POV: Baldur
Forest, Savage Land.
2012.
If I were to describe the forests of the Savage Land in one word, it would be ancient. This forest grew untouched for hundreds of years without being disturbed by humans. The path was difficult, and we were moving at a slow pace because of two members of the group. The first was Professor Xavier in his wheelchair. We tried to make him stay at the crash site of the jet, everyone knew that the forest was not suitable for a wheelchair user. Luckily, his chair was equipped for situations like this.
The second person responsible for our slow pace was Logan. He's certainly the best tracker we have here. He said he could find the location where the missiles were fired because of the scent in the air. What kind of smell was he talking about, I have no idea. Asgardians have senses more powerful than normal humans, but that doesn't mean we can sniff out a smell to its origin, to do the same, we would have to train. Unlike me, Logan was born with this ability naturally, and he seemed at home traversing the forest.
Everything was calm until we made the first contact with the local fauna. Above us, a flock of Pteranodons flew proudly as if they were the lords of this land. They were not wrong. Of course, this shocked the whole group, except me, who already knew that this land was inhabited by dinosaurs and other races, humans were not the dominant force here, even though there were several villages scattered all over the place. Unfortunately, on our way, we didn't encounter any village, perhaps they knew that our enemy had set up their base here, and this was a dangerous place for them.
As we walked, I grew a bit tired of hearing the group's theories that we had traveled back in time or were trapped in an illusion. So I explained what this place was, leaving out the story of its creation, knowing that Xavier knew I hadn't told him all the details, but what could he do to force me to reveal all the information?
"We're close. The scent is getting stronger," Logan said at the front of the group. We had been walking for a few hours, and the sky was starting to darken.
"Let's stop here. It's not wise to enter an enemy base in the dark without having information and especially when we're tired," I said.
"Mr. Baldur is right. Let's set up camp here, Logan," said Xavier.
"Yes, professor."
We didn't bring much baggage, so we didn't have tents to sleep in. The only thing we could do was make a fire. The flame wouldn't attract attention to us since the forest was so dense that it prevented light from passing through. Plus, a fire was essential to ward off nocturnal hunters. Logan left a little before it got dark, and an hour later, he returned with the body of what seemed to be a dead boar. He cleaned the animal and put it to roast on the fire. We all sat around the fire except for Nightcrawler, who teleported to the top of a tree where he kept an eye on everything.
"We have rations enough for everyone, Logan," said Rogue, looking displeased at the animal on the fire.
"Why would I eat that dog food when I can have fresh food? Besides, we have to treat our guest well," he said, looking at me.
" It's been a long time since I've eaten around a campfire," said storm smiling.
(Storm was born in an African village, if I'm not mistaken.)
She then looked directly at me, and everyone else fell silent too. All the events so far had been one after the other, so they didn't pay much attention to my presence. Now we were all sitting and calm, and of course, the atmosphere would become a little strange.
"If you want, you can ask," she said.
I knew Storm's gaze toward me was purely out of curiosity. I was bored, it wouldn't hurt to answer a few questions.
"I don't want to be disrespectful, but how old are you?" I asked her.
"Why do you think I'm older than you?"
(A foolish question on my part.)
"The professor told us some things about you, and we also saw a statue in your city of your queen."
Our conversation, of course, drew the attention of everyone else, who looked at me expecting answers.
"I'm nearly fourteen hundred years old!"
Cough-cough-cough!
Gambit, who was drinking water, choked in surprise at my response. Rogue, who was beside him, helped him by patting his back rather roughly.
"Wow. You must be the oldest living mutant!" exclaimed Storm.
"I never said I was a mutant."
"Then what are you? I highly doubt an ordinary human could have lived that long, or are you going to insist on the story of being a god?" Logan said, teasing.
"I am an Asgardian."
"You'll have to explain more than that, mon ami," Gambit chimed in. But before I could respond properly, it was Professor Xavier who spoke first.
"The Asgardians. You must be referring to the people who live in Asgard, the home of the legends of the ancient Norse gods, like Odin, Thor, Loki... Baldur..."
(Finally, he made that connection.)
I don't have as many legends on Earth as my other siblings do. The only tales the ancient Norse have of me are the romantic story of how I invaded Jotunheim and fought against an army of ice giants to save my beloved.
"Yes, Xavier, I am that Baldur, Son of Odin, the same as in the legends."
"Wait! So you mean you're a Norse god? That Odin and Thor also exist?" Rogue asked.
"Yes. I am the god of the sun and light. My brothers live in Asgard like my father. The legends of Earth are not very well told, but they certainly exist."
After a little more time in silence for them to digest this information, I was bombarded with a flurry of questions, one after the other. They were well-trained, but they were also young and curious. We had time, so I answered them. Of course, some didn't believe I was a god. Two of them, to tell the truth. Logan was an atheist and didn't believe in anything divine. Nightcrawler, on the other hand, was very religious and never doubted his belief that his God was the only one. The others were still in doubt as to whether this was possible. I didn't care if they believed in me anyway.
So we kept talking until night fell, and they went to sleep. I stayed awake, gathering samples of soil and trees to analyze when I got home. My endurance is very high, and I don't even need to sleep.
"Good morning, Chére. I must say I've never seen a woman wake up as beautiful as you."
We started the day with another one of Gambit's incredible flirtations with Rogue.
"I see. So, Gambit, how many have there been? How many have you seen waking up with?"
(How these two became a couple is a mystery to me, even though they are my favorite couple from the X-Men stories.)
"Stop fooling around. We still have a long way to go," said Logan, who in my opinion is twice as grumpy after waking up.
We continued our journey calmly, crossing the jungle until we finally reached the edge and the end of the forest. We ended up facing a gigantic lake in the Savage Land, in the center of the lake, there was a small island where a structure resembling a black castle the size of a ten-story building stood.
"The trail comes from there," Logan says, pointing to the castle.
"We need boats to cross this lake," I say, drawing attention.
"We'd be an easy target for enemy missiles," I add.
"Mr. Baldur is right. Kurt, can you teleport us to the island?" Nightcrawler descends from a tree and asks Professor Xavier.
"It wouldn't be a problem, Professor," Kurt responds.
"That won't work either," I interrupt their plans once again. "We'd appear out of nowhere in enemy territory. They've surely prepared for an invasion, we'd be attacked from all sides," I explain why their plan won't work.
"Could you give us some ideas for plans instead of just finding flaws in ours?" Rogue asks.
"Of course, Rogue. My plan is simple. Let's walk!" I suggest.
"Walking! Of course. You're a god, walking on water is a trick they must all be able to do," Logan jests.
"Logan!"
I find it incredible how Logan's personality hasn't changed after losing his memories. Xavier also seems to think hundreds of times before saying anything to me, perhaps he thinks I lose patience or get offended very easily.
(Let's play along a bit too.)
I take several steps forward and place my foot on the lake water, walking on it. Everyone falls silent behind me as I walk a few meters on the water.
"In the name of the lord, what my eyes see," Nightcrawler says, startled.
"Aren't you coming?" I ask.
They approach and see that I'm standing on the water without using any visible trick. I stop fooling around and make the light construction I'm standing on appear to them. A golden path appears on the ocean leading straight to the island, and everyone understands that I'm just playing with them.
"Nice move, kid," says Logan.
We walk on the path I created using light manipulation calmly, but we stop when we reach the halfway point. The reason is that we can now see what was happening from the opposite shore—a war.
Several men wearing animal skins as clothing were fighting, all using prehistoric stone weapons, making the fight much more violent and bloody. Some of them even rode dinosaurs into battle. The sight in the sky was even more surprising, cavemen riding Pteranodons engaged in prehistoric aerial combat.
"Is anyone seeing this, or am I hallucinating about cavemen using dinosaurs for war?" Logan asks his friends.
"So we're both having the same illusion, mon ami," Gambit replies, equally shocked.
"Stay here. I'll help them," I say.
"Why?" Logan asks.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"How will you know who is who?"
"I'll know."
I fly toward the conflict, leaving everyone behind.
"Allow me to accompany you, Mr. Baldur," Storm says, flying beside me. I forget that she's the only one of the X-Men here who can fly. My speed is greater than hers, but it's pointless to leave her behind for a destination so close to us.
"Stay close to me and don't do anything until I say. We don't know who our enemy is."
"Of course."
We both land a little away from the ongoing battle, they were so focused on killing each other that they didn't notice our arrival.
"Can you get their attention?" I ask Ororo.
"I have an idea."
She raises her arms, and her eyes turn white as the winds obey her command, creating chaos on the battlefield. The winds weren't strong enough to blow them away but were enough to make them stumble, stopping the battle. When the fighting ended, Ororo stood by my side, watching my next move, and both armies did the same.
"Die, Witch!"
I didn't know who was an ally or an enemy, so I had to wait for the first idiot to try something.
"Watch out!" someone says
"On our side, a soldier wearing animal skins tries to attack Ororo with a makeshift sword. I grab his crude blade and break it. The soldier is shocked by this, then struck by my punch, knocking him unconscious.
"Now we know who to help," I tell Storm, looking at the man who shouted at us to be careful. He's a large, muscular, blond man wearing only a loincloth and holding a knife.
"I'm here to defeat the enemy on that island," I say, pointing to the island.
"Then you are my ally," the loincloth-clad man says.
"The problem is knowing which of your men are with you and which are with the enemy."
"That's easy, our enemies are wearing black animal skins," he responds.
I know he's not lying to me because I recognize him. Ka-Zar, one of the frequently used characters when Marvel heroes venture into the Savage Land.
"Rawww! "
Another confirmation of his identity as a saber-toothed tiger with blood-stained fur comes and stands by his side.
"Well, now that we know who the enemy is, they can die!"
"Boom!"
It was a different explosion from the usual. It didn't happen in an isolated location, it was the sound of several small explosions happening simultaneously around us. All the men wearing black skins burst into golden flames at the same instant. There was no scream, and after a few seconds, only ashes remained from one of the armies. The other remaining army, along with Storm, looked at me. Some with reverence, most with fear.
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