Where every horror movie starts

John enjoyed the ride through the city, very much so, he was just a bit nervous about two things:

1) The meeting he was about to go to. He had seen what kind of level the matriarch of the clan had, and if he was getting wrecked as he did from enemies just some levels above him, then how would he be able to deal with someone that was eight times his level? But he was not only about to meet Svenja again but also apparently her husband, who was rather strong as well if he interpreted Brun's words correctly.

2) He had absolutely no idea where they were driving by this point. They were just leaving the town to the west and entered the woods. And they didn't just drive through the woods on some scenic byway, but they were actually driving into the woods on a dirt road. Granted, the road seemed like a lot of vehicles regularly were driven over it, but it was still an unasphalted road that led into the darkening forest.

After a couple of minutes of riding through the woods, they arrived at something that seemed like a make-shift parking lot, which was fenced off by thick logs of wood. There were a lot of motorcycles and some jeeps parked here. Did the Gjoskenholm clan live in these woods? That seemed a bit far considering that they should (in theory) have enough money to support a lifestyle inside the town... then again, Brun did tell him this morning that they were scrapping by pretty badly... As they got off the motorcycle and took off the helmets, John asked exactly that question, "Do you live here in the woods? That seems... a bit ****... Or do you actually live in Valhalla?" to which Brun shook her head.

"Nah, we just have some big property here. We live close to the river, got an little settlement for ourselves basically. We use this property here in the woods for family gatherings, both good and bad. I guess you can call this today a 'crisis meeting'... I didn't expect this to be that much of a hot topic that this many would appear... guess you'll have to talk to G-Ma and G-Pa in front of most of the family... Sorry~. And we only go to Valhalla if we need to... It's not really that pleasant as one would imagine..." John's gut did a front flip there. Most of the clan? That was going to be a bit different then... If he now said the wrong thing, he wouldn't just have two powerful beings (he still wasn't fully sure if they all were human) on his neck, but a whole clan, which could tear him up in a matter of seconds... Could he use the Nexus to flee when things went sour? Maybe, but then he would have to close the door behind him, and he had no idea where he would end up then...

Putting her hand on his, Brunhilde squeezed it slightly, "Hey, it'll be alright. You just be honest about what happened, and you're good. They won't lynch you or anything, I'll see to that. Not gonna let you leave this world without feeling that dick in me."

It was obvious that she tried to lighten the mood with that, and it worked for John. He laughed and answered, "Oh, you'll feel that dick soon enough. By the way, Friday still on? If so, what should I wear?"

"Totally! I'm excited to take you with me in my nightlife! As for clothes, let me deal with that, I have a good idea what would fit you and what fits into the club. See it as a little repayment for how I treated you today. I think I've been pretty much a bitch for the whole day... Man, you had some really bad timing with showing up yesterday..." John shrugged as an answer. He wasn't sure if it really was that bad of a timing, or if it wasn't connected in some way. Looking at the fact with how many entities have told him that they were expecting him, he certainly felt that way.

The two of them went deeper into the woods, following a smaller dirt road, and soon they reached a barn-like building that was bigger than the mansion he was just in. The building looked like it was big enough to act as a church, except that there was way too much Nordic and Celtic symbology everywhere. Brun led him to the big double-door entrance of the hall and opened the door.

Inside was a big collection of tables in the formation of a horseshoe with people sitting on the outside of the shape. The people came around the tables were a colorful bunch, but one could see that they all belonged together. There were a lot of the Valkyries John had met yesterday, mostly seated next to muscly men that weighed at least twice as much as him and could use him as a dumbbell. All of the people were clothed in various casual outfits, with most of them wearing something similar to what John wore. There were, however, some exceptions to this rule.

Directly in front of John, at the head of the tables, sat a group of people that were not as casually dressed as the others. The first person was Svenja Gjoskenholm, sitting there in her plate armor, discussing something with an old man dressed in animal furs and wearing an animal skull on his head. He was pretty much the textbook definition of a shaman. Something in his gut told him that he would get no information about him if he tried to Observe him.

There was another figure that stood out in this whole ensemble, and that was the redhead paladin that John had met on his first day with his new powers. She wore a long chainmail hauberk and was looking directly at him with a pretty hateful glare. Did he do something to her? He was pretty sure that this was Moira Brighton, the 'princess' of the Order that Brunhilde had talked about. She was sitting next to Svenja, who at this point noticed the two new entrants and slammed her hands on the table to command silence in the hall.

In a matter of seconds, it was quiet, so much so that you could hear a pin drop on the floor. Then she began to speak, "Ah, young Newman, we were expecting you. Brunhilde brought troubling tales to us, tales about one of our own kin corrupted by something that no one can understand. From her stories we gathered that you are the one that knows the most about this, so we ask of you to explain to us: what has happened to Astrid since you have met her? We would appreciate every detail, but we won't judge you if you leave out personal information. Be, however, aware that we will know if you lie to us, and while omission is acceptable, lying is not. Do you understand?"

John nodded in understanding while asking, "I want to know how Astrid is, however. Is she okay?"

Moira answered this one instead of Svenja, "She is fine, and she is safe. You don't need to know more, mage."

Wow, aggressive much? Was John's immediate thought, but that information would have to suffice for now seeing the unhappy look on the matriarchs face, but she did keep quiet. She obviously wasn't too happy about something as well...

So John began to explain everything that had happened during the day between him and Astrid, up to the point where he used Augment Body, where he was interrupted by the paladin. Just as he had been explaining what happened with the magical limiter and the Essence, Moira stood up and pointed a warhammer at him. "That is absolutely impossible! We checked her over, and there was no such thing as a limiter on her. This rogue mage is obviously lying!"

The Valkyrie matriarch was already responding before John could argue about these accusations, "I would very much prefer it if you didn't threaten a guest on our grounds, Warden. Know your role in this hearing; you are here as a sign of respect to your Order and to your father. Do not sully this with ungrounded accusations about someone that tried to help one of our kin."

Moira seemingly shrunk down in her seat at this point, obviously embarrassed by what just happened. John was really happy that Moira wasn't his first encounter in the Abyss since he might've not survived that encounter. Seeing as no one interrupted his story, he just kept going on, explaining how they then ate their lunches (he willfully omitted the fact that he and Astrid had sex after that), how they formed a Bond, and how they entered the Barrier together after school.

Moira then asked him a question in the most hostile tone that she could muster without sounding rude, "Are you aware of the problems that an unregistered Barrier could lead to? How something could leave that Barrier and wreak havoc on the real world."

John nodded his head at that, surprising both Brun and Svenja, "I am aware, yes. However, I have done this kind of Barrier creation before. At the time of that creation another... uhh... member of the Abyss was present. She told me that my Barriers were surprisingly stable and 'detached from reality'... She then told me that my abilities were 'highly unorthodox' for a 'late bloomer like me'. So I figured that there was no real danger from my Barriers..."

That apparently made Moira sneer, "So you are telling me that you have already opened another Barrier somewhere? And who is this 'member of the Abyss' you are talking about? Another rogue mage like you?"

John was not sure how to answer that one. Kim had told him that he was under observation and that he shouldn't break her trust in him. Did that also count towards keeping her identity secret? For now, John decided to shake his head, "I can't tell you the identity of the person. I promised her that I would uphold her trust, which also entails keeping her identity secret if not explicitly said by her." He wasn't even sure if he could tell Moira that the person was a member of the school since John had only seen two Abyssal members at school so far except for himself and Astrid, so that would give her away.

Moira wanted to protest some more, but at this point, the man at the front of the table, Brun's grandfather, slammed his hand onto the table to interrupt her. "Continue with your story, please. We still haven't reached the important parts, and I grow weary of these interruptions. Now then, you said that the three of you entered a Barrier behind Petra's clinic, is that correct?"

Brunhilde confirmed this and explained the happenings in the Barrier from her point of view. She still looked angrily at John as she told in much detail what happened at the beginning of the challenge (that being her getting shot by Gary and John stealing the first kill). That seemed to create amusement in the Gjoskenholm clan, as a chuckle went through the rows. Brun slightly huffed at the chuckles and then explained how she destroyed the robots, killing them one by one while going around the Barrier as quickly as she could.

Then she returned the word to John who explained his side of the events up until the Assassin Bot tried to attack Astrid.

"- and then Astrid rose from the alley, clad in some kind of metallic armor, with sharp claws, crushing the bot. She talked to us after that, but her whole demeanor was different. So I checked her information with one of my skills, and it now said that her name was 'Titania Gjoskenholm'."

Any kind of chatter immediately died, and a tense silence made itself known in the hall. All the older Valkyries looked like they lost some of the color in their faces, and Svenja looked at John with wide eyes, "John, this is very important, and please tell us the whole truth. What did your ability exactly tell you?"

John by now felt all the looks that were piercing him, "My ability told me that she was Titania Gjoskenholm, also known as the Angel of Destruction. She told me that I had unleashed her because I destroyed the magic limiter... I have no idea what the deal with that is, but it would be nice to know what's going on..."

Saying her title didn't seem to help the situation as there was vigorous chatter going on around John, which was once again interrupted by Brun's granddad.

"Silence! If what you say is true, John Newman, then you might've condemned Astrid to a very cruel fate. I do not know how much you know about the past of the Valkyries, but I'm going to assume not much. There are many bright stars in the past of the Valkyries, like the Valkyrie that once carried the spear that was entrusted to you, but there also were some dark spots in their past, the darkest of them being Titania Gjoskenholm... She was a powerful Valkyrie, able to create weapons out of nothing but her magic and able to cause much destruction with her abilities. At some point she forgot her own way, the way of the Valkyrie and started to actively pursue her own desire for power, trying to conquer her own Kingdom. She was cast out of the clan because of this and her extremely violent tendencies, and the matriarch back then made an oath to never let her back into the clan. If what you say is true, then we can not keep her here if we want to uphold the oath made by our ancestors."

John's eyes grew wide as the shaman said that, "Are you suggesting..."

The man nodded, "Yes, Astrid cannot be a part of this clan. Not only is she dangerous, but it would be like spitting into the faces of our ancestors."

"So you would rather throw out an innocent girl that did no bad thing, just because of something that someone said a couple of hundred years ago? That seems extremely cruel!" John said fervently.

It was Svenja's turn to answer him, with a hint of anger in her own voice, "While I agree that it is tragic, I want to remind you that you know very little about us, John. We very much value our kinship, but we also very much value our history and our ancestry, which is why we can't ignore a matter like this. Titania did many atrocities for which we can never forgive her, and it is sad that Astrid has to suffer for it, but we can't overlook what has happened."

He did not like this answer at all, "Didn't your daughter tell me just a day ago that for the Valkyries blood is thicker than for most others? Wasn't I threatened to be hunted down if I hurt either Brun or Astrid? How can you then cast your own blood away this easily?"

This seemed to anger both the shaman and the Valkyrie as both of them wanted to rise from their table, until someone behind John said, "He's right, you know?" Everyone turned to the entrance, and there stood a man, clad in tattered clothes, a ragged sweater and some dirty sweatpants. He was old, very old and his long beard and his long hair were white as snow. He looked at John with a brown eye and a blue eye that was so light in color that it was almost white. He was leaning on a stick and had a curious look on his face. Out of instinct, John cast Observe on the 'intruder':

Mr. Wednesday
Lv. 1 (Or maybe not?)
<Nice try, kiddo>
RP: +50 (I like your style, and I like your standpoint, so you're good in my eye)

What the hell was up with that message?