Frey!? (2/2)
Since Frey seems to have no destination in mind, and Haalfrin isn't in any hurry, he decides to stick around the Crow Goddess's cottage to keep the girl company. He'd feel bad leaving her all alone after they just met each other again.
…Indeed, Haalfrin is under the impression that Frey's destination was the Death Reaper's childhood home, not himself. You can't blame him for this assumption!
After all, he knows she is a god-candidate, like himself. She also has Death affinity, like himself. Even more, he remembers vividly Das teaching him (then Freyya confirming) that all Death Gods have to retire eventually.
If Das is so fixated on making him his replacement, then why has Das completely ignored Frey's existence? That, coupled with Freyya's strange attitude towards the girl, AND coupled with the fact that they share the same name and look alike…
Obviously, it's because little Frey is already spoken for. She's the next goddess of Defeat!
If Frey is the next goddess of defeated souls, then it would make sense for her to seek the Crow goddess's home out. If Freyya's Yiir Rune could have such a drastic effect on himself, then Frey must have some training in mind for this place.
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The days go by of Haalfrin and Frey living in this special area, and they fall into a routine. Haalfrin goes hunting every morning and he gardens some of the vegetables, which had stuck around all this time with the Time sealing enchantment the goddess had set on the place.
Meanwhile, little Frey spends most of the day sitting on the porch in a meditating posture, as her mind is drifting in her Soul Realm – presumably training under the influence of a goddess's Yiir Rune.
Every evening, Frey wakes up, makes dinner, and they chat for a bit.
One evening, Frey looks into the woods and up at the cliffs in the distance, where the Crow Clan lives. "Haalfrin," she asks, "why are the Crows surrounding this place and guarding it so well? I saw little shrines on the path up."
Haalfrin puts down his watery soup. "You mean, you don't know?"
Frey raises her eyebrows with a look that says, "What? Aren't you going to tell me?"
So, Haalfrin tells her. "The Crow goddess was born here; she ordered this place to be sealed away and untouched."
Frey's hands shake, and she spills a little water. "…B-born here? The goddess? That doesn't make s…" She looks down and starts fidgeting. "Never mind."
"Sure, sure," Haalfrin mutters thoughtfully, "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."
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After many more weeks pass, a powerful green light encompasses the meditating Frey, and she briefly lifts off the ground. Green is the mana color of Yiir, so he knows that whatever happened must have had to do with her Yiir Name.
Frey wakes up in excitement, and she immediately tells Haalfrin the good news; her Yiir Name has just advanced!
Haalfrin nods casually. He was expecting this, after all. Then, he stands up and says, "Frey, it's about time."
"…Time for what?"
He sighs, "I'm leaving for the Threshold."
Frey stands up in alarm. "What?! I… I thought you weren't going to live there? Why else would you bash your way through the fortress?"
The man points at the stump on his leg, and he says, "I've already talked to Lord Fheldin. He said that the humans in the Threshold are the only ones who can heal my leg. Once the leg is healed, Fheldin agreed to duel me."
"T-that's suicide!" Frey cries out.
Haalfrin lets out an even bigger sigh. He then puts his hand on her shoulder and asks, "What about you? Now that you've gotten your Yiir Name advanced here, where's your next stop?"
"I…" Frey looks down, as if she's too embarrassed to say anything. "I… erm…"
Haalfrin laughs aloud. "If saying it is too hard, I won't ask!"
Frey only shuffles her feet and curses at herself.
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The next morning, Haalfrin has already packed up his things, and he says farewell to Frey. He even gives her a Far-speak medallion and says they should talk more often, now that she's willing to go outside.
For some reason, Frey is even less talkative during their first parting, though she doesn't seem as sad – only nervous.
Once he's finally ready, he puts on some special armor he had one of the Rehkin Clans he met make for him (in exchange for some space bags) The armor covers his entire body, and it's very durable.
Normally, Haalfrin isn't the type to wear protective equipment, but he figured that if he wants his Wills to carry him around, it'd be more convenient to carry him around in a full suit of armor.
So, he releases his Aura, and several Wills drift out of his heart, then towards the armor pieces Haalfrin has picked up on his long journey. Thy lift up the armor with Haalfrin inside it, then begin flying off into the distance.
He flies all day feeling completely relaxed. Whenever the Wills run out of mana, they just switch out with the next Will in line.
In a sense, Haalfrin is like a king being carried around by his loyal subjects, though he'd hate to think of what he's doing that way.
…Yeah. He's just being efficient!
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That night, Haalfrin thinks about setting down for the night, but he realizes that with his Wills switching out in shifts, and him having no effort required from him to fly, he can literally just go to sleep in that hunk of armor and let his subordinates carry him.
Given that he also has enough preserved food in his space bag to last him a year, he sees no reason to stop his journey to rest.
Thus, he flies further and further into the night.
Just when he's starting to get uncontrollably sleepy, he feels a weight suddenly appear on his leg and jerk him down a little. "WHAT THE-!"
He looks down and sees Frey hanging from his left leg. She looks up at him with exhausted, droopy eyes and whines, "G-go to sleep like a normal person! Get d-down!"
"FREY!" Haalfrin shouts in surprise as he has his Wills lower them to the ground. "WHAT WAS THAT!? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
Once they touch the floor, Haalfrin demands an explanation. "How did you just appear like that?"
"…I was hidden in your Death Aura."
Haalfrin suppresses a laugh. This situation is absurd to him. "So Frey… You could've just said you wanted to tag along instead of playing this prank on me."
She looks down (as is her habit when she doesn't want to talk), and she says curtly, "Begging forgiveness is better than begging permission."
Given what Frey knows about Haalfrin, she strongly believes that he wants to leave her behind, and that he doesn't want to love her at all.
These insecure thoughts stemmed all the way back when she and he were still in the Pit. During their long years talking to each other from across different Floors, she asked him if he had ever been married or had children.
He answered then, "I spent my youth throwing myself onto spears. I was always convinced I wasn't going to live long, so I avoided women. My own father left us behind after he stupidly got killed in a war he volunteered for, and I didn't want to do the same thing to my own children – leave them behind because of my own lifestyle choices. Nothing changed after I became a mage. Having children would just distract me from my goal."
Indeed, if Haalfrin had descendants by now, he'd have given up on his quest to die by the sword altogether. He'd protect his children (with his long lifespan) till they passed away – then his grandchildren, then his great-grandchildren. He'd forever have ties to this world he could never let go of.
Because Frey knows this, she's plagued with negative thoughts. 'Haalfrin just wants to leave me behind. He just wants to die alone!'
Such thoughts made her unable to directly ask him if he'd be willing to let her travel with him.
Hence, she looks down and refuses to answer Haalfrin's question.
Haalfrin breathes in deeply at her nervous mien and says, "Well, I see that being stuck in my Aura has made you tired."
He stands up straight and considers their options for a moment. "This special armor is too big for you, but I could just carry you on the flight across the land. Or, I could just strap some weapons to-"
"I'll let you carry me," Frey abruptly interrupts him. Without letting him reply, she pulls out an extra blanket she brought with her, and she uses it as a pillow on this warm night.
"…Ha ha…," Haalfrin laughs tiredly as he drifts off to sleep. "Good night."