God's Realm was in chaos. Gods and coexisting Valkyrie alike were running rampant along the streets outside the citadel, carrying messages between fighting groups or carrying weapons to distribute. It wasn't often the Demigods faced a real threat, but whenever one of them went dark, it was always a big issue not only for them, but for many mortals as well if they happened to get in the way.

            "Where is she now?"

            The corridors of the citadel were as busy as the rest of the realm outside it. There were less Valkyrie aside from the important ones and, of course, their leader. Archangel was about the only other person besides Hero who could keep up with Notch when he was in a hurry. His speed walk could rarely be matched in stride, but the Demigod of the Valkyrie had it mastered.  "She's terrorizing a village on Earth." She answered Notch's question.

"Earth? Isn't that the place we left-?"

"Bodil? Yes."

"You don't think they're-"

"Bodil loves the humans, dark or not, he doesn't have the strength to harm any innocents."

"Yes, but if he's-"

"If he's still dark after all this time, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd have gotten someone to kill him."

"Okay, well, point made, now could you please stop-"

"Interrupting you?"

Notch glared at Archangel, who smirked mischievously back. "Y'know, you have a lot of snark for a Demigod who has to obey my every order."

"Do I now~?"

"Just because you're Universe's wife doesn't mean you can-"

"Oh yes it does, you just don't want to admit it because it makes you feel like less of a man."

Notch only scowled before the two walked through a transparent gateway that only let Demigods and some special guests pass through. On the other side was the council room, which was alight with activity. It was shady since it was night, the lights on the walls glowing a soft light blue. The great table was there and surrounded by mostly empty chairs as the Gods were up and about, getting ready. As the two entered, Azrea swooped past, flying across the room over to where Moblit was. Hero ran up to his older brother as soon as he noticed his presence. "Brother."

"Get everyone ready." Notch said in answer to his usual greeting, knowing lives were being lost with every moment they wasted. "We're going to Earth to end this."

Hero sighed. He didn't like how that sounded. "What do I tell them?"

Notch barely hesitated. "No more risks. Go for the back."

Hero flinched roughly and even Archangel looked surprised by his command. "Notch, maybe-"

"No. No more lost lives." Notch interrupted Hero. "We've given her enough chances – besides, a few centuries in the void will do her good. Probably."

Hero and Archangel exchanged glances, but neither said anything else, knowing better than to push the God of Gods' limits when he was in such a mood. Hero nodded to his brother, then ran off to get the other Gods ready. Notch took a slow, deep breath, closing his dark eyes. Archangel watched him, then looked ahead and stretched out her wings as far as they could go. "This could be fun." She said.

"You're a Valkyrie." Notch replied without looking at her. "You're literally incapable of experiencing the emotion of joy."

Archangel shrugged. "Just thought I'd say it for your sake."

The corner of Notch's mouth twitched upwards and he looked at her. "Just in case..."

"I know, I know." She let her wings fold against her back again. "I'll watch over Hero if anything happens to you. But the thing is, Hero made me promise I'd ensure nothing would happen to you, so..."

Notch rolled his eyes. "I'm your boss," he said, heading over to help Hero spread the word, "you listen to me before my brother."

Archangel watched him go before she sighed. "Yes, well, tell that to him when he's angry, see how you like it..."

Alaska, Earth: 1789

Christmas Eve

The family of three sat around their fireplace, warming their hands by it. There was a fourth member of their little clan, but she was fast asleep in her crib. The three awake didn't speak, but the father looked at the mother and smiled. Christmas had been wonderful this year, especially since his wife had made a wonderful dinner, even though it was very cold in their new home. One thing the year-round cold was good for was keeping meat frozen, so they could heat it on a fire and eat it anytime they wanted. The hard part was finding an animal to hunt in the snowy wasteland.

            The mother of the family looked at him and smiled softly back, and there they sat for a bit, just happy in each other's presence.

            Then one of the sled dogs ran into the house, barking and whimpering loudly. The father looked at him in surprise, his attention torn from his loving wife. "Yakone? What are you doing out of the barn?" He asked, standing. Then he looked the way the husky had come, out the ajar front door. There, in the near distance, he saw his barn – but it was on fire.

            His son gasped. "P-Papa!" He cried in fear, and the mother hugged him close.

            "Qanik, don't go out there!" She shouted.

            But he was already putting on his coat. "I have to get the other five dogs out, we'll starve if we lose even one!" She said his name again in protest, but he wasn't listening. "Stay!" He ordered, before he slammed the front door of their hovel shut.

            It was snowing, not terribly hard, but hard enough to add an inch or so into the already high dusting on the ground within the next few hours. Qanik shivered in the icy wind before he started walking as fast as he could towards the burning barn. The closer he got to it, the warmer he was. The fire was high despite the cold climate – there was no hope in saving the barn. He would have to rebuild it all later. He cursed at the thought.

            He reached the barn door as fast as he could and wrenched it open. The other five dogs made a break for the house immediately, a beam falling inside just as they left. Qanik wasted no time in getting himself away from the burning barn. It would be coming down any second. He took a deep, sad breath, before there was suddenly a voice behind him.

            "Aren't you just a little curious about what started the fire?"

            He had never heard the voice before. It was low, and feminine, but when Qanik turned to look at whoever was there, he was blown off his feet by what felt like a wickedly powerful gust of sudden wind. He fell hard on his stomach in the snow, so roughly he was dazed for a moment. He turned and looked behind him, now very afraid as he heard his attacker laugh. He stopped in surprise as he saw her.

            She looked different than anyone he had ever seen before – but he had never left Russian territory before in his life. Her skin was dark unlike his, her eyes shining bright red. She looked very angry, but at the same time, amused. There were tears on her cheeks, frozen from the cold. She was wearing light clothing definitely not suited for the cold of Alaska, but she didn't appear the tiniest bit cold.

            She was holding an axe, bloody, in her hand.

            He scrambled away from her as he saw the weapon. "Wh-Who are you?!" He cried. "What do you w-want?!"

            She sighed as she walked towards him, like she was a little distracted. "Just a stress reliever..." She swung her axe in Qanik's direction and he wondered whether or not he was suffering the ill effects of a nightmare.

            The crazy woman had almost reached him, and was holding her axe up to strike him dead for good, when suddenly, she was blasted away from the side by a burst of light. She tumbled roughly, kicking up a small cloud of fallen snow as more of the pure white flakes fell around her. Qanik looked towards his savior to see many more strangers, but at least they didn't look as deadly as the woman.

            "Grey!" The one who saved him shouted.

            Notch stood behind Hero, shouting the commands though his brother had been the one to shoot her away from her poor would-be victim with his magic. "This is your last chance! Surrender, or we'll be forced to show no mercy!"

            Grey got up and growled back at him furiously. "You don't understand!" She screamed. "You don't know what it's like to lose half of your whole race in a few months!"

            "That's why you can't keep going like this you'll destroy half of your brother's whole race!" Hero shouted back to her over the fast wind.

            As they argued, Azrea flew to Qanik and landed beside him, yanking him up. He stared at her wings with huge eyes, clearly very overwhelmed by the situation at hand. "Y-You have...!"

            "Yes, I know, hurry up before you get snapped like a twig!"

            At that moment, Grey noticed what Azrea was doing and she snarled. From inside her big sleeves, seemingly out of nowhere, a dagger shot out and flew towards Azrea and the mortal like a blur. She gasped and quickly turned, shielding Qanik with her own body so the dagger struck her hard in her back, burying itself deep inside, up by her shoulder. She screamed in pain and fell, taking Qanik down with her.

            Moblit cried out and shouted her name in terror, and he and Louvista both ran to her.

            Hero gasped, his eyes wide with horror as he and the others looked at Grey. Even she looked shocked by her actions. She stared at Azrea, who was lying on her side, face screwed up in pain. Qanik still looked completely in shock as he stared at the dagger in her upper back by her shoulder.

            Grey took a half step back, her eyes flashing back to their original silver color for half a second.

            "That's it."

            Notch stepped forward, tightening his grip on the handle of his hammer, and she looked back at him. The red returned to her eyes and she growled furiously. "I'm sick of being a Demigod! You all are weak, useless fools!" She held out her arms and more daggers appeared. They hovered over her head like a halo, rotating menacingly, but Notch wasn't phased by it. "You have so much power! We can rule the worlds as dictators! We can lead the sheep, the stupid mindless sheep, they need our guidance! They don't understa-!"

            Her sentence was cut off by a choked noise. Her eyes grew wide, the red fading once again to silver. Behind her, her brother stood, his eyes shut tight. "I'm sorry, Elena..." He whispered.

            He pulled his dagger roughly out of the center of her back, making her body jolt. She stumbled and fell back, and the very same man who stabbed her caught her, holding her close as he shook. Her head fell limp on her shoulders, eyes open but unseeingly staring up at the cloudy, snowy sky. Only a second more passed before she faded away, like she had never been there.

            The man who killed her stared down at his hands, where she had been just seconds ago. Tears fell from his eyes as he trembled shakily. The other Demigods watched in shock at what had just happened. No one expected this. "...Bodil..." Hero said quietly.

            Bodil looked up. His eyes weren't orange. They were just plain, simple brown – his mark of sanity. "G-Go for the back." He said softly, to Notch, who looked for once like he was in shock. "Those were y-your orders, right...?"

            Nobody wanted to reply.

            After a few seconds passed with no sound coming but the icy wind and the snow softly hitting the ground all around them, Bodil climbed to his feet. "Go back to your home." He said, and it stung Hero's heart to hear it. Not long ago, God's Realm had been Bodil's home too. "I have a barn to help rebuild."

            Another silence, and then he turned and walked away, towards the still-burning, luckily empty barn. His footsteps, crunching in the snow below his feet, faded as he grew further and further away. Azrea, laying in the snow, watched him go sadly before she groaned in pain and let her head fall back against the ice. Qanik had nearly fainted by then. Hero and Hystoria exchanged sad glances.

            Notch was quiet for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. "Let's go. Hopefully Grey will be more willing to listen to reason when she returns in a few centuries." He looked at Azrea, then at Hero. "When we get back, stay with her, use your magic to help heal her."

            Hero nodded. "I was already planning on it."

            One by one, the Demigods who had come to stop their dark former companion teleported home. Hero and Moblit went back first with Azrea, then Archangel alone, and Hystoria and Louvista after her. The only one left was Notch, who stood silently, staring after Bodil. His expression held no emotion, nor did his stance. He simply stayed there for a while, then looked up at the snowy grey night sky, then looked at Qanik, who was shaking probably both from fear and the cold.

            He looked up at Notch with wide eyes, breathing heavily as he tried to take in everything that had just happened to him. The God of Gods knew that Bodil would take care of the human, so he simple waved rather awkwardly before he too teleported home, to God's Realm.