Myrian knocked on the stall door, "Ally, dear, are you alright?" She got a violent retching as a response, yet remained more concerned than disgusted. "Perhaps it was the shellfish we had for dinner?"

"Yeah..Maybe..How do you flush this thing again?" Alyza's weak voice echoed from the stall.

"You pull the chain, dear." A loud fwish was heard, followed by a subtle gurgling. Myrian took a step back as the door slowly swung open, and Alyza stepped out, fatigued. "My, you seem somewhat pale, dear. Feel any better?"

Alyza shook her head, "It just occured to me that I've yet to menstruate this month.."

"..Oh my. Could it be that..you..?"

Alyza nodded, covering her face. She began weeping as Myrian pulled her into a gentle embrace.

"There, there, dear. It'll be alright," she caressed her head. "I'll try not to ask, but tell me about him soon, won't you?"

* * *

Victus awoke when the damaged ship crashed ashore, perking his head up. The sky was clear, blue, and yet it was still freezing cold. He got up and looked around, finding his bearings. He was still on the main deck, which had become covered in frost, similarly to his coat's shoulders. The shore they landed on was shrouded in black sand, with large rocky cliffsides that got snowier the higher they achieved altitude. There were many sailors still unconscious on the main deck. Magni approached him, "You're finally awake. That was some fighting out there."

The sight of him gave Vick a headache, "Fighting that could've been avoided had you not attacked the Agathuron. How many did we lose? Have you counted? What about Vackerie and Alyza?" For a moment he'd forgotten that she was taken long before the battle. "I mean, Agnes.."

"Calm down, friend. We've got it under control."

"We..?"

Davon stepped down the stairs, twirling the tip of a dagger against his finger as if to test its sharpness. Surely, it was only an act of intimidation. "Look who's still alive and breathing! The little boy scout."

"Morelli..You were with the captain last. Did he survive?"

"Ugh, do you ever stop talking?" Morelli facepalmed, pointing the dagger at him. "It's like you wake up and decide to be a nuisance to all those around you."

"At least I don't wake up and decide to be a rapacious murderer. How do you even sleep at night with such a high body count?"

"Like a baby."

"Friends, friends," Magni interrupted, stepping between them. "Regardless of how we did it, we've finally arrived in Freyrun. Now all we have to do is foot it to Eircrest, and we're as golden as Asgard."

Davon sighed and sheathed his dagger, crossing his arms, "If all Aesir gods are this foolish, then I fear for Midgard's future."

Magni unholstered Mjolnir and casually pointed it at him, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." He marched away, vaulting over the ship's railing onto the black sand. "Come along, men. I've a magical compass that tells me wherever I desire to go."

"Not yet," Victus went to the captain's cabin first, waking up Vackerie and Agnes. They spent a short time waking up the other sailors and honoring those that froze to death, then followed Magni's lead. The group was small, with only a handful of sailors accompanying them, yet Davon still lagged behind. He was the only one dragging along a chest in the mud, treating it as though it were more than luggage.

"Got something important in there?" Victus asked, curious. "Let me guess, it's a body. One of your clients wants to see that the target's actually dead, else you don't get paid."

"It's none of your business, elfreak," a bead of sweat rolled down Davon's forehead, heaving as he dragged the chest along.

"Come on, at least let Magni carry it. He's super strong."

"Yeah, allow me," Magni reached for the chest.

"No!" Davon shouted, "Don't-"

The top of the chest suddenly bursted open, and Magni was tackled to the ground. The demonic creature held him down, scratching and clawing at his flesh, though it could hardly puncture his skin. Just as he was about to smack it off with Mjolnir, Davon dove in the way and took the hit for the demon, knocking them both through a few dead trees onto the snow. The demon quickly got back up on all fours and hissed at the group, then ran off. Weakly, Davon turned and reached out, "No..! Lilith, ach..!" He winced, holding his chest, where he took the brunt of the attack.

"Sorry!" Magni called out, sitting up.

"Davon!" Victus hurried over, sliding to his knees in the snow. "Are you alright? Breathe.."

"Oh, forget about me, you vexatious bastard!" Davon tried getting up, falling back onto the snow, "I must find her.."

"You need a potion. Chances are you're bleeding internally.."

"I don't give a damn!" He coughed up blood. "Agh, this is all your fault, always poking your nose in things you don't understand, like a bloody child. Find my Lilith, before it's too late!"

Despite their differences, Victus agreed. He felt that this truly was his fault, and he should have to clean up after his mess. He turned back to the group, tossing Vackerie his satchel, "Here. I held onto some of Alyza's stuff, so there should be an old health potion in there somewhere."

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She nodded, "Do you need any help?"

Victus shook his head, "No. You need to stay with the group, find us some shelter. And keep that one from swinging his hammer around without thinking first."

"Hold on," Davon interrupted him as he was about to leave. "Take this. She likes the sound it makes," he handed him a small rod with jingle bells attached to it. "Take caution. If she finds you first, she'll not hestitate to devour your soul."

"That's comforting," he sighed, taking the rod. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Stay alive, alright?" Victus ran off in the direction that the demon fled, following her tracks.

* * *

Back in Asgard, Alyza walked around in Myrian's room. It was well-decorated, even if there might've been too many decorations. The wallpaper was bright and yellow, with fancy floral designs, and there were many flowers in pots on the shelves. Most of the pictures framed on her wall were paintings of flowers too, aside from a portrait of her standing with a man. He had slicked, dark brown hair, sideburns, and a thick mustache. He hardly smiled, holding a large bow that took up a good amount of space in the picture.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"Oh, Ullr? He's my husband. Well, in writing, at least. We haven't spoken in years since he's been outside of the walls, fighting monsters in the wasteland. Loki was nice enough to let me continue staying here, considering he's his cousin and all.."

"Hard to think of that sour excuse of a man as nice.."

"They are not men, Alyza. They're gods. No matter what, we could never understand them. Our only duty is to serve, after all.."

She scoffed, "Gods or not, the only person I serve is myself. I gave up that submissive princess act years ago.."

Myrian giggled, "And what about this mystery man you've yet to tell me about?"

"That's different," Alyza pouted. "He doesn't expect me to serve him, I just help him out when I can, that's all.."

"Come now, I've told you about my relationship troubles. You could at least tell me his name."

She sighed, "Fine..His name's Victus. He's..well, honestly, he's a handful. He's greedy, stubborn, brash, reckless, and quite cynical at times."

"My.."

"He's immature, obsessed with theatrics, and he'll talk your bloody ear off given the chance. And then he has the gull to wonder why he doesn't have that many friends..Though, when he's lonely, he's kind of cute. It's like there's this other side of him that he doesn't even know," Alyza found herself smiling. "Deep down, he's kind, gentle, thoughtful..And far too virtuous for his own good. I've never seen him take someone's life, even if sparing them would cost him his own. I can tell that he's been through a lot, but I suppose everyone has.."

"He sounds wonderful, dear. I'm sure you two are lucky to have each other," Myrian looked out the window. "Love doesn't come easily, you know. Not even in Asgard." When she looked back, she saw that Alyza was in a much better mood than earlier, fawning over her memories of Victus.

"He's also got these cute pointy ears, and beautiful red eyes, and his hair, agh, it's so silky smooth for someone that doesn't bathe often. And you'd think he'd be scrawny, but-" She went on and on about him while Myrian only listened, smiling politely despite feeling somewhat envious.

* * *

Victus trudged through the snow that only got thicker as he followed the tracks, coming across several thin trees that had been knocked down or destroyed. He shook the rod, creating an enticing jingling sound as he entered a clearing, keeping aware of his surroundings. The ground beneath him was solid, slippery. When he looked down he saw his own reflection in the frozen water, and behind him, a fast approaching silhouette. He immediately turned and blocked with the rod, the attacker's dagger clashing against it with a sharp clang that echoed throughout the woods.

"What? No wind magic to bail you out this time?" The woman's face was close to his, one of her eyes scarred and the other tattooed to match. Her hair was about as long as his, except it was red, and her eyes were bright yellow.

"Fang..What the Hel are you doing here?" He struggled to hold her dagger back, gritting his teeth. This was the last person he wanted to meet right now.

"I should be asking you that..!" She blasted him back with a small burst of electricity, and he fell onto his back, skidding on the ice until he flipped over onto his stomach. "Freyrun's my home. Thanks to you, I've had to cease operations in Kamren and retreat. All of my followers have lost respect for me because of you."

"Ngh," he got up, still gripping the rod. "Sucks to be you, I guess. But I've got bigger problems right now."

"What's with those stupid bells? I get it. You came all the way here to mock me too. Taking down Hae wasn't enough for you, now you're gonna string me up too. Well not if I string you up first! I'll spill your guts for all of Eircrest to see!" She spun her jagged dagger backhanded, and ran at him. He parried with the rod, which jingled each time he deflected an attack, tossing the instrument into the air and kicking her back, catching it.

"I don't want to fight you, Rebecca."

"Don't call me that!" She slashed at him again, her eyes glowing as electricity flowed around her arms. He quickly moved aside, slipping on the ice as a blast of lightning flew past him into the nearby wall of jagged stone. Pieces of it broke off, causing snow and rubble to fall between them.

Victus dove out from the debris, tackling her onto the ice, cracking it, "Stop it!"

She grunted, kicking him off and rolling to her feet, hurling her dagger at him. He ducked and the dagger flew into a tree.

"You know, you and this guy I know would probably get along. Both of you blast lightning first and ask questions later."

"Stop talking!" Her eyes glowed again as bits of debris levitated around her, sparking with electricity. She stomped and bursts of lightning barreled towards him at intense speed. He lifted his arms up to his face, bracing for impact, when the demon suddenly landed in front of him, accidentally taking the hit. Slowly, it fell backwards, breaking through the ice into the cold water below.

"Shit!" Victus took off his coat and immediately dove in after the demon, swimming through the icy water as fast as he could. She slowly reverted into a young, naked woman, as he took her arm and swam back up, climbing out of the water and pulling her onto the snow. "Fuck! That's cold.." He panted heavily, grabbing his coat and covering her with it, putting his ear to her chest and checking for a heartbeat. Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump. A good sign. The cold that quickly overtook him as his adrenaline wore off? Not so good. He rubbed his hands together, shivering.

Fang approached him, dagger in hand. He looked up at her, fearful, though too exhausted to fight back.

"..If you're gonna do it, then do it. I'll freeze to death anyway. But at least take her back to my group once you're done."

"Why shouldn't I kill you both?" She glared.

He inhaled sharply, "I don't know. They'll come looking for me, eventually.."

"Then I'd kill all of them."

"Good luck, they've got a demigod, a spellcaster, and a bounty hunter with a higher kill count than even you have, I'm sure."

She gripped her dagger tightly, "..Why can't I just do it..?"

"..Maybe it's too easy?" He rubbed his arms, feeling overwhelming fatigue settling in. "Could we continue this another time..? I'm really.." His vision slowly faded to black, and he slumped over onto the snow.