The Valkyrie

by Charlotte Vassell

  This paragraph made the girl upset. She thought that maybe she knew this Valour girl and to have been killed in such a pointless way, if she was as good as the rest of the book described, disheartened her. This Gravity character seemed very cruel.

  She picked up the next volume Ares and began to read the first chapter but she skipped to the last chapter all the same.

  The barbaric Ares was shot in the face by Apollo behind a strip club in Soho, London. His body was thrown into a skip where he transformed into a column of granite. Ares was foolish enough to think that he deserved Glory’s hand in marriage. He did not deserve it and it was not free to be had. Glory belonged to Apollo forever and ever, Amen.

  This Ares seemed foolish if he tried to steal another god’s wife but the girl felt bad for him if he had deeply loved this Glory. She wondered if he had deserved such a fate but decided that if this Apollo, the hero of the story, had done it then his death was righteous. She thought she may as well read the third volume because it was there. She went straight to the last chapter:

  Aphrodite mercifully killed herself. She could not compete with Glory who was far lovelier than she. Aphrodite had been the lover of Ares who had pursued Glory and been punished for it. Hail Glory goddess of beauty and love forever and ever, Amen.

  The girl felt hungry again. She was about to go in search of more ambrosia but she noticed another volume lying at her feet: The Life and Death of Britannia. She picked it up but knew it wasn’t worth reading so she threw it in the fire and delighted in watching it burn. The girl got up and saw that there was more ambrosia on the mahogany table which she gleefully drank. It made her sleepy so she went back upstairs, lay down on the bed and drifted off into the darkness.

  ***

  And so this pattern would continue. Every day the girl woke up in that bedroom went downstairs and found some ambrosia on the side for her to drink, a new piece of music would be on the piano for her to play and then she would go into the library and read a few new volumes. Each time she felt she knew the character in question so she’d only read the last bit to see how they died. She had started putting them along the shelves in order as there were so many of them. Some days there were a couple of volumes and other days hundreds. The books talked of all sorts of gods from all the across the world: Quetzalcoatl, Anansi, Thor, Amaterasu, Shiva and Osiris. There was a huge volume called The Realms of the Dead where Apollo had slain all the gods of all the different afterlives so that now he was master of all the dead, of magic and of dreams. He had consolidated all their realms into one afterlife, where all the souls were judged according to whether or not they had obeyed Apollo’s rules. He had even killed the titan of time, who had been imprisoned in Tartarus by the wicked Zeus, so now Apollo controlled every second in the universe. This Apollo character only needed to kill the god Gravity to control everything important.

  Most of the volumes only vaguely interested her but some of them upset her greatly but she didn’t know why. All the names in the books were familiar but she didn’t know this Honour, who was raped and murdered on the battlefield of Eurasia by some traitor called Dionysius, – she was pleased to read later on that he had been killed by the heroic Apollo character for trying to harm Glory as she slept. The one that upset her the most was the death of Liberty who died when Apollo shot her through the heart. Liberty was a rebel who had sided with Gravity and partook in all of his crimes too. She was making a speech against him calling him mad, said that he was a tyrant and worse than Zeus. Zeus was terrible; the girl knew this from the fat volume dedicated to him which listed all the many heinous crimes he had committed. Apollo couldn’t be worse than that. Zeus had been disembowelled by Gravity who tried to free his mother Metis but she wasn’t there inside Zeus’s stomach. By killing Zeus Gravity briefly became Lord of The Skies. Apollo was mad that he was not the one to kill Zeus. Zeus had separated him from Glory in the first place; it was all Zeus’s fault. Liberty was carrying Gravity’s baby when she died. That made the girl very sad. But she understood that Liberty had been a threat to Apollo and Glory. She had tried to kidnap Glory. Liberty said that she was freeing her but Apollo knew better than that. Apollo knew what was best for Glory. Liberty had been a friend of Glory’s when she was younger and more foolish. Out of love for Glory, Apollo placed Liberty’s body in the sky as the new North Star. All of the other stars had already fallen out of the sky.

  ***

  The books on the Asgardians all came in quick succession. The saddest of all was that of noble Loki, who had been brave and loyal to Apollo to the last. He had in fact been one of Apollo’s son’s from his days before Glory redeemed him. Loki stood to the last, dying in the Battle of Ragnarok against the vile Asgardians. The Asgardians had held Glory in servitude for her refusal to marry the barbarous Thor because of her love for Apollo. Apollo helped Loki in the battle and rained fire and brimstone down on Asgard, but Loki did not make it. Apollo was sad at the death of his brave son but he had thought that perhaps Loki was in love with Glory so he could not live. He could not blame Loki for being in love with Glory but he would not allow it. The girl was sad at this she had flicked through Loki’s earlier chapters and saw that he had been unhappy in his life. Apollo put Loki’s body in the sky as a star.

  Odin’s death was brief: he was killed by Loki’s son Fenrir the wolf. Thor then avenged his father by killing Fenrir. This made Apollo sad at the death of his grandson. The wolf was sacred to Apollo and he would shape shift into one in his youth. Thor’s death came not long after that and he was swallowed whole by Loki’s other son the snake Jormungandr. Apollo rewarded the brave serpent for this by allowing him to live in his garden once the war was over. The snake was after all his grandson.

  ***

  The death of Eros made the girl sad. The young god had allied with Apollo in the beginning but he had betrayed Apollo. Apollo had to kill him before he hit Glory with a hate arrow. Apollo could not bear it if Glory ever hated him. Apollo was also furious that Eros had put Glory’s lovesick pain over him in a box. If that had not happened then she would have found her way back to him quicker and she would not be asleep now. Eros’s body transformed into a waterfall.

  ***

  One of the deaths that Apollo rejoiced in most was the death of Hera his father’s wicked wife. She was not the sort of wife that Glory was: Hera was cruel and Glory was kind. Hera had persecuted Apollo when he was a child and he wanted his revenge. Zeus had always stood in the way before. Hera had also tried to make Glory marry Ares. Glory could never have married Ares, she is Apollo’s forever and ever, Amen. Apollo was pitiless towards her and she bled a lot before she died. The girl was a little sad at the death of Hera. The early chapters in her book described her curtains but the girl agreed that Hera had been wicked to Apollo.

  The death of Hermes was brief. He was a good brother to Apollo and Apollo even let him near Glory. When Apollo’s back was turned Hermes stroked Glory’s cheek so he shot him. Hermes could not be in love with Glory too. Glory is Apollo’s forever and ever, Amen.

  The arrival of the books began to tail off after a while. She hadn’t had any new ones for some time until the volumes of Artemis and Leto arrived. Leto had begged Apollo to give up Glory, she begged him to look around at all the destruction he’d caused because he loved her so. Leto called Glory a wicked influence. Leto’s speech was a distraction so that Artemis could sneak in to the garden and kill Glory, thus Apollo slayed Leto for daring to make such blasphemous claims and Artemis for attempted murder. Apollo and Artemis had had a strange relationship. Apollo had been sure that Artemis had been in love with him, her twin brother, and that was why she had taken a vow of chastity. Artemis did not want to follow the example of pitiful Hera and marry her brother.

  The next volume was Athena. Apollo had caught Athena finally. He wanted to know why she lied so he tied her down and burnt her until she told the truth. Why did Athena and Gravity make him marry Liberty if it was not necessary to do so to overthrow Zeus? It caused
him and Glory pain. She said it was because they needed him to start the war and kill Ares, it was a fixed point in time and had to happen as it did. Because if he didn’t think he would lose Glory to Ares forever then he would not have acted when he did. There was only a small window of opportunity, Athena said. Ares’s death at Apollo’s hand was the only possible way the war of succession could begin. But they had not understood how much Apollo loved Glory and how strong that would make him, she said, he was a loose cannon. Apollo killed Athena for the pain she had caused Glory and for her imprudence.

  ***

  The shelves in the library were nearly full and there was room left for one more only and the library would be complete. The Life and Death of Gravity arrived eventually. Apollo tore Gravity limb from limb in penance for the agony that he had caused Apollo. Apollo hated Gravity because he had lived under Glory’s roof and falsely sought her friendship. Glory was loyal and trusting and should not have been taken advantage of like that. From that day Apollo was to be known as God as he was the only one. Glory be to God. God reigned over the whole universe now. God’s wife Glory still slept and this displeased him but she would wake soon and then their life would begin again.

  ***

  The girl woke up one morning and did not feel as she normally felt. She looked around the room and it was as it normally was. She sat up in bed and breathed shallowly. She felt a terrible pain in her abdomen and then there was a sound like a river running free from inside the walls. Water gushed forth like a newly sprung well and inundated the room, rising continuous until it was lapping at the mattress. The girl was in terrible pain as the water kept flowing. Suddenly light burst through the window blinding her. The darkness was no more.

  The Lightness

  Glory writhed around the bed in agony as another contraction came. She had woken up alone in a garden. She had an IV ambrosia drip attached to her arm and a music device on the table to the side. Apollo or rather God appeared from down a path.

  “You’re awake finally.” God said.

  “Uh huh.” Glory said the contraction easing off.

  “You’re only two centimetres dilated so we’re going to be here for quite a bit longer.” God said “Although I see your waters have broken.”

  “Can I get in a bath I’m all sticky.” Glory asked getting off the bed.

  “Sure let me help you.” God removed the IV drip from Glory’s arm and helped her waddle over to the shallow freshwater stream nearby. He helped her in to the water and stood in it with her. He rubbed her back while she had another contraction.

  “Where are we?” Glory had had the strangest dream but she was sure that everything she’d been told had been true.

  “Heaven of course. This is Eden to be specific. It’s where we live now.” God had forgotten how her voice sounded sweeter than honey.

  “My boobs are huge” Glory said as God helped her off with the hospital gown she was wearing “And they’re leaking milk.”

  “They’re beautiful. You are beauty.” He said as he held her before leaving her to bathe alone for a few minutes. God had to come and help her out again, taking her back over to the bed. He’d changed the sheets since but Glory wanted to stand up because gravity would work with her.

  “I’ve got another one coming.” Glory said with her arms around God’s neck. They stood there like that until the pain passed and God helped Glory get back into bed. She beckoned for him to get in with her too. They lay there together, God stroked Glory’s hair and she looked into his eyes and saw that all the power that had been divided out amongst all the petty gods was his now. It was terrifyingly divine. “I have one question for you, can I ask it?”

  “If it’s just the one then ask away.”

  “The Bible and all that that was you wasn’t it?” Glory hoped he would take it in good humour.

  “Yes, it was a dry run for this. I’m going to fully remake the universe. How did you know?”

  “It was obvious if you thought about it, but I think it was when you got me to read Milton to you that it clicked. You used to love a good anti-hero. I bet you got a nice little boost from all the mortals who believed in you.” Glory was so in love with him.

  “Ah yes. That was an age ago now though; let us not talk about then anymore. I’m sorry I lied to you repetitively about the condom. By the third time you were already pregnant so a condom wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” God laughed to himself.

  “That’s alright. You know best.” Glory said. She groaned through another contraction “How far gone am I?”

  “You’re about four centimetres dilated. You’re moving along quite nicely.”

  “What are you calling the baby?”

  “Let’s wait until their born and then I can decide.”

  “What happened to all the mortals?” Glory asked out of passing curiosity.

  “They’re all dead. Everyone was too bothered with my war to care about the ‘Third World War’ so they just blew themselves to smithereens the silly things.” God played with Glory’s hair.

  ***

  “Give me your finger and look me in the eye.” God said. Glory put her hand in his and did as she was told. She felt a sharp prick on her finger.

  “What was that?”

  “That was Eros’s last love arrow. Can you feel it course through you?”

  “I am already in love with you forever and ever, Amen.” Glory said as God went to kiss her.

  “We’re going to be great parents. I’m going to be a great father.”

  “How long was I asleep for?” Glory rolled into his chest.

  “Not long only a week or so. I sped you along. I couldn’t wait eight months and three odd weeks for you to wake up. I missed you. Contractions were pretty much the only way you were going to get out of your own head.”

  Glory groaned at another contraction. God stroked her hair.

  ***

  “They’re getting worse.” Glory said. The pain was becoming hard for her to bear. A tear rolled down her cheek and landed as a pearl on the bed sheet. God picked it up and put it in his pocket for safe keeping.

  “I forget that you used to be a sea goddess.”

  “I am nothing but yours now.”

  “Forever and ever, Amen.”

  “I couldn’t save much of Avalon apart from that. I know how much you love them.” God said pointing at a lone apple tree just down the path that he had come from. “No one can eat them, only you. I’ve asked Jormungandr to guard it.”

  “Oh they’re my favourite, thank you.” Another contraction came and hit Glory, they were coming ferociously fast now.

  ***

  “You’re about nine centimetres gone now.” God said.

  “I really want to push.” Glory said.

  “Not yet sweetheart, you’ll wear yourself out.”

  “Next time just cum on my tits.”

  “I’ll cum wherever the bloody Hell I want to.”

  “This is unbearable.”

  “Think of it as penance.”

  “For what?” Glory gripped his hand, clutching hard.

  “For fucking all those all guys and ignoring me for a millennia.” God said nuzzling in to Glory’s neck breathing her in.

  “I’m sorry. I thought that ignoring you would keep you safe.”

  “And all those other pricks. Are you sorry about them you filthy, dirty fucking whore?”

  “I am so, so sorry, I should have known better. I know better now.” Glory thrashed in agony.

  “Even Byron? You’re lucky I love you.” God said his eyes flashed and were manic. “All women will feel this pain when they give birth now in penance with you.”

  “I want to push.”

  “Alright,” God got off the bed and stood at the bottom. He moved his hand to see how far gone she was and said “Start pushing.”

  ***

  “I can see the head.” God said “One last push. You’re nearly there sweetheart.”

  Glory groaned, the pain was too much
, it was her exquisite redemption. She felt like she was splitting in two, but she felt nothing but love for their child. This fierce love consumed her but she knew she could not let God know this as he would be jealous. Loving your child gnaws at your bones like a hunger you cannot feed, it did not nourish her very being as her love of God did. Her love of God was sustenance itself and it was all she needed to exist. She pushed once more and then the child shrieked the first shriek in the new world.

  God held his son in his arms and was filled with love. His beautiful son would be loyal to the last. He placed the boy in Glory’s arms and she wept tears of joy that bounced to the ground as pearls. “This is Michael, he is winged like you. He will be the most just of our children.” God said and then he cut the umbilical cord.

  Glory Be Two…

  The sheets smelt of chemical lavender, of him, and of her. Glory was in Loki’s bed. She was in Loki’s bed again. The alarm clock notified her that it was once more 5:42am. She carefully sidled out from under the duvet, gathered her things and tiptoed out. Dazed, Glory wandered barefoot down the street, her platforms in hand. She dodged the dog shit before stopping in the middle of the road and taking in the quiet peace, the harmony of still and stagnant Islington. A black cab came trundling down the road towards her. Glory flagged it down, clambering into the back seat.

  “So you’re out late, have you been to a party love?” asked the taxi driver.

  Glory glanced out of the little side window as North London dashed before her, smudging into the grey city. “Yes I have Reginald.”

  “Sorry?” he asked looking perplexed “How did you know my name?”

  “I’ve been in the back of your taxi before.”

  “Have you really? Sorry, well I get so many people in here a week that I can’t keep track.” Reginald did think however that he would have remembered having ferried a girl who looked like that.

  “Yes you must come across hundreds of people a week. Each with their own crises and agonies, joys and loves.”