---Fenris' POV---

I didn't quite understand why I seemed to be an attraction to these pups but ever since the hunt, I always seemed to have a small litter shadowing my every move.

The pack had kept their distance but the little pups were fearless, always running after my heels. Sprinting as fast as their chubby little paws could carry them.

Apparently there was an instinctual attraction that I held to these pups. Each time that I encountered one of the pack with a pup, the little one would yip and squirm until they were released on the floor and then I'd have little paws tapping at my leg with an eagerness that still surprises me.

"I wonder if these pups would still be allowed to interact with me, if their parents found out about my past." The bitter thought made me shiver as I could only imagine their reactions.

They saw me as a proud creature, worthy of worship. If the truth was revealed that I had been held captive for centuries simply to be tortured and abused in indescribable ways...

A shiver raced over my spine, nausea spreading through my system as I could remember all too clearly what had happened.

Yet I still had no idea why it happened. If it was foretold that I were to end the Norse Pantheon, shouldn't they have more security measures?

Why haven't we heard any news that the Norse Deities knew I had escaped? It didn't make any sense that they'd give me my freedom after they've worked so hard to capture and punish me for deeds I had never committed.

Hell, if I was indeed to be the end of the world as the Norse knew it, why hadn't they slaughtered me in cold blood alongside my family?

Why take the time to raise me as one of their own, all to just cast me aside and treat me like I was the worst filth to have ever existed.

Perhaps I would never know. After all, I had asked my captor time and time again why I deserved this, but it had all boiled down to the same answer.

You were born.

Something about me, my birth or heritage must've triggered one of the gods. Perhaps one of them didn't think that whatever Odin had planned was a good enough punishment for me.

After all, the original plan was for me to be bound for eternity in the bowls of the earth. Muzzled with an unbreakable magic chain, bolted to the floor and unable to move.

I was to be sealed away forever, forgotten and neglected, hidden from sight.

Except, a few months after my imprisonment, I've had a visitor. In the shape of whom I believed was Loki, but after everything that was said, I now knew was to be an imposter.

Someone wanted me to believe it was Loki who whisked me away. Wanted me to experience that brief sense of relief, of hope that at least someone in this miserable world was coming to my aid.

And that proved to be a lie. I'm sure they saw the hope shatter in my eyes as we teleported to a different location.

Somewhere unknown. Dark and damp rocks that felt cold to the touch, froze the surface of my skin as I had been pressed against their surface, rebound...

And violated.

It was the first time but certainly not the last. Days flowed into weeks. Months. Years perhaps. Time moved on endlessly, yet seemed to crawl to a stop at the same time.

There was no end to the torture. Each visit became worse, more volatile than the last until it was too much to stand. More often than not, I would rouse from unconsciousness alone in the dark, feeling the after effects of my torment.

And more often than not, I woke to the smirking face of my tormentor, who had waited until I regained consciousness to finish what they started.

Every waking moment had been a constant wish for freedom, be it as an actual release or in the shape of death.

One day, I had awoken to the chains dropping from my body. Chains that had dug into my skin over the years of abuse, unbreakable by any means, now clashed to the ground.

Before me, two gods, twins, were smirking at me, teleporting us all away from my prison before I had shifted and tried to flee.

In a way, I should be grateful to those two godlings. Thanks to their mingling, using their combined magic to bypass the chains and letting them stretch and droop around my bound form, I was freed.

Chained and abused by gods...but also saved by them. Their actions were questionable at best, their reasons only known to themselves.

It was madness to attempt unraveling the machinations of these gods. Why did they bound me? Why did they save me?!

The more that I thought about my past interactions and treatment by the gods, the more I grew frustrated and confused.

Because there was no obvious reason. Yes, it was foretold that I'd set off Ragnarok, the end of the gods and the world as we knew it.

But there was no evidence for this. No cause for them to lash out so brutally. After all, I had assumed I was mortal for most of my life.

Had been more than happy to live out a mortal life along with my mortal adoptive parents. If the Norse gods hadn't intervened, that was what I would've done after all.

For a moment, I wondered how that life would've been. Most likely I would've followed in dad's footsteps, become a blacksmith as well and helped him in the smithy.

Perhaps I would've gotten married, had kids by now. But even that thought gave me pause, but for a whole different reason.

If I am indeed a demigod at the very least, or perhaps a full slumbering god... Wouldn't that mean that I was immortal?

Just thinking of growing up, watching my loved ones grow old and die while I remained eternally young...

Not knowing that I was a god, that might've pushed me to the brink of insanity. Plus, if I noticed my own longevity, I'm certain that others around me would notice as well.

And a group of fearful, superstitious people were quite dangerous indeed. Not that they would've been able to murder me but even immortal people could still suffer.

I learned that the hard way.

And apparently, my captor was more than pleased that no matter what he did, he couldn't kill me. Apparently when you are the core of a prediction where people are destined to kill you, only that one person would be capable of murdering me.

So it didn't matter what that God did to me. Obviously they were not destined to slay me, hence they could do whatever they wanted and my body would heal.

Mostly.

The endless scars that decorated my body showed that clearly, even my healing abilities had limits. If your wrists had been slashed on a daily basis, chafing and slicing through skin without remorse, apparently your body could only heal the superficial damage.

Not the scars created by rapid regeneration. Wounds that would've killed a mere mortal in seconds were reduced to a mere scar.

And now I wasn't surprised when I remembered how shocked everyone was, witnessing my scars firsthand. Because they all know that me being a god, meant that these scars weren't just from simple injuries.

Gods could still be injured after all. I clearly remember the moment where I was betrayed by Tyr, who had been foretold he'd lose his hand doing so.

And because it was destined to happen, the wound never healed, his hand never regenerated. Though a part of me wondered how much of this was true.

Because according to the legends, according to so called destiny... I was already breaking all the rules.

On the day that Ragnarök commenced, I would break free from my chains, devour the sun and murder Odin in cold blood.

Nowhere was it foretold that I was saved by two godlings. Nobody had foreseen that I would be living with another Deity, one who actually treated me with more respect than most gods have given me up to today.

If things were actually destined to happen, encrypted into the fabrics of time, space and fate...

None of this would've happened. I would still be locked away, used and abused. Slowly filling with hatred until I eventually snapped-

Blinking, my gaze sought out Cain, who's own gaze was focused on me. Undoubtedly he had at least captured a fragment of my ideas, the revelation I just came across.

If I am not destined to naturally cause Ragnarök.... was one of the deities, whom knew of the myth, torturing me so I would snap?

Was someone trying to trigger Ragnarök?

I had been raised long enough in the Norse Pantheon to pick up their intricate language. Ragnarök, its literal meaning was "Doom of the Gods."

Cain had given me the lore to read, the prophesy made about me. I would start of the events by breaking free, giants, demons and other filth all around the world would then target the Gods.

Stars were snuffed, the sun destroyed and a darkness deeper than night would settle in the sky.

The world would drown underneath the rising tides of the ocean, the water sullying with the ichor of the gods.

Only a handful of the gods would survive and the entire populace of the world would be wiped out during the cataclysmic events caused by the war waged between gods.

Yggdrasil would then give birth to two surviving mortals, and the cycle would start anew.

But I didn't break free. I was released from my bonds, set free by other deities. And upon my release, none of the terrific events occurred.

So somewhere out there, a deity lurked in the shadows that wanted to destroy the Norse Pantheon. And, given the fact that they had always presented themselves as my father, they wanted Loki to be the target of the justified rage from any survivors.

Because this didn't just target the Norse Pantheon. If all mortal life ceased to exist, that would hurt all of the Pantheons in existence.

Everyone would lose their worshippers, lose their precious powers their received from their followers. Thus, they would demand Loki's blood, not even caring if he was tricked, was a victim just as much as they were.

They wouldn't believe a word he said and would punish him for all of eternity.

I let out a sigh of frustration, hands scrubbing over my face while a headache pulsed to life. Not only did we need to get in contact with Mimir, which was already an impossible task, but now we needed to find out what Deity would benefit from the world's imminent destruction, if Ragnarök was triggered.

Curse the Gods. Every single one of them.

A.n. Sorry for letting this story slip by for so long. I've been struggling with my health and nervous for the upcoming surgery. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter ^-^