Tachi stood up and walked toward the well. He knelt on one knee and gently lowered Akyo into the glowing water, making sure his head stayed above the surface.
'Come on…' Tachi thought as he stepped back.
The water began to change. The light within it started to move, drifting as if it were no longer bound to the liquid itself. It flowed toward the hole in Akyo's abdomen and sealed it completely.
The light slowly faded away.
Tachi rushed forward, staring at his friend. "It worked… his body is completely healed," he whispered, relieved.
But something felt wrong.
'Why isn't he waking up?'
He pulled Akyo out of the well and laid him on the rocky floor of the cavern. He watched him closely, but Akyo still didn't move.
Tachi placed his head against Akyo's chest, where his heart should be.
A chill ran through his body.
'It's no longer beating!?'
"AKYO!"
Tachi immediately tried to resuscitate him. His breathing grew frantic, panic preventing him from performing the movements properly.
'His heart must've stopped while I was confronting the Norns…'
He pressed desperately on Akyo's chest, shouting at him to wake up, begging him.
Minutes passed.
'It's not working…'
Tears streamed down Tachi's cheeks. "I failed," he whispered. "I promised I'd bring him back to her… and I failed."
Verdandi and Urd watched from the shadows, both present and distant. Urd remained silent, but Verdandi noticed her sister's troubled expression.
She sighed. "Lift your head," she said, raising both hands.
Urd looked at her in shock. From Verdandi's fingers flowed long, thin blue threads, like silk. She wove them together into a translucent tapestry where symbols from an unknown alphabet appeared.
"What are you doing?" Urd asked, then realized. "Stop! Don't do that, it's too dangerous!"
Verdandi uttered a few syllables in an ancient language, then smiled at her sister. "We work with fate," she said softly, "but we are not slaves to it."
She clenched her hand shut. The tapestry vanished, its prophecy anchored into reality.
Tachi suddenly heard something.
A heavy thump.
He froze. "What…?" He placed his hand on Akyo's chest.
A heartbeat.
At that exact moment, Akyo's energy exploded outward. Tachi shielded his face with his arm. "It burns!"
He was thrown backward and instantly raised an air barrier in front of him. "His energy… it's far more powerful than anything he was capable of before…"
A massive orange beam surged upward from Akyo, blasting through the ceiling, disintegrating everything it touched.
Then, silence. Tachi stared at Akyo's body, still lying there. He didn't rush forward, afraid of another surge.
Finally, The young man opened his eyes and began coughing.
The god of wind''s face lit up.
Akyo sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head. "Where am I…?" he murmured.
"AKYO!"
Tachi ran toward him, then stopped himself.
'I can't act like that in front of him.' He switched to his usual tone, humor. (kinda) "Sleep well?"
Akyo blinked, still dazed. "What was that… a dream?"
Tachi frowned. "What do you mean?"
Akyo locked eyes with him. His expression betrayed someone who had just realized they'd said too much. "Nothing. I'm rambling. But where are we? What happ—?"
Sudden flashes invaded Akyo's mind, three divine energies, Soren on the ground, Loki's fist tearing into his abdomen.
He panicked. "They killed Soren!!" he shouted, clutching his stomach.
Then he froze. His hands felt it. His eyes confirmed it.
No wound.
"How is that possible…?"
Tachi stepped closer. "Calm down. Soren isn't dead," he sighed 'at least I think.' he continued, "I'll explain everything, but we need to leave. I'll tell you on the way."
Akyo nodded, relieved, and followed him.
As they climbed the stairs, Tachi began explaining.
"When the Norse gods attacked you, one of the soldiers who was supposed to extract you called Nicolo. He came to warn me, and I left the base as fast as I could."
Midway up, Tachi glanced back at the massive hole left by Akyo's energy blast. 'What am I doing…' He changed direction.
"Why are you stopping?" Akyo asked.
"Come here," Tachi said, extending his hand. "We're flying. It'll be faster."
Akyo grabbed on, and they lifted off.
"Oh—and by the way," Tachi added, "we're in another world. Another dimension. Kind of."
"What!?" Akyo exclaimed.
"This is the realm of the Norns. When I arrived, Loki had already pierced your abdomen. I brought you back to the base, you were between life and death. Then we learned the Well of Urd was real, and accessible. So I brought you here. And it worked."
"And you know how to get out?" Akyo asked.
"Not really," Tachi replied with a nervous laugh.
At that moment, a white light appeared above them, making a cracking sound.
"What is that!?" Akyo asked anxiously.
Tachi understood. He looked down. In the shadows, he saw the three women. Urd smiled at him.
Tachi laughed and shouted, "Thank you!" He looked up and accelerated.
"Who are you talking to?" Akyo asked.
"Get ready to enter Yggdrasil!" Tachi shouted as he flew toward the rift the Norns had opened.
Akyo panicked. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING—?!"
He covered his head, bracing for impact. Instead, a surge of energy rushed through him, unlike anything he'd ever felt.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the magnificent garden inside Yggdrasil.
"You can trust me," Tachi said casually, rubbing his back. 'He grabbed me so hard I thought my spine would snap, where is that strength coming from?'
"I do," Akyo replied, "you just caught me off guard. But… how's Soren?"
Tachi's voice softened. "They took him."
Akyo clenched his fists. "They were already gone when you arrived?"
"No. They were still there. But one of them was far more powerful than the others, i could feel it. If I had fought them…"
"I would have died," Akyo finished.
"Probably."
'He should've left me. I'm a burden,' he thought, lowering his head.
Tachi interrupted his thoughts. "I know what you think, that self-pity won't help. If you were as weak as you think, they'd have killed you before I arrived. You saved yourself. And now, we'll save Soren."
Akyo straightened up, inhaled deeply. "You're right. Do you have a plan?"
Tachi smiled. "A lot happened while you were out. I'll explain everything once we're back at the base. Come on, we still have some distance before we exit Yggdrasil."
They walked through the garden. Akyo stared around in awe. "So… this is the World Tree?"
"Exactly. The link between all the worlds of Norse mythology. Maybe even more."
They reached another waiting rift.
"Let's hope it's the right one."
"You're not sure?" Akyo asked.
"Well… last time I got lured into the wrong world," Tachi joked. "But things should be fine this time."
'Lured into another world? What the hell happened while I was unconscious…?'
A thought suddenly struck Akyo,late, he felt guilty not thinking about it earlier. "How's Ana?"
Tachi answered calmly. "She's fine. Now that you're back, everything will be." He held out his hand.
Akyo took it and they both stepped into the rift.
The familiar surge of Yggdrasil washed over them. The warmth of the garden was replaced by freezing air.
They stood at the base of the immense tree.
"I don't know what I hate more," Akyo muttered, shivering, "the rift, or the cold. Where the hell are we?"
"Iceland."
"You're lying."
"No," Tachi replied with a smile. "Being shirtless probably doesn't help, maybe i should've brought you a top,
'Fuck.'
Tachi took off his sleeveless coat, and gave it to him, akyo nodded his head to thank him.
He turned around while putting Tachi's long white coat, and froze before the colossal Jokülsvardur. "What… is that…?"
"One of Yggdrasil's branches," Tachi explained. "One of the few connections between our world and it."
"How vast the world really is..?" Akyo whispered.
Tachi started walking away. "It's way bigger than you and I can imagine. Come on, we're going home."
Akyo smiled and followed him, determination in his step.
"The sooner we get there," he said, "the sooner we save Soren."