Chapter Ten
Naomi

We visited five encampments of Vanir citizens. Each encampment heard our speeches, each agreed to rise up against Njord's tyranny and take their planet into their own hands. In total I'd say we rounded up about two hundred Vanir, more than enough to storm Njord's palace and take out his guards.

Freyr has adorned the armor of a Vanir warrior just as Thor has adorned Asgardian gear. Since I didn't come with any armor, one of the Vanir citizens lent me theirs; it's ocean blue, with a sigil made of waves on the chest plate, Njord's sigil. I love the irony of wearing his sigil as I attack his home and help dethrone him. Thor enjoys it too, going as far as to laugh almost manically when he first saw me in the armor. Even Freyr smiled.

When we hear word that Kier and the others have successfully taken Hala, we lead the charge at the palace. Thor uses Stormbreaker to knock down the giant sea glass doors, killing two guards in the process. The citizens flood the halls of the palace like ants in an ant hill, actually being strategic by covering all floors, not just the main level where the throne room is. We didn't even have to tell them to do that. I guess when you have endured so many wars you pick up on a thing or two about strategy. A large group of the citizens do head straight for the throne room though, and we're at the helm of them, taking out any soldier that stands in our way; Thor with his axe, Freyr with his duel wield swords, and me with my fire.

Thor takes down the doors to the throne room, then we are met with Njord, who is sitting on his throne with the Sword of Surtur tight in his grasp, the tip digging into the floor at his feet. Njord's eyes glide from Thor, to me, to the angry citizens behind us, then finally to Freyr. Njord doesn't look shocked or betrayed, just angry.

"You would really side with them over me? You would side with Frost Giants, humans, and traitors?"

"You are outnumbered, Father. Please surrender and give me the sword."

Njord scoffs, the sword now beginning to crack the sea glass floor beneath the weight of his grip. "You're no son of mine." He spits out.

I don't look at Freyr, but I can tell those words struck a blow despite everything, despite what's about to happen. Freyr doesn't balk away from Njord's words or his less than subtle threat with the sword. He holds his head up high, his voice as harsh and cold as the sea surrounding the palace as he orders the citizens, his citizens: "Seize him."

It happens very quickly. One minute Njord is sitting on the throne, sword in the hand, then his body is lost in the sea of Vanir, the sword now being handed to Freyr by three citizens whose hands are covered in blood. Freyr takes the sword, but he barely glances at it before handing it over to me.

"You should be the one to end this, Ambassador."

I nod to him, grasping the hilt of the sword tightly and holding it up to admire it. Holding this sword feels like holding onto fire itself, I can feel it's power calling to mine, feel the fire within the blade light up the fire within me. I can feel it in my veins, my blood, my bones, I feel it consuming me. Liam told me that after he went to Alfheim the first time his powers were never the same, that the light within him was fully unlocked and awoken by the Light Elves. I know my powers didn't originate from Muspelheim, there's no way any human scientist would have survived an encounter with a creature from there, but like calls to like all the same.

"Do you know how this sword works? How do I call off the creatures?"

"They are controlled by the sword and now it's yours to wield. If you want them to do something, all you have to do is tell the blade."

I tighten my grip on the sword and shut my eyes, keeping my voice calm and steady as I say: "I order the creatures of Muspelheim to stand down. Stop fighting."

I glance at Thor, who just as we had planned, contacts Earth first, asking Zy'aire if the creatures have listened to my command. I hear him say something that I don't understand, then a few seconds later a different male voice says something else. Thor sighs in relief, informing me: "King Zy'aire was injured, but he put me through to Lord Khari who says the creatures have stopped fighting."

I let out a laugh, partly from relief but mostly from disbelief. I honestly didn't think talking to the blade would work, but thank god it did. I wait with baited breath as Thor contacts Feore on Jotunheim then Queen Verena on Alfheim, who all say the same thing. Muspelheim's forces have stood down. They await my orders.

I turn to Freyr. "Contact your forces and tell them to stand down as well. I'll tell Kieran to do the same."

I take Thor's com link and have Sam patch me through to Kier and Lorcan, the former of which asks as soon as the connection is made: "Princess, are you alright? Please tell me you're alright."

"Yes, I'm fine, better than fine. We did it. I have the sword, Muspelheim's forces are down. Freyr is ordering his people to surrender and now I need you two to do the same."

"They won't surrender, they won't acknowledge anyone's authority other than Yon-Rogg."

"Who met his end at the end of my sword." Kier says proudly.

"Good riddance. Just try, okay? Give them the chance to surrender. If they won't, then inform them that I will order Muspelheim's creatures to pick them off one by one."

I am then left to wait as Kier, Lorcan, and Freyr all contact the three planets, my grip on the sword growing so tight my knuckles are whitening. Freyr has been speaking with Njord's—no, his generals, and after explaining the end his father met at the hands of tired and angry citizens, the generals have all come to the agreement that putting an end to this never ending war is the right decision. Vanaheim's forces stand down on all planets. Unsurprisingly, the Kree don't like the idea of surrendering. The accusers on Jotunheim decide to keep fighting, but I order one of the dragons to fry them to crisps, which then leads the rest of the Kree army to stand down, not just on Jotunheim, but the other planets as well.

It's over. It's really over.

We won.

Thor places his hand on my shoulder and smiles at me. "Congratulations, Naomi."

"Indeed," Freyr extends his hand out towards me and I shake it firmly, my other hand still holding onto the sword in a death grip. "Vanaheim will no longer be a tool for war and chaos. We will be part of the peace Earth's alliance has created."

First with the Skrulls, then the Nova Empire, the Nine Realms, and now Vanaheim and Hala. Planets and species who had always been separated whether by distance, differences, or hatred have now all come together to create a better future for not just themselves, but for all of us. We titled the peace treaty the 'Treaty of Unity', because when a planet signs it, it's a promise that from that day on we are no longer two separate people, but a stronger, united people. Today the Vanir and Kree make that promise too. Today we truly become united.

And because we are all now united, I think it's time we change the name of the alliance, because this alliance doesn't belong to Earth. It belongs to all of us.

"Our alliance discusses issues that affect all people throughout the universe, so I think it's only fair that we stop calling it Earth's alliance, and instead give it a name that encompasses what we stand for."

Freyr grins at me. "The Universal Alliance?"

I feel myself grin in return.

-

Olivia

As soon as the first baby's cries filled the room, all my worries, sorrows, and fears faded away. He screamed and cried as Aunt Shuri cleaned him up and wrapped him in a blanket, then handed him to Jo. Four minutes later, his cries were drowned out by the sound of his brother's, who was cleaned up and tended to then handed off to Jo once again. Ana immediately started stitching me back up while Aunt Shuri went to turn on her other machines to prepare for Zy's surgery. He couldn't care less about his still punctured lung and broken ribs and honestly neither could I, all I could think or care about was our sons.

Jo carefully placed the first baby in my arms then the second in Zy's. Their cries had begun to quiet and their eyes peeled open to peer up at us. They both have the same deep chocolate eyes Mom, Uncle Alex, and Stevie have, or as they like to call it, the 'Roberts eyes'. They looked so tiny, so beautiful. The moment I locked eyes with my son I lost it, tears cascaded down my cheeks and they haven't stopped since. I turned my head to find Zy crying as well, caressing the cheek of our other son and whispering words in Xhosa to him. When he caught me staring at him he leaned over and kissed me tenderly, murmuring against my lips: "I love you so much, my darling."

Soon after, Zy was taken to the other side of the lab to get his surgery, which only took less than twenty minutes. He had to be put under though, so he's still sleeping. Ana finished stitching me up and has been talking me through our plans for continuing the serum doses for the boys until they're ready to learn how to control their shifting. While we do that, my boys are in the arms of Aunt Nakia and Uncle Khari, who came down here the minute the battle was won. The cut Uncle Khari got on his face wasn't deep as Zy had said, but it was deep enough that it will definitely scar. It's bandaged up now, as are the couple other scratches he got. Other than that he's fine. As is Aunt Nakia, who like all citizens of Wakanda, was protected from the destruction in Jabariland.

"I remember holding you when you were born," Uncle Khari says through his tears. He leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead, one of his tears falling onto my cheek. "And now here you are with children of your own. I'm so happy for you, honey."

"And we all couldn't be more proud of you." Aunt Nakia murmurs as she cradles one of her grandsons.

I reach out and grip her arm, feeling my chest ache to the point of agony. "I wish the others were here."

Ana, who is on my other side, squeezes my hand and says: "They will be soon. I promise."

Sure enough, no more than ten minutes later, I catch whiffs of Mom's scent, along with Dad's and the other members of our family. I lift myself up to see if it's just wish fulfillment or not, and feel a sob wrack my body when I see Uncle Alex, Aunt Jade, Lee, and Stevie running down the steps to the lab. Uncle Alex and Stevie look completely fine, but Lee has his arm in a sling and Aunt Jade has her stomach wrapped in heavy bandages. Dad, Mom, and Uncle Sam are being carried in on stretchers by Jabari soldiers right behind the others. Mom and Uncle Sam are caked in dirt and dust, with the latter sporting a broken leg and the former...I have no idea, but she's clearly in a lot of pain. Dad also has a broken leg, but his is worse than Uncle Sam's. His femur has broken through his skin and with his regenerative healing, it will probably need to be rebroken to mend properly.

No one really pays any mind to their injuries though when they set eyes on the babies in Uncle Khari and Jo's arms. Mom bursts into tears, exclaiming how beautiful they are and how proud she is of me. Dad says the same, as does Uncle Sam. Aunt Shuri leaves a still sleeping Zy to examine the three of them, having their stretchers set down close enough so they can see and interact with me and the babies. Mom and Uncle Sam were apparently in an explosion, which caused his broken leg and gave her a fracture to her spine. Their injuries will be fixed in no time with the lab's tech, but Dad's will be a little more gruesome like I had suspected. His injury is in a worser condition than theirs, so Aunt Shuri works on him first.

In an attempt to drown out the sounds of Dad's screams from getting his leg rebroken, Uncle Alex gestures to his great nephews and proclaims: "I've never seen such handsome little princes before. They'll be quite the heartbreakers one day."

I roll my eyes and laugh, now watching Uncle Alex tentatively touching Uncle Khari's face, making him wince. "It's not serious and it barely hurts. Don't worry, my love."

Uncle Alex brushes off that comment even though he is clearly worrying. "When that heals you'll have a wicked scar, kind of like Tyrion Lannister."

Stevie lets out a gasp, his expression filled with frustration at having not thought of that before Uncle Alex. "Exactly like Tyrion's! That's so cool."

Aunt Jade gets checked out by Ana, even though her injury has already been bandaged up. She had gotten stabbed in the stomach, though thankfully the knife had been thrown from a distance so it didn't sink too deep and cause any permanent damage. While she sits on an operating table similar to mine, she gestures to Zy, who has started to come out of his anesthesia induced sleep. "What happened to Zy?"

"He broke his ribs and punctured a lung." Ana informs her.

"Yeah because the dumbass wasn't paying attention." Jo grumbles with a roll of her eyes.

Stevie and Lee have made their way over towards my operating table, giving me full view of the latter's sling. "What happened?"

"Fire giant yanked me off the ground and dislocated my shoulder and arm. Bucky reset it."

"During the battle? That must have hurt like hell."

Lee laughs sarcastically. "You have no idea."

"This is so exciting," Stevie says giddily, glancing between his nephews. "I can't believe I'm an uncle. It's so crazy. I am going to absolutely spoil them rotten. I'll give them all the best toys and I'll feed them so much candy they'll explode."

"Okay, it's official, you're not allowed to babysit without Lee."

Stevie's mouth gapes open in shock and betrayal, Lee just chuckles, looking mighty happy with himself. Stevie notices and elbows Lee in the side, glaring at him intensely.

"You can try to bribe them all you want with toys and candy but I'll come out on top as the favorite," Jo says, not a single speck of doubt in her voice. "When these kids think of fun they'll think of their Aunt Jo."

We all turn to her, my eyebrows raising. "Aunt? You're their second cousin."

"I don't care. I want to be called Aunt Jo."

"Doesn't matter what you call yourself, you won't be their favorite." Stevie replies with his glare now directed towards her.

She grins. "Wanna bet?"

"Please don't bet." Lee mumbles.

"You two are ridiculous." I say through a chuckle.

"Did we expect anything less?" I hear Zy's voice say groggily. We all turn to find him staring at us with a smile, making this reunion finally complete.

Once Aunt Shuri is done with Dad's, Uncle Sam's, and Mom's injuries, she brings Zy's operating table over next to mine, the boys now resting peacefully in the arms of their grandparents. Everyone gathers around the sleeping infants and fawns over them, and Ana, who has finished up checking on Jade's injury, asks: "Now can we hear their names?"

The entire room quiets their collective gushing and fawning, now starring at us in anticipation. I share a grin with Zy and reveal the names we picked out for our sons.

"John and T'Challa. After the bravest men we've ever known."