As the Fiammas drew closer, they each formed a katana of flame in their hands and clashed against Kōrima's icy daggers. The Jotun ninja valiantly fended them off with his blades as well as blasts of ice magic, but he was slashed and burned from multiple sides!
"Fine." Kōrima grunted. "If you're going to copy me, I think I'll return the favor." He tossed a smoke bomb underneath him and gathered frost energy under the cover. He then aimed the ice at the ground underneath him, launching himself into the air as his opponent previously did and escaped towards the sea.
Fiamma attempted to clear the smoke to pursue him, but her flames only caused more smoke to appear. The real Fiamma exited the ring of fire and searched around from an elevated view, only to find an ice cold tidal wave heading her way from the sea! She sped towards the beach and narrowly dove into the sand before the tides could wash her away, while her duplicates and her flaming wall were all extinguished!
She watched and waited for Kōrima to show himself as the waters receded, though it was much more challenging for her to sense him with the chill of the waves around her.
She peeked her head out of the sand to find him squatting in wait for her, noticing a confident expression in his eyes; he grabbed her by the head and lifted the rest of her above ground, but she clapped him on the ears. She then reforged her flaming katana while he was disoriented, clashing with his icy blades again until she disarmed him and sent him flying upward. She subsequently swirled her flames around her to form a vortex; she rose inside her fiery twister and struck Kōrima back down, where her vortex spun him around mercilessly until she blasted him out!
Fiamma followed the ninja, making sure he was the real Kōrima, and she stood over him before he could get up. "You fought fiercely, Kōrima, and I admire both your power and your inventiveness, but I win, so you're not taking those treasures back. Still, I might be willing to tell you what you want to know, if you join us and tell us everything. And I wouldn't mind having a rematch some-" Fiamma stopped mid-sentence, feeling a numbingly painful chill all around her, despite her opponent not using any abilities, still seemingly dazed below her.
"Fiamma!" Her teammates shouted from the sidelines. "Wake up! Snap out of it!"
The Fire Giantess looked around as her vision began to clear, and she slowly realized that in reality, Kōrima had her pinned down with most of her body submerged in the chilled water. She sighed and grimaced in shame as she shivered. "I f-f-forgot about his s-s-s-stupid eye illusions..."
"Now tell me about these Frost Giants." Kōrima requested.
Fiamma lightened her expression. "As the name suggests, they're a race of blue giants with the power to manipulate ice. They come from the planetary realm called Jotunheim, sometimes referred to as Jotuns."
"So... I'm an alien. I figured, after living all these years, that I wasn't quite human, but... I mean, I am taller than the average man around here, but I wouldn't say 'giant!'"
"Yeah, it was believed that Lokis were born runts and abandoned by their parents at birth, but..." She turned to Detective Loki. "Didn't the native Loki say that Jotuns shrink if they're exposed to warm climates for too long?" He nodded.
"Lokis?" Kōrima repeated. "What are Lokis?"
"Leave that explanation to me." Detective Loki offered. "You see, Loki is my name, and believe it or not, we in fact are the same person, two of countless variants from across countless timelines and universes." He gestured to Sylvie and President Loki beside him. "These two with me are also Lokis, though my fiancée here goes under an alias like you do."
Fiamma tilted her head. "When did President Loki get here?"
"While the two of you were fighting, I brought Ms. Willis here to ensure Kōrima wouldn't deceive us again, and the president tagged along because he undoubtedly would be lonely without his vice president..."
"Please!" President Loki scoffed. "I merely accompanied Verity to ensure my American citizens wouldn't accuse me of trying to rid myself of her, sending her off to another dimension while I performed my official duties solo."
"In other words, he didn't want to be left alone." Verity confirmed. "And the thought of me going off with another Loki makes him jealo-"
"So, what's all this about a Loki who thought he was human?" President Loki interrupted. "Were you raised by ninjas?"
"Is Kōrima your human name?" Detective Loki questioned.
Kōrima thought back. "I have been raised by several parents, my first actually teaching me techniques similar to modern day samurai. I developed the 'shinobi' style of fighting mostly on my own. As for my name, I have been given so many throughout my childhood and lived so long in my adulthood, I do not even remember them; Kōrima the Undying is the name I made for myself during my past missions, so that is what has stuck. But you said my name is... Loki? Do you know my real family?"
"I know of them: our father's name is Laufey, and our mother is Farbauti. I've never met our mother, since my own former adoptive father took me away as a baby, but I did meet our biological father... briefly. Our family name is patronymic: Loki Laufeyson. And what about you, Kōrima? What's your story?"
"...My story isn't the happiest. When I was a baby, my first adoptive father found me on my own while he was on a mission abroad. He was a proud warrior, his clan ancestors of those you would call samurai, and he raised me in their ways, taught me to fight with honor." Kōrima removed his mask, revealing his blue Jotun face with markings, his deep red eyes, and his black hair pulled into a top knot. "He didn't know where I came from, a blue-skinned baby boy who froze the very air around him, but that was of no consequence to him. He was impressed by my natural abilities, called me his 'godsend from the heavens...'"
Kōrima flashed back to his childhood, his strikes sending the early samurai flying while training with them. "I didn't even realize how much stronger I was than the adults, but I excelled even more at the art of stealth... I used to sneak off to watch my father fight on his missions. One day, a particularly strong group of samurai was employed by one of his enemies to kill my father in revenge, and he nearly did, until I came out of hiding. Without thinking, I rushed to my father's defense and struck them all down in the blink of an eye."
"He must have been very proud of you." Fiamma commented.
"...That's how I hoped he would feel. However... he could not bear the shame of a small child defeating an enemy he could not, and he committed seppuku... right in front of me."
"My gosh... that must have been horrible!" Mobius sympathized. "He made his little kid watch that!?"
"I take it that's a form of suicide?" Detective Loki guessed.
"By disembowelment, yeah."
Kōrima swallowed, still haunted by the memory. "After his part, he wanted me to finish the job and put him out of his misery... he said it had to be me to honor him with a noble death, since I was the one who took his honor from him in battle, but... I couldn't do it. Seeing my own father bleeding out in front of me... what he was asking of me... he taught me our clan's code of honor, but I panicked, I froze, and I... I just couldn't go through with it."
"He can't blame you for that... who wouldn't be unnerved to see that!? That's a hard thing to ask of even an adult!"
"My father didn't share your sentiment. He said I brought shame upon our family, called me a coward, and he cursed me with his dying breath, taking back his calling me his godsend."
"...I'm so sorry."
"And I thought Odin was a harsh old boor!" President Loki exclaimed. "What about your mother?"
"I didn't have one at that point: it was only my father and me." Kōrima stated.
"And your father was ashamed that you saved his life?!" Detective Loki recalled Odin's rejection of him over the Rainbow Bridge. "You obviously didn't intend to dishonor him!" He shook his head. "I know from experience that growing up in a warrior culture can be brutal, but... what you've endured at such a young age... I can't even begin to imagine."
Thinking back to his own childhood, Healer recalled the last words his own father said to him. "'I'll make you live with your stupidity and ineptitude... and you shall fade into loneliness and oblivion for the rest of your cursed, miserable existence!'"
At the same time, Fiamma flashed back to her early memories of Surtur, him continually praising her youngest sister Sindr for passing the impossible test they were given, centuries of shame and regret from one early moment of weakness. She remembered the agony of her thirteen day fast and the shame in disappointing her father when she chose food over her ideal destiny.
"I can imagine it." Healer and Fiamma replied in unison.
Kōrima briefly looked at Fiamma, seeing the pain in her eyes and nodded. "When he died, I was disgraced... I had no one... so I took a horse and some supplies and left our village in search of a new family. After a few days' travel, I found another home, another family... a loving family."
"A family of ninja?" Verity asked.
"No, a family of merchants, not rich like my previous clan who were paid by the daimyō, but not dirt poor either. They were more along the lines of social outcasts, viewed as greedy conmen by most, so they didn't cast judgment upon me and happily took me in. They were a bit afraid of my powers, but when I used them to help out, they would forget their fear. I vowed to myself not to live like the samurai any longer... so I honed my skills and fought smarter, sneakier, more my natural style. Oftentimes, thieves would attempt to steal my new clan's merchandise, but I would always stop them, and they were grateful and proud of me, like I wished my first father was."
"Did you ever get into trouble with them?" President Loki asked. "Pull any harmless pranks, bits of mischief here and there?"
Kōrima fondly smiled. "Occasionally, when I was bored. A few of them actually trained under me, along with many farmers and fishermen who did business with us, since I was the most powerful warrior they knew by far."
"And what happened to them?" Sylvie wondered.
"They died of old age many many years ago. My second father, my first mother, and my little sister all died while I remained youthful, and it didn't end there. I was hired by many daimyō since then, after word of my abilities spread, gathering intelligence, sabotaging their enemies, particularly burning down enemy strongholds and castles, and fetching items, among other jobs. Sometimes I even had to fight samurai, but I always succeeded in my missions. I killed every honor-bound warrior I faced, to spare them the excruciating death I witnessed with my first father, until I developed my genjutsu: I discovered then that I could convince them with ocular hypnosis not to perform seppuku. I was prosperous, and I made a name for myself..." Korima sighed. "And yet, with all the fame and fortune I amassed during my years for hire, I was alone. I eventually decided I had had enough fighting and sneaking around, and I married a beautiful young woman. ...Her name was Kazumi."
"Did you... did you two have children?" Detective Loki asked.
"Yes, we had two boys and a girl."
"Had? You mean..."
Kōrima nodded. "They all died from natural causes. I remarried, had more children and grandchildren and descendants after that, but I've outlived them all. My current descendants are so far removed, they don't even know me. So I stopped... I stopped to ponder: who am I, what am I, where do I come from? Why have I lived longer than everyone else, just to watch all my loved ones die? Why am I so different, and what is my purpose for being here? The answers to those questions is all the information I've been seeking... I've traveled around the Earth, asked around everywhere... I thought I might perhaps be a yōkai, a blue oni, or even a rare male yuki onna, but I didn't seem to fit in anywhere. Then one night on the stormy seas, Susanoo sama contacted me with his bargain." Kōrima faced Detective Loki. "But now I have no need of him. Please, could you take me to this... 'Yō-tan-haim,' let me see my own people for myself, so I can find the rest of my answers?"
"Count me out!" Mobius said. "You remember my contagious souvenir from our last visit to Jotunheim's winter wonderland!"
"I remember." Detective Loki turned to his ninja variant. "It's too cold for humans there, gives them the sniffles, but... we're immune to the cold."
"Thank you for not reciting those lyrics again." Mobius appreciated.
"Douitashimashite, Otou san."
"In that case, I'd better head back." Verity told them. "You're done with the interrogation anyway, aren't you?"
"Yes, thank you for that, Ms. Willis. President, are you returning with her or taking the tour of our homeland with us?"
President Loki made a dramatic face. "Thanks, but seeing as how all of our encounters have ended with one or both of us trying to kill the other, I'll have to politely decline."
"That's true, but what if Odin lied, and Laufey didn't really abandon us? This could be your chance to find out, to make a fresh start with your- with our people!"
"Hhh, hard pass, but no thank you."
Mobius nodded. "You show me a Loki without daddy issues, and I'll show you the nexus event of the century!"
"How about you, Fiamma?" Detective Loki asked as the presidential duo left for their timeline. "Feel up to braving the weather after that chilling battle?"
"Without hesitation." She replied.
"Oh yes, Fiamma." Kōrima began. "You haven't told me your story; are you a kind of giant as well?"
"That's right, a Fire Giant from the burning realm of Muspelheim, oldest daughter of the late king of our world. That's something we have in common, oldest son of King Laufey."
"I'm a prince of an entire world? And you're a princess? No wonder you battle so gracefully and skillfully... I'd like to learn more about all these varieties of alien giants."
"I'll tell you more about us Muspels on the way." Fiamma turned to Detective Loki. "Kōrima's got more modesty for a Loki than even you."
"Yes, crown prince of Jotunheim, it's about time someone showed you around your kingdom." Detective Loki ignored her comment and opened a portal to Jotunheim via TemPad. He suddenly gave his variant his translator. "Oh, and you'll likely need a translator device; I doubt our fellow Jotuns understand Japanese."
Kōrima raised an eyebrow. "You're Jotun and you speak Japanese."
"With a translator. Take one."
Kōrima nodded in appreciation, and they left for the frozen realm, while Mobius returned to Watari to return the three treasures.
