All of them were from different backgrounds, different worlds, different races, and different classes. Yet each and every one of them had a single common ground among each other. From the 9 realms, each of the World Champion knew each other, with Toreii being the second-to-last among them to gain the title. Rumors spread about a secret council formed exclusively by the World Champions, but as Ai had learned, it was more of a gentlemen's club – all genders and races inclusive, of course. The devs were more open to communicating with the World Champion, which seemed like a blessing at first, but her experience as the Champion of Asgard was more akin to a community manager. Ideas for holiday events were given to them first, with the Champions giving feedback and delegating between the devs and the community.

Overall, Ai did manage to meet quite a bit of people from the game she enjoyed so much. Although not much of a talker, Ai did listen and follow up on the lives of the other World Champions and what was going on in their respective worlds, with some of them delving into their own personal lives as conversation pieces. Ai never went as far as to tell any of them of her real profession, but nonetheless, she felt, maybe she had managed to make some semblance of friendship among them. The most curious interaction she had seen was between the humanoid and heteromorphic Champions. In their respective worlds, Álfheim and Niflheim, their players were at odds with one another. Humans, half-humans, and humanoid characters hated heteromorphic, undead, or demonic characters simply because they were of a different race. In turn, no quarter was given to any humanoid as a response. Yet, each World Champion talked to each other like they were longtime guildmates whenever they were in this meeting.

Now, of all times, these memories flooded her mind and her heart again. Although brief, Ai conversed normally with others, asked questions and theorycrafting, or just exploits on certain items or dungeons. She was quite happy to have others who enjoyed the game as much and quested in a similar manner as she did. Having eventually confined herself into a hermit life surrounded by NPCs, Ai was grateful for the little time she did have with the other World Champions. Each one had amazing stories to tell about their guilds, friends, or achievements they worked so hard for. Against each and every one of them, Toreii was no different. Everyone had a goal and what they wanted to do if they had more time to play the game. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, including their little cabal. Ai had no idea how each of them ended up after their final gathering… except for now.

A swelling anger burned at the bottom of Toreii's heart. The closest things to friends she ever had was the little gatherings among other World Champions. Ai never really cared much for other Players in Yggdrasil, but the kinship she formed among their small circle was more than enough for her. To have learned that another World Champion not only made it to the new world, but was killed for simply being another Player, caused Ai to feel anger and frustration. She wanted to put words to her feelings, but did not know how or what words to use. Ai never had to grieve for anyone, let alone another Player, but the World Champions were different. They stood above everyone in their respective worlds, they were meant to symbolize the best each world had to offer.

Learning the hydra not only fought a World Champion, but also killed him merely on the basis 'all Players were bad' was the tipping point for Ai. Every fiber of her being wanted Toreii to let loose the highest DPS spell the Deity was capable of, but that would not bring back her friend. In fact, the only thing that could would probably be a World-Class Item at this point. Ai did not know if any of the World-Class Items in the dev room actually worked or still had their effects, as she never tested a single one out of fear of what the devs would do. All of that caution was gone to the wind now, as Ai contemplated storming the secret room and plunging as much as her inventory could carry. A quiet subconscious voice told her these were emotional actions and every action has consequences.

"When did your father fight against the Player with that armor? How long ago was it? Where was it? Is there a body left?"

"I'd sooner die than let any chance of your kind reviving! I know of the evil resurrections you Players can cast with your wicked magic!"

'So there is resurrection in this new world? Are the mechanics still the same? Will I just lose levels? Or is she just saying that…? This is bait?'

"That armor doesn't belong to you."

"And who are you to decide that?! You're just another Player invading to corrupt this world!"

'This isn't getting anywhere… Will all the inhabitants be like this? Does everyone know about Players in this new world? Or just the ones who fight against Players? I wish I had a dialogue tree for this…'

"I didn't choose to come here. My people didn't choose to come here. Whatever happened… Whatever forced us to come here is not our choice."

'I can't say I regret getting to play Yggdrasil in real life though…'

"You expect me to believe your lies? There's blood on your hands! Hundreds of dragons slain in your name! Was that too, not your choice?!"

'Ugg… I'm getting more tsun than dere… What do I do…'

The dragon girl locked her stare directly onto Toreii, with no end in sight. If looks could kill, Ai felt the tension of dozens of sharp daggers aimed at her with malicious intent. The uncooperative inhabitants were only half her worries. Half of her attention was devoted to tracking the Asgardian guarding the entrance. She was being very careful not to incur the wrath of her wife… Odin's wife? Frigga. Ai needed to be careful with Frigga. Without breaking eye contact with the detainees, Toreii sensed the calm and cautious aura Frigga was watching her with.

"Hold your breath."

"Wh-"

- Splash!

Grabbing the chains binding the dragon girl, Toreii jumped head first into the small pond illuminating the room. Tugging and struggling against her bindings, the water reverberated with the dragon girl's screams. Ai needed to swim as fast as she could before the Asgardian could follow them. Although the opening to the pond was small, the actual body of water was larger than what the surface shown. The water was crystal clear, with no impurities to cloud their vision, yet there was no end in sight of how expansive the underground lake was. Of course, this was just a red herring to what the actual purpose of this lake was for. If one were to dive into the pond for the first time, the lake underneath would have not only seemed endless, but swimming in any direction except for downwards trapped the person in an endless loop of the same space. With so little data space left to work with, Ai had to get creative with her base design. The endless underwater lake was no bigger than a room fit for a normal Player character.

Even with the constant resistance from the dragon girl tugging against her back to the surface, Toreii had reached the bottom of the trick room. She counted exactly how far down to swim inside of her head, making sure not to pass the invisible marker hidden in the clear water. A shiny gold sigil sparked into existence on the back of her hand as she reached out to the light source. Instantly, as if gravity had inverted, up was down and down was up. The surface her captive was flailing in was now the faux bottom and where Toreii was swimming to was the true top.

Gentle splashing of water can be heard when Toreii finally broke through the surface. Shortly after she surfaced, a loud gulp of air can be heard being inhaled by the dragon girl. Only one of them was soaked, with her wet hair clinging tightly to her body. The duo had not come out to the tiny cave they were in before, but instead found themselves in a circular, stone water fountain, with a bust of a woman holding a vase expelling water.

Although Frigga had discovered the hidden cave Ai had planted inside of Odin's castle, the NPC lacked any further credentials which would allow her to follow them into the secret base. Since taking over Asgard and the Allfather's possessions, Ai had quietly and painstakingly moving her bank space and inventory into the base she created. With what little data space the devs did not use, Ai had built her own little safe haven within the most protected place in all of Asgard, but for a very selfish reason.

The blue luminescence which once filled the room was now replaced with emerald flames encased in metal housings supporting slender marble pedestals. Jagged rocks which once littered every wall was replaced by a smooth dome covering the entirety of the new area they were in. Dead center of the ceiling was a yellow sphere of heat and energy, an artificial sun which cost Ai a pretty penny on the exchange market back in Yggdrasil. Getting out of the fancy water fountain, Toreii's feet touched the finely chiseled limestone walkway. Each brick under her was precisely calculated by how much data each one would take up. In fact, there was only one single building within Ai's hidden base, which was all she could afford to have, given her circumstances.

The Norse architecture which covered every home and building in Asgard was nowhere to be seen here. In a very stark contrast, Ai had modeled her base to fit the theme of her favorite World-Class Item. A lone Parthenon stood in the distance, a bit away from the secret entrance Ai had just used. Greek fire burned perpetually on the singular path to the exquisitely defined temple. Ai was very proud of how well the Parthenon had turned out, creating it to be an exact 1-to-1 scale of the actual building she researched very heavily on. All of this was of course to protect her most beloved treasure in all of her experiences throughout Yggdrasil, the [Olive Branch of Athena].

The World-Class Item she had to once part with was back in her care. After gaining the [Allfather] job levels, Ai made a beeline for the guild who bought the item from her. No words were ever exchanged between her and the guild members. Every day, she waited and stalked each member, carefully deducing who held possession of her greatest treasure. In hindsight, Ai's actions were very much psychotic, not unlike something a certain NPC would do. Back then, with the end of Yggdrasil nearing, the guild was down to a handful of members… and thanks to Toreii, disbanded shortly after she reclaimed her World-Class Item. She could have offered to buy back the sacred treasure, but Ai did not see any benefits for her in doing so.

"Wh-Where are we?! Ack! What did you do?!" The dragon girl screamed as she coughed up bits of water.

"Just my home away from home," answered Toreii earnestly, "I'm sorry things started the way they did. I did not int-"

"You didn't intend to massacre my people?! Your intentions don't mean anything when your actions clearly say otherwise!"

'Can you dragons stop interrupting me when I talk?!'

"My name is Toreii. Pleased to meet you too."

Despite the little meager verbal fight the dragon girl was putting up, she was still bound in chains, stuck in the little water fountain and soaking wet. She had brought the girl into her private base for 2 reasons. First was to get away from Frigga, and secondly, it was for her own safety from the Asgardian. Ai forced herself to not think about the endless ways Frigga was going to get information out of the poor captive girl. Although traveling in the same manner, Toreii was not the least bit wet from swimming through the infinity lake. Waiting patiently for the dragon girl to get what little composure the chains would allow her, Ai continued to ponder the whereabouts of the other Players. Had Yggdrasil just become real, Ai would have just left it at that, but instead it was a new world with Yggdrasil assets and their Players.

"What do you plan on doing to me? Torture me? I can do this all day!"

"Walk with me." Toreii gestured forward with a slight wave of her hand, making sure she was not tugging on the chain leash binding the girl. Receiving a sneer back as her only answer, Ai sighed internally. Toreii walked leisurely toward the monolith guarding the entrance to her vanity project.

Reluctantly following the tiny Deity, the dragon girl left a trail of damp spots on the white stones she stepped on. Apart from just protecting her beloved treasure, Ai had also made use of the free levels for NPCs which came with building a guild base. Although the actual base was little more than a tiny replica of an ancient city, it was still classified as fortress-sized. Due to this technicality, she was allowed upwards of 3000 levels for all her NPCs. What Ai did not realize was NPC levels also went toward the total data cap a dungeon was allowed. Having thought she hit the jackpot of all guild bases, Ai originally rushed her base building to get her NPCs as quickly as possible. After learning she was about to hit the maximum data limit, Ai broke down in a fit of rage and sadness… mostly sadness. Not only did she have to start over in order to efficiently maximize the data she had left, but she had wasted several months' worth of salary for an extravagant base she was unable to build. Ai silently cried a waterfall of tears inside as these memories resurfaced again.

At the end of the day, after doing the math and using several data expansion packs, Ai was left with a measly 400 levels of the grand 3000 she was expecting. In her entire PVP career, nothing had hurt her more than watching her spreadsheets calculate the little amount of data she could actually use. Being one of the richest Players in all of Yggdrasil, she was capable of purchasing the most expensive inventory expansions. A Player got around the inventory limit by putting their personal items into either cases or satchels which had inventory slots themselves. The NPCs Ai wanted to create were ultimately just extra bank space for her stuff. Normally, Players created alternative accounts or alts to hold their extra inventory, but having to login into a PVP game was just asking for someone to camp around your alt and to take your stuff. However, another way was to stuff their extra inventory into their guild treasury, but doing so made it available to other guild members. Absolute trust amongst fellow guild members was needed for these types of situations, as Ai had read many horror stories about guild hoppers or infiltrators who would join guilds just to get information.

Lastly was what she had employed during her many testing trails to find the upper limits of the game. A guild member was able to give items to an NPC, and depending on the level of the NPC or how many cash items were used on them, their inventory could potentially be as large as a Player. Very few Players would use such a tactic since high-level NPCs were used to defend their bases during territorial guild wars. Due to NPCs being at the forefront of the action and most likely at the risk of dying in doing so, there was always a chance for the NPC to drop items from their inventory. Ai thought herself to be brilliant since she thought her own personally-created NPCs would not have to do battle, since her base was located within the most protected base in all of Yggdrasil. With only 400 levels to work with, instead of the stars being the limit, it was more akin to a second story apartment being the limit. Ai might have rushed in her initial plan to create her guild base, but was meticulous in the creation of her NPCs. Some Players considered their specially-crafted NPCs built from nothing to be like their own child, which Ai could sympathize with, considering the amount of hours she put into creating each of hers. The first of her NPCs was coming into view now as they got closer to the Parthenon.

Gratia Al-Shun observed as much as she could, considering how far behind enemy lines she was. No matter where she looked, nothing spoke to her of any obvious exit. With her hands and legs bound by the magical chains, all she could do was shuffle slowly behind what appeared to be her child captor. She understood very little about the situation, but played along to get as much out of her enemy as she could. However, as they approached the central building, her legs stopped in their tracks with her eyes locked onto the sole being stood atop the stairway into the stone temple. If the she-devil, 'Frigga', was a frightful beauty, then the angel awaiting them was what priests and holy men dreamt of seeing first in Heaven. With 3 sets of white, slender wings protruding from her back, the unknown girl smiled back at them as she patiently waited for their arrival. Gratia felt herself become infatuated with the innocent beauty, who looked as young and breathtaking as a flower just seconds after blooming. With her heart skipping a beat, Gratia's cheeks blushed for the first time since her childhood. Her eyes locked with the angel's, which were a calming light shade of sky blue. Golden locks of hair naturally rested against her slender body, reaching to waist level. Befitting of such a beautiful angel, she wore a decorative silver gown with short sleeves, with finely woven gems and crystals around her neck and at the bottom end of the dress. Bewitched by the unearthly beauty, Gratia stood bewildered, wondering how such a being could exist in the mortal realm without any God announcing their most precious envoy.

Being not only the Asgardian World Champion, as well as ranked in the top 5 PVP leaderboards, Ai knew efficient builds, including min/maxing. Not only was Toreii min/maxed for high magical DPS, but all of her custom made NPCs were also min/maxed for a single specific purpose. There were many things to consider when building an NPC, including race, job levels, racial levels, as well as equipment. Ai had farmed dungeon after dungeon for months on end in order to get specific data crystals to drop for all of her NPCs and to get extra crystals just in case she needed them for future projects. To some degree, her NPCs were just pack mules, as Ai had never once put them into active combat against Players to test her builds for them. However, that was the least of her worries at the moment. Not only was she the one who equipped them, but also the one to write each of their back stories. She had no idea how they would treat her, now that every NPC was given sentience. The Asgardians were somewhat like their mystical personas, but NPCs whom Ai had personally written? Now was the time to worry. It was like having her diary read back to her.

"So… beautiful…"

'Ehh? Is she talking about the Parthenon? It's not too bad looking if I do say so myself! It's practically a perfect rep-'

"Mother!"

'Mother?'

"Mother…? You're… her… mother? You're 10…"

'Toreii is 12! I'm almost 30! Why did she call me 'Mother'?!'

"It has been too long since your last visit! Might I ask who… this is?"

"She hasn't introduced herself yet. I'm sure she'll open up once she has had some time to reconsider," Toreii finally mustered out after Ai recovered from her initial shock. She had been childless for too long to have all of a sudden become a mother and father.

"It would be my pleasure to assist you, Mother. Might I ask for your name?" The NPC answered as she walked the steps down to their level. Each step elicited a soft flutter from her wings, as her bare feet left quiet taps on the stone she walked on.

"My… name…? I'm… Gratia… Al-Shun…"

"Pleased to meet you, Gratia Al-Shun. I'm Viridi, eldest of the Noble Sisters," greeted the elf with a curtsy.

'Right… Her sisters… My other NPCs… Will they call me 'Mom' too? This is a lot of children to suddenly gain custody of… At least I have the money to support all of them, I guess.'

"Viridi… What a beautiful name…" Gratia muttered, eyes glimmering like she was starstruck.

"Thank you. Would you like to freshen up?" Viridi gently asked, subtly taking the silver chain from Toreii.

"Uhhh… I… What?"

Gratia was on cloud 9 and none of her dragon senses were able to detect a shadow quickly moving from the top steps of the temple. Viridi lead the girl away from Toreii and back into the temple, the Deity slowly turning her face to the youngest girl of the Noble Sisters, or more accurately, Ai's youngest daughter. Even with her [True Vision], Toreii could not make out anything more than a shadow moving quickly to her side, which spoke volumes to the equipment and skill she put into the NPC. Many of the top guilds who went on weekly territorial wars had enough resources to equip 1-2 Legendary-Class item for their NPCs, while also reserving Divine-Class items for themselves. This was not due to selfishness on the Player, but just the scarcity of the data crystals which went into building Divine-Class items. There was also the need to save rare material and data crystals for the creation of the Guild Weapon, which sometimes necessitates half of all the resources stored within their treasury. Overall, Divine-Class items were created in secret, sometimes even without the other guildmates knowing.

With Ai's anti-social tendencies and the university's supercomputer on hand, many days were spent on dungeon grinding for data crystals and searching for rare minerals. Of course, she could have used her own funds to buy what she needed, but the market often lagged behind just by discovering mineral veins yourself. However, being a solo player meant she had to go further than any other Players to find anything in relative safety. Ai did not mind, but at that point in time, she had thought she was grinding for 30 NPCs instead of 4. She was more than a bit peeved at the realization, but only had herself to wallow her misery in. Thus, all the extra mineral and data crystals went into crafting Divine-Class gear for the 4 NPCs, with whatever was leftover stuffed into their inventory slots until Ai got around to a new project.

"I miss having you around, Mom."

'First I'm the dad of 3 sons and now I'm the mom of 4 daughters. What else is coming my way?!'

"It has been a while, Nanami. I'm sorry I didn't visit more," Toreii said.

Ai was face-to… -chin with a young girl no older than 16, but was still a head taller than her character. She had long, dark green hair with small splashes of pink flowers all over, adorned with a decorative Shinigami mask. Dark purple robes in the style of an eastern monk covered her entire body, down to the sandals she wore. Amethyst eyes stared at Toreii like she was going to disappear at any moment. Nanami was not an elfling or any heteromorphic race, but rather was the only human among the sisters. Although there were advantages to having a different race for one's NPCs, it was not ideal for what Ai had intended for this one.

"Hmm… Forgiven. Please don't leave for so long again," Nanami said softly, pulling the small Deity towards her for a warm embrace.

Not used to human contact, Ai mentally froze, but nonetheless Toreii returned her daughter's affection. "Things are… a bit different now. My time here will have to be brief, but there is much for me to do."

"Okay… but Viridi told me about the terrible things that girl said about you."

'Huh? What? She saw what?'

"What do you mean by terrible things? What did your sister tell you?"

"She insulted you, calling you terrible names like 'warmonger'. We all saw through the fountain. If we could, all of us would have silenced her immediately right then and there, but I guess bringing her here was your intention all along. Thank you, Mom."

'Give me a break… Not this again… First Frigga… Ugg…'

"W-Where is Viridi taking the girl?" Toreii asked, panicked.

"Well, we originally planned on executing her on the spot, but since you said she needed time, I don't know where Viridi is going with her now. Did you want to do the execution yourself, Mom?" Nanami asked, as Toreii slightly pulled away from their hug.

'I don't ever remember putting murderous intent in any of your backstories! Why is this issue coming up now?! All Gratia did was call me names! NAMES! You don't get a death sentence for calling someone names!'

Pinching the bridge of her nose out of habit, a headache assaulted her mind again. "Just… Take me to your sister. I need to have a talk with all of you…"

Nanami broke their hug, shying away with a worried look in her eyes, "A-Are we in trouble?"

"No…" Toreii sighed, "Just… Take me to your sister."

Toreii and Nanami walked through the marble doorway, which was just an open space. Emerald green flames burned on torches mounted on steel pikes, causing eerie shadows to be cast along their pathway. The youngest daughter was hesitant with her steps, even to the point of slowing down their pace, but with Toreii's eyes on her constantly, Nanami could only march forward. With the body of an adolescent, Ai noticed the ceiling was not only higher, but everything was terribly large in comparison to her. Had her character not have any flying capabilities, she might have had to carry around a step ladder for any interaction with her base. Despite noticing her NPC was clearly delaying for time, Toreii's short feet and stature made Nanami's slow pace practically a brisk speed walking for Ai.

"What have you and your sisters been doing since the last time I came down here?" Toreii asked softly.

Although Nanami stopped to answer the question, a single look from her mother sent her back on the slow march she had earlier. "I've been patrolling the outer perimeter of the Parthenon like you've told me to. Other than that, I haven't done much else. Viridi tells me stories about what she sees in the fountain."

'Was that the last command I gave her? I kind of feel bad now… It's not like anyone ever comes down here, but at least she is diligent. Although… How would the Asgardians react to these NPCs? Would they be allies since the base is still within Asgard? I'd hate to see what happens if they met on bad terms…'

"How do you feel about people outside of our family?"

"If that dragon girl is anything to go off, then I don't see any worth in beings outside our family."

'Okay… Not a great impression by anyone on either side… But we don't have to be killing each other because of it!'

"Or at least that's what Viridi said about how she felt."

'THANK GOODNESS! Err… I mean… At least you're a good daughter.'

"And your personal feelings?" Toreii asked once again.

"I don't really much care for outside beings. I wouldn't mind not ever seeing one again."

'That sounds like something I would say… Still, I guess a neutral opinion is better than a bad one. I can work with that. Maybe Nanami would be the best one of all the NPCs to get me information about this new world. I don't see much subtlety in her sisters if I asked for a reconnaissance mission from them.'

The vast open space of the Parthenon was filled with stone carvings of famous Greek Gods or their tragic fate. Most notable and the centerpiece of the room was her statue of Athena. The bust of the goddess included the intricate design of her armor, with one arm holding an aegis and the other holding the head of a gorgon. At the foot of the stone goddess was a lone pedestal, with a single item floating like it was unbound by gravity. Her fondest treasure, the [Olive Branch of Athena] was on an open display for her to enjoy. Normally a guild would fight tooth and nail, even down to their last member, before revealing any information about their stash, but Ai saw no point in that, with all of Asgard being her first line of defense. A small wave of nostalgia hit her heart as they passed the final statue and into the path behind it. The spacious walls eventually narrowed down, with the duo coming up to a set of engraved double doors, the stone beautifully carved to depict Prometheus giving the gift of fire to mankind.

Nanami, despite her small frame and body, gently pushed open the doors like they weighed nothing. Having made up her mind about which side she wanted to be on, Ai noticed there was no longer any hesitation from Nanami's actions. Past the doors were several stairways which lead down to different paths of the underground part of the Parthenon. Without delay, the NPC pointed to a single staircase as if she was too scared to go forward. Having promised she nor her sister were in trouble, Ai made no attempt to convince the NPC to accompany her. Marching on, Toreii swiftly walked down the spiral stairway, which opened up to a steamy room with water slowly pouring from copper pipes.

"Mother? I was not expecting you to come down here." Viridi asked through the misty steam. Just like her creator, the elf had [True Vision]. Gratia was right beside her, still starstruck, but was out of the steel shackles binding her earlier and into robes fitting a refugee.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe."

"Is something going? Has Nanami said something?"

'Only that you planned on killing every outsider!'

"Nothing at all. Nanami was just worried about you so I made sure to check up on your progress. I wanted to talk with you about a couple of things later on."

"Of course, Mother," Viridi cheerily said with a slight bow, "Should we head back up now? I was just making sure that-" the elf stopped mid-sentence and looked like she was staring off into the distance. "Someone has broken through. Nanami is making first contact now."

'WHAT?! Broke through?! Like broke through Asgard or through to the Parthenon?'

Her [Ring of Æsir] activated immediately and Toreii was gone in a blur of light, leaving the other two behind. Toreii's vision shifted from the steamy room to the clearing right outside her Parthenon. The stone path leading back to the fountain was barren, save for two beings standing tall, with one pointing a double tipped, red sword at the other.

"What have you done to my husband?!" Frigga shouted, dripping wet from forcing her way through the pond on the other side.

Right behind her, Ai saw the massive hole in the ground where the fountain used to be. As if the ground itself was split in half, the stone was cleaved and partially melted with patches of small fires still burning around the gaping hole. The infinitely looping lake was more of a mental challenge than a physical locking system. Just like a house of mirrors, any attempt to break through them from the inside ruined the illusion altogether. Repairs to the damages could probably still be made with Yggdrasil gold, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

'WHY DID YOU FOLLOW ME?! You didn't have to break down my door! I wasn't even gone for that long!'

Even though the Asgardian had higher overall stats than her own NPCs, Frigga's decision to point a sword toward Nanami would ultimately be her downfall. Under any other circumstances, or had she just gone bare fisted, the Queen of Asgard would have won handily. With how popular swords were in Yggdrasil, Ai had created Nanami as an anti-swordsman, tailored to have a bigger advantage the higher the sword quality.

In a blink of light, Toreii teleported herself in between the two NPCs. Ai hated to deal with confrontation head on, but since it was with NPCs, she lied to herself it was not like dealing with actual people. Nanami was to her back, but Ai could tell with her heightened senses the defender was tense from the sudden breakthrough.

"My love! I was worried when you were no longer by my side! I thought that wicked prisoner had tried to drown you in spite," Frigga said in a sweet tone, before closing the gap between them and hugging the tiny Deity.

Not wanting Nanami to react negatively, Toreii quietly gestured her to stand down. The height difference between Frigga and the prepubescent Deity was outright laughable. The top of Toreii's head barely reached Frigga's midriff. Even all of her NPCs were taller than Ai now, which made her a bit regretful she made her character at the lowest possible height. Although Ai was sure she signaled her NPC to not engage, Nanami was still frigid, like she expected an attack to come sooner or later.

"I'm fine, Frigga. You didn't have to force your way through… I would have returned shortly."

"I was merely worried about your wellbeing, my love! When I no longer saw you, I had to make sure you were safe. Although…" the Asgardian trailed off mid-speech as she turned her head to get a full view of the new world she was in. "I never knew such a place existed before… To think all of this was hidden away… right underneath Asgard."

"You broke our water fountain," Nanami coldly stated with a piercing glare.

The towering Asgardian loomed over the young NPC and could only give a disappointed look upon her, "Child, I'm sure you don't know who I am to be speaking to me in such a tone."

'Oh no… Not like this!'

Nanami sharply pointed to Toreii, whom Frigga was still embracing tightly, "I'm her child! Who are you?"

'I guess I'm finding out now what I look like to Asgardians!'

"I'm Frigga! QUEEN OF ASGARD! AND this," Frigga declared proudly with her chest out. She held out Toreii like it was show–and-tell day and she was presenting her most prized item. "IS MY HUSBAND!"

Nanami made the exact face Ai expected any reasonable personal to make. Her daughter looked at Frigga like she was some crazy middle-aged women who broke into their home and had forced themselves onto Toreii before declaring their marriage. Or, worse, was the incoming disappointment and looks of betrayal to a parent who had hidden their other lives from their closest relatives – a mother hiding her affair from her daughter, and a husband hiding a child from a former relationship from his lover.

To be fair, Ai was probably just as crazy for accepting this fact or anything else Frigga had done up to this point. The chilling stares both NPCs gave one another was enough for Ai to feel like she was on death's door. This was not how she wanted to start her day off. First, she failed to get useful information from the natives, and now she has to deal with the fallout between her wife and daughter. Still, if she were to gain anything from this, she had to act fast.

"Frigga!" Toreii shouted as to get their attention away from each other, "How tall am I?" For a moment the agitation in the air lifted, like the noose around her neck untwining. Ai was glad her character did not have the need to breathe, or else she would have gone red in the face by now with how long the anticipation made her hold her breath.

"4-and-a-half foot tall?" Frigga answered, eyebrow raised like Ai was the crazy one for asking the question. "Are you upset you've lost some height this past year?"

'So they do see me as Toreii! Well… That doesn't help much… Are they just fine with me looking like a 12 year-old girl?'

Nanami let out a quiet sigh like she was already tired of dealing with Asgardians. Her pose shifted from defensive to just merely on guard as she tucked her hands into the long sleeves of her monk robes. Ai did not blame her in the slightest for the reaction. Every second with the Asgardians for her had been one headache after another.

"It's fine, I was just asking to confirm something. I'm sorry I didn't introduce you two earlier. This is… my daughter, Nanami," Toreii said as she beckoned towards the lone girl.

Without hesitation, Frigga asked grumpily, "Which mistress is she from? Do I know her? Would you like me to raise this one too? What an unruly child; to fail to perceive and inherit even the slightest amount of your grace, radiance and majesty, my love. Surely, this must've been that mistress's fault."

To that, Nanami's eyelids twitched. "This wretch is supposed to be my and my sister's mother? How unworthy… Mother, I think there are better choices out there. Certainly a humbler, more intelligent one." Disregarding her mother's silent panicked attempt at shutting her down, the Japanese-themed NPC continued, "I'm sure she brings 'baggage' with her too, right? How can they compare to us siblings, born from your own sweat, tears, flesh, and blood? Hmph!"

Ai decided in that moment there would be 'stay in bed' days from now on, and today was one of them.

A/N: I'll try to get these chapters out earlier. I've realized how slow of a pace this story has been going and wanted to know if you guys are fine with this or should I have time skips for more important events. As always feedback would be great on how the story is developing.