Griff sat alone in his dimly lit apartment late at night. He wore a t-shirt and boxers while facing an empty wall. All furnishings had been pushed to one side of the room. The window area had been shoddily repaired from where Yuna had crashed. His hair and beard were unkempt and wild, obscuring intense dark circles under his eyes. He fiddled with a small cylindrical device from the table before inserting a cartridge into it. It read ‘ASCEND’ in gold letters along the frame.

“I need some help. There has to be a thread to pull.”

Griff pressed the device to his tongue. He stared intensely at the empty wall. In his IRIS, a virtual case-board sprawled out across the wall. It mapped out all information pertaining to Siegfried, his cult, the murders, the assassinations, etcetera. He focused on an area regarding the night of Yuna’s fight with Siegfried. His mind sped through the events. After loading Leon and Yuna into his car, he’d stayed behind as Celeste raced home. Siegfried’s body had liquefied just as the suicidal acolytes before him. Griff searched everywhere and found no acolytes. None had even appeared to collect Siegfried or retaliate. There were, however, traces of equipment taken away or left destroyed.

If only I could have called it in. Had the forensics capabilities. Bah. Stop fucking wasting time. I made the right call. It never could’ve been explained.

Griff recalled for a second the heat of the building as it went up in flames while he walked away. His mind then started to rapidly jump between memories relevant to the board. He’d already lost count of the weeks he’s spent investigating the cult further. He had even resigned as a detective. Unfortunately, he only found dead ends ever since.

Still hard to believe something more hasn’t come up. Anything. If they really were a cult like they seem to be, they should’ve imploded when their leader was put down. That’s how it almost always goes. Could there be others keeping control? You’d still think some cracks would appear. Yet, crickets. Damnit. Think.

Griff’s thoughts steadied on him in his car at night. He smoked while staring at the apartment where Tau had lived. He’d done this more than a few times. Trying to think of how to tell Jasmine what Tau’s likely fate had been. He noticed a peculiar hooded figure peaking out slightly from a nearby alleyway. At the time, however, he’d been too preoccupied with his thoughts to pay them much further attention. Time slowed in his memory. The hooded figure was staring at Tau’s apartment.

Griff snapped back to reality. He checked the time, then rushed to throw on some pants, crashing into furniture while knocking over trash such as bottles and containers along the way. He dashed out the door. After some time passed, he’d arrived at Tau’s neighborhood in his car. He parked a considerable distance away from where he had previously been, focusing on the alleyway. The same hooded figure, mostly eclipsed by shadow, stood there. They stared at Tau’s apartment.

“No way that could be Tau, right? Can’t be. But the way they’re hiding their face… it reminds me of those fucks. Why the fuck would they be here? What could they want from Jasmine? I can’t even think of a possibility. Shit, I’m coming down.”

Griff desperately rifled through his glove-box until pulling out a pill and swallowing it. He returned to watching the figure. They stood motionless. When the light of Jasmine’s apartment went out, they finally moved. He followed on foot into the night.

Elsewhere in Lyrsium, a tall, well-built man walked amongst the halls of an immense mansion. The architecture had a peculiar blend of modern and heavy use of wood aesthetics. Norse artifacts, iconography, and more lined the walls. The man had long, straight blackish-brown hair that reached past his broad shoulders. He had thin facial hair on his upper lip and chin, otherwise clean shaven. His eyes were a dull blue. He passed through an office of sorts to a grand set of double wooden doors. He knocked. They did not sound like wood.

The doors slid open, receding into the walls. Freya stood facing the man. She wore a loose-fitting silk robe, to which half the shoulder drooped down, exposing part of her chest. Light from the office scattered into the dimly lit bedroom behind her. Her skin glistened in the light beneath wet, flowing hair. The luxurious room had blatant signs of revelry, such as glassware, tankards, and other paraphernalia. Several men and women lay in various states of undress on an immense bed in the distance.

“Tyr?” Freya snapped. “What is it?” Tyr’s gaze met her eyes, unflinching. He had an emotionless look, cold, even.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You asked that I come at this hour, Freya,” Tyr said.

“Hm.” Freya’s face twitched for a split second. She looked annoyed. “Of course.”

Tyr turned and walked away to a pair of chairs with a table between them. Freya sighed, then pulled up the robe at her shoulder before following. By the time she reached the chairs, a modern paper cup of coffee with lid waited on the table. She glanced at Tyr, who gestured for her to sit.

“Your preferred drink, per usual, All-Mother,” Tyr said.

“Why must you insist on using that ridiculous name even when we’re alone?” Freya sipped at the cup as she sat.

“You have guests.” Tyr sat. A mixture of anger and agitation rippled across Freya’s face, which went wholly unnoticed by Tyr, even as he once again met her eyes.

Tyr proceeded to go over updates on territory related to Abyss, ex-Legionnaire territory via a map synchronized between them in their IRIS’. They discussed several things, then moved on to the movements of a rival syndicate, the Lyrsigoths. The Lyrsigoths were encroaching on Scions of Odin territory on the opposite side from Abyss.

“You let them take that?” Freya yelled.

“We lack the sufficient soldiers—.”

“Then why haven’t you fucking recruited more yet? What if the council realizes?”

“It’s proving…difficult, for various reasons. We are stretched thin on two fronts. Five Einherjar have gone missing from a recently acquired warehouse. An investigation is underway, but as I warned, prioritizing Abyss is—.”

“I don’t fucking care. Have you always been this useless and incompetent Tyr! Get it done.”

“All-Mother, I assure you, that district may look large, but it holds little monetary value. We can always—.”

“It doesn’t matter, you half-wit!” Freya stood and whipped the coffee cup at Tyr, who did not even flinch as it exploded onto him. “It makes us look weak! You know what will happen if they declare on us and the council finds out about our situation! Abyss won’t require the same level of scrutiny! They’re just looking for an excuse to remove us. To get rid of me. You don’t get how they speak to me. Gods-damned decrepit old cunts.” She turned around, wincing at the coffee dripping from Tyr’s hair. “We need the Legion’s manpower. I can’t risk giving them that excuse.”

“I understand, All-Mother. I continue to fail you. Please forgive my insolence, but set aside your pride. I implore you to reconsider challenging Abyss. They’ve continued to bend, barely resisting our takeovers, and have not responded to our queries.”

“No! This is our only path to salvation!”

“Abyss has declared on a growing syndicate on the other side of their territory. Nero will be fighting. We’ve already taken most of what we can. Time is—.”

“Get out.” Freya muttered under her breath.

“All-mother?”

“Get the fuck out of my sight!” Freya roared in fury as she turned and violently upended the table between them. Tyr stood and walked away. She glanced at his back for a moment. Regret flashed across her face, but she looked away as he exited the room.

A short time later, a cleaned-up Tyr entered a luxurious apartment. A sharply dressed man stood in the entry hall, inspecting himself in a mirror. He had an obvious resemblance to Tyr, albeit younger.

“Hey, Tyr, on time, as always. I really appreciate it, man. I’m so worried she’s gonna pop any second, but I have to sort out shit with suppliers at the club. It’s become a mess. The wife’s having the nanny cook ya something before she leaves,” the man said.

“It’s no problem, Juuka. Glad to. Always,” Tyr said. Juuka finished in the mirror, then they grasped hands and embraced with a pat on the back. Tyr moved to pull away, but Juuka pulled him and leaned in.

“Listen, bro,” Juuka whispered. “I know you’re sick of me bringing this up, but I got people coming up to me every day bitchin’ about Freya. Odin was a piece of shit but as controlling as he was, he still treated our people with respect, y’know? You just gotta say the word and I know they’ll back you. They want Tyr. All-Father.”

Tyr separated from Juuka with ease. He placed a heavy hand on Juuka’s shoulder. “Enough. She just needs time. Once things are stabilized she’ll—,”

Juuka shook his head. “I know, man. You’ve been saying that for a year already. She’s only gotten worse. At what point do you stop feeling guilt for obeying Odin and doing your job?”

“Never. Now, get going.” Tyr swapped places with Juuka, pushing him toward the door. “Your first meeting is in fifteen.”

“Shit. You’re right. Of-fucking-course, you know. Do you ever sleep? Thanks, man, see ya.” Juuka moved to the door, quickly patting his clothes to check he had his things. “Uncle Tyr’s here. Give him some hell!” He called out before exiting.

A warm smile crept along Tyr’s expression. He almost looked like a different person as a young boy and girl ran out from a room, rushing toward him. He caught them in his arms, picking them up. They both rapidly spoke over one another into his ears while he carried them toward the room. A pregnant woman sitting on a couch waved him in.

Meanwhile, in an immense, luxurious bathroom, Freya stared at herself in the mirror. Various pills, clothes and more littered the bathroom sink and floor. She turned her head to and fro, running her fingers along her jawline.

“I know I’m attractive.” Freya’s expression transformed into fury as each second passed. “So how does he not!” She punched the mirror, hard. Countless cracks rippled out. It would have shattered easily had it been of lower quality. She withdrew her hand as she exhaled, seemingly unaffected. She grabbed a nearby device and jabbed her tongue with it. Her rage flipped to euphoria in seconds. Her eyes sparkled, glowed, even. She disrobed as she exited the bathroom.

“Who wants to get fucked!”