VAIN | Inside the Universe

Chapter Eight • Burned Alias

The room was busy with Asgardian doctors, all frustrated with the unknown identity of the new affliction. The hustle had seemed to be dying down, but the King's presence had vitalized a new, concocted attentiveness. Odin strikes his staff to the ground, parting the seas of workers to create a clear path to the table where Jane lies.

All but three workers leave the site, giving a visual to their performance.

"That's a quantum field generator isn't it?" I couldn't help myself. I quickly walk past both Thor and Odin to reach the table, completely enthralled in my own curiosity.

One of the workers looks me in the eye, almost disgusted by my slight intrusion. "It's a soul forge."

"Does a soul forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?" Jane speaks, almost defensively for me, but curious herself.

"...Yes."

We both look to each other with wide, childish smiles. "Quantum field generator."

"I didn't think this was possible."

"I have spent years trying to build one. I took me five years just to conceptualize the quantum field. Nothing here abides by our unit of quanta-"

"It's completely surpassed any relationship with subatomic dimensions that we have anticipated for the next few decades!"

"It's on a realm base, not field. It's incredible. Did you walk through town? The magnetic propulsion in their children's toys alone would revolutionize Earth's understanding of quantum physics."

"I've been writing it all down-"

Thor steps up to the table to clear his throat, making us both aware of our surroundings again. The doctors, the guards, and Odin all stare at the space between us, rather vexed themselves.

We smile and address each other more calmly.

"Safiya."

"Jane."

Thor's hands fall softly into Jane's as he seems more worried than she does at the moment. "Have there been any new developments?"

Odin moves towards the three of us, silencing even the slightest of noise. It seems no answer would suffice over his own inference.

He runs his hand over Jane's forearm, revealing a glowing red energy running through her veins. Thor cups Jane's face in his overwhelmingly strong hand. It's ironic that the only way I have seen him use its power is for comfort. "She will stay as long as she needs. She is ill."

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait." Odin drops her arm and moves towards the doorway. Though his treatment is much less than altruistic, his lack of remorse is entertaining. My mouth opens slightly to hold back a laugh.

"Come." He booms as he walks out the door. "The Aether has found a host."

The three of us follow Odin mindlessly into his study which is decorated by the history of the nine realms. I spin to gaze upon every aspect of the room, relishing in the astronomical enthusiasm I had left in the past. Nostalgia, making me porous for only a few more moments.

"There are relics, that predate the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them." Odin starts, pulling a book from the shelf and placing it on the center table. "The nine realms are not eternal. They had a dawn, as they will have a dusk. But before that dawn, the dark forces, the dark elves, reigned absolute and unchallenged."

He stops at a page that animates itself, playing out the fate of this relics power before we get to see it for ourselves.

"Their leader Malekith, made a weapon out of that darkness and it was called the Aether. While the other relics often appear as stones, the Aether is fluid and ever changing. It changes matter into dark matter. It seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force."