Work Text:
Brunhild had told him that if he’d died, he’d die for real. That was fine with him, he’d accepted that the moment he took his first step in the arena, he laid his life on the line. He felt his soul leaving his body as Zeus landed that final hit on him, and he breathed his last. He had fought the best he could, but Zeus was just too powerful. Well, to niflhel he goes.
But he saw his body continue fighting, still throwing punches and dodging jabs by Zeus, as his soul went further and further away, his vision fading. What exactly was going on here? Had Bruhilde lied to him? It was possible, he didn’t trust the Valkyrie as far as he could throw her. He wouldn’t put it past her to lie to achieve her goals, the very reason he was brought back to life in the first place.
The knuckle duster he’d had for the fight was gone now, his connection to Reginleif had been severed. Maybe the Valkyrie was still bound to his corpse, keeping up the fight despite his soul leaving. He still didn’t understand the whole deal with the Valkyries and Volund. He’d sensed divine power from the Volund process, so some god was behind this all.
He wasn’t going to Niflhel, that was for sure, he was headed back to Heaven, because his soul was going down the same path when he’d died the first time. Zeus was by far the most powerful of the gods, so now that he’s out of the rounds, the rest of his children should be able to destroy the remaining gods.
“MY CHILD.” A deep voice spoke, a voice that entirely surrounded him as he ascended into the clouds.
“Hey dad.” He replied. “So you let those so-called ‘gods’ cause Ragnarok, eh?”
That was apparently amusing to God, as the divine voice exploded in laughter. “OF COURSE YOU’D THINK THAT, ADAM. BUT YOUR LIFE IS NOT GOING TO END HERE, I STILL HAVE PLANS FOR YOU YET, THERE’S STILL CHILDREN OF YOURS THAT NEED TO BE PROTECTED.”
As if he had a choice. God had already resurrected him once (Brunhild claimed to have brought him back, but no Valkyrie had such powers) so if he refused, God would just bring him back again. Or maybe just send him down to Hell. Well, it’s time to see exactly what God wanted him to do.
“So what, you’re bringing me back to life to fight in Ragnarok again? Isn’t that against the rules a little bit?”
“YOU THINK TOO SMALL, ADAM. THERE’S ANOTHER FAMILY IN ANOTHER WORLD THAT IS UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK. THEY HAVE FEW ALLIES AND MANY ENEMIES, SO GO FORTH AND PROTECT THEM, MY SON.”
Another world? Nikola Tesla had explained multiverse theory when humanity’s contestants all met each other before the fight to talk strategy and whatnot, something he picked up from a fellow scientist named Albert Einstein. The guy had thrown around words like “quantum dimensions” that he couldn’t really wrap his head around, but the guy seemed to know what he was talking about. And based on what God had said, they existed, and that meant there was a world where the gods didn’t have overlordship over the realms of man.
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT BEING A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, I’LL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED.”
He felt a tugging on his body, as if he was being pulled down, and information was appearing in his head, everything from what the world was like to important events and people, as well as information about certain tools and equipment that most people are familiar with, apparently. The idea of the whole “Train” thing was still something he’ll probably stay away from for a while.
He was expecting having all of this knowledge appearing in his brain to be a daunting experience, but that’s the power of God, he supposes. Now, where on earth is he going?
Apparently he was going to be joining a magic guild called Fairy Tail, because God had seen the troubling situation they were in, and wanted to help them. But apparently didn’t want to expend too much divine effort or something, he wasn’t exactly sure.
Another aspect of God’s power manifested in the clothing he was now wearing. Sure he knew what it was all about, and Zeus, Aries, Hermes, and the rest of gods and mankind (save his wife) wore them, but still… they felt weird on his skin. And of course God couldn’t resist reminding him of the whole apple incident, with the deep red trench coat with brown trim along it, and a “fur” lining that looked like apple tree leaves. A plain black button-down shirt, black pants and black boots revealed exactly where God put effort into his clothes. Yeah this isn’t going to work. And because God decided not to give him money, probably so he didn’t have a choice but to go along with his plan then. And also remind him of the whole apple thing. There had to be something else he was known for besides the apple thing.
He blinked once and he’d gone from gently floating in… some sort of aether or whatnot from standing on the cobblestone ground. He looked around seeing if he recognized any sort of landmarks. The Kardia Cathedral, the centerpoint of Magnolia, was to his right and slightly behind, and based on the…
Wait, he could see the spire of Fairy Tail from here! He didn’t need to use any sort of fancy tricks to find the guild, all he needed to do was go in the approximate direction of the guild and he’ll encounter the front door in no time. Following along the roads, which were straight enough that he didn’t need to divert from his path enough to eventually reach the front door of Fairy Tail, spelled out in big, bold letters. And then the symbol of the magic guild. His current plan was to just walk in and ask to join.
He opened the door to see what looked like a full-scale brawl going on, people flinging benches and sending out bursts of fire and ice and all sorts of flashing colors and lights, and his eyes (which had also been recovered from his resurrection) were already classifying the magic in front of him. He copied a few of the stronger powers he felt, if he needed to make a strong impression. Someone threw a table in his direction, and he caught it, twisting its momentum so it fell to the side instead of landing on his face. The table, unfortunately, snapped in half.
A moment later, everyone who had been previously fighting had frozen, and they were all looking at him. Right, he’s a mysterious stranger that had just walked into their guild base.
“Apologies for the table.” He said. “My name is Adam, and I would like to join Fairy Tail.”
“Don’t worry about the table, Adam.” A small elderly man with a smiley face staff who was sitting on the bar spoke. “Welcome to Fairy Tail, my name is Makarov.”
Well, that went easier than he was expecting. Apparently this wasn't abnormal, because everyone returned to what they were doing beforehand (that is, fighting each other) a few seconds later, although he did pick up a section of conversation between Makaraov and a white-haired woman (the bartender?) as he was walking to the request board. “Master, are you sure about letting Adam in so soon?”
“There’s more to him than meets the eye, Mirajane. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him, though.”
That makes sense, and now he needs to look at the request board. According to his memories, this was the job he was doing now. Taking requests to defeat monsters or collect artifacts or pretty much whatever anybody could pay for. From the memories God had given him, wizards could do so much, so it made sense the jobs would be as diverse.
He scanned the papers to see if there was anything of interest. Defeating a monster would be something he should look out for, because he could easily copy the powers of whatever monsters he encountered… ah ha! Here it is! He grabbed a paper off of the board to take a look at it.
“Defeat the Gystaki beast that’s terrorizing our village!”
He looked further down the sheet to see details about the monster. A large magical beast that was terrorizing Sihayn village, a small town buried deep within the mountains. (According to the map). The townsfolk couldn’t identify what the beast was, but they mentioned it did use magic. That’s good for him.
Reward: 50,000 jewel.
Not bad, he could at least find a way to get on his feet with this amount of money. He should be fine for the few day’s travel from Magnolia to Sihayn. He might have to resort to… enhanced borrowing until he gets his reward from defeating this beast. Of course God decided to not give him a single jewel, because that’s exactly what he was expecting.
Wait, he had pockets! He forgot that there were pockets in his clothing. Fishing around through the various pockets, he counted about a dozen, he ended up with around 6,400 jewel. Was this enough to scrape together a bit of food? Probably.
Before he left the guild, he had to get a magical stamp somewhere on his body of the guild symbol. Sounds strange, but it’s not like he had a choice. So he undid the top three buttons of his shirt and got it in green just under his shoulder bone. He didn’t see any ink, and from what Mirajane had told him, it represented his deepest desires. At least it wasn’t red.
Shopping around at the stalls that were in the market areas, closer to the coastline, he found a couple of decent-looking (and cheap) hot foods that were on sticks or wrapped in paper, as well as a toasted piece of bread of some sort…
Two hours later, as he was walking down the road towards Sihayn, he realized his body was not adapted to the rich fair that the markets of Magnolia, and it might take him a while to fully adapt. At least he should be able to find fruits and vegetables along the way, because his stomach decided now was a good time to get angry at him.
Thankfully, over an additional couple of hours, his stomach calmed down and he was able to continue his journey to Sihayn. With 3,900 jewel remaining, he should be fine for the next couple of days. Sure taking the train would be quicker, but the thing sounded like a deathtrap. He’ll just take the long way around to the town, and maybe take the train back, if he feels like it. God had said Fairy Tail needed protection, but he still needed to earn enough money to live, so going on this quest should be fine.
He ended up spending about 1,200 more jewel on the remaining two days from Magnolia to Sihayn, finding haystacks in barns to sleep in and cheap food from whoever was selling it. His stomach definitely approved of his more frugal food choices. So he’ll keep that in mind for future reference.
On his second day of travel, he ended up in this one tavern where two other wizards were sitting, talking to each other. They didn’t need to introduce themselves, because they were talking very loudly about being a wizard and doing wizard assignments. He had a goal to accomplish here, so he just wanted to order his food, find a hay bale to sleep in, and move on to the next day, but one of the wizards, a woman wearing a white, gold, and red dress that glowed like lava (and showed quite a bit of skin), walked up to him.
“Hello~ You look cute.” She said, swaying her hips and showing off her… assets.
He looked straight into her eyes. “Sorry miss, but I am married.” Despite the distance that separated them, perhaps if he did good enough here God would send him back, and he could just spend his time in peace with Eve.
“Oh, you’re not getting away with this so easily!” She said, sounding a lot more angry. “And what’s a strapping young man like yourself doing getting tied down so easily? Foolish man, you don’t know what’s good for you. Come Hansho, let’s teach this guy a lesson.”
“Of course, miss.” The guy, who was wearing a dark blue and white suit, replied, standing up and staring him down again. “You don't ignore Ms. Dekana, sir.”
He stood up to leave, but the Hansho guy put a hand on his shoulder. “I said, you don’t ignore Ms. Dekana”
He removed the hand from his shoulder and went to leave out of the front door. He didn’t eat yet, but that could wait.
“I’ll just use some magic on him to get what I want!” Ms. Dekana exclaimed, summoning a pink magic circle in her hands “Ray Magic: Ray of compulsion”
A pink heart-shaped beam emanated from the magic circle, but he dodged it, making it hit the wall instead, leaving a heart-shaped hole in the tavern wall. As if the name “Ray of compulsion” wasn’t scary enough.
“Ray of love!”
Another pink beam, this one a bit brighter in color and circular, emanated from the magic circle. He dodged this one too, and it left a similar hole in the wall.
“That’s it, no more misses nice girl. Ray of fire!”
A thin fiery beam emanated from her magic circle this time, which when he dodged this one, set the section of the tavern on fire. The man held out his hands and a blue magic circle appeared on his hands. “Water magic: douse flames!”
Moisture appeared in the air and doused the flames, leaving only a small puddle and a few scorch marks. “Ms. Dekana, please be careful with your rays!”
“I’m going to get this guy if it’s the last thing I do! Split Ray of Stunning!”
Two rays emanated from her magic circle, both a dull red. He set his eyes on them, because a ray of stunning sounds useful. And despite their being two beams he was able to dodge both of them, weaving between them as they burst the chairs behind him into pieces.
“You’re not going to win like that, little boy.” She taunted, laughing.
His eyes narrowed at that. It sounded just like Zeus did, but these rays are so pitiful compared to Zeus’ punches it was insulting to make the comparison.
“You don’t think I know that?” He asked. “Ray Magic: Split Ray of Stunning.”
He perfectly copied Ms. Dekana’s Split Ray of Stunning to hit both of them at the same time, making them freeze and fall to the ground, eyes wide in surprise.
“Thank you sir!” The woman behind the bar exclaimed. “These wizards were scaring off our customers. Dinner’s on the house!”
He wasn’t complaining. Of course, he wouldn’t take advantage of it with something too expensive, but he definitely would enjoy some free food.
He ended up getting to Sihayn around midafternoon on the third day, and he could see some of the wooden buildings had collapsed and were being rebuilt. Well if this was what it meant to be a wizard, defending… were they still his children if they’re from another world? If God existed throughout all realities, then perhaps he did exist in this world too. Or had existed. So yes, they still were his children. Of course even if they weren’t, God hadn’t left him with a choice.
A villager approached him as he was walking up, arm in a sling and clothes covered in sawdust. “You’re a wizard, aren’t you?”
“I am. My name is Adam, and I’m a wizard from Fairy Tail. Can you tell me more about this Gystaki beast?”
“I’m sorry, Adam, but we’ve been unable to identify what magic it uses. It attacks swiftly during the night and destroys buildings and none of our weapons have been useful.” The guy said, pointing to the bent swords and broken arrows. “Oh! Sorry I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Sento, and I am the mayor of Sihayn.”
“Very well, Mayor Sento. I will wait here until nightfall, it should only be a couple of hours.”
Night had fallen on Sihayn, and the only reason he could even see his own hands were the light of the full moon, and the lantern the mayor had given him. He’d taken off his trench coat and shirt an hour ago, because now that he was waiting around for the monster, the itchiness of the clothing really got to him. The mayor shouldn’t have a problem with this, because hey, he’s the one that’s protecting the town.
The sound of a rapidly running figure caused him to stir to attention, eyes at the ready. Where was the beast that was destroying this town?
A thudding noise caused him to look towards the river section of town. A large creature, three times his height and at least seven times as broad. Massive swordlike claws, razor sharp fangs, and an ethereal glow completed the look. The beast lunged towards him, but he was able to dodge the fist effortlessly. His arms transformed into a smaller version of the beast’s claws, and he turned around and attacked, the beast’s own claws cutting through it like butter, slashing giant gashes in it’s form, causing a literal fountain of blood to explode from it, the spray reaching into the sky, before the beast collapsed with a massive thud , shaking the ground as it fell.
“In…. in one hit…” A voice wavered behind him. “The rumors about Fairy Tail wizards weren’t a lie.”
He turned around to see the mayor partially hiding behind one of the few intact houses. “Thank you, Adam, for defeating this massive beast. Please, stay the night with us, it’s the least we can do.”
“Sure.”
He took the train back this time, his pockets fuller with thousand jewel bills, his thoughts started to swirl around. His eyes still worked, at the very least, so at least God wasn’t too cruel to him this time. What ended up happening to Reginleif anyways? He hoped she was okay, that his corpse still somehow managed to knock Zeus on his feet and win. But maybe that didn’t matter. If he’d already died, then Reginleif had died. Isn’t that what Brunhilde had told him, that in order for the Volund to work, the Valkyrie and human must share the same destiny…
Wait! This sort of power, bridging the gaps between the two Divine creations, might allow her to survive and be reformed in this new world. If she really was somewhere around here, then he should try to find her.