Chapter 21

Ares POV

*CRUNCH*CRUNCH*CRUNCH*

Cold unlike anything I've every felt permeated through the land I've found myself. Cold enough to make a god shiver is unreasonably cold, no mortal should be able to survive this, and yet, some have.

I arrived in this land about 6 months ago to meet with….nothing but Snow and ice. I've spent 6 months roaming this land for any sign of intelligent life and found nothing, until today.

"Harald, please tell me you have hood news, please." A mortal woman asks a man. Long red hair adorning her hair, blue eyes and a shapely face, makes for her beautiful appearance, however I can see the stress marks seeping into her skin.

"M-my love I have no good news for you-" a grief stricken man answers back. Black hair touching his shoulders with brown eyes and a strong build. Perhaps a warrior?

"NOOOO, what are we going to do? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!"

"I-I can't do a-anything dear."

"But I can."

Shocked by the unknown voice, the mortals turn to where my voice came from. Having unsummoned Ruin as soon as I saw this human and followed him here, I stepped out of the shadows of the cave.

"Stay behind me, Astrid….what do you want?"

"Information, in turn you wont have to live like this. Barely getting enough for survival."

"And how could we trust you stranger?"

"I didn't kill you and instead drew attention to mh presence."

The woman, Astrid, looks to the man at her side, "What more have we got to lose?"

'Alot'

"Not alot." The man answers.

"Well….what do you want to know?"

——-

3rd POV

"Well it started at the end of summer,….well summer was ending that pointed to a great harvest ahead, but suddenly a great cold wind blew and unexpected frost devastated a great share of the crops.

The tree leaves quickly acquired autumn colors and fell WAY before the expected period. This was a sign of the harsh winter approaching. Even with our crops ruined we still tried to prepare ourselves as much as we could before the impending winter.

B-but…despite our determination…we couldn't face it…at all. At that tome we simply didn't know what we're up against but now, im sure that the survivors across the country know what it is how powerless we are to face it." The man explains the reason of their situation.

"And what is it you face?" Ares asks curious.

'Do they face some demon, monster or even winter god?'

"W..we face…..'Fimbulwinter', it had arrived and with it 'The Long Winter'. 3 winter are supposed to follow it without any summer in between. We know it's Fimbulwinter because it's been a little over 6 moons since it began.

The nights appear to be longer. Every night I fear that the sun will not rise. We can not even hunt for animals lest we become food for Fenrir's offspring.

Im sure that at Asgard, the Aesir recognize the signs that ultimately point to the quarrel between the gods and the forces of evil, 'Ragnarok'.

W-we will all die."

The man finishes his story. Ares starts to ponder his next actions.

'I know what Ragnarok is but I didn't know there was a mythical winter before it, huh, the more you know.

"Worry not mortals, As thank for alleviating my boredom and curiosity, I will protect you for the rest of the 3 months."

"Y-you call us mortals, are you a..a god?" The woman asks fearfully.

"Well yes I am, I am Ares, God of War."

———-

3 months later

A little over 3 months had passed, in the lands of always winter, and the effects showed. Snow started to melt and showed of the beautiful landscape, people began to show themselves once more and began to form groups and even started to rebuild villages.

'How the hell did I not find any of these people for 6 months?'

At the showings of winter going away, Ares left the couple to explore the land of 'Norway'.

Finding himself in a fishing village on the coast. The rebuilding of the village had to halted a number of times due to the sudden and frequent earthquakes reverberating throughout the land.

The mortals running and scurrying to quickly rebuild. One mortal in particular notices the sudden darkness amongst the lands and looks up yo try and see the sun.

"Where is it….I-I cant see it."

"GET BACK TO WORK, WE NEED TO FINISH!!!"

"W-wait, look at the sky, there's no sun."

"H-huh what theeee….it must be night then, get back to work."

"B-but theres no moon either."

Both of the mortals of the fishing village come to the same conclusion.

Both point to the sky and exclaim at the same time, "SKOLL AND HATI HAVE DEVOURED THE SUN AND MOON!!!!!!!"

Panic and desperation run through their minds, however they dont get enough time time to devolve into insanity as everyone in every village across the coast of the entire country notice the sea churning and rioting. A couple minutes later a great sound pierces the sound of everyone on the entire country.

*BWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH*

As if the sea itself is rejecting the ground, millions and maybe even billions of tons of water rises up and forms a humongous tsunami, heading straight from the coast. The wave is only comparable to the great flood in The Noah's Ark story.

Ares unbothered by the wave instead looks as if he has seen the most beautiful thing in his life.

'Truly magnificent.'

As if the giant wave isn't enough, something even worse appears over the horizon.

The villagers now look back from their fleeing to see, "AHHHHHHHHH, ITS THE WORLD SERPENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Jörmungandr-

Skoll and Hati-