Chapter 14

A God Reborn

This is wrong, thought Rufus to himself. He stood before the enormous Water Mirror, hesitating. The moving parts surrounding it hummed loudly, mesmerizing any onlooker. Rufus recalled standing here once before with Arngrim and Alicia, preparing to save Brahms and the Dragon Orb before Hrist had appeared, asking for help.

Rufus took a step forward. It was just one look to make sure she was alright. It's not like I'll start doing this every day, he tried to convince himself. Just this one time won't hurt.

He concentrated his thoughts on the little town of Coriander. The water on the mirror swirled, and an image appeared inside of the mirror. Charred piles remained where homes once stood. A crying woman looked on while her husband sorted through a pile of rubble that must have once been their home.

His heart sank. No... Alicia... Coriander had burned? Why hadn't Silmeria come to tell him?

Rufus concentrated his thoughts on the Valkyrie. The image swirled and changed to show a dark room. Silmeria held a book in her hands, but appeared in shock. Other people were there with her. He vaguely recognized the room as Dipan castle's library. Rufus concentrated on the mirror, swinging the image to view her companions. Angrim was there with her. His heart leaped when the mirror revealed Alicia's presence there as well. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that she was alive and seemingly healthy. One more companion was there... Lezard.

Rufus balled his fists at the sight of the mage. What the hell is he doing there with you Silmeria? Why didn't you kill him? Why are you letting him so close to Alicia? He supposed that if Lezard were alive in Silmeria and Arngrim's company, there must be a good reason and he must not have harmed Alicia.

The mirror view swiveled to reveal the appearance of another person. A dark figure came into the room and removed his hood. Was that... Odin?

"Freya! Come quickly!" shouted Rufus.

Alicia's jaw dropped. Time seemed to stand still. Odin had been the last person they had expected to see in Dipan.

The former god laughed menacingly at the four dumbfounded travelers. "Did you honestly not realize who it was who attacked your village? I merely meant to send you a message that you could not continue to live in peace."

Silmeria bit her lip. "I had a feeling, but I prayed it wasn't true."

"How dare you speak in my presence, traitorous Valkyrie!" He thrust his hand toward her. "Frigid Damsel!"

The spell caught Silmeria off guard. An ethereal-looking woman appeared and swirled around Silmeria, slapping her with her ghostly pale arms. The spell froze her like an ice statue. Odin lunged forward and grabbed Lezard by the throat. The mage threw his own hands up and tried in vain to pry the hands off of his neck. He let out a strangled cry as Odin's grip tightened. "I will have my revenge on you, treacherous human!"

Alicia snapped out of her shock and drew her sword. "Drop him!" she ordered.

Odin stole a sideways glance at her. "You would defend this fiendish man? After everything he did?" Alicia gave a curt nod as a response. Odin growled. "If you do not side with the gods, then you are a heretic!" The former god lifted the struggling Lezard off of the floor and threw him to the side like a rag doll.

"You are no longer a god," retorted Arngrim, pulling out his own blade.

"Not yet, but I will be once again. You would do well to remember that." Odin thrust his hand out again. "Fire storm!" Arngrim flew into the air and landed on the stone floor with a sickening thud.

"Dampen magic!" wheezed Lezard grabbing his throat. The spell rendered Odin's magic useless. "Reincarnated as a magic user," gasped Lezard, unsteadily rising to his feet. "How ironic."

"You may have silenced me, but I am not unarmed." A blade materialized in Odin's hands. "This magician is also a skilled swordsman." He raised the blade over his head and lunged at Alicia, intent on slicing deep into her fair skin.

Alicia effectively blocked the attack by raising her sword to meet Odin's. She threw him off and jumped backwards, preparing to retaliate. Again, Odin thrust his blade forward with murderous intent. Their blades clashed in a loud clang of steel. Alicia threw him off again, letting out a loud battle cry. Odin lunged forward again, but Alicia skillfully parried the attack and forced him backwards. The princess thrust her blade at Odin's hand, but he was too quick, and blocked her attack with his blade. The two threw a few more attacks at each other, with Alicia parrying each attack from Odin, and the latter managed to keep himself protected from harm. Although she clearly held the upper hand in swordsmanship, he was defending himself with more skill than she had anticipated. Odin jumped up onto a table. He gave her a smug smile. "I have the high ground now, human."

Arngrim sat up, holding his head. "Ouch," he muttered. He refocused his vision and saw the battle scene unfolding before him. Not wanting to be left out, the berserker quickly rose to his feet raising his blade in preparation to strike. Arngrim brought down his blade heavily as Odin thrust forward to deliver another attack. He missed the body, but cleaved the table in two, knocking Odin backward. Alicia didn't miss a beat. She shoved her blade just below Odin's neck as he lay on the floor.

"Normalize!" coughed out Lezard. The ice casing around Silmeria's body shattered, allowing her to draw her blade. She jumped over a chair to join Alicia, shoving her own blade under Odin's chin next to her partner's.

"You lose," stated Arngrim as he stuck his own blade into the floor next to Odin's face.

Odin let out the laugh of a maniac. "I think not. You may have won this battle, but I assure you that I will exact my revenge upon you. The gods will know that I am still here and that I do not take kindly to their treason!" The magician threw up a Tome of Godspeed. It exploded above him, shrouding him in smoke. The smoke filled Alicia's lungs, and she began to cough violently, which forced her to tear her eyes away from Odin. Arngrim waved a bulky arm around, trying to clear the smoke away from his face. Silmeria covered her own nose and mouth so that the smoke would not cause her to have a coughing fit. Lezard threw his cape over his head. Several tense moments passed while Silmeria and Arngrim attempted to wade through the smoke to find Odin's location. Alicia fell to the ground as her coughing fit began to subside.

Slowly, the smoke began to dissipate. When it cleared enough that they could see, Odin was gone.

"Odin... what are you plotting this time?" Silmeria shook her head.

Freya observed the battle with wide-eyes. Odin was alive and had his memories! The chance to see Odin again had nearly been enough to send her dancing through Valhalla – but of course, such an act was more suited to Frei, and most of the Aesir would think she had gone mad if they saw her behave in such a giddy manner.

Her happiness had been short-lived. When it became apparent that he intended to hurt the humans and the Valkyrie, she knew something was wrong. He had accused Silmeria of being a traitor and insinuated that other gods had committed treason. She had to admire the skill in which Alicia fought Odin, but secretly Freya was glad that he had escaped before the girl harmed him.

"She always did have the spirit of a Valkyrie," commented Freya. "It seems her swordsmanship skills have also carried over into this life."

Rufus bit his lip, but nodded in agreement. "Odin claims the gods committed treason. It must be because they recognize me as the king."

"And that we willingly serve you," added Freya. "Does it surprise you that he makes such claims? Odin ruled this world for a great deal of time. To learn that the gods have accepted you probably enrages him. We gods are not incapable of being arrogant."

"Do you think he will come here?" inquired Rufus nervously.

Secretly, she hoped he would. That desire made her angry at herself. Rufus has done good things. I do not wish for Odin to usurp him. But still... it would be nice to see him again. "Odin is now human. He seems rather skilled and somewhat powerful by human standards. However, he could not hope to challenge any god, let alone you, with the power he possesses at the moment. Even if he somehow managed to travel to Asgard, he would not be difficult to deal with alone."

Rufus was less than convinced. "We're going to have to keep an eye on things now. If he gains power... Well, it won't be the first time a human challenged a god and won. First Lezard, then Odin. Never a dull moment, huh?"

Freya nodded. He was right. Asgard could see problems in the near future. She had to help find a way to keep the peace. She had to make sure Odin didn't manage to get himself killed. "We can watch his actions through the mirror. It will give us insight as to what he is planning."

Rufus furrowed his brow and pinched at his face as if to wipe away an imaginary piece of fuzz from under his nose. "I can't do it. I can't watch this mirror."

"That's absurd. There is nothing you cannot do."

"Fine, then I won't. If I start watching her, I'll become a slave to this thing. Besides, it feels wrong to watch the battles and not be a part of them. No… Freya, I'm afraid I'll have to pawn off this responsibility on you."

He didn't wait for her reply but surrounded himself with ether just as she was preparing to protest. The goddess sighed when his image disappeared from her sight. Even gods seemed to lack the foresight that three strong players from the past would remember everything.

A/N: I'm so glad that so many of you seem to be enjoying my story! I apologize for my slowness in updating, but I do promise to finish this story!

Adriannu255- Thanks for your review! You bring up a very interesting point about Lenneth, and I'm curious about how she would deal with not being able to see Lucian as well. Lenneth does make an appearance in this story, but you have given me something to think about. :)