The call of the Bifrost disturbed Heimdall during his activities, even though they weren't really important. "Who goes there…" he grumbled.
He walked sluggishly to the end of the bridge. 'Vidar is back, everyone is here, could it be… Baldr?'
He sliced the air to begin his "ritual" to summon the Bifrost, then moved on to the part he enjoyed the most. He pulled out his water gun, filled it, and fired into the rift. The rainbow portal formed, and Heimdall stood there… one minute… then two. "What is he doing?" he wondered.
He stood there, tapping his foot, grumbling in frustration. "Fuck that."
He turned around, about to leave, when he felt something coming through the portal. The energy felt hostile. "That's not Baldr."
He spun back, ready to draw his sword, but a massive hand grabbed his face.
Only an arm had come through the portal at first. Heimdall had no time to think before a face followed.
Dark skin. Blue hair. He hadn't seen him in a long time, but he recognized him. "It's been a while, Heimdall."
"Njord… Njord?!" Heimdall couldn't believe his eyes.
"We've got some unfinished business, don't we?" Njord didn't give him time to respond. He struck him with all his strength in the stomach, sending him flying hundreds of meters away, all the way to the feet of Himinbjörg, his palace.
Heimdall got back up with difficulty. "So you're with them now," he said, struggling to breathe.
He drew a large horn from his back. "You really think you stand a chance?" he laughed.
He was about to blow it, but Njord grabbed the sword Heimdall had dropped. He extended his arm and threw it like a spear toward him.
The sword cut through the air as fast as a bullet and passed between Heimdall's mouth and the mouthpiece of Gjallarhorn. The guard knocked the horn out of his hands and pinned it to the palace door.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" shouted the guardian of the Bifrost. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the horn.
The Bifrost suddenly trembled, and at that exact moment, a man appeared between Heimdall and Gjallarhorn, as if he had teleported. He was surrounded by a violent storm, hiding everything but the rage emanating from him.
"Where is Tyr?" he asked.
The rest of the group came through the portal. Heimdall stared at them.
He started laughing. "So few of you? You really thi—"
The storm around Tachi intensified. "Where is Tyr?"
Heimdall swallowed, then replied with a smirk, hiding his fear. "You must be the wind god he mentioned. You want Tyr? He's waiting for you in Thrudheim. First realm that way," he pointed to the right from the Bifrost. "If you think you can beat him, you're deluding yourself."
Tachi didn't respond. He shot off so fast Heimdall wondered, 'did he just teleport?'
Sigurd exclaimed, "He looked chill not even ten seconds ago… The god of wind is angry,"
Njord slowly walked toward Heimdall. "Good thing Loki hasn't triggered Ragnarök yet. I don't think you'd be responsive enough to warn Asgard from the arrival of Surtr and his army."
"Shut up, I can still do it, idiot," the guardian replied.
"You sure about that?" Njord asked.
Heimdall turned, and nothing was hanging from his sword. 'That bastard took Gjallarhorn!'
"Skadi! Go through the realms to the left of Idavoll. Noatun is clear, the rest is up to you," Njord ordered.
Skadin ran, "Let's go!" said Sigurd, and they all followed her.
"You think I'll just let you pass?!" Heimdall shouted as he ran for his sword, but Njord grabbed his arm.
"We're not done." He struck him. Heimdall blocked with his arms, but the clash of the two gods created a crater in the ground.
Skadi, Sigurd, and the younger gods ran past them, heading toward Noatun.
Heimdall laughed. "Fine. Let's have some fun. The others will deal with them."
—
"Move faster!" Skadi ordered.
They had passed Himinbjörg and were now in the middle of Noatun, or what seemed to be it.
Akyo looked around while keeping pace. "If this was once a beautiful port, I get why Njord is so pissed about it."
The water was black. The ground covered in waste. It had become Heimdall's dumping ground.
"We're approaching Sessrumnir," the goddess announced.
'The realms of Asgard are massive plateaus at different heights. The further we go, the higher we climb, and the smaller the lower realms look…' Akyo thought. He looked up.
"Is that Valhalla up there?"
"Exactly," Skadi replied.
"The palace looks huge…" he said, then glanced at the massive stone walls surrounding the floating island of Asgard. 'What are they protecting themselves from…'
Suddenly, two massive energies exploded behind them. They all stopped and turned toward Himinbjörg, now far in the distance.
"What the hell was that?! I got chills, it was so powerful," said Sōsuke.
They could hear massive impacts in the distance, the battle between the guardian of the Bifrost and the god of the calm sea was raging.
"I guess the element of surprise is gone with those two beating the hell out of each other…" Sigurd said dryly.
"Too late for that, keep moving!" Skadi ordered, firmly leading the group.
They continued forward. Magnus' heart was racing. 'I'm not made for this… not yet…'
They finally reached the border between Noatun and the next realm.
The wooden port ground gave way to vast green plains. In the distance stood a massive circular palace.
Sigurd began, "Is that where we're head—"
"SIGURD WATCH OUT!" Sōsuke shouted.
A beam of light shot toward Sigurd at high speed. 'I won't have time to dod—!!'
Skadi stepped in and raised a wall of ice between them and the attack.
The wall blocked it, then shattered shortly after. "Thanks…" Hodr murmured.
"Where did that come from?" Akyo asked.
Skadi silently pointed toward the sky.
High above them floated a woman with a single wing, clad in silver armor, her long braided blonde hair flowing majestically.
"Freyja…" Akyo whispered.
"Exactly. There's my beautiful step-daughter," Skadi said. "Sigurd, I'll have to stop here. Keep going through the realms. Next is Landvidi, then Breidablik, which will be empty. Loki will be waiting for you in Valhalla."
"Got it," he replied. "Follow me!"
Magnus, Sōsuke, and Akyo followed him. Skadi stayed behind.
As they approached Folkvangr, Magnus couldn't help but look back at the winged goddess. "She's not attacking us?"
"No," said Sigurd, still leading. "And she won't. If you had paid attention, you'd have noticed."
"Noticed what?" Sōsuke asked.
"She hasn't taken her eyes off Skadi. Not once."