Legendary

Closure

Eir was the next to testify. She was tense, a stress response to a new and unpleasant situation. She was sworn in, and Early started her questioning. "Do you have a surname?"

Eir gave her a Look I remembered well from when I had asked dumb questions. "Later in my afterlife, I did some work with a new valkyrie and we dated my death to 866 of the common era, when the Vikings invaded Eoforwic, which I believe is now called York. I was twenty-three. Since then I have existed for centuries using a valkyrie use name that Odin gave me. I haven't so much as thought about my birth name in over a thousand years."

Early let everybody mull that over. "If Odin gave you all valkyrie names, why don't you all go by them?"

Eir smiled at me. "As of late, Odin's attitude was changing and he was not as... rigid about the form of things as he used to be. Everyone got a formal name that was used when a valkyrie was tasked to retrieve souls. Carol was called Bodil, meaning 'battle will cure', Alex was Thyra, which means 'like thunder." And it takes time for one to become accustomed to the new name, but a valkyrie decides how she will be addressed in informal conversations." She paused and her expression turned mischievous. "Although Alex's name is quite apt. Her actions were often like a clap of thunder, a signal of great change to come." The other valkyries laughed and I grinned at her. Eir sobered, looking at the judge. "It says much about her that Odin elevated her to lead the valkyries despite their history of disagreements. Alex does not bend to the will of others when doing so would cause harm and Odin did respect that. He kept her as leader even when the older valkyries returned to prepare for Ragnarok."

"Valhalla sounds like a complicated place," Early commented.

"It was, and most likely still is," Eir acknowledged. "But Valhalla is an honored afterlife for warriors, not a paradise where all may loll about at their ease and accomplishing nothing with their time. We work, always." I smirked at the charge that everyone else were slackers. 

"So you believe that it still exists?"

"Of course. Odin created it while he was the King of Asgard and was able to travel freely between Valhalla and this plane of existence while he lived. He is confined to Valhalla when he is not alive, and I have no doubt that my sisters who fell at Ragnarok have found their place there once more, as will we all, most likely, barring an attack of shameful cowardice. There will be other apocalypses, after all. But it is also possible that they will fall to someone else to avert." That caused an uproar, and the judge had trouble quieting the gallery.

"What do you mean by that?" Early asked urgently.

"History is cyclical. You have seen it in your own sciences, with the great extinctions your scientists have found and studied. The time of humanity is not infinite, and most likely we will bring about our end ourselves. We are a troublesome species. And as we prepared for Ragnarok, we found that the idea of cycles, where the world is destroyed and remade, is not uncommon across world religions.  If the Norn have glimpsed the next apocalypse yet, they have not given word of it." Only somebody who knew Eir would know that she was holding back a lot of personal opinion and commentary, but she also firmly believed in keeping things in the family, which the court was not.

"Do you want to fight another battle like that?" Early was struggling with this.

"Of course not," Eir said impatiently. "But it might as well come to us. We have, as you say..." Her brow furrowed as she searched for the correct terminology. It took a couple of minutes for her frown to ease. "We have a proven 'track record' of success, we have the will and the ability to succeed. Better it befall us than others who might not be as well prepared or capable." I covered my mouth and my shoulders shook with the laughter I was suppressing. The courtroom started to buzz, and again it took the judge time to restore order.