The Great Serpent

Back with our two "heroes," Akyo is struggling to receive Tachi's transmission. However, he manages to grasp two words, "on guard." He then calls out to Søren, "SOREN, COME HERE, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM."

They quickly gather together, back to back, to cover each other. The tension rises; they are uncertain about what they're facing but must remain prepared.

In the silence that seemed to last an eternity, the sound of footsteps is detected. They look in the direction of the sound and hear a voice, that of a man, rather deep and cold. He says, "Clearly, that wasn't the real one. My intuition was correct, once again..." He's barely discernible in the darkness, but he appears to be wearing a cape, and one of his eyes, blood-red, is visible even in these conditions, while the other seems hidden. He continues, "I wonder who you are, young gods evidently–Baldr? Apollo? Kratos?"

Anyway, it's not important, you don't interest me." Shortly after these words, an aura as visible as it is powerful envelops the area. They shield themselves, and when they reopen their eyes, there's nothing left.

Akyo tries to contact HQ, but in vain. So, they decide to hold their position. This pays off as not long after, Tachi joins them, looking concerned, and asks how they're doing.

They explain that everything's fine. Tachi warns them that a helicopter will arrive soon. It arrives as quickly as possible thanks to his ability to maneuver with the wind. About 5 minutes pass before a helicopter arrives and takes them back.

Tachi tells them to return to their quarters without saying anything else, which surprises them. Søren, still discontent, struggles as best he can before unfortunately being taken back to the room where he had slept the night before.

Søren takes a cold shower, not understanding that hot water exists. He then settles into the room, grabs a piece of fruit, and drifts into his thoughts. "In what did I get myself into? This world is insane. A flying rock as a carriage, their outfits are bizarre. And what was I doing in that cave?"

Søren indeed remembers nothing, just a long void that he couldn't explain. But one thing comes back to him: the indiscernible face of a man with a benevolent smile. Who was he, and why can't he remember anything except his name, his combat abilities, and oddly, that unsettling sensation that the world around him is hostile?

During the night, he wakes up abruptly, hyperventilating, sweating, all his senses heightened. 'Damn, what was that?' 'In what did I get myself into?' This world is insane. A flying rock as a carriage, their outfits are bizarre. And what was I doing in that cave?"

Søren indeed remembers nothing, just a long void that he couldn't explain. But one thing comes back to him: the indiscernible face of a man with a benevolent smile. Who was he, and why can't he remember anything except his name, his combat abilities, and oddly, that unsettling sensation that the world around him is hostile?

In his dream, he hears screams, the cries of a crowd, and a more distinct voice calling him, sounding fearful. Søren struggles to make sense of this dream, but he manages to see in the midst of the dense crowd, a man struggling to reach him. His face is the same as that of the benevolent man. Who is he, and why does he seem to be an important figure from Søren's past?

The next day, no one comes knocking. He wakes up peacefully to the sunlight. Despite his actions, he actually enjoys the simplicity of this room. He experiences a comfort he's never known, especially since he used to wake up sore from sleeping on the rocky ground where he was imprisoned. About an hour after waking up, he receives a transmission and hurriedly puts on his earpiece: "Hey Søren, join us for a meal as soon as you can," says Tachi, as enthusiastic as ever.

"And how am I supposed to know where to go? I don't have a map." He doesn't finish his sentence before Tachi hangs up. Søren gets dressed and, before leaving, wonders how he's supposed to find his way. To his surprise, when he opens the door, he's faced with walls covered in poorly drawn pictures of Tachi, indicating a direction. He follows the pictograms, leading him to a kind of cafeteria, entirely empty except for a table where five people are sitting.

"Why are they so noisy?" he mutters as he approaches. Tachi stands up, waving him over enthusiastically. Despite feeling a bit awkward due to the Mexican's hyperactivity, Søren joins them. The two men from HQ give him a brief nod, but Akyo doesn't react at all. As Søren sits down, a young woman rushes up to him and stares into his eyes, furrowing her brows thoughtfully, without saying a word. Soren stares back, surprisingly unbothered by the situation. "True, Tachi, he does have beautiful eyes," the woman says as she stands up. The Scandinavian is left speechless after this remark.

As she returns to her seat, Tachi speaks up, "I see you've met Andrea, our dear psychologist." The woman suddenly stands up, hitting Tachi on the head, "And your big sister." "Yes, and my big sister," Tachi adds.

Søren, still nonchalant, asks, "Alright, but what's a psychologist?" A slight pause fills the room. "It's true that you know nothing about this world. A psychologist is someone you can talk to, who helps you identify your problems and work through them," explains Tachi. Søren, skeptical, continues, "So you're supposedly gods, and you need to talk to someone to solve your problems?" The amused psychologist explains, "You see, I specialize in the cases of gods and essentially all mythological creatures.

As the boys probably explained to you, characters and folkloric creatures actually exist, but over the centuries, humanity has forgotten and now only considers them legends. Gods have a life that's different from humans. Take Akyo, for example, who is Kratos. He's only 18 years old, so you can understand that it's impossible for him to have existed in ancient Greece.

In reality, gods face a complex cycle of reincarnation. When they die, they're reborn somewhere else, starting a new life in a new physical form, altough some of them are able to bypass this cycle. At birth, there's no indicator that a child is actually a god.

It's only between the ages of 6 and 12 that the first signs of their true identity appear. People of that time passed down through generations the clues to detect a god-child, and these were transcribed into certain books. This greatly helped us identify our dear Akyo." Søren interrupts her monologue, "Okay, but that still doesn't explain your purpose." She continues, "I was getting to that. You see, these god-children initially have no memory of their past lives, and recovering millennia of data can be a challenging task, especially since depending on the child's personality, their brain might suppress certain memories. Akyo has very few memories due to his young age, and we're working on that. And that's what we're going to do with you, Søren."

Søren, confused, asks, "How is that with me? I'm not like you." An awkward silence falls, everyone looks at Søren in shock. Akyo breaks the silence, "You idiot, did you really think a human could have had the strength to break through a massive stone wall like you did?" Søren still doesn't understand where they're going with this.

"Wait, you really don't know?" Søren shakes his head. With a smile, Andrea says, "The World Serpent, the Midgard Serpent, probably the most feared creature among Scandinavians. Søren, you are Jormungandr."