Goddess of Deception
Birth of a God
The year is 684 AD in Nidaros, Norway. A woman is screaming in pain as she gives birth. Then a mighty storm rolls in. Thunder and lightning rolled through the town.
“The Mighty God has left us a gift. One last push.” Eir said
After that one last push, I was born. They placed me in my mother’s arms. They start to clean her up.
“Gyda, what will you be naming the daughter of Thor?” Eir asked
“Runa…Runa Thorsdotter.” Gyda said
As the years go by, I grew up treated like a God by the older townspeople. I was a gift from the heavens. Everyone would tell me tales of Thor becasue they wanted me to be just like him. But for some reason I never felt connected to the stories of Thor like many of the other children. They just ate all that bullshit up. I preffered the stories of the God of Mischief Loki. He was so unsual and that's what i liked. Loki was always irreverent and nihilistic, which is why i connected with him more. Many of the older townspeople treat me like I'm one of their own children. All of this attention from everyone obviously made a lot of the other kids jealous. So they did what jealous teenagers do, bully. I was no more than 13.
“Hey Runa, where’s Mjölnir?” One kid yelled
“Do you actually believe you’re the daughter of Thor?” Another kid said laughing
“Your mom was just a whore and needed an excuse for why she had a child. Your nothing but an unwanted bastard. ” The other kid said
“Why do you think your Father left you, even he didn’t want you. And your mom is just stuck with you.” A girl said
I put my head down and tried to walk faster to get away.
“Hey, I'm talking to you.” They said
They pushed me down and laugh.
“Can you just leave me alone?” I asked
“No, I'm tired of all the adults treating you like your better than us. Your not. You're just like us. My parents care more about you than me. And someone needs to teach you that you're no different than us.” They said
They start to kick me and throw rocks and dirt at me. They are laughing at me while I cry. I finally had enough. I yell at the top of my lungs. It starts to thunder. The kids start to back up. Lightning strikes me. I am kneeling on the ground and my body has energy flowing all through it. My fist are balled up and have blue electricity surrounding them. I look up and my eyes are blue with energy. The kids start to scream. I slam my fist down on the ground and the ground goes flying and so do the kids. They all lay out on the ground. I walk up to the main bully. I am standing over him with my fist still glowing blue. I smile. This was the first time I’ve ever felt power. This is the first time I had someone cower in fear from me. I was finally in control. I can't even begin to explain the feeling. This best I’ve ever felt.
“What were you saying again?” I said to the bully.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was true…” The bully said crying, scared
“You picked on me for way too long,” I said then I lean in close
“Maybe I should kill you,” I said smiling
“No, I’m sorry. Please. I won’t bother you again. Please.” The boy said
“Oh, I know you won’t,” I said
I ball up my fist again and I was cocking back to hit him, then my mom runs over.
“Runa! Runa stop! Get away. Go back home to your parents” My mom yelled
My Mom brings me back to our house. This was the first time I realized I even had powers.
“I didn’t mean to. It just happened.” I said
“Runa, you can't do that again. Do you understand?” My mom said
“Yes. I'm sorry.” I said
“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?” My mom asked looking at my busted lip.
“I'm OK,” I said
“Good…” My mom said looking worried
“But I saw what you were about to do. You were going to kill him. You cannot do that. We do not hurt the weak and helpless, we save them. He was defenseless on the ground and you were going to smash his head in. Let me tell you something, just because you have this power does not mean you should use it. Especially for what you just did. These are the moments when your father would be extremely helpful.” My mom said
“I’m sorry, I…I was just mad…he was talking about you…I couldn’t control it…” I said
My Mom hugs me
“I know…It's ok…You just have to learn to control it…I know its new…but you CAN do good with this. You WILL do good with this.” My Mom said
A tear runs down my face
“Why did he leave?” I asked
“He had to go back to Asgard.” My mom said
“Why? Does he not care about me? Why did he leave me?” I asked
“He is the son of Odin. He has duties in Asgard he has to attend to if he wants to be king one day.” My Mom said
“He’s been gone for over 13 years. Why has he been gone for that long?” I asked
“Time in Asgard is not the same as time here. The gods live for thousands of years. What can be years for us is days to them.” My mom said
“Do you think he’ll come back?” I asked
“Of course.” My mom said
Of course, that never happened. As the years go on I grow to be very tall. Taller than most women in the village. That is the only way I look different. My blonde hair and blue eyes are fairly common. I do practice with my powers in the woods. I use my powers to call on storms to help water our towns crops. I did this for my Mother, who always wanted me to do good. But I also had to use my powers for the occasional time our town was attacked by neighboring villages. The town’s blacksmith made me personalized armor and swords. When other villages would attack I would go out in my armor and swords to scare them away.
“Do you dare attack the people of Runa Thorsdotter, daughter of Thor?” I yelled standing in the town square.
“Daughter of Thor my ass.” They would yell
I would call upon my powers and lightning would strike. Whatever weapons I would be holding would be imbued with my power. The swords would light up and be covered with blue electricity and electricity all over my body. My eyes glow with power. Not only did I learn that any weapon I hold can be imbued with my power and I can make my own weapon. I can focus my energy into a rope of lightning that I create out of my hand, a lasso of sorts. But I soon realize these aren’t my only powers. Everyone is aging but me. I stopped aging by the time I hit 25.
“What was that again?” I said
They would all take off. It didn’t take long for all the tribes to learn that the Daughter of Thor lived in Nidaros. And that's how the legend of Runa Thorsdotter began. I lead many battlefronts for my people as we took towns and pillaged villages. We set sail for the Isles and just destroyed everything in our path. I had the best warriors a leader could ask for. We were ruthless. We had all of England running from us in fear. The difference between me and my warriors was they were in it for money and honor, I was in it for the power, to fed off the fear of others, to be worshipped for the God that I am. These were my favorite times. I enjoyed killing. I enjoyed the power that I had. I loved that I was worshiped by my fellow warriors. I felt like a God on the battlefield. Then my world crashed in on me. My Mother is on her deathbed.
“My Runa… I love with all my heart. You were the greatest gift the Gods could have ever given me.” My mom said
“Thank you, Mama. I love you too.” I said
“You are a God among men. A true warrior at heart. You may be brutal on the battlefield but I know, you have too much care in your heart. What you do for people, helping them, saving them. I couldn’t be more proud. Maybe one day your father will come back and you can be among the Gods, where you belong.” My mom said
I never told my mother that I only helped those people because of her. There were a lot of things I did to try to make my Mother happy, like hiding who I really was.
“No Mama. I don’t want to be among the Gods, I want to be with you.” I said
“I’m sorry my dear, but my time has come. This is something you must get used to. Loss. You will live an extraordinary life. I know you will make me and your Father proud.” My Mom said
She died later that night.
Centuries pass. I watch children being born, grow up have kids and die. I watch as weaponry evolves. Battlefield tactics change. Everything changing. Then the 11th century comes and Christianity spreads to Norway. That’s when I had to leave my home village. The place I called home for over 400 years. The Christians can be very brutal when it comes people with other beliefs, even more so than the Vikings. This is when I lost my throne, my power. I had to leave the people that worshiped me. I was free to use my powers in my home village, but not anymore. If I am seen using my powers I would be branded a witch and hunted down. I had to go into hiding. I had to learn to live like a mortal. I roam around Europe for 300 hundred years until the Plague hits in the 14th century. I get out of dodge and head to Africa. I spend the next 200 hundred years there. Then I return back to Europe and head to Spain. I hear of a new world across the ocean. I get on a ship and land in what is now known as the USA. This is where I've been ever since. Going from city to city. I can't stay anywhere too long or I will become suspicious. Then as technology gets better and society evolves its harder to falsify documents and stay hidden.
*2003*
After 9-11 it was even harder to run. Harder to stay hidden. Everyone is paranoid and government agencies are cracking down on immigration. With facial recognition and computers, it's harder to lie. One day, I am approached by men in suits.
“Ma’am, I need you to come with us.” They said
“What's wrong?” I asked
They don’t answer. They grab me by my arm and led me to a car. I go along with this because I know if I need to I can get out of here at any time I want. I don’t feel threatened at all. I am brought to an interrogation room. A man sits across from me.
“My name is Phil Coulson. What's your name?” Phil said
“Elizabeth Moore,” I said
“Really? Is that your real name or is it Jennifer Martin, Karen Davis, Donna White, Betty Harris? Which one? These are only a few of your other persona. You have a trail leading back to at least the 1850’s and you don’t look a day over thirty. How’s that?” Phil asked
“I don’t know what you're talking about,” I said
“You can stop playing stupid,” Phil said laying out pictures and paperwork of me.
I look at some of it. They did a good job researching. I see they found my old swords in Norway. They are now in a museum. They found ancient runic tales of Runa Thorsdotter. They have ancient drawings of me in battle. I can't really lie, obviously they know.
“What do you want to know?” I asked
“I want to know who and what you are?” Phil said
I laugh
“It's kind of hard to explain and If I told you the truth you wouldn’t believe me anyway,” I said
“Try me,” Phil said
“My name is Runa Thorsdotter. I was born 684 AD in Nidaros, Norway to Gyda Eriksdotter.” I said
“So you're telling me you're over 1300 years old,” Phil said
“Yes,” I said
“How is that possible?” Phil asked
“I am the daughter of Thor,” I said
“Like the God of Thunder Thor. Mythology.” Phil said
“You see it as mythology. I see it as a family tree.” I said
“Ok, so I see this is not working out,” Phil said as other guards walk in
“Take her to the mental hospital,” Phil said
We are outside and they are pulling up a van.
“I can prove it. I can show you.” I said
“Stop…Let's see what you got.” Phil said
I ball up my fist and my body is electrified and create my rope of lightning. My eyes are lit up with energy. I swing my rope at the tree and cut it in half.
“OK…OK! I have seen enough.” Phil said
They bring me back into the same room I was in earlier.
“How old you said you were?” Phil asked
“I am 1,319 years old,” I said
“So, Thor, he's real,” Phil asked
“Well, I'm here, so he has to be real,” I said
“So you never meet him,” Phil said
“No, he left before I was born,” I said
“Left? Here did he go?” Phil said
“Back to Asgard. It seemed like he had more important things to tend too besides me.” I said
“Why hasn’t he come back,” Phil asked
“That I don’t know,” I said
“This is hard to believe. That there are Gods out there.” Phil said
“After what I just showed you. Show me a human who can do that.” I said
“That’s not the hard thing to believe. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. I've seen some things. Things that made me believe there were no Gods.” Phil said
“What have you been doing for 1300 years?” Phil asked
“Roaming from city to city. I couldn’t stay in one place for too long. I had to stay on the move. Just trying to survive.” I said
“How would you like a home where you don’t have to stay on the move?” Phil asked
“We're in the market for people with…abilities,” Phil said
