And here's the next chapter. Again, so sorry for the delay. It's just been very busy at my job lately and it's not easy to write a story when you need to focus on your job. Thanks again for your patience. So here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: Turning Red and it's characters are the property of (c) Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios.
Elements are borrowed from God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, owned by (c) Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment.
It was calm and quiet in that house and Kris seemed to agree as he laid comfortably sprawled against the couch. It was a lovely, exquisite, luxurious upper-class house; very spacious inside, very artsy and so clean owned by a rich young couple who was currently on vacation right now in Guatemala and won't be back in the next seven days, so Kris has the place to himself until then. They were a bit uptight and high-sprung and they desperately needed someone to look after their home while they were gone and keep people out. With any luck, Kris should be able to receive a huge paycheck by the time they get back if he does a good job. There wasn't very much for him to do in that house since he was forbidden from using any of their things, even the television. Everything in this house from the decor, to the art to the technology was priceless and state-of-the-art, so it made sense why they wanted everything to remain untouched when they returned. Also, they forbade Kris from inviting anyone over as well.
Kris has been trying to contact his friends on his phone for some time now, but none of them have been answering, which was odd and started to make him worry. Not even Stig was picking up his phone. And he was on the verge of considering calling Mei on her cell, but then he remembered that there's no cellular service out in the woods where their camp was.
However, he didn't let this deter him from his current duties at the moment. He needed to worry about his current job at the moment and stay focused. But then he thought back to the other night at the temple, when Ming offered to rehire him. At this point, he was now starting to feel a little guilty about yelling at her and turning her down. She was only offering help and trying to make it up to him and it's been three years since she helped his family and friends save him from Hel in Helheim. At the same time, though, he didn't have the heart to give her that chance. Not after all he's had to put up with working for her in the first place and it's technically her fault Kris fell into that 'coma' and missed out on so much.
How exactly does one forgive a person like that?
So Kris was really conflicted. Don't get him wrong, as much as he wanted to give her a chance, his heart was still healing from being broken harshly. No matter how much he thinks about what else Ming has done for him, all he can remember is the bad stuff which still haunts him, still seeing her for the heartless monster that she used to be.
He probably would've kept on mulling his over, except there came a tapping that made him jump.
"What?" He cried, unconsciously looking all around, wondering where that noise came from. The tapping came again, much louder this time. It was coming from the glass sliding doors to the backyard. Kris looked and was in shock to see a raven outside, tapping against the glass with its beak. However, the markings on its feathers give it away as someone he remembers vividly.
"Muninn?" He gasped.
What was Odin's raven doing here? What could the All-Father possibly want with him right now? He was in the middle of a gig at the moment and can't be bothered. Nevertheless, Kris got up and made his way over to the door just to go see what the raven wanted. And it better be good. He flung open the door and stubbornly stepped outside onto the freshly-cut, bright green grass lawn and looked all around for the raven getting his attention. He looked and looked, but couldn't see where Muninn went.
"Okay, I'm out here. What is it you want?" He called, but was unanswered. "Listen, I'm kinda in the middle of something here, so if you could please-"
Cawing interrupted him and brought his attention to the branch of a tree where both Huginn and Muninn were perched upon together. Then suddenly, they cawed excessively before flying down toward Kris, which made him back away in fright only by a couple inches. Black feathers screened his vision as the two ravens circled around him and blocked everything else out, making everyone grow dark for Kris, who knew what this meant.
"Oh, no….." He groaned in despair.
The blinding cloud of feathers vanished and he wasn't in the backyard anymore. He was out in the middle of a large forest in the middle of nowhere. However, Kris was familiar with this forest at this point and he should know because he remembers being stuck roaming around in a forest similar to this three years ago after the SkyDome. He remembered seeing all those thick exotic trees, the supine rocks and the procumbent grass beneath his feet and the mountains in the distance. He was back in the Time of Legends, in the Nine Realms, particularly, Midgard. However, he could see none of that because it was now all covered in ankle-high snow with a blizzard blowing in from the north like nuts. But strangely enough, Kris wasn't feeling too cold at the moment. Were Huginn and Muninn able to cast a spell on him while they transported him here? Regardless of this, where in the blazes did all of this snow come from in the middle of the summer? How did it get here? It was snowing so hard and so much it was like he was standing right in the Arctic Circle, which isn't too far-fetched since Norway is relatively close to it.
But no, this can't be right. What was he doing back here? Why was he back here again?
"Why did you bring me back?! And why is it snowing?!" Kris shouted out for the ravens, but they were already gone. They must have disappeared back to Asgard, leaving him to his own devices in this wild, snowy and untouched-by-man landscape where summer has become winter entirely out of nowhere. "You gotta be shitting me. I am so gonna get fired for this."
The snow-packed topography of this realm shouldn't be too different from the last time he was here. All Kris had to do was familiarize himself with this bajillion-year old environment, try to think back to when he was stuck here. Kris marched through the frozen terrain, keeping his head up and focused, all the while thinking to himself. The gods must've brought him here for a reason. But the question is, what exactly? How come they've snatched him up in the middle of a summer gig to earn money for Deathfest and dropped him right here in the middle of a snowy Midgard? Whatever the reason, Kris figured it must have something to do with this unexpected winter enveloping the land out of the blue.
"This is bullshit." Kris mumbled to himself as he traveled the woods, ignoring the blistering cold winds hitting his face. "I shouldn't even be here. Mom is gonna be worried about me. What could they possibly want?"
The owners were gonna get so pissed at him when and if he ever gets back and there's no way he's getting paid at this rate. Why does this have to happen to him right now of all times? When he's trying to make money to go to a music show and see his favorite band in the world perform. Why couldn't the gods have picked another time to snatch him up from the real world and back into the Realms? Is there nothing they can handle on their own? And why did they need to leave him here by himself on Midgard in the middle of a raging blizzard covering all with thick sheets of harsh cold snow and an even colder gush of wind and snowfall with a maniacal resolve as if the Earth was set back to the Ice Age, a harsh and unforgiving period in ancient history when the entire globe was nothing more but frozen, barren badlands where survival was key and all forms of life, both man and beast, were involuntarily flung into a desperate struggle for their survival, hunting for food, shelter and warmth, to stay safe and cozy from the diabolical cold enveloping the planet like a left hand of darkness waiting to plunge all natural life in a deep freeze until there was nothing left but ice and snow. He kept onward without slacking his pace, not even letting the thick snow on the ground slow him down. But he kept forward until he found the giant statue of Odin in the mountain wall so he knew this was Midgard straight up. But there was a path through a canyon in the mountains, which Kris decided to trek. It was not a very treacherous path, it only spanned through the mountains like a crack in the earth. He knew this way because this is where a certain place was situated, a place that he remembers staying at before back when he was trapped here. Another hour of passing through the canyon and running past the trees, he finally found what he was looking for. In the distance up ahead, there was a cabin in the woods.
And it was just sitting there as if welcoming Kris to come forward and excitedly, he did. Warmth, shelter, Kris needed those essentials right now. He may not be cold right now, but warmth was still a required commodity.
Kris didn't halt until he was at the door of the cabin.
"Hello? Magni? Modi?" He called out to the cabin's owners, knocking on the door. No answer, strangely. He lifted an eyebrow in confusion. This was weird. He knocked again, but got the same reception. Then he decided to let himself in, hoping they wouldn't mind. "Hello? Excuse me. Anyone in there?"
He flung open the door, but found it empty of Magni and Modi. Perhaps they had left to hunt for some food to eat to survive this harsh winter and probably won't be back for a couple of hours. Either way, though, Kris really needed some shelter, so he entered and shut the door behind him. There was no fire in the fireplace, so Kris grabbed a couple kindling, tossed them in the hearth and generated some electricity from his hands to set them ablaze before all of them burned, creating a warm, burning fire. He decides to occupy himself while waiting for the two to return from their trip. They taught him how to make a non-strong wassail from scratch, so he did just that. Warming the water from a bucket over the fire and mixing the spices and other ingredients. This oughta help him stay warm. The magic spell can't be too strong. Then heard the dead-giveaway cawing again and he saw the two ravens sitting at the window and he grew agitated.
"You two!" He shouted, putting his cup down and rushing over to them. "Why did you bring me back here?"
They only answered with more cawing, which Kris had grown to be able to understand perfectly after knowing them for so long. And they said something like, 'The gods need you for something'.
"The gods what?" Kris sputtered. "Then what am I doing down here in the cold and not in Asgard?!"
Huginn and Muninn cawed, responsive. 'There's someone here you need to meet first before your council with the Æsir.'
"What the fuck does that mean? Who am I supposed to meet? It's freezing down here!" Kris complained.
'Don't worry. The spell we used will keep you warm.' Huginn answered.
Kris groaned in defeat, rubbing his eyes before asking, "And what's this winter doing here anyway? It's the middle of summer."
'Fimbulwinter is upon us all. Take care, young Bengtsson. The gods will be here to get you soon.' And with that out of the way, both ravens spread their wings and took flight out of sight into the cold before disappearing.
"Fimbulwinter?" Kris chirped in confusion at the word before flopping down on the ground, exhausted and annoyed. "A very nice little sentiment that is, but it still doesn't explain what I'm doing back in this wasteland or how I'm ever getting back out. Guess I can kiss that paycheck goodbye, then."
He thought he heard a noise outside. It made him lift himself up and then he listened. What it sounded like to him he could only equate to footsteps. Heavy footsteps crunching in the snow-covered ground.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
And it sounded close.
Somewhere in the area about centimeters from the cabin. Kris must think this is Magni and Modi approaching, considering that his acutely-sensitive ears remember how relatively harder their footfalls were than normal.
"Thank god you guys are here." He sighed with relief with the comforting thought of running into a few familiar faces as he shot up and ran for the door to head back out into the wintry atmosphere outside with a hopeful heart to greet the two brothers who were nice enough to let him bunk with them when he first met them.
But they weren't out there.
There was nobody out there, just him alone.
"Wha-? Magni? Modi? Hello?" Kris tried to call out for them, for anybody, but the only answer he received was silence only brought on by the whispering winds. It was only him out there. Not a single other soul to be seen. It was starting to feel precisely like his first few days when he woke up in this world, alone, lost and disoriented.
"Look, this isn't funny anymore!" Kris shouted to the heavens, complaining to the gods that sent him here.
The thudding footsteps returned with an ominous sunder.
Whatever it was, it sounded pretty big. And by now, Kris was on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. Remain vigilant and be prepared for anyone or anything that may jump out somewhere and try to kill him. The thud sounds were no longer heard, but Kris was thinking to himself. If it wasn't Magni nor Modi making those sounds he was hearing, then who was? And what were they doing out in the snowy wilderness. Judging from the sound of those footsteps, it was certainly big for sure and most likely dangerous, probably with teeth and claws. Then maybe Kris should've stayed inside of the cabin if that were the case. Then suddenly, Kris found something on the ground imprinted in the show, totally bare for all to see and it was huge.
For it was a giant, four-digit footprint belonging to some kind of giant creature, not a human and it appeared to be one of the back feet. There was something out there with him, but he wasn't sure what, per say. All he knew was it could be anywhere in his vicinity. But he couldn't hear it moving anymore and no matter which direction he looked, nothing but the falling snow and the trees was within his field of vision, which almost blurred everything else from afar.
"Raaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
A spine-chilling roar exploded from the skies above Kris and made him jump out of the way in time when a flying creature shot down from the snowy heavens in a dive-bomb like a WWII fighter triplane opening fire upon the enemy, letting it rain lead. Only Kris was met with a blast of a fire as the beast zeroed in, which he quickly jumped out of the way of, making the monster fly right past him as it breathed its jetstream of fire along the land in flew down over, leaving behind melted snow and a scorched patch of ground of ash and burning grass in its wake and missing its target altogether.
A dragon.
Kris was a second closer to being burned alive like a sequin pig roasted on a spit and then watched in abject horror as the reptilian, airborne beast flew back up and make a sheer turn in mid-air, pivoting around to head back towards the boy on the ground and made a clear shot straight at Kris with its gaping maw wide open ready for another blast of fire, but Kris wasn't going to let it get him.
Instead, as soon as the dragon got nearer, he athletically jumped high into the air and towards the monster's face the very second it flew directly an inch above the ground, then grabbed onto one of its horns, clinging to the side of its head when the flew back up into the air, roaring furiously now that its prey was grappling onto its face. Kris began pounding on its face with his bare fists, which only pissed the creature off and earned him a snarl and a malicious hiss in return for his diligent efforts to escape the monster trying to eat him. However, Kris's punches were distracting the dragon, screwing up its flight pattern in the sky and making it shake its head strenuously in an attempt to get him off. It worked as Kris's grip on the horn enervated, sending him fling off. But now Kris grabbed onto its wing, adding an extra weight in which the dragon's balance was compromised in the process, now sending them both plummeting straight back for the earth like a meteorite until the flying beast impacted the ground, sliding off across the snow, scraping against the terrain with Kris flying off of it, hitting against a tree - which broke in half as if it were struck by a wayward cannonball - and rolling around on the ground after being shot down from the sky before coming to a complete stop, him and the dragon who was now a good few feet away from him.
Groaning in anguish from the fall, the agonized Kris winced and sucked in air through his teeth from the throbbing and smarting pain in his body, especially from hitting that tree, but ignored it for his survival's sake as he shakily lifted himself up with his arms to see the dragon itself struggling to get up from the ground before it turned to face him, now allowing Kris to get a good spectacle of his attacker. By distinction, this particular dragon had three horns - two on his forehead and one on his nose - like a Triceratops and his face looked skull-like like it was covered in a strong, hardened, protective skin hide texture.
"There goes my summer." Kris mumbled to himself in misery when he was now in an intimidating staring contest with Fáfnir, the former dwarf and son of King Hreidmar who was turned into a fire-breathing dragon as punishment for his greedy obsession with gold.
Fáfnir breathed out a stream of fire from his mouth in fury, angered that his new prey was a slippery one for him; one that not even he is capable of catching so simply.
"Little bastard….!" Kris certainly was caught by a huge surprise to hear the dragon speak in an enraged tone with a deep, low, croaking voice. Kris stayed still, frozen in place and petrified whilst the fiery-breathed beast lumbered forward. "...Fresh meat. I'm going to enjoy feasting on your bones. Nothing more will make it any less worth it!"
"You'll chip a tooth trying!" With a reckless bit of courage, Kris shouted at the beast as if daring it to come and try eating alive.
His noncompliant response angered Fafnir, making him let out a roar at the boy's face, blowing his hair back with his rancid breath and getting close to gagging.
"A child with a death wish. What an insurmountable tragedy. And yet, how fortunate for me." Fáfnir, the dragon that was once a dwarf prince, bellowed and grunted while getting nearer and nearer with his hungry maw glowing a dangerous, flaming glow, but right before Kris could become fried chicken for this monster's next big meal….
….a figure lunged at Fáfnir from the side seemingly out of nowhere with a loud, determined shout, pelting the dragon with a sword. The figure proved to be quite a worthy opponent to the colossal, winged, poikilothermic and reptiloid beast with burning breath, displaying an insane level of dexterity, agility and strength, coupled with beyond virtuoso swordsmanship. Fáfnir, while struck dumb by this brand new adversary, shook all around until he successfully knocked the warrior off him. However, the mysterious figure landed with a dramatic pose on the ground, using his sword to anchor himself down and slow his skid to a halt. Fáfnir glared with a burning animosity at the figure, mostly his sword in particular.
"Gram." He grumbled as he breathed fire upon him, but the figure pulled out a shield to protect himself from the flames. When the dragon stopped, he flung his shield at the dragon's face like a frisbee, which then ricocheted off it and back toward the warrior like a boomerang in a sick move that reminded Kris of Captain America from the comics.
The fight was not over yet and the beast was still breathing fire. Byt now, the figure sprinted at Fafnir before swiping at his feet with his sword, drawing blood, making the dragon wail in pain. Fáfnir dropped to the ground when his legs gave out because of the pain before Kris covered his eyes once the figure rose high above the dragon and impaled the monster's head with his sword, spurting out blood from the wound while Fafnir roared with agony and in seconds flat, the life vanished from his eyes and he slumped to the ground, dead. While Kris was grateful that the dragon was dead and dealt with, he kind of wished he didn't have to watch it get killed. However, having vanquished his sworn enemy, the figure ripped his sword out and jumped down off the dragon's corpse. The anonymous person was adorned in medieval-style armor that Kris figured must've been fireproof and a hooded cloak.
"You there." He said, stepping forth toward the boy, who stood in amazement. "You're lucky I showed up. Are you Kris?"
"Uh, yeah?" Kris nodded, still confused. "And who are you?"
The unknown warrior gave this a thought before he removed the hood to unveil his features to Kris and in that instant, he started to look familiar to him. A thick, black beard and bright hair done up in small spikes facing up and he had Elder Futhark tattooed on his face in a neat row across his cheeks.
"In this world, I am known as Sigurd." answered the stranger now identified personally as the reincarnation of Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr), also known as Siegfried, the legendary warrior hero of Old Norse and Germanic legend who was well-known for slaying the Fáfnir with his sword, Gram (Old Norse: Gramr). However, he attained a strong, uncanny resemblance to someone else Kris knew very well. "But in your world-"
"Oh my god, you're Stefan Ingebretson of Nörthfölk!" Kris interrupted with a loud fanboy shriek and eyes filled with stars the moment he realized he was standing right before the lead singer of his most favorite band in the world.
"Yes, that is correct." Stefan Ingebretson, the world-renowned metal guitarist and musician and lead singer of the popular Norwegian black metal band, Nörthfölk, admitted lamely. "Damn, I was just getting good."
"I'm sorry, but what are you doing here?" asked Kris, trying to tame that fanboy inside him down with a leash for the sake of obtaining some clarity.
"This is my original home." His star explained, gesturing around the land with Gram. "This is where I come from. The real world is basically my home away from home, so to speak, which as I'm now aware, is where you're from, judging by your clothes."
"Um, yeah." Kris answered, briefly looking down at his attire.
"And by the looks of things, it's not exactly shaping out very well." explained Stefan, observing the harsh winter around them emotionlessly. "Which is why I came to fetch you. And that giant monster I just killed is known as Fáfnir. This isn't the first time I've killed him and it won't be the last either."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, he won't be dead for much longer. Come with me now." Stefan urged the boy to come as he marched away from the dead corpse of his old foe. "There's much we need to do. Or rather, what you need to do."
"I-I don't get it." Kris shook his head, not sure if he is satisfied with how his first meeting of his idol is turning out right now.
"I'll explain in some parts along the way, now come. Make haste." replied the Old Norse folk hero/Norwegian black metal musician while he led the boy down through the blistering winds of the snowy forest.
"No! Leave me alone!" Stacy screamed while she ran for life through the corridors, trying to escape the horrifying parody of the one thing she loved more than anything. Fear and panic influenced her to keep fighting to flee the terror chasing after her. No doubt about it, this was a nightmare and the worst of the worst. But it didn't matter which turn she took, the hallways were always the same and the monster was just getting closer each time and each time, more ferocious, more gruesomely disfigured and more hungry for a taste of flesh.
But the poor, trapped girl wasn't going to let it get her. But what she didn't realize is that she was leaving a trail of snow and ice in her wake and it caused the red panda monster to lose its footing before slipping. Everything was unseen and unheard by the fleeing girl until she found her own self slipping on some ice she was involuntarily creating on the floor and suddenly, her balance and her momentum were both gone in a flash as Stacy was sent falling on her butt on the ground and sliding across the ground like a runaway sled on a snowy incline in the mountains. Just when this nightmare couldn't get any more real, Stacy wailed as she felt her own ankle rotate almost entirely around as she fell into a drop and landed harshly on the ground, screaming in pain and nursing her broken ankle, tears streaming from her eyes. But now she was aware of what was going on.
Snow was falling all around her and yet, it looked more like she was indoors and not outdoors. Adding to this was the snow and ice on the ground that appeared out of nowhere.
"What the hell? Why is it snowing?" She perturbedly mumbled.
Unfortunately for the injured girl, her stupefaction turned back into fear when the evil red panda returned, now more pissed than ever and Stacy screamed again and cowered on the floor, silently begging not to be eaten alive by her favorite animal. The red panda she knew would never do this to her. It was the cutest thing ever and the most loveable animal she ever knew.
Thankfully, though, the monster never came for her.
There was a new roar that pierced the air and she jumped back when a black bear, the demigod Björn, appeared and attacked the red panda monster, causing it to burst in a cloud of ashes, disappearing from existence.
"Huh?" She was baffled. Perhaps that monster impersonating the red panda attacking her wasn't real. Though she was now facing the eyes of the bear that appeared to have saved her, she instinctively crawled back as it approached her.
"No, stay back! Please don't hurt me! I don't wanna die!" Stacy cried tears as she cried and begged the bear not to hurt her. "I haven't even gone on my ski trip yet!"
But Björn softened his face to appear less-threatening to the scared girl and let out a few moans and incoherent bear sounds as if to remind her that all will be okay now that he's here. But Stacy didn't understand any of that.
"Um…?"
The bear's eyes rolled down to see Stacy's broken ankle, realizing that she won't be able to get out of here on her own. So without another second to spare and the apparent presumption that Hel and her forces will no doubt come closing in soon, Björn grabbed her with his great big paws and flung her onto his back. Despite the situation, Stacy held on tight while the bear demigod charged away to get her out of this wretched place as soon as possible.
"You're not gonna eat me are you, Mr. Bear?" She nervously chuckled, but you can understand why she was still unnerved at the moment after what she's been through.
Björn didn't answer her, though. He just kept taking her relentlessly down one hallway after the next until he finally reached the front entrance of the dark hall, bursting through the double doors of Éljúðnir and down the bridge of the damned of Gjallarbrú with Stacy Frick, the kidnapped girl, on his back before they both disappeared in a brief flash out of Helheim while its queen watched from the opened doors with an amused chuckle.
"Run, run, run, teddy bear." She cackled wickedly and poisonously. "More terror shall soon follow."
"So how do you know my name?" asked Kris.
"The gods talk about you a lot. About how you're related to Thor, the god of thunder, how you got lost in the Nine Realms and became trapped in Helheim before your family and friends busted you out." stated Stefan with his sword in its scabbard and his hood back up. "And I have to say you put up one hell of a fight against that red panda lady at the SkyDome."
"I don't like to think about that." bemoaned Kris, since that brings back too many cold memories.
"Well, sometimes we have to think about the bad things, you know." Stefan replied. "But it's also more important to not let them distract you from the good times in your life."
"In any other circumstances, I would've been delighted to actually meet you for the first time. But right now, I'm still a little stumped that I had to be dragged back here again." Kris spoke honestly while they marched through the storm.
"Yeah, sorry about interfering with your summer, by the way." The musician/warrior gave his condolences.
"And funny thing, I've been trying to earn enough money to go with my friends to Deathfest to watch you guys play on stage."
"Really? You wanna go to Deathfest?" Stefan scoffed, looking back at the boy with a disbelieving stare. "You know that's for adults now right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"How old are you, anyway?" The singer asked him.
"I'm 18." Kris answered.
Instantly, the skeptical glare was gone when Stefan thought heavily about this before stating plainly, "Well, okay. I guess that's old enough. Have any parents?"
"Just my mom and my grandfathers." said Kris, brushing the snow out of his locks. "My mom said I could go unless I pay for my own ticket."
"Does your mom know you're out here?" The dragon-slayer asked, looking all around the woods.
"Obviously not since I was snatched up and spat back out here without warning." retorted Kris with annoyance. "Right when I was in the middle of a house-sitting job."
"Let's not worry about that right now." instructed Stefan. "Because this sudden winter is a sign that the end of days will soon be upon us all."
"Wait, what?!" Kris's eyes nearly popped out of his head while all color in his face went away, draining from his skin like water in the sink when this news struck him harder than any shocker has ever done in his life and it made him feel sick to his stomach.
The end of days is coming?!
"Stefan! Over here!" A woman called out and the said man perked up and rushed over with the still-horrorstuck boy following suit. There was a young woman with braided strawberry blonde hair and in some Viking garb herself, only she wore leather pants and wool boots and as Kris eyed her closely, she looked familiar to him as well.
"There you are!" She hugged Stefan tightly. "Thank the gods we found you."
"Diana Birk?" Kris gasped.
"Is this him?" asked the one and only Diana Birk, co-guitarist for the band Nörthfölk and the girlfriend of Stefan - the modern-day reincarnation of Gudrun (Old Norse: Guðrún), also known as Kriemhild, the wife of Sigurd, former ex-wife of Attila the Hun, the sister of the Burgundian king, Gunther/Gunnar (Old Norse: Gunnarr) and the mother of their daughter, Svanhildr. "Kris, was it?"
"Yes, that's him." Her boyfriend agreed with a nod.
"Descendant of Thor, pleased to meet you." Diana shook the dazed boy's hand. "I'm known as Gudrun in this realm. But you're welcome to call me Diana."
"Stefan! About time you found the kid!"
And then, more men came running over to the three, about four more to be exact. And it would not be too far from the truth to say that Kris was over the moon, knowing that he was now standing before his favorite band of all time; Nörthfölk, here in the void lost in ancient times with him in the middle of a harsh winter storm. He noted each of them by their real-world identities just by examining each of their faces that he's seen a bazillion times on their album covers back at home and on their music videos, which he and gang have watched on this new streaming website called 'YouTube'.
The tall man with the bushy beard much larger than Stefan's, but in two long braids, long wavy dark brown hair in dreadlocks and black corpse paint was the band's drummer, Georg Johannessan - in this realm, he was referred to as Beowulf, the warrior-prince of the Geats, the slayer of the monster, Grendel and his mother for the king of the Danes, Hrothgar (Old Norse: Hróarr) and the slayer of the dragon, armed with his sword Hrunting.
And the man with the long, smooth dirty blonde hair and clean-shaven face with black lines tattooed vertically over his eyes was the bassist of the band, Hrafn Hjarnarsson - but his true identity was that of Helgi Hundingsbane, the son of Sigmund and Borghild who avenged his father by slaughtering Hunding, the king of the Saxons, earning himself the moniker 'Hunding's bane', the husband of the valkyrie, Sigrún and was reborn as Helgi Haddingjaskati.
There was the man with a short hair and a spiky beard and the Helm of Awe/Ægishjálmur imprinted on his face was the other guitarist for the band named Lars Piet Plaggenmersch - but to those in this realm, he was Aurvandill the Bold, whose toe was frozen off while Thor was carrying him in a basket across the Élivágar rivers before the thunder god tossed it into the sky, which formed the star, Aurvandils-tá.
And the last and final man was a fair young fellow with a goatee, hair shaved off on both sides of his head, creating a mohawk and wearing black retro-style round bifocals was the lyricist, Marvin Fuchs - formally known by the title Ragnar Lodbrok, the legendary Viking hero and the Swedish and Danish king.
"We've been looking all over for you, kid." Georg remarked with fists on his hips.
"Fáfnir almost had him, but don't worry. I took good care of him." Stefan reassured the rest of his bandmates.
"Yeah, until he comes back to life." groaned Georg, crossing his arms. "Then it's right back to square one."
"Shut up, Georg." Marvin swatted him on the head like a school teacher scolding one of their misbehaving students.
"Don't push your luck." The big guy snarled in a warning.
"Fimbulwinter must've roused the beast awake." Hrafn reasoned.
"Are you okay, at least?" Lars asked the dazed and starry-eyed boy.
"Georg Johannessan, Marvin Fuchs, Hrafn Hjarnarsson and Lars Piet Plaggenmersch!? I can't believe it! Nörthfölk standing right before me!" Kris chorused favorably, unable to control it. He's finally meeting his favorite band, even if it was during the most stressful of situations life could throw at him, but here, he's met with a silver lining. "You guys are so fucking awesome! I've listened to all your songs! My brother and I have all your albums!"
"So we have number #1 fan in our midst." Hrafn spoke fondly, flattered by the Norwegian teen's praise. "I never get tired of those."
"Yeah, no shit." Diana rolled her eyes at him.
"So….So you're all from here?!" Kris cried, still stuck in a fanboy daze. "What do they call you guys here?!"
"No time to explain. Come on, Kris. There's somebody you have to meet." Lars waved his questions off before taking his shoulder and urging him to follow them.
"What? It's not you guys?!" exclaimed Kris, eyes darting all around.
"No. Although, it's always nice to run into one of our biggest fans once or twice." corrected Marvin with a smidgen of adulation.
"It's someone…..that you know already." Stefan told him hesitantly.
"Okay….?"
He still couldn't believe his own luck or what direction the universe has led him towards. It's like he was fated to run into the legendary Nörthfölk sooner or later. But by what they meant by meeting someone he knew already was beyond him. Though, he had a feeling it was one of the gods. If so, then he's gonna have some words with them for interfering with his plans for the best summer of his and his friends lives. He had no idea where they were taking him and after like an hour later, they brought him over to a cave. A deep and dark cave in the mountain wall.
"What's in there?" asked Kris.
"You'll see in a minute." Diana assured him while she and Stefan neared the cave together and called out into the cave in Old Norse like they were addressing someone who was living inside of the cave and asking them to come on out. With caution, Kris approached them and then his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw a face peering out of the darkness. The face of a certain animal that had attacked him the last time he was here.
The face of Björn, the bear demigod and the patron of the berserkers, who sniffed the air until he picked up Kris's scent, bringing his attention to the boy present before the entrance to his home. However, he possessed no hostility or malice in his eyes when he saw him. However, Kris didn't think so, because he was now a little scared seeing the same exact bear from before. Georg and Lars both placed gentle hands on his shoulders, wordlessly keeping him company and reminding him not to be afraid.
"Don't be scared, kid." Georg told him in a fatherly manner.
"W-Why?" Kris stuttered.
All band members nodded towards each other and gave the bear the signal. With their permission, Björn marched out of his cave and came over to Kris, still skittish and nervous. The black bear of the woods sniffed him all over curiously and snorted. However, Kris never expected anything of what had occurred next because he never would've imagined this coming from the same bear he fought once before when he was lost and disoriented in the ancient world. Standing high up on his hind legs, Björn dwarfed everyone around him before he started to shrink and slowly, ever, ever so slowly, started changing shape and metamorphosed into a humanoid form - one that made Kris gasp as if the world collapsed around him, his reality unraveling like a cloth and his eyes started to sting with tears.
His heart pounded, his stomach shriveled up, his arms riddled with goosebumps, lips parted, eyes aimed ahead and as round as a wheel and quivering, convulsing and trembling.
"...Dad?" He whimpered in a shaky voice like a breeze.
And now Kris has been dropped back into the Nine Realms by Huginn and Muninn under the All-Father's orders and left alone. As you can see, Kris is now able to understand the ravens, only because he's known them long enough. And now Kris has run into the dragon Fafnir and almost roasted alive. Thankfully, he's been saved by the lead singer of his favorite band in the world, Nörthfölk. What a lucky turn-of-events this is, if not for the circumstances. And an even bigger surprises is that each band member is a reincarnation of a famed hero of Old Norse/Old English/Germanic folklore. Bet Kris has his mind blown right now.
Another lucky turn-of-events is that Björn rescues Stacy from her predicament in Helheim. However, Hel lets them go, because phase one of her plan is already in effect and many more are sure to come. So it's for sure going to be a fight for all life on the planet, in both the real world and the ancient one.
And Kris has been brought before Björn because he's someone that Kris already knows, which leaves the story on a cliffhanger.
Next Chapter: Mei and her friends are dismayed to see that the QRQ's are joining Camp Watkikeeka as well. Back in the Nine Realms, Kris receives the surprise of his life when he encounters Björn, the bear demigod.
Next Update: July 4, 2023