Chapter 584

“Well, that was the most anticlimactic moment of my life.” Odin snorted. “And I still remember my first time having sex.”

I did a double take on him and decided not to ask for a follow-up.

I think I would live a better life without knowing the details there.

“And like that, I’m in what-the-fuck mode.” I let out a sigh.

Jinn picked up the Eye that had come to a stop on the ground. “What is it? It’s really strange and gives me a weird feeling.”

“That, my dear, is what we call an ‘eye.’” Odin answered.

“Don’t be a smartass.” I responded.

Jinn put her hands on her hips. “At least my library didn’t blow up.”

“Your library wasn’t going to blow up regardless.” I rolled my eyes. “Come here.” I pulled her in and gave her a proper kiss on the forehead. “I wouldn’t willingly ruin your library. At most, I thought there would be a big release of energy or some kind of phenomenon, not any kind of destruction.”

Jinn let out a cute little happy noise.

That’s also to say, I wouldn’t let my house be destroyed so easily.

“If you two start going at it…I’ll probably stay and watch.” Odin interjected.

I kicked him in the shin.

“Oof, bullying an old man like me.” He whined in a fake tone. “But what were you expecting to happen? Wanting the spear to gobble them up?”

“I mean…” I scratched the back of my head as I let go over a big smiling Jinn. “Truthfully, I did know what would happen. Perhaps part of me didn’t expect anything to happen with the spear. I got those eyes from back in Gramp’s world; they’re related to the Big G over there in some way. And realistically, I didn’t know what else they would be used for.”

Well, that didn’t clear things up.

I realized as soon as I said my piece that they were still completely clueless about what was going on.

Of course part of me didn’t think the Eyes were meant for the spear. It seemed like such a strange ‘object’ for the spear to eat. Why not make them something else if they were just going to feed the spear?

In fact, why go through me at all? Just have Bigger G just shoot down a beam of light right into the Spear.

Hell, he could do it without even me knowing.

But on the flip side.

What else were the Eyes for?

I certainly wasn’t going to put them in my head. Doubly so because I had no idea what the fuck they even did.

It seemed like the most ‘obvious’ thing, so I decided to treat it like it was certain.

But I guess they truly weren’t meant for the spear.

In which case, what now?

“I don’t even know what these Eyes even do, only that they’re very powerful. The highest level of Mystic Eyes—magical eyes—that one could acquire. At a minimum, they’re on the same level as Balor’s Eye and other godly eyes.” I explained.

“Hmm.” Odin stroked his beard. “I can piece together some things now. Let’s see…. Eyes given by Big G himself.”

I didn’t correct him, because he’s technically not wrong even if I never met Bigger G, nor did I believe that Morgan also met him. Maybe some kind of intermediary, which implies an angel, which is also very scary.

Part of the reason I poked Morgan verbally so much even after finding out that she was the one ‘supplying’ the eyes was to see how much she would put up with to see how important that whole thing was.

If she took her toys and went home after a few ‘insults,’ then it probably wasn’t important at all. And it’s not like I cared much about a pair of Mystic Eyes in the first place. These, of course, were an exception.

The fact that she just took it with not much but an eye roll spoke volumes of how much importance she placed on the whole thing. 

That, and fuck her.

But I do things for multiple reasons, sometimes.

But that’s irrelevant right now.

“You know, I don’t think these things could even be destroyed if I tried.” Jinn said, holding one up. “I’m pretty sure if I tried to even use Thor’s Hammer, they’d be unharmed.”

That got both Odin’s and my attention.

“Let me see one.” Odin grabbed the other eye and also began to inspect it.

Admittedly, I hadn’t done much investigation myself beyond the few tests Gramps and I ran before. 

Durability actually wasn’t something we even thought about in the moment. We were basically only trying to figure out what they actually did.

“Hmm, maybe? I don’t think she’s wrong; it’d take a lot to actually do any damage to these things.” And he then unceremoniously threw it at the wall rather hard.

It just bounced off with a sort of wet plop before hitting the ground.

“You could try putting one in your head.” I offered it to him.

Odin snorted. “Even if I were drunk enough to do that, it’d really fuck me up other ways. Do you think I’ve left my eye socket empty out of nostalgia? I gave up not just my eye but my eyesight there, brat. Trying to get round the ritual I did, it’d fuck me up nice and good.”

Huh, didn’t know that. I never really put thought into him getting a ‘fake’ eye, as it were.

I picked up the thrown eye and set it on the table next to the other one.

“I don’t know what to do. Do you have any thoughts, Odin? Serious thoughts, that is.” I asked him.

His expression shifted a bit, and the humorous attitude he had slowly faded. “Alright, I suppose I could be a bit more serious for a moment.” He let out a breath and stretched his arms. “Let the All-Father see what magic he can work.”

I stepped back and let Odin do his thing.

With a few gestures, he already set up over a half-dozen Runic Arrays around the Eyes. With every moment passed, he was altering them, changing some out, and shifting them otherwise.

I don’t think it was even a minute; all around the Eyes were probably a hundred different runic sequences all interlaid.

His one eye glowed brightly as he stared at the Mystic Eyes I acquired.

“Let’s see what secrets you hide.” He held his hands up. “ᛒᛁ ᚦᛖ ᚾᚨᛗᛖ ᛟᚠ ᛟᛞᛁᚾ, ᛁ ᚲᛟᛗᛗᚨᚾᛞ ᛁᛟᚢ. ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚦᛖ ᛖᚨᚱᚦ ᛏᛟ ᚦᛖ ᛊᚲᛁ. ᛚᛖᛏ ᚨᛚᛚ ᛏᚱᚢᚦᛊ ᛒᛖ ᚱᛖᚢᛖᛚᛖᛞ.”

I barely caught what he did, but I could see immediately that the Eyes were resisting.

Odin’s expression changed again; he was frowning, even gritting his teeth. 

“ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚦᛖ ᛏᚱᚢᚦ ᛟᚠ ᛁᛗᛁᚱ×ᛊ ᚹᛖᛚᛚ, ᚹᛁᛊᛞᛟᛗ ᛁᛊ ᛒᛖᛊᛏᛟᚹᛖᛞ!”

The runes around the eyes glowed brightly, and a strange energy began to rise up from the eyes, all until the runic arrays started to crack.

Like a sudden shattering of glass, his spells shattered, and Odin was blasted off his feet, hitting the wall.

“Motherfucker!” Odin blurted out, rubbing his head.

“Are you okay, old man?” I asked him, knowing the answer already.

“Yeah, yeah.” He smiled warmly as Jinn helped him back onto his feet. “Apparently, they can retaliate if you try poking them too hard.”

“So you got nothing?”

He turned to me. “Who do you think I am?” He snorted. “I got something, just not what I expected, nor probably what you expected.”

“And that is…?”

“This.” He walked over, grabbed both eyes, and then pushed them together.

It wasn’t an immediate response, but I felt something in my chest as the two eyes touched. And then, a bright light erupted from them. Despite being inside, an intense wind suddenly whipped up, enough that I had to brace myself.

Then came the waves of Holy Power that seemed to be cascading off those things.

“Don’t destroy my library!” Jinn whined as she dove behind her desk in the corner.

Odin just laughed as he continued to push them together.

I could barely make out the sight of both eyes fusing together as the intensity increased.

Dammit, Odin, what the hell are you doing!?

He let out a cry as his own power erupted, as if the Eyes were fighting against his actions. Rather, whatever it is he was doing, it required considerable effort on his part. 

The light intensified to the point where I could no longer see; the light consumed everything in the room, even the sound.

The next thing I knew, Odin was on his ass again, I was somewhere in the corner, pressed up against a bookcase, and Jinn was peeking out from behind her desk.

“Haha!” Odin laughed happily as I followed his gaze back to the Eyes.

Or rather, the Eye.

One Eye.

I realized now what Odin meant.

It was never two eyes; it was always one eye that had been split, apparently.

The two irises from the other eyes, which looked like ‘minus signs,’ now combined into a cross that glowed faintly at the center of this new eye.

I felt a wave of unseen weight wash over me, like the Eye was looking around itself, despite not moving, floating there in a remaining wisp of Holy Energy.

It looked even more unnatural now, and that was ignoring the actual feelings it gave off.

“...did my house just get consecrated?” I asked kind of incredulously as the wave of Holy Power seemed to seep into the foundations of my home. “I’m going to be pissed if Venelana can’t come around anymore.”

“It’s not a church; it’ll wear off after a day.” Odin waved his hand as we all seemed to congregate at the Eye now. “I have no idea what I’m looking at now.”

“I was confused before; I’m more confused now.” I admitted.

A single eye that now floated there, giving off some rather intense holy and ethereal feelings.

“Well, don’t ask me; I’m out of ideas.” Odin shrugged. “I already didn’t want to be doing any work today, so I’m out of gas, brat.”

Great.

“Jinn?”

“You could turn it into a butt plug.” Jinn offered. “You seem to like doing that with Divine Artifacts.”

“Noted.”

I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

But then the thought of Jeanne flashed in my mind, and I put more thought into it than I would probably admit.

Realistically, though.

I hesitantly reached out to poke it, to make sure I wouldn’t be smitten.

“Okay, now let the Spear eat it, right?” I voiced out loud, taking the Eye into my hand, then pressing it against the Spear.

To no one’s surprise, nothing happened still.

“And like that, I’m out of ideas again.” I set it back on the table, mostly because holding it made me uncomfortable.

Like I was being watched, ironically.

Jinn picked it up to fiddle with it while I turned to Odin.

“Any suggestions, All-Father?” 

Maybe he knew I was being serious still, so he didn’t say anything joking and just ran a hand through his beard, looking deep in thought. “I could try taking it to Mimir’s Well and use a ritual to reveal more from it.”

“Aren’t you worried that might damage the well?”

Odin let out a small sigh. “It no longer serves any purpose now that Mimir is gone, other than nostalgia.”

I grimaced slightly, recalling Odin’s expression when he found his friend killed by Loki. “Let’s not be in a rush to destroy a remnant of something like that.”

“We could—”

“Um, guys.” Jinn interrupted us. “I can see something.”

She was holding the Eye up to her own, as if looking through it like a telescope. 

Odin and I shared a concerned look.

“...let me see.” I asked as Jinn handed it over.

Once more, I hesitantly held the Eye up to my own, as if to look through it.

I was hit by a wave of something, like I was peering at a different spectrum of colors that my eyes weren’t designed for. I had some resistance to this type of feeling, having mastered the Kaleidoscope, but even still, it made my head ache.

Vaguely, I could see what I could only describe as threads.

Like threads made of a vague light.

Hundreds of them, all going off into different directions. Some were faint, as if…dead. Others were vibrant, some more than others.

There was one out of all of them, one that glowed brightest. I reached out as if trying to touch it, but there was nothing there.

I turned my body to align myself with where it was facing.

“Roughly that way, there’s something?” I said. “Around a hundred kilometers, I think?” I pulled the eye away, and I felt my own eye somewhat sore.

I didn’t wait for them to respond because I felt a strange sense of urgency as I grabbed the spear and ran out of the house.

However, I nearly ran over Izzy, who herself looked concerned. “Wilhelm!? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I…what?” I was surprised by her own urgency here, but I also noticed who was at her side. I did a small but polite bow considering how she was dressed. “Lady Amaterasu.”

The Goddess of the Sun gave me a strange look.

“Wilhelm.” Izzy grabbed my shoulder. “There was a huge pillar of light that shot up into the sky from your house.”

I blinked. “Really? I didn’t…notice.” I was inside; how was I supposed to know that happened? I glanced at her and Amaterasu. “...Odin and I were messing with the spear; sorry about that.”

I lied through my teeth. I think Izzy knew, but she would also understand why I did it because a pair of black wings flapped and someone else joined in.

“Hooh boy, I was wondering what got my Dad-senses tingling.” Azazel dropped over. “Imagine my surprise when I’m drinking happily with a couple ladies on my arms, then suddenly it feels like Dad just popped up out of nowhere, screaming like he’d just stubbed his toe. So, uh…what’s with the light show, hmm?”

Luckily, I had hidden the Eye in my ring right away.

“What are you doing here?”

Azazel smiled. “With the big get-together that Yasaka had created, do you think the Grigori would miss out?”

Ah, the humans are still trapped inside the Fae Realm. But I didn’t think they’d have claims on anyone?

Or maybe they do?

I have no idea, but I could see him using it as an excuse to try to gain something. Maybe try and convince any returning humans to join up with him, any of the former Christians or Catholics that are disillusioned with everything.

“If it isn’t the used car salesman.” Odin grunted, walking out from the house behind me.

Azazel’s face twitched. “Odin, didn’t know you were here too.”

“Odin had express permission.” Amaterasu jumped in. “You were told not to wander around.”

Azazel’s smile faltered slightly. “Yeah, sorry about that. But you’ll forgive me; I was understandably startled when I felt my father’s presence so vividly for the first time since he died.” He looked back towards me.

“Odin and I were playing around with the spear.” I repeated the same lie.

Odin just nodded without a single care.

“...Is that so?” Azazel very clearly wasn’t buying it. “Funny, I’ve never felt that from the Spear before.”

“Maybe everyone else was using it wrong.” I said expressionlessly. 

“Azazel, go back to where your little group was saying.” Izzy finally stepped in, and Azazel looked like he wanted to protest, but she cut him off. “Be grateful that you’re even allowed here after your last meeting with Yasaka.”

Azazel paled slightly, and he didn’t say a word in protest. “Then I’ll be going.”

A few more moments, and it looked like he wanted to say something, but a glare from two goddesses really did shut him up as he took back to the skies and went back to wherever it is he was staying.

“Why is he here exactly?” I asked.

“Exactly as he said, annoyingly.” Izzy grumbled. “Yasaka is handling him; you don’t need to worry.”

I let out a small sigh. “As much as I’d love to catch up real quick, I’m sort of in a hurry. I’m sorry for my rudeness as well, Lady Amaterasu.” I was emphasizing proper etiquette here since she was out and about as more than just Izzy’s daughter.

I think she appreciated it; Izzy definitely gave me a silent nod of approval.

“Should I expect any other…disturbances?” She said dryly.

“Hopefully not.” I smiled.

She just nodded. “I’ll tell them that it was Odin’s fault then.”

“Bah, stripper fetish.” Odin replied.

“What was that!?”

“Huh, did I say something?” Odin pretended to be confused despite calling out her ‘fetish’ so openly.

“Odin.” Izzy’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Before anything else, can you—” I readjusted my position again, awkwardly lining up with my mental calculations because I didn’t want to look back ‘into’ the eye. “Do you know what’s in that direction? A hundred kilometers or so, give or take.”

“Specifically in that direction?” Izzy asked.

“Specifically right in that direction.” I nodded.

Amaterasu and she shared a look.

“Do you not know?” Amaterasu asked with surprise.

“...should I?”

“He doesn’t move around Japan much, and he hasn’t been part of our ‘community’ for long either.” Izzy seemingly defended me.

“He should at least know that.” Amaterasu scoffed.

“...did I say something wrong?”

Amaterasu let out a huff. “Onogoro-shima. At least, what remains of it.”

“That’s real?” I realized as soon as I said it. “Of course it’s real; I just never gave it much thought before.” I shook my head.

It was the ‘first’ piece of land created by Izzy and Izanagi, and likewise, it was the spot where they married.

But it was a mythological location, not a real thing.

“It was hidden from the mortals after part of it was destroyed thousands of years ago.” Izzy waved off. “It serves no real purpose other than to preserve for posterity.”

“I think we should go visit it. Right now.”

Izzy blinked. “Right now?”

“Yeah.” And also leave before any other Angels show up. It’s much easier to snub Azazel than it would be for Gabriel, and I know she’s nearby somewhere.

It didn’t take her long to catch up on my urgency.

Amaterasu just shook her head. “I will be returning; do whatever it is you want, Mother.”

We watched as Amaterasu departed in a flash of fire.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on that’s so important?” Izzy finally asked. “And why did you apparently just ping every Angel within radius?”

“Don’t know yet; come with us to investigate.” I grabbed her arm and opened a portal. “Is this close?”

She didn’t really ‘resist’ me as I took her through, and Odin followed.

“We’re less than a mile away. It’s covered in divine power to hide from mortals and prevent them from going there.” She raised her hand, pointing at an empty spot in the water. “Right there.”

I swept Izzy up into my arms, much to her chagrin, as I quickly moved towards where she pointed.

We were just next to Awaji Island; I could see the bridge that connected it to the mainland.

Despite not physically ‘seeing’ where I was going, I quickly delved through an invisible barrier, like penetrating some unseen mists as my foot hit the ground.

“You can set me down now.” Izzy huffed indignantly, though there was a slight red hue to her cheeks.

“I can feel the old magics here.” Odin muttered. “It’s extremely rare to find an ancient land like this that still persists.”

“I haven't been here since…Yomi.” Izzy said softly. “Since I married here, truthfully. I never cared to return. Is there something of importance that needs to be tended to?”

“Maybe, we’re still investigating. It would take too long to fully explain, but I got something that’s pointing us here from a reliable source.” I emphasized, promising to explain properly later. “Is there anything on this island? Because all I see is some flat waterside land.”

“Come, there’s a small shrine up ahead.”

Honestly, the ‘island’ in question was mostly just rock and stone. Very little actual vegetation was present here.

“Truthfully, this island was an accident. Izanagi shook the spear, and a drop landed here while we were planning things out beforehand.” She smiled kind of wistfully. “Of course,” he said, “that it was not an accident but ‘fate,’ and thus proclaimed it the first land.” She rolled her eyes. “It used to be a bit bigger too, but it’s been corroded by water and storms for how many years?”

I listened as Izzy explained the history; we climbed up over several large rock formations until we approached something a bit more organized.

When she said "shrine," I expected, you know, a modern shrine.

But instead, it was a large, rounded rock with a rope and tassels connected to another as it lightly swayed in the breeze. Admittedly, they were very large, like bigger than they appeared in the distance, through some metaphysical shenanigans.

I vaguely recall some tales that they’re connected to heaven and all that.

However, I could tell it was old.

Very, very old.

But there was something wrong, and we all noticed it, Izzy most of all.

“What is that?” She seethed under her breath.

Hell, we could see it.

A faint miasma that was coming out from under the shrine.

“What is that!?” She repeated again, a bit angrier, as we all ran towards it. “What is this vileness that’s permeating this shrine?”

Odin too was on it right away.

“Something evil.” He added. “Is there something sealed under here?”

“No!” Izzy said firmly. “I was there when this was created!”

“There’s a lot of faith being drawn to this point, and whatever is under here, the faith is suppressing it.” Odin explained.

“It’s the origin of Japan; of course there would be a lot of faith gathered in this spot.” Izzy harumphed.

I bit my lip because I felt something familiar, then realization set in on what I was feeling. “I know what it is.” They both turned to me. “It’s the same thing that was inside Pandora’s Box and what was also sealed under Saint Peter’s Basilica."

They both immediately went silent.

I didn’t need to say the actual name, because they were both aware of it at this point.

Trihexa.

@***@

A/N

Yes, there’s more to the Eyes than what Wilhelm just used them for, that would be anticlimactic if that’s all they did.