Chapter 889: We Meet Again, Pendragon
Three days after William's battle with Dias...
"This is the Hall of Thunder," Dias stated in an impatient tone. "Go. Just go and don't come back."
As soon as he finished saying his words he turned into a lightning bolt and left without even looking at the Half-Elf, who had made him lose face in front of the other Gods.
William watched him go before shifting his gaze to the teary-eyed nymphs who were begging him not to go with their pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go," William said as he reached out to give all of them a hug. "All of you, take care of yourselves."
The Nymphs all hugged him back as they did their best to prevent the tears in their eyes from falling. They were very sad that William was going to leave and they would no longer experience that unbelievable euphoria that they felt whenever their blood was drunk by him.
Hebe watched all of this with a sad expression on her face. It had been so long since she had a guest at their residence, and knowing William was about to leave made her feel that she would never see him again.
"Thank you, Hebe." William smiled as he gave the golden-haired beauty a hug. "Your home-made wine is very delicious. It's quite unfortunate that I will not be able to drink it again."
Hebe did her best to prevent her sadness from showing on her face as she returned William's hug.
"You're welcome," Hebe replied. "If Fate wills it then our paths will cross again. Until then, may you be safe, always."
A few minutes later, William stood at the Gates of the Hall of Thunder and waved his hand one last time to the friends that he had met in this world.
Although he would have liked to tour this beautiful world for a few days, there were still many people waiting for him in his own homeworld. He couldn't afford to let them wait for a very long time.
William decisively turned around and entered the gates.
The moment he was safely inside the temple, the Hall of Thunder shot towards the heavens and disappeared.
Leaving a certain grumpy Dias behind.
—-
Inside the Hall of Thunder...
William's eyes widened in shock when he saw three beautiful ladies smiling back at him.
One of them had long golden hair, and eyes as blue as the sky.
The other had long, light-brown hair, and eyes as green as emeralds.
The third, and the youngest of the three, had long silver hair, and gray eyes that seemed to see the depths of a person's soul.
William had seen all three of them in a distant past, and his eyes teared up because he thought that they had also perished back then.
"We meet again, Pendragon," the lady with long golden hair said with a smile. "It seems that life has been hard on you, just like it was in the past."
"Yes," William said as a tear streamed down the side of his face."Life has always been hard. But, that's just how life is. Aren't I right, Urd?"
Urd gave William a bitter smile as she made a gesture for him to come closer.
The Half-Elf obeyed and as he moved forward to hug one of the Norns that had counseled him thousands of years ago.
The Half-Elf felt a flood of emotions rise up inside his chest, making his body shudder.
"Sister, I think we came to see the wrong person," the light-brown haired beauty said in a teasing tone. "Pendragon has never been a crybaby. I think we messed up the timeline a bit."
Even so, she still went forward to hug William, as the Half-Elf held onto Urd.
"Pendragon, Pendragon, didn't he already say that we should just skip formalities and call him Will?" The silver-haired girl who seemed to be just a little over twelve pouted.
Still, she also joined her sisters, on hugging the Half-Elf who was currently bawling his eyes out, not caring of what the three girls would think of him.
"You're such a big baby, Will," Urd said. "Where is that Einherjar who bravely fought till his last breath?"
"Skuld, Can you say some encouraging words to make him stop crying?" the lady with light-brown hair asked.
"You should be the one doing that, Sister Verdandi," Skuld replied. "Afterall, you are the one that represents the present."
The three Norns that had nourished Yggdrasil since time immemorial bantered with each other, as the Half-Elf wept within their embrace.
Minutes passed before William finally regained his composure. The three ladies teased him for being a crybaby, but the Half-Elf didn't care. As long as they were alive and well, they could tease him as much as they wanted.
After calming his senses, William sat on a floating chair, while Skuld sat on his lap, resting her head on his chest.
The Half-Elf didn't mind and even held the mischievous young lady in place to prevent her from falling off his chair.
Among the three Norns, Skuld was the most spoiled. She would do anything that she wanted, even if it caused Odin and the other Gods to scratch their heads in frustration.
"How did the three of you escape Ragnarok?" William asked.
"Simple. We left before it even started," Urd answered with a sad smile on her face.
Verdandi nodded her head as if to support her Big Sister's words. "Skuld told us what was going to happen, so we made preparations in advance and left before the Flames of Destruction even touched Yggdrasil."
"Are you disappointed that we left without putting up a fight?" Skuld, who was resting her head on William's chest, asked with her eyes still closed.
"No." William replied as he patted Skuld's head. "Even if the three of you were there, the ending would still be the same. I'm just glad that the three of you are safe."
"Mmm." Skuld hummed as she enjoyed William's hand that was making her feel good.
Verdandi gazed at William with a smile as she raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to ask us why we came to see you?"
William shook his head. "Even if I don't ask, you will still tell me why you came to see me."
The Norns did not particularly interfere with the affairs of the mortal realm, unless it was of absolute importance.
Urd represented the Past.
Verdandi represented the Present.
And Skuld represented the Future.
The three of them together held the strings of Fate that foretold events that had happened, were happening, and would happen in the future.
They would appear on rare occasions to give counsel to important figures that would play a bigger role in the grand scheme of things.