Free Not My Apocalypse by Devin Harnois

mortal enemy and shit. I shook him until he opened his eyes. “Sorry to wake you, but we’ve got a problem.”
    He sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. “What kind of problem?” He rubbed at his eyes.
    “Fenrir is loose.”
    He blinked at me. “Who?”
    “The wolf that’s going to eat Odin.”
    He blinked again.
    “Are you fucking kidding me? You don’t know Norse mythology?”
    He shook his head. “I know there are other gods out there, but I don’t interfere with them and they don’t interfere with me.”
    Uh oh. This was gonna be a hard sell. “Ok, CliffsNotes version. Fenrir is a huge wolf that’s been tied up for who knows how long, and a prophecy says that one day he’ll break loose and eat Odin. That’s the head of the Norse pantheon and my friend’s dad. When he eats Odin it sets off a huge battle between the Aesir, the Norse gods, and the giants, and the battle is so huge it ends the world.”
    “Oh.” He looked more awake now. “But you’re supposed to help the devil bring about the end of the world. The Norse gods don’t cause Armageddon.”
    “Yeah, but a battle that ends the world? Sounds familiar doesn’t it? This is worse than Sköll eating the sun, and that would have started the end of the world, too.” How many times was I going to have to prevent Ragnarok? Maybe it really was inevitable if it was still going to happen despite what we’d done. “Same pantheon, and they’re at it again.”
    He frowned a little, studying me. “You’re going to stop it again, aren’t you?”
    “Fu—I mean, of course I am. And I want you to help us.” I’m not sure what he could do, but he had to have some kind of powers that would be useful against a huge, divine wolf. “It’s the end of the world. You don’t want that to happen.”
    Now he looked wary. “No, I don’t want that to happen, but I’m not sure about fighting Norse gods. I don’t want to get involved.”
    “So you’d rather let Ragnarok happen?” I tried to keep my temper in check. “You’re not on the list of survivors for that war, so you just might end up dead along with the rest of us.”
    “Alex, I can’t get involved. It’s not my pantheon.”
    “You’re only a demigod, like me. We don’t have to follow the rules of noninterference.”
    “But I’m not a fighter, Alex. I’m not like you.”
    Was that supposed to be a dig or a compliment? “Fine. Then sit here and wait for us to save the world for you. If you change your mind, I’m going to the cemetery and using the gateway to get to Saint Louis Number One in New Orleans. Meet us there if you want to help out. We can do it without you—we did it last time, but we can use all the help we can get.”
    He looked guilty. “Good luck, Alex. Really, I mean it.”
    I wanted to yell at him, to shake him until he realized how serious this was and agreed to help us. This was his world even more than it was mine and he was supposed to love humanity and all that shit, but he was just going to sit there and let Ragnarok happen because it wasn’t his pantheon. Arrg… it was so fucking frustrating. But for a change, I showed good judgment and didn’t go all ragey on him. I took a long, deep breath and made sure my skin wasn’t heating up. I was calm enough. No immolating things in his bedroom. “Fine. Then stay here. I’ll go save the world for you.” I turned and left.
    At the doorway, I paused. “And thank you for letting me stay here. Tell your mom thank you, too.” See? I can be civil if I try really hard.
    Quietly, he said, “You’re welcome.”
    I left. Mew-Mew trotted along behind me as I made my way to the cemetery. I tried to keep my shoulders from tightening with nervousness. I was healed enough to take another beating if I had to, but I was more worried about Satan finding me before I could stop Fenrir. Could we take Ra’s spears again, even though we’d wrecked those last two we’d taken? Or would we have to go looking for another weapon?