Njord's mind wandered as he lay on the ground, his eyes focused on the bright blue sky above him. The sounds of grass and flowers rustling with the wind were caught up by his ears. From the corners of his eyes, he could make out the greenery that was surrounding him as he lay still on the green floor.
His mind reminded him of a time when he was not an avatar of a dumb god. He was an average person…
Well… average for Terra standard at least.
With how this world viewed people having magic as a normal occurrence and throwing fireballs like it was spitting - with the side effect of getting a disease - him being able to stop time was not that special.
He had a normal life with normal problems in that second life.
For his first… We do not talk about that,
However, both of them share one similarity. His name.
Lin Ye.
A name that felt so familiar and yet…
So strange to remember.
He used to be him but remembering how Lin Ye was before, it was like he was seeing someone else in his memories.
It was an odd sensation to have.
He remembered that Lin Ye liked to daydream often, something that he was doing currently.
Maybe they shared some similarities.
Still, he was not Lin Ye.
He was Njord.
Njord knew some people would disagree with him in this regard and would stubbornly view him as Lin Ye. A few people came into his mind when he thought about that group of people.
A naughty child who had a good heart and liked to burn things.
A cheeky goddess that loved to tease mortals, especially him once.
A spicy-loving dragon god who had an odd interest in movies.
A bat-crazy vampire that was as brilliant as she was stupid.
An Oni that was as stubborn as she was committed.
A fallen angel who loved sweets and was an anomaly to think back on.
A huntress that was aloof but still kind.
And many more. They cared for Lin Ye. Some even loved him.
Njord?
They were just people that Lin Ye knew.
Njord knew of them.
Lin Ye and Njord were similar but they will never be the same.
One was a doctor who saved lives.
While the other was an avatar that only saved himself.
Lin Ye would do anything to save the world and his loved ones.
Njord on the other hand…
He would gladly fucked up the world if it meant he would have a better life.
Njord shouldn't be Lin Ye, and he liked to stay like that. It was better that way. Besides, he does not want to ruin their view of Lin Ye.
"Heyyyyyy… Penny for your thoughts?"
A voice stopped Njord's internal monologue. Rather than moving his head towards where that voice came from, he instead raised his hand upwards and clenched….
"Umm… Njord? What are you-"
And he brought it down to his stomach.
"ACK!"
He felt his fist landing on something, hard.
It was a head that was lying on Njord's stomach.
The owner of the said head brought his hands towards the damage that Njord caused. It seemed that he was in pain. After he was sure the pain was gone, the person wined, his face red from the bruise Njord did to him.
"What was that for!? Two times! You smacked me on my face two times now! Why!?"
Njord shrugged his shoulder, not even looking at his victim. More focused on the sky. He noted that it was in a vibrant blue than what the sky should be.
"I felt like it."
"How can my avatar be so cruel!?" The person complained.
"By the way-" Njord glared towards his torso.
"And… you're ignoring the fact you hurt me."
"Why are you on my stomach?"
And there he was, on his stomach, there was a head that he wanted nothing more than to punch for a third time now. The head moved and Njord could see two blue eyes staring at him confusingly under the being's white hood.
"What do you mean? We were about to discuss our next plan of attack. With how the Remnants were stolen and whatnot."
The Remnants.
Vessels that he was given by his… acquaintance. Their use was a simple one, to be his body so that he could roam the world of Terra and see what it could offer.
The cultures.
The animals.
The weathers.
The people.
Those vessels would have helped him in seeing all of that while satisfying a certain being.
That was the initial plan for them at least.
This bastard on him had to ruin all of that.
Hearing about them now, Njord felt a rising annoyance towards the being who was using his stomach as a pillow at the moment.
"So what now?" He asked the being. And unsurprisingly the hooded figure was not bothered with all of this.
"So let's start from where this all shit begins," Nott raised a finger high toward the sky, "Do you still know what Remnants are, my dumb friend?"
Njord rolled his eyes at being asked this. He ignored his attempt to get under his skin and answered the question.
"They are my way to interact with Terra. Technically, I do not have a body for my soul to stay in," Njord hovered his hand above his face, getting a good look at it, "Without them, I can't interact in the real world. The "real world" is subjective, in my case Terra. This body is one of them. An Iberaia version. One for each country in Terra. "
"Good to see you are able to remember things. In a way, you are like me. Minus the talking to mortals in their head," Nott nodded. Then his blue eyes drifted towards Njord's face, "They also have another use. Did you already forget about that? "
Njord's eyes hardened at being asked this. He lay back his hand on the grass and stared at the sky.
"To make me strong enough to really kill you."
Killing him, was Nott's ultimate task assigned to Njord. It was not because he was suicidal, Nott just wanted to know if he could be killed or not. Living as long as he had, he grew bored so Njord trying to kill him acted like a passion project for the being.
Njord being able to kill him or not was not his end goal.
If he dies he dies, Nott does not care.
Like it or not, as long as Njord provides Nott with something amusing, the being still wins.
"Bingo. Normally you need several lifetimes to be dedicated to training yourself to get strong enough to really kill me but that would take forever, literally," Nott exclaimed, "So how do we work around that? It's quite simple really…"
"I need to have several lives." Njord finished Nott's thought.
A snap echoed in the field of flowers they were in.
"Yes. And you came up with this crazy plan," Nott chuckled, "Living three lives was not enough for you?"
"Shut up," Njord sighed as closed his eyes, "It's not like I was going to live those lives anyway."
"True. You would have dedicated your lives in those Remnants just training until they broke," Nott shrugged, "One vessel for one power and to learn how that side of the world fought. To not waste our time, I even thought up that we should send them at different times on Terra so that we can collect them in one fell swoop."
"That was the plan at least," Njord opened one of his eyes to glare down at his companion, "But someone had to lose them."
"Hey! Don't put all the blame on me," Nott exclaimed, "Your Ex-wife was the one that stole them."
"..."
"..."
The field became quiet as no one said a word after that.
"..."
"What? Too soon?"
"Ughh…" Njord pinched his forehead at how emptyheaded this person could be.
With how much power Nott had, tactfulness was gone from that list. Then Njord remembered the topic at hand. He looked above and saw it was getting a bit late as the sky was slowly fading into a darker hue.
The moon was even slowly appearing in the sky as the sun was disappearing behind the horizon.
"Yue…" Njord muttered as he admired the barely visible image of the moon, "She's real, huh…?"
"That was a lacklustre response," Nott noted, "Thought you get more excited knowing your dream girl really existed. Literally in the dream girl part for you."
"Still processing that fact," Njord grumbled out, "So forgive me for not providing you with the right amount of entertainment."
"Sure. You're forgiven…" He smirked at Njord's remark.
"You fucker."
"But how are you holding up?" Nott curiously asked, "Those Remnants were made from fragments of your soul."
"Yeah..." Njord sighed, "I'll survive."
"Clearly," Nott let out an amused chuckle.
"In a way, you are even less whole than me," Nott commented, patting his chest, "At least I have a soul. You? You barely even be considered a being with how fucked up your soul is now."
"So I'm soulless?" Njord asked, interested in the subject now. He never really thought about his soul that much, so he might as well listen to a professional on this subject.
"It's more that your soul is so insignificant now that it can be considered as so," Nott explained, "So? How is it?"
The being smirked.
"How is it being the first truly soulless thing?"
"..."
The only answer that Nott got was the sound of the grass rustling. Even so, the smirk that was on his face never left.
"... Those "Remnants"? Where are they now?" Njord asked, ignoring Nott's previous question.
Nott did not seem to care.
"Them? They were still transported in different times on Terra we set on them, Yue stole them just before I could complete the process to make them you," Nott raised a brow as he moved his head a bit to get more comfortable on Njord's stomach, "Normally without you, they would only be just a pfile of flesh with a piece of your soul in it…"
"Normally…." Njord drew out a certain word that Nott said.
"But in our case, we have a curveball," Nott hummed, "Yue."
This caught Njord's attention.
"Explain…"
"..." Nott smirked up at him, expecting something from him.
Njord rolled his eyes at this reaction.
"Please…" Njord did not have time for this, so he gave in.
"Well, seeing how you're asking so kindly, how could I not?" Nott said, amused. Then he got serious, "She made herself be you too."
"What?…"
"Meaning that she is taking parts of her soul and shoving it in the Remnants," Nott explained, "She is making herself soulless."
"What?…" Although he heard the explanation, Njord was still confused.
Nott let out a laugh.
"Although you are the first, she soon will be the second."
That information was slowly making sense in Njord's head.
"Why?…" He asked.
"This way, those Remnants will not be you. Can't be you," Nott explained further, "With a soul that is half of yours and hers, they will be a person…"
"They will never be you."
"That is not what I meant…"
This raised a brow by Nott.
"What did you mean then?"
"Why is she doing this?"
Nott looked at Njord's face to see his expression but his hair was hiding it. Even so, Nott had a guess of what his expression was.
"Ah…" Nott exclaimed after hearing that and raised his eyes to the sky, "I have a guess."
"What is it?" His voice was as monotone as possible.
"You," Nott answered like he was an idiot.
"Me?" This got a reaction from Njord.
"You are dumber than what I expected you to be," Sounding disappointed, Nott sighed, "Okay, let me ask some questions, you dumb fuck."
"..."
"What does Yue love the most in any world she is in?"
"The ocean…?"
"For fuck sake!" Njord's answer was so outrageous that Nott stood up from his stomach and clenched his head with both hands," How did I pick a dumbass as my avatar!?"
As he stood, the field of grass that was filled with endless flowers started to change.
It started to shift.
The sky collapsed.
The field of floras disintegrated.
They were no longer in that field.
They were in nothingness again, Nott was standing while Njord was still lying in nothingness like nothing ever happened.
"If I'm an idiot, what are you?" Njord sat up and looked at him blandly.
"You shut up!" Nott shot his finger toward Njord's face, "How can you be so dense!?"
"Still don't under-"
"It's you!" Nott shouted, making everything go silent.
"Me?…"
"Urghh… She is trying to save you from me, dumbass," Nott explained some more to his idiot of an avatar.
"... How can you be so sure?" Njord asked.
"I made her," Nott simply said, "Not like a parent but as her literal god. No matter how much you think you know her, being her husband and all that, I know what made her tick. One way or another, she found out you are my avatar and she considers me taking you as my slave."
"I see…" Njord pondered this information.
Although he felt a bit offended that he was being accused that he did not know Yue better than Nott, he cannot deny the fact that Nott made her. So have a strong case for that claim.
It did not mean Njord would admit it though.
His pride in being Yue's husband was too strong for even him to admit defeat.
"So what now?" Njord asked the being.
With his hands holding the back of his head to let him rest on it, Njord could see Nott's under his hood.
"That is what I want to know," Nott said, "I want you to come up with something. Not me. That's our promise after all. You think shit up to fix problems."
"You made those problems in the first place…"
"True."
Nott chuckled while Njord frowned.
That was their promise. Nott was a simple being. He just wanted to be entertained and for him, seeing whatever Njord did was the most thrilling thing he could experience.
If that meant he would be killed, then so be it.
Being alive was quite overrated, in his opinion.
"We need to gather them," Njord said, "Before they impact the world too much under our noses."
"Although I lost them, it should be easy to find them," Nott commented, "At least one of them is in one country in Terra still."
"Now, how can you be sure of that then?" Njord challenged, "She might send them into hiding to one place where you can't reach them?"
"True, there is a chance she will do that," Nott admitted but then he smirked at him, "But she also knows no matter if those Remnants have a self, they are still half of you."
"And…"
"They will despise each other the moment they lay eyes on each other," Nott offhandedly said, "With how much you hate yourself, I would not be surprised if they literally killed each other."
"That's… morbid."
"That's you," Nott shrugged his shoulder, "And poor little Yue would not be able to bear to see beings that she could consider as her children killing each other. That's the type of being she is."
"But you already knew that."
"Yeah…"
Then he remembered something.
"But you don't have a body," Nott reminded, "How can you collect them when you can't even interact with the world they are in? Even this body you are in is slowly degrading. Seeing how it is literally my project zero of the Remnants. Look at it! The cracks are getting way bigger now."
Njord looked down at his chest and saw the black patch that was on it slowly creeping outwards to the rest of his body. He hummed at this.
"You said that the only difference we shared is not talking with mortal's minds?" Njord asked.
"Yes?…" Nott tilted his head towards him, "And?..."
"Let's check that box," Njord smiled.
At first, Nott looked at him confused but it did not take that long to realize what Njord was trying to say.
And with the smirk on his face, Nott quite liked it.
"Now I remembered why I picked you as my avatar," Nott chuckled, "You're the best."
He did not have time to hear all of this nonsense.
"We need to leave Liberia as fast as we can," Njord stated, "A distraction is something we need now."
"Why? Can't we just leave-" Nott them remembered, "Ah… That girl. Anita, was it? Can't make her feel like you abandoned her now, do we?"
"..." With how Njord did not refute, Nott knew he hit a bullseye.
"Luckily for us, lady luck is smiling upon us. Two little fishes swam to us," Nott said, "And even better, now you have a chance to destroy that church that you seemed to not like."
"It's not like I hate people practising their religion," Njord explained himself, "It's more… Something odd is about that place. It's like, it is seeping life from this city."
It was the first time that he arrived at the shore that he realized that the church might be just a cover-up. It had a certain atmosphere surrounding it. Sadly, Njord did not have the means to investigate them because of how limited his time was and restricted his movement when he was in Terra.
"Bah! Don't worry your pretty little head about that," Nott commented, "If you cannot destroy it, let someone else do it instead."
"Maybe some little birdies of yours can?"
"This is why nobody likes you…"
"But you do!"
"I tolerate you ."
"Aww… Love you too."
The two voices continued bickering in the void.
[]
Drip
The sound of water droplets falling echoed in the cave. The rocky terrain of the cave made the sound bounce longer than it should have. The formation of the stalagmites and stalactites in the cavern made it feel like it was inside an elder being's mouth to whoever walked in it.
But the cave was not uninhabited.
A figure could be seen, in the deepest part of the cave. It was a woman. Something that should be the last thing that someone thought they could find in a place like this.
She stood there, not far from a body of water pooling inside the cave, water that might be from the sea with how the sound of waves could be heard cashing. Although the inside of the cave had close to no light, her white locks could easily be seen by anyone passing by.
The woman in question wore clothing that resembled some type of mix between a sailor and a hunter, the most defining feature was her hat.
And her sword, strapped behind her back. It might even be a spear with how long the handle was compared to her.
Her eyes, almost as red as blood, were only focusing on one thing.
A capsule, no…
It was more of a body of water that was forming as one.
Although it was nothing special about it, what she was interested in was not of it.
But what was in it instead…
A figure that shared a lot of her similarities was floating inside the liquid that was inside the said capsule.
Gladiia did not say a word as she watched her once underling unconscious in front of her.
Laurentina…
No…
She was Specter now.
"I have to thank you for placing her in the capsule…"
A voice, rough like the person who spoke had not drunk any water for days, snapped her mind from her thoughts.
Gladiia turned her back and faced the newcomer. A robbed man covered from head to toe, stood in front of her. A staff could be seen in one hand that had a craving for the laterano's emblem. His hair, unkempt and had resemblances of seaweed, gushing out from his hood covered his face and only let a lone eye visible for Gladiia to see.
"I cannot have done it on my own," His raspy voice was something not pleasant for anyone to hear, "With that, you have my gratitude."
"..."
"Not one to strike up a conversation? No matter," The priest chided, "Just knowing that An Aegir is willing to betray their own for the greater good, is more than enough."
The man slowly walked beside her and glanced at the figure that was in the floating body of water. Gladiia eyes the person, not letting him out of her sight even for one moment.
"I have heard of her," The priest hummed, "One of our bishops found her. We asked her about the Seaborns, to gain knowledge so that we could strengthen our bond with them. But…"
"She would not cooperate at the time…"
"..."
"After that…" The man stared at the huntress, "I have no information what they did to her… To be absolutely clear with you, my friend, I am quite curious on that subject."
"..."
"Would you mind if I opened her up?"
"..."
"I take that as no then," The man then let out a sigh, "Sadly, I cannot do that at the moment or else it would ruin the whole process." Then he showed a crooked smile at her, "Shame, with the trouble of you getting injured, I let this opportunity wasted."
The man's eyes stared at the bandages that were covering one of her forearms.
Clang!
Splutter.
A red liquid splashed across the white floor of the dark hall.
Gladiia jumped back from her opponent while making sure the person who was under his other arm was still there.
And the said arm was still there too.
Blood was dripping from a wound that seemed to be a large cut on her arm, the same arm that she was holding her hostage.
Her opponent seemed to be targeting it to get her hostage, the slumbering woman.
Gladiia's eyes moved away from her wound and focused on the one that inflicted it on her.
Skadi.
She had memories of how the huntress would react and fight people in these types of situations.
This was not one of those.
The once huntress would be calm even when facing monsters beyond normal people of imagination not in front of her now.
Skadi's eyes. They were filled with something… Something that Gladiia dreaded seeing on her face. Those bloodshot eyes were like a portal that would transport anyone who walked through to a world of pure horror.
And with Skadi harming someone that she would consider close, something was amiss with her.
Something happened to her.
Clack
Skadi stabbed her jet-black sword into the floor.
"I do not know why you are here…" Skadi muttered, "Nor do I know why you have taken her…"
Then, Skadi raised her sword and pointed its end toward Gladiia. She could see her own blood dripping from the sword's surface.
"However…" Gladiia could see Skadi tighten her grip on her sword.
Then Skadi hardened her eyes and sneered at her, something that would be considered abnormal to what Skadi would done before.
"I am tired of losing people I care for!"
With a shout, the huntress lunged.
"This city…" Gladiia drew out, letting those memories fade to the back of her mind.
"Sal Viento?"
"It is… different from what I envision it would be," She commented, "It has… less Seaborn than what I expected it to have."
"Ah… It was not always like this."
Gladiia got intrigued when she heard the response from the priest.
It seemed that this was a sensitive topic with how it was making even the loud-mouthed man speechless.
"Some… Thing appeared near the shore of the city," Facing the hunter, the priest explained the situation to her, "Whispers tell that man and the Seaborns…"
"They are concerned about him."
Seaborns.
Afraid?
Impossible.
"The inquisitors are placing a close eye on that figure," The priest commented, "But it seems that he has worn them out as they are keen to leave him be as long as he does not cause any harm. And it seems like he is doing so."
"That man," Gladiia needed to know more about this man, "What did he do to cause this?"
"That is what I want to know as well," The priest admitted, "before he arrived, visits from those holy beings were so frequent, that this city was blessed. But him…"
Even thinking about it made him shake in anger.
"I do not know what he did but I am sure," The priest's distaste of this man could be heard easily from his voice, "The moment he stepped foot onto the shore and let his presence known, the Seaborns all halted from coming here to this city."
"It is like the man is acting as a deterrent to them."
"..."
"I want to come in contact with him but the Inquisitors are always not far from him. Just seeing my figure might earn me a sword to the neck," A slimy smile slowly crept up onto his face when he glanced at his company, "But you? You might be able to strike up a conversation with that mysterious figure of ours."
"I know that I am not the only one interested in him, no?"
"..."
Gladiia stared at the priest's unpleasant smile. However, not saying a word, the hunter turned around and slowly walked towards the exit of the cavern.
"Dusk. The moment the sun disappears he will come," The man said, "The shore is where you can find him."
"..."
The only reply that he got was the echoes of Gladiia's footsteps slowly fading away.
Then hummed, not bothered by the cold treatment that he was getting as turned to stare at the test subject.
"Now," The man mused, "Let's get the equipment ready, shall we?"
The man slowly walked towards another exit, leaving the slumbering woman to her lonesome.
However, unknown to them, even if she was physically alone.
Mentally?
That was a whole other question entirely.
[]
It hurts…
Her body felt like it was tearing itself to pieces from the inside out. She just wanted to be free, to be a self. Not be a prisoner in someone else's body while she was floating in nothingness.
She was close.
So close to getting control.
To finally be free. But that Doctor. He did something to her, managing to help that vile woman to supreme her further into the person's body even further.
She wanted to hear the sound of the sea. To smell its unique smell. But she did not let her. The hunter still was clinging onto her body, not letting her fully control it.
And by the looks of it, she might have been bested after all.
She could feel her "mind" slowly fading away from existence.
What will happen to a soul that never had a life of its own?
Will she be forgotten, only remembered as a nuisance to another person?
Will that be how she will be remembered?
She was…
She was scared…
(Help…)
It was a sad attempt on her part. Asking for help? For who?
Who would even hear her?
Even if she got out of this, they only see her as a monster.
No one would bother to save her-
"So this you?"
The subconscious froze when she heard a voice…
That should have been impossible. No one other than Her should be able to communicate with her on this plane.
Then she saw it.
No…
She saw him…
Although he was surrounded by endless darkness, something she got accustomed to, when she saw him, the man was like a beacon of light. She could make out his figure easily. Covered with black robs, the figure slowly walked to her paralyzed self.
"A being trapped in another?" The man hummed as he stared at her, "It seems that it is not as rare as I like to believe it is."
(Who are you?)
The man seemed amused at her question.
"Child, that is not the right thing you should say to me in your situation," He chimed. She just realized his voice seemed to stop the agonizing pain she had felt a few moments ago.
(Then what should I say…?) She asked.
""Help me", maybe?" The man guessed, "Or my favourite, "make it stop hurting"?"
The man reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, caressing it gently. His eyes focused only on her. And those eyes…
It was not like anything she had ever seen.
Although they were as dark as the void that was around them, his eyes were soothing, almost making her fall asleep with how … something… she felt at the moment.
"Secure. Safe," The man chuckled, "Those are the words you are thinking about now."
(Secure… Safe…) She mentally said, confused about those words.
"Meaning you feel like you are far away from danger…" The man patiently explained those foreign words to her, "Like you do not need to fight just to live."
A thin smile then appeared on his face as he caressed her face as softly as he could.
He was…
"You are safe."
Not disgusted by her…
(I am safe…?)
"I will ensure it," The man promised, "Just say the word. I will do my best."
Then he lightly pulled her closer to his body. He then engulfed her with an embrace, surrounding his arms around her body.
Warmth erupted as the coldness that she was feeling disappeared the instant those arms warp her.
Her vision started to get blurry all of a sudden.
She did not know why.
Maybe it was the water that was falling out from her eyes for reasons that she did know.
Then she copied his action and warped her own arms around him, pulling her face closer, burying it into his frame and nuzzling up on him.
Then she heard a whisper.
("Just say the word.")
"Help… Me…"
Her voice cracked but she did not care.
"It hurt so much...please make it stop..."
She let this man know her inner desire, bear and open.
She felt the man pulling her closer to him.
"I will…" The man promised, "So rest up for now…"
Her consciousness slowly faded away.
"Rest and we will meet again."
"Specter."
[]
Author's notes
I think most of you all are used to this by now. Me, updating a chapter and then disappearing months later.
I am NOT doing this on purpose! Believe me!
It's just… well… Life is not letting me write, okay!
Curse my Asian trait of trying to make my family proud while ignoring my own self!
A-Anyways, so this is the new chapter. As you can see, it is more dialogue-heavy if you can say with how amateurish I wrote it.
Don't really care. I write what I wanna write.
Fight me!
So the Remnants. Boom! Name drop! I really thought hard about how I would make the concept of them into this world work. So this is what I came up with in the end. You have no idea how long I daydream about how Lin Ye would have been if he stared at another place other than Ursus. Yen, Higashi, Columbia.
How would those different places affect Lin Ye as a character?
The solution? The remnants.
Then we have Yue. The best girl that was made just to fucked with Lin Ye.
So this is how I will bring her into the story. So if Njord was the protagonist, she would be the antagonist., trying her utmost best to stop what the duo will be up to.
The abyssal hunters. From my lacklustre memories, if I remember this correctly, Gladiia gave Skadi a beatdown at the start of Under Tides. So made her victory harder to gain, seeing that she lost a certain dumbass.
Specter? I heard that she is in the same scenario as Njord, one body two souls, Specter and Laurentina. I need allies for Njord so I picked Specter. Was it a good choice? Having a murderous nun on his side?
How could it not?!
So that is the end of the chapter, if you like it, I am happy about that.
If you have some issues please leave a review.
Don't forget taht I have a discord
https discord gg wBdzJ53Bf9