“So, the plan is to find out who it is.” She kept blue eyes on me evenly. “What if you don’t like the answer?”

 

I shook my head. “The only alternative is to try and take him out myself. He’s crossing lines even amongst his own people.”

 

“He’s desperate. Or insane.”

 

“He claims his land is dying.” I let that hang there. “I think he genuinely believes…”

 

“That he has to cause Ragnarok to save them.” She kept her tone grim. “There are other ways.”

 

“I hope so. I’m not destroying everything to…”

 

“To bring rebirth. But I don’t think it’s time for that yet.” She brushed back her hair, regarded me. “When it is, even you will agree.”

 

“I…” A pause. “Okay, maybe if the world goes all Mad Max.”

 

She grinned. “Maybe it will at the end. I don’t know yet.”

 

“I don’t want to know.”

 

“If it does, it may well be the mortals’ fault. They have gotten very short sighted of late.”

 

I nodded. “Maybe it’s because fewer people can afford to have kids.” I shook my head. “Point is…I don’t know. He showed me some things, but how could I tell? I don’t know what Muspelheim is supposed to look like.”

 

“Your father does.”

 

A pause. “Hrm. I could compare notes with him. Except I don’t want to encourage him towards thinking it’s time for the world to end as well.”

 

“And it wouldn’t take much.” She sighed, reached for her dessert – cherry cheesecake. “I don’t know who it is.”

 

“I wasn’t thinking it likely you did, but I thought it was worth a try.” Worth a small try, anyway. Besides…I hadn’t talked to her in a while.

 

“The Norns would.”

 

“The Norns aren’t talking. As usual.”

 

She laughed. “Definitely as usual. Of course, would you want to know everything in the web?”

 

I shuddered. “No. But I know it’s…”

 

“You understand more about fate now. You know you have choices. It’s a matter of which ones you can live with.”

 

“Part of me would like to know where they all lead. But…” I tailed off. “How do I protect this city?”

 

“Leave it.”

 

And I knew she was, absolutely, right.