WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 13

When Fray told me Ásgarðr was bigger than Ironwood Forest, I had not believed her. Those feeling lasted until we stepped up to a massive rainbow colored bridge.

The bridge itself was several kilometers long and wide enough that a battalion of one hundred troops could march across it shoulder to shoulder with room left over.It was made out of some sort of multi-colored glass. And beyond the bridge was a massive fortress so large it left me stunned.

The fortress was enclosed on all sides by walls and massive towers. Each tower was bigger than the seven towers found in Midgard, which housed the Six Great Sects and the Midgard Spiritual Knights. I’d even go so far as to say those towers paled in comparison to the size and majesty of these goliaths. They were like arms reaching into the sky, soaring past the clouds that covered this world.

“Wow…”

“It is a very impressive sight,” Fray said at my side, also looking at the fortress. “I rarely ever get to see Ásgarðr from this side these days.”

“Because of the Sekbeist?” I asked.

“Yes.” Fray’s smile turned a little sad, though it left a moment later. “Let us go. I’m sure my absence has been noticed by now, so there might be a bit of a panic.”

I was curious to know what sort of position she had, but I was sure I’d figure out eventually, so I didn’t ask any questions as we stepped onto the bridge. I realized only after beginning to walk across it that this bridge was not made from glass. It felt more like I was walking across stone. The issue with that was I could see through it. I was curious, tempted to ask about this bridge’s construction, but I somehow didn’t think Fray would know about that.

“The Sekbeist have made life in Gudeverdenen much harder,” Fray continued. “Ásgarðr is safe not only because our city is fortified against intrusion but also because we are surrounded by Ironwood Forest. The rest of our world is not so lucky. Every day, we get word of a new city, town, or village falling to their overwhelming numbers.”

“I am kind of surprised members of the God Race can fall like that,” I admitted. “I thought all of you were super strong.”

“If only that were the case,” Fray sighed softly. “Have you not realized yet that we Guddomelig do not all understand high level concepts? Our race are born with naturally long life spans and a greater understanding of the elements and concepts that govern this world, but that means nothing if you do not train hard. It normally requires at least five hundred years of training just to master one high level concept. Those of us who understand more than a single concept can be counted on my hands, and the ones who understand a single high level concept barely number in the hundreds.”

“I see…”

That was not something I had thought about. So even the God Race was not all-powerful. Well, if they were, then I doubt the Sekbeist would have been that big of a threat. The fact that the nine realms were forced apart to keep the Sekbeist from invading Miðgarðr was proof of this.

It took nearly an hour to cross the rainbow bridge. We could have sped across, but Fray wanted to walk instead, and I didn’t have an issue with this since it let me look at my surroundings. This bridge was formed over a massive… river? Lake? I was honestly not sure what it was. It flowed like a river, but it was utterly massive. Maybe it was a mote?

As we grew nearer to the fortress, I was able to make out a gigantic gate that was bigger and more imposing than the one in Midgard. Made from a type of black alloy, it stood majestically within a grand archway. I thought having a gate of that size was kind of impractical. However, even I could not deny the awe I felt as I stood before them.

Two people were guarding the gate. They were a pair of men. One of them had dark skin like obsidian and rippling muscles. His eyes were a vibrant yellow. Beside him stood a pale man with blond hair, a thick beard, and blue eyes. Streamlined armor made from a glossy alloy covered their bodies.

The two guards’ eyes bulged when they saw us approach.

“Y-Your Majesty!” They shouted in unison.

Hold up. Your Majesty?

While I turned to give Fray an incredulous look, the woman I was staring at merely smiled calmly as the two men rushed over to us.

“Good evening, Heimdall, Hoder.” Fray raised her hand in greeting.

“Your Majesty! What are you doing outside of Ásgarðr?! You know how dangerous it is, especially when you do not have an armed escort!” The black man fretted over her like a mother worrying about her child, but there was a reverence in his eyes even as he scolded her for leaving.

“My apologies.” Fray did not stop smiling as she pulled me forward, placed her hands on my shoulders, and presented me to them. “While I was contemplating in my gardens, I felt spatial distortions in Ironwood Forest and decided to investigate. I arrived to find this young god child about to be taken by the Sekbeist. I could not just do nothing.”

The two men looked from their queen to me, and I suddenly felt like I was one of Feinrea Kunis’s alchemy ingredients. It was a disconcerting sensation. Despite this, I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and bowed my head respectfully.

“My name is Eryk Veiger. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

I thought my greeting was respectful enough, but the two men continued to stare at me. It was only after looking at them again that I noticed their faces were pale. They were looking at me like they were staring at a ghost.

“Your Majesty, this boy… he…” the white man began.

“Let us not speak of this right now,” Fray said, still smiling, though now it carried a powerful authority that quelled both men. “Open the gates please.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they both said.

I soon learned from Fray that the black man was Heimdall and the white man was Hoder. They were guards who stood watch over Ásgarðr’s only entrance. The two of them were some of the God Race’s most accomplished warriors, a pair who were so powerful when they fought together that even the Sekbeist would not attack them unless they had no choice.

Heimdall and Hoder unsheathed their swords, which I thought were shaped like keys, and slid each sword into a small slot on either side of the gate. They twisted the swords. A cranking sound like the turning of gears echoed around us before, ponderously, the gate creaked open, revealing a wide street filled with people beyond.

“Please go in, Your Majesty,” Heimdall said.

“We shall close the gate behind you,” Hoder added.

“Thank you.”

Grabbing my hand, Fray tugged me inside.

If Ásgarðr looked big from the outside, then it was even more massive on the inside. The wide street was filled with people and carriage that moved without having to be pulled by a Demon Beast. I wondered about those, but my eyes were taken in by so many sights that I wished I had a thousand eyes.

The architecture of this city was vastly different from anything I’d ever seen. It was built with multiple levels. Above my head were numerous walkways that were as wide as the road upon which Fray and I tread. Each level contained buildings that I guessed were shops. I looked to my left as a pair of women left a store, the glass display revealing it sold various women’s clothing. On my right was an alchemy shop. The front display contained ingredients on shelves and several cauldrons that looked far more advanced than the one I used.

Everywhere I looked there was something new, something unexpected, or something I had never seen before. I wished Kari was here with me. She would have loved to see this. I think Fay and Lin would have loved it too, even though they were not as into exploring new places as my Primary Wife.

Because it was so crowded, no one paid us any attention at first. That changed when a young girl bumped into Fray.

“My apologies, child,” Fray said as she helped the little girl to her feet. “Are you okay?”

The child with red hair and freckles on her face looked up at Fray, and then her eyes widened as she pointed.

“Your Lady Fray!” she shouted in a voice so loud that all the people around us stopped walking and turned to stare.

Oh, boy.

“It is Lady Fray!”

“What is she doing out of palace?!”

“Has she come to visit?!”

“Lady Fray is so beautiful!”

“I wish I looked half as gorgeous as she did!”

“Lady Fray! I love you!”

“Hey, who is that with her?”

I think I could consider myself lucky that my wives and I were so famous. We couldn’t walk around Nevaria without people pointing at us. I was used to this treatment by now.

Fray also seemed used to it. She smiled and waved to everyone with her free hand, while tugging on my hand to get us moving. I had no choice but to follow her. Our journey took us down several roads, up a number of levels, and toward the center of this city.

“Ásgarðr consists of many levels and districts,” Fray told me as we walked. She must have realized I was interested in this city. “It has six levels in total and six hundred districts. That’s one hundred districts per level. Our population consists of about two billion people.”

“That’s a lot.” I was honestly shocked they had so many people. “I don’t think Miðgarðr even has two billion people living inside of it.”

“Since you already know about the nine realms, I am assuming you know about how each higher level realm is bigger than the one beneath it, yes? Miðgarðr is about the same size as this city. Gudeverdenen as a whole is probably the same size as about one hundred Miðgarðrs.”

I was admittedly stunned to learn about how big this realm was. According to her, Ironwood Forest was only about half the size of Ásgarðr, but that was close to the size of the Northern Plains. This also explained why it took so long to travel through it.

In the center of Ásgarðr was a massive palace jutting into the sky. Vastly different from any castle I’d ever seen, the palace was characterized by block-like structures with golden designed carved into their surface. Exposed concrete and strong geometric lines appeared to be a key feature of the palace’s style. Several balconies extended outward, shaped like half circles, and with vines and various types of flowers hanging from their ledges.

I found myself drawn to one particular section of the palace which possessed a waterfall… which was traveling up instead of down, in complete defiance of gravity. It led into what appeared to be a garden of sorts. Thick trees and plants surrounded the area, but I could only really focus on the odd sight.

Fray noticed where my eyes had strayed and giggled at me. “That garden was made by me several hundred years ago. At the time, I had been experimenting with my newly acquired spatial powers. That garden is a self-contained space separated from this realm. Gravity works differently in there because I created the laws differently. It is currently being powered by runes the draw Spiritual Power from the atmosphere.”

“I… I see. That is very impressive,” I said, though my voice sounded choked even to my own ears. This was something she had created hundreds of years ago? Then that meant her powers now were even more impressive, didn’t it?

I dispelled those thoughts with an intense shake of my head. I couldn’t think about that right now.

We traveled into the palace, marked by a massive archway with a double door that was currently wide open. A pair of guards became startled when we appeared. I noticed that these guards were women, and their armor was similar to but different than the armor Heimdall and Hoder wore. They snapped to attention and saluted Fray as she walked in.

I could have sworn they had given me a stink eye, however.

The inside was every bit as magnificent as the outside. I did my best to look at everything as I followed Fray down numerous hallways. As we walked, I was vaguely reminded of the dweorg and their love for building everything bigger than it needed to be. The halls were wide, columns rose to the ceiling almost a hundred meters above our heads. This made the doors, about the same size as us, look positively tiny.

Quite a few people were walking through the halls. There were men dressed in black robes, women dressed in simple white gowns, and armored soldiers. Every person we met nearly tripped over their own two feet when they caught sight of Fray.

“Your Majesty, where have you been?!”

Lady Fray, please do not disappear like that!”

“Your brother has been very worried about you, Lady Fray!”

“Please go see your brother! He is nearly ready to lead our armies against the Sekbeist!”

Everyone had something to say to the woman, who I was beginning to realize had a far higher status than even I assumed. It sounded like she might be a queen.

“It looks like my brother is overreacting again,” Fray spoke with a sigh. “Well, this time I guess it is my fault for disappearing without a word.” She glanced at me, the reason for her disappearance, and smiled. “Come. I would like to introduce you to my brother. I’m sure he will be pleased to see you.”

“Why would he be pleased to see me?” I asked, confused, though I still followed her.

Fray did not answer me, which made me frown. I hated not getting answers. I’d had so many questions I wanted answered right now, and I had been doing my best to hold back, but I really didn’t like not knowing everything. The only reason I hadn’t demanded answers from this woman was because she was clearly more powerful than myself.

We eventually reached a hallway that had only one door, and it was a gigantic double door crafted from something like gold, though I didn’t doubt it was a far sturdier and more valuable material. As we closed in on the door, I heard voices shouting from the other side.

“Please see reason, Your Highness!”

“We cannot send out our armies!”

“Silence!” a voice boomed like thunder. “I’ll not sit here while my sister is missing! Have you people forgotten everything she has given up for our people?! What if even now the Sekbeist have her in their grasp?!”

“There is no evidence that the Sekbeist have kidnapped Lady Fray.”

“That’s right! And there is no way the Sekbeist could enter Ásgarðr without us knowing.”

“Husband, I am as worried about Sister Fray as you, but please do not do anything rash.”

Fray’s face became aggrieved as she listened to the shouting. “It sounds like my brother really is about to cause trouble. We’d better make our appearance and stop him from doing something foolish.”

“We?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“But of course.” Fray once more tugged my hand. “You cannot expect me to appear before my brother without showing him the reason for my disappearance, can you?”

Even if I wanted to argue with her, I had a feeling she would not listen to me, so with a sigh, I followed the woman as she led me by the hand into the room beyond the doors. It looked like a war council room. Large columns arrayed around a circular room with a massive table in the center. The table had some kind of illusory display floating above the surface. It looked like a map, but it was built in three-dimensions, very different from the simple paper maps I was used to.

There were four people inside of this room.

The most striking among them was the massive man being restrained by everyone else. He was much taller than me. I was about 195 centimeters tall, but this man towered over me by at least two heads. His body was covered in streamlined silver armor that stretched across his thick pectorals and defined abdominals. The armor itself looked more flexible than anything else I’d seen. His arms and legs were similarly massive and every muscle flexed and bulged as he struggled against the men and woman holding him back. Red hair covered his head. His beard was neat and trimmed but somehow gave him an unruly appearance. Maybe it was the veins bulging from his temples and neck that caused this.

“You are as unruly as ever, Brother,” Fray said as she hid me behind her and stepped forward.

“Fray?” All the veins vanished from the man’s face when he laid eyes on the woman. Then his face broke out into a smile. “FRAY!”

The two men and one woman did not bother stopping him as he broke their grip and raced over to the woman, engulfing her in a hug--and when I say he engulfed her, I really meant it. This man was nearly two times larger than Fray. She only came up to his solar plexus. Her body was also far more slender. I think his arms were about the same size as her waist.

“I am so glad you are here!” He boomed. “I was very worried about you, Sister! I thought those blasted Sekbeist might have stolen you away and was just getting ready to mobilize our entire army!”

Fray sighed as she let her brother hug her. “Then it is a good thing I came back when I did. Mobilizing the army in this situation would have been foolish. Please think before you act, Brother.”

Her brother merely laughed as he released her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and beamed. “What are you talking about?! A warrior must not think when it comes to battle! Thinking only slows the reactions and dulls the senses! A warrior must always decisively!”

“You are not in combat right now.” Fray gave him a somewhat tired look, then waved her hand. “In either event, I have someone I would like to introduce you too.”

At that, Fray stepped aside, revealing me to the large man and the three behind him. While the two men appeared to be merely curious about me, the woman gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. Meanwhile, Fray’s brother stood there with a stupid expression on his face.

“Eryk, this is my older brother, Tor. Tor, this is Eryk,” Fray said.

Distinctly aware of their looks, I stepped forward and bowed my head. “Hello. My name is Eryk Veiger. It’s… a pleasure to meet you.”

No one said anything, making me struggle not to squirm. Heimdall and Hoder also reacted similarly to these two, but even their reaction was not this pronounced, this stunned. Fray’s brother looked like someone had sucker punched him in the stomach. No, he looked like someone had kicked him in the balls.

“Eryk…” Tor mumbled the word with a frown, shook his head once, and walked up to me. He looked down at me, then grabbed my face with his hands. I froze as he studied me, speaking to himself. “He looks… so much like… like Freyr…” I’d never heard those names before. Tor looked up at Fray. “Is he… could this child be…?”

“I believe so,” Fray said.

“Um… what is going on?” I asked, no longer able to withstand my curiosity. “Who is Freyr?”

“Freyr is my twin brother,” Fray said as she turned to fully face me. She placed a hand on her chest as tears crystalised in her eyes. “He was… the person I was closest to after my husband, my other half in some ways… and I believe you are his son.”

“His son?” Those words caused the world to spin around me. I couldn’t wrap my head around them. “That’s… not possible. I mean… I don’t have parents. I’ve always been alone… ever since I was born… it isn’t… it’s just not possible.”

I felt my legs weaken as I tried to comprehend all this. I could accept that I was a member of the God Race, and I could even accept that I had somehow been left in Miðgarðr somehow, but the idea that I had parents was something I had trouble accepting. Since the moment I was born to now, I had never known my parents. The idea that I might have them now was too difficult for me to accept.

“I know this might be hard to believe,” Fray said in a soft, gentle voice. “Please, allow me to explain what I believe happened. I have a theory on how and why you are unaware of your origins.”

Despite how my head still felt like it was spinning, I found myself calming under this woman’s voice. It was odd. I felt like I should not feel so relaxed and comfortable just from hearing her speak, but maybe, just maybe, my feelings toward her could be explained if she was indeed family.

“Let us sit down for this,” Fray suggested. “It is a long story.”

I somehow found myself sitting between Fray and Tor. On Tor’s other side was the woman whom I understood from the conversation before we entered was Tor’s wife. She was a gorgeous woman with golden blond hair, decked in armor similar to her husbands, and stood a few centimeters shorter than myself.

The other two men were Tor’s half-brothers, Baldr and Hod. They did not have red hair like Tor. Baldr was a beautiful man with golden hair, fair skin, and a slender figure that made him seem very effeminate. Hod was bigger and bulkier, with a full beard and a missing left eye. The black eyepatch he wore over his eye was covered in seals.

“Over a thousand years ago, the nine realms were not separated like they are now,” Fray began. “We Guddomelig were able to freely travel between realms as we wished. Your father and mother were very fond of Miðgarðr, so they often remained there. When the Sekbeist came, they were the first ones to take up arms in defense of the humans. Even as the war waged on in other realms, they did their best to protect Miðgarðr from any and all Sekbeist incursions.”

I listened to Fray’s words, but I could not help but find something wrong with them.

“All that happened one thousand years ago,” I pointed out. “What does this have to do with me?”

“Patience,” Fray said. “I am getting there. You were born during the war against the Sekbeist. I should know since I was there during your birth.” Fray’s eyes looked distant as she stared at me. “I was the one who helped your mom give birth to you.” I shifted uncomfortably but said nothing, allowing the woman to continue. “After your birth, I asked your parents to come back to Ásgarðr, where we could protect them. They refused. Even though it was dangerous, neither of them wanted to abandon the humans.”

“That is what ended up being their downfall,” Tor said with clenched fists that caused his muscles to bulge.

Fray nodded. “None of us were there when it happened, but we eventually learned of Freyr and Gerd’s deaths. I traveled back to Miðgarðr to attend their funeral. If you wish, I could even show you where they were enshrined. In either event, while your parents were dead, there was no sign of you. I had assumed you’d been killed and your body destroyed during whatever battle took their lives…”

When Fray trailed off, I began working to put all the pieces together. She was talking about events that happened thousands of years ago, during the Great War with the Sekbeist, often known as the Great Catastrophe among the humans of Miðgarðr. There was no way I could have been alive back then, unless…

“One of them had mastered the Concept of Time and used it to send me into the future,” I said.

“That is what I believe.” Fray nodded once. “Freyr was a master of time. He had mastered time so well that not only could he turn back time, he could freeze entire armies in time and decimate their ranks.”

“It was thanks to Freyr’s skill with time that humanity was able to survive the Great War,” Tor added. “He wasn’t the best warrior, but he made up for it by having an incredible amount of power and skill.”

“I believe that when he and Gerd were attacked, Freyr decided to risk everything and sent you one thousand years into the future,” Fray continued. “I believe he sent you as far into the future as his Spiritual Power would allow in the hopes that the war would be over by that time.”

This was all a lot to take in. I didn’t know how to feel about any of this. My emotions were jumbled together, rattling inside of me. It was for this reason that I couldn’t say anything right away. However, there was one thing I wanted to ask about, something I remembered Fray telling me before we arrived in Ásgarðr.

“You mentioned before that you thought my parents sent me into the future,” I said. “You also said… that sending me into the future required a great sacrifice.”

Fray’s brittle expression greeted me as she nodded. “Yes. Time is a concept that requires a lot of Spiritual Power to use. Just freezing someone in place consumes a vast amount of it. Sending someone back in time would require even more power, and I doubt there is a god alive who possesses the power to do that. Not even Father was capable of it. That is why… I believe Freyr used his own life to send you into the future.”