Sure enough, he felt the somewhat stomach-turning sensation of being pulled through the universe, and when his vision stabilized again, he was in front of the familiar tarnished gold and silver courthouse. Tensing up and putting himself on guard, he walked into the courthouse, ready to swing his scales if needed.
He still wasn’t ready for what hit him when he got to the middle of the lobby. Something yanked on his ponytail with great force, sending him flying to the ground. A familiar voice boomed above him, and Cornelius shimmered into existence. “Where have you been?!”
Glitnir was still reeling as he tried to find a suitable response. He knew Cornelius was not going to be happy with him for only coming once and then vanishing. “Uhh, busy. Busy with school and work.”
“Intellectual pursuits. I see. Get up, boy.”
Grumbling, Glitnir pulled himself up to lock eyes with his spectral ancestor. “I didn’t forget about you, I swear. I just didn’t have time to come up here, or I was tired or my friends pulled me out.”
“Being busy with schooling and work I can understand. Feeling tired on the weekends and letting your friends pull you away like that? Those sounds like excuses to me.” Cornelius folded his arms and tapped one boot soundlessly on the ground.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s any way I could have let you know I wasn’t coming up, though. Can the signet rings send to… people like you?” Glitnir hesitated, as he wasn’t sure if calling Cornelius a ghost would offend him or not.
Cornelius shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried it. I suppose that, since I am technically dead, it wouldn’t work.”
“Mm. Well. I guess there’s not much I can do, then. I’ll just have to come up when I can.” Glitnir paused, then dived into his point. “Anyway, I didn’t just come up to apologize for being gone for so long. There’s something I want to ask you for advice about.”
“And what would that be?” Cornelius quirked one eyebrow up, curious.
“While patrolling where I live, I met this lady Knight… a Saturn Knight. She was covered in blood, and she said she had just killed someone… so since that night, I’ve been going around, asking people’s opinions of the situation. Like, have they killed? Would they kill? What circumstances would make them kill? I just wasn’t sure what to think, so I went on a little quest for answers.”
“Seeing what others have to say in order to reach a conclusion of your own… that’s very wise,” Cornelius said, nodding. “Is that what you intend to ask me? Whether I have killed, and what would make me kill?” Glitnir nodded in turn, and the ancestor continued. “In my time, I was asked to perform some important executions, and I did so as was my duty. However, there was never any cause for me to kill anyone else. I’m afraid those executions were the only kills I ever made.”
Glitnir tried not to let any disappointment show on his face. “But what would make you kill?”
“The obvious answer is a threat to my family or a threat to my world that I can eliminate. A threat to myself… it would depend on the nature of the threat. I would prefer to incapacitate unless absolutely necessary. And if I were a soldier in a war, I would kill if I had to as a part of my duties.” Cornelius paused. “These weren’t the answers you were looking for, were they?”
“No, that’s not it. I wasn’t looking for any answers in particular. I’m trying to gather as many perspectives as possible so I understand the full picture of the war.” Glitnir wasn’t sure what he was expecting from Cornelius in the first place. He had killed, though not under anywhere near the same circumstances as what the war on Chaos provided. The war was its own beast. The conditions of a thousand years ago would be no match for the conditions of now.
“If you say so,” Cornelius said, shifting his spectral weight from one foot to the other. “You look like you have something else on your mind. Tell me, what is it?” Cornelius tilted his head and gave Glitnir an interrogative look.
It was true that Glitnir had something else on his mind, though it was wildly different from what they had just discussed and was going to inflict some serious mood whiplash. “Uh… well… it’s about something completely different from what we just talked about.” He pursed his lips, thinking. While he figured that Cornelius would be as good a person to ask about this other topic as any, it didn’t make him feel any more comfortable about bringing it up.
Cornelius tapped his foot once to indicate his impatience. “So? What is it? If it’s exam stress, I am afraid I will not be much help to you there, especially with whatever newfangled inventions are bound to have sprung up over the thousand years since my passing.”
With a nervous swallow and a heavy exhale, Glitnir spilled the beans. “I met this girl… a Cosmos Knight. She was gorgeous. White hair, golden eyes… stunning.”
“And?” Cornelius said. “You’re leaving out some very important parts. Don’t try to tell me you were just looking at her face the whole time.”
“What?” Glitnir was taken aback at Cornelius’s sudden shades of dirty old man (or he was just trolling again). “What do you mean?! What else was there to look at on her?”
“Don’t play dumb, boy. You know what I’m talking about.”
Glitnir dragged one hand down his face in exasperation. He knew what his ancestor was getting at and it was going to kill him. “She had a nice dress? Nice white dress with gold at the top, strapless, long slits on the sides for her legs?”
Cornelius just shook his head and sighed. “If you were looking at her dress that intently, surely you saw more than just her face. Unless… well, pardon me for asking, but do you prefer the menfolk? Does a beautiful woman’s body not please you? Feel free to speak the truth. I will think no less of you. Really.”
“Oh my god.” Glitnir put both hands on his face now, dragging them down slowly to maximize the dramatics. “I can’t believe you think I’m gay just because I didn’t stare at a woman’s boobs. Unbelievable. That’s an a*****e thing to do, Corny.”
“‘Corny?!’” Cornelius pulled his head back, apparently appalled. “It is ‘Cornelius’ to you, boy, and don’t you forget it. And I was joking. Mostly.”
“Well, it wasn’t funny. Maybe that was acceptable in your day, but it’s not in my day.”
“Fine, fine… my apologies.” Then Cornelius proceeded to get right back to trolling. “But really, how was she? You described her dress in detail. I can tell you gave her a good looking-over.”
“If you weren’t already dead, I’d kill you.” Glitnir heaved a massive, overwrought sigh. “She was beautiful. Nice legs, um… she looked kind of soft up here,” he said, gesturing to his chest, “in a good way. Are you happy now?” Earlier he had felt his mind drift to thoughts of how nice it would be to rest his head on that chest or that lap while she stroked his hair gently… and then he literally slapped himself in the face to pull himself out of it. There was no way any of that was going to happen any time soon. He felt kind of rude, thinking those things about Hvergelmir.
Cornelius nodded approvingly. “She sounds quite lovely. And now, you are going to learn how to romance a woman.” Glitnir barely even had time to mumble a “wait, what?” before Cornelius swept him up into a promenade waltzing position, the position of his hands indicating that he (Cornelius) was the lady in this dance. “Please tell me you know how to dance.”
In between confused sputtering, Glitnir was able to spit out, “Well, it’s been years since that silly after-school class I was forced to take in junior high, but I think I get the gist?”
“‘Getting the gist’ is not enough. You will learn how to dance today, or you will never be worthy of courting that woman.” Cornelius took one waltz-step forward. “Now, listen carefully.”
Glitnir wanted to object, but Cornelius proved to be a rather patient and overall good teacher. He made sure Glitnir’s hands were in the right place and gently guided him through the precise steps of a waltz. Right when Glitnir felt he was most in the swing and rhythm of the dance, Cornelius proceeded to twirl him right into the reception counter. “Good work. You’re a fast learner.”
“Shoulda seen that coming,” Glitnir grumbled as he rubbed the sore spot from crashing into the counter. “Uh. Well, thanks.”
“There is one more thing you must do before you go out and seek that woman,” Cornelius said. “How much do you know about her?” Glitnir opened his mouth, then closed it as he realized the answer was “not much.” “Well, now you’re going to get to know her. Do you remember where we put that special book you found your signet ring in? It had paper and a writing utensil in it, and it still does.”
Glitnir jumped over the reception counter, grabbed the hollowed-out book, and jumped back. “Right here. I guess you’re going to tell me to write a letter to her?”
“That’s right. Our signet rings exist for a reason. You know her name, therefore you can write her a letter. Now, what do you plan to write? No horribly cheesy romantic poetry, I hope?”
“Uh, no. I was just going to ask her where her usual patrol paths were and if we could meet up and patrol together sometime.”
“That sounds good. Write her your invitation, and I’ll take a look at it when you’re done.” Cornelius stared at Glitnir’s hands as he wrote:
To Hvergelmir
Hi! This is Glitnir. Remember me from Avalon? I hope you’re healing up well. Those monsters really did a number on you. Anyway, if you’re up for it, would you mind patrolling with me sometime? Let me know your usual route and I’ll come meet you, if you’d like. Hope to see you again sometime soon!
- Glitnir
When the Page finished, Cornelius took the paper out of his hands and read it over. “I suppose it’s innocuous enough. You show some concern for her and allow her choice in the matter, though you do seem a bit eager. Go ahead, send it.” Glitnir did as he was told, pressing his ring into the paper. It then disappeared into the mysterious ring-mail pipeline to hopefully make it to Hvergelmir. Cornelius then added, “Now, all you have to do is wait. Hopefully she will respond soon, and if she doesn’t, try one more time. And if she doesn’t respond then… you may just have to let her go.”
Glitnir nodded grimly. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.” He cast a glance towards the door of the lobby. “My parents are going to want me back soon… I’m staying with them for the holidays. See you in three weeks? And I’ll try not to stretch it into three months this time.”
“Ah, familial duties. Well, we have accomplished a fair amount of things today. You’ve gotten my perspective on love and war. I do hope that, next time we meet, you’ll stay around for a bit longer and I can show you more of the Wonder.”
“Sounds like a deal,” Glitnir said. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Yes, hopefully. And happy holidays to you.”
Shazari
Ring mail for Hvergelmir!
