From pawn to god: A High School DxD crossover story

The road to healing

Leia POV

Well...the last few weeks have been chaotic...I'll say that. I don't even know where to begin...but here we go.

The peerage...didn't take the memory dump onto them all that well. They definitely became depressed over the ordeal. Honestly, if it weren't for me being able to read what they were feeling through their souls, I wouldn't have any clue how much they were beating themselves up.

Their sleep schedules suffered a lot, and from what I could see, it was because of nightmares about Ethan ripping them apart in the berserker armor while his angry voice tore into their emotional side.

It was odd to see in school...Rias and Akeno, the once confidant queens of Kuoh Academy, were now often emotionless or noticeably drained whenever they were walking through the halls. Koneko was now much more violent than she was previously, and much more closed off to the peerage, while Rossweisse now had a subtlety increased urge to help out everyone in the best way she could while having a not-so-subtle increase in the alcohol she consumed after hours. The amount of bottles splattering apart on the ground...Freyr help me.

To an extent, even the boys were affected by the memory dump. Gasper and Kiba, while certainly being in better condition compared to the girls, became more reserved in their interactions with people outside the peerage.

Of course, that created confusion for Issei, Xenovia, and Irina when they woke up. They of course had to be told that Ethan literally transformed into a demon before killing Heimdall to protect them. They didn't take it very well that Ethan was then driven insane by the armor while being conscious and then proceeded to basically perform an exorcism on himself to get rid of the cursed equipment which nearly killed him.

They, thankfully, were never exposed to the memories, because from what I've heard from Gasper and Kiba, Xenovia and Irina would not leave him alone with their pleading for forgiveness and the former's ability to pray as a devil. Issei didn't really want to hear anything about Ethan though. In fact, he immediately left the room before I could explain what Ethan did, he in general became a lot more frustrated as he tried to cheer everyone up.

I couldn't blame him. He tries his absolute hardest to save Xenovia and Irina, it turns out it's not enough, and then a guy who put little to no work into his strength just comes along and takes care of things. I would feel like crap if I was in his position too.

Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr all became more silent in general, although I could tell it wasn't from sadness...but more like a quiet observation of things within the house. The only time I could sense anything from them was when Fenrir was around Sköll and Hati.

Oh yeah! Sköll and Hati! Presumably due to Chaos' presence within Ethan, the wolves suddenly split from his weapons and became their own full being, functioning like normal without a celestial body or weapon to bind themselves to, so now they're fully living in the household—in the backyard alongside their father and serpentine uncle anyway.

Because of that, school has gotten a fair bit more interesting to the mortals who actually go to Kuoh. Angrboda had somehow been able to fill in as a teacher at the school and she seemed to be getting along quite well with her job. Loki, while at first wanting to be a leader of a nature club at the school, was distracted by something else he wouldn't tell about. He did make frequent visits when he wasn't busy though.

She wasn't the only new addition to Kuoh town either. Sirzechs informed us that the Phenex household was mysteriously wiped off the face of the world, so they were residing within the compounds of the town which resulted in Ravel going to Kuoh as well. Ravel herself was in critical condition and was seemingly afflicted with a curse—something not natural for her kind considering the Phoenix tears the family specialized in only worsened her condition and didn't heal her. Why Sirzechs didn't just temporarily house them in a household in the underworld I'll never know.

Recently, I've also been getting some really weird high pitched ringing in my head that hurts like absolute hell whenever it does happen. I've talked to Hel about it, but she didn't seem to have a clue on what was going on. How long has it been since Ethan transformed into Ifrit...? It doesn't feel like a week have passed—it felt more like a month.

Most days when I arrived home from school, I was exhausted and proceeded to take a nap on the ground, and today was no different for me. In fact I took the longest nap I have ever taken in my entire life.

When I woke up, it was the middle of the night. Sighing at the realization that my sleep schedule was screwed, I slowly brought myself out of bed and began to go down to the front yard to pay a visit to Ethan.

Yet when I opened the door, a sinking feeling began to rise in my stomach that something was off. I couldn't ignore it, so I went up to Issei's room to verify if I was actually sensing something or it was my brain being lethargic.

Propping open the door, I looked to see Asia and Issei sleeping together in the bed...but no one else...that's concerning. Quickly checking the other rooms, Kiba was sound asleep, but Gasper and Hel were strangely missing as well.

"Maybe...I'm just overdramatizing this...gotta check with Hati."

I specifically went to check with Hati since he made a habit of staying up all night looking at his prey while sleeping during the day. Sure enough, when I did enter the backyard, the blue-eyed black son of Fenrir was plopped down in the middle of the backyard staring up at the moon.

To be honest, the backyard was still a bit tough to look at after everything that transpired here. Scorch marks from the flames Ethan created were still bright as day even in the middle of the night, and the recovered holes of impact craters were still apparent to me.

Echoes of Ethan's words during his fight with Loki rang in my head as I finally got to Hati's position.

"Hey...um...Hati?"

The giant wolf's ears perked up and his eyes widened before he turned his head down to me.

Hati: "Oh! Sorry Princess...I didn't see you there."

I rolled my eyes.

"I told you to stop calling me that. Remember it being an insult to me? Besides, we aren't even in Alfheim."

Hati shifted uncomfortably before clearing his throat.

Hati: "Sorry about that..."

I waved my hand aside.

"All's forgiven."

"Anyway Leia, what are you doing up at such a late hour?"

"Most of the peerage is not in the household. Do you have any idea on where they are?"

Hati: "Ah yes, the peerage! They all left at about...10:00 pm I want to say?"

"Were they supposed to be back by now?"

Hati looked up at the moon's position before his expression dropped.

Hati: "Aunt Hela said she would be looking over them all...although I don't think they should be nearly this late."

"Crap..."

The sound of a magic spell being curated caught my attention and we both turned up to see Angrboda looking exhausted while seeing everyone in the peerage collapsed on the ground.

Almost immediately at their presence, Hati flinched, scrunched his maw, and threw his head back at their scent. They absolutely reeked of alcohol. It smelled like Thor himself just walked into the yard.

"The heck happened to them!?"

Angrboda: "Best guess is that they wanted to cope with their guilt and Rossweisse introduced them to her way of doing that."

I looked at them all in the ground...how could anyone take something like Ethan's memories so hard? Like you did care for him and ended up making him depressed without you even noticing it, but like...actually try to fix it instead of just beating yourself up over it!

What's weird is that Koneko was here, and she was extra locked down on trying it—not only because she was younger, but it would mean guys might try to take advantage of her—something she obviously dislikes immensely. Also Xenovia and Irina were there...why?

I couldn't even find the words to say.

Akeno: "Ethan...p-ple—ease....for-give...mee..."

Looking at the Queen of the peerage, she was flinching, and moving around as if she was in immense pain in response to something—which was unnerving to see knowing her S&M side was somehow not present.

Hati: "That's...not a good thing to hear."

I nodded in agreement while Angrboda sighed.

Angrboda: "Hati, please take them to their rooms."

Hati: "But they—"

Angrboda glared at her grandson and he immediately shut up.

Hati: "Yes ma'am..."

He reluctantly summoned a chilly wind that carried all of them and then proceeded to walk into the house in order to bring the knocked out peerage with him.

Angrboda: "So, how was your nap?"

I gave her a small side glance before looking back to the house.

"Pretty good...didn't mean to fully fall asleep into the middle of the night...sorry about not being able to help with them."

I looked at her to see that she was going the exact same thing I was, staring at the house.

"Wouldn't you like to rest? Today has been a pretty long day for you right?"

Angrboda chuckled before shaking her head.

Angrboda: "I'll be fine. I've gone longer without sleep. Part of being an individual on par with some gods."

I scoffed.

"Must be nice."

Angrboda: "I guess so now...back then sleep wasn't something I wanted at all."

I looked at her.

"I'm guessing the attack that killed Kratos and Laufey stood in your mind?"

Angrboda looked to Fenrir and Sköll sleeping in a makeshift hut on the side of the yard.

Angrboda: "Not only that...but my children were now permanently in danger. I did not want to be asleep and out of condition if something ever did happen to them."

I stayed silent as I looked at the two giant wolves.

"Is that your biggest fear? Not being there to oversee and protect your children?"

Angrboda nodded.

Angrboda: "It was. Now I'm fine with them doing whatever, they've proven themselves to me during that time."

She looked to me.

Angrboda: "That'll be something you would have to go through whenever you become a parent."

I was caught off guard by that statement.

"I-I...I guess? It never crossed my mind though..."

The giantess huffed.

Angrboda: "Never did for me until I met Atreus...life kinda just...went along you know?"

I gave her an unsure look.

"Why do you bring it up?"

Angrboda: "You're the one that caused me to go on my tangent I'll have you know."

I blinked in realization and chuckled.

"I guess so."

Angrboda: "By all means, keep on saying that. I'll be asleep right away if you want that."

I glared at her before she winked and gave me a sly smile. The sound of Hati's footsteps notified us to him walking towards us.

Hati: "All of them are in bed now."

Angrboda: "Status on them right now?"

Hati: "All of them are struggling. Same nightmares they've been having all week. Aunt Hela is sleeping like normal—just with alcohol."

Angrboda sighed.

Angrboda: "At this point, that's the best we can hope for. Don't want them all to try and stay awake for three days straight again..."

I looked down in thought. I was absolutely livid at them after seeing what they did to Ethan in the memory dump, but I could tell they were already punishing themselves...and to be honest, whatever anger felt towards them, I would never have done...something to the extent of this.

Angrboda seemed to have noticed my pondering as she turned to me.

Angrboda: "Are you alright Leia?"

"Why do I not want to see them like this? I've always seen them as the people who always brought Ethan trouble in his life...so why am I upset that they're suffering consequences now?"

Angrboda: "Because that's not who you are Leia."

"And how do you come to that conclusion?"

Angrboda: "It doesn't take much effort for me to see the difference between someone who wishes harm upon others and someone who actually is genuinely satisfied whenever that harm is inflicted on someone. Everyone does the former, but only the truly wretched beings of this world enjoy the latter."

I stayed silent

Angrboda: "You are the kind of being to always find the positivity in everything. Your attempts at trying to end the Elven conflict in Alfheim are proof of that. You always try to help in any way that you can and you want others close to you to help you whenever you need help. That's why you wanted to stick around Ethan—he was your perfect partner in a sense."

I could feel a slight amount of red gather on my face.

"You really think that?"

The giantess smiled as she put her hand on my shoulder.

Angrboda: "Atreus and I always have. Ethan was very lucky to have met you in Alfheim."

I smiled, the first sense of pride hit me in what felt like forever.

Angrboda: "So...what do you want to do with the peerage?"

"Ethan wouldn't want this and I don't either...so let's find a way for them to stop beating themselves up—starting with the nightmares!"

Hati: "That's the spirit!"

"First question is...how the heck do we actually get into a dream to fix it?"

Hati: "...good question..."

"There isn't any god of dreams in the Norse pantheon...right?"

Hati: "Correct..."

"Then...there's no one to talk to—that's not in a completely foreign mythology anyway..."

Angrboda sighed, which caused me and Hati to look over to her.

Angrboda: "I know a guy..."

"And why do you sound so dejected?"

Angrboda: "Let's just say he's pretty hard to reach and get in contact with."

Hati: "...so who is it?"

A strange feeling began to become apparent in my head as the edge of my vision grew fuzzy. Not a second later, my head exploded in pain and I clutched it as I collapsed onto my knees. Not but a second later, the strange ghostly silhouette of a giant red dragon appeared in the center of my vision.

Red Dragon: "There you are..."

I groaned in pain as the wave ended and I was finally able to recover myself.

Hati: "What the hell was that?!"

"I...don't know..."

Angrboda: "That's...odd."

"Yeah no kidding...who the hell was that?"

Angrboda looked at me confused and stared at me for a solid 30 seconds.

Angrboda: "Great Red. The Dragon God of Dreams..."

Hati: "You mean the strongest being to ever exist!?"

The giantess nodded.

Angrboda: "Did you hear him say anything?"

"Yes...he said... 'There you are'"

Hati raised his eyebrow.

Hati: "Sounds as if he was looking for you."

Angrboda: "Definitely so, Great Red's language would only be understandable if you were the host of an eikon."

That notation alerted me.

"Wait wait...hosting an EIKON!? How!?"

Angrboda: "That's what I'm questioning...by all accounts, you shouldn't be a dominant due to you not being directly related to any Olympians..."

Hati: "Perhaps Grandfather has an explanation."

Angrboda: "Maybe. We'll need to wait until the sun rises. If that's alright with you of course."

Angrboda motioned to me.

"Of course. Can't say I know what fighting a horde of apostles is like, but it sounds tough."

Angrboda sighed.

Angrboda: "You have no idea..."

"Well is there anything I can do now?"

Angrboda: "A snack would be good...maybe I can try some of these carbonated drinks these Midgardians have to refresh themselves."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

I chuckled.

"Alright then. I can try to show you some places Ethan showed me?"

Angrboda: "Lead the way then Leiœrtheia!"

I smiled at her as I grabbed her hand and began to drag her out of the household into Kuoh Town as we waited for Loki to return.

Ethan POV

The first thing I remember was that whatever I was sleeping on was not very comfortable—like at all.

When I opened my eyes, I was laying on the snow outside the cabin that my original mother and father lived in.

"This place again..."

I slowly got up and realized...I had no clothes on. I was going to question the reason for that when the painful removal of the berserker armor flashed through my mind. The memory of the pain and the wounds I gained from it temporarily made me queasy and brought a wave of dizziness over me.

???: "Ah...Eíthürr, I have been expecting you."

I groaned as I tried to push the memory aside and turned to the source of the voice. That voice came from none other than...

Týr, the Norse God of War leaning on the side of the front yard.

"What are you doing here?"

Týr: "Waiting for you to arrive here."

I felt extremely uncomfortable by his gaze, not because it was scanning over my freshly baked body, but because of the silent judgment there was in his gaze. He stared at me for about 5 seconds before he took something out of his pocket and threw it over to me.

Týr: "Put this on. That'll help with the whole...clothing thing."

I caught the clothes and gave a thankful nod before quickly putting them all on. The resulting outfit was over all a gray suit of armor that doubled as comfy clothing. It even had a cape with all the sheathes for the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos.

"Thanks for that."

Týr: "No problem...we'll be meeting a lot when difficult times across the world come, so it's not hard to understand I want to be able to look at you while you're comfortable with it."

"Fair enough. This is already a nicer introduction compared to any of your brothers."

Týr: "Ha! Thor himself always was a difficult one when it came to that. As for Baldur and Heimdall...just don't even try."

"Oh I know that now! A warning would've been nice!"

Týr huffed and his mouth formed a small smirk.

Týr: "You of all people should know that words do not have the same impact as the actual sight of their actions."

I dropped my head and clicked my tongue before nodding.

"Yeah..."

Týr chuckled before he stood up and walked up to me before offering his hand to shake.

Týr: "I'm glad to finally put a face to the younger brother Atreus talks about so much."

I huffed while rolling my eyes and letting out a smile while reaching out and shaking his hand.

"Hope I didn't disappoint."

Týr: "Only time will tell with that."

"So...why are you here?"

Týr: "I am here to discuss what you now are."

I looked down and clenched my jaw.

"I mean...what is there to discuss now? I'm just a hybrid god that can transform into a gigantic demon that cannot be controlled."

Týr: "Your views on yourself are...misguided."

"What makes you say that?"

Týr: "Follow me."

The god of war turned around and began to walk away from the cabin into the woods, and I obliged with his request.

Týr: "Your lineage is a very special one, Eíthürr."

"Yeah, I know."

Týr sighed.

Týr: "Not for the reasons you think."

I stayed silent and gave him a confused look. He seemed to sense my confusion and went on.

Týr: "Your father isn't the only important reason your Olympian heritage is so impactful. Do you know the first ever being in that pantheon?"

I thought for a bit.

"Chaos right...? The void and uncertain reality that came before the universe was created."

Týr: "As you know, Chaos chose not to involve itself with its descendants. Choosing to observe everything going on with them rather than overseeing everything."

He stopped in a small opening within the trees and turned to me.

Týr: "At least It didn't prominently do so...until the day you awakened Ifrit."

A pot formed in between us and the water showed a series of 3 images. Me just in a normal outfit, me in the activated berserker armor, and then me in the strange giant demon form that Týr seemed to call Ifrit.

Týr: "That orange stone Angrboda gave to you was likely a concentrated collection of Chao's essence."

"The stone that I..."

The image of my arm with spikes poking out of it flashed in the pot.

"Chaos is inside me!?"

Týr: "To be exact, it is becoming you. It is reworking everything about your very biology. Another way to say is that your body is now made up to Chaos's essence, but your mind is still your own. Think of it as a much more potent reincarnation."

"And what does that do, drive me insane?"

Týr shook his head

Týr: "You'll only be driven insane if you lose yourself to blind emotions. Same thing as the Juggernaut Drive with the Red Dragon Emperor."

"Then what caused me to become that creature?"

I pointed to Ifrit.

Týr: "You were placed in an incredibly stressful situation for the relative first time in your life and you handled it...unskillfully."

An image of a silhouette of Xenovia and Irina within Heimdall's grasp flashed in the pot.

Týr: "Remember, this was the first time you faced an apostle after remembering what they did to you when you were an infant. You were overwhelmed by not only the emotional damage of that experience, but also the fact that he was foreseen to be a threat to the two of them."

I stayed in silence as I remembered the anger I felt when thought I was in control of the berserker armor in the backyard against my brother.

"That...is...true..."

I looked down in shame.

"Unfortunately."

Týr tilted his head at me, as if he was amused.

Týr: "Do not feel bad for displaying strong emotions Eíthürr. Believe it or not, it is both the best and strongest part about you when it comes to pursuing future goals."

"Hard to believe when it's the reason behind all this...Chaos."

Týr: "You don't need to fret. You're already much more in control of yourself than your father was whenever he destroyed Greece."

"Are you serious!? Chaos literally drove me to become a creature that just casually ripped a hole into space time and killed Heimdall. That's not control if you ask me!"

Týr: "Chaos only boosted what was already there. You would have been uncontrollable given enough time and anger—even without the transformation."

"...what...?"

I shook my head at the notion and hardened my gaze on him.

"Why show me this?"

Týr: "Because I understand what you're feeling. And by the time I found the solution to everything, it was too late for the realms to be united peacefully. You, are thankfully getting help from almost everyone around you and thus the answer to your problems will come sooner rather than later."

"Why help me?"

A small grin formed on the Norse God of War's face.

Týr: "Because I can..."

The pot between us dissipated and Týr began to circle around me, a spartan shield forming on his left hand.

Týr: "Because for beings like us fighting occupies the body while our minds take over the rest."

He turned to me and formed a spartan spear in his right hand.

Týr: "Because that new form comes with ramifications. And you're not ready to handle them."

He slammed the spear on the ground.

Týr: "Yet."

I clenched my fists and got into battle position.

"Come on then..."

In just a single millisecond, Týr immediately rushed forwards and jabbed me in the gut with the spear, sending me flying through dozens of trees and crashing into the side of a giant stone pillar.

I had to react to another jab within seconds, just barely parrying it before landing a punch on his chest with my prosthetic arm, sending him sliding back about 10 feet.

Týr: "Nice reflexes! For someone so young, this is incredible!"

I smiled as I took the Leviathan Axe off of my back and rushed towards him.

Leia POV

This is it, this is what my life has been building up to. A tournament in the living room on a random fighting game Kiba always played with the boys. Fighting Kiba in the finals while Fenrir, Sköll, and Asia all watch!? Just the cherry on top!

Kiba: "And this, ladies and gentleman is how you perform a professional takedown and subsequent finisher on your opponent!"

"STOP! I YIELD!"

Kiba: "THERE IS NO YIELDING TO ANYBODY HERE LEIA! THIS IS THE KAW OF THE LAND!"

Asia: "T-The humanity!"

All of a sudden Kiba's fighting character completely zipped across the stage to grab my character in a chokehold before beginning his finisher. When the attack ended, my character was on the ground defeated while his character began to taunt.

"Why....WHY must you do this to me Kiba!? Curse you!"

Fenrir: "Calm down drama queen. It's not that bad."

"Why are you siding with him!? You don't understand the pain he's inflicted on me!"

The giant wolf playfully rolled his eyes.

Sköll: "It's a slight redemption arc for him if anything. Uncle Eíthürr completely manhandled his ass whenever they were playing last time."

"Wait...really?"

I looked at Kiba and his eyes were wide as if he was having a traumatic flashback.

Kiba: "You...could say it like that..."

"Hmmmm~?"

Sköll: "Oh shit, the woman has a sadistic idea."

Right after that, Angrboda came into the room with a tray full of bowls of different food items.

Angrboda: "Oh shut up Sköll."

Angrboda set the tray down and sat down on the couch.

Angrboda: "Anyone hungry?"

Kiba: "Ooh! Don't mind me!"

He quickly zipped up to the bowls and quickly got a plate before scooping up.

Fenrir: "Since when did you know how to cook Mother?"

Angrboda: "Me and Leia were reading through some of the cookbooks in the kitchen overnight."

Fenrir: "Ah, that would do it."

"Well thank you Angrboda."

The giantess smiled at me sweetly.

Angrboda: "My pleasure."

I picked up some rice and placed it on a plate before also picking up some tofu.

"So...any news on Loki's location right now?"

Angrboda: "The sun is up, so I'm surprised he hasn't returned yet."

Fenrir: "He's probably checking on Uncle Eíthürr right now."

A portal formed in the room as if Fenrir queued it, and the topic of discussion stepped through it into the room.

Fenrir: "Speak of the devil..."

Loki: "Deity you mean~?"

Fenrir rolled his eyes as he got up and walked out of the room. The god of mischief chuckled as he turned to his wife.

Loki: "So...what is all of this...business that I needed to come back here for so urgently?"

Angrboda: "Nothing...just the revelation that Leia may be the host of an eikon somehow."

Loki sighed as he put his hand on his forehead.

Loki: "Somehow, Leia became a dominant. Hræsvulgr's eggs that sounds dumb as shit."

Kiba: "You literally said you had plot armor unironically in real life a week ago. I feel you don't have much of a right to talk buddy."

Loki sweat dropped before raising his hands in surrender.

Loki: "Ok fair enough. So how are we coming to this conclusion?"

Angrboda: "Great Red communicated with her in the backyard earlier today."

Loki: "That would be a pretty good indicator..."

Loki turned to look at me.

Loki: "Perhaps whenever you tried to calm Ethan down in the berserker armor, your soul partially merged with his...because by all means you shouldn't even have an eikon to host with your heritage."

"That was the theory I was most set on."

Kiba: "Wait what's going on here?"

Loki: "You know the transformation Ethan and I showed you? According to Angrboda, Leia can also do that."

Kiba looked at me for what felt like 5 minutes.

Kiba: "What...?"

"I'm still processing it too if that makes you feel better."

Kiba just shook his head before sitting on the couch.

Kiba: "And Great Red himself spoke to you?"

I nodded. The knight only seemed to have a thoughtful expression as he processed it all.

Kiba: "That's something that sounds completely unbelievable, but normal with all the things that have happened recently."

Loki huffed.

Loki: "Well we're already running into some major problems. Great Red is almost impossible to get in contact with...even as a dominant. The dude just chills and only talks if he wants to fuck around."

"So he could be pranking me?"

Loki: "No, he isn't the kind of being for things like that, but he is extremely lazy and could potentially make us wait well over a month after we arrive in the gap."

Kiba: "Just like most supernatural beings, the traits he has are completely baffling."

We all huffed at that.

Loki: "Dare I ask why you want to see him? Being the dominant of an eikon isn't nearly as good as you think."

"Well...I wanted to find a way to help the girls out. They've deteriorated immensely ever since you've shown them Ethan's memories."

Loki sighed while shaking his head.

Loki: "While I do appreciate the thought that you wish to help them out...you simply cannot, not in these circumstances anyway."

"And why not?"

Loki: "Ethan has made it abundantly clear to everyone here that he's forgiven them, no matter how much we believe he shouldn't have."

Kiba: "Yeah. He pointed out that he wasn't bothered by Issei being with Rias, Akeno, and Koneko, anymore, at least to the same extent as he was before."

"But they clearly don't believe that."

Loki: "And what could we do to fix that? These nightmares...they're only manifestations of their personal struggles. Simply stepping into their dreams and stopping a nightmarish version of my brother from killing them is not going to magically heal them. This world may be insane, but there's some things that are just not possible in the world—same logic as making someone magically fall in love with you."

"So then...what can we do?"

Angrboda: "Nothing much...but we can offer our help to them whenever they wish for it. They'll need to take their first steps to recovery on their own though."

Kiba: "It will take a bit, but they should recover. Besides, Issei will be around to help them out."

Sköll: "Can't you also try and help them Kiba?"

Kiba: "I could, but for one, I don't have nearly as big of a role in their lives as he does, and two, I feel nothing less than a miracle visit from Ethan himself could fix this relatively quickly."

Angrboda: "All fair points from your point of view."

We all stayed silent for a bit.

Kiba: "So how's Ethan right now?"

Loki smiled.

Loki: "He's mostly healed from the ordeal with the armor. He's just unconscious as of now. Ajuka says he might be able to drop Ethan off here in his bed here after he finishes his synopsis on his new biology."

Angrboda: "Well it's good to hear that."

"Just to clarify...this isn't like mad scientist testing on him right?"

Loki: "Ha! No. It's like a checkup on him. Truth be told this is necessary if we want the satans to begin to understand what he is now, the biological properties of an individual directly infused with Chaos' power are definitely more mysterious than any other race."

Sköll: "You would know that grandfather."

Loki: "A good amount? Yes. Everything...heck no. Like now there's something that only I can detect for some reason and I'm still trying to figure everything out."

Angrboda: "What are you detecting?"

Loki: "Large spikes of primordial energy have recently begun to appear around the world...the same energy I use to transform into Odin."

"And that implies...?"

Loki: "I'm not sure...but it's surely not a good thing. From what I've read and seen, some greek monsters have been reported to appear in these locations...but overall nothing completely crazy."

Angrboda: "Well there has to be a reason it's the same energy seen in your eikonic form...perhaps Chaos' power is leaking into the world."

Kiba: "My question is...why now?"

We all turned to him.

Kiba: "I mean...if you were able to transform into Odin for much longer than Ethan could do with Ifrit...then these hot spots should've popped up a long time ago right?"

Loki: "For sure...whatever the case, Ethan seems to be the catalyst for a lot of things...even things we're not fully aware of it seems."

"But how? I mean sure, the youngest son of the Ghost of Sparta and the last warrior of the jötnar is a pretty big deal...but not enough to literally begin warping the world in such a dramatic way like this."

Angrboda: "I don't think any of us here actually understand how much of an impact Ethan will have on the world...I mean heck...Týr seemed to know more about him than we did the last time we saw him."

"Wait...Týr? Why would he know about him?"

Loki: "Out of every god in this world, he would know the most. He has visited almost every major pantheon and group of beings in the world...even then...I wouldn't think he would know anything about him considering Ethan has Greek and Norse origins...and if he does know anything, he hasn't told me anything."

"So do you know where he is?"

Loki: "Nope, he's a wanderer around the world. People who say he was in Asgard were lied to, as that was just Odin in disguise."

Kiba: "Wait...so we were talking with Odin the entire time when we were searching for Ethan?"

Loki: "Yup. There's a reason we got along so well in the myths."

"So then...how do we begin the investigation on these holes?"

Ethan's older brother hardened his gaze upon me.

Loki: "None of the peerage is helping out, and you are certainly not. Like it or not, you're a student and attendance matters, and a search will likely encompass several days—if not—weeks. The fact that you'll never be able to sleep if you go with me will not do you any favors either."

Sona: "Excuse me..."

We all turned to see Sona standing in the living room hallway.

Sona: "What was all of this about going out and searching the world for Týr?"

"We're trying to find some answers for a bunch of the anomalies popping up around the world..."

Sona nodded.

Sona: "Well then I suppose I have one more to add to the list..."

Kiba: "That being?"

Sona: "This morning, it was discovered that Millicas has gone missing..."

That shut everyone up. Kiba especially seemed taken aback by the news.

Loki: "You're not joking...right?"

Sona: "The obscene amounts of power being released from Lady Lucifage and Lord Lucifer suggest otherwise. To add, the news was directly given to me by my sister...no joke."

Sköll: "Shit...so it must be an apostle...right?"

Angrboda: "Only nominees for a potential kidnapping are the Old Satan faction in the Khaos Brigade or some apostles...and none of those foolish unholy descendants are willing to try something like this if it basically makes Grayfia and Sirzechs place a death warrant upon their head."

Loki nodded silently, his gaze now hardened permanently as he pondered to himself.

Kiba: "The underworld is probably not going to be a very pleasant place to be soon."

Sona: "It's about to not...like Angrboda said, they're both on the verge of completely going on a blind rampage to find out who did it."

"That's...not a good thing right?"

Kiba: "Considering Sirzechs is potentially the strongest devil to ever exist and Grayfia is one of the strongest individuals in the underworld...no. No it's fucking not."

"Shit..."

Sköll: "Shit indeed."

Loki: "Well then...I know what I'm doing now."

Angrboda: "And what would that be Atreus?"

Angrboda slowly tilted her head and the tone of her voice caused Sköll to shiver. Yet, Atreus just glared back at her unfazed.

Loki: "We need to get the children back—before they both lose their minds—ESPECIALLY if apostles are involved."

Angrboda: "While the notion is noble—where would you even begin your search? You don't know any victims other than the son of the noblest families in the underworld, and something tells me you aren't exactly willing to head into gigantic settlements."

Loki: "True..."

"And I'm going to just assume that none of the satans will let us just walk into his room for Fenrir, Sköll, Hati, or Jörmungandr to pick up his scent."

Sona: "At this point in time, they're cautious of all of you. So that is a big no. My sister and Lucifer are fine with me and Rias living with you guys—but no more."

Sköll: "That's understandable. We ARE the harbingers of Ragnarök, so it's lucky that we're even able to live with you."

Loki: "Damn...it would've been nice to have Ethan awake now to sort this out."

The image of Ethan in his recovery tube flashed in my mind.

"Definitely...I just hope he isn't in too much pain."

Ethan POV

I am in too much pain. Turns out, being a god of war doesn't do you any favors when you're fighting a god of war that has experience. Týr was a fucking force of nature—and far more difficult to fight than Thor or Heimdall. Heimdall's style was all about angering the opponent, forcing them to tire themselves out, and take their head when the chance came with his foresight. Thor was all about his love of the fight, he often held himself back to bask in the bloodshed and the blows both that he made and he received in battle.

Týr had none of the aspects of his brothers. There was no discernible weakness in his style. Only a disciplined strength, skill, and the will to guide me. That's why I'm getting absolutely clobbered by him. He was easily able to just tank a Hyperion grapple and then choke slam me whenever I launched myself towards him.

I shakily got up from the blow, forming a Draupnir spear in my hand and cautiously lunged towards Týr. He blocked the attack with his shield.

Týr: "Remember what to do Eíth—"

I interrupted him by opening my shield and uppercutting him, breaking his guard and giving me an opportunity to jab him and then bash him twice in quick succession with the spear.

Týr flinched back, before moving his arm and closing his fist above his chest and quickly opening it as he suddenly struck the ground with his hand. A gigantic blast of energy hit me, and caused a huge amount of gemstones to suddenly form in the ground and rush to me.

I barely got out of the way of the gemstones as they reached my position. However, by the time I was able to catch my bearings, Týr was now looking at me, his veins glowing yellow, with glowing blue eyes, and yellow gemstones protruding out of his shoulders and arms.

"What's happening...to you!?"

Týr: "The same thing that happened to you in Kuoh."

"But...you're not losing your mind! What's the difference?"

Týr chuckled, his voice now echoing with the immense amount of power, before punching the ground again, and summoning a horde of odd looking draugr.

Týr: "A man at war with himself places a deficit on his focus. He is impatient..."

A draugr teleported to me which I quickly impaled with the spear before pulling the blades off of my back and stabbing it in the head and igniting them, causing it to blow up before hooking another draugr on my blade and pulling it towards me.

Týr: "...emotional...easily surprised."

I sliced the draugr in half before I felt Týr crash into me and slam me onto a stone wall that fenced our arena. I tried to grapple his arms off of me, but he quickly stepped back before giving me two quick punches in the chest and socking me in the face His punch alone was now much harder than Thor's blows with Mjölnir. And in response to that, I noticeably felt myself heat up as my anger began to boil over.

Týr: "A man at one with himself has a clearer mind..."

His expression on his face didn't have any sadistic pleasure, but rather just a silent observation somehow wanting me to get out of the predicament I was in. That combined with my experience with the berserker armor is what ultimately allowed me to calm down and ultimately catch my breath for a moment.

Týr: "Sharper instincts..."

I opened my right hand to recall the axe while I opened up the cannon on my prosthetic, unleashing a blast that sent me further into the wall, but also knocking him back. The axe found its way into my hand and I quickly threw it right at Týr's chest, which he easily caught. However, due to the backwards momentum I gained by firing the cannon, I was able to attach the blades at the edge of the crater in the wall Týr created, and slingshot myself towards him

Týr: "That man is ready to win."

I quickly formed a spear in my hand and slammed it into the leviathan axe, causing a gigantic blast to erupt while also forming an icy tornado on the battlefield from the impact, sending the both of us flying apart from each other.

I crashed onto the ground and quickly recovered, a large amount of pain in my palms from the force of the hit, and stared at the tornado. The ground began to quake and turned the tornado yellow with primordial energy, and before I knew it, it dissipated, now showing Týr slouched on the ground breathing heavily.

Týr: "That man is ready to progress."

I sighed out of exhaustion.

"So that's why I'm not able to control this beast within me?"

Týr: "That beast within you isn't another organism, but rather what you truly are within."

So if I'm trying not to lose my mind...the beast will be completely uncontrollable...since I'll lose that battle every time...heh...I guess that was obvious.

With that thought, I collected myself, rushed to Týr and uppercutted him, which caused him flinch back and stumble. That gave me an opening to rush in, grab him by his waist and throw him towards the same crater in the wall he created. I then felt the flames of my spartan rage cover me as I rushed forward to punch him, and yet, the Norse god of war simply lifted his hand up and caught the fucking punch, releasing a massive shockwave around us. That shockwave completely collapsed the forest and arena around us and resulted in a giant burst of gemstones and flames around the both of us. Týr looked at me and smiled after the wave subsided.

Týr: "Well done Eíthürr...I yield."

I looked at my arm and found that it was not only practically billowing with orange energy, but black demonic skin and spikes were now covering it and my hands overall were much more claw-like.

"What the...?"

I slowly pulled my hand aside and the arm quickly returned to normal. Týr sighed as he suddenly stopped channeling his own energy, causing the yellow glow and the gemstones on him to dissipate and got up on his feet.

Týr: "Let's see what your mind came up with."

The bowl from before formed in between us and an image of me leaving the Hyoudou household in the middle of the night to head into Alfheim.

"This pool...it's not just memories isn't it?"

Týr: "Of course. What is a memory other than our perspective on what happened?"

I looked at the bowl and remembered what I was feeling at the time.

Týr: "The question most beings would ask—is why would you throw everything away for such a childish reason, but you and I know the story is more than that."

The bowl shifted to a silhouette of the peerage members turning away from me, who was on my knees looking at the ground in disappointment.

Týr: "Aided by an overwhelming desire to protect you, the peerage left you out of most of endeavors."

"And we all know how that ended. That jealous teenage boy ran away and honestly should've just been killed."

Týr: "Well, what would've happened if you stuck around Ethan?"

I thought back to my thought processes around that timeline.

"My mental health would've declined even more than it did...and knowing past me...I would've snapped...at one point or another. Perhaps I would've..."

I clenched my jaw at that thought.

"What is the point of this reflection? Why this when my infancy was a hundred times worse?"

Týr: "To show you that reality isn't always as simple as you make it out to be. You were sworn to be Rias' personal guard were you not? Did you not feel she was denying that service for another? Did you not feel your reason for existence was being taken away? Did you not feel an instinct of self preservation when times became difficult for you?"

"You would excuse all the decisions I made?"

Týr: "Excusing them is not the exercise here Ethan, only accepting them. Accepting that you acted based upon what all of you knew then and not on what was to come. All of your motivations, actions, feelings, and their consequences are far more complex than you let yourself believe."

The memory of Rias' treatment of me recently flashed in my mind, alongside the strange ways most of them often tried to shove themselves into my life in one way or another as of recently.

"Hm..."

Týr: "Perhaps you have a lot to reflect on."

I nodded.

"I do...clearly a lot of things need to be revisited between all of us. Will you be there to help me?"

Týr: "Not much unfortunately my friend. You'll have to rely on everyone around you. Getting in contact with you is already hard enough on me."

I nodded silently taking in the information.

"Alright then...I'll see what I can do."

Týr gave me a smile before the world around me turned brighter and brighter until I was surrounded by nothing but white before suddenly being plunged into black. I was now laying down on...something...and my hand...something was in it?

I didn't know where I was, but the texture of my bed immediately became apparent. Before I even opened my eyes, I could hear Atreus talking with someone.

Atreus: "Again, you'll have to consult with Ethan on all of this. I may know his future, but that isn't the same as knowing him inside and out. That will be up to you."

I heard a collective group of sighs before hearing Rossweisse's voice right next to me.

Rossweisse: "...A...Alright everyone...staying with him won't..."

I heard the sound of everyone beginning to walk away from me, and, out of my want to not be alone, I began to grip whatever was in my hands.

Koneko: "Wait..."

The sound of everyone walking stopped as I opened my eyes and finally saw the situation I was in. I was laying in my bed, everyone in the ORC was in their school uniforms and God might as well have manifested in the room with how their expressions now looked. It turns out, Rias and Koneko were the people holding my hands and I groaned at the realization.

"I guess this isn't the worst thing to wake up to..."

I was fully expecting them to immediately pull their hands away, but to my surprise, their hands began to tremble, and when I looked up at their faces, tears were forming in their eyes.

Shit, they're probably still scared of me after the whole ordeal...

I immediately let go of their hands, but it wasn't me who was gripping, in fact, Rias and Koneko's grip was actually tightening. Akeno almost immediately dashed out of the room after releasing an audible sniffle, Asia being quick to follow her out. The notion that something was off immediately became apparent to me as the emotions of everyone looking at me simultaneously just let loose. Crying was heard by almost everyone in the ORC—most notably by the girls for some odd reason.

Loki: "Ok. This clearly isn't helping any of you out. Go on. You need to compose yourselves."

My brother pointed towards the door of the room, and everyone filed out at a heightened speed. I was left in shock at the whole ordeal.

Atreus: "Well you certainly like to make things dramatic."

"What the hell happened to them?"

Atreus stayed quiet, his face full of thought and pondering.

Atreus: "I'll explain later. Just know for now, they aren't exactly feeling the best about themselves whenever it comes to their relationship with you."

My eyes shot open and I sat up in the bed.

"Do they know about the marriage prophecy?!"

Atreus: "No, that's not what I meant. You'll see what I mean soon."

"There you go with the cryptic speaking with me again. It would be really handy if you didn't do that you know?"

Atreus sighed and shut his eyes for a moment or two. And then he told me the story about how things went after I passed out. I was picked up by Ajuka and placed into a tube to heal—and then he told me the girls finally saw everything from my point of view. Every single memory, every single negative thought I had before running away and ascending was unleashed upon them.

Atreus: "Ever since they saw your memories and were exposed to how much they actually hurt you...their self-esteem has plummeted."

"How bad is it now...?"

Atreus: "Not good. They can't sleep because of nightmares of you while you were in the armor while being powered up by Ifrit. That entire ordeal alone has scarred them immensely."

That was not good to hear. At all.

"Wait...how long was I out?"

Atreus winced at that question.

Atreus: "3 weeks."

My jaw dropped at that news. What the fuck did that dream with Týr have in it—other than an unusual sense of inner peace?

"Wait what?! They've acting like that for 3 weeks!?"

Atreus: "Look, I know you're concerned for them—"

"Of course I am dickhead. Knowing how my thought process was before fate pulled me out of it, it's very much a possibility for them to do something self-harming in nature."

Atreus: "Trust my word. Me, Angrboda, my children, Leia, Kiba, Gasper, Issei, Asia, Irina, and Xenovia have all been trying to help them out this entire time. They don't see any value in themselves and are afraid of bringing more harm to you—unintentionally or otherwise."

'Excusing your actions isn't the exercise Ethan, only accepting them.'

"Then let me talk with them."

Atreus: "Bro—did you not hear a single word I said?"

"I did, but you're missing the point. What if I just said I'm fine with them still?"

Atreus: "Oh yeah~of course~. That thought never really crossed my mind because apparently now I'm a DUMBASS according to you."

That type of sarcasm was weird to hear from him. The fuck did he just say?

"I'm supposed to be the sarcastic one here...?"

My brother laughed.

Atreus: "I tried to understand the whole concept via lessons from Gasper and Kiba."

"Of course it was those two. Fuckers..."

We both smiled in silence for about 5 seconds.

"So would there be any problems for me to talk with Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Rossweisse?"

Atreus: "The biggest challenge is making them actually believe you. With the things I've heard them muttering to themselves...it's not the highest chance of success, I'll tell you that."

"Well what can I do to make them believe me?"

Atreus: "I was hoping you would know the answer, you know, because you've been living with them for a good portion of your life."

"Ah...that's a fair point. What day is today?"

Atreus: "Tuesday I believe, you have a lot of school work to catch up on."

"Ugh...kill me now."

Fenrir: "That can be arranged."

Fenrir's giant eye peered through the window.

"Nice to see you too big guy."

Fenrir exhaled on the window, fogging it up and leaving the room with a putrid smell before walking away.

"Eugh..."

Atreus: "Well then, get yourself dressed. A lot of things happened in the time that you were out."

I nodded, and Atreus walked out the door. I finally was left alone in silence and I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Well shit..."

I got up and quickly changed into my school uniform before walking into the living room, which was already empty. It was then I heard another pair of feet behind me.

Hel: "Hello Uncle Eíthürr!"

I chuckled at her behavior.

"Hello to you too Hel. Are things going well for you?"

Hel: "It's been really dramatic. I'll tell you that. But overall I've been fine."

"Yeah, your dad told me some parts of it."

Hel huffed.

Hel: "Definitely is a lot to take in after you've woken up right?"

"Yeah..."

Hel: "Well...you know you can talk to me, my brothers, mother, or father anytime right?"

"Just give me some more time. I'm still trying to fully adjust to life with you guys as part of my family."

Hel: "Fair point. Sorry about this..."

I shrugged and smiled at her.

"I'm liking all of y'all's company. It's just that making that connection with you guys as family instead of a bunch of divine goofballs with two philosophers looking over everyone takes a while you know?"

Hel: "How dare you describe us accurately!"

I playfully rolled my eyes as I opened the front door and began to walk to Kuoh Academy.

After Týr's discussion with him—I oddly didn't have any worries or concerns as I walked around Kuoh—and it was noticeable because I specifically got emotional just from looking at Kuoh Academy—a place I really needed to return to considering the absolute cluster fuck that was the previous days I spent in town.

Hel—well she wasn't excited at all. Maybe she was behind on some school work because I had not seen her in a more "kill me please" mood up until now.

"Not exactly home for you?"

Hel: "Calculus sucks whenever you can't have the ORC excuse you for club activities..."

I laughed at that.

"You got that right...holy fuck I'm behind."

I sighed.

Hel: "Hey, at least you have your due dates delayed for your absence—due in large amount to your fiancé."

I raised my eyebrow for a brief moment before rolling my eyes at what she meant.

"How has she been?"

Hel: "Not nearly as bad as Rias, Koneko, Akeno, and Rossweisse, but she has been unsettled by the memories."

I nodded as I walked onto the campus, a wave of familiarity coming over me. The perverted trio—minus Issei now—were scheming in the corner. The kendo club was angrily glaring at them like usual. Kiba had his miniature paparazzi around him. Nothing was different, but now I couldn't stop smiling. Probably the fact that I was still living like a mortal human—and not some god that everyone worships.

As Hel and I began to walk to our class, that thought stuck in my mind. Týr always was very much worshipped—but compared to beings like Odin, Zeus, and potentially other gods in the world—he took it very modestly and admirably. The hundreds of murals I've seen in multiple books about mythologies around the world always showed Týr interacting in a positive way with all of them. Hell, if I remember correctly, a book once said Týr single handedly ended the rivalry between Ra and Apophis in Egypt once it began to lead to too much suffering for the people.

What I'm trying to say is that Týr used his status as a tool to aid others, and not just brag about it to everyone else. That's definitely who I would want to be if everyone discovered my heritage.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sight of Sona monitoring everyone in the halls. Even from a distance, I could tell something was off with her. She was pinching her arms as they were crossed, her legs were crossed, her eyes were blinking at an unnaturally high rate and her head was on a swivel as she gazed upon everyone else.

Resolving the rising pit in my stomach, I walked up to her from behind.

"Sona?"

She immediately tensed up at my voice and she slowly turned to me. I stopped once she made eye contact with me, and she stared at me for a good 20 seconds in silence.

Once those twenty seconds passed, Sona practically crashed right into me with an extremely tight hug. She almost immediately began to release tears.

Sona: "You're...you're..."

I only hugged her back. Not in any affectionate way, but just one of comfort. Sona just silently cried into my chest. Things were like that for a sizable amount of time before she finally backed away and looked at me, a thankful smile now on her face.

That look caught me off guard—not since she never was one to show emotion in public all that much—but because she was just gorgeous in general. Honestly, it just brightened up any sort of dread I had felt earlier when I was walking to school.

Sona: "You're ok."

I jokingly looked down at myself and dusted myself off.

"Looks like it."

She only laughed before embracing me once again.

Sona: "I was so worried I...I thought you might have not..."

I only huffed to silence her and then put my hand on her chin to make her look at me.

"But I did. There's no need to worry anymore now...ok?"

Sona only closed her eyes while clenching her jaw before leaning into my hand and grabbing it.

Sona: "...Ok."

She smiled at me and I chuckled.

Hel: "Well I'm super glad you guys already are happy with each other...could we get a move on please!?"

"Ok ok shadelord. No one asked you to stay with me."

Sona laughed, which shocked everyone walking by us in the hallway.

Hel: "Well screw you too Ethan."

She playfully rolled her eyes before walking ahead of me down the hallway.

Sona: "Hela! I need to borrow Ethan for a bit to help him catch up. You mind if I keep him?"

Hela: "Just don't perform any indecent acts with him!"

That caught my attention and I looked back to Sona, who immediately began to blush profusely.

"You were thinking of doing things to me?"

Sona: "N-no!"

Ok...I'm concerned now. Especially since she just grabbed my arm and dragged me into the student council room.

"So..why do I need to be in this room with you if you're not going to attempt to engage in intercourse with me?"

Sona: "I-I'm not doing that! I just need to hand you all the homework you missed! That's all!"

Her flustered voice would've made me laugh if it weren't for the copious amount of dread that overcame me whenever Sona motioned to a file cabinet full of homework sheets.

"Alright...I'm just gonna leave."

I immediately turned around and began to walk out of the room. Only to get stopped by Tsubaki.

Tsubaki: "Oh no you don't. President was already worried sick about you whenever you were out. You're not leaving so easily."

"And how could you stop me?"

Tubaki raised her brow at me.

Tsubaki: "You're really going to leave everyone in the ORC in the condition that they're in right now?"

I deadpanned at her.

"...touchè."

Sona: "Besides...I've already done it all...you just need to turn it in."

I looked at her confused before looking at the folder in her hands—filled to the brim with worksheets.

"You...really did all of that...?"

Sona nodded silently as she placed the folder on the desk. I opened it up and there was countless calculus sheets, english essays and recitals, hundreds of earth and space science notes. She had single-handedly saved my grades during my time when I was out, marked my name on all the work she did, and must've cast a spell since the handwriting was identical. A huge feeling of pride and thankfulness found its way into my chest.

"I..."

Sona: "You don't need to thank me. This is only homework—nothing too major."

"No. I need to."

I looked at her face, now looking confused at my words.

"It doesn't matter how big of a favor you did for me. You didn't have to do this. You chose to help me without any benefit to yourself. If there's any person who would know the value of this, it's me."

Sona: "Ethan..."

"I'm thanking you later and that's final...Satan knows how mad Rossweisse is with me after all of this."

Tsubaki: "What makes you say that?"

"She confronted me right before Heimdall arrived—she already knew something was off with me. I just never told her."

Sona: "She told me about that...but I don't think it's you she's upset with. Not after witnessing your memories."

I stayed silent at that.

"I...have a lot of explaining to do."

Sona: "For sure."

"Alright then...I'll be off."

Sona: "Wait. I'll need you to come by after school ends to run an errand for me."

I nodded and smiled.

"Gotcha."

Thus began the awkward walk to my classroom. Which I know would be weird considering Rossweisse is my teacher. At least, that's what I thought.

Reality completely defied my expectations when I walked in, as Rossweisse looked at me and treated me just how she usually did. Most of the students were completely gobsmacked at the size of the folder I was carrying.

"So uh...where do I drop this folder off Ms. Rossweisse?"

Rossweisse: "Ah! Ethan, you're here! Um...you can place that right on my desk."

That pause was unusual to hear from her. And the class realized it too judging by the looks everyone gave her. To prevent the situation from lasting any longer, I plopped the folder onto her desk and took my seat next to Hel, who smirked at the sight of me.

Hel: "Took you long enough."

"Oh you be quiet."

Rossweisse very briskly made her way over to me and practically began to lean over my desk.

Rossweisse: "If you ever need help. Please feel free to ask me. Alright Ethan? Please?"

I looked at her, and while she tried to look as professional as possible, I could see the sides of her mouth quivering and the ducts of her eyes were watering up. I genuinely became concerned at this—she always hid her emotions until she got a vodka bottle, but now that aura was beginning to crack from the basic sight of me.

I only put my hand on hers and gave her the most heartfelt smile I could muster with all of my thoughts.

"I will Ms. Rossweisse. I know I will do well in your care."

She grew faint and took a step back from me, her face beginning to flush a little. Her breathing suddenly hitched and her mouth was about to begin hanging open.

Rossweisse: "O-Ok."

I'm not upset with you...just how can I convince you of that?

The rest of class went by mostly normally. I was struggling a lot, but Rossweisse  helped me out as much as she could. Asia also offered her help as much as possible—which was very helpful since she wasn't nearly as forceful with her methods of helping me compared to Rossweisse.

Eventually, the bell for lunch rang and everyone filed out, and me and Rossweisse were the only people in class. She went back to her desk and sat down before sighing. She didn't seem to realize my presence in the room.

"Ehm...Rossweisse?"

She snapped up at my voice.

Rossweisse: "E-Ethan?! What are you doing here...?!"

"I'm worried about you...about everyone. I need to know why you're all acting this way...and I feel you're the most trustworthy person to ask."

She stayed silent and averted her eyes from me. I only tilted my head at her actions.

"Just to understand what's going on. Please."

She sighed before finally looking at me.

Rossweisse: "We knew what we did to you was bad...but I never fully realized what it meant for you until we fully saw it for ourselves."

I nodded in agreement. I mean I didn't fully understand what I went through as a baby until I actually saw it in my memories—which resulted in me overreacting.

"I understand that it was a really bad thing to realize. But why is this having such a big impact on all of you? I've already told you I'm still going to be living with all of you."

She stayed silent while looking at me.

"And I'm not making that decision because I feel I have to. Truth be told, I'm still happy I'm able to share my life with everyone here."

Rossweisse: "Then why did you begin to distance yourself from all of us!? Did it have anything to do with what I asked you before Baldur arrived with Heimdall?"

She completely let loose with her outburst. From what she said, I could already tell what she was most bothered by about this whole situation. She was guilty that she couldn't help me, both when she was ignoring me and whenever she asked me about what was bugging me.

"That's a fault of my own. Honestly, distancing myself from you and the other girls was pretty dumb."

Rossweisse: "What?"

"Look, I can tell you what I knew in that moment. But you have to promise me you're not going to start treating me harshly because of it."

Her expression began to brighten.

Rossweisse: "Of course! Nothing would ever make us do that."

I shook my head and sighed. She's probably going to backtrack...but maybe telling her could help her stay with Issei—maybe? Hopefully? I don't know. I took a deep breath...

"You're all going to break up with Issei...and I will be the cause of it."

That bright expression she held at me finally opening up to her vanished in an instant at my words. She appeared to be struggling to process it before looking at me confused.

Rossweisse: "How...?"

I walked to her and backed her up onto the wall.

Rossweisse: "Ethan...!? What are you–"

I placed my hand on the wall next to her head and stared into her eyes. Her eyes widened at the realization of what I was implying—except the one thing I really didn't want to happen to her happened.

She began to blush, her breath was hastening, her eyes were dilating and locked onto mine...and her hand was reaching for mine. She was attracted to me.

Fuck—I should not have done this.

Almost immediately at that response, I backed away from her, and she almost looked bummed out at the contact. She thankfully snapped out of whatever trance she was in before suddenly making a face at the implication and looking at me shocked.

"...I don't want that to happen. I've already hurt this peerage enough...I don't want to be the cause behind it ripping apart."

Rossweisse stayed silent while looking at me.

"I'm sorry...you're weirded out now."

I quickly turned to get the fuck out of there as quickly as possible, ignoring Rossweisse's request to stay in the room to discuss everything.

I have never felt more awkward walking through the halls in my life. No one's eyes were on me, yet I felt uncomfortable being in the hall alone.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I just hit on my teacher who has a boyfriend to show that I knew that she would end up with me in the future. Am I trying to seduce her or what? COME ON ETHAN! THINK LOGICALLY FOR ONCE! For all that is unholy, I think I might've just secured the outcome...I'm a dumbass...SHIT!

"What to do. What to do...ugh..."

The sound of a bird chirping caught my attention and I looked out the window overlooking the courtyard. The sound came from a raven looking at me perched on the window. I could tell there was something...unnatural about it. Perhaps it was Huginn or Muninn.

The raven only tilted its head before turning to look at the courtyard. There walking through the courtyard was Angrboda. That revelation surprised me for a moment, but I shrugged—she was dressed like a teacher so she probably became one here.

"You really think she can help me?"

The raven looked at me and shrugged while tilting its head.

"I guess I can't ask for much more. Geez I fucked up."

???: "With what?"

I turned to see Xenovia and Irina looking at me.

"Oh...you guys are looking good after everything."

They both chuckled at that.

"So what are you two doing?"

They both looked at each other before looking back to me.

Irina: "We were looking for you actually."

"...for what reason?"

Xenovia: "We wanted to thank you for everything that you did for us...when Heimdall arrived."

I frowned and clenched my jaw at that.

Irina: "If you had not arrived on the scene..."

Irina's adopted a horrified expression before shaking her head.

Irina: "I don't want to think about what would've happened to us."

Xenovia: "You risked your own life—even brought yourself to the brink of death for ours. I cannot let such a favor from you pass without any recompense from me."

"I...don't need any repayment...and I certainly don't deserve any reward for what happened that day."

Irina immediately noticed my tone.

Irina: "Why do you speak like that...?"

"Everyone saw the worst parts of me that day...I couldn't control myself as I ripped Heimdall's head off of his shoulder and I would've killed all of you if it weren't for my brother beating the shit out of me and making me think straight"

Xenovia: "Perhaps that night...we did see the worst parts of you. But there's a worried and kind person behind all of that rage."

I looked at her.

Xenovia: "That boy has proven to be able to conquer the worst parts of himself to me. I saw him conquer and deliberately choose to abandon that accursed armor whenever the burden began to outweigh the benefits. I have more than enough reason to think that he can tame the demon within him too."

She smiled at me after saying that, and honestly, her words touched me, as I looked down and smiled in gratitude.

Irina: "We all know that the struggle you've been through hasn't been easy...so just let us give you some thanks. You out of everyone here deserves it more than anything."

"I..."

I chuckled and I put my head on my forehead.

"I don't think I'm that deserving of thanks...but if you believe that I really can be a force of good—even after witnessing what I just did...then I guess I'll accept your offer."

Irina: "Yay!"

They both hugged me, and while I did feel a little nervous because of the previous interaction with Rossweisse, I eventually just hugged them back. They certainly weren't nearly as bothered with me compared to the other girls, so I might as well interact with these two right?

We parted and I laughed again. If they see that I'm a good individual who knows what's right...then why am I thinking I couldn't control Ifrit?

"So...what do you want to do?"

Irina: "Let's...uh..."

I deadpanned at them.

"You didn't plan ahead didn't you?"

Xenovia: "You said you would plan!"

Irina: "I...uh...have a bunch of places in consideration! I just need to choose a coherent order for them!"

I shook my head while huffing. A smile now back on my face.

"Well let me know when you have that all done."

Irina: "Lord help me...I'm sorry for not being ready Ethan!"

I laughed again.

"It's alright. I got lunch to eat though!"

Xenovia: "See you later Ethan!"

I waved before further making my way down the hall. It was then I realized something. I've never heard a single thing about the queens of the academy. I usually would've heard of the crowd that follows them around by now. I think my nap isolated them from everyone in the school.

I then arrived in the cafeteria...and realized I had no lunch to bring with me to school. And if you thought I'm weird and strong enough to go get school lunch...

Fuck you, I have standards to my weirdness.

So, I proceeded to walk into the courtyard by myself and saw the hill with the tree that Issei and his friends used to hang out together at. Due to it being a relatively isolated location, I figured it was the best place to sit.

It was a nice bit of peace just sitting on that hill. Back then, I was so attached to Rias that I would basically sit by her every time at lunch. Now that I think of it, it most likely was a nuisance to her after she fell in love with Issei. Well...at least I'm not bothered by that devolopment anymore.

I took another deep breath and shut my eyes to take in the nature around me. The wind was blowing, the trees were rustling, some random guy was getting chased by his friend for some reason—probably just stole a piece of chicken. Perhaps it was due to Chaos's presence, but I felt tranquil—far more than I ever did before. Not even the prying eyes of the raven who was perched above me on the tree really bothered me.

Of all the sounds I heard, chatter was definitely the most prevalent. Yet for some reason all of it went completely silent. That silence was corresponding with the sound of someone coming up the hill. I opened my eyes...and Akeno Himejima herself was standing in front of me with a small bento box in her hand.

"Akeno? What are you doing here?"

She wasn't looking at me. In fact, she seemed really interested in the floor between us. It wasn't hard to tell that just being near me was already a challenge for her.

Akeno: "...I uh...I made some lunch for you..."

She only barely mumbled that out while her fingers fidgeted with the bento box. I know every boy in the academy would kill to be in my position right now, but this was just unnerving for me to see. Particularly because she's almost never like this unless it's very specifically around Issei behind closed doors.

"Oh..."

Akeno: "Asia said you didn't have anything to eat...and she said I would find you here..."

She gave the box to me which I took and put on my lap. Akeno though, only stood in front of me.

"...would you like to sit with me?"

Akeno finally looked at me in the eyes, and I could see what she was feeling. The normal calm look she usually had on her face was gone, now replaced with an anxious and upset expression.

Akeno: "I......I...."

"You don't need to...I already know it's uncomfortable for you to be around me."

Akeno quickly got herself away from me and quickly walked back to the cafeteria leaving me alone. I sighed.

"I'm sorry...for everything."

I looked down at the box in my hands and looked at it. It was packaged as perfectly as you could've made it. And opening it immediately released an aroma that I never thought I would never smell again. Holy shit did I miss her cooking. I could only smile bittersweetly at the food as I began to eat it.

I fully expected to eat alone, so imagine my surprise when Rias herself came back into the courtyard, walked up the hill, and sat down with me—everything without a word spoken from both of them.

Yeah no, this is the worst case of awkwardness I've ever felt in my life.

We both stayed in silence for a bit. I didn't dare make a noise.

"Like I told Akeno...you didn't need to sit with me...if you want to leave–"

Rias: "Do you want us to leave you alone?"

That question caught me off guard.

"What do you mean by that?"

Rias: "...like......permanently?"

I felt my stomach drop and my chest began to ache at the implication.

"...do you want that?"

She had no response to that.

"I mean, I want to stay with you guys for as long as I can, but if you don't want me here now..."

Rias snapped up and turned to me revealing what the three weeks have done to her. There was prominent eye bags around her eyes now, those eyes were red from crying, and the marks of makeup ruined by tears was also prominent.

Rias: "No!....Please don't..."

I had to stop my jaw from dropping to the ground at her condition. In literally any situation, Rias should be fine with all of this—she literally took advantage of the desperation that almost every single peerage member had before being added to her peerage to grow her peerage. I should not be any different.

"Woah woah...what did I do?"

Rias couldn't stop herself and just began to sob. Any sense of formality in her just collapsed as she crashed into me and just began to let it all out. Really, all I could do without overwhelming her or myself was just hugging her. And hug her I did for the next 15 minutes. Really I could not comprehend how someone could cry this much. It was as if everything bad in her life was just released via her emotions all at once. Eventually though, after what felt like an eternity, she finally let go of me.

Rias: "I—I'm sorry..."

I quickly put my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be."

Rias: "But I..."

"You already know what you did as do I. You don't need to spell it out."

Rias just stayed silent at that.

Rias: "How are you...still ok with me...with all of us?"

I only shrugged.

"Truth be told, I'm not sure anymore. But if I were to come up with something right now...it would be the fact that I knew everyone could be better. I remember those times when I was part of the family—and I thought I could get those times back with enough work and effort. No more. No less."

Rias wasn't expecting that judging by her dumbfounded expression.

"I already said I wished to still live with all of you. What's different now?"

Rias: "...you said you were abandoned twice while you were fighting Loki...that you were alone in the world."

I frowned at that. As bad as it was, I remembered how I was thinking then. Being violent and dismissive of everyone around me, I thought in the armor, was the way for me to fix the situation.

Rias: "And then..."

She held back a tear and and sniffled.

Rias: "We saw your memory of that time...and how much damage we actually did to you."

I felt weirded out whenever she actually said that to me directly. At least Loki foresaw that it would eventually end, so it made some sense for him to see it...but to see a person that I've lived with pry into my memories...it definitely wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Ok...but how does that make things any different from how they were before?"

Rias: "Well...you said that you didn't see us as family and nearly attacked Angrboda while being fully conscious...so..."

I clenched my jaw. While Xenovia and Irina knew that I wasn't myself during this and saw that I myself snapped out of that state. Rias and the others more than likely thought that they saw the true me, not held back by the barrier of the affection for them all—trying to get to them.

"Hm...well I can't say I was never angry or resentful towards all of you."

Rias looked down dejected.

"But you do realize that wasn't fully me talking in the backyard...right?"

Rias only slowly nodded as she looked back to the academy.

"Everyone has a dark side to them Rias. The only thing is—that armor specialized in bringing that darkness in me to light. Everyone in the ORC has it—whether it's Issei and Asia around fallen angels, Xenovia with her revelation that you-know-who is dead, Kiba with the excaliburs, or Koneko and Akeno with their biological families. They all have it within them, to this very day—even when most of them have resolved the trauma, it never fully goes away."

Rias: "I...I know."

"So...what's really bothering you?"

Rias: "What do you mean?"

"Well, as much as I would like to be a big factor in your emotions...I feel I only brought a worry you always had up to the surface."

Rias: "Wait...what?"

"I just don't mean that much to you anymore, so obviously–"

I stopped whenever Rias turned to me, a shadow casting over her eyes. Fuck, I said something wrong.

Rias: "You truly think that...?"

"I mean...yeah. You left me alone and began to straight up ignore my existence for the longest time and–"

Rias: "No..."

She began to tremble before lunging onto me and grabbing my shoulders.

Rias: "Please stop thinking like that! You mean more to me than you'll ever know!"

My heart jumped at those last words and the outward expression she was now showing.

"I..."

Rias: "I know I've hurt you repeatedly and you probably never knew...But you were in my head almost every single time we left you behind. I..."

She paused, her voice breaking from her efforts to restrain herself from crying again.

Rias: "I cannot begin to describe to you how much it broke my heart every time I saw your excitement vanish whenever I said you couldn't come with us...to see you become more complacent in your lackluster position with everyone..."

I grabbed her hands and pried them off of me, now genuinely confused.

"If you were so heartbroken, then why didn't you say anything to me to prevent me from eventually running away? Why didn't you at least get Issei to relay a message to me?"

Rias: "I...I thought you hated us then!...and I didn't want anyone be on the receiving end of an outburst from you considering how prone to anger you were before you ran away..."

She immediately was ashamed of what she said judging by her suddenly slouch. And yet...from her point of view, I could definitely see from her point of view that I was just silently taking the punishment...growing resentful to everyone in the club.

"...And you thought the berserker armor brought out that stored anger after I killed Heimdall."

Rias: "I..."

She stayed silent at that, telling me I hit the nail on her head. That's what all of the girls thought... I snapped in the backyard at that moment and had enough.

"Ok...let's make one thing clear. I'm not upset with you now...and I wasn't ever since I returned from Alfheim."

Rias looked at me confused.

"I cannot excuse the things you have caused me to go through. The isolation...the self-doubt."

She frowned at that.

"But I chose to accept what happened and moved on."

Rias: "How...?"

"Well look at it from my point of view. Despite everything that happened to me, I found a new family after my previous one was practically wiped out. I have a feeling that I would've never been able to move forward past whatever happened to me as a baby if it weren't from you cheering me up and helping me deal with my nightmares."

Rias stayed silent.

Rias: "But still...I thought those were nightmares that you drew in our notebook when we were little...not memories."

I shrugged.

"Even still, whatever your intention, you helped me move on. That allowed me to wait until I was a bit more prepared to tackle what that incident actually was. You gave me the opportunity to see more people to call my brothers, my sisters...even my love interests."

I turned my gaze away from her, as I felt her gaze on me to try and avoid the awkward implications of what I just said.

"Even with all of the...morally questionable methods that you used to add members to the peerage...you ended up giving all of us a home away from home...that's what I see in you."

I shook my head and sighed before looking back to her and smiling.

"An anime obsessed, beautiful, hair loving, and slightly possessive girl who happens to also be able to unite a bunch of other troubled individuals in a way I don't think anyone else could do."

Rias blushed at my description and looked down before smiling and beginning to let loose a couple tears.

Rias: "Ethan..."

"That's the girl I fell in love with. And the girl I'm beginning to let go of. Not out of anger like you think, but out of...something else even I haven't really figured out yet."

Rias giggled. And I could feel my heart begin to tense up as she embraced me.

Rias: "Thank you Ethan...for everything."

I held her back and shut my eyes, a feeling of relief washing over me now. God damn, after all this time...I finally was able to reach out to her. Hopefully she feels better with me moving forward.

We ended up sitting together eating lunch on that roof. Now engaged in just regular conversation.

"So when's the next big anime convention coming along? I know you'd want to go there."

Rias: "The next one I know of is...in March if I remember correctly."

"Ooh. You gonna bring Issei with you this time~? Finally begin to show him the true power of cosplay?"

Rias scoffed and backhanded me while blushing.

Rias: "Be quiet you idiot!"

I chuckled.

"How's everything with Issei now though?"

Rias expression quickly dropped.

Rias: "He's been changing a lot ever since you fell unconscious."

I was expecting to hear that. Judging by the fact that he never interacted with me after learning of the marriage prophecy.

"How so...? Is he still treating you and all the other girls well?"

Rias: "Yes. He actually improved with that. He's been helping us a lot with everything that has gone on recently."

I chuckled.

"Gotta love Issei."

Rias: "But...his mood has subtly changed."

I looked at her concerned.

"How so?"

Rias: "He's upset with you...like every time you get mentioned, he gets angry. I don't think you've done anything to anger him...right?"

I stayed silent at that and immediately turned my eyes away from her.

Rias: "Ethan?"

"Turns out when Gasper was in Jötunheim, he saw one more thing there."

Rias tensed up.

Rias: "What did he see?"

I sighed.

"Something will cause you and everyone else to break up with him...and it will more than likely involve me in some away."

I hid the getting with me part since that would open up a whole other can of worms which I did not want to open with her. Chances are that Rossweisse will likely tell her the truth of it later anyway.

"That's why he's probably upset with me. In his eyes...I'm sort of like the key to losing all of you."

I turned back to her and shrugged.

"You do with that what you want."

Rias became quiet at that.

"Again, if you want to keep our interactions to a minimum to prevent that I—"

Rias: "No. I'm not going to ignore your existence again just because a prophecy says that you'll be the one to break us up. That's my choice to make if the time comes."

"Hmph. Has Angrboda spoken to you?"

Rias: "Uh...no? Why?"

"That's almost exactly how she approaches prophecies."

Rias: "Really?"

"Oh yeah. She's a firm believer that a prophecy isn't always going to end up as solidly as many think. It's our choices that ultimately make up fate...it's just that the giants and the Norns can just read our natures so blatantly that our choices are all but set in stone in their eyes."

Rias: "You're talking about that like it's fact...."

"Well I sorta had a demonstration of it whenever I left to create the Draupnir spear to fight Heimdall. Angrboda and Atreus said that I was changing myself. They were just offering the path for me to follow. I made the choice in the end to make the god-killing weapon and I made the choice to stay behind with Angrboda as I transformed into Ifrit."

Rias: "Hm..."

"I think her belief about the whole thing is that you can't control what happens around you. But you can control how you react to those situations."

Rias: "And you believe that?"

"I do...again with the live demonstration of it. But also think about everything that happened due to prophecy in both the Greek and Norse pantheons. If the gods controlled themselves, then they wouldn't have effectively sealed their fates by torturing Kratos or imprisoning Loki and his children, leading to the fall of both pantheons...according to prophecy anyway."

Rias: "Well...I guess that's reassuring to hear right? That everything isn't set in stone."

"To a degree, yeah it is."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Talk to you later?"

Rias gave me a smile before nodding.

Rias: "Of course."

I got up on my feet and offered my hand, which she took as we began on our ways back to class.

Unfortunately for me, everyone saw us talking on the hill, and I was swarmed by people surrounding me. Girls were fawning over me after seeing that I seemingly cheered up Rias, while all the boys were sending death glares as they usually did when someone other than them interacted with a a queen of the academy. Nevertheless, through the endless questions of if I was dating Rias or not, I made it to class.

The rest of the day had this awkward tension between Rossweisse and I whenever we interacted. Yet oddly enough, she was sticking around me a lot more and not keeping her distance like I thought she would. Hel immediately caught notice of it though and constantly began to tease me whenever she thought Rossweisse couldn't hear it.

Nothing big really resulted though, and eventually, class ended and I made it back to the student council room, where Tsubaki was sitting at the front desk

"Tsubaki."

Tsubaki: "Ethan."

"Sona said she needed me here."

Tsubaki: "Yes. She told me. She's in the room to your left."

"Gotcha. Thank you."

She huffed while nodding and I entered the room. There, Sona was with a folder in her hands searching through a shelve filled with documents.

"Sona? You said you wanted me here after school?"

Sona turned around and smiled.

Sona: "Yes. I'm glad you're here."

She went back to searching through the shelf.

"What do you need me to do?"

Sona: "I need you to deliver...some documents for a student who will be joining us in a couple days to their parents."

"Ah...who exactly?"

Sona: "Ravel Phenex. Her family moved into Kuoh Town about a week and a half ago."

"Phenex? Why has the family moved here?"

Sona: "I recall Sirzechs saying that something destroyed their household...you'll have to ask them for more details."

"Hm..."

That wasn't good to hear. Anything that could destroy a full on household in the underworld could not stick around. Surely Sirzechs, Serafall or Lord Asmodeus would be on that right?

"Well alright...I'm guessing you're just collecting the documents?"

Sona: "Yup...sorry. Today's been pretty busy."

"By all means. Take all the time you need."

She gave me a thankful smile before going back to her search.

"So...what's Sirzechs doing to resolve this whole Phenex housing situation."

Sona suddenly stopped moving, and right then and there, I knew something was wrong.

Sona: "He's...not in the best of states right now."

"What happened?"

Sona: "To say things bluntly...Millicas was kidnapped."

I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body with that one statement alone. I couldn't even stop my jaw from dropping. Who in their right minds would wake a sleeping demon like this?

"W-what...!?"

Sona sighed...

Sona: "Yeah..."

"Is everything in the underworld ok down there!?"

Sona: "Big sis has told me that they're trying the best they can...but it's scary for even her to be in the same room as him and the strongest queen."

"Yeah...I could tell."

We stayed silent for a bit.

"Who would be crazy enough to do that?"

Sona: "Your brother says that those 'apostles' you all love so much are most likely behind it."

AND just like that, my mood is ruined.

"Fucking hell..."

Sona: "Anyway, for now, you don't need to worry about it."

"But I—"

Sona: "Ethan. No. You just woke up."

I pouted at that and she turned around and pinched my cheek.

Sona: "You're cute my love...but that won't convince me or anyone else to let you head out and investigate."

"Fine..."

A thought occurred to me, I haven't seen someone today...which is odd considering she's practically always attached to me at the hip.

"Where's Leia?"

Sona: "She's in Alfheim right now. Seeing everyone in the ORC's reaction to your memories reminded her of the family she has there. She didn't want them to miss her too much."

"Ah...fair point."

Sona: "Anyway, here's the folder with Ravel's papers."

I shakily grabbed the folder before nodding to her.

"You'll be at the household when I get there?"

Sona: "More than likely, I'm about to be done with president duties in a bit."

"Alright then see you later?"

Sona smiled.

Sona: "See you soon."

And out I went into Kuoh town in the direction I thought the address was.

So...a large thing I began to question now was everything behind Millicas' disappearance—more exactly, the logic behind it. The apostles have been a pain in the jötunn's lives ever since I was  an infant—far before Millicas was ever born. But if they knew of my connection to the Gremories after all this time...then why only act now whenever I can begin to understand what they did to me?

It pains me to say, but it would've been far more advantageous to them if they did this before I ascended and met Atreus and his family. Then Sirzechs would really do all the dirty work if they wanted to disrupt the Underworld and remain undetected. Now...that just wasn't possible with us around.

"Why is everything about these apostles centered around me?"

I sighed as I continued walking forward towards the address a strange feeling of heat beginning to flare up around my body.

Little did I know, the world as I saw it was about to change forever...and Ifrit was right at the center of all of it.

(Holy shit I was slow writing this. My apologies everyone. So much different ideas for scenarios keep flooding in and I end up spending more time actually acting out those scenes in my room and speaking the conversations to myself instead of writing. Anyway, thanks for reading. A recap chapter should be next, but then, the story should begin to fire up in about 2-3 chapters...when I'll release them, I have no idea. Again, sorry for the delay.)