Chapter 3
Juleus sat in a wooden chair, looking out the window idly. It had been a long seven days since he awoke in Ivaldi's home. Although his conscious told him he should leave, he couldn't bring himself to walk out the door. So thus far, everyday had been spent gazing out his new bedroom window, watching the busy lives of Prontera citizens. The Milk Merchant, he saw, was catching a cold. An archer from Payon kept trying to pawn off armor, but no one would buy. Also, Ivaldi's next door neighbor's daughter had been grounded for sneaking out at night.
With a sigh, he turned his back to the window. He had enough of the city for today. But other than gazing out the window, there was nothing else for him to do. He could read one of Ivaldi's books; he had them scattered here and there, never on the bookshelf where they belonged; but they didn't interest him. The Bible? No thank you. A Guide to the Elements? Not interested. Vegetarian Recipes? Maybe some other time.
Juleus sighed again. Ivaldi hadn't even been home for the majority of Juleus's stay. Apparently, the Priest was busier than he thought. During the mornings, he went off to train and help others in the various fields surrounding Prontera. In the afternoon, he worked in the Sanctuary among the pastors and nuns, occasionally elevating others to the rank of Priest.
In fact, Ivaldi only came home twice a day. Once, in the late afternoon, when he dropped off food and ingredients for Juleus to prepare dinner with. Then he headed back to the church. The second time he came home was long after dinner, at which point he would take a bath and fall asleep on the couch.
After a couple of endless minutes passed by, Juleus stood up with resolve. He had to leave this house. His wounds were healed, his mind was clear, his determination had been doubled. If he worked hard, he could become a Swordsman in no time. He was getting closer no closer to his goal by mooching off of some generous Priest.
Without even bothering to write a note explaining where he had gone, Juleus packed up his few belongings. Only after he took a few fresh apples from Ivaldi's kitchen cupboard did he feel guilty. This man had saved his life. This man had put a roof over his head. Now he was about to leave with no explanation whatsoever, and rip off a couple of apples? Juleus sighed for what had to be the fourteenth time that afternoon. It didn't take him very long to find a paper and pen. On it, he scribbled in his messy handwriting, "Thanks for everything, Ivaldi. See you around sometime – J."
If there was one thing that Ivaldi wasn't, it would be being predictable. He took pride in being unpredictable. His friends often complained that they wished he was the opposite. They asked him to either be always honest, or always lie. He refused and told them a little bit of both. They asked him to either always be the comedian, or the serious leader. He refused and often took both roles at the same time. They had even asked him to either be charming or rude, but he was always both. Finally, a Wizard thought she had had him figured out. She asked him to choose either the bed on the right of their inn room, or the left, having betted that he wouldn't choose either. Unfortunately for her, he took the left bed without a second thought and she lost a bet of 500 zeny. So he wasn't always a middle man.
Of course, to realize that Ivaldi loved to dabble in a little bit of everything took time. Time that he and Juleus hadn't had together yet. Juleus hadn't been able to tell Ivaldi's truths from his lies, or his charms from his crudeness, or his jokes from his curses. Juleus hadn't realized that Ivaldi had lied to him when he said he went to work at the church after dark.
But Ivaldi didn't blame him. He was a magnificent liar. Some days, he didn't seem to mind being such a corrupt child of God. Other days, however, he would spend locked up in his home repenting. Everyone loved him, though. His charisma had no limits. Eccentric though he was, everyone loved him.
He was beautifully manipulative.
At the moment, Juleus believed Ivaldi was listening to confessions of honest and not-so-honest Midgard citizens. In reality, he was kneeling before a powerful Necromancer in a giant floating fortress above the city.
"We can't have you seen, now can we?" the Necromancer mused, absentmindedly playing with her hideously long nails. Similar to the Assassin's, they had to be over a half-foot in length. Her hair was dark and short, her lips glossed over in a dark shade of blood red. She sat in her gothic throne, looking down at the human Priest kneeling on one knee before her. "Everyone knows of the highly esteemed Priest Ivaldi. Imagine what people would say about you if they saw you rampaging Prontera among the undead."
"Necromancy," Ivaldi replied, only half-listening to her words. "Noun. One: The practice of communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future. Two: Black magic or sorcery. In your case, it's both, Mistress Himmelmez."
Himmelmez, the beautiful, lean, muscular woman in black before him smiled a little. "Yes, how very fitting. Now if you would pay attention, Ivaldi, you might be able to hear my instructions for you."
Ivaldi stood up, stretching his arms. "I apologize, but it's just your taste of décor that distracts me." Making a face, he looked around. "The various skulls I can handle. The fact that below your fortress is atop a giant floating rock, I can handle too. Your pillars that hide huge, mindless worms that eat everything in sight I can ignore. But these throbbing, pulsating spider web-like veins," he motioned to the room and hallways around him, "could be considered overdoing it."
"You are not paid to evaluate interior design of the Dark Whisper, Ivaldi," Himmelmez answered with a slight chuckle. "Now listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once. Our job here is to create a perfect new world by destroying the old one. We are here under instruction of Freya. I have already sent my undead army upon the city, which hear, even from up in the sky."
The room fell silent as she gave the human Priest a chance to listen. Not even the beating walls around them made a noise. Then there, in the distance, Ivaldi could hear the bloody screams as Prontera citizens were slaughtered and became one of the undead. Ivaldi could only imagine how quickly Himmelmez's army was growing. Each person who died; each person who joined the ghoul army; would serve only Freya. Freya, the dark Valkyrie. Freya, who wanted to recreate the world in her own image.
"You know why we strike Prontera, my favorite Priest?"
"But of course, Mistress," Ivaldi replied. "It's because of the heart of Ymir, which has been gone for a thousand years. Odin created our entire world, Midgard, with it. Since the heart of Ymir as one would have too much power, he spread its fragments across the world. Of course, that's what our lovely Freya wants, isn't it?" Ivaldi's lips turned up in an odd smile. "Enough power to reshape the world. Enough power to rebuild reality. And now, I suppose, we're all gathered here today to get the largest fragment, under the Prontera castle?"
Himmelmez leaned her chin atop her hand, smiling her double smile at him. It was neither happy nor pleased, nor was it cruel or ridiculing. "You were always a smart boy, Ivaldi. A terrifying, but clever boy."
Giving her a curt bow, Ivaldi backed out of the room. "You were always a beautiful woman, Mistress. I already know my instructions."
As he was leaving through one of the sinister-looking halls, he paused. "Oh, and Mistress? Do me a favor and keep your filthy undead's hands off my church, will you? I am still a loyal follower of God." And with that, the high Priest Ivaldi teleported out of the Necromancer's fortress.
"Juleus, we have to leave the city right now. People are being murdered out there - Juleus?"
The house he came home to was silent. Empty. Sickeningly, horrifyingly, and tragically empty.
"Juleus?!" Ivaldi shouted as he scrambled through his doorway. Sitting for him, waiting for him, on the one-man dining table was a meal. It had been wrapped in plastic to keep it hot for as long as it was possible. Every day for the past week, there had been a plastic-wrapped meal waiting for Ivaldi on his little table. Every day for the past week, Ivaldi would find his clothes washed and folded, the shelves and drawers dusted, his toothpaste stains wiped clean from the bathroom sink. Every day for the past week, he had a boy named Juleus staying with him.
Ivaldi almost didn't notice the little yellow piece of paper sticking out from underneath his dinner that night. If he hadn't had spotted it then, he never would have until it was too late. Being the rash man he was, he would have charged through-out the house looking for the novice. When he didn't find him, he would charge through-out the city. But his fortunately, his eyes glanced upon the little note waiting for him.
Dropping his small knapsack to the floor, Ivaldi rushed over to the table. He ripped the note from under his plate. If there was a book of world records in Midgard, Ivaldi would have just won a place in it under 'Fastest Nine Words Read.'
"How wonderfully idiotic," he sighed aloud after he had read it twice. Of all nights that Juleus picked to leave, he had to pick the night that deadly zombies were rampaging through the town. Now Ivaldi was caught in a dilemma.
He sat down hard at his little bachelor table. He had two choices, it seemed. One, he could go out and search for the boy. That depended entirely, of course, on the fact that Juleus was still alive. His second choice was to carry out his instructions that Himmelmez and Freya had given him. What were the pros and cons of either choice? Well, if he went out to find Juleus, he could save the boy again. But he would surely be punished for neglecting his duties. If, instead, he decided to carry out his instructions, he would lose a charming teenager who had a mysterious effect on him.
He sat down angrily at his little bachelor table. He had two choices, it seemed. Ivaldi did not like having two choices. As a gleam came into his eyes, he realized that he didn't have to have two choices. He didn't have to see only in black and white. After all, mixing the two got you gray, didn't you?
Author's Note: I know that, in the manhwa, Himmelmez's attack takes place a day (or two?) after Chaos and Loki's battle. However, for the flow of my own story, I made it happen a week after. (Which means that the Chaos party spend a long time in jail. How depressing!)
For those who have never read the manhwa, let me explain. In volume four, Chaos and Loki meet for the first time under a misunderstanding. Seeking misplaced vengeance, Loki starts a battle with Chaos, which was in the first chapter of this story. In the end, Chaos and his party are throw in jail while Loki escapes.
Then Himmelmez attacks Prontera, and… Well. Actually, that'll be included in the next chapter. Anyway, again Ragnarok does not belong to me, but to Gravity Corp. and Myung-Jin Lee! Happy reading!