Her Destiny

Chapter 4

The portal of Zeus brought Odin and his loyal raven in the Sapphire woods.

"The Sapphire woods? Is the Crown on earth? Why would the Titan take the Crown to the earth? "The raven crowed, Huginn was also confused.

"Wait, I know this place. We are in Sapphire Woods. Here live the fairies. If anyone would know where the Crown is, then it's fairy king."

Odin knew the way of the fairies by heart. He wasn't really fond of them. At first, the fairies had always admired the Gods and thanked them for creating them, honoring them with flowers. But as time flew by, they got pompous, and they even felt equally crucial as the Gods. Afterall in their eyes, they took care of nature on earth. They made flowers grow, healed sick trees, and cleaned the rivers. They felt essential, the gods needed them to take care of the flora on earth. Only the fairy queen still believed that the gods were superior, but they never heard from her again. Rumors say she got ill and died, which made the king hate the Gods even more. They didn't even save the only one who still believed in them.

"You there, what Are you doing here?!" six guardians of the fairy kingdom stood proudly in front of Odin with their spears in their hands. Odin rolled his eyes. How dare they speak to him that way, when he's back in the Gods Realm, he'll remind the fairies who the Gods are. The one who spoke appeared to be the leader of the men. But before Odin could say anything, the man changed his attitude like something has changed his mind. His facial expression changed like he would look if he had just won a significant bet.

"I can feel your power from here. You're the God our king is waiting on. Follow us."

The six men turned simultaneously, leading the way for Odin and Huginn. Odin looked at his raven as if they were discussing if they should follow or not. Odin could easily kill the men and walk away, but what if the king knew something about the Crown… His father must have sent him here for a reason. If he would kill the guardians, the king would never help them. Their curiousness took over, and they followed the six men.

They followed them on the path in the woods. Both Odin and Huginn were scanning their environment, taking in all the details they saw on their way. If it should be that they had to escape, they would at least know hiding places. A war with the fairy king was the last thing he needed right now. The guardians clearly didn't realize Odin knew this place. They kept making detours hoping they could make him feel lost. After a walk that seemed to last hours, they came by a wild river. The water was moving like it was alive. It looked more scarier than beautiful. The fog was floating above it. The water hinted that it would drown people who dared to come too close. The fear it brought was probably to keep out unwanted guests. But Odin knew better than that. It was just an ordinary river. The men walked straight to the waterfall over the river. Huginn nestled himself on Odin's shoulders so they couldn't be separated when they got through. It could still be a list. But it wasn't. Both came in a cave safely. The six warriors were still dry while Odin and Huginn were drained. This made no sense. The cave was decorated with colorful flowers and plants. They were even walking on grass in a cave. It was absurd.

After walking a few minutes, they came into a big hall. The hall looked empty. That way, it even looks more prominent. In the middle, there was a throne made of twigs and plants.

"The king will meet you soon." Now he had to wait for him, are they serious? How self-righteous could they be? Letting a God wait was unheard of. Huginn felt the anger from his master. The raven had to do his best not to peck their eyes out. The six guardians that brought them here split up next to the throne. Three guardians were standing on the throne's left side, the others on the right. Ten beautiful girls with long magnificent dresses and gorgeous hair walked in. They ware making a path while they spread flowers on the ground. When they had reached the throne, they bowed and formed one line next to it. Then the king came in. He followed the path of flowers. Odin rolled his eyes again. He had that habit when he found something boring or absurd and couldn't punch the people. What was the king's intention by doing this ridiculous show? Huginn nestled himself bored on Odin's shoulders. He had the feeling this could take a while. If the king could walk any slower he would go backward. Finally, after 5 long minutes, the king sat down on his throne.

Odin bowed his head first, then the king followed his example. Odin may be a God, but fairies were still respected by the gods because of their help with maintaining nature. For now, they were still respected, at least… Besides, Odin was now on the fairies their turf, and the king knew he was coming, hinting he knew something about the Crown.

"King if I should believe your guards, then you were expecting me ?" Odin spoke first, which wasn't normal. Usually, the king should speak first in his palace. But Odin didn't want to waste time. And he had already bowed first for that pathetic king. If the king was offended, he didn't let It show. Or he already knew he was walking on thin ice.

"My soldiers found a particularly weird item on my turf. An item I believe that belongs to God's. I wonder why the Crown Of Destiny was found here on earth." The king was looking at Odin as if he wanted to look through him.

Odin was relieved the Crown wasn't in the hands of the Titan anymore. Now he could simply take the Crown back home. This was much easier than expected.

"Thank you for keeping it for me. Give me the Crown, and we can go back to our business." Odin stretched his hands, ready to accept the Crown.

"Well that's going to be a problem. You see, I am not so sure if I should give it back to you. My little birds see everything, and they whispered that you, the son of Zeus, lost the Crown. I just don't feel comfortable giving it back to the one that lost it in the first place. The person who wears the Crown can see visions of the future. We all know the legend of the Crown. If the right person puts it on, it will shine and give him the powers he needs to destroy Cronos. But that was soo many years ago, and Cronos himself became nothing more than a legend. So I don't think the Crown isn't that special anymore, just peace of jewel. A jewel that shines in my beautiful collection. Who finds it may keep it."

Odin was crunching his teeth. "I know you fairies like to make deals. So skip the whole innocent act and tell me what I should get in exchange for the Crown. "He wanted to kill everyone in the entire fairies kingdom, but he knew Zeus counted on their support in maintaining nature. So for now, he'll play along. This king will soon know he is nothing more than an insect that could be destroyed whenever Odin felt like it.

"I'll only feel comfortable giving the Crown to someone who has strength, persisting, and has a strong knowledge. So there will be tests. If you succeed, I'll give you the Crown. But if you'll fail, the Crown stays with me. That's my promise as fairy king, and you know fairies can't break their promises. I want to make sure you're worthy." He is seriously talking about testing a god? He is even more delusional then Odin thought.

"So, creating you wasn't worthy enough?"

The king didn't look pleased with that answer at all, hinting that he wouldn't even be alive without the Gods wasn't the right moment."

Odin sighed deeply.

"Okay give me the tests so I can finish this and go back home." Odin was becoming very impatient. Now he wants to give him test? How much time is this going to take?

The king starts to laugh very hard, tears coming from his eyes.

"Haha, he thinks I just simply give him the test haha" All the subjects from the king started to laugh too. "I am not going giving you the tasks. I know what's been tested and by who. Your strength and persistence will be tested by The bull Taurus, Your wisdom will be tested by the eight wise men. As God, I assume you know where you need to go now. The king rose from his throne and left the hall with all his subjects leaving Odin and Huginn alone.

"I'll swear I slap that arrogance right out that little king when I have that Crown. And then I'll kill him slowly so that I can torture him forever in the Underworld." Huginn screeched in agreement. He likes that idea.