Author's Note: Place holder to center the title
Chapter 33: The End of a Journey
Tatsumi felt so much better as he stepped out from under the Gates of Asgard onto the Bifrost. A decent night's sleep without worry of being ambushed, warm food, and a proper bath had done wonders to wash away the memories and hardships he'd just been through.
Now he was ready to head home. His eyes fell upon the Bifrost. The bridge was all that separated him from Earth. It was beautiful. The descriptions in the stories hadn't done it justice. The magical bridge that connected Asgard to Midgard glimmered with all the colors of the rainbow, but was infinitely more vibrant.
"The Bifrost," Odin said as he walked in step with Tatsumi. "The gateway to Midgard, Earth." He paused, giving Tatsumi a sidelong glance. "Are you certain you won't stay longer? You still have some time before the new semester starts in Japan. Athena or Nemesis can get you home in a few minutes."
Tatsumi shook his head, "I want some time to unwind first. There's also going to be a lot of questions from a lot of people." It was all true, but it didn't touch on the real reason he wanted, needed, to be gone from this place.
"I can't be gone from this place soon enough," Mine snapped irritably. Unlike Tatsumi she had no qualms about stating her displeasure. It was her right, really. No one could fault her, not after what she'd been through. Mine took a few steps ahead of him before stopping to turn around. A piece of the Shroud of Longinus was still wrapped about her empty eyes, although she had taken the time to wash it this morning. "I hate this place."
Odin gave her a patient smile and a simple nod. "I understand. Just do not take this one bad experience for all that we have to offer. You've been forced to experience the worst. The best is still waiting to be enjoy—"
"I don't care old man," Mine fired back as she adjusted her blindfold. "I really don't care."
Odin let it drop.
"It might be nice to visit under better circumstances in the future," Tatsumi said, throwing the old God a bone. Mine was allowed to be uncouth, and more than justified. Tatsumi had to be diplomatic. "Just give us a while to get over the previous experience a little first."
"I understand," Odin said smiling, "and if you can bring that Seraph, Gabriel with you. I wouldn't mind talking with—"
A metal gauntlet whapped Odin upside the head. "You mean ogle her chest," Rossweise said as she stopped beside the first of the Norse Gods. Lenneth was with her, Ymir's right hand firmly, possibly too firmly, clutched in her left. "We don't need you embarrassing us in front of the other Pantheons. Things are already bad enough."
"How is it out there?" Tatsumi asked, gesturing down the Bifrost to Earth.
"There are more theories than people," Rossweise said. "Everyone has their own thought of what happened to you, and why the 'Greek Gods' decided to invade Asgard. It's going to take awhile for the misunderstandings to disappear."
"Not as long as you think," Tatsumi said. "There's a reason I'm going to take a stroll through Copenhagen before dropping Athena and Themis off at Mount Olympus. I intend to drop the blame upon the feet of those responsible."
"A good thought," Themis said as she arrived, stepping through a portal. Odin's eyes instantly snapped to her chest. "But do not make mention of Ophis. The mortals would not understand."
"Wasn't planning on it," Tatsumi said as he turned to greet the powerful titan. Athena stepped out from the portal behind her and tried to take in where she was. Athena was roughly shoved to the side as Bennia came barreling out of the portal and into Tatsumi's chest. "Trouble?" He asked her.
((Let's get out of here quickly!)) Bennia begged him.
"Oh, I think we should stay a bit longer," Athena said, sounding rather smug. "You wouldn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Heimdall, would you?"
((Yes I would! I would very much want to leave without saying goodbye!))
It was just too good a situation to get back at her for all the times she'd made his life, and everyone else, more difficult.
Tatsumi sniffled lightly, letting several fake tears slide down his cheek. "I can't believe Bennia would cheat on me with another man." He gently pushed her back. Her shocked look was almost too much for him. "I don't want to get between you and Heimdall. You're both immortal, it makes sense for immortals to be together."
Tatsumi could see Athena chortling into her hand behind Bennia. She was definitely someone that had been on the receiving end of Bennia's mischief more than a few times.
((Nooo! Don't you dare do this to me!)) Bennia cried out as she forced herself back against his chest. She wrapped her arms and her legs tightly about him. ((This isn't funny! Not letting you go! Ever!))
A dark shadow appeared over head followed by a loud crash as Heimdall landed on the Bifrost. He stepped forward to accost Tatusmi only to find Mine suddenly standing between him and Tatsumi. He stopped and just pointed. "You are a disgrace. I will take his place!"
((No, no you won't! I like him in his place!)) Bennia said quickly.
"Why is he so insistently pursuing you?" Tatsumi asked. He'd very quickly discovered that Heimdall had a major crush on Bennia, but not why. Everyone had simply been too amused by the whole situation to give him a clear answer.
Tatsumi feared there wasn't one.
((He wants my thighs for some reason!))
"Oh."
((Oh? That's it?))
Tatsumi gently stroked her bare thighs causing the not quite so little Grim Reaper to shiver. They were warm and unbelievable soft, yet carried a deep firmness that bespoke a strong, underlying strength. "They are really nice. I can see why he'd like them."
"A man with good taste, but one must not be in haste or else they will go to waste!"
Bennia completely ignored Heimdall. ((Then they're yours! Take them so Heimdall will stop chasing them!))
"I already have… oh wait, those were the other ones."
Bennia blinked twice and then suddenly she shrank before his very eyes, returning to the small, slim, young body he was so familiar with. ((These thighs?))
"You can shapeshift between?!" Tatsumi asked incredulously.
((Yes?)) She asked, sounding confused.
"Do you have any idea how jealous we can make Issei?"
A mischievous look suddenly crossed Bennia's face. ((That had occurred to me once or twice. It would drive him crazy, wouldn't it?))
"And then he'd drive Rias crazy as a result."
Tatsumi knew the grin on his face mirrored the one on Bennia's. She well and truly had corrupted him. ((Win-win,)) "Win-win," they said together.
Heimdall blew out a long sigh. "I admit defeat! That I cannot beat!"
Mine rounded on them two of them and tapping her foot impatiently upon the Bifrost. "Can we just go already?"
Mine was right. They probably should be gone. He turned to Odin and held out his hand. "Until next time."
"Take good care of those thighs and breasts, young-one," Odin said as he clasped Tatsumi's hand tightly. "And next time you arrive I'll show off Freya."
"I don't think you really need to show her off," Tatsumi said dryly. The woman might as well be naked for how little that cloth did to protect her modesty. Tatsumi stepped back and turned to regard the others. "Well, let's be off."
With that they all started off down the Bifrost, passing by Heimdall who just watched them go with a forlorn expression on his face. His eyes lingered on Bennia the entire time. They said nothing as they walked, all of them enjoying a bit of silence for once. As they neared the end of the Bifrost, which just ended over empty space, Themis stopped, bringing the rest of them up short.
Her hands raised and like someone parting curtains from a window she cast them wide. The air before them responded in kind, splitting apart without sound. The capital city of Denmark, Copenhagen, spread out before them through that rift in time and space. Bennia had told them how they'd entered Asgard from the Rosenborg Castle Gardens and there they were, the vibrant green gardens spreading out below them.
At least, Tatsumi was certain they'd be vibrant and green if he could make out anything through the mass of people gathered below.
There was also a lot of activity down there.
The gardens were packed. People from all across Denmark and even further beyond had packed into the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. There were so many in fact that there was also a heavy police and military presence. There were officers at every intersection of paths and military hardware situated around the edges.
Themis' actions had not gone unnoticed, and neither had her tearing the gate to the Bifrost open a second time. Countless people were pointing up into the sky at them.
"Well, let's go meet the public," Tatsumi told everyone.
"You will, I am going home," Themis said.
Tatsumi didn't argue. Anyone that could catch a pulsar with their bare hands and then send it hurtling back through space like it was nothing was not someone Tatsumi was going to argue with.
He gestured to everyone else. "Let's go," he said before stepping out of the rift and dropping to the excited crowd below.
~o~
A whirlwind of activity consumed the central area of the subterranean training room at Night Raid's base. The squeal of steel scraping against steel pierced the air. A rapid cacophony of varying pitches as a long, slender blade with a gentle curve that could kill with a single scratch easily darted back and forth, keeping two other blades, one similar in shape but no where near as deadly, and the other large and bulky, at bay. Intermingled amongst those high pitched clangs were grunts of exertion and the occasional sharp gasp of pain as a slender, older woman not only kept up, but far surpassed her two sparring companions.
"Don't just swing," Akame chastised Xenovia as she causally sidestepped a huge, overhead swing. She smacked an open palm off the back of the younger girl's wrist, sending the blade wide. Akame's right foot slid forward and Xenovia was sent sprawling across the floor. "Being tired is no excuse to get sloppy. It is the most important time to remain focused."
It would take a few seconds for Xenovia to get to her feet. The girl just didn't have the same stamina as Akame and Hikaru. Her chest heaved as she gasped She was drenched head to toe in sweat, it ran down her face in rivulets. They'd have to stop soon just so she could get some water back inside.
A blade whistled towards her from behind. Akame felt the attack long before she heard it. Her body moved on pure instinct as she whirled around. Her long katana knocked Hikaru's high. With a smooth motion her free hand snapped up, slamming her open palm into the base of Hikaru's katana. The curved blade shot up and out of Hikaru's grasp, spinning through the air a few times before it clattered to the ground in the distance.
Hikaru reacted quickly, leaping backwards to put some distance between her and Akame. The older woman was faster still. Letting Murasame drop she grabbed Hikaru's outstretched arm with both hands and jerked her back, twisting in the process. Hikaru yelped in pain as her arm was twisted in an awkward angle that was only compounded into even more pain as Akame threw her over her back and slammed her onto the hard tile floor, knocking the wind out of her.
Before Hikaru could get her breath back, Akame was on her chest, sword held to her throat.
"And you're too analytical," Akame told the girl on her back. "You're skilled with what you know, but you rely on that skill too much. You need to be more flexible, more adaptable, and warier of the unexpected."
With those words said Akame stood and helped Hikaru to her feet.
"No matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better," Hikaru said under her breath.
"Yes," Akame agreed, "as it should be."
"I'm surprised that you're all still training so enthusiastically with your leader gone."
Akame didn't even bother to throw a glance back at the man leaning casually against one of the large round pillars. Azazel, leader of the Fallen Angels. Her back was all she wanted to show him, his eyes would be on her chest otherwise. While she wasn't nearly as tired as her two training companions, her sweat still caused her shirt to cling more tightly than usual.
She didn't want to show that unashamed pervert more than she had to.
The first amongst the Grigori hadn't explained why he was here at the estate, but they couldn't rightfully chase him away either. He was one of their major benefactors, the employer of two of the maids here at the estate, and someone that had put a lot of time and effort into not only building this place for them, but also repairing it the few times they'd done significant damage to it.
Like Gabriel, Sirzechs and Serafall, he was free to come and go as he pleased.
"Tatsumi is not Night Raid," Najenda told the man. The former leader of Night Raid had taken it upon herself to watch over the Fallen Angel while he'd stayed here the past few days. A minder to prevent him from causing too much trouble. He found it amusing and even listened at times when Najenda told him to not molest the Angelic maids. "Even if by some chance he is dead. Night Raid will live on. Tatsumi defined this organization, but he does not carry it. It's carried on the shoulders of each of its members. So long as even one of them holds true to its ideals and seeks to see them through, Night Raid will live on."
"Didn't answer my question," Azazel pointed out.
"Perhaps you'll answer some of ours?" Najenda asked archly.
The Fallen Angel governor laughed heartily. "What can I say? I like this place!"
Akame rolled her eyes. That's the same response he had given her, the same response he gave everyone. Akame had her suspicions. He had shown up the same day news of Tatsumi's disappearance had reached them and hadn't left since.
They were connected, but she wasn't sure in what way. Najenda probably knew, she was better at picking up the little hints Akame always missed.
As for their training, there was a good reason to do this. To get better, to be stronger. Tatsumi was a major focus of their lives, but he wasn't everything. Xenovia and Hikaru both had goals outside of Night Raid that this sort of training would only benefit.
That was the response they always gave Azazel, at least. It was even true, to some extent.
The real reason was so that it kept their minds off what Tatsumi and Mine might be going through and gave them the satisfaction of knowing that they were doing something, even if he wasn't here. Something that might give them an edge to help him.
"I really like this place," Azazel stressed.
"Pervert," Xenovia bite out as she slowly climbed back up to her feet. "Oh please My Lord, protect me from this lewd pervert! This body of mine belongs to you, Lady Gabriel and Tatsumi-san!" With the prayer, out of the way she rounded on the Fallen Angel Governor with a glare. "It is wrong of you to tempt Angels into falling."
"There's nothing wrong with falling," Azazel teased her, "don't you wish to explore all the pleasures you've left behind?"
"Not with you."
Akame's lips twitched upwards as Azazel grunted like he'd just been punched. Xenovia always was a rather blunt and pointed girl.
"I'll have you know, many women have—"
A loud beep cut the man off as the intercom system came alive. "Everyone! Come quickly!" Ravel's voice echoed throughout the training room. There was a sense of urgency in that tone, urgency and relief.
"Well, that sounds promising," Azazel said, his playful tone suddenly nowhere to be found. Akame turned to find a serious Azazel looking back. He'd noticed the relief in Ravel's voice as well. "Let's go girls." He snapped his fingers without waiting for their acknowledgement.
A bright light momentarily blinded all of them. It died down only a moment later and when it did they found themselves in the communication room.
It was perhaps the one good thing Azazel did after arriving. He'd taken one of the spare guest rooms and had refurbished it in a single day. Now the walls were lined with dozens of TV screens, covering every spare inch of wall. On the far side of the room was Ravel, sitting in a large chair behind a massive control panel covered with hundreds of buttons, switches, dongles, and controls. Stretched from the end of the control panel across the center of the room were a series of couches, placed back to back and positioned so that one could easily view the screens on the wall.
There was no need to ask Ravel what the cause for excitement was. Each TV screen had a different news station on it. Every major Japanese news station was present, along with all the major ones the world over.
They were all very rapidly interrupting their regular news schedule to flash over to another part of the world: Copenhagen, Denmark.
There in the air above the Rosenborg Castle Gardens was another tear in reality, but Akame and everyone else in the room didn't care much about that. They cared about who was visible through that rift.
Tatsumi and Mine.
They stood just to the side of the Titan, Themis who, as Azazel had assured them, was not someone you wanted to get excited, let alone upset. There were others with him. Akame recognized Athena and Bennia, but she didn't recognize the woman who was dressed so much like the iconic Valkyrie that she couldn't be anything else or the little girl she held in her arms.
Akame also couldn't quite figure out why the Valkyrie looked as if she was carrying a death sentence with her.
"Tatsumi," Akame spoke the name that was on all their minds.
"Yes, but not without issue," Azazel murmured. There was a strange, murderous aura about him as he stared at one of the screens. His eyes were focused not on Tatsumi, but Mine. "I have some burning questions I hope to soon have the answers to."
"Oh no!" Ravel gasped as she noticed what Akame and Azazel had already. Mine had a bandage around her eyes, a semi-transparent bandage. One that allowed them to notice the empty sockets behind. "Even Tatsumi!"
Tatsumi had a bandage around his left arm.
"Why isn't it healing?" Najenda mused. "Unless…" her eyes narrowed. "No… he wouldn't…" she shook her head. "He would. For Mine, he definitely would."
"Najenda?" Akame asked.
"Not here," Najenda said, gesturing her to silence. "Let's listen. They're stepping out."
~o~
"Look So-tan! It's our Tatsumi-chan!"
For once Sona didn't mind her sister's exuberance as she all but bounced around the small sitting room in excitement. Her magical girl uniform fluttering about as tiny little sparkles pinged off everything in the room, even Sona's head at times. All Sona could feel was an overwhelming sense of relief as the tightness in her heart slowly eased.
When that plane had exploded and all signs of his presence gone without a trace Sona had felt like a piece of her had died. Everything just didn't have the same color anymore, the same vibrancy. Even her own dream had felt less important. Tatsumi had been the driving reason to expand it to include everyone and for him to die before he could even see her start to fulfill it…
Well, he wasn't gone so there wasn't any use dwelling on that any further. She refused to be consumed by her emotions like some hormonal teenager. She'd leave that to Rias.
"Told you Tatsumi-chan would be fine!"
Sona just shook her head and adjusted her glasses. Her onee-sama had been more worried than any of them. The name Esdeath had come to her lips and she'd been in such a frenzy, terrified that woman had gotten a hold of Tatsumi. She'd even schemed something with Gabriel, something neither of them would talk about which made it all the more terrifying.
It was only yesterday that her sister started to accept that perhaps it wasn't Esdeath. Something about that woman taking too long to show off the results of her 'work.'
Sona wasn't the only one to feel that way.
"…huh?" Lilian's quiet little voice floated over from across the room. She was as equally unconvinced as Sona. "…but you and Gabriel-sama…"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Serafall said far too quickly as she tried to look as innocent as possible.
Sona threw a glance in Lilian's direction. The pint-sized magical girl was doing better, much better. They had Tatsumi to thank for that and not just because he had ordered her to be saved, not killed.
The young girl clutched at a framed picture like it was a lifeline. In some ways, it was. It was a picture that had been taken just last week. A picture of Lilian's mother, father, a new baby sister she hadn't known about… and of Lilian herself. Lilian sat between her parents, her new baby sister on her lap, and a pair of devil wings expanded behind her back. There was a look of absolute shock and wonder on her face, and the faint hint of a smile on her lips.
That picture was proof that it had all been real. That she hadn't dreamed it up one night.
That they had found her parents.
Those thoughts only briefly occupied Sona's mind though. Right now her thoughts were on someone else, some that was currently stepping through a large rift in space.
"Settle down, onee-sama," Sona chastised her sister. "I won't be able to hear what's being said if you keep pinging stars and sparkles off the furniture."
The stars and sparkles stopped pinging off everything as Serafall bolted to her side. She leaned over the back of Sona's chair and dropped her breasts atop Sona's head as she embraced her from behind. Sona ignored her sister's assets with a patience born from eighteen years of dealing with it on a daily basis. She reached over and grabbed the remote and turned the sound back on.
"…crowd here is incredible!" The Japanese reporter on the other side of the screen said as she pushed her way through the crowd. The camera dipped and shook as the cameraman followed as closely as he could. "Going to try and get as close as we can."
After Themis had appeared above the gardens every major news outlet in the world had sent a team of journalists to the site. Not only them, but Governments, inspectors, and curious citizens too. That rainbow bridge that had appeared through that first rift had been unmistakable, as had the names tossed out in that thunderous voice. The whole world knew that some Greek Gods were meeting with the Norse ones.
There had been all sorts of wild speculations from a regular gathering to the start of Ragnarok.
Sona changed the channel to a different station and found their journalist no better off that the other. She flickered through several more before finally finding a station that'd had a journalist close enough that they could see and hear Tatsumi. She could see the makings of a barrier of force, creating a zone of space between Tatsumi and everyone else.
"Athena-chan's work," Serafall said cheerfully. "She doesn't like being touched by those she deems unworthy."
"Where's Themis-san?" Sona wondered. The Blind Titan was missing.
"Themis-chan doesn't like mortals, few Titans do." Serafall said. "Probably just went home, which is for the best."
From what Serafall had told Sona of Themis a few days' past, it was better if she wasn't around. Pushing the blind Titan from her mind, Sona settled herself in to listen to whatever crazy situation Tatsumi had managed to find himself in this time.
~o~
Tatsumi was unsure what to do next as he stood there in the center of the large crowd of people, all clamoring loudly for his attention. If it weren't for Athena he was certain they'd all be mobbed. Instead everyone was pressed comically up against the edge of an invisible barrier.
He was at a complete loss until he found a Japanese looking woman holding a microphone with an logo he recognized from back home. Even the Japanese had sent journalists here.
"Let's just go home," Mine whispered quietly. Tatsumi barely heard it over the noisy crowd. She understood what he intended to do without him saying anything. "You don't have to do this, you don't owe them anything." the center of that zone until his eyes landed upon the reporter Sona was watching. His eyes brightened and he started for her.
"Perhaps," Tatsumi said to Mine, "but I know human curiosity well enough that I have to give them some sort of answer. They'll never let us be unless I do." They might still hound him back in Japan, but at least this way he might be able to get rid of some of the less persistent.
Mine grumbled under her breath but didn't say any more on the subject.
Tatsumi turned his attention back to the Japanese woman. She noticed him looking, and everyone else noticed him looking at her as well. Instantly a dozen microphones were jammed next to hers and Tatsumi could almost envision Japanese interpreters across the world getting ready to translate his words to their respective viewers.
"It'd be nice if I could speak all languages, but oh well," Tatsumi mused as he approached the Japanese reporter.
"That's not difficult," Athena said. Her fingers traced eldritch runes across the air and then sent them shooting towards Tatsumi. "Speak normally, and everyone will understand."
Tatsumi paused to cock an eyebrow at the Goddess. "That's convenient."
"It is, you don't honestly believe I've been speaking to you in Japanese all this time, do you?" Tatsumi hadn't actually thought of that, although now that he did, perhaps he had simply assumed Athena knew Japanese and was speaking thus out of courtesy. Athena shrugged. "It's a simple spell."
Tatsumi just hummed and turned to regard the Japanese reporter again. "Can I assume you want to know where I've been?" he asked her.
"Yes! Please can you tell us what happened aboard that flight?" The reporter was quick to jump on the question.
The silence that fell upon the gardens was almost deafening as everyone strained to hear his words. There wasn't a soul there that wasn't interested.
A small frown creased Tatsumi's features as he thought about how much he should say. There were definitely parts he wasn't going to mention. Large parts of it. They probably didn't need, or even want, specific details. Not right then anyways.
"It's a long story," Tatsumi started, "one far too long to relay in full here and some things… are better off left forgotten." Most of Niflheim fell under that category. Tatsumi's features hardened. He knew what to start off with. Blame. Everyone wanted that and Tatsumi had no qualms about laying it out there. "Everyone knows what I do, what Night Raid does. One cannot do what we do without making enemies. One of them decided to pay us a visit while we were in the air. That man, Syura, wouldn't have normally been an issue, except Loki decided to lend him his aid."
Whispers and murmurs rolled through the crowd as people digested that piece of news. Few outside of devils would know who Syura is, but everyone would know who Loki was.
"Does this mean the Asgard Gods have decided to oppose Night Raid?" the Japanese woman quickly asked. She tried to thrust her microphone forward only to have it careen to the side due to the barrier.
"I wouldn't say so." Tatsumi said. He jerked his thumb back towards Lenneth. "Odin, Thor, Heimdall and a number of other Asgardian have made it clear they don't want a war. Lenneth is even their gesture of good-will. Their representative in Night Raid, I guess you could say."
"And the little girl? What about her?" the Japanese journalist pressed.
Tatsumi threw a quick glance over his shoulder at Ymir. He just cocked his head to the side like usual and blinked back. Lenneth looked was rapidly shaking her head back and forth. She did not want to tell them about him. Tatsumi agreed.
"Ah… you don't know want to know," Tatsumi said, turning back to the journalist. "Trust me when I say, you really don't want to know. I wish I didn't know." He shook his head softly. "I still have trouble understanding it." He could tell his answer didn't satisfy them but he didn't care. They really wouldn't understand. He pushed thoughts of Ymir out of his mind for now and continued. "Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier. Most of the Aesir and Vanir Gods and Goddesses aren't so bad, but I'm not so naïve as to think Loki is the only one that wants me dead."
"Hel wants us dead now too," Mine pointed out.
"I think that has more to do with the fact that we kicked down the Gates of Hel, threw dough in her face, stomped on it—"
"Twice," Mine added.
"—twice," Tatsumi agreed, "killed her pet dog, Garmr, and then you dropped a Pulsar on her head."
"She deserved it."
"A pulsar?" the Japanese woman asked, confused. She seemed to think he was talking about something else. "Isn't that some sort of star?"
"Not really? I guess you could say it's what's left over after a star goes supernova. They're not very big, but they're big enough." Tatsumi rounded on Mine and frowned at her. "You know if Themis hadn't caught the pulsar and thrown it back out into space you may very well have destroyed Asgard."
Mine's face went flat. "You say that like you think I care. After all the shit I went through back there…" her voice trailed off into unintelligible grumbles.
"Wait, I'm so confused," the Japanese reporter said, "how do you catch a star?"
"With your hands?" Tatsumi offered helpfully. "There's a reason the world wobbles when Themis moves. Titans, when they're not compressing their forms into human sized shapes, are large enough to hold small planetoids in their hands."
He could tell she still didn't understand, but there were a few people in the crowd who were looking rather pale at the moment. Perhaps they were finally realizing just how large a gap there was between a God and themselves.
He decided to quickly move on. As much as they wanted an explanation, Mine was right and they did need to get out of here. "Anyways, we got ahead of ourselves there. Syura, with the aid of Loki, slammed our plane into a mountain in Niflheim. We had to work our way back from there, through Hel, and then Asgard itself. A lot happened, most of which we're not going to talk about." Tatsumi stressed those last few words. He wasn't going to mention anything that happened prior to reaching the Gates of Hel. No one needed to know what the two of them had gone through. "After we reached the main Asgard world we had a pitched battle with the Goddess Hel and her pet guard dog, Garmr, where Garmr was killed and Mine tried to drop a pulsar on Hel. The pulsar got the attention of Themis and the Asgardians and things pretty much came to and end there. Odin and the others were accommodating after that." Tatsumi gave them all a weak smile. "Right now we really sort of just want to get home. Not by plane though, not this time."
With that said Tatsumi took a step back and turned his back to the crowd, signalling he was done. The crowd instantly erupted as everyone shouted questions back at him, desperately pushing against the barrier as they pried for more information.
Tatsumi was done. He'd said what needed to be said. The details they'd keep to themselves.
"We can leave now, Athena," Tatsumi said. They needed to make a stop at Mount Olympus before they headed back to Japan. Bennia said there were a few things she wanted to take with her this time.
The air split, creating an oval portal revealing a beautiful marble temple with a large mountain for a back drop. Athena gestured for them to go through. "Then let us be off. Truth be told, I look forward to returning home as well."
Tatsumi gave her a smile and stepped through the portal, glad to finally be away from this place.
~o~
"Niflheim, Loki, hmm," Azazel mused aloud as they watched Tatsumi and everyone else leave through Athena's portal. "The Trickster God has really done it this time. I might need to pay him a visit with two special little ladies in toe."
"I didn't think you cared that much about Tatsumi," Najenda said bluntly.
"Who says it's him I care about?" Azazel returned.
Mine. His eyes hadn't left her since she'd appeared. In particular his eyes had been on the bandage around hers. One could easily tell Azazel was not taking her vision loss particularly well.
"Strange to see a Fallen Angel care so much," Xenovia said. "Aren't you all just creatures of base desire? Fallen due to your lust and betrayal of Him, Our Lord and Savior."
"I care!" Azazel protested. "I care about all my cute little subordinates."
"How much would you care if she wasn't female?" Akame asked.
Azazel winced and didn't say anything else. Najenda narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Fallen Angel. She knew when someone was faking an expression, and that had been it. There was some reason he cared about Mine and it had little to do with gender. Perhaps it had something to do with why she had been under his wing before being handed over to Night Raid?
Questions to ponder later.
"I need to speak with her about that Pulsar," Azazel said instead. "I know that spell. Morningstar. It seems her bloodline has awakened, took it awhile, probably because she was a halfbreed." He shook his head softly from side-to-side. "There are certain abilities, techniques and spells that all factions have agreed shouldn't be used, ever, in any situation. That's one of ours."
"Will there be problems?" Najenda asked.
"Not this time. She most likely just came into the ability to use it, and under great duress from the sounds of it. She'll be forgiven, especially since Themis was there to ensure no lasting damage." Azazel's eyes narrowed as he focused on the spot where the portal had been. "She won't be forgiven for using it a second time." He nodded his head as if coming to a decision. The leader of the Fallen Angels pushed himself up out of the couch he'd made himself comfortable on. "I think I'll pay her a visit now. The sooner she knows, the better." He gave them all a wry grin. "If you hadn't noticed she does have a bit of a temper."
"A bit?" Ravel asked flatly.
Najenda laughed heartily and even Akame smiled. "Oh, we know all about that. Some things never change."
Azazel gave them both a wide grin before he disappeared through a teleportation circle with a flash of light.
Najenda turned to regard everyone there. "Well, now that we know Tatsumi and Mine are still alive, we should make sure the two of them are as comfortable as possible when they return."
"Yes," everyone said together.
~o~
"Crazy doesn't quite begin to cover it," Sona said, her voice dry and hard. Slammed into a mountain in Niflheim, kicking down the Gates of Hel, picking a fight with a Goddess, and then dropping a star on someone. "I really should be surprised by all this, but for some reason, I'm not. It just feels like standard fare around Tatsumi."
Despite her words though, there was an immeasurable sense of relief welling up inside her. He was safe now, away from whatever crazy situation he'd found himself in, and, despite it being just as crazy as Sona had assumed it'd be, there had a certain sense to it. Loki was known for his mischief, and Syura had a reason to get back at him. It didn't make things much better, but at least more understandable. Things that could be understood, could be dealt with, prepared for, and countered.
"He needs a leash."
The words slipped out of Sona's mouth before she could stop them. She wasn't serious, but there had to be something they could do to prevent Tatsumi from ending up in these strange situations.
Above her, her onee-sama just laughed as she swayed back and forth. Sona's eye twitched in irritation as her onee-sama's much larger breasts rubbed across the top of her head. "I totally like that idea! But I don't think Tatsumi-chan can be leashed." Her arms tightened around Sona's chest. "We just have to watch over him more closely!"
They would. That much Sona intended to do.
"The Asgardians are sending a representative to Night Raid," Sona mused as her thoughts drifted over to other matters. "I don't think it's as simple as an apology to Tatsumi and Mine-san."
"Of course not," Serafall said as she stepped back, giving Sona some breathing room. "But I'm more concerned about Brynhildr."
"Lenneth," Sona corrected her sister as she turned around in her seat to regard her. She turned off the TV in the process, there wasn't anything else going on save for useless commentary from humans that couldn't even begin to grasp the enormity of what had occurred.
Her sister gave her a cheerful smile, "Lenneth is her real name, in her legend she's called Brynhildr." The smile disappeared. "Brynhildr isn't your average Valkyrie… so why was she utterly terrified of that little girl she was holding on to and why was she holding on to her so tightly?"
"It was a little boy," Sona corrected her sister. Serafall gave her a confused look but she refused to back down. She knew she was right. "I've been around Rias' Bishop, Gasper, long enough to know what to look for."
"Little boy? But she was wearing a dress…" the blood drained from Serafall's face as she went as white as a sheet. "No, no, he wouldn't… he would. Oh Tatsumi-chan… what have you done?" Alarm shot through Sona as her sister actually started to weep! "The world is not ready for this… I'm not ready for this!"
"Onee-sama?" Sona asked cautiously. Even Lilian was giving Serafall a concerned look. The little girl even got off the couch and went over to pat her shoulder comfortingly. "Is there something I should know?"
"No, no you shouldn't," Serafall said quickly, shaking her head vigorously from side to side. "You really, really shouldn't."
Tatsumi had said the same thing. The two of them actually agreed on something? Now Sona was genuinely worried.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything else out of her sister Sona stood. "I'll just have to ask him on Monday, when school starts."
Unlike her sister, Tatsumi was not going to be able to get out of telling her what was up. He owed her that much for worrying her so.
~o~
The Temple of Athena was beautiful with its high, vaulted ceilings held aloft by sweeping buttresses and pillars of marble delicately carved with the visages of ancient Greek heroes. The floor was sheathed in marble tiles of alternating colors of gold and white.
The main central chamber of the temple was enormous, stretching hundreds of paces in length, lined on either side by even more delicately carved pillars of marble. At the far end was an enormous statue of Athena herself, carved from a solid block of marble. It dominated the room, a monument to the goddess herself and carved with such perfection that it nearly outshone Athena herself.
Tatsumi could help but stare as he slowly made his way through that enormous chamber, Bennia and Mine at his side. Lenneth and Ymir had been taken elsewhere. Hera in particular was interested in speaking with the two of them at length about the relationship between the Norse and the Greek.
Bennia didn't seem all that impressed with the temple, having no doubt seen it countless times before. Mine though, she was doing her best not to look interested but Tatsumi could her features twitch ever so slightly whenever her zone encountered another interesting part of the temple.
"How do you like it, Tatsumi?" Athena asked him as she came to a stop next to a large, white marble fountain. It was one of several large fountains that graced the center of the enormous chamber. Each fountain had a statue of its own, albeit one much smaller than the towering monument to the Goddess. This one had a statue dedicated to the Greek hero, Achilles, who held aloft a round shield and spear that looked very similar to Athena's own. Water spouted from the edge of the shield, creating a thin veil, or curtain as it cascaded down into the basin below. There was a light smile on Athena's face as she continued. "It's not much, but I like to think of it as home."
If Tatsumi wasn't so taken by everything he'd have deadpanned. Not much? If Athena considered this as 'not much' than the human world wasn't anything at all. The place definitely held a sense of perfection and serenity no place on Earth could ever match.
"It's amazing," Tatsumi said honestly. He wasn't usually one for flowery words or praise, but this place, Mount Olympus as a whole, was simply breathtaking. Asgard had been beautiful as well, but it felt more futuristic than magical. Tatsumi could see humanity some day matching the beauty of Asgard.
There was no way Humanity was ever going to match this place. The level of perfection, of serenity, even the scale… it was just too much. Asgard felt like a future Humanity could achieve, this place felt like a heavenly realm mortals could never reach.
((I have a temple too, you know,)) Bennia said from the side, giving him a sly grin.
Tatsumi's head snapped to the side as he stared at her in shock. Bennia of all people had a temple here on Mount Olympus? But she was just... oh, right. Nemesis. That was a true, honest-to-goodness, Olympian Goddess. Even if she wasn't as renown as some like Athena, she was still a Goddess. She would have her temple.
It was just very difficult to associate the cheerful, mischief, child-like girl floating at his side here with the Goddess of Retribution, Nemesis. It was easier in her adult form, but Bennia hadn't reassumed that form since she reverted.
Truth be told, he preferred her like this.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Athena cut in quickly. "You've lived with her for years. You know what she's like."
((It's not that bad!)) Bennia protested indignantly. ((It just needs a little cleaning, some repairs, and maybe a few construction cranes…))
"Maybe we can stop by before we head home," Tatsumi said. Even if it was in disrepair, and he could only imagine how much disrepair it was in with Bennia as it's owner, he was still curious.
Bennia, however, was vigorously shaking her head from side-to-side. ((No, no, no, no. Another time, after I've cleaned it up. I can't show it to you like this!))
"Thanks Bennia, looking forward to it," Tatsumi said, giving her a wide grin.
((NOOOO!))
"I'll show you there afterwards," Athena supplied helpfully.
((You're evil!))
"And who was it that wouldn't stop spinning?" Athena said, glaring daggers at the small Goddess.
((Ah, sorry?))
"Far too late for that," Athena said, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Can we talk about this later?" Mine snapped loudly. "I just want this done and over with."
"Oh, right," Tatsumi said. He could completely understand where Mine was coming from. Especially considering what he had asked her to do for him. "We should move onto the mission you gave us, Athena."
The mission to recover her stolen unmentionable. It had been the entire reason they'd gotten on that plane in the first place. What had kick started everything.
The Greek Goddess of War and Wisdom grimaced and looked away, guilty. "Consider it cancelled," she said quietly. "I'll pay up something in compensation for the hardship you two have gone through. I failed in my duty to see you safely escorted to Mount Olympus and I can't rightly expect you to go back to Asgard to finish it."
"I'm never stepping foot back in that realm again," Mine bit out viciously. She gently touched the Shroud of Longinus wrapped around her eyes. "I can't afford to lose anything else."
"I won't ask you to, either," Athena agreed. "I will find some other way to retrieve my precious artifact."
"About that," Tatsumi said slowly. He tapped Mine on the shoulder. "If you would."
((Uh oh, what did you do this time Tatsumi?)) Bennia asked with a mischievous look on her face. She was obviously expecting something crazy. All things considered, he couldn't really blame her.
And she wasn't exactly wrong either.
"Oh not much," Tatsumi said in an off-handed way. Mine shifted uncomfortably at his side.
"Out here?" Mine asked.
"You wanted this done," Tatsumi reminded her.
Athena's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at them suspiciously. After a few moments, a curious look entered her eyes. "What's this about?"
"It's about that mission you requested of us," Tatsumi said. He tapped Mine on the shoulder once more. "Mine."
"Pervert," Mine muttered as she took a step forward. She threw him a sidelong glare. "I am never doing this again. If they had done any sort of search…" she shivered. Shaking the fears away Mine reached up under her pink dress and grabbed the edges of her panties. With a single, smooth motion she pulled them down her legs.
Athena could only stare in abject shock as a pair of blue panties with grey frills came into view. Athena's panties, to be precise. The very ones she had requested Tatsumi to steal back from Odin.
"What?!" Athena's voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. "How?! You were under constant watch the entire time! Odin and all the other Gods and Goddesses were on full alert due to Ophis! It should have been impossible to steal them!"
Tatsumi just grinned. "Does it matter how? All I needed was a single night." The Tyrant's trump card, the ability to go invisible. It hadn't done much in Niflheim since the heat from his body left a telltale stream of steam behind him, but in Asgard? It was a completely different matter. The only one that may have been able to detect him, Heimdall, had been so busy chasing after Bennia he hadn't noticed Tatsumi. "Sorry about having Mine wear them out, but that was the only way I could guarantee no one would find out until it was too late."
After everything Mine had gone through, the last thing any of the Asgards wanted to do was offend her. They owed her more than they could ever repay.
"Take the damn things already," Mine snapped as she held the panties out to Athena. "And I want the full amount you owe us! I'm not walking home penniless after all the crap we had to go through!"
Athena took the treasured object from Mine with shaking hands. "It's really them…" she whispered as she held that soft material in her hands. There was a look of pure wonder and awe on her face. "After everything you went through, you still managed to…" she clutched the panties to her chest tightly. "There are no words of gratitude I can speak that can accurately match how I feel."
"Good, then give us gold, bullions I remember you promising," Mine snapped.
A beautiful smile appeared on Athena's lips. "Yes, of course. I will pay you in full, and more. Gold and much more. You deserve it." Her eyes shifted to Tatsumi. Tatsumi swallowed hard as burning look entered her eyes, a look he was all to familiar with seeing in Bennia's. "Achilles was the first man I ever took to my bed. If you so desire, Tatsumi, you can be the second."
"What?" Tatsumi was surprised, shocked. Athena was offering herself? Were the panties truly that important to her? Tatsumi was flattered, he truly was, and Athena was certainly beautiful enough that a rather large, instinctual portion of him wanted to leap into her arms and devour her body right then… but it felt wrong. Like he was taking advantage of a woman's gratitude.
He'd probably never get another chance to take Athena up on her offer after her gratitude fades, but that was fine. Despite the Tyrant in him wanting to spread its genes as far and wide as possible, the Tatsumi in him felt no such compulsion. Quite the opposite, really. He had enough women to deal with as it was.
Then there was Mine. Her face had gone flat, expressionless. There was no obvious sign of emotion from her, save for her white-knuckle grip on her dress.
"I think I'll pass—"
His words were cut short as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind. ((He accepts!)) Bennia said for him. She gave him a wide grin. ((You're not taking this threesome from me Tatsumi!)) Her voice became a little softer. ((And you need it. I can feel it in your back, your chest, your arms… everything. You're stressed to the limit. You need a night where the only thing you have to worry about is which Goddess you're going to release yourself inside.))
Maybe she was right and maybe she wasn't. Whatever the cause, the pain he saw creeping into the corner's of Mine's eyes weren't worth it. "No, Bennia, I won't." Tatsumi said softly. He gave Athena an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. You're beautiful and under any other circumstance, I may very well have taken you up on your offer." He shook his head softly. "Not now though. Just gold and jewels is enough, Athena."
For the briefest of moments the Goddess' eyes flickered to Mine, "I understand. I won't press you any further."
"Thanks for your understanding," Tatsumi said, bowing graciously.
((NOO! You're seriously taking this from me!?)) Bennia wailed pitifully.
"Oh grow up!" Mine snapped at her. The relief in her voice was clearly evident to all of them. "Tatsumi doesn't need to dive between the legs of every woman that opens them for him!"
((You don't understand…)) Bennia whispered quietly.
"I'll make it up to you," Tatsumi promised, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go, I want to see your temple!"
((Uh, I'm not so sure about that,)) Bennia said hesitantly.
"And then you can explain to me what all this Nemesis business is," Tatsumi said as he turned her around and guided her back across the Temple of Athena. "If I'm going to be married to this Nemesis then it's only right that I get to know everything about her."
That perked her up a bit, understanding the hidden meaning in his words. ((That's true isn't it! The… exploration might take some time!))
"I'll have your reward by morning," Athena promised him. There was a tone of wistful regret in her voice. "Return here then and I'll see both it and you three safely taken to Japan."
"Thanks," Tatsumi called back with a little wave over his shoulder.
~o~
Mine sat listlessly upon the edge of the round marble platform just outside Nemesis' temple, kicking her legs back and forth as she stared down into the darkened sea of clouds that she couldn't see.
Night and day on Mount Olympus worked very much like it did in the human world. Although there was no sun or moon, the amount of ambient light dimmed at night, and grew during the day. The temperature followed suit as well, cooling at night and warming during the day. It was even downright chilly during the winter months.
Mount Olympus, despite being a heavenly realm separate from the mortal world, was still inextricably tied to the origin of its myth, specifically Mount Olympus in Greece. As such the cycles of day and night as well as the temperature followed the same patterns as said country.
Like Greece, and most of the world, when night fell activity diminished. There had been a lot of activity when they'd first arrived considering everything that'd gone on. The Gods and Goddesses had all heard Tatsumi's words and Themis had filled them in on other issues that Tatsumi hadn't spoken of, namely Ophis, before they'd even arrived.
While Mine couldn't see the changes, she could feel them, and hear them. Mine was thankful that things had settled down. Like the darkened sea of clouds below, she had dark clouds of her own hung above her head. A testament to her mood. Dark, angry, depressing thoughts consumed her.
She was in no mood to talk to anyone.
The source of her irritation was furiously 'exploring' all the 'new' nooks and crannies of Nemesis in the beautiful temple behind her. Mine had held some hope that Nemesis' temple would be old, dusty, and dilapidated based on her reaction, but no, that hadn't been the case. It had been simple and uninspiring compared to all the other Temples on Mount Olympus, which meant it still put to shame anything humanity could do.
Anger swirled around inside the pit of her stomach just thinking about Tatsumi and Bennia. The logical part of her mind knew this would happen. The two had been together longer than anyone else, madly in love before she even knew he existed. Yet why did it hurt so badly? Why did it feel like it should be her in there, and not that barely known Goddess?
In Niflheim he'd been so caring, so attentive, so focused on her… and the moment they got back it was all gone like it never existed.
She was just another member of Night Raid now. Another tool to use and then discard whenever he found another pretty face and luscious pair of legs to squeeze between.
Mine let out a scream of frustration as she slammed her fist into the marble platform, cracking the tiles. Her voice somehow echoed out across the vast ocean of clouds, drawing the attention of a few Titans. A couple gave her an amused, understanding smile before returning to whatever world shaking topic they'd been conversing about.
"Why do I even care what that horny human does?" Mine bit out viciously beneath her breath. It shouldn't matter if he slept with every woman in existence! He was just a human!
And quite possibly the only person that truly seemed to care about her aside from Azazel, but that man didn't really count. Just thinking about being intimate with him…
Mine shivered in revulsion. Fallen Angels may be more promiscuous than most, but there were some lines even they didn't cross.
"Oh, I know that shiver! Thinking of me again, my dear?" A familiar voice suddenly called out from above.
The confusion settling upon her almost drowned out her despair as she raised her head to face Azazel. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts she hadn't even noticed his approach. Now that he'd spoken she could feel him within the zone of her influence, floating there in the sky above her. His twelve jet black wings splayed out behind his back. He looked just as he always did, dressed in his usual clothes with countless black belts wrapped around parts of his body they didn't really need to be wrapped around.
She could feel the same lackadaisical grin that he always had on his face as well.
Floating beside him was a Greek Goddess, this one wearing a voluminous strapless dress that barely managed to contain her absolutely enormous breasts. The upper portion of the dress was as white as freshly fallen snow but it transitions in color as one followed the thread to the hemline. All the hues of the setting sun could be found until one reached the hem itself, which was the color of blood. Brilliant green eyes sparkled with mischief, framed by a wealth of silver hair. For some reason there was a stuffed plushy bear plopped atop her hair that was… clinging to it like a baby and swinging around a tiny little club?
Mine did her best to ignore the strange individual and focused on Azazel.
"What do you want?" Mine snapped irritably up at the leader of her race. "Come to gloat over the fact that Tatsumi tossed me away the moment he returned to civilization?"
The Greek Goddess beside "Oh my, Nemesis would take offense if she heard that!" her eyes shifted to the temple. "I guess she's too busy to notice though. My, but is she ever enjoying herself." Her eyes brightened as she looked up at the stuffed plushy clutching to her hair. "Orion my dear! We must emulate her actions at once!"
"Are you fricking kidding me!? With what?" The plush toy demanded. "Does it look like this stuffed plush toy I'm stuck in has any tools I can even use? Get real!"
"Our love will overcome such small barriers!"
"Barrier?! It's not so much a barrier as it is an insurmountable peak!"
Azazel just shook his head, chuckling, his eyes lingering on the Goddess' enormous assets. "The Greek Goddesses are always interesting."
"Interesting isn't the word I'd use," Mine snapped at the man. She was utterly disgusted by Azazel's actions. It was completely in character though. The man was a pervert through and through and was proud of it. This was widely known and accepted.
But right then Mine just didn't care.
"Well, I've brought you to your little subordinate," the Goddess said, giving the both of them a wide smile. "I need to be off now so I can spend precious time with my dear Orion! Do not make any trouble please," her eyes became as hard as diamond. "Or rather, I wouldn't mind if you do. I haven't hunted anyone worthwhile in years. Please give me a reason." Her smile became cheerful again and with one last wave she flew off into the sky.
"Ah ha ha ha…" Azazel's laugh was a little weaker this time than before. "I think we should do as she says and stay calm."
"I am calm," Mine bit out viciously.
"I'll take your word for it," Azazel said. She felt him settle down on the marble platform next to her. She felt his divine energy surge and a familiar feeling fell across her and the area about her. He'd used his magic to encase the two of them in a barrier to prevented sound from escaping. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She could feel him stare at her face, where her eyes had once been. "What's there to talk about? I screwed up and now I'm blind!"
Azazel turned away from her and gazed out into the distance. "Blind… but not unseeing. Not entirely." Mine wasn't surprised he'd already picked up on that. He could probably even sense how she was detecting her surroundings. "Who taught you this technique? It's definitely interesting, I may be able to duplicate something like it with a tool but you may be the only Fallen Angel that can manipulate her divine energy like this."
"What does it matter?" Mine muttered bitterly as she turned away from Azazel.
Azazel turned away and stared out into the distance but said nothing. A long silence stretched between them after that, leaving Mine with the same stewing thoughts as before. Primarily how easily she and her feelings had been pushed aside the moment Tatsumi had returned to civilization. It was like all she was to him was a replacement for more important women.
She chewed on that thought, her mood darkening with each second.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Azazel whispered, still gazing out into the distance.
It did hurt and she didn't even know why. She couldn't admit that though. Not to him, not to Tatsumi. Not even to herself.
"I have no idea what—"
"You had him all to yourself," Azazel continued right over her. "And now he's gone. Swept away by the tide of life and taken away to a place you feel you don't belong. A place you don't feel you have the right to be."
"Shut up, you don't know anything!" Mine snapped at the elder Fallen. His words were striking far too close to home. She didn't want to hear anymore.
"I chase a lot of women, Mine, but rarely do I catch them," Azazel said, "she is gone, far away, taken by the Angels and locked up tight within their heavenly realm. Penance for my fall, He said. For daring to place Love above Duty and His teachings." The leader of the Grigori shook his head slowly from side to side. Mine could hear the emotion in his next words, the regret, the sorrow. "I Fell for her and for her do I still pay penance. There are few things harsher than Life itself." He turned to regard her. "He is still within arms reach you know. You just need to have the courage to reach out."
"It's not that simple!" Mine shouted at the powerful Fallen. "It's not just about how I feel! But how he feels! How much of what he did for me was because he cared about me… or because I'm a reminder of what he's lost!"
Her feelings put into words. Her pain and agony. Her indecision. How much of Tatsumi's kindness was towards her? How much of it was towards a memory of someone that looked like her? Mine's pride wouldn't let her be just a reminder. Her heart couldn't handle it.
Azazel turned away again. "I don't know. I wasn't there. Tatsumi's was rather tight lipped over in Copenhagen."
"For good reason!" Mine muttered. "He knows better." she didn't want to world to know that she'd screwed up on that jet and what had happened as a result. "At least I got to obliterate Nidhoggr."
"Nidhoggr?" Azazel asked, sounding surprised. Mine winced, and cursed her loose tongue. "What does that filthy dragon have to do with your trip?"
Mine sighed and turned away. She didn't want to talk about it but… this was Azazel. Like Tatsumi he had saved her, taken her in when she had no one else. Taught her so much about how to utilize her powers, helped her get over her hatred of her half-breed heritage. Besides, this was Azazel. He'd find out somehow anyways and… "Nidhoggr stole my sight." Mine said quietly.
"Oh," his voice was low and filled with sympathy.
"He almost killed me. Tatsumi… saved my life." If it weren't for him she'd be little more than a frozen corpse buried under snow upon a frozen mountain in Niflheim.
"How?" Azazel pressed gently.
And like that, like a damn bursting open, the words spilled form from her mouth. The whole, unvarnished truth about what happened in the Asgardian nine worlds. Her stupidity on the jet, the battle with Nidhoggr, Tatsumi nursing and healing her. The journey across the frozen hellscape, the battle at the spring, their trip through Hel, everything.
Through it all Azazel just stood there, silently listening to all she had to say.
When the last words finally spilled forth and all that there was to say of the journey had been said, Mine fell silent. Strangely, she felt better, lighter. Maybe she had needed this. To get it off her chest. She couldn't go to Tatsumi. He had been there with her. Suffered beside her. He shared her burden. She couldn't offload her issues onto him when he had plenty of his own.
"May I see your wings?" Azazel suddenly asked unexpectedly.
Mine was startled by the request but saw no reason to really deny him. With a surge of divine power and the flexing of her back muscles five pairs of jet black wings erupted from her back.
"Happy?"
"Hmmm," Azazel murmured, pacing around her, slightly hunched over to peer intently at her wings. It went on for seemingly forever and just as it started to become uncomfortable, he straightened and made his way back to his original spot beside her. "I see, interesting."
"What is?" Mine demanded.
"It is not unheard of for Fallen Angels, or Angels for that matter, to experience a surge of growth when under duress, but to jump straight to ten wings from six? You may very well have been the first to ever do that."
"I was under plenty duress," Mine muttered.
"Yes, you were," Azazel agreed. He was silent for a time and Mine could feel that he was struggling with something. Like there was something he wanted to mention but wasn't sure how to say it, or if he even should. Finally, he opened his mouth and spoke. "Mine, there's something you should know."
"What?"
"There is no food in Niflheim."
She turned to face him, her face scrunched him in confusion. "Yes there is. Tatsumi hunted some for us. I know what I ate. That meat may have smelled like compost, but it tasted good, nothing like Nidhoggr's tail."
"Nidhoggr aside," Azazel said, snickering a little at that thought. "Niflheim is the realm of the dishonored dead. Nothing lives there, not even bacteria. Nidhoggr doesn't even live there, but beneath it near the root of the world tree. He has to gnaw on its roots because there's nothing else."
"I know what I ate!" Mine protested.
"I'm not doubting that you ate something," Azazel said softly. He hesitated again, a brief pause as he casted a glance towards Nemesis' temple. "I'm only doubting where that meat came from. You may not be aware but draconic meat always smells terrible, but the taste is variable. In fact, one could say that one's own personal feelings towards the dragon they're eating dictates how it tastes." He turned to her and she noticed his features hardened. "The more you hate the dragon you're eating, the more disgusting it tastes, hence the taste of Nidhoggr. However… the reverse is also true."
A sinking feeling started to well up in the pit of her stomach. "Wait a minute, what are you saying?"
"Mine… did Tatsumi have any strange injuries? Possibly self-inflicted injuries?"
A look of absolute horror crossed Mine's face. Disbelief and horror swirled around inside her, raging against each other and her own morals, clawing at everything she thought. "No! NO! He hunted!"
"There's nothing to hunt, Mine," Azazel told her softly. "That meat you were eating…"
"Stop! STOP!"
"You were eating Tatsumi."
Those words slammed into her with all the force of a freight train. Mine went rigid with shock as his words reverberated through her mind. That delicious meat she'd been happily devouring, it had been Tatsumi. He had been carving himself up to keep her from going hungry.
No, no there was no way he would do that! There was no way anyone would do that! Especially not for her!
"I can feel the Tyrant inside you. It's faint, barely noticeable, but it's there. You're now part dragon, part Tyrant. The injuries you described, they shouldn't have healed as fast as they did. But healed they are. A four-wing jump in power? Impossible under normal circumstances."
"No…" Mine's voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper now as she desperately tried to banish the horrifying thoughts that were consuming her mind.
"But Tatsumi has abnormal healing capabilities and an ability to adapt to whatever situation is thrown his way. If he fed himself to you to not only keep you full, but to heal you as well…"
"Then what did he eat?!" Mine protested loudly.
"Did he eat?"
That brought her up short. At no point could she ever remember him eating anything. Not until Ymir started making food for them. Only water, but that came from melted snow and ice.
Azazel leaned down towards her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Mine, do I think Tatsumi still has some lingering attachment to the you of his world? Yes, and he always will." Azazel told her. "Just like there will always be a place in my heart for her, no matter how many women I chase after. But does that mean there is no place for you? For the young Fallen Angel I see before me?" He fell silent as he straightened. He turned, this time looking back towards the temple. "Do you honestly think anyone would go to such extremes to honor a memory?"
"I…" she didn't know. Tatsumi was strange, normal didn't apply to him.
Azazel reached down and helped her up off the edge. He casually threw an arm around her shoulder and uncharacteristically embraced her comfortingly. "I can't pretend to know what's in his mind, but I can tell you that people don't just casually carve off pieces of themselves like that. That's a level of sacrifice I've only ever seen in someone that loves another beyond what words can define."
"If he loved me he wouldn't have pushed me aside from her," Mine spat out bitterly.
Azazel was silent for a moment before he responded. "Did he push you away, or did you walk away out of fear of being rejected again?"
Mine stiffened as his point hit far to close to home. She shrugged his arm off and shuffled away. "I was pushed away," she repeated firmly.
"Pushed away? That doesn't sound like the Tatsumi I know," Azazel responded easily, "but we can bandy what ifs back and forth all night. Why not ask if you're still in doubt? Tatsumi doesn't strike me as someone that would leave you hanging."
"No," Mine said firmly. Tatsumi had enough issues to deal with without having her own personal internal struggles burdening him even further. "I have a better idea."
"Oh?" Azazel asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.
"Yes," Mine whispered, more to herself than Azazel. It was the perfect plan, and the only way to be sure. The only way to step out from beneath the shadow of a memory. Hel had forced her to admit to herself that perhaps she did like Tatsumi, just a little. She needed to be certain he felt at least a little in return. She wouldn't let herself be nothing more than a replacement for a memory. "Azazel, can you take me to Tatsumi's world?"
She could feel Azazel stiffen in shock beside her. The emotion was genuine, palpable. He understood what she intended to do and it had truly caught him off guard.
"There will be consequences, possibly dire ones," Azazel said after a long period of silence.
"I don't care," Mine stated flatly. "If Tatsumi is anything like the man I think he is, the memory of his former love bothers him as much as it bothers me. We both need to come to a resolution." She let out a small snort. "And if it doesn't, then he deserves to be bothered by it for all the trouble it's put me through!"
Azazel started to chuckle. "Well, I've always wanted to take a trip over there. I mean, Serafall and Gabriel both took a trip. It only seems fair that the Fallen Angels send a pair of representatives over to check it out as well."
Good, that was what Mine had wanted to hear. "When?"
"Not right away," Azazel said. "There's going to be too much scrutiny in the near future for you to just disappear for a week or so."
"You had better not leave me behind and go off by yourself!"
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Author's Note: And this officially wraps up the Athena Arc! What did you think of the original arc I created? Leave a review and let me know!
No Athena for the harem. Tatsumi isn't going to accept EVERY invitation he's offered. No lemon with the new Bennia for those that were hoping. My view is that there needs to be a 'reason' for it. Something character and/or plot related needs to happen in conjunction. Sex for the sake of sex is just pointless smut.