And thus, the journey has begun.
A long winding arduous task of extraordinary difficulty where Six will be pushed to the absolute limit.
Now just a reminder, this is BASED, IT IS BASED off the God Of War storyline of 2018 or moreover it is borrowing a great many deal of elements, plot points and so on from the game and will be adapted to fit into the context of this story. I've already said this in previous notes leading up to this arc and will say it once more here. And because it's an adaptation I'm also using the mythology from the real world to further construct this version of the Norse Pantheon that exists within this story. So expect a blend of many things even a few of my own interpretations to add on to the mythology.
And one last final time in big bold letters. NO KRATOS OR ATREUS CAUSE THAT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE WITHIN WHAT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. Not a hard thing to figure out guys, come on, the Greek gods are still alive after all.
Other than that, let's get started.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day
Noble Justice Chapter 39: To Midgard… which is still on Earth.
Spartan B312's HQ February 9th 2011 22:00
His armor was off at the moment, Dot and Cortana taking and working with Eager Ed to ready it in its entirety with all of the most recent upgrades all three artificial beings had been working on.
In the meantime, Nathan stood before a layout of every weapon within his inventory with each gun, rocket launcher, plasma based weaponry and experimental Forerunner tech. Every gun had half a dozen ammo cartridges lined up beside the weapon it was designed for.
He knew this wouldn't be enough. It was obvious for Six to tell.
Like Chief Mendez and Ambrose told all Spartan-III's a thousand times over, trust in your gut.
And right now his gut was telling him that he would need everything in his arsenal at his disposal for this coming trek into the Norse world. He knew it wouldn't be a simple "mission". This will be a journey.
"My, my. You have quite the arsenal there."
Six blinked and turned to see none other than Sindri of the Huldra brothers standing beside him, admiring the variety of his armory laid out before them.
After splitting from the others earlier today from Central park, Sindri had returned back with Six and was apparently working on a method of assisting the Spartan on traversing through the nine realms.
His brother Brok had already gone off ahead in preparation for his arrival.
"Oh, by the way…" Sindri rummaged through a bag he had slung over his shoulder. "I've finished it at long last."
Sindri held up a glowing white rock with various runes etched onto it.
"This will help in getting you to the Lake of Nine and Tyr's Temple in Midgard. Just hold it up in front of you and the Rune that glows will point you in the right direction." Sindri explained. "When you arrive, use the top Rune on the stone to give you passage way into Midgard."
"But we are on Midgard." Six said in slight confusion. "Or Earth at least."
"Ah, right, forgot about that part." Sindri said apologetically. "What I meant was the part of Midgard that had remained linked to the other nine realms. A pocket realm on Earth you could say. Probably one of the last known viable ways for any in the nine realms to gain entryway into this world."
Six only nodded in acceptance, not really trying to figure out the magic or the science behind it. Maybe Constantine or his two AI companions could explain it better… or Donna, she probably understands it better.
Taking the Rune stone out of the hand of Sindri, he inspected the rock on all sides. Noting the Runes as well as the near weightlessness of the stone along with the pristine condition of the tool, Nathan couldn't deny that Sindri made this with great care and effort.
"Thank you, Sindri." Six said, placing the stone down upon the table before him.
"Don't thank me just yet." Sindri said dismissively though the appreciation was obvious to see. "Just wait until you get our workshop at Tyr's temple! My brother and I will whip you something up real special and help you out on your journey."
Six nodded again when he remembered something important that needed to be brought up.
"I'm more than likely not going alone." Six said to the dwarf. "I have a feeling I'll be joined by some companions for this… quest."
"More willing customers for us then." Sindri said understandingly and excitedly. "My brother and I always love a diverse group of people to work with. Gives us more to do. I take it your lovely Amazon maiden will be joining you?"
Six couldn't help but snort at the thought of calling Donna a maiden as she is the farthest girl from such a thing.
"Yeah, Wonder Girl will definitely be coming with me." Six confirmed.
"Excellent." Sindri clapped his hands together. "I have so many way to help the both of you. You don't know how much this means to us that you're willing to help us."
"Well that's the duty of a hero!"
Six found a synthetic arm around his shoulder with a head resting on his arm.
"My Spartan here could deny it all he wants, but he's a hero now whether he likes it or not!" Dot said chipperly, grin stretching from ear to ear. "It's not easy for a Spartan to be bashful but Six here is the exception."
"Maybe he could teach my old caveman a few lessons in decompressing when not on a mission." Cortana said wittily, still with Eager Ed as the two added the finishing touches to B312's armor.
"You two… are incorrigible." Nathan dryly stated, mentally calling upon his armor.
"Hey~!" Cortana whined aloud. "We weren't finished with that yet"
"Cry me a river." Six shot back. "And I know you two can finish up along the way."
Cortana only puffed out her cheeks. "You are so rude, Six. Never take a work of art from a craftsman that's incomplete."
Sindri chuckled heartily at that comment. "I must say, Spartan that I will have to concur with the lady Cortana in that regard."
Six only rolled his eyes beneath his helmet, bringing up his HUD to look over the most recent upgrades to his armor.
On the bottom left corner Six noticed a transparent circle with a katana in the center. Quirking a brow, Nathan glanced over to the two pedestals where he kept his magic based weapons on display.
Curious now, Six left the group of makers as they had engaged in a light hearted conversation momentarily. He went up to his katana and picked it up.
Immediately, his armor did a scan of the sword and right above his hand appeared an orange band that circle around the grip of the blade. The circle travelled upwards to the very tip of the sword then returned back to Six's hand, passing it to the base.
The sword suddenly had a bluish-white aura surround it entirely before it vanished entirely from Six's hand.
Blinking, a small hum caught his attention. On the bottom left corner the transparent circle was now fully colorized a solid light teal with the outline of his katana present in the center..
"Hey, you got to use one of our newest features." Dot brightly said from where she stood with the others when she puffed out her cheeks and pouted. "MOU~ But Cortana and I wanted to give you a showcase."
"Lay off the Anime, Dot." Nathan said for what he felt was the nine thousandth time already.
"Never." Dot and Cortana declared in triumph, knowing that Six would do nothing in stopping their eternal love of Manga and Anime.
The Spartan only let out a sigh, turning to his gigantic sword that now had a name to it.
Dragonslayer.
Grabbing the hilt, Six swung the sword around and attached it to his back.
Suddenly, alarms in the base began blaring, signifying something was wrong.
Cortana was the first to respond to the alarms.
"Six, we've got enemy contacts outside the house." Cortana informed the Spartan. "Looks like… Draugr."
"Draugr?" Sindri repeated in slight disbelief. "Here? How can that be?"
"How are we supposed to know that, they're from your world." Dot shot back.
"There's something else." Cortana said warily, bringing up video feed of outside the cabin.
There, in front of their home, Draugr were skulking about with some clearly making their ways towards the front of the house.
But what truly caught their attention was the literal floating black void behind them that fluctuated in shape and size.
"What is that supposed to be?" Six asked aloud.
"I'm not sure." Dot said, furrowing her brows as she began a scan of the strange void. "I'm picking up some really weird energy readings from that thing."
"I don't believe it." Sindri spoke up slightly stunned and nervous. "A realm tear? Here? What is going on back home to cause this?"
"You know what that is?" Cortana inquired.
"Indeed I do." Sindri said gravely. "That is a realm tear, basically a literal tear in the fabric of space and reality. It defies the laws of physics but it is magical and unpredictable in nature."
"A tear in the fabric of reality?" Dot grimaced. "Why do I feel an oncoming binary headache of ones and zeroes?"
Six silently regarded the Realm Tear for several seconds. "How does one close a realm tear?"
"They usually stitch themselves up." Sindri explained. "Very few are needed to be personally closed. And judging by this one since Draugr passed through it…"
"Someone's gonna need to personally close it." Cortana finished with an expectant sigh. "Mainly one who knows how to fight."
"Then I shall not allow such a thing without my help." Sindri declared, reaching behind him to pull out a small black pouch no larger than golf ball. Pulling off the knot keeping the sac closed, Sindri poured out the contents of the bag onto his other hand.
It was a crystalline blue dust that, rather than simply falling to the ground, attached itself around Sindri's gloved hand and glowed with power.
"You right arm, if you would please." Sindri said politely, raising his glowing hand.
Curious, Six held out said arm and Sindri scrunched up his face in concentration before holding out the palm of his hand below his lips. Letting out a quick blow of air, the blue particles flew off the dwarfs hand and floated over to Six's. The dust gently drifted down and soon covered Nathan's hand.
"With this enchantment, you can effectively shove your hand through a realm tear and seal it off entirely with no harm done to your body whatsoever." Sindri said, proud of his work.
"Wait, what?" Dot said, bewildered by such a strange "quick fix". "It can't be that simple, can it?"
"Not the time to ask too many questions." Six stated, moving to leave his home and confront the Draugr outside.
He would make quick work of them.
After several seconds of walking through his base and his house, Six now stood before the Draugr who had seen the Spartan exit his home and faced him.
They all had similar looks to those he had encountered back in Central Park yet there were several that were distinctly different from the rest.
Several of these Draugr held spears rather than the typical broadsword or axe. But above all else were the glowing molten arms, a viscous liquid dripping down from the fingertips.
"They're new." Dot said, appearing in the top left corner of Six's HUD along with Cortana. "What kind of Draugr are they supposed to be?"
Her answer came in the form of one of the Draugr slacking its arm down before flinging a molten core right at Six.
The Spartan side stepped the projectile with the other Draugr now rushing in to attack.
"So they can fling balls of fire, huh?" Cortana mused. "Interesting. We'll keep an eye on your six, Six."
"That's what you're here for." Six remarked, moving to engage the undead. "And that was a horrible pun, Cortana. You could do better."
Ignoring Cortana's joking counter, Six grabbed his oversized hunk of metal from his back and swung down hard. The Draugr in front of him was quite literally split in half.
The rest of the Draugr let out guttural hisses and snarls of challenge, all now running towards Six with their weapons raised. Several stayed behind, lobbing a set of projectiles at the Spartan.
Six switched out his weapon, using his slip-space storage built into his armor to bring out his Katana.
Quickly parrying a sword swinging down at him to his right, Six lunged forward and tackled a Draugr down. One quick tumble got him on top of the undead with his knee pressing down to its chest and his other foot holding down the Draugr's hand holding its sword. With a quick back gripped slice, the Draugr was decapitated.
"On your 6, Six." Cortana shouted out.
Nathan simply angled his body down and in a more diagonal fashion with several swords and axes coming down only to bounce off from the large Dragonslayer on his back.
Spinning around, Six clashed his blade with two other Draugr who growled in defiance at his actions.
Thinking fast, Six mentally called upon his weapon and changed its shape.
Both Draugr were momentarily blinded which gave Six the chance to quite literally blast them away via his demon slaying Super Shotgun.
The shot had the desired effect of riddling both Draugr full of holes to the point where they actually fell apart into pieces due to the damage sustained.
Six took a moment to glance down at his shotgun and saw that the glowing runes embedded into the wooden grip weren't nearly as radiant as they were back in hell. Looks like the shotgun, while effective, did not retain the ability to literally reload itself upon killing any creature.
So these weren't demons, just undead warriors. Honestly, what's the difference sometimes?
Didn't matter, Six came prepared.
He quickly reloaded the specially made shotgun shells made for this weapons. Sliding the barrels in, he saw the runes on the gun glowed blood red with the energy seeping into the shells.
Snapping the gun back into place, Six shoved the barrel of the gun right into a Draugr's mouth and fired. The head blew apart entirely.
"God, what is with you and blowing guys heads up with that shotgun." Cortana asked aloud.
Six didn't respond, turning to face the remaining Draugr who were now circling him intently.
"Wait, what?" Dot said in surprise. "Since when could they do that?"
"Interesting." Cortana mused aloud. "They're not charging in like a bunch of mindless animals."
"Undead warriors who refused the call to Valhalla." Dot recalled the description given to these beings by Brok. "So some of their warrior instincts and battle awareness remain intact."
Six meanwhile changed up his weapon again, back to Dragonslayer.
Suddenly, something shifted within several of the Draugr including one of those that fire projectiles.
They hunched over with guttural sounds coming out from them, their bodies spasming and twitching violently. A black-purplish aura began to exude from their bodies with their eyes glowing the same color.
"What the hell did they just do?" Dot asked in total confusion.
The changed Draugr then all ran forward though this time there was a clear and easily noticeable increase in their movements and speed.
Six reacted in time, jumping back while swinging his sword to deflect the many axes and blades directed at him. He actually grunted somewhat as he parried half a dozen at the same time.
"Whoa, did they just power themselves up?!" Dot said eyes wide in slight amazement.
"Ok, that's a first." Cortana said more warily now when her warning alarms went off. "On your right Six!"
Six turned to see a much larger and deadlier molten ball flying right towards him. He angled his body tom make the ball fly right by him.
What he didn't expect was the ball to suddenly explode, making him stumble back. His shields dropped 20 percent and then continued dropping as he noticed a kind of burning ash coat the area that took the brunt of the explosion before fading away.
"Alright, didn't know that could happen." Dot said. "That's a lot of bad."
Six narrowed his eyes, now tensing himself up. Raising his broadsword up to rest upon his shoulders, Six slid his feet apart and was now crouching slightly with the remaining Draugr doing the same.
Silence now permeated the air, with a light flurry of snow now beginning to fall.
Letting out a steady breath, the crunching of snow and the surge of movement from the enemies made Six grip his sword tightly.
Once they were within range, Six went on the attack.
Dragonslayer sailed through the air horizontally, completely shattering the Draugr that had their weapons up to defend themselves before slicing through them like butter. The powered up Draugr on the other hand jumped away, letting out growls of fury.
More fiery projectiles were thrown at him though he swatted them aside with his broadsword.
Gripping Dragonslayer with both hands, Six jumped forward with an increase in speed and slammed his blade down on an unprepared Draugr killing it in one go. Now surrounded by half a dozen Draugr, Six saw his shields flare up as a few of the Draugr managed to get some good nicks in.
They were withering down his shields at an alarming rate, their weapons glowing that similar fiery ash that their Projectile kin had on their arms.
'Definitely magically powered.' Six internally mused, using his slip-space storage to bring out a shotgun for his left hand.
With a quick pump, he tossed the gun in the air and grabbed it by the handle and fired at a trio of nearby Draugr. The bullets damaged and stunned the undead foes.
Clenching his teeth, he swung Dragonslayer at full force with his right arm and utterly annihilated the three targeted Draugr, shattering them with the force of his attack rather than simply cutting through them.
Feeling his heartrate increase by a few ticks as well as the world around him, Six entered Spartan Time.
With his eyes, he made mental targets, calculating the distance of each remaining Draugr along with their stances and weapons at hand. There were still the remaining long range Draugr that remained defensively behind their more close quartered counterparts.
That wouldn't matter.
They would be dead within seconds.
Feeling his entire body tensed with anticipation, Six unleashed a flurry of swings, stabs and strikes.
He felt a strange sensation emanating from the sword as well as his own being. It was beckoning to him. Was that a voice? Or… a feeling?
Regardless, these Draugr needed to die and they were going to die now.
Lip twitching upwards for a brief moment, Noble Six laid waste to the rest of the Draugr. They were either cut in half, decapitated, shattered upon impact by Dragonslayer or struck with such force they essentially died… again.
Exhaling calmly, Six glanced around to examine his handiwork. The remains of the Draugr burned away into ash, leaving nothing behind.
"That is incredibly convenient." Dot remarked. "No need for clean up or any of that sort."
Six heard the crunching of snow and turned back to his home to see Sindri come out of the cabin.
"You certainly made quick work of those Draugr." Sindri praised, approaching the realm tear. "Though seeing this doesn't really alleviate my concerns."
"So…" Cortana's tiny form appeared on the right of Six's helmet with Dot on the left. "Explain to us then Sindri, how exactly do these realm tears work?"
"Well, to be frank with you all, it's somewhat complicated as it is not." Sindri explained, stroking his beard as now both he and Six stood before the Realm Tear. "I guess the best way that I could describe it is if I start somewhat at the beginning." Placing his hands on his hips in a contemplative manner, Sindri recounted the tale of the formation of the nine realms.
"When Odin slay Ymir, the first Giant, he inadvertently sparked the formation of the nine realms. Asgard, Midgard, Vanaheim, Nidavellir and so on." Sindri eyed the Realm Tear. "Odin and many of the other races of the nine worlds recognized immediately the dangers of having so many realms with different laws and functions existing and overlapping one another at the same time in their total form even though all nine required one another to exist and maintain themselves. So Yggdrasil was crafted together, one of the rare few times that all nine realms worked together for something that benefited all. It was completed shortly thereafter and order was made throughout all of our lands. Though a few hiccups naturally came at first with difficulty in traversing from one realm to another as well as the dangers of using branches of the world tree for travel without a destination in mind."
"So where do these Realm Tears come into play then?" Dot inquired, with both her and Cortana having their holographic forms hovering before said Tear.
"Yeah, you said that they were literal tears in the fabric of space and reality." Cortana recalled, analyzing the energy make-up of the tear. She didn't liked the momentary spike in energy it had just now.
"Hmmm." Sindri delved deep into his memories for this one. "Though I have seen a great deal of our peoples history, I'm no Mimir in this regard. These ruptures, so to speak, began at the start of the sundering of the realms. Asgard, particularly Odin's thirst for conquest, power, control and above all else knowledge plunged all nine realms into a great war that seemed to have no end in sight. The chaos and reckless use of Yggdrasil caused so many anomalies and thus began Realm tears. Many of my kin and others like the giants of Jotunheim had attempted to study and learn of these Realm Tears but we learned nothing. Some tears stitched themselves up overtime. Others had to be closed manually with certain objects actually being pulled from the tears. We think they were objects that may have been caught up in the war as there were also warriors and others lost to the conflicts popping up through the tears."
"This is all very confusing." Dot said with a strained expression.
Sindri chuckled. "I hear ya. We kinda stopped trying to make sense of it all cause other more pressing concerns arose. Like the constant warmongering of the Aesir and the further splintering of the realms. Near extinction and total collapse of it all, well… a few tears in the fabric of space felt inconsequential in comparison to the madness brought on by the gods."
They were silent, the only sound being the ambient warble of the Realm Tear.
"Whelp." Sindri hopped up, his arms swaying back and forth. "Guess there's no time like the present to test out your new enchantment."
Dot and Cortana couldn't help but give Sindri a dry look while Six held up hand, with the blue crystalline glowing around his hand. Clenching his hand, he stepped forth and shoved his arm all the way into the void in space before feeling something from within. Grasping it, Six pulled out a strange glowing metal from the Realm Tear which promptly shrank away from existence as if it were never there in the first place.
Six now held a bar of what could be described as solid gold. But he knew it wasn't. it was glowing and radiating a mystical energy that quite literally made the air around it way. And the hints of platinum and silver around it were also a dead giveaway.
"By Odin's beard!" Sindri exclaimed. "What a lucky find! Perfect Asgardian Steel!"
Tilting his head at the dwarf's excited reaction he held it out to him which readily took from his hand.
"Oh, My brother and I could make so much from this one slab." Sindri said reverently, brainstorming the many projects in mind now. "I haven't seen Asgardian steel in such a long time." Sindri looked up to Six with a grateful smile. "Thank you for this. Looks like coming out to the rest of the world for help is already paying in dividends!"
"Glad to see we could help." Cortana chuckled, expression then changing into one of contemplation. "Though there is one thing now that's kinda bothering me."
"What is it?" Sindri asked.
"These Realm Tears…" Cortana glanced over to where the one they just closed was. "I one appeared here of all places… doesn't that mean there are other places that they may spring up in? Not a very wise decision in up and just leaving them out across the world."
"Good point." Sindri agreed. "It would be extremely selfish on our part for us to just go about solving our problems, not caring for the one's we replace in our wake."
"Oh, then I have just the group of guys who can help us out in that regard." Dot announced happily.
Scene Cut
"I am certainly grateful of the warning my friends." Doctor Broom of the BPRD said through their video-chat. "This does help in explaining these unusual anomalies we've been picking up across the globe now. Still… to think it is Ragnarok."
"We're just glad we have you guys to rely on." Dot said with a beaming grin. "This takes a great deal of stress of our backs while we are gone. Thank you so much, Broom."
"Nonsense my dear Dot." Broom waved off. "It's part of our job and I'm always ready to help a friend. Besides, you bringing this to us gives my boy something to do. He has been growing restless you know? One can only read books, target practice and drink alcohol for so long."
"Glad to hear that." Six wryly stated. "But thank you once more, Professor. Be sure to tell Constantine, will you?"
"Of course my friend." Broom promised. "Best of luck on your endeavors Spartan."
The video link blinked out.
"So, we're all set then?" Sindri asked. "Ready to head out?"
Six was silent, running through many thoughts internally until…
"There is one last thing we need to do." Six said firmly.
February 10th 2011, Norway.
Six stood before a thick, fog enveloped forest somewhere in the various mountainous regions of Norway.
Armored and stocked up for the coming journey, Six glanced behind him to see the small assembled team of Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Artemis.
"Still kinda find it weird that you asked me and Artemis of all people to come along with ya, Nate." Wally remarked, scratching the back of his head.
"I kinda feel out of my depth here to be honest." Artemis freely admitted.
"You do realize that it was the shortest straw that filled in the fourth spot, right Arty?" Donna reminded.
"Yeah, so I literally got the short end of the stick." Artemis deadpanned making her boyfriend snort, throwing his arm around her shoulder.
"You got nothing to worry about babe." Wally reassured her. "The five of us will kick all sorts of ass together with no problem."
"Though this forest doesn't exactly strike me with confidence." Kaldur said aloud, eyeing the tall trees warily.
"That's what Sindri gave me this for." Six said, holding up the rune stone that Dot and Cortana simply labeled as 'Locator'.
"So how exactly does it work then?" Donna inquired, leaning in a bit to examine the rock.
"I guess we just gotta… hold it out in front of us." Dot said though she felt underwhelmed by such instruction.
"Really?" Wally couldn't help but snatch the stone from Six's hand to do just that. "Just hold it out? What is it supposed… to… glow…?"
"Huh." Artemis said from beside Wally. "Looks like it's as simple as that."
"Yeah, now I'd rather give it back to you." Wally admitted without a hint of shame, holding out the stone for Six to take back.
"Why?" Cortana asked.
"A. It's technically Nate's mission thanks to the hobbits from down under come to him. B. He's tougher than me. C. It was made for him. D. In the likely eventual case of encountering enemies, they'll probably gun for Six." Kid Flash listed down in quick succession.
The others blinked at his clear and concise response, with Donna stepping closer to Six while giving her friend and comrade an annoyed glare.
"I don't like you throwing my boyfriend under the bus like that, Wally." Donna said a bit protectively.
"It's probably gonna happen." Six admitted nonchalantly, shrugging at his girlfriends annoyed frown. "I've long made peace with the fact that at least 50 to 60 percent of things I encounter will try to kill me."
Wonder Girl only sighed in defeat. "Sometimes, I hate the fact that you have that mentality."
Kaldur in the meantime was observing the forest, narrowing his eyes while grasping the handles of his primary weapons.
"You alright there, Kaldur?"
Kaldur glanced over to see Dot's small avatar form floating beside him.
"Just a lot on my mind you could say." Kaldur said, looking back to the forest. "But honestly, this forest doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence."
"Yeah can't deny that." Dot said whimsically. "This forest has the whole beware and ominous feel patented down to a tee."
"Got that right." Artemis said, grimacing and shivering from the sudden wind that rolled out from the forest.
"We're burning daylight." Six cut off any further conversation. "Let's get going."
Without further ado, the group of five began their trek through the foreboding forest with their guard up and formation close.
"God, can this place get any creepier." Artemis said, feeling really uncomfortable being in this environment.
"Least the sun is visible… barely." Wally idly said, looking up to said star in the sky.
"Where exactly is this 'Lake of Nine' that the dwarves spoke of?" Kaldur asked aloud.
"When they spoke of the nine realms, they told us both that the portion of Midgard that allows access to the nine realms rest upon one of the branches of Yggdrasil, the World Tree." Cortana said, her full body forming to "walk" alongside them all. "So really, we can't pinpoint the location other than this stone pointing the way."
"The air here is old." Donna noted, hand trailing over a white tree. "As old as my own people and our gods."
"Must be weird for ya being in another place with different gods, Donna." Artemis said, walking beside her.
"I kind of find it hard not to." Donna admitted. "For much of my life, I had been confined to the island of Themyscira, hearing only farfetched tales of gods outside our domain. Though these Norse Gods… they are the most common spoken amongst my people. The Valkyries, Thor, Odin, Freya. All names that my sisters and I know of. Thor especially is a bit of an odd contention amongst the Amazons as he too is a God of Thunder."
"Soooo, is there a rivalry amongst thunder gods?" Wally asked aloud. "Cause there's also Raiden or Raijin, as he's known over in Japan."
"I…" Donna paused, trying to see if she knows the name. "Think I know whom you speak of. I fear that my knowledge on the gods in the east are greatly limited. My gods have a decent amount of knowledge of other neighboring deities like the ones here, the Egyptians, somewhat the Celts and a bit of the Slavic pagan gods. Yet this world is vast."
"Indeed." Aqualad nodded. "There are the gods of the Aztecs and Mayans, the Natives of America, Hindu gods and the Taoist pantheon."
"I guess it's easy to assume that they are all real as well then?" Dot surmised.
"More than likely in this universe, Dot." Six plainly stated.
"Are we gonna have to encounter them to?" Cortana asked, somewhat interested and anxious at the thought of such things. "Because, not gonna lie, I would love to learn from the mouth of the gods themselves. I bet we could learn a lot from them."
"Therein lies the problem, Cortana." Six said, holding his hand up for the group to stop momentarily while the stone changed direction. "They could teach us and they could show us knowledge that only they would know. But mythology like reality is seldom ever that pretty. Look no further than the Greeks for that one."
"Hey!" A half-hearted cry from Donna though she knew this to be true. The Gods she knew weren't exactly the friendliest nor did they have the best reputation.
The group continued on with their walk, going deeper into the forest. They remained wary, being somewhat jumpy at the sound of anything that was close in their proximity until…
"Oh, it's snowing." Wally randomly said, holding out his hand for snowflakes to lazily drift on down to his palm. "And here I forgot to bring my Led Zeppelin collection."
"Huh?" Artemis said in confusion.
"Old LZ had a lot of songs based on Norse Mythology." Wall quickly explained, grabbing some snow off the ground to make a ball. "Immigrant song being their-"
"WALLY!"
Kid Flash snapped up to look at his girlfriend who held a look of surprise and fear in her eyes while reaching for her arrows.
From his perspective, everything slowed down with his eyes trailing over to the others who were also pulling out their own weapons.
Spinning around, Wally's clenched his teeth and bent his head back to the point where his feet gave out from the odd angel and he fell back. Thankfully, the jagged sword that was aimed for his head sailed through empty air before getting embedded into a nearby tree.
Kid Flash got a good look at his attacker and found menacing figure that looked as though he were made of ice with an icy blue body.
Feeling his power surge up and course through him, Wally didn't hesitate in jumping to his feet and shoving his shoulder into the chest of his attacker in the literal blink of an eye.
The blue humanoid fell back, crashing to the ground. It let out a glass-like cry of anger and slight pain. Then, from all around them, more of these blue humanoids began popping up from seemingly nowhere with the fog and trees serving as cloaks and hiding spots.
"The hell are these guy's supposed to be?" Kid Flash asked, zipping back to his friends who now stood in a circle. They were surrounded by at least two dozen of these humanoid who had weapons drawn against them.
"Draugr?" Aqualad asked Wonder Girl and Six specifically, holding up Hard Water constructed blades. "The one's you fought back in Central Park?"
"No." Wonder Girl stated, twirling her blade. "These are different. Definitely something else entirely."
"Stand fast." Six instructed. "We don't know what these things are capable of."
The blue humanoids let out shrieks of challenge and malice. The team then heard the sound of heavier footsteps trudging through the snow covered ground.
Several of these new enemies stood aside to make a small path for a larger figure coming through the fog.
This newcomer wielded a giant broadsword with frost and ice shards emanating from its weapon. The being was armored from head to toe, presenting itself as an imposing figure.
"That guy is trying too hard." Wally quipped.
The armored figure then proceeded to swing his sword around before gripping it with both hands while having the tip face the ground. A whirring, ringing sound began to reverberate the surrounding area. Six noticed air and snow being sucked into the armored beings broadsword.
Just as the tip pierced the ground, Six instinctively threw down an ovular device bursting forth a protective bubble shield that took the entirety of the icy shockwave their large enemy sent out.
"Go!" Six yelled out just as the shield dispelled.
Donna crouched down and jumped at full force towards the heavily armored being who met her sword with his own. Though he was pushed back, it managed to hold strong against Wonder Girls.
Shoving her back, being made a wide arching sword swing making Donna raise up her shield to defend herself. The broadswords strikes rattle her shield, making her arm vibrate but Donna resisted and swung back and parried the broadsword. Her Amazonian strength and speed were used to her advantage as she began to assault the armored sword fighter with strikes that targeted specific joints in the armor.
Striking its shoulders, elbows, knees and neck Wonder Girl weathered down the enemy before bashing its chest in with her shield. Seeing cracks begin to form on her opponents armor, Donna's sword arm tensed and she punched her shield. The shockwave shattered the armor, leaving it with no protection.
Wonder Girl clenched her teeth and jabbed her sword into the blue humanoids chest. It let out a cry of pain which turned into a choking gurgle as Donna pulled her blade upwards through its shoulder. The body began to split apart from the slash before it was sliced in two from one final downward strike from Donna.
The rest of the team in the meantime had moved to engage the rest of the blue humanoids. They tried to overwhelm the group with their numbers, yet it proved ineffective.
Kid Flash was shoving, tripping and punching every single one he had within his sights with Artemis firing explosive arrows at them and Aqualad hacking and slashing at them with electrified hydro sword.
Six used his double barreled shotgun, blasting away the blue enemies left and right while switching to his Kukri to stab the neck of one that attempted to sneak up on him from behind.
Backed into a tree, Donna whirled around and grasped the trunk. Ripping it out of the ground, the Amazon used it as an oversized bat to smack and slam a good portion of them away or into the ground.
At one moment as the tree was down, Wally used the downed tree as a ramp in order to deliver an ax kick onto an icy monster's head. Still with his momentum, he then sent a roundhouse kick to send the opponent into another one of it's compatriots.
Aqualad slammed his two hilts together and conjured forth a three pronged hard-water trident. He spun it around several times to deflect the swords that were directed at him before stabbing one of the ice humans in the gut. Hefting the body above his head, Kaldur flung the skewered humanoid into several of its allies making them all fall to the ground.
Wanting to use the environment to his advantage, the Atlantean focused his powers to connect with the frozen water around him. Mustering much of his concentration, he used the snow to quickly form stalactite spikes from the ground to impale a large number of them.
Using the new setting to his advantage, Wally bounced and ricocheted from the frozen spires to quickly strike the opponents in between each spike. Even grabbing hold of each occasional one to spin around it to kick the incoming ice creatures. Releasing from the spire, the speedster was sent flying into another monster before repeating the same process again.
Six was fending off three at once, now holding his katana. He was a blur to them, moving at such speeds that they could only attack randomly in hopes of trying to get a hit upon the Spartan. Nathan was biding his time, waiting for them to make a misstep as these new enemies weren't as dimwitted or instinctual as the Draugr were.
Then, he saw it.
All three of his opponents went for an overhead attack and Six swung back at such force that they were stunned by his counter attack.
With his free hand, Six grabbed Dragonslayer and swung it at full force at their midsections. The gargantuan blade tore right through them, a pile of body pieces falling before him.
With the resident archer, she reached into her quiver to fetch another arrow, but found that she quickly ran out of them due to the large horde. Gritting her teeth, Artemis decided to use her bow as an impromptu bow staff to smack the opponent's heads. Even having to leap onto some of them and use some techniques Black Canary taught her to whirl an occasional one in order to impale the creature. The rest had to be immobilized as best as she could with what she had on hand.
Thankfully, her boyfriend and team leader were nearby to assist her in eliminating the last of the icy creatures.
"Well that was fun." Wally said with a slightly tired voice.
"These were not Draugr." Dot said, watching the blue humanoids remains seemingly turn to ash and disappear.
"Are they supposed to do that?" Kaldur inquired, find the bodies just vanishing into nothingness a bit strange.
"Yeah, they kinda fade away like video game enemies." KF pointed out.
"Maybe we can ask Sindri and Brok when we see them again." Wonder Girl said, sheathing her sword.
"Not to mention if they can make me some arrows." Artemis suggested, getting some looks from her teammates. "Ran out of ammo."
"Should be easy enough for them." Cortana stated. "They are blacksmiths after all."
"With arrowheads, sure. But don't know exactly with the rest of that."
"Wouldn't hurt to ask, Arty. They're magical Dwarves after all."
Said archer merely shrugged as the group continued on with their task at hand.
"So where to this time?" Wally asked, looking to Six who pulled out the directional Rune Stone.
The carvings glowed before one in particular rune beamed in the direction of…
"Looks like it's further up North."
"Then that's where we're going."
Thus, the journey resumed with a more guarded demeanor amongst them all.
Along the way, the team gathered up what branches, sticks and rocks they could possibly gather for Artemis to use. And as time passed, Nate let the archer borrow his extremely sharpened knife to help form the arrowheads to make them more effective.
"You sure about this Artemis?" Wally asked. "Seems a bit much."
"Don't worry." Artemis waved off, using a knife to carve up and straighten out a branch in her hands. "Mom taught me a lot about how to do this and Green Arrow helped perfect it."
She held up a perfectly carved and balanced arrow that had a serrated tip.
"See?" Artemis said proudly. "Greeny taught me that one."
"With him having to live on an island for years, that trait is no doubt useful." Six noted, to which Artemis nodded as she continued on her small task until blinking and looking up at the back of Six.
"Sometimes, I forget how you basically know everything about us and our mentors." Artemis dryly stated.
"Well… not everything." Dot said mischievously.
"Please." Artemis shut her eyes at the thought of Dot digging deeper. "Just. Don't."
Dot only let out a joking mad cackle, earning a shake of the head from Six.
"There is something evil inside of her." Wally murmured.
"That would be putting it mildly." Kaldur remarked.
Scene cut
Six stood atop a Cliffside, overlooking a vibrant forest top with varying colored leaves separated by a treacherous crevice that kept it apart from the mainland where they currently were.
Far down to his right was a bridge that lead into the forest over the cavern.
"This is a nice change of scenery." Donna stated, finding the vibrant forest ahead quite enticing. "That forest has a magical air to it. I could feel it."
"Feels like you've all been wandering around for ages now." Cortana grumped. "Is that rock really pointing us in the right direction?"
"Hey guys."
Everyone turned to Artemis who was standing on a lower area of the Cliffside with a conveniently placed ladder that descends down to the bridge.
"Maybe he could help." The archer pointed down to the bridge.
Their line of sight followed down to where Artemis pointed to and saw a small, stout blue figure tugging on a bipedal creature that seemed pretty determined not to cross the bridge.
Though Six had advanced eyesight, he used the scope on his HUD just to be sure.
"Brok."
"What's he doing down there?" Donna asked.
"Let's find out." Dot said.
The team soon descended on down to the bridge, finding it to be pretty sturdy despite its rather rundown appearance.
As they approached the bridge, the sound of a complaining dwarf was plain as day to hear.
"COME ON, LET'S GO." Brok's grumpy voice yelled out. "GAH, THE HEL'S THE MATTER WITH YA, FUCKING GRATITUDE?! WE GOT PLACES TO BE, DAMMIT! I'LL KNOCK YOU RIGHT IN THE RINGER, SEE!"
"He sounds… pleasant." Kaldur commented.
"When he wants to be." Cortana said, avatar appearing beside Kaldur. "Wonder what's got his gander up?"
Rather than answering vocally, Six opted to walk towards the dwarf who was now trying to shove his beast forward by pushing on its hind leg. Brok shifted to using his back which in turn made him see Six walking up to him.
"Well Halle-fucking-Lujah." Brok said sarcastically, throwing his arms up. "Bout time you got yer ass here. What'd ya get lost on the way?"
"Unforeseen complications." Six plainly said.
"And by unforeseen, he means we ran into some of the lovely locals." Dot stated, popping up in front of Brok startling the dwarf.
"Givvin me a dam heart attack." The Dwarf mumbled by rubbing his chest. "Whatcha mean by complications?"
"We encountered some unknown enemies." Donna said, stepping up from behind Six along with Kaldur, Wally and Artemis.
"Good to see you brought company with ya." Brok said, eyeing the four heroes, looking back to Nathan. "Since yer here, care to help me with Fuckin Gratitude here being a pain in my ass? Can't get this slow-eyed cock lump to cross the bridge."
Brok was rewarded a small nudge on the head courtesy of said cock lump.
"What's wrong with him?" Dot asked.
"Damn fuckers just went and squatted all random and ain't budging." Brok grunted with another backwards shove against Gratitude's leg.
"She's scared." Donna went up to the creature to stroke its chin, earning a purr with it nuzzling itself upon Donna's hands.
"There's what now?"
Donna closed her eyes, feeling the creatures tension and unease.
"Something is waiting for the two of you ahead on the other side of the bridge." Wonder Girl informed the dwarf who looked up to her then at the end of the bridge.
"How'd ya figure that?" Brok asked.
Six squinted at the trees on the right hand side of the bridge, detecting movement within the branches.
"Do you see it?" Six asked the one other person with eyesight as honed as his was.
Artemis nodded. "Yeah, they're in that little cluster of white trunks. And they are definitely not friendly."
Wordlessly, Artemis pulled on one of her crafted arrows and nocked it into her bow. Exhaling slowly, Artemis fired her arrow right on target with the sounds of angered hisses and growls heard followed by whatever it was in the trees tumbling down.
Immediately, Brok's beast of burden rose to its feet and began shambling its way across the bridge.
"Say, since when can you Amazons do that?" Brok inquired, looking to the others. "Fer that matter, who the fuck are all you people? Knew that you'd be bringing help, but this much?"
"We're comrades of Six." Aqualad spoke up on behalf of his teammates. "I-"
"Yer an Atlantean." Brok said straight away. "You in the weird yellow got some kind of energy 'round ye and you with the bow… well yer definitely brave, that's fer sure."
Artemis only deadpanned with Wally placing a placating hand upon her shoulder.
"So what were these unforeseen complications that held you all up." Brok asked.
"Aside from navigating a forest that's clearly magical in nature…" Dot recounted. "We came across some enemies that were not Draugr."
Dot's avatar then morphed into that of Six's perspective when they had encountered those strange blue humanoids and fought them.
Brok sniffed in annoyance. "Hel-Walkers. Undead assholes straight from the cold caverns of Helheim. Fuckers just don't know when or how to stay dead. They're like Draugr, sept more annoying sometimes."
"How are they more annoying?" Donna inquired.
"These fuckers are smart, kinda." Brok waved off, guiding Fucking Gratitude over to a small makeshift smith's workshop that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Draugr retain some semblance of their old lives, primarily how to fight. But Hel-Walkers? Lot smarter and keener, 'specially when fighting in groups. And they're more like crazed serial killers then warriors."
"Wait, What?" Artemis said in confusion.
"Anyway, now that you're all here that means I can start getting down to business." Brok said, leaning upon his table.
"Preventing Ragnarok, right?" Cortana said with skepticism. "And how exactly are we supposed to help you and your brother in figuring out how to stop your version of the apocalypse…. Can't believe I said that out loud."
"Hang on a second." Wally spoke up, preventing anybody from talking further. "I did a little bit of homework before coming here and have my own little history back from school. Isn't Ragnarok caused by the god Baldur dying? Then come those long winters, right?"
"That's what you mortals seem to believe, then again it's kind of hard to figure really." Brok said truthfully. "Prophecy isn't really my peoples forte. That's more with the Aesir assholes, Vanir snobs and Giants. Though the latter are really hard to come by these days."
"Seems like things aren't as simple as they seem." Kaldur said.
"Apocalypse's seldom ever are." Cortana whimsically stated.
Suddenly, FG let out a startled cry shifting about beneath the tent alerting the assembled group.
"What's wrong with him?" Wally asked. "Or Her?"
"It's a girl." Donna said.
"Ok, so what's wrong with-"
"CONTACT." Dot and Cortana simultaneously shouted out.
The ground of the nearby trees bulged into small mounds before they began to spread, slithering about until it was a yard or so away from the team.
From the mounds burst several strange, serpentine like creatures with a feline head, two forelegs, large sabered teeth and a serpent-half body.
The one that went right for Six had its mouth open and claws outstretched, ready to take a bite right out of the Spartan.
Reacting quickly, Six grabbed it by the neck and with his other arm seized the closest clawed paw that was right above his helmet. Yet the creature was not to be deterred, using the remainder of its body to wrap itself around Nathan's waste.
Using that as leverage, the creature began attempting to chomp down on the Spartan yet Six held its mouth back firmly.
The constant squirming and tail wrapped around him though was starting to bother him, finding the mouth beginning to draw closer and closer.
Thinking fast, Six let go of the beasts neck only to grab one of its elongated teeth. Grasping it tightly, with a mighty tug, Six pulled the large tooth right out from the roof of the animals gums.
It roared aloud in total agony only to silenced by its tooth entering and caving in its cranium. A few twitches later, the tail fell from Six's body and the Spartan let go of the creature allowing it to drop dead to the floor.
"That was fun." Cortana said sarcastically.
Six analyzed the bizarre creature that attacked him before looking back to his comrades, seeing that they too had handled their own with minimal injuries.
"Tatzelwurms." Brok grunted out in annoyance. "Slithering little fuckers who can't decide what they wanna be. Figured Fucking Gratitude would be scared of 'em."
"Jeez, Draugr, Tatty Worms, Walkers." Artemis listed off in annoyance. "What's next, Trolls?"
Brok only snorted in mirth. "Funny you mention that-"
"Don't." Artemis stopped him in his tracks, earning a laugh out of the Dwarf.
"Well, this is shaping up to be a lot more interesting then I had first thought." Brok said, shuffling over to his equipment. "So I figure it's best for you all to at least come prepared. Or stay informed like my brother always says."
Brok pulled out some green gems and a small pocket-sized journal. Grabbing a hammer on the side with specially marked runes upon the stone and handle, Brok smashed one of the gems into dust.
Grabbing the dust, Brok blew upon it onto the remaining gems and the journal.
The other green rocks glowed brightly with a rune appearing at their centers whilst the book was engulfed in a blue aura.
Glancing back momentarily to the assembled company, Brok ran four fingers down across the cover of the journal.
Jolting slightly, the book suddenly split apart into five exact copies of each other.
"That should do it." Brok nodded in satisfaction, picking up the books and gems. "This here should help you on your travels as well as other endeavors."
He tossed one of the books to Six who caught it out the air, followed by a gem, an action the rest of the team shared.
"What are these for?" Artemis asked, examining her gem.
"Translation stones." Brok explained. "Sindri figured you all aren't exactly well versed with all these languages in the nine realms. Those Gems there help in understanding them."
"And these?" Kaldur held up his book.
"Bestiary's." Brok said. "Little pages on every creature there is to encounter here in the nine realms. Least, what we've got currently. Always room for more."
"Thank you very much, Brok." Dot said appreciatively with her and Cortana already making scans of the book.
"Gah." Brok waved off, trying to save face from the thanks. "By the way, Green girl, come 'ere a moment."
Arching a brow, she looked to her boyfriend who shrugged and then to Donna with the Amazon just gesturing for her to go.
Standing before Brok's table, the archer saw him sift through a pile of sticks before pulling out what he was looking for.
"Ah, here we are." Brok said, hobbling over to her and presenting a large cache of arrows. "Oakwood arrows. Perfectly weighted and the best range possible. And would you look at that, it even matches your color too. What a strange coinkydink."
Artemis stared flatly at the dwarf but still took the arrows, her eyes widening a bit.
"These things are practically weightless." Artemis stated. "But why are they green? Oak isn't green."
"My brothers making. You can thank Sindri for those bundles when ya see him." Brok said. "Anyway, ya'll need to keep going on ahead. See that pathway into the forest. Stay on the fucker and don't go straying off it lest you want to get up and lost. The forest is enchanted by its inhabitant. Meant to keep away unwanted prying eyes."
"Is that why you work so close to it?" Six inquired.
"Among other things. Now get a move on. Still working on our special project here. Harvesting the proper materials. Also stay wary of trolls."
"What?"
"You heard me, now quit yer lolly-gagging and get going already."
The team exchanged looks, choosing to now venture into the forest rather than ask Brok further questions.
"He's… got more of a personality then I thought." Kaldur slowly said, the sound of hammer clanging steel getting further away.
"Personality." Wally repeated mockingly. "Come on Kaldur, we all know what that's code for."
"He's a bit of a dick." Artemis finished for her boyfriend. "Like that uncle you know who likes to swear a lot."
"What?" Donna said in confusion.
Artemis looked at her. "You know, that crazy… uncle… oh right."
"Hang on." Wally raised his hand. "Donna, your sister Diana is the daughter of Zeus, right? And your her sister. So doesn't that make you a daughter of Zeus as well?"
"Of course." Donna said as it was obvious.
"So guys like Hades and Poseidon are your uncles." Wally said.
"Yes, but I've never met them." Donna stated.
"Oh, well never mind then." Artemis said offhandedly. "Discount what I just said."
While those three chatted amongst themselves, Kaldur and Six walked side by side with the Atlantean holding out his own book to read the contents within.
"It there are multiple variants of foes in this land." Kaldur noted, flipping the page onto a hunched figure covered in clothing with lanky arms clutching a long staff.
"Revenants." Cortana read aloud, her avatar in front of the page. "This one looks a bit tricky. And annoying."
"We'll make due, work around them. That haze of theirs seems to protect them from broad strikes." Aqualad stated.
"So precision will be our key here." Six said firmly. "Something fast and accurate to get past their defensive hazes."
"There's also these cursed Tatzelwurms." Dot said with a slight shudder upon looking at the descriptive drawing of venom dripping from the creatures mouth. "Don't know what that really warrants against the armor."
"We'll figure it out as we go along." Six said.
"That's not really a confidence booster, Nate." Cortana dryly said.
The Spartan only shrugged, surveying the area momentarily to see if there were any enemies or others on their path. They had been on this road now for ten minutes or so now, and they had seen, heard or encountered nothing thus far.
"It's a bit to quiet here." Dot remarked. "Where were all the baddies that were on us when we got here?"
"There is something about this place." Wonder Girl said, taking a falling leaf out of the sky. Brushing her slender fingers over the soft foliage, she hummed contentedly to herself.
"It is a place of sanctuary and serenity."
"It is pretty artistic." KF said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Like something out of a portrait."
"But it feels like we haven't gained any traction for anything." Artemis said, looking around. "This place is nice and all, but weren't we here on a miss-"
*SNAP*
Everyone whirled round, weapons out and ready and for the case of their speedster, vibrated with the Speed Force coursing through him in anticipation.
Behind them came more sounds of snapping twigs along with rustling of leaves and bushes.
"Form up." Six ordered. "Back to back."
The group now stood in a pentagram-like fashion with their backs to each other and an arms-length apart.
From several areas, more sounds occurred with the noises getting louder and closer.
"Get ready." Aqualad warned, hydro blades glowing now.
They stood there, baited breath, waiting for whatever may come out from the trees and shrubbery until…
*SNORT*
The group blinked and out walked a particularly large boar of some kind with gold markings all over its body. It was closest to Donna, casually approaching the Amazon without a care in the world while munching on something in its mouth.
Her empathic abilities along with her natural affinity to animals made it clear to her that this boar meant no harm.
Then, all around them came more oinks and snorts of a half dozen other gold trimmed boars walking out onto the path.
"So it was just a herd of Pumbaa's?" Wally exhaled animatedly, body slumping over in slight disappointment. "Well, Hakuna Matata everyone, no enemies here. Just a lot of extra bacon walking around."
"Hey there." Donna said softly, stroking the first warthogs head that had come up to her. "You're a gorgeous one, aren't you?"
"These sure aren't regular pigs, that's for sure." Cortana stated, taking a moment to scan the boar Donna was petting.
"What kind are they then?" Artemis asked, kneeling down next to Donna seeing that the warthog she was with was friendly.
"They seem to be Kaldur's fan club." Wally joked.
Quirking a brow, Kaldur took a moment to look over the warthogs with the golden accented markings on their bodies. He then gave a his friend an iffy hand gesture.
"Yeah, not my best either." Wally admitted.
"So~ what are these guys?" Cortana inquired, curious as to discover just what kind of species these boar were.
"Not sure." Wonder Girl said, scratching the side of the first boar who snorted in satisfaction. "What are you, little one?"
The boar let out a few huffs, nudging Donna's hands a few times.
"You can talk to animals?" Artemis asked in bewilderment.
"Not necessarily." Donna said, watching the boar trot over to the rest of its kind and gorge itself upon a bush full of unusual fruits.
"I can just gauge or literally feel their thoughts and emotions." Donna elaborated. "From there, I can deduce what they're saying. My sister and mother helped me perfect the technique."
"Useful." Artemis praised.
*SNAP*
Again, the team shot up at the ready for combat only to find themselves facing a middle-aged Caucasian woman.
She was barefooted, wearing strange garments and pelts with a sword strapped to her back and various markings and tattoos visible to see on her arms.
"Who are you?" Six said slowly, left hand holding a magnum at her with his right hand grasping Dragonslayer. "Friend or foe?"
"If that's the questions you're asking, I take it your journey getting here hasn't been exactly easy." The woman said understandingly. "Though I too would like to know who you all… are…"
The woman's eyes landed upon Wonder Girl, eyelids widening in disbelief and astonishment.
"An Amazon!" The woman exclaimed in awe. "I have not heard, spoken or seen your kind in many centuries. I thought the Huldra brothers were jesting upon meeting one."
"Wait." Wonder Girl's stance relaxed slightly. "You know Brok and Sindri." A moment later, Donna gasped. "Are you Freya?! The Goddess Freya?!"
Freya only beamed and nodded, walking up to Donna and bowed gracefully. Wonder Girl nearly hyperventilated at being so close in proximity to an idolized deity, especially one from another pantheon.
"It is an honor to at last meet with one of the Amazons once more." Freya declared. "You must be the aid that I had sent Brok and Sindri out to acquire."
She took a moment to observe the collected group of heroes, smiling at all of them.
"To think that outsiders would be the answer to our problems." Freya said softly. "Perhaps I should have listened to Tyr and Loki sooner."
"It is a true honor to meet you milady." Kaldur said in great respect, inclining his head forward.
"An Atlantean!" Freya stated in further shock. "What a wondrous day! I had thought your people to be long gone."
"You seem to know a lot about us." Donna said, curious though no less ecstatic at meeting another Goddess that is as revered as Freya from her home island.
"A story I can tell in a more comfortable setting." Freya said kindly. "Come, my cottage is not far from here. You can use that as a place to rest before continuing on your journey."
"Got any food?" Wally asked sheepishly with his stomach letting out a hungry growl. "I've got a serious hankering for bacon."
What he got was a collective angry snort from the warthogs that were still grazing around the area.
"Hey, don't judge me." Wally said defensively. "Seeing all of you guys here made me think of bacon. What's a speedster to do?"
Chuckling softly, Freya assured young runner. "I have more than enough food and the capability to produce them in the capacity of a feast."
"Sweet." Wally grinned dumbly, letting out a small *oof* from his girlfriend elbow to his chest though she gave him an amused smirk.
"This way my friends." Freya gestured for them to follow after her.
Most of them followed in her footsteps yet one remained behind.
"Six?" Cortana and Dot said in unison at the stationary Spartan who had his head gazing up at the skies above.
Beneath his helmet, Six's eyes were narrowed.
"Something fast flew past over the forest." Six said. "Something big."
The AI's wanted to raise a momentary inquiry, yet Donna's return to him prevented such a matter.
"Nathan?" Donna said softly, gaining his attention. "Are you not coming?"
Muttering a small apology in making her go back, Six followed after Donna all the while glancing back up to the skies.
His hands subconsciously twitched, one wanting to call forth his shifting blade with the other wishing to grab Dragonslayer.
Shaking off his tension, Six walked after his lover and now identified Goddess Freya all the while staying tense and wary.
He knew it in the back of his mind.
Something was off upon entering Midgard.
There was no doubt in his mind nor in his instincts or gut.
Something or someone was hunting them.
Whew, this was quite the marathon of a chapter and the next part in this gigantic epic of an arc.
Thank you so very much to Jebest for the huge help in getting this chapter done sooner than I would have expected.
Originally, this chapter would have been much MUCH longer but I realized that would take too much time in writing so I decided to cut it off for the time being.
But anyway, during the gap between this chapter and the last a few reviews caught my attention on certain topics in regards to the story telling of this series and I have this to say in response.
I like the way Oda does things.
That's all I've got for you this time around
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day