[Seven-Minute Semblance] GENIUSFORSALE & VORSTELLUNGEN

VORSTELLUNGEN || Chapter 21 - Siegfried Niall Lukas

Laevateinn.

Wodenstag.

THIS MORNING, Fenrir and I have separated ourselves from our friends. We still have a lot of unfinished business. Fenrir has finished half of his tasks. He's better at being a good boy.

Mother Futhark has packed us lunch and snacks for the day. Edward has given me a phone, the one with simple, huge buttons—just in case I need their help. Jule has given me his tumbler, with coffee Futhark has also made.

They've started treating me nicely after all that fight.

There's a little voice in my head that whispers that my friends are only treating me nicely because they fear me, but I ought to ignore that little voice. It has sprung from this world's insecurities—the little voice is not from me, nor is it mine.

Because the loudest voices I hear are my friends calling me their Superman, and I know I ought to believe that.

Fenrir and I sneak into the Coronados' hospital, where animals are usually allowed if they're medical professionals too and not four feet tall. I put Fen in a doctor's scrub and throw a white cloth over whatever else is visible.

But we get noticed the moment we step into the elevator. The lovely person who has caught us directs us to their superior, who recognises us and lets us into Odin's hospital room. Fenrir and I nod down at them and ask them kindly if they could guard the door. They agree.

Odin's room is bright and has an air of serenity. There is an evocative music seeping through the thin walls, and Odin contents himself with the faint entertainment.

Relief washes over me upon seeing him awake. Last time I have visited, he was still unconscious. Now he's lying down, arms and head covered in bandages, staring at the window to his right, where he could watch the blue, empty sky.

"Odin, we're here," I call softly, pulling a chair and sitting beside his bed. I set my backpack down. Fenrir rubs his muzzle against the sheets, meeting Odin's sleepy gaze.

Odin doesn't face me and instead runs his fingers weakly along Fenrir's cheek. "Not Njal anymore."

I nod. "I'm taking my name back."

The inattention from Odin just pushes me to continue with sincerity. "You introduced yourself as Njal, so I'd call myself Siegfried and forget that my family called me Niall, along with all the sentiments within it." I cross my arms and lean on the bed. "But Odin, what you didn't know before was my hyperthymesia. I never forget."

"When your brother called you Niall, what did you feel?"

"Like I was on the right path."

"Hmm," he mutters, closing his eyes. "Your last mission... Did you succeed, my child?"

"Arthur Lukas is dead." I smile at Fenrir. "Everyone thinks he deserved it. And all we needed to do was provoke him and give him a gun. Balder's death is now avenged."