Chapter Text
Chapter 1
A deep sense of unease settled into Kojiro as he continued to watch the scene unfold before his eyes. Hrist gripped his arm as they subconsciously leaned closer to each other, nails leaving imprints of little moons on his tanned skin.
Every drop of blood spilt in front of his eyes, every punch and stab and heckle that seemed to be drawn into air with the desperation of the crowd. One wrong move from humanity will be the end. Everything Kojiro fought and bled for would be for naught. Everything that has progressed for tens of millennia will be nothing but a memory of a time wasting mistake on the gods' part.
Kojiro couldn’t hear anything but the echoes of his mind. A second death didn’t seem all that bad when he fought ten rounds ago, when he didn’t have much but himself and a few people he could scarcely call acquaintances. But now he had something to lose. Not his body parts. Not his dignity, that never existed.
His family.
Hrist became his family the moment their souls connected in one. The other Einherjar (even those who had fallen) were his brothers in blood and everything important the moment they shared the experience to fight a god for the sake of each other. The time they spent between those early rounds talking, learning about each other, cheering on the next fighter until the end. All of that would mean nothing.
The swordsman felt as if time moved in sand, trickling slowly down, almost too slow, until it felt like there was too little time to stop the grains of seconds and minutes as they reached the other side, His mouth was dry, his heartbeat pounded like a weak drum, one trying to hold on to the spirit of the battle but too inconsistent to give any hope.
Time only seemed to slow down even more as the last two fighters, but it also seemed to speed up as each side got weaker and weaker. Kojiro’s vision spun as he braced for the worst. Though his first death ended in a calm wave of darkness washing over him, he doesn’t count on it being less painful than the violent drowning he went through.
Would his lungs be filled with water instead of air, suffocating him from inside, saltwater burning and seeping through his still healing wounds? Would the darkness drag him down until he hit the bottom wherever the universe ended and could never rise up again?
Would the agony of death be made tenfold knowing that, in the end, he still was a loser? That he willingly decided to give eternity up, intertwined his soul with another, killed one of the strongest gods despite the mountains he has had to face, for no damn reason but for the entertainment of those mighty gods?
It was almost like this whole thing was a joke.
Kojiro closed his eyes as he embraced Hrist for what could be the last time, arms shaky as he felt her trembling from the bursting emotions they both felt. They had only met for a few days, at most a week, but it was incomprehensible for them to separate from the moment they joined souls. Though there was no such love at first sight or anything beyond platonic sentiment, they were each other's half. That was his twin in all but blood.
As Kojiro waited for the worst, only thinking about how to make the eventual pain of death less agonizing, Hrist shook him violently. He looked up from her shoulder and followed her hand the moment she shrieked in delight.
“He did it…” his voice was soft as he looked into the arena. Nostradamus, the last one standing on the field, collapsed in a pool of his own blood but kept a victorious smile.
Hrist was far more elated, “YES, HE FUCKING DID!” She practically was breaking his ribs with how strong her grasp on him was. They jumped up and down like excited children (well, Hrist was jumping the two of them, Kojiro was holding on for dear life).
Oh, oh, oh. They fucking did it.
There was a brief period of unbroken silence before cheers (which sounded more like screams) erupted from humanity’s side. There was a brief pause before spectators on the gods' side started to go insane with the knowledge that beings so powerful such as they, lost to puny, dead mortals.
It all became a huge mess.
The swordsman looked towards where the Greeks sat, specifically where Zeus and his remaining family sat. The god, arrogant and cruel once, seemed… defeated. He truly looked beyond his years at this moment.
Kojiro looked back down to the arena floor. Heimdall, for all of his appearance as a hype man, seemed just as lost, robotic mask in a dumbfounded expression. He kind of looked around with his megaphone dangling in his hands as he contemplated on his words. Oof, there was no way he could actually keep it together without being smote by a bolt or two.
The ever-so-usually-elated Heimdall kind of cleared his throat (though it felt like he was trying to choke himself to death right there and then). “So, uh, people… I, uh, oh fuck this is awkward, humanity has won with the score 8-7. Yay..?”
Of course, Humanity’s side cheered like never before while the gods kind of started to have a crisis as it was verbally confirmed. A team of medics quickly rushed out into the field to pick up the Frenchman , who seemed to be clinging onto a thread as blood made a small crimson river after him. Poor Göll, the last Valkyrie to go, wasn't in any better shape, seeing as she took the brunt of the damage and was quite passed out. The little one seemed to be peacefully asleep, if not for her injuries.
Kojiro ran out of the spectator area he was in and in a race to find the other surviving fighters, with Hrist sprinting behind him. Okita and Shi Huang were in critical condition in the hospital due to the severity of the wounds they got during their rounds. Jack is elusive and usually wasn't found unless he wanted someone to find him. Buddha was probably with Brunhilde trying to free her (ex?) boyfriend and were trying the darndest not to be caught breaking the law.
And luckily, Simo was in one place, holding Eve as they cried in relief. Kojiro seemed to have knocked them out of it for a moment before he was pulled into the hug.
“Oh, Kojiro, can you believe it?” Eve sounded a bit worse for wear, eyes puffy and bloodshot, but with a smile so large it effortlessly glowed. Simo rubbed her back as he tried to calm their mother down.
Kojiro nodded before bursting into tears himself. Oh, it felt so, so, so good to cry after all of this. He was never so ready to show anything but a smile on his face so this was genuinely the first time in ages since he’s cried for more than a second.
He heard a few more footsteps before a calmer voice spoke up, though winded as if he had been running for hours. “Is it true?” Jack’s voice piqued, breathy and without air. “We’ve won?”
“Did you not fucking pay attention to anything I said?” A similarly out of breathy voice yapped. Hlökk seemed annoyed that she had to run, poofy dress slightly disheveled and flyaways sticking out from her normally perfect bangs. “We’d be dead if we didn't.”
“Come here you little shit,” Hrist cried out before crushing her sister in a hug, The rest were sure to come sooner or later.
As if by magic, the survivors that could walk came to join the celebration. Buddha and Brunhilde ran in while carrying the most scraggly man Kojiro had ever seen (which is saying a lot considering who he was). Dirty, long blond hair and a bloody smile, Siegfried was finally introduced to them.
“Well, as you can see, this is my… partner, or technically my first.” Brunhidle introduced him calmly, but her giddiness to have him by their side was evident in her eyes. Buddha cackled, “And he was in jail but we were able to sneak him out since everyone was freaking out about the win.”
He patted Siegfried on the back with a tender look on his face. It seemed like they were alright, Kojiro supposed.
Simo seemed a bit more worried about the demigod, mostly since he was one of the saner people in this family and was not so keen on brushing off injuries, “So, uh, you need something? You could go into shock with your wounds still freely bleeding."
“Eh, I’m mostly fine, y’know.” He brushed off any concern about him. Eve, being the mother-hen she was, did not take it so lightly.
She took him into her arms with a surprising amount of strength and got out a first aid kit that nobody knew where it could even be hidden. “Please, dear, there will be no more death under my watch.”
Even as the weird little introduction came along, Kojiro couldn’t help but feel contentment. So much was lost that he would have known. For 6 of the men out of 13 who went into that arena without coming back out, their lives had been fully extinguished and that's something the survivors had to live with. Kojiro barely knew them, barely had the time to talk to them, but they were now bonded in a way nobody else was.
He was pulled back into a hug by Hrist, seeing as he was off to the side far too soon. There was no time for depressing spirals. It was time to properly celebrate.
–
The arena was eventually emptied out of all nonessential people, which meant all audience members and fighters had to go back home. It took some work to sneak out without getting attacked or worse by anyone on the god’s side, but it was doable. They managed to get onto a train without drawing attention to themselves and were stuffed into the parents of Humanity’s home after a bumpy ride that was tense with the shock of the event.
It was a nice place, homey in the way one would imagine the perfect family. Every decoration, from the furniture to the ceramics that lined handmade shelves, were made and placed with love.
And it made it even more obvious how empty it now will be without Adam. There were photos of him and Eve in almost every space, touches of his personality in the crooks of the house.
In some moments, as Eve showed them around, she seemed to linger on a few photos, tears clinging onto her eyelashes. Kojiro’s heart ached to comfort her, but what could he do? She grieving for the one person who knew her best, who loved her most as a person could.
But she steadied her back as she led them all into the kitchen. The mother had a glint in her eye that made them all pause for a moment. “Well, I hate to bother any of you, but I am going to need a bit of help with dinner. Just a quick thing so we can get to eating and then to bed.”
Kojiro then knew that there was no escape here. This was a trap.
-
They were placed in an assembly line by Eve to help prepare dinner, like military service but somehow more threatening.
Kojiro was with Jack, stuffing brined grape leaves with rice and beef, a task that proved to be hell on his hands. There was a certain art to it, the careful positioning and rolling being a labor of love that he knows will be very much appreciated (and if not, he’ll just make sure that they will).
The swordsman sighed as he made what felt like the hundredth roll, the bones in his fingers cracking slightly in stiffness.
Jack was much more elegant in his movements, though, he too was starting to struggle keeping up the pace. His thin, elegant hands were much more suited for precision, but not as durable as Kojiro seeing as he was shaking just slightly and his work was getting sloppier when he wasn’t paying attention.
“How many leaves do you think we have left, huh?” He looked over at the smaller man.
“Not sure, we’ve only gone through the first bowl, so I would estimate maybe 70 to 80 more.” The Englishman seemed just as drained as Kojiro was to realize that.
Good, they would suffer together.
The rest of the kitchen is a workshop, with the others paired up to do their best at assisting Eve for dinner. It’s a labyrinth of smells and sounds as food hits boiling oil in pots, the oven blasts a wave of heat every time it’s opened to put something in, and quickly hunger becomes their only motivation.
By the time the hours are nearing dangerously close to midnight, they finish. It’s a race to get the main dining room table ready and with food on it without tripping or dropping the enormous serving platters they served everything on. Kojiro was particularly excited (and hungry). He hadn’t eaten since the end of his fight due to his stress taking hold of him and not finding time to eat anything (despite people around him eating and him mostly just being a spectator lounging around while cradling his injuries).
Everyone practically salivated openly as the air filled with the aroma of a home cooked feast. Eve cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, a small smile on her face.
“I know we are all quite—no, extremely overjoyed at just making it through this awful day.” She seemed to choke up a bit before shaking her head, “But Brunhilde wanted to make a quick announcement just before we get to eat,” A few quiet sighs and groans were let off, shut quickly by a stern look from the older woman.
Brunhilde rose from her seat, looking as prideful as she always was, though clearly worse for wear by the whole ordeal that was Ragnarok and busting her boyfriend out of god jail. “I received a message from Zeus around twenty minutes ago.”
Kojiro’s eyes widened, dropping the fork in his hand (since when did he start holding that?)
“It seems that he has… how should I put this, give you a reward. Something aside from getting to live for another millennia.” She seemed suspicious of it, based on how tense she was.
Everyone, as expected, was immediately on edge. Is this a trap? Some sort of joke? Sure, everyone on both sides were all just given more trauma to add to the piles of mental baggage they already had but the gods were the instigators. Zeus was one of the most affected by this whole ordeal, physically and emotionally. Kojiro wouldn’t, or rather couldn’t, admit it out loud but he felt guilty at killing Poseidon. He was a dick but ultimately there to protect his family (which is what Kojiro hoped he really was doing, seeing as he was such a bastard to basically everyone else).
Jack raised his hand for permission to speak, “Pray tell, my lady, when are we to hear about what this ‘reward’ is?”
“Who’s to say?” With that totally not cryptic send off, she sits back down between Buddha and Seigfried, who looked just as befuddled as the rest of the table.
That wasn’t helpful at all.
Kojiro pursed his lips. Shit. Well, as they say in Valhalla, you only live twice. What’s the worst that can come out of this? “So, uh, let’s eat?”
And that was probably the best advice he’s given so far. They could deal with everything tomorrow. For now, they all just needed a hot meal and some company.