As we ventured deeper into this surreal landscape, it became increasingly apparent that we had stumbled into a realm where reality itself seemed to be in flux. Initially resembling a forest, the surroundings morphed with each blink of the eye, shifting from blue to red, and now settling on a vibrant orange hue. How such a phenomenon was possible eluded us entirely, leaving us awestruck and bewildered.
The uncanny pink mushroom trees added to the eerie atmosphere, their gaze fixed upon us with unblinking eye-like pupils. Whenever our sight wavered, they contorted and stretched to maintain their watchful vigil, lending an unsettling sentience to the flora around us.
As if the bizarre flora wasn't enough, the creatures of this place defied all logic. Walking alongside us was a peculiar green cat, its face positioned where its tail should be, and its hindquarters serving as its face. Striding backward yet somehow forward, its feline form presented a paradoxical sight that left us scratching our heads in utter confusion.
"Ey, look 'ere! What's sittin' on yon branch?! Is that even physically possible?!"
Modi calls out, and me and Magni turn to look. A mammoth-like elephant sitting high atop a slender, brittle branch. The sheer impossibility of the sight bewilders us. Shouldn't the branch snap under such weight? Yet, it bends without breaking, defying all logic. Adding to the perplexity, the mammoth creature appears utterly depressed as it gazes into the sky, which my eyes followed.
"HEY LOOK! THE SUN HAS LIKE A THOUSAND ARMS SURROUNDING IT!" I scream out in shock, my voice echoing through the bizarre landscape.
"It also 'as an ugly face!" Magni calls out.
The arms on the sun began to wiggle as if it's performing some sort of dance, its light casting a path toward a river. However, the river had no color but was completely transparent.
"Is that a river? But it doesn't look like water," remarked Magni.
"Aye, it looks like water-like glass," responded Modi.
As we gazed down the strange river, the longer we looked, the more it seemed like there was no ground beneath us. It felt as though we could continue staring into it forever, our vision falling eternally. I found myself leaning forward, as if slowly being sucked in, yet it was strangely comfortable.
"Wake up, idiot!" shouted Magni just in the nick of time.
"Oh, shoot! I didn't even realize I was falling. Thanks, Magni!" I exclaimed.
"Uh-oh, another bunch of weirdos have appeared," observed Modi, prompting us to turn and see a group of caterpillars. They appeared aged, sporting hairy facial hair and glasses, each puffing on a cigarette as they trailed around, chanting "Ba, ba, ba."
"Do they notice us?" I asked.
"Or maybe they don't care," responded Magni.
Suddenly, black three-eyed frogs began walking the tree on two legs, defying gravity as they conversed among themselves, paying us no mind. Then, two old, wrinkled men appeared. One had skin coated in red and yellow polka dots, with a woman's face symmetrically attached under his neck. The other had pure red skin and a beard so long it trailed on the ground. Each strand of hair on his beard was attached to an eyeball, each seeming to have a mind of its own.
"I wanna throw up!" exclaimed Modi, analyzing the bizarre creatures around us.
Out of the blue, the polka-dotted old man grabbed one of the three-eyed frogs and fed it to the head attached under his neck, causing it to munch away. It was far from appetizing.
"Okay! I'm already sick of this place! I wanna go back to the beach place!" I cried out in frustration.
"And if ya do that, grandfather will find ya in a nick o' time," warned Modi.
"Weren't ya the same person who said we should explore this place?" countered Magni.
"That's before we found out this place is absolutely nuts!" I retorted.
"Anyway, we can't go back. Although this place is crazy, we can use it to our advantage as a hidin' place. Even grandfather should be caught off guard by all this wackiness," reasoned Magni.
"Also, if ya leave us, we'll get lost since we wouldn't know where to go," added Modi.
I let out a huge sigh and looked upwards, only to find the great, vast blue sky had transitioned into a huge mirror reflecting everything from the ground.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed, crouching in fear and panic.
"What's wrong with ya now?!" demanded Magni, annoyance clear in his tone.
"Loo-lo-look u-up –i-i-in th-the sky!" I stammered, trembling as I struggled to form the words, pointing upwards without daring to glance.
"Okay, we're lookin' up and... Oh! Is that us up there?!" exclaimed Magni.
"Kinda splendid!" Modi said.
"I don't see the problem o' this one tho? I don't see any weirdish creatures, why are ya scared?" Magni inquired.
"Lo-look ag-again," I muttered, my voice trembling.
"We're already lookin' at it! Spit it out o' what's gotten ya so scared!" Magni urged, frustration evident in his tone.
"I-I-I-I've got no..." I struggled to articulate.
"Ya've got no..." Magni and Modi repeated after me.
"Head..."
"Head?" Magni and Modi echoed in disbelief, their expressions mirroring my own shock.
"Huh? Ya've got no..." began Magni, with Modi finishing, "Head."
"What?! But didn't ya already know that?!" Magni exclaimed, his fuse blown.
"Why are ya shocked now?! Haven't ya gotten over it?!" Modi questioned.
"Ho-how can I get o-over saomething like that? It's no-not normal," I muttered, my self-esteem plummeting at the reminder that I'm a headless being.
"What do ya want us to do about it? If that's how ya was born, ya can't change anything," Magni said harshly.
"But why am I born like this? Actually, I don't think I'm born like this totally. Your grandfather said I have an actual head but it's out there somewhere! Arghh! I wish I had it with me now! It's embarrassing. How would you feel if you was born without a head?!" I complained, shivering in humiliation, feeling exposed and vulnerable.
"Honestly, if I was born like you, I would hate my life. I wouldn't be able to eat, kiss a girl, eat," Magni said, ignorant to my feelings.
But at the same time, he's just being honest. What girl would want to date me? But then if I'm thinking, I had kids, maybe then I've already dated women in the past and they know who I am. Still, I don't feel comfortable like this.
"Anyway, we need to keep movin', it won't be soon till seven days passed and grandfather find us, so we need to find which spots are good to hide," Magni said.
As Magni and Modi carried on walking, I stayed in the same place, burying my body into the ground.
"Hey! I said we need to move!" Magni screamed.
"I'm not moving!" I rebelled defiantly.
"Don't make me repeat myself twice!" Magni warned, his rage fueling.
"I DON'T CARE! I'M NOT MOVING!"
Suddenly, I could hear Magni pulling out his weapon as he slammed it towards the ground.
"I won't have ya disrespect me again! I'm tired of ya disrespectin' me countless times! If ya won't come, then I'll kill ya since ya'll have no purpose for us!" Magni declared.
"Ya wouldn't do that, or that's ya goin' against grandfather's old friend," Modi interjected.
"It's even shameful to our bloodline that grandfather would call somebody like him a friend! He's a coward! A disgrace! I don't care if he's grandfather's friend, I'll cut him down if he does not follow us!"
"So ya'll cut down grandfather's friend?" Modi questioned.
"Shut up, Modi! Grandfather has even fallen! He even lost to our own father! Grandfather isn't the man we thought he is anyway, now he's a stinking black bird! A crow! Do ya know how much of a joke that is!"
"B-but brother, he's our grandfather?!" Modi exclaimed, enraged.
Did Magni really just say that? I had always had the impression that these two boys really adored their grandfather, just from the way they obeyed his every word and showed him respect, but this is how he really sees him.
"For some reason, I couldn't allow Magni to say those words when he doesn't know the full story of what Odin is going through," I said, still buried in the ground.
"Magni, don't talk bad about your grandfather!" I urged.
"And ya still, continue to disrespect me?! Fine, I'll cut ya down!" Magni threatened, preparing to strike.
Without any hesitation, I got up and held onto Magni's sword, which slightly pierced into my glove armor, causing a bit of blood to leak.
"Ye dare stop ma blade?!" Magni exclaimed, infuriated.
"How are you even stopping it with just yer hands?" Modi said in disbelief.
"You can disrespect me and call me all sorts of names, but I won't allow you to disrespect Odin!" I said in a serious tone.
"Why do ya care if I bad mouth my own grandfather?! Is it because he's ye friend? Well, that's a joke because ye friend lost to my father!" Magni retorted.
"It's not only because he was my friend back in the day!"
"Then why else would you—"
"It's because he's your grandfather! And a grandson should not be badmouthing and disrespecting his grandfather!" I exclaimed.
My answer caught both Magni and Modi off guard.
"Wait, is that the real reason you're angry? Not because Magni badmouthed you, but because he badmouthed grandfather, not because he's your friend but he's our grandfather?" Modi questioned.
"Yes!" I affirmed.
"Why?" Modi inquired.
"Because it's just wrong! He's your grandfather! Do you even know what that even means?! He's your father's father! It doesn't matter if they had an argument; you should not be picking sides! Now after this game, you're going to apologize to him!" I insisted.
"Apologize to whom?" Magni retorted.
"To Odin," I stated firmly.
"What?! No way!" Magni protested.
"Yes, you will!" I pressed, not letting it go.
"Are you trying to imply you're going to make me through force?" Magni challenged.
"No. Because if I make you, it wouldn't be genuine," I explained.
"What are you even on about?" Magni said.
"But you'll say sorry out of your own will because he's your grandfather," I said.
"I'm really confused what's going on?" Modi said, scratching his head.
Magni just stood there, staring into my soul, which was very intimidating, especially with him carrying his dangerous weapon, but I'm not backing down.
"I don't get you! I really don't get you! You make my head hurt!" Magni said, sounding frustrated.
"How are you grandfather's friend? I didn't even think grandfather has any friends? But before you awake, he'll talk about you all day long. Like you're a mighty warrior, but as soon as you said that, you turned out to be a phony! It's like everything grandfather said was a lie," Magni distresses.
"Then I'm sorry to disappoint, and it isn't your grandfather's fault. He's probably telling the truth.
"See! That's it! I don't get you!" Magni said quickly.
"Huh?" I said.
"Ye turned out t'be th'exact opposite o' all th' things grandfather said about ye, but not only that, but ye got betrayed by yer ain horse. Shouldn't ye have been angry, shouldn't ye have felt th' humiliation! I know what humiliation is like, so there's no way ye can tell me what ye felt back then ain't humiliation!"
I am being taken aback right now. This isn't the usual cocky Magni; this time it seems like he's genuinely frustrated and wants to understand, but he's struggling. Does Magni even realize he has emotions other than pride and anger?
"But ye didn't retaliate wi' yer horse; instead, ye protected it! Ye cried fer it! That doesn't make sense! Ye were more concerned 'bout it bein' hurt than yerself! That ain't a true warrior! At one point, I even thought ye could even be a woman!"
Okay, that's a bit sexist, Magni.
"But ye still showed kindness to it. If that was me, I would have slain it there and then! I just don't understand! One minute ye're a coward, and then th' next, yer whole cowardly aura disappears when it comes t'others! Like, I was so confused back then why ye would even defend my brother! He also tried t'kill you!"
Okay, I think that's enough.
I approached Magni and gently placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Magni, you do really great in expressing your anger, but everything else you suck."
"What!"
"See? You're doing it already. If you're confused about something, then ask; if you're frustrated, then let it out; if you're sad, then speak to someone, and if you're happy, laugh out loud. Showing emotion doesn't mean weakness, Magni. It just means you're Magni. You've had all these thoughts and questions, why didn't you just voice them out in those moments?" I said.
"Because father wouldn't do that," Magni said.
"Okay, but does your father want another him? Or does he want a strong Magni?" I said.
Magni looked towards me as that seemed to resonate with him.
"A-a str-strong Magni," he said.
"Exactly! And I definitely know that a strong Magni will one day surpass his father!"
"Wait! Ye really think so!"
I think that's the first time I saw a genuine light of hope in Magni's eyes. Has he always lived in his father's shadow?
"Of course! But you can't do it by yourself," I said.
"What do you mean by that?" he said.
"You'll need your brother's help," I replied, catching Modi off guard and leaving Magni confused.
"Ay, what's this? Ye be suggestin' I can't be stronger by meself?" Magni asked.
"That's not what I'm saying. You probably can, but I think you can be a hundred times stronger than your father if you have Modi on your side!" I exclaimed.
"A HUNDRED TIMES STRONGER?!" Modi screamed in shock.
"Are you being serious?" Magni said, incredulous.
"Of course. But right now, let's continue exploring this place and look for good hiding spots before your grandfather finds us," I suggested. Both boys seemed to agree and walked on ahead, but I was still hesitant, looking upwards towards the reflective sky, hoping I'd see a head attached to my body. But no. I'm still headless, which makes me uncomfortable as I froze still.
"Art thou not comin'?" Magni said.
"Yeah, I'll be with you in a second."
Magni and Modi exchanged glances. Suddenly, there was some sort of bear with four arms nearby, which Magni spotted and instantly sliced off its head. I didn't understand why he'd do that.
"Why would you-"
Before I could finish what I was going to say, Magni picked up the head and handed it to me.
"Now ye need not be ashamed. Wear it."
Wow, I almost wanted to cry. Did Magni just do something polite? For me?! As I looked at the boys' faces, they seemed much happier. But is that what all it took? It was the first time I saw genuine expressions on their faces as they conversed without any arguments. They discussed how shocked they were at the idea of being hundred times stronger than their dad if they worked together.
No, but seriously, is that really all it took? These boys, they're too easy sometimes, I swear. But from where I'm standing, they starting to look like brothers.