"The US? What are you doin— wait, isn't it where..?" Njord quickly understood where Tachi was going with this.
"Yes, I'll try to convince Leif to help us."
"You know it's not going to be easy," Skadi said.
"I know, but after learning about this event, I hope I can bring this Leif back," Tachi explained.
"You know, he hasn't changed that much. He was a tormented boy before we met him. He just gave up the will to fight for his ideas," Skadi added sadly.
"What did he go through?" Tachi asked.
"He was never really vocal about it. But you could feel it," Njord said. "And how are you going to find him? It's a big country."
"Do you really think we'd leave a god that powerful without surveillance? Besides, he's been hanging around the same place for a while now, the same bars. Anyway, it shouldn't be complicated," Tachi explained.
He walked toward the door and placed his hand on its edge. "Having Leif with us would be an advantage. I need to try."
He began to leave. "Be ready for the attack as soon as I come back. It should take a couple of days."
He waved goodbye and walked away, leaving Njord and Skadi alone in the room.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asgard, in Glitnir's deepest cell.
Soren's blows against the metal bars echoed throughout the entire basement.
Fenrir was lying on the rocky ground, trying to ignore the constant noise, until he couldn't take it anymore.
"Isn't that enough already?! You've been stubbornly trying to break those bars for two days. It's useless. You're not strong enough."
Soren didn't answer and kept hitting them without stopping.
"You're stubborn… Planning on staying mute much longer?" Fenrir asked.
Soren paused for a moment. "Are you going to tell me what you know? Or get me out?"
"No chance."
The violet-haired boy didn't respond and went back to what he was doing.
"Damn it," Fenrir muttered as he stood up and walked toward the bars before sitting down across from Soren.
"Listen, what if I'm the one asking the questions? Maybe I could help you. And you'd stop smashing the bars for nothing."
Soren looked at him. "That's a start," he said, sitting down across from Fenrir. He couldn't clearly make out his brother's face, he had only briefly seen it when he burned his chain.
"By the way, I didn't get the chance to ask, what's your name?" the man asked.
"You know it," Soren replied.
"I mean your real name. The one your parents gave you."
"Oh, sorry. My name's Soren." Ever since he had been captured, everybody kept calling him Jormungandr. It felt more like a title than a name. A word they used to remind him that he was a monster in their eyes.
But a thought crossed his mind.
'The name my parents gave me? I never thought about it that way… Do I have parents?'
He looked up at Fenrir and asked, "And you? What's your name?"
"You can call me Quorthon. It's not the name I've been called the most throughout my life. But it was the first, and it will be the last," he replied.
"You've had other names?" Soren asked.
"I told you, I've seen everything. I've traveled a lot, I've lived many lives. But let's talk about you. I saw you hesitate when I asked for your name. Why?"
Even though Soren couldn't clearly see him, he could hear that Quorthon was smiling as he spoke. But what struck him most was the faint sound of his fangs brushing together when he talked, giving him a very distinct way of speaking.
'Those must be huge, Soren thought before answering.'
"I didn't hesitate because of my name. It's just that, I realized I don't remember the person who gave it to me."
"Wait, you don't remember the beginning of your life? You don't look that old."
Soren replied, slightly embarrassed, "I don't remember anything at all…"
'What have they done to him?' Fenrir thought. "What's your oldest memory?"
"It's about a week old. I remember waking up in the middle of an enormous hole, on a platform surrounded by very deep water. I stood up and ran as far as I could," Soren explained.
'For a moment, I thought the gods erased his memories. But it doesn't seem like something they would've done. They brought him here to kill him, no need to play with his mind,' Fenrir thought as he listened.
"Then I ended up in a city, the first one I saw. That's where I did something that led to me joining an organization of gods—"
"Wait, what?" Fenrir interrupted, suddenly attentive.
"I may have killed two men who were trying to assault a girl," Soren said.
"No, no, I don't care about that. I mean, you did great if they were that bad, but I'm talking about what you said after," Fenrir explained. He was speaking faster than usual, clearly interested.
"The organization composed of gods?" Soren asked.
"Yes! Exactly. What is it?" Fenrir got even closer to the bars of his cell,
"I won't be able to tell you much. I didn't have time to learn many things about it," he said, brushing the strands of hair away from his ear, showing the golden earrings they gave him, "They gave me these! It means I'm one of them."
'Golden earrings? Never heard of that,' Fenrir thought.
"And what is it exactly? Who are the gods in it? Is it a pantheon?"
Soren thought for a moment. "No, it's not a pantheon. First, I met a guy I fought. He then brought me to one of their bases, where I met a man, an important man. They were both gods, from different pantheons. One is Kratos, and the other one can control wind, but I don't remember his god name."
Quorthon s'allongea, et expliqua, "When I was free, I met many people like us. Yet very few had sincere respect for those who were different. I hated it. Two gods from different groups working together? That's quite rare. And coexisting in the same place? That might even be unprecedented," He said, surprised.
"Is it?" Soren asked, seeing an opportunity. "Soon they'll come and help me. Maybe you could join them when we're free."
"No thanks. I don't like working for someone. That's not my thing. But I have to admit, I never thought something like that could exist."
'Maybe there are things I haven't discovered yet. Maybe I was too harsh and too impatient with this world,' he thought.
"To be honest, I was furious at first, having to work for them against my will. But I quickly changed my mind. They know each other. They appreciate each other. They were all kind to me, humans and gods. I feel like I finally have something to hold on to," Soren explained, getting carried away in a near monologue, speaking about a past that was extremely recent as if it were already a nostalgic memory.
Fenrir didn't dislike that. For the first time in far too long, he felt a faint desire to be outside again.
'Maybe there are things I haven't discovered yet. Maybe I was too harsh and too impatient with this world.'