Alyza held her knees close to her chest, curled up into a ball on her bed. There were bags under her puffy eyes, yet she couldn't find the courage to sleep. Lately, she'd been plagued by nightmares of Victus and the others coming to her rescue, only to be wiped out by Modi. For their safety, she was starting to consider Loki's offer, when there was an ominous knock at her window.

Curious, she sat up and turned her head, wondering if she was just hearing noises. Then it happened again, and she got up, inching towards the window with a hand on her rapier. Quickly, she opened the curtains, seeing a familiar face on the other side.

"Emmet?" She removed her hand from her sheathe, opening the window.

"Cool, so it is this one. I was worried Miss Myrian was playing a prank on me," he looked like he was standing on nothing. When Alyza peered her head over the windowsill, she could see that he was on a smaller version of the vehicle that Myrian would pilot.

"What are you doing here, Emmet?" She seemed a bit dismissive, despite her curiosity.

"Don't be like that. I know it's only been a couple days, but I was worried I'd weirded you out or something."

Alyza sighed, crossing her arms, "So the obvious thing to not seem creepy, would be to fly some odd carriage to my window and ask if you did?"

"Yes..? It's more like a go-kart than a carriage..Wanna go for a ride?"

"I get the feeling you won't stop pestering me until I do. Kinda like everyone else in this god-forsaken place.."

"Come on, you can trust me," Emmet held his bionic hand out, like he was some fake prince and the kart was a flying carpet. All he needed now was a magical lamp. As much as she felt like she should turn him down, leaving the building for a while could clear her head. She took his hand and stepped into the kart, sitting in the passenger seat.

"Got your seat belt on?" He sat down and gripped the wheel.

"Seat belt?" She looked at the straps that protruded from the edges of her seat. They formed an "X" over her chest, able to be connected in the middle. Intuitively, she buckled them together, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "Myrian's carriage doesn't have these.."

"Yeah, this thing doesn't have a roof, so you might fly out," he put his seat belt on. "And like I said, it's not a carriage." Emmet stretched his goggles over his eyes and pulled a nearby lever, accelerating the cart forwards at incredible speed. She couldn't tell how fast they were really going, but it felt faster since the wind blew in her face, pushing her long hair back into an erratic mess of brown strands.

"W-Wow!" She yelled, quickly closing her mouth and coughing.

"Yeah, try not to keep your mouth open! Bugs!"

"Too late!" She sputtered, wiping at her tongue. Emmet chuckled, twisting the wheel so that they would tilt in another direction with less wind resistance.

"Hey, at least whatever was bothering you isn't on your mind anymore!"

"This is arguably worse. Ugh, I can't get the taste out of my mouth!"

"Never ate a bug before?" He flew under a large structure that connected two much larger buildings, flying between them. "Can't be that bad!"

"Actually, I have! I'm an alchemist, we try weird things all the time!" Despite the sudden thrill of this ride, she found that she was smiling. That is until they started rapidly descending. "Wh-Why're we going so low?!"

"I dunno..Looks like we may have run out of steam!" He looked at the engine behind them, whacking it with his fist.

"We're gonna crash?!"

"No!" He sounded confident, then less confident. "Not if I can deploy the emergency wings in time.."

"What?!"

"Come on.." Emmet focused on the river below, as if calculating the time and distance it would take for them to reach it from their current position. "Almost.."

"I'm gonna die..I shouldn't have done this..I'm going to die!" She turned to him, glaring. "I'm going to die and it's your bloody fault, Emmet!"

"Honestly, since we might die, I wanna let you know that my real name is-"

"Just pull the bloody lever!!"

Emmet immediately pulled the lever and emergency wings sprouted from the sides of the kart, just barely saving them from crashing headfirst into the river. Instead, the kart flew upwards and soared slightly above the water. Then it crashed onto the water, skidding along it for a while before finally sinking.

They both climbed a ladder out onto the cement riverbank shortly afterward, sopping wet. Alyza climbed out first, the better swimmer, then assisted Emmet onto the land.

"I hope my arm doesn't rust.."

She then smacked him, "Are you crazy?! Can you even fly?!"

"I'm so sorry," he rubbed his face. "I'm still in training.."

She smacked him again, this time on the other cheek.

"Ow, okay, I deserved that.."

"You're an idiot! You're even dumber than..Dumber than Victus!"

There was an awkward silence, "..Who's Victus?"

"My fiance!" She admitted. "He's my fiance, and he's probably on his way here, and if I'd died, then he would've lost more than me, he would've..He would've lost his child too..!" She covered her face, kneeling on the ground.

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It took a moment for him to process, "..Wait, you're pregnant?!"

"Yes..!" She was really crying now, pathetic. "And he doesn't know..! I'm such a terrible girlfriend, and I'll probably be a terrible wife too! I'm so, so stupid..!"

Emmet looked surprised by all her self-pity, kneeling so that he could put his metal hand on her shoulder. "Hey, come now, you're not stupid.."

She smacked his arm away, "I know, you're stupid..! What was the point of all that? I told you I had a boyfriend, and you still came to my window. Did Myrian put you up to this? Oh, that envious whore! Next time I see her, I'll-"

"Hey, you're the one that came onto my kart!" His hair flared up for a second, silencing her. Slowly, she started crying again, and he huffed, calming down. "I'm sorry. You're right, I should have stayed away. You're taken, and I'm sure he's a great guy if you two are engaged. Truth is, I do like you. But if we can't be together, then that's fine, we can just be friends."

"Yeah, right.." She rubbed her dripping nose, sniffling.

"I mean it. I promise I won't intrude on you and your mans, but at least lemme help where I can," he looked at the foamy water where the kart had sunk. "I totaled this one, but I'm still gonna try my hardest to get an airship license. Then I can fly you wherever you need to go."

"..Anywhere?"

"Yeah. I'm not really sure of your situation, but if you gotta be rescued by your fiance or whatever, I can help," he extended his arm to help her up.

"But aren't you afraid of Loki?" She took his hand, standing up.

"Psh, I'm from Midgard, remember? Screw that guy and his stupid hair."

"Heh, yeah.." She smiled. "I guess you can start by walking me back. I don't know my way around here.."

"Right.."

* * *

Lily stopped swinging the cart as they finally entered Asgard. To their surprise, it was just a series of cliffs and deserts. Distantly, they could see the walled-in city with steam flowing from it. She covered her eyes, "It's so bright here.."

Victus peeked his head out from the side of the cart, looking around. They were miles above the ground, and this cart only moved slowly along the wire that looked like it led all the way to the city. His head was below Lily, and she instinctively pat his head. He gave no reaction, "Damn it, we're going way too slow. I doubt Magni took this route, there's gotta be a faster way.."

There was an abrupt sparkle in the distance. Victus squinted, seeing a silver-tipped arrow suddenly fly through the wire that the cart was attached to. Rapidly, the cart began its descent, and he jumped out, shouting while extending his arm, "Lily!"

She grabbed onto him, flapping her wings so they'd remain airborne as the cart crashed into the sand below, creating a small explosion of golden dirt. "D-Darling, I'm not very strong.."

"Just hold on a while longer!" They were still far from the ground. He looked around, pointing, "Try to head for that cliff!"

"Nnh!" She struggled, flying towards the cliff. It wasn't very far, but she was moving slowly. With another glint of light, an arrow flew past them and spooked her, causing her to drop Victus. "Darling!" She quickly flew down after him, but he descended faster than she could reach.

If he had his ring, this wouldn't be a problem, but there was no time to think about that. He had to improvise, he wasn't half-weak anymore. With all his strength, he took out his blades and stabbed them into the nearby cliffside, cutting through solid rock. He scraped down it for a while longer, slowing his descent, until the ground wasn't very far.

He hopped down, looking around cautiously as Lilith landed next to him. Suddenly, another flash of light shone and he quickly lifted his blade up to his face, deflecting an arrow into the sandstone wall. Victus focused, listening for footsteps. Even with his enhanced capabilities, he could barely hear them. What was louder, however, was the archer's bowstring when it had been pulled.

Turning his head, he quickly deflected another arrow, and then another, and another, until he accidentally deflected the next arrow at Lily. She gasped and froze in place as the arrow flew directly towards her chest, phasing through her pink, transparent body. He'd dismissed her before she could be hit, looking at the ring on his pinky to make sure she was safe.

Distracted, an arrow immediately plunged into his shoulder, causing him to stagger. Wincing, he ripped it out, cracking the wood with his thumb. The wound quickly healed.

"You're persistent!" Footsteps softly landed on the sand before him, revealing the archer to be a tall, muscular man with sideburns and a golden archer's helmet. He was hardly wearing any plated armor or chainmail, his clothes primarily dressed with fur like he was some sort of elegant hunter.

"Shoot me again," Victus glared, tilting his head. "You'll get more than persistence."

The man gripped his jagged, ivory bow. It looked to be made from the spine of a large animal, "Have you any idea who you are speaking to? I am Ullr, god of the hunt, the mountains, and the very art of archery."

"Never heard of you."

"Then perhaps I shall enlighten you," Ullr unholstered an arrow from the quiver on his back, nocking his bow. Victus bent his knees, unable to keep himself from grinning like a child. The first actual god he's met, and the guy's a nobody. "Why do you smile, mortal?"

"Nothing, I'm just-"

The arrow was immediately released, and Victus effortlessly caught it.

"..Surprised at how weak you are."

Ullr chuckled, "..Finally." He took off his golden helmet, tossing it aside. He pushed his brown hair back, unholstering multiple arrows that lined his fingers, "Prey worth hunting."

"I was thinking the same thi-"

Ullr blurred, leaving behind an afterimage. Suddenly, it was as if there were multiple versions of him surrounding Victus from every angle, each firing an arrow that plunged into his body before he could react. He coughed up blood, staggering but remaining on his feet. His entire body was littered with silver-tipped arrows that dripped with blood.

"Hmph," Ullr reappeared behind him, wearing an annoyed expression. "I'm surprised you're still standing."

Victus gasped for air, hardly able to move.

"You'll be dead soon," Ullr turned around. "Magni told me about your demonic essence. Silver's great for eradicating demons such as yourself, so don't bother trying to fight it. I will admit, however, I did have an ounce of fun letting loose like tha-"

"Rrraagghhh!!" Vick's eyes flashed red. All his wounds healed, pushing and snapping the arrows out of him. Ullr gasped in shock as Victus lunged at him, slugging him in the face so hard that a small shockwave was created, sending him into the cliffside. The sandstone cracked against his back, forcing blood out of his mouth.

"I-Impossible.."

Victus roared again, sprinting towards him. He raised his fist, punching the blurred afterimage that Ullr quickly left behind. The wall cracked even more, crumbling and dropping boulders all around him. He caught one, turning and hurling it at Ullr, who just barely evaded it in midair.

"H-How could he sense me..?"

The boulder landed on the desert in the distance, creating a large explosion of sand. Ullr flipped around and softly landed on the sand below, skidding back a bit. Unaware that Victus was already behind him, he was pulled into a chokehold.

"U-Unhand me, you..! You freak of nature!"

Victus gripped his flailing arm, putting pressure on it.

"No, no, please..! Let me go..! Let me go, damn it!" Ullr took out an arrow with a crystal tip, plunging it into Vick's arm. "Lynzula!" A surge of lightning electrified the both of them, giving Ullr just enough time to flee. Victus groaned, scarcely able to move. He slowly reached over and gripped the arrow, ripping it out.

Panting heavily, his eyes stopped glowing, and he fell to his knees. His fingers gripped the sand as his vision gradually faded to black, and he passed out.