Jinn POV
The humans here were nice.
They were letting walk around their place without even ’escorting’ . And this was supposed to be a super secret governnt 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 so papers in front of her.
She looked up at .
"You’re back." She grunted.
Half question, half statent.
"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 ti 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 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 ridia saying she would co investigate, no one else was about to jump in and do sothing reckless.
Well, we’re all pretty old, aren’t we? If anything Wilhelm is the one among us prone to doing sothing reckless without a second thought.
Though, maybe that wouldn’t be the case if there were sothing substantial any of us could do.
I only told ridia to wait for now. We had no idea what would happen if she ca here, and that could make things worse.
Part of 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 ti in Asgard and such. Wilhelm puts himself in danger quite often, but with our lives, that’s...normal in so respect.
Here it’s sowhat different.
He’s missing.
Maybe that makes it worse.
We had to put so trust in him.
It’s only been a few days, and he disappears for days at a ti by his own hand often enough.
It’s not like we haven’t done anything. Even Scáthach ca over and took a look at the spot where Wilhelm disappeared, and she couldn’t find anything.
Wilhelm’s Magic isn’t sothing 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 ti before Wilhelm is found.
Though, as Wilhelm says, I’m very close to pressing the ridia 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 co, 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 imdiately 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 ergencies, 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. "Rember 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 mont of her life from the mont I ca into existence. "There’s no point in lying to ."
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 co 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 ti. 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 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 seed obvious to . It’s not like I had anything else to offer him.
"I’m not talking about that," I couldn’t help but giggle. "I an, 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 to fall in love with anyone."
Her expression shifted a little. Going from self-deprecation to looking like she wanted to continue.
That’s a good change.
"It wasn’t the vast amounts of knowledge he basically threw at . 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 . I think it started the first ti he said he would take care of . When he seriously and genuinely said he was going to take care of , that’s when the first little seed was planted, I think."
It still makes my heart all warm and fuzzy when I rember it.
"Imagine, the Brothers casually tossed to the side after creating and giving my purpose. I was supposed to help guide humanity. Then, Ozma takes , locks away sowhere, and cos to a few tis 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, soone I don’t know. He showed 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 that he’s going to take care of from now on. No one ever told they would take care of . No one ever bothered to care about ."
"So please understand how much I love him, and I’m saying that I don’t bla you." I reassured her.
"...thank you." She said quietly.
"Instead of blaming yourself, consider this instead. There’s soone out there responsible for hurting soone we both very much care about. Since we have no leads at the mont, why don’t we go try to find that person?" I smiled.
[Line Break]
Wilhelm POV
I think I was expecting sothing...more.
Don’t get wrong, I was happy...to an extent. We were taken to our own private ’training room.’ "Room" must be a bit of a misnor, 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 imdiately, 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 , 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 mont as if realizing sothing. "Oh, right. Training fighters or sothing." She looked us over. "A bug, a purple girl, a scrawny kid, and...a soldier? Definitely a soldier." The last one was ant 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 ca off.
"Well, for you—" She gave him an up and down look. "I think we can do sothing 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. "Co on, show sothing 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 t sowhere before?"
"Nope," she replied without hesitation. "And don’t bother; those kinds of pickup lines won’t work on . I’m into n 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 sothing 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 punishnt 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 so 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. Co 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 so 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; co 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 so more?"
"How about a trade? Because you obviously want soone 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 look bad. And feel bad. Slightly. If a bunch of weaklings attack , 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 .
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 soone like you would know more about this."
"Soone like ? What do you an by that?"
"What do I an by that?" She repeated it back curiously.
"There’s sothing familiar about you."
"No girl likes the sa pickup line repeated to her, scrawny boy." She put her hands back on her hips. "Now, are you going to punch or not?"
"I’ll fight you." Clint stepped up.
She glanced at him, and her lips curled up. "How wholeso, but nope. I want the scrawny boy now; he pissed off before. Co 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 ti." I responded.
She blinked. "Then this should be like you’re right back at ho."
"Unlikely. The girls who beat 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 ti. 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 sothing 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 sothing out of it.
"That sounds like fun!"
"If I win, how about you take this collar off ?"
"Can’t." She held her hands up helplessly.
I furrowed my brow. "How about getting better dical treatnt? I’m still not fully healed."
She paused for a mont. "You’re hurt? How hurt. Bandages: blood isn’t fresh. You should have gotten so dical treatnt before getting shipped over here."
"Deep down."
"How deep."
"All the way down." I responded.
Her eyes flash for a mont 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 , 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. "Co again?"
"Your hair, I’m cutting it." She gave a full toothy grin.
...It was the pretty girl’s comnt, wasn’t it?
This could be the most important fight of my life.
She stepped up to , confidently.
She wasted no ti 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 so strength."
She jumped into the air and did a full heel kick at .
I quickly crossed my arms as I felt the impact.
She barely touched the ground before her fist ca 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 .
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 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 ti and followed up with a knee coming at my midsection.
I blocked with my own knee, then imdiately 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 slamd my own head forward on her.
She jerked back but laughed.
She kicked up a bunch of dirt from the ground, hitting as I did my best to shield my eyes, but it still blocked my vision for a mont.
I expected her to follow up, but instead, she stopped to drink from another bottle of alcohol.
I coughed out so 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 mont, which irked greatly.
She held a finger up to as she finished, letting out a satisfied breath and throwing the bottle away. "Well, co on."
Alright, I fought her enough; I think I can make so 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 na. 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 nas of godly pantheons, like a familiarity.
"You’re a –"
She moved fast, much faster than before, sothing more befitting of her status. And she punched 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 . "You got sothing 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 soone who will take good care of you." She grabbed my collar and quite literally started dragging away.
[Line Break]
"You’re –"
"Say it and see what happens." She cut off again, even in private, after she dragged 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 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 na?" I asked, even as she continued to drag .
"Are you going to annoy until I tell you?"
"I’m very petty," I inford her.
"Brunnhilde." She said sharply.
"Why are you on Sakaar?"
"Why are you on Sakaar?" She repeated.
"Got slapped by so sort of eldritch demon thing from another dinsion," I replied.
She opened her mouth before looking at . "That sounds stupid."
It kind of was in hindsight.
The sequence of events, that is.
"Can you help get this thing off?"
"Look." She dropped . "I’m only going to say this once. Don’t act familiar with . 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 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 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 away.
"Do you miss it? Ho." 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 shaless, aren’t you?" She shook her head. "Co along, your majesty, let’s get you so 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 ho, and then suddenly, sothing from your ho pops up again; it can make you feel so complex emotions.
Well, if she doesn’t want to go ’ho,’ there are other Asgards for her to go to.
If you want to read 10 Chapters ahead or support , visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can’t use the above under the sa na.
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