Asgard. The land of the Norse Gods. It's a beautiful and massive world, mountains touching the sky, trees the size of giants and seas with cold salty water. Somewhere in this world the giant Surtr is buried. The Norse Gods have done something foolish and tried to control him, making a clone of him with his own flesh and blood. They had succeeded but the giant was hardly controllable. His fiery wrath was burning everything in it's path. He escaped Asgard and was soon transformed into the rook of the strongest Devil, Sirzechs Lucifer. The blood and flesh of Surtr had been left there to rot, by taking away a piece of him, the Norse Gods had effectively killed the sword wielding giant, however his soul remained.
Ragnar burst into Valhalla walking as fast as he could past the still drunk souls of the past Vikings. "Odin! Odin!" He called urgently, looking around the massive hall and it's hundreds of doors.
"What is it?" A gruff, elderly voice called from somewhere beneath him. Ragnar looked down and saw the head God of the Norse mythology under the table, clearly he had drunk too much again.
"I have grave news! Surtr's tomb has been opened!" At this everyone present in the hall, be they a long dead Viking or guard froze, Odin himself seemed to lose all of his previous drunkenness.
"Where is he?" Odin asked. He knew it only a matter of time before the bitter and hateful giant came to fulfill his destiny.
"He is dead. His corpse is cold, there is no sign of life. But the people living near there spoke of a great fire."
"So what's the problem then? He probably killed himself since he couldn't take it, he was always a prideful one." Odin said irritated that even he would get so worked up.
"Well, it's just that..." Ragnar wasn't sure what to say, during his time as King he had stories of the great giant and how he will drown the world in fire. Making a fast and reckless decision Ragnar stood in front of Odin. "Odin! Father! Please let me visit the other planes and Midgard so that I can find this giant!" He stood without fear in front of the man who ruled all of the Asagods.
"Are you implying that the great Odin, is not right!?" Shouted a viking, his gruff voice echoing in the hall, soon he was followed by many more who began to berate him.
"Silence!" Odin, shouted and all at once the hall had grown quiet. "Ragnar is right, his soul may still be roaming the worlds. Fine, I will allow you to search for him, if you find him, do not provoke him, call me for me, and I, along with the other Gods will deal with him accordingly." Ragnar nodded and quickly ran out of Valhalla.
Issei Hyoudou was your average 14 year old, he was now enjoying winter break, by doing what any normal 14 year old would do, watch porn. You can't really blame him since the winter this year is quite cold, it was unusual but not unheard of. Because of this cold, snow had built up and the roads were closed, meaning that no one would be outside, meaning no pretty girls to look at.
Feeling a bit thirsty -for reasons totally not related to women- Issei went down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. For the past week he has been alone since both his mother and father were caught in the storm while visiting a relative, since they were too embarrassed with his perversity they left him at home, not that he was complaining, he actually enjoyed the solitude.
Sipping on his drink Issei looked outside the window to see the snow pile up. Among the sea of white something caught his attention, it was quite big, and with it's red-orange color it stood out like a sore thumb in the white snow. He quickly dressed himself with thicker clothes and walked out to check the weird thing.
Reaching the object Issei saw that it was a sword, it's design clearly European, most likely norse in origin. It was massive, the blade alone was one and a half meters and with the hilt it was probably as big as himself. The cross-guard was slightly curved towards the blade, along the pommel and cross-guard there were carvings, in the middle of the pommel was also a gem that seemed to have some sort of liquid in it.
Deciding against his better judgement Issei touched the sword, taking it in his hands. As soon as he pulled the sword out of the snow, his skin began to burn, the burning spread from his hands until he felt like his entire body was burning, his veins carrying fire. Passing out from the pain Issei collapsed into the snow.
He stood in a mountain area, to his right was a shinning building, around the building where many men and women, carrying axes, swords and wooden shields, he looked to his left and felt a shiver run down his spine. There were two men battling each other, one was a giant with a sword that burned, the other a man with a horn in his hand. Eventually the man drove the horn into the eye of the giant with the fire sword. Suddenly the temperature rose and fire enguled everything as the giant roared. Everything goes white and Issei shields his eyes.
"That was how I killed Freyr." A deep voice echoes and Issei opens his eyes to be greeted with a smaller version of the giant he saw, his size was still impressive however as he towered over Issei with at least three heads.
"Who are you?" Asked Issei.
"I am Surtr, the fire giant, my rage and wrath will bring forth Ragnarok!" The man shouts but he then looks down and sighs. "Except that since I've been imprisoned, I've slowly lost my will, it's like that damn Asagod, Odin put a spell on my chains! The Aesir even took my flesh and blood and made some abomination out of them, I hope it killed them all... Who am I kidding, if I couldn't, then a weaker version never could."
Issei was confused, first this giant man scares him to death and now he spouts things he never heard of.
"I have grown tired of this, the rage that once burned in me has been turned to embers. I am old. Like the vikings of old, I want to embrace death, I may not go to some hall where ale and endless fighting will welcome me but I didn't want them in the first place, I want peace." The man turned his burning eyes to Issei who flinched under his gaze. " I leave my sword with you, it's the source of my power, don't worry about losing it, it will always be with you, just wish for it to appear and it will, do the opposite and it disappear." As the man spoke he slowly bagan to dissapear until Issei could see through him. "Do what you want with it mortal, destroy everyone with your burning rage, or use your fiery righteous anger and help the world, I don't care, I only leave you with my legacy, that of the Fire Giant Surtr."
As the man disappeared completely Issei had more questions than answers.
Finally Issei woke up. He looked around and saw that he was still in the place where he found the sword. Somehow he had fallen over. Rising up, he looked around and saw that the place where he laid down was devoid of snow, it looked like it had been melted, even the ground below was somewhat burned. Looking down at himself he saw that he was only wearing pants which were burned up, despite the lack of clothes he did not feel cold, in fact he felt fine. Checking himself he saw no burn marks or scars, his skin was still as untouched as before, except for the tattoo on his right forearm. It was the sword he found, he tried to wipe it off but it didn't work.
In the following weeks Issei had tried to learn as much as he could about Norse mythology, the fact that the tattoo didn't come off could only mean that either someone drugged him and made the tattoo for whatever reason. He honestly would have preferred this but he didn't do anything to incur such an elaborate plan of revenge. And he also had no way of knowing the name of gods he had never even heard of, except maybe Odin. Everything the giant said to him was true, Surtr was indeed a fire giant in Norse mythology, along with Freyr who was a God.
Issei had decided that he would test out the sword he apparently had. Walking up into the more remote areas of the hills surrounding Kuoh, Issei noticed that he wasn't getting tired, he wasn't cold, despite the almost negative temperature, his body felt as if he had just went on a small walk, not even a shed of sweat even though he should have been more than tired. Before he knew it he was already in the most remote area, up where he could not cause any damage to anything except rocks.
Alright. I have to wish for the sword to appear. Issei concentrated but nothing happen. He grunted in frustration and stomped the ground. Suddenly the snow around him kicked up and left a empty area where he kicked. Issei rose and eyebrow at this. He moved to the rockier part of the area.
Alright. This will either hurt like hell or be totally awesome. Taking in a long breath Issei put all of his force into his fist and punched in front of him. As soon as he touched the rock it shattered in an area as big as a car.
"HOLY SHIT!" Issei shouted looking at his fist, he then bagan to laugh and ran around punching every rock he encountered. It wasn't before long that he realized that he was doing and stopped. He looked around and saw that the somewhat rocky area was now full of pebles.
Shit. He thought looking at the destruction around him. And I haven't even used the sword. He sighed and tried to summon it again.
Imagine it being there, wish for it to come to you. Soon he bagan to feel the same fire in his veins he felt when he aquired the sword, only this time it wasn't bothering him. Sweat began to pour down his brow as he concentrated harder. Finally the sword appeared and Issei looked at it. It was the same as when he first found it, except it was now silver instead of the red-orange. This got the gears in his head turning and Issei began to concentrate on the blade, soon it began to emit heat and slowly reddened until it caught on fire. He now tried to concentrate on something else, in a matter of second the blade cooled off.
Issei had kept going to the same remote area for a while now, in time he noticed that he could use the sword better, he could make it appear faster and faster and somehow he kept becoming more skilled with it. Well, for someone with no prior experience with swords that is.
Right now Issei was sitting cross-legged, the sword in his lap, he had his eyes closed in concentration. His warm breath leaving trails of steam in the cold air. He moved his hand on the grip of the sword, he took a deep breath and suddenly, around him in a meter wide radius the snow was melted almost instantaneously.
So this is what has become of The Destroyer of the Universe. Ragnar thought looking at the teen who seemed to test his new powers. Right now Ragnar wasn't sure what to do. He had searched pretty much all of Europe and most of Asia, he didn't expect to find the giant in this country specifically, and in this state. In any case, he figured he would call Odin and let him and the other Asagods deal with the situation. While a powerful in his own way, Ragnar was only a heroic spirit, beings that are strong, but not strong enough to take care of a being such as The Fire Giant.
He quickly cast the spell and waited for the arrival of the Aesir and Vanir. He didn't have to wait long as within second Odin appeared, alone, strangely, on top of the eight legged horse Sleipnir. Knowing Odin he porbably would have wanted to come by carriage but the weather and area they were in didn't allow it.
Without wasting any time Odin got off the horse and looked down at the young man who was still meditating.
"I see. Surtr really did die. I'm not sure whether to call the kid lucky or cursed, by sheer chance he found the sword and now he'll have to live with it for the rest of his life." Odin said, his long, silvery beard and hair flowing in the cold wind.
"What do you mean? He simply found the sword?" Ragnar asked rising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Surtr probably used the last of his strength to get away from us, that's why you found him here, and that's why only his sword remained. The kid was probably nearby as Surtr used all of his power and 'collapsed'... Never thought I'd see this day, The Great Surtr, dead, his soul at least." Odin said and turned around. "Come. Let's get back to Asgard." He said getting up of Sleipnir.
"We're just going to leave him? Isn't he our problem now? While a simple human, he is still in possession of his sword. A sword powerful enough to kill a God." Ragnar said, he knew to not question Odin's judgement but in this case he truly believed he was right. After all, leaving something like the sword of The Destroyer of the Universe in the hands of a human is not a good idea by any moral code.
"And what exactly are we to do mighty hero Ragnar? Take him with us? He's a just a brat, his parents and everyone else that knows him will notice if he goes missing. We could make them forget him but what good would that do, especially if my son finds out." Ragnar frowned at Odin's words, he was right, they couldn't just take the kid.
"I propose we at least initiate him into what will come for him. We can't just leave a mortal with such a powerful item. Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands."
"Perhaps you are right... Fine we'll do as you say. After the 'initiation' you'll be the one to train him." Odin said with a grin. Ragnar was expecting as much so he didn't say anything except furrow his brow. "We'll send someone to pick him up later."
A knock was heard at the door. Issei was confused by this, the snowstorm was still going strong and from what he heard he would be alone for another week at least, and nobody in their right mind would be outside in this kind of weather.
Rushing down he opened the door to find an old woman with silver hair, despite being much older than Issei he could clearly see that she once was a beautiful albeit somewhat scary woman, her eyes while holding a kind look also had a fearless fire burning inside.
"Hello young man. My name is Göndul, I am a Valkyrie." Issei rose an eyebrow at this and looked outside to see if anyone else was also there.
"Sorry I'm too young to buy whatever you're selling and my parents aren't home." As he said this he moved to close the door but was stopped by the woman, Issei tried to close the door but it wouldn't budge. Göndul may have been old but she still had a lot of strenght, maybe a little too much.
"I'm not selling anything boy. And if you're going to be rude I may just take your soul." Issei was left scratching his head as this weird old lay entered his house and sat down on the couch. "Like I was saying I'm Göndul, a Valkyrie, I am here to talk with you about that sword." At these words Issei froze, he wasn't expecting someone to come so quickly so maybe he was naive.
"I guess you want your super-weapon back right? So is this some goverment secret weapons program or something? Are you going to brainwash me now?" Issei asked. Göndul looked at him for a second and after seeing his serious face began laughing laudly. Calming herself Göndul wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Issei chuckling lightly from time to time as she spoke.
"No, no, although I appreciate you making me laugh..." Göndul stopped and cleared her throat. "What you currently posses is the sword of Surtr, The Destroyer of The Universe, King of The Fire Giants. It's a sword of immense power, powerful enough to burn all of Yggdrasil. By now you can guess why I'm here." Issei wasn't the brightest of people but he slowly began to realize what all of this meant.
"It's because I'm the chosen one right?!" Of course that didn't mean he was right.
Göndul sighed and shook her head, she somewhat expected this, she was after all talking to a 14 year old. "In a way you're right but you were simply lucky to find the sword. I'll just spell it out for you. I'm here to take you to Valhalla. There you will be 'initiated'."
"What does being 'initiated' mean?" A question Göndul was expecting.
"Do you know the principle of baptizing?" Issei nodded and Göndul continued. "Good. It's similar to that in the sense, instead of being recognized as a Christian and given a Christian name you will be recognized as a Warrior of the Nord. Nobody has been initiated in a long time so I'd imagine that whatever information your people had on it is gone." Göndul stood up from the couch and walked over to Issei. "In any case, take my hand, we're going to Asgard."
Issei was stunned, he might have seen Asgard from a distance when Surtr appeared before him but this was different. He was walking on a goddamn rainbow! In front of him was a large golden city and at it's center stood a massive building. The sight of it all was simply too much for him. Göndul smiled at seeing the reaction of the young man.
"Are you enjoying the sight?" Said Göndul, she walked in front of Issei, turned he back to him and spread her arms presenting the sight. "This is Asgard! The Home of Gods!" She said with pride. She turned back to Issei and led him on the multicolored path until they were in the golden city. They kept walking for a while until they reached the giant golden hall. From inside Issei could hear the sounds of metal striking wood and metal, laughter and music.
As the doors to the hall opened and Issei walked in he was once again mesmerized by the sight. Along the length of the hall ran a table, on in being various foods and drinks, on either side of the hall there were many doors, almost too many to count. The most amazing thing of all was the mass of warriors, all clashing swords, axes and various other tools of combat. In the very back of the hall Issei could see two people, one was a old man, judging by his long white hair and beard, he sat on a throne, on either of his shoulders were two crows and in his hand he held a spear. The other man was the stereotypical Viking, having a bushy beard and long blonde hair, he was dressed in leather and had what looked to be armor on, although he only wore the chest-guard and pauldrons.
Göndul led Issei through the sea of warriors and soon enough they reached the two men sitting at the end of the of the hall.
The old man rose from his seat and walked over to Issei, he held out his hand and Issei shook it. "It's good to finally meet you, Prince of The Fire Giants."
"Huh?" Issei rose an eyebrow and stared confusedly at the old man, whom he presumed was Odin.
"Well you are in a sense Surtr's son, after all, the sword is his soul and power and since it's been in your possession for some time now I'd imagine the merging process has started." Odin said laughing.
"I don't get it, what do you mean merging?" Issei asked confused yet again.
"You'll find out soon enough. For now, however, we need to 'initiate' you." And with that Odin hit the floor with his spear until the eternal battle of the souls stopped.
"Rumors have been going around that Surtr, after his imprisonment has died, in a sense those rumors are true. His sword-well his soul to be exact- did however live on. In what I can only guess was a desperate attempt to save what was left of him he had reached the far east, where this young man found the sword. It's time we finally 'initiate' someone again, and who better then Surtr's son!" Odin said and the warriors cheered. Issei however was still confused, here he was in some giant hall with people he only heard about in legends. From what he could figure out, everything about Norse mythology seemed to be true, since he was right now sitting in a giant golden hall and in front of him was a old man with one eye.
His questions about the whole situation will have to wait however because as soon and the souls stopped their cheering Odin began what he could only guess to be the ceremony of 'initiating' someone. It was over before he knew it with Odin saying something in a language that sounded like Swedish but he couldn't be sure.
"Was that it?" Issei asked looking at the old man.
Odin somehow acquired a dagger and took Issei's hand in his. With a motion so quick Issei didn't even register it, Odin made a small cut on Issei's palm. A woman with blonde hair and greed eyes came and set down a bowl with water in front of him. Odin placed what looked like a branch in the water, in no time the water turned golden as the branch released it's sap into the water.
"Mix your blood with the sap of Yggdrasil, young prince." Issei did as he was told and placed his hand in the bowl mixing the golden water with his red blood. The mixture turned bright orange. Strangely he could see little embers glowing on the submerged branch. What happened next however was even more strange, the mixture of water, sap and blood suddenly caught fire as did the branch. It burned for a while before nothing was left but a small seed.
"If any of you needed more confirmation that this young man is the Son of Surtr here you have it. His fire, his blood turned water and ash into a seed. This small seed shall grow into a large tree and it will remember everyone of the day Surtr was reborn. Not anymore will Surtr be the giant who burns the Tree of the World, instead he will be the one who will regrow it. Now, I, Odin, Father of All, bearer of the wisdom of Yggdrasil shall recognize the newly-born Son of Surtr as a God, he shall be the God of Fire, The God of Destruction and Regrowth."
This couldn't have escalated more quickly. Issei thought, one second he was jacking off, the next he was raised to the rank of God. I mean seriously. What the fuck? Who just raises a damn 14 year old to godhood!?
In the end Issei couldn't do more than eat and drink from the massive amounts of meat and mead on the tables, this was Valhalla so even the smallest of occasions was treated as a feast, just imagine what would happened when someone was raised to the rank of godhood after being the first one initiated in hundred of years. As you would expect it would be monumental. And that would be the reason Issei it right now standing awkwardly sipping on a horn of mead.
A large majority of the beings in the golden hall, had blonde hair, he noticed, and that is why when his eyes caught a glimpse of silver his attention was imidately drawn to it. There he saw a girl, she looked barely older than him, but judging by her more refined facial features he guessed that she may indeed be olden than him.
Before he knew it he was drawn to the young woman and in no time stood in front of her. Great job, Issei, now what? He wasn't really sure how to start a conversation with the girl, hell he wasn't even sure why he was in front of her trying to talk to her. "Hey, is it always like this around here?" Fantastic, might as well have asked her about the weather you idiot.
"Well considering this is Valhalla I would be inclined to say yes, but this is a special occasion. You be the judge." The young woman spoke without lifting her eyes from her cup of mead. When she finally saw him her eyes widened. "Oh. Forgive me, I did not know it was you Prince."
"Prince?" I know I'm supposed to be the spiritual son of that guy but seriously I'm just a 14 year old, last week my only concern was what porn I should jack off to. Indeed Issei was not yet used to the way everyone around him treated him, but who could blame him, he was after all thrown into this world and told that from now on he'll be recognized as a God. Perhaps for any other delusional 14 year old this might have been excited at the prospect of being a literal God but Issei could only think about what it all meant in the end.
Would he be able to see his parents? Would he die? Was he immortal? What the hell did becoming a God even mean? Would he start to glow and become full of wisdom? Would he have a halo?
"You are the Prince of the Fire Giants are you not? You are also a God in the making. It would be rude to call anything that didn't imply total respect." The girl said as she drank from her cup.
"Honestly I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all. I'm still a brat in the eyes of many. I'd also thought that becoming a God would make me feel, different somehow, but honestly all I can do is shake, my fingers also feel numb and the hairs on my body have yet to stand down... And please call me Issei." The girl smiled and moved her cup until it hit Issei's own.
"Rossweisse, it's nice to meet you Issei-kun." Issei honestly didn't know what to think, all this time his interactions with girls had been lacking and the small ones he did usually ended with them looking at him in contempt. The smile she gave was also positively stunning, so much so that I found myself blushing at the beautiful sight before me.
"Is something wrong? Your face is red, have you perhaps drunk too much?" I shake my head and reply with my honest feelings at the time without thinking.
"No it's just that your smile was so beautiful." Immediately all the heat in my face goes away as I realize what I said. I actually said that out loud!
The awkward silence between us is broken when suddenly the warriors around us whistle and cheer apparently having somehow heard our conversation. I look at Rossweisse and see that she too is a very bright shade of red.
"S-Sorry. I-I said that without thinking." I say trying to dissipate any misunderstandings.
"So you didn't mean it? Huh, I guess men really are the same." Before I can say anything else Rossweisse leaves and I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth. Flawless execution as always, Romeo.
A servant had informed Issei that a room was prepared for him and he would spend the night in Asgard, just to be sure that his parents wouldn't come home just to find the house empty Issei checked the weather and saw that while the snowfall had let down, the temperature was still well below zero so they wouldn't be coming any time soon.
Feeling exhausted he went to the room prepared for him and collapsed into the bed.