Chương 127: Chapter 121 – Freya the Training Dummy

"That's all he really had to say. He was being cryptic as ever. I know he hates minor made gods and goddesses like me. He still talks to us but in an overly friendly…almost condescending way."

"Sorry," Chelsea replied.

"Wish I didn't have to put you in that situation. It was my idea after all." Chelsea lunged with the spear, aiming for Freya's side. Freya casually batted the attack away with the back of her hand. She still refused to attack back. She had already explained that she couldn't regulate her strength against Chelsea in combat the way Adriane could. For now, Freya seemed content to stand in the training complex and let Chelsea work through spear forms while they worked out the Bodarex problem.

"What do you think of his word choice?" Freya asked.

"You're better at riddles and word play than me."

"At this time," Chelsea repeated, stepping in with another strike.

"The reincarnation god denies she made a mistake." Freya turned the spear aside again.

"She denies the mistake?" Chelsea continued.

"That's all he would say to me on that subject," Freya replied. Chelsea went in for a harder strike at Freya's right thigh. It was gently pushed off course with the back of her other unarmored hand. Chelsea used the motion to turn her body and bring the spear back around, trying to make Freya adjust rather than simply block. Freya added, blocking the next strike with the back of her hand.

"Magalesa plain refused to talk to me." Chelsea stopped her assault and set the butt of her spear on the ground.

"What is the other god's problem with you?" Chelsea asked.

"I get that in their eyes you're like a baby but you're still a goddess nonetheless."

"It's both a minor goddess and made goddess thing. They still don't see me as a godly being until I break through to true godhood. Until then, I'm an abomination in their eyes. I was lucky Bodarex would even say as many words as he did to me. Even if I am at the top of the food chain of minor deities, still a minor goddess nonetheless."

"Aww Freya, I think you're the cutest little abomination I've ever seen!" Chelsea said, closing the distance. Freya's eyes narrowed slightly, though she didn't move from her relaxed stance.

"I can't tell if this is all a ruse to try to push your attack. You're really good at not showing your next move on your face."

"You too?" Chelsea asked, dropping the spear, letting it dangle from the tether.

"My mother said it doesn't change? For a while I was trying to fake grimace and move my eyes to places to throw people off. It was too much work so I went back to my old way." Freya laughed.

"It's so weird to fight you. Never seen anything like it." Chelsea let out a groan of frustration.

"It's not that weird."

"Oh no. It's super weird. You look so serene and chill."

"No! Not you too! My mother got to you," Chelsea said with her hand on her face.

"Even when you make a grunt noise it doesn't show." Chelsea gasped in mock outrage.

"I'll have you know, a lady doesn't grunt."

"My apologies to the Lady Chelsea, Duchess of Grunts." Freya gave a deep bow. There were gasps from around the training complex. None of the trainers, assistants, or servants had seen Freya this close before, let alone seen her without her helmet. A few of the Valkyr nearby had already begun whispering explanations, though that only made the others stare harder. Phillip, Chelsea's usual trainer, stood with his arms crossed near the weapon racks.

He had scoffed when Chelsea told him she would be training with someone else for the day. He seemed to relent, but only slightly when it was explained she was training with everyone's literal goddess. Chelsea grabbed her spear and started circling again.

"So what else did Bodarex say?" she asked. Freya's amusement faded slightly.

"He said a few things you won't like." Chelsea stepped forward and thrust toward her shoulder. Freya caught the top of the spear with her index finger, adjusting it's angle just slightly off course. She was showing off.

"That girl Ivy was with," Freya continued.

"He said he didn't arrange it directly." Chelsea's grip tightened.

"Directly," Chelsea repeated.

"He said he sent ideas for Ivy to stay in that town. Maybe gave the girl a thing for sexy blonde elves. Made sure the inn's bar had a local who loved buying free rounds for everyone." Chelsea's next strike came harder than the last. Freya caught the shaft before it reached her. She didn't grip it roughly. She only stopped the motion long enough for Chelsea to realize how much strength she had put behind the attack. Chelsea breathed through her nose and waited until Freya released it.

"That's gross," she said.

"Yep."

"He just admitted that?" Chelsea asked with disgust on her face. She liked Bodarex. Genuinely. She actually liked hanging out with him the few times she had in her dreams.

"In the way Bodarex admits things. Laughing, pleased with himself, and acting like it was the greatest thing ever." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Phillip corrected one of the Valkyr for gripping a spear too high.

"So Ivy didn't just happen to stop there," Chelsea said. Freya grimaced and shook her head. Everything made sense. The entire scenario was a setup for Ivy to fail a test. And she did fail. Chelsea jabbed toward Freya's ribs. She turned it away.

"There was more," she said. Chelsea didn't answer. She attacked again. Freya blocked the thrust and continued, "He all but confirmed the summoning wasn't a mistake." Chelsea's spear slowed. Freya kept her voice low enough that the watching Valkyr wouldn't hear over the noise of the training yard.

"He wouldn't say it plainly, but he enjoyed that I was asking. I think he wanted us to work it out." Chelsea's mind started turning faster.

"You said that Magalesa isn't quite as stupid as she lets on. And S-class summoning is a big deal. I believe she would know that." She shifted her footing and struck toward Freya's knee. Freya blocked.

"I've been thinking about one thing. Something she said before I was turned into an adult, 'why the hell does the great and powerful Bodarex owe her a favor?'" She pulled the spear back and frowned.

"Then it clicked. What are the chances there would be a second summoning at the exact same time as mine and I'm guessing Celeste's body was used in that ritual. Having all of that happen in Dryscape. Aka Bodarex-land kind of cemented the summoning mess up as not a mess up but direct sabotage." Freya watched her carefully.

"You've really been thinking about this."

"I'm sure there are many many more little details that we don't know about yet."

"You're not wrong." The goddess agreed, nodding She set the butt of the spear on the floor again.

"So we have Bodarex meddling with Ivy, Magalesa intentionally sabotaging her own summoning, Celeste's body being used as a summoning material. Why? What's the end game? Was all of this to try to prevent the godbeast or something?" She studied Freya for a moment, then in one fluid motion, thrust toward her chest without warning. Freya knocked the spear aside, but her smile returned.

"That one almost got me!"

"Oh stop, you and I both know it was nowhere near you." Chelsea huffed and reset her stance. Around them, the training complex had settled back into its usual rhythm, though people were still glancing over. Chelsea ignored them. Freya raised one hand, ready to block, and Chelsea stepped forward again. Three weeks later"Tali!" Chelsea whisper yelled to the djinn as she was passing her room.

"Come in here." Tali looked around, confused.

"Me?"

"You're the only Tali I know." Chelsea giggled.

"I have a question for you." She slipped through the door Chelsea held open for her. Chelsea peeked out of the room, looking to see if anyone had noticed. Finally, she closed the door and turned to Tali with a mischievous smile.

"Tali…" she oozed in a smooth voice. She still had all of her armor on.

"Miss Chelsea, why are you home again?" Tali asked curiously.

"Freya has been bringing me back and forth. She comes and gets me in the morning to do all of my normal Valkyr stuff, then she brings me back here," Chelsea explained quickly, as if everyone had already asked the question a million times. She turned back to Freya with a smile.

"S-so this is…" Tali bowed awkwardly.

"It is an honor."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's so cool. Hey, I have a question for you, like I said. Is your wish available?" Chelsea asked playfully.

"Y… Yes. But you know I can't grant it to you. You're not my master. I'm sorry, Miss Chelsea." Tali said with truly apologetic eyes.

"Hey, that's not what I'm after. OK. Follow me." Chelsea led them, fully armored, out of the room and down the hall to her mother's room. She knocked. There was shuffling from inside.

"Hold… Hold on!" Adriane called out. Chelsea smirked, knowing what she'd been up to.

"Come in," Adriane said after a few seconds. Chelsea pushed open the door to find Adriane and Gerard sitting on complete opposite ends of the room.

"Hey!" she said.

"Hey… kid," Gerard awkwardly replied.

"Chelsea, is everything OK? Why do you have Tali?" Adriane asked.

"First off, everything is fine. And you missed a button." She gestured vaguely to her mother's top.

"I was thinking about something."

"Good thinking about something? Or bad?" Adriane asked, fixing the button with a red face.

"I… think… good? Gerard, could you and Freya step out? It's Wixx stuff."

"Yeah, of course," Gerard agreed, stepping out. Freya silently left. She is so weird when people are around.

"So? What is it?" Adriane asked. Chelsea smiled and reached into her pouch. She looked at the folded piece of paper once before handing it to her mother.

"Read this out loud, please." She had crafted the note so it was spelled out phonetically. That way, her mother wouldn't be able to just read it first and reject it. Ah ee wih shfor a map show wing where mah ee b earth dot ter-wahs kilt Adriane read it out loud, not understanding what she had just read.

"Chelsea, this is just gibberish." Chelsea ignored her and quickly looked at Tali. The djinn looked confused for a second.

"Uh."

"Chelsea, what is going on?" Adriane asked, even more confused than Tali. The white demon seemed to be the only one in the room who was in complete control of the situation.

"Mom, read it again. Maybe try reading it faster."

"OK." Adriane lifted the page up again and read it out loud, faster this time.

"I wish for a map showing where my birth daughter was kilt." Her eyes went wide. She looked hurt by Chelsea's antics.

"Chels, why would…" Chelsea shushed her, staring at Tali. The djinn wasn't glowing like the last time Chelsea had seen her grant a wish.

"Everything OK, Tali?" Chelsea asked. She was feeling giddy.

"I… I can't grant that wish," Tali said, adjusting her body awkwardly, like it had given her a cramped muscle or something.

"I don't understand," she admitted. Chelsea belted out a laugh of victory.

"Yes!"

"Chelsea, what's going on?" Adriane asked. Her frustration was mounting and slowly killing her patience.

"Mom. What is one thing we know about Jared Wixx?" Adriane recoiled slightly at the name.

"What?"

"He was greedy and selfish. Did you ever see your… uh… my sister's body? After he killed her?" Chelsea asked, trying to get to the point as quickly as she could so she didn't stir up too many feelings in her mom.

"N-no? He just told me he dealt with her and no luxuries." She answered, starting to tear up.

"No tears," Chelsea quickly said.

"Not yet." She started laughing with pure elation.

"Tali… Tali can't grant that wish. Mom, if she can't grant a simple wish like that…" Chelsea beamed with pride.

"He didn't kill her. He likely sold her. Which is… now that I think about it, potentially worse. But that means she's still out there. She could be anywhere. Which is also where Tali comes in." Adriane took the page slowly, looked down at it.

"I wish for a map that shows where my birth daughter currently is." Tali glowed for a second before the glow faded and she let out a disappointed sigh.

"I... I can't grant that wish." She shrugged apologetically, "I don't know why exactly." Chelsea nodded along, her face not changing.

"I figured that wouldn't work either. The magic probably has to consider the entire continent and I don't believe Tali has the power for that. No offense of course. My back up has a back up." Chelsea pulled out a third piece of paper and held it out for her mother, followed by an ornate amulet on a delicate but magically enforced chain. She handed the piece of jewelry over to Tali.

"Now read this letter." Adriane had gone white as a ghost at all of the moving pieces Chelsea had orchestrated. Finally, she looked down at the letter.

"Tali, I wish for you to enchant this amulet to glow when my child that I birthed is within ten feet of me, but only grant the wish if she is still alive." Chelsea was impressed by how easily Adriane got through all of the tougher words, but that was short-lived. Tali began glowing again. This time was similar to when she granted Adriane's reading wish. She looked relieved. Like the magic built up in her had been tense muscles, and they were finally allowed to relax.

"It… worked," Tali said, holding out the amulet. Adriane stepped forward and took it gingerly.

"She's… alive?"

"Looks that way," Chelsea quickly replied.

"And we are going to find her, Mom. I can't promise we'll find her anytime soon, but we will find her."