Levi was practically shivering in his boots as the guards led him to the abode of the king.
"Kill me? Will my life end at the tender age of 21?" He thought to himself, despair wound him tightly. The princess was leading the procession and threw him odd glances every now and then. Everyone turned to look at the strange little party who were walking through the center of the city. As soon as they saw Levi, the people screwed up their faces in disgust. Some even spat at the ground he had just walked on.
"You should be ashamed of this", The princess said to him. He raised his head to look at her, she had a smug look on her face.
"What for?" Levi asked, as far as he knew he hadn't committed any crime other than setting foot in the city. The princess stared at him with a look of absolute disgust, like he was some sort of bug.
"I had to forgo my weekly shopping trip because of you", she sneered at him. Levi looked at her, each passing second was reducing his respect for the fairy.
After walking for some more distance ( it was around 350 klinks, said the guards, Levi guessed it was some sort of measurement ) they reached the king's palace. Levi had to crane his neck up to view the splendor of the palace. It was larger than his own house and the house of a major clan was not to be scoffed at. Lush, green plants surrounded the boundary of the palace. A huge golden gate was at the entrance. The palace was even more gigantic. It was in the shape of an upturned boat and had numerous warriors streaming in and out.
"Welcome to the Hall of The Slain - Folkvanger", the princess announced.
Levi stared blankly at her, he had no idea what she was talking about, the fairies rolled their eyes like they couldn't believe the audacity of the human. The princess shook her head in exasperation and wrung her hands. She pointed towards the doors and motioned the guards to stop outside.
The princess led him through the doors and through to the palace. Levi stared as they passed through various rooms, each one much more beautiful than the last. Eventually they reached the throne room. The doors of the throne room were guarded by guards who immediately blocked their path but when they saw the princess they hastily removed their weapons and apologized, they took a seal and marked Levi's hand. It showed the symbol of a sword.
"You were just performing your duties, be at ease", she smiled at them, they thanked her profusely for her kindness and opened the doors for her.
"What a hypocrite!" Levi thought to himself.
The princess turned to him, "I can hear that you know" she smiled as Levi almost fell over in embarrassment. He had no idea how she had heard his thoughts but he shuffled along.
Sitting before him on an enormous throne was the most beautiful man Levi had ever seen, flowing blonde hair, blue eyes, truly charming and charismatic face, chiseled and etched facial features.
"Bow down to the king of The Vanir - Frey!" The princess commanded him. The pressure of her voice was so tremendous that Levi dropped down almost instantaneously, he looked at the man and saw his face was filling with... confusion?
"What is the meaning of this?" Frey asked the princess, she turned to her and spoke in a innocent voice.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Oh Daddy, I spotted this human walking through our sacred grounds today, he tried to grab me, he must be executed Daddy", she said, Levi looked in shock at the blatant lies he just heard, but there was no doubt that the king would not believe him no matter what he said, so he just looked down and tried to not appear guilty.
But to his surprise the king turned towards the princess, "Freya what sort of nonsense are you sprouting?", he raged, "And what is this about me being your father, you are my sister for gods' sake!" He glared at her and Levi snapped his head towards the fairy, he had no idea what was going on right now.
"Oops, I thought I had you there", the fairy put a hand to her hip, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted", she sighed and her form started to change. Levi shielded his eyes and looked in horror as the beautiful auburn hair of the princess started to change, a bright flash of light beamed all over the room. When his vision cleared, his breath was knocked away, standing before him was the living embodiment of beauty.
The woman had stunning and glossy golden hair just like her brother and had the same beautiful eyes and facial features, they could have starred as partners in any beauty advertisement. Her skin was extremely smooth, she had cherry red lips which had the perfect amount of gloss. She shot Levi a stunning smile and walked towards the empty throne beside Frey. She sat on it gracefully.
Frey pointed towards her and said, "This is Freya, the patron of Folkvanger, the Hall of The Slain, where half of the warriors who died brave deaths would go to". He finished with a flourish.
"I took quite a... ah, liking to you human", Freya flashed him a smile, Levi instinctively turned red, "But those in Folkvanger are not kind, especially to humans and this was the only way I could think to get you out of there" she said.
Levi nodded his head, "Yes, I understand", he said.
"Now why don't you tell me how you found your way inside... Folkvanger", Freya leaned forward. The mood in the room suddenly shifted. Frey was also listening keenly to what Levi was about to say.
Levi took a deep breath and launched into the description of how he had found the little fairy and how he had followed it to the backside of the waterfall. There was rapt attention on the faces of both Frey and Freya. When he had finished Freya nodded gravely, "This is the first time I had seen a living human enter Folkvanger, but I sense something... something special from you", she gazed at Levi with a piercing glance. Levi almost shivered, it was scary how she could change from a smiling, beautiful goddess to a true symbol of terror and awe.
"I will look into the matter Freya", Frey put a hand on his sister's shoulder to calm her down, "don't get your beautiful curls into a bunch", he smiled.
Freya put a hand to her head and rested it on her thighs and sighed, "Sorry, I was getting ahead of myself", she looked at Levi, "Perhaps you are feeling a bit tired now Levi?" Levi shook his head, but even as he did, he felt his mind becoming fuzzy, he started to feel groggy.
"It's alright, rest for a bit", he heard Freya's voice going out of focus, that was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep.
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He woke up in his own bed. He had no idea who had brought him here or when he had been brought here. He sat up straight, his head hurt a bit, "Perhaps it was all a dream", he thought to himself, but as he stretched his hands, he saw the symbol marked upon his wrist, it was still there.
PING!
He jumped as he heard the sound, he looked around, he was not able to see anyone or anything, he thought that his ears had played a trick on him.
PING!
Again he heard the sound, he climbed out of his bed and slowly looked around. He didn't see anything, he walked out his room, feeling really confused.
"Oh you are up Young Master", Tess said, Levi looked around, Tess was one of the girls who helped around the house. She had glossy brown hair, which were cut in the shape of a bob. She had gleaming silver eyes, she bowed as soon she saw Levi.
Levi smiled at her, "Yes Tess, tell father I will be going out for a bit". Tess again bowed and said, "Yes Young Master", she moved away into one of the other rooms. Levi decided to check out the city once again. He again took the path along the mountain and crossed to the waterfall by walking along the narrow path. He moved the curtain of mosses, but the sight that welcomed him was totally different.
He found himself staring into a completely empty space. The city had disappeared...