Family and Goddess 2.167

Rosewisse captured the most challenges of Surtr. After all, she wanted to try the katana that Kain had given her and the wand that Viggo had modified with the memory stone. For a moment, she almost put aside the katana, as throwing magic with the wand in collaboration with the memory stone became something so simple and pleasant. However, in Surtr's fourth and fifth challenges, she dedicated herself to fighting with the katana and improving her ability. It could not even be said that she was an experienced warrior, it just happened that the katana was very well made and feeding it with mana made it too powerful a weapon.

Rosewisse called the state of the katana with the leaf of an aqueous green and the stars inside it as the stellar form. Since inside the katana leaf seemed to be outer space full of stars. In addition to the fact that the edge of the katana was from another world. Rosewisse wondered how something could become so sharp to cut the stone as if it were butter. Even if it consumed a large amount of mana, it became too powerful a weapon. Once again, she thought that Kain was not a good father or father-in-law for giving such dangerous things to his children. After all, Viggo told her that his brothers Flora and Tatsumi also had the same type of katana.

However, leaving aside all the fun that Rosewisse had, upon reaching the top of the volcano where Surtr's challenges were, her face became serious. She stopped next to Viggo, took his hand, and stared at the back of the training ground. It was a flat region, of rock molten and blackened by soot, a hundred meters deep and fifty meters wide. On the sides of the field were large walls of natural rock with four caves, two on each side. All the caves were closed with long iron beams crisscrossed diagonally. From the place the view of Muspelheim was grandiose with its extensive rivers of lava, volcanoes thrown lava constantly and lifeless in sight of any kind.

None of that bothered Rosewisse more than the Valkyrie at the back of training ground, though. She kept levitating in the air and surrounded by her own wings covered by the bulky golden armor as if she were a butterfly in a chrysalis.

Viggo also saw the Valkyrie at the end of the training ground. Xiao had warned them in advance so that they would not have problems. However, he saw Rosewisse with a melancholic expression, he could only worry.

-Do you know what to do?- asked Viggo.

-Yes- Rosewisse replied in a soft voice as her beautiful face was framed by the long strands of her silver hair. Her eyes had a twinkle of sadness, and her mouth formed a horizontal line. She let go of Viggo's hand, took her right hand to the helmet that was below her left arm, and took it with both hands. She put on the helmet and only the Valkyrie was left in ornamental armor. She stepped forward and stretched out her hand forward. Then she invoked the silver wand, the one inherited by her mother and once the Valkyrie Gondul commanded to manufacture for her descendants, before she went to Asgard with the goddess Vanir Freya to serve the AllFather. The wand appeared in her right hand, and she began to walk without looking at Viggo or anything around her. The bars of the caves on the walls on the sides of the training ground went down and the dragurs did not delay in running out eager to fight. So, they had died and so they had remained in non-death since they rejected the Valkyries and the journey to Valhalla. However, Rosewisse had no time for them or for Surtr's challenge. All she cared about was freeing her grandmother Gondul and giving her answers.

Rosewisse raised her hand above her head and gathered the solar energy until it burst into a halo of sacred light. After that she took her right hand to the left side as if it were the hand of a watch and moved it up and then to the right. The next instant ten magic circles with different runes appeared and they all flew with full power, hitting and exploding, destroying the groups of draugrs without any contemplation.

When Rosewisse reached the middle of the training ground there were no draugrs left, only the valkyrie at the bottom of the training ground with the Muspelheim landscape behind her. Rosewisse stopped, propelled herself with her wings, and advanced more than thirty meters in an instant. She was going straight against the Valkyrie surrounded by her wings covered by the bulky gold armor.

The Valkyrie reacted to her presence, its wings moved and opened completely. She fell to the ground on her feet and saw Rosewisse, but even if she saw dressed just like her, she didn't recognize her at all costs and screamed at the top of her lungs in a crazed voice -unworthy!- and let out a macabre laugh.

Rosewisse let out a cry of fury and tackled the Valkyrie to push her down the cliff. Both fell, Viggo ran out to see how they were, but stopped a few steps later. Rosewisse and her grandmother, the Valkyrie Gondul, raise in the air like beautiful, winged goddesses in their armor.

Gondul laughed madly as she fluttered in the air and without any catalyst, raised her hands in the air and ten meters above her head a huge orb of fire the size of a person was created. The orb threw fireballs in the direction of Rosewisse, who propelled herself with her wings and surrounded Gondul. The orb followed her and continued to throw fireballs as Gondul flew to reach Rosewisse. Gondul made a scythe appear made of an opaque yellow energy, symbol of Seidr magic, and attacked it.

Rosewisse in a quick movement passed her wand to her left hand and created a kind of shield that imitated Viggo's. With those she resisted the attack of the energy scythe. Gondul turned in the air and launched a second attack that unbalanced Rosewisse and threw her against the black rock training ground. Rosewisse bounced several times and her wings bent at angles that can only be described as painful. However, Rosewisse never lost consciousness and balanced herself in such a way that she was on her knees while skidding on the ground. She stopped using her fingers as if they were claws and once, she stopped, she got back up. This time, she created magic circles again and began to cast magic one after another. Fire, with the rune of Sowelu, Ice, with the rune of Isa, Electric rays with the rune of Thurisaz and so on.

For her part, Gondul flew dodging the magic until Rosewisse concentrated ten magic circles around her and managed to hit her with a huge fireball. The flames burst and the explosion sent Gondul against the wall and fell from twenty meters high to the ground of molten rock blackened by soot. Gondul could not get up and Rosewisse walked to her cautiously. She couldn't tell if she had really hurt her or was just pretending. However, she was sure that she had attacked her with the same force with which she attacked Thor.

Rosewisse arrived in front of Gondul who was writhing on the ground trying to get up. The power of the fire magic was so much that part of Gondul's golden armor had melted, especially that of the wings. So, a part of the meat was exposed showing severe burns. Also, the black feathers that reflected the age of the Valkyrie. Rosewisse would one day be like that too, like her grandmother.

Rosewisse took off her helmet and stared at her grandmother on the ground. She dropped the helmet to the ground, put away her family's wand, and invoked Kain's katana. Rosewisse was aware that her magic of magic weapons like the scythe her grandmother occupied was too weak. If she wanted to cut off her grandmother's wings, she needed something sharp. She channeled mana to the leaf and the katana happened to have a crystalline green color with the brightness of the stars inside. Rosewisse raised the katana with some doubts, but decided to trust, not Xiao or Kain or anyone who has been kind to her in Orario. It was an amazing place, but if she trusted anyone it would be Viggo, who always accompanied her and fought to protect her. Then she unloaded the katana and cut the right wing. Gondul let out a scream of pain that shook Rosewisse's heart, but she just bit her lip and cut off her left wing. Gondul once again let out another scream of pain, her whole body tightened for a few seconds, but then she became inert.

Rosewisse let out a sigh, kept the katana in her soul, and missed her family's silver wand. She waited for a few seconds for her grandmother to show herself in her spiritual form, but nothing happened. She squeezed the wand tightly in a gesture of concern. Maybe she had been wrong to kill her grandmother, but someone stopped next to her and hugged her by the hip. She looked next to her and saw Viggo, with shoulder-length red hair and blue eyes. He had a serious expression, nodded and she understood that he was telling her that it was fine, she had done the right thing.

The next instant a spirit like the figure of Gondul when she was alive emerged from the body -Who are you?- she asked -I don't remember anyone like you within the Valkyries?-

-I am- Rosewisse said in a broken voice -I am, I am– she bit her lips and try to speak with a firm tone of voice –I am Rosewisse, Freda's daughter-

-You, you are my descendant- said Gondul in a melodious voice -thank you for freeing me from my mortal form. I couldn't be prouder that one of the girls in my lineage has such strength-

-What happened?- asked Rosewisse with a smile, but the voice was pitiful -you suddenly disappeared without further ado. It's been a hundred years since mother knew anything about you or the others-

-I- said Gondul in her spiritual form -I don't remember. Everything is confusing, I was... it's hard to say. However, that doesn't matter, I must go back and separate the dead. Helheim must be overflowing with souls in sorrow-

-Me- Rosewisse said as tears fell from her eyes -Why don't you ask me about Mom? Why don't you ask me about Vanaheim? We are your family-

-You don't understand girl- said Gondul -this is a problem at the level of the Nine Realms-

-And what matters?- cried Rosewisse with tears falling down her face -Mom died, in Vanaheim she was accused of being crazy, of making up stories. That just wanted to take your place as one of the Valkyries. They condemned her to death, but you are not worried, is this being a Valkyrie?-

-Me...- said Gondul.

-It doesn't matter, I don't want to know anything about you or the Valkyries anymore. They have no heart-

Rosewisse turned around and hugged Viggo as she cried non-stop. Gondul in her spiritual form stared at her and then focused on the red-haired young man.

Viggo could not distinguish the eyes from the spiritual form, but from the movement of her face, he knew that she was looking at him -as I was told- he said -the selectors like you are important to the Nine Realms. I don't know what happened, but according to what Rosewisse told me, your daughter had visions that something had altered the world and Ragnarok would be unleashed shortly-

-That, that should not be possible. Surtr is still here, I can feel it- Gondul replied in dismay.

-I don't know, I don't care, but that's the reason your daughter was killed. I will take care of Rosewisse, you have nothing to worry about. Well, that's right, if you were ever worried about your family-

-Don't be insolent- Gondul shouted

-I'm not insolent, I talk about what I see- replied Viggo -I don't know how you were raised, but my father always taught me that if I or my family is not right, nothing is right-

Gondul let out a snort in a gesture of pride and soared into the heavens until she faded. At the same time, her body and armor faded, only leaving the helmet on the ground.