M
One year since the Tear reopened, during Crow versus Zeus—
"I'm telling you, Crystal. The government is hiding something. If Simon could just get into the building they're hiding whatever came through the Tear, then I'm sure it'll be Odin if Tyr came out the last."
I circled reports as I sat in her office during the late hours of the night.
With all the Travelers in America mobilized to find out what came out of that portal Jim and his presidential candidate are siding with us on, we've faced nothing but Travelers being driven into madness and bullshit information.
So after revisiting old notes and realizing it occurred in the same place Crow faced the Death Knight, I came to my older sister Crystal for her brain to aid me on this new angle.
"That's impossible, and I'm not even sure you've seen Tyr. It could've been Agni for all you know. Only Baldur is kept in the loop when he's making house calls. And that's usually after he's triggered an alarm he forgot his mom has."
She kept her eyes steady on the Odin notes she'd been reading as I gave it some thought.
Yet Agni said nothing about that tense meeting, and his behavior is never hostile toward me or Crystal. So that doesn't line up at all.
Pulling a picture that ballsy girl Teresa dared to take, I looked at it again.
Dark skin, average height, and white hair.
I paused, taking another glance at the white hair. That was odd, and with no recent meetings with Agni, I couldn't think it was him or Tyr.
"Do you know if Agni dyed his hair?"
Crystal looked up, annoyed at what she clearly found to be a dumb question, just as I heard the door opening—no doubt Teresa bringing drinks and snacks to join us.
"Just take a look for yourself."
I turned my phone toward her. She glanced for a second, then paused and looked harder. My eyes drifted to Teresa basically sprinting as she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
"Live repor—"
"Live emergency—"
"This is Sky Ne—"
"This is Traveler's Society Official News, reporting with an urgent government release from an undisclosed hospital. Moments ago, the White House authorized this recording to be shared with the world. They are claiming to have captured Odin."
My phone slipped from my hand as we all focused on the screen.
It wasn't a live podium shot. It was a recording from inside a hospital room—sterile walls, harsh white light, too many machines humming in the background. An aged and scarred man lay there in a reinforced bed, one arm missing, dressed in the thin clothing of a patient who'd already survived more than he should have.
His face was still twisted in pain, eyes shut tight, like he was being kept under while fighting nightmares, the camera angle making sure every line and scar was on full display for the world to see.
I covered my mouth at the sight of some of the injuries and tried to imagine what kind—or how many—astral horrors it took to get this man to this degree.
The missing arm pulsed with faint embers of his once-pristine golden flames, almost falling into a void of black, as if he was dying right now.
Even Teresa, hero that she is, had to stop and stare in horror at what someone coming back from a war in the Sea could look like—
—before puking into the trash can.
No doubt the same reaction every child in the second generation is having.
"Monkey!!! Did you see the ne—"
Buddha's broom slammed into Shin's head before he could finish. Our "peaceful" meeting shattered as everyone scrambled back to the table.
"They gotta be joking, right? So who the fuck came back last time? Was it Tyr, but he was corrupted by the Enlightened?!"
"Shut up, Lu Bu."
If Odin came back, then that means he succeeded in saving his brother.
The rest of them don't even understand how much worse the situation is if Odin is in that state a year after Tyr's return.
I held my head in my palm, feeling the headache already building. We were missing Ghost—she'd up and disappeared like usual. Didn't care enough to leave even a shadow of a message behind.
"Where exactly is Tyr then? If Tasey has been allowed to tear shit up, then why exactly hasn't Tyr, the rumored anti-Tasey, shown up to beat him down?" Drake asked.
I stuffed my own ideas back down.
Now wasn't the time for the thoughts I really had.
"Charles. Again."
Watching Charles go through the basics of spear wielding, the same drills he'd been forced to repeat for the last year. His father went the extra mile and banned his use of astral energy until he could learn some rules.
"Yes, Mrs. Athena."
He went back into his movements as my mind slipped back to the news from America.
If the reports were even half true, then America just opened Pandora's box.
If Odin is back, then that leaves only one person no one is thinking about—someone who could've potentially come back during that school trip, mostly a shadow of himself, since he'd be the first recorded person to touch madness and come back.
Even Ares has been throwing himself back into training after hearing his bully is back.
Even injured, very few would dare aim at him. And Huginn is most likely already making moves.
In fact, anyone who even attempts a move has been reported missing, as if he's cleaning out the underworld faster than the ideas can spawn.
"Thank you, Captain Uriel! If you need us again, then don't hesitate to call us."
He shook hands with the representative of the recently established Traveler country that had decided to seek independence away from their home nation along our border.
We followed behind him to the transport area where my class and the students of the astral studies department were waiting. Everyone had been assigned to help with humanitarian work as a field test for mixing both studies.
"You did good leading everyone, Crow. You'll make a fine S-rank when you breach the wall. And the rest of you—I truly extend my thanks and gratitude from me and my people."
He looked over the group before continuing.
"I understand that some of you still feel like you're not fully using your abilities, which is true. You all have the potential to surpass all the SSS-rank of the First Generation. Within the Sea, we could not leverage everyone's ability in the way that truly suited them.
"Yet here on Earth, Artemis has turned what you all see as failure into a miracle for your generation. Future researchers, doctors, builders, therapists, supply lines, advisors—are these positions any less important than Travelers who journey the Sea and Explorers who find new realities to explore?
"Let me be the veteran who ends your self-doubting. Each and every one of you has proven why, and that it's possible our world could unite behind astral energy. Not as 'humans,' but as users and innovators of this new world you were born into and I walked into."
He grinned like he'd actually put in effort to write and remember that speech. I watched the lights in everyone's eyes flicker on, like they'd just been handed a puppy.
It made me grin slightly too, even as I found their mood a grim reminder of the dreams that were once crushed.