111 — THE BALMUNG SWORD
Siegfried's presence had been so powerful that his absence at that moment was like a vacuum in Asgard. Freya wept, sitting on the floor, the departure of that good friend, whom she knew deeply the love he had for his brother and the pain he felt when he saw him arrested and thrown in the dungeons of Valhalla. And how his duty to that land made him stifle all the admiration and love he felt for the one who had created him. All in order not to deviate an inch from Odin's path. And on that tragic day, if there was any doubt in Siegfried's chest about his brother's betrayal, all of it was dispelled in a terrible way, victimizing two of the same blood in a last and valiant effort of the Warrior God.
"Hilda!" she called, her voice low and plaintive, barely audible. "Stop all this, please."
But the Princess of Asgard already seemed to have no more strength, because although her belief and fiber were enviable and her heart burning like the sun capable of clearing the images that blinded Siegfried, Freya had her foundations in those men and women of Asgard, so that so many fallen friends and so many others suffering had finally brought down the Princess, who felt that until that moment she was fighting a war alone.
"The Balmung Sword, Seiya!" shouted Ikki behind him, feeling sorry for Freya's suffering. "Gather the Sapphires and awaken the Balmung Sword to free Hilda from her spell."
The boy then looked into the palm of his hand and found the Seven Odin Sapphires, which had once protected the God Warriors of Asgard. He closed them in his fist and looked ahead of him, meeting the astonished face of Hilda, who would certainly stand in his way.
And even if the Pegasus Saint had only his overcoat and those seven precious stones in his hand, he would not shirk his duty, and so he walked resolutely to the ledge of that small platform immediately below the Colossus of Odin.
Hilda made no attempt to stop him from going up those steps, but when he saw him get closer, Seiya realized that he was finally noticed by the valkyrie. But still she didn't put herself on guard or make any move that gave the impression that she would do something to stop him; on the contrary, she seemed really shaken from that battle and still shocked by the departure of her most faithful Adviser and friend.
Seiya climbed the short flight of stairs to a platform directly in front of that huge abyss that opened at his feet and, on the other side of the cliff, to the colossal torso of Odin that rose to watch over that North Land. The Pegasus Saint looked up and saw the blade of that huge sword next to him. His words were halting but respectful.
"Odin. I need you to give us the Balmung Sword so we can save Hilda and seal the Relic of the Seas by locking Poseidon in the Oceans!"
The mountain seemed to be silent again.
"Answer my prayers." asked Seiya once more, with his hand extended towards the heavens showing that Colossus the Seven Sapphires.
But nobody answered him.
"Odin!" shouted Seiya, trying something with his voice. "Odin!"
A brief, subtle laugh escaped Hilda's voice behind him, but Seiya didn't turn to her.
"Why don't you answer me?" Seiya asked himself, frowning.
Hilda's laughter became even more present, so that she herself walked the steps to be with Seiya on that platform under the enormous Colossus of Odin.
"Pegasus, don't waste your voice on pointless hopes." she said to the boy with mockery in her voice.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The treasures of Asgard are for the children of this land. You will never be worthy of the Balmung Sword."
And in a quick movement, she shot a terrible gust of her Ring of Nibelungs at close range at Seiya, who found himself thrown into the abyss along with the Seven Odin Sapphires that he had in his hand. As he saw himself falling to his death in that immense abyss, the last thing Seiya could hear was the manic laugh of that Voice of Odin watching him disappear in the darkness and the desperate voice of his friends shouting his name in the air.
June and Shun ran through the stairs of the abyss trying to reach the surface, since they were the two Bronze Saints who still had some condition to reach their friends who, without a doubt, were fighting a terrible battle in the outer courtyard of Valhalla. At all this they guessed the more they climbed those stairs and heard the clang of Armors clashing and the earth shaking like an earthquake in a great explosion.
"We have to hurry, Shun!" June called, bounding down the stairs and finally appearing outside again.
The drop below them was already considerably huge enough that they could barely see the deep pitch below and already approached the clear light of the evening sky.
"Wait, June!" said Shun, asking the two to stop running.
The boy walked to the railing of that staircase and looked up, because something had caught his attention. A voice that echoed in those walls very subtly, in which the words arrived broken, without strength for them to be able to discern what was said. But, with redoubled attention, they finally heard a cry to the heavens:
"Odin!"
The two looked at each other.
"It's Seiya." guessed Shun immediately, looking up.
What followed was something quick, for another voice spoke lower between them and a great explosion caused a body to be hurled over a platform to fall mortally into that abyss. Shun felt his entire spine freeze, as he knew exactly who was falling.
"Seiya!" he shouted as he saw the body pass in front of him in freefall.
The Andromeda Saint leapt into the darkness, hurling his chain towards his falling friend; the other one he flung into the air, catching in the ledge of the nearest stairwell a few floors below where June stood. She looked over the parapet and soon guessed the tragedy.
"It won't hold up."
And without thinking twice, the Chameleon Saint jumped from that level to the floors below, but reached the platform too late, as the railing broke and Shun began to fall next to Seiya, who was clinging to his other chain.
June was forced to do something to help, leaping down the outside of the stairs with the help of her whip and walking the mountain wall as if running on flat land.
"The parapets, Shun!"
As that staircase now entered and left the mountain according to the flights, Shun could try to use his chain on many levels even before they found the bottom of the well. But the same thing always happened: the parapet broke under the weight of the two friends who fell again in freefall. The effort, however, was enough to delay the fall and give June time to reach one of the free ledges and be able to hold the Andromeda chain herself in an immense effort of fortitude.
"I have the Chain, Shun!" June yelled, hurting her hands in the process but finally stopping them from falling any further.
She took a deep breath. Ignored the pain in her hands and stabilized her grip so that her friend could finally be rescued; Shun first retracted his chain so that Seiya could rise to the height he was. By that time, the boy was already passed out. Shun hugged him and ordered his chain to retract to June, who also helped by pulling the boy down to her level. When the two finally reached her floor, she helped Shun to bring Seiya onto the platform and then fell down on her feet from the effort.
The two looked at each other breathlessly and looked up. The fall had been enormous and they nearly crashed against the bottom of the abyss. Shun went to his friend's body.
"He fainted." he said. June felt for his pulse and confirmed it.
"Yes, he's just passed out." she relieved, looking up. "What happened up there?"
"June, go down with Seiya and I'll go to the surface."
"Wait…" stuttered Seiya, finally waking up briefly. "The Odin Sapphires. Where are the Odin Sapphires?"
"What are you talking about, Seiya?"
"They were with me."
June and Shun looked at each other and the girl looked over the parapet of the staircase and saw seven stars shining at the bottom of the abyss, which were none other than precious stones. And at the bottom of the abyss, Shaina got up with difficulties looking up without understanding the confusion that had happened, but on the ground she guessed that she was surrounded by the Seven Sapphires that shone their own light.
"The Odin Sapphires." she guessed, approaching them. "What the hell happened up there? Why are they down here? Did Seiya…"
And then she looked towards the Hall of Ancients.
"Did Seiya failed?" asked Shaina in a loud voice, but it was Hyoga who corrected her, who, with a lot of effort, woke up.
"No, Shaina." he said. "Seiya didn't failed, because he never had a chance to succeed."
"What do you mean, Hyoga?" she asked, helping the boy to his feet.
"Give me the Sapphires, Shaina."
"Hyoga?"
"Hilda told us the secret before us. Only a child of Asgard would be able to awaken the Balmung Sword; that's why Seiya could never do it."
"A child of Asgard?"
"A God Warrior."
"Hyoga, you…"
"The Sapphire protected me and I felt Odin's strength deep in my body. Give me the Sapphires, Shaina!"
The Silver Saint moved away and collected the Sapphires scattered at the bottom of that abyss and held them out for Hyoga to take. The boy placed them in the palm of his hand and closed his eyes, letting his deepest cosmos burn in that abyss, illuminating the deep immensity of that pitch with his icy cosmos. Icy as the seidr of the children of Asgard who fought for Odin on that sad day, as well as for all the centuries on that Earth.
Hyoga's Cosmos resonated with those Odin Sapphires, which lit up even more strongly in his hand, as well as activating the gemstones of the Corridor of Old, which reacted to that wondrous glow. Hyoga's hair shook, reacting to his energy, and the boy remembered the difficult passage through the Path of the North, the companionship of Jamian, who had never returned, the prison of Valhalla, the longing for his Master, his voice in those epistolary phrases, Alberich's embrace, Phecda's strength and the rescue of his most beloved friends.
Hyoga was a foreigner in the Land of Asgard, but one of those Odin Sapphires had protected him. He was Cygnus Hyoga. But there in Asgard, perhaps he would forever be Phecda Hyoga. A God Warrior.
"Odin!" shouted Hyoga, extending his hand to the heavens. "Give us the gift of the Balmung Sword so that we can free your daughter Hilda from a terrible spell!"
It wasn't necessary to ask twice and the whole mountain rumbled at Hyoga's call. The Sapphires he had in his hands turned into points of light that were suspended in that abyss like illuminated stars that floated from Hyoga's hands, slowly heading towards the surface while his icy Cosmos shone at the bottom of the cliff.
June, Shun and Seiya looked in wonder at those seven stars that had been born from the bottom of the abyss heading towards the surface.
"What happened?"
"Come on Shun." June called for them to step down beside Shaina.
And on the crumbling surface of Valhalla's outer courtyard, as Lunara helped her Master Ikki to her feet, Geist found herself on the cusp of being the only one still able to battle Hilda for a chance to get past her and use that Seal of Athena in the treasure that was hidden in the Cave of Surtr. But already very wounded after so many attacks from that furious Valkyrie, Geist was already facing a mortal impasse, considering even retreating to organize Athena's army for the worst.
But the rumble of the mountain made Valhalla tremble all over again, and Hilda felt a terrible chill as she noticed that the Colossus of Odin behind her, all made of stone and invaded by snow, now seemed to vibrate in a way that it had never done before. The ends of the earth shook that Colossus and she even feared for its destruction and fall. And as she tried to understand what had so much power to make that ancient mountain tremble, she noticed the seven stars that floated in front of her, rising to the heavens.
And as she gazed at the stars in the sky that had always protected her, the seven stars of Ursa Major, Hilda saw how seven beams of light descended from the firmament of stars to the golden crown of the Colossus of Odin. The statue's eyes lit up and the blade of the sword that the Colossus held in its right hand shot a silver beam to the bottom of the abyss.
"The Balmung Sword." she guessed desperately. "But how is that possible? Why would Odin respond to the call of these foreigners, is it… By Odin, no. No!"
And then her shrill voice reverberated across the wall in a piercing, visceral scream.
"Phecda!"
The sword's light went out and, wrapped in madness, Hilda did something unimaginable: she jumped to the bottom of the abyss and all that Geist saw from that height was a huge glow emerge from that cliff, as if it had swallowed Odin's Voice.
"What is happening?" asked Shun as soon as he reached the bottom of the abyss, accompanied by June, who was supporting Seiya.
"Hyoga seems to have awakened the Sapphires." Shaina replied.
The Corridor of Old was all lit up with all its stones and Hyoga was enveloped in his magnanimous Cosmo. Another huge tremor caused the entire Corridor to widen, the gems that previously hung from the ceiling gathered to become embedded in the mountain stone, the roots that before twisted in the middle of the path also retreated inside and, at the end of the Corridor of Old, the floor split open, revealing an enormous orb of deeply glowing light.
"The Balmung Sword." guessed Hyoga Odin's gift.
But a cry interrupted them all when they noticed that, from the sky, the Valkyrie of the North, Polaris Hilda, fell like a lightning bolt, who landed like a meteor on their backs with her dark dress, her ebony spear and a deep anger in her eyes.
"I won't let you touch the Balmung Sword!"
Shun and June immediately placed themselves between her and Hyoga.
"Go, Hyoga! Take the Sword!"
Hilda charged, but June used her whip to disarm her of her ebony spear, though she fell victim to the fury of her Ring of Nibelungs, which had already knocked her down once; but this time Hilda's rage was immeasurable, so that June was hurled so high up that wall that her body carved a crater in the wall before falling, instantly defeated.
"Go at once, Hyoga! We'll stop her." Seiya shouted.
And with much difficulty, the Phecda God Warrior staggered on his injured leg into the Corridor of Old, while at his back his friends would fight Polris Hilda.
"Get out of my way, verm!" she said to Seiya.
"Never!"
The boy made his Cosmo burn impressively in that abyss, putting himself on guard to fight her right there.
"You're crazy, Seiya!" Shaina complained, because the boy was without his cloth and very injured.
"Always." he said, a smile on his face.
For from the bottom of that tunnel that led to the Cave of Surtr, they heard all the metallic gallops of a mythological figure with open wings that crossed the Corridor of Old, fast as light, to throw itself on Seiya's body, revealing to all the wonderful and restored Pegasus Cloth in a show of brilliance.
"Pegasus Meteors Attack!" he shouted in front of her.
The meteors caused Hilda to be thrown against the opposite wall, but when she got up, closer to her Ebony spear, the Voice of Odin and Seiya staged a terrible fight and, to a certain extent, even. But if the Pegasus Cloth looked new, newly forged by the Gods, the same could not be said of the boy, who was in a pitiful condition, so that it didn't take long for Hilda to get rid of him with a flying of her golden heel in the face of the boy.
"Seiya!" Shun shouted when he saw the boy being thrown to the side.
And in that oversight Shun also met the fate of his friend June, the victim of a smaller but concentrated blast from that terrible ebony spear. And the worst was left for Shaina, who threw herself in front of that same spear when Hilda threw it towards Hyoga inside the Corridor to prevent him from reaching his destination. The spear stuck in the girl's stomach and she fell to her side, shuddering in pain.
"Bloody hell!" Hilda roared, running into the Corridor, taking the spear from Shaina's stomach before moving on.
But it was too late.
In front of Hyoga was a wonderful Sword of bluish metal that seemed to reflect the stars, with a wonderful grip, but embedded in what looked like crystals of the same material. Hyoga stretched out his hand and felt an energy burst inside him, along with that powerful artifact, such that his body was taken over by it and, even though Hilda got close, she could no longer do anything.
The Balmung Sword exploded the crystals that held it and Hyoga took that sword in both hands, while the pieces of crystals that had separated took over his body, protecting him impressively. The pains he felt in his thigh seemed to have been healed in an instant.
"It can not be." said Hilda from behind him.
Hyoga turned to her and now he had renewed spirit, as well as a shiny new Armor that reflected all the colored lights of the Corridor of Old. And an incredible Sword in his hands.
"It's over, Hilda." Hyoga said. "I will release your spell for Asgard and in the name of Odin!"
"Take that name out of your mouth!"
And she went after him with her spear, brandishing it against the Balmung Sword of Asgard that Hyoga was wielding, both entering deeper and deeper into the Cave of Surtr. Hilda's attacks with her spear, Hyoga stopped them as best he could; and the black blasts of the Ring of Nibelungs reflected against the blade of the Balmung Sword. As they advanced, they bumped against the treasures, knocking everything around them.
The terrible clash between the Voice of Odin and the God Warrior generated pulses of energy within that Cave of Surtr. Gradually, all the treasures were moved to the margins of a central arena that was formed so that both could face each other. The clang of clashing weapons echoed throughout the Cavern.
Until they faced each other on one side of that improvised arena.
"Lady Hilda, all we want is to seal this accursed Relic, by Odin, you must have realized that by now."
"It's a lie!" she roared, attacking him. "You will use the Sword to destroy the relic and doom our people, who will live forever frozen in this Long Winter. Asgard deserves the Sun! The heat of heavens!"
There was no way, Hyoga would have to break that spell, but he couldn't imagine how. Upon being attacked by a black blast from that terrible ebony spear, the Balmung Sword sucked all that energy out of Hilda and the crack of her defense caused the spear to be thrown away, disarming the Valkyrie for the first time, who finally found herself defenseless.
And now she only had the Ring of Nibelungs at her disposal, which could do nothing against that Holy Sword.
Her eyes haunted for the first time with fear, trapped on the edge of the arena that formed.
Hyoga was breathing hard, also from fear; he raised the Balmung Sword to strike Hilda in front of him, when a voice stopped him echoing throughout the cavern.
"Don't do that, Hyoga!"
The boy and Hilda looked in all directions looking for the owner of that voice; and near a cave, leaning against the wall, the badly wounded but still living figure of Alberich stared back at them.
"Alberich?" Hyoga got scared with the one who had deceived him earlier.
Hyoga looked from that viper to the sword he had in his hands and remembered Alberich's plan; all he wanted was to awaken Balmung to kill Hilda and rule Asgard in her stead. And Hyoga realized at that moment that maybe he was carrying out that serpent's ambitious and terrible plan. And staggered back.
"Don't do that, Hyoga." asked Alberich again.
"Get out of here, Alberich." Hyoga protested, trying to turn his attention back to Hilda. "I don't have time for your plans. Go die somewhere else."
He didn't say anything else, because he was really hurt and Hyoga continued talking both to Alberich and to his opponent.
"I don't want to kill Hilda. I won't let your plans come true!"
Hyoga breathed quickly, confused about how to go on; looking for the answers in the hilt of that Holy Sword, when a terrible blast of energy shot from Hilda's fist without her taking her eyes off Hyoga. Her target was Alberich. Hyoga was startled in shock and looked back when he saw the wounded body of the God Warrior.
"If he planned to kill me, he won't be able to reap the spoils of this battle now." Hilda said through her teeth with a manic expression.
Alberich finally seemed to have fallen silent for good. Vanquished by the Ring of the Nibelungs.
And confused, he became vulnerable, and the Valkyrie of the North took the opportunity to also hit Hyoga with the Ring of the Nibelungs, throwing him into that grotto. Saved from certain death by that Balmung Robe, capable of wielding so Holy a Sword. His body fell face down into the shallow lake where he floated, still holding the hilt of the Balmung Sword.
All he wanted was just to break that damn spell.
Hyoga found himself again buried by defeat.
But the God Warrior felt the hilt of the sword resonate with his Cosmos in that shallow, crystal clear water. The Sword seidr and his Saint Cosmo together. And only he, in the immensity of his universe, felt the most divine of sensations, a peace so profound that it carried him from there to a dimension he had never experienced. And it was alone that Hyoga heard the words of a deep and calming voice.
"This Earth, Asgard, has suffered countless trials since time immemorial. And now many lives have been sacrificed because of Poseidon's ambition. But the blood of people who loved their Homeland and died awakened me to this World where you can fulfill your mission."
"This Cosmos is coming from inside the Robe, from inside the Sword. But is it… is this the voice of Odin?"
"Phecda. Swan. Or just Hyoga. Hold the Balmung Sword with courage and break Poseidon's magic power. The fate of this world is in your hands right now. You must not hesitate. Get up, Son!"
And Hyoga got up again from the shallow lake of that grotto, letting the sacred water of Asgard drip over him.
In front of him, when he got up, he saw for the first time the golden bracelet that shone and rotated on its own axis. The Relic of the Sea.
Behind him, at the entrance to the grotto, was Hilda in a rage.
Around Hyoga shone the most incredible of lights, a profound mixture of the seidr of Asgard, as well as the fiery and brilliant Cosmo of Saints.
"I will save Asgard." he roared. "I swear."
His eyes also now sparkled beautifully. He raised the sword above his head and stared into the deep crimson of Hilda's eyes. His Cosmo was powerful and Hyoga let his voice sound before delivering his fatal blow.
"By Odin."
The Balmung Sword did not lacerate any flesh, but pierced Hilda's core and she found herself completely paralyzed, her eyes petrified. The throb of that blow caused the water in that shallow lake to freeze entirely. Hyoga saw up close how Valkyrie Hilda's ebony helmet broke in half, as well as her beautiful armor fell to the ground, releasing the dark dress that covered her body. Her voice seemed, like everything else, petrified into the scream that froze in her throat.
Her right arm slowly rose, and from her finger, the Gold Ring calmly slipped out, floating suspended in midair as it rotated against its own axis. Hyoga raised the sword again to end that terror once and for all.
But the ring cracked the gold for a long time above their heads, until it shone like a star in the darkness and finally exploded, pulsing a malevolent energy that dissipated forever, extinguishing all the torches and fires in that Cave of Surtr. The only gleams there now were the Balmung Sword and the Relic of the Seas on its pedestal.
Hilda went to the ground and Hyoga took a deep breath.
His task was accomplished.
The Crystal Robe he wore resounded with the entire mountain and the Balmung Sword abandoned its hilt to rise suspended; the crystals that previously protected him were released in the air to once again imprison the Sword and disappear, impossibly submerging in that lake, which had magically thawed.
It was the end of the battle of Asgard.
When looking at the entrance to the grotto, Hyoga found Alberich's face. He had blood dripping from his mouth and his right arm was charred. He leaned against the doorway and sat down in his last moments, struggling between life and death.
He coughed. But laughed. The boy felt a chill in his body.
"Fool." said Alberich with difficulty.
Hyoga had suffered too much at the hand of that God Warrior for his anger not to take over him even at that important moment. He knelt down and grabbed him by the shirt as Alberich let the blood spurt from his mouth.
"What is it now?! What poison will come out of your mouth this time? It's all over!"
"Fool." he repeated with a smile on his face, to Hyoga's annoyance. "All of us. Made of fools."
The boy grew suspicious, as he always should be with Alberich's words, but then that snake finally seemed harmless and incapable of any attack. That's when the golden glow that illuminated his back and cast a faint shadow in front of him cooled and died. Hyoga looked back and did not find the Relic of the Sea anymore.
Alberich laughed harder, as far as his brief death left him.
"What?" he wondered. "What does that mean?"
"The Relic, Hyoga." Alberich said.
And the boy knelt down to hear his last words before he died.
"The Relic was the Ring."
Hyoga's heart stopped.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: The Asgard Arc finally comes to an end. I sought to unite the references and intentions of the second film in the series with the events of the original arc of the original series. Keeping the melancholy mood of the soundtrack and stories. I also tried to explore the perspective of the enemies much more than the protagonists, which I believe is one of the points that fans like the most about this original arc. And I tried to weave this plot into the story I created about the Relics. And I was very happy with the final closure, bringing back Sigmund's story and also keeping some mystery about the real forces behind it all.
[The fanfic will go on a one-week hiatus until the next chapter, but keep following! If you want to talk more about Fanfic, come to our Discord: /invite/T9JVaWS]
NEXT CHAPTER: A TALE OF LOVE AND SEA
A side story and loose about a beautiful relationship between the sea and love.