As Rose started leading me around, I could only imagine the extremely stupid look on my face as I looked around, back and forth, to and fro.
Somewhere between 'a kid in a candy store', and 'blatantly awed tourist' is probably a good approximation.
It's just that as we went along, I simply couldn't stop comparing the place to Takamagahara.
I know it's kind of unfair, considering the circumstances I got to see each realm in are vastly different, and I know that's skewing my thoughts a bit.
But…I think I prefer Asgard to Takamagahara.
Oh, the Shinto Heavens are one hundred percent more 'heavenly' feeling, if that makes sense. You could feel it in the air there; every color popped, the place felt more, and it was far more interconnected with nature, or at least it felt like it on some level.
Here though? As we walked along the twisting dirt path, more and more of the land and its places began showing itself…well. The differences, one major, became glaring.
Asgard felt alive.
An odd thing to say, isn't it?
The dirt path we walked on bent oddly at turns and random times, the building built alongside it and other branching paths never looked the same and were built on a need-by-need basis, rather than via careful city planning.
Occasionally, we walked past actual people outside their homes.
"No, no, boy! Like this!" A big man, almost stereotypical in his rough Viking appearance, held a massive battle axe over his shoulder.
He swung it down, cleaving the air in twine, before turning to a very young boy, barely able to walk, off to his side. Yet still, he wore tiny variations of the same Viking-inspired armor and carried a similarly tiny axe.
"R-Right, Father! HAH!" The boy swung his tiny weapon much the same, and although we had walked past the two by this point, so I couldn't see his face any longer…
"Ohoho! That's it! That's my boy! Hah!"
The uproarious and proud laughter of the father told me all that I needed to know there.
That whole, tiny little interaction brought a smile to my face. My eyes slowly slid over to the face of the young woman still dragging me along, and I found much the same plastered across hers as well.
A small knowing smile.
The silence was comfortable, but I decided to break it out of pure curiosity.
"You miss it here?" I abruptly ask.
Rose startles a bit, turning her head slightly to look back at me. For a moment, she doesn't say anything, and her smile turns wistful.
"It's my home- well, not here, in this part of Asgard specifically!" she quickly corrects. "But…well, it's my home. So many good memories, yet so many bad memories."
I nod in understanding. "Yeah, I feel that one. My old home right outside Kuoh Town is much the same…I just never really think about it too much."
Although, to be fair, that's likely because before that day on the mountain, there weren't many bad memories to think of per se. It's just a matter of could have beens, what ifs, a whole lot of lost lonely times. That type of deal.
"But when I do think of that place…I tend to prefer remembering the good." I add on with a wistful smile.
A flash of memory burns through my mind, of when Uzume taught a far younger me to dance.
Simpler times, man, simpler times.
Rose hummed at that, turning her head to look forward fully once again.
The silence once again settles, but it isn't long before it's broken again.
This time, it was by Rose herself.
"That kid and that father back there?" She begins, reminiscing, "Those two, they reminded me of the time my grandmother first showed me magic…" And just as quickly as she began, she trailed off, lost in thought and memory.
I didn't require any more elaboration than that. I merely smiled at her, and let us continue walking in peace.
And so we do.
For what feels like a…pretty good amount of time.
Not that I have any problem with that!
See, going out or just a date doesn't always have to be about restaurants, movies, sightseeing, all that stuff.
In my mind, the time spent together is what matters at the end of the day.
So something like this? Holding hands and just walking through the home of at least one faction of the Norse Gods? Completely fine with it, as long as Rose is, too.
There is a slight issu,e though, in this case.
"C-C'mon…shouldn't it be around here…!?"
I started hearing increasingly anxious mutterings like that from her over time.
And soon enough, Rose was looking around in a panic, clearly unable to find whatever she was trying to guide us toward.
At first, I didn't want to embarrass her more by bringing it up, but as time went on, she looked increasingly more and more like she was going to have a panic attack if I just said and did nothing.
I start slowing down, the silver-haired girl leading me around so lost in her troubled thoughts that she doesn't even realize I do so until our pace is so out of sync she abruptly gets jerked from her hold on my hand, damn near causing her to fall.
"E-EEH!?" She cries out, completely startled, until I let go of her hand and wrap my arm around her waist, holding her upright and close, "...N-Nori!?" She squeaks out through a blink as the situation settles on her.
I raise an eyebrow down at her, and ask her plainly, "Having direction problems?"
"U-UM!" She refuses to meet my gaze. "No?"
I deadpanned at her.
She caught barely a glimpse of it, and quickly covered her face with her hands in response.
"...O-Okay," she reluctantly and painfully slowly admitted, after a bit more staring, "Yes…I thought I knew where it was! I had heard, several times, I t-thought I…" Rose stopped herself, her lip quivering as she held back from backing down on the spot.
Well, shit. I can't have this now, can I?
First things first, just to confirm.
"No teleportation there, I presume?" I ask naturally.
Rose gave a shuddering sigh, "N-No…I never went there, physically, before. And from what I know the place isn't popular enough to have teleportation circles to it at other places." Rose pauses, taking a short breath. "I only heard about it from…from the other Valkyries, talking about it all the time. It supposed to be this Mead Hall, out of the way, where…l-l-lovers go to, you know…"
I'm going to assume she means date, but the way she seems so shy describing it also makes me want to assume something like a Norse love hotel.
But that doesn't sound right. Mead is a drink; I learned that from video games!
Also, it doesn't make sense because if they had those up here, ol' Virgin One-Eye wouldn't need to go down to Japan to visit worse knockoffs.
…Right?
I shake my head, expelling that rabbit hole of a train of thought, to ask the next obvious question.
"Well then, you know it's around here somewhere…probably. Do you know what the place looks like?"
At that, Rose takes a moment to think before nodding slowly, moving her fingers slightly to peek out at me with a lone eye.
"Y-Yes, I believe so. They were very…poetic, with how nice, romantic, and clean the place is. How it doesn't get burned down as often as the other halls, or how few fights are started there that spill out into the streets…" She began listing off, more than describing, and I could feel the longing in her voice as she did so.
Is it sad that I looked forward to the place slightly less when she talked about how there were fewer fights there?
…Nah.
Brushing all of that aside, I give her an easy nod and promptly wrap my other arm around her, picking her up.
"OOF!? Nori?!" In her panic, she removes her hands from her face, grabbing my shoulders to hang on so I can once again see her confused, flushed face.
"If you remember what the place is supposed to look like," I explain, "then it'd be easier to find if we had a higher vantage point, no?"
Rose blinked up at me.
I unleashed a small piece of my power, my halo igniting into existence behind me, and I shot straight up, carrying her along for the ride.
It was only then that recognition and something else flashed across her face.
"W-Wait, Nori, don't!" She abruptly cried out urgently.
"Huh?" I look down at her, still heading up, "Wh-"
I am forced to an abrupt and violent halt by my head slamming into something.
Whatever it was, though, it was so hard that it didn't have any give to me when I slammed into it.
There was no blunt, I took all the force. So much so that immediately afterward, I found my vision swimming in a sea of blurry darkness.
For all but a second or two, my regeneration kicked into gear and healed whatever I had just done to myself.
I came too, still in the air, in the middle of beginning to fall back down, Rose grasping onto the collar of my robe and looking at me in worry as tears pricked the corner of her eyes.
Quickly, I halt our descent before it can truly begin, so we stay floating in place.
I blinked several times and gave the only response I could think appropriate to whatever the hell just happened.
"...The fuck!?" I heaved out in confusion and outrage.
Then I looked back up, a preemptive glare set across my face.
As soon as my eyes met the 'sky', only then did I see it truly.
"Yggdrasil…" Rose started explaining, "the World Tree, some of its branches, they make up the sky."
I blinked, slowly, as I processed her words.
Before us? Practically a translucent wall, letting the light of the sun through, though it isn't perfectly invisible. I could see it, the hazy shimmers as the sunlight passed through.
I looked to either side, left and right, and I couldn't see an end to the wall…no, the branch. A single branch.
Just how big is this tree then!?
"Hey…!"
I perked up, hearing Rose calling out to me, and quickly turned my head to look back down at her.
"Are you okay?" She asks, grabbing onto my face, her still tear-pricked eyes roaming over my head, "That wasn't exactly a soft blow, and the World Tree's branches aren't just really big solid objects, sometimes they can even…" she quickly shakes her head, "N-Nevermind! We'd know if the Tree released any magic!"
Well. That's ominous.
Disregarding that for now, I pat her on the back and shoot her a smile.
"Don't you worry about me, alright? Regeneration already took care of the brain damage and all that." I tell her, before my smile turns into a smirk, "What else could the Tree do, though? Shock me?"
"Ah…" Rose gulps, "That, and…other stuff."
I couldn't help but chuckle, rubbing her across her back.
I would love to ask for more details, but clearly, whatever it is makes her anxious just thinking about it, so I'll drop it for now.
"Guess I'm lucky then, yeah? Now…" I start slowly spinning around, "How's the view from up here, huh? It's not as high as I originally wanted, but hopefully, this is good enough!"
Rose looks out, narrowing her eyes to soak up the view as best she can.
It took me turning all the way around to make Rose perk up and point.
"There!" She abruptly shouts, and I follow the direction her finger points with my eyes.
Off in the distance, in the opposite way we were going, I spotted a building that was a touch different from the others. Structure-wise, it looks longer than the houses near it, and the roof looks like it's entirely made from gold, but not the rest of the building, like the other palaces and halls.
"At least…I think that's the one." Rose slowly adds after, and then in a voice even smaller, further adds while almost whimpering, "I really hope that's the one…"
I shrug, giving her a small smile, "Even if it isn't, I hope you know our time together so far has been great regardless."
Rose flinches at that, a bright blush passing across her face.
Then I start floating toward the supposed hall's direction, and her face burns more.
"N-Now, hold on!" Rose panickedly interjects, "We can walk the rest of the way there now that we know, c-can't we? After all, people might see us…" She trails off in worry.
I couldn't help my snort at that, "Who cares if they see us?"
"Eh!?" Rose cried out, flabbergasted.
"What?" I went on, "It's not like we're hurting or even inconveniencing anyone right now, so if anyone has a problem, they can go suck it. My girl wants to go to this hall, I'm gonna get us there. Simple as."
"I-It's still embarrassing- Wait." She stops, blinks, and looks up at me, her blush rapidly magnifying, "Y-Y-Your…"
I merely smirked back down at her.
Rose buried her head against my robe and said nothing more as we floated the rest of the way there.
She'd only raise her head back up once I started floating down, right before the building.
Upon closer inspection, well, my initial basic description was spot on.
Adding onto that, though? The roof was made of straw. Golden straw, specifically.
As in, the straw is just outright made of gold.
Beyond that, the wooden walls were painted a nice deep red, and there was a sign hanging above the door that had a pink heart emblazoned on it.
A pink heart was further emblazoned on some kind of shield symbol that was further pierced by a sword coming in from the side.
Hmm. Once again, is this just a mead hall?
Man, I wish I could read Norse letters right now. There's a string of those at the bottom of the sign, right below the heart and hall, which I bet doesn't help any of this.
I tilt my head, eyeing Rose expectantly.
The poor girl doesn't disappoint, and she's staring at the sign, practically glowing the same shade of pink adorning the sign.
"This the place?" I speak up, casually.
Rose nods rapidly.
Okay, I just have to know.
"What's the sign say?" I follow up with a little quieter.
"N-Nothing!"
I give her a particularly pointed stare.
"I'd really rather not say."
My stare intensifies.
"M-Mmm…" She looked away from my gaze. "The R-Romp…Romp Through the Shieldwall."
Romp through the- Oh.
Ohhhh.
Heh, alright, that's an okay euphemism. Not exactly as spicy as I assumed, but fine nonetheless. They probably could have done better, but it is what it is.
They've had Odin as a leader for who knows how long. I'm not shocked even their sexual comedy has suffered.
I chuckle, uttering, "How perverse."
Rose nodded along, shy yet seriously, agreeing by replying with, "Very."
Is there something I'm missing here? Like, culture-wise?
Am I going to open that door to find the most degenerate place known to human and divine kind?
Only one way to find out!
"Oh well," I hum, setting Rose down, only to take her by the hand once she's on her feet once more, "shall we then?" I turn and ask her.
Honestly, I expect her to stammer out something and try to back out of this, now that we're here. Or at least try to.
Rose looks back at me, her blush still glowing, yet despite that, I can see something in her eyes. A different kind of glow, a fire.
She gives a single, strong nod, "Yes…please."
Well, I'll be damned, alright then!
I walk us to the door and easily push it open, stepping in.
Almost immediately, I was hit by various smells, all at once, all of them pretty pleasant.
Flowers, freshly cooked meat, spices, and even honey. All of it nearly made me whistle out loud.
As for what I'm seeing, well, it isn't enough to put my jaw on the floor because I sort of expected it, but it's still pretty impressive, nonetheless.
It is a huge and long hall, as the building's shape indicates, but the inside looks far larger than the outside.
Magic, right?
That said, the hall itself looked sparsely lit but not completely dark. Most of the light came from the center of the hall, where several separate fire pits stretched down the center in a line. A few had steaming pots hanging over them or rods spit-roasting meats, the likely source of the smells that hit us upon entering.
On either side of the line of fire pits were rows of pillars, with walls behind said pillars, segregating off these small areas which had a wooden, but cozy looking, bench and table set.
However, a few of these areas were covered up by a long, brightly covered curtain or blanket, blocking the view inside entirely.
All in all, there looked to be about a few dozen or so of these sectioned-off seating areas.
Then, opposite to us, at the end of their hall, there seemed to be a couple of doors leading off to somewhere else, along with two sets of stairs leading up to the small second floor…whose only purpose is to give access to another set of doors leading elsewhere as well.
Probably places for storage, or kitchens for more complicated dishes, would be my bet as to where those lead.
Strange though, looking around, I don't see anyone else…there isn't even a front desk or anything.
Thankfully, that didn't seem to matter. Not too long after the door shut behind us, a magic circle swirled into existence right in front of our feet.
Rose, being the magic gal, quickly gave it an appraising stare.
Her eyes soon rapidly widened in…recognition. And she abruptly moved, panickedly pulling the brim of her sunhat over the front of her face!
Before I could even ask what was going on, a light shined from the circle, and a figure soon emerged from said light.
As the light dimmed, the figure revealed itself to be…a young girl? Not one that I knew, though. She was petite, with shoulder-length pink hair that reminded me of cotton candy and bright green eyes. She wore a modest, free-flowing barmaid dress, and as she settled her eyes upon us, she crossed her hands together, holding them right in front of her skirt.
A picture-perfect service smile settled on her face as she greeted us pleasantly, her accent thick, the sweetness in her tone just as fake as her smile, "Hallo there! Ah, you two…I do not recognize you…are you perhaps new here?"
I know Rose won't answer for some reason, so instead, I do the talking.
But before that, I let go of her hand, instead grabbing onto Rose's waist, holding her close as I gave our greeter a polite nod, and replied, "That we are…?"
She nodded. "Hildr. Hostess Hildr." Her smile never left, even as her eyes darted between my face and the hand I had on Rose's waist.
Speaking of, as close as we are, I could feel the silver-haired girl in my arm flinch at our hostess's name.
"Now. What are the names of the lovely couple I have the pleasure of serving this evening?" Our Hostess asked, sickly sweet.
She's really trying to earn her tips, huh?
After thinking for a moment, I put my hand to my chest and said, "Nori," a pat on Rose's waist, "Rose. Thank you for having us, Hostess."
Oddly enough, she gives me a slightly strange look upon my giving my name. Weird. But she doesn't make a fuss about anything, and the look is gone like it was never there to begin with, so I wave it off.
Hildr gives us a pleased nod and turns on her heels. "Very well, you two! Come along, I shall show you to your space!"
I hum at that and follow, leading Rose at my side as…I don't think she can see right now, her hat is pulled down far too much.
Our Hostess leads us over to one of the sets of benches and tables, as far away from the other ones where a curtain is covering the front of the space.
Upon reaching it, she merely stands off to the side next to it, right in front of one of the pillars marking the entrance to the space, to speak. With a wave of her hand, she signals us to walk in.
I raise an eyebrow at her but lead us in regardless.
"Now," Hildr began, "you will find your menus and silverware on your table, along with a notepad. Merely write down what you wish for food and drink, and it shall be summoned to your table. You will also find prices for times, and should you wish to book a more…accommodating space, prices for that as well as part of your menu."
Hildr puts her hands together and bows slightly. "Please enjoy your stay, and a word of warning…although this space is magically enchanted to keep the sound in, it's not completely soundproof." She gives an exaggerated wink our way, "So do try and keep it down at least a little, alright? Once again, enjoy!"
With that all said, she holds up a hand and snaps her fingers.
Another magical circle swirls into existence, this time filling the space between the pillars, before bursting into a flash of light.
Where the magic circle once stood, a curtain similar to the others I saw earlier was now hung in its place.
I have several things I'd like to comment on about all that. But first.
I eye Rose, raising an eyebrow her way, before saying, "Alright, she's gone. Now what was that whole hiding your face thing for?"
Slowly, ever so slowly, Rose pulls up her sunhat and lets out a shuddering, relieved sigh, "I knew that girl. She was a Valkyrie, once…she wasn't the last, but she was one of Lo-...Odin's former bodyguards, too."
…Well shit. Small world, huh?
"Crazy she got a job here then…" I mused, only for Rose to shake her head and sigh once more.
"She's got to make a living somehow, and I bet this place pays far more than working for him." Rose mused as well, but far more bitterly.
At this point, I would ask why she'd hide her face from her, but…honestly? I don't think I need to bring that up right this second.
I already have an idea from canon, anyhow, and besides that, I don't want to ruin her mood before we even get to the food!
Although Hildr said there would be menus on our table, I don't recall seeing them when we walked in.
As I think that, I turn and look toward our table, which is no longer so empty, as all the items she said would be there are, as though our table just got freshly set at a sit-down restaurant.
Huh. I just realized this is technically my first time at a magic, or supernatural, restaurant.
And it's part love hotel. I'm almost certain of that now.
I don't even know why I bother being surprised anymore!
~ A New Sun ~
As soon as the curtain appears, Hildr's face morphs.
Her smile? Gone. Instead, it's replaced by a bitter scowl.
"Another one of those…people," the former Valkyrie huffs in derision to herself, "from the East. Guess it was only a matter of time…"
As another magic circle appears beneath her feet, the pinkette can't help but wonder though…
That girl that was with him seemed familiar, even though she couldn't see her face…the poor shy thing.
Although, for some reason, that just makes that feeling of familiarity swell more.
What did that guy say her name was again?
Rose, right?
Hmm…it's only a hunch, and there's no way it's true, but…
Maybe she should make a call or two to a group of old friends?
Just to be safe.