Urd

“Would you like to fix everything?”

Eiric stands, his sword drawn but the strange girl before him already has a powerful grip on the blade. His body will not move; her presence is powerful enough to freeze his body.

Yet, her appearance is anything but frightening. She’s small and slim. The armor she wears, though reminiscent of Verdandi, is torn and old. Her hair is long and black, but it is her eyes, grey and without pupils, that Eiric focuses on.

“Who are you?”

“Urd. I am an angel, keeper of what was. Your weakened mind has allowed me to visit you in this realm; be grateful it is I that stands before you. The others would have killed you without question. But I have mercy, I will let you make the decision. I can take you to see the past. I can let you change it. I will show you why you must not exist. Will you come with me?” Urd offers Eiric a hand.

“I can’t trust you. You curse the blessings you give us.”

“There is a reason for that. It is far beyond what you can understand. But I believe, if you cease to exist, we will no longer have to do so. Suffering from your existence will vanish. The one who just passed, she was special to you. Her suffering would vanish.”

“Livhild as well? Are you sure?”

“Certainty is a fallacy. Allow me to show you.”

“Ok.”

The moment Eiric agrees, both are warped in time.

“There are more like me, but it seems they haven’t arrived yet. I will help, but you must promise to hear each other’s request.”

Livhild walks by Urd and Eiric. Behind her are a group of six. Amongst them a wolf man, an elf, a fairy, a giant, a demon, and a human.

The group is composed of leaders from large villages in Ymirra. After years of conflict, the lady known as the immortal saint took it upon herself to gather the races at her home village in hopes of making peace.

As an immortal being, Livhild is strong and unkillable. Her wounds heal in an instant, even united armies from every possible soldier alive would not be enough to take her down. She is the mightiest being in the mortal realm, but she is known for her kindness.

“Livhild!”

“They cannot see or hear us; we can only watch.” Urd said.

“Demons also have abilities you call blessings. If they are as powerful as yours then how can we trust they will not attack us.” The elf representative, a tall woman, said.

“My people are peaceful. Livhild lives with us because she wished to understand her blessing. We have invited you to our village because we wish to make peace as well. Do not forget, our numbers do not even cross 100. Some have blessings of decent strength, but we have no interest in war.”

Eiric and Urd are warped to the meeting hall he visited with his group from Sanctuary. The races meet again, decades after their first meeting with Livhild who stands at the center of the chairs.

“Thank you all. It has been a long journey, but this agreement will bring peace for all of us. We need not avoid each other; we can live together. Race will no longer separate us.”

“The races found peace?” Eiric said.

“They did. For centuries.”

“What happened?”

“The gods fell.”

Once more, time is warped forward.

“Where are the demons?!”

“I do not know. They were no longer here when I returned. I have searched for them but I cannot find them. I am sorry.”

“Enough! The gods have fallen for reasons we cannot explain, Ymirra has been split into five realms. Mithold remains the only one tame, and you humans are attempting to take it all for yourself!” The giant representative said.

“All of our settlements are already here! We will take you in, but everyone cannot possibly live here. We must find ways to live in the other realms.” The human representative said.

“We? You will not move a finger! Our people will suffer in the realms, they are chaotic and dangerous.”

“We should not be fighting! We must find the reason the gods fell. They protected us, and now calamity has fallen upon us. If we do not work together, whatever killed the gods will haunt us next.” Livhild said.

Before Livhild can continue, the doors to the meeting hall are destroyed.

“Alti? What are you doing?”

“Livhild. I. My head. All of it hurts. It hurts!”

“Everyone down!”

“Fjorir Fireball!”

“Fjorir wall!”

Time stops.

“They turned. Why did you curse them? It was you. You killed the gods of this world. You split Ymirra. Why?”

“Would you understand? There is a world our sister has seen. One in which all is gone. If she can no longer see then it is disaster far beyond anything you can imagine. We wish to protect Ymirra. We believe it is because Yggdrasil grows sick. She will be the one to destroy the world. The blessings we give to you are her power, the curse a way to make sure it does not return. Do you understand now?”

“No. You must be mistaken.”

“Are we?”

Time warps.

“Eiric?”

Livhild holds a newspaper, Eiric’s name is plastered over the front page.

“In this world, you have already become a renown criminal. This is why we believe you must disappear.”

“He wishes to destroy this world? No. That couldn’t be. Why would he do that… he killed Sigrun? No. That was the girl he always talked about.” Livhild falls to her knees, “What is going on? Everything just went wrong. I haven’t been able to do anything since.”

“I killed Sigrun?”

“You did. When asked about it, you said it was Yggdrasil’s will. That it was she who asked you to destroy this world as well. But, you did not succeed. And neither did we. After your death, Yggdrasil mourned you. The world collapsed. But this is what confuses me, was this not her will?”

The world goes black. At the center, radiating light from her magic, stands Yggdrasil. And, before her, screeching in pain, is Livhild.

“The one that cannot die is not killed even by the death of the world around her. You are the cause of her pain. Yggdrasil mourned you, and soon, she returned the world to what it was.”

Urd and Eiric return to the beginning of Ymirra. Livhild lying in a field as she recovers from the excruciating pain.

“She will go on and attempt to fix it all now. Losing herself more and more over time. All because she believes the world changed you. Because she wished for you to arrive in a world where the blessed are not hated. But she failed every time. Yggdrasil mourns every time. How confusing. But, I believe, should you step away, then their suffering will as well. Eiric, the angels will protect his world. We seek the answers to keep it alive. But you are the one that seeks to destroy it. You bring Yggdrasil pain. You bring Livhild pain. You bring Sigrun pain. Wouldn’t you like for them to be happy?”

“If I disappear, will they be happy?”

“I cannot guarantee their happiness, only that the great pain you bring will cease. It could very well give them a life of unlimited happiness, for them and the world now that its greatest threat is gone. I will return the world to the past, one in which you will never exist. All you must do is say the word. Know how much pain you bring, this happens countless times. All caused by you and your failures.”

Eiric looks to Livhild. She cries from the pain, helpless to even move as her body will not recover for weeks due to the damage to her mind.

Eiric reaches for Urd’s hand. A world without him, a world not destroyed by his failures, a world devoid of the memories that flow to him, is one of peace.

“Good.”

Eiric stops himself, he stares at the mark on his ring finger. “Sigrun. She keeps it a secret from me, but she has memories from a different life, doesn’t she?”

“That I do not know. I pray not; you only bring her pain.”

“Then why does she look for me? Why did Livhild try so many times to make this a better world for me. Everyone. They all see something that I don’t, I want to be that person. If I leave today, if Livhild and Sigrun ever remember me, what pain would that bring them?”

“Enough! You are not right for this world!”

Urd lunges at Eiric, choking him to the ground and squeezing with all her might.

Three runes float above Eiric’s hands, soon a light that transcends realms emits from his palm.

“There!” Freydis rips the sleeves and bottom of her dress. The light created by Eiric reaches her, and all of it is absorbed into her body, “Incredible!” Harvesting power from the pure light, Freydis unleashes a punch that cracks a window into the realm where Urd holds Eiric down, destroying it and returning them to current time.

Sigrun and Vilgur rush forward, attacking Urd who pushes them away with ease.

Urd stands, her body fading back to the heavens. “Cursed children, I tried to save you all from the endless pain brought by Yggdrasil’s pawn.”

“Whatever you believe, you’re wrong. I was going to give you a piece of my mind for all you have done to the blessed, but you tried to killed Eiric, I’ll make sure to kill you.” Sigrun said.

“You… I have seen you. You are not Yggdrasil’s pawn. No, you are Yggdrasil’s c…”

“Eiric!” After Urd disappears, Sigrun embraces Eiric.

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you ok?”

“I am. Sigrun, I’ll make this world that doesn’t bring you pain, I promise.”