surveyed the damage he'd done.

A single column had been destroyed, and the husband lay disgruntled at the base of it.

"I understand your concern for your daughter," Odin informed him lightly, "it is rightly placed. However, I had no plans of exiling your daughter. Her fate rested in your hands." He crouched before the man, his blue eyes shining with promise. "You, however, have made a grave mistake. If you ever come before my throne again, I will have your head. The only reason I refuse to kill you right here and now," he enunciated his words angrily, "is because of your wife."

"My wife?" the husband asked quietly. "What is her role in any of this?"

Odin clicked his tongue. "She's laboring as we speak. She will need you when the babe is ripped from this realm."

With a tight grip on the husband's collar Odin hauled him to his feet. "Do not make the mistake of crossing me again. It will not end well for you."

On that cold December night the babe was brought into the world fighting, just as The Goddess was promised in one of her visions. Odin and Frigga stood by the bedside, waiting for the child's presence just as her mother had been, only for a much different reason.

The Goddess looked up at her King and Queen, tears of anguish rolling down her cheeks. "Please, just let me hold her for a moment more."

Frigga gave a solemn nod, stepping out of the room to join her husband, the King.

"I'm sorry," The Goddess cried onto her newborn daughter's head. "Mumma's so sorry."

She brought the babe from her chest to stare into her eyes, green just like her own. The child yawned, her rose petal lips curling around her gums before smacking together sleepily. Her tiny fist came up to rest on her mother's breast, almost as if to comfort her. For only a matter of mere minutes Freya held her daughter before Odin announced his return by knocking on the door frame.

"This course of action, Freya Njordsdottor, is the result of your husband's attempts to overthrow the government of Asgard. May your daughter be blessed with prosperity and love during her time on Midgard. You will see her again, if only you believe." He turned to leave, but was stopped by a frail hand on his arm.

The Goddess looked up at him with a burning hatred for him, before looking to her child, all hatred muted by the love she felt for her daughter. "Goodbye, my darling."

Odin's large feet led him from the room to the Bifröst, the babe cradled gently to his chest while he attempted to quiet her cries. His large, calloused hand rubbed her back as he quietly shushed her, a slight bounce in his step.

"Hush now, child. You will be prosperous on Midgard, I can feel it. You have a grand path to blaze, and you will do so, if only you believe." He handed her to a guard who swaddled her tightly in a blanket and placed her in a basket. "Farewell."

Odin stepped away from the basket and nodded to Heimdall, who pulled the sword from it's sheath in the center of the room, sending her into a different realm, only until she fulfilled her destiny.

For almost a thousand years the The Goddess and her husband have watched their daughter grow with each generation, always being reincarnated into another family when the life finally faded from her tired eyes.

Legend has it that if you look up into the heavens on the seventh night of the twelfth month you can feel the tears of The Goddess, the childless mother, raining down upon the earth."

The old woman closed the book, a small smile twisting her lips as she looked at the face of her awed granddaughter. At once the child jumped from her position on the floor and climbed onto her grandmother's lap, her green eyes wide.

"Is that a true story, Mimi?" Ellie asked, her small voice quiet as she flipped the pages of her favorite storybook, marveling at the detailed drawings on every other page. "Can you really feel her tears?"

The grandmother laughed, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening. "Oh, my dearest Ellie," she chuckled, rubbing the child's auburn curls away from her face. "Everything's true if only you believe."

"I believe," Ellie whispered, her small fingers tracing over the spine of the book. "I believe, Mimi."

The old woman nodded and pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose with her shaky finger. "That's what I like to hear. Now off to bed with you, you have an early morning tomorrow."

The child leaped from her lap and shot up the stairs, her pink nightgown trailing behind her like a cape in the night.

"Goodnight, my darling."
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Okay guys, so this is just an idea I've had bouncing around in my head for the past couple of days. Do you think it's a good start? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!