Author's Note: Sorry ahead of time if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes. Work is busy yet again and it's not leaving me much time to spend writing/proof reading as I'd like.
Chapter 31: A New Land, Beyond Sight
The Rosenborg Castle Gardens was a major tourist attraction in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the oldest park in Copenhagen, created hundreds of years ago to satisfy a king's ego and unlike most human creations had actually survived the test of time without degrading. It had been built upon several times over the years, pushing it ever larger and more beautiful with each passing decades. It was a wide, expansive garden filled with tree-lined boulevards, large vibrant lawns, beautiful flower gardens, and a number of statues and monuments hailed back to a time of ol'.
It was home to several other structures of historical significance to the humans, often drawing in tourists from across Europe and the world. Even now the place buzzed with activity. The din of the city nothing more than a distant murmur as people walked the garden's stone paths and took in history with each breath they took.
Many didn't realize but the place had been blessed years past. Sif had walked its stone paths for a time and had taken a liking to it. Even to this day her blessing remained upon it. It was in part due to that blessing that, kept the garden preserved and the unwanted noise of the city at bay. Her blessing made the plants and trees more resilient to hard times, and more energetic during the good.
Bennia found it difficult to bring herself to care. This place could be as beautiful as it wanted to be, but unless Tatsumi was there, she didn't even notice. That wasn't really the garden's fault, it was just hard to care about much of anything. She felt cold inside, fear eating away at her warmth.
Everything was just so dark and washed out without Tatsumi around.
She never should have accepted Themis' offer to become a full Goddess again, not that Themis had given her a real choice. If she had stayed with Tatsumi she would have been with him on that plane, with him even now, instead of stuck here in this stupid garden in this stupid city waiting for stupid gods to get off their stupid asses and answer Athena's stupid call!
Bennia was a little irritated right now.
((Have they responded yet?)) Bennia demanded of Athena for what must have been the hundredth time since arriving in the city.
Athena was upside down above her, leaning back on her hands upon the grass with her legs splayed out before her. She wasn't wearing her usual outfit and instead wore jean shorts that were so short the edges of her ass were hanging out with a mid-riff baring white tank-top and a pair of sneakers. The only thing that she had on that could identify her as Athena were the Bracelets of Aias around her wrists.
It had been Themis' idea to wear disguises. They didn't want to startle the mortals. The blind titan herself stood nearby eating a popsicle of all things. She was covered head to toe in a thick, heavy silver cloak that was, if one were to look closely enough, constantly shifting like liquid. The titan had taken the excess power she had to expel from her body when shrinking into her small body and fashioned it into the shape of the cloak she now wore.
There was enough power bound into each individual 'thread' of that cloak to wipe Denmark off the map so Themis was very careful who she rubbed shoulders with. Even an accidental brush against a mortal would erase their existence.
Bennia hadn't bothered to change. No one could see her unless she wanted them to.
The dark-haired Goddess just threw Bennia an annoyed look, which Bennia threw right back at her, before shaking her head. "No, nothing yet." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice as well. Athena liked being ignored as much as Bennia liked being without Tatsumi. Which was not at all. "I've sent multiple messages to Sif, Thor and Odin and not one of them have responded."
Themis pulled the grape-flavored popsicle out of her mouth and regarded Athena with a frown. "At first I thought perhaps they may be busy, it happens and we can't expect them to receive us on a whim. Two days, however, is a bit much and now I suspect something else."
((Suspect the worst so we can just barge in there!)) Bennia snapped to the sideways titan. ((I want my Tatsumi.))
"Do you think perhaps someone is intercepting the message?" Athena asked Themis.
((Trying to excuse your incompetence?)) Bennia snapped at the now upright Goddess.
"Or blocking it," Themis said thoughtfully. Bennia fumed as the both of them seemed to utterly ignore her. If Athena didn't connect with the Aesir soon, Bennia would do something to her she couldn't ignore. "If Loki truly is involved, he would try to prevent us from meeting with his counterparts." Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion. "The longer the silence continues the more I suspect he truly is involved. Odin knows better than to ignore me."
((Then just tear your way into Asgard! It's not like any of them can stop you,)) Bennia snapped at the Titan who was now sideways again.
"True," Themis said thoughtfully, "Thor is the only truly dangerous one amongst them."
"We're trying to do this peacefully," Athena reprimanded Bennia. "We want to garner their aid, we're not going to do that by stomping our way across the Bifrost and kicking Heimdall out of the way."
Bennia glared at the upside-down goddess. She was all for stomping across the Bifrost and kicking Hemidall out of the way, especially kicking Heimdall out of the way. That man was incapable of taking a hint! ((Then you stay here while Themis and I kick down the gates of Asgard.))
"Themis wouldn't do…" Athena trailed off as her eyes searched the blind Titan's face. She started to go pale when she saw what was there. "You wouldn't…"
"I'm tired of waiting, Athena," Themis stated simply. She popped the popsicle back inside and crunched down hard. She tossed the rest of it away before continuing. "I've got a half-finished painting I need to get back to and I can't do that so long as we're stuck out here." Her face darkened. "Half my paint has probably dry by now. I am not amused anymore."
Bennia felt it was wise not to mention to the now upright Titan that she was here by choice and could leave at any time. Themis, once she set her mind on something, went after it with a single-minded purpose that was terrifying because there were few that could actually stop her from doing whatever it was she wanted.
Athena quickly jumped to her feet with a panicked look. "Wait, let me try at least once more and then we can go someplace out of the way—"
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled across the King's Garden as Themis unleashed her divine power about her. The thick, silver robe blew apart and became long, undulating streams of power that flowed about her like small twisting rivers. Her small form now hovered several feet above the ground, encased in a powerful halo of light that was too bright for mortals to stare at for long without going blind, those that could stare anyways.
Themis made the world wobble when she moved, it affected everyone. It wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable. Every human within a one mile radius keeled over, emptying their stomachs in whatever they could find. Tires squealed, horns blared, and crashes echoed all over the city as a thousand car accidents happened all at the same time, their drivers and occupants becoming violently ill at the sudden unleash of power.
And it didn't just affect the mortals.
((Ugh! The world is wobbling!)) Bennia complained as everything quivered around her.
"Then stop spinning!" Athena snapped at her as she herself tilted dangerously upwards. The dark-haired Goddess pointed at all the smoke rising into the air from the countless accidents. "That's why I wanted to go elsewhere!"
"What do I care about those that live within the influence of the Aesir?" Themis rumbled, her titanic voice echoing across the city. "Their Gods should have answered our call if they didn't wish this upon them."
Then Themis moved and all of Denmark and most of Sweden wobbled violently.
((Oh no! She's moving! Gah! BLARGH!)) Bennia couldn't help it. It was all too much. The mortal realm was never designed to handle the movement of a Titan with his or her power unleashed. They were miles tall, and when you compressed all that into a tiny body and then moved it around, gravity started doing weird things to the fabric of reality. Everything thing wobbled and quivered around Bennia. With her head spinning and her body spinning coupled with the movement of Themis… it was just too much. Her lunch erupted from her mouth in a violent explosion that sprayed all over Athena, drenching her head to toe in putrid smelling green and brown vomit. The Goddess of Wisdom and War just stood there, staring uncomprehendingly at the vile puke that coated her. ((It won't—BLARGH!—stop! Make –BLARGH!—it stop!))
It felt like everything Bennia ate in the past week was coming up to greet Athena.
"THEN STOP SPINNING!" Athena screamed at her. The dark-haired Goddess had her golden shield held protectively out in front of her now to ward off the waves of vomit raining down upon her. "Oh Themis! Stop, please! I can't take any more of this! I need a bath, I need fire, acid! I need anything!"
"Nemesis, Athena, stop acting like children," Themis boomed their names across the city, but at least she came to a stop, hovering over the very central most part of the gardens. "We're going to see why Odin has decided to ignore me." And just like that Themis ripped the sky open, revealing a long rainbow bridge surrounded by endless darkness that reached up to a set of golden gates protecting the enormous and beautiful city of Asgard. "Hurry along children, I won't wait for you."
"Anything to get away from her!" Athena shouted as she launched herself into the air and away from Bennia. Her body shimmered in midflight as Athena purified her of Bennia's former meals. When the light died away she was dressed once more in her Greek outfit, complete with the golden armor.
((I'm coming too!)) Bennia said as she raced after them, making it through the rift in the sky just before Themis closed it.
"Why are you still spinning?!" Athena cried out before she bolted up the Bifrost to get away from her.
((Because I think last Friday's supper still wants to come up to greet you!)) Bennia shouted as she chased after Athena, still spinning in circles.
Themis just shook her head in bemusement, "Nemesis... if you weren't so adorable I wouldn't put up with you."
x~X~x
It was a large cavern, thirty meters wide and half that tall. The floor was covered in countless stalagmites, packed together more tightly than the quills on the back of a scared porcupine. They reached for the ceiling where an equal number of stalactites awaited them. The entire cavern had the feel of a maw filled with countless razor sharp teeth ready to snap shut upon unsuspecting interlopers. Only in the very center of the room, upon an upraised platform of stone barely three meters across, was it safe to stand. That platform, held aloft by a stone pillar that seemed far too thin to support its weight, was connected to the room's sole entrance by a long, arching bridge of stone.
The platform was magically constructed and reinforced with countless magical runes buried deep within the stone. The place of a gateway between Hel and Niflheim created during the earliest days of the Nine Worlds before the great war between the Vanir and the Aesir and the subsequent peace. Upon the platform was a large oval like stone structure, five meters high and half that wide. It stood upright without any support suggesting that like the platform it rested upon, it wasn't a natural construct. The weight of the construct alone should have caused the platform to snap off its support and collapse into the stalagmites below.
The stone portal which had been dim and inactive for centuries suddenly lit up brightly as the countless runes engraved across its surface lit up all at once, filling the dark cavern with a soft blue light. The only light it had seen in just as long. A sharp crackle, much like the discharge of static electricity, filled the cavern, growing louder with each passing moment as it built into a deafening crescendo that climaxed with three soft little pops. Three people stumbled into the cavern, two of them gasping deeply for breath while the third just looked on.
The crackling kept echoing throughout the chamber long after the portal dimmed and went out.
"You never said anything about it being a vacuum!" Tatsumi managed to force out between deep gasps for air. That had been horrible! Nearly as horrible as travelling across Niflheim! If they hadn't been so certain that there was a portal exit, Tatsumi would have turned around long before reaching it.
Seriously, who was that portal designed for? It was impossible to leave Niflheim unless you knew exactly where to go and exactly how to activate the portal and had the means of getting there quickly!
"Niflheim is the Land of the Dishonored Dead," the young crossdressing child said calmly. "You're not supposed to leave once you're sent there. That portal exists solely for the Aesir. Vanir. Myself. We don't need to breathe."
"So I noticed!" Tatsumi gasped out. Could Ymir read his mind? It felt that way sometimes.
He glanced about wherever they were. It was pitch black, he couldn't see a thing. He squinted hard as he tried to force himself to see something. There had to be at least a little light.
His own eyes changed in response. Everything suddenly appeared in varying shades of grey, white and black. He could see the three of them clearly as very distinct white outlines along with the large portal behind him. Everything else was varying shades of grey, with the far reaches of what Tatsumi could only assume was a cavern based on the nearby stalactites he can see, pitch black.
"How interesting," Ymir murmured. Tatsumi turned to the child like giant and found him staring at Tatsumi with interest. "Yes. I see. It makes sense."
Right… Tatsumi wasn't going to ask. He felt he was better off not knowing what was going through Ymir's mind. He was very quickly realizing that Ymir didn't think like the rest of them. His thoughts were completely alien.
"Where are we now, Tatsumi?" Mine asked as she turned her head this way and that. A habit from when she could see, not that she'd have been able to see much anyways even if she had her sight.
This place was darker than black.
"A cavern of some kind. Don't worry, even with your sight you wouldn't have been able to see anything. There's no light in here at all," Tatsumi said.
A brilliant white shape suddenly appeared next to Ymir. "Here," the giant said, handing something to Tatsumi.
Tatsumi blinked several times and his vision returned to normal. He could only stare at the flaming torch that Ymir was offering. "Where were you hiding this?" Tatsumi asked as he took the torch. He wasn't really one to look a gift-horse in the mouth but, really. What the hell?
"Pulled it out," Ymir said calmly.
Out of where? Tatsumi wanted to ask but felt he really didn't want to know.
"Thanks?" Tatsumi said as he turned and held the torch high above. With a proper light source he could see the cavern clearly now, including the bridge crossing a chasm filled with pointed stalagmites. "That'll hurt."
Well, it'd hurt if he wasn't encased in Touki, transformed into a dragon or even wearing the armor he was wearing now.
"Just stone," Ymir explained, confirming Tatsumi's thoughts. "More imposing than dangerous. Even your lover wouldn't suffer injury."
Mine squawked loudly as a furious blush consumed her cheeks. "I am not his lover!"
Ymir tilted his head to the side and blinked. "In that cave back in Niflheim—"
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Mine cried out. "How do you even know—it doesn't matter. You will not speak of that to anyone! Are we clear?"
Ymir just shrugged. "Okay."
"Well, let's not wait here on this platform, I'd like to see what's at the end of that tunnel," Tatsumi said nodding towards the gaping entrance to the room. He reached to the side and took Mine's hand. She jumped violently in surprise and quickly ripped her hand away.
"W-W-What are you doing?" she demanded, blushing furiously.
"The only way to the exit is across a long, narrow bridge that spans a chasm of razor sharp stalagmites." Tatsumi explained. "I could carry you instead." Flying wasn't really an option considering how low some of the stalactites above came. Some of them would brush his head just crossing the bridge as it were.
Her hand was back inside his. "That won't be necessary," she said quickly.
Tatsumi just smiled and said nothing. He pulled her hand up and placed it in the crook of his elbow before starting forward. He picked his way carefully across the narrow bridge with the torch held out in front. He made sure to pick a path that would keep Mine in the very center of the bridge.
The going became a bit smoother when they reached the tunnel. No narrow bridges, death defying stalagmites or stalactites dipping so low they threatened to part your hair. That was it though. It was still a pitch black cave tunnel with no significant identifying features.
"Not even moss," Tatsumi noted as they slowly made their way through the tunnel.
"This is Hel, Land of the Dead," Ymir explained. "Nothing lives except Hel." The young looking giant paused, tilting his head to the side. "Partially. Half dead." He shrugged. "Had crush on Hades. Tried to mimic him."
"Had?" Tatsumi asked ducking a little to avoid a particularly low section of ceiling. Mine and Ymir as short as they were didn't have to.
"Hades used her once. Tossed her aside. Couldn't compare to Persephone." Ymir paused for a moment before finishing. "Left Hel with broken heart. Grudge."
"How long ago was this?"
"Gregorian Calendar? Two thousand, three hundred and five years, six months, two weeks, one day, five hours, eight minute and fourteen seconds." Ymir shrugged again. He hopped over a small crack in the ground, sending his little white dress swishing about his legs. "Time has no meaning for Eternals."
"That word, Eternal, that's the second time you've used it," Tatsumi pointed out. He paused as they reached an intersection, causing Mine to lightly bump into his arm. He held the torch out in each direction, hoping to find some sort of identifier that would let him know which way to go.
"Straight," Ymir said.
"Thanks," Tatsumi said, continuing on forward. "Is there some sort of difference between an Eternal and an Immortal?"
"Immortals can be killed. Eternals cannot. Ymir, God, Ophis, Great Red. All Eternals."
"God's dead," Mine said curtly. "Dead for a long time too, before I was ever born."
"God's not dead," Ymir said. "Life itself requires God to be alive. Your life required that he be alive."
What? That caused Tatsumi and Mine to both stop and stare at the child-like cross-dressing giant. "I'm fairly certain he's dead." Tatsumi said. Mine nodded her head in agreement.
Michael and Gabriel had been completely adamant about that. Everyone had been. He'd even made a big speech about it himself.
Ymir stopped as well, peering up at him with his stoic, unblinking gaze. "God can't die," Ymir repeated himself. "His body can be destroyed, yes. He can choose not to rebuild, true. Can he die? No. He is Eternal." Tatsumi felt Mine go still at his side.
"I don't understand," Mine said quietly. "He has to be dead. Why would he just abandon the Angels? All of us?"
"To grow," Ymir said without emotion. "Norse. Greeks. Romans. Hindu. Shinto. Catholicism. All of them. Kept secret from Humanity so humans could grow into their own. God did the same. Separated himself from the world so that all his creations could grow. So that you could grow. So that the Angels. The Fallen. Could become what he had always envisioned for them. With God alive you did not need to think. Feel. Grow. Nothing more than what you were created to be. A construct. You were stagnant. Empty. Frozen." Ymir's head tilted to the side. "Now you are not. You are moving. Everyone is becoming more than what they were created as." He paused. "Some slower than others," he admitted.
"If God isn't dead, then where is he!" Mine snapped.
Ymir slowly reached out and touched Mine gently in the very center of her chest between the gentle swell of her breasts. "Inside you. Inside all of you. God is an Eternal. The personification of the mortal soul. You are a half-breed. A piece of him resides within you." Ymir paused as he slowly pulled his finger away. Mine quickly touched her chest as if wondering if Ymir had burned a hole through it. "Not just human souls. All souls on all worlds across the entire breadth of the cosmos."
"There is more than just life on Earth?" Tatsumi asked.
"Yes," Ymir said quite firmly. "Can feel that life all across the universe."
Tatsumi suddenly paled and he felt the faint stirrings of sheer terror building within him as he finally realized what he was staring at and just why Ymir felt and thought so differently from the rest of them. Ymir, in Norse Mythology, was supposedly torn apart and his body, his flesh, used to build the cosmos. What if there was more truth in that mythos than Tatsumi first gave credence? What if the interpretation was in fact, a weak, pale attempt to try to explain to a simplistic mortal race just what Ymir actually was.
What if that explanation didn't even come close to reaching the truth?
"You're…" Tatsumi's hoarse voice trailed off into a whisper. He didn't want to give voice to that thought.
"Yes," Ymir said, again seemingly able to read Tatsumi's thoughts. "I am the canvas upon which God painted the universe." Ymir gestured at itself. "This is simply a basic construct used to house my consciousness. Have no power. Have no need for power. I am everything."
Holy fuck.
"Tatsumi… please tell me we're not stealing the Universe straight out from under the Norse pantheon, are we?" Mine pleaded desperately. "Please? Pretty Please? Just lie to me!"
"Eh, it sounded like a good idea at the time?" Tatsumi said as he tried to defend himself.
"That's not the lie I was looking for!" Mine screamed at him.
Ymir just tilted his head to the side, like he couldn't figure out why it was a big deal. "Wish to trade dresses with Gasper Vladi," he explained his reasoning for coming along.
"The Universe is a cross dresser…" Mine said in a voice bordering on absolute hysteria. "This is the sort of thing you can't make up!"
"You are mistaken, young Fallen One," Ymir said. "I am not the Universe. Simply the canvas upon which the Universe was painted. I, it's flesh. God, it's soul. Together we are only part of the whole. The concepts that govern us make up the rest."
"Ophis and Great Red are two of those concepts?" Tatsumi asked. His head was really starting to hurt from all this.
"Yes," Ymir said. "Ophis the Infinite. Great Red the Dreamer. Dragons are all connected. The three work together. Ophis represents the infinite, endless possibilities that exists in all things. Great Red represents the form those infinite, endless possibilities can take."
"And the third?" Tatsumi asked.
"The third represents the ability for all things to grow. Evolve. Achieve the dreams that line the unending, Infinite Path." Ymir paused for a moment. "The Infinite paves the road. The Dreamer creates the destinations. The third provides the means to walk along that road to those destinations."
"Who is this third dragon?" Tatsumi asked. He knew of a great number of mythological dragons. He wasn't sure if any of them matched up to Ophis or Great Red, but there were certainly a large number of very powerful ones.
Azazel made it seem like Ddraig and Albion were immensely powerful dragons in their own right.
Ymir didn't answer right away. He just stared at Tatsumi. It continued for so long Tatsumi feared he'd done something to upset first giant when he finally spoke. "The third doesn't exist. For a concept to be a concept, it must be accepted as a concept by both itself and the people around it." Ymir shrugged. "The third is not there yet. Might never get there."
"Oh…" Tatsumi trailed off He wasn't quite sure how to respond to all of that. It wasn't every day a piece of the Universe just randomly explained how things worked at a fundamental level. Well, standing here wondering about all that wasn't going to get them of Hel. "We should continue."
He could work on sorting all that out later. If it could even be sorted out.
"Yes, I don't think I want to hear any more of how the Universe works," Mine said. her voice was small and weak as she faced Ymir. His words had completely unnerved Mine.
Without any more prompting Tatsumi started through the tunnels again. Mine clutched his arm tightly, following so close she was almost tripping over his feet. Ymir followed just behind him seemingly without a care in the world. He probably didn't. Their fears and concerns were simply two amongst quite possible trillions upon trillions of others.
They did not matter. A simple blip on Ymir's radar that only registered because they both happened to be just slightly more than the average mortal.
"Did God have a change of heart?" Ymir asked suddenly.
"Change of heart? In what way?" Tatsumi asked, almost fearing what sort of strange, earth shattering tangent they were about to end up on.
Ymir tilted his head to the side as they walked. "Breast size." He pointed at Mine. "Your Lover has a small chest. Not like Him."
Ok, that was not what Tatsumi was expecting to hear. They definitely went off on a strange tangent, but this wasn't quite the earth shattering topic he had been thinking about.
"Excuse me?" Mine demanded. That comment about her chest wiping away all her earlier fears. "What did you just say, I must have you heard you wrong."
"Chest is smaller than God's accepted standards," Ymir explained. "We debated which size was best. I prefer small. Less strain on shoulders and men better appreciate what is presented when not served too much. God objected. Prefers larger." The strange giant shrugged lightly. "Your chest is perfect. Large enough to enjoy. Small enough not to spoil appetite for more."
Mine just gaped in the direction of Ymir's voice, looking completely confused. Should she go off on him and tear a strip off his side or be flattered that the physical personification of the Universe itself felt she was perfect, ideal? Ymir had been staring, but at the same time everything he stated was so clinical and matter-of-fact, it was difficult to get upset. Besides, he was everything. In a very real sense, Mine's chest was just another facet of him.
If Ymir noticed Mine's shock, he didn't let it show. "Quoting God: 'A true women must have enormous breasts so that they are better able to smother men in Joy and Happiness! Gabriel is my pride and joy! The perfect face! The perfect figure! The perfect ass! The perfect breasts! She is the ideal upon which all women must strive to achieve!' end quote."
Did God actually sound like that? Ymir's voice had completely changed to be this deep, masculine voice that sent this odd, thrum of excitement through you.
Correction, this was earth shattering, but in a completely different way. God, it turned out, was quite possibly the single biggest pervert in all of existence. Issei would cry tears of joy knowing that God shared his fascination with breasts.
"This is one conversation that can't leave this cave," Tatsumi said.
"I-I think I can agree with that," Mine said, still utterly confused at what she should be feeling.
"Back to your question… I don't think God has had a change of heart." What sort of conversation was he having here with Ymir? This was totally messed up. "Shouldn't you be able to figure that out yourself?" Tatsumi asked. "I mean, if you're the physical representation of the Universe, you should be able to sense the average breast size of every Angel and Fallen Angel..." he trailed off as Ymir shook his head.
"No. The Underworld, Mount Olympus, Heaven, Nirvana and your world. Alternate dimensions. Do not exist there. Body used to create the nine worlds and the Universe beyond. Feel all there is here. Not there."
Ah, that actually made a certain sort of sense. In that case, Tatsumi answered Ymir as best he could. "I haven't met very many Angels and Fallen Angels, but Mine is sort of the exception. Aside from her and one other Fallen Angel, everyone one I have met did have large breasts."
"Stubborn until destruction, pity," Ymir said, almost sounding mournful. He turned to Mine and nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. Not all are large. Exception? Anomaly? Mutation?" He paused. "The Fallen One that died upon my flesh was similar. Half-breed, like your lover."
"I am not his lover!" Mine protested.
"Small chests can arise when there is a mixing." Ymir continued without hearing Mine's protest. He nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. Influence lessened in those instances. More variation would arise."
Tatsumi just shook his head and tried very hard not to think about a certain golden-haired woman and her enormous breasts.
They continued in silence after that. Twisting and turning through what could only be a maze of winding tunnels and intersections. Ymir, at each intersection, directed them this way or that. Just thinking of trying to make their way through this maze without him filled him with dread. Unless all those other tunnels came to a dead end right after they turned out of sight, it would have taken them longer to make it through this place than they had food to last, even with the tip of Nidhoggr's tail that Mine was dragging behind her.
They had to stop soon. Mine's stomach was rumbling so loudly Tatsumi feared it was trying to eat its way out. Miraculously, just as Tatsumi started to look for a place to stop and eat, the tunnel they'd been following opened up into a small little cave with a decent size fire pit in the center with a long, flat rock spanning the gap to cook meat on. There were even several crescent shaped stones circle the fire pit.
It almost looked like the place was designed for a party to take a break.
"No wood, but that's not a big problem," Tatsumi said as he guided Mine over to one of the crescent shaped stones. He helped her down and turned back to find Ymir dropping pieces of chopped wood into the fire pit? "Do I even want to know where you found those?"
"Inside," Ymir said simply as he dropped the last couple pieces of wood into the pit.
"Right, inside, sure." Too many weird things had already been said and done on this trip for Tatsumi to question that for long. He stoked the fire in his chest and breathed it out into the pit. The wood burst into flame and quickly heated up the room.
"Here, cook it," Mine said, dropping Nidhoggr's tail on the stone floor at her feet. They really were going to eat Nidhoggr. A strange sort of poetic justice. Mine was right in a way. There was a certain sort of satisfaction in eating something that had repeatedly stated it was going to eat you.
"Strange," Ymir said as he watched Tatsumi tear the scales off.
Tatsumi paused halfway through ripping another scale off to stare at Ymir. He was calling them strange? He wasn't really one to talk. Tatsumi just shook his head and finished ripping the scale off. He sliced several large hunks of flesh off the tail and placed them on the long flat rock spanning the fire pit. Like with the other meat Mine still carried, the small cavern was filled with a thick, pungent smell that caused even Tatsumi to wrinkle his nose in disgust.
It was all they had though. Mine might be able to pass it off and eat the other meat, but Tatsumi couldn't.
"I think this smells worse than that other meat you found for me in Niflheim," Mine said, wrinkling her nose in disgust as well. "I thought I was used to it but this is just… maybe it'll taste even better?"
"One can hope," Tatsumi said.
"This isn't cannibalism for you, is it?" Mine asked as Tatsumi flipped the hunks of meat over.
"For this one meal, I am one-hundred percent the human, Tatsumi."
"Must be convenient to just change your race on a whim like that."
"It's a perk," he said, not denying it. If the devils were allowed to change what he was on a whim, he could too!
A comfortable silence filled the small cavern as the three of them sat around the fire pit. Tatsumi periodically flipped the hunks of meat, cooking them more thoroughly this time than before. Nidhoggr wasn't the cleanest of dragons and Tatsumi wanted to be sure anything strange inside it was thoroughly killed before they consumed it.
Once he felt it was ready he pulled them off the fire and blew on them gently, cooling them down a little.
"Ready?" Tatsumi asked the woman beside him.
Mine rubbed her hands eagerly together. "I'm going to enjoy devouring that stupid dragon." She leaned forward, mouth open waiting for Tatsumi to feed her.
"Here's to hoping it tastes better than it smells," Tatsumi said as he brought the meat up to her lips.
Mine took a large, ravenous bite from the meat and instantly her face twisted as if someone had just stuck the most sour and vile thing in existence inside. She chewed slowly and with great reservation, driven on by an overwhelming desire to prove to herself that she did in fact eat what had tried to eat her.
She swallowed, hard, then coughed and spat out what was left when she was done.
"I'm finished," Mine said quickly, pushing away the rest of the meat. She felt around for the bundled up meat Tatsumi had given her earlier and pulled out another chunk. "Throw this on the fire instead. I need something to forget that taste."
"Sure," Tatsumi said, doing as asked. Compared to before, an almost pleasant aroma wafted up from the heated rock. "How bad was it?"
"Have you ever eaten rotten compost?" Mine asked.
"Can't say that I have."
"Well you're about to."
Tatsumi let out a long sigh. That was not what he was hoping to hear but after that face he hadn't really had much hope. To be honest, Tatsumi hadn't much hope from the start and Mine probably didn't either. She ate it out of sheer principle, and little else.
He took one last mournful look at the meat and dumped both of them into the fire. Guess he was going hungry until get got out of Hel. He hoped he'd survive that long. He wasn't quite sure how long someone could survive without eating, at least they'd had their fill of water up until now. That was usually the real killer.
It didn't take long to cook the old hunk of meat. Tatsumi only seared it lightly on either side, and soon Mine was happily munching away on it, murmuring how much better this was than that garbage she'd eaten earlier.
"Why do you eat that strange meat?" Ymir asked just as Mine finished the last few bites.
"Because there's nothing else?" Tatsumi offered.
Ymir tilted his head to the side and blinked twice. A moment later the cave floor beside them shifted and moulded. The rock rose up, forming an elegant banquet table complete with white linen cloth, porcelain plates, cutlery, and a host of mouth watering meat, fresh vegetables, fruit, and water.
Mine clutched at his sleeve. "Tatsumi… what am I smelling? That can't be steak!"
"It is…" Tatsumi said. "It seems our friend, Ymir… is capable of creating food from… nothing?"
"Not nothing," Ymir corrected him. "I am everything. No power. Do not need it. Do not need to destroy. Create. Simple little things. Food and water. Everything that is natural is born from inside, can give birth to the same."
Tatsumi's mouth started to water as he stared at the food. His stomach, abused and ignored for so long, rumbled loudly enough to shake the floor.
"Ymir…" Mine asked softly.
"Yes, Fallen One?"
"If you can make water… and plates… can you make a bath tub filled with hot water?"
"Yes?"
"And soap?"
"Yes?"
"And dresses?"
Ymir quickly stood and stepped back from Mine. "Sense that existence is at risk."
"Oh, no, it's not at risk," Mine said softly. The wild, almost feral look on her face belied the gentle tone. "Not so long as I end up in a warm bath within the next five minutes."
"I'd just do it if I were you," Tatsumi advised the first giant. "I've learned that one of the last things you want to do is get between a woman and her bath, especially when she hasn't had one in nearly a week."
Ymir swallowed hard and nodded his head. For the first time since Tatsumi met him, there was real emotion in his eyes.
Fear.
~o~
"I feel so much better," Mine moaned as she stretched her arms above her head. "I think we might actually make it out of all this." She lifted her face to the sky and let out a luxurious sigh as a warm, gentle breeze blew across the mountain. A sharp contrast to the bitter, gale force winds that had hounded them in Niflheim.
Mine looked as good as she felt. Her injuries from before, minus her eyes, were completely healed. The Shroud of Longinus still wrapped around her eyes. Her dress, which had once been torn off at the waist, had been toss aside and replaced with a new one courtesy of Ymir. The sweat and dirt from days of travel gone, replaced instead by scented soaps. Her hair was still slightly damp, the by-product of a second bath she had this morning before they'd set out. Her reasoning? Didn't know when the next bath would come.
She'd even forced Tatsumi to at least wash off. He did feel better, but he was going to wait until they got somewhere safe before he let his guard down and took a full bath.
Their camp for the night had actually been fairly close to the entrance. Only a few paces beyond it and both light and wind started to filter into the tunnel from outside. Their pace had quickened when that first faint tickle of wind brushed past their cheeks and it hadn't been long before they'd emerged from that cave system.
Tatsumi just smiled at Mine and turned to look across the barren mountain to the world beyond.
The cave system had led them out to the side of a tall, lonely mountain from which the land of Hel extended out in all directions. The solitary mountain stood surrounded by rolling hills and empty plains. There was no life to be seen anywhere. Just an endless sea of grey rock and hard baked dirt beneath whatever this place had for a sun.
There was movement out on that plain. Spirits all of them. They moved individually and in groups. The only commonality between them though, was that they were all headed towards, or away from, a large castle visible on the horizon. It was enormous, Tatsumi could tell even from this distance. Surrounded by a huge wall and topped by hundreds of towers with a main keep that rose up above even that. It looked very much like a super-sized version of the fortresses that used to dot the European landscape during the medieval era.
"Hel's Castle," Ymir said as the female-looking, cross-dressing, tiny giant came over to stand beside him.
"Mm." He glance down at the first giant. "That camp we stayed at last night back inside there. You made that, didn't you?"
"Hungry. Needed place," Ymir explained. "Keep must be earned. Is that not how Night Raid operates?"
"He's done more than that!" Mine said as she let out another luxurious sigh. "If he could restore my sight as well I might trade Tatsumi in for him."
"No interest in the pleasures of the flesh," Ymir told her. "Sight will never be restored. A lesson learned would be forgotten if consequences were so easily negated."
"So could you or couldn't you?" Mine demanded.
"That's enough," Tatsumi said, "you've already coerced more from him than you had any real right to." He wanted to restore Mine's sight but this was different. It felt different. Besides, Tatsumi really didn't want to annoy the physical manifestation of the Universe.
"But…"
"Cannot heal, only create," Ymir clarified himself. "A clone, yes. But empty. Soulless. Can do nothing for what already exists." Mine let out a sigh but said nothing more about that. "Do not need sight."
"It would make things easier," she said. Her shoulders drooped in resignation. Another hope for having her sight restored gone. Tatsumi rubbed her back comfortingly. He couldn't imagine how Mine was feeling right now. To be without sight? Tatsumi wasn't sure he could take it.
"Easy is relative," Ymir stated simply. "Your eyes will never again perceive light." He paused. "Sight of a different kind is possible."
Mine's head snapped up, her interest obviously peaked by those words. "What do you mean by that?"
"Half-breed. Posses same capability for growth as a human. Posses same core as an Angel. You are best of both." Ymir pointed at her. "Flexibility in usage of divine power. Use it to see."
"Like a sonar pulse?" Tatsumi asked.
"Poor example," Ymir said, "sonar is limited. Your lover is not."
"I'm not his lover," Mine insisted through clenched teeth. She blew out a sigh and shook her head. "How am I supposed to do all that exactly? Just telling me to use my power doesn't help! If it was that easy someone would have thought of it long ago."
"You can sense your own energy." It was more a statement than a question.
"Well, yes, all Angels can."
"Bring it forth," Ymir instructed.
Tatsumi stepped back and leaned against the stone wall just inside the cave entrance. There was a need to get home but this was equally important. More so, possibly. If Ymir was actually able to help Mine see again, even if it wasn't the same as before, it was worth waiting. He was also just plain curious. Now that they knew Ymir could create food and water, and there was no risk of dying to hypothermia, the urgent need to just survive wasn't as intense.
"Like this?" Mine asked. Tatsumi couldn't see anything at first, but the longer he stared the more he could make out a faint pink aura emanating from Mine's body.
"Too little," Ymir said sadly. "Not worth trying this—"
"Then tell me that first!" Mine snapped. Now Tatsumi could see her power easily as the pink aura flared about her body. Little bolts of pink lightning crackled across her body.
"Still too little," Ymir repeated. Before Mine's face could crinkle in anger and despair Ymir's next words came. "Enough to start though."
"Just hurry up and tell me." Mine demanded. Sweat was starting to bead on her forehead. "This isn't as easy as it looks!"
Power was meant to be used. To bring it all rushing forward and then stop it at the moment of release was probably excruciatingly irritating, possibly even painful. Tatsumi could only imagine it being akin to having your entire body itch but you couldn't even touch it, let alone relieve the sensation.
"It will become easier," Ymir said. "It needs to. Maintain that level. Release it about you. Create a mist. Bubble. Sphere." He spread his arms wide, forgetting Mine couldn't see him. "A zone. Your zone. Fill it with your power."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Mine demanded.
"Evolve."
"Well that was the single most unhelpful piece of advice I've ever been given," Mine snapped. She wasn't looking at Ymir though, she was staring at her hands with a look of extreme concentration.
"I've seen you eject your power and hold it in place, building it over time until its many times greater than it started," Tatsumi offered. "I've also seen you utilize more than just spears of light and—"
"Tatsumi," Mine cut in sharply, biting her words out through clenched teeth.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
"Shutting up."
Tatsumi just looked on as Mine struggled with her divine power. It crackled across her form and a brilliant display of light, but little else. Sometimes small bubbles would appear in her aura, expanding ever so slightly before popping, sending a burst of light firing in one direction or another. Tatsumi had to duck as one bubble burst in his direction sending a flash of pink light zipping towards his face.
Through it all Ymir just watched, saying nothing. Whether there was nothing else to say or he had confidence in Mine's ability to succeed, Tatsumi didn't know.
Tatsumi didn't know how long they'd just been standing there but at some point he became aware of Mine muttering something under her breath.
"Zone, mist, bubble. Zone, mist, bubble."
Tatsumi tilted his head in confusion. Why was she chanting that?
"Zone, mist, bubble… bubble… argh screw the mist zone bullshit!" Mine roared loudly and unleashed all her built up power from her body. Dozens of balls of dense pink energy shot from her body in all directions.
"Whoa!" Tatsumi shouted as he quickly raised his arms to his face to block the oncoming barrage.
Nothing hit.
Tatsumi peaked around his arms and saw that Mine had complete control over the situation. The balls of energy were floating softly about her, three dozen in all. Each were about the size of a billiard ball, bobbing gently upon the mountain breeze as they moved about her in a clockwise manner.
"Bubbles," Mine stated firmly. For some reason they were both staring at him. "Tatsumi, don't speak, don't make a sound. Just try to p-put your arms around me."
Was that a stutter there? Probably best not to bring any attention to it. Ymir had her riled up enough as it was by calling her his lover.
Taking a deep breath Tatsumi readied himself, scanning the ground and picking a path to Mine that crossed the least number of loose stones. Like Akame taught him all those years ago he slowed his heart rate and matched his breathing with his target, masking it with hers. The wind made more noise than Tatsumi as he stepped across that rocky ground.
He knew even before he started that it'd be impossible to put his arms around Mine without getting smacked by those pink orbs of divine energy that floated around her. He only hoped they didn't explode when they invariably smacked into him. Steadying his nerves and preparing himself for the very real possibility of being blow clean off the mountain side, Tatsumi took that last step forward.
His muscles tensed as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. The orbs started to bump into him. He braced himself, certain that they'd explode into a fiery ball of pink death that would burn the flesh from his bone. That didn't happen. They bonked into him, sure, but they didn't explode. They simply slid around his body before continuing on their way.
"You have the general idea," Ymir said suddenly.
"This is it?" Mine asked, clearly surprised by Ymir's words. "I thought it was—"
"The simplest acts are the most versatile," Ymir explained.
"Hmmm," Mine murmured. She rested her hands gently upon his as she leaned into him. "Need to readjust them after they bump into something but… I can feel Tatsumi behind me." The three dozen balls of pink energy suddenly split, become six dozen balls half their previous size. "argh, this is going to get difficult," she complained as a fresh wave of sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Nothing worthwhile is ever easy," Ymir stated simply. "Practice. Repetition will make it second nature."
"Do you want more time to practice before we start?" Tatsumi asked the woman in his arms.
She started tracing circles on the back of his hands. "That might not be a…" she stiffened when she realized what she was doing. Her hands jerked away and she quickly jumped out of his embrace. She stumbled and nearly fell. Tatsumi started to go for her until she slammed dozen or so pink balls into the ground behind about her and used that to steady herself. "Oh, I can use them for that as well. This is giving me ideas," Mine said, her earlier embarrassment already gone.
Tatsumi just smiled. It was nice seeing Mine motivated like this. She now had a definitive purpose beyond just getting out of here alive, one that might help compensate for her inability to see anything. There would be no true replacement for her lost sight, but for the blind, anything sort of perception was worth pursuing.
"She is ready," Ymir said.
"I gathered as much when she bolted away from me like I was Nidhoggr," Tatsumi said dryly.
"I did not react that badly!" Mine protested.
"Uh huh," Tatsumi said as he started down the hill, slowly, for Mine's sake. She was going to need time to get used to her new ability.
"Seriously!" Mine protested. "And don't just leave me here!"
"Well you don't want me touching you so…"
"That's not why I… I… argh!" Tatsumi heard her grumble beneath her breath. He threw a look over his shoulder and saw her picking her way down the mountain behind him. A number of orbs were circling about her, but most of them were by her feet, sweeping and tumbling across the ground to give her a feel for what was beneath her feet. "You better not leave me here!"
Tatsumi said nothing.
"Tatsumi!?"
"If you don't hurry I might just leave you behind," Tatsumi's voice called out from further beyond. Tatsumi's head snapped towards the voice and found Ymir a significant way ahead of the both of them. The little giant had perfectly mimicked his voice!
Mine wasn't able to tell the difference. "Don't you dare!" She snapped towards Ymir. There was a hint of panic in her voice as she started to walk faster.
Tatsumi knew what Ymir was doing. He was pushing Mine. There was no telling what they'd be forced to face before they got out of here. They didn't have the luxury of going slow, of taking it easy, of getting 'used to it.' Mine had to be pushed as hard and as fast as possible.
So he stayed silent and took to the air. He flew silently above her, matching the pace she set and always staying just out of reach of her orbs. Every time Mine thought she'd caught up or called out worriedly for Tatsumi, Ymir would respond from further and further away, spurring Mine ever forward, making her move faster and take ever more reckless actions. It forced her to grow. Pushed her past her limits. Over and over the balls of pink energy split, encompassing an ever-larger area giving her more time to interpret what she was feeling so she could react to it.
Two hours after they'd started, she was running as fast as an average human could sprint. Within four she was moving faster than Olympic athletes, running and jumping over the rough, jagged down-hill terrain. By the time the mountain started to level out at the base, she was gliding on her wings.
It took them the rest of the day to reach the base of the mountain. The light that served as the sun here in Hel had dimmed to the point where darkness similar to their world had fallen across the land. In that short amount of time Mine had made an unbelievable amount of progress. There were hundreds, possibly even a thousand, of tiny little balls swirling all around her within a ten-foot radius. They were getting so small it was becoming difficult to make out individual ones unless he strained his eyes.
The progress was nothing short of miraculous.
Tatsumi knew she had it in her. Mine had always thrived and grown exponentially whenever she was placed in a pinch. The fear of being left behind, regardless of how irrational it was, lit a fire under her just as powerful as the threat of death by Nidhoggr and the cold had earlier.
Ultimately though, it was that self-same pressure that brought the day's journey to an end. She could only take so much for so long. Her chest heaved with each breath she took and her dress clung to her body, drenched with perspiration. No matter how much the mind was willing, the body had its limits and Tatsumi knew she was reaching hers.
Tatsumi shot just ahead of her and dropped to the ground just in front of her. "We'll stop here for the night," Tatsumi said.
Mine didn't slow and for a brief moment fear seized his heart. Had he taken things too far? Was she just running forward heedless of his voice? Had she assumed he'd left her behind? That fear became a very different kind of fear as she slammed into him. Tatsumi quickly reached out to steady her and found there was no need as she spun on her heel, grabbed his arm, kicked his legs out from under him, and flipped him over her shoulder. Tatsumi could only gap as the world turned upside as Mine judo threw him into the hard, rocky ground, knocking the wind from him.
"Don't you ever," pain seared his mind as Mine twisted his arm in a direction it was not supposed to twist, "do that to me," Tatsumi gasped and choked as she knee dropped his stomach, "again!" She followed up by hitting him over and over in the chest. "Are we clear!?"
"Crystal!" Tatsumi gasped out painfully.
They couldn't use this method tomorrow to help her grow. She really would kill him if they tried.
"Good!" Mine snapped. She released his arm as she sat up, still straddling him. Her face started to twist painfully. "Don't you dare leave me here!"
"I—"
"Do you know what's it like?!" Mine cut in before Tatsumi could get a word in edge wise. "I can't see anything! It's all gone! Gone! I'll never be able to see anything ever again!"
"I'm sorry," Tatsumi said earnestly. "But you've come a long way with this new ability. Before long you'll be able to see—"
She cut him off, grabbing the lapels of his shirt and shaking him so hard his head kept banging off the rocky ground. Tatsumi could only stare as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Are you kidding me!?" She cried, her voice breaking as she screamed at him. "THEY'RE NOT EVEN REMOTELY THE SAME! At best all this'll ever help me do is function! All that I was once able to see! Gone! The beauty of the vast world unfolding below me as I soared through the clouds, poof! The stars and the sun, the earth, moon, and sky… all of it has been ripped away! Even your eyes…" her voice trailed off, her face a twisted mask of pain and sorrow. The tears continued unabated. "You have no idea what its like having borne witness to all the beauty the world has to offer and to know I will never again be able to look upon it! All that beauty will now, and forever, remain as nothing more than ever fading memories!"
Tatsumi was silent as he laid there, staring up at Mine as she sobbed atop him. Her face was a twisted mask of pain and loss as tears streamed down her cheeks. The weight of her words rested heavily upon him. Sight was more than just a way of interacting with the world… it was a way of appreciating the world. How much had she lost that she could never get back? When Tatsumi truly thought about it, of all the ways life had changed for her… it was overwhelming.
He couldn't even begin to understand what it was like to lose the light of the world.
But he understood that Mine was hurting.
Tatsumi slowly sat up and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her gently. "You're right, I don't know what it's like. I'm sorry. What I did today was stupid."
"Yes it was!" Mine sobbed into his shoulders. Her small frame quivered in his arms as her own arms came up around him. "I don't know what I'd do if you left me too!"
Tatsumi stiffened, the blood draining from his face. "Too?" She couldn't mean…
"My mother dumped me on the streets… My father wanted nothing to do with me… Even Azazel pawned me off to some stupid human organization so he could go chasing that a devil's tits!" Her arms tightened around him. "You're all I have!"
Shock shot through him like a bolt of lightning as Tatsumi finally understood just what had caused the strong, willful woman he knew to have a total breakdown. This was about way more than just losing her sight. Everyone important in her life had left her, thrown her away, abandoned her. If Tatsumi abandoned her as well? In Hel of all places while she was suffering from vision loss… even Tatsumi felt the yawning pit of despair rise up before him just thinking of that.
Tatsumi's eyes found Ymir's and the first giant just shrugged like he didn't care. Like he had always known, and despite knowing the little shit had still put Mine through it. Ymir's cute voice and childlike appearance was at odds with the utterly ruthless nature that lurked beneath it all.
Or perhaps Ymir had long since moved beyond caring about concepts such as right or wrong, good or evil. Perhaps to him there was only necessary and not. That little childlike figure standing before him was well and truly, alien. Tatsumi wondered if it was too late to retract his offer to bring Ymir along. He had a feeling Ymir would follow anyways.
But Ymir could be dealt with later. Right now, he needed to be here for Mine. He was at fault here as well and if Ymir wasn't going to do anything to make amends, Tatsumi at least would.
"I won't leave you, I promise," Tatsumi vowed. He tightened his arms around her, comfortingly stroking her hair. "I'll always be here."
Tatsumi wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Note on Mine's Vulnerability there at the end: I don't think I have to explain this, but just in case… What Tatsumi and Ymir did here to Mine to push her mastery over her ability was absolutely dreadful. Never, ever, do that to anyone that's blind, especially someone that just lost their vision. They're already dealing with the trauma of no longer being able to see the world around them, but to give them the impression that those closest to them are just going to walk away and leave them all alone?
For someone that has just lost their vision, the terror can reach crippling levels that sends them spiraling down into a pit of depression so deep they may very well kill themselves. It's only going to work out well in my story because I can control the character interactions, but in real life, never do that.
Ever. For any reason. Not even as a joke.
Author's Note: Anyways, leave a review and let me know what you think!
I'm going to try and pick up the pace from here on out. I've accomplished most of what I needed to accomplish, now it's just getting Tatsumi home in a realistic fashion. Expect Asgard next Chapter, and a bunch of interesting stuff.
Author's Note: Long chapter because god damn it all I'm finishing the arc. 4 Chapters is long enough for it.