VALKYRIE SMASH

After having a lengthy talk with Atropos, during which he learned many important things, Sam left the two sisters to continue their conversation.

"Let's go."

"..."

Upon receiving no reply, Sam turned around and gazed at the Valkyrie serving as his guard. Miku hadn't moved from her place, her head slightly lowered as she stared at the floor.

"Miku, if there is something you want to tell me then…" pausing for a moment, he breathed in and braced himself. "Then don't hold back. I know why you're angry but… I want to hear it from you."

After returning from the Nephilim world Sam found himself with quite a lot of work to do. He had to ensure that the Fallen Worlds wouldn't breach theirs, plan countermeasures for when a Primordial shows at their door, come up with a way to handle the refugees, both human and Nephilim, check on the Awakened children, contain the Fallen, and save Atropos.

So far he has only dealt with the global scale anti-inter-dimensional travel barrier and oversaw most of Atropos' procedure. A report he got from Nana said that the humans of their world were panicking over the crimson sky so he was sure the Resistance was going to send someone to demand answers very soon.

With so much to do he didn't have the time to sit down and listen to what those close to him had to say and seeing how upset Miku was told him he couldn't delay it any longer.

"I… I understand why we need the Nephilim… I really do but… " clenching her fists, the young Valkyrie trembled slightly. "I can't help thinking that you don't care about us at all."

Sam felt like that statement was a stab to his guts, having decided not to shut his emotions despite his heavy reliance on the ability in the past couple of days just to be able to operate normally.

"I see." He said, doing his best to remain calm. "What makes you think that, Miku?"

Her response didn't come right away.

"A lot of us died fighting the Calamities…" She said. "Those Calamities were sent here by the Nephilim. They were responsible for the murder of so many of our comrades yet here we are inviting them to live with us." Pausing for a moment, she then added "You're allowing Odin to roam free and now you've put so much effort into saving the person who took down B3 and JX9…"

"So you're saying that by choosing to help our enemies instead of letting them die I'm disregarding your thoughts on the matter?"

"I… I know you're doing the right thing but… seeing you being friendly with them I… I can't…"

Miku was close to B3. The two of them had become good friends after they moved to the forty sixth base together and they went through a lot even before that. It was understandable for the young Valkyrie to be upset seeing him being friendly with the one who put her friend in a comatose state with no hope of waking up at the moment.

Not that he was in any way friendly with Atropos. All he did was save her life at the request of another one of his personal Valkyries. Not only that but he was hoping the Olympian would prove to be an important asset later on, providing them with information about the enemy as well as helping them train the Awakened children.

When one looks at Sam's decisions and actions it is easy to think that he's completely throwing aside all past conflicts in order to achieve his goals. It doesn't help that the war against the Nephilim was less than half a year ago, and that his whole motivation behind the peace treaty is to get their assistance in tracking down and retrieving Alice, both the original and his childhood friend.

The Valkyries were finally free from the oppression of Odin's mind control and were starting to think for themselves. Before long, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them show contempt at how they were used as weapons with no will of their own.

There is the issue of their memories as well. Sam didn't want to think about what would happen if they started to remember things from their past lives. Nino appeared to have been an important figure in the Olympian world. So far her memories didn't alter her behavior that much, but he couldn't expect the same from the others the others. Depending on who they were in their past lives they might end up causing way more trouble than anticipated.

In short, he needed to find a way to resolve any issues his Valkyries have with his decision and he has to do it quickly before it all blows in his face. If his first personal Valkyrie was speaking out about it who knew what the others must be saying behind closed doors.

"Let's talk as we walk." He said then turned around.

Thankfully, the young Valkyrie followed after him this time, although she kept her gaze lowered.

"Did you know, Miku-" He said in an even voice. "When the Calamities first appeared in this world, I was at the location of the first attack."

The young Valkyrie was taken aback, raising her head to look at the Doctor in shock.

"It has been so long that I almost forgot about it." He went on. "If it wasn't for Alice and her father I most likely wouldn't have made it out in time."

The shock of seeing what he thought was an alien invasion and the destruction it caused had left him immobile. More than four million died in that first attack alone and if it wasn't for Alice and Wolf Sam would've been one of them as well.

"Back then we still didn't have you girls to protect us so… all we could do was escape."

"I…" Miku was speechless, unable to come up with anything to say.

"My parents didn't make it, of course. I was simply lucky to have been dragged along by the only person Wolf cares about. Thanks to him I was taken care of even in the following chaos, and I owe him a lot for that, but don't make the mistake of thinking that would be enough for me to not resent him. After all he was the one who led the Nephilim to us in the first place."

"..."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Sam lingered for a moment before adding "I have as much of a reason to hate the Nephilim as you do. Of course I'm not saying this to belittle your concerns, but I want you to know that I'm not being friendly with them just because I want to."

A moment of silence passed as they continued to walk down the hallway. They were in the lowest level of the underground prison where some of their most dangerous captives were being kept, but even as they passed the doors neither of them bothered to glance in their direction. Not that they could've seen anything as they led to the rooms dedicated for visits rather than the cells themselves.

Once they made it to the elevator, the blond young Valkyrie finally seemed to have gathered the courage to say something, though what she heard a few seconds ago seemed to have shaken her quite a bit as her voice came out a bit shaky.

"... I'm sorry…" she said. "I didn't know you… I…"

"No, you don't have to worry about it." Sam said. "I admit that I haven't been making a conscious effort to include you and the others in the decision making. Despite everything it seems I still consider the Valkyries as nothing more than combatants and that needs to change." Glancing behind him, he decided to ask her directly. "What do you think I should do about the Nephilim."

Miku stared at him for a moment then let her gaze wander down. She seemed to be putting some thought into her response, but she didn't appear to have a clear one.

"Do you want the Nephilim to pay for the deaths of all Valkyries?"