Frigg spends the rest of the day fussing over Melody. She brings large trays of food, has Melody try on fancy dresses made of silk, and transports her all over Asgard to her favorite spots. Between each course, after each outfit, and at every stop, she begs Melody to call off her challenge. Melody refuses every time.

No matter what she does or how much Frigg begs, two things stick in Melody's mind like thorns. The first, of course, is Marcus. The horrible scars now burned permanently into his face. His pale skin, stringy hair, and dull, lifeless eyes. She can still hear his screams ringing in her ears, knowing that the longer she has to wait, the more he's suffering. The second is Oliver, his wide, terrified eyes watching her as she all but signs his life away to Odin.

I can't keep this a secret anymore, she decides as Frigg conjures a new selection of clothes. I owe him an explanation. He's done so much to help me - he deserves to at least know why I'm doing this. She tries to enjoy her time catching up with her adoptive mother, but soon enough, the sun starts to set, and she has to face reality.

Frigg leads Melody to the guest chambers. It's a large, fancy wing of Asgard decorated with all kinds of modern furniture. The main room is set up like a living room, with thee couches organized around a short square table. In the far corner is a counter with a minifridge and sink. A flat-screen TV hangs on the wall opposite the middle couch. On one side of the room is a tall door leading to the bedchambers.

Melody steps inside, leaning back against the door as it closes. A large bundle of blankets and pillows sits on the couch in a pile, a pair of hands sticking out a small hole in the front. Caduceus leans against it, and a steaming mug sits on the table in front of it. The pile twitches as the door clicks closed, seeming to deflate on its own. Melody sighs, hanging her head.

"Oliver," She breathes, staring at her feet. The pile twitches again, sliding a little further away from her. She stands in silence, debating what she can say. Of course, she knows that she should be apologizing. But she can't find the words she wants. How do you bring up something so important? Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the pile shifts again.

"D-Do you really think we can win?" Oliver whimpers. Melody snaps out of her trance, gripping the doorknobs behind her back tightly.

"Yes!" She says, biting her lip a moment later. Her head sags on her neck, and she looks at her boots again. "Is... what I want to say. I have a plan. But it's going to be tough."

"Tough?" Oliver echoes, pulling his cocoon back enough to reveal his face. He has heavy bags under his eyes, and his lips shift and twitch whenever he pauses for breath. "You challenged Odin to Vrafthrufnir's game of riddles - do you know what that is? What that means?" His hands shake as he grips his blanket. Melody nods, slowly making her way to the couch. She plops down on the very edge, across the table from his nest.

"Vrafthruthnir was a giant that believed he knew everything in the nine realms," She explains, casting her mind back to the countless hours she spent researching the various cultures of the world. "Odin disguised himself and challenged Vrafthruthnir to a battle of wits. They asked each other questions back and forth to see who was smarter. Eventually, Vrafthruthnir decided to bet his life on the game, not knowing he was against the god of knowledge. And when he lost, Odin took his head as a prize." Oliver nods so vigorously that one of his pillows flop to the floor.

"Odin is a god of wisdom! He knows pretty much everything there is to know!" He runs his hands through his hair, sinking back into his fluffy cocoon. "How are we going to beat him?"

"We can," Melody says, sliding forward. "Odin knows a lot, but he doesn't know everything. He beat Vrafthruthnir by asking something that only he knew. We've got to force Odin into that same position. Ask him something only we know the answer to." Oliver hums softly, and Melody continues. "Plus, we're not just against Odin. That's why I suggested Thor join to - he's a big meathead." She swells with pride, trying to look confident. "If we can trip him up, then we can win."

"Unless they're working as a team," Oliver grumbles. Melody shakes her head, sliding closer to him again.

"I've actually been working on that. While I was catching up with Frigg, I suggested making the game more one-on-one to make it fairer. She said she'd see what she can do to help. If everything works out, we may be able to pull it off."

"May," Oliver agrees sadly. "And, I guess I do have all of the original Hermes's memories. He was there for most of the original Norse legends. So that could help."

"Exactly! I'm sure there's plenty you know that Odin doesn't!" She says confidently. "You just need to ask him something about, like, the Aztec gods, and we're set." Oliver nods again, sinking further into his pillows. If she didn't know he was in there, Melody would think he was just a pile of laundry that needs to be folded and put away.

"So... can I ask something?" He murmurs, so quietly that Melody has to skootch up next to him to hear him properly. "It's about...you know." Melody sighs, hanging her head. She edges away from him slightly, pressing her hands into her lap.

"You mean Marcus." The blanket bobs in reply.

"I've got so many questions. You were raised by Frigg and Odin, and you tried to fight Thor, and you seem so at home here. None of it makes sense." Melody giggles awkwardly, twiddling her thumbs.

"Back home, Hecate says that's why I can stand up to Zeus so easily. Because I'm 'too Nordic for my own good.' I picked up their temper and stubbornness." She chuckles again but doesn't feel any joy. Oliver waits for a few seconds before continuing.

"I can live with all of that, really. I'm pretty good at just accepting things. But there's one thing I can't get out of my head. When we were confronting Marcus during the rebellion, Jake told him...this isn't what Mel meant. And Thor kept calling Marcus your boyfriend. Then, before we got here, you asked what I thought about him." Melody wrings her dress anxiously, gnawing at the raw spot on her lip. Of course he'd want to know after all of that. He deserves to know - I'm the one dragging him into my problems. I can't keep pushing it back. I should have told him before coming here.

"That's...a long story." She says carefully. "I was raised by Frigg and Odin until I turned 11. Of course, I was just a kid - they never actually told me about being gods or anything. But they couldn't hide it from me completely, either. So, I ended up meeting a lot of the Aesir when I was growing up. They said they were work colleagues." She sighs, letting herself go limp. She leans back on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

"When I was five, I met Marcus. He was seven, and already an apprentice. I still didn't know - but, since I was always left to play on my own, and his godly teacher was...well." She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to get the image of Marcus strapped to the giant boulder out of her head. "We just sort of became friends."

"I guess that makes sense," Oliver says slowly. "But why are you going so far to help him? I mean, I don't like his punishment either. But challenging Odin to Vrafrhturthnir's game just to have him released, that's-"

"Stupid?" Melody says weakly. The pile jumps, random lumps flailing wildly.

"T-That's not what I was going to say!"

"But it is," She sighs, shaking her head at herself. "That's a bit of a story too. After I became Hecate's apprentice, I wasn't allowed to stay in Asgard anymore. I wasn't even allowed to communicate with them. It... sucked." She explains. "But I'm sure you know by now, I'm not one for following rules. Neither is Marcus. A month after going to Mount Olympus, he snuck in to find me. Said he didn't want me feeling lonely." She feels her cheeks flush, mentally kicking herself for it. "And so, we started sneaking out and meeting in secret. Once or twice a week."

"You're lucky Zeus didn't find out," Oliver mutters, almost to himself. "He would have blown a fuse. And probably killed you both."

"We were careful," Melody says with a shrug. "Kira was actually in on it. A big part of my training is guiding her through the underworld, just like how the original Hecate guided Demeter in the night to find her daughter. She would let me sneak away to meet him." She feels her lips curl into a light smile. "She always had this silly grin whenever he showed up. She would tell us to have fun and promised to cover for us."

"We would talk about our training and show off the new powers we were getting. I would trap him in the Pit - this magical snare my teacher uses for my magic training - and he would surround me with illusions. Whoever managed to break out first was the winner. It was...nice." She says, feeling her shoulders slump. "At least, at first."

"Hecate doesn't really have any bad legends. The hardest part of my training is figuring out how to actually use and control my magic. But Loki...has to do some really bad things. When it came time for Marcus to do them, he was terrified. He would tell me how terrible it was, but after a while, it was like he was going numb to it all. He stopped telling me about it, and would just say I did some training, as usual. I started to worry about what was going on and looked up some legends surrounding Loki online. It was...eye-opening." Melody pulls her legs up onto the couch, pulling her dress over her knees as she hugs them to her chest.

"After that, I started looking into other gods, too. I realized what some people had to go through to become gods. They had to hurt people. Hurt themselves. Sometimes even kill people. I realized just how easy I had it. And one day, when he kept dodging my questions, I asked him, hey, what if we...didn't have to do all that." She squeezes her eyes shut, waiting for Oliver's shocked gasp or angry shouting. But he remains silent - which is almost worse. She presses on, unable to stop herself.

"Our meetings became about how we can fix things, once we become gods. How we could change the system so nobody would have to suffer anymore. We said we would make them see what's wrong with how things are now." She takes a deep breath, her voice shaking. "I was ready to do whatever it took, even if it meant losing my godhood. Marcus agreed, and..." She stops herself, unable to take Oliver's silence. She waits for two long minutes before he replies.

"So, you two sort of came up with it together?" He says quietly. Melody's lip trembles and she nods, burying her face in her arms. Tears roll down her cheeks, falling onto her dress. He doesn't sound angry, at least. But there's a sort of distance to his words. "But Jake said that's not what you wanted." He adds, and Melody nods again, quickly finding her voice.

"When I said no matter what, I meant, even if we get in trouble. Even if we were stripped of our titles and banished! But I never meant-" She cuts herself off, shaking her head. She flops onto her side, hugging one of Oliver's loose pillows. "I didn't think he would try to start a war! The whole point was to stop people from getting hurt!" She wails into it, releasing all her built-up guilt and fear.

"I had no idea Marcus was the one behind all those attacks until it was too late! You were here, facing him down, and Zeus ordered Hecate to keep me out of trouble! All I could do was send Gabriel and the others to help you, but even with that, because of me, Marcus-" She stops herself again, biting her lip harshly. Pain cuts through her throat as she tries to hold it in, and eventually, she lets out another agonizing wail. Oliver sits in silence as she sobs, his pile not moving in the slightest.

"A-and I... I should have stopped him before it got to that point!" Melody cries, wiping her nose on the pillow. "If I hadn't been caught trying to sneak away, I could have...could have been there! When he decided to start hurting people! But Zeus - Zeus said - he said he would capture Marcus if he found him in Greek Territory again! He threatened to tell the Aesir what we were doing, a-and have Marcus punished! He'd demand his training be sped up so he would be-" Her throat tightens as the image of Marcus chained to the rock flashes through her mind. She dissolves into incoherent blubbering, blowing her nose on the pillow again.

"And now - now the treaty is broken - and it's - it's all my fault!" She finally chokes out. "I'm the one behind all of it! It was my idea to change things! I'm the one who put the thought in his head! H-he doesn't deserve this!" She hugs the pillow tightly, squeezing it to death in her arms. Oliver's silence hangs over her, ripping the worst possibilities from her mind. Maybe he hates her now. Maybe he's planning to turn her over to Zeus. Maybe he's already left, having abandoned her to face Odin and Thor alone. "Oliver, please, just say something!" She screams, pounding her face into the pillow. Oliver lets out a slow, heavy breath, and Melody forces her mouth shut to listen.

"I... don't think it's your fault. At least, not entirely," he says gently. A hand snakes out from under his blanket, gently patting her shoulder. "I mean, maybe you put the idea in his head, but he's the one that started hurting people. And even so, in the end, is it really such a bad thing?" He peels his blanket nest back, looking down at himself sadly. "It's like you told Odin, right? Marcus made everyone aware of the problems with the old treaty. Now it's on everybody's mind." Melody hiccups, squeezing a few more tears from her eyes.

"And we're trying to fix things. Think of all the good that will come from it." Oliver adds. "It's not like you told Marcus to go out and attack people. He just took things too far." He pats her back again gently. "That's not your fault." Melody slowly sits up, sniffling. She wipes her face on her sleeve, and Oliver taps her shoulder. He waves his hand, making a box of tissues appear. She takes a couple of minutes to blow her nose and clean herself up, wiping her snot off the pillow she had been clinging to.

"Thank you," she says, coughing softly to clear her throat. "That means a lot, Oliver. But...I can't accept it." Melody hangs her head, shredding a tissue absentmindedly. "Even if I didn't help him directly, the rebellion is just as much my fault as it is Marcus's. So, if he's being punished for it, I want to be too." She takes a deep breath, swallowing her emotions one last time. She stands up, setting her jaw.

"Which is why we have to beat Odin and Thor tomorrow. So Marcus and I can make things right."