"Is that you, Kara?" Sigrun exclaimed as the little ball whirled and whistled happily.
The air crackled with energy as a bluish light enveloped the little white furball, capturing Sigrun's attention. In an instant, her eyes rolled up into her skull, and my heart raced with worry. But as quickly as it had happened, her eyes returned to normal, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek. "Kara, it's you," she whispered, her voice filled with emotion as she lovingly cradled the tiny furball.
"Come on, William," she ordered, shutting the enormous Uru doors behind us and striding up the corridor with purpose."
"William, there's so much I want to show you. With the power restored to Valhalla, we have countless possibilities ahead. But to achieve our goal of reclaiming the Bifrost, we must first bolster your strength. We need more power for what lies ahead."
She said all this while gently cradling the furball nestled in her bosom—it was whistling now, and Sigrun seemed to understand what it was saying.
"Yes, dear Kara, is as you say, you got it right, mhm… yes…no, he is just my Einherjar, nothing like that. Yes, he is 'our' Einherjar, you are correct."
"What is it saying?" I asked.
"She is asking who you are, or actually, what you are," Sigrun replied, with emphasis on 'she.'
"I take it you know 'her' from before?" I said, emphasizing the 'her.'
"Yes, William, she is my sister, a fellow Valkyria; her conscience was restored by Lord Vidar when he activated the Uru Orb."
"Her conscience?" I asked.
"Yes, William. Unfortunately, only the system could have brought her back fully. But she's convinced that once I gain enough power, I can pull off a tweaked version of the 'Ritual of the Chosen' and bring her back entirely. While we wait, she's taking on the role of protector of Valhalla alongside your bear buddy."
"Protector?" I asked incredulously.
Kara looked at me and displayed an angry face emoji. She shone brightly, and the cutest pair of little wings appeared on top of her - a mini version of Sigrun's - who looked pleased beyond belief.
The furball may have packed a punch. Something told me I really did not want to find out.
"Got it, Lady Kara. Pleased to meet you. I hope we can become friends, and in any case, I'm at your service," I said reverently, trying to ingratiate myself with both.
Kara seemed pleased, her screen changing to a hug emoji. She came to nest at my shoulder, snuggling herself around my neck, her little wings dissipating mid-flight.
"She likes you quite a lot." That was all Sigrun said.
Back at the Hall, Kara took flight and started going about everything, making angry noises at times and at others satisfied. How did I differentiate them? No idea; I just knew.
All in all, the little mote of fluffy happiness was going about her way, checking everything.
I sat at one of the long tables, and as soon as I did, a plate popped into existence, a huge pork chop and a glass of mead next to it.
I must clarify something here: When I say glass, I mean it in the broad sense of the word. It did not look like glass; it wasn't even made of glass; it was a Dokkalfar skull.
"When in Rome..." I said while giving myself away to the enterprise of eating and drinking. Since arriving here, I have had nothing to eat besides the wild berries. I had not noticed it before, but I was starving.
It was delicious; the cut was magnificent, medium-rare, juicy, and melted in my mouth. The mead by the gods was good.
Technically, I am not 21 yet, but I'll never be. In 'ye olde days,' one was considered an adult much earlier than nowadays.
Sigrun sat in front of me, and another plate and skull popped out of nowhere; she started eating as well, seemingly delighted with the development.
Little Kara came and sat between us, giving little jumps while whistling.
"Did you do this, Lady Kara?" I asked her, and she replied with a smiley emoji, the one with its tongue out while going up and down in affirmation.
"Well, it's delicious," I said, smiling while wolfing down some more meat.
Kara showed me a heart emoji and gave little happy jumps until she finally settled between my neck and shoulder.
Bear had come inside by now, and a massive plate of meat appeared beside the table. To say he looked pleased would be an understatement.
After we were done, the plates and 'glasses' disappeared, and Bear simply rolled up to his side and started snoring of all things.
I took Kara from my shoulder and started petting her, hoping it was not disrespectful; the little furball's purrs convinced me it wasn't.
Sigrun looked at us with the slightest frown on her face. And let it go.
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"As you can tell, Kara's mastery over Valhalla is greater than mine; she will be responsible for food, clothing, cleaning, and maintenance. As well as the defensive battlements, nothing like what happened with the Dokkalfar would ever occur unless they attack us in full force." Sigrun said.
"And now that she is here and in charge of our logistics, I can finally dedicate myself to sanctifying the place again. But first, let us prepare the viewing mirror to send your brother a message."
We stood up, and I followed her to an unfamiliar section—not that I had seen anything other than the courtyard and the Hall.
She took me behind the Great Hall to a wing used for living accommodations, not the barracks. Everything here was too fancy for the Einherjar. This place must have been where the Valkyrja and VIPs stayed.
We went to a small circular room with wooden walls and a single, full-body mirror in the middle. Kara floated around it, circling it over and turning it on.
Whatever she did, it looked like she powered it up. I could no longer see my reflection; it showed a dark abyss, nothing ominous or creepy, just darkness in general.
Kara looked at Sigrun with a question mark on her little screen.
"Find William's brother and show him to us," Sigrun said to Kara, who whistled and displayed an 'OK' on her screen.
The image in the mirror fluctuated, and pools of color started appearing on its surface until we could see a car convoy, the scene honing in on a big limousine at the center of it.
The image passed through the limo's roof, and we could see my friends with two other people I couldn't recognize. They looked like government types...
"Can we listen to what they are saying?" I asked, happy to see their faces again, sad they were so far away.
"Of course not, William, it's a mirror; we can only see them."
Obviously, because I know how everything works, I thought.
"We must hurry; our time with the mirror is limited to a few minutes a month. Only the gods could see at their leisure."
"Okay," I said and told Sigrun what to transmit.
She lifted her finger, and a small, white beam of light came out of it, directly into the mirror.
The surface of the mirror started to buckle. Sigrun's beam seemed to want to puncture it—like pressing a needle against your skin—until the surface bounced back with a ripple. I saw the beam going into the limo's carpet, writing runes.
Once she had finished, she looked tired, like the effort had been monumental, dizzily leaning against the wall.
Kara whistled slowly and concerned, turning off the mirror before caressing Sigrun's face.
"It is done, William. I delivered the message. We will go to Midgard in two months, their time."
"You really think that we can reclaim Bifrost by then?" I asked, concerned.
"Not as you are now, no. That is why Kara will take you to the Gallery, where a new Legacy will choose you. I will rest in the meantime, Kara will explain." With that, she left the room and went to one of the rooms we saw while coming here.
Kara made some happy noises, flew in front of my face, then went behind me and tried to push me from the back. I have to admit that she was adorable in her own way.
As soon as I left the viewing mirror's room, Kara got in front of me, floating around, and led me to the courtyard, where we took to another building I had not entered before; this one looked more like an armory combined with a museum.
Many wondrous weapons with beautiful craftsmanship were placed behind glass cases.
I followed Kara and tried to read the descriptions of each weapon until we reached a vast gallery with six portraits above the cases—all majestic and full of sadness.
Kara went to each one, making sad, melancholic noises.
A portrait of an old man wearing a wizard's hat, an eyepatch, and a long beard.
A portrait of a beautiful black-haired woman sitting, spinning clouds from a wheel.
A portrait of a strong man looking from behind clouds and lightning in the sky, a hammer in his hand.
A portrait of a blonde woman, with the sun behind her and what looked like magical runes being weaved from her hands.
A portrait of another woman, in black and white, carrying apples in a wooden box.
A portrait of a man, missing his right hand, a great wolf behind him, chained.
I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest. There they were, the portraits of the Aesir, just as they appeared countless ages ago. No wonder Kara looked so down. As I stood in the middle of the room, her screen displayed a sad emoji with a single tear rolling down.
I went up to her and took her in my arms, comforting her. I was starting to understand that not all the Valkyrja were battle-hardened badasses; some, like Kara, had a great soft heart. She snuggled closer to my chest and started purring after a while.
What was I supposed to do here? Read the descriptions? Maybe they had clues to the whereabouts of their legacies. That must be it! Or is there an interview process? Would they just take my resume and figure it out among themselves?
Hoping to find an indication of what to do next, I walked up to Odin's portrait. If I was to get a new legacy, why not the King of the Aesir, the 'All-Father'? Aim for the stars and all that, right?
So I stood there in front of Odin's portrait, trying to look as dignified as possible, for an amount of time that I'm unwilling to disclose.
In true William fashion, nothing happened; it was just an old, albeit masterful, piece of painting. The broken remains of Gungnir were at its feet. The ashen shaft was broken, but its blade was still sharp.
Bummer, onto the next one, then.
Moving close to Thor's portrait, expectation grew inside my chest. I am hopeful that maybe the most potent legacy in Asgard's history will choose me, and I will stick it to those admin guys from the system! Already imagining myself summoning lightning and crapping thunder with a smug smile on my face telling Papa Olaf the story of how Thor's legacy chose me.
I would be all like, "Oh yes, Grandpa, as soon as I stood in front of Mighty Thor's portrait, the gallery's lights went out, and you could hear thunder coming from the ceiling," and he would be like, "and what happened then my most favorite grandson," while looking at Raulin with pity, oh yes, I could see it.
Again, nothing, no clue about its whereabouts, only the charred remains of Mjolnir, devoid of any power. Not even a tiny spark.
With a sigh, I moved over and tried the others, Frigga, Frejya, and Idun, with only descriptions of them and their main jobs before Ragnarok; nothing would point me to their legacies.
As I approached the last one, which I did not know who it was, Kara started shivering in my arms.
"What's wrong, little one? Are you afraid of the wolf in the portrait?" I asked her.
She whistled in affirmation.
She moved from side to side, even pushing against me as if she did not want me to get close to the last portrait. I decided right there that she was the most adorable thing in existence. And everybody else would have to agree or have words with me.
I got in front of the last portrait, and the runes below it started to change, just like when I saw the runes at Sigurd's Spring.
They changed into a single word:
"Tyr," I said, and a familiar bell sound rang in my head. With the crying emoji on display, Kara jumped up my face and cuddled against my cheek.
"Do not worry, sweety," I told her. I already faced the biggest and baddest wolf of them all—Fenrir, Odin's Bane. I got out alive from that, so do not worry. I will come back, I promise, okay?"
She moved away a bit, and her display changed to the 100 emoji plus the question mark emoji.
"Yes, Kara, I guarantee it, one hundred percent." She gave me a still-not-convinced whistle sound but relented.
So I said 'yes' to the message I had waiting for me from the system.
— Tyr, God of War and Law, has challenged you to a trial. The trial will now commence. Good Luck! —
Here I go again, on my own.