Character Focus: As many have probably noticed, up until now Mine hasn't gotten very much screen time. She's been a part of the story, but little more than a quip here or a jab there. If she wasn't riding on the familiarity of her AgK counterpart, no one would care about her. This arc, aside from hopefully being interesting, is my solution to that. By the end, once the smoke clears, things will be different.

Much different.

Chapter 30: Sacrifice and Survival

Across the ages countless civilizations have risen and fallen, from the ancient Mesopotamian to modern day nations. The world was covered in the scars of these past wars, relics and ancient ruins depicting civilizations long since gone. There wasn't a single nation in the entire world that wasn't built upon the bones of an older one.

People fought for every reason imaginable, and some that no longer are. Some fought simply because they could. Others because they wished to hide a secret, a past, or a shameful action. Even more still fought for what they felt was right, even if no one else shared their belief.

Wars came in all different shapes and sizes, lengths and reason. Some were small, a single person waging war against those they felt denied them what was rightfully theirs. Others spanned the entire globe and caused the deaths of millions.

And in the wake of those wars were villages, cities and fortress alike left shattered and ruined.

One such village, shattered by a personal war rested against the edge of the Caspian Sea, forgotten by time. Surrounded as it was by desolate desert, it had little to offer in the way of resource or placement. The eras had passed it by, heedless to its existence.

Even the wind barely seemed to notice it, the forlorn cries of those left behind never left the village edge. Their everything taken from them by a single man who did not want any part of his history to remain behind after he moved on. The woman had suffered, the men had been killed and the children turned, brought up and raised to be the perfect slave for those that had never been human.

The bones of that village lay baking in the scorching sun, waves of heat rose up from broken buildings that hadn't seen a spec of life in hundreds of years. That changed in a sudden, violent explosion of sound and dust. The sky above ripped apart by forces beyond the comprehension of the ghosts that cowered behind crumbling walls. A woman imprisoned in a bubble of pure force tumbled forth, her pure white dress whipping wildly about her form as she desperately tried to reassert control.

With a sharp crack like lightning tearing across the sky the rift snapped shut, sealing the fabric of the world above like nothing had happened.

A thunderous boom shook the area as the imprisoned woman slammed into the broken ruins of the forgotten village, sending a cloud of dust and dirt billowing everywhere. Silence slowly settled back upon the area, spoiled only by the faint pitter-patter of tiny rocks clacking off ruined stone walls like a gentle rain. The silence didn't last long as a faint cry, like a woman's shout, grew louder by the second. The ghosts of the dead villagers scattered in every direction as the air became filled with the sound of shattering glass and that faint cry became a deafening roar that sent insects and lizards in the surrounding area scurrying for cover. A pillar of light lanced into the cloudless sky as a powerful wind kicked up around the point of earlier impact. The cloud of dust and dirt was blown away, sent billowing out between the broken buildings and into the desert beyond. All that was left behind was that beautiful woman in the pure white dress standing alone in the center of the dead, broken village.

A woman that no one could mistake for anything than what she truly was.

A Goddess.

Athena was not happy. A deep scowl marred her otherwise beautiful features as she raised her arms into the air. She called them to her, her spear and shield. She felt them answer, but from a far distance. Far further than they should have been. It felt like she was calling across dimension. Two more rifts in space were torn open as a golden spear and shield ripped through the dimensional barrier to heed Athena's call. She grabbed the shield in her left, the spear in her right and banged them together. A signal for war. Her helm materialized on her head even as her bright golden armor formed around her body. Her simply white sandals were replace with golden greaves capable of treading across the surface of the sun itself.

She quickly glanced about her surroundings, taking in the broken ruins of the village and the terrified ghosts of villagers that had worshiped a God that died long before they were ever born. Athena knew nothing of this Syura fellow that Tatsumi had shouted at, but she didn't need to know much to know that he was an enemy. She had fully expected a trap to be waiting for her when she appeared but…

There was nothing. She couldn't sense anything aside from nature within a five-mile radius.

The truth of the matter clicked instantly causing an annoyed growl to escape her lips. She hadn't been the target. Tatsumi was. She'd simply been removed so that she couldn't get in the way. She, Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War, had been trivialized! Ignored! And by a human no less!

She wondered if it would be possible to convince Tatsumi to share Syura a little once they caught up to him.

It was only an idle thought though. Athena's mind had already moved beyond that. "There's a larger scheme at work here. There is no reason a reincarnated devil should have Loki's staff."

Athena cared little about this Syura, in the grand scheme he was probably minor at best. Whatever the scheme was, it involved Loki, an Asgardian. Did they suspect what Athena had asked Tatsumi to do? She had noticed Odin watching as she took Tatsumi away during the Elder Devil Gathering. He hadn't protested all that much when Amaterasu told him in no uncertain terms to go home, either.

She bit her lip softly. She could see it happening. Odin wouldn't want to risk getting involved directly. He had her treasure, but if how he acquired it got out it would look especially bad on him. If instead he got Loki to do something about Tatsumi… no one would suspect Odin at all. Loki would probably do it just because he could.

Athena shook her head softly. There was no use thinking too much on it now. There simply wasn't enough information to go on. It was all pure speculation at this point. She needed to return home.

But first… she turned her gaze upon the lonely spirits hiding amongst the ruins and called upon her divine power. She turned her palm up, letting the energy pool within for a few moments before she channelled it into a long distance, inter-dimension connection.

The divine energy just sat there, crackling with static like a TV without a signal, then with a little pop it connected with something. A small oval image appeared above her hand and Michael's kind, gentle face appeared.

"Athena, my, this is a call I did not expect," Michael said. He sounded genuinely surprised. "Especially all things considered."

Athena frowned slightly. That was an odd greeting and it hinted at things she didn't like. "I just wanted to inform you that I found about seventy or eighty of God's worshippers, their spirits at least, hiding in this deserted town I have found myself in." Lost worshippers, especially now that Hades was dead, were important. "I was about to head back to Mount Olympus but I thought I would let you know. Never know when a future favor will be useful."

Michael arched an eyebrow at her. "A favor? Considering what you're being accused of? I'm not so certain many would be willing to keep any favors owed to you."

Athena blinked in surprise at his words. What did he mean by… a sinking feeling started to well up in the pit of her stomach. Loki's staff was capable of quite a number of things. Syura could transport an individual across space. Loki's staff was capable of manipulating time, slow it down, even freeze it. If the two were to be combined…

"Michael, what day is it?"

Now it was his turn to stare at her suspiciously. "According to the standard human calendar, August 24th."

Athena palmed her face and sighed. "Three days. Damn you Loki." Michael's suspicious look became speculative as he pondered the meaning of her words.

Another thought had occurred to her, a more terrifying possibility than Odin targeting Tatsumi came to mind. What if she really had been the target? The world had watched Athena get on that plane with Tatsumi. If it was suddenly destroyed and Tatsumi killed but she was nowhere to be found?

Everyone would blame her and by proxy the Greek pantheon.

She needed to return home.

"Thank you, Michael, I need to go." There was no reason to stay here. She could already see several angels descending from the heavens. The spirits of the villagers looked up at them with awe and, for the first time in hundreds of years, hope.

"Yes, it seems there is something else going on here," Michael said softly. His face was kind as always, but there was a strong resolve about it as well. "I know you're not one to kill without reason. I'll keep my sister in check. She's feeling rather betrayed by you right now, and has been talking with Serafall secretly."

Athena shook her head softly. "Please do. I can't even begin to try and resolve this mess if I have to worry about those two nipping at my heels." Even together they weren't a real threat, well, so long as she kept out of Heaven or the Underworld at least. "Until we speak again, Michael."

"Yes, I hope you resolve this quickly, Athena," Michael said and then he was gone.

Athena didn't waste any further time in the village. She channeled more divine power into her hand before throwing it at the air in front of her. The divine energy shimmered briefly before coalescing into a beautiful white door frame with every Greek God and Titan carved into its surface appeared. The eyes of each carved deity glowed brightly as divine energy raced through the arched doorway. The energy shot out from the frame, coalescing in the middle and with a sharp crack a portal to Mount Olympus opened.

She threw one last glance about the ruined village, taking brief note of the spirits leaving the mortal plane of existence for Heaven with the angels, before she stepped through the portal.

Mount Olympus was both similar, and quite different, to what the stories described. It was, indeed, a mountain, but only so much in its overall shape and height made it thus. The 'mountain' could more accurately be described as a vertical continent. Hundreds of enormous terraces covered in small lakes, forests and plains, slowly made their way up to an endless sea of clouds. There were countless waterfalls as rivers wound over the edges of the upper terraces and cascaded down into larger ponds and lakes below. The summit of Mount Olympus, the edge of the vertical continent, was a place no God, Goddess or Titan, had ever been to. Enough energy sparked through those clouds to obliterate even Themis, the greatest of them.

That was one exaggeration in the stories. Zeus did not live at the summit, although he did live as close to the sea of clouds as one could without getting themselves killed. The upper most terrace belonged to him and Hera.

Athena found herself on her own terrace, several levels down from Zeus'. A large, round marble platform jutted just off the edge of it to be precise. Her temple rose up before her, a larger and more beautiful duplication of what had once existed in Athens. It was sturdy and durable, marble and concrete, reinforced with divine energy. The large marble pillars that held up the veranda were sculptured with the visage of past heroes that had adored or worshiped Athena.

Ajax himself had a place at the very center. Athena never forgave Zeus for driving Ajax to suicide. Did anyone honestly think she'd favor Odysseus? Still, Zeus could create a convincing illusion when he wanted to. Athena had gotten him back by setting up Heracles' death. Deianira had been quite willing to betray her 'husband' for Athena.

There was a second sea of clouds at the base of Mount Olympus, spreading out just as endlessly as the one above. Those clouds were just as dangerous to the Gods as the ones above, although the Titans were able to move through them. Many of them were doing so even now. Their titanic forms towering miles into the sky as they stood up to their knees in the cloud cover below. Athena could see Kronos speaking with Rhea across the way, Phoebe was in quiet conversation with Artemis while Tethys was chasing Eros about, blowing bits of cloud from below at him causing the poor demi-god to flutter about in a panic. Even Themis was out and about, in fact the blind Titan she was looking right at her.

"You've returned, Athena," Themis rumbled in a loud voice that was heard across Mount Olympus.

Athena winced. That was not quite how she wanted her return to be announced. She could feel the hushed silence descend upon the mountain. The tension in the air was palpable. Everyone here had heard about what happened, even if none knew the truth of it. The truth might not even be important anymore, the reputation of the Greek pantheon had already been damaged. Athena opened her mouth to defend herself when a dark chill fell upon the area.

((die die die dIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!))

Athena had just enough time to spin around and raise her shield up before an enraged Nemesis slammed into her. The golden shield rang like a gong as she was thrown from her feet and sent tumbling backwards across the platform. She quickly rolled up onto her feet and crouched there on guard, shield held at the ready before her with the spear pointed forward.

Before her stood Nemesis, rage practically steamed off her form as she glared bloody murder at her. No where to be found was the little girl known as Bennia that Tatsumi was so used to. This was Nemesis in her complete form, the one Themis had restored to full divinity. She still had the long purple hair and golden eyes, but there was no sleepy playfulness to be found therein. A Grim Reaper's cloak hung from her shoulders, now pitch black indicating her restored status as an Ultimate-Class Grim Reaper on par with the likes of Orcus and the now dead Pluto. She stood as tall as Athena, and her once flat as an ironing board chest now rivaled Themis' enormous breasts. It made her already scandalous purple dress even more revealing. It barely managed to contain her chest.

((DIE…))

"Wait, Nemesis, I can explain," Athena said quickly.

((It's Bennia! And I don't want explanations!)) Nemesis roared as she charged across the platform. She zipped from side to side so quickly countless afterimages were left behind. To a mortal it would look as if Bennia was attacking from a hundred directions all at once. To Athena's immortal perception she followed the real one and quickly brought her shield around to block her strike. The shield rang loudly a second time but Athena was more prepared this time. She kept her feet and quickly retaliated with her spear, not so much as to hurt Nemesis, but to drive her away and open up some room. ((You get on a plane with my Tatsumi and boom! It explodes and you're gone! What's there to explain?!))

"It wasn't me!" Athena shouted back at the angry Goddess.

((Of course not! You just sat there and did nothing as someone else killed him! How is that any better?!))

Athena froze for a single moment as that thought struck her. She had sat there and done nothing, so assured in her own power and ability that she hadn't bothered to even put up a guard. If she had reacted the moment Tatsumi had knocked away Mine's tea…

She was not entirely without blame. Inaction was often just as bad as the wrong action.

Bennia used her momentary pause to strike. She phased forward, disappearing from her sight. By the time Athena realized what she was doing it was too late to bring her shield around to block the trans-dimensional strike. A small, delicate hand wielding enough power to pulverize a small mountain hammered into her rib cage. Her golden armor cracked as it absorbed most of the blow. The force behind it picked her up off her feet and threw her back the way she came towards the edge of the platform.

Athena stared at Nemesis in shock as pieces of her armor fell away and clattered to the marble floor. If she hadn't been wearing armor… that might have killed her. Nemesis was serious.

"It was confirmed that you were the only immortal there, Athena," Themis rumbled from above. "And every mortal capable of defeating you accounted for elsewhere."

She could see how that would look pretty bad from the outside. Still, one thing didn't quite add up.

"I know all of you can sense the time dilation on me!" Athena shouted back at Nemesis and Themis, even the other Gods and Goddesses that were starting to gather around to watch the spectacle.

((I don't care!)) Nemesis roared as she prepared to attack Athena once more. ((I don't have anyone else to hit!))

"Enough, Nemesis," a new voice interrupted the battle. Everyone stopped and looked up as the true ruler of Mount Olympus, Hera, floated down to the platform. "I, and everyone else, would much rather figure out what really happened so we can defuse the rapidly deteriorating situation down in the human world."

((But—))

"I said enough," Hera snapped angrily, causing Nemesis to scowl and look away. Hades had ruled Hades, Poseidon the seas, and Zeus the skies, but here, on Mount Olympus, Hera ruled. Only Themis stood above her but she wasn't one for politics so she never took the lead unless there was something she actually wanted. "What happened."

Athena slowly straightened, keeping a cautious eye on Nemesis just in case she attacked again. "Loki gave his staff to some human by the name of Syura," Athena began. "There's not much else. He imprisoned me with it and used a combination of his Sacred Gear and the time manipulation effects of the staff to send me elsewhere. To all of you, this happened three days' past. To me, it wasn't even thirty minutes ago."

"If I couldn't sense Asgardian magic clinging to you, I'd call that a convenient excuse." Loki was in an interesting situation where everyone blamed him for everything that went wrong. More often than not, he was involved in some way, but not always, and as a result unless someone could prove it, no one would believe it was him. "But I can, we all can, and that is exactly something Loki would do."

"I originally thought Odin had caught wind of what I hired Tatsumi to do, but I don't know anymore. Shredding my reputation alone would be enough for Loki to move."

((What did you hire my Tatsumi to do?)) Bennia demanded as she stomped towards her, only stopping when Hera held out her arm before her. ((If he's in danger because of you…)) she left the threat hanging in the air.

"He's always in danger and that has nothing to do with me," Athena corrected her. "I hired him for a mission that would take him into Asgard. He accepted. He and that fallen angel, Mine, were headed here to pick you up first before heading north."

((Well he never arrived and now he's gone!)) Nemesis snapped angrily. She turned to Hera. ((Can I stab her please?))

"No."

((How about just partially stab her? In the face maybe. An eye? She doesn't need both.))

"Nemesis, that's enough," Themis rumbled overhead.

((It's Bennia! Not Nemesis!))

Themis completely ignored Nemesis' complaint as she turned to regard Hera. "This needs to be resolved, but nothing can occur until we can provide more evidence than the testimony of a single Goddess, who is the prime suspect, and the faint vestiges of Asgardian magic. No one but us will believe or accept this. We need real proof, possibly even Tatsumi himself."

"Yes, there were no corpses at that crash site and the wreckage was much less than what a plane that size should have created," Hera mused. She turned to Athena and nodded. "The more I consider it, the more likely this appears to be Loki's handiwork. He never liked peace. You will head to Asgard to speak with Odin. He will be willing to listen. Odin wants peace and this goes contrary to his desires."

((I'm going too!)) Nemesis jumped in. ((If Loki really did hurt my Tatsumi I'm going to turn him inside out!))

"I'll go as well," Themis rumbled, sending a ripple of shock through the assembled Gods and Goddesses. Themis rarely ever did anything, so to suddenly offer to go to Asgard like this? It'd been over two thousand years since she'd done anything of equal magnitude. "If for no other reason than to keep Nemesis—"

((It's Bennia!))

"—from killing Athena in her sleep. My presence will keep all the children playing nice."

"Good, then it's settled," Hera said, nodding in satisfaction. "You three will head north the moment you're ready."

"I'll clear our name," Athena promised. She was not going to let Loki tarnish the Greek pantheon with his tricks.

Hera leveled her gaze on her again. "Don't come back until you do."

x~X~x

"We will not speak of this ever again," Mine stated firmly to Tatsumi as she pulled her now dry panties up her legs, "to anyone!"

Tatsumi couldn't help but chuckle as a smile crossed his lips. That, of course, caused Mine to glare at him all the more. As amorous as Mine had been earlier she'd flipped a hundred and eighty degrees the moment she woke up and remembered what happened. Tatsumi had never quite seen someone move as quickly as Mine did when she jumped off him. She'd been chastising him ever since.

As pleasant as last night had been, he preferred the old Mine and it was nice to see her back.

"We simply did what was necessary to keep warm," Tatsumi agreed, doing his best to keep a straight face as he pulled his own pants back up.

It had gone on long and she'd been quite thoroughly warmed up by the time it ended.

"Exactly!" Mine said as she faced him with her hands on her hips. Dressed in nothing but her pink panties Tatsumi couldn't help but let his gaze wander across her body. Last night, if it had been night, had awoken something in him. He wasn't quite ready to place Mine on the same level as Bennia or Sona but…

It was also hard to see her as just a comrade in arms which brought up another worry.

How much of was he feeling for this Mine was due to his lingering attachment to what he had left behind, and how much of it was genuine? He didn't know, and it was quite possible that conundrum would forever keep them apart.

At least she was looking much better. He hadn't been sure of his scheme, it had been a hail-mary long shot, but it seemed to be working. Aside from her empty eye sockets the only visible injuries on her body were a few yellow bruises on her chest where she'd suffered the worst injuries. If the strength of her voice and the way she moved was any indication she didn't just look better, she felt better as well.

Tatsumi reached over and grabbed a hunk of meat from the bundle and tossed it onto a superheated rock that rested across the fire pit. Mine would need something to eat before they went outside again. She was recovering quickly, which was a good thing. Her chest was still covered in bruises, but most of them were now just large yellow spots instead of the angry purple and blue of yesterday.

At least Tatsumi assumed that it was yesterday. There was no day-night cycle wherever they were so time might as well not exist here.

"Ugh!" Mine wrinkled her nose in disgust as she pulled on her stockings. "That really smells rancid."

"Not much I can do about that."

"Didn't say there was," Mine retorted.

"The food won't take much longer." He flipped the hunk of meat causing a fresh wave of pungent smell to waft into the air.

"If I don't get dressed, do I still have to eat that?" Mine complained as she shifted her attention to the stinky meat.

"Yes? You know it doesn't taste as bad as it smells." At least that's what she'd said before. Tatsumi wasn't going to eat any of it so he could only trust her words.

"Bah," Mine snapped as she grabbed her skirt and pulled it up before quickly tugging on her boots. "Just breathe more fire and let's get the stupid thing seared so we can get out of here. I'm sick and tired of this cold."

"You and me both," Tatsumi said, forcing a laugh. He didn't have the heart to tell Mine he had absolutely no clue where they were, or how they were getting out of here.

It didn't take them long to break camp. The meat was wrapped up tight and their stomachs were filled on freshly melted water they were ready to go.

"So what's the plan this time?" Mine asked as she stood there staring at where she thought he was.

"We saw how little sneaking across the mountains availed us last time," Tatsumi said. Mine's head to shift in his direction. "I have a sinking suspicion that this is Nidhoggr's home, or at least familiar territory." The way he'd been lying in wait and how he'd so expertly used the environment to his advantage all pointed to that. Nidhoggr knew this terrain, knew how to traverse it, and knew how to fight in it. "We're not going to be able to sneak past him so we're going to have to try and outpace him."

The food would only last so long, after all. Once it ran out…

"Good, the better we can find some place with a bath, the better," Mine said happily. She brushed her fingers through her hair, pulling at the tangled mess. "Five days without a bath is ruining my hair."

She could tell how long it's been by the condition of her hair?

"Then let's not waste any more time," Tatsumi said as he pulled Incursio from its sheath. "Incursio!"

The transform came quicker this time. Muscle, sinew and bone shifted as he reassumed his large, draconic form with thick blue fur. Transforming was coming easy, but it still required the key to be that easy. The sword wasn't required though, it was just a focusing point. He should be able to control his transformation without it. That was something he resolved to fix when he got home. If he had been able to transform without it maybe he could have stopped Nidhoggr from catching Mine.

"Don't worry about it," Mine said as she climbed onto his back and quickly crawled over to her previous position between his shoulder blades.

"I didn't say anything," Tatsumi said quickly.

"You don't have to, I can feel it," Mine said, patting his back. "It was my stupid mistake. I never should have drunk that tea. I'd have been able to avoid that stupid dragon if I didn't foolishly incapacitate myself."

"How about we just blame Syura and hurt him badly the next time we see him," Tatsumi rumbled.

A vicious smile split Mine's lips. "You don't always have good ideas, but I like that one."

That offended him more than it should have. "I have plenty of good ideas! They just don't always turn out well."

"I believe you should be moving?" Mine asked archly, completely ignoring his protest. "We won't get home if you just sit here."

Tatsumi just looked away and rolled his eyes. Women! Still, she was right. "Just don't fall off." He felt her grip on him tighten as he lumbered forward, bursting through the pile of snow blocking the entrance to the ice cave. Instantly the two of them were assaulted by the cold, blistering wind howling in from above. The blizzard was even more intense than before! He couldn't even make out the endless plain of snow at the base of the mountain anymore.

Moving quickly was definitely the order of the day. If this got much worse they wouldn't be able to travel at all and that was a death sentence.

He cast a quick gaze about the mountain, making sure Nidhoggr wasn't waiting right outside the cave for them to appear, before he threw himself into the air.

It was tough to make any headway. He fought against the blowing wind and blinding snow every inch of sky he covered. It wanted to slam him into the mountain side and bury him in snow and Tatsumi very much didn't want to be on the ground where he couldn't see Nidhoggr coming. Still, despite the howling wind, progress was made and they did cover ground much more swiftly than they would have on foot. It didn't take them long to leave the cleaved mountain behind.

Tatsumi wasn't sure how long they'd been travelling for when he noticed a change in the mountains. The steep mountain side became gentler. The peaks, which had once been lost in the storm above, became visible. Even the snow seemed noticeably less. Tatsumi could see more and more cave openings appearing on the mountain sides whereas before he was lucky to find one.

Then everything changed.

It happened all at once. Tatsumi flew over the peak of one mountain and the wind just stopped, dead, as if it had hit an invisible barrier. The mountain was still covered in snow, but it seemed more incidental, as if avalanches or flakes still in motion after being blown about so hard had kept going before landing on the ground. He could actually see rocks poking up out of the ground in some places.

The biggest change, however, wasn't in the weather, but rather the geography. The base of the small mountain didn't end at an enormous plain of snow like before, but instead a frozen lake. Although, Tatsumi could only assume it was a lake, even this high up he couldn't see the opposite end. It was vast, more like a sea or an ocean. The strangest thing about the entire lake however was what Tatsumi could only think of as the very center of it. There the water still flowed, but instead of laterally like physics would normally dictate, it flowed upwards, disappearing into the darkness above as if heading for some unknown destination.

"This feels promising!" Mine shouted over his shoulder.

Perhaps Mine would know what the heck he was looking at because Tatsumi knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they weren't on Earth. This wasn't the Antarctica. "The mountains gave way to an enormous, frozen lake that's got a vertical river? I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at. Do you know where we are?"

Mine was silent for so long Tatsumi couldn't help but cast back a worried look. She was just staring forward, her mouth open in abject shock.

"Mine?"

That snapped her out of her stunned state. "We're in Niflheim!? How the hell did we get here?!"

"Ah, isn't that the lowest of the Asgardian worlds?"

"No, but it might as well be," Mine snapped. "But… that makes this the Spring of Hvergelmir! Maybe there's a passageway here to one of the upper worlds? If there's one anywhere in Niflheim it would be there."

"Can't hurt to look," Tatsumi said as he tucked his wings in and dove towards the ground. "At least it explains why we haven't see anyone but Nidhoggr." Niflheim was one of the realms of the dead. There wouldn't be anything living here. If they could just put Nidhoggr down for good they'd be free to search for an exit without worrying about anyone—

Tatsumi blinked and pulled up, halting his descent as he noticed something on the ground below.

"Why is there a little girl at the edge of the lake?" Tatsumi asked. He could see her, a young child that looked no older than thirteen or fourteen. Long blond hair that reached her feet, a face so adorable it could melt the heart of even the most dour individuals and eyes that were the color of… Tatsumi didn't know. Every time he tried to pin a color they changed. Blue, red, purple, black, yellow, brown, green, and every shade in between. It was like the eyes couldn't decide what color they wanted to be.

"This is Niflheim, there shouldn't be anyone here except Nidhoggr. One of Yggdrasil's roots snakes its way here and he likes to gnaw on it."

"I know what I'm looking at," Tatsumi said. "And she's not wearing much." Just a plain white, sleeveless dress that reached her knees. Even her feet were bare. "I'm going to say hello," he said as he tucked his wings and continued his dive to the lake's edge, this time though he angled his descent towards the individual.

Tatsumi didn't get the feeling from this child that she was dangerous. She wasn't giving off any sort of bloodlust or deadly intent, she simply stared up at them with idle curiosity.

"Oh, sure, just go say hello to a strange, random living child standing at the edge of a frozen lake in one of the dead realms of Asgard!" Mine said sarcastically. "What can possibly go wrong?"

Everything, now that Tatsumi thought about it, but it was too late to pretend they hadn't seen her and neither of them knew how to get out of Niflheim. Perhaps she knew? Honestly, things really couldn't get much worse. The two of them were stuck in a frozen hellscape with no way to get home, no food aside from what Mine carried with her and being chased by a powerful black dragon hellbent on eating them.

Seriously, five different types of death were chasing them. What was one more?

Tatsumi dropped to the rocky shoreline of the frozen lake a half dozen paces from the child. "What are you doing here, child?" Tatsumi asked her gently.

The child with the shifting eyes tilted her head to the side and blinked before responding. "Standing," she said in a quiet, childlike voice.

Tatsumi felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of his head as Mine snickered behind him. "I didn't mean literally. Well, I did, but not in that regard, ugh…" Tatsumi did his best to ignore Mine's snickering. This was harder than he thought. He tried a different approach. "Do you have a name? We can see about getting you home." Once he figured out how to get out of this place he could always let other people know that she was here.

She tilted her head to the other side. "This is home. Everywhere is home." She blinked. "I am Ymir."

He heard Mine gasp sharply and Tatsumi himself felt like he suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here. He'd done some research on Norse before taking the plane. He was familiar with Ymir. The verses pertaining to him were conflicting based on the source, but all basically agreed that he was the first. A giant. The legendary figure whose body was supposedly broken apart to build the cosmos.

A being that supposedly would have been on par with God, Great Red and Ophis…

Except the little girl standing before him now didn't look like a massive giant. Nor could Tatsumi sense any strength lurking beneath that small form of hers. And wasn't Ymir male? And Dead?

"Aren't you supposed to be…" Tatsumi trailed off. How was he supposed to describe what the stories told? Killed, carved up, and used to build the universe?

Ymir blinked a couple more times before responding. "I am here." She blinked again. "You wish to leave?"

"Ah, yes, actually," Tatsumi said slowly. Ymir was all over the place with her thoughts. "You're not going to try and stop us, are you?"

"Have no power," Ymir said simply. "I simply am." The first giant glanced past him. "That young child, Nidhoggr, will try." She blinked again, a slow, lackadaisical motion that almost seemed as if she was falling asleep. "Defeat him. Then you can leave."

The moment Ymir's words faded into the distance the ground beneath them bucked violently as if some raging animal was tearing its way to the surface. With a massive beat of his wings that blew Ymir off his feat Tatsumi leapt into the air. Just in time as well, as the rocky shore beneath his feet erupted in a shower of ice and rock as the black dragon, Nidhoggr burst from beneath the ground.

"You're not leaving, Tatsumi!" The black, serpentine dragon roared. "Not until I've devoured that cowardly little Fallen Angel clinging to your back like a frightened child!"

There were few words capable of riling Mine up more than calling her a coward. She jumped to her feet on his back and hurled a large lance of pink energy down at the black dragon. It hit Nidhoggr in the snout, exploding into a massive ball of pink energy that consumed the dragon's head.

"I'll show you frightened child! We're going to rend you limb from limb and eat you!"

Nidhoggr just snorted loudly, blowing away the divine energy and the resultant fire and heat. The serpentine dragged surged into the air, it's mouth gaping wide. Tatsumi waited until the last second before he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the rather sharp teeth. Claws flashed into sight and Tatsumi hastily beat his wings, throwing himself back towards the ground.

The ground shook as he dropped heavily onto the rocky shoreline. He needed to fight Nidhoggr on the ground. This body wasn't designed for aerial combat, the wings were barely enough to fly with and without the Shroud of Longinus he wasn't going to be able to match Nidhoggr. Above the black dragon was twisting around in the air and dove at him from above.

The air was shattered by Nidhoggr's triumphant roar as he screamed down from above. Tatsumi waited for the last second before he reared up on his hind legs and stretched his two legs forward. His body morphed and shifted in mid battle, altering the shape and consistency of the internal muscles and bones so that his front legs transformed into humanoid arms and the primordial claws into human like hands with sharp claws for fingers.

Nidhoggr was not prepared for the sudden change and wasn't able to pull up in time. Tatsumi clamped his clawed hands upon Nidhoggr's jaws and wretched them wide, stopping the serpentine dragon in its spot. The air boomed about them as a powerful shockwave rippled outwards. The ground beneath Tatsumi cratered as the entire force of Nidhoggr's charge was channeled through Tatsumi's body and into the ground below.

With a deafening roar Tatsumi twisted his arms and slammed Nidhoggr into the ground like he was trying to chop the icy lake apart using the serpentine dragon as the axe. The surface of the Hvergelmir cracked ominously as the black dragon's body unceremoniously slammed into it.

Tatsumi wrenched the jaws further, hoping to split the dragon's face apart. Nidhoggr writhed from side to side, ripping his razorsharp teeth across the palms of Tatsumi's hands. With one last violent shake Nidhoggr ripped his jaw free and darted backwards, staring at Tatsumi. There was a hint of caution alongside the usual overpowering desire to consume everything.

Tatsumi quickly checked his hands. The razor sharp teeth had shredded through the thick fur and even thicker skin beneath it, but nothing he couldn't work past. His regeneration was slow to kick in, not having anything to eat for days does that to a person, but the wounds hadn't been that serious.

Mine suddenly jumped off his back, landing on the rocky shoreline.

"Mine?" Tatsumi called back, concerned. He couldn't take his eyes off the black dragon for a second.

"You just keep him busy for me!" Mine snapped angrily as she lifted her hands above her head. Divine energy began to surge through her body, sparking between her upraised hands as it coalesced above her into a large pink lance of divine light that grew in size every second. "I'll show him frightened child!"

Tatsumi wanted to protest. Even if the wind wasn't blowing here the temperature was still well below freezing. However he knew that tone. His Mine always took the same tone when she was going to do something no matter what anyone else might think. The best thing for him to do was exactly what she asked.

"I'll keep him busy. Just remember to leave a part of him intact, we need something to eat," Tatsumi said, playing on their earlier conversation.

"His tail is enough," Mine spat out.

"Try if you think you can!" Nidhoggr roared as he surged forward once more

Tatsumi clenched his clawed hands and charged forward to meet the black dragon head on. He reached deep inside him and flared the power waiting within. It came quickly, easily, as if it was just as eager to put this dragon down as Tatsumi was. Touki filled his entire body, strengthening his muscles, reinforcing his bones, toughening his skin. Each thunderous step Tatsumi took forward hit the ground just a little bit harder, came just a little bit quicker.

Now that Mine was no longer on his back he could go all out.

The two came together upon the surface of frozen lake with thunderous roars on their lips. Tatsumi ducked beneath the swipe of a powerful claw and struck back, his clawed fist curling into a large, powerful fist. A magical barrier glowing with sickly green and black light sprang up between Tatsumi's fist and Nidhoggr. Behind it he could see the dragon's lips peel back in a wicked smile. Tatsumi didn't care. He didn't even notice. Thick, corded muscles designed to rend the strongest beings in half pushed beyond their limits by a life force that burned brighter than the sun was combined with all the irritation of being chased for days, stuck in this dead world, and all the pain and suffering this piece of shit inflicted upon Mine.

The barrier was utterly ineffectual. Paper would have done a better job at protecting the dragon. The smile on that dragon's face disappeared as Tatsumi plowed through the barrier like it wasn't even there, sending fragments of sickly green and black energy scattering about. His fist slammed into Nidhoggr's unprotected jaw with a thunderous boom that sent an ice shattering shockwave blasting across the frozen lake, ripping it apart. Nidhoggr's entire twenty-meter long serpentine body did a complete three-hundred and sixty degree back flip.

A second fist buried itself into the black dragon's back, burying the wyrm deep into the ice.

"Leave some for me!" Tatsumi heard Mine shout from the coast line.

"He'll survive," Tatsumi rumbled.

He stomped his way over to Nidhoggr's tail as the black dragon struggled to pull himself out from the ice. Not waiting for the serpentine dragon to surface Tatsumi grabbed the end of his tail and with a roar of fury ripped the dragon from the ice. He whipped the dragon over his head by its tail and slammed him back into the ice. Before the ice finished shaking from the latest set of shockwaves Tatsumi was whipping the dragon over his head once more. And again, and again.

Wham. Wham. Wham. Wham. Wham.

Thunderous booms and earthquakes continuously shook the frozen lake as Tatsumi rag dolled Nidhoggr. Turning the once perfect, pristine surface into a shattered and broken hellscape. It reminded Tatsumi of that one super hero movie he watched with his sister long ago where the green bulky Halk did something similar to some God or another.

It didn't matter.

The rag dolling came to an end when the tail suddenly broke under the strain of being whipped all over the ice. Scales shattered, muscles tore and the last four meters of the tail ripped away from the rest of the dragon, sending the serpentine dragon bouncing across the shattered lake surface.

"There's our supper," Tatsumi said, tossing the tail end to the shoreline. "Feel free to utterly obliterate him."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that!" Mine bit out viciously.

It was only then that Tatsumi realized he could feel the energy rolling of Mine's attack. He turned and could only stare at what had to be the single most terrifying thing Tatsumi had ever seen. A massive lance of pure pink energy a full mile in length hovered high above Mine's head. It was so enormous Tatsumi couldn't make out the back end of it. It had burned a hole into the mountainside! Innumerable magical circles rotated slowly around it, accompanied by thousands of smaller, lesser lances of light.

The look on her face was filled with such anger and rage that Tatsumi, for a brief moment, actually felt sorry for the dragon that would soon be on the receiving end of that. Mine was capable of drastically increasing the strength of her attacks by charging them and her power increased with the strength of her heart and the direness of the situation.

And right now both were at a level that there were no words to describe.

A perfect storm.

"Please don't hit me with that," Tatsumi whimpered. He doubted even he'd be able to survive a direct shot from that. He might not even survive being in the vicinity! There was so much power rolling off it the lake was actually melting beneath it!

"You had better find some way to pin him down then!" Mine shouted at him.

That, Tatsumi could do.

Nidhoggr, sensing the danger from that spear, threw all caution to the wind as it charged towards Mine. Tatsumi rushed to intercept, bounding over jagged ice to meet the dragon before it could reach Mine. Tatsumi slammed a powerful fist into the dragon's side, shattering the scales and bursting the flesh beneath it.

"Move! Move! Move!" Nidhoggr roared as he knocked Tatsumi's arm away, barely noticing the damage in his haste to get at Mine.

"No," Tatsumi said as he snagged a passing wing and threw himself atop the dragon, straddling him like one would a horse. Tatsumi dug his back claws into the ice, slowing Nidhoggr's charge enough to buy himself the time he needed as he raised one hand above his head. The very sky split and Neuntote flashed into his grasp.

This wasn't just the regular Neuntote, it was one enlarged to match his new draconic form and came all sorts of interesting new little spikes. He spun the wicked harpoon around and slammed it through Nidhoggr's back. The black scales, strong enough to deflect all but the most powerful of magical weapons, was as nothing before Tatsumi's overwhelming strength and the razor sharp teeth of the harpoon. A scream of pain was ripped from Nidhoggr's throat as the weapon sheared through his body and into the ice below. Tatsumi twisted the harpoon, catching the wicked ends into the thick ice below. A second, more agonizing scream of pain was ripped from Nidhoggr's mouth as the spear tore through several meters of his body. The dragon's momentum quickly petered out, drowned beneath unbearable agony.

This was it. Nidhoggr was pinned and ripe for Mine.

"Throw it!" Tatsumi roared as he bounded away from the dragon.

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this!" Mine roared as she threw the spear at Nidhoggr. Her aim was impeccable. Even blind as she was, she could smell with pinpoint accuracy where Nidhoggr was.

With breath like his, it wasn't hard.

Tatsumi shot across the ice passing beneath the enormous pink spear as he pushed the fur covered form faster than it had ever moved. He reached Mine and covered her body with his just as the enormous spear of light lanced into Nidhoggr's face.

Mine's strike detonated with force the like's of which this frozen world had never experienced before. A howling wail like a thousand horny angels crying out in ecstasy at the moment of their fall drowned out all the sound of the world. A world that disappeared from sight, devoured by a brilliant pink. The two of them floated there, held aloft by waves of divine energy, gently holding each other like two lovers embracing.

For that one, singular moment that seemed to stretch on forever, it was just the two of them. And in that moment Tatsumi saw for the first, and only time, a soft, gentle smile on Mine's lips. Like all the stress and worries, all the fears and pains, were wiped away, and there was just the gentle soul that Tatsumi knew she always had beneath that tough exterior, laid bare.

Reality shattered that singular, blissful moment as a storm of rock, ice, and water, all moving at supersonic speeds, slammed into them, into him, scorching his fur, tearing through his skin, piercing his flesh. he cradled Mine to his chest, refusing to let even a single fragment reach her.

He was glad his cry of pain drowned out by the deafening roar of fire and destruction.

And then it was over. The sound fading away but never gone, forever echoing off and between the distance mountains. Behind that fading roar came the soft pitter-patter of falling rain and rock. Tatsumi continued to hold Mine as it fell about them, an almost gentle touch after the storm that had descended upon them moments before.

"Y-You don't have to hold me anymore," Mine whispered, breaking the silence. Tatsumi glanced down and found the small woman blushing fiercely. "N-Not that I don't appreciate your cover." She coughed roughly and looked down, away from Tatsumi. "Y-You're a good shield if nothing else."

"You're welcome," Tatsumi rumbled as he smiled down at the blushing Fallen Angel.

"Stop it!" Mine snapped irritably. "Did I get him? No, I know I got him! I had to have gotten him. I wouldn't make a mistake like that."

Tatsumi just chuckled as he rested on his rear and turned around to face her handiwork. He ignored the sharp pinpricks of pain from his injuries and brought Mine around to sit in his lap. Even if she couldn't see the result of her efforts, she should at least be able to face it proudly.

"You got him," Tatsumi said, awed. Amazement didn't quite cover how he felt staring upon the result of her strike. "Him and the lake."

"What do you mean about the lake?"

"It's not frozen anymore," Tatsumi said as he looked out across it. The entire thing had been melted, melted and stirred up. Waves were rolling across it and most likely would for some time. Mine's strike had altered the very geography of the land. It almost felt balmy here right now. He didn't know how long it'd take for Niflheim's natural climate to reassert control, but for the moment it was warm.

There was no need to be a fur covered dragon when it was this warm out. Even Mine would be fine wearing as little as she was. Tatsumi let out a long deep breath and reverted back to his human form. His left arm fell uselessly to his side as the Shroud of Longinus became little more than a makeshift bandage. At least the injuries on his back were covered up with fresh skin, even if it continued to sting and bleed beneath.

He really needed to find something to eat. His regeneration was really slowing down. Much longer and he wouldn't have anything at all.

He pushed that all aside for the moment however and poked Mine in the cheek. "You even chased away the cold. I think you changed the climate for awhile."

"Not my fault! Stupid lake shouldn't have been there and this stupid place has no right being as cold as it is!"

Tatsumi didn't even bother to try and refute that statement. "At least Nidhoggr is dead." The dragon was nowhere to be found and Tatsumi knew well enough that dragon wouldn't leave an opportunity like this to finish Tatsumi off alone.

"He's not," a childlike voice said from behind.

"What?! That had to be enough!" Mine snapped as she whipped her head back and forth trying to find the source of the words.

Ymir walked out from behind Tatsumi and sat down beside him at the edge of the lake. "Nidhoggr can't die," she explained as she brushed a few stray bits of rock and ice from her dress. "He is the dragon that heralds the start of Ragnarok. Body is destroyed. For now." Ymir tilted her head to the side and blinked up at them. "Will take time to rebuild his body. That will give reprieve enough to leave."

He heard Mine grind her teeth in frustration. "Well, at least we can leave."

"Yes," Ymir agreed. She pointed to the vertical river that, despite Mine's attack, was unperturbed. "Follow river. Portal to Hel exists where the river of water meets the river of fire."

"Isn't Hel just another realm of the dead?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes," Ymir agreed, "Will find means to reach Asgard. Portal that takes one close to Valhalla. No such portal exists in Niflheim."

Well, it was something at least. A goal, a direction, a destination and hope of actually getting out of this place. All things they didn't have even an hour past.

"We should get going, Mine, before Nidhoggr pulls himself back together," Tatsumi said, pulling Mine to her feet as he stood. He gave Ymir a sidelong glance. "How long will it take him to pull himself back together?"

"A hundred and five years."

A sweat drop rolled down the back of Tatsumi's head. "That's more than just a small reprieve."

"It is small for Eternals," Ymir said simply.

"Ah." Tatsumi focused on his back, fighting through a fresh wave of pain as he forced his body to grow a large pair of draconic wings to fly. It came, with difficulty, pushing aside the injured flesh to erupt from his back. Again, he was glad he'd made cuts in the back of the black and white body armor to accommodate the wings. "You ready Mine?"

"I was ready days ago," she returned.

"Then…" he trailed off as a thought occurred to him.

"What is it? He's not back already is he?" Mine asked, worried.

"No, not that," Tatsumi was quick to reassure her. He turned to Ymir. "Want to come with us?"

He knew it was irrational. This was Ymir, one of the first entities to ever exist and the first in Norse Mythology. This was home for her. From the way she acted she didn't mind where she was, and the cold didn't bother her, but he couldn't just shake it from his mind. It just wouldn't feel right to leave a little girl standing here all alone at the edge of a formerly frozen lake for all eternity.

"Why?" Ymir asked. There was no change of expression on her face, just a slight hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Yes, why?" Mine demanded, leaning towards him with hands on her hips. "This ought to be good!"

"I don't really have a good reason," Tatsumi said honestly. It was almost like with the coerulis. Did he have a fetish for collecting living things? "I know you're the first giant, that you're Ymir, and probably far more than what you appear to be but…" Tatsumi let out a sigh. "I just don't want to leave a little girl standing here all alone."

"Yup, that's about the sort of reason I've come to expect from you," Mine said, letting out an equally long sigh. "Tatsumi, you're an idi—"

"Boy," Ymir interrupted Mine to correct him.

"What?" they both asked.

"I'm a boy," Ymir asked. "Female half is in Muspelheim. Fire demons there held a democratic vote. Voted overwhelming in favor of my female half."

"Demons and girls…" Tatsumi could only imagine the horrific things those fire demons were doing to Ymir's female half.

"Yes. Enjoy playing leap-frog. Hopscotch. Cats-cradle," Ymir said, nodding his head. "Sometimes even play multiplayer minesweeper."

Tatsumi's mind went blank as he stared at Ymir. He couldn't even begin to envision what that was supposed to look like. Fire demons playing leap frog with a little girl and cooling down with a multiplayer version of a game that can only exist in single player form?

"I ah…" he had to grasp onto something solid. Something that might make sense. His eyes dipped to Ymir's apparel. "You look… why a dress?"

"I like dresses," Ymir said simply. "Comfortable. Cute."

That didn't help things very much. There were two of them. He and Gasper were a pair. "You know, I think you and Gasper would get along quite well."

"The half-vampire?" Ymir asked quizzically. His eyes took on a faraway look for a moment before nodding. "Has good taste." He paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "I will come. We will share dresses."

"This has got the be the strangest conversation I've heard in a very long time," Mine said exasperated. "And that's saying something considering the recent company I've kept!"

"At least things are never dull," Tatsumi pointed out.

"Much to my dismay," Mine muttered bitterly. "Fine, grab the kid… Ymir… and oh this is not going to go well with the Asgardian Gods."

"Eh, I don't think it'll be that bad," Tatsumi said as he took Ymir's hand. "He can even show us the way to Asgard once we reach Hel."

"Fine, fine!" Mine said, giving up completely. "You're taking full responsibility though!"

"Of course."

And with that said, the three of them took to the air and left Niflheim behind, taking Nidhoggr's tail with them.

Note about that ruined village: The one that Athena appeared at. Just because few will pick up on it but I want everyone to know what it is… that village is Syura's home village. He was born there, and when Gregorious found him, they destroyed it, leaving behind the wails of despair. They also killed the Grim Reapers that had come to ferry the souls, just because they could, leaving the villagers to linger on in perpetuity.

Author's Note: Anyways, leave a review and let me know what you think!