https://youtu.be/HDlGXfnK6pA

"Heh...I guess you win."

"...I guess I do."

As the two of them exchanged looks, they both removed all their magic - Oz's daggers, Anwin's cats, and the psychically-controlled knives and bouncy balls were no more. The game was set, they both knew right away, and Oz had come out victorious. The einherjar held his hand out towards the ifrit, smiling in spite of his visible weariness. "That was a good match, Anwin. It felt different from the good old days."

"In the good old days, you couldn't summon weapons or move at the speed of light." Anwin pointed out, taking his hand and helping himself up. The comment earned a chuckle from Oz.

"And you couldn't summon cats of any kind, let alone the flaming variety." he replied, pulling back. "So I suppose we've both grown, in a myriad of ways."

"If I disagreed with you, I'd have to be lion." Anwin smiled, dusting off his clothes before spreading his arms out. "Now, as promised, I have some information for you. Better listen, because this'll be on the test."

"I'm all ears."

Oz and Freya both went silent, though the latter wouldn't have been audible to Anwin anyway, and they both listened attentively as Anwin cleared his throat, raising his arms to the sky. "It's true, as you said - we Hel's Angels plan to overcome the heavens themselves." he said. "The heavens, Odin, and fate itself; we're going to take them all on."

"...that is certainly quite ambitious." Oz murmured, while Freya remained completely silent. "But why? Or is that answer locked behind another fight?"

"Nah, I can tell you." Anwin placed a hand on his hip. "It's because the web of fate that covers these realms is fucking everything up, and Odin's letting it happen. His obsession with keeping everything on the straight and narrow is ruining the world."

Oz listened, feeling very uncertain as he wrung his hands together. Anwin, noticing he was absorbing what was being said, continued. "If we remove him from power, we can put someone else on Asgard's throne. Someone who knows what he's doing." he explained, his face solemn as he spoke. "Under Lord Gardariki, we can improve the whole world."

"But I can't let you do that, Anwin. Even if we are friends." Oz frowned uneasily. "Asgard is a blissful land, ruled over by a king who cares for its people. If that king is in danger, then I'll have to protect him. Even if that means standing in your way."

"See, now that's the kind of heroic response I expect." Anwin shrugged. "But do you believe it? Is that your heart talking? Or is it just your Odin-poisoned brain?"

"Odin isn't a poison."

"Sure, I don't doubt that he treats you nicely up there. Shoves you all in a nice little gilded cage, never to wonder what lies beyond." Anwin sighed, raising an eyebrow at Oz's befuddled stare. "Heck, he's got you so good, you're all fine having your lives dictated by the wyrd, never to deviate even as it leads you to a preventable doom."

"The wyrd...fate is what keeps the natural order in check." Oz protested, scowling deeply and pressing a hand to his heart. "We can't possibly break free from it - and think of the chaos that would occur if someone did!"

Anwin tapped his foot on the ground, displeased. "Let's say, hypothetically, that it was your fate to kill that king that you love so much." he said. "I wonder, would you still be singing the same tune?"

At that, Oz stayed silent. The notion of bringing harm to his king filled Oz with a great turmoil as he felt his heart skip a beat at the concept. But at the same time, he couldn't outright say that Anwin was wrong either. He didn't say anything, for he had no idea what to say - if there was a right answer, and what it was. Anwin smiled a little, shaking his head slowly.

"You know, back when we were humans, you were always the one cooking for me." he said. "Consider this my payment - now it's my turn to give you some food for thought. Chew on that, okay? Maybe you'll have an answer when we next meet."

"What will you be doing until then?"

"Well, seeing as you defeated most of my army, I'll have to spend a bit of time recuperating. Maybe update their training a little." Anwin shrugged. "Though, if I get any orders, I guess they'd have to come first. Really not fond of acid baths, you know."

"Huh?"

"Now, I don't know if you had anything planned," Anwin continued. "But I recommend you continue your heroics. It's not like Ine is the only place we've invaded."

"Where else?" Oz asked curiously, standing up straight and staring quizzically at his counterpart.

"Lots of places. Aleron and I told our dudes to scatter and invade as many places as possible." Anwin replied. "It hasn't been too long, so we should've only taken over a few towns in the area by now."

"...you know, you don't have to answer my questions." Oz murmured. "We're on opposite sides, if you'll recall."

"Just because I'm a bad guy now doesn't mean I can't accept a loss." Anwin smiled slightly, his hands entering his pockets. "Besides, you'd probably just go searching anyway. Might as well give you the heads-up."

"...well, thank you." Oz bowed graciously. "Until next time, Anwin."

He waved at him, turning around as Anwin waved back, and began to walk down the stairs. Anwin watched him leave, sitting back and sighing as he closed his eyes. An aura of uncertainty permeated through the area - on one hand, both men couldn't be happier to know that the other was still alive. On the other, this cruel twist of fate that had put them on opposite sides of the same conflict almost felt worth defying in and of itself.

"Hey, Oz..." Freya's soothing voice hummed in the warrior's head once he was halfway down the staircase. He looked up to the ceiling, quickening his pace as he heard the sound of footsteps from down below. "How are you doing?"

"...I'll be fine." he said robotically.

"Must suck, doesn't it? About Anwin, I mean?" Freya mumbled. "And about the Hel's Angels, too. What do you think about what he told you?"

"About their goals, you mean?" Oz asked. "I disagreed back then, but..."

https://youtu.be/xHVMOlRsZQs

Before he finished his sentence, he shook his head and looked forward again, deciding to focus on something else. "Freya, do you hear that?" he asked, arriving at the foot of the stairs and quickly beginning to approach the next floor. "Someone's here! Do you think it might be a threat?"

Freya deliberated on that for a little while before replying with a whimsical, "Perhaps you should decide that for yourself."

"You know what that is, don't you? How dare you keep secrets from me!" Oz declared melodramatically before shaking his head, recognising that time was of the essence. The footsteps were gradually getting quieter. Not on his watch, he thought, racing to the next set of stairs and running down. A couple floors of this later, he spotted a flash of auburn hair disappearing down the stairs.

"Could that be..."

Lingering on that line of thought, he went faster, rushing towards that spiral staircase and running after his target, who seemed to speed up in response to him. But he was still faster, and it was unmistakable who he was chasing after once he got a good look at her. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, he stopped his running and looked down at her from halfway down. "Halt!" he declared grandly. "Be not afraid, for you stand in my presence...Yuri Croce!"

Yuri, dressed in her purple frock coat, looked up, mildly startled at having been called out like this, and saw Oz jump off the side of the staircase, landing on the floor and standing up straight. She then turned her gaze to the ground, feeling ashamed for her lack of speed compared to him. This was supposed to be a stealth mission, damn it! She stammered incoherently for a moment before clearing her throat. "...hello, Oz."

"Ah. So you know this girl." Freya commented, mildly displeased. Oz nodded with a salute.

"Of course I do. She's a knight." he said in a hushed tone. "Why so melancholic, Freya?"

"Well, I think she's rather suspicious. She came in at around floor six, and stopped once she hit floor eight. Almost as if she was listening in on you and Anwin." Freya warned him. "If I were you, I'd proceed with caution."

"Freya, Freya, she's a knight! I think if one of our knights was in a cult, I'd know." Oz shook his head. "Besides, if she was really spying on me, the best time to intervene would have been when I was with Anwin, so I'm fighting a war on two fronts!"

"The Angels aren't exactly who I'm worried about here..." Freya muttered under her breath. Oz wondered whether or not to follow that up, but found himself distracted by Yuri, who was staring at him rather oddly. Realising what this looked like, he blushed slightly and took a bow.

"A-Ah, I recognise that it may look like I was talking to myself just now." he smiled cheesily. "Rest assured, Eagle, I was engaged in the deepest, most insightful discussion with my imaginary friend."

From her room, Freya stared blankly at the image of Oz in her crystal ball. "Hey, I'm real, you know." she protested.

Yuri, meanwhile, continued to watch him, unsure exactly what to make of this. "Uh...I didn't know you had one of those..."

"That's because I don't." Oz said casually, visibly baffling Yuri even more. "But enough about me! I want to know about you!"

"I...don't have an imaginary friend."

"Neither do I! I believe this is what's known as 'twinsies' in Alfheim!" Oz exclaimed cheerfully, before turning serious in the blink of an eye. "But, in all seriousness, I'm going to have to ask what it is you're doing here."

"Oh, uh...Svafrlami sent me on a mission." Yuri said, which technically wasn't a lie. "I was told to clear out the castle of Ine...but it looks like you beat me to it."

"My sincerest apologies. I permit you to take the credit." Oz smiled reassuringly, bowing his head. "I take it he sent you after our little talk earlier?"

Yuri nodded wordlessly at that, deciding not to rely too heavily on her powers of deception. Oz, smiling, placed a hand on his hip and held his other hand out towards her. "Well, seeing as our goals thus far have been aligned, why don't we continue to collaborate?"

"Huh?"

"Oz, are you sure about this? I really think you should be a bit more careful..."

"But of course!" Oz spread his arms out wide, his smile almost blinding Yuri with its radiance. "From what I can gather, you're an excellent warrior! I, too, am an excellent warrior! As fate would have it, I happen to be about to embark on a mission to liberate the settlements conquered by the Hel's Angels; but two heads are better than one, are they not? I'm sure Svafrlami will be more than pleased if you take part."

That last part was a lie on the basis that Oz wasn't sure Svafrlami could be pleased, but he didn't feel the need to mention that part. As for Yuri, she began to consider that if the very premise of the upcoming adventure wasn't antithetical to Svafrlami's accusations, it would actually be very convenient for the sake of gathering information. Plus, she would be lying if she said the idea of doing heroics with Oz wasn't appealing - not that she hadn't done her fair share of lying today. So, hiding her mixed feelings behind an emotionless look, she nodded slowly. "Then...I should accept your offer."

"Excellent! I'm glad to have you on board, Yuri!" Oz beamed, taking her hand and shaking it happily while she, stunned, put up no resistance. Then, all of a sudden, his face became more serious as he leaned in close. "Oh, but don't tell Svafrlami you saw me smiling today." he whispered. "Who knows who he might kill?"

"...promise."

Oz let go of her hand, taking a deep breath before facing the exit to the next floor down. "Then, without further ado, let us be off."

.........

https://youtu.be/mAvcttUJJf8

And so the two of them made their egress from the ancient castle of Ine, ready to perform their heroics and aid the humans who could not defend themselves from the new menace. But little did they know, an older, more familiar menace had his eyes on them the entire time. As the hours came and went, the commander inside the golden palace of an office grew more and more irate.

With eyes cast in rainbow lights, Svafrlami sat on his throne, fingers knitted together as he stared at a wide-screened mirror held up by his loyal slaves, Dvalin and Durin. Visible to only him was a view of what Oz and Yuri had been up to, and as such he'd been treated to an exclusive show of them fighting Hel's Angels, talking to one another, and freeing towns from the influence of evil. To him, it was clear as day that they were, for all intents and purposes, the heroes of the day.

"What a sick joke..." he muttered under his breath, shaking his head and stewing in his frustration. Yuri was supposed to be gathering evidence that Oz was a Hel's Angel, not playing hero with him. From what he could gather, nothing here was even slightly incriminating. He couldn't present this to Odin - doing so would be far too damaging to his credibility.

"My lord, are you alright?" Dvalin frowned, looking up at Svafrlami in concern. Svafrlami's face scrunched up in response, and he remained silent, continuing to stare intensely at the screen. The two dwarves looked back at each other, shrugging, before Durin decided to try a different approach.

"My lord, what do you see?"

"Complete and utter disappointment." Svafrlami groused. "She's supposed to be gathering evidence that he's a Hel's Angel. Why, then, are they fighting Hel's Angels together?"

"Based on what we know about him, it was likely Abendroth's idea!" Dvalin suggested, causing Svafrlami to roll his eyes.

"That damned hero, always trying to be the knight in shining armour." he mocked, shaking his head. "Hurry up and implicate yourself already!"

"May I suggest some patience, sir?" Durin asked, and at once Svafrlami quirked an unamused eyebrow, while Dvalin quickly shook his head at his twin, a warning that he didn't seem to get. "It will naturally be difficult to prove the guilt of a man we know to be innocent..."

While he spoke, he didn't notice the glowing runic circle appearing by the side of his lord's head - dark purple, with the "ᚲ" character at its centre. Once he finished talking, however, he looked up at his boss, saw the rune, and immediately felt all colour drain from his face as his eyes widened like saucers. "N-No, sir, I mean-"

"Kaunan."

Durin winced audibly, bracing himself for what came next as a circle appeared on the ground around him. He did not dare escape, lest he let go of the mirror and get the knight commander even angrier at him. The circle, with multiple runic letters in it, glowed with a bright violet light, and at once, Durin felt the sensation of burning swords piercing his flesh one by one. He gritted his teeth, doing his best to power through the pain enough to keep a hold on the screen. This was no unfamiliar feeling, of course, but he couldn't exactly shrug it off, either.

Dvalin, on his part, looked up to the silently raging commander, and then at his silently suffering brother. It was very silent, indeed. He opened his mouth, and seeing Svafrlami glare at him almost cowed him into contributing to this quietude. "...well, my lord, the day is not yet over." he pointed out. "Perhaps Yuri has picked up something we have not."

He smiled as he saw Svafrlami visibly calming down ever so slightly. He seemed to like the sound of that a little more. Now with something to look forward to, he slouched in his throne, sighing. "I hope you're right, Dvalin." he said, resting a hand against his cheek, eyes hooked onto the mirror as he continued to channel the power of seidr. "Once Yuri arrives with that evidence, that witch and her new friend will have the full might of the heavens come crashing down on them, and she'll doubtless be forever familiar with forlornness! For now, though...we wait."