Emiko

I never thought this would be the reason I came back here.

The last time I was in Long Beach Island, I was way younger. Dad would take me and Connor here once every year for a week in July. He rented out a small beach house, that was located close to the beach, only 2-3 houses down.

When we got through the portal, we were on top of the big hill next to the beach. There was a large hill there because if the ocean started to rise a little too high, or of the waves got a little too wild, they would still need to go up the large hill to reach any of the houses.

I looked out towards the ocean, smelling the salt water and feeling the warm sun on my skin. I could hear the seagulls flying through the air.

(Those are real pictures of Long Beach Island I took myself. It wasn't very sunny that day, but just imagine it is!)

Angel: "It's so beautiful!"

Idril: "I never imagined Midgard was this pretty!"

I took a deep breath.

Emiko: "Feels good to be back"

Connor: "Just wish it was under different circumstances"

After standing there, admiring the beach, Kaito spoke up.

Kaito: "So, where to first?"

Connor: "I think I know a place"

When Connor said he knew a place, I never thought he'd take us here.

We ended up going to the only lighthouse on the island. I remember when Dad had taken us all the way to the top, so we could look out over the entire island.

(Also took these pictures XD)

Connor: "If anything, I bet he'll be here"

Emiko: "Why here?"

Connor: "It's one of the more isolated parts of the island. There's this end of the island, and Whole Gate, on the complete other side"

Angel: "I wish it was night time, then we could travel in the shadows. It'd be a lot quicker"

Himari: "We don't have time to wait for night. Let's just look around, maybe we'll find something"

The 6 of us started looking around, mainly just looking for any signs of Apophis. Surprise, we didn't find a thing. However Himari noticed a man sitting on one of the benches, right in front of the lighthouse. He looked maybe 40, wearing a heavy red jacket and black snow pants. He had sunglasses over his eyes and had red hair, the kind of red you see on a fire.

Himari: "That's a little off"

Emiko: "No kidding, he's the only one around here, besides us"

I almost wanted to go say hi, but something was off about him. It was hot, since we were at the beach. However the closer I was to him, the hotter it seemed to be. Himari decided to shout out to him.

Himari: "Hey! What are you doing?"

Himari walked closer to him, however I could see her sweating more and more the closer she got.

Himari: "Hey, are you okay? It's hotter than Helheim out here. Why're you wearing that?"

The man looked up at her, with an annoyed expression on his face.

???: "It's freezing here! Don't tell me what to wear!"

Himari: "H-Huh?! How are you cold?!"

The man suddenly snapped.

???: "Mind your own business, girl!!"

Himari backed away.

Himari: "Okay, okay, sorry to bother you"

Himari walked back over to me.

Himari: "Something's not right with him"

Emiko: "Let's just keep an eye on him"

We eventually met back up, sharing what information we gathered. No one really found anything, however when I mentioned the man, Idril seemed a little worried.

Idril: "What did he look like?"

Emiko: "Uh... red jacket, black snow pants, sunglasses, and red hair"

Idril's face sank and her elf ears drooped a little.

Idril: "We have to leave! Now!!"

Connor: "Why?"

Idril: "That wasn't just some random person! It was—"

Suddenly, the air around us turned insanely hot. It wasn't burning, but I was definitely sweating. I turned around and saw a figure standing behind us, just a few feet away. It was the man we saw earlier.

???: "It would seem I've been found out"

The man took his sunglasses off, revealing his pitch black eyes, with fiery read pupils.

???: "Apophis has been expecting you, Demigods"

Himari: "W-Who are you?"

The man grinned. His body started steaming as his skin started burning, soon turning a dark charcoal black. However parts of his body were still red from the burning. His fiery red head burned until it was also pitch black. His body then started growing taller and buffer, until he was 20 feet tall. He glared down at us, wielding a large cleaver sword, which was so big that only he could use it.

I looked over at Himari, who was actually trembling out of fear.

Himari: "S-S-Surtr..."

Kaito: "What?! The Surtr?!"

Kaito quickly drew his sword off his back.

I knew this guy was supposed to be ruler of the Fire Giants from Norse mythology, but he looked more like a demon.

Before we could do anything, Surtr spoke in a deep voice. It was so deep that the ground shook beneath us.

Surtr: "Lower your sword, Demigod. You are surrounded"

We all quickly looked around, however we couldn't see anyone. There was probably multiple Fallen hiding around us.

Surtr: "Do as I say, and you will not die just yet"

I somehow managed the courage to speak.

Emiko: "What do you want?"

Surtr: "It is quite obvious, is it not? I have come for you and your brother. Apophis is waiting for you two at Whole Gate"

I realized we were searching on the complete opposite end of the island, which pissed me off a little. Connor yelled.

Connor: "You'll have to kill us before we go with you!"

I quickly shot Connor a look that said, Shut up you dumbass!!!

Surtr suddenly broke into a deep laugh.

Surtr: "The fact of the matter is, I won't take you to him. I don't want Ragnarok to start now either. He needs you two alive for his plan to go into motion"

Himari: "So... you're on our side?"

Surtr: "Of course not! I merely do not want to give Apophis the satisfaction of using you for his plan"

Himari: "You'll let us go then...?"

Surtr: "I will instead slaughter you all personally and burn your bodies in Musphelheim until the end of days"

Surtr raised his sword, ready to swing it down at us.

Connor: "Idril!! Time spell! Now!!"

Idril fumbled through her bag and quickly pulled out her rune stone. She held it into the air, and a bright light was emitted from it. However, unlike last time, time didn't completely freeze. But it slowed down just enough for all of us to get out of the way.

Surtr swung his sword down, crashing into the ground and setting the ground ablaze.

Emiko: "W-What happened?! Why didn't it freeze time?!"

Idril: "Elf magic is much more powerful in Alfheim. Therefore, I could stop time completely there. But since we're in Midgard, I can only use its normal power, which is slowing down time. I-I'm really sorry..."

Connor: "It's okay, we still have a little time thanks to your spell"

Suddenly, multiple people jumped out of the shadows, literally. Like Angel could do, they all appeared out of the shadows casted by the lighthouse. There were 5 in total.

The first was pale, skinny woman. She was dressed up in all winter clothes, almost like she was ready for a blizzard. Her hair was white as snow, and her eyes were just as white. I noticed the number 5 on her jacket.

The second person was a buff, tall man. His hair and beard were red, almost like he had Irish or Scottish blood in him. He was wearing traditional Viking armor, which wasn't much. He was holding two giant maces in his hands. The number 4 was on his belt.

The third was a small girl, maybe about half our age. She may have looked young, but her face looked more like something out of a horror movie. One half of her face looked normal, however the other half was filled with decay. She wore a long pink dress, almost going down to her feet. She only held a small bunny plush in her hands. The number 3 was written on her dress.

The forth was a tall, but very skinny man. It was actually very disturbing how skinny he was. He wore a long black and purple robe. A black hood was pulled over his head, hiding his dark purple hair. A torn and worn cape was attached to his back, and the torn pieces looked like knife blades. One eye was blood red, while the other had a big scar over it, only giving off the white of his eye. Out of all of them, this guy looked the most intimidating. The number 2 was written on his hood.

Finally, the fifth was someone I knew all too well. It was a girl about our age. She had long blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail. Her sky blue eyes scowled at me the second she laid her eyes on me. She was wearing her fancy white shirt and black skirt. In her hands, was that famous pole I'd grown to hate. On her shirt, was the number 1. Welcome back, Siyuka.

Emiko: "Why the hell won't you just leave us alone?!"

For some reason, they weren't affected by the slowed down time. It was as if the spell wasn't even active.

Siyuka: "Because we have orders to be here. I also just want to kick your ass one last time"

She scowled at Angel and Connor. Suddenly, the small girl spoke up, with a childish voice.

???: "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Siyuka: "Oh, right"

Siyuka cleared her throat.

Siyuka: "I guess I should let you know who your killers are. We're the Elite Fallen Demigods, a group of Fallen hand picked by Apophis himself. We're the strongest Fallen"

The girl wearing all the warm clothes stepped forward. She spoke in a calm, soothing tone, however her voice was a little shaky, since she was shivering.

???: "My name is Frostine, I'm the former daughter of Chione, the Greek Goddess of ice"

The tall Viking slammed his maces on the ground. He spoke in a deep, thunderous tone.

???: "Name's Barak, former son of Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning.

The little girl stepped forward, one half of her giving us a kind smile, while her decaying have was frowning.

???: "My name is Deidamia! I'm the daughter of Hel, the Norse goddess of the dead! It's nice to meet you!"

The hooded man turned to her.

???: "You shouldn't be making friends with your slaughter toys"

Deidamia: "Aww! Come on! It's more fun when they get friendly with us! Then I can stare into their eyes, while they're wondering why their best friend is pulling out their organs!!"

Just that line alone made me seriously afraid. The hooded man removed his hood, revealing his spiky dark purple hair. He spoke in a very non emotional tone.

???: "Alder, former son of Apocalypse, the god of gravity"

Siyuka smirked.

Siyuka: "As for me, I need no introduction"

Idril looked nervous and confused.

Idril: "U-Um... W-Who are you?"

Siyuka: "Eh— S-Shut up!!"

Idril flinched at her shout.

Siyuka: "I'm so going to enjoy stepping on you!!"

Emiko: "Woah, sadomasochist alert"

Siyuka: "You're eating the sand first!!!"

Siyuka sent electricity all throughout her pole, and all of us braced ourselves.

Siyuka: "You wanna know something funny...?"

Siyuka dashed towards me with the speed of lightning, literally. She turned into a lightning bolt as she ran towards me. Right before she slammed her electrified pole into my stomach, I could hear her speak.

Siyuka: "I've been holding back!!!!"

The second her pole made contact with me, I was sent flying in the air. I landed on the top of the lighthouse, however I was extremely dizzy. I coughed up a little blood, which was definitely not a good sign.

I looked down at everyone, and they weren't in better shape.

Kaito was fighting Frostine. She was easily avoiding his sword, even though she looked like she could barely move with all she was wearing. Kaito aimed his hand towards the ocean, and a giant amount of water shot towards him. He swung his hand in Frostine's direction, making the tidal wave of salt water shoot towards her. Frostine took her glove off and held her hand out towards the wave. As it got close enough to touch her hand, the water started to freeze into nothing but ice. The momentum of the water kept it going, however the ice split in two the second it touched her hand. The two giant slabs of ice kept shooting passed her left and right. When the water stopped, all that was left was two giant pillars of ice. They suddenly started rising off the ground, then swiftly shot towards Kaito, slamming into him and sending him onto the sand.

Himari was fighting Barak, however I didn't realize it was Himari until I saw her change back from a hawk to a human. She swung her arms, sending her gem weights towards Barak. He slammed his maces into the gems, sending them flying back at her. She quickly morphed into a small hummingbird, dodging her gems and managing to get them back under control. She fell to the ground as she morphed into a wolf, falling directly onto Barak, clawing at his chest. She managed to draw a little blood before being smacked into the air by one of his maces. As she fell back down to the ground, Barak charged his other mace with lightning and slammed it into her, sending her flying into the sand, right next to Kaito.

Angel was fighting Deidamia, however Deidamia wasn't really fighting. Instead, she had summoned multiple undead zombies (Aka Draugrs) that rose out from the sand. They were wielding Nordic swords and shields. Angel was fighting them off with her soul spear, cutting a good amount of them down. One Draugr swung his sword towards Angel's back. She managed to respond quick enough and block it with her spear. However another Draugr ran up behind her and slammed its shield into her side. After getting beat with their shields, they picked Angel up and tossed her over by Kaito and Himari.

Only Connor and Idril were left standing, and they were up against Siyuka and Alder. Idril wasn't much of a fighter, however she tried to punch Adler as much as she could. But when she threw a punch, her fist would get thrown back by some invisible force before she could land the hit. Without moving a muscle, Idril was suddenly forced onto the ground. Nothing actually touched her, but it seemed she couldn't get up. Out of nowhere, she went flying towards the rest of them, landing by them.

Connor was fighting Siyuka, however he was no match for her. She was lightning fast, much faster than she was before. Connor would try to swing his sword, however she would quickly block with her pole. After multiple blocks and parries, Siyuka went on the offensive. She jabbed multiple times with her pole, each one hitting Connor in a different area. The second her flurry of attacks were over, she slammed her pole into the side of Connor's head, knocking him out cold. She formed a large lightning arm around her own arm. The lightning arm grabbed Connor and tossed him to the ground, right next to the others.

I managed to get to my feet. I drew my bow and pulled back on the string. An Arcane arrow formed on the bow, and I aimed straight for Siyuka. I was about to release the arrow, however the second I blinked, Siyuka was gone. I then heard a whisper in my ear.

Siyuka: "You never learn, do you?"

I felt something hard strike me in the back of my head, knocking me out. The last thing I saw, was Siyuka stepping on my bow.