(Nursery Chambers, underneath main Valkyrian fortress-palace, Capital city Tecomfpzhire)
Three years have passed since Freya first descended into these hallowed tunnels with her daughter. Her glowing eyes gazed softly upon her daughter sleeping form, laid to rest upon the breasts of her lowly illuminating body. While she used to wake up often—something she quietly lamented about as her daughter would sometimes separate from her to be held by Brynhild—Fenris has been feeding and sleeping more and more as the months came and went.
Brynhild was quite put out by this new cycle of her most present interest but a few conversations with her own mother helped put the young child at ease.
Freya was understanding though was more thankful to Frigga as even the child's constant questions to her sleeping child was starting to scratch at her wall of patience. Normally she could be quite immovable in her attitude both verbally and inwardly yet her growing time as a mother in these very crucial stages of child rearing were as much affecting to her as any other mother in the chamber.
Her baby daughter has been growing and growing these past few years to where she was currently four times her birth size. The rate of growth was much less than a human's yet quite fast for a Valkyrian toddler. Around this time, a Valkyrian baby would pause in its growth until it absorbed enough nutrients in their milk diets to begin a burst of growth spurts. Fenris was steadily growing much like a human baby would.
She communicated with Loki about it. The scientist was a bit upset that Freya was calling her with both of them being very busy but the woman known as the "Archive of Knowledge" was understanding in regards to Freya's curiosity. Understanding the burden of leadership that she left Loki under, she was okay when it usually took days or weeks for her friend to reply with her thoughts.
Freya would keep up this arduously slow communication up until the present, inquiring on small reports Loki would give. In fourteen years, the Outer Heaven's modifications would be complete for increasing the GSR's efficiency in energy consumption, circulation, and weaponizing functions. The space Navy has been bolstered by eighty more fleets with 90% of them being the new batches of Cruisers and Destroyers, each extended by several hundred meters in width and height and up to three miles and two miles respectively.
These new ships have been replacing ones already in service, prioritizing those around Cradle of Life and Path of Nurture before other fleets get replaced while the originals will be honorably discharged from their duty and be transferred to further serve with the Valkyrians in father away theaters of operation.
The colony in the galaxy designated WH40K has had no further instigation from the various xeno races though a group of ships would skirt around the solar system every couple of months. Groups of stealth probes and ships foraying into the "Eastern Segmentum" of this galaxy have yielded numerous planets with various eras of human technological development, some being the age of knights and nobles while others were barbaric techno tribes. Freya has issued orders for gynoid spies to be placed on those planets to intermingle and perhaps even get a position of office. The Valkyrians knew the Precursors seeded a Humanity in each galaxy but having dozens in various stages of technological progression in the same galaxy was quite unlike them. They knew from Typhus that the Imperium apparently ruled around one million planets but just what was with such societal and industrial diversity?
Another event in passing and monitored was a probe that had caught an engagement of the Imperial Navy with a warband of Chaos Marines. Seeing the massive ships both sides used and the casual usage of ordinances with explosive yields averaging 900 Gt made Freya glad of her earlier order to have Loki improve their own fleets. Their fields did fine jobs of deflecting incoming enemy rounds but with how close the Imperials and Chaos ships fought, the velocity of their munitions could likely plow through the Valkyrians' EM fields. Seriously? Despite such weapons, the ships were shooting broadsides at each other within single digit kilometers of distance between them!
Loki has stated to have been working on a new classification of ships to go toe-to-toe with these Imperial capital ships. While a Dreadnought Leviathan was a great match for these Battle Barges, they were too important to risk in engagements as they usually acted as the Command & Control hubs for all Valkyrian communication, logistic and military lanes within their assigned sectors so she was designing a new class specifically for heavy capital ship combat. Two things she was taking into account the most were both these Gellar Fields and Void Shields they received a little information on and the Imperium's preference for broadside close quarters battles. It's like this galaxy was making their ships fight as space traveling versions of water-based naval ships. Their most numerous and oftentimes strongest weapons were broadside guns located on the port and starboard sides of the ships.
This is a very fatal flaw against small vessels that could outmaneuver the large vessels to simply bombard them from the main guns' blind spots. They had much more means of ship to ship weaponry besides the giant nuke guns and the energy lances, but you get the point.
It finally made sense though that they'd focus more on close-quarters fighting when a little of the nature of their void shields was discovered. They were extremely powerful in comparison to more commonly designed energy shields. The void shield literally sends the explosive forces into the Immaterium from what the probes have gathered but more accurate analysis would require closer inspections.
Luckily, the aftermath of the naval engagement left much wreckage to peruse over. Given the power of the weapons, the scientists aren't expecting to find much undamaged hardware. Some that were Warp-tainted would most likely have to be destroyed anyway to prevent possible contamination of their workers and facilities. Seeing as how Typhus' own flagship is basically a daemon as well, it's best not to chance their own ships turning against them somehow.
Study into the dead Primarch Rogal Dorn's body was quite fascinating. None of the scientists have ever seen any human genome quite like it. With such potential, he—and by association the other Primarchs and this Emperor—were justified in being viewed as gods on a field of battle in comparison to the fragile humans. They didn't naturally age past their prime though there were signs that they aged EXTREMELY rapidly to the point of fully maturing from infancy within a couple of years, they possessed some regenerative properties, incredibly efficient musculature system providing physical capabilities that honestly would put them somewhere in the vast distance between a veteran Valkyrian-Major and Royal. Seeing as to how vast that difference entails, such an estimation from just a corpse doesn't produce the best results.
Freya was very tempted to taste the man's flesh, to find out what kind of person such a human being could have been, to find out about this Emperor that was coveted and worshiped by trillions of human beings. She so wanted to let Fenris have the first bite as Dorn's rapid growth and apparent immortality would be an incalculably massive boon for their species, but she didn't want her to grow that old just yet. She was quite enjoying motherhood. She was also afraid of what might happen should such a young child inherit the memories of such an old being. Would her personality be overcome by that of Dorn's? Freya didn't want to risk that. After all, it definitely wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened.
No, the risk wasn't worth the gain in her opinion. She would wait for Fenris to grow for about another hundred years so that she would have developed enough anchors in her life besides the one she represented so that he would not be overcome by the Primarch.
Aside from those, other news were of simple things: increased war efforts were quickly ending numerous skirmishes the Valkyrians had against hostile species across a dozen galaxies, all Valkyrian soldiers were undergoing another set of rigorous training where they basically engage in near-lethal close-combat with each other everyday. With the Ork's growth mechanic, soldiers were showing a 10% increase in mass and size after just these couple of years. Not only that, but whenever groups of Valkyrians were training together, their mentalities began synchronizing much similar to how she could give her forces simple commands with just her emotions. It seemed her species were developing something like the Orks' WAAAGHH!.
Thankfully, their minds having been disciplined over a century of training and polished and centuries more of warfare (in the veterans' cases) made them highly resistant—if not immune—to being the simple minded swarms of genocidal brutes that became of the Orks as the greenskins grew up only craving the need to bash and shoot things. Beyond their own wars and infighting and getting stronger, they didn't have much stock in values such as loyalty (beyond the Warboss), art, family, camaraderie, etc.
Freya herself has Nebladed plenty of Orks more for the access to the Valkyrians' seeded WAAAGH! She would have to spend a bit of time with her Grand Primal Commanders to keep a hold on this powerful tool as it's a double sided blade. She could have more flexibility in controlling her people's direction when needed but should she perish, another very powerful Hive presence must be present to take command lest the Valkyrians be divided into thousands yet still powerful groups. Add to that they were all female race and there would be a civil war over the few dozen there currently were. The A.I.s would be split yet she had confidence that they could reign her people in should the terrible time ever come and unite them under a single Royal again.
Thinking about all of these topics on mental manipulation, Freya felt it about time to broach a serious subject she had been discussing with the Kyuubi, Kurama. Setting her baby against her chest on her back, she crafted a chakra network through her arm and laid her hand upon the small sealing way created by the Shinigami. Thankfully, Kushina had gone into the seal several times though more out of necessity than for gracious means. Admired in her last moments she may have been but Kushina was a fool—just like the woman humbly admitted.
(Reaper's Seal of Authority)
Arriving in the seal, she found herself in her bedchambers aboard Outer Heaven. The port view above showed the blinking stars of endless space. Freya looked upon her bed and was startled to see her baby cradled by another her. Despite her protectiveness wanting to skewer the impostor and retrieve her child, she reminded herself of her location and tried to think of how many beings could be here.
"Kurama?" she guessed. The tailed beasts were chakra entities, as such—in her mind—they would be capable of shape shifting.
The Freya cradling Fenris opened her eyes to reveal familiar magenta eyes. "No. Kurama is through the door. A good guess, and I know why. Energy can only change shape so for a being made of energy, it'd be likely that the creature would take the form of myself while in Fenris' seal."
Freya thought for a few more moments, thinking to all of her interactions with her child and her child's interactions with her surroundings. She stood for a minute before coming to another educated guess.
"You're a fragment of me, then?"
The clone nodded while idly brushing Fenris's feelers with her fingertips. "Yes. Our blood contains the life force of tens of billions of beings and have long since subjugated and absorbed them. When we gave our blood to Fenris, the change to her cells made them clones of our own. She's as much a clone of us as she is our daughter. Our blood is powerful and no matter the amount, a small fragment of our soul and mind is still much more powerful than that of a child's. To prevent us from accidentally consuming her, we had to create this conscious completely separate from her own lest she losses herself in ourselves."
Freya was very alarmed at how close she came to Neblading her own adopted-now blood daughter. It was a risk she could have thought of had she even the experience in making a child like she did with Fenris.
The other Freya was giving a knowing, silent look. "Yes, a risk. One you didn't think of but that is fine. Things are how they should be now. She's ours."
Freya nodded and took a seat by herself (by her Otherself) and petted Fenris's head though was wondering why her hand didn't feel flesh but like her body was made of something almost immaterial.
"Are you both inner projections?" she asked.
The fragment shook her head. "We are in the seal, not her mind, therefore, as simply a form of spiritual energy, I was able to enter this seal with help from Kurama to balance out the would-be massive unbalance of spiritual and physical energies. It's better than our child floating out in the dizzying void of her actual mind. As a child and with our proper imprinting, her mind is becoming strong and with form but we felt it necessary to simply hold her since we could. Kurama makes for some conversation and when Fenris's not aware of our tangible presence, our presence in here is simply picking up where we leave off. We've also taken to fixing this seal more to our liking."
Freya nodded and lied against herself, the familiar feeling of her soft bed just as it was in reality.
"So, what do you think of my choice? The DNA used to change her into our daughter was before we arrived on that world. What does my older self think of having a daughter?"
Freya's fragment smiled in amusement. "Quite a novel experience. Overreacting and blowing up that system's sun was quite preposterously hilarious. Next time, don't have the port view facing a local star. You could have just launched nukes at it to evaporate its hydrogen supply. We do have thousands of different specializations."
"My past self chastising my present self… hmm… I believe we have this backwards."
The two Freyas shared a soft chuckle as they continued watching their daughter's mind snooze away, embraced by the conjured warmth and motherliness of hee mother. After what was probably several hours, Freya got to her feet after giving a soft nuzzle to her daughter's neck and the fragment Freya gave her another knowing look.
"We know why you've come. Our conversations with Kurama have made favorable impressions so your concerns will be shared. Go now."
Freya didn't argue the command. After all, that would lead to an argument of who had authority to boss Freya around, and they were technically the same being. Freya walked through the portal door and came into one of the massive bio-domes. Yes, the scenery was the same but it was empty of creatures as of now. She teleported in the direction of a loud snore and reappeared dozens of meters in front of the sleeping Kyuubi.
She needed not say a word as Kurama felt her presence. The great creature opened a lazy eyelid and noted the different presence she usually exuded. Kurama gathered that it was finally visited by the real Freya . As the beast made to move to a better lying position, Freya interfered.
"No need, Kurama. After being chained and crucified to a large rock for so many years, I'll not ever have you bothered unless it is an urgent matter," she said in perfect shinobi-accented Japanese. There were tiny differences between it and the Japanese she knew the humans of numerous Earths used but it was very similar still.
The Biju made a grunt of thanks and rolled its head back over, eyes closed but the mind now awake. "So, how was the meeting with your soul spawn ?" it asked. Seeing as spawn was merely a synonym for descendant, Freya wasn't offended by the general term used to reference her copy.
"It was a startle. I had first thought she was a form you had taken to not worry Fenris."
"BAH!" Gusts of wind rustled the forest around Freya as the Kyuubi chuckled. "Well, if I wasn't fully awake then, I am now." The massive mammal's head lolled into an upright position and its eye lids opened fully this time. Freya just gave a small, unnoticeable smile.
"Sooo… what have you come to talk about, Freya? I'm quite sure the little tyke isn't mentally mature enough to require my wisdom and knowledge yet, though after what I've seen from you, if she's anything like that then I won't be surprised."
Freya huffed at the jab about her destroying that sun. Honestly, that really isn't the most morally reprehensible thing she's done in her life! Kurama shows its amusement by the lazy waving of a few of its massive tails.
"Well, you hopefully have a dozen years or more given our children's rate of maturation. You will get to catch up on all the sleep you want by then and even afterwards as I don't expect Esdeath to end her personalized training for half a century at the least."
She adopted a more serious pose, easily noticed by the Biju. "Anyway, you probably didn't feel it when it occurred but my presence buffered a massive psychic influence from harming Fenris before we had returned to our space. There are these extra-dimensional 'Gods' of Chaos that are basically an abominable mutation of Lust and Sadism, Change and Plotting, Decay and Rot, and Hatred and Bloodshed. They exist in a parallel dimension besides our own, though only within one certain galaxy. We'll be going to war eventually to eliminate their influences in our universe, such as possessed and corrupted beings—mainly humans (go figure)—and I want to bring up the subject of mental manipulations with you."
Kurama did an admirable job with staying on Freya's track and understanding the concepts spoken. Such a collection of concepts giving birth to perverse, daemonic entities was definitely not good. While it was sure they didn't possess chakra so they couldn't manipulate it that way, Kurama still had PLENTY of hatred in his soul and he knew it'd be a buffet compared to smaller beings like humans.
"Alright. You've got me worried. You're right to worry about me being manipulated. While I'm not sure if they have chakra or not, in the latter's case, I'm somewhat safe, but I've got plenty of hate. However, I don't like the idea of these beings using me, much less not even having the nerve to do it in a form I can fight against. What do you want to know?"
"I want to know if you have a way or know of one to protect you, and by extension protect Fenris, from being mentally manipulated. She will have a strong mind after my tutelage and she will have much experience in life and war before deploying over there. However, I want to have contingency plans."
Make sense. "Well, I've never had experience with psychics but in the Elemental Nations, you could not have a properly working chakra system to have a better resistance to Genjutsu, and the Rinnegan practically makes you immune to almost all types. I don't know of any other way. I'm not sure how those eyes would work against non-chakra related illusions though. It's more specialized for use against chakra itself, like the 'End all, be all' trump card of our planet. However, should she fall into a trance yet I remain free, I'm certain I can knock some sense into her mind."
Freya didn't seem assured and really, Kurama had no idea how it would fare either. Brain washing directly was one thing, but being corrupted and brain washed by using your most prevalent personality traits against you? That was a scarily effective method.
"We'll have to come up with better protective measures," she murmured. "You wouldn't be alone with helping her from the inside but the other me is only a fragment of my strength and power, and I myself won't be there by her side all the time..."
She was silent in deep thought and Kurama wasn't going to interrupt her. She'd been able to think up of great plans and deceptions in moments so for her to take nearly a full minute meant she was doing some deep brainstorming.
"Tell me," she began, "do you fancy your conditions for the time being?"
Her wording and question made the massive fox raise an eye brow. "It's much better than I had hoped for. The kid is quiet since your imprinting finished, your fragment holds good conversations and is pretty decent with story telling, and I'm not staked and chained to a rock. While I would prefer being free, the nature and amount of my chakra wouldn't be healthy for Fenris once she's at an older age if I'm not in here to regulate the flow. Why the change in subject?"
"Just some ideas," Freya said. "We've covered my concerns and if you needed conversation, either one of me will be in here. If that is all?"
Kurama hummed in consternation for a few moments. "Why did you choose Naruko… out of the billions of children you've probably come across in your life?"
The fox was curious by the small smile on her face. "Now that is one of the greatest mysteries of this game, Kurama."
"What 'game'?"
"The one we're all participants of, my fuzzy acquaintance."
"DON'T CALL ME FUZZY!"
"But I think it's an adorable description."
"FUCK YOU!"
With a force of will granted to it by this specific seal, Kurama tossed Freya's consciousness out of this area of the seal. With a growl and an eventual huff, Kurama grumbled petulantly before pausing.
"She never did explain what she meant by 'game.' I'VE BEEN DUPED!" The forest was filled with loud grumbling and curses at getting one-upped with just a simple adjective.
Now back in the outer level of the seal, Freya gave a smile to her fragment before walking over a lying against herself, the other acknowledging and both simply staring down at their daughter. Days pass before she finally fades from the seal, ready to feed Fenris again as her consciousness' avatar faded from her mind.
As she awoke to the murmurs of her child, she already had her head in place for feeding while she thought about her little conversation and the many ideas that were birthed from it. Many wouldn't see much in the words shared but Freya's thought process flows like a river. A single thing that can branch into dozens of tributaries many times but other moments, they end up into the ocean of her thoughts.
Knowing it will tick her friend off, Freya still sends a laundry list to Loki composed of numerous thoughts and ideas, several that are quickly taken into consideration and many that will have to be implemented by other people. With a small content sigh as Fenris begins feeding again, Freya looks over and notices a quiet Brynhild sneaking over towards her and Fenris while Frigga was sleeping.
Having more control over her emotions as of the moment, Freya holds a hand over to her. The young girl practically hugs it as the queen situates the child on her other side. With a few words from Freya, Brynhild softly pets a feeding Fenris for the next several hours, even nursing some from Freya until she falls asleep holding Fenris while she's held herself by the woman.
Freya quietly watches the children snoozing and feels—despite her small mood swings—a deep mother-hen like attitude towards Brynhild, as well as the other two young girls who often visit her child. Another idea comes to mind and she plans to talk to the girls' mothers about it.
A quiet shuffle heard precedes Frigga who sits against the larger queen. Brynhild senses her mother and in her sleep, sprawls along their laps, arms still clutching Fenris. Both mothers giggle and lie against each other, glowing eyes (and Freya's slightly glowing body features) casting low lights among the group of four.