Music is "Valhalla Awaits" by Peter Gundry.

Picture #1 is "Age of Glory Cover" edit by Xoxo_Sadie21.

Picture #2 is Peter Capaldi as Freyr.

Picture #3 is Meryl Streep as Freyja.

Picture #4 is Liam Neeson as Tyr.

Picture #5 is Oscar Isaac as Aegir.

Picture #6 is Lupita Nyong'o as Ran.

Picture #7 is Katheryn Winnick as Valkyrie.

Pictures #8-#9 are Anton Yelchin as Steven Maximoff.

Pictures #10-#11 are Georgie Henley as Ksenia Maximoff.

Picture #12 is Crystal Reed as Kate Bishop/Hawkeye.

Picture #13 is Yasmine Al Massri as Nimah Al-Wali.

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

"It is not fate that has lead us to be what we are today, nor is it entirely choice. But it is up to us to have faith that what we do is for the greater good. We must believe in ourselves."

- Danny Ketch, Ghost Rider

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

CHAPTER TEN

Hours later, after we're shown the room in which we're staying and all is restored back to order in Asgard, we are introduced to many of the other gods and goddesses and their spouses before the dinner Sigyn is hosting. Most of them are ones I'd only dreamed of meeting; some of them were in the comics, some weren't. 

Among those we met were Freyr, Vanir god of prosperity and fertility;

Freyja, Vanir goddess of love and beauty, sorcery, war, and death, while also being Freyr's twin and Sigyn's mother;

Tyr, god of war, law, and heroic glory;

Aegir, Jotun god of the ocean;

Ran, goddess of the sea and wife to Aegir;

and the Valkyrie goddess of mercy and healing whom we've already met, Eir. We also were introduced to one of the Valkyrie, the warrior protectors of Asgard. 

Each of the different gods and goddesses have vastly different personalities. Some are very boisterous and loud, like Aegir and Tyr. Others were very silent and observant, like Freyja and Freyr. 

After washing up and dressing in the typical Asgardian attire that Sigyn provided, Pietro and I start our trip down the hallways outside the Asgardian palace. The sky is getting dark, even though there is no sun here, and the stars are coming out. I can't take my eyes off them, for these constellations are not the ones I am used to on Earth. Some of these stars we may never see.

"Not ours," Pietro says, seeming to read my thoughts as he gazes at the sky as I do. "How many people can say they have seen the stars from the Norse home world?"

"Not many, I'm sure." I turn my unwavering eyes back to the rooms ahead that branch off the hallway. "Sigyn said that the meal would be served in the courtyard outside the palace. She's inviting other gods and goddesses to join us. Apparently, Aegir is the Norse party god."

Pietro and I turn the last corner, finding a long stair case that leads down from the palace onto the streets of finely carved stone. Once again, we pass the statue of Frigga. I silently pay my respects as we pass, and soon we hear joyful shouting and singing from the courtyard beyond the river. I nearly jump out of my skin when we hear a boistrous laugh from Thor behind us. "Jeez, Thor!" I place a hand on my heart. "A little warning next time?"

Thor just smiles at me and winks. "You've become soft, Lady Glory!"

"And you've gotten old, Odinson! Maybe now I can beat you in a brawl."

Thor laughs farther, passing between Pietro and I, swinging an arm around each of our shoulders, though he has to lean down to do so to me. "It seems they have started the party without us! Come, let us forget our troubles and be merry! In the name of my mother and father, we shall enjoy this night!"

Before either of us can answer, Thor drags Pietro and I to the party. There are torches lit, people dancing to festive Nordic music, and Meade being drunk by the barrels. I see Aegir with his wife Ran, Freyja with her brother Freyr - who is trying to out-drink the Warriors Three, Eir talking casually with Queen SIgyn, Loki standing by her side with hands folded behind his back as he gazes at her with both affection and curiosity, Sif and Heimdall are seated beside one another just gazing at the party with smiles on their faces, Tyr and Valkyrie are fighting playfully, and Thor's brothers, Hodur and Balder, are trying to out-eat the other. It's quite the party. The only person who doesn't seem to be fitting in is Elaine Nomad, who stands awkwardly in the corner, eyes to the sky and hand gripping her sword.

When Thor pulls us into the atmosphere, Sigyn immediately comes over to us with a grin, Loki following her. "I'm so glad you came! Please, enjoy yourself this night. For now, we forget our troubles. Tomorrow, we face them." She takes my hand and raises it, doing the same with Pietro's as she turns to the guests. "Tonight we celebrate Avengers Gloria and Pietro Maximoff! We shall drink in their names!"

A half-wasted Volstagg raises two pints of Meade, laughing a cheer, "To the Maximoffs!"

To which everyone in the room replies, "The Maximoffs!"

After the toast, everyone goes back to what they were doing except Ran and Aegir, god and godddess of the sea. Ran is the definition of a dark-skinned goddess, with short and dark natural curls and the darkest eyes that shine the brightest. She wears a long, blue gown that flows behind her in waves. She moves like the seas she represents. I couldn't think of a more perfect representation of a sea goddess than the woman smiling at me now. If only the dark-skinned girls on Earth new of this angel that guards their seas.

Her husband, a medium-skinned man with tattoos over his body in shades of blue. He has raven's hair and a smile that kills, and walks arm in arm with Ran. Aegir smiles at her like she's his world; she is, and I can tell, for it's the same look Pietro gives to me, and I to him. He wears styled Jotun clothing and holds a trident in his hand.

Ran walks to me and clasps her hands over mine, looking softly into my eyes. "I have wanted to meet you for a very long time, Gloria Maximoff."

I smile back, trying to figure out what she means. "Pardon?"

"I watch over all the seas, especially the girls who explore them," she replies in an African accent. "I watched you save your friends from that horrible prison they put in my waters those five years ago. You saved a lot of people, my child."

My smile falters at the thought of what we lost that day as well. We lost Rhodey and Clarke. "I didn't save everyone."

Ran sighs in a mothering way, understanding in her eyes. "You saved more than anyone could. Do not blame yourself for things outside of your control." She smiles once again. "I came to thank you and to give you a gift."  She taps my wrist. "May I?"

I nod, not fully sure of what she plans to do. "Of course."

She waves her hand over my outstretched wrists, and a tingling sensation covers them for a brief moment. For a second, they glow blue, then fade to the pale things they always have been. "No ocean, no sea, no lake or river or stream will ever harm you again, Lady Gloria. Nothing within them or around them, beneath them or above them can touch you. This is my gift to you: a blessing from the waters." She releases my wrists, letting me look them over with pure curiosity and awe. "If you are ever in need of aid from the waters, my husband and I will be there."

I stare at my hands, then shift my eyes to her. "Thank you," I reply with a smile. She pulls me into a hug, which I gladly reciprocate.

Aegir leans in and wraps a brotherly arm around Pietro, tugging him towards the Meade barrels. "So, buddy, Thor tells me you're like us. Can't get drunk?"

I laugh at Pietro's expression of concern at what the god is really asking. "Yes, that is true. Why are you the only Asgardian to have an American accent?" Pietro observes.

Aegir laughs, rolling his eyes as he leans casually. "I'm Jotun, but I spent most of the 20s in America. Let me tell you, American's know how to party! They're getting back to it over a century later, but boy. The 1920s will never be replaced!" Aegir smirks deviously at my husband. "Say, you wanna see how you take to Asgardian Meade? Let's see how Quicksilver holds up under pressure, eh?"

Pietro grins right back at Aegir. "Challenge accepted, but I have to warn you. I do not lose easily."

"Or at all," I chuckle, pushing Pietro off towards the Meade. "You boys have fun. I'm going to mingle."

After Pietro and Aegir hurry off towards the Warriors Three and the rest of the near-drunken gods and goddesses, I turn back to Elaine, whom I had seen when I first got to the party. She remains where she was minutes ago, still staring up with tense shoulders and a thousand-yard stare. I make my way over to her, trying not to trip on the edge of my golden gown. "Not the stars you see from Earth," I say, making my presence known.

Elaine doesn't jump, she merely responds, "I've never seen the stars from Earth."

Her story of her birth comes back to mind, and I mentally slap myself. "Right, yes. Sorry. I didn't-"

"-It's alright," she shrugs. "It was a long time ago. I don't remember it. It would be like you and the Vietnam War. You weren't there, so there's nothing to be sorry about."

"That couldn't have been easy to live after, though," I attempt to sympathize, walking over to the wall she leans against. "I can't imagine not living on Earth. It's the only planet I've ever known."

"You'd get used to it." Elaine sighs. "My mother did. My brothers did. They were older than I and had memories of Earth." She chuckles. "Earthling used to say that his favorite part of Earth, looking back, was school. He said that growing up, he hated school. Absolutely despised it. But when it was all gone and he couldn't learn anymore in four walls, with students and teachers, he missed the structure it gave his life."

I chuckle. "My daughter hates school as well."

She turns to me. "You have a daughter?"

I nods, a smiling forming on my face at the thought of her. "Ksenia. She's the oldest of the twins. Her brother is Steven. Ksenia hates school. She would rather pick a fight than attend a class, but I suppose that's Pietro and my fault. I guess that trait didn't skip a generation.

"Now, my Steven loves school. He loves dinosaurs and math. He's so smart, but he's mostly deaf and has hearing aids. I fear for his future because he's so gifted that he tends to... shut the world out. His mind is so sharp and so witty that sometimes I think he ignores all of his outside senses to focus on his thoughts."

Elaine nods, a small smile forming on her face. "My other brother, Anomaly, is - or was - a scientist at the camp we were at before we went for the Time Stone and Thanos..." She gulps and looks down, continuing her thought without the obvious words behind said. "He had all the power that came from both our parents, both father and mother. He would only use it when absolutely necessary because he never learned to control it. So he instead used what he could learn from others, as well as his own knowledge, to create things. He made plenty  of weapons for Earthling and I, since we had no powers." She laughs. "We used to joke that if Earthling and I could split Anomaly's unwanted powers between us, we could have ended the War years ago."

I smile at the soft grin on her face, knowing that these fond memories are all she has now. I know what that's like; I know it all too well. "They sound like wonderful brothers."

She nods, turning to me with sincerity in her face. "They were, and I miss them more every second that goes by. I...I didn't even have time to grieve properly. I was shoved through the time portal and ended up here before I could even register what had happened to them... It was Anomaly who sent me through. He used the last of his power to get me here... I owe my life to him, as I do to Earthling."

"We'll make it right, I promise, Elaine," I say, making sure she knows I am completely serious. "I will prevent this future from ever happening. Your father will not die in the destruction of Earth, your mother will not die protecting you and your brothers, and your brothers will not die protecting you. No one will die because of Thanos. I swear. We have the upper hand now."

Elaine nods, trying to smile. "I hope you're right, Glory. If not, this was all for nothing. It was all in vain."

"Nothing done in love is ever done in vain." I pause, debating whether or not I should as the question I've been dying to ask since she told her story. "Elaine... I have to ask you something."

Her blonde head perks up. "Anything."

I pause again, biting my lip to try to put my words together in a thought that is coherent. "In your time, the future, what happens to m-"

My question is conveniently cut off by drunken shouting by Volstagg, who laughs loudly at the behaviour of his friends.

Elaine rolls her eyes. "Men. No matter what time you put them in, they still manage to make idiots out of themselves." She turns from them to me. "Glory... look. I know what you were going to ask. You want to know what happens to you and Pietro, your kids, too. Am I right?"

I nod. "Yes. And my sister, mother, and the other Avengers. Did we just lie down and die or did we go out with a fight? Did my children survive? What about Wanda and Steve and Bex and all the others I love?"

Elaine closes her eyes and turns her head towards the sky, breathing in the clear air of Asgard. "I wish I knew. I know of some, but most are a mystery. No two Stark Arks went to the same location. They spread out amongst the stars so Thanos couldn't get to them all. You know, survival. Tony Stark's last hurrah."

Her eyes open again and she keeps her eyes up. "I'm not sure what happened to your sister or mother. There are no records of either of them on the Arks, nor of Steve Rogers. My best guess? When people heard that the world was ending, they scrambled for places on the Arks. Like I told you, there were 8 billion people and only 800,000 got out. When people aren't on the manifest, that usually means that they were on the planet when it..." She trails off, turning to me. "I'm so sorry. I wish I knew more."

"No, thank you. I needed to know." I take a deep breath, trying to control my emotions. "What about Pietro? Myself? Our children? Do you know anything of them?"

She nods. "Steven and Ksenia were on the Arks. You sent them with Wanda Maximoff and Bucky Barnes. They were two of the only Earth-bound heroes to make it off the planet. Vision died at the end of the Five Year's War when Thanos tore the Mind Stone from his forehead. Natasha Romanoff perished when the Earth collapsed because she stayed with Steve Rogers to help as many people get off planet as possible. Many of the X-Men fell when fighting off Thanos' armies. Lorna Dane gave her best to aid Sam Wilson and King T'Challa when protecting the Arks as they got off Earth. Of course, Clint Barton and Matt Murdock were the first to fall, but I already told you that.

"Pietro Maximoff died on Earth, too. He told you to get the twins onto the Arks and that he would meet you there. You did as he said, but sent them with your sister-in-law and one of your best friends instead. You then came back to Pietro and helped him defend that Ark until it got off planet. Pietro then died when the planet was consumed. You were near the Ark in space when it happened; there was nothing you could have done. By the time you got back to Earth, there was nothing there but darkness and Thanos." Elaine pauses. "You gave your life defending that Ark. Because of you, your children got to safety."

My knees feel weak and my eyes are threatening to boil over with tears. "All that because I wouldn't come out of retirement."

"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Except Thanos." She lays a hand on my shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Glory. I know you did everything you could."

I nod, wiping my eyes. "How do you know all this? You weren't even born at the time."

She shrugs. "I might've come across some legends or rumors over the years. It's not hard to see why you were so talked about. You're pretty amazing."

I smile to myself. "You're a brave kid, Elaine. Your mother would be proud."

Her tired eyes turn from me to the rest of the Asgardians and Pietro, who are fighting in near-drunken behavior. "It seems wrong to have a party with the news I just told, doesn't it? Shouldn't we be preparing? Doing... something?"

"It's not their fault," I sigh, leaning back against the wall with crossed arms. "They don't know any other way to process the ending of everything. Even under Sigyn, Asgard has always been preoccupied with themselves above everyone else. I can only hope they truly wish to help us."

Elaine scoffs. "They conveniently disappeared when Thanos attacked. There were rumors that they somehow have the Realm Eternal cloaked from all beings, even that of Thanos. They ran with their tails between their legs because it got uncomfortable."

"They're not used to losing," I add, watching my husband act foolishly with Thor and his brothers. "They've always been the ones on the top of the food chain, pardon the comparison. When there's something that they can't beat, they tend to be in denial."

"We can't do it without them, Glory. That much I know."

"We won't have to. I'm good friends with Thor. I can get him to help us. He is the brother-in-law of the Queen." I turn to Elaine with a smile. "There's nothing wrong with having a little fun, too. Let's try to have a little excitement, alright? Can you manage a few hours of that?" I stretch out my hand to her. "Just an old-fashioned feast, drinks, and conversation? Then maybe you can show me Sekhmet again."

Elaine nods, nervously taking my hand. "A few hours."

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

After hours of laughter and happiness, with a little too much to eat and drink and say, Pietro and I retire back to our overnight chambers that Sigyn had assigned us. It was just for the night, for tomorrow we were to discuss what to do about Thanos. It's easier than going home, though there's nowhere I'd rather be right now than beside Mom and Bex, enjoying the time we have left. What little of it there is, it seemed. 

Pietro and I walk heavily back to the room, stumbling tiredly. "It's been a long day," I yawn, trying to keep my eyes open. I stop in my tracks, stubbornly standing my ground. Pietro turns to me as I stretch my arms up and pout in a child's voice, "Up!"

He smiles, just as exhausted as I am, and picks me up in his arms, easily carrying me bridal style the rest of the way to our room. "Long, I can agree. Both good and bad."

"All days have good and bad in them, sometimes it just seems harder to find the good. Thank Odin for the days when it's hard to find the bad." I yawn again, snuggling deeper into my husband's embrace. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid or reckless."

He turns to look down at me as he pushes the door open with his foot. "What brought that question on?"

"Elaine told me that in the future she's from, you risk your life to save me and the twins. You..." He nods, looking down as he gets the meaning of what I'm saying. "I just can't live with that thought, Pietro. It's bouncing around my head; the alcohol isn't making it any better. Please, just tell me you'll be level-headed."

He smirks as he places me onto the large bed in the center of the Asgardian room. "I cannot make promises which are impossible."

I roll my eyes and close them, trying to push the fear of what might happen away. "I hope you know I won't forget about this tomorrow if you're hoping I'll just fall asleep and forget. Not gonna happen, Maximoff."

He smiles softly and crawls in beside me. "Of course."

I breathe a sigh, curling into him as he pulls the covers over us. "G'night. I love you."

Pietro places a peck on my forehead, slipping his arms around me to keep me close. "Я люблю тебя, дорогая," he whispers, a soft uttering that sends me off to sleep.

I love you, Sweetheart.

It seems that lately, I know little and littler about my future, the future of my family, and the future of the human race. Everything is up in the air; anything can happen. Bad or good, ugly or beautiful, it's being decided in the current moment.

But if I know one thing for certain - just a single, solitary thing - it's that the love of my life is the man next to me. Like we swore five years ago, for better or worse, in life or death, we will face whatever the world throws at us head-on.

Who couldn't find a little peace in that?

END CHAPTER TEN.

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Author's Note

Hey guys!

I am so sorry once again for the randomness of these updates. College is tougher than I thought - don't worry, I'm doing great! - so I haven't had a chance to finish the chapter. I seem to be having a hard time updating on the weekends, since my usual day to post is Saturday, so I've decided to move it to Wednesday!

From now on, every update will be Wednesday. I will try to post every week, but we all know that school is both unpredictable and annoying. I will try my best!

As some of you may have seen, I've been posting stuff on my account, excerpts from the untitled Ksenia and Steven Maximoff book that will be after this one.

I'm excited to share that I've cast the older twins! Steven's faceclaim will be Anton Yelchin...

... and Ksenia's will be Georgie Henley.

I'm also planning to add two other to the cast so far. One is a Young Avenger I'm fairly certain most of you are familiar with Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye.

The other is my OC, Nimah Al-Wali, a Muslim girl from Lebanon that becomes Ksenia's best friend over events which I cannot yet disclose.

Yay! What do you think of the people I chose? Who else would you like to see as a regular in the untitled spin-off of the Age of Glory novels?

Also, HUGE shout out to Sadie Xoxo_Sadie21, who made the amazing cover of Age of Glory in the picture attached to the chapter! I absolutely love it! You're super talented, and I just had to share it. Give this girl some love for her awesome work! This chapter is dedicated to you :)

I hope you all are doing well! I hope that school and/or work is treating you well. I wish you all the best of luck in this school year. Feel free to reach out if any of you need anything!

I love you all! Thanks for supporting me this much. It means the world!

Your friendly neighborhood author,

- ℛoyale
(pronounced: Roy - Elle, but call me Roy)