The thought that I was fated to get with almost everyone in the household took a pretty big toll on my interactions with them all. Suddenly, I was struck with all sorts of emotions I never felt around them before—mostly just confusion and anxiety—and was desperately trying not to make things worse with Issei.
Because of the "prophecy", I started to realize a bunch of things. Rias' current interest in me was inevitably going to result in her being romantically attracted to me...the same could also be seen with Akeno's change in personality. Luckily for me, no one else seemed to start noticing me more than they usually did—except for Koneko—but she fucking hates me seeing her interactions with me often led to glares and punches. That led to me trying to talk with Issei with everything. Unfortunately, he never wanted to be in the same room as me after I created the Draupnir spear.
I can't blame him if I'm honest. Our relationship was a roller coaster with us having tons of highs and lows. Considering he clearly got upset at all of them for essentially avoiding me after the meeting with Asgard...yeah I wouldn't be surprised if he felt betrayed. Especially considering how long it took for Issei to actually open up and talk to the girls about his own insecurities...having that flipped on its head can ruin anyone's day.
When I wasn't trying to talk to Issei about it though, I started another past time at the household—which was learning spearmanship from Rossweisse.
True to her valkyrie heritage, she was a fucking beast with her scythe, and she quickly showed me that my handling of the spear was completely novice. It could be seen fully whenever I thrusted my spear forward towards her torso only for her to catch it with the inside of her scythe, and move it in a way that yanked the spear out of my hands. That led to her having an opening for her to attack me which was thankfully blocked by my shield.
We stood staring at each other before she pulled her scythe back to her side and allowed me to close my shield and collect the spear from the ground.
Rossweisse: "Something is on your mind. Isn't it?"
My eyes widened at her question as I looked back at her and clenched my jaw. Was it really that easy for her to sus out?
Pushing that thought aside for the moment, I silently nodded to respond to her. She frowned a small amount before she walked up to me and putting a hand on my shoulder.
Rossweisse: "Do you want to talk about it?"
I looked at her in the eyes, her concerned expression remaining clear as ever. That just made me feel even more uncomfortable...this girl is supposedly my future wife?
"Not really."
Rossweisse kept her gaze on me as she turned and motioned to the chairs on the porch of the backyard.
Rossweisse: "Training for now is over. You can't fight to your fullest capabilities when you're distracted. Come sit with me."
The former valkyrie walked up to a chair and sat down. She seemed to be genuinely concerned, and I figured avoiding her wouldn't be helpful...so I sat down.
She looked at me quizzically for a good amount of time before sighing.
Rossweisse: "You know I dislike it whenever it's apparent you're struggling with something...why can't you tell me?"
I looked at her while thinking. She was probably thinking back to the last time she talked to me—right before I ran to Alfheim for a couple weeks. That definitely hurt her alot, knowing I purposefully rejected her help to run away from my problems once again. But with what I know...how do I approach them about it?
A good amount of silence must have passed because Rossweisse continued questioning me.
Rossweisse: "I don't want what happened last time to occur again...please Ethan...just work with me. Did you see something in a vision...? Any details at all?"
I was at a loss for words because...well I can't just say "Oh yeah, you'll all dump Issei in the future and eventually—maybe—probably get with me.", can I? Even if I just said the first part, that would send a good amount of concern through the house—which I did not want to be a cause of again after everything that has occurred.
"Well...yes...I think I saw something."
Rossweisse immediately perked up, seemingly glad I was not silent, but now incredibly concerned about how dejected I sounded.
Rossweisse: "What was it...?"
"it's...something regarding Issei."
If she wasn't concerned before, she certainly was now as she practically tackled me to the ground.
Rossweisse: "WHAT ABOUT HIM!? Will he be hurt!? Is he going to be ok!?"
I was completely caught off guard by her sudden lunged and was profusely uncomfortable judging by her position splayed out on top of me.
"U-Um...Rossweisse...c-could you get off...?"
Rossweisse immediately seemed to realize her own mistake as her face erupted in red and she quickly got off and backed away.
Rossweisse: "O-oh! Sorry E-Ethan...I...I didn't mean to do t-that...I swear!"
I chuckled at her sudden switch in behavior. True to what Issei said about her on a previous day, she was awkward as hell and an embarrassed mess whenever something of a romantic nature even popped up. Still, I've never seen the switch actually occur in front of me. It was only for a moment...but I found her pretty cute. Right after that though, I immediately shook my head to clear my thoughts.
"It's alright Rossweisse. It was accidental."
She slowly nodded, still looking flustered as her body language would suggest.
"...and to answer your question. No, Issei will not get killed..."
'Just hurt'
She nodded at the news before sitting back down.
Rossweisse: "So...what is the issue if it's concerning you this much?"
"It's..."
I tried to say something that wasn't the reveal, but in the end, I just couldn't find the words to even speak to her. In the end, I just shut my mouth and looked down, ashamed of myself for not being able to speak.
Why does the vision have to potentially ruin my friendship with Issei? Besides, at this point, I've already gotten accustomed to them being with him.
Rossweisse only seemed to become upset at my silence as she sighed before getting up and walking back into the house. Right before she entered, she stopped at the door.
Rossweisse: "It's never a good thing to keep secrets Ethan...I thought you knew that."
I looked at her quietly. In my head, I already had a snarky response to her statement, but thinking of a sentence and actually stating it out loud are two very different things. In the end, I sadly averted my gaze and looked to the floor before turning away from her, looking into the backyard.
The sounds of her walking away were heard and I found myself just surrounded by the sound of the breeze. Maybe it was my giant heritage, but I found it to be therapeutic in a strange way.
The sound of people walking down the stairs stood out to me and I turned around to see Rias' peerage and Fenrir alongside his children all together. Looking at the group, they seemed to be preparing to leave for something. At the edge of the group though, I could see Rossweisse talking to Issei with a confused expression on her face before her expression hardened as she turned and pointed to me.
At her motion, Issei frowned and looked towards me before shaking his head dismissively before saying something to her. Whatever it was, it clearly alarmed her and caused the other girls to turn towards me with a variety of expressions on their faces varying from accusing to concerned.
Sensing their eyes on me I turned around to look back towards the backyard, internally cringing at my cold behavior towards them. It's certainly not what they deserved after everything, especially for what could be seen as a really immature reason.
I mean cmon, considering Kratos literally said 'fate only binds you if you let it.', there's the real possibility that it won't come to pass at all...yet for some reason, both outcomes didn't sit well with me.
After what felt like 20 minutes, but was probably only 10 seconds, I heard the sound of a portal being conjured up before it abruptly disappeared. The sound of Fenrir's claws tapping on the ground quickly grew louder as he got closer to me and eventually ended up in front of me.
Fenrir: "So, is the guilt of screwing Ddraig's host over still getting to you?"
I grunted at the seemingly dumb reason. Issei, to most people wasn't even deserving of any goodwill...but I quite literally saw how much value he had to everyone back when I was useless.
"Yes...and I wish I didn't need to worry about anything at all."
Fenrir: "Yeah...I did not expect Gasper to tell you that. It makes things a little more complicated."
"No kidding. Still, I'm glad Gasper was able to get it off of his chest. I can imagine keeping something like that hidden from everyone involved isn't exactly a good thing."
Fenrir: "Then why don't you want to tell the girls?"
I immediately got slapped in the face with irony.
"I...guess it's because I'm not sure what they'll think of me. It would probably form an awkward relationship between us, or even make them begin to deliberately avoid me again...which I don't want."
Fenrir: "All of those seem like selfish reasons Uncle. Sooner or later, the truth about their fates will become known to them. The only way you can control how they find out is if you tell them directly. Believe me, trying to hide something to change someone's fate has never worked out well for me or anyone I've been around."
I looked towards my nephew and stared at him for a bit. Despite not being all that well versed in how destiny and fate works, Fenrir seemed relatively confident in his claim.
"It's just scary you know, not knowing how everything will go. I know they probably won't react well to something that states that their lives will end up in one way."
Fenrir: "Eíthürr...life itself is scary. It is as intimidating as my sister whenever you swear by her name. That doesn't mean you can just avoid the consequences of what it will bring to you. More often than not, doing something in life is a risk."
"Then can you at least try and make it so that the results will not be bad?"
Fenrir shook his head.
Fenrir: "Most of the time, you won't be able to. It's a leap of faith."
I looked towards my nephew, now he was looking at me with a bittersweet expression.
Fenrir: "That's all life and fate is Eíthürr...a leap of faith."
In the end, I just silently nodded at Fenrir's words and got up to go back into the household. That was proceeded by me sitting down in the living room and turning on the TV.
Rias actually did have her own concerns outside of my strange behavior. Ever since my fight with Thor, the amount of strays that have been appearing around Kuoh town have increased drastically, however, a different problem had begun to arrive.
Children were beginning to go missing.
It didn't matter when or where, whether they were human, devil, angel, fallen angel, asgardian, or even a yokai, they were all unanimously beginning to disappear. Considering Sirzechs had a young child, this was among the biggest concerns for most supernatural groups. ESPECIALLY the Devils.
I sat down and was about it turn on the TV whenever a huge gust of wind hit the household. The sound of some sort of screech made itself painfully obvious as I recalled the Leviathan axe and began to walk to the front door. My nephews, niece, Irina, Sona, and Leia quickly joined me at the front. Whenever we got there, we saw a sight that, at this point, was becoming a bit too normal.
A giant dragon which was being ridden by Baldur the perfect god in Norse Mythology.
Irina: "You do know that we're trying to HIDE the supernatural world away from humanity...right?"
Baldur looked back behind him to look at Kuoh town before shrugging.
Baldur: "My brother has done WAY MORE here! And it's all thanks to you..."
His voice took a more serious turn as he pointed at me. Everyone took notice and Leia protectively got in front of me.
Hel: "Why are you here?"
Baldur began to laugh in a manner that was NOT appropriate considering the circumstances before he stopped suddenly and looked at me.
Baldur: "I'll make things fast. Odin sent me here to retrieve you."
That got my attention. Odin—after everything I did to him whenever we first met...still wanted me to be around him? Something strange is afoot.
"Dare I ask what I'm needed for? Shouldn't Thor be available to do whatever dirty work is there?"
Baldur: "Ordinarily, yes. But something of concern has reared its head...something that your...heritage may help us out with."
"And if I don't want to go with you?"
Baldur slowly tilted his head in a menacing gesture before beginning to giggle ominously.
???: "Sorry jötunn, but we are under orders to bring you to Allfather. Of course I didn't agree to it, but he seems awfully confident that your abilities will actually do something good for us. Something I see you CLEARLY lack..."
An individual slid down off the back of the dragon, strutting to us with a very confident look. Judging his appearance purple eyes and the object on his hip, it was easy to realize who I was looking at.
Almost immediately, I could sense something was off about his presence, as the power he emanated was completely different from both Baldur and Thor. The sound of a subtle sharp breath from Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel only raised my nerves even more. To make things worse, he was already eyeing up Irina like Issei usually would whenever the two were alone.
Immediately upon the realization of who and what he was, I put the Leviathan axe on my back and summoned the Draupnir spear.
Heimdall: "Woah now? What's with the violent attitude huh? I know I'm threatening and all, but there's no need to raise your alarms."
The sound of claws hitting the ground and the influx of heat around me suggested Sköll had just arrived...and yet when I glanced at him...
He was covered in the berserker armor. Even more strangely, once he manifested himself into the blades, the armor formed on my body almost as if I had just summoned it like Issei does with his balance breaker. Almost immediately the armor hissed as it tried to activate. The scary thing was, it took a much larger effort than usual to prevent it from going berserk.
We stood still staring off at each other...until Baldur rushed forward and punched me into the sky, and sending me flying across Kuoh Town, causing me to crash into a mountain that neighbored the whole location. Once I got myself out of the little crater in the mountain, I immediately jumped down onto the ground and looked around, preparing for any potential counterattacks.
Thankfully, it didn't come and instead, Heimdall oh-so-gladly revealed his presence.
Heimdall: "Tsk tsk...already such a disappointment...guess that explains how you were able to squirm out of mead-breath's grip of all people."
Immediately, I summoned the spear and rushed over to him...and yet, he just weaved out of the way of my jab.
Heimdall: "Ooh, is that a stick? I must say it looks a little...ornate for someone of your status."
Almost at the speed of light, Heimdall zipped out of my way, and jabbed me with the hilt of his sword, which knocked me onto my knees, before swinging at me, which I blocked with my shield.
Heimdall: "Gosh, so much anger I see in you! What could possibly have done this?"
He slowly backed away from me and I did the same. I didn't want to acknowledge it, but the silent hiss of the armor was slowly but surely making its way up my back.
We stared at each other a bit before we began to circle each other.
Heimdall: "Could it be...you already know what I intend to do with your devilish and angelic friends?"
I threw the spear straight towards his chest, but he simply caught it. However, for just a moment, his expression became confused as he looked at it before throwing the weapon on the ground.
Heimdall: "Is this all you have to show me Jötunn? A fancy stick!?"
I wasn't really paying attention to him since I was processing what happened when I threw the spear. He caught it in his hand and looked at it with uncertainty...so that means he probably doesn't know the spear can...
Heimdall: "...OH WAIT! You expected the stick to give you an advantage!?"
I smiled eagerly at the realization that my planning on the weapon to save Irina and Xenovia was completely perfect. I'm gonna need to tip the Lady a WHOLE LOT when I next see her.
Once again, I threw the spear towards him again, and just like last time, the annoying bastard caught it and began to laugh.
Heimdall: "Do you know what the definition of insanity is? It's the action of trying the EXACT same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome...it's no wonder why you and your family ARE ALWAYS ON THE RUN FROM—"
I had enough and slammed the spear onto the ground. Almost following my exact line of thought, the spear blew up in his hands and stunned him. I took the opportunity to rush up to him and sock him in the face...yet he still weaved out of the way of my attacks.
Heimdall: "Hmph...I can feel your frustration you know. IT IS IMMENSELY SATISFYING!"
Despite me not hitting him, there were some benefits I got from that flurry of punches I threw at him, and that was the style he ducked and leaned to avoid my attacks. I only learned the importance of those after I had began to practice my bare-handed combat with both Issei and Koneko, and with that knowledge, I could stun him again and get a little more precise with my blows.
Having an idea, I threw the spear straight into the sky, where it then duplicated itself rapidly and then sent all of those fragments to the ground around the watchman of the Aesir. Heimdall, thinking he avoided all damage since the spears didn't land on him, began to laugh. Yet he was silenced once he saw me smirking and slamming the spear onto the ground again, causing all the fragments around him to detonate and stun him once again.
Once again, I ran up to him and started to throw punches at him, this time with a more focused aim with my attacks. The weaves noticeably became lessened in their distance, and while he still dodged all of my blows, I was at least able to land a punch on his forearm.
Heimdall: "Hey careful! These are new bracers!"
Heimdall at this point was well aware that my ranged spear attacks seemed to unlock a weakness in him, and he constantly rushed up to me and tried to knock me onto my feet. He now was also firing projectiles of pure bifrost towards me.
Unfortunately, whenever I threw a spear at him, he simply deflected it with his sword and dashed away from the mine on the ground, which made trying to stun him with detonations a whole lot harder.
Heimdall: "You're the god who bested...Thor!? Cmon now! I thought I would at least break a sweat!"
At this point, the armor was dangerously close to activation, as the souls trapped within were beginning to sense me getting angrier...so I took a deep breath and inhaled and closed my eyes...and I thought of–
Couldn't complete the thought because the prick hit me again with the hilt of his sword, knocking me onto my knees.
Heimdall: "Did you know your brother sounds like a goose when he is hurt? HUH! UH!"
I exhaled angrily as I slammed the spear into the ground and quickly detonated it, catching him in the explosion and flinching him a good amount.
That's it! I just need to catch him off guard!
I quickly remembered the way he always sidestepped after he deflected a spear throw, so I threw two spears to either side of him and then threw two more at my feet in quick succession. Then I threw one more spear towards him.
Once again, he knocked it away, but instead of sidestepping, he rushed behind me and tried to hit me again with the hilt of his sword. Quickly hearing him, I turned around and hopped backward to avoid his attack before detonating all of the spears on the ground.
That seemed to to the trick as it stunned him for a third time. At this point, the helmet of the berserker armor was practically on the back of my head, and my arms alongside my hands were covered by the armor as I quickly rushed over to him.
For the first four punches, he just barely got out of my reach, however, whenever that fourth punch missed, he held his right arm out in a detrimental manner. Quickly seizing the opportunity, I grabbed his arm with my right arm, pulled him in, and then absolute socked the fucker right in his face, sending him flying into the mountain right beside us.
The armor at this point was about to take me over as the hiss became even louder and I was about to go ham on the norse god whenever...
Rias: "Ethan...!"
The sound of her voice immediately shut down any rage I was feeling and I turned around to see all of Rias' peerage looking at me with either amazement, or horror.
"Rias...? What are you guys doing here?!"
Atreus: "Well they just followed us to you."
Seemingly from nowhere, my brother appeared behind me alongside Angrboda.
"And what were you doing out here!?"
Heimdalll: "JUST SHUT UP! You and your family are just insufferable!"
Rossweisse immediately deadpanned at his voice.
Rossweisse: "Nice to see you again Heimdall..."
Heimdall: "That voice? Could it be...?"
Heimdall began to giggle maliciously, to which Rossweisse responded to by firing a blast towards him, but he jumped out of the way.
Heimdall: "Been a while, huh?"
An arrow was immediately fired, and Heimdall tried to catch it, the arrow was just slightly faster and it ended up in his head.
Heimdall: "What the..."
Heimdall's gaze looked over to Atreus, now holding a bow that seemed to be filled with some sort of strange power.
Heimdall: "You!"
Atreus: "Dang, that spear really did the trick huh Ethan?"
"Thank goodness for that...I would've been fucked if I didn't have it."
My brother smiled at me before he hardened his gaze on Heimdall.
Atreus: "Can't exactly say I missed you Heinz, but that look on your face when you get hit? PRICELESS. Can never forget it!"
Heimdall at this point was getting visibly upset, especially whenever Issei stepped in between Xenovia and him.
Heimdall: "I don't care what any of you want! I'm going to bring this jötunn to Asgard and then I'm gonna—"
Angrboda: "Kill him? Good luck with that buddy."
Angrboda's words shocked Rias' group and they all looked at her alarmed before they immediately hardened their gaze on Heimdall.
Rias: "I will not let anyone hurt him!"
Heimdall only began to laugh.
Heimdall: "We'll see about that princess of ruin."
The peerage quickly surrounded me and we were all about to face him again. Heimdall was about to do the same, but then Baldur and his dragon crashed into the same mountain that we were all facing. However, much to my confusion, Baldur simply laughed it all off as he jumped onto the ground beside his brother.
Baldur: "You don't want to go...fine! Maybe taking one of you will work!"
A blast of angelic and jötnar magic suddenly hit him and was shrugged off almost immediately. The dragon on the mountain had just recovered from being thrown around like it was nothing, but the shadow of Fenrir quickly appeared and quickly, my nephew landed on the back of the creature, and snapped its neck with a single bite. Once he finished, he leaped back down to join us, and to make things even better, Leia, Hel, and Irina had now joined us.
Hel: "Fat chance we would let you take him. If Odin wants to discuss something with Eíthürr peacefully, then he needs to visit us!"
Baldur: "Why not? We're not completely untrustworthy!"
"Yeah say that to the giants you killed fuckface."
Baldur: "That's where you're! It was THOR who killed them!"
The crackle of thunder immediately rang out in the area we were all standing in, causing everyone to tense up. Baldur's eyes widened as if he just got caught committing a cardinal sin while Heimdall only seemed to roll his eyes in annoyance.
Heimdall: "Great..."
Both brothers rushed forward, but a huge blast of lightning struck in between us and Thor made his appearance, immediately stepping in between me and his siblings.
Thor: "Knock it off!"
Thor looked back towards all of us and understandably, the peerage was not trusting of him at all as they just armed themselves in case they needed to recreate the fight they had with him earlier. However, he only gave me an apologetic look before looking back to Heimdall and Baldur.
Thor: "Allfather specifically stated to not aggravate him. Like it or not, what he says goes."
Heimdall audibly sniffed and then silently scoffed.
Heimdall: "I thought I smelled something."
He immediately sidestepped him and tried to rush us down only for Thor to get him his way again.
Thor: "Take one more step and you're not going to like how this ends."
Heimdall: "And what do you intend to do to stop us huh?"
Thor's head tilted in a very threatening manner as he began to walk forward to his brother.
Thor: "Look into my eyes. Into Eíthürr's. You tell me."
Heimdall stared at the half-giant with a frustrated expression that quickly diminished whenever his gaze was on him for more than 5 seconds. He quickly turned his head towards me, and his expression actually seemed to be a mix of confusion and horror.
Heimdall: "You two are both sick individuals..."
Thor huffed as the sound of ravens quickly grew apparent and Odin himself appeared behind his son who wielded the hammer.
Odin: "What the hell is this? Do you two not understand what consent means?! I SPECIFICALLY ASKED for a peaceful meeting and for him to enter into Asgard willingly didn't I?"
We all quickly grew confused at Odin's appearance and were rendered speechless by his words for his sons.
Heimdall: "With all due respect Allfather, he didn't budge on the matter."
Odin: "Did you two even talk to him to try to convince him?!"
The brothers both kept quiet.
Odin: "...Sjá hvat...just stay out of my way. I'll handle this myself."
Baldur and Heimdall both silently nodded before stepping aside and allowing Odin to walk to us.
Thor: "May I stay around to hear this meeting Allfather?"
Odin: "Do whatever you want."
Thor looked over to me and the Leviathan Axe lit up almost on instinct from his presence. Everyone else remained on guard as they looked at him.
Odin: "No dancing with Eíthürr though. You still need to recover from that wound he gave you last time."
Thor nodded as his father looked around to see all of us.
Odin: "Now then...I must sincerely apologize for the actions of my tracker and watchman. I know you aren't exactly open to interacting with us Eíthürr."
Slowly but surely, everyone slowly disarmed themselves, much to Odin's hopes as a smile broke out on his face.
Thor: "What in the nine realms are YOU doing here!?"
Everyone's eyes widened at the reminder that Loki and Angrboda were here. Again, almost on instinct, I got in front of the two alongside their own children.
Odin: "May I ask where you two were after Ms Gremory here foiled your plans?"
Loki began to chuckle at Odin's nonchalant tone which seemed to sound more curious than upset.
Loki: "Well I could explain it for you, but unfortunately, I can't understand it for you."
Thor's eyes began to crackle with electricity, but a simple raised hand from the Allfather shut him down almost instantly.
Odin: "Hm...? Now you have my attention Loki. You're not here to convince your brother here to assassinate me are you?"
Loki: "Pffft no. Im just helping him transition into his life as a god. No malicious intent here!"
Rossweisse: "Are we seriously expected to take you seriously with THAT tone?"
Odin: "Not that you would recall my lovely assistant, but Loki's logic often makes literally no sense at all. If anything, that should tell you he's telling the truth."
The look Odin gave Rossweisse was reminiscent to the look a dog owner would view their pet, which understandably made Rias' peerage angrier.
Angrboda: "What do you want Eíthürr for Odin..."
Odin quickly turned his gaze back to us and quickly gave us an uneasy expression.
Odin: "Well...something has happened to Sinmara in Niflheim."
A good amount of silence passed before anyone spoke at all.
Angrboda: "...and why is this such a big concern? Shouldn't Surtr be able to handle anything?"
Odin shrugged and just facepalmed.
Odin: "Unfortunately, Sinmara is in critical condition and he refuses to leave her side. However, he seems adamant that both your husband and his brother have an idea of what they're dealing with."
I just got even more lost in the conversation. Whatever the hell Surtr's smoking has gotta be some good shit if he thinks I can help out with anything. If it's something that harms SINMARA of all beings, then odds are, it's a god-class threat at the very least.
Loki: "...what exactly happened to Sinmara?"
Odin: "Well, Niflheim began to feel a heat that was never present in the realm before. We sensed it, and I decided to send some Einherjar over to see what the commotion was about. Sadly, I couldn't see whatever killed them, BUT, they did trap some audio from the realm and send it back to us."
Odin flicked his hands up and a ball of bifrost formed in front of us.
Odin: "I would like your input on what you guys hear in this and whether we should intervene in their affairs or not."
Everyone slowly nodded as audio suddenly began to play from the sphere. At first the steps of the Einherjar were heard, but then something else was heard.
First, it was a strange hiss of what I would imagine to be lava ,which was then followed by the sound of some sort of miniature explosion...but then crackling was heard, followed by hundreds of lightning strikes occurring simultaneously. On the final lighting strike, some sort of otherworldly sound rang out.
Upon hearing that sound, my ears began to ring, my vision began to blur, and my chest began to ache from the sudden increase of my pulse.
The sound seemed to also have an affect on Loki, Angrboda, Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel as well, as they immediately began to leak their auras out of anger. Fenrir's hair began to stand on end, Jörm's scales turned jet black and his eyes began to glow red, Hel seemed to be completely overwhelmed by her dead corpse side, as her eyes also began to glow red. Loki and Angrboda began to glow blue and purple respectively.
I couldn't really process anything as the sound of my increasing heartbeat started to be the only thing I could hear. My legs began to shake uncontrollably and suddenly other sounds began to sound in my head.
Atreus: "Father! What do we do?!"
Kratos: "I'll keep Lucifer's attention...you help your mother with the beast!"
An otherworldly roar rang out and suddenly, a vision practically barged its way into my head. I was being carried by someone and I think...I was a baby? But in front of me, I could see a cabin in some sort of isolated forest.
Angrboda: "Loki! Cmon! There's nothing we can do—!"
The house suddenly blew apart with a gigantic lighting blast and the same exact otherworldly sound in the recording blasted through the area. Once I was able to see in front of me, I was able to see the culprit behind the destruction.
The vision suddenly ended, and I found myself back in the real world surrounded by a very concerned peerage.
Issei: "Dude! Are you ok!? You just looked like you had a panic attack!"
Akeno: "Come on Ethan...stay with us!"
I didn't respond and just looked down and tried to slow my breathing down. Was that...the reemergence that Gasper was talking about...? That dragon...
Another vision began around me, this time, Angrboda was carrying me and being guarded by Hel from the shocking amount of draugr and dragons around us. When I looked behind Angrboda, I saw Atreus fighting...Heimdall?
Heimdall: "Is this all you have to show Loki of the jötnar!? Is this all the challenge you can bring us?"
Fenrir: "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"
My nephew roared in a manner I didn't think possible for him as he rushed towards Heimdall, completely overtaken by rage. He frankly began to laugh in an infuriating manner as he began to sidestep and dodge everything he threw at him.
Heimdall: "No matter what you think. You cannot hope to escape your fate."
I heard my brother scoff
Atreus: "You...think so...!?"
Heimdall: "Of course I do dimwit. After all...not even your father was safe!"
My brother let out a furious yell that quickly transformed into a roar as he transformed into his bear form and rushed towards the deity.
I was hearing my infant cries and screams the entire time, and Angrboda seemed to try to comfort baby-me to the best of her abilities, which wasn't very effective considering she was sprinting through the woods away from Heimdall who was threatening the lives of her husband and sons.
Hel: "Mother...! We have someone on us...!"
Angrboda: "Who could it possibly be!?"
The sound of someone landing nearby alarmed Angrboda and caused her to arm herself with one hand, ready to defend me.
???: "Well that's a wonderful young boy you have there giantess...now if you wouldn't mind~"
Hel growled and immediately lunged between her mom and the Valkyrie and began to do battle with her. Angrboda then looked at me with scared and uncertain eyes...
And that was when the vision ended. Again, I found myself on my knees breathing heavily, this time though, my thoughts were only filled with one thing as I tried to calm down.
Heimdall...put my family through hell and back...and now...he threatens to do the same with my own family.
The blurriness and haziness of everyone around me only began to grow as I felt my fists clench together tightly, flames starting to billow out from them.
Xenovia: Help get us out of this Ethan!
"I remember...everything..."
YIELD TO ME....
"I remember what you are...and what you did..."
I looked up, and the only thing I could see was black...except for the red silhouette of Heimdall.
"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HURT ANYBODY I LOVE EVER AGAIN!"
LET GO
I suddenly felt the armor clamp around my arms and head before seeing nothing but red.
Hel POV
The sound made by Alatreon almost immediately brought back horrible memories for all of us, that much was clear judging by the look my family had whenever they heard. The countless nights of having to constantly be on guard in order to just stay alive and keep my uncle alive when he was a baby flashing through my mind.
Ironically, being imprisoned in Helheim was probably one of the best things to happen to me after that because there was no day/night cycle in that realm, and since I was appointed the ruler of the realm by Odin himself, the legions of spirits who entered the realm became my own servants and body guards on the off chance my brand started summoning anything around me.
Back to us in front of Odin and his sons, our anger was immediately dispelled whenever Eíthürr collapsed to his knees breathing heavily, his eyes glowing yellow. Almost immediately, Odin stopped the recording and everyone in the peerage my uncle was apart of immediately began to look at him worried, shaking him to try to snap him out of whatever vision he was in.
Whatever it was, he seemed to be in shock of what he saw just based off the pale color his face took.
Asia: "Ethan...? Ethan are you with us?!"
His eyes suddenly returned to their original look and he looked down on the ground, breathing heavily and at a pace that was alarming due to the sheer speed of it all.
Gasper: "Atreus...what's happening?"
Whenever I looked over to see my father's expression, I saw something I never thought I'd see on his face in a long time: sympathy and a good amount of heartbreak.
Atreus: "That sound is the wrath of the blazing black dragon...one of the 3 beings who took Mother and Father from this world..."
The sounds of the countless horrors began to sound in my head as I then turned to glare at the allfucker and his children.
"Do us a favor and don't play that shit ever again."
Odin silently nodded as Ethan gasped again as another vision began. At this point, Leia was trying to shake him out of it, even climbing onto his back to try and snap him out of it.
Whatever it was, it once again left him speechless whenever it ended. As he once again just stared at the ground silently. It stuck like that until I saw his hands grip the grass we were on.
Eíthürr: "I...remember everything."
I internally flinched at that, and when I looked at my brothers and my parents, I could already see exactly what they were thinking—because I was thinking the exact same thing.
This meeting is not going to end well...AT ALL.
Eíthürr: "I know what you are...and what you did..."
Leia: "Ethan...?"
His head turned towards Heimdall, and we all immediately recognized what he just saw in the vision. I had never seen him looking so angry towards anything. And it seems it was completely unnatural for the peerage to see as well as they immediately backed away.
Loki: "Everybody get back now!"
Eíthürr's eyes suddenly began to glow a crimson red color and a huge blast of energy hit all of us at once.
Eíthürr: "I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT
ANYBODY I LOVE EVER AGAIN!"
The armor suddenly flared to life as the helmet clamped around his head and arms almost instantaneously and immediately began to strengthen him. The activation was followed by a otherworldly howl that was accompanied by the biggest release of power I've ever sensed from any being ever.
We were all blown away—literally—by the blast that hit us all. And when the dust cleared, the mountain that we were next to was completely destroyed—or at least in the process of getting destroyed due to my uncle crashing into it like a cannonball.
I found myself embedded into another mountain nearby. The impact didn't have much effect though, so I was able to pull myself out with minimal injuries—just a minor scratch on my arm. Almost immediately though,I could here the frantic voice of my uncle's adoptive sister.
Rias: "Can anyone hear me...ANYONE?!"
When I followed the sound of her voice, I could see her frantically flying back to the epicenter of the blast while a magic circle was on her ear.
"Rias! Over here!"
She quickly stopped speeding forward and turned to my voice.
Rias: "Hel...? He even launched you back?"
I nodded.
"Yup...which probably means..."
The sound of thunder crackling was heard in the distance, which meant Thor was on attack mode. The expression Rias made was full of terror as she seemed to be struggling with either finding her peerage or helping out my uncle.
Thankfully, a magic circle appeared around her ear and she perked up immediately.
Rias: "Akeno...! Are you alright?!"
A good amount of silence formed before she sighed in relief.
Rias: "Ok...is everyone in good condition?"
Another period of quiet passed before she nodded.
Rias: "Alright then, I'll regroup with you and then we'll look for Xenovia and Rossweisse. Make sure everyone is together. With Ethan and Thor's behavior, there's no guarantee anything will go well if we split apart."
The magic circle on her ear disappeared and she turned back to me.
Rias: "Your brothers thankfully prevented most of us from splitting apart, so they're all in good condition."
"Any word on Mother and Father?"
Rias shrugged as she took off into the skies again.
Rias: "Akeno didn't report anything, I would assume they could take care of themselves though."
I nodded as I heard a thunder strike followed by an explosion that turned the skies into a crimson red color.
"You go reunite with your peerage and find the Valkyrie and knight. I'll see how Uncle Eíthürr is holding up."
The younger sister of Lucifer nodded and began to speed off to the location reported to her. Meanwhile, I turned to the collapsing mountain and began to speed off towards my uncle.
It was a weird sight to behold, how he was right before the armor activated. When it activated before, Eíthürr at the very least seemed to have a level head before inciting the armor's activation...but those glowing red eyes...that's not normal—especially for one as empathetic as he is.
After running for a good while, the sound of punches, distorted howling, and thunder became louder and louder. That noise suddenly became way too loud as a blast of bifrost energy landed right in front of me, which I could thankfully defend against with a defensive ice wall.
Once the debris from the blast stopped flying everywhere, I was able to get a good view of the clearing Eíthürr made whenever the armor activated...where I saw my mom and dad kneeling over the body of Leia.
"Uncle...what did you do?"
I quickly rushed down to join both of them.
"Mother! Father!"
Angrboda turned her head up and nodded before looking back down to Leia on the ground.
Angrboda: "Can you sense any signs of life from her?"
Atreus: "A little bit...but it's extremely hard to sense anything."
Walking up to her body, a realization dawned on me. My time in Helheim had helped me learn how the presence of a soul feels—whether the soul was with the body or not. The weird thing was that I couldn't sense her soul within her body.
That confused me—she was supposed to be dead—and yet Father was saying that she was alive somewhat. How is that possible?
The mechanical growl of Ethan suddenly caused us to look up in time for us to see him get absolutely pulverized into the ground by Thor and Heimdall crushing him at the same time.
"Ethan! Calm down! Please!"
The sound of Leia's voice registered to me and almost immediately my eyes widened at the realization of where her soul actually was.
"Mother. Father...we need to move Leia's body away from here."
They both looked at me with a questioning gaze.
"If her soul is where I think it is...it's the most we can do until Ethan stands still long enough for us to calm him down."
They both looked over to Ethan fighting Thor while constantly leaping and dodging lightning blast after lightning blast, the reality of the situation suddenly dawning on the both of them.
"I'll take her back to the red dragon emperor's household, you two think of ways to restrain him!"
Atreus: "Roger that then!"
Angrboda gave me a proud smile as she turned back towards my dad. He gave her a small wink while giving me a smile before they both stood up and turned towards Eíthürr, Thor, and Heimdall's battle.
Angrboda: "Alright then Loki, what do we do?"
My father began to laugh quietly, which I could only recognize due to the rhythmic rise and fall of his shoulders.
Atreus: "I have some ideas."
I picked up Leia's body and then created a portal back to the house.
"Whatever it is, make sure you enact it quickly!"
Rossweisse POV
I think it was safe to say nobody thought that we would see such a big blast of power from Ethan. And considering the place I landed from the blast was across the freaking town, it was far larger than anything than anything It was probably the biggest surge of energy I've ever witnessed in my life. Take the fact that I've lived alongside Thor in Asgard, and that fact becomes terrifying.
I found myself under a pile of rubble whenever i landed and immediately created a gigantic explosion of bifrost around me to clear my surroundings.
Thankfully, the blast didn't really impact the town all that much, it was more or less a giant shockwave that passed through the area and destroyed a couple of buildings. Yet even from my position, I could see the crackled of thunder and the brilliant red glow the Berserker's eyes created.
"Ethan...what in Odin's name is going on with you?!"
I groaned at Ethan's stubborn behavior. Why can't he just tell us why he's so unstable! For crying out loud, whatever he didn't tell me earlier today was probably what resulted in the armor activating on him.
Bikou: "Valkyrie! Are you alright?"
I tensed up at his voice before I turned around to see Bikou, Le Fay, and Arthur standing right next to me.
"What are you guys here for?"
Arthur: "We sensed the activation of the armor and arrived here as quick as possible. Vali and Kuroka are where Eíthürr and Thor are fighting."
"Why do you care so much about him? He hasn't done anything beneficial to you."
Le Fay: "If he somehow trusts Bikou and Kuroka more than some of the other peerage members he lives with...then we have to act if we can stop him."
Don't need to keep rubbing that in...
"Why though? You aren't exactly the nicest group of supernatural! You're terrorists for crying out loud! You normally would be trying to push this forward."
Bikou: "Ever considered we wanted to leave the Brigade?"
Before I could even register his words, Bikou turned to Ethan's battle and then began to rush towards the area followed by Arthur and Le Fay. Completely dumbfounded, I joined them.
Le Fay: "So what caused Ethan to enter this state this time!?"
"Well, Odin—smart individual he is—sent Baldur and Heimdall to retrieve Ethan and take him to Asgard."
Arthur deadpanned as he looked at me.
Arthur: "Seriously...?"
Bikou: "Oh yeah! This guy who clearly lives with someone who didn't like their life in Asgard, probably dislikes it because of what it did to his people, and fought THOR to a standstill! What could go wrong...fucking idiot."
"Well at least you and I think alike monkey king."
Bikou nodded.
"Anyway, Eíthürr fought Heimdall—and actually managed to land a hit on him—"
Both Bikou and Arthur scoffed, like they were expecting something outrageous, but not exactly surprised by it.
Le Fay: "...What!?"
Arthur: "Like I said sister, Ethan is far more capable than we thought he ever could be."
"Way more than we're ready for to be honest..."
Arthur: "Clearly."
I flinched at the response.
"Anyway, Odin and Thor stepped in before Ethan could kill him. Then they talked to him about somethings...and then they played an audio that caused him to snap...?"
My story quickly just devolved into me trying to figure out how the hell a simple sound would cause Ethan to lose his mind almost instantaneously...did that noise trigger something for him?
If it did...then what the hell did he see in those visions to lose his composure that quickly?
Bikou: "Looks like you don't have an idea."
"Loki did say something about the noise being from a dragon who killed his parents...maybe he can tell us about it."
Arthur: "I beg your pardon...Loki?"
I nodded while groaning in exasperation.
"Turns out the being we sealed was a clone of Loki with only a 5th of his original strength. He's now an ally to us...you didn't know?"
Bikou: "Nope. Didn't even drop a SINGLE hint about it! The heck Ethan?!"
I huffed as we arrived back to the battle. Ethan was constantly zipping around both Thor and Heimdall—only trackable through the glowing red color of his eyes and the trail of blood he was leaving behind.
Le Fay: "What do we do now?"
A pained groan was heard as Ex-Durandal struck its way out of a pile of debris. It was Xenovia—yet she clearly was hit pretty hard by the blast. She was holding her hip which seemed to also be bleeding quite a bit.
"Xenovia!"
I immediately rushed over to her. She tried to jog up to me but she immediately keeled over from the pain and kneeled on the ground. She seemed to be in a large amount of pain from whatever hit her.
"What's wrong? Can you still walk?"
The knight shook her head.
Xenovia: "I think I broke a rib..."
I nervously looked around towards the others and then towards Ethan's battle.
Bikou: "It's best to get out of here. Cmon!"
Xenovia nodded as she put Ex-Durandal on her back. I lifted her up and turned to Bikou and Arthur alongside his sister.
"Alright then...let's get to the household we should be able to—"
A magic circle formed in my ear and I was met with a more familiar voice, Akeno.
Akeno: "Rossweisse...?!"
Her voice seemed frantic and panicked so I immediately set Xenovia on the ground and answered.
"I'm here! Don't worry!"
I heard a sigh of relief from the queen of the peerage.
Akeno: "Thank Satan! I've been trying to get in contact with you and Xenovia!"
I raised my eyebrow.
"Why only us two?"
Akeno: "Fenrir and Jörmungandr kept most of us together whenever we got blasted. Hel got blasted with Rias. Only, you, Xenovia, and Leia are unaccounted for!"
"I'm with Xenovia right now. How's everyone doing with you?"
Akeno: "A bit shaken, but overall, we're alright, how about you two?"
"Xenovia seems to have broken a rib. She needs to see Asia whenever she can."
A good amount of silence passed, yet I could hear Akeno commanding everyone to do specific things.
Akeno: "Alright, Kiba, Issei, and Asia are ready to head to your position...last question is where are you?"
The mechanical roar of the berserker armor was accompanied by an extremely powerful blast in the air.
Akeno: "How close are you to Ethan right now!?"
"Way too close!"
BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!
Another wave of energy passed over us, this time though, I could immediately tell Issei was the culprit behind the new power.
Bikou: "Without a doubt, the single most chaotic town I've ever been in...AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING!"
A sudden chill suddenly hit all of us—alongside a constant stream of bifrost that began to bombard us.
Bikou: "AW COME ON NOW!"
The sound of Heimdall's laughter filled my ears...and I became terrified. For some reason, his laugh was different...perhaps there was a small amount of malevolence in it.
Heimdall: "I have to say Rossweisse, I am PROFOUNDLY...unimpressed by your friend's strength."
His voice noticeably was different from the snarky, and cocky tone he usually had up in Asgard, which immediately caught me off guard.
Rossweisse: "What did you do to him!?"
Heimdall only began to laugh in response as we all stared at him quietly.
Heimdall: "You think you're worthy to know that!? You don't need to know ANYTHING!"
Arthur instinctively stepped in front of his sister.
Heimdall: "Now give me that knight...or suffer the consequences."
He gave a lustful look to Xenovia, which caused all of us to recoil in disgust.
Arthur: "I should've known your people are nothing but perverted battle-obsessed idiots..."
Heimdall quite visibly got upset but quickly regained his composure.
Heimdall: "I do whatever I please, thank you very much."
"Correction: you do what Odin pleases. He always said you can't think for yourself"
Heimdall clenched his jaw and was about to rush forward whenever a red glow suddenly appeared between us and him. That red glow turned out to be Issei in his balance breaker armor.
Heimdall: "You...the oh so famous partner of Lucifer's younger sister."
Issei: "You know me?"
Heimdall shook his head and began to snicker.
Heimdall: "You have been the center of everyone's attention ever since you defeated that flaming chicken and supposed clone of Loki."
Issei clenched his fists as he stood at him.
Issei: "Then you should know what I can do!"
Heimdall: "Despite all your accomplishments, you cannot take me down—even you know that."
Boost! Boost! Boost!
Heimdall: "And with one look...I can see you're uncertain of your relationship with your partners...no doubt because of the new addition to the family you live with."
"Issei...don't listen to him."
Heimdall: "And even better! You seem to have the same exact fears Eíthürr did! You are really two morons to think you can both stop me."
Issei: "That doesn't mean I cannot try!"
Heimdall then made a mocking bow.
Heimdall: "Then by all means, let's get started!"
The amount of boosts I heard after that was completely mind-boggling as Issei rushed forward, yet something completely unexpected happened.
Issei: "Welsh Sonic Boost Knight! Armor release!"
Ddraig: Change Star Sonic!
Issei's armor suddenly shed and fell onto the ground and he fired forward at a speed I didn't think was possible for him
Issei: "I will not allow you to take Xenovia and Irina! Their boobs belong to me AND ME ONLY!"
Heimdall sidestepped the red dragon emperor and only began to taunt him as the battle intensified.
Leia POV
The screams of agony of the souls and the rage they all felt was insane. It's no wonder why even someone like Ethan can fall to their influence so easily.
Yup, I was trapped in the armor to some extent. My soul was literally riding on some sort of wolf with the exact same eyes the berserker helmet had. Unfortunately, that meant I was able to see what Ethan doing while influencing the armor—through the eye sockets of the armor.
I thought I knew what god-like power was before...but to see Ethan zooming around faster than I could even process, completely leap from a seemingly random location and land a hit on Thor so strong I could hear his own arms breaking from the force was another sight to behold.
I kept on trying to call him back, yet the souls this time were determined to keep him under their control, constantly crying and roaring in a manner far angrier than anything I've heard from them before.
Come on! There has to be a way to stop this!
I knew there was only so much Eitr pumped into him before the armor ran out and he would begin to slowly kill himself...but with what I had...how could I do anything but watch!?
Suddenly a blue ball of energy slammed into Ethan and crashed into the ground. Whatever it was, it quickly flew away from us just as quickly as it attacked.
Ethan did not like the entry of the new combatant and roared which was accompanied by all the souls around me screaming in rage.
Who is trying to attack him? It's completely useless at this point...
DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!
Almost immediately I could sense the physical power of Ethan decrease drastically. He whined in frustration when the souls began to voice their confusion.
Nonetheless, he leaped forward towards the flying blue light...only for the light to leap back to us—as a giant white dragon with blue wings and a white bear with blue eyes slammed him into the ground and held him down.
Ethan furiously began to thrash around constantly roaring as more and more of Fenrir's teeth were injected into him, strengthening him even more.
A gigantic blast of lightning struck both of us, causing the souls to scream in anger and pain once again. Ethan was then pinned down by Atreus in his bear form.
Angrboda: "VALI! KUROKA! It's now or never!"
The giant dragon quickly let go of Ethan before getting behind him and biting on his left shoulder. I also felt a pair of hands wrap around his neck and a large amount of senjutsu gather behind him. In an unnatural speed, the dragon suddenly reverted back to Vali's base form passed out on the ground, alongside Kuroka who seemed to loose her grip on Ethan's neck.
Almost immediately, I felt 3 presences join me. Looking behind me, I could see Kuroka, Vali, and even Albion's soul all sitting right next to me
"You guys are actually here!"
Vali: "Yeah, you better thank Loki for that. He came up with the plan."
Kuroka: "Come on now. Did you think I would let you save Ethan by yourself?"
Albion: "It is a pleasure to finally meet you Leiœrtheia...although I do wish we first met in better circumstances."
"At least I'm not alone! Come on! I'll show you how to snap him out of it!"
While I was relieved at the backup, the souls did not like the new interlopers. Almost immediately the souls collectively roared in anger, causing Ethan to launch Atreus into the air and choke slam him into the ground, creating a giant crater in the epicenter.
Kuroka: "Is that...Ethan?"
"It's what happens to his soul whenever the armor possesses him...yes."
Vali: "The amount of screaming...what the hell is this?"
Albion: "So much anger within...goodness."
Vali: "What's wrong?"
Albion: "Partner, I'm going to be completely honest with you, with the amount of negative energy I'm sensing...Eíthürr would become the strongest evil being to ever exist. No questions asked."
Vali: "Stronger than Aži Dahāka and Apophis?"
Albion: "Perhaps even stronger than Crom Cruach before he vanished off the face of the Earth."
Vali: "Interesting..."
Kuroka: "You're telling me he's filled with that much anger and hate...!? How?!"
"Remember, those negative emotions aren't his...the souls just sensed him being emotionally vulnerable and took over his mind."
Kuroka: "Then what caused him to become so unstable?!"
She sounded genuinely concerned, which according to the people of the ORC, is something that should be impossible. Although it was a for just a small moment, I still felt a good amount of happiness that Ethan had someone from a terrorist organization basically fall for him. Then the question she asked hit me.
"I'm not actually sure...Odin played some sort of audio that seemed to bring back some sort of memory for him...and judging by the fact that he immediately locked onto Heimdall before the armor activated...it was probably something to do with him."
Vali: "Combine that with the natural hatred for Asgard the souls in the armor have..."
"No wonder I couldn't bring him back earlier..."
Kuroka: "What if we all tried to bring him back together?"
"That's what I was thinking."
Vali: "So then...what do we do?"
"We need to open his eyes...that should snap him out of the rage...or at least allow him to control himself"
Everyone nodded as we hovered over the beast's neck, and reached over to his eyes and pulled back his eyes as much as possible. The souls completely began to lose it and began to scream wildly while lashing at us.
Maybe it was because Albion's soul was right next to us, but they almost immediately began to quiet down whenever they came into contact with Vali's own soul.
"Come on Ethan...! Open your eyes!"
Ethan POV
Almost immediately upon waking up, the first thing I could see in front of me was Thor completely wrapped in lightning.
Thor: "Just...stop MOVING EÍTHÜRR!"
A bolt of lightning struck where I was, which I narrowed avoided by jumping away. However, he seemed to notice my change in demeanor almost immediately, as any lightning surrounded him dissipated.
Thor: "You awake in there?"
I nodded in confusion. The voices of the souls within the armor were constantly trying to drive me back under their influence...yet they were failing somehow.
What's going on...? This isn't normally what happens when I enter this state.
I looked around to see the forest and the mountain everyone was standing by, completely leveled.
How long have I been gone!?
Leia: 'You've been in a berserker rage for the past 5 minutes!'
I looked over to my side and saw both Leia and Kuroka hovering over my left shoulder and Vali and Albion hovering over my right.
What...? What's going on!? Where's everyone?!
SURRENDER...
My vision suddenly began to glow red and I was about to fall to the influence, but thankfully...
Kuroka: 'Stay with us Ethan! You'll destroy the entire town if you let the armor take over!'
Her voice immediately caused my vision to change back to normal. Thor, at this point, had just landed next to me.
"Thor...what has happened?"
Thor chuckled before shaking his head in disbelief.
Thor: "YOU happened Vargr! Whenever that armor activated, you created a blast that threw everyone away from you and destroyed the forest!"
Everyone...
"Where's Rias and the ORC?"
Atreus: "They're safe for now. However, Heimdall is–"
Get us out of this Ethan!
KILL...
My vision once again turned red and my fists clenched unconsciously.
DIVIDE!
The red died down and I calmed down once again
"What is happening to me!? I shouldn't be getting this angry this quickly!"
Angrboda: "It's not anger that the armor's reacting to Ethan..."
"What?"
Atreus: "The armor reacts to any negative feeling that the wearer feels...for you...it is most likely sensing fear."
Vali: 'Fear? What could Ethan possibly fear?'
Xenovia and Irina...what they could go through.
Vali: 'The hell is that supposed to mean?'
'Long story short! I saw a vision with Heimdall forcing himself on both of them! I CANT LET THAT HAPPEN! And if Heimdall is an apostle...we need to stop him here and now before he can do any–'
LET GO...
I began to twitch uncontrollably as my vision turned red once again.
Vali: 'I know you want to stop him now, but you're in no condition to even look at him without completely losing it. Even just saying his name has us using all of our effort to keep you calm.
Leia: 'Yeah! Imagine what you might do to the ORC if they get too close!'
I frowned at that. If I'm completely honest, I felt completely helpless.
"Atreus...does he succeed in taking both of them?"
Atreus shrugged while giving an apologetic expression.
Atreus: "That's up to what you do now."
"So you have any idea what I am supposed to do here?"
Thor huffed in annoyance.
"What's your deal? I'm trying to gather useful information."
Thor: "Why are YOU of all people asking what to do here? You can do whatever you damn please can you not?"
Vali: 'Pfft. At least I'm not the only one to think that.'
Angrboda: "Welp, we will probably have two satans in town soon...most likely Leviathan and Lucifer...what's the game-plan?"
Loki: "First off. Thor, where's your brother?"
Thor: "Which one exactly?"
Loki: "The one with the horn!"
Thor rolled his eyes as he turned over to look at Kuoh.
Thor: "He's fighting the red dragon emperor over there right now..."
That was concerning to hear. Issei, despite being pretty damn powerful, was nowhere near god class. Ironic that I was saying it since I didn't really have a grip on my own power, but still.
"I'll head over there! See if I can defeat him."
Loki: "Hey! Hey! No! Sorry buddy, but no!"
I looked at my brother incredulously.
Loki: "You're not in any condition to fight him. If just saying his name is enough to cause the armor to take control, then the possibility that you may lose it and attack the ORC is still there."
Thor: "Fight him? Why would he need to fight him?"
Angrboda looked over to me and nodded to me as her eye began to glow golden.
Angrboda: "Ethan? Could you stay back and tell Thor what you know about...him?"
I clenched my fists and took some deep breaths before reluctantly nodding.
"And what will you two be doing?"
Loki chuckled while rubbing his hands together.
Loki: "A rematch is in order. It's been a long time since I last fought him."
Angrboda: "I'll see if I can help you try to control your emotions with the armor."
I nodded.
"Make sure to protect Xenovia and Irina. I don't want to lose them."
Loki: "Yeesh! I KNOW! Seriously, just kiss them already!"
I sent a death glare to him at which he immediately shut his mouth, seemingly realizing I did not like the subject. Nonetheless, he regained his composure before transforming into a wolf and rushing down to their position.
Thor: "So...why exactly are you so prone to anger around Heimdall–"
My vision turned red again, but this time, I was able to resist the pull slightly myself.
Vali: "Dang...that took less effort than usual."
Kuroka: "You still with us?"
'Yup...I'm not as bothered as I was with Loki taking care of him. He can handle him.'
Leia: 'Ethan. Remember what you have to tell Thor. Vali, Kuroka, be sure to take what he's about to say in mind.'
'Right.'
"Thor...you may want to sit down. Odds are you won't believe anything we say, but if Atreus wishes so, then there is no choice."
Thor: "Stop with the cryptic shit, just tell me."
I huffed as I looked at him dead in the eyes.
"Your brother isn't the being you think he is."
Thor: "Which is supposed to mean?"
"He's not a god...I guess you could say he's a monster."
Thor rolled his eyes.
Thor: "So are you and I in a bunch of people's eyes. Your point?"
"By monster, I mean he literally sacrificed his humanity to become a monster."
Thor looked at me with a confused expression as he looked at me.
Kuroka: 'Wait...what?'
Thor: "A monster? Like biologically?"
Angrboda: "Something like that, we call them apostles."
Thor looked at Angrboda with an untrusting face.
Angrboda: "They're the reason me and my husband vanished off the face of the Earth. These apostles are beings who give into their inner desires...and hunt anyone who gets marked for death by their masters."
Vali: 'This just got a whole lot more interesting...'
Thor rolled his eyes.
Thor: "Yeah right. My brother may be an asshole, but he's still my brother. Besides, he's only ever left his post atop Hrimthur's wall...with the excuse that you two were sighted."
Thor slowly began to put the pieces together.
Thor: "Wait...that was what he was doing? Hunting you guys down and attempting to kill you?"
Angrboda nodded while I stayed silent. I was also learning in this conversation.
Thor: "So that's why you went straight for him whenever the armor activated..."
I nodded
"I saw him fighting Atreus and Fenrir in the middle of the night while they were surrounded by countless other creatures of darkness in a vision. Angrboda was carrying me away before she got ambushed by some sort of valkyrie."
Leia: 'That's why the armor was so difficult to hold back...'
Kuroka: 'Ethan...what happened to you before Rias took you in?'
Vali: 'Seems you have a bit more in common with us than I previously thought.'
'More in common with my friends in the peerage as well...'
Thor: "Hm..."
It was clear Thor was conflicted on everything. He didn't really want to actually believe anything we said—the expression on his face said it all.
Angrboda: "I don't think I can ever convince you of anything Thor...but at least think on it."
Thor glanced at me with a questioning look.
"I'm learning things as well...but if the vision I had right before the armor activated is of any indication, then she's speaking the truth."
Thor nodded at my words.
Thor: "Well then...let me push him. That shall seal the deal on whether you're trustworthy or not."
Electricity began to crackle around Thor as he looked over towards where Heimdall and Atreus were supposedly fighting and then took off with a single throw of Mjölnir to the sky.
"You think he'll believe us?"
Angrboda shrugged as she looked in Thor's direction.
Angrboda: "More than likely no, but one small trick from Atreus could make him believe everything."
She looked down and took a deep breath before turning to me.
"Didn't you say something about helping me control my emotions?"
Angrboda nodded.
Angrboda: "Something like that. The Skull Knight paid us a visit earlier this morning and gave us...this."
Angrboda then pulled out some sort of strange stone that seemed to pulse. Even stranger was the power it emanated...it wasn't like anything I've ever sensed before...it was completely foreign.
"How did you come to the conclusion that it could help me in any way?"
Angrboda: "I'm not entirely sure myself if I'm honest...but I heard a voice from the stone...it seems to have been looking for you."
"That seems far fetched...even for the supernatural world."
???: ULTIMA...
I heard a voice from the stone resonate, something far deeper than the voices of the armor usually were. I was already unnerved by this mystery stone somehow knowing me, but the reaction that Leia, Vali, and Kuroka all had only made things worse.
Leia: 'HOLY CRAP!'
'What's going on?'
Vali: 'Something is in the stone...something strong'
'What is it...!? Does it look like anything you recall?'
Kuroka: 'I don't know...all I can see is just a void surrounding Angrboda's hand.'
"What...are you...?"
The stone remained silent...and then lunged right towards me and began to absorb itself into my chest, an orange glow suddenly glaring across the armor. The voices of the armor all yelled in panic...and to my horror, I heard Leia, Kuroka, and Vali's screams before they went silent. Due to that, my vision became red again...and I fell unconscious once again.
Fenrir POV
Fucking hell, I forgot just how infuriating Heimdall himself actually was. Just by looking at him talking to Father in the way that he was, I had the biggest urge to just rush forward and rip his head off. You know what? I probably was going to if it weren't for one thing.
Asia: "Fenrir...is Ethan going to be ok?"
I looked back down to the peerage, now all gathered together. Xenovia had now been healed up by Asia, and everyone was gathered a fair distance away from everyone. Sona's peerage was also present and watching from the same position.
"I would be surprised if he doesn't come out of this fight little one. He's far stronger than you give him credit for."
Asia: "O-ok..."
Issei, having left the battle to allow Father to fight Heimdall and rejoin the peerage, walked up behind her and hugged her from behind, causing her face to begin burning red.
Issei: "He'll get out of this one Asia, that I can promise."
She only silently nodded while I looked at all his supposed future lovers. It was something that definitely would mess with his emotions judging by the conversation I had with him earlier today...maybe that's partially why the armor activated in the way it did.
Fenrir: "Jörm. Any update on Uncle Eíthürr and Mother's position?"
The dragon king, now about the size of a building, was gazing off into the distance towards where he sensed their presence.
Jörmungandr: "He seems to be left alone...and in control due to the amount of negative energy emanating from him decreasing. Mother is right next to him."
Rossweisse: "And what of Thor?"
The sound of thunder crackling over near Father and Heimdall answered that question.
Rias: "Fenrir...what is going on with Ethan?"
I turned my head and immediately was met by Rias' scared and confused eyes. Almost immediately, I was taken aback by the desperation in her eyes. No devil usually is this vulnerable...especially with a being who is still relatively unfamiliar with them.
I could immediately see why she of all devils could be with Eíthürr, and to be honest, that thought amused me. Pushing that thought aside though, it was pretty easy to piece together what caused him to lose his mind.
"He learned about what happened in his past."
Rias: "His past?"
Jörmungandr: "Eíthürr has gone through a lot in his life...the only reason he wasn't affected by it before was because he was just an infant when it all happened."
I looked at all of the peerage members of Rias' peerage. Ironically, each of their own pasts was only a part of what our uncle went through as a young boy.
"If you thought whatever any of you all went through was rough...well quite frankly you don't know what the hell he's gone through."
Asia: "Weren't his parents...murdered in front of him as a child...?"
I nodded.
"There's a distinct difference between saying and knowing something that happened and actually witnessing it in person."
The Gremory peerage, especially Akeno, Koneko, and Gasper all grew sad at my statement as I looked over to Father's battle.
Amazingly, Father was able to keep his cool as he created a circle of clones around Heimdall, and then unleashed at least 50 glowing arrows towards him. Heimdall immediately activated his realm shift and slowed time down to avoid everything, but then a lightning strike from Thor trapped him, essentially causing him to tank every single arrow, which blew up upon contact.
Turns out those arrows really packed a punch because Heimdall was now on his knees weakened immensely.
Heimdall: "Pfft...you're supposed to be on my side brother!"
Thor: "Don't you even call me that! I know what you did!"
Heimdall: "Like you didn't do worse...?"
Thor grit his teeth in anger.
Loki: "The difference is that he feels remorse for what he did. Can't say I've ever met an apostle who was regretful of anything."
Heimdall: "You...always have to ruin everything don't you!?"
Loki: "Ever since you became obsessed with the two church warriors...pretty much yeah!"
I heard Xenovia and Irina's gasps of horror. Rossweisse just groaned in disgust, and Issei's boosts before looking back to them.
Loki: "You could even say it's a hobby of mine!"
Heimdall was beginning to glow purple and his power began to grow even more than it already was.
"Jörm, cover Xenovia and Irina!"
Jörmungandr nodded and immediately wrapped his body around both of them, creating a an open column that they were both standing within. Almost immediately, the brand on all of us suddenly began to burn fiercely and I whirred around to barely dodge a Heimdall who practically blazed past me at the speed of light right towards Jörmungandr.
With a physical strength that shouldn't be possible, he stabbed Jörmungandr right in the middle of his brand, causing him to roar in pain and rapidly uncoil, which left Xenovia and Irina right in the open. In just a single motion, he rushed over to the both of them, and immediately pulled them towards himself. They both immediately screamed before collecting themselves and trying to at least keep him away.
Unfortunately, he just sidestepped Xenovia's swing and dodged the spear of light that Irina created and then slammed both of them on the ground. I wasn't even that close to either of them, but the instant silence that was elicited from the Gremory peerage from that attack left an air of uncertainty that even unnerved me.
By far the most concerning response was the look Ddraig's host now adopted.
His eyes were now glowing green and anyone could recognize the juggernaut drive was trying to gnaw its way into his mind. By now, Father and Thor had both arrived and were about to attack Heimdall...and immediately stopped whenever they saw that he had grabbed the two church warriors and was holding them both in a chokehold.
I couldn't contain the growl that began to creep into my throat while beginning to gather my strength, and Jörm seemed like he was about to revert into his outrage.
Heimdall: "Go on, attack me and see what happens!"
Thor: "You are nothing but a coward! An aesir god would never act as you are right now?"
Heimdall: "I would hurt at your words brother, however, unfortunately for you, I could not give less of a shit if I tried."
The shock of Irina and Xenovia's condition suddenly seemed to register for the Gremory peerage and they immediately started to go on attack mode.
Rias: "Return my knight and our angelic ally back at once!"
Everyone around her looked at her incredulously. She was out-powered here by a ratio of 100-1 at least. Heck, even Heimdall seemed surprised at her words.
Heimdall: "How are you this brave...or stupid?"
Issei almost immediately stood in front of her and glared towards him.
Issei: "President knows exactly what is at risk with you here...and she will not let this stand!"
Heimdall looked at him and smirked.
Heimdall: "Yeah...she's doing this to try and keep you calm so you don't destroy the entire town for me."
Issei grit his teeth while forming his balance breaker armor while everyone stared down the corrupted watchman of the aesir.
Heimdall: "Go on...break the seal on Ddraig once again and prove to the world you're really no better than a child of the fucking ghost of Sparta."
Almost instantly any excess energy from Issei faded and he looked back at the Gremory peerage who were all looking at him with a concerned expression.
Irina: "Issei...please...don't do it..."
To my shock, Irina and Xenovia were still conscious...but in really bad condition. Issei immediately flared up in anger seeing their state once again, but his childhood friend's words shut it down once again.
Heimdall: "By all means, don't do anything and just let it happen. It'll make things simpler for all of us!"
Vali: "Issei...I know what you're feeling...but there's no way–"
Issei: "I..."
The amount of power around the red dragon emperor began to increase rapidly—much faster than anything I've thought possible from the gear. The sudden realization that Issei was about to go berserk immediately caused everyone to go on guard and look at him terrified.
Rias: "ISSEI NO!"
Vali: "Ah shit..."
Issei: "...who am about to awaken."
Thor: "Forgive me everyone..."
Almost immediately, Mjölnir was thrown at Issei's head with just enough force to knock him out. Rias and his other lovers understandably got pissed at him and were about to whirl towards Thor whenever another power entered my senses...one even Father and Thor grew wary of.
When I turned around, Lucifer and Leviathan were standing right behind their siblings and looking at Thor completely pissed. Even in the armor that he was wearing, Sirzechs' power of destruction began to form an aura around everyone while a chill of ice began to form around Serafall.
Sirzechs: "My dear Rias! What on Earth has happened here?!"
Atreus: "Really dumb shit that's what!"
Serafall: "Why the hell are you and Thor here!?"
Father, for the first time in well over 100 winters glared at Serafall without a single bit of hesitation in his eyes.
Atreus: "I need to look after my brother don't I? As for the big buffoon with the hammer, why don't you ask his father later on?"
At the mention of my uncle, both of their faces softened and suddenly grew concerned at the realization that he wasn't around.
Sirzechs: "Where is he...?"
Heimdall began to laugh as he slammed Irina and Xenovia onto the ground and stared directly at Sirzechs, seemingly not caring about the multiple levels of fucked he now was.
Almost immediately, Lucifer gave him a glare that even unnerved me and immediately began to release his power around him, causing his eyes to turn red.
Sirzechs: "What the hell did you do to him."
Heimdall: "Why don't you ask him?"
Heimdall then pointed to Father, which elicited a growl from me and my siblings.
"Watch your mouth..."
He looked at me and gave me a head tilt that was completely unbearable for me to look at. I was about to lunge at him whenever a familiar whistle hit my ears. I turned around to see Mother staring Heimdall down before softening her eyes and looking at me.
Angrboda: "Calm down my love, things will come around."
Akeno: "Come around!? Heimdall has been doing all of this and nothing has come around to do anything!"
A sudden wave of power that deafened any sound suddenly moved over us.
Awaken...Child of Fate....
Awaken...IFRIT!
Mother only turned to Akeno and winked before a massive pillar of flame landed right on Heimdall.
He was launched through multiple buildings by the blast—yet strangely, the blast only seemed to affect Heimdall—only really coming off as a light breeze to all of us.
Jörmungandr: "What the...?"
Sirzechs: "Who...is in the middle of that pillar?"
The sound of something slamming on the ground quickly became apparent as a tail waved out from the pillar, which was now dying down in intensity. As the pillar began to die down in intensity, a figure began to become more and more visible.
Atreus: "Ymir help me..."
Everyone gave an unnerved glance to him before the being roared, causing a massive shockwave to destroy the entirety of the forest around us and sending Xenovia and Irina flying into us.
Sirzechs: "Loki...what the hell happened to him!?"
Loki: "Doesn't matter how it happened...what you should be worried about is what will happen now."
Everyone frantically looked over to my uncle, as he turned to look at a single building from which Heimdall crawled out of.
Rossweisse: "What are you getting at Loki!?"
He sighed—a surprising reaction considering how much apathy he mostly showed to all of us over this entire thing.
Loki: "Heimdall is about to die...and so is my brother if we don't act now."