Chapter 32
_______________________________________
{ Nikolai POV }
Everything was blurry...
My eyes could not focus on objects in front of me clearly since I woke up. But even that setback will not stop me from searching for my family.
I called them out, but there was no response. So I called them out again and again, but there was still no response. So I tried again and again and again... But there was no reply.
'Where are they?' I wondered. 'I don't know where they are, but I will find them.' So I called them out again and again and again...
Silence...
There was absolute silence. I don't like this silence... This haunting silence is telling me that they... That they have left me... That those filthy cloak-wearing bastards have taken them away from me.
' No, that's not possible. I will find them. I. WILL. FIND. THEM. '
So I continued my search...
" WHERE ARE YOU?!!! " I screamed at the top of my lungs in frustration, " Why...won't you answer me? " My voice cracked, as I broke down to my knees.
I cried... Tears ran down my cheeks. " Why? "
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey, You're Nikolai, right? Are you alright, my friend? Do you need a little help?"
I heard a voice call my name. So I raised my head to see who this person was.
'His face is blurry.' That was the first thing I thought, but try as I might, my vision refused to clear. 'That cloak...' That cloak immediately brought back horrible memories, memories that caused my anger to surface. My anger rose dangerously, and I glared at the man, not knowing what he looked like, but the cloak he wore was similar to those bastards who destroyed my family.
" Are you alright, buddy? You seem a bit hateful, you know. I'm not here to hurt you, okay; I'm just trying to help you, that's all. " The man spoke.
' Is he trying to trick me? The last time you people came, you took away my family... Now you dare come back again! ' So I attacked him...
I summoned my sword and swung it at his neck... Luckily he dodged it.
I summoned my armor and Dane axe, and demanded where my family was with a threat that he would die in the worst way possible.
He then tried to change the topic, telling me to calm down. The audacity to tell me that after destroying my family. I will calm down when I gut him and feed him his innards.
I gave him five seconds to tell me where they are, but he insisted that I calm down, causing my anger to rise and my patience to grow thin as ice.
"Ok, I don't know where your family is. But I can help you, only if you allow me." The man said in frustration.
'Help? Is this a joke?' This was the last straw, my anger spiked to the point that I started to growl, and it didn't stop there; it reached a point where I heard a sound in my head that drove me to the Maori Madness.
SNAP!!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
' What just happened? ' all i remember that the cloaked bastard was my enemy and i had fought him.
Everything seemed blurry again this time, even worse, and was accompanied by my body aching as if I had been dropped from a great height.
It hurts.
My head hurts.
My eyes hurts.
My body hurts.
Everything HURTS!
Gradually, my vision got a bit clearer, just enough to see the bastard unconscious on the ground.
I summoned my sledgehammer and limped my way towards him, dragging the heavy hammerhead with malicious intent, to finish what I started.
.
.
.
.
[ KILL HIM! ]
[ KILL HIM! ]
[ KILL HIM! ]
[ KILL HIM! ]
[ KILL HIM! ]
[ KILL HIM! ]
.
.
.
I then heard the deep dark voice echoing in my head, repeating those words again and again. This nagging voice I had learned to ignore for years had started to roar louder and louder, and my body seemed to obey those words as it instinctively lifted the hammer high above my head, ready to crush the man's skull.
[ DEVOUR HIS SOUL AND I WILL GRANT YOU POWER ]
[ POWER TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES ]
[ POWER TO PROTECT WHAT YOU LOVE ]
[ POWER TO FIND YOUR FAMILY ]
Those promises sounded so nice, but I only wanted to find my family.
"Yes... I want to find my family more than anything."
[ SUBMIT TO ME AND I WILL GRANT YOU WHAT YOUR HEART DESIRES ]
[ DEVOUR THAT SOUL AND LET ME OUT OF THIS PRISON ]
I don't know what is going on anymore, everything is blurry... My sight... My senses... Everything... Everything was blurry. My body was moving on its own.
I don't know what to do.
Someone... Tell me... What should I do.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
" Nikolai!!! "
That sound... I think I recognize it somewhere. It had a very distinct feel to it, somehow it brought some warm memories to the surface that immediately overpowered the dark nagging voice making it inaudible.
It was filled with earnest concern...and it was coming from above me?
" PAPA!!! "
I then heard two identical cries, also filled to the brim with concern and sadness. And I could feel that those three voices were directed to...me?
And just like rushing from a dam, so too many memories rushed into my head uncontrollably, causing my head to ache... I dropped the sledgehammer and began to caress my aching skull through my helmet. And it was then I remembered everything.
I turned towards their direction with my blurry eyes, and I saw an angelic woman with silver hair that seemed to bring light to this dark night, and alongside her were two winged children with brown hair and pale skin.
I squinted my eyes, and after hours of blurry sight, my vision finally became clear. What was approaching before me took my breath away, and I could not even utter a single word. If I could utter one word now, it would probably be "Beautiful".
They were descending towards me, and... It seems they were not slowing down. They were getting closer and closer... Oh!
" Blyat - Omphf! " I was tackled by three people to the ground.
" Artom! Igor! Hold down your Papa, he's not being himself. " Rossweisse ordered, my two sons immediately replied, " Yes Mama! " and they went straight to work.
I was pleasantly amused by their actions, making me smile under my helmet. Both Artom and Igor grabbed each of my wrists and pressed them to the ground. Rossweisse, on the other hand, sat on my waist and summoned Nordic runes that ran along my entire body and restrained me. Safe to say, I cannot even move a single muscle now.
Let's see where this will be going.
________________________________________
[ Rossweisse POV ]
We were just in time.
A minute longer and something bad was going to happen.
There he was... Nikolai, standing on top of Mr. Erik's body. He was fully covered in his battle armour, with his sledgehammer lifted high, ready to kill his downed opponent.
"What is Papa doing?" Asked a confused Artom, who had just arrived alongside his brother. I had that same question, too, but instead of answering his question, I said, "We have to stop him, otherwise he will be in big trouble."
With a nod, they questioned me no further, and we headed straight towards him.
Nikolai, please, I don't know what is happening, but please don't do it.
Nikolai, I can feel that you are angry at something, your two boys can also feel that you are angry at something, but please don't do it.
"NIKOLAI!"
He stopped.
He dropped his weapon and seemed to be having some kind of headache. This was a perfect moment to stop him.
We glided straight towards him, and all of a sudden, he lifted his head and faced us.
That skull helmet is too creepy; how does he find it remotely cool? When this is all done, I'm giving him a less creepy helmet. But for now... We must focus on the present.
"Omphf!" Nikolai made a noise as we tackled him to the ground. Wasting no time, I ordered his two sons to restrain his hands as I used Nordic magic to summon restraining runes to subdue him.
"Nikolai, please come back to us!" I begged, hoping that he could come back to his senses. "I don't know what is happening to you, but this is not who you are. This is not the man who Artom and Igor see as their father. This is not the man who saved me from that Draugr. This is not the man who--"
"Hehehe."
Did he just chuckle?
"Rossweisse." His voice came from his helmet, "Thanks, you're very cute."
W-W-what?
"I knew you liked me." His teasing voice caused my face to heat up in embarrassment.
"W-What nonsense are you spouting right now!?" I rebuked him as I slammed my fist to his chest.
He then de-summoned his battle armor, and I saw his smirking face. It made me feel so embarrassed.
"And I definitely like what you are doing right now."
"What?" I muttered in confusion, but I soon realized what I was really doing.
He was topless, completely topless, and I was sitting on top of him. What was worse was that my hand was on his chest, and it looked very lewd.
"P-Pervert! There are kids present!" I slammed my fist on his chest again, "This is so embarrassing!"
But he was laughing at me! The audacity!
"Hey, Rossweisse! You left in such a hurry. What's... Going... On... Oh," I heard Sigrun's voice behind me, and I immediately flinched.
With how my current position is with Nikolai, this was going to create a lot of misunderstanding.
"I never knew you were this spicy." She said in a teasing voice, and I knew she was definitely smirking right now.
"It's not what it looks like! I swear!" I tried to clear this misunderstanding before she had the chance to spread it to our comrades.
But unfortunately for me...
"Hey, Sigrun, slow down, will you? It's not like Rossweisse is..." Oh my~" Hlök landed next to Sigrun and on seeing me and Nikolai in such a lewd position blushed at such a sight.
"What is going on! Let me see! Let me see... This is so lewd~" Then came Hildr.
"Calm down, you two. What is this... This is quite scandalous." Then came Reginleif.
And followed by the other Valkyries, my dignity is about to go down the drain if I don't do something to stop it.
"It's not what it looked like!" I tried to explain to them that it was not anything lewd or anything of that kind, " I'm just trying to stop Nikolai from doing a big mistake. "
But alas, it seemed that it did not even matter to them.
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Rossweisse." Sigrun said in a sly voice, "What do you say, girls?"
And all of them gave a nod of agreement.
" Look she's blushing~ awww~"
I covered my face with my hands refusing to show my blushing face to them. It was so embarrassing, I just want to hide in a pit and never come out.
" Mama, what's going on? " Igor asked, " Is Papa ok now? "
" Mama? " I heared all the girls gasped.
" What do you mean by "Mama"? " Sigrun asked with a shocked expression.
This was not going to end well.
" Igor, don't!" I stretched out my hand to stop him, but I completely forgot that there was another one and he had a bigger mouth than him.
" Oh! Papa said that he will marry Mama in the future and she said yes." Artom replied instead of his brother.
And I heared all the Valkyries gasped in shock!
" Rossweisse, is that true? " Sigrun asked with a teasing tone.
Of course it's not true, I never said yes! But... I did not say no either...My mind then went straight to that moment when he said those words to me, how he grabbed my hand with his strong and warm hands, how his eyes were glued to mine. My heart began to beat faster and a weird feeling was there in my core.
" Yeah it's true! We asked If we could call her mama and she said yes! She's our Mama now. " Artom replied for me with a beaming smile.
This was the worst day ever.
______________________________________
[ 30 minutes later ]
"Ay! Blyat!" Nikolai cursed in response to the sharp pain he received for being treated for his aching back.
"Stop cursing so much! Artom and Igor are going to start copying you." Rossweisse rebuked him, pointing at the two Volkov brothers who were sitting in front of him with confused looks.
"Mama, I think you're a little late for that." Igor said, "Besides, Artom curses as much as Papa does on a daily basis."
"I mean, you two are my sons, so I expected that much." Nikolai added, which earned him a sharp pain as Rossweisse slapped his back. "Ay! Blyat!"
"You're supposed to be helping heal! Not further injuring me!" Nikolai whined as he massaged his back. Falling from that height, this pain was bound to happen, luckily his adrenaline kept it at minimum for quite a while. The power of adrenaline was an amazing thing.
" I'm angry. Hmph! " Rossweisse said in annoyance.
" Ok, I'm sorry for embarrassing you like that. " Nikolai apologized, but it sounded not genuine and that smirk on his face was not helping at all.
" Not enough. " Rossweisse was not satisfied.
" Look at how the married couple are fighting~" Sigrun teased the two, and the other Valkyries joined in giggling at their expense.
Rossweisse glared at them, which stopped the giggles, but not the smirking faces.
After the teasing of Rossweisse half an hour ago, Eir arrived at the scene and immediately rushed to her husband to check his vitals. Luckily, he was only unconscious but had suffered a broken nose.
Now, all of them were sitting by a campfire, some finishing dinner, while the Valkyrie Supervisor Eir was busy healing her husband with Senjutsu and scolding him for being careless.
"I was not being careless, dear," Erik tried to defend himself, but his wife, on the other hand, was not having any of it.
"Oh really? Then do explain to me that broken nose and that you could have possibly been killed if not for Rossweisse," Eir retorted.
"Ok, I yield." Erik gave up arguing, "I'm sorry for being careless."
"Good, because I don't want the father of my children to die before seeing them grow up."
"Yeah, yeah—What! What was that last part?!" Erik turned his head to see his wife's beaming smile. "How long has it been?" he asked.
"I started having symptoms last morning." She replied with a smile.
"Hehehe. I'm going to be a father. " He was restraining himself from laughing like a madman and lifting his wife and spinning her around him. With a warm smile, they both looked at each other's eyes with longing as their faces came closer and closer, their lips puckered and were only a few inches away from each other.
"Ay! Blyat!" Their romantic moment was quickly interrupted by Nikolai's colourful voice, as he was getting bandaged by his supposed wife.
"I wonder what kind of training he received to defeat Erik the Ironhide," Eir mused, grabbing her husband's arm and bringing it close to her bosom.
"Whatever it was or whoever trained him, they did not show any compassion. Those scars..." Erik gestured to the numerous scars littered on Nikolai's body, "are very disturbing to look at, if you ask me. I know battle scars are often seen as trophies, but his scars... They're different."
Eir was a little surprised at her husband's words. He was a great Einherjar who had been bestowed with the title of "Ironhide" by Lord Thor himself. He had faced many strong enemies without fear, always with a charming smirk on his face. It sometimes seemed like nothing could faze him, but this was the first time she saw him so disturbed by someone.
"So what do we do now?" Erik broke the tense atmosphere between them, looking at her with his eyebrows raised in a charming way.
"It's already too late now," she replied. "Let's get some rest first. With the Oracle missing, we have no way to contact Asgard. And if our theory of the perpetrator is true, we need to have a plan."
Releasing her husband's arm, she got up and called out to three Valkyries, "Hlökk, Reginleif, and Hildr, you three are on watch duty. Report back to me if you find anything suspicious. The rest of you take some rest; we have a long day tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am!" they replied in unison.