Far to the west, within a vast wilderness, a white comet smashed into the soil.

The female Einherjar, The Lady of Vesta, collided with the trees and the brush.

She groaned, then limped to her feet.

She knew she had to move, if her other half continued to pursue her then she could not escape in this state.

How harshly the tables had turned, for her to now be on the run from him.

Because he was the original, because she was born from the traits he threw away, there was an inherent hierarchy between them.

Her counterpart was clearly an existence above her, the same thing applied to all beings of their nature.

“I need to throw him off my scent, then get back to Vesta,” She muttered, her voice now echoed the weakness of her body.

She stared at her hand, which was starting to turn into a formless white mist.

She concentrated, hardened the Ash forming her flesh, and then managed to avoid degenerating further for the moment.

She knew that if things carried on like this she would quickly become like her counterpart had been when Rudolph first found him, and unlike him she wasn’t fit to survive that.

Her counterpart was ruthless and killed to survive when necessary, ironic, given how he discarded his 'sword'.

Meanwhile she was made of his “weak” and “discarded” characteristics, she would most likely just huddle up in a corner and wait for him to find her, and she knew it too.

“I know,” She said after catching her breath, “I’ll go to Mars, get them to do it.”

She limped forward and cracked a cold smile.

The men of Mars were the mightiest on the continent, bar none.

The world they lived in wasn’t the kind that would cater to the lazy, the entitled or the weak.

Those men might not defeat her counterpart, it's true, but they would certainly buy her the time needed to get away, their sacrifice would grant her a chance to stay alive.

She paused her steps and turned to look back.

Within the heavens, a powerful vortex of white clouds clustered and circled.

Tornados covered the forest, uprooted trees all around.

“He has found me!” She whispered, and then sprinted forward.

She cursed, but that alone would change nothing.

“Mars...I must get to Mars...I have to hurry and get to Mars...No...I won’t make it...not unless.”

She altered her path and headed north just a little.

Mars was to the west, but she hadn’t given up.

Instead, she’d chosen to lure her counterpart to another city, to Volcan, in a bid to slow him down.

The cost of lives did not matter to her, she was willing to sacrifice anything.

________________________________________________

The Journey to Volcan did not take long, only another three days, but to the female Einherjar it felt like an eternity.

She soon came upon the city as another storm raged in the far distance behind her.

The city walls were white, but beyond them lay a proverbial forest of pitch black spires.

That was Volcan, city of stone, steam and steel, where the greatest forges and forgemasters in all of Muspelheim could be found.

The walls stood ten times her height, but to her all that meant was a minor delay.

She stopped before the walls, then glanced back upon the storm that raged far behind her.

The thing changed course, a sure sign that her pursuer had discovered her.

She turned to mist as she moved over the mighty walls.

She knew of course that any sane person would not obstruct her counterpart’s path but the current Lord of Volcan was far too young and his mother wasn’t a woman of wit nor reason, only ambition.

Putting it bluntly, she was a twit, and a greedy twit, which meant she was a danger for all those living under her rule and, as far as the Lady of Vesta cared, a very useful tool.

____________________________________________________

The storm soon descended upon The City of Volcan, then it parted to form an eye wherein the male Einherjar’s body emerged.

He peered forward as giant thorns of steel protruded from every spire spewing smoke from the forges below.

The people started to rise in the dawn, save for the guards, who had long since sighted him, and the storm that made up his inhuman form, twisting and swirling, mighty beyond measure.

Those people stared in blank surprise as they saw him standing there in the eye of the storm.

The image was extremely staggering for these mortal men and women, never in their lives had they experienced such a sight.

There was no sound, no wind nor rain to accompany the storm, it was as if it was not truly there even when they could see it plain as day.

They did not realise it but this was proof of his restraint, the male Einherjar held back the storm’s chaotic power so as to protect the city as he passed it by, and this, as his counterpart had hoped, managed to slow his advance.

She had read Volcan’s young lord, or more precisely his mother, like a book and she knew her other half would not be so quickly able to chase her as she slipped away.

She smiled as she fled, never once slowing her pace.

“Fool, you had me!” She said, “You had me, you won...you really are a fool!”

She was flawed, but so was he.

He did cruel things when he was starving, but that was only purest instinct.

He did not have the cruelty needed to do the same thing now.

She smiled, this time a little bit sadly, and then mumbled as she fled, “You really are such a fool.”

_____________________________________________

Within Volcan’s centre lay three buildings, each one a thick black tower connected to the other two by bridges at various points across their massive frames.

Inside one of these buildings stood a young lad who could not help but tremble as he faced that ungodly storm.

His name was Utopa of Volcan, and he was the present Lord of the city.

His head of golden locks rose to behold as the gentle breeze brushed him by.

The silver-white garment he wore to bed now waved in the wind.

He walked towards the window of his chamber and stared out towards the massive yet oddly tranquil storm.

He was awestruck at the power and majesty of the entity that had appeared before him.

He knew not what it sought, only that it was hovering above his city peacefully while combing every street with his eyes from on high.

The boy’s chamber door then clicked open; a woman clad in gold and blue garments walked into the room.

Her face was aged, yet still portrayed the waning beauty of her past.

That beauty was ruined utterly by her expression, which was a permanent scowl that had not once lifted since the death of her lover, Utopa’s father.

That scowl turned into a sneer as she faced the vortex and the humanoid figure that stood within.

“It’s a god,” She said, a gleam of greed in her eye.

The Lady of Vesta was never this blatant with her actions, yet her other half did not care one whit about concealing his existence from the world.

This was a difference in their fundamental nature, she was born of his rage, cowardice and overall weakness, without which he was foolishly direct and even a little bit arrogant.

One could say that in discarding the traits he deemed weak instead of confronting them he had only succeeded in opening up new weaknesses where once there had been only strength.

Because of this, he never dreamed that anyone would be dumb enough to get in his way.

He underestimated just how stupid some people can be, especially those who’ve grown far too used to getting their way.

“Mother,” Utopa said, his voice trembling.

The boy was cautious, and rightly so.

He’d heard of the Gods from his father and everyone had heard about the purge of the City of Eve which had happened so long ago.

The Gods were simply beings that were best left alone.

Yet the boy’s mother, as he dreaded, did not think the same way, and indeed she did the worst thing possible.

“He seems weak,” The boy’s mother, Dyst, said with a grin, “if we can capture him...”

The boy’s trembling did not stop, nor did it slow.

Nobody knew better than him what was about to happen now that his mother had that look in her eyes.

Nothing could stop her, nobody could reason with her.

“What are you waiting for?” She said, glowering at her child, “Get the men ready, I want that thing in chains, understood?”

Her command was given so simply that it was as if she did not understand the weight of what they were dealing with and yet there was not one person here who had the power or courage to oppose it.

The men hoped dearly that their young lord would speak up, but sadly it was not to be.

“Yes,” The timid boy said with a nod.

He then turned around and walked towards his chamber door.

The woman kept her eyes on him the entire time, but only ended up scoffing as he left.

She looked out towards the vortex as it lingered over her city, her greed remained unbending to the end.

“I’m doing this for your sake,” She muttered, “You indecisive kid.”