Chapter 12: The Sisters Meet

Hrungnir stood in the Combat Command Center with a stunned expression on her face. The shiny onyx roof of the large chamber reflected the blood-red glare from the glowing sulphurous pits onto her facial features. She simply stared at the main status monitor. Then she shook her head and tried to blink away what she was seeing.

The Uruk-hai honor guard that she had dispatched to Asgard was returning not with Thoriko, but with Lindy.

Her brain tried to process what her eyes were telling her. No.. this was all wrong. This wasn't in Little Sister's plan at all!

While muttering nameless oaths to herself, Hrungnir walked over to a second command console and smacked a button. A trio of flying insect-like devices popped up out of the floor. They were micro-UAV spy-cams equipped with video and audio sensors. She had designed them herself.

She fiddled with the controls to assign the micro-UAVs' their target. The bugs flew off to the gate arrival area. They used stealth light refraction to hide themselves. They would surreptitiously follow and spy on the new arrival everywhere she went. Hrungnir wanted to learn as much information about Lindy as she could before meeting with her new 'master'.

She shook her head again. No, it can't be. Years of careful planning had revolved around Thoriko taking the reigns of Hell. Hrungnir had greatly admired the plan of her Lil' Sis. It was so subtle, so elegant. Thoriko would join the side of the red enthusiastically and willingly.

A key part of the plan had involved Thoriko's erstwhile lover, Keld. He was unaware that he was raised from birth to carry out his mission. He was not simply an agent, nor was he a double agent. He was in fact a triple agent. From his birth they had used secret and deep magic spells to tamper with the deepest recesses of Keld's mind, spells that were originally designed by Hild herself, to mold Keld into the perfect tool for the plan. Since it was done to him at birth, the mental tampering was absolutely undetectable to Skuld, Doctor Nie, or anyone else in Asgard for that matter. It was simply a matter of imposing certain personality engrams upon a blank mind, a tabula rasa. One of those engrams ensured that Keld would fall madly and passionately in love with Thoriko. It was by design. He never knew who or what he really was.

And there was more. Plans within plans.

But it was all for naught. The wrong girl was coming Downstairs. Argh!

Hrungnir turned off the monitor and slumped into her chair. She started to brood. Her personal Uruk-hai guards shifted their feet uneasily.

They were her personal guards, not official ones. It was because she was careful not to take on the title of Daimakaicho, the Leader of Hell. She refused the title even though it was freely offered to her, by acclamation even, after her sister had died.

She was now the most powerful remaining demon that had survived the war. Originally it was Lil' Sis who was bootstrapped as Niflheim's initial L1 demon. Lil' Sis had quickly become the new Daimakaicho and had leapt into her new role with gusto. She had gained the title not based on any kind of seniority, but rather because Hell operated strictly on the basis of Darwinian social evolution: She was the strongest demon, and it was simply a matter of survival of the fittest.

But Hrungnir refused to accept that same title. She had refused even though, having been previously promoted as the second L1 by her older but physically smaller sister, she was now the strongest remaining demon in Hell. It was because she knew full well about the prophecy regarding Skuld's daughter becoming the greatest Daimakaicho ever. Succession in Niflheim was traditionally by assassination or ensealment, and she wasn't stupid. And she had a good idea how powerful Skuld's daughters really were.

Hrungnir's leadership of Niflheim was only unofficial. But it was absolute. She was obeyed without question.

But her erstwhile kingdom was still in utter ruin. The battle of Ragnarök had devastated Niflheim even worse than Asgard. The red side had suffered the decapitation of its entire leadership - Hild, Hagall, and Urd - at the very start of the battle. The forces of evil were in complete disarray. Many demons fought blindly, uncoordinated, wild.

It was their sheer ferocity that pushed back the side of the good. The gods and goddesses retreated from the onslaught. It was a tactical decision, made because of the doublet system. The great gods and goddesses of Asgard tried to show restraint and not attack all out, lest they destroy themselves utterly in the process.

But it had almost happened anyway. Asgard had suffered 90% casualties, as did Niflheim. Hell's strongest combatant, the great wolf Fenrir, was the wildest of all. It rampaged completely out of control, causing unimaginable devastation wherever it went.

Hrungnir had survived the war only by accident. It was because, like Skuld, she was a resourceful combat engineer. During the height of the battle she had infiltrated the great living space vessel, V'ger, trying to destroy its power generators while Skuld was busy on the opposite end of the 100km spacecraft trying to revive it. Skuld was occupied with activating the main functors to steer the vessel onto the field of battle. She did not know that Hrungnir was also on board, trying to destabilize the anti-matter feed in the rear. Hrungnir then got herself accidentally trapped in a magnetic energy viaduct and was sucked into the huge ship's central power core. She was able to slap together the rubies on her wrist-bracelets just barely in time. It was her personal panic device, a null-space projector of her own design. The bracelets had saved her life. They had flipped her existence out of the physical world just before she fell into energies stronger than the center of a star. But it had also effectively knocked her out of the rest of the battle.

She was the Mokkurkalfi. Like her counterpart, Sklud, she loved to build things: robots, large mechas, and other elaborate autonomous devices. The difference was that Hrungnir made her creations only as mere tools - she indifferently discarded them when they were no longer useful - whereas Skuld had filled her own creations, like Banpei and Sigel, with her love and affection: She had made them come alive.

Hrungnir was like Skuld in one other important respect: She had watched as her sister died.

Hrungnir would never forgive Skuld for killing her Lil' Sis. It happened on that fateful day when Skuld had successfully trapped Eihwaz on the rooftop of the HQ building. Hrungnir was loitering, floating invisibly, just inside the Valhalla gate, watching with binoculars. She was waiting for Eihwaz's signal to dive down and evacuate her dear sister as soon as she grabbed the copy of the Blue File.

The infiltration op was made possible because of the ingenious device that Hrungnir had designed. It allowed the pair to fool the Valhalla gate's friend-versus-foe identification system and pass through without setting off any alarms.

She had originally tested the infiltration device on the day of Skuld's marriage. She had just finished spying on the wedding ceremony, and she was in the process of re-opening the gate to return back to Niflheim with her intelligence report, when Skuld had detected her IR heat signature. Skuld had foolishly lept into battle alone without any backup or support. In the ensuing firefight Hrungnir had almost killed the Daitenkaicho, a target of opportunity. Normally Hrungnir would not have tried to kill her like that, but the doublet system was no longer in effect so she knew her own sister, Eihwaz, would not be harmed.

But now she was gone, brutally murdered by Skuld. Hrungnir would never forgive Skuld for what she had done to Lil' Sis.

And if she could not get revenge on Skuld herself, she vowed that she would get satisfaction in some other way.

On her children.


Hrungnir called together her senior minions for a hasty meeting. They met secretly in a large hidden oval chamber. In the center of the room was a long table made of solid dolomite, surrounded by several high backed chairs.

Hrungnir sat at the head of the table with her minions seated on each side. She was not wearing her trademark spiked helmet and mask. Indeed, she had not worn either one since her sister had died. Without her mask she was not unattractive. Her blond locks spilled down around her shoulders and framed her hazel eyes.

She was worried. Her brow was furrowed as she clasped and unclasped her hands repeatedly. "What a mess. Ok, we have to improvise, and quickly. So what do we know about Lindy?"

Dorlaz sighed, "Not much. The dossier on her is pretty thin."

Thrymr grunted, "Lemmie at her! I'll stomp her into paste!"

Hrungnir glared at the She-Hulk, "No. She's too strong even for you, Thrymr. And besides there's that pesky prophecy. She's going to become Daimakaicho. We have to decide how to deal with it."

Halval shrugged and said, "Well, if she's going to become the greatest Daimakaicho ever, that means she is going to out-Hild even Hild herself, right? I mean, is that so bad?"

Hrungnir clenched her fists again, "We don't know that, you idiot! We don't know how she is going to become the greatest Daimakaicho. For all we know she could open all the pits and betray us all!"

"You think that might happen?"

Hrungnir did more fist clenching and unclenching. She sighed, "I don't know. But we have to assume the worst. Do we have any intel at all on her psych profile?"

Dorlaz spoke up again. "Not much. Obviously she doesn't have Thoriko's unstable personality. We do know that, like Thoriko, she is one-quarter elemental. Her paternal grandmother is a very strong whirlwind spirit, an L1, extremely wild and chaotic. So she probably has a similar chaotic component in her psychological makeup."

"That just means she's unpredictable. Not helping."

"Her mentor was Air Marshal Chrono. So she has advanced Valkyrie combat training."

"You are still not helping. I need weaknesses not strengths, dammit!"

The table was silent.

Finally Halval spoke again, "Ok, she is powerful. She is unpredictable. And she's a top fighter. That sounds a lot like Hild to me. Why don't we just accept her for now and see how it works out?"

"Because she is Skuld's daughter! I don't trust anything with that bitch!"

The table was silent again.

"Very well, sigh. This is going to be a long-term op then. First stage: Gather intelligence. For now, we just play along with her. And we spy on everything she says or does. Everything."

Her minions nodded.

"And we introduce her to her new personal assistant.." She looked at Dorlaz.

Dorlaz gulped.

".. because she needs orientation, right? Someone to explain things, customs, protocols, all that stuff. Heh." Her nasty smile could have curdled milk at 100 yards.

"Dorlaz, stay here. The rest of you are dismissed." Her minions bowed and left.

Dorlaz stood up, mussed his red hair with his hands, and sighed. "Hrungnir, you can't do Keld's gambit on her. That took decades of preparation. She won't be fooled."

"Then don't fool her."

"Huh?"

"I said don't fool her."

"I'm not following."

"Tell her that I sent you. Tell her everything that happened at this meeting. Be completely honest about it."

"I don't get it.."

"You don't have to. Your new role is to be her advisor. Help her as much as you can. That's an order."

Dorlaz looked at Hrungnir carefully. He knew that she could be just as shrewd, manipulative, and deceitful as her sister was.

And he knew that she knew it. And he knew that she knew that he knew it. "I see.."

No, you don't, thought Hrungnir.


Lindy was sitting alone in her private chambers, humming a nameless tune to herself. She was idly using a diamond-encrusted file to sharpen her long black nails. They were curved and pointed, like a cat's claws.

A hidden chime sounded. She smiled. "Ah, right on time. You may enter."

One of her personal maids then escorted in the two expected visitors. The first was a girl of medium height with shoulder-length blond hair. She was wearing an elaborate red-and-gold costume and cloak that made her look somewhat like a renaissance knight. The second visitor was an impressive looking male demon with a shock of red hair, rather tall and very bishonen, wearing a simple gray-and-black tunic and jacket.

Lindy arose to greet her new visitors. She herself was wearing a shimmering red cloak that revealed a striking skintight black-and-red outfit. It left almost nothing to the imagination. She noted with some satisfaction that the bishonen's eyes had not missed the outfit's rather impressive cleavage.

She smiled. "Ah, you must be Hrungnir and Dorlaz."

The pair bowed deeply before her. The girl spoke. "Madam Daimakaicho, we are honored that you have granted us this private audience in your own personal chambers."

She waved her hand indifferently. "Well, it is because I am tired. That coronation was so insufferably boring and tedious. I thought it would never end. In fact I was tempted to cut it short."

Lindy then approached the pair and looked them over carefully. "So, you are Eihwaz's big sister.." She slowly wiped her index finger and its razor-sharp claw delicately under Hrungnir's chin.

The girl did not flinch. "Yes. I am physically bigger, but she was the elder."

Lindy took back her finger and then tilted her head slighly. "I see. It is a pity what happened to your older sister. Rather regrettable. She would have been a considerable asset to me."

Hrungnir didn't take the bait. "Of course. I hope that I can humbly perform her duties for you myself in her absence."

"Quite." Then she looked at Dorlaz. "So, this is to be my new personal advisor?"

He bowed. "Yes, Madam Daimakaicho. I hope I can be of service to you."

She walked very close behind him, then stroked his cheek with the razor claw. "Oh, I think you can..." Dorlaz flinched slightly. Then Lindy looked back at Hrungnir, "Excellent choice. You've done well."

"Thank you, Madam Daimakaicho."

"Very good. Please leave us now. Dorlaz and I have much to discuss. In private." The girl bowed and left.

He was now standing alone with the Leader of Hell in own her personal chambers. He was nervous, and with good reason.

Lindy circled him. "I know exactly who you are. I know exactly why you are here."

"Madam Daimakaicho, please.."

"You are fooling no one. I'm rather disappointed that Hrungnir tried something so obvious."

"Oh no, madam. I was instructed to inform you that I am one of her personal minions, and that I report directly to her."

"You admit it freely? Explain."

Dorlaz then began to tell her everything that had transpired at the secret meeting. He told her that Hrungnir did not trust the Daimakaicho, and how she wanted to gather more intelligence about their new master.

He kept talking. Lindy stopped walking in circles. She began to listen carefully. Dorlaz noticed that she blinked her tsurime eyes a bit oddly.

When he was finally done with his confession she remained silent for a full minute. Then she smiled at him again. However, he noticed that the smile this time was slightly different than before. A bit more pleasant and less threatening perhaps? Maybe it was just his imagination.

She looked at him carefully. "Hmm, you aren't lying. I'm certain of it. Yes, this is very interesting."

"Thank you. I was instructed to assist you as best I can."

"So it would appear."

Dorlaz sighed. He knew that Lindy and Hrungnir were playing some kind of high-level game of chess. He was only a pawn in this game.

She then suddenly spoke. "Actually, you are more like a rook than a pawn. Or maybe a bishop."

Dorlaz was startled. Was she reading his mind or something?

"Yes, I am reading your mind or something." She smiled again.

"What.. you are?"

"Well, of course, my dear boy. You think I just waltzed into Hell completely unprepared?"

"I'm sorry. I know you don't trust me yet." He bowed again very deeply. "But for what it is worth, I will promise to serve you from now on, and not Hrungnir."

"I see. Then I will take your promise for exactly what it is worth." She began to circle him and stroked his chin again. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine. Yes, just fine indeed."

And so Lindy had taken her first cautious steps in recruiting her first ally in Hell.


Hrungnir watched the monitor screen. So, she's a telepath. That is a surprise. I wonder how she does it? Some kind of device perhaps? Something to learn.

Hrungnir made her own smile. It was a nasty one. Her gambit with Dorlaz, to have him be honest with her, was the correct first move to make.

So, this was going to be a game of chess, of move and counter-move, against a shrewd and worthy opponent.

Yes, this could be very interesting and entertaining.

Could be. But won't. Hrungnir knew she would win.

It was not because she thought she could defeat her opponent in this chess game.

It was because she wasn't playing chess at all.


A/N:

To learn more about Hrungnir's close relationship with her sister, Eihwaz, see the manga Oh! My Goddess!, Chapter 273.

Note: In OMG Chapter 265, Skuld fights Hrungnir in a big mecha battle. During the battle Belldandy tells Keiichi that Skuld is merely using magic to build her devices. I emphatically reject that notion. In my view Skuld is most definitely a real engineer, and a good one.

Now, during the aforesaid battle Belldandy also states, "Should she mature and apply her power, who knows how powerful a goddess she would become." This is the first time we hear about Skuld's potential future greatness. Urd cautions Keiichi to keep it a secret so she doesn't get conceited. I interpret this to mean that Skuld was more-or-less unaware of her future destiny as Asgard's leader until it actually happened.


A/N Update:

Ending Sneak Preview: To give you an emotional flavor for the ending, see the YouTube video Coldplay - Paradise (Peponi) African Style (ft. guest artist, Alex Boye) - ThePianoGuys (4:56). Peponi is Swahili for 'paradise'. This beautiful video, which soars at 2:53, and the other videos that I will cite later, will help you to understand the joy and wonder that our heroines will feel in the final chapter.

-HuuskerDu