Eternity | T.J.

Wow, Would You Look At That, We Aren't In The Middle Of Dying Right Now!

     For a few days, nothing much happened, and that was something I hadn't experienced in years. On our second day of smooth sailing, I was ( attempting) to snack on hardtacks with T.J. when Magnus joined us.

     " Hey."

     T.J. turned to look at him." Oh, hey Magnus." T.J. held up a hardtack." Want one?"

     I shook my head in warning.

     " I'm good, thanks," my brother quickly responded." I might need my teeth later on."

     T.J. didn't seem to notice the joke." I've always wanted to go to England. I just never thought it would be after I was dead, on a quest, on a bright yellow warship."

     I chuckled." I don't think any of us saw the warship color coming."

     " England?" Magnus questioned.

     " That's where we're heading, didn't you know?" T.J. leaned on the railing." Back in the war, we all worried that Great Britain would declare for the Rebels. The British had abolished slavery way before we did- the Union, I mean- but they needed Southern cotton for their textile mills. The fact that the UK stayed neutral and didn't side with the South, that was a huge factor in the North winning the war. It always gave me a warm feeling towards the Brits. I dreamed about going there someday and saying thank you in person."

     " How do you always find the bright side?" my brother wondered." You're so... positive."

     T.J. laughed." Magnus, buddy, if you'd seen me right after I got to Valhalla? Nah. Those first few years were rough. Union soldiers weren't the only ones who made it to Valhalla. Pleanty of Rebels diead with swords in their hands. Valkyries don't care which side of the war you fight on, or how just your cause is. They look for personal bravery and honor. First couple of years I was an einherji, I saw some familiar faces come through the feast hall-"

     " How did you die?" Magnus asked." The real story."

     I placed a hand on T.J.'s shoulder before he repeated the same story he'd told us before.

     " Told you. Charging the battlements at Fort Wagner, South Carolina."

     " There's more to it," my brother pressed." A few days ago, you warned me about accepting challenges. You talked like you had personal experience."

     T.J. was silent for a minute before eventually answering." A confederate lieutenant singled me out. I have no idea why. Our regiment was hunkered down, waiting for the older to charge the battlements. The enemy fire was withering. None of us could move. And then this Reb officer stood up on the enemy lines. He pointed across no-man's-land with his sword, right at me, like somehow he knew me. He shouted, 'You, n-' Well, you can guess what he called me. 'Come out and fight me man-to-man!'"

     " Which would have been suicide."

     " I prefer to think of it as a hopeless display of bravery."

     " You mean you did it!?"

     " Whey you're a child of Tyr," T.J. replied." You can't turn down a personal duel. Somebody says fight me, and you do it. Every muscle in my body responded to that challenge. Believe me, I didn't want to go one-on-one with that... guy. But I couldn't refuse. I went over the to, charged the Reb fortifications all by myself. I heard later, after I was dead, that my actions triggered the offensive that led to the fall of Fort Wagner. The rest of the fellows followed my example. Guess they figured I was so crazy, they'd better back me up. Me, I just wanted to kill that lieutenant. I did, too. Jeffery Toussaint. Shot him once in the chest, then got close enough to jab my bayonet right into the gut. Of course, by then the Rebs had shot me about thirty times. I fell in their ranks and died smiling up at a bunch of angry Confederate faces. Next thing I knew, I was in Valhalla."

     It took a minute before either Magnus or I thought of a propper response.

     " Odin's undies," my brother muttered." Wait... the lieutenant you killed. How did you learn his name?"

     T.J. gave a rueful smile, and both of us immediately understood.

     " So a Valkyrie grabbed him as well..." I muttered, staring down at my feet, taking T.J.'s free hand in my own.

     " Floor seventy-six," T.J. said with a nod." Me and old Jeffrey... we spent about fifty years killing each other over and over again, everyday. I was so filled with hate. That man was everything I despised and vice versa. I was afraid we'd end up like Hunding and Helgi- immortal enemies, still sniping at each other thousands of years later."

     " But you didn't?" Magnus asked.

     " Funny thing. Eventually, I just got tired of it. I stopped looking for Jeffrey Toussaint on the battlefield. I figured something out. You can't hold onto hate forever. It won't do a thing to the person you hate, but it'll poison you, sure enough. As for Jeffery, he stopped showing up in the feast hall. Never saw him again. That happened to a lot of the Confederate einherjar. They didn't last. They locked themselves in their rooms, never came out. They faded away. I guess it was harder for them to adjust. You think the world is one way, then you find out it's much bigger and stranger than you ever imagined. If you can't expand your thinking, you're not going to do well in the afterlife."

     " Yeah..." my brother said after a minute." Expanding your brain hurts."

     At this, T.J. actually smiled." You've accepted your own personal challenge now, Magnus, you're going to have to face Loki one-on-one. There's no going back. But if it helps, you won't be charging those fortifications by yourself. We'll be right there with you." He used the hand he was holding the coffee with to pat Magnus on the shoulder before turning to embrace me, then handed the coffee to Magnus." Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get some shut eye."

     I watched him head below deck before handing my brother the hardtack I'd been attempting to eat as well." Night Magnus, please make sure you don't die in your sleep before you get the chance to face Loki."

A/N: On the bright side, this was a longer chapter, unfortunately I also update this chapter very, very late ( as in I finally published it the day after I was supposed to, but only by a half hour or so... meaning I was up at 12:30 writing this Authors Note). I hope at least someone somewhat enjoyed this chapter, any to all comments from anyone about anything make my day, and just keep in mind the world is your erster.