After successfully talking his own sister into circles, a certain troublesome serpent showed not the slightest hint of remorse.
Once Brynhildr brought over the citrus, mint leaves, hot water, and the other requested items, Samael took over. He used them one by one to ease Fenrir's seasickness curse, smoothly steering the conversation elsewhere in the process.
"I went through quite a bit of trouble to get you out of Lyngvi so you could get some fresh air," Samael said. "Odin's daughter Brynhildr is still with us. If you don't want to be sent back and confined again, behave yourself."
"Got it. I'll be good," Fenrir replied. "But you have to keep your promise."
"Fine. You're allowed to drink, and once we disembark, you can move around freely."
With that assurance, Fenrir immediately started peeling and chewing on an orange. Her golden-brown tail stuck straight up and swayed back and forth, clearly betraying her good mood. The whole issue of what she should call Samael was promptly tossed out of her mind.
Who would have thought that such simple conditions were enough to satisfy the world-destroying demon wolf destined to kill Odin, the Aesir God King, during Ragnarok?
Like many tragic figures in Norse mythology, Fenrir's life was bound tightly by fate. From the moment of her birth, the gods learned through a witch's prophecy that the three children born of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, the giant wolf Fenrir, the World Serpent Jörmungandr, and their sister, the Goddess of Death Hela, would bring catastrophic disaster upon the gods.
Following the original course of history, Jörmungandr was cast into the sea, Hela was sent to Helheim, and the giant wolf Fenrir was kept among the gods, growing up under their constant surveillance.
Yet among the Aesir, only the war god Tyr dared to feed her, showing genuine goodwill toward this future calamity.
As Fenrir grew day by day, fear took root among the gods. After all, the prophecy clearly named this giant wolf as one of the architects of their destruction.
With Fenrir's strength increasing, the shadow of Ragnarok loomed ever closer. Driven by panic, the gods decided to bind the colossal beast.
They lured the innocent demon wolf with honeyed words, claiming they merely wanted to test her power. Fenrir believed them and cooperated willingly.
First, the gods attempted to bind her with an iron chain called Lædingr, but Fenrir snapped it with ease. They tried again with another chain named Dromi, yet she still broke free. After two failures, Odin commissioned the dwarves' master craftsmen to forge a cursed chain called Gleipnir, woven from six impossible materials: the sound of a cat's footsteps, a woman's beard, the roots of a mountain, the breath of a fish, a bear's sinews, and a bird's saliva. The result was a binding as soft and smooth as silk.
At last, on Lyngvi Island in the center of the red-black lake, the gods asked Fenrir to test whether she could break free from Gleipnir. Fenrir vaguely sensed that the gods' intentions were not as simple as they claimed and instinctively felt the chain's terrifying strength. She refused to put it on, unless a god was willing to place an arm in her jaws as a guarantee of her freedom.
The gods recoiled in fear, none daring to step forward, until Tyr stood out from among them. He placed his arm into Fenrir's gaping jaws. Looking at the god who had fed her and shown her kindness, Fenrir hesitated for a moment, then chose to trust him.
But once bound, she found herself unable to break free. Fenrir demanded that the gods release her, only to be refused.
Realizing she had been deceived, Fenrir tore off Tyr's arm in a rage. The war god calmly accepted his fate for the sake of the Aesir's future, while the gods seized the chance to drive the massive stone anchoring the cursed chain Gleipnir deep into the earth. Thus, Fenrir was completely bound to Lyngvi Island at the center of the red-black lake.
When Ragnarok finally arrived, Fenrir, empowered beyond measure by destiny itself, shattered her chains and joined the vengeance against the Aesir. In the end, she bit to death Odin, the architect of the betrayal, and perished herself in that apocalyptic catastrophe.
In truth, this seemingly ferocious demon wolf was far more straightforward than the scheming Aesir gods. Her so-called savage nature was, for the most part, driven step by step into extremity by Asgard's oppression.
The same was true for Hela, the Goddess of Death, who had once intended to grant the God of Light Baldr a chance at resurrection.
Had they been guided properly, their endings might not have been so tragic.
That was why Samael, still in his young serpent form at the time, boldly snuck into the Golden Palace and persuaded Odin. After the two secretly formed an alliance, Samael took the opportunity to obtain custody of both Fenrir and Hela.
With experience already under his belt from educating Typhon's offspring and raising Athena, a top-tier troublemaker in her own right, Samael naturally handled his role as guardian with practiced ease.
As Fenrir and Hela continued to grow, the shadow of Ragnarok never truly left Asgard, looming overhead and steadily expanding.
But when the two deceivers, Samael and Loki, joined forces and successfully tricked Surtr, the Fire Giant King, into traveling to the icy land of Niflheim, then worked together with Hela, Fenrir, and the gods of Asgard to seal this true world-destroyer within [The Cage], the so-called sense of crisis naturally vanished.
The Ancient Serpent had made his stance clear to Odin, while also demonstrating to the Aesir the decisive weight carried by the Frost Giant lineage.
Hela and Fenrir could just as easily become the culprits who ignited Ragnarok and brought the Norse Age of Gods to ruin, as they could become the key forces that suppressed the Fire Giant King and eliminated the danger.
Likewise, the World Serpent could either devour and destroy the world, or uphold and protect it.
From another perspective, perhaps fate itself was nothing more than a matter of interpretation.
From that point on, his alliance with Odin was nearly unbreakable. They reached a perfect understanding: restrain their respective clans, suppress the most dangerous and deranged Fire Giant King Surtr, maintain the current stability, and prevent Ragnarok from ever arriving.
With the Frost Giant clan's chosen ones, Fenrir and Hela, both following his orders without question, Samael naturally became the representative and mouthpiece of that power.
Once the situation stabilized, he finally set out on this long-planned journey, bringing along only the overly energetic Fenrir for a bit of fresh air.
The death goddess Hela, whose body was half growing and half decaying, required the authority of the underworld to suppress those abnormalities and thus could not leave Helheim.
As an added precaution, she was also conveniently left behind to keep an eye on her father, Loki.
As for that biological father, Loki…
Well, aside from raising his children for him, Samael also had to clean up after the God of Mischief, making sure he did not get carried away on a whim and actually cause Ragnarok to happen all over again.
Fortunately, Samael had already gathered plenty of dirt and incriminating evidence on Loki, more than enough to keep him obedient as a kitten when it really mattered.
After carefully reviewing the finer details of this trip and confirming there were no major issues, Samael nodded in satisfaction. He glanced at the black runic collar around Fenrir's neck and casually added,
"By the way, once we reach foreign lands, remember to come up with a new name for yourself."
With the gods lying low and the World Egg rapidly sinking, walking among human society meant both he and Fenrir would have to suppress their power as much as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"Oh, that? I've already thought of one!"
The werewolf girl, now feeling much better from the seasickness, tossed aside her half-eaten orange, planted her hands on her hips, and proudly declared her new name.
"You can call me the Great and Wise Wolf, Lady Holo!"
"Pfft!"
Samael, who had just taken a sip of mint water to quench his thirst, instantly sprayed it out. He turned his head stiffly, staring at Fenrir with a deeply unsettling, incredulous expression.