A New Freyya (2/2)

So, Haalfrin takes Freyya out of her tower for half an hour a day from then on.

It was a bit of an open secret before that Freyya was staying somewhere in the Hall of Valor, but nobody really knew for sure. This is because Freyya would always use concealment spells whenever she went about, and Haalfrin would never talk about her to others while she's not present.

Now that Freyya is walking around with her face unveiled, the people in the Hall of Valor learn pretty quickly that she's a Death Reaper – they all recognize her face, after all.

The first couple of times Haalfrin and Freyya walk through the halls arm in arm, people first point out the woman clinging to their commander, but they're all too cautious to go up and talk to them.

Did the goddess of Defeat become the commander's lover? Why is she here? Will she help out with the war?

The Arkin are busy thinking things like this when they see the goddess, yet none of them voice their thoughts in front of the people in question.

This, however, changes on the 4th trip out.

Haalfrin and Freyya go through the training fields, when somebody in the crowd of practicing Arkin look over and points at the approaching Commander his "mysterious" companion.

Seeing all of his soldiers stop what they're doing and stand at attention, Haalfrin clears his throat and says, "I have someone to introduce to you all. You're the first one we came across today, so I'll just tell you all first."

"Isn't that-"

Haalfrin cuts the soldier off, "She is Freyya – a warrior angel that visits the fallen soldiers and carries them away to heaven."

Freyya gets REALLY embarrassed being introduced this way, so she just hides her shyness by tucking her wings in and hiding behind Haalfrin.

"For reasons I don't feel like disclosing," Haalfrin explains, "Freyya is living in that prohibited tower. Don't disturb her, as you already know. And yes, we've been married for a while. And no, she's been prohibited by the god of the Death Realm from interfering with our war. Any questions?"

There is silence.

Many of the soldiers look at Freyya acting all shy and dressed casually, and they get disoriented feelings in their hearts. The last they all saw of her, she was a cold warrior dressed in battle armor and black robes – not a normal Rehkin woman with that "village girl" look.

What's worse is that most of the Arkin remember Freyya showing up for their mortal souls. They remember her beating their spirits half to "death", then ripping their unwilling spirits away. This was all a very horrific and traumatic experience for them.

That, contrasted with what they're seeing right now is… understandably awkward.

After the initial shock wears off, one of the Arkin looks at Freyya's blushing face and shy mien, and he comes to realize that she looks… "… kind of adorable, actually."

Oops. Did he say that out loud?

Haalfrin swivels his head and looks over at the man.

All the other soldiers were staring at the floor and were dead silent, so the man's voice was clearly heard.

"What was that?" Haalfrin asks.

"N-nothing."

Despite the man's insistence, he had said what everyone was thinking; Freyya appears to be likable and adorable – not at all frightening like they remember her.

Maybe their perception of her was just muddled because they had just died when they met her, and they were very emotionally discombobulated? Bad first impressions DO matter.

"Ehem," Haalfrin coughs. "Anyway, carry on with your training."

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After several more days of Freyya being paraded around and introduced multiple times, Freyya starts going out of her tower on her own without waiting to be escorted by Haalfrin. Seeing these people act somewhat normally around her is enough to make the outside not as uncomfortable as she thought it would be.

However, slipping out as she does, she notices some of the Arkin returning from another raid to the surface. Lining the outside walls are vendors that some of the other Arkin had set up, as the soldiers had started trading among each other in their free time.

"Oi, you!" she sees one vendor call to some of the returning Arkin. "A bottle of ale for one of my charms."

Charms? What charms? Freyya looks closer and sees that the vendor's stall is lined with little wooden statues… of herself?"

"Is that the goddess?" one of the returning soldiers asks as he takes his bloody helmet off.

"Oh yes," the part-time merchant nods happily. "If you carry the charm with you, she'll bring you good luck."

"Good luck is garbage. I'll just buy it because my girlfriend thinks Freyya is pretty."

"You got a girlfriend, Nerri?" one of the other soldiers scoffs. "Aren't you too ugly for that?"

"Hey!" the soldier scowls. "We've fought for so long against the Ants together, and she's seen my true bravery."

"Yeah, yeah," the merchant rolls his eyes. "Just buy my statue already."

Freyya's breath stops when she sees what the merchant is selling, and how these people are talking about her.

Seeing them treat her as a token of good luck… her heart finally starts loosening up to these people.

From that day onwards, Freyya starts going out more and more often, and without Haalfrin's prompting too. She starts making a few friends and living a life beyond her confined tower.

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"How did you do it, Haalfrin?" Das asks seriously as he sits down on a bench opposite Haalfrin. Right now, they're in the main hall, where the Arkin gather to feast after returning from a large battle.

"How'd I do what?" Haalfrin replies.

"THAT…" Das points to Freyya, who is surrounded by a group of girls and chatting with them. The girls are sharing their drinks with Freyya and exchanging stories with her. "Freyya isn't like that. She's a hermit who hates people. What have you done!?"

"Maybe she grew," Haalfrin shrugs. "People do that sometimes."

"The DEAD don't do that! They don't GROW!" Das pauses. "Was it your Syl Name? Did you use it to change her?"

"What? No!" Haalfrin is actually offended by that question. "Maybe she's always been like this deep down – sociable and cheerful." He points his kitchen knife at Das. "Maybe YOU just never knew the girl very well."

Das sighs heavily. Maybe he was wrong to leave that girl alone in that dark forest for those countless years. Maybe being so isolated like that actually made her unhappy?

"Well… There's no use wasting time on regret," Das thinks. He puts his chin on his hand and looks at the girl as she's laughing at a joke he can't hear. "Well… At least she's happy now. That's what matters."

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Far, far away in the Death Realm, there is a forest untouched by time or meddling hands. In the deepest parts of these woods is a large tree with a hollowed-out section near the base of the trunk. In the empty part of the tree is a trap door leading straight down into a relatively small house.

Food stains are left untouched on the kitchen counter, and dirty clothes are piled in a corner.

Freyya lays on the pile of clothes, despite there being a perfectly good bed right next to her… and she stares aimlessly at the ceiling – not really thinking about anything.

Some thousand years ago or more, Freyya remembers another call coming from the world Haalfrin was on – another battle. Excitedly, she had prepared some more cake (as usual), split off a portion of her soul, and sent her little avatar away.

However… that little avatar never came back. Even worse, she never saw Haalfrin again.

Did the man abandon fighting altogether? No, they're bound by the soul; there's no way he'd give up on this. Did Das imprison him again and forcefully keep him away from battles? That's a good possibility.

Several hundred years ago, Freyya had confronted Das about this in a fit of rage; she even brought this up to the Death King. However, the King himself had proven that Das was completely innocent here.

In the end, the Death King was only able to placate Freyya by revealing to her what kind o battle Haalfrin is currently in – that the Death Aura is unable to dissipate, that her avatar is trapped there, and that Haalfrin is constantly fighting for his life.

Theoretically, this should have made Freyya feel better, but for reasons she doesn't understand, it makes her feel worse instead.

It's like… she still has to go to her empty house and work hard for everyone with nobody she cares about around her, all while being told that she has no reason to be angry. Haalfrin still hasn't contacted her in so long, so why, exactly, should she feel happy about that?

Grr… Whatever.