By now, the golden glowing circle in the Asgardian sky has been replaced by a slightly smaller glowing silver circle, barely peaking over the edge of the horizon.
The evening is over, and the nighttime has begun.
Yet despite that? The Realm of the Norse Gods doesn't appear to sleep.
I sit now on top of a far larger building, still old Viking-inspired in design, yet far more modern in build.
The closest thing this place has to a skyscraper, considering, you know, the low-hanging sky and all that.
Rose sits beside me, cuddled against my side, her arms wrapped around my arm, and her head leaning against my shoulder.
Before us lay a full-on urban sprawl of buildings looking the same as the one we were sitting on now.
Despite the darkness, there was practically nothing we couldn't see, as lights within the buildings and across the streets lit up everything.
And if I were to turn around, facing out toward the countryside, the place where we spent most of our time in Asgard so far, I'd see much the same yet far more sporadic.
Truly, I could sit here and stare at it all for a long time…
"Is this really all you wanna do?" I lean down a bit toward Rose as I ask, curious.
Rose only nods and lets out an affirmative hum, her eyes closed and a gentle and contented smile on her face.
As much as I would like for her to fall asleep like this, peaceful and content, there are more than a few problems that would arise from that.
For instance, I'm not sure I'd be able to bring us home myself. I don't know about magical teleportation, and my form of transportation might only result in us slamming into the branches of the World Tree at warp speed.
Also.
I turned my head, looking behind and off to the side from us, lying not too far away, was the Voyalkyrie.
Yeah, she's still here.
She's not awake, though; she's out.
Magical exhaustion finally caught up to her not long after I dealt with Hildr; by that point, she could barely speak, and out she went.
She'd be fine, she just needs rest, according to Rose, anyway. The thing is, she doesn't know where our Voyalkyrie here lives.
Leaving her at Valhalla wasn't an option, since a magically exhausted Valkyrie would be very suspicious, considering what had just gone down.
Rose speculated she might have a sister, but she wasn't entirely sure on the matter, and regardless, pretty much all the Valkyries are petty little virgins, so that also wasn't an option.
We could have left her with Rose's grandmother.
Well, I suggested we did.
"N-No!" Rose exclaimed, fidgeting and flushing at the same time, "I-I'm not ready for that y-yet!"
I had to force down a chuckle as the memory of Rose's reaction to that idea passed through my head again.
I should have assumed, though. The 'meeting your significant other's parents' stage isn't exactly something that usually happens so soon, and Rose, in specific, is already as green as can be regarding this, so yeah.
Anyhow, in the end, we resolved to pretty much carry the poor girl around with us until she wakes up, which leads us to now.
Rose switched the girl's clothes out of her Valkyrie uniform into something warmer and more comfortable, although I have to admit, I was more than a little surprised about the outfit Rose put on her.
It was gyaru, gal fashion, although Rose had no idea what any of that meant. It's apparently what Rose remembered her wearing besides the Valkyrie armor, so I went along with it, but still, our little Voyalkyrie here is full of surprises!
I do kind of feel bad just leaving her there, though. I know she's not human, so maybe it's not as big a deal, but lying on wood and stone can't exactly be comfortable, can it?
Ah, well. Rose never brought that up as a concern, so I'll assume it's fine.
As we sit, I absentmindedly rub my hand along Rose's thigh, prompting the silver-haired girl to let out a breath and shiver just a tad.
"Ah…Hmm~, Nori?" Rose suddenly speaks up, albeit softly, causing me to blink and look back down at her.
I don't let the suddenness get to me, though, "Sup?"
"U-Um…Well." Rose draws her gaze downward, her eyes closed, before abruptly rearing his head back up, straight to my face, and just as suddenly kissing me.
It was nothing like before; this one was incredibly quick, more like a peck she didn't even give me time to properly react.
Except now she was looking at me, meeting me eye for eye.
"It's…getting pretty late," she starts, the only hint of what she'd just done being the slight quiver of trepidation in her voice and her burning cheeks, "not here, but I mean, back in Japan. Back home."
…She considers Japan her home now? Aww~!
"We should…probably head back, I t-think."
She seems oddly nervous about this, doesn't she?
I raise an eyebrow, looking back at her, "Done with the sightseeing already, huh? It was a pretty beautiful view…" I give her a pointed stare and a little wink, causing the poor silver-haired girl to flinch more, "But, alright. If you're done, then I guess we can call it a night."
Rose nods quickly, before adding, "Done here, yes. E-End of the night, though…" She trails off like she wants to add more, but shakes her head instead, stopping herself.
Well, now, looks like someone's got something planned, huh?
I don't want to jump to conclusions, so I'll keep my lips zipped shut for now.
Instead, I point back toward the still unconscious Voyalkyrie with my thumb.
"We're taking her with us back to Japan, then?"
"I-If that's alright?"
I give her a nod and a reassuring smile, "We've got plenty of space. The only thing I'm worried about is her waking up and thinking she got kidnapped or something."
"I think it'll be fine, I'll leave her a note or something by her bed…" Rose muses a simple solution, to which I shrugged.
"If that'll do fine, go for it." I encourage her, to which Rose nods back after a moment.
Without another word, I get up, it takes a moment or two more before Rose lets me go, as she was still holding onto my side. She let out a little squeak of embarrassment when she realized what she was still doing before she did, cute stuff.
I walk over and pick up the Voyalkyrie, swinging the girl over my shoulder in a good old-fashioned fireman's carry.
Only the special and good girls get the princess carry.
Anyhow, cargo acquired, I walk back over to Rose, who was now holding a steadily spinning magic circle in her hand.
She didn't necessarily drop the circle, so much as it floated down out of her hand before hitting the ground.
As I rejoin her side, the circle begins to light up, and I prepare for the flash of light that's too carry us away.
What I'm not prepared for is for Rose to turn, take a breath, and gently grab onto me, in something like a half-embrace.
Her head against my chest, and the light from her teleportation circle building, she mutters something I can just barely hear.
"Thank you."
I can take a guess or two at what for.
Without a word, I wrap my free arm around her waist, lean down, and kiss her on the forehead.
And with that, the light takes us away.
~ A New Sun ~
Lord Odin opened the double-decker golden doors to Valhalla with a wistful sigh.
Another day, another long night of looking at tits and throwing money at women so they'll talk to him, all in a good days work.
As soon as the doors were open, he took one step inside, tripped, and fell flat on his face.
"...Arh?" The old god grunted in no small amounts of shock and annoyance, his face full of gold.
Odin raised his head, and almost immediately, he found out what the problem was.
Valhalla had been trashed.
Golden statues and pillars overturned, art and paintings smashed, the tiled floor cracked and broken apart.
He turned, looked back, and saw the thing that he had tripped over.
His statue's golden head.
Joy.
Grumbling, he lifted himself back onto his feet, dusted the golden dust off his robe, and set out to walk down the hall.
All the while, his left eye shimmered and glowed, the Magic Eye of Mimisbrunnr revealing the Flow of Magic to him in the area in a dazzling ray of colors and auras.
Odin snorted. He didn't need to see through his left eye long to figure out what happened.
A hodgepodge of magical signatures and formulas had run roughshod through the place like a tsunami, but he caught onto three specifically that he felt were familiar to him.
Because those three were part of his Valkyrie Squad.
Odin let out a long and tired sigh. He was not at all looking forward to finding out why the hel any of this happened.
Unfortunately, this knowledge would be his soon, considering the sobbing and screaming of girls he quickly heard echoing down the hall.
He'll admit, he went a bit slower than he could have gone, but anything to save his head the ache of this situation for a little while longer.
In time, though, he made it to the source of the screaming and crying.
It was one of the larger Valkyrie training rooms, though in practice it acted far more like an arena or stadium, albeit on the smaller ends, located closer to the center of the hall.
There, he found them. The three girls whose magic is all over the place, and his lovely Valkyrie Captain, this generation's Brynhildr.
And oh hel.
Does she look pissed.
You could tell because she's frowning. Odin doesn't think she's ever seen Brynhildr truly full-on frown before.
Well, that, and the whole-
"IEEEEEEEE-!"
One of the Valkyires, the smaller of the three, screeched and cried as Brynhildr wacked her on the ass with her flaming sword.
"Be quiet," Brynhildr commanded, ice cold.
That.
That means she pretty pissed off, doesn't it?
All three Valkyrie were bounds, ankles and wrists, by spiraling blue magic circles, their bodies bent over so their asses were all presented. Odin didn't need his left eye to tell immediately those were Brynhildr's spells, and frankly, he's rather glad of that fact.
After all, he'd rather not look at this scene too much, he's not into any of that shit.
"A-A-Ah…" The one who just got wacked whimpered pitifully, trying to look back at Brynhildr, likely to beg for mercy.
Instead, when she turned her head, her gaze rolled over him first.
Shit.
"L-Lord Odin!" She panickedly cried, causing the old god to wince a fraction, "Lord! P-Please! You've got to listen to u-"
Whoosh. Slap. Hiss.
"AHIIEEEEEE!"
Another strike.
"I said, be quiet." Brynhildr's cold voice broke through the literal burning screams and tears.
"Y-Y-Yes m-ma'am…!"
Satisfied, for now, Brynhildr turned to him.
She didn't even say anything yet, and the old god flinches, her looks almost screaming 'you're next' even though he didn't even do anything wrong!
Well, besides blowing Valhalla's budget, but Rossweisse isn't here to talk his ear off about it, so he did nothing!
"My Lord." Brynhildr acknowledged simply, her free hand forming a fist, which clanged against her breastplate as she saluted him.
"B-Brynhildr." Odin acknowledged back, his one eye flickering between the cyan-haired woman and the three Valkyrie, "I see you've got this all taken care of, so I think I'll-"
"I-It was Rossweisse…!" He was cut off, not by his Valkyrie Captain, but one of the three, the tallest looking one, with a deeper, more mature voice.
Eh?
"I don't know h-how, but she-"
Slap. Hiss.
"GHAAA-Nghhhh!"
Unlike the last one, she gritted her teeth, biting back a scream. There were still tears rolling down her cheeks, but she at least tried to keep from sounding like a little girl.
"That goes for you, too," Brynhildr added.
Odin noticed, sort of offhandedly, that the one who spoke just now has had it the worse, considering how bruised and red her ass is compared to the others.
Still.
"Rossweisse?" Odin begins, brow furrowing, "What does she have to do with…all this?"
Brynhildr sighs and answers for him, "Nothing, of course. According to these fools, she was back in Asgard, apparently out on a date-"
Odin nearly choked.
"-but I'm starting to believe this one." Brynhildr pointed her sword at the one she most recently slapped, "Just made it up as a cover for these two idiots to trash the place."
"We a-already told ya, C-Captain!" The last of the three yet to speak, finally spoke up, at least in his presence, the middling in terms of size, "She was here! T-That bitch lead us here! And then-"
Odin could predict this one by now.
Whoosh. Slap. Hiss.
"FUCKIN-BITCH! AGHHH!"
Brynhildr's eyes narrowed dangerously at that. "What was that?"
All of a sudden, the middling seemed far less outspoken, "U-Uh! N-N-No one, Captain, no one at all! W-WAIT, NO-"
Slap. Hissss~!
"AGGGHHH! FUCKING, NGGHHHH!"
She slowly devolved into broken whimpers and scattered sobs.
"...O-kay!" Odin began after a moment, eyeing Brynhildr specifically, "So you're pretty sure she wasn't here, then?"
She huffed, "No. Probably not."
Odin breathed out a sigh of relief, which caused Brynhildr to raise an eyebrow at him back, albeit only slightly.
So slightly, he didn't even notice it.
Regardless, he's relieved because, well, he doesn't want to be anywhere near her again!
The girl could be scary sometimes, and he'd rather not deal with the repercussions of his actions if he could!
Plus, where she goes, he goes.
The sun brat.
Sure, at first, he wasn't exactly scared of the young man. He was young, brash, didn't respect his elders, all that noise. Typical brat shit.
The brat doesn't like him? So what! He's not the first, from his pantheon to others across the world, he won't be the last. In the end, such things don't matter.
But then the sun brat went and fought the Strongest Exorcist the Church had, and didn't die.
The same Exorcist who, if he's right, could fight his son, Thor, and probably not lose.
The same son who's considered one of the strongest beings in the world. That Thor!
Odin wouldn't want to fight Thor, he'd lose.
Odin wouldn't want to fight that Dulio brat; he probably wouldn't win.
And now?
Odin doesn't want to be anywhere near an angry sun brat, because there's a very good chance he would beat his old ass the same color as his robes!
What do the kids say nowadays?
Oh yeah.
Fuck that shit!
"Disregarding that," Brynhildr carried on, "before these three wrecked the place, they also caused a seen on the streets all across the countryside on the way here. While you're here, you may as well issue their fines. After all," she looked at the three with a dangerous glow in her eyes, "they're going to be here for a while, cleaning up, and then? Well, they might not be at all."
Gha! Work! And scary!
The three didn't seem to catch that last bit, though, as they all started making noise at the idea they might lose their jobs.
One started crying, one started begging, and the last one started cursing.
Brynhildr did as she has done several times by now, though.
Whoosh. WhackWhackWhack!
This time, though, she scores a three-in-one!
"AIIIIIEEE! W-WHY!?"
"NHHGGGHHH!"
"FUH-UUCCKKKK!"
You know, usually, at a time like this, Odin would make a joke, something like 'this is the only time you three will get your bottoms touched,' but right now? Not even he can bring himself to do it.
"I…see." Odin starts, slowly, carefully, "Right. Well, you keep doing your job, and I guess I'll go do mine."
Brynhildr gives him a plain nod.
The three Valkyries look toward him, almost as one, they don't say anything, but they're look says it all.
'Please save us!"
Odin, promptly, turns and hustles away as fast as he possibly can without making it seem like he's trying to escape.
Even though he's heading in the direction of his office, he is one hundred percent going to escape this.
Like the kids say, fuck that shit, they somehow got themselves into that mess, Odin isn't going to put his old ass in front of that sword for them!
He's also not going to do his work, no, he doesn't want to be anywhere near Valhalla for a while, not while Brynhildr is like that.
Ah! He knows, he'll call up one of his kids! Maybe Baldr?
No, no, he's probably asleep right now. Plus, Baldr is his favorite; he wouldn't want to put him in harm's way!
Perhaps Thor?
…No, Odin is pretty sure that hammerhead son of his wouldn't be able to sign his damn name properly. He'd also ruin his office.
Not like Odin uses his office for anything, but still, it's the principle of the matter!
Vidar, it is then!
That settled, Odin nods to himself, satisfied.
Besides, it's not like he's being lazy or anything! See, he's got a couple of 'prisoners' to visit personally!
And, speaking of his sons…
Although in this case, it's more adopted son, but the distinction doesn't matter all that much, he guesses.
With a snap of his fingers, a bright green Norse runic magic circle spirals into existence, and it just as quickly winks out of existence.
His message sent to Vidar, he holds out his hand, in a new flash of green, his trusty spear, Gungnir, appearing in his palm.
Once he was out of Brynhildr's sensory range, he taps the butt of the spear to the ground, and with a flash of his magic, he's gone.
In a flash, he appears in a whole other space.
Before him, the sounds of roars echo across the empty expanse, as a white armored dragon wrestles a colossal wolf, expertly avoiding its fangs and claws as the dragon manages to maneuver around to its back, and wrap its arms around its neck.
Odin nods, satisfied.
There are other echoes around this old reused prison space, of course. A sword clashing against the hard metal of a staff, magic powering off and on, and occasionally exploding, and old mechanical whirling.
But those aren't his focus right now.
Thor managed to subdue Fenrir, but couldn't kill it. Then, the sun brat just handed the Norse one of the terrorist groups' subfactions, the 'Vali Team,' after he beat them all, because he didn't know what to do with them.
One of them had the method to control Fenrir, at the cost of reducing its power, sure, but controlling the God-Slaying Wolf when you aren't Loki is damn near impossible!
Then that sword brat showed that he could, and Odin saw the potential here, in this whole team.
The Shinto Pantheon got much stronger after the Grigori dissolved. Unfortunately, that wasn't true for the Norse, with them losing a pretty valuable ally.
On a more personal note, Odin can also say he lost a pretty good friend.
Where did you go, Azazel?
Odin's fist tightened around his spear for the moment before he let the thought go, for now.
Here, though, with the Vali Team? He saw the potential for them to recuperate the strength they lost.
So, he made them an offering.
He'd 'adopt' Vali, the White Dragon Emperor, effectively freeing him and his group of the stain of being terrorists. In return, well, he gets adopted, and he fights for the Norse now.
Originally, the young half devil didn't go for it.
But he came around, once Odin let him in on a little secret.
The sun brat annihilated the Hero Faction, a big chunk of the Chaos Brigade. Effectively, the terrorists shouldn't be a concern anymore.
And yet, his little ravens tell him that isn't quite right.
They live under a new leader, a new 'Emperor', and the Chaos Brigade isn't done. Not quite yet. They only just went to ground.
Once Vali heard that there were still enemies around to fight, to get stronger on, he was all for the idea.
Well, that, and Odin promising the half devil brat training so he could fight the sun brat again and make up for his loss last time, probably played a factor.
And let him just say?
The White Dragon throws the God-Slaying Wolf away, just before it can manage to turn the tables.
Light exploded then from the dragon, its wings bright and luminous. From Odin's left eye, he could see it; the explosion of demonic power and draconic aura was completely off the charts.
Then, the chant began.
"Awaken! I, am the White Dragon Emperor who plunged the Law down into the dark!"
The jewels across his arm glowed brightly, emitting constant flashes of dazzling cyan light.
"Through infinite ruin, and dreams of dawn bridging toward ascension; I shall become the Immaculate Dragon Dynast!"
His armor, once a pristine and pure white, began to flicker, alternating between white and a deep, immaculate silver.
"Head now! The illusion of white, and the epitome of magic!"
The silver stuck.
And a voice as old as perhaps Odin himself ran out from the jewels across Vali's armor, at the same time as the boy's call.
["JUGGERNAUT OVERDRIVE!"]
Odin watched on as the White Dragon Emperor, clad now in silvery armor, his aura so dense, so strong, it began to warp Fenrir's old prison.
Around them, other voices called out in dismay. He could feel the magic girl reaching out to try and stabilize the space with her magic.
Yet the God Slaying Wolf had a different reaction; he let out a low rumbling growl, as an almost proud smirk stretched across its maw.
And Odin couldn't help but share the expression of his prophesied killer, for once.