The four stood in front of Blitzen's door, waiting for him to open it. "Kid, Alex!! Hey!! Who are your friends??" Blitz greeted them, his eyes falling on Adri and Nico, awkwardly standing behind Alex and Magnus.

          "Can we explain inside?? Kind of confidential.." Magnus said, nodding his head towards the door. "Of course!! C'mon in!!" They all got in and the dwarf closed the door behind them. "Make yourselves comfortable. Now, would you like spring rolls and mead?? I don't have anything prepared because you didn't tell me prior."

          "Mead?? Isn't that alcoholic??" Adri asked. "Well, yes.. But, our mead doesn't get you drunk.. So, who's up for some mead??" After Magnus and Alex assured the Greeks, they agreed to try some dwarven mead.

          Blitz got a pack of mead, each bottle seemingly unique and one of a kind. They all sat at Blitz's really cool sofa and told him about what they were up to. "That's bad. But, if you're going to Niflheim and then Helheim, I'd suggest you let me give you some winter clothes." Blitzen said ominously, biting one end of a spring roll.

           "But, will these clothes be enough to stop the cold of one of the first realms ever created??" Nico questioned. "Oh yeah!! You can take Mallory's word for it. Speaking of Mallory, why don't you ask T.J how he got to Helheim??" Blitz suggested, turning towards Alex and Magnus.

          "Yeah, but we can't take these two to Valhalla. Ratatosk and Odin's ravens." Magnus said. "But Odin was the one who gave out the quest. He would allow the two, wouldn't he??" Alex asked. "Probably. Let's ask Sam." Magnus replied and told Blitz they'd have to get moving, if they wanted to finish the preparations in a day.

          "Well, wait a second. I'll get your clothes." he went into his room and returned with two squares of cloth, one black and the other a burgundy purple. Looking at Adri and Nico's blank expression, Blitz explained "These turn into parkas of the same colour. Just imagine them to unfold." then turned to Magnus and said "You'll have to catch Hearth, kid. He'll infuse it with the kenaz rune."

            Magnus replied in the affirmative. The demigods thanked Blitz and walked out the door. "Who are Mallory, T.J and Sam??" Adri asked. "Mallory and T.J are dead like us and Sam is my Valkyrie." 'Cool' was all Adri said. "Nico, why are you so quiet??" Nico's head snapped up at the mention of his name. "Huh. Oh yeah, um.. Well, the squirrel." he said sheepishly, rubbing his nape with an embarrassed smile.

          "Don't look like that, di Angelo. That beast is meant to do that. Even we're not safe from its bark, though we have approval to travel the World Tree. It's just that we're used to it." Alex said, his tone as comforting as it can get. "Thanks." he muttered.

          They used the world tree, thankfully without any squirrel encounters, and got back to Boston. "We'll now be meeting Sam. Alex's half-sister." Magnus announced, walking to Fadlan's Falafel. "You said we'll be meeting her??" Nico asked. "Yeah. I messaged her to come to her fiancé's café."

          So they walked and sat at an empty table. Soon enough, a girl donning a green hijab with two axes at her side joined them. "Hey, I'm Samirah al-Abbas and I will be your Valkyrie today." Adri squeaked. "I'm too young to have my personal valkyrie." Sam laughed at that. She turned her attention to Alex. "Why am I here??"

          "Well, we need permission to enter Valhalla." "Your einherjar." Sam noted. "Not for us, for our friend. We thought it would be best if we discussed our quest over there." "Aaah.." Sam said.

          It took about an hour to contact Odin and when they finally did, he immediately granted them access to Valhalla. "Woah!! This is where you live??!!" Adri exclaimed in awe. Nico didn't verbally say anything, but it was clear he was awestruck as well. "My father's palace is grander, but, this thing is literally everything you want, plucked straight from your mind." He said, after digesting everything he was seeing.

           Alex and Magnus shared a hearty laugh and then guided the two others to Floor 19. "Now to introduce you to our friends and then get talking." Magnus said, leading them to the lounge.