369: Purpose
With the sudden appearance of another woman, the sound that thundered in the air began to disperse. Just how many more people will walk inside the Palace uninvited? King Odin thought as the vigor in his eyes slowly faded away.
He had just announced his authority to the 9 Realms, he said all of that, and yet the one it was meant for seemed to be completely unaffected. Even now, the young man he wanted to aggravate was not even looking at him, but instead at the newest intruder.
"I am surprised to see you still alive, Miss Angela," Van then let out a small but deep sigh as he watched as Angela walked towards him.
"Do you want a beating again?" Angela snarled as she raised an eyebrow, "Shall we give this boy a spanking? We probably should, right?"
Van's surprise was truly real. The people he knew from the past had changed one way or another, with the least being Gerald. But even he had already shown signs of maturity one would expect from a married man.
Angela, however, seemed to be completely unchanged by time.
Her hair? The same.
Her voice? The same.
Her height? The same.
She looked completely the same as when they parted ways during the explosion. Of course, it had not even been minutes since their reunion… but Van truly had this feeling that Angela remained completely unchanged.
"Does… anyone know who the little woman is?"
"Is… she a Vanir?"
With Angela carrying herself in a nonchalant way even through all the commotion, most of the Aesir in the room looked at each other. Truly, this little woman was also someone of status.
The first one that came to the boy's side was the current queen of the Vanir; and then the second was the Vampyr, a being that bathed herself in the blood of the Aesir. Surely, the young woman can't be normal; they all thought.
But no matter how long they looked, Angela was still unfamiliar to them.
There was one, however, who had an inquisitive look in their eyes-- King Odin himself. Now that his agitation was slightly taking its rest, there was a sense of familiarity slowly growing within him.
The young woman… he feels like he saw her somewhere before. With that thought clouding his mind, he closed his eyes, scouring his memories until the young woman's face resurfaces. His memories flashed before him, until finally; when he reached one of his earliest memories… Angela was there.
Odin then opened his eyes wide as he quickly looked towards the small woman. She… she was beside the Allmother when he first met her!
Realizing this, his grip on his lance tightened. Was… Was it really just their fate to be devoured? Was the prophecy truly unstoppable?
He made sure that it won't happen; he gained strength way beyond what his father and his father before him were capable of. Was all that effort meaningless?
What he built here… was it really just for one man to take away? With the realization and racing thoughts slowly burning his mind, Odin lightened the grip on his lance as a long and deep sigh escaped his mouth; his majestic beard, graying and slowly showing its age.
Right now, King Odin's face just looked like any other old man's.
"...Father."
And seeing Odin extremely dejected, Thor could not help but look to the side; his eyes cast down.
It may be true that Odin held the greatest power in the 9 Realms, a status that has been unmovable since the earliest times. But perhaps because of that, his ideals were not able to age with the passage of time.