Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond the Sapphire Blue ❯ A Land Apart ( Chapter 4 )

JG: Hey, here's the next chapter! No time for introductions today, I'm so busy with other stories to please my reviewers!! Aahh!! *runs away screaming ripping out hair*

Nyoko: -_- she'll be getting grays by the time she's 20.

A Land Apart
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Isenstein Fortress, Midgun, Norselands, 5 days later…
Atem's POV…

~*~ Atem's Dream ~*~

This place seems familiar… but just where am I? I know I've been here before… it's so vaguely recognizable in my mind. I walk over to a spring, bubbling with water. Tiny water sprites are dancing around on the surface, giggling. They saw me staring down at them and quickly disappeared out of sight. I looked around the place I was standing in. I was in a garden of sorts, surrounded by a stone wall. Hang on a minute, who is that? Sitting on a stone bench was a woman with black hair and green eyes wearing a beautiful headdress and a white silk tunic with her legs crossed.

"Who are you?" I asked as I approached her.

"I am Isis, goddess of magic and the throne. I have invaded your dreams Pharaoh, to send you this message."

I blinked in confusion. Isis? Respectfully I got down on one knee. "What is your message, goddess?"

She stood up. "Atem, you are in the land of the cold, ruled by Brynhild and Sigurd. They will help you return Set safely to your arms, but you must recover the Sennen Items on your journey, or Egypt will fall."

"Egypt will fall?" I asked.

"Yes," She replied. "And soon, if you fail your quest. You have no time to waste, Pharaoh Atem. Please hurry… the fate of Egypt is held in your hands…"

~*~ End of Dream ~*~

"My Pharaoh… please wake up. Brynhild is asking for you."

I was shaken from my dream gently by a gentle voice of a woman. The voice was so similar to the goddess from my dream. I rolled over and looked up into the rainy blue eyes of the Priestess Isis. I sat up in my bed. The room was still dark and the crowing of ravens flying overhead was heard.

"Isis? What is the matter, Priestess?" I asked.

"Why nothing is the matter your majesty." She said with a small laugh and a smile. "But Brynhild is asking for you. She needs to speak with you about the voyage to Italia in a few days time."

"I see." I replied. "Tell her I will be down soon. Where are Arkantos and Kastor at this time?"

"They are outside waking their militia for our morning feast." Isis said.

I nodded. "Alright. Thank you Isis."

With that said, the beautiful priestess left the room. I'm surprised that Mahado or Shada or any of the other priests or palace hands had never fancied Isis. She was a beautiful character with a strong mind and mature nature. Who wouldn't want to wed somebody like her? If you were straight, that is.

I removed the bearskin rug from my canopy and hopped out of the bed into the warm room, heated by the fire which had been crackling overnight. Only just now had it died out. I looked up at the elk head on the wall. Was that some kind of trophy? We never did anything like that in Egypt. Animals are sacred to us, you see. Cats and dogs, mainly. But we mummify birds and fish too at times. I made a mental note to ask about the elk head mounted on the wall later on.

I combed my hair with my fingers before putting on my necessary jewellery and essential spotted panther skin. How Brynhild and her people survived in such harsh conditions is beyond me. I braced myself before setting foot into the cold stone corridor down to the main hall. An evil white wind whipped through the corridors and lashed at my hair as I stepped out. As hard as it was to ignore the chattering of my teeth, I made it downstairs into the lounge alive. A woman was sitting on a green velvet lounger next to a vibrant orange fire. She had golden blonde hair, which was plaited down to her waist at the back, and ice blue eyes. She welcomed me with a warm smile.

"King Atem, how are you this fine morning?" She asked in a cheery tone.

Fine? That cold white stuff is still falling from the sky outside! Does it ever stop?! "I'm very good, thank you. You must be Brynhild." I replied.

"Yes, that is I. You must excuse the absence of my husband, Sigurd. He is out hunting at this moment for our feast at midday. Please, do sit down."

I obliged and sat down on another green lounger opposite her. She kept smiling at me, as if studying me. It was rather unnerving; her beauty seemed to sting me, especially those piercing ice blue eyes of hers. "You have a beautiful fortress, Brynhild."

"Thank you, Atem. Isenstein was granted to me by Freyja and Odin when I migrated here from Iceland." She replied in a delicate tone.

"Who are they?" I asked, interested.

"I see you have never heard of the Norse gods and goddesses, Atem." Brynhild said with another smile. "Odin is the God of Gods, the ruler of the Norselands. Similar to the Greek `Zeus', as Arkantos has told us."

"I see, and Freyja? Is that a goddess?"

"Yes," Brynhild said. "Freyja is the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. She is a member of the Vanir but now serves Odin with her twin brother Frey. She watches over Midgun for us with the aid of the watchful eye of Odin."

"I see… so you are favoured by the gods? As Arkantos is?"

Brynhild closed her eyes for a minute. "Atem, what you must understand is that I was what they call a `valkyrie'*. Valkyries are warrior maidens of battle, servants of the gods. They are immortal, but only do they stay immortal if they remain virginal. Obviously I fell in love with Sigurd, and I lost my place as a Valkyrie when Sigurd became my husband."

I gaped for a second. "You… you were immortal? Like the gods?"

"Yes," She smiled. "Valkyries are considered demi-goddesses. My very name means `bright battle'. I will call on Svava and the other Valkyries to help us in battle as your wish."

"Extraordinary… why did you turn mortal? It is a gift to be immortal, or at least offered to be." I asked, intrigued.

Brynhild sighed. "I was punished by Odin, because I assigned the wrong King to die in this particular battle. My punishment was to marry a mortal, but I vowed only to marry one of the finest, bravest warriors. Therefore I slept in the Ring of Fire, until only the bravest warrior would ride through the flame and awaken me. Sigurd rode through the flame twice."

"What an astounding love story…" I smiled.

She smiled back at me. "Come now, we have work to do before Sigurd returns from the hunt." She stood up and gathered her dress above the ground allowing her to walk smoothly. I wrapped my panther skin around me tighter and followed her.

"I will take you to the Hill Fort, Atem. There you can explain to my soldiers about the battle they have been preparing for." Brynhild said.

"Very good. May I ask you Brynhild, is it winter in your land at this time? It is so very cold compared to my homeland of Egypt."

"Oh yes of course, Atem. Skadi has blessed us with a plentiful winter harvest and fat cattle for the winter, in order for us to survive." Brynhild replied as she trudged through the snow.

"Who is Skadi?"

"Skadi is the goddess of winter and the hunt. She grants us every winter with excessive herds of elk, ox, boars and mountain goats. She also answers our prayers very willingly. She is a generous goddess, so to say."

I nodded my reply and followed the blonde-haired woman up to a large wooden building on a small rise. Behind it was a thick, dark forest which looked rather daunting to enter. I made another mental note to stay as far away from dodgy looking forests as I could.

Standing outside the Hill Fort was a man in a long blue cape with a helmet on which had two large horns jutting out on either side. He held a large axe, the blade glinting in the light reflecting off of the crisp white snow. I gulped.

"Vladimir! Hello!" Brynhild shrieked.

"How do you do m'lady?" The man said.

"I'm swell, Vladimir. Let me introduce you to Atem, the King of Egypt."

He nodded. "So you're the person we've been expecting, eh?"

"Uh, yes indeed. My…" I pondered for a second to think of an appropriate word to describe Set as. "My brother was taken hostage by the Romans, as well as the Sennen Items that were created to keep my empire safe. We need them back, and more importantly I need Set back with me. I will not rest until his safety is restored."

Vladimir scratched the tufts of straight white hair that fell at either side of his lips. "Dante up to his old tricks again eh?"

"Unfortunately," Brynhild replied. "You know how strong the Romans are, Vladimir. The Greeks and the Egyptian mercenaries are simply not enough to win in battle against them. That's why Atem and Arkantos came to us. We must help them regain what Atem has so sadly lost."

"I see." Vladimir said. "When do you intend on traveling to Italia then?"

I looked into the stone grey eyes of the grey-haired man's face. "As soon as possible."

"Very well then. I will prepare the militia and the wolves and see you in the morning Brynhild. Then we will set off on our journey."

"Thank you Vladimir. I will see to the armoury to forge some armour for Ingeborg after the midday feast."

Vladimir frowned. "But m'lady… you cannot come into battle! It is too risky!"

"Vladimir, I was once a Valkyrie, have you forgotten that?"

Vladimir dipped his head. "Do as you wish m'lady. I am only concerned for your safety; that is all." With that said, Vladimir walked back into the Hill Fort, leaving Brynhild and I standing outside in the bitter cold.

Brynhild sighed. "Come Atem; let's get out of this cold. Sigurd shall return soon."

As we were walking back to the fortress, I asked, "What did he mean by `the wolves'?"

"Oh, Vladimir is a worshipper of Tyr, the God of warfare. Tyr granted him a pack of fenris wolves especially for this battle. They are the ultimate killing beasts, but gentle giants around their masters."

"I see. And who might Ingeborg be?"

"Ingeborg is my horse. When I still had my time as a Valkyrie, I rode her into battle. I was lucky enough to keep her when I became mortal."

"How intriguing. Who is that in the distance there?"

Brynhild shielded her eyes from the sun which had broken through the clouds and peered into the distance. "Ah! It is Sigurd! He is home from the hunt! Come Atem; let's see what we will be feasting upon today!"

Together we ran through the snow, up to a tall, strongly built blonde man holding a wild pig behind his neck and a spear covered in blood in his right hand. A few other men were standing behind him holding various other hunted animals. One man was on the back of an enormous ox with a sheep in front of him on the ox's shoulders.

"Sigurd, my darling! I see your hunt was successful!" Brynhild squealed happily as she planted a kiss on her husband's cheek.

"Yes, it was." Sigurd replied. "We caught three wild pigs and two sheep. It will do us a while over the winter."

A short while later, the kitchen hands had severed the hunted animals and roasted them with herbs and spices over a fire, as well as chickens and geese that the townsfolk of Midgun had offered us. The bush pigs that Sigurd and his men had slaughtered were being cooked on a stick over a large fire outside, as well as harvested vegetables.

As I was making my way back up to the dining hall of the Isenstein fortress, I noticed Arkantos talking to the Priestess Isis outside, alone. I heard Isis laugh a couple of times, and I had never heard her laugh before. Something was up. I stayed close to the side of the fortress and shamelessly eavesdropped on their conversation:

"I'm sorry for walking in on you last night, Isis. I must have got the wrong room."

"Oh no it's quite alright Arkantos. It was a mistake, after all." Isis giggled.

"Although I admit I was rather tempted to stay in there after what I saw."

Isis giggled again. "Well perhaps you should have…" The last statement was followed by suckling sounds. I tensed. For the love of Ra, Arkantos and Isis? Never! Then again, what could I do? Everything. I am the Pharaoh after all. But I won't do anything. If they decide to love one another, so be it. I mean, I would have to be the biggest hypocrite in the world to try and stop them, wouldn't I?

I continued up the steps to the fortress and proceeded to the dining hall. Inside, Sigurd was holding Brynhild close to him. I yearned for Set. It had been too long since I had seen him, and all these other people around me were rubbing the salt into my wounds. The sooner we got to Italia the better.

For our feast we had roasted lamb, chicken and pork, with roasted potatoes, carrots and broccoli. To wash that down, we were offered a goblet of some ghastly berry extract known as `mulberry juice'. It wasn't quite as bad as Arkantos' Greek wine, though. Nothing could beat battiikh (1) juice or burtu'aan bedammoh (2) juice from Egypt, though. I had a taste for extremely sweet things.

A girl with white blonde hair and clear blue eyes, who looked strikingly similar to Brynhild, offered me another goblet of mulberry juice. Unless Isis had granted me seven pounds of sugar in this goblet then I wouldn't drink it.

"No, no thank you."

"Oh wouldn't you, Atem? It would please the gods if you did. Just one more?" The girl said.

"Aslaug, please." Brynhild said sternly. "I'm sorry Atem; my daughter can be a bit stubborn sometimes."

"It's quite alright."

Aslaug smiled pleasantly at me. "So? Just one more goblet, King Atem?" She asked sweetly. Damn her sweetness.

"Oh alright, just one more." I reluctantly accepted, and she smiled and poured another load of mulberry crap into my goblet. I groaned internally and took a sip. Damn, whatever this was it was strong. I could tell I would be up all night if I downed the lot, which I didn't intend on doing.

Dungeons, Vatican Citadel, Roma, Italia…
Normal POV…

Set woke with a jolt as he heard a loud clang from down the hall. A guard came and unlocked the cell. Oceania looked up at him with her large dark eyes, obscurity and warning flickering in them.

"Get to your feet slave. The King wants you." The guard grunted.

Set sighed and got to his feet weakly. He hadn't been fed for two days and felt horrid. "What does he want with me?" Set asked.

"Don't ask questions, foreigner. Just hurry up and follow me."

Set followed the guard up to the throne room where Dante waited - without the Sennen Puzzle chained around his neck. He was now convinced (after listening to Celeste's ranting) that the Sennen items were cursed, and he wanted to know everything about them. Set was the only person who could do that.

"On your knees, priest." The guard said as he threw Seto to the ground at the King's feet.

"Ah… you're here. Good. Now tell me, Set, what is it about these items that I don't know about? Tell me all of their secrets."

"They have no secrets!" Set spat. "Even if they did you wouldn't understand them. They weren't created for you and your Roman Empire, they were made for Egypt."

"Don't give me that hogwash, slave! Now tell me why these items are being unfaithful to me! They are supposed to protect whoever is the holder! Not shower them with misfortunes!"

"I would sooner sacrifice myself than tell you of their great power!"

Dante grunted. "Fine. I will get it out of you though. Don't go thinking that I won't because I'm smarter than that." Dante said cunningly. He then said to the guard, "Give him ten lashings and no dinner for the next three days. He's bound to spill it all from that sort of torture."

Later…

"Argh!" Set cried out as the whip connected with the skin on his back for the ninth time that night. Just one more to go Set… keep it together… he thought.

"Do you give in yet, priest?!"

"Never!" Set shrieked

"So be it!" Another crackling sound was heard as Set screamed out. He felt warm liquid oozing out of his back and dribbling down his legs.

"Alright that will do. Dante said only ten." Another voice from somewhere said.

The ropes around Set's wrists and ankles were released, sending him crashing onto the stone floor. Set was then picked up by two men and dragged back into his cell with Oceania, the hippocampus. Oceania looked at the naked, bleeding boy sympathetically.

"You poor soul…" She said.

Set wrapped himself in his clothes and leant against the wall of the moist, dark cell shivering. Please come for me Atem, I know you will. You aren't the type to give up without a fight. Hurry, please, I beg of you. Time is running out…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

JG: Just a note about Brynhild and her story of becoming a mortal---I don't know if she actually lost her immortality, but I'm just putting it like that in this story to make it more logical (so she's human not immortal). Also in the tale of Brynhild and Sigurd, Sigurd left her for some other woman and Brynhild married another person too, but I'm not including that either. A Hill Fort is the main centre where military units are trained in the Norse, and also at the Longhouse, which I will tell about in the next chapter. You will also meet the other Valkyries and other Norse mythical units such as giants, trolls, etc.

(1) - Battiikh: Egyptian melon juice. Not sure what sort of melon though XD

(2) - Burtu'aan bedammoh: Juice extracted from pink oranges (the skin on the outside is orange like a normal orange but the flesh inside is a pinky colour, yum yum!)

Updates: Soon hopefully, but I have other stories that need updating too XD I'm so behind! Ah!

Next chapter: Before Atem leaves with Brynhild and Arkantos to go to Italia to rescue Set and the Sennen Items, three special sort of Norse creatures create a gift for Atem so he will remember his journey. Possible Isis x Arkantos fluff, not sure though.