105 — THE VALHALLA PALACE
Asgard's cold is as deep as it is ancient; the wind that sways the treetops of the Forbidden Forest seems to be blown by the ancient Gods of the North. They freeze the bones and freeze the soul of anyone who ventures through the streets of Asgard, the snowy plains or the slopes of the mountain where the Valhalla Palace once stood.
At the top of the building, in a huge open courtyard, Hilda was standing on a platform facing an abyss; and across the chasm rose the Colossus of Odin, holding a sword over the keel of a split ship. A statue commissioned to the ancient giants of the region and worshiped for millennia. She caressed the gold ring she wore on her finger, a gift from that ancient God. Behind him, as always, was the most faithful of Valhalla's Counselors, the God Warrior Siegfried.
"I can't believe Bud betrayed me." said Hilda, anger in her voice. "I will never forgive her. Once this is done, she will be hunted down and thrown into the dungeons, which should be the place of any and all traitors of Odin."
Siegfried listened quietly to Hilda's anger, sinking deep into his heart, as he had someone very dear to him thrown into the dungeons.
"Trusting that woman might not have been very wise." he mused, diverting his own attention. "She was only a Shadow and not a true Goddess Warrior. She was never real."
Hilda turned to him.
"Tell me something, Siegfried. Will you be able to protect Valhalla and God Odin?"
"I will protect you with my life, Divine Hilda."
"I hope you never forget these words."
And again he turned to face the light blizzard that was falling to look into Odin's stony eyes.
When Bud's silhouette disappeared through the entrance of the Valhalla Palace, the only thing heard among those Athena Saints was Shun's tears. He was crying profusely. His hands on his knees enduring the pain of his sadness.
"It could have been us." he repeated, sobbing. "Why!?"
Shun asked himself, torned, how far those battles would go. How long would he need to push away that enormous sadness. He felt responsible for having divided those brothers, without having the slightest idea of the tragic history that had separated them since they were children and created that terrible pain. He did not know. If he knew maybe he could try something different.
"I can't take it anymore, Ikki." he confessed, looking at his sister, who had never seen the boy so moved. "It could have been you. I can't imagine the pain Bud must have felt when she realized that her brother's death was going to hurt her so much. Perhaps, maybe, it was best if she still hated him."
"Don't say that, Shun." tried Ikki.
"We came to this land in peace. In search of peace." Shun lamented. "If I close my eyes I can still see the sadness of the people in search of food in the square. A place that suffers day after day from a terrible cold. Míme's tragedy." he said, seeking Geist's gaze further away. "And now these two brothers that life prevented from loving each other. And we killed them!"
His voice broke into tears.
"I helped to kill them."
"Shun, we are…"
"No, Seiya!" he interrupted his friend, who was also approaching. "I know it's our duty. I know every word of our oath. I know of our destiny. I know our history. I know our strength. I know what you're going to say. But it can't be possible that the only thing we'll see behind us is the blood trail of our enemies."
His sister Ikki approached like a shadow over him and the boy looked up to face her. If on the one hand Shun knew by heart the words that Seiya and everyone else used to justify their battles, on the other he also knew the hardness with which Ikki received his tears and always pushed him to be stronger. What he didn't imagine was that Ikki would hug him as tightly as she did that time. And Shun broke down even more, crying into his sister's chest. It was what he needed. And next to her, Seiya left his words to himself and also squeezed Shun in his arms. Even Shiryu, blind, realized that the boy needed his friends as close to him as possible. Hyoga, who once received Shun's warmth to come back to life, there tried to reciprocate, even if a little, so that the boy could recover.
And the boy cried nestled by his beloved friends in that tender embrace.
A little way off, next to one of the fallen pillars, Geist noticed Shaina approaching.
"You're late." she commented to her friend.
"Good to see you're alive, at least." Shaina retorted when she saw the pitiful state of Geist and, mainly, the cracks that spread through the Silver Cloth that she herself had lent to her friend.
She shrugged and together they watched as the five Bronze Saints finally broke the embrace in which they were entwined with Shun in the center. He looked calmer, though his face was still puffy with sadness.
"I'm sorry, my friends." began Shun, recovering from his brief outburst.
"Nothing to apologize for, brother." corrected Ikki, very seriously. "Your greatest strength is your heart."
"I think it's important that none of us forget what we fight for." added Shiryu between them. "But it is equally important that we, too, do not forget our humanity."
"Or what we lost along the way." added Seiya. "I don't know the circumstances of the battle you had to face here, Shun, Ikki, but not a day goes by that I don't think about the pain that Hyoga must have felt with the death of his two masters."
Hyoga remained silent, but nodded affectionately to his friend for his feelings.
"That was the first time I saw anyone die in our battles, and I'll never forget that night in Siberia." continued Seiya. "It's terrible that it should be like this, but our fights are always between life and death."
"I know." Shun agreed. "I know."
Shun wiped the tears from his face, walked away from the circle briefly and picked up the Odin Sapphires that Bud had left on the ground and brought them back to them. Hyoga opened his hand and showed them the other four Sapphires that they had gotten in the Forest with Seiya. In all, they had six of them and only the last one was missing.
"We still have one last battle." announced Shun, looking at his friends.
Everyone looked at him and he at everyone. And finally they looked at each other under the light that entered through the holes formed in the ceiling of that central nave. And they realized that it was the first time in many months that the five of them were together again. Seiya had scars all over his face, his wrists were marked by prison and his long overcoat was very torn; Hyoga had a huge tourniquet on his thigh that was still bleeding slightly, spreading the red color on the thick pants he wore, the simple linen shirt also extremely shabby and the tired face. Ikki had cracks in her Bronze Cloth, some of her braids coming undone, some of her feathers standing out, while her brother Shun also had sections of the Cloth damaged and his face beaten with sadness. Shiryu was the only one who seemed to have just arrived there, because although she had fought Hyoga now many hours ago, she still had her full Clothe and an untouchable spirit.
"We're looking like a band of miserables."
"Well, I've seen you much worse, Seiya." said a voice from the doorway.
They all looked at the beautiful silhouette that emerged framed by the white of the day outside and realized that it was June; she still wearing the tiara of her Chameleon Cloth and dressed in the overcoat that the crew had taken to the Hope of Athena across the Seven Seas. That apparition warmed Shun's heart, so painful for the first time, and she walked calmly but resolutely among everyone to give her friend a long hug.
And as she did so, her cosmos, which was the color of sunset, also illuminated Shun and brought a tranquility and vigor that the boy perfectly remembered feeling on the coldest nights of Andromeda Island when June embraced to heal his wounds. He didn't smile back, his expression still very pained by the tragedies of that land, but he didn't look as desperate as before either.
"What about Princess Freia?" asked Geist, approaching them.
"She will stand by her convalescing friend." June replied.
Shaina stepped forward before them all, like the Master-at-Arms of Sanctuary that she was.
"Now that we are all together, we must complete our Quest and seal the Relic of the Seas of Asgard." Shaina announced. "Do you still have the Seal of Athena, Shiryu?"
She just took out the gold cylinder she was carrying and everyone could see the golden glow of that artifact.
"Excellent." Shaina said.
"That Princess commented that we must get to the Corridors of Old if we want to get to Surtr's Cave." Ikki recalled.
"Which is where the Sea Relic is hidden." June added.
"And our Cloths." completed Seiya.
They all agreed, but Hyoga remembered something important.
"The Corridor is guarded by Hilda, the Valhalla priestess in possession of the Ring of Nibelung; only the Balmung Sword can defeat her." he said, still struggling to get around. "And for that we need the Seven Odin Sapphires that protect the God Warriors of Asgard."
"That means we're a fight short of getting them all." Ikki said confidently.
"I don't think that will be necessary." said Hyoga, attracting all attention to himself.
And everyone actually looked at him, trying to understand.
"Alberich, one of the God Warriors was plotting to awaken the Balmung Sword. I believe it to be a lie that Hilda can only be vanquished or convinced by the sword." at that point, the boy already doubted absolutely everything he had said.
"What do you have in mind, Hyoga?" Shaina asked.
"I think we should go straight to this Corridor of Old and seal away the Relic."
"And abandon Freia's sister to her fate?" June asked.
"Our mission is to seal the Relic of the Sea, not solve an Asgard crisis." Shaina said.
"But what if Freia is right and with the Sword alone we have any chance of completing our mission?" Seiya asked.
"Then we will defeat the last God Warrior." Ikki concluded.
"It won't be that easy, Ikki." Hyoga said. "The battles you all faced left many marks on all of you. And in me. We will be no match for this God Warrior, not even if we fight all of us together."
"You now speak as a God Warrior of this land."
"Ikki! "censured Shun, but Hyoga didn't move.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Ikki. This man is different from the rest of God Warriors."
Ikki stared at him.
"The last God Warrior is the greatest of them all. His name is Siegfried, protected by the Alpha Star." he paused before finishing. "And he is an immortal warrior."
The word fell like a curse.
"Immortal!?" Seiya was surprised by all of them.
"Yes." Hyoga continued. "His strength and loyalty are unmatched. It is said in Asgard that his strength is greater even than that of his older brother, who for years defended these lands alone."
"Immortal." mocked Ikki. "We'll see about that."
"Don't belittle Siegfried, Ikki." Hyoga warned. "Or you won't be able to rise from the ashes like you always do."
Phoenix Ikki finally gave Hyoga a cross look, which Hyoga didn't look away or complain.
"There is hope, however, if you really have to defeat him."
"Speak at once, Hyoga." Seiya asked.
"A weak spot." said the boy, with a lot of mystery. "Alberich even said that, although he is immortal and has never been defeated in battle, Siegfried has a weakness that he would be able to use to defeat Siegfried and get his Sapphire."
"A weak spot." pondered Seiya.
"Alberich was not a warrior." Hyoga continued. "So whatever Siegfried's weakness is, maybe it's something in his motivations or even his mind. Perhaps his own imprisoned brother."
"In that case, I'm the best person to fight him." concluded Ikki, already imagining using her techniques to finish off her enemy.
"You are badly hurt." warned Shun, worried, to which she immediately tried to interrupt.
"Don't start..."
"I will fight him." said Shiryu to everyone.
Everyone looked at her. And it was very clear and evident that, among all of them, she was really the one in the best condition to withstand a terrible battle like the one ahead of them. Her only fight had been against Hyoga for so many hours at the entrance to Asgard, which had done little against her Cloth, which looked brand new, as well as her face was the most vivid among all. And besides, thought Hyoga alone, the strength she had shown against Alberich was something completely beyond their own capacity.
"Then it's decided." said Shaina for everyone, who also knew Shiryu's potential at that point. "Nevertheless, Hyoga have a good point. We must try both ways. Fight this God Warrior, if he is not convinced of our mission, but if possible also try to reach the Corridor of Old and seal the Relic of the Sea without needing the Sapphires."
"Without Poseidon's influence in these lands, perhaps Hilda will come to her senses." Shun mused.
"Then let's split up." Geist said looking at Shaina, who nodded back.
"That God Warrior Alberich said that there was a path through Valhalla Palace that led to the Corridor of Old. Do you think he could be telling the truth?"
"I don't know what was real or fake about Alberich." replied Hyoga to Shaina. "However, he certainly had his own plans and ambitions to get the Balmung Sword. And I can't get away from the idea that, after all, both the Sword and the Relic are in the same place."
"The Cave of Surtr." June remembered as Geist completed.
"The place where all the treasures of Asgard are kept."
"And our Cloths." Seiya reminded again.
"So maybe it's true that Alberich had a hidden path to the Corridor of Old." Shiryu cheered.
"Perhaps." Hyoga agreed.
They were all silent, thinking about the possibilities; they took a deep breath and the decision was made by Shaina. They would split up going forward: together with her, Hyoga, Shun and June would set out to find Alberich's hidden path to the Corridor of Old.
"Perhaps I can find the way." Hyoga spoke confidently.
Seiya, Ikki, Shiryu and Geist would follow through the central nave of the Valhalla Palace to the outer courtyard where the Colossus of Odin stood, which they could see from almost all of Asgard. The brothers said goodbye and they all swore to meet in Surtr's Cave, with or without the Sapphires, which they left in Geist's hands.
And so they parted again.
The central corridor of the Valhalla Palace, where the battle against Syd and Bud had taken place, cut the Palace exactly in half. Farther on, a huge staircase led to the Hall of the Valkyries, where the floor fires burned in the common chambers of Valhalla's Counselors and where Hilda's throne and curtains rose. Seiya, Ikki, Shiryu and Geist broke through this abandoned place and followed a wide corridor behind the curtains that led to some floors above, where they finally ended up at the external area where an immense stone patio opened to the white sky of Asgard veiled by the massive Colossus of Odin.
But the group of Shaina, Shun, June and Hyoga didn't take the central path, but went into the first corner on the left, going down a few flights of stairs trying to get as far as possible in the heart of that old and abandoned building. Shun and June supported Hyoga, who was still struggling to walk, while Shaina lit the way behind her with an improvised torch made from a branch they broke from a mysterious dark tree they found along the way.
All the Master-at-Arms remembered was that Alberich had warned of a path along the side of the mountain on which the palace stood; without exactly knowing the way, the group played at random to find the shortcut on their own. They thought they would need to reach the limits of the Palace and, obviously, look outside. And so they did, crossing narrow corridors between so many chambers and anterooms which they didn't dare to explore.
And as they walked with some care through the corridors of Valhalla, Shun wanted to know more about June's months on the Hope of Athena, and she told them about her misadventures with that crew, about each of the Relics and places they visited, but also about the tragedy of having lost Captain Meko Kaire in his own homeland. Again Shun was silent in sadness, while Shaina let out her displeasure with that report.
"Stupid Moses." she complained about the heroic attitude of the former companion of the order who let himself be killed in the waters of Oceania.
Nobody dared reproach her for her manners, because deep down it was also clear that Kaire's death hurt her too, in her own way.
"This is still Meko Kaire's mission. I'm sure Seiya and Geist also still feel that way."
"And where did the ship end up?" Hyoga asked.
"Captain Geist sent it flying, and just the three of us took the auxiliary boat down to the port of Asgard. After we were arrested, I can't say. But I'm sure they're all fine."
Between stories and reports, they saw the corridor ahead light up from what was undoubtedly outside light. They found themselves in front of a beautiful colored stained glass window in which the enormous figure of a beautiful tree could be seen; it was not possible to open it from the outside, but at least they guessed that this was the face of the mountain. It didn't take long and, further on, they finally found a window that they could open and put their face out, realizing where they were.
Below, many leagues from where they were, an abyss dropped to the snowy pines of the Forbidden Forest, but to their right they perceived a side bridge leading to a small tower; if it was not possible to jump from that window to that bridge, it was possible to see that they would soon find the exit to that external access. And so they did.
They followed the same wall of the Palace until they found, locked, the door that seemed to lead to that small external passage. Shaina forced it open and successfully opened it to the cold outside. They froze, but pushed on, climbing the narrow flights of stairs to the open corridor that led to the tower.
"Seiya must have suffered a lot in this village at the South Pole." observed Shun, experiencing the cold of Asgard. "All he wants most is to find his sister. Having experienced that feeling again must have wrecked him when you all managed to seal the Relic."
June agreed with her friend, but Hyoga called their attention.
"Look!" he asked.
The bridge glued to the Valhalla Palace wall led to a tower where a single door seemed to be the entrance back to the interior of the Palace; that door, however, was ajar. The four looked at each other and advanced inside the tower. They found a circular room with a single object inside: a glowing purple cube.
"Alberich." guessed Hyoga.
"Don't touch that!" Shaina warned immediately, before June took the cube in her hands. "Alberich offered me a cube just like this one in our fight, saying it would make me virtually undetectable when walking through Valhalla Palace."
"The Amethyst can sap our vitality." explained Hyoga to June.
"And shortly after I was at his mercy."
"But what is this cube doing here?" asked Shun.
"I think we're on the right track. Alberich must have left it here so he could use it whenever he wanted."
"But I've never been in a place so abandoned." June pointed to Hyoga. "I wonder who Alberich was running from?"
"The Valhalla Palace is abandoned now, as Asgard is being invaded." Hyoga pointed at them. "Hilda ordered all the servants to return to their homes and the palace guards to stay behind the walls of Valhalla with their families, as she feared they would fall victim to the invaders."
They were silent for a second, interrupted by the cube, which was thrown from where it was to the corner, as Shaina had kicked it from in front of the boys. She pointed to a spiraling staircase and ordered them on. And so they did. The ground floor of that tower, after a long way down the ancient stairs, opened into a simple storage room that also had another door, this time locked. After forcing it, they realized that they would go back inside the Palace again.
"Wait." asked Hyoga, who stayed behind while Shaina forced the door latch, and that's why he felt a light breeze creep up his spine.
Looking behind him, Hyoga noticed that the stack of boxes against the wall seemed to be subtly swaying.
"What's in there, Shun?"
The friend went forward and moved the pile of boxes to discover a rough piece of wood that seemed to close a hole in the stone of the tower. He took it out of the way and realized that there was indeed a passage again to the outside of the tower, where the coldest wind they had ever felt was blowing. A few rudimentary stone steps below led to a wooden bridge across which they could only walk one by one in single line. A makeshift path, suspended poorly over the chasm that opened below them to the Forbidden Forest.
"Looks like we found the way." Shaina commented, turning around and taking the lead down the passage. "Stay here, Hyoga."
"Don't worry about me." he retorted, making a sign that he would follow along.
And so, one by one, including Hyoga, they passed outside that mountain, balancing on firm ropes that accompanied the fragile bridge away from that small tower. They walked for a few moments until they finally realized that that improvised path went down the face of the mountain until it entered a cave.
They followed in silence, guided by Shaina's fire, along a path cut inside the mountain that descended in a trail that was sometimes light, but sometimes very steep. Down forever, it seemed, down endlessly, getting nowhere.
And meanwhile, on the highest floor of the Valhalla Palace, without any difficulty, Seiya and his friends emerged onto the outer courtyard and glimpsed with astonishment the size of that ancient stone statue of the Colossus of Odin. There wasn't a soul anywhere; that courtyard was big enough for everyone in Asgard to participate in rituals to the God Odin on specific dates, which for some time had not even been respected in that place abandoned by time and devastated by hunger.
In the outstretched right hand of the Colossus of Odin was a huge sword.
And, kneeling on a platform before the Greater God, was a man wearing his God Robe.
Seiya, Ikki and Geist looked at each other, while Shiryu was already on guard feeling the presence of that God Warrior.
He bowed to the statue and rose; he put the helmet on his head and turned to face the four Athena Saints.
"So you are Siegfried. "Seiya spoke for everyone, but the man seemed to introduce himself correcting the boy.
"Dubhe Siegfried, the Alpha Star."
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: A passing and breathing chapter, where I needed to get everyone together so that Shun had the support of his friends. I thought it was important within Shun's story that this battle between Syd and Bud was the last straw for all the feelings he had kept inside him all this time. And it was important that the five friends were there with him. The division of groups happened exactly to tell the story from two alternatives, the fight with Siegfried and the exploration of Valhalla. Here we see that Alberich's plans and the things he came to talk about were actually not lies. Forever playing with this Alberich mess.
NEXT CHAPTER: AT THE HEART OF ASGARD
The mystery of Nicol's disappearance takes on new contours at the Sanctuary, while Geist's group finally reaches the lowest point of Asgard, only to find a terrifying figure standing between them and the Corridor of Old.