CHECKMATE

PAWNS

                         CHECKMATE

                    Chapter 1 : PAWNS

“Humans are the winners of Ragnarök”

After the sudden defeat of the gods, a silence filled the room as the noise and celebration of the humans ended. King Leonidas stood up with the help of his spear, and finally looked up, where the surprised face of Zeus was indescribable; before his eyes, Odin, father of all, had been torn to pieces. And the one who had the blood of his friend running through his body, looked at him, wounded and yet so proud of his victory.

Then he stood up.

He walked to his balcony and let out a soft sigh as he felt all the attention was on him at that moment. He stroked his beard and without smiling or making a face, he said it.

— Humans have won to survive for 1000 more years. — He blurted out without much enthusiasm, causing the shouts of celebration to grow even louder in the enclosure from the humans. — King Leonidas. —

And once again silence filled the place as the god drew everyone's attention.

— You have won, your race will live once more, so what is your wish? What could be humanity's wish now? — perhaps it had been a mockery disguised as words what he had just said, calling the intellect of humans so basic that they couldn't even ask for a good wish.

— I want to make the decision with the other human winners of Ragnarök, and once that discussion is done, I will come to you with an answer. —

The god was surprised by the Spartan's firm and direct voice, there was not an ounce of doubt or fear in him. He smiled to himself, after all, each of the combatants had proven to be strong, now he understood the appreciation that Adam reflected, his sons were as strong as him, there was no point of comparison; they were equal.

King Leonidas ended up seeking support from Brünnhilde when she left her stage of Völundr and making the man use her as support, Geir joined her, ceasing to be the shield to help both of them walk to the exit of the enclosure.

Perhaps a few hours passed as the gods stood in the Greek hall, waiting for the humans to arrive so they could hear their demands. Many might have had an idea of ​​what they might ask for, but no one was sure what would come out of the gods' mouths. Until they made their way through the huge doors, where Leonidas was accompanied by the winning humans as well as the Valkyries.

— Oh… — Zeus seemed pleased to see them arrive, so confident and so happy inside, to the point of not wanting to show it on their faces. — Welcome, welcome, do you already have an idea of ​​what you will order? —

— That's right, I've spoken with my companions and we have certain requirements, 3 to be exact. — And that soft smile on the king's face made most of the gods feel offended by the amount of confidence that human was displaying.

— Okay, we heard you, speak up. — and a soft laugh from the father god made the humans look at each other.

— Our first request is to bring back to life the humans and Valkyries who perished in the battle. Without exception, all of them. — Qin Shi Huang was the one who launched the first request to the gods, causing Zeus to laugh.

— Reviving them? Don't you understand? They were sent to Niflheim, there's no way back. And even if they could, they killed Odin, the only one who would have enough energy to unite with mine and bring them back. —

—What about the goddess Hela? Can't you make her comply with our request? — the king said with a smile, causing Loki to rise from his seat to face him.