"You came to see me?" Freya exclaimed as she gazed at the boy standing at the foot of her bed. She then gave him a smug smile. "Did you really miss me that much that you came out of the dungeon so you could talk to me again?"
"You know what? Yes. I suppose I did." Lyze said as he put a hand on one of her bedposts. He chuckled at seeing her aghast face. "What, you weren't expecting me to say that?"
"Clearly not." Freya said as her eyes ran over his form. "You looks so beautiful up close in that form."
"I'm of the opinion that beautiful is not an appropriate word for men." Lyze said. "Rather handsome is a better adjective."
"Aaahh, but you're not quite a man yet are you?" Freya snarked.
Lyze feigned getting shot in the heart by an arrow. "Oh my goddess, you wound me so! Why persecutest thou me?"
Freya laughed a little at him. "You're so much more fun to be around when you're like this Odr." She then looked at him again with a little softness in her eyes. "I've missed you though."
"Have you?" Lyze raised a brow. "...Then I suppose I can honestly say, that I have missed you too."
He and Freya held each other's gaze before Freya's bedroom door flew open and a sharp point flew straight towards Lyze's face. But to Lyze, who was at the moment releasing the power of Chaos merely looked in the direction of the offending weapon. Both it and the wielder came to a halting stop as the blur propelling the giant sword was revealed to be Ottar.
The Boaz blinked as he realized exactly who he'd been about to attack, but then felt every hair on his body stand on end as his eyes met that of Lyze's. Deep pits of black, with shining points of purple stared back into Ottar's eyes as the Boaz's body completely froze up and Ottar found himself paralysed against his will.
The sword in his hand suddenly crumbled into dust and Ottar felt an immense pressure bearing down upon him. Suddenly the boy he thought he had known before was a very different person as for the first time, he saw the monster dwelling inside the boy, the one which his goddess had warned him about for some time now.
"Hello Ottar." Lyze said. "Fancy seeing you here. But then you would be here wouldn't you? You're her bodyguard. Still, I wouldn't expect you to blindly rush into her bedroom and try to skewer whoever else is in there on the end of your sword."
"To be fair Odr, you are in my room." Freya said. "Nobody should be here but me. So automatically anyone in here is an intruder and per protocol, they should be attacked on sight. You're in the wrong here."
"I guess you're right." Lyze said as he released Ottar from his immaterial hold on him.
Ottar could not see it, but Freya did.
For a fleeting moment thanks to her nature as a goddess, she caught a glimpse of several...creatures coming out of her floor and ceiling. Tendrils of horribly deformed flesh with eyes and teeth, unspeakable horror unwound themselves from around Ottar's legs and arms, the reason why he'd been held taut in the first place. The creatures let go of him and completely vanished. But she could FEEL that the source of their emergence was the boy at the end of the bed.
"How did you see me coming?" Ottar asked the boy with wide eyes as the overwhelming force keeping him immobilised lessened and he could move again. "Even with how exceptional you are for your level, you should not have been able to stop me."
"When my eyes are closed Ottar." Lyze said as he pointed to what was in his eye sockets. "Before my true power, you aren't so much after all."
Ottar narrowed his eyes before looking to Freya.
"He is not wrong my dear." Freya said. "For your own sake, do not challenge him further. Now, my husband has come to see me for some alone time. I would appreciate it if you did not have an ear in it."
"...Yes, Lady Freya." Ottar said as he stood up and began to leave. He paused though to address Lyze as the Boaz stared back into the abyss of the boy's eyes. Even now, he could feel that incredible POWER broiling inside the boy's body. It dawned on Ottar that this was the first time perhaps that anybody had ever seen Lyze's eyes. "Every time we clashed, did it mean anything to you? Did you have this power hidden along?"
"Look at it this way big bro." Lyze said as he held out his hand. "Had I decided at any point to open my eyes, I could have broken you..." Out of nothing, Ottar's sword rematerialized in Lyze's hand after having been eviscerated. "...or I could have made you. Take that how you want it."
Ottar hesitated before taking the sword from the boy's hand. The Boaz glanced between the weapon and the boy.
"All this time, you were walking with that power...and you've never used it in a combatant situation?"
"If I affirmed that, I would be a liar." Lyze conceded. "But I don't like the nature of this power nor do I like using it. Still, it is better in my hands than it is in anybody else's."
"Hmm." Ottar stepped back as he locked eyes with the boy for a few more seconds before he bowed to Freya. "Apologies for the disturbance." The Boaz walked backwards out of the door and closed it behind him.
Freya in the meantime gazed at Lyze, specifically at his eyes as she got to see them for the first time.
"Have your eyes always been like that Odr?" She asked.
"I wasn't born with these eyes if that is what you are asking Freya." Lyze said. "These are what I got when Chaos woke up. Or as you would know it..." Lyze leaned forwards. "...Ginnungapap."
"...It is always so uncanny how you know these thing Lyze." Freya said. She then patted the bed in front of her. "Please, sit here. I want to see you up close."
Lyze slid his feet out of his sandals and flapped onto her bed, sitting in front of her. Freya frowned as she could no longer sense that same power that Lyze had exerted before.
"Why can't I sense it anymore?" She asked.
"Chaos is obscure by nature. It rears its head when it wants to...and by extension when I want to. I suppose you want to feel for yourself."
"Yes. Although, considering how powerful it is supposed to be, Ottar stood up to it well."
"Against an infinitesimal pittance?" Lyze raised his brow. "Yes, I suppose he did hold up well. And I also suppose you want the full experience?"
"Please Odr." Freya said as her eyes gleamed. "For so long know I've wanted to feel the full power you possess. No matter how you try to hide it, I can see your soul and it is straining itself now. You're approaching your limit."
"Tch." Lyze huffed. "Confound those eyes of yours."
"Now that's not nice." Freya pouted as she leaned forwards. "My eyes are unique and beautiful."
"I had purple eyes too." Lyze chopped her on the head, making her pout. "It's not that uncommon."
"Meanie." Freya said, maintain her pout. But deep inside, Lyze warmed at seeing her slip her dignified goddess persona and become more playful. It seemed he was right. Syr Flova was her real personality. "Can I see now?"
Lyze lifted his hand and formed the Hand of Sabazios.
"Ryoiki Tenkai: Konton no fukyōwaon" He chanted as their surroundings changed.
A barrier formed around the two as they were plunged into darkness, into a deep void. As Freya looked at her Odr, who suddenly seemed dozens of feet away from her all of a sudden. From behind him emerged all manner of creatures both beautiful and incomprehensively horrific, numbering in the millions as they circled him.
Freya felt all her senses both that of her lesser body and her divine senses suddenly be filled with Chaos Magic, the overwhelming power that completely outstripped the Arcanum of every god she ever knew. It felt old. Primordial didn't even feel like a justified expression for how ancient this entity felt. It was like something that had existed even before Creation.
"Because it did." Lyze said as if he were reading her thoughts. "Chaos is a concept as much as it is a Will of power. It is the void, the absolute nothingness that existed before the dawn of Creation, before God commanded for light to be. And from that nothingness, came the most beautiful of things."
There was a crack in the void they were in, before the crack shattered out a part of the void, light spilling through as they were both engulfed by it. When Freya opened her eyes, she found herself standing all of a sudden with her toes buried in sand, before a beautifully deep blue sea as birds sang overhead. There she stood on a beach, a jungle line behind her as it became clear she was situated on an island with nothing but sea for as far as her sight allowed her to view.
"Is this-"
"Reality." Lyze said as he floated down towards her. "For the sake of our small reunion, I have created a small pocket dimension on your bed, inside which I have created an entire planet just for the enjoyment of us both."
"A whole planet?!" She gasped.
"As far as the eye can see." Lyze gestured to the horizon of the blue sky that had streaks of pink clouds in it as a bright sun shone overhead. "And the best part is, the technique I used has circumvented the burden on my body." Lyze tapped his eyes which were still open. "We can stay here as long as we like."
"...I've seen strange things in my life." Freya said. "But what is one more? Come on, let's swim!"
"I'm not really sure." Lyze said as he crossed his arms. "I recently almost drowned. I think I've had quite enough of water for one day. But if you're so insistent, I suppose I can quickly make you a swimsuit-"
Lyze was cut off as a nightgown hit him in the face and he hastily pulled it off to see Freya shamelessly wade into the warm seawater with no regard for her dignity. "Come on!" She turned to him and waved. "What point is there for swimsuits? You're my husband."
"Again, I haven't agreed to that just yet, and I am a child."
"You are a man in a child's body." Freya said. "And besides, we've bathed together before. There is nothing of each other that we haven't already seen. Come on! You wanted to spend time together, let's take this opportunity while we can. Soon you'll have to go back to the Dungeon and our time will be cut short." Freya clasped her hands in front of her chest. "Please."
"Fine." He rolled his eyes (it felt so good to actually be able to do that now) and slid his kilt off before snapping the bracers off his arms. "After all, it's not like I can actually die when I'm like this."
He waded into the sea just like Freya and they spent a while together, having water fights, paddling between some of the corals that stuck out of the water, or chasing little baby turtles that swam around in the depths. As they did so, Lyze began smiling a bit wider than usual. Freya was good company...and it was nice being able to have fun with someone he didn't have to hide his true nature from.
---
A nice, warm gentle breeze swayed Freya's hair as she pulled the boy closer into her embrace. The back of Lyze's head was pushed into her breasts while her arms were folded across his chest and she buried her face in his wings as she basked in his body warmth.
They were both still as bare as a couple in privacy came but both found comfort in the skin-to-skin contact. No passionate intention existed between them, but the mere desire for solace in physical contact. For a long time, neither party said anything as they just enjoyed each other's scent, each other's touch as the birds sang overhead.
"I saw what happened between you and the Sword Princess." She said to him at last.
"I know. As usual, I could feel your gaze."
"Am I really so detectable?"
"When you're concentrating that much childish envy, yes. Nothing exists between me and Ais, Freya."
"But you do love her Odr."
"...Yes. I can admit to myself that I do."
"Wouldn't have mattered if you said no." Freya said. "For one, I can tell when you lie, and two, my Domains allow me to sense those feelings in you. Speaking of domains, you said you created this dimension on top of my bed?"
"I did. But I've shrunk that domain to only about the size of a pinhead. It will be easily lost in the shadows or in the folds of your bedcovers. We're still inside and we'll be the same size as before when we exit. So don't worry about Ottar."
"But if he comes and sees me gone..."
"Don't sweat it." Lyze said. "Those guys should get used to having you out of their sight more often...actually, no they shouldn't. There's no telling which kingdom you'll destroy next so you can nick its king for your Familia."
"That's just rude."
"It's true. Hogni and Hedin would very much agree."
"And they also thanked me profusely for it. So your point is negated."
"Does not rule out your insidious tendencies my dear Freya. You are as much of a demon as you are a goddess."
"Ironic that you say that in the very form you choose to be in now."
"Touche."
Freya giggled and hugged him closer as she cherished the sensation of his body and the familiarity of their playful banter. To be able to hold him this close, to be enveloped in the fold of Chaos Magic and to bask in the warm proximity of the Flame of Origin. The only disappointing thing was that her Odr was so young and not at an age of manhood in his body. Otherwise she would have been working her charms to the fullest. But he was being so much more accommodating and affectionate than he usually was. She supposed she had to be grateful for what he did give out.
"Odr, do you believe me when I say I love you?"
"Yes. I too can tell lies, and there is nothing but absolute truth when you say that."
"So why do you not even give me a chance at earning your love? Why have I not gained your affections?"
"You are at the moment." Lyze turned and smile at her. "You didn't go mad and scream with fear when you saw what I really was for the first time. And you've had my back this whole time, so what mad bastard would not be developing feelings?"
"But the way you speak sometimes, it's like it's not a good thing that I show interest in someone."
"I'd argue that it's because at the very least, a town gets destroyed." Lyze stared at her blank face before he laughed and she gave him her deepest pout yet. "I jest. It's not a bad thing. I doubt any healthy man would ever feel ashamed that so beautiful and loving a woman is chasing them. But you have to let go of your selfishness Freya. Have you done that?"
"I like to think I have."
"Then you are not sure." Lyze said as he looked in front of him again. His eyes looked to the side at Freya's outstretched right leg. Her skin was so pale, like fresh snow and her leg was so graceful and lovely, ending in dainty feet that had pretty and flawless toes on the end, each of consistent shape and not a odd sized nail amongst them. Every part of her body was just perfection. "Therefore I cannot 'love' you."
"So why do you seek me?"
"Because I would like to think the best of you...and because you are close to me Freya. I want to be with you from time to time." Lyze leaned back and looked upwards into her tilted face. "And because I guessed a goddess of love is the best person to take love advice from."
"Just let it happen naturally." Freya said. "You know your feelings, so let her realize hers. And then let her come to you in time. All girls crack at some point, they won't be able to hold back from you."
"Of course I'm not gunning for anything happening now." Lyze grunted. "But she suffers from some deep rooted trauma. Could she even come to understand what love is? Putting aside whether she would return my feelings or not, how could I be worthy of her? How could I do right by her?"
"You just do what you can and do what is best." Freya said as she drew back some of his hair. "Not all of it is upon you. She would be responsible for the relationship as much as you would be. As long as sincerity is involved, anything could work. You are sincere Odr, there is nobody more sincere about his feelings than you."
"And you base that on what?"
"That you can so brazenly tell me you don't love ME and be truthful about it." Freya pouted. "But you are sincere Odr. Trials will come and go. Love is complex after all. But I think that what I've seen so far, you could help that little girl at some point. She is very clingy to you that's for sure. It's only a matter of time before her body matures and her mind goes to the natural places that the minds of older girls go."
"You sound like you approve."
"Yes. Her soul is second to yours in magnificence and she definitely has a lot of room for love. Room that you seem to be filling rapidly."
"Ais is not in love with me...stop it."
"Whatever helps you sleep Odr." Freya said. "But I too am sincere when I say I love you. I just hope one day you understand how sincere."
"And I hope that I can love you as well one day." Lyze looked forward again and leaned further back into her. "After all, I like spending time with you like this."
"I couldn't agree more." Freya said as she breathed in the scent of his white hair. "I don't get nearly as much as I deserve. "
"And there's the arrogance and the selfish." Lyze deadpanned. "This how you lose followers or discourage reasonable people from joining."
"I'm a goddess."
"And I am something even greater. If that is your standard, then I'd say I've broken it all."
"You contest everything I say." Freya said exasperated, before she pushed her face further into his wings. "Cuddle me more.. I don't want to let you go just yet."
"I wasn't planning on leaving anyway." Lyze said. "Not just yet."
And so the two cuddled even longer, as they engaged in idle chat, trying to understand more about each other. Just as they had always agreed.
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