Three hours later, William finally regained consciousness.
His overall presence had changed, which made Cathy smile.
“Do you remember me now?” Cathy asked in a teasing tone.
“Yes,” William replied. “You are my emergency rations.”
“How rude.”
“But, isn’t it the truth?”
Cathy snorted and pulled on William’s cheeks, until the latter tapped her hands to tell her to stop.
“Cathy, I didn’t expect that we would meet each other again in this manner,” William said as he continued to lie down on her lap. “So, you’re Hope.”
“In the flesh.” Cathy replied as she patted William’s head.
“I believe you mentioned that you’re going to ask for an advance payment for returning my memories.”
“Mmm. I did say that. So, are you ready to give me my payment?”
“Okay.” WIlliam nodded. “What do you want?”
“I want you to accompany me to a place.”
p-a- n-d-a-n-0-v-e-l、(c)om “Where?”
“Midgard.”
William’s eyes widened in shock because he didn’t expect that he would hear that word from Cathy’s lips.
“But, Midgard is already destroyed,” William replied. “How can we possibly go there?”
“Who said that it was destroyed?” Cathy asked back with a smile.
“It wasn’t destroyed?”
“Nope.”
William propped himself up in a sitting position before looking at Cathy in disbelief.
“Midgard still exists?” William asked back. “I thought the other realms were also destroyed after Asgard fell.”
“Well, that should have been the case,” Cathy replied. “But, Odin and Freya had made preparations beforehand to prevent the worst case scenario from happening. If Asgard was to fall, Freya would cut Midgard off from Yggdrasil, and set it on a course away from the path of destruction. That was how Midgard survived.”
William became silent because now that he thought about it, everything made so much more sense.
During the battle of Ragnarok, Freya was nowhere to be seen. All the other Gods had fought, while the Queen of the Valkyries couldn’t be found anywhere.
If he were to believe Cathy’s explanation then that meant that the Stall Owner who had given him the rings, Altair and Vega, which he and Belle wore in their fingers, was the Goddess Freya, who was absent when the Asgardians were duking it out with the Army of Destruction.
He didn’t recognize her because she wore a veil, preventing him from seeing her face.
“Unbelievable,” William muttered as the realization finally hit him. “So Midgard survived.”
“Right, and it is even thriving right now.” Cathy smirked. “Now, My Prince, will you accompany me to take a stroll to Midgard?”
Just as William was about to answer, three ladies descended from the sky and landed in front of them.
“I’m going as well,” Wendy said. “I would visit Midgard often to fulfill my duties as a Valkyrie Captain. I want to see if it really survived Ragnarok.”
“I’m going to,” Estelle stated. “Will is always kidnapped by women. I’ll tag along to ensure that he is safe.”
“I’ll go as well,” Belle commented. “We still have a lot of catching up to do, right, Will?”
The Half-Elf raised both of his hands in surrender, which meant that he agreed to take the three of them with him to Midgard.
“Is it fine if they tag along?” William asked Cathy, who had an amused expression on her face.
“Why not?” Cathy answered. “The more the merrier. But, I’ll only be taking the three of them with us. You ladies hiding over there can’t come with us, okay?”
Astrape, Bronte, Titania, Loxos, Nisha, Shannon, Chloee, and the rest of William’s lovers, who were all hiding around the garden to eavesdrop on the conversation, all came out of their hiding places.
“Girls, please wait for my arrival,” William said to his lovers in a firm manner. “I’m not going on a picnic. This is purely business. Just wait for my return. I promise that I will spend some time with all of you then.”
After coaxing his women to wait for his return, Cathy raised her hand and pointed to something in the Heavens.
“Coordinates locked on,” Cathy muttered. “Let’s go, Bifrost Bridge.”
A beam of light shot up towards the Heavens, taking William, Cathy, Wendy, Estelle, and Belle towards the place where the Virtuous Lady of Hope wanted to visit.
The journey didn’t last long and, in just half a minute, the Half-Elf found himself gazing down at a familiar place, where he had been several months ago.
The red-headed teenager then shifted her gaze to Cathy, who was grinning back at him.
“This is indeed Midgard,” Cathy stated. “But, the people of this world call it Earth.”
Belle glanced at her surroundings and also noticed the familiar scene.
A giant crater, which had now turned into a lake, could be seen from the sky. This was where K-City used to be, before it was taken to the Void.
“The air of this world feels a bit heavy,” Estelle commented. “I don’t sense any magic in the surroundings. Do you know of this place, Will?”
The Half-Elf nodded. If earlier he wasn’t sure, now he was sure of it. Using his enhanced senses, he was able to zoom in on a nearby city, and confirm that he had indeed returned to Earth.
“After escaping its destruction, Midgard floated in the Void until it arrived in this Solar System,” Cathy explained. “Freya made sure that it would be set on a proper orbit, so it wouldn’t be pulled towards the Sun. Because of the lack of monsters and Giants that constantly invaded Midgard, the people of this world walked the path of modernization and technology.
“Although it isn’t exactly peaceful, the fact that it exists is proof that the Asgardians managed to save at least one world from destruction.”
William was having complicated feelings inside his heart after he realized that the place where he had met Belle, was actually the same place where he was once discarded by his own father, for being a bastard son.
“Now that we’re here, what kind of advance payment do you want to have?” William asked after he calmed himself down.
“Well, the answer is really simple.” Cathy smiled as she held William’s arm and clung to him. “Let’s go on a date. Treat it as your advance payment for having your memories returned.”
“A date?” William arched an eyebrow at the lady holding his arm. “Is that all you want from me?”
“Yes.” Cathy nodded before whispering something in William’s ear. “This might be our last date together. After all, you still need to rescue your wives from the Underworld, as well as unite the warring Factions in Hestia. Two years may not be enough time to bring everyone under one banner. So, do your best. I will be cheering for you, even if you don’t see me.”
Cathy planted a kiss on William’s cheek, before holding his hand to drag him away to fly to the city where he was born.
The black-haired lady had already sent a telepathic message to the three girls to give her some time alone with William, so the two of them could enjoy their date.
Since the three girls owed her a favor for returning William’s memories, Wendy, Estelle, and Belle had no choice but to compromise, and allow Cathy to spend a day with the red-headed teenager, who was currently a famous celebrity on Earth.
