Chapter 51- Godly Commotion

  Savage Lands- Courtyard of the Magi Citadel, Date Unknown (Morning)

  W’Torri ‘Hard-case’, Chieftain of the Reformed Man-Apes Tribe-

  He stood more towards the back of the crowd with his arms crossed. As he felt his goddess appear beside him he muttered. "You didn't miss much, just some arguments between the magic users, and some general education questions from the locals. It bothers me these simpletons are a threat to us, but don't understand the concept of hygiene… Well, I guess that it's a good thing that we didn't have any questions for him since they are wrapping up that phase of the event."

  Hathor chuckled at his comment. When she stopped he asked. “So where did you go?”

  "{I had to calm myself down. Wouldn't want my male half to get out so close to our prize, now do we?}" His goddess said to him. While her lips moved like she was speaking English as they usually did, the words he heard were those of his homend of Wakanda, the same as everyone at the gathering.

  ‘No, that would just be tragic.’ Hard-case thought sarcastically, but didn’t answer her rhetorical question.

  Then she asked him a question of her own. “{Did our dear king get his turn taken care of yet?}”

  "No, he and those odd animal people have been asked to wait till after the recess and before the requests phase." The Enhanced told her pointing off to the table towards their left. "Although I did find it interesting, when the mage confirmed that Dragons were real, however, he didn't call them that. My people never had any concrete proof that they were."

  “{Ah yes, the Makluan, an oddly reclusive species, given their powers and technology.}” Hathor said, also confirming the mage’s cims. Hard-case had to look at her for that one, trying to make sure she too wasn’t pying a prank on him.

  “You ever fight one?” The Enhanced asked her.

  "{No, but I did mate with a couple of them, never received a child from either attempts. That in itself was strange.}" She admitted while tapping her chin.

  A fsh of light from Nath'aniel signaled that the question phase was over, and he and some of the Brotherhood entered the Citadel, while more of his worker robots brought out more refreshments and snacks from inside.

  “{Where is my pack horse?}” Hathor suddenly asked him.

  “Over there with the centaurs, and I ask that you don’t call him that to his face, the Man-apes are hard enough to keep civil.” He asked his goddess.

  “{Oh please, he doesn’t even understand English.}” She argued to him.

  "Yes, but the mage cast something so everyone hears their native nguage while they are here. So there is no nguage barrier during this event. Also, it saves on needing to hire transtors." Hard-case warned her.

  A commotion from the entrance of the event pulled his and Hathor's eyes away from the various groups snacking and chatting. The honor guard robots had broken their statuesque stances and were marching toward some te arrivals.

  Hard-case shifted the Essence Hathor had given him, to his senses. This caused a massive improvement in his hearing and sight. His eyes were able to zoom in on the cause of the odd behavior. While this was his first time attending Entreatmeant Day, he hadn't been dumb enough not to post scouts on the past events.

  The former mercenary could make out that Exodus and Quicksilver were trying to negotiate with the tecomers, but what was triggering the robots were the weapons they carried. Namely some swords and an odd bow in the hands of the blonde bombshell dressed in animal hides.

  “{Arrogant Asgardians, think they are owed our obedience.}” Hathor muttered beside him.

  “You recognize them?” he asked his goddess.

  The lion-headed woman answered him, saying. "{Just the archer woman, her name is Freya. She cims to be the Goddess of the Hunt, and yet she lost to my sister Bast in a contest.}"

  Hard-case of course knew of the achievements of Bast, or Bastet, as his people called her. After all, she was the patron goddess of his homend. And thus all primary schools taught of her to him and his fellow Wakandians.

  "The man looks to be reted to her." He pointed out to her.

  The two blondes were arguing with each other, and were ignoring Exodus’ demands to disarm. He was about to ask her if she wanted to come to the Brotherhood’s aid, when his enhanced senses picked up the micro sonic boom.

  Hard-case was able to see Namor fly like a bullet towards the commotion, but in the time he blinked he missed the Atntean king striking the sword-armed man in the chest. His speed and strength had enough force that the Asgardian was hurled outside of the opening and into a tree, breaking the trunk with his back.

  While Quicksilver was fast enough, he wasn’t strong enough to stop Namor from picking up Freya by their throat. So Hard-case was unsurprised to see the speedster get floored when the king’s elbow connected with his face. The Atntean king actually looked to strain himself to lift the goddess, yet he still lifted her into the air before he spoke.

  “{Are you so prideful, that you cannot abide the ws of others? Or are you too stupid?}” Namor asked her as he lifted her higher into the air. She was striking him with her fists and bow, but the pale-skinned fishman seemed unphased by her blows.

  The mercenary took a step to aid the Brotherhood, but Hathor put her arm out blocking him.

  Then he watched as Namor pulled an arrow out of Freya's quiver and threw it into the arm of the other shorter woman of the trio. The wood was buried deep into the woman's arm, causing her to drop her sword onto the ground.

  Exodus was finally able to react, as he conjured a half dozen swords of light into the air, yet he had waited to unch or threaten anyone with them.

  Then Hard-case heard the sweetest of orders, as his goddess told him. “{Go, aid the Atntean king, but do not kill any of the Brotherhood. I still need his Grail.}”

  The former mercenary cracked all of his knuckles as a wide grin spread across his face before he jogged towards the commotion. He heard many of the other attendees also move closer, yet none as close as he was getting. And oddly he noticed that the robots were back off, giving Namor more space and room to operate.

  His confusion was cleared up when before he could reach them, a blonde-haired woman in a bikini materialized at the mouth of the opening. While the She-Devil faced Namor her words were for the man who was dusting himself off and rising from the tree trunk that nded atop him.

  “{My master wants to know if you kept your oath Asgardian?}” The spear-wielding woman asked.

  Oddly unlike the others, Hard-case heard English from the blonde giant of a man. Yet again, it was clear from the way his mouth moved, that English was not the tongue he used when he said. “I have, but she insisted on hunting the great lizards of your world, and her eyesight is legendary. Only bested by Hiemdol’s.’

  "Despite Sir Exodus' and young Quicksilver's urgings that nothing was going on, she saw your metal cavalry and wanted to check out your home and the gathering you have going on. But now that she knows, what is going on here?" The god stated while drawing his sword, as he did waves of golden light washed over his body, and his wounds faded or healed as if he had never been harmed.

  ‘Neat trick.’ Hard-case thought, as he took a fighter's stance. Now that he was closer and didn't need the better sense, he removed his Essence and redirected it towards his skin and muscles. The merc could feel his body becoming stronger and denser.

  Freya tried to speak, but Namor just tightened his grip on her throat, making her choke and cough.

  Kind of wanting to egg things on further, Hardcase shouted. "Kill her and you'll earn the title of god syer."

  Yet Namor still managed to surprise him, when the king muttered. “{She wouldn’t be the first one I’ve killed.}”

  Exodus whipped his face towards the king and gred for a moment. Before turning and trying to reason with the gods again. "{Just drop the bow and throw away your sword. And Namor will no longer have cause, and we will restrain him.}"

  The golden light in ‘Frey’ was suddenly sucked into his sword, before he tossed away from him. Hearing that, Freya also dropped her bow. Immediately Namor lowered her, but held on to her, as she sucked in air.

  She tried to shake off his grip, but the king's firm grip held on, as he warned her. "{You will need the support till you regain your breath. Thrust me, I know what it's like to be without air, for as long as you were.}"

  Oddly the goddess only nodded and continued to take deep breaths for a time. Hard-case rexed his stance, slightly disappointed. ‘I wanted to be a god syer too.’ He thought to himself.

  The robots stayed where they were, however, and then She-Devil told them. "Arrows count too apparently."

  Freya gred at the spear-wielder, but her scolding was for her fellow god. “You knew, you knew the Lost Citadel of the Magi had been found and reactivated, and yet you said nothing?! What kind of brother are you to keep such things from us. From our king?!”

  "Because I am not an oath breaker!" Frey shouted back at her, as he walked half the distance towards her.

  Exodus took the arrows from her, and one of his swords turned into a hand and retrieved her bow. While other swords did the same and retrieved the other fallen weapons, as well as the so far, silent woman’s shield.

  “You would swear an oath against your king for a worthless world?” Freya asked him.

  The quiet one spoke up then, "He would swear one to an ally." Earning her the gres from the other Asgardians at her, and judging from their faces for different reasons.

  Freya recovered first, muttering her realization. “A Mage survived.” She then jogged over towards her brother and spped him before she asked. “Why would you not tell us such news, Asgard would be, should be, rejoicing that they are not extinct.”

  “Because he asked me to. And no I did not ask why, but after the stories of Father’s and our king’s and their experiences fighting alongside of them, I felt it owed that I give them my word when asked.” Frey told his fellow god.

  Hard-case frowned at that, as he wondered. ‘Why would he want to stay in the shadows, especially when the various gods seem to want to work with him?’

  Freya took a few steps away from her brother and asked the She-Devil. “And the mage made you what you are?”

  “{He is my Master.}” She-Devil admitted that and nothing else.

  The former mercenary frowned at that, as he wondered. ‘He did something to Psylocke too. That I’ve figured out on my own. But could this goddess see that he did something simir to the She-Devil of the Savage Lands as well?’

  Freya then looked at the quiet and still wounded comrade. “And you swore it too, what were the terms?”

  "All of us did, that is those aboard the Sun Dancer, we swore to only reveal what we saw if asked by Kings Odin or High Lord Freyr directly." The brunette Asgardian answered the archer goddess.

  “Sister, you can’t let it slip either, please…” Frey started to ask Freya.

  Freya got in her brother’s personal space again and jabbed a finger into his chest as she asked him a barrage of questions. “Is this why you stayed away from Asgard? You pn to use this mage and his empowered Ascended woman in a plot. Do you pn to usurp the throne from Prince Thor or Prince Loki?”

  Frey looked insulted at the accusation. “I stay away from court because all of the lords are needy brats who only see me as the Queen’s younger brother, and a means to get her attention. I have no designs to recim an independent Vanaheim, it would be a fool’s errand, too much intermingling of the lines has occurred throughout the ages. No, Thor or Loki can have the throne, whoever our king sees as the better of the two of them.”

  Yet before any more could precede, everyone stopped to look at the suddenly ughing Namor. Not just a simple chuckle, but deep belly ughs, before muttering. "{And I thought Atntis Court was complicated. But trust me, son, the statement 'heavy is the head that wears the crown', is an understatement.}"

  Frey looked Namor up and down, before asking. “Would you be willing to spar with me? You seem sturdy enough.”

  The Atntean king chuckled before he rose into the air and flew away without answering the Asgardian. Namor went to where he had been standing during the question phase of the event, beside the rusty cargo container next to the hanger the Brotherhood had repaired.

  "I think that's a no brother." The archer woman told her sibling. She had not only removed her quiver and arrows, but also added a rather long-bded knife to the storage space, before she handed it over to the Brotherhood's light bender.

  As soon as Exodus took a step away from them, the robots all rexed and went back to their previous positions. As Hard-case and the archer goddess watched them move, her brother pulled out and held the st Asgardian's arm. Not that the former mercenary saw it, but a trickle of golden-like light flowed from the God of Healing into the wounded shield maiden.

  Quicksilver then zipped to be beside the unattended goddess, and offered. “{Lady Freya, if you would like, I can show you where the snacks and drinks are located for everyone.}”

  “You mean over there.” She responded, while pointing at the three main tables. Then she mentioned. “I don’t see any ale.”

  "The good stuff is probably inside sister," Frey told her before he released the now-healed woman's arm.

  "Then let's go in there," Freya told her brother.

  Quicksilver looked like he was about to agree until he saw Exodus gre at him, before muttering. "{I ask that you do not disturb Entreatmeant Day's events, and remain outside with the rest of the guests, till the Magi are free to see you.}"

  The male Asgardian agreed, saying. “Yes sister, let’s py nice for now. You can show me your superior skills and experience of being at court to me.”

  Before returning to his goddess, Hardcase looked around for She-Devil, but could not find her. ‘Teleporting is such a useful skill to have, maybe Hathor can teach me how she does it.’ The merc thought as he turned around to rejoin the rest of the festivities.