– Asgard…
The All-Father was deeply disturbed.
He knew not where this feeling of foreboding hailed from. Only that it was a constant presence on his mind from the very moment that he sensed it.
Odin walked through the halls of a reconstructed Valhalla.
This time, the great dining hall was populated not only by warrior spirits and einherjar but also dragons in black armor from the deepest abyss.
Some of them made themselves visible. They guarded the walls and stared blankly into space as if nothing that occurred here was of any interest to them.
The others were different.
They hid in plain sight by completely blocking perception of themselves. Odin had given up on trying to pick them out already. So much for an all-seeing eye…
As for why they had chosen to hide themselves, Odin didn’t know and he didn’t really care either.
These men were here to protect him and all of the Norse deities from the threat looming at their doorstep. But if he were honest, he was itching for the moment when he finally heard they were packing up and leaving.
They didn’t obey orders given. Didn’t really engage in idle chit-chat either.
Odin saw them as a necessity, but one that he would be more than happy to be rid of one day. He was pretty sure these beings could hear his thoughts too.
How was a man supposed to be comfortable when living like that?
‘Just tell yourself it’s for the best. When they’re gone, then that means you have an entirely different set of problems on your…’
Odin paused in the middle of the hallway.
He swept his gaze over the entire hall at once but found nothing.
The soldiers covered in black metal were gone
“Shit…”
–
The Hearty Boar is a hole-in-the-wall tavern frequented by Asgardian citizens.
Different from a pub of good repute, or an acclaimed inn frequented by a homely hearth and cheerful song, the Hearty Boar is the Asgardian equivalent of an American Waffle House. Though without the good food or chance for life life-changing conversation.
However, one can find no shortage of rough-necked drunken criminals, loose women, and tobacco smoke.
These sorts of activities took place all day long…
It was only 11 a.m. when the doors to the decrepit old building burst open and the sound of angry voices spilled out.
A stout, portly Asgardian man covered in tattoos was dragging the body of another man much larger than himself, who was leaking blood from a wound on his head.
Rather than administer any sort of first aid to the bleeding man, the only care he received was the mud sloshing against his head wound.
The portly man exhibited herculean strength as he hurled the broken man over his shoulder and into a pig pen.
He yelled obscene, unnecessary taunts “And don’t come back until you can hold yer’ own! Damn pansy!”
The man spat a wad of brown phlegm into the mud in disgust as he turned back to his tavern.
*Whistle* “Nice ass there, Jorgen. You been working on that just for me?”
The Asgardian turned around as red as a tomato and his boulder-like fists already clenched.
When he turned back, he was staring into the blossom of a brick wall. One over seven feet tall, with stark black skin pulled taught over rippling muscles.
Before his gaze even crested above her muscular neck, a brick-sized fist crashed across his jaw to bring him to his knees.
Karliah’s full lips peeled back into a satisfied grin when she heard that all too satisfying ‘crack’.
“Ah, that’s the stuff~ No one’s jaw makes the kind of satisfying pops that yours does, little man. You really know how to become a girl’s favorite.”
“RAAAAH!”
The man lunged from below with a fierce uppercut to pierce the sky.
A titanic clash resounded as meaty fist struck ancient bone. The sound traveled for miles on the wings of frightened doves just trying to roost.
Karliah rubbed her jaw thoughtfully with a contemplative expression on her face.
“Not bad…you listened to my tips, I see.”
The man cracked his jaw back into place and grinned proudly. “Aye, all in the legs and foot placement. I’ll be ready for you yet, ya devilish bitch!”
“I don’t doubt it, frail one!”
The two practitioners of violence laughed together heartily and embraced each other. A total contrast from their behavior displayed a few moments ago.
A young redhead popped into view from behind Karliah. Her demeanor was much softer and more bubbly than the oversized demon.
“Morning, Mr. Jorgen!” Thrudd beamed.
The Asgardian spat in disgust. “Bah, what have I told you about all of that ‘Mister’ stuff? Do I look like a Mister to you, Thunder Thighs?”
“You look like a whiny little tampon eater!” Thrudd beamed.
“There’s a lovely lass!”
A bit farther back, Fiona and Gabbrielle were watching this entire strange greeting take place. Neither was quite certain of how to proceed from here…
Gabbrielle couldn’t believe her older sister had called someone a tampon eater. Fiona couldn’t believe just how much this place reeked of vomit.
“Well now, what’ve you two got there..?”
The girls noticed the large, bald man wandering over to him with an inquiring gaze. Fiona couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t even bothered to wipe the lingering blood off his chin.
“Don’t get many of your types around here…”
He looked Gabbrielle up and down- his gaze lingering on her heels that were floating above the mud.
“Hmph. Too good to get a little dirty, are we?” The man sneered.
“Obviously.” Gabbrielle said coolly.
Jorgen snorted. “A god, ain’t you? You all got that same kind of pissy poshy air about yourselves.”
Gabbrielle’s gaze sharpened.
“I can assure you- there are very few gods like me.”
‘I wonder if being hot and intense comes as the default for all of Abaddon’s kids..’ Fiona thought.
“S-Sorry, let me introduce you guys!”
Thrudd swooped in and wrapped her arm around Gabbrielle’s neck affectionately. “Jorgen, this is my baby sister Gabbrielle. I promise she’s not as dainty as she looks.”
Taking only the girls’ faces into account, Jorgen could indeed see the resemblance.
From the neck down, though, things got a lot more murky…
But for now, at least, there was only one little tidbit of information that took precedence over everything else.
“How are you two lassies related to a god of all things?? Especially when one of you looks like this!” He pointed to Karliah’s face.
“Oi! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Karliah roared.
“Come on now, lass. Don’t make me say it.”
“Say what?!”
“The ugly train. It just hit you and kept on going, didn’t it?”
“Son of a bitch!!”
Karliah lashed out. Jorgen got right back up a couple of seconds later as if nothing had gone wrong.
Even though he was clearly sporting a newly broken nose…
Apparently, he had quickly gotten over the fact that Thrudd had a sister who was a god and was now inspecting the last member of the group.
“And who’re you supposed to be..?” He sneered at Fiona.
Like Gabbrielle, he had a less than favorable impression of her due to her nearly ironed white shirt and peacoat.
Prim and proper types didn’t typically do all that well around here.
Fiona straightened her glasses and stuck out her chest with a pride that had been learned ever since she was a child.
“I am Fiona Nagumo, eldest heir to the Nagumo family and next in line to-“
“PTOOEY!”
Jorgen puckered his lips and spat an inhumanly large wad of gunk on Fiona’s boot.
She completely lost it.
Fiona drew her gun from her hip and opened fire immediately. “You disgusting old, bastard!”
She shot the old innkeeper in the stomach and dropped him where he stood. Eliciting a round of ‘oohs’ from Thrudd and her grandmother.
Jorgen groaned a bit from the new hole in his stomach and looked up with a smile.
“Seems like I might’ve had you all wrong then… You’re as scrappy as these two behemoths over here.”
The word ‘Behemoth’ must’ve given Thrudd flashbacks, because she stomped Jorgen’s head into the mud for seemingly no reason at all.
After so many instances of having his skull rattled over the last few minutes, this last blow seemed to have put the old man out for good.
When it was quiet again, Gabbrielle looked up at her sister with an exhausted look on his face.
“You cannot possibly expect us to stay here in this sort of establishment. It’s disgusting and barbaric to no end.”
Fiona couldn’t add on any words because she was busy grinding her shoe into Jorgen’s back.
Karliah was a largely brutish woman, but when it came to Gabbrielle she could be mildly gentle.
“Aw, come on, little bookworm, live a little. I brought your sister here when she was in her young 5000s and she’s loved it ever since. Maybe you will too if you give it a try.”
Gabbrielle looked back and forth between her sister, their grandmother, and the building that reeked of blood and staff infections.
After taking a moment to think about it, she had a very expectant reaction.
“No.”
