A genius is an anomaly upon the world. It is by coincidence that it appears, and it is by coincidence that it changes the way the world functions. That was the case when She was born, and that was the case for the youngster.
"Yet Ullr is now but a forgotten name. History only remembers him as the Ice Hero."
Those words were once, somewhere far away, spoken by the current ice representative—a being who by all means shouldn't have existed, were it not for a series of coincidences.
Ullr was once the name of a young boy born in a poor village. While the village didn't have much to offer, the boy didn't mind.
"If there's nothing here for me, I'll make sure there is something for the rest!"
Born as a coincidence, or better said, a genius, Ullr was the first one in his village to learn how to control all the known elements. Not only that, but he had achieved such a performance by the time he was only ten years old.
To say his control was outstanding was an understatement. The boy was like a cheat code, doing everything the villagers wished him to with ease.
"My house was torn down by winds!"
So Ullr raised the ground and gave the man a new house.
"The wood is too wet. It won't ever catch fire!"
So Ullr brought lightning upon the wood to make sure the fire would catch.
"My house is on fire!"
So Ullr brought the ocean to the house, gently putting away every bit of foam while making sure no drop would be wasted. He even carried some of the flames to another friend struggling to start a fire.
By the age of fifteen, Ullr was something of a god to the village. The advantage? Everyone loved and praised him. The disadvantage? He wasn't being perceived as "normal" anymore.
But the disadvantages mattered little for Ullr. The youngster cared for only one thing. He only cared to help the villagers whom he loved, and his love stretched far.
Soon, the first proper city was formed on that belt. It was a city way ahead of its time, having water run to even the poorest household. However, to call somebody poor in that village was difficult to fathom, for the boy who stood at the center of it all made sure that everyone lived in an elysium where 'lack' became a foreign term.
That being said, there was one thing nobody, not even the young genius, could take control of. That one thing was the weather, and as coincidences work, the weather around their city kept getting colder with every month. It was the middle of the summer, yet the snow hadn't melted. It was the first summer anyone around had seen when the snow stayed put even though the sun shone uninterrupted.
Three years had passed since the cooling became a reason to worry. Now at the age of 17, Ullr had to make a choice. Would he leave the city with his mother in search of warmer land? Or would he stay put together with his father? He loved them both, but the arguments back home lately wouldn't stop. The young genius knew that, as things stood, a falling out would come about sooner or later; he just hoped that the weather would fix itself before that.
"I love you! I love you both! But there's something I love more."
Even then, while his family got split, his heart stayed whole, and with the whole of his heart, Ullr made a decision.
"I'll stay in the village I love and help the people I love."
That day, a choice was made based on love, but love was not what everyone around felt, and while half of the city celebrated Ullr's decision to stay around, the other half wasn't as happy.
*****
For the past couple of years, a city had been built by the hand of God.
No, it was wrong to call him God, for the one who had built the city was a mere coincidence. He was a child much too gifted for his age.
Still, in this world, not every element could be controlled. At least that was the case for the society of that time. One of those elements that couldn't be controlled was ice, and it was by an icy coincidence that the end of a city had been written.
What would a human do if they could talk to God? They would beg. What would they do if begging didn't work? They would try to bargain. But what if all deals fail? Then they would use force.
"But a God is a God! We can't hope to stand a chance against him!"
The people were scared, but their fear was overshadowed by greed. Even if a rational voice would spell out the problems here and there, there were a thousand other voices that would drown it out.
"If we can't beat him, then we make him join us!"
"And how do you plan to do that? What can you possibly give to the one who has it all yet desires nothing?"
A grin bloomed on the face of a cunning old man, and that grin set into motion the one part of this coincidence that was intentional.
What the man didn't expect, however, was for Ullr to stay by his word until the end.
The once prosperous city was now drenched in blood, overflowing with the pungent smell of death—the mutual death of people who once dined together.
"Who would have thought… Even your own mother…ack!"
Those were the last words of the old man who had underestimated the boy's dedication. All that followed was more bloodshed and a pitiful whimper.
The attack on the city happened at night. It was an attack from the inside, since the attackers were half of the very people living there.
For the grace of their god, lovers killed one another, children killed parents, and friends slit each other's throats.
In a matter of hours, the rebellion had won, ready to take their coincidence with them to far away lands.
"You've got one thing right. I love the people of this village. So of all the things you could have done, why have you betrayed this village?"
Now alone in the bloody city, the genius called Ullr looked at the skies.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!"
No words came with his shout, only anger. No, together with anger, there was a chilling sensation that got stronger and stronger.
Finally, it had appeared, walking around the empty city like it was just another glacier.
"It's you…" the coincidence said, looking at another coincidence.
He loved that village, and now that there was nothing left to love, all of that love had to go somewhere else. For a couple of seconds, it turned into pain, but now that the cause had been spotted, love burned into anger.
"Die! Die! Die die die die die die die die die!"
It was due to a series of coincidences that it had come to this, and as coincidences are hard to predict, even the Ice Bear couldn't foresee the battle that came. No, it couldn't even comprehend why it had been attacked.
Reasonable or not, a coincidence doesn't care. It comes, changes the world, and leaves unbothered.
That was also the case for their passing. One man frozen and one bear mauled to death, that was the outcome of a battle that spanned throughout many years. Just another coincidence.
Thanks to that coincidence, the world was set free of the incoming freeze. Thanks to that coincidence, another element was born.
And because of that coincidence, the world had to start again.
*****
No source of light was there in the cave, so it was only normal for Randulfr to see nothing but pitch black before his eyes. His eyes that were—
Closed?
For but a second as he ran into the cave, the man lost the grip on his senses. Could it have been that he was just blinking? But if that was the case, why weren't his legs moving either?
With a cloudy mind, Randulfr opened his eyes, which should have never been closed, and he soon came to regret his decision.
"What's that?"
Words escaped his mouth and hit an unfamiliar ceiling. Yet to simply call it unfamiliar wouldn't do justice to what Randulfr was seeing. Surely, it was only thanks to 'him' that the Fjordheimer's mind hadn't broken on the spot.
What stood above him was a ceiling that seemed to have been made out of some weird white material, and from the sides, dim white neon light poured on it. It looked as if a bunch of candles were set on the sides and shone their light on the ceiling, but the light seemed unnatural.
He felt warm. Despite having entered a freezing cave, he felt comfortable.
As the man slowly regained the sense in his right hand, he moved his fingers to feel around. Something synthetic covered his body. Again, it was thanks to 'his' knowledge that Randulfr knew what "synthetic" meant.
"A modern roof, and modern bedsheets…"
The place he had found himself in was no doubt one that belonged to another age. It was an age long in the future, an age where humanity had made incredible progress and learnt to build comfortable homes. 'He' had been then before. Although he couldn't remember the details, he at least understood what was surrounding him.
"No… That's not right."
Yet even in the modern ages 'he' had lived through, 'he' didn't remember everything feeling this fake and estranged from his body. Humans found a way to estrange themselves from natural materials; that was an undeniable future that would come one day, but this was too exaggerated.
"Besides…"
'His' memories wouldn't lie to him to such a degree. He was still Randulfr. He still remembered everything clearly from the most recent incidents all the way to the days of his youth when he was—
"Ack!"
Expecting a voice to be woken up by his reminiscing, Randulfr mentally braced himself. He knew exactly when the Murdering Wolf had been born, for whenever he remembered that day, the voice would inevitably resurface.
"…"
Yet nothing happened. His mind was clear—the clearest Randulfr had ever felt it. There was no hint of malice and no crazed drive for survival clashing with his inner self, and that only added to the missing puzzle pieces.
The mysteries kept piling up, and all Randulfr did was wait in bed, waiting for his body to start responding.
"Still… why is it taking this long? Have I been slacking off too much lately?"
His limbs felt numb. Not only that, they felt weak. He felt as if they weren't even his own, but that was only the case for his left side. The right was clearly Randulfr's.
"So then… here goes nothing," he proclaimed, trying to lift the left leg he hoped was still attached.
When he did so, he felt blood flowing in and irrigating his muscles. Soon enough, he had regained the member together with an intense tingling sensation. He did the same with his arm, and the arm also regained his power.
Opening and closing his palm, Randulfr was ready to push himself up. That's when something heavy fell on his chest.
The Fjordheimer stood still for a second, trying to ascertain whether his life was in danger or not. He used his arm to feel the object, and what he touched was a nose, eyes, and a mouth.
"AHHH—"
Randulfr wanted to shout, but a palm sealed his mouth.
"Come on… the sun is barely up. Do you really want to see the sunrise this badly?"
The voice that resounded was one he recognized. It was a soft voice he would never get tired of hearing, and that voice was—
"Giulia?"
As if answering to his call, the woman kissed him on the cheek and snapped her fingers. That moment, a nearby window turned from pitch black to fully transparent, letting light pour in.
Together with the light, the window also made way for Randulfr to gaze at a scenery he had never seen before. What stretched beyond the window was not a forest, nor was it a city of the modern world.
What he saw instead was a stretch of red ground, and beyond those lands, there was a blue sunrise of a beauty he had never before laid eyes upon.
No, that was wrong. What was even more beautiful was the lady who got up next to him. He knew it was her. Although she didn't have her strong build and white hair, she was undoubtedly Giulia.
"Slept well, Love?"