The prank had gone horribly wrong. Again. It was a combination of impulsiveness, a knack for breaking things that really shouldn’t have, and a bit of plain old bad luck. After years of doing this, one would think that they’d have learned their lesson by now, but no. It just kept happening, again and again, each creating a spectacle the equivalent of watching a trainwreck. This time though, there was no coming back from what they had done.
“You broke the fridge,” Ash growled, waving his hands at all the food he now had to keep cool.
“Look, I told you, I’m sorry!” Kyouko protested from where he had frozen her in place. “It was an accident! I wasn’t paying attention!”
Of course, Ash knew better than to take her at face value. The fact that his friend wasn’t paying attention was true, it’s just that Kyouko also had a bad habit of having fidgety hands whenever she was spaced out while planning her latest scheme. In that sense, the fridge being nearby was a necessary sacrifice in order to stop whatever the Midgardian girl was coming up with this time.
Ash, however, did not believe in sacrifices for the greater good. “Shouldn’t you be packing up your stuff already? Your personal Valkyrie Gear came in yesterday.”
“Eh, even if I am a C-Rank as well now, I’m not going to be moving in immediately. You think I’m just going to leave you here?” Ash wasn’t even sure if they would let Kyouko in. He had heard horror stories about how her examination had ended, and was pretty sure all their classmates had been giving them a wider berth than usual over the last few days. The fact they they all had, just the morning before, been all over him only made the stark contrast more noticeable. He’d ask what had happened, but it was probably another one of those incidents that Kyouko would rather keep secret. With a sigh, the Vintrkind adjusted the chill exuding from his hands. “Well, I’m not paying for the fridge, so you’re going to have to deal with Miss Ingen yourself.”
“Not that I would let you pay for it anyways,” the dorm manager’s voice resounded as she stepped into the building with a thunderous fury. Her eyes were practically demonic as she narrowed in on Kyouko’s frozen form. “What did I just hear about you destroying my kitchen?!”
“Gah! Listen, I’m sorry you old bat!” she cried, not even pretending to be respectful as she apologised. “I’ll fix it up later, okay?!”
“Last time Breaker ‘fixed up’ an appliance she ended up improving it overall,” Ash supplied helpfully. Ruby eyes turned to give him a grateful stare… Only for the wolf of the backstreets to flash his fangs. “It lasted a week before spontaneously combusting, burning the whole building down.”
“Traitor!”
“You…” Miss Ingen pinched the bridge of her nose. “And here I thought you brats would be leaving soon enough. Of course it wouldn’t be that simple. You guys just had to be one of those kinds of residents, huh?”
Kyouko twitched as the ice keeping her trapped finally melted enough for her to break free. “And what’s that supposed to mean?!”
“In my time at Valhalla, I’ve found there’s two kinds of trainees that end up in the D-Class dorm. The actual dropouts, and the crazy ones who end up turning all of VEA on its head.” The old woman gave a nostalgic sigh before grunting and pointing at the door. “Thanks for the help Whitelund, but I’ve got a more urgent situation I need you to resolve at the door. Don’t worry, I’ll restock on non-perishable food while the fridge gets fixed.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “Something for me to do?”
As if on cue, a loud knock resounded through the halls of the dorm. Miss Ingen let out a frustrated huff of annoyance before turning to shout. “Will you wait just one moment?!”
With a silent jerk of her head, the dorm manager gestured Ash towards the door. Cautiously, the Vintrkind passed one last chill over the food before making his way through the creaky hallways. Taking a wintry breath, the boy swung open the door only to blink in surprise at who he found at the other end. “Magnolia?”
“Hm, this is quite odd. I was sure I was talking to Miss Ingen a few moments ago.” The blonde tapped her foot before her eyes lit up. With a sigh, she shook her head. “Really now, does she think if you are the one to tell me my resolve would waver? As if that would be enough.”
“Resolve?” Ash blinked. During the one week of hellish training, it wasn’t that odd to see his handler around their dorm, but after their victory against Anemone she hadn’t set foot there ever since. In fact, he had hardly seen her at all in the past few days, as she seemed to be busy doing something. Of course Magnolia still checked in with him every once in a while, but this would most likely be their first actual conversation since the duel. Though the boy wasn’t sure why she came here specifically, when she could have just met up with him tomorrow at school, until he spotted two specific items by her side. “Wait, don’t tell me-”
“That’s right.” Magnolia nodded, grabbing the handle of her two suitcases before taking a step inside of the building. “Like it or not, I’m going to be moving to this dorm, starting today.”
“What?!” Kyouko screeched before there was a loud smacking noise.
“Quiet you!” Miss Ingen shouted before stepping out of the kitchen. “And you! Just what do you think you’re doing?! I said I never wanted to see you as a resident here!”
“Well, I have to stay close to my charge somehow,” The fiery blonde replied with a smile as she glanced Ash’s way. “Though, I had been preparing myself to stay at the C-Rank Dorms. Why haven’t you moved out yet, anyway?”
“The dorm apparently isn’t ready for a male occupant,” Ash replied with a grunt as he thought back to the apologetic teachers who had informed him. “They have to renovate the place before I can move in, which will take until about the end of the semester according to VEA.”
“Turns out, they didn’t actually expect Vargr to make it to C-Rank! At least not this quickly!” Kyouko replied with a grin, only to be shown back into the kitchen by Miss Ingen. “Ow! Hey!”
“I still haven’t decided on what your punishment is going to be!” The dorm manager grumbled before turning back to the Wing Candidate. “And you, you’re not just an A-Rank, you’re a Wing Candidate. Are you really prepared for the consequences of moving in here?”
“Naturally. I’ll face all of them head on, whatever they bring.” Magnolia nodded resolutely before looking around. “Though… I do believe that this place needs a bit of fixing up. Students are allowed to pay for repairs themselves, are they not? You may take the balance out of my account.”
Miss Ingen’s eye twitched. “You do realize why the dorm is in this state right?”
“I’ve done my due diligence ,and am aware of the modus operandi of the dorm, yes. To motivate the lower ranked trainees into achieving a higher rank by tempting them with better living conditions. However…” The blonde reached into her pocket to pull out her data pad. With a tap of her fingers, a holographic display of what was unmistakably the D-Rank dorm appeared. Except there was something off about it.
Ash’s eyes widened when he realized what it was. As with all digital photos in Yggdrasil, it was hard to tell the passage of time from just the quality of the image. This one, though, was clearly taken a long time ago as the dorm was in a much better state. Still cheap looking, but not the actual dumpster fire it was today.
“When the concept of the ‘D-Class’ dorm was first put into place, it was never meant to be in the terrible state it is today,” Magnolia narrated as she continued to showcase images of the long past. Sometimes Ash could even spot a former resident or two. “But it was due to the policy of putting all the costs on the residents and the general lack of real maintenance that it continued to degrade. Now the building isn’t just awful, it’s nearly unlivable. While it may be for the lowest rank, is a dorm that’s actually hazardous for its residents really in VEA’s interests?”
Miss Ingen’s wrinkly face was stony for a moment before she turned away. “ ‘Course not. We’re here to help trainees, not break their wills. I’ve been trying to keep the place running as best I can, but there’s no stopping the passage of time as well as the other factors.”
The Invincible Warrior grinned as if she had just been handed the victory. “If you are referring to the upper management who are looking to skimp costs and consider this to be an unofficial garbage dump, then rest assured, my family has already taken care of them. By tomorrow, I can have a team of contractors here to fix up the place in no time.”
“...Fine! You win!” The dorm manager muttered something about Asgard families as she walked over to her desk and swiped one of the spare room keys. Miss Ingen quickly tossed it at Magnolia who caught it gracefully. “Here’s your keys! Don’t regret this later! And this is only if I get to decide how far the contractors are allowed to go with their renovations!”
The old woman paused before turning to point at Kyouko. “And you! You’re paying Hale back whatever it costs to replace the fridge!”
Instead of protesting though, Ash’s partner gave the Asgardian girl an appraising glance. “Does this mean we’ll finally be able to bathe with hot water?”
Magnolia’s eyebrows scrunched up. “Do you… not already have that?”
“Good enough for me!” Kyouko exclaimed cheerily only to suddenly dash out of the room as Miss Ingen chased after her with surprising agility for her age. A moment later, the sound of an angry lecture continued throughout the walls as Ash and Magnolia were finally left alone.
“...So we’re roommates now?” Ash guessed with an awkward feeling, in contrast to his handler’s confident smile.
“That’s right. We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on.” Magnolia pressed one hand to her chest and outstretched the other. “It’s a pleasure to be working with you, Ash.”
“I doubt you’ll go any easier on me during training though,” the white haired boy couldn’t help but comment as he took the hand and shook it. “But I guess this is nice in it’s own way as well. Glad to have you Magnolia.”
Since that day he had accidentally become a Valkyrie, so much had happened and Ash didn’t have any doubt that more would occur in the future. But he couldn’t say that he regretted any of it for a second. Whatever happened next, Ash would keep on heading towards his goal, regardless of how cold his future may seem.
And there was one more. The desire of a young girl, that would keep her warm through the coming nights.
“I want to support Ash, just like he saved me. To be his hearth as well as the wings that let him fly freely in the sky. It’s not a grand duty, but for now there’s nothing that I want more.”
The one eyed queen sat slumped upon her throne. Hidden somewhere in Yggdrasil that only she was aware of, flanked by her two ravens and her ‘attendant’ in a horse mask. Though her eyes were closed, she could clearly see the scene of that young Vintrkind shaking hands with that heir of the Hales. Her All-Seeing eye watched, and yet Odin herself had no reaction. Her lips moved neither up or down, her fingers never moved a muscle. All she did, all she could do, was watch and observe. As still as a living corpse.
That was enough. With a simple thought, she banished the scene from her gaze and turned her eye towards a different one. A conversation from the recent past, of the ones who were so brazen as to scheme and plot in her territory well aware that she was watching at every moment. Muninn, her loyal companion, shifted its beak next to her ear and began to whisper their words. “Oh you’re back. Good work out there, everything’s going just as we expected.”
There was a moment of silence from the second party. In response, the first figure merely continued on without a care. “According to the data… That little wolf has grown up quite magnificently, hasn’t he? It was worth letting him go for a while. But in order for him to become the Jaws That Devour The Sky, he’s going to need a lot more than this.”
A clap of hands. “Now that this little checkup is over though, it’s time we start the real operation.”
Before either could say anything else, Odin raised her hand. “Enough, Munnin.”
The purple raven nodded as it’s master dismissed the memory, opening her human eye to gaze at nothing. Three centuries ago, when Fimbulveter began and humanity found themselves under threat of extinction by the Jotun, she had arrived. Soon after, with her guidance she led the creation of Yggdrasil and granted the survivors of mankind the technology of the Valkyries. Even fighting herself through the longest, most destructive battle in history in order to give humanity the time that they needed. And yet now, all she did was sit on her throne. Waiting and watching.
Some wondered why a seemingly godlike entity such as her never acted. Yggdrasil was not a paradise, Odin was well aware of that. It was just another society created by humans, and humans could not create a paradise of ideals. They tried, but in the end Yggdrasil was built on compromise after compromise. Time had only exacerbated the problems inherent in its flaws. But in the end, though it was far from perfect… it was habitable. That didn’t stop those who were victims of its tragedies from cursing the world, cursing her, for their unfair lots in life when they thought no one was listening.
She was always listening. All of the resentment of the people was carried up to her ears. So why did Odin not act?
The answer was simple, if bitter: The same godlike powers she had been given also paralyzed her from truly acting as a human. Few realized what being able to see into the ocean of possibility truly meant. Many often liked to speak about odds, talking about one in a million. But the narrow view of mankind made them only focus on that one specific possibility, never realizing that every single possibility in that left over ‘million’ had the exact same chance of happening as anything else. It was just one in an infinite amount of grains of sand, beneath the crashing waves of time.
And Odin was drowning. Constantly. If she were to cause a ripple, she would experience every moment in that sea of ‘possibility’ all as if she were actually living it. Every moment of her existence, that could scarcely be called a life, was an exhausting one. One where she couldn’t tell apart the ‘Has not’ from the ‘Will Never Be’. The only way that she could anchor herself into the present moment was with the help of her attendants, Munnin her memory and Hugnnin her thoughts. Even then, it was hard for her to stay ‘lucid’ for very long.
“...Which is why it was so easy for you to knock the dominoes over, Sleipnir.” Odin spoke to the woman by her side. The horse mask never moved, there wasn’t much of a consciousness left behind underneath it after all. It was hard to believe that this was once the person who had stood as a challenge to her, but the fact that she had managed to make her legacy live on was a testament to who she once was. “And now the weave of fate has begun to spin towards the only ‘inevitability’ in this world. The final knot.”
Even though she tried to prevent it as much as she could, the moment she laid her eye on a certain white haired boy, Odin knew that it was already too late. Buried underneath the infinite possibilities she saw, until it was all too far along for her to prevent it. The fall of Jotunheim was just the beginning of that woman’s schemes, or perhaps even that was just the result of a cosmic will. There was no point dwelling on whatever force the thing referred to as ‘Fate’ was. For now, the One Eyed Queen could only do what she could.
Odin shut her eyes to the present moment, turning her thoughts back to Ash Whitelund. Speaking to him had been quite fun, but she held little doubt they would never meet again until that day came. So ignorant was he of the role he had been born to play, of the tragedy that awaited all of them in the future. The Goddess of Yggdrasil had gifted him the Einherjar of Loptr, but that was merely an heirloom, a borrowed power. Poor, poor boy.
Ash was the Fenrir of this tale. The man who would kill her and bring about the end of Yggdrasil. That was inevitable.
But until then, she would continue sitting on her throne.
Watching and waiting.
Till Ragnarok Comes.
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Holy smokes.
I can't believe my mind didn't go there.
I firmly, desperately believe this story deserves far more attention than it currently appears to be getting. God DAMN this is good stuff. Excellent writing and plotting both; really does feel like I'm "reading" an anime, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. :D
Great title drop and end of the first volume, Daze. With some luck things will not end in tragedy for our boy Ash... nah, who I am kidding? Let loose the wolves of war!
Yep, he want to destroy all the Jötun, but he will destroy Yggdrasil and all of those who live with him.