Animaniacs and the Valkyrie Star
Book 1.5: Faith and Doubt
This short story takes place in between books one and two.
My name is Vuloc. I am the last of my kind from the planet Valkyria. My people were recently demolished by my shadow named Coluv, meaning on my world "the other Vuloc". He apparently turned out to be much more vile and insane than any other shadow that has been previously used in the sage ritual. He seized a forbidden weapon from our world known as the Armageddon Blade. But with Yang comes Yin and the opposite of the Armageddon Blade was forged the Valkyrie Star sword. A sword who's powers were never truly measured and often relied on the light of its wielder.
Recently a small child faced a grave catastrophe and encountered Coluv while he was utilizing a cloaking spell. Her brothers and her closest friends eventually had been slain by my shadow and inevitably even she had been nearly slain herself by him. As I fished her out of a nearby creek of flowing water I noticed the stab wound healing quickly as she stayed barely alive. She took up my mantle as I being the coward I am couldn't face such evil. Taking the Valkyrie Star blade with her after she recovered, she journeyed to stop a madman from reshaping the universe in his twisted image. Bravely she fought, but at first was overpowered. It was only when the Valkyrie Star called to the souls of her family and friends for aid did she acquire the power to stop him. An epic struggle for the fate of all that live came between the two of them and inevitably the two swords destroyed each other. With the broken Valkyrie Star still clinging to life as it pierced my shadow's black heart.
Dot, as she calls herself, had slain a living being for the first time and as expected from her kind heart masked under all of that craziness, she felt disgusted with herself and continued to see blood on her hands long after she had thoroughly washed. It was up to me to answer any questions she had and help her come to grips with her recent experience. It was up to me to assist her in becoming who she was before. But after being pursued half way across the universe by my shadow I fear staying in one place for too long. Staying in hiding I meet up with the little Warner every three weeks, wearing a blue hooded cloak to hide my face and silvery white hair, to just comfort her. Today she had intriguing questions about my people and where the weapons came from. She met me at the usual place, near a grove of trees just beyond the city and closer to the mountains. "When Coluv stabbed me, before I was washed downstream, it made me bleed. I've never bled before no matter how much punishment I take. So how did that sword make me bleed?" She asked simply out of the blue, still gazing down at her small gloved hands as if she could still see the black blood staining them. "It had the same blade as the Valkyrie Star." I simply answered trying to keep my words simple and few. "But why, how does having the same blade do what houses and cruise ships could not?" She retorted in a kind of sad tone. I could tell that if I didn't answer her questions I ran the risk of making her cry in frustration as well as regret.
"On my planet there was a castle made of silver, the Silver Palace. Inside the halls of the castle are many wonders of the kings of the past. The top tower stands over seven football fields high and is adorned with the most beautiful carvings you could possibly imagine. The view from the terrace is so breathtaking that you could watch the entire day go by and never know it. The rooms of the castle decorated with elaborate paintings of the past royal families and each individual bedroom with ornate furniture and beds so soft you could fall asleep just by placing your hand on the mattress." My description began. "That sounds nice." She said with her eyes closed, her head leaning against the tree she sat in front of while listening to my story. "But what does that have to do with the swords?" "I'll get to that." I responded. "Underneath the Silver Palace rests a cavern and room older than even our civilization, The Tomb of the Kings. Not many Valkyrians are even allowed inside the tomb except for the sage." "So, you've been in there?" Dot asked curiously. I smiled and slowly nodded my reply to her. "The Tomb of the Kings is a brilliant white in color but has a spiritual aspect to it. It's why we continued to bury our kings in the walls of the chamber." I explained. "It's where you..." She gulped before continuing her sentence, "Bury your kings." Again I nodded my answer to her. "It was from the walls of the Tomb of the Kings that the material for both blades came." Her expression widened with shock, and then she asked, "But why? What's so special about the walls of a tomb?" "The spiritual energy radiating from the tomb nullifies any immortality and invulnerability that isn't caused by the planet's magic. Since you are a cartoon character you had a natural invulnerability to you. The moment the Armageddon Blade touched your skin, you were robbed of your invulnerability and made mortal for that short period of time. After that, you need to heal your injury, that's how you survived."
My explanation seemed to cause her to think for a time until she finally asked, "So why didn't Coluv simply cast an immortality spell on himself? He really would have been unstoppable then." I answered her with only what I knew from the many books of my world. "That spell is a forbidden spell and thus never taught to anyone. Forbidden spells carry with them a consequence. Once the spell is cast, the spell caster is immediately transformed and locked away within the depths of their minds and soul as a new life carries them, the original spirit unable to take control of the body in any shape or form. The new body then becomes a prison." I explained to her as she glanced back at me with wonder. "So it would have been pointless anyway." She deduced. I once again nodded my answer to her knowing full well that she didn't even need to look at me to know what the answer was.
"It's strange." She said after a long period of silence. "I thought that I would feel at ease after stopping Coluv from his evil. Why don't I? Why do I feel so bad about it?" Even I began to feel pity for the small child sitting before me. "It's because of the fact that no matter how crazy your antics had gotten, no one was in any real life threatening danger. But I know your heart, you would never leave anyone in that kind of danger if you knew they were in it. A 'heart of gold' as the figure of speech goes here. You feel bat for stopping Coluv because you had to slay him and take his life. A decision that should never be taken lightly. I think you regret that he never gave you a choice in the matter. The most difficult thing you had to do." I placed my hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her as I already knew the tears were flowing. "But, don't worry." I told her, "You still made the right call. I should not have been such a coward in the first place." I then handed her a box from under my cloak as a gift. "Here, you might recognize this when you open it." I said as she took the flat rectangular box from my hands with confusion and gratefulness all blended together. And with that, I turned away and made my journey to where the wind guided me. Dot opened the box gingerly behind me and I could hear her gasp as she gazed at the Valkyrian dress she wore while we dreamshared before the disaster with my shadow, complete with a replica of the flower broach that tied her ears together. I then focused on the feel of the wind as she hugged the gown and gingerly folded it back into the box. "Tes Macrinomb" I muttered to myself. Suddenly, I was enveloped in a pale blue light as the spell took hold and transported me away from the girl for the last time.
The End
