Freyja

Freyja (フレイヤ) is a character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index as a member of GREMLIN. She is a magician, a strange system that is born out of the relationship between a mother and child, the latter being a fetus whom from the womb controls her mother's body and mind.

She is present during the GREMLIN invasion of Tokyo, and delays Kamijou Touma in his quest to stop Othinus. After her defeat at the hands of Touma and Index, the magician known as Freyja ceases to exist, though the mother and child live on.

Etymology
Her name,, is that of the of fertility.

Appearance
Freyja is described as being halfway between being a girl and a woman, referred to as just being barely old enough to be in college, indicating the young age that she became pregnant with her child. She is fair skinned, blue-eyed, and her hair was short and wavy with a headband. She wore a pink maternity dress, pink sandals, and a black pantyhose.

Personality
Freyja the magician is someone who is determined in her goals. She had joined GREMLIN in the hopes of saving her mother and is willing to take part in the group's brutal techniques just to get what she wants. This is most likely a mark of her not being able to trust people due to her experiences of her mother being harmed while she was still not in control of her body. She likes to taunt her opponents, and takes pleasure in beating them. She is very protective of her mother, even a wrong touch by a normal person is reason for her to use her magic against him.

Of her mother, she is a kind and protective woman who had showed no signs of abandoning her child, despite the misfortunes that have come as a result. She loves her child, endlessly repeating a charm that would allow her to safely give birth to her child, and she is willing to have herself get hurt for the sake of her own child. When she became conscious after Touma and Index freed her from the system that would kill both mother and child, she is polite in her words despite being surrounded by strangers and in a strange place.

Background
Two years prior to the start of the series the woman who would become the face of Freyja conceived a girl that would come to control her body. The pregnancy was not well received apparently, and there is no mention of a father. Moreover, she was conceived when her mother was still young, which implies that she may have conceived her when she was just a teenager. Regardless, inside her mother's womb the child was aware of the hatred that people had towards her and how her mother suffered because of it, losing the support of her family and being driven from her home. Despite the suffering the mother received, ever did she continue to take care of the child and did not hate her. Great was her loved that the mother enthusiastically repeated a baseless magical charm meant to ensure her child was born safely. It was because of this that the child thought there was at least some good left in the world, and there decided that she too will protect her mother. Unbeknownst to the mother, Freyja had somehow used magic to fully use logic. There, she had thoroughly analyzed that charm down to its numerical values and the logic behind it. She had rewritten it and built up the magic she needed to protect her mother. All she needed was the right time.

The time did come eventually, as her mother was attacked by someone on a road somewhere, sustaining injuries protecting her child. The child took control of her mother's body to save her life and dispatched the assailant. Using magic she was able to fully use logic and language even in her immature state. Through the umbilical cord, she continued to keep her mother alive through her support from within the womb, but over time her mother's sense of self grew thinner and she was at risk of eventually disappearing. Her removing herself from her mother will not help as well, for her mother will not be able keep her organs running. Here, the child was stuck in an impasse, where all roads lead to their demise.

However, she later learned of GREMLIN and the plans of the Magic God, Othinus. Seeing this as an opportunity to save her mother, she remade the magic of the charm that her mother once repeated for her safe birth, turning it into her unique magic spell, and styling herself as Freyja the Goddess of Fertility with her mother's body as the "face" of the magician as so she can join GREMLIN. There, she supports Othinus and her violent attempt to create the Gungnir in the hopes of borrowing the power of a Magic God to save her mother.

Magic God Othinus Arc
Prior to the invasion of Tokyo, Freyja has the heart of Mokkerkalfe put in the Sargasso in Tokyo Bay. She most likely made Níðhöggr Vol. 01 beforehand to intercept flights, like the one where Kamijou Touma and the others are riding in. Ollerus in the guise of Thor later sends her out to Tokyo at the height of the invasion and in the middle of GREMLIN's "pressure" of the populace to distribute what people hoped to gain in an effort to stop the people from uniting against them. She is near a fishing pond, passing her time fishing, monitoring the Muspells GREMLIN deployed all over the city and awaiting orders.

She first appears in a fishing pond, communicating through the use of a magic talisman to someone regarding her status. While trying to fish, she says that she went to Tokyo just as "Thor" had requested, assumes that he and Mokkerkalfe will take their positions at Tokyo Bay, and wonders about Bersi's role. She then state that her Níðhöggr is resting at the Tokyo Sky Tower, and that the Muspell has began reacting to those are unaffected or resists their pressure, stating that they should crush them before they can gather. She says that the Muspells are being destroyed and that she can no longer sit idly by while it is happening. Suddenly, one of the desperate people there calls out to her, believing she has an actual working cellphone in her hand as the invasion has crippled the network of the city. He carelessly grabbed her hand, and with a whispered chant from her, she summons a monster from the pond to eat the man, much to the nearby people's horror. She later says that she will go to the location where most of the Muspell has been destroyed. As she leaves, her fishing pole finally catches something, but it was the body of the man from before.

She reappears right after Touma finally is able to jump on a train heading for Tokyo Bay. She tells her who she is, and warns her that just because they're on a train doesn't mean it should be a reason to worry about a pregnant woman like her. She then tells Touma that he should be honored for she decided that he was the biggest threat to GREMLIN and must be defeated first. There, Touma has to contend against the power of Freyja's Brísingamen summons. And though his right hand can easily destroy, Freyja summons many of them to overwhelm him. However, Touma finds away, impressing Freyja that he could find a way to withstand her surefire methods. She summons another monster based on a giant of Norse mythology, but it is quickly struck down by the ceiling getting lower as the train travels in a tunnel. Seeing his chance, Touma charges, but Freyja does not fear. She summons several monsters of the same type based on another giant of Norse mythology. But they were many and they cramped what little space they had. Believing that he could topple them all, Touma continues forward. However, what he did not take into account was Freyja summoning another one, Hildisvíni the boar, and then her ordering it to consume its fellow summons. This shocks Touma as it begins growing larger and large, enough to fill the space of the tunnel. Frejya explains that Norse mythology is a mythology of mutual destruction, where gods and the monsters slay each other. Using this as a basis, she can create an attack where one devours the other.

Touma is undeterred as he sees that he will have an easier time defeating a single large monster instead of many. Then Freyja laughs at him, believing that he is merely motivating himself, and that the "child" she gave birth to will hinder his motivations. Touma questions her wording of "child". Here, Freyja says that she is not calling her summons from far away but creating them by guiding her magic power through the womb, giving it a specific directionality of germination, and pour that magic power into a Brísingamen jewel, thus she can call upon monsters using the jewel as the core. She mentions her "child" and that since her own magical sense is lacking, she has no choice but to borrow the child's brain and body to use magic. Freyja mentions that the child has been trapped in her womb for a full two years, and refers to it as a leftovers in the back of a fridge. Touma is enraged at her callous regard for human life. Then the boar attacked. Touma thought that he could easily defeat such a large opponent, but he was mistaken. The boar was so large that when it charged at Touma when the train arrived at the station, it pushed air towards him, acting like a piston. Touma floats on midair due to the wind as the boar continues to charge towards him. The boar's attack ravages the back of the train and Touma could not be seen. Believing Touma has either been crushed or have fallen, Freyja prepares to find her next target. Unbeknownst to her Touma survived, grabbing on the roof of the train. Freyja sees and congratulates Touma, but even before she could use her jewels, Touma swings his coat over her face, blocking her vision. While her vision is blocked, she tries to summon another creature. And though Touma hesitates because she is pregnant, he has no choice but to press on forward. Touma apologizes to the child rather than to the mother, and destroys the creature she just summoned. Touma charges towards Freyja, intending to destroy the Brísingamen and end their battle as soon as possible. However, he then hears a shout, telling Touma not to touch her mother. At that moment, Freyja kicked Touma, forcing him back due to the pain. Freyja throws away his coat but he manages to get it back. There, he saw it upon he belly of the woman before her. There were runic markings on them, he then realized that if the mother was not able to use magic at all if wasn't for her child, then wouldn't that mean it is the child who can use magic. Here, Touma realizes that the child inside the womb is Freyja. The child in the womb says that she is trying to save her mother no matter what. She tells of her hopeless and inescapable situation, which will find no redress even after ten years of work and one hundred years of research. Touma then asks what it has to do with GREMLIN and the destruction they spread. Freyja replies that he has yet to see what GREMLIN truly is. She readdresses he statement of "ten years of work and one hundred years of research" and references on how a magic god can ignore those restrictions, and says that as long as the lance is completed, that person her mother, can finally be saved. Touma not to trust Othinus for all the things she has done in Hawaii and in Baggage City that once the lance is complete she won't need to listen to anyone else. Freyja says that it is fine for her only method of saving her mother is through borrowing the power of a magic god. Touma pleads to Freyja to reconsider as he deems that Othinus is only using that as a convenient tool to guide her, referencing as what is happening to the city as similar. However, Freyja does not heed his words and tells Touma to stay out of the way.

Suddenly, Touma hears a scratching noise and realizes that the great hole inside one of the train cars may have been filled with a summon by Freyja while he fell a while ago. There, she reveals to him a great red dragon Níðhöggr Vol. 02, which was larger than any of the summons Touma has come to face in that tunnel for Freyja has fed it many of the summons while inside the car. Then, as the train exits the tunnel and Touma's eyes are filled with blinding light, the thing attacks him. Freyja cried out some order and moved to the next car forward, as the dragon wrecks several cars as it moves, including the one Touma is standing upon. As he falls, believing he has failed, he notices someone grabbing to his back as his body's fall changes. He was saved by Misaka Mikoto, with Index and Sphynx in tow. With only two cars remaining, they land upon one of them. Mikoto immediately goes on a tirade against Touma's during this dire situation, saying that just because the cellphone don't work doesn't mean he can run off on his own and get cornered. She reminds him that he has only one life no matter what kind of power he has. Index cuts in, saying that Touma will not change even if she says that, and that they will have to compromise for him. Index apologizes to Touma for interfering and says that she will not back down here. Then, his cellphone fell onto the train, and there it plays a recorded message from his mother directed to him and his father, telling them not to worry about her despite the chaos that is happening in Tokyo.

Hearing this, Touma sees the great unfairness of the situation, and that he has no way on his own to save them. And thus, Touma swallows his pride. He tells them of Freyja and her true form, and finally asks the two girls beside him for help in saving her. There, as if some a deep wish has been granted for them, they say to Touma to leave it to them.

Believing that she will win regardless of how many enemies will stand against her, Freyja summons the great red boar Hildisvíni as a cushion for her fall when she escapes after ordering Níðhöggr Vol. 02 to attack. And she does order it to destroy everything. As it charges towards them, Misaka Mikoto used her powers to jump towards the red dragon, and launched several Railguns at it in a row in point black range using her powers. It's advanced was stopped in an instant, shocking Freyja as the monster disappears. As Mikoto is left behind in the distance, Touma and Index steps forward. Freyja summons other monsters again. Suddenly however, her body stiffens as Index chants Notarikon letters, her Spell Intercept.

Touma then spoke to Index and tells her that she should analyze the magic being used to give birth to Freyja's "children". Afterwards, Touma speaks to Freyja. He tells her on his initial confusion on how she said that she worked to protect her mother within the womb despite being a fetus. He tells her on how he questioned on how she was able to learn magic. He says that seeing her magic is specialized toward giving birth to "children," he realized on how it is based on, and asks a rhetorical question towards her on what it is. Freyja does not answer, but Touma tells her anyway. He reveals that her magic is based on the magic used to safely give birth to the child inside the womb, and that she has twisted it into an attack magic so she could join GREMLIN. Once again, Freyja is uncaring for Touma's words, telling him that no matter how it was originally, it failed in the end as her mother is doomed if she continues to be with her as well as if she leaves her. And that the only escape is through the use of the magic god's power to make the impossible possible.

Hearing this, Touma says that he will have Index finish this, for she has the collection of knowledge that can reach the level of a magic god. With those 103,000 grimoires, surely if they can reveal the spell meant to allow the child a safe birth and send it into the mother that is fully reliant on the child, her mother should be able to keep her heart beating on her own just as when a child leaves its mother. As Index attempts to hack into the single system known as the Fertility Goddess Freyja that was made up of the mother and the fetus, Freyja speaks. Here she says that she will continue to protect her mother even if she has to sell her soul to a magic god or spill the blood of innocents as a pawn of GREMLIN, and she will do it on her own. However, Touma says that it is over and that she no longer have to use her hostility as weapon to protect her mother. Here, Touma says that that the unfairness is over and Freyja can trust people now. With that, Freyja continues to resist as she did not know how to trust people, summoning two more monsters. But Touma is unperturbed, he tells Index that he will take out everything that tries to interfere so he can buy her the time she needs to prepare. He tells her to focus on her analysis and not worry about a thing. As Touma fights, Index mutters an incantation under her breath, and the child inside the womb lets out a cry. There, Touma tells her it is over and that they will wait for her in the wide world.

After Touma and Index removes the control the child has from the mother, the mother comes to as the train escapes the dark tunnel, politely asking where she is. She later falls unconscious again, and is carried by both Index and Touma as they make their way towards Tokyo Bay.

After Kumokawa Maria finds Kihara Kagun again, now as a Einherjar, she volunteers to take the woman formerly known as Freyja to safety. She later carries the woman once known as Freyja in her arms she walks side by side with her teacher, Kihara Kagun.

Freyja is later seen with Maria, sleeping peacefully on a hospital bed while she watches the world leaders of the international coalition broadcast to the world pleading to them to have the strength not to give in to fear and to stay their hand from passing death upon Othinus.

Abilities
Despite not being born yet, Freyja was somehow able to twist the laws of the world, essentially use magic, and gain power of her mother's body, though at the cost of thinning her sense of self.

As the magician Freyja, she was the primary person assigned to seal off Tokyo while Othinus is busy off creating the Gungnir. Other than her primary magic, Brísingamen, she can use a wooden charm with runic markings on it as a communication charm, track Muspells, as well as create Mokkerkalfe without the weakness it displayed in the legends.

Brísingamen
Freyja primarily uses this spiritual item, based on the necklace of the goddess Freyja, to "give birth" to a variety of creatures, based on various figures from Norse Mythology, which then follow the commands she assigns to them.

The spell is based on the magic charm her mother had been repeating, which was intended for her to be born safely, and rewrote it to create the Brísingamen spell. The Brísingamen spell is also the foundation of the system that created the magician Freyja, allowing for the womb to keep her mother alive but at the cost of of thinning her sense of self. When Index analyzed it and "hack" into the spell, it allowed her to essentially "give birth" to her mother, as a child being born being finally able to support itself.

Character Art Designs
She was designed with the motif of maternity clothes as she is pregnant. According to Haimura, Freyja or in this case, her mother, ended up on the same side of things as Orsola Aquinas, worrying him if he could differentiate them enough. Haimura states that like Marian's blacksmith tools or Doraemon’s 4th dimensional pocket, Brísingamen can be pulled from her pocket infinitely without worrying about the physical space within.

Trivia

 * When the child Freyja reveals herself to Touma for the first time, the runes forming the word Laukaz appears on her stomach. Laukaz the rune, means "leek" or Laguz meaning "water" or "lake". It is also hypothesized that the letter is a symbol to represent fertility, fitting as Freyja is the goddess of fertility.
 * Despite being described as blue in the novel, the eyes of Freyja's mother are fuchsia coloured in Kiyotaka Haimura's artwork and illustration.

Quotes

 * (From NT8): "So wait for me, formidable enemy. The fertility goddess Freyja will be your opponent☆"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "Don’t touch my mother!!"
 * (To Touma and Index, ibid): "I decided I would protect my mother no matter what I had to do. Even if I had to sell my soul to a magic god and even if I had to spill great amounts of innocent blood as a pawn of GREMLIN, I decided I would do this! I decided I would do it myself!"
 * (The mother to Touma and Index, ibid): "Um, excuse me. Where am I?"