A/N: Our Gifted start figuring stuff out, but the more they learn, the less sense it makes. They all know that the truth is within reach and all get anxious to finding it out and solving their problems.

Chapter 32: Death of Gods

Tobias's POV

We all listened to Tris's story, and I have to say I have a million questions, and I'm not sure which one I should ask first. I look around and see that my fellow Gifted are just as flabbergasted as I am.

Tris spoke of places and people I've never heard of before. And all that talk about celestial beings and whatnot. I feel my head spinning. Cer, Asgard, Jotuns, Ragnarok – what the hell does all this mean? As if reading my mind, people start asking questions, none actually waiting to get a full answer before asking a new one.

"Shut up!" Tris yells. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she asks them with a glare. "Are you toddlers or something? One at the time, and let me the fuck finish answering before you ask another question. Marlene, you go."

"Thanks. What is Rag? I don't know the rest," Marlene says with a sheepish smile.

"Ragnarok," Tris tells her.

"Yeah, that. What does that mean?"

"Death of Gods," Will answers, and everyone looks at him.

"How do you know?" Christina asks him surprised, and I want to know as well.

"When I was a kid, my parents got me a book on ancient legends. There is a whole section on Norse mythology."

Will goes to explain that the names Odin, Asgard and a few others made sense to him. Back when he was a kid, he thought they were just stories, written down by ancient people. Tris seems to be sure that everything the strange book from the temple says is the truth. So, all the things Will read must also be true. If we accept that there are indeed other realms, as Tris calls them, that means that we are rather primitive compared to them. If they were seen as gods, then that means, they are highly evolved.

"Does the story of the Pillars end with this Ragnarok thing?" Johanna asks.

"I don't think so," Tris says, and frowns. "The last couple of pages are missing. Someone ripped them out long ago. They could contain information that would explain us," she says, gesturing around.

"Do you think we got our powers from the Pillars?" Uriah asks.

"Yes. Even the other version of the legend of the Pillars, the one I've already told you, says that they gave us our powers. But maybe the book contained information as to why. I mean, if we believe all the things this book says, then we are primitive in our own evolution. Not to mention right now, we're trapped in this city without actually knowing what is happening beyond the fence. We never went to explore the places outside, and I wonder if that was wise. Sure, we were told by the Founders that the world was destroyed, but how could they have known if everyone actually died if they never bothered to check?"

"I think it was a scare tactic," James offers.

"Why do you think that?" Lauren inquires. I think I know what he means.

"Simple. If I would be in charge of a handful of people, all of them vital to my own and this community's survival, I wouldn't want them to venture out. Plus, we can safely assume that the place outside of the fence can't be a safe place no matter how much time has passed. We know from school that the whole planet was populated by humans. If we survived, why not others?"

I see many nod their heads in agreement. I thought of that too, but kept my ideas to myself. I didn't want to rub the wrong people the wrong way, and put a target on my back for not conforming to the norm. Better keep my head down, and do as I'm told, that was my motto. But now that we are on the brink of a war, things have changed. And they will continue to change. Even if we stop Jeanine from attacking Abnegation and killing more of us, things can never go back. We know too much, and we want to know even more.

Tris answers more questions, and I am secretly glad that the attention isn't on me. I know she hates it too, but as I watch my girlfriend handle our group of Gifted I can't help but admire her leadership qualities. As people shift around the room, some going to the bathroom, while others into the kitchen to get water for everyone, someone bumps into the coffee table in front of me, and the book falls down. I pick it up, and as I set it back down where it was, my eyes nearly pop out. The letters start moving in front of my eyes. I blink a few times, thinking that my exhausted mind is playing tricks on me, but my vision stays blurry for only a moment, before the letters rearrange in a way that I can read them: A Brief History of Cer. What the hell?

To check if I can really read the letters, I pick up the book again, and set it down in my lap, as I go to open it. The letters have changed so that I can read them, and I start to read the passage at the top of the page.

"Maia offered her power to her husband, Phobos. It was a mutual understanding between the two to share everything for all eternity. They would share her celestial ancestry, her powers, her longevity, and her leadership qualities. In return, Phobos would give her the strength of his ancestors, Asgardian heroes who fought for centuries to keep the peace in the universe. It was Phobos' ancestor who first defeated Malekith, the King of the Dark Elves, and by doing so, the universe rewarded him with a special gift: the control over the most vital element in the universe – fire. Phobos had the ability to not only control, but to create fire out of nothing. However, it wasn't the fire that you could see, but the fire within him that made him the strongest of warriors, the true protector of the Ten Realms, and the only candidate to ascend to the throne of Cer."

I stare at the passage again, still in shock that the letters actually make sense to me. Up until now, they all looked like a toddler scribbled them down in an attempt to replicate actual words. How is it that I can read it now? I couldn't before. There must be something to explain all this.

First, Tris has that odd dream of a man who told her to read the book we found. Then, Jack seems to have suddenly gained the ability to read it. The second book Tris found as a girl disappears from her parents' house. Robert reads the temple book. Tris has a third book from Valerie who apparently wasn't even born on this planet. And now this.

I try to figure out how it is that I can suddenly read this book. And why is it just the four of us? Perhaps, our gifts allow us to read it. No. The only one who would make sense at all is Tris. Then, why Jack, Robert and I as well? What do we have in common?

We are all gifted. Okay. Well, that's about it, because we all live in different factions. What if that doesn't matter? In ancient times, people weren't divided into factions. And according to all we know, the Gifted were here for centuries. Jack, Robert and I are all men. Both Robert and I came from Abnegation. No, no, no. I already decided the factions are irrelevant to this. Or are they? I am so confused.

"Maybe I can help," Tris offers sitting down next to me. I give her a curious look, and she smiles. "Don't worry. I haven't read your mind. You just seemed in distress." I nod my head. It would have surprised me to hear that she did. She promised she wouldn't read my mind on purpose.

"Tris, we need to talk in private," I tell her. I am not sure that it would be wise to include the others in this conversation. They are all trying to figure out other things. And I'd rather talk to someone who is more familiar with everything. Tris is the only one qualified to ease my mind.

I watch her as she nods her head, and stands up. She doesn't even say anything, but starts walking to the front door. She looks over her shoulder, beckoning me with her finger, and I follow like the obedient puppy that I am. She giggles a little when I am close enough to kiss her cheek, and lead her outside.

We decide to go home. It's private, and I know there is the other book Tris got from Valerie. If I can read that one as well, then that means it wasn't a coincidence. I grab her hand in mine, holding it tightly, but not so to hurt her. None of us says a word, and the moment we reach the apartment, I unlock it and we enter. Closing the door behind us, I turn to look at my girlfriend. She guides me into the kitchen, and we both sit down.

"I can read the book," I blurt out. Her eyes widen in shock. She blinks a few times, as if she is trying to catch up to what I said or figure something out.

"I beg your pardon," she says, shaking her head a little.

"The book, the one we found in the temple. When it fell down and I picked it up, I was able to read the title. So, I opened it and read a passage. Tris, I can read that book." My voice is firm, yet inside I am shaking. This can mean a thousand different things. Anything between good and bad, but nothing to explain why I am able to now when before it all looked like gibberish.

I watch Tris as she stands up, and walks to the bed. She opens her nightstand, and pulls out a small book. I presume it's the one Valerie gave her. It seems, we both had the same idea. She brings it over, and lays it in front of me on the table. I look at it, and it looks similar to the one we left in Harrison's apartment.

"Try to read something inside it," Tris encourages, before she goes to the fridge to get some water. When she returns, two bottles in hand, I am still staring at the cover. What if it was a fluke? What if I just imagined reading those lines? "Tobias, just try. This isn't a test, and you can't fail. Just open it at a random page, and try to read something."

I nod my head. I open the book, and just like before, the letters make sense to me. I ponder if I should read out loud or not. On the other hand, Tris might have read this part already, and if not she will soon.

"The death of my mother was devastating. I never imagined losing her. She was always present, always smiling, always beautiful and young. She could have lived forever. She was taken from me, and there was nothing I could have done. I feel so powerless, so useless, so broken. When my father decided to join her on her eternal journey through the universe, I thought my whole world would collapse in on itself. If it wouldn't have been for Phobos holding my hand the entire time, I am certain I would have shattered into a million pieces."

I keep staring on the sentences I've just read, before my gaze lifts and finds Tris's. She has tears in her eyes, and it breaks me to see her sad.

"Come here," I say, and hold my arms open. She gets up from her chair, and moves quickly around the table to come sit in my lap. I wrap my arms around her as soon as she sits, and her head lies on my shoulder. "It's okay, babe," I try to comfort her while rubbing her back.

"I don't even know why I get so emotional. I didn't even know this girl," she says, and I can sense she is more upset than she even lets on.

"Just because you didn't know her personally doesn't mean you can't be sad over her loss. That's what makes you such a wonderful human being. You are compassionate and kind. No matter who it is that feels the pain, you feel it too because you care about others."

"It's just so stupid. I mean, the girl who wrote this is probably dead. Who knows how old this book really is. It doesn't look like any book I ever found from before the war."

I think of what she is saying, and I guess she is right. The fact that both books speak of events long before our time here on Earth or Midgard is proof enough that whoever wrote these books lived maybe thousands of years ago. Then there is this curious thing about the letters that suddenly became readable. Realizing that that's the reason why we left the meeting, I try to make her focus on my new found ability.

"I don't know, Tobias. I don't even know why I can read it," she confesses, and I can hear her frustration. She sits up a little to look me in the eyes. Seeing her tearstained face, I rub the remaining tears away, and kiss her cheeks, one at a time.

"I tried to figure out why the four of us," I start saying, and she nods. "Why can't no one else read, but we can?"

"I know what you mean. I've been cracking my skull ever since I managed to read the book," she admits. I knew she was trying to figure that out, and I guess she didn't voice her concerns or ideas about it because it is really difficult for someone who isn't in her shoes to understand the situation. I've seen how others looked at her when she told them she could read the book. Did she really think I would be the same?

"Did you not tell me anything about your struggles because you thought I would treat you like the others?" I ask, unable to mask either my curiosity or my hurt. Why wouldn't she trust me? Her head snaps in my direction so quickly I think she might hurt herself. The look on her face is of disbelief and frustration.

"No, baby. Of course not. I haven't said anything because I didn't even know where to start. Plus, you had so much on your plate already. I didn't want to bother you with something I couldn't change," she tells me, and comes to sit in my lap again. My arms encircle her immediately, and I pull her closer to me, breathing her in.

"I am never too busy for you, Tris. Remember that. You are the most important person in my life. I want to know if something is bothering you, okay?" I ask her, hoping she will do that in the future. I feel her nodding her head, and smile a little.

"We should go back to the others. They'll probably wonder why we left. Do you want to tell them?" she asks, and sits up straighter so that we can look at each other. I think for a moment, and decide to just let them know. It won't help us if we start keeping secrets. And frankly, Tris's opinion is the only one that truly matters to me. I tell her we should tell the others, and maybe by involving them they won't feel left out and could offer some new perspective on our problem.

Returning to Harrison's apartment, we find the others still discussing the story Tris told us, when Johanna notices us coming in. Seeing all of them looking at us I second guess if it was a good idea to come back here.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" Tris asks in my head. I glance at her, and she offers a smile.

"No. I should do it," I reply telepathically. We sit down, and I ask everyone to listen for a moment to what I have to tell them.

"What's up, Four?" Shauna asks, seeing that I am stalling.

"When we were here earlier, someone bumped into the book, and it fell down. I picked it up, and suddenly the words made sense. I checked a random page, and started reading."

"Hang on. Are you saying you can read that book too?" Zeke asks befuddled. I nod my head. He stands up, and goes to pick up the book. He looks it over, and then flips through its pages. "I still can't," he groans.

Just like earlier, when Robert revealed he could read it, the book travels around the room for each Gifted to see. No one else can read it, and so, they place it back on Harrison's coffee table.

We decide to go back to the first moment Tris read the book. It was right after Eric had shot her, and she woke up from that coma she was in. She was confused about her brother or rather yet the number of brothers she has.

"Wait! Stop!" Lynn says, surprising us.

"What?" Bud asks.

"Tris thought she had two brothers," she continues, and we nod. I glance at my girlfriend and see her blush. It still bothers her that she was so confused.

"Yes, so?" James asks confused.

"When Robert defended Tris he called her his sister," she adds. We look from Lynn to Robert, and then Tris. Tris looks surprised, and I remember she wasn't here when Robert got confused.

"You thought I was your sister?" she asks him.

"Yeah," he answers sheepishly. "But I don't know why I did that. I know we were neighbors, maybe friends if you could call that in our former faction," he states, and both Tris and I nod, understanding what he means.

Then an idea forms in my head. Tris said, that while she was confused, she must have remembered the children she saw in her visions when she touched both Jack and Robert. Maybe Robert saw the same thing again in his mind, when he defended Tris. So, I ask him. He looks curiously at me, not quite sure if that would be an accurate statement to make. I then look at Jack, and ask him if he had a similar experience about either Tris or Robert, but he shakes his head.

"No, I'm sorry. Why do you ask?" he inquires.

"I figured that's one thing the three of you have in common. Each of you got visions when you first touched each other," I explain.

"That would still not explain why you can read the book," he points out. I lean back in my chair, feeling defeated and no way closer to an explanation than when we came back here.

"I think we should see if we can find anything in the temple. Perhaps, there are explanations to more than one puzzle," Johanna offers. Reluctantly, we all agree. I can only speak for myself, but I wish I had the answers now rather than later. But since none of us has a clue as to why certain things happen the way they do, we will have to wait and see.

The meeting ends and everyone returns home. I take Tris's hand in mine, before saying goodbye to my friends, and then leave. This was a long and stressful day. I can't wait for us to go to Amity to finally figure out what the hell is going on. I just need to make sure that every Gifted can take their day off on the day before the Final Test.

A/N: What did you think?