I never knew a Goddess could be so patient. Usually, in most stories and myths, you'll find just how easy it is to invoke a Goddess' petty wrath with some really stupid words or ideas.
Not to say all Goddesses are like that, but to be fair, what I just told Freya about, I wouldn't blame her at all.
Instead, she simply stands there, still in her full Valkyrie battle armor, by the way, and holy hell is it not a test of willpower to keep my eyes up.
But I manage, because this is important. Thankfully, we're alone, Freya having teleported us straight to her office as soon as I started telling her what was up.
Then again, pretty sure the only reason Freya hasn't thrown me out is that she likes me.
But if the way her smile has been locked onto her face for the past five straight minutes is any indication, I can tell even that's being tested.
"So," Freya begins with an oh-so-sweet hum, "let me make sure I understand this correctly, yes? You wish to take these terrorists back home with you…"
"Mhmm!" I nod in affirmation.
"To use them as bait," she continues.
"Yep!"
"And draw out Heaven and their Church's strongest angels and warriors, respectively."
"Oh ya, wanna catch em all." I hum and nod a few more times.
"So that you can kneecap a potential first strike ordered by their Lord, who was dead, but now is not, and wants to burn the world for…reasons?" She wraps, clasping her hands together in an almost prayer-like manner, likely for my sanity.
"That about sums it up, yeah." I give her a thumbs up.
Freya closes her eyes and takes a real deep breath through her nose, before steadily releasing it. She slowly opens one eye and looks up at me. "You are absolutely positive that what you saw in that girl's memories is the truth, and not some fabrication or trick by the Wish residing in her sword?"
Huh.
Okay, I didn't consider that possibility, but then again.
I shake my head. "No, I don't think the Wish could do something like that. It was dormant when I went through her head, anyway, but something like that, specifically, just doesn't fit with the way I get the feeling the Wish operates."
It tried to convince me, after all. At their core, I don't think any part of Him is going to be the tricky type, especially the big parts. It's kind of hard to explain why exactly I feel that way, beyond going into the Nature of Him and all that.
Freya's smile drops, and her eyes widen slightly. "...You aren't joking, are you?"
I have to resist the urge to deadpan at her, "About something as big as this? No, no, why would I be?"
"Right, of course." She hums, a hand raising to pinch the bridge of her nose, as she looks toward the ground. "This…complicates things significantly."
Yeah, that's putting shit simply, isn't it?
"In a confrontation, the Norse would not survive an all-out war with Heaven." Freya utters, quickly, almost under her breath, "No one is expecting it. Nobody is ready. There hasn't been a major conflict in thousands of years, so the toll would be catastrophic."
Oh damn. Is Freya kind of spiraling? She is a Goddess of War, so if anyone knows the state of the Norse Realms when it comes to such things, it'd be her, wouldn't it?
I reach over and put my hand on her head, causing her entire body to jolt or perk up, as her eyes suddenly shoot up from the ground and laser focus on me.
She blinks and lets out a slight sigh, "Please, don't do that. I almost hit you hard enough to send you straight to Hel."
I give her a sheepish chuckle, "Sorry, you kind of looked like you were spiraling there, and headpats always help there."
"Perhaps they do," she chuckles out lightly, before a stoic, serious frown etches across her face once more, "but no, I wasn't spiraling. Not quite. I was thinking, and the Norse Realms…simply aren't ready to combat such a threat. I imagine most beyond maybe the Hindu could, at present."
You know, I'd resent that remark, but then I remember that Takamagahara is filled mostly with kami who would rather suck up to the court there than fight, and I realize, yeah, the Shinto as a whole would also probably get washed.
Even with the Sacred Treasures. Even with me. At that point, I'd probably be the only survivor…
Best not to think about any of that.
Now it's my turn to sigh, "Yeah, even if I wouldn't like to admit it. Thankfully, from what I could put together, it's not like we're completely screwed. Yet, anyway."
Freya nods, leaning a bit more against my hand. "Yes, I recall. You mentioned something about His revival being recent, and His power consequently fractured, right?"
"Yeah, far better than the alternative…" I trail off, to which Freya merely chuckles, mirthlessly.
"Oh, far better than you likely understand." She practically purrs against my hand now. "If I recall correctly, in His prime, he was stronger than the Infinity Dragon and True Dragon. The only thing holding Him back was His strange propensity for personal non-interference. He rarely, if ever, took to the field Himself, preferring mortals sworn to His cause, or if need be, His Angels to do His work."
I raise an eyebrow, as the way she's saying that doesn't sound like she's recounting something she heard, but rather something she saw personally. "You saw Him personally?"
"Only once." She responds immediately, yet her voice is almost hushed, "When His people came North, and Odin was a far less…apathetic god. More bold, daring. Suicidal. He tried to learn His secrets to many things then: His Limitless Power, His Sacred Gears…" She chuckles good-naturedly, as though reminded of a pleasant memory, "Odin didn't care that our people were being swept up into His flock, as all he cared about was the how. What made the God of the Bible so great that they'd rather follow Him instead?"
Oh yeah. Same guy that speared and hung himself from the World Tree to learn magic. I would bet my magic eyes that he'd one-hundred percent go through extreme and arduous suffering purely for something stupid.
Like standing out in a blizzard for a week to learn how to use a smartphone.
Freya shook her head lightly. "He found out one day, and yet, I can't remember what he did. No one can. He made sure of it after the fact. But somehow Odin, that fool, drew the ire of Him, and He made it known in Asgard directly. I couldn't see His face. It was just…Light." She trailed off with a breathy whisper.
Her gaze grew distant, almost glassy. For a moment, I grew concerned, as it almost looked like she had stopped breathing entirely.
Then, like a snap, she perked back up, and her gaze was clear again. She coughed lightly before reaching up and taking my hand, gently removing it from her head. "Needless to say, Odin stopped pursuing anything related to Him from then on. Of course, the old fool took any chance he could to be petty, so he made friends with the former Governor General of the Grigori over their shared curious whims, and…" She rolls her eyes, "perversion, of course."
Somehow, I'm only surprised they bonded over more than just being a bunch of perverted dimwits.
Though, speaking of Azazel, now that I'm reminded of him, what are the chances he got yoinked by Heaven using the Grigori falling apart to do so?
Because, as extremely annoying as the guy is, he is actually brilliant when it comes to his passions. The Artificial Sacred Gears, and not to mention the other random and crazy shit he made off to the side.
Hilariously enough, if left unchecked, Azazel would be a pretty big threat to his big papa nowadays, especially in a fractured state like He is now.
The big guy probably doesn't want to risk Azazel whipping up a bunch of mass-produced Artificial Longinus-tier Sacred Gears ahead of schedule, something he does in EX, if I recall correctly.
In any event, I roll my eyes along with Freya and shake my head. "So then I imagine coming to Odin with any of this is going to be a lost cause?"
She lets out a sigh and pulls my hand closer to her, right in front of her chest, holding it there. "I am actually unsure there. And besides, that is for me to find out." She smiles and looks up at me fully. "It would seem we're both going to be very busy in the near future, hmm?"
I couldn't help but sigh along with her. "Seems so, but don't you worry, I didn't forget what I told you in the lake, alright~?"
"Hmm..." She purrs as she steps forward, pressing my hand right up against her chest, right in between her mounds, quickly enveloping my hand. "I sure hope so, Noriaki~...all the realms know, after what's to come, we're going to need it, yes?" She trails off with a tilt of her head and a sultry little breath.
Highly considering breeding this Goddess on her own desk. Right now.
Unfortunately, as welcome as the distraction would be, I have work to do. I will remember this, however!
I chuckle darkly, "Oh, you damn tease…"
She smiles, slyly, a small flush crossing her cheeks as she bats her eyelashes, "It doesn't have to be~..."
I stare at her rather intently before she giggles and pulls my hand from her bosom. "Oh, alright, alright. Fun after~! And about your plan…you may take the terrorists away…"
Excellent!
"Presuming, of course, that you have a proper place to confine them, yes?"
My mind immediately draws a blank.
Freya's smile doesn't even drop for a second, and rather, it seems to somehow grow a touch longer.
"...I might need to make a call." I chuckle lightly, rubbing the back of my head with a free hand as Freya didn't say anything, merely nodding along, knowingly.
~ A New Sun ~
Thankfully, I didn't even need to make a call! I just needed to send a quick message over to Suzaku.
I've got five prisoners in need of being held, each with a powerful Sacred Gear. Luckily, I have Five Clans, each with experience sealing up and blocking off access to powerful Sacred Gears, even Longinus.
So, four of the clans will be taking one of the girls, so as to better keep them contained and hidden away. Who's getting who? We'll decide that once I get back to Kyoto.
What I've already decided is I'm taking Charla to my place, personally.
So long as the Wish keeps up its end of the deal, Charla's sword is effectively sealed up anyway, and as their leader, I should probably be the one watching over her, just in case.
If they're going to send anyone for Charla specifically, it'll be some of their strongest, most likely, and besides getting my wish, heh, I'm not sure if the clans could deal with such people or angels themselves.
Plus, Kuroka gets to be a warden! I'm sure that won't end terribly. And I get to stuff Another Longinus right next to the True Longinus under my bed, but granted that one's just for the funsies.
That all sorted, I leave the teasing Goddess, and in fact, the Norse Realms as a whole, in a golden flash of light.
It's weird how from Earth to Takamagahara, it feels almost instantaneous, but from the Norse to Takamagahara, it feels almost like there's some kind of lag?
I'm honestly not sure how to describe it.
I'm also not sure how to describe the scene that will forever be burned into my memory banks upon appearing in my mother's room.
Oh, who am I kidding? I know exactly how to describe this shit.
My mother is sitting on a half-naked, half-teary-eyed Uzume, using her as a stole as she sits before a vintage-looking television watching the fucking ninja anime.
Uzume is shaking and trembling on her hands and knees, and my mother is sitting on her back, so completely engrossed in the action in front of her that she has no idea I just appeared. I'm honestly not even sure Uzume is aware of anything else, as her forehead is pressed into the ground and her eyes are closed.
I briefly consider pulling a Zekka and committing seppuku.
In truth, however, there's only one thing I can do in this situation, and that's state, out loud, so completely and utterly blandly, "Is this a kami sex thing?"
"WAH!?" My mother yelps and immediately falls backward, off Uzume.
Meanwhile, Uzume crumbles onto the floor, her body going entirely limp as she groans in relief.
"N-NORI!" Ama shoots up onto her feet. "We were just-"
I hold up a hand, instantly causing her to stop.
"No. Nope. Nu uh. Stop, right there. I don't even want to know." I shake my head, vehemently, back and forth.
"I-It's not any kind of s-sex thing!" She quickly clarifies, despite my words, causing me to sigh and drag my hand down my face.
"I wouldn't be so suurreee-" Uzume starts slurring out on the ground, raising a finger slightly, "ACK!" Only to be cut off as Ama turns and delivers a kick straight to her side.
"It's. Not." Ama clarifies again, eyes practically burning.
I'm pretty sure Uzume went home with me. Why did she even come back here for this?
That thought will remain in the confines of my mind, as I simply give her a thumbs up instead. Then, before I could change the subject myself, Ama blinks, as though realizing something.
"Hey, wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be visiting the Norse right about now?" Ama asks, with a tilt of her head and suspiciously narrowed eyes, "What happened?"
Why thank you for that, even if it's kind of scary how quickly she clocked that something was amiss. Is this a mother thing?
I open my mouth, prepared to speak, before stopping myself with a click of my teeth as my mouth shuts again, and my gaze returns back to Uzume.
"She drinks." I state instead, "Can't have her hearing this right now."
Ama blinks at that, before snapping her fingers, a pillar of light abruptly erupting, seemingly straight up deleting Uzume from existence.
She even made this echoing, high-pitched squeal as she went out. Of course she isn't dead, but it's funny to think about. My mother probably just tossed her straight back down to Earth.
As soon as the light is fully gone, she looks back at me expectantly, and I don't hesitate to get straight into it.
I tell her of the Great Emperor, Charlemagne, and her ilk. I tell her of the attack on the Norse by them, their attempt to find and gather Ancient Sacred Gears. I tell her of my battle against her, meeting the Wish, and ending the fight.
I tell her what I saw in the Great Emperor's head.
At first, she didn't react much, if at all, just listened with eerie stillness. But as soon as I started describing Ancient Sacred Gears, her eyes widened in something like realization, like she was catching on to something.
By the end, as I reveal that He has returned, and that he has plans for everyone, she finally moves, falling back onto her bed almost limply.
Once I finish, she goes quiet for a long moment, simply staring at the floor.
When she finally says anything at all, it's to state two simple words rather blandly.
"We're screwed." She isn't even afraid or trembling. It's like she's stating a fact.
"Ordinarily? If it was just us?" I sit right beside her. "Yeah, I'd agree, and probably wouldn't even be here telling you this." I chuckle mirthlessly. "Probably be training my ass off before I do some sort of preliminary strike on the Vatican or something."
"Nori!" She hisses, giving me a scolding glare, to which I merely raise my hands.
"Hey! I'm not doing that now! Because, like I said." I wrap an arm around her shoulders. "We won't be going into this alone."
Her face scrunches up before she leans against me. "The Norse won't be enough by themselves…" She adds quietly, and I simply shake my head.
"Not just the Norse. I'm going to be a bit of a busy bee now. I've got places to go, people to press gang into an alliance, and a trap to coil the spring of." I smirk. "I'll handle everything outside. While I do, you need to wrangle the kami here into something resembling a force prepared to fight."
I look at her intently. "Can you do that?"
She shrinks a bit under my gaze. "I…without riling them up? I'm not sure, but…" she huffs, and nods a bit, "I'd be remiss if I didn't at least try, right?"
I pat her on the back and smile widely, "Heh, there we go, a spirit's better than no spirit!"
She chuckles before eyeing me right back, "Tell me about this big plan you concocted up. I don't want to be left out of the loop this time…"
I let out a soft sigh, but acquiesced nonetheless. I better get used to this now, huh? I'm going to be doing a lot of this in the coming days…