NFBE Chapter 695 - 614
Chapter 695 - 614
Jinn POV
The humans here were nice.
They were letting me walk around their place without even ’escorting’ me. And this was supposed to be a super secret government facility.
"Knock, knock." I didn’t bother knocking as I opened the door to Salem’s office.
Salem had an office.
It was still even weird to say.
It was empty, barring Salem herself and some papers in front of her.
She looked up at me.
"You’re back." She grunted.
Half question, half statement.
"Yup, I just went around and made sure to talk to everyone. And I finished setting the house up in a plot of land not far away from where you’re going to be working in the future."
At the very least, I could help Wilhelm by getting that out of the way.
"Is that really the best use of your time right now?"
Her tone, I think, defaults to disdainful when she’s upset.
I put my hands on my hips, cocking an eyebrow. "You really want to say that with what you’re doing?"
Salem huffed and tossed a piece of paper to the side.
She’s upset.
Like genuinely upset.
It made me not want to continue arguing.
"Hug." Before she could protest, I was already wrapping myself around her. She stiffened and scowled indignantly. "It’s okay to be upset; we’re all upset. No one is happy that Wilhelm is missing."
Other than Meridia saying she would come investigate, no one else was about to jump in and do something reckless.
Well, we’re all pretty old, aren’t we? If anything Wilhelm is the one among us prone to doing something reckless without a second thought.
Though, maybe that wouldn’t be the case if there were something substantial any of us could do.
I only told Meridia to wait for now. We had no idea what would happen if she came here, and that could make things worse.
Part of me wanted to just throw caution to the wind, though, because I was worried.
It was a new, strange feeling. I’ve felt concern and worry before, during the time in Asgard and such. Wilhelm puts himself in danger quite often, but with our lives, that’s...normal in some respect.
Here it’s somewhat different.
He’s missing.
Maybe that makes it worse.
We had to put some trust in him.
It’s only been a few days, and he disappears for days at a time by his own hand often enough.
It’s not like we haven’t done anything. Even Scáthach came over and took a look at the spot where Wilhelm disappeared, and she couldn’t find anything.
Wilhelm’s Magic isn’t something any of us can wrap our minds around. It’s difficult to actually track him down.
And Jeanne was having Asgard here to help too.
Apparently Heimdal here can see across the entire universe, so it should be a matter of time before Wilhelm is found.
Though, as Wilhelm says, I’m very close to pressing the Meridia button.
If we don’t have a clue in a day or two, I’m not going to care anymore and ask her to do her thing. Whatever consequences come, I don’t care.
The anxiety didn’t go away.
It was a new experience.
I hated it.
"We both are just doing things to keep busy, aren’t we?" I asked her. "It helps a little bit to deal with the worry."
Salem grunted again.
"The others all but ran over here immediately without a single thought." I told her. "I had to talk to them and keep them from rushing over. It wouldn’t really help. Grandpa said he would be able to take a look in a day or two, but his situation is...difficult. He said to have faith in Wilhelm right now. Wilhelm has a few things for emergencies, so his life shouldn’t be in danger."
"I’m not worried." Salem scoffed.
That was a lie.
"It’s not your fault either." I reassured her.
She stayed silent.
"Salem." I put my head against hers, much to her continued annoyance. "Remember who I am. I know everything. I know every detail of your life." I usually didn’t say it so bluntly because it sounds...weird. But it’s true, I know every single moment of her life from the moment I came into existence. "There’s no point in lying to me."
Salem crossed her arms with a huff. "What do you want?"
"I want you to feel like it’s not your fault, preferably. You’re blaming yourself, aren’t you?"
"I’m not blaming myself."
"You’re probably thinking, If I didn’t come here, if I didn’t get involved with these people, Wilhelm wouldn’t have had an accident." Did I get close?" I looked at her.
She scowled deeper.
Looks like I hit the nail on the head.
Logically, it’s not even close to her fault. But, well...her life had been one of solitude for a very long time. It’s easy to start down the thought process of blaming herself to make things easier to accept.
"I forgive you," I told her.
"What?" She blinked.
"You’re blaming yourself; you won’t stop just because I pointed out how stupid it is. So I’m saying I forgive you."
She looked at me incredulously. "What nonsense are you saying?"
"If you’re going to be silly, then I’m going to be too." I told her.
She didn’t seem to have a response for that.
"Did I ever tell you how I ended up with Wilhelm?" I asked.
"I am very familiar with the story," she said dryly.
Well, that’s true. It’s funny to see people’s expressions when I retell it. Mostly the part where I offered him to essentially be his sex slave in return for coming with him.
I don’t know why anyone’s surprised.
He was a young man; I was a sexy naked blue lady. It seemed obvious to me. It’s not like I had anything else to offer him.
"I’m not talking about that," I couldn’t help but giggle. "I mean, how did I end up falling in love with him?" She didn’t say anything, but she perked up slightly. "It’s funny, I’m still not sure I even understand what love is. I can analyze it; I can define it, but I wasn’t created with this purpose. If anything, I was supposed to just be able to...reference humans, to understand them enough to interact with them. A side effect maybe, or a cosmic chance, an accident—I don’t know. I know for a fact that the Brothers never intended for me to fall in love with anyone."
Her expression shifted a little. Going from self-deprecation to looking like she wanted me to continue.
That’s a good change.
"It wasn’t the vast amounts of knowledge he basically threw at me. It wasn’t his magic or his strength even. Though, I think I appreciate all those things. If we’re talking about preferences, I think I understand it enough that Wilhelm checks a bunch for me. I think it started the first time he said he would take care of me. When he seriously and genuinely said he was going to take care of me, that’s when the first little seed was planted, I think."
It still makes my heart all warm and fuzzy when I remember it.
"Imagine, the Brothers casually tossed me to the side after creating me and giving me my purpose. I was supposed to help guide humanity. Then, Ozma takes me, locks me away somewhere, and comes to me a few times every century. My job was to watch the world constantly from the side, and then once in a blue moon, I answered a question or two. That was my existence."
I leaned my head on Salem’s shoulder.
She was uncharacteristically affectionate. I felt her hand on my head, very softly. Was she sympathizing? I wouldn’t be surprised; her early life was...one of loneliness, being exiled to a tower by her family.
That was before Ozma found her.
"Then imagine a young boy coming along, someone I don’t know. He showed me a much wider world, and I couldn’t help myself; I offered him the only thing I had to offer. I end up going with him, expecting the worst, but instead, he tells me that he’s going to take care of me from now on. No one ever told me they would take care of me. No one ever bothered to care about me."
"So please understand how much I love him, and I’m saying that I don’t blame you." I reassured her.
"...thank you." She said quietly.
"Instead of blaming yourself, consider this instead. There’s someone out there responsible for hurting someone we both very much care about. Since we have no leads at the moment, why don’t we go try to find that person?" I smiled.
[Line Break]
Wilhelm POV
I think I was expecting something...more.
Don’t get me wrong, I was happy...to an extent. We were taken to our own private ’training room.’ "Room" must be a bit of a misnomer, more like a private training yard.
But I was thinking I was going to have to pretend to care about this woman and her expectations and training or whatever.
But instead, almost immediately, she all but passed out drunk.
She had a device in her hand.
It looked similar to the one that the guards used to activate our collars.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed either.
The others were all staring at it.
Aquamarine took a step forward, but I clicked my tongue and stopped her. "She’s faking it; she’s waiting for you to make a grab at it."
They looked at me, and then the woman on the ground let out a grumble. "Boring. I thought at least one of you would try." She wobbled to her feet, grabbing one of the discarded bottles up off the ground and tilting it all the way back for even a few drops.
Eventually, she just tossed the bottle to the side, letting it shatter against the ground.
She stared at us for a moment as if realizing something. "Oh, right. Training fighters or something." She looked us over. "A bug, a purple girl, a scrawny kid, and...a soldier? Definitely a soldier." The last one was meant for Clint.
"Yes, I am a bug." Vernat raised his arm.
She perked up, smiling, before snapping her fingers at him. "I like you. Take note, he’s in the lead."
"In the lead for what?" I asked.
"Good boy points, scrawny boy." She answered easily. "Get enough points, and you get a reward."
"What’s the reward?" Clint asked, uncaring about how dehumanizing it came off.
"Well, for you—" She gave him an up and down look. "I think we can do something a little special."
Clint was a mask of professionalism, and he didn’t react.
The woman looked annoyed but didn’t dwell on it. "You all are so boring." She let out a sigh. "Come on, show me something good. I get a bonus if you at least put on a good show in front of the Grandmaster. I’m not counting on you lot winning, but at least be entertaining when you die."
I tilted my head. "Have we met somewhere before?"
"Nope," she replied without hesitation. "And don’t bother; those kinds of pickup lines won’t work on me. I’m into men with a bit more oomph about them, scrawny boy."
I raised an eyebrow.
She was intentionally trying to rile us up, it seems.
Or maybe it was just her personality.
"I feel like there’s something familiar about you."
"I can’t control what you dream about." She shrugged.
"Hooh." She has jokes. "I suppose nightmares are technically dreams."
"Haha." She laughed flatly. "Cute."
"I’m adorable," I deadpanned.
"Five out of ten." She was dismissed.
Huh.
I feel like this happened before, but I was on the opposite side of the fence.
"You must be an expert in that rating threshold, huh?" I retorted.
"I like your lip, scrawny boy. You get a good boy point." She chuckled. "Let’s see, you, bug boy. What makes you special."
"I am a scientist!" He held his arms up.
"Impressive. What do you specialize in?"
"Bombs!"
I think we all paused and looked at him. I was seriously questioning why he got shot off into space as a punishment now.
"Unfortunately, fighters don’t get explosives."
"I can improvise."
"I like that attitude, bug boy." She nodded. "And you, Pink girl. Hmm, let’s see. Shoulders, stance, eyes, facial expression. I’m guessing royalty?"
Aquamarine’s eyes widened.
"Don’t be surprised, Princess." She grabbed another bottle off the ground, looking to see that there was some still in it. "You practically scream ’pampered and arrogant.’" As she took a drink, she dropped the device onto the ground, the one for our collars.
Before I could say anything, Aquamarine shot towards it.
I saw the little smirk on 142’s face. Just as Aquamarine was about to grab it, she sent a kick at the purple girl.
Aquamarine retched as her body all but crumbled over and went flying backwards.
142 started laughing happily. "I can’t believe you fell for that. Stupid brat."
Aquamarine was coughing up bile at the side.
"Well, who else wants to try? Feel free to try and make a move for it; you won’t have this opportunity again. Come on." She gestured to us. "What about you, soldier boy?"
"No thanks." Clint held his hands up.
"Boring." She put her hands on her hips. "Bug boy?"
"Negative!"
"Hmm. Scrawny boy, you got some balls on you? How about giving it a shot? I promise I’ll be gentle."
"Hmm, can I get a handicap?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"How about arms and legs tied behind your back, blindfolded, and knocked unconscious?" I asked.
"You’re so funny." She said mockingly. "Let’s call it training; come on."
"I’m already trained."
"Better training."
"Unlikely."
"You’re going to hurt my pride, scrawny boy. When my pride is hurt, I like to hurt others in turn." She picked up the device. "Are you going to hurt my pride some more?"
"How about a trade? Because you obviously want someone to take a swing at you, for whatever reason," I offered.
"It’s called plausible deniability. See, if I just beat up a bunch of weaklings, it makes me look bad. And feel bad. Slightly. If a bunch of weaklings attack me, well... I can just tell myself it’s self-defense and have fun beating them up."
"Right," I deadpanned.
I think she had a screw or two loose.
"Who’s the Grandmaster?"
"The Grandmaster is the Grandmaster. Are you stupid?" She looked at me.
I ignored her sarcasm; she clearly wasn’t going to cooperate. "Is he strong?"
"Is he strong?" The woman chuckled. "That’s a funny one. I thought someone like you would know more about this."
"Someone like me? What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean by that?" She repeated it back curiously.
"There’s something familiar about you."
"No girl likes the same pickup line repeated to her, scrawny boy." She put her hands back on her hips. "Now, are you going to punch me or not?"
"I’ll fight you." Clint stepped up.
She glanced at him, and her lips curled up. "How wholesome, but nope. I want the scrawny boy now; he pissed me off before. Come on then. We can call it training so you don’t feel bad after getting beat up by a girl."
"Joke’s on you; I get beaten up by girls all the time." I responded.
She blinked. "Then this should be like you’re right back at home."
"Unlikely. The girls who beat me up are much prettier." I returned without missing a beat.
"Haah." She let out a breath. "You know what? I don’t think I’ll need to make an excuse this time. You just...you have that kind of face that I really want to punch."
"Would you punch a person who refuses to fight?"
"Without a second thought." She nodded.
"I can cry on command. I will make it very awkward."
"We share something in common." She smiled.
"You can also cry on command?"
"No. But I can make people cry on command." She said cheerfully. "Let’s see which one of us is more convincing."
"How about a wager, then?" She very clearly wanted to fight; I may as well try to get something out of it.
"That sounds like fun!"
"If I win, how about you take this collar off me?"
"Can’t." She held her hands up helplessly.
I furrowed my brow. "How about getting me better medical treatment? I’m still not fully healed."
She paused for a moment. "You’re hurt? How hurt. Bandages: blood isn’t fresh. You should have gotten some medical treatment before getting shipped over here."
"Deep down."
"How deep."
"All the way down." I responded.
Her eyes flash for a moment as she understands, clicking her tongue. "No, that makes sense. Find, I’ll tell you what, I’ll personally see to it. But in return..."
"Yeah?" I was happy; if she could heal me, it would make things speed up a lot.
I had...a feeling I knew why he felt familiar.
"When I win, I’m cutting off your ponytail."
It was my turn to pause now. "Come again?"
"Your hair, I’m cutting it." She gave me a full toothy grin.
...It was the pretty girl’s comment, wasn’t it?
This could be the most important fight of my life.
She stepped up to me, confidently.
She wasted no time either, throwing a casual punch. I side-stepped it and followed up with my own punch.
She held her arm up to block it.
I didn’t use my full strength, but that was definitely enough for a normal person to buckle. But she barely grunted, looking more interested if anything.
"Alright, scrawny boy, you got some strength."
She jumped into the air and did a full heel kick at me.
I quickly crossed my arms as I felt the impact.
She barely touched the ground before her fist came up from under my guard.
I dropped my guard and used both hands to slap her punch downward and pivoted before swinging my elbow at her face.
She tilted her body backwards with good nimbleness, grabbing my arm and trying to arm-lock me.
Instead, I just jumped off the ground and rolled into her motion, making us both fall to the ground with no proper footing.
She started to laugh, rolling off me and pushing up. "Alright, alright. Not bad. I’ll get a bit more serious."
It was a straight kick like she did to Aquamarine before, but much stronger. If she wanted to play like this, then fine, I won’t hold back either.
Instead of blocking or dodging, Instead went to break her ankle, trying to slam both my palms on each side.
She pulled back just in time and followed up with a knee coming at my midsection.
I blocked with my own knee, then immediately both our forearms collided as she blocked my follow-up.
I didn’t anticipate that she threw her head forward, slamming her forehead into mine.
It sent a shockwave through my body, and my head began to throb.
I grit my teeth and slammed my own head forward on her.
She jerked back but laughed.
She kicked up a bunch of dirt from the ground, hitting me as I did my best to shield my eyes, but it still blocked my vision for a moment.
I expected her to follow up, but instead, she stopped to drink from another bottle of alcohol.
I coughed out some of the dirt I swallowed, wiping it off my face.
Hand-to-hand combat was never my specialty, but even so, I was far from my best at the moment, which irked me greatly.
She held a finger up to me as she finished, letting out a satisfied breath and throwing the bottle away. "Well, come on."
Alright, I fought her enough; I think I can make some guesses now.
This is probably stupid, but... "Olympus."
I looked at her expression; she looked confused as to why I just blurted that out. "You recognized the name. Tuatha De Danann. Takamagahara. Asgard. Svarga—" I stopped because I got what I wanted. "You reacted. You reacted to Asgard."
I saw it, barely; there was a surprise as I said that. Different from the surprise of just blurting out the names of godly pantheons, like a familiarity.
"You’re a –"
She moved fast, much faster than before, something more befitting of her status. And she punched me hard, right in the face.
I felt the shockwave that followed even as I hit the ground hard, my head spinning.
"Ow."
She stood over me. "You got something to say, scrawny boy?"
I raised my middle finger up to her.
She smiled. "Say goodbye to your friends, scrawny boy. You’re going off to get a haircut. Don’t worry, I know someone who will take good care of you." She grabbed my collar and quite literally started dragging me away.
[Line Break]
"You’re –"
"Say it and see what happens." She cut me off again, even in private, after she dragged me through the arena.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have anger problems?"
"Oh sweetie. You have no idea."
Well, it makes sense now why she felt familiar and possibly why she singled me out of everyone.
It was my Campione nature that made her familiar, or rather, I was feeling her divinity, as miniscule as it was.
She was perhaps at the lowest level of godhood, a lesser god among lesser gods, and combined with her connection to Asgard, it wasn’t hard to make the guess.
"What’s your real name?" I asked, even as she continued to drag me.
"Are you going to annoy me until I tell you?"
"I’m very petty," I informed her.
"Brunnhilde." She said sharply.
"Why are you on Sakaar?"
"Why are you on Sakaar?" She repeated.
"Got slapped by some sort of eldritch demon thing from another dimension," I replied.
She opened her mouth before looking at me. "That sounds stupid."
It kind of was in hindsight.
The sequence of events, that is.
"Can you help me get this thing off?"
"Look." She dropped me. "I’m only going to say this once. Don’t act familiar with me. I don’t know what your connection with Asgard is, or even what you are, because you’re definitely no god despite having divinity. But we are not acquainted."
"I’m actually the King of Asgard."
"Yeah, right." She snorted.
"I’m also blood brothers with Odin."
"Yup, I completely believe you, random person. You’re definitely the king and also blood brothers with the All-Father."
I let out a sigh.
Why does no one ever believe me when I tell the truth?
"I’m also in a relationship with Izanami-no-Mikoto, the goddess of death from Takamagahara."
"Uh huh."
"My pet rabbit is also the King of Asgard."
"Do you just blurt out every random thought that pops up in your head?" She asked me incredulously.
"I’m also in a relationship with the adopted princess of Asgard."
"I’m going to take that as a yes, then." She grabbed my collar and continued dragging me away.
"Do you miss it? Home." I asked her.
"Nope."
"Not at all?"
"Not one bit."
I didn’t believe her.
"Are you really going to cut off my ponytail?"
She let out a long sigh. "One of my oaths was to protect the Nine Realms, and that includes Midgard. I’d feel like a bigger asshole if I made a little Midgardian cry about his hair."
"I would cry like you wouldn’t believe. Ugly cry. People would stop and stare."
"You really are just shameless, aren’t you?" She shook her head. "Come along, your majesty, let’s get you some proper healing."
[Line Break]
A/N
She softens slightly seeing another connection to Asgard appear, enough that she’s not entirely standoffish. Thousands of years living in depression away from home, and then suddenly, something from your home pops up again; it can make you feel some complex emotions.
Well, if she doesn’t want to go ’home,’ there are other Asgards for her to go to.
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