Amolyan Szгјletг©snapi Ajгўndг©kthe Almighty Joh... — Ez

Axl looked down at his hands. He didn't feel like a god. He felt like a guy who worked construction and forgot to pay his phone bill. But as he looked at the wooden table in front of him, he felt a strange, electric hum vibrating in his palms. He focused, just for a second, and the wood grain seemed to glow with a faint, ancient light. "And the rest of you?" Axl asked.

"Ullr, Bragi, Hod," Mike listed them off like a grocery list. "We’ve been waiting for you to come of age. The balance of the world depends on you finding your Frigg." Axl looked down at his hands

The air in the flat was thick with the smell of stale beer and cheap pizza—the universal scent of a 21st birthday in Auckland. Axl stood in the center of the room, his head ringing with more than just a hangover. His older brother, Mike, stood across from him, looking uncharacteristically serious. But as he looked at the wooden table

Axl let out a dry, disbelieving laugh. He looked at the half-empty glass on the table and flicked his fingers. The glass didn't just slide; it shattered into a thousand sparkling diamonds before reforming into a perfect, glowing sphere of water. "Ullr, Bragi, Hod," Mike listed them off like a grocery list

"So, let me get this straight," Axl said, gesturing vaguely at the flickering lightbulbs. "I’m not just 'Axl with a bad attitude.' I’m Odin?"

"Ez amolyan születésnapi ajándék," Axl whispered to himself in a language he shouldn't have known, yet understood perfectly. This is kind of a birthday present.

He looked up at Mike, a grin finally spreading across his face—one that was both reckless and divine. "Well, then. Since I'm the All-Father... who's buying the next round?"