Only ten days parted Jörmun, Maddie and Birger from the day they had been working so intensively towards. The Skuldelev was in the best state it had seen in a long time. The only thing left to be added was the sail; but the ship had to leave the workshop in order for that to be done.

Luckily enough, Birger thought about everything when he put the building of the workshop in place. It had a large pair of doors opening straight towards the lake, with a ramp to help the boat slide off its wooden construction pillars.

The group gathered early in the morning to initiate the grand move. Though the man was sure that the Skuldelev would have no problems remaining afloat, Maddie still had her doubts about it. The vessel looked spectacular and there was no question around Birger’s work itself, but she feared for the older parts they had to keep in the body of the ship.

“Are you sure you don’t want to use the ramp?” Birger asked Jörmun as they all stood before the open doors that led to the lake.

“I should be able to handle this,” he glanced one more time at the boat before rolling up his sleeves. “I believe it would be best for you two to wait outside, just in case this thing balances the wrong way and knocks something off.”

Birger and Maddie took his advice and made their way to the wooden pier nearby the workshop. They caught glimpse of the stempost being traversed by the familiar green glow. Under their mesmerized eyes, with a levitating spell Jörmun pushed the boat outside the building, allowing it to settle graciously over the still surface of the lake.

“All good?!” Jörmun yelled from inside the workshop, staring through the door opening. He heard the cheering sounds coming from the other two; he smiled to himself and eventually joined them on the pier, where he had been greeted by pats on the back from Birger.

“You did it!” he exclaimed as he squeezed Jörmun’s arm encouragingly. “We did it!” he added while offering Maddie a similar fatherly treatment. He was proud of their hard work and perseverance.

“You had doubts?” he chuckled.

“Not much,” Birger smiled. He then looked at the Skuldelev. It was for the first time all of them could admire it in broad daylight; and what a sight it was. A smaller version of a regular longship, the vessel stretched its lean shapes across the length of the whole pier. It was a pure symbol of rebirth, with its newly added wood merging flawlessly with the older parts that Jörmun managed to mend. Its stempost, in the shape of a snake’s head, was blending beautifully with the rune-sculpted border that circled around the entire ship.

---

The following day found them still around the Skuldelev. It remained well afloat, which brought Maddie a sentiment of relief. She was grateful; all their hard work eventually paid off. Locating and retrieving the parts, as well as assembling them together, had been quite a journey.

With Jörmun and Birger working out the final details while installing the mast and sail, Maddie could only think of the remainder left of their plan; to actually put the ship to use. Despite her attempts to squeeze out of Jörmun more information around the next steps, she didn’t succeed much. He would only keep on postponing, telling her that she would know more when the time is right.

However, Maddie was growing more impatient and nervous with each passing day; when would that ideal moment for him to reveal more come? Deciding to try her luck once again, the girl managed to get a hang of the fiery haired one only after dinner.

“Your bed is significantly more comfortable than the sofa in the other room. I am thinking that maybe we should’ve switched once in a while,” Jörmun bounced his weight against the mattress as he sat. He then watched Maddie close the door and put her back against it, staring at him in silence. He could tell she was picking her words; he was also able to take a good guess at what she was intending to chat about.

“You can have the room for the remainder of days until the Midwinter Solstice with one condition.”

“I’m listening,” he crossed his legs and folded his hands on top of his knee.

“You have to stop on dragging me, until the very last moment, and tell me how do you plan for us to reach Asgard.”

“You must mean, how do I plan to reach Asgard.”

“I thought we cleared out that bit. I am coming along.”

“There won’t be any we going through those gates, Maddie.”

“Gates. It’s the first time you mention them. Where are they? Will they appear during that night? Is it some kind of spell you must do?” she crossed her arms as she stared Jörmun in the eye. He did not seem to oppose the idea of discussing the subject as much as other times. And he even mentioned a new element; the gates.

“They’re the entrance to my sister’s realm; the Land of the Dead. The Underworld.”

Maddie blinked a few times, letting the words echo through her mind. “I thought we were headed for Asgard. Isn’t that where Thor took Eloise?” she narrowed her eyes as if trying to peek into Jörmun’s thoughts.

“Once again, it’s just me. There is no we.”

“Will you leave that to the side for one moment and just answer what I’m asking? I am genuinely losing my patience. My head is a mess and my insides twist and turn with the unknown you keep on throwing my way,” Maddie cried, finally stepping away from the door. She walked up to the bed and stopped before the other; her hands grabbed his shoulders and squeezed at them briefly. “If you do care the smallest bit about my well-being, please accept that all of this anxiety is causing me harm.”

Jörmun sucked his lips and lowered his gaze. It was for her own good that he kept the details only for himself; or so he thought.

“I am going to reach Asgard through the back door. I cannot call onto the Bifröst to take me home, because I no longer belong there,” a small pause followed; Jörmun’s forehead creased with a soft frown. “Well, I do, but others decided that I shouldn’t be there anymore.”

“This was your brilliant plan all along? Why do you even need the boat? Why during the Solstice?”

“I need the boat for the traditional ceremony that will open the gates. Odin collects souls from Midgard during that day.”

“What traditional ceremony?” Maddie repeated in a low whisper. There was a dark thought that was beginning to form as she pieced the information together. Her heart sank, while her nails dug deeper through the clothes, stabbing at Jörmun’s shoulders.

“The burial,” he eventually let it slip off his tongue. The key to his passage into the Underworld had been revealed.

Jörmun’s eyes searched Maddie’s and the raw emotion he saw running through her glare was the very reason why he kept things hidden for as long. He also didn’t feel safe to reveal anything more until he saw the Skuldelev done and ready to go.

“That’s why you needed someone to be able to shoot a longbow. You’re planning to have that boat set on fire with yourself onboard, aren’t you?”

“It’s the only way for this to work.”

“This is absolutely insane. You have said and done so many things which I’d normally consider bonkers, but this is… Ugh!” she grunted in frustration as she released his shoulders from her grip. Maddie took a couple of steps behind and stared at the other with raging fury. “This is why you insist that I can’t come along. I’d have to die in order to follow you.”

“I am glad that we finally agree on the terms,” he was in fact relieved that she connected the dots and understood on her own why she wouldn’t be able to join.

“You are the most selfish being I’ve ever came to know. You said you needed me and for what? To just watch your back while you were planning to go alone anyway? You manipulated the knowledge you had against me and took advantage of myself being desperate to get Eloise back,” her voice cracked as she spoke. Her eyes became cloudy with tears while her face felt hotter and hotter as emotions boiled fiercely inside her.

“Would you have still helped me on this journey if you knew it all from the very beginning?”

“I… I don’t know?! I still can’t believe this is happening, but it makes complete sense for it to be right. Everything finally falls into place. Your mad plan to burn yourself to death. How could I not see it coming?!” she threw her hands in the air.

“If it’s of any relief, I am dying anyway. I just need a spark to go,” he smiled bitterly and stood up to face the other. He watched her dive deeper into her thoughts as she tried to clear the confusion his words delivered. “The poison in the huldra’s stab never left me.”

“I can’t even… There’s more?! How many lies?! How many things have you been keeping away from me?” Maddie moaned and buried her face in her palms; taking a few deep breaths through her fingers. She brushed off tears from her eyes before looking back up at the other.

“I knew you wouldn’t take it lightly,” he tried to excuse his reasoning, but found himself greeted by a hit in the chest. Maddie slammed her fists against him a couple more times before taking a handful of his shirt and shake him in place.

“Is there anything else left for me to know before I completely lose my mind over the absurdity of this whole situation?”

“It’s likely that I won’t be able to bring my sister back to Midgard.”

“I could’ve sworn this was going to come,” she admitted. It was the only logical option; the last ingredient to the chaos stew. If there was no proper way in for none of his family members, then there was also no way back. The route he planned to take now would clearly not work the other way around. Nobody came back from the dead, did they?

“I’m sorry, Maddie.”

“You’re not. You did all of this while knowing the consequences of it. You consciously led me into living the illusion that the events could be undone; that I could have Eloise back without any further trouble. But all you did, ever since you showed up at the University, was to mess around with my existence, because why not?” she laughed through her meltdown. “I am nothing but a mortal; a mere Earthling. A Midgardian.”

“I did not purposely ruined your life.”

“But you admit you did ruin it, don’t you?” Maddie’s lips curved in a resentful smile. “I hate you. And if this is yet another charming trait you inherited from your father, I can understand why everyone disliked your family. There’s nothing to love.”

There was no lingering regret and no second glance when Maddie grabbed as many of her belongings as she could and stormed outside the room, leaving Jörmun with words to haunt him for the night.

“There’s nothing to love.”