Ezekiel and Sanhildr stood in front of the door for Brunnhilde's room. Ezekiel had just knocked on it a few moments ago, but heard no response yet.
After half a minute of waiting, Ezekiel knocked again, but harder this time. After about a minute, Ezekiel slammed on the door a few times and waited.
After another minute without a response, Ezekiel typed an override code into the keypad next to the door. As the door slid fully open, Ezekiel walked inside the room before a bottle flew past his head and slammed into the wall.
“If someone doesn't answer the door, it means they wanna be left alone!”
Ezekiel glanced to where the bottle came from to see Brunnhilde laid back in a chair. Her black hair was unkempt, like she just got out of bed not long ago. Scattered around the room were countless empty bottles while Brunnhilde herself was currently drinking from a half full bottle.
Ezekiel smiled towards her as he said, “Hi, my name's Ezekiel... Sorry for the intrusion, but we came a long way to find you.”
Brunnhilde finished her bottle and threw it at Ezekiel before she said, “I don't give a shit who you are or why you're here. Leave.”
Ezekiel dodged the bottle and as it shattered on the wall, Sanhildr walked into the room. Brunnhilde was in the process of opening another bottle when she froze. Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes as she glanced at where the bottle just broke, before she asked, “What the hell did I just drink?”
Ezekiel stepped out of the way as Sanhildr walked past him towards Brunnhilde. Brunnhilde finished opening her new bottle and took a long drink, before she looked back at Sanhildr.
Then Brunnhilde shook her head as she said, “I have no idea what tricks you are trying to pull with this. But if you don’t stop it now, I'll kill you.”
Sanhildr had a sad smile as she asked, “What happened to that bright eyed little girl that used to watch the Valkyrie’s train every day? The one who begged to join the ranks when she came of age?”
Brunnhilde narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied Sanhildr before she said, “She watched all of her sisters die a pointless death for a worthless king. Including you, ghost…”
Brunnhilde lifted up her bottle and chugged it. Once it was empty she tossed it to the side and said, “Now it's time for you to go back where you belong, ghost.”
Brunnhilde then glanced at Ezekiel and said, “And I'm going to kill you for whatever this is.”
Brunnhilde stood up from her chair on unstable legs before Sanhildr placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Brunnhilde went to knock it off, but Sanhildr caught her hand and said, “Brunnhilde you silly little girl, do I feel like a ghost to you?”
The warmth of her hand, the gentle tone of her voice and the concerned look in Sanhildr's voice made Brunnhilde pause. She knew it wasn't real, it couldn't be real, she saw Sanhildr fall herself.
But wait if… She shook her head in denial, her sisters were dead, she watched them all fall. Sanhildr let go of her arm and placed it lovingly on her cheek as she said, “I'm sorry, if I knew something like this would happen... I shouldn't have sent you away from the battle.”
Brunnhilde's eyes widened slightly, with tears threatening to fall as she asked in a shaky voice, “Then why did you?”
“Because I wanted you to live.”
Brunnhilde's voice broke slightly as she asked, “How could I possibly live when everyone I care about is dead?”
Sanhildr pulled Brunnhilde in a tight hug as she said, “I'm sorry… I didn't think about the consequences of sending you away. It was just my selfish wish that I wanted the youngest of our ranks to live.”
Ezekiel standing by the door could hear Brunnhilde softly begin to sob in Sanhildr's arms. He was going to say something when an explosion rocked the whole building. While Brunnhilde and Sanhildr were pulled out of their embrace as the window shattered.
As an alarm started to blare throughout the building, a group of people flashed into existence next to Ezekiel. Brunnhilde with tears still running down her face asked, “What's going on?”
Darren pointed a finger at someone wearing a white and red fox mask as he said, “He said we needed a distraction.”
The man shrugged as he said, “I placed a bunch of explosion tags around the engine core of a ship.”
Ezekiel smiled as he said over the alarm, “If it works, it works. But we should probably get out of here.”
Ezekiel glanced at Sanhildr as he said, “Help Brunnhilde grab her stuff and we'll leave.”
Brunnhilde's eyes focused a little as she asked, “Where are we going?”
“Someplace safe, so that you two can talk.”
Brunnhilde didn't respond as Sanhildr led her to a bedroom area. A few minutes later both women appeared carrying some bags and Brunnhilde had a sword strapped to her hip. As they walked towards Ezekiel, he pushed mana into his bracelet and a few moments later a silver portal appeared.
Back on Earth the group split up, Ezekiel, his clones and Darren went back to base to start processing what they recovered from Sakaar. While Sanhildr and Brunnhilde were sent to the hidden island so they could talk.
Over the next few days, Ezekiel and his clones examined over a hundred items and only found a handful of useful things. While some items looked like they could be useful, most of them were too broken to be useful. Oh they could be pulled apart for research and to help advance their technology. But figuring out the original thing it was made to do? Not a chance.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Also one of the items they found ended up being a major disappointment. While it was better than anything currently made on Earth. It's just the fact that it was only a vacuum cleaner that made it… Not great.
Ezekiel already set it aside for Tony. He was going to give it to him and let Tony make a new product line with it. Ezekiel would only ask for one quarter of the profit or maybe some stock options.
Another day passed by before Sanhildr contacted Ezekiel and said she wanted to talk. So Ezekiel met her at the medical base with Tao and Agatha an hour later. When they arrived Brunnhilde seemed to be in better shape than before, her eyes were clear and focused. While Sanhildr wore a constant frown.
After greeting each other and sitting down Ezekiel asked, “So what can I help you with?”
Sanhildr glanced at Brunnhilde for a few moments before she looked at Ezekiel and said in a defeated voice, “You were right. Odin pretty much erased us from history along with Hela. Everything we ever did for Asgard, for our people… For our king, just gone.”
Ezekiel nodded before he asked, “So what do you want to do?”
“I don't know. Our purpose was to help protect Asgard and its people. But now…”
Ezekiel waited for a few seconds before he said, “I have a few ideas on what you could do if you're interested.”
When Sanhildr nodded her head Ezekiel said, “Well your first option would be to retire.”
“Retire? A Valkyrie does not retire. We die in combat, so we can go to Valhalla.” said Sanhildr.
“Option two is I give you a ship and you can go out into space. Maybe act as a mercenary company or something. Fighting for whoever pays you.”
“Why would you give us a ship?” Brunnhilde asked.
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Because I'm a nice guy and believe in karma. We also collected twenty two ships while we were on Sakaar. I could easily spare one.”
Brunnhilde looked at Ezekiel as she asked, “You stole ship's from Sakaar?”
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Collected. We collected ships while we were there, we didn't steal anything. In fact, if we didn’t collect them, they would have been destroyed in that awful explosion.”
Brunnhilde was going to say something when Sanhildr placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sanhildr nodded at Ezekiel as she asked, “What are your other ideas?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Come work for me and help protect the people of Earth.”
“And what would we get in return for our servitude?”
Ezekiel raised up both hands and waved them in the air as he said, “Back up. I said work for me, not serve me. You could quit working for me whenever you want. You would also be paid, have the best health care in the world, dental, vacation and sick pay, maternity leave, free housing, free meals in the commissary and a bunch of other nice things.”
Sanhildr glanced at Brunnhilde then back at Ezekiel as she asked, “I'm not exactly sure what most of that stuff is.”
“How much did you make when you worked for Asgard?” Ezekiel asked.
“Make?”
Ezekiel nodded as he said, “Ya, how much did Odin pay you to be a Valkyrie?”
“We were given a barracks room inside the palace to stay in, a training field for practice, free food in the mess hall and access to the healers when needed.”
Ezekiel frowned as he asked, “What about new weapons and armor? Or just new clothes in general?”
“We had access to the forges for armor and weapon repairs. As for clothing, we had our uniforms.”
Ezekiel glanced at Tao before he asked, “So you were never given gold or any type of currency?”
“There was no need, everything we needed was provided for us.”
Ezekiel let out a sigh as he asked, “What about time off? Time you could use to go spend with your friends, family, or lovers?”
Sanhildr shook her head before she said, “Joining the ranks of the Valkyries ment cutting all family ties. The only family we had after joining was our battle sisters and we also weren't allowed to be in any type of relationship.”
Brunnhilde nodded in agreement before she said, “As for friends, we had our sisters.”
“That's… Sorry, that just sounds like bullshit to me. Cutting of family ties and not being allowed in relationships? What kinda stupid guidelines are those?” Ezekiel asked.
Sanhildr frowned slightly as she said, “They're the rules set down by Odin…”
“Let me guess, you had to be virgins to join the ranks?”
Sanhildr looked surprised as she asked, “How'd you know?”
Ezekiel dropped his head down on the table as he said, “Cause that's the kinda bullshit rules a guy who wants a loyal harem of women would make up.”
Sanhildr shared a look with Brunnhilde for a few moments before she said, “Odin wasn't like that.”
Ezekiel lifted his head up from the table and looked Sanhildr in the eyes as he asked, “You mean the same guy who removed his own daughter from history because it didn't fit the new image he wanted for Asgard?”
Ezekiel shook his head and after a few moments said, “How about we get back to what I was originally talking about. I want to offer you and any of your people who wish to join a job.”
“I don't know. I'll need time to think about it. I also need to talk with the others first. I have a lot to discuss with them.”
Ezekiel nodded as he said, “I understand. Take as long as you want. I already made housing arrangements for you and everyone else, we just need to wake them up.”
Ezekiel stood up from his chair as he said, “Follow me and I'll take you to your sisters.”
Ezekiel led the group out of the room and to a different area of the facility. Inside the new area resting on beds were the rest of the Valkyries. Silent tears ran down Brunnhilde's face as she looked at all of her sisters sleeping peacefully.
Sanhildr glanced at them all before she asked, “When did you do this?”
“My team's been working on this since we brought you back.”
Sanhildr turned to look directly at Ezekiel as she asked, “And you don't want anything in return?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Like I said before, having some badass warriors owe me a favor in the future would be nice. But no, I'm not expecting anything for doing this.”
Ezekiel glanced at Tao as he said, “Wake them up, please.”
Tao started casting a spell and before long a golden spell thread leaped from her hands and shot towards the closest person. It touched them before going to the next person and the next, until it finally blinked out of existence with the last person.
After a few moments, one by one each woman slowly came to and sat up on their beds. After a full minute they were all awake and looking around in confusion. Some were touching parts of their bodies, or looking at limbs in wonder before Sanhildr yelled out, “Valkyries, form lines!”
Within a few moments everyone was out of their beds and lining up in ranks without a second thought. Once they were all set up in ranks, Sanhildr turned to Ezekiel and asked, “You said you had a place we could stay?”
Ezekiel nodded as he said, “Follow me, you're gonna love it.”